Kulning a Dragon

Chapter 4

1 month until the current time

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The sensation of falling wakes him with a start. Feeling both too hot and cold a hand finds its way up to his face rubbing furiously at it. Cracking open red orbs to peer at the tan furs used to keep warm during cold seasons such as these. He lets out a shaky breath, blinking a few times to clear the unwelcome memory and sweat that blurs his vision. The man gives himself another moment or so to gain his bearings. Wiping the remainder of the sweat, not tears, Kirishima sits up with an 'omf' .

Bare feet are greeted with the bitter cold of the stone floor. Shivering slightly he brings one of the furs to cover him further and fight off the bitter cold of the mountains in the winter. Though sturdy wood structure combined with the warmth of the fire pit keeps the worst of the frost at bay that doesn't mean it isn't still freezing.

Today was an important day and even if he'd prefer to stay in bed longer that wasn't an option. Pulling the fur up to cover his broad shoulders in a mock cape he stands and groans slightly at putting full weight on his sore muscles. On cold days like this, the jagged scars that ran from the top of his right shoulder to his sternum ached and pulled tight more than usual.

Stretching slighting in hopes of elevating said tightness he feels and hears the pop of joints, almost startlingly loud in the quiet of his home. His days are often filled with hours of strenuous exercise and self-implemented regiments to improve his already strong body. Yesterday was no different, though in hindsight considering what awaited him today he should have taken it a bit easier.

Alas, no amount of focusing on the past could change the future. This was much of why the dragon focuses so heavily on working out and training, to distract from just that. Much had changed in the 7 seasons since that memory took place. Some for the better and others not so much.

Shuffling towards the center of the small cabin where the fire pit is he takes a moment to bask in the warmth of the flames, trying to push away the last bits of sleep and cold. It is still mostly dark out, the sun not yet peeking over the horizon. Shadows of the minimalistic amount of furniture he owns flicker with the fire. A couple of birds can be heard outside also just waking up. The atmosphere is calm and it's the quiet of these early mornings that give Kirishima most of the sanity he needs to keep on living.

Content, he turns to the left to a smallish (compared to him) hand-carved chair which housed his clothes for the day strewn across it haphazardly. A pair of thick fur-lined leather pants, matching leather fur-lined vest, a tight-fitting black long sleeve shirt with markings on the biceps, a tattered red large scarf, black also fur-lined gloves that had metal on the knuckles and to complete it all sturdy black steel-toed boots and a warm pair of wool socks.

Most days Kirishima didn't care too much what he wore out since he was pretty isolated (by choice) from the rest of his clan. Shortly after everything that had occurred he began to feel trapped living in the same home of his childhood and set out to make a place for himself. After an entire season of hard work and help from the knowledge of others in the clan he successfully crafted a simple cabin of his own just on the edge of their territory near the forest.

He took full advantage of the location to hunt for food, train his body as well as learn how to use weapons. Year by year his knowledge of weapons, more specifically swords grew. Between what he could pick up from the travelers who stopped in the center of town for trade and books he acquired from those travelers the redhead could confidently wield almost anything one could imagine. Not that it was necessary for him to do so since he was plenty strong without a sword. Able to turn any part of his body as hard and sturdy if not more so then stone, as well as wield deadly claws and fire with as much accuracy. Truly at the end of the day, sword work was just a hobby, something to pass the time and maybe double as a party trick. If he ever went to any parties that is.