In the Stone

She looks at him, " you can read as long as you like. I don't know what I will have you do yet and no its not bad I knew it would happen when I claimed you. My father must be tough and quick to judge he is our Chief. He is.... usually kind. Had you been a warring clan you'd be skinned and hung right now" she stops at the library and shows him the history books, " there you go Evra. I will be out back at the training grounds see that little kit.... when you are done he will show you where I am"
 
Evra made his goodbyes then went to work at once, trying to absorb all the mysterious knowledge that was just common facts to every other naga. Some of it was shocking, the differences between naga people and humans, even as brutal as the city humans had been. But during the learning Evra especially looked up from time to time, observing the others there, trying to gauge what was proper and what would make him a good tribe member. Would humbleness and politeness make others approve of him or trample him for weakness? How do nagas rate one another? During his time on his own, people-watching proved just as informative as the texts, until the youngster approached the 'kit'.
 
The kit smiled and lead him back to Stheno, she was in the straining courtyard teaching the young ones how to fight, her tail flashed like a whip, sharp as any blade and she hissed ferally, It is clear she is no force to be reckoned with
 
Evra's first instinct was to make himself as small as possible before this alpha horribly above him in every way. Stheno is powerful, speedy and awe-inspiring, and Evra realizes he's been thinking of himself as a human with a cumbersome tail and the burden of always needing more space behind him than the narrow two-legged folk. Now he learns the glory of nagas as if he were a paper sketch joining the third dimension.

It's all he can do not to find a den to go hide in; it's so overwhelming and how can he ever measure up? Instead the freed slave accepts the mountainous task; slithers to the very back of the training rows, bows to the harrying Stheno particularly and the young fighters out of politeness without expecting any to glimpse the gesture; and copies their movements with the woodenness of someone who has never learned to believe in his own ability. (( Repeating moves separately like rows of martial arts students? Or sparring? ))
 
She sees him and stops letting her other students work, she puts her hands over his and fixes how he holds his weapon, she adjusts his stance hands running along his slender body (sparring) " you need to slow down, but I like the attitude" she smiles at him
 
Stheno's corrections upon his body are electrifying, or maybe it's because of the first compliment that matters, something real, although the wilderness training from his human benefactor had been important too. He leaps up and then braces on landing, using that leverage to send out his tail slicing through the air. Beginner mistakes, his lower half hits the earth like a bellyflop instead of springing back. The twelve year old winces and bites his lip showing his milk teeth but right away begins another solo set.
 
She smiles and corrects him patiently. Perhaps her little ward was not so bad, he was tenacious to say the least. She stopped him after an hour or so and kissed his head, " you did well, I will make a good viper out of you yet little naga" she smiles at him, " let's get you bandaged up and fed" she herself was not even sixteen. She walked with pride and authority,forced to grow up young. It was true she was expected to find a suitable mate soon. She hadn't even began to look.
 
Evra blushed with a zing to his heart at that kiss even though the gesture was only a peck and not even on the lips. Was that normal? Was that personal? How would he even know? He sighed to himself, figuring this churning feeling of being an alien among his own people couldn't last forever. Well, nothing bad was happening despite his fears of tribal slaughter or just outsider scorn... so rather than an alien, the pre-teen boy could think of himself as - an explorer!

Cheered by Stheno's boost to his spirits, he follows alongside her moving far more fluidly after seeing other nagas pace and going through the kinetic exercises. "Bandaged. I get it. I wouldn't even make a fuss about getting myself taken care of - but it's my duty to be a soldier fit to aid the tribe, yes?" He looked forward to actual naga dishes, wondering what specialties they could be. And there was still so much to learn that wasn't in the history books. Paying attention had given him only an inkling. Did aggression make others respect or hate you? Did politeness mean you got along with everyone or you were whipped down to the lowest rung? "What are some things that can really get someone in trouble in the tribe? Or bother others?" As he looked to the naga princess alongside him he found her amazingly pretty compared to the rest of the training class, and wondered how she handled much more pressure than his soldier rank.
 
She looks at the boy and s amazed how well he is learning. " You will do absolutely fine little kit. Just be assertive, proud but polite. You will be absolutely fine I have faith in you. Just stay with me, you are associated with me. You are my kit." She looks at him and pats his head, she was actually affectionate with him, something she isn't with anyone else, of course he is too new to know this.
 
Just the words "You are my kit" and the pat on the head blow him away. Even with the weeks of freedom and training by the human, the boy had belonged to someone who was just as much his protector from all the unknowns in society who might be even worse - it made sense in his own personal world to have someone over him. And being welcomed like this was just as gratifying as being bought and treated as sacred - and just as unexpected. The pat on the head, even a friendly touch made the ex-slave feel less a pariah and more a valued person.

"I understand," he assured to Stheno's advice. At the healer's, he presented himself nonchallantly with the lack of restriction to his own body of someone who's been inspected countless times before and for no coherent reason. A few scales had been scraped away by landing oddly during his strikes and tail whips, and there was soreness he didn't think much of. But better safe than sorry; the boy could even see himself becoming proud to be a soldier that 'belonged to' service for the tribe.
 
She trusted the healer and allowed for him to be treated, he received salve and bandages and when he was done she lead him to the feeding hall. There were thirty neko there ranging from elderly to nestlings, many of the men looked to Stheno and grinned but she ignored them. She always did, Evra got many faces of surprise but they could see in Stheno's stance that he was hers and if they made any unsavory moves she would have their heads. " There will be fruit, rabbit, stew and wine. Make sure to eat your fill little warrior"
 
Evra was raptured at seeing so many different naga. The dear nestlings - had he ever truly been that small? The elderly - proof that someone could have a good long life despite the warfare, and so venerable.
He tried to pick up the customs quickly, noticing some traits as an outsider that were taken for granted by members. How this collection of naga were social enough to feed together rather than slinking off with their rations to some niche in secrecy. How they formed smaller, more personal clusters.
"Many people are happy to see you, princess." Mostly those her own age or a little above, he noted. The disapproval in his own direction made him wary, but he couldn't blame them. "I'll see you afterwards, or have someone assign me to my next duty, princess." Evra made as if to sit with a pair a little younger than himself, figuring that was his rightful class and politely -he thought- giving Stheno time with her own peers.
 
She gives him an intrigued look but shrugs, " if you so desire. I will be at the front with my father. When you wish you may join us" she purposely speaks to none of the naga who tried to talk to her instead coiling up next with her father and eating in an eerie silence. He hears whispers of how she refuses every suitor and many of them say she is too serious minded.
 
He nods assent to Stheno's decree after a doubletake that the king himself is here among the thirty or so nagas. Even more committed to coiling next to the young ones, he gives Stheno and her father some time on their own without his pesky little self.
He learns from the other kits, talking almost freely - yes, yes, and yes to everything they might want to know about his reasons for a different tribe being here, yet saying nothing of what happened among the awful city humans. Modest yet proud - the adolescent might find a solid base for himself indeed - yes he is a freed slave, but why should he be ashamed? Yes he's on the bottom rung from customs to weapons training, but he's also moving up.

He remained there until the pair of kits excused themselves first, plenty enough time for him to hear the same rumors and comments circulating about Stheno, glad that he had many mouthfuls of rabbit, stew and fruit to cover his thoughtfulness. Only then did he glide to the princess's and king's place and politely remind that she'd offered him a welcome - not in the simpering way the fearful pet would have a month earlier, but the instinctive politeness of respecting everyone's wishes in case it turned out he was intruding after all.
 
When he arrives she smiles at him and pats his head softly, " How was your first dinner with the tribe?" She has finished eating, a small pile of empty plates sat at her side, her father looks him over curiously. His daughter rarely spoke and he was curious about her interest in the lost naga boy. She didn't seem interested in talking to anyone but him or the Chief himself. She was very antisocial.
 
It's almost tough to answer the broad question with not just Stheno but the ruler as well gathering his opinion. "The food is most enjoyable and heartening, the conversation enlightening." And so it was - the kits were at once more battle-minded and less frivolous than the majority of humans wandering the illicit market district for a diversion to fritter their money on. He responded to that pat with a drop of his head in half nod, half bow - surprised and warmed each time by that gesture he took as affection and approval.
 
She nods and looks at him her eyes looking over his small figure and his scales, " I.... do you want to share my room with me or would you prefer your own?" Her father gives her a surprised look, she has never offered to share her room with anyone.
 
Evra looks just as surprised and also perplexed. He owes his life to Stheno too; she could have easily finished him off as a stranger in the wild. He pales and looks from her to the king and back. "Forgive me for any offense in asking, but what does it mean if I accept?" As unworthy as he feels when the thought strikes him, a nobody sharing quarters with a princess, his heart wants to accept - Stheno starting to feel like a light, or more of an anchor keeping him from going adrift in this strange new world.
 
She wonders why he is so worried and she looks at him " you just settle into a bed or a pillow if you prefer. Why are you so worried?0
 
Evra chose is words carefully, since obviously this circumstance signified more to him than to the extraordinary teen princess. "I am already a guest welcome in your tribe, and- and soldier in training," he finally admitted it although he could barely imagine himself going to war and attacking any naga or human. "I only wondered if sharing a room with grand royalty such as yourself meant I have another title as well. Yes, I accept," he said softly, captivated by the princess and elite fighter.
 
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