Chapter Thirteen

Noriimanbaschi 1:(Here Here Child) 

"I'm the only one, right?" He asked, tapping his cane steadily. The voice of laughter and the feeling of joy swept over the arena like an airborne disease, it was contagious enough to reach his heart and sadden him.

The matron ignored him.

So, he asked another, "Am I the only blind one?"

Sharply; "Do not speak of yourself that way Noriimanbaschi". She reproached.

"I was not birthed like this was I?" He asked yet another.

The lady

Broad-shouldered, grey-haired, petite with loving eyes said to him calmly; "no one is born with what they desire most times, you just have to work it to perfection if it is possible. Waylus expi ilum"

"A walk in fate" Norii added. He stands up and moves towards the edge where the laughers began, he could feel it; he could feel it like the wind against your skin or the sand between your feet.

It was ethereal.

It was real, it metamorphosed arms around him.

The lady walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder as she spoke, "You have a long way ahead of you mustr Norii."

He knew he couldn't see her but he turned nonetheless and inhaled that smell had been the first scent his nose had caught when he first realized who he was and it was all he needed for comfort, all he needed to survive here.

 He was told from the start that he didn't belong there

That he wasn't one of them

 And

Blind people were a curse. It became worse when they found out he was a conjurer, they cried and they wailed and they cursed.

Even more, even so...

But not her, she was always always calm he wondered what made her heart beat so still in gratification. All he knew of her was her smell. 

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Hoof sounds shock the town awake, it made babies wail the night alongside the nocturnal creatures. With each dropping hoof the ground vibrated to a fault and the resonating sound woke inside Norii's skull.

 They had visited with their orbrit, an aircraft whose metal was rarely found and left many dead or injured just so they could own it; they hadn't landed it for they thought this land was unclean for it, a show of arrogance and prejudice instead they left it hovering and it heat burning the land or it nutrient

With this, they rode their kujuku out from it and into the small town.

They came with the rush of the night with the threat of attack hanging in the air with their every move.

 A'klare.

The viper's venom they were called and here they were in majaruki where Norii stayed.

With the night turning into day from the brightness of their orbrit and the skies threatened with the smear of blood and the echoes of cries, Norii walked over to the one whose smell guided him, he'd grown to distinguish her smell from that of everyone around him, it was a skill he honed over the years and he was proud he did.

The leader he thought dismounted from its kujuku and swept its eyes over everyone gathered in a single look

It was said that the kujuku was a very vicious predator among the land creatures, how delightful for them to bring it here. Norii thought. And that man killing machinery.

"Noriimanbashi, the rukannu" it called uncertain as the crowd murmured. 

Again it called. Impatience Nori noted.

 "Noriimanbashi!?" this time a man shouted back pointing as he responded, "he is there, right there". The lady with him hissed in anger and drew Nori closer to herself.

The leader began to move towards Norii's direction and called with finality "Noriimanbashi?" 

All his childhood self desired was to be left alone but he just had to be the center of it all. He was silent, didn't know how best to respond to an A'klare

"To be the blind oracle, a rukannu is a great honour if you ask me to bestow on a child" it went on still

Norii's silence continued, his ears picking up every sound as it found its way to him, he knew immediately that he didn't like this being and he smelled the danger and arrogance in its footsteps. 

 "Ha!" the leader of the A'klare let out and a spittle from its lips landed on Norii's left cheek. 

"It is not you is it" Norii finally says and was jabbed by the lady of smell immediately, a jab that meant stay quiet. 

 He could smell the fear that was beginning to grow, the tension was becoming too overwhelming to let it continue but in this rise of climax, he found out something.

Cold and silent, the tip of a blade rested on his neck and several cries of despair rang through the crowd especially the lady of smell who was shaking evidently; "rukannu! Orta oc is my name for I am the harbinger of your death"

More cries of despair and some of the happiness that this roach was about to let them be finally rang the air again.

"It is not you is it" Norii said calmly this time and more assured than ever despite the turmoil of emotions going on around him.

 He knew, he knew.