Cal

The sun was beating on my back as I worked on gathering firewood. Winter was on its way and I had already procrastinated enough. Winter in the Docks was cold and harsh lasting twice as long as winter would for more northern towns, weighting on the town like a heavy curse. While the sea air was cold it was humid and drab, paired with the sun it was torture on the back and soul. I'd burn if my back wasn't covered in sandy-coloured scales.

" Another tree should be enough for the first month," I said aloud as I reached for my hatchet leaning against a trunk. Rolling my sleeves I got positioned to swing, and just as I adjusted my grip...

"Hey! Cal!" A male voice called from the shadows of the forests.

" Fuck," I mumbled as I jumped and dropped my hatchet, barely missing my bare feet. Behind me stood a good friend, Tanen. " I told you not to surprise me like that."

He laughed, a large grin across his pale slim face.

"You did, but it's way more fun to spook you big guy." He replied as he walked closer, " Plus I brought lunch, it's your favourite and fresh as can be." He removed his bag from his shoulder and opened it to reveal fresh garden sandwiches. The bread was always freshly made every morning by Tanen's granny, possibly the sweetest lady alive and the assorted vegetables were all from the town garden. It was a community effort, everyone grew what they wanted most and you shared with anyone who asked, normally done by trade.

I motioned him to sit on one of the many tree trunks in the area, to which he quickly walked, almost a skip, to the nearest one.

" Gran worries about you man," Tanen said as he handed me one of the sandwiches, " Wants you to visit her more often, winter has never been kind to you."

" I will visit, just busy prepping."

" We have an extra bed so just bring some gear down to our cabin and stay with us, I know gran would spoil you rotten," Tanen replied, mouth full of bread. It's not like I haven't thought I staying winters with them, I just didn't want to cause any excess stress. Hybrids like me don't have the best reputations it's why we stick to smaller towns like the Docks. Where large cities can be quite 50/50 in the diversity of people, smaller towns are either hybrid-based or human-based, though they have a habit of calling themselves "the pure people" which is a whole can of worms I refuse to open.

" You know what, ill move my stuff this winter then," I said, one winter won't hurt.

Tanen's grey eyes blew open as he quickly stood up, dropping his food. " This isn't a joke right, if it is it's a bad one. I'll tell Gran right away. Oh, bless Naia!"

I had my hands raised trying to calm down the small ball of energy he is. He grabbed his bag so fast I barely got another sentence out before he was out of sight. I could practically see a dust trail. Releasing a sigh as I saw the leftover food he forgot in his rush, I finally sat down gathering the food in front of me before digging in. Work could wait a little longer.

The sun was setting, possibly around 4 fingers to the horizon. Standing up from the ground I stretched my body, listening to the nice cracking and popping of my tight joints. Gathering my gear I prepared to leave the forest. I was quite pleased with my work having a nearly full hand wagon of wood. it'll only last at most 3 weeks but I can get more tomorrow. Taking the beaten path I made my way to my cabin for a pit stop. Grabbing some thicker clothes, a journal and my mother's comb before I continued deeper into town.

Tanen's cabin was large, much larger than a majority of the cabins around town. But it was only a recent event causing the house to be unreasonably large for two people. His parents left on a venture to find new items to sell and trade. While most people would never see a gold coin, Tanen carried them in his pocket. As I got closer I could see a petit lady on a small bench, gran. Standing in front of her I dropped a few flowers into her lap.

" Cal, it is nice to see you." She said as she stood up from the bench. It was an old pine bench I handcrafted as a child, good to see it still in decent shape.

" I hope I'm not intruding, I even brought firewood to add to your stocks."

She gave a warm smile as she walked to the wagon and pulled it behind her, walking off to her woodshed. For an old lady, she could throw me across the country if she so pleased. As i walked inside and placed my boots on the ground by the door i could see Tanen moving frantically around the kitchen mumbling something about potatoes and eyes.

" Oh, Cal perfect timing I was just finishing up the soup, it's leek and potato," Tanen said as he left the soup to cook off as he cleaned. While Tanen wasn't good with money and finances he was an amazing cook possibly thanks to gran.

After a little while we set the table and filled some bowls with the soup, a bread basket in the middle of the table should anyone want it. Gran was the last to sit as she put her hands together to pray. This town was majority believers in Naia, goddess of the moon. I personally didn't pray but I let them do as they please in their own house. After prayer, we ate and started up light and cheerful conversation.

All was well for the night.