A new environment

The first thing I felt was the sensation of something chilly, wet, and liquid being poured onto me.

My eyes slowly opened, and a bright light bombarded my eye, blinding me for a short period of time. Eventually, my eyes adjusted enough to the light. My eyes looked down, and I saw the rest of my frail body floating in a large wooden bathtub.

The water in the bathtub was just over half full and extremely cold.

From the corner of my eyes, I could see two hands: one had a rag that dipped into the water, and the other hand reached out to grab me.

I watched as the hand with the rag violently scrubbed my coal-like skin as if trying to rub my skin raw.

As one scrubbed me down, the other just held onto my arms, making sure I wouldn't move.

After a while of only hearing the sound of water shifting and the sound of furious scrubbing, I finally heard the two start to speak.

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The young lady, who was violently scrubbing the boy, spoke. 

"Uh! This dark stuff isn't coming off."

"Maybe we should try hot water instead." The person holding down the boy spoke, looking toward the other lady. 

"I don't think the sisters will let us boil water, Morna." 

"Well, we could just try, Morya."

"Fine, I'll ask the sisters." Moyra slapped the wet rag on the side of the tub and got up.

She got up, wiped her wet hands on the worn brown robes that she wore, and walked out of the room.

As her friend walked out of the room, Morna got up to stretch.

There was a thought that was constantly in Morna's mind ever since they were given this child by their elder sister.

Orphans were very rare here in the capital. Most people who lived here were either wealthy, students, farmers, craftsmen, or at least part of one of the three major factions. 

For all of these groups of people, having more children would be a great thing, wouldn't it?

Morna looked at things from the perspective of an adult village girl. Back in the village where she and her best friend Moyra lived. Back in the village, it was normal for people to have lots of children. As long as there was enough food, people usually had a lot of children. Her uncles and aunts were always trying to have more children; if they had more kids, it meant there would be more people to work, which would lead to more money.

Morna's heart jumped as she heard the door open and saw the elder sister walk into the room, followed by Moyra.

The elder sister was older than both Moyra and Morna combined. The older lady looked down at the boy with a grimace.

"So you bathed him correctly?" the elder sister asked with an inquisitive tone.

"Yes, elder sister," Moyra answered. 

The elder system reached down to pinch the kid with coal skin. She pinched him with her index finger and thumb.

Her fingers moved back and forth on his skin. After a while, she let go of him and touched parts of his chest and face. 

The boy's skin was as dark as coal, but it also had deep skin fissures that almost perfectly blended into his dark skin.

If the elder sister wasn't so close, she would not even have noticed the fissures in his skin.

After examining his skin, the elder sister sighed and said,It seems we will need to get a doctor to look at him."

"Wait! Do you think he has a disease?" Morna yelled in fear at the thought.

"I don't want to look like that!"

"Hush Child! He is awake." The elder sister yelled 

"He's Awake!" Morna and Moyra both recoiled in surprise. 

"Yes! And he has been ever since I walked in here! I hope both of you were polite.

"Yes, elder sister, we were."

"Clean him up and leave him here; I will get a doctor to check him."