A Day Out with Daddy

[Devon]

Lucid swung happily from his father's arm as the two of them walked the streets of Ronduin. Kalian smiled at his son as he listened intently to Lucid talk of random things he had learned. Some of which a six year old shouldn't be asking about just yet.

"Dad, dad, dad," Lucid repeated. "Come over here!" Lucid ran off into the crowd, eager to look around more with his father. Kalian chuckled and chased after.

[Darastrix]

As the child ran through the crowd, he crossed the path of a large (especially to a child) bird with a long, crescent-shaped bill. Screeching indignantly, the long-legged waterfowl fluffed out its feathers and fanned out its wings to make itself look even larger, thrusting its bill towards the child.

[Devon]

Lucid stopped in front of the bird anxiously watching it with a mix of fear and intrigue. As the bird moved closer, the child backed away. "Dad! Come look at this!" Kalian followed after his son and saw the bird thrusting his bill at Lucid, tapping his water sign he shot a small stream at the bird. "Lucid, step away from that bird."

[Darastrix]

The ibis simply turned its head to look at Kalian and flapped its wings, undisturbed by the water.

"Iah, leave the child alone," a quiet voice said as a young man stepped away from a merchant's stall and toward the bird, who folded its wings and chattered at its companion. The man didn't appear to have any bestial features, though his rather odd hair, which was black in front and reddish-orange in back, mimicked the ibis' own colouring.

"I apologise if Iah scared you," the man said to Lucid. Turning to the boy's father, he added, "He wouldn't hurt him, I promise."

[Devon]

Lucid shook his head and quickly replied, "I'm not scared." Kalian sighed and approached the man who owned the bird. "Sorry about dousing your bird there. I'm Kalian and this is my son Lucid." Lucid who was preoccupied with trying to pet Iah, turned to face his father and the man and waved as a greeting.

[Darastrix]

"Ibises are water birds, he didn't really mind," the man said with a soft chuckle. "But he's not my bird. That implies ownership. He's a friend and companion, not a pet. My name is Thoth," he added, bowing slightly. "Iah, you've already met, of course."

[Devon]

"Right, I'm sorry all the same Thoth," Kalian said. Lucid looked up at Thoth and said, "Where did you find your friend Iah? I want a pet, but dad says I'm not ready for one yet."

[Darastrix]

"I didn't really find him," Thoth said, smiling at Lucid as he adjusted his glasses. "He found me, or we found each other. I'm a Beast, you see." He drew back the right sleeve of hie robe to reveal the sign on the back of his forearm.

[Devon]

Lucid stares at the beast sign in awe. "I met a beast before," the boy said. "She was really nice, she had wolf ears. Do you have bird ears? Wait..birds don't have ears. Do birds have ears Thoth?"

[Darastrix]

"They do," he replied, sounding amused. "Their ears are just on the inside so you can't see them as well."

[Devon]

Lucid promptly sat down in front of Thoth and eagerly waited to hear more about birds. "I'm sorry about this, my son always gets excited about these kinds of things," Kalian said, somewhat enjoying his son's behaviour.

[Darastrix]

"Um, what kinds of things?" Thoth asked, looking down at Lucid with a bemused expression. He had no idea what the child was doing.

[Devon]

"Oh, he gets excited about anything he doesn't know himself," Kalian replied. "Since I am fisherman I can only teach him so much. I have to admit I'm disappointed with myself because of it." Lucid tugged at Thoth's sleeve and asked, "What else do you know about birds?"

[Darastrix]

"I'm not really a bird expert," the ibis-affinity said, running a hand back through his short bangs. "I'm just very close to Iah's breed; I don't study them. I'm an astrologer."

[Devon]

"An astrologer?" Lucid was confused by the term, he hadn't heard it before. "What does an astrologer do?"