Hovering on the Edge

Merridia nodded, and carefully took the small little lizard from Lyth's hand, holding him gently. "I'll go and look for some things to help warm him up," she replied, her hands cupping around him to help warm up the small brown gecko. She walked into the forest, remembering a spot with some dry moss, hoping there was still some left; Merridia occasionally looked down at the creature she held so carefully. "Don't worry," she whispered reassuringly, "Soon you will be nice and warm." For the first time in years, she actually had a small smile on her face, strange how something so small could make a big difference.

There certainly was a lot of talk about fires- which, in most cases, were terribly destructive and crackly, but were awfully warm even so. He was feeling much better now that his bones didn't feel like they would snap from cold, and though these not-rock beings had a habit of flashing their large teeth a lot, at least they were speaking a recognizable language. Especially the female-looking thing that was currently carrying him- nice and warm, he did like the idea of that.

Though it would have been appropriate to quote a scripture or something, they all still seemed a bit long and a bit hard on his still-sore throat. But just to make sure that they understood that he was thankful, Claudius nodded at the female-creature and croaked something along the lines of;

"T-thanks!"

"Alright, sounds good," Lyth nodded to Merridia. As the girl walked off, Lyth sat next to the pile of sticks and began starting a fire. It was a rather difficult and tedious task, but she did not think much of it. Finally a spark lit and she carefully blew on it until it became a flame. From there it did not take long for the wood to catch fire. Sitting close with her legs crossed, she held out her hands letting them warm in the fire. It felt nice and provided a nice light as the day grew dimmer and dimmer. Deciding to go see if Merridia needed help, she stood back up, grabbed a large stick from the fire to light the way, and walked through the woods, following the girl's tracks in the snow.

Merridia stopped walking for a little bit, a hint of surprise on her face, "You talked!" Her exclamation was still quiet, though a little louder than her whispers. She blinked her blue eyes before resuming to look for some dry things for the lizard to lay in. She had found a batch of dry moss and gathered it up, careful not to drop the creature she was holding. When Merridia felt that she had enough for him, she walked back the way she had come, her pace a little faster. On the way back, she almost bumped into Lyth, but she had stopped just in time. "Lyth, this lizard can talk!"

Silly creature. Of course he could talk! Most of what moved could talk, including the desert rabbits and birds, though they didn't speak a very common language. Pretty much anything could talk, except for bugs, as they were not beloved by the gods because they were crunchy and delicious and the humble mortal servants of the divine needed something to eat.

That, however, was beside the point. Perhaps not too many things talked in these foreign places? That was probably the case-not even the gods could like it here in this cold, miserable place. These tall creatures, however, did talk, so the gods must smile upon them too. Content that he could trust these females, he decided to confirm the one holding him's statement.

" 'Course I ca-can t-talk."

As Lyth continued searching for Merridia, she heard running and then the girl nearly ran right into her. Lyth's eyes grew very large at what she said. She glanced down at the lizard in the girl's hand closely. "It can...talk?" Was this girl hallucinating? Lyth shook her head. She shouldn't think such things, that was not very nice. But could a lizard really talk? Lyth almost jumped back when the lizard said something. "Gracious, it can talk!" she exclaimed. But then she began thinking; why not? She knew of many animals that could talk. She had even had conversations with some. Why would a lizard be that different? So with this thought, she smiled at the lizard. "Hello there," she said to it. "Do you have a name?"