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It felt like a second skin that clawed and nibbled at his burns. It felt like poison, like sickness.
“Peace, brother.” The amalj’aa’s voice beside him rumbled as deep as mountain’s roots, yet a subtle gentleness weighed every syllable. A clawed finger, almost as thick around as his own forearm, softly lowered his hands from his face. “Your eyes will not heal if you remove the bandage so soon.”
Disgruntled notes slipped from V’qoja’s lips, a hissed melody of frustration. This blindness, however temporary, unnerved him. The darkness, the vulnerability of being unable to see a coming foe, the fear that this blackness was all that awaited him in the future – all of it frightened him. Absently, he reached up once more to fiddle with the damp cloth around his eyes, only to be stopped once again by the amalj’aa warrior beside him.
Medicine. That’s what his Ash Brothers told him – this was medicine to ease the burns and help his eyes, prevent his sight from further deteriorating. But the damp cloth just felt like it was heating up old wounds, as if a tiny thousand insects were clawing, clawing, clawing away at his burns.
Ramovv Gah sighed, deep enough that Qoja felt the rumble in the amalj’aa’s chest. “Does your warrior spirit flee you in the dark? Be still, brother.”
Sharper tones composed the melody of V’qoja’s reply, a clipped hiss of notes without any malice. He knew his brothers recognized what ailed him, though Ramovv seemed to think they were problems V’qoja would and should outgrow. But the darkness pressed around his hunched shoulders, oppressive as the nearby crackle of the fire roared too loud in his ears. If it weren’t for Ramovv forcing him, he would never sit this close to a fire in Thanalan, especially not without his sight.
“Careful, or our brother might challenge you to a sparring match to sharpen his claws upon your hide,” Yalujj Bol spoke up from across the fire pit. Amidst the crackle of the prodded fire, the amalj’aa’s chuckle rang as a comforting sound in the darkness to V’qoja, “You tease him too much.”
“You coddle him too much. Is he not a warrior amongst us?” Ramovv grumbled and placed a large, scaled claw upon V’qoja’s head suddenly, which caught the young miqo’te unaware. “What has a warrior to fear?”
V’qoja complained in small chirps and childish notes as he reached up to push away Ramovv’s hand, only to be reprimanded once more when he paused to fiddle with the bandage around his eyes. His tail thumped against the ground and raised a small puff of dirt as the faint hint of a pout settled around his shoulders. Stupid Ramovv.
“You are a warrior unburdened,” Yalujj said simply and prodded the fire.
Ramovv grunted in reply, removed their claw from atop V’qoja’s head, and said nothing more. Even when V’qoja stilled, angled his ears and then tilted his head towards the amalj’aa, Ramovv remained silent. Moments passed, filled with only the crackle of the fire and the soft noise of other Ash Brothers busying themselves in the camp.
How unusual for Ramovv, of all his brothers, to fall quiet like this. Darkness loomed oppressive, suffocating even, with this strange silence coupled with his blindness. The bandage hurt, licking away at his burns with a flame’s tongue and those insects continued clawing, clawing, clawing away.
A small frown on his lips, V’qoja very slowly and carefully – extremely mindful of the fire in front of him – inched his way closer to Ramovv. Even with the warm ground beneath him, his brothers surrounding him, and the simple knowledge that he was safe did little to dispel the overwhelming fear that the next move would be his last. What if he shifted and fell straight into the fire? The mere thought of flames licking his skin, searing another burn into his flesh left a cold, gnawing terror within him.
With tentative claws, he reached out, searching and gliding his hands over the desert ground until he found Ramovv’s large leg, the amalj’aa’s right thigh if Qoja remembered correctly. His hands reached up, searching.
“What are you doing, brother?” Ramovv grumbled and placed their large hand atop the miqo’te’s head, “Be still.”
V’qoja chirped at the touch, mildly startled without his sight, but quickly ducked down and pressed himself against Ramovv. Legs pulled in close and tail curled around him, V’qoja made himself right at home against Ramovv’s scaly side. In the darkness, he heard Yalujj’s laughter from across the fire pit.
“May hap he will settle now,” the amusement in Yalujj’s voice was practically palpable, to which Ramovv only grumbled.
A pleased note purred in V’qoja’s throat, his tail lazily tapping the ground. The bandages still burned – the insects still adamant at clawing away at his burns – but feeling the presence of another person beside him provided some means of distraction. Soothing almost, to feel that even in this blind darkness he was not alone. Even without his sight, the world still –
“Will you not listen, child?” Ramovv scolded, once again their hands pulled V’qoja’s away from his face. “Do not touch it.”
A symphony of complaints rose, a frown upon V’qoja’s lips as he leaned back and lifted his face up to Ramovv, who did not let go of his hands this time.
Yalujj merely laughed. “It seems we need a better distraction for our brother.” A sudden loud crackle from the direction of the fire pit told V’qoja Yalujj was prodding the flames once more. “How about a tale?”
Immediately V’qoja stilled, ears perked to attention.
“You coddle him too much.”
“It serves its purpose.” Yalujj leaned back, their metal necklace chimed a tune as they repositioned and settled in. “Now listen well little warrior…–”