Paradise lost, Paradise found

 

He woke thirsty, having no idea how long he had been sleeping.



But it seemed to be nighttime as the big one had entered the hut, he was in, with a light in his hand.

Whimpering he tried to speak to the big one, twittering and chirping that he was thirsty, sounding raspy because his throat was so dried out.



The big one crouched down in front of him before leaving again, coming back with another fish which made him squeak frustrated, starting to lick and gnaw at the twigs that were so hard and cold but seemed to stiffle his thirst a bit, even when it was just illousion because of the coolness.



This seemed to make the mer think, while the small argonian chewed on the bars to get off some frustration,the mer fetched a bowl with water, holding it near the bars which made the youngster stick his snout as far through the bars as he could, trying to reach the water when the mer tilted the bowl slightly for him to reach the liquid.



Greedily it was slurped up and before the mer could take the bowl back, small hands shoot forward and grabbed the wrist of the mer who gasped, but held still, maybe fearing that otherwise the claws may shreed his wrist while the animal chattered fast and high pitched, rubbing the warm scaled snout over his fingertips.



But as the animal tried to drag him nearer that was too much, snatching his hand back while the lizard whined and chirped.

If he didn´t know it better, the thing looked pleadingly and had some intelligence...maybe it was more intelligent than other lizards.



They knew about some bipedal lizards, but this one looked very different and it was sea dwelling, smaller.

The Argonians they knew were rough and brutal, sneaky beasts, only good for hard work..fairly intelligent.

Maybe they had found a new species of argonians.



The question was, if it was an argonian, was its nature more docile, was it intelligent enough to be usefull, at least maybe like a dog..and for what exactly could it be useful?



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It was frustrating that the big light one didn´t understand him, their tongue was hard to imitate, maybe because they didn´t have a snout and he had one, but he also had no idea what their words meant.

Cowering in this small cage made his limbs and back ache, he also missed the sun...would he stay here forever?

He had tried to talk with the other one who had given him water, thanking him, asking if he could leave here, what they wanted...but the stranger seemed to fear him...a child...true, his teeth were sharp but..he was just a child.





He didn´t remember how he came to end up sleeping, or that the mer had cast a sleeping charm over him.

Waking up how he had fallen asleep on top of the blankets he shivered..it was not warm enough.

Not even the blankets could help much with warming him up. Normally he could enjoy the sun and savour the heat during the day, especially because he didn´t have the feathers of an adult and couldn´t regulate his bodytemperature as good as them.



He was poked and there was fish and water, but he only tried to dig himself further into the blanket, the poking was persistent and he squeaked agitated but too tired to do more, in the end enduring it without moving.

This was when another spell hit him and he was not able to move, even when now he wanted to move and some refreshing but very sour liquid was forced down his throat.



Not beeing able to voice his displeasure for now he was put flat on the ground. As his mind cleared he realised that the less friendly big one was also here while the one who had feed him did something..he didn´t know what but his limbs were pulled, he was pinched and poked and he disliked it..and his fear came back also.



Spells, he knew what spells were, they had magic but..this was just so strange and he felt sick again when they dumped him back in the cage where he could move again, hiding in the blankets while the two others talked before the more friendly one bent down.





His tone was ...nice and he chirped back even when he was now a bit more wary after this strange treatment. But he felt better than before, so maybe this had been done to make him feel better.



Even when the youngling had no idea what the mer said, it was nice to talk..to hear someone say something that sounded nice and he poked his snout out between the bars, chattering in a low voice.



The next second pain went like lightning through his face as the other mer hit his snout with the staff.

It was both the fright and the pain that made him screech, bumping against the bars as he twitched back, away from what had given him pain.



He could only whine low while his eyes teared up and snot and spit ran down his snout

For the moment he was lost with his pain and the blood rushing in his ears so he didn´t see or hear what went on outside the cage until the throbbing died down and he could breath normally again.





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The mer was furious with the other one, that he had interfered in such a way when there wasn´t any danger, maybe even damaging the lizard so he needed to use another potion. Especially because the animal already was ill and weakened and he didn´t know for sure if his potions would work the same as for a mer.



How could he do his research when others interfered in such a way? It wasn´t even as if he was near enough that the lizard could have bitten him, he should have sent the brute of a mage away which he did now...too late, but better than if the lizard would take another hit.



Others would say he was too soft with the beasts, but didn´t they themselves care for  beasts, like their horses, precious dogs or falcons?



And as he turned and saw the lizard clean its face with the corner of a blanket, it clearly was more than a normal, low minded lizard.

He went to cut an apple, taking it out of the bowl on his desk, crouching down near the cage where the lizard eyed him warily, dropping a piece of the fruit in the cage to see if it would take the food, if it would like it and if he could coax the beast to come near...maybe train it like a dog or falcon with pieces of food.



At least the beast didn´t seem to need constantly seawater like a fish would, smiling as the lizard picked up the applepiece, sniffing and even chewing it, not swallowing it whole like the fish. But he doubted that sweet things would be a good thing for a seacreature even when it made a good treat to train the animal.



The next piece was held out, near the cage so the lizard had to pick it from his hand, cautionally looking at him before the food was snatched away and eaten with haste.



"Apple" he tried, holding the next piece, taking a bite himself "Eating". Some of the beasts had learned their language after months or years. It was too much to ask that this one might learn it so soon or ever, but if he didn´t try it, how would they know?







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His hope that they would now give him the better tasting food he desired was soon squashed after he tried to imitate the word that the mer used to describe the fruit.A fruit he hadn´t  known, but it was much better than the fish.

His word was far from perfect, but maybe when he learned it he would get another fruit, staring frustrated at the fish they had given him after the elf had feed him the fruit and had left to do something else, whatever that was.



The fruit had made him even more hungry and so he swallowed the slimy thing whole to avoid tasting more of the fish than neccessary.

He was sick of beeing in the cage, beeing so much alone and having no company when at home, there was always someone, there was always talking and singing. Trying to form the word the big one had told him didn´t occupy him for long.

He was soon bored, mumbling the word and trying to make his throat and tongue work in a different way.





No sleep came, only more frustration until he started to screech for company which became louder the longer there was no reaction, comforting himself with the noise he made when there was no one talking, only the noise of the hut moving on the water and the people walking around on and in the big swimming hut.





His screams for company brought unfortunally someone else as the door swung open and banged against the wall as the angry mage stormed in, swinging his staff which made the cage tumble up in the air and crash against the wall once, twice, again.

Now the argonians screams were ones of fear, holding onto the bars, the unyielding iron twigs, the next scream was one of pain as clawed fingers were caught between bar and wall and he tried to roll into himself to be dropped before he could do so, laying dazed on the bars, one blanket half out of the cage, the other over him.



His hand was painfull, but his head seemed worse at the moment, whimpering. He heard argueing loud and aggressively, but couldn´t open his eyes, didn´t want to.





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How could the idiot... he knew the mage had a temper but that was not excuseable with it. If he hadn´t stepped in in time the mage might even had killed the lizard and than the only thing he could have learned from it, would have been to dissect and study its innards.



"Out!" he bellowed after he had thrown some heavy words at the other mer "And don´t you dare to make some feeble excuses of it attacking" oh that the other had the guts to say something about the lizard attacking him, sure the screeches were horrible to their ears but it didn´t require such a brutal act.



The trunk was searched for the right potion he could give the lizard who surely had gotten injured, he just hoped a general healing aid would be enough, pouring it into a bowl and trying to make the animal drink it.



"Come, drink it..I know you can not understand what I say but I hope my actions speak better than my mouth can."

At least the bit of trust he had wasn´t shattered by the other mer and the small animal sipped the concotion, nuzzling his fingers which made him smile. It would be a strange dog, a scaled one, but he could only think of it as a young dog.



As he tried to leave it squeaked again, watching him as it had freed itself from the blankets and pressed itself against the cage, scraping with its claws over the floorboards.

If he left, the screeching might start again, but what should he do, he couldn´t take the cage with him and couldn´t let the animal run free.

"Pssh, be quiet I come back soon" laying his finger against his lips before leaving and hoping the lizard stayed quite for some time.





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He was quite frightened and didn´t want the big one to leave, but he stayed quiet. He hadn´t understood the words, but the gesture and what had happened before made him stay as quite as possible, huddling under the blankets and checking himself over, if it was real that the pains were gone.



Than the nice one came back with someone else..the dark one who had carried his cage down here iton this small hut in the big swimming hut. But he didn´t like what he saw ..what they carried. Strange ropes, some with the same hard and cool wood that made his cage.

And before he could so much as squeak he was hit with something and couldn´t move any longer, only his eyes could move and he tried to see as much as possible when he was lifted out of his safe place, ropes were wrapped around his snout and head, his ankles and wrists before the magic was lifted.





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It was the only idea he had, when the little thing behaved like a frightened dog, why not try this?

They had dogs with them and also muzzles, so he took the forger with him who fitted the muzzle for the lizard, adding or taking away from the chains that linked the leather together to form the muzzle and the cuffs that would keep the animal from fleeing or attacking.

All the parts were connected with the harness around the body, fastening a leash to it.

Surely it was more than overdone, more to ease the mind of the people here on the ship and to keep the lizard safe from them than the other way round.





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He didn´t understand why they did that, not at first. It felt strange and it made him nervous as he could move again, fleeing into the corner between his cage and some big box at the wall while the dark skinned one seemed amused as he walked out and the light, big one tugged on the rope he had in his hand, speaking strange but in a nice tone with him.



Did that mean he could go outside? Warily he stretched himself, growling softly as he could fully stretch himself for the first time since the day he was fished out of the water. There were still places that hurt and the thing they made him wear was strange and partly uncomfortable heavy, irritating him who had never worn something similiar, not even clothing.



The latticework that kept him from opening his maw fully was especially unnerving..but if it helped him to get out, get some sun and not be kept in the cage, he would endure it and be..nice...as far as he could understand what they wanted from him.



Walking on all fours, crouching made him feel safer, following the tug. But as soon as they were out of the small hut and in the big one he had to fight the urge to scramble back into his cage or up the back of the light one when he encountered so many strange beeings.



They walked and talked and glanced at him and he kept as near to the light one as possible, trying to hide behind him as he was lead out of the hut