One Curious Kobold

[lurkingkobold]

It's winter, and all is well with the tribe. Their new magic, an ability to make portals from one place to another, which was found by one of their members during the early-summer trip to meet with the other tribes in the area, let them both build up a decadent food stockpile and move to a much deeper part of the cave system without the worry of being unable to find their way back out. No-one has had to go hungry, and even the fiercest ice storm doesn't reach them; they are as content as kobolds can be.

Well, aside from their new mage, that is. She's bored, and curious. Making portals to known places is straightforward enough, with the magic she found, but that's far from the limit of what it can do... so one day, she slips away, portals off to a different cave system - one can't be too careful, after all - and experiments.

Temperature roughly the same... gravity roughly the same... air the same, not into stone or underwater or in a volcano or on top of a mountain... but, instead of patterning it after a place she knows, what happens if she only specifies those things, and lets the innate patterns of the spot she's casting on do the rest? Particularly this one part, which seems to specify the world...

She finishes the spell, and hesitates for just a moment before activating it.

Comments

[lurkingkobold]

Humans and their sleep needs, yes.

The kobold should head home - the new bellpull helps for emergencies, but she still needs to be part of her tribe if she wants to keep being part of her tribe - but Kiri can call her if they need her, and she'll be back in... eight, now?... days to check on the portal frames.

[calescent]

"I probably won't need you, but you are welcome to hang around, I like you."

[lurkingkobold]

Aww. The feeling is pretty mutual, actually. The kobold is kind of flinchy, underneath everything else, about the idea of being separated from her tribe for too long or endangering her ability to go back to them, but she might come hang out sometimes, when it won't interfere with that.

[calescent]

Scritch scritch. "Besides, I have all the books."

[lurkingkobold]

She snickers. What a cunningly baited trap, she would be in some trouble if she couldn't teleport.

[calescent]

Giggle.

[lurkingkobold]

Giggle indeed.

The kobold can hang out for a little while, but Kiri should probably be getting to bed before too long.

[calescent]

Yawn. Yes. This is true.

...Maybe one more magic paper.

[lurkingkobold]

Sure, she can stay that long.

[calescent]

One more magic paper. Scritch scritch and now bedtime.

[lurkingkobold]

Scritch scritch, and home she goes.

Eight days later she turns up in Kiri's living room, carrying an egg.

[alicornucopia]

The living room is empty.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold settles into a chair to wait for someone to come by; if that takes more than twenty minutes or so, she'll go to the kierten and talk to Kiri through their bracelet.

[liakoura]

Aleko wanders in about fifteen minutes later. "Oh! You are here. Here you are. Kiri! The kobold is back!"

[calescent]

"Coming!"

Kiri walks in.

[lurkingkobold]

Hi!

Scritches?

[calescent]

Scritches! "I see you have an egg. ...I can read this egg. This egg is developed enough to read."

[lurkingkobold]

...oh, huh. That probably shouldn't've been a surprise. She can keep it out of Kiri's range if they'd like?

[calescent]

"Yes please. Is it going to hatch very soon?"

[lurkingkobold]

The egg can go back on the chair, then, there we go.

It will be hatching fairly soon, yes - she doesn't know exactly when, but probably after at least two or three days and no more than ten.

She hopes that a kobold who's been around both kobolds and people who do ownership from a very young age will be able to bridge that cultural gap more easily than she can; given how big of a deal that will be if it works, she'd like to try it sooner rather than later. But if Kiri would rather not be involved with that, she can put the egg back where it came from, that's fine.

[calescent]

"I mean, I don't strictly mind having a baby kobold around - although it would make it more inconvenient that you don't have names - but don't they imprint? If it hatches and sees me, or Aleko, or Jayce, or the cook, or - anyone - that's a pretty serious commitment."

[lurkingkobold]

They do, but it's fairly obvious when an egg is about to hatch if you're paying attention - the soon-to-be-hatchling starts making noise a few hours ahead of time; here's what that sounds like - so taking it off somewhere private shouldn't be a problem.

[calescent]

"So you're going to imprint it on you? ...Is this your egg?"

[lurkingkobold]

...yeees?

Nobody is going to be upset about her having this egg, kobolds don't work that way.

[calescent]

"...Okay. I wonder if baby kobolds learn language by exposure or if they have to be trying like you were trying."