28th Summer, 515AV
"Aya, I'm thirsty."
The Myrian could not help but release a small groan and roll her eyes. It seemed her adopted son was permanently thirsty or hungry. Or tired, or bored. Or too hot, too cold. Ayatah was quite sure that she had never been quite so demanding as a child. But then again, Myrian children were always so busy with chores, that they never had enough time to realise they were bored or tired until nighttime -- at which point the thing of most import was getting one of the comfier beds in the Longhouse.
"Kuame, we've only been out for five chimes. I told you eat and drink before we left." Despite her frustration, Ayatah's voice as soft. She could hardly blame her son for being thirsty, and it would pain her to do so anywhere. Nevertheless, Kuame fell silent and Aya did not need to look at his face to know he was pouting. Aya sighed. She lent precariously to the left of her mount, releasing the leather satchel of water that hung on the horse's saddlebags. Sittig upright again, she handed the skin to Kuame, who was riding a smaller mount on her right. " We have only one skin of water and if we're to spend the day out, we'll need to find a source of water to refill it. We can... turn it into a game."
Kuame drank deeply, and Aya surveyed him for a chime. The boy rode with more skill than she did, by a long way. She was too tense and nervous on horseback to go any faster than walking, yet Kuame was always itching to break into a trot. Of course she didn't allow him to; visions of the boy falling off his pony and shattering into shards haunted her.
"Thank you, Aya."
He was such a polite boy. Ayatah could not help but smile as she took the waterskin off her son. The flask felt far lighter now, and she twisted in her saddle to search the immediate area for a source of water - a river, a well, anything. Old habits died hard, and this Myrian knew the risks of leaving home without enough water. Even though she was only going on a day out with her son, and not hunting Dhani in the humid jungle of Falynder, the risk of dehydration hung at the back of her mind.
"I think there's something over there." She said, pointing a short way off the Kabin Road. A squat structure stood amongst the grasses and flowers, breaking above the sea of green. "Let's go and investigate."
Ayatah had not seen the well before, but she was still a newcomer to Riverfall and in the process of familiarising herself with the city. The well itself looked well maintained; there was no mould, moss or filth around the bricks of the low structure, but Aya was still cautious. Stagnant water could carry diseases, after all.
Upon closer inspection, the Myrian's confidence only shrunk. The water within the well looked... off. Instead of being dark or blue - or even green in hue - it looked red. Her immediate thought was blood, but when Ayatah reached down and skimmed the water with the tip of her finger, the liquid felt cool and too thin to be blood. When she raised her damp fingers to her nose, Aya smelt nothing untoward. Perhaps the water was flavoured with some sort of spice? It seemed unlikely, but then again so did red water. The realms of her possibility were already being called into question. She chewed her lip.
"Aya, that water looks funny!" Kuame, with the innocence and excitement of a child, giggled and tried to mimic his mother in touching the water. The boy couldn't reach by a long way, but he didn't seem fazed. In fact, something else caught his eye. "Look, there's a cup!
Indeed there was: and this added to Ayatah's confusion. Clearly, whomever had designed this well had intended on someone to drink it -- but why? Poison, perhaps? But as Ayatah gazed into the shimmering reddness, her mouth began to dry and swallowing became tricky. She was suddenly extremely thirsty, and not for the warm water that was contained in the waterskin, but the cool red liquid that winked back up at her.
Immediately she reached down to the cup, clasping it and filling it to the brim. Before Kuame could tell her careful Aya!, the Myrian had raised the cup to her lips and drank. The water was cool, perfect, as it ran down her throat. It tasted no different to every other drip of water she'd drank, and yet it was utterly delicious. Ayatah did not stop drinking until every last drop of her cup was empty.
And when she lowered it, Ayatah wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Only it wans't her hand anymore. Whatever she had touched felt bristly, furry. Horrified and confused, she stared at the back of her hand in shock. It too was hairier than before.
"Aya!" Kuame cried, his voice a mix of amusement and shock, "you're a man!"
