Forever Caged [Complete]

Chapter 6: Learn


Reyvn found the suitcase he recognized from the mansion, and paused. He gingerly went to it and opened it up, and saw that it only contained his clothes. Several sheets of paper were tucked into a side pocket, and he inspected them. They had symbols he recognized but could not read, so he gave up and picked out a few things to get dressed. It was dark, as always, and he picked out a combination of black, gold, and blue.

Piles of sausages and six different kinds of eggs stood with jars of jam, butter, pancakes, coffee and juices. Cherry wiped off her forehead; she had really outdone herself this time. She hollered up the stairs to Lesara and Reyvn. Lesara was down the stairs in a flash, ready to devour once-living things.

Reyvn heard the yell, but didn't rush. He brushed his hair again quickly, and straightened out his clothes. He'd picked out a deep blue loose turtleneck shirt that was tight around his waist, and black pants. The shirt had little metallic gold designs around the edges of the sleeves, and a larger design around the collar. He hadn't bothered to dress his feet. He found his way downstairs, and eventually into the kitchen.

Cherry and Lesara were already sitting at the table, and Lesara had just shoved a large hunk of sausage in his mouth. Cherry looked at Reyvn in approval, with a hint of I-might-rape-you in her eyes.

"Haff a feet." Lesara was talking around his sausage and he pointed to an empty chair closest to the pancakes.

Reyvn looked between both of them, then at the heaping pile of food on the table. He'd never seen such a spread at once. He took the seat Lesara indicated, and with a fork picked out two pancakes, one sausage, and some crumbly yellow and white stuff that he supposed were eggs. He reached for what he was pretty sure was syrup, and drizzled a little on his plate. He glanced up again, to make sure everything was ok, then took a bite of the sausage first.

Lesara was happily shoving sausage chunks in his mouth. He learned long ago that with a body as big as his, manners were optional. Cherry was busy drowning her pancakes in syrup, having learned her master's sense in manners.

Reyvn watched them, shocked. His previous master would have killed him for such behavior! But of course, he said nothing, and continued to eat. He finally worked up the courage to try the eggs, and was glad he did. They were delicious! He allowed himself a small feeling of joy, and then got the bright idea to soak some of the eggs into the syrup puddle.

Having noticed he took a bite of the eggs, Lesara asked Reyvn, "Fo waddaya fink?" He swallowed and readied a hunk of pancake. "Good, huh?"

"Yes, they're great," Reyvn said enthusiastically but still softly. He then took another bite, for the first time in a long while enjoying something that had absolutely nothing to do with being naked.

"Good, good. You need to gain a little meat on your bones. Don't worry about meals here, the kitchen is free game when Cherry's not cooking." Lesara gulped down another forkload of pancakes, and started again. "Soon, I'm going to give you a tour of the place, and assign you your duties. Got any hobbies?"
Cherry winked at him and nibbled on the end of a sausage she had speared with her fork.

Reyvn just listened, and sagged slightly at the mention of duties. He didn't know why he was hoping for something else. After all, he was just a slave. Pretty, yes, but a slave. He was about to nod in agreement, then paused and swallowed his food. "...What's a hobby?" It was a new word to him. He didn't even see what Cherry did.

Lesara almost choked on his pancake chunk and had to clear his throat. "You don't know what a hobby is? Well... let's see. It's something you like to do. Like Cherry here likes to cook, so that's what her duties are. Arna, who should be coming back from Rendell's in an hour, likes to run and climb, so he delivers messages and helps keep the gardens neat. It's how I'm going to figure out your chores. No sense in doing what you don't like."

"Oh...Weeell, I..." Reyvn paused, and really thought about it for a while. Just what -did- he enjoy doing? Koumori never let him explore his skills very much, but when the veran was away he would often sing to himself. He liked singing, but he didn't think it'd be useful to Lesara and opted to keep it to himself. He always thought the books that cluttered Koumori's shelves looked interesting, and always wanting to know their contents, but he only ever asked once if he could read one. Once was enough to make him never ask again. He frowned, and ate as he continued to think. He knew he liked flying, but he was certain that Lesara wouldn't allow it. What could he tell this man that was both useful and that he'd be allowed to do?

"You don't have to answer right away. I'm going to give you a tour to find out myself what duties need doing as well, so if you can't think of anything, I'll just let you pick what you think you'd be good for."

Cherry huffed a little when Lesara said that. He was never that nice with her. Then again, she had never been that nice with him.

Lesara continued, "There are plenty of smaller rooms here that you can start off in till you get an understanding of the house. This house itself is alive and has many enchantments on it. I have a book you could read on it so you can figure it out faster. Honestly, that's the only way to really go about learning the ins and outs of this place."

Reyvn just nodded at what Lesara said. It sounded good up until the book part, but even then it meant the naga would let him learn to read. Magic, however, he was familiar with. Koumori's mansion was so loaded down with it some days it was hard just to breathe. He finished his plate, and decided it was enough. All the food spread out still looked very enticing, but he knew better. All right, well, might as well bring it up. He kept his eyes downward, only daring a glance once at Lesara. "I was...never taught how to read. But, I'm good at everything else, and I don't mind cleaning up."

This boy was full of surprises! "Is that so? Well, we'll just have to fix that, I guess." Lesara pondered it for a moment. "I have an idea. You can help reorganize the library. We can teach you while doing that. Knocking two birds with one stone."

Reyvn perked up at the mention of a library and finally being taught something he'd wanted to do since childhood. A ghost of a smile played on his lips. "That would be wonderful." He almost sounded happy; if that were possible for one like him.

Lesara wolfed down another pancake, let out a silent belch and sat back and sighed as if sated. "I'm full. You're not going to eat anymore? You can have as much as you want you know."

Reyvn looked again at his empty plate, then shook his head. "No, I'm full." Which was true. Maybe not stuffed like Lesara or Cherry appeared, but satisfied.

"Alright then, that made things simple enough." Lesara scooted back. "But you still need a tour of the place to get an idea on your bearings. This place is easy to get lost in." Lesara nabbed Reyvn by the wrist and dragged him out. "Breakfast was wonderful, Cherry, do put the rest in the fridge!" he hollered over his shoulder. He turned back to Reyvn once he had dragged him out of earshot of the kitchen. "No one else is allowed in the library. You'll get some alone time in there if you want it."

Reyvn let Lesara lead him down the halls, paying close attention to everything. He looked up at the naga. Alone time? Really, whenever he wanted it? And no one else would be allowed in, except Lesara. That wasn't bad. He nodded. "That...sounds nice."

The naga waggled the tip of his tail. "We will devote two hours a day in teaching you to read though. I'll let you pick when that will be, I'm not sure of your sleeping pattern yet." He thought about it for a moment, and twirled a bit of his hair on his finger. "I should warn you, I don't sleep. I nap a lot."

Reyvn nodded. It all sounded good to him. "I just sleep when I can," he said softly. Which was true. Koumori was nocturnal, but woke up shortly before twilight and conducted business till almost noon. On the nights he didn't have much to do or was in a particularly foul mood, he took out his boredom or other emotions on Reyvn for anywhere from minutes to hours at a time. Reyvn had tended to the mansion whenever his master was not home or when he was simply told to do so, and just slept or stared out his window when he was left alone long enough.

Lesara made a bit of a face at that. "Well that's not healthy. Well, your start time is from when you wake up till when you eat lunch. Past that, you're free to do as you please, but Arna and Cherry just go back to work. Not that I'm complaining. We're very lax here, and I must say, it works rather well." They stopped in front of a set of large double doors. Two carved wooden lions stood on either side, taller than the naga. He grabbed Reyvn's wrist and pressed his hand against the door. What looked like gold flecks in the ancient wood began to sparkle and flow towards Reyvn's hand. "It's memorizing you. This is how I keep others out, but when it's done reading you, you can go in and out as you choose."

Again Reyvn simply nodded his agreement at Lesara's words. He gasped at seeing the wooden statues, never having seen anything like them in Koumori's mansion. He hadn't even had a proper library. Reyvn's eyes widened in wonder when Lesara suddenly took his hand and placed it on the door. He stared at the wood under his palm, felt it grow warm and tingle along his skin. His wings resonated their silent response, the violet edges glowing as the strange appendages lengthened several inches.

The golden flecks then began to disperse, and both lions bent their heads low. Snuffling noises could be heard from their polished noses. "Greetings. We are the keepers of this domain! Take what is yours and no more!" they both boomed. The force of their voices made Lesara almost tie his ears into knots. "Do not mind them. The worst they've ever done is eat someone, but he was coughed back up in a matter of hours."

Reyvn jumped back, and caught in the air for a handful of seconds. He was scared out of his wits! His wings fluttered, and his feet touched the ground again. He watched the lions warily, then stared up at Lesara, wide-eyed. "They've...e-eaten someone?"

Lesara watched Reyvn touch back down, and was amused. "Yes, because they did not belong here. They are connected to the doors." Lesara petted one affectionately. "Really, they're no more harmful than kittens once they've accepted you."

Lesara pushed the doors open to a big bright round room. One could have easily held a ball here, but would probably never know enough people to fill it. Tall bookshelves lined the circular room and framed three sets of very tall windows. Here and there, the bookshelves were interrupted by some stained glass windows, all part of Lesara's collection. By the largest window in the middle, there was a desk flanked by two tables, each with four chairs. More bookshelves spread out across the library, getting taller and taller as they reached the edges of the room. And each one was crammed to overflowing with books. 

"You may have noticed I'm a bit of a collector. If there's anything you want to read, I probably have it. Good luck finding it though... Which is where you come in."

Reyvn watched Lesara, still afraid of the statues. He'd ask what a kitten was later. For now, he followed Lesara in, and simply stopped and stared in awe once they passed the doorway. It was the largest room he had ever seen, and it put Koumori's book collection to shame. He turned slowly, in a full circle, looking up at every beautiful detail. And...it felt warm. He felt like he could actually find some solace here, and suddenly he felt calmer. The faintest hint of a smile played on his lips when he turned again to look at Lesara. "So you just want me to...learn how to read and organize everything, right?

Lesara crossed his arms and cocked his hips, inwardly pleased with himself. "Yes, though I will warn you, with a room this big, it's harder than it sounds." Lesara slithered quickly to the desk and pulled out a face mask from the top drawer. "This place accumulates a lot of dust, so you will need to wear this while working with it. Brushing the covers clean would also be nice, but you don't have to do that. And with some of these books, you don't want to do that."
Lesara then pointed to the stained glass windows. "Avoid those if you can. Some are a little loose and we don't need you cut up any more. And that is about the long and short of it." He held the mask out to Reyvn. "When you are done with cleaning and organizing, your task will simply be to overlook the place to make sure nothing happens. If it does happen, tell me." Lesara petted the boy's head. "And if those big kitties give you any trouble, let me know. Just yell, trust me, I'll hear."

Reyvn paid close attention to his instructions. He really didn't mind. After all, there was nothing but time. He took the mask from Lesara's hand, looking it over. He did recognize what it was; Koumori wore them a lot when he'd first been taken in. But this one was different and far less elaborate, and only covered the lower half of his face. His head tilted down with Lesara's petting, and his eyes rolled to look up again. "I will." He paused, thinking for a minute. "Um...What's a kitten?"

Lesara sighed. "That man didn't teach you a damn thing, did he? Those big things out there? They're lions. Lions are like giant cats. A kitten is a baby cat." Lesara made his way to a bookshelf, and trailed his fingertips, searching. After a moment, he pulled out a thin book with a pink cover and a small grey tabby on the front. The tabby had a large blue ribbon around its neck and a ball of yarn clamped between its paws.

"This is a kitten. They're small, like small enough to fit in my hand, and virtually harmless. The worst they can do is nick your skin if you pick them up wrong." He opened the book and skimmed its contents. This would be the perfect book to start teaching with. It was short, no more than two sentences on each page. "I think we'll start you off with books like these."

Reyvn came closer to Lesara to get a better look at the book. His eyebrows shot up at the utter cuteness of the little fuzzy thing. He watched the pages turn, thinking that the animal got cuter as the book continued. He nodded his agreement. It didn't really look like it was meant for older people, judging by its simplicity, but he didn't care. He was excited that he would finally be allowed to read. "That's fine," he said, the smile on his face starting to grow. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but he decided he liked it.

Lesara chuckled to himself. "As you clear the library, feel free to open up whatever you like, unless it has a strap around it. If it does it means that book is dangerous." He ruffled Reyvn's hair, and watched enviously as it settled down, seemingly untouched. "I'll let you pick out what you'd like to read, and I will teach you."

Reyvn just kept nodding at Lesara's words. It may have seemed like it wasn't really sinking in, but Reyvn's mind absorbed new things quickly and easily. After all, there was a lot of space to fill. "Can we start with this one?"

Lesara glanced at the book. "Hm. If you wish. I think it would be better to teach you your alphabet first." He led Reyvn to the desk and bid he sit down. "You see, written words are very very similar to spoken words. You string together symbols like you would sounds to make the word. In writing, words are separated by spaces." He opened the book and pointed to the first sentence, 'This is Mittens.'
"See how there are symbols crammed together? That is how you make a word. Each symbol in this language makes a different sound."

Reyvn sat down where Lesara pointed to, and watched and listened intently. It made sense to him, but at first he couldn't tell how many symbols were in each word. Then his eyes picked them out, and he started to grasp the concept. "So...there are three words here, right?" At least he knew how to count. "Does the dot at the end mean the end of words?" He assumed so, since nothing came after that dot.

Lesara was impressed. Despite having been taught almost nothing, the boy was brilliant. "Yes it does. There are different marks to indicate the end of a sentence, and can also tell you what that sentence means." He pointed to a question mark on the next page. "That squiggly line above the dot? That's a question mark. That means the sentence is in the form of a question."
"This line above the dot here means that the sentence is being shouted, or that there is extra emphasis on the importance of that phrase." He was beginning to get ahead of himself. "But first, we still need to teach you your alphabet in this language. When you learn to read this one, runes come next, then the Feyth tongue, and maybe even the language of your previous master if I have enough books." He assumed that once Reyvn grasped the concept of literacy, he would devour his library in a matter of weeks.

Reyvn memorized the symbols, and noticed patterns. At the beginning, a bigger symbol started the sentence, but only small ones followed it. It repeated after the dots and lines at the end of one sentence, and he wondered why. The only big symbol that appeared often in the middle of a phrase was 'M,' but he didn't understand its significance. He noticed the same set of symbols followed the M each time. He asked, "Do the larger symbols make something a more important word?"

"Hm?" Lesara scanned the lines quickly. "Yes, they do. The larger symbol is called a capital letter. It starts off a sentence, that's how you know it's the beginning. The smaller ones are called 'lower case.' In this language, the same letter has two appearances for that reason." He glanced over the book again. "The capital letters in the middle usually means it's a name." He pointed to the 'M' in the middle of 'Where is Mittens' yarn ball?' "See that? That is what I mean. Even in the middle of a sentence, you always start a name with a big letter."

Reyvn nodded. That made sense to him, since names were important. "So...what is the kitten's name?" Lesara may have been pointing at everything, but he wasn't reading aloud.

Lesara smiled. "Mittens. The kitten's name is Mittens." He went to a shelf and pulled out another book, one from when he was just a chubby boy with a nubby tail. It was cardboard, thick, easy for child's hands. He set the book down in front of Reyvn. "This here is a book of all those symbols. It will make reading that book," he pointed to the one Reyvn already had, "a lot easier." Lesara opened the book up. 'Alright,' he thought. 'Let's see how secluded you've been.' On the first page, there was a bright, shiny apple. Above it were the capital letters 'A' and the lower case 'a.' "Do you know what this is a picture of?"

Mittens? A cute name for a cute animal. It made him happy inside to know this. Reyvn looked up and watched Lesara move around. He looked back down as the new book was placed in front of him, and made a face. "It's an apple."

That was good. Reyvn wasn't that pent up. "Good. See the symbols above it? That's what the letter 'Apple' starts with. The letter 'A.'" Lesara went on to explain the sounds that it made, and went on to the next picture, which had a bird on it. "Please feel free to stop me if I'm overwhelming you."

Reyvn nodded. He recognized the next picture as a bird, and his body stilled for a brief moment. He remembered the blue birds again, and almost brought them up. He thought better of it, and shook the image away. "You're not overwhelming me," he said softly. "We only just started."

"Alright. This is the letter 'b.' It only makes one sound." He turned the page, and there was a fluffy grey and white cat. "This is the letter 'C,' as in 'Cat.' That is sort of what Mittens will look like when he's grown up." Lesara was incredibly surprised at how quickly the boy was picking this all up. Most normal people would have had trouble with the concept that one letter can make more than one sound, and the fact that Lesara did not have to wrestle this idea into Reyvn was a huge relief.

Reyvn's lips turned upward in a tiny grin at the sight of another cat. He decided he liked the little fuzzy creatures. He reached up and slowly turned the next page, and liked the way the paper felt under his fingers as he did so.

"That there is a dog. It starts with the letter 'D.' They're kind of like a cat, only bigger, louder, and honestly a little stupider. But they're very obedient if trained." Lesara tried to choose his words well, not sure what was safe to say. "Any questions?"

Reyvn decided that dogs were cute too, and he vaguely remembered seeing some from his early childhood. "Not really. It's all very easy to understand." Then he decided to ask, "What's a baby dog called?"

"A puppy. They're much smaller, obviously, and a lot cuter." Lesara let Reyvn examine the picture to his heart's content, and waited for him to turn the page. There was an eminell, a forit, a geatu, and so on after that. 

Reyvn's mind absorbed every last bit of what Lesara was telling him, eager to learn and hold onto this information he'd been longing for so many years. He flipped through the pages slowly, even memorizing the animals the book used to associate the letters with. Once they got to R, and he recognized the sound, he realized it sounded like the beginning of his own name. "This letter...would be the first in my name, right?" And there was in fact, a picture of a raven on the page, as well as a small rodent on another part of the page.

Lesara nodded. "That's right. Your name starts with the letter 'R.'" He smiled and wondered if he would catch what the bird was on the page. If he could watch his reaction to it, he might learn something about the boy he'd been wondering. 

Reyvn stared at the picture for a while, and an image flashed through his mind. He stilled again and his blue eyes widened. "I remember seeing a bird like this once, when I was little." He paused, thinking. Remembering. "Before...Koumori found me. There was this little black bird sitting on a sign next to me. Koumori said I couldn't tell him my name when we met, and that he named me after this bird." He said it all very softly, very quietly, as though he were stuck in some distant place. And perhaps he was. He shut his eyes and shook his head to clear the thoughts. He didn't want to think of Koumori anymore.

A look of surprise flashed across Lesara's face. He honestly didn't think the boy had it in him to say so much at once, but there it was. He nodded. "Ravens are beautiful birds, and in some cultures, they are considered a good omen." This wasn't quite what he wanted to see Reyvn do. It meant this boy was going to take a lot of coddling to get him out of his shell, but at least he knew he was making some sort of headway. "There are eight letters left to go. Would you like to call it a day?'

Reyvn shook his head again, quicker this time. "Mm, no, let's finish." He turned the page to the letter S, and didn't recognize the creature depicted on it. He asked Lesara about it, and once he was satisfied, continued. He was learning more than just letters today, and this pleased him. He liked learning new things. Finally they arrived on Z, and an odd hoofed creature was displayed on it. It had small horns on its head, four legs like most of the other animals, and was brown-furred with black stripes. Once he heard the sound of the letter, he tried saying the word. "Z...Zuh-t-ren..? Zootren?" It was spelled 'zutren,' but the last pronunciation was correct.

A wide grin threatened to crack Lesara's face. "Congratulations, you've read your first word." Maybe teaching him past this in this language would not be needed. All he needed to do now was get used to some of the weirder spellings and learn to write it. He placed an encouraging hand on Reyvn's shoulder. "I'm truly impressed by how bright you are."

Reyvn smiled slightly, his cheeks turning red. He was a little embarrassed, but glad he could finally understand the symbols he'd often seen. And with that, came a feeling of accomplishment. He wouldn't be so ignorant of the world around him anymore, and it started here. "Thank you," he said quietly to Lesara.

Lesara pulled Reyvn into a one-armed hug. "You should be proud of yourself." He ruffled his hair again, and watched it fall back into place again. "Now, I feel a nap coming on. You're free to do as you please. If you need me, ring the bell on your nightstand." Lesara slithered to the door, opened it, and silently made his way out. On the way to his room, he pondered on how quickly Reyvn picked everything up. In a space of only an hour and a half, probably even less, he had learned what took normal people years to accomplish. He was truly pleased that he had found this little gift. The naga slithered into his room, and flopped on the large, pluffy bed. He wrapped himself up in one of the many blankets that littered the area, and began to doze off. Before he slipped into dreams, he amused himself with the thought of Reyvn eagerly sifting through all the books.

Reyvn watched the naga leave, and let out a sigh. He was alone finally, and he was surprised at how nice it felt. He leaned back against the cushioned chair, and simply enjoyed the peace. He wondered just how long Lesara would leave him alone...He looked around the library, and decided he should get to work on it. But first, he wanted to look through the kitten book again.