Upon The Winds Of Dubiety

He began to spend a lot more time by himself. The other adolescents did not want to be around him after he continued to be nothing but trouble for them. But some still managed to be enticed despite his crumbling reputation.

One late afternoon, Esrey is out by himself in the quieter part of the plain, as well as one of the few parts with tree cover, relaxing in his favorite tree. He's going to be too big for it one of these days, so he decides it's best to enjoy it while it lasts. But amongst the quiet, he's quick to pick up a disturbance in the air, and raises his head to look around.

Down in the nearby plain area, a knochen girl looks around, seemingly by herself. Esrey's attention peaks- he recognizes her as one of the slightly younger knochen, ones that another expectant birther had laid soon after his own batch had been. He's never really talked to her much, but seeing her alone reminds him of how beautiful she's grown to be; her scales were the kind of white that glistened in the sunlight, and her slender figure was developing nicely. Perhaps now was his opportunity to get to know her better.

With a push off of the branch, Esrey glided down towards the girl, landing several feet in front of her.

Girl: *It startles her- she gasps and backs up a bit, and only relaxes a little upon processing that it's someone vaguely familiar* H-how long have you been here?!
Esredes: I'm here a lot. *He grins at her,* What about you? I never see you over here.
Girl: I-I... I guess not. Uh, I don't think I know your name.
Esredes: I don't know yours either. But, you can call me Esredes. *He takes a few steps closer to her.* And what beautiful name do you have to tell?
Girl: Oh... I'm Beatrice. Nice to be able to really talk to you, Esredes... -Don't others usually call you Esrey too?
Esredes: Yeah, they always have. That's fine too. But, *he comes up even closer to her, meeting her eyes* Beatrice. That is indeed a beautiful name.
Esredes: I suppose you don't want to tell me why you're out so far, do you? To get away from the adults, perhaps? It's hard to do anything around them for too long.
Beatrice: I wanted to be alone. But I don't mind your company! I mean... you're fine where you are.
Esredes: You don't mind, do you? Let's be alone together, then. *He raises a hand up and takes part of her chin in it lightly, staring deeper into her eyes* Enjoy the ambiance. You know... the best things to do when you're alone. I'd love for us to be able to talk more.
Beatrice: *She appears to be staring back into his* M-me too...
Esredes: *He takes his hand away* Let's go into the shade, then. We'll need the tree cover.
*Beatrice follows him behind the trees, and the two of them spend a lot of time talking. But as the sun sinks down below the plains, it turns into more than talking. But in the midst of it, they hear approaching footsteps. Or was it the wind?*
Esredes: *The moment he hears them, he freezes up and drops his voice to a whisper.* Do you hear that...?
Beatrice: Yes... *she looks at him fearfully*
Esredes: Oh no. *He scrambles away from her and onto his feet* We need to get out of here. Separate ways. Now.
?: Who's there?! *An adult male and female make their way past the trees, and spot the two of them. The female gasps in surprise.*
Female: What are you two doing here?!
Beatrice: We were just...! We were...!
*She struggles to come up with something to say to cover it, but nothing comes out of her mouth*
Esredes: *under his breath,* We are so fucked...
Male: I cannot believe this. Beatrice, you know better than this. And you! *He turns his harsh tone towards Esrey,* You have crossed the line this time.
Male: *to the other adult,* I'll deal with him. You talk to her. *He begins to walk back towards the tree line, shooting a glare back towards Esrey to make it clear what he wants from him. Esrey hesitantly follows him.*

*Back at a different part of the plain, the adult turns to him, eyes like daggers on their target.* I know what you two were doing, so there's no use in trying to lie about it. Did you not have a session with her?
Esredes: ...Yes, I did.
Male: That's what I thought. You disobeyed every other rule in this place, it was only a matter of time. I am absolutely disgusted with you. You are never supposed to do such a thing with any of your tribe members. Have you no respect for anything, no sense of dignity, no shame at all for any of the things you've done?!
Male: This has gone way too far. You are out of control with no remorse for your actions or the consequences they bring. You've caused so much trouble for everyone, and now you've gone and changed another member's life forever!
Esredes: She agreed to it!
Male: I don't care if she did! She's a very impressionable girl. She'd do a lot of things if someone encouraged her to. You took advantage of that!
Esredes: And why do you think she was out that far? To get away from all of you and these 'rules' you enforce so heavily! She just wanted to relax, which none of us are able to do when you're breathing down our backs about doing every little movement with dignity and honor and proper behavior and never thinking for ourselves and-
Male: *He raises a hand and brings it across the side of Esrey's face, eliciting a cry from him* YOU BE QUIET.
Esredes: *He's silent as he backs up, holding the side of his face with one hand, but his gaze remains steadily on fire.*
Male: YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ANYONE IS TRYING TO DO FOR YOU. WE ARE TRYING TO PREPARE YOU FOR A LIFE AS A KNOCHEN SHOULD HAVE. MANY KNOCHEN IN OTHER PLACES DON'T GET ANYTHING LIKE WHAT YOU HAVE, AND YOU ARE NOTHING BUT THE MOST UNGRATEFUL BRAT FOR IT!
Male: You will never do anything with yourself at this rate. You are NEVER going to be ANYTHING but a complete and total FAILURE. YOU ARE NOTHING. You are a disgrace to your tribe and your birther should be ASHAMED of what she created.
Male: Now I don't want to see you EVER doing this again, or I will NOT hold back next time.
Male: *With that, he storms off, leaving him there with his stinging cheek.*
Esredes: *As the adult leaves, he stands there, slowly moving his hand away. He then begins to shake uncontrollably, his breathing becoming unsteady as he recounts what was said to him. He lies down, tears beginning to appear, unable to hold them back. And he lies there for a long time until sleep finally overtakes him.*

After that, he and the girl never really talked much again.