A new friend

The boy was impatient to hear that distinct melancholic music from the adjacent room, the cathartic melody that was offering him temporary shelter from the unbearable loneliness in the nights. He kept waiting as the minutes passed, staring at the darkness, negotiating with himself if he should stand up and find the reason for the delay. However, he was afraid of the darkness. He was afraid of how it devoured the light, how easy it would be to swallow someone as insignificant as him. That dominating silence that made him feel like he was alone in the world, though, was even more terrifying, it was his worst nightmare. Not able to endure the waiting anymore, he steeled himself and headed towards the room. He was hesitant when he approached the door of his neighbor as he had been cautious about the woman living there. She was a mysterious person, unsociable, always carrying a cold expression and staying alone without giving any signs of life all day. The boy took a deep breath and knocked, but he didn't receive any answer. Realizing that something was wrong, he tried opening the door, which was surprisingly unlocked. A miserable room which conformed with the state of the building from concrete they were currently in welcomed him, but because of the thick darkness inside, he couldn't still find the woman. Step after step, he felt his leg to prod something, turning his attention to the floor. The boy bent down and slowly used his hand to find what was there...

...

...

The bustle around him woke up Sirius from his drowsiness. The spring wind that was blowing through his hair, the soft rustle of the leaves around him, that new feeling of tranquility had been the most excellent lullaby for him. He had lied down on the grass, gazing at the passing clouds, and before he knew it, he had already been in the world of dreams. He believed that if the children around him weren't making so much noise, he could enjoy the whole noon idly like that.

The children's attention also seemed to be on him. They were staring at him, doubtful of what to do, arguing between them for what to decide.

One of the boys didn't seem to like him, Sirius thought, recognizing the hostility in his eyes, unlike the girl that was shouting at the boy while pointing her finger at himself.  As he was considering if he should interfere, the boy seemed not to be able to handle his irritation anymore, gesturing at the gang to leave, leaving the girl alone. It was the first time Sirius experienced such unfriendliness since coming to this world, but the boy wasn't sad; he was too familiar with being treated with coldness and resentment. What perplexed him, though, was the girl's reaction of stomping her legs on the ground and glaring at him like he had done something terrible to her. She even started shouting again, alas pointlessly, as Sirius couldn't understand anything she said at all.

Being forced to listen to her tantrum and not even making sense of why she was so angry with him, Sirius thought that it might have been better to follow the others even if he was unwanted. Fortunately, upon detecting the empty gaze in the boy's eyes, the girl seemed to calm down while the tone of her voice became softer. She seemed to ask him a question, but Sirius could only shake his head, indicating he couldn't understand her. However, not only the girl didn't become depressed upon seeing his reaction; her expression brightened instead.

"Nerida!" She suddenly said with a smile, pointing with her finger to herself.

It was just a simple word, but it was that word that broke through the boy's indifference as if it lightened his world. The language barrier seemed to collapse; the boy could hardly contain his enthusiasm as he replied with a loud voice.

"Sirius!"

...

...

Nerida was a girl half a head taller than Sirius with long blank hair and a captivating pair of green eyes. Nonetheless, she had the average height of the girls at her age, indicating how short Sirius was compared to his peers. Like the rest of villagers, she was also dark-skinned while the tattoos of two small dragons flying toward the skies were decorating her hands. Sirius had long been curious about these tattoos since everyone seemed to have at least one, and it would always be a dragon. Although there were sticking out differences like their size, the number one individual had on his body, or the way of the representation of the dragons, the boy was still curious about the meaning behind them. He started wondering if this mythological creature from his previous world existed here. Since even magic existed, after all, he wouldn't find it strange to discover beasts or monsters he had read in fairy tales before. 

"Nerida, these dra-agons a-are?" 

As Nerida and the Great Shaman had taken over on teaching him how to speak, Sirius would often proactively ask questions about the culture of his newfound home, their folkway, the way they were living. Unfortunately, since he wasn't proficient yet with the language, he would often miss important details, forcing him to repeat his questions over and over again. Thankfully, maybe it was because he was still a kid, his brain was like a sponge, absorbing every single detail he would notice, allowing him to quickly form a general idea about the mysterious place he had become part of. The answer was far from complicated, though. For the people here from the very beginning, things were simple. Their world consisted of five islands in which the four of them were creating a square around the fifth one. Four tribes were living to each one of these surrounding islands, with their tribe being on the East. That was it, end of the story. Of course, that was Sirius's simplified version after hearing some of their fairy tales and folk stories. His theory instead was that this was an unexplored land with existing continents somewhere in the ocean. 

"You still talk like a baby," Nerida commented with a mocking smile before she continues. 

"For our tribe, the mighty dragon is not only our God but also our father. Its blood is flowing through our veins, making us strong, unparalleled. The size and the number of our tattoos symbolize the hierarchy in our tribe. The purer bloodline, the more important you are here." 

"How d-do you know who is important?" 

"It's the awakening day, the day that destiny reveals itself in front of you, showing your path in the future." 

"I-I don't understand..." Sirius replied with a melancholic smile. He couldn't accept empty words like destiny or fate. Only the circle of creation and destruction was unbreakable in everything, Sirius didn't have doubts that this rule applied to this world too. 

"You are not only weak but also stupid," the girl commented with a sigh. 

"T-Then, are you strong, Nerida?" 

"Of course! I am the strongest among the other children in the tribe. I will become a great warrior one day, a mighty dragon flying towards the skies. Don't worry! I'll protect you from the others that look down on you." Nerida boasted, puffing up with pride. 

"W-What about the others? They d-don't talk t-to you." Sirius wanted to ask her about her relations with the other children, remembering how she argued with them when she tried to defend him. 

"Ajamu, that idiot! Even if he is weaker than me, his destiny is greater, more so since he is a boy. He is the leader. If he doesn't like you, no one has the right to like you too."

Didn't that mean that Nerida went against the hierarchy to defend him? Her actions moved Sirius. She even helped him to adapt faster to his new lifestyle.   

"Nerida, you are kind!" 

"Haha, of course, I am. Father always said that when you are powerful, you can be kind," she answered with a hearty laugh, his comment making her happy. 

"If you are powerful, you can be kind?" The boy asked with doubt. 

"Isn't it obvious? You can take care of others only when you can take care of yourself. This is the way of a dragon." 

Sirius closed his eyes, trying to process her words. He could feel there was a deeper meaning behind them, but he didn't want to spend too much time overthinking things. He had after all his own answer. 

"Then, I am definitely not a dragon. Because for me, only when you are kind, you have the right to be powerful." 

That was his answer, an answer that originated from the tragic history of his previous world, witnessing the consequences personally when power was in the wrong hands. 

It was getting dark, and Sirius knew that the Great Shaman would wait for him for dinner. He was about to bid goodbye to his friend and return, but her voice suddenly sounded, her tone emotional.

"You! You spoke normally!"