It became immediately apparent that these two citizens of Krakold, at least, were not accustomed to travel.
Despite the twins' expectations, it took near to an hour before Pyrite and Amethyst were ready to begin the march. They had no idea how to form their spare clothing into some kind of backpack to carry the rest.
Gypsum showed the girl how to do it with her possessions. He punctuated the work with frequent obvious sighs of impatience. Feldspar did not hold back while he performed the same task for Pyrite. He grumbled non-stop through the procedure, voicing growls and snarling mutterings without pause. He punctuated his vocalizations with glares focused squarely on Pyrite. The older man grew more uncomfortable by the second. He set all his attention to learning what the younger one was showing him. He did not want to suffer this lesson a second time.
Finally, the four undertook their walk upstream. Because of the delay, there was no chance they would cover near to ten miles. The twins resigned themselves to six at the most.
Six became four. The two from Krakold were not used to walking longer than the distance from one end of their village to the other. They were ready to stop and rub their feet after a little more than two miles, but the brothers forced them to push on.
Amethyst was whining non-stop, allowing no doubt about her physical misery. Pyrite, solicitous of his daughter, demanded that the march be halted for the night.
Feldspar began the march with little patience, and that small amount had trickled away under the constant whining of the girl. He stood chest-to-chest with the man—a gesture of physical challenge in the Riotori body language—and growled that the lives of the two villagers belonged to the brothers, not the other way around.
Then he wheeled on the girl and quoted a phrase he and Gypsum had heard many times from their father and uncle.
"Gain means pain, shigget!" A shigget is the squirmy white larva of the winged scavenger beetle. The characterization is not a compliment. The villagers gasped. They started to protest; hard looks from both twins silenced them.
The rest of the evening's march was completed in silence.
Despite the twins' expectations, it took near to an hour before Pyrite and Amethyst were ready to begin the march. They had no idea how to form their spare clothing into some kind of backpack to carry the rest.
Gypsum showed the girl how to do it with her possessions. He punctuated the work with frequent obvious sighs of impatience. Feldspar did not hold back while he performed the same task for Pyrite. He grumbled non-stop through the procedure, voicing growls and snarling mutterings without pause. He punctuated his vocalizations with glares focused squarely on Pyrite. The older man grew more uncomfortable by the second. He set all his attention to learning what the younger one was showing him. He did not want to suffer this lesson a second time.
Finally, the four undertook their walk upstream. Because of the delay, there was no chance they would cover near to ten miles. The twins resigned themselves to six at the most.
Six became four. The two from Krakold were not used to walking longer than the distance from one end of their village to the other. They were ready to stop and rub their feet after a little more than two miles, but the brothers forced them to push on.
Amethyst was whining non-stop, allowing no doubt about her physical misery. Pyrite, solicitous of his daughter, demanded that the march be halted for the night.
Feldspar began the march with little patience, and that small amount had trickled away under the constant whining of the girl. He stood chest-to-chest with the man—a gesture of physical challenge in the Riotori body language—and growled that the lives of the two villagers belonged to the brothers, not the other way around.
Then he wheeled on the girl and quoted a phrase he and Gypsum had heard many times from their father and uncle.
"Gain means pain, shigget!" A shigget is the squirmy white larva of the winged scavenger beetle. The characterization is not a compliment. The villagers gasped. They started to protest; hard looks from both twins silenced them.
The rest of the evening's march was completed in silence.
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