2024-07-06 - [4.1] To Be Known Is To Be Loved

Rocranth’s excited bugle woke you from your slumber. Claws flexed in momentary annoyance as you stirred, gathering growing paws beneath you. A name? Well, at least they’d chosen something important to wake you up over.

A Name was an important thing you thought, mind slowly stretching out past the lapping shore towards the rest of the clutch. Mother had a name, Gwillanth, as did Father, Pertemarth. Names were what made you, anchored you to the world and to others. To be Nameless was to be Dead.

So what was your name?

You hummed thoughtfully as you contemplated walking out into the white-foam surf. There were so many options. Too many. Words – sounds – melody – flow – all of it melding together like the sea reaching towards the sky, distilling a vocal utterance into a singular image of self as complex and intertwined as a body of muscle, blood, and bone.

You knew that your name was… Sharp. Powerful. At least in the beginning. No-one, human-rider or dragon, would ever take one look and underestimate you. It was a strong sound, almost a hiss on your tongue. V? No, that didn’t feel right. Z…. X… Yes! There!

Xa… Xu… Xi…

Almost. Shaking your head, you peered back over your shoulder to see the pawprints you’d left in the sand. Your name had to be like that, you felt. Sharp, with the potential to irritate, but with the capacity to flow like water, to hold the warmth of the sun long after her rays disappeared, to brace with strength those who embraced you.

Xihath? Xibeth? No, those were too short. Yet you also knew that your name wasn’t long, maybe somewhere around Father’s length?

Xi…jem? That earned an excited nod as you felt something click into place, your tail flicking in the surf happily. Jem felt very right. Feminine. Even a bit cute.

Xijemith – close, so close – How about a different letter, and maybe just one more sound at the end? The final note that trailed sweetly off the tongue.

Xijemynth

“That’s me!” You say excitedly to the waves. Ripples of thought brushed against the shore, others finding their names too. “I’m Xijemynth!”