Yelling is Fun [Closed]

[Mneme]

Winter 32, 511 AV Mid-Morning The Idol Slanderer OOCYou don't have to read about Mneme's morning if you don't want to...I just thought I should include it. Mneme's Morning : Mneme awoke, Syna's light streaming into the room through the dusty window. She was lying on the floor, in a pile of blankets and a pillow, right next to the hearth, now only a pile of smoldering coals. It was very cold in her room, and she didn't want to get up and have her mostly bare skin face the chill. She wanted to, though, because there was a possibility that today, someone who could speak even a smattering of phrases of her home language would walk by and understand her. Stifling a yawn, she picked up her blankets and pillow, attempting to straighten out the bed which she had so neglected by sleeping near the hearth for warmth in the cold winter. After judging the bed 'good enough,' Mneme grabbed her cloak from off the small chest and wrapped it around herself. She still wasn't dressed, but that didn't matter. It was freezing. She tiptoed to the hearth and inspected the burnt remnants of logs. There were none left unburnt, though, and that was depressing. Oh, how she wished to be in the warm desert of Ahnatep again. After pulling on her dress and slipping into her slippers, Mneme carefully brushed her hair until it was virtually tangle-free and presentable. She slid the boots over her slippers and wrapped herself in her cloak once again. It was time to go outside. The moment Mneme stepped outside, she saw the Idol Slanderer. She considered him/it her mortal enemy, aside from music. Of course, it was alerted to her presence as well and instantly proceeded to comment on her. "I heard someone singing the best song the other day...would you like me to sing it for you?" the Slanderer said, proceeding to sing a few random words in one of the worst voices you could imagine. Mneme grimaced. It knew she hated music, and she knew it was just taunting her. But she didn't let that stop her. "I met a much better statue a while ago. His eyes glowed a much better shade of green, instead of that ugly red." She retorted, her voice raising slightly. Of course, she knew that it couldn't understand Arumenic, but it didn't matter. These contests were usually about how loud they could get their voices. "Your arms look like sticks!" he yelled back. The voices were definitely rising this time, and people were beginning to stare at the girl that even bothered arguing with the Slanderer. "Don't make me smash that fool head of yours!" she screamed, knowing fully well she couldn't do it anyways. Soon, it had erupted in a screaming battle between the two, each trying to outmatch eachother in loudness. Some people stared, some went along with their normal business, but most hurried in the opposite direction. Mneme didn't mind though; she knew that none of these people could understand her, and if they could, they would maybe acknowledge her rantings, or even laugh.

[Bob Barton]

Just what sort of psychotic would be shouting in the morning or running aimlessly for that matter? The latter group was Bob only because he pretty much was too used to exercise for a long time and without doing a little physical activity a few times a week he would feel rather uncomfortable, not to mention Jinsen needed his runs as well. At least Bob did not have to put up with screaming nuts in Sunberth. He did not even have to silence anyone like that himself since there were a whole bunch of other people who were prepared and willing to do that. Especially since Tower's attack was triggered because of someone's actions with the Slanderer as well, he figured that it would not take too long for him to wait for someone else to act yet again. After working up a good amount of sweat which was all streaming on his skin and having his chest rapidly pumping for air, Bob decided that it would be a good time for some rest and what he predicts would happen could be entertaining for him.

Bob who was very much on alert especially from last time continued running right to the corner with Jinsen where "we are going to just have a look for a little while" at the crazy woman screaming at the annoying statue in some incomprehensible language. He did not even have to understand the words to know what they meant from the tone and volume of her voice. A universal language which would be understood by all living beings, the same he used to communicate with his dog as well when at times. This was evidently not one of those times when Bob told Jinsen normally when it whimpered to get his attention that "you can do it behind that pile over there." Bob jerked the leash and shook his head over to the pile again when the dog tried to head over to the statue because the last time someone took a piss on the statue it did not end up well. "There" Bob told Jinsen one more time while he watched it preparing to start before putting his eyes back on the woman again.

"You're done now?" he asked the dog when it came back. That took quite some time since Bob could feel the strain on his legs reducing and yet the woman was still screaming her gibberish out to the statue. Sighing and shaking his head disapprovingly he told Jinsen that "this is a waste of time..." and continued with their run, taking off again down the corner that he was watching the exchange from. He was sure that he was going away from the Slanderer with the turns he took always alternating between left and right. From the amount of sweat that was dripping down his head he was pretty sure that he covered a fair distance too but at the last turn he was at the Slanderer again with the woman still screaming at the statue. It has to have been half a bell at least since he resumed running. "How long can she keep this up?" he asked himself a little bit curious. At least it proves that she is somewhat better trained than the short man? Her lungs prove a lot stronger than his since he was running out of breath again after only running with Jinsen for a bell.

Resting on a brick house, Bob watched the woman screaming at the Slanderer for a lot more chimes before walking straight towards...her! Like he questioned himself with Jinsen before he made the decision, "why is it always the crazy ones?" When he reached her, he gave her a charming smile along with the already half full waterskin he brought along with him for his run because "I don't think its fair that a statue doesn't need it like us." Would she understand since he has yet to hear any common out of her? Maybe since the Slanderer was doing its thing on her in common but the gesture was hopefully good enough to make a good impression on her especially when what Bob wanted was to have "a drink in a tavern when you are done?" And of course the Slanderer showed everyone why no one liked it when it commented that "awwwww, does the widdle boy need to woo to be man?" It was scary just how the statue knew these things and the way it was not shy to expose them but ignoring it, Bob hoped that the woman would treat it the same just as anything which would come out of its cold, metallic mouth.

[Eridanus]

Eridanus strode through the city of Alvadas, breathing in the soothing and refreshing winter air. The vantha had no particular place in mind, instead he just needed to get out of the small room where the government had set him up with and to well, just walk.

While doing so he was more actually thinking about a book of poems about the sky by various authors. A collection of short poems, if you will. One in particular waxed eloquent about Leth, and though it caught his eye he did not find anything familiar about the poem. Had he lost his connection with the moon god? Or was the poem merely bovine feces?

He was lost in his mind, reciting the poem in his mind as he unconsciously sang the poem in a strange sort of meandering tune in the richly melodious voice characteristic of Morwen's children. His attention to the outside world was just enough to prevent him from walking into a wall, but that was it.

He did not even notice the screaming contest for he had ago learned to automatically tune out the Slanderer's words, and it took the statue several tries for him to realize that it was actually yelling at him.

"Hey! Hey you there! Rainbow head! Don't think I didn't notice you singing with that gormless gape you call a mouth! Why don't you stop and sing a song for this many-armed freak here?"

Eridanus sighed, and he ignored the statue, continuing to walk on while the statue carried on screaming various insults, each phrase getting louder as Eri walked away.

He saw a familiar face as he left the area though, and saw Bob and his retarded dog Jinsen coming from the other direction. The midget probably had not noticed him, and looked like he was approaching a female for something.

Fortunately, the statue decided to direct its attention on the midget, and Eri raised a brow, turning around slightly to see what it had to say about his sunberthian aquaintance.

[Nyahna Sasin]

Unfortunately, Alvadas had decided to dump the Cave right by the petching Slanderer, who had naturally had been screaming obscenities all morning. Ionu help him, he was going to knock the damn thing right off it's perch. He would. Really. He just needed to warm up a little more. Just a few more chimes under the covers.

Who was he kidding. He'd been saying that for over a bell now, and he was still in bed. Gathering up his courage, he kicked off the covers, then let out a string of curses. Petch it was cold! Quickly pulling on his clothes, he ground his teeth as he heard someone yell at the statue in Arumenic, threatening to smash it's head in.

"Shut up!" He yelled back, also in Arumenic.

"You can't even speak properly, can you, hissy boy?" He rolled his eyes, walking out of the Cave, before pausing. Arumenic? Just who had been yelling at the Slanderer? Walking around, he soon found himself standing before the statue. There was a man walking a dog, a Vantha, and a woman, who appeared to be the one screaming in Arumenic.

"You do realize the thing cannot understand you, yes?" He inquired in Arumenic, leaning against a building. "It's creator seems to only have understood Common."

[Mneme]

Mneme was ready to respond to the statue with a stupid and not well-thought out retort, but instead, someone was walking up to her, in the corner of her eye. Was it someone who could speak Arumenic? Could he understand her? With each step this stranger took, her hopes rose even more. But the moment he started speaking Common, it all collapsed. He was smiling, and offering her water. Something about how it wasn't fair the statue didn't need it? She wasn't really paying attention. Mneme has no qualms about sharing water with someone else, even a stranger. Completely ignoring the statue at the moment, she gladly took the waterskin and had a few sips before handing it back to the little man. Who, as she just noticed, was quite short. He extended an invitation to go to the tavern when she was done, though, done with what? Mneme wasn't really doing anything. Done with...oh. Done with yelling at the statue, was what he meant. She never really had anyone act friendly to her, but she'd never seen this little man before. Most likely, he recently arrived here. She wasn't exactly sure whether or not to decline his offer, but he seemed nice enough. She had never seen the strange Vantha that was now walking away either, so there must've been a boat full of travelers that had arrived recently. "Yes, maybe lat--" Mneme stopped suddenly, hearing someone speak in her home tongue behind her. She turned slowly, expecting an Eypharian. No, it appeared to be a normal human, not much taller than her. Dark hair, leaning against a wall. "Yes I know it can't understand me...no one can," she said softly at first, staring wide-eyed at the person now standing in front of her, (because she had turned around). Soon the confusion turned into over-excitement, because she had never, in all of her time alone in Alvadas, met someone who could speak Arumenic. "How do you know Arumenic? Are you from Ahnatep? Eyktol?" She stared, expectantly, for a few seconds. Then she walked closer, and peered at his face. She couldn't see anything that would depict him as half Eypharian or anything other than human, but it didn't hurt to ask. "Are you even human?" Mneme inquired. Anything that could speak Arumenic was worth her interest.

[Bob Barton]

The only thing retarded there was how things were developing. Bob's dog could be said a lot more smarter than airheaded prettyboys who think they knew everything and even with that person hiding himself off somewhere there were still distractions capable of denying Bob his prize. As the statue mockingly told him "when I saw you I thought you can speak stupid. Try that and maybe she will come running back." Annoyed, he just asked "why did she get away from you then?" knowing that his response will do nothing but make the statue feel accomplished before looking at his new adversary. He spoke in the same gibberish that the woman did which meant that instead of insanity, it was just some sort of language that Bob did not know or even hear before despite living in a port city which vessels came too from all over the world.

Because he only knew how to speak in common he did not really bother with trying to get into the conversation but what he did know was he heard the woman say "maybe lat-" but that would take too long if that man stuck around. Bob started to think about how to get rid of him and then the Slanderer like a shoulder devil accidentally gave him a really good idea when as a joke it told him that "you are just too small to drive him off." Bob felt for his weapons that were hidden all over him but then he decided against it since unlike Sunberth, Alvadas had an official force from the government itself. Equipment was not the only thing Bob with him and he was reminded of Jinsen when the dog started to walk away, probably towards the vantha's familiar scent it learned during the trip. Ignoring whatever might be interesting the dog, Bob reeled it back towards him with its leash and hid behind the statue to make the plan where "you are going to help me. Not you stupid statue, you can just shut up."

Bob held on to the dog's head firmly while he peeked out through the side of the statue to fix it's eyes on the pair that was talking. "You see that Jinsen?" he asked nicely before changing his tone into an angrier one so that the dog would know what "he is your enemy. You want to bark at him, you want to bite him" the way Bob was snapping his teeth into the air beside Jinsen which sounded really nice until the Slanderer gave a yawn reminding Bob that "I am in the mood for hot dogs." It was so annoying how that stupid statue kept trying to point out the flaws in the plans and "it would be so good if someone pissed on you again..." but it did not look like the statue learned its lesson. What the statue did not care about might disturb the man, or make the woman revolted at him as the idea got planted into his head again. It has only been a some chimes since the last but "do you need to go again Jinsen?"

From his long time relationship with his dog Bob knew that without something to encourage it, Jinsen was not going to go for a long time. He took out his waterskin without much water left and gave a sigh since he was the one who wanted to drink it but sacrifices must be made. "Drink up!" he told Jinsen jamming the opening into its jaw and squeezing the water. When Jinsen tried to look away, Bob stopped until it swallowed so that he can continue to get it to "finish up." When the water was finally drained he held Jinsen's head straight to the man again and said "there will be no more chances until tonight if you don't go now." Because he knew that the dog will not be able to understand what he is saying Bob commanded it along with a series of whimpers the same way it would when it wanted to tell him it was ready. "Now go!" Bob told it, pushing Jinsen forward to the man which he hoped will do what he wanted correctly. Trust the Slanderer to put some doubts into his head when it asked him "you might make your own hot dogs when your mutt pisses off the wrong one."

Unfortunately it was already too late. Bob already coaxed, persuaded, encouraged, forced and threatened Jinsen into doing what he wanted which is to take a tinkle. Once it was done, Bob will head up straight at the pair and depending on who Jinsen got on he was going to have to do some damage control unless he was really lucky and the dog did something completely different he did not plan on. But like the Slanderer told him when he left "I am really looking forward to some hot dogs..."

[Nyahna Sasin]

He smiled lazily as she responded softly, seeming to be in shock. "Except me." He reminded her quietly. His eyes showed slight amusement as she grew excited. Well, this was interesting. He had expected another viper, or someone only using Arumenic so they wouldn't be understood. But that didn't seem to be the case here, as she seemed genuinely delighted to meet one who spoke the language of the Eypharians.

"Correct on both counts. I grew up near Ahnatep, practically under it, actually, though it's been years since I've had the opportunity to return. One does not grow up like I did without learning the language of the city. " The statue said something scathingly, but Sasin simply tuned the thing out.

He allowed her close inspection of him, taking the opportunity to take stock of her in turn. Behind her, he could see the other man duck behind the statue with his ugly dog. She was small, perhaps even petite, and young. Not bad looking. There was something about her… She reminded him of Eypharians, even without the extra arms. The way she moved, the way she spoke, the way she held herself, everything.

Sasin grinned softly at her question. Behind her, he could see the man's dog ambling towards him. Taking a step past her, he approached the dog, grinning as it paused and sniffed the air. He had just come back from a hunting trip yesterday, and knew to an animal, he still smelled rather strongly of snake. The dog growled at him, and he hissed at it threateningly, mimicking, what in nature, would be a warning to the dog he was about to strike.

The human tongue was not meant to imitate the sounds of a snake, but years of practice meant he could do a fairly good imitation.

Turning back to Mneme, he smiled charmingly. "As you've probably guessed by now, I'm a serpent. A Viper Dhani."

"Now, your turn. What exactly are you? You're not an Eypharian, certainly, at least not in body. Yet you seem so very much like them."

[Mneme]

OOCSkipping Eri's turn by his request. Mneme noticed that his Arumenic was a bit rusty, as he pronounced a few words wrong, but she didn't care. Anyone that could speak any bit of the language was her new favorite person. She was very glad she decided to drag herself out of bed, after years of fruitless efforts in the friend-making department. That effort wasn't helped by her constant Arumenic speaking, but Common was just so complicated. There were so many different words and styles she had to grasp, so it was useless to keep trying to learn it. She had a basic grasp, but still. Barely enough to keep a decent conversation going, and when it turned into slang she couldn't speak in Common at all. She knew all the Arumenic slang, as she grew up with it, but Common? No. "I grew up in Ahnatep, too!" She gasped. Finally, civilization. She almost guessed that he was a Dhani when he said he was one. A Viper Dhani. Civilization was finally in her grasp. She had been stuck in this gods-forsaken city for years, with not so much as a single Eypharian or Viper in sight. Now, there was one who just happened to hear her scream at the statue! This was a happy moment for her, a very happy moment indeed. "A viper, eh? Finally, civilization. And sadly, I'm only half Eypharian. Stupid father had to be human. But it's alright, the only stares I get are the ones because I yell in Arumenic all day," She said, realizing how tired she was. Mneme had stayed up late the night before, and Ionu must have been in a bad mood because it was much colder than it had been when she first woke up. Cold and tired, a wonderful combination. She knew Dhani hated the cold as well, especially if they grew up in the heat of Eyktol. "My name's Mneme," Said with a quiet shyness that was now being revealed, her inner demeanor. She had decided to trust him, even seeing as she had just met him. Being a Viper Dhani was enough to earn her respect, and speaking Arumenic helped the fact. She leaned forward to speak into his ear and spoke in a whisper, "My real name's Tahne Broen. I know it sounds weird, but it's my father's surname and my given first name." she leaned back. Mneme had managed to avoid her father for the past three years, and only because she had changed her name from Tahne to Mneme. "What's your name? " She said, once again only audible enough for people in the immediate surrounding area to hear. She didn't feel uncomfortable around strangers, in fact, quite the opposite. But she had odd ways of showing it, and speaking quietly was one of those ways. Mneme felt it gave a sense of privacy to speak quietly, and would only speak quietly to those she trusted, hence the fact she screamed at the Idol Slanderer. Another wave of sleepiness hit, and she stifled a yawn, but at least the temperature seemed to be rising. Still she could see her breath in the cold air, appearing in little puffs and fading away in a few ticks. Suddenly, she realized that the Slanderer hadn't spoken in a while. Looking around, she figured that while her house was still next to them, the Slanderer's position had changed. She could hear it, but not see it, so that must mean it was a few blocks down. Sitting in a pile where the Slanderer had been was a pile of firewood, so conveniently placed across the street. The little man and his dog were still there, as well as the boy with the rainbow hair, but no Slanderer. This was a good change, as she didn't feel like arguing with anyone at the moment. She was just tired, cold, and wanted someone, like this Dhani, to be her friend. She wanted a friend for once, in the four years she had been in the strange city of Alvadas.

[Bob Barton]

Failure was not in Jinsen's vocabulary. Really! Because Bob did not put it among the words that he taught the dog to react to as commands. It was not even of the words that he would normally use with it unless in situations like the one Jinsen is in when it ran back to its master in defeat with its head hung down. Bob stuck his hand out stopping the dog from retreating any further once its head was pressed against by Bob's own unmovable hand angrily as he told it "you are a pathetic coward!'" stealing a look at the man he now hated even more. He was definitely not going to get away from Bob's wrath and showing his back would prove to be the worst mistake that he ever made. The Slanderer was no longer around but the anger that Bob still had with him remained. Things were going so well until someone had to interrupt and now it was his turn. His emotions dictating his actions, Bob started to flow the djed into his mouth. His enemy can have his rest, if only for a chime so he better enjoy it while he can.

Bob was smacking his lips together and rolling his tongue around like he was eating imaginary paste which was what he felt was his djed that was slowly being directed to his mouth. After it built up he held Jinsen's head to his and stared straight at the target with it, releasing the djed from his mouth while he spoke to be received by its ears. Animal sensitivity was no issue here. Anyone could hear the words but the effects would be received by Jinsen only since when the djed touched its ears. "You really, really want to get that water out of you Jinsen and you want to let it all out on that man who humiliated you" and Bob who was the one that trained it. It was only to get a stronger response from what the dog was already feeling because as a male himself, he knew how desperate the feeling was once the water accumulated in there with nowhere else to get out so often that it was second nature to recall it and share it with the dog. "Now go..." he commanded using the remaining djed at his mouth to suggest to the dog that the best place it could do what it wanted was at the snake's foot.

How does a snake have legs anyway? It was not something that Bob would be thinking about because he did not know the man's identity and because he was still not done yet. Jinsen was only the start and he had to go all the way. Next it was the other person which angered him. Bob followed behind the dog which was running full of vigor and pure doggy will, happy that it will be granted relief soon. On the way he started accumulating djed each step throwing up a surge like the blood flowing through him but redirecting it to his eyes this time since he was unsure if the words would reach that far. He could easily see them, but scolding Jinsen took too much out of him and he had to use up his water for petty revenge. If the dhani was able to sense the dog again and turn like he did earlier, Bob would send the djed right out as a reaction whether or not it properly accumulated which might reduce its effect and sadly cause a backlash soon since it was so rushed but all he wanted to do was send a message. The message of course was simple based on the facts that Bob knew. No one would ever be scared of Jinsen and he did not want his dog to get hurt no matter how angry he was.

The message would be received as a thought that the dog did not look like it wanted to attack and if the man never turned, it was all the better since Bob would not have to waste any djed at all. Either way before Bob would reach the pair he would start wobbling in his walk. The long time of running with Jinsen and the sudden trickling of blood from his mouth, maybe even his eyes would get to him and he would have to stop and hold himself against a wall to rest feebly giving the excuse that "I tried to stop it from running" before cleaning his face up a little and continuing his weakened walk again. It was all that...that...man's fault. All because "you had to make it all excited didn't you?" by trying to scare it away. There was no telling what a bewildered dog would do so it would be up to their imagination but Bob knew since he spent two seasons working with them and this was definitely too artificlal a behaviour.

[Eridanus]

"If I were you, rainbow head, I would go over and tell that ten-armed freak and that snakey emo-wannabe to go get a room." The statue directed its new words at the vantha, though its tone had a bit of a sulk in it when it was clear that its original targets were quite effectively ignoring it.

Eridanus smirked inwardly and continued to ignore the statue, though when he looked around to find who the statue was referring to he could not see any ten-armed or snakey-looking people. Merely a man and woman conversing in a language that he did not recognize.

When his gaze changed however, he did spot someone he knew, and that was the midget he met in Sunberth. Whenever Bob was involved in anything, things tended to get just a little bit dicey, and even though they were no longer in the lawless place he still tended to get a bit cautious of Bob's antics.

Suddenly, the dog that the midget always brought about with him sprang towards the man conversing with the woman, with Bob close behind. From a third-party observer it was clearly an act, and the vantha guessed that it might be because of the man cock-blocking Bob's attempts at trying to hit on the woman.

He of all people would know Bob's stance regarding anyone wearing a skirt and with a chest.

Eridanus glanced back to see what the statue had to say to this, but to his surprise they had somehow shifted several streets away from the statue despite all of them remaining relatively still. That was new.

He felt like approaching Bob just to say 'hi', but then again he was not so sure now. Perhaps he would just watch the proceedings of the unfolding events to amuse himself.