[Edge of the World] Midnight Serenity (Taln)

[Risa Moontide]

"Petit? Like tiny? Hm." Risa watched the way his mouth circled and his tongue flicked as he whistled out the word. Taln made it look natural... well, of course, it IS natural for him. The way his mouth tightened around the words was something Risa had a hard time reenacting. Her mouth muscles just weren't utilized the same way.

"Oh, outsider. I guess that makes more sense. I couldn't figure out if it was a greeting or a curse, actually, I was a little worried I'd just insulted you!" Risa grinned, her eyes narrowing as the smile took up her face for an instant. She was being honest, wearing her brain on her sleeve. As usual, though Risa couldn't seem to be as short and obvious as the Inarta even while acting like that.

Risa gathered Fala up when the owl shrieked as well. The black bird layed comfortably in her hands, letting his feet dangle before tucking them under himself. She barely noticed the barest of outlines from the owl above. It seemed he had flown off at the movement the small birds were no longer prey.

It was a little annoying, being out where predators saw Fala as an easy meal. She had to save him from eagles and owls and foxes and all manner of animal that the pair didn't even deal with. His dark colors definitely didn't hide him in the yellow and brown motif of the landscape. Another reason to leave, it seemed. Risa sighed.

'Let's not think of such things.' she told herself. Risa glanced at Taln and then back up at the sky, quickly changing the subject. "What do you call the sky? Or the stars? My pod weren't much of stargazers, save for myself." She paused, peering at the black veil before her. "I love the stars. I've always liked to form patterns in the stars, group together the constellations" Risa closed one eye and pointed up, drawing lines from star to star "and make new pictures."

[Taln]

Taln nodded at her comment to confirm its truth. "The narrower, smaller paths are the oldest of the warrens so that is why small/little is part of the translation." He couldn't help but smile in return at Risa. A fellow bird enthusiast and someone who spoke another language was an ideal talker for the reticent man. His gaze caught and noted her worried and annoyed expression. "When in doubt about predators near your bird here in Wind Reach, listen for crickets. If it's suddenly quiet with no wild life or insect sounds, a predator is around. They're in infallible alarm system, so if it's unnaturally quiet, eventually Fala will know to hide by or near you." It felt utterly alien to talk so openly with someone. No orders or pulling rank, just an equal exchange of ideas. The large man enjoyed Risa's open and friendly nature and her inquisitive mind. No one had ever talked to him as an equal before and he soaked it in. "Ciel sky, les étoiles the stars." Taln said in what seemed an impossible translation of gurgling and sharp whistles. At the word Ciel, Reech looked up at the sky and flapped his fluffy little wings. The Dek chuckled and patted the falcon chick affectionately. With a thoughtful expression, he watched the Svefra tracing pictures in the sky and wondered at her creative playfulness. He'd never met anyone that behaved that way--even in the nursery. That kind of idle wonderment just wasn't fostered in their work oriented society. A small part of him longed to be that carefree and he admired her for it.

[Risa Moontide]

Risa kept her ear open and her eyes closed for a moment. No crickets chirped, the background noise had gotten silent with the approach and subsequent retreat of the owl. "Really? Crickets?" Risa looked back at Taln with wide eyes. "That's amazing! I would have never thought to listen for that."

"S-Seal." The svefra attempted to copy him again, to limited success. It was obvious she didn't really understand the noise she made, no matter how closely it came to the original word. Risa let her shoulders slump, but her spirit wasn't darkened. This language was tough. But it was just as tough as the Inartans themselves, the lives they lived, the rock face around her.

"I just don't seem to be getting this. Hm." Risa whistled some notes and chirps to herself, mimicking Taln and Fala and every other Inarta and bird she had heard. She played with the noises for a moment, just trying out noises. Finally, Risa began copying the sounds of the words Taln had said, trying to get those down. "Sel Sel Seal Sel Seal Ceal Ciel Ceal Cel" and so on. The times she got it sounding better spurred her on, just playing with the noise for a chime.

Finally looking back at Taln, she gave him yet another bright smile. "I feel like you're doing a lot more of helping me than I helping you. Common seems a lot more basic than Nari and you already have so much knowledge in place. I owe you for your help, Taln." Risa didn't really know how she could help him, but knew she had to.
oocAwesome use of French, Lisa. Really clever.

[Taln]

Secret : Thanks Risa, it's the first thing that came to mind. Sorry if my post is a little off. I'm distracted today. Taln listened intently and then nodded as the night sounds slipped back into full activity. The danger had passed and life resumed its night work. Reech hopped off of the man's shoulder and headed straight back to Risa with a friendly chirp. The more the Svefra whistled and shrilled with the different sounds, the more intently the young falcon watched her. He tilted his head sideways to watch her as she tweeted with the noises and he chirped a question at her. Risa's knowledge of bird speak would tell her clearly that he was a shameless beggar for more food. The copper haired man chuckled and he recognized the sounds from long habit. "Reech if you eat any more, you'll be too fat to fly!" He was surprised at her comment and one eyebrow seemed to raise of its own accord. "You speak common to me and I learn more as you speak it-you are teaching me as you talk." He was about to add that nothing was owed, but the opportunist in him couldn't resist the chance. "Can you read and write common? If you feel you owe a debt, you can teach me reading and writing, yes?" His voice brimmed with hopefulness at the mere thought of something he wanted more than anything in the world --literacy. Taln watched the woman, still amazed at meeting someone who smiled so much and so often. Her good nature and smiles were more than enough payment in exchange for a few words.

[Risa Moontide]

Risa giggled at Reech as he called curiously for another morsel. Fish is something Risa had plenty of, so she was more than happy to share with the hungry little bird. She reached in her bag for the remaining body of the fish she had broken pieces from, laying in gently on the ground. most of the small fish still remained, easy pickings for Reech's already sharp beak.

Fala glanced at the fish as though he would eat it himself, but his belly was quenched and he had no need to do so. Instead he shambled on his funny dark feet towards Taln, sending up a quick whooping whistle and tilting his head down. He wanted to be petted, he loved having his neck stroked. "Seems both our birds are needy!" Risa replied, greatly enjoying this conversation.

"Read and write common? Yes, I can. My mother taught me." Books, while interesting, were no substitute to the real world, however. Risa was never much of a reader, but she knew how. "I can try to teach you too. It's not hard, I'm sure you'll pick it up quick." Risa shuffled through her bag to pull out a set of quills and some ink. She had no paper to go with it, but perhaps the ground could be their paper?

"Do you read and write Nari? It's like those stones you placed earlier." Risa pointed to the rocks still in the jumbled arrangement Taln had placed them in. "But each letter makes a noise that comes together to make a word. Um..." Risa wasn't really sure how to explain it. She had never had to teach anyone anything, her inexperience at doing so shown clear. "Like that word I said earlier, I think? Petit or pattern? Here, let me explain better."

Risa gave the little glass vial a shake and pulled the cork free, air rushing to meet the ink inside. She quickly grabbed a quill and dipped it inside, pulling out the now-ready quill. Risa tried to write on the ground, but of course the dirt stuck to the ink and wouldn't make the lines she was trying to draw. With a frustrated sigh Risa looked around.

Risa quickly grabbed four small stones and attempted to write on them. To her fortune the ink made long lines on the stone surface, finally doing what she needed. Risa drew a letter on each stone and then layed them before Taln, making sure they were in order. "T... A... L... N... It spells Taln."

[Taln]

The fledgeling's yellow eyes gleamed and he scooped up a piece of fish, pointed his beak to the sky and closed his eyes as he swallowed the morsel. Reech's quick reflexes caught Fala's gaze and the young Peregrine falcon nearly choked in his haste to eat all the fish as fast as possible. "Reech! One bite at a time you greedy goat!" Taln couldn't help but laugh at the bird's antics. "You eat like I do---only you're neater about it!" His green eyes turned vivid emerald in appreciation of Fala's greeting. He mimicked the seabird's whooping whistle and reached out a gentle hand to stroke the bird's neck. The webbed feet and smoother, darker feathers felt strange but nice and he admired Fala. "You're a handsome bird with that top feather and webby feet." He said quietly in Nari to Fala. "Do you get all the girl birds with that look?" Almost of its own accord, a long strong finger stroked the back of the bird's head and neck, gently scratching those itchy places. Taln shook his head at Risa's question. "Not much reading or writing. I know a little from Drusilla Avora." He scowled at first, trying to figure out what she was doing. When she set up the stones with a symbol on each, he got the idea. The drudge kept a hand on Fala and with his left hand, copied the stone symbols onto the ground. He drew out each letter, trying hard to sound it out as separate things before stringing them together. "Tch! Tck! Tuh. Eh, ay, ah. Lllllll? uhlll? ylll? Oon, ung, enn! Taln! It's me! That's my name!" The man beamed proudly, at not just the newly learned skill, but the recognition of finally being an individual above Dek or drudge!

[Risa Moontide]

Risa was enjoying herself. She felt like it had been some time since an Inartan had been firnedly with her again, it was very nice to feel close to someone again. They were connected, their love of birds, even in the tentative way he seemed to hold himself. It reminded her of herself.

Taln's excitement was palpable. Risa wanted to clap along, but the somber thoughts had calmed her usually excitable exterior. Risa scanned the rocky cropping around her, eyes searching for the rounded form of more stones to draw on, more letters to write out.

"Um... what word next?" As she spoke Risa spotted some clouds on the horizon, needing naught more than a hefty wind to blot out the beautiful stars and bring the evening to a close. Her first instinct told her to sail south, beat the storm, but being landlocked she quickly scoffed at the ridiculousness of the idea. "It looks like rain soon."
[ooc=ooc]Lisa! Sorry to keep you hanging like this. Life overcame my feeble efforts to fight it back. I intend not to let any of my threads fall into disrepair like this again. I also put in a snag for an easy out, if you'd like, unless you want to post a few more times before the rain forces us out. I miss talking with you!