Private for Zalen Back dated to the 16th of July. Sorry if it's a bit short.
The morning air was crisp and cool, soft zephyrs blew through the lands, causing the leaves of the tall maple trees to flutter and dance with the breeze. In the leafy canopy of the five pointed foliage small birds chirruped and tweeted, calling to the dawn, announcing that it was time to awaken. They perched in the high branches, singing joyfully as the sun rose, bringing light to the recently dark sky. Soon the blue light of morning was all around, small flowers began to open, little blue and purple specks dotted amongst the green forest floor and the gnarled tree roots. Rabbits crept from their burrows, small noses sniffing the air tentatively, twitching as they tested each new scent in the area. Slowly they emerged, hopping about the place, nibbling at small grass shoots that were emerging from the forest floor. The stars blinked away as the sky lightened, giving way to the morning, small white clouds drifted across the sky lazily, perhaps not quite awake, despite the dawn.
Through all of this an ebony shape walked slowly, rummaging in a leather satchel at it's side. This figure was Soran, the obsidian lady had been been walking for quite some time, having only just met with Taleisin she was hoping to return to Cours De Miracles, he had reminded her once again of how important her family had become to her, she wished to see them as soon as she was able, her little great-grandchildren and her tall and handsom grandson, she wished to see them all, she wanted to get to know them better, she was on a present-gathering mission, but she needed to know what it was that they might like. She came to a stop and perched herself on a tree root that was particularly large and was standing rather proud of the forest floor beneath it. The tall fae stretched her lithe limbs out before her, crossing on ankle across the other, she gave a lazy yawn, covering her mouth with a dark hand. Then she went back into her satchel, rummaging in it, taking her old writing slate from it, she had been given it by Phasma a long time ago, it was moderately heavy, but she had never minded the weight, it was a fair size, although it was very slim. From her pouch she also produced some chalk, with her well practised handwriting she began to make out a list, a list of all of her family members, checking off each one as she came to them, a small tick next to those who she had found and a large question mark next to those who were still missing. All of her children and two of her grandchildren were marked with a question mark, this made the ebony female's heart sad, it was awful to be without her children, it was true that she had abandoned them in her youth but now she wanted to make amends... She was beginning to fear that it was too late, with a heavy sigh she rubbed her emerald eyes, her thumb instinctively running down the long scar on the right of her muzzle.
Finally he had gotten his den into order and now it was perfect. What had once been an empty, dank cave in a hillside was now an awesome bachelor pad. He had lined the back of it with soft ferns and aromatic fir tree needles to create an incredibly comfortable bed, large enough to even suit him in Optime form. The rest of the den was now swept clean and on one of the naturally occurring ledges inside sat a line of hume bottles and jars he had found in various stages of brokenness. He wasn’t sure what he would fill them with, but for now he just liked their aesthetic value.
He reached up and flicked one of the bottles with a clawed forefinger and listened to the clinking sound it made. Now that he was finished setting up his den he was kind of bored. He had already explored the surrounding area and hadn’t interacted with anyone for a while. With a sigh he decided that maybe he should head to the blue lake for a quick morning swim before heading out to find breakfast.
Casually he began to walk north through the woods, every once in a while spotting one of his marked trees and taking a moment to deepen the scratch marks in the trunks. He had made to line his territory with scent and visual markers so that no one would stumble upon him accidently. But soon he found his marks few and far between and then non-existent and he knew he was getting close to the blue lake in the Sugarwoods which was just outside his territory. That is when he nearly stumbled upon the sitting Luperci female. He had been upwind from her and she was stationary so he was somewhat surprised upon seeing her and wondered what she was doing with that flat piece of rock and that small white stick. He cocked his head to the side as he watched her for a moment, then stepped forward.
I have been in ramble mode recently, so it felt really short to me, I feel bad though because I end up writing a gazillion words and then hope that people don't feel obliged to match me lol.
Soran was lost in thought, her hand moved carefully over the slate, forming each letter carefully, placing surnames next to her offspring's names now, counting which ones bore her own surname. It was a fair few, Haven had been given her surname by Naniko and had seemed more than happy to pass it along to his own children. It was strange for the eboyn lady, her three own children's surnames not matching one another, Dhalia had been given her father's surname, something that the dark lady regretted now, perhaps if she had not bore his name then she would be less like him, she had been a little firework, a loose cannon, much too much like her father. Khaden himself bore Soran's surname, he had looked so much like her that it had been difficult not to select that name for him, she hoped beyond hopes that he had become like her, perhaps a little more stable than she had been in her youth, better equipped to deal with sorrow than she had been, but she hoped he had inherited a good heart. As for Conri, his surname had been a concoction entirely of Soran's making, she had not wanted to give him his father's surname, she had been unable to forgive herself for what she had done and what he had done, so he had been named Church Hollowed, after where he had been concieved and also a small piece of his father's name, he had chosen to drop that himself, and the dark lady could not blame him. If she had had her chance they would have all been Aatte's, their father had never been a father to them, in fact he had just been a brutal psychopath that had attacked their mother... He didn't deserve them to bear his name.
This reverie was broken by the scent of an unfamiliar wolf, the ebony lady had been staring through the white words on her, lost in her thoughts, picturing each of her children, turning them over and over in her mind, her red daughter with the wicked smile, her red son with such sorrow in his eyes and her own little shadow, her dark son with his green eyes, he had been cold to her, but she could not blame him, she had abandoned him when she was a pup, he was bound to feel a bit betrayed by her. She had worked to build a bridge between the pair of them and it had almost worked and then they had both left again and now he was gone and she had no idea where he could be. The obsidian lady sighed as she thought this and looked up, her emerald eyes roving the lands until they fell upon another black wolf, a male with a tattoed face. Soran smiled slightly as he spoke, looking at him properly now, moving her slate and resting it next to her on the tree branch, she kept hold of the chalk though, turning it over and over through her fingers as she listened to him. "Good morning to you as well. I'm Soran, Soran Aatte." The lady replied pleasantly, although she was feeling sad about the situation with her children, she was always polite to those she met. Besides she could never hope but to make a new friend, making connections all over the lands made her happy, it meant that she knew someone no matter where she went. It meant that no matter where she was there would be a friendly face and ear, someone to talk to, someplace safe to go. She had never been particularly nervous meeting other wolves, coyotes she would be nervous of sometimes, but that was because of the war, she remembered Inferni attacking Aremys and had never been able to forgive them for it, surely there must be many polite and friendly coyotes, but Soran still found it difficult to trust them entirely. But other wolves, they generally seemed to be nice, besides she could handle herself, if the worst came to the worst she had a rather heavy blunt object to hand. Though she doubted this male would try to attack her, most attackers didn't give a pleasant greeting.
Rambling sometime is a good thing. Zalen is so cute when he’s curious.
Zalen cocked his head even more to the side as he watched her move the white stick against the black slab. It made a very annoying sound, barely audible but still. He flicked his ear at the sound but was still curious enough to wonder what she was doing. Walking over to her cautiously Zalen went bent down to all fours, an awkward position in this form. He leaned towards her and sniffed along the edge of the slab. It smelled normal, just like a rock of some kind. He then looked over the slab to see exactly what she was doing and saw a bunch of lines and squiggly marks made in white all over the slab. He recognized it as hume writing similar to the kind he had seen on old buildings. He had no idea what they meant however.
Some of the dust from the white stuff entered his nose and he had to step away quickly before sneezing all over her. He settled across from her, sitting on his haunches, and smiled apologetically for the sneeze. Name’s Zalen, pleasure to meet you this fine morning Soran. He stretched a little bit, obviously very relaxed in front of her. It was nice to meet strangers though he had to admit his last run in with a female had been slightly disastrous. He recalled that day, when he had caught the female named Luna after she had fallen from a tree and then how he had been struck in the head with a branch and how he had then stupidly kissed her for no reason. He shook his head the memory, what a dunce he was. But he felt a lot better in front of this woman. Just two dark figures in a misty morning.
With a content sigh he focused on Soran again, May I ask what you are doing with that slab there?
Soran could not help but smile at the dark male's actions, he was so curious about her writing slate, sniffing at it. She knew that kind of curiosity, watching Phasma write for the first time had been an impressive sight for the ebony lady herself, she had already known how to read; Becca, her adoptive mother had taught her when she was small, she had learnt what words meant, how to make the squiggles on a page turn into words, how to sound them out and learn how to turn her speech into those words on the page. But she had never been able to write, having only paws at her disposal, Phasma had been a patient teacher, showing her how to form each letter, helping her turn what she already knew into letters and words. It had been awkward for the dark female at first, holding the chalk in her new hands had been a struggle, but soon enough she had learnt how best to hold a pencil, a pen or chalk and write, now her handwriting was neat and flowing, a far cry from the shaky squiggles she had been forming at first. This male had obviously not seen a writing slate before, had never been around writing, she supposed that many wolves had no need to, she herself did not write that often, she read all the time though, she usually had her nose in a book, before the old lands had burnt to the ground she had accumulated a rather impressive library in the old Syemv house.
These thoughts were interupted by the jet male suddenly standing up and sneezing loudly. The ebony lady chuckled, knowing the tickling awkward sensation of having chalk up her own nose, she had done something similar the first time she had seen Phasma writing, sniffing at the chalk and ending up with the irritating powder up her own dark nose. "Bless you! I'm sorry I should have warned you that the chalk can be quite tickling if it gets up your nose." The ebony fae said with a warm smile, still chuckling a little, more at her own memories than at this dark male. A sudden moment passed when she wished this male was Khaden or one of her grandchildren, she would so have loved to teach them to read and write, perhaps it was not too late, she was sure she still had plenty of wisdom to pass on through her bloodline, perhaps to her young great grandchildren, there was still time, she was willing, she just hoped beyond everything that they would be willing to trust her and accept her into their lives once again.
Then the male introduced himself, he seemed like a cheery sort of soul, very polite. "It is nice to meet you as well Zalen, feel free to come and take a seat up here if you'd like?" Soran offered, patting a patch of the raised tree root beside her, she wouldn't mind the tattooed male coming to sit close to her, it would be easier to show him what she was doing if he was close by, she was sure he would ask about the writing slate now, he had seemed so curious about it. And she assumed that he was the curious kind who would ask about something he didn't understand. She was proved right just a moment later, he asked almost as soon as she had assumed he would. The lady smiled again, wondering the best way to explain, she would teach him if he would like, though she would have to find something to wipe the slate clean with if he wanted to attempt to write anything. "It's a writing slate, I'm just making a list, a list of my family members, checking off who I have seen already and who I have yet to find, I've not been back in the lands long you see. My family still live here, so I was checking to see who I had yet to catch up with." The lady explained, a nervous smile crossing her lips as she explained about her missing family members, the truth was she was unsure where they were at all, what had happened to them, whether or not they were even alive. She hoped that they were all alive and well, she wanted desperately to see them again, safe and well. "Have you never seen something like this before?" The ebony lady asked, curious as to whether the male even knew that some wolves had adopted reading and writing as a normal way of life.
Hume=humans if you can’t figure that out, that’s just what Zalen calls them.
This woman seemed very kind and it put Zalen at greater ease then he already was. He gladly accepted her offer of the tree limb and sat. He took a look at the slate but could not for the life of him understand what she meant by making a list. He supposed making a list in your head of things would be good to do, but what did that have to do with the squiggles she had made? He listened as she talked about her family and noted the twinge of sadness in her voice, he wondered what her back story was. It seemed that despite all the friendly people he had met the majority of them had a dark past of some kind… including himself.
When she asked him if he had ever seen anything like it he shook his head, No ma’am can’t say I have. Does it have something to do with the humes? He figured this must be so, seeing as those squiggles and lines were common visages in old hume settlements. Perhaps they were a form of marking territory, just as scent and claw marking trees were for his kind. But this seemed like an extreme waste of time, these tiny marks on walls and signs. A good spray on a root seemed to be far more affective in his mind.
Zalen now paid attention to each line of marks that she had made, all in neat rows stacked one right on top of another. He started to notice similarity between the marks, like there was some kind of pattern. Especially the one that looked like a snake was more prevalent, he wondered if each mark represented an animal. But that was confusing and what could that have to do with members of her family? He was thoroughly stumped and wrinkled his nose in annoyance, What do these marks have to do with your family? he asked as he reached a large forepaw down to click on the slate with a claw.
WC: 668. Ah that's ok Guessed as much. I think I'm a little bit in love with Zalen, he's so cute
Soran smiled, shifting over a little to make more room for the dark male as he came to sit next to her, she smiled, bringing the slate back onto her knee so that he would find it much easier to see what she was doing. She was more than happy to explain things to him, she liked curiosity in any form and she was more than happy to share her wisdom with anyone who asked. This just happened to be an area that the obsidian female was confident with, she knew how to read and write and she would quite enjoy teaching someone else to do so as well. She shook the sadness from her head as she looked over the list of names that she had made, tracing Conri's name with a long clawed finger, she missed him so much, despite all that he had done; she could not forgive him, he had committed crimes that hurt his mother more than anything she could describe, but he was still her son, her young red boy, she still saw him as the curious bundle of red fluff, bouncing all over the place, staring with jade eyes up into her own gaze; despite it all she still loved him more than she could explain to anyone, she could not turn her back on him, he was still her little boy.
She quickly shoved this thought from her mind as the male spoke again, so he had never seen anything like it before, she was unsurprised, he had seemed to curious for the slate to be anything that he was familiar to him. He asked if it was anything to do with humans, yes, she supposed it did, she had never really thought of it that way, but of course all the books she had read had been written by humans, to her it was just something her pale adopted mother had taught her when she was small, followed by Phasma continuing her education by teaching her how to write. She had never really thought about it being a human thing, although of course, it was. "Yes it is a human thing, well they first invented it, we just seem to have adopted it once we gained the ability to use our hands. It's called writing, it's the same as the words you say, just put down on paper, or this slate for example. They used it for all sorts of things, to give instructions or directions, to tell stories or even to communicate with others." The lady replied, smiling as she turned the slate to Zalen, pointing at the letters as she explained. Soran smiled as the male asked another question, tapping on her slate. She loved to see how curious he was, she was really going to enjoy explaining this to him. She raised the slate up a little more, pointing at the first name on the slate, Conri's. "It's their names, followed by a tick, showing that I've checked them off if I've seen them already," She explained and pointed at one of the tick marks, specifically the one next to Haven's name, her red grandson had already seen her, and he had brought with him the surprise of great grandchildren. "Or a question mark if I do not know where they are, it's the symbol you write down if you were asking a question, if that makes sense." She replied, pointing at the question mark next to Conri's name. "See, this is my son's name here. You're name is Zalen right? See you would write it down like this, Z... A... L... E...N." Soran explained, turning the slate over and taking the chalk in her hand, writing down each letter as she said it aloud, carefully forming each one to show him how his own name would be written. It had been the first thing that Soran had wanted to know when she had learnt to read and write, she hoped he would be the same.
Zalen felt a motherly warmth emanating off this lady like none he had ever felt before in a stranger. It reverted him back to puppy-hood and he sat on the gnarled tree root slapping his tail again the trunk in happiness. However he did wonder if his presence was bringing back unwanted memories to the ebon wolfess as she continued to zone out every once in a while. He was tempted to lay a gentle, friendly paw on her shoulder but thought the better of it.
When she did finally return from her musings she confirmed his suspicions about the connection between the slate and the humes. He gave a little nod and grunt of understanding. She went on to explain that this was a form of communication, the squiggles symbolized words and that the Luperci had adopted it from the humes. Once again Zalen found this a little silly, wondering why creatures such as they would have any need of hume ideas. But he pushed this aside, obviously it must be useful seeing as this wise woman was taking the time to practice it.
Soran then pointed to the various squiggles that stood for members of her family and explained the tick and question marks. Zalen noticed that there were many more of the hook and dot question marks then there were the flying bird check marks. She obviously had not met up with many of her family yet and Zalen’s ears drooped with sadness for her. He knew what it was like to miss family.
Then she did something that made Zalen’s eyes widen. She wrote his name. Zalen watched as she made each individual mark, five in all. He especially liked the first mark, it reminded him of… well, he wasn’t sure. A smile came to his face and he used his claw to trace the squiggles of his name, I would love to learn this art… he said quietly.
WC: 1069 He is indeedy, very charming, be careful or Soran might adopt him, try and put him in her satchel and keep him as a pet XD Slight powerplay here with her giving him the chalk and slate, hope that that's ok, if not I'm happy to change it
The ebony fae smiled as she explained, even more so when his ears very slightly drooped as he noted that there were more question marks than ticks. It was nice for someone to understand her, know that it must hurt not to know where her family were, she did not want him to be sad for her, not at all, it was not his fault that they had scattered themselves to the four winds, it was more her fault, although she could not say for certain that had she been here that they would have stayed even then. Wanderlust was someting that seemed to run in her genes, it seemed to have been passed on to her children and grandchildren, they had chosen to follow their feet, just as the ebony lady had herself, she had wandered far and wide across these lands, the old lands and beyond, she had just walked, finding adventure and interesting things along the way admittedly, she had fallen in love, had more pups, almost been killed and seen wolves perform acts that were more cruel than anything that would be seen in hell; but she had also seen them act with more grace and compassion than heaven could even dream of. It had been filled with ups and downs and ultimately she always ended up back here, all she could do was hope that her family would be the same as her, the pull of their birthplace being too strong to ignore. It was a slim chance, but that was all she could hope for. The ebony lady rested a long fingered hand upon Zalen's equally dark shoulder. "Do not be sad for me, wandering runs in my family, I am a traveller myself, it just seems that my family have inherited that from me. They'll come back here eventually I hope, after all I always do." The fae said, giving the male's shoulder a gentle squeeze, following it up with a warm smile. She really did not want him to be sad for her. She was being hopeful, it was hard, but it was the truth that her feet always found their way back here, perhaps then her bloodline would have wandering feet with a built in navigation for this place as well. Hope was all that she really had now, that and blind luck, she just had to hope that believing enough in them coming home would make it happen, how she longed to hold her red son in her arms again, she would have to hit him and give him a lecture first of course. And her twins, her dark boy and her red daughter, she missed them both, despite Dhalia being less than stable at times, she wanted to hold them close to her, breathing their scents in deeply, just to commit everything about them to memory.
Soran was overjoyed to see the excitement that lit up the male's face as he traced his name. The curiosity made the ebony lady very pleased, he reminded her of her own black son, Khaden looked so much like her, bearing her size, her fur colour and her emerald eyes, not inheriting the cold icy blue eyes of his father, she missed him as well, she had never managed to teach Khaden to read and write, that was her own fault, she had left when he had been so small, it was true that she was in no fit state to be a mother at the time, her mind to fragile, her heart in far too many pieces, but she was sad that she had missed out on all those little things, hopefully he would return and she would get the chance to be a proper mother to him. She had managed to be a much better mother to her youngest pups though, she had loved teaching them things like this, looking into their little faces, so full of excitement and interest, the first thing she had taught them after the alphabet was how to spell their own names. It had been a very popular teaching method with them, it seemed to be working here as well. The ebony male who looked so much like her own dark son said that he would like to learn how to read and write, the fae rested her hand on the slate and turned to the male and smiled. "Well I would be more than happy to teach you Zalen, as you have asked so nicely." The lady replied. She picked the chalk up again, holding it how she had to write, raising her hand to show Zalen how she was holding it. "This is how you hold something to write, why don't you try to copy your name, while I just look for something that will help us." The lady said, pressing the chalk into the male's hand and putting the slate upon his knee, she thought that it would be the best way to start him off, copying her own writing, that way he could get used to holding the chalk and writing with it. It also gave her a few moments to find what she was looking for.
Soran had had a sudden brain wave, she opened her leather satchel and began rummaging through it, the lady kept almost everything in it, her flute, books, the slate, chalk, pencils and paper, Mati's paintbrushes, needles and threads, beads, even a few interesting stones she had found on her travels; she really needed a pack with a room or cave to call her own, just so she didn't have to carry it all around with her again. She soon found what she was looking for though, she had found them recently in an abandoned house, children's first word books, one of the alphabet and two short stories, the wording very basic. They were flimsy things, made of paper and thin card, but they were incredibly useful, she had been intending to give them to her great grandchildren, but she felt Zalen needed them more, besides she was unsure if she would even be allowed to see her young offspring again. She pulled them from her satchel and smiled at the male. "Here we are, these will help you learn to read, they're very basic, but there's no point trying to run before you can walk." The lady said cheerfully, resting them on her knee.
The PP was fine, hardly noticeable. And nooo don't steal Zalen! XD BTW I added those books to my inventory in my profile and gave them titles. If they had specific titles let me know adn I'll change them.
Zalen really liked it when Soran smiled at him it reminded him of his mother in happier times. When she placed a gentle paw on his shoulder he felt a warmth emanate throughout his body and he smiled at her. It was good to meet so kind of a woman that he didn’t completely lose his mind around. The other girls he had met recently had caused him great embarrassment and confusion and it was nice to actually have a grasp on the situation for once. He understood now more than ever why he had avoided and was wary of females in the past; they just caused so much trouble.
She offered to teach him how to write and Zalen wagged his tail enthusiastically but when she handed the slate and chalk to him he sat there for a moment dumbfounded holding the chalk in the palm of his hand like a staff. When she went to look for something in her bag he tried to manipulate the small stick of white in his huge paws. He managed to pinch it between his thumb and forefinger and went to try and copy the marks she had made. It wasn’t as difficult as he thought, the marks were mostly comprised of lines and circles and before he knew it his name appeared twice, one elegant and the other choppy, but nonetheless he had written!
Zalen’s tail was going a hundred miles an hour when she produced the two books. Zalen set the slate down. She said that they would help learn to read. He had never seen anything like them before, and he held one open an watched as the tattered leaves inside fanned out. He sniffed the one he was holding. It smelled like her, but also like hume houses. He wrinkled his nose a bit and then held the book correctly, albeit upside down. He noticed that it was filled with more of the writing and some strange drawings of what Zalen guessed must have been humes. They were hideous! Furless bipedal creatures with tiny noses and ears but no tails! What ghastly things, they reminded him of infant mice, all pink and helpless. No wonder they had all died out. Thank you, he said, flipping the book right side up to get a better view of the illustration, but I’m not sure what to do with these things. He looked at her somewhat apologetically.
WC: 1062 Nope they didn't have titles, I just saw the short story one as something like Dr.Seuss or you know, like "Tim has a ball, it's a big ball, a big red ball." Those sorts, make up whatever name for them you like And I shall be stealing Zalen, Soran's going to put him in her satchel and take him home with her XD Congratulations on the Community Soul by the way
The ebony fae was enjoying having someone to teach, she was not often needed in that capacity, her grandchildren now being grown and past the need of having to have someone to teach them skills, even her youngest litter were too old for that now, she had taught them the skills she had felt they would need for life, they had soaked in what she had said like sponges, they had been so eager to learn, but now they too had grown, almost being a year and a half old, they had the skills they felt they had needed and that had been enough for them, besides there were others in the old pack where she had left them that could continue their studies should they need it. So to come across someone who was so keen to learn was a delight for Soran, she felt she still had so much to give and now she had an eager receptical for her knowledge, it made her happy to know that her brain was still what it had been, and that she was still useful in the capacity of teacher. It was good to have someone with a keen interest to improve their own skill set, she was always happy to help with things like that, over the years she had picked up many skills, she could sew (in fact she had had to sew her own ear tip back on once), she knew basic healing herbs, she could play the flute, read and write, she even had some piercing experience, the ebony fae felt that she had a lot to share and had been hoping for a chance to pass some of her knowledge on. She was so glad to have found Zalen, who's interest to learn easily matched her desire to teach. It was much better than sitting with her pups, once they had gotten a little older they had gotten to a sighing and rolling their eyes stage, they had reached that age of course, being teenagers esentially by the time the lady had been trying to finish and improve their education, they had not had the time for her then, firmly believeing that they knew everything and that they were invincible. That too would pass with age, but for teaching it had been difficult. But now the lady had a willing student, and this only made the smile on her dark lips grow.
As she turned back, books in hand, she smiled at what he had writted, it was a marvellous attempt, especially if it was indeed his first try at even holding a writing implement. She took the slate from him, gazing at the writing, the smile still playing on her lips. "Well done! A fine first attempt I would say, perhaps now we should try on the alphabet, from there you can form lots of words." She said, placing the slate down again. She could not help but chuckle as the dark male picked up one of the books, turning it this way and that and sniffing at it, she supposed it was a usual first reaction for someone who was just becoming aqquainted with the world of books and reading. She was so used to them by now that she had not really thought about smelling them, the only ones she really noticed were those with the scent of really old books, of dust and age, the pages were usually yellowing with age in those books, they were a delight to read, they always felt full of character to the ebony female. She wondered if she had been ignorant to the world of reading when she had been his age if she would have reacted the same way. Becca had taught her how to spell and read when she had been small, turning the pages clumsily with her nose, resting a forepaw on each half of the book to hold it open, it had been awkward, but the emerald eyed lady had always enjoyed a challenge. The ebony lady watched him with amused curiosity, wondering what was going through his head as he examined the book. Soon enough he spoke, and she nodded as he did, listening intently to what he was saying. The obsidian loner smiled at him as he thanked her, tipping her head slightly to indicate that he was more than welcome.
"You're very welcome Zalen, I shall show you how to use them if you like? It's not as hard as it looks once you know the basics. This book in particular will help with that, it teaches you all the letters of the alphabet and they in turn make up words, once you know all of the letters it makes it much easier to learn to correctly spell any word you can think of." The lady said, gesturing to the book she was holding, lifting it up for him to better see, the front cover was covered in bright designs, the letters A and Z standing out in bright blues and reds, with all sorts of greenery around them. The ebony fae opened it at the first page, holding it up so Zalen could see as well. The first two pages was a double spread, the letter A written out in large red cartoon style writing, a picture of an apple resting next to the base of one of the lines that formed it. The words "A is for apple" written below it in large black print. The second page was again in the same bright cartoon style B in a deep blue colouring, with a picture of a small boat in one of the loops of the capital letter. Beneath this it said "B is for boat" in the same black font that was on the opposite page. The ebony fae pointed to the letter A, smiling at the male, her tone soft and motherly. "This is the letter A, you'll see you have written it in your own name. It's the first letter of the alphabet, it also goes ah as well as A, that's when you say it when you speak though. And this is the letter B, again it can also go, buh. It's the second letter of the alphabet." Soran said, hoping that she was being helpful to the male by teaching him the simple basics.
How much longer do you want this thread to run? Do you want to end it and assume that they sat there for a few more hours her teaching him? Or do you want to PP that so that we can skip ahead a few hours to the finish? I’m assuming that you’ll have Soran tell him to study up and that she would find him again soon to check up on his progress.
Zalen could tell that Soran found his curiosity funny, but this did not bother him. Ever since coming to Nova Scotia he had shed his wary ways and adopted a relaxed sense of constant knowledge seeking. Having all these unobtrusive, nonaggressive Luperci around eased the constant sense of danger he had felt when he was traveling alone. Now that he felt safe, now that he had established a den and had a good sense of the territory and its inhabitants he found that the wolf yearning to learn inside him was being revealed. This was the first real chance he had encountered that would allow him to pick up on a skill that might aid him in the future and a skill that he himself could pass on.
Soran seemed pleased with his attempt at writing his name and this encouraged his curiosity and his tail wagging. When she showed the ABC book to him he recognized the large letter on the front that was identical to first in his name. He pointed to it, That’s in my name! he was excited that he was beginning to understand. There was a preset of symbols and the unique combination of these symbols formed written words which were a visual version of a spoken word. Genius! Maybe these humes weren’t so bad after all, this writing system would allow them to get messages to each other without having to travel to see each other. He remembered the note that Luna’s mother had given her, that she had refused to open to read until she had finished some duties. The written word was sacred to her, and he felt that soon it would be for him as well.
Soran opened the book and there on the first page in bright coloring was an apple and a large symbol that looked like a pointed mountain peak. She explained that it was the first letter of the alphabet, A, and that it appeared in his name. And so it did, it was the second symbol of his name. He wondered what an apple had to do with the symbol but she explained the sound it made, “ah”, and he realized that this was the beginning sound of the word apple. This completely blew his mind! Each symbol or letter had its own sound and the combinations of sounds made words. His mind flared up with thought as he processed all this information, so much so that his tail had stopped wagging in his deep concentration. This is amazing…
This can be the last post if you want? I have PPed if a bit, I hope that's ok? I know you said it was, but if it's too much then do let me know and I'll change it WC:800
The tall, slender ebony wolf was enjoying teaching the younger male all about this. He was so interested, she could not help but smile at him as his tail wagged with excitement as he realised that the letters were in his name, it seemed that his understanding of the system of writing was growing. It seemed that he was not feeling that this was so silly anymore, he was understanding that the letters were actually symbols for the sounds that wolves made when they spoke, and that all they were doing was changing what they had said into the words written on the page. The pair went through the book swiftly, Soran pointing from once brightly coloured word to the next, the bright orange letter C with the picture of the small ginger cat next to it, the bright green D with the (rather poorly drawn in Soran's opinion) picture of the dog next to it. E was an elephant, Soran had of course never seen one in real life, but she had read about them in human books, so she had explained what it was at the same time, just in case young Zalen had never encountered even an image of one before. Soon enough the pair found themselves at the end of the alphabet book, a zebra staring up at them from the page next to a large striped letter Z, again she explained what one of these striped horse like creatures was, momentarily wondering why it was that humans felt the need to decorate their books with such exotic creatures, many of which she doubted any of the furless bipedal humans could have claimed to have seen in the wild. It was funny to her, she too found them fascinating, but in a book filled with first words and letters she would have selected more simple things personally, things that were recognisable in the world around them, surely small humans would be unsure what a zebra was themselves, it was true enough that the pictures were bright and engaging, easily focused upon, but they must be confiusing for little humans who had never seen one of the striped creatures in real life, nor the giant grey elephant that adorned the other page. Why did they over complicate things so... Soran had actually substituted her own name for the letter S, although adding that it was also for the purple and green snake on the page as well. So she had added that Z was for Zalen as well, smiling at the male, she knew it was a silly thing to say, he had already figured it out, but she found that making it personally relevant helped the information stick much better.
The pair sat for some time, once they had finished the alphabet book Soran had cleaned the slate with a cloth from her bag, writing some basic words on it, saying them aloud as she did, to help it make better sense to the dark male, she encouraged him to copy them and he did, his handwriting was improving as they went, they repeated this a few times, Soran smiling with encouragement and simply because she was so pleased that he was doing so well and that he seemed to be enjoying himself. The pair also started on the second book, the children's stories, they seemed to be making great progress. But soon time had flown by and it was time for the ebony lady to be finding some supper for herself. She decided that it was time to end, she smiled at the male, taking back the slate and chalk, but pulling from her bag several sheets of paper and a pencil, writing Zalen's name at the top of one of them to show him that it was just like the slate. "I think it really is time for us to leave, you've made some excellent progress here today, keep the books and the pencil and paper, so that you can carry on practising, there will be a quiz." Soran said, with a small chuckle, showing that she was just kidding about the quiz. "I would like to come back and see you again if you'd like? Perhaps we could continue with another lesson?" The fae asked, her smile warm and proud, she was indeed proud of the male, she was very pleased that he had picked it up so quickly, she was pleased with herself too, apparently she was still an effective teacher. She stood up and stretched, offering a hand for the male to shake. "It has been wonderful meeting you, thanks so much for letting me teach you this, I have enjoyed it greatly. I shall see you soon no doubt." The ebony female said with a soft smile, turning to leave.
Back dated to the 16th of July. Sorry if it's a bit short.
