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For Maria  Someone else could pop in too, if they'd like.
And the sun will set for you
The fog was beginning to lift just a little as the sun was rising, a pattern that Beppe was starting to notice as the days sifted by. Of all the borders that they could have stumbled on, he was pleased that his mother and him had fallen across Clouded Tears; the constant mist was so similar to winters at home that sometimes he could pretend he was there. If there was a bit less snow the fantasy could probably end up vivid enough for the boy to believe it. Their new home offered comfort that the rest of the world they belonged to now, so different, could not.
Amidst the familiarity of this territory, the lake was a feature that remained a center of curiosity for the boy, and often times he would sit close to it and wonder if it had a name. It must have a story, as well, as in the ebony wolf's mind, everything had one. If one didn't make itself known to him soon, he would make one up. For now he was content with just waiting and watching. It wasn't his place to fabricate stories about his new home, not yet. That was something that was better left to wolves that knew the land much better.
That idea wouldn't stop Beppe from imagining stories about smaller things, though, and he found himself thinking about pebbles and even a few young trees. It kept him content, kept him busy. He hadn't seen his mother for quite a while, but her scent was fresh and something told him that she would be around soon. The boy wondered how she was doing tossed into a culture that spoke a language she didn't know all that well. He himself had been having great fun.
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Would you mind if I joined too? Naniko offered to teach Maria English at the pack meeting :3 Maybe they could talk about that?
She was trying really hard, bringing back book after book...but none of it made sense to her. She knew many different languages, but somehow she'd never managed to learn Itallian. Maybe it was that there had been no wolves from that area living in Clouded Tears...she wasn't sure. Usually she learned a new language whenever she needed to, as wolves came and left. There had been a French wolf, so she had learned French. A few Russians, so she had tried to learn how to speak that. But this language was so confusing...she didn't even know where to start!
Naniko winced a little as a shift in her pawsteps shoved one of the books inside her pack into her back. She took it off for a moment, moved the books around, then put it back on. Maybe being around the lake would help her to concentrate. The waters usually calmed her. She started around the lake, putting her pack down when she got to a good reading spot. She was going to master this language if it was the last thing she'd do.
[html] Maria's gone, but would you mind continuing this thread anyways? :]
And the sun will set for you
Beppe had seen the ghosted silhouette of another wolf move around the edge of the water, and feeling eager to meet some of the other wolves in his pack, stood up and began to walk towards it. The boy walked with a bit of a hop in his step, feeling energized by the fog and potential of meeting someone new. He had grown addicted to the feeling now that he was able to do it, and was constantly aching to learn new names, new voices.
As he grew close, he slowed down a little and held up a hand to wave. "Hello," he said gently but loudly enough to carry through the thin veil of fog that separated the two. "What is that you have?" he questioned, notioning towards the bag. It was possible it wasn't his business, but he figured it was a good conversation starter. The boy had never learned to read; had never really been exposed to books at all.
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[html] You bet And hey, maybe Nani can teach him /both/ French and written English--then he can suprise Empusa with it <_< lawlz.
One of her favorite things to do was read. She often went to the library in the human city to pick out new books, so that she could continue with the reading. Sometimes the books ended up being pretty boring, especially the long medical books (the werewolves didn't have the technology to do anything in them...but she tried to read them anyway), but sometimes she found some really good ones. There was one book about a human named Julie that befriended a pack of wolves; this book confused Naniko the most of all, even more than the medical books had. She could hear the voice before she saw him, so she didn't feel afraid when she saw the other. Sometimes she thought that she could almost see through the mist; she knew where everything in the packlands was located, and there was a certain feeling that she got when something was out of place. Or when there was a wolf there. There were also times that animals told her who was there. But this time she didn't have any of her flying friends with her. "Oh! Hello there." She was a rather polite wolf, comparatively. "It's a bookbag--with some...books in it. That makes sense now, doesn't it? I never really connected it before..." The alabastor girl realized that she was rambling, and started over. "I told a wolf that I was going to try and teach her English...but I haven't been able to find her. I found a few books in Itallian, and in French. I can only speak French, though, I'm afraid...so the Itallian doesn't make sense. I think that she came from Italy; I met her at the pack meeting. A big black wolf"
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Sorry for the delay <33 And that would be awesome! Hee hee.
The Clouded Tears territory was still relatively foreign to Beppe, especially because his usual tendency to wander had been stifled a little by the experience that had brought him to the continent. He would grow back into it, though, once the strangeness of the lands around him wore off. The boy had already found that wandering paid off; he had already met a new friend that way. It seemed like the friendship would stick, too, and that was even more valuable than making friends in the first place.
Beppe was quite pleased when he got a cordial response, and the faint, friendly smile that was there spread into a happier one. He smiled along with her when she made the bookbag revelation, and subconsciously changed his position a little to see into the bag. He hadn't really seen books before -- not that he could remember, anyway -- and certainly not nice ones. He was quite curious.
What the wolf said next made Beppe even more curious, though, and he furrowed his brow a little, thinking. 'Oh, I think you are meaning about my mother... We have come from Italy some weeks ago." He smiled a little. "I was not at the meeting, I am regretting this... But, all that is done is done." The boy smiled a bit more, making eye contact, and sat down cross-legged beside the lady. Eying the bag of books and the other's hands around it, he offered, "If you would like, I will help you with the Italian, if you will teach me some French, and help make better my English." Perhaps it should have been the English lessons to come first in his mind, but the French language seemed to be sneaking into his mind with increasing subtlety.
"I am called Beppe, by the way." He smiled again and held out his hand.
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Naniko was always eager to please, even with those that were younger or of a lower rank than her. She thought that education was one of the most important things in a wolf's life--they needed to be able to at least communicate with each other. Bleeding Souls was a mixing pot of cultures and ethnic groups, and knowing several languages could be very useful at times. She wanted to be able to communicate with every member of the pack, in whatever language they spoke. Naniko had a natural knack for picking up languages, too, especially if someone was helping to teach her and she wasn't just learning it from a book.
She nodded excitedly. "That's okay--not a lot happened. Laruku spoke a bit, and we all talked about what had been going on in our lives." She agreed about helping him with the French and English--that certainly made sense. "All the languages are connected, in ways. I'm sure you'll find some similarities between them. I'm Naniko D'angelo--the Lehrerin here. My job's to make sure that you get some skills, really--it's in the job description--so I'd be more than happy to give you lessons. Even if it wasn't my job I'd still give you lessons anyway, though. Why not share the knowledge?" She grinned, setting the books out. "Is right here a good place?"
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[html] And the sun will set for you
This wolf was very cordial, and it pleased the boy. He hadn't seen Jasper since the day he had granted the two Italian wolves a home on Clouded Tears territory, but this ladywolf reminded Beppe a bit of him. They both seemed to be extremely friendly, even in first meetings, and eager to please. The boy did his best to smile the biggest possible smile, because he appreciated this kindness very much.
He was relieved that he hadn't missed much at the meeting, but now the thought of improving his English and even learning a little French had whisked the regrets away anyways. This was her job; she must be very good at it! His head was beginning to fill with excitement, and he nodded vigorously. "Yes, right here is a very good place." Beppe smiled some more. "I have found some similarities between Italiano and English.. there are certainly words that are brothers. Like certamente!" Beppe laughed, having found an example pop up so easily.
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Jasper's father was Ahren, and Ahren was mates to Naniko's great aunt's sister Matinee. They were related, she and Jasper, as very distant cousins. She didn't know what his life had been like before he had come to Clouded Tears, only that he had travelled quite a bit with some of their family members. She'd met him and had helped him build a structure in Clouded Tears-they'd become friends there. Naniko hadn't seen him in a while, but knew that he had to be running around somewhere.
"You're right." She smiled amiably, setting a few of the things down. She was still carrying the small slate and chalk that she had used when teaching Kansas how to read in her backpack, and she pulled it out along with a couple of books. "I have another student, as well, one in Clouded Tears. He's a sort of...brother to me. My adopted mother left me and became mates with the Alpha of Storm, the next pack over...and then had him and two others. I still consider them siblings" She smiled halfheartedly, then put the slate down in front of her. "Now for the lesson. The first thing that you need to know is the alphabet--all of the letters that make up the words. Each letter has a specific sound, just like in your language"
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Beppe was now very excited to improve his English, and he nodded eagerly as the teacher spoke. He wondered about the white wolf's other student, if he was young like the Italian wolf, and what language he was learning. Perhaps he already knew English and was only learning to read. The boy hoped that some day his English would be almost as good as the wolves that lived here all their life, but also hoped that his Italian would not fade. Surely he would be using it to speak with his mother, because her English was not good enough to have a real conversation in, but so far he had found few other opportunities to use it.
"Okay," he replied briefly, allowing her to continue. He knew his pronounciation was not quite right all the time, and was sure that just having conversations with English speakers and paying attention to how they formed words would help. Perhaps just knowing the alphabet would help as well, though Beppe had been learning English just based on the sound of the language. He smiled as he let Naniko continue, allowing his eyes to roam over the books in front of them.
[html] End this one? We can oocly end it to say that Naniko gave him a good beginning grasp of englsh, so that we don't have to actually go through it all?
Naniko was pleased that Beppe wanted to learn. The young ones were always the easiest to teach; they picked up the language faster and retained it longer. And since Beppe was planning on using English a lot, he would be able to keep it with him. She wrote each letter onto the slate, going through the each sound very slowly so that he would understand.
"Certain letters, when put together, make different sounds than when they are apart. Like a "c" and an "h". Together they make the "ch" sound"
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[html] [/html]Sounds good :]
Beppe recognised all the characters that Naniko was writing; they all seemed to be the same as Italian. The boy could read Italian fluently, though he was a little slow at it and sometimes had to go back to sound out words and figure out what they really meant. Losing the ability to read Italian would be much more likely than losing the ability to speak it, Beppe thought, because he wasn't sure if he'd be able to find any books in the language. He could always talk to himself in his own language. It was already a habit anyways.
Changing the sounds of the letters when in combination wasn't unfamiliar to him; it happened all the time in Italian, but the sounds that they made were certainly different. "Ch" in English was much different than "ch" in Italian. It would take a bit, but Beppe was sure he would get used to it.
Smiling, he nodded, ready for the rest of the lesson.[html] [/html]
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