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He was disappointed. The boy had attempted to seek out Lubomir earlier that same day, but had not been told before now that the man had left the pack and his aunt. Conor and Mew was not particularly close (she seemed a bit scary, to be honest), but he thought that he would want to go visit her and see if he could do anything to ease the pain the woman most certainly felt by being left behind. Conor knew too well how it was to stand left in the dark, abandoned and cold. Catalyst had disappeared, and for a moment it had seemed his heart had gone with her. Luckily, Alexey’s presence and care (as always) had managed to get him up and going again without heavy mourning for the girl with the pretty eyes and ivory doll face. Conor was young, he did not know what true love was.
The young male had hoped that uncle Lubomir could have taught him to read today, but that was completely out of the question now. Instead Conor had attempted to take this into his own hands, and was now sitting at the borders, perhaps hoping for some smart individual to pass by so that he could receive help. He very much doubted it would happen, but Dahlia members went in and out, and perhaps it would be his lucky day for once. For now, the boy mostly looked in picture books, but there was a little pile of slightly more advanced books scattered next to him. The boy was sitting beneath a great tree close to the old human graveyard in south-western part of Dahlia de Mai. The only danger the boy was aware of by being at the border was that his father could find him, as the demonic Lilium was a loyal patrol. Luckily it seemed like his father preferred to ignore his son these days, so whenever the two had come across each other these last months, Haku had just walked by without dignifying him with as much as a gaze. Conor appreciated being invisible.
Apple, the book said. The letters were large and fat under a big picture of a red apple. The boy started at the letters and tried to remember them, how they looked. He wanted to learn to write too, but first he had to learn to read. An ear flickered lazily as a creature noisily leapt through the tall, golden grass to sit by his side. The boy had decided to set the little fox free after it had fully healed, but had discovered that the animal seemed to enjoy his company still. It was free to come and go as it wanted to, but Conor still fed it because he was uncertain if the animal knew how to do so on its own. Perhaps he should start to try to take it out on hunting trips when he started to hunt more himself, so that it could watch and learn. If it wanted to, that was. Lilac eyes turned to the orange and white animal, and he gently scratched its ear with a finger, smiling as he did so.
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Her increasingly heavier body moved across the land on its own accord. She walked not elegantly nor slenderly; her growing bulk made it harder for her to walk as freely as she was used to. How long hadn't she prayed for this, and now she knew no other feeling but desperation at the thought of it. It was like being marked for death, but you were the only one who knew. Hanna had agreed to come and help her, and many of her worries had evaporated that moment. Needless to say, some remained, and her relief for the mind was to let her body wander freely. Now, her her green eyes stared blankly ahead of her as her four legs worked to bring her forward. Perhaps she was bitter, or perhaps she had not yet gotten quite so far in the process, but her mind was often occupied by images of a drunken Lubomir, even if she had never seen him so. She had smelled it, and that was enough for her. He had run because he was a coward - not because he didn't love her - but that changed nothing. His act had been the same, and she was forced to realize that his love had not been strong enough. Like the man himself, it had been a weak kind of love.
A sensation that trickled her nose shook her from her deep thoughts and she stopped; whose smell was that? It was familiar beyond the pack scent, but so different... Certainly, he was a relative. Hesitantly, she started walking again, now with a pondering face, sometimes glancing around her. She did not really want to meet with anyone right now, as she was too busy with her self-pity and loathing. In fact, sometimes it was as if hiding oneself from the world made it all feel better, even if she knew it didn't. None could change the fact that she was broken and lonely, yet she craved solitude - no other company than her problems and her tears. Her plan was to avoid the pack member - whoever it was - but as the scent dramatically increased, she realized it was too late now. Any moment, she would be spotted, and social rules did not allow her to retreat. To gain the upper hand, her eyes searched everywhere for the person in question, and in not long she spotted a mixture of browns sitting some hundred yards to her left. The identity mystery was solved, and now she changed directions to meet him. Even if she had not wanted to see anyone, it could have been worse than meeting one of her nephews. Perhaps he could lift her spirits.
Approaching him, now certain he knew she was there, she smiled, taking in the scenery he had created around himself. Books littered the ground and for a moment she thought of her drunken mate and how he had made a baby out of that library, but she threw the thought away. It would gain no one to speak of it, and she wanted to get to know these young males that she'd let grow up without her in their lives. Being a bitter old bat would not make a good impression. Softly, she spoke, with a careful voice and a small smile on her face. "Hey Conor. What are you reading?"
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[html] http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/l ... rtable.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> D:
Suddenly he was no longer alone, and he smiled faintly at his approaching aunt. His smile seemed uncertain, but he was. He did not know his aunt well. It seemed that it was his own flesh and blood that he knew least well, and that was a very sad fact. So many Sadira and Soul members everywhere, but it was hard to reach out. His parents had failed and Conor did not dare to attempt to find any closeness with those closely related to his parents. Emwe was fine, Cercelee a lovely woman, aunt Mew uncertain. He wished he knew her better. He tilted his head and nodded down at the book, then realizing that she had asked what he was reading and now what he was doing. His cheeks wanted to blush lightly, but he decided to occupy his thoughts with coming up with an answer. ”Well, it is an apple I think.” the boy said, looking down at the picture and showing off the picture to his aunt, violet eyes moving up to her face to make sure that she was looking. Alco stirred and darted away, but he assumed the animal would come back when he was alone again. It seemed to be quite shy around most wolves except for him, Alexey and Emwe. ”I want to understand these human letters.” the young boy mumbled, eyes returning to the book. It was so hard trying to do this all alone.
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However nonexistent their relationship, they were still relatives, and so in Mew's eyes inextricably bound together whether they wished to be or not. The weight around her stomach was just another set of leaves in the crown of their family tree, but Conor was not far away from her own children in age. Perhaps it was Conor and Emwe that would be their mentors, with Lubomir gone and Haku... Well she hadn't heard much from Haku lately, so she figured he liked his solitude. Nevertheless, Conor and his brother were closer to her litter in age. She hoped they would get along, when the time came. Shaking away the image of her not being there to make sure, she bent her neck to better see what her nephew was showing her.
Ah, so he wasn't in fact reading a work of any sort. Sitting down now, Mew smiled; this was something she could help with. Their awkward situation was helped along with a purpose, and Mew's maw opened to confirm his assumptions. "Yeah, you're right." The little red fox she had seen with Alexey darted away in the midst of her entrance, and Mew's eyes lifted to its form as it disappeared, smiling softly. "He's a shy one, isn't he? Alexey brought him to piano practice once." It was unknown to her whether Conor knew of Alexey's doings outside of staying with them, but she would test it anyhow.
The young male's discouraged mumble did not go unnoticed, and now Mew smiled again. "I can help you if you want. I learned to read these things a couple of years ago, when I was traveling in the south." A time of her life she rarely spoke to anyone about. But, Conor was so young, and seemingly shy —or at least preferring solitude to a crowd. She'd not seen him since the last pack meeting, when Firefly had made a scene (again). Her green gaze studied his young face as she waited for him to consider her offer, taking notice of the violet eyes. A strange color, but in the face of a strange boy. It fit him.
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The boy’s expression lightened a little when it was established that the words said the name of the fruit on the picture. The boy’s fingers stroke the yellowing page, as always finding it odd how he could recognize the object even if it was no longer three dimensional. He couldn’t smell it, couldn’t touch it and couldn’t taste it. It was better than a drawing though. It looked very real. Ears flickered in interest when piano lessons were mentioned. He knew that Alexey was being taught the art of music, but he had never gotten as far as to request the same. He had never thought of it when his ivory aunt had been around. He smiled and nodded though as he looked in the direction of where his reddish friend had disappeared. ”Yes, I found him after someone had tortured him. He does not like other people except for us that lived with him in Alexey’s house.” He was very grateful that the fox still spent time with them. It had been the right thing to do, to save the little fox cub.
”Alexey is lucky; I want to learn to create music too.” the boy said dreamily before allowing his lilac gaze to return to the book. He wondered if she asked to be polite or if she actually meant it.
”I’d appreciate that, I’d like to be able to understand the language of the books.” So much information, so many opportunities. He patted the empty spot next to him, hoping she would sit down with him or something. Eyes did not stay on her face for long though, because he felt slightly uncomfortable. He wished he knew his aunt better, but hey, perhaps this was a good start for them both? She was not like the boy’s father, so he wanted to know her.
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Dette replyet har blitt spist av Firefox og Windows Vista 5 ganger nå ... Unnskyld. Word Count: 304
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Mew smiled as he explained the relationship between himself and the little red creature. She had heard its story before, from Alexey. Though she was a predator, she did not understand unneccessary violence, or violence for pleasure. In fact, she categorized her own acts when killing prey as something different than violence. Killing prey was a necessary evil for survival, but killing an animal (or torturing one in general, for that matter), when one did not intend to devour it was just plain cruel. Smiling as he defined Alexey as lucky to learn music, she commented with a calm voice; "I'm sure 'Lexey wouldn't mind if you tag along once - see if you like it and I can give you some pointers." Really, she did love teaching Alexey, and she needed any excuse to bond with her nephews. Soon, she would need someone to take care of the little ones, and she didn't want them to know that she was the hermit of the pack. She wanted to be remembered as a person, not someone they never knew.
He patted the ground next to him, and she moved to sit by him, hoping he did not feel uncomfortable at their closeness. She did sit close, to be able to see the pages of the book comfortably and without straining her neck muscles. Still, she was not uncomfortable, so why should he be? She did not comment on his words but merely poked a page with her nose before looking at her nephew. "What do you reckon that is?" She wondered whether he had realized the link between letter and sound fully yet, or what stage he was on at all. The first stage was perhaps the most boring of all; memorization. But his mind was young - perhaps he would welcome the challenge.
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The boy’s heart throbbed happily at the thought of being able to attend one of Alexey’s lessons to get a feeling for it. He really liked that idea and nodded at his aunt while trying not to show too much excitement. The young male’s world was never more intact than when he was together with Dahlia’s caretaker, the woman that had taken care of him when his parents had failed. He wanted to go everywhere she went, but he was getting way too old to follow her around anymore. He wanted to, sure, but it would strike the rest of the pack as an odd behaviour. Lexey too would probably wonder if he had kept on clinging to her. In those ways he missed being a small child. Even if his world had been darker back then there was still some freedom that only a child can possess.
The boy did not think twice about the closeness when his aunt sat down on the spot he had patted moments before. The Koios woman had showered him with love and warmth and he was used to having people up close now. The lesson seemed to start at once, and the boy’s body language grew quiet and serious at once when she asked the question. He wanted to learn. His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the large letter that was almost half the size of the apple picture. That was a letter; he knew that, but exactly which letter? What kind of letter? It was not the only letter either, because there were more letters written with a smaller font after the first, large one. This was something the boy could not answer, but he would still try.
”A letter for.. apple?” he doubted his answer was correct, but this was where he was stuck. This was where he needed help. He felt his cheeks blush slightly and hoped his aunt would not think that he was too stupid.
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He smiled, and Mew made a mental note to talk to Alexey about it next time they met for a session. They met almost twice a week now, sometimes not as much, in the old vineyard where the piano was. Soon she would probably want to play with the guitar, too. Maybe then Conor could take over the piano, and they could all play together - Mew singing, Conor on the piano, and Alexey on the guitar. Though, first the two had to learn to play, but it was a nice thought nonetheless.
His face changed as he concentrated, and he replied with a blush. His answer wasn't far off, really. It sort of was a letter for apple, at least the first one was, in a way. Nodding, she looked at him and back at the page, smiling. "Sort of!" Her nose poked each of the different letters in the word 'apple' as she explained to him the meaning of this exercise. It was easier for someone his age to understand this book than it was for puppies, so she would share with him the tutoring idea behind it. "The word apple begins with that first big letter, called an A. The rest of the book is probably the same, finding words that begin with the other letters, so you associate the sound with the letter." Using her nose, she turned the page, to find an image of a large bear and the word 'bear', again spelled with the first letter enhanced in size and color. "This is the letter B, for 'bear'." She tried to pronounce the letters very clearly, pausing to check if he grasped the concept of the book.
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[html] http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/l ... rtable.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> wohoo retard reply from meee
Her words were embraced and interrogated, completely stripped for the meanings he could find in them. The boy felt nervous now, afraid she would think he was mentally retarded for not fully grasping the idea quickly enough. Questions danced around in his head, wanted insurances and confirmations. So the apple kind of started with an A symbol? His brain tried to understand and make sense of it, but he was uncertain if it was able to succeed. An apple was an apple. What more would help him read the word apple then? So this is showing begin symbols for all words? He quickly looked at the limited pages of the book. How was he supposed to learn and remember the starting sounds of every thing and word in the world? If that was just starting sounds, what about the rest of the symbols to complete the words? Conor felt horror lurking close.
B for bear? He did not understand. He recognized the Apple start symbol and tumbled into the confusion head first. ”I .. How can it be bear if it has apple start letter inside?” the boy asked, still focusing too hard on the apple. It was so obvious that the young boy had not yet started to see the whole picture; that the letters suggested the sounds used in the word.
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Conor looked at the book for a moment, and Mew waited patiently. She had taught Alexey to read some of the human music language, and she had needed time. If stressed, Mew suspected Conor would just feel embarrassed, but she didn't know. Mew had never had the luxury of a tutor, at least not in this sense. When he did speak, Mew realized this book was perhaps not as logical as she thought it was. It was easy enough for her, she could already read. Using her nose, she pointed at the 'A' letter inside the word 'bear' trying to explain. "That letter, 'A', isn't unique to the word 'apple'. Altogether we have 27 letters, and they build all the words we know, like they are all the different sounds we make in words. This book wants to help you memorize all of those letters, by giving you images to remember them by. If you try to ignore the images and just look at the biggest letters on each page - those are the letters you need to know to read." Smiling, she turned a page with her nose, revealing a picture of a cloud, and pointed at the letter 'C' with an encouraging smile. "That's the letter 'C', and when you write the word 'cloud' it is the first one you write. But it is not a 'cloud letter', is it just a symbol for one of the sounds in the word," It might be hard to grasp at first, but she was certain he would progress quickly once he understood the basic concept.
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[html] http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/l ... rtable.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> outdata som fy, runda av snart? 
She explained and he nodded slowly, though still struggling to find meaning in her words. So letters were more like an indication of the sound that words made when they were spoken rather than specific figures tied to give meaning. Bear and apple held a part of the same sound and the letter A confirmed this and gave the words some of their sounds? The young boy’s lips pursed to form a silent “ooh”. They moved on to the cloud and the golden boy smiled now as he silently formed the word with his lips. ”C-l-oud.” The boy said, though an ear folded backwards in a new, though more gentle wave of confusion. ”C doesn’t sound like the starting sound in cloud though? Why is that? It’s cloud, not sloud, right?” another mystery was winking up at him from the open book pages now and he glared back, quite certain that his aunt could explain these things to him.
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Yeh, can do! Du poste ein gong te? Word Count: 339
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He seemed to grasp the concept now, and she smiled at him, trying to be encouraging. He studied the page, and she saw his mouth move in realization before he spoke the word. Nodding, she repeated the word after he had spoken it, pointing at each letter with her nose, as she spoke them. "Right! C-l-o-u-d. Cloud." Then, he presented her with a good question, and she hesitated a moment before responding, searching for the best way to explain. "Well, some of the letters and letter-combinations sound differently depending on what other letters they are put together with. 'C' is almost always pronounced as in 'cloud' when it is the first letter in a word, and in some other places, and sometimes it sounds as in.. " She flipped the pages with her nose, searching for a word she could use. Reaching the page for 'F', she found the word 'face', and continued. ".. such as this one, 'face'. See, there it is, but with a different sound. It's just something you'll have to memorize, really. There are patterns though." Smiling, she hoped she had not complicated it for him. In truth, reading and writing was simple in concept, but she remembered well the confusion and questions when it came to letters meaning different sounds, and combinations she had learned were called diphtongs. Following an impulse, she sat up straight and removed her head from the vicinity of the books and presented him with an offer to learn this properly, and not just right now. "Know what, it really can be quite complicated. If you want, we can meet at my house regularly and I can teach you what I know?" Her voice suggested clearly that it was just a suggestion, and he was free to decline if he wanted to. Her tail moved happily on the ground behind her, and her face was all smiles now. She had not wanted to run into him today, but it felt good to do something fruitful instead of moping around thinking about Lubomir.
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[html] http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/l ... rtable.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> oeeeh suckage! Me må ha ein Emwe Conor thread snarest når du kjem att!
Despite his obvious failure to understand without questions, the boy could feel his chest fill up with quiet enthusiasm. He glanced at the ivory woman with the green eyes. His distant minded aunt that he once had thought cold. She flipped through the book and found a C with the proper pronunciation rather than the odd and misplaced K sound. Again the ‘o’ wanted to form on the young male’s lips, and it only kept growing as Mew patiently explained how some letters could sound different depending on the letter-combinations. He was utterly fascinated, leaning closer to the book until he was mere inches from pressing his cold, wet nose against the crisp pages. Unlike her demonic brother, Mew Sadira had no troubles teaching others what she knew. This was her first lesson with the cinnamon and gold Soul boy, but it was not to be the last.
Her offer was well received. ”I’d love that!” He wanted a share in her knowledge, wanted to gain a purpose and value within these lands. His white tipped tail challenged the pace of the woman’s wagging tail. Acceptance was a wave of warmth overtaking him now. He sincerely believed her delicate smile to be sincere. Even if his father did not want him, perhaps her aunt still would acknowledge him as a member of their family. A broken family - but a family nonetheless.
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Conor's strangely colored eyes followed her moves and directions as she explained, and it seemed to her as if he drank the words she gave him, so eager to learn this was he. She smiled at him, glad that her brother's son did not feel that it was strange to meet her. She had never really bonded with her nephews, and it saddened her. Even Lubomir had known them better, but Mew was a simple being. Whenever she found a purpose for some time, she let her world shrink and revolve around that and that alone, shutting out almost everything else. She knew that she should not have ignored them, but she was just like that. Now, with Lubomir gone, she would have to create a life for herself again, and perhaps she had underestimated the significance of knowingthe two brothers. She should seek out Emwe; hopefully he would be as accepting of her as Conor was. In truth, it warmed her heart, and it was just the lift she needed now that she was heavy with both children and the gnawing absence of her coward mate.
He accepted her offer, and she smield warmly at him. The usual lessons with Alexey were fun, and she felt that so far she quite enjoyed Conor's company. Maybe the two would give her enough to do until it was time, to keep her mind off of more dangerous and depressing things. She could leave her knowledge behind, could share it with them so that it was not lost when she went. Perhaps they would take it upon them to care for her unborn children; she hoped so. Judging by Conor here, Alexey did a good job as her rank. "Come by whenever, I rarely leave the house. It's in the southern part of Wolfville - you can probably smell your way to me." There was no need for directions - a good nose saved the day any day. Getting up, she smiled again and realized that her spirits were lifted beyond what she thought possible right now. She had thought herself in a pit of... well, bad things, but again she underestimated the impact of socializing. She should stop avoiding others, but it was too much a part of her, and she never remembered. She was glad of this random encounter. Turning, she spoke a last time, and decided it was time to go home and eat. "I'll have to return home now, I'm tired. But I'm looking forward to next time, Conor. It was nice running into you." Another sincere smile left her lips, and then she turned to start the walk home. Now, the scenery didn't look quite as hostile, maybe even inviting. Conor had lit a small flame of hope in her, and she would do her best to sustain it.
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