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 Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:04 pm
And Liam fell backward, head smacking hard against the ground.
Dead creature.
Clearly, the only logical path was to begin talking to it.
So he did.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:09 pm
Julian and Jeddeth watched in fascination, Jeddeth moreso since it was currently eating a dead things former leg. Julian wanted to comment, but his attention was diverted as the rustling sound of cloth dragging over stone caught his attention. His breath choked in his throat, and he looked over his shoulder.
--
Crow surfaced slowly, eyes wide and water dribbling out of her mouth. The creature said leg was attached to looked down at her. Jeddeth was skeletal, but it still had skin. This creature was nothing but bones and inexplicable light.
"..oh..."
There was a quiet splashing sound behind her and Crow whirled, eyes wide. Someone was in the pool with her, dressed in black and eyes burning.
"Naava," the stranger said, raising a three finger hand in greeting.
Crow gaped.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:10 pm
Liam sat up, smiled, and waved back.
"Hi. Please don't kill us."
"LIAM!"
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:19 pm
Julian hissed at Liam to be silent. Now was not the time to be lapsing into one-sided conversations -
"Esht ya e'hui?"
--
Crow wasn't sure if the person she was looking at was male or female. Its skin shone like glass, and upon closer inspection she realized with a jolt it was hollow, and filled with something like gas. Light was scattered inside it at random, and illuminated its eyes from behind. When it smiled at her its teeth were clear as glass.
"Um," Crow said. "I don't...speak...Azhumian. Sorry."
The stranger gave a purely feminine laugh.
"Ehyeh! As'sim ya seecha!" she said, wading through the pool and grabbing Crow's hand. The skeleton creature behind her snuffled and blinked, cow-like as it butted its head against her. It was soft, and Crow realized it had clear flesh coating it.
"...huh."
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:21 pm
Liam gaped a moment.
"Huh? Oh! Nothing. Crow's made some new friends. I think. I hope."
"...Crow doesn't make friends."
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:29 pm
Jeddeth hissed them to silence more effectively than Julian had, peering sightlessly into the mist. The voice, questioning, came again.
"Esht ya e'hui? Ev co haib?"
Jeddeth scrambled to draw its hood over its face as a tall, oddly muscular (despite his being hollow) figure stepped through the mist. He frowned, glowing violet eyes picking over the travel-worn group. A walking skeleton trailed behind him, huffing steam through its gaping mouth, snorted at them and rooted at the ground for food.
"...huh," the hollow man said, looking to Julian.
--
"Ezmaia," the glass-girl said, pointing to herself. "Ei?"
Crow blinked. Ezmaia? Oh. OH.
"Um. Hey! Hey, Ezmaia. I'm...Crow. Crow," she said, pointing to herself.
"Kharrow."
"Close enough."
The glass-girl smiled, tugging at Crow's hand as a distinctly older female voice called Ezmaia's name.
"But! Um...okay, yeah, I guess I'm coming..."
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:31 pm
And now the things weren't random impressions, but real.
"Wow. Um. That's...that's kinda special right there."
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:37 pm
Jeddeth, trying very hard not to let itself be seen, still managed to loom protectively beside Julian. The hollow man's eyes picked over the group again, and he frowned, thumbing a heavy-bladed scimitar-like weapon at his side.
Julian held up his hands in desperation.
"Naava," he said, the words spilling out of his mouth. "Essem ya eiv. Sho'seva."
The hollow man's face cleared, and he nodded.
"E'hui ya esb?" he asked, pointing at Jeddeth. Julian swallowed very hard.
"Misrah," he said, fighting back an absurd urge to laugh as he called Jeddeth the most literal form of "grandpa."
Jeddeth sniffed, rather offended.
The hollow man nodded again, and whistled through his transparent teeth. A large group of people, all glass-skinned and curious, emerged from the mist. Some rode the skeleton-animals, some walked. Ezmaia, Crow firmly in her grip, scrambled up from the rocks. Crow managed a feeble wave.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:39 pm
Liam scampered back. Not cool. Not cool. Especially when you were the only one who wasn't in their protection AND didn't understand the language.
"Jeddeth. What's going on," he whispered.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:48 pm
Jeddeth shushed Liam urgently, not daring to raise its head.
"Ularna," it whispered hoarsely. "They're traveling to the stronghold as we are. They go to claim their dead. They pose no threat if he decides we pose no threat. Stay silent!"
The head Ularna looked at Crow, sodden and doted on by Ezmaia, blinking impassively. His eyelids were clear as crystal, but his eyes visibly dimmed. When he opened them again he was looking at Julian.
"Iishim," he said, extending his three-fingered hand. Julian let out a breath of relief and grasped the Ularna's forearm, bowing his head slightly.
"It's okay," he said, looking behind him. "We're all okay."
Ezmaia, beaming as she clung to Crow, tugged at the smaller girl's blue-dyed hair and ran her own hand ruefully over her smooth bald head.
"Kharrow esht missam," she said importantly. The head Ularna grinned, no longer threatening in the slightest, and whistled through his teeth again. The caravan began moving, and the head Ularna beckoned for the others to follow.
"Huh. Escort," Julian said, looking around for Rabid and going to find her. "With food."
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:51 pm
Rabid wasn't far, only experiencing a mental breakdown behind a rock a few feet away. Seeing and hearing Julian, she stood.
"That sword was really, really big."
"Escorts? Food? I'm totally out of the loop, here. I'm seeing a programmer when we get home."
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:55 pm
"Yes," Julian said, his voice somewhat choked. "Yes, it really was."
Leading Rabid by the hand, he caught up with the caravan and found himself dragged off by the head Ularna. He gave the others an apologetic look and allowed himself to be lead away, eyes flicking down to the scimitar.
Ezmaia gave a squeal at the sight of Rabid and grabbed her hand, fairly ready to explode- or shatter, as it were - with excitement.
"Eishii!" she said, beaming. Crow cleared her throat, nodding towards the Ularna girl.
"Um. Rabid, this is Ezmaia. She's very...perky."
Ezmaia beamed.
"Rha'bheed!" she parroted, managling the name.
Jeddeth, not daring follow Julian and risk exposure, fell into step beside Liam.
"Well, then," it said dryly.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:59 pm
"Uh...close enough," Rabid nodded and smiled. Had they been claimed or something? This was bizarre.
Liam whimpered, hugging himself.
"I'm scared and I wan--" But he stopped himself before he finished.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:04 pm
Perfectly content to hang onto the two women, talking incessantly, Ezmaia lead them alongside her glowering elderly mother - her face was aged in cracks, rather than wrinkles - and the skeleton-animal Crow had bumped into.
Jeddeth rested a bony hand on Liam's shoulder, hunched down to better play the role Julian had forced it into.
"It'll be over soon," it said, though if it was for good or ill was anyone's guess.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:06 pm
"That's what I'm afraid of," Liam said and cast his face toward the ground, trying to ignore teh stinging behind his eyes.
It had all, apparently, just hit him for real.
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