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 Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:33 pm
"We never had much in the way of agressive wildlife in Evin. We had bears, yes, and sometimes wolves but they generally preferred to keep to themselves than get involved with people. Only on very rare occasion did you hear about a child disappearing due to an animal attack and that was generally speaking only due to extreme parent negligence.
"In Gaia I know I don't have to worry about animal attacks either, but there are different kinds of predators here..." Keeta sighed as she once more wistfully thought of the freedom she had had, to run around as a child and she wished she could offer that opportunity to her son. Maybe she should consider taking Ceres up on that offer of living on the island. But was that really any safer?
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:04 am
If animals weren't the predators that only left people. It was beyond her that any adult would want to harm something so innocent and precious as a child. But, again, she grew up in a completely different world. She hoped she hadn't come to the right conclusion. So she'd ask for clarification.
"Oth'a predat'as?"
Her tail twitched anxiously. Perhaps Gaia wasn't the best of choices. But then again, she couldn't have stayed at home. Her choice in mate was enough to have her ostracized and her mate killed. Possibly vice versa from his tribe.
She hoped she'd get used to Gaia and learn it's rules in a timely manner.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:34 am
"Some people in this modern world act as though they were animals themselves, hurting, maiming and even killing the innocent," Keeta responded to the question, as though she had a bitter taste in hor mouth.
"I was blissfully ignorant of it until I moved here and bought a TV. Try watching the news sometime if you want the facade of this amazing place removed. It will really take your blinders off. I never knew people were capable of some of the things i hear about until I came here."
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 8:03 am
Jiao'lan merely nodded. She had no idea what to say, really. "Ah...deedn't know dat." She seemed a little shell shocked. The woman looked to the next enclosure which housed African Wild Dogs. "Oh look'et dere...dogs." She said, trying to find something else to focus on.
Another topic popped into her mind, commoradory.
"Ah'm glad t'ave met'cha...fer more reasons den one, o'course." She said with a smile and a chuckle. It was somewhat forced but it looked real enough. "S'pecially seence yeh 'aven't leeved 'ere yer whole life." She elaborated. "S'good ta know Ah'm not de onleh one who's found dis place a shock." She admitted.
She looked to Joel fondly. "Ah mees, 'avin' behbehs 'round." She said with a soft smile. "But, hopfull'eh dat'll change soon a'nough." She said with a whistful sigh. "Heh, back 'ome yeh couldn' swing a dead monkeh without heetin' eith'a pregn'nt woman or a behbeh." She said.
"Life seemed so seemple dere." She admitted as she watched the dogs sunbathe. One female nursed her pups while they crawled all over each other to try and get the best teat to suckle.
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 8:53 am
"I"m sorry for bringing that up..." Keeta said, barely loud enough for Jiao'lan to hear. She hadn't meant to destroy the fun of the day, and she welcomed the distracted ther Harpy-woman offered with a change in subject.
"It's hard for me to believe sometimes that one could NOT be shocked by living here. I suppose though that when it's all you're exposed to it seems natural. The few outsiders who came to Evin to visit I know were shocked by our relatively simple way of life, like you said. Although I must say, we didn't have nearly as many children around as you describe. That must have been wonderful!" There had been a few children associated with Mystic Nights before they left, but they were all from the same family. One of fox demons that seemed to have a propensity for overpopulation.
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 9:42 am
She smiled at the memories. "Ooooh yeah, et was certainleh nice." She agreed. "Heh, Ah has a feelin' dat my way of leeving might even be 'seemple' t'yeh." She said, feathers fluffing slightly as she relaxed. "Dere were onleh two main rules...treat oth'as as yeh wanna be treated...an'...dun associate wit de Shan'ro, a rival tribe." She said, her voice dropping slightly.
Jiao'lan sighed.
"S'why I can neev'a go home." She said as she took a bottle of water out of her bag and took a drink. She was feeling incredibly homesick. She wanted to share this experince with her mother and was unable to.
"Et was a stupid ting real'eh." She began. "Dey're not dat bad...at least Ah dun tink so." She said with a soft smile. "But dat's kinda obvious seein' as me mate's 'un." She said with a chuckle. "Sorreh, Ah'm just...goin' on abou' my issues an' such...Ah guess Ah jest dun wanna worreh Ke'rehl wit any o' et. E's got enough on 'is plate." She said sheepishly.
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 10:07 am
"Hmm, I see where that could get tricky. And you don't have to feel bad about sharing with me. I'm quite content to be a listening ear when people need it." She smiled and patted Jiao'lan on the shoulder.
"I wish my mother was here to see her grandchild as well, but she had disappeared years before I left Evin." Keeta shrugged a little. "But I guess that's life...and if I can make it, you can make it too."
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 10:22 am
"Ah well tank you." She said appreciatively. "An' Ah know I can..et'll jest be a challenge like anyting else." She agreed. "Dere'll be loads o' deeferent opportunities 'ere and dey may not be so bad." The woman said. "So long as Ah get used t'et a'fore Ah 'ave me chil' Ah tink at least he or she'll 'ave a good go of 'et." She said brightly.
She looked down to Joel with a soft smile. "S'a good ting 'e won't 'ave a transition like we did, eh?" She asked.
It was gettling closer to noon now. Jiao'lan's stomach was settling somewhat. She knew she had enough for a meal, even with the zoo's high prices, so at least that was one less thing to worry about.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 12:41 pm
"Yes and no. The transitions we went though give us a broader perspective of the world. We can understand more than just how we grew up. I think even if it's hard, it's healthy to have more than one idea of where a person might be coming from..." Keeta shrugged and moved ahead again.
"I suppose as a mother I am grateful that he may not have to endure some of the same hardships." Her stomach growled suddenly, echoing Jiao'lan's thoughts of lunchtime.
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:40 pm
She nodded, the plumes on her head swaying a bit with the movements of her head. "Yeah, I s'pose Ah am grateful 'o dat, too." She agreed before she chuckled slightly.
"Well Mist'a Joel, is you hungreh too?" She asked squatting down, again, and looking at the blue haired little boy as he tapped him lightly on the nose with her index finger. Her eyes sparkled when she interacted with him. It was a side of her not even her mate was ever able to see. Her soul seemed to soar around the child.
She then stood fully again and rolled her shoulders, causing them to pop softly. She had noticed she carried a lot of tension in her shoulders and back as of late. It was hereditary among her family line to carry one's stress in that area.
She'd come to loathe it once she was weighted heavy with child, but for now it wasn't anything to even bat an eye at. She knew she was stressed. Ke'rehl knew she was stressed, so what did it matter? He was in the same boat she was, afterall.
"If 'e's allowed aft'a lunch I propose a roun' a' ice cream cones...mah treat, 'o course." Jiao'lan said with a soft smile.
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:22 pm
Obviously Joel didn't respond with speech, but at the word hungry, he started to fuss a little bit and looked up at his mom, frowning and wiggling to be removed from the stroller.
"I'd say he's getting there...." Keeta said. "He certainly can't talk, but I think he's starting to understand certain words, and he has no problem making it known when he wants or needs something," she continued with a wry chuckle. Inwardly she smiled widly at seeing Jiao'lan's ease and happiness interacting with the boy. She hoped the other lady's dream of motherhood would soon come true.
After checking the map. Keeta turned the stroller in the direction of the food court and began to walk as she considered the offer of ice cream.
"That's very generous of you....thank you. I suppose I'll wait and see if we're still hungry enough for some after lunch," she said with a grin.
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:39 am
Jiao'lan smiled. "S'no problem...Ah'd be glad t'do et." The woman replied in reference to the ice cream.
She chuckled. "Ooooh yeah, heh, dey certain'leh can let'cha know what dey wan' in a hurry." She agreed. "Me cousins and seeblings were dey same way. S'a good ting a lot o' dat translates ov'a t'all behbehs." She grew slightly penisve as she followed Keeta. "Et's somting isn't et? Chillin's having such a clean slate to start with?" She elaborated.
"In dere tiny 'eads are the possibilit'eh of learnin' any form a' talk. S'too bad dat goes away as yeh age." She added with a slight laugh.
"Ah assume yeh spoke a' different talk all yer own in Evin?" She asked curiously.
She was pleased with herself for making so much headway with English. The rules were so confusing! All of the exceptions in grammar were enough to give even native speakers a headache at times!
While her native language didn't really have a name, its grammar worked a bit like Japanese, save the sentence structure. She was grateful for that part. The whole, 'subject then predecit' concept. Despite her islander dialect to the untrained ear her language could easilly be confused for Japanese, due to the way the endings of the words sounded and the emphasis on respect within the culture.
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:07 pm
"Hmmm....well I suppose if I had been raised among my father's people I would have learned elvish, but I was raised among a mixed group of people," Keeta started, pondering the question.
"In the tavern I spent most of my early life in, we tended to speak the 'common' language which was basically English, because we had so many travelers coming through our doors. Of course some of the expressions we used, and some definitions of words were different, but overall it's similar enough. I picked up bits and pieces of other languages from some of the other employees, but nothing I could even remotely claim to be bilingual in."
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:58 pm
"Dat must have made tings a wee beet easy-a on yeh...de English, Ah mean." She said.
The young woman thought back to her mate.
"Sometimes Ah tink eith'a not 'avin a..." She paused, brows furrowed slightly, trying to think of the word she wanted. "a...a 'out loud'," She was looking for the word 'verbal', "kind'a talk like me mate would'a made tings easy-a." She admitted. "Not dat Ah min', 'o course."
Soon the wooden tiki-hut style restaurant with the infamous golden arches was in sight. It was screened in and had many picnic style tables inside. Jiao'lan hadn't had McDonald's yet, but oddly enough, she'd recognise a burger. Her father used make capybara meat into burgers.
Jiao'lan went to the door and held it open for an elderly couple, and got a sweet smile from the woman and a 'Thanks, Missy' from the man. She beamed and nodded, still holding it open for Keeta and Joel.
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:11 pm
Keeta politely waited for the other couple and nodded at Jiao'lan in thanks as they passed through the door, before continuing the conversation.
"I'm not sure what you mean...does your mate speak differently than you do?" she asked, never really having considered this. As she waited for a response she glanced at the menu. Ugh, McDonald's. Fast food was definitely not high on her list of favorite things to eat. Processed food and people of an elivish background didn't seem to mesh well together....Maybe she could find a salad....
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