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 Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:02 pm
Zaphero let out a cry of delight and danced in place as he saw the hole emerge, then stopped and looked at it with wide eyes, as though he were afraid something was going to leap out and surprise them. Which it very well might; it was hard to see anything beyond the thin stream of sunlight that lit up a tiny portion.
He turned to Kanani. "Te no zijk zimf?" (Do we just jump?) He bobbed his legs up and down for emphasis; he figured that though Kanani seemed to be understanding him better and better all the time, it wouldn't hurt to make sure she got the gist of what he was trying to say.
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:37 pm
"Zimf?" she echoed, figuring it meant jump. She shrugged, then looked around for a tool to tell how far down it went. Her gaze eventually went toward the torch. In a way she didn't want to let go of it since it proved to be a good tool, yet perhaps in this way it could be useful as well... Without hesitation upon making up her mind, she leaned down toward the hole, her ear positioned just above it, and dropped the torch down. In about 10 seconds the sound of the torch landing cleanly on some kind of rocky ground echoed up to her ear. She smiled with a nod, and said, "Zimf!"
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Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 10:01 pm
Zaphero chuckled, blushing a little. He was glad that Kanani understood, but her puzzled look reminded him that until people understood or got the general idea, his words were still so much gibberish. Sometimes he wished there was another namir who spoke Saurian, so that he wouldn't have to worry about such things, but he was glad that at least one namir had cared enough about what he had to say to try to understand him.
He watched Kanani as she threw the torch down, and as she said "Jump!" he obliged and took a small leap forward. He saw nothing but blackness for an instant, then his feet hit rock and he saw the torch burning at his feet. He turned and looked up at Kanani. "Ak aj uchawxk! Zimf!" (It is alright! Jump!)
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 6:13 pm
Kanani smiled and jumped down as well, finding that her descent was even shorter than she had estimated, and then sudden light. "Hm?" She picked up the torch, and looked at it curiously. It had mysteriously ignited. Then she looked down at the rocks from which she picked it up and tapped them a bit. "Flint. It's flint." She smiled again. Now they could see into the darkness.
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Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 9:54 am
Zaphero's eyes widened at the word flint, motioning for Kanani to carry the torch high. He didn't want anything sparking up, and who knew what sort of things this new dark cave contained that might be flammable. But now that the torch was lit, they could see all around, and just ahead was another dark opening that by the torchlight looked as though it had glittery sand pouring out of it.
Zaphero walked carefully toward the opening and peered in, his eyes suddenly widening as he saw dozens of little points of light twinkling off in the distance like a willy-nilly strand of Christmas lights. Green, yellow, red, blue......he knew those colors. "Womj!" (Gems!) he called out excitedly, and quick as a wink he vanished into the opening.
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:57 pm
Kanani raised the torch up a little bit higher, making sure that it wouldn't ignite anything, and her eyes followed Zaphero's gaze upon the same sparkling lights. Smiling excitedly, she followed after him. They had found the womj! Even from afar the light they gave off looked so pretty. Perhaps there would be a couple of small gems they could take as a souvenir, though she wouldn't complain if there weren't. Just the memory alone was sufficient.
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:28 pm
Not seeming to see the darkness that continued to wrap itself around him, Zaphero kept his eyes on the glittering lights ahead. When he finally reached the source, he almost crashed into them, and as Kanani caught up with her torch, the light fell upon them at last: scores of what looked like miniature palm trees with three fronds each, and right in the middle was an enormous gem the size of a paw, giving off it's own dazzling light.
Zaphero was elated at seeing them all; he knew that if he had ever tried to explain to anyone about gems that grew on trees, they would either not believe him or think he hadn't gotten a good grasp of English. But now he had found some, and Kanani was here with him. He turned to her now, his smile enormous and the lights from the gems dancing in his eyes. "Ceeb uk kxom, Kanani! Uho kxoo dek rouikavic?" (Look at them, Kanani! Are they not beautiful?)
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 4:51 pm
"Wow..." Kanani replied as she gazed up at the gems in awe. To think that they would find the trees Zaphero had spoke of...it was unbelievable! It felt as if they had discovered yet another mystery of the island, one they might never solve (though it mattered not much to her). She smiled, nodding at Zaphero's statement. "They're very beautiful..." She then tried saying something to that effect in Zaphero's language hoping to get it right, "Kxoo uho rouikavic?" She looked at him for affirmation or a correction.
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:59 pm
Beside himself with glee, Zaphero looked around at all of the lovely trees, still finding it hard to believe that he had found them in a place such as this. He beamed at Kanani and nodded his head. "Ooj, loho rouikavic!" (Yes, very beautiful!) He looked back to the tree in front of him, with a big red gem shining in the center. How did they get them down again....?
Suddenly remembering and hoping that Kanani wouldn't think him mean for attacking a tree, he brought up his paw and gave the tree a smart swat. When it shook but failed to dislodge the gem, Zaphero rushed it and banged into it with his shoulder. The gem popped out and fell to the ground with a tinkling sound, and the tree immediately withered and faded until there was nothig left but a small green spot on the ground.
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:16 pm
Kanani smiled at the affirmation of her statement, then watched curiously as he started making an effort to get the gem down. She blinked when the tree shriveled up as a result of the dislodging of the gem, leaving only a trace. She smiled, gathered up the Saurian words she knew, and asked a question "Whoa...uho kxo womj kxo source of kxo khoo'j life?" She wasn't completely sure, but if gems was womj she thought that perhaps the 'j' sound roughly translated into an English 's', and knew that surely if she were wrong he would understand what she was trying to say and correct her.
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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 6:53 pm
"Khoo'j? Ahhh, kxo cavo ev kxo khoo." (Ahhh, the life of the tree) Zaphero understood what Kanani meant, though he had never heard a Saurian word abbreviated before; it sort of gave her Saurian an interesting accent. He wondered if he had ever heard other speak it that way, but then he remembered there had only been one other, and her accented Saurian had been so thick that even he had had trouble understanding her.
Gently pulling the sparkling gem aside, Zaphero settled in front of the green spot and gestured to Kanani. "Nuksx." (Watch) He looked at it intently, and for several minutes, nothing happened. Then slowly but surely, a plant began growing before their very eyes, reaching up over their heads and with a flourish, opened up three perfect fronds and revealing another brilliant red gemstone. Zaphero beamed and turned to Kanani. "Kxoo when rusb." (They grow back.)
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Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:18 am
Kanani noted the slight confusion and decided that perhaps abbreviations were not commonplace in Zaphero's language. Come to think of it, she couldn't recall him ever abbreviating. She made a mental note to avoid them where possible. After all, part of learning a new language was to learn the different rules.
She nodded and looked at the spot where the tree had once been. Sure enough, a new sprout emerged from the ground where the old one had been. She smiled in delight, saying, "Awww....ak aj weet that kxoo when rusb." She paused very slightly before the word that, racking her brain for the equivelent. She couldn't quite recall if Zaphero had ever used it before, and if he had she couldn't remember.
(part of the way I determine what she knows and doesn't know is by using a translator and seeing if I recognize the word. If I don't then I don't use it. ^^)
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:22 pm
((Wanna know what's creepy? I could read Kanani's reply without consulting my translator. oO *Plasters the word GEEK on her forehead* XD))
Understanding, Zaphero nodded. He had gotten used to Kanani using English mixed in with her Saurian, and in truth by guessing how the odd-sounding words fit, it was giving him a better grasp of English himself.
He was still happy that he had been able to find something he loved with someone like Kanani. He had thought when he first arrived that aside from Belina he would never get someone to be friends with him and go through the trouble of understanding him. But just to make sure, he figured he had better make sure that she knew how much her friendship meant to him.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly said. "They...grow back...always." He beamed at her and moved over a few steps to a green-gemmed tree, where he knocked the gem off of that one too before turning back to Kanani. "How...much?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:47 pm
(That's not creepy, it's perfectly fine. xd )
Kanani smiled and thought for a moment. How many gems should they take? Well, she really didn't want to disturb the whole gathering of trees, even if they do grow back, and she was happy with just one to take home as a token of that memory. Finally coming to a conclusion, she said, "Hmmm...maybe one of each color? Either that or just two of them." She nodded, thinking seemed fine. Though if he wanted to take more she wouldn't find it weird, since they were very beautiful.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:39 pm
Zaphero nodded happily; there were only about 3 or 4 colors, after all, so it wouldn't be too terrible to take that many gemstones. He wondered what he would end up doing with the ones he took back. They would retain their light for a long time; maybe he could make something beautiful with them, something that would cast a beautiful rainbow of colors throughout his sleeping area.
He started knocking more trees down, being careful to select only the ones that they wanted; he didn't want to start knocking trees down willy-nilly, only to leave bunches of gems behind, gathering dust as their light slowly faded. Something in the back of his head whispered that doing so would be gravely wrong.
After he gathered up the gems, he chewed his lip thoughtfully and looked at Kanani. "We need......need.....carry."
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