|
Post by Ashe on May 7, 2021 1:29:21 GMT -6
"Ch'ta," Ashe said, looking over at him. At first, the creature didn't look up, or respond in any way, and Ashe realized he didn't really know his name yet. How could that be? Oh, right, Ashe had too much on his plate and not enough time spent with each creature he wanted to build up into something. He sighed softly, a little ashamed of himself, and resolved to do better. He looked back over at the Dash Claw and tried again.
"Ch'ta." There was nothing; he apparently though Ashe was just making noises.
"Ch'ta," he said, a bit more firmly this time. He earned a look- finally, he got his attention! Ashe was suddenly thinking, didn't Ch'ta have a name the others of his species called him by? Why didn't he know it, then? Or was Ashe mispronouncing it?
"You, Ch'ta," Ashe said, pointing toward the beast. Something flashed in Ch'ta's eyes, as if taking this as a threat.
Ch'ta: 0 3/5 Ashe: 2 16/20
May post 3
Name - 1 Foreign Language Common - 1
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 7, 2021 1:34:44 GMT -6
Ashe raised his hands in submission, hoping at least the creature understood that gesture. Inyala didn't like the look, and bundled herself up on Ashe's shoulder, ready to spring if need be. "Your NAME," Ashe said, putting emphasis on the word name, "Is Ch'ta, right?" He asked. He pointed at Ch'ta's chest. "You, Ch'ta. My name," He said, taking that hand and pointing to himself. "Is Ashe."
Ashe pointed to Ch'ta, said his name again, then pointed to himself, and said his own name.
Tentatively, the Dash-claw's mouth started to move. He had lost the offended look in his eye and gazed at the human, realizing Ashe was communicating. He lifted a claw and pointed to himself. "Ch'ta?" He said, trying to mimic Ashe's sound. But Ashe was heavy on the "ch" sound, and it came out weird when he tried it himself. He tried again, then shook his head and reverted to his own language.
"Ch'ta," He said, and it came out more like a hiss, placing more emphasis on the T.
Ch'ta: 0 4/5 Ashe: 2 17/20
May post 4
Name - 2 Foreign Language Common - 2
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 7, 2021 3:31:55 GMT -6
Ashe heard the difference and blinked a few times, concentrating. He had been saying it wrong the whole time! Maybe that was why he didn't respond to it. So Ashe tried it out a few more times, pointing to the creature when he said "Ch'ta," trying to imitate the hiss. The raptor repeated it again, and Ashe tried harder. Eventually, they seemed to be on the same level; gesturing to Ch'ta, knowing how to pronounce his name, and Ch'ta knowing that it was his name. It had been Ashe, after all, that had messed it up.
"Repeat after me: I. Am. Ch'ta." Ashe tried. The raptor tilted his head, his gaze on Ashe's face. How his lips moved. He said a few things in Dashian, then tried. "Iuh. Eee. Aye. Eye. I-"
Ashe stopped him right there. "Yes, good! I. Am. Ch'ta." He gestured toward the raptor, indicating he wanted him to say that, not that he, Ashe, was Ch'ta.
Ch'ta: 1 0/5 Ashe: 2 18/20
May post 5
Name - 3 Foreign Language - 3
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 7, 2021 3:52:28 GMT -6
The raptor was getting it. "I," He said, careful of the human words on his strange tongue. "Am. Ch'ta."
"You," Ashe said, pointing. "Ch'ta." Then he pointed at himself. "I am Ashe. Ashe."
Ch'ta looked a little puzzled at this. "I am" was just used to describe himself, but then again used to describe Ashe. But the human was pointing different. He watched Ashe go through these motions several more times, slowing down for emphasis. It was starting to make a little bit of sense...
"I am. Ch'ta." He pointed a claw to his own breast, indicating himself. "I am Assshhh?" He tried, the name hissing on his tongue. He couldn't help it his first time.
Ashe shook his head. "I am Ashe. When I'm speaking, I refer to myself. When I'm speaking, You are Ch'ta." He punctuated these with hand gestures. The gestures nearly knocked Inyala off his shoulder, but she hung on. I am Ashe. You are Ch'ta. Say: I am Ch'ta."
Ch'ta: 1 1/5 Ashe: 2 19/20
May post 6
Name - 4 Foreign Language - 4
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 7, 2021 4:01:09 GMT -6
"I. Am. Ch'ta," The raptor said, carefully picking his words and also copying Ashe as best as he could, both in words and gestures. He turned his claw to point at Ashe's chest, and the man stepped back from the enthusiastic reach. Inyala scowled at the raptor, thinking he was too close with that thing. Ch'ta ignored her as little more than a pest and continued with his emphasis. "I am-"
"No, say 'you are' when referring to me." Ashe corrected him gently on this, and knew he was spouting a bunch of words that probably weren't making sense, but hopefully his tone would help...
Recognizing the other set of words, the raptor tried again. "YU are. Ashhhh."
"Great! That was pretty good. It's YOU, and Ash. Great job."
Ch'ta took his claw back, considering those words. He said them a few times to himself, checking out how to move his mouth around them. When he brought his attention back, he seemed confident.
Ch'ta: 1 2/5 Ashe: 3 0/20
May post 7
Name - 5 Foreign Language common - 5
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 7, 2021 4:19:57 GMT -6
They went back and forth a few more times, with the raptor gaining more understanding, able to puzzle things out. The words were indicators of who the speaker meant; he was picking up on the differences. When he would talk, he called Ashe 'you', and when he meant himself, it was 'I.' It was all coming together now.
And when Ashe wanted his attention, he said his name. There were a couple of times, as the trio explored the grounds of the mansion outside, where he wanted to get Ashe's name; he would say, "Asssh," and the human would snap to attention. The hiss from his name was hard to get rid of and Ch'ta would work at it more. But he understood the introductions, and that was something. Inyala survived, too, though she'd had a couple more close calls with that claw coming too close, but that was more because Ch'ta was trying his best to understand, not because he was attacking.
Ch'ta: 1 3/5 Ashe: 3 1/20
May post 8
Name - 6 - Fin Foreign Language common - 6
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 14, 2021 2:10:30 GMT -6
Learning each others' names were just the start of things. He had never really sat down and taught Inyala this stuff - for one, she had trouble forming the words of Common, but she was able to communicate with Ashe in multiple other ways so that was not needed. And for two - Inyala had been with him much longer, on many journeys, and picked up everything Ashe was saying just with time. Ch'ta did not have that kind of time.
So Inyala watched, a little interested but more bored overall because she knew all of this, as Ashe pointed out different things here and there, giving names to items. He gestured to the ground, where there was a dirt path they were following. "This is dirt," He said. "Ground. Earth. Dirt."[/i] And then there was the grass, so Ashe stopped and stooped, rubbing his hand across the soft green strands. "Grass." One day, he would be able to say 'this is the food of your food!' but that was too big of a concept for right now.
Ch'ta: 1 4/5 Ashe: 3 2/20
May post 9
Foreign Language common - 7
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 14, 2021 2:21:20 GMT -6
There were trees and flowers all over the place, looking like a proper spring blooming all around them. Inyala kept an eye out for anything interesting here, while Ashe pointed out things to Ch'ta. "Tree. Flower. Leaf. Berry. Food." Ashe plucked a blackberry from a nearby bush and popped it into his mouth, to give Ch'ta the idea. The dash claw took it all in, listening and watching Ashe closely. He leaned in and sniffed at the berry bush. His tongue crept out and he licked the berry. His tongue curled around it and he pulled it into his mouth, tasting it. He made a face, then another face, and munched.
"Food," He was able to repeat. It wasn't his main food, Ashe knew, but he wondered if Dash Claws could sometimes eat berries. For flavor, if nothing else?
They were approaching the main building now. Ashe didn't know if Ch'ta would like the enclosed building or not, but they would try it.
Ch'ta: 2 0/5 Ashe: 3 3/20
May post 10
Foreign Language common - 8
|
|
|
Post by Nadia on May 14, 2021 3:43:37 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 20, 2021 23:56:27 GMT -6
Ashe had been working diligently for over an hour now with his Dash Claw, teaching him different words for things. It probably wasn't the best way to get him fluent quickly, with contractions and possessives and - hey now, Ashe wasn't a teacher! There was a saying, 'those that can, do, and those that can't, teach.' And Ashe was definitely someone in the former! But Ch'ta was a quick study, and he was memorizing words for items and names. He'd picked up Inyala's name, too, and he was able to puzzle out different items from each other.
They still had a ways to go, that was true, but Ashe felt like they were making leaps and bounds in progress.
A short time later, it was Inyala who alerted Ashe to something shiny on the ground. Frowning, Ashe stooped to pick it up. It was a coin of some sort! He turned it over and over in his hand, wondering what its worth was.
"What is?" Ch'ta asked, looking over Ashe's elbow at the item.
Ch'ta: 2 1/5 Ashe: 3 4/20
May post 11
Foreign Language common - 9
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 21, 2021 0:41:01 GMT -6
"I think it's a coin of some sort. Money." Ashe hefted it, wondering if maybe it was pure silver, or just some other kind of metal. That was when he noticed there was another one not too far off. He walked on, stooping to grab that one as well. Inyala gripped his shoulder tightly to ensure she didn't fall off in the process. He clinked the two coins together in his hand and held them out in his hand so Ch'ta could look at them too. It was a weird feeling; finding out how intelligent the dash-claw was, Ashe was starting to think of him as a person almost, and he didn't want to leave him out.
"Coin," Ch'ta said. "Coinsssss," He added, making it plural, but he drew out his S's in a comical reptilian way. He gazed at them for a moment, then glanced to the side. Something had flashed and gotten his attention, but he didn't see anything immediately.
Ch'ta: 2 3/5 Ashe: 3 5/20
May post 12
Foreign Language common - 10
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 21, 2021 0:48:31 GMT -6
The flash came again, and this time, Ch'ta was ready for it. The sun was hitting plant leaves just right that the shine only happened when the leaves moved in a slight breeze. The clever predator locked into its target and walked over to it, bending over like Ashe did to see what was down there. To his pleasant surprise, it was another coin, like the ones Ashe already had! He picked it up with a clawed hand and returned to the human and his small creature. The blue one watched as if she was suspicious of his actions, but he ignored her. She was of no consequence to him.
"Asssh," he said, to get the man's attention. "Coin," he added, holding his hand out to give the human the present. Ashe perked up, surprised at the offering, and he took it. "Thank you!" He said. "That was very nice of you. Good. Thanks." Ashe gave him a smile. The Dash-claw seemed pleased.
Ch'ta: 2 4/5 Ashe: 3 6/20
May post 13
Foreign Language common - 11
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 21, 2021 0:55:18 GMT -6
Ashe, as a habit, tried to smile without teeth when he was dealing with animals. Fangs tended to be a threatening thing, like when a dog would growl, so he smiled with his lips and let his expression and body language speak for themselves. But this time, he had forgotten to cover his teeth, and he had smiled with his teeth when the dash claw unexpectedly gave him a third coin. Three of them now! And they were all the same. Ashe was able to deduce that this must be the monthly item of plenty, things he could chuck into the wishing well later and make a wish for really cool things.
Seeing the smile on the human, Ch'ta took a pause. Teeth were normally a threat, but he knew Ashe wasn't mad. In fact, he was pleased! So this must mean something. Something good. Because Ashe had said 'good', right? Making an attempt, the Dash-claw made a face back at Ashe, trying to smile in return.
Ch'ta: 3 0/5 Ashe: 3 7/20
May post 14
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 21, 2021 1:04:31 GMT -6
Inyala was alarmed when she saw the fangs emerge and she yelped to Ashe. The man reached a hand up to reassure her and calm her down; the dash-claw was actively learning, he was a people more than a lowly beast. He had chosen to come with Ashe and leave his former human, after all. There was no way he would attack him...
When the lips curved up, rather than straight back, Ashe recognized this for what it was. Ch'ta was trying to smile! Like Ashe had, with teeth revealed. It came off as menacing from a creature like a Dash-claw - though to be honest, fangs on an Estharne would be intimidating too - but it was meant to be friendly.
"Smile," Ashe said, pointing to his face as he grinned in response. Guess it was time to teach some facial expression words! "Happy. Glad. Good."
Ch'ta looked so strange, wide eyed with his lips pulled unnaturally. At the first chance he got, realizing his gesture had been received, he let his face go slack. It hurt. Why did it hurt if it was good?
Ch'ta: 3 1/5 Ashe: 3 8/20
May post 15
Foreign Language common - 12
|
|
|
Post by Ashe on May 21, 2021 1:58:54 GMT -6
This launched a ten minute session on facial expressions, between Ashe and Ch'ta. Inyala would chime in occasionally with her own, but Ch'ta ignored her and was focused on Ashe. Ashe, meanwhile, couldn't tell if this was a growing animosity between the two, or if Ch'ta just wanted to focus on learning while Ashe was teaching him all these new things...
Ashe taught Ch'ta the words for frowning, mad, sad, happy - many, many words. He was amazed by his Dash-claw, who seemed to be able to remember the vocab a hell of a lot better than how to form proper sentences. But that was the way with picking up new languages, wasn't it? Ashe made a point of continuing to use older vocab, as well as blending in the new words.
But they weren't alone. Ashe stopped mid-sentence when he noticed there was a rock thing coming toward him. He didn't recognize what it was. He also didn't recognize those coins.
Ch'ta: 3 2/5 Ashe: 3 9/20
May post 16
Foreign Language common - 13
|
|