skysung | Random Encounters

[continued from here and/or other threads in this log]

[Xzana is pleased when she sees the smaller dragon is being wise and choosing to try to out maneuver her then to outright outrun her. Xzana beats her wings for an extra burst of speed to try to catch Kitten. Although she's acting as if she's doing all she can to catch Kitten, but she wouldn't be fussed if the little dragon managed to dodge her for now.]

Derek chuckles as she leans into his hand and does his best to find that 'sweet spot' where it would feel almost unbearably good. He looks thoughtful for a minute while he does that.

"So...you understand me, that much is clear. I'm wondering, though, if I could figure out how to understand you. Are you speaking in whole words that I'm just not getting?"

[Kitten is surprised by just how well she can feel the wind currents. She can't keep moving and watch Xzana at the same time, so she is dodging blind. She expected to be caught easily enough, but as the winds above her shift, she has just enough warning to roll again, barely getting out of the way in time. Kitten whistles triumphantly, but the sound devolves into laughter pretty quickly. She is enjoying herself.]

Kitten doesn't purr, in case her nickname implied otherwise, but a low-pitched satisfied whistle is close enough.

She nods once, cursory confirmation, at the conclusion about her own understanding, but as for the question? No human Kitten knows has ever succeeded in learning dragon language. If it were possible, she'd hope that her adoptive parents, at least, might have managed it. It is a language, though, a substitute for mindspeech until she grows into the communication used by adults of her kind. Dragons, basilisks, gods, and assorted Immortals all hear the meaning in Kitten's words clear as day.

A small, slow nod is her answer to that question, and she chirps 'yes.' She speaks in fewer words among those she knows won't understand them, true, but she does have a verbal language with actual translations.

"All right."

Another long moment of thought.

"I know I wouldn't be able to talk like you do...but do you think I'd be able to tell the difference between, say, 'apple' and 'orange' if you said them both to me?"

Kitten tilts her head thoughtfully. Most people fail to note the differences between words. Her family knows her so well that they don't need to, not really. Half of the time what comes out of her mama's mouth is exactly what Kitten wanted to say in the first place. She doesn't see any reason someone couldn't catch the subtle changes if they listened carefully enough, though, and she nods again.

She points a claw down toward the trash can where her apple core landed, chirping 'apple,' pauses, and then follows it up with 'orange.' The two words sound very similar, both being foods and fruits, but there is a slight variation in pitch and duration between them.

Derek listens to both sounds carefully, thinks about it for a minute, and then tries to imitate both 'words'. As an actual animal hunter in his youth, his dad had taught him many bird calls, and he still had an ear for music even after years of not really touching it.

Still, a dragon wasn't a bird, and his throat didn't have everything it would probably need to perfectly imitate the sounds. He may or may not come close, but he at least does his best to make sure the ending of both were as close to the pitch and variation as he could get them.

"Apple and orange, right?"

[ continued from here ]

Twilight's too busy being amused at her new fur color (and eye color, and mane color - really, it was a pretty powerful all-encompassing spell) to notice the dragon changing, and when she looks around, the dragon is gone.

"Hello? Hey! Where did you go?" She starts looking around the barrier and peering in the vegetation below for her.

[The larger dragon smiles a toothy grin. Pleased that the younger dragon is having a good time. Even more that she's learning to feel the change of shadows or winds. It was a good skill to start learning.

She allows Kitten to escape her a couple more times, but it's no fun to never get 'caught' so after a few more minutes Xzana turns serious in her attempts to tag the little dragon. Even trying to tap Kitten with her tail when the smaller dragon dodges.]

[Kitten continues weaving, avoiding Xzana for as long as possible. Eventually, though, she makes another narrow escape only to be tagged by the larger dragon's tail as she moves out of the way. Kitten nods her head, conceding the point.

She flies a large loop, around Xzana if the other dragon stays still, or just in place as distance grows between them.]

Kitten's scales change back to their usual sky blue just in time to give half a second's warning before a light blast of air hits Twilight. It is not enough to do any real harm, just to blow her mane back again, perhaps knock her very slightly off balance.

Any errors of pronunciation do nothing to dampen Kitten's delight at Derek's attempt to replicate her words. She whistles gleefully, pure sound without any real translation. The dragon raises her right forefoot and rocks it from side to side a couple times, the gesture saying 'so-so.' The chirps that accompany it translate to, 'Not quite.'

That he tried at all, though, will forever endear him to Kitten.

She does nod confirmation of the apple and orange assumption.

He grins at the happy whistle, "Well, at least I can hear it right, even if I'm probably saying the totally wrong thing. Let me try it again, maybe I can get a little closer."

Twilight is knocked off balance, but it doesn't deter her - if anything, it amuses her even more, and she flies around to rush the dragon again.

She wonders briefly if Spike would be anything like this if he had wings, flying in the air with her. Then she decides that this dragon isn't like Spike - she's more like Pinkie Pie.

She'll attempt to tackle her in midair, but if she gets purchase, it won't be for antagonistic purposes, but something more like a light, friendly jab to the torso area, combined with a hug.

[Xzana moves quickly away from Kitten once she becomes "It". This time she drops down to blow tree level. Trying to weave and bob her way through them. Really trying to test Kitten's new ability to fly.]

Nodding, whistling ‘go ahead’ as she gestures encouragingly, Kitten waits to hear his second attempt. She doesn’t mind if he can’t speak it. Having someone understand would be more than enough, especially if that understanding comes through effort and learning rather than inherent ability. People have done any number of remarkable things for Kitten’s sake over the course of her sixteen years, but Derek is the first to do this.

Twilight does manage to collide with Kitten, but the dragon chirps in surprise and confusion as it turns into something closer to a hug than anything else. She has been hugged many times, but never by a pony. Twilight’s wings, her color, her speech, her horn, her love of books... none of those were as surprising to Kitten as this single gesture.

The only appropriate response is to laugh again, lightly nuzzling Twilight with her snout to return the affection.

Twilight grins, squeezes Kitten tight (but not tight enough to keep them from flying), and then lets go.

[Xzana may have speed and experience on her side, but Kitten's size gives her a distinct advantage when it comes to maneuvering between and around obstacles. She drops down among the trees without hesitation, putting on as much speed as she can manage given the environment. As she gains on Xzana, Kitten has a couple of close calls, saving herself from collisions with a couple last second gusts of wind. She isn't entirely sure whether they're her own magic or the work of whatever made her wings grow. Probably a combination of the two, she thinks, but less of her own power.

She hasn't quite caught up to Xzana yet, though.]

He tries again, going much slower this time. It probably warps the word into something else by doing so, but the sounds themselves are closer than before. Still not quite right, but closer.

"How's that?"

[Xzana is pleased again by Kitten's ability to take advantage of her smaller size. While she's in this form Xzana really isn't at all flexible. As the trees start to grow closer together she shoots up into the sky above the tree line again before her larger body can't get around the trees anymore.]

[Kitten follows, and as soon as she gets clear of the trees, she instinctively redirects a gust of wind to send her careening upward toward Xzana, reaching the highest speed she's managed yet. Kitten can't sustain this, of course, but she hopes to catch Xzana off-guard and, well, catch her.]

Kitten nods, whistling encouragement. Much better. Aside from the speed, that was actually very close. She makes a hurry-up motion with one foreleg to get that point across, but the dragon is fairly certain her new friend already knows.

She is quite frankly thrilled to have a person attempting dragon speech for her. No one speaks it, not even other dragons. Kitten was raised by humans, but had she been brought up in the Dragonlands, she would be unlikely to hear dragonspeech there either. Adults speak mind-to-mind, and dragon infants are born infrequently enough that she has never met another dragon who has yet to grow into mindspeech. Dragons and basilisks understand her, but they don't speak her language.

Kitten leans against Derek briefly in thanks.

[Xzana thought she had gauged Kitten's speed well enough, and too be honest spending this long in the air, in her larger form was tiring. So she was not expecting Kitten to rush her so suddenly.

In fact if Kitten isn't careful she may just slam right into the larger dragon.]

[Kitten screeches, a short desperate yowl, as it becomes very clear that she is about to collide with Xzana. Another gust of wind knocks her sideways as she yells; it may hit Xzana too. Kitten didn't exactly have time for aim or finesse.

She flaps her wings hard to recover her balance. And then she chortles, clicks and chirps of childish amusement. Near collisions or no, this has been fun. And Kitten avoided the crash in any case. Almost doesn't count. Between the wings, her new grasp of the wind, and a game with a new dragon, this is turning out to be a pretty wonderful day.]

He'll give her a half hug from the side, still smiling.

"You're welcome. I'll work on it some more, but I'll apologize right now for all the wrong things I'll be saying,"

He'll nod out over the village.

"Trying out the new wings, huh? Liking them so far?"

Kitten laughs, clicks and chirps that sound like a chuckle. She waves a forefoot in dismissal of the apology. Her whistles and the gesture both say, 'Don't worry about it.' No apology is needed. The attempt is as important to Kitten as its success or lack thereof. Besides, some of his verbal missteps may turn out to be very funny.

As for the wings, she nods eagerly. It's obvious just from looking that Kitten's natural wings are still much too small to bear her in flight, but dragons are flying creatures even so. Kitten loves it, at home in the air already.

[Xzana whirls and twirls as she is hit by the unexpected gust of wind. She takes a few moments to right herself on the turbulent air current and then starts to head in for a landing in a clearing.

She smiles, glad the little dragon is learning so quickly and have a good time. She herself is no where near old age, still in her adult prime, but she still missing the energy that youth had to it. Then again, she also had the knowledge that one should never fully tire themselves out in case a quick escape was ever needed.

Good thing there were so few things that could cause a dragon of her size to feel a quick retreat was necessary.

Xzana folds her large feathered wings closer to her back and lays down on the grass. Watching the younger dragon up in the sky to give her an audience if she still wished to play and show off, but for now the larger one needed a rest.]

"Must be a treat; let's you see what you're looking forward to. Watch the skies though--" he pauses as someone else from the village does exactly what he's trying to warn against, "--some of the villagers are a little flight happy. You might get accidentally dive-bombed."

[Kitten flies in a few more loops and spirals, pushing herself to the limits of her maneuverability and whistling gleefully. Eventually, though, she heads back for ground. She lands in front of Xzana and nudges thanks with her nose for the game.

She chirps and whistles a couple questions about who the other dragon is, what sort of world she comes from. Experience with Draco, though, doesn't leave Kit very hopeful of being understood.]

((continued from here))

[This rare silence says, "I'm not telling you the rest of the truth, and I did a good enough job putting it back together that you'll never be able to prove I took anything apart in the first place. I'm pretty sure."

And then she starts back in with the talking, never seeming to pause for breath.]

Do you think they have honey nut ice cream? I would like that, but it's not a very common flavor. I guess it depends on how big a variety they have! Butter pecan would be good too.

Edited 2013-08-14 01:33 (UTC)

((continued from here))

Practice! Or it could be my lung capacity. Twilight was talking to me about the cardiovascular system the other day. Maybe mine is better than most people's.

[Kitten grins and leans over to wrap an arm around her sister.]

I wanted to go to the stables again. You and Derek get upset when I sneak off there without you. [She pauses, torn.] I don't want to keep Derek waiting, though... And I don't like any of the books we read, because they're too easy! It's boring reading them, and I don't learn anything. If we're going to read picture books, I like ones about animals, like Stellaluna, but we're not reading any of those this week. My teacher this year hasn't given me any extra books to read that I'd actually like, like last year's teacher did.

Edited 2013-08-14 01:42 (UTC)

[Sadly her experience with Draco is mirrored in Xzana. She just doesn't completely understand what the little dragon is trying to say to her. She does try her own vocalizations that dragons in her own world would have understood, but it just doesn't match.

But the nudge of her nose is something Xzana understands. Giving a soft nudge of her own back. It had been a lot of fun for herself as well.]

I suppose we'll have to see. [Xzana buckles herself into her seat, waiting to be sure Kitten does the same before she even starts the car. She makes a mental note to head towards the bigger ice cream shop so it will hopefully have the flavor Kitten wants.] Butter pecan sounds pretty good too. Hopefully they'll have one of the flavors you want.

[She starts the car up and it makes a bit of a odd clank noise as she backs out of her parking spot. Being mindful of the other children leaving school she tries to remember to tell herself to make an appointment to have that checked out.]

What else did you do in school today?

Hopefully! I'll eat anything though, you know I'm not picky. ...Except for spicy things. Those hurt. I've never found spicy ice cream, so it should be safe.

We sang a new song in music class, and Twilight left a note in the office saying she'd be there to tutor me tomorrow. I hope it's not math.

Yeah? What song did you learn? And you'll give Twilight your full attention if she's tutor you in math or anything.

I can sing it for you if you want! It was a song of questions, sort of. [Obviously, the right song for Kitten. Twilight will get Kitten's attention, of course, however grudging it is when it comes to math. At least the little girl likes all the patience her tutor has with her questions in other subject matters.] I'll listen to Twilight, you already know that, Aunt Xzana.

I know you will. You're a good girl.

[Xzana smiles brightly. Kitten had the most beautiful singing voice. The best in the land. Some of that thought may be hampered by the fact that she was also her niece, but Xzana would gladly fight someone if they disagreed anyway.]

Alright, a song of questions? Let's hear it.

[Kitten just grins at the compliment, and she nods when she gets the instruction. She likes how Xzana always encourages her. Kit goes ahead and sings this song]

[Xzana listens quietly with a blissful smile on her face. She loved hearing her niece sing. She pulls the car into the ice cream parlor as she finishes.]

That's a wonderful song. Perfect for you.

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