A Night In The Park (Ash/Open)

[kilnarak]

One moment Ash was standing in the ruin, the air cool and perhaps a little damp, claws clicking on the stone beneath his feet. He had bent to examine a carving near the floor, an abstract pattern of lines and shapes, reached to touch one of the lines with a claw-tip, and then suddenly the entire room had filled with an eerie blue glow.

Then the ground beneath his feet had vanished and he was falling. The world went dark for a moment, a rush of air buffeting his body, and he flailed his wings open to catch it. He passed through a cloud, felt the cold damp of it, smelled and tasted an oddly bitter quality to it, and then he was through it, below it. The world opened up far beneath him like a sea of stars, alien lights glowing in the night.

Towers rose up tall from the earth below, some near tall enough to touch the clouds he had just fallen from. Lights glittered on them and in them, illuminating them from within. He caught a gust of wind and banked toward the nearest one, nervously twitching his scales as he drew nearer. It was odd, boxy rather than rounded, and when he came up against it and tried to grab onto the structure, to rest and catch his bearings, his claws slid off. Was it encased in crystal? His claws scraped against it again until he found a seam where two panels of crystal met, and he clung there a moment, pulling his body close to the structure and tucking his wings in tight to provide less drag for the wind. He pressed his face to the window-covering and peered inside - the place seemed to be full of furniture, but nothing moved. No one around. His crest twitched uncomfortably, and he opened his wings and pushed away from the building.

He needed to find out where he was. Then... Then he could find his way back home. But none of this was familiar, none of the scents, none of the sights. Some of the lights below moved in swift lines - lanterns? Or were they eyes? They did seem to be attached to... something. He soared, watching the moving lights for a short while, then decided not to try his luck with them. They moved more like herd animals than sentient creatures, they would be frightened by his scent, maybe violent. He tipped his wings and soared away from the moving lights. It wasn't long before he saw people-shaped things moving far below, but they were still too close to the moving-light-creatures and he was nervous, he didn't want to go to them.

When he caught sight of trees - short and stubby compared to those he was used to, but trees all the same - his spirits lifted. They were an unfamiliar species as well but... but the moving-lights weren't going into them, so maybe it would be safe? He folded his wings in to drop nearer, straightening to alight on one of the branches. It shook under his weight as he settled on it, his foot-claws sinking into the wood for a better grip. It was only a small pocket of trees amidst all of the stone and metal structures - hardly a forest, perhaps a courtyard of some sort? Still, it was a place to pause and get his bearings before deciding what to do next.

[okami1reeka333]

Jedidiah:

He was walking down the street from the hospital, weeks after his clinic has been up and running back in the mountains, he was still looking into working at one of the hospitals in the city. But of course,hardly any of them have enough head clearance for him to be able to stand without having to hunch his back. . . he wants to be able to preform more in depth surgery and help people. . .without worrying if he was going to bring the ceiling down on them from accidentally bumping his head on the ceiling. . .but, for nao, he will just have to keep looking.

While walking down the street, due to his towering height, people tended to avoid him, not knowing who he was. . .or rather, just noticing he was just ludicrously tall . . .he then noticed some of the oaks shaking rather abruptly ahead of his path, but didn't really pay too much mind to it. . . could of just been a really big squirrel . . . if anything, he will try and walk around them, hopefully the squirrel doesn't try too climb on him again. . .

[kilnarak]

Ash crouched down on the branch, feeling it shift again with the move. He hoped it wouldn't break, perhaps he should move to a sturdier one? He was considering this when he spotted the Giant approaching. It was human-shaped and clothed, although the sheer size of it was... a little distressing. It had glanced at the tree he perched in, but did not seem to have noticed him yet, so he held himself very still, held his breath and curled his tail up about his legs as he waited for it to pass. His own kind could get rather large, continuing to grow larger as they aged - but still, none of his elders at the new colony were so tall. This creature could even be bigger than mother...

Once it had passed, he let his breath out in a soft hiss, considered a few moments - fighting the urge to stay hidden and safe against the need to know where he was - and then hopped off of the branch, facing the Giant. He straightened, folding his wings against his back and forcing his crest into a neutral rather than frightened set. His black scales would have faded into the shadows, if not for the yellow and red-orange markings banding some of them. His tail curled in a half-circle about his feet, the tip twitching now and then.

He cleared his throat, then spoke a simple greeting in the Trade language of his home - his voice in this half-form was deep and slightly raspy:

"Hissi? Csih ithie iss ri zmili i sir?"

[okami1reeka333]

Jedidiah:

When something dropped down from behind him, he yelped and jumped and whipped his head around his head to see what dropped down behind him, before seeing a scaly being. . .with wings and black and firy colored scales. . before it started to speak a strange tounge at him. . . he took a moment to compose himself before he replied. He spoke in a calm and gentle manner to try and not make himself seem scary at all. " . . ahh. .hello. . . . .I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I do not understand what language you are speaking. . ."

God, that was embarrassing. . . hopefully no one caught on that he yelped. . . " umm. . please don't be scared of me? Im Dr. Jedidiah Gurulf. . .and you are? . . " he tried, before gently offering his hand to shake the stranger's hand.

[kilnarak]

Ash's crest flicked up briefly at the startled yelp the Giant made at his abrupt appearance. He flinched back slightly himself at the noise, and took a step back, flattening his crest as the Giant spoke. And it was clearly speech, the tone soft, but... he didn't understand any of it.

"I vih' ehvilssihv. Wmsi ihshei es msi? Sss," the last word was a hiss as he fidgeted, uncertain of how to make himself understood. He tried again, in his own tongue this time rather than Trade, although he doubted it would be much better. "Tir wux renthisj nomeno ir? Thric?" At the man's uncomprehending manner, he hissed a curse.

Then the man held out a hand to him, as if offering something. He glanced at it uncertainly, then back up at the Giant, and down again, ruffling his crest. There was nothing in his hand. Did he mean for them to touch? Tentatively, in stops and starts, Ash extended his own heavily scaled hand and set it in the Giant's, careful to keep his claws to himself. "Hefoc nomeno?"

[okami1reeka333]

Jedidiah:

He grimaced apon the continual attempts the being had in trying to speak before the being set his hand in the doctor's hand. . he gently shook it before he replied " . . .I'm sorry, I still have no clue as to what you are saying. " he replied. . he pondered abit as to hao to speak with this being. . .hao can he help the being. . . . of all the languages he could speak, non of them could help him in this situation. . . . .

he then had an idea. . .perhaps pen and paper?. .

He reached into his bag and pulled out a note pad and a pen. . .both were unused since he always kept extras on hand just in case. . . " . . .ahh. . .perhaps this will help?" He offered. He clicked the pen, pondering if the being would know what pen or paper was. . . . .before showing the being hao to use the pen, by scribbling on it abit on the corner-in part to test if the ink will come out, before offering the pen and paper to the being. .

[kilnarak]

Ash tensed a little as the Giant's hand closed around his and moved it up and down, not quite sure what the significance of this was. When the man released him he took his hand back to himself and folded his arms over his chest uncertainly.

The Giant scrouged around in a satchel that had been slung over his hip and produced... a small book? And a stick of... what was it? It looked too firm to be charcoal, but it did appear to be a writing utensil of some sort. He accepted both items from the man a touch uncertainly. It wasn't as if writing words in his language would help - if the man hadn't understood it spoken, he doubted it would be comprehensible written.

His crest twitched, then drooped, but after a moment he sat down in the middle of the path and holding the pen somewhat awkwardly in his claws, he began to draw something on the tablet. It would have been easier to do this in his softer form, but... he didn't feel comfortable enough to lose the armor of his scales. He spent a minute at the task, then offered the pad back up to the Giant. Drawn on it was a quick sketch of his arrival - a tiny winged figure falling beside one of the tower-like skyscrapers. An arrow of sorts pointed at the 'city' and the towers, and something incomprehensible was written above it.

He watched the big man, his crest twitching up, then falling back again in a mix of hope and uncertainty. Would he understand? If the man looked back to him he would gesture to himself, tapping his chest with a claw. "Aa-shj," he drew the word, his name, out, speaking slow. "Ash. Ash di Embril Eyrie." His name and where he was from, his home colony. Would the man understand?

[okami1reeka333]

Jedidiah:

He gave the being some room, seeing hao spooked he seemed, before he was given the notepad back with drawings and what appears to be wording?. . he then quietly listened and watched the being as he gestured at himself and slowly spoke 'ash . . ash di(?) Embr il Eyrie(?)'. . he pondered abit before replying, keeping his voice calm and gentle ". .so your name is ash. . .from a place called Embr il Eyrie? " he stated in part, he was holding for some confirmation from this. . . based on the sentence structure, it seems similar to hao some countries structured their name and where they were from before last names exist. . . hell, he is from that same era, just traveling to different realms before stopping here modernize him. . .then again, he was pretty modernized thanks to his father . . .

He then glanced at the drawing again and the written word. . . perhaps the being was wondering where he was?. . he flipped a page, before bringing to draw out a rather decent map-funny, considering he wasn't exactly artistic, or rather good at it. . .he then wrote down the name of the city, and spoke it out loud. " . . this is where we are. . .its called 'Wathais' " he gestured to the map and at the ground in a manner where it generally emplied the place, before repeating the name of the city slower. "Wathais". .

Then there is his own name. . .Jedidiah was already quite a mouthful. . . he then handed the note pad and pen back to the being gently, before gesturing at the being first. " ash" he then gestured at himself "doctor Jedi " -he normally called himself this for the kids, instead of Gurulf or his full name. . . for some reason the kids seem to get it rather quickly, but then make jokes or references he wasn't too clear as to what they were, but it made the kids happy and able to recognize him. . .hopefully he wasn't butchering this too badly. . .

[kilnarak]

His pointed ears twitched as the Giant repeated his name, the tone questioning. He bobbed his head slightly, tapping his chest again with his claws. "Ash di Embril Eyrie," he repeated, his crest rising a bit and something of a smile touching his scaled features. The man drew him a... was it a map? and he spoke, repeating one word as he gestured to the map. It was an unfamiliar one, and his smile faded back into uncertainty as he considered it. "Wa-thai? Nomeno goawy ui relgra Wa-thai?"

"Wa-thai..." He bared his teeth in a brief grimace, then settled his expression in a neutral again, watching the Giant as he named himself. "Doktar... Jeddy? Kepatmasto. Wux re Doktar Jeddy," he gestured at the man, then at himself. "Vur si mi Ash. Coi ui d'nag ekess tafiaf wux." The latter phrase was said with a slight lift of his crest and a nod - a greeting of some sort, perhaps?

He took the sketched map again and peered at it, trying to decide where he might be. It wasn't familiar at all and that was distressing. He had felt the magic activating in that room, it must have transported him somehow... But if none of this was familiar, then how far must he be from home. His tail twitched and he glanced up at Doktar Jeddy, watching him for a long few moments as he came to a decision. He was lost here and the giant man had been friendly enough thusfar. He hoped he could trust him.

The change happened abruptly, Ash's form almost seeming to melt away to reveal another form. Smaller and softer and much more human in appearance, with bronze skin instead of scales and long dark hair instead of a crest. He was dressed in a style that looked more appropriate for a renaissance faire than modern Earth, the fabric fairly rich in appearance, and he did not wear any shoes.

He lifted his hands to show he had no weapons, though there was a knife at his belt, and he smiled a touch sadly up at the man who was nearly twice his size in this form. "Geou wux letoclo ve, Doktar Jeddy?" His voice was softer and a bit higher pitched in this form, and the words had a slight pleading quality to them. He was asking for help.

[okami1reeka333]

Jedidiah:

he watched as the being reacted to the assumption that 'ash' was his name. . .it appears as so, since he was repeating it. . . before smiling abit. but apon the mention of Wathais, that smile dissipated into concern. . .doktar jeddy? well. . . its close enough. . he then watched as the scaled being shrunk and became more human like. . . in old medieval clothing from the look of it, Shakespeare like, but no shoes. . . . before he started to speak again, and nodding at him in a sort of greeting, perhaps? he merely returned the nod, still having no clue as to what the guy was saying outside of he was being addressed. . .

he carefully knelt down as the man lifted his hands. . .he noticed a knife on the guy's belt, but outside of that, nothing else . . .he grimaced before he nodded. " . . i will try to help you haoever i can. . ." he stated. . ash might not understand what he was saying, but there was sincerity within his words. . .he pondered abit, looking around to see what was close to them, seeing a few stores, before looking back towards ash, hoping the man will be able to understand somewhat. "umm. . . you will need shoes. . .and we will need to grab books. . . hopefully create enough of a understanding to where we can speak easier. . .learn eachother's languages. " he stated. . he pondered a bit, before he tapped on his own shoes, pointed at the man's feet, before pointing over at some broken glass, then pointed over towards the stores. "lets get you some shoes first, ash. " he offered, gently smiling.

[kilnarak]

Ash watched the big man, trying to make some sense of his words and gestures. It was frustrating, trying to infer meaning from the alien language, but... maybe the man was agreeing to help him? Then the man spoke some more and pointed at his feet. Did he want to know how to say feet? But why? "Sia uraci? U-ra-ci. Uraci." He pointed at his feet, repeating the word, and then tapping one on the ground in emphasis.

But Doktar Jeddy was still gesturing, speaking - tapping his own feet and pointing at a broken bottle and at some of the odd lighted structures nearby. Were they dwellings? Or were they markets? It took him a few moments, and a few glances at the big man's feet to realize - they weren't just his feet, they were coverings meant to protect them. His own soles were thick and hard even in this softer form, although he did remember that most humans did wear foot covers. "Kwi, si tir ti rigluin hethaic," he gestured at the man's foot covers, then at his own feet again, stomping one again. "Shar si filiik si ornla soyol persvek desta mrith astahi." He didn't need them but... well, if it was how people here dressed, then he supposed it might help him fit in better.

He frowned a bit to himself a moment, then pushed himself up to stand, folding closed the little book with the map Doktar Jeddy had drawn for him. He bobbed his head in another nod, then gestured - lead the way, he would follow.

[okami1reeka333]

Jedidiah:

he pondered abit, uraci? ooooh, that probably means 'feet' in ash's tongue. . duly noted. . when it seemed to have clicked for ash, he started to say something, stomping a foot about before pausing, frowning and standing up, putting the note pad up and gesturing something that seems very universal. . lead the way. . . he nodded before standing up as well. . there were a few awkward moments where if there was something on the ground that could potentially cut into ash's feet- as sturdy as they might be given the gesture he was doing earlier. . Jedidiah would gently pick the dragon up and set him back down on relatively clean ground where glass or metal did not litter the areas at the dragon's path just to avoid the possibility of ash cutting his feet open, gaining an infection or a diseases such as hepatitis or AIDS from the open wounds on his feet, or some parasite. . .that's a horrible way to start off in a city. . and with a language barrier, no less. . . though with as big as he was, at least people seem to make it a point to avoid him. . .less eyes gawking at them.

apon reaching the store, the ground was smooth and alot cleaner compared to the streets, as it the floors in the store were mandatorily kept clean, with a carpeted area in the back where all the aisles of shoes were. one of the store clerks seemed abit bothered someone as big as the doctor was walking in. . or rather, almost crouching in through the double wide doors. . . he held the door open for Ash before turning his attention to one of the employees. "sir, im sorry, we don't sell shoes in your size, you have to special order them somewhere else. " one of the employees expressed. "oh, actually, this is for my friend. . .he needs a pair of shoes. . hes from out of town." he replied "oh. . . well. . . we definitely have shoes that would fit him." she replied, seeing ash walk in. . .she seemed hardly taken back he was in Shakespeare clothing, but didn pay much mind to the clothing. its the city, everything weird happens in the city.

[kilnarak]

The first time Doktar Jeddy picked him up, Ash hissed, startled - no one had picked him up since he was a nestling, no one would have even considered it without asking first! Of course, without a shared language, it wasn't like the big man could ask. "Wux tir ti rigluin ekess tir batobot! Si mi winhal!" he chastised the big man, knowing fully well the other couldn't understand - but it seemed so... odd to just bear it without any comment. After that, he took measures to keep an eye on the ground and walk around anything that looked sharp.

When they neared the street, he balked a bit before crossing, seeing the moving-light-creatures up close and wary of them. He did realize, after watching one pause and then drive past, that they didn't actually appear to be living entities - rather, they looked like some sort of ship or carriage, with humans seated inside directing them somehow. The realization helped a little - it wasn't as if they would just charge him like some strange animal might. He waited with Doktar Jeddy and watched more of the things move past, then at some stimulus he didn't fully understand - perhaps something to do with the blinking lanterns posted above? - they all stopped and the Giant lead him across their path and toward the structures on the other side.

The structures clearly weren't built for someone of Doktar's stature, as he had to crouch down to enter them - as he thought about it, he realized he hadn't seen any others quite so large. Everyone he had seen thusfar appeared to be of some species of human, with Doktar being the only one like him. It struck him as a little odd - but perhaps this area of this Wa-thai was reserved for them? He considered this as he followed the big man into the structure.

He looked around while Doktar Jeddy spoke with the human who met them inside. The scent here was odd, a mix of leather and... something he didn't recognize. There were aisles and aisles of shelves packed with boxes which appeared to contain foot covers. So the giant did mean for him to acquire a pair to better fit in but... Then this was a market which specialized in selling these? He didn't know what currency they used, and he didn't really have much by way of barter - perhaps his knife or his torque? But those had been gifts from his mother...

He moved nearer to the big man again, hovering somewhat uncertainly behind him. When he caught the other's attention, he looked uncomfortable and spoke very softly: "Keh... Svanoa geou si xikin? Si tir ti tepoha tikil ulk'igh..." Again, he knew Doktar Jeddy wouldn't understand him, but he felt compelled to speak his worry all the same. "Nomagqe yth jalla jaseve?"

[okami1reeka333]

Jedidiah:

he glanced over at ash when he started to speak, in a rather concerned tone. . considering the attire he wore and the expression he wore on the way in, perhaps hes concerned about the store itself? or paying for the shoes? he patted ash on the back gently. "will be alright. " he tried to assure. . .granted, the language barrier was not helping anyone- neither ash or himself, but they will work on that one. . . hopefully. . . .

". . is there something wrong? " the employee asked. Jedidiah looked back over at the employee, and shook his head. " no, its alright. . . i will be the one covering the bill for the shoes. " he relied. the employee looked for a bit before nodding and heading off, grabbing a metal foot scale to measure ash's foot size. Jedidiah, on the other hand, lead ash towards a bench, although carefully as to knock over anything. . . he knows hes not going to be able to follow ash into the aisles, because of his size, he will have to say up at front where some of the benches were. . .

when the employee returned with the scale, she placed the scale at ash's feet. "ok, lets see your shoe size. " she declared. Jedidiah pondered a bit. . before he tried. " . .can you place your foot, your uraci on the scale?" he asked, making sure he spoke in the same calm and gentle manner, but a bit slower for ash-just to make sure non of his words blurred into eachother. . . . .he then pointed at ash's foot, before tapping a finger back at the scale. . .where there were footie prints printed on the scale. . . -the scale was for both children and adults to use. the heel of the foot on the print being pressed against the back of the scale where it started at 0.

[kilnarak]

Doktar Jeddy patted him in a manner that was clearly meant to be reassuring, and while he was still a bit uncertain that the other had understood he relented and allowed this to go on. He drew a deep breath and released it in a drawn out sigh, looking from Doktar to the human merchant. He offered her a smile, a touch shy, and inclined his head in greeting - although maybe it just looked like he was nodding to what Doktar Jeddy had said.

Ash found himself led over to a small bench and gestured to sit on it. He did as asked, watching Doktar as he gestured and spoke - clearly saying 'feet' in Ash's tongue. The word, along with the gestures, told him more or less what to do and he placed his bare foot on the scale where the big man had indicated he should. It appeared to be some sort of measuring device to determine the size of his foot? He supposed it was necessary, given that they seemed to have so many different foot coverings here.

The merchant pointed toward the size on the scale that his foot lined up with and read it off: "Okay, it looks like you're a 10. So... what style are you interested in?" It was... utterly incomprehensible to him, and when she looked at him, he felt a bit of nervousness fluttering in his chest. He looked up at Doktar Jeddy pleadingly, hoping the big man would answer for him.