Tisis

Communication issues (S)

I lay the unconscious and still soaked Nym near the fire and blanket her with my jacket.

Great, so she managed to find me, only to drop cold on me.
What in the world did she have to go through to get here?

It looks like I was right to suspect her in the lake though.

I watch her slim figure and can't help but notice, how the drops of water shimmer in the light of the fire, making it seem like her skin is glowing.

Is it really lake water though?
Or is she soaked from sweat?

I just hope she doesn't get sick...that would be terrible.

I look over to the still sleeping Zero, let out a long sigh and mutter, "Great, now what am I supposed to do?"

I place my hand on Zero's fur and whisper, "I wish you'd talk to me again...I could really use some advice right now..."

I check that the fire has enough wood to keep burning through the night and lay myself to rest.
Before long, I sink into a light sleep.

I wake up about three times during the night because Nym keeps turning around, causing an unusual amount of noise.
One time she almost rolls into the fire, causing me to put her a little bit farther away.
It seems like a nightmare is plaguing her.

Not that I can blame her, considering the hell we just barely managed to escape from.

The next morning comes all too soon and with the first ray of the sun, I wake from my uneasy sleep.

I stretch and look around a little dazed, wondering where I am.
The confusion doesn't last long, as the memories of the past dream quickly get replaced by the memories of the harsh reality.

I shake my head to clear it up and look over to Nym.
Good, at least that part wasn't a dream...though I guess I should at least try to wake her.

We can't stay here all that much longer.
After all, it's just a matter of time, before the animals the volcano scared away come back...and with them, those with the large teeth.

I look over the huge lump of flesh that still lies there, unmoving and barely breathing.

I let out a big sigh and mutter, "I'm so very sorry, Zero...I just wished there was something I could do to help you..."

But maybe Nym has an idea.
She always does, after all.

I carefully approach her until I'm just outside of arm's reach to avoid getting whacked and call out her name.
No response, no movement.

"...gimme a break, don't tell me you died on me last night..." I mutter, already fearing the worst.

I carefully approach her and check her pulse...good, her heart still seems to be beating, so she isn't dead.

Next up, I check her breathing...deep and regularly.

"Hey, Nym! You need to wake up!" I tell her, first shaking her softly and then, as she fails to wake, increasingly stronger.

Eventually her eyes shoot open, she stares at my face, which is quite close to her own right now, let's out a surprised shriek and scuttles back, away from me.

That's odd.
The last time I got too close to her when waking her, I wasn't able to walk properly for hours.

I guess, she is still caught in that nightmare of hers.
She'll chew me out for startling her any second now, I'm sure.

But it never happens, which is odd.
She just sits there, hugging her legs and staring at me, genuine fear in her eyes.

"Hey Nym, sorry for startling you...", I say and take a step towards her, but she just scuttles back some more, keeping the distance between us.

That must have been one hell of a nightmare, alright.

I go down into a squat to appear less threatening and say with a lower voice, "It's alright now, Nym. We made it. We survived. The nightmare is over."

Well, technically we're still in the middle of it, but those are just details.

Nym tilts her head and finally starts speaking.
"Trogmata theo masg?"

I blink a few times.
Not only did her words not make any sense at all to me, but her voice also sounded distinctively different, though I can't put my finger on it.

"Excuse me, what was that?"
"Merio! Thomar ect rasme!"

Asmodean. She's talking in Asmodean.
I know, because I've heard this word 'Merio' a number of times in the past.
Usually they would use it with contempt on their faces.

I shake my head and reply, "I'm sorry, but I can't understand a word you're saying...would you switch back to my language please?"

But Nym doesn't respond to my question at all, but keeps prattling on in her alien language...and judging from her tone of voice, not much of what she's saying sounds like she thinks of me as 'friend'.

...come to think of it, she did say something about having a 'translator' in her head or something...but if that thing broke...

Well, that's a problem.

I take a deep breath and say slowly and quietly, "Me, Sirus. You, Nympromodenalos...no, wait, that's wrong. Nympramadelus? Nymprom..."
"Nympromedonalas. Nympromedonalas Voxamy Lushomagan. Siwius? Soamareto tak?"

I crack a smile, sit down and reply, "Yeah well, still not gonna remember any of that. And it's 'Sirus'. With an 'r' and without the 'i'. I think your translator broke...and part of your memory with it, from the looks of it."

Nothing but big eyes.
Of course...silly Sirus.
But at least she seems to start remembering who I am.

I sigh and look around for something to help me when I remember something.
I raise my hand to signal her to wait a moment.

Maybe she can't speak my language any more, but maybe she can still read it.

I hurry over to the nearby bushes and want to pick up a branch, when something lunges at me from the cover.

I jump back, grab the critter in mid flight and smash it to the ground, knocking it out cold with one fell strike.
Well, judging from the cracking sound, I also broke a bone or three.

"Would you look at that, breakfast found us", I say with a mixture of anxiety and pride...cause where there's one of these bastards, there's usually a crowd.

I finish offing the vabbit and bring it back to the dying fire.
Nym stares at me again, this time with even more fear in her eyes.

On second thought, killing something right in front of her might not have been the smartest move I could have made right now.

I try to explain, that the thing was attacking me, that I was only defending myself, but the blood on my hands and the dead animal in my hand are not helping my case.

This is going to be one hell of a long day.