Tisis

Overcoming the barriers (S)

Nym suddenly jumps up and rushes over to Zero, inspecting him from head to paw.

She then glares at me, looks around for a second, picks up a pointy stick and assumes a defensive stance, barking something in Asmodean at me.

It takes me a moment to put the puzzle pieces of the situation together, but after she growls at me for about half a minute, I figure it out.

She thinks I did this to him.
Well, can't say that she's wrong about that...I did do this to him...but at least it wasn't on purpose.

But the way she looks at me...it's like she doesn't recognize me at all.

Okay, you've gotta play this one smart, Sirus.
Just for once in your life, use that head of yours for more than breaking down walls.

Okay...think...have you seen anything like this before?
I close my eyes and try to remember anything that might help me.
But nothing.
My mind comes up with absolutely nothing.

I'll just bet that Nym would know something about this...condition.
But how would I even ask her, now that she apparently doesn't recognize me and doesn't speak my language anymore either?

Alright...so I don't know what caused her memory loss, I don't know how I can communicate with her again and now it seems like she thinks that I hurt Zero...which she actually is right about, but it doesn't look like she would buy 'It was an accident'.

I keep my distance to not set her off unnecessarily and pick up my plan from before...I need something to write.

I walk over to the bushes, break a piece of bark from one of the trees using a rock.
I consider sharpening the rock to carve the words into the bark, when I remember the vabbit I just killed.

I walk over to the corpse, dip a small stick in its blood and begin to draw the sentence 'I am your friend' on the bark.
The gooey liquid sticks just like expected and after I'm done, I carefully pass the note to Nym.

After I back away, she reluctantly picks up the piece of bark and looks at it.
After a few seconds, I start fearing that she cannot understand my language in written form any more either, but find that my concerns are unfounded.

After she's done, she puts down the note and lowers the stick, apparently giving me the benefit of the doubt.

But if I get closer now, this 'benefit' may be gone faster than I can blink.

She looks around, wanders over to a soft spot of soil and starts scratching letters into it.

After she's done, she backs away to Zero's side, nodding me to go read it.

If you friend, then what happen Zero? Where Sirus?

So it is just like I feared...she doesn't recognize me...but she clearly remembers me...what the heck happened to her?

...and more importantly, if I told her that I am Sirus...would she believe me?
I shake my head and mutter, "'Always be who you are', mother said..."
I turn around the slate, pick up my stick and write, 'We fell from the sky. Wound at wing and near head from crash. Don't know what to do. Help?'

I place the bark halfway between us and step away again.

She picks it up again, reads my plea, then looks over to the still barely breathing Zero and barks something at me in Asmodean.

While I still don't understand the first thing she's saying, her gestures and looks still tell me all I need to know...stay away, or else.

I shake my head, stir up the fire once more and say, "I need to go look for some food and fetch some water. Please watch your back...and Zero."

I feel silly for talking to her even though she clearly doesn't understand me either, but it just doesn't feel right for me to go away without at least telling her where I am going.

I pick up my makeshift spear, the water pouch I made and start looking for something edible. She must be starving.

When I come back, Nym is sitting at the fire, giving me a stern look as I break through the bushes.

Nevertheless, she already gutted the vabbit, drained the blood and started roasting it over the campfire.

As I approach, the herbs, fruits and vegetables I found in both hands, she silently points towards some text scribbled on the ground.

I carefully put the stuff I gathered down and walk over to the text she left me.

Hurt badly.
May not survive.
Translator broken.
Memory fuzzy.

Who are you?
Where Sirus?

I walk over to the campfire and sit down.
At least she doesn't run away this time, so I guess she must have at least understood that I mean her no harm.

"I am Sirus. Sirus Loctor. Son of Adam and Amy Loctor. Your friend. Your companion."

I underline my words with gestures, hoping to bring the point across.
Nym looks at me with big eyes, apparently unsure what to do with what I just said.

At the very least it doesn't look like she's ready to believe me.

"Okay, look..." I start, pick up a stick and start drawing in the soft soil.
"We came from a star ship. We crashed on this planet, Tisis, in a rescue capsule. Ever since then, we've been working together to survive. We escaped many dangerous creatures, like swarms of vabbits, swamp monsters and even something you called a 'dragon'. But we also have friends among the animals, like Zero, who brought me here and Sera."

I illustrate my little retelling of the events with various pictures, hoping that even if my words make no sense to her, the pictures will.

After I'm done, Nym looks at me incredulously.
All of a sudden, she grabs the leftovers of her shirt and motions as if she were to pull it up.
Does she...want me to take off my shirt?
But...what for?

Since I don't react immediately, she grunts, gets on her hands and feet, crawls over to me, gets straight into my face and starts tugging at my shirt.

Okay, if I didn't know this is Nym right in front me, I would be super nervous right now...get your bloody mind out of the gutter, Sirus!
This is Nym in front of you, not some girl from the block who wants to get laid!

I take her hands and motion her to wait a moment.
If she wants to see my chest so badly, I'll just do her the favor.

I gently push her away a little and pull off my shirt, presenting my bare chest to her.

She slowly gets closer again, pressing her cool fingers against my skin.
...why am I getting excited from this?!
Keep it cool, Sirus, you're making a complete fool of yourself right now, there must be a perfectly rational reason behind her behavior.
...one that has absolutely nothing to do with neither of us getting some for about a year now and her being the only girl on the damn planet.

She brushes over my abs and finally stops at an old scar I got shortly after we landed.

She looks me deep into the eyes and I can't help but notice the moisture of her lips and the softness of her skin from her touch.

I clench my fist and try to distract myself...come to think of it, I think this is about the closest a girl has ever gotten to me.
...yeah...really good job 'distracting' myself there head.

Suddenly Nym seems to notice the growing bulge in my pants, then looks back at me, flushes a darker shade of purple and backs off.

A little pause of awkwardness later, she starts snorting with laughter, making a circling movement with her finger.

As the tension finally goes away, I also join into the laughter.

After our little fit has faded, Nym looks at me with a significantly friendlier look on her face and slowly says, "Mem-ory k...kaput. You...Sirus?"
I nod and reply with a grin, "Yes I am. Pleased to meet you...again."

Well, would you look at that.
Good thing that Nym is such a smart cookie...whatever a 'cookie' actually is.