• PM To Join • Baby Yludih's first words

[Sintih]

11th of Saun, 720th Arc
Idalosian Night
Meetings Tier, Uleuda

The classroom wasn't very big, which was a good thing in Sintih's mind. A smaller room meant less students which would be a good thing. Like all buildings, and literally everything else in Uleuda, the room was built up out of crystals, opaque in nature, to give the room privacy if needed, but not opaque enough to block the light coming from Yldria, the massive source of all light in Uleuda. On one wall, a large flat crystal with even grooves sticking out of it, hung off the wall, ready to be used when needed. The centerpiece of any other classroom in Idalos, here it was used more as an aide whenever there were questions outside of the planned lesson. The centerpiece of a Uleudian classroom were its walls, which were covered floor to ceiling with images and words carved in common below them. All the baby stuff you used when teaching your child how to speak and stuff. Apple, boat, catapult, donkey, etc. The usual stuff.

It was an important job. Many Yludih arrived in Uleuda every day and some of them did so for the first time. If they arrived here without being received by their parents or guardian, they often freaked out. Luckily that wasn't his job at the moment. His job was two or three steps behind that freak-out moment instead. Teaching Ulehi. Important, but highly annoying for someone like Sin who preferred to improve himself, rather than others. He had a lot of things he needed to work on but his mother had insisted. And you didn't say no to the Dragon of House Rathaan, especially not when she insisted after you'd gone missing for about an entire arc, give or take a season. So here he was, looking over the images carved into the crystal walls and trying to memorize where everything was.

The Yludih teacher, temporary as he was, was quite thin compared to most others of his race. His arms and legs looked like they were missing a layer of crystals and all the crystals used to make up his body were smaller chips and shards, pulled together by his asterism into a mosaic of crystal that formed a humanoid shape. Covering the entire body was a simple robe weaved from thin crystals strands, the same outfit worn by every other Uleuda from the moment they arrived to the moment they left. His face was, like most younger Yludih, featureless and only a spikey ring of crystals around the top of his head distinguished him from other Yludih. It was his crowning feature here.

The thin figure paced along the walls, looking over the images when the door to the room opened. An older Yludih with what looked to be something like eye sockets and eyebrows walked in, followed by a much younger Yludih, probably no older than fifteen, from their length. It was, much like Sintih, entirely featureless. "Hello there." Sin chimed at the both of them and then motioned towards the empty floor. "Have a seat wherever you like. We're still waiting for some other students." The parent, Sin couldn't tell whether it was the mom or dad, nodded and sat down with their child, who was looking around the room at all the images carved onto the walls. Sin wondered how it was for parents to have to teach their child a new language at this age as if they were newborn babies. It must be hard to try and teach something when you couldn't use only one language in Uleuda. Before his thoughts could go any further, more students began arriving and Sintih directed them with words and clear motions of his hands to take a seat on the floor.

Once his class was filled with the promised amount of students, Sin stood at the front, near the empty board. He could feel his asterism pulse quickly in his chest, pushing wave after wave of warmth and light into his body. It was quite obvious from only that that he was quite nervous about this whole affair. "Welcome." He chimed slowly. "To my class." He looked over his students, four of them sized around what he expected of older children, two of those accompanied by an adult. The other five in his group were all adult sized or similar. It was difficult to tell much else from them, giving the lack of detail. It was entirely possible that some of his child sized students were just short people and some of the adult sized ones were just really big children. But they were all here to learn and when it came to Uleuda and Ulehi, neither age nor size mattered.

"My name is Sintih." He chimed and smiled, which went unnoticed as he didn't have the details yet to smile with. He did his best to go as slow as possible for those who had already had a class or two before. For the rest, Sin had been given some handy tools to help him out. From the ground next to the empty board, Sintih lifted a small crystal plate off a stack of them and put one on the groove on the board, making sure it didn't fall and shatter. Someone had carved a single word in common onto it: 'welcome'. "Welcome." He chimed slowly, pointing at the word on the board. The next crystal plate went up, 'name', followed by a second one, 'Sintih'. He pointed at both, name first, then Sintih and then pointed at himself. "My name is Sintih." He chimed and looked over the class.

He remembered his own time in one of these, all those arcs ago. He remembered how much he'd disliked being here.

[Zephy']

"The hurrier I go, the behinder I get!"

~ the white rabbit.

"Oh I'm going to be so late!" Zephy muttered as she raced through the alley for what she knew in her heart to be possibly the third time. She knew where the classroom was, just, was it this way? Or did she need to turn left at that small crystal, or was is right at that crystal?

Flustered Zephy uttered a sigh. The magnificence of the structures of Uleuda never ceased to amaze the young Yluidh, who was still so new to the wonderous city of light, but by the Immortals she struggled to discern one street from the other!

Swirling down through the corridors she recognised a certain window. It was different, taller and broader than most others. Yes! This was it. Two more doors. Her asterism pulsating as she reached the doorway of the classroom. She paused for a moment to calm herself after the mad dash from Yldria. Composed she inched in through the doorway.

Peeping her ill-defined head in first, she caught glimpses of an array of crystalline figures, each with different levels of identifiable features. Her fearful gaze swept to the front of the class where they lay upon a slim figure. The teacher's body surprised Zephy, for it was the first time she had gazed upon a Yludih whose form was so slender, yet it was still as beautiful as all those she had come to know. The forms of the crystal race, despite herself being of kin, still astounded the youngling.

Twitching her fingers anxiously, Zephy inched in slowly, head bowed in shame for her tardiness. Though her voice shook, manners did not escape her, "Forgive me, teacher for my lateness. I got a little... lost." Zephy shifted her gaze to the floor as she found a spot upon the smooth crystal in amongst the others of her class. Though her eagerness to learn placed her near the front of the group. She knew she was quite old, and desperately yearned to catch up on her studies.

Criss-crossing her shafts of crystal awkwardly, she straightened and peered up at the opalescent board. Thank goodness common was her fluent tongue. Sinith. This was her teacher. His lack of features betrayed his youth, which surprised Zephy for the second time. He must be wise beyond his years to have the patience to teach Ulehi.

[Sintih]

There was a sharp, disapproving whistle from the front of the class as the late Yludih entered. "A little?" Sintih chimed, softer, more amusement in his chimes. He then motioned for them to take a seat. He was surprised that they decided to take a seat near the front. Courageous. He liked it. "Anyway." He chimed and turned back to the board. He tapped the crystal plate with 'welcome' on it and looked straight at the newcomer. "Welcome." He chimed at them, his tones soft and inviting, like he was having them join a warm, familiar group of friends or family.

He reached down and put another plate on the board. 'Hello' it said. He placed it in front of 'name' and 'Sintih'. "Hello, my name is Sintih." He waved at some of the smaller children in the group. Then he picked a random larger looking Yludih, taking his chances that that meant they were already more advanced, and pointed at them. "Hello." He chimed, friendly. The Yludih hesitated for a moment but then Sin's bet paid off as he replied. "Hello, Sintih." He chimed back. His chimes were harsher than Sintih's and the name was off, but neither of those were the point this trial. He'd gotten a response. "Alright." He leaned over the front line of students with his hand out, palm towards the student. He got a high-five in response, their hands clinking together like glass.

Sintih went around the room, seemingly randomly at first, pointing at students and making them say hello. He took his time, allowed them to try and no matter how sharp or harsh their chimes were, he gave them a high-five. Then he turned to the latecomer and pointed at them. "Hello." He gave them time, repeated it several times so they could get used to the sound, could observe him do it, not that there was much to go off of, just crystals vibrating in his body that created the sound. Once they tried he directed them a little, pointing up to get them to chime a little higher, repeating his own chimes, overplaying the softness of his chimes so they would try and sound it a little less harsh. In the end, he gave them a high-five as well, no matter how well they'd done.

Then he repeated the whole process again with 'name'. Several bits passed as he went over the word with the group, pointing out another older looking Yludih first, to give it a try. It was a bit of a hassle, to constantly repeat the same chimes at the same consistency without letting through his own frustrations, but every time he got a high-five from one of these Yludih, Sin felt a little proud. They would achieve the ability to communicate truly with their friends and families because of the first steps taking here, in a class with him. For the longest time he'd barely scraped by with Ulehi and only in recent years had he gotten fluent with it. He high-fived another one and then focused on the latecomer, pointing them out. "Name." He chimed. It was different. The tones were more possessive, a little sharper. It was his name, after all, his alone. It was what defined him out of all these other faceless, featureless crystal bodies. Compared to the 'hello', the chimes could be considered harsh. He directed them again, more in the direction of the right tones, the right sounds, the right chime. "Hello, my name is Sintih." He chimed at them, speaking slowly so they could hear the different chimes and how the single chimes flowed together into a full sentence. He gave them a moment to translate and stood, still, waiting for them to respond back. He didn't know if they had their Ulehi name already but now was as good a time as any to get to know his students.

Around the class he went, introducing himself a hundred times over to the handful of students that filled his little classroom. He hadn't enjoyed being assigned this work, despite understanding the why of the assignment, but now that he was here, he could understand a little better the position of his own teachers way back when as well as the position of the students, one which he'd been until only a few arcs ago. Once he'd gone around the room, he turned back to the board and picked up another plate with another word. The rest of their two breaks filled itself with words, repetition and high-fives.

[Zephy']

A

n amused tingling from the teacher eased Zephy's churning stomach as she followed his gesture and eased into her position on the smooth opal floor. Her eager gaze followed his every move, her ears pricked and she primed her mind to learn!

When he pointed to the common word of welcome on the board and a collection of chimes resonated through the room, Zephy repeated the sounds over and over in her mind while burning the written common word in her mind to link the two together.

This process she repeated with the phrase "Hello Sinith" thankful that the teacher circled through the group of students from the back, before working his way forward.

Each time another student successfully chimed the correct tones, Zephy sung them in her mind and repeated the common word after, to train her brain into connecting the two words together with the sounds jingling through the room. Nervously awaiting for the teacher to approach her, Zephy cleared her throat and when it was time, she released her voice.

"Hello Sinith."

Though her tone was not as high as the others, but of a lower decibel. The odd resonation of the words in Ulehi within her crystalline body felt strange, though the crystal particles reacted to her whim almost instinctively. The teacher eagerly encouraged her, emphasising his pitch with the words.

So Ulehi was a tone sensitive language, Zephy would have to concentrate and develop control over her tone. Thinking hard and connecting to her voice, she altered her chimes to resonate higher, yet softer within the glass-like classroom. After a few tries Zephy was oddly elated to receive her high five and felt a boost of encouragement and a new found confidence. It seemed silly to be over excited and proud to be able to say a simple hello in another language, but this was the language of her kin and she felt as if she was falling into who she was meant to be.

As the class progressed on to announcing their names in a sentence, Zephy whispered her Ulehi response quietly to herself as Sinith made his way smoothly through the classroom. Though, as he swiftly made his way closer Zephy fell into a panic. Her asterism began to pulsate quickly and her head shook as she realised, her mother never had time to tell her.

Zephy didn't know her Yludih name!

Was Zephy already her true Yludih name or did she have another? There was so much of this place and of the world she didn't know and now as her mind and heart raced, she realised, she knew nothing of herself.

Suddenly the tender singing of the teacher before her drew Zephy from her clouded thoughts and the panic was clear in the tension of her crystals, if not from her unidentifiable face. Zephy could feel her eyes tear up and her voice shook, but she at least croaked out, "My name. My name..." She faltered and her head hung below her shoulders, she shook her head and couldn't bring the courage to face her teacher, waiting patiently before her.

"I'm sorry." Zephy uttered in common, barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry, I don't know if Zephy is my true name, or if I have another. My mother never got the chance to tell me." The sorrowful pang of the loss of her mother, almost chocked her voice completely, but she shook herself and regained at least a little composure in front of all the eyes of her classmates watching.

Clearing her throat, Zephy straightened her back and peered up at her teacher fearfully before shakily controlling her chimes, she emanated her words, softly combining the sentences they had learned thus far into one,

"My name is Zephy. Hello Sinith."

[Sintih]

He wondered how often he'd been in this position. He remembered Yana had been quite patient with him in the beginning, especially when he butchered her name. He hadn't understood the subtleties of the language back then and it had taken time. But he'd gotten there in the end. He smiled at the late student, although he didn't have the crystal details for anyone to see it. He shook his head lightly and repeated his own name to them. Then he pointed towards the ceiling of the room. "Up. It goes up at the end." He chimed at them. They wouldn't understand yet but the pointing should help, or so he thought. "Tih! Tih. Sin-tih." He exagerated his own name so it became clear that the end part went up in tone, not down. Patience and time. It's what he'd gotten and it was what he would give. "SinTIH!" He chimed, sharply going up at the end. Then he let the student try a few times to get it right before going around the entire class again, having them all repeat it, and gave them a high five when they got there, or somewhere close enough to it that he was fine with accepting it for this trial.

The class continued on and he continued to shift between the different students, taking the time needed to get them to do it reasonably well. It was only two or three sentences for this trial but since they could be here every night for the rest of their lives to learn all of this, it didn't really matter much. That is, if they chose to be here. As the class continued on he also realized that handing out high-fives like this was getting painful. Luckily most of them were shy or children so it could have gotten much worse. He would probably have to find a better alternative for future lessons. Perhaps he could check in with his mother about this. She taught a lot of classes, after all.

He moved around the room asking for people to introduce them until he got to the latecomer. She seemed tense when he chimed at her and a moment later she explained why. He nodded and held up a finger for her to wait a moment. He quickly shifted to his pile of plates and started digging through it for a moment. Then he held up a plate with 'problem' on the front and showed it to her. Then he realized that could be misinterpreted so he shook his head quickly and dug around for another one. He held both up for her to read. 'No problem.' "No problem." He chimed at her, softly, reassuringly. He could work with them on this for a moment. Most of the others seemed to have either had Yludih names all their lives, like him, or their parents had taught them their own names at least. But there were always ones like this one. He nodded again and put the plates down so she could still read the words on them. This wasn't a problem.

"Zephy... Zepy..." He chimed them both quietly to himself, letting himself feel how they vibrated. It sounded female, which was good to know after having been around her for almost a full break without knowing. Or, Sintih figured, there were always those kinds of parents who called their children something like Zepheleous Omniorix or whatever. But he figured it would simply be a female name. "Zephy...Zephy..." With each chiming of her name, he altered it slightly, making it sound longer, softer or harsher. One had a sharp cut in the middle, falling off after the sharp 'p' sound, another was soft and extended, another sounded similar both more childish, or at least to him it did, he didn't think the nuances would be picked up by his students yet.

After a few rounds of eliminating potentials, Sintih stopped and looked the girl in the face, as neither of them had actual eyes yet to keep eye contact with. He held out his left hand to her, palm up to the ceiling, as if presenting her with something to pick off of it. "Zephy." His voice was sharp as he cut the last part of her name off, something closer to 'Zepi'. It sounded tough, strong. Someone who was in charge of things, who was to be respected. He repeated it two more times for her to get a feeling for it before presenting her with his right hand, palm upwards again. "Zephy." He chimed again, softer this time, closer to "Zefee". It sounded softer around the edges, pleasant. Someone who was easy to be around, who was to be befriended. Neither of those had really those meanings but those were the thoughts he put behind the tones. He could see some of the parents in the back nodding at either of the names, agreeing with him one way or another, but in the end it would be her choice and hers alone. Besides, it wasn't like she couldn't go and change it around at a whim. Yludih were very good at changing names and identities, after all.

"Zephy? Zephy?" He shifted back and forth between the two, letting her listen and, more importantly, feel her way into her own (possibly temporary) name.

[Zephy']

"What’s in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Z

ephy found herself holding her breath in hope as Sintih rummaged through the crystal plates in common. His distraction bought her time to gather herself and settle her pulsing astern and the churning of her stomach. Shaking the sorrowful thoughts of her mother, Zephy centred her mind on the present.

Zephy almost cried out and her eyes shot wide as Sintih returned with the plate reading "problem" in common and her heart pounded in her chest, her crystal body shook in surprise. Suddenly the teacher seemed to realise and raced off to bring another, adding it before the "problem" plate. Zephy physically relaxed in almost a heap and she half giggled to herself in relief.

"No... Problem." Zephy chimed after Sintih, hesitantly as she wondered what the solution was. He didn't seem frazzled or spun by the fact that she did not have a Yludih name. Perhaps she was not that different, perhaps there were others just as clueless as herself. This settled Zephy and the reassuring body language from Sintih's slim crystalline vague features somehow made her feel safe divulging this personal information.

As Sintih almost chimed melodically to himself in a song of Ulehi, Zephy sat cross-legged almost in a trance. Her eyes sparkled as she heard the language of their kin flow high, then low as Sintih toyed with her name. It was amusing to watch also and the giddiness bubbling deep in her stomach was hard to control. This would be quite a special moment.

As he held out his left palm, Zephy's blank crystal face turned towards it, he might not be able to see the elation in her eyes, but she uncrossed her glass blocks of legs and inched closer, eagerly awaiting her naming. She concentrated hard on the deeper, stronger tone of the name he presented her. Zepi... Zepi.. She repeated it out loud a few chimes to get a feel for the way it felt in her throat. Each time resonating her voice to mimic that of the sharper end of the name to achieve the right chime for the name. It felt like the name of someone she felt she wanted to be, but a name that was not quite in fitting with who she knew herself to be.

Keeping the lower tone of Zepi repeating through her non-existent lips, she concentrated hard to remember it, before lifting her head to gratefully gaze upon Sintih as he began to chime more softly with an alternative name. Zefee. Again Zephy took the time to chime the higher tones of the new option offered to her. Rolling the tones through her chest and around her mouth, she listened closely to Sintih as he chimed the two one after another.

Her stomach churned in both fear and excitement. This was one of the most auspicious moments next to her first shift into Uleuda. She didn't want to make the wrong decision but then again, it was simply a name. She had been called many harmful names by other children and they had not defined her. Following her gut, Zephy grinned widely and straightened her back tall.

"Zephy" She chimed softly, lightly, higher than the first Sintih had offered her with his left. "Zephy" She sung happily with tears brimming her cloaked eyes as she gently placed her ill-defined hand in that of Sintih's right hand, solidifying her choice of the gentler name sounding like that of Zefee.

Half laughing, half chiming in Ulehi, she repeated her name several more times. Her heart raced and she felt like jumping up and declaring herself to the world. Though with the eyes of the class upon her, shyness kept her legs firmly planted to the smooth opalescent floor. Zephy gave the teacher's glass arm a gentle squeeze in gratitude as she whispered in common, "Thank you, Sintih. Thank you." She half wished the class could see the broad grin splitting her cheeks and was half glad they couldn't see the goofy look at the same time.

She sat back and whispered her Yludih name to herself, releasing the teacher to let the rest of the class continue, but this moment would remain with her for a long time.

She was "Zefee!"