A Snowed-In Cave

Jullien

I had to give the question a thought before I could respond. How to explain it...
"Honestly, while I know there are people who could tell you tales about horrible or wonderful things, most of us just live what can only be called normal lives. We go to school, get jobs, grow up and have families. Sure, you might come across a bit of hate here and there, even if you're human. There are non-humans that hate humans, and humans that feel the same for non-humans. However, beyond the hunters I told you about, it never really comes to much beyond a snide comments here and there.
"I personally plan on helping get rid of that. There's a spot in government specifically kept for a non-human representative. To get that spot, however, you have to be an expert in everything, be it human or non-human, so that you can sorta bridge the gap. I plan on doing that," I said, then paused, a sheepish smile on my face. "Sorry, I tend to ramble when it comes to this sort of thing. Did I answer your question?"

Nike

"You did," I answered. "That sounds like an interesting sort of job. And the rest of it sounds pretty much like my life before I became a scout. I live on a plane where soulbonders completely make up the population, so there are lots of races other than human there."

((I can't remember if she talked about that already, but if she did, just pretend she didn't... ;>.> ))

Jullien

My ears perked up as her words sunk in.
"Other races?" I asked. "What sorts?"

Nike

That ear-perking thing was cute.

"Well, the second most common race after humans is vreshnik. They're fox people with fur in various shades of blue. Incidentally, most Sybek are vreshnik, since the cult started in one of their worlds. After that you have ai'reja, a race of bird people. Then there are the naiok'ti, who are horselike people. You also get tons of mixes of races, though the traits those people have vary pretty wildly."

Jullien

I grinned, and suddenly it was hard to contain my tail from where I'd had it tucked behind my back out of habit.
"I've met fox-people before, but never one with blue fur. That's natural for them? The bird people, how much like birds are they? Can they fly? The names, do they-" I cut myself off, turning slightly red. "Sorry, probably too many questions at once..."

Nike

I smiled. "It's fine. The blue fur is natural, yes. The vegetation in their world is mostly blue, so they evolved that way to blend in. The bird people are mostly like birds in that they're feathered and have wings, and the males are usually brightly-colored while the females are usually less so. All of them only have small wings, not nearly big enough to let them fly. But if a person has wind powers, they can fly easily. What was the question about names?"

Jullien

I hesitated, then plowed on with the questions.
"The names, are they what the different race originally called themselves, or did it originate somewhere else? Since you're talking English, is that still the universal language despite there being so many places? Is there a reason that the vegetation is blue, or is just something that happened?"

Nike

"Those are the original race names in the most popular languages from each race," I said. "English is the most-used language on my plane, yes. The second most popular language is Pedlaa, which is the vreshnik universal language. And as far as I know, the blue vegetation is just something that happened."

Jullien

"Do you know any Pedlaa?" I asked, intrigued.
I only barely remembered the fact that we were supposed to be concerned by enemies at the moment. I couldn't help it, this was the sort of thing I loved.

Nike

"Not very much," I said. "Mainly just a few need-to-know phrases like 'Son drygan weh Pedlaa,' which means 'I don't speak Pedlaa'."

Jullien

"Son drygan weh Pedlaa," I echoed, doing my best not to butcher the words. My tail began moving back and forth even quicker when I realized I hadn't, and I couldn't help but grin even more. "Now I know how to say that, too."
As much as I'd hated getting caught in the storm, I couldn't help but think that it was my best idea ever to stay behind when my family left. If I hadn't, this wouldn't have happened- learning a phrase in a language that I hadn't known existed and getting a chance to learn about other planes.

Nike

I grinned a little. "My team leader is much better at it than I am. He speaks the language fluently. He's great with languages in general, really--he hardly speaks anything with an accent at all if he can hear a native speaker say it."

Jullien

"It'd be awesome to meet him sometime," I decided. "Learning an unknown language... it'd be something amazing. Definitely not something I could get out of a book in this world."

Nike

"Nope. And hey, maybe you could end up meeting him. We scattered, but we're going to have to regroup somewhere. It could be here."

Jullien

"You think so?" I asked, ears perking up even more if that was possible. "That'd be amazing! How many people are on your team? Are any of them part of another race? What are they like?"

Nike

"We're a team of four including me. And both my team leader and his brother are part-naiok'ti, but they're human on the outside so they don't look it at all. I'd say my teammates are nice, dedicated people. I like working with them, though to be honest, I don't feel like I know them all that well. The team is lead by a boy named Peter, who's sixteen. Even though he's young, he's completely capable as far as I've seen. There's his adoptive brother Sénet who's seventeen, and another girl named Sarah who's also sixteen. It's a little weird being the oldest member, to be honest..."

Jullien

"I'd imagine," I replied, running the information over in my mind. "It's got to be strange, especially if your leader is younger. Are there any special positions beyond leader in the team? You said they're part-naiok'ti, even if it doesn't show, how does it effect them?"
I hoped she didn't mind all the questions, I couldn't help it.

Nike

"There are no special positions behind leader, no. And I don't actually know how it affects them. It's never really come up, and if it does affect them, it's at least not in a big way. They don't act any different from Sarah or me.

Jullien

So there was no difference between them and a normal human? Interesting.
"So, how long have you been a part of this?" I asked, curious. "If your leader is that young, it can't have been that long, right?"

Nike

"We've been a team for a few months now. He was in training for several months before that. Sixteen is the youngest you can be to join a team, though."

Jullien

I hesitated before asking my next question, trying to decide if there was too big of a chance of mentioning something I shouldn't.
"What about parents? Wouldn't someone worry if their kid was going to join something as dangerous as this sounds?"

Nike

"Ah..." I started. "Well, I'm doing it for...I don't really know why I'm doing it. My parents don't like the decision either, to be honest. But I just wanted to...I dunno. As for the others, Sarah's mom lives on a plane that's probably slowly being taken over by Sybek, so Sarah can't live with her anymore. Peter and Sénet have both been involved with the IISO for years, and their adoptive parents and adoptive sister are involved with it, so for them I guess it makes sense, too."

Jullien

I took that in, then chuckled under my breath.
"I can only imagine what my parents would say if I told them I wanted to do something like that. They have enough on their hands with one of my younger brothers talking about getting involved with the military. How'd you handle it, the them not liking the idea?"

Nike

"I just said I wanted to do something for myself," I answered with a shrug. "I told them I wanted to do something meaningful and important with my life."

Jullien

"And they agreed that easily? That's pretty awesome."