001 ♫ action

[etudes]

[ So if you just happen to be walking through Luceti today, you might spot a girl sitting on the ground next to a tree at the side of the road. Her journal is opened in her lap, and it seems she's rather focused on reading it. See, there's nothing weird about that, but.. she's still wearing the New Feather dress and doesn't seem bothered or confused by the whole 'arriving in another place' ordeal in the slightest as long as she can read. In fact, she probably doesn't even realise she's not back home anymore, or that she has wings on her back. She's also turning the pages at a ridiculous speed, as if she needs barely any time to read a page. It looks more like she's skimming than anything else, but nope, she's actually reading all of that. ... Maybe someone ought to help her out.

Or you might run into her later during the day instead. If you're just standing somewhere around the village, you might find the girl staring at you for a long time, almost as if she's observing you long enough to decide something. After what is probably multiple minutes the girl might approach you a little hesitantly (she's making sure you're not a bully, okay, it's in everyone's best interests), only to quickly bow at you in greeting. ]

Hello. Bonjour. Guten Tag. Konnichiwa. Nihao. Salve. Hallo. [ Yes, she'll just start listing off 'hello's in almost every kind of language known to humankind to you. And if you don't cut her off, she'll continue until she has at least done it in 54 different languages. So better do something about that, yup. ]

Comments

[bloodypocket]

That's not necessarily true. [He's witnessed enough to know that the people brought here aren't chosen based on their intelligence.]

They do something to us, perhaps involving our wings or brands, that allow for immediate communication.

[etudes]

That's amazing.. If they had that technology back home, it would make things easier for a lot of people. ... But then again, some other people might lose their job, like translators..

[bloodypocket]

May I ask why you know so many languages? [He's genuinely curious.]

[etudes]

I learned them all. [ well, duh, Kotomi, way to state the obvious. ] ... I read a lot about them.

[bloodypocket]

[... Yes, he could figure out that much, Kotomi.] How long has it taken you to learn, then?

[etudes]

I didn't time it.. Should I have?

[ although, knowing Kotomi, it probably wasn't much time at all. ]

[bloodypocket]

No, it isn't necessary. But you realize that it's not necessarily a common skill, don't you?

[etudes]

There are a lot of people who speak all of these languages all over the place.

[ Yes, Kotomi, but they speak one of them, since it's their native language. ]

[bloodypocket]

Not more than one, usually. [This girl was slightly unusual, but...he didn't mind.]

[etudes]

There are actually a lot of people who speak more than one language, if not just because there are multiple languages spoken in a country. Not to mention a lot of people speak local dialect as well, as long as that could be considered a different language.

[ She's rather blank as she says all of it. ]

[bloodypocket]

[... Girl, learn how to breathe.] That much is true, I would say it's less common than those who would speak only one language.

[etudes]

[ Who needs breathing when you can just ramble on about the stuff you've read? ]

You would be surprised with how many people speak a different language or dialect.. For example, a lot of people of the world population live in China, and there are all sorts of dialects there so most people would speak two languages there in that case.

[bloodypocket]

This is information you've also read in books? [That's one of the few things he can think of to explain beng able to hold this amount of knowledge.]

[etudes]

That's right. Everything that I know is something I learned from books.. Although my parents used to teach me a few things too when I was little.

[bloodypocket]

When you were younger?

[etudes]

That's right. [ they died when she was still a kid, after all. ] More recently I've learned everything through books.

[bloodypocket]

Have you located the library then? [He's just going to assume she's a New Feather.]

[etudes]

Someone else showed me the library today.. It was really, really big and fun. I want to go back there and read a lot more books..

[ yes, apparently she likes the library that much. ]

[bloodypocket]

Why not go back there, then? [Someone should tell her about the book club as well. Someone.]

[etudes]

[ it's okay, that much already happened in some future thread!! ]

I'll go back later.. Maybe I shouldn't read all the books at once, since I might run out of them, then.

[bloodypocket]

Even if you were to run out, I've heard that new books are always appearing. There shouldn't be need to worry.

[etudes]

Appearing..? [ she blinks a few times, almost idly. ]

Do you mean they come out of nowhere?

[bloodypocket]

If they are able to bring us into this world, why should books be any different?

[etudes]

Because books are much different from humans.. They can't live, talk or think for themselves, so maybe they can only pull humans in here and not objects.

[bloodypocket]

Then explain to me how they are able to replenish the marketplace and restore dwellings? [It's mostly a rhetorical question, he's mostly curious to see what her answer will be.]