And here we go again! No one replied to my post of this on
Nightscrawlers! Why? Why? Whyyyyyy?
I'd also like to state, for the record, that I wrote this while high on sugar and painkillers, and I hold no responsibility for how this part turns out.
Just so you know, italics mean dreams, kay?
Disclaimer: Why is a raven like a writing desk?
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"This will teach you to steal food again, slave!" Mata swung her whip through the air and onto Juliet's back, the bite of the leather making her cry out in pain. Mata did it again, and again, every blow making Juliet scream louder. "Mercy! Have mercy!" Juliet cried, but it was to no avail, Mata neither heard nor cared. "You little thieving mongrel, you deserve everything you get. It's your fault, you know. If you'd remembered your place, I never would've had to give you extra lashings now, would I?" Mata put away the whip and took out a cat-o'-nine-tails, each piece of leather studded with razor-sharp spikes, and brought it down hard against Juliet's sides. Blood ran in rivers down Juliet's back as she screamed bloody murder, but it was to no use. Nothing short of passing out would make them stop, and sometimes not even that. Juliet closed her eyes, praying for death.
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Hank had been doing some research in the lab when Juliet started thrashing about in her sleep, crying out. He paged Ororo on the intercom, letting her know that it was happening again. In the three days since Juliet's arrival, she had slept most of the time, a mixed blessing, because while her body needed the sleep to heal, the nightmares that plagued the child's dreams were unsettling to all. Only Ororo could calm the girl down when she got like that.
A few minutes later, Ororo arrived in the infirmary, sitting down on the bed and comforting Juliet, stroking her back and murmuring to her. Juliet opened her eyes. "Another bad dream?" Ororo knew Juliet couldn't understand English, but she seemed to get the message, nodding, her eyes wide with fear. Due to the language barrier, Ororo couldn't understand much of what Juliet said, but she suspected the nightmares had to do with the scars that covered most of the girl's body. After a few minutes, Juliet had gone back to sleep.
"Any luck with finding out her language?" Ororo asked.
Hank shook his head. "I've entered passages from the two books she has in every translator I could find. No matches, nothing even close. Though I have been able to do some translating, of a sort, on the book of Shakespeare. The grammar structure, at least, is somewhat familiar, quite similar to that of English. At least, that's what I think. I have no real information. Everything is just an educated guess. And since the Professor can't read her mind, it looks like we have a very tough time ahead of us."
Ororo nodded, remembering Xavier's failed attempt to read Juliet's mind. The girl possessed a natural mental barrier that was quite formidable. "Well, maybe we can try harder to communicate with her, once she's recovered more."
"That does seem to be our best course of action. At least she trusts you. It's actually quite interesting, how she acts around you. Almost reverent, yet a bit confused."
"Tell me about it. Meanwhile, the students have been gossiping like you wouldn't believe. It seems like everyone has their own theory about our newest arrival."
Hank chuckled. "Yes, Bobby entertained me with his idea that she's an alien invader just this morning. And some of the girls seemed quite disappointed that we hadn't brought back a cute guy from Alaska."
They both laughed. "See you, then, Hank," Ororo said, turning to leave. "I have a class starting in fifteen minutes."
"All right. I'll let you know if anything changes."
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"Rehana?" Juliet asked as she woke up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She saw someone moving towards her out of the corner of her eye. For some odd reason, she was reminded of that one person Elerie had introduced her to, Lord Droios. Except Lord Droios looked like a cat, and this person didn't. But both Lord Droios and the man were tall and blue and furry. Maybe he was the clan-spirit for Lord Droios's kin? He wore eye-glasses, like Erren's girlfriend, Hisperia. The furry-spirit spoke to her in the spirit-language. Juliet didn't really understand him, though. "Hello, sir," she said as respectfully as she could.
The furry-spirit smiled, and said something else in the spirit- language. He took out some kind of pen and wrote on a pad of paper, giving Juliet an idea. Maybe if she drew what she was trying to say, the spirits would understand her! "May I please have some paper and a pen, like yours?" she asked, gesturing toward the pad and pen.
Elerie had taught her how to use a pen, back in Jeinar. Elerie had even showed her how to write not only her name, but some other words as well. And Elerie had said Juliet was a good artist, when Juliet had shown her some pictures she'd drawn. Elerie was the nicest person she knew, though Rehana was close. But Rehana was a spirit, so maybe she didn't count on the 'nicest people ever' list.
The furry-spirit looked a bit confused, but when Juliet repeated herself, he seemed to understand, handing her a big pad of yellow paper with lines on it and a pen with a clicker-thingy at the top making the tip with the ink on it come out. Juliet clicked the pen a few times. It was different than the ones most people used back in Jeinar, back there most people used quills and ink-pots. But people like Elerie's friends used clicker-pens, maybe because they were from Everia. Or maybe it was because a lot of them were human? She didn't know. But finally, she had a way for the spirits to understand her.
She took the pen and drew a picture of herself, then wrote her name above the picture: Juliet Cera. She pointed to herself, then the drawing, saying her name aloud. The furry-spirit looked surprised, chattering excitedly in his language, and writing some more on his pad of paper. Juliet drew more pictures, explaining them and writing the words for them, if she knew them. She was feeling a lot better, and now with the clicker- pen and the paper, she could make the spirits understand her! 'Elerie would be so proud of me!' she thought.
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Short, yes, but pretty good, if I say so myself.
Coming soon: Juliet meets Rogue! But who is Elerie? And why does Juliet look up to her so much? How did Juliet become a slave? Your guess is as good as mine! (joke!) Feel free to guess, though. I might actually put your idea in the fic!
Please review!
I'd also like to state, for the record, that I wrote this while high on sugar and painkillers, and I hold no responsibility for how this part turns out.
Just so you know, italics mean dreams, kay?
Disclaimer: Why is a raven like a writing desk?
0000000000
"This will teach you to steal food again, slave!" Mata swung her whip through the air and onto Juliet's back, the bite of the leather making her cry out in pain. Mata did it again, and again, every blow making Juliet scream louder. "Mercy! Have mercy!" Juliet cried, but it was to no avail, Mata neither heard nor cared. "You little thieving mongrel, you deserve everything you get. It's your fault, you know. If you'd remembered your place, I never would've had to give you extra lashings now, would I?" Mata put away the whip and took out a cat-o'-nine-tails, each piece of leather studded with razor-sharp spikes, and brought it down hard against Juliet's sides. Blood ran in rivers down Juliet's back as she screamed bloody murder, but it was to no use. Nothing short of passing out would make them stop, and sometimes not even that. Juliet closed her eyes, praying for death.
000000000
Hank had been doing some research in the lab when Juliet started thrashing about in her sleep, crying out. He paged Ororo on the intercom, letting her know that it was happening again. In the three days since Juliet's arrival, she had slept most of the time, a mixed blessing, because while her body needed the sleep to heal, the nightmares that plagued the child's dreams were unsettling to all. Only Ororo could calm the girl down when she got like that.
A few minutes later, Ororo arrived in the infirmary, sitting down on the bed and comforting Juliet, stroking her back and murmuring to her. Juliet opened her eyes. "Another bad dream?" Ororo knew Juliet couldn't understand English, but she seemed to get the message, nodding, her eyes wide with fear. Due to the language barrier, Ororo couldn't understand much of what Juliet said, but she suspected the nightmares had to do with the scars that covered most of the girl's body. After a few minutes, Juliet had gone back to sleep.
"Any luck with finding out her language?" Ororo asked.
Hank shook his head. "I've entered passages from the two books she has in every translator I could find. No matches, nothing even close. Though I have been able to do some translating, of a sort, on the book of Shakespeare. The grammar structure, at least, is somewhat familiar, quite similar to that of English. At least, that's what I think. I have no real information. Everything is just an educated guess. And since the Professor can't read her mind, it looks like we have a very tough time ahead of us."
Ororo nodded, remembering Xavier's failed attempt to read Juliet's mind. The girl possessed a natural mental barrier that was quite formidable. "Well, maybe we can try harder to communicate with her, once she's recovered more."
"That does seem to be our best course of action. At least she trusts you. It's actually quite interesting, how she acts around you. Almost reverent, yet a bit confused."
"Tell me about it. Meanwhile, the students have been gossiping like you wouldn't believe. It seems like everyone has their own theory about our newest arrival."
Hank chuckled. "Yes, Bobby entertained me with his idea that she's an alien invader just this morning. And some of the girls seemed quite disappointed that we hadn't brought back a cute guy from Alaska."
They both laughed. "See you, then, Hank," Ororo said, turning to leave. "I have a class starting in fifteen minutes."
"All right. I'll let you know if anything changes."
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"Rehana?" Juliet asked as she woke up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She saw someone moving towards her out of the corner of her eye. For some odd reason, she was reminded of that one person Elerie had introduced her to, Lord Droios. Except Lord Droios looked like a cat, and this person didn't. But both Lord Droios and the man were tall and blue and furry. Maybe he was the clan-spirit for Lord Droios's kin? He wore eye-glasses, like Erren's girlfriend, Hisperia. The furry-spirit spoke to her in the spirit-language. Juliet didn't really understand him, though. "Hello, sir," she said as respectfully as she could.
The furry-spirit smiled, and said something else in the spirit- language. He took out some kind of pen and wrote on a pad of paper, giving Juliet an idea. Maybe if she drew what she was trying to say, the spirits would understand her! "May I please have some paper and a pen, like yours?" she asked, gesturing toward the pad and pen.
Elerie had taught her how to use a pen, back in Jeinar. Elerie had even showed her how to write not only her name, but some other words as well. And Elerie had said Juliet was a good artist, when Juliet had shown her some pictures she'd drawn. Elerie was the nicest person she knew, though Rehana was close. But Rehana was a spirit, so maybe she didn't count on the 'nicest people ever' list.
The furry-spirit looked a bit confused, but when Juliet repeated herself, he seemed to understand, handing her a big pad of yellow paper with lines on it and a pen with a clicker-thingy at the top making the tip with the ink on it come out. Juliet clicked the pen a few times. It was different than the ones most people used back in Jeinar, back there most people used quills and ink-pots. But people like Elerie's friends used clicker-pens, maybe because they were from Everia. Or maybe it was because a lot of them were human? She didn't know. But finally, she had a way for the spirits to understand her.
She took the pen and drew a picture of herself, then wrote her name above the picture: Juliet Cera. She pointed to herself, then the drawing, saying her name aloud. The furry-spirit looked surprised, chattering excitedly in his language, and writing some more on his pad of paper. Juliet drew more pictures, explaining them and writing the words for them, if she knew them. She was feeling a lot better, and now with the clicker- pen and the paper, she could make the spirits understand her! 'Elerie would be so proud of me!' she thought.
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Short, yes, but pretty good, if I say so myself.
Coming soon: Juliet meets Rogue! But who is Elerie? And why does Juliet look up to her so much? How did Juliet become a slave? Your guess is as good as mine! (joke!) Feel free to guess, though. I might actually put your idea in the fic!
Please review!