Tara... and Teri?

A few days went by since my father's display of skill. Besides getting more familiar with my little brother, I tried to teach him a few words. He was starting to catch on, but speaking was still far away for him. Frosty kept to his word, and taught me for these few days. He only taught me for about an hour each day though.

He had an excuse which kind of made sense. I had my other practice to take care of, the wolves were under my care as well. I wanted to spend as much time with my little brother as possible, hence about one hour of learning time. He also mentioned that there was no rush. Whether I learned the language in a year, two or five, didn't matter that much.

And boy what a language it was. For starters, the language had a specific name. People usually called it an Ancient Language, but that wasn't the correct name... Even though the language was ancient. The real name was Hal Wshtar, which could be translated as High or Great Language. The Common Language was derived from it, but also changed massively to make it easier to learn.

That was true, at least to some extent. Letters of the Common Language had specific distinction and design. The words were simple too, and usually could describe a few things, just like the Great Language. The difficulty of the Great Language lied in pronunciation and writing. There were no letters but Rune-like symbols.

Not Runes used in Formations, since I asked about that. Frosty explained that Runes might've been derived from this language, or perhaps this language was derived from Runes. He wasn't sure. Though unclear, he told me that using the Great Language's writing as Runes wouldn't work. At least not to his knowledge.

Words of the Great Language usually consisted of combinations. The meaning was also derived based on what followed or led a certain word. The Dark Traveller as an example, consists of two words added in. The Gor and Trevak were the words from Hal Wshtar. These were the so-called base words. Trevak meant a person who travels, so an adventurer would count as well. Frosty mentioned that pronunciation mattered, and that is how the meaning of these words could be captured properly. After all, an adventurer and traveller were similar but different at the same time.

I also noticed that words usually ending with "ak" meant to describe a person. Devorak meant disciple or a student. Ovarak meant teacher or a master. There were loads of examples like that, and even dragons were included. Vardrak meant dragon, and Frosty was obviously one of them. To be precise, Frosty was a Sauris Vardrak, since he was an Ice Dragon. Of course not everything was included in that language.

Tauruses for instance were not. We had to call them 'it' or 'ak', because these creatures didn't earn the respect, or fame to have been given a proper racial name. Other than the difficulty, the language was really interesting. I could see loads of similarities to the Common Language, but there were loads of differences too.

Frosty and my father had to leave for a while though, hence my lessons were put on hold. They were going to investigate those Elysians, and wouldn't return for a while. Though father didn't like to leave home that much anymore. He missed most of my childhood, and didn't want the same to happen with my brother. I was a bit jealous of my brother, since he got a lot of attention. Jealousy wouldn't get me anywhere though. Besides, the love for my brother wouldn't change. I was a big sister, sulking didn't seem appropriate for a big sister.

Once Frosty and my father left, I focused much more on my training instead. I knew there was a new Aura sleeping somewhere inside me, the question was how to awaken it. What happened during the trials was sudden and really unexpected. My memory of those events was hazy, proving hard to replicate the results.

One thing was for certain, my Aura involved swords. This made me a bit disappointed, since I was supposed to chase uniqueness and originality. How many people in the world had an Aura related to swords? Unfortunately, my wishes were just that, wishes. 'I shouldn't complain. Some people don't even have an Aura. Be happy with what you got, not unhappy with what you don't have', I said to myself.

I could be considered busy with all my training, the wolves and even Turry, but my mother had it even worse. She had to take care of Dante, and work at the same time. Fortunately, most of the work could be done from the house, and I didn't mind taking care of Dante from time to time. Both of my parents worked hard, which motivated me to keep up with them.

Upon my father's and Frosty's return, none of them mentioned Elysians. I had no clue what they found or didn't find, but that didn't interest me much. Their fate wasn't a concern to me, they had a chance for peaceful talks and interactions.

I assumed my Great Language lessons would resume, but that wasn't the case. Both of my parents had something important to take care of. Of course Frosty had to go with them, since he was the fastest method of transport around. The keyword was my parents. In other words, Dante had to stay behind. That in turn meant I had to take care of him. "It's not that I mind, but seriously… You threw the wolves at me, now my brother. How long will that trip be?", I asked.

"Perhaps a week, not more than that. Then, I'll be free to sit at home with you guys. Besides, that is actually something for us. Hehe, you'll see when we return", father replied. I wasn't sure what he had in mind, but seemed rather excited about the idea. "Don't feed him any hard food, alright? We have some milk stored, you know how to warm it up, right? For dinners, just mush some fruits or vegetables. Make sure there are no skins or big chunks…", mother made sure I understood everything.

"I get it… I saw how you changed his diaper… I know… Just go already, I can take care of my own brother, you know?", I replied. Once they finally left, I was left alone with a baby, marten, Taurus, and fourteen wolves to take care of. "Luna, play with Dante for a bit, make sure nothing happens to him". I had to think this through.

The wolves wouldn't hurt my brother, no matter what. That would give me some time to practice my own things. Turry didn't require a lot of attention, and Curly could easily interact with him, even ride atop just for exercise. The wolves had to hunt once in a while, which meant they'd leave for a certain amount of time.

'Once they are back, I have to wash them and even comb them… Anyway, this gives me some time to prepare more stuff for Dante. I can make more just to save some time later. It will stay fresh for a while in my storage too, so nothing to worry about', I thought. I saw how my mother changed his diaper, but never did it myself. I assumed it couldn't be hard, but I was wrong. To think babies could stink so much… I had to wash those diapers too. That kind of deterred me from having my own kids.

Either way, the days slowly passed and my schedule was mostly worked out. I found time to sit and play with Dante, as well as do some training. The wolves were mostly alright, and even helped a lot with Dante. Rogue acted like a loner all that time, but I was sure he'd open up one day or another. Curly was similar to him, and she didn't easily trust others even to that day.

On the fourth day since my parents left, I received a pleasant surprise. Tara came for a visit and she wasn't alone either. Usually I'd expect my uncle Ulon to come for a visit, but that wasn't the case. Tara came under an escort of a young warrior.

"I haven't seen you in ages! You grew up so much, and that gaze… You developed a lot too, eh?", Tara exclaimed while giving me a hug. "Little Dante is growing up as well… Hey, remember me?", she asked Dante. "Aba, ga Titi?", my brother looked a bit confused, but seemed to recognize her. "Hehe, yes. Titi, or rather Tara… I don't see Frosty, which means your parents left you with everything, eh?", she asked. "You know them too well. Anyway, you've changed yourself, although take care, you'll get fat at this rate", I replied. Tara didn't appreciate that last comment, but it's been so long since I teased her.

"More importantly… You have a new friend with you, why don't you introduce us?", I asked, but of course in a teasing voice. The Atol got a bit flustered, bowed slightly, then introduced himself. "My name is Teri, I'm only escorting miss Tara here. Please don't mind me princess, and enjoy each other's company". Though he sounded formal and whatnot, I could tell he looked at Tara differently. 'Stealing glances, especially at her butt area… You are giving yourself away, you know?', I thought.

"Teri's a good friend. He helps out a lot and…", I stopped her there. "Tara, it's not nice to keep people in suspense like that. I mean, he clearly likes you, so why call him a friend? Besides, you told me about a certain 'friend' in the past. Stop pretending like you guys are blind, and simply accept it". Tara's face changed a bit, but Teri's face was that of pure embarrassment. He had no clue what to do with himself.

"How about I'll let you sort this out? We can talk after that, there's no rush", I added, avoiding Tara's burning gaze. With me out of their way, I grabbed my brother and the wolves to look at the spectacle from afar. "Why don't you take a hike!?", Tara shouted at me. "I'm fine over here, you do you! Besides, I live here!", I shouted back. She grumbled something under her nose, but then faced Teri.

Teri was afraid, I could tell. His feelings were exposed in front of the person those feelings were directed at. 'I'd probably sweat as well. I understand this might not be easy, but since they like each other, why not simply get over this and be together?', I asked myself. That made me wonder whether I'd be the same. Would I brashly confess my love to someone, or perhaps hide myself like them? Of course to answer that question, I had to have someone in the first place.

I could barely listen in on their conversation, and I could tell that both of them were really shy, embarrassed and lacked words. Something I wouldn't suspect of Tara. She was usually brash and forward, seeing her act like a lost puppy was priceless in itself. I knew they agreed to be together, but both of them were really shy to do it in front of me, the wolves and my brother. They only held hands for a while, before Tara stormed at me.

"Grrr… Woof… Woof!...", the wolves surrounding me growled and barked. Tara didn't belong to my household, therefore she was considered an outsider. Running this fast at us, made the wolves stand their guard. "Stop hiding behind animals, and let me get my hands on you", she demanded. "Why? Aren't you together now? Everything worked out, so what's your problem? I don't even have anyone yet, and you are complaining? You go take a hike", I replied.

She finally calmed down, especially when Teri came to her side. "Whatever, I'll let that slide for now. Anyway, talk! I want to know what you saw and experienced. You've been gone for over two years, I'm sure you witness a lot of things", she demanded. "Hehe, since when did you become so interested in the Endrosian Empire? Anyway, I have a few stories to tell. Let's go to my house, this will be a lot more comfortable", I invited them.