What's "Help!" in Naikuno?

No�gur�, "The Mediator"

   “Ziato jin, zera-noéguré!”

   Mirohya Zirega bowed in return as she passed by the shop owner. “And to you as well, zir-Segin!”

   She smiled and continued down the street. Here she would nod to a passerby; there she would lightly touch her brow with the hilt of her short-sword. After all, there are two tenets of being an Arbiter. The second is to uphold the laws set down by the Governors in the Kirhedo House. The first is to show unconditional compassion to every person.

   Some parts of this job are easier than others, Mirohya thought as she tucked the short-sword into her sash and folded her arms casually. Turning a corner, she stepped into one of the many teahouses in the area. If the city of Atujak was famous for two things, it would be the universities and the teahouses, both of which were numerous and of excellent quality.

   “Eya! Mirohya, good to see you again!” the elderly kirn-woman called from behind the counter. “Back home for a visit, aru?”

   “Good morning, zera-Ginlei!” Mirohya answered as she sat at a small table by the door. “How’s business?”

   “Iiii, business will be slow until the students start arriving this weekend. And you? I hope your work is slow!”

   “Now now, zera-Ginlei, never say it won’t rain…”

   “… or it will storm the next day, of course. And what can I get for you today?”

   Mirohya placed a finger on the tip of her nose, an expression of humorous uncertainty. “Oh, with such a selection, how could I choose only one?”

   Zera-Ginlei bobbed her grey head, while tapping her temple with one bony thumb. “I have it! Today you should try the plum tea. Perfect for a beautiful morning like this!”

   “Liru, kiizi.”-- Yes, please.

   As zera-Ginlei turned to busy herself with a small machine and a jumble of jars, Mirohya watched through the open door at the sky overhead and the constant stream of enira birds. Honestly though, work has been slow lately, she thought. Ah well. Shouldn’t complain, aru? Enjoy the calm while it is.

   After the old kirn-woman lightly set a porcelain cup and teapot down on the table and left to tend to other customers, Mirohya’s mind turned to her last visit home.

   Her father had come home one day with such an energy about him. He immediately called Mirohya and her sister together.

   “Mira, Ina,” he began. “You remember the hiyumans I was telling you about? Remember?”

   Both Mirohya and Ayina had shaken their heads.

   “Really? You know, the ten hiyumans who are coming here as teachers?”

   Ayina had still looked confused, but Mirohya nodded this time. “Yes, I remember.”

   “Well, I talked to zera-Gihekiré. About the one who I’ll be working with. For-man, I think his name was. Anyway, he’s going to stay here, with us! Isn’t that great?”

   Mirohya poured herself another cup of the plum tea. She had to admit, she had been curious about the hiyuman. While she did see them occasionally wandering about the capitol, she had never actually spoken to one. They looked so foreign, even she couldn’t work up the nerve. And what’s more, they always seemed to give her plenty of space--their eyes always traveled to her sword.

   Hiyumans! She leaned against the wall behind her. Very strange, aru? All the same, she preferred to hold off final judgment until she at least talked to one.

   Movement outside brought her attention back to the world. More people were on the street now, all hurrying in the same direction. A little boy was practically dragging his mother along towards the crowd.

   I suppose I should see to that, even if I’m not on duty…

   She gulped down the last of the tea, turned her cup upside down and placed a silver coin on top. At the door, she bowed to the teashop and stepped into the street.

***

   “You do not have to help me, you know.”

   “Oh, no,” Eric’s eyes dropped back down from the sky as he answered, trying his best not to attract too much attention. “I have to make sure my Naikuno works, and what better practice than to be out in the world?”

   Aejik smiled and motioned to a side street.

   Although it was still a large and crowded city, Atujak wasn’t as large as Eric thought it would be. Maybe because the only pictures he’d ever seen of an Eraknian city were of the capitol, and Enirafurnegu gave New York a run for its money.

   As for Atujak, Eric was surprised by the sheer multitude of bookshops. In retrospect it made sense; Atujak was home to best schools and institutes in Eraknivan, including Jugir-Eviré, one of the most celebrated universities on the planet.

   Which is why I’m here and not elsewhere, he thought with a grin. The most prestigious school wants the first human teachers.

   As Aejik navigated through the many streets and roads, Eric was keenly aware of all the eyes following him. He never caught any, though. He could swear that every Eraknian near him was watching him, but when he looked they were all intently staring at the ground. Even children he passed pretended not to be watching him. He almost laughed when he began to notice the same Eraknians passing him multiple times. They must be doubling back just to see!

   “I’ll be glad when the term begins,” he said quietly to Aejik. “Then I’ll only get a tenth this much attention.”

   Aejik smiled. “Now, worry not. This will die down after the novelty wears off. Then you can really start to enjoy life here.”

   Eric nodded. His gaze back up to the sky. One of the first things he had noticed when they arrived at Atujak was the multitude of birds flitting about. They were everywhere--big, black, raven-like birds moving from building to building, window to window. The Eraknians paid them no mind, but Eric had seen enough Hitchcock parodies to be a bit nervous.

   He was so distracted by the ravens he failed to notice an Eraknian woman in front of him carrying a number of small boxes.

   “Oh!” he said as the two collided with each other, boxes and books tumbling to the pavement.

   The woman dropped to the ground to retrieve her packages, repeatedly saying, “Sinekira, sinekira!”--Excuse me! Excuse me!

   “No, here, let me help you…” He and Aejik knelt to help her.

   When everything had been sorted out, the woman stood and backed away bowing, the stack of packages swaying in her arms.

   Aware of the crowd watching him even more intently, Eric stood to continue walking.

   Before he could turn, something landed on his shoulder and slid past his ear.

   “Jun i kiu zi?” a voice said sharply. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the object on his shoulder was something long and thin, like a cane.

   He slowly turned and froze. The object was in fact a sheathed sword, maybe two feet long. Holding the weapon was a young Eraknian woman dressed in a very formal-looking black uniform with purple and gold trim. Her face was stern and focused, with a gaze not unlike an eagle eyeing its prey, and her shoulder-length black hair was braided back tightly to lend her an even more streamlined raptor-like guise. Tucked into her purple sash was another, longer sword with a slight curve. The woman was eyeing Eric with one raised eyebrow.

   “Jun i?” she demanded again.

   Before Eric could even stammer out an answer, Aejik stepped forward and spread his arms dramatically.

   “Hiyuman i irikaigisé,” he said loudly. “Efiksilo!” Human… annoy not… dangerous? What?!

   Everything seemed to slow down. Eric couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not. Am I in trouble? Can they arrest me for running into someone? What’s going on?

   The crowd continued to stream by, but now the people were whispering as they passed. “Noéguré oru…”

   Noéguré, Eric thought. Police…? No… mediator?

   After a painfully long moment passed, Aejik’s face broke into a broad smile and he threw his arms around the woman, who returned the embrace with a laugh.

   By now Eric was thoroughly bewildered.

   “Uh…”

   “Aya! Erik, so sorry!” Aejik stepped aside to present the woman. “This is my first daughter, Mirohya! Mira, hiyuman ai zir-Erik Furiiman oru.”

   Mirohya bowed to Eric, who almost fell over trying to reciprocate.

   “Sietirisé, zer-Erik,” she apologized with a grin. “You were with my father, so I couldn’t resist.”

   “You did not tell me you were coming back so soon!” said Aejik.

   “I wanted to surprise you. I didn’t know you would be here, though! I was just going to come by the house later today.”

   Aejik patted Eric on the shoulder. “I was just showing my new colleague here around the city.” He moved behind Eric and pushed him forward gently. “So what say you, Arbiter? Your impression?”

   Eric stood sharply upright as Mirohya tucked the sword into her sash and leaned forward with an appraising stare.

   “He has clear eyes,” she said at last, and stood back with her arms crossed. Her grin returned. “I approve.”

   Eric smiled weakly, aware of the passersby watching him again.

***

   Ever since Ayina was little, she had loved trees. Indeed, her father often said he would have to tie her down to keep her from climbing too high.

   Like that would stop me, she thought with a grin and peered through the leaves; she could hardly see the ground beneath her. She leaned back against the trunk, careful not to move too fast, lest the branch beneath her snap. It was the highest she could reach that would support her weight.

   Rin, on the other hand, had perched a ways farther up, enjoying a typical mid-day sun-nap. Every now and then, she would peer down at Ayina and yawn, as if to say, “What are you doing so far down there?”

   Ayina pulled her computer out of her back pocket and unrolled it, busying herself with a puzzle game. She soon got bored, though, and returned the computer to her pocket with a sigh.

   “Okay, Rin,” she said. “What do you think? Any ideas?”

   The cat, of course, said nothing. Instead, Rin blinked slowly.

   “Yeah, you’re right,” Ayina said with a grin. “As always.”

   She heard light footsteps beneath her and glanced down. Her sister’s fox, Tessira, was sauntering past the tree trunk. It paused to sniff a protruding root before disappearing under a bush.

   Ayina closed her eyes, smiling. I wonder what Mirohya’s doing now, she thought. Probably chasing some dangerous criminal. She always gets to have all the fun…

   “Hiyuman,” she said suddenly. She was still no closer to fixing that particular problem, and not for lack of trying. Maybe Neia was right; I have to get closer to get the advantage.

   “You don’t know anything about hiyumans, do you, Rin?” Ayina said with a frown.

   Rin, of course, said nothing.

***

   Eric paused under an overhanging tree to stretch his legs again in the shade.

   “It didn’t seem this far in a carriage,” he said. “Uh--not that I’m complaining. I’m just not used to it.”

   Mirohya stopped as well and leaned on her long-sword like a cane. “Oh, don’t whine,” she said, grinning. “It’s only a few--what’s the word?--miles? Or is it kilometers? I can never remember the difference. Hiyumans should make up their minds about that.”

   Eric chuckled and continued on down the road. He had chosen to walk, after all.

   From what he could tell, Mirohya usually lived in a different city and her arrival now was completely unexpected. As such, with all the books and groceries from Atujak, the carriage Aejik was using couldn’t fit three people. Mirohya had offered to go on foot, and Eric thought it would be rude to make her go alone while he rode back with Aejik.

   On the one hand, he wasn’t accustomed to walking long distances. On the other, he felt he was learning a bit more about Eraknians in general, and Mirohya in particular.

   In a more casual setting--not involving the brandishing of deadly weapons--Mirohya was just as humorous and pleasant as her father. Though her face was yet unmarked by age, there were still lingering traces of cheer that remained after her smile had stopped. She was quite pretty.

   “If you don’t mind my asking, why do you have a sword?”

   Mirohya raised an eyebrow quizzically. “Why wouldn’t I?”

   “Well, it’s just that…I don’t know, it seems kind of out of place…” Even as he said this, he realized how dumb it sounded. Why would a sword be any more out of place in an alien world than a horse and carriage?

   “For your information, the short-sword is standard-issue. Every soldier and Arbiter has at least one. The longer one is mine.”

   “You mean, you own it?”

   “Of course. What about you? You didn’t bring yours, did you?”

   Eric didn’t answer, instead opting for a bewildered expression.

   “Don’t you have a sword?” Mirohya asked.

   Eric shook his head. “No. I’ve never even seen a real sword until now. They aren’t exactly common on Earth.”

   Mirohya looked stunned by this. “No swords? Really? That’s… weird.”

   She tapped her fingers idly on the long-sword’s hilt, then slowly removed it from its sheath.

   “Wow…” Eric said.

   The polished sword blade was a pale blue color and shone brightly in the mid-day sun. Etched into the metal near the hilt were Naikuno characters that read, The warrior is a leaf.

   “I don’t understand. A leaf?” Did I read that right?

   “It’s part of an old Eraknian proverb. ‘The warrior is a leaf, floating with grace on the wind of battle.’”

   Mirohya deftly flourished the blade and returned it to its sheath.

   “So you have your big school meeting tomorrow, yes?” she asked.

   “That’s right.”

   “Nervous?”

   Eric shrugged, and Mirohya laughed.

   “What was that?” she asked.

   “What?”

   “That thing you did with your shoulders?” She imitated his shrug. “What does it mean?”

   “Oh… it’s sort of a non-committing kind of answer. Kind of like ‘I don’t know,’ or ‘I can’t say.’”

   “Hiyumans are strange sometimes…”

   Eric grinned at her. Still, this seemed to happen a lot more than he expected. Little things he was perfectly accustomed to seemed so foreign around here, like a shrug of the shoulders or rolling the eyes. It reminded him that even while he was learning from the Eraknians, they were still learning from him. For some reason he couldn’t quite figure out, this was an amusing thought to him.

   “You know, your English is very good,” he said.

   “Why thank you. I’ve had lots of practice.”

   “Practice? You mean lessons?”

   “Not lessons. Holiwudo.”

   “Ah.”

   “I mean, lessons can be interesting and all,” Mirohya said, closing her eyes and nodding. “But entertainment media is much better. Classes don’t show people interacting at all; they just cover the basics and prepare you for certain occasions. To really see the words at work you have to see people using them. And media is the next best thing to travel.”

   “You know, that’s kinda how I learned French,” Eric said. “Watch enough foreign films and you find the subtitles less and less necessary.”

   “Only if you pay attention--oh, we’re here.”

   Sure enough, the house came into view as they rounded a stand of trees on the side of the road.

   “It looks exactly the same,” she said thoughtfully.

   Eric had forgotten that she was only just returning home from living abroad.

   “How long have you been gone?” he asked.

   “Jun? Oh, it would be about… two years now. I wonder how tall Aya’s getting…”

   Eric made to continue towards the building, but Mirohya held her sword out in front of him to hold him back. She placed her hand over her mouth, indicating for Eric to be silent.

   Slowly, Mirohya stepped forward, creeping like a cat stalking a mouse.

   Unnerved, Eric could feel the tension growing, until he could hear his own heart beating in his ears. What’s going--

   “YA!”

   Eric jumped as a large object dropped from a tree overhead onto Mirohya. There was a blur of movement that lasted for an instant, and then silence.

   The object was Ayina. Judging by the long stick she held in one hand, she had been attempting a sneak-attack on her sister. It had obviously failed. In the brief second of the attack, Mirohya had knocked the stick aside with her long-sword, slipped behind Ayina, and now held her sister’s arms pinned with the sword firmly across Ayina’s chest.

   “Fyijo gio, Aya-fikuré.”-- Too slow!

   When she was finally released, Ayina grinned broadly. “Oh, I know,” she said in Naikuno. “Bigshot invincible noéguré. One day you’ll let your guard down, you’ll see, and…”

   “Maybe next time I’ll pretend to be surprised,” Mirohya answered. “Just to humor you!”

   They both laughed. Eric, meanwhile, had recovered from the surprise attack and smiled nervously.

   Mirohya turned back to Eric. “Sorry about that,” she said in English. “A little family tradition, I suppose.”

   “That was amazing!” Eric said. “It was so fast…”

   “Ah well,” Mirohya said. “She still has a ways to go if she wants to take me on.”

   Mirohya tried to pat Ayina on the head, but Ayina ducked out of the way. She glanced at Eric, then turned away quickly. Eric thought he saw a slight sulk in Ayina’s red eyes.

   “You know,” he said to Mirohya, “it’s okay if you just use Naikuno. I think I’ve got the hang of it now, and I don’t want your sister to feel left out.”

   He smiled at Ayina, but she seemed to be purposely avoiding his eye.

   “Are you sure?”

   “Of course. And if there’s anything I don’t understand, I know how to ask about it.”

   “Kiizi, Erik.”

   Mirohya turned back to Ayina and draped one arm casually over her shoulder. “Okay Aya, start talking. I have a lot to catch up on.”

   Ayina’s face lit up. “Eya, where to start…”

   As Ayina began a fast-paced narrative of a year’s worth of her exploits, the two sisters’ turned and continued on to the house.

   Eric smiled and watched them for a moment before following after.