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Post by Soneera Malat on Dec 28, 2006 10:13:32 GMT -5
(OOC: Everyone, please feel free to join in. Interact with my characters; let them talk!)
Assoud al-Khalil was running for his life. He had left his native Saudi Arabia on a plane bound for America. Born into a poor family, he had ended up as a servant -- really more like a slave -- in the house of a mean rich man. Assoud had protested to his master regarding the unfair treatment received by one of his fellow servants; the master had sent his minions after Assoud, and they had beaten him up and dumped him by the side of a road in the desert. His brother Ahmad had rescued him, patched him up as well as he could, and stolen a wheelchair from a nearby hospital so Assoud could get around. Ahmad had then driven Assoud to the airport and put him on a plane to America. To add insult to injury, Assoud had been forced to abandon his wheelchair at the airport because the flight attendant refused to take it on the plane.
Assoud did not speak a word of English, but at this point, that was the least of his worries. Ahmad had had to work so hard to get Assoud out of the country that he had not had time to get Assoud a passport or any other kind of papers. Assoud knew that as soon as he arrived in America he would be stopped by customs agents and, at best, be thrown in jail or, at worst, be sent back to Saudi Arabia. In either case, his life would be just about over.
Maybe if he was lucky, the plane would crash before it reached America and he wouldn't have to face the customs people at all.
Assoud shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hated being in pain all the time. He would have been happier if he'd had his wheelchair, since without it he didn't know how he was going to get off the plane. There was no point in worrying about that now, he knew. He closed his eyes and tried to doze off.
Assoud didn't know how much time had passed before he awoke to his fellow passengers' screaming. Instantly alert, Assoud realized that the plane was spinning end over end, completely out of control. He looked out the window and saw that the plane was dangerously close to the water.
A strange feeling of relief settled over Assoud. He was going to die, he knew. But he was going to die in an accident, not at the hands of his pursuers.
CRASH! CRRRAAACK!! The plane hit the water and broke into pieces. Assoud found himself thrown from his seat and into the cold, churning water. Wounded as he was, he was utterly helpless as the water closed over his head. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed as hard as he could.
Before he could comprehend what was happening, something crashed into him from below and lifted him to the surface. As Assoud grabbed onto whatever it was, he had a vague sense that it was alive, but since he had never seen the ocean before and knew nothing of what lived in it, if anything, he could draw no more conclusions.
Whatever it was, it carried him a long distance, as he clung to it with the last of his remaining strength. At long last, Assoud felt solid ground under his useless, dragging feet. His hands let go of the thing, and he fell into the water. The thing seemed to realize that he was unable to drag himself clear of the water, so it pushed him until his head was above the water line. Then it went away.
The dolphin left as silently as he had come, headed back toward the fallen plane. There had been other humans in the water, of course, but he had chosen this one because he was wounded. Why and by whose hand, Kieko did not know; he simply knew that this human had no chance to survive without help, while the others, who were swimming frantically about, were likely to still be alive when he returned from the distant shore of Dinotopia to fetch another waterlogged passenger or two.
Meanwhile, Assoud lay semiconscious on the beach, still in the water from the waist down. He coughed spasmodically, water shooting out of his mouth. He had no idea where he was; nor did he care. Even with his lack of education, he knew that people lived just about everywhere on earth. He figured it was only a matter of time until someone found him. Whether or not he was alive when someone found him didn't really matter. He could only hope that whoever found him thought that he had been injured in the plane crash and would therefore not ask too many questions. Thinking was too much trouble, he told himself groggily. He succumbed as the darkness folded over him.
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Post by Soneera Malat on Jan 23, 2007 11:48:59 GMT -5
Soneera Malat hummed happily to herself as she trotted along the coastal road, headed for Pooktook. The young, pink-and-turquoise striped struthie was an employee of the Great Library at Waterfall City, where she studied and translated ancient texts of many languages into both Saurian and Human. Recently she had taken an interest in linguistic research, and had traveled first to Treetown and then through the Northern Plains, studying the dialectical differences among various Saurian groups. Another part of her research focused on the origins of the Latin-based patois that had evolved over the centuries and become the native language of the humans on Dinotopia.
Soneera had made several exciting discoveries on her research trip, and she was eager to share them with the library staff at Pooktook before she returned to Waterfall City to report on her research. Speaking to the library staff was Soneera's official reason for traveling to Pooktook; she intended to use this trip as an opportunity to visit with her parents and younger brother and sister, who lived in the family home near downtown.
Soneera allowed her eyes to roam across the beach as she walked along. The seas were calm, topped by a brilliant blue sky. It was a beautiful day for traveling.
Suddenly Soneera stopped short. There was a body lying on the beach, half in and half out of the water.
"What the...?" Soneera leaped off the road and bounded down the slope to the beach. Reaching the body, she dropped to her haunches and took its hand.
The body was a young human male, probably around 20 summers old. His dark complexion indicated that he came from a hot climate. Soneera sighed in relief as she noted that the young man was breathing. He was alive, in spite of the fact that his body was covered with myriad ugly wounds. Evidence of a long journey by sea on the back of a dolphin or some other conveyance, several of the wounds had small creatures crawling around in them.
"Yuck!" Soneera blurted. The man was unconscious, as she would have expected. Whatever kind of wreck he had been in must have been horrific indeed. He must have landed literally on the razor reef to get banged up like that.
Soneera knew it was dangerous to move a badly injured creature without proper equipment, but there was no one else around and Soneera didn't have any equipment. The young victim would certainly die if he wasn't brought to a hospital or infirmary right now, so Soneera didn't have any choice. She gently lifted the small form onto her back, groaning in disgust as the man's blood spilled over her her arms.
Holding the victim securely in place on her back, Soneera returned to the road and hurried toward Pooktook, taking care not to shake her passenger too much. With any luck, he would remain unconscious until he was in a hospital bed. Waking up on the back of a hurrying dinosaur would be frightening indeed for an injured dolphinback.
Soneera strode into Pooktook later than she had hoped but earlier than she had feared. Having grown up in Pooktook, she knew where the hospital was and headed right there. She was met at the door by Doc O'Johnson, two mothers Irish. Soneera deposited her burden in O'Johnson's arms and headed directly for the washbasin.
A Stenonychosaurus nurse named Nimblefoot hurried to Soneera's side. "Breathe deep, Soneera. Where did you find him?"
"Seek peace, Nimblefoot. I found him on the beach, still half in the water. He looked like something a shark got tired of playing with."
"Oh, holy Harmony," Nimblefoot replied. "The poor creature. Doc and I would appreciate it if you stayed until he woke up so you can explain to him how he came to be here. I know you have linguistic skills uncommon for your kind."
"I speak Dinotopian Human, if that's what you mean. I'm sure this guy doesn't, being from Out There. But of course, I'll stay and help." Stay and help she would, because it was the Dinotopian thing to do. But it was going to make her miss her meeting with the linguist at the Pooktook Library and make her late to meet her family.
"I'm going to go help Doc," Nimblefoot said. "You can stay here until we call you."
"Okay," Soneera said. "Do you have anyone who can carry a couple of messages for me?"
"Certainly, I'll send my son. He is a fast runner and very good at delivering messages." Nimblefoot raised his voice. "Pogotail!"
At once a small copy of Nimblefoot rushed into the room. "What is it, Father?"
"Ask Soneera," Nimblefoot replied. "I have to go help Doc with a patient." He hurried away, his tail swinging.
Little Pogotail looked up at the big struthie with the pink-and-turquoise stripes. "Are you Soneera?" he asked shyly.
"Yes," Soneera replied. "You must be Pogotail."
"Yep, that's me," the little guy confirmed. "What did my father want me for?"
"He wants you to deliver a couple of messages for me. I think I may be needed to translate for the new patient. Anyway, do you know where the library is?"
"Of course." Pogotail looked almost offended that anyone might question his knowledge.
"Okay. Go there and tell the librarian that I'm going to miss my appointment with her and her staff because I find myself needing to place another's needs before my own."
"The patient?" Pogotail guessed. "Okay. Where else?"
"I was going to visit my family while I was in the area," Soneera continued. "I need you to go tell them I will be late." She gave the juvenile directions to her house, hoping he could keep them straight. He appeared to be younger than her own sister Keelkaru, who was just learning her way around the city. "If you get lost and need to ask for directions, say you are going to the home of Amara Malat. She's my mother. Everyone knows who she is."
"Okay, but I won't get lost." Pogotail bounced off an incredibly strong tail and shot out the door.
At that moment Doc O'Johnson hurried back into the lobby. "The extent of your dolphinback's injuries is horrendous. He must have been caught on the end of his ship's mast while it pounded up and down on the reef. Several of his wounds are infected. However, we have treated them and are ready to give him something to wake him up. I would like you to be there when he wakes up."
"Certainly." Soneera followed the doctor to where the patient lay cleaned and bandaged in a bed. Nimblefoot was mixing a medicine nearby.
Doc took the medicine from the Stenonychosaurus and said, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave. One saurian at a time is enough for a wounded dolphinback."
"Of course." Nimblefoot hurried out of the room.
As Soneera watched, Doc O'Johnson capped the medicine bottle and shook it. Then he removed the cap and held the bottle under the patient's nose. A yellowish gas rose from the bottle and disppeared up his nose.
The body on the bed began to stir.
************
The first thing Assoud was aware of as consciousness returned was pain. That was nothing new. But what was new was the strange smell in his nostrils. His eyelids felt heavy, as if they had been glued shut.
The pain was sufficient to remind him of where he had been when he blacked out -- wounded and on a plane that was spinning wildly out of control. He remembered hitting the water and being lifted to the surface by something unidentifiable. He vaguely remembered being shoved onto a beach. He didn't remember anything else after that.
Assoud found that he lay on something soft, like fabric. Without opening his eyes, he surmised that he was no longer on the beach. So someone had found him alive, then. Whether that was good or bad, he didn't know. He hoped that whoever had found him was not one of his master's men.
That thought caused his eyes to pop open. A man with white skin, blond hair and blue eyes was leaning over him. Assoud exhaled in relief. He knew that a lot of Americans looked this way.
Was it possible he had washed up on the shores of America?
The blond man began speaking to him in a strange language. Assoud had heard enough English on TV to know this wasn't it. So this wasn't America, then. Assoud couldn't think of the names of any other whitemen's countries, but this had to be one of them.
Assoud's chances of being able to communicate with this man were practically nill, but he had to try. "Hello. Do you speak Arabic?"
"What language is that?" Doc O'Johnson asked.
"Not sure," Soneera replied. "See if you can get him to say something more."
Doc turned back to the patient, who had not taken his eyes off him. "Breathe deep, seek peace. What's your name? Where are you from?"
"I don't understand you," Assoud replied. "Do you speak Arabic?"
"Got it!" Soneera blurted. "Arabic. Quick -- hand me something to write with. I can read and write it -- sort of -- but I can't speak it."
"Great." Doc handed her a scroll and a quill and Soneera shakily wrote, "Hello. What is your name?" She held it out to the man, angled so it obstructed his view of her.
Doc handed him another quill and the man looked at it in confusion before he wrote, "My name is Assoud al-Khalil. What is your name?"
Soneera wrote back, "I am Soneera Malat. The man is Doctor O'Johnson." She let Assoud read it, then put the scroll down so he could see her. She pointed to herself and then to Doc, modeling the pronunciation of their names.
Assoud's eyes locked on Soneera. His face went chalk white. "AUGHHHHHH!" he screamed.
Soneera put her hands over her ears -- libraries never got this loud!
"AUGHHHHHHHH!" Assoud screamed again. Whatever this -- this THING -- was that had been writing to him in his own language was, it was horrifying. Never had he seen such a monster. It looked like a huge bird with arms, and its colors were as outlandish as anything the demons of hell could produce. To make matters worse, it was naked! In terror, Assoud wondered if sticking up for his fellow in front of his master was a sin, and if he was being punished for it. If so, it didn't really matter. He would never make it to heaven now.
The man -- Doctor However-you-pronounce-it -- pushed the thing, this "Soneera," behind him and began speaking softly and reassuringly to the terrified patient.
Assoud understood none of the words, since he had never heard this language before, but he noted that the doctor was clearly not afraid of the creature. Assoud stopped screaming and moved his eyes to the creature, which was busily writing on the same piece of ancient-looking parchment it had showed him before.
Soneera thrust the scroll in Assoud's face. "Do not be afraid," she had written. "This is Dinotopia. We are friendly."
Assoud grabbed the scroll. "What are you?" he wrote.
Soneera didn't know the Arabic word for "dinosaur," so she wrote her Latin species name, "Struthiomimus." As she showed the scroll to Assoud, she pronounced it for him.
Assoud was outwardly calm now, but Soneera could see in his eyes that myriad fears and thoughts still rushed through his head. Doc noticed this too, and said, "Thank you, Soneera. You can go now and make your appointment. I will send for you if I need to."
"Okay." Soneera wrote "good-bye" on the scroll and hurried out of the room. Doc followed more slowly.
Alone, Assoud thought about all the amazing, terrifying events that had just transpired. He had ended up in a place called Dinotopia, which he had never heard of. That in itself was not surprising, since he had not heard of many countries. He was going to have to learn a language that was very different from his own, but he suspected he could handle that. What he couldn't handle was the appearance of this "Soneera" creature. Assoud's entire education consisted of his father reading to him from the Koran, which did not mention any such bizarre creatures. While this creature didn't seem dangerous -- at least not physically -- Assoud had nothing in his prior experience that could be used to comprehend it. He wondered if the "Soneera" creature was the only one of its kind here. Assoud hoped so, but realized this was unlikely. He realized that, whether he liked it or not, he was probably going to meet other, similar horrors.
Assoud suddenly realized that he was very tired. He would worry about naked monsters some other time. Pulling the covers over his head, as if that would keep them out, he fell asleep.
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Anemone
Apprentice
Drummer, dreamer, and doodler...
Posts: 128
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Post by Anemone on Jan 23, 2007 16:57:27 GMT -5
Melanie stood in the hallway of the hospital, debating whether to go into the room or not. Someone was most certainly injured--she'd seen the Doctor and a Struthiomimus rush in with that man not too long ago--but both just walked out of the room. She hurried over to Doc O'Johnson.
"Doctor? Excuse me..." She caught up to him before he rounded the corner. "Do you need help with that patient?" She glanced towards the door of the room where the wounded dolphinback lay.
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Post by Soneera Malat on Jan 27, 2007 18:59:44 GMT -5
Doc O'Johnson turned at the sound of Melanie's voice. "Yes, thank you; I would appreciate it if you would keep an eye on him. I need to write a report on this patient, and then check on the others. Oh, and if he wakes up, talk to him, even though he doesn't understand our language. His name is Assoud al-Khalil. Now, if you'll excuse me..." O'Johnson hurried into his office before Melanie had a chance to reply.
At his desk, O'Johnson began writing a report on his newest patient. The patient's name he knew, his age could be guessed, and his injuries could be described. What couldn't be guessed was the cause of his injuries, and O'Johnson doubted that Soneera's limited Arabic skills would be enough to get a satisfactory answer. O'Johnson wrote down his idea about the ship's mast bouncing up and down on the razor reef with al-Khalil accidentally stuck on the end, though he admitted in the report that it was only a wild guess.
Having finished the report -- the description of the patient's injuries was three pages long -- O'Johnson headed out of his office to check on his other patients. There were three others in the hospital; one was Longhorn, a triceratops who had been attacked by a T. rex in the Rainy Basin.
O'Johnson stuck his head in Longhorn's room. "Breathe deep, Longhorn," he greeted in Saurian.
"Seek peace, Doctor. When can I get out of here?"
O'Johnson laughed gently. "What's the matter, Longhorn? My company is not stimulating enough?" He stepped up to the trike's resting couch and began an examination of his injuries.
Longhorn let out a honking laugh. "You're a doctor. Why should I expect you to be stimulating? Of course you are. No, my reason for wanting to get out of here is that my mate, Ceratina, is about to lay an egg, and I want to be at the hatchery when it happens."
"Oh, really? Congratulations," O'Johnson said sincerely. "When will the egg be laid?"
"Any day now," Longhorn replied. "Cera and I are extremely excited; it's going to be our first child."
"Well, I certainly wish you both the best of luck," O'Johnson replied. "And I think you'll be ready to get out of here tomorrow morning. I would suggest, however, that you seek transportation to the hatchery. It's a long walk for someone just out of the hospital, even someone as big as you."
"I can handle it," Longhorn said confidently. "I don't want Cera to see me getting dragged around in a wagon like a bag of bones."
"As you wish," O'Johnson replied. "However, if I were you, I'd get a ride. I'm sure Ceratina would understand. Anyway, I have other patients to look after, so I'll see you later. I'll come in first thing tomorrow morning to determine whether you are ready for discharge."
***********
Meanwhile, Soneera hurried to the Pooktook library. When she arrived, she was greeted by the head librarian, a Pachycephalosaurus named Hornskull. Soneera had always gotten along with Hornskull, but she had heard that people and saurians who didn't like him called him "Numbskull" behind his back.
"Breathe deep, Soneera," Hornskull said as the struthie hurried into his office.
"Seek peace, Hornskull," Soneera replied. "I apologize for being late."
"Not a problem at all," Hornskull assured her. "I heard from a juvenile Troodon someone sent that you were following the Dinotopian Way by putting someone else's needs first."
"That is correct," Soneera confirmed. "I found an injured dolphinback and took him to the hospital and then had to stay for awhile to help him communicate after he woke up."
"Your language skills are most enviable," Hornskull said. "I will send word to our linguist that you are here. Tracy, will you go get her?"
"Right away," a raven-haired, human secretary answered as she hurried out of the room.
A few minutes later, a tiny Compsognathus scurried into the room. Soneera bent down to greet her. "Breathe deep."
"Seek peace," the tiny creature replied in a squeaky voice. "You must be Soneera. I am Sanaya, the linguist for the Pooktook library."
"Pleased to meet you," Soneera said sincerely. She had heard a lot about Sanaya, but had not met her until this very moment. Sometimes, Soneera reflected, the smallest creatures were the biggest geniuses.
"Please, both of you, won't you sit down?" Hornskull invited. "I'm most excited to hear Soneera's report."
Soneera sat down on a human-style chair, and Sanaya leapt up to crouch on another.
"What have you discovered?" Hornskull asked eagerly.
"Well," Soneera replied slowly, "it seems that regional differences transcend language differences. I've been mainly looking at Theropod and Sauropod, and I have noticed certain manners of expression common to both languages in the Treetown area do not appear in the Northern Plains, and vice versa. Why, I have no idea, but I'm working on that."
"Wow, that's amazing," Sanaya replied. Both she and her much larger boss began peppering Soneera with questions, which the struthie answered to the best of her ability.
By the end of their meeting, the three saurians had examined Soneera's data from all angles, but had been able to deduce no convincing theories from it. The data were fascinating, but as yet they did not fit together into a cohesive whole.
"Thank you very much for coming to share your findings with us," Hornskull said, wrapping up. "I'm sure that when you return to Waterfall City, Zipeau will be most satisfied with your work."
"Thank you," Soneera replied. "I'll run along now; I have an appointment with my family. I'm sure I'll see you again before I go home. Breathe deep."
"Seek peace," Hornskull replied.
As Soneera left the room, she became aware that little Sanaya had followed her. As they headed toward the main door, Sanaya jumped up on Soneera's neck and whispered, "Well, I'm pleased that Numbskull there was on his best behavior today."
"I honestly don't see what people have against him," Soneera replied.
Sanaya sniffed. "You don't have to work with him. He's got an ego the size of the Rainy Basin. Well, I'll let you go now. I've got kids to feed. Breathe deep."
"Seek peace, Sanaya. I'm glad to have finally met you."
"Likewise," Sanaya said. "I'll visit you next time I'm in Waterfall City. Good night." With that, Sanaya jumped down and scurried around a corner under the legs of an oblivious brachiosaur.
Soneera shook her head and headed for home. She had a family to visit.
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Post by Moonlight Noclaw on Mar 5, 2012 23:26:16 GMT -5
ooc: I hope this thread isn't too dead...
Meanwhile, in Waterfall City, Califf and Sunshine were working on translating some more of the ancient Carnosaurian texts into the common tongue. They had discovered amazing things from their recent expedition.
Sunshine overheard someone talking to Zipeau about a new dolphinback and relayed the message to Califf. She new that he would be interested as he had only arrived all to recently. Califf asked for further information; but Sunshine hadn't heard any more. So Califf waited until the library was closed and then went up to Zipeau himself for more news.
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