What's "Help!" in Naikuno?

Giraiu'li, "The Speech"

   Enlae promptly stepped back from the lectern--almost tripping--and moved to the side of the stage. Humans and Eraknians filed quickly into the arrangement of chairs, not wanting to delay the proceedings. Professor Zigurai excused himself with a bow and shuffled off to the front, and Eric and Aejik made to find seats. After choosing a chair close to the middle, Eric’s attention wandered to the people at the front of the crowd.

   On the far left end of the stage was Enlae, Professor Zigurai, and two other Eraknians in identical outfits and armbands. Enlae was fidgeting nervously and glancing out into the audience. Zigurai however was standing oddly still. His eyes were closed and an expression of serenity had crossed over his face. Still, every now and then his head would flinch, assailed by the relentless invisible fly. The other two Eraknians were alternately shuffling through papers and carefully arranging small clips on their collars.

   Next in line were two seated Eraknians in elegant black and gold robes. By the braided insignia on their shoulders, Eric guessed they were government officials.

   Next in line was zera-Gihekiré, the headmistress, wearing a smooth white robe with a gold collar. She was sitting bolt upright and motionless, but occasionally the corners of her mouth would twitch upwards.

   On the other side of the lectern were three humans in expensive suits. One of them Eric knew to be a U.N. ambassador, but the other two were unfamiliar.

   At the far right, around the base of the great tree were several Eraknians in Arbiter uniforms. Though they stood sharply at attention, they were unarmed.

   Except for one. The odd one out was an Eraknian woman with bright gold eyes, like shining coins. Her uniform was different, bearing a distinct feather motif, and she still retained both a long- and short-sword.

   “Who is that?” Eric whispered to Aejik, pointing to the woman.

   “You do not know? That is Anlye LeRusé. She is Avawin.

   The name was unfamiliar, but the reverent tone Aejik spoke with convinced Eric that she was someone very important.

   By now, zera-Gihekiré had risen and approached the lectern. Her manner was composed and solemn, but Eric still had the impression that she was fighting to hold back a smile.

   “Eya,” she said at last, and the subtle murmur of voices vanished entirely. “Zera’in gi zir’in, ve jin lihu’in i Jugir-Eviré Hairegi ro tirigau’li kiu’li ti noyiru aiki…”

   After a few seconds, a softer voice in Eric’s ear began to speak.

   “Ladies and Sirs, it is my honor to welcome you to Jugir-Eviré University for the new term. It is truly moving to know that even across the immeasurable distance of the Void, we all share a single common interest: the pursuit of knowledge, and the endless quest for truth. With every step forward, with every inch we continue to learn and grow, fulfilling the natural sentient desire to understand our world--indeed, both our worlds--and in some way learn how we can make our mark of improvement on society….”

   As zera-Gihekiré’s speech drew on, Eric found his attention starting to dissolve. He tried to concentrate--at first on Enlae’s voice in the earpiece, and then to zera-Gihekiré herself--but to no avail. Never, in all his life, had he managed to focus for very long on speeches. In college, he praised the teachers who supplied written copies of their lectures in advance.

   Resigning himself to fate, Eric switched his ears to half-attention and turned his mind on the rest of the audience.

   On the headmistress’s right, the human representatives appeared to be focused intently on zera-Gihekiré, but one of them kept glancing over at Enlae, or making to adjust the earpiece he was wearing.

   The Eraknian officials sat perfectly still, with expressions of polite interest on their faces The troop of Arbiters--along with Anlye LeRusé--instead chose to scan the crowd, only occasionally turning to face the headmistress.

   Zir-Zigurai seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. His relaxed demeanor and casual smile gave Eric the impression of a friendly phonecall.

   Enlae, on the other hand, looked ready to fall apart with nerves. Though she remained standing and mostly motionless, her hands were trembling noticeably, and her eyes darted frequently to the lectern. To her credit, though, her voice remained calm and her English was spot-on. If Eric only listened to Enlae over the earpiece, he would have thought she was merely reading something out-loud to herself.

   Turning his gaze to his fellow audience-members, Eric saw that the vast majority of them were listening attentively to either the headmistress or one of the translators. There was only one other exception.

   On Eric’s right-hand side, Aejik seemed to have similar trouble focusing. His posture was far more casual--almost slouching--and his eyes were hopping from listener to listener, as if he was counting them in his head.

   When Eric caught his eye, Aejik winked and pretended to watch zera-Gihekiré again. His head would still bob slightly in time with a silent tune.

   A soft croaking sound seized Eric’s attention, and his eyes moved slowly upwards.

   Perched in the vast array of leafy branches over the crowd were several dozen of the same black ravens Eric had seen in town. With few exceptions, every single set of beady black eyes was focused on zera-Gihekiré, as if they too were listening to the speech.

   “…and with this, we continue to fly forward towards our limitless future. Thank you.”

   The end of the headmistresses oration brought Eric’s attention hesitantly to ground-level again. As zera-Gihekiré bowed and stepped back from the lectern, the crowd broke into applause. Rather, the human attendees clapped, while the Eraknians instead rapped sharply on their chairs.

   When the applause subsided, Enlae approached the lectern again. She was smiling weakly, and her relief showed clearly in her eyes. “We would now like to invite you all to meet your colleagues, if you haven’t already. We also ask that the new teachers find their designated supervisors, who will go over university policies with you. Thank you all.”

   As the crowd rose and began to blend together again, Eric turned to Aejik.

   “Supervisor?” he asked.

   Aejik smiled. “Do not worry. Because you are teaching with me, I will be your supervisor.” He rose quickly and bowed. “Zir-Furiiman, I ask you to let me assist you.”

   “Uh, thanks.” Eric rose and bowed in return.

   “Eya… sinekira…”

   Enlae had materialized from the crowd.

   “Ah, Hajia,” Aejik said. “What can we do for you?”

   While Enlae still retained her nervous exterior, it seemed to Eric to be a different kind of anxiety. Her hands weren’t shaking as much, but her eyes were focused firmly on her feet. “I wonder, zir-Zirega… if I may speak to you in private?”

   “Oh, li liyo. Certainly. Would you excuse us, Erik? I’ll be right back.”

   “Of course.”

   Aejik and Enlae promptly vanished into the crowd, and Eric sat again and took to watching the milling people around him.

   A few moments passed with little interruption, and Eric was considering leaving. He had no problems meeting new people, but he could never manage to introduce himself to strangers. Wishing he could be more outgoing, Eric stood and stretched. Kinda defeats the purpose of this, he thought, but oh well…

   Abruptly, someone plopped into the seat next to him. He was human, with jet black hair and flat grey eyes. Though he wasn’t any taller or wider than Eric, he seemed to take up much more space, and his casual manner seemed at odds with Eric’s Eraknian experience so far.

   “You’re not leaving, are ya?” the man said in English, laced with a heavy Irish accent.

   “Uh… no, I…”

   “Great!” The man said, clapping his hands together. “I’m not lettin’ anyone leave ‘til I meet them all!”

   He hopped to his feet and offered his hand to Eric. “Brian Conner,” he said with a grin.

   “Eric. Eric Freeman.”

   “Delighted.” Brian dropped back into the chair. “So I see you’re with that one guy, Zirega. That makes you a book-type, right? Literature, yeah?”

   “Well… right.” Eric lowered himself into his seat. “How did you…?”

   “I met Zirega before the speech. Got a peculiar sense o’ humor for a Rake. Though I s’pose you’d already know….”

   After only a few short moments with Brian, Eric felt conflicted. On the one hand, he could appreciate this man’s outgoing and honest personality. On the other hand, Brian seemed a little loud and persistent. Eric couldn’t decide if he liked this new stranger or not.

   “So… Brian, which department are you with?”

   “Me? I’m in History, so I am. Political, military… anything big and dramatic, see?”

   “I guess…”

   “Aya!” came a sharp voice. “Conner jin irik’ato liyo!”

   “Li-li,” Brian said to an approaching woman. “Hakreu liyo!”

   The woman stopped abruptly and, tucking some sunny blond hair back under a black beret, adopted a mock-exasperated expression. Brian pretended to cower at her fearsome stare even though, had he been standing, those penetrating brown eyes would only be as high as his chin.

   “You’ll have to forgive him,” the woman said to Eric in Naikuno. “He’s always being a nuisance.”

   “Uh, no,” Eric said. “I think he was just being friendly.”

   The woman laughed at Brian’s grimace and held out her hand to Eric. “Claire d’Argent. Pleased to meet you.”

   As she and Eric shook hands, Brian let out a snort of laughter. “Y’know,” he said, “I still maintain a beret as a huge cliché on a Frenchwoman.”

   “It may be a cliché,” Claire retorted, “but it still suits me. I make it work, thanks.”

   “I have to agree,” Eric said. “Kind of an artsy-modern look, I think.”

   “Ouais, c’est ça! Not everyone’s as dense as Connie here.” She sat and jerked her head at Brian.

   Brian leaned in close to Eric. “Best way to annoy her: speak English. She doesn’t have English; she only understands French and Naikuno.”

   Eric nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. But that works two ways, doesn’t it?”

   He turned to face Claire. “Alors, le temps est agréable aujourd’hui, n’est-ce pas?”

   “Ouais, il fait très beau ici. Your Français is good! Have you been to France before?”

   “No, I haven’t,” Eric answered, trying not to laugh at Brian’s horrified expression. “But I tried taking lessons once. And I also tried reading some Hugo and Dumas in French, but I was never good enough to get very far.”

   “Well, some languages are trickier than others. It took me years to get anywhere with Naikuno…”

   “Speaking o’ getting somewhere.” Brian stood and stretched. “I think I see another innocent to introduce myself to. See ya later!”

   With a grand bow to Claire and a wink to Eric, Brian swept off into the crowd.

   “He’s much smarter than he acts,” Claire said with a sigh. “Trust me on that.”

   “So you two already knew eachother?”

   Claire grinned sheepishly. “You might say that. We met in a program in New York. And again on the ship to Eraknivan,” she added. “And a few times since we got here….”

   Eric could feel his eyebrows flying skyward. “You mean, you two…”

   “Liru. C’est vrais. What about you, Eric? Some lucky girl you meet with?”

   When Eric could only managed a stammer, Claire let out a healthy laugh.

   “Dis-moi, what’s that?” Claire said suddenly.

   “What’s what?”

   Before Eric could react, Claire had grasped him by the arm.

   “What are you…?” Eric began, but stopped abruptly. Claire had noticed what Eric was wearing around his left wrist, a woven bracelet featuring white seagulls on a blue background.

   “Never took you for a jewelry kind of guy,” Claire said teasingly. “Or does your girlfriend make you wear it?”

   Eric felt his face grow hot and--rougher than he intended--he yanked his arm free.

   “That’s… sorry, but that’s private.”

   “Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

   “No, that’s okay.” Eric slid his sleeve back down his wrist, concealing the bracelet. He was uncomfortably aware of the way Claire was watching him.

   “Bad memories?” she said gently.

   “Well… yeah, you could say that.”

   He shrugged and adopted a cheerful smile. “It’s more of a luck-charm these days,” he said, trying to sound nonchalant.

   Claire nodded solemnly. Then, as if someone had flicked on a switch, her face lit up. “Now that I think of it, you still need to meet some people!”

   “I… well… okay.”

   Eric gave in as Claire seized his right arm and steered him through the crowd.

***

   “Sinekira, excuse me, sinekira….”

   Enlae slowed drifted through the crowd, almost dreamlike. While her outer voice was calm and polite as ever, inside it was deafening.

   Idiot! it shouted. Siiyo liyo! What were you thinking? This is what you get!

   “Quiet,” Enlae whispered to herself. “Please, just be quiet…”

   If you had listened to yourself! If only you had just behaved, then this whole thing would never have happened. You make mistakes, you drive people away. Soon it will only be you, all alone!

   “Au!”

   “Hajia!”

   Enlae froze just short of colliding with someone. Her gaze moved up to lock with a pair of sky-blue eyes.

   “Aya! Zir-Furiiman! Sorry, I didn’t see you there!” She dropped her head in a respectful bow.

   “Zera-Hajia… uh, Enlae…” the hiyuman said hesitantly.

   Slowly, she looked back up. The hiyuman was staring right at her, but not with the embarrassment she would have expected.

   No, his eyes were filled with genuine concern.

   “Is everything okay?” zir-Furiiman asked. “Are you alright?”

   Enlae managed a weak smile. “Li-liru. Yes, I’m fine, thank you.”

   Zir-Furiiman reached into his coat pocket and produced a clean white cloth, which he offered to Enlae.

   “Aao… what is it for?”

   “Well, your eyes…”

   Sure enough, when she brushed a hand against her cheek, her face felt wet.

   “Si-sinekira!” she yelped. She frantically wiped her eyes with the black sleeves of her jacket, but the hiyuman once again offered the cloth.

   “Here, use this instead.”

   Hesitating, she accepted the white cloth.

   “Oh, I didn’t get to tell you earlier,” zir-Furiiman said with an encouraging smile. “You were very good. With the speech, I mean. I was impressed.”

   “Th-thank you, zir-Furiiman.”

   “You know, we’ve met three or four times now. You could call me Eric.”

   “Eya, Erik.” Tentatively, Enlae dabbed her eyes with the cloth. “I’m sorry for this.”

   “Sorry? You shouldn’t have to apologize for having a bad day.”

   “No, it’s just…”

   With a start, Enlae noticed the yellow-haired hiyuman woman standing next to Erik. What was her name… Da-jant? Daruja?

   As if a curtain had been lifted, Enlae was suddenly aware of the mass of people still milling around. Most of them were still going about their own conversations, but a few were glancing uncomfortably at Enlae.

   “I… Sorry for interrupting!” Enlae said quickly. “Please excuse me, zir-Furiiman! zera-…. Zera!”

   Before Erik could respond, Enlae bowed sharply and dove into the crowd, dodging her way to the edge of the Center Commons. She ducked out of sight behind a wide tree trunk.

   You’re doing it again, she told herself, but much more softly this time. Be careful, you’re just getting in the way again. Take the hint. Don’t be a burden.

   She peered around the trunk, watching Eraknians and hiyumans chatting comfortably under the Center Tree.

   You’ll only be a burden. You’ll just keep making mistakes, and they won’t care anymore.

   Enlae realized she was still holding the cloth Erik had lent her. It was still very damp with her tears.

   She almost made to go return it--but stopped abruptly.

   “No,” she said aloud after a long silent moment. “You’re wrong.”

   Enlae neatly folded the cloth and, slipping it into her sleeve, marched off into the school.