Of course, that didn't exactly block the fact that he'd also be stuck with an inability to immediately converse with them. "Uhhh... hi."
"What did he say?" the young Abh noble asked, blinking in confusion at the words.
"Normally, I'd ask if you were paying attention," Lexshu admitted, but pressed her lips together. "But it sounded like he was almost saying something."
"What? Like some sort of... primitive?"
"One imitating speech, you mean? I don't think so."
"But you have to admit, it nearly sounds like he's speaking Baronh."
"Strange words...." the boy murmured, still sounding off.
"That's it!" Dellka bit out, almost surprised by the outburst as the others.
"Don't tell me that you're going to treat him as a threat," Lexshu murmured.
"It's not that. Pay attention to what he's saying. His language may not be Baronh, but it's something we can know. This boy is speaking in Japanese!"
"Yes! Japanese!" the boy yelped, seeming to latch onto something familiar.
"'Japanese'?" Lafiel said, looking rather thoughtful. "I know that our language comes from it, but...."
Lexshu raised a brow and smirked at the little girl. "I believe that our little princess is wondering why he doesn't sound quite like what our teachers sounded like when they tried speaking it."
"Perhaps that's because they were trying to talk in a foreign language that had been dead long before they were born," Dellka suggested. "Think about it. He's speaking it as his first language. Roughly, but he is apparently a native speaker."
"Then what do we do about it?"
"Why don't we ask him?" the little blue haired girl asked, and turned to speak in the best Japanese that her limited training had given her. "Hello. I am not going to hurt you."
"You know Japanese then?" the boy asked.
"A bit. Surprised?"
"Kinda. Didn't know that elves spoke Japanese."
Jolted just a bit, Lafiel leaned back and felt her ears. "'Elves'?"
"He's probably never met an Abh before, remember. To him, your family trait is something that lets him identify us in ways that he can understand," Lexshu pointed out.
"He could have found something else."
The formerly flying boy seemed to be a bit put out at the moment. "Did I say something wrong?"
"I'm not an 'elf'. I am an Abh."
"Dunno 'bout those."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, I've never heard of an 'Abh' coming to see the Earth before."
Lexshu's eyes went wide and she stared at the young grounder as she spoke to him in his language. "Are you saying that this is the Earth, mother planet to humanity?"
"I guess so. All's I know is that it's where humans come from, and it's the third planet from the sun."
"Unbelievable."
"Hey, Ranma Saotome don't lie."
"And that's you?" Lafiel asked. "'Ranma Saotome', I mean."
"Yup," he confirmed, and seemed to wait expectantly.
"Yes? Is there something else?"
"I told ya my name."
"So?"
Ranma's mouth twisted to the side in a small show of annoyance. "Ya didn't tell me your name."
"It would be terribly impolite to not act in kind," Lexshu pointed out.
Lafiel sighed and turned to the boy, clearly wishing that the reminder had not been given, and believing the elder Abh's words were unnecessary. "I am Ablïarsec néïc Dubreuscr Bœrh Parhynr Lamhirh."
"Ah," the pigtailed boy went blankly.
"What? Is there some problem with my name?"
"Actually... nah. Not really. The thing is, why d'ya have all those names?"
"She is a princess," Dellka told him flat out.
"She is? Whoa," Ranma grunted. "Didn't know that."
"And what do you think of me now?" the princess in question asked him softly.
"Same thing that I did before."
"Which is?"
Coming right up to her, Ranma tilted his head and peered at her without pretense. "You're cute, ya know."
"'Cute'?" the little girl choked out, any 'royal snit' having been knocked aside by surprise, embarrassment, and, oddly enough, pleasure.
"Well... yeah. Seems ta be kinda silly ta use all those names though. Not even sure that I could remember them all."
"Then what would you do?"
"Ask for something that I could call ya without havin' ta call out all those names. Somethin' simple and nice."
For several beats of her heart, she wondered what this would mean before, but a wide smile stretched across her young features as she recognized his acceptance of her as a person, not a princess. "You can call me Lafiel!"
Lexshu smiled, and Dellka frowned in thought while:
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Mon, 08 Oct 2007 03:48)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.