Clean Slate

[o8jedi]

It took Hazen a little bit of effort to help Oxidia into her harness, but, seeing several straps go into place and having seen her harnessed before made it easy for him to figure out where the others went. He sat in his shotgun position and waited for the cart to start moving. When it did, he looked around, seeing people wave at him. Naturally, he waved back. "Quite a friendly people," he mused to himself, reflecting on his stay at the Hatchery and his other encounters with Dinotopians.

As the crowds grew, he was a bit surprised and thought that Patel was well-known around here. When Patel spoke, he did a double-take. "Me?! What did I do to deserve all this?" After learning that newcomers were a rare occurrence, he looked at the throng and smiled. At Patel's urging, he waved vigorously so everyone could see him. He kept working the crowd, glancing up at the Brachiosaur before seeing the Hatchery staff. He turned to them and shouted, "Thank you for everything!" This got more cheers from the staff.

He then heard a blessing and he turned to face who spoke. "I'm touched," he said. He put his hands together like he was praying and gave a bow. Hazen, despite not being a Hindu (or religious at all for that matter), always felt this gesture was highly respectful and he used it almost exclusively to express deep gratitude. He looked back out at the throng and smiled. When they got moving again, he turned to Patel and said, "I've never had a warm reception like this. It feels good."

He was all smiles as they went up the switchback. When they reached the summit, he looked out at the crowd that had followed him. He was nearly moved to tears and blinked several times to keep himself from crying. He stood up and waved both arms, bidding farewell to the town that had welcomed him so readily. "I'll come back soon!" he vowed, causing a small roar to go through the crowd. He sat down as the group started going off again. When Irenic disappeared over the horizon, he sighed and looked at the pack. He forced himself to grab the Saurian textbook that Irwin had given him. As he opened the cover and began to read the first lesson, his mind drifted back and forth from the text to Syd, the Triceratops he named.

[Thundertail]

~ Patel Lewis and Oxidia. On the road again. ~

The cart jostled down the road until it came across a junction, the sign saying in Footprint language only the ways that the road led. Upon Hazan's questioning stare, he tried to thumb through the book of written translations given to him in Irenic on the translation; but before he could gain the proper translations, Patel told him.

"The sign says that Pumice Town is a twoday travel to the southeast.", said he. "And Volcaneum is twice that far away on the same road. To the northwest is Poktook, nearly a fortnight away."

Oxidia burbled a comment and patel Nodded. "Yes, dear... Um, Pumice Town's major business is the mining of jewels and rare metals.", Patel continued. "Maybe we can gain a consignment to bring to Volcaneum for shipment...", he thought some more. "It also sports a Postal Bird aerie. There I must send a message to the High Council in Waterfall City telling them I found you.", he turned to his work, smiling. "They should be most pleased of news like that!"

As Hazan nodded at the news, Oxidia continued down the road leading southeast; the lad still looking through his books, and Patel sat woodenly noticing the scenery changing once again. The crags and meadows of the cliffside region were fading, revealing more substantial forests of mangroves and pines; and vines of flowers and berries lined the way, making the path ahead a scenic and aromatic road indeed. As Hazan lifted his head, Patel saw his confusion at the text he had been trying to fathom; and made the necesary comment.

"Learning something new is a difficult task at best, especially with no one to guide you.", Patel turned his head from the road ahead to his passenger. "Oxidia and I are not exactly qualifyed teachers, but we might be able to help..." He looked at the back of Oxidia's crested head. "Do you think we can help teaching Hazan, my friend?"

She turned her head and babbled affirmative, and patel smiled. "Excellent!... So if you get stuck on something, do not be afraid to ask.", Patel told him. "Maybe we could help you with word drills and things of that nature...", he went back to the business of driving the cart without further comment...

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[o8jedi]

During the times he was concentrating on the text, Hazen seemed to grasp the idea of the footprint language. In structure, it was like Braille. A series of footprints rotating clockwise and successively doubling up represented letters in their language. What's more, they operated on a 26-letter alphabet exactly like English. In the index, there was a complete alphabet key, which he dog-eared immediately. When they got to a signpost, he tried to translate it, but they were by it before he could figure out "Pumice."

Patel explained their new destination and Hazen nodded. Again came the name of Waterfall City. He had heard a great deal about it, but he kept wondering why it seemed so important. It was explained that it was a capital of sorts, but he still hadn't learned what exactly was there.

He returned to the books, trying to begin training his mind to process thoughts in Saurian. He squinted as he tried to mimic phonetic sounds from the text. After a while of straining his mouth and his mind, he looked up and shook his head, completely bewildered.

After Patel spoke, Hazen turned to his benefactor. "The real thing is I have no frame of reference for Saurian. I've only heard it spoken by Oxidia and it just sounds like noises. No offense," he said, looking at the Parasaurolophus. He sighed and said, "I think I'd have an easier time learning Mandarin Chinese. At least I have an idea of how it's supposed to sound." He realized what he said and said, "Forgive me. I don't mean to offend. It's just so alien to me." After a few moments, he said to Patel, "I guess what I need is to hear you speak it. Teach me as if I was a child. Help me associate words with items. It may be gradual, but it's effective." He heard a stomach growl. "And I guess I can start with learning food items." He reached back for their rations.

[Thundertail]

~ Patel Lewis and Oxidia. On the road to Pumice Town. ~

"We will certainly try our best...", Patel said as the cart trounced over some uneven road, over roots that were washed out from the tsunamis. " 'Holla' means hello, and there are other greetings...", Hazan said the word as patel continued. "Another greeting is: 'Fiphet pha, haspi skafti!'; which means 'Breathe Deep, seek peace!'.", Hazan indicated that he had heard that one, but failed in saying it in saurian.

Oxidia padded her way down the road, footsteps creating miniature dust clouds on her wake; and flies that buzzed around her muzzle made the going all that much harder for her, heavy cart and belly of developing eggs not withstanding. Patel Lewis looked on in dismay at her discomfort, and wished he could do something about it. All of a sudden, after Hazan's desire to learn how the saurian language was spoken; Oxidia brayed to get the lad's attention.

"Ha...Zan...!", her head turned. " Ox-Idia...Cama...", she indicated herself, then pointed at him. "Mateeto... Ha-Zan...Saur..."

At Hazan's confusion, Patel broke in. "Oxidia is saying your name in saurian.", he nodded at her. "Her formal name is Oxidiacama, the last part is a female surname.", he looked at him. "Your saurian name is Hazansaur. Saur is a male surname, but these surnames are exclusively for saurians.", he then said. "Mateeto means 'you'."

Oxidia brayed. "Yes! Try it!", Patel said.

Hazan did, though rather sloppily at first; and after many bungled tries, fell silent in defeat.

"Caw-Seka...Ha-zan...saur!", Oxidia chortled. "Mateeto(a snort)...Bonnimo(rumbles)...Seenga(several rumbles)...", she winked.

"She said not to worry.", Patel told him. "She said it was a good try, and everyone fails at things."

As Oxidia made another comment, Patel nodded and continued. " 'Caw-seka' means not to worry or stay calm. 'Bonnimo' means that an attempt was made, and 'Seenga' means a failure."

At Hazan's continued confusion, Oxidia continued down the road, still swatting at the flies that plagued her; and eventually broke out in braying laughter at his bewildered look! Patel just rolled his eyes at her, and at Hazan for his continuing attempts at speaking saurian; then grabbed a starfruit from the provisions in back and let the cart travel of its' own accord as he ate...

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[o8jedi]

Hazen grasped the railing as the ride got bumpier and bumpier. "Holla," Hazen repeated. "Sounds simple enough." The second greeting was a bit harder for him to articulate properly. "Fifat fah, haspy skaafti. Fi-fiphat . . ." He groaned slightly. "I think I'll just stick to saying it in English for now," he said. "At least I can recognize it the next time a Saurian says it."

When Oxidia burbled, he looked over to her. It was the most clear that he ever heard her speak, although he still didn't understand a word of it. As Patel spoke Hazen nodded, if a bit puzzled. The pronunciations were going by so fast, he barely had enough time to pick up the mouth shapes. Despite Oxidia's and Patel's reassurances, Hazen was still getting somewhat frustrated.

He grabbed a starfruit and took a bite out of it. "I think I'm looking for more association in learning this. Like, say, how to say 'starfruit' in Saurian," he explained. "The honorifics were a good thing, though, Oxidiacama." He gave an impish smile. At least he was learning something. He took a bite out of the starfruit and kept reading the book, humming a tune as the cart continued on its way.

[Thundertail]

~ Patel Lewis and Oxidia. On the road to Pumice Town. ~

The group ate in silence as Oxidia pulled the empty cart roughly southwest down the road that would ebentually get them to thier destination. Pumice Town would be next, Patel thought as he finished his third piece of fruit and considered the money he had collected for the delivery of the figurehead to Irenic; even though the money was trivial in consideration that delivery of that figurehead would mean the completion of the largest fishing vessel on Dinotopia short of the ancient galleons and other large craft washed ashore over the centuries.

Even though they had been repaired and used hundreds of years ago, they had long since crumbled into the surf; and smaller but more modern craft had been devised. The Liopleurodon was so big that it could conceivably net the same amount of fish that a whole fleet of ships could catch, and the fish would be used as tribute for the caravans going through the Rainy Basin; appeasing those dangerous Tyranosaurs so shipments could go through safely, of which he had been on such expeditions only twice in his life. Patel smiled at thier deed, delivering the one item that was the crowning jewel of the ship, bringing all that sail her the best luck in all Dinotopia!

Oxidia grumbled in relief, for now they were emerging out of the low-lying area of the forest they were traveling through; where the swarms of gnats and other insects resided in the boggy areas near by, bothering the Parasolophus to near madness! She shook her head to evict the last of the stragglers and redoubled her pace as the road they were on got drier and steeper. She knew that this stretch of the path would eventually lead to rocky moraine several miles hence, a surface that was alarming to the feet; but one was expected to traverse any surface no matter the personal discomfort. Instead of worrying about the discomfort to come, she let out a series of brays and grunts, hooting and calling through the forest; which turned into a tune that was as familiar as it was strange.

"Ah!... The saurian birthing solilloquy!", Patel smiled as he nodded to the tune of the popular Sorolophan song. "She sings her joy at the times that come!"

Even though Hazan did not know what was going on at first, he soon got the gist of the tune and reached back for his guitar; but instead of playing one of his songs from the outside world, tried to set Oxidia's melodic bellowings to music. After several choruses of the nearly chanted song, both Oxidia and Hazan were in near melody with each other and in near perfect tempo; Patel silently driving the cart and nodding at the entertainment he was now getting, finally relieved that this newcomer was finally learning proper songs!

Becoming slightly winded after both the singing and the constant upgrade of the road ahead, Oxidia finally ended the song as Hazan stopped a stanza or two later; and all three stared out at the gradual decline in the now rocky, gravelly road into a shallow valley ultimately ringed with sedimentary cliffs. The general center of the valley was dotted with wooden buildings and stone structures, wooden rigging and slanting shafts at thier bases. All along the cliff faces loomed hundreds of excavated holes large enough to accomodate the tough looking saurians pulling ore cars full of rocky detrius, many of these mineshafts had clusters of outbuildings built along side them or right at thier entrances; and since the materials mined in this place was so valuable, the population of saurian guards nearly equalled the human and saurian population of this mining outpost.

"This is Pumice Town.", Patel Lewis announced. "Where all the gems used in jewelry and the like are mined.", he suddenly looked up as a Skybax courier swooped just above thier heads, only to land a moment later at a low-roofed building near the center of town. "Other mined goods can be found here as well. Like coal, gold, iron, brass, copper and Sunstones have been found here too."

Oxidia brayed and grumbled. "Yes, I'll warn him, Oxidia!", Patel told her, then turned to Hazan. "She wants me to tell you to be careful here. There are thieves aplenty here. Also, do nothing that might upset the guards; like look too closely at them, look at others for any length of time while they are around or look at anything that might be light enough to be stolen... They are VERY vigilent!"

Another rumble. "Oh, yes!... Keep a close watch on your valuables.", Patel glanced at Hazan's guitar. "Your instrument would bring a high price here!...", Hazan clutched the guitar instinctively!...

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[o8jedi]

The tune that Oxida was singing caught Hazen a bit by surprise. He liked it. After a few moments of listening, Hazen reached back and grabbed his guitar, taking it out of the case and grabbing a pick. He listened carefully for recognizable notes and started to strum a few chords, hoping that would help him form a progression. Then, he hit one that worked. Working from there, he was able to naturally follow her song, occasionally taking a few moments to try and recover. By the end of the impromptu jam, he had developed a few licks. Oxidia had ended, but Hazen kept going, trying to commit it to memory. He then stopped and said, "Thank you for a nice song," he said to Oxidia. He smiled and looked up at Pumice Town.

Hazen swallowed at the news of thieves being rampant around in this town. "Then I guess I'll have to keep it with me at all times," he remarked. He turned to set it in his case, but it slipped and hit the ground with a thud. Hazen swore and checked for damage. Fortunately, the structure wasn't compromised and there wasn't a dent either, but the G-string had snapped. Hazen sighed. "Great," he remarked. As he unwound the remnants of the broken string, he smirked slightly. "Well," he said. "We're in a mining town; there should be a forge or two nearby." He stood up and put the guitar in the case. "I just hope they can make a new set of strings while we wait."

He locked it up and held it at his side. "I don't suppose you know a smith we can trust around here?" he asked Patel as he looked around. It was no busier than your average downtown area, but it seemed like every side street that led away from the main thoroughfare was a textbook example of the dark alley you never want to go down. He was going to need to hang around Patel and Oxidia for the time being.

[Thundertail]

~ Patel Lewis and Oxidia. In Pumice Town. ~

The trio looked around at all these strange people, some filthy and looking like they had just emerged from the mines. Some looked so tired with thier trudging gaits that they walked in a daze along the ways they habitually walked to or from thier homes. The larger saurians looked tough and mean, a few proving it by bellowing at the others if they got in thier way. Patel thought it was an undignifyed way for Dinotopians to act, as if thier toil was punidhment enough! He had heard Hazan's comments as he unhitched Oxidia, who stretched at last uncumbered by the cart's hitchings; and chuckled to himself politely at his dilemma.

"Unfortunately, there are no music shops in this town; though music might just be the thing to cure them all of thier drudgery!...", he laughingly said, then thought. "There are no proper blacksmiths here, either. The best forgers on Dinotopia lie in Volcaneum, our next destination. If you could wait until then to repair your guitar, I am sure they could manufacture the things you desire."

Oxidia burbled in worry for a moment, then made another comment. "Yes!... That would be a good idea...", Patel looked around and saw a Corythosaur in guard uniform marching toward them far down the street, blue of the Dinotopian guard, not red of the local constabulatory. "Oh sir!... Over here... Officer!...", the guard rushed over, brandishing his spear and expecting trouble. "I was wondering if you could do a great service to Dinotopia...", the guard considered, then nodded. "Could you guard our cart until we return?...", the biped that was twice his height considered it, then nodded. "Thank you...", Patel turned and winked at the rest.

"If the cart was not guarded, it may not be here when we return!...", Patel Lewis led them deeper into the small mining town. Oxidia sidled up to him a moment and made a low rumble, and he rumbled his reply in return. "No, I don't know why Hazan does not use sinew for his instrument like all the other minstrels...", this he whispered as hazan fell in behind them, then to answer any of thier unvoiced questions. "We go to the Assayer's office..."

They gradually wove thier way through the crowds of people and dinosaurs in thier path down the street, many humans making rude noises and many of the dinosaurs making even ruder noises at them as they passed. Scraggly carts, which made Oxidia's used and worn cart look like a palacial carrage, scuttered by on warped wheels; or wobbled drunkenly by with cargo beds askew, squeaking or moaning as thier varied saurian pullers struggeled by with them. The underlying smell of the place was more minreally and dusty than anything, a product of the various ores that were dragged out of the shafts; but the oversmell that permiated the very air of Pumice town was that of its' residents, sweat and feces and many other unpleasant smells that eminated out of everyone here - ghastly to Oxidia's acute sense of smell and only slightly less offensive to her human cohorts.

Oxidia bawled at a grizzley old Triceratops in thier path, who was sporting an eyepatch, and grunted as he displayed his chipped and broken horns as a reply as he gave way slightly; bellowing at hazan as he passed, making him scuttle aside, slightly miffed. Many smaller saurians and children scampered by, and Patel made sure to keep a tight hand on his moneysack as the little pickpockets lightly brushed past, but Oxidia smilingly instructed them to please step out of the way. Hazan had a few questions which he asked the odd passer by every now and then, but the rude replies he got from those who chose to speak to him made him give up after a while.

Amid all this confusion, Patel smiled as they stepped onto the wooden sidewalk and turned into a wide portal with a sign over it reading both in saurian and English "Assayer's Office"...

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