"Ahooo ME FISHING...~"  "Ahooo IS ME WANT lo nu FISHING klama tiii...~"

This catches their attention. "UE!"
I keep the spear held just in case things get dangerous.
"YOU NOT zhutlei ME. IS YOU zhutsi sekai ma. WHY YOU ba THREATEN ME." They wave the trident at me. "YOU ba NOT THREATEN ME. WHY."
I point the spear at them to deter them from waving that trident at me.
"EEEE!"
They take a few steps back, look at the trident, and drop it on the ground, stretching out their arms, looking at my spear nervously.
"IS ME NOTWANT le nu ri (THREATEN?) YOU! IS ME se shmene zo sib."
I have not managed to figure out a single thing this thing's said.
I point at myself. "Rakkani."
They look very confused. "Lo se bashru YOU smushau ME. IS ME NOT tirna lo bangu YOU. WHY YOU tavla fo kaurbau."
"...Rakkani," I say again. "I'm very hungry." I rub my stomach and point to a fish. "Can I have one of your fish?"
I feel kind of pathetic.
"(NOTKNOW)-- WHY YOU WANT lo nu YOU satre lo betfu be YOU pa FISH." They tilt their head and some of their head frills splay out momentarily.
I point at the fish and chew the air in an overly pantomimed way.
"(KNOW)! YOU WANT lo nu YOU EAT pa FISH! IS sohi FISH shu nenri lo rirkhe. IS wi ehu miho FISHING HERE!"
They sweep their arms out towards the river.
I point at the fish again a bit more determinedly.
They look at me tilted again. "WHY YOU shpedu le ME FISH."
"Can you give me one of those fish?" I try, hopelessly.
They tap at their chin for a moment. "Muhi ma lo khabzhu shu WANT tuha lo ME FISH. IS YOU zhgari pa kilgaha IS zhe YOU bredi lo FISHING."
"Please!" I shout with desperation, hoping I get something through that thick fluffy head.
They look at their basket, reach down, pick up a fish, and gently carry it over to me, handing it out.
"ME dunda ti YOU riha lo nu ME WANT lo nu YOU sarkhe ME. IS aho YOU sarkhe WHY ME."
They smile.
One hand still on the spear, I reach out and take it.
It's all wet and slimy. I just remembered I don't know how to clean fish.
"Thank you," I say, gratitude almost spilling over into tears. "I, uh, thanks, I'm sorry, thank you so much."
"WHY YOU kanro." They seem a little flustered by my reaction.
"I don't know what you just said, but thank you."
"ME sruma duhu lu kihe YOU lihu selsmu lu sankiu lihu ME. IS kihe shizra zhe fetsi zhe shnino pendo YOU."
I take the fish, bow slightly to the alien, and head back the way I came. I left the seeds in the backpack, and I left that back at the tree I slept under.
"We! WHY YOU khaho shliva."
"I need to see if this fish is safe to eat."
"ME, uh, si, ME sruma duhu da krinu. IS aho viska YOU bazi."

I skewer the fish on the spear and wave with my free hand.
They look back, confused, and wave a hand back at me.
"NOTKNOW WHY YOU rinsa."
"You too!"

...Huh. Looks like I was followed.
"We WHY YOU vimshu le YOU kerlo, IS zhe YOU EAT ta! IS ihenai WHY YOU fenki!!"
I don't know this guy's language still but they definitely seem to be shouting it this time.
They're walking over to me now, but just walking, and they don't look armed. They do look annoyed, though.
Grabbed. They stop walking and pause, and then I make a show of holding it dangling down, but they stay where they are. They raise their hands up towards me, open, palms facing me.
"Uh, uh, ehu YOU tolfehu. IS ME na fengu. IS ME na zanru. IS ME NOTWANT le nu ri khrani YOU."
I hold up a hand and point to my mouth with my other one, chewing.
They just stare at my rolled hand and lower their ears, tilting their head. "Uhu... IS ME na tersmu le YOU khanshe poi slilu."
I shrug helplessly.
They keep their head tilted and flick their ears again.
I shrug again, chewing faster and swallowing.

"Okay. Okay, let me put this down. I'll just put it down." I gradually lower the spear, and look for any body language reactions, watching for tension or sudden movement.
They look to relax, more than anything. Their ears raise up slightly while they unfold their arms and rub their hands together nervously.
As the spear goes down onto the ground they sigh again, close their eyes and flick their head down.
I'm going to try and talk to them.
"YOU NOT FISH EAT," I say.
They stare at me. "ME NOT FISH EAT," they repeat, slowly, as if digesting the words I just gave them. "YOU pu shusku shohe jetnu. IS ME NOT FISH EAT. Pehi YOU skuji lu YOU NOT EAT lo FISH lihu ME."
They scratch at their forehead. "ME gleki le nu YOU troshi," and they smile.

They point to themselves. "ME." They point to me. "YOU." They point back and forth. "ME. IS YOU. IS ME. IS YOU."
I point to myself. "YOU."
They flick their ears and their head upwards. "NO," they say. They point to themselves. "ME." They point to me again. "YOU."
I point to myself again, thinking I might be understanding what they're trying to get across. "ME?"
"YES!" They smile again and flick their ears out. They point to themselves. "YOU shusku mo sumkahi ME."
I think they're asking me if I know what word to use. "YOU?"
"YES YOU rapli shu drani!"


"Zo sib shmene ME. ME. IS la sib. IS ME. IS la sib. ...Sib." They pause and point at me. "Zo, uhhh... si. Zo rakani WHY shmene YOU."
"Rakkani," I say, pointing at myself. "My name is Rakkani."
"MY, uh, NAME, uh, IS, sib", they say, struggling with something. Not sure what, the sounds are basically identical to what I just said.
"Your name is Sib?"
"WHY zohoi mai se smuni zo ME. IS zhe WHY zohoi yur se smuni zo YOU. IS zoi zoi, MY NAME IS sib, zoi."

"I can give you my other ear for the fish," I say, grabbing it and pulling it gently towards them.
They stare at me and tilt their head with the typical ear-flick. Their eyes widen as they realise something and they flick their head up and start waving both hands at me.

I let go of my ear and they once again exhale deeply.

"Ohunai ME steba! IS ME pashna lo nu YOU UNDERSTAND ME. IS ME pashna lo nu ME UNDERSTAND YOU. IS ME krishi duhu zohe krinu lo nu YOU EAT le YOU kerlo. IS ME NOT UNDERSTAND duhu zohe tshashi YOU."

They hold out a hand towards me as if waiting for something. "IS ME WANT lo nu ME UNDERSTAND YOU noi kesfange. IS ME WANT lo nu YOU UNDERSTAND ME. IS ME WANT lo nu ME shilre duhu YOU nitshu mo. WHY YOU johu ME shadzu le zdani ME."
"I, uh, don't understand what you want me to do."

They pause, rub the underside of their chin for a few seconds, and then flick their ears. They clasp their hands together, before walking in place and pointing off into the distance, then pointing at themselves and then me, and then outstretches their hand again.


I point to my eyes, then to the planted fish, then try to figure out how to demonstrate the passage of time. I point to the sun, trace an arc across the sky, then point to the other end of the sky and trace back, pointing back up to the sun. Then I point to my eyes again, and back to the planted fish.

They rub their face and look contemplative. "Wa..." They point to the place I buried the fish, and pantomime looking at it, bending over and scrutinising it. Then they stand up and look expectantly at me.
I nod.
They pause.

I remember that they only moved their head one direction last time when saying I got something right. Downward, I think. I bow my head. They flick their ears and say "wa" again. Then they rub their face again and scratch their head. They look around and motion for me to put my spear into the ground. That or to start digging with my spear.

I stick the spear into the sand. They crouch down and draw a line where its shadow falls, and then they draw a line elsewhere.

I think I get it.

I crouch down myself, point at the line in the shadow, and draw a circle all around the outside until it comes back.

They stare at my circle, and flick their ears a few times excitedly. "KNOW! IS KNOW wi! IS zo bavlamdei! IS YOU WANT lo nu YOU ba muvdu HERE le zdani be ME sha le bavlamdei!"
They start drawing in the sand with their digits. A long wiggly line, a dot, and then another dot.
They point at the dot near the wiggly line. "HERE."
They point at the dot and then to themselves. "Le zdani be ME."

Then they go back to the impromptu sundial and draw a small arc, and then draw a small line between the two dots. "IS me zhohu YOU ba klama tu. IS ra shu shashra li zhihi re."
Then they draw another small arc, then they point back to the small line. They point back and forth a bit to cement the relationship.

About an eighth. Hm. I guess they're trying to tell me it's not a long time from here to there.

>mark the crop site
I take one of the rocks in my backpack out, draw a circle in the sand around it, and wedge it into the sand in the middle of the circle. If the other drawings hold, I'll just need to look for the drawing with a bunch of sand sketches around it.

>follow them
Alright. Let's go.
Even if all they can offer is shelter, I'll take over sleeping in the rain again.


The singing gets quieter and more nervous, though. I stop joining in.
We walk through another part of the forest I've not been in, and I hear a rustle in the bushes. The alien hears it too, as they immediately stop singing completely and look nervous.

"IS ko YOU klama ti," they say, in a hushed whisper. "IS zohe zvati va."
"Is something wrong?" I answer back, whispering, and they tap their mouth a couple times, pointing in the direction we've been walking.

I nearly jump out of my skin as I hear a horrific warbling screeching, rising in pitch and volume, somewhere in the distance.
Similar sounds blare out and get closer and closer to where we are.
The alien grabs my hand and tugs. Given the circumstances I decide not to smack them with the spear for touching me uninvited.
We make our way through the forest, fast but trying not to make too much noise. The awful noises keep going and blaring.
It might be my imagination but I catch glimpses of lights in the edges of my vision. Nothing else.
We start running in a different direction to the way we were going.
The alien makes several course changes and I lose track of where we're going as the screeching gets closer and closer.


We get to what I can only consider some sort of crater. In the crater is some sort of dark metal pod, seamless and solid.
I can't hear any screeching for now.
The alien motions for me to stand and wait, and I keep my spear gripped.

"Toltelgau," says the alien.
"ZHAPUHVLA," says a cold mechanical voice from the pod.
"IS lu lo prami zhihapro khebni, IS zhe panpi zhihapro zhamna li'u."
"EHANDE," says the mechanical voice, and...

The pod opens up an entrance despite looking completely solid. I've... well, I've seen things like it, sure, but not in front of me. Mostly on video channels.
The alien walks up to the pod, turns back, and must see me looking stunned.

"...Ti snura," they say, after some pause. They bang on the metal and then outstretch their hand to me again.

I, uh, might have been wrong in assuming this guy was a native.
I ponder whether or not to head inside before I hear more of the blaring from before. The alien's ears prick up and they frantically gesture for me to get in.
I decide that I'd rather take my chances with this guy than whatever else is out there.


Inside the pod, the construction is oddly radial. A circular cushioned surface, a central... something, and a lot of panels on the walls.

"Telgau! TELGAU!" screams the alien at the pod, and the doorway I just came through seals itself away, turning into a wall.

They pant, shaking nervously, before falling backwards onto the cushioned surface. "Eenaaaii..."
They shakily point to the surface opposite them, nervously smiling, as they close their eyes, shaking.

It's... slightly colder than I'd like in this pod. I shiver a little. It's colder than it was outside.
The alien looks at me, and pulls a sheet of teal fabric out from a wall panel, offering it to me.

I take it. It's soft, fluffy and warm. Around me it goes, as I become increasingly and embarassingly aware of the intimacy of this situation.

"Lo nu YOU shliva HERE kei shu dukse shkape sha le shabdei," says the alien, ears nervously twitching. They look at me, and awkwardly look away. "IS oha, ME sha se vitke pa zdabartu khabzhu noi lunbe." They look back to me, making sure to look at my eyes and only my eyes (which frankly is more uncomfortable than anywhere else they could choose to look), and point to what looks like a panel with a handle.

They rub their hands over their ears and upper chest and upper arms-- they're mimicking cleaning. I can't tell if my new host is telling me where the facilities are or if they're telling me I need to clean up.
I take the fluffy fabric, stand up, and try the handle on the panel.

It opens, revealing a cavity that lights itself up as I step inside.


Speaking of being awkward, while I recognise things like a shower handle and drain, I... can't figure out how to make it go.
...oh fuck, it better not be voice activated.

"Uh... start."
"tol(UNDERSTAND)."
"Go."
"tol(UNDERSTAND)."
"Aw, fuck."
"tol(UNDERSTAND)."

Well. There also seem to be some... unmarked buttons. Great. Either I blunder my way through this, or I ask my alien host how to turn on the fucking shower like I'm a complete dimwit.