Chapter 4: 1.4. Wyld Naming

It was a beautiful day outside. 

Birds were singing, flowers were blooming... 

On days like these, guests like mine...

“I’M SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE MEEE!!”

… Shouldn’t be bowing, as far as I could tell.

…

Let’s climb back a bit.

•ㅅ• 

“Anddd, that should be enough of a leap for today.”

After a beat or two, a distracted “hm?” could be heard following my declaration. Putting the magic cube on the table, my ward proceeded to send me a puzzled look. In response, I could only solve it with a chuckle of my own.   

“Your thirst for knowledge is admirable, Hiro. However, “all work and no play makes Jack an ass”.” Seeing the boy’s bafflement, I added. “Uhm, at least that is how the proverb goes in Bright Land, right?”

The sight of my guest tightening his lips into a thin line as he slowly shook his head was certainly amusing. In fact, it was almost as amusing as my desire to bury myself in the soil right then and there… 

“Anyway…” Taʊr-ing my way out of the quagmire, I continued the previous thought. “You have definitely earned a well deserved rest this afternoon, especially after going through all of-” I had to suppress a shudder while motioning towards the newest pile of tomes, scrolls and parchments on the table. “-these.”  

When we first started out, a firm, yet flexible schedule was set to aid my ward. In the morning, a crash course to common sense was taught by yours truly. Meanwhile, my ward would spend his afternoon familiarizing himself with what little Bright inventions were available at Growling Trunk, in hope that such acts could further awaken his lost memories.   

I had thought that the boy would need weeks or even months to munch his way through the various worldly knowledge of Frthea. Just enough time for us to receive news from Bright Land and plan for his eventual departure.

Now, the moon had yet reached its quarter, and I was already running out of things to teach…

The thought of a human sponge soaking up volumes after volumes of knowledge was quite amusing, at first. Unfortunately, the smirk was soon wiped off my face once even the tomes hastily borrowed from the archives got devoured without any mercy.      

At one point, I even thought that the boy was simply skimping through the texts just to mess with me. However, a quick test immediately squashed that notion, given how eerily accurate he could recite every line he read… 

The culprit of my renewed headaches started scratching his head upon hearing my words. After a while, he said, motioning towards the cube.

“But I am already resting?” 

I badly wanted to ask how messing around with the object of so many mages’ nightmare could be called “resting”. In the end, though, I simply chose to hold my tongue. After all, humans would always be different from wylders, and it was no secret that those like my guest were even more out of the ordinary.

“Once again, your thirst for knowledge is admirable, Hiro.” I said with a sigh. “However, you should know that staying cooped up inside a room all day can’t be healthy.” 

Flinching at my words, the boy soon averted his eyes before refocusing his attention upon some stain on the floor. Such a reaction made me wonder if his trauma had somehow worsened, especially when he was still eager to roam around the city not too long ago.

“I know that it is not easy, after everything that you have been through.” My guest looked back up at me. “But that’s just life. It can be cruel when you least expect. It can beat you down to your last leg and leave you a whimpering mess.” Despite the grimace I received, I chose to press on. “However, you simply have to get back up. You have to get back up and continue the fight! For as long as your will to live remains, your chance to thrive will never be truly extinguished!”  

My speech seemed to work, as it did not take long before the forlorn look of my guest got replaced by a determined expression. With a nod, he spoke to me while I was sending a death glare towards a snickering fledgling.

“You’re right… I can’t let what happened chain me down like this!” Funnily enough, what came after his loud declaration was a skittish request. “But, uhm… Can I talk to you about something, privately?” 

Somehow, the barely audible question managed to make more heads turn than my passionate speech earlier. Once my stomp had scared off the nosy brats, I had to silently thank Imun for dealing with the dumb rumors in my stead, especially when my flock was still nowhere to be seen.

Anyway.

Rummaging through my pouch, I took out a silencing stone and warned my guest not to fight against the upcoming headache. A painful pinch could be felt as the precious item shattered inside my paw, though such thought soon scattered like the dust now flowing in the wind.

“So, what is it that you want to talk about?”

Shaking himself out of the stupor, the boy said.

“Did I do something wrong?” Seeing my puzzlement, he added. “To the fledglings, I mean. Recently, some of them seemed to be avoiding me, and I just don’t know why…” 

Hearing this, I could not help but tilt my head to the side. As far as I was concerned, none of the fledgling had reported any misconduct or unsightly behaviors regarding my ward. Unless…

“Hiro, can you tell me when this started to happen and with whom?”

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“Uhm, I believe that it was just last week, during and after my first tour around this part of the city. I could swear that my escorts almost frowned whenever I tried to talk or thank them. They were… Ƨqцiɾ`ᵒᴎƧ˚t and Li˚`Ͷә˚ᴎƨ, I think.”  

Yup, found the problem…

I had to bite back a sigh at how little Onsot and little Neons handled this situation. Sure, having your name butchered could be incredibly irritating, but they should have learned to ignore such inconveniences like that by now. Especially when they already chose to take the path of a fetcher, who would receive much more daunting taunts than some mere mishap.

Besides, just like how wylders were not meant for inventions, humans were also not meant for the wyld tongue.

“Hiro.” I started, trying my best to remember what big sis Nexa said to the rare adventurers that would visit every once in a blue moon. “There is something that you should know…”

•ㅅ• 

“FORGIVE MEEE!!”

Anddd there we had it.

I had to tell my ward that those living in Wyld Land, aside from some old tribes, would not be too bothered by this type of thing. Unfortunately, the boy remained adamant that such an act could not be so easily excused. He even proceeded to tell me how he was being a “disrespectful guest that disrespected his very host”. 

This went on for over an hour…

Long after the dust had settled…

When even the fledglings began to lose interest, I decided to put an end to this lopsided conversation. After some more back and forth, a compromise was made.

“Then, please teach me how to speak the wyld tongue!”

•ㅅ• 

It was a rocky start, of course. To the rest of the world, the wyld tongue might as well be considered meaningless growls of beasts, just like how most wylders heard the words of wyldkins. 

“Bὕnny.”

“bvᴎ…nλ…”

“You need to let the air from your throat flow through the two front teeth. Again. Bὕnny.”

“Buᴎnλ…”

•ㅅ• 

The Horde might have evolved and chosen to speak the same language as the mighty Eagle, yet our names would always be that of the Wyld, always reminding us of the struggle that our predecessors had gone through to give us this day.

“Wćlf.”

“ƜₒIfFfff…”

“Try to say the latter half without turning it into a howl. Wćlf.” 

“ƜₒIfFf…”

•ㅅ• 

Perhaps, that was also why I became even more enthusiastic than the boy sitting in front of me. For now, I could pass onto him the same words those before had left me with.

“Lio`Nexa.”

“Lio…Ne…xa…”

“Good job! Again!” 

“Lio…`Nexa!”

And so, days went by, spent to perfect each and every sound of old.