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Alys is not on the council, but she is her line representative as of fifty years ago. She hears about the news.
She wonders whether Piro is likely to have contacted his son, even about this.
She decides that it is worth checking, and calls her brother-in-law.
The former shren... makes some sounds. They are not especially wordlike. After a few attempts she progresses to recognizable phonemes arranged in no sensible order, and then after some mumbling along those lines she utters her first words:
"Why doesn't it hurt?"
"Why doesn't it hurt?"
"I've blocked it off temporarily with magic," Keo says, "but to make it go away permanently you need to fly. You should be able to do that now."
She makes some more nonlinguistic mumbly sounds and tries to figure out voluntary body movements. Flop wriggle.
"Oh!"
She's still a little shaky - some pieces are missing on the level of knowing what to want to do, even though she can now accomplish it all with reasonable proficiency - but she manages to get all four feet under her, and flap her wings, and give an awkward little jump and flap a few more times, and then have no idea what to do next and stop moving and crash into the ground.
"Like that?"
She's still a little shaky - some pieces are missing on the level of knowing what to want to do, even though she can now accomplish it all with reasonable proficiency - but she manages to get all four feet under her, and flap her wings, and give an awkward little jump and flap a few more times, and then have no idea what to do next and stop moving and crash into the ground.
"Like that?"
"Oh..."
Mumbling nonverbally to herself, she tries again. Flap hop flap flap flap - the esu lifts - flap flap graceless crash.
Mumbling nonverbally to herself, she tries again. Flap hop flap flap flap - the esu lifts - flap flap graceless crash.
"Okay."
Piro mutters something under his breath.
"What?" says the ex-shren.
"Nothing."
"Your voice is different," she observes.
Piro mutters something under his breath.
"What?" says the ex-shren.
"Nothing."
"Your voice is different," she observes.
"What?" she says again. "Oh... that thing." She blinks. "Bodies... are those things," she murmurs, possibly to herself. After another tick she figures out that she can turn her head and look around.
"So many people!" she exclaims happily. "I'm glad that you're people, people!"
"So many people!" she exclaims happily. "I'm glad that you're people, people!"
"Oh. 'You'... 'me'... 'I'... 'this'," she says. "Not those. Different thing. Do people have names usually?"