Lizardfolk of the Northern River Deltas

[brian 333]

The humans were too similar to be seen as individuals. Perhaps they didn't value individuality the way lizardfolk did. And yet they did come in a variety of sizes, and the clothing they wore came in a variety of patterns.

She noticed that while most had long brown fur growing from their heads, some had white strands mixed in, and the humans deferred to those with the whitest fur. These appeared to be the weaker ones. Even the largest humans, the ones she would have assumed to be their elders, were silent when the white-furred ones spoke.

And the words they used! She and her creche-mates had been taught human-speech. She could not understand what these humans said. At first she thought they simply spoke too quickly, but their voices rose and fell, and there were strange cadences to their statements. Individual words were difficult to pick out from the stream of sounds.

Kennk appeared to have mastered their style, but she could understand him. Usually. He used words she didn't know, and from time to time she thought he meant things that the words he used didn't mean. It was clear that something was wrong with their teaching. Perhaps, like Kennk, they needed to speak with humans to understand human speech.

Like lizardfolk males, the humans seemed to want to discuss everything, even when they knew what they must do. It was simple: take what was needful and follow those who were preparing the way.

Some argued over what was needful. Some did not wish to leave. Some did not trust Kennk.

The males of her kind would have argued so, until Grandfather or the Eldest made his will known. Females would have offered suggestions without confronting one another directly, until Grandmother or the Eldest made her will known. Humans seemed to argue, confront, and challenge every detail, even after the whitest-fur had spoken.

Not all, though; the smallest of them watched, mostly silently. The middle-sized ones spoke amongst themselves, but never in challenge to the larger humans. None of the small ones were grouped by size and monitored by a female Elder, so it took her a while to reason out that they were younglings.

Kaasaa would have to look for other differences. She must be wary that she might assume a human would react like one of her kind. They were alien.

"Kanafeeyerskin"

The tiny thin human had appeared unnoticed beside her. It's garb was simple, and appeared too large draped on it's tiny body, but it's fur was very long and full, and worn in a wind-blown pattern, unlike the larger humans whose fur appeared to conform, loosely, to various patterns.

It carried the smallest human...

No, the object was stitched cloth patterned to appear to be a tiny human. The living one carried the replica under it's arm, squeezed against it's torso.

"Kanafeeyerskin," it repeated.

Kaasaa carefully enunciated, "I do not understand your words."

The small one reached out slowly and touched the back of her hand with hot, very soft fingertips. The claws on its hands were flattened and very thin. They appeared useless; such claws could never catch game or aid in climbing.

Her own hand twitched. No lizardfolk would touch her so, with a gentle single stroke of fingers across the back of her hand. The sensation was strangely fascinating.

"Dry," the human said. "Smooth."

Kaasaa was pleased to hear words she understood. She replied, "Warm. Soft."

A larger human with fur of the same color, tightly woven as a rope, and wearing a cloth of similar color barked a stream of sounds and the tiny human ran to it. The larger human scolded the smaller, who appeared attentive to the stream of words. The larger took the hand of the smaller and marched away with the smaller in tow, but the smaller turned and flapped it's free hand in Kaasaa's direction, almost dropping the cloth human to do so. Kaasaa imitated the gesture.

She would have to study humans. Perhaps the next week would tell her the answers to all of the puzzles around these humans. Perhaps, as with this incident, the week would end with more puzzles unsolved.

Would Grandmother already know the answers?