fandomhigh | Creature Languages, Period 3, 2/23

The students are greeted as they enter not by Professor Dream*, but by a small pink kitten sitting on the desk next to the sign-in sheet. Well, they will be once someone looks directly at her. Until then, the small pink kitten? Adorable, but invisible.

A stack of Cat vocabulary sheets are sitting next to the adorable pink kitten. The following is written on the board behind her:

We will be having a very special class on Cat today. Please greet your guest speaker, me, Zero Hopeless-Savage.

1. Conversation. Talk with Kitty Zero on any subject. Your end of the conversation should ideally be in Cat, however, if your limited vocabulary or the limits of the human body prevent this, feel free to use English. Kitten Zero understands it. Since Cat is such a body language-intensive language, if your statement requires actions thought vulgar by humans, please use English. Then repeat back to Kitten Zero what you think she said, in English. She will tell you if you're correct or not.

If all else fails, one mew for yes, two for no.

2. Comprehension. Kitten Zero will recite a short passage. Record what you think she said.

3. Discussion. Ask Human Zero about facets of the Cat language or Cat culture you would like to know more about. Please remember that her experience is limited.

*Unless Professor Dream is present.

((OCD threads are up! Go for it! But please remember that due to a class this afternoon, I may be doing the dance of slowplay.))

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With a pop, Zero turned back into her girl self, still sitting perched on the edge of the desk. "So. Any questions?"

"So...about that question?" Blair bounced. "I think probably comparing the wild canine to the wild feline and the domestic canine to the domestic feline would be the most appropriate option."

"In that case, wild canines and wild felines are roughly equally unlikely to be reasoned with. You actually are probably more screwed with wild canines than wild felines, because wild canines do tend to travel in packs. Unless we're talking about a pride of lions, felines tend to be solitary, and solitaries don't like to mess with people. I don't speak canine, but I can tell you that wild felines for the most part view humans as 'prey animals gone horribly wrong.' I wouldn't be surprised if the canine view was somewhat similar.

"In domestics, the word for human can also be translated as 'opposable-thumbs servant', whereas the canine word, I believe, corresponds to 'master.' So yes, the way they interact with humans is very different. You can train a dog. You must negotiate with a cat."

"But doesn't the formation of packs mean that they have already established a family/relational atmosphere and could possibly have familal relationships with a human as opposed to a wild feline who's completely on their own and uninterested in a familal group bond? I mean, how many times have you heard a baby being raised by wild cats?"

"In Kipling's Jungle Book, it's Bagheera, a lone wild panther--male, note--that persuades the wolf pack to take in baby Mowgli. He does this because he can't care for the baby himself, of course. He has no milk, and can't watch him full-time. And mother cats do have quite a strong familial bond to their cubs. Again, please keep in mind I know very little of canines, and am not actually part of cat society. In fact, when I was a cat full-time, real cats considered me an outcast.

"Now, please, show me one instance in real life of a baby being raised by wolves."

"Grandfather Fabe used to tell me the story of a French Boy (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031230093X/103-5779992-7447056?v=glance&n=283155) he'd once met who was raised by wolves until he was about... Six, if I remember correctly. Until he was found by some villagers... Then he was raised by a Doctor."

"Actually there's been over 50 cases of feral children and almost all of those are reported to be from wolf or canine related dating back to Romulus and Remus who were suckled by a wolf. There's Amala and Kamala from India in the 20's and a boy found in France in the 1800's. Most recently was a boy named Djuma found in southern Russia who lived with a pack of wolves." Blair paused and bounced. "Besides, in the Jungle book, wasn't it the wolves that first took care of Mowgli and then brought him before the council?"

"Okay. Swerval." Zero rubs her forehead. "I'm glad you've done all this research. I don't know the answers to your questions; I don't know what you want me to say. I'm not even entirely sure what your questions are. I was asked to discuss Cat language, not the comparative merits of several very different species and their human child-rearing track records or lack thereof. Perhaps you should ask Professor Dream?"

Blair frowned. "It's not a problem, really! I'm just really interested in wolves and it's my spirit animal which is why I know all this. I'm sorry, I sorta get caught up in debating and wasn't really thinking. Will you please forgive me?"

"I am really grateful that you went through all this work to come and teach us Cat and I really learned a lot!"

"Spirit...animal. Right. Good luck with that. It's all right, I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about something. Good on you."

"So, does it hurt when you..." she waved her hands in a flail-ly way "do that? Go back and forth, I mean?"

"No, not really. It feels kinda weird, though. I'm always disoriented at first. Of course, hopefully I won't be doing it much, or any, any more."

Vala might look a little disappointed at that. "Yeah, I guess I can see how it might get old after a while," she admitted, in a tone that suggested she didn't really ~~and might be wondering how much easier it would be to cat-burgle something as an actual cat~~.

"When I was stuck as a cat? No fun. I couldn't tell people what I wanted, and I had to rely on other people to feed me."

"Oh. Yeah, that would suck. But you can just 'pop' back and forth now?" She demonstrates complete with little 'popping' finger motions.

"No, Professor Skeeter cast a spell on me for this class. I haven't been popping back and forth since over Christmas break. Thank Og."

"Oh." Vala definitely looked a little disappointed at this. ~~But she may have scribbled Prof. Skeeter? in her notes.~~

Creature Languages, Period 3, 2/23

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