Friday, August 19, 2011

The Elders

I wouldn't say these beings were much to look at, their skin color ranged from gray to brown to green, mostly earthy colors that helped them blend in with their surroundings and usually of a darker shade which told me they would normally hide in the shadows to escape detection. What I found most odd about them was their heads, they had tiny little hairs scattered all about but none of them close enough together to do anything with like mine. These hairs, though not many, were scattered so haphazardly about that they didn't seem to serve much purpose and the fact that their heads were so wrinkled made it so that they didn't even face any particular direction. If this wasn't enough to fight against giving them odd looks being in front of their elders made it worse, their heads were wrinkled so much more than the rest that I had seen that it almost looked like the skin on top of their skulls could be pulled in any which way you wanted to hide any particular part of their head or face, I imagined if there were any older ones that they could seriously pull the skin of their heads about their bodies as a covering or blanket. Their eyes were dark and mostly hidden deep within their wrinkled faces, they seemed to be a very dark brown in pigment or possibly just black altogether, but it was hard to prove in the poor light and the need to get so close to them to figure it out. Their bodies were almost completely smooth, at least the parts I could see, lacking any wrinkles at all so that you could not tell their age unless you gazed upon their brow. Upon their bodies they wore simple clothing, very similar to the ones that I had, though seemingly not as finely woven. It was clear that they weren't hunters because all of their things seemed to be made from plant fibers and other common, earthy materials. The colors were all as drab as their skin, it was clear they had no dyes that they used to make themselves stand out among each other, which would probably be problematic for me as I had to figure out how to tell them apart at some point. Their feet, as I had known of from my knowledge infusion earlier in the day, were not covered with any protective article, and so I was not out of place being bare footed among them. The digits on their hands and feet were longer than mine, and without looking closer I couldn't be sure but I believe they had more segments to them. But when glanced at without further inspection their feet didn't look too different from mine, both were covered with the dust of the earth which made them blend in well with the floor. As I gazed upon their forms they gazed upon mine, neither of us spoke but I imagined the thoughts in their heads were much the same as mine, trying to figure out why such a strange looking creature existed in the form that it did.

After the inspections were done they started once again quietly talking to one another. They tried to stay as hushed as possible, knowing that by some strange miracle I knew their language. Some of the bits and pieces I picked up made me understand that they were trying to figure out if they should treat this as a religious experience, a scientific discovery, or perhaps something else in meeting me. Once they seemed to reach a consensus they turned back to me, and speaking slowly as if to a child began to introduce themselves. My expression must have been one of amusement because they stopped half way through and looked at one another. Realizing that their confusion was with the slight smirk I had I quickly gained my composure and explained to them that I found it a little entertaining that they felt the need to speak to me as if I didn't know their language, which brought about the next part of the conversation in which they wanted to know how it was that I spoke their language. Specifically, how it was I spoke their dialect when it wasn't a normal one that any other village spoke and in fact they took a lot of precautions in keeping it a secret. To this I replied that I wasn't aware there were any differences and that theirs was the only one I knew and as far as how I learned it, it was a strange process of knowledge being put in my head by some strange device, but that the details of the whole process was not something I currently knew anything about. This then made them wonder if someone sent me forth to them, to which I replied that it seemed like I sent myself, that I should know how all this happened but currently because of certain physical limitations I could not know these things at the same time as I knew what I currently knew. Of course, this was hard to comprehend and even speaking about it to them made me unsure of what was going on, but I did my best to hold fast to what I was trying to hold as truth and put forth the most confidence in my own words as I could. After some brief discussion they seemed to accept what I was saying, though they did mention to me that I needed to work on figuring out my own past before I went forth to any other village and talked with them. After saying this they offered me some food and a place to rest, promising to talk with me more tomorrow when the sun rose and to begin helping me find a way to learn what I once knew.