|
|
Post by Alessandro Darko on Aug 23, 2007 2:27:22 GMT -5
Alessandro had dropped the basket of rats off in the dungeons and let them loose, hoping they'd find their way into Slytherin common room, then into Keaira's bed. He hated the fact that a friend, or what he thought she was, had reacted that way. Now he was in trouble. D'rorah had deducted ten points per house, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. He cursed under his breath as he stamped up the stairs to Ravenclaw tower. He approached the door with the lavish, bronze, eagle knocker.
"What does the phrase 'Two wrongs don't make a right' mean to you?" the knocker asked. He rolled his eyes and sighed at this question. "It means that the actions of others shouldn't encourage you to retaliate negatively. It doesn't make the situation any better off." He responded. There was a pause as if the knocker was deducing whether or not to let him pass, but finally said. "Very well, then. You shall pass." and the door swung open.
He stepped into Ravenclaw common room expecting to see D'rorah sitting at the table awaiting his arrival, however he saw naught but the chair she's usually found in. He meandered over to his favorite chair and slumped down in it and closed his eyes.
Why did I fancy myself to be clever...I should have just left well enough alone... He thought remorsefully.
|
|
|
|
Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Aug 23, 2007 11:33:28 GMT -5
Several minutes later D'rorah came in with an armload of texts. She hustled over to Alessandro and dropped them into his lap with a fairly strong 'thud'. "Wake up, Mister Darko. You have pages upon pages of translations to begin working with." She eyed him with a cool gaze. "I am sorely disappointed in your actions... and not merely because of the house points deduction. I truly expected better of you." She shook her head, her face marred by a frown of disappointment.
"I expect to see a good deal of progress in these books. They are all Greek. I understand you are not fluent... yet," she added, with a heavy emphasis on the conditional. The book on the very top of the stack was written in heavily embellished Greek letters. The Folly of Retribution.
She nodded at the text. "That certainly seems an appropriate place to begin." It was a rather small text, obviously included to press home her point. The other texts all dealt with issues of Shadow Magic and Elemental Magic throughout history. Along with the punishment, she was affording him, in her eyes, an opportunity to redeem himself by increasing his knowledge of the Shadow Realm and the actions of the Mage throughout history.
|
|
|
|
Post by Alessandro Darko on Aug 23, 2007 22:40:31 GMT -5
He was startled as Dee had dropped a stack of books on him, stirring him from his awaiting. He looked at her with wide eyes with the implication he had thought she went mad. He listened to her intently as she spoke without emotion towards him. She instructed that the books be translated and that they were all in greek. Her voice was dripping with disappointment as she spoke to him. He could feel shame build up inside of him.
"Dee....I...I only know the roots of greek words..." He began. "I can't read in greek either...I could maybe get somewhere if they were written in english...but....I can only SAY the greek alphabet...." He explained hoping she would lighten his sentence.
He looked at her with pleading eyes, hoping she would be caught up in them and succumb to his puppy dog face. All of this was because of his practical joke. It was never supposed to end like this, it was meant to bring about laughter. Instead all it had wrought was a slew of tribulations for him. He sighed and turned his focus to the topmost book as she had indicated he start with that one.
He scrutinized the cover as it was written in embellished greek. He frowned greatly and closed his eyes. How am I going to get through this....The library? But I will need to learn an entire language to translate these texts.... He thought disparagingly.
|
|
|
|
Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Aug 23, 2007 22:51:07 GMT -5
D'rorah listened to Alessandro's protests, unmoved. She met the gaze of his wide eyes with her own stern gaze and watched as his gaze shifted to the cover of the topmost book. She extracted her wand from the pocket in the sleeve of her robes.
"Accio dictionary," she commanded simply, thinking of a Greek dictionary that was in her trunk. She waited a moment before it came from the direction of the girls' dormitory and zoomed into her hand. She stepped forward and added the book to the pile.
"Well Mister Darko," she said, looking down at him, "it sounds as though you have quite a lot of learning and reading to do." Allowing herself a dry smirk, she walked to the table nearest the fireplace, taking a seat before a stack of texts. She looked over at Alessandro as she picked up her own quill. "If you encounter any difficulty, I am nearby and able to help. I always found it quite exciting to learn new languages when I was younger."
With that, she opened her own notebook and a text written in Suryoyo and began her own translation. Her quill began scratching against her parchment almost immediately as she read.
She had only written a few short words when a small owl fluttered into the room and dropped a note into her lap. She read it quickly, not particularly surprised at its contents. "So, it seems we are all restricted to the castle forthwith. Very well." She glanced over at Alessandro. "You are in luck, Mister Darko, your time for translation study has suddenly experienced a dramatic increase." With a small smile, she turned her attention back to her texts and her quill resumed its flight across the sheaves of her notebook.
|
|
|
|
Post by Alessandro Darko on Aug 24, 2007 16:33:41 GMT -5
He sat there battling her firm look as much as he could, but to no avail. He sighed and leaned back into his cozy armchair. Frowning intensely at this new and troublesome task to him, he opened the top book and flipped through the pages. All in greek...this will take me years... He thought shaking his head. He heard D'rorah use the summoning charm and looked up in time to see a rather thick book flying toward her from the dormitory entrance.
She caught the book added it to his pile. He gazed down upon it and it read: Greek/English and English/Greek Dictionary. He rolled his eyes at the thought of more work. He let out yet another sigh as Dee went over to her table and began to immerse herself with her own translations. Not long after had she done this, a small owl came through an open window plopping a letter into her lap. She informed him that everyone was to be in the castle at all times. He thought that this was probably the repercussion of the incident that happened the other night pertaining to the shadows.
He had nothing to say on this matter, so he picked up his books and sat on the floor, having more space to work. He opened the dictionary and began with the book she had instructed him to translate first.
"Do I have to translate ALL of these? From cover to cover?" He asked her wearily.
|
|
|
|
Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Aug 24, 2007 19:08:23 GMT -5
D'rorah looked down at where Alessandro was sitting on the floor. "Begin at the beginning, Mister Darko. Paths rarely end exactly where one expects them to. All we are left to do is begin at the beginning." She offered a warmer smile. "Begin with one page for now. After that, you and I might perhaps work together. I really have been quite busy with these translations myself."
She turned her attention back to her text. Every waking moment for the past months had been spent reading, translating... she felt as though she hadn't truly slept in days. Though not typically one to require much sleep, the wear of sleepless nights was starting to show... her eyes looked a bit tired and months of stress had begun to paint a small silver streak in her hair, right at her left temple. There was just so much to learn... so much to do... she knew the others would look to her for answers, and she wanted to be certain she had them when the time came.
After several minutes, she looked up thoughtfully, mulling over in her head the proper structure of a sentence she was translating. She glanced down at Alessandro. "Nevermind that, Mister Darko," she said quietly. "That will be enough today." He couldn't have had more than ten minutes or so to work, but she had suddenly realized she hadn't really been fair in assigning the punishment. It was really her work to do anyway she couldn't expect help... that wasn't her way. She preferred to work alone for the most part.
"Just leave the texts with me and I will begin working with them when I have finished these," she added quietly. "My apologies for the inconvenience." She sounded tired, almost deflated.
|
|
|
|
Post by Alessandro Darko on Aug 24, 2007 19:52:17 GMT -5
He had begun at the very beginning just like she said. He was surprised to find that it wasn't as hard as he had determined it to be. After he had scrawled out the Greek alphabet with their corresponding character in English, he found that all he had to do was cross reference the word, once he had put together the English version. He was in the middle of cross referencing the Greek word antekdikisi when D'rorah looked up from her own texts. To his surprise she had told him he could stop and leave the texts for her to finish.
He had only translated a sentence in that time. The sentence read: Throughout the ages, man has often found it necessary to retaliate... and thats where he had stopped. He was greatful for the abatement of his punishment and yet felt compelled to stay and help her continue translating from the way she sounded as she told him he could stop, and when she had apologized, he felt something strange coming from her.
He eyed her from his spot on the floor next to the inactive fireplace. She looked very tired and worn, with a somewhat imprisoned look to her. "D'rorah...are you sure? You seem really tired..." He pointed out to her. "Why don't you take a break from that boring drivel. Why not take this time to tutor me in swordsmanship?" He asked her with bright eyes hoping to spark some sort of interest and maybe cheer her up a bit.
|
|
|
|
Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Aug 24, 2007 20:05:55 GMT -5
"Really, I have so much to do," she protested, turning her attention back to her texts. "There are shelves and shelves of books which require translation." Her head shook slowly, almost as though it moved of its own accord. "We need answers... there are so many things we do not yet know."
She reached down and selected one of the texts from the stack before him. "The title here," she said, holding the book up, "A Treatise of Darkness," gesturing to another one, "Halls of Light." A wry smile crept across her face, "Information is in so very many places... and not all of it is intuitive." She set her quill down. "I have reams and reams of translations... notebooks filled with notes... all cross-referenced... all compiled painstakingly." She paused, words coming to her lips almost unbidden. "And miles to go before I sleep..."
|
|
|
|
Post by Alessandro Darko on Aug 24, 2007 23:14:06 GMT -5
Feeling shot down, he frowned. "Dee...I know the importance of all of this....especially due to the turn of events the other night... I may not grasp the severity of it all in the bigger picture....as I just recently found out about everything, when you have been studying this for some time now." He started to speak as he collected the books off of the ground and stood up.
"But don't let this consume you...You have a life outside of the shadow realm, Dee. Don't waste away everyday enveloped in ancient texts trying to find some symbolisms or references to what we're dealing with. Just relax and enjoy yourself...Live." He urged her softly. He was worried about her as he had recognized the fatigue in her voice. He thought he caught a flash of gray in her hair, but said nothing. He set the books down on her table and proceeded to walk out of the common room.
He paused at the door and glanced back at her. Please, Dee...do it for your sake.. He thought. He pushed on the door and began to walk down the tightly wound spiral staircase.
|
|
|
|
Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Aug 24, 2007 23:30:43 GMT -5
D'rorah listened to Alessandro's entreaty. Live, she repeated the word in her mind as he said it. She looked down at her notes and then back to him. He simply didn't understand... but then, she guessed no one really did. His last thought came to her as clear as a bell.
As the door closed behind him, she returned her attention to her texts with a sigh. Studying like this brought back memories of her father... he was certainly the one she had taken after in her academics. Studying long into the night, always chasing down answers to questions that hadn't even been asked yet. She felt closer to her parents when she was pushing herself. She could almost hear Isaac's voice as she resumed writing with her quill.
"D'rorah, mein shayna kindele, is that really the best you can do?" he would ask.
"I will do better abba," she promised, a voice of a younger her.
Immersed in the memories of the past, she slipped back beneath the surface of her texts. No Mister Darko, she thought as she resumed her studying, I do this for my sake... for all of our sakes...
|
|
