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His name was the sound of a blade being drawn. His name was the sound of metal against metal, of imminent violence, of a sudden tension. His name was all these things and more. His name was infinite.
And now his name is Stirfry.
Mr. DeBonesby, you see, has given him the gift of speech.
He’s back with his family now, the kenku he thought he’d never see again. The ones he lived with, fought with, struggled with, until he was taken away. He’s here with his new friends, and he has to figure out how to introduce his family.
Their names are waves crashing against the shore, the absolute stillness of nonexistence, the whisper of the ancients, tragedy and survival.
Their names are Splish-Splash and Egg and Old Deuteragonist.
His new friends wouldn’t be able to pronounce them. But more than that, his new friends wouldn’t be able to understand them. How could he explain? How could words in Common possibly convey Stripe’s time in pampered captivity, and the utter joy of freedom captured in that first sound he heard outside, the cracking of leaves underfoot?
Booyousuck is the hardest. She knows so few words, has always struggled so much with the sounds of Common, but the kenku understand her regardless. They don’t need words, they understand birdsong and the howling of wolves and the susurration of the trees and the muffled static of snowfall at night. They understand so much more than words can say.
Stirfry calls her Booyousuck. Stirfry names Getouttahere and Amscray with the sounds that had been used to chase them away from food and shelter and warmth. He can’t figure out how to call them anything else anymore.
Someday, Mr. DeBonesby will give him the gift of flight. That’s the promise he made, back when a scrawny kenku broke into his manor and started cooking him meals. And that’s why he follows him to this day. That’s why he’s here, giving his family new names, names they don’t want, names that can’t possibly express enough about them. Names that are just sounds without meaning.
Mr. DeBonesby, you see, has given him the curse of speech.