---

Clever man.

The Ghost felt a ripple of relief as he offered another idea, her eyes flicking back to the names etched before them. As he carefully spoke his name, she pointed to each letter in turn, aligning each sound with its symbol as best she could. They repeated the process several times, him pronouncing, her matching the letters on the ground, again and again. If he was going to learn and understand, this was all she could offer in this aspect.

Then, an idea struck the dappled woman. What if she mouthed her name for him? Showed him how to shape each sound with his lips and tongue? The thought sent a flicker of hope through her. Perhaps the two of them, together, could bridge this gap.

She turned to him, pointing at herself and then at her name traced in the dirt, before slowly forming each letter with deliberate, exaggerated mouth movements. It felt foolish, this over-enunciation, but what else could she do? She wanted to connect with this Duskbreaker. She welcomed the challenge, especially since so few ever bothered to try, to put in the effort to learn how to communicate with her.