"Well, sure." Shuddering as a bit of water trickled through his fur to his skin, Arhu sat down and started pressing it out with his tongue. Between licks, he continued, "I'd be a hiouh-poor wizard if I couldn't understand what people were saying." The one unfamiliar word in the middle, a little softer than the rest, was obviously not English or even the unidentified universal language he was actually speaking.

"I'm Arhu," he added. "And that Gate didn't spit me out where I was supposed to go, so I guess there's some kind of problem here?"