The Artist Formerly Known as Nina

A baby girl, born without a voice. Such a thing was nigh unheard of in a disease-free world such as Felarya, and was an unthinkable occurrence in the Rosic’s village. And yet there she had been, the voiceless kitten, crying absolutely silently, seemingly unaware that her efforts produced no sound. Some thought to end her life at that moment, that she would not need to bear living the likely-to-be difficult life of a Rosic neko with no voice, but her father disagreed. He saw it as a sign that his daughter was special, and meant to raise her to be the absolute best she could be.

The fates thus decided that his life would end not months after his daughter’s birth, eaten after a performance by the band of which he was a part went sour, leaving the mother to care for the voiceless kitten, named Nina, on her lonesome.

Despite the difficulties that were inherent in not being able to vocalize sounds, Nina managed to communicate well with her mother as she grew and learned. A bang of a wooden spoon on the table was her way of asking for food, clapping her hands showed she was happy, a pat on her legs showed she was upset. And this does not even include the myriad of facial expressions she became known for from a very early age. What made her happiest was listening to the melodies played for her by her mother on her violin.

About two years passed since Nina’s birth when the young lady played her first musical note; upon chancing across her mother’s violin, she raised its bow to the strings and gave a short tug, and, amused, proceeded to give another. Her mother, perhaps too proud of how quickly Nina was learning, immediately took up the task of teaching her daughter the art of the violin. It was a slow start, naturally, as Nina’s small arms and hands could not yet grip and play the instrument properly, and her mind was not yet developed enough to understand what was attempting to be taught to her.

A year or so later, Nina’s mother gave it another go. She had a local craftsman create a violin suited to her daughter’s size, an instrument which was well-loved by its owner, so much so that it enjoyed warm snuggles night by night. By that point, Nina was able to understand speech properly, and was able to begin learning how to speak the language of music. Yet not all was smooth sailing; though Nina learnt the basics of playing notes on her violin well and quick, when it came to applying these lessons to play scales, she often wasn’t able to keep time properly, and would frequently speed up her note playings. Nina once even improvised a short medley whilst playing these fast notes. However, her mother believed greatly in the graceful, soothing sound of a properly-played violin, and Nina was subsequently scolded whensoever she was caught “fiddling”, as her mother referred to it. However, it wasn’t until the age of five that Nina finally learnt to control herself when she played.

Nina continued to learn and grow, making friends, mistakes, and of course, music. Around the age of six years, she picked up the habit of toting her violin with her wherever she wandered, using different noises she could make with it to express her thoughts and feelings to others - much to her mother’s chagrin. Further to her mother’s dismay, this method of communication earned Nina the interest and friendship of a seagull harpy by the name of Waerin. Despite the harpy’s foul tongue (which amused Nina to no end) and less-than-savory attitude, she happened also to be a gifted singer. Together, the two would occasionally create beautiful melodies together, whether alone in the jungle surrounding the village, or with an audience in the village itself. Nina’s mother, however, did not enjoy the harpy’s company, and saw Waerin as a terrible influence on her daughter.

Eight years after her birth, Nina showcased her innate ability for improvisation when - according to the terms of a wager forged by Waerin - she decided to perform an upbeat fiddling tune rather than the graceful violin melody her mother and she had practiced together for weeks on end for a “Young Talent” competition in the village. After her performance, which was quite well-received by the audience to which she had played (which included her harpy friend), Nina was promptly chastised by her mother for going against her teachings. Upon telling her mother that she only committed the act because Waerin had dared her so, the young neko was forbidden from meeting with her harpy friend ever again, and the harpy was sent away, told never to return. Frustrated with the dictations of her mother, Nina fled the village as well, losing herself in the wilderness as she dwelled on her sour emotions.

Subsequently, a storm gathered over the beach area at which Nina found herself anon, drawing arthronodes by the tens. The disheartened neko soon found herself surrounded and at odds with the hungered, gargantuan, volt-producing crustaceans. Soon to be devoured after being struck with an electric shock, who should arrive to the rescue but her good friend Waerin, who swooped in under the hard-shelled predators, weaving between claws, vices and electrical discharges at near-breakneck speeds, latched onto the collar of her friend’s dress by the talons, and carried her back into the jungle where they would be safe from immediate harm!

Upon her return to home and native land, Nina was immediately scolded once more by her mother for disobeying her command to not socialize with the erroneous harpy. Unfortunately for her, the event of Nina’s return had initiated an assembly of concerned citizens and friends of the neko, who presented themselves in time to bear witness to the undeserved scolding. Those who knew Nina took her side, and those who knew those who knew Nina took her side as well. Those who knew Waerin knew she wasn’t concocted of the apt choice of characteristics for a person - that is to say, she was considered to be someone to avoid - but they knew she was honest, and when she told the crowd of her heroics, they took her side as well. Nina’s mother, not an unreasonable person, was forced to come to the harsh realization that she had been, perhaps, too hard on Nina, and attributed it to her goal of realizing her husband’s last wish of making Nina the best she could be. She forged a pact with Nina, the terms being that she would allow her and Waerin’s friendship to persevere, on the grounds that Nina never again accept a dare from the impish harpy.

Approximately three months passed after the incident. Both Nina and her mother had learned to trust each other more; Nina listened to her mother a little more after her close brush with doom, and her mother had made a great number of attempts to be less strict, allowing her daughter more freedoms in both living life and playing music. Then one day, the Rosic nekos’ village was paid a visit by a stranger - a human musician traveling the area. He carried with him an instrument which intrigued a number of the villagers, not the least of whom was Nina. It was similar to her violin, but was played with a small, flat, smooth piece of wood rather than a bow. The sound it made was much different, too; while Nina’s violin played notes smooth and graceful, the traveler “electric” guitar made sounds gritty and loud. And Nina loved it. She made many attempts to convince the traveler to teach her his craft, which was a difficult chore considering her handicap. But eventually, she got her message through, and began meeting with the man every day. She greatly enjoyed the experience, and being able to play more than one instrument was normal for a Rosic neko. Nina was very happy that she managed to find one that was as unique as she considered herself. Her teacher, though having found Nina difficult to communicate with, considered her potentially one of the best musicians he’d ever taught. (considering that she was the only he’d ever taught, this was not particularly praise high as he meant it.)

After the occurrence of the aforementioned events, little worth mentioning would happen in Nina’s life for about six or so years...Until that fateful day...

I quite like this story so far, the idea of a mute neko learning to play music is just too cute. And I thought the relationship with her mother was writen quite well.

Stepping out from the controlled, circular rip in space, a man in light combat armor set his light, hard boot on the soft soil of Felarya. Holding his helmet under his arm, he slowly looked about himself. He saw his 30 men, ready and waiting for their orders. They had all their supplies stacked neatly behind them, including their weapons, shelter, survival tools, and surveillance equipment. He took a breath inward through his nose - the air was hot, humid. He could tell this mission would not be a comfortable one. But nonetheless, they had their orders.

“Okay, scoundrels!” he said, projecting but not shouting. “We’re here to set up and secure a position for the rest of our force. Begin unloading the shelters. Illik Team, I want this area searched top to bottom - leave no threat undetected.”

As his men worked around him, he looked upward, eyeing the natural ceiling formed by the jungle canopy. He wasn’t so certain the Delurans would have much need for this world, not from the way their research so far made it sound. He just hoped, for his men’s sake, that the reports of the dangers were exaggerated. As he moved to help out his crew, it didn’t come to his attention that a fleck of rust had formed on the metal buckle of his helmet strap.

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 The sound of a melodic, calling whistle rang out through an area of light jungle beside Torpaline Coast, signalling the presence of someone brave and/or foolish to whoever else was in the area. Nina brushed the bangs of her healthy, brown hair away from her eyes as she looked around for the person she was searching for. She knew she’d notice the whistle eventually. She didn’t worry about catching any unwanted attention, since she was close enough to the Rosic Neko village that anything that might have tried to prey on her was probably in league with the village already. And if not, well she’d just have to play a nice tune for them on the violin she was carrying in her hand. Her actions dictated by her ever-carefree attitude, she let out another whistle, identical to the first, letting its sound spread through the trees.

 “Y’know, you don’t need to call me like some animal,” came a female voice from behind Nina. The neko’s brown ears turned toward the source of the voice, then her head, and finally the rest of her body as she spun around to face the voice’s owner. Nina was granted the familiar sight of Waerin’s white and grey feathers, and, looking downward, her similarly-coloured hair, albeit at an off-putting upside-down angle. Hanging from the branch of a small tree, the harpy added, with an inverted smirk, “You flippant little jackass.”

 Nina responded with a silent giggle, her pearly teeth showing between her lips. Her body shook with the motion of laughter, causing her somewhat-developed breast to bounce in front of the harpy’s face. Waerin looked down (or, up?) at her own body. She couldn’t even see her undeveloped chest beneath the feathers framing her collar. But it wasn’t a situation she wasn’t used to, comparing her body with others. She’d just have to wait it out, she thought, maybe drink more milk or something. Nina noticed her friend’s discomfort, and glanced down at her own body in turn, which was neatly and modestly covered by her sleeveless, olive-coloured dress, which reached her knees. She didn’t understand why it made Waerin feel the way it seemed to, but that didn’t stop her from feeling bad about it. If she could give her body shape to Waerin, she would. Now how to convey that feeling to Waerin…?

 Nina was about to raise her violin and do just that when Waerin spoke up. “Look, it’s not like it’s your fault or anything. Don’t make depressing faces like some kind of bipolar sycophant who didn‘t get what she wanted.”

 The neko hadn’t realized she was making any faces. But she figured that wasn’t the first time, and it probably wouldn’t be the last, that she unwittingly expressed her feelings through some form or another. Or maybe Waerin just knew her that well. That thought made Nina happy. A good friend who can read your mind is the best person for someone who can’t talk to have around, she thought. At any rate, she lowered her violin, holding the bow in the same hand as the shaft of the instrument itself. Nina looked down into Waerin’s olive-coloured eyes. It was unusual to see them both at the same time, she thought to herself. Usually at least one of them was covered by her bangs, but since she was upside-down, her hair fell up away from her face. Nina wondered what it’d be like if she wore her own hair like how Waerin did. Would she be able to pull off that kind of rebellious look? Would anyone even really notice? She bet she’d look cool to Waerin though. Waerin seemed to think whatever she did was cool. Or at least, that’s how Nina took most of her insults. Nina knew everything Waerin did was cool. Like wearing her hair over one eye. And saving her life. That was the coolest ever.

 “Why are you staring at me like a creepy little lesbian?” Waerin asked, cocking an eyebrow. This made Nina snap back to reality. She was surprised to see Waerin right side up again. Had it happened while she was lost in thought? “You gotta’ stop doing that while people are standing in your line of sight. Comes off really frickin’ creepy, like when you feel bugs crawling through your feathers, but there aren’t any there.”

 Nina knew what Waerin meant, or at least, she thought she did, and she gave a nod indicating she understood. “Right,” Waerin said. “So why’d you call me in the first place, you inconsiderate leech? I can’t waste time devoting my attention to you if you’re not gonna’ make use of it.”

Nina gave another silent laugh. She always enjoyed the way Waerin spoke, even when it got harsh. It was fun ‘cuz nobody else she knew talked like that. It was very unique to Waerin, or at least, it was from Nina’s point of view. Nina wondered what her own speech pattern would be like if she could talk? Would it be laid-back, or fast and excited or--

“Wake the fuck up!” Waerin shouted, brushing her wing across Nina’s face back and forth. Nina stumbled backwards and sputtered out a feather in response, her focus thoroughly regained. “Seriously, you’ve been spacing out a lot lately. You stressed about something?”

 Nina’s mouth opened as she remembered what it was she wanted to talk to Waerin about. Her musician’s trial was coming up - it was that day, actually - and she’d been really nervous for the last little while. Nina lifted her violin and began making rapid, high-pitched noises with it, like a little kid who didn’t know how to play it right, trying hastily to convey this all to Waerin.

 The harpy tilted her head, more in shock than confusion. Her friend was clearly very agitated. Was it something she said? No, if it was that, her facial expression would be different. Waerin knew Nina was very panicked about something, but she couldn’t tell from the violin noises just what it was. Nina could tell Waerin knew how she felt, but she was starting to look confused. She decided to try using gestures instead, so she put her violin on the ground, and took a ready position, signalling she was going to communicate something else. Waerin nodded, and paid attention. The neko proceeded to point at herself, and then used her middle and index fingers on her right hand to simulate herself walking somewhere, and then used the same setup on her left hand to indicate that she was meeting someone else. She then threw both her hands up in the air, stood on her toes, and inflated her cheeks with air, to indicate that the person she was meeting was huge! Then she bent down, picked up her violin, rose back up with a bounce of her chest, and played a short, quick little melody on it, then put it back down and held her hands up over her head, only to bring them back down in front of her slowly, trying to simulate receiving something from someone bigger than her. She then marched in place, pretending to carry that something under her arm, back home, where she would show it to everyone in the village and prove her worth as a musician and make the transition into adulthood!

 As Nina took a deep breath, faintly exhausted from her performance, Waerin stood where she was with her mouth agape, and her head tilted towards Nina. “Okaaaaaaay…Now lemme see if I got this straight: You have to go waltzing out into the jungle like some deranged moron, play a tune for some massive predator, make them want to give you a souvenir, which you then have to haul back to your village and produce as proof that you did the thing you did so that everyone else will recognize your talent and you can call yourself an adult Rosic?”

 Nina hopped up and down excitedly, tapping herself on the nose with a huge smile. She couldn’t believe Waerin had actually gotten that one on the first try! Wow, were they in sync or what?!

“Yeah, I heard about that from your mom the other day,” Waerin said. “She said you’d been losing sleep over it for the last two sixdays.”

Nina stopped jumping for joy and her face fell; the only reason Waerin knew what she was saying was because she’d heard it already. Waerin noticed her dejected look almost instantly. “Sorry,” she said, even though, yeah, messing with Nina like that was totally worth it. “But, hey, y’know, whatever, okay? We both know you’re totally not the worst musician your village has ever produced--”

The harpy stopped talking. Nina was frowning at her something awful, had her bottom teeth showing, brows furrowed, brown eyes lacking light - the whole grim shebang. Waerin thought she was about to eat her face.

 “I mean, uh…you’re totally the best musician I know. Y’know, seriously,” Waerin said, looking Nina straight in the eye. It sucked that she had to forego her harpy mannerisms, but clearly Nina wasn’t in the mood for them at the moment. Waerin relaxed, seeing Nina’s expression ease up and her mouth close. She didn’t look happy, by far, but at least it was a step in the right direction.

 “And y’know something? You’ve done this before!” Waerin said, a memory suddenly surfacing in her feathery mind. This caught Nina’s attention, and she looked at her friend, head turned slightly to the left while cocking her left brow. “Remember when Mr. Guitar Hero was almost swallowed by that massive airgle a while back and you riffed that really relaxing melody on his instrument to calm it down long enough for that disgusting but helpful slug thing to show up and save his butt?”

 Nina put her right hand on her chin, with her index finger under her lip, while resting her right elbow on the back her left hand, and thought back. She definitely remembered that, but had she really played such a big role in saving her second music teacher? But if Waerin was right, that meant, ideally, that Nina would be able to pass her trial no problem. Heck, it was almost as if she’d already passed it! Nina lowered her arms and smiled wide at Waerin.

“Yeahah, that did the trick!” Waerin said, giving an enthusiastic flap of her wings. “So when do you have to go pass this trial thing?”

Nina looked up and pointed towards where the sunlight was shining through the leaves of the trees over them, and then pointed directly upward.

“Midday today?!! What are we waiting for, we gotta’ get you dressed for success!!” Waerin flapped her wings, lifting her body into the air and maneuvering behind Nina. She began to poke her friend in the back with her talons. “C’mon, get moving!”

Nina stumbled forward, holding her head with her hands. She liked Waerin, but she really didn’t like when she got rough with her. It always hurt for days afterward. She began running towards the Rosic Neko village, trying to stay ahead of Waerin, who poked her with a sharp talon whenever she got close enough.

Waerin, for her part, felt like a herder. “Hyah! Hyah!”

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The short trip back to the Rosic Neko village was made even shorter by Waerin’s efforts. There was no wall or any other physical means of defense anywhere around the village. It wasn’t until she saw the small, wood buildings that Waerin knew they had arrived, and then proudly flew over Nina and landed in front of her. On instinct, the neko turned and attempted to run in the opposite direction, forcing Waerin to grab the collar of her dress with her talons. Standing on one foot, she leaned the other way, using her greater physical strength to keep Nina running in place.

“C’mooon! You can take a little punishment, can’t you? Stop acting like a newborn chick!” Waerin said as she pulled her leg, forcing Nina onto her rear. She responded by curling up into a ball with her head between her knees. “Look, I know I should be supportive of you, and you know I try to be when it comes to your feelings, but you seriously need to toughen the…fork up physically!”

 Nina uncurled herself and looked up at Waerin. She really thought it was weird how she threw in nonsense words sometimes when avoiding harsher words. She knew she avoided those kinds of words because she thought a harpy that was a truly talented speaker didn’t need to resort to them, but it really made her dialogue lose its impact when she substituted other words that didn’t even fit in-context. Maybe it was some kind of wordplay in her language? She couldn’t tell because she’d never heard Waerin swear in harpy-tongue so she had nothing to compare the sounds she just made to. Maybe the word that meant…whatever it was supposed to mean, sounded similar to a swear word in her language. Or maybe harpies swore in all kinds of languages, or maybe she used a word in a different language that sounded like a swear word in her own language. Maybe--

“Stop spacing out!!” Waerin said, pulling Nina up to her feet again with a few flaps of her wings. Nina stumbled to her feet, not having much choice in the matter, and found her balance quickly. She turned to look at her friend as she landed, so she could stick her tongue out at the harpy. Waerin pretended to be insulted, and began chasing Nina, who ran towards her home.

As she ran, Nina heard Waerin grunt in pain, and turned around to see her on the ground, face-up. She ran back to help her friend up, putting her wing over her shoulders and lifting her up. As soon as she was back on her talons, Waerin wasted no time focusing her attention on the black-haired neko who’d knocked her down, who had by then gathered a small crowd around her several feet away.

“Hey! Were you born without eyes or did you just decide to forego them today?!” Waerin shouted as she trotted closer to her offender. Nina followed, knowing it would fall to her to keep her friend out of trouble. But the woman who’d knocked her down didn’t seem to hear her - she was too busy conversing with the crowd around her. As Waerin approached, one of the men who’d been in the crowd put his arm around the neko lady and led her away. Waerin continued shouting, however, despite the fact nobody but Nina seemed to be listening. Nina thought it interesting how phrases like “empty-headed” and “disgrace to all things alive”, which could be up to seven words in her own language, could be conveyed in only two or three words in harpy-tongue. Nina gave Waerin a pat on the back, and gestured to a sunny area beside a nearby house, implying that she should go relax. Waerin caught her drift and nodded reluctantly, seeing as how the woman who’d knocked her down was now nowhere in sight.

 As Waerin headed away, Nina noticed one of the people the neko lady had been talking to in the crowd heading in her direction. Curious, she cut him off, looking up to him.

“Ah, Nina,” the man said, recognizing her as the voiceless girl. “Curious about that spectacle, I assume?”

Nina nodded in response, just as Waerin came trotting back. The harpy didn’t particularly care for ‘cool down time’. The man told the two of them that the woman - the one who’d hit Waerin - had run panic-stricken back into the village after having had a run-in with a young giant mermaid, who the woman described as having green skin and a large seashell strapped over one of her eyes. Apparently, it had shown up while the woman and her band mates were practicing a peaceful song on the beach. She claimed that, when they tried to appease the mermaid with their song, it didn’t take interest, so they tried a finished song they knew, a lullaby of sorts for particularly rowdy predators, but this only made the mermaid lash out in anger.

“According to her, the mermaid brutalized her band mates’ bodies first, then ate what was left.” the man said, finishing his relay of the tale. “To be honest, I’m glad it wasn’t me out there. I don’t like playing for rude crowds. But if nobody else steps up to the plate, the village might have a real problem on its hands.”

As the man walked away, Nina was left with a stunned look on her face. She thought she knew the lullaby he mentioned, and if she was right, she couldn’t conceive that anyone could have had a bad reaction to that calming a melody. The news that someone did scared her. What if she ran into that mermaid on her trial?! What would she do? What if someone else didn’t like her music? Would she end up the same way? Her thoughts were interrupted when Waerin nudged her with her wing.

“I bet they just weren’t as good as they thought they were,” Waerin said dismissively, trying honestly to make Nina feel better. “Or maybe they just played a sour note. You know you don’t do sour notes.”

Nina was glad her friend was trying, but it didn’t really help her mood any. She was scared and worried all over again, all because some really brutal predator had taken up territory near the village. She turned around and walked home, choosing not to say a word to Waerin.

“…Was it something I said?” Waerin asked, turning to follow after her pal.

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 Nina looked to the glassless windows of her home of wood - a small, one-story house meant more for shelter than for comfort. The windows were open, having wood shutters to be closed with if necessary. The fact they were open meant her mother was either not in the house, or in the house but not practicing her instrument. Either way, it meant Nina need not bother with a soft entrance. The girl ran up to her house, leaving Waerin in the dust behind her, and burst through the front door, making it swing around and hit the wall it was built into with a loud thud. She just hoped her mom was home; otherwise it would be meaningless to get her attention in that manner. Thankfully for Nina, her mother poked her head of long, silky brown hair from the food storage and preparation room’s doorway, which was almost right next to the front entrance.

 “I told you two before, no playing tag inside the house,” the slender woman said, a stern tone that Nina was all too familiar with. She stopped and jogged in reverse to “speak” with her mother, and in doing so bumped into Waerin as she was attempting to enter. She fell on her tail feathers with a thud, dropping down the two stairs that lead up to the doorway.

 “Gyar! What IS it with people running into me today?!” Waerin shouted. If she had proper arms, she’d use them to nurse her bruised backside. It always bothered her how much more traffic there was to deal with on the ground than in the air.

 As her mother stepped into the family room, having been able to tell that something was troubling her daughter by her expression, Nina turned and helped Waerin off the ground again. She didn’t have words to express how bad she felt for being the one to knock her down this time. All she could do was give three apologetic bows in quick succession.

“Nina says she’s sorry,” her mother translated.

“I know what she’s saying,” Waerin said, giving the mother of her bestie a sharp glare. “She is my best friend.”

Nina’s mother narrowed her eyes at Waerin for a brief moment, then closed them completely. Much as she felt like it, she didn’t want to have an argument today of all days. “Sorry. Force of habit. Now what is it that’s made you run in here so excitedly?”

Nina was the first to respond: she began by gesturing towards the door with her thumb, then lifted her right hand over her head with the palm facing downward, then brought that hand in front of her and moved her middle and index fingers to simulate a person running, and then proceeded to perform a variety of other gestures to tell the story. Naturally, her mother being her mother, she understood it well enough to get the gist of what she was communicating. She got to the part where the man they talked to started telling them what the woman who’d bumped into Waerin had said before she was interrupted.

“Sorry, but this is gonna’ take forever,” Waerin said, before telling the rest of the story herself. Nina pouted and furrowed her brow throughout Waerin’s recount.

“So…you know of her…” Nina’s mother said when the story was finished. Waerin looked confusedly at her friend, who started back at her mother, head turned slightly to the left with left eyebrow raised and right brow furrowed.

“I know, I…probably should have told you sooner. But with your trial coming up, I was afraid it would distract you from your practicing. But…since you’ll be heading out today, it’s best you know, for your own safety.”

Her mother proceeded to tell the two of them that the green-skinned mermaid with a seashell over her eye had been causing trouble for the village for several days already. There were accounts of her having stolen the fishernekos’ catches, attacking beachgoing Rosics who were simply minding their business, and through it all, each account claimed that no matter what kind of music was played, however melodious, calming, or upbeat, it only seemed to enrage her. She’d thus been marked as a serious threat to every Rosic in the village, and was to be avoided at all cost.

Nina’s gaze fell to the floor. All those people they’d lost to this mermaid, and all she’d done was either sit in her room and practice her violin or play around with Waerin. She felt horrible. She thought herself selfish for not even having noticed there were people missing, let alone having had the wherewithal to try to help. Waerin, in all her wisdom, simply remarked that “that was some pretty heavy stuff”. Her mother could tell clearly that Nina was upset by the news. She knelt down in front of her, bringing her face down into her daughter’s floorward gaze.

“You don’t have to feel selfish for not knowing,” she said, able to tell at a glance what was in Nina’s mind. She looked into her daughter’s deep brown eyes, which mirrored her own. “It would’ve been the same for anyone else. Each and every one of us knows what it’s like to get caught up preparing for their trial. The important thing for you to do now is succeed and return home in one piece so that you can take the place of those we’ve lost.”

Well, they weren’t the most comforting words Nina had ever heard, but they were among the most truthful. Even if she felt bad, there was still something she could do to make it up to her people. She nodded her head, and forced a smile.

“Atta’ girl,” her mother said. She embraced her daughter fondly, and warmly. This was the comfort she was looking for, Nina thought. She could tell her mother believed in her. That alone was more than enough. Waerin watched the two of them, a frown plastered on her face. She turned and stared out the still-open door, looking to the blue sky up past the trees of the jungle.

”Why can’t my mom be like that?”

Chapter 2: Her Quarry

Through the light-blocking fog, a sound echoed. It was the sound of a flute, a sound deep and rich. The sound carried through the opaque air for tens - no, hundreds of feet in every direction. A serene, graceful melody originating in the mind of a talented gerridi, transmitted through her instrument.

A second gerridi scuttled up onto the partially-submerged boulder the first was playing from. She tilted her head up to look to the flute-player with her half-closed eyes. “I thought I’d find you up here, Ohm. You know this is a really dangerous spot to start attracting attention to yourself to?”

“I don’t have to worry about that. The echoes will make sure nothing can find where I am,” the flutist said.

“Well I’ll be catching a nap over by that tree,” her friend said, pointing into the dense fog with her thumb. “So if you need help, don’t call me.”

“Righty-o!”

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Nina stood at the outskirts of the village, near a house said to be lived in by an old coot who never socialized with the other Rosics. How she pitied that man. What could have happened in his life to make him so grouchy, so antisocial? Even she, who struggled to communicate with those unfamiliar with her, had more to do with people than he did, so whatever it was had to be worse than being born without a voice. Not to mention the fact that he was immune to the effects of Felaryan soil. She and other Rosics had heard from people from other worlds about the idea of old age - that your skin gets wrinkly, your hair loses colour, your body becomes weak and your voice goes all wheezy. Not that she had to worry about the last one if that happened to her. But that was another reason to pity the guy.

As she was lost in thought, Waerin swooped down and landed in front of her. “Hey! Were you even paying attention to me, you ignorant waste of oxygen? I’m working my feathers off showing you my best new evasive maneuvers and you’re just standing around staring at some empty house!”

Nina shook her head and then pointed at the house with her thumb, then she squinted her eyes while holding her back with her right hand. She also bent her knees, shaking them like they were weak.

“That grumpy old man story is just a myth. Nobody’s ever even seen the guy,” Waerin said, giving a dismissive wave of her wing. “People don’t even get that old in Felarya. They either stay young forever or die before they accomplish anything. The only reason nobody else has moved in there is ‘cuz it’s haunted.”

Well, she raised a good point about old people not existing, Nina thought, but haunted? She couldn’t help but turn her head to the left and cock her left eyebrow at Waerin in disbelief.

“Hey, believe what you want, but when the spirits start haunting your house, too, don’t come crying to me. Let’s go already!”

As Waerin flapped her wings and flew off into the jungle, Nina adjusted the sack she was holding over her left shoulder. It wasn’t very heavy, though it was a tad uncomfortable for her, being filled with emergency snacks her mom had prepared for her, survival tools like small knives for cutting fruit and such, and a rough map of the area. Not to mention it was also holding up her violin, which was in its smooth, dark wooden case, which had an adjustable leather strap that currently wouldn’t fit around the sack, preventing it from falling farther than the start of the sack’s drawstring. But she couldn’t be concerned with a little discomfort, not when so many more important things were at stake. Her career as a musician, her life if she should fail, her dreams of…of…well she wasn’t sure but they would be grand when she thought of them. Along with that she had to think about her mother’s pride, and Waerin being in danger as well. And then there was her guitar teac--

“Get a move on already!”

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As Nina trudged across the wet, leaf-littered ground, she looked up and watched as Waerin flew between the trees, evading vines, clouds of small insects, and the occasional carnivorous plant. She watched the harpy slice one of the lattermost with her talons, lopping the maw of the plant right off its stem.

“Hah! Good thing you don’t have eyes, so you can’t see how much you sucked right now!” she shouted as the decapitated vegetation fell to the ground in front of Nina, who hauled up and booted the writhing plant over one the larger tree’s immense roots. When she looked back up, Waerin was nowhere to be found. Nina narrowed her right eye in suspicion as she scanned the canopy of any sign of her friend’s white and grey figure.

The Rosic then heard her friend call out loudly, her voice echoing through the trees. “Nina, you inattentive affront to everything ugly, I need your help here!!”

Furrowing her brow, Nina took grip of her sack’s drawstring with her teeth and began climbing the nearest tree, her sharp claws, natural musculature, and experience doing so making such a feat a breeze for her. She crawl-sprinted up the bark until she was at least 50 or so feet off the ground, then looked around. She quickly spotted Waerin’s white wings fluttering about on a branch close to where the plant she’d ‘defeated’ had been. Not even having to think about it, Nina climbed higher, toward a branch that appeared to extend toward the one she saw Waerin on. She climbed up on top of it, then sprinted down it’s length, keeping watch below her to keep track of how far she was going in relation to her friend’s position. When she was just about right over the branch she wanted to get to, she turned and leapt off, taking a 25-foot drop down.

She gripped the sack and her violin in her arms and landed, throwing herself into a roll to absorb as much of the shock as she could. It worked for the most part - her legs only kind of hurt. She then turned and headed toward Waerin, who appeared to have been tied down to the branch by a series of green, vine-like tendrils. Wasting no time, Nina took the sack from her mouth and pulled it open, taking one of the longer knives from it. She gripped it with the blade closer to her pinkie, as she was taught. Just as she was about to begin cutting vines, a thicker one with a bulbous tip blocked her hand. Nina gritted her teeth in frustration, and attempted to stab the knife through the bulb, but it moved every time she did, making itself difficult to pierce. After struggling with that for a few moments, to Nina’s surprise, the bulb shot toward her hand, striking it. It was squishy and not very painful, but it now seemed to be stuck on her fingers holding her knife. It began jerking around, seemingly trying to get her to lose grip of the knife, while Nina struggled to hold on.

After a moment or two of trying to wrestle her hand from the plant, she felt a sharp pain in her hand. She pulled it close to her and noticed what looked similar to a tooth piercing her skin, though it was more akin to a thorn. It was trying to grow its head back! Nina, not wanting that to happen, pulled the bud up over her head, leaning forward with her mouth open. She bit down on the fat stem of the bulb and began pulling with her head, while pushing with her arm. It took a little bit, but she soon bit right through the stem, filling her mouth with a bitter-tasting liquid. She spat it out quickly, though the taste remained, and then pulled the limp bulb from her hand. Not wanting to be deterred, she refocused her attention on the vines holding Waerin down, ignoring the god awful taste in her mouth.

The harpy, for her part, had been waiting pretty patiently, though she kept moving around to try to make it harder for the vines to wrap around her. Nina placed her free hand firmly on Waerin’s stomach, giving her a rather stern look, with eyes wide, brow furrowed, and frown evident. Waerin nodded, and stopped moving, allowing Nina to easily begin cutting through the vines with her knife. Every vine that was cut slinked off Waerin limply, falling down either side of the branch. Every vine that was cut also spewed a clear green liquid on her harpy friend. In all, Nina had to cut through around 15 vines to free Waerin who immediately rolled herself off the side of the branch and opened her wings, taking into a glide. Nina followed, taking her sack in her left hand, returning the knife to it, and leaping off the branch in Waerin’s direction and reaching out with her right hand. Waerin flew in just the right position for Nina to grab onto her ankle. Together, they flew westward, slowly descending due to the extra weight.

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“Have you ever done that before?” Waerin asked, running a wet talon through the feathers on her left leg. Nina, kneeling at the edge of the water, lifted her face from it, and shrugged while gargling. She’d done things like that for survival every so often before but right now she was in too much discomfort to remember exactly. The light from the setting sun bothered her eyes when she turned her head upward to gargle, so she had them closed. “Then I guess that survival training paid off, huh? Way to take that test preparation seriously. I didn’t know you had that in you - you act about as tough as you look usually.”

Nina spat her gargle water back in the river, then rolled her eyes at her friend. She could still taste the plant guts, and it showed in her grimacing, disgusted expression.

“Hey, wanna make a bet?” Waerin asked. “Whoever’s plant gunk problem lasts longest wins. If I win I get to sleep at your house for two sixdays. If you winnnnnn….”

Nina rested her left arm under her chest, resting her right elbow on the back of her left hand, and put her right index finger under her lip. She thought that might actually be pretty fun, living with her friend for a while. She began her response by pointing to Waerin, then to herself, and then mimed a roof over her own head with her arms. She then held up four fingers, followed by six fingers.

“What?! Four sixdays?! I can’t be shackled down to the same place for that long!”

Nina gave the harpy a smirk, moving her eyebrows up and down rapidly.

“Pff. As if I’d ever be scared of something a classless schmuck like you could throw at me,” Waerin said, kicking water at Nina. Nina opened her mouth to catch the water in her mouth, much of it still splashing across her face, and proceeded to gargle again with it. Despite the bet, she really couldn’t stand that taste in her mouth any longer than she had to. Waerin, on the other hand, began trotting out of the ankle-high water of the riverbank. She never lost a bet, and she was confident that she’d be able to resist the discomfort long after Nina.

”Look at her. She can’t even stand it this long. I got this in the bag.”

As of yet unbeknownst to the two of them, a large figure had been watching them from above, her presence hidden by the shade of the jungle‘s trees. “I don’t suppose now would be a good time to introduce myself?” the figure asked, speaking down to them. Nina opened her eyes; her gargling meant that her head was already turned upward. Waerin turned her gaze similarly as she stepped out of the water. The two of them watched the figure move toward the trunk of the tree behind them, and scuttle down its vertical length. The dridder’s appearance came clear in the orangish light as she reached the ground. Standing at around seventy-five feet tall, she looked down to them still. She adjusted the collar line of the simple, one-sleeved purple dress covering her torso and a bit of her spider half, hiding some cleavage that had been exposed on her descent. While she was at it, she adjusted the detached sleeve on her left arm, pulling the strap holding it up to just below her exposed shoulder.

Nina spat out her water, then rose to her feet and turned toward the dridder. Would this be it, she thought? The person she’d get a token to pass her test from? Waerin, on the other hand, looked to the dridder with a furrowed brow, preparing to defend herself and her friend from this apparent threat.

“My name is Chlorophyllis, pleasure to--”

“Chlorophyllis?” Waerin interjected. She gave the giant an incredulous look. “That sounds ridi--”

“Yes, I know, doesn‘t roll off the tongue well. Blame my parents and stop pointing it out please. Now as I was saying, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Or at least I hope it is. You are a Rosic Neko are you not?”

Nina gave a nod, a wide smile forming on her face and her brown-furred tail rising up behind her. Clearly, today was her lucky day - her quarry had actually sought her out instead of the other way around!

Chlorophyllis clasped her hands together in delight. “How wonderful! I’ve had to travel for days on end from my home but now it just may have been well worth it! You see, I heard about your people from a traveller, so naturally I had to come experience you for myself. Could I bother you to play something for me? I’d be most honoured.”

Waerin hated the way this dridder spoke. It seemed too nice. Too sweet and flowery. Not to mention too long-winded. If she had arms she’d cross them. That was a thing people did right? Yeah, yeah, she remembered seeing some of the Rosics did that a few times.

Nina, for her part, was ecstatic. She bet she was the first Rosic ever to have someone come to her during her trial and actually ask to be played for! She was about to nod an emphatic “yes” when Waerin raised her wing in front of Nina’s face.

“On one condition,” she said.

“Oh? What would that be?”

“If you like her song, you have to give her something of yours. See, she’s on this test to become an adult, and she has to bring back a souvenir from a predator she survived by playing a song for them. That gonna‘ be okay with you, your frilly, long-winded highness?”

Chlorophyllis gave a nod in understanding, ignoring Waerin’s insults, and then brushed her jet-black hair from her eyes with her hand. “I agree to these terms. Some of my finest silk should suffice, yes?”

Nina pulled Waerin’s wing down and out of her way, and nodded enthusiastically. This was it! Not even a day into her trial and she was going home with dridder silk! From a giant dridder no less!

Right then, got round to reading it (I told you I would )

Liking the story so far, seems well pretty well writen to me. Nice amount of description, especially with Nina's little non-verbal communications, I think they add alot of charm to her character. I also like her freindship with Waerin, be interesting to see how that develops.

Overall it's looking pretty good so far

Hidden away in her home, the black-haired Rosic shivered, gripping a page of sheet music. On her knees, she wept quietly, memories of the times of old running through her mind.

“We were going to make it perfect…we were going to make a song everyone could enjoy…And we were so close…”

The sorrow she felt flowed through her lips in the form of quiet sobs, which turned into soft wails as tears streamed down her cheeks…

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Nina unlatched the dark brown, wooden case of her violin, and lifted the lid. She looked at her reflection in her instrument. She’d made sure to polish it better than ever she had before the moment she got up in the morning. And then again before she left to take her test. After all, a well-taken-care-of instrument is a beautifully-sounding instrument. As she lifted it from the case, she looked down at herself, still wearing her now plant juice-stained olive dress. She wondered if maybe she should have given herself some polish, too? Then again, if she had done that, she’d have gotten plant juice on something a lot less replaceable. Besides, it wasn’t the appearance of the musician that mattered, but the music she played. Or he, but that didn’t apply to herself.

The Rosic rose up, leaving the case and her sack of stuff on the ground, and stepped toward the massive dridder before her. Looking up, she noticed that her legs appeared to have a red-ish tinge to them, though she attributed it to the setting sun’’s light. She raised the bow to the violin, then paused, and closed her eyes as she contemplated what to play.

“…Ooh, the anticipation! It’s so…delicious!!” Chlorophyllis said, shaking her arms in front of her chest.

“Calm your tits, infini-legs,” Waerin said, landing on a branch above and to the left of Chlorophyllis’ head. “She only plays her best for the best. You’ll be lucky if you even get to hear half of what she’s capable of!”

“Sour grapes from sourpusses,” Chlorophyllis said, judging rather accurately. “Luckily, I’m not a vegetarian.”

Waerin narrowed her eyes at the dridder. The implications of that sentence sat heavy with her. ”If she tries anything, I’ll be here to help Nina.”

Nina tapped her violin with the back of its bow. She was ready to play. The tapping caught the attention of both members of her audience. Opening one eye, Nina looked up between them to make sure they were paying attention. Satisfied after seeing them both looking down to her, she performed a little hop, and began softly bouncing her torso as she played a jaunty, folksy fiddling ditty. It was something like you’d hear at a prospering, not-too-filthy tavern while everyone was enjoying their drinks. As Nina cranked out one fast, short note after another, Chlorophyllis bobbed her head to the rhythm of the song, a happy smile spread across her face. Waerin wasn’t particularly impressed - she’d heard that song before. Though she was glad Nina was able to play something that the dridder would like on the very first try. She hadn’t seen her do something like that before. She figured it was probably a fluke, though.

Nina kept playing for a few minutes, really getting into her performance. As she slid the bow back and forth across the violin strings, she took into a jaunty jig-type of dance, her feet carrying her body in circles and bouncing her up and down as if in reaction to the music, which helped her keep time as well. This incited a similar response in Chlorophyllis, who’s many thin legs began stepping one after the other, keeping with the notes Nina played. She was even able to pause on three legs every moment Nina’s notes took a pause.

Soon enough, Nina’s pleasant melody ended, prompting her to open her eyes and take a bow towards her audience. “Boo! Show us your tits!” Waerin jeered supportingly. Chlorophyllis, on the other hand, was much more gracious in her admiration, applauding through her black spider-silk gloves.

“My, that was splendid! If that is only half of what you can accomplish, you must have some incredible potential!” the dridder said.

Nina’’s face beamed. She definitely felt proud of herself.

“--Just one thing, though.”

Nina froze. Was there something wrong with her performance? Oh, she hoped it wouldn’t outweigh the good.

“Now, feel free to ignore me, but there are a few things that I noticed that maybe you might want to work on for future performances,” Chlorophyllis said. She proceeded to suggest that Nina should think about beginning her dance sooner in the performance rather than later, as it would make it seem more evenly-balanced rather than making her seem less interested in pleasing the audience at the beginning compared to at the end. She also suggested a little more variation in the melody - to her, it seemed rather repetitive for how long she played. She also thought that she could have worn cleaner attire - she looked like she’d just gotten out of a fight with a cup of fruit juice. Nina looked to the ground, her brown cat ears drooping. She’d really thought that she’d done better than that. She turned away from Chlorophyllis, beginning to walk away. As she bent over to pick up her equipment sack, she heard the dridder speak again.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked, her arms folded over her chest. Nina froze, then quickly lifted herself up and turned to the dridder, expecting to see a giant hand headed for her. Waerin also put herself on alert, in case Nina needed her help.

Chlorophyllis glared down at the neko. “I find it incredibly rude when someone I am speaking to attempts to walk away from me. However, despite this and the numerous areas you could improve on, your performance was still quite enjoyable, and I plan to compensate you for it in full, as agreed,” Chlorophyllis said. She turned her torso toward her spidery abdomen, and began to spin some thread with her hind legs. She made sure it was fine enough that it wouldn’t be heavy for someone Nina’s size to carry, and made sure not to make it sticky. After spinning about 25 feet of thread, she plucked one of the “small”” size needles (which was still almost 4 feet in length) from the lapel of her dress, and spooled the thread around it, before handing it downward to Nina. The Rosic reached up and received it, stumbling a bit due to underestimating the weight. She could carry it, though, with both arms.

Waerin hopped off her perch and glided down to her friend’s side. She made sure Nina wasn’t having too much trouble using her little twig arms, and then looked up at Chlorophyllis. “Y’know…for an overdressed blowhard, you’re not so bad.”

“And for a loudmouthed, pint-sized featherbrain, you’re not so bad yourself,” she replied, giving Waerin a wink of her right eye. She was rewarded with a smirk from the harpy.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” the dridder said, “but after hearing that nice performance, I’m simply chomping at the bit to hear more. Might you two show me the way to your Rosic village?”

Nina looked up to Chlorophyllis, then to Waerin. The harpy shrugged her white-feathered shoulders. The Rosic gave a big, toothy smile, and an enthusiastic nod of her head.

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With a moon high in the dark night-time sky, Nina stood in front of the house of the old man that Waerin claimed was haunted. She looked around at the numerous thin, long legs surrounding her. With her new dridder friend standing over the house, it really did feel like ‘haunted’ would suit the place more. She was still getting used to it - she’d never actually seen a dridder before Chlorophyllis. They were strange, and interesting. How did their spindly legs not buckle under the weight of their gigantic a-- er, backsides? Did they all have purple irises or was it just Chlorophyllis? On a related point, how does it feel when they spin silk from their bodies? Is it like urinating, or defecating? Or some entirely different feeling that would be completely alien to her? And would she ever get this taste out of her mouth?! …Would she ever stop feeling so tired?

Waerin made a whistling noise, waving her wing in front of Nina’s face. The neko didn’t respond. “Welp, looks like she’s gone for good this time,” the harpy said, before trotting out from below Chlorophyllis.

“Does she do this often?” she asked. “Is she lost in her thoughts or simply ignoring us?”

“Second one. I mean-- first one. It’s gotta’ be some weird new habit she’s come up with or something.”

“Well, she doesn’t seem able to convey her thoughts very well. Maybe she’s just more comfortable keeping them to herself?”

“Oh yeah, no, she was born without a voice and stuff but she’s always been really expressive, never afraid to share. Well, ‘till now anyway.””

“I see…Interesting,” Chlorophyllis said, giving that some thought. “…And she never let that hold her back…?”

“Well, she did get discouraged every so often, yeah, but if it was important to convey something on her mind she wouldn’t stop until you got it, y’know?”

Nina walked up to Waerin then, looking between her and the giant over the house, holding the drawstrings of her sack and nothing else.

“Oh, she’s back with us!” Waerin said, putting a wing over Nina’s shoulders. “How was Lala Land? Learn anything? Make any new friends?”

Nina responded by sticking out her tongue while tilting her head side to side, eyes shut tight.

“…Really?” the harpy said. “That’s all ya’ got?”

“So this is the Rosic’s village?” Chlorophyllis asked, seeing a few more small houses in the distance between the trees. She made sure to turn her gaze to Nina for an answer, since, as she just learned, the girl couldn’t talk.

Nina responded with an enthusiastic nod.

“So…I suppose it would cause panic if I were to simply waltz up to the village, yes?”

Nina nodded again, twice. She then turned away from Chlorophyllis, walking up next to a nearby tree - one of the smaller ones maybe twenty feet tall or so - and knocked on it three times. She then gave another nod. The dridder thought she had a good idea of what Nina wanted her to do, and gave an understanding nod in return.

“I appreciate your help,” she said. “I‘ll try that in the morning”

Waerin looked over at her friend proudly. Such a sweet, helpful girl. You’d never guess that she had just eviscerated a plant earlier today. Well, unless you looked at her clothes.

As Chlorophyllis scuttled past the two of them and headed north of the village, she stopped, looking back at Nina. “I wish you luck in the rest of your travels, little one. Stay safe.” With that, she continued on her way, remaining herself over and over that knocking three times on each tree she passed was a sign to the Rosics that she meant no harm.

“…What did she mean “the rest of your travels”?” Waerin asked, turning to Nina. “Doesn’t she get it? You got your souvenir, you’re duh…done…” The harpy paused. and then looked around. She then lifted herself up on her tippy-talons to look behind Nina. “Uhhh…where’s the silk?”

Nina pointed over her own shoulder with her thumb, toward the haunted house, giving Waerin an expression consisting of half-closed eyes and a crooked smirk.

“You left it in there? …You went in there?!?” Waerin was dumbfounded. Not to mention freaked out as she flapped her wings in panic, taking a few hops away from Nina. “Get back! Now you’ll be haunted, too! Don’t you dare pass it on to me, you ignorant rodent!!”

Nina rolled her eyes, and took a moment to remove her violin from its case. With the bow, she pointed at Waerin, then held it to the strings of the instrument, then paused. She then began madly pushing and pulling the bow across the strings, being careful to do so lightly enough that she didn’t tear, snap, or otherwise damage them in any way, creating a cacophony of different notes at different pitches.

“What?! I’m not the crazy one, you’re the crazy one!”” Waerin said. “Who just walks into a haunted house being all like, “hey I’m just gonna’ leave my shit here if that’’s cool, ‘kay thanks”?! Now you’ve got creepy ghost juju and I gotta’ disown you after a lifetime of best friendship with you!”

Nina looked at Waerin through half-closed eyes, and then put her violin away in its case, which she then returned to the drawstring of her sack. She then walked around to Waerin’s left side. The harpy, keeping her eyes on Nina, began backing away from her timidly. A scheming smirk formed on Nina’s face as she picked up her pace, jogging after Waerin, who began flapping her wings and half-flying half-trotting away, facing her ‘friend’ all the while. The chase continued, despite how late at night it was and how tired they both were. With everything that’d happened that day, they hadn’t gotten any real time to play. Plus, Nina had the upper hand this time, and she wasn’t about to squander that opportunity. Luckily the two were far enough from the rest of the village that Waerin’s fear-filled shouts didn’t bother anyone trying to sleep.

“Whoof!” Waerin grunted as her back hit something. Turning her head, her eyes widened to see that it was the door to the haunted house. She let out a surprised yelp, and turned her head back in front of her, only to see Nina flying at her through the air hands-first. Waerin was too shaken to act fast, and took the full brunt of the neko’s altogether not-that-strong tackle, which sent them both through the unlocked and rather weak door and into the dark, quiet house.

It took time for the two of them to recover from being a heap of people on the floor of a dusty old house, but after it happened, Waerin took a look around the room. There, by the door, she spotted the spool of silk Nina had been given, propped up against the wall by the two ends of the giant sewing needle. She trotted over to it, but not before turning and giving her pal a swift slap with her wing.

“The heck did you put this in here for, anyway?” she asked, trying to figure out if she could pick it up somehow. Too little room to flap. Need her talons to stand. Could she, like, prop it up on her wings or something? She was about to give that a try when Nina stepped into her field of vision.

Nina answered by pointing towards the front window of the house, which was on her left side, with her right hand, then lifted her arms up in front of her face, crossing them at the wrists, pointing her fingers downward and moving them all at once, to simulate scuttling. She then shook her head, waving her hands side to side with her palms facing Waerin.

“What, you don’t like her? I thought she was alright. Kinda‘ creepy, I guess, and seriously, who even has purple eyes, anyway, and those clothes--””

Nina shook her head again, waving her hands up and down in front of her with her palms downward. She was about to make another gesture when she realized she wasn’t sure what gesture she could use to describe herself. Oh, she could use her violin! She knelt down, taking the violin’s case off the drawstring of her sack, opened it, and removed the violin and bow. She stood up and faced Waerin, who waited and listened. Nina pointed out the window again with her bow, then played a soft, short melody on her strings.

“Chlorophyllis was too…too uh, harmo-- no too soft, right? Yeah, you mean she was too easy!”

Nina nodded, giving Waerin a smile.

“Yeah, and that makes you feel like you haven’t earned it?” Waerin said. She really felt like she was starting to get the gist of it.

Nina nodded twice, lowering her violin.

“Huh…Well, I guess we can try again tomorrow. We can go find someone instead of letting them come to us, then! Let’s go back to your house and get some sleep.”

With that out of the way, Waerin turned around to head for the door, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Turning back around, she was met with a downcast gaze from her friend’s face. Waerin looked it over, processing what it could mean in her brain. She wasn’t feeling bad for pushing or chasing her earlier - she would have said so by now. Was she feeling bad about not passing her test yet? No, she wouldn’t say she wants to keep going and then go back on it right away. …Was it something about home? Oh geez…

“You can’t go back until your trial’s finished, can you?” Waerin said.

Nina’’s gaze lifted from the floor, and she shook her head slowly in response. Waerin looked around the dusty house. The room they were in was empty, without even any pictures hanging on the walls - it clearly hadn’t been lived in for a long time. There was no sign of anyone ever having come visited, even. Probably because of the rumors. Waerin surmised that must be why Nina put her reward in here - because they’d need to sleep there to still be safe without actually going back into the village. The house was far enough on the outskirts of the Rosic’s home that it probably wasn’t even considered part of the village, and nobody came by so nobody would know they were there.

“Well, we better get to bed then. We’re gonna’ have an even longer day tomorrow,” Waerin said, closing the front door with her wing. She then began trotting toward the back of the room, where some open doorways stood, hoping there were still some beds.
“A blessing like the one you got today probably isn’t gonna’ come along again any time soon.”

Nina watched Waerin disappear into another room, then returned her violin to its case. She set it, along with her sack of stuff, on the floor beside the spool of thread next to the door, then stood up and headed into the room adjacent to the one Waerin entered, searching for a comfortable place to sleep as well. Finding another empty room, she wheeled around and headed into the room Waerin went into, intending just to sleep on her instead.

I actually quite liked the part of Nina playing her violin for the Dridder, nice amount of detail in the description. Well, there's good description throughout the story, but it's difficult to portray someone playing music in a text based medium, at least I think so. So you pulled that off pretty well there.

In case I didn't mention it in chat, thank you for the comment, Dark. It's very much appreciated. As will any comments made on this chapter right here! Hope everyone enjoys reading! ^_^

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Even deep in her undersea cavern, she could still feel them. The emotions of creatures and people filled her mind, all wanting to take over. Her psyche had been stretched nearly to the breaking point every day since she’d been cursed by that witch of a mermaid. And even worse than that, she could no longer tolerate her best friend’s company because her negative emotions were so plentiful and powerful that she herself would start mirroring them, becoming as enraged as her friend was and getting into huge fights with her.

A mermaid’s call echoed through the cavern; her parents were calling her again. She didn’t want to see them either. But at least their calls provided some short relief from the confusion.

The meiramis mermaid looked to her mate, a sea krait naga, at the entrance to the cavern. Her worried expression told them everything he needed to know. Worried for the two most important people in his life, he embraced his mate tightly, eyes shut even tighter.


Waerin trotted out through the front door of the abandoned house and gave a yawn, covering her face with her right talon. Hearing this, Nina, who was sitting in the grass nearby, turned to face her, getting an eyeful of her lifted leg. While it was really cool Waerin was that flexible and well-balanced physically, Nina wished she didn’t flash her undercarriage whenever she did that. You don’t see her lifting her dress up to show everyone, she thought.

Waerin lowered her talon and smacked her lips. “Man, I got, like, zero good sleep last night,” she grumbled. She then noticed the disapproving look she was getting from Nina. “…What?”

Nina’s expression turned to one of sudden realization, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging, as she realized she had been giving Waerin a look. She shook her head and waved her hand from side to side, telling Waerin to forget about it. She then turned her body around and placed her elbows on her crossed legs, resting her head on her hands as she looked at Waerin. She wanted to know why Waerin hadn’t slept well. The harpy picked up on her body language right away.

“Well…It was like, cold. No matter how many sheets I found to cover myself up with, I just kept being cold, and that made it hard to get to sleep. I also kept waking up, thinking I heard something. It was a vicious cycle.”

Nina’s eyebrows were upturned in concern for her friend. She wished she could tell her to stay home-- her, well, in the house-- and get some more rest, but she wasn’t sure how to convey that. No wait, yes she did! Nina promptly jumped to her feet and walked up to Waerin, putting her hands on her shoulders and turning her back to the house, and trying to push her in the doorway.

“Nina? What are-- Hey, stop, get off me!” Waerin said in protest. She latched one of the uneven boards in the floor with her left talon while raising her right to grip the door frame, while spreading her wings to prevent them from going through the doorway.

Nina didn’t relent. She was going to make sure her friend got enough rest. She just hoped she didn’t accidentally break a wing doing it.

The two struggled against each other for several minutes, Nina changing positions several times to try to get better leverage over her friend, and Waerin yelling at Nina to stop. Eventually, Nina grew tired, and slumped down Waerin’s back as she fell to her knees, pressing the side of her head against her tail feathers as she panted. Waerin always was stronger than she was, she thought.

Waerin folded her wings and lowered her leg, keeping her balance so as to not let Nina hit the floor with her face. “Hey, I get you being worried for me, but I’m alright. Seriously. I wanna’ be there for you while you’re doing your ridiculous trial bullshit.”

Nina turned her head and looked up at Waerin, knitting her brow.

“Okay, sorry! “Honorable Coming-of-Age Ceremony…Stuff.” Happy?”

Nina planted her hands on Waerin’s hips and pulled herself to her feet, then turned away from Waerin as the harpy turned to face her, hunching over and patting herself on the shoulder.

“What? …You want me to climb on you?” Waerin asked, trying to interpret the gesture. Nina, to her surprise, answered with a smile and a nod. “Oh, you think you can handle all this sexy harpy bod, eh?”

Waerin grinned as she hopped up and landed on Nina’s back. Despite her muscle mass and wings, she was still pretty light. Nina shook a little at the initial impact, but it didn’t take her long to adjust to the weight and balance herself. She held onto Waerin’s white-feathered legs and started walking into the forest.

“Yeahaha! Onward my steed!” Waerin exclaimed, pointing forward with the tip of her right wing.


After scrounging up a nice, fruit-filled breakfast, Nina and Waerin set out to explore the forest once more in their efforts to find predators to assuage with the succulent sounds of Nina’s violin, which they had absentmindedly left back at the abandoned house along with her sack of equipment. Waerin’s hesitation to complain about this was nonexistent, and she was rewarded with a casual drop onto the ground from Nina’s back as the neko backtracked to retrieve her belongings.

Afterwards, the two ventured into the forest, for real this time. It took them the better part of an hour, but they managed to run into a small naga bathing in the shallows of a river - the very same river where they themselves had washed off their carnivorous plant juice they were sullied with during the day previous.

“Actually, some music while I relax would be very nice,” the naga said as she ran her hands through her curl-laden orange hair.

Nina proceeded to play a calm, serene melody on her violin from a seat upon a rock in the middle of the water. She’d used Waerin to get her over there while staying dry. The melody was full of long, gentle notes. The naga almost dozed off face-up in the water with how relaxed she’d become(!). After the performance, the naga gave Nina her thanks by giving Nina one of her deep forest green-colour scales before she slithered off into the forest.

But Nina felt this, too, had been too easy.

And thus, the two adolescent girls continued their foray through the forest. They saw several things they never had before, such as a caterpillar the size of a person chewing on giant leaves, a teeny bird who’s wings moved so fast neither girl could see them clearly (which both crept Waerin out and made her jealous), and even strange little bugs which they discovered, after one accidentally flew into Waerin’s mouth, tasted sweet and delicious. A little more than an hour had passed when they came across a harpy, much larger than Waerin could ever hope to be, and with feathers coloured in an unnatural but stylish red and white scheme.

“Some musical accompaniment might help me figure out this dance I’ve been working on,” the harpy said, not stopping her side-to-side stepping motions even to talk to the littles that had approached her.

Nina took her violin in hand once more and began imitating the harpy’s movements; step, step, step, kick, step, step, step, kick. She continued this as she began a rhythmic melody fitting this movement, and after a few repetitions, she took the melody into an exciting, fast paced melody with many quick, sharp notes that fit the rhythm she began with; something one might refer to as a “swashbuckling” tune. The harpy quickly acclimated, her dance becoming more complex and interesting to watch, her feathered legs moving much quicker yet still with grace, and her wings making intricate sweeping motions as she hopped and turned about, with Nina continuing the side-to-side motion as she played. Nina finished the song on a powerful crescendo, eliciting a flourish of colourful feathers from the harpy, ending her dance equally as strong. As she panted, she was informed by Waerin that Nina needed proof that the harpy had enjoyed her playing, and as a reward, the harpy plucked one of her large feathers and let it fall down on Nina, then walked off into the forest, towards the mountains long in the distance.

But, though exciting, Nina felt this, too, had been too easy.

And thus, Nina trekked back towards her village, dragging the white and red-tipped feather behind her. Waerin couldn’t understand why the girl would bother taking the reward if she wasn’t planning to use it as proof of her accomplishment. But part of her liked not being able to tell what Nina was thinking all the time. It made her interesting to be with in her opinion. Nina lugged the feather all the way back to the empty house in which Waerin and she had slept the prior night, hiding it and the small naga’s scale she acquired within its walls. Naturally, all the efforts of the day since waking had worked up an intense appetite within Nina, who asked Waerin to fetch food while she rested. The harpy did protest out of habit, but she couldn’t have been more enthusiastic about helping her friend, on the inside.

As they sat and ate the fruits Waerin had gathered, the harpy posed a question. “Where are we gonna’ find someone who’s NOT “too easy”” for you, huh? It’s like, Felarya’s just throwing people your way, ready to be charmed by your music, and you’re too proud to just take the opportunities and go home!”

Nina stood up, indignant, her brow knit and her lips curved downward. She stomped her foot and pointed a finger at Waerin, then stomped again as she threw her arms downward, losing grip on the fruit she was holding and causing it to splatter against the porch of the empty house.

“Whoa! Whoa! Take it easy, tiger!” Waerin said, covering herself with a wing defensively. “I just wanna’ know what’s going on in that hurricane-spawning storm cloud you call a brain.”

Nina calmed down, taking a seat once more, but her frown remained. How could she possibly convey how she felt to Waerin, she thought? Well, for her more complex things, she always turned to her violin, so she might as well start with that. She brought it out of its case once more and readied herself to play, then paused as she thought about how she was going to convey her feelings. Waerin watched and waited, letting her mouth hang open, slowly bringing a fruit to it.

After the long pause, Nina finally played a single note. She then realized she could try making a contrast between what she wanted and what she wasn’t satisfied with, and make it clear which one was which as she played. With her frown plastered on her face, she began playing a nice, happy melody. Waerin noticed the disparity between the music and how Nina was playing it almost instantly; though the melody was happy and light, her face and body language would more closely suit her playing some sombre, depressing melody. After several moments of this, Nina suddenly switched everything around. Her face brightened up, she opened her eyes and her lips and smiled, while creating a torrent of harsh notes with her violin. Waerin’s eyes widened in surprise, but at the same time, she felt like she understood what Nina was trying to express.

“Okay, okay, okay,” the harpy said, stopping Nina’s little performance. The neko looked at her friend and took a breath. “Okay, I get you want it to be a challenge. But what I don’t get is why. You’ve already got dridder’s webbing, a naga’s scale, and a harpy’s feather. That’s probably more than most of the other musical tightwads who took this test got! Why can’t you be happy with that?”

Nina closed her eyes, her mouth hanging open and her bow-holding hand on her forehead. She wasn’t sure how she could convey everything through music alone. But then she got another idea. She stepped down off the porch and to a patch of grass-less dirt, and began drawing in it with the bow of her violin. She began with a simple smiling face, then made an arrow pointing from it and drew her best rendition of her violin, which was passable, in front of the arrow, then another arrow from the violin to another smiling face. She then looked up at Waerin.

“Soo…The guy starts happy, then…You play your violin….and he’s happy?” Waerin said, guessing at the meaning of the pictures. To her surprise, Nina nodded. She thought that would be a more complex puzzle. But then, Nina knit her brow and started scratching lines through the pictures with her bow.

Nina then stepped forward, making a second series of simple drawings underneath the first. It was about the same, with the only difference being that the first face she drew was frowning instead of smiling.

“Oh, okay, I think I get it!” Waerin exclaimed. “So, it’s not as, uh, fulfilling making someone happy when they’re already in a good mood, but if you can turn someone in a bad mood happy, you’ll actually feel like you accomplished something!”

Nina hopped for joy and clapped her hands. Finally, Waerin understood, she thought!

“Yyyyes! Who understands mutes?! ME, that‘s who!!” Waerin cheered. She then stopped, furrowing her brow for a moment before speaking again. ““So, uh, serious question this time: where are we gonna’ find someone like that? Everyone we’ve met so far has been having a pretty good day.”

Nina rested her right elbow on her left hand and brought her finger up under her bottom lip once again, closing her eyes as she thought. Did she know anyone who might be having a rough time? Yes, actually. There was that one neko who lost her bandmates to that mermaid the other day. But she didn’t count as a predator. Hmm……Wait, what had she said about the mermaid? That she wouldn’t respond to any music played for her? Yeah, something like that. If she could find a way to make her music get through to the mermaid, and maybe convince her not to eat any more Rosics, then she’d have really done a good deed through her music! But how would she even find the mermaid? She could only hope she frequented the coast, since that’s where the others were when they got eaten.

Nina took a breath inward and opened her eyes, looking eastward. She knew that this would be very challenging if she went for it, and probably dangerous, too. But that’s what the test was about - being able to really make a difference through one’s music. That was the mark of a Rosic neko, and she needed to prove not only to those in the village, but also to herself, that she could truly do that.

She was going to go tame a storm.

Hello everyone! I'd like to request some proofreaders for the next chapter of TAFKAN. I'm looking people who can do one three things: spelling, grammar, and wording correction, pointing out continuity contradictions, and giving me their own thoughts on the story. If you can do at least one of these, I'd love for you to contact me by PMs, or DA Notes, if that's more comfortable for you. Thank you in advance!

Since I don't feel like going through and doing all the manual formatting a third time (had a "back button" error while submitting to deviantart normally), I'll be doing things a little different this time. That said, Chapter Five is up now! Go check it out!

http://nyahahameha.deviantart.com/art/The-Artist-Formerly-Known-As-Nina-610771606