Content warning for body horror.
alright we’re fighting some majal today (4theWords’ water monsters). they have two water monsters, but majal are the higher word count ones.
thank god the wind stopped it’s now warm enough to stream outside so i don’t have to listen to the fucking laundry machines.
i hope everyone’s had a good weekend / week ^-^ recently reconnected with a dear friend from what hachikoexe calls my “millennial childhood” and yeah i’m using that phrase now. time and development are very strange when you’re trans and autistic, or even just one of those things! and most of my 18-19-even earlier 20s were spent just exploring the internet for the first time, really. and just meeting people, making my first writing / creative friends.
so i’ve had this idea about a baby elf shapeshifting for the time, and i think that’d be cute and fun! and hopefully i can finish it in one stream but we’ll see.
Prince Cirrus woke right up from his nap
[actually might forgo his title. babies don’t really prioritize social titles like that]
Cirrus woke right up from his nap. Excitement bubbled into disappointment as he looked around the room beyond his crib. His father wasn’t there, like he promised. Mammatas was there, sleeping in the rocking chair. Head pillowed against her shoulder and braid. Cirrus pouted. Mammatas was not Dad.
Cirrus pressed his plush face against the bars of his crib, wanting out. He’d just go meet his dad instead!
[i feel like i should mention i have gothic pirate music playing in another tab while i’m writing this XD i really wanted to relisten to nox arcana’s phantoms of the high seas again (i’ve been listening to various artists’ wellermans lately). anyway the point is my music never matches what i’m writing. also the music isn’t playing in the stream, so everything’s working fine if you’re freaking out over being in a silent stream! i like my silent streams. most of the time i can’t focus if something else is going on when i’m writing and streaming at the same time. also i like my streams being a low sensory environment. even if i did feel comfortable putting my voice or any other audio on the internet for people to judge, i prolly wouldn’t audibly say much anyway. at least not on my own.]
But Cirrus couldn’t escape. The bars were too narrow. They were all super close together like blocks forming a tower. If he was water, he could move through them though…
Cirrus fell out of the crib. He landed on the floor with a splash??? He felt like he’d broken apart. He couldn’t see or hear anything either. And everything felt so watery. It was all very sudden and scary to him. He tried crying for Mammatas, but no sound came out! It just made Cirrus want to cry more. Why wasn’t his voice working? Why wasn’t anything working???
There were drops of water nearby. He couldn’t see them, but he could sense them. Cirrus felt very strongly that he should get them back. He slithered over to them. The more he collected, the more whole he felt again.
Once he’d gathered up all the drops, he could finally relax. He didn’t understand what he was feeling or why he was feeling these things. He wondered if he’d feel like this all the time: gooey and watery and able to be in pieces. He didn’t want to be watery anymore, he’d rather be soft like a puppy! Father was going to take him to see the new puppies. Maybe he was already there, waiting for Cirrus.
Cirrus felt… solid. And fluffy! He was on four paws. Puppy paws! Was he a puppy now? The mirror was too high up for him to check. He tried calling for Mammatas again. He was barking! And something behind him was moving. He whirled back. It was a tail! He really was a puppy! He kept barking at Mammatas.
Mammatas was still asleep.
Cirrus felt his ears flatten. He was disappointed once again.
He scampered over to the door. It opened right up when he pushed at it. There was a huge creak! Cirrus yowled. That was a not a fun at all! He went out before he had to hear it again.
Out in the hall, he heard lots more noises. Heartbeats, talking, tapping, breathing. Some sizzling; someone must’ve been cooking! It smelled greasy and meaty and just like bacon. It smelled really good. Cirrus wanted some bacon. He started following his nose, but he remembered that his father and the puppies were waiting for him. He moved on.
Everything was a lot lower than he was used to. Usually, Father or Mammatas carried him through the halls. He was still just crawling as an elf. But he really liked moving as a puppy! He was on four feet instead of two. It was easier for him to balance.
[oh my god, youtube, yes i am still listening to the music that i’m listening to XD ]
He barked hello to all the people he passed. Warriors, staff, and a couple merchants too! They all sounded surprised he was out here.
“Oh, what a cute puppy!” one of them said.
“I just cleaned these floors!” said another when he scampered over a wet floor. He slipped onto his belly, but he got right back up!
[“Looks like Lenti’s got a troublemaker on their hands,” laughed one with a very deep voice.
Lenti! Lenti took care of all the puppies and all the grownup puppies too. The wolves. “Wolf” was how people said “grownup puppy”. Cirrus just needed to find Lenti, and that’s where Father and all the puppies would be!]
“Looks like Lenti’s got a troublemaker on their hands,” laughed one with a very deep, very happy voice.
Cirrus whirled around. Father! He barked and his tail moved really fast.
Father! Father!
“Let’s get you back to your caretaker, hmm?” Father said. He was still in his [bright purple] [smooth] court robes. But Cirrus couldn’t see their colors very well. [Was this what it was like as a puppy?] Was this what sight was like for a puppy?
Still, Father was taking him to see the puppies, just like he’d promised! So Cirrus was happy. He tried hugging and kissing his father, but it didn’t really work as a puppy. His puppy not-arms didn’t bend like his elven arms. And his nose got smooshed against his father’s cheek. Father just laughed some more.
“You’re a very affectionate puppy, aren’t you?” Father said. “I’m sure you’ll make a very loving companion for a warrior some day.”
Cirrus bark-huffed. No warriors! Only Father and Mammatas and Lenti and the puppies.
Well, the warriors were fine. But they were not Father or Mammatas or Lenti or the puppies.
“You have quite a lot to say, don’t you?” Father said. “Someone talks to you a lot, don’t they?”
Father told him all about the boring people in court, and Mammatas told him lots of stories, and they both sang him lots of songs. Lenti didn’t speak much at all. Cirrus didn’t mind. Cirrus didn’t talk much either. Cirrus didn’t want to yet. There wasn’t a lot he could say right now.
[Father soon brought them outside.] They were soon outside. Father set him down on the grass. Lenti and the other puppies and the wolves were there! Cirrus darted over to play with the puppies.
Two of the puppies bounded right over to him. White Paws and Black Tail! They were bigger than him, all the puppies were. They tackled him. Cirrus flipped right over. He pawed at both of them. They all started barking.
Once White Paws and Black Tail were playing with him, the other puppies started coming over too! Cirrus was having lots of fun.
Cirrus hopped up when he heard his father speaking.
“So how did this little one escape you?” he said to Lenti.
Lenti gave him a confused look. Then they shook their head, “Not one of mine.”
“No?” Father also sounded confused. “Surely he must be. Unless he’s from the forest.”
Cirrus barked at his father. He wasn’t from the forest, he was from the nursery! Silly Father…
Lenti looked right at Cirrus.
“Very blue eyes,” they said.
“Some wolves do have blue eyes, don’t they?” Father asked.
“As puppies,” Lenti said. “None of mine. Not this year.”
“He must be from the forest then,” Father said.
Cirrus barked even louder. He was not from the forest. He was from the nursery!
“You don’t suppose he’s an orphan, do you?” Father asked.
Cirrus didn’t know what an orphan was. He barked again, hoping Father would explain it. Father knew all kinds of words! Like bioluminescent and bridge and palatial! Cirrus wanted to know all the words, too!
[Lenti went back to watching Cirrus.]
[Lenti and Father]
Father joined Lenti in watching Cirrus.
[there’s so much i wanna read oh my god]
[two issues of f(r)iction, walking the clouds edited by grace L dillon, the only black girls in town by brandy colbert, and shadow life written by hiromi goto; illustrated by ann xu. and that’s just the books i can name off the top of my head! i do a lot of my reading on the weekends at work cuz it’s so boring and obviously i can’t be on the internet but i also like my weekends off but i also want to read but i get no reading because i have the internet. and i can’t just turn off the internet because i need background noise to focus on the reading. and my life is just a clusterfuck XD anybody got anything they’re excited to read?]
[and even with as inefficient as my getting things done is, i’ve still read way more original stuff than i did in years prior, and i’m enjoying so much of it! and naturally some of it’s been more amazing than others, but there’s only been one major disappointment so far, and even that had entertainment value and creative thought behind it. like there isn’t any book i entirely regret picking up, and most of them i don’t regret at all! it’s just that one major disappointment that’s a bit overpriced in my opinion.]
[but anyway, back to baby shapeshifting elf!]
[hold on i gotta look up wild cats real quick]
[ooh bobcats! let’s go]
A kitty showed up! Cirrus bounded right over to it. He didn’t bark at it. Kitties didn’t like barking. Cirrus didn’t like lots of barking either. [work that in earlier or delete. maybe cirrus gets overwhelmed by all the puppies barraging him all at once???]
[oh cool this is the last majal! nice!]
[alright let’s go]
The kitty stepped back from him. Maybe the kitty would be more comfortable if he was a kitty too? Cirrus focused really hard on becoming a kitty!
He soon felt smaller. More compact, Father might say.
[actually are bobcats smaller than wolves???]
[seems so]
He meowed at the kitty. The kitty watched him. Cirrus mewed, trying to prove he was safe and friendly.
The kitty picked him up and brought him over to Father and Lenti. [The puppies sniffed him] The puppies stayed with their parents.
[“A shapeshifter…” Father said like was shocked. Both Father and Lenti looked at]
Both Father and Lenti looked at Cirrus like they were shocked.
“A shapeshifter…” Father said.
Cirrus didn’t know what a shapeshifter was. He knew what a shape was. A triangle or a circle or a square and stuff like that!
Cirrus meowed at Father. Silly Father, Cirrus wasn’t a shape! Cirrus was an elf.
Cirrus was hungry, he wanted food. Father was done with work, so it was probably time for dinner anyway. Cirrus hoped there’d be peaches tonight!
[actually would a baby this young be eating bacon yet??? fix that later]
[if you pretend to know things about babies, other people will believe you]
“Your highness!” it was Mammatas! She’d come over in a hurry. She looked upset, so Cirrus tried to hug her, but hugs didn’t work as a kitty either. “Your highness, the prince is missing!”
“What!?” Father said, sounding really scared. Cirrus had never seen his Father scared before.
[And Lenti tensed up too.]
Even Lenti was scared too.
Cirrus started getting scared too.
“I put him down for a nap, and I must’ve put myself down for a nap too,” Mammatas sounded so sad. Cirrus really wanted to hug her. “When I woke up, he was gone! We’re all looking everywhere for him, sire!” Mammatas was crying. “I should’ve found someone to watch him before I sat down in that damn chair!” [I’m so sorry, I should’ve found someone to watch him before I sat down]
“Mammatas, this isn’t your fault,” Father said. [“Court has been keeping me longer than I’d like] “Court has been stealing me away, I’ve been needing you for longer hours…” He turned to Lenti. “Lenti, if I brought you one of Cirrus’s toys, could the wolves track him down?”
Lenti nodded firmly.
Cirrus meowed again. He was right here! He stood up against his father’s leg.
[Cirrus started crying. He didn’t want to be a kitty anymore. Or a puppy and especially not water! He wanted to be an elf again and hug people and be held by Father…]
Father looked at him. [He said Cirrus’s name. As a question.]
“Cirrus?” he said.
Cirrus looked up at him. Cirrus started crying. He didn’t want to be a kitty anymore! Or a puppy and especially not water! He wanted to be an elf and hug people and be held by his father…
“The prince is a shapeshifter!” Mammatas said. “He wasn’t taken after all. He must’ve gotten out of his crib on his own and gone looking for you, your highness.”
Lenti snorted, “Gonna need a new crib.”
“Yes, yes we will,” Father laughed breathlessly. He picked up Cirrus. Cirrus hugged him properly at last. Then he looked at Lenti. “Well, Lenti, thank you for preparing the wolves for a search. I’ll let you know when we need them for such a thing. And Mammatas?”
She looked right at Father.
“I do apologize for overworking you,” Father said. “I’m going to be spending a few days with my son. If you could let the people know I’m looking for additional caregivers, I would greatly appreciate it.”
“Of course, your highness!” Mammatas said. She tapped Cirrus’s nose. Cirrus was too tired to enjoy it. “You keep your father out of trouble while I’m gone, my prince. [We can’t have King Noctolucien’s reign known just for his mischief!] You’d think between parenting and the court, he’d have no time to make mischief, but he still manages to sneak some in! Did you ever apologize to that poor lady for the toads in her chambers?”
“Not until she apologizes for insulting our wolf caretaker!” Father huffed.
Lenti smiled.
“It’s not rude not to speak, and I won’t have even nobility spreading otherwise,” Father said.
[i like this but i don’t think it’s appropriate here. it feels like padding. but writing more now makes it easier to edit later. plus it’s also stuff we can use later, if we play in this universe more.]
[alright 30 minutes let’s go]
[wanna finish this and eat dinner]
Father took him home and then they ate dinner. There were peaches! Cirrus’s favorite! Father had grownup food and a whole peach instead of skinned, cut up pieces.
Cirrus was tired after dinner. He’d played a lot after his nap. And the moon was starting to peak out. Father held him and sang him lullabies. Cirrus fell right asleep.
“My son is a shapeshifter,” Father said. “My son, you’re the first shapeshifter in a hundred generations…”
Cirrus didn’t know what generations were. He’d ask Father in the morning.
[yay we did it! whoo!! alright everybody, i’m gonna go eat dinner. and i will probably fuck around on the internet and maybe edit this XD i’ll prolly post it either tomorrow or tuesday, hopefully. i like at least sleeping on these things. but yay! our second completed stream story 😀 ]
[thanks for coming out, everyone ❤ and thank you to ProtoGilly and garden_system for raiding me ❤ let’s find someone to raid]
HFEproductions 