Challenge 21: A Moment in the Life Of...

[IsabellaRose]

THE CHALLENGE

For this challenge, write a moment in the life of your favorite original character.

Paint a picture of a typical moment in their life. Put them in a setting that would be normal for them and let us know what it's like. Get inside their head. Let us know how they see the world, what they think about the things, people, and creatures around them. Make your character seem real to us. Make us want to roleplay with that character.

Deadline

• Midnight (EST) Saturday, 9 Sep, 2023

Limits

• 1 entry per person
• ~2,000 words max per entry

Prizes

• 1st Place: 4,000 EcchiCredits
• 2nd Place: 2,000 EcchiCredits
• 3rd Place: 1,000 EcchiCredits

Edited September 11, 2023 by IsabellaRose
edit to extend deadline to Sat 9/6

[Warning]

Tailsia, an adult fox girl with two tails, woke up this morning after quite the difficult evening when she tried to repair a part that had broken up the day before. Just her luck but she was used to it, having chosen the life of engineering and creativity or perhaps that life chose her. Tailsia always had a knack for fiddling with tools to make or repair things. Thanks to it, she often found her fluffy orange fur stained by oil as well, even if it was not a problem that a shower or a bath could not fix. Dressed only in her underwear this morning, she already had taken care of bathing herself the day before. Now, she wondered how she would manage to fix her repair issues but perhaps that would be a thought for later. Getting up from her couch to feel the cold metallic floor of her workshop with her paws, the fox girl winced as a result but stretched out and got up anyway. First task of the day: Getting a breakfast.

Tailsia headed to her modest kitchen which was comprised of basic needs: A microwave for heating food, a fridge to keep it cold, a small table and a single chair. She didn't need much to live or so she thought as there was better things to focus about. Grabbing a quick meal that she put together then on a plate, she set it all besides some parts laying around on her table that she probably examined the day before. Sitting down to eat, Tailsia grabbed one part in particular, taking a good look a it. She had to find a way to make it fit with an engine that she had been working on. In fact, if this missing piece didn't fit, the fox girl probably would be stuck without wings for a while. Speaking of which, her blue eyes left the part for a moment to look at a much bigger object inside the workshop: A red colored flying vehicle with multiple wings. The plate hiding the engine had been removed for the time being and many tools and parts were laying around. There was no denying that her workshop was in quite a mess but the sight of her plane still made Tailsia smile; It was after all the thing that she was most proud of.

After being done eating, the engineer put away her dishes to wash later then went to pick some clothes to wear. Some short that she liked to wear that didn't cover much but someone like her, it did enough. Otherwise, she liked to wear her white camisole as a top when being more casual. Tailsia had a full body suit ready in her workshop for when she did heavier work but she did not wear it very often or as often as she should. With her minimal clothes, she decided to head straight to the main gate of her workshop next. The plane would wait for her just fine and she did not need it or to get back to work right away. Not until she had opened her gate for a breath of fresh air, first. The large gate slid open easily with not too much strength required when she had unlocked it and gave it a nice pull. Outdoors, the day was sunny, perhaps around mid day. Tailsia had gotten up but also had gone to bed rather late but at least she still had lot of time to enjoy the sun before it would set. Stepping outside her workshop, the fox girl took a good look around at the quiet surrounding. She lived alone in the middle of nowhere, so to speak. At least nobody like her really lived around her workshop, which was located in a forestial area with a long flat surface that was used for when she took off or landed with her plane.

Added to that, her workshop was a good hideout from anything but animals that came to pay her a visit sometimes. The difference between her and them was not much but Tailsia wasn't just any animal even if she shared body features with them. She was more human in mind and in body, gifted with a high intellect as well. Still, she always appreciated when animals approached her. They seemed to trust her, perhaps because of what she looked like to them. Every days, the fox girl could see many kinds of animals getting close. Admittedly, she also made them feel welcome by giving them some food when she saw them. It was not like anyone could accuse her of spoiling them too much. She loved to treat them as pets, both small and big creatures. This day, a few of the usual critters came around, as well as some birds even. Grabbing some food that she had left for them in a box outside her workshop, Tailsia left some respective food for each of them: Some vegetables for some of the critters and some grain food for the bird. The bigger creatures usually showed up later during the day.

Taking a good moment to let animals approach her until they were done, she waited patiently and smiled to them. Only when they were gone, did the fox girl finally headed back to her workshop to finish what she was working on. She knew that she had all the pieces she needed but if she did not succeed to put them together, it simply would not work all that well. Worse if it broke again during use. It could put her very life in danger. Wiping her forehead then putting her goggles on, Tailsia grabbed a wrench and moved to grab the part that she had been looking at during her breakfast before heading back to the engine of her airplane. It was now or never the time to get that thing fixed. She laid down on her work mat and began examining her plane again. The complex machinery would be complicated to understand to any normal human but to her, it was something she played with daily when she was not busy inventing other devices with random parts. All she needed now was to finish this repair with a part she had made out of scrap after the engine broke, thankfully while she was not flying.

It took a while of thinking for Tailsia's mind to click in place and find the way to make it work and wrench it in place. After getting up and proudly admiring her work, there was the other step to consider: Turning the engine on without anything exploding or breaking worse. She moved and leaped to the pilot seat then took a look at all the clocks and device, soon looking back to the core element of her airplane. This vehicle was powered by nothing less than some ancient but infinite energy source: A chaos emerald. A colored gem that she managed to get her paws on a while before. These gems were sources of great power and if brought together, infinite possibilities were surely available. With the one the fox girl possessed, it allowed her to fly her plane infinitely except for repairs and maintenance that she had to do every now and then. Something that she didn't mind too much, considering her hobby of fiddling with machinery and devices whenever she had the time. With everything in place, Tailsia clicked her buttons then turned her engine on, making the whole machine rumble without issues.

A smile drew on the fox girl's face when she finally managed to get this done. Even the propeller started turning in a rapid manner, running flawlessly. The final step of this project was then to test it in the sky. But before that, there was another detail to take care of. Jumping off the plane, Tailsia went to put the missing engine cover back onto the plane. It was an easy job for her and all it needed was to screw it back on with her wrench. Finally, nodding to herself, she leaped back to her seat and readied the plane for flight. To do so, Tailsia made the airplane move back slowly in its wheels, and out of the workshop through the large door that she had opened earlier. The animals that were there earlier already left. Slowly, she precisely set her plane on the runway. The decisive moment for her trustworthy craft was now. Taking a breath and putting her goggles over eyes, she did a final check on her systems then put her hand over her accelerator handle. With a wish that it would hold on for her, the fox girl pushed the handle slowly to its max speed, allowing her to gain speed and soon after, take flight.

Without a single cry from her craft, Tailsia considered this attempt a success. Only the loud rumbling of the machinery could be heard as the plane flew over the forest. Only the birds followed along with her. If there was one thing that she loved to do, it was to fly and this invention allowed her to do just that. The ingenious fusion between source of energy and machine that the fox girl was so proud of. It was not to mention that it allowed her to go anywhere in the world. Perhaps one day, she would be able to go even beyond the sky itself. Her dream would be to reach the infinite space and she felt that it was not impossible for her if she really tried. For now, the freedom of flying the skies was her happiness. Tailsia enjoyed to really take her time as she flew for a long while until the moment she knew it was time to head back. The test was complete, at the very least. She could rest easy now. As she headed back to her workshop, the fox girl prepared for her landing. Something she was long used to as well and did many times. Slowing down, she put her airplane down on the runway in a skillful manner.

Driving the plane back into her workshop, the day of test was complete. Tailsia could relax now as there was no need for more work for the rest of the day. Until the next day, that was. The skies would surely call for her again, as they always did. She may not be a bird but she certainly enjoyed this lifestyle of playing with her machines in the sky. After jumping off the seat of her airplane, she moved to close the gate of her workshop and lock it. Afterwards, she could head to her bed for a well deserved nap.

This was a moment in the life of Tailsia.

[1,799 words 9,489 characters]

I am sorry for the grammar and how long and boring this might be. It took me forever, I am dead. I am not sure what else to add. Not sure if this is even good. But I tried!

Edited September 1, 2023 by Sera

[WritesNaughtyStories]

"Shrinadra," the finance minister began, and the general looked up from her stack of notes with a distant smile. "Shrin'sdaughter" is what he'd  called her.

She'd never really come to peace with it but it had become her name and the general, despite her successes, wealth, position and accolades had never achieved what she'd left her desert tribe so long ago and far away to achieve.

She smiled as he asked about her expenditures. He was demanding and aggressive. It was why he had his job. The crown liked having money, as she had learned as a girl, all chiefs do. The tokens the kept score with changed, but the game never did.

It was all in the answers. The general knew she was over budget but it has been necessary.

"Minister Tarren," she began quietly, "the army did spend more than we had been budgeted," she saw him rising to cut her off there but she wasn't going to let him silence her. Not today. She shook her head and the smile disappeared as she warned him off with a hard look and rising voice. The look may have intentionally appeared to threaten violence. "but," she continued, letting her voice return to normal, "it was well below what I had asked for. We cautioned that Chara was mobilizing to the west and requested funding for that defense. Both you and the Ministry of Diplomacy called out concerns unfounded."

She could have phrased it differently, more diplomatically, but that was neither what she was paid for nor likely to keep her in her position. Not when the other ministers figured they could use the foreign woman as a scapegoat.

Both men started to stand up to counter her argument, but just like battle plans, she knew when to go on the attack, "I'm not an expert in finances," she said, her smile returning with a wolfish cast as she looked at her notes to verify the figure, "but according to your own estimates from two years ago the lands we saved generate 4 times what the army spent to protect them." She looked down again, "Every month."

How you answered mattered. If only she'd had one ready when they asked, "Okay, you can fight girl, what's your name?"

"I don't have one."

The officer has pulled a confused look, "When they want you at home, how do they call you?"

She'd answered truthfully, not knowing that here, they named girls. "Shrn's daughter." She'd answered in the language she'd grown up with. Through her accent and the language gap it has become her name.

And now, a lifetime later, she still felt hollow.

[Cute_Bro]

Waking up, Silo stretched his arms, blinking softly at the warm light of the sun entering through the window of his room, rubbing his eyes as his ears twitched as well, muscles waking up. Once the upper part of his body was stretched out, he got out of his makeshift hay bed, bending over to touch his toes, furry tail also shaking behind him. The morning for the boy began as always. Get semi-dressed, just enough to not be completely naked in case he was spotted, and run off to the river for a bath. Depending on the time of day he decided to wake up, he would either be early enough for no one to spot him, but have a chilly bath, or have a warmer bath from the sun, with the fear of being spotted by undesirables. Given the position of the sun, he knew it was the latter. So grabbing everything he needed, he headed out towards the river.

While bathing, he noticed the young deer along the bank, confused by his appearance, and not realizing who he actually was. Good. One of the advantages of his appearance, even prey doesn’t see him as a predator. Despite enjoying the warm water, and not wanting to be seen, that was too good of a chance to pass up. Creeping silently out of the water, he grabbed his short bow and one of the arrows from the little quiver he had with him. One good shot later, breakfast was secured…or at least part of it. He decided he might as well clean the catch while he’s still bathing. Dragging the carcass along the bright green grass of the river bank, he took out a knife and began to skin the creature, removing the antlers as well. It’d be a nice trophy, or something to trade to the nicer humans out there. Meticulously, he proceeded to nick at the hide of the deer, and so began to peel back the tough skin and fur of the beast, continuing to drag along the body, cutting the skin each time. Strength and dexterity were needed to do it right, to be nimble but strong, and the slim arms of the boy hid a strength capable to do that…or maybe it was just experience from learning how his mother taught him. Either way, he was done in a matter of minutes, and with the pelt now free from the carcass, he proceeded to drag both to the river for cleaning.

First was the pelt, and as he hauled it over the bank and dipped it into the running water, he could, for a while, see his face, his reflection in the stream; and he took a long look at it, analyzing his face and his features, pulled between happiness, and melancholy. He had heard many a word be used to describe him: Shifter, Animal Person, Freak, among many others varying in kindness. He didn’t know which of those names was the right one, if there was a right one…his mother never managed to tell him the true word to describe who he was before she was hunted; as for his father, well, his people really weren’t ones to be monogamous. The males usually mated, protected the mother of their children, and once the children were born, proceeded to leave in search of another mate. The only ones of his kind who were monogamous were the Civilized.

The Civilized…as he washed the pelt and let it hang over a nearby bush to dry he thought about The Civilized…those like him that let themselves be owned by humans. Some were nice…some were ruthless, but it was a chance to live a more comfortable life. He didn’t know if that’s what he wanted. He had seen good humans and bad ones, from the poachers who took his mother away to the nice older girl that came to pick flowers with him and receive the things he didn’t need or want when he hunted.

With the pelt dry, as well as himself after finishing his bath and cleaning the blood off of him, Silo slung the hide over his shoulder, and then managed to raise the carcass on the pelt on his shoulder, so as not to get himself sticky with blood and meat juice, the little that got on the hide could be washed again. Once comfortable, he began the trek back home, both a bath and breakfast taken care of. This was the life of a wolf-boy in the forest, a wide, hollowed out tree his home; and after taking a bit of meat out for breakfast, he was ready for the day. Dressing up properly, he could now leave and explore. Despite the dangers of hunters, he was always eager to explore and find something new. Maybe someone like him, maybe a sword to begin an adventure. Maybe he’d find a group of heroes who wanted him to join them. Or perhaps a nice person would make him a Civilized, and stay with him forever.

He had no clue, he didn’t even have the assurance that he’d survive while exploring…but it was fun, and it took his mind off the solitude of being alone. If he could find one person that was nice to him, it'd make the dangers of being hunted worth it. It made him not feel as different as he did when he was alone.

He wanted to live like any other boy, and just like every other day, he set off, hoping to find that experience.