River Blossom Gets Distracted
#1 of WritingCornerChallenges
This is a vignette that happens later in the story than is currently released. There are minor spoilers here, but nothing too earth-shattering. It is canon. I may include it in the relevant chapter. If you don't like the idea of spoiling later plot events, skip this one for now, but I promise that it doesn't reveal anything 'shocking', especially as I don't give any indication in here as to when it happens. Only listed as 'adult' because it mentions the idea of naughty things, rather than naughty things actually happening.
Challenge Prompt: The clock said it was time for studying, but...
River Blossom gets distracted...
World: Wolf King
River Blossom squirmed and whined as she tried to focus. Master had told her that she was a good girl. Master had told her that he was proud of her. Master had told her that she was smart.
If she was so smart, why was he making her do this? She didn't want to do her 'tables of multiplication'! She looked across the village square, and saw him talking with someone about the construction projects, and preparing some sort of wooden pathways where they were going to put the new village. Something about ramps and chairs with wheels.
She huffed and sat her head in her hands. Master was being far too mean to her. She was fine! She felt so much better, and she was walking without stumbling and could even run. If he'd let her.
She kicked her feet under the table and wanted to howl or scream, but then Master would just think that she'd be having a relapse and would panic and come over and bundle her off to bed again with orders that she not move until she felt completely better.
River Blossom hadn't ever had this thought, not once since Master had claimed her. Not even when she'd had the screaming match in the barn. She didn't like her Master right now.
She shoved the papers away and dropped her head down onto her arms, laying across the table, sulking, and even admitting it to herself with that word. Master hadn't touched her since the unknown traveler had given her that treat and made her sick. At least, not in the way she wanted. It had been a week! A WHOLE WEEK.
Picking up one of the charcoal bits that he'd left her to write with, she flipped the hated multiplication paper over and started doodling once more. Master hadn't said anything but she knew that he'd seen the papers that had been in the cart. He had to have seen them.
The first little sketch was just another little stick figure. Then another beside it. She hadn't seen much in the way of her culture's visual arts. Just some representations of the four gods, with different poses indicating their various aspects. Anyone from earth would have made a comparison to the various poses of The Buddha and some Indian gods, with their hand positions and forms indicating things. Thus, she knew of what might be called 'stock poses'.
She let her mind wander, tracing and scribbling, right up until she heard Master's voice.
"River Blossom, what are you doing?"
He wasn't angry. She'd heard Master get angry. And yet instinctively she hunched over the paper, blocking his view. Her ears pinned back. "Nothing," she started, and then quickly added, "important." She wouldn't lie to her Master. Even if he was outside the law because he was a Chosen, that didn't excuse her. The law said that slaves could never lie to their Masters.
He crossed his arms and looked down at her. It hadn't worked. "Show me the paper," he told her.
She whined, but obeyed. Picking the sheet up, she pushed it back toward him.
Trevor didn't have the cultural understanding that would let him interpret the various poses. It was a good thing, because not all of them were entirely flattering to him. What he did note was that they seemed to be a series of figures, and he sat down as it almost reminded him of a comic strip. A particularly long one, by his standards, but a comic strip nonetheless. Out of habit, he flipped the paper over and saw that she'd done a few of the multiplication problems, but not all of them, not even close. As a teacher, he recognized that she just didn't have the focus right now.
Sighing, he reached out and stroked her ears. "You've given me an idea," he said as soothingly as he could. "In my world, some people told stories by drawing pictures. They would draw what happened in one section, then draw what happened next in the following section, and so on. I need to do something to make an apology to the town. I think that I'll start telling some of those stories from my world every night. Maybe just the children will want to listen. Maybe it will entertain the adults." After another minute of petting her ears, he stood up. "I have to go and tend to things with the mage. He's only going to be here for another few days and we have to get that first Rrrrrrgrgrgrrr working before he leaves, otherwise none of this will work." Trevor stood, and after giving her ears a quick nuzzle, he left.
River Blossom's tail was wagging. He hadn't been upset with her, and he hadn't told her that she had to keep doing the arithmetics. The idea of telling a story with pictures was new to her. No one in the village had ever been really able to just draw, there had been neither time nor resources. She liked doing it, even if she didn't think she was very good.
She reached for the ruler, and arbitrarily decided on a size for the 'sections' on the back of another piece of paper. Out of instinct, she created four equally sized columns, then made as many squares of the same size below those. It didn't completely fill the sheet to the bottom, but that was alright. She started drawing.
Two hours later, her hand was cramping, and she just couldn't go any more. She stretched her arms over her head, and then stood up. Looking around, she found Master and waved to him, then pointed to the woods and river.
He nodded, and waved back, then turned to the mage once more. The discussion didn't seem to be going particularly well.
She looked down at the sheet that she'd been drawing on, and turned it face down. She wasn't finished yet, but it was close. She walked, stiffly at first as her muscles seemed far too upset with her to behave, toward the river. She needed a drink, and she needed to move around.
If River Blossom had more experience with paper, she might have put something heavy on it. One of the charcoal bits or even the ruler would have been enough. If it had been a windier day, she'd doubtless have understood that the paper would blow at almost any speed of wind. But she didn't, and it wasn't during the morning.
As the sun went west, it heated the air on the other side of Javeth Pass and the mountains there. As that wind pushed east, an errant breeze caught the rough paper and picked it up, fluttering it off of the bench and sending it scurrying across the ground until it hit the sandal of someone who was crossing the village square.
Timber Hauler stooped to pick it up, looking curiously at it. "What in the Twelve Aspects," he started, canting his head first one way, then another as he tried to interpret what was going on. Then he realized what he was looking at, and he started to laugh. He laughed so hard that he couldn't stand.
That drew a crowd, because while Timber Hauler wasn't known to be particularly dour, he wasn't known to be overly merry, either. With their former sheriff literally clutching his sides as he yipped and chortled, rolling on the ground, Autumn Leaf picked the paper out of his hands. Within a few heartbeats, she was on her hands and knees, howling her own laughter. One by one, all of the adults in the village that were present looked at the drawings, realized what was being depicted, and fell to the ground.
Rack was one of the last ones to come upon the scene, having been tending the children of the village. Now that it was getting close to time for them to eat, he was walking back to do his own chores when he came across what was at first glance, mass hysteria.
He'd picked up the loose bit of paper, and looked at it. He was the first one to not lose himself to the point that everyone else had. He looked toward the barn, and then walked over to the door. Knocking once, he pulled it open.
Trevor looked up at him, and then at the almost literal pile of villagers. "What the hell is going on out there?"
Rack stepped forward and offered Trevor the sheet of paper. "I think that River Blossom may be feeling slightly neglected."
Trevor looked at what was on the paper, and instantly his tail tucked between his legs in mortification. Just as with her doodles on the house plans, River Blossom's sense of proportion was totally off. He wasn't that large, either in height, or... er...
Rack coughed, delicately. "Not that I have any standing to tell you this, but you may want to... ah... spend some time with her tonight."
Trevor wanted to bang his head against the wall. "I tell her about sequential art stories, and she invents Rgrrrrrrrrr." Well that was a relief. Of sorts. This world apparently didn't have a word for 'pornography'. Not until his slave had invented it.
This story is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any characters, living, dead or imaginary is purely a coincidence. All characters are a product of the author's imagination and copyright to them, unless noted guest appearances of other copyrighted characters are listed in this notice. Comments may be left (and are encouraged!) on the author's FurAffinity or SoFurry page. If you liked this story, and wish to support the author, please visit their Patreon.
This story is a work of fiction. Any immoral acts included in this story are a fantasy and should not be taken as encouragement to perform or endorsement of these acts by the author. Specifically, because apparently it needs to be said; anything other than expressed consent for any sexual encounter by a legal unimpaired sentient adult is wrong, immoral, and evil. Unwilling subjugation of sentients who have committed no crime is wrong, immoral, and evil.