u/ctomkat

This is a fanfic based on “The Nature of Predators” by u/SpacePaladin15 . Thank you to him and all the other fanfic writers who inspired me to write a few stories of my own. This and all my other fics can also be found on AO3.

New POV! This chapter we are seeing things through the eyes of Vrisk's mom.

<< Sing it High | Stuck in the middle >>

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Memory Transcription Subject: Velna, Venlil

Concerned mother

Date: [Standardized Human Time] July 12, 2138

 

Velna’s tail twitched as she washed out the dinner bowls. There was a speck of string fruit on this one that just wouldn't come off. Sure, she could just put them in the machine to clean them, but why bother? Not when it was such an Easy. and Relaxing. Task! All You Had To Do! Was Follow a Few. Simple. Steps! And Everything! Would! Be! Fine! VRISK! 

She set the bowl down in the drying rack hard enough to slide the whole thing a claws width down the counter. She huffed in frustration before turning and picking up the next bowl. She was at her wits end with that boy. Ever since those damn humans had arrived, they had been corrupting her precious little pup. At first she thought that Vrisk would move on from his fixation on the humans after a herd of paws, like he had with so many other interests before. Then she thought he would finally break free once he was out of that tainted school and away from their influence. He was even on the proper path, however briefly, with his job at the grocery store; but now he’d thrown it all away for some human fantasy. 

Those sneaky predators had made her let her guard down by teaching him music. She thought he was getting something out of being with them at first, but it was just a vessel for their corruption. She should have known better.

Everyone knew that you had to get accredited with the musicians guild in order to perform for money, and in order to get accredited you had to have a proper music education. Sure, that kind of education was expensive, and it would be a struggle for them to afford it, but they would have been willing to try if he had learned a proper instrument. Something like the flyster or the plehr. She had even tried to divert his attention that way after he took an interest in human music, but no, he wanted to learn gitawr and how to sing in human. Who had ever even heard of a Venlil singer?

She should have pushed back harder, forced him to stop talking to those humans… somehow. She couldn't control who he talked to at school, or where he went while she was at work. She had tried taking the music off his pad, but he just kept finding a way to put it back on again. And she couldn’t just take it away, most of his schoolwork was on that pad.

She sighed as she began circling the scrubber around the inside of the bowl. She remembered the exact moment when she should have shut it all down, at that stars-damned ‘talent show’.

 

Date: [Standardized Human Time] May 15, 2137

 

I cautiously stepped into the school cafeteria that had been repurposed for the event. The shutters were closed and the lights turned down to accommodate the predator presence in my child’s school. I didn’t care how many tricks they pulled on the TV to get people to like them, I still didn’t trust them. I and many other parents had protested the addition of the dangerous beasts to their pups’ midst, but the local magistrates had already fallen to their taint. And so they were here, and I prayed to the protector that this wasn’t the final trick to trap us all. I had even left my husband Barsk behind with instructions in case we did not return.

The humans were all seated in one part of the room, off to the side and away from the exits. Maybe giving their prey a chance to escape was part of the thrill for them. Still, it was unnerving to see the twenty or so silver masks gathered together. Every once in a while one would forget themselves and swivel around to fix their binocular gaze on a particularly juicy prey.  

I was glad to at least see most of the parents giving the predators a wide berth and staying close together like the herd should. A few, however, actually got closer to exchange nervous greetings with them as if they were friends with the beasts! I quickly joined the larger herd and took a seat. Skynahr, a dignified Gojid and the school principal, took to a makeshift stage, complete with a large red curtain at the back, that had been assembled in the corner of the cafeteria.

“Welcome parents to the very first South Merrywood High School Talent Show! I would like to thank Misses Goodman for suggesting and organizing this event. Her experience as a human teacher has been very helpful and we look forward to her joining our staff as part of the blossoming Art and Music program here at the school next cycle.”

I scoffed as one of the humans stood and gave a mocking bow towards the principal, accompanied by that barbaric slapping they called ‘applause’. And that name, “Good man”, couldn’t possibly be more fake.

“We will start our show with one of our human participants, he plays music for the herd almost every paw. Please welcome Spencer, playing a song called Blackbird originally written by The Beatles!”

“An ode to his favorite snack, I’m sure.” I thought to myself as another masked human came out from the hallway door next to the stage and took Skynahr’s place in front of the microphone. He settled on a small stool and adjusted one of their crude “gitawr” instruments of wood and string on his lap. It certainly didn't have the elegant shape of a federation instrument. It was no wonder the ones Vrisk had been talking about were so cheap.

His long pale claws clutched and snagged at the strings, producing something akin to a melody as his foot audibly tapped along. Even worse, he began to sing bizarre lyrics in that oddly sonorous growl. 

 

“Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise”

 

Complete nonsense, the only consolation was that the performance was mercifully brief. It of course resulted in more applause from the humans as well as a surprising number of appreciative ear flicks from the prey side. I assumed that they were just being polite so as not to upset the predators. 

The next act was a group of six Venlil girls. each holding one end of a pair of colored ribbons, with the other end being held by another girl. A classic flyster piece began to play over the speakers as the girls danced back and forth. Their movements seemed to be coordinated but in a way that I couldn’t quite put together, until the song ended and they stretched and tilted the ribbons to reveal an intricate pattern woven by their dance. The humans seemed to approve of this and clapped loudly, making the girls jump a bit before they waved their tails in thanks and hurried off the stage. I could see a few Venlil leaning over and giving a flick of appreciation towards some of the audience as well, they must be the girls’ parents.

The girls were followed by a pair of humans who did some kind of rehearsed argument that only seemed to produce a large volume of translator errors. There were a few of those awful barking laughs from the human section, so maybe this was some kind of bizarre predator comedy. It figures that they would find arguments and conflict somehow humorous. At least I was not the only one lost as there was nothing but confusion from the Venlil crowd to accompany the smattering of polite applause from the humans when they finished.

Thankfully another group of Venlil came out carrying a black backdrop with them. Two of the group, one with pure white wool and one with black and white spots stood in front of the backdrop and began a presentation on “items to carry in case of predator attacks”. As each item was mentioned, the black and white one produced it from his wool, starting with a small whistle and a pawheld taser. As they went it became more and more obvious that the objects were being passed through the black curtain, disguised by a large black spot in his wool, with each item gradually getting larger than the last until they ended with a comically long pole net and a full exterminator’s suit. I thought the humans would be offended by the subject matter, but they seemed to find it more entertaining than their own comedy routine, with those annoying barks of laughter joining the more dignified whistles of the Venlil. 

A few more acts followed, including a pair of humans “juggling” by tossing colored balls around, and a gorgeous vocal performance by a Krakotl that she recognized from Vrisk’s class. She sang “The third hymn of Inatala” about the strength of the herd and the threat of taint. The humans only barely applauded at that one. Then there was a mixed group of humans and Venlil making “shadow art”. They brought out a seemingly random assortment of objects and arranged them on the stage. When a bright light was shown from the front it made the shadow of a Venlil on the curtain behind. They moved the objects around again and made a flowerbird, then once more to make a Gojid. They even asked Principal Skynahr to stand next to it for comparison, much to the delight of both sides of the audience.

“Thank you children, for such a wonderful display of creativity.” The principal spoke as the objects were cleared from the stage. “For our final performance, we have another display of joint human and venlil relations. This group has been learning to play music together and have prepared a special performance for us. Please welcome the herd-time music club, performing “In the Garden of Eden” by I. Ron Butterfly.”

Truth be told, I was a bit excited to hear what my pup and his friends had been working on. He didn’t want to tell me when I had asked. He said he wanted it to be a surprise.

The red curtain was drawn back, revealing a set of instruments including the one Vrisk had “loaned” from one of the humans. I had been so terrified when he told me of their arrangement, I was convinced that he had been tricked into indebting himself for life. Thankfully the cost was revealed to be much lower than expected, less than a tenth of what a plehr would have been. Plus Vrisk had insisted he would get a job over the harvest break to earn the money. So at least he hadn’t completely lost his mind.

Vrisk and Narli came out first, and I was glad to see that his herdmate had stuck by to keep him safe. Narli was big enough that he might be able to fight off a smaller human, or at least be a more tempting meal giving Vrisk time to run. They were followed by a female human with short dark hair. A chill went down my spine as something about her set me on edge more than any of the others. Trailing at the end was the Yotul that Vrisk had mentioned, who gave a brief nod as his parents up at the front yipped a greeting.

They each took their places with their instruments, and a hum went through the room as they were switched on. The human’s ‘drumset’ was a much more complicated affair than I had anticipated, with multiple drums and unknown pieces surrounding her to the point where she could barely be seen behind them, which she supposed was at least somewhat of a blessing. The poor Yotul took his position behind what must be a dizzying amount of buttons and keys for such a primitive species. Indeed, he was fumbling as he pressed a few keys and buttons on the device that must have been as long as he was tall, changing the sounds and seemingly discovering what each one did as he went. 

He must have been emulating Vrisk and Narli, as they similarly adjusted a few knobs on their instruments and tested each string. Satisfied, they flicked an ear at each other and nodded to  the human and Yotul in turn. The primitive thankfully found the correct button and played what surely must have been a prerecorded sequence as he moved his claws over the keys to make it look like he was playing.

The rapid ascending melody took him from one side of the long set of keys all the way to the other, signalling the human to begin aggressively striking their drums as Narli carefully plucked at his strings to create a deep, reverberating rhythm. It was different, but not terrible, and then Vrisk began to play.

My ears flattened as his instrument made an awful, scratching, distorted sound that felt like an electric current passing through grinding rocks. Surely this was some kind of mistake that they would stop to fix, but sadly that did not seem to be the case. Several other Venlil in the audience flinched as well and I swear I saw a few nasty looks cast in my direction.

Oh Vrisk, what are you doing!?

 

“In the garden of Eden, honey

Don’t you know that I’m lo-ovin yo-ou

In the garden of Eden, baby

Don't you know that I'll Always be true”

 

Oh Stars, even the human was a better singer than this. It barely counted as melody and the translator struggled to even parse the human words at times. I shrank in my seat and tried to avoid any eye contact from the other parents.

 

“Oh, won't you come with me-e-e

And take my ha-a-and

Oh, won't you come with me-e-e

And walk this la-a-a-aaand

Please take my ha-a-a-aaa-and

 

In a gadda da vida, honey

Don't you know that I'm lovin' you

In a gadda da vida, baby

Don't you know that I'll Always be true

 

Oh, won't you come with me-e-e

And take my ha-a-and

Oh, won't you come with me-e-e

And walk this la-a-a-aaand

Please take my ha-a-a-aaa-and”

 

They each took turns playing more complicated parts on their instruments. The Yotul pretended to play another extended flourish that would only be possible from a professional flyster before the song mercifully came to an end.

The humans cheered, of course they did, and I could feel the judgement of every Venlil in the room bearing down on me as I simultaneously tried to melt into my chair and not have a panic attack. I don’t even recall what the principal said to end this disaster of an event. Once we were free to leave I dodged the looks and comments from the other parents and went to find Vrisk. 

I found him in the hallway, gathered together with his “band” to take a picture, as if they were proud of that travesty to music that had just occurred. I was about to rush over and grab him when the most horrifying sight was revealed as the human removed her mask and bared her teeth.

 

Date: [Standardized Human Time] July 12, 2138

(Present day)

 

The bowl slipped out of her grasp and clattered into the sink. She pressed her paws flat on the counter and took a deep shuddering breath. “Let’s just finish up, have a good rest, and talk about this next paw once everyone has calmed down” she thought to herself. Maybe they could even get Vrisk his job back at the grocery store, assuming he hadn’t burned that harvest too badly.

She turned to grab another dirty bowl from the kitchen table, but stopped when she noticed it was still full. That’s odd, who didn’t grab their third meal? She just cleaned hers and Barsk’s bowls, Vily took a bowl to Vrisk and grabbed her own… after she gave Fehryl his medicine. That poor girl was trying so hard to pick up her brother’s slack, she couldn’t blame her for such a simple mistake.

She grabbed the bowl and headed for her brother’s room. She didn’t like having to enter that tainted den in her home. That was why she’d had her children care for him for the last few cycles. The medication kept him from corrupting them with his tainted influence, and they would hopefully learn the consequences of such violent tendencies. 

She tapped on the door and waited a moment to see if there was any answer, partially out of habit and partially to give herself a moment to brace herself. It was an unpleasant place, always dark and smelling of unwashed wool. So she was quite surprised when the door swung open to a clean and brightly lit room, the open window letting in a breeze that smelled of the flowers outside. She hadn’t seen it this nice since her brother had moved into it. 

“Fehryl?” She called out to the empty room. “I brought you dinner, are you in the bathroom?”

She set the bowl down on the small table next to his chair and tapped on the bathroom door. It wasn’t closed all the way and swung open slightly, so she pushed her way through. Disturbingly, this room was empty as well.

“Fehryl!?” she called louder, looking around the small room as if she had missed him in a corner. She came back out and double checked the bedroom, turning in a confused circle until her eyes finally landed on the open window. She felt a chill run down her spine.

“BARSK!” She shouted as she charged back out into the living room.

“What’s wrong darling?” He asked from his usual spot on the couch in front of the holovid.

“Ferhyl is gone.” she barked as she strode across the living room. 

“Like medically…?“

“No dear, he has left the house.“ She was headed straight to Vily’s room. As the last person to see him she may have noticed something. 

“But how? He can barely walk in a straight line with those meds in his system.” He finally rose from the couch and followed her as she arrived at her daughter's door. 

“That is what I intend to find out. VILY!” She called as she rapped on the door. 

“Coming!” She heard from the other side of the door, and after a few moments it opened to the concerned face of her darling daughter. 

“What's wrong Mom?“ She asked with that innocence that reminded Velna so much of her when she was a pup. 

“I don't want to alarm you my dear, but your Uncle Ferhyl has gone missing. Did you notice anything unusual about him when you gave him his medicine?” She did her best to ask gently. 

“M-missing?”Her ears twitched in surprise before laying flat. “I-I don't think so. He took his medicine, I watched him. I guess the only thing was that he looked like he just came out of the bath.”

“It's okay, it's not your fault. He must have used some kind of predatory deception on you. Maybe Vrisk has some idea of where he would go, he's been talking to him lately.”

“Oh, uh but Vrisk, uh.”

“Don't you worry about his attitude, Vily. This is a family emergency. VRISK!”

She calls out as she shoves open the door without knocking. There was no time for any arguments about privacy right now. She needed answers and she needed them…

She stopped two steps in, with Vily close behind, as she found herself facing yet another empty room. Oh there were plenty of things in the room, with human clothes strewn about, a desk cluttered with seemingly random objects, an untidy bed, and bizarre human ‘posters’ stuck to the walls. Her son, however, was missing. 

She had not been at such a loss since her brother was arrested for assault. She didn’t even know which one would be the instigator of the two delinquents. If Fehryl was still on his meds then it would definitely be Vrisk, but what would he be doing? Surely he hadn’t been so thoroughly corrupted that he would feed his own family to those predators, right? If Fehryl was off his meds then they could have planned this together behind her back, but what were they doing? Was it even possible that this was some kind of bizarre coincidence? Either way, there was only one thing to do now.

“That’s it! We’re calling the exterminators!” She declared. Technically she could not file a missing person’s report for Vrisk now that he was an adult, but she could file one for Ferhyl. They would put out an alert and search the whole town until they found him.

“W-wait!” Vily looked frightened as her eyes darted about the room. She recognized that fear, you didn’t want to believe that your own family could go against the herd. Unfortunately she had found out first hand how easily it could happen.

“I-i see something! On his desk!” She ran over and grabbed a piece of paper from among the clutter. “Its got today’s date on it.” She read it quickly before handing it over.

 

“Vrisk and the Skalgans
One Paw Only
Fifth claw at the R3 bar”

 

Is he still going on about that “Skalgan” thing? Was this some kind of show? Regardless, it was less than half a claw from now. It must be where Vrisk and Fehryl went. Whatever was going on, she would put a stop to it.

“Good job, Vily. You stay here while your father and I go to this predator den to get your brother.”

“But Mom, maybe I could come and help you look for them!” She protested. Such a good daughter, always trying to help.

“I’m sorry Vily, but this is far too dangerous for you. If we’re not back in a claw, call the exterminators. Barsk, call us a car. We’re going to get our little boy back!”

<< Sing it High | Stuck in the middle >>

I want to thank everyone who gave suggestions for Venlil acts. Even if I didn't use yours it helped me figure out which ones would fit.

This is a fanfic based on “The Nature of Predators” by u/SpacePaladin15 . Thank you to him and all the other fanfic writers who inspired me to write a few stories of my own. This and all my other fics can also be found on AO3.

Any spelling mistakes in the lyrics are intentional, Vrisk is still learning.

<< I Like it Heavy | In the Garden >>

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Memory Transcription Subject: Vrisk, Skalgan

Panicked Vocalist

Date: [Standardized Human Time] July 12, 2138

“Fuck! Where is it?” Vrisk swore as he dug through his duffel bag.

“What are you looking for?” asked Narli as the van continued on towards Trill’s house.

“The wool wax! There’s this thing Sam wanted to try and I need the wool wax for it and I can’t believe I -AHA! Here it is!” He shouted, withdrawing the tub from his bag triumphantly.

“Alright, you found your wax, now can you relax? You’re stressing me out man.”

Vrisk zipped the bag up and collapsed back into his seat. “I just want to make sure we have everything ready. I want this to be perfect!”

“Ha, when has it ever been perfect before?” Narli whistled a laugh. “I've known you since we were pups, and not once has anything been perfect.”

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.” He sulked. 

“You want a vote of confidence? Alright, here's one. It won't be perfect, but I know it will be great anyway, because once you get going on something, nobody can stop you. We've practiced and done all the prep work we can, accessories and looks and stuff are cool, but they won't make us sound better."

Vrisk seemed to relax a little bit, but he could tell by his fidgeting that he was still nervous.

"Do you remember the first time you sang in front of people? It was pretty far from perfect, but it was still good. All we had was my bass and Jason's old Casio keyboard. Sam played drums on an empty bucket for protector’s sake! Whatever happens we’ll be fine.”

 

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Memory Transcription Subject: Vrisk, Venlil

Student, Vocalist in training

Date: [Standardized Human Time] April 21, 2137

 

The end of the school year was in sight and I was studying during herd time to try and get my grades back up. I had spent the last herd and a half focused almost exclusively on studying human language instead of my classes. But how could I resist when there was so much to learn!?

True, some of the vocal coaching videos were going over my ears with their talk of diphthones, vocal fry, and a myriad of other esoteric terminology, but the more basic videos were still useful. I had spent claw after claw practicing proper pronunciation, controlling my breathing, matching tone, and training what Jason called my ‘lower register’. I may never sound exactly like a human, the differences in biology from our vocal chords to the shape of my sinuses and lack of a nose all made that impossible, but I was getting close. My vocal range had gone from ‘soprano’ down to ‘alto’ and I was able to clearly speak and sing all the words in our practice song. Too bad none of that helped with the astrophysics test I flunked.

Jason and Sam had found themselves in a similar situation, chasing the tail of their flagging grades. Sam was sitting cross legged on our usual table and scratching her head over some math problems, while Jason was holding his head in his hands in front of a blank pad with only an essay title at the top.

Narli and Trill, somehow, hadn't had any problem keeping their grades up. So instead of studying Narli had his new bass guitar in his arms, a classic Fender Jazz bass with a sky blue body and white scratchboard. Jason had also used a friend’s 3d printer to make some stiff rubber claw caps for all of us that helped hold down the strings along the neck without slipping off. He even let us pick the colors, with Narli using a blue that matched his instrument while Trill and I went with grey and black respectively. Narli was quietly practicing a bass line from a song we listened to at the garage yesterday and Trill was playing something on Jason’s old Casio keyboard that I couldn’t hear with his headphones plugged into it. The new, full-sized keyboard he had ordered was impressive, but too large to bring to school.

Our collective concentrations were all interrupted by the arrival of one of the other humans. The blonde one, Spencer, that was always playing the same 4 songs on his acoustic guitar. He was followed by the small entourage of Venlil that liked to listen to him. 

“Hey Sam, I could use a drummer for the show next month. I doubt your little squad here is ready," He gestured dismissively at the assembled table. "so why don't you sign up with me? I've got a new song I'd like to play, but it would be better with some accompaniment.“ 

“What show are you talking about, Spencer?” Sam asked, looking up from her book. Spencer let out an annoyed sigh, and though I couldn't see it, I could feel him rolling his eyes at us. 

“The school talent show. They posted flyers like, all over this morning.” He explained, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and holding it out to us. Sure enough, it was announcing a talent show on the last day of school before harvest break. Sam leaned forward with interest as she read it. 

“They actually got that approved!? Well sorry Spencer you’re out of luck cuz I’m signing up my own group!”

Spencer sighed and put a hand on his mask. “Come on Sam, I was hoping we could be mature about this. What do you have against playing with me?”

“Our taste in music, among other things, is not compatible, Spencer. Playing with you would be even more boring than dating you was. I would much rather play with these guys.”

She gestured over to the rest of us at the table. Trill had taken off his headphones and we were all silently watching the back and forth between them. 

“What, your little gang of misfits? They barely know how to string two chords together."

"Just one more and they can be as good as you then."

"Ha ha very funny, now come on Sam, let’s not embarrass them.”

“On the contrary, I’d love to see you all embarrass yourselves.” A third voice chimed in. 

“Sorry, who are you again?“ Sam asked. Tilting her head to the side in confusion.

“Qorina! I'm the only avian in your grade!“ The Krakotl had stopped a good distance from any of the humans present. Her pale blue feathers, currently puffed out in indignation, and yellow beak with pink markings made her stand out from her mostly Venlil classmates.

“Oh, I must not have seen you around” Sam responded matter-of-factly.

“Wha- You- I'm in your class! You kicked me out of my seat on your first day!“ She squaked and stamped her foot as her feathers stood further out, making her form nearly spherical.

“Ha! Oh yeah, I forgot I did that.“

I sure hadn’t, in fact I remember it quite clearly. I was the only one in class who perked up instead of shrinking in fear when the teacher announced that a human would be joining our class that morning. I hadn’t recognized Sam at first since she had cut off the yellow parts of her hair. She ignored the teacher’s stammered direction to take an empty seat in the corner and instead marched straight over to where I was. She placed a single finger onto Qorina’s desk next to me and spoke only one word “Move”. Qorina immediately scrambled off to the empty seat as Sam placed her bag down and took her place. I was initially confused until she leaned towards me a bit and said those same words from the first time we met. “Heya fluff.”

“Anyway,” Spencer called the attention of the herd back to him. “I don’t see a singer in your group, so unless you're planning some kind of instrumental cover, why don't you stop messing around.”

“We have a vocalist!” I countered, trying to glare at the tall blonde human, but he only paused for a moment before turning back to Sam. 

“No offense, but we all heard Jason at the shelter Christmas party when he accidentally got into the punch. Having him sing might actually count as a war crime.”

“Hey!” Jason whined.

“So sign up with me and we can show these Xenos some real music.” Spencer smugly continued, ignoring my and Jason’s protests.

“Ha, you call that crooning of yours real music?” Qorina jumped in again while trying to smooth down her feathers.

“Yeah I do, birdbrain, and they’re certainly better than your ‘songs to burn things alive to’.“ 

“”The hymns of my people are sacred! How dare you-”

The two began bantering insults back and forth, completely ignoring everyone else around them. Their attitudes were seriously getting under my wool. Qorina had always considered herself better than us Venlil, going on about Krakotl culture and their contributions to the federation. And now Spencer was looking down on us when he had no idea how hard we'd been practicing! I could feel the pressure building up inside me as they both insisted how much better they were than each other, and by extension us. Before I knew it I found myself standing on top of the bench.

“I’m the vocalist!” I shouted, bringing Spencer and Qorina’s bickering to an abrupt end and every gathered eye squarely centered on me. I had a brief moment of regret. I had done it again, let my emotions get the better of me and done something stupid. The feeling was only intensified as Spencer and Qorina both let out a derisive laugh.

“Ha! A Venlil singer, how ridiculous!”

“Ha! With that squeaky voice?”

The two of them glanced at each other, surprised at having agreed on something, before looking away. I, on the other paw, felt my embarrassment vaporize in the heat of rage. 

“We are ready to play anytime, anywhere!” I pointed a claw at Spencer in defiance.

“All right, then how about right here, right now?” Spencer crossed his arms, and even though we were now at eye level with me standing on the bench, it still felt as though he were looking down at me.

“Yes, let’s hear you sing something.” Qorina warbled in amusement.

“...Fine! Narli, Trill, get ready.” The pair looked at each with concern in their ears for a moment before quickly readying their instruments.

As the mini amp on Narli’s bass hummed to life I suddenly felt a lump in my throat. We were going to actually perform in front of people, people we knew, instead of in Sam’s garage. I jumped down from the bench and walked around to Sam, who was already rummaging through her bag and pulling out various items at random.

“Sam?” I said quietly. “Are we ready? Did I mess up? We’ve never played in front of anyone before.”

She seemed to settle on a few items, an empty salad bowl, a throwing disc she and Jason used sometimes, and a tambourine that they had bought along with the guitars. Jason also came jogging over with a pair of buckets from some nearby gardening supplies. She grabbed the buckets and tapped them a few times before shoving the disc and salad bowl back in the bag and turning her mask towards me.

“You’ve got this, Vrisk. Those assholes were way out of line.” She grabbed both of my shoulders and I could feel her eyes looking into mine. 

“But don’t worry about them, okay? Focus on the music. Close your eyes if you have to, and get into the groove. Pretend we’re back at my place and do it just like you always do.”

I nodded as she got back up on the table and arranged her makeshift drumkit on the bench before her. We had been practicing this song for over a herd of paws now, I’d sung it so many times I had every line memorized. Jason had picked it from the UN approved list, after some debate with Sam. The instrumental parts weren’t too hard and had lots of repetition for Narli, but with enough oddities to keep Trill from getting too bored. He also liked that I would be singing what he called “words of affirmation”.

Sam adjusted the tambourine resting on her knee and gave me a nod as she began tapping out the familiar rhythm. Trill pushed a button on the keyboard that played a simple guitar strum on a loop. I had practiced doing that part myself, but Sam was right about how hard it was to split your attention. I still wanted to be able to do it, but I was thankful that I could trust Trill to take care of it. Narli added in the bass line, and I took my place in front of our little table.

I looked out to where our small audience had been, only to find that everyone in the courtyard seemed to have heard the commotion and gathered to watch. Our shady little corner was surrounded by a field of wool with the taller humans sticking out here and there like trees. I shut my eyes and tried to stop the knot of panic forming in my stomach. The band kept the opening going while I shook myself from ear to tail and just breathed for a moment; in and out, feel the rhythm, find the groove. My hind paws started to bounce to the beat and my tail began to sway. I had trouble standing still at the best of times, and it only seemed to get worse when we were practicing. However, instead of chastising me, Sam and Jason had encouraged me to follow wherever the music wanted to take me.

I felt myself relax and I flicked a ready signal at the band with my tail as they looped through the intro again. They played another bar and Narli and Sam both paused their parts for a moment, the signal for me to jump in.

 

“I can sing it high!

I can sing it low

I can tell you everything that you would like to know

Catch me in the sky, dustin on the grow

I can tell you every little thing that you would ever like to 

I can sing it high!...“

 

I opened my eyes as we repeated the chorus again. Spencer was just standing there with his arms crossed, and Qorina had her head cockled to the side, listening. I shifted my focus away from them to the rest of the assembled herd. Most of them had their ears raised in interest and I could see several tails flicking back and forth to the beat. Were they actually getting into it? I shifted my attention fully to my fellow Venlil as I moved towards the group on one side of the table.

 

“I’ll be in the summatime bees if you need me, yeah

Go ask my mom if you don’t believe me, yeah

Just open up and receive us

She said ah ‘ever since he was a little boy he been michievus’

Catch me on the corner and you winded up with Three

You rubbed a genie and you winded up with Me

You like a lady but you never gon’ Believe

Singing yea yea yea yea”

 

Trill added in the ‘horn’ section with his keyboard as we went into the chorus again. I dashed my way over to the other side of the table as I sang. Several of the Venlil in the front gave a whistled giggle as I got closer, and I could swear one of the girls even bloomed.

I glanced back to the band, Narli was nodding along to the bass line while Trill switched his sound over to another instrument for the next verse. Sam was similarly grooving and Jason gave me a double thumbs up from behind the table. This really was starting to feel just like practice. I paused for a moment and focused as we finished up the chorus, the hard part is coming up.

 

“...I can tell you every little thing that you would ever like to know-woah-woah-woah-woah-oh-wooooah

Singin' no, no, no no, no-nooo”

 

I turned back to where Spencer and Qorina were standing and slowly stepped closer to the new staggered beat.

 

“Well I was

Rollin down the block like a station Whagon with wood Faneling

Damn the bass is Rattling man the Baddest thing

That you’ve ever seen in this whole Galaxy

Funkin up all your Fallacies, make room here for your Majesty

We’ll show you who the Baddest be, Sucka!… what?”

 

Spencer seemed unfazed, though the mask made it hard to tell, but Qorina was visibly disturbed and flinched as I jumped back to the rest of the herd alongside Narli doing a quick slide on the bass.

 

“Okay! Spillin and drillin and feelin the flow

He be keepin it high while I’m droppin it low

So, uh, lose control, 

Spim em on round with a dos-e-do

Oh no, yo gotta go for broke,

Back up back up, overlow

Withaknack forthetrack andthecrack ofthebah andthefact ofthematt isthatwego so

I can sing it high!...”

 

Several of the students at the front of the herd started copying the movements of my tail and hips as I bounced my way through the chorus again. 

 

“I can tell you every little thing that you would ever like to know-woah-woah-”

 

*ching-a-linga-ling*

 

The chime for the end of herd period sounded and we all staggered to a stop as our collective groove crashed like it tripped and fell down a hill. 

“Hmph!” Qorina turned up her beak as she strutted inside. 

“Whatever, I guess I'll see you guys at the show.” Spencer muttered as he followed behind the irate avian.

The rest of the herd slowly filed past us, with many of them whistling and talking to each other. A few flicked a ‘thanks’ or ‘did good’ my way with their tails and I signaled a tired ‘thanks’ in response.

“Woo!” Sam exclaimed as she stood and lobbed the bucket in the general direction of the gardening equipment. “That was awesome, Vrisk!”

“What? But we didn’t get to finish.”

“Doesn’t matter, you showed everyone that you’ve got what it takes.” She said with pride as she picked up her bag and shoved the tambourine back inside.

“They didn’t seem very impressed.”

“What, those two? Pssh, they were never going to admit they were wrong. The rest of the audience is who really matters, and they were getting into it!”

“Yeah man, seeing you prance around the garage is one thing, but I think I see what Sam meant about working the crowd.” Narli added.

“Told you Vrisk was the man for the job.” She slung her bag over her shoulder but kept one drumstick in her hand, twirling it deftly between her fingers.

“Now let’s go before we’re late. It’s going to be a busy month if we’re going to study and learn a new song.”

I stopped in my tracks. “What do you mean learn a new song?”

“Well, we’ve gotta have something more fun for the talent show!” She grabbed Jason by the shoulder and started rattling off the names of random songs I hadn't heard yet.

I sighed and continued after them. “Oh my poor grades.”

<< I Like it Heavy | In the Garden >>

This is a fanfic based on “The Nature of Predators” by u/SpacePaladin15 . Thank you to him and all the other fanfic writers who inspired me to write a few stories of my own. This and all my other fics can also be found on AO3.

I am officially done introducing characters. It's time to get the band together.

<< Wonderwall | Sing it High >>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Memory Transcription Subject: Vrisk, Skalgan

Vocalist

Date: [Standardized Human Time] July 12, 2138

The van rattled its way down the road as Vrisk synced his pad to the on board sound system. He was still feeling anxious and needed some music to relax and “get into the groove” as Sam would say. He picked one that felt right and the opening piano melody danced through the van’s interior.

Vrisk immediately felt as though some unknown muscle was finally unclenched. A delicate human voice began to sing, there were a few lines about various places on Earth that he didn’t really have context for, but the overall message resonated with him.

 

“...Won't make my mama proud, it's gonna cause a scene

She sees her baby girl, I know she's gonna scream”

 

He closed his eyes and idly sang along as the music wrapped around him like a warm blanket.

 

“”Goooood, what have you done?

You're a pink pony girl, and you dance at the club" oh mama

I'm just having fun

On the stage in my heels, it's where I belong, down at the

Pink Pony Club, I'm gonna keep on dancing at the

Pink Pony Club, I'm gonna keep on dancing down in

West Hollywood, I'm gonna keep on dancing at the

Pink Pony Club, Pink Pony Club”

 

His mind wandered as he halfway sang along to what he remembered of the rest of the song. What would his parents say if they saw the show tonight? Sure they couldn’t call the exterminators on him just for singing, not with all the new laws passed lately, but they could certainly kick him out of the house. He had some money saved up, that was half the reason he got that grocery job, but even that wouldn’t last long.

Well, it's not like they knew about the show or anything, even if they did figure out that he snuck out. So he decided to put it out of his mind as the van pulled up to Narli’s house. He was already outside and waiting at the curb, his black fur accented by a streak of blonde that went from his forehead back between his ears and down to his shoulders. The stripes of dark gray and black that were normally near indistinguishable stood out in distinct shades in the lightened wool. His ears flicked in surprise as the van pulled up, but he quickly hefted the amp up as Vrisk slid open the side door.

“Is this an exterminator van?” He grunted as he deposited his bass against a half peeled ‘flammable’ sticker.

“It’s what the app sent us. I guess the guild is downsizing.” Vrisk responded. Once Narli was in the passenger seat Vrisk quickly tapped in the address for Trill’s house.

“Ah well, arguing with your parents again?” Narli asked, flicking his tail towards the speakers where the song was still playing.

Vrisk sighed. “Yeah, same thing as always, you know how they are.”

“Well, maybe this will take your mind off it, you’ll never guess what your sister sent me.” Narli pulled out his pad and turned the screen to him.

 

“See wares sore skirs, I ware e sirs

Sees heer capon ahn am onna beacher”

 

“She said she deleted that! UGH! I can’t believe her! ” He shouted as the van pulled away from Narli’s house. Narli whistled a laugh as Vrisk unintelligibly snarled and clawed at the air for a moment before finally dragging his paws down his snout with a final deflated bleat.

“You know, I wasn’t there for the original showing so it’s nice to see how you convinced Sam that you could sing.”

“That is not how it went.” He pouted, crossing his arms over his chest, though truth be told Sam had been trying to get him to sing ever since that fateful day. Did that mean he should thank his sister for trying to embarrass him in front of everybody?

…No, definitely not.

Still, the video had certainly piqued Sam’s interest. She had kept asking him to turn off his translator for a sec and repeat certain words or phrases that he was pretty sure were song lyrics. At first he thought that she was teasing him, which seemed to be a common pastime among the humans and one that had clearly rubbed off on both his best friend and his sister. Still, she didn’t really pressure him about it until they started practicing in her garage at the newly formed human district.

--------------------------------------------------------

Memory Transcription Subject: Vrisk, Venlil

Student

Date: [Standardized Human Time] March 5, 2137

 

“I’m just saying Vrisk, hanging out with them at school where we’re surrounded by other people is one thing, but they might be different at home. You know, without the public scrutiny and all.” Narli lectured as they walked down the street of the new human district.

Some mega-rich human had bought up a bunch of undeveloped land all over the planet a while ago and used it to build human neighborhoods. Now that the construction was finished, people from the shelter were moving out to the rows of blocky, angular buildings. The sharp corners everywhere felt particularly imposing compared to the soft curves he was used to. Still, he was excited to see Sam and Jason outside of school for basically the same reason that Narli was worried about.

“Good, they shouldn’t have to hide who they are. There’s so much that they’ve been holding back because they don’t want to scare us, and it's not fair to make them conform to how we want them to be. They contain multiples, Narli!” I explained.

“Multiples? …Vrisk, what the speh are you talking about?” 

“Was it multiples? It was something like that, right? I don’t know, Sam explained it better, you’ll see.” I grumbled as we approached the address Sam had given us. 

It was just up ahead and as we got closer the familiar sound of a guitar began to emerge from the open garage door. I scampered across the manicured grass to the edge of the large opening where I peered around the corner so as not to interrupt. I felt Narli press against my back a moment later as he peeked above my head.

Jason was standing inside with his back to us as he strummed away on his guitar.The busker module had been replaced by a cable connecting it to a boxy speaker on the floor. The guitar was accompanied by a rhythmic clacking sound that I also recognized as Sam’s drumsticks. I followed the sound to where I could barely see her behind several circular shapes supported on metal poles. At first she was just hitting the sticks together to the beat, but soon began to strike the drums right as she began to sing.

 

“Some like beautiful, perfect, and pretty

I see the good in the bad and the ugly

I need the volume one louder than ten

I put the pedal to the metal, needle into the red

If the windows ain't shakin', makin' my heart race

If I can't feel it in my chest, I'm in the wrong damn place

 

Got a demon in my soul and a voice in my head

Sayin' go, go, go, I can sleep when I'm dead

There's a sonic revelation bringing me to my knees

And there's a man down below that needs my sympathy

I got a ringin' in my ears gettin' ready to burst

Screamin' hallelujah [censored], take me to church”

 

The guitar squealed like a raid siren and the volume seemed to double in an instant as Sam slammed the drums with powerful strokes and began to shout as much as sing to be heard over the din.

 

“I like it louder than the boom of a big bass drum

I need it harder than the sound of guitar grunge

I love to crank it up, make it thump, and lead on to the core

Head bangin' in the pit and throwin' my horns

And just like old school Sabbath, Zeppelin, and Lemmy

I need to drop it down low and make it heavy

 

I like it heavy, whoooooa

I like it heavy, whoooooa”

 

Sam’s voice cracked slightly as she threw back her head and howled. I could see her chest heaving for air between each line and a sheen of sweat glistening on her exposed skin. Her movements were graceful and precise, never missing their target despite her not even looking where she was hitting. I was hardly even listening to the lyrics anymore as I was mesmerized by the flow and rhythm of her motions.

The song continued for another verse or so before their playing devolved into borderline random noise, ending with one final chord from Jason that he allowed to slowly fade away. I wasn’t quite sure if or how I should break the ensuing silence, but Sam quickly waved a stick in our direction.

“Hey Trill, glad you could make it!”

“Bah!” I bleated in shock as the Yotul was standing right next to us. How long had he been there!?

“Oh you guys are here too, come on in.” 

Trill led the way, giving an amused flick of his tail as he walked by carrying the keyboard that had basically become his ever since he borrowed it. He had actually made multiple repairs to it, each time it looked and sounded slightly better than before. The gray tape was gone and the cracks patched with glue, the tinny buzz from the speakers was fixed, and he had even added a new set of sounds that resembled some Yotul instrument we’d never heard of. Jason had sent him some basic human piano and music reading tutorials that he had quickly blown through, he had even picked up the guitar and was already just as proficient with it as me or Narli.

Speaking of my fellow Ven, I noticed that Narli had not followed us into the garage and was still rooted in place. I ran back and saw that he was staring off into the distance. Not panicking, thankfully, but definitely lost in thought.

“Narli? You okay?” He blinked when he heard his name and seemed to return to the present.

“That was… wild.” He said before focusing on me. “And you’ve heard that before?”

Of course, this was Narli’s first time hearing the banned human music. Jason and Sam hadn’t let them listen to any at school, despite my pleading. They said they could get into too much trouble if the wrong person overheard and freaked out. They could get suspended, or even expelled, and they would probably confiscate and wipe all the music.

“Uh yeah, Sam showed it to me once before. It’s like I was telling you, they use music for all kinds of ideas and emotions. Not just relaxation, love, and praise to the protector like us.”

He seemed okay, but still a bit in his own head as he followed me further into the garage. The Drumset and guitar were positioned in the middle of the room on top of what looked like a spare scrap of carpet. Several cardboard boxes and a few household items were stacked in one corner, and a long couch sat against the far wall. Sam had finished wiping sweat from her face with a patterned cloth and was chugging a bottle of water. Trill was examining the odd spiky foam covering the walls as Jason was explaining their purpose, something to do with sound.

“So, what’d you think Narli?” Sam asked as we approached.

“I’m not sure, to be honest, but it was certainly loud. I could feel the vibrations in my body” He said with a paw on his torso.

“Isn’t it awesome!? I love when I can feel that bass in my chest!” She walked over and fell onto the couch with a *thwump*. She wasn’t wearing the usual black baggy pants that covered her legs, but had on a shorter blue set that only went down to her knees. Her top was also missing the sleeves that typically covered her shoulders. ”We should probably get you guys some earplugs, though. Wouldn’t want the volume to damage your ears.”

“Couldn’t you just play quieter?” Narli asked.

Sam immediately fixed him in place with a piercing glare, leaning towards him and pointing a single finger which, despite the lack of any claws, felt distinctly threatening.

“I will Not be a quiet little sheep for you or anybody else. Especially not when it comes to the music I choose to play.” She relented and leaned back into the cushions with a sigh. “After everything we’ve been through we deserve to cut loose a little.”

“She’s right.” Jason chimed in as he came over with Trill in tow. “We should be able to express ourselves and play the music we want to play. This planet will never get used to us if we always hide who we are.” He sat on the edge of the couch next to Sam and regarded the three of us with a serious expression.

“And that’s part of why we invited you three here today. We want to start a band, and we want you to join us. I know you’re all still learning, but I think with practice you guys could be really good.”

Sam grabbed Jason’s shoulder to pull herself forward and lifted a finger up in front of her face.

“But! we don’t just want to play UN approved music. That was just a sample of the direction we want to go. We’ll play the softer songs at first, to get you boys started, but we’ll work up to the ‘heavier’ stuff before long. Are you sure you can handle that?”

I felt the excitement building up inside of me with every word. I’d been hoping we’d get to listen to more of the secret human music, but I hadn’t even considered that I’d get to play it.

“Yes! Yesyesyesyesyes!” I found myself bouncing as I replied, my tail whipping wildly behind me.

Trill gave a human-like nod of affirmation, and all eyes turned to Narli. He looked over to me, perhaps unsure of whether he wanted to be a part of this. I wish I could have shown him some more of the music before it got to this point, but I knew he would enjoy it once he gave it a chance. I pulled my ears down and gave him the widest pup-eyes I could. He let out a heavy sigh.

“Yeah alright, I guess I’m fine with loud human music, and you guys don’t actually seem dangerous, but I draw the line at being around you two eating meat, okay?” He said with a pointed look at the two humans.

“Hey, I’m happy with the vegan diet we got going on here, makes it easy to keep kosher.” Jason said as he held up both hands.

“Speak for yourself, I’d do questionable things for a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese.” Sam stared wistfully off into the distance as Narli struggled to suppress a gag. 

“Ugh, every word of that was grosser than the last. Do you really eat spoiled congealed milk?” He asked, and I had to admit I felt a shiver go down my spine as well.

“It’s not spoiled! It’s just… aged.” Sam unhelpfully explained.

“...kosher?” Trill spoke seemingly to himself, rolling the word around in his mouth. The translator had failed to parse that word for some reason.

“They’re a bunch of rules somebody made up a few thousand years ago that tells him what he can and can’t eat.” Sam said dismissively as she took another swig of water. “If it makes you feel better I’m pretty sure you guys are disqualified, right Jason?”

“Well yeah any sapient being is non-Kosher to begin with, but even excluding that, I think the rule is that you need to have cloven hooves and chew cud or something like that.” 

“Yep, so you’re all safe from Jason. I, on the other hand, abide by no such restrictions.” She leaned forward and gave a toothy grin that sent a distinctly different shiver down my tail. “But I promise I won’t bite, unless you ask nicely.”

“I have a question.” Narli spoke up, clearly uncomfortable with the current subject matter. “How are we all going to play with only one guitar?”

“Ah yes, I have good news on that!” Jason stood up and went to grab his pad. He pulled up an article and turned it around to show us before he continued.

“So this major music retailer went under after the Battle of Earth. Basically the owner and anyone with a stake in the company died to the bombs, and since they were privately owned all of their assets went to the state. So these warehouses full of musical instruments suddenly became UN property. Typically they would sell them off wholesale, but since there was so much they decided to ship a bunch of them out here and other places across the galaxy to help boost morale and spread human culture.”

He swiped over to a shopping site full of guitars and other instruments. “So we can buy instruments and gear at basically what it costs to ship them from Earth. I have a list together, and enough inheritance from my aunt that died back on Earth to cover the cost, but you guys need to pay me back if you want to keep them.”

Trill snatched the pad and began scrolling reapidly through various instruments and devices.

“We also need to decide what role everyone is going to play.” Sam said as she stood up from the couch. “There’s no definitive set of roles for a band, and we can change it up if we want, but I think we need at least a drummer, bass, lead guitar, and a vocalist. That means singer.”

She stepped over to the drum set and picked up her sticks. “I’m drums, obviously. I could teach you guys to play if you want, but I think you’d have trouble keeping up. It’s a full body workout and you guys just don’t have the stamina.”

Thinking back to what we just saw earlier, she was probably right. Just imagining playing like that made me tired.

“Jason thinks Narli will be good on the bass, since the high strings keep slipping off his claws, and we should be able to get one soon. Trill’s a fast learner and can probably pull double duty on lead guitar and occasionally keyboard if the song calls for it. That makes you, Vrisk, our vocalist.” 

My tail froze in place as her words hit me harder than the beats from her bass drum. “Me? You want me to sing!? Wh-what about you!? You did great earlier!”

“Well thanks, but like I said, drums are a full body workout. If I try to do a whole show playing and singing I’m pretty sure I’ll pass out.”

“Well what about Jason? You didn’t even mention him.” I gestured over to the lanky human who was trying to advise Trill on the quality of various brands. He quickly looked up and waved his hand dismissively.

“Oh, I’m more of a behind the scenes guy. I’m happy to help with gear, lights, and sound, but I am not getting on stage.”

“He has stage fright and he sings like a goat in heat.” Sam teased from behind her drumset.

“What’s stage fright?" Narli asked, taking a spot on the now empty couch. Jason sighed and rubbed the back of his head, a nervous gesture I’d come to recognize from him.

“I may have had a panic attack and fainted at my fourth grade piano recital.” He explained, Sam made a sputtering sound as she failed to suppress a laugh. “It’s not funny, Sam. It was a very traumatic event for me.”

“Ehhhh, it’s a little funny.” she was still smiling but didn’t tease him any further as she shifted focus back to me.

“Sorry Vrisk, but you’re the best choice. Trill is… Trill, and Narli could work but he doesn’t have that same front man energy that you have.” She pointed a stick at each of us in turn.

“Front man energy?” The individual words made sense but their meaning all together eluded him.

“Yeah, you’re loud and enthusiastic. You get people’s attention, and when you get going you can’t sit still to save your life. You’re overflowing with energy.” I flinched as she listed out nearly every one of my flaws that had constantly gotten me in trouble throughout my life. Sam seemed to notice my discomfort and stepped away from the drum set to kneel down and look me in the eyes. Those pools of green drawing me in as she put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

“And that’s exactly what we need. Playing music is not just making sounds, especially for this kind of music. It’s a performance, a back and forth between the band and the crowd. When you’re excited and jumping around on stage, you’ll get them excited. And a crowd that is vibing with the music like that creates this feedback loop of energy that’s like nothing else in the world.” 

She closed her eyes and a smile played on her lips as the memory of some previous performance passed through her. She gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze as her eyes opened once more. “It’s the most important job in the band, and I believe that you can do it.”

“…can I still play an instrument?”

“Your voice IS an instrument, but yes. You can still play guitar or whatever else you want to learn. Playing and singing at the same time is harder, but lots of people do it. We might even need you to, depending on the song.”

“A-alright, I’ll do my best.” 

Jason took his pad back from Trill, who whined in protest. He quickly sent the shopping link over to Trill’s own pad, which seemed to satisfy him. Then Vrisk’s own pad started pinging with notifications.

“Okay, unfortunately I’m not a vocal coach, but I can send you a link to a few that post their videos online. They might be a bit more advanced than what you need right away, so I’m also sending you some English phonetic guides and exercises, an English to Venlang dictionary, some songs to start learning, and an update patch for your translator. Actually, you all need the translator update, it removes the UN filtering for predatory language.”

“Will we really need that?” Narli asked nervously.

“For some of the songs we want to play, yes.” Jason answered ”They have some words or phrases in the censored list, including some good old fashioned human swears.” 

Sam stood back up and rubbed my head in between my ears, making them flop back and forth. “Congrats Vrisk, you get to say [censored]!”

<< Wonderwall | Sing it High >>

This is a fanfic based on “The Nature of Predators” by u/SpacePaladin15 . Thank you to him and all the other fanfic writers who inspired me to write a few stories of my own. This and all my other fics can also be found on AO3.

I had some trouble getting back into the groove after vacation, so this one is a bit late. Anyway, this chapter we get only a little bit of time with Vrisk as we explore his best friend Narli's introduction to the humans.

<< The Way | Heavy >>

-------------------------------------------------------------

Memory Transcription Subject: Vrisk, Skalgan
Vocalist
Date: [Standardized Human Time] July 12, 2138

Finally, after what felt like half a claw Vrisk’s pad pinged that the van was about to arrive. He stood from the shade of the tree he had rested under and took one more nervous glance back towards his house at the other end of the block. A part of him was waiting for his parents to come storming out looking for him, but thankfully his sister seemed to have kept her word and covered for him.

When the self-driving vehicle came into sight his initial reaction of relief was quickly overwhelmed by disgust. This was clearly once an exterminator van. The logo of the local department had been peeled off, but nobody had bothered to repaint, or likely even wash it, so a clear outline was left behind.

He opened the door and tapped his pad on the console to connect and confirm his access. There were only two seats at the front, and the back was mostly open with bench seating along one side. The opposite side was riddled with bare screw holes and half–peeled warning stickers where the flamer equipment had once been stored. It even still smelled faintly of fuel and bleach, but it would do.

He entered in the first address a few blocks away, the home of his best friend since puphood that he had pulled along with him into this whole crazy situation.

__________
Memory Transcription Subject: Narli, Venlil
High School Student
Date: [Standardized Human Time] January 27, 2137

Two weeks! I had been out of town for two weeks to visit family on the night side, and in that time I had apparently been replaced by a predator! I knew Vrisk had been obsessed with them for the last herd, listening to their music all the time and sharing what he found with me. Sure, some of it was good… okay really good, and the sheer variety of styles and subject matter were fascinating, but I didn’t think he’d be so quick to join them for real!

I usually didn’t mind Vrisk’s various obsessions, in fact it was why I really enjoyed hanging out with him. He had this infectious energy that tended to keep things interesting. Whenever he went deep into whatever topic had grabbed his attention I always learned something new myself. He did have a tendency to get carried away, though, and I’d saved his tail more than once before.

This typically happened in one of two ways. First was dragging him back to the herd whenever he wandered off, usually with a sample of whatever had caught his notice and listening to him ramble on about it the whole way back. Second was by smoothing things over with whoever he had offended, or at least making them back off. Not everyone appreciated Vrisk’s peculiar personality, and some of them got quite annoyed at his antics. And while Vrisk was on the smaller side, I was considered quite large due to my night side heritage, which made people think twice about getting too physical. Those same genetics also gave me a thick gray and black striped coat intended for blending into with the shadows on the night side, but it made me stand out considerably here, and standing out did not make you friends. At least with anyone but Vrisk.

“Come on, Narli, you’ve got to meet Sam and Jason. They just got permission to bring real instruments to school!”

Vrisk was practically vibrating with excitement as he led them towards the courtyard for herd period. It was our free socialization time that we used to spend together talking about tv shows, books, and classes. Ever since a herd ago we had instead spent it talking about and listening to human music, which admittedly was a refreshing change at first, but now he was wondering if he should have put a stop to it. He’d heard a lot of conflicting things about humans and it was hard to tell what was real. He would have to keep a close eye and make sure his best friend didn’t get hurt.

The door swung open and we entered into the bright sunshine of the school courtyard. There were several small herds scattered about at various tables, benches, and trees as usual. There was even one composed entirely of the tall, lanky humans talking and laughing just like the others. Huh, they didn’t look quite as sinister as I’d imagined. Most noticeable, though, were a few herds of Venlil gathered around a few specific Humans.

One pair was tossing a small ball back and forth between them, somehow doing so without ever dropping it. Another pair were showing off some sort of coordinated dance and trying to teach it to a few brave Venlil. The largest herd, though, was gathered around a single yellow furred human holding some kind of wooden stringed instrument. He remembered that Vrisk had described the mystery human he met before as having yellow fur, so that must be them. As he watched, they began to strike the strings rhythmically with one hand while the other gripped and shifted along the other side in some purposeful way. They continued this for a few seconds before adding their voice to the rhythm as well.

“Today is gonna be the day that they’re gonna throw it back to you…”

“I’m guessing that’s your ‘Sam’ over there, right?” I said, gesturing towards the musician and beginning to walk over to join the herd. Surprisingly, though, Vrisk grabbed my paw and began pulling me the opposite way.

“No no, she’s over here...” He said as he led me towards a shady corner with a single pair of masked humans eschewing the bench seats to instead sit on top of the table and using the bench as a foot rest. They both had short, dark fur on their heads, though one was curly and the other was oddly spiky. The curly furred one was holding another stringed instrument, but it was more compact and looked like it had some kind of tech embedded in it. The spiky haired one was empty handed and wearing a tight black pelt on top and a loose baggy black pelt on the bottom. Even their nails seemed to be black, which he didn’t see on any of the other humans. Vrisk did not hesitate in bounding straight up to them.

“Hi Sam! Hi Jason! This is my friend Narli that I told you about. Narli, this is Sam and this is Jason.” He flicked his tail towards the spiky, black clad one first, then the curly one who was wearing red on top and blue on the bottom. Both of the masked faces shifted to point directly at me in a way that made my skin crawl.

“Damn, you said he was big, but I didn’t think he’d be taller than Jason.” Sam said casually.

“He is not, I keep telling you I am not Venlil-sized.” Jason protested.

“Oh yeah, then go stand next to him, why don’t ya?”

“I… don’t want to scare him is all.” He responded defensively.

“Nevermind that, is this the guitar you said you were bringing!?” Vrisk pushed forward to inspect the object in Jason’s hands, his obsessive nature clearly in full force. Thankfully the humans seemed amused at his enthusiasm.

“Yep, this is your basic six string guitar. It’s a cheap model without any bells and whistles except for what’s called a ‘Busker’ module down here at the base.” He gestured to a part that bulged out from the part near his hip that was clearly made of a different material than the rest. ”It’s a battery pack and mini amp that plugs in here. It’s meant for playing on the go, out on the street or in a park. Some people do that for money, which is called busking. Granted, the sound isn’t great and no self respecting musician would ever use one on stage, but it’s good for learning since you don’t need to carry around an external amplifier.”

“Oooh, what does it sound like?” Vrisk asked, his eyes wide with amazement while his tail thrashed back and forth.

“Well, with Spencer playing over it would be rude to do too much, but it sounds like this.” He flicked a switch and an electric hum emanated from the small speaker. He adjusted a couple knobs before gripping the strings similar to the other human. Now that I was closer I could see that each digit was contorted in such a way as to hold down the strings in specific places.

He began plucking the strings with his other hand, producing a surprisingly delicate melody for a few moments before he stopped. 

“Stairway, really?” Sam remarked. “Why do you even know that one?”

“Everyone learns Stairway at some point, plus it pisses off every guitar shop owner when you play it.” He laughed. I looked at Vrisk in confusion, but he was too absorbed examining all the bits and pieces of the ‘guitar’ to notice and began questioning Jason on the purpose of all the knobs and pieces, so I turned to Sam instead.

“I thought Vrisk said your hair was yellow like that other human.” I flicked a tail in the direction of the other musician.

“First of all, don’t compare me to that douchebag Spencer. Second, blonde is not my natural hair color, and without the proper dye on this planet my roots were growing out. So I figured I’d chop it off and rock the pixie cut for a while.” 

“Do humans often change their fur color?” 

“Some of us, and not just natural colors either. You can be any color of the rainbow you want, that is if you’re tired of being all tall, dark, and handsome.” That was enticing, there had been times when I wished I could fit in better, and changing my wool to a color that was less imposing might help. Maybe if they got some of this fur dye I could try it out as well.

“Do you also have an instrument?” I asked, glancing over as Vrisk plucked a few strings at Jason’s direction. Sam sighed as she shifted on the table.

“Well, I can’t bring a drumset to school exactly, but I did bring these.” She reached into her baggy lower pelts and pulled out a pair of sticks that must have been as long as her forearm. Just how deep were those pockets?

“We drummers are known for being able to bang out a rhythm anywhere with anything.” She said as she scooted further back on the table. She twirled the stick around the fingers on each hand and began striking and bouncing them on the table between her legs in a complex rhythm. I… didn’t really get it. It seemed complicated and intentional, I doubted that I could repeat it, but maybe it made more sense with the “drumset” they were supposed to be used on.

“Oh, I do have one more thing.” Jason added as he set down the guitar and reached behind his back. He produced a long contraption that did not have any strings, but instead was covered in flat white buttons on one side, with a myriad of different shaped and colored buttons on the other. It looked like it was made of some synthetic material, and had seen better days. Parts of it were cracked and covered in a gray binding material.

“This is your basic keyboard. This one is only 44 keys, a real piano has twice as many, but this is fine for the basics. Plus it has plenty of synth options in the buttons up here.” He explained as he flicked another switch and tapped a couple of the flat white buttons, producing a tinny sound. He pushed a couple buttons and it changed to something more robust before he started a rhythmic melody, using his fingers to press multiple keys at once.

“Duuum Da-Da Duumm Da”

After the short demo he asked if we wanted to try them. Vrisk literally jumped at the opportunity and asked Jason to show him how to play the guitar. Even with the support strap around his shoulders, the instrument was heavy and a bit long for his short arms. Still, he gave it a good try and managed to produce a few halting notes in something resembling an order.

He insisted I try it as well, and it did seem to fit me alright, though the weight was a bit awkward. I had never held an instrument before, and the strings felt delicate under my claws. I tried to play a few notes under Jason’s instruction, but I found it hard to keep the strings down on one side, and I kept hitting the wrong string or multiple ones instead of just the one I wanted on the other. 

“Hmm, filing your claws down a bit will probably help. I wonder if you might do better with a bass as well.” Jason mused aloud.

I passed the guitar back to Vrisk to try again as Jason began explaining some of the basics of human music. How each string and note was identified by a specific frequency and associated with a letter of their writing system. The letters repeated in groups of 8, plus there were sometimes additional frequencies in between but not always. Vrisk and I were both starting to get a bit confused when we heard the sound of the keyboard again. Both humans turned their heads, in that weird predator way, over to the side where Jason had left it to see a Yotul with light brown fur poking at the keys. 

“A-hem” Sam coughed, which caused them to look up. Once he noticed that everyone was looking at him he immediately ducked under the table. 

“It’s alright, but you need to ask before touching someone else’s things.” Jason said with surprising calm and patience. I would have thought a predator would be more fiercely territorial.

The Yotul slowly peeked back up from under the table, regarding each of us for a moment before looking back at the keyboard. “Can I touch it?” He asked softly, pointing a claw at the instrument.

“Yes, but please be gentle.” Jason agreed before going back to talking to me about grouping multiple notes together, called chords, that also were named after the same letters as the notes.

Sam, meanwhile, leaned over and whispered to Vrisk, asking about our guest. He was able to fill her in on the basics about their species and how he was the only one in their class. He was known to be odd, didn’t have a regular herd, and almost never spoke. Pretty much the only reason he hadn’t been picked up for PD was that he never brought attention to himself.

“Duuum Da-Da Duumm Da”

Both of our conversations quickly halted again when what had seemed to be random plinks and plonks from the keyboard shifted to match the exact same melody that Jason had just played a few minutes ago. Both humans snapped their attention back to the Yotul and a chill ran down my spine, I’m not sure I could ever get used to how they do that.

They watched him play out the melody a couple times before Jason moved to lean against the table near him. The intrusion into his direct line of sight was enough to make him falter and stop playing.

“What’s your name?” He asked.

“...Trill” 

“How do you know how to play that?” 

“...I heard you.”

“Huh” Jason paused, turning to look at Sam for a moment before returning his masked gaze to Trill. The golden furred Yotul pointed down at the keyboard again.

“Can I have this?” 

“No” Jason replied immediately. “Even in the state it’s in, I don’t know if I can find another one right now.”

Trill seemed to mull this over for a bit, his ears swiveling back and forth in thought for a moment before he came to some sort of conclusion. He thrust an arm out towards Jason with a determined look on his face.

“I will trade for it.” He stated, closing his eyes and turning his head away. 

“Trade… what?” His mask turned to Vrisk and I, looking for some kind of help.

“Uhm, I think he’s offering to let you eat his arm.” Vrisk provided nervously, and Trill flicked an ear in affirmation.

For some reason this made Sam bark with laughter. “HA! Hey man, how are you going to play with only one arm?” 

Trill’s eyes snapped open and he quickly yanked his arm back. His ears twitched in thought again as Sam continued to chuckle. Jason, for his part, seemed too stunned to speak. Finally, the Yotul stepped up onto the bench seat before turning and slapping his tail down on the table next to the keyboard. 

“Trade this.” He said, jabbing a claw at his tail for emphasis. He closed his eyes again and clenched his paws in anticipation, to which Sam made an odd snorting noise.

“He’s -pfft- he’s offering you some tail Jason!” She seemed to be having trouble speaking as her shoulders shook involuntarily. “This -hkk- might be your only chance!”

“Okay, that’s not funny, Sam!” Jason finally spoke.

“It Is!” She gasped as she covered the lower half of her mask with her hands.

“I’m not eating anybody, okay!? Trill, I’m not eating you, alright?” The Yotul’s whole body sagged, though whether in relief or disappointment wasn’t clear.

Jason pressed both hands against the sides of his mask. “Tell you what, you can borrow it for a bit, but there are two conditions. First you have to give it back to me by the end of the week, and second you join our little music club here at recess, or whatever you guys call it. Deal?”

The Yotul thought for a moment before flicking an ear in agreement.

“That means yes.” I provided for the exasperated human.

“I got that.” He said as he stood from the table. I couldn’t help but notice that he was indeed about a claw shorter than me as he extended a hand towards Trill. “Here, humans shake hands when they make a deal.” he explained and the Yotul quickly grabbed his hand in both of his and shook it side to side.

*ching-a-linga-ling*

“Uh yeah, we’ll work on that…”  He muttered as the chime sounded for the end of herd period and everyone started filing back into the school. Trill snatched up the keyboard and clutched it tightly to his chest with a discordant chorus of random notes as he disappeared into the mass of wool.

“Whooo, are you sure you can trust some rando with that?” Sam asked as she finally recovered her ability to breather properly and waved a hand towards her face. “And what was that about a music club?”

Jason sighed as he retrieved his guitar back from Vrisk and slung it across his back. “Well, you wanted to start a band, and we’re not there yet, so music club seemed more appropriate for now. As for the Yotul, there’s no way that dude has ever seen a piano before and he learned how to play it by ear in like two minutes flat. Guy must be a prodigy or something, so I figured we should keep him around.”

The humans started making their way back in as well, with Vrisk bouncing up and down beside them with a constant tirade of questions about music. I still wasn’t sure what to think of them. They seemed okay, but could we really trust them?

 “What the brahk did Vrisk get me into?” I muttered as I followed behind my friend’s, and I suppose my, new herd.

<< The Way | Heavy >>

https://preview.redd.it/5j9gyujawj8h1.jpg?width=1051&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8d1f97fa455528dd6f47108a157fec5eaaa4096f

I wasn't even dreaming about Rogue Core, I haven't played in a week, but this random idea interrupted my dreams like a freakin ad break. Basically, you would level up the enhancements not from getting points and going up the skill tree, but by accomplishing specific achievements for each one.

This is a fanfic based on “The Nature of Predators” by u/SpacePaladin15 . Thank you to him and all the other fanfic writers who inspired me to write a few stories of my own. This and all my other fics can also be found on AO3.

Another POV and a short chapter, don't worry we will get back to Vrisk soon. Also, let me know if you like the song titles instead of prev/next.

<< Come Together | Wonderwall >>

------------------------------------------

Memory Transcription Subject: Fehryl, Venlil

Former Predator Disease Patient

Date: [Standardized Human Time] July 12, 2138

“Thanks Uncle Fehryl, I’ve got some things to do so I’ll see you later!”

The door closed behind Vily as she left her Uncle’s room and Fehryl huffed a heavy sigh. The music player on his pad moved on to the next song, but he wasn’t really listening anymore. He went back to the bathroom and spat the pill out into the sink. He had hidden it under his tongue, not that she bothered to check. Kids were lazy like that. His sister, Velna, would have checked. Still, he didn’t like lying to his niece. He ran the water and watched as the pill slowly dissolved, white powder swirling around the drain. 

Nearly ten cycles had come and gone in a drug induced haze. His sense of presence and time was all wrong when he took those damn meds. He would blink and an hour would pass, or sometimes the whole day. He only remembered bits and pieces, the faces of his family rapidly changing as time sped by. He remembered when his niece and nephew were just little pups, and now they were fully grown.

One of the few things he could remember was the incident that caused it all. He remembered the building, with its Krakotl style door that swung back and forth with the wing motifs, and the crack on the wall outside that they would surely get around to fixing eventually. He remembered the bar with its worn but comfortable stools where he always sat, and the perches on the wall that were rarely used because only the dozen Krakotls in town could reach them.

He remembered that someone got too drunk, started putting paws on someone who didn’t appreciate it. He remembered that he got mad, shouted at them to back off and get out, and they shouted at him to mind his business. He remembered that they pushed him. He remembered that he pushed back. The drunken idiot tripped over a chair and went tail over snout, somehow managing to break his arm in the fall. 

Turns out that idiot was an exterminator, and not just any exterminator either, a squad leader who happened to be the Chief’s son. No lawyer in the district would dare represent the one that ‘assaulted’ him, and the courts came down hard. Even the eye witness testimony was against him. It didn’t matter that most of them contradicted each other, they all had a favorable take for the exterminator. His past didn’t help him either, he had a history of outbursts, conflicts with authority, and had been tested a few times on PD suspicion. All of those tests got re-reviewed and suddenly went from “passed with flying feathers” to “barely good enough”.

So he was convicted for assaulting an officer and sent to a facility. He was shocked and tormented with all the other people deemed unfit for federation society, and all those old habits that got him in trouble as a pup came back. He got stubborn and refused to play along with their ‘treatment’. He talked back, told them they were full of speh, and looked them in the eyes when they shocked him. Sure there were times that he broke, but in a paw or two he’d be back at it again. They even shocked him so bad his vocal cords were permanently damaged, making his voice deeper and rougher than a Venlil should be. 

Eventually they gave up trying to break him and resorted to drugs instead. They spent herds of paws cycling him through every sedative and anti-psychotic they had. Once they dialed in their dosage for “optimum complacency” they shipped him back home so he’d be someone else’s problem. And his ever dutiful sister was sure to follow their instructions and administered the medication as directed, keeping him as quiet and useless as a bowl of slowly rotting fruit.

He might have stayed that way for the rest of his days, if not for his nephew Vrisk. Velna had gotten tired of the chore of caring for him several cycles ago and passed the burden onto her children. Probably trying to harvest two fruits from a single bud and scare the poor kids into acting right as well. It worked on Vily, from what he could tell. She didn’t talk to him much, just a quick hi and down to business, but not Vrisk. Vrisk would stay and chat with him more than his sister or mother ever did, probably just because he was the only one who didn’t tell him to stop. At first he talked about whatever had caught his interest lately, TV shows, some historical event he learned at school, that weird bug he found outside. But after a while he started to talk about the troubles he had at school, about his friends and the bullies they dealt with, and how he always got in trouble for standing up to them. It sounded achingly familiar.

Then a cycle or two ago things started to change, he noticed it first in the news. Strange figures covered in cloth and reflective masks, and enough talk of some federation scandal to register with him that something big was happening. Then Vrisk started talking about them, calling them the humans. At first he thought the boy was making up stories. Peaceful predators who don’t have to eat meat and have art and music? It sounded ridiculous.

But he started seeing those masked figures on TV more and more, and Vrisk’s stories started to check out. They even showed them doing some of the things he said, like painting, dancing, and playing music. It was around that time that he started talking about her. He was a bit worried at first, when Vrisk said he went off on his own to watch the humans and actually met one. But according to him, she just wanted to be friends.

We spent a lot of time looking at their cultural data together after that, reading about them and checking out the art and stories that they sent across the stars. But most of all, we listened to their music. We went through all kinds of different categories and styles, more than I thought existed in the whole galaxy. Instrumental, vocal, solo performances, ensembles, orchestras, country, pop, soul, and jazz; there were so many you’d think it was an entire species of musicians! Vrisk said he was looking for a specific song that his friend shared with him, but we never found it. Still, those were some of the happiest moments he’d had in a long time.

Vrisk even downloaded the human music onto his pad so he could listen when he wasn’t around. There was something about the human music that was much more personal than what the federation put out. He really felt like it was trying to speak to him, and it made the days less lonely.

They continued that way for quite a while, listening to music and talking. He got to hear more about Vrisk’s human friend when they started going to his school. A lot more, he whistled a laugh as he remembered, she was all he would talk about sometimes. But eventually he moved on to his guitar lessons, his band, and sometimes even news about the Federation. Vrisk would always get angry and bitter when he talked about them. 

Those feelings came to a head about six herds of paws ago, when Vrisk came in with a very serious expression. He sat on the bed and stared at the pill in his paw. It took him a while to speak, starting and stopping a few times. Once he found his voice he talked about everything he had learned about predator disease from researching human "mental health". He talked about how much more detailed and nuanced their understanding was, and about how surprisingly gentle their treatments were. Most importantly, though, he thought it would be best to stop taking the federation meds.

Fehryl had never agreed to anything faster in his life. Together they disposed of the pill, hugged and cried, and the next morning Fehryl woke up to the worst hangover of his life. Turns out these aren’t the kind of pills you can just stop taking, and the hangover was just a leaf on the tree of withdrawal. So instead they slowly stepped down the dose a little at a time until, after a herd of paws they were down to a half dose, then a quarter, then an eighth, until finally he was clean.

The only problem then, was what to do with his newfound sobriety. He couldn’t just walk out and tell his sister that he was his old self again. Based on what he knew of her and what Vrisk told him, she would never accept that. The facilities were closed so at least she couldn’t send him back there. Still, worst case she might try to force him to go back on his meds herself, after so long wasting away he wouldn’t have the strength to stop her. Only slightly better, she could turn him out on the street with nowhere to go. He could see that happening, with some excuse like “she couldn’t trust him around her pups” or something. 

So before he made any big decision, he decided to keep up the act while he got caught up on the state of the universe. A lot had happened in the last ten cycles, and he had spent every paw for the last few herds reading articles on the federation, their conspiracies, the humans, and everything else he could think of. At this point he was starting to run out of things to research. 

The last of the pill dissolved and swirled down the drain as the song began to fade and he turned off the water. He went back to his chair and sat in it heavily. If he was honest, part of him was afraid to go back out there, into the real world. It had been so long, and so much had changed. What if something happened? What if he screwed up again? He still didn’t feel ready, but at the same time felt that he couldn’t keep this up much longer. Sure, he was safe here, but nothing would change as long as he stayed.

A gentle breeze began to blow in from the open window again. The flyer for Vrisk’s show fluttered on the table, only one corner trapped beneath his pad. The next song began to play and he picked up what Vily had left of the chocolate bar and whistled a laugh, that girl always did have a sweet tooth. Maybe by the time he finished the treat he would know what to do.

<< Come Together | Wonderwall >>

This is a fanfic based on “The Nature of Predators” by u/SpacePaladin15 . Thank you to him and all the other fanfic writers who inspired me to write a few stories of my own. This and all my other fics can also be found on AO3.

New Chapter, new POV! The music in this series is going to be a bit eclectic, mostly because there will be a few different POVs and each person has their own tastes.

<<Strange Girl] [The Way>>

—-------------------------------------------------------------

Memory Transcription Subject: Vily, Venlil
High School Student, currently on break
Date: [Standardized Human Time] July 12, 2138

Vily whistled in amusement as her brother tiptoed through their mom’s flower garden like a Mazic in a glassware shop. “Dumb dork and his dumb dork band.” she thought as she took another bite of chocolate. Her ears drooped in bliss at the salty, sweet, and slightly bitter flavor.

She went to take another bite before she noticed there was hardly any left. She gave a huff of annoyance as she stood from the chair. She did say she would give some to uncle Ferhyl and cover for him being out. Despite the FACT that he could have snuck her out too. So what if it was in a bar, he could totally sneak her in carrying some of their gear or something. Sure, his music was dumb and shouty, but she’d heard a lot about dance clubs from her human friends and really wanted to see what one would be like.

“Is a bar the same as a dance club?” She mused as she stealthily left her brother’s room with the remains of the chocolate bar tucked into her wool. Her friends referred to them interchangeably when they told her about Earth “nightlife”. 

“Vily” She jumped in surprise as her mom spoke from the kitchen as soon as she entered the living area. “Can you tell your brother it’s time for dinner, we’re having stringfruit salad.”

“Oh, uh he’s in such a mood right now, why don’t I just take it to him?”

Her mother sighed. “You shouldn’t encourage his anti-herd behavior, sweet root, but I also don’t want to argue again tonight so I’ll allow it. He still needs to give Uncle Fehryl his medicine, though.” She added as Vily came over to the kitchen.

“Oh, I’ll do that too. I haven’t gotten to talk to him lately.” She offered as she grabbed a salad bowl and the bottle of pills from its usual spot. Her mother relaxed and stroked her back with her tail.

“Thank you dear, what would we do without you?”

“Happy to help!” she said as she bounced back to Vrisk’s room, slipping in to leave the bowl on the desk of the empty room. She turned on the terminal and swapped out the shopping app, where she had been looking up human ‘cheerleader’ fashion, for Vrisk’s music app that was always open. She set it to play and turned up the volume just loud enough that they’d be able to barely hear music blasting from the chunky, ugly headphones from the other side of the door. She then slipped back out and skipped across the living area to the other side of the house where her Uncle’s room was. 

“Knock Knock Uncle Fehryl!” she sang as she arrived at the door to the older Venlil’s room. She hadn’t been lying when she said it had been a while since she talked to him. Vrisk had taken over the task exclusively for the last several herds of paws instead of them taking turns like they used to. She had always dreaded the task so she didn’t really mind handing it off.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like Uncle Fehryl, it was just kind of depressing to see him. He had been diagnosed with predator disease when she was still a pup, and had spent a cycle in a facility. She didn’t remember what he was like before, but these days he mostly sat in his chair and watched TV or stared off into space in his dark and musty old room. His eyes always had that glassy, far off look and he rarely spoke, even his ear and tail gestures were slow and hard to understand.

“I might as well get it over with.” She thought to herself as she pushed open the door. There hadn’t been any response to her call earlier, but that was hardly unusual. What was unusual, though, was the fresh breeze from the open window that greeted her when she entered his room. The blinds were up and the space was brightly lit, the TV was off and she could hear the wool dryer going from the bathroom. 

His datapad was sitting out on the small table next to his chair, and it had some kind of app running. She took a closer look, and it seemed to be a bird watching app with an icon of a singing flower bird. There was also an earclip on the table, one of the wireless speakers that had been modeled off cheap human earbuds to fit Venlil ears. They usually came in pairs though, and she didn’t see the other one. Out of curiosity she picked it up and clipped it on.

“Ooooh, Vrisk you’re in trouble.” she whispered. He got in trouble last year for downloading the human cultural data onto Uncle Fehryl’s pad. Looks like he put it back by hiding it behind this bird watching app. She wondered if he did that himself or had one of his friends do it. Jason and that Yotul were always making federation tech do things it wasn’t supposed to do.

This song was kinda catchy, not her usual preference, but not bad. She liked the Pop music her human friends at school had introduced her to. Still, she found herself swaying her tail to the beat as Uncle Fehryl stepped out of the bathroom with the other ear clip.

He froze as soon as he saw her. His eyes were a bit less dull and more focused than she remembered, and his already fluffed out wool puffed slightly in surprise. Only his chest and stomach had the same pure white coat as her mom’s, the rest of him had a random pattern of white, tan, and black spots and smears, kind of like hers but messier.

“Hi, Uncle Fehryl, you’re looking lively today!” she said as the song continued. She took the ear clip off and set it back on the table. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell mom and dad, but you should totally check out Taylor Swift some time.”

He relaxed a bit, but still signaled confusion with his tail. “Vrisk?” he asked in a husky whisper.

“Oh, Vrisk is… busy right now, so I came by to give you your medicine.” She held up the bottle and gave it a little shake. His ears swiveled in thought for a moment as he walked over and gently lifted his pad. Underneath was a folded slip of paper that he handed to her.

She opened it up and recognized one of the flyers Vrisk and his friends had made for their band. “Vrisk and the Skalgans”, what a dumb name. They had been putting them up in random places around town for the last few paws. He must have told Uncle Fehryl about the show as well, so it shouldn't hurt to tell him.

“Yeah, he snuck out to go do his show, it starts in a claw or something. Oh, he also asked me to give you this.” She pulled what was left of the chocolate bar out of her wool and set it on the table.

“Now, it’s been a while but I still remember the rules. I gotta watch you take the medicine.” She tapped out one of the pills and held it out to him. His ears drooped a bit as he sighed, put the pill in his mouth, and swallowed.

“Thanks Uncle Fehryl, I’ve got some things to do so I’ll see you later!” She flicked a good bye as she left the room with the rest of the bottle and closed the door behind her. She grabbed her own salad and went to her room, pulling out her pad and sending a quick message to her brother.

“I took care of Uncle Fehryl for you, but you owe me one for not telling mom about his ‘bird watching’ app.” She wondered what she should ask for. Maybe she could make him buy her one of the outfits she was looking at earlier, oh or maybe the newest model of datapad! He should still have some money from his job…maybe. He did only get that job to buy stuff for the band, so maybe not.

Stupid broke brother, now she was annoyed, both that she couldn’t think of anything to squeeze out of him and that he left her behind. Maybe she should mess with him a bit. Let's see… ah! She knew just what to do. She pulled up the contact info she had for his band mates, searched through the files on her pad, and sent them a video.

She whistled a laugh to herself as she munched on her salad. That video was guaranteed to get a reaction out of them. It certainly had the first time she showed it.

—---------------------------------------------
Date: [Standardized Human Time] January 20, 2137

It had only been a week since the humans had integrated into our school, and all of the students were terrified of them except for a small pawful. So of course, my brother just had to be one of the exceptions.

It was bad enough that he kept getting in trouble at home for listening to human music. Mom had wiped his pad like 3 times already and gave him extra chores as a punishment, but he kept downloading the human data back onto his pad. I didn’t really care at first, most of those extra chores were mine after all, but now it was personal. Once he was interacting directly with humans AT SCHOOL on the FIRST DAY, people started to talk. Saying that he must be predator diseased, or hypnotized, or made a deal to secretly supply them with meat so he could be their pet.

Here I was just trying to fit in with my herd, when all of this suspicion started being placed on me by proxy. They kept asking if I was diseased too, pushing me away and telling me to go hang out with the other predators like my brother. So I resolved to do something about it, and during the last rest claw I recorded a video. I thought that maybe, if I showed the humans how obsessed my brother was with them, that they would think he was weird and chase him away.

And so I waited by the vending machine during second meal, my datapad clenched tightly in my paws. My herd wouldn’t let me sit with them anyway. And when my brother came in the door with his human pack I saw her, the tall dark haired girl with the black pelts that he always hung out with.

Sam, he told me, was one of a few humans in his class, and apparently he didn’t even flinch when she claimed the desk next to him. Together then went and sat with the other humans and their pets at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. All of the other tables had been crammed closer together so the normal students could stay far away from them.

When Vrisk got up to get his food I made my move. I darted across the cafeteria, weaving between chairs and tables and startling a few students. I crossed the gap to the human section and to the chair where my brother just was, right next to Sam. Before any of them could ask what I was doing I slammed my pad down on the table and hit play as fast as I could.

The recording was slightly tilted and shaky as it was taken from partway behind the door to my brother’s room. He was bouncing around on his paws and his tail was waving wildly in the air, even his hips were bouncing back and forth to some rhythm in his earbuds. He had a woolbrush in one paw and was holding it up like a microphone. Worst of all, he was singing in human!

“See wares sore skirs, I ware e sirs
Sees heer capon ahn am onna beacher”

What happened after that was a blur. First Sam started laughing loudly, a barking sound which brought all of the other human’s attention over that hadn’t already been looking at my arrival. Then the human across the table who was watching the video snorted and white fluid sprayed out of his exposed nose. He started shouting something about “Protein shake in my sinuses” which made a bunch of other humans laugh at him. One of them laughed so hard they fell out of the Venlil-sized chair, and the weird chain reaction kept going until every human at the table was roaring with laughter. That was about when Vrisk got back to the table.

“Vily? Are you okay, what’s going on?... Hey! What the speh!?” He snatched my pad and stopped the video that had been playing on repeat while his ears burned bright orange. Unfortunately for me, the humans were surprisingly supportive as his human friend started slapping him on the shoulder while she gasped for air.

“Oh man, Vrisk! I didn’t know you could shake your tail like that!” She took a break to laugh and reach under her mask to wipe away tears.

“You know, for a guy who doesn’t know english that’s actually pretty good! I could kinda understand you there. Is this you little sister? It’s Vily right? Whew, thanks for that girl, I needed a good laugh.” They continued talking and laughing, while I stood there absolutely stunned until I finally dragged my pad off the table and stumbled away.

Not only did my plan to get Vrisk away from the humans fail, but the accusations coming my way only got worse. And I got in trouble for provoking the humans and starting a minor stampede as the rest of the cafeteria had cleared out from all the commotion. Totally unfair, if you ask me. Vrisk was also mad, but not too much since the humans thought it was funny. He did make me delete the video, but didn’t say anything about making a copy first. 

He really should have seen that one coming. After all, it is the nature of little sisters.

<<Strange Girl] [The Way>>

I don't think I've seen anyone mention this, but I swear Cave Leeches are slower in Rogue Core than in original DRG. I feel like I have more instances of looking up in time to see it coming in one week of Rogue Core than in 2 years of DRG. Has anyone tested this?

That's not even taking into account the drooling tell they have now, which I also appreciate. The only downside is that there seem to be more of them on lower ceilings that you don't really have time to react to.

My current fic includes a high school talent show in one chapter and I could use a few non-human acts to mention in passing. My only ideas so far are a Krakotl singer and someone playing the plehr or some other xenon instrument. What other, preferably non-musical acts do you think the Venlil would have?

A Venlil teenager starts a band after befriending a human and listening to their forbidden music. This is technically a sequel to Venlil Rebel, but it is following all new characters and no prior knowledge is needed.

This is a fanfic based on “The Nature of Predators” by u/SpacePaladin15 . Thank you to him and all the other fanfic writers who inspired me to write a few stories of my own. This and all my other fics can also be found on AO3.

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Memory Transcription Subject: Vrisk, Venlil Skalgan

Voluntarily Unemployed (as of today)

Date: [Standardized Human Time] July 12, 2138

“I don’t see why you couldn’t keep the job at the grocery store and just have fun with your friends on the rest paw. Don't you want to have a career?” His mother's voice wavered with panic as she followed him from through the living room. He'd only told them that he quit his crappy job and she was acting like it was a damn Arxur raid.

“The band is my career mom! Not some stupid grocery store! I’m not going to stay there forever until I become some washed up middle manager!”

“There’s nothing wrong with middle management" She lectured. "Especially if you don’t have a degree, which you would also need for a career in music. You don’t even play an instrument!” He'd heard this all a dozen times before. 

“I’m a vocalist, Mom! My voice IS my instrument!”

“Darling, you know I love you, but you’re not a Krakotl.”

“ITS NOT THAT KIND OF SINGING!” He shouted as he stomped off towards his room. 

“Oh, Barsk dear, can you help me talk to him?” His father set down his holopad with a sigh and rose to stand beside her. His black wool stood in stark contrast to hers, unfortunately Vrisk only inherited enough of his color to make him look perpetually dirty.

“Son, your mother and I just think that you’re taking this pr*cough*uh human thing a little too far. We’re glad you’ve found a herd but you’re behaving more like… one of them, and less like a proper Venlil.”

He stopped, his door ajar. There it is, there it always is. Just like all the other fed-brained, herd-following, brahk-asses. They still clung to the federation ideology, never truly stopped believing their lies and propaganda no matter how much evidence was laid before them. He wanted to just go into his room and ignore them, but he couldn't keep the words bottled up and whirled to face them again. 

“I. AM. A. SKALGAN! And you would be too if you’d grow a brahking spine!”

His parents were silent for a moment, looking at each other nervously. He knew that look, he'd seen it every time he had an outburst, no matter how justified, ever since he was a child. He knew exactly what line was coming next, and it looked like it was father's turn to say it. 

“We’re just worried about you. We don’t want you to end up like your uncle.”

*SLAM*

The doorframe shuttered at the violence inflicted upon it, and he took a moment to take a deep breath and try to collect himself. Even after everything that had come out, everything they had learned about the fed’s predshit, they still- 

“What'd you do this time? Start eating meat?” His little sister Vily asked from the small desk in the corner of the room. 

“Gah!” He bleated. “The speh are you doing in here? Don't you have your own room?”

“Yeah, but I don't have a pad with access to the human internet in mine.”

“I've offered to set that up for you like a dozen times.” he grumbled as he threw open his closet and began rummaging through a pile of human style clothes. 

“and get caught having that on my pad? No thank you. If I use yours I've got plausible deniability.” She smirked as she spun lazily in his desk chair. Typical, she was always the ‘proper’ child. Good grades, a large herd at school, even her wool was a perfect mix of mom and dad’s, with black spots over a pure white coat that Sam said resembled a dalmation. Their parents had no idea she had just as much interest in human culture as he did, she just preferred their fashion, dancing, and pop music. She had even agreed to join a cheerleading squad with some humans and other Venlil from her class after harvest break.

“But seriously, what'd you do?”

Vrisk found what he was looking for and pulled a duffel bag out from underneath the pile. He took a moment to gaze at the guitar tucked into the corner before he turned and set the bag down on his bed with a thud. 

“I quit my job at the brahking grocery store.” He unzipped the bag with more force than necessary and began checking the contents: clothes, belts, wool wax, dye… his sister gasped. 

“Oh my speh, are you sneaking out again? Do you have a show? Will there be dancing? Can I come!?” She had stopped spinning and was teetering on the edge of the seat, her tail thrashing back and forth in excitement. 

“First, no I'm not sneaking out. I'm an adult and I can leave whenever the speh I want… I just don't want to go through the front door and deal with mom and dad. Second, yes we have a show in about a claw, I don’t know if there will be dancing, and no you can't come. It's at a bar for adults, which I am and you are not.”He said, pointing at himself and then her.

Her ears flattened and she got that pouty look in her eyes. “Barely, you’ve only been an adult for like, a herd of paws.”

“Two herds, actually. I turned 18 when I graduated, remember? You made yourself sick on cake.”

“Mmm, it was worth it! Speaking of, you owe me for not running to tell mom what you're up to right now. I'd say a… chocolate bar would suffice.” He looked up from the bag and saw that she was already holding a chocolate bar in her paw. His chocolate bar. That little speh must have found his stash.

He sighed, he didn’t have time to deal with this right now. He rezipped the duffel bag, slung it over his shoulder, and opened up the window. “Alright fine, but you have to give some to uncle Fehryl, I promised I’d bring him a piece.”  

“Yeah yeah” She said dismissively around a mouthful of chocolate. “Go have fun shouting and face-biting with your scary human girl friend.”

He was halfway out the window and nearly crashed into mom’s garden as his ears bloomed bright orange. “She’s not - We don’t - guh - whatever!”

Her whistling laugh faded as he pulled the window closed from the outside and tiptoed between the various flowers and plants. Stupid parents. Stupid teasing sister. She knows enough humans to know that girl friend means mate, and that it's not face-biting. He had half a mind to turn around and… he didn’t know what exactly.

He huffed and pulled out his holopad as he exited the garden and strode towards the street. He needed to order a van to pick him up and go collect the rest of his band mates and all their gear.

The screen flashed to life, his background showing a picture of them after their first performance. Jason and Trill were in the back, as usual, trying not to draw attention. Narli was on the left, doing his best attempt at a human smile. Vrisk was on the right, looking frazzled and exhausted, or at least that’s how he remembered feeling at the time. And in the center was Sam, her hands in that ‘horned’ gesture she taught them and her face scrunched in a shout of exultation.

He couldn’t believe his sister called her scary... actually no he could totally believe that. She can be scary when she wants to be, which is usually just when someone deserves it, or when she thinks it would be funny. But still, the only time he remembered being scared of her was the first time they met.

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Date: [Standardized Human Time] December 15, 2136

(about a year and a half ago)

Even before the humans showed up I kept getting into trouble for sneaking out, or wandering off, or being too loud, or being too curious about the wrong things. So of course I was curious when the humans showed up, and even more interested when the refugee center was set up in town, but I wasn’t the only one. Every day there were rumors, news reports, and editorials about them, they were all anyone could talk about. And that  focus only got more intense when they started their “outreach” events. Every few paws the humans would come out to some public place to talk and demonstrate something about themselves. There had been music performances, yoga demonstrations, ballroom dancing, and even a live painting demonstration. 

That last one had caused a stampede on the local art stores and been rebroadcast several times on the local holovid station. The human painter had not only created two gorgeous masterpieces in less than a single claw, but he had described each step of the process as he went along. Every brush stroke, color choice, and technique was narrated in a deep, soothing voice. It made people feel as if they could do the same thing, and as a result the whole town was sold out of paint. There was even talk of the human getting a regular show. 

With such exciting developments happening, how could I not go see the next event? Sure it was going to be another musical performance, but this time it was a group instead of an individual musician, and for the first time there would be singing!

The downside to so much interest in the humans, though, was that by the time I got to the park there was a large herd of other Venlil already gathered. Being a bit on the shorter side, I couldn’t even see the stage through the mass of wool, and so I wandered around until I spotted a hill off to the side with a tree at its peak.

After a bit of hiking and panting I made it up to the top and felt quite proud of myself as I admired my view of the stage. It was a bright, sunny day with a pleasant breeze and the shade here under the canopy of rustling leaves was just right. It was a blissful moment that I closed my eyes and savored… right until I heard what I was certain was the sickening, wet crunch of teeth snapping bone. 

I should have run, thrown myself back down the hill as fast as I could. And yet, instead I found myself slowly leaning around the trunk, convinced that I was about to see a human crouched on the ground, feeding on the bloody corpse of a fresh kill, mouth and hands stained orange with blood. 

Instead I came snout to elbow with a pale limb, slender but toned with visible muscle and the barest dusting of fur. I followed the curves down their length to a set of long, delicate fingers gripping some kind of fruit.

The beginnings of a song drifted up the hill as the band began to play, and despite my ears twitching at the melody my eyes were transfixed on the figure before me. I followed her hand upwards as she went to take another bite and got my first true look at a human with no mask or covering like the ones on the news. Their pale yellow fur, which turned dark at the top, hung down to frame the light skin of their face. And bright red lips that matched the color of the fruit parted to reveal not the fangs that I had expected, but small flat teeth. And those eyes, though they were admittedly unnerving, were an undeniably gorgeous shade of green. 

She was staring off into the distance as she took another bite. The sound was much less intimidating when I could see the source, and despite my instincts screaming at me to run or sneak away, I stayed rooted to the spot long enough to be spotted.

In what felt like an instant those eyes went from looking out over the quiet town of Merrywood to piercing straight into my very soul. I’m pretty sure there are still marks on that tree from where my claws dug into the bark, but they didn’t seem surprised or fazed at my presence as they casually spoke with a voice muffled by half chewed food.

“Heya fwuff” She deftly tossed the fruit in the air and caught it in the other hand before pulling another one out of her pocket. “Want an apple?”

My curiosity and desire to not offend the potentially dangerous predator overrode my fear, and I gingerly accepted the treat. I didn’t dare take my eyes from her as I ventured a small bite, and the tension in my body began to melt away as I was rewarded with a wonderfully sweet and floral taste. 

I devoured the fruit stem and all as she pushed off from the trunk and came around to sit in the grass next to me, watching the stage and listening to the music. The first song was quite interesting, now that I was paying attention. It alternated between serene and intense in a way I hadn't ever heard before. The second tune was pleasantly bouncy and joyful, and I settled into the soft turf beside the human, savoring yet another apple that had been pulled from her surprisingly deep pockets. It wasn't until the third song came up that she spoke again.

“Ugh, the parade of sappy slop continues.” She said with disdain as she threw the remains of her apple an impressive distance in the general direction of the stage. 

“D-do you not like these songs?”

She sighed heavily as she slumped back against the tree. “No, I mean yes… they're fine. It's a good song, the band is good, and love songs are ImPorTanT To Our CulTure.” She wiggled her fingers in an odd way, the annoyance still clear in her voice. 

“It's just that it’s all we’re allowed to play. These guys used to be cool, they used to rock, you know?” She rolled her head to the side and I flinched as she regarded me with those eyes again. 

“You don't know.” she muttered as she looked back out over the park. 

“It's just… a couple months ago this same band played a concert for us at the shelter, and sure it was a bunch of older stuff, but it still rocked our [censored] socks off. It really helped people get out of their funk and feel normal again.”

I had no idea what ‘funk’ was or what socks had to do with anything, but it made sense that the humans were struggling with being sent to a new planet after theirs was nearly destroyed. I hadn't really thought about how they would feel before. 

“It sucks that they can't play that same stuff here, they can only play this safe, sappy bullshit. Sure it's human music, but it's only part of who we are. We can't always be the… shiny happy people that you want us to be. Sometimes we're scary, sometimes we're loud, we contain like, multitudes and shit.”

“Oh” was all I could think of to respond, but what she said struck a nerve. I thought about all the times I got into trouble for being too loud. All the times I was told to calm down or be quiet, all the lectures about how I would get taken away to a facility if I didn’t act right. I tried to behave, I really did, but when someone wasn’t following the rules or being mean and unherd-like I’d get mad and I’d get loud, and then I’d be the one to get in trouble. Was she saying that the humans were like that too?

“I’m Sam, by the way.” She said more gently, extending one of her hands towards me. Thankfully I had heard about this gesture in some of the news reports.

“Vrisk” I responded as I carefully placed my paw in hers. She wrapped those long fingers around me and gave it a gentle shake before letting go, though the warmth of her touch lingered.

We talked through all of the next song, well mostly she talked. We discovered that we were about the same age, 16 cycles old with our 17th birthdays coming up soon. She told me about the songs they were playing and the bands that wrote them, many of them over a hundred cycles old. Apparently the versions this band was playing were even toned down from the originals to be more gentle for the Venlil audience. She told me more about the concert the band had played, and how a Venlil had actually snuck in and ended up enjoying themselves.

Eventually the band stopped playing and another human stepped out on the stage. Based on his clothes, he was the director from the human shelter that I’d seen in the news. It was at this moment that everything truly changed for me, though it had nothing to do with what was happening on stage.

Sam had pulled a pair of earbuds out her pocket and held them out to me. “Hey, he’s just going to make a boring speech about friendship and unity. Do you wanna hear something different?”

I remember worrying for a moment about what I might be about to hear. All that talk about being loud and intense, about toning things down for Venlil. I wondered if I would be able to handle hearing it. But then I thought, it’s just music, what’s the worst that could happen? So I took hold of the earbuds and somewhat awkwardly put them in.

Sam’s mouth was turned up on one side as she swiped through a library of songs on her pad. I got a brief glimpse of a snarling human face before she hit play and I was assaulted with a wall of sound. Each beat another hammer blow to my senses, repeating over and over until a human voice began what felt more like an interrogation than singing.

 

Do I make you nervous?

Do I make you scared?

Do I make you wanna just stop and stare?

Weird, bizarre, unusual

Sicker than sick, atypical

A perfect picture of your [censored] worst nightmare

 

My heart was beating wildly in my chest and I could feel my wool standing on end. Focusing on the lyrics helped me ignore some of the intensity that continued to assail my senses.

 

Do I make you frightened?

Do I make you fear for your life?

When you're so certain, I'll infect you when I'm near

Obscene, twisted, unnatural

Off the wall, unacceptable

I'm bulletproof to what you think

 

So you can damn me straight to [censored]

You can [censored] my name

You can throw me to the [censored]

You can burn me in the flame

And say, "She's such a strange girl"

Such a strange girl

The world needs strange girls

Just like me

 

Was this song written recently, or was it one of the old ones? It really seemed to be speaking directly to the federation. And did I hear that last line correctly, “The world needs strange girls”? That was exactly the opposite of what everyone in my life kept telling me.

I definitely heard it right, as the song continued to repeat the line. I was still trying to wrap my head around it when the song shifted to something softer and more like the singing from the band down in the park.

 

Do you hate me just to change me?

To be just like you

To be just like you

Do you fear me to make me feel empty?

So I'm just like you

I will never be like you

I'll never be you

The last line went right back to shouting again. It seemed to be making a declaration that, not only were they different, but that they always would be. Becoming like everyone else was either impossible, or would cause them some kind of harm, maybe both. My ears twitched in thought and confusion until, with a few final beats, it was over.

I don’t remember much of what happened after that. Sam got a message from the other humans to go help pack up their things. She took her earbuds back, put on a mask that she seemed to have forgotten she had until then, and waved goodbye. “Hey, at least you didn’t run, maybe I’ll see you around Vrisk.” was all she said as she walked down the hill and left me alone with my thoughts. The band down below played one last song, but it felt jarring to go from the intensity of what I’d just heard back to something “safe”. Still, of all the music I heard that day, it was the one she played that stuck with me for a long time afterwards.