The Non-Human Society

Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty Seven – Renn – A Silent Voice

Oplar thumped the tombstone lightly. “This here’s my ma’,” she said. Then she stepped to the left, and patted the next stone. “And my pa’.”

I nodded as I studied the two graves. We were near one of the other buildings, the one that Sharp had her little insect cages in. The tombstones were about waist high to Oplar, and both were in the shape of stacks of books.

“So you inherited your passion of stories from them?” I asked.

“Aye. Though it was my idea to start delivering letters. They had been more interested in cataloguing family histories and stuff,” Oplar said as she stepped around her mother’s tombstone, and brushed some fallen leaves off the top of it. Thanks to their flat tops it seemed easy for stuff to accumulate on them. Especially out here, surrounded by the dense forest and winds.

“Family histories…” I said softly as I watched her pick each leaf off the stone one by one, carefully.

“Used to be important. Lotta’ folk don’t care much about it anymore though. Back in Telmik I have massive tomes, which go back hundreds if not thousands of years for some. It’s always very interesting to read about’em,” she said.

“Should put them with the paintings,” I said as I imagined a great room, full of paintings… with those very tomes lying underneath them, as to tell their story.

Oplar tilted her head, and then stood up. “Why… that’s a good idea,” she said seriously.

I nodded. I’d have enjoyed going through such a place. Just as I had spent days and days staring at all those paintings back at Ruvindale.

“I’ve heard you can paint well, actually,” Oplar said as she turned to look at me.

“I try. Though I’ve not had the opportunity to do so lately,” I said.

“Mhm… must be hard being tugged along by Vim all the time. Maybe we should get you an office at Telmik, so you can spend time there as he wanders around. Give you time to do such things,” Oplar said as she pondered it.

I smiled at the idea. “I might consider that one day,” I said honestly.

“Hm… you’ll probably need to do such a thing eventually anyway,” she seemed to conclude from her thoughts.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Well once you start having children. I doubt Vim would ever let anything happen to you, or them, but traveling around with him without rest might not be the best way to raise’em in the beginning, eh?” Oplar said as she smiled at the idea.

I frowned as I pondered her point.

She was right… wasn’t she? It took our kind a long time to mature. Any child I’d give birth to would take far longer than a human to grow large enough to tend to themselves. Which meant many years of needing full attention… The type of full attention that living on the road would make it difficult, if not even impossible.

Children...

“In Telmik you’ll have many to help you out too. Plus it’s safe. Beneath the Cathedral are many floors that humans don’t even know exist, safe to live in,” Oplar said.

Although still fascinated over the idea, I blinked and changed focus. “There were floors beneath the church?” I asked.

She nodded. “Aye. Celine had Vim and many others, like Hands’ father, make them. Originally they were meant to be a place for us to hide if we were attacked or something, now though they’re mostly just houses and rooms… though honestly most have been empty for some time now,” Oplar said.

“I do remember Vim mentioning tunnels… but he hadn’t said there were actual places to live or anything…” I said. I should have known though.

“Vim’s weird,” Oplar stated, as if that summarized Vim’s entire existence and strangeness up perfectly.

“He is…” I admitted and agreed softly.

Oplar stepped away from her parent’s graves and back onto the little stone path I was standing on.

“Can I ask something, Oplar?” I asked her.

She nodded.

“Are you the author? Of those books. The Queen’s Lament,” I asked.

Oplar grinned at me. “Me? No!” she laughed a bit, and then reached over to wrap her arm around my shoulder. Thanks to her being taller than me, she easily turned me as to make me join her in walking along the path, away from her parent’s graves. “I can see why you’d think so. But no. The stories I crave are not such made up drivel… No… What I’m fascinated by are the ones made by real people, in the real world. Which, surprisingly, ends up being more unbelievable sometimes than even the wildest of fiction!” Oplar added.

“Which is why you enjoy joining Vim on his travels,” I said as I understood.

Oplar tightened her grip around my neck and shoulder, as if hugging me. “Ha! No! Not at all! I’ll admit Vim is… a good source of stories and such, but he has a fatal flaw. One that ends up ruining the story more than not,” she said.

“He does…?”

She nodded and pointed at the church we were heading back towards. Though no one was in sight, so she was likely just pointing at nothing. “He’s too perfect. Basically Vim does encounter the strange and unusual often, but he… ends those stories too quickly. Too swiftly. If he had it his way, even the craziest moment would only last a few heartbeats, and no one would die, nothing drastic would happen, and he’d then simply go on about his day… as if nothing happened at all,” she said, as if it was something terrible.

“You’d… prefer he wasn’t so good at doing his job…?” I asked.

“Aye. I know. That’s horrible of me. I know. But it’s the truth. Take those Monarchs, or monsters, he sometimes fights. They should be natural disasters! Calamities! Stuff of fiction and legends…! Yet…” Oplar raised her hand, and made a fist… yet opened it and revealed her open palm, as if to display the thought in her head upon it.

“He defeats them before they can cause such chaos,” I said, understanding.

“Yeah… same with men, or armies, or genuine natural disasters even! He fixes them too easily, and does it all while being all calm and collected to boot. It’s no fun. Real stories have grief, heartache, disappointment… Vim doesn’t always end it happily, of course, but you see when he fails it’s not because he actually does so, but because it was impossible. An inevitability. So it’s not fun,” Oplar complained.

I wasn’t really sure I liked her viewpoint at all; especially since it didn’t sound like she was joking or teasing at all… but I did understand where she was coming from.

Sometimes Vim did treat even the serious stuff al little…

“He is sometimes a little nonplus about stuff,” I agreed.

“Aye? Right! Now don’t get me wrong… I’ll run to Vim the fastest the moment I, or anyone, needs him… but… well…” Oplar shrugged, bumping me as she did since we were walking so closely together.

She felt rather warm, oddly. As if she was sick. But she didn’t sound or feel sick. Maybe it was just her trait. She was a bear… so…

“I see where you’re coming from Oplar, but I’ve felt most of Vim’s stories have ended rather sadly in my experience…” I said softly.

“Aye. As I said, it happens… it just, even when it does, it doesn’t feel normal. As if he’s…” Oplar hesitated, and I realized she was about to say something very similar to what many were, and had. Particularly akin to the more recent vote. She instead shook her head, and squeezed me a little tighter. “But enough about me…! I want to talk about you,” she decided.

“I’m taken,” I warned her.

Oplar nearly tripped. I had to stand firm as the heavier woman leaned on me and guffawed, then burst out laughing as she stood back up. “Indeed you are!” she shouted happily.

I let her cling to me, as if her laughter was about to send her to her knees, and I wondered how heavy she actually were. I had actually needed to firm my footing, and strain a little, as to keep her upright just now.

She continued to laugh, until they turned into heavy giggles, which then turned into deep wheezes and huffs. “Ah… that was great. I’m going to enjoy you, Renn, I really am,” she said.

“Vim doesn’t like to share, but he begrudgingly allows it sometimes,” I said.

Oplar made a noise, then went right back to laughing. “Does he now! That’s good to know!”

Smiling at her, I enjoyed not just her boisterous attitude… but how touchy-feely she was. Brandy had been like her, but had only on a few times actually wrapped me in a hug or done what Oplar was doing. Landi had been similar, a little, but it had seemed she had always been scheming something… though half the time it felt like it was something silly, and of no consequence… but Oplar on the other hand…

Well…

She seemed to be just enjoying the moment. Which somehow made her personality all the more lovely.

Plus I kind of liked the way she thought… not so much about Vim’s supposed interference with her

Today though…?

The mere idea of not talking right now was almost an impossibility to me. And not just because I had so many things I wanted to ask, and say, to those around me.

How hard would it be to not say anything to Vim…? For extended periods?

Sometimes I couldn’t contain myself. There were times I blurted out something the moment he came into view. As if I was some child or lost puppy, unable to contain my excitement when I saw him.

Crossing my arms, similar to the way Oplar did earlier, I tried to imagine it… as the man in question rounded the corner in front of me.

He noticed me, and tilted his head as he smiled at me. He must have just passed Frett, considering where he had come from. I wonder if he had heard me talking to her earlier, and thus why he was here now. He might have been in the church then.

As he approached… I wondered if this was the world’s way of giving me a chance to find out if I could do it or not.

Vim approached me… and came to a stop a few feet away.

Keeping my arms crossed, I stared up into his eyes… and knew my tail and ears were giving my thoughts away. My tail especially was wiggling around rather fiercely right now.

In a certain perspective… my tail alone had made me fail in my attempt. It may not be able to speak, or make much sound even when it swooshed and moved quickly… but…

It spoke all the same. It was my voice… especially to Vim’s eyes.

Still I kept my silence… and oddly, so did he.

Neither of us said anything for a long moment, and then Vim smirked at me… and simply nodded as he stepped away.

Without a word, Vim stepped around me and headed down the hall… leaving me be.

For a tiny moment I had to bite the inside of my cheek, as to stop myself from saying anything. After a few moments I turned, to look over my shoulder at him. Vim reached the end of the hall, and then promptly turned a corner… disappearing from view.

Releasing a tiny pent up breath, I sighed and felt ridiculous.

“That was hard,” I admitted.