The dancing could only be described as joyous. I sat watching silently, enjoying the lively music and the noise of people having fun. The squeal of a startled girl, caught around the waist and dipped unexpectedly by her enthusiastic partner, put an amused smile on my face as I watched them idly, hands folded in my lap, twitching occasionally to stroke or smooth the soft fabric of the finery I wore. I dare not shift where I sat in the grass, lest a wiggle of mine bruise a leaf and put a green stain on the expensive fabric. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBXm9CB51r
I wasn't quite sure why I was here. Not that I was ungrateful. I'd been wanting to come since I was no more than a cub, too small to be allowed at a Faire even if I had been normal. Not that any of us knew I wasn't back then. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQU7To7rTLt
Six or seven was the normal age to go to one's first Faire, but here I was, already ten years old, looking like an adult but feeling just as lost as the half-grown cubs I saw scampering around in nervous huddles, or else hiding behind mothers' skirts, full of wonder and excitement and fear. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sjQL9Ws78
I couldn't help but admire those skirts, and those I saw being peddled by a few vendors around the market area, but of course I dared not go look closer, touch the deliciously beautiful fabric, or exclaim over them as I saw many females doing. I could just afford to admire the clothes on others, though; then it just looked like I was gawking at their often ill-concealed bodies beneath the lovely garments. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gNVq6psQo
With a sigh, I returned my attention to the dancers, who had broken formation and were standing around, panting and grinning at each other for a few moments in between songs. A flute player shook the spit out of his instrument and set it on a cloth behind him, then picked up another, smaller flute and licked the mouthpiece pensively before he began with a trill that the others soon joined in with, and in another moment the dance was back in full swing, partners prancing around each other with delight on their faces. Some, I could see, were mates or sweethearts, moving knowingly together, the expressions on their faces more tender than exhilarated. Others had clearly just met, and were nervous with each other, or missed steps, or--in the case of one bright-furred, handsome male--paid no attention at all to their partners, instead ogling the tails of any females who passed. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8w6ryx9WbH
I jumped and almost fell over as a girl came from behind me and plopped herself down just to my right on the grass, too familiarly close for my comfort. She smiled at my start. She was lithe and soft-furred, tan bespeckled with a bright goldish color. She wore a long red skirt and a tiny top that fit tightly around her breasts and barely covered anything else. "Hey, handsome," she said in almost a whisper, "Sitting out, are we?" 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX98Uaw5FNg
I winced, but tried to hide it by scratching my brow. I didn't want to be 'handsome,' and certainly not to her, who I had never even seen before. "My name is Hawean," I said softly.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBIgErMnJh4
She smiled, looking down demurely, and moved a little bit closer. "I'm Jasi," she said, "Want to dance?"844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmgXBg5wgPP
I was completely taken aback. Dance? Me? With her? I could scarcely believe she had even asked. Certainly she was a pretty enough female, but that didn't mean that I--844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxaNDKajplx
"I'm not going to force you," she said, seeing my expression, which I quickly controlled. "If you don't want to dance, I don't mind." 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1FjeTrwSc
I tried to inch away from her subtlely, but she saw. "Am I bothering you?" she said quietly.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl110vGxV6O
I opened my mouth, not sure how to respond, and she sighed softly.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljSqOINYk6
"Sorry," she said, getting up, and started to walk away.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECvnfoXq2x
"Wait!" I said suddenly, scrambling to my feet as I realized that I was missing the point. I, who had always wanted to come here and be a part of this wonderful festival, was now shoving myself away from the heart of it.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93wSgvjBli
"You're not bothering me," I babbled nervously, "I'm just--I'm shy." Not precisely true, though I could be a bit intimidated by people. It was close enough to excuse my behavior.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZWWpkSM5Z
Her smile was back, radiant and kind. "Well then maybe I should give you a little more space," she said, padding back up to me and stopping a couple steps away. "My offer still stands, though."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4E3sM6LrF
I hesitated. I did want to dance, but she wasn't exactly my ideal partner, and I didn't want to give her any wrong ideas...844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3sULOlSkg
"No obligations. Just a dance as friends if you like," she said, again reading my face like script. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4WXcDmMJ1
I nodded. "Yes," I said, making myself relax, "I'd enjoy that."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr45V3re0Ur
Just then the song changed again, the drums beating a slower tempo, and the instruments wove through it serenely.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnQC34lOWU
Jasi chuckled. "Maybe next song," she said, and flopped, again, on the grass as I sat carefully beside her. "So where do you hail from?"844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5WyB2XzZ3
"Ek'nen," I answered, again smoothing at the wrinkles in my clothes.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xbTaWJWYH
"I don't know where that is."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZsGLiLQPB3
"Northeast. A few days' travel. We're pretty far out."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0XvLloYDP
She nodded. "I'm from Kaalak, south of here."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkgnDZMnKC
I nodded back. I hadn't heard of it.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIB1YvbIg2
We sat in silence, me cursing my awful social skills as my mind was suddenly blank of anything at all to talk about. I started fiddling with a grass blade I plucked to avoid having to look at her.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2BpLwU2ZM
"They've all got such beautiful dresses," she said wistfully, startling me into glancing down to where she lay, head on her arms, again to my right. She was watching the dancers just as I had been.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90qDIdre3c
"You do too," I said, surprised.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YaU7KelGS
"Oh, this thing." She rolled on to her side and held out the fabric of her skirt so I could see it better. "It's been to almost every Faire since my grandmother was my age. There have always been enough females in the family to swap out on who wears it, so I don't think anyone has ever noticed that it just keeps coming back, and back..." She flopped back onto her stomach again. "It's like it's the dress wearing the aasen, not the other way around."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BSyqgjalY
I snorted at her unexpected joke, and we looked at each other and laughed for a moment. Grinning, she reached up and poked me in the muzzle.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDj1pQb3mGz
"There's a smile," she said, "I knew you had one in you."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWBGuX2LBU
Now only grinning from embarrassment, I looked down.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgw2JoxoDUi
She just chuckled. "You really are kinda shy," she said, "One would never guess by the way you stare at their butts." She nosed toward the dance floor.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY440b1P2Sn
"I wasn't!" I said, then made myself relax. There was nothing wrong with a male eyeing females, it was only a little forward...844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HWbLiDEmv
"Of course you weren't. You were admiring their dresses." She saw my nod and looked at me incredulously. "You really were."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwEpGWvBjq
"I like the designs," I said, sensing that she didn't think it too strange of me, suddenly eager to express what I'd been thinking. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVAGbHzYc4
Jasi just shook her head. "You're an odd one."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qSSiGNQBC
"Sorry." I studied the blade of grass between my fingers, quite bruised from my idle attentions to it.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqvo5Hl3bS
"Oddity is good," she said simply, "Makes for much more interesting times."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfbmiFJ5Gp
I chuckled slightly, nervous but relieved, and stood up as the song ended again. "Ready?"844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCd9s8Hfhj6
She bounced up beside me, making me take a step back. "Certainly."
We stood opposite one another, she watching my face as I only tentatively met her eye, both of us waiting in the tense, silent seconds before the start of the next song. Somehow we'd gotten into the very middle of the formation, and even though I was glad to be there, the sense of having no escape was making me twitch. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHzk5zPEa7
She reached over and took my hand as all the other pairs did the same. "Not used to dancing?" she whispered.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HyLOC1zoJ
"Not like this," I replied, and then the drum set a quick beat and we were off. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Vz0RVdTs9
It was a whirling dance, a set of revolutions around one's partner, joined by the hands, followed by quick reverses, interspersed with moments when everyone split into two groups divided by gender and danced, for a moment, alone, watching one's partner until we all rejoined and spun once more. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQY69NqLGjd
At first the dance was easy, repetitive and simple, but as the short verse started over and the tempo increased, I realized what the aim of it was. Verse after verse, one or both members of each pair would grow too dizzy to continue, some even falling down before being helped by their partners off the floor. I was faring fine, feeling befuddled but keeping my feet, as over half the floor was empty, but Jasi was slipping, and several times I only barely managed to catch her and keep us going, suddenly glad of my size and strength. Finally, though, she skidded to a halt and practically collapsed against me, making me hold her up. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtyJT5F3s2
"I'm out," she gasped, and we threaded our way, unsteadily, out of the mix and into the trees beyond, passing the place we'd been sitting by her lead until we reached a small stream that was just in hearing of, but hidden from, the main part of the Faire. A young male cub, his clothes discarded on the bank, was trying to catch fish in the shallows, but when he saw us he squealed, snatched his pants up, and fled into the trees, holding them in front of him concealingly. We both laughed hard as we settled down on the bank, and Jasi stuck her whole face in the water and came up dripping, her long tongue flicking the drips from the end of her nose. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohcPRcQris
"You were good," she said, "Sorry I lost balance so quickly."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOecBRY9JLe
I chuckled. "Don't apologize for that," I said, sticking my big feet in the chilly water and watching my long fur wave around in the current, "It was fun."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TQZFe9ufp
She smiled. "Of course."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVD4V6w3OHm
I shifted until I could lower my face to the water and lap a good quantity of it up, cool and refreshing, my breath calming after that wild dance. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIE3iEJIOuv
"Want to go find a snack with me?" Jasi said suddenly as I finished, again bouncing up fast enough to take me aback. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr2hLRt8XPI
"Sure," I said, getting up more slowly, and we padded toward the clearing again in companionable silence.
We soon found ourselves back at the place where Jasi first found me, several sahnaw fruits in our arms, and we sat down--her, as seemed to be usual, with a bang, and I more sedately--and ate them carefully so as not to get the juices all over our fancy clothes. I, still not quite sure of her even though I was more relaxed now, didn't feel inclined to talk, and she seemed content to just stare off into space as she munched slowly. I ate daintily as always, and after a time became aware that she was watching me pick neatly at the fruit with my teeth.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLf7PqAmmzX
"What?"844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxnp7n54yg
"Nothing," she said with a smile, and went back to staring out over the most of the Faire. Now it was my turn to watch her in confusion, wondering just what a pretty, outgoing female like her wanted with odd, quiet me. She smiled slightly, deep in thought, and absently pulled the front of her dress up slightly where it had started to lose its hold. Realizing this wasn't something I ought to be watching, I looked away again. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZUmw1mgtV
She startled me by chucking a finger under my chin. "Don't be so awkward," she teased, "Though it is cute of you."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphgaxiKsLp
Again I winced. She was getting the wrong idea. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnw5zDlGWUF
I got halfway up and resettled, sitting on my ankles with only my paws and tail touching the ground, almost a stride more removed from her than I had been. "Jasi..." I tried to say gently, not sure how to word it. "I'm not interested in you like that," I said quietly, unable to meet her eyes. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2VsxqSnVC
"Tsk. I can tease my friend, can't I?"844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXcsFJE5OI
I cocked my head at her.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2RKrZaUua
"I'm not trying to flirt with you," she said, grabbing the panel of fabric that came off my hip and using it to pull me sideways so that I fell onto my haunch and was sitting about where I had been beside her. "Well, not really. I'm just looking for someone to hang out with. I don't know you well enough to be courting you." She laughed, though I wasn't sure if at herself or me.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfp3Qg5rhR6
I nodded. "Sorry," I said, "I just didn't want you to get the wrong idea."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VDcXBQEgE
She smiled. "That's good of you."
We parted not long after, when a sister of Jasi's came bouncing up, all adolescent excitement, and dragged her away. She turned and briefly bid me good-bye and I was able to call back just before she was dragged out of sight.
That night, I was lying in my tent, fiddling idly with my necklace by the light of a single tallow candle when the flap swished aside and my mother crawled in. I shifted aside for her. She didn't need as much room as I did, but still I couldn't lie in the middle of the 'floor.' 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2egzgmYdLu
"So, how was your first day?" she asked, shrugging out of her dress, just as heavy-fabricked and uncomfortable to sleep in as my clothes. She eyed me. "And why aren't you out of that yet?"844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGvJjgIgTz
"I can't reach the ties in the back, remember?"844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNsebXTfLS
She nodded, "I forgot, silly me." She gestured for me to sit up and I did, and felt her nimble fingers untying the cords that held my jerkin on. I sighed in relief as the heavy, constricting thing came off, and again as she untied my undershirt. I shrugged out of both of them and shook myself, silently enjoying the freedom.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOPHucCdpe
"Get your pants off and get in those blankets, squirt," Mom chided, "You're just asking for some peeper to spy on us and rat you out."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61NRXod9BS
"I'm not a squirt," I protested mildly, slipping out of my pants and then under the light blanket as she folded my finery neatly so that it would be nice and unwrinkled for tomorrow. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZC6hv5vfbJ
She caught my head between her hands and nuzzled into my mane. "You'll always be my squirt." She blew the candle out and crawled under the blanket beside me. "Now go to sleep."844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoLQvrzsK1v
I was glad to obey.
