A/N: Welcome, readers, to Affliction! I'm back with my writing mood and I am just glad to finally be working on this again after so long. My apologies go to everyone and anyone who has been secretly and openly waiting for this to update for some time.
Disclaimer: Suikoden Tierkreis belongs to Konami.
It was late at night at Castle 108 Stars. While several lights raying out of the castle's open windows remained lit despite the late hour, most of the windows were dim, indicating that the people in those particular rooms were asleep. Very few people were outside the castle grounds—where torches and fireflies were the only lights that illuminated the paths—save for the volunteer mercenaries and Wanderers who almost served as castle guards. The tavern and the dining halls weren't as rowdy as it was hours earlier anymore; the usual people were now retreating to their rooms for a good night's sleep and the Starbearers who managed both places respectively were already closing up shop for the night.
In the female Porposes' bedroom, Nemne was sitting on her bed as she faced the door to the bathroom several meters away from her. She had been there for some time now, waiting for Lady Neira—who was bathing for nearly half an hour—to come out. All the while she was coming up with more songs and writing them down on a piece of paper. When she had run out of ideas, she began pacing around, trying to come up with more words and rhymes to add, only to come up with nothing. Though reluctant, she decided to just put the song off for now, and she promptly took the two pieces of paper in her hand before placing them inside the drawer of her end table.
Then she did what she was doing at the moment, which was waiting for the Priestess to finish her bath.
As she sat there, a thought came into mind. Not that there was anything at all bad about it, but Nemne wondered how come the Priestess had to bathe for such a long time. Nemne may have been a neat person, but her love for cleanliness was clearly outmatched by Neira's. Ever since they became roommates (what with the two of them being girls and Starbearers of the same tribe and all), Nemne saw that it always took the Priestess a long time to use the bathroom. She could even still remember their first night together in that very room: the Priestess asked if Nemne wanted to bathe first, but Nemne—out of respect for the white Porpos—said it was alright, and insisted that she go first. Lady Neira asked if she was sure about that, and Nemne remained steadfast in her answer. With a nod and after leaving her long, white, ceremonial robes on her bed, Lady Neira entered the bathroom with her nightgown before locking it shut. And when the white Porpos finished half an hour later, she was surprised to see a very anxious Nemne—with a strained face as she was biting her lip and was hopping on one foot—, giving her a forced smile before making a beeline for the bathroom and slamming it shut as soon as the Priestess had stepped out.
She let out a sigh. Truly, she regretted that decision, and she still remembered how completely relieved her bladder felt after the incident. She knew there were other bathrooms, but unfortunately, she was still new to the castle's interior, and some of the Starbearers who were still awake at the time said they were also new to the place and didn't where what was. From then on she told herself to do whatever she had to do in the bathroom before Lady Neira decides to use it, unless she wanted to experience a rerun of what happened during that first night together in the castle. Priestess Neira was alright with it, for the pink Porpos didn't stay in the bath for so long; it only took her about ten minutes to have one, and that included her getting dressed. But while she bathed fast, she still managed to remain neat and clean, so it was alright.
It just so happened that Nemne had arrived when the Priestess was already in the bathroom. Fortunately, now that she was more familiar with the castle, she knew where the other bathrooms were, just in case she ever felt the frantic need to do number one.
She looked at the hourglass that sat on the desk near the balcony; she had gotten herself one when they returned to Naineneis once before and used it to see how long the Priestess took a bath. The upper half was almost empty, apparently showing that the hour was almost over. She looked back at the bathroom door again. It didn't budge and she still heard the sound of splashing water.
Seeing as though she wouldn't be finished any time soon, the pink Porpos decided to go for a walk instead of just wasting her time just sitting there and doing nothing. Besides, the night was cool and the sky was clear enough for her to see the stars; she couldn't see them from their room what with a waterfall blocking the view on the balcony. She pushed herself off the bed and slipped her feet into her wooden sandals. After straightening her clothes, she went for the door, opened it, stepped outside, and gently closed it.
The night wind felt cold as Nemne stepped out of the castle dining hall. It was to be expected though; for the past few weeks the weather wasn't filled with the usual warm mornings and humid afternoons. As of late, the nights would be either rainy or cloudy for some reason. But then again it was probably just normal for the weather to be like that. The weather was very hot before all this rain came along.
Although she was a Porpos—a race that was used to wet environments—and the fact that the rain was nice for a change, Nemne still favored the warm, sunny weather. It made the castle seem so cheerful and busy. But what with the recent rainy days and nights, Nemne couldn't help but feel different. Sure, everyone in the castle still went on with their work, but she just couldn't help but feel down somehow. Even just looking at the gray clouds outside made her feel somewhat depressed.
She shook the thoughts away as she turned her attention to the lake. The untouched surface was shimmering in a grayish-white glow, giving her a relaxing feeling that absently made her take in a deep breath and sigh. Looking up, she saw the moon hanging in the sky as it shone down upon the lake surface along with the several, visible stars that dotted the heavens. The scene before her, coupled with the quiet chirping of the crickets in the trees and the cold wind making the leaves on the trees rustle, made her feel like the moroseness she felt was slowly disappearing, and she felt grateful for the way the lake calmed her inside whenever she felt troubled.
She walked over to the tree where she had seen Nomno sleep next to several weeks prior. She was about to sit next to it when, to her surprise, a shadowed figure hiding behind the shade of the tree twitched and moved, causing her to jump back in surprise and fall on her underside. She watched it for a moment, partly because she was still at the point of getting over her initial shock and partly because she unconsciously felt curious to knowing what it was.
However, she shook her head, trying to regain her senses. She scrambled to her feet while she reached for her boomerang, but flinched as she realized that she had left it in the bedroom upstairs. Looking around for any weapon she could use, she caught sight of a long but thick tree branch on the ground. She immediately swooped down and took the object in her hands before making a combative stance.
Her eyes remained focused on the stirring figure. It let out a low moan, and Nemne gripped her makeshift weapon even tighter as she backed away from it slowly. A bead of sweat formed at the side of her head as she readied herself for an attack from the unknown creature. "What is that thing…?" She asked herself. It wasn't a person; if it was, then either he would have already told her that he wasn't hostile, or that he leapt out to attack her immediately by surprise before she even reached that spot. She guessed that it was a monster—probably one sent there through a Gateway made by one of those Archivists in the Order, or just one that managed to find its way into the castle. Either way it was still dangerous, especially since her only weapon to fight it was a measly stick from a tree.
She saw the figure move, and she saw that it was coming out of the shadows. Without a second thought, she charged towards it with the stick raised in the air. She was about to bring it down when what it did next took her completely by surprise: it revealed itself to be none other than a familiar gray Porpos wearing green robes and a teal sash: Nomno. He had that same tired look on his face, and he let out a yawn before scratching an itch on his bare stomach. Nemne's eyes widened and her jaw dropped immediately at the sight of her Porpos friend, and she quickly skid to a stop before freezing on the spot in front of him. She stared at him dumbstruck, as she inwardly questioned what in the world was he still doing out here in the middle of the night.
The gray Porpos tilted his head to the side in a questioning manner. "Zzzz?" He asked her and pointed above her head. The corner of Nemne's agape mouth twitched, and she suddenly realized that she was still holding her weapon in the air. Frantically, she put her arms and hands behind her back in embarrassment as a blush reddened her cheeks. Nomno sweatdropped at her sudden gesture, and Nemne kept her head low and felt like hitting herself with the stick instead for actually thinking that the figure was a monster. She cringed at the thought of what would have happened if she kept on charging earlier.
"Zzzz…?" Nomno snored. Nemne, despite her embarrassment, managed to look at him directly. She could tell that he was wondering what she was doing and why she was holding a stick in the air. She gulped. "S-Sorry, Nomno…" She spoke apologetically. "I just… Thought you were a monster or something…" To be honest, she felt that the answer sounded lame, but it was the truth. There really was no other way to put it, was there?
For a moment, Nomno kept his gaze on her… Or seemed to. She could never tell, really. And if he was, she hoped that he didn't think that what she said was a lie. He then nodded, giving her a light smile that brought the pink Porpos relief and happiness; relief because she was glad that he had believed her and happiness because she got a chance to see that cute look he had on his face again. The last part caused her to blush even more, and she couldn't believe how warm she felt despite the fact that it was cold out there.
She put down the stick as she saw him walk back to where he was earlier. He sat down on the grass before turning to her and motioning for her to come sit with him. She hesitated for a while, but after realizing that it was late anyway and she doubted that anyone would have the gall to come out there and tease them (particularly her) for being alone there together, she decided to do what he requested. What's more—she looked at the empty pier by the lakeside—Dromon and his crew hadn't returned from their mission yet, which added more to her confidence of sitting with the gray Porpos.
They sat there in silence for a while. Nemne glanced over to the Porpos beside her, who put his hands in his teal sash as he let out another yawn. She guessed that he had been probably sleeping out here for quite some time, for she recalled that as she passed by the male Porposes' room, he saw that Nomno was nowhere to be found and she overheard Nimni asking himself where he was.
But then again, it was only expected that he would be sleeping out here. The quiescence that filled the air with the absence of the Dromon Pirates along with the scenery was enough reason for him to come out here and take a nap under all this peacefulness. And now that she thought about it, Nomno had been sleeping out here for weeks so he probably got used to sleeping on this particular area.
After a little while longer, Nemne straightened herself and decided to start a conversation with him. "So, Nomno…" She began, "Have you been sleeping out here all day again?" Despite her question, she already knew the answer to it, and wasn't exactly surprised when Nomno replied with a nod and snored, "Zzzz." And yet she was glad for his answer, even though she had already anticipated it.
"That's good," She spoke. "I guess it's only natural… It's so quiet out here." He agreed with a nod. They fell into another silence, with Nemne looking down at her hands, thinking of something else to say, and Nomno warming his hands in his teal sash. Somehow, Nemne couldn't quite understand this kind of situation they had sometimes; she had so many topics to talk about with Nomno, ranging from her thoughts on the Order's ideals, the Starbearers in the castle, the songs she thought up of… And yet in spite of all that, the only things she always found so interesting to talk about was if the gray Porpos had been sleeping or if he managed to eat something good that day.
However, it really couldn't be helped. The only other things that Nomno did find so interesting to do in his spare time were eating and sleeping. And what with Nomno only replying to her with gestures and snores, she never got know more of his other interests, much to her dismay.
She was about to give it more thought, when Nomno tapped her lightly on the shoulder. The contact her shoulder and his hand made caused her to stiffen up at once, and she felt her heart make an audible thump upon her chest. Her sudden reaction surprised him a bit, and Nemne quickly turned her head at his direction. "W… What is it?" She asked, inwardly calming herself before she ended up doing something embarrassing.
"Zzzz?" He snored and pointed at her. At first she didn't understand what he was trying to say. She thought about what he was possibly trying to tell her. Another cold wind blew past, causing Nemne to suddenly pull her arms close, as if she tried to warm them. However, the cold wind did manage to give her an idea of what it was he was saying. "Wait…" She said, hugging herself as she looked at him. "You're asking… About what I'm doing here?"
Fortunately, she managed to strike a target, and Nomno gave a nod towards her. Nemne turned back to the lake. "Well…" She thought back to where she was before she came outside the castle. "Priestess Neira was still bathing upstairs… So I thought of coming out here while I waited." At her answer, Nomno made a soft chuckle, and Nemne knew why: he knew of what happened to her on that dreadful first night she spent with the Priestess at the castle; she did talk to him about it. And she could still remember that mischievous look the gray Porpos had in his face when he found out about it after he had been woken up by Wustum's cooking.
Thankfully for Nemne, Nomno couldn't speak, much less say a word. So even if he wanted to verbally tease her about that particular incident, he couldn't. Of course, Nemne knew he could simply just write it down or draw it and show it to her (just because he spoke with snores didn't mean he couldn't write or draw). But even if that was also possible and even though Nomno could do just that, he didn't; he was a good friend to her—he wouldn't go so far as to do that just because he had a desperate need to tease her about it.
That was also one of the things Nemne liked about him; he wasn't a prankster like Numnu. He didn't do anything that he felt would make her feel bad or anything that embarrass her or humiliate her in front of other people.
She then heard a rumble of sorts, and turned to see Nomno clutching his stomach. A pained look was on his face as he did. Nemne blinked; dinner just ended sometime ago and he was still hungry? "What's wrong?" She decided to ask. "Haven't you had dinner?" He replied with a shake of his head, and Nemne abruptly recalled that she didn't see him at the dining hall when everyone was having dinner. He was probably sleeping so much out here…
"You missed dinner…?" She muttered. It wasn't like him to skip meals. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out some berries that she plucked earlier that day and handed them to him. "Here," She said as she offered the fruits, "It isn't much, but… You should eat them."
He gladly took them in his hands. He opened his mouth, dumped them all inside, and ate them. Various flavors of sweet and sour clashed in his mouth, and Nemne could see he tried to savor the mixed taste of small amount of food she gave him. He swallowed it down after a while. He still had a frown on his face, indicating that he was still hungry.
"Sorry if it isn't enough," She said, her eyes downcast. "But don't worry," She said, with a comforting smile as she raised her head towards him, "We'll get you something to eat." Though I'm not really sure how I'll be able to… She thought with a sweatdrop on the last part. Wustum had already closed his shop for the night, and she wasn't sure if Muro was still up so he could help her find some food in the storage. There was Yadima's farm nearby, but she figured that he might throw a fit once he sees the following morning that someone just gone in and deliberately rooted up his crops. She would look for more berries though… If it weren't for the fact that it was too dark to be going out and picking up fruits.
She heard Nomno's stomach rumble again, and the gray Porpos could do nothing but frown and put a hand to calm his growling stomach. Nemne gave him a worried look. He needed to eat; not being able to have any food in his system was practically torture for him.
Well, I'll figure out something, She thought. She then stood up, causing Nomno to look up at her. "Zzzz…?" He asked. The snore seemed weak—a sign that he was really hungry. She offered her hand to help him up.
"C'mon, Nomno," She said, "We should get inside the castle soon. And we have to get you something to eat, you know?" She made a grin as she said the last part. Nomno nodded in response as he took her hand and stood up. He watched the girl dust herself off.
"Alright, then~" She said, making her words into lyrics in an instant, "Off we go, let's find some food~ 'Cause if we don't, your stomach might say something rude~" She spun around and trotted back to the castle as she sang some more. However, just before she had reached the entrance that led to the dining hall, Nemne spun her head around behind her, only to see Nomno strangely hadn't budged an inch from where he stood.
"Nomno, what are you doing?" She asked gleefully after she paused from her singing and stopped walking. "If you stand there all night, you're not going to be able to eat, you know?" She continued walking towards the entrance. Yet she heard no sound of footsteps following behind her. Again, she turned around, and her smile slowly faded when saw that he was still standing there, looking at her direction with a neutral expression.
"Nomno?" She called out, but he made no response. He appeared to be staring out into space, and he didn't move at all. She kept looking at him for a few seconds, before raising her hand and waving towards him in an attempt to get his eyes' attention. "Nomno?" She called again, and kept waving her hand in the air. Nothing. It was as if he didn't see her at all. From where she was, and what with the moon now shedding its light over everything below it, one could say that he was like a statue people prayed to in a forest clearing—untouched, undisturbed, and unmoving.
At this point, Nemne's curiosity turned into worry. She faced the gray Porpos completely as she put her hand down. "Nomno, are you alright?" She asked with a concerned tone in her voice. Perhaps he was just hungry and he couldn't move anymore from where he was standing… But she doubted that were the case. Even if Nomno was dead-hungry, he was still able to move around, and she knew though personal experience. Then she thought that maybe his eyes really were closed, since it was hard to tell, after all, if he was looking at someone or not.
But he can't be asleep… Nemne thought, and it was true. He even accepted her hand when he stood up just now. She doubted that he could fall asleep that fast unless someone had used a Mark of the Star or an ability of some sort to make him fall asleep. But the chances of both of those happening were clearly impossible.
Whatever the case, Nemne couldn't help but feel worried. She decided to approach the gray Porpos. "Nomno… Come on, we're going to get you something to eat, remember?"
Again, he made no reply. At this, Nemne couldn't help but feel like something had happened to him even though she knew that nothing did. It wasn't like him to back away from food-related tasks. When she had reached him, he made no movement, nor did he show any indication that he took notice of her presence. She waved her hand in front of his eyes again. Still nothing.
"What's the matter…?" She asked him. She reached out her hand to shake his arm. For a moment, Nemne was silent, a bit fearful for what would happen next. But when she saw the gray Porpos turn his head towards her, she let out a sigh of relief. His eyes were probably just closed at the time so he didn't see her waving her hand. Nomno gave the Porpos girl a questioning look, and Nemne returned it with a warm smile.
"We're going to get you some food, remember?" She said, and added with a playful grin, "After all, you ARE hungry, right?"
The gray Porpos seemed blank for a moment as he stared at her features. Nemne, seeing that he was doing just that, felt a small blush creep up her cheeks, which she tried to fight off. However, she didn't have to do that for long, for Nomno nodded at her.
"Alright," She said as she released his arm. "Then we should get back insi—"
Nemne was about to finish her sentence and pull away from him, when, all of a sudden, Nomno raised his hand and placed it upon the Porpos girl's cheek. The sudden action took Nemne completely by surprise as she froze on the spot. Her cheeks immediately flared up into a deep shade of red and were warm enough to match the warmth on Nomno's hand. She turned her head back towards him, who appeared to calmly return her gaze with a soft smile.
"N… Nomno…" She managed to say despite the anxiety she felt regarding their current situation, "What're you—?"
A finger to her lips interrupted her speech and silenced her immediately. Nemne felt her temperature rising and the blood rushing to her cheeks as she realized that her lips were making actual contact with a part of his body. The thought of it caused her to heart to pound nervously as she resisted the urge to just kiss it right then and there. Thankfully, the feeling died down as he slipped his hand away from her lips and put it back down. She felt half-grateful and half-disheartened at the act; the first because that urge she felt was near-irresistible, and the second because she no longer felt the warm touch of Nomno's finger upon her lips.
She looked at his face again. As she did, she looked directly at his (probably squinted) eyes, which seemed to return her gaze. They were quiet for a few seconds, and despite what Nomno had done she still felt like she should say something. However, the idea was little by little erased from her mind when Nomno rubbed his thumb along her red cheek, causing Nemne to shudder and blush even deeper, if that was even possible. Her eyelids drooped, up until the point where they were half-open.
As he went on with what he did to her face, Nemne could feel her grip on reality—her control over her body—slipping slowly but surely from her grasp. Each stroke he did made what felt like small sparks that were coursing through her body. Her mind felt numb, and though she tried to register what was happening around her, she somehow was unable to do so; her mind felt hopelessly blank as her vision was becoming hazy. Then, as if something inside of her had turned off some kind of switch, the ecstatic feeling faded at once, and, in the blink of an eye, the logical and rational side of her returned as she realized what was going on, where they were, and what Nomno was doing to her.
She immediately pulled herself away from him, raising a hand to her cheek as she did. Nomno seemed surprised at her sudden reaction, and he made a face that Nemne could read as him asking, "What's wrong?" She gulped as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of her head as she begun to ponder over what just happened. What, exactly, was the gray Porpos before her doing just now? And in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but recall their mission at the underwater world weeks before—the time when Nimni had done a similar act towards her. However, the only differences were that this time, Nomno had done it to her, and, unlike Nimni, Nomno—in her perspective—didn't seem to have minded the fact that he just did what he did, nor did he care that he somehow brought her a sense of discomfort in what he did to her.
She couldn't understand why, but a strange feeling began to fill up inside of her. It was nothing related to what she had felt earlier, though. The thought of her interaction with Nimni continued to linger inside of her mind as she felt it. Looking back on it, it was only natural that she had felt nervous about what Nimni had done that time, mostly because her love interest was someone else and she hadn't had any intention at all of being in a relationship as a couple with him. Had it been Nomno back then, perhaps she would've felt as nervous as she did now; only it would have rubbed off on her in a good way, and she would have allowed him to keep on doing it.
However, as she thought about what had happened between the two of them now, Nemne couldn't help but feel that despite the fact that Nomno—not Nimni, nor anyone else—was the one who stroked her cheek earlier ( similar to the way Nimni had done it back at the underwater world) and the fact that there wasn't exactly anything wrong with what he did, something about what she felt, about what he did to her… Felt so wrong in a way she didn't really understand why.
A hand placed itself on her shoulder. Looking up on it, she saw that it belonged to the gray Porpos. He seemed concerned for her, giving her that same look that she read earlier as him asking if she was alright. And instead of blushing, her face became pale. With a bit of uncertainty, she gulped and replied, "I… I'm alright, Nomno." She then proceeded to turn around, somehow grateful that she did so, before saying, "…I should… Go on ahead inside then." She then began walking briskly towards the entrance leading to the dining hall as she felt her heart thumping in nervousness—not because her feelings for Nomno were acting up again, but because she felt that there was something not right about her Porpos friend. Instead of leaving her with a feeling of delight after what he did (which was what one would expect if they knew of her feelings for him), he left her with a sense of fear and uncertainty that made her to suddenly want to avoid him that very instant. Something felt so different about him when she looked into his face earlier; in fact, it was truly unlike him to be doing something so intimate as that towards her. The pink Porpos decided that as soon as she got in the castle walls, she would make her way towards her bedroom upstairs, lock the door, take a bath, speak a bit with the Priestess, and finally heading right to sleep and forgetting that anything ever happened at that very moment. It was so simple as that, and yet…
When she reluctantly spun around to look at him again, she saw that Nomno was slowly approaching her, that same calm yet unnerving smile on his face as he did. Her eyes widened at this as a dreadful feeling grew heavy in her chest, and she suddenly faced him as she backed away towards the entrance. Before long, she instinctively got into a defensive stance, and she felt regretful for letting go of the stick she held before. Though it seemed that she was probably just paranoid, she felt that the gray Porpos was planning something, and whatever it was, it wasn't anything good.
"Nomno," She began, trying to keep her composure as much as possible, "Why are you looking at me like that…?" Honestly, that look on his face was really creeping her out. Before long, she felt herself bump against the wooden doors of the entrance to the castle. She swallowed another helpful of saliva as she flattened her back against the doors, not really caring about the fact that her tail and her back fin started to ache because of what she was doing. She then put one hand behind her, searching for the handle on one of the large doors. However, her hand only found itself on a completely flat surface, and Nemne stopped to look behind her. To her surprise, the doors had disappeared—in fact, the castle was no longer there behind her, save for the ruins of what once appeared to be a noticeably large brick wall. She turned back to Nomno, who was now a few meters away despite the fact that he was at a very considerable distance away from her just a few seconds ago.
She was about to move to the side, when for some unknown reason, she was unable to move her legs from where they were. Her black eyes widened in shock, and her eyes turned to look in front of her, only to see Nomno slowly advancing towards her like a predator. She started to panic as she tried to move her arms, but to no avail; they were shackled to the wall by some unknown force. She struggled to free herself from whatever it was that bound her, but her efforts were in vain when she saw that Nomno had now stopped in front of her, not seeming to even care that the pink Porpos was glued to the wall.
Nemne continued to flail free, and Nomno watched her for a minute before raising a hand and putting it on her neck, stilling her instantly. The Porpos girl did not move, and the only thing she felt that moment was the eerie touch of her friend's hand on her neck. She felt her heart beating in a mix of nervousness and fear, mostly because she had a bad feeling of what would happen next, as she looked at the looming figure before her. Behind him, Nemne saw that they were no longer at the lakeside, and the scenery of what was supposed to be just that had radically transformed into a barren landscape wherein the night sky had suddenly become a swirling mass of purple, black, and orange. There was a light of sorts to the east of her, but she couldn't see what it was; her body was stiff as a board despite her attempts to move. She doubted it was the moon since was too bright to look at directly.
Nomno then closed the distance between the two of them, and Nemne felt uncomfortable seeing how close the gray Porpos was to her. If someone could see her at that moment, he would say that she was like an animal hopelessly cornered by a hunter. She frantically racked her mind for anything she could do get out of there. Fast. She didn't really care anymore even if she was actually trying to get away from the gray Porpos, for even though she knew that Nomno—her friend, her companion, the Porpos she felt affection for these past few months—was this intimidating figure before her, the one who was making her feel so helplessly alone and defenseless at that very moment…
She couldn't help but get the impression that the Porpos before her wasn't the Nomno she had known all these years.
She was abruptly dragged out of her sea of thoughts as she felt something warm caressing her bare stomach. Reflexively, she wanted to look down and see what it was, but she was unable to due to the force that kept her body still. But she didn't need to look down, for she already knew that it was Nomno's hand. With every stroke he made, her mind and vision became clouded as she was unable to fight a blush that surprisingly managed to make its way towards her face in spite of the situation she was in.
He leaned over to her shoulder and rested his head there. He didn't move for a few seconds. Then he nuzzled her neck, trying to make himself comfortable there. Nemne could feel his warm breaths upon her neck, which was beginning to feel utterly vulnerable at that moment. And if that wasn't enough, then what he did next was enough to jolt her awake. He nipped lightly at her neck, sending shivers down her spine with every touch of his lips. While he continued, he absently traced random things with his finger on Nemne's stomach. Nemne couldn't help but shudder at what he was doing to her.
The pink Porpos bit her lower lip as she tried to endure Nomno's treatment of her body. She had never been so close to him before, nor did she ever think that Nomno would be so bold, so daring as to do something such as what he was doing to her then. This thought, combined with these swirling emotions of fear, nervousness, uncertainty, and this unwanted ecstasy (from what he was doing to her now), all gave the pink Porpos an unbearably horrible feeling inside of her, as though she felt like she was being… Tainted, in some way.
However, though she found herself losing her consciousness due to what Nomno was doing to her, she still managed to cling onto reality. "N… Nomno…" She managed to stutter out, "…Please stop this…"
In response, Nomno pulled away before moving his head to the point where only a small distance remained to separate her lips from his. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of her head as she felt her heart throbbing in half-fear and half-anticipation towards what she felt Nomno was about to do. Nemne shuddered again as she felt Nomno's other hand on her waist, adding more to the heavy feeling she felt.
She was breathing roughly as she continued to return his gaze with half-lidded eyes. She could feel her eyes beginning to dampen. It felt so wrong… It wasn't right. This wasn't Nomno at all anymore; she could no longer feel that wonderful feeling she would have whenever he was around. "N-Nomno, please, s-stop…" She stated as she tried to stay awake, trying to fight back the darkness and the tears that were about to overwhelm her. "Why are you… D-Doing this…? I…" She recalled their one-way conversation with him earlier before all of this happened. "I th-thought that y-you were… Hungry…?"
She didn't really know why she spoke that last question, but his hand then stopped soon after she asked it. Nemne paused as she watched him look up for a moment, before looking down at her again. She could feel his gaze piercing her even though it seemed his eyes were closed.
"But I am hungry," A voice echoed, causing Nemne to shudder in dread. And just as he closed the distance between his lips and hers, Nemne shut her eyes—knowing that enough was enough as she was unwilling to allow him to continue treating her this way—
"NOMNO, STOP!" She screamed in frustration for the first time in her entire life. Her eyes snapped open, and to her surprise, Nomno was no longer in front of her. She looked around her surroundings, and she found herself not outside the castle anymore, not out in that bizarre place she was at just now, but inside her bedroom. She was sitting up on her bed, sweating and panting nervously as she felt her heart racing.
For a few minutes, she was silent as she felt herself trembling on the bed. She lowered her gaze to her stiff legs, and let out a sigh of relief as she put a hand to her head. A dream… She thought, Just… A dream… Is all. She had fallen asleep, she realized, while she had been waiting for the Priestess to come out of the bathroom door. How she did, she had forgotten—those memories of her recent dream were still fresh inside her mind for her to even remember. The Porpos girl sighed again, and gave herself a few moments to allow her breathing to return to its normal pace as she tried to think of something else.
"Nemne?"
The Porpos girl looked up at once at the sound of her name. Standing next to her bedside was Priestess Neira, in her nightgown, giving her a worried look and looking somewhat surprised. Nemne was a bit stunned by the white Porpos' presence, mostly because she thought that she was still in the bathroom and partly because she didn't expect the Priestess to be standing there all of a sudden.
She then turned away from Lady Neira and glanced at the hourglass on the desk; the upper half was completely empty, while the lower half was full of sand. She then looked ahead of her. Her mind felt blank, and she seemed to have spaced out for a moment there, before she shut her eyes fiercely and opened them again. She shook her head slightly, trying to regain her senses. She closed her eyes and covered one of them with a hand, looking disgruntled and tired despite the fact that she just took a nap. What's wrong with me? She asked herself mentally, as her hand trailed off from her eye to rub the side of her head. And the thought of what she was dreaming of recently also came back, much to her chagrin, as a headache came along with it.
"Nemne…" She heard the Priestess' voice. "Is everything alright? You were muttering words in your sleep…"
Nemne opened her left eye, and she found herself looking directly at the white Porpos, who had come closer and sat down at the edge of the bed. She then looked away, trying to think of something to say, but finding herself unable to reply. She felt like telling her about the dream she had just now, but decided against it—she felt that it would make her headache worse, and she didn't feel like talking too much at the moment.
Silence fell between them for some time, with Nemne thinking about what she dreamt and with Neira patiently waiting for Nemne to tell her something. A few seconds later, Nemne raised her head slightly, and said, "I… It's nothing, Priestess Neira… It was only a d-dream." She then turned to her right and pushed herself out of bed. "I'll be… Alright, so don't worry," She added, and began walking towards the bathroom, all the while keeping her hand on her head.
Neira noticed that her roommate somehow couldn't look at her in the eyes as she said those words. "Are you certain?" Neira asked, concerned. Nemne paused, and her gaze fell to the tiled floor. "…Yes," She replied after a few seconds, her voice nearly a whisper, then went for the bathroom, walked inside, and shut the door quietly behind her.
A/N: Well, that's Chapter 5. Actually this chapter was already finished around nearly two years ago. It was only now that I bothered to continue because I wasn't feeling like doing some revisions on this chapter that time. Now I am glad how this turned out, as it follows my old, dusty planning of this story. I'll try to get the next one up and running as soon as possible.
What do you guys think about this one? Let me know through the review box.
Thanks for reading! -Zip