Turns out that finding a specific person in a village of this size isn't easy.
A quick, awkward stop in at the Stables where I was certain people were staring at me more than usual, I found out from Sena's mum that Sena was out in the village somewhere and she didn't know where Aelle was.
As I left, I was certain one or two were talking about me. And I swear Sena's mum gave me a concerned look as I turned to leave. I dunno, maybe I was just being paranoid.
I spent quite a bit of time just wandering around the village.
It was kind of nice, really. I hadn't really taken the time to properly familiarise myself with the place, and my easily confused sense of direction meant that aimless wandering was probably my only option of finding someone I knew.
Probably the most interesting thing I saw was a young woman riding side saddle on a centaur, holding hands with each other. It was sweet, so long as I didn't think too hard about it.
Damn you internet!
During my attempts to purge those mental images, I turn a corner and enter an area of the village that was pretty much a tiny park. A clearing that had a small amount of grass and a few trees in the centre of it.
Sitting underneath or playing among the trees are a small group of human children and centaurs; including Sena and Aelle. I even recognise Aelle's brother sitting close to his younger sibling.
The first one to properly spot me is a pretty brown-haired centauress with a lighter brown hide who looks to be around seventeen or eighteen years old. She looks me over for a moment, before smiling and speaking to the energetic young girl sitting across from her whose back is facing me.
Sena's head and torso whip around to look back over herself, her eyes locking on to me instantly and narrowing.
Ok, what is going on here.
In an instant, the fiery young centauress is up and running. Far quicker than I thought would be possible. I brace myself for another painful collision, and am pleasantly surprised when she stops herself just in front of me instead.
"Nilas." Her arms are on her hips in that feminine 'you've fucked up' pose that apparently transcends worlds and species and she is, well, it looks like she is trying to frown but her cute childish face makes it nothing more than a heavy pout. "I am very upset with you."
"Huh, what why?" I have no idea what is going on today. Maybe I should have just stayed at home.
"It has been weeks since you came to play! It is very rude to not visit your friends, you know." And now she's shaking her finger at me.
...O...kay. So, is this why Matthew and Mira are avoiding me? It…kind of sounds like something a child would do?
She lets out a dramatic sigh. "You are only young, so I will forgive you this time. Come on!"
I protest her claims as she drags me back towards the group, but they fall on deaf ears as she just continues to speak over me. "I have more people to introduce you to. I could have done it earlier but you were being rude. They do not mind, though."
"Ok, that is nice. But I want to know what is going on with Mat-"
"Bianca! This is him!"
Bianca, the pretty centauress Sena had been talking to, is watching me curiously. "He is the one who wants to be an adventurer?"
Oh god, Sena has been telling people. Don't rumours and gossip spread like wildfire in places like this?
"Sena, have you been telling people about me wanting to be an adventurer?" I was frowning at her.
Sena nods. "I told my mum and then other people heard." Of course they did… "So when others asked about it, I told them as well!"
I groan, bringing my hand to my forehead. I think I know where this is going. "Did Matthew's mum hear it?"
Sena frowns slightly. "Uhuh. And she was upset for some reason and said that Matthew can not play with you anymore." Her ears droop and she looks crestfallen. "Sorry..."
Well, that answers the question of why he fled from me with his tail between his legs. He seems a little too clingy to his mum. I had a feeling she was a serious helicopter parent.
"It is fine, Sena. It is not your fault." I smile to show her I'm not upset. "What about Mira? I saw her and Matthew before and after Matthew ran away, shefollowed him." She didn't seem too happy about doing so, though.
Sena shrugs. "I do not think she was told to stay away from you. She did not say so. She was probably just looking after Matthew like she usually does."
So, Mira isn't avoiding me, she is just looking after Matthew? I feel a little bit better now, actually. No clue what Matthew's mum's problem is. She just seems like a bitch.
I finally take the chance to sit down across from Bianca, who had been waiting patiently for us to finish talking; making myself comfortable on the grass as Sena does the same.
Suddenly, Bianca leans forward and grabs my face in her hands; smooshing my cheeks. I stare up at her in shock and confusion. "W-wha?"
She's stares intently at my face for a second.
"Uh, can I haph my fasche back pleashe."
She grins at that. "You are so adorable~." Pulling me into a crushing hug, literally dragging my whole body towards her, she nearly squeals.
"Nice to meet you, Nilas. I can tell you and I are going to have lots of fun together."
She smells really nice.
Wait, whoa, hold on. Getting off track there.
I struggle to try and free myself but holy shit does she have some strength. "Lemme go!"
"In a second~. I just need to hug you some more."
"Sena, help!"
"Good idea~. Sena, come get a hug as well!" There is wicked amusement in her voice when she says that.
"Um, sorry Nilas. She should stop soon." Sena, you traitor!
A person I've never heard before speaks up before I finallysuccumb to suffocation. "Bianca, let the poor kid go. Do you want to scare off another one?"
I taste freedom at last when the overly affectionate centauress lets me go with a devious grin. I move backwards out of her reach quickly, just in case.
Thankfully, her attention is focused on Aelle's brother, who must have been the one to speak up. "I tried to tell him I was sorry. He was just so shy, it was cute."
I lean over to Sena. "Is she talking about Matthew?"
Sena giggles. "Uhuh. He won't go near her, now. He says she is scary."
I snort. "She is kind of scary."
Sena huffs at that. "I think she is nice."
"People can be nice and scary."
"Well, I do not think she is scary, so there!"
I raise my hands in defeat. "Ok, ok. She is not scary. Just… very overbearing."
"You are lying. She is a centaur, not a bear. No one is stupid enough to believe that."
"Wh-what? I-" I'm thrown for a loop by that. She sounded serious as well. "I- overbearing has nothing to do with bears, Sena. It means she is, uh, well…" How do I… Oh, right. Centaur language. I repeat the word using that instead.
"Ooooh." Sena looks faintly embarassed. "So it has nothing to do with bears then?"
I shake my head and snicker. "No, Sena. It does not."
"Well, how did you learn that word in Plainspeech, then?"
"I read it in one of the books at home and asked my mum what it meant."
"Really? That sounds nice. What kind of books do you have?"
"Uh, all kinds, really. Lots of them are about plants and being an apothecary. My mum really likes those."
"What else have you read? Tell me." She has that curious gleam in her eye again. No getting out of it.
-
I surreptitiously try to put some distance between where I have being practically glued to Bianca's older girlat one point having made me sit down next to her so she could occasionally fawn over how cute I apparently was.
It was amusing watching Ronan, Aelle's older brother, sending love-sick puppy dog looks Bianca's way on occasion, though. She never noticed them, the poor guy.
Then again, I didn't know how old she was. She could be anywhere from a few months older than Mira to two years. He could be making eyes at the centaur equivalent of underage for all I knew.
Hell, he could be underage for all I knew.
Great, now I'm weirded out again.
Goblins aren't exactly a great point of reference for, well, anything really, either. So that knowledge is no help.
Fucking goblins.
The mildlyoverbearing centauress was currently talking about how romantic my dream to be an adventurer was. I had a feeling she didn't actually think I was going to become one, but that it was more like an adorable childish dream. Like a kid saying he wants to be an astronaut.
Well, time to show her I guess.
"I am already an apprentice to a hunter, actually."
"You are?" The question is echoed by pretty much everyone who was part of the conversation, save Aelle who already knew.
"Yep. See?" I show them my arm, where the bruises and welts from the string are. I was still occasionally hitting myself, but I had gotten a lot better at it. "From the bowstring hitting me."
Bianca had my arm in her grip nearly instantly, running her fingers gently over the marks. "Oh, you poor thing. They look like they hurt." She brings my arm up to her face and kisses them. "There, all better."
"Um… thank... you?" I awkwardly take my arm back. Why did I always seem to end up around the strange girls.
"But being a hunter means you have to kill and eat things." That came from Stephan, one of the younger human children I had met on my first visit to the village. Embarrassingly, I hadn't remembered his name and had to wait till someone else said his name before I used it myself. I was good with faces, not names. "I thought centaurs didn't eat meat and stuff. That's what my dad said."
...Huh? "They… do not?"
I turn to the other centaurs, confusion etched on my face.
Sena, who is looking at me strangely, shakes her head. "I have never eaten it. And I have never seen anyone else at the Stables eat it. I did not even know we could eat it."
Aelle looks slightly wary, but shakes his head when I look at him. "I have not, either. And I do not want to."
Bianca speaks up before I even get the chance to look at her. "I have once! It felt and tasted really weird. Not something I would try again."
"I have as well, and I agree with Bianca." Of course you do, Ronan. Heh. "I do not get why humans like it so much. It is disgusting."
Now, I felt the need to defend meat. That shit was fantastic. "It is not. It tastes amazing. And my mum eats it as well."
"Yeah! Meat is really good." Thank you, Stephan. "Centaurs are weird for not liking it."
The other young boy whose name I still don't know, voices his agreement. Haha, fellow meat lovers unite!
"No we are not. And your mum is weird anyway, from what I have heard."
"What."
...Hold the fucking phone. The fuck did you just say, Ronan?
Now, if he had just been stating something he had heard, I could have left it well enough alone. But that little hint of assholish judgement meant I was mad.
"Your mum is weird. I heard people talking about how she came into the village one time wearing a wolf's skin and telling people how she killed and ate it."
I can feel the familiar fire igniting in my chest, and I clench my fists to try and get it under control. Relax. Re-
Next thing I know I'm in a choke hold.
No, wait. That's just Bianca hugging me again.
"Ronan! Why would you say something like that about his mother." Her voice is scandalised. "Look how upset you have made him. Apologise!"
"Wha- But it is true. Others said how sh-"
I have to fight down laughter at the confusion and hurt in his voice and on his face. Fuck you, asshole. Talk shit about my family will you.
"Apologise!"
"O-ok, I am sorry!"
Heh. Maybe Bianca isn't so bad, after all.
-
"Why do I have to do this again?"
"Because you have not raced me yet!"
"Do I have too? I was comfy." I was whining, but I really liked having the chance to just lay down and relax. Especially in the sun. But, Sena had been having none of that and had been practically jumping on me till I agreed to race her at least once.
"I know that. But why do I have to race you."
"So I can beat you, of course!"
I had the strangest feeling that Sena might be atiny little bit competitive. I dunno, something just gave me that vibe.
I can't really complain, though. I needed to start improving my stamina and pushing myself, and at least racing Sena gave me the push to actually do something about it.
I look over at Sena who is staring back at me with a confident grin and prancing on the spot. I grin back at her. May as well get into it.
I can hear the others cheering off to the side. Calls of 'Go Sena!' and 'Beat her, Nilas!' coming from different people. It even sounds like Bianca is alternating between cheering for both of us.
Sena gets into a running stance, her torso leaning forward and snorting heavily. "Three, two, one, GO!"
I shot off from my starting position, my hooves gripping the hard-packed dirt and pushing me forward at a startling pace. I hadn't really run all out before and it was… exhilarating. My body naturally fell into a gallop, which was very, very different to running as a biped.
As a biped you are literally falling forward and pushing off with your legs, catching yourself before you overbalance and then doing it again.
As a quadruped, you can feel the power in each step and the terrifying amount of muscle in your rear that is there to force such a heavy body forward in a constant motion; legs falling in a constant tattoo against the dirt.
I can feel my legs almost touch underneath my stomach with each four-beat motion, my massive lungs working overtime to bring in enough oxygen to supply my whole body.
I glance over at Sena where she is just ahead of me, her upper torso leaning forward slightly and rocking in time with her gallop the same way I was. She chances a glance back and grins when she sees me behind.
We're following the outside circumference of the clearing and even though I'm on the inside, Sena isn't making it easy. Seeing the chance, she ducks in front of me to try and block my attempts to pull forward and kicking up dust in my face.
And, oh god why couldn't her tail be longer!
My hooves dig into the dirt as a sudden burst of energy brings me around her right side, desperate to get out from behind her for many, many reasons.
I push myself harder, feeling muscles I didn't even know I had start to ache from the extended sprint as we rounded the clearing for our second lap.
We had agreed to three laps, so I had some time still to get ahead.
I slowly come level with Sena, who isn't looking too happy at that judging by the glower and sudden burst of speed. I can hear her breathing heavily already, though I can't really talk. My own breathing is coming out in sharp, heavy snorts.
The cheers from our onlookers are still going. I even notice a few more people watching us outside of the clearing with varying expressions.
I lose myself in the feeling of the wind in my hair and the dirt under my hooves. I can smell sweat and dirt and adrenaline and I feel so... free.
I laugh out loud, coming parallel to Sena who returns the laugh with a competitive grin.
We're neck in neck. Our hooves nearly synchronised as we push ourselves harder and harder. Vying for that last little bit of speed to come ahead.
In a rush of chemicals, sweat and burning lungs and muscles we come to the final stretch of the race.
I fight with Sena for that coveted win, but I can feel myself slowing. The lactic acid building up in my limbs slowing them just enough for her to slowly but surely pull ahead.
With barely any distance between us, Sena crosses the line first.
She throws her hands up in the air, and a cheer goes up; not just from our original watchers but from those watching outside of the clearing as well.
I slow down, heaving in massive breaths to try and get my breath back. Putting my hands on my head, I slowly keep walking to let my limbs relax.
It felt good to run like that. My body had anenjoyable burn going and I could feel my hearts thudding heavily.
...hearts?
My breath catches in my throat and I start coughing when I realise that I HAVE TWO HEART BEATS.
I HAVE TWO HEARTS!
HOW HAVE I NOT NOTICED THAT BEFORE?
My legs feel even weaker now, focusing on what must have been there the whole time I've been like this. I can feel my heart hammering away in my chest, as well as another doing the same inside the chest of my lower torso.
I have to fight to not start panicking. This is something truly alien and beyond anything I was expecting.
What else is different inside of me? How inhuman was I even in my human half?
My skin crawls and my body begins to feel weird as my mind begins rejecting it.
Ok, calm down. Calm down.
"Are you ok?" Sena is watching me with a worried expression. I must look terrified.
"I… I am fine. I just need to sit down." I give her a shaky grin. "I guess you are just too fast for me. I pushed myself too hard."
The compliment sets her preening. She forgets she was worried about me in an instant.
I follow after her as she runs back to the group, singing her own praises.
I guess I still haven't fully adapted to everything yet.