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Sun 27th Apr 2025 02:57

92: Finding your voice

by Lady Leticia Scarlet-Bloesembhel Voetdhel-Montaneus

Sniffles leaned back in her chair, watching Scarlet fiddle with the cuff of her sleeve, twisting it tighter and tighter. Her voice, when she spoke, was quiet but sure.
 
"There's a thing that happens to smart kids like you," she said. "Kids who learn early that it’s safer to smooth things over. To be the easy one. The good one."
 
Scarlet didn’t look up, but she stilled, listening. Her cuff was still twisted tightly around her wrist.
 
"You didn’t do it wrong, Cherry-Berry. You adapted. You read the room before you could even spell your own name. You learned how to make yourself smaller, softer; not because anyone told you that you had to, but because the world around you showed you... it liked you better that way."
 
Sniffles paused, making sure Scarlet was still with her. She watched her long ears subtly smooth back, repressing a twitch, keeping her calm mask in place. That made her sad.
 
"And every time you stayed quiet instead of crying, every time you agreed instead of saying what you really felt, you got smiles. You got peace. You got safety. That’s not weakness. That’s survival. It's smart."
 
Scarlet’s hands released her cuff and twisted her hands in her lap, slower now, the mask still firmly in place.
 
"But after a while, when you do that long enough, something happens." Sniffles tapped her heart lightly. "You start forgetting what your own voice sounds like. You stop noticing what you want, or how you really feel, because you’re too busy trying to keep everything around you balanced."
 
Her voice dropped lower, more tender.
 
"You start thinking that being easy to live with is the same thing as being loved."
 
Scarlet’s breath hitched, but she stayed silent, swallowing hard. She had finally managed to still her hands. Sniffles wanted to reach out to her, but she knew better. Scarlet needed time, and the safety, to let these words sink in.
 
Sniffles leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on her knees as she looked at Scarlet.
 
"I need you to know, Starlight... that’s not true. You’re not loved because you're easy. You're loved because you’re you. Loud, messy, complicated, stubborn; all of it. Even the parts that make waves."
 
She caught a glimpse of a small but fierce smile that was quickly smoothed away. 'Progress is progress,' Sniffles thought to herself.
 
"You don’t have to earn your place by being quiet. You don’t have to shrink to be safe. Not here."
 
Scarlet wiped her nose with the sleeve she’d been twisting, still too tangled up inside to speak.
 
Sniffles just sat with her, letting the silence stretch, giving her the space to believe it slowly, the way a root learns to trust the earth after a long, dry season.
 
And after a few heartbeats she murmured, "One day, you'll hear your voice again, Starlight. And when you do, it'll be beautiful."

Continue reading...

  1. 01. Settling in
  2. 02. Fist Fight at a fancy Ball
  3. 03. It's a Lion not a 'Cat'
  4. 04. Patron's tea and dance
  5. 05. The escort job
  6. 06. Update: Today's purchase list
  7. 07. Escort for Bella and the Loot King
  8. 08. Sirens and a chase in town
  9. 09. Got abducted again
  10. 10. Jams and Jellies
  11. 11. New Dog
  12. 12. Guards in the Trees
  13. 13. Temple Visit
  14. 14. New Pup & Outing
  15. 15. Training exercises
  16. 16. Fighting over an idol
  17. 17. Jobs galore
  18. 18. New stationary
  19. 19. A small visit
  20. 20. Slaps and shows
  21. 21. Today's meal
  22. 22. Homesick
  23. 23. Lanterns in the sky
  24. 24. Baby in the park
  25. 25. The Heist
  26. 26. Update: Guild
  27. 27. Mines and Traps
  28. 28. New clothes
  29. 29. I made Journeyer!
  30. 30. Investment shopping
  31. 31. The Pit (fights)
  32. 32. Ghosts of the past
  33. 33. Unexpected ending in a Play
  34. 34. Today's meal
    https://www.worldanvil.com/hero/journal/1aa083c5-ae1f-4624-a724-197a3f8704e3/view
  35. 35. Spies and secrets
  36. 36. Wanted: Three Hand Gang (WED)
  37. 37. Well it's official
  38. 38. Hags and stones
  39. 39. Death and visitations
  40. 40. the shell game
  41. 41. Anger and plots
  42. 42. The jobs so far
  43. 43. (Doodles)
  44. 44. Meetings and Partings
  45. 45. Double checking
  46. 46. An office Scene
    8/01/2023
  47. 47. An(other) office Scene
  48. 48. Paperwork
  49. 49. Behind the curve
  50. 50. Notes and notation
  51. 51. Cake and notes
  52. 52. Paperwork on the high seas
  53. 53. Pics and notes
  54. 54. A small talk
  55. 55. Small notes
  56. 56. The Dressmaker
  57. 57. (food)
  58. 58. Notes
  59. 59. Putting the clues together
  60. 60. Notes
  61. 61. Tea cakes (& slights)
  62. 62. Updates
  63. 63. Board Meetings during battles
  64. 64. Updates
  65. 65. Field command
  66. 66. I am okay
  67. 67. Mountains of paperwork
  68. 68. Needed Vacation
  69. 69. A note
  70. 70. An update
  71. 71. Dissapointment
  72. 72. Notes
  73. 73. Journal entry
  74. 74. Ledgers
  75. 75. Food
  76. 76. An update
  77. 77. A thought
  78. 78. Basking in Dusk's light
  79. 79. A note
  80. 80. A letter home
  81. 81. A dream/a journal entry
  82. 82. An update
  83. 83. Working long hours
  84. 84. A dream, a memory
  85. 85. A meeting
  86. 86. The ride home
  87. 87. Reflections
  88. 88. Paperwork
  89. 89. A small trip
  90. 90. The journey there
  91. 91. Fitting in
  92. 92: Finding your voice
  93. 93: New plans made
  94. 94. (the missive)
  95. 95. Nursery planning
  96. 96: New spell gem
  97. 97: Shuffling

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by 3 Armored Kittens · Prodromos v.1.1 - World Anvil 0.9.15.045 © 2017-2024 [en] | Anvil Time: 17:24, May 30 2025