Chapter 1
Ember looked around, the deafening sound of the rushing river only made her more paranoid. She ran in between the buildings, pushing her way past the unsuspecting people around her out the way. She gasped for breath as she came upon the damned bridge as tears welled in her eyes; She opened her mouth to shout at the black-haired Néko woman about to walk onto the bridge.
Time to seemed to slow down as they forced Ember to watch her mother slip on the wet bridge as a scream escaped from both of the women as the black-haired woman fell into the rushing river, the rapids swallowing the woman whole. Ember dropped to her knees, tears flowing down her cheeks as people around her screamed in horror at what they had just witnessed. The slight gleam of a golden necklace appeared from the sun and she scooped it up with a look of disgust on her face.
Ember woke with a start, panting as she felt tears run down her cheeks, she wiped them away with a somber look on her face, she only had one thing to say about the nightmare she had been forced to witness, “Mom...” Ember whispered.
The chestnut-haired girl pushed away her sheets as she looked around at her room, her puppy slept at the foot of the bed. She sighed and attempted to move her feet so she did not disturb her loyal companion. She looked around the room and placed her feet on the floor with a sigh. Undisturbed by the sudden change of temperature. She fixed her nightgown and got up from her bed as the rising sun peeked through her curtains, hitting the necklace on her pale neck.
She pushed away her hair from her face as she grumbled to herself. She was never a morning person, and that nightmare had been pushing her lazy Sundays to work Sundays. She grabbed her brush and brushed out the knots out of her hair, careful to avoid her sensitive ears, then brushing those too. She groaned as she realized her least favorite part was coming up, the tail.
She grabbed her tail behind her and brushed it out; It wasn’t as bad as her hair or ears, but it can and will get worse if she forgot to brush it for a day. She hated it when it happened; It meant she had to get her day to help her out with this problem. It wasn’t because he felt uncomfortable, in fact, he joked around it often. It was because how she felt about anyone touches her tail; it was just something was really weird and very inappropriate.
Living as a cat-human or a Neko was difficult, but nowhere near as bad as other species had it. The Fisguoion or fish-people are discriminated against a lot more than Neko’s were. But it was never any better, she prepared herself for lewd comments and hate comments towards herself for the day. She pulled back her hair into a ponytail, although it was short, it bothered her that was even down during the night.
Ember opened her closet door and looked at a small selection of dresses and she sometimes wondered why she even had 8 dresses, she only wore two at most and that’s because they were the most comfortable. If she was actually given the choice between male or female clothing, she would choose male all the way. It seemed so much more comfortable, compared to the corsets and tight dresses that she was stuck wearing.
As Ember walked out of her room, slipping into her flats, she waved bye to her father and walked out of the brightly colored house. She looked at the mountain range near her house and breathed in the fresh air. She smiled and said to herself, “Good morning, Magdion.”
She started on her way into town, she could see the tall buildings towering over the marketplace and she chuckled at the irony. Those buildings on a good day might get 20% of the customers that go to the market. How those businesses even afforded the building was beyond her, but according to most people, a lot of things were.
As she walked into town, she watched as berions strolled past her; She waved at them and they pulled their curtains closed quickly and sharply. She chuckled to herself, “Rasis.” She practically spat. She watched at the berion took off quickly and Ember grinned, slightly proud of herself on how she made those people so uncomfortable so quickly. Ember walked her way into town, the closer she got to the market, the smaller she felt.
She slowly slouched until it became physically possible to not do so anymore because of her corset. Ember looked around the market, the shouting of merchants and the yelling of traders and consumers made her feel more comfortable. Even if someone was to shout something lewd or insulting her way, she wouldn’t hear it. She kept her ears and tail down as not to draw attention to them; She passed by a variety of different people on her way towards the only merchant she knew wouldn’t be prejudice against her.
As she came upon his stall, it was normally empty but she guessed more people had popped by to either say hi or buy something because there was a lot more than just the normal two customers. To be exact, there was five, Ember sighed and looked at the people buying from him, a Fisguoion, Degusion or snake-person, and three other Nekos. She looked around and watched as humans passed by, some with disgusted looks on their faces and others just ignoring them.
Ember sighed sadly. She just wanted a world where people wouldn’t look down on each other. Was that too much to ask of this cruel nation? When it was finally Embers, turn to shop from Chris, she greeted him with a smile.
“Hey, there lass,” Chris said with a grin, pushing his hair out of his face.
“Why don’t you just cut your hair if it bothers you that much?” The chestnut-haired girl asked as he picked up the regular she got from him.
“Why don’t you just go bald because you always have your hair up,” Chris responded and Ember lightly glared at him.
“Busy today, huh Chris?” Ember asked as he handed her supply.
“Yeah, big sale going on today.” Chris explained, “I also put up some advertisements around.”
“What’s with the sale? You’re usually firm on your prices unless its a Fisguoion.” Ember explained, her ears perking up, ready to listen to his explanation.
“Well, next week I’ll be moving to Dedsyulion.” He said, “There are more people there that need my food then people here.” He said.
Ember saddened at the news. Yes, Ember knew that Magdion wasn’t some of the most diverse cities in all of Fufthloion, but there were people like herself that needed people like Chris for food and basic needs that other merchants refuse to give them.
“Now, now lass, I’ll try to ship things over here for you,” Chris assured, Ember pretended to sniffle.
“Really? You’re the best Chris.” Ember said with a wavering grin.
“Don’t go getting all emotional on me now lass.” He grinned, “Head on home, I’m sure you’re father would be happy to see you for once.” He remarked and shooed her away after she had paid.
On her way home, Ember passed by a coin, she looked down at it and gasped. Who would have dropped such a coin? She shrugged and picked it up, she bit down on it to make sure it was real and she grinned. She looked up at the sky, “Once more karma, you never disappoint.” She said and continued on her way home.
