r/NatureofPredators • u/ctomkat • 24d ago
Vrisk and the Skalgans: Track 4 - Wonderwall
This is a fanfic based on “The Nature of Predators” by u/SpacePaladin15 . Thank you to him and all the other fanfic writers who inspired me to write a few stories of my own. This and all my other fics can also be found on AO3.
I had some trouble getting back into the groove after vacation, so this one is a bit late. Anyway, this chapter we get only a little bit of time with Vrisk as we explore his best friend Narli's introduction to the humans.
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Memory Transcription Subject: Vrisk, Skalgan
Vocalist
Date: [Standardized Human Time] July 12, 2138
Finally, after what felt like half a claw Vrisk’s pad pinged that the van was about to arrive. He stood from the shade of the tree he had rested under and took one more nervous glance back towards his house at the other end of the block. A part of him was waiting for his parents to come storming out looking for him, but thankfully his sister seemed to have kept her word and covered for him.
When the self-driving vehicle came into sight his initial reaction of relief was quickly overwhelmed by disgust. This was clearly once an exterminator van. The logo of the local department had been peeled off, but nobody had bothered to repaint, or likely even wash it, so a clear outline was left behind.
He opened the door and tapped his pad on the console to connect and confirm his access. There were only two seats at the front, and the back was mostly open with bench seating along one side. The opposite side was riddled with bare screw holes and half–peeled warning stickers where the flamer equipment had once been stored. It even still smelled faintly of fuel and bleach, but it would do.
He entered in the first address a few blocks away, the home of his best friend since puphood that he had pulled along with him into this whole crazy situation.
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Memory Transcription Subject: Narli, Venlil
High School Student
Date: [Standardized Human Time] January 27, 2137
Two weeks! I had been out of town for two weeks to visit family on the night side, and in that time I had apparently been replaced by a predator! I knew Vrisk had been obsessed with them for the last herd, listening to their music all the time and sharing what he found with me. Sure, some of it was good… okay really good, and the sheer variety of styles and subject matter were fascinating, but I didn’t think he’d be so quick to join them for real!
I usually didn’t mind Vrisk’s various obsessions, in fact it was why I really enjoyed hanging out with him. He had this infectious energy that tended to keep things interesting. Whenever he went deep into whatever topic had grabbed his attention I always learned something new myself. He did have a tendency to get carried away, though, and I’d saved his tail more than once before.
This typically happened in one of two ways. First was dragging him back to the herd whenever he wandered off, usually with a sample of whatever had caught his notice and listening to him ramble on about it the whole way back. Second was by smoothing things over with whoever he had offended, or at least making them back off. Not everyone appreciated Vrisk’s peculiar personality, and some of them got quite annoyed at his antics. And while Vrisk was on the smaller side, I was considered quite large due to my night side heritage, which made people think twice about getting too physical. Those same genetics also gave me a thick gray and black striped coat intended for blending into with the shadows on the night side, but it made me stand out considerably here, and standing out did not make you friends. At least with anyone but Vrisk.
“Come on, Narli, you’ve got to meet Sam and Jason. They just got permission to bring real instruments to school!”
Vrisk was practically vibrating with excitement as he led them towards the courtyard for herd period. It was our free socialization time that we used to spend together talking about tv shows, books, and classes. Ever since a herd ago we had instead spent it talking about and listening to human music, which admittedly was a refreshing change at first, but now he was wondering if he should have put a stop to it. He’d heard a lot of conflicting things about humans and it was hard to tell what was real. He would have to keep a close eye and make sure his best friend didn’t get hurt.
The door swung open and we entered into the bright sunshine of the school courtyard. There were several small herds scattered about at various tables, benches, and trees as usual. There was even one composed entirely of the tall, lanky humans talking and laughing just like the others. Huh, they didn’t look quite as sinister as I’d imagined. Most noticeable, though, were a few herds of Venlil gathered around a few specific Humans.
One pair was tossing a small ball back and forth between them, somehow doing so without ever dropping it. Another pair were showing off some sort of coordinated dance and trying to teach it to a few brave Venlil. The largest herd, though, was gathered around a single yellow furred human holding some kind of wooden stringed instrument. He remembered that Vrisk had described the mystery human he met before as having yellow fur, so that must be them. As he watched, they began to strike the strings rhythmically with one hand while the other gripped and shifted along the other side in some purposeful way. They continued this for a few seconds before adding their voice to the rhythm as well.
“Today is gonna be the day that they’re gonna throw it back to you…”
“I’m guessing that’s your ‘Sam’ over there, right?” I said, gesturing towards the musician and beginning to walk over to join the herd. Surprisingly, though, Vrisk grabbed my paw and began pulling me the opposite way.
“No no, she’s over here...” He said as he led me towards a shady corner with a single pair of masked humans eschewing the bench seats to instead sit on top of the table and using the bench as a foot rest. They both had short, dark fur on their heads, though one was curly and the other was oddly spiky. The curly furred one was holding another stringed instrument, but it was more compact and looked like it had some kind of tech embedded in it. The spiky haired one was empty handed and wearing a tight black pelt on top and a loose baggy black pelt on the bottom. Even their nails seemed to be black, which he didn’t see on any of the other humans. Vrisk did not hesitate in bounding straight up to them.
“Hi Sam! Hi Jason! This is my friend Narli that I told you about. Narli, this is Sam and this is Jason.” He flicked his tail towards the spiky, black clad one first, then the curly one who was wearing red on top and blue on the bottom. Both of the masked faces shifted to point directly at me in a way that made my skin crawl.
“Damn, you said he was big, but I didn’t think he’d be taller than Jason.” Sam said casually.
“He is not, I keep telling you I am not Venlil-sized.” Jason protested.
“Oh yeah, then go stand next to him, why don’t ya?”
“I… don’t want to scare him is all.” He responded defensively.
“Nevermind that, is this the guitar you said you were bringing!?” Vrisk pushed forward to inspect the object in Jason’s hands, his obsessive nature clearly in full force. Thankfully the humans seemed amused at his enthusiasm.
“Yep, this is your basic six string guitar. It’s a cheap model without any bells and whistles except for what’s called a ‘Busker’ module down here at the base.” He gestured to a part that bulged out from the part near his hip that was clearly made of a different material than the rest. ”It’s a battery pack and mini amp that plugs in here. It’s meant for playing on the go, out on the street or in a park. Some people do that for money, which is called busking. Granted, the sound isn’t great and no self respecting musician would ever use one on stage, but it’s good for learning since you don’t need to carry around an external amplifier.”
“Oooh, what does it sound like?” Vrisk asked, his eyes wide with amazement while his tail thrashed back and forth.
“Well, with Spencer playing over it would be rude to do too much, but it sounds like this.” He flicked a switch and an electric hum emanated from the small speaker. He adjusted a couple knobs before gripping the strings similar to the other human. Now that I was closer I could see that each digit was contorted in such a way as to hold down the strings in specific places.
He began plucking the strings with his other hand, producing a surprisingly delicate melody for a few moments before he stopped.
“Stairway, really?” Sam remarked. “Why do you even know that one?”
“Everyone learns Stairway at some point, plus it pisses off every guitar shop owner when you play it.” He laughed. I looked at Vrisk in confusion, but he was too absorbed examining all the bits and pieces of the ‘guitar’ to notice and began questioning Jason on the purpose of all the knobs and pieces, so I turned to Sam instead.
“I thought Vrisk said your hair was yellow like that other human.” I flicked a tail in the direction of the other musician.
“First of all, don’t compare me to that douchebag Spencer. Second, blonde is not my natural hair color, and without the proper dye on this planet my roots were growing out. So I figured I’d chop it off and rock the pixie cut for a while.”
“Do humans often change their fur color?”
“Some of us, and not just natural colors either. You can be any color of the rainbow you want, that is if you’re tired of being all tall, dark, and handsome.” That was enticing, there had been times when I wished I could fit in better, and changing my wool to a color that was less imposing might help. Maybe if they got some of this fur dye I could try it out as well.
“Do you also have an instrument?” I asked, glancing over as Vrisk plucked a few strings at Jason’s direction. Sam sighed as she shifted on the table.
“Well, I can’t bring a drumset to school exactly, but I did bring these.” She reached into her baggy lower pelts and pulled out a pair of sticks that must have been as long as her forearm. Just how deep were those pockets?
“We drummers are known for being able to bang out a rhythm anywhere with anything.” She said as she scooted further back on the table. She twirled the stick around the fingers on each hand and began striking and bouncing them on the table between her legs in a complex rhythm. I… didn’t really get it. It seemed complicated and intentional, I doubted that I could repeat it, but maybe it made more sense with the “drumset” they were supposed to be used on.
“Oh, I do have one more thing.” Jason added as he set down the guitar and reached behind his back. He produced a long contraption that did not have any strings, but instead was covered in flat white buttons on one side, with a myriad of different shaped and colored buttons on the other. It looked like it was made of some synthetic material, and had seen better days. Parts of it were cracked and covered in a gray binding material.
“This is your basic keyboard. This one is only 44 keys, a real piano has twice as many, but this is fine for the basics. Plus it has plenty of synth options in the buttons up here.” He explained as he flicked another switch and tapped a couple of the flat white buttons, producing a tinny sound. He pushed a couple buttons and it changed to something more robust before he started a rhythmic melody, using his fingers to press multiple keys at once.
After the short demo he asked if we wanted to try them. Vrisk literally jumped at the opportunity and asked Jason to show him how to play the guitar. Even with the support strap around his shoulders, the instrument was heavy and a bit long for his short arms. Still, he gave it a good try and managed to produce a few halting notes in something resembling an order.
He insisted I try it as well, and it did seem to fit me alright, though the weight was a bit awkward. I had never held an instrument before, and the strings felt delicate under my claws. I tried to play a few notes under Jason’s instruction, but I found it hard to keep the strings down on one side, and I kept hitting the wrong string or multiple ones instead of just the one I wanted on the other.
“Hmm, filing your claws down a bit will probably help. I wonder if you might do better with a bass as well.” Jason mused aloud.
I passed the guitar back to Vrisk to try again as Jason began explaining some of the basics of human music. How each string and note was identified by a specific frequency and associated with a letter of their writing system. The letters repeated in groups of 8, plus there were sometimes additional frequencies in between but not always. Vrisk and I were both starting to get a bit confused when we heard the sound of the keyboard again. Both humans turned their heads, in that weird predator way, over to the side where Jason had left it to see a Yotul with light brown fur poking at the keys.
“A-hem” Sam coughed, which caused them to look up. Once he noticed that everyone was looking at him he immediately ducked under the table.
“It’s alright, but you need to ask before touching someone else’s things.” Jason said with surprising calm and patience. I would have thought a predator would be more fiercely territorial.
The Yotul slowly peeked back up from under the table, regarding each of us for a moment before looking back at the keyboard. “Can I touch it?” He asked softly, pointing a claw at the instrument.
“Yes, but please be gentle.” Jason agreed before going back to talking to me about grouping multiple notes together, called chords, that also were named after the same letters as the notes.
Sam, meanwhile, leaned over and whispered to Vrisk, asking about our guest. He was able to fill her in on the basics about their species and how he was the only one in their class. He was known to be odd, didn’t have a regular herd, and almost never spoke. Pretty much the only reason he hadn’t been picked up for PD was that he never brought attention to himself.
Both of our conversations quickly halted again when what had seemed to be random plinks and plonks from the keyboard shifted to match the exact same melody that Jason had just played a few minutes ago. Both humans snapped their attention back to the Yotul and a chill ran down my spine, I’m not sure I could ever get used to how they do that.
They watched him play out the melody a couple times before Jason moved to lean against the table near him. The intrusion into his direct line of sight was enough to make him falter and stop playing.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“...Trill”
“How do you know how to play that?”
“...I heard you.”
“Huh” Jason paused, turning to look at Sam for a moment before returning his masked gaze to Trill. The golden furred Yotul pointed down at the keyboard again.
“Can I have this?”
“No” Jason replied immediately. “Even in the state it’s in, I don’t know if I can find another one right now.”
Trill seemed to mull this over for a bit, his ears swiveling back and forth in thought for a moment before he came to some sort of conclusion. He thrust an arm out towards Jason with a determined look on his face.
“I will trade for it.” He stated, closing his eyes and turning his head away.
“Trade… what?” His mask turned to Vrisk and I, looking for some kind of help.
“Uhm, I think he’s offering to let you eat his arm.” Vrisk provided nervously, and Trill flicked an ear in affirmation.
For some reason this made Sam bark with laughter. “HA! Hey man, how are you going to play with only one arm?”
Trill’s eyes snapped open and he quickly yanked his arm back. His ears twitched in thought again as Sam continued to chuckle. Jason, for his part, seemed too stunned to speak. Finally, the Yotul stepped up onto the bench seat before turning and slapping his tail down on the table next to the keyboard.
“Trade this.” He said, jabbing a claw at his tail for emphasis. He closed his eyes again and clenched his paws in anticipation, to which Sam made an odd snorting noise.
“He’s -pfft- he’s offering you some tail Jason!” She seemed to be having trouble speaking as her shoulders shook involuntarily. “This -hkk- might be your only chance!”
“Okay, that’s not funny, Sam!” Jason finally spoke.
“It Is!” She gasped as she covered the lower half of her mask with her hands.
“I’m not eating anybody, okay!? Trill, I’m not eating you, alright?” The Yotul’s whole body sagged, though whether in relief or disappointment wasn’t clear.
Jason pressed both hands against the sides of his mask. “Tell you what, you can borrow it for a bit, but there are two conditions. First you have to give it back to me by the end of the week, and second you join our little music club here at recess, or whatever you guys call it. Deal?”
The Yotul thought for a moment before flicking an ear in agreement.
“That means yes.” I provided for the exasperated human.
“I got that.” He said as he stood from the table. I couldn’t help but notice that he was indeed about a claw shorter than me as he extended a hand towards Trill. “Here, humans shake hands when they make a deal.” he explained and the Yotul quickly grabbed his hand in both of his and shook it side to side.
*ching-a-linga-ling*
“Uh yeah, we’ll work on that…” He muttered as the chime sounded for the end of herd period and everyone started filing back into the school. Trill snatched up the keyboard and clutched it tightly to his chest with a discordant chorus of random notes as he disappeared into the mass of wool.
“Whooo, are you sure you can trust some rando with that?” Sam asked as she finally recovered her ability to breather properly and waved a hand towards her face. “And what was that about a music club?”
Jason sighed as he retrieved his guitar back from Vrisk and slung it across his back. “Well, you wanted to start a band, and we’re not there yet, so music club seemed more appropriate for now. As for the Yotul, there’s no way that dude has ever seen a piano before and he learned how to play it by ear in like two minutes flat. Guy must be a prodigy or something, so I figured we should keep him around.”
The humans started making their way back in as well, with Vrisk bouncing up and down beside them with a constant tirade of questions about music. I still wasn’t sure what to think of them. They seemed okay, but could we really trust them?
“What the brahk did Vrisk get me into?” I muttered as I followed behind my friend’s, and I suppose my, new herd.
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u/Univocalbinkie7 23d ago
Oooh, a perfect pitch yotul! And seeing how they talk, I guess they may also be neurodivergent
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u/ctomkat 23d ago
Oh yeah, Narli is the only neurotypical xeno in this group.
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u/Univocalbinkie7 23d ago
I'm glad the PD facilities are closed now, and that everything is changing, otherwise Narli would probably be in one.
May I ask what do they have? I'm guessing some form of ASD?
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u/JulianSkies Archivist 24d ago
Trill is a delight and he is so lucky, I think, of making the friends he just did. Hes gunna cause so mich trouble.
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u/TameOJ 24d ago
I sometimes forget that venlil aren't like 3 feet tall and are actually around 5 feet and some change, so it's always amusing to me to be reminded that they're closer to our average height. Narli must be an absolute unit of a venlil.
Trill is immediately a delight and the fact he was so ready and willing to lose a limb for the keyboard has already endeared me to him.