Three days of worhsip, missinformation, and ignoring her disire. was all Nina could take. Before dawn, she marched to the center of the tribe camp—a small, open spot in the plains—and from the earth, a rise of stone flowed beneath her. She held her hand high and stone form pedstal rose her into the air.
Half saw it as a sign she was proclaiming her right as elder. The other half assumed it was the beginning of a grand speech, that Nina would deliver what she expected of them.
Neither side expected the words that followed.
“Stop worshiping me as the Hero!” Nina shouted for all to hear. “I’m Nina. Not the Hero, not the elder, not the one who makes all your problems disappear.” Her voice echoed like a thunderclap, stunning all into silence.
“I came here to be free among a tribe that I loved, but you never knew me. You never even cared. You heard ‘Hero,’ and that’s all I ever was to you. I’m Nina. Just a girl who wanted to visit and be welcomed here.”
The calm faded to nothing as she lowered herself to the ground. Then she shifted the earth, making a giant monument of herself standing atop a stone, boasting and laughing into the air—an impossible, lifelike creation molded from the earth in seconds. A moment, proud and defiant, stood there. Yet beside it, her real self stood broken and in tears.
“That,” Nina pointed at the statue, “is what you see.” She then pointed at herself and said in a low voice, “But I am right here.”
She went back to her tent, leaving the rest unspoken. She had given them what they wanted: a tribute to worship. Maybe now she could be free. The soft glow from the starry light lamp her brother gifted her, was a small comfort. She knew tomorrow she would have to face them again, but for now, she was herself, and she would worry about dealing with them tomorrow.
Yet even after that, the shift of the tent flap let her knew one was still thier ignoring her desire. it was Rex, she knew without even looking. he still came to her when she did not want anyone there. She heard him speak in an unsure voice.
“Why don’t you want to live here? What did we do wrong?”
“Rex… why are you always coming here? Why not play with the other kids, or… gods, where are your parents? Why do they let you always chase my tail?”
“Um… the kids want to play dumb games, and my parents know I’m here. They approved. They said it would be good if I learned from the Hero. That’s why I’m here.”
So just like all the others, you don’t see me either, Nina thought bitterly.
“I’m tired. Leave me alone, please.” her ears went flat as she Turn to face the star light lamp near her bed, not wishing to see if Rex would listen.
As the silence stretched on, she couldn’t resist temptation and looked to see an empty tent. A stillness for which she was grateful.
And with that, she was finally free from them, at least for the night. She would see what would happen the next day. it was a blissful sleep that took her, one that had nothing to say.
Groggy, she rose, forgetting for a moment where she was…
aha yes, among people who loved the idea of her so much it hurt.
brushing her hair debating what she try to do today a sudden though stuck her. *Oh, yeah. The display I made. What was I thinking?* She looked at her hand—the same power she hated flowed so freely from her grasp, shaping impossible things of earth with an ease she never knew she possessed. She hadn’t even thought about it; it just happened. She had made a monument to herself to mock their hollow loyalty and display her own pain for all to see, since they would not hear her.
Ears flat and held low, she fumbled her way to the square to undo her shame. Yet as her hand rose to make it fade away—
“WAIT, PLEASE DON’T!”
Nina saw a desperate, plump bearkin woman trying to get her attention. Were they so desperate to worship her that even this statue—this mockery of me—was something they wanted? Did my desires mean nothing?
“I see your concern, but we do need it.” the bearkin lady went on as if Nina desires ment little
“So you can worship me?” Nina said in a deadpan voice.
“NO! Well, yes, but not the way you think.” The bearkin was making little sense. Nina saw other random beastkin gathering, looking concerned as well.
Nina was afraid they weren’t being honest, but it did not make the moment any less smothering. A nearby beastkin, a foxkin she might have seen a few times, spoke up.
“I think they mean… uh, Nina, we see you now, but we fear not everyone understands yet. So we need the statue to remind us….”
Nina watched them trying put a name to the face but It was hard to tell individuals apart when hundreds rushed you every day; they all started to blend together.
“Yes!” the bearkin spoke, nodding eagerly. “We want to learn about you and change.”
“Do you really see me?” Nina watched them carefully, waiting for the trap she felt destined for to spring and bind her once more into the loop she could not escape.
“We can’t undo our misplaced devotion, but we can try to help you.”
“Even if I still wish to leave?” Nina watched them carefully to see how they would react. A few flinched, but all nodded and seemed to agree. Maybe… maybe they can be believed.
She went to the elder, hoping for a change of scene. The elder was teaching a class to kids, and Nina was surprised by what she overheard.
“We need to remember heroes are people, too,” the elder was finishing, unaware Nina was there.
“Why? We always praise heroes….”
“Yeah, we want to *be* heroes!”
“Yeah, me too!”
The voices of the kids became a chorus, each trying to be the one who most wanted the hero, devolving into name-calling shortly after.
“Children,” the elder’s gentle voice echoed off the tent walls, stilling all voices. They knew they were pushing their luck; this was learning time, not play. They came for wisdom. “If we wish to be heroes, we must remember who the heroes are first.”
None of the kids seemed to understand, even as they nodded. So Nina spoke up, causing them all to turn in surprise.
“Heroes are people, and they get lonely if you don’t see *them*.”
The kids still looked confused, trying to understand. “But we *do* see you?”
Nina smiled. “You do, but you see Hero Nina. I want to be Friend Nina.”
That just seemed to confuse them more, but they nodded. She sat with them. They were happy, and the talk quickly shifted to adventures and what her power could do. They seemed to want to listen, but were still too eager to be near the Hero.
As they left for the day and adults randomly came for guidance, Nina stayed and helped with advice—not as the Hero, but as a friend helping the elder who had always been there for her.
The more she nudged them to focus on the elder, the more a few random individuals seemed to understand what her desire was. They saw she was slowly pulling away to leave, and their choice was to either fight her demand and insist she stay, or respect her.
And as much as the majority seemed to lean toward support, a few seemed to cling to the desire that she should lead, even when the elder insisted she be free. They were not listening to her.
The cycle repeated for a couple more days, and she grew more restless. She noticed Rex seemed more distant. She hadn’t noticed at first, happy for the space, but now that he was near, it felt more like a little prisoner forced to be beside her, the joy he’d had in the past muted.
She walked around the camp with him in tow, watching the slow shift among the people. She asked him, “What’s wrong, kiddo? Not so happy today.”
“You’re really leaving?” Rex asked with a bluntness that surprised her.
“I never said I was staying. I have a family I want to go back to.”
“Where’s your family?” Rex asked, confused.
“You’re like my family, but my real family is home, where I want to be. This was me… finding myself.”
“So you’re just leaving us after everything we did for you?”
“I never asked for any of this. I wanted to sulk in a corner and heal, not be chased everywhere.”
“But you’re the Hero. You have to lead us.”
“Why? Because you told me to? That’s not how choices work.”
The walk after that was a more somber silence, neither wishing to speak. A few random tribesfolk were happy to see her and asked about her day, and it was a pleasant talk.
So Nina thought she would try once more to fit in. Since the aftermath of yesterday’s outburst, some seemed to be taking it well. Yet she still saw uncomfortable shifts and looks when she offered to help.
The closest she got was being allowed to help pass out candy treats for the kids. But the echoes of “Thank you, Hero!” were too much for her. She was done trying to fit in.
So once more, Nina walked to clear her head and enjoy some air. She left the kids to their treats, surprised Rex still hung nearby. Since their last talk, she thought he might be sulking elsewhere or playing with the kids.
Rex finally spoke once more as they moved to a different place, letting her know how he felt. “So why are they better when they abandon you? I never did.”
She wasn’t sure how to respond to that at first. “They didn’t abandon me. They just have their own lives, and I didn’t like how much attention I got in theirs. We all have to grow up, kiddo. Even you.”
“So my feelings mean nothing? I would protect you! And I would grow up and be the next Hero!” Rex tried to make his final case as they entered her tent to wind down for the day.
“Let’s say I stay and make you happy, but *I* won’t be. Is that what you want? For me to make you happy even if I’m not?”
“Why would you not be happy? We all love and need you!”
“Because the ones *I* love and need are not here.”
“But I’m willing to stay. I’ll never be happy. Is that the one you want? The Hero who will always be here, or Nina, the one who can choose what makes *her* happy, even if she doesn’t choose you?”
She watched Rex’s ears flatten. His face swapped between anger, tears, and maybe a dawning understanding. Finally, he spoke.
“Would you never be happy here? Even if we changed?”
She thought carefully. “Maybe. But that would be a long time away. And truthfully, I’d rather visit, like I did now—just as a person, for a change. Not endure endless hero worship I never wanted, or be pushed to be an elder.”
“Since the day they found out about my power, they pushed me as a hero. I just want to be *me*.”
Nina wasn’t watching Rex as she stared at her light, so when his voice spoke a low “Okay,” it surprised her.
She looked at him. Rex seemed to gain a resolve. “What if I became elder and taught the future tribe not to blindly worship heroes? Then would you be happy and stay… I mean, come back… someday?”
A gentle tear fell from her face as she used the earth to push Rex from behind. He stumbled into her arms. “You’re a good kid, and I’m sure if you really believe and try, you’ll be the best elder there can be.”
“But would you come back and see me?” Rex asked, muffled in her chest.
“Yeah, kiddo. I’ll see the man you become, changing a whole tribe just for me.”
He pulled out of her arms, wiping his face. “I’m a man already! And I will be an elder *and* a hero. You’ll see—everyone will bow to me!”
She felt he was losing the thread of what made the moment special, but correcting him now wouldn’t be smart. He was trying; it was enough. So she nodded.
“I’ve got to go. Need to let people know about the future and prepare to help me.”
“Rex… just be mindful. Being a hero, an elder, and ‘the best’ means a lot of responsibility. People will trust you with important things. You have to be someone people like me can rely on. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
She wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to tell a kid, but she feared saying nothing would push him into becoming someone she would not want to meet.
“I… okay.” That was all Rex said as he left her for the day.
She fell back, exhausted. Even if they all changed tomorrow, this still wasn’t her home. Teva annoyed her, and playing runaway with Len wasn’t her thing—but she missed that life. Even if her brother kept ignoring her, she was feeling better now, knowing he did love her and wasn’t just worshipping her as a thing.
and then Add to home screen.