We landed on the balcony to the surprise of a few students who were about, one of which yelped in surprise. I was shivering as the afternoon had turned rather overcast and chilly, I quickly rushed inside to bask in the heat lamp. I quickly get the door open and crouch next to the turtle enclosure, loving the warmth of the lamp.

“Sylvie you okay?” Erina asks, peering in. I grab the tablet out of my bag and take my new clothes out too.

“I’m okay, its so cold up there”

“I suppose it would be, I have fire running through my veins!” she flexes “So I don’t really feel it” I giggle.

“When’s the next big sports day?”

“Next spring”

“I’ll have to come watch to cheer you on”

“I’d love that, right. I got to be going, my parents will be after my horns if I’m late back”

“One moment” I stood up and charged her, jumping and throwing my arms around the taller girl. “Mmrrr”

“Ah!-” She is knocked back a little bit but uses her tail to steady herself. She slowly brings her arms down and around me. “I’ll take that as a thank you” We stayed like that for a moment longer than necessary, cementing something in my heart. I’m sure it was the same for her. I’m sure of it. We untangled from each other and I stepped back into my room, waving goodbye to her as I saw her prepare to take off. I watched her all that time, admiring her brazen confidence in her own abilities.

I wish I could still do what I was good at.

Once she was gone I closed the curtains and looked around, my eyes lighting up the dark room. I turned my bedside lamp on and grabbed a book I was supposed to read for the course and got on with it, marking bits and pieces that were important. I did this until I conked out, it had been a fun day.

***

In another room

Cadence had witnessed the landing, grimacing through the window of her room. She sighed, she had been feeling better recently, having seen little of Sylvie in the previous few days. She turned around and flopped back down onto her desk where she had been writing her journal, she clicked her pen and tried not to think dark thoughts. She soon gave up, too hyper fixated on the thought of the pair of monster girls having fun and flying.

She slams a hand down on the desk so hard it was bound to cause a bruise. “Damn, damn, damn!” She leans back on her chair. “I need to do something about this, it can’t go on...she must go…”

***

I woke to the sound of a train horn in the near distance, the sort of multi-toned tuneful horn that gave them such character. I stretched and the strap of my nightdress slipped over my shoulder, I tugged it back up and got dressed. Today was the start of the end of autumn festival preparations and I volunteered to play the guitar in the opening ceremony. Well, Klien had sort of volunteered me up to Principal Rockford a few days ago. It was part of the reason I’d picked out the dress, which was hanging on the door of my wardrobe.

I made sure Colin had water and something to chew on and I left my dorm, on my way to have another scheduled appointment with Nurse Jousset. I knock and enter and we go through the whole spiel, redressing my bandages. Afterwards, as I am pulling my sweater back over my head, she taps her clipboard down on her desk to get my attention.

“I have some news Sylvie, I received these from a colleague of mine who works with special cases and injuries. She tells me they might be able to help repair or soothe your throat and subsequently your voice box” She hands me a small box of losenges. “I’ve tested them out on students complaining of minor throat issues and its worked well so far…..for the most part. I figured it might get a pinch of your voice back.

I stared at her for a few moments, blinking, and quickly opened the box and cracked one out. Without thinking twice I swallow it down without even wanting a drink.

“Ah Sylvie! Um, you should have probably drank something with that. Might’ve gone down easier” I shook my head, I wanted my voice back as soon as possible.

“Oh and another thing, I got word from the Principal and from Shiori, you remember her right?” I nod “They’ve given me express permission to remove your muzzle. I gathered reports from students and staff and they all feel comfortable with you and would like to see it removed. I sent the forms to them and they approved” I clapped my hands in happiness, turning away and clearing my hair so the straps are visible, she leans over and quickly unclasps them, letting it drop onto my lap. I quickly snatched it up and chuck it in the bin.

“Graha! Fhhheeee!” I spluttered, it wasn’t an instant solve-all medicine I guess. I rubbed my hands against my cheeks, so happy to feel skin rather than tough leather. I turned back around and showed her a toothy grin.

“There, you look much happier now” the taller elfin woman patted me on my head, ruffling my hair. It took all my restraint to not hop up and down in the hallway outside the nurse's office afterwards. I leave the dorm building and made my way to the main hallway where they are setting up the stage for the festival. It was a short walk across the southern part of the campus, across one of the clearings where they used to run a huge BBQ in the summer-

BAM

In my daydreaming over cooked meats I walked right into someone again, sending my head tumbling into the grass. I tried not to swallow any as it rolled a short distance away. Drat.

“Sylvie? You okay?” It was Klien, man I was glad it was him.

“Mhguuuur” I try to sound positive. I hadn’t managed to fall apart in front of him before so I was a bit embarrassed. He places my head back on my neck and I quickly whip out my tablet.

“No no, none of that now. I bet you were thinking of something good huh? Lets get on, we’ve got a stage to set-up” He gestures to follow and I do, it was where I was headed to anyway.

The stage in the big hall didn’t get used very often, the room was mainly used for athletics and gymnastics.

“I remember” he says as we walk in. “Your final performance up there, before the accident. It was beautiful”

“I have some news on that actually, Nurse Jousset gave me some lozenges, they’re supposed to help. They are experimental though”

“I hope so, you were our best. Right, lets get this stage ship-shape” There were a few other students milling about, one or two fiddling about with light fixtures. We spent the next couple of hours finding leads, dusting off old lights with long bushes and searching for missing bits and pieces.

I had spent a lot of time underneath the stage, dodging mothballs and spiders webs trying to locate the chairs that would be needed, eventually managing to retrieve pair after pair. Which was about all I could carry. I didn’t really want to deal with anything electric, I didn’t know what that would do to me. One time as I was pushing a set of chairs back out I gave a girl who’d just entered a real spook, causing her to run from the room screaming.

It made me feel awful, my appearance still driving people away…

I had soon located all of them, my glowing eyes proving very handy in the dark recesses of the understage. I stood up, dusting off my clothes. The guy who’d been taking them and stacking them thanked me and pointed me towards where Klien went, I was rather ravenous at this point. I ventured back behind the curtains, finding him fussing over different filters to cover the light.

“Ah Sylvie! Thanks for your help, I bet those eyes came in handy. Tell me, for your performance what sort of colour lights should we use?” He holds up some yellow plastic filters up over me, peering through them at me. I shake my head.

“I don’t like yellow” I look at the one in his other hand. “Green neither” I thought back to the purple dress on my door. “I think pinks and purples would suit me better, plus...I want to look a little bit more natural..” The greens and yellows would make me look even more sickly than I already did.

He quickly flips through his folder of them, finding a reddish-pink one and holding it up over me. “Looks...good, alright then, you’re-” my belly rumbles, I didn’t know it could do that still. “-dismissed. Go get something to eat Sylvie” I smile happily, grateful to be let free. And I turned on my heel and made for the exit… I could just tear into some steak right now..