Writing: the Spy Knight

Hey folks :)

Once again, I must apologize for the lack of constant content updates in the last few days. This time around I've got a pretty solid reason, though.

As some of you might already be aware of, I was submitted to a surgery operation last Thursday, the nature of which I'd rather keep for myself for respect of other people's shyness. It wasn't serious or complicated, but it's meant a huge lifechanger for me, something I'll only start to feel after post-surgeon recovery is over. I'm still in the middle of it in the meantime, and that sadly prevents me from working on anything art-related, specially if it's DiD or kink-nature. You have nothing to worry about, though. The doctors have ensured me this will only take from a week to 10-15 days to get fully healed, after which I'll be back on stage!

I'd still like to share some content with you in the meantime, though, even if it's not strictely DiD-related. At the very least, it will give me a chance to flesh out some of the worlds, locations and future characters you'll meet around here in the Mirrorverse.

This little piece of writing is my first introduction to one of the aspects I already promised to include in future updates, the anthro characters, which in the Mirrorverse are simply known as the Fable-folk. There's not a complex background or reason to explain why there are anthros in this world. Just take them as a homage to the many cartoon series and comics from our childhood starring these particular characters: Ducktales, Talespin, The Gummy Bears, Alfred Kwak, Sherlock Hound, Montana Jones...

I'll expand into Fable-folk more on future lore sections for this Patreon, but for now I'll leave you with this first proof of interaction between worlds, as well as the first appearance of one of my running male characters: the rabbit bard Nandah.

Hope you enjoy it!

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The crowded market of Cauldron Plaza, in the Fable-folk town of Lukia, was a place as good as any other to learn some stories, when not simply looking for inspiration in every day nature's activity. For a bard like Nandah, anything was worthy of a song, or to become the spark of a story. The free-spirited rabbit young man's aspect was in many aspects the by-the-book definition of a trovador: handsome, charming and bohemian with some hints of cockiness. The truth was he might hold many of these attributes, but the latter. His nature balanced more towards humbleness and kindness, feeling naturally inclined to look for someone in need of help than for a fight or a flashy show. It was in his blood, after all, his grand-grandmother being Madian Lightfoot, the founder of the greatest house of healing in The Den, his hometown. As the old Fable-folk saying went: "you can run from where you come, but not from what you are."

Briefly fascinated by the strangely organic contrast between a florist's stand and an opposite fisherman outpost at the entrance of the south-west street, Nandah's day-dreaming got conveniently interrupted by a distant child cry. His fine long ears, trained to distinguish the sound of trouble and need wherever it came from, could pinpoint its origin to a medium-sized font from there a stone siren stood up proudly, water flowing from her granite-made weaved hair. Right below the siren, there was a little bear girl sitting on the stone, covering her face with her hands as she bursted into tears.

There were few things Nandah was intolerant about. Children suffering was one of them.

Trying his best to sound friendly, the rabbit man approached the chubby girl. "Hey, sweetie. Can I help you? Why are you crying?"

The girl didn't stop crying, but at least he got her attention. She looked up at him, revealing a round chubby cute face, remarked by a pair of big round glasses. Her brown hair was tied into a thick ponytail, a couple of hair locks falling by her sides.

"I... I'm the ugliest thing in the world! No one wants to be friends of mine! T-they... hate me!", was all she could articulate before going back to her endless crying.

The girl didn't present any signs of violence or beating, at least. That would've made things way worse. Nandah knew exactly how to handle this.

"And who said so? Who said that you're ugly?", he asked, patiently.

"E... Everyone...", the bear girl sobbed.

"Well, 'everyone' is a bit too wide, don't you think?", the bard giggle. "Help me out a bit, will ya? Who's 'everyone' exactly? Your parents?". She denied. "Your siblings?". She denied again. "Any of your friends?" That comment made her cry again. Nandah face-palmed. "Oooooh, right... I'm sorry, you already said that... Oh, please, miss, forgive my stupidity. But then... Who? I honestly want to know, because anyone cruel enough to tell a lovely soul like you to be ugly just for the sake of it, well... Let's just say they don't deserve my sympathy." He concluded, trying his best to be as touchy with her as possible.

Finally she stopped crying, so she could focus on replying Nandah.

"It's me. I'm the one saying that I'm ugly. Because it's true."

Nandah's smile melted a little bit, but his expression was still soft and inviting. "Truth is rarely one-faced, dear. But alright, that's an starting point as good as any. Do you mind if I sit down here?" The young girl shrugged, and so Nandah took a site by her side. "So... What's your name, Miss?"

She cleaned off her tears and took off her glasses for a bit.

"It's... Alyssa."

"Well, I like 'Alyssa' a lot better than 'Ugly' already." That comment, followed by a chuckle, actually made the young girl smile a bit. "Why do you call yourself that, if that's not your real name then?"

"Because..." She mumbled, taking her time before answering. "B-because that's what I am! I'm an ugly silly thing!"

"Honestly, it's really hard to me to tell you being any of those things, Alyssa." Nandah said. "Why don't you offer me more clues? Why do you say that? Is there something about yourself you're not comfortable with?"

The young bear gulped. For a moment it felt like she was about to break off again, but instead she took off her glasses and gave them to the bard.

"I hate them", she said. "They make me look dumb, and ugly."

"Ooooooooh... Now it makes sense". Nandah smiled, carefully taking the glasses and cleaning the dropped tears with his clothes. "They were all blurry with all the tears. No wonder why you couldn't see yourself as anything but ugly. Here, try them out now!" He offered Alyssa her glasses back. Still hesitantly, the girl finally accepted them and put them back on her face. "There you go! I bet I looked like an ogre to you too before." Nandah chuckled.

"N-no, not at all." Alyssa denied. "But I'm still ugly."

"Are you now?" Nandah invited her to look at her mirrored reflection at the fount's water. "Take a better look."

Alyssa stared at her reflected visage , not visibly impressed by its wobbly surface caused by the running water from the siren's hair.

"Not the clearest surface, I must admit", said Nandah, "but you tell me if you still see any traces of ugliness left."

"Pretty girls don't wear glasses", she replied laconically, probably repeating a cruel mantra she heard somewhere from her neighbors or school companions.

Of course, the girl's self-depreciation wasn't giving up just yet. Nandah already counted on that. Luckily for Alyssa, he knew exactly how to counter-attack.

"What if I told you that's actually not true? What if I told you that I once met one of the most beautiful ladies I've ever witnessed, and she actually wore glasses very similar to these of yours?"

As he expected, his words attracted Alyssa's full attention. Her prior sad face got replaced by an innocent expression of awe towards something she would've judged as impossible a few seconds ago.

"But... how can that be? Nobody has ever told me about any lady like that!" Alyssa complained.

"Well.. that's because her existence is not supposed to be known by the average Finn", Nandah winked. "Hey, Alyssa... I'm about to share one of my most dearest' professional secrets with you. So you must promise me not to ever tell anyone. Will you?"

Alyssa cleared off the last remaining tears from her face, and nodded eagerly. "I promise!"

"And may your mouth turn into a duck beak if you break your promise!" Nandah made a fake duck noise which actually made Alyssa giggle, and nod even more eagerly. "Very well, then... I'll trust you." The bard invited the young girl to look back at the surface of the fountain. "See, Alyssa, we bards are not just simple story-tellers. Words can hold an incredible power, for good... or for bad. And one of the most miraculous powers of them all is the ability to open windows and lookouts towards other worlds at both sides of the Mirrorverse. But even more miraculous is the power some individuals hold to turn those window into gateways, to let them traverse between worlds just as easy as you move through your door from your home to the outside world."

"Words... can really do that?" Alyssa's attention was now completely centered on the rabbit bard.

"That and much more, dear." Nandah smiled. "And why I'm telling you this? Because the lady I told you about came from the other side of the Mirrorverse, from a strange alien world that praises technology just as much as magic is workshipped and feared in our lands. This lady is just... as extraordinary as the world she comes from. And the most incredible thing of all?" After a well-calculated dramatic pause, he chuckled and brushed his hand over the water surface. "She wears glasses, just like you do."

When the water cleared up, instead of the mirrored reflection of both Fable-folks, Alyssa could see the image of  a woman of the human folks. Nandah wasn't lying: she truly was beautiful. Her perfectly shaped figure was highlighted by a tight leather outfit in black and blue, including gloves and high boots. Her blonde hair was expertly tied in a high bun, a couple of hair locks falling down through her sides. Her most distinctive feature, however, were her glasses: a pair of big rounded glasses, almost identical to those Alyssa wore, that far from degrading the woman's natural beauty only served to enhance it.

"She is... she is so beautiful!" an honestly mezmerized Alyssa muttered, her eyes uncapable of moving away from the image in the water surface.

"I know, right?" Nandah said proudly. "And yet beauty is far from her only gift. This lady you're witnessing right before you, Alyssa, is not just a pretty face nor any spoiled duchess or princess. This lady right here, she's a heroine. She is a knight."

"A... A knight?" the bear blinked in confusion. "But... she doesn't wear any plate armor! Neither she's wielding any sword or shield!"

"That's because she's another kind of knight, my dear. One whose greatest weapons aren't based on strength or iron power alone, but intelligence and smarts. She is what you could call... a spy knight." Nandah chose to slow down his words purposely, to give them more dramatic impact.

"A... spy knight?" Alyssa sounded as confused as she was amazed. "But... I thought spies were meant to be evil and treacherous."

"That depends on who do they work for, or who master or cause do they serve. This lady right here, she's got the will to fight by the side of the defenseless ones, and the smarts to know that some fights can be won without hitting a single strike. She really is a gentle soul. Trust me; I've seen her in action before, and she's a wonder to behold." Nandah smiled.

"Woah!! You know her??" The young bear was even more astonished now by that revelation.

"Oh yes, I do! As a bard, I do must know a lot of people, don't I?" The rabbit man chuckled. "She's a dear friend of mine, actually. One I'm positive she'd love to meet you."

Those words made immediate effect on the girl. She held one of Nandah's hands, staring at him with pleading eyes.

"Can I meet her now? Please! Please, I beg you! Introduce her to me!"

Nandah chuckled once again, touched by Alyssa's reaction.

"Well, dear... I'm afraid that's not such an easy task. As a spy knight, this lady's duty is to go unseen, until the right time comes. She could be anywhere, anytime, and not even I would know. However, I know her for quite some time, and I've learned to read signs of her presence wherever they might be. It won't be immediate, it might actually take a few days, or weeks. But if she ever comes here, I can call her for a meeting. Would you like that, sweetie?"

Alyssa's face was radiant with hope and illusion. She nodded eagerly, the perspective of meeting someone so different from the beauty canon message she always assumed as 'normal' being irresistible to her.

"Okay then. But I'll only do it with one condition, and one only. Alright?" he said, changing his tone for a little more serious one.

"Yes! I'll do anything!" the bear responded.

Nandah then held her chin and gave her a more reflexive look.

"My condition is this: there are, and there'll always be, cruel people in this world who'll call you anything from 'ugly' to 'dumb' to far worse things. But you'll never, ever, tell that to yourself ever again. Promise me that, and you'll have my word that I'll arrange a meeting with you and the spy knight. Deal?"

Those words made Alyssa cry again, but those were no longer bitter tears. Nandah could feel the spark of hope burning somewhere deep inside her, and that was more than he could've ever asked for.

"Deal! But you must keep your promise too..." she said, suddenly poking at the bard's nose with her nose. "Or may your mouth turn into a duck beak if you break it!"

Nandah bursted into laughs, which quickly passed on Alyssa as well. "Very well, then! You're a quick learner, Alyssa!" He stood in one knee, adopting a theatrical pose, as he took his hat and put it on his chest. "Thus I, Nandah Lightfoot the Bard, make the solemn promise of arranging an encounter with you and the spy knight, so long you keep your word and never ever call you ugly again!".

"Yay!" The young lady celebrated with cheerful claps. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"You're very welcome, dear." Nandah gave her a gentle stroke on one cheek. "Now, if you excuse me, I must go. Duty calls me somewhere in this town. But we'll meet again, in this fountain, at this time. And I'll share any stories I might have on the spy knight's deeds, until the day you two can finally speak with each other."

"I'll be waiting here everyday!" The now smiling bear child nodded, finally leaving any bad saddening feeling behind. Then, as she saw the bard leaving, she called him back immediately. "Wait! Nandah the Bard, wait!" Luckily for her, he could hear her long before he was gone. "You haven't told me her name yet!"

The rabbit bard drew a funny shocking expression and face-palmed again. "Ooooh, swamp dragons, it's true! How could I've been so numb, I completely forgot!" After recovering his temper, he gave the girl another charming look, purposely delaying his answer to feed the bear's awe.

"Her name... is Alisea." And then, he left.

That answer was probably even more impactful for the child than any story of the knight's deeds. Not only they both wore glasses, even their names sounded so similar to each other. But other than that, they had nothing else in common. One was brave and heroic, and the other...

No, it wasn't the time for self-doubt. She promised. Besides, she would never miss the chance to meet that fabulous heroine.