#also please dont mind the fact that I can't draw legs for shit I'm working on it i promise

[squidlykitten]

Which OCs are on your mind?!

Current obsession is Yennith Kor! They're a Beern from the Kor-A'ala nariteern. They are currently on the run for ☆.｡.:*Mysterious Reasons.｡.:*☆! They may or may not have escaped from a nationalistic extremist cult I wrote a little bit of their childhood journal, with entries spanning about 4 human years, that's below the cut. (It's not all that long)

5531, 7 MARA

Hello, journal, I am Yennith of the Kor family. Today, my Tion gifted me my very own tablet to aid in my studies, though it will still be a year before I am given my stripes. Tion A'ala says I am very mature for my age, and that soon I will be given many responsibilities. I hope I can do them well.

I am told that soon we will be landing back on Itaan to offload our cargo and to pick up new goods from the local craftspeople. Tion A'ala is very pleased, because they were able to make a deal with the Yuuk-Iitha nariteern, who everyone knows makes the best sculptures of all the Yuuk. I got to sit in on the meeting! It was very exciting, and afterwards we all shared a meal. They must have very good hunters too. We don't get to do much hunting, but at least we are also a bit safer from the Cold.

My parents say to be careful though, because out in the stars is the Cold's home, and it is all around us. I guess that's true, but it is pretty warm here on our freighter. I think sometimes the Tions and parents worry too much about the Cold. It isn't like the old days, when we were stuck on the planet and unable to do anything but the Journey.

I have to go, class will be starting soon and I don't want to be late. Tuufta and Hefian always make such a big deal out of it and say its because I'm not responsible enough to be taking lessons with them yet, and I don't want to prove them right. They can be so rude sometimes.

Journal, please do not tell my parents I said that.

5531, 39 MARA

Today was a wonderful day, journal! You know Gith Yuuk, the friend I mentioned from the last cargo pickup? We've been exchanging messages, and today they told me their gender! Do you think that means that they *like* me? I think it must, because otherwise why would they tell me? I would ask Parent Ithan, but I know they would just tease me endlessly. We made plans to meet up the next time the Kors are in port.

My very first date! It is a little silly how nervous I am about it. And excited. And nervous. We are only going to watch the story-cube they just got in, but still. Maybe I can pick up some new clothes offworld, so I can look extra nice. Or should I just wear my usual things? Would it be pretentious of me to wear offworlder clothes when the Yuuk's are planet-bound?

I can't decide. Oh, I hope it goes well. I don't want to leave the Kors, but maybe they would be willing to come with us? It has to be better than being stuck out in the cold, right?

I guess I'm probably a little young to be worrying about it, but still. They're really fun and we have been having a great time sharing gossip. I never knew how much trouble you could get into on-world, but I guess it makes sense -- lots of time to build up grudges when you have more interactions with the other nariteerns. I hope we re-stock soon -- Ancestor's Day is coming and they won't be able to talk to me while their nariteern is on the move. So frustrating! Maybe I could speak with Tion, say I wanted to go on the Journey to honor the Ancestors. Tions like that kind of thing, right?

5531, 13 Chuul

I heard Ithan and Talia talking today about some kind of war. I know they didn't want me to hear, so it's not like I can ask questions, but it sounds like it might be pretty bad for Itaan, which is stupid. We don't bother anyone! I bet they are just being paranoid as always. They worry so much. I feel bad for the other planets that are being targeted, but I guess living on Cold's heart has its perks since no one else wants to live here.

We're meeting with the Xeethans later today to exchange the Geth family tapestries for more fuel cells, which we can then bring back to Itaan. I'm hoping that means we will be in dock long enough for me to get ahold of Gith. I'm still mad that Tion didn't let me go on the Journey, but they said that maybe next year I could join the Yuuks, once I've earned my stripes. Since I'll be a full adult then, they can't *really* tell me what to do.

I don't know that I will like the Journey very much, but I think it will be nice to try it at least once. I've been thinking about it a lot, actually. I know I said it only because I wanted to spend some time with Gith, but actually I think maybe its the way to go. Tion asked me if I was serious about it, and I said I was and I think... maybe I am. They said that if I was careful, I might be entrusted with the Kor-A'ala eerna, so that I could lay some of the vessels to rest in the Kor family temple planetside.

It feels kind of like the right thing to do, you know?

5532, 30 Taarnma

It's my birthday and my face HURTS. Ithan was laughing at me for complaining, but they had half the stripes to get that I did today! I was honored with the mark of the pilot, the astro-navigator, *and* the mark of maturity. Tion said they would wait to do my accounting certifications until later since maybe I was crying a little bit from the pain of it.

Still, I'm a full adult now, and all that entails. And this year, I am joining Gith on the Journey. And I think after... maybe I will ask them to come back to the Kor nariteern with me. We've talked about it a little, and I think maybe they are willing to do it. It would make things so much easier -- even with the ansible it's not like they always have the chance to check the signals, and going days without word is starting to get painful.

Parent Talia says that young love always hurts a little bit, but I don't think that it should have to. Besides, Gith could learn so much by joining our nariteern, and then even if they decided to go back home to the Yuuk-Iitha, they would have a few new stripes, and that's always useful no matter who you wind up pairing with.

I've been studying the rituals with Tion A'ala and I think I can do a good job of caring for the vessels until I can get them to the temple. I'm planning to weave my own eerna tonight to carry them -- that way I will also have one with me for when I go on the Journey with the Yuuks. It's a little terrifying, but I'm really looking forward to it. I want to get to work on my preparations right away.

...as soon as my face stops hurting so terribly anyway.

5532, 4 Ret

Things are bad here too. Every settlement we have stopped by has been the same -- all the doors barred and the dwellings full. Tion Iitha says that we have to keep going, that the next settlement will have room for us, but I am beginning to think that we will only find more of the same. Where did everyone come from? This had never been a problem in the past, with so many dwelling sitting open and even being used as storage when necessary. Why all of a sudden do we find our homes filled with strangers?

There's a lot of anger here, and sometimes we hear shouting in the night. It doesn't feel safe to sleep beneath the stars anymore, even with the blessings of Spring around us. At least I was able to leave most of the vessels at our temple today, even though the priest seemed a bit worried that I was going to ask to be taken in. Apparently even their lonely ranks have swelled to the point of bursting. So many people, so desperate for a home that they are willing to stay and suffer Beern-Karat's wrath, to feed our ancestors through the Cold. Some seem to think its just a religious resurgence, but the longer I spend on the Journey, the less sure I am of that.

Gith and I have been talking about them coming back with me to the Kors, and I think they almost have to. The Cold is shifting, and the Yuuk are afraid that the younglings will not be warm enough in the night. We just have to keep walking, and hope that we can find a place to stay. There is not enough time to make a new dwelling -- perhaps once we settle we can better prepare the settlement for the coming year.

Tion Iitha has been talking about starting up a night watch, asking all of the young hunters to take up shifts with their weapons, watching those that sleep. In the past, I would have called them paranoid, but now... I'm not so sure.

Everything feels very uneasy, and the dark eye of the Beern-Karat widens above us.

5532, 21 Etty

I [...] separated from the Yuuk. It was so chaotic in the dark that I lost track of everyone. I [...] uninjured, but Gith [...]

I don't [...] to do. I've been wandering for a while now, trying to follow the path that Tion [..] out but I can't be sure that I am going the right way. All of the markers have been destroyed, whether by raiders or by nariteerns just trying to keep the raiders away from the settlements, I can't be sure. All I know [...] and need [...].

Try and make it [...] space port, so I can find my way home.

Ancestors preserve me, my eerna grows heavy. I do not wish to carry the burden of any more vessels. Please [...] protect [..]

[REMAINING ENTRY ILLEGIBLE]