Rib's Notes #4 & #5

Our studies progress; and while our team wasn’t victorious in the tournament, I feel we showed that we’re still capable, if inexperienced. This season definitely has a lot of events planned for it: not too long after the tournament, we were split up into teams for a boat race through the canals of the city. The aim was not just to come first, but also please the crowds that had gathered by the sides of the canals to spectate. While I was focused on the race, I couldn’t help but notice a string of bizarre mishaps which occurred along one section…kinda reminded me of what happened when we tried to get those pugwampies to the edge of town without hurting them. Part of the Magaambya’s magical defences also triggered when we crossed the threshold…all of this is putting me on edge. There’s something here I can’t see and I don’t like it.
My side project with Anchor Root has hit a bit of a snag: she’s able to use bones to record sounds, and this might lead to a way to allow Nanna to “speak” in a way, but actually getting these things to interact with her bones has proven…tricky… To the back-burner with that one. In the meantime, I’ve started investigating a neglected area of the campus. Students and faculty generally avoid the spot, and I can see why. My fur bristled as I approached, and Nanna felt on edge too. There’s definitely something malign there, but I wasn’t able to properly identify it: not strong enough to be considered an actual haunt, but definitely…something…
The day has finally come: time for us to craft and don our masks for the first time. We get to choose a name for ourselves as well: something I found a bit daunting. Where I’m from, you earn your name in parts as you grow and accomplish more, giving yourself one is just arrogant. I’ve put some thought into it, and my mind was immediately brought back to our first day, how much I had in common with that snake: far from home and an affinity for the stranger and darker side of things. “The Whispering Serpent”, I guess I could grow into it? Crafting our masks was an odd experience, watching our material change and reform as our thoughts guided it. I chose black wood in the form of that serpent’s face, decorated with iridescent purple highlights. It still felt a bit bare though, and I wasn’t sure quite what was missing until…a memory resurfaced after being pushed down for so long. His scent…that intoxicating scent… and that bright laugh that used to make my heart jump each time I heard it… When I opened my eyes, there it was: a bright red flower above where the snake’s right ear would be, his namesake: Hibiscus. I could barely hold back my tears. I’d run to the other end of the Mwangi Expanse…but I couldn’t outrun him or what I’d done.
Mercifully, I wasn’t going to have to explain why I was crying over my mask to anyone as we were attacked by giant centipedes and other critters. This I could handle: enemies to defeat, friends to protect. That was simple at least. It’s only now as I write this, the heat of battle long cooled off, that the pain of those memories haunts me again; and now I’ll always bear a part of them with me… What’s this supposed to mean? Nanna’s being quiet about it. Maybe she doesn’t understand…