Ahh I so like I’m on my way to a family thanksgiving at the time of posting and I’m sorry it’s not like the cleanest application ever, but I tried my best. So yeah, here you go, enjoy! Two lil headshots of Sydney. A sketch I didn’t have time to finish of the lil duo, Sydney in the front and Kip is in the back. Lil doodle of the buddies Some Sydney emotion practice Kip Emotion Practice 1 Kip Emotion Practice 2 Picture of the whole page Now a little bit about them, Sydney, Kip calls her Syd. She would be about 20-25 in human years. She wears a skull face mask, and wove bones into her fur. And engineered her own tail out of bone. The bone is her mother’s and she wears it as a homage to her mother who took care of her before being hit by a car. Next we have Kip. Kip is a like a four legged kraken basically. They love taking care of people, and when they found Sydney, they knew they had to help her. There’s more of course, but, without further ado, a little backstory: She blinked awake in the dim light. A shadow stood over her. She saw no distinct features, other than a silhouette, and even that gave little away. She groaned, sitting up, and the figure jumped, surprised by the movement. “Oh good, you’re awake.” The voice had a tint of worry, but relief. She shook her head, but her vision didn’t get any less blurry. “Who are you?” She slurred in the stranger’s general direction, words flowing together, her voice scratchy from clear disuse. The figure startled, clearly this wasn’t a question it had anticipated. “Ah- well… I’m Kip. They/Them. You?” She tilted her head. She knew her name, but it didn’t seem right based on the last few months, so she replied in a soft voice, “Sydney. She/Her.” Kip chucked, “Well then, Syd, how do you feel?” She felt her hackles raise, “It’s Sydn-“ She paused to calm down. “Fine. I feel fine.” She gazed around at the shadowy walls. “Where am I?” Kip’s shadow head tilted down. “My den. I had to take you here after-“ Sydney meant to cut off Kip in a strong, sure way, but it came out shrill and flush full of embarrassment, “I know exactly why I’m here. You don’t have to tell me.” She stood up aggressively, but she let out a squeak and stumbled, leg flaring pain. Kip set a paw on her shoulder and carefully pushed her back down into the moss bed. Kip’s voice came again, “You’ll hurt yourself doing that.” Kip leaned down to examine her leg, fixing the maroon bandana that hadn’t been there before. When Kip noticed her looking at the bandanna, they seemed worried, and slightly insecure. “I-I didn’t know what else I could use to stanch the bl33ding. I had it in my den already. Sorry if it’s uncomfortable. Here- I can fix it.” Kip leaned down to move it, but Sydney put a paw in front of them. “It’s alright. Thank you.” She stood up to leave, hobbling to the exit. She saw the forest outside, heard the cricket’s chirping in the sweet, still summer air. Kip seemed to watch her go. All of a sudden, her leg gave out, and Kip rushed over to help her up. “You won’t be in a fit state to go anywhere for a while, Syd.” Sydney didn’t have the energy to argue, leaning against Kip for support back to the moss bed. She lay there for a while, breathing heavily with the toll that even walking seemed to take on her. After a bit, she panted out, “How long will I have to stay here?” Kip sighed, “A month, at most.” […] Two weeks later […] Two weeks in and Sydney still hadn’t seem Kip’s face. It almost seems like Kip was hiding it from her. But that didn’t make sense. She’d already shown Kip the skeleton face mask she wore, the single gold earring her mom had given her, the decorative bones and her tail, made entirely of bone, since she had been born without one. Kip still seemed insecure and hard to open up, no matter how sweet they were to her, they always seemed to hold her at arm’s length. She’d seen large yellow lights in Kip’s fur, and asked about them, but Kip just replied, “Fireflies.” They were definitely too large to be fireflies. […]
Backstory continued from above [...] Half a week later […] Sydney sat shoulder to shoulder with Kip, watching the forest at night. Even now she couldn’t see their face, still hadn’t, and it wasn’t starting to get worrisome. Why weren’t they showing their face? She looked away from the shadow that was Kip, and back at the forest. The fireflies danced to the soft music of the crickets, and all seemed still and peaceful. Now was a good a time as any to broach the subject. “Kip.” They turned to look at her. “Yeah?” Sydney took a deep breath. “Why don’t you show your face?” Kip took a long pause before responding simply, “Because I’m worried you wouldn’t trust me anymore. Or like me. Or want to be around me like you do now.” They turned to look at her, and in the dip of their head she saw the unspoken question. “I do like to be around you. What your face is like can’t change that.” Sydney replied placing a paw on top of Kip’s. They let out a disbelieving sigh. “Do you really want to see my face?” Sydney looked at where she assumed Kip’s eyes to be. “Yes.” Kip seemed to shrink in on themself. “No.” A blow seemd to hit Sydney. Not a real one. Her voice breaking, “Why? Don’t you trust me?” The accusation seemed to hurt Kip. “I-I do. I-It’s not- I-“ A soft drop hit the ground. Sydney realized at that moment, she’d made Kip cry. “Fine,” Kip’s voice full of hurt sounded crushed as they replied, “Then go. Get.” Sydney shrank away, “Kip-“ Their voice grew louder, “Go-“ Sydney sat up, shaking, and walked away, shoulders hunched. […] A week and a half later […] Sydney sat under a large Cypress tree. She’d come here occasionally at night with Kip, and they’d climb the trees and watch for stars. Lost in though, she didn’t notice the snake until it was too late. She screamed, and it wrapped around her. She fought to breathe, the thick coils growing tighter and tighter. Vision growing black, she felt her body grow limp. Then she heard, as if through a thick moss blanket, “Syd!” She saw a blue gray figure sprint toward her, it grabbed the snake, pulling it off of her. Her vision blinked out, then came back as the figure stood over her. “Syd? Syd! Syd no….” Her vision went black. […] A few moments later […] She blinked awake in the bright sunlight, she saw first, fangs. Then, horns. Then, two amber eyes. And finally the whole picture came into view, she saw the creature’s mouth move around the fangs as it said, sounding far away, “Syd?” She knew that voice. But. It couldn’t be. “Kip?” The face took on a look of relief, “You’re alright!” That’s when it clicked, “Kip? Is that you.” Kip laughed awkwardly before replying, “Yeah…?” Sydney reached up, and pulled Kip down next to her, burying her head in Kip’s blue-gray fur. “I’m so sorry…” Kip put a paw around her, “It’s alright, Syd… I’m glad you’re okay.” Sydney sobbed, blubbering, “I-I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have- I’m sorry- I was just so worried that you didn’t trust me- it’s stupid I know- I’m sorry-“ Kip pushed her, looking her in the eye with their own amber ones, “I’m sorry I didn’t show you. I know it’s stupid too, so don’t feel bad, Syd.” Kip pulled Sydney closer again, and they sobbed together, blubbering out “I’m sorry…” […] Three months later […] Sydney sat with Kip, Watching the leaves fall off the trees, the bright yellows eyes on Kip’s legs watching them too. Syd leaned over, and setting her head on Kip’s shoulder, “It’s been four months since you helped me.” Kip looked over, then down at the maroon bandanna Sydney still wore, “Yeah?” Sydney looked up, “Do you even know why I was hurt.” Kip looked at her, surprised, “No. But I always wondered.” Sydney looked up and replied, “Yeah. Me too.” […] Thank you for reading! <3 Tempest
