#fayluna

Fayluna stared up at the instrument resting against the wall curiously. Her father, Besteel, had let her stay with her Uncle's friend while the two of them had gone out to help the Burrowing Dorceans with something. The rambunctious cub was trying to find any way to pass the time when her eyes landed on the wooden instrument

"Pretty...." She whispered as she stared at the colourful strap. She wrapped her claws around the base of the lute to try to lift it up. But to her shock, it was surprisingly heavy, despite its light appearance. Fayluna stumbled backwards and fell on her back with a thud, yelping as she held out her arms to stop the lute from falling on top of her. But someone beat her to it

"Careful there, you little troublemaker." Fayluna moved her arms to see Terradora holding the lute in her upper arms whilst she picked her up with her lower hands. Though she didn't look too impressed, there was a slight smile on Terradora's face. "I promised you're grump of a dad to keep you safe till he's home. So I can't have you get squished."

"Sorry miss Terradora." Fayluna looked down sheepishly. "I just wanted to see what it was."

"Fayluna. Call me Terradora. Or just Terra, whatever you're most comfortable with." Terradora knelt down to Fayluna, her expression soft. "If you wanted me to show you something, please tell me next time. Promise?"

"Promise!' Fay nodded quickly, still looking at the lute in Terradora's claws. "I've never seen anything like that back home."

"It's my family's lute," Terradora explained, smiling as the cub tried to reach out to touch it. "Make sure to be careful. It may be made of wood, but it's still just as delicate as a branch."

Fayluna's eyes went wide as she saw the leaf patterns etched into the face of the lute. "That looks like The Heart!" She pointed to the carving on the sound hole

"That's because it's meant to look like it," Terradora continued, making sure Fayluna didn't accidentally break one of the strings. "My great-great-great-grandmother migrated to Orbona when she was still quite young. Once the first few trees sprouted after The Heart was deployed, she waited for one to fall over so she could use its wood to carve our lute and become the first Storyteller of her tribe."

"Woah... really?" Fay asked, for once not causing a ruckus as she seemed to genuinely be interested

Terradora nodded. "Since then, it's been passed down through my family from generation to generation. My father gave it to me when he retired from being a Storyteller of our tribe."

"How do you play it?" Fayluna asked

"Two ways. The first way is with all four arms." Terradora placed the base of the lute between her legs and placed her hands on the neck and lower part of the instrument. "Now I can't play it; this was cause of these." She waved her missing hand and fingers playfully, causing Fayluna to giggle. "So I play by using only two of my hands." She turned the lute on its side as she used her good hands to hold the neck and base, strumming a short melody for the Cub to demonstrate

"Woah! That's so cool Terra!" Fayluna gave a toothy smile. "But why would you want to do that when you could be a hunter like daddy?"

"Well, why would you want to be a hunter?" Terradora asked playfully

"Because that's what I want to do when I'm big enough." Fay shrugged her shoulders in response

"Well, that's why I want to be a Storyteller. It's what I want to do." Terradora said as she placed the lute down carefully. "My father used to tell me that music is one of the most powerful languages anyone can listen to."

"Why?" Fay asked as she moved to look at the strap of the lute

"Because it doesn't matter what language it's sung in. You can still feel the soul and passion in every word, every strumming of an instrument. It's a language that anyone can still understand, even when they don't know the words." Terradora spoke with so much passion in her voice

Fayluna didn't respond as she was still looking at the lute. "Your strap is really pretty."

Terra let out a chuckle, reminded that Fay was still a kid fueled by curiosity for the world around her. She reminded her of herself when she was young

"Thanks. Made it myself. All Storytellers make their own straps for our instrument." Terradora gently lifted Fayluna up to sit on her lap as she showed her the colourful strap in detail. "We add to it as a way to tell our own stories. See? This is when I first met your father, uncle and friends." She pointed to an embroidered part of the strap. The crude shapes of three Dorceans, 2 humans, and a Mirthian were etched onto the fabric

"So, like, when Uncle Reddie draws you." Fayluna said as she looked at the picture. Not noticing Terradora freezing

"He... what?" Terradora asked, surprised, looking down at Fayluna

"Yeah. He likes drawing, and sometimes he likes drawing you." Fayluna told her nonchalantly. "I actually took one of his drawings of you. Be right back!" Fay hopped out of her lap and scurried out of the room. Leaving a dumbfounded Terradora alone as she felt her face heat up

"Found it!" Fayluna ran back in with a piece of paper and held it up to Terradora. "See?"

Terradora stared at the drawing of herself. It was of her tuning up and polishing her lute; she had to admit that Redimus was a really great artist. "Woah....he drew that?"

"Yep! When I asked why he couldn't show you them, he got all embarrassed for some reason." Fayluna continued. "Hey, why are you blushing Terra?"

"Oh! Sorry, just didn't know he was a good artist; that's all." Terradora stammered, her fur flaring from embarrassment. "You should hide it before your father and uncle see it"

"Why? I think you and Uncle would make a cute couple!" Fayluna laughs as she quickly runs off with the paper. "Uncle and Terra sitting in a cave! N-U-Z-Z-L-I-N-G!" Fayluna sang loudly, causing Terradora's cheeks to flush purple. She was starting to realise why Besteel warned her about how cheeky Fay could be