Sound Magic. A gift? Or a curse?

Trigger Warning: Talks of death and emotional distress.

Birds chirp, dogs bark and the people in the villagers exchange their daily conversations. The breeze blowing through the trees or hooves clacking on the stone roads—I can hear all the sounds around me. The sounds of nature are soothing. However, the noises the people make are unsettling.

I've never been allowed to make a noise myself, at least not around people. I was gifted with an affinity for sound magic at a base skill level of 5. It's rare for someone to be gifted with such a high base level, and even rarer for gifting at birth.

Being a Rabitroo, of the Wilden race, my mother gave birth to a fluffle of 7. 5 of them died because of my affinity at birth and the doctor suffered a great deal of damage. My cries of birth liquified the brains of my siblings who were birthed before me. The one sibling that lived only did so because the doctor rushed me into a different room to minimize the damage my mother was taking. Ultimately saving my one younger sister.

As I got older I learned that my voice was a weapon with no safety. People were so terrified of me as a child that I always ended up alone. I eventually became accustomed to not speaking. I learned to read and write and spent most of my days doing that.

I left my hometown around the age of 14, already knowing I'd live my life in solitude. By the time I reached 17, I had stumbled across a city of scholars, Penichelas. They were intrigued by my advanced ability to read and write. They welcomed me and helped me become a fellow scholar of their city.

I continued to remain silent, leading them to believe I was unable to speak. No one ever questioned why I didn't speak, they probably assumed it was because I couldn't. Unless they ask, I don't think there's much need for me to tell them about my cure.

For my 20th birthday, I was led into the lab by one of the scholars who was there to welcome me when I first arrived. When I entered there were streamers and a birthday cake. They had been researching sound. I was surrounded by more research papers than I could count. Everyone there had been working on this research whenever I wasn't around. They did this for me?

I felt the tears well up being my eyes and what felt like fire burning my throat. I kept trying to keep my composure as one after another presented their papers to me as my birthday gift. For the first time, I felt seen as a person, not just some burden or threat.

Eventually, I felt my grip on my composure slipping. I turned from them and ran out of the lab. My efforts failed me and I began to cry. The shockwave from my cries shattered the glass windows and rocked the foundations of buildings on the block. I need to get away from everyone. I need to protect them from myself.

I ran away with streams of tears soaking my face. I became overwhelmed by their kindness and distraught over the damage I caused. I could have told them sooner, but I hadn't, and now I have to live with knowing I hurt more people. Especially the only people who ever truly cared about me.

By the time I reached the outskirts of Penichelas, I had decided to continue adventuring alone. My sound magic affinity might be a unique skill, but I've only seen it as a curse.

Night fell and I found myself lost in a forest outside Penichelas. I sensed something was off. There were noises in this forest that were not the ones I'd heard before. A bear? Or maybe a pack of wolves? Something is out there and it's definitely not friendly.

It was springtime, but the leaves left on the ground from the previous fall were dry and noisy. The slow crunching sound from the lurking creature of the forest was approaching me, steadily. Their eyes burned into my skin waking me from my sleep. I closed my eyes to focus on the breathing predator, a slow low growl easily missed by most, but just loud enough for me to locate the beast.

I located the beast and with a low growl growing in the back of my throat, I sent a shockwave towards the creature in a warning. Silence. There were no sounds I could hear aside from the wind, even the bugs went quiet in fear.

After several minutes, I laid back down thinking I may have left out more magic with my growl than I anticipated. The wind remained the only thing that dared to make a sound, so I fell back asleep. Hopefully, I didn't kill the creature. My growls send a piercing shockwave, versus my cries, which are more of an intense rumbling.

The next morning I walked through the forest to find the creature that had been preying on me. I found no creatures. No squirrels, or mice, not a bear, nor a frog. There were no animals of any kind. What I did find in its place was a horn. What kind of creature would leave behind a horn? The horn of a unicorn? Possibly, I've never seen one before, but I read about them. I took the horn and placed it in my bag. I'm sure it will come in handy in the future.

When I found my way out of the forest, the people from Penichelas were all there. They had been searching for me all night. Apparently, they felt the rumbling of my growl last night and came in flocks to retrieve me. A city of scholars is definitely not one to miss a clue. Especially as a group.

They told me Penichelas is my home, and that they agreed to rebuild the lab with my sound magic in mind. They asked me if I would stay and we could all research my sound magic together. Our goal would be so I could one day speak without causing the earth to shake or to liquefy internal organs by the sound waves from my voice.

The joy in my heart started to overtake me as the tears started flowing. Never have I desired to speak more than this moment. Year after year I spent alone afraid of hurting someone and finally, I found a home.