Flash Fiction Friday – Ren and Tiktik (Numenera Character Backstory)

I have recently decided to get into tabletop RPGs, and in a week I’ll be playing my first session with a group, playing in a system called Numenera (which seems super cool). I’ve been working on my character today, so I thought I’d write a small piece of backstory for her about how she met her animal companion. Here it is:

Ren stretched out by the fireplace. Propped up on one elbow, she broke off a piece of bread and began chewing slowly. It had been a long day, long and uneventful. Walking from dawn till dusk, with just a few short breaks to eat or rehydrate. She’d had to cross a bloody river, too. Her fur cloak was still wet; she’d laid it out to dry, near but not too near to the fire. She sighed as she gazed into the flames. Her feet were sore, but at least she was now far away from the last town she’d been staying in. Soon enough the memories would be far away, too.
A movement caught Ren’s attention and her hand moved to the dagger at her hip; the crossbow was too far away to reach where it stood propped up against a tree. A moment later she relaxed her hand. The tiny creature that had moved into the periphery of her vision was no threat to her. It was about the size of a squirrel, with short blue fur and a deep red mane around its little head which, Ren thought amusedly, matched the red streaks in her own raven hair. It tilted its head to the side as it regarded her, blinking each of its two pairs of eyes in turn. It sniffed the air, and took a tiny step forward.
Ren broke off a piece of bread and slowly stretched her hand out towards the little shanu, the morsel between her fingers. After seeming to weigh its options for quite some time, the shanu scampered forward and snatched it from her hand. It scoffed it down in no time, then licked its paws and inched closer to her. It made a little clicking noise and held out a paw.
“Hungry little one, aren’t you?” She smiled as she broke off another piece, which it snatched from her hand without hesitation and began munching happily.
By the time Ren closed her eyes to sleep, lulled by the fire, the fatigue in her bones and the night-sounds of the forest, the shanu had curled up at the nape of her neck.
“I think I’ll call you Tiktik,” she mumbled as she drifted off.
Tiktik clicked happily and curled up closer, drawing his tail up over his lower set of eyes.

I think I’m going to like playing these two! They’re sort of adorable, if you ask me. The “shanu” is part of the Numenera system and I take no credit for this awesome little critter.

Wish me luck with my first game next week!