Pairing Night: Nisha The Gnoll (A TWW Short Story)

Pairing Night

Anxiety grips my heart just as boredom dulls my mind. I've been stuck in this austere tent for three days already, with only a bedroll, a candle, and my thoughts, as is customary. Thankfully, this will be the last night that I'll be forced to spend in the Tent of the Sacred Maiden and my boredom will finally be cured. My anxiety, however, is enflamed at the thought of what awaits me on the other side of the canvas flaps, through which the dim sunlight of dusk now leaks past.

As tradition demands, the Tent stands alone in a forest clearing, separated from the tribe by nearly three miles. This is meant to promote meditation on the new life that awaits the Pairess after the Pairing, and how she can strive to be the best mate for the Pairor. All it has done is tempered the passions of a young Gnoll woman and fill her belly with doubt.

As tradition demands, the tent is devoid of anything to entertain one's self with. This is meant to focus the Pairess' mind on her new mate. The raging desire that exists within all young Gnolls cannot be easily quelled and often leads to disloyal mates and bloody fights when the betrayal is discovered. All it has done is make my loins ache.

As tradition demands, the Pairing Day is meant to direct and guide Gnolls who have just reached adulthood into the well-defined roles of male and female, as well as having large litters of pups. All it has done is make me regret my hasty decisions.

As tradition demands, I am miserable.

My muscles ache. They haven't been used properly in days and I yearn to be in the forest and under the trees where there is no tradition except that of instinct. I try stretching to relieve the discomfort, but it brings little and I decide to do the only thing that has helped pass the time. Sleep.

A rustling startles me awake. It is not yet near the tent, no, a Gnoll's ears are far too sensitive to be so easily stalked. The dim light now replaced by darkness, my eyes are slow to adjust but my body does not wait for them. There should be nothing, not even animals, this close to the clearing—all tribe members are explicitly forbidden from interacting with a Pairess in her three days of isolation. Knowing this, my muscle tense and I put myself into a low stance, claws at the ready for whatever lurks in the night.

It comes nearer and I smell it — no, him — now. I relax slightly at the familiar scent, but still cautious considering the oddity of his presence. I know this scent, and he knows me. "Kryll, why do you sneak so?" I ask through the walls of the tent. His footsteps halt.

"So easily discovered, you shame me, Nisha," Kryll's low voice rumbles back, a hint of humor lacing it.

"You shouldn't be here."

"I know."

"And yet, here you are."

"Let me in, I grow tired of speaking to a tent."

"That is forbidden, Kryll, even to the [Alpha]."

"Tyrum has bedded a slave girl," he says flatly, any humor now gone from his voice.

I throw the flaps of the tent open, "what?! How dare you speak lies of my mate!" I let out a warning growl and my lips turn into a snarl that exposes my sharp canines. Kryll stands there casually as if he didn't just break an ancient taboo and mock my Tyrum at the same time, and my anger falters a little. He's massive, muscles obvious under his coat as he stands a full two heads taller than me, traits indicative of his class, [Alpha].

"Males are not beholden to such...seclusion as females before the Pairing," he ducks and steps past me, I can feel the heat radiating off him from the exertion of the run needed to reach here. His scent fills my tent and my nose as the realization strikes me: