Shiori Novella One-shots

Shiori's Workshop

Emerging from her cluttered workstation, the archiver's dress is adorned with inky stains. With a contemplative look, she inquires, "Now, let's figure out the shape that suits you best." Her task is to decide the perfect Novelite form for you. "Let's see, what form shall we mold for you?"

~~~~~

She separates a bit of the eldritch ink from the large bottle next to her, and fiddles with it in her lap. Molding it into a variety of different shapes, adding and removing ink to change the size, using her fingertips to make indents, and her fingernails to make lines to try out different designs... Before she realized it, it had become bright outside again. Looking up, she brings an ink-covered finger to her chin, she thinks about what shapes would be useful for this "Novelite".

"Hm... I need them to pamper me... Just like... A knight? Hm... Maybe I'll make one of those later!"

She continues thinking for a moment.

"Oh! Maybe a little friend? Like... A dragon? Oh, but those are so basic... Oh! Wyrms! And... Hm... To tie it to me... Bookwyrm? Yeah! I like that!"

You watch her leap up from her seat and dart over to a pile of books.

"No... I still want to read this one again... This one? Hm... I bet I could get another copy, but it doesn't feel right... This one? No, the color is wrong. Oh, what about this one?" she asks, walking back to show you the book she picked.

Looking at it, you see that it's one you've only seen her read once, "Saint George and the Dragon." You wobble in place in an attempt to show approval.

"Do you like that one Yorick?" she smiles at you as you wobble in place. "Yeah, you look like you do. You know, I'm glad you're my first Novelite, but... I think you're cutest like this. So, what if we use this form for the fans?"

You wobble, a little sad that you won't get to be a dragon, but happy she called you cute. You lean your body to the side as best you can, her last words catching your attention.

"You're curious? Well, since we have to repay Yagoo for not sending us back to the Prison, and for... destroying his building, we're going to have people watching us and becoming new Novelites. After all, that's the best name we thought of for the fans, and now, they need a form!" You wiggle and wobble a little, understanding that she'll be busy again.

She smiles at you before returning to sculpting the ink. You watch her hands move deftly across the surface of the ink, massaging it into place as swirls of purple and gold flash just under the surface, barely visible. You'll never understand it, but she works the ink as if it were clay, molding it to the basic shape in her head.

She twirls segments between her fingers, lengthening them, thinning them. This happens a few more times before you realize she's making something like little arms under its head and a tail. She uses her thumbs to make something like a mouth, and places the book inside.

The ink shudders in place as it starts to swallow the book, but stops halfway. She taps and presses on either side of what seems like it'll be the wyrm's heads, and golden swirls congregate and solidify into circles around her finger tips. She taps a few other places, holding it for a moment in several places, making some circles appear, forming a pattern trailing down from the golden rings.

She stands back, satisfied with her work so far.

"Well? What do you think, Yorick?" she turns to you with a smug grin. You wobble back in approval, making her grin deeper. "Right? I like it too! It's cute! Now, one last step."

She retreats back into her workstation for a moment. You bounce and inspect this new "wyrm" she's made, tilting your head back and forth to get a better view of it to a soundtrack of rustling pages and the scribbling of a quill. After a few minutes, she returns, picking you up and placing you on her shoulder.

"Here, this is a better place to watch from," she pats the top of you, being careful not to pat your spines. She's made that mistake before, and you made it clear you didn't like that. You appreciate how sweet she is, going out of her way to make sure your spines don't get ruffled, readjusted, or bent.

"Next, we'll use this page..." she whispers, as you both look down at it. Watching it, you see the ink warp and waver on it. She takes a deep breath, and gently places the page on top of the book.

The page seems to fuse to the cover of the book, and the wyrm twitches. As the wyrm continues twitching and wiggling and swishing its tail, a pale white face rises to the surface of the ink, just above the book. The ink comes to life, starting to drip here and there, but never disconnecting from its body.

The wyrm turns its face toward you two as ink runs out of its eye... holes? It lies down on its stomach and slithers toward you and raises its body again, tilting its head.

"Perfect!" she exclaims. "Now... Let's call you... a Bookwyrm!"

You bounce down to the table to inspect this "Bookwyrm" more closely. The two of you inspect each other, tilting your bodies to alternating directions.

"Now, now, you two. Play nice, ok? We're all friends here," she smiles at the two of you. "I'll start working on the knight one I thought of earlier, and... There should be one more... After all, can't make everyone be a knight, that'd be unfair..." She mutters as she walks back to her workstation, a finger on her chin, tapping slowly.