somehow i can't seem to find [o] the quiet inside my mind

As Flintpaw slipped back into consciousness, her eyelids blinked slowly a few times before opening fully. An ashen blue colour lay around the pupil, calmness flickering through. An ear twitched mellowly as the dark gray student quietly rose to her paws, careful not to accidentally wake anyone. A bad way to start the day was to wake someone up on the wrong side of their nest and have to deal with grumpy complaints. Fellow students weren't that bad, but disturbing the sleep of a superior was disrespectful, especially a sleep-deprived Royal Guard on their shift break. The dark gray student tiptoed away from the sleeping area and over to the more central part of the Ground Floor.

An NPC across the lobby mewed a soft greeting, and Flintpaw parted her jaws to reply but no sound came out. She attempted to speak again but a tiny audible exhalation interrupted her voice. Confused, but making nothing of it, the dark gray feline merely flicked her tail instead. Without worrying what the NPC's reaction had been, Flintpaw faced the window and gazed at the morning sky. It was past sunrise, but only recently, so Flintpaw hadn't spotted many RCers awake yet. She stood and watched as the last of the sunrise's colour and splendour gradually faded into what would become a tranquil blue.

Dragging her gaze from the morning sky, Flintpaw turned around to find four of her clanmates already up and about. She must have zoned out her roleplayer was busy in real life or something. Probably the first, because the dark gray student often caught herself lost in thought, not paying attention to the everyday things around her.

Flinny? That was new. Not a bad nickname, she supposed. The dark gray feline gave a respectful nod to the deputy and snow leopard. They both seemed to be in a good mood this morning, which was always good. It meant Flintpaw hadn't accidentally woken either of them up.

A jolt of surprise caught her at the sight of the reptile. She still had to get used to that creature as a clanmate. Flintpaw didn't mean to be inconsiderate, and the reptile probably didn't enjoy being feared. Maybe she did, because reputation by fear was present in the clan, but this was a baby they were talking about. Well, Flintpaw wasn't talking. But anyway she somehow hadn't realised that the alligator was that small, on that day when Evstarhjj joined. All she had registered was the unknown potentially dangerous species. Flintpaw tried to practise and keep an open mind towards these things... but needed a lot more practise.

And then a voice called out from the museum entrance, which Flintpaw identified as Untitledkit's. The bi-coloured feline was surely too far away for a nod to be suitable as a greeting. So she opened her mouth to say hello to all four present - witout the straightaway result she was used to. Shrugging it off as a case of morning hoarseness, she tried to speak again, to no avail. A third time came 'round in vain before Flintpaw stood up, uncomfortable. Every other day in her life since her first word, speaking had been a natural feeling. Maybe in kithood the noises had been unclear, but at least heard. That inborn knowledge of making noise through the mouth... had failed her?

Flintpaw settled with a flick of her tail to Untitledkit and the alligator, before facing the matter at hand. Rather, the matter at paw. She cast an uneasy glance up at the others before focusing on the ground a few steps ahead of her. Shifting weight on her paws, Flintpaw managed to clear her throat but no further than that. Was it a disease? No surely she would feel some discomfort around her lungs or throat. Her body felt perfectly fine, but it seemed to have forgotten something. Something that Fintpaw had took for granted. The student had opened her mouth, she knew that much, but did not know how to form words. A funny thing, because plenty were surging through her head at that moment. All those words unable to be let loose. The student fell still, unsure what to do next and not sure if it was best for the others to know. They might assume that she was having an awkward day, or they might suspect something deeper at work here.

Now at that, Flintpaw would have given a laugh, or at least a short chuckle. She had seen goldfish before and could admit that her repeated but silent opening and closing of the mouth would be comparable to that of a fish. Or at least, she could admit, but not aloud. The amusement flickered through her eyes but instead of a laugh, more of a rough exhalation sounded out. It could have been depicted as a unique kind of laugh, maybe. But the coughing that came afterwards might make one suspicious. You see, Flintpaw's 'laugh' just now wasn't a natural way to use your breath, because Flintpaw couldn't remember the natural way. So, a good deal of coughs exited Flintpaw's jaws.

By the end of her fit, she looked up at Daminals, watery-eyed but elsewise alright. Maybe she had found it so funny she laughed until the breath left her, but Flintpaw herself knew it had begun before Daminal's joke, and included speech as well. And to be honest, however funny the snow leopard's joke might have been, Flintpaw rarely had a good hard laugh anyway. And the one that just occurred was not one of those. Flintpaw almost helplessly watched Daminal's shrug. But she preferred to keep these desperate feelings to herself, and managed to regain the signature mellow look in her eyes. The condition hadn't killed her; she would just have to be careful about it.

At the alligator's first question, Flintpaw offered a semi-assuring nod. The student was not about to die on them, she would make sure of that. You couldn't die from something like this, as far as Flintpaw knew. There were quite a few healthy, happy mute creatures... but the dark gray feline didn't mention this. Because she wasn't physically able to, and because there was no need to dwell on such a thought. If this 'condition' stretched out so far that it seemed permanent, Flintpaw would cross that bridge when she reached it.

The student hesitated a bit at Evstarhjj's second inquiry. She couldn't imagine what help a medic might be. Daminals was not a full-fledged healer, but good enough, as Flintpaw saw it. Nothing serious had occurred so far. Then again, maybe an experienced healer would be able to figure out what was going on. But was it really worth bothering a medic, when they could be off doing something actually important? Flintpaw offered a noncommittal shrug. Semi-calm blue eyes glanced out the window again, to see the sun a smidge higher than before.