The Propeller Swimmer

[OwlsCantRead]

June 2020 Fanfic Prompt Entry.

FFN Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13615460/1/The-Propeller-Swimmer

Description: Born with an abnormally large and cumbersome tail which inhibited her ability to walk, let alone swim, Pellie had the odds stacked against her from the very moment she hatched. This is the tale of how a stubbornly determined swimmer managed to overcome the odds and turn what was once her greatest disability into her greatest asset.


Words in italics represent character thoughts.

Been looking forward to this one for quite a while! The theme for the Gang of Five Fanfic Prompt of June 2020 is: Adapting.

Potential minor spoilers for The Swimmer Trials by Beaucephalis/The Lone Dragon from Chapter 67 onwards. You don't have to read his story before reading this one, but if you did I think you'd be pleasantly surprised with some tie-ins here.


"Me? I am a longneck too, see? And I have a lonngggg tail like you!"
— Ducky, The Land Before Time

Chapter 1: Hatching Worries

To most dinosaurs, walking was a necessary ability for them to survive, and one which they took for granted.

But to Ruddy and Hull, it was something that they knew their youngest child would have considerable trouble with from the exact moment the two adult swimmers witnessed it hatching from its egg.

…tail-first.

This particular egg was the last of three to hatch, and though both parents tried to quash the lingering thought about the runt of the litter usually being weaker than their older siblings, the first thing which struck both of them was the size and shape of the tail that had broken through the fragile eggshell.

It had snapped vertically upwards in one swift motion, the force flinging a decent chunk of the membrane previously surrounding it away from the nest as the gray appendage jutted straight up into the air, now freed of its restrictive prison.

What worried the parents, however, was the abnormally large size of the tail when compared to the egg that surrounded it. Considering the sheer strength exerted by the tail as it broke through the eggshell and its size in relation to the remainder of the egg underneath it, they were forced to come to a grim conclusion with some nasty implications that no parent ever wanted to have to face.

That was not at all considered the shape of a normal tail for a hatchling to have, especially when Dribble and Penny could be used as a basis of comparison, the two hatchlings having hatched earlier in the day before the Bright Circle had descended.

Needless to say, the shape of the newborn's tail almost looked like it was the tail of a longneck, but Hull had seen his mate lay her eggs with his own eyes and was certain that it was their child. He gently gripped his mate on her shoulder as a show of support. As if on cue, the cracked egg lost its balance due to the large tail protruding from the domed surface and rolled on its side, splintering into pieces and revealing the hatchling within.

Ruddy let out a choked sob when she saw the hatchling break free from her confines and stretch out her limbs while exposing her underbelly, the mother leaning closer so that she could examine her newborn child from head to toe.

…or in this case, from head to tail.

Unfortunately, it was just as they had suspected. A birth defect in the tail, practically a death sentence for their species given that swimmers used their limbs and tail to assist with swimming. With one's tail overextended like this, it would be exceptionally hard to control, and it wasn't a far stretch to extrapolate that the child's ability to regulate and control their movement would be exceptionally hard, perhaps even impossible.

Curse the Big Water… why, oh why, must this happen to us, Hull wanted to say, though he stilled his tongue for his mate's sake. Despite trying to pull himself together, he felt his heart shattering when he caught sight of his child's inquisitive aquamarine eyes, shining as it reflected the dim light of the Night Circle above.

So young and vibrant, and yet so likely to have their life snuffed out of them by nature before ever reaching the Time of Great Growing. There was a reason that swimmers had many children, and it was because many of them didn't make it to adulthood before meeting a grisly end. To be afflicted with a crippling disability only further diminished the already measly odds of survival that all swimmer children found themselves being stacked against.

Unaware of all of this, the infant slowly wagged its oversized tail from side to side.

"It's a girl," Ruddy eventually stated, beak pressed into a small smile as her daughter started to let out a contagious giggle upon realizing the two large swimmers in front of her were enraptured by her tail, following it with their eyes.

"Gah, she's a really cute one, too." Hull pursed his beak, pointedly scratching his sharpened head crest. This particular child of theirs had inherited the same light gray skin as the rest of her family, and also shared the rounded crest at the back of her head with… well, everyone but him. "Well, what should we name her?" he asked Ruddy with a shrug of his shoulders, "Any ideas, dear?"

As if their daughter could somehow decipher and interpret what her parents' intentions were, she proceeded to obediently make eye contact with them, kicking her tiny feet about as she continued lying on her back. When she noticed the two adults getting closer, the swimmer suddenly bristled in fright, swinging its large tail in an upwards arc and covering her belly with it, which only further made it apparent that her body was positively diminutive relative to her imposing tail.

"Oh dear… I think she's a little frightened, Hull." Ruddy held her arm out to the side, beckoning her mate to take a few steps back. "Give her some space."

The child promptly calmed down when the shadows that had previously loomed over her body retreated backwards. As if on cue, Ruddy snapped her fingers in excitement right at that moment, muttering a single word.

"Pellie."

Hull incredulously glanced back and forth between his mate and his child. "Pellie?" he repeated.

"You heard me right, dear. I think that this precious little dear should be named Pellie. Well, do you have any objections with that name?"

"Nope," he shook his head, before softly rolling the name around with his tongue and finding that Ruddy had made a good choice. Pellie was a nice name. Their little Pellie… yep, it was perfect.

The poignant moment was then broken in an instant when the newly-named Pellie attempted to get up from her belly-up position, only to end up struggling to even lift her head because her lengthy thin tail kept getting in the way.

Both Ruddy and Hull's hearts broke when it dawned on them that their daughter couldn't even get herself into a sitting position. Aside from her tail, Pellie hadn't shifted from her prone posture since she'd hatched, and now the prospect of her being able to move on her own accord at all seemed dimmer than the darkened depths of the Big Water. Her eyes soon flashed with horror when she realized that she couldn't maneuver herself. Pellie continued to writhe, thrashing her body about at random in hopes that she could somehow prop herself up.

Hull averted his eyes from the sight, unable to deal with the facts staring him in the face. The gray swimmer placed his palm in front of him to mask the tendons of his face contorting with agony.

Putting Pellie out of her misery now almost seemed like it would be an act of mercy. The only defense that swimmers had against predators were large numbers in a group and their increased mobility when in water, so it was almost a guarantee that the poor girl would almost certainly wind up as sharptooth fodder if it turned out that she truly was permanently incapacitated…

"Look, Hull!" Ruddy's voice broke the male out of his stupor. "The reason Pellie can't get into a sitting position is not because she's paralyzed… it's because she can't get a foothold thanks to her tail."

Hull jerked his head back to look closely at his thrashing daughter, realizing with a start that his mate was right — the reason Pellie couldn't get up was because she was unable to get a proper footing on the ground thanks to her abnormally large tail. Normally an infant swimmer's feet were roughly close in size to their tail, but in this special case the size discrepancy caused her feet to be unable to touch the ground from her current position.

Ruddy eventually decided to help Pellie out, reaching down to lift up her body so that the young swimmer could finally get into a sitting position. To the adult's surprise however, the brief expression of relief on Pellie's face was quickly replaced by an annoyed pout. She almost seemed frustrated that she had to be aided into a sitting position through the assistance of a third party.

"Oh man. I can clearly see that she's a feisty one," Hull observed the antics of his daughter as Pellie glowered at her mother, letting out an amused chuckle at the irony of it all. Of course the child who was the most disadvantaged by fate would also happen to be the one who was the least likely to take such a weakness lying down… of course that would be his luck.

Ruddy snorted at the remark. "She gets it from you, Hull," she playfully bantered.

"Ugh. And here I thought that her tail would be the only issue we would have to deal with." Hull clutched his head, feeling a migraine slowly coming. "This girl is definitely going to be a heap of trouble when she grows up, I can already foresee…"

…in more ways than one, too.

Hull frowned. There was something else that was nagging at his mind too from the moment he realized how helpless and fragile Pellie was.

"Ruddy? I think we should join up with a herd…"

The female whirled around, shocked at his declaration. "Did I hear you correctly, Hull?" she eyed her mate with a melancholic expression. "Didn't we meet each other solely because we both didn't agree with the traditionalist mindset borne by our respective herds and chose to leave when we were older? Don't tell me you're actually thinking of giving up our independent lifestyle just to go back to that!"

"I didn't finish, dear," Hull interjected, holding up his hand to cut in. "Since when did I say that we would have to join up with a traditionalist herd?" he proceeded to specify, his clarification earning a sigh of relief from his relieved mate. "Come on, Ruddy, you know me. We suffered under those heinous traditions! There is no way I'd ever let our children grow up the way we did!"

Hull abruptly paused, clamping his beak shut as his eye drifted over first to Pellie, then to their other two children who were peacefully sleeping by the side of the nest. "Crud… I almost woke them with that outburst," he muttered.

"Be careful, Hull," Ruddy chided teasingly. "If you already can't handle Pellie on her own, wait until Dribble and Penny both wake up."

"Anyway!" Hull coughed. "Not every herd out there will be like our childhood herds. We just have to find the right one to join, Ruddy. Once we do, the safety of numbers in a herd is more than worth the sacrifice of free volition, especially with Pellie here," he said, gesturing towards a still-grouchy Pellie. "If it's just us out here in the Mysterious Beyond with zero protection and a sharptooth ambushes our family… you and I both know that a swimmer like her will practically be finished."

His dire words hung in the air. Ruddy exhaled a tired breath, tilting her head up and gazing the starry skies above.

"I think you're right, Hull…" she finally admitted. "Let us discuss more and make preparations regarding that tomorrow morning, it is getting rather late." The swimmer then let out a yawn, sluggishly dragging her feet over to Pellie.

"Still, before we turn over for the night, I think we should at least introduce Pellie to her older brother and sister."

Before Pellie could let out a squeak in protest, she was being carted in her mother's arms off to her snoozing siblings, squirming defiantly every step of the way until she was lowered back to the ground.

Hull chortled at the sight, earning himself an annoyed glare from his mate. Rolling her eyes at him one more time for good measure, Ruddy let her frustration simmer away as she gently pat a rambunctious Pellie on the head, slowly coaxing the hatchling to sleep.

Yep. She was definitely going to be a handful.

When Hull saw Pellie drifting off, he decided to lay down for the night as well, with Ruddy following suit barely moments after him.

He could hardly wait for Dribble and Penny to meet their younger sister when they all woke up tomorrow. As far as he could tell, the three children would at least be together for the foreseeable future.

As for what an uncertain future would bring to their precious Pellie, all the anxious parents could do was to wait and see.

The only thing which Hull could hope for was that life would be lenient to her.


Author's Note:

What's this? I'm actually early for the fanfic prompt for once? Blasphemy.

If you're an avid reader of The Swimmer Trials you might happen to recognize the name of this swimmer hatchling, and you'll probably be right, because yes, Pellie happens to be the swimmer OC that I submitted for that story.

Last December there was a call to action for anyone who wanted to submit their own swimmer characters to participate in the eponymous Swimmer Trials, and of course I snapped that opportunity up after being prodded and sent in my own creation. While drafting up my OC template for submission, I'd managed to flesh out Pellie's backstory enough to decide to give the disadvantaged swimmer her very own story. I really gained a soft spot for Pellie after creating her, I must admit.

This is my first Land Before Time story carried solely by original characters, something I've been apprehensive on doing for a while since I was uncertain if I could succeed in having OCs carry a fic by themselves for the longest time, but I have to give it a try haha! I've already done character studies of many canon characters, after all, so who's to say I can't attempt it with my own creations.

[Anagnos]

First off, I wasn't going to review this chapter until tomorrow at best, but since the first chapter is relatively short, I figured it was best to get it over with. It has been quite a while since I've read the infamous Swimmer Trials and my memory of the chapters I read is rather insufficient as a result. But like you said, one doesn't exactly have to read the fic to understand the storyline in this prompt.

While more traditional herds likely would not have thought much about putting down a child born with a birth defect, the more independent and logical parents, Ruddy and Hull, demonstrated undiluted faith in their handicapped child, Pellie. Their fear of the unknown is not only rational, but plausible and no one can blame them for that. But instead of giving into prejudice, they've chosen to let fate decide whether life will be worth living for the young swimmer or will it be taken away before it has a chance to blossom.

This type of mentality isn't often encountered in the Land Before Time universe and the innuendo from Hull in regards to his past life in a herd he wasn't a happy person played a huge part in setting Ruddy and Hull apart from the rest. I liked how they didn't wallow in self-pity over their daughter and got rather quickly over her birth defect. This showed that despite their initial shock, they see her just as much as their child as they see the rest.

I love how you've presented us a valid reason as to why the swimmer population is so adamant to produce as many infants as possible and this same fear most likely is felt by every other creature with offspring. This was quite an interesting way to paint the swimmers as mating obsessed maniacs, albeit maniacs with a good reason to breed as much as possible: to ensure that at least some survive to carry on the family line. I will be looking forward to how the story will develop from here and how Pellie will eventually have to face the dangers of the world before she might even be ready.

[rhombus]

Though it has been a long while since I was caught up on the Swimmer Trials, I do feel that this story was straightforward enough that this lack of being up-to-date does not detract from the impact of the story.  What we have here is an interesting take on what happens when harsh realities of prehistoric life collide with parental empathy.  With resources being scarce at times, it is understandable that more traditional herds would have harsh policies on such matters - to only allow food and security to be given to those children who were most likely to survive to adulthood.  However, Ruddy and Hull see possibilities in their child still which give them hope to counteract the uncertainty.  So with parental love they decide to do what they can to give their young one a chance.

I do like how you have interwoven not only your take on why swimmers must fixate on reproduction to such an extent, but also the harsh realities of the world around them, in order to show a complete picture of what makes certain herds and parents choose certain decisions for their families.  Though on the shorter side, this story does present a heartwarming look at a character's entry into the world, and a prelude to the struggles Pellie will now face.  I look forward to seeing how Pellie's life develops from here.

[OwlsCantRead]

It's all in the mind…

FFN Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13615460/2/The-Propeller-Swimmer


"Da-da-dee-dee-doo-doo! Don't step on a crack, or you'll fall and break your back!"
— Ducky, The Land Before Time

Chapter 2: Odd One Out

"Slow down, Pellie!"

Pellie giggled, sprinting even faster as she heard the exasperated order while leaving a frustrated Penny behind in the dust.

"Gragh!" Her brother grumbled as he began to grunt from the exhaustion which inevitably came with constant sprinting. "How are you somehow even faster than Dribble in a game of Swimmer and Sharptooth!? You're so infuriating, Pellie!"

Pellie stuck her tongue out at Penny as he fell further behind. "Guess you're just too slow for me, Penny," she teased her increasingly exasperated brother. "I'm the fastest swimmer to walk this land! None can compare to the amazing Pellie!"

"Not funny, sis!" Penny barked back, heaving as he appeared to gain a second wind after hearing her taunt. "Oh, when I get you, I'm gonna—"

"Can't catch me, can't catch me~!" Pellie sang, weaving in and out of the surrounding trees to slow her pursuer down. Sensing her brother's frustration, she turned her head back mid-run just so she could stick her tongue out at Penny.

That arrogance proved to be her downfall.

In the brief moment that she wasn't paying attention to the vicinity, her moving foot caught onto a large obtrusion. With a startled yell, Pellie found herself being launched towards the ground, her body propelled forward due to the momentum and causing her to land on the rough terrain in a spreadeagled mess.

Pain shot through Pellie's lower half as she clutched her ankle in agony. Gritting her teeth to stave off the pain, she glanced back at her sprawled legs only to come to the grim conclusion that they were most definitely broken.

"Well, well, well… where's your confident demeanor now?"

With an enormous effort—considering that pain was coursing through her body and superseding all other thoughts—Pellie turned her head towards the bemused voice only to see Penny standing over her. "Wouldn't you call it ironic? You're nothing more than a cripple now after cockily strutting your swift speed around with zero restraint," he gestured with his hands, the corners of his beak curled slightly upwards in amusement.

Her jaw fell open at what she was hearing. "Penny…" she grimaced.

Penny waved off her warning, almost as if her brother didn't hear her words. "Well, gotta say that it serves you right for teasing me like that. I mean, you were definitely asking for it," he pointed out, "What can I even say, sis? You brought this on yourself with all of your bragging. And now this will be your life, Pellie," he sneered at her, "a life where all your speed and mobility is robbed from you!"

She could feel tears welling up at the callous remark striking at her, at least until something peculiar about the situation crossed her mind.

Wait a moment… something's wrong. Penny would never say something like that to me!

Almost at once, it clicked. Just like that, the pain that she thought she felt vanished instantaneously, almost like the morning fog clearing up as the Bright Circle peeked from the horizon.

…and very much in a similar way to how her sleep story proceeded to dissipate as well.

A groggy Pellie nervously glanced down to look at her legs, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw the distinct lack of a scarred bloody wound on her thigh.

It had been nothing more than a bad dream.

And really, she should have known.

There was something else about the whole thing which had made no sense in hindsight and was subconsciously nagging at her as the situation played out, and the two oddities combined helped Pellie make sense of everything. Although Penny's uncharacteristic cruelty towards her had been the cincher, what should have tipped Pellie off was the fact that she was running rings around her siblings.

Her, sluggish and handicapped Pellie, comfortably outrunning her siblings in a game of Sharptooth and Swimmer?

Yeah, right.

Leaning back against the tree stump that she used as support whenever she rested, Pellie brought her large tail around to her front, stroking the appendage as she glowered at it.

As she felt her eyes dropping, her mind managed to fumble together a coherent thought before she dozed off again.

Being able to outspeed my older siblings? Hah, what a joke! As if that'll ever happen as long as I have this thing!


"Rise and shine! The Bright Circle waits for no swimmer, and the early hatchlings are the ones who get the freshest treestars!

Pellie was roused—properly this time—from her slumber as a chirpy morning call greeted her ears. Blearily squinting her eyes open to see her mother relentlessly trying to force her up, she then let out an exhausted yawn.

While she had thankfully managed to fall into a dreamless sleep after having her initial nightmare, Pellie now had to face the worst nightmare of all — reality itself.

"Good morning, mom," she murmured, looking up from her sitting position as Ruddy gently stroked her daughter's head.

"Morning, Pellie," she returned. "Tired, aren't you?" the adult observed as she saw Pellie's exhaustion literally radiating from her body through her slumped posture.

Pellie jerked her head away from her mother's grasp, clearly unenthusiastic about being the recipient of an embarrassing and intimate gesture. "Had a rough night." She didn't elaborate further, folding her arms to highlight her displeasure and overall frustration.

"Oh dear…" Creased lines of worry could be spotted forming on Ruddy's forehead. "Let's hope that the rest of your day will go better to compensate," she tried to reassure her ruffled daughter. "Anyway, Dribble and Penny have already been up for a while. I chose to let you sleep in when I saw how soundly you were slumbering, but your dad told me to get you out before you sleep the entire day away."

Pellie stretched her arms in response, letting out a yawn. "Well, it doesn't matter. Looks like I am up now," she deadpanned.

Instead of receiving the exasperated expression from her mom that Pellie had grown to expect whenever she exhibited her defiant attitude, Ruddy simply smiled at her daughter fondly, causing a confused Pellie to quirk her head.

"Mom… what's with that smile?" she asked, unnerved.

"Oh, Pellie. Don't you know what day it is today?"

Pellie shrugged. She hadn't a clue, and vocalized it to her mom. "Um… it's a new day?" she tried to fumble a response.

Sensing from her mom's body language that it was actually meant to be a serious question, she then became flustered, losing her cool façade she always kept up on a superficial level. "I-I mean, how should I know!? They are all the same to me with the exception of how much food there is or what sort of weather we have! The days all blend together for me! S-stop looking at me like I know!"

Ruddy chortled when her daughter started to ramble in panic. It was something that was intrinsically Pellie — putting up a façade to disguise her insecurity. Deciding to put her out of her misery, Ruddy cut off Pellie's word vomit with the answer. "Oh, Pellie. You're overthinking things. Today is the anniversary of your hatch day."

"My… h-hatch day?" she stuttered, instinctively glancing pensively at her tail. The movement did not go unnoticed by Ruddy, who could only look solemnly at Pellie when she saw her daughter's face contort at the realization, the expressions gracing Pellie's beak going through a variety of emotions.

Pellie scowled when she saw her mom making that face at her again. That look of pity that she perpetually saw being sent her way from swimmers young and old, male and female.

Oh, how she utterly despised seeing that expression.

Why did she have to be looked at differently from everyone else just because of her darn tail?! Her overly large tail defined her life, foiling her plans of being a perfectly normal swimmer from the moment she had hatched from her egg — an egg which was probably as big as her tail, she was willing to bet.

Due to how conspicuous her tail was that part of her ended up being her key defining characteristic, and it drove Pellie up a tree. When others saw her, their minds simply jumped to 'oh, what a poor swimmer', 'she's toast', 'the swimmer with the stupidly large tail'…

Not to mention the most frustrating one of all, an implicit thought that Pellie could tell was running through their heads solely based on observing their unspoken body language.

'Man, I'm glad that's not me'.

If it wasn't a look of pity which they expressed upon seeing her condition, it was one of scorn and disgust. Pellie might not be able to walk on her own two feet, but she could very well see with her own two eyes as well as hear with her own two ears. She wasn't able to shake the feeling that her peers held some perceived slight against her because of the disability she was born with.

Even her own blood kin weren't exempt from this.

For as long as Pellie could remember, she had always felt different, even around her own family. Her mother pampered her and her father tended to be more cautious around her presence. Heck, even Penny doted on her out of a sense of brotherly concern — to the extent that the difference in behavior between how her brother behaved in her sleep story compared to how he acted towards her in reality was how Pellie quickly surmised she was in a nightmare earlier that night.

Pellie made a face as she reflected at all the attention she had garnered since young. She then folded her arms and made a concerted effort to avoid her mother's eyes, ignoring the shattered expression of concern falling over her mother's features out of the corner of her vision.

While she did feel a pane of guilt in her heart for making her mother upset, Pellie felt justified in expressing her frustration at her helplessness in preventing others from needlessly doting on her by treating her as if she was some fragile treestar who could be shredded to pieces by the slightest gale.

Bah, she could take care of herself! She wasn't completely helpless, alright?!

Perhaps her mom reminding Pellie of her hatch day anniversary frustrated her because it was yet another subtle reminder of how she was one star day older and yet still the same stagnated swimmer that she was from the day she'd first hatched. Through the passage of time her brother and sister ended up growing leaps and bounds ahead of her in both skill and abilities, while she was left behind in the dust to try and grasp ahold of the bare basics of survival.

There were certainly moments where Pellie pondered on why she had to be the unlucky chosen one. Why did she have to be the one hatched with such a detriment? It drove her nuts with agitation to imagine what her life would be if she happened to be "normal"… whatever that entailed.

Because as far back as Pellie could remember, this frustrating and constant struggle with her overgrown tail was her "normal".

Most others would have consigned her to be a lost cause—a good-for-nothing handicapped swimmer would be nothing more than a nuisance to the well-being of the herd, their leader would have argued—but even as a hatchling the feisty female was staunchly determined to supplant the overwhelming odds against her.

As a result, Pellie tended to get on all fours to get around, occasionally leaping or crawling forward whenever her tail inevitably impeded her way again. It was her very own style of transporting herself around which she'd learnt as an infant while observing hoppers jumping about. Launching herself up and forward prevented the bulky tail by her back from hitting the ground and actually allowed her to utilize her underdeveloped limbs, though it came at the cost of being very energy and time consuming.

Frankly, it was amazing that a crippled swimmer like Pellie could even amble her way around with her large tail constantly getting in the way, even if it came at the cost of sluggish movements as the swimmer usually had to hunch unnaturally forward to counterbalance the large and heavy tail that she constantly needed to drag behind her.

"Pellie! You're up!"

Her concentration was broken by a familiar voice coming from her side. Pellie swung her head, looking past her mother to see her older brother standing by the side with an overly sappy face gracing his beak.

"Finally! I've been waiting to wish you well since the Bright Circle went up. Happy hatch day, sis!"

Despite her frustration with the occasion, she allowed herself a smile. "Well if that's the case, why didn't you greet me the moment I woke up? A little late, aren't you?" Pellie teased.

Penny was caught off guard by her response, nervously gazing away as he tried to formulate a comeback. "I-I mean… you slept far longer than I expected, so I hung out with Dribble, y'know," he stumbled over his words, rather taken aback by his younger sister's reaction. "I mean, it's our hatch day as well!"

She chuckled at his mess of an explanation. "Eh, I'm just messin' with you, Penny," Pellie assured.

The swimmer felt the tension in his shoulders slacken when he realized he was the victim of one of his sister's verbal spars once again. "No hard feelings," he shot her a shaky thumbs-up.

Pellie just smiled. Penny really was a dork of a swimmer sometimes. But hey, he was her dorky tender brother, and she wouldn't have him any other way. It helped that he had harbored no ill will towards her from young as well.

That wasn't quite the case for the swimmer who was lingering behind him.

"Happy hatch day, I guess…" her elder sister Dribble murmured, hands hanging by her hips as her green eyes shone with disapproval at the frivolous way Pellie had trifled with Penny.

"Sorry, Dribble." Sensing her sister's annoyance with her actions, Pellie quickly tried to diffuse things. She did this by pulling her nearby brother forward into a stunned hug without so much as getting off the ground. "Penny's just too fun to mess with! Hee hee! Aren't you, brother?"

"If you say so," Dribble muttered, not quite convinced by Pellie's faux apology.

"So in all seriousness, what took you so long, anyway?" Pellie questioned, letting go of Penny and letting her brother straighten himself back up. "I literally played a guessing game with Mom in the time it took you two to get here."

Penny sheepishly scratched the back of his head as Pellie stared him down while awaiting his response, the swimmer in front of her a far cry from the 'Penny' who'd cruelly decried her in her sleep story. Considering that she was sitting down and casually leaning back against her favorite tree stump while Penny was standing at full height, it really was a hilarious sight to see him looking so uneasy.

"Uh, Dribble and I did end up talking with a few others in the herd, but that happened to be when we met a special someone who asked whether they could celebrate your hatch day with you…"

Right on cue, an excitable high-pitched voice cut in.

"Heya, Pell! Congrats on making it through another cold time, you resilient rascal!"

Pellie perked her head up, a contagious smile slowly spreading across her beak as her mind processed the greeting. She knew only one swimmer who would refer to her using that specific moniker, and said female swimmer's green skin currently stood out amidst a sea of uniformly colored light gray swimmers.

"Hukai!" Pellie exclaimed, ecstatically wagging her tail at the sight of her best friend making her appearance from behind a tree.

Sweet. Maybe her hatch day wouldn't be so bad after all if she lived it to the fullest.


Author's Note:

Whoops, this chapter ended up coming out way later than I would've liked. I know I didn't quite go over Pellie's physical struggles quite just yet, but this chapter instead focuses on the mental struggle within her headspace that someone like Pellie would have to face in a society not quite used to someone of her stature. The real question, however, is whether her mindset can continue to get her through the trying times.

…

Anagnos: The reason I'd conceptualized Pellie for the Swimmer Trials OC submission contest in the first place was to see how someone who is disadvantaged would tackle life around them, so I'm glad the worry translated over to the parents, who certainly have a lot on their hands should they commit to the challenge of raising a child like that.

Sovereign: I certainly hope no one expected or predicted for me to write a story based on my own OC submission. I always strive to be unpredictable with my plans!

Rhombus: You don't really have to read The Swimmer Trials to understand this story, this works as a standalone story even if I might tie it together at some point. Certain references to how swimmer culture and traditionalist herds work are an added bonus if you do have foreknowledge of The Swimmer Trials, however, as well as adding a bit more depth and context behind the decision to join a less traditional herd in the previous chapter.

[Anagnos]

You totally had me with that opening sequence. No joke, I literally thought that was all real and that poor Pellie had to deal with that daily, no less from her own sibling. Even if it was a dream, I have to admit that the scene was nicely done and it really made you feel for the swimmer even if it was all in her head. Yes, I probably should have seen it coming from a mile away that a handicapped swimmer would be at a serious disadvantage due to her disability. Since we haven't yet seen what any of their personalities were like, it seemed like the right option to assume this is how it really was.

Not a moment is wasted listing all the cons that have to do with Pellie's handicap and I quite liked that you decided to reveal them early rather than leave them out. Reading the part where even the parents and siblings feel on edge around Pellie adds into her character and lets us know more about this family. They seem to treat her as if she could go off like a bomb at any moment, which must be hard for her to deal with. Since there must be human families out there like this, it makes this all the more believable. However, it's good to see that despite her problems she has found a good friend in her life. If there is one thing she needs, it is that.

[rhombus]

The initial scene in this chapter truly made me despair for Pellie.  It is not hard to imagine that a sibling could be so cruel to another due to their disability and I feared that she perhaps had an entire childhood with such treatment.  It was only when she began to piece together the oddities of her nightmare that I also began to realize that it was just a dream...

...though it seems that Pellie does have her share of problems, as one might expect.  Upon waking we get to see from her thoughts exactly what she thinks of her tail and the hardships that it bestows upon her.  We also get to see that rather than be faced with ridicule and contempt, she is rather faced with pity... which is an expression that she hates to see.  This is certainly understandable as it must be maddening to have everyone act super-careful around you, lest you erupt emotionally.  Though it is obvious that her family loved her very much, we can also see how their reactions towards her are affecting her upbringing and outlook.  The final part of the scene, however, does present a glimmer of happiness for the swimmer in the form of a friend.  I certainly look forward to seeing what we can learn about this Hukai.

[Ducky123]

There's not an awful lot to say about the first chapter but you've certainly set up the world around poor little Pellie in a successful fashion. A small family both escapists from their strictly traditional herds, having their first clutch.

I can't say much about Pellie yet of course since she's just a baby, however I must confess that her name is extremely adorable

She reminds me of Sucky who is also riddled by disabilities and I'm curious to see how she is going to deal with her large tail 

Chapter 2:

The way you build up Pellie's family is truly efficient, dialogue and Pellie's train of thought flowing very naturally, with a lively variety of words and phrases enhancing the reading experience 

The initial scene had me thinking that tragedy was about to strike (to be fair, her existence could be called a tragedy as it is) but it was merely a well-placed sleepstory, underlining two very important sides of Pellie.

She is disadvantaged which comes with an ever so great amount of frustration frequently at display in her everyday behavior. The fact that she injures herself in the dream is testimony to the insecurities she constantly feels and probably reflects on the fact that she is prone to get hurt with her tail getting in the way of things.

Secondly, this predicament also makes her yearn for a normal life and it makes her yearn to be better at something being so used to falling behind thanks to her tail. The dream shows that very well 

Pellie seems bitter at times but she is also mentally strong and resilient, trying to cover up her weaknesses and insecurities whenever possible. She's a fighter-type and I'm pretty sure that this is one of the secrets to her survival thus far, yep yep yep!

The sibling dynamic will be interesting to observe. You've already hinted at a rather bad relationship with Dribble while Pebble seems to be friendly and supportive of his poor sister. Also it seems that Pellie has a friend is this has me excited 

So far, I'd say you've done a splendid job introducing Pellie and I'm eager to read more about her