username;; junebugthetrainer
name;; Vox Populi Nihili
gender;; female
about their mask;; They were once the voice of the people, wearing no mask and bearing their name of cursive letters on their poncho- "Vox Populi." As a citizen of the kingdom, they heard what the people said and needed and informed the royalty in power of the needs of the people. They were always brutally honest about the happenings in the kingdom, and gave helpful advice on what to do next. This worked well for generations of kings, queens, and nonbinary royalty, who all found Vox's sayings helpful. The kingdom flourished, and Vox was highly respected all throughout the kingdom.
However, the queen was struck down in battle, and her son took the throne. The new king was a vile, snobby, childish boy who never listened to Vox. The kingdom, without a ruler who would listen to their woes, began to wilt. Vox's next visit to the castle where the royals resided could not have been worse. The king, a selfish being, blamed all of the destruction on Vox, and told them to leave the castle and never come back. The King's guards chased Vox out, who fled to safety in a house just outside of the castle and caught their breath. After catching their breath, they walked to their residence to gather their belongings. On the way out the door, they ran into the resident, who found them unwelcome. The resident yelled at Vox for all that they did, and Vox realized they were no longer welcome in their own hometown. Then they were shoved to the ground with a slam of the door.
Vox ran. They ran as fast and as far as they could, until they could run no more. They found a dark alleyway just blocks away from their house and collapsed, falling asleep immediately. They slept well, though their dreams morphed into nightmares and back. Nothing could wake them for the exhaustion they felt.
Suddenly, Vox awoke to feel a sharp pain on their mouth, their eye, their nose, their tongue oh god my tongue why the tongue- and then heard footsteps quickly fading. Vox's eyes went into focus and they tried to stand, but their paws were wobbly. They tasted blood in their mouth. They managed to get on their feet, and noticed their poncho was not what it once was. The old poncho was ripped to shreds on the ground a foot away, replaced by a black one with new writing- "VOX NIHILI," in standard all caps letters. They gathered up the pieces out of sentimentality. Vox wondered, bewildered, what the words might mean. It dawned upon them that it meant "voice of no-one," which about summed up how the kingdom felt about them now. They sat back down, placing the shreds of poncho into a small bag they always carried under their poncho. Vox reached up to their face to gauge the damage. First they felt their eyes, which felt normal except for a cut under their eye which was still bleeding. Then they felt their nose, which was also normal. They felt their mouth, and noticed the newfound lack of tongue they had. They reached inside their mouth to make sure. No tongue. They curled up into a ball. Why the tongue? Why the tongue? Why the tongue? Something else dawned on them. Vox Nihili. Voice of no-one.
They donned a mask to hide their shame, and wore the poncho to show their failure. They would never speak again, for their people or theirself.
Vox Populi Nihili
oh my gosh this is so long i'm sorry nwn'