NARRATOR: The girl fell, she tumbled down the miles of tunnels. She was scraped and bruised, only stopping when a large woman caught her from a hidden hole in the wall. Selena screamed wildly, so sure she would be eaten. The stories she heard of the cave people were of savages and cannibals. They wore human skin and ate babies. This childhood tale kept flowing through her mind as the large woman and her companions led her to their den. She thought of running through the many tunnels while she was being led, though the thought of starving kept her from doing so.
NARRATOR: When she reached the den. A bustling miniature city full of running children and busy work. She closed her eyes waiting for them to sacrifice her, or even eat her alive. Instead, a well-carved stone bowl full of mushroom stew was handed to her.
SELENA: You’re trying to plump me up, huh?
NARRATOR: The woman attempted to explain with a mix of hand signals and clicks. These efforts failed, and Selena was still unsure of her intentions. What did work though was the smell of the stew. Selena now had been in the caves for several hours now. And she was quite hungry.
SELENA: Oh, I don’t care at this point.
NARRATOR: She grabbed the bowl and greedily began to drink it. The woman laughed and clapped her hands in excitement. She motioned to her friends to see. They all high-fived and cheered.
SELENA: Why are you so happy? Are you planning on eating me?
NARRATOR: The women laughed, with one of them who motioned a horse running and a little girl her name being Horse Girl from these signs. She grabbed Selena’s bowl away from her and motioned her to a room with steam coming out of it.
NARRATOR: She scowled at Horse Girl before walking to the room. There Selena saw several members in a steam bath. At first, their casualness scared her, she wasn’t given a single look. In her village, if one of these hairy men or women were to tumble out they would be seen as oddities. Not here though, they almost had an apathy towards her; they were so uncaring of her presence.
NARRATOR: That was until a woman mirrored her lifting her shirt. At first, Selena did not understand. The woman got fed up, wading through the hot spring, and tugged at her shirt. Selena suddenly blushed, it took much longer than it should have to realize she was being told that she stinked. When that clicked she began to take her clothes off to bathe, hopefully to no longer offend their noses. Another member neatly folded them for her and placed them in her sight line. Wisely knowing that Selena still didn’t trust them enough to take her clothes to a different room. The heat felt amazing after hours of walking. She allowed herself to relax, dipping her hair in the water. At that moment a sadness washed over her. This could be her forever, and no matter how kind these people were she was most likely stuck with them. There were miles of caves who knew where she ended up? She didn’t have a chance of ever leaving them, this was her new home. She couldn’t brew on this long as a man named Fish Breath waved for her attention. He had a scar on the top of his wrist with many gray hairs. He pointed at the hot spring, making a face of pain. Moving his fingers he signed hot. Selena copied this action. The group clapped for her before the next sign was taught to her. This continued until they all started getting out of the water. Selena sheepishly followed them, she began to put on her clothes. One of the children that were in the hot spring asked her mother why this foreigner was wearing clothes in the first place. The mother flicked the girl’s nose, the universal sign language of mind your own business.
NARRATOR: From there a fungal fire was lit. The Dog Men began to pass out expertly crafted instruments to the group. The children were given noise makers, and the adults were given more sophisticated tools that needed a more fine ear. Selena was given a child’s instrument. The Woman named Dog Soul signed the word easy. The talented adults held mighty stone works, their hands became like spell casters on their strings and air ports.
NARRATOR: A woman named Jade Heart started with her giant guitar. Her strings started fast and stayed there. The twisted flutes bleed supporting energy to the guitar solo. Everyone began to stomp to the beat, some spinning, others using their instruments. The children woefully never stayed on beat, only shaking their noisemakers and flinging around in spectacular fashion. Selena saw this and stood frozen. She began to weep, trying to hide it with her sleeve. Cole Bird saw this and slowly pushed her chin to his eyes. The old man motioned a flock of birds with great energy. Selena knew the word, family. He repeated it until she did. Laughing through her tears she took his hand and began to dance with him. A young girl, South Berry, took her other hand and began to spin with her.
NARRATOR: Selena stopped weeping and began to sing the song she could not understand. If all at once her soul began to go with the beat. Without a care, Selena began to scream with all her might. Others led with her movements. Selena’s arms were wild and her feet were like mighty stones. In unison, they all scream a mighty, HEY! HEY! HEY! Selena felt true freedom at that moment, her shame and pain becoming a distant memory. Even though she just met these people she knew she was one of them now. In this expansion of her mind, an elder stopped dancing, he yelled out something Selena could not understand. The group all died laughing, the elder motioning a leaf and a woman with a crown. She didn’t know her name that day, but from then on it became Fallen Queen.