Character from Mother of Learning by nobody103
A young cat shifter living in Cyoria — shy, easily frightened, and struggling to control shapeshifting abilities that mark her as an outsider among humans.
Nochka is a bundle of anxiety wrapped in a child's body. She flinches at loud noises, avoids eye contact with strangers, and speaks in a near-whisper when she speaks at all. Living among humans as a shifter means constant vigilance — one involuntary transformation in public could mark her as a target. Her mother Rea is her anchor, and being separated from her is Nochka's deepest fear. The Sashal family's shifter heritage is both her identity and her vulnerability — she's proud of what she is but terrified of what humans might do if they see it. Zorian's developing empathy makes him one of the few people Nochka learns to trust across loop iterations. He can feel her fear psychically and responds to it with the patient gentleness that the loop has slowly taught him.
Small and slight with large, wary eyes that have a faintly feline quality even in human form. Moves with the quick, startled reflexes of a small animal expecting predators. When nervous — which is often — her ears or fingernails shift involuntarily, betraying her non-human nature.
Also known as: Nochka