FSE

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Amidts a sprawling camp, there was a single tent that stood out from the rest.

Normally it wouldn't stand out too much, after all it looked identical to most, however this time there was something that was going on at the tent that made it stand out.

There was a line of chained up anthros leading into the tent. All their necks chained to a single long chain to keep them from running off, while there hands and feet were chained individually.

Even though they varied in species, from canines to felines, they all had one thing in common.

They were all female.

What was going throught their minds varied from female to female.

Some were scared.

Others were seething with anger.

And a few were still in shock about the single fact.

That there home was burned, pillaged, and that they were now enslaved.

Outside the tent, there was a few guards armed with spears watching to make sure the ones outside didn't try to run.

Not that they really could, well they could try, but it wouldn't be long before they were all subdued due to not all of them being on board with escaping.

Inside the tent, there was a single white wolf on a makeshift throne, a single guard standing in front moving the line forward.

"Hm, next." The wolf on the throne said in a flat tone.

The guard moved the line along.

It got to the point to where the wolf simply ordered the guards to dismiss them to the place where the camps slaves slept.

"Sir, are you sure? There are still many-" The guard was cut off.

"Soldier, do as you were ordered." He said.

The guard simply nodded and more guards came in to usher the chained prisoners, but not before one of them decided to give the wolf a piece of her mind.

"You son of a bitch! I'll kill you! I'll-" Her angry rant was cut short by one of the guards slapping her across the face.

"Shut your trap you cunt, and move!" He shouted.

The white wolf didn't move or say anything as he silently watched them all leave the tent, the one who was shouting was removed from the main group, put in seperate chains and carried off somewhere.

When all was done, he stood up from his throne and stretched.

Soon after, a male lion entered.

"Aspen, the next meeting will be taking place soon, best get ready." The lion informed him.

Normally if a soldier talked to Aspen like that he would be made an example of, however this lion was one of his two closest commanders.

"Ah yes. We must plan the next place to hit." Aspen remarked.

The lion walked further into the tent, voicing a concern.

"According to our maps we are running out of places to loot, we might have to soon resort to looking to villages further north."

"The ones that live in the rainforests? Interesting, I always wondered what it would be like to fight some of their warriors." He remarked.

"Aspen, we've known eachother for awhile, and we have been doing this for a long time. But don't you think its time to maybe find a nice large piece of fertile land, settle down somewhere? I mean there are only so many villages and-"

The lion was cut off by a look Aspen gave to him.

Aspen looked away, then sighed.

"Perhaps your right old friend, reguardless of how big the known world is, this is where our army will end up, settling in one place, and eventually rot away to nothing." Aspen told him.

"Well, hopefully it will last awhile, who knows, maybe it will last forever if we-" He was once again cut off by Aspen.

"Shemal, all powerful nations, no matter how advanced, no matter how powerful, they all crumble. Nothing in this world lasts forever." He said.

"I suppose your right, still at least its better than dying a nobody, right?" Shemal asked.

"Of that, you are correct my friend." Aspen said.

Another entered the tent, wearing the attire of a high ranking officer.

He paused for a moment, realizing that two of his superiors were present.

"Well? What is it?" Aspen said with impaitence.

"Uh, sirs, the meeting is to start soon, are we to bring the-" He was cut off.

"Yes, bring the required things to this tent, we shall discuss what comes next." Aspen said, a hint of irritation in his voice.

The officer bowed slightly and went off to gather the required officers and matirials.

A few moments of silence filled the air, until Shemal spoke again.

"Do you really think we will be able to move to the more heavily vegitated islands? I mean we would need boats, not to mention the unfamiliar enviorment the men will be fighting in."

"We will figure it out, we just need to be careful, get to know our surroundings first, then we will see about raiding. We will need to inform the soldiers and start preperations for fighting in a more vegitated enviorment." He stated.

Shemal nodded, then said:

"Your the boss."

[Protagonists POV:]

Stepping out into the sunlight, I moved the hood of my robes over my head to help blot out the bright lights.

It took some getting used to, but I mannaged to adjust to see my new surroundings.

I could see houses, all concentrated in a single area.

Aside from Nes' house, there was two more that were a bit further out, but not by a lot.

It didn't take long before I started to see the inhabitants.

When they noticed, they all stopped at what they were doing and stared.

Well, first introductions, better make it count.

After Nes gave the introduction speech. She told them my name, and how she found me, and how Aria seemed ok with me staying.

Stepping forward after Nes was done, I pulled my hood down so that everyone could see my face.

They didn't seem to show much reaction, so I spoke.

"Hello, as Nes has already told you, she brought me in to stay here." I started.

"I am very gratefull that both Nes and Aria have agreed to allow me to stay here, and I hope that I can be a welcome addition to this humble place."

I was going to stop there, but I decided to add in something else.

"I will help out whenever possible, so don't hesitate to call upon me if you are in need of help."

Soon after this, a male voice spoke.

"Well, if Aria welcomed you then you seem alright in my book."

I looked to the source of the voice, a desert fox, walking up to me and offering his paw for a shake.

I took it and said.

"Hello, who might you be?"

"Basil, allow me to be...uh, well the third to welcome you to this place I call home." He smiled.

"I- I see, thank you Basil, its nice to meet you." I smiled back.

"And." He continued.

"I have a job that can get you started, how about helping me carry some water from the river?" He asked.

Well, it seems I could get started.

"Yes, I would be glad to." I said.

"Well alright, I'll just take him off your hands Nes." Basil said, looking to her.

"Gladly." Nes said, smirking.

And before I knew it, Basil and I were on our way to the river to collect water.

Along the way, Basil started up another conversation.

"So, where you from eh? I don't think I ever seen a species like yourself before."

Oh, right. Nes forgot to mention how I don't remember much from before.

"Well, I would tell you but, well I seem to have hit my head, can't seem to recall much from before that." I said, ready to tell Basil what I told Nes and Aria.

After said conversation was over, Basil continued.

"Hm, well that's a shame, can't imagine what it must be like to not remember where you come from." He asked.

"No place like home I always say." Basil finished.

Yep...you are right about that Basil...

"Where are you from? If you don't mind me asking." I said.

"Oh, far south, born in a desert village by a large body of water."

"Sooo. A lot like the one your living at now?" I questioned.

"Oh no, try much more sand." He said.

"Wait, so you were in the middle of a desert? That must have been hard." I said.

"Well, I wasn't in the middle of the desert, plus I wasn't there long, I don't remember much, my family was having a hard time so we moved to greener pastures." He said.

I couldn't find out more because we arrived.

The river was a lot wider than I thought it to be.

I can see why the people who built this place built it here.

We made a few trips, after which Basil offered me a cup.

"Go ahead, drink a few, got to stay hydrated."

I gladly drank a few cups worth, after which I asked if he needed more help.

"No. I can take care of the rest, I heard Sage and Acacia need some help with the crops though. Can't miss them, Sage is the gecko and Acacia is the monitor." Basil informed me.

"Alright, thanks." I said before making my way to the crops.

I noticed the place where the crops were after my second trip, so I headed there.

Sure enough Sage was helping Acacia with the crops.

Walking up to them. I greeted them.

"Hello, Sage and Acacia, Basil said you needed some help?"

Sage stopped what he was doing but Acacia kept doing what she was doing.

"Oh, your the new guy, yeah, we could use help, you know how?" He asked.

"Uh, I'm afraid not." I said.

"Well, its easy, all you need to do is..." Sage explained.

After that, I help them with what they were working on, they didn't talk much, probably due to them being less social, as Nes explained.

Something interesting happened though.

I was definitely caught by surprise.

"New guy!" A female voice shouted before I fell into the dirt.

I only guessed that Sage and Acacia stopped what they were doing, I only heard Sage casually say.

"Ruby, really? You don't jump on newcomers." Sage said.

"Aw, but he's the first new person to come here!" Ruby whined.

Her voice was somewhat high pitched, but not enough to be annoying. I couldn't tell if she was a kid, which would explain her child like behavior, but when she got off me I could see that she was about the size of Sage, and he was an adult, or at least I assumed he was.

Like Aria, she had coverings on her chest and pelvis, and had the color patterns of a red fox.

I offered my hand for a shake, but before I could, she closed the distance and begun to examine me.

I just stood there as she looked at my arms, legs, torso, and my head.

When she was done she asked.

"What, are you exactly?" She asked.

"A human." I said.

"I don't know what that is." She smiled.

"Ruby, did you finish helping Sahara with the livestock?" He asked.

They have livestock here?

"Yeahhh, its all done, but more importantly, I wanted to greet the new guy." She said.

"Ok, now that you finished greeting, how about seeing if anyone else needs help." Sage said.

"Aw, but I wanna stay and talk to the new guy!" She whined.

"There will be plenty of time, now go, git." Sage shooed her away.

Once she was gone, Sage sighed.

"Sorry, Ruby can be...ecstatic at times, if only she were that ecstatic about work..." Sage said.

"Its alright." I said.

"Well, I think that will do it for now." He said.

"Ok, anyone else need help?" I asked.

"Take a look at the sky." Sage said.

Confused, I did as he asked, and realized the sun was going down.

"Well damn." I said.

"Yep, thanks for the help today." He thanked.

"No problem, well I best be going, till next time." I said before walking back to Nes' house.

Exhausted, tired, hungry as hell, I was surprised I hadn't collapsed. Honestly, what wouldn't I give for some...

Meat...

I noticed a smell, it smelled...

Good.

Getting closer to Nes' house I realized the smell was coming from her house.

"Nes?" I called out from the entrance of her home.

"Come in." She called out.

Going in, I noticed she was cooking something, meat, on metal sticks over a fire.

The rug from before was gone and rolled up in the corner.

Something that bugged me was how the stuff she was using was made of metal.

Now that I think about it...the pots Basil and I used were also made of metal.

And the cups Basil and I drank from.

How did...

"I guess you smelled it when you got close enough hm?" Nes said.

"Yeah, what are you cooking?"

"Meat from our cattle."

Hm, so it would seem that there are animals that weren't bipedal and intelligent.

Unless...

I had to know.

"Nes, these cattle, they aren't..." I said.

"They aren't what?" She asked.

"You know...intelligent...right?"

"No, why would they be?"

"They don't stand on two legs...right?"

"Uh, no, why?" She asked.

"I- never mind, just thinking out loud."

"Well you got some weird thoughts."

Ignoring that remark, I sat down near her and the cooking meat.

"Don't suppose I could have a bite or two..." I said. Looking at the meat.

"Hmm...well if your good...maybe I might let you have a taste..." She teased.

"I worked my butt off today...c'mon..." I said.

"So did I. However I feel generous, so I will let you have some..." She said.

When she was done, she took off the meat and handed me a piece.

Holding the edges as to not burn myself, I raised the meat up to my mouth, and slowly took a bite.

It was a bit chewy, but overall good. I think because I haven't had meat in such a long time effected why it tasted so good.

Its been so long...since I had any real sustenance.

I didn't pay attention to Nes as I took bite after bite, though I felt like she was watching me.

When I was done, I set the metal stick down and looked at her. She seemed to already have eaten hers.

"That was...great." I said, satisfied.

"Glad you liked it." She said.

After a few moments of silence, Nes asked me something.

"So, how was your first day? Got along with everyone I hope?"

"Yeah, they seem like decent people, well Basil and Sage. Acacia never talked so I couldn't really read her too well, and Sage was, to the point. Ruby...well she's definitely a character." I said.

"Yeah, Ruby is...well she might come off as eccentric, but she cares deeply about every one of us." Nes explained.

"Hm." Was all I said before silence filled the air once again.

This was broken when Nes raised her body and stretched her arms.

"Well, I'm going to get some sleep, got to be up for tomorrow, you should too."

I nodded as the fire was put out. I handed her the metal stick and she put everything away. I helped her put the rug back.

"Goodnight." I said to her.

"Hm, goodnight." She said before retreating to the room adjacent to the one I slept in.

Retreating to said room I found that my equipment was still there, which was good.

Using it at a pillow I laid down and started what I normally do when alone. Think.

Only this time, I was thinking with a full stomach.

Like always, questions rung through my mind.

Like what was Basils story, why did the settlement seem so strange, I mean based on what I saw it looked unfinished, like it was meant to be bigger.

If such a small settlement was near such a large river, that meant that surely it was abandoned, but why?

It has been a year or so since the first of my new neighbors settled here, so surely the danger has passed.

Right?

I sure hope so, I don't want anything to happen to the one place I find refuge.

I'm honestly surprised, I thought things would go very wrong when meeting with the villages inhabitants.

Can't say I'm disappointed though, sure they weren't human, but they shared human characteristics.

Some more than others...

But still, its nice to know that I'm no longer alone, and that I have...uh...people to talk to.

Sure it would take time, but I think I can make a few friends here.

Only downside to staying in one spot was that I don't think I would be moving around from place to place, but hey, I'm at a less risk of dying from hunger.

It was strange, but aside from the hunger, it was kind of...nice to travel from place to place.

Well, guess that's the price to pay, either stay here and live out the rest of my days, or wander and starve and die early.

I closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep, this time, for the first time, with a full stomach.

And no longer alone.