{"sf1_id":1988436,"sf2_id":"B1QzadVe","title":"Adopted","author":"SomaticDream","words":6480,"posted_at":"2023-05-21T21:01:13.000Z","tags":["Cowgirl","Fantasy","Female","Femdom","Framing device","Human","Hyena","M/F","Male","Male/Female","Musk","Parody","Tribal","claiming","scenting"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1988436-adopted","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/B1QzadVe","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/f7/b8/f7b807eb-8b4e-4d1b-97d5-c6491b6dbf41","description":"Local nobleman learns to stop worrying and love yeen musk.","content":"Adopted\n\n\\\u003eDear mother\n\n\\\u003eI have been claimed\n\n\\\u003eI write to you now at the twilight of my journey, deep in the land of the gnolls\n\n\\\u003eIn my exalted wisdom, and unbridled ambition, I made my way henceforth from the bosom of our dearest birthright, the high-walled castle of our family's noble line\n\n\\\u003eI sought to know the untamed lands beyond the borders of decent society\n\n\\\u003eI wished to make a fortune writ only in my name, unburdened by the shadows of my forebears\n\n\\\u003eI thought myself invincible, capable of enduring a life of endless peregrinations\n\n\\\u003eOh, what a fool I was\n\n\\\u003eWhat depths of suffering I was to endure\n\n\\\u003eNot three days hence from my departure, I was ambushed by marauders in the burrow of a shaded copse\n\n\\\u003eThe gnolls came like shadows made of teeth and claw\n\n\\\u003eI am sorry, mother\n\n\\\u003eAll the sword fights in the yard, the tutelage of my father's greatest men at arms\n\n\\\u003eAll of it was wasted the second my eyes fell upon those spotted beasts\n\n\\\u003eNever in my life had I felt such fear as when I heard their cackling ring through the trees\n\n\\\u003eThey had me ten to a man, surrounded on all sides\n\n\\\u003eThey wore little but boiled leather and painted fur\n\n\\\u003eThey carried little but hungry eyes and thirsty blades\n\n\\\u003eIn an instant, I lay cowering in the hard-packed dirt as they robbed me of my belongings\n\n\\\u003eMy prostration caused them unending mirth and elation\n\n\\\u003eAs all my worldly possessions were divided and fought over, one of the foul creatures took an interest in my person\n\n\\\u003eShe was unwashed and nearly ungarbed, wreathed in an armor of bone and braided hair\n\n\\\u003eShe raised my chin with the flat of an axe\n\n\\\u003eI gazed into her animal visage\n\n\\\u003eHer slitted eyes burned into mine\n\n\\\u003eAnd. . . .\n\n\\\u003eOh gods\n\n\\\u003eThe stench\n\n\\\u003eThe sheer stench of this creature\n\n\\\u003eMother, I shan't be able to describe it properly\n\n\\\u003eIt was a fiendish malodor of unthinkable barbarity\n\n\\\u003eHer odor would have sent children screaming to their sires\n\n\\\u003eHer scent would drive the most devout priest into raving apostasy, cursing the name of any creator who would inflict its existence upon the world\n\n\\\u003eShe snorted in my face, ignorant of the malediction that spread from her body\n\n\\\u003e“Hu-mon scared?\"\n\n\\\u003eI was too overwhelmed to offer a response\n\n\\\u003eShe cooed, rubbing my cheek with the back of a massive paw\n\n\\\u003e“No scare. No fight, no harm. You knowing?\"\n\n\\\u003eHer grasp of the common language was atrocious\n\n\\\u003eEvery broken syllable made me ache for what I had thrown away\n\n\\\u003eAnd all that I had been reduced to now\n\n\\\u003eSome foolhardy scion that was soon to have his throat slit on the side of the road\n\n\\\u003eI was going to die\n\n\\\u003eAll at once, I began to weep uncontrollably\n\n\\\u003eThe cackling of the gnolls only grew louder\n\n\\\u003eMany nudged me with the hafts of their weapons, clucking in barbaric tongues\n\n\\\u003eSteel glinted under the shaded trees\n\n\\\u003eSuddenly, the she-beast rushed for me\n\n\\\u003eI screamed in mortal terror\n\n\\\u003eBut, instead of being devoured, she wrapped me in a furred embrace and snarled at her fellows\n\n\\\u003eThey seemed quite as shocked as me\n\n\\\u003eA heated argument ensued, spoken with equal measures of guttural word and slabbering jaws\n\n\\\u003eI continued to lie nestled against her bosom\n\n\\\u003eHer teats eclipsed my head, and her horrible scent seemed as thick as bottled sewage\n\n\\\u003eSoon, the other gnolls went away with tucked tails and growling breaths, pilfering through my supplies once more\n\n\\\u003eMy embracer turned me around as if I was no more than a doll in her arms\n\n\\\u003eSlowly, she wiped a tear from my face with a black padded hand\n\n\\\u003e“Caasi,\" she said, bumping a fist to her chest\n\n\\\u003eAn expectant look crossed her slitted eyes\n\n\\\u003eWhen I did not find the strength to respond, she said “Caasi\" again, as if I was simple-minded\n\n\\\u003eAnother fist crashed to her chest\n\n\\\u003eI took a heaving breath, about to beg for my life\n\n\\\u003ebut this only filled me with more of her foul aroma, and my tolerance of it snapped into gags\n\n\\\u003e“No scare. Safing's the must. _Ek sal jou beskerm_. How you say—\"\n\n\\\u003eShe paused, searching for the word\n\n\\\u003e“_Igama_? Your star?\"\n\n“No!\" I screamed, trying to escape from my prison of tawny fur\n\n\\\u003eThis only caused her to grip me tighter\n\n\\\u003e“No scare! Wish learn star!\"\n\n\\\u003eI couldn't stand the stench of this beast one second longer\n\n“By the gods,\" I cried, “your odor—\"\n\n\\\u003e“Ah! Urodor!\"\n\n\\\u003eShe poked a gruesomely long claw to my chest\n\n\\\u003e“You star Urodor! Me star Caasi!\"\n\n\\\u003eMy struggling had won me no purchase\n\n\\\u003eShe was impossibly strong\n\n“That is not my name! Let go of me at once! My father—\"\n\n\\\u003eWith nary a twinge of effort, she lifted me like a bride\n\n\\\u003eHer effluviant companions were already fading into the trees with my belongings\n\n\\\u003eShe followed with haste, just as ignorant of my protests as her own malfeasant hygiene\n\n\\\u003e“Urodor! _Umuhle kakhulu_, Urodor!\"\n\n“M-my father! He can pay you!\"\n\n\\\u003eShe smiled like I was some tittering babe in her arms\n\n“Ransom!\" I cried. “You can sell me for ransom! My father has many creditors!\"\n\n\\\u003e“_Uphephile manje_.\"\n\n\\\u003eHer voice was as soft as her fur\n\n\\\u003e“_Sizobhebhana_, Urodor. _Sizobhebhana_.\"\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\\\u003eCaasi had been braiding my hair for an hour\n\n\\\u003eMother\n\n\\\u003eAs my name is Aizar Myolous, Esquire, House of the Interrogative\n\n\\\u003eBelieve me\n\n\\\u003eI tried to resist\n\n\\\u003e“Cease your ministrations!\"\n\n\\\u003eThe grassy meadow echoed with her cackling\n\n\\\u003e“Same!\" She fluffed the thick, beaded fur on her neck “Same, Urodor!\"\n\n\\\u003eMother, we were not the same\n\n\\\u003eShe was garbed in bone and decorative trinkets\n\n\\\u003eJudging by the continued tugs on my scalp, she was attempting to mold me into a doppelganger\n\n“I am nothing like you! Let me go!\"\n\n\\\u003eWe had been sitting alone in the waning sun for quite some time\n\n\\\u003eHer tribal consorts were sharpening their weapons near the edge of the glade\n\n\\\u003eTheir glances towards us were always held with open scorn\n\n\\\u003eIt was obvious that they disapproved of Caasi's attempt to take me hostage\n\n\\\u003eWe were of similar minds in that regard\n\n\\\u003e“Urodor! Feelings!\"\n\n\\\u003eCaasi grabbed my hand and ran it through the bone pauldron on her shoulder\n\n\\\u003eShe carved a path down her chest, through tangles of painted beads\n\n\\\u003eDown over—\n\n\\\u003eI had to use my full weight to pull my hand away\n\n“My name is not Urodor! It is Aizar! Second heir to the Interrogative!\"\n\n\\\u003eShe hummed in amusement while braiding more seeds into my hair\n\n\\\u003e“I did not say Urodor! I said _your odor_! _Your odor_—\"\n\n\\\u003e“_Umuhle uma umemeza_.\" She poked me in the chest. “Urodor.\" A hand to her chest. “Caasi.\"\n\n“Unhand me, you odiferous wench!\"\n\n\\\u003eI struggled for what felt half a span before she allowed me some freedom\n\n\\\u003eI stood on the grass, and she remained sitting, and yet our eyes were still at equal level\n\n\\\u003e“My father will find you musty marauders! He will send entire regiments to burn your hovels into ash!\"\n\n\\\u003eShe merely tilted her head\n\n“Listen! Allow me an exit, and I shall forget this ever occurred! No retribution will fall upon your bloodline!\"\n\n\\\u003eHer ears folded back\n\n“Perhaps I'll be generous! I'll have my father send a caravan of soap, merely to fix the _humanitarian disaster_ that is your hygiene!\"\n\n\\\u003e“Urodor,\" Caasi said, not looking at me. “No shout. Quietings.\"\n\n\\\u003eI followed her gaze\n\n\\\u003eHer effluviant bandits were all watching our exchange at the end of the glade\n\n\\\u003eSome had already risen to their feet\n\n\\\u003eAlmost all, to a man, looked ready to floss my entrails with a sword\n\n\\\u003e“Want kill you,\" Caasi said. “I stopping. Claim, by right.\"\n\n\\\u003eA massive paw wrapped gently around my arm and pulled me against her bosom\n\n\\\u003e“You claim. You live.\"\n\n\\\u003eSlowly, the wretched visages of her tribesmen turned away\n\n\\\u003eThe sound of growls and sharpening steel rang across the meadow\n\n\\\u003e“Braid for you. _Kuyinto yomkhosi_. How you say—\" She paused. “Letting? Accept?\"\n\n“Oh, I'm being ordained as a savage, is that it?\"\n\n\\\u003eShe shrugged, digging bits of copper from a skin pouch\n\n“You don't . . . you don't care at all about my family, do you?\"\n\n\\\u003eShe began to hum a gentle tune while braiding my hair\n\n“I. . . .\"\n\n\\\u003eMy family name had been at the forefront of every conversation\n\n\\\u003eEvery peasant bowed their head\n\n\\\u003eEvery member of the gentry thought me little more than a branch in a family tree\n\n\\\u003eEveryone had some hidden agenda relating to my patronage\n\n\\\u003eEverything I had ever done was shadowed by my birthright\n\n\\\u003eIt was why I had left\n\n\\\u003eWhy. . . .\n\n\\\u003e“Urodor!\"\n\n\\\u003eShe turned me around in her lap, her hand full of painted glass beads\n\n\\\u003e“Nicing! You go of the way!\"\n\n\\\u003eShe took another lock of my hair and set to threading it between padded fingers\n\n\\\u003eHer slitted eyes were focused\n\n\\\u003eHer black maw spread in a smile\n\n\\\u003eOver the grass, her tumaceous tribesmen were still glaring with hostility\n\n\\\u003eThey would surely cut me down if I tried to run\n\n\\\u003eBy the Seventh Bell, what barbarous calamity had I fallen into?\n\n\\\u003e“Caasi,\" I said, keeping my voice down. “Please. Let me go.\"\n\n\\\u003eWithout warning, she leaned forward and licked my cheek with a barbed tongue\n\n\\\u003eShe found much diversion in my shuddering\n\n\\\u003e“Liking?\" She threaded more beads into my hair. “No sticking. Need do again.\"\n\n“No, I do not like! And stop using the infinitive! That is not how you conjugate—\"\n\n\\\u003eShe licked me again\n\n\\\u003eMother\n\n\\\u003eI swear on my birthright, mother\n\n“Let me go, you odorous ogre! You musty monster! You stinking swine!\"\n\n\\\u003eHer grip tightened at my back, like the lock of a gibbet\n\n\\\u003e“You liking, Urodor.\"\n\n\\\u003eUnderneath her armor of bone and beads\n\n\\\u003eHer fur was softer than jasmine\n\n\\\u003eWarm as the sun\n\n\\\u003eThe color of bread and gold\n\n\\\u003eThere was so much of it to be found\n\n\\\u003eSo much to explore\n\n\\\u003eNone of my arranged courtships had felt like her\n\n\\\u003eNone had been so exotic\n\n\\\u003eSo alluring\n\n\\\u003eSo. . . .\n\n\\\u003eSo horribly putrid in scent\n\n\\\u003eShe squeezed me tighter, locking my face against a teat\n\n\\\u003eI gagged against her flesh\n\n\\\u003e“Mark. You marking, Urodor.\" She let me pull up just enough to gaze into her animal visage. “You claim.\"\n\n\\\u003eHer grin was nearly feline in its deviousness\n\n\\\u003e“You mine. Everyone know.\"\n\n\\\u003eShe sniffed my neck, as if to make sure, and found it confirmed.\n\n\\\u003e“Mine.\"\n\n\\\u003eShe hugged me\n\n\\\u003eThe entire world became her scent\n\n\\\u003ePungent\n\n\\\u003eBalmy\n\n\\\u003eMiasmic\n\n\\\u003eHers\n\n\\\u003eShe braided my hair until the stars were bright\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\\\u003eThe rest of her tribe appeared with blade, torch and plunder\n\n\\\u003eThey were a nomadic people, a motley caravan of warriors and beasts of burden\n\n\\\u003eWe journeyed through the night, roaming deeper into the barren savannah\n\n\\\u003eFrom snippets of conversation, I gathered that Caasi's people had roused the ire of the local garrisons\n\n\\\u003eThey were fleeing back into the hinterlands\n\n\\\u003eAnd I would have to go with them\n\n\\\u003eI was never restrained\n\n\\\u003eNever once was a dagger held to my throat, as I might've expected from my father's enemies\n\n\\\u003eBut, mother, you must understand\n\n\\\u003eI had no chance to flee\n\n\\\u003eEvery gnoll, save Caasi, watched me with open suspicion\n\n\\\u003eThey ran their fingers curiously through the beads in my hair\n\n\\\u003eThey sniffed my neck like dogs\n\n\\\u003eEvery time, they would find my scent shocking\n\n\\\u003eThey would glance between Caasi and myself with amazement\n\n\\\u003eAnd they would slink off back through the grass, as if the scent they had found had been as a warding spell against any ill-intentions\n\n\\\u003ePersonally, I found it just as repelling as they did\n\n\\\u003eEvery time I caught a whiff of my own skin, it reeked of her\n\n\\\u003eI bathed in every stream and lake we crossed to little result\n\n\\\u003eHer pungent aroma suffused through my skin like a cattle brand\n\n\\\u003eBut, in my heart, I had no doubts that Caasi's insistence on marking me with scent and bead was the only earthly protection I had left\n\n\\\u003eAside from the she-beast herself\n\n\\\u003eShe never left my side\n\n\\\u003eAs the days went on, and her tribe scoured the open plains for forage and game, she taught me the ways of her people\n\n\\\u003eThe first time I expressed hunger, she dragged me off to hunt down a boar\n\n\\\u003eIn her antediluvian language, she instructed me on the proper use of a javelin as she gored the beast from afar\n\n\\\u003eShe guided my hand through the process of butchering, making sure I did not ruin the pelt\n\n\\\u003eI never found her lessons the least bit patronizing\n\n\\\u003eNot like some of the tutors father had hired\n\n\\\u003eIn fact, she seemed overjoyed when I killed my first rabbit\n\n\\\u003eHer native tongue was effusive with praise as I managed to patch my tunic with its fur\n\n\\\u003eI was shown how to dry the meat and pay honor to the rabbit's soul\n\n\\\u003eShe showed me how to fletch arrows, forage for edible roots\n\n\\\u003eEvery successful performance was rewarded with hugs and licks\n\n\\\u003eFor the most part, I did not resist these affections, as I needed her scent to ward off the other tribesmen\n\n\\\u003eMaybe I found these displays endearing, in the way one might endure licks from a pet\n\n\\\u003eDuring those perilous days, I was not quite sure of my feelings\n\n\\\u003eI was not sure of anything, to tell the truth\n\n\\\u003e. . .\n\n\\\u003eMother\n\n\\\u003ePerhaps I have been unfair in my portrayal of Caasi\n\n\\\u003eYou might well be thinking that she was unfathomably primitive\n\n\\\u003eThis was not the case\n\n\\\u003eIn the tribe's endless ranging across the savannah, she would often pause and admire the beautiful vistas\n\n\\\u003eShe held deep respect for every animal she slew\n\n\\\u003eAt night, she would paint cords of bark and weave them into complex tapestries\n\n\\\u003eHer tent was a veritable gallery of art, all the walls adorned with majestic creatures and vibrant landscapes\n\n\\\u003eThere was a wooden totem she always kept in a small shrine, carved to appear as a stack of gnollish faces\n\n\\\u003eOften, I would find her praying at its base, whispering the same phrase repeatedly\n\n\\\u003e“_Uyakhunjulwa_\"\n\n\\\u003eIt took some prodding for her to elucidate its meaning\n\n\\\u003e“You are remembered\"\n\n\\\u003eMany of the faces appeared to be elders\n\n\\\u003eSome were children\n\n\\\u003eOne was a male that had received special care in its carving\n\n\\\u003eShe would gaze longingly into his eyes, her voice barely a whisper\n\n\\\u003eSlowly, over the chasm of our separate languages, I found a deeply aching soul\n\n\\\u003eDuring the first few nights, I. . . .\n\n\\\u003eWell\n\n\\\u003eMother\n\n\\\u003eYou must understand\n\n\\\u003eI found sleep difficult to attain, in those early days\n\n\\\u003eI had never slumbered on anything less than feathers and silk\n\n\\\u003eAnd my thoughts were an endless tide of fear and worry\n\n\\\u003eI would fret about my future\n\n\\\u003eI would remember all that I had thrown away in my arrogance\n\n\\\u003eI would be convinced the other tribesmen would soon defy Caasi's claim and anoint my head on a filthy pole\n\n\\\u003eI had never felt more lost and vulnerable\n\n\\\u003eBut, in the deepest depths of my misery, Caasi would speak softly to me\n\n\\\u003eShe would take me in her arms and lie me down upon a bedding of scattered furs\n\n\\\u003eShe would stroke my hair\n\n\\\u003eAs I laid my head against her chest, she would hum the songs of her people\n\n\\\u003eWe would lie there together, listening to the fire that burned inside her tent\n\n\\\u003eThe smell of smoke and earth would blend with her musty scent\n\n\\\u003eAnd we would make love\n\n\\\u003eMother\n\n\\\u003eOf all the culture shocks I had experienced, this was the most shattering\n\n\\\u003eShe was voracious\n\n\\\u003eUnrelenting\n\n\\\u003eHungry beyond compare\n\n\\\u003eAll my life, the noble princesses I had courted had been regal to the point of austerity\n\n\\\u003eThey had seemed as delicate as a porcelain cup\n\n\\\u003eCaasi was not delicate\n\n\\\u003eThere was not a trace of restraint in her carnal acts\n\n\\\u003eEvery orgasm came as a revelation\n\n\\\u003eEvery time, I would be amazed that I had survived the process\n\n\\\u003eEvery time, she would have me moaning her name for all the tribe to hear\n\n\\\u003eAnd, every time, she would hold me tightly against her bosom as sleep took us both\n\n\\\u003eUnder the smoldering flames, she would whisper to me in her native tongue\n\n\\\u003eThe longer I listened to the alien words, the more beautiful I found their timbre\n\n\\\u003eIt felt as if they were spoken by the wind and trees, as if the language was the voice of nature itself\n\n\\\u003eI heard her voice not as some fearsome savage\n\n\\\u003eBut a friend\n\n\\\u003eA companion\n\n\\\u003eA fellow wistful soul\n\n\\\u003eI felt sure that she had enjoyed our love for its own sake\n\n\\\u003eI felt confident that she did not have some devious machinations in her heart\n\n\\\u003eShe was not using me for her own ends, as I'd known from every other lover\n\n\\\u003eShe did not wish to further a bloodline\n\n\\\u003eShe did not want a union to solidify some political alliance\n\n\\\u003eShe appreciated me for who I was, and not merely what I could give her\n\n\\\u003eI could feel the truth of this, nestled in the quiet foreign words, the gentle hush of her breath\n\n\\\u003eAnd, lying there in her arms, I would settle my head against her chest\n\n\\\u003eI would breathe in the same musty scent that had sent me retching upon our first meeting\n\n\\\u003eAnd it would make me feel safe for the first time in my life\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\\\u003eEventually, the seasons began to change\n\n\\\u003eI stopped tracking the movements of the tribe against my cartographic memory of the region, hoping to escape whenever civilization drew near\n\n\\\u003eInstead, I made myself useful\n\n\\\u003eCaasi continued to teach me the ways of the hunt on the long marches across the savannah\n\n\\\u003eSeeing that I possessed much less stature than the other gnolls, she fashioned me a bow from sturdy yew and decorative twine\n\n\\\u003eI practiced every day with hand-fletched arrows\n\n\\\u003eAs you know, mother, I had received my fair share of archery lessons\n\n\\\u003eSoon, I found myself the best marksman amongst all members of the tribe\n\n\\\u003eThe gnolls, for all their beastly strength, did not possess the fine dexterity to properly wield a bow\n\n\\\u003eTheir claws and padded hands were far more suited for melee and javelins\n\n\\\u003eWhen I managed to kill a fleeing rabbit at fifty paces, Caasi insisted that I join one of the tribe's hunting parties\n\n\\\u003eI had known this day would come, but it still left me aghast\n\n\\\u003eThe other tribesmen considered me something akin to Caasi's babbling pet, one that served best when it was neither seen nor heard\n\n\\\u003eI was at the very bottom rung of the pecking order\n\n\\\u003eEvery paltry share of meat I received for supper confirmed it\n\n\\\u003eBut Caasi, bless her heart, made a stubborn diversion of talking up my prowess to the warrior chieftain\n\n\\\u003eI could see her spend every last ounce of social capital she had left, trying to earn my admission to the hunt\n\n\\\u003eIn the end, she was successful\n\n\\\u003eBy the early dawn, I was leaving for the woodlands with a squad of hunters\n\n\\\u003eBut every one of their painted faces had leveled me with a sneer\n\n\\\u003eAnd they made no attempts to slow their gait for my sake\n\n\\\u003eI was dead weight, their eyes told me\n\n\\\u003eSome burden to be tolerated\n\n\\\u003eNothing more\n\n\\\u003eIt filled me with an indescribable rage\n\n\\\u003eI followed their grueling pace until I was exhausted\n\n\\\u003eAnd, when they had sighted a gazelle drinking at a stream, I loosed an arrow in a blind fury\n\n\\\u003eMy horrible aim seemed designed to confirm their suspicions\n\n\\\u003eThe gazelle fled through the trees\n\n\\\u003eWe followed at a mad dash\n\n\\\u003eBut soon the forest ended, and we could see the bobbing tail of our prey as it absconded through the tall, brown grass\n\n\\\u003eThe gnolls refused to go further\n\n\\\u003eUnder the merciless gaze of the sun, the open savannah would offer naught but a slow, miserable death\n\n\\\u003eThere was nothing the tribe feared more than a scorching midday heat\n\n\\\u003eAnd, staring down the empty horizon, there was not a lick of shade or water to be found\n\n\\\u003eWith their fur, and general size, it would be foolish to continue the pursuit\n\n\\\u003eI had no such qualms\n\n\\\u003eI ran headlong through the grass\n\n\\\u003eBow in hand\n\n\\\u003eBeaded hair dancing in the sunlight\n\n\\\u003eMother, you should've seen me then\n\n\\\u003eMy savagery was an enlightenment\n\n\\\u003eI could hardly remember my days of careful study\n\n\\\u003eAll the lessons on etiquette were lost in the wind\n\n\\\u003eThere was nothing but elation as the gazelle disappeared amongst the fronds and light\n\n\\\u003eI was ready for this\n\n\\\u003eCaasi had taught me the art of tracking\n\n\\\u003eI stalked deep inside the brush, following every footstep\n\n\\\u003eThere was nowhere that my prey could hide\n\n\\\u003eSoon, I was upon it again, but the gazelle fled in graceful bounds before I could notch\n\n\\\u003eI could never hope to match its agility\n\n\\\u003eBut I pursued it again, and again, and again\n\n\\\u003eIn the endless plains, it found no hope of quarter\n\n\\\u003eAlways, it would flee, and I would follow, and it would flee again\n\n\\\u003eIts strength was waning\n\n\\\u003eI was drenched in sweat, half-mad from the burning light\n\n\\\u003eBy the time the sun had fallen well-past its zenith, it was dying from sunstroke\n\n\\\u003eI slaughtered the creature just as Caasi had taught me\n\n\\\u003eI paid respect to the life it had lived\n\n\\\u003eThen, I took its corpse upon my shoulders\n\n\\\u003eAnd I trudged my way back to camp\n\n\\\u003eNight fell\n\n\\\u003eMy bare feet were torn to bloody ribbons\n\n\\\u003eI was a shell of flesh and sweat by the time I saw the cook fires\n\n\\\u003eMost of the gnoll sentries were shocked to see me alive\n\n\\\u003eI hardly managed to toss the gazelle at the feet of a butcher before I was fainting\n\n\\\u003eI woke to Caasi's frantic voice in my ear\n\n\\\u003eShe sounded as if she'd been torn in half with worry and anger\n\n\\\u003eBut the warrior chieftain barked an order\n\n\\\u003eShe stepped back\n\n\\\u003eThe massive, scar-ridden gnoll sauntered over and kneeled at my position\n\n\\\u003eHis eyes roamed over my burned, filthy skin\n\n\\\u003eHe looked at the empty stew pots near the fire\n\n\\\u003eNone of the other hunts had been successful\n\n\\\u003eI was the only one who had returned victorious\n\n\\\u003eA touch of amusement crossed his maw\n\n\\\u003eHe looked me in the eye, offered a hand, and said: “_Onukayo_.\"\n\n\\\u003eI asked Caasi for a translation\n\n\\\u003eShe replied: “Stinky one.\"\n\n\\\u003eI took the chieftain's hand while laughing hysterically\n\n\\\u003eHe plied me with the ceremonial warrior's drink, a noxious mix of berries and fermented milk\n\n\\\u003eWe danced around the fire, singing songs deep into the night\n\n\\\u003eIt was the first time I had ever participated in their festivities\n\n\\\u003eIt felt as if I had never belonged anywhere else\n\n\\\u003eI became outrageously drunk to the sound of celebration\n\n\\\u003eI raised my voice with a chorus of beasts\n\n\\\u003eI danced and ate and sang until Caasi was forced to drag me back to our tent\n\n\\\u003eWe made aching, vicious love until I was too insensate to do anything but lie content in her arms\n\n\\\u003eIt did not end there, of course\n\n\\\u003eI had proven my worth\n\n\\\u003eI was _onukayo_\n\n\\\u003eCaasi assured me the phrasing was more poetic in the native tongue\n\n\\\u003eBy the way the other warriors spoke it with fair greeting, I did not have reason to doubt her\n\n\\\u003eSoon, I was indispensable to every hunt\n\n\\\u003eWith the revelation of my endurance, the gnolls shifted their tactics\n\n\\\u003eThey would flush their prey from cover, and I would harry it with arrows\n\n\\\u003eAll who escaped would be hunted down through the plains\n\n\\\u003eSoon, I found myself fought over between the rival hunting parties\n\n\\\u003eEveryone laid claim to my participation\n\n\\\u003eI had never once been in such high demand\n\n\\\u003eIn my old life, I had always been the spare child\n\n\\\u003eThe second heir\n\n\\\u003eI could sit with my father on the dais, but I could not speak\n\n\\\u003eIt had not been my place\n\n\\\u003eSoon, the chieftain decided that my place was leading my own party\n\n\\\u003eI had my pick of the finest warriors\n\n\\\u003eAnd every successful outing only solidified my place as top hunter\n\n\\\u003eFrom then on, my shares of meat were only shadowed by the chieftain himself\n\n\\\u003eMother, you should've seen the way these towering gnolls would look at me\n\n\\\u003eNot long ago, I had been little more than a hairless welp in their eyes\n\n\\\u003eNow, their gaze held nothing but respect\n\n\\\u003eAnd it was mine\n\n\\\u003eMy respect\n\n\\\u003eI had not earned it from a family crest stitched into a tunic\n\n\\\u003eI had earned it with sweat and skill\n\n\\\u003eIt was mine\n\n\\\u003eFor the first time in my life, it was mine\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\\\u003eI suppose I should arrive at the purpose of this letter\n\n\\\u003eI'm quite certain that the stories you've heard of me were more ghastly than the truth\n\n\\\u003eMother\n\n\\\u003eYes, it is true\n\n\\\u003eI was involved in the ambush of father's men\n\n\\\u003eIt was not any sort of targeted retribution, I assure you\n\n\\\u003eAt the time, the gnolls had ranged near civilization again, as they were want to do whenever they wished to trade for medicine and other complex amenities\n\n\\\u003eOf course, any attempts at bartering were responded to at the ends of pikes\n\n\\\u003eMore than one garrison was mustered in response, as if we had been a hair's breadth from storming the ramparts\n\n\\\u003eI was quite surprised that diplomacy had been attempted at all\n\n\\\u003eCaasi explained to me that it was a point of honor amongst the gnolls\n\n\\\u003eThey would give civilized society the chance to treat fairly\n\n\\\u003eOnce that inevitably failed, they would turn to banditry\n\n\\\u003eIn their culture, if a basic offer of entreatment was rejected, then all warfare was permitted\n\n\\\u003eAll tribes must help each other, just as every natural creature helps the other to survive\n\n\\\u003eWillingly or otherwise\n\n\\\u003e_Umngane noma Inyama_\n\n\\\u003eFriend or Flesh\n\n\\\u003eAny tribe who is not useful as a friend will find use as a foe\n\n\\\u003eBut allow me to be clear, mother\n\n\\\u003eI would not denigrate myself into some common cutthroat\n\n\\\u003eThe gnolls were not distinguishing between soldiers and peasants, as there was no such distinction amongst themselves\n\n\\\u003eI made great pains to elucidate the difference\n\n\\\u003eAnd to say that the gnolls found this revelation acutely horrifying would be an understatement\n\n\\\u003eThey had assumed that every member of civilization was a trained warrior\n\n\\\u003eTo them, their actions had been akin to slaughtering an innocent animal without due cause\n\n\\\u003eIn other words, an incomparable act of shame\n\n\\\u003eThey were even more aghast to discover the degree of isolation inherent in the common man\n\n\\\u003eThey considered our lack of communal cooperation to be a grievous poison upon the soul\n\n\\\u003eAll these goliathan gnolls began to treat me as if I'd endured unimaginable suffering in the loneliness of my previous life\n\n\\\u003eI did not correct them\n\n\\\u003eAnd, thus, they now approached the role of bandits as they would that of a hunter\n\n\\\u003eThat is, granting respect to any creature that was merely doing its best to survive\n\n\\\u003eNaturally, mother, I became the face and voice of every robbery\n\n\\\u003eHolding a bow of yew and twine, I would translate our demands to any carriage who crossed our path\n\n\\\u003eMy hairless visage would be a point of calm amongst a sea of snarls and tawny fur\n\n\\\u003eNot a single robbery ended in bloodshed, thanks to my interference\n\n\\\u003eWe took only the necessities\n\n\\\u003eMedicine, food, and textiles\n\n\\\u003eNot a single ounce of metal was involved in the exchange, whether that be gold or steel\n\n\\\u003eRegardless\n\n\\\u003eShowing mercy inevitably led to escaping witnesses\n\n\\\u003ePerhaps I should've known that word of my presence would spread\n\n\\\u003ePerhaps I should've anticipated father sending a search party\n\n\\\u003eMaybe I thought he had never cared enough to look\n\n\\\u003eMaybe I only wished this was the case\n\n\\\u003e. . .\n\n\\\u003eWell\n\n\\\u003eMother\n\n\\\u003eI assure you\n\n\\\u003eI only recognized Rebith after I fired the warning shot\n\n\\\u003eI stepped out through the brush, ready to begin my speech—\n\n\\\u003e“Aizar!\"\n\n\\\u003eIt felt as if I'd heard the name in a dream\n\n\\\u003eSomething strange, and yet immediately familiar\n\n\\\u003e“Seven Bells, lad, is that truly you?\"\n\n\\\u003eHis bald, ugly pate was just as scarred as I remembered\n\n\\\u003eI could see the hard lines of his face as clearly as when he had smiled through my training lessons\n\n“_Hou jou vuur vas!_\" I shouted. “_Moenie aanval nie!_\"\n\n\\\u003eAround my father's men at arms, the bushes came alive\n\n\\\u003eJavelins and axes glinted off every leaf\n\n\\\u003eThey were surrounded\n\n\\\u003eOutnumbered\n\n\\\u003eRebith had a face as white as bone\n\n\\\u003eAll the knights in his coterie were gaping at the sight of me\n\n\\\u003eI could only imagine my appearance\n\n\\\u003eWreathed in beads and fur\n\n\\\u003eMy hair braided more finely than a carpet\n\n\\\u003eEvery ounce of decadent fat burned into hard cords of muscle\n\n\\\u003e“Aizar,\" Rebith said, thunderstruck. “Fuckin' stars, lad, what have they done to you?\"\n\n\\\u003e“_Bamba izikhali!_\" I shouted. “_Hulle is vriende!_\"\n\n\\\u003eThe circle of gnolls huffed, but did not advance\n\n\\\u003eSlowly, I approached my old mentor.\n\n“Is sister Rosen still consorting with that dwarven prince from Valrynn?\"\n\n\\\u003eRebith took a moment to speak. “Aye, well, that's not official record, so to speak.\"\n\n“Oh ho! I'd wager she's built a step stool for him, by now.\"\n\n\\\u003e“Calls him her “giant of Lannister\", so I've heard.\"\n\n\\\u003eI found myself snickering\n\n\\\u003eRebith managed a twitch of the lips\n\n“Ah, well,\" I said. “Some people never change, I suppose.\"\n\n\\\u003e“Aye. Suppose not.\" He gave me a poignant look. “Aizar.\"\n\n“That is no longer my name.\"\n\n\\\u003e“Name like that ain't somethin' you can toss aside, lad.\"\n\n“Rebith,\" I said. “Turn around. You've found me, and now you may leave.\"\n\n\\\u003e“Can I, now?\"\n\n\\\u003eThere was a motley of clinking plate as his men shuffled uneasily, staring at the ring of gnolls\n\n\\\u003e“Don't rightly seem that way,\" my old mentor said. “Then again, seems you ain't quite the savage you're pretendin' for.\"\n\n“There is no pretend.\" I motioned with my bow. “Go on. Tell my father—\"\n\n\\\u003e“_Hlukana nomuntu_!\"\n\n\\\u003eCaasi was at my side in an instant\n\n\\\u003eMore accurately, she had pulled me to her side\n\n\\\u003e“_Ngeke uthathe ngisho unwele olulodwa!_\"\n\n\\\u003eHalf of Rebith's men appeared to soil their gambesons\n\n\\\u003eMy face was full of fur, breasts, and beads\n\n\\\u003e“You no take! He is tribe!\"\n\n\\\u003eAll the gnolls thumped their shields in solidarity\n\n\\\u003e“You poison! You lie!\"\n\n\\\u003eI was struggling valiantly against her grip\n\n\\\u003e“Gone, patriarch! None but tribe!\"\n\n\\\u003eThe gnolls roared\n\n\\\u003eRebith drew his greatsword\n\n“Stop!\"\n\n\\\u003eI disentangled myself from Caasi, waving my bow\n\n\\\u003e“_Yiba nokuthula!_\" I shouted. “Be peaceful!\"\n\n\\\u003eAt my back, there were hackles and teeth\n\n\\\u003eAt my front, there was steel and arrows\n\n“Rebith,\" I said, pacing forward, “tell my father—\"\n\n\\\u003eAnd it happened\n\n\\\u003eA gust of wind hit my back\n\n\\\u003eIt travelled the short distance between us\n\n\\\u003eAnd the scent it carried made my old mentor shiver in disgust\n\n\\\u003eHe looked at me as if it was the most vile stench he'd ever suffered\n\n\\\u003eAnd that look of repugnance instantly set my blood to boil\n\n\\\u003eIt was the same sort of contempt I'd seen on father's face when I spoke of attending his parties\n\n\\\u003eIt was the same grimace I'd seen whenever I dared to be present amongst the regency\n\n\\\u003eIt was that exact same breed of scowl that always appeared whenever I forgot my place as second son\n\n\\\u003eAnd, most of all, it must've been the same expression I'd made all those months ago, when I'd met Caasi\n\n\\\u003eThe woman who had saved me\n\n\\\u003eThe tribe who had lifted me\n\n\\\u003eThe scent that I carried now was the one that had spelled the dawn of my new life\n\n\\\u003eI had long ago stopped smelling the musk of my beloved\n\n\\\u003eI had gone blind to her musty signature the same way one goes blind to the scent of their own home\n\n\\\u003eNow, standing here with the remnants of my heritage, I realized that I smelled just as hideous as the rest of the gnolls\n\n\\\u003eAnd I wouldn't change that for all the noble patronage in the world\n\n“Rebith,\" I said. “Tell my father that his son is dead. There exists now only Urodor, the _onukayo_ of the plains.\"\n\n\\\u003eThe grizzled old man at arms was sweating through his cuirass\n\n“Tell my father that the next search party he sends will find naught but braid and bow in return.\"\n\n\\\u003eI held my hand out backwards\n\n\\\u003eAnd the pads of Caasi's hands found mine in an instant\n\n\\\u003eShe came forward, wrapping me in her arms, burying me in fur and bead and musk\n\n“Finally,\" I said, notching an arrow. “Tell my father that I. . . .\"\n\n\\\u003eRebith's eyes were as white as snow\n\n\\\u003eI remembered our laughter as we danced with swords in the chilly winter dawn\n\n\\\u003eThose days were long in the past\n\n\\\u003eI did not care\n\n“Tell my father that I have nothing further to say to him.\"\n\n\\\u003eSteel plate rattled against mail\n\n\\\u003eEvery knight in the coterie looked ready to beg\n\n“_Yenza umgodi!_\" I shouted\n\n\\\u003eThe gnolls formed a hole in the perimeter\n\n\\\u003eI motioned with the tip of an arrow\n\n\\\u003eSlowly, staring wide-eyed at the towering gnolls, Rebith and his men began to retreat\n\n\\\u003eSoon, they were fleeing through the trees\n\n\\\u003eAnd the gnolls began to chant\n\n\\\u003eTheir booming voices echoed through the forest\n\n\\\u003eThe air came alive with song\n\n\\\u003eIt was the most beautiful word of my life\n\n\\\u003e_Onukayo!_\n\n\\\u003e_Onukayo!_\n\n\\\u003e_Onukayo!_\n\n\\\u003e_Onukayo!_\n\n\\\u003e_Onukayo!_\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\\\u003eMother\n\n\\\u003eI wish to paint a picture of the man who was your son and where he is now\n\n\\\u003eI am kneeling at the shrine of Caasi's ancestors, writing this on parchment I stole from a traveling minstrel\n\n\\\u003eI have written the entirety of these words while listening to her snore on a bed of furs\n\n\\\u003eThe sound has only emboldened my resolve\n\n\\\u003eAll through the day, the gnolls have granted me a respect due only to the strongest warriors\n\n\\\u003eAbandoning one's tribe is considered an unrivaled pain of the soul\n\n\\\u003eAnd they say I've borne the wounds with grace\n\n\\\u003eThe celebrations lasted far into the night\n\n\\\u003eMy mouth is still sweet with the taste of fermented _junjo_ berries\n\n\\\u003eAll night, Caasi had never let me escape her grasp\n\n\\\u003eShe had spoken my name at every given chance\n\n\\\u003e“Urodor,\" she said, as she plied me with meat and fruit\n\n\\\u003e“Urodor,\" she said, as she finished the _ibhiliyoni_ notch in my hair\n\n\\\u003e“Urodor,\" she said, as she guided my hand to the wet embrace of her thighs\n\n\\\u003eMother\n\n\\\u003eShe fucked me, mother\n\n\\\u003eI wish to describe the experience to you now\n\n\\\u003eAnd I do so only because I know it will cut deeper than any threat of violence\n\n\\\u003eI was thrown over her shoulder to the cheers and hollers of the tribe\n\n\\\u003eOur tent was a soft embrace of smoke and dimming firelight\n\n\\\u003eMy body was thrown into a pile of scattered furs\n\n\\\u003eAnd she was straddling me\n\n\\\u003eKissing me\n\n\\\u003eBarely able to tear off my clothes in the throes of lustful desire\n\n\\\u003eI thought of all the dainty princesses my father had chosen for me\n\n\\\u003eAnd I laughed in mad jubilation\n\n\\\u003eShe took offense to my outburst\n\n\\\u003eShe moved her flank from my hips to my face\n\n\\\u003eAnd she planted her rosy, drooling lips to the waiting embrace of mine\n\n\\\u003eMother, you see, the gnolls were not well-practiced in the art of cunnilingus\n\n\\\u003eI'm sure you find the procedure quite unbecoming, as well\n\n\\\u003eBut they possessed a considerable snout, no lips, and a tongue designed to strip flesh from bone\n\n\\\u003eThe smooth and pliant embrace of my mouth was nearly divine in Caasi's eyes\n\n\\\u003eAnd she'd grown quite insistent that this act of love become a daily occurrence\n\n\\\u003eI was only too happy to oblige, mother\n\n\\\u003eI dare say I've eaten her cunt more times than I've seen you in person\n\n\\\u003eI'm quite certain that her screams of ecstasy gave me more pride than anything you've ever said\n\n\\\u003eAnd not to belabor this point too much, mother, but I had barely finished swallowing her emissions before she was licking the rest off my cheeks\n\n\\\u003eHave I described the richness of her fur?\n\n\\\u003eWould you like to know how it glowed in the firelight?\n\n\\\u003eShould I tell you how her breasts would heave in my hands?\n\n\\\u003ePerhaps you'd like to imagine the weight of this gnoll-woman pressing down on your son\n\n\\\u003eRunning her hands over the symbols painted on his skin\n\n\\\u003eI'm sure you can picture the hunger with which she ravaged me\n\n\\\u003eDo you remember those scant few dinners we shared, where the only sound was the scraping of forks and knives?\n\n\\\u003eThere was no such silence here\n\n\\\u003eCaasi was panting madly as she impaled herself on my cock\n\n\\\u003eShe barely had the restraint to spare my pelvis\n\n\\\u003eHer pounding was so vigorous that the fire shook with every plunge\n\n\\\u003eOf course, I had come to enjoy the pain\n\n\\\u003eIt was feral\n\n\\\u003eIt was passionate\n\n\\\u003eIt was _honest_\n\n\\\u003eMother, I cannot begin to describe the feeling I had when this gnoll-woman leaned over me with all her unkempt fur and braided jewelry\n\n\\\u003eWhen she pinned my hands to the piled furs, I laced my fingers between hers\n\n\\\u003eWhen she leaned down to give me a clumsy kiss, I returned it in kind\n\n\\\u003eAnd, when none of this slowed the savage pace of her fucking, I could not help but moan into her ears\n\n\\\u003eFrom her reaction, you'd think it was the most beautiful sound in the world\n\n\\\u003eShe licked me\n\n\\\u003eShe took my hands in hers\n\n\\\u003eAnd she fucked me harder than I'd ever been fucked in my life\n\n\\\u003eMother\n\n\\\u003eI screamed her name\n\n\\\u003eI felt as if my orgasm had cured me of my heritage\n\n\\\u003eThere was nothing but her left in its wake\n\n\\\u003eMother\n\n\\\u003eOh, mother\n\n\\\u003eThere is more I could write\n\n\\\u003eI could've filled entire libraries with the depths of my scorn\n\n\\\u003eBut that would not be honest of me\n\n\\\u003eNot anymore\n\n\\\u003eThose would be the words of the man I had once been\n\n\\\u003eAizar Myolous, Esquire, House of the Interrogative\n\n\\\u003eAnd, as I sit here now, listening to the snores of my beloved\n\n\\\u003eI realize that I did not write this letter for your sake\n\n\\\u003eI wrote it for mine\n\n\\\u003eI wrote it to bury the man I had been, once and for all\n\n\\\u003eI shall end it here, mother\n\n\\\u003eThis was the only time I had tasted our native tongue in weeks\n\n\\\u003eI doubt I shall ever use it again\n\n\\\u003eBecause my name is Urodor\n\n\\\u003eAnd my only desire now is to crawl back into bed with the gnoll named Caasi\n\n\\\u003eWrap myself in her arms\n\n\\\u003eBreathe deeply of her musty scent\n\n\\\u003eAnd feel at peace"}