{"sf1_id":442506,"sf2_id":"dmWMMzo1","title":"//?A Curious Sergal: Part 12.001","author":"CS_Proxy","words":837,"posted_at":"2012-09-30T03:22:00.000Z","tags":["Jax","Sergal","vilous"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/442506-a-curious-sergal-part-12-001","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/dmWMMzo1","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=442506\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#12 of //?A Curious Sergal","content":"Part 11:\n\n\u0026nbsp;[http://www.sofurry.com/view/442505](http://www.sofurry.com/view/442505)\n\n**//? A Curious Sergal**\n\nFriends  \n\"Yaw-AKHAKHAK!\"  \n  \nAva choked on himself mid-yawn. Damn that hurt. It felt as if he had torn every single muscle in his torso.  \n  \n\"Uhhhh...\"  \n  \nHe blinked open his eyes. The stars hung so delicately in the night sky. Ava would have thought it was beautiful had he not distrusted stars so much. He remembered his mother telling him about them.  \n  \n{'Do you see them my little Ava?'  \n  \n'queep?' the small chick peeped as he rustled in his mother's wings.  \n  \nHis beady black eyes tilted towards the heavens, where they absorbed all the distant light that shone on them.\u0026nbsp;  \n  \n'Those are called stars.'  \n  \nAva had never seen them before, as the group of Nevreans he and his mother lived with had fortified themselves within old Agudner ruins. It was only now, after their band had been forced to the surface by the Agudner's defense system, that Ava saw the sky. And it was oh so beautiful.  \n  \nHis eyes focused on the small red blinking star that flew through the heavens.  \n  \n'Peep!'  \n  \n'Yes, my beautiful little Ava; that is from the Nomads. You must promise me one thing, my little Ava, oh, my sweet, little Ava', She grabbed him firmly to make sure she had his full attention, 'Never trust the Nomads'\n\n\u0026nbsp;'Do you understand, my little Ava?'  \n  \n'peep'  \n  \n'Oh, that's my little Ava!' Mother said before grinning warmly and wrapping her little chick even snugger in her feathered arms.\u0026nbsp;  \n}  \n  \nAva felt a warmth rise in him when he thought of his mother. She had passed away seven or so years ago on a trade route through the Green-Belt, when he was only a few seasons old. Though he never found out what had happened to her, it was likely she had frozen to death; the winter had been especially hard that year.  \n  \nAva started to yawn again when he noticed the black figure that had been squatting next to him as he slept.  \n  \n\"Yaw-PEEP!\"  \n  \nAva peeped involuntarily. The strange black Sergal peeped back at him before it tilted his head and stared at Ava with its large white eyes. Ava quizzically furrowed his brow and stared at the creature; it had a Nomad collar, so he couldn't trust it, and yet... it had saved him.\u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\"Who are you?\"  \n  \nNo answer was emitted from the black Sergal's collar-bound throat, and its pupil-less eyes yielded just as much information. Its tail flicked. Ava realized the red scar on the Sergal's left eye, in the shape of the eye of death. Would the Shigu do that to their own?  \n\"Are you... with the Shigu?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;\\*\\*\\*  \n  \n\"Are you... with the Shigu?\"  \n  \nShigu... that was what it sounded like. Jax had learned the name of his enemies through intercepting their communications, but not being able to work his vocal cords, and not even being in contact with anyone that talked to him, he had never heard the name given to his enemies spoken aloud....\u0026nbsp;  \n  \nShigu... he tested the word in his mind once more, then shook his head 'no' to the Nevrean he had saved. The Shigu were the last people he was with.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nAs the Sergal shook his head no, it felt as if a giant boulder had lifted off of Ava's chest. He let out a silent sigh of relief. So he hadn't been captured. Or...?  \n  \n\"Are you... a friend?\"  \n  \nThe Sergal seemed perplexed at such an idea.  \n  \n\"Will you hurt me?\" Ava elaborated.  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \n\"Are you... a friend?\" the Nevrean asked.  \n  \nJax only crooked his eyebrow at this question. His only friend was Arroyo. Arroyo was someone who he had hunted with. Arroyo was someone who he had played with since childhood. Arroyo was one of the only people who he could communicate with, because the bond they formed together was stronger than words.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;Arroyo was dead.  \n  \nAnd now this bird... this Nevrean trader who he had only known for two days was asking him if they were friends?  \n  \n\"Will you hurt me?\" It asked.  \n  \nJax understood now; it did not want to be friends. It simply wanted to know if he meant it harm. Jax wanted to know if he should cause it harm...\u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nAva could blatantly see that the Sergal seemed to understand this question better.  \n  \nIt took a pack off its shoulder's and took out a piece of blank parchment that it unrolled on the ground. The strange Sergal then took out a small black stick, no doubt of Nomad origins, and started to write on it. Ava read the note:  \n  \n'Are you with the Shigu?'  \n  \n\"Most certainly not!\" Ava said, annoyed that the black Sergal hadn't seen the two Northern Sergals he had killed back in the town.  \n  \nThe Sergal scribbled something down on the paper, and Ava read it.  \n  \n'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'  \n  \nAva, being one of the most unpoetic individuals of his species was confused by this.  \n  \n'We are...' the Sergal seemed to pause before writing the next part...  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;'Friends.'  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"//?A Curious Sergal","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/442505-a-curious-sergal-part-11-001.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/590308-a-curious-sergal-part-13-001.json"}}