Brothel: Chapter 7
Chap: 7
I woke to the sound of a large crash and what felt like someone passing a hot piece of Iron over my fur. I sat up without even think about it and turn my head to the source of the noise. I saw red outside of the curtain that covered the opening in the wall and brought myself to stand.
I turned my head towards another deep, far off sounding boom that carried a rumbling sound similar to the streak of light that hit the ground from the sky during a bad storm. I knew though that this was no storm since there was no water falling from the sky, and that the flashes of light were orange like fire and didn't light up the entire sky.
As I was about to pull the curtain back to look outside I heard screaming coming from inside of the house. It was sharp, high pitched, and carried the tone of someone being injured. I made my way to the door before I heard another one, deeper and obviously from a male. I quickly ran to the small chest I kept on top of my dresser and poured its contents onto the floor looking for the key which could lock my door from the inside.
I found the key and ran to my door and shoved the key inside the hole and locked it and took the key back out shoving it into the pocket of my pants. Another scream sent my heart into more of a rush than it already was and I ran back to my dresser putting on the first regular male shit I found and removed all my piercing from my face. The last thing I wanted enemies to know was that I was a whore and a servant
"Oh no..." I whispered allowed as I remembered the bracelet on my arm. "Bandages" I said as I remembered that I always kept bandages in the bottom drawer of the dresser. I dug them out and wrapped my entire arm with it and placed the leftover material in the pocket with my key.
I was suddenly knocked to the ground by a large crash and dust from the ceiling above me falling all over both me and the floor, creating a haze that was hard to see through. My ears were also ringing a little but other than that I was not injured. I stood up and shook off some of the dust from my fur only to see that the curtain covering the hole was gone, and that the hole was now roofless. If it weren't for the panic I was set in I might have found the situation horribly ironic, but the sight of the entire wall missing and the clear view of the port put aside the emotion of funny.
I saw a huge fleet of sunken ships that belonged to the islands navy, others on fire while other fled. I saw an even larger fleet of the unfamiliar ships, some which bore similar colors and flags, and others that were marked in weird ways but it was too dark to get a good look at. All of these ships were firing at building on the island, Furs, and any other target they could reach including the brothel.
A bright flash appeared in my direction from one of the ships sitting outside of the port and I instinctively fell to the ground on my stomach with my paws covering my ears. A second later I heard of muffled whoosh a few feet above me followed by the sound of crashing bricks and wood. Again I was covered in dust and the haze became even worse. I could no long see the port, let alone a few steps in front of me. I turned to look back at the house which was now nothing but a shadow of its former self, with nothing left but the foundation and a few support beams. My room was no longer, and my possessions and clothes gone.
I may have never really liked my way of life, or the life I was forced to live, but somehow having it all ripped away before your eyes was unsettling. I was, for the moment, no longer a servant. I was free and able to go where I wanted without anyone stopping me or asking me what was the purpose of my presence. All the guards and solders would be fighting back the attack, if there were any left at this point to do so. I would most likely be the last thing on their minds to care about.
I made my way past the ruins of the wall, which now looked at restrictive as the curb on the road, and out into the street. There were no lanterns lit and with all the haze the light from the starts was scattered leaving very little to be seen easily. However after being here for so long, and repeated the same steps so many times, the light was not needed to get me to where I wanted to go. I turned myself to the direction of the forest and started running.
In the back of my head, I couldn't help but worry about the others and if they had made it out alive. I heard screams, and the fact that the house was now nothing but ruins, however that did not mean they were dead. I hoped more than anything that Rangi was still alive and well, that poor kid did not deserve what happened to him.
I made my way a great deal down the road before a loud whoosh and a crash sent me flying into a metal fence. I wanted to scream in agony from the pain as the metal sliced through my fur and skin on my left arm when a hit it. I fell to the ground unable to bring myself up, and I could tell that I was bleeding rather badly. I heard voices near me, but unable to tell which direction and unable to get up to do anything about. All I could think about was how close I was, the forest entrance barely within sight. I could smell the trees through the black powder and smoke, and hear their leaves rubbing together as wind blew through them.
The voices came closer and closer and all I could do was lay whimpering in pain. I hardly noticed when I was being lifted up and partially dragged into a nearby alleyway. I was by no means losing consciousness, but the amount of pain I was in only allowed me to focus on other distraction for a short amount of time.
One of the distractions other being the language that the two figured were speaking. It was a fluid, natural sounding language that sounded pleasant to the ears, even when there was from what I could tell a harsh sounding word. I heard one of them repeating the phrase "Mirrgo neh fotarlla" and the other simply either holding an argument, or agreeing. The language was unknown to me so I had really no idea.
Of course that distraction was set aside by me being set down against the brick remains of a building which was uncomfortably cold, but was however better than being dragged. They continued to talk to each other through my blurred vision either through the haze, or the slight oncoming of headache which meant I must have hit my head. I simply just laid there afraid to move, more because of the pain than the fact that I had no idea who they were or what they wanted to do with me.
At some point during their unique conversation I must of stopped paying attention because the next thing I knew one of them was holding a flask up to my face with the motion of "hey drink this." Of course I was skeptical of doing so because it could contain the same drug, or a similar one, that ended up bring me here in the first place. I knew however that I was either going to have to drink it voluntarily, or risk the chance of them forcing me to drink it. I took the flask with my good arm and took a sip of the mysterious liquid. To my surprise it tasked just like a cheap wine, something non-vintage like what we sold to the more poor clients at the house. However it had a sticky aftertaste and lingered in the my throat, very similar to dirty dish water.
They left me alone for a few minutes and talked quietly amongst themselves, which made for a rather one way conversation and left me feeling isolated. A few minutes after I started to feel isolated I started to feel rather numb, and then at peace. I knew it must have been a drug of some sort, but I had clarity in my thought and I was still awake. It felt in a way like I had too much to drink, but instead of wanting to move around and act amiss, all I wanted was to just sit and stare at the wall in front of me.
I watched as they turned their attention back towards me and muttered something. One of them approached me and took hold of my injured arm, which at this point was most likely still bleeding freely. I felt no pain as they moved it around and peeled off my fake bandage that concealed the band. When they removed the bandage completely, they saw the band and the one examining my arm called the other one to come look. All I could see was the other one shrugging his shoulders and looking back out of the ally towards the street.
"Don't move, This is sharp. Very sharp" The one examining my arm said as he pulled what appeared to be some sort of punch out of his tunic, but the end was a fine point. He found the slot where they had affixed the bracelet to my arm using melted metal, and wedged the punch in there trying to separate the bond.
I remained still as he moved the punch diligently back and forth stretching and bond, weakening it. It took all of about a couple of breaths before there was a crack and that object which had controlled my life fell to the ground with a quiet ding. Without that band I was now free to do as I wish, unless these rescuers of mine had different ideas.
"Can you walk?" he said to me as he stood up. I nodded feeling that although my head felt foggy I didn't have any problems balancing or moving my arms and legs. He was kind enough to help balance some of my weight as he took my good arm over his shoulders. I could help but wish that there was more light so I could see the two in more detail. From what I could smell though, the sense being very dulled, they were both canines.
We made our way out of the alleyway and I noticed that the fired had died down and some of the haze dissipated. The ships must have stopped firing, most likely due to from what I could see there was nothing left to shoot. Everything was no higher than a normal sized fur, and turned mostly into small rocks and dust. It didn't so much like ruins as it did a natural disaster. The alleyway we were in was more of a small ditch between two previously tall buildings.
The dirt that we now made our way down was a few moment ago the main road from the port into the center of the city. Since the building were off from the road a good bit, the center remained clear of any big debris and for the most part in better shape than it was when it was actually a road. The ships could now been seen clearly, and they in fact stopped firing.
We managed a few steps onto the road before something shined out of the corner of my eye. Turning to my left I saw a pair of eyes looking at me from the shadows. The one that had mending my arm must have seen them as well and whispered something to his partner. We stopped while the other one went in for a closer work and my "crutch" shifted my weight around a little.
I watched as the pair of eye retreated into the darkness but not before I saw the streak of a white tail. "Rangi?" I called out as it rounded a corner, not stopping to pay heed to the name. Although I was not sure if it was him, I felt compelled to call out the name a second time. This caused the one holding me up to set me down on the road and walk over to his partner. I heard them both say something brief to each other before regarding me for a few seconds.
"Stay" the one that mending me simply called out, most likely knowing if I tried to moved I could not get very far by myself. With that they circled around the building, each going in the opposite direction. For a brief moment it was quiet, and for that little bit of time I relaxed and laid down on the ruined road and looked up and the hazy sky.
I couldn't help but to wonder about what had happened to everyone, the friendships I had made, the experiences that were shared. In a way I was saddened by the loss of never being able to say goodbye, or to thank them all for the support over the years and words of wisdom. It also made me happy by the simple fact that I was free, for the moment anyway, and would not have to ever deal with such conditions again. That was unless I was forced into seventy again by my capturers.
A loud metallic bang from behind the building ripped me away from my thought and urged me to prop myself up. Another loud bang emerged as well as some animalistic noises, one being a feline. It was impossible to mix of a felines hiss with the noise of any of species due to its characteristic stereotype, and the fact it was hard to emulate.
There was the sound of a body being dragged on the ground, coming from around the left side of the building. A brief moment later I saw my capturers dragging a white feline behind them, and I know in an instant that it was Rangi. I tried to get myself up to a stand but could manage even getting to a sitting position. Whatever these drugs were, they certainly were making me a lot weaker than I felt.
They set him down next to me, and then sat down themselves in front of both of us facing our direction. "Do not worry, he is ok and healthy. He was just rather uncooperative so we had to tranquilize him. He will wake up in a few hours and be perfectly fine, aside from a headache and dizziness of course. Do you know him? He wears the same band as you did, which I will be removing here shortly after I rest. He is a good fighter but no match for mercenaries."
"Oh? Well he never bother to tell me that, than again we really didn't have a whole lot of time to really talk about our lives. My job was really just to train him in the profession."
"What kind of profession? Surly, and I mean no offense by this, but by your bands you both appeared to be servants or slaves."
"Yes, we were both indentured servants" I said in a saddened tone. "We both worked in a brothel, the best one in the city. We were well taken care of, had running water, and a house big enough to live comfortably in."
"A brothel with males? How exactly do you get clients, I would think very few females go into such a place."
"There were a few that did, this society doesn't hide behind the walls of fear or decency. To them, a female going into a brothel is just as appropriate as a male. Both have urges and interests and both parties know that, so for as long as I have been here it's always been accepted."
"What did you think of it?" the shadow asked, though I could see the gentle tilt of his head to the left, and the outline of ears now that the haze was starting to lift.
"Honestly, I tried not to think about it. I was forced to work in there because of my parents and pay off the dept that they owed. I cannot complain however since it was the best option out of all the other types of servitude."
I heard Rangi let out a grunt on my left and saw a brief tail flick. In a way I thought he was lucky having to sleep through this, something I wanted to do now more than anything. It had only been a little while after I had gone to bed that this happened, and as it was with the drugs I wanted to do nothing more than roll over on the road and sleep.
"Hmm, he'll be awake soon apparently. Well that means we won't have to drag him and you at least. He should be able to walk, though it will be no better than a drunk."
"How long exactly are the drugs and the stuff you put on my arm going to last?"
"Well, the paste on your arm wasn't really... what's that word. It wasn't.... medical, it was actually oil from a poisonous flower. Don't worry though we boil it in some water just long enough so it will effect only the applied area. The drink was the root of a tree that has spiked leaves, whose name eludes me every time I need to recall it. We just grind it up into a fine powder and soak it in water. It won't hurt you and is quiet harmless other than making you feel tired and like you drank too much. For how long each lasts, should wear off by morning, faster if you sleep."
That's all I felt like doing, and wanted to do it for a whole day to be honest. Nothing sounded better than a nice warm bed made with goose feathers and cotton, paired with a feather stuffed pillow and cotton blanket. Of course the thought was making even more exhausted but the fear of closing my eyes and not knowing what was going to happen to me forced me to stay alert.
The sun was becoming to edge itself over the horizon which I was thankful for as it was going to allow me to actually see who I was talking to, rather than moving shadows. The first thing I noticed is the one that had taken care of my arm had white fur as far as I could see. There was no other trace of any color, and no marking from what I could see. Of course the only things I could see were his head and paws, everything else was covered.
The clothes he wore comprised entirely of leather, all of which was dark on color. It wasn't so much as tight as it was conforming, though it had no issues by any means about showing off the build quality that his body had. He stood just a bit higher than I did, but just by a margin though it was enough to make me feel short. He must have also weighed 2 or 3 more stone than I did, it being all muscle without a single doubt from what I could see.
While a majority of his clothes were black in color, it featured some intricate stitching that consisted of red lacing where the seams of the fabric met. It wasn't standard line stitching, rather it seemed to constantly double back over and wrap around itself. Perhaps this was to make the clothing more durable and last longer in their line of work.
The other had black fur with traces of silver that barely stood out, and his eyes were a dark deep green much the same as a lager bottle. His clothes seemed a bit more formal than his compatriots in the sense of they looked more appealing for day to day wear and consisted of black pants and a black trench coat. Under the coat I could barely make of the color of a white shirt that from the collar look worn.
Whether or not the other's style of clothing was fit for mercenary work I could not tell for certain, and it could have just been what he was wearing when all of this started and did not feel the need to change into something more specialized. Either way the both of them look equally as frightening and on normal circumstances I would avoid them if I saw them on the street.
I noticed Rangi stirring a little bit more next to me and was about to wake up. In a way I hoped they drugged him with the same numbing poison they gave me else I might witness those rumors about how the feline species used their claws to render flesh until their enemy was did, and Rangi was a big feline as well as a full grown one. I myself as well was beginning to feel a little less hazed and was beginning to feel some energy coming back into me, as well as the slight bit of pain I could feel from my arm.
"So what species are you two?" I decided to ask to pass some time until Rangi woke up.
"We are both Wolves, pure bred." The white furred one answered. "I am an Arctic Bred, He is a Valley Bred"
"What is the difference?" I asked trying to buy more time. I really wanted to stall them until Rangi was awake, unless they were already waiting for that. In that case this would at least give me some idea about their mentality and upbringing.
"My bred is good at surviving cold climate, as well as going many days without food. His is good at stalking, hunting, and being very quick and agile."
Another precise answer but it didn't matter at this point. I could hear Rangi groaning next to me and rubbing his eyes.
"You owe me a crown." The white one said to his companion before regarding Rangi and me. "How do you feel cat?" he asked in an indifferent tone, and before he could answer he added "If you try to attack us, I'll sedate you again and drag you on the gound to the ship."
"What ship?" I asked without thinking through Rangi's moan
"Some dog paid us a fair amount of money to find you, just you, and bring you back to his ship. We didn't ask questions other than what we needed to know, so don't ask us who and where you are going after that because we don't know."
"What did this dog look like?"
"It was some half-breed. Looked extremely poor but paid a large sum of coin. Smelt of fish and saltwater."
"Oh..." I replied silently. I was hoping it was the Wolfdog but it appeared it was just some creep with a lot of money who wanted to buy me.
"Cat can you walk?" The white one asked. Rangi nodded his head affirmitivly, so he helped both Rangi and I up.
"We must make haste. We are not getting the full pay until you are delivered. The ship is only a little ways through here in a clearing by the woods."
Without a seconds pause, the black furred one started walking and the white one got behind us and urged us to move as there was not much time. As we followed, I could now see just how extensive the battle was now that the sun was fully over the horizon. Buildings we reduced back into the earthly components of rock and dirt, roads that were once made of brick were nothing but sand, and the council chambers that stood so tall was now gone in its entirety.
We passed through many parts of the city I had never been through before, and some places I was not allowed to go. Nothing stopped us now from making our way through it, and it wasn't until we were next to the port that I saw the first lifeless body, or what was left of it. All the fur was burnt, with gashes all along the chest and stomach and was laying in a pool of blood. I looked beyond it and say dozens more all near the docks, or what was left of them. Most were in the same condition, some missing an arm or an eye, a few almost cut in half.
The smell itself was nauseating and I wanted to throw up, but there was nothing in my stomach so I had to deal with the feeling. Rangi managed one though and must have emptied the entire contents of his. At the moment I was thanking myself for not eating last night.
We reached what used to be the city's border wall, which was still partially standing just enough that we had to climb over it. A few steps beyond it was the forest that covered the entire island in a thick, almost impossible to navigate maze. That was unless you knew your way around like I, and apparently these mercenaries did. I took them very little time to navigate through the clustered tree and thick bush to the clearing that led to the ocean. From the top of the hill I could see a small wooden craft, big enough to hold eight. And from the color of the clothing, and my excitement, I could tell that the fur that was sitting in the boat was not some creep, but in fact the Admiral.