I don't know what I expected.
A big archway that had LOTAR written in caps on it? A defensive wall? Maybe some people walking around? But no, it looked absolutely deserted. The wooden huts were in awful shape due to the wet ground and the lack of care. The roads were dirty and full of mud.
"Where are the people? Or Werepeople I guess. It's empty." I could see Stargate skillfully avoiding the mud and potholes in the ground.
"There aren't many citizens here anymore. Most of them have moved to bigger cities after they became a part of Alvira. There are more opportunities there. As one can see. The only ones that remain are some elderly that refuse to move out. Do pardon their bad temper, they are usually very sweet inside."
"Uh, sure."
We stopped in front of an old inn called "Ocra Oasis". Ferras bound Stargate to a pillar and took out a small pouch. Presumably filled with money. With a firm push, the door to the inn swung open. The air was hot and stuffy inside I felt like gaging. Of course, there wouldn't be any air conditioning. I really do miss home.
Immediately everyone went dead silent when they saw us walking in. I had to concentrate hard to avoid openly gaping at the people gathered in this room. One of them was clearly a Werecheetah. His hair was already grey, but the spots were clearly visible. His face had fur around his cat-like eyes and whiskers were also visible. He even had fangs! And what's with those long legs? And that waitress over there, was that a zebra? Her ears were so long! And her stripe markings looked so beautiful on her face. I'm pretty sure the barkeeper was a Weretiger and that last Werehuman over there looked like a pointy-eared dog. But I assumed it to be some kind of jackal or coyote or so because dogs don't exist here. Or do they? I should ask Ferras about that later.
The bartender and Ferras were murmuring something. Some money was exchanged and Ferras gestured to me to sit with him at the table closest to the exit.
"I hope you like mushroom soup. It's the only vegetarian thing they had available. Unless you wanted some fresh mist grass with flowers or nectar juice."
"No, I think I'm fine. Thank you. But how do you know I'm vegetarian?" I played around with my knife.
"What if I were to say that I can smell it?" He grinned.
"Okay, now I regret asking." As I lay down the knife again I couldn't help but notice the Werehumans whispering amongst themselves again and every so often would curiously glance at me.
"Why are they looking at me all the time? You're the one with the mask." I asked Ferras quietly. "Well, you might not know, but violet eyes are very rare here. It usually indicates that you are a very powerful mage. A Color Magician, as your purple hair and eyes indicate you to be, is even more powerful than a normal high ranking mage. So watch out. You can hide your hair, but your eyes will betray you."
"Oh." I touched my greasy hair. Eww! I needed a shower. And a toothbrush and a razor as well. I was currently wearing a t-shirt from Ferras because my clothes were way too hot for this weather. I did have a tank top with me, but I didn't have a razor, so yeh... I had been tempted to cut up my jeans into shorts as well, but in the end, I decided against it. My legs were just as bad.
When the food came, we ate in silence. The soup was okay but the mushrooms tasted a bit too earthy for me. Ferras was having some grilled chicken that made me want to gag. I had never liked meat. The texture of the flesh and the idea of eating the leg of a live animal that once used that leg to walk around on had always turned me off immediately.
After we finished our meals, Ferras told me he had to go check on Stargate quickly and that I should go ahead to the room. We were staying the night here.
I was so happy to have a bed to sleep on, I didn't even care how small it was and that the covers probably hadn't been washed in a very, very long time.
What I really needed now though, was some toiletry items. Maybe I can ask the zebra-lady from before if she had anything? Wait, do Werehumans even get periods? Oh boy, what do I do if they don't? I didn't really have a choice though, so I made my way back down the creaky old wooden stairs that reminded me of my own house and nervously crept up to the counter. I waited until the zebra-lady came by again.
"Oh Uhm, hello. Would you mind helping me for a second?" Dumbfounded, she stared at me. Oh no. Did I do something wrong? Or do they even speak my language? What if she doesn't even understand me? Nervously I smiled at her.
"You speak our Werehuman language? Who are you? How did you learn it?" I don't know! I didn't even know I did! "Oh, that? That's uh- A long story. What I wanted to ask is if you have any toiletry items for me? See, I've lost all of my things and I am really desperate for certain things." Slightly embarrassed I avoid eye contact and look at the floor.
Now she looked at me in amazement.
"You're so fluent! I am so impressed! Not many Humans make the effort of learning our language. Come, I think I have exactly what you need. My name is Lykemia by the way. It's a pleasure meeting you!" Excitedly she grabbed my hands and held them between hers. Her big dark eyes were sparkling. I couldn't help but smile back as she pulled me into the back of the tavern.
If the language Ferras spoke with me sounded like Castilian, then the Werehuman language sounded more northern European. Maybe Norwegian?
Lykemia turned out to be a really sweet person and we hit it off immediately. I think she appreciated having someone her own age around again. The average age around here seemed to be way over sixty.
At first, I felt uncomfortable talking with someone non-Human with black big ears and stripes all over her body
At first, I felt uncomfortable talking with someone non-Human with black big ears and stripes all over her body. Usually I didn't have a real problem talking to new people, but it still felt weird. After a little while, her friendly and open personality blew all of my doubts away.
She gave me enough things to last me for weeks and even gifted me some hair ties, black powder as an eyeshadow, a red mixture that they used for lipstick and a pair of rock earrings. Although the earrings were too heavy for me to wear, I appreciated the thought. Lykemia made me promise we'd meet again sometime in the future.
The night passed with nothing special happening in particular. We both slept in our individual beds and got up early the next morning. No one was awake yet in this sleepy town, but I found two sandwiches waiting for me downstairs with my name on it from Lykemia. That was so sweet of her! I didn't have anything special that I could leave behind for her this time, but next time I would be prepared to repay her kindness.
My questions from the day before were still burning on my tongue, but it was too early now. We were both half asleep as we continued on our trek to Whisteria.
As I was dozing off again about three hours after we had left, I noticed something move in the left corner of my eye. Something beige burst out behind us, pursued by something burning red about the size of a tissue box. I didn't even think before I swatted away the red thing, which was obviously preying on the animal that it was chasing after.
Immediately I pulled back. Ouch! The creature was hot! Even after the short contact I had made, I felt my hand burn for a little while. Unfortunately, I didn't see what it was that I had hit. It was gone before I had a chance to look. Also, the beige thing was gone.
"Why did you do that?" Ferras asked without turning around. "Why did I do what? Save that animal? Because killing is cruel!?" Ow! My hand still really hurt. I held it against a cold water flask to cool it a bit down.
"Isn't it cruel as well that now the hunting animal has no food for herself and maybe her children? Isn't it cruel that they might die now because she couldn't make the catch?" I kept silent. I didn't have an answer to that. He sighed. "Idealists... You can't save everyone you know?"
"No, but I can at least try." He gave me a mildly annoyed look for that.
"By the way, did you see what it was? And more importantly, did something bite you? Not all creatures are peaceful toward us."
"I- I am not quite sure. One animal was sort of flying. And it was beige. The other one I think was jumping after it and was flaming red."
"Flaming red you say? I don't know any animal that is of that color. Did it bite you?"
I looked at my hand. It hadn't bitten me per se. Only burnt a little.
"No."
"Okay. Then it shouldn't be a problem."
Which at first it really wasn't. But after about 20 minutes, I felt really dizzy. I was just about to tell Ferras, but I never got to before the ground suddenly tilted towards me.
Not again...