Dance-
Traditional almost naked dance- by the massive fire under the abundant stars.
And Al was in the middle of all that.
He was dancing merrily with the others.
Ecstasy on his face.
Not a care in the world.
How did this happen?
Well-
To answer that, we'll have to go back a couple of hours.
***
Al arrived at a small village by the afternoon-
The intense heat had died down a bit and he felt much more alive, or rather he would have if his throat didn't feel like the desert itself and stuff-
It was called a village-
But the houses were nothing more than huts made from animal skin.
Large animal skin-
Some even open for all to see-
Not a trace of technology or even magic.
These people were purely hunters and gatherers.
"Give- that- us-" One of the lizard men, a scar on his forehead, said- "We make dinner for you."
Some palm like trees were in between the houses.
So far, not a trace of any water.
"Sure," Al gave it. "Can I have some water?"
The man took the penguin and went away-
Meanwhile-
Al stared around the huts.
Every single person here were lizard people.
All wearing minimal clothing- assuming those cloths could be called clothing in the first place.
Even women-
Though, Al actually had a hard time understanding their sex. Apparently lizard women didn't have boobs.
And the old lizards didn't look very different either.
Frankly-
Al didn't understand these people.
But the people sure found Al just as interesting as he found them-
"Where are we going?" He asked.
The lizards didn't say anything.
The only one who even remotely spoke his language had gone away.
'Well, this is just perfect…' A mild sigh but-
But-
Despite all that-
This was still a little exciting.
He was never allowed to do anything by himself.
There was always someone with him-
There was always- 'Her…' That blonde was always with him. Monitoring things, making reports….
Yeah, Al did miss her a bit.
However-
This was also his chance to be independent.
And his chance to finally prove to the world- yes, he could do it.
And if he could do it- he could justify taking over.
He could justify his rule.
And that's why- "Ow-" Al crashed into the back of a lizard-
It didn't hurt-
Just instinct.
"Hooman-" The lizard look back- "In-" He signaled.
The rest also signaled- "In."
A hut.
A bigger hut.
And of fancier skin. And in the middle of these hundred or so huts.
First impression?
Probably the village's most important place?
Clearing his throat- Al went in-
Two lizards-
Both old-
How could he finally tell?
They were much skinner than almost all other ones and actually had wrinkles.
"Human-" One of them spoke, female voice-
Accent, almost human.
Plenty of stuff in here.
Crude things like plates, bowls, spoons, spatulas and even beds and jugs and stuff-
"Yes?"
"We are Sash Sulu- twin ruler of Arjan Village. Your name-?"
'A lot more fluent… huh?'
"Alfred. I am Alfred." He contemplated giving his family name but then-
'No. I'm not longer part of that family.'
Next time he was going to meet his father, he wasn't going to his son. And he was going to take that position.
"I see…" The female one did all the talking. "So, why you, here?"
"I got lost," Alfred said. "I'm not sure where I am. Where is this place and where can I find the nearest city?"
He'd done some looking himself.
But as far as the eyes could see, he saw a bit fat nothing.
He did see some trees but no water or cities or anything for that matter.
"This is Zahria county!"
"What country?"
"Albazra!"
Al was getting more and more confused by the second.
Zahria? Albazra? What the hell were those?
'Where' the hell were those?
Yeah, he'd been slacking geography classes but even so, he should have at least recognized the names, right?
Regardless-
"The nearest city?"
"Zahria county-"
Al sighed.
There was a bit of a language barrier.
Even so-
"How do I get there?"
Lips were already dry but it was getting harder and harder for him to talk.
Heart pounding-
Head felt like exploding-
Things were not good.
"Ten days- north."
"Alright. But can I stay here tonight? And… get some water?"
Throat as dry as hell-
Nose on fire-
Eyes burning-
He was reaching his absolute limit.
The other Lizard- the one which hadn't spoken all this time, stood up, got a jug from the corner and offered the whole jug to Al.
No glasses.
Just the jug.
The water appeared to be a bit cloudy and a little muddy but-
But-
It was water and-
And-
He chugged.
Strong-
Strong smell- strong taste.
But he didn't care.
He just drank-
More and more-
Until the whole jug- about a liter of liquid- ended.
But his drinking didn't end there.
More and more lizardmen came in and offered more jugs-
They seemed to be enjoying seeing him drink-
'This feels…' He felt good.
The more he drank-
The better he felt-
And-
The more he drank.
An endless cycle-
Before he knew it-
His clothes were missing-
And he was dancing by the large fire with female lizards and just-
Dancing.
Singing-
Lots of fun.
***
The next morning, Al woke up with a dreadful headache.
Just as he was about to get up though- his head spun, his eyes magnified everything to blurriness and… and he his mouth was dry as hell. 'Where?' A hut?
But didn't he drink a lot of water last night?
Didn't he-
'Oh no…'
Not only had he drunk questionable stuff-
He'd had fun with the villagers-
But-
But-
He'd also… done it with the lizard.
Yes- memories- fuzzy- but- but he was certain of the last bit-
After all-
There was a naked lizard woman right next to his bed, and his clothes were also… missing.
'Oh, fuck no…'