Thread: Slaves of the Beastfolk (PsionicCuttlefish & Feral.Desires)

Sorry for delay! Turkeyday and family and things. After another night of somewhat troubled sleep, Elena was woken once more as a hand gripped her shoulder and gently shook her, as opposed to poking her like last morning. Alright, time to wake up. You know the drill by now. Stay down, I'll be right back. Another beastfolk voice, this one very deep which seemed to match the size of the hand that had woken her spoke to her, not the same one as last night, but recognizable as one of the voices that had been talking. But as the sounds of the camp packing up all around Elena reached her ears, she could detect a change in the atmosphere from how the beastfolk talk to each other, even the sounds of how they moved. They were much more...relaxed. Confident. Like they weren't trying so hard to keep quiet anymore, just chatting with each other a little more normally than before. Of course, the big tip-off...was that they were now actually referring to each other by name. If Elena paid careful attention to who spoke what name, and who responded, she could start to match names to voices. It didn't take long for someone to call out the name Jatter, which was responded with the voice of the leader. The one who had praised Elena last night for her compliance was 'Zag', and the one who had just woken her up was Borlon. Four other names, Grant, Ardan, Kren, and Dimo, were also revealed. Seven in total. At some point during the chatter, the likely reason for why they weren't trying so hard to keep their identities hidden anymore was revealed the leader--Jatter--said We'll be home by midday, if the group made good time. Shortly thereafter, one of the beastfolk--Kren, by the name that had been matched with his voice--approached Elena and got her out of bed, after which he then took off her collar and did the same routine as last morning of taking he ropes off her arms and making her move about as he ran his furry hands along her skin to make sure nothing was hurt. Then, he re-tied the ropes on her arms, checked her blindfold one last time, and herded her out of the way to wait for everything else to be packed up and the other girls prepared. A few minutes later, Elena was once again lifted up into a saddle with a beastfolk behind her Grant, by his voice, who held her tightly to his body like the others had. His fur seemed shorter and brushier, and his body seemed particularly tall. And then, once again, the convoy of horses was off, at about the same pace as the previous day, in fact perhaps even a little faster with the eagerness of ending the trip. As the hours wore on, Elena could tell they were definitely going up an incline, and occasionally doubled back and forth...as if they were going up a twisty mountain pathway. After hours of solid riding, at which point Elena could feel the sun high in the sky, Jatter suddenly started calling out a Whoa! and the horses slowed to a trot. We're home! He called forward...and indeed, Elena could hear faint sounds ahead. They were difficult to make out, but it sounded like general activity and the chatter of people...like what any town or city sounds like as you get close to it. Elena could feel the shadows of trees over her head...and suddenly, the shadows all passed by as the sun came down strongly, and the ambient sound picked up a bit more, as if there were no obstructions. Even without the ability to see, Elena could tell--they had entered the boundry of some settlement. The horses were brought to a final stop, and Elena heard more voices join the group as supplies were taken off the horse's saddlebags, and Elena herself was dismounted from the saddle. With a few light pushes, Elena was made to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the other girls...and then, the voice of Jatter spoke up again. You'd best close your eyes. The blindfolds are coming off now. Close your eyes, and open them slowly . After three days, the light's gonna hurt. It will take you a few minutes to adjust. We'll wait. Elena then felt a pair of hands on the back of her head, undoing the knot of the blindfold and carefully lifting the tear-crusted black cloth off her face...and indeed, the blinding brightness of the sun reached Elena's poorly-adjusted retinas, even with her eyelids closed. Small squeals of pain were heard at her sides the other girls going through the same thing, no doubt. As the minutes passed and Elena's vision slowly returned to her, she was able to catch fuzzy glimpses of her surroundings. She was in some kind of large clearing in the middle of the mountains, with brown--probably wooden--buildings and shacks all around, about the size of any backwoods town small enough that everyone knows everyone else. Variously-colored humanoid figures shuffled around the buildings, with Elena's eyes still too fuzzy to make them out properly. But there was one figure standing in front of her and the three other girls, and the voice of Jatter spoke from it Welcome to your new home.