A Stray Tail
Hello everyone! Here we have part 1 of my long awaited Fan fic detailing Amethyst's origins for my Dragon!au
Words: 5284
Pages: 14
Trigger warnings: death, slavery, child abuse, branding, abuse in general, violence, blood, gore, sort of cannibalism, sort of body horror, and someone pukes. I think that's it but if I missed anything I'm really sorry let me know
Also I swear this has a happy ending and its all worth it please don't hate me.
The day was a grim, sad one, in more ways than the weather. Men tainted by greed, driven to smuggling and slavery worked tirelessly, tying off ropes and docking their ship as they prepared the poor chained souls they called "cargo" for unloading. The sound of a baby crying rung out among soft sobbing and muffled moans of sorrow from the lower decks as the armed men tried to get the last chain of shackled slaves on their feet.
One of the slavers stormed through the lower deck, sword in hand and fuming, determined to find the source of the racket and end it. Heavy leather boots thumped through the wood of the ship, the pounding creating a beat to accompany the chorus of woe flowing through the decks. At the end of the line of broken people lay the body of a woman, limp and curled around a child no older than two. The man kicked her and she rolled over, lifeless as the baby cried on for its lost mother.
"We got another dead one. Theres a baby too! Which one of you idiots took a woman with a baby? Who's gonna buy a kid?"
"Some one will! We can market the kid as a raise your own slave, just give it a few years."
The man scoffed and picked the child up by it's leg, the rags it wore falling up around its face an muffling its cries.
"Tch, and it's a girl. How much more useless could this kid be?"
Frown deepening he practically tossed the child in the arms of a nearby slave and turned to leave.
"It doesn't really matter how useless it is if you mess up and kill it."
With a click, the locks on the shackles of the mother's corpse were removed and he ushered the line forward.
"Just keep the fucking thing quiet, will you?"
The chorus of woe had shifted, the beat of heavy boots on wood, sobbing and muffled cries still present but now, among the sorrow there was soft singing and hushing in the place of the loud crying of an orphaned child.
~Two years later~
"Get in line!"
A slave driver's voice boomed outside the tiny shack they had been crammed into and seemed to shake the very rotting wood it was crafted from. Broken souls shuffled to their feet and poured out of the sorry excuse of a shelter, bare feet and sores scraping across the stone riddled dirt outside. The slavers got to work, the familiar routine of chaining the slaves up and taking them into town to be sold was the same every month. Swords and daggers kept the slaves moving into the open back of a horse drawn cart with a cage mounted atop it's worn oak frame. The door was locked and men piled into the front and with a crack of the reins the trip began again.
Slaves of all ages, from multiple foreign lands, curled up and sat awaiting their fate. Most sat alone or in small groups, families who had lost one or more so far. One small group stood out among them. A woman, two men, and a small girl. Conversations were held in the quietest of tones and lowest of whispers for fear the slavers would hear and strike out at them, or worse.
"If someone buys me, you'll watch out for Amethyst, won't you?" The oldest, most beaten looking man of them asked the rest. The child in question watched them all curiously with big wide eyes.
"Of course we will. We agreed. All of us did in the beginning, didn't we?" the other man said, his voice hoarse from overuse.
"You're right… I wasn't the first to take care of her. I was just making sure."
The women of the group was younger than both men, yet looked more tired and worn, as if time spared her aging only to take its toll on her mind itself. Her tired eyes looked between the group, from the small child, to the younger man and finally the oldest. Quietly she placed her hand on the eldest man's shoulder and forced a smile.
"I hope if any of us are bought we go to nice places…"
"Yeah…"
The child looked between the adults curiously and frowned as she moved to rub her sore left shoulder.
"Amethyst, try not to touch your brand. It will heal faster if you leave it alone. It's mostly healed already," the younger man said as he noticed her trying to sooth the pain.
The cart paused for a moment at the gates of the town, muffled speaking coming from the front, the slavers asking to be let inside. As per usual, the gates soon opened and allowed them entrance, the guards glancing sidelong at the unkempt and uncivilized looking slaves in the back of the cart with a scoff.
It wasn't much longer before they were set up, standing in lines, chained and made to stare forward so that those with the coin could purchase them. People browsed the slaves like items, prodding, poking, looking closer as if shopping for produce. A few slaves Amethyst had known, not well, but known, were bought before a few men whispered to each other and stepped forward to purchase the young woman and man of Amethyst's group. The small child put on a brave face and when she thought heads were turned away, snuck a small wave goodbye to them, hoping they'd be treated well, however unlikely that was.
"Hey kid! No moving unless you're being sold!" a slaver barked and made a beeline for her, already pulling a crude stick like weapon from his belt to discipline her. Amethyst closed her eyes and flinched, preparing for the pain.
"Hey what the- Listen lady, unless you're going to buy a slave don't get in our way."
Amethyst opened her eyes to see a woman and her family, two young boys and their father. The woman had grabbed the stick and stopped the slaver in his tracks, and he was looking more and more like he was about to hit her.
"Maybe I am going to buy a slave. Maybe I want that one, and I don't want to take her home beaten and broken."
The slaver frowned, but lowered his arm and put the stick back on his belt. He motioned at Amethyst and the small girl started to panic a little. No one had even considered she would be purchased, not until she was much older. No one had prepared her, or told her what to expect, what to say or do, and now here there were strangers already bartering gold for her. She watched the husband groan softly as he handed the slaver a few gold and some silvers, before the slaver ushered Amethyst forward. The oldest man, the only one left of Amethyst's group glanced down at her, but did not dare move more than that. Amethyst nodded, the closest they would get to a good bye.
Through the cramped narrow streets of the town they walked, the couple making small talk as they headed to where Amethyst would be working and living as long as they needed her. The adults discussed various things having to do with where Amethyst would sleep, how she would be trained to do what they wanted of her, and other related topics. Amethyst struggled to follow along, listening and paying attention to try and get an idea of how she might be treated, but the new sights, sounds, and curious young boys eyes proved too distracting. She briefly caught something about wanting to teach her how to read and write, something highly unorthodox, but both adults agreed it would make her more useful. The oldest boy, about ten, noticed the markings on the skin of her shoulder peeking out of the loose rags she wore and promptly jabbed at it with his finger.
Amethyst gasped in pain and pulled away from him, catching the attention of her new owners and the other curious young boy. Eyes filled with tears, she sniffled and frantically wiped her eyes.
"S-sorry masters… M-my brand is still healing. I won't make noise again."
She stared at the floor and the two adults exchange worried, pity filled looks.
"Boys, try to be nice to her, alright? We payed for her to come with us and help, but she's not a toy."
The two boys pouted and mumbled agreements as they looked away. The man kept his eyes on Amethyst and she tried not to shrink back instinctively.
"Do you have a name?"
"Yes, sir. My name is Amethyst."
"Well welcome to the family Amethyst. We'll treat you fine, don't worry. You are just a little girl, after all."
Amethyst smiled and stood a little taller.
"Thank you, sir."
For three years the family raised Amethyst as more than just a slave, but not quite their equal. Being significantly less kind and understanding about her situation, the boys were Amethyst's biggest trials to deal with. There's the usual one would expect, given the situation, and the young girl deals with it all with humor. Amethyst learns to laugh at the things that hurt, the things that scare her, and taking away their power. For three years she feels like she has a home, like she might even have a family here, until a silly childish game went much too far.
It was the time of year when the heat died down and the trees stripped themselves bare, the beginning of autumn and harvest. Busy helping the family prepare for the cold season, it isn't until mid week that the children are let out to simply play and be children. Amethyst is even told to go with the boys.
"Your job will be to serve them like you serve us and keep an eye on them. Our orders always outrank theirs, so make sure they come back before dark no matter what they tell you. Oh, and for heaven's sake, don't let them go wandering off in the woods, there's been rumors..."
"Yes, miss!"
Dismissed, Amethyst ran off to watch the boys play. Meeting up with a few of the other children in the town, the little rag tag group of boys and girls ran off to the outskirts of the town, where the woods were only a half hour's walk away. They clamored and crowded around a little club house they had thrown together from branches, spare boards of wood, string, nails, and whatever else they could salvage from the town and the edge of the woods.
"Alright, who wants to play swords!?" the oldest boy shouted, being a sort of leader of the group. Most of the boys, and a few girls, including Amethyst, yelled their enthusiasm for the idea and ran off to find sticks they felt suitable. Those who didn't want to play broke off into their own little games of pretend.
After a bit of searching, Amethyst found a few sticks she thought would work well and excitedly handed one to each of the older boys she had grown to consider family. They organized themselves into teams. The group Amethyst was in consisted of her owner's two sons and one other girl, calling themselves mercenaries. The opposing team consisted of three boys and one girl, and they called themselves bandits.
"To war!" the younger brother yelled. They charged forward, sticks swinging, imagining themselves on a grand battle field. Amethyst had two sticks to herself, one just a bit smaller than the other and held in her left hand, "blade" back. She ducked and rolled, blocking with the smaller stick and tapping lightly at the opposing team. It was considered against the rules to swing hard enough to cause harm, and if one broke the rule they were punished by letting the injured party snap their "sword." The only other rule was five taps to your body and you were "dead".
They played a few rounds without incident, but once it was the tie breaker match, the eldest brother accidentally swung his stick right into the bandit team's only girl's hand. Crying out, she dropped her stick, held her hand, and started crying. All the other kids stopped their game to run and check on her.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"
"Waahhhh! M-my thumb!"
"Can I see?" One of the boys reached out to her and reluctantly the girl placed her hand in his. Her thumb was a little red, but it didn't appear any more harmed than that.
"Can you move it?" The elder brother asked nervously clutching his stick. The girl sniffled and tried. Her little thumb wiggled and she nodded meekly.
"I dun wanna play anymore..." She wiped her eyes and snapped her stick. The other kids looked at the elder brother knowingly and he sighed and broke his as well. A blond haired boy on the bandit team sighed.
"Well at least we're even still. One for one."
"But I still wanna play!" The elder brother frowned and whipped around to face Amethyst.
"Go into the woods and get me a big stick, yours are too small. You can drop out instead, I wanna keep playing."
Amethyst dropped her sticks without argument and tried not to look a little down that she had to stop playing. The blond boy spoke up again.
"Hey that's not fair. Amethyst is really good, and she didn't mess up."
"Yeah, well, Amethyst isn't even like us. She's my family's slave and has to do whatever we say. See?"
He grabbed Amethyst's arm and she grunted and fussed a bit as he grabbed the loose sleeve of her tunic and held it up to show off her brand. She looked away, down at the bricks and pouted, not wanting to see their faces.
"Oh whoa, we've been playing with a slave this whole time?" the other bandit team boy mumbled.
"Gross! Why didn't you say anything sooner?" the final member of their team agreed with disgust.
The eldest brother let Amethyst go with a bit if a shove and pointed at the woods.
"Now don't come back until you found the perfect stick for me!"
The younger brother, the quieter of the two, piped up.
"We'll go home without you if you don't come back before dark."
Amethyst was half grateful for that. At least if she was late, there wouldn't be any punishment waiting for her. She huffed and pouted as she turned to walk towards the woods.
"Alright, alright, I'm going."
With a little jog, she headed for the woods. Her owner's warning about keeping the boys away rung in her mind and Amethyst huffed again. She hadn't told her to stay out of the woods, and she was going to find him the best stick ever, even if she had to climb a tree and break the branch herself.
However, once Amethyst had actually walked into the woods, her bravado wavered. The rarely traversed brush and thickly wooded area swallowed almost all of the afternoons warm sunny light and Amethyst let out a small shiver. She couldn't go back, no matter how much she wanted to.
Taking a deep breath, she balled her hands into fists and steeled her nerves. Amethyst turned away from the forests edge and walked deeper, keeping her eyes out for any stick that would be good enough to allow her exit. Unfortunately most of the ground was littered with very small, very thin, or very bent branches. Deeper she went, until she seemed to be surrounded by nothing but thick wood and dim light. Annoyed at how fruitless her search was turning out to be she looked up to see if any of the large trees could be climbed, and huffed angrily when she realized she couldn't climb a single one.
"Darn! Why do I gotta have such short arms and legs?"
Amethyst cursed her fate and turned to walk more when she realized how utterly lost she really was.
"Oh no...help! Someone!?" she yelled, only to hear a deep terrifying growl much too close for her liking. Amethyst broke out in a cold sweat, picked a direction opposite the growling, and took off as fast as her stubby legs would go. Whatever growled was suddenly crashing through the woods after her and Amethyst started crying and trying to run faster. White hot fear gripped her very core as the thing behind her thundered through the woods, plowing down trees and ripping large stones out of its way to get to its newly found prey.
"Boys you've been home for an hour now, where did you send Amethyst that she wouldn't came back after dark for this long?"
The brothers both twisted their tunics and looked everywhere but at their mother and father.
"Boys." Their father's more stern tone broke the younger brother's resolve.
"He got mad and sent her into the woods and said not to come back until she found a perfect stick for play sword fights!" He pointed at his older brother and got a shove for his efforts.
"Snitch!"
"You did what?!" Both boys froze at their mother's sudden worried tone and their father quickly turned to her.
"Honey, we don't know that anything happened to her yet. She could have just gotten lost. In the morning I'll get a search party togeth-"
There was a loud knock at the door, sounding like the butt of a sword. Turning and nodding to his wife the man left to answer.
"Yes?" He pulled the door open and there stood a town guard holding a small body, covered in dirt and blood, in his arm, half against his chest.
"Night watch found her at the edge of the woods. I was going to take her to a healer, but I saw the brand and decided to bring her to you first. She's been bitten by something massive. One of the other men said he saw a huge shadow carrying her entire body in its mouth before it dropped her and left. She's in really bad shape."
"Oh my god, give her here! Why didn't you bring a healer with you?!"
The guard shrugged as he handed Amethyst over to him.
"She's just a slave. It'll cost more to heal her than to just buy a new one."
The man of the house held Amethyst close to himself and scowled at the guard.
"Thank you sir." Turning back into his home he called back.
"Hun, Amethyst was attacked, can you get her cleaned up while I run to fetch a healer?!"
"Of course! Put her down, dear!"
Worried and guilty, the boys both cleared off one of their beds and ran off to get some warm water and fresh clothes.
Everything was hot and hurt so very, very much. Amethyst's legs ached along the sides, ached from running, from kicking and fighting. They ached were large teeth had cut into her soft flesh, and they ached all the way to her feet. Tiny busted toes and sores from rocks and sticks cutting into her shoddy boots. Her small arms cut up and bruised from tree branches and falls to the forest floor. Knuckles scraped, palms rubbed raw and scratched up, futile attempts to fight back. Worst of all was Amethyst's chest. It seemed as though the seven year old was just a little too tall to fit in the mouth of whatever beast attacked and carried her off, so its massive sharp fangs had cut into her small chest terribly, the worst of the puncture wounds nearly going through the center of her chest, just missing her heart.
Nearly three times what it had cost them to buy her was the price for Amethyst's treatment, and even then, the healer wasn't sure she would make it. The town gossiped about the family being out of their minds, how they should have simply gotten a new slave instead. The other kids tease the young boys for caring so much and the elder brother got into a few fist fights before sulking off home and talking to Amethyst while she slept, pleading with her to wake up.
Weeks passed, until finally Amethyst's eyes slowly started to open. Everything was foggy, and she could hardly remember the attack, mostly running and being horrified and then being in the most pain she had ever felt in her life.
It was another week and a half before Amethyst could get out of bed or move around and the family she was meant to serve spent their time helping her recover. The eldest brother apologized more times then Amethyst could keep track of and she laughed it off. She forgave him and realized that the day this family had purchased her, she became quite possibly the luckiest slave alive. These people had become her family now. They cared for her well being, clothed, raised, and educated her, and Amethyst decided that if she could help it, she would serve them for as long as possible and at her very best.
Unfortunately, that wasn't very long…
About a month after Amethyst only had scars left to show for her ordeal. She woke up feeling off, very off. Noticing the odd behavior, the adults checked her temperature and alike. She was a little warm, weak, and craving raw meat like a wild hound, making the family exchange concerned glances.
"You should take the day off Amethyst. This is very odd and we're worried. I'm going to try and see the healer today and speak with them about this."
"Alright. I guess I'll stay in bed and rest then."
Amethyst shuffled off to bed with a sinking feeling in her stomach that something much worse than anyone thought was afoot here.
That night she woke up to the same pain she had felt during her attack. Eyes shooting open, Amethyst shot up in bed, clutching at her chest just over the largest scar in the center. Something was wrong, very, very wrong. She had spent most of the day napping and eating, and now she was wide awake and aching so terribly she could hardly stand it, yet some strange primal fear gripped her tightly and sealed her lips shut. It wasn't until she struggled to stand on the bed to look out the window and check the time based on the placement of the moon in the sky, that the gravity of what was truly happening hit her full force.
The light of the full moon struck her so deeply she was frozen in place, her pulse quickened and Amethyst could hardly focus on any single thing. She was vaguely aware of a strangely numb pain, an ache in her joints, her bones and muscles, in her everything. There was a loud crashing sound and she couldn't tell if it was her own bones or the bed frame under her feet. Vision only grew foggier, in fact all her senses seemed to keep dimming, and suddenly she was reminded of her attack and the feeling of passing out. This was oddly similar, but at the same time not at all. Everything was wrong, off. Her body felt completely different, not at all like it was her own. It felt like she was in some sort of massive costume, something huge and heavy. All her limbs were impossible to move, yet she did somehow and had no idea where she was going. Everything was black, no smell or sound, no touch except for the sudden limiting of moment, then suddenly even more weight. Was it on her back? Amethyst couldn't tell and tried to focus, suddenly becoming aware of a strange cold spreading from the back of her skull and through her being. How long had that been there? The strange feeling of trying to move in a suit shifted oddly and she seemed to be losing more and more control. Was it moving her now? Where and how?
Crashing through the dark cold mute on her senses was the sudden intense pain of starvation, and Amethyst felt herself trying not to retch at the need to fill herself with something, anything. Then there was more weight on the strange suit, air blowing passed her? She wasn't sure and her hands, its hands? Were they even hands? The suit was holding something, something so warm and nice, at least that was all Amethyst could guess, and oddly enough none of this scared her at all. The initial feeling of wrongness, of unease, seemed so far away. Everything now was dark and cold except for this thing, whatever it was, in front of her, of this suit she was trapped in yet part of.
Everything seemed to move, like gravity shifted. It- she had fallen? Bent over perhaps? A deliciously warm addictive taste flooded her senses with such force Amethyst could hardly hold on to what little control she still had. That taste was like heaven, forbidden flavour of the gods filling her like an addict needing their fix, and it was to this that the young girl finally lost herself completely. The starvation demanded satisfaction and she, it, they, craved more of whatever had her lost in this strange cold blackness.
There was no way for Amethyst to tell how much time had passed, how long she had been lost in that abyss. It all felt like a strange dream that she knew was real. As the world slowly came back into existence around her, Amethyst first became painfully aware of two things: The feeling of being so satisfyingly full she almost wanted to take a nap, and everything being much smaller. It felt like the physical plane was rebuilding itself around her, only it was all too small, everything seemed off.
As more and more awareness returned to her Amethyst realized her entire body was much heavier and warmer. Her face felt different and there was something hanging from her lower back. Amethyst decided to simply stay laying ware she was and wait until her senses fully returned to her, and was greeted with a migraine and feeling terribly dizzy.
She briefly wondered if this was what it felt like when adults drank too much ale before she dragged herself up to her feet. There was a loud slamming sound when her hand hit the wooden floor and she looked down confused only to see massive, white, half paw half hands, with huge black claws at the ends.
"RAaah?" She froze. Amethyst had meant to say 'what' but her mouth was different, her hands were different. She panicked and felt around her mouth with her tongue. Her teeth were like steak knives. Her tongue itself, she realized, was flat and her face felt longer. Amethyst briefly inspected her paw like hands before feeling her face and only growing more panicked.
"Rrrrrr!? RRRRrrrr?!" Amethyst couldn't form words, her head felt like something completely different and, she dreaded doing it, but she looked down at herself and was horrified. She was no longer a small seven year old but now covered in white fur and from her chin down to her now muscular stomach said fur was stained with blood. Unable to tell if it was her own or someone else's, Amethyst stumbled awkwardly over to a pail of water she spied in the corner of the room. In the surface she finally saw her reflection. Her chubby face, smushed button nose, thick lips and big bright eyes were gone and staring back at her was a massive white cat beast with still wet blood covering its muzzle. Without thinking, Amethyst grabbed the bucket and frantically started to wash the blood from her fur. However, instincts kicked in half way through and she caught herself licking her chest clean and stopped abruptly. Crouching there, Amethyst stared at her large paw-hands, numbly wondering what she even was anymore.
After what seemed like forever of examining herself and wondering what was going on, Amethyst finally stood again, suddenly wondering what had happened. She wasn't in any pain and after a thorough check Amethyst was sure she wasn't harmed. so if not her own, then whose blood was all over her?
"Roo…" Her eyes grew wide with panic and she was a thousand times more terrified than she had been that night in the woods. Her new body on high alert, she sniffed the air of her home and finally took a look around. Everything was a mess and there was blood everywhere.
"Rooo!"
Frantically she searched the home, furniture smashed to bits, claw marks, HER claw marks all over the walls the floors. Blood spatters and pools stained the carpets and wall hangings.
"ROO!"
She growled in panic, tearing through the home, her chest heaving as she slowly feared the worst, her eyes filling with salty tears.
A huge set of paw-hands lifted the ruined door of the boy's bedroom, and Amethyst found what was left of the man she had grown to think of as a father. Barely anything but bones and gore in a pool of blood staining the floor. In mute, stunned horror, Amethyst checked the rest of the home for her family, hoping in vain that someone might have been spared.
She found the eldest brother and the woman she had grown to think of like a mother in much the same condition, barely anything left of them. The youngest brother she found under his bed, following a long smear of blood across the floor. His back gorged open, the cuts matching her claws. Amethyst finally broke down right then and there. The shock wearing off and the realization of what happened last night hitting her like ton of bricks.
She remembered feeling so hungry, then waking up overly full. Amethyst roared and collapsed to her knees. Disgusted and repulsed, she retched several times on the blood stained floors, emptying her stomach of its sinful contents and sobbing violently.
By the end of it all, Amethyst was on her hands and knees, somehow back to her human form. Lungs heaving, eyes burning, she stared down at the mess beneath her and a thought dawned on her. Someone must have heard something. People would be coming. They would come and they would see what she had done, what she had become. She started shaking and shot up to her feet. She didn't want to die, and she was so sure she was about to.
Frantically she ran around the home grabbing anything she thought useful in her half crazed state. She dressed in the first clean articles of clothing she found, a bag one of the boys owned, stuffed with random items she could get her hands on. It wasn't until her hand graded the butt of an expensive dagger that was displayed on a shelf that she was pulled from her madden state by a painful burning sensation.
The dagger was made of silver, and it burned to touch it. Amethyst recalled stories from late at night when she and the other children of the house couldn't sleep and she knew what she was now.
Grasping the dagger by the leather handle, she put it in the bag as her final item and left via the back door. The youngest brother's clothing fit almost too well over her small stubby limbs and made her guilty get-a-way easier on her small heavy heart.
Amethyst ran for the woods, vision blurry from her tears as she quietly sobbed and sprinted as fast as she could away from the only home she had ever known.