A prime legionary stood his ground on sentry duty inside the fort as he kept an eye on the passing slaves. He kept his hunting rifle slung over his shoulder ready for anything.
"Ave, true to Caesar", he greeted a passing veteran.
The veteran didn't seem to even notice as he continued on his way with the unlucky slave girl he had bought in tow. He was fairly beautiful with large blue eyes, long black hair, and smooth porcelain skin. She followed her new master with her head down on the way to his tent.
A tugging on his tunic brought his attention away from the slave. He looked down to see a young little slave girl pull her hand away like his tunic had burned her. He looked down at her from behind his sunglasses and bandana.
"Legionary..."
"My name is Starved dog, slave", he said not with anger but like he was pointing out the sky was blue.
"Legionary Starved dog, sir", she asked not daring to make eye contact, "one of the brahmin died and I need help with it".
"Show me", was all he said.
She led him to the usual corral where the brahmin were kept. The inside stunk horribly of brahmin and their dung. Tucked away in a corner was an old ratty mattress.
She took him to the edge where a dead brahmin laid. It's eyes had not yet been eaten by flies meaning it was still fresh. It had no marks on it so he guessed it must have died of disease.
"What should we do?" She asked. Brahmin almost never died of natural causes; legionaries always butchering them for meat.
Without a word he drew his machete and set to work butchering the carcass. He than carried the meat to the legion mess to be cooked. Eventually only the head was left which he took to the slave mess for them to use.
He came back to the corral once more to check his work, all that was left was blood in the sand from his cleaving.
"Th-thank you", She stammered.
The legionary grunted in reply and left.
...
The legionary practiced his machete swings against the dummy next to other legionaries doing the same. As he brought the machete down again he heard a cough from behind the dummy. He looked to see the slave girl from the brahmin corral standing there awkwardly.
He walked towards her machete still gripped in his hand. He looked down at her again just like he had last time nearly two weeks ago.
"A Bra-brahmin nocked a part of the wall loose. They haven't realized it yet but when they do they'll all escape", she nervously stammered looking up at him.
"Where is it?", Starved dog asked.
They left the other legionaries behind to continue their training. Several gave him looks of confusion as he left to help the slave girl.
She showed him it from the stinking confines of the corral. It was definitely not sturdy enough to hold in brahmin but little could be done from this side. They headed toward the gates to leave the inside of the fort.
"Stop!", A sadistic voice ordered them from behind. They both turned to see Antony approaching them. "What on Earth do you think you doing?"
Starved dog pointed to the girl, "This slave takes care of the brahm-"
"Yes, yes, I know that you fool", Antony interrupted, "what I asked is 'what are you doing"'.
"She reported that a panel of the Brahmin corral was broken by one of the animals. I investigated and found this to be true. We are headed to see if we can repair it from the outside, sir!"
Antony's face turned into curved into a sadistic smile. Just as he was about to speak another voice cut him off.
"What is going on here?", Centurion Vorenus barked.
Starved dog repeated what he had just told Antony to his commanding officer.
"Usually slaves were forbidden from leaving their designated areas", Vorenus said after listening to the prime, "why do you need her help?"
"She knows the strength of these animals better than most. She can help to tell when the repairs are strong enough, Centurion".
Vorenus remained silent for nearlyna minute until finally he spoke, "since a legionnaire is with her and it is a rather important matter I will allow it. The last thing we need is a bunch of brahmin breaking loose and causing chaos through the camp. You may leave."
Antony spoke up, "but sir-".
"Did I ask for your advise?", Centurion Vorenus growled.
Starved dog and the slave girl left as ordered while Vorenus chewed out Antony.
On their way there he grabbed a few extra panels from the left overs of the fort's construction. After they got to the section he began reinforcing it by adding the other panels to the loose one by shoving them into the ground directly in front of them. Then he leaned few more against it and planted them into the soil at a 45(ish) degree angle.
"Um, sir?"
Starved dog looked up from his work to see the girl looking extremely nervous at whatever she was about to ask. She didn't say anything though, itstead she just remained silent.
"What is it, girl?", He demanded to know.
"Why did you tell them you needed my help? What use am I really out here?"
He was silent for a moment, "last thing we need is a slave dieing of disease from being surrounded by Brahmin all day. Is that matress in the corral yours?"
"Yes", she admitted with sadness in her voice.
"That can't be healthy", Starved dog said, "I never learned your name girl"
"It's Melody"
Starved dog simply grunted as he put the last piece in place. They went back inside to the Brahmin pen. Once there he tried to push and hit the previous broken panel as hard as he could which scared the Brahmin to the other side on the enclosure.
"It's fixed".
"Thank you", Melody said happily.
He didn't say anything as he left. He looked at the old mattress she slept on for a split second before leaving.
...
Melody woke up to here a strange noice inside the corral. At first she thought it was just a Brahmin moving around. As it continued though she began to see a human figure walking towards her. She shivered partially from fear and also from the cold night air.
She closed her eyes and turned away hoping it was just a nightmare. She tried to force herself back asleep as the foot steps got ever closer but the cold wouldn't let her. She curled in around herself for warm, holding her legs up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them.
The foot steps were right behind her. She had heard older slaves talk about legionaries coming to them in the night. They never said what it was that happened but they always talked about it in a scared and pained tone. Was that what was about to happen.
Suddenly a warm spread across her body; It so soft. She quickly realized it was a blanket she looked back around to see Starved dog looking down at her. Even though he was still wearing his head gear she could tell it was him.
"T-thank you", she said with tears in her eyes. She could remember the last time she got a gift. The only thing she owned was Sergeant Teddy and she'd had him for as long as she could remember.
"Don't need you dieing of cold", he said before turning about face and walking away.
Melody snuggled into the blanket with a smile on her face. She pulled Sergeant Teddy out of the hollowed out corner of her mattress and hugged him to her chest. She usually couldn't do this out of fear of someone finding him in her arms while she was asleep but the blanket helped to hide him from view.
Melody decided that starved dog was a very kind man and that he must like her. He must want to friends and was just to afraid to say it especially around other legionaries. Melody dozed off thinking of her new friend.