Chapter 4

"A captain to his men is a man of honor. A captain for his men, is a man of guided light.

A captain because of his men, is a man unstoppable."

- Aurelz Koltz, Duke of Letz

Leven

In the middle of a military camp laid a sneasel in the midst of crates and barrels of supplies, as if she were a piece of inventory herself.

Her vision for the past hour and a half has been nothing but the fabric of a potato sack- or a flour sack, she wasn't sure. Whatever the case, she's been bound, tied, and blinded.

And she was bored.

"I want to move… my legs hurt and this is so… so…" she let out a whine, "Booooooring…"

She sighed and rolled, as she did for the past hour and a half, only to hit what she assumed was a barrel. Rolling back, she hit something, heavier- a box by her ears.

"It can't be any liquid… doesn't sound like powders. Maybe berries? Who stuffs berries in a barrel though?" she asked herself. She scoffed and instinctively tried to put her hand to her face only to meet the ropes keeping her arms in place.

She groaned then sighed, "I'm sounding crazier every day… hehehe… haaaaaaaa… I just want to be back on a manor… I can't take being alone anymore…"

Thankfully for her, her fine-tuned hearing picked up sets of footsteps. Unlike before, when they passed by- she hoped they'd let her go- they came closer and closer until she heard the accursed barrel get moved away.

She held back from rolling her way to freedom but she knew better- a bullet or a dagger awaited her if she dared to embarrass herself.

Besides, the barrel had been placed there for a reason.

"Katze, it's nice to see again…" her captor smirked as he looked down at her small form. "What's your name?"

"Kodily…" she answered, the sack getting in the way of moving her lips slghtly, "Kodily Loewe of County Altnau, Duchy of Letz."

"Kodi, huh?" the lead mercenary, she assumed that's who this man was, replied. She didn't bother to correct him- she never liked using her full name either. "Cute name. And a long way from home…"

She heard him step closer to her and grab the ropes binding the sack over her head.

"It's no fun to talk to someone when we can't see eye to eye. Let me do something about that…"

Kodi watched the sack come loose and slip away roughly, revealing the world around her.

"Oh, thank you. I was tired to seeing nothing." she said flippantly.

The mercenary in front of her was an ambipom in a light grey army uniform holding a large rifle in one tail, a saber in the other. A short way behind him, she could see a small group of mercenaries, weapons in hand and wearing the same uniform as him.

"Like the décor? I think it's beautiful." he gestured to a small row of pikes, each with the head of a different species of dark monsters on it. She could see motley assortment of dead dark types like her- noting the lack of sneasel within the mix. "Took time to make it but, it's quite lovely."

She sighed loudly, unamused. "It's nice but… I'm sure we both know I don't care what you show me at this point."

She watched him eye her body and he scanned every detail of this sneasel, head to toe.

"Simple clothes, a little dirty... fur is too, a lot more. Most of her ear feather is gone… just a stub now. Doesn't smell so this runt has some decency. She's obviously been through hard labor- it's stained her fur permanently."he thought aloud to himself.

"Huh?" the weak gasp pulled him from his thoughts. Jakob chuckled.

"You're quite dirty for a young lady…" he walked around the dark-monster, shaking his to her as she laid on the ground. "Servant?"

"Yeah..." she curtly responded. "Is that a problem, sir?" she added.

She expected him to be tired of her attitude- after all, she just wanted a quick death- but in fact, she could that her attitude amused him.

"Well Kodi, a servant isn't much use to me and I don't want to play in a cot when my juwel is around." he gloated, leaving Kodi in the dark at where he was going.

"Go on…" she muttered quietly.

"Well, in all honesty, I should cut your head off now and save you the suffering." he said, leaving a long pause to let the idea sink in before finishing with, "But that's no fun."

"Hmm?" she rolled onto her back as best she could and did her best to look up at him, still unable to move properly, "Fun?"

"Yes, fun. Haven't had a lot of entertainment lately and me and my men are growing bored of straight up slaughtering you and your kind. There's no fun when you have the advantage."

He grabbed her and lifted her up, surprising Kodi with how strong he was.

"So, here's how it'll go, you'll do something that'll be entertaining and I won't," he pointed at the pikes nearby with his saber. "stick your head on those for your ghost, or spirit, or whatever happens to you deaths-edge monsters when you die, to watch in misery as I carry it around for the world to see." he chuckled and spun his saber a few times before getting in Kodi's face.

"Understand what I am asking you?"

Kodi slowly nodded, "Yes… I… I understand."

He put her down in a seated position and lightly pat her head. Kodi's tough façade started to fall apart by this point, realizing the quick death she wanted wasn't happening. Her expression, a fusion of confused and terror, made the ambipom and his men laugh.

"Ah, I can see you breaking already." the ambipom slammed his fist onto the ground next to her with a crazy laugh. "I always love breaking people who try to act tough!"

Kodi decided to keep the conversation going before she completely broke down in front of him.

"What do you want me to do sir?"

The ambipom flicked his swords about playfully, something she looked away from in worry. A few times, she could hear when one of his swords came by her head as he played.

"A game. Finish a task within this game, and you live a month longer. Fail, a month shorter. Run out of months…" he let the saber hit the box behind her, just above her ears. She opened her eyes to see, in shock, how close he came to scalping her.

"And I'll cut your head off and look for a new teufel to have fun with. Let's look at those pikes again."

He pointed off to the pikes and forced Kodi to look with a rough pull.

"If you were curious, these fine teufel were former entertainers that failed too much." he poked one of the heads, a purrloin, and laughed. "This one here- Amara- she lasted the longest at four months. Try to last longer than that and I might let you live…"

He smacked his saber into the box above once again, making her jump in shock.

"But I'm not a man of solid promises…" he pulled it out again, and beamed. "But anyways, we have a deal?"

Kodi sat there, out of options and uncertain if this were the best choice- on one hand, she was ready to die a few minutes ago, but he ruined that, now she didn't want to. The other choice was to participate in a madman's version of a fun game.

Simply put, it was play his game or die right now and her fear of death was too great now.

"I'll do it."

"Good choice," he stepped up to her and picked her up, setting her down on the crate when a dewott stepped up to him and whispered something him. He closed his eyes and rubbed his chin before chuckling with dark intent.

"Hehehehe… mmhmm…"

He opened his eyes and stared straight at hers. Kodi felt that whatever he was going to say, she wasn't going to like.

"Well katze teufel, I," he laid a hand on his chest with flourish. "Captain Jakob of the Duchy of Luhnstedt, will be giving your first task as advised by my lovely juwel, Klara."

He gave her a smile, one that put on her nerves on the edge.

"I want you to go and find me a small band of dark monsters not too far along to the east."

He shoved the rifle that he held in his tail onto her lap. She looked up in disbelief at the monkey as he chuckled madly- she knew what he wanted her to do and she didn't want to do it.

"When you find them, lead them back here for us to deal with. Try to escape, and I'll torture you- try to kill me and it'll be a long death Kodi. One that I will drag on for months."

Kodi just nodded in understanding. She wanted to, very so, but she knew that he would never dare send her out alone- he's her little pet now.

"Once everyone's here, we'll have some fun…"

Kodi sat there, counting over and over the number of heads in front of her. Sometimes she lost count but it was fine- it was only to hold over her boredom and her feelings. Every so often, she glanced to the rifle sitting against the side of the tent.

She glanced over once more to the pile of heads, five new ones on the top from her alone, and muttered, "Why… why don't I just kill myself?"

Kodi sighed, letting herself fall onto the ground limply.

"I'm too afraid… I don't want to die… but if I kill myself…"

She felt someone grab her by her shoulder and lift her up to a seated position.

"Well now, don't go doing that. You'll regret it." Kodi turned to see the dewott from earlier holding onto her, "Good job though… not many would dare kill to keep their lives."

"Yeah, I enjoyed shooting that absol in the head…" Kodi replied in pure disgust, angry that this mercenary would dare taunt her about what happened earlier.

She never knew the ambipom would be so ruthless and torturous- she didn't even know maces still existed.

The dewott ignored her angry tone, "Your name is Kodi, if I heard you correctly earlier, right?" Kodi scoffed but eventually nodded, "Jakob already said mine but I'll repeat."

She did an elaborate bow in front of Kodi.

"My name is Klara. Klara von Dietz."

Kodi jumped back in surprise and immediately kneeled on the ground in front of her on instinct. Only those within powerful families held names with von in it.

"My apologies! At your service your…"

Klara pulled her up to seated position.

"No. No bowing or kneeling. Right now, I'm just a soldier, not some prim in a dress. Do so when we're in my family's manor or I ask such of you."

Kodi nodded, "I… err… I understand."

Klara walked around Kodi and laid out a sheet above the beheaded monsters- to Kodi's relief, she didn't want to see them anymore- before turning back to her.

"Listen, I came to get you- Jakob wants to see you. And…" Klara pulled a pile of clothes out of her bag, plopping a pile of clothes on the ground. Kodi could see it was the uniform worn by the rest of the soldiers.

"He wants you to wear this. Don't bother complaining, it's his word or your head. Don't want to die do you?"

"No…" her anger faded, "I don't."

Kodi started to undress her regular clothes, slowly slipping into the uniform, some trouble when it came to the claws on her feet almost ripping the pants. She can retract the claws on her hands to make life easy but not on her feet.

"Rrr…" as she carefully shimmied up her new pants, she wondered aloud, "Do I really need to wear this…?"

"Well, if you want to stay alive when we eventually enter a town, you'll be needing to wear the uniform of this mietenkorp. To be exact, we are the 9th Mietenkorp of Luhnstedt."

"Mietenkorp?" Kodi asked as she fitted the shirt on her, making sure the buttons were done right, "What's that?"

"Means lease corps in low common. Officially, we're not mercenaries because we have a seal of approval from a duke or guild master. With that, our corps of soldiers is hired by whomever to do whatever they want, legally."

Kodi paused in dressing. "So… this isn't just a really well equipped mercenary band?"

"No. We're an official unit, part of the Duchy of Luhnstedt, Jakob is…" the dewott paused and shook her head, "was a captain of Luhnstedt's army. After the Conflict, he and his men left, with Jakob getting the seal of sale from the Duke himself, in exchange for a monthly cut of all pay. I joined as they passed through my father's land." she giggled. "A rather abrupt decision but one I do not regret."

Kodi fitted the military cap on her head, adjusting it slightly to comfortably fit her ears through the small holes on the top. It was the last piece of the uniform- Kodi didn't know why, but she felt far more comfortable in it. A sense of honor and a feeling of belonging.

"It's feels so weird..." observed the coats sleeves and adjusted the collar. "The uniform of a soldier."

"That it is. I felt the same way when I left with Jakob. Without permission I may add..."

Kodi shook the thought away and latched onto the last thing the otter said.

"Wait… you left, without permission?"

Klara started to walk out, seeing the sneasel was finished dressing. She knew the sneasel would be shocked by the reveal- she was a servant after all.

"Yes. My father was mad at first but he relented- Jakob kept maiming those he sent to retrieve me."

She followed Klara out, marching right alongside the dewott.

"Can I ask you something Miss Klara?" Klara didn't glance over to her but the lack of any word quieting her meant she was listening, "Why did you join a mietenkorp in the first place?"

"Because… I like it. I always loved the thrill of battle ever since one happened in the field near my town." the dewott gestured to the camp around them. "Plus, I learn much from the people around us, tactic, information, people… this mietenkorp may be just a simple group of soldiers for hire but it's teaching me skills I'll need in the future if I want my dream's to be fulfilled."

Kodi kept her words in the back of her mind as she walked along, unable to find something else to ask.

"You know…" started Klara. The dewott turned to the sneasel. "Why did you become a servant?"

"It wasn't a choice."

Klara stopped and Kodi could feel that she wasn't happy with her answer- which confused Kodi; why would a noble care about a lowly servant like her?

"Oh…" she started to walk again, faster this time, "That explains it…"

"Explains… what?"

"I shouldn't be shocked an indentured servant would want to die. A life of domestic service, no hope of freedom… no hope to fulfill their dreams…"

Kodi stayed quiet until they arrived at Jakob's tent. There Klara heard her muttering, "I rather be back in that old manor…"

"What a silly thought..." Klara replied, slipping into the tent, Kodi right behind, confused by what she meant. Once inside, they spotted Jakob sitting at a table, staring hard at the map in front of him. He didn't bother to look up when he mumbled a quiet "Hello" to them.

Klara walked up beside him and put a hand on his shoulder, "You know, if you stare hard enough captain, you might start seeing bounties on the map."

Jakob snorted a few times before saying, "Yes, that's because I have an imagination." he looked up from the map and to the water-type holding him. "Let go, mein juwel." he said playfully.

She let go and laughed. "Always too serious- I'm not even hugging you!" she looked at the map and saw the lines that Jakob has made, noticing the newest one, and groaned.

"Why don't we stay in one place for more than a week this time?"

"Because dark-monster are not called the 'tricksters of Ainapia' for nothing. We must move accordingly as word travels between towns, between groups. Even groups that are hundreds of kilometers apart are always within the same loop." he glanced at Kodi standing before him. "Only those who travel alone are easy to catch."

Kodi said nothing but gave him a frown while flattening her ears in shame.

A luxio casually slipped into the tent. Kodi could see he had clearly too much to drink but was somehow not stumbling onto the ground.

"Yes, but the challenge… is catching an entire group… off-guard." the luxio said. He put a paw on Kodi's back, "This li' girl… hic… she can do it…"

Jakob scoffed, "Only a small group. She's real lucky…" he stared into Kodi. "But that does raise a question."

"Yes sir?" she asked.

"You worked a rifle well despite having been a servant your entire life, even if I made you execute one of them. I know training when I see it." he walked up to her and put his nose to hers, making the cat uncomfortable. "When and how did you learn to work a rifle?"

Kodi stepped back and let out her breath, having held it in when he got close.

"My old Master… he was former officer... so he trained us to fight in case there was ever a chance we... we needed to fight for our home."

Jakob stepped back, throwing his head back in laughter. The luxio joined in but Klara stayed unusually quiet.

"What an old fool your Master was then. If your standing here, it clearly didn't work!" he stopped laughing and shook his head. "Fool shouldn't trust his servants when teufel like you are amongst them. Just leads you to ruin."

"My old Master didn't want us to fight for him! He was old!" she took a breath and drew back slightly when she realized her out-of-step outburst, but continued. "He wanted us to defend his family and ourselves."

Jakob and the luxio looked at each other and snickered for only a moment, not taking her seriously. Klara, on the other hand, was shocked.

"Whatever the case is katze, your old Master is dead and gone. I'm your new Master," he pointed to her. "and for however long you wear that uniform, you must listen to me." he smirked while she sagged in despair. "Not that you have a choice."

He turned to the luxio, who was still laughing in his drunken stupor.

"Lieutenant Henry, what are you doing here in the first place?" he questioned. He looked the luxio's face in detail. "And drunk as well?"

"Well si… sir… hic… I have some in… info."

"And that is…?" the ambipom asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Na… north. Whoooole caravan of'em… day away… dru… drunk a farmer unda… under a table…"

Jakob smiled and turned to Klara.

"Seems we have a lead better than guesswork. Sergeant, fetch Thomas and tell him to scout ahead."

Klara nodded, "Right captain. I'm on it."

The dewott saluted, Jakob saluting back, and walked out. Jakob then turned to his drunken lieutenant, who looked as if he were about to bring back his lunch.

"Lieutenant Henry…"

"Yes… cap… captain?"

The ambipom drew a dagger and threw it, nailing it to the wooden support the luxio was standing next to, making the drunken officer fall onto the ground.

"Get out of my sight you idiot! I've told you plenty of times to not drink on duty! I catch you sloshed on more time, your ears come off and I'll wear them myself!"

The luxio ran out in a hurry to make himself nonexistent before his captain decided to follow through, leaving the sneasel with the malicious ambipom captain.

"Well, now that we're alone katze," Jakob said as he walked up to her, pulling out the dagger he threw, "Let's talk about your next task."

Kodi stood silently rigid in place, mostly from his action seconds ago- she can't fight that.

"Your next task is for you to gather up enough ale, rum, whiskey…" he stepped away and looked out of the tent "Whatever my soldiers need to satisfy their drinking habits. It's up to you how you acquire it but I give you until the end of the week, when… Henry estimates the stock will run out."

He turned back to her and put one of his tail-hands on her shoulder, roughly turning her around and bringing her closer to him.

"And if you somehow catch the attention of guildies or get in trouble with the law, then I'll cut your legs off and hand you over to them. Understand teufel?"

"Y-yes si…" she stopped and looked down, "Master…"

Jakob smiled and pat her solider before shoving her to the ground and slamming his other tail next to her face in anger.

"It's Captain but I'll let it slide this time. Not sir, not master. Captain. Say it wrong one more time and I cut off those silly gems you damn katze have." he walked back to the table and waved her off. "Now, out of my tent. Sleep with your new friends- the ones that have the brawn but no brain!"

Kodi quickly got off the ground and scampered out of Jakob's tent in fear. Once back in the tent he assigned to her, the one they stored the bodies in before they burned them, she had an uncomfortable sleep but she was happy she wasn't among the dead bodies.

It was a small comfort.

She woke up the next day with little to do but try and figure out how to acquire a large amount of liquor in a short time. As the hours passed, Kodi made up her time trying to find out if there were any nearby towns she could visit to fulfill her newest task. None of the other soldiers gave her much help, most be indifferent, while others were amused but uncooperative- they wanted to see her fail.

She turned to physically scouting the area around the camp, remembering the small town from before but found nothing except for kilometers of rural countryside. Plenty of farms yes, but farmers never had that much in the way of liquor stocked, especially enough for an entire company of soldiers.

Kodi gave up soon enough and decided to just hang around the camp, choosing a rock at one of the farther edges, when one of the soldiers came up to her.

"Ey, sneasel." Kodi turned to see a meowstic, a female one judging by her white fur. Fur that is somewhat browner than usual but she chalked it up to the lack of hygiene soldiers are known for. "What're you trying to do? Get yourself killed?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm just thinking."

The meowstic looked around, glancing at the forests nearby and the large fields surrounding them.

"You realize that even if you wear that uniform, you still have a price on your head, correct?" she put her hands on her hip. "None of us are going to jump at the chance to save you. I don't get paid to save your life."

"I realize that." Kodi sighed. "Sometimes, I wish the Conflict hadn't happened. I just want to be with my old Master."

The meowstic walked up beside her and sat down. She chuckled quietly.

"I wish that too. Lost a few friends on the way and now I'm here because I don't know what to do in life anymore."

"At least you aren't being forced into exile…" her quiet voice made the meowstic sigh at the idea.

"It's funny. Not that many people had problems with your kind- I really don't understand this exile. But I can't complain- Jakob would have my head."

Kodi put a claw to her chin in thought.

"I guess it's because dark monsters don't get along with all the other groups of monster." surmised Kodi.

The meowstic giggled. "I definitely do and I'm a psychic monster." she threw her arms to the sky. "I grew up here in the Kitherlands but hell, one of personal friends is... was a mightyena."

Kodi leaned back in shock and fell straight off the rock she was sitting on.

"Ah!" she yelled as struggled to get off the grass.

"Is that really that shocking?" the psychic cat asked her dark counterpart.

Kodi scrambled up to her feet and sat back up on the rock, brushing herself of dirt, "I guess not. Where I came from, there were servants of all kinds." she let out a short laugh and then a long sigh. "But I never thought a dark and psychic monster could ever get along without being forced together. It's mostly us dark monsters down in Ruarktschland."

The meowstic let out a prolonged giggle at the naïve thought.

"I thought the same but when you're in company with a few of them over a long time, you get along. Hurt to see him go, along with so many others." she put her hand on the sneasel knee. "You're lucky you never had friends to lose. All I can do is drink occasionally when I feel bad."

Kodi closed her eyes and looked away towards the forest, "If only that were true."

"Oh, so you've lost someone in all this too?" the meowstic sat up straight, "What were they like."

"I don't want to speak about it," Kodi looked back at the meowstic, her eyes looking away from her. "Especially when I don't know you at all. I don't even know your name."

"Funny, I don't know yours. Why'd you think I called you sneasel?" she snorted and flicked the stubby feather atop Kodi's head. "You're the only one around."

The meowstic stood up and held her hand out to her with a confident smile.

"Name's Julia. A standard rifleman but I specialize in shield arts now."

Kodi took her hand and shook it.

"Kodi. Umm… Servant specializing in… err… cooking?" she let go of Julia's hand and scratched her head. "I still don't know to trust you."

"I would say, 'I'm not like everyone' but at the end of the day, I have to admit I was there when Jakob was toying with you but believe me, not everyone in this company is as," she looked back to make sure no one was watching or listening. When she was certain, she continued. "crazy as him. He's a good captain, amazing really, but he's more at home torturing in a dungeon then on a battlefield the way he acts."

She leaned into Kodi's ear.

"Word is that he tried to run off with the Duke's daughter, so he made him a captain, hoping he would die. Obviously, he didn't, so instead the duke forced him to do this. He still went to bed with her anyways."

Kodi let out an honest giggle, the first one she's had in a long time.

After another day of asking around, it was revealed the company was moving north as it was found that the drunk lieutenant's information was actually correct, though Kodi questions how a drunk officer got that information in the first place from a farmer of all people.

Despite not being an official part of the company, she lent her hand in dismantling and packing away the tents to cure her boredom. It had a hand in granting her some respect from a few of the soldiers but most of them ignored her. She decided it was better than being disliked.

The march after packing everything was boring and uneventful. Kodi mostly spent her time walking alongside Julia, who told her a few stories of her time in the war while Kodi slowly opened herself up to the meowstic.

She expected the other soldiers to say something, especially Jakob, but even he didn't care that she was spending her time socializing. Then again, he was the one to shove a rifle in her lap, so Julia's words may be true to some fashion. Kodi assumed they all knew she was going to die sooner or later and probably don't care what she does, except run away.

She lagged once when she got distracted by a field of tulips, a sight rare in Ruarktschland but natural in the Kitherlands. Next thing she knew, Jakob had his saber to her throat.

She wisely kept her mind on following the company's pace from now on.

Two hours after what she was calling the Tulip Incident, she spotted something in the distance.

"Is that…" the sneasel squinted a saw the outline of what looked like a cluster of buildings, "a town?"

Julia nodded. "I think it was said that we were going to pass Diermen. Pretty small but important trading town I heard. Crossroad of two trader roads."

Kodi's heart lifted at the word trade and realized that this town was her chance to get what was asked of her.

"Are you okay? You staring quite hard at that church." Julia said in concern.

The sneasel nodded vigorously.

"I'm fine. I'll be fine. Just… excited, I guess."

"What? Excited?" asked a rather confused Julia.

Soon, the company's march halted before the town gate. Kodi spied in to see a bustling market far along the streets in the town's square, which was beneath the large church that stood above the town.

She already had taken count of how much liquor there usually was, thanks to Henry's loose mouth- five barrels worth.

The company was down to a mere two. All she had to do was somehow procure another three- more if possible. Might as well go above and beyond whenever she could though she guessed that Jakob was a dry man, so she thought this would be of little benefit to him.

All she had to do was get into town- easy work when they're just outside of it.

"No one's going into the town." ordered Jakob.

"What!?"

"Is this another of his game's?"

"Captain, you aren't horsing around are you!?"

The ambipom narrowed his eyes at the crowd of officers and soldiers before him, folding his arms in the meanwhile. They all took the hint and settled down before he actually got mad.

"If you all must know, there is a small assembly from the Guild of St. Marks in town. What they're doing isn't my concern but they don't want us interfering so we're staying right here for the night."

He slammed both of his tails into the ground, flinging the earth far and cracking the ground around him.

"And if any of you are caught going into town by those guildies, when they give your tortured bodies back to me. I. WILL. Have. Your. Head."

Kodi could only lose her spirit at his words. She had no chance to get into town- not when she was being watched all the time.

"What do I do…?" she whispered. Everyone was walking past her, going off to do whatever they were assigned when they camped. Julia walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"This doesn't affect you at all, does it?" she asked.

Kodi barely shook her head, enough for the other cat to see it but not enough for anyone else.

"It definitely does. I need to get into that town- either I do so, or I…" she put her hand to her neck instinctively. "I won't have a head soon."

"Ah. I see." Julia pat her on the back and walked away. "Eh, good luck. I can't risk my head as well. Sorry."

"Thanks..." she looked back to see her acquaintance already mixed in with the small crowd. "It's fine."

Kodi walked over to the road nearby and sat on the fence, trying to hold back her tears but failed after a few minutes of trying to convince herself she'd be okay.

"Wh… what am I going to do…? I can't go in town… if I can't go in… I can't get what's needed…" she wiped a tear away and rubbed away at her runny nose. "If I don't, then I lose my head. And I don't want to die."

She held her head in her hands and pulled it into her knees.

"What do I do!?" she yelled into knees, coming out as quieter but still enough to be heard.

"My, my... What do, you do?"

She slowly pulled her head out of her chest and turned to find a young buizel standing on the road dressed in garb reserved for travelers.

"W-what?"

"I asked: what do, you do?" he folded his arms, "I mean, clearly you need to get into town. For what, I don't know, but you need to or you won't have your head." he scoffed and kicked at the dirt. "And I know personally, that no one likes having their head cut off, it isn't pleasant and probably isn't healthy."

Kodi couldn't help but giggle at the buizel's dry humor, even as she tried to cover it up as best as she could. Her giggles, made him smirk in turn.

"Glad to see you're not inconsolable and dank de goden, because I'm not a priest... yet."

Kodi wiped away her tears and looked away.

"Why are you talking to me anyways? I'm a dark monster- no reason to care about what happens to me and if anything, killing me-"

She was unable to finish when the sea weasel kick the fence hard, sending her to the ground.

"Now, that's quite asinine to think no one cares as it is to think everyone would kill for a pay. Only to sick, silly, or…" he looked over to the camp Jakob's company was setting up. "the sold, would do. The boer of this land wouldn't bother doing something that would stain their souls."

He paused and rested his head in the palm of his hand, eyes closed in thought.

"Doesn't mean they would help you in turn though. Most, I am sad to admit, would most likely ignore you. Others, more desperate, would cut a deal with those who would harm you and entrap you."

He opened his eyes to see an unsure Kodi, her eyes darting around as she questioned his words.

"I'm rambling." he held out his hand. "My name is Gregory."

"Uh… Kodi." she shook his hand weakly, only for him to heartily shake up and down, dizzying the cat, "Aa… please stop!"

"Hah!" he let go of her hand. "I'm sorry but your hand is weak. You need some vigor within you."

He pulled a charm out of the pocket of his coat and held it up to her.

"Want to pray to the gods for strength?" he tapped a finger to his mouth. "I recommend praying to da Woeden. She is known best for bravery and strength."

Kodi gently pushed his hand away. "I don't need prayer. I need help."

"What kind of help? As a man of the many, I aim to be a leader to them all." he pointed at Kodi, "You count, even if your status is paria in the eyes of the boer of the Kitherlands."

"Well…"

Kodi glanced between the buizel in front of her to the town down the road. She did this a few times before sighing.

"Is it possible for you to help me sneak into town? I need to get something."

Gregory chuckled and grinned with confidence she's never seen before.

"That's quite a simple task. Consider it a deal."

"Thank you."

He held up his hand and opened it, letting a charm, not unlike the one he pulled out before.

"One catch is that you must promise me to pray to da Woeden for strength. Do so and I will surely be able to help you."

Kodi took the charm from him. A long glance at the charm showed her that it was in the shape of a curved 'H', gems in the centre of either side.

"Um…" she stared it intently, giving away her confusion, "What… what do I say in a prayer? And…" she looked away in shame. "Who is da Woeden?"

Gregory quickly stepped close to her, a look on his face that told her she should have stayed quiet instead of speaking her concerns.

"Do you not know the gods!?" he asked in a voiced panic, his eyes somewhat calmer but his face still worried. "How do you not know!?"

"I've been a servant my whole life! No one ever taught me anything about gods or how to pray…" her ears drooped as she looked down at the ground. "I was shuffled around a lot… they never taught me much at all besides haushaltung and kochen."

"That's not right! Whoever your teachers were, deserve the Voidlands for their treachery!" he laid a hand on her chest. "Once I help with your current problem, I will try to teach as much as I know about the gods. For now, I will leave you with the knowledge of da Woeden, Goddess of Willpower. She is sister to da Zelfin and da Vesprit…"

Night was upon the small town of Diermen. Known for being the crossroad of Road Ravenswaay and Road Schaapsbrug, the town is usually abuzz during the day as traders hock their wares and, in the local trading house, other traders barter goods with one another, hoping to make a profit in faraway towns. Now, it was quiet as most of the townsfolk and traders were asleep.

Gregory calmly waltzed into town with Kodi behind him, confused as to why he was so calm.

"Aren't you worried the people from the guild will catch us? Catch…" she looked down at herself, out of the uniform and in similar garb as the buizel. "me?"

"If they do, I will handle it. They cannot harm a holy man as me." he quietly chuckled to himself and flashed her a confident grin. She was sure that was bold lie from him- only to make her feel better. "But I assure you, they will never catch us as long as we have prayed to the gods."

"I still don't believe that'll help." muttered Kodi as she followed him.

They crept into a small, dark alley that soon adjoined the large square. She was amazed by the size of the church in comparison to the buildings around them- the manor she used to work in was larger yes, but not as elegant.

"It's amazing…" she whispered, her bright red eyes scanning all the details she could see. "It's so tall!"

Gregory chuckled. "While I cannot see it well, the church is always the focal point of life in this world." he gestured to it. "So it is always the most gracefully crafted building in all towns and cities, to bring all due attention to them as they deserve."

They walked past it, sticking to the shadows and avoiding the lit gas lanterns lining the square. They slipped past a slightly larger gap between two where a stairwell sat to the road below, revealing the fact the town was not as flat as Kodi thought.

One block down from the square, they came upon a small park and she noticed a large building at the other side with a large sign. She can only barely make it out, even with her dark-inclined vision, but what she did, she knew it was important.

"What is that building?" she quizzed her guide.

"It is the trading house here in Diermen- all sorts of goods are stored within. Whatever you desire lay within."

He stopped and turned around to face the sneasel, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure you wish to go inside? Those from the Guild of St. Mark are taking refuge within- a surefire way to get in serious trouble if caught. If they don't cut your head off, then that captain you talked about will."

He folded his arms.

"If they hand you back to him."

Kodi looked back towards the way out of town, the street lined with buildings of both simple and monster styles with the church taking the center focus.

She then turned to the park, the trading house on the other side. The tall building held what she was looking for but also people more than willing to get rid of her- after all, the Guild's are the ones enforcing the current situation her and her peoples were in.

She took a few deep breaths to keep calm as she made her decision, thinking back upon the last few days and the possible future- while bleak, still had promise if she were to stay alive.

"We're going inside. Lead me in please."

Gregory smiled. He walked in front of her once more and took lead, walking into the park.

"As you ask."

End Chapter 4

Please remember to leave a review- I encourage all criticism.

- CyanSparki

-Linguistic Library-

Low common: the natural language all monsters first know by right of birth. All monsters and beasts know it instinctively but increased use of regional languages has started to diminish this trait. The nobles and guilds of the continent push forward the increasing use of these languages.

-Ruartsche-

teufel - demon/devil
katze - cat
mietenkorp - lease corps: a somewhat more controlled version of the real life Friekorps without the radicalism
juwel - jewel
haushaltung - housekeeping
kochen - kitchen

-Kitch-

dank de goden - thank the gods
boer - farmer
paria - pariah
da Woeden - The Rage: A nickname for the Goddess of Willpower
da Zelfin - The Self: A nickname for the Goddess of Knowledge
da Vesprit - The Very Spirit: A nickname for the Goddess of Emotion