Aight all you cool cats and kittens out there, I just have to say that I'm sorry. There has been too much time between updates in this fanfiction. If you're still with this story I have to say that I am eternally grateful to each and every single one of you out there. I never expected that this story would be so well received to have been favorited by 167 of you all and followed by even more at 223! This may not seem like a lot compared to other stories out there, but to me it means so much more than you can ever imagine and it blows my mind that you all enjoy this enough. I'll do my best to make this something you all can truly enjoy.
The Teletrap: Tyrus's era of equipment is the current modern ones we use today. His look is that of a heavily scared soldier that is tattooed up with short black hair, fairly tall of about 5'9". He has a chin strap type beard that he keeps shaved and maintained, but it could grow out if he wanted it to be a full beard. He wears gray camouflage fatigues that is long sleeved and covers nearly all of his body to hide the scars and tattoos, black combat boots with a black lightweight ballistics vest under his top rather over it. Also that's an interesting idea, but I can't say that he will or won't find it.
Deathryuger: It would be interesting to have Trash make a deal with Tyrus. But we both know that he would indeed reject pretty much any deal that Trash tries to come up with. It could be a fun idea to play around with though. So I'll give it some thought later on!
Guest: While he in theory COULD develop mortars, it's not like it would do him any good. He can't operate them given that it would be considered a weapon outside of the bow itself. He could teach people about them and how to use them, but the real question you have to ask is why would he give a world he doesn't really like currently more firepower than they need?
3-13 Sniper: Of course! I would argue that "Fireman" Volke is the best assassin in the series, but that's highly up for debate as his greatest contender for that position is Jaffar. As far as you nitpicks go, I tend to reread my stuff as well and see them. It often annoys me that I miss these mistakes in passing and I have to see them. Haha. Glad you're enjoying this so far! As for Itsuki… Well he got hit by a truck. He's dead. I'm calling it there at least for this story.
FuryofMadness: Well I'm going to be answering that question with this chapter. And I wouldn't really call it a "Dark Side" but more of realization that the world he's in is shitty and so are the people. So he's giving them the same treatment in return that they've given him.
Commissar Gaunt: You are true in this assessment. I, sadly, don't have the full scope of how basic training goes and such. I've looked up information on it and I've gotten stories from friends and family about how long and shitty basic went. I won't be 100 percent accurate every time in my story, but I'm working on it.
Cj1of4: I know what you mean, and it will happen. So you can be at ease on that front.
Shad0wGh0st: Glad I could help with that with my story! I hope you did well on them!
Ascandas: Haha. I'm glad you enjoyed it! I believe I've already messaged you in a PM before. Don't worry though. Everyone's favorite Raccoon/Tanuki girl will be in this story.
Deadly Instinct: I'm glad you enjoyed this so far! Like I said before, this story will be following the canon story but will be following it from Tyrus's perspective rather than Naofumi's. It will still feature Naofumi obviously as well as the other heroes, but Tyrus is the main focus.
Theoneandonlyedster: Tyrus having a slave… I've thought long and hard about it. That's all I'll say for now about it. I'm still glad you enjoyed the chapter and I have to say that after reading your latest chapter, I'm amazed by it. Amazing job to you as well!
Vendicor: I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'll try to keep things going in a similar fashion as well!
Boomburst128: I'm not sure if you're giving me a compliment here or criticism with your review. Also I'm not sure if you meant your review for my story or rather the actual canon story as well. If you mean my story, then they listen to the king simply because that is the highest authority that they have met so far. Yes, they know that it's a matriarch rather than a monarch, but they haven't met the Queen as of yet. And as for being ousted by the Queen loyalists, well nobody knows where the queen is currently.
Cinder46231: It would be funny indeed to see the king begging Tyrus to come back. I could possibly play around with the idea later in the future if it really strikes me and I want to start diverging from canon.
Guest: Extra! Extra! Read all about it! I love this review! Thank you so much!
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I only own my characters I've created. We know I'm not good enough to create it, but in my mind I do.
XxXxX
From Soldier to Hero
Chapter 9: Behind the Eight Ball
"Naofumi, I may have helped you out here today, but in the grand scheme of things it won't really matter."
"I know."
"Word is going to spread that you're a rapist and I'm a madman."
"I know."
"I won't tell you that you shouldn't go after revenge, because that would make me a hypocrite after everything I've told you before about myself. I will tell you however to pick your battles wisely. I will help you where I can, but the games stop here and now for everyone involved. Ren and Motoyasu still haven't realized that this isn't a game and our very lives are on the line here."
"…. I know. It's hard though. All I have is a shield that can't attack. I need party members and there's no way I can really trust anyone after all that's happened. Like an idiot I said that nobody was out to get you and look what happened to me. This is fucking pathetic." Naofumi let out a humorless laugh as he slammed the side of his fist into a stone wall in anger, as the pair of young men was coming out of the castle after the trial had just taken place.
Tyrus looked over at the younger man with a bit of regret. He really wished he could have done more for him that could help him keep his bright personality, but he just didn't have it in him to give him false hope. He could try, but without proper information of the world as a whole, there was only so much he could actually do. Tyrus did have a solution for Naofumi, but he personally hated everything about it, but it would ensure that he had a better chance at survival.
"Naofumi, listen to me for a second on this. I don't like this anymore than you do, but I have a few ideas that could help you out. The first thing is going to another country first and foremost. But there are several things wrong with that. One is that you have no money and barely any clothes. Two is that there is no way of knowing what sort of dangers are on the roads around here. Three is that we have no way of knowing if we can actually cross the borders without complications. I could go on but you get the idea."
Naofumi listened to Tyrus and frowned more with each reason brought up to him. He grit his teeth in more frustration and slammed his fist into the stone again. "So, what am I supposed to do then?! I'm the weak one of the four! The loser with the useless shield that can't defeat even a simple balloon! Nobody will join me after this and besides it's not like I would want any more backstabbers anyway!" Naofumi ranted in anger now as he was on the verge of breaking down and crying now. It was chipping away at him at how terrible his situation had become in only a day of being in this new world.
Tyrus sighed and shook his head at this now. He closed his eyes and finally came to the decision that he had hoped he wouldn't have had to come to in the first place. But in order to give this young man a fighting chance he knew what he had to do. "Naofumi, follow me. First we are going to go see some people, then we…. are going to find you a party member." The large black man hated himself for what he was about to do, but lines had already been crossed and he felt it was his duty to give Naofumi a fair fighting chance that nobody else would.
Naofumi went wide eyed and silent at that for a moment. He didn't miss the way Tyrus had spoken those words. It was as if they were completely hollow but he didn't know why, but if it would help him, he would take anything he could get to survive. "What? What do you mean by that?" The black haired younger man had to ask this question now. He didn't know why he felt the need to ask it, but he just knew he did. Out of everyone there, he had the most trust in Tyrus after everything that had happened, but he couldn't exactly say for how long or how much he trusted him.
Tyrus shook his head and decided to stay quiet for the time being. He only turned away from Naofumi's wide eyed gaze and started walking away from the area back towards the castle town. He was really gripping with this decision as he took on a hollowed and slightly defeated look that he refused to allow Naofumi to see at the moment. If he had answered Naofumi then, it would utterly kill him inside and he couldn't go through with it.
XxXxX
Walking through the town it was almost impossible for the pair of disgraced heroes to not notice how the people stared at them and whispered as they walked by. They both recognized that the rumors were already spreading like wildfire, and currently there wasn't much they could do to stop it. As Tyrus led Naofumi along with a growing agitated scowl on his face, he noticed the few people he had met and come to actually like looking at him.
He wanted to go over and say something but as he met Matilde Melrose's gaze on him, he then gave her a look that promised he would come back to her and explain things later. This seemed to do the trick as she frowned but went back inside her shop without a word. He also saw the apothecary, Brenham, looking at him with an even but stern gaze as well. He could also see the tailor girl, Tammy, looking at him in slight confusion as well with a frown on her face. He sighed and Naofumi had caught it.
"Friends of yours, Zen?" Naofumi said with slight intrigue and defeat in his voice as he had been silently watching it all. He was in a swirl of emotions himself, but he hadn't missed anything for a second that had happened. He was feeling his rage growing with each passing second overtaking his other emotions but he would hold himself back because someone was still trying to help him.
"You can call me Tyrus now because it doesn't matter anymore. That bastard Aultcray has his spies more than likely keeping tabs on all of the heroes. I've told my name to only a very select few people and I believe they wouldn't have told anyone. But, after what happened with that bitch princess, it's up in the air." Tyrus muttered in response as he could feel his mood getting worse by the second as well. He looked up however and noticed the bald blacksmith looking at them from their left now. "Oh, good we're here."
"Hey! Shield Boy! Bow Boy! I have half a mind to beat you both till you're black and blue right here and now myself!" Elhart shouted out at them both as he walked over to them both and grabbed them both by the collars of their clothes. "What the hell were you thinking shield boy? Raping your party member like that?! And you bow boy, I thought we were past that dealing out death threats to innocent people?! Guards and maids weren't enough for you? So you decided to go after the king, his daughter and his royal court now too?!"
This caused Tyrus to go wide eyed at this as did Naofumi. They were spreading false rumors on him as well. "What?! Wait one fucking second Elhart! I never threatened Malty and I never threatened Aultcray or his royal court! That's horse shit and you know it!" Tyrus roared back in abject rage as he grabbed hold of Elhart's wrist ready to fight him right then and there. But a calm and hollow voice stopped the both of them from coming to blows.
"You too, huh? You believe those lies? I thought you were different, Elhart. Fine. If you're going to beat me then get it over with, but don't lay a finger on the only one that defended me." Naofumi said looking up to the much taller and muscular man that had a near death grip on him. His hollow tone of voice didn't match up with his look of determination to give the man absolute hell if he carried out with attacking Tyrus.
This caused the blacksmith to look at him with a new appraising look after taking in his words. Then he looked at Tyrus and saw the same determination in his hazel brown eyes, and finally relented by letting go of the duo of disgraced heroes. He sighed at them but gave them both hard looks as he spoke. "Fine, I'll hear you both out in my shop. Let's go." Elhart then turned around and started walking into his shop followed by both Tyrus and Naofumi.
The pair looked at each other for a moment before following along behind the older bald man and entered his shop. Elhart leaned against the counter and looked them both over as they had entered in. "Alright, so start explaining what happened." He demanded of them and Tyrus wanted to roll his eyes at this but started speaking up.
"The short version is that Naofumi here was framed by his previous party member to be a rapist. I was the only one to defend him against the king and the other heroes and it seems the king and his bitch daughter decided to frame me for attempting murder after we left. But I don't get why they would go after him. We've only been in this world for little over a day and we're here to save them. So what the hell is their problem?" Tyrus had to ask this as he couldn't get that question out of his head now.
Naofumi nodded in agreement at this, but there had seemed to be a now prominent scowl on his face. "The rumors will spread fast now if you've already heard about this, Elhart, and considering that it's coming from that trash that calls himself a king and his bitch of a daughter. Nobody will believe either of us either that we didn't do it."
"I see. Well the armor you had yesterday is gone as well and we can't have you running around nearly naked, kid. I have something in the back here that should help you out. Wait just a second and I'll get it." With that said, Elhart walked behind the counter and into the back of his shop leaving the two alone for the moment.
"I warned Aultcray that I would expose his little secret if he fucked with us again. It's best you know it as well. I don't know how true it is, but guessing from his earlier reaction, it holds some actual weight." Tyrus said instantly to Naofumi once they were alone in the front of the shop, though he didn't really care if Elhart had heard him at this point.
Naofumi looked his way with wide eyes and his mind was working to try and figure out what Tyrus knew now, but he was drawing up a blank answer. "What is it?" He asked having decided that asking would be the best course of action in this situation. Any and all help to ruin the king and his daughter would be welcome if Naofumi had any say in the matter.
"The four heroes were supposed to be summoned to by different countries to contend with the waves that are supposed to happen all over this world. Not just in Melromarc." Tyrus said with hardly any care now, but he did turn to gauge Naofumi's reaction to this news. He could see that the man was completely speechless at hearing that. "Aultcray essentially doomed the rest of the world by summoning all four heroes to his country from what I understand and we were kept in the dark about that little fact."
"N… No way. You're joking right? The waves happen all around the world? Not just here? And.. We have to stop each one of them? Just the four of us are supposed to stop each wave to save this world? I.. I need to sit down." Naofumi went from speechless to having hundreds of questions in the span of seconds now. To him this revelation was too much to take in at the moment and he promptly leaned against the counter dry heaving now.
Elhart had just come back with a major frown on his face holding a set of clothes in his hand. "You're kidding about that, right kid? I heard you from the back by the way. I knew the waves were bad and they were supposed to be happening all over. But the king really didn't do that did he? Why would he? Also, here you go Shield Boy, a set of clothes that should at least get you started." He then watched as Naofumi's scowl returned as he grabbed the clothes and started storming off towards the changing room.
Tyrus sighed again and shook his head as he pulled out a silver coin and placed it on the counter in front of Elhart now. "That's for his clothes, and I wish I could say that I was kidding. If I had to guess as to why he did it, I would bet on my soldier instinct here. He intends to let the other countries fall to ruin and be weakened by the waves first by fighting them off on their own. Then when they are in a weakened state, he will swoop in with his army and seize power without much resistance and Melromarc will grow in power over time."
Elhart listened to the younger man and took it all in. "I see.. That's a hell of a theory you have there, kid. But something like that is hard to just accept. But enough talk about that for now. What will you two do now? Oh and your requests aren't ready yet. I still need time to work on them both. You can check back in a few weeks for them."
Just as Naofumi came back dressed now, Tyrus bit his lip in agitation and grunted about what he was going to say next. "I hate to say it but we're going to see the slave trader, Beloukas. As much as I don't want to say it, nobody would team up with Naofumi or me willingly right now. We've basically been branded as criminals in this country right now and we don't have time to go to another country with the next wave being less than a month away. Naofumi can't attack and kill monsters on his own right now, and I'm only one man. We need party members to help us get stronger and we need them now or else we won't survive."
"What?!"
Both Elhart and Naofumi looked at Tyrus as if he had grown a second head despite everything he had just said. Elhart spoke up first as he slammed his fist down onto his countertop. "Are you out of your mind kid?! What in God's name makes you think buying a slave is the best option for either of you?! Do you truly have no morals that you would actually consider buying a slave just to gain a party member?!" The man was shouting at this point and Tyrus couldn't fault him for it either.
Naofumi shook his head a few times before speaking up now as well. "Tyrus.. You can't be serious can you? You make a lot of sense, but this is just.. too much. We aren't that far gone are we? B-Buying a slave just to have a party member to fight for us? Isn't there some other way?" If Naofumi were to actually consider Tyrus's words, the man did make a ton of sense as he didn't have many options to actually fight, get stronger, and ultimately survive.
"Trust me. I hate this much more than either of you can possibly imagine. But this is a fight for survival rather than just saving the world. I would absolutely love to do this any other way if possible, but we don't have the time or resources to waste on finding another method right now. We have less than 30 days before the next wave hits. What would you do Naofumi? Can you get strong enough in that time on your own to survive the wave? If you can't kill the monsters, you can't get any experience, and if you can't get experience you can't level up." Tyrus said through gritted teeth as much as he didn't want to. But, it would be for the younger man's own good here.
Naofumi stood there and mauled over Tyrus's words again. He definitely saw that the man had a point despite how terrible things were. He had to stop being so naïve and actually start taking this seriously because of what Malty did to him. He knew that his back was seriously against the wall and he was far behind everyone else as he couldn't even kill a monster on his own. He wouldn't be able to trust anyone after this again. But he knew he had to steel his heart in order to survive. "Fine. Where do we go?" Naofumi asked as if he had swallowed a bitter pill.
Elhart turned to look at Naofumi in shock as well. "You can't be serious.." He grunted and gritted his own teeth before relenting again and shaking his head. He then looked over at Tyrus with a hardened gaze that could unnerve lesser men, but it didn't seem to faze the soldier in the slightest. "Fine. Do whatever you want, but I don't agree to any of this. You better treat them right or so help me I will hunt you down and kill you myself."
Tyrus met the older man's gaze head on unflinchingly and nodded. "You won't need to worry about that, I'll put a bullet in my own head if I ever do." He then looked over at Naofumi and nodded to him. "We're behind the eight ball on this one, and it's a race against time to survive. We better get going, Naofumi. We have far too much work to do if we want to survive here." With that, Tyrus turned around and started walking out of the shop without another word. Then Naofumi followed right behind him with heavy scowl on his face as well.
XxXxX
"Oh my! It's both the Shield and Bow hero here in my humble shop! How can I help the both of you? Would you perhaps be interested in my merchandise, finally?" Beloukas asked with pure excitement in his voice that unnerved both Naofumi and Tyrus as he saw them enter his tent. The man was completely surprised to have seen both the Shield and Bow heroes in his shop so soon after hearing about the charged crime to the Shield hero earlier, but it was a most welcome development for him that he wouldn't turn down.
Naofumi scowled even more than before as he clearly didn't like this man or his business. But he had to swallow his pride here because he knew that he was desperate after everything that had happened to him so far. "Shut it. I just need someone to fight for me. Just show me what you have so I can get out of here." He groused out in response to the short man just wanting to be done with this before he regretted his decision.
Tyrus for his part was having an internal struggle with this decision about whether this was right or wrong. He knew it was wrong on all accounts to be buying a slave, but he didn't really have many options left available to himself or Naofumi. "It's as the man beside me said. Just show us what you have Beloukas so we can go. We don't have time to waste on idle chitchat because we're behind the eight ball here and we need an out quick."
Both Naofumi and Beloukas looked to Tyrus with a curious gaze at his odd phrasing but chalked it up to being an American and Otherworld phrase respectively. Beloukas shrugged his shoulders and his cheshire cat grin returned full force as he turned on his heel and waved his cane to them both. "Well follow me lads my dear heroes so we can get you two situated!" He then started walking from the main lobby of his tent towards the back area where it was darker and there were cages filled with people that looked like animals.
Tyrus and Naofumi looked on in horror at the people that were in the cages and could just see how miserable and malnourished the slaves looked. There were some that had bruises all over their bodies and they were all in tattered rags that looked ready to fall off at a moment's notice. It made them both want to throw up as they could feel the bile rising up from their stomachs as they noticed how awful it smelled once they got closer to the cages now. However, Beloukas continued on as if nothing was wrong with the same grin as always. He then came to a stop in front of one cage that was larger than the others.
When the pair of heroes looked inside they could see yellow cat like eyes staring back at them that was filled with pure hatred. They then heard a growl and noticed exactly what they were looking in finally. It was a muscular wolf man that had several scars on it blue furred body that looked as if he was ready to go on a hate filled rampage at any given second. Looking the wolf man over more they both noticed that its level was more than three times their own as it was level 75 compared to their level 1 and 2.
This caused Naofumi to turn a sharp gaze towards the man and scoff at him in disgust. "You're showing us your best merchandise first because you know we can't afford it." Naofumi watched as the man smile at him and tap his cane a few times on the ground. "Tch. Just show us something we can afford already." He had picked up on being a somewhat decent merchant from his time of playing the few online games that he managed a guild from. He had gotten more enjoyment out of being the merchant for the guild as well as being the leader.
Tyrus and Beloukas were impressed by the younger man's deduction and Beloukas grinned even wider at that. "Oh ho! I really do like a client that knows their stuff and what they want! You two are quickly becoming my favorite customers!" Beloukas said with a tap of his cane on the ground. Tyrus just felt a scowl working its way onto his face at those words as he wanted to just be done with this place forever from this point forward. But they went onward anyway leaving the blue wolf like creature alone in the cage now.
After a little while of walking and looking at the slaves that were up for purchase, the trio came to a set of cages that were further away from the rest. Naofumi pulled a tarp off of one and saw a pink eyed young raccoon girl with long but ragged orange hair. Tyrus saw that the girl looked like she was on the verge of death due to starvation, sickness, and the bruises she had all over her body. Naofumi saw all of this and looked the young girl in her eyes, and saw something that made him somewhat angry as his body trembled with silent rage. But, he pushed it aside and looked over to Beloukas next. "How much for this one?" Naofumi asked as he watched the girl shiver and cough with her fear.
"Hmm.. This one? She's on the verge of death as is, but alright. I'll make you a deal on 25 silver." Beloukas said with a grin as he looked the girl over as well, but then turned to the larger black man next. "And what about you, my dear Bow Hero? Have you found yourself something you wanted?" Tyrus clicked his tongue as he watched Beloukas tap his cane on the floor of the tent and two very buff looking guards came out and took the girl out of the cage.
"No.. not yet." He growled out as he hated himself watching as Naofumi started to walk off behind the two men now. The man was seriously conflicted with himself and all of this about whether this was the right thing to do or not, as he looked through all of the cages. He noted that a lot of furry looking people in them were looking back at him with either looks of fear and utter defeat. After some more time, he had noticed that Naofumi and his new party member had already left as he was told by Beloukas.
After looking through more cages Tyrus saw something that stuck out to him among the others. It was a fox like girl that had white fur all over her body with two sharp fox ears. She had a rather long tail that was white as well, and her body was so malnourished that it looked like was skinner than a twig and she would be carried away with the wind like a leaf. Tyrus looked the girl over and noted that she had one pitch black eye that looked like it would drown him in an empty abyss, while her other eye was missing behind a rather sloppy mess of bandages. Her body was covered in scars, but she held a fierce and defiant look about her that screamed she would attack anyone that got near her.
The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity in silence, but was no more than a few minutes. Tyrus walked closer and squatted down in front of the cage to get a better look at the girl that stared at him in growing agitation, evident by the fact that she had started growling at him intently to ward him off. Tyrus only stared at her and saw that she was shaking as if fighting off her own death or rather in fear, but she didn't let it completely show on her face. He could see this girl was a fighter with a strong will to live, and this was exactly what he needed for his party.
"Do you want to be free of this place?" Tyrus finally asked in an even but confident tone as he knew he had to try and sweet talk someone that was clearly not going to trust him.
The girls' ears twitched at first and her sole eye locked on with his in clear confusion as she was completely caught off guard by this. Her growling had stopped but she didn't say anything in response to Tyrus yet. The man though could understand this as he had seen slaves that had been just as bad off as this girl, and didn't believe they would be saved like this, but the difference here was that slavery was legal in this world. It was a natural part of this society so a lot of the slaves here wouldn't trust anyone so easily that came along offering them freedom.
"I'll ask you again. Do you want to be free of this place? If you come with me, I can guarantee your freedom and relative safety. It won't be easy, but I will make sure you never suffer through this again. So will you join me?" Tyrus asked once more in a slower and gentler tone as to try and get the girl to at least understand him.
There was silence from the girl as she stared at him as if searching his soul for any falsehood in his statement. Her body tensed up as her tail stood stiff behind her as if ready to attack. But her lips parted on her dirtied up face. "W… Why me?" She finally asked having given some thought to this proposition that was put before her. She wanted her freedom, just like the others there, but the harsh reality of life told her to never trust anyone at all under any circumstances.
"The honest truth is that I was summoned to this world as the Bow Hero. I need people that can become strong enough to help me and in turn I will do whatever I can to help them as well. I need people I can trust to watch my back, and in turn I will watch theirs. I don't expect you to trust me or believe me, but I need help. But most of all, out of all the others I've seen in here, you haven't given up. You look like you will fight to the bitter end." Tyrus laid everything out there for the girl in the cage and he could see some more life shine in her black right eye.
"I…. I want my freedom." The girl finally answered as she coughed a few times. She looked the large dark skinned man over, but she was still extremely wary of him. She didn't trust him in the slightest, but she knew she would be stupid to turn down possibly her only chance at gaining her freedom. She would fight to the bitter end as she tried to move but her body was screaming in agony from having eaten hardly a thing in nearly a week besides stale pieces of bread and water.
Tyrus grinned at her and nodded. "Alright. It's a deal. I'll get you out of here shortly and we'll get you into some proper clothes and a hot meal first of all." With that he stood up and turned around to find Beloukas standing there behind him already with a big grin on his face.
"Oh ho! So you want that one? She's been through the wringer and has a bit of disobedient streak about her. She's been through several masters already that found her to be more trouble than she's worth. As you can see by her scars and missing eye, they were especially cruel in dealing out punishment to her. I found her at an auction for rather cheap some time back. Fox Demi-Humans aren't all that common around these parts, especially one with white fur like hers', but just for you I'll part with her for let's say… 40 silver?" Beloukas did some quick thinking about the price and giving out a quick explanation about this girl.
Tyrus for his part took everything in and still wanted to strangle this man to death along with everyone else that thought slavery was ok in this world. But he simply nodded and bit his tongue and fought back the urge to vomit. "40 silver. Let's get this over with quick." He growled out in response as Beloukas tapped his cane and the same two guards came out and grabbed the girl out of the cage. And she in turn tried to fight them off with her dull claws while her hands were bound behind her back. She hissed and tried to use her fangs to bite at them despite how weak she felt in that moment.
"This is going to the death of me." Tyrus muttered to himself as he followed along behind the struggling girl and the men that had her restrained. He could see the tiny man in the top hat follow along as well with a massive grin on his face as he seemed quite pleased with himself but chose not to say anything until they were in another part of the tent that had a table with some equipment on it. He noted that there was ink on it as well a knife and brush.
"This is where we will do the binding of the slave and master seal. This way, your new merchandise won't be able to run off or attack you without suffering the punishment. But you're able to set how much pain this girl will feel as you like as well. You seem to be the sort of client that won't want to hurt her any more than she already has been. I can actually respect that about you, bow hero. But this is business for me so I'm in no true position to judge you or anyone else. Now then, enough of the morality crisis because I need you to add in some of your blood to this ink here and we can get started."
Beloukas said as he handed the knife over to Tyrus. The large man took it and made a cut on his finger without flinching and watched as his blood was added to the ink. He then looked on as the girl continued struggling to get away before locking her sole eye with his own. She bared her teeth at him but he didn't look away at all. He knew that this could be considered a betrayal already on his part when he told her that he would give her freedom. But she growled after a moment and stopped struggling after a moment having decided to accept it, if it means she could be free soon.
Beloukas then applied the slave seal onto the fox girls' right bicep without delay and both men watched as the seal glowed brightly for a moment. Then they watched and heard as the young fox girl scream and thrash around against the men holding her as the ink burned into her skin. This caused Tyrus to turn towards the short man with a heavy scowl on his face. "This seal of yours causes them pain just to apply it? I'm seriously considering crushing your fucking windpipe right here and now you penguin bastard. If not for the laws of these lands, you would already be dead." Tyrus growled out as he kept his shit together long enough for this whole ordeal to be over with.
The top hat wearing slave merchant's grin remained the same but he was sweating profusely and took a step away from the large soldier. He knew this man wasn't a fan of him and his business and seemed unhinged enough to seriously follow through with his threats of ending his very life. "T-This is the only time it will happen. I'm not the one that even came up with this mind you, and I assure you that the slave seal can be taken off at any time you choose to do so. Though as of right now I wouldn't recommend it, at least not in this country." Beloukas decided to try steering the conversation away from himself and onto the seal instead.
"What do you mean?" Tyrus asked now having found that line of information somewhat intriguing as the girl in front of them had finally stopped in her thrashing as the pain subsided now.
"Well. Within this country there is a law that states that any slave human, and especially demi-human, are to be executed should they be found without their slave seals or owners nearby. So essentially the slave seal is more for her protection as well as your own depending on how you set her restrictions." Beloukas stated in a matter of fact tone of voice now.
This caused Tyrus's eye to twitch in annoyance as he released a sigh and shook his head in frustration. "And who created this law?" He asked as he walked over to the girl and tried to inspect her but she took one look at him and started growling at him to which he frowned heavily at her. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it would hurt you. I'll get you some food and clothes soon. I'll see about some medicine as well." He uttered a sincere apology to the young girl as she stared at the much bigger man.
"Well that would be none other than Aultcray Melromarc the 32nd. He instilled this law some years back once he came into power once he married into royalty." Beloukas said with a shrug of his shoulders as he watched the young man inspect the demi-human he owned now.
Tyrus growled but let it go for now as that was a matter for another day. "This just gives me one more reason to hate this asshole. Alright Beloukas, we're done here." He said as he grabbed his sack of money from his pocket and pulled out 41 silver and placed them on the table. He then walked back over to the girl and kneeled down in front of her. "Hey… We're getting out of here. But first I need to know what your name is. Can you tell me what your name is? I promise you that I won't hurt you and I won't let anything bad happen to you anymore."
The fox girl stared at the man with a scowl on her face as she slightly recoiled away from him in fear. She heard everything he had to say and her scarred ears twitched a few times as she heavily weighed her options now. She wasn't stupid enough to believe that she could outright run away with how she had been branded with the seal. But she was tired of all the lies, promises of a better life, and the abuse of her previous owners. She did notice one thing about this one that was completely different about the others. He had asked for her name, not forced her with the slave seal to tell him. All the others had never bothered to ask her or to force her with the seal. If this bow hero, as he claimed to be, was asking for her name rather than forcing her, then she might be willing to take a single chance on him. It wasn't like she had any other choice in the matter.
"Z… Zevela. My n-name is Zevela." Her raspy and slightly broken voice called out in response with the same scowl on her dirty and scarred face. Her single black eye watched this man in front of her intently for any sort of reaction now.
This caused Tyrus to give her a bright and warm smile and reach out a hand to pat her head gently now. "Zevela? That's a nice name. I'm Tyrus. Tyrus Owens. From today onward, you and I are partners, Zevela. We aren't slave and master, we are partners and I promise to do everything I can to take care of you."
The girl flinched heavily once she saw him reach out his hand towards her, but noticed that he was smiling at her with kindness. She didn't trust it in the slightest as she had seen this type of smile in the past only to have it turn wicked shortly after. But she also noted that he was petting her head with a light and gentle touch but again she didn't trust it as she remembered this happening from one of her previous owners only to have that kindness turn into brutality only a second later.
"Partners?" She questioned this word heavily as she found herself getting swept up in this man's pace. But she lightly shook her head and backed her head away from the petting he was giving her. She didn't trust him and never would. She had no trust in her heart for anyone at all anymore. She would use this man to gain her freedom and or be killed at some point soon.
Tyrus nodded to her and stopped petting her once she jerked away from him. He gave her the same warm smile as he tried to disarm her long enough so they could leave. "That's right Zevela, you and I are partners. That means that I won't make you do anything that you can't handle and I will do anything I can to help you grow strong enough to gain your freedom. But I need your help with the waves. I can tell that you can and will grow strong and I think I can make you strong enough to never let this happen to you again, but in return I ask that you help me as well. We watch each other's backs from now on."
This caused the girl to go wide eyed as she had come to understand that she would be used to fight the waves now. She growled at him and jumped back from him. "No! I won't die for you in the waves! I knew I couldn't trust you! You're nothing but a liar! You won't give me my freedom! The waves are nothing but a death sentence! You might as well just kill me right here and now damn it! It's nothing but a living hell!" She shouted out in a raspy and strained tone of voice as her thin legs were shaking in pain. Her body was so thin and frail that she was ready to keel over at any given second."
Tyrus frowned and shook his head as he stayed at her eye level watching as she had gained a wild and desperate look on her face as if she were ready to make a break for it. "I'm not asking you to die for me, Zevela. I'm asking for your help in the waves. I promise you that you won't die so long as I'm around. Give me just one chance and I promise you that I won't let any harm come to you." Tyrus tried to reason with the small girl now, while Beloukas watched the two of them in an odd silence and fascination.
The fox girl bared her fangs and dulled claws at Tyrus in an attempt to defend herself. She couldn't trust him or his words. He was trying to get her to walk into the living hell that is the waves. She had survived one and wanted no part of them again if she could help it. "No chance! I can't trust you!" She screamed in pain as she was seething with anger and pain as she was finding it harder to stand and breathe with each passing second now. She didn't know what was going on with her body, but she noted that the pain she was in was growing by the second. "I… It hurts!" Her heart was racing and it was pounding in her ears now as she could start to taste blood welling up in throat.
Tyrus was growing more and more worried by the second as he noticed that her body was starting to go into shock due to her recent actions. He wasn't a doctor, but over his years of service he had taken a few classes on basic field medication and saw that she needed medical attention soon. "Zevela… I need you to calm down. Please. If you don't, you might die. I need you to just listen to me… Zevela? Zevela?! Zevela!" Tyrus called her name a few times in heightened alarm as he watched her collapse on the cold hard ground now. This caused him to move to her to try and save her life.
"S-Stay away from me… I c.. I can't.. t-trust.. you." This was the final time Zevela the fox demi-human would say anything to her newest and last owner, Tyrus Owens.
XxXxX
And scene! Yeah. Living you all on a cliffhanger! Aren't I just the worst? This should have been out and finished weeks ago. Despite how long it took, I actually like this. So yeah, Zevela is a fox demi-human, but she's not so easy to trust anyone. But she might not live long enough to see her trust anyone again. Who knows? I was debating on how I wanted this to actually go. But maybe I can make the next chapter without it taking so long next time.
So, Ciao for now everyone!
