Don't Touch My Llama
Chapter 10: The Faithful and the Divine
By: Emilou aka Hatashi Kitty
One of the strangest things about being an alpaca is how long your neck is. Having your head so far from your body takes some time getting used to. However, there are some benefits to having an oddly proportioned body, as I soon found out.
After hearing a familiar voice hiss, "I'll get that fool, one way or another," I maneuvered my head next to the box without getting up from my place in the hay.
"Chasca?" I asked, peering inside the wicker box, seeing two angry, glowing eyes within the darkness.
A pinkish-gray form moved forward. I was right; it was Chasca. She put her paws on the bars of her makeshift cat-carrier.
"Quillana?" she asked, looking me up and down.
"Yes, it's me," I said almost in tears. It was a relief to hear my name, even in this wretched body. I had an ally in this horrible predicament. With the animal-patron of my village aiding me, I would escape and perhaps find a way to become human again.
"What happened to you?" the cat asked, sounding irritated.
"Oh, honorable Chasca. This lowly one doesn't know," I said, returning to the formal speech one uses when in the presence of greatness. "This one only remembers helping you deal justice to the emperor, then something hit this one. When this one woke up, she was an alpaca."
"An alpaca? But the potion was for a llama," Chasca hissed. "It must be past its expiration date."
I was a little confused. "This one doesn't understand," I told Chasca, hoping for an explanation.
"Never mind. Get me out of here," Chasca growled, rattling the bars of her cage.
I set about unlatching the cage, which would have been simple if I still had fingers. Yet with only cloven hooves and my mouth, I attacked the door with no luck.
"This one is sorry," I apologized humbly as I kowtowed to the wicker cage. "This one cannot free the honorable Chasca."
"Idiot!" she hissed at me, a claw reaching out and scratching my nose.
The attack came so unexpectedly that I squealed, leaping to my feet. At the ruckus, the man named Manco returned to the cart.
"What is going on?" he grumbled, going to Kuzco. He pulled on the Emperor's muzzle, glaring at the llama. "Are you causing trouble?"
Kuzco muttered an insult, but it remained unintelligent with his mouth tied shut.
Manco scans the cart suspiciously, his gaze lingering on me for a moment.
Knowing the man is waiting for me to speak, I move my head over to him, grunting and snorting as if I expect him to feed me. I even go so far as to nibble on his shirt, trying not to gag on his horrible body odor.
Manco pushes my head away, looking skeptical. He then checks the rest of the cart, including double checking Kuzco's and mine restraints. He nods his head, pleased with how everything looks. Before leaving, he points at Kuzco as if to tell the emperor that he'll be watching the llama very carefully.
Once the man is gone, I lay back down to talk to Chasca again. I keep my distance since my nose was still stinging, a reminder that an angry deity will strike out at the nearest mortal.
"This one is sorry she has failed you, Chasca. Please give this one more time. Perhaps this one could chew through the bars," I appealed to the cat deity.
Still irritated, Chasca answered tetchily, "Hurry up."
As I try gnawing at the wooden bars (which is very difficult for the single purpose that alpacas do not have a top row of teeth, only a bottom, and may I add, is very weird to experience), I heard Kuzco muttering something like, "Don't make me sick?"
"Who's that?" Chasca whispered, peering around her wicker cage. "Is that man coming back?"
I spat out a splinter of wood I had jarred loose. "It's the Emperor Kuzco in llama form. We both were captured by two men. They know Kuzco can talk and plan on selling him to the highest bidder," I said, sounding smug. "But this one may have fooled the men into thinking she's just a regular alpaca."
Chasca cackled. "A fitting end for you, Emperor Kuzco."
Kuzco kicked her box, causing Chasca to growl.
I glared at the llama. "Stop that. Don't you know who this is?" I hissed. "She's Chasca, descended from the heavens in animal form. Show her some respect."
"Yeah, show me some respect, llama," Chasca sneered.
Kuzco mumbled through his muzzle, "Are you crazy?" He also said a name, "Yzma" I think it was. I remembered he used that same name the night before.
"Don't listen to him, Quillana. Kuzco must have been the one who turned you into an alpaca last night," Chasca said, which caught my attention. "Free me, then I can free you. We'll escape together and leave the emperor to the fate that he deserves. Then we can find a way to turn us back into humans."
Many things that Chasca said should have warned me that I was being tricked. The first of which was his current situation. Kuzco may have been a jerk, but I didn't think he deserved to remain a llama and be sold. Revealing his true nature to his friends should have been enough. Second, I was skeptical that Kuzco had the ability to turn me into an alpaca. It made no sense, especially since he had been turned into a llama by Chasca. At this point, I should have realized that Chasca was lying to me. The third warning that I missed was: Why did Chasca need to be turned back into a human? As a deity, she had the power to change her shape at will.
I really have no excuse as to why I didn't catch Chasca in these lies. I was naïve. I wanted to believe the lies. I wanted to believe that it was Kuzco who changed me into an alpaca. I wanted to be in the right so badly that I ignored my conscience, ignored my logical reasoning and continued to help who I thought was a cat deity.
I was still chewing on the first wooden bar when a voice shouted from a distance, proclaiming the Merchant's March was to start. Soon after that, Manco and Zolin appeared and led their train of pack animals through the city.
"What's going on?" Chasca whispered.
I paused in my work to explain about the situation. Curious as to how Chasca happened to be in the same dilemma, I cautiously asked.
Chasca only growled and sank to the back of her box.
With Manco and Zolin nearby, I wasn't able to chew on Chasca's cage so not to be discovered. Besides, the jerky motion of the cart caused me to feel sick, especially with my fur and the sun making me hot and having no water to drink all day. I noticed Kuzco also felt sick when he started moaning and looking green. I felt bad for the emperor and wished that Manco would do something to make him more comfortable. At least I was able to lay down, but Kuzco was forced to remain standing.
As we traveled, I recognized the path that the Merchant's March was traveling along. It would eventually lead to my village if they stayed on the main road. I had many fond memories of the Merchant's March stopping in my village in years passed. It was like a holiday and a carnival wrapped up in one. It was a chance to buy things that were normally unavailable unless one traveled to the capital (which, for my village, was nearly impossible since a majority of the citizens were elderly). Many in my village also sold or bartered away items they didn't need anymore. My father always gave me some copper coins to buy sweets, books or carved toys.
But before they would arrive at my village, they would make several stops to other villages. I hoped that I would escape before then. I think I would die of shame if everyone in my village and my family found out that I'd been turned into a llama. Even though I had a good two weeks before then, tears still came to my eyes at the thought of the embarrassment.
"Quillana, the men are gone. Now is the time," Chasca hissed, jerking me out of my thoughts.
I looked around, realizing that the caravan had stopped by a river. It was mid-day, and everyone was taking the time to eat a short meal and water their animals. Zolin and Manco were not in sight.
I attacked the wooden bars again, grinding my teeth against the wood as hard as I could. I chewed until my mouth hurt. After a while, I felt the wood give way, snapping in two. Although it was only one bar, it created a gap big enough for Chasca to escape.
The fluffy form of Chasca squeezed out of the cage. She stretched and licked herself a couple of times to fix her ruffled fur.
Now that my animal-patron was free, I beamed, hoping for some praise from the divine creature. But I received none.
"This one is glad to be of service," I told Chasca humbly. I was anxious to be free myself, so I nudge Chasca with my words. "If it pleases Chasca, would thee free this one."
Chasca sat with her tail curled around her paws, appraising me with the judgmental eyes of a cat. "I can't possibly untie that know with my claws. It's impossible. Do it yourself," she said with a swish of her tail before jumping out of the cart and scampering away.
"No! Chasca, wait. Please, don't abandon me," I called out, straining against the bridal around my face.
No sooner had I shouted than something pulled against my lead roughly, turning my head. I found myself face-to-face with Manco who had a triumphant look on his face.
"You thought you could fool me, but I knew all along," Manco gloated, his hot, smelly breath causing me to cough. "I knew if I waited long enough, you'd talk."
I strained to turn my head to look for Chasca, hoping that she had changed her mind. This must be another test, so see if I would remain devoted to her. After all my faithful work, she wouldn't leave me to the same fate as Kuzco, would she? But deep in my heart I knew I was alone. And with my charade discovered, any chance for me to escape had just went down to zero.