Reyna's eyes slowly drifted open, and a small groan left her. She felt something soft, like a pillow, beneath her head. A light weight, a blanket, rested on her chest. Her heavy eyelids refused to open all the way, and she closed them once again. Her head drifted to the side as she took stock of how she felt.
There was a dull ache in her stomach. Her limbs were stiff. They cracked and popped as she shifted and tried to stretch out her limbs. Raising her arms too high shot pain through her side. She quickly lowered her arms and rubbed her eyes.
Reyna didn't remember falling asleep at the bar. She did remember waking up to a loud bang on the table. Some man was trying to intimidate the bartender with gray eyes. And, she remembered there was some kind of bar fight. Reyna had been involved in that bar fight.
Reyna didn't think there was an exact reason that she jumped in. It was a mixture of pain from her stomach, the man being an ass, and the fact that he woke her up. She was just irritated and went to take her anger out on him. Then, his friends joined the fray. Assholes.
After the fight, Reyna was led to some kind of backroom. And, she passed out. Where was she now? Reyna looked at her wrists and found that her wrists weren't bound. Lifting her shirt showed no new scars and a large bandage across her stomach. Reyna didn't think she was in any kind of danger.
Where the hell was she now though? It wasn't a hospital. Hell, it looked like someone's couch. Reyna laid her head back and tried not to curse. She didn't feel in any shape to fight, and she couldn't flee. Her eyes closed as she heard sounds down a hallway. There was a rapid tapping noise.
Reyna forced her eyes open and looked around the room. She was in a living room. A frown came to her face. There was a forty inch television across the room from her. A coffee table was next to the couch, and there was a glass of water set out. Her backpack rested on the ground near the couch.
The tapping noise stopped, and Reyna looked up. A confused frown came to her face as she saw the creature standing across the living room. Her eyes focused on the man's upper half. He wore a tweed jacket over an orange shirt. One hand was absent-mindedly running his hand through his beard. His brown hair was cut near his ears. The bottom half of the man was a white horse. A centaur.
"Where?" Reyna slowly asked. She swallowed and found her mouth was bone dry.
"Take a drink," the man offered. Reyna slowly pulled herself into a sitting position and grabbed the glass with a shaking hand. She took a small sip, testing out how it tasted. When she felt safe enough, she swallowed the small amount of liquid and drank the rest of the glass. "How are you feeling?"
"Where am I?" Reyna questioned. She leaned forward and slowly stretched her aching limbs. There was another loud popping noise from her limbs, and she groaned softly.
"In my house. My name is Chiron," the centaur greeted. He smiled at her, but Reyna was focused on that name. It was someone important. She knew that, but she couldn't remember what it was. Reyna hung her head and rubbed her eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"Why am I here?" Reyna questioned. A glance down at herself showed she was still wearing her old clothes.
"You were badly hurt, and the bar wasn't safe for you to stay in," Chiron answered. "You helped one of my bartenders, and I only found it fair to return the favor. Would you like to take a shower?"
"I'm good," Reyna declined quickly. Her eyes studied the centaur in suspicion.
"Would you like some food?" Chiron asked kindly. Reyna's stomach answered for her, and she looked at the ground. "I can make you something."
"You don't have to help me," Reyna said. She swung her legs over the couch and tried to stand. The pain in her side tripled, and she unwillingly collapsed back against the couch. Chiron stepped towards her, and Reyna tensed. Her heart felt ready to beat out of her chest.
"I'm sorry," Chiron said. He raised his hands and stepped further away. "I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, but I mean you no harm."
"I need to go," Reyna said. Despite her words, she didn't have the strength to stand. Reyna didn't care though. She tried to summon whatever strength she could to make it to a standing position. Her palms pressed against the couch, and she tried to stand.
Her arms shook from the effort, and she collapsed back against the couch. Both hands moved to her side, and she felt pain pulsating from the bandage. Chiron spoke, "You're going to tear your stitches if you don't relax."
"Stitches?" Reyna questioned. She studied him and waited for him to move towards her. Instead, he walked towards the other end of the room.
"Would you like some tea?" Chiron asked. Reyna didn't answer. Chiron stepped into the opposite room, and Reyna quickly tried to stand. More pain shot through her side, and the rest of her body ached in protest. Reyna groaned and collapsed back onto the couch, defeated.
Reyna closed her eyes tightly. She heard all kinds of stories about centaurs, especially the ones in the wild. Reyna's face paled, and she placed both hands back to her side. What the hell had she gotten herself into?
Reyna jumped as she heard a tea kettle. One hand moved to her heart. It wasn't until the centaur walked back into the living room that she opened her eyes. Chiron held two cups in his hands. He slowly moved towards Reyna, and she pressed herself further against the couch, wishing she could sink into it.
Chiron placed the cup down on the corner of the table and then quickly stepped away. Reyna watched him closely. The centaur walked to the opposite end of the room. There, he stood and drank his tea.
"I'm not going to harm you," Chiron promised. Reyna studied him and then looked down. Those words of not harming her were a lie. Reyna knew all about beasts like him. She was defenseless anyway. Fighting wouldn't do anything besides pissing Chiron off more. If she was cooperative, he might let her off easy.
"What do you want from me?" Reyna muttered.
"I don't want anything. I can see how tense you, but I mean no harm. I am not like my wild brethren," Chiron reassured. Reyna laid her head back. She supposed it was true. If Chiron was going to harm her or do anything else to her, it wouldn't be the couch that she woke up on.
"Food," Reyna said after a moment. "Sounds nice."
"Of course," Chiron said. He smiled kindly. "Are there any dietary restrictions that you have?"
Reyna shook her head. She watched Chiron walked towards the kitchen, and when he disappeared, she slowly reached out for the tea. Reyna took a small sip as a test. When she was satisfied that it wasn't drugged or poisoned, she continued to drink.
Reyna felt a warmth run through her body. She rested her head against the pillow. Her eyes drifted around the room. There was a bookcase on her left side, and Reyna could read that there were books on all kinds of different creatures littering it. Each book looked old and had markers and paper sticking out of them.
Old notebooks lined the top shelf, and there was a few different certificates on the wall. Reyna frowned. Chiron. She knew that name. From her lessons as a kid. What the hell was it? Reyna wracked her brain and tried to remember.
Reyna thought back to what she knew about centaurs. They could live to be about five hundred to a thousand years old, with some making it beyond that point. Most of them were wild beasts who lived in forests and took what they wanted.
There were a few that were more civilized. They lived in cities and were mostly scholars or historians. Chiron. That name was one from hundreds of years ago. A scholar. Not just a scholar, but he helped spearhead the movement of allowing humans to live with the rest of the different beasts.
Reyna stared at the ceiling. This could not be the same Chiron. That centaur was a legend. One who changed the world by wading through bureaucracy and politics to help unite all the races. Elves and dwarfs were on good terms with humans for awhile. Humans made a sport of hunting werewolves and vampires. Some humans even made groups dedicated solely to hunting those beasts.
Chiron started a group, a movement, to unite the different creatures. There had been plenty of resistance at first, but he pushed through and worked with the different governments. Reyna wasn't sure about all of the fine details, but she knew that Chiron was the biggest name attributed to making peace between humans and all of the other creatures.
Some humans didn't like it though. They still worked in the dark, hunting beasts where they could. Capturing, torturing, and killing them. It wasn't just humans that did it either. Some werewolf clans or vampire covens hated anyone who was not them and tried to kill them. It was like a bunch of gangs that fought each other and dragged innocents into the middle.
This centaur could not be the same one though. He should be living somewhere near the country's capital as an honored guest or even be involved in a high level of government. Why was he in some random city and apparently the owner of a bar?
Reyna laid her head back and tried to relax. She heard Chiron making something in the kitchen, and her nose twitched at the smell of food. Her stomach rumbled. Relaxing didn't go so well, as she was still tense. Her nose kept twitching the entire time.
Reyna groaned as her stomach rumbled again. It wasn't her fault, really. Even if she had been eating three meals a day, it still wouldn't be enough. Reyna saw plenty of humans and other beasts eat just one plate full of food and be filled, and sometimes, the plate wasn't even that full! Reyna had to eat at least two full plates to be fed enough for a few hours. Werewolves had such a high metabolism that they had to constantly eat. It was even worse if they transformed, let alone run for days on end without stopping.
If Reyna had enough money, she would go to a restaurant, order everything on the menu, eat it all, and then do it again. She was starving. Reyna managed to sit up, mostly because she smelled the food being made.
It took Chiron a few minutes, also known as too long, to walk in with a plate of food. Reyna thanked him quickly and took it. She didn't take the time to even look at what it was. Reyna just devoured it.
It tasted like tomato sauce, albeit not the bland, watery ones from her childhood. Homemade maybe? With hints of garlic. There were also noodles and some kind of meat. Reyna preferred her meat to be a lot more rare and maybe bloody, but she couldn't complain as she inhaled her first plate.
Chiron got her another plate, and it was gone quicker than the first. Reyna wanted to ask for more, but she also didn't want to give the centaur any more information than he only had. Some creatures ate only a few bites and could be full for hours. Others had to eat a plate. There was more that required large meals, but Reyna wasn't willing to narrow it down any more for him.
"Are you Chiron? The Chiron?" Reyna asked. "The one who helped unite all the beasts?"
"That's me," Chiron said with a small smile. He studied her curiously. "Not many people remember that these days."
Reyna felt herself tensing, and she remained silent. Chiron looked back at his cup of tea. Reyna laid her head back. Chiron spoke, "I have to get to the bar soon. You're welcome to stay if you want, but if you want to leave as well, I understand. I can give you a ride."
"I'll be fine," Reyna muttered. She settled back on the couch and closed her eyes. While Chiron got ready for work, she would gather her strength. She would leave a buffer for an hour or two after he left before she searched his house for any valuables. Then, she would leave this city and be on her way again.
First, the restroom. Reyna slowly pushed her palms against the couch and made it to her feet. One hand shot to her side, and she slowly walked forward. Her body was sore, and each step felt like she had just finished a marathon. Hell, she had finished like twenty.
"Where's the bathroom?" Reyna asked after a moment. Chiron looked at her. He had been digging in a bag.
"Down the hall and to the right. If you would like to take a shower, I have some leftover clothes that should be roughly your size," Chiron said. Reyna nodded slightly and walked down the hall. She made it into a rather large bathroom.
Her eyes widened as she saw the bathtub. Reyna could transform into a werewolf, tripling her size, and if she laid out, she still wouldn't reach each end of the tub. Reyna moved towards the counter and leaned on it. She wasn't going to take a shower until Chiron was long gone. He had been kind so far, but Reyna was not going to take that chance.
Reyna heard a gentle knock a minute later. She opened the door a crack and saw Chiron holding out a few different pairs of clothes. His eyes were averted. Reyna spoke, "Thank you."
"Of course," Chiron said. Reyna closed the door and listened to him walk away. She slowly sat on the stall and waited for the front door to close. Then, she waited until her hands weren't shaking. Reyna slowly stood and put her ear to the door. There were no sounds in the house.
Reyna carefully peeled off her stained and tattered clothes. She threw them to the side and used the toilet. Her leg shook the entire time, and she couldn't get rid of the paranoia in her chest. Even when she stepped into the tub and turned on the hot water, she couldn't relax.
Reyna carefully undid her braid and rested her head against the wall. She let the water get as hot as it could and stepped underneath. Her back arched at the feeling, but she enjoyed it. Reyna took the longest shower of her life, and she made sure to clean off every speck of dirt on her body, showing off all of her old scars. It almost scared her how dark the draining water was.
It took a few minutes for Reyna to completely wash her hair, and she noted that she would need a haircut sometime soon. It had always been long and in a braid, but Reyna couldn't remember how long it had been since she last got a haircut. Now, her hair went down almost to her knees.
After finished the shower, Reyna stepped out of the shower and carefully dried herself off. She saw bandages set out for her and took off her wet and dirty one. After putting a new one on, she slipped the clothes on. It hung to her skinny frame, and she frowned slightly. She used to have more muscle mass. Now, she could see her ribs.
Reyna shook her head and slipped on the clothes. A quick tour around the house showed scissors, and she took them back to the bathroom. Reyna carefully cut her hair, so it only went down to the middle of her back. After cleaning up, she brought her dirty clothes to her backpack and stuffed them inside.
Her plan was to look around for valuables and take what she could. Instead, she kept eyeing the couch. Reyna got another glass of water, drained it, ate another plate of spaghetti, and then ate the rest of it. She placed the dishes in the sink and walked towards the couch. Reyna would take anything valuable, after a nap.
Reyna walked towards the couch and carefully laid on it. She wrapped the blanket around herself and rested her head on the pillow. Before she knew it, her eyes were closed, and she fell into a deep sleep.