Slipping down from the mountain rock, I put my body up against the barn house. Brewbrt wanted me away from here, but I took a long walk instead. Those narrowed eyes are not sitting well with me. I need to see what he saw.

"Seems like you won't need to." someone remarks to another or an unseen group. Ducking myself down, somewhat retreating into my cloak, I ally the black fabric of my cloak with the night. Whoever is out of view, they carry on and I spot an opening I can make my way through. Crouching a bit, I jump.

In the sky, I watch the noise of my launch catch their attention. Thankfully, I land in slippy mud. Picking myself up and ignoring the clumps on my clothes, I squelch ahead. Unfortunately, there's no light of any kind illuminating the field. A moon is out in force tonight, so I suppose I need to wait.

Carrying on ahead a little bit, the clouds start to move and I track the rays of moonlight. A pale wash illuminates the biggest details of the valley-like region. It carries on down to the buildings and the edge of the field. Something catches on the light, but not entirely so. Moving ahead to touch it, I feel nervous all of a sudden.

There's a grip on this lengthy object, something is in the mud, too.

The light finally reaches us and clouds chase after it, blocking it out again. No matter, I've seen what my claw is on, what is under my feet. I step back forcibly, falling onto my backside. Though my lenses are clean, they're stained with the new memory.

It was a man who had his front completely torn open by a large, lance-like projectile...

"Ok... Was hoping to avoid these things again..." I speak, my body shivering as something pumps into my veins. The last time I saw such projectiles, I was escaping the hive. There are bugs near this town. Brewbrt narrowed his eyes at me. He's had plenty of time to see my body, covered up or not.

A centuries old man with experience fighting in the wilderness!

"No, no... Calm down." I demand of my paranoid self as my arms flail about. Something crunches in the distance, and my head snaps around. Frozen solid eyes slide to every possible sight. A glare settles in and something breaks in one of my claws. Magic edging the inside of the bug digits.

"What do you mean you're familiar with the problem!?" a farm worker calls out loud enough for me to hear. Though his question is not meant for me, I treat it as such. Divine providence.

A delay sets into my thoughts, "Yeah... Yeah... Bugs... Very concerning ones..."

My quiet voice does little to disturb the night, and I look around for any danger. Not only do I have to worry about that which I never want to come face-to-face with again... I've now also got to deal with the nosiness of everyone who lives in this town. No doubt, people are going to find out about this the moment daylight returns.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

All the suspicion is going to go to me... The mysterious stranger with an unknown body!

"So, I guess we won't be getting our favour from Porhsod." someone in the distance remarks, the fence suddenly rattling. Getting down into the mud, I keep my shadow down.

"No, doesn't seem so. Founding-Lord Brewbrt's going to be taking this straight to the valley-riders, no doubt. Get them involved with this issue and then they'll go deal with some osibindah." another man says, his understanding all but confirming my fears. Even the people of this town know what the osibindah are. It will only take one to be all too familiar and close to me to...

Even if they don't, Brewbrt is going to go to me about this. He's already asked me once to help with a problem. He's going to ask for my assistance. How am I going to help, even then!? I'm not a trained fighter!

The mud pops as I shiver, too loudly for my liking.

"Oh, do you think that witch who helped out with the sadroobell problem will help?"

"Really? Him? He did an awful job handling the state of the town."

"Bah, leave him alone on that. He helped out Founding-Lord Brewbrt and saved a good few lives. Certainly enough for me."

"I guess so. He's quite strong, anyhow. Pretty sure we can actually feel him out here, even."

"I know, right? Ha." the unseen man laughs, driving terror deep into me. How do they know I am here? How do they know I am anywhere near them!?

"Having him out there with the valley-riders lets Founding-Lord Brewbrt stay here, too. That witch will bring the muscle, the valley-riders, the training. If the issue is big enough, too, Founding-Lord Brewbrt always has the Town-Guard."

"I... I don't know about that, I mean..."

"Oh, don't be like that. They barely get enough time out of Tryhpeltzweig anyhow. It's basically easy pay and free booze!" the farm worker laughs with a tap of the metal. Further down, the animals catch onto the noise and blow up with their squawking. Taking the moment as I catch onto the human laughter, I rush out of the field and towards a mountain.

Clinging to it, my experiences with the osibindah infest my head. I can barely manage to keep my thoughts lightly on anything but them. Looking at the ground does nothing. Rubbing parts of my body to generate sensation is useless.

He cannot force me. No one here can force me to do anything. I won't allow it. No underhanded anything will make me act. I will not!

If this is a settled hive like the one I escaped from, I... I...

My heart hurts, it's going too fast. I can't even finish a thought. It's becoming tedious to breathe. Snapping my mask off, it smacks against the rock. My chitters grow louder with my haggard breaths.

Be quiet... Be quiet, you stupid things. Be quiet!

"Be. Quiet!" I hiss, clenching my jaw tightly and even trying to tear them off. A laugh turns to a whimper. Childlike sobs escape me and I fall onto my backend, spine against the rock. I thrust my rolling shoulders into the stone, breaking some of it. Mutters of 'not again' escape me without end, my mind filling with the sounds and smells of what I wanted to forget so desperately.

The nightmares...

The crying...

The death...

The smell...

Its rusted metal dangling.

I do not want to experience any of it again. I will not. I will never experience any of it again. I won't do it!

Lashing out at the ground, I gouge a hunk of earth into the air. It smacks against the metal walls of the animal pen. Pants continue to escape from me, my eyes finding nowhere they can calmly settle on. Gathering my things, I scurry up to make sure I didn't break anything.

Pebbles dribble through my trembling grip. My three-digit claws. Osibindah claws. Osibindah claws.

"Vapooliar, where are you...? Where are you!?" I cry out, staring at my mud-caked palms. She's strong, very strong. She can deal with this problem in no time. I can't. She'd make me feel safe again... She'd make me...