--Elina’s perspective—

Hell. That is the only word to describe where I am.

It’s been almost a month since I was purchased by the man in white. After he bought me, we got into a carriage and rode to his house. When we arrived, he pulled me from the carriage and threw me on the ground. He told me:

“Animals should crawl on the ground where they belong, humans are the only ones who are allowed to stand on two feet.”

I didn’t argue with him, I did as he said and crawled behind him as he held my chain and dragged me into the house. Once we got inside, he pulled me over to a stone staircase and walked me down it. He went too fast, and being unable to keep up, I stumbled and rolled down a few steps, brushing his legs on my way down.

He suddenly kicked me hard in the side and I rolled down the rest of the steps. My bones ached from hitting the stone steps on the way down, I had gotten several small cuts, but was able to protect my head. The man in white came rushing down the stairs at me.

He grabbed my wounded areas hard, pressed into them and said to me:

“Oh my, what a clumsy pet you are. You didn’t get hurt did you? Let me check for any scrapes or bruises, we can’t have you getting hurt on your first day can we?”

Shaking with fear, I shook my head at him. He stood and once again pulled on my chain, walking me further into the dark stone room.

We arrived at a cage, and that is where I’ve been up till now.

Locked in here, I have something like stale bread or rotten fruit thrown at me to eat every couple of days. I only asked for food once, after that time, I learned never to do it again.

Each and every day from the second day I’ve been locked up in here, until now; I’ve been visited by the man in white and others. If I’m lucky, they just use me and are done with it, but some like to 'play' with me, especially the man in white. Or rather, the man in white would only 'play' with me and without ever touching me directly. He just coldly watched my reactions to the tools he would bring with those cold narrowed eyes.

The 15th day I was locked up, the stench around me got to be so bad I asked for water to wash myself.

“Oi oi oi, it wants a shower!”

“Hahaha, I’ll give it a shower!”

“Aww man, now it smells like piss!”

“You fucker, I don’t want to smell your piss when I use it!”

“Calm down, it’s a cat right? It should be able to just lick itself clean!”

“You! You better not reek of piss when we come back or I’ll break your legs!”

“Hahahaha sick! It’s actually licking the piss off itself!”

“What a disgusting creature.”

“Shit guys, we better go, Gellar is calling us.”

Gellar. The man in white’s name is Gellar.

Like that, I never asked for anything again. I never spoke unless forced to. I shut myself down and escaped from my body. Like that, I was able to deal with my situation. Anything that happened to me just happened to my body, not me. Or so I rationalized it.

Gellar was by far the worst. He wouldn’t let me shut myself off. He would make me talk to him. Every time he visited me, I would be beaten or cut. On one occasion, he brought a pair of shears and cut off part of my tail. He would never admit it was him doing it. It was always an accident, or I clumsily got myself hurt and he was trying to help me. He never lost that smile of his, always smiling as he tortured me, trying to make me feel like nothing was wrong. But his smile would never reach those eyes, the cold eyes like that held no emotions at all, as if observing a piece of meat would fill me with shier terror... I could feel my mind breaking every time he came to visit.

There are those who say people who commit suicide are cowards. I couldn’t disagree more. I wish I had the courage to bite my tongue and kill myself. But I’m a coward. I did nothing as my father was killed, nothing as my mother was raped, nothing as my brother was killed trying to protect my mom. I was too scared to move, I just shut my eyes and wished for it to all go away. Maybe this is my punishment.

I hear a sound. I don’t react, I’ve stopped crying a long time ago. I just with for it to pass quickly.

People are walking down the steps, there are three of them, Gellar’s subordinates. They often come to visit as a group, they were the ones I had asked for water.

They open my cage and one of them walks over to me.

“Get up, you are coming with us.”

I don’t know what to do, Gellar said I could never leave this cage. I don’t move. The man comes up to me and kicks me in the stomach. I vomit out what little food I have and collapse in it.

“Geh, this thing is seriously disgusting. Do we even want to bring it?”

“Shut up, there are still ways we can have fun with it. Plus it’s going to be a long trip.”

The man picks me up by the hair, lifting my face out of my vomit. All I see is disgust on his face. It probably wont be long until I'm 'thrown away'...

“Listen up, come with us or we will go tell Gellar that you are refusing to obey his order.”

I shudder. And I thought the shaking was gone… He lets go of my hair. I put my arms out to brace myself, but they are weak, too weak to support my fall. They buckle and I fall back into the mess on the floor.

“Hahaha what a freak, I guess it likes the taste of its own puke!”

One of the men in back laugh. I struggle to lift myself up to my hands and knees. Like that, I crawl behind the group as they lead me somewhere unknown.

*********************************************************************************

--Gellar’s perspective—

I bought a new toy at last month’s auction. As soon as I heard it was not bred, but captured; I knew I had to have it.

The ones that are bred aren’t near as fun. They are used to the treatment and don’t know of any other lifestyle. What was that someone said? If you don’t know what it is, you can’t miss it? It’s something like that.

Anyway, I enjoy all of the faces I can get my toys to make, and the ones from the wild are capable of making many, many more.

I’ll never forget the first time I broke in the new toy. It was squirming and screaming, making all kinds of sounds and faces. Of course I made sure I could closely look at each one of them. I had it on its back with its arm out to the side and kept my face close to it, smiling gently, letting it know everything was alright, it was already over, and I would never let it get hurt again. I would say this over and over until it finally relaxed the tension in it's body ever so slightly. A quick tug of a lever and the sling was pulled. With a *pop* its shoulder was splendidly dislocated. A muffled scream of agony could be heard, what a pleasant sound, I never get tired of hearing it. After relishing it for a bit, I have my nearby attendant re set the shoulder while I once again work on getting it to relax the tension in its body. I repeated this process until it passed out.

Eventually its expressions began to blend together and it wouldn’t react like it used to. No matter how much you take care of them, every toy breaks eventually. While thinking of what I could do, I noticed the gardener outside and got a brilliant idea.

The next day, I brought a pair of shears with me. The look on its face when I opened the cage and showed it the shears was priceless. I brought its tail in front of its face, and made it watch as I cut a length of it off. Just remembering it still excites me.

However, now no matter what I do, there is no reaction. I’ve tried various things, boiling water, fire, branding it, nothing has any effect. I’ve grown bored with it. I guess it’s time for a new toy.

Greg, Edward, and Dalton are about to go out on a reconnaissance trip north of the capital… The king had tasked them with investigating the forest outside the norther border. Several adventurers will be accompanying them. I normally provide someone to service them while they travel, but I think this time I’ll just let them take that toy. I’ll let them do whatever they want with it on the condition that they dispose of it before they get back.

*************************************************************************

--Elina’s perspective—

After following the group of men upstairs, Gellar was waiting for me. He crouches down and tilts my face with the end of a metal rod, forcing me to look at him. If I hadn’t thrown up downstairs, I probably just would have. He is wearing that same smile he always is and speaks to me in a calm voice.

“Well, I’m afraid we won’t be meeting each other anymore. Though it pains me to admit it, I’ve grown bored of you, so it’s time to set you free.”

I know better than to believe anything he says. I don’t react. He sighs and stands up.

“Well, I guess you guys should be on your way. Be sure to take care of it for me.”

“Yes sir. We’ll be leaving then.”

With me crawling behind them, we leave the house.

There is a small caravan of carriages lined up in the street. The man holding my chain yanks me toward a smaller one with iron bars and a thin cloth draped over it. Unlocking the iron door, the throws me inside, shuts it and walks toward another carriage with the other two men. Not long after, the carriage I'm in jerks and we set off.

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We travel for a while before we stop and the men get off to talk to others. After the talk and the other party left, they unlock my carriage and one of them grabs me by the hair and pulls me out onto the ground.

Without particularly making an effort to look around, I can tell we are on the outskirts of some village. There a few people walking around here and their. When they notice me, most of them make a look of disgust and turn their head but to my surprise, there were a couple who had a faint look of something like sympathy as they shook their heads slightly and looked away.

Though I haven't met many humans, it's the first time I've ever seen that kind of look from one of them.

.....

I've long since stopped allowing myself to feel anything, but something small stirs in my guts.

I don't know what it is but it's an unpleasant sensation, a part of it feels like when I see the smile of Gellar. There's a small spark and a burning sensation in my stomach with a slight feeling of nausea, but there's also strangely the urge to laugh.

Ah, I hate them. All of them.

Pulled by the chain I'm walked through the streets. The people who walk by me take a wide distance with some of them holding their noses. Some even complain to the 3 I'm struggling to follow and they apologize for the stench and kick me a few times.

They make their way toward a more narrow and run down part of the village, dragging me along behind them. Sitting in a cage for so long with barely anything to eat, my arms and legs struggle to keep up with their pace and my hands and knees which are scraped raw from the dirt and rocks I'm crawling over start bleeding. When I falter, they would yank hard on the chain attached to the iron choker around my neck. It felt as if my neck would snap and the iron cuts into my skin as I'm dragged across the ground. A stench fills my nose as my face hits the ground, it must be the discarded waste thrown into the alley from the nearby houses.

Eventually we arrive at what looks like a run down inn. The three chain me to a post in the stables next to the inn and walk inside.

The sun has begun to set, and I curl my body as much as I can on the ground in an effort to keep warm. I'm alone and there is a rotting smell from the small pile of hay next to me. Shutting my eyes just like this, I make a silent wish that I'll never have to open them again.

..........

My wish went ungranted.

Something pokes my shoulder and stirs me from sleep.

Enduring the flood of pains and soreness across my entire body as my consciousness returns, I open my eyes.

It is the face of a child.

A human child is crouching in front of me.

I stare at him and he stares at me.

From the curious look on his face, I guess he has never seen a demi-human before. I guess this town can't afford many slaves. Or maybe something else sparked his curiosity. Whatever it is, it's probably wishful thinking that he will just leave after waking me up and staring at me.

Without saying anything I brace myself for whatever it is that's coming next.

He brings out his hand from behind his back, revealing a chunk of bread. He puts it up to his mouth and makes the motions of chewing with his mouth, then he puts it up to mine.

Is he trying to feed me?

The bread he is holding looks much more appetizing than the moldy scraps that would be thrown into my cage from time to time. There was a faint smell coming from it that made my stomach stir.

Seeing me just staring at the bread without moving, he once again puts it up to his mouth, acts like he is chewing, then holds it to my mouth.

Is this something those three thought up?

.....there's no point thinking about it.

Without any expression on my face, I slowly open my mouth and he sticks the bread inside.

It’s warm.

Though my fur somewhat protects me, the nights are starting to get colder. And being outside at night while naked is painful.

I take another bite.

There is a burning sensation in my eyes, and I realize I’m trying to cry. Why? Am I so happy to be fed? Or is it something else? Something like crying, things like that have already been taken from me long ago and I am just quietly waiting for my death. I truly don't understand the reaction of my body.

Suddenly and intense nausea violently attacks me and I vomit out the two bites of bread that haven't even had time to make it to my stomach. After that I just keep heaving but nothing comes out other than snot and the tears I thought had already dried up.

The child gets scared and runs away and after a while my consciousness darkens.

In the morning I was woken up by a punch in the stomach. I almost vomited, but was able to somehow keep myself from heaving again. The man laughed and untied the chain from the post. Together with the other two, we returned to the outskirts of the village and throwing me into the slave carriage, they boarded their own.

With a jolt, the carriage moves and we once again set off. Over the trip, we stopped by several more villages. As we traveled, the men scarcely touched me. Honestly even I can barely stand my own stench anymore and It's amazing they continued to approach me for that purpose even until now. As we travel, the nights got colder and colder so we must be heading north. A repeat of what happened in the first village never came, no one approached me with food again. The men would sometimes give me grass to eat, and I was told to drink my urine if I was thirsty, though sometimes they would give me water.

Eventually, after a few months we came to another stop, but this time it wasn’t in a village. The other carriages following us stopped as well and the men had a conversation with others outside.

“We’ve reached the border, from here on out there will be powerful monsters. We must stay on guard at all times. These guys aren’t like the ones in our forests, they are the real deal. We need to work as a team and scout ahead. The emperor has tasked us with renewing the map of the land north of the borders and gathering intel, let’s all come back from this richer and unharmed.”

“””“Ooh!!””””

Everyone outside confirmed in unison. After some planning, they board the carriages, and we enter the forest.

Recently I’ve developed a cough. I guess I caught a cold. The men have completely stopped approaching me and the only food I get are the scraps people will sometimes through through the iron bars instead of on the ground. Except for the occasional coughing fit, I just lay still in this cage like a corpse.

I’ve found I’ve been able to fall asleep much more easily lately. I must be getting close to death. It’s amazing I’ve survived as long as I have. Death must be waiting until it’s satisfied with my punishment before taking me away.

It’s been a few days since we’ve entered the forest. During that time, we have been attacked six times. I wasn’t able to see what attacked us, but they must have been strong, as far as I’ve heard three adventurers lost their life. It seems the 3 men are still alive.

It is daylight outside and we are traveling on an uneven dirt road. The three men said it had gotten cold, so they took the cloth draped over my carriage to further warm theirs. Because of that, I can see outside the carriage now, but the cold wind cuts through my fur like knives and worsens my condition. At this point I can barely feel any part of my body. I rock and bang my various cuts and bruises but I don't feel anything anymore, I wonder if I'll finally be allowed to die soon.

………

………………

The caravan comes to a stop and the 3 men get out. Recently they just ignore me, but this time the walk directly to my carriage.

I just stare at them blankly.

"Is it still alive?"

"I think so, I can faintly see the chest moving."

"Wow as expected of beast-kin huh."

"Tenacity of a cockroach."

"Hahahaha!"

I barely register what they are saying as I just stare in their direction.

"Tsk, no response at all, guess it's just about done for."

"Yeah well it's being disposed of after all so it's to be expected."

"Well, this place is as good as any, we are just about done with the expedition so we should probably ditch her before we start heading back."

"Yeah."

They seem to be talking about me, but I can't register what they are saying, maybe my brain has started to freeze over.

...hm?

My eye catches something behind the three men.

Off in the distance, between the leaves of the trees, I catch a glimpse of white as the branches rustle.

The men have opened the iron door to the carriage and one of them unsheathes his sword.

"Guess I'll take care of it, just dumping the body in the bushes around here should be fine right?"

"Yeah I don't think it matters."

The branches far behind them rustle again and something emerges between the trees.

Ah

When I saw one of them take out their sword, I wondered if they were going to kill me, but that seems to be the case after all.

The men don't seem to have noticed as one of them approaches me, raising his sword.

Rather than look at the weapon that will take my life, my gaze is only focused on the thing approaching from behind the three men.

Finally.

Finally you have come.

Death was finally here to take me away.