Drue was larger than Allen in all dimensions, and his face had several scars. One of the scars looks like it was caused by a large cat's paw that cut from his ear, part of which was missing, down to his chin. His bald head looked like he had regularly shaved it, although the stubble was growing and showed that it was time to shave again soon. “Did the princess tell you to do that?” His words sounded like a father questioning a lost child. I welcomed his deeper, calmer voice after listening to the women scream and yell.

“She’s a princess?” I looked back at her in a panic. I saw that she was inspecting one of the chests and pointing toward another group of knights. I looked back at Drue, worried for my safety.

“Relax, kid, it's just a nickname we use for her.” He put his hand on my shoulder to stop me from walking any further. He dropped to one knee and leaned forward a bit, but still looked down at me. “She's direct, rude, demanding and feels entitled to many things. Her combat abilities, on the other hand, are among the best. Her strategies are also ones that minimize the loss of life for all of her comrades. With the lives lost today, she's just in a bad mood. Although I didn’t know she was a beastkin-hater.” Drue looked toward Avollea for just a moment, then back at me. “She cares about those who fight beside her, but only them, and doesn’t give anyone else much thought.”

“So she's just in a bad mood and thinks I’m useless?” I rubbed the back of my head to ease the pain just a bit, even if it was just momentarily. “I don’t remember anything before waking up in the mud and everyone around me was dead. Then the orcs tied me up and put me in one of those cages.” I turned to point at the cages behind me. "And my head really hurts."

Drue looked at me sympathetically. “Took a nasty blow to the head, did you?” I think he was asking a rhetorical question, but I still nodded. “That explains why the captain was quick to let you out. That, and he has a soft spot for kids. He has four of his own, you know? Three boys and a girl.”

“He has a family?” I asked rhetorically. “I can believe that. But why did he order her to take care of me until we get to where we’re going? And where are we going?” This guy seems a lot more rational than the crazy elf lady. Hopefully he can answer my questions.

He narrowed his eyes as he gave me a scrutinizing stare. Did I say something weird? “We're going back to the capital. Captain Allen has Avollea looking after you because she won't fail. Call it professional pride, if you will. He didn’t need to add the treason clause on the order, but I think he was just angry with her at that moment.” He removed the cord from the sleigh from my hands and stood up. “The captain said he'll take you to Nora and that she'll look after you. She runs the orphanage in Aquittemia. You'll like her. She takes her job seriously and understands that you're all children who have already lost more than you should. Her heart is much too large for her own good sometimes. There are those who have taken advantage of her kindness, but they always return to give back far more than they took. Nobody knows why.” He moved the sleigh towards the pile of corpses. “So what did the princess tell you to do, anyway?”

“She said to help you by doing whatever you tell me to do.” I gave him what I thought was my bravest face. “I don’t know how to do much, but I can learn.”

There's that sympathetic look again. Do I really look that pathetic? I guess the muddy hair and fur don’t really help in that department. Also, I'm a tiny kid. “Go over to Jenkins and ask if the orcs had any oil and bring it over here. I'm going to show you how to start a campfire.”

“Who's Jenkins?” I asked.

“Pretty boy over there.” He pointed to one of the men who was sorting through the chests. Avollea was also there with Jenkins, but I still walked over there because I was on a mission. A simple mission, but I'm a kid again, so I’ll take my small victories. After all, walking is still something I need to get good at, and this is good practice.

Each step I took was slow, and it felt like I was constantly on the edge of tipping over. Having digitigrade feet really is going to be the hardest thing to get accustomed to. Even though during my dream I walked around just fine, I stared at my feet and watched how they moved. It's like I'm walking on my toes the entire time while at the same time spreading my toes as far apart as possible. After taking several practice steps, I noticed that the walking motion wasn’t all that different from my last life, but constantly feeling everything my feet were stepping on was a painful reminder of how inhuman I was. Balancing myself was the real problem, since my center of gravity was nowhere near where I thought it would be. Once I got about a third of the way towards Jenkins, my foot slipped off a small rock. I threw my hands out to catch myself as I leaned towards the ground. My hands easily caught my fall.

“You alright, kid?” I heard Drue call out as he jogged towards me.

I carefully put my feet underneath me and stood up again. “Yeah, I just tripped.” I brushed my hands together and accomplished nothing.

“Maybe you should just take it easy. Your injury might be worse than you realized.” Drue slowed down for the last few strides as he came to a stop and kneeled next to me. “Actually, how about you go take a seat over there? I'll get the oil.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I followed Drue’s finger and saw that it pointed to a saddle resting on the ground. Another human female knight was leading a horse away from it and towards the other horses. “I'm sorry I couldn’t help you. It’s just everything is all weird for me right now.” I lowered my head.

Drue chuckled. “Kid, I'm surprised you're walking at all. You look like you've had a really bad day. Head injuries can have complications. Since you moved those cages, consider yourself relieved of duty.” A wide smile spread across his scarred face. “If the princess gives you any trouble for not working, I'll take all the responsibility. Do you need a hand to hold to help you?” The man stood up and offered his hand.

I guess should take it easy. I reached up and grabbed the large man’s hand, making sure none of my claws would cut him, even though he had on leather gloves. “Thanks. This means a lot to me. Really, it does.” I still couldn’t look him in the eye.

“The Brilliant Crusade never leaves anyone behind.”

Drue walked beside me, never moving forward until I took my step first. Patiently, he helped me walk to the saddle he had mentioned. While we walked, I tripped on a rock again, but this time he caught me. I noticed something while I was leaned over. I turned my head and saw that my tail stuck straight out. That’s right, animals use tails for balance. But why can’t I use mine?

Eventually, Drue and I made it to the saddle, and I sat down on it sideways. It wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn't as hard as the ground.

Satisfied that I was now safe, Drue walked towards Jenkins to continue his duties.

Drue and Avollea couldn’t be more different. Avollea saw me as nothing more than a wild animal that needed to be put down, but Drue saw an injured kid that needed a helping hand. So when Avollea was shouting and screaming, why didn’t he come to my defense then? Was it because Allen was already defending me, or is it because he's scared of Avollea? If he was scared of her, then why would he use such a derogatory nickname behind her back? What if she overhears him?

I could feel a headache coming on, so I decided that thinking such complicated thoughts needed to be put on hold. The mystery of my unusable tail, however, needed to be solved. I carefully grabbed the base of it. As I felt my hand holding my tail, I could feel my tail being held by my hand. Having another limb and feeling it feels natural and alien at the same time. But tails are controlled by muscles and muscles can be trained. I remember hearing about how some people can learn to move their ears up and down.

As that thought ran through my head, I placed a hand at the base of an ear and felt some muscle. I pressed the pad at the end of my finger into the muscle and I could feel my ear pull back. Can I move my ears too? After I removed my finger, I tried to move my ear just by focusing on the muscles that I felt. Both ears moved back and swiveled. I moved them! That’s so cool! Weird, but cool. A thud sounded behind me as I felt my tail collide with something hard. I turned around and saw that I was wagging my tail.

I continued to watch, enraptured by my tail wagging faster and faster the more I got excited. Alright, now that I know it moves, I should try to control it. There were muscles just above my butt that flexed and relaxed as my tail whipped from side to side. I tried to stop them, but my tail just kept wagging. Come on. Stop moving. I reached and grabbed for my tail, only for it to slip out. I growled as I turned further to reach for it again. This time I grabbed it. Did I just growl? How animalistic am I?

While I contemplated my ability to growl, I failed to notice my shift in balance and that I was no longer seated on the saddle. With my hands holding my tail, I fell to the ground.

Laughter erupted from several of the knights. I released my tail, and my heart plummeted as they continued to laugh. I turned my head to look at the saddle and, without thinking, I scrambled behind it. Curling up to make myself as small as possible, I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I noticed my tail had also curled up with me. Oh, so now you stop moving. I guess my tail’s movements are based on my emotions. No poker face for me until I get it under control. If I get it under control.

Someone’s footstep grew louder as the laughter died down. “You alright?” Drue’s voice started once the footsteps stopped. “Why are you trying to hide?”

I poked my head up from behind the saddle and saw Drue holding a glass flask with a black fluid inside it. “I just—just couldn’t handle everyone laughing at me.” My response surprised me. It was like my words just flew out of my mouth without so much as a second thought.

“A real shy one, are you?” Drue turned towards the pile of bodies and cages I had moved. “Even I have to admit that watching you play with your tail was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.”

My cheeks warmed as I felt my ears flatten. Is it because I'm a cute little animal or a cute little girl? I ducked behind the saddle again.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it in a bad way.” Drue took a few more steps towards me. I looked up and felt minuscule as the man towered over me. “You really are shy.”

I need to calm down. Is there anything left in my memories that I can use to calm down? As I dug through my memories, many of them were disjointed and didn't make sense. Nothing helped until an image of a grand waterfall appeared. The waterfall flowed from the top of a sheer cliff into the river below. A fine mist circulated at the base of the waterfall. In stark contrast to the roiling water at the base of the waterfall, the river looked calm. I could see that the water was flowing quickly, but there was hardly a ripple. A rainbow arced from the river into the mist and disappeared into the falling water.

Everything felt calmer while I looked at the waterfall.

Drue kneeled down next to the saddle and placed the bottle on the ground next to him. He extended his hand towards me. “Come out from behind there. There's nothing to fear. If you want, I can teach you how to make a campfire.”

I don’t know what persuaded me. Was it his gentle-sounding voice, or his fatherly smile? Either way, I cautiously took his hand and crawled out from behind the saddle.