World of the Beasts
Kristal Lotus Wolf’s body was numb with cold and she was so hungry that her stomach didn’t have the strength to complain, but a headache sat in its place. Alone in the large dark cage she laid curled into a ball. Three days she had been there. Three days had she been practically starved. She pulled the small whistle, which hung around, her neck to her lips. “My last hope,” she thought as the high-pitched wail of the whistle screamed.
The small whistle, which looked quite a bit like a miniature dog whistle, had been given to her when she was very young by her grandmother on her mother’s side. Her grandmother had told her that if she were ever in any kind of danger to blow that whistle and help would come.
As absurd as that sounded, she believed in it quite dearly. Being a mischievous youth she found herself in a number of really bad situations and when ever she had blown that whistle help always came. So she was yet again putting all her faith into that whistle as she blew as hard as she could.
She stopped as soon as the whistle had dropped out of her mouth and at just that moment the door to the large room where her cage was opened. A woman in a white robe, who smelt a lot like a rabbit, a large human man, and two Canine guards, came through the door.
“This is the one,” the human huffed as he thrust a finger in her direction. “I’ll take her,” the woman said as the two guards made their way towards the cage. They came in bickering about who would grab her legs. The one who finally said he would, waited down near Kristal’s feet for the other to grab her hands.
As soon as the guard bent down to grab her hands, Kristal punched him strait in the jaw. He stumbled backwards into the electrified bars and fell to the ground after a loud outburst of pain. She kicked the other man in between the legs doubling him over.
Kristal was on her feet now and was out of the cage in the next few seconds. She easily hopped over the human and the robed woman only to find the exit blocked by guards. She grit her teeth trying to think of someway out when the human japed her in the back with an electric spear. She screamed in pain and then fell silently to the floor.
“Are you absolutely sure you want this one miss, it’s rather dangerous,” the man said concerned for her well being, “This beast did take out quite a few of my guards the morning it was brought in.”
“Yes,” she replied calmly, “I want HER, and before you start saying anything about how strong she must be, I saw her that morning. Now, if two of your men will carry her to my carriage I will take her off your hands, and out of your worries.”
With a sigh, the man gave a wave with his hand and two of the guards quickly grabbed her and carried her out. There was a quick exchange of money and a paper to sign and then the woman and the unconscious Kristal made their way down the street.
Kristal awoke to find herself in a large homely room. She sat up in the bed to find she was wearing a silk shirt and pants. She soon found that the room was quite nice and seemed to have warmth to it. The smell of flowers hung softly on the air and the colors all about the room were soft and feminine.
Kristal felt safe all the sudden. A picture on the other side of the room caught her eye though. A tall noble looking Canine was standing next to a nice looking Rabbit girl. Before she could examine the picture, a Canine walked in caring a small tray. The smell of food met her nose and her mouth began to water.
“So, you are finally awake!” the dog women said as she walked over with the tray. “I do hope this will be to your liking. The mistress will be in to talk to you in a bit.”
Kristal took the tray, thanking the women. The women gave a slight bow and then left without another word. Sniffing at the food, Kristal took a small, cautious bite. It was marvelous! Within the next few moments the tray was empty and she was sipping the wine that had been brought with the meal.
“Hello, and how are you feeling?” A voice asked. Kristal had been so involved with her meal that she hadn’t noticed the women come into the room. Her hair was as white as snow and her skin wasn’t too much darker. She had a beautiful smile on her face and her eyes where the color of the sky with what looked like clouds passing. “Better then I’ve felt in a while. How long have I been asleep?” “Two days now.” “Two days! I hadn’t thought I was that tired!”
“Well it seems you where. Now what is your name?” The woman seemed to have a royal air about her, but Kristal way unsure if she could trust her. She could tell by her smell that she was the woman in the robe from the other day, but the people hadn’t proved to be peaceful.
“Neko..” Kristal answered. “Well Neko, I won’t be mean to you and I will allow you to stay in my home on two conditions. I can tell you’re not like other Creatures. You were a free one, so I ask you to be my bodyguard and do as I say. My second condition is that you wear this.” The women held out a sky blue neck ribbon.
“Why?..” she sensed something wrong with what she was asking but couldn’t tell what. The woman cringed a littel. Her forhead wrikled ever so slightly as she tried to think of an answer. "It is a simble of our servitude." came the voice of the maid from earlier. She walked over and grabed the tray from Kristal in such a way that her neck could be clearly seen. Wraped ever so gently around it was a pink ribbon with a beautiful bow in front.
"Within human cities, Creatures are slaves. The ribbons, or collars if you are male, are proof that you are not a stray." "Well, that was rather blunt Shelly." The woman's eyes light up in suprise but the Canine only shruged and went back to her task of taking the tray back to the kitchen.
Kristal sat deep in thought. Slaves....That is what the people outside had been reduced to, and now this woman was asking her to give up her freedom. The truth was there was really no way around it. If she was to survive, and move freely...she had to blend in. "How do I know I can trust you?"
"You don't for sure, but if you trust me, then I too will trust you with my own saftey." The woman replied calmly. She held the ribbon out in front of her. Kristal gave a heavy sigh. "I'll be your bodyguard." The woman smiled and tied the ribbon on her, the bow sitting to the right. She stood then and gave a twirl.
"Now. For my secret." She reached back and untied her hair. As she brought her hands forward, there appeared two large fluffy rabbit ears that she let rest on her shoulders. "Your a Rabbit Girl!!!" Kristal was wide eyed for a few moments as she took in the significants of it. "So that's why you smell like a rabbit."
The woman smiled and cursied, "My name is Amber Rose, but when in human company I am called Elaine Brook. Now, your clothes are on the dresser there, and we will be having guests soon. I would like to see you down in the front room in half an hour.Until then you may look around the house, you can go anywhere you like, just don't disrupt anyone's work please." With one more smile the woman left Kristal alone with her thoughts.
