Banishment: Chapter 1
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What follows is my first submission to Yiffstar. This story is mostly being created out of thin air when I find time to work on it. Though the first parts will be Yiff free, the entire store will not be.
Please comment freely as I am trying a new writing style and would love to know how to improve. Thank you!
Total writing time:
4:30
Update on August 18th: Fixed a couple tiny grammatical errors, added a little more content, fixed a 'break in reality' since I never mentioned her bonds being cut, etc. Not a lot different, just a smoother read.
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Tanner scratches his short blond hair and leans against one of the cleanest walls in the sewers while waiting with an etched strap of leather dangling from his right hand which matches the band on his wrist. He is beginning to give up hope and the stench, darkness and loneliness certainly do not help the situation.
He knows the business he just started a week ago is despised and requires him to spend long, stinking hours bored in the sewers below Calder, but the reward will be phenomenal for how little effort it requires. Just a quick sneak up behind the new arrival, if any of course, then slip the collar around their neck and they were his. The trick is having new arrivals in the first place, and since this is the fifth day on the job, he really hopes to catch his first.
He has been waiting here for an unknown number of hours, and he wonders if the sun is even out anymore. Thoughts of catching a female he can make use of before selling her off to slavery are his only companion as he waits and waits and waits.
***
Dena was dragged in by the chains that bound her legs and hands. She fought against her bonds every step of the way, but there were simply too many people pulling her and the chains were definitely too strong. When they forced her into a seat, she felt suddenly tranquil and no longer willing to resist, though she didn't know why.
She found herself in the judgment hall, a large circular room made almost completely out of smoothed stone. The chair she sat in was at the center of the room, a simple dark wood construction with a solid base, a flat surface to sit on, and a flat, nondescript back that was at least six feet tall. The circle around her was slightly indented and her captors stood here on all sides of her, poised to catch her should she attempt to escape. Beyond this circle, a ring that rose about eight feet acted as a wall of sorts. On the raised level, there were ten chairs evenly spaced around the center. Only seven of these were occupied, which was more than sufficient for her trial. After the stone slab that offered entrance to this room was closed, there were no visible exits. An unnatural light was shining from about twenty feet above her head directly down on her, making her stand out amongst the gloom.
In the silence, as she waited, she allowed her green eyes to glance around at the people who surrounded her, taking in all of their faces. The weaselly looking one with a battered helmet far too large for his thin, ovular head, was the one who got the chains around her with blinding speed. The pock faced oaf, a giant of a man, was the one who had hacked off her beautiful auburn hair on their way in. The others were there, but didn't contribute beyond the occasional beating and to help drag her along the way. She wondered why they were considered decent, law-abiding citizens when she was treated as a criminal. All of them were only wearing cheap leathers for protection and tabards to mark them as city guardsmen, which meant that she could easily kill any of them if only she could get her hands on a blade.
Her thoughts were brought to a sudden halt when one of the men above cleared his throat, and started talking in a nasally, raspy voice. "Silence all! The trial of Dena Tar Degosen will now commence. I am the lead orchestrator, Jigarthe Heseras, Chair One of the Token Masters."
Dena started to shut out the commencement speech of the lead arch mage as he began to list the other six present and what their responsibilities were in the council. She knew already what the verdict would be, why she was here now instead of a government court house. The evidence gave no doubt as to her crimes, so a real trial was not even held; she was brought directly here after being captured. The only "trial" they held here was to determine whether to banish her for the rest of her life, or to turn her over to the city officials for imprisonment. Sometimes, she had heard, that they even gave the prisoner a choice in the matter, though she strongly doubted they would give her that option. At this point, she knew that her fate was already sealed.
***
Just as he starts debating whether he should give up for the day, the hole to the sewers opens up, sending a small beam of light down that shines on the muck in the center channel. After several long, agonizing moments, he notices that a smaller beam of light starts moving around, as if someone was looking for something in his vicinity. After a brief flash, the hole closes and he hears someone slowly climbing down the ladder, though the light has temporarily blinded him. As his vision starts returning, he licks his lips then swallows hard as he starts slowly making his way towards his target, his hands sweating as he grips the band with both hands.
***
"Banishment," stated Jigarthe, almost with a pleasurable tone. "The council has decided and the punishment shall be administered immediately. You shall become one of the Athrati, those banished forever from society. By our mercy, you shall live, but may never again set foot into a city under our jurisdiction. Showing your face here again will result in death or slavery. Prepare to meet your fate, Dena."
Her breathing was laborous, even though this was what she had anticipated all along. The men holding her chains yanked her up to her feet just as the seven assembled around her stood from their chairs. They all seemed to have changed to an entranced state, eyes closed and standing still, though each one faced towards her. She barely noticed the guards around her as they removed the chains on her. For a brief moment she was free again, though she didn't realized it nor could she have succeeding in escaping.
She felt a sudden heat build up inside of her, like her innards were roasting in an oven. She clenched her teeth and glared at Jigarthe, hate on her mind, before pain started to overwhelm her. Her entire body began heaving, her skin crawling like it had a life of it's own, her bones began grinding against each other. Her face felt like someone was pulling her jaw, mouth and nose off and she could literally see them stretching away from her previously human face. Her arms and legs pulsated, burned and itched, then finally felt like they too were being stretched.
Her eyes slid apart from one another to the sides while at the same time her ears elongated and moved up towards the top of her head. Her irises froze, she could no longer look any direction but forward, and her field of vision stretched wildly until she swore she could see behind her as well as in front. What few colors she saw in this room changed slightly, like she was looking through a thin white piece of cloth now.
Her nose was no longer between her eyes and was now completely visible several inches from where it had been, at the end of her muzzle. The sides of her upper lips, which she could now see, started to sprout thick, absurd-looking whiskers which stung and itched as they grew.
She let out a scream that changed pitch in the middle as her voice box shifted and changed. Just as she thought the pain was becoming unbearable, most of her body suddenly started sprouting fur which felt like millions of needles escaping through her skin as if her pores had not fully adjusted yet. She felt a strange pull on her lower back and caught a glimpse of the thick tail that was growing out of the bottom of her spine. Her clothing started to tear, especially her pants and underwear which were never designed for her new legs which were now more than twice their original girth.
She then realized that nothing else was happening and she was on her hands and knees on the floor. Her new eyes saw things in such a different way that she almost felt nauseated just looking around. As she looked down at herself, she saw thick, short, brown and white fur covered her once beautiful, shaved body. She had become an outcast, a freak, a filthy, disgusting creature.
***
Tanner's heart begins to race, his anticipation growing with every step the newcomer makes on their way down the ladder, and he almost loses focus when she jumps down the last few rungs onto the stony floor just a few feet in front of him. It is a female, and she doesn't even seem to notice him standing behind her!
***
Without even realizing it, Dena had started crying. She didn't even put up a fight or resist when two of the guards lifted her from the ground, removed her tattered clothing, and put rough, plain robes around her. Her hands were then tied behind her back and they took her from the judgment hall out into the streets of Calder. It appeared to be late afternoon as the sun was almost out of sight to the west, the only disruption to an otherwise solid blue sky.
After taking only a few steps out of the builder did a crowd start appearing around her, ridiculing and booing her. Some people muttered to themselves quietly about how disgusting her kind were and she decided the best recourse was to simply stare down at the ground. This helped little since shortly thereafter, a rotting chicken carcass flew within inches of her face, the stench alone almost made her vomit.
Her two guards seemed very agitated all of a sudden and started shouting at the crowd. "Break it up people! NO THROWING GARBAGE!" At this moment, Dena was feeling relieved to have these two taking her for at least they allowed her to retain a shred of dignity in her last moments before banishment. "Who ever throws anything at it is going to be arrested!"
The last sentence quickly silenced the crowd who started dispersing and muttering some more, but what Dena heard was "at it". It stung her more than even the pain she suffered through to become this wretched creature and she felt foolish for even thinking they cared about her whatsoever.
She noticed the guards were taking her into an alleyway and they passed by an entrance to the sewers where she was supposed to be sent. Though she meant to say, "Where are we going?", she heard her clumsy tongue spit out, "Well all weh goink?"
As soon as they were out of sight of the main streets, one of the guards punched her hard in the jaw, turned her to face the wall and pushed her into it. "If you keep silent, rat, I may let you live!" She then felt one of them pulling up her robes, which was enough to make her see red.
Swiftly, she placed one of her huge feet onto the wall in front of her then kicked off, sending her back quickly into the man behind her. Before he could react, she snatched up his short sword and jumped off to the side. She almost tripped over her tail doing so, but regained her composure and glared at them defiantly, brandishing the sword towards the both of them with it held in both of her still-bound hands.
"Oh no, Hershel," started the guard she had knocked over. "Vermin with a poker!" After getting up he pulled out his baton. The other simply grinned and pulled out his sword, a long straight blade that had a much better reach than Dena's weapon.
As the first raised his baton to beat her, she leapt directly at him, driving the point of her sword into his throat. The scent of blood and look of utter surprise on his face made her feel a sudden rush, but she didn't forget his companion and quickly threw herself against the wall. The long sword hit the opposite wall, aimed at where her neck was a moment earlier. Giving him no time to recover, she lunged at him as well, connecting her blade just below his elbow, forcing his arm to bend towards him and causing him to drop the sword.
After staggering back a couple steps, he pulled out his short sword, a match to hers. Feigning being distracted by something else, he then darted towards her, aiming at her belly. She deftly deflected his attack to the side, then retaliated by stabbing him in the chest and tried to roll back out of reach. Her cumbersome tail stopped her from rolling properly and she instead only succeeding in landing on her side on the ground. She staggered to her feet, pointing her sword at her opponent who had by now slumped down to the ground.
She reprimanded herself for not taking her new body into account during the scuffle, though she realized it could be several weeks if not months before she would be familiar with it. Thinking about seeing her stumble once then get stuck on her tail in the roll made her smile for a moment, as it would have been a humorous sight if only it wasn't happening to her.
The scents of blood and sweat permeated the air far stronger than expected. Her own sweat caused her fur to start sticking to her skin in random patches, making her feel dirty. She used the blade of the long sword to cut her bonds since her own weapon was not edged. Deciding that she did not want to be caught in this scene, she wiped her blade clean on one of the guards' clothing and thanked the Dragons for the fortune of having assailants who only wore leather for defense.
As she neared the street, she thought that commoners seeing a lone Athrati with a sword would definitely not look good. She opened the lid to the man hole that dropped down into the sewers and glanced around it at the people in the street, using it to hide behind. The scent permeating from the hole started to distract her and she had to concentrate to keep her eyes from running. After a minute, she came to realize that there was no way she would get very far since she was in the middle of town.
Using the sword, she reflected what little light she can down into the sewers below, but it didn't let her see anything. She shook her head and started to climb into the sewers, closing the hole above her. She waited at the top for a moment so her eyes could adjust to the gloom and started her way down slowly. A moment later, the stench began to over power her, her eyes finally started tearing up and she started breathing through her mouth instead. As she neared the bottom, she gripped onto the sword with her right hand and leapt the last several feet down to the ground.
***
The rat that stands before him is very typical for an Athrati. She looks like a human-sized rat standing on it's oversized hind legs. Aside from her ears, hands, feet and nose, she is covered with thick, short fur. Her tail is exaggerated, being somewhat thicker than a rat of the same size would have, though slightly shorter. Her body is more round than a human's, making her look somewhat pudgy. She is giving off the faint, sweet scent of Athrati sweat that is somewhat pleasant, especially compared to the surroundings, but marks her as either very clean or freshly "turned".
She shakes her head, glances around herself a bit but never looks directly in Tanner's direction, then sighs. Then, using her sleeve, she starts wiping her eyes.
He holds his breath, now is his chance, and he leaps forward with the strap aimed at her neck. Too late, at the moment Tanner feels his hands pass by her neck fur, does his brain finally register that something is very wrong about this one. Newly banished people are supposed to be given nothing more than simple robes, but this one also has a short sword in one hand. However, he does not hesitate in completing the swift motion of connecting the collar on her for fear of losing her. Quickly backing off, he raises his right arm, the one with the commanding band, to force her to his will.
***
Feeling a strap of leather being wrapped around her neck, Dena quickly turns around and stabs where she assumes her assailant is standing. At the moment her weapon pierces his chest, she feels a shock that runs through her body, but she bites her lip and pushes harder on the weapon with the palm of her left hand. Eventually she has to let go and ends up curling up on the ground from the pain.
Her muscles start randomly spasming, and she has to concentrate to keep from yelling as she doesn't want to attract attention from anybody else who may be waiting. Her muzzle, ears, finger tips, toes, even the tip of her tail start feeling numb like the blood was rushing out of her.
After a few seconds, the shocking and spasming subside and she slowly regains control of her body. Rubbing her fingers to try to regain feeling, she forces herself to start breathing again, then looks over at her opponent.
He is lying on the ground with a long stream of blood pouring out of his chest from the sword that is protruding almost vertically. He looks to be very young, maybe only seventeen. His right arm is still raised, showing the control band that had caused her so much agony.
Though she feels very tired and sore, she forces herself to her feet and slowly staggers over to the corpse. When she touches her collar, it zaps her hand which essentially prevents her from getting a grip on it enough to try to remove it. She then tries to remove the control band on the dead boy, but it too zaps her. Wincing, she shakes her hand which now feels like it has a thousand needles stabbing it. After she pulls the sword out of the boy's body and wipes the blade clean on his clothing, she decides to look around instead of playing with the slave bands in case there are others around, waiting for her.
When she does not see anybody else in her vicinity, she decides to search the body. No food or water, no bags to help her carry things, no map, not even keys to a house. Again she sighs and shakes her head; her luck must have been left behind when she was "turned".
She starts stabbing at his arm, trying to remove the control band. Short swords were never designed to slice, and the lack of a knife (why would this boy come with so little possessions?) makes the job a difficult one. After what seems like several minutes, she finally separates the hand from the arm. She uses her sword to remove the band from the wrist, then she again tries to touch it. This time, it does not shock her. Again, she wipes her sword off on the dead man's clothing and tries to use the same method to clean the control band, though it has soaked up some of the blood and probably will never be fully clean again.
She places the band on her own wrist slowly, almost expecting another shock, but nothing unusual happens. Now that she is technically her own master, she removes the slave collar without a problem. Being so glad to have it off and angry that it was used on her, she almost throws it into the sewage behind her, but decides that maybe she could use it to her advantage. Seeing that she has no pockets, she decides to place it back around her neck. Maybe if she was a slave to herself, nobody else could take control of her.
Getting to her feet again, she decides that she needs to get moving and starts looking around. This section of the sewers is on an H junction, so that in both directions she can turn to the left or the right, giving her four possible ways to head out. After a moment's thought, she decides to head what she thinks is northward on the right side, which is hopefully the shortest route out of the sewers.