A Place to Belong - Chapter 9
#10 of Malakye's Story - Part 1 (A Place to Belong)
Chapter 9 of 'A Place to Belong'. It's the morning after and Malakye's feeling a little worse for wear...
As you may have noticed I'm posting pics with a chapter of the story below, each of the pictures are a commission I've gotten from various artists of characters from the story and I'm still requesting more.
If anyone fancies doing a picture or piece of fan-art from the story using any of the characters or places then they are welcome to do so, let me post the pics with the story and I'll give a link to your user-page when I use it.
All the pictures I've used so far and more are available to be viewed in my gallery with info on the relevant artists that drew them for me.
I'd like to give a big shout out to 'Roderick the Rhodesian Ridgeback' (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/zizixmp3/) for proof reading my story. He's a great fur with a big heart and I can't thank him enough for doing all he's done to help with the story,
You may notice a few words have been highlighted and an explaination of what it is is given, these are words that only exist in this story and are there to help you understand whats happening, these descriptions only appear the first time they are used and won't appear in future chapters but soon I will be posting an encylopedia of sorts contain all of these word and more allowing you to discover many things about the world that may not even appear in the story. If you feel like I've missed a word then please let me know and I'll make sure to add it to the chapter and/or the encyclopedia for future reference.
Chapter 9
"Malakye, Malakyyyeee!" I squinted my eyes to see Cody standing above me gently shaking me awake. "Oh good, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to wake you. It's time to get to work!" I made to get up and was greeted by what felt like something dashing my head. With a groan of pain, I gripped it, putting pressure on my temples. "Ahh... you must have one of those nasty hangovers!" He told me sympathetically.
"It feels like someone's hammering on my head!" I complained. "What is this about? What's a hangover?"
"That, my friend, is what happens when you drink too much ale. Here, I brought one of Eric's remedies with me." He said, handing me a cup of a thick vile looking black liquid that smelled like...I had no idea what the hell it smelled like but after one whiff of the stuff I felt as though I'd rather shove a pile of manure up my nostrils.
On seeing me eye the drink untrustingly, Cody laughed. "Yeah I know it looks and smells about as appealing as a cup of Malanci*-and in all truth it tastes just as bad after drinking it as well- but you'll feel right as rain in a few minutes." Cody assured me. Taking a deep breath I pinched my nose and began to gulp down the foul tasting concoction as quickly as I could. When I finished I couldn't help but to screw up my face and stick out my tongue in disgust as a reflex. All in all, that was quite possibly the vilest thing I've ever tasted, and after having to scavenge for food to survive when I was younger just to survive, that was saying something. Cody couldn't help himself but to laugh at my expression and he sat down on the bed next to me. "Told ya Malakye!"
_ Malanci* _ _ - A thick foul smelling liquid made of melted down organs left over from the carcasses of feral animals. An old Tribal remedy that is fed to the seriously sick. _
"That. Was. Disgusting!" I choked, suppressing a heave and fearing that I was about to throw it up and taste it once again.
"Yeah well just give it a couple of minutes." The topic was suddenly changed on a new tangent. "So you had fun last night?"
"Yeah. It was possibly the most fun I've ever had since my mother..." I slumped my head and looked down at the floor in sadness. Picking up on my mood immediately, Cody said;
"Well, if it's any consolation to you, I'll make sure that you have many, many good times ahead of you. We are your family now, you know." He then gave me a hug. I smiled and hugged him back.
"Thank you." With that aside, the conversation picked up again.
"So how was she?" Cody asked with a mischievous grin.
"Who?"
"The barmaid last night. What was her name...Rose!?"
"Oh! That!" I laughed. "It was incredible. I won't ever forget it."
"So you gonna meet up with her again? From what Michael told me she wasn't cheap."
"Well...she actually invited me to come back to hers tonight when she finishes work. No charge."
"What!?" Cody shrieked jumping up in joy. "You're a lucky devil, you know that?"
"Yeah...I know. But I wasn't the only one got lucky last night was I?"
"What do you mean?" Cody asked the smile not dropping of his face.
"I mean about you and Aceh." Now that made Cody's smile falter and he began to look very guilty.
"You know, I guess we were a little loud." He murmured guiltily.
"Don't worry about it. I mean I was surprised sure, but I don't mind."
"You really didn't?"
"No. I mean it's just sex, right?" I assured him. "I don't mind what preferences people have."
"I thought you'd hate me if you found out."
"Why would I hate you?" I asked confused.
"Well, the way you looked when I told you about Michael and Jason being a couple and then last night when Jason said he would like to bed you...you look almost disgusted so I assumed."
"I'm sorry." I said standing up and giving Cody a warm hug. "It was just...the night I left my old village because they tried to kill me...the leader of the group...Kaleb...well he raped me." Cody gasped. "And then when I thought about Michael and Jason making love, it just brought back a few bad memories, is all."
"I'm so sorry Malakye! I didn't know!"
"I asked Eric not to tell anyone."
"I...I understand." Cody hugged me once again and rested his head against my chest. "I'm so glad you don't think less of me."
"You're my best friend Cody, my first real friend; I'm not going to start hating you because you like guys instead of girls."
"Wow, I'm really relieved... so how are you feeling now by the way?" Cody asked, looking up at me. It was just then I realised that I actually felt great. No hang over, no headaches, no nothing.
"I feel great!" I said, surprised. "I guess that stuff really does work!"
"You bet it does! Now we'd better get to work. Eric and Aceh went to get Michael and Jason and asked us to set up the stall for when they return."
"Well then, let's get to it!" I said, and we made our way outside to begin our day of work.
The morning went by quickly, and by the time Cody and I had finished setting up the stall, Eric had returned with the others pulling along several crates of stock for selling. Afterwards, I returned with Aceh, Michael and Jason to the caravans, which had been moved into a walled off area where the other merchants stored their carts while they stayed in the bustling settlement. This private location allowed the Merchants to store their goods without the worry of thieves stealing them when their carts were un-tended to.