I almost couldn't believe it! I had escaped. And to my immense satisfaction, I had exacted some revenge on Roth. I took a chunk of meat out of his shoulder and clawed at his face savagely. I could only hope that I'd scarred him permanently. I will never forget that look of shock on his face as I warned him not to follow me. I knew that they would though, maybe even Roth himself. But they would follow, that was a certainty.
I ran for awhile and tried to think as I ran but it was getting me nowhere fast. I could not concentrate on any single train of thought. I let my Cat take over and let her do the running. I retreated into myself and just floated for a moment. I had to figure things out.
They had tracked me home. This meant that they not only knew where I lived, but also that they could track me. This also meant that running was not an option. So I had nowhere that I could run to, which meant I could run anywhere....or nowhere at all. I was hungry. I would need to find food soon. At the very least, I would be able to hear them coming.
Then there was the Meh-teh in general. They were generally a peaceful people. But they had kidnapped me and kept me prisoner without provocation. So how peaceful could they really be? They were obviously intelligent: they had a language, a culture, a society and had even taught me how to speak.
I found all of this very frustrating. None of this made any sense. Each thing I knew about these people contradicted itself.
And I couldn't forget how easily Roth had thrown me through the air; there was little chance I could do battle with them. One on one, maybe. Probably. But there were dozens of them. This was not a fight I wished to have. If they chose to, they could follow me wherever I went and if I chose to fight them off, their numbers would overtake me.
I had to stop thinking like this! I needed to be practical. I needed a plan of action. Every fiber of my being knew that this was what I should do. But before I could do that, I needed some food and some rest. The ability to think clearly would be paramount in the next few hours.
Living this last cycle of the Moon on so little food had done wonders for my body....I'd lost some extra fat and my body had become chiseled. Be that as it may, i was still hungry and weak. And I wanted to hunt. I'd missed that thrill I get when I'm hunting.
I set out to find a meal, momentarily forgetting that Roth and the Meh-teh were probably looking for me this very instant. I'd put some distance between us, but they would be closing that gap. My Cat told me not to worry about them just now. I needed food and rest.
I moved silently through the treetops looking for something that piqued my interest. I came across several animals that, luckily for them, didn't appeal to me. Until I came across the fawn......This was dinner. Not only would it be fun to chase, but it wouldn't give up until it was dead. Being young, it wouldn't know to give up.
I stalked it for awhile before making my way to a lower branch, and then to the ground, landing in front of it. For a moment, I could see the confusion in its eyes. I could detect the moment when it realized that it was being hunted. It took off without a moment's hesitation. Maybe it was the look in my eyes that tipped it off, maybe it was that I was new to it. I waited for a bit before setting off after it. Oh how I loved this. I repeatedly would run up next to the fawn and bump into it just enough to trip it up. It would fall and then be up and off in a different direction. This one was quick. I liked that. But I soon grew tired of this, I was too hungry to keep playing with my food.
I tripped the fawn once more, but was on top of it before it could rise again. I took the fawn's head in one hand and pulled it back to expose its neck. I sank my teeth in and enjoyed the feel of the warm blood as it danced across my tongue. I let the blood run for a moment before ripping out a chunk and swallowing it. It wasn't dead yet. It should have been, but it wasn't. Gripping its head firmly, I snapped its neck. There, it was dead now. No sense in letting it suffer. I drank of its blood once more before finally eating my full.
Having a full stomach set me at ease and now all I needed was rest. After that, I could formulate a plan. Resting would put me in danger....they could easily slip up on me....I would need to find a place where I couldn't be tracked to.
A river would be perfect. I could float down it. You couldn't track something that left no tracks. It took the rest of the daylight hours before I found a river that suited my needs. The water was icy and after awhile it threatened to overtake me. I'd stood it for as long as I could and now it was time to come back. I could only hope that I'd drifted far enough down the river so as to not leave them any way of finding me. I made my way into the trees and was asleep before I began to dry.
*****
I found myself kneeling on top of some furs with a fire burning softly nearby. My head was down. I tried to move my head but found that I was not in control of my body. I couldn't see much of my surroundings. I noted that my hands were clasped behind my back, restrained, somehow, likely bound. But I wasn't alarmed, instead I found my circumstances created a surge of potential.
"Dania, look up at me."
My eyes raised, but my head remained still. Before me stood another like me. Only it was a male. I knew that I belonged to him and it was the greatest feeling in the world. Potential fulfilled. My loins grew hot as I drank in the sight of him. He was perhaps a full head and shoulder taller than me. His musculature was easily seen beneath his coat of silvery grey fur. And as much of a perfect physical specimen as he was, it was his presence that captured my attention and adoration. No, it commanded. Yes, that's the right word. He commanded my attention. And I gave it willingly.
I knew what he was to me, but I could find no name for it. It wasn't love or lust. It was something else. For me, in this moment, it simply was.
"Why do you serve me?"
I had no answer for this, but apparently my tongue did. "Because it pleases you."
He didn't say anything as he walked over and pushed my face back to the floor. He held me there. I'd disappointed him and I was ashamed of that. I felt three very hard slaps on my ass, each harder than the last. When he was done, he lifted me by the neck back to a kneeling position.
"Why do you serve me?" he repeated.
"Because it pleases you, Sir."
A smile spread across his face. "Good girl."
Joy coursed throughout my body. I knew that I'd pleased him. I loved to please him, to make him happy. I had to be a good girl for him. I ached to be his good girl. And that smile meant that that I was doing well.
He walked over and petted my hair and brushed it back out of my face. "You know that you are mine and that what you do reflects on me. When you behave it glorifies me. When you misbehave . . . . well then you must be punished."
He didn't wait for me nod my response. He walked around behind me and I couldn't see what he was doing. The part of me that was "now" was frustrated that I couldn't look around to see, the part of me that was "then" only felt ashamed that I'd let him down.
He grabbed the rope that bound my hands together and lifted, which also lifted my arms behind me to a not-so-pleasant angle. I stood as quickly as I could, but even then, he'd lifted high enough to cause just a bit of pain and I felt exposed in this position: my arms were lifted up behind my back in such a way that I was bent over at the waist and my butt was sticking out.I could feel him fumbling, but could not tell what it was. I was focused on the pain that I was in. I could tell that the other me knew what the transgression had been and accepted that she deserved the punishment.
