Welcome to Sagebrush - 2

It took about half an hour before the sound of people approaching reached our ears. Until then we had waited in silence. The bunny-girl didn't offer any conversation. She replied with a stern glare whenever I opened my mouth to speak. Shana moved to stand by the dead boar. Her shotgun was still 'subtly' pointed in my direction. The weapon stayed in the crook of her arm, but it could easily be shifted into a shooting position. I couldn't blame her. Trusting a strange, naked person was a hard sale.

"Over here." Shana called out.

Jovi burst through the trees. She sprang toward Shana and wrapped the other bunny-girl in a hug. The younger stared at me from the corner of her eye. I waved at her with my best attempt at a soothing smile. Her eyes went wide then she buried her face in Shana's chest.

"Damn it, Jovi." A booming voice shouted. "I told you to stay close."

A broad-shouldered man stepped into the little clearing. He led a couple of large ostrich-like birds that were pulling a cart. They were plenty big enough to ride. On further inspection the birds looked like raptors with wings instead of claws and beak that was shaped like an ax blade.

My attention was brought back to the man as he came to a stop. He stared back at me with a confused expression that visibly displayed my own feelings. The man was much taller than I was. Before I woke up naked in another world I had been roughly five-foot nine. If that was still my height this guy would have to be at least six-foot five. On top of that, he was built like a brickhouse. Unlike Shana and Jovi, he didn't appear to have any animal features, but he clearly wasn't human. The light blue skin, pointed ears, and the fact that he had a set of curved horns were big clues.

A blue-skinned woman came up to join him. She stumbled to a stop when she saw me.

"Why are we stopping?" Another voice called from the trees.

The world got even more confusing as a pig-man stepped up into the clearing. His skin was bright pink rather than an earthy brown, he lacked tusks, and his eyes didn't have that feral gleam to them. He was also a fair bit shorter. The pig-man didn't seem to be all that bothered by the dead boarlin in the middle of the clearing. I had the urge to ask him to say 'chinny chin chin' but fought it down.

"That's a big one." The pig-man let out a low whistle.

"You don't mind?" I asked.

The pig-man shifted his attention to me as though seeing me for the first time.

"I've heard about your kind!" The pig-man pointed a stubby finger at him. "You're a human!"

I nodded.

"Human?" The blue woman scrunched her brow. "They're extinct."

"Apparently not." I shrugged. "Any chance I could get some clothes? I'm glad for the." I motioned to the improvised toga. "But I'd love a pair of pants and shoes."

"Come on." Shana strode over to the bird-drawn cart. "We've been out here long enough already."

The bunny-girl led the cart over beside the boarlin. She removed some straps from the storage area. Her movement pushed the others into action. They quickly hooked the straps around the boarlin. The blue woman worked a lever back and forth once everything was attached. Each crank lifted the boarlin higher until it was secured in the cart. The birds chirped a bit in complaint until the blue woman scratched each on the top of their heads.

Only Jovi and the pig-man paid any attention to me now. Shana wouldn't allow the younger girl leave her reach. The pig-man didn't have any reservations about approaching me.

"Hello." He said cheerfully. "I'm Gibbs. Do you have a name?"

"Felix." I replied. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Gibbs smiled.

"You're fine with eating the boarlin?" I asked.

"Yes, why?" Gibbs shrugged. "Oh, because of the resemblance. No, I have no problem at all."

"Ok." I nodded as I tried to figure out how to proceed. "Why not?"

"Boarlin are boars that are transformed into monsters by mana storms." Gibbs said it like that explained everything. "Their original form is an animal."

I didn't know what else to say. That raised so many more questions that I didn't know where to start. This wasn't the world I knew. Obviously, it had different rules. I shrugged; answers could be found after I had actual clothes. My attention switched back to the others. Gibbs continued to stand beside me. He stared at me like he was just brimming with questions. I tried not to be too overt that study the others. They were dressed in similar clothes as the bunny-girl. Simple and old-fashioned.

"Come on." The blue guy said. "We're ready to move."

The group started to move back the way they had come. I followed along with Gibbs still beside me. There was a small trail, but the birds weren't too happy about it. The cart was a little too wide and slowed the progress. It took a while to get to a proper road that was dirt-packed rather than paved. At least the pace of travel increased. The packed dirt was also easier for my bare feet. All I had to do was avoid bird pellets instead of a constant barrage of thorns, sticks, and rocks.

"Are there more of you?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know." I shrugged.

"How did you get here?" Gibbs continued.

"No clue." I shrugged again. "One moment I'm asleep in my bed, the next I'm waking up to screaming."

"Interesting." Gibbs studied me as we walked. "And you ran toward the screaming?"

"Yeah." I said the word slowly. "They sounded like they needed help."

"Interesting." Gibbs repeated.

"Hey." I tried to keep the frustration out of my voice. "Do you have any water? I'm really thirsty."

"Sure." Gibbs beamed at me. "There should be some in the cart. One moment."

I let out a little sigh of relief as the pig-man scurried ahead. My brain was already running in a dozen different directions. His questions were compounding an oncoming headache. I kept an eye on him as he conversed with the others. Shana hadn't spared me a look since Jovi had returned, but the little girl hadn't stopped staring at me. The two elves, I didn't know what else to call them, had focused on their work rather than me. Only Gibbs was curious enough to approach me. He hurried back toward me a moment later ending my brief respite.

"Here you go." Gibbs held out a metal canteen.

"Thank you." I took the container.

I popped off the top and sniffed the contents. It smelled like water. The metal appeared to be copper and was well-made. There was even a little makers-mark on the cap. It was in the shape of an anvil set in the center of a circle. I vaguely recalled that copper had some anti-bacterial properties. That information wasn't solid, just something I read in passing. The liquid tasted and felt like water. I had to hope that these people had some way to make sure it was safe to drink.

"Thank you again." I handed it back to him.

"Happy to help." Gibbs smiled at me. "Ah! Here we are."

I looked farther along the road to see the outskirts of a village. It was surrounded by a wall made from thick logs. As we got closer I could see that there were stone pillars spaced throughout. The path ended at a metal gate with a single guard on the other side. They were too far away to get a good look at to see if they were another of the blue elves or another type of animal person.

The packed road started to get uneven as we got closer. It was odd, but I didn't think anything of it. Until I noticed the tingling sensation in my legs. I started to stumble like a drunk, and my vision was blurry.

"Did you drug me?" I glared at Gibbs. "Why would you drug me?"

My words were badly slurred. It felt like my tongue was too big for my mouth. My legs had stopped moving but the world spun faster to compensate.

"Just to be safe." The cheerful expression on the pig-man's face didn't change. "You understand, right?"

I wanted to say something witty that cut deep and made him ashamed of his actions. Instead, I pitched forward. My vision went black just before my face hit the packed earth. There also didn't appear to be any large rocks in the road. That was a plus. I did not need a fresh headwound on top of everything else that was going on.

Unfortunately, there was only darkness to greet me. I had a small hope that I'd find myself in a one-on-one conversation with whatever force tossed me into another world. It would have been nice to know who, if anyone, had sent me here and what they wanted me to do. There was usually a Demon King or something to slay. Instead, I woke up with cotton-mouth and in a cell straight out of the Wild West.

The toga was gone. In its place was a towel loosely wrapped around my waist. There was a stack of folded clothes at the end of the cot. I held them up one at a time. The fabric was rough, stiff, and looked like it had quite a few owners before me. Brown pants, a pair of suspenders because the pants didn't have belt-loops, shoes that were very well worn, and an off-white shirt. There was even a set of long underwear and socks.

I took a moment to examine the cell. The wooden floor was smooth, by design or wear I didn't know, and felt cool on my bare feet. The walls that I could see were made from brick. From what I could see, there were two other cells, one to each side. There was an empty desk on the other side and a closed door. If I had to guess, the main office area was through that door. I grabbed the cell door and gave it a shake. It was locked. I had to check. It would have been unlocked and someone would have been waiting for me outside if I hadn't. That was just how things worked.

Escape was the first thing to come to mind, but I didn't think that would make a good impression. I'd keep it as an option, just in case. If I had the time I could chip away at the brick to make a hole. The process would go a lot faster with a tool of some sort. They would have to give me some food eventually. My best option was to wait and see what came with it.

"Using mainly spoons, I'll dig a tunnel out of the cell." I mumbled to myself.

With nothing else to do, I got dressed. Then settled back on the cot to stare at the wall. I started to run through the little I knew about this world. There were animal-people, blue-skinned elves, and monsters. Gibbs had mentioned something about a mana storm. It felt like something I should learn more about. So far, the people I had encountered were under the impression that humans were extinct.

Why was I here? How did I get here? What happened to the humans? Why were there animal people? What was a mana storm? On a more personal note, how much had I changed? I felt better than I had in years and was in amazing shape once more. A mirror would answer that question. At least that one was easy to solve. I wouldn't get any real answers until I could talk with someone.

I wasn't going to learn anything by sitting around.

"Hello!?" I called as I returned to the bars. "Anyone there?"

No one answered. It looked like all I could do was wait.