The white scaled snakekin practically dragged Yuriko across the enclave, all while nattering in a bubbly, hissy voice.

“Oh, your hair’s gorgeous! Other than the cats and bears, we don’t have hair at all. Ah, look I’ve got a nice speckled pattern, and Commander Otlaca’s diamond scale pattern is quite handsome, but your crest is amazing!”

“Eh, uh, yeah…”

“Ah! There’s the guest tent!” The snake-kin gushed, bringing Yuriko to a hemispherical tent that was as tall as she was.

The white snakekin--Usaza?--pulled open the flap and entered. There was a small lamp inside, filled with bioluminescent moss, the same kind of lantern that adorned the tent Yuriko and Otlaca had dined in. The floor was covered in a couple layers of rugs. The top layer had a floral pattern while the underlayer showed part of a silver maze from the little bit that was exposed. A couple of cushions and a blanket were set at the far end, and there was a lockbox with a bronze key still inserted in the hole.

“Here’s your quarters, you can secure your gear first! I’ll return with some better clothing. Hmmm, do you mind removing the poncho so I’ve an idea of what your figure looks like? I can’t get a good read on you with my Pit Organ.”

“Er…”

“Oh, don’t mind me. I’m a female, too, if you didn’t notice, hie hie.”

Yuriko, in fact, did not realise that Usaza was a woman. Her torso distinctively lacked breasts and her waist and hips weren’t curved in the human sense. Even her voice and Otlaca’s were close to the same register, a somewhat sibilant baritone. Usaza’s was of a higher register, but only slightly.

Then again, in a species with significantly different sexual characteristics, Yuriko shouldn’t find it inappropriate to show an excessive amount of skin. Well, she didn’t mind it too much when she had been with Masa, although at that point, it had simply slipped her mind that she wore only a breast band.

Shrugging, to herself, she pulled the poncho over her head. The garment was torn and punctured in several places already, courtesy of her battle with the multi-headed serpent.

“Ooohh! What finely sculpted musculature!” Usaza squealed. She traced her fingers across Yuriko’s tummy, lingering on her obliques.

“Ahn, stop!” Yuriko yelped. The touch had been too sudden and tickled.

“Oh, oh, oh! Sorry, hehehe. Ah, I’ve got the measurement now. I’ll be back in a few minutes!”

With that, Usaza darted out of the tent, leaving a flustered Yuriko behind. The tent flap could be secured with straps on the inside part.

Her backpack went on the floor and she clicked her tongue when she saw the micro rips and tears along the surface. The backpack had gone through a lot with her, though she wasn’t that disturbed. It wasn’t hers, after all, but Sharom’s.

“I should have started in my 2nd year by now,” she murmured, suddenly feeling lost. So much for her life plans.

While she had initially wanted to join Agaza, Sharom hadn’t been that bad, overall. Her main reluctance had always been the qualifications to join Legion Vagaris.  When she found out that going to Sharom would still allow her to join, she had been somewhat at ease. Except now she was hopelessly behind. Unless she learned how to use Sorcery before she returned to Rumiga, it looked like she might be held back. And she had no idea what Sorcery was. Maybe she should ask Damien?

Her Ancestor had been quiet but that was completely understandable. She had depleted the so-called Radiant energy he needed to communicate with her and until she got back up to the surface, she wouldn’t be able to replenish it. She idly wondered if there was a way to produce it by herself but did she really want that perverted old man to keep nattering away at her?

And she didn’t really know what Radiant energy was used for. Except for the next step to Body Forging anyway. Well, the longer she was away from the touch of the Radiant Sun, the longer it would take to finish. She was eager to leave but Otlaca had a point. She would be hopelessly lost in the Labyrinth and it would ultimately be faster to just wait for a guide.

She emptied the backpack and checked her gear. The bamboo containers with the amber liquid were still secure and her spare clothes were intact, but none of them fit.

“How annoying,” she sighed.

She checked the lockbox key, which worked properly, but she wasn’t about to leave any valuables inside. Who knew how many copies of the key there were in camp?

“Knock knock! May I enter?” Usaza’s voice came from outside.

“Come in,” Yuriko said.

Usaza came inside carrying a pile of brown leather garments.

“There are three changes here but please try them on to see if they fit properly!”

She plopped the garments on the rugs, backed up and waited expectantly. Yuriko stared for a moment before sighing, “Please step outside while I change.”

“Oh? Oh! Of course!” Usaza shrugged but kept her grin, then stepped outside.

Yuriko closed the flap and secured it with the straps before she undressed. She kept her undergarments since she didn’t see any in the pile. For that matter, she wasn’t about to wear leather directly on her delicates. Hmmm. Her panties were getting tight…

Her breast band was still fine, despite how much her bosom had grown. It was definitely worth the Sovereigns she paid for.

As for the garments. She picked out a pair of trousers. The leather was softer than she expected. It reached all the way to her ankles and was secured by laces. It also had belt hoops sewn along the waist, so she transferred her belt from her forceweave pants to the leather one. One way she tracked her figure was how tightly she notched her belt and she was quite happy that the notch hadn’t been moved. Of course, her pants were a bit higher on her body now. The trousers also had an odd hole at the back. Probably for tails. Strange though, since the snakekin didn’t have tails.

A wool undershirt was mixed in with the pile and when she put it on, it hung well below her hips. She tucked it into her trousers before she put on a brown leather tunic. This one was soft, too. The tunic fell just below her hips and could be tightened by the waist. She did so to avoid it from flapping around too much when she moved. It also had a square neckline that exposed her collarbones and a bit of her chest. It matched the undershirt so that piece of clothing wasn’t exposed. The sleeves were short, reaching only halfway to her elbow. She waved her arms, stretched and bent, then adjusted her garments so that none of it felt tight. There was a pair of sandals to go with the clothes. It was a bit bigger than her feet but that was better than being too small.

Finally feeling civilised, she strapped her backpack on then wore the poncho. The combination was a tad warm, but she could bear it. The remaining garments were practically identical.

When she came out of the tent, Usaza was impatiently tapping her foot. Her head snapped to Yuriko’s direction and the snakekin gave her a look from head to toe.

“Hmmm. Take off the poncho?”

Yuriko grunted, “No need. They fit very well. Please give my thanks to Otlaca. I’d like to see Masa and her team now, please.”

“Oh,” Usaza deflated, “sure.”

But the snakekin seemed to regain her vigour as she led Yuriko to the stockade.

Forgestride Enclave probably had a strength of a thousand, Yuriko thought. She saw about a couple of hundred tents and she figured four to five people could rest inside. The walls were quite impressive, though nothing like the Watchtower’s battlements. Then again, they had limited height to play around with and she hadn’t seen any flying devilbeasts so far.

The guards at the stockade saluted, with knuckles tapping their forehead, when they arrived. They were let in after Usaza spoke to the lead guard in their language.

Strangely enough, Yuriko was sure that catkin and the snakekin spoke the same language, despite the difference in intonation and accent. For instance, Masa rolled her vowels while Usaza hissed some of the consonants. She was also quite sure that the language was tonal. That didn’t mean she understood anything though. Oh well.

The stockade had a single corridor and cells on either side. There was a rather foul stench and she couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose. The occupants were in varied states of disarray and for the first time, she saw what a real catkin looked like.

The woman, evidently female from the swell of her chest and the wide hips, had a face that reminded Yuriko more of Hunter Kitty than Master Alfein. Her head looked like a cat’s, though with a higher forehead. Her snout was quite prominent and she had six whiskers, three on each side, that were as wide as her shoulders. Her fur was orange and white blobs.

The woman took notice of her, bared her teeth and hissed. Yuriko shook her head and moved on. It was a marked difference from Masa’s features.

The next cell had a lion-headed man. She only recognised the animal from her Natural Sciences textbook, as there certainly were no lions near Rumiga City or Faron’s Crossing.

He had a wider snout, had brown fur, and a glorious mane. Or it would have been glorious if it had been groomed properly. Unlike the catkin woman, the lion man was bare-chested. He uncurled from his seated position and strolled up to the bars. He was huge! Taller than even her Da and his shoulders were at least twice as wide as hers. His bulging muscles were more than a match for Armsmaster Byrne’s, coupled with a thick waist and sturdy legs. His claws were out. They were obsidian black and gleamed in the semi-darkness. He didn’t hiss or bare his teeth but a rumbling growl came from his chest. His yellow eyes stared down at Yuriko in obvious hostility.

He spoke a few words in his native tongue, but of course, she didn’t understand. Yuriko looked at Usaza who shrugged and translated in Wojan.

“Why is a Reviled looking at me?”

Yuriko shook her head and said, “I am not Reviled or even a citizen of this plane.”

He saw the lion man’s eyes widen.

“You speak true?” he growled in heavily accented Wojan, barely intelligible.

“Yes.”

He grunted, spun on his heels and sat back on his cot.

“Yuriko!” Masa called out from a couple of cells beyond. The lion man’s ears perked up and he returned his gaze to her.

The cell next to the lion man had a tiger-headed man inside. This one was smaller and a bit more slender but only compared to the lion. He was still wider and more muscular than Otlaca, though none of them exuded a presence that could match the elder snakekin.

Masa leaned against the bars by the time Yuriko got there. The catkin, well half catkin from the looks of it, gave her a weary smile.

“Shouldn’t they let you loose?” Yuriko asked.

“No, I have to meet with the camp’s commander first. The earlier terms have been fulfilled.” Masa sighed. “I apologise,” she continued hesitantly, “for my rather unseemly showing when we first met. I was too distraught by the fall.”

“Who is this, Masa?” The tigerman asked as he peeked curiously at them, the hostility in his face slackened.

“Anda, this is Yuriko of the Davar. Yuriko, this is Anda of the Tigris. A friend and neighbour.”

“Hello,” Yuriko nodded.

“If we had only met in better circumstances.” He offered with a wry grin. “So you’re the foreigner who saved our wayward kitten.”

“I’m no kitten!” Masa squeaked.

Anda ignored her. “So, Yuriko of the Davar, what brings you here?” His gesture made it clear he meant the stockade and not the Labyrinth.

“I merely wanted to see if Masa had met with her teammates--you, I presume?” She glanced around. The other prisoners were in low spirits, or downright numb. Most were tiger or lion kin, rather than cat.

“Well, we are here, though one of our number died in the capture. We’ve languished here for nearly six weeks! Half of the Season of Earth! It’s already Fire and the Tide has come.” He shook his head. “Alas, let them kill me. Turn me loose after this Tide and life isn’t worth living.”

Masa rolled her eyes.

“He owes coins to a banker and he missed a payment. The penalty is bad enough but since we’re imprisoned, he wouldn’t even have enough to pay. He’d go into indenture for sure.”

Yuriko raised an eyebrow. “Extenuating circumstances?”

“Nothing but death or dismemberment would forgive a debt to a banker,” Anda sighed.

“Huh.” Yuriko shrugged. “I will ask the camp commander to allow you to aid in the battle against the Tide if you wish to do so. And your release afterwards.” She reached into Masa’s cell and ruffled her hair, eliciting another squeak.

“Why?” Anda asked.

“Well, I promised Masa when we met that I won’t let the Ahas and the Reviled harm her.” Yuriko shrugged again. “And I always try to keep my promise.”

She could hear Usaza gasp behind her.

Anda looked at Yuriko steadily then said, “I see. Well if they will accept it, I will give my word.”

“Alright.” Yuriko smiled as she turned to Masa. “I assume you’d want your entire team with you?”

“Oh, just Anda and Dai. The other two, I don’t really know and they were only placed in our team by the guildhall. Oh, and our fifth one died.” Masa’s tail flicked in agitation.

Yuriko nodded and turned to Usaza.

“As you’ve heard our conversation, please relay to Camp Commander Otlaca my request.”

“Sure, sure!” Usaza grinned. “I’m sure you’ll come to an agreement.”

As the snakekin woman left, Yuriko couldn’t help but think that all of these people’s smiles had a strange edge to them.

“Thank you,” Masa said softly. “I don’t know what they’ve said about us but don’t believe them.”

Yuriko just shook her head and patted Masa’s paw.

The earth trembled and a piercing whistle came from the walls. Masa’s face, and Anda’s too for that matter, paled.

“Dire beast,” she whispered in a tone of pure horror.