Trial. What does that word make you think of? Perhaps a courtroom, where those who've commit crimes go when they've done wrong. Or, maybe it makes you think of a testing period. Whatever it makes you think of, the trial we're talking about today is the trial of Damien, in the way of the courtroom example, but very different from our courtrooms.

    "Alpha should've killed him at birth," He heard someone whisper.

    They were out in a clearing, Damien's paws restrained together by metal. They weren't welded to his wrists, thank god, but he assumed he had a worse fate coming. The whole tribe was there, aside from the Beta he'd mauled and the Tribe Healer. The other two Betas who were with the mauled one where there, standing in front of him with the most hateful look in their eyes. He stared right back.

    "Damien," The Alpha snarled, "You seem to have forgotten your place. Not only are you forbidden from hunting, but you almost killed a Beta."

    "I-"

    "SILENCE!" He barked. Damien closed his muzzle. "You almost killed our best Beta. Now he is useless, and so are you. We're banishing you. You must go to the North, or the West. Away from here."

    "But my mom-"

    "She will be fine, but if you keep speaking, I can't guarantee you will be."

    And so what else could he do but leave? The Alpha said so.

    He wandered North for a few days, eventually reaching the bridge that meets the Tribals and the 'Civilized', as his tribe called them. He knew almost nothing about them and their customs, he didn't even know that any other places existed other than Leafly and Falecea, and he only knew about Leafly because he was taught a bit about the history of their tribe by the elders.

    So, he eventually reached Civilized territory, where one of the Queen's men found him.

    "Are you lost, kit?" He asked, glancing to Damien's tail. He twitched slightly, grabbing his ankle with the hand on the end of the appendage,

    "Y-yes sir," He said quietly.

    "You from South?" He asked.

    "B-been banished..." He choked back a tear.

    "How long you been walking?" The fire Droggon asked, motioning for someone to come over.

    "... Three days, maybe...?" He wasn't quite sure anymore.

    "Go prepare this kit some food. Carnivore," He told the worker. He began to walk away, off towards a large building, not unlike a castle.

    "Y-you don't need to do that," Damien mewled.

    "You don't need to starve," He said. Damien was never offered food in his tribe. Always ate last, barely anything left for him. "You're skin and bones, Elet,"

    "Thank you, sir..." Damien whispered.

    "'Course, kit. Now, come here, let's get you inside, you should rest." He started walking, and Damien followed, arms crossed in front of him with his tail still at his ankle.

    As he was lead inside, he took note of his surroundings. There were a few trees dotted around, clearly planted, and there was a stone path beneath his golden padded paws.

    "What is this place?" Damien asked as he walked.

    "Ashe's castle. She's the goddess of Fire, our savior, so to speak. She's the only reason we have the freedoms we do today."

    "Why's that?"

    "Decades ago, we had a cruel leader called Flareclaw. He was smart, strong, whole nine yards. He decided it'd be a smart idea to challenge the Deities, so Ashe smite him down and took over to make sure things went smoothly. She's quite nice, we love working for her," He said.

    "Oh..."

    More walking. Quite a bit more, actually. Damien was lead to a large room with three different tables. He was told to pick between two of them, as one was for Ashe and her guests. He sat down at the one to the left, and was presented a dish. It had Jarkhop meat, which he was instantly drawn to, what looked like a Scallen's boiling stomach sac, and some kind of meat he didn't recognize.

    "Eat up, Kit," The man who put the dish down in front of him said.

    "M-my name is Damien..." He said.

    "Apologies, Damien," The Dranda said as he disappeared into the kitchen.

    He nervously eyed the food, as if it was about to get up and run away or attack him. He leaned down and sniffed at it, before picking up the Jarkhop meat with his paws and tearing into it. It was the best food he'd ever had, really. After he finished that, he scarfed down the stomach sac. It was sweet, sort of tangy.

    Then, a very large Droggon entered the room. She made him nervous, but some part of him immediately recognized her, despite never having seen her before.

    Ashe. The Goddess of fire, savior of Falecea. She was quite attractive, for Elemental standards, at least. She was bright red, with silver eyes and a golden tail flame. She had to be at least 25 feet tall.

    "Hello, Damien," She said, shrinking down to about his size.

    "H-hello..." He said nervously.

    "Don't be shy, Elet," She sat at the table he was told not to sit at earlier, "Come sit with me," 

    He obeyed, quickly, leaving his dish at the table.

    "I heard you were lost," She said kindly.

    "Y-yeah..."

    "Would you like to stay here?" She asked gently, observing his body language to make sure he wasn't too uncomfortable.

    "If you don't mind..." He murmured. She gently lifted his chin up with her claw,

    "I don't mind at all, Damien. I'm always happy to have guests over,"

    "Thank you, m-my Queen," He said softly, unsure of how to address her.

    "Call me Ashe, please," She said.

    "Y-yes, Ashe,"

    There was silence for a moment

    "I must be going now," She said, standing up, "It's getting late, I've work to attend to. You may stay as long as you like, Damien. I will send Deigo in, he will show you where your room is and such. Have a lovely night."

    He stayed put, waiting patiently for Deigo to show up.