10 Setting camp

Walking through the jungle, the boy had to climb on one of the donkeys due to exhaustion. With the eldest leading, we arrived at dawn. Both children were sleeping peacefully. We took off the covers to make a mattress for them to sleep on.

I also had the young man place the children down carefully, as well as ensure that the morning sun wouldn't wake them too early.

The night had been long and arduous. Consequently, we unloaded the donkeys silently.

He untied the materials while I would haul it to where it would go.

Placing up the temporary camp swiftly, I could see that this youth had not lived a simple life prior to being sold into servitude.

I didn't try to poke my nose into his matters, for now, our lives are intermingled and we will need one another to survive.

Around ten in the morning, the boy and girl stirred from their sleep. The camp wasn't ready yet but all items had been unloaded.

The donkeys were placed into a temporary enclosure tied to a rope in-between trees. They quickly came to find me, afraid I would be angry at them for waking after me...

Little did they know, we had yet to even get some sleep. I refrained to inform them of it since they likely would feel too guilty.

After they both arrived next to me, I placed my forehead on the little girl's to take her temperature, which gives the impression to not have lowered. I sent her back to bed hoping another day of rest would cure her.

I had the older one take some clean tissues from one of the bags and had the little boy instructing him to dip it into the cold water stream then place it on his little sister forehead.

I then set out to catch the meat for the night. Leaving the eldest responsible for the other two. Thinking such, I should also give them names... since they lost them ever since the day their status became one of a slave.

Pushing those thoughts away, I focus on hunting down the meal. I no longer have only just my own belly, but tree more to feed.

I have been learning the gathering spots of the prey. Along with finding one of the many clearings where some herbivores of decent sizes graze lazily. Having no predators in the land had turned them careless.

Making it even easier for me to sneak on them, the wild grass is particularly high here. Perfect for hiding myself as I crawl, stalking the group of unsuspecting prey.

They look like a cross between horse and moose.

Their size is smaller than either, it is about the size of a larger pony. Still, I'm only the size of a very large dog and working alone. I can't take on a too big size of preys, yet.

Minimizing the distance I walk slowly, freezing whenever they lift their heads. This group is truly careless, there isn't even one of them watching they must have lived too long in peace...

Well not that I should complain.

This makes my job much easier!

Thirty meters away, I jump up and dash forward toward the biggest of the males. The chase breaks, he dashes off. As we run through the jungle, leaping over ditches and trunks of rotting trees, we climb over a small hill, where I find a shortcut in his direction, and catch him off by surprise.

He didn't even have time to notice that I had my fangs in his neck, and claws over his chest, deeply piercing his hide. I bring him down while he breathes his last...

The duration of the chase lasted for less than a cup of tea.

Feeling rather proud of my hunting skills, I haul the carcass of this strange animal over to the youth to arrange before we can both get a bit of shut-eye. I feel slightly sluggish not having slept in more than a day. It can't be helped.

The young man prepared the fire and cooking wares while the tiger was gone on the hunt for their meals.

His gaze sweeps over the area, and he chose the flatter lands to install the tents as well as other key areas like the cooking place. To watch over the two younger ones, he chose an area that is easy to survey.

His name before coming to these lands was Alexander, but once he became a slave that name was stripped from. It was a way to break the spirit of those that had been placed into slavery.

But his master his now a tiger beast that his highly intelligent. Normal people wouldn't place a slavery contract on their brought slaves. He originally thought he could escape the fate.

Now that hope was also dashed, more so as he did not feel that running wouldn't be any good. He would be hunted down as a runaway and likely put to death for disobedience.

A voice called up to him dragging him out of his thoughts.

"Hey it's time for my sister medication can you please make it?"

The boy's voice had rung out, reminding him that he still has to make the medicine for that sickly girl. The tiger seems to oddly favour her.

Nodding, Alex turned around and went to grab the herbs in the pouch to make the porridge for her. Her fever had finally lowered and only needed strict bed rest.

Her pale features that appear like she is devoid of any blood did not damper her clear eyes, they give the impression of being tired of all the misery that she had been through, along with being dulled in spirit.

One could see that this little girl had the making of a future beauty if she did live long enough.

She looks like she was about six or seven years old, her brother didn't look that much older.

Likely, they had one or two years difference. It was very common for families to have many children, the women generally gave birth every year or two years once married in common populace.

A little less when of noble birth or if their belly failed to expectations.

Here men where never the cause of no offsprings it would be blamed on the women...

As very few children reached adulthood, most would die in the few first years of their life. Out of every ten children, at least four would die before fifteen. It would be even higher for girls, as their parents are likely to give them up at birth to waste their time raising a money sink.

The luckier girls would be raised to be wives, the less lucky ones as a pleasure object for the men. Informs variating from concubines to personal sex toys, if her luck where truly bad she would be sold and likely end up in a brothel for men. Who would take nightly pleasures until she would become broken and unwanted even for the nights as a cheap whore...

He sighed softly, that girl truly had a lucky star to have ended up in the tiger's eye.

She was given the best care one could afford.

Also, with such a protector not many would dare bully the girl in the future.

Especially seeing how that tiger treated this little thing as if it was its own kin.

If Kats knew what Alex was thinking, she would paw face and collapse to the floor and argue that the child is just too pitiful. As well as being just unable to leave it alone!

Somewhere on her way home, a tiger carrying the evening meal sneezed and rubbed her snout with the back of her paw...