2 A Different World

(Somewhere…)

In the middle of the circle of pillars, a robed man meditates in the air as he mystically gazes upon the world from the walls of his monument. Many people know him, but only a few can or have seen him. The Oracle – his famous alias – is a magical being sent by the Moon Goddess to this world in order to help its inhabitants to maintain balance and peace. Every leader from each generation in the past had been seeking his enlightenment to help them prosper and maintain order.

Well, that was in the past. The current "King" does not listen to him and his warnings; a savage leader who enslaves the weak and seeks more territory to conquer. And with this kind of leader, the current generation could walk into a torturous path of wars and sins.

For now, he's wary of the news that the Moon Goddess has sent him. After he foresaw an upcoming war that may end the existence of some races, he was relieved to know that a human from another dimension will create the harmonious balance that the King had taken away from everyone.

'But the time of his coming is a bit… unreasonable…' Five hundred years is a long time, though it's only an approximated value. The creatures in this world only have a lifespan of one hundred to three hundred years. The King is still young and kicking; there's no point in the human salvation arriving towards an already doomed civilization.

And his meditation was ruined when the thunderclouds roared like ferocious lions. He flinches, almost crashing to the ground in his meditating position, but he's alert as ever. Was there an upcoming storm? He should create a barrier to-!

"Sorry for the traumatizing rumble, but it's for the best." The Moon Goddess chuckles awkwardly in his head. He panics and thought that he must've unconsciously blamed Her for being interrupted. It could've been disrespectful!

Before the Oracle could apologize, he was shocked to learn of the next line that he heard in his mind.

"The human has arrived…"

The Oracle didn't know what to say next; he was baffled. It had been a month after he learned of the prophecy, and he did expect that the human would be coming only after many years. And now that he's here, he couldn't believe it.

"However, you will not require to see him or let his arrival be known by the current leader."

He's confused, utterly confused. "Then how can I fulfill the prophesized harmonious balance for this world? The King would only-!" And then suddenly, he felt his chest being ripped with a mysterious force. "GAAAHHH!" He couldn't breathe. What is happening? He's immune to any disease and can never age with time!

When the Oracle falls to the ground heaving and screaming for dear life, he could feel the Moon Goddess calling out his name like She's worried. He needs to tell Her of his condition, to seek for Her help. But for some reason, his mind blocked his communication line with Her.

��H-H-Howww… i-is t-this… p-possible…?" His heart slowly stopped beating after saying his last words; his mind on a breakdown, his lungs are on irregular respiration. He was dying, he was sure of it but was not expecting it.

And before his eyelids closed his green orbs called eyes, he knew the Moon Goddess called a very familiar name.

"Haji…"

~~~~~~~~~~

…

…

"Where am I?" was the question that I keep asking myself since I had woken up. Or maybe I'm still asleep because my eyes could only see darkness. I feel my body aching from the sandy ground that I've been lying at for god knows how long. I stood up and groaned, the memory of the last that happened to me was beginning to get clearer and clearer.

Fudge. That guitar sent me to a creepy place!

'Am I in hell now?!' I panickily thought. I can't believe that guitar is cursed! But then I wondered why I'm feeling some cold breeze than a blazing hot one, so I came to an immediate conclusion that I may not be in hell. I slowly regained my calmness and decided to find a way out.

While walking, I tried to figure out how I really find myself in this place. 'I found a cursed guitar in the attic, I played it, and then I got teleported to a freaking dark place…' My teeth clenched in both irritation and cold air as I kept my focus on feeling my surroundings. 'Wherever that guitar may be, I don't even give a freaking care…' And if I were to see it again, I'm going to burn it to crisp!

In a few moments of walking, I blurringly saw a light at the end of my way. Was that the exit? I don't know for sure but I thought of it as the exit, so my feet went to fast work in an instant.

I ran. I ran as fast as I could like it's the run that would give me a ticket to save my soul from being damned. I had only a little awareness of what I'll be running into because I'm more focused on escaping from this creepy place.

Because if you were in my situation, you'd also run as fast, right?

And that was the freaking reason why I bumped myself to something tall and buff, and then I fell butt-flat on the sandy ground. I groan in the recent impact. And when I looked up to see what I just bumped into, I could not believe what was in front of me. Normal people would've screamed for dear life if they were to see 'this'. But since I'm probably not normal like my best friend would sometimes call me, my reaction was only my mouth hanging wide open and my eyes being the size of saucer plates.

Because what's towering in front of me is a bull standing on two legs with jean pants on. And he's – I pretty sure it's a male because of the naked torso and bulging, sweat-glistened muscles – carrying a log effortlessly on his right shoulder. I stared at him for a while – believe me, I'm not in the mood to get turned on right now – and thought if he's real or not. And he even wore boots.

'I-Is he a… furry?' I thought in amazement. Am I dreaming? Weren't furries supposed to be fictional creatures only? What the heck is going on?!

"Mroo! Mroo!" The bull-man seemed to be trying to talk to me, making gibberish noises like a true animalistic bull

'… Okay, I don't freaking understand what he's saying.' I mentally face-palmed and tried to stand up. I had assumed that he could talk like normal furries in the visual novels that I read, but I thought wrong. "You know, I don't really understand what you're saying." After a few minutes of saying that, the bull-man suddenly drops the log that he was carrying. I flinched at the little earthquake that his action made.

And everything went way more confusing from the next thing that happened.

"Wait, I can understand you?" The bull-man's now slightly deep humanly voice asked. His eyes blinked a few times and he rubs his ears. "I can understand you but you can't understand me…?"

I scratched my head confused. "Well, I can understand you now." 'What the heck is happening?' First, he sounded like a real bull, which was in fact scary. And then he can finally speak normally?

"No human can understand the language of the beastmen." He states like it's a matter of fact, crossing his beefy arms on his chest. In a few seconds, he seems to realized something and his brown eyes widened. "Unless you're the… The Oracle! Oh my goodness!"

I was surprised when the bull-man suddenly bowed on his one knee. I don't know who's this Oracle that he's referring me, I assumed that he must have been just mistaken, and I don't want to take advantage of that.

However, I should ask him where in the world I am right now. I want to go back home, despite finally knowing that a furry like him is actually real.

"Where am I anyway?" But when I asked that, he gave me a curious look. I panicked slightly, maybe he realized that I'm not really the Oracle! 'I should've asked in a much highly manner!'

"I remember the Oracle knows every part of the world…" His eyebrow raised slightly like he's judging me silently.

'Yup, I'm totally dead…'

Then he frowns. "But I guess you can be confused with how Spring Ridge has changed since the King terrorized it a few months ago."

Spring Ridge? Am I in Australia? From freaking Vegas, I got teleported to Australia?!

He suddenly acts with jitter and twirls his fingers awkwardly. Okay, that's weird for someone who looks manly and all. "I-I can't believe that the Oracle has s-shown up in front of a mere bull-man! I've heard you only conversed with the leaders of Hearth. Um… I-I heard you can grant a wish to see the future of a person. So, c-can you tell me what my future would b-be…?"

Okay, this is the point when I began to really nerve out. There's no way I could act like that freaking Oracle that he said! 'But if I tell him the truth, will he trust me?' I doubt that though. But if he keeps believing that I'm someone I'm not, then I guess getting beaten by a hunky bull wouldn't be such a bad way to go…

No, I should tell him the truth! I need to hold on to the chances that he will still be friendly to me. After all, I seem to be the only human that can understand his language.

"Err… Can I-I know your name?" I mentally slapped myself for stuttering.

"I'm Seth." He gingerly states.

"Seth…" 'Be cool, Max. Just be honest because it's the best policy that anyone can do…' I took a deep breath and said, "I-I'm not the Oracle, and pretty sure I can't even see the future. I'm just a normal human who got transported here from Vegas…" I tried not to look at his eyes and, instead, I looked at my own shivering feet. Gosh, I feel terrible that I thought I'm going to pee on my pants! "P-Please don't kill me! I-I'm so, so sorry!" I had my arms shielding my head, wishing that they would be enough to protect me if Seth's going to pulverize me with his big-!

"GROAR! GROAR!" I heard a beastly roar not far from our position. This time, I surely would've peed in my pants in fright. It sounded like a freaking tiger! And here I thought I was going to die from an angry bull!

But when I took a swift glance at Seth's face, I was shocked to see that he's not even angry at the slightest. In actuality, he looked concerned and scared at the same time. Was he also scared of the tiger? Does this mean that we're both going to die in-!

"W-Wait!" I yelped as the bull-man suddenly picked me up and threw me on his shoulder. I gasp at his sudden forceful nature. He then runs without looking back and without even minding my face bumping constantly on his muscular back.

And I wasn't lying that he's sweaty. I could feel his musk getting all over my face, it's not even a turn on at the moment!

But I wanted to ask why. Why is he carrying me? Why didn't he punch me or something? I know I should be grateful that I didn't get hurt, but the feeling of intense fear was still there. 'Is he going to kill me somewhere else?!'

"P-Put me d-down!" I flailed on his grip, but he's really strong like a true bull – which he exactly is, just anthropomorphic. I know I've dreamt of being held by a strong muscular furry, but definitely not like this!

"I'm saving your life, human. Gerard's going to make you his slave if he finds you here," Seth huffingly said as he picked up more speed in running, his boots clang with each step that he takes.

Should I trust him? Was he really going to save my life? Millions of thoughts kept running in my mind, and I didn't notice that we're now crossing a bridge to a dirt path.

"A s-slave?! T-That guy w-would make me as a s-slave?!" How horrifying! And if Seth was referring this Gerard guy as the beast who roared earlier, then I should've thought the worse things than dying from being mauled.

"What are you? Dumb?" The bull-man scoffs. "Humans are treated as slaves for beastmen, even for yourself who can understand our speaking language."

My blood ran cold on that. Oh my God, what the heck is going on?! What did I get myself into?! Am I really in Spring Ridge, Australia?! If not, then where the fuc-!

THUD!

I somehow hit my head on a trunk of a tree when Seth made a turn. He didn't seem to notice it because he still kept on running fast. I groaned in the aching pain; I feel like I had a concussion. 'Damn you, bull-face…'

And slowly after a few drowsy blinks of my eyes, my consciousness flew like a leaf with the blowing wind.

~~~~~~~~~~

(At Luna, planet Hearth's moon)

The Moon Goddess frowns as She sees one of Her creations accidentally hurt the human salvation while trying to save him. Bulls are really careless creatures, and it seems that it'll be later before Seth could notice what he had unintentionally done. But at least She was happy because a beastman like Seth had helped Max despite the intriguing crisis of humanity in Hearth. She had hoped for the worst things that may happen to the human, but She feels proud to have chosen someone that has a golden heart and an imaginative mind.

"I hope you to be well soon, Max…" She says in sadness.

Luna is the homeplace of the Moon Goddess, and this is where She would usually watch over Her beloved planet. And She's well-aware of the upcoming disaster that may occur between Her creations if the chosen one fails to accomplish his mission.

'I have great faith in Max…' She always set it on Her mind. 'Now that his boundaries on his decision-making are lessened, he will have a much wider perspective of living his life…'

At that, She seems to imply that Max's adopted parents are the real hinder to his goals and dreams. Despite being the loving and caring guardians, She didn't really approve of them. They only wanted Max because of his talent. They are just lowkey abusive without Max knowing it.

"Milady, why do you look sad?" A gruff voice says from behind Her.

The Moon Goddess shook Her head and beautifully smiled. "It's nothing, Kingston."

Kingston is Her wolf-angel apprentice who had been the nineth leader of Hearth. After he died of old age, She picked him to guard Luna whenever She decides to visit Her other sibling deities. Wolves are Her most favorite among his other creations of beastmen, and it's the only reason why She picked him.

"I've heard of the Oracle's unexpected passing. Isn't he an immortal to guide all the leaders on the prosperity of the world?" He's concerned of the fate of the world without the Oracle.

This time, the Moon Goddess had a neutral expression on Her beautiful face. Kingston couldn't tell if She's going to tell something about that matter, but then She responds, "I'm afraid I cannot disclose the truth with you yet."

The wolf-angel was surprised, his eyebrow twitched. Why wasn't he allowed to know?

"But fear not, wolfie. Everything will be fine in Hearth. The chosen one has arrived there, after all." She smiles once again.

Kingston knew She's hiding something, but he believes Her. She's the Moon Goddess; why would he not have faith in his creator? Despite the current leader, Hearth seems to be standing strong in some parts of it. And he knew because the Moon Goddess created unique creatures capable of withstanding many challenges and believed in freedom and justice.

He's hoping that everything will turn back to normal, that the human salvation would truly bring harmonious balance to Hearth.

3 - Big, Bad-Headed Wolf

"Arjo, what the fuck?!" Kaiden screeches at the sight of his beaten-up brother crashing through the door. Of course, he helped him to walk over the nearest couch so he could rest a little, but not after he smacked him on the head.

"OW! You're making it worse!" Arjo glared at his younger brother, but he faltered and whimpered when he was shot with a much deadlier glare.

"I would totally make it worse if you keep fucking yourself up, you worthless piece of shit!" Kaiden sneered, wanting to grip and pull out every patch of fur on his older brother. But he knew he wouldn't do that, and he didn't mean anything that he said to him earlier. Sniffling, he leans against Arjo's shoulder and whispered, "I-I'm sorry for cursing and hurting you further, brother... I-I'm just so worried that-!"

Arjo shushed him with a bloodstained smile. Kaiden was a bit enthralled with that smile, but then he thought it was very creepy so he hurried to get the medkit in the basement.

'My little brother's getting older too, I suppose...' The older wolf-man thought with a sigh.

These two wolf brothers, Arjo and Kaiden, are just simple inhabitants of Hearth who are trying to survive like everybody else through the leader's strict policies and rules. But as time passes to them, they grew poorer and poorer until Arjo decides to try to find a suiting job to sustain their living. But Arjo, being a hot-headed and brawny wolf-man, is always prone to being in fights and getting kicked out of the job easily. You can think that Kaiden could've been better and much nobler, but Arjo doesn't really make his younger brother work. Not after learning that Kaiden has heart disease and easily tires out.

'If only Mom and Dad didn't leave us...' Arjo clenches his bruised fist after remembering their parents once again. They didn't leave the brothers as if they died in an accident or something; they left them to abandon them. It happened when he was 10 years old while Kaiden was still 5. And the poor wolves have struggled deeply to live on the streets and camp out in the prickly forests ever since. Arjo grew to hate and seek vengeance on their parents. 'One day, I will make sure that you'll regret leaving us behind...'

"This is really surprising..." Kaiden's voice snap Arjo back to reality, he had been watching his older brother with his arms crossed.

"What's surprising?" Arjo cocks his head in confusion.

"That you're thinking. You don't really think," Kaiden says in a playfully mocking tone.

The older wolf-man would've glared, but winced instead at the feeling of cotton damped in alcohol suddenly hit his arm wounds. Just the medicinal reaction of it seemed to be much hurting than being punched in the guts earlier. "T-That hurts...!"

"Well, I would like to think that being beaten up hurts more than this," Kaiden nonchalantly states as he wiped off the bloodstains surrounding the wounds.

It took Kaiden a few minutes to fix up his brother's wounds and bloodstains, which was making Arjo feel lucky to have a caring brother like him. They love each other and they would never turn each other down, not like their parents. Their current lives are difficult, but their brotherly bond surely became much stronger. Kaiden's the only one that he has right now, and he'd die if he left him too.

Kaiden suddenly taps his brother's head leaning against his shoulder. "Say, Arjo?" He spoke with a bit of nervousness.

"Hmm?" His wolf ear flicked slightly.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

The younger wolf-man gently strokes his brother's fur as he mutters, "Can I join the singing club with Tabi?"

That's when Arjo pulls away and gave Kaiden an annoyed look. There's no way that it's going to happen. "You know I hate making you work when-!"

"The singing club isn't a workplace, brother. Tabi will teach me more singing techniques if I sign up to him." Kaiden explains with a huff.

'Why does he even had to love singing?' Arjo sighs in irritation.

Unlike Kaiden, Arjo dislikes singing. Not that he has a grudge on the activity himself, but his voice isn't really the type for singing. And he's always jealous of his younger brother because of his angelic voice is much better than his own that sounds like a moaning elephant in heat – Kaiden likes to tease him with that.

'At least it makes him happy though...' Arjo thought with a hinting smile.

"Your face is saying yes. I do hope it's a yes." An excited Kaiden interrupts his thinking once again.

'He's a total spoiled brat since birth, I'm sure of it...' And then Arjo groans in defeat, his beaten-up arms raised in the air. "Okay, okay."

"YES! OH MY GOODNESS! I LOVE YOU BROTHER!" The younger wolf squeals happily.

Arjo laughs at his brother's jumping up and down on the wooden floor. It was always a pure joy to see him very happy like this, like his problems on their everyday living just fades away from the mere sight of Kaiden's antics of excitement. This is one of the moments of his brother that Arjo would always remember and treasure until the end of the day.

'I love you too, Kai...' The older wolf grins.

And then the unexpected suddenly happens.

THWACK!

"KAIDEN!" Arjo screams at the sight of his poor younger brother. Oh, the horror of what happened!

...

...

"I'm okay, Arjo!" Kaiden just laughs away from his situation, like nothing serious really happened.

Well, they didn't really expect that the floor would be so fragile. Kaiden managed to break through it, making his body stuck on the hole that his jumping made. At least there was ground beneath the floor, and Kaiden was now standing on sandy ground.

"You clumsy little shit." Arjo helps him up after recovering from his shock. They frowningly looked at the quite big hole that revealed the sandy ground just beneath their small house. They just built this home last month after Arjo saved enough money to hire some helpers, and then it had gotten a bit crusty so easily. "It'll be next week before I fix this up, you know."

"I know, sorry about that." Kaiden scratches his head awkwardly. And then an idea struck him. "Hey, why don't you get a slave to work for us?"

Arjo raises an eyebrow. "A slave? You expect me to order around a creature who can barely understand our language?"

"Sometimes I think you're more of the 'Big, Bad-Headed Wolf' than the 'Big, Bad Wolf' though." Kaiden chuckles at his brother's stern glare. "There are beastmen slaves too, not only the common human slaves. And even if the human slaves don't understand our language, all slaves are well-trained to do household chores as I do in this house every single day."

"So, are you implying that I'm treating you like a slave here?" Arjo gives him a stern look.

Kaiden smiles innocently. "Maybe. But you're my favorite brother, so I don't really mind." He really loves his brother and would always be loyal to him. They only have each other to rely on anyways.

The older wolf-man smirks at that. Maybe he could get a slave to help them with their living. 'And maybe I should choose someone that will take care of Kaiden when I'm away...'

~~~~~~~~~~

"D-Dad! Put him down!" Seth yells at his father who has the peculiar human on his arms. His sadistic smile and the way he held the unconscious creature; those signs just meant a bad idea. "Dad, he's not a slave for sale!"

"And whose slave is this boy, hmm?" Seth's father glared. "He doesn't look like he's owned, and this funny looking collar on his neck doesn't seem to be locked."

'Shit...' Seth curses. He just left the human boy in the living room to get some medicinal herbs for his injury, but he didn't think that his father would be coming home so early today. If it was Gerard then maybe he could've fooled the tiger-man, but no, it's his father who's infamous for being the Slavemaster.

He needs to think of a plan. His father would surely put the human in the prep room first. There, the boy would suffer more injuries than his head concussion. Seth feared that he might die there before he could even be put in with the other slaves.

"I-I captured h-him at the forest. I was g-gonna show him to you after I p-prepped him..." Seth reasoned out, regretting that he stuttered on his speaking. 'I hope he takes it. And the boy would surely kill me later...'

His quickly-thought plan was simple; get his father to sell the human boy to a beastman that he could trust the boy's safety. If his father doesn't mind Seth to be the one to put the boy to the cellars, then he can be assured that the boy would live until someone buys him. For now, he's hoping that his father would believe that he had already 'prepped' the boy.

The rugged-looking bull-man raised a thick eyebrow. "You said he's not for sale."

Seth nervously shook his head. "W-Well, I already have a buyer for him." 'Please don't ask the fucking name...'

"And who's the buyer?"

'Major shit...' He can't just say any random names at this point.

Suddenly, a mysterious voice spoke within his mind. "Tell him that the buyer would be Arjo, a wolf-man from the Moon Valley."

... Seth didn't know whether to trust that voice or not. But since he got no other safe choice, he blurts out, "H-His name is Arjo, a wolf-man from the Moon Valley."

The way his father looked at him was really nerving. Is he doubting him? Seth's pretty sure his father is doubting him now...

"... Here." And the burly bull-man passed the unconscious body to his son. Seth was surprised that he had let him go eventually, but he didn't let it show on his face. With a huff, he states before leaving the room, "And make sure that wolf pays double for this one."

It took a full minute before Seth sighed in relief. That was a close call. He didn't get to explain to the human boy that his father is actually a notorious Slavemaster. He's really worried about the boy's fate – yes, Seth had gotten pretty fond of him in the short time that they met. Because he had never met a human that could understand beastman language and even talk with him. This human boy in his arms is such a special creature.

But there's another thing that worries the bull-man.

While tending back the wound on the human's head, Seth wonders on who just spoke within his mind. Its presence somehow faded after helping him come up with the human's supposed buyer named Arjo. Was the voice telling the truth? Should Seth trust some being that he couldn't figure out?

'And I wonder if this wolf-man named Arjo knows that he's going to buy this human...' Seth thought before wiping off the sweat from the human's forehead.