6: Blossom

"What do we have here…"

Nem carefully inspected the footsteps that had been imprinted into the soft soil, his body close to the ground like a dog. He wore a hand-woven sweater over a floral shirt and baggy pants, his clothes getting dangerously close to the damp, muddy ground but miraculously not getting dirty after numerous hours of tracking. He quickly glanced in front of him to see a large amount of brush, with the footsteps pointing directly into them. Smirking to himself, he pushed aside one of the bushes, getting a moment to glance at an angry looking half naked stranger before he was pierced through the heart by a crudely crafted spear.

+++

Nem woke up to the sensation of water running along his feet and backside, the cold and numbing sensation almost immediately causing him to jump up in panic. Failing to maintain his balance, he tumbled forward and caught something at waist height, tumbling forward into a poorly constructed wooden object and smashing straight through it onto the ground. For a few seconds he groaned to himself before coming to his senses, jumping to his feet a second time and taking a look around at his surroundings.

Circling around him were a large number of dark-skinned humans only covered by leaves and woven grass holding shoddy looking spears towards him, weapons that made an average farmers pitchfork look like a legendary blade. The wooden structure he had crashed through had been a set of stairs leading up to a massive metallic pot hovering above a fire pit. Behind the circle of spears, children looked on in fear, their eyes glued towards Nem hoping that their dinner wouldn't be eating them instead. Numerous wooden homes sat around the edges of the clearing, looking well-constructed but extremely old, much more advanced than the simple crafts of the people surrounding him. He quickly spotted his clothes sitting in front of one of the homes alongside a few limbs loose limbs accompanied by some black spots on the ground. Realising he was naked, Nem��s hands instinctively went down to cover his genitals.

"Fexu'Slebo Bo'Imile."

The voice came from a particularly tall and muscular looking woman. Her glare was intense and intimidating and her stance almost felt like she could pounce on you at any moment. She was the only person in the group to wear anything more than leaves or grass; a battered, knitted scarf hung around her neck. Hesitantly, the spears were raised upwards one by one until Nem was no longer surrounded by thirty or so sharpened rocks, but instead by thirty or so humans at a reasonable distance. The woman stepped forward and stuck out a fist with her palm facing downwards.

"Du'I'Flebo 'Cxu."

Nem, completely taken aback, mimicked her outstretched fist and looked around the crowd for some sort of language or culture he was familiar with.

"Uhh… Hi?"

The woman smacked her fist into his in a surprisingly friendly manner and the crowd around them cheered. For a few seconds, Nem looked on in confusion, switching between looking at his hand and the people surrounding him but eventually the peer pressure got the best of him and he joined in. He even repeated some of the random gibberish that was being shouted, not aware that one of the phrases he blurted out meant 'his genitals look weak'.

+++

The cheering continued into the night as the group feasted on carrots, potatoes and human flesh haphazardly thrown into a pot. Nem danced the night away with his new friends, taking the opportunity to be taught a number of dances by the tribe's chief herself. Isolated in their own little world, they partied until midnight, where they immediately headed to bed like good children. Despite the lack of alcohol, Nem passed out like a rock, a despicably happy grin plastered on his face as he slept pants-less on somebody else's wooden floor.

A little past dawn, he was woken up by a meek young woman rapidly slapping him awake. After groaning for a few seconds, he bolted up and grabbed his clothes that lay beside him, starting off by putting his pants back on. The woman looked on in intent silence as he took his sweater off to put on his floral shirt, but it was by the time he was putting on his sweater that Nem realised something was wrong.

Through the glass windows, he saw about a dozen naked women staring intently at him, with another half a dozen men behind them. He froze from shock for a few moments but calmly finished putting his clothes on and slowly opened the door, quietly being thankful that it hadn't been blocked.

"Good morning everyone!"

Nem cheerfully waved towards the group but found that nobody seemed interested in morning greetings. Instead, they seemed incredibly interested in his pants. For a few moments Nem stood still, but he walked forward to find the gazes following him. Deciding to simply ignore it, he waved towards the group as he made his way to the closest exit to the clearing.

"Well, it's been nice meeting everyone, but I have to go. There are mouths I need to feed."

As he walked forward, the group followed, but with greater pace. Nem's walk turned into a jog and then a run as the group chased him down, quickly catching up to him with their years of hunting experience. Before he could react, the first thing they did was attempt to take off his pants with a violent yank, with three pairs of hands succeeding in pushing his clothing down to his ankles. Unable to maintain balance, Nem toppled over, with the new knowledge that the group wasn't going to simple let him walk away.

"Oh… not like this. Stay away from me."

His tone was firm, but his pitch and volume was a clear indicator to everyone around him that he was afraid, even though the language barrier. Without thinking, he ditched his pants and regained his stride, reaching the brush before his adversaries caught up with him. Nem sprinted forwards at a speed he didn't realise was possible, not risking a glance behind him from fear of the group being within grabbing distance. Throughout his sprint, he could hear the thunderous footsteps behind him, always keeping pace with him no matter how quickly went or how well he zip between the trees. After almost ten minutes, he came to a stop, kneeling over on the ground completely exhausted. While he was barely able to move a muscle, his single remaining pursuer caught up to him, gently sitting Nem down and propping his back against a tree. Using the last of his energy, Nem looked up to see the chief holding what looked to be a glass cup with a duckling on it, barely breaking a sweat, a gentle smile upon her face. She placed two fingers under Nem's face to get a good look at him before placing the cup down between his legs, her smile turning into a mocking one once she saw what she had to work with.

"Fe'I Feci'Swuwu…"

That day, Nem had the least satisfying sexual experience in his life.