The two men throw me into one of the metal cages, lock it and starts walking off. I sneak a peek and watch tentatively as the two men who carried me walk up to Leopold and ‘Miss Ravensburg’ and chat for a bit before finally leaving.

And just as the door closes, the cacophony of animal noises grows a few decibels louder, forcing me to turn off Enhanced Hearing, but even then the shrill screams hurt my head. I struggle against my bonds again. Those assholes didn’t even bother to untie me! I begin scratching my claws against each other once more, hoping to make a spark.

After a good ten minutes of fruitless scratching, I sigh in defeat. My hands are tired as fuck, and they’re beginning to really cramp.

Also, damn am I thirsty. I activate Night Vision and look around the now not as dark room. I’m in some sort of storage area, if it could be called that. There are live animals everywhere. I begin casting Identify on every living thing around me.

Gyarian Mudfrog --- LVL 3

Sabertooth Lion --- LVL 2

Lesser Manticore Spawn --- LVL 7

…

White Tailed Desert Hawk --- LVL 4

My god.

I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ve been caught by poachers.

Oh fuck. I’ve gotta get out of here as soon as possible.

I begin scratching with renewed vigor, this time against one of the bars of my cage. Not even a minute later sparks start flying, and I cast Fire Manipulation. I fail the first two times, but on the third attempt I’m able to create a fair sized flame, which I redirect onto my restrains around my arms.

*fwoosh*

The fire, with the help of my Fire Manipulation, burns through the rope in a matter of seconds. Now, with my hands freed, I quickly slice apart the rope tying together my jaws and legs.

I stare at the cage and hook my claws around the bars. I activate Body Enhancement and try to pry two bars open, but they barely budged. I activate Earth Manipulation. Hopefully this metal will be considered as “earth”.

…

Damn it. The bars still aren’t budging.

I continue looking around my cage, trying to catch something, anything, that’ll help me get out of here, but alas there was nothing.

What are those people gonna do to me? Are they going to sell me off as a pet to some rich fuck? Am I gonna be a test subject? Are they gonna dissect me- oh I’ve gotta get the fuck outta here-

*clang*

I freeze. Someone opened a door somewhere behind the cages. Even through all of the screeching and howling of the other animals, for some reason I could hear that door open, and it sent chills down my spine.

Through the sea of animals and cages, I spot a chubby bald man walking out of a door. I quickly lower myself down and peer at him cautiously. The man stops before my cage, squats down, and begins studying me with his beady little eyes. He cracks a small, bemused smile before walking away, leaving the room through the door that I was brought in from.

The hell was that? Creepy ass fucker.

Regardless, I will redouble my efforts to find a way out!

* * *

Siggard and a couple of his men rode back to their main base. Most of his forces are still back at the river where they had caught that strange feathered lizard to act as backup and manpower for Robert. He had given him full authority over those men to aid him in exploring that cave he had found.

They had left the alpha there as well, more on his own insistence to stay rather than anything. The effortless capture of that lizard seemed to have fouled his mood quite a lot, and he really didn’t want to go back.

Siggard grumbled, recalling that the reason he’s on his way back instead of exploring with Robert was because he had to report everything to the General.

Fucking hell…

Siggard began to curse his luck for the hundredth time this week. The General was no easy person to deal with. Being a man of high noble birth, he had an attitude and competence level you’d expect from one given that rank because of nepotism. That is to say, an ego larger than a World Crawler and an uncanny ability to divert his own work onto others.

The journey back was uneventful. Nothing came out of the tall grass to attack Siggard’s group, but he was still on guard. There are a couple of lizardfolk settlements around here, and though they are on neutral terms with the humans, but he has learned through experience that one should never fully trust a non civilized species of sapients.

Speaking of lizardfolk, that gyaroraptor looked an awful lot like some of the drawings he’d seen on the walls of lizardfolk temples back in the day. He was part of a campaign in the eastern rainforests to subjugate the united lizardfolk tribes that dwelled there, and he had spotted multiple depictions of lizardmen riding giant reptilian beasts into war. Though this gyaroraptor was an awful lot smaller than the creatures depicted, he was pretty sure that this feathered lizard had some sort of connection to those paintings. Oh well, that’s more information to feed the General and hopefully “loaning” him the gyaroraptor to “observe its behaviors personally” will smooth things over.

Such is life. He thought to himself, and sighed.

As soon as he entered the base another headache appeared. A messenger wearing the General’s insignia calmly walked up to Siggard.

“Greetings, Sir Beyer. The General has requested that you meet with him immediately.”

Siggard grunted in affirmation, hopped off his horse, and headed towards headquarters after handing the reins to a stableboy.

A short walk took the man into the large building and in front of a dark, ornate door.

Siggard knocked, and waited tiredly as he listened to the deep voice of a man and the soft voices of two giggling women.

For fucks sake…Siggard sighed again.

“Come in, come in!” the General boomed. Siggard obliged, opening the door and stepping in before closing it behind him.

A large burly man with a large neckbeard sat on a couch that seemed more like a king sized bed than anything else, with a scantily dressed women in each arm. The man had no shirt on, his muscular chest stuck out as the two women stroked it lovingly. He was laughing jovially with the women, one hand firmly on the buttocks of one while the other groped the breast of the second woman.

Siggard held in his urge to march right out of this spoonfed piece of shit’s room, and waited (im)patiently for the General to finish up.

A good while later, the General leaned back onto the backrest and finally looked up.

“So. What’d ya got for me?” the General lazily said, gesturing at Siggard,

“I’m here to deliver a status report on the training of the lupusgriffs.” Siggard straightened his back, steeled his nerves and continued. “I would like to report that the training has been going very well over the past three months. The pups have been maturing at their projected rate and have had their first hunt.”

The General nodded, closing his eyes.

“I would, however, deliver some bad news. During said hunt, one of the pups had been killed in action.”

The General stopped, and slowly opened his eyes. The two women shivered.

“What.” A low whisper escaped the large man’s parted lips.

“We were, however, able to track down said beast and captured it alive and unharmed. It seems to be a previously undiscovered creature called a ‘gyaroraptor’.”

The General closed his eyes back up and grunted.

“I had seen, during a previous campaign I was on, creatures similar to it in paintings made by the lizardfolk. Perhaps it is a rare, exotic creature.” Siggard finished.

The General was silent for a moment before he opened his eyes, disentangled himself from the women and stood up.

“Tell the beast wrangler to bring this creature to my room. I want it.” He walked towards his bedroom, which was conveniently built right next to his office, motioning the two women to follow him. “Shoo! Off you go! I don’t have much more time to waste with you.”

You’re the one who called me here...oh fuck it.

Siggard left the room with a growing headache, and headed off towards the warehouse that the beast wrangler had set his stuff in.

Adam the beast wrangler, or ‘beast master’ as he would call himself, was a peculiar man. He was chubby and had a skintone much too pale for the weather in the great Gyarian Savanna. But he was good at his job, at least. Whatever went on in his greasy bald head sure helped him tame and train wild beasts at record speed.

Opening the door to the warehouse, Siggard is blasted by the screams of a thousand different beasts and monsters. Composing himself, he entered, weaving through the stacks of cages and began looking for the wrangler all the while making sure to not actually touch any of said cages.

After a few more minutes of unfruitful search, Siggard came upon a certain cage.

Ah, the gyaroraptor.

Crouching down, the warrior stared at the weird feathered lizard, who had stopped whatever it had been doing and turned to look at him. Looking into its eyes, Siggard watched as its intelligent eyes darted around almost as if in fear, and he couldn’t help but feel a tang of guilt.

“Interested in the latest addition, aren’t we ey?” An almost sleazy-sounding voice came from behind Siggard.

Standing up, the man turned to face Adam. The chubby man had a slight grin on his face, and was holding steel chains.

“Adam, the General wants the gyaroraptor in his room.” Siggard said, ignoring the wrangler’s question.

“Yeah, yeah. And I’ve been getting ready to send this beautiful specimen to ‘im, m’kay?” The man crackled, jingling the chains he held. “This littl’ bugger burnt through its ropes, gotta use them metal chains to keep this lizard from running off, ‘kay?”

“Just bring it to the General as soon as possible. He’s with a couple of… female attendants at the moment, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Gotcha, chief.”

Siggard watched as Adam hobbled over to the gyaroraptor, got on his knees, and took out a set of keys. The feathered lizard hissed as the man’s hands drew nearer, and lunged forward when he heard the clunking sound of the cage being unlocked.

“Aight, aight, settl’ down, ya lil’ bugger!” Adam waved his hand, and Siggard saw with his Manasight skill a quick flash of mana as the lizard tumbled down, unconscious. There was a reason Adam was the beast wrangler. As unathletic as he was, he had the rare title “Poacher of the Great Forest” which granted him the ability to stun or knock out beasts below his rank, depending on said beast’s rank. Given the fact that basically all non-intelligent beasts were below rank three, Adam was an invaluable asset.

A short wait later and Adam finished securing the gyaroraptor’s limbs and jaws. Siggard watched with a slight grimace as the chubby man more or less shoved the feathered lizard into a smaller cage. As good as he may be at his job, Adam lived up to his title as a ‘poacher’ with his actions.

Fucking hell. Siggard closed his eyes and began praying for the little lizard.

* * *

…

Ouch… my head… hurts like hell, goddamnit.

The fuck just happened?

Oh yeah, that baldie was unlocking the cage, and I tried to escape when he opened it. But then just as I reached the cage door I remember he said something and gestured with his hand, then everything went black.

Some sort of cloak or towel is covering me, leaving me in near complete darkness. I try to move, only to realize I’ve been crammed inside an exceedingly small cage, and that my limbs had been tied together by metal chains.

Fucking fuckity fuck.

The sound of giggling snaps me out of my thoughts. Giggling? Where am I now?

That question is immediately answered when whatever was covering me is suddenly pulled off and I am blinded by half a dozen bright light sources.

“I present t’you, m’General, the lil’ lizard Sig and the lads caught.” I hear a voice speak in some sort of comically scottish-english accent, nearly making my snort right there.

As my eyes slowly adjust to the light level, I see the baldie standing next to my cage. Turning my head around, I notice that I’m in a very well furnished room. Expensive-looking paintings hung on the walls, gold and silver vases adorned the tables, as did a bunch of bejeweled swords and daggers. My eyes drift to the way too goddamn big bed in the middle of the room. Those silken sheets look expensive as fuck, probably more than everything I had owned back on Earth.

Then I see the three people sitting on the bed.

Two very attractive naked women lay on either side of a muscular shirtless man with a thick neckbeard. Said women are caressing his pecks almost as if they are worshipping them. The man, on the other hand, had an arm around the waist of each woman, and was looking at Baldie with a sleazy grin.

The man slowly drifts his gaze unto me, and I unconsciously shiver. What a fucking creep.

“Open the cage and get it out.” Neckbeard guy told Baldie, who obliged. A key appeared in Baldie’s hand, and a second later I hear the distinct ‘click’ of the cage door unlocking. Baldie opens the door and unceremoniously pulls me out by the tail. Ouch! What the fuck, dude?

I try to kick him with my feet, but the chains prevents me from making any big movements, thus Baldie is able to easily avoid the hit.

He dumps me on the ground, and I quickly scramble onto my feet all while staring intensely at Neckbeard. He’s staring at me with that half-grin of his. Ewww. At this point, I notice the small metal cage around my mouth. I try to open my jaws, but could barely move them. I hook my claws around its bars and tug, but to no avail.

“Mmm, what a weird looking creature, isn’t it, my lovelies?” Neckbeard said, looking at me then back at the two women in his arms.

Both quickly agreed, and returned to their chest worship. Neckbeard disentangles himself from the women and shuffles over to the edge of the bed, right next to me, and with one meaty hand grabbed my neck. I freeze and stare at the man as he begins studying me, his other hand feeling my skin and my feathers. I can’t help but shiver as I feel an urge to cry build up inside of me. This is almost violation.

Just as I was about to actually burst out crying, the man releases me. I stumble down onto all four as Neckbeard turns to Baldie.

“I’m taking this one with me to the capital. Make sure it is fed and watered before you put it in my carriage.”

“Yes, m’General.” Baldie says and bows slightly before grabbing me again and shoving me into that small cage. Once inside, he covers the cage once more, and I’m left on my own more or less. I curl up and feel my body begin shivering again as I close my eyes.

Please. Please let this be a bad dream.

Please.

* * *

Adam closes the door as the shill moans and rough grunts began, cage in hand. Making his way through the headquarters and towards the courtyard. Walking up to the General’s grandiose carriage, he opened the back compartment and more or less threw the cage in. A muffled cry came from within, but he ignored it. Walking to one of the nearby crates, he retrieved a few pieces of smoked meat and went into another room to get a jug of water. He returned a minute later, jug in hand, and walked up to the rattling cage. Pulling off the large piece of cloth covering it, he snapped his fingers, stunning the lizard, before unlocking the cage door and force-feeding the dazed lizard the smoked meat and the water. After a few tries, the meat went in and the water wasn’t spat out. Adam, satisfied with his work, locked the cage back up and snapped his fingers again, freeing the lizard from its daze.

With a loud ‘clang’ sound, Adam closed the compartment’s doors and locked it. As he congratulated himself on a job well done, Adam wondered what he could have done with that weird feathered lizard beastie if the General had let him keep it. Ah, no bother, he had an entire warehouse of creatures to play with! It doesn’t matter if he lost one. Now, who to play with today…

* * *

“Hey Sig, why the long face?” Robert said, nudging his childhood friend in the shoulder. It’s been a day since the capture of the gyaroraptor, and he had just returned from exploring the newfound cave. It went deeper than expected, and so a more permanent camp had been set up and he had been sent back to report on it.

“You know, I’m having second thoughts about this.” Siggard mumbled after a short pause. “All this I mean. Everything.”

“What? You’re gonna desert? Or are you thinking of retiring already, old man? Gonna start a family?” Robert grinned.

“Oh fuck off, you and your elv- I mean your youthful looks. I’m being serious.”

“When are you not?” Robert grinned.

Shooting him an annoyed look, Siggard sighed.

After a short pause he continued.

“That lizard, the ‘gyaroraptor’, I think it’s intelligent.”

“Intelligent? Well, of course some beasts are intelligent. Have you seen those monkeys? Those things damn near know all our traps… damn cunts.” Robert shook his fist in the air.

“No, no, I’m not talking about that kind of intelligent. I’m talking about it being like us. Rank four intelligence. Maybe Rank five.” Siggard explained. “I… I don’t know, Rob. When I looked into its eyes, I saw more than just a beast. It felt like I was looking at another person.”

“Hey, man, you gotta relax a bit. Must be the stress that’s causing you to see things. It’s been quite stressful on you for the past few days. C’mon, let’s grab some booze and relax some. You look like you need it.” Robert hooked an arm around Siggard’s neck and began pulling him towards the storage.

“Haaahh… alright, Rob. You’re probably right. Let’s go.” Siggard finally relented. Though, in the back of his mind, he still couldn’t get rid of the feeling that there was much more to the lizard than it just being a Rank 2 beast.