Verik's eyes snapped open, it was still dark out but a small distraught sound to his right had woken him up, turning his head he watched Asha as she huddled in on herself, shaking and mumbling incoherently.

Sitting up then looking around a moment he caught sight of Sefu and Zuberi standing near the wagons. Both were packing up the few things they had laid out last night and they looked at Verik a moment as he pointed to Asha, they raised their hands and shook their heads a moment before they continued checking over the wagons.

Wide awake now he scooted closer to Asha and looked at her before hesitantly placing a hand on her shoulder, it would either wake her from the nightmare or calm her he figured. Resting a hand on her shoulder and leaning over a bit to check her reaction Asha stopped mumbling and calmed down a bit returning to a more peaceful slumber.

How long he sat there like that staring into the darkness he did not know but as the others woke one at a time they only glanced at the two before going about their business, whatever plagued Asha they seemed used to it.

A sudden movement caught his attention as Asha stirred from her own slumber as the sun suddenly appeared on the horizon. Withdrawing his hand Verik scooted away before getting up and joining Zuberi at the wagons, he was now by hook or crook employed with the caravan and wanted to know what his duties would be.

Asha opened her eyes slowly and wheezed a little from the dust that had been kicked up. One more long night, it had been a few days since the last nightmare but this time it had been a little different.

All the usual horror had been there, the blood, gore, death and destruction, faces that haunted her and those who had carried out the horrific act. Yet something had soothed the dream a little, calmed it.

These dreams were also why others sometimes avoided her.

Sitting up and stretching she looked around the camp as the others busied themselves with preparations to depart, they were on a schedule because of how dangerous the region was and had to make for time. So far things had gone very well the past several days according to Zuberi and Sefu, with any luck they would reach the city within another few days.

Zuberi...

Turning her head she caught sight of him at the wagons talking with the strange creature named Verik, what a strange creature indeed now that the light of day shone on his pale skin and hair. Flat faced, smaller ears than a zebra that clung to the side of his head...

Yet Zuberi had decided to keep him around despite the dangers, trust was hard to find here and with the ever present dangers she knew he had only allowed Verik to come along for some other reason.

Not that Zuberi was cruel, he was quite nice but distrustful of outsiders like the rest of the tribes in the region, especially the Wete as of late.

Blinking slowly as she stood and moved to the wagon to retrieve her morning ration with the rest of the zebras as Zuri measured out the dried fruit and grain, she caught a few of the words exchanged and it became clear why Verik was going to be kept around even if Zuberi was not outright saying it.

Bandits.

Best to have one more hand available where it can be seen and used rather than take the risk of it coming from behind. Besides, if they were attacked he was an outsider, not a Wete.

He was expendable.

She was not Wete either but they had welcomed her in and treated her well all things considered. Asha's heart sank a little knowing what Verik's fate would be if they were attacked: a cheap flesh shield.

There was no doubt in their eyes last night that he had told them the absolute truth not that any of them really believed it, but part of her hoped strongly that nothing would happen, she knew what it was like to have little to nothing and for it to all end here on the Savannah due to a bandit attack...

She closed her eyes a moment and breathed deeply dismissing such ideas real as they may be.

Zuberi and Sefu clearly did not trust him one bit. Perhaps enough to know that he would not stab them in the back but not enough to trust him with anything terribly important. The caravan master had been very specific about his duties some of which included pulling the wagons since they lacked any oxen he would help with repairs, loading, unloading and so on.

Menial tasks.

Payment? He would be paid upon their safe arrival to the city of Alzamard, not much according to Zuberi but it might be enough to give him a decent start none the less. Food would be provided as they had brought a little extra and there would be enough to get them there and back again even with the "extra baggage" that Verik had become.

All his worldly possessions now boiled down to the clothes on his back, a tattered sleeping mat that had been used as a tarp till now, one small clay bowl that no one wanted due to a crack and another clay bowl for water that thankfully was not damaged.

He was moving up in the world.

Collecting his new possessions Verik walked over to Zuri and accepted the handful of rations he was given that amounted to a small handful of black, shriveled up fruit of some kind and ground up grain.

Walking away from the wagons and staring down into his bowl wondering how in the hell he was going to eat the grain he noticed Asha beckoning to him as she stoked a small fire with dried grass and brush.

She had a small clay pot in the fire and poured her own bowl into it and motioned for him to do the same. Pouring everything into her little pot and hoping it would not overflow considering its small size, it somehow managed to fit everything neatly without overflowing though the water level rose enough that it threatened to.

Clapping a small lid onto the pot Asha kept stoking the fire for a little longer before using a long stick to push the burning embers around the pot, smothering it as the last of the flames burned away.

Around the camp others were doing the same either alone or in groups before heading to the well for water before sitting down and staring at their little pots as the contents cooked quietly while water vapor made the lids rattle now and then.

Asha sat patiently near the fire and would occasionally snatch the hot lid off and shove a stick inside to stir the contents before tossing the lid back on again.

Silence prevailed as everyone waited for their breakfast to finish cooking and after a little while pots were carefully removed from the fire and using rags to handle them the contents were poured or poked out into bowls.

Whatever the fruit had been turned the mixture a weird darkish purple ooze but after letting it cool he fought to get it to pour into his mouth now that it was somewhat solidified, after succeeding he realized it was quite sweet.

Staring at him the entire time Asha ate quietly using a spoon.

"I dont suppose there are any other spoons available?"

Asha shook her head but handed him the stick she had been using to stir the jar instead, accepting it Verik used it to break apart and shovel the bowls contents into his mouth rather than rely on shaking the hardening mush free.

After eating pots and jars were scrubbed with water from the well, bowls, mats and everything else that had been unloaded was quickly stuffed back onto the wagons as Zuberi hurried everyone along.

Everything he had was stuffed into the same wagon with Asha's few possessions at her behest since she knew that anything in her hidey hole was safer and less likely to result in anything being crushed or broken.

With a call and wave the wagons began to heave forward as zebras pulled and others gave a helpful shove to get things moving, the middle wagon took some extra help to get going as it was not a large hand-wagon but a full sized, four wheeled one that required at minimum four to six pulling and occasionally two pushing.

Verik however was not pulling nor pushing yet, Zuberi said that would be for later today when they switched places, until then he was under Sefu's watchful eye as the convoy of wagons began slowly rattling away down the trail.

Asha and Verik walked beside the caravan as it rattled along the trail, Sefu had been very specific about where he was to remain until called upon and that meant standing a little farther from the wagons than the others but more than anything, he was to remain walking in front of Sefu who had taken up a position near the third wagon behind Verik.

Everything was perfectly quiet fortunately, birds could be seen occasionally but so far no wildlife could be seen nor heard as the day wore on. All the zebras had taken this to be a relief and Asha was quick to explain why: they were not at the top of the food chain.

Lions, hyenas, cheetahs and a myriad of other "problems" lurked out here and that was just the ones that moved on the dry land. A long, boring journey was all they could hope for as they traveled and as he was finding out that was exactly why they were on this trail.

"So the other road, which is an actual road not just a trail is too dangerous to travel?"

"No... Yes... Hard to explain." Asha slowed and thought for a moment. "Many bandits roam the roads and even attack on river but only if you do not pay for safe passage."

"Extortion?"

"What is that word?" Asha shook her head. "You pay or they take, maybe kill. Sometimes they... Require other... Payments, pleasures..."

The look she gave him as she pointed down between her legs was enough of a warning.

"Zuberi choose this ancient road because of that, Wete are poor and have little. Bandits make us pay there is no point to our journey, so we take chance and travel this route to go around bandits maybe."

"Maybe?"

Asha shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not, nothing is certain but bandits would not travel here unless desperate."

"Has anyone tried to wipe them out?"

"You mean kill them all? HAH! They serve the Sultan! So long as they give him a share of whatever they take he allows it!"

"Sounds pleasant, but what stops anyone from just... Making the bandits "disappear" now and then to cut down on their numbers?"

"Don't know. Ask Sefu, he is the warrior, maybe he knows."

As the caravan continued on Asha raised an arm and pointed off into the distance while tugging on Verik's arm.

"See that?"

Looking into the distance he could just make out a series of small hills far off in the distance, it was very hard to see but straining he could make out what might be stone pillars or ruins of some sort dotting the area.

"Ancient place, very sacred. Long, long ago ancients fought and died to control this place and buried their most honored there. It is very safe, bandits, Sultan and bad spirits afraid of that place. Very powerful."

"Who were they?"

"Don't know." Her head looked back at him and she smiled. "So who are you?"

Verik let out a small sigh as they continued walking, it would be a long story he said, well they had all the time in the world she said.

"Like I told you last night, I was a laborer, studied history and philosophy as much as I could by reading. Not much I can really tell you other than that."

Asha narrowed her eyes and cocked an eyebrow.

"Family? Friends? Where did you live?"

"I do not consider harpies circling over my head hoping to strip my body naked of what little I have to be family, no surviving friends and where I lived was... Well I am very happy to be away from that place. You?"

"Whats a harpy?"

He paused a moment before continuing to walk.

"Imagine having three sisters. Now imagine those three sisters having nothing to do with you except when they want to steal something or spy on you. Every time they "visit" they try and run off with what little you own and do everything in their power to take away what little you have through lies and subversion. So you move, far, far away. They follow you! Not all of them, but they "visit" anyway and somehow always manage to steal something, you put up with them at first because they are your sisters. However, as you get older your patience wears out."

Verik looked around the various zebras a moment before looking back at Asha.

"Then one day one of them shows up again after you have moved even farther away, now you, older, have had enough of it so you answer the door with a "bow" at the ready. They still do not learn and before taking off swipe something of yours when your back is turned but that is the last time they come back. That is what a harpy is, spiteful, loud mouthed, annoying, thieving, deceitful, underhanded, low down yellow bellied..."

He stopped when he saw the look on Asha's face, even a few of the other zebras near him had turned to look and listen in on their conversation as his voice was raised. Shaking his head he looked back at her and shrugged.

"How old are you?"

"Thirty... Thirty one... You?"

"Nineteen. Sounds like a horrible family."

"I have no family Asha, none. Which is why I am so happy to be here, they are probably readying to steal everything from the dingy little hole I live in right now but to hell with them. Some other power brought me here to an alien world, close enough I can understand what is going on at least... But more than anything I understand the language you are speaking and they are not HERE. I am not going to take this gift for granted."

"Loosing your home is a gift?"

"Strange as that may sound, yes it is. I have no attachments to that place or world, frankly I was more than sick and fed up with it, would have lost my home anyway so what have I got to loose?"

Asha hummed for a moment as they kept walking in silence before turning to him again.

"What are you going to do?"

"I have no idea. That is what is so wonderful about this, I have a clean slate. Clean! Maybe I will try and be farmer, that is what I always wanted to do... Own a small farm, I am not greedy, having enough to survive and simply enjoy life would make me happy."

"Maybe you convince Zuberi to let you stay, come back to Wete with us. Not much but maybe you find what you are looking for?"

"Maybe. I still want to see this city though. Heck, I might just travel for a time first, just... Go... See what all is out there, I have a whole new world at my fingertips to explore, why shouldn't I?"

"Don't! Very dangerous! Very! Maybe long ago yes but not now... Zebrica is no longer... Safe. Dangerous place to survive, many problems, too many bandits and slavers. Best you stay with us if you want to travel or travel with other large caravans."

The way Asha acted, moved her hands in panic but more than anything the look of worry on her face made him wonder.

"I will keep that in mind, so what is it you do?"

She mulled the answer over for a moment before cocking her head to one side for a moment.

"Many things. I help in fields, grow food, carry things, help village. Boring life but safe."

"Safety means that much to you hm?"

"Ah... Yes... When you see city you understand..."

"If the city is that bad why are we going there?"

"Better prices than Mjesani, merchants there no like to pay due to dangers of moving cargo. We go to Alzamard for better prices."

"That reminds me... What exactly are you moving?"

A zebra looked their way and hissed at Asha a moment before they continued on, she shrugged and they continued on their way. Whatever they were carrying he did not need to know what it was nor would they allow him to find out.

"Well that answers that... Asha?"

"Hmm?"

"What about you then, family, friends. Wete? What is Alzamard like anyway?"

"Ah! No family... Few friends? Alzamard though... Never been there, listened to Zuberi many times. Bad place. Very bad. Dangerous, trust no one! Bad ruler, Sultan. Very bad stallion."

"And Wete?"

"Very nice... Poor but nice. Very poor... Good chief, Tendaji (Ten-Daj-Ee), good stallion but... Hard to understand sometimes, many burdens, makes things hard on him and tribe. Bigger! Wete taken in many... What Zuberi call us...?"

Asha looked at the ground a moment as they continued to walk and rocked her head back and forth.

"Refugees. Many refugees. Not enough huts for everyone at first but now we all have roof over heads! Also Nuru! She is very, very nice but... Spooky."

"Nuru? What does she do?"

"Shaman of tribe, she is... Different. Very nice but scary. Always weird noises and voices come from her hut, most stay away unless she orders them."

"Sounds like a very, very interesting lady to talk to."

The look on Asha's face was priceless as she tried to figure out if he was joking or not.

"You crazy."

"What is life without a little crazy mixed in? Oh and I am curious about something, why are some of you dressed in rags anyway?"

This sudden change in subject made her falter a moment before looking down at her tattered garb. Tugged on it a bit to get a better look at what she was wearing Asha looked herself over a moment, in so doing Verik got a very good view of both herself and how utterly mangled her clothing was.

"Worn but still good... Why?"

"Where I come from you would be dressed worse than someone who had been homeless all their life. All of you are for that matter except maybe Zuberi, Zuri and... Sefu..."

"Clothing not cheap, hard to get and wears out quickly in fields, torn easily. Best to go like Sefu or Keu there." Asha pointed off to a mare pulling one of the wagons, one could not go any more natural than that. "I like this though, was hard to get."

"Are clothes really that rare?"

"No. But we make so little is hard to afford even this, we save what we make for more important things."

It was rather clear they had been reduced to so low a level that clothing was a luxury item and even an ox to pull the wagons would probably be a grand expense.

"Not even oxen then?"

"Oh we have ox! Chief has several! They too precious though, only for fields to help with plowing, not risking bandits stealing them so we have to pull wagons ourselves!"

Asha muttered something under her breath about the Sultans "collectors" but Verik did not need to ask her to elaborate on what probably happened.

"So I take it going naked is normal then?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Just curious."

He felt a hand run along his arm making him start a little and turn his head, Asha was running her hand along his arm which had begun to turn red. Sunburn.

"Why you turn red?"

"Sunburn. The sun and myself do not... Agree, with each other."

"Then why you shave off fur?"

Ah. That suddenly made sense.

"I never had any, only on my head and face but there are thin hairs on my arms... See?"

Asha watched as he moved the thin, tiny hairs on his arms around, they were hard to see but present and seeing this only made her more curious as she got closer and now took his arm and held it staring as they walked.

"What happens when you stay in sun too long then?"

"My skin will turn bright red, become very painful to touch and then begin to burn and peel off my body."

Her face was horrified as he described what would happen but there was nothing he could do about it, most wore little to nothing as it was and there were no spare tarps to throw over his head to act as a shade either.

"That still horrible! Will you die?"

"No but the pain will make me wish I had if it gets too severe, makes me wish I had worn a long-sleeve this morning had I known this would happen. That and bring my shade cloth and hat... Oh well, c'est la vie."

"What that mean?"

"Thus is life."

Author's Notes:

Remember to read prologue for information on where to find the map! Thank you to those who have favorited this story.