"You don't understand what's at stake here! You're destined for something greater! You can't just waste away in some desert city!" Sarah shouted, her head hung out the window of the carriage as she yelled at Nadir.
Alongside the carriage Nadir ran without a hint of struggle. As he heard the pleas from the small angel he laughed. "I am destined for greatness no matter where I go! I am duty bound to Ibis!"
A frustrated squeal rang out from Sarah, she mumbled to herself as she sank into her seat and folded her arms. Meanwhile Celene kept her distance as much as possible, her hood never left her head and she sat turned away from the Jackal. The entire carriage ride she had kept herself quiet. She brushed Nadir off or blatantly ignored him whenever he tried to speak. In the driver's box of the carriage was Cyrus, with Henry in his lap the duck had the reigns of the carriage in his beak. Cyrus rolled his eyes and let out a small sigh as he listened to the continued failed persuasions of Sarah. As the rambunctious group traveled through the desert the sight of buildings came into view. Along the line of the horizon appeared the silhouettes of hundreds of small buildings made from dried mud bricks.
" We have arrived! Welcome to Ibis!" Nadir gave a resounding welcome as the carriage slowed into the entrance to the city.
His loud welcoming drew a lot of looks from those passing by. Each of them gave a seemingly knowing and annoyed look, they all gave a Nadir a small once over before they rolled their eyes and went back to their work. As they entered the life of the city was sprawled out before them. Along the streets were hundreds of small covered stalls, many selling assortments of colorful fruits, some sold trinkets and others sold steaming hot meats. The buildings were all small and short, stairs lined their exteriors and their walls were cut open to act as balconies and windows, many buildings lined with small cacti and other small flowers and foliage. The streets bustled with a gaggle of different beastmen. Those that resembled rabbits, felines and others but the most abundant was by far canines. Cyrus looked around a bit in amazement as their carriage slowly made its way through the bustling streets of Ibis.
"Damn, it's at least twice the size of Lexin." Cyrus remarked
A hearty laugh bellowed from Nadir. "Of course! Ibis flourishes under the control of the canine tribe!"
Cyrus's head tilted. "Canine tribe? Are all beastmen split into tribes."
"Indeed! And Ibis is the focal point for the canine tribe. Now I must return home my father should be expecting me! You are welcome to join and I shall give you a proper Rastis welcome!" Nadir boasted and offered as he looked to Cyrus.
"Thank you, we'll take you up on that." Cyrus responded.
With a confident smile Nadir continued to lead the group through the crowded streets. As they did they started to roll upon a building that dwarfed the size of the buildings they had seen when first coming into the city. A long ornate pathway led into the building, an overhang of lush foliage covered the street that lead to its main entrance, captivating pink flowers with yellow buds grew in abundance as they arrived at what seemed to be the Ibis's most intricate house. The large building was more akin to a complex, a large central building stretched out in front of them while two more large but smaller buildings surrounded their sides. The carriage pulled into a large roundabout and Nadir would tap the side.
"You may leave your carriage here! It will be taken to proper storage!" Nadir explained
"Oh thanks." Cyrus responded and hopped out of the driver's box, Henry flapped down out of his lap as he followed.
As he hopped down he opened the door to the carriage and let out the others. As she stepped out of the carriage Sarah mumbled as she glared up at Nadir, her mind raced as she schemed and planned. However as the door opened Celene stayed glued to her seat.
"I'm not trusting a desert beastman with our things." Celene quipped as she side eyed Nadir.
As he heard her he let out a mighty laugh. "A cautious one! A good trait to have, but I swear on the Rastis name no harm or wrong doings will come to your belongings!" He assured in the same loud overbearing voice he had been using.
As she heard him Celene continued to glare, with her attitude Cyrus rolled his eyes and touched the carriage. His hand sparkled with electricity and a small current ran along the floor and shocked Celene making her jump.
"You fucking..." Celene's brow furrowed and she looked at Cyrus who merely laughed. A small sigh escaped her lips as she watched Cyrus. "Alright fine, but don't say I didn't warn you when we end up robbed." She'd reluctantly exit the carriage and join the others.
With them all out they began to follow Nadir, as they walked into the ornate building its halls were lined with red carpets and shimmering vases, pots and other furniture were on display. Even while she hid her face Celene couldn't help but peek around at all the valuables which elicited Cyrus poking her and applying a little shock a grumble coming from the former thief as she was reigned in. Along with all the ornate furniture walking amidst the halls were an array of feminine and female canine beastmen. Each dressed in the same flowing and breathable clothes as they cleaned and carried things back and forth from Various rooms. Each of them seemed to ignore Nadir and the others, their pace quickened in order to avoid their path. As they walked they would come along a set of double doors, Nadir walked into them and swung them open.
"Father I have returned from my patrols!" He shouted.
As they entered the room in the back was a large Jackal. His face resembled Nadir's although his snout was thicker and covered in scars. His stature was larger, instead of the chiseled chest of Nadir this jackal had a large gut to pair with the muscular frame that adorned the rest of his body. He was slumped into a large ornate chair and as Nadir's voice rang out his brow furrowed and his expression turned into a scowl.
"Stop all that insistent yelling. How many times have I told you to stop reporting to me directly ya little shit." His deep raspy voice reprimanded Nadir.
A resounding laughter rang out from Nadir once again. "My apologies father! However I brought guests." Nadir announced as he stepped to the side and showed off the small group.
"You fucking.." He let out an annoyed sigh as he saw Cyrus's party. "Let this be the last time you bring in guests. You lot are lucky I care about tradition, I'll have someone show you to the guest rooms but you be out by the end of the week." He growled
Despite the tense gaze Nadir's father was giving them Sarah didn't hesitate to step forward. "Sir, we need your son release him of his duties. He has come into possession of a very important relic and is-"
Sarah was interrupted as Nadir's father stood up. "Duties? That parasite doesn't have any duties. Take him, do whatever you want with him I couldn't give less of a fuck what happens to him." He would wave the group off. "Now get the fuck out of my sight already." A tense aura flared up from the jackal and two more beastmen appeared from the sides of the room and ushered them out.
As they got pushed out of the room Sarah was dumbfounded, her eyes slowly blinked at the response she was given by Nadir's father.
Cyrus would pat Nadir on the back, "That was quite the-"
"Hah! Hah! Ha! Father must be excited to have guests! That berating was on the lighter side!" He explained to the horror of the other party members.
As he heard that what he had just said was on the lighter side Cyrus's eyes went wide. The group began to walk down through the halls once again as Celene let out a little chuckle.
"Figures that's how beastmen treat their children. You're all brutes." She scoffed.
Nadir laughed. "Nonsense! Father only treats me that way! My siblings are treated with much favor by him and the rest of the tribe!" He explained with a smile that had no right being on his face.
Celene's face soured a bit, her heart stung a bit as she heard Nadir. "W-well if that's the case obviously you must have done something."
"Indeed I did! I killed our mother!" He responded in that bellowing voice. "But we have arrived at your rooms! I will return after giving a full report to my father!"
Nadir paced off with a bellowing laughter, Celene and the rest were left in front of luxorious guest rooms with looks of horror on their face. Their eyes wide in shock and Celene's expression contorted into one of abject fear as she watched the back of the jackal that walked away with a cocky laugh after saying such a thing. The party stumbled into the guest room and flopped themselves down on the beds that lined the room.
"You sure we're still recruiting him." Celene mumbled out.
"Of course, he has a core we need him." Sarah responded.
Celene's eyes went wide. "He just said he killed his mother and laughed about it! I'm not traveling with a homicidal maniac like that and to top it off he's a beastman!"
Sarah grimaced and bit at one of her nails. "It doesn't matter the core chose him."
"Then let's kill him and take it or something! He's just a-"
A small burst of electricity thundered through the room cutting off Celene and making her jump, shivers ran down her and Sarah's spine as they looked over to Cyrus. His face was dark, his brows furrowed and a few sparks kicked off of his body while Henry poked at his foot.
"Nadir has been nothing but kind to us. I don't know what you have against beastmen but you need to drop it." He commanded, his voice itself seemed to carry a voltage of its own.
As she heard him her eyes widen and her heartbeat quickened. Memories of her life flooded into her, things she tried to forget boiling over to the surface as she shot up from the bed she was sat upon. "Drop it!? This isn't something I can just drop! Stop acting like you know everything! You're just some idiot schmuck from the forest!" She screamed.
"Yeah I'm an idiot but even I still know how you've been treating beastmen is wrong."
"How I'm treating them is wrong!? You're trying to tell me I'm in the wrong here!?" Her eyes began to water. "Why don't you let beastmen burn your village to the ground, have them rip you apart from your family with tears running down your face. Have them lock you in shackles and make you grant some bullshit wish you can't even grant! You let them peddle you around as a slave, as an item, as a bitch! For most of your life! Try! Try doing even some of that and then tell me I'm the one treating them wrong!" Tears streamed down Celene's face as she stormed out of the guestroom the door slammed shut behind her.