Palworld; Rhea's Odyssey

Chapter 03: Sold.

When Rhea finally came to, she slowly opened her eyes to a wooden floor. She also noticed that she wasn't alone. Inches from her face was a row of feet. Each pair was riddled with dirt and small wounds and shackled together by iron chains

Looking up, she saw a row of strangers sitting side by side with downcast expressions on their face. She realized she was sitting in a large caged wooden frame with an even larger cloth so that prisoners couldn't see where they were.

Has it really not been that long since I was knocked out? I'm being transported, just like they said.

She sat up carefully expecting to wince at the wounds left behind from the altercation, but was surprised to see that she didn't feel any injuries. The only pain came from the shackles on her wrists and ankles much like the rest of the passengers.

"Oh, you're finally awake"

A chubby built guy with vibrant orange hair sitting across from Rhea spoke to her in a hushed tone.

"When they first threw you in here, we thought you were a goner. You had so many wounds, it was brutal to see...but then they started disappearing. You even had a couple bones out of place and they just snapped back to where they needed to be."

The healing...

Rhea remembered Chloe talk about her being immortal and recalled how she felt before losing consciousness. She was sure she was going to die, but had somehow made it through all of that and recovered. She was deep in thought about what happened to her when the chubby guy snapped her attention back to the present.

"Hey! A couple of us were wondering...who are you, exactly?"

Rhea looked around at everyone else on the carriage and noticed that people were trying their best not to look at her, but were definitely sneaking glances with every chance they got.

What are they so interested in? I guess it's not normal for someone to recover from fetal sounds right before your eyes. Still, that shouldn't make me all that special, right? Sent there others like me here?

"I'm nobody special. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just that we noticed you have a Paldeck. I've been here long enough to know that anyone with one of those is different from the rest of us. You have that power. We all saw it..."

"Yeah, I don't know much about it but apparently I can't die."

"Wow, that's wonderful news! You can help us escape!"

"Whoa there. Just because I can't die doesn't mean I can fight. I'm in here with you, after all. If my power could help us escape, I would've never gotten caught in the first place."

"...I suppose you're right..."

The mood in the cage seemed to dive even deeper with the conclusion of the conversation. Everyone sat in silence for a while before the chubby guy introduced himself to Rhea.

"Anyway, my name's Talt. I've been here a while. Turns out nobody really wants a fat slave, but I've been losing weight since they don't feed us much. So, I'll be sold soon."

God. He sounds like he wants to be sold. Like an ugly pup at an adoption center.

Just then, Rhea realized she had access to a few new memories. There wasn't enough to tell her who she was, but she could see a few things in her head about dogs behind cages. She struggled to make sense of the images but figured her current situation is what triggered it.

Maybe I just have to experience more things here on the island and I'll unlock memories of my past.

"Is everything alright? Talt chimed in evening why Rhea has blacked out for a second.