There is only one room, maybe one hundred square ingots in size. The floor is covered with a patchwork of thin mats, and articles of clothing hang from overhead beams beside dried vegetation and a dimly lit lamp. Rickety shelves line the walls, displaying handmade clay and tin pots, pans, basins, cutlery, and a few worn-out toys in one corner. Presumably there is little more to the positions of these strangers who keep calling me Viadu.
Laying upon one of the mats, I stare at my unfamiliar paws. Is Viadu who I am?
"I cannot believe they did this to you," says the dark-gold furred adult bitu stranger as ve works to clean and mend me. Ve and the others present are wearing ragged, loose-fitting sleeping clothes.
"Those reckless worms," The stranger continues, "With all the yetu flying around, you'd think they would know they nabbed the wrong people. What murderer are you suffering in the place of?"
The stranger works as tears fight to pour from ver eyes just as much as ver face fights to snarl in rage. The other dark-gray furred, able-bodied, adult bitu works more solemnly to clean and mend the bitu I woke up next to.
The eyes of two minors peer at us from the room's corner, obediently silent. One looks to be maybe eight salaries old with dark-gray fur and the other maybe six with brown fur. They bombarded the two adults, presumably their parents, with questions about us referring to us as their vedira before they were scolded and told to sit quietly in the corner.
I haven't said anything to them yet. I don't know what to say. How do I tell them I'm not Viadu when clearly, I don't know who I am? I think I'm Dima, an atu, but nothing I remember makes sense of being in this body. It must be a dream. None of this can be real.
The bitu I woke up beside, whom they keep calling Hinuso, starts babbling gibberish again.
"Ritu! What did they do to your minds?" the golden stranger clasps ver head in ver paws. "Viadu can't talk or walk, and Hinuso is spewing nonsense! What are we going to do?"
"The kids will have to watch them while we are at work. We will reassess the plan after we see how they are recovering in a few tankards."
"Reassess?" The golden one punches the gray one on the back of the head, causing pain but not lasting damage. "What exactly are you suggesting, that we leave them for dead somewhere if they don't recover to some extent?"
"No, I-"
"They are my vera, Kidu, not some sickly jufida that needs to be put down!"
"I understand. I'm not suggesting we leave them for dead. Just that we... I don't know, figure something out." Kidu, the gray adult, replies.
Before Kidu can finish digging ver own grave, I decide to try and speak, "I-" The strangers startle and look at me hopefully. "I can talk."
"Ritu damn you!" the golden stranger strikes my arm in anger. "Viadu, why haven't you said anything?"
"What happened to you two?" Kidu asks.
"I'm so sorry... I... I don't know who you all are." I say.
Eyes widen, and the golden stranger's expression darkens. "Don't you dare pull that on me."
"I'm not pulling anything. I'm sorry, but I am being serious." I say.
Ve jumps to ver feet and snarls at me, "Shut up!"
"Jove, please," Kidu pleads.
Maybe I should have remained quiet.
Jove's snarls last for only a few alms before ve drops ver head and begins to weep. Ve falls to ver knees at my side, and Kidu moves to comfort ver. Hinuso is still flailing, but more slowly and intentionally now.
YOU ARE READING
Disarm Evil
Science Fiction**New Chapter Every Wednesday!** Dima is a little person with a habit of starting, and occasionally finishing, craft projects, though when on duty Dima is fierce, cold, and calculated agent of justice who's quick thinking and sharp aim makes them a...
