By Paw and Sail

Chapter 11: Darkness and Sunlight [Jassri]

Everything hurt. Her head ached, and all four limbs were sore. The cuffs had slowly rubbed away the fur above her paws over the last three weeks, leaving the skin exposed to the rough iron. The constant pain made it hard to sleep.

Jassri could hardly see anything through the inky darkness. There were plenty of sounds though. She heard the ragged breathing of her fellow captives, the waves lapping against the side of the ship and the scrabbling of claws on the deck above.

“You awake?”

She turned her head towards Athuis, the only other Iriote in the room. His outline was barely visible.

“Yeah,” she said.

“Ah, good — I’m bored. My bladder is about to explode, so please distract me for a bit.”

“Sorry to hear that. I think it’s going to be a few more hours before you can take care of that though.”

“Yeah, probably. I guess I could just do it here, right? No point in suffering all day.”

“Please don’t,” she said. “I’ll tell Thican, and he’ll never let you forget it.”

He laughed quietly.

“He probably won’t, so I guess I should just hold it.”

“Good boy.”

They looked up at the sound of the wooden door creaking open. A small torch cast flickering light on the floor, illuminating the reposing figures along the walls of the chamber. The two cats squinted at the sudden brightness.

Jassri could smell the rats all the time. The whole ship stank of them. It was almost unbearable when they came closer. Their scent was like sewage mixed with blood. She caught her breath as her captors approached, but she knew that her lungs wouldn’t hold out long enough to avoid the odor.

They spoke in a language that she couldn’t comprehend at all. The rat words were short and slurred, and their voices sounded like loud whispers.

She hated them. They were murderers and thieves who thrived on the misery of others. The Wukkon were not welcome anywhere on Expance, even the wolves and Dhoma killed them on sight.

The chains jingled as one of the rats pulled on her forearm and slipped a key into the metal cuff. She wanted to sink her claws into his face as soon as her paw was free, but she knew better. That was her reaction the first time they did this, and they ripped out one of her nails as punishment. The wound still stung, even though it happened weeks ago.

The rats touched her too much. She felt their grimy paws sliding through the fur on her arms and legs as they unlocked her bonds.

The guards released Athuis along with a few other animals and led them through the entrance. Jassri took a deep breath as they climbed the stairs that lead up to the top deck. Fresh ocean air flowed through her nose and into her lungs. She looked forward to this moment during the many hours she spent in the dank hold every day.

The rats lined the slaves in front of a door near the back of the ship. It was the only opportunity for sanitary relief during the entire day. Fortunately, none of the other captives seemed interested in sullying their collective resting place either, so they all persevered together.

As each animal finished, the rats lead them to middle of the deck and chained their back legs to a long metal beam.

“I guess you got lucky, eh?” Jassri said.

Athuis squinted and smiled with satisfaction.

“For once,” he said. “Although, I don’t know if anything that happens to us on this ship would be considered lucky.”