Alternia's New Order

Chapter 6

You were woken up and put right to work at dawn. Going on about three hours of sleep, you were not in any mood for this shit. But you sure as hell weren't gonna complain about it. Everyone was taken out to one of the huge cotton fields and given a woven basket. Each troll was then assigned one row and told to pick as much as possible. Field work was always the last thing you wanted your life to come to, but you didn't have much of a choice here.

At least not with your overseer hanging over your head constantly. You referred to this asshole as Mr. Moffat, the cause of all your emotional distress and pain. The guy seemed to have it out for you. After somehow finding out you were here on account of your mutant blood, he took to calling you "Red" rather than your actual name. Normally, you would beat the shit out of anyone who was so demeaning to you. However, the short whip and sharp dagger he kept in his belt made you think twice. You'd already seen him use the whip twice that first day. Once that morning on a troll who wouldn't wake up fast enough, and again on a female he claimed was not picking to her fullest ability.

After picking in the fields all day, the work whistle is blown. Mr. Moffat and a few others lined you all up, collected your baskets, and took you back to the sleeping quarters. You were all given your daily meal, and sat around the fire until the whistle went off again to tell you it was time to sleep. This routine went on each day. You woke up, worked, ate around the fire, and went to sleep. It all got pretty fucking depressing really quick. The only thing you looked forward to was seeing Terezi at the end of every day. She had continued to keep her promise about staying hopeful.

The two of you had been working on the Martin Plantation for almost three months now. It was another routine day of the same stupid shit you had grown so accustomed to. Hours pasted in the field. The sun rose high into the cloudless sky. It was so damn hot you almost felt like your skin would melt away. You pause for a moment to wipe the sweat from your forehead, and see Terezi a few rows down. Her basket holds more cotton than any of the others you see. You can tell she is totally focused on what she is doing. Occasionally she reels back from the plants, pricking her fingers in her quick pace of work. But she always went right back into it, not stopping for more than a second.

Apparently you were gawking over her a moment too long. Mr. Moffat had noticed, and was now standing right beside you. It makes you fucking nervous. He slaps your shoulder hard and starts to laugh. "She sure is a beauty, ain't she Red?" he asks you smugly, nodding his head towards Terezi. You know you probably have the dumbest fucking look on your face right now, but you don't know if you should even respond. You guess not, since he goes on talking after a moment. "Hell, she's outworking every troll here. Mighty strong for a little blind bitch."

You bite your tongue and suppress a growl when he refers to your matesprit that way. Who did this guy think he was? After another moment, he slaps your back hard and laughs again. "Come on, Red. Now I've got another job for you." Oh great.

You pick up your basket and follow Mr. Moffat out of the field. He tells you to stay at the fields edge, and takes your basket from you. Then, he proceeds to carry the basket over to Terezi, placing it next to the one she has already nearly filled. He tells her something, and she nods to him in response. This guy was definitely playing some sort of sick as fuck game now.

He comes back over and tells you to come along. You follow him for a long while, the whole time moving closer to the families main hive. There is a cleared area about 500 yards from the impressive structure. There is a stack of fallen tree limbs, an old looking box of tools, and a stump with an axe wedged in it.

"You're a pretty strong boy, Red. So I thought I'd give you something a little more meaningful to do" Moffat tells you, and you have no idea what he's getting at. "Mr. Martin wants a new shed. He told me to put my best male on the job, and that's you Red." Mr. Martin was the troll who actually owned all this land, aka Moffat's boss. He thought you were the best worker, really? You highly suspect this is just some sort of trick or mind game. What a sick bastard.