Sitting again, bored. Hours and hours had passed, they were on a dirt road again. Lior had already run out of things to think about, he had gone over everything. He had nothing, just sitting there with nothing.
The cat boy looked through the gaps between the wooden boards. That beautiful landscape covered by gray clouds, ready to rain. Grasslands that covered the entire surface, he simply kept looking and looking out there. Trees from time to time, a giant forest in the distance. Small jolts from the carriage made him bounce, but he tried not to react. He watched, contemplating the winding path, all that dirt road they had been traveling. This whole fantasy world, but made real.
They were crossing a fork in the road, since there was a sign with arrows right in the middle of the two paths. The cat boy watched as the sign moved farther and farther away from him because of the constant motion of the carriage. There it went, visible even from the distance.
To feel, to feel...
Letting time pass and passing the time...
[Lior: Tell me what... Tell me... what... tell... me what... you... want...🎶]
He looked through those gaps while humming a song under his breath. He snorted through his nose every time he did something pointless.
He remembered when he used to listen to music during those afternoons with his headphones on. He would lie down on his bed to rest after very stressful days filled with exams. It was simply something he did as a pastime. He played the guitar while singing beautiful songs. His guitar was from a fairly decent brand, to be honest, and he always took the best possible care of it. His mother had saved up and bought his guitar for his birthday. It was something that deeply impressed him that day.
He still remembers the feeling of searching for songs. When he would sit on his bed and simply play any scale or chord out of boredom. He had once been part of a rock band at his school, but that little group of misfits fell apart from one day to the next. He loved music, and he still does. It's just that now, literally, he is in an era where he can only dream of hearing it again.
Lior looked at his fingers; calluses had formed from pressing the strings so much. He remembers when one day a string snapped right in front of him and lashed against his left hand. It hurt so much that he didn't practice that day. After months of playing and playing, he had grown tired of it. Now what he missed the most was going back to those days of constant peace and calm. Being able to lie on his bed like that, playing the guitar, watching videos, playing on his phone. Anything was better than being here right now, anything was far better than being a slave in the sixth century.
[Lior: Ah...]
"..."
Nothing matters anymore, stupid thoughts are what run through his head.
The carriage kept moving forward. The horse's gallop could be heard, the wood creaking echoed around. Another sound began to be heard from the side, and slowly another carriage passed by. The other carriage was very similar to this one, except instead of carrying slaves, it carried animals. Lior looked through the wooden gaps, just as he had done throughout the entire journey. There they were, in the middle of nowhere, going from one place to another.
Lior looked at himself, then looked back at the animals. They were sheep, white sheep that kept moving farther and farther away. Soon he stopped seeing them, and the carriage that had passed beside them disappeared into the horizon. The cat boy snorted through his mouth and pulled his legs closer to his chest. Then he wrapped his arms around them and rested his head on top.
Lost, he looked at everything outside, that world. Nothing, nothing was going to change him anymore. He is there, and that's it. He is part of this, of this society. He is a slave.
[Lior: ...]
"..."
A slave...
"..."
[Lylia: Lior...]
[Lior: Uhm?]
[Lylia: Um... can I rest on your shoulder again...?]
[Lior: ...]
[Lylia: It's just that... I'm sleepy...]
[Lior: ...]
Lior looked at Lylia, who was sitting beside him. Her body weighed much more than Lior's, since her chest and, in general, her whole body were more robust than his. She was still thin, of course, since she didn't eat very well either. Eidoriku never gave the maids a decent meal, so all or most of them were somewhat malnourished.
[Lior: Yes, of course, Lylia...]
[Lylia: ...]
Lior looked outside the carriage, turning his gaze away from the conversation.
[Lior: Sleep...]
[Lylia: ...]
Lylia frowned, but not out of annoyance at being ignored, rather because of the cat boy's emotional state. Lior had always been a quiet boy, not one to talk much with people in public, and always very submissive when it came to obeying. His personality changed quite a bit when he interacted with people he trusted. He was rather playful and a bit carefree. But now, he showed no trace of that mood; he was just... empty.
[Lylia: ...]
Lylia looked at Lior, but simply limited herself to doing what he asked. Meanwhile, the cat boy kept staring outside, as if he were obsessed with it. It was as if he had never once touched freedom.
"He could have been a slave since birth..."
It was an option, but it was easily dismissed because of his behavior over the past year. He knew nothing about being a slave, and he doesn't even know how to read or write a single word.
[Lylia: ...]
Lylia blinked, opened her mouth, and yawned lazily. She decided to resolve her doubts with a "I'll leave it for later" and leaned in, settling against the soft skin of Lior's shoulder.
The cat boy, despite not looking, blushed a little; feeling feminine contact still triggered his male instincts. He tried to clear his head, simply not think about those things. That space, that land, that grass, outside this carriage, there was a world to explore and discover. It was a new world that opened many possibilities for him, something new, alive, different.
[Lior: ...]
Looking through that gap is the only thing he can do...
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[Lior: Ah...]
What else? Hours and hours and hours and hours have passed.
Looking, looking, lost.
[Lior: ...]
Sleep? I've done that a lot. Look? I've done that a lot.
[Lior: ...]
"..."
A lost gaze on that horizon. Dark circles, dirt, bad smell. In that carriage, pale diamond-colored eyes constantly peeked out, staring at nothing. Being, being there, being there sitting and watching. Watching, watching and watching. Breathing, breathing, breathing so as not to die. The sound was constant, it was the same, it was the same thing, all the time. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing anymore, nothing anymore. Sitting, sitting, sitting.
[Lior: ...]
The stones bounce from the friction generated by the wheels when they crash against them. They jump and hit the carriage, the fabric covering the carriage. They are scattered all over the ground, since the dirt road is somewhat dirty. Well, the dirt road is always dirty, since dirt is on the ground, and we step on the ground. The wheels run over it repeatedly; that also makes the dust particles rise slightly.
The ground is compact and damp from the rain, so it is at the exact point where the carriage can roll properly. It rained a while ago today; now the sky is still cloudy. It will most likely rain during the next few hours of the journey, it would be very normal since the whole environment and atmosphere suggest it. There's nothing more to say, honestly.
The dust rises even though the ground is damp. It most likely dried a little, since hours have passed since the rain fell. The small stones hit and hit; I hear them and they relax me, it is certainly comforting to know that I am still conscious and not asleep.
Time passes and time passes, I don't notice it, I think I don't notice it. As far as I know, we left the village with the inn yesterday. Or was it the day before yesterday? I think it should be the first option, since everything would make sense that way and everything would feel more continuous just because. Everything would be better and fine, yes, that makes a lot of sense to me, what I just said, well, thought, well yes. It's quite novel and quite simple, it's quite something and that and everything, yes. Yes, yes I know, yes...
[Lior: ...]
Mhm... I'm getting stuck while thinking. I'm sleepy, so that's normal. I guess I'll sleep to pass the time; all the time I sleep and sleep and sleep.
Sleep...
It's nice because you rest, and when you rest, you feel good. Even so, when I wake up, my neck and back feel kind of sore. It's normal since I'm in a cubicle with rods placed behind me. Lylia is lying on my shoulder; she's been like that for quite a while. When she wakes up, she just stares at the front wall, that wall that isn't really a wall since it's several wooden bars covered by thick fabric. I call it a wall because I'm too lazy to think of another name; I don't have the RAE on hand, so I can't know the official name.
Surely even in the RAE there isn't a name for what I'm saying, since the phrase I just thought of is what sums up everything I see. There aren't phrases for things as specific as what I just described. Although maybe in this language called Imperium there is a word to refer to that. Even if it's a kind of strange Latin, that doesn't mean it can't have new words because of the influence of other cultures. This can also apply to Spanish, I mean, this I mean to Pecus. Pecus is the weird Spanish of this world; I'm not sure if it's written like Spanish, but it doesn't matter.
Everything in this world is new; traditions might be different. Instead of Valentine's Day, maybe there's a celebration that replaces it, or maybe it's also called Valentine's Day. Christmas, Halloween, all those things. I have no idea because I don't know anything; maybe later I'll discover things like that. It makes sense in my head; what I'm thinking is quite coherent.
[Lylia: ...]
Oh, Lylia moved... she settled herself more on my shoulder. She seems to enjoy it, honestly; how nice it is to enjoy something. I'm sitting beside her, thinking about strange things. I can feel her breathing against my neck. She's really very asleep.
I want to sleep, that's what I said before, but now I kind of don't want to. My eyelids just feel heavy. I'm imagining things and things and things, and honestly, I don't really feel the need to think anymore.
And...
[Lior: Uhm?]
"..."
A sudden rain poured down; out of nowhere, water began falling from the sky. It started raining without warning, the water in the form of droplets echoed all around the thick canvas cover.
"..."
[Lior: ...]
It started to rain...
Again...
It's relaxing, very relaxing to feel those drops falling and falling. To hear how the drops echo as they fall. How the fabric has its own particular sound, different from the sound of the wood and different from the other sound coming from outside, from the same drops hitting the ground. It's simply very comfortable.
Wanting to be here...
I'm sitting in the same place where I've been all these days. I'm looking through that gap between the planks, my head resting against one of them. I look and look outside. I look and look outward. The drops, the rain. How each drop wets the dirt road and how the water spreads as it touches the ground. So many things happen around you. I don't realize it, but this journey has made me rethink things that I used to see differently.
Things such as...
[Lior: ...]
I don't want to think anymore...
"..."
I don't want to think anymore; I want to look without thinking, I want to be here without thinking. Nothing is worth it anymore, no one is worth it anymore. I'm just watching and watching things from this place to pass the time. Tomorrow we're supposed to arrive at the capital, at that so-called Solsacrum. I'm bored, very bored.
But...
There he is, the cat boy, with his lost gaze directed outside. He wants nothing, doesn't want anything.
He is there, unwillingly, with nothing.
Better...
Not to think...
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It is night, the day has already passed. I'm still sitting in the same place. There's nothing interesting left that I can think about or see or feel or anything else.
[Lior: ...]
Tomorrow we will arrive, tomorrow is the final day. Tomorrow we will arrive, I hope this wait is worth it.
The rain continues, it's making me sleepy again. I'm here, here and here.
I'm sleepy...
I'm sleepy...
I don't want to look anymore...
Think, speak, or act. I'm sitting here.
Here...
Here...
Here...
"..."
All the slave girls were asleep; Lior fell into a deep sleep once again. Everyone was tired, no one wanted to do anything.
The carriage, in the back, was divided into sections. There were small groups all around the cubicle area. The bunny girl was lying on the floor next to the light-blue-haired cat girl, in a position adjacent to where Lior and Lylia were. The brown-haired cat girl had her head resting on the lap of the gray-haired cat girl, who in turn was resting her head on the red-haired dog girl. The latter were against the wall that separated the driver's seat from the cargo area. Nearby as well, there was a bucket with ash and straw, which served as a bathroom for the slave girls.
The whole place was quiet; all of them were sleeping. The sound of the rain from outside echoed throughout the space. The darkness consumed every area completely; it was a very dense night without stars. The light of the full moon peeked through the clouds, those clouds that covered the sky, those clouds that poured down water.
There, in that place, in that spot, in that carriage. The journey and the journey continues. The journey goes on, the journey continues. It goes on and on, with nothing more.
Amid all that vegetation outside, the carriage begins to lose itself at the entrance of a forest. The carriage disappears among the trees. The small caravan moves forward and leaves behind the region they had walked upon.
There it goes, and that's how it is seen, but now it is no longer seen. The carriage was lost among the forest and the road.
The journey continues...
The journey goes on until it reaches its end.