Chapter Text
I couldn’t see, I couldn’t hear or smell anything either. It felt like I was floating in a dark void, but oddly enough I wasn’t distressed by it. Maybe it was the exhaustion I had already been dealing with, maybe it was the crash after having my adrenaline on high for so long, but I found the feeling to be quite comforting.
I just floated there for what felt like a long time and a few moments all at once. Then, I was suddenly jerked forwards without warning. I let out a bleat of alarm as my vision was assailed by blinding light, and I felt myself spinning in the air, before landing on my behind on top of something hard.
“Oww…”
I reached back to rub at my tailbone… er, just tail I suppose- blinking the stars out of my vision as my eyes adjusted to the light of my surroundings.
The first thing I saw was a flutter of red in front of me. And as I looked up, I couldn’t help but feel relief as my eyes first glanced over a golden bell before settling onto the dark-furred face of my savior. They in turn smiled back at me, their eyes full of an emotion I couldn’t quite place.
I took a moment to look around, and saw that to my surprise I was surrounded by people… animals? I shouldn’t really question it at this point. After all I, too, was an animal. Regardless, there were people here! And none of them looked like they were trying to sacrifice me in some dark ritual, which was an improvement. Most of them seemed to be milling about or fulfilling some kind of task. I could see small constructions all around me, from ones that were clear in their purpose like farms and tents, to those which I couldn’t quite place… Well, one I couldn’t quite place. And that was the large wood and stone statue nearby which bore the likeness of the lamb who saved me along with the red-eyed crown they wore atop their head.
“W-woah, this place is… big”
The lamb smiled as they took the crown from their head and held it out. The living object seeming to roll its singular eye before beginning to speak.
“Yes, welcome to our glorious cult, dedicated to our leader here. There may not be many of us now, but soon we will grow stronger in numbers as our glorious leader finds more wayward souls like yourself to join our ranks. They’ll be your boss from now on, so if you have anything to say or ask, you go straight to them. Got it?”
I nodded, looking up at the one holding the crown. They gave me a reassuring look and nodded back.
“Anyhow, you’d normally get assigned to some kind of task as soon as you got here, but you in particular are something of a special case. See, we thought that all the lambs had gone extinct save for our glorious leader. And so understandably we’re quite surprised to have found you”
The lamb reached out and put their hand on my shoulder, I looked up and met their eyes once again. To my surprise, I could see tears glinting at their corners. I looked around for a moment, only to find that a small crowd was starting to form around me and my savior. I blushed, slightly embarrassed at the looks of shock and awe on the faces of those around me.
“Regardless, as I said before, rejoice! Having found you means you might be able to bring your species back from extinction. It will probably take a lot of breeding before y-”
The lamb quickly put their hand over the bottom half of the crown, their face nearly as red as mine at the brazen implications of its words. I couldn’t even muster the courage to look at the small crowd around us, I could hear the giggles already.
“You know I don’t have a mouth, right? But fine, I understand the gesture well enough”
The crown rolled its cycloptic eye once again before continuing on.
“Well to make a long story short, you are both an extremely valuable asset and a major risk. An asset because of course our glorious leader will no longer be the last lamb in existence, and a risk because your existence paints a second massive target on our backs. The bishops will be hunting for you just as much as they are our lord so they can try and evade the prophesy foretelling their demise”
“W-wait, what!? You mean those four- they’re after us!?”
“Yes, and if you would let me finish, then I could tell you that you will probably have nothing to worry about, because keeping you safe is going to become our lord’s number one priority. So consider yourself lucky that we managed to find you in time, else you’re likely to have met the very same fate as the rest of your kind.”
“I…”
I looked down for a moment, missing the way my savior’s paw reached up to rub at their neck. This was a lot of information to process, it was nearly overwhelming but…
“I think I understand”
No I didn’t, I didn’t understand anything that had happened since I woke up, but what else was I to do? Best to just ignore all my worries for now and keep moving. I would unpack all that built-up trauma when it was more convenient.
“So um. What should I do, then?”
“Well as I said before, normally you’d get a task of some sort to do as soon as you got here, but our glorious leader here seems to want to give you a special tour of the place first. So how’s about we begin with that?”
I nodded, to which I saw my savior beam with delight, the sight brought some semblance of a smile to my own face. It was… reassuring, after everything I’d been through. They offered their hand to me, which I graciously took as they began to lead me along, the red-eyed crown upon their head offering words and explanations as they pointed out several structures to me, as well as a few people who came to greet us, many of which were less than subtle about their many stolen glances at me. The attention made me blush once again, but I managed to not show it… I hope, at least not too much. My savior showed me their farms, where I saw two of the people here working away. They waved gleefully as they noticed their lord’s approach. My savior waved back with a smile as they continued to lead me around. They then showed me to the statue I’d spotted earlier, to which the crown offered a short explanation.
“This is our glorious leader’s idol, where their followers worship and offer their devotion. You would do well to remember that your devotion serves to strengthen your lord directly, so be sure to worship them whenever able”
Wait, what? I… suppose I shouldn’t be as surprised as I am, they did say this was a cult, after all… still though, the crown’s words rang in my head like a bell. Worship was my savior’s source of power? Certainly not the worst thing it could be, I’d already seen that they had magic powers of some kind, which I had filed away under the ‘have a breakdown about it later’ section of my brain.
I didn’t have very long to process that regardless, as soon my savior – I really ought to ask their name – led me to a large stone chapel. It was by far the largest building here, and stood imposingly over all the other structures. The crown piped up again as my savior opened the large red doors and ushered me inside.
“This is the chapel dedicated to our glorious leader, here you will be called for sermons and rituals, your presence is compulsory, do not be late. The ringing of the bell will be your call, and you will answer it with the utmost-”
My savior gave the crown atop their head a light but firm flick, to which it reacted with an indignant glare. The mention of rituals had visibly set me on edge, but my savior quickly placed their paw on my shoulder once again, a reassuring gaze in their eyes that set my frayed nerves straight again. The crown looked miffed at having its dialogue interrupted, but said nothing about it.
“Well regardless-”
The burbling growl of my stomach came suddenly and without warning, heat rushed up my neck and pooled in my cheeks as I crossed my arms over my stomach, suddenly very aware that I’d had nothing to eat now for quite a while.
“S-sorry-”
The crown sighed with annoyance at being interrupted once again, and the lamb snickered softly behind their paw, the sight making my face burn all the more with embarrassment.
“I suppose the next thing we ought to show you is the cooking pot. Come”
~~~~~~~
I watched as she ate her meal with gusto, it seems that she had not eaten a proper meal in a while. She had probably been starving, which had likely worsened after Leshy’s followers had gotten ahold of her. I felt my fists clench tightly at the thought, had I just been a few moments too late… I shook the thought from my mind. She looked up at me with a glint of concern in her eyes. I smiled and shook my head, projecting reassurance, which she seemed to accept before returning to devouring her meal.
‘You’re staring.’
I felt the voice of the crown whisper inside of my mind.
‘Can you blame me? I thought I’d witnessed the last of my kind slain some time ago, including myself before The One Who Waits came along… I can still hardly believe my eyes.’
‘I suppose you are correct, though one thing does bother me.’
‘A lot of things bother you, but what is your concern?’
The crown grumbled in my mind, and I bit back the urge to snicker.
‘This new lamb… The One Who Waits had been keeping a close eye on your kind, and he was sure you were the very last. It is not like him to miscount, he is nothing if not patient and thorough.’
‘Perhaps he made a simple error in his calculations, I imagine keeping track of an entire species is quite difficult after all.’
‘Were you any other I’d have chastised you for your insolence. But no, The One Who Waits was incredibly precise in his count of all remaining lambs. This one, however… her appearance is an anomaly. It is as though she did not exist at all until quite recently.’
I looked down, fidgeting slightly with my paws as my brow furrowed. The crown’s words were certainly concerning, but I tried not to let it show on my face. I was elated that another lamb besides myself lived of course, but even I had to admit that the circumstances of her appearance were quite strange. Perhaps it was time to…
‘As you command’
The crown, reading my thoughts as always, began to reach its tendrils into her mind, slipping past the confines of the flesh to parse through her memories-
The lamb who had been busy licking her bowl clean suddenly jumped, her eyes wide with alarm as she looked around.
“W-wha!? What was that!?”
I admit, I had jumped as well from the sudden movement, why had she suddenly jumped up like that? Shortly after, I felt the crown hiss into my mind.
‘I knew there was something suspicious about her, but I did not imagine something like this…’
‘What? What did you find? Speak, now’
I could feel my heartrate heightening in my chest, the crown’s words were highly concerning, especially considering that something appeared to be going on with… her as well. Oh wow, had I seriously forgotten to ask her name? The shame at my mishap threatened to surge up my face, but it was shoved down as the crown began to speak.
‘She sensed my intrusion somehow, once I began looking through her memories. I felt a snap of cold and was forced out quite suddenly… This lamb, there is more to her than meets the eye. But even she does not seem to know that.’
‘What? What do you mean by that? Explain.’
‘What I mean is that in the short time I was able to peer into her mind, I found next to nothing. Truly it seems that she hardly remembers anything before just a day or two ago. Anything other than that is only fragments floating about in an empty void.’
That was… concerning indeed. Had she suffered from some kind of amnesia? It would certainly explain the lack of knowledge they’d picked up on. She looked at everything as though it were entirely new or strange to her, oftentimes both. But that did not explain how she was able to seemingly sense the Red Crown’s intrusion.
‘Indeed, it would appear that this lamb may have some kind of power locked within. Though certainly not as strong as mine, else I would not have been able to penetrate her mind at all… Keep an eye on this one, she may prove to be a useful asset.’
I hadn’t realized I’d been staring until she cleared her throat, embarrassment written clear on her face.
“U-um, sorry. I think a bug just bit me or something, I might need to sleep…”
As if to emphasize her point, a heavy yawn spilled from her mouth soon after. It did not escape the lamb that her fangs did not appear to be particularly lamb-like. Regardless, they smiled and held out their paw, which she once again accepted as they began leading her towards the group of huts they’d passed by earlier. One in particular was colored crimson and white, with a large golden bell decorating its entrance. There was also a second, tiny red tent sitting beside it. The lamb then gestured to the open tent right beside their own, smiling. Their new – goodness they really ought to ask her name – lamb peeked inside, noticing it was empty.
“O-oh! This is for me?”
They nodded, their smile only growing larger as she thanked them and made her way inside. The sun had already begun to set anyhow, and she had already had a long and likely sleepless few days, so the lamb was not surprised at all when she simply collapsed into the bedroll and began snoring softly mere seconds later…
They walked inside to gently tuck her in properly, their hands perhaps lingering just a little too long on her shoulders. They shook their head, feeling warmth pooling in their cheeks as they stood back up and exited. Taking another quick glance at her sleeping form before unfurling the entrance flap of the tent, to ensure nobody would disturb her rest.