Yokin Onaka felt the chain jerk her forward, like it had for several weeks, if not months. She didn't know why she'd been captured when she'd gone to the market by these men, but she knew one thing - the looks they gave her were far from friendly. She'd been traded at least a dozen times, if not more, and by now, she could no longer understand what her captor's spoke. The plants were different as well. It was very different.
One night, the ones transporting her, and over a dozen others, stopped a distance away from a city. She tried to listen to her captors, and once again wished she could understand them.
If she could, here's what she would have heard:
"That's Big Fat Pig City," the one said.
"We'd best be careful around here," the other said. "The Tyrant who rules here has made Slavery illegal."
"Why is that?" the first one asked.
"Slaves don't pay taxes."
The one laughed. "Now that's a stupid reason to do that sort of thing!"
Yokin sighed as the strange words were spoken. She was in a strange land, with strange people. She wished that she was home, with her family.
That was when she noticed the dog. It came up to her, and brushed against her leg. She smiled, and petted it. She noticed that it had an object around its neck - some sign of ownership. She looked around. Maybe the dog's owner would be nearby. Maybe he'd help. Maybe -
"Hey! There's some dumb dog getting friendly with the goods," one of the men said.
The dog looked at the man, and growled.
"I'll teach you to growl at me!" The man came up and kicked the dog. "Now get going!"
Yokin screamed, and grabbed the man.
"Get this crazy woman off of me!"
Three others pulled Yokin off of the man.
"I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget!" The man grabbed a whip and was about to strike her when the lash stopped, and the man was jerked back, and was caught by a shadowy figure.
The figure held their hand around the man's throat, and growled. It was the same growl that came from the dog. The man was tossed onto the others, and the figure stepped into the light. It was a man with a collar around his neck, the same one Yokin had seen before.
"Kidnapping, enslavement, assault, assault of a Guard, and failure to pay taxes," the man said. He snapped his fingers, and several armed and armored figures appeared. "Seems that you have a visit to our city's dungeon in your future."
"Listen, we have money," one of the men said, pulling out a pouch. "How about we give you that, and let us go?" He tossed it.
The strange man picked up the pouch, opened it up, and poured the contents onto the ground. "Bribing me gets you nowhere. Now it's a visit to the Hangman."
"Listen, we are just businessmen," said one of the slavers. "Just let us go."
The strange man looked at Yokin. "Release them, and I'll think about it."
The slavers moved quickly, releasing the slaves, including Yokin.
The strange man looked at a large guard. "Shackle the slavers, take them to the dungeon, and take their captives to the Healers, and make sure they're taken care of."
"Yes Commander Rutabaga."
Yokin watch the faces of the slavers become pale.
"You said you'd let us go!"
"I said I'd think about it," said Rutabaga. "Anger me, and I'll see that you do visit the Hangman instead of doing a few years of honest labor, after which I'll let you go."
A while later, Yokin was at the Healers, where people were taking care of her and the others. Rutabaga was dressed like the other guards, save for his cape.
Yokin grabbed him. ^Thank you for saving this worthless one, Lord.^
Rutabaga chuckled. "I wish I knew what you said, but I'll assume it was 'Thanks' so I'll say You're Welcome." However, when he tried to walk away, Yokin held onto him. Rutabaga chuckled. "Alright. I'll stay with you."
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