When Erik had come to, he found himself with his arms bound behind his back, laying down on his stomach, slumped over something. After a few more seconds, Erik had started feeling the vibrations brought on by the movement of whatever it was he was laying on.
Goodness me... Erik said to himself as he started gaining more awareness with each passing second. Because he was slumped over, facing towards the ground, Erik noticed the horse hooves that were clopping against the grassy ground below.
A horse? Erik thought. He then tried to move, only to be stopped by the ropes that not only bound his hands behind his back, but also had him firmly strapped to the horse's torso. The most he could do was squirm.
"Ugh, hey, hey!" Erik started shouting, trying to get the horse rider's attention. As he looked up towards the front of the horse, he locked eyes with a fair-haired young woman wearing a leaf-green dress.
"Oh my," the woman said, "it seems you have awakened."
"W-What is the meaning of this?!" Erik aggressively questioned. "Where is the caravan, the bandits? Are you one of them? What have you done to the others--?!"
"Silence, young man," the woman said in a soft, but nevertheless direct tone. "I am not with any bandits, nor were you with a caravan of any kind. By the time I had found you, you were alone."
She continued, "It sounds to me like you're simply coming up with a reason as to why you were trespassing our land."
Erik scoffed. "Trespassing? Oh, this is nonsense, stop this horse right now!" Erik started wriggling his body heavily. "Unbound me and let's talk this over!"
The woman stopped the horse and turned her torso slightly so her face could better face Erik.
"Listen here," she said in a more terse tone than before. "If you wish to explain yourself, it will be in front of the elder. Continue to be a bother, and I'll have no issue dealing with you myself."
"Sounds just like a bandit..." Erik replied.
Just then, the horse had passed gas.
Brrrrrrrrrpppllllpppphhhhhhhhfffffttt...
It was a sizeable, continuous fart, and it had caught both Erik and the woman off-guard.
"O-Oh geez," Erik began to gag. "Not more farts... I've already had my fill of that for a whole lifetime..."
The woman only blushed.
"H-Hmph, well..." she stammered. "Then... l-let that be an example of what you can expect from me should you continue to be difficult..."
"Ugh... what, make me endure more your horse's flatulence?"
The woman paused.
"U-Uhm... I-Indeed..." she said with a hesitant tone. "And trust me, neither of us... wants that."
"Neither...?" Erik said.
Then it had occurred to him. This whole time, Erik had not heard or seen the head of the horse itself. He scanned the woman's body starting from her head downwards, and that was when the realization hit Erik like a brick to the head.
Erik saw where the woman's torso and the rest of the horse's body met - she was the upper half of the whole.
The young woman Erik was speaking to was no ordinary horse rider, but rather a female centaur.
"W-Wait..." Erik realized, as he looked back up at the woman. "So... that was you?"
Just then, the woman passed gas again.
BRRRRRPPPHHTT!
This fart was much sharper and louder, almost more aggressive. The woman's face shone a brighter red as Erik continued to try and hold his breath, for he could not pinch his nose with his hands.
"N-Now, look here!" the woman stuttered. "That... well, that was an accident... b-but, I will use it to my advantage if I must..."
Erik stood silent, his cheeks full of air from him holding his breath. Geez, he thought, just my luck. Between this centaur and the bandits, I must have run into some of the gassiest people in the world... what is it in the water in Esteri that makes these people fart so much, anyway?!
The woman took notice of Erik's silence, and despite her clear embarrassment, smirked slightly through her blushing.
"There... now, that should hopefully keep you quiet. I-I'll, uhm... only continue to do more of that if I hear any more out of you. You are to remain silent until the elder addresses you himself."
With that, the female centaur continued her trot on the grassy path ahead of her, Erik finally letting out long, low sigh.
A gassy female centaur, huh? I suppose Esteri is a new land, full of new things... still, this is NOT exactly what I had in mind...
The scent of a horse's foul backside stuck with Erik for a while longer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------
Some time had passed before Erik and the female centaur had arrived at a gathering of other similarly dressed centaur-folk, standing outside large, fenced off areas that likely acted as their various farms, barns, and homes.
Centaur did not live like regular people, as their large frames did not allow for door-frames or condensed rooms. So, their homes were instead much more open, more like a ranch with plenty of open space and the only coverings were canopies to provide shade and protect from the elements, such as rainfall or now.
The village which these centaur-folk lived in was located in a large flat plain crossing, just beyond some thick woods Erik had been brought through on the female centaur's back. Of the ones he could see at least, Erik had spotted about six more of them, though there was likely more behind him, as they were on the other side of the female centaur.
The two were greeted by an elderly male voice saying, "So, you have returned, Sidnya..."
At that point, the female centaur knelt before the elderly centaur approaching her, as it was clear that he was the elder of which she spoke of earlier. As she knelt down, Erik could see the ground below him rise up to meet his face, nearly pressed up against the freshly cut grass.
Oh, this is just perfect, Erik thought.
As more centaur-folk surrounded Sidnya and the elder centaur, he spoke again. "I see you have brought us a... guest, I presume?"
Sidnya shook her head. "I'm not sure he comes in peace, Elder Frook - I saw him right in the middle of our hunting grounds. He claims to have been with a caravan that was attacked by bandits, but there was no sign of such a caravan or any sort of struggle. I believe he is a lying trespasser!"
Trespasser? Erik thought. Now, wait, I had just crossed the border into Esteri... are they claiming that area is their hunting grounds? And, how could there NOT have been a sign of a robbed caravan? Surely there was all manner of stuff thrown all over the place from those fiends robbing those poor folks blind!
Erik's thoughts were interrupted by an inquisition from the elder centaur. "Now, young human... it is time we had a discussion."
As Erik gulped in concern, what followed was--
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