By Son Rhandi

Chapter 1: "K-MUTTS"

"Jeice, you’ve gotten swift on your feet. They’ll take you as fast as you need to go, whether it’s to flee to safety or to aid your family. There are a lot of dangers in the city, and sometimes, you’ve just gotta run. Berter, you’ve become a skilled hunter and on all your paws you’re deadly. Would you snatch up food in your mouth if your hands were full? Or would you use your hands to get something more, like a job for some gold in your pocket? Recoom, the bumbling Sir Bear, active in the spring and summer, sluggish in the fall and sleeping in the winter, you old rust-furred bear… Even though you’re not a social animal, could you protect your siblings with a roar of confidence and without a quaking paw? Guldo, you can beat the salmon in a race upstream, but the city is dusty and dry, made for those with land legs! If you can’t overcome your obstacles with a good swim, then do it with a good hop!" The old Minotaurus slapped his knee and laughed heartily.

"This here," he breathed in the cool night air. "It’s our last night in the forest, this forest parallel to Hunds, a name shared by both the river and our abandoned little town. It’s a great night, clear and crescent-mooned, to boot. Aren’t the stars nice to look at? People like to reach up…" he demonstrated, extending his arm skyward. "…And try to take grasp of those beautiful little lights. We’ll never reach them, not ever. I’ve heard stories of flying machines and giants in the sky, of geese that lay eggs of gold and wolves that can howl with the force of a typhoon, even of talking pigs and goats—talking farm animals, boys!—and I feel I’ve heard enough. Maybe I shouldn’t say that, though. At a bristling 40 years I’m too young to close my ears. Rather, I’ve decided that it was my turn to do some telling. Here, on our last night, you’ll take part in a final test of Hunds. If you all can keep a straight face, a stiff upper lip—no anger, no tears—then I’ll tell you anything you wish to know of me. I’ll start with the youngest. Jeice, your history, please."

"Yeah, okay, uh…" He sat up straight. "I’m from the village Jinturseign. It’s a small town east of the Katz Plains. Pa took sick and died before I was born, so I lived there with just Ma. Ma was real pretty and she smelled nice, too, like flowers," he smiled. "Her hair was a real subtle blue and she had green eyes, but she was blue like cousin Sauza. I guess most o’ me is my Pa then... Well, anyway, I was out on the plains playin’ ball. Mama told me not to go too far ‘cause the coyotes’d pick me up real easy. I didn’t mean to go out s’far, I was just playin’ and playin’ and not payin’ too much attention, y’know? I found a covered wagon out there, had an emblem of a black dog on the canvas. I saw some horses and thought they were cowboys, so I went to say ‘hi.’ I thought maybe they’d let me try some chewing tobacco; Ma never let me buy any… Suddenly I was tied up in the wagon with about four other kids, none of them my current brothers… Never saw Mama again after that. I don’t even know which direction Jintur’s in... I wonder if Ma’s still pretty..? Yeah, she must be. I can’t imagine her old and haggard. When I make it back to Jinturseign one day, I’m gonna surprise Ma and bring her a big bouquet of flowers. And a fresh bushel of potatoes, too! She always liked those…" He couldn’t stop smiling. He hadn’t though of hometown or his mother in so long…

"Mm." Ginyu nodded in Jeice’s direction. "How about you, Guldo. Care to go?"

"I don’t remember a lot, but I’ll try." The little frog stood up. "I don’t know who my biological folks are, but it’s not important in the societies of amphibian-types. All the adults took a hand in raising us so that was good enough. Those people who came, they didn’t smell like cranes, but everyone swam for their lives anyway. I didn’t like the burlap bag, I remember. It was itchy and irritated my skin. I found out the place I worked in was called a mine; I overheard a man talking once, said smaller species were better for working the mineshafts. It was so dry down there; they wouldn’t give us water, none. I don’t know why… They put me and some other kids in a crate—it was so hard to breathe—and we went on a machine—I think they called it a ‘train’—to a factory that made guns. But now, look! There’s plenty of water here, albeit frozen come winter…"

"Um…… You, Recoom."

"I don’t feel bad having been sold. It helped my aunt get by after her husband—that is, my uncle—died. I told her not to worry, that I’d make enough to buy my freedom. She cried and cried, but I just smiled. I’m from a place up north called Tundersim. It’s always nice and cool there; I miss it…"

"And Berter…"

"Damn… Fa—er, the patriarch was a drunk. He sold me so he could have enough to get a few cases of lager. I spent two years in an ammunitions manufacturer, working a vat of bubbling metal to make for cannon balls. It was always so hot. My skin, it blistered and bled. I licked most of my wounds clean… I met Recoom in that frame of time. I remember thinking he was awful chipper for knowing where he was and how he got there. He boarded with me, in my bunker. I showed him the stones in the wall I’d been shifting since I’d got there, planning an escape. It led right to the outside and was almost big enough to crawl through. Jeice and Guldo came later, and I showed them, too. In two months, we all escaped to the former Hunds and just barely made it for a summer and a winter and a spring. Then Master came… He was all right, I guess."

Ginyu smirked. "Just all right? Well, fine, fine… You kids really surprised me. You’ve all come to terms pretty well for being so young. Events like those usually make a person bitter, hateful… But even so, there’s always a chance to set things right, yeah? If you’re willing to change, everyone will forgive you."

"Sire? Will you tell us about yourself now?"

"Yes, of course. But not here. We’ll have to move to the jungle, Posing, for that. Wash your feet and prepare them for tomorrow. It takes three days to get there from Hunds."

"Master, what kind of jungle is Posing?"

"Well… it can be overwhelming, especially for backwoods kids like yourselves. But as long as you watch out for shifty-eyed fellows and painted women, you should survive just fine."

To the calm depths of Hunds, then, the everflowing river…

"Strange how even after all this time he still doesn’t bathe with us."

"We still don’t know his name, either…"

"A rose by any other name would still be just a sweet."

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"It means that he’d still be the same man even if we knew him by anything other than titles," Recoom elaborated, scrubbing his hair on the riverbank. "Master is Master is Master, and that’s all there is to it."

"But still…" Berter paused for a moment, cupping water in his palms to rinse his face. "After all this time… don’t you think he could at least join us in the river? I mean, why does he have to stay at the stream so far back? What’s he hiding?"

"Burns or scars, probably," Jeice piped up, plucking the soap from his blue brother’s rock beside. "Or maybe he’s just uncomfortable showing his skin. Who knows?"

"We’ll know soon. Master is Master, but he’s just… so damned secretive…" Berter clambered out of the water, shaking the surface moisture off himself like a dog. "In any case," he continued, reaching for a drying cloth. "We can get all the information we want out of him once we get to Posing."

"Posing……" Jeice gained a thoughtful expression. "He said that place was a jungle. What is a jungle, anyway?"

"Well," began the redhead, stroking his cheek. "It’s like a forest, except it’s always humid and rains a lot. And instead of wolves and bears, it has giant spotted cats and monstrous snakes."

"Are there frogs?" Inquired a curious Guldo.

Recoom nodded. "Mm-hmm. Tiny, colorful frogs that secret poison through their backs."

"Wow…… I can’t wait to go!"

The pains in bearing weight upon one’s back… He could still remember the weight of that giant ‘K’, a platform tugged by his back, the hemp rope digging into his skin, his sweat-soaked shirt clinging to him in the humid night air. One of the oxen had stumbled and broken its front leg. It was shot immediately and used for meat and tarp. He, too busy to contemplate the bitter irony in him working along side an ox, continued to dig his heels deep into the incline and hauled with all his might. The rest of the letters were dragged along another wheel-bearing platform to the highest point outside Arches, the city in the south. Letters in place, his men lit them all, in a orange-red blaze in a bluish-black sky burned the word atop a hill:

K-MUTTS

If the citizens saw it, the town would be empty by morning. Good, he thought. The landspace would be great for a new factory and the laborers could use the vacant housing. If not, with any luck we’ll have a few kids up for sale. Pistols and rifles can’t make themselves, after all. Children were better for small and intricate installations for things like that. Maybe they’d even find a few young fellows that could work the molten lead vats… Ogres and saurians were good for that sort of work: nice, big, strapping creatures who could go for weeks at a time with a just few grains of rice and slivers of fish... and maybe a bit of pork fat so they wouldn't get too thin. Oh, what a life, belonging to a pack of dogs in which the alpha, an ex-farmer's child, uses them to capture wild sheep.

"Well, boys, we’re here. Welcome to the jungle of glass and stone, Posing!"

"This is a jungle? Where are the giant cats and the poison frogs?"

Ginyu chuckled. "You thought we were going to an actual jungle? Why, there isn’t a single one on this continent..!"

The boys gaped. "Then what was all that talk about?!"

"Relax. The city is a jungle in the sense that there are dangers around every corner. In other words, it can be a scary place. So, then, let’s familiarize us, shall we? You all can read, right? That sign that says ‘Inn’? That’s where we’ll be staying. After you’re all done looking around, just go to that place and say you’re with the party of Minotaurus. …Oh. I’ve been saving this for you kids…" From his pocket he pulled four jangling bags bound tight with twine and passed out one to each of them. "A little spending money for you all. There are 20 pieces of silver and 5 pieces of gold in each bag. Try not to spend it all in one place. And should you get lost, just ask for directions." He raise his hand in a ‘see you later’ gesture, making to the inn to book them a stay.

"So… What now?"

"Hrrmmmm……" Recoom stroked his rough, bristled chin. "I think I’ll get a shave and a haircut. I can’t even see the fish in the river with this stuff hanging in front of my face. Come with me, anyone?"

"I’ll go." Berter responded, as if they’d ever part sides. "I’ve never known you without long hair. It will be interesting to see the outcome. Jeice?"

His ears perked, surprised to his older brother’s inquiry. Grinning, the teen wrapped his arms atop his head. "Nah. I’m a rabbit, remember? Can’t go shaving the fur off me, yeah? I think I’ll just find some food."

"I’m coming, too!"

The older two smiled. "A rusty bear and a snow-white rabbit, a royal blue wolf and a water-green bullfrog with an old bullman at the forefront. What a pack we’ve become..!" They all stood laughing, that makeshift herd.

"So this is the one you picked for me?"

"Yes, sir. Is he to your liking?"

"Mm-hmm." He trailed his fingers through the lad’s long, green hair. "What is your name, my dear?"

"Z-Zarbon…" The barely teenage boy stuttered, his eyes nervously following the movements of the older man’s hands as they glided down his face.

"Now, now. Don’t be afraid," Freeza cooed through his pursed, scarlet lips. "Where you are now, no one will hurt you… No factory life for you. Oh, no, no. You’re much too lovely for that…" He proceeded to unbutton his shirt. Freeza could feel the boy’s heart pounding like a war drum, his chest heaving stronger with each button gone.

"Oh, you did do well for me..." breathed the Dragoner. "The boy is virtually hairless. So smooth and clean, he feels so nice…" His hand ease down the child’s chest, past the abdomen. "So very nice…" He peeled the shirt from Zarbon’s azure skin and wrapped his tail around his waist. "You are dismissed, G.L.B."

"Sir." He bowed and exited, taking care to hide the look of disgust on his face.

"Herr Barber, Herr Barber! Give me a trim! I’ve hair like a her, make it hair like a him!" He caroused that traditional song of longhaired men shouted about his entrance.

"Hrrm?" The barber, a large human with an ox-horn cap, stroked his full beard and wriggled his mustache. "Simmer down, son, and wait your turn. I’ve got this fella here to finish."

"…That’s not how your part of the song goes…" Recoom groused, taking a seat with Berter beside. That old cutter man brushed off the current customer and sent him on his way. "Okay, son. Hop on up. Whatcha need?"

"Cut it short and trim the bangs so they’re not in my eyes. Make it even all the way around, but kinda messy, like a shaggy bowl cut or something to that effect. I need a shave, too. Nice an’ smooth, okay?"

"Hmph. At least your specific. You gotta pay first before you get anything done. Three silver pieces for my trouble."

"Seems a little pricey, don’t you think? Well, fine, fine… Hey, Berter. Pay him for me, will you? I’ll give it back to you when we leave."

"Yeah, fine. Here, man."

"What’s your pleasure, boy?"

"Got any chewin’ tobacco?"

"Yeah, I got t’bacco. Six silver pieces. Want to buy?"

"Yessir!" He made the exchange.

"Are you sure you should be spending your money on something like that?" Guldo chided.

"Did I complain when you spent half your silvers on moose jerky?"

"That’s different. I bought food and enough for all of us, at that. That stuff… What is it, anyway?"

"Tobacco, like the cowboys ‘chaw’..!" Was the enthusiastic response. The frog below did not seem too impressed by the item nor with its association. "Is it for eating?"

"No! It’s for chewing!" Jeice cut off two strips. "Try some?"

"Yeah, all right…" They each popped a brown-black slab past their lips, grinding their molars to the firm strips.

"Jeice..?"

"Mmph?"

"This is… really disgusting…"

"…I know…"

They spit the semi-digested leaf and tar into the dirt, wiping their mouths of the vile taste. "Care to chew some jerky instead?"

Snip, snip, snip, sn—

"There. All done, boy." The barber reached for a hand mirror. "Whatcha think?"

"Perfect. This is exactly what I wanted. Hey, Berter?"

The blue one turned. "Well?"

"You look… different."

"’Different’? Bah. You’re just used to me having long hair. Well, let’s be off. Thanks, Herr Barber."

Recoom stretched and cracked his back. He took his palm to his chin and rubbed back and forth a few times. "That feels nice. I haven’t felt skin there since I was 15. That barber did a great job."

From across the cobblestone road a whistle was blown his way. He turned his attentions to three women, dressed in gaudy Wild West fashion, wire peacock-style headdresses to each of them. "Hey, booooyyyy!!" One, of them, a blue-haired belle, called to him with a bit of a southern twang. "Yer real han’some. Why doncha come over ‘n’ have some viddels with us?"

"O… Okay..!" He replied, blushing. A hard clutch to his shoulder promptly pulled him back. "Master said to watch out for painted women, no?"

"But……" His face drooped. The woman caught his sullen expression. "What’s the matter, sugar? Your friend wanna come, too? Hey, Stella! C’mon! Git over here! I got a nice, young one fer ya!" An enormous dragon woman—gussied up like the other three—came out, her eyes falling on Berter. "Why, hello there, good-lookin’…" She said as seductively as a dragon could.

"Hello, yourself!" He marched in the ladies’ direction, grinning wildly. "Berter, wait!" His humanoid brother shouted, still at the barbershop stoop. "What about what Master said? Berter? Berter! ……Wait for me!!"

"You sure we can trust what that guy said?"

"Positive. He said that a lavendar Minotaurus did indeed come through this town and may—in fact—still be here."

"So what?" Dodoria yawned, scratching under his arm. "It’s not like Minotauri aren’t a common sight, and that color ain’t nothin’ special, either. Look." He extended a finger. "There’s one right down thereaways."

Zarbon turned to his left and fell motionless. Gritting his teeth, he took hold of his Derringer and made haste.

"So, where you boys from?"

"Uh… We’re from the town of Hunds."

"Now, now… Donchu go lyin’ to me, boy. Y’all ain’t from no Hunds. That town wen' ghost years ago, ever since that old factory was built about a half day’s travellin’ time north from it. They say when Kold's Mutts start a-howlin’, it’s time t’ get a-movin’."

"I swear, I’m telling the truth, ma’am." He placed his hand on his heart. "Saurian’s honor."

"Ooh, boy, you are soooo cute!" The dragon belle slapped Berter’s bottom, eliciting a surprised little yelp from the young man. "Not enough meat on ya for me, though. I could snap you like a tree trunk, I could..!"

Tree… trunk..?

"So there you are…"

The boys gulp at the sound of that voice. "Hello, ladies." The Minotaurus greeted them graciously. "Are you finding my boys good company?"

"Yes, sir. Is you they owner?"

Ginyu chuckled. "More like their guardianship. Have you met my other two boys beside me?" He placed each hand to the shoulders of Jeice and Guldo.

"Oh, ain’t they just derlin’?" The blue-haired woman bent down to pinch their cheeks, a thing neither boy seemed too happy about. "If you don’t mind," Ginyu cleared his throat. "I need my older two. We were just passing through…"

"Well, ain’t you a devil, snatchin’ up these two fine younguns as soon as we get right comforted… Bye, boys. Maybe we’ll see y’all again..?"

"Heh heh. I doubt it…" The Master smiled and waved as they moved away. "What did I tell you two about painted women?" He asked in a stern, fatherly tone.

The two exchanged glances, neither one having a good excuse to justify their disobedience. Ginyu sighed. "Oh, well. I can’t expect you guys to listen to everything I say… If you all are through looking around, what say we go back to the inn and—"

"G.L.B.!!!"

Ginyu’s heart skipped a beat. He whipped his head around, his ruby-red eyes opened wide. And then…

BLAMM!!

He fell back, his right hand clutching his left upper arm, his students stared in shock. Ginyu eyes darted all about, his breathing heavy, anxious. He knew he’d been hit by something; his arm hurt and his hand was moist. Blood? Enraged, Berter bore his fangs and rushed to the assailant on all fours, just like he’d been taught.

His feet skidded in the dirt, the derringer meeting him right between the eyes.

"……You would fight for that horrible man..?" Zarbon stared him straight in the eye. He leapt back and put his gun away. "You boys! Don’t be fooled by that scoundrel! If you wish to learn the truth about that man, come to the Brindlekat Tea House tonight on the sixth hour!"

Next: Tea and Crumpets