Primal Dawn

As the sun began to set, Lore instructed Rena to stop, and the Taurus, now seeing the wagon ahead no longer moving, came to a halt as well.

The wagons were parked on the side of the dirt road, the left wheels still resting upon the dirt while the right side lay on the wild-growing grass nearby. There, the members of the caravan had set up camp.

Peter watched as Rena, now free of the wagon, began to gallop around the grass gracefully. It was astonishing how a primal who could pull so much weight could still manage to display an impressive amount of speed. Running around carrying a glaive, she thrust and twirled the long pointed weapon around. She was a fighter first, and a wagon-bearer second.

It didn't take long for Peter to set up his tent. After lifting the backpack off of the nearby wagon, he was immensely grateful he hadn't needed to carry it this whole time. Knowing how logical Deric had been, something like this may have been the reason he had been looking for an escort quest as part of his travels.

Deric. The name felt bitter as he recalled it. Part of the reason he had gone to Shantee was to avoid him, yet here he was reminiscing about him anyway.

He shook his head and turned his attention to the fire in front of him. Kalista and Gaia were flanking him as they cuddled before the flickering embers.

The party had gathered some branches and wood from the nearby forest, and Fira used one of her abilities to start the fire. It was a convenient set of skills to have. When they weren't aimed at you.

Peter frowned. “Isn't it dangerous to have an open fire at night?”

“Maybe.” Lore replied. “But the way I see it, the road's dangerous anyway. With or without it. Why not treat ourselves a little?”

Peter chuckled. He dug his hand into his backpack and pulled out some simple cheese sandwiches and handed one each to Gaia and Kalista. As he was about to take a bite, he noticed Fira, who had been sitting next to Bryan, staring at the food in his hands with intensity.

Thanks to the flickering flames between them, he could see the light reflect off a drop of saliva escaping her lips. Peter stood up, took the sandwich, and brought it closer to the fire, holding it a few feet away while angling it toward her. The smell of melting cheese and butter soon filled the area. As he returned to his spot, he asked, “Want me to do yours too?” to Gaia and Kalista.

Gaia shook her head no, but Kalista readily accepted. He exchanged his sandwich with hers and stepped towards the fire again, heating the bread until he could see the fillings begin to drip. “Oops, a bit melted onto me.” Just looking at it made Peter hungry. He was lucky that he'd be getting to eat it.

As he returned to his spot, a voice called from behind. “Can I have one?” Bryan.

Peter sat down and thought for a moment. He could feel a light pinch on his behind coming from his left, towards Gaia.

“Sorry, I only packed enough for myself and my primals.” Peter now felt a soft rubbing sensation. “But maybe you could buy something off of him?” Peter glanced towards Lore. “You're bringing food to Shantee, right?'

Lore nodded. “Indeed. It's mostly food I'm carrying there. But none of it is for sale, sadly. The delivery comes at the request of the guild itself. If there is even a single pound missing, they'll notice.”

“So you're not going to share?” Bryan asked.

For a moment, Peter wondered if he was this innocent when he had first started. He turned towards Kalista, and as if reading his mind, she shook her head no.

“Sorry man. You didn't bring any food?”

“I forgot.”

He forgot. Peter blinked. There was no tent or anything set up behind Bryan either.

“By the way, can I...”

“No.” Peter instantly replied. “The tent can't fit that many people. It will barely fit my group as it is.”

“Come on, can't you desummon them?”

Before Peter could come up with any rebuttal, Gaia and Kalista quickly pulled closer to him.

“Pillows,” Gaia said.

“Blanket,” Kalista said.

Such an enticing answer, Peter momentarily thought about tossing his sandwich into the fire and dragging his two primals into the tent with him. “And there you have it.”

“Well...” Lore started. “You'll be fine on the grass, the first few times I traveled I slept on it as well, it can be quite comfortable. As for the food issue...” Lore's voice trailed off. “Well, do you have any qualms about eating... meat?”

“Oh, yeah, I've had it before. I don't see what the big deal around it is, it doesn't taste that bad.”

Lore chose his words carefully. “I suppose the issues surrounding it are not due to taste, but the source.” Lore nodded his head. “I've occasionally had some myself. Of course, under similar circumstances such as yours.”

Lore spoke the last sentence quickly, while nervously glancing toward Peter, as if trying to reassure him.

This was always a topic of controversy among tamers. Peter normally tried to avoid it. Since Wildburry was heavy with agriculture, he never ran into a situation where he might be forced into it. It was just generally cheaper to not eat it, and less troublesome as well.

Peter wasn't sure where he stood on the debate, which centered more so around humans eating it rather than primals. There were restaurants around Wildburry that catered heavily towards primals, and they didn't shy away from putting meat entries on their menus. It was well understood that primals eat meat. After all, before they became tamed many types have a diet heavily inclined towards it.

“Do what you have to do.” Peter finally said.

“How would you feel if he ate one of your primals?” A voice suddenly spoke up. Fira.

Peter sighed. “I'm not falling for this.”

“Why don't one of them cut off a little piece of themselves and have your Dryad heal it back? She should be at least good enough to do that, right?”

Peter sighed again, before responding to her original question. “I would feel mad.”

“Then-”

“Not because he ate a primal's meat. But because he ate one of my primal's meat.”

“You own them?”

“They're my responsibility. And I'm their responsibility. I wouldn't have any issues if he ate you, though.”

“So primals are just walking bags of meat for you to fuck, send off to fight, and now, eat?”

“Isn't that what everyone is?” Peter angrily retorted, his voice rising. “That Fren from earlier today was rubbing herself on me while trying to scare you away. I was trying to fight her, defending myself, while at the same time you were the one blasting me with fiery death. Somehow you're a bigger threat to me so far than the ferals.” Peter stood up. “And you're angry because some humans eat primals? Tell me, do you realize what happens to tamers who get caught by primals? Ever come across a Goblin's nest?”

Peter saw Sally, Bryan's Goblin, flinch but continued.

“They don't just invite some tamer inside for a quick lay before sending him off with a box of chocolates as a thank you.” Peter shook his head. “We're all just food to something else,” his voice cracked. “And it's not up to us.”

Peter paused long enough to notice everyone had been staring at him. He quickly spun around while shaking his head. “I'm going to sleep.”

Angry and no longer hungry, he tossed the remaining quarter of his sandwich towards Bryan and vanished into his tent.

“Nice!” Bryan began to take a few bites, sharing some of it with Sally, who promptly stuffed her portion into her cheek. Fira stared at Peter's tent, before noticing Kalista and Gaia angrily glaring at her. She averted her gaze from them and turned her attention towards the fire.

After quickly finishing their food, Kalista and Gaia joined Peter in the tent, snuggling up against him. Peter could feel a hand begin to rub him. “Not tonight.” He muttered.

In response, the two hugged him even tighter, until Peter drifted to sleep.