“Never forget, brothers and sisters, that the Acen are the children of the True Gods.”  Milky eyes wandered over the silent audience, moving from face to attentive face as the elder drew the night’s tale to a close.  “We were created from A’cevel’s Great Fire to be an undeniable part of this world.  Who but us embodies both domains, those of animal and man?”

There was no answer; the spectators knew by now that the elder paused only for effect and speculation.  Taj leaned forward to await the storyteller’s next words, his mind lingering on the thought.

“None.”  The gravelly voice answered its own question.  “The great cats that were our forebears bound us forever to Earth and sky, and the forms and words of man, given to us by Great A’cevel, bring us close to the humans, that we may one day fulfill our purpose.”

Taj half-shut his eyes as he pondered this.  The elder’s story tonight was the creation of the Acen; where they had once been born only as vessels of revenge, A’cevel had cleansed their rage and charged them with a far nobler purpose: to bring a balance to the world.

“And when we have fulfilled our purpose,” intoned the storyteller, “we will have been found worthy of the gift that A’cevel stripped from us so long ago.  As he promised to us, we may reach towards the sun and embrace it, and bring to our children the magic that will help us keep the world in peace and equality.”

Taj found himself huffing quietly; the soft noise drew looks from those around him.  Giving them a sheepish smile, he waited until their eyes had turned from him to think more on this.

How can we achieve peace and equality, when what we have is...this? He looked around himself, at the cramped cabin, and at the dark, human silhouette that guarded the door every night until the end of the story-time.

Heedless of Taj’s thoughts, the storyteller drew his tale to its close with the ritual blessing bestowed upon his people.  “Blessed be the true Gods and Those Who Came Before.  Blessed be the Acen, and blessed be our paths.”

“We are blessed,” came the echoed response, twenty-two voices joined together.  Taj blinked surprise; his thoughts had distracted him from answering with the rest of the audience.

The elder, unaware, nodded satisfaction, shutting his half-blind eyes and giving a sigh of relief as he settled back down against the ragged blanket that was his bed.  One of the females offered him a clay cup of watery stew, which he gratefully accepted with a nod.

Taj watched, thoughtful, as his workmates helped to settle the old storyteller into comfort.  He knew he wasn’t the only one to notice it; each day, the Elder grew skinnier.  Each day, his ribs stuck out further.  With every new dawn, his eyes grew more cloudy.

It wouldn’t be long before the Elder refused to wake up from his sleep; though no one spoke of it, there could be no denying it.  That the Elder had lasted even this long, living like this, laboring each day...it was a miracle.  Even with his mere fifteen years of wisdom, Taj knew.

The leonine youth’s eyes wandered around the resting cabin, taking in his workmates, his family, as they settled in patches along the packed dirt floor.  Some had lucked into - worked into, they might argue - extra blankets, which, however thin and bare they were, made a nest of scraps to help protect from the firmness of the ground.

He stretched once before moving to his claimed corner of the log cabin, giving a passing nod to Tavo, who up-nodded in return.  His age-mate and friend, Tavo had come to the Master’s home only a year after Taj.  Taj remembered the small and scraggly boy, little more than tufts of black fur with two piercing, golden eyes.  He’d arrived with two other fresh workers, though had ties to neither.  He was without family, without history.

Like me.

The young panther had found his way into trouble on the first day they’d met; things hadn’t much improved since then.  The elders hoped that Taj’s steadfast manner might help to settle Tavo’s chaotic nature; it was well enough that Master and his Overseers were kept from his troublemaking, however, that did not make the adults any more patient with the youth’s mischief.

Taj settled into his favored spot in the cabin, only a few feet away from Tavo.  Space in the cabin was limited, but the shared body heat helped to counter the poor craftsmanship of the building.  Pulling his thinned, worn blanket over himself, Taj laid down and shut his eyes, feeling his body sag, relieved, against the hard ground.  To rest was a blessing, for all too soon, Master’s horns would sound the daybreak, and another day of weeding the fields would be upon them all.

His eyes closed for what only seemed a moment...

...and then the horns were blaring, echoing from one end of the cabin to the other and stirring a chorus of low, murmured groans as Master’s workers were called to their day’s tasks.

His muscles aching, Taj slowly rolled himself upright and went about his morning preparations, silent.  The sun had started bringing definition and color to the shadows of the night; by the time he was ready and moving for his field-work, the darkness had been mostly chased off and the sky had lightened considerably.

His workmates were already there, stooped over and pulling weeds from the paths of the precious talba stalks.  He joined them with a muted greeting, returned equally quietly, and began another long day’s work.  The Master owned many such fields, and kept his slaves solidly busy.

Taj fell into the rhythm that he and his workmates had developed, having worked with the same three Acen for a long time.  Master liked to keep them together; being similar enough in age, they were often suited for the same tasks as they grew.  Master preferred younger slaves to work his lands; that way, he was able to raise them knowing how to obey.

“Dania bug,” Jia’nen broke the silence after what must have been an hour of work, pausing in her weeding and pointing to one of the talba stalks.

Taj looked up briefly to the tawny-furred female before following the line of her finger to the yellow-spotted beetle that clung lazily to its stalk.  He made a little sound of acknowledgment before moving back to work.  It was just a beetle.

“Those are supposed to be good luck,”  Rasha said.  He, too, had paused in his work to pay attention to the insect; he used the excuse to scratch at a patch of fur made thick and itchy by sweat.  While he, like Taj, was a lion-breed Acen, Rasha was dark-furred as opposed to Taj’s gold.  The sun would not be particularly kind to Rasha today, if he was already sweating.

“Then eat it,” suggested Tavo easily, “and see what luck you’ll have.”

“Ugh, Tavo.”  Jia’nen looked away, sticking her tongue out.  “Gross.  You first.”

“I’ve luck enough already,” boasted the black-furred youth with a smirk.

“Of course you do,” Taj chuckled sarcastically.  “That’s why you were the one chosen to take Vutu’s place when he hurt himself.  Did you enjoy mucking out Mistress’s stable?”

“Much as I tried to convince them you’d be the perfect candidate for mucking out horse-skash, Taj, they didn’t see your qualifications the way I do.”  Tavo grinned as the comment earned a soft chuckle from Jia’nen.

Rasha snapped his fingers to gain everyone’s attention.  “Overseer,” he said quietly, and all four went back to work immediately.  Taj sighed inwardly as he continued weeding the talba stalks.  This new Overseer was not as ‘good’ as the others had been; this one liked to patrol and threaten if you weren’t working to his unrealistic standards.  He had a whip, much as the previous Overseers had, though unlike them, this one liked to use it.

“Hey, listen,” Tavo said, quiet enough that it was almost missed.  “After the Overseer starts his patrol back the other way, I have something to show you all.”

Taj only nodded as the others voiced their acknowledgement.  The more he focused on working, the less likely the Overseer was to find something to criticize.  Falling into silence again, the four of them continued to weed as the man approached.

He was stocky, for a human, with legs that seemed just too short for the length of his back and arms.  His arms were well-muscled and his hands large.  Hammy, Jia’nen had once called them.  His face was squared at the jaw, and the man’s dark hair was usually in some state of disarray; one didn’t work Master’s fields and keep pristine.

He regarded the four of them with a faint frown; Taj could see it in his peripheral vision as he continued his work.  The workers remained quiet, weeding as quickly as accuracy would allow.

Taj glanced up briefly as they moved downfield and caught the Overseer watching Jia’nen closely.  The base of his neck ached with a protective tension.  Taj took a slow breath in and let it out, trying to calm himself.  The man wouldn’t try anything, he told himself; it was Master’s rule, his law.  But it didn’t stop the human from watching with obvious interest.  And it didn’t stop Taj from slowly moving as he worked, until he was spaced in between the Overseer and Jia’nen.

Finally, after what seemed forever, the Overseer huffed to himself and turned to continue his patrol down to where the other slaves were busily tending the talba stalks.  

Rasha sighed softly, relieved.  “Good.  Nothing for him to pick at just now.”

“The day is young,” Taj sighed, the tension in his neck easing for now.  The Overseer would be back again many times throughout the day, to check up on them.

Tavo craned his neck, looking after the Overseer.  When he was satisfied at the human’s distance, he nodded to himself and reached a hand down the front his pants.

“Ugh, Tavo!” Jia’nen looked away, wrinkling her nose.  “That can’t wait until you’re alone?”

“Oh, ha ha,” smirked Tavo, bringing his fisted hand out from his pants.  “Take a look at this.”

“You’ve been trying that since I’ve known you,” gagged the female.

“Sssst,” the black panther answered, shushing her.  “Seriously.  Come see.  I don’t want this to be out for too long, it’ll get attention.”

Taj gave Tavo a side-long glance and smirk.  All the same, he and the others looked to Tavo’s hand, and Tavo uncurled his fingers.  The slivers of warm light that came from Tavo’s palm were almost blinding, the sun caught brilliantly and reflected along thin lines of metal; it took Tavo a moment to make out the design made by the light and follow its trails.  It was a tiny, feminine necklace, a chain with a filigreed, latched lattice-work as its centerpiece.  It was...amazing.

Taj had never seen gold before.  Not up close, not like this.  The others, too, were having similar reactions; Rasha’s eyes were wide and he had to restrain himself from touching it.  Jia’nen’s mouth hung open in shock.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

“Told you I was lucky,” Tavo grinned.  “Found this when I was mucking out Mistress’s stables.  It must’ve detached, fallen off her neck, or something...”

“You should hide it again,” Rasha said, his ears lowering slightly, tail flickering with worry.  “You don’t want them to catch you with it.  You’d be accused of stealing...”

“Can’t hide it forever,” Tavo answered, although for now he heeded his friend’s advice, once again stowing the delicate chain down his pants.  “So, what do you say?”  He grinned.  “What should I do with it?”

“Tavo,” breathed Jia’nen.  “You could buy your freedom with that.”

“Maybe all our freedoms,” Taj mused.  The thought raced in his mind: me, a free Acen.  What could I see with my freedom?  Where could I go?  What could I do...?

“What would that sell for?” Rasha asked, pragmatically.

“More important, how would I leave Master’s lands in order to go sell it?” Tavo countered evenly.  “I don’t think we could melt it down here...I don’t think selling it’s an option.”

“Return it to Mistress?” Taj offered.  “She might reward you for the return of her necklace...”

“Or she might accuse me of stealing it and leave me to the Overseer’s tender mercies,” Tavo frowned.

“I don’t think she’d do that,” Jia’nen said quietly. “I remember when I was young, being tended to by her house slaves until I was able to work out here.  She seemed nice...”

“Everyone is nice to a young child,” Tavo shook his head.

“Well, if we don’t return it and we don’t sell it...then what?  Destroy it?” Rasha shrugged.   “It’s not like we have a lot of options, here....”

Tavo thought about it a moment, cast a look over his shoulder to check up on the Overseer’s distance...and paused.  A slow smile crept upon his features, and he turned back to the others.  “I just got a brilliant idea.”

Taj’s ears perked.  “Let’s hear.”

Tavo lowered his voice even further and jerked a thumb over his shoulder.  “Well....the new Overseer.  No one likes him, right?”

“The last one was a lot better,” Taj admitted.

“They’ve all been better,” added Jia’nen.  “He’s crueler than the others.”

“He’s nothing but skash, and it’s time Master knew it,” Tavo grinned.  “Hear me out.  Tonight, after it’s dark, after he’s asleep, we go....we sneak into the Overseer quarters.  We plant the necklace on him.  One of Master’s
house slaves always comes to wake the Overseer up; he’ll see Mistress’s necklace, tell Mistress the Overseer is a thief...and pop!  We have a new Overseer in no time!”  Tavo spread his hands with a satisfied smile.

“...Are you nuts?” Jia’nen’s eyes were wide.  “That is far riskier than just returning the necklace, Tavo!”

Rasha slowly scratched behind one rounded ear in contemplation.  “...It might work..,” he said slowly, turning the plan over in his mind.  “But what about any other watchers?  The landsguard or somesuch?”

“Pff,” snorted Tavo.  “The landsguard watches Master’s borders, not the Overseer.  They could care less about him.  It’s perfect!  And besides,” he grinned.  “I’ll have my three best friends with me to make sure there are no snags.”

“Oh, no you don’t, Tavo,” Jia’nen shook her head, her arms crossing, ears lowering in disapproval. “I will not be a part of this plan.  I’ll help vouch for you if you return the necklace to Mistress, but I will not be a part of something that risky!”

“Fine, fine,” the panther rolled his eyes.  “Go be a soft female.  I know where true friendship lies!”  He gave a wild-eyed grin to Taj and Rasha.  “Guys?”

“You realize that if we’re caught, there’s going to be a punishment,” Rasha’s ears folded, and his tail swished nervously.  “A big one, probably.  You don’t mess with the Overseer.”

“We’re not messing with him,” Tavo said, quick on the heels of his worried friend.  “We’re replacing him, in the only way we can.  Not like we can lodge a complaint with Master, right?”

“I guess...”  Rasha looked away, and half-heartedly plucked at a weed as he thought.

“Come on, Rasha.  I can’t do this myself...”  Tavo grinned at his friend.  “It’ll be great.  Amazing.  And think of it: we’ll have a new Overseer, and the others will have us to thank for it!”

This didn’t seem to make any impression on Rasha; he took a moment before speaking, a pained expression on his face.  “I.....I’ll keep watch for you, Tavo.”  Rasha nodded faintly with his decision.  “But I won’t go in with you.  I’m not quiet....I’ll mess it up.”

“You’ll be fine,” Tavo assured him.  “But I’ll take what I can get!  Taj?”

Taj thought carefully about it; he was nowhere near as stealthy as Tavo.  A nagging part of him wanted not to be involved; Jia’nen and Rasha were both right in their objections.  This was a big risk...though the potential benefit was staggering.  Still, this felt more like one of Tavo’s pranks than a real strategy to rid themselves of the new Overseer.

What if we’re caught?  Punishment.

What if the Overseer finds the necklace before the house slave does?  Punishment.

What if Master believes the Overseer more than the word of his house slave?  Punishment.

But....what if it works?  We wouldn’t have to worry about the Overseer’s heavy hand ever again....

Taj turned to look at his friends; his eyes rested on Jia’nen, and the image of the Overseer staring at her ran through his mind.

His decision was made.

“It’s your choice,” Taj finally spoke.  “I think it’s smarter to take the necklace to Mistress.  But if this is what you really want...I’m in.”

“Hah!” Tavo made a triumphant fist.  “I knew I could count on you, Taj!”

“I’m not as quiet as you,” Taj interjected, before Tavo made any assumptions.  “I’ll be outside, keeping watch with Rasha.”

Tavo looked disappointed for a moment, but his grin was quick to return; Taj questioned the sincerity of the expression.  “Fine, fine, that’s fine, Taj.  It’ll be good to have you along.  So, tonight, we stay up and wait until the Overseer goes to bed, then I sneak in and plant the necklace.  You two take up watch at either side of the cabin.  I’m in, I’m out....and we sleep better than we have in a long time.”

Taj cast a glance towards the stalks they’d already cleared, where they’d found the yellow-spotted Dania beetle.  Luck.

“C’mon,” Jia’nen said quietly.  “Let’s get back to work, before the Overseer notices...”

The others moved to comply, Rasha thoughtful, Tavo grinning from ear to ear, his tail swishing in anticipation.  Taj joined them and fell back into the familiar rhythm they shared, letting the weeding take his attention from his whirling thoughts.  Perhaps best not to think too hard about it...

They passed the day in relative silence, Tavo’s mind clearly on the upcoming task.  Anticipation made his hands overeager in their work, throwing off his coordination.  The Overseer noticed this, and the crack of his whip, although only near Tavo and meant as a warning, made the boys more resolute in their task.

Night came after what seemed an eternity and Taj settled under his threadbare blanket, waiting.  It would be some time before the Overseer slept, first making sure his charges were in for the night before allowing himself to rest.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been curled up, pretending to sleep, before Tavo touched his shoulder.  He opened his eyes and found the panther’s face only a few feet from him.  Tavo nodded approval and crept along the sleeping Acen slaves, pausing only long enough to touch Rasha on the shoulder.

Taj kept himself crouched down and followed in Tavo’s wake; Rasha took up an awkward, creeping gait a few paces behind him.

Carefully, the three sneaked out of the slave cabin and started towards the Overseer’s quarters.  Tavo kept low to the ground, a blot of ink surrounded by shadow; Taj was certain no human would be able to see him.  Behind him, Rasha slowly followed.  The dark-furred lion would be difficult to spot with the lack of light, so long as he remained slow-moving and silent.

As for Taj, he was confident he could be passably silent; he was no Tavo, but he knew how to step lightly.  His primary concern was the color of his fur; the golden hue was far easier to spot than either of his companions’.  To compensate, he kept himself low to the ground.  It was still incredibly dark out; so long as he remained still and silent on watch, no human would see him.  Tavo seemed confident of this, anyway.

The three of them approached the darkened cabin that was the Overseer’s quarters.  By no means fancy, it was still of better quality than the slaves’ cabins.  An elderly fence of painted wood cordoned off the Overseer’s small holding of land from the rest of Master’s fields.  Just a reminder that while he did not sleep in Master’s home, he was still above the slaves.

Tavo very slowly eased open the fence and crept inside.  Taj and Rasha followed, moving as quickly as silence would permit.  Tavo paused long enough to face the two of them.

A dark clawed finger jabbed towards Rasha and then pointed to the far edge of the cabin, within view of the door.  Rasha nodded and slowly moved towards the indicated spot; Taj watched him leave, ears straining to ensure he couldn’t hear the other boy’s departure.

Taj was next.  Tavo pointed to him, and then motioned to the closer side of the house.  Taj nodded understanding and started to move; a quick, silent clap on the shoulder made him pause and look back.

Tavo grinned at him and made a fist, excitement keen in his golden eyes.  Taj returned a smile and bobbed his head once before moving to his assigned spot.  Once there, he gave a thumbs-up to his friend; Tavo nodded and slinked out of sight.

Now it was waiting, and watching.

Taj scanned the surroundings for any sign of movement, sound...anything that might foil the plan.  The fields were a giant sea of shadow, waving at the whims of the faint breeze that sighed through the night.  The sky was clear tonight, a half-moon sending bare illumination down; not enough for any human to see by without assistance.  The night was silent, save for the intermittent songs of crickets.

Taj felt a jittery excitement dance up his spine.  This plan had to work; the house slave would come in at daybreak, see Mistress’s necklace, and let the household know.  The Overseer would be replaced immediately, without question.  Master did not abide dishonest workers.

He looked around again, but no strange movement caught his attention, no strange sounds alerted him.  Everything was at peace.

Suddenly, sound from within the cabin!  Taj crouched low to the ground and pressed against the side of the wall as shifting and bumping about sounded from within.  His heart started thumping in his chest.  What’s going on in there?

There were no sounds of struggle, no calls for help...Taj poked his head carefully around the corner, low to the ground, and a moment later, the shadowy, bulky form of the Overseer staggered out from his door.  Deliriously, the human started towards the far corner of the house, where Rasha stood.  Taj squinted to see if he could spot his friend, but there was no luck.  Hopefully Rasha could hide well enough!

But what happened to Tavo?

Taj crept towards the door of the Overseer’s cabin and peeked in.

The cabin was by no means fancy, but it had far more amenities than his own; a bare, circular table with chairs.  A dresser, probably a hand-me-down from the main house.  And an actual bed, behind which Tavo was crouched, eyes wide as saucers.

What happened?? mouthed Taj.

“Skaji woke up and had to take a piss!” Tavo whispered.

If they survived this, Taj promised himself, he would laugh himself silly over this.

“Plant it and let’s go!” whispered Taj.

“Can’t!” hissed Tavo.  “He’ll see it when he comes back in.  Gotta wait!  Go hide!”

Taj started to protest, to urge Tavo to come back out, but the other Acen wasn’t going to budge; instead, he waved Taj urgently away.  A moment’s frustration had the young lion hesitate.  Tavo needed to get going!

At the very least, he could help by not standing in the doorway when the Overseer came back, part of him reckoned with himself.  With that thought, Taj raced around the corner of the building again and pressed himself as low to the ground as possible.

He tried to will himself invisible, tried to keep his breathing from screaming in his own ears.  Let him just go back to sleep, he prayed to whatever Gods might be listening.  Let Tavo plant it and let us just go back and let this work....

The silence fell over him again, and he watched the corner of the cabin with wide eyes.

Silence.

Nothing.

And then, yelled from around the other side of the house, “What the--”

A loud yowl cut off the rest of the Overseer’s words, and Taj shrank in on himself.  What was happening?

Stay.  Hide here,part of him insisted.  He hasn’t found you, he won’t find you.

RUN, another part of him screamed.

The Overseer was screaming, now, over the yowls of Rasha.  “You want to be sneaking around at night?  I’ll show you what happens when you sneak around at night!”

“Let me go!” wailed the youth.

“C’mere!” The human stormed into his own cabin, and a loud crash thundered from inside the cabin -- Taj could only guess it was the sound of Rasha hitting one of the pieces of furniture.

The screaming continued, nearly unable to be understood, and Rasha’s cries came louder.  But Tavo, it seemed, had not been noticed.  Taj felt dizzy with the thought.  Maybe he wouldn’t find Tavo?  Maybe Tavo could escape?

Gotta do something.  What do I do? Taj’s heart raced as he quickly considered his options.

Stay. Keep hiding.  He won’t look for you.  Wait for Tavo.

Run.  Get away, get back to the cabin, pretend to sleep.  They’ll never know you were here.

You have to help Rasha! He’s being hurt!  

Do I try to stop the Overseer, tell him it was all my plan?

But....we all took our chances on this....do I leave him?  And what about Tavo?

What if I ran to get Master?  Told him we saw the chain on him, wanted to check it out.  Get Master involved...

...Choose, Taj.  Gotta move.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

 
What does Taj do?  YOU get to choose!

A) Does he stay put and keep hiding, hoping that he won’t be noticed, and wait to hear from Tavo?


B) Does he run like mad, returning to his cabin and pretending to sleep?

C) Does he run in to try to help Rasha by attacking the Overseer?

D) Does he run in to try to help Rasha by saying this was all his plan and trying to divert the Overseer’s attention?

E) Does he run to fetch the Master?

Leave your choice in the comments section; each choice will have drastically different results for the story!  Voting will stop one week after the posting date (or, in the case of this first chapter, one week after Jukepop launches its first wave of stories).  Depending on what answer gets the most votes, I’ll write the next chapter according to YOUR choices!