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    My five Warriors stepped off the pad and came toward me, I just kept backing up. Master Damien''s


    eyes were searing into me, he was really mad. I stopped when I backed into a wall. Master Damien


    stood beside me and knocked several times on the wall. He didn''t say a word to me. He just red.


    The wall opened and a skinny guy with dark hair greeted him.


    "Go in," Master Damienmanded.


    I was still shaking from head to toe, butplied and slid into the doorway.


    N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    Master Damien followed me in and turned me to face him, "These are the Keepers, you will address


    them as such. They will feed and clean you while we are gone. You will obey them. If you cannot


    obey them, they will tell my brothers and I."


    He turned to leave and then spoke to me one more time. "Your behavior on the travel pad is


    uneptable, never act like that again," he said before stepping out the wall.


    I turned and looked around. The skinny man turned and left me. I was in a small courtyard


    surrounded by severalrge open doorways. Flowering nts lined the walls along with gs of


    bright pillowing fabric. I followed the skinny man through one of the doorways.


    Fuji was in my face a minuteter, pulling me along with her. She took us to a group of females


    already there. We all sat on pillows arranged in a circle. Actually, thanks to the thing in my butt, I


    knelt down, sitting wasn''tfortable.


    I recognized the voices of the women from the chuke games. Rose and Tamia were both there.


    Rose had beautiful brown hair that cascaded in curls down her back. She was small woman with


    perfect pink tipped breasts and a tiny waist. She was dressed in bright flowing red fabric that sort of


    covered her. The thick strips of fabric all hung from her cor to her knees, when she moved they


    shifted around. Sheughed when she saw me watching her.


    "I know, I know it''s really pointless for them to put this on me every day, but my Masters like it. They


    just enjoy seeing me surrounded in their colors, they couldn''t care less if I''m covered."


    Tamiaughed a high pitched giggle. She only had one eye, which was a little strange. She was


    dressed in panels simr to me. She said her owners originally just painted her in their colors. It


    didn''t really bother her either way, no one wore clothes on the she was from.


    Fuji found the entire subject of clothing abhorrent for some reason. She loved the shiny chains her


    Masters wound around her every day, she said they entuated her natural glow. The swaths of


    color over her shoulders were something her Masters wanted. She despised the idea of fabric on


    her skin.


    All in all, the girls were really friendly. It was lucky I liked them, the ves I hung out with was


    determined by who my Warriors were friendly with. It made sense, I''d really only see people my


    owners took me to see.


    Fuji noticed me kneeling andughed telling me I could just sit at the Keepers. My cheeks blushed


    crimson as I tried to think of a way not to say why I didn''t want to sit. Rose just patted my arm and


    answered for me.


    "Her owners are preparing her. It''s notfortable to sit on at first," she said to the group. "You get


    used to it," she said more quietly to me. "Eventually, when they think you don''t need it, they may


    stop using it altogether."


    Rose and I sat talking and the other girls went to talk to a friend on the other side of the room. For a


    moment, it was just Rose and I. I took the chance to ask her about the chances of getting away


    from here. She shushed me quickly.


    "There is no escape from this ce," she whispered, "and they will punish you harshly if you even


    think about it. Learn to be happy here and do what you have to in order to survive," she advised.


    I took her advice. From what I''d seen she was correct. If surviving meant staying put, that''s what I


    would do.


    The Keepers didn''t really care what we did, but there was plenty to upy me. Frankly, it looked


    like a kindergarden ss. I looked across the room and squealed when I saw what looked like a


    small set of drums.


    The rest of the girls followed me over to inspect them. They were different from home and definitely


    meant to be yed with the hands. The tops of the drums were shaped like three small bongos. I


    tapped on them experimentally until I had a good rhythm going.


    ying these little drums wasplicated, but I loved music. The only part of high school I liked


    was band ss. The pitch each drum made was different and that took some getting used to. I got


    engrossed in what I was doing. I looked up to see Fuji swiveling her hips to the beat. I spent the rest


    of the morning tapping out different beats on the drums while the girls danced.


    A bell rang suddenly and everything stopped. Fuji started to run out. She turned around abruptly


    grabbing my hand and pulling me with her.


    "Where are we going?" I asked her trying to keep up.


    "Our Masters areing to feed us, they don''t like to wait," she said.


    I noticed my owner''s mark on the floor in the room she took us into. A kneeling ce was set up in


    front of it. A chair and a small table were in front of me. I followed Fuji''s lead and kneeled down


    waiting, no one was talking.


    I heard the tamping of feet as the men started toe in. A set stopped in front of me, but I kept my


    head down.


    "Hello, Ciara," I heard Christof say as he brushed my cheek. I looked up at him and smiled.


    Christof was dirty, it looked like he had had a rough morning. His hands were clean, though. He fed


    me from a bowl until I thought I would burst. I never refused what he gave me, I just chewed really


    slowly. Unlike my other owners he stopped feeding me and didn''t fuss at me.


    Leaning down heughed quietly in my ear. "Follow me," he said.


    I followed his heels out into the courtyard and out the door in the wall.


    "We''re outside the Keeper''spound, Ciara. You can look around if you''d like to, none of the


    other Warriorse out here," he said.


    "Are we allowed to be out here, Christof?" I asked curiously.


    We walked into what I would have considered a forest at home, along a little path. The nts were


    all different and I looked at them fascinated.


    "Yes, I can take you out here. Most Warriors juste and feed their ve a mid day meal. I


    thought you might be curious to see outside thepound," he said watching me with interest.


    "Yes, I''d love to see this," I said inspecting a bright yellow leaf growing from the ground.


    "I am curious, also," he told me.


    I asked simple questions at first, the names of nts and about things around us. He didn''t seem to


    mind telling me, so I got bolder and asked about the.


    "I don''t know the whole, Ciara," heughed. "The Administrators ced me in this vige as


    a child and I have never lived another ce."


    "Where was the ve auction? Is it on this world?" I asked hesitantly. "Do you know how I got


    there?"


    "My brothers and I took a transport to the edge of the mountains. There is a ce there our leaders


    allow the portals. We took the one that leads to the ve auction. It is in center space on a small


    neutral. We were told the portals can make a human sick if they are awake, so my brothers


    made sure you slept," he told me.


    He mused a bit on the second part of the question. "I have heard it is difficult to operate a portal on


    your home. They are often destroyed by Earth''s natural defense. The vers must have


    found a ce the defense wasn''t strong to take you."


    Christof sat for a moment and watched me looking around.


    "I feel as though we should not have taken you," he stated bluntly. "You should not have been made


    to be a ve."


    All my resolve about just making the best of this broke and I threw my arms around his neck crying.


    "Please, take me back. I don''t want to be a ve. I want to be free," I cried brokenly.


    Christof seemed stunned by the sudden contact and almost pushed me away. After a moment he


    wrapped me in his arms.


    "The kneeling is horrible," I sobbed into his neck. "I know how to feed and clean myself. It should be


    my choice to have sex. Please, I beg you, take me back."


    Christof stayed quiet for a moment before he spoke.


    "I cannot take you back. The portals do not open naturally on Earth and usually whoever is in them


    gets destroyed when they are forcibly opened on that. You must stay here with us. I will do


    my best to protect you. My brothers will not wish to harm you, they also wish to see you happy and


    well. Please understand, Ciara."


    "It is all so demeaning," I told him still clinging to his frame.


    "I will not demean you," he said softly stroking my back. "You do not need to kneel when it is just


    you and I. I will let you feed yourself. Sex with me will be your choice..."


    We stood for a moment and I calmed down. I repeated to myself I had decided to make the best of


    it. At least now I had an ally. I tried to slow my breathing and focused on the joy of having someone


    to talk to.