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“Heck yeah I am! What are you going to do about it?” your bold attitude caused the others’ eyes to widen in surprise. The guard was silent. He began to lead you all towards an enormous mountain.
At the base, you saw a wooden frame, marking the entrance of a vast mine spanning throughout the entire mountainous rocky structure. You tried being as calm as possible, but your anxieties were clear when the icy cold shackles began to twinkle from your tremors. Every footstep caused the freezing lump of ice to grow in your abdomen, but you knew you had to keep up the act for your own good.
“So yer a bandit eeh?” The enormous outlaw said to you, as the small group passed the rotting wood threshold. The door shut loudly behind you, and everyone stalled, as if their eyes were adjusting to the dim brightness. Even your pupils began to widen as they took in the low luminosity of the distant torches lining the rough stony walls.
“Yeah” you said, not revealing too much to your fellow captives.
“So then you can help us get outta here, yes?” the old woman followed. That was something you hadn’t thought about. Yet maybe your ability to ‘wing it’ may be of more help to you than you would have thought.
“Let me come up with something.” You said. The following days were filled with hard work and toil, yet for some reason the constant agony of labor helped the gears of your mind turn faster than you could have expected. One day, you returned to the friends you had made on the first day and began to converse with them about a plan.
You used the skills you learned from studying science to transform one of the minecarts into a heavily reinforced battering ram. With the help of the other three friends you made, you directed them to conduct an uprising. It wasn’t hard for the four of you to organize a rebellion, and after working tirelessly for about a month, the day had come for your big escape.
With two hefty slams, you smashed the door open. Driven by the old woman, powered by the outlaw, and steered by the small creature, you rode the mining rails directly out of the mines. Other captives escaped and broke the shackles of their fellow slaves, and you oversaw the uprising firsthand.
For generations, they would tell the story about your scientific prowess, how well you organized a coup, and how your unwavering passion for freedom helped you unite the people towards a common goal. They cheered your name and marched out in a unified crowd for all to find a new life. Everyone grew used to following your lead, to some, it was all they ever knew, and so they continued to follow you, appointing you the queen of the bandits.
The lies you rode out had finally benefited you, and despite being truly fresh to the world of banditry, your scientific mind was able to calculate your risks and benefits with breakneck speed. Having been a great advantage to you, the life you lived thereafter was nothing but rewarding throughout your time as bandit queen.
Despite being a robinhood of your makeshift tribe, you and your people lived a modest life, yet one day, you were finally granted with a reward you would have never expected. One a raiding journey overseas, far from your kingdoms of origin, you found yourself in a small woodland house. The owners were nowhere to be found, but in the middle of the master bedroom, that was where you saw it. A jeweled chest encrusted with colorful gems and a bright golden lining which glistened in the dim lights of distant fires.
When you approached it to open the wooden box, you could see a brightly shining light glistening through the crack. Upon opening it, the light began to radiate throughout the entire room, brightening the dark space. It seemed to release flickers of glitter, and when you reached into its pit, you could feel thick soft fur running against your rough working woman pawpads.
Your eyes lit up just like the room once you realized what your final reward was. After living your thieving life, the payout was something way more valuable than you could have ever expected. The bright colors of the fur costume sparkled as you turned it over in your hands to examine the material. It was smooth and cool against your skin; a stark contrast to the piping hot summer air wafting around in the empty cabin.
Without hesitation, you slid the silken fabrics around your body. The way your coarse dark hair bristled beneath the soothing compression of your new experience felt satisfying, especially after having come so far in your endeavor. Your heart thumped with excitement as you zipped up the suit from the back, and by the time the tiny metal zipper was fully ajar, the suit began to grow tighter with every moment you remained within the tight confines of its magical skins.
Despite your eyes being tightly closed, you were already able to envision the light resonating from your new life. For a moment, you forgot who you were as your body began to feel lighter, as if you were drifting through thin air. Slowly, the world around you began to shrink away, and before your eyes flashed the memories of your next life as your body continued to transform.
Written by Driftingdragon on 07 October 2020
The end (for now)