My tent was one of many clustered around the large brick building in the center of our camp and I wondered if she’d want to live inside like the other mated females.Turochs were used to tents, so most of the males preferred the familiar comfort of them, the dark, oppressive walls of the ‘strip mall’ reminded us too much of living in the slave barracks.
But if Jessa wanted to claim a space in one of the cleaned-out stores, I would happily move inside.For now, my tent was the best option, the most private.I kicked the flap of my tent open and ducked inside.The light of the constantly burning fire in the center of camp barely reached the outer tents, and it was dark inside.
Laying Jessa down on my pile of blankets, I pressed a kiss to her head.
“I will be right back,” I assured her.
Jessa huddled on my bed, knees pulled to her chest, shoulders shaking as she sobbed and clutched a squirming, honking Sal to her chest.I hesitated, the tent flap in my hand.
“Jessa,” I let the flap fall and crouched in front of her.“Let me take Sal outside, I’ll clean him up, feed him and bring him right back.”
“O-okay,” she said, her voice thick with tears.I reached down and scooped the tiny percer up, noting that he’d soiled her sparkly dress.Sal bawled as I pulled him away from Jessa and I quickly tucked him against my side and gave him a little bounce to calm him down.
My female wrapped her arms around herself and curled up on her side, still shaking but resting at least.I hated to leave her, but she needed water, food, clean clothes, and a way to wash if I could manage it.
I ducked out of my tent and bumped into Vret.
“You’re alive,” he said, relief overshadowing the usual crankiness in his voice.I grinned at him despite the tightness in my chest.Vret and I hadn’t been apart since we’d become a fighting pair in the arena.The last few days were the longest I’d gone without seeing him and I’d missed my friend.
“I’m alive,” I agreed, keeping my voice low so we wouldn’t disturb Jessa.
Vret’s eyes scanned over me, no doubt cataloguing my lost weight, and the injuries I hadn’t had a chance to heal.When he spotted Sal, he took a step back.
“Is that a percer spawn?”His lip curled in disgust and his ears pinned back.As if sensing he’d been noticed, Sal thrashed clumsily in my grip and honked.
“It is,” I said, lifting the baby up so the distant firelight touched him.It had only taken a day for me to get used to Jessa’s strange pet, but Vret’s horrified expression brought me back to my own reservation the moment he’d crawled from his egg, slimy and stumbling.
“How did you get a baby percer?Why is it alive?”my friend asked.
I sighed.“I have much to tell you.Come, I need to feed this one, and fetch my mate some supplies.”
Vret limped after me as I wound my way through the maze of tents toward the center of camp.We stored our water in barrels outside the strip mall and I made my way toward the one designated for washing.It had been cut into a deep trough and the females had hung buckets along its side so we could keep the water clean.I set Sal on the ground, watching as he walked in circles, pawing at the dirt and lapping at the puddled water under the barrel before squatting and urinating.
“I’ve never seen a percer so small,” Vret said, standing back a bit as though the tiny creature would attack him if he got too close.
I dipped a bucket into the trough and quickly scrubbed my face and arms of dried blood and sweat.The water cooled my skin and I closed my eyes for a moment, letting myself glory in the relief of being home and safe.
“He hatched this last morning,” I said after a moment of gathering my thoughts.
“That does not explain why you decided to bring him here,” Vret said.
I laughed, leaning down to catch Sal before he took off.“I do not know where to begin,” I admitted, dunking the percer’s bottom in the bucket and gently wiping most of the water off his hide.
“Begin with the percer, it's sure to be the most interesting part of your tale.”
Tucking Sal back under my arm, I tipped the dirty water out, refilled the bucket to bring back to my tent and started toward the store we used to hold our supplies.
“Jessa was taken by sytos the day I went to visit her, I went after her and was captured, as well.”I shook my head at the simple explanation of the hours of rage and fear I’d experienced.“They had an injured percer boar, when we escaped, he followed us and died nearby while we slept.Jessa discovered this one’s egg hidden in a pouch on its carcass.”
Vret hummed consideringly.“I did not realize they carried their eggs, I thought they nested.”
“I did not know, either,” I admitted.“But the pouch was only big enough for one egg, two at most.Perhaps the males usually guard more than one female’s eggs?Or the sows breed with many males and each guard a single egg?”
The details of percer breeding were not important now, though I knew that Vret’s natural curiosity would have him out stalking boars soon enough.
I grabbed a small basket from the pile near the door of the supply building and squinted at the shelves.The mated males usually hoarded the sweet foods we scavenged for their mates, most of the turochs preferred to eat the fresh meat we hunted, but Jessa deserved a treat after our ordeal.
“Is there chocolate in here?”I asked Vret, struggling to remember the many forms the sweet came in.He shrugged and pointed at a thin box on the top shelf and I dropped it in my basket.
