In front of what looked like a mountain.
Well—calling it a mountain didn’t quite fit. It was more like a carved, curved rise of land, hollowed out and filled with entrances. Dozens—no, hundreds—of caves ford into its side, one over the other like stacked alcoves.
It was alive.
People were moving in and out, voices echoing across the stone, laughter rising and falling. A marketplace, unmistakably. But not a modern one. No loud speakers, no glass, no steel. This place felt ancient. Tiless.
And none of them—not a single one—were human.
They were all beastn.
Every shape and form she’d never imagined before walked right in front of her. So with rabbit ears, like Cutie’s tribe. Others with sleek panther-like ears and deep, watchful eyes, their black tails swaying behind them. A few had striped ears—bold, pointed, with fur patterns like tigers or cheetahs—flicking with every movent.
And their clothes?
It was like walking through fashion across ages and lands.
So wore long kimonos, tied with perfect folds, their hair done up with wooden pins or braided with beads. The fabric shimred faintly with their movents—soft silk-like material that caught the light just right. Others wore rough hide outfits—raw and simple, speaking of survival.
She saw frocks with fur-lined edges, flowing with movent. So wore nothing but a single long cloth wrapped around their lower body, paired with a cropped piece of hide shaped like a half-shirt. There was a wild, untad elegance in everything.
And they—these beastn—they were beautiful.
Each in their own way. Sharp eyes. Graceful bodies. Wild energy.
But it was the won who truly stood out.
Tall or short, lean or powerful, they moved like they owned the earth. Their presence was impossible to ignore. Power mixed with poise. Their expressions unreadable, their steps confident. Even the way they turned their heads felt intentional, like they knew exactly how magnetic they were.
Kaya stood frozen for a mont, just watching.
Her heartbeat was steady, but her mind was racing.
So this is the beastn’s world... she thought.
And she was the only human standing in it.
People were everywhere—beastn, to be exact. And the market?
It wasn’t anything like the ones Kaya had seen in her world.
There were no proper stalls. No tables. No fabric covers or fancy displays.
Just earth. And things laid bare on it.
Everyone had simply placed their goods directly on the ground—woven mats, flat stones, large leaves, or just the soil itself. It was raw, simple, yet strangely beautiful in its own way.
As Kaya walked forward, her basket balanced on her back, the world around her shifted with every step.
Each part of the market seed to have its own rhythm. One place was covered with sacks of rice—so in golden grains, others dark and speckled, so even red. Just lying there in small cloth bundles, tied with string.
A few steps ahead, soone sat cross-legged behind a collection of small clay pots. Handmade. Each one different. So cracked, so perfectly smooth. So shaped like animals, others like coiled shells. Their seller—a beastwoman with large bear-like ears—was haggling with soone who had spotted ears and a tail that flicked with every sentence.
To the left, dried herbs were spread out in neat piles, their scents softly blending into the air. Further right, soone had colorful stones and polished beads—likely for trade or rituals.
Everything was different.
Not just what was being sold—but the way it was displayed. The way people moved. The way they bartered with their eyes more than their words.
Kaya tightened her grip on the basket straps. The air felt heavier here—not threatening, but unfamiliar.
Still, her feet kept moving.
As Kaya walked deeper into the market, her eyes kept darting left and right, drawn to the sheer wildness of it all.
This wasn’t just a place to buy things—it was a world in itself.
On one side, a beastman with thick horns curling from his head was crouched low beside a wide fur mat. On it were displayed sharp animal claws—so longer than Kaya’s forearm—along with shiny fangs, dried scales, and sothing that looked suspiciously like a creature’s eyeball sealed inside a glass bead. It pulsed faintly, like it still had life left in it.
A few steps away, a trio of fox-eared vendors chattered as they arranged bright feathers—giant ones, red and gold and green, almost as tall as Kaya. Each feather shimred faintly, as if dusted with magic. Behind them were tiny cages. Inside those cages? Glowing beetles. So humming softly. Others with wings that shimred with frost or lightning.
Another stall had bones. Real bones—stacked neatly, like they were just another everyday item. Skulls too. So small like rodents, so massive, with tusks and jagged teeth. And beside them, dried animal hides dyed in strange patterns. So hides even moved slightly, as if still breathing.
Further in, she passed a beastman with long antlers who was selling fruit that looked like it had never grown on any normal tree. One was deep blue, with small wisps of fog constantly leaking from its skin. Another looked like a cracked egg filled with golden liquid, glowing softly in the dim cave light.
She paused. Watched.
In the next corner, soone roasted sothing on a hot flat stone—it slled spicy, sharp, but the creature being cooked had too many legs, and its outer shell shimred like beetle armor. Its juices sizzled and popped, and the vendor licked his lips before offering it wrapped in leaf skin.
On the far edge of the path, a lizard-like beastwoman stood behind a basket filled with eggs. But they weren’t bird eggs. They pulsed. Moved. One even cracked slightly as Kaya looked, revealing a flash of glowing green inside before the shell resealed itself like nothing had happened.
Even the jewelry was wild. So were made of woven fur and sharp teeth, others had threads of glowing silk—web-like material spun from forest spiders, probably. Bracelets with live vines, earrings shaped like claws, and necklaces made of tiny bones that rattled softly with every step.
Everywhere Kaya looked, there was sothing that didn’t belong to the world she ca from.
She tightened the straps of her basket again.
And kept moving.
User Comments
0 comments from readers