"Okay Nasba, I have to know, do they twitch and squirm or…?"

"Gosh! You're not half as handsome enough to say such a thing, Tosh!" Nasba huffed at me, and she spun around as she did. Her feathers smacked me, rather harshly, and then she stormed off… though before she rounded the corner and left my sight she paused a bit to glance at me. She gave me a red faced smirk, winked at me, and then her tail of feathers danced a bit before she left my view.

"Ha," I smirked at that, and realized I had a shot after all.

Reaching up to rub my arm, where her feathers had hit me, I wondered how far those feathers went up her back. They were oddly soft, considering how hard they had hit me.

Such members were becoming rare, those with such traits. Ears? Sure. Horns? Aplenty. But large tails or wings? Rare indeed. There were a few ducks here at the Oasis, but only half of them had such tails like Nasba did.

Turning and walking down the hall, back to the section where many of our members lived, I decided my visit here will be fun. Nasba's always been a slight flirt, but I'd never gotten more than a wink from her. It was at a point now where I kind of felt like I needed to get at least a kiss or something, else I'd not be able to hold my head high anymore.

Though that was if no one else nibbled me up first. I'd already noticed a few gazes since showing up, the type of looks that told me I needed to be careful. Many of the members here in Merit's kingdom were… well…

I didn't want to say the more primitive types, but I wasn't sure how else to describe them. Those who lived this far away from the rest of the Society usually did so for a good reason. And that reason was normally because they didn't fit in with the rest of us. There were a lot of predators here, or people who had been banished from other locations for one reason or another.

I'd not experienced it myself the few times I'd been here, but I'd been told such as by Azlo that there were several women here who would outright try to force themselves on you if you weren't careful. Some men found that enjoyable, others not so much. Azlo was big and strong enough that he didn't need to worry, but I on the other hand wasn't so lucky… I knew for a fact that there were several members here who could manhandle me if they really wanted to.

"Would I be unhappy with that or not, though?" I mumbled in thought as I rounded a corner.

"Ah! There you are!"

I glanced up from my thoughts and found Pierre. The young rat had a huge grin on his face as he hurried up to me. "Welcome back Tosh!" he greeted.

"Aye, thank you. I'll be here for a few months, so let me know if you or your family need anything," I said. There were a few doctors here, such as Yina, but they weren't as adept in certain ways. Particularly when it came to surgeries and stuff.

"Hm… we do, but I fear there's nothing anyone can do, sadly," Pierre said with a sad smile.

"Oh? What's wrong?" I asked. The poor lad looked heartbroken all of a sudden. I didn't like seeing such a look on those like him. He was regrettably very human, unlike his parents, and so I always worried for him and those like him. We usually lost such human looking members rather quickly, either to simple old age or the harsh world. Sometimes even to depression.

"It is my mother, I'm afraid. She is… old. The kind of old that hurts," Pierre said softly.

Ah… "I see… Well, all the same I'll give her a check-up, yeah?" I said. Maybe she was sick…? A lot of our older members were stubborn, and attributed simple diseases and ailments to their old age even though it wasn't true.

Pierre frowned but nodded. "I'd be ever so thankful. But I'll have to convince her to come from the nest, she's been sleeping a lot," he said.

Nest…? "She's somewhere I can't go?" I asked, trying to understand.

Pierre nodded. "Hidden away, with father. I'll go talk to them! If I can get her to come out, I'll let you know!" Pierre said, and then before I could say anything he ran off in a hurry.

Watching him go, I sighed a little. See? Such odd ones here.

Yet as odd as they were, they were still members. People I had a duty to help.

"Ah, so it's the young doctor! Was wondering who I heard!"

I turned and found a new face. One I didn't immediately recognize, not even by features. The man had some fur on his cheeks, and a very fluffy head of hair. He waved at me, beckoning me to join him into the room he was leaning out of.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I walked over, and found a small room with a couple chairs. Judging by the book that was laid on the armrest of the chair, open and laid facing down, he had been reading just now.

"My name's Paul. It's nice to meet you, doctor! I've heard of you!" Paul introduced himself, a little loudly as he held his hand out.

I took it, dedicating his name to memory… for now at least. "Paul, I'm Tosh. Hopefully you've heard good things," I said.

Paul grinned at me as our hands separated. "I hear you were trained by Vim, helped him during some of the wars, and now go around healing the sick and warming the beds of lonely daughters!"

I flinched. "Yeah… that's me…" I groaned as I realized how bad the rumors had gotten. Was I really that bad…? It wasn't like I was pushy about it, I just… liked company, is all… and what was that about daughters?

He chuckled a bit as he sat back down in his chair. His book almost slid off, but he caught it before it did. "Woops. If I ruined this Nasba would skin me alive," he said as he picked it up, closed it and placed it down in-between him and the chair's armrest, into the cushion.

"She can be a little harsh," I said.

"She gets it from Merit. Which is funny, since our little queen's been so kind and gentle lately!" Paul said with a laugh.

I smiled at the man who seemed rather jubilant. Either he was just a happy-go-lucky man, or something had put him in a good mood. Maybe the book he had been reading?

"I've actually not seen the queen yet, I probably should go let her know I'm here," I said.

"What's that? So you really are a womanizer, don't want to spend any time with men do you?" he asked.

"Please. More like I don't want to get on Vim's bad side, he likes her," I said.

The man frowned as he nodded. "That is the truth isn't it…? Hadn't thought of it that way…" he admitted.

Well I had. I once made the mistake of insulting Merit in front of him. Vim had made sure to make me regret it; I still remember the few sentences he had said as if it was yesterday I heard them. He had basically crushed my faith in but a few words, offhandedly as if talking about the weather. It had been rather unsettling, almost as if he had somehow been reading my mind and knew my deepest and darkest worries and fears…

"Well, I know you have Yina here, but if you want to talk about any health concerns just let me know," I said, deciding it was indeed time that I went and found Merit. I wasn't near any windows, but I knew it was likely drawing near dinner time. It was one thing to not go say hello right away, it was another to do it days later. I was, as Paul said, known to be free-spirited and a little odd but I wasn't rude. At least, I didn't believe myself to be.

"I appreciate it. I'm perfectly healthy, at least I think so, but there are a few who might benefit from a gander by your eyes," Paul said.

I nodded. "Anyone or anything noteworthy?" I asked. I had asked Nasba too but she hadn't mentioned anyone by name, specifically.

Paul frowned and then shook his head. Then he raised an eyebrow at me. "Did you come here on your own, by the way?" Paul asked.

"No. I came with Vim a part of the way, separated with him near the lands of stone and came the rest of the way with some human members."

"Ah. We do have a lot more of those lately. Something to do with the north being so chaotic, I guess. Wars, right?" he asked.

Didn't he just mention said wars a moment ago? I nodded though, since I wasn't sure if I had simply misunderstood or something. "Yes. It's rather bad up there right now."

"Funny. Usually we're the ones seen as not having a good time. Oh well," he said with a shrug.

"Hm… alright then. It was nice to meet you Paul," I said, stepping back out of the room. He bid me farewell with a wave as I headed for the main section of the castle. I wasn't sure where Merit would be, but I figured if I found Nasba or one of her other advisors I'd be able to track her down from there.

Sighing gently as I walked down the hall, I wondered what to think of the man. I knew I had just thought that most of the people here were… odd, I couldn't help but think something had been off about him. I'll ask Nasba about him later.

"Tosh!"

I stopped walking and turned, to watch Nasba hurry on over to me. I bit back a grin, since I liked how she hurried over. She was always energetic, but it almost looked like she was excited to see me. As if we'd not just parted ways a little bit ago.

"I knew your feathers couldn't resist me," I said once she got close enough.

Nasba scowled at me. "Gosh you're as bad the humans! Merit wants you."

Oh. Right.

I nodded, and did my best to not feel too insulted. As bad as the humans? Really? I mean, maybe…

Nasba turned, as to lead me to the Queen of the Oasis, and I went to join her.

"How is the little queen anyway?"

"She's happy. She recently sent a request for Vim, so she's excited that he'll be here soon," Nasba said.

"Oh…? I was just with him. We separated not far north," I said.

"Hm…? I wonder if he knows then or not. Vim usually hurries over whenever she asks for his help," Nasba said with a frown.

I nodded. He did. I mean… Vim hurried for anyone really, but there was no denying that he liked Merit. She was like Lilly, or Celine, to him. A tad more important than the rest of us.

"He called me his friend the other day, you know," I said as I remembered it.

Nasba sighed at me. "Flirt or boast, don't do both!"

"It hadn't been a boast!"

"Forget about Vim and Merit, what are we eating tonight?" Nasba asked as we rounded a corner.

Glancing at the duck and the calm smile on her face as she waited for my answer… I realized I'd just been invited to dinner.

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