The chance to explore our surroundings excited me.
A day after my confession, I decided to become useful for the tribe. While I wasn't a historian, their community reminded me of the early medieval tribes of my world, and I wanted to become one of them. They knew about money but did not use it, had limited agriculture, and lived a simple life without luxuries.
I wanted to improve on that but didn't know how yet.
Their clothes were very primitive and didn't cover much. Made of rough fabrics, animal hides or fur, the females wore something resembling a leather bikini, leaving much of their green skin bare. They were not wearing the top piece out of modesty either.
I was sure of it, as ever since I became the owner of Alexandra's body, my back was killing me. I had no way to compare how it was before, my memories were fuzzy at best, but this new shell was relatively top-heavy. Maybe a C or D cup but enough to make itself felt. It did not help, that I was at least a foot or two shorter than the average adults of this village, and always had to look up sharply if I wanted to hold a conversation.
Even the females were usually six feet tall, or more and wore different tops from bandeaus, halters, or even these cross-style ones. They had only one thing in common: all seemed tight and sturdy.
I envied them because even if my mounds were as firm as they came, they still felt heavy. And I didn't have anything to help them fight gravity. I came to this world in my short tunic, a pair of sandals, and short shorts.
Too short short shorts.
My thighs were all but on display all day and while they sure looked godly, I wasn't used to leaving myself this vulnerable to people's stares. My fluffy tail and cat ears were already conspicuous enough. My black hair was at least similar in color to what all the orcs had, though the texture was vastly different. And I had pale skin too, while theirs was dark green.
It looked rough and thick, and the males got rather hairy. I figured they left their skin bare to be used as camouflage in the lush and green vegetation around them. They had no issue hunting the most delicious animals, even though they did not use bows.
In the last few days, I have eaten so much meat, that my belly became round. I was a little embarrassed since it indicated that I ate all their food without doing much for it and also did not take good care of the body the Goddess gifted to me.
I wanted to give something back, to work for the tribe that accepted me, however, my expertise was more useful in an office job, than in the wild. This world lacked many things I was used to but offered new opportunities, so I wanted to take inventory of what they had first.
In the past few days, I didn't leave the village at all.
I was either in Charlotte's hut or in the mess hall. When not eating, the women and children gathered and did all kinds of small tasks together. They sewn and patched their simple clothes, prepared food, or fixed the everyday tools the orcs used. The kids would also play around nearby, where the adults could see them. They covered most of their skin with clothes made of light fabrics, almost as if to make them more visible.
It was where the orcs would gather to hang out in the evenings, eat, drink, and dance. They did not seem to have much entertainment but were relatively well off.
The hunters left early in the morning and usually returned by noon. The farmers preferred to set out after that so at least half of the adults remained in the village at any given time, possibly to safeguard their valuables. Not that they had many.
They all used to be slaves after all and lived here as a free tribe but they didn't have a bad life. Still, I wanted to make it better and set out to explore the areas further than the bathing place. Charlotte and Hana escorted me, the latter grumbling the entire time.
"I'm disappointed. We're the same but I feel like you betrayed me."
"I'm... sorry." I wanted to leave that embarrassing discussion behind. I didn't want to be on their bad side either. Eight feet tall, they were the largest in the entire tribe and probably the most hairy but dressed in bikini-style clothing like the orc women. I feared that my next sentence would piss them off even more. "I told them to refer to me as a girl because while I look like this, being addressed as a man would feel wrong..."
"I get it, I get it, I'll get over it... But still." Hana whined.
"Look, I can't explain, but it feels like this body has strange effects on me." I tried to console them. "Maybe it's what the Goddess intended, but I am full of doubts and questions about it myself..."
"Why do you want to stay here anyway? You say you came from another world." Hana asked, not particularly hostile, rather curious. "Don't you want to explore this one? Why would you tie yourself down in a backwater village like this? It doesn't even have a name."
"Oh, that is rich coming from you of all people." Charlotte joined in.
She was two feet shorter than the transgender orc, but people could tell who was in charge. She wasn't particularly feminine either.
"No, please, don't bring that up," Hana asked but to no avail
"This guy was a world-famous gladiator. The New Order asked them to join the Twelve Champions, right after the Collapse. That's the most elite branch of warriors they have." She explained. "But they refused, traveled to this backwater village begging me to let them stay, and even changed their name so they wouldn't find them."
"I didn't change it because of them... And anyway, that's different. I was forced to follow orders all my life. Then they asked me to follow theirs. No, thank you." They explained. "I did travel a lot in my prime."
"Right, I did too. Always looking for more grimoires..." Charlotte nodded. "But they took your sister instead, didn't that bother you?"
"It was her choice. She wanted to explore the world, but I came home after seeing everything." Hana told the chieftain. "She didn't want to tie herself down, I can respect that. Nati doesn't have to either, even if she wants to stay, she could seek out her kind instead."
"M-my kind? What do you mean?" I asked, confused, walking quite the distance from the last shacks of the village. "And you have a sister?"
"We weren't that close. Slave contracts can easily break familial bonds. And I mean beastfolk, of course." Hana explained. They put those large hands on top of their head, to imitate my ears. "Wouldn't you feel better among them? They have a settlement nearby..."
"I... didn't know that..." I pondered as we stopped near what looked like a fruit orchard. "I don't know much about any of the species of this world. I thought everyone looked like you... Is your sister also... ?"
"That was rude." Hana declared. "If you want to know, yes, she was born female, and looks nothing like me at all..."
"Oh, I meant that everyone is the same species, and only the Goddess was different." I tried to save face. "She is a Goddess after all. But I was a human in my past life... We didn't have orcs in my world."
"Yes, the Inquisitorias wouldn't be happy to receive you looking like this. But the Goddess was an ordinary beastfolk too, before becoming immortal." Charlotte nodded, then motioned towards the trees. "This is where we grow most of our fruits. The soil wasn't exactly fertile, but thanks to our shaman, the harvests are plentiful."
"And the forest is full of animals," Hana added, pointing at something in the distance. It looked like a deer. "Hunters barely have to step outside the village and always return with more than we can eat."
"That's our main export, the tribes like to trade with us for food, and we get things we lack in return. But if this continues, we'll have to erect a wall to keep the monsters out." Charlotte said, but I was still lagging in the conversation. I heard too many interesting facts.
"Becoming immortal? How does one do that?" I asked, but then shook my head, changing my mind. "More importantly, what is the Inquisitorias? I heard the Goddess mention them too, but she left before I could learn anything about them. All I know is they are after her?"
"It used to be a small branch in the Church of Cranta. After the Collapse, they grew to be the sole defender of humanity." Hana explained with noticeable disdain in that husky voice. "They hated her the moment she became a God to the Lesser Races."
"They had every reason to." Charlotte shrugged, and Hana didn't argue with her either. "Their last holdout is to the north, about a hundred miles from here. They call it Sanctuary now."
"That close? Isn't that dangerous?" I asked, already afraid to ask the next question. But since I was in her body, I just needed to know. "Wh-what reason do they have to hate her? What did she do?"
"Hah!" Charlotte was laughing out loud for the first time since we met. "It's easier to show you, it's not that far anyway..."
We turned east and soon stumbled on an old road which was not maintained anymore, the pavement was broken up badly. Nible as this body was, I had to hurry to keep up with the orcs since they had much longer legs. We were quiet the next few minutes, until roughly a mile away, Charlotte suddenly stopped and theatrically gestured around.
"Behold the old capital of the Cranta Empire!" She yelled.
"Huh, but there is nothing in here," I said confused, feeling a sudden chill enveloping my body. There wasn't even grass growing as long as I could see ahead. The place was desolate, nothing for miles.
I started to shake from the cold, but Charlotte showed no signs of it. It came out of the blue and felt like it tried to pierce my soul, creeping under my clothes and inside my tail. Not even falling into that stream days ago had this much effect on me. Hana put their large hands on my shoulders, but they also felt icy. They did nothing to keep me warm, but at least I did not feel alone.
Yes, the cold wanted to pierce my very heart. All kinds of negative thoughts were swirling in my mind, out of the blue, and I felt like throwing up. Their face was becoming pale too, we both felt the same.
"Exactly," Charlotte explained. "Alexandra made the entire metropolis disappear. Five million people, and all the buildings in a blink of an eye."