1+Anima: Meant to be Alone?

Summary: 12/17/342 is the date in which the story is based on in Sailand. An +Anima named Nicoma, a Mountain Lion +Anima is a slave to a slave trader named Ed. She has been a slave for 10 years, now at the age of 16; she has forgotten what it was like being free, until she runs into Cooro, Husky, Nana and Senri. Bitter-sweet memories of being free and happy take over her mind and drive her in a frenzy to be free. Like Senri, Nicoma is a Kim-un-kur who lost her parents in a battle with the slave hunters. Her family was exiled from their tribe before she was born due to her father's rash reactions. But when she is finally free, will she be accepted into the group? Or will she be able to find her way back to her tribe and set things right? Read and see what is in store!

Chapter 1: Dreaming of the Past

The smell of moss clung heavily to the moist air as the fog began to lift itself off of the earth and rise into the cloudy sky above. I blinked several times to try and wake up from a stressful night of a bad thunderstorm. I lifted up my weary head and looked around the make-shift hut we lived in and sighed. The scent of venison cooking over the campfire caught my attention. I sifted my gaze so that it landed on my young mother. She was a mere 22 years, my father was 25; and I was a little scrawny 6 year old girl that had no siblings. I smiled weakly when my father walked over to me and picked me up out of my blankets and carried me to the low table that held our breakfast for the morning. He set me down on the dirt floor before he seated himself next to me; my mouth watered as I inspected the meal as my mother served it to us: hot venison, raspberries, and wild strawberries. To wash it all down, a flask of water for each of us. We all ate in silence as we always did; after the quick meal, I went down to play in the creek that was near our home. My mother followed, bringing with her the morning dishes to clean.

I slipped off my moccasins and then stepped into the cold, clear water of the creek. I giggled as I felt some small minnows wiggle about my feet and nibble at my toes. My mother kneeled down next to the shore and began scrubbing the small pile of dishes with a rag.

A small group of slave hunters rode through the valley below Moss Mountain looking for Kim-un-kur to capture in order to sell at slave markets throughout Sailand. This group was particularly small with only six men.

"Hey Brute, do ya think there would be any Kim-un-kur near the stream up hill more?" the second in command of the group suggested as they reigned their horses to a stop. The man named Brute, looked up toward the mountain's slope with some slight interest. He rubbed his chin with his callused thumb.

"Very well. Let's ride up the mountain about 3 furlongs. That should be high enough." Then with a loud whoop all the slave hunters spurred their horses into a gallop and headed up the mountain.

"Nicoma, Please don't wander too far!" My mom called out.

"Okay, mom!" I called back. I stood just around the bend in the creek about six yards away from her. I giggled as I crouched low on a small boulder and was ready to pounce at a good sized creek trout. I leaped into the air, and then landed with a loud splash into the deep pool where the fish had now darted away from my slashing body. I kicked back up to the water's surface; and came up spitting and sputtering. I was about to call out to my mom to see if she would like to join me with my fun but was cut off by an ear-piercing scream that sounded like her. "Mom?" I called out, somewhat scared.

"NICOMA! RUN! RUN!" She screamed back. I heard her stumble and fall in the water. I pulled myself out of the water and onto the rocky shore; then crept to the bend to see what was going on. When I was about to look; I was grabbed around the ankle and hoisted in the air. I screamed out of fear and flailed my arms from the sudden attack. I then saw that it was this strange man astride a horse that had a hold of me.

"Hey, Brute! Look what I caught." the man laughed as he ushered his horse around the corner to reveal me dangling by my ankle. My heart stopped when I saw my mom lying face down in the water not moving a muscle.

"Mom..." I whispered. Nothing happened. I began to cry, knowing that my mother was dead.

"Brute. We caught a male +Anima that seemed to be a bear." another man came to the scene.

--

I was woken by the sound of feet scuffing lazily on the ground. I lifted my head and blinked to adjust my vision. It was still dark outside; it appeared to be about an hour before sunrise. I yawned and stretched my arms as I tried to make myself stay awake. "Man. Ed, has us up to work awful early today. I guess we are about to get on the move." "Yeah. Guess so." I heard two young men talk as they passed the tent. I steadily got to my feet and crept to the entrance of the tent. I pulled back the flap and walked out into the night air. My eyes turned yellow so that I could accustom to my night vision. I saw a lot of people bustling about getting things packed up and readying the caravan to leave. I wondered where everyone was going, including me.

"I see you are finally up, little one." I whirled around to see my master, Ed towering over me with his arms crossed over his chest. "Well, you can go work with the others." I swallowed hard and gave him a confused, terrified look. He didn't change his determined expression and still stood firm and solid as a stone. I looked down and turned around and began to head towards a group of people. I stopped in my footsteps and looked over my shoulder to look at Ed once more with a pleading look. He just nodded out towards the group I was heading to; it seemed to me that he was serious with the fact of having me work with the others so suddenly and wasn't going to bother showing me around or what to do. I looked back to where I was heading and hung my head low as I approached the group of adults lifting crates onto wagons and tying them down. I looked back over my shoulder to see if Ed was still watching me; he was gone. I looked back at the adults and watched them for a bit to see what they were doing and see if I could do anything to help. If I was supposed to work; then I would have to work. No questions asked or any choice about the matter. I sighed deeply and gathered all my courage and slowly approached a crate that was about half my size; I grabbed the sides of the wooden box and tried with all my might to lift the crate off of the ground. The box weighed more than I did, and the box didn't budge a single inch no matter how I tried to pick it up, drag it, or push it.

"Hey now! Look at this guys. The new little squirt is trying to lift this crate full of horse shoes!" laughed a young man that was a Raccoon +Anima that stood several feet away from me. He was watching me with the greatest amusement when he was about to get the crate; but stopped in his tracks when he saw me trying to push the crate toward the wagon they were loading. He watched me collapse with exhaustion and start to cry out of frustration. "Aww.. I didn't mean to hurt ya, squirt. I was just making some fun. I'm sorry, kid. Here let me take this for ya." The guy lifted the crate off of the ground and handed it to another guy. "The name's Ringtail. What's your's?"

"Nicoma." I sniffed and wiped my tears away with my right forearm. I looked up at the young guy that now crouched down to bring himself down to my level. I sat on my knees and couldn't help the small hiccup that escaped my mouth. Ringtail smiled gently and rubbed the top of my head. I looked up at him with a slight shock and blinked the last tear out of my eye. "My dad used to do that." I whispered. Ringtail cocked his head slightly to the right when he heard my comment.

"Where are your parents anyway?" He asked as he looked out around the caravan to see if he could spot anyone that was wearing similar clothes I was.

"They're dead." I whimpered and choked as I tried to hold back a fresh batch of tears. Ringtail looked at me with some pity. His heart broke for me as he watched me cry from my loss.

"Then you were taken away by them there slave hunters, huh?" I nodded when Ringtail spoke the rest of what I was about to say. It seemed he knew my story pretty well; it must have happened to him as well. "Whelp. I guess Ed bought you to work. Well, how about I help you out and show you around and what you could do to help." I sniffed and looked up at him as he got to his feet. I nodded and smiled slightly.

Ever since then, he looked after me like a big brother. He showed me the ropes of what a slave like me would expect and was expected to do. He watched me grow from a little scrawny six year old to a young thin teenaged girl.