Entering the village was a new experience for Lisa. She didn't know what to expect. Was she stepping into her worst nightmare? What kind of place would the tiger clan send the criminal responsible for so many lost lives?
The first thing she noticed, however, was that the village didn't seem to have any dominant beast-man species. It wasn't like the fox clan or the tiger clan, which dominated their own cities and were the majority. There was a myriad of different animals in the streets, formed by a cluster of stone houses. Bulls, lions, crocodiles, horses, various species were present, many walking in their beast form. Others, however, dressed entirely human-like. Some wore leather skirts or pelts around their waists; others were completely naked.
Lisa entered, carried and locked in a cage by a band of tiger men, and immediately drew attention wherever they passed. Several conversations stopped as everyone turned to look at the newcomers. Her guards stayed alert, but no one intervened.
That's when Lisa noticed something unsettling. There were hardly any females in the streets, and the few she saw were surrounded by protective circles of several males. From reading the book, she knew that in the cities where the story took place, there were at least twenty males for every female. Here, the numbers seemed even more disheartening.
Lisa couldn't help but feel like prey, surrounded by predators bigger and stronger than her.
Her guards moved through the crowd to what appeared to be a square. There were several stalls set up in the streets, selling countless products, animal pelts, meat, jewelry, cloaks, hair ornaments, and... slaves.
That's where Lisa was taken.
The eldest of the tiger men who had brought her, Rufus, set her wooden cage down next to several others and walked off, going to talk with another male and leaving Lisa there, surrounded by the rest of her guards and stared at by a gathering crowd.
Around her were several cages, not much different from hers, filled with animals large enough for her to know they were beast-men. To her right, a lion moved restlessly, roaring at anyone who looked at him for too long. He seemed half-crazed and unfocused, just pacing back and forth. To her left was a rabbit, large and white, staring at her with big red eyes while chewing on a piece of celery.
It was unnerving.
Lisa looked away, trying to listen to what Rufus was saying to the new male. The two seemed to be arguing, judging by their hand gestures and raised voices, but Lisa couldn't understand a word. She pressed her face against the wooden bars, trying to catch more of the conversation.
"You won't hear anything like that," a voice said to her left.
Lisa turned. Where the rabbit had been earlier, there was now a red-haired man squatting, a stalk of celery in his mouth, staring at her with a smile.
He was also very naked, without even an animal pelt to cover himself.
She looked away, trying to ignore the man and focus on the conversation between her captor and the male he was speaking with. Her survival depended on it.
"Those weak ears of yours will never hear anything interesting..." the same man sang.
That was enough for Lisa to turn to him with an annoyed look. He had two stripes on his left shoulder, and a third one seemed to be forming.
Powerful, but from what she had just seen, he was a rabbit beast-man. She couldn't see him being very strong, so Lisa ignored him, trying once again to catch what was being said in the conversation.
"I see... not very pretty... fertile..." were some of the words she managed to pick up.
What was going on? Were they negotiating her price?
"If you really want to hear what they're saying, why not take on your beast form?" the man persisted.
That was enough to catch Lisa's attention. How could she have forgotten this detail?
In the book Beauty and Power, the protagonist Eleanor and the antagonist had transmigrated into the beast world, and the first thing they noticed upon arriving in this new world seemed to be the changes in themselves. The bodies they had lived in their entire lives were the same, but some things had changed. As the story progressed, they discovered that Eleanor was now a swan woman, capable of transforming and creating wings so beautiful they left everyone, both males and females, in awe. As for the antagonist... well, she was a hairless cat.
Come to think of it, the villain had been rather pathetic from the start, hadn't she? While the protagonist always flaunted her white feathers, described as more beautiful than moonlight, the antagonist never revealed herself, ashamed of her own beast form. It was somewhat interesting at the beginning, but as Lisa read the book, she quickly lost interest in these traits. The animal forms of both characters were never used for anything other than highlighting how much prettier the protagonist was. Well... Lisa vaguely remembered there being symbolism in it. Something about how the protagonist was dull and invisible at first, like a young swan, but later became beautiful and admired by all. Just like a swan that grows and becomes gorgeous, she revealed herself to be the most beautiful of women. Meanwhile, the villain was as proud, vain, and spoiled as a cat.
Lisa cursed the villain's bad luck, as well as whoever had written this story. Couldn't they have chosen more impressive animals like a tiger or a wolf for their characters? What was she supposed to do with the ability to turn into a hairless cat among so many top predators?
Still, this information was useful. A cat had good hearing, so perhaps if she transformed, even partially, she could listen to her captors' conversation. She smiled at the rabbit man, who merely tilted his head curiously, still calmly chewing his celery.
Closing her eyes, Lisa focused, trying to become the cat she knew the antagonist could transform into. She took a deep breath, furrowed her brow, and... nothing. Nothing had changed. She looked at her body. Still human.
She turned to the rabbit man. He was still chewing his food, but now rested his head on his fist, watching her curiously.
She tried again, making a face of concentration. She tried to visualize herself with claws and ears.
Nothing.
The rabbit man continued to watch her.
Clenching her fists, Lisa gave up. How was she supposed to do this? Was there some special technique the characters used to transform into their beast parts? Lisa couldn't remember.
She had to think of an alternative.
Opening her eyes, she looked at the rabbit man beside her, then pointed to Rufus, the tiger man who had brought her there, and then to her ear.
He followed her finger, rolling the celery in his mouth.
"What? You want me to listen for you?"