Lamashtu blinked in the early morning sun, not used to it being this bright. After living for so long in the forested area he came from, seeing the sun without anything to filter it was still not something he was used to. Still, he was incredibly happy to be here. He sniffed the air and smelled countless mokai in their stalls, along with the smells of humans and various other creatures. What's more, today was his first day of training to be a fighter!
"Imnir, you out there?" He called, trotting up to the door of his stall, and peeking his head over the top of it. He hadn't yet earned the privilege of having his door left open to be able to wander the way Imnir had, but he could understand that. According to Imnir, a lot of mokai didn't appreciate the humans and wanted to escape. Very silly in his eyes, but if they wanted to do that it was their choice.
"Door's not locked." Imnir grunted as he approached, "Come on, get going, Lamashtu." He didn't sound quite as condescending as normal, but there was an obvious irritation in his voice. He wasn't a huge fan of the fact that there was a newcomer in his little family, but he was doing his best to play nicely. "I'll be keeping an eye on you, train in what ever way you see fit."
"Oh, thank you Imnir!" Lamashtu said brightly as he pushed the door upen with a paw and trotted out, looking around for a moment to decide what he should do to train. There were plenty of streets he could run along, but then Imnir would have to follow him to make sure he wasn't escaping and Lamashtu knew that he had already done two fights this week. Poor guy was probably worn out, even though he'd never admit it.
Ah, this looked promising. Lamashtu trotted over to a cart and barked at one of the humans sitting nearby, spinning in circles and wagging his tail. It wasn't long before the human got the hint that Lamashtu wanted to be hooked up to it and decided to humor him.
"Hop on, Imnir. I'll give you a ride and work my muscles all at once." He smiled, waiting for Imnir to climb in the back with his grumblings before taking off.
Well, taking off wasn't really the word. As soon as Lamashtu started pulling it was obvious that this would be more work than he expected. The cart was plenty heavy on its own, and Imnir was certainly not a lightweight mokai. The wooden wheels groaned as they started to move, inch by inch.
"Man this is heavy, I can feel the burn!" Lamashtu said with a cheerful laugh, his back legs straining the most from trying to push the cart forward while his shoulders held the weight of the harness, "Come on Lamashtu, you can do it..." He panted, and finally the cart got enough momentum to begin rolling.
Well, the worst was over, getting the cart started was certainly harder than keeping it moving, but Lamashtu knew this was going to be a long day. Now that it was going he had to make sure that he kept it that way, and didn't over-exert himself. After all, he couldn't just take the cart and not bring it back! Apparently the human who hooked him up had the same realization, since shortly after the cart began moving he climbed into the back with Imnir, apparently amused by the mokai's determination to pull it.
"Hey!" Lamashtu barked as the extra weight halted his movement once more. "Oh, you want a ride too?" He laughed, though he knew the human couldn't understand him. "Well I'll try. Here goes..." The splatter-marked mokai gritted his teeth and began to pull again. The only reason he was able to get it moving this time was that he had loosened the wheels already, and he was only just moving it.
'Come on come on come ON!' Lamashtu let a growl escape him as the strain on his muscles continued. It was by no means a growl of frustration or anger, simply a release due to the pain in his protesting muscles. He just had to keep going, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot... Oh, here comes a turn! Lamashtu had barely realized where he was going, and right how he was going to run into a building (admittedly at very very low speed) if he didn't work on making a left turn pretty quick here.
"Left, left, left!" He told himself, desperately trying to turn the cart without loosing too much momentum. There was no way he was going to be able to get it started moving again now, he couldn't stop until he was back where he started. "Ok Lamashtu, you made it around that one... Just two more lefts and a right and then you're home free..."
His paws were beginning to ache, his stomach was rumbling, and he could almost feel Imnir staring at him from the cart, judging him, seeing if he was worth their time... He had to prove to them that he was! He had to work hard and make sure he didn't make Naomi regret giving him such a nice home, he had to pull his weight.
Actually, right now he had to pull it and more, but that was beside the point.
It seemed like an eternity since he had woken up, excited for this first ordeal. By the time Lamashtu finished turning his second left, it had been nearly half an hour due to the painfully slow speed he was moving at, though it was beginning to feel like hours, days even, since he had had any rest.
"Come ON!" He barked, this time out loud, and rounded the last left, his legs shaking and his lungs aching. "Almost there, almost there..." Wait, what was that sound? OH JOY! Lamashtu felt the weight he was pulling lessen as both Imnir and the human got out of the cart. Apparently this ride wasn't as thrilling as the human thought.
"Come on Lamashtu, get that cart back to where you got it already so I can get some lunch." Imnir said impatiently, "And before you hurt yourself."
"Can do, Imnir." Lamashtu gave him the best smile he could manage through the pain in his muscles and continued on, a little faster now that there was a significant decrease in weight, and within minutes he was back where he started, being unhooked by the human, and laying flat on the ground.
"Ok, I'm... I'm done for now..." Lamashtu panted, struggling to his feet and feeling rather odd now that he wasn't attached to that cart. He felt incredibly light, but still very tired and achy. "Let's go get lunch, Imnir." He managed a small laugh, "Did I do good?"
"You actually did alright, I'm impressed." Imnir said with a smirk, "Didn't expect someone like you to be able to handle that much for that long, but you did it. You're alright in my book, kid." He laughed, "Let's get you some food and water, you've earned it."
(1203 words, according to MS Word)
