Body language was always important. It was important for humans and it was important for Lycothans as well. And the discussion had only made it more important. I'd never thought much of Thralls, even as a prisoner. The Lycothans treated the ones they had as pets, and they had played a major role in the conquest of Earth. Most of the ones killed in the invasion had been Thralls, according to the news reports that I had seen, but they even managed attack those that had initially resisted. It was probably a lot of that that had gotten Lara captured on her journey to become Lartara, which she'd told me had been rather rapid. Yet the details on what had lead to the invasion and what had been done in it clashed with your human memories, and that lead to some pretty obvious body language.
I had lowered my tail so that it hung limp behind me. I had pivoted my ears back and down as I looked down. It made it pretty obvious that I wasn't sure that the Thralls that were out there running feral were happy. Some of it was thinking over the fact that I had been given choices regarding my fate. Some of it was wondering over what had happened to Katie, especially if she had escaped the invasion and was in hiding. She wouldn't last long against a feral Thrall. And at the same time, I really wasn't sure if someone who was human who had essentially been reduced to being a massive wolf like creature with no mental ability beyond a mundane wolf or dog could really be happy.
"Harkaal?" Eira said to me, "You okay?"
I looked over to her, and she had clearly recognized my unease.
"Yeah," I gave a weak smile, "I suppose..."
"But you care for the Thralls?" Eira asked.
"I'm not sure they are happy," I answered, "I mean... all of us were human at one point... but you and I, Eira... we chose to change and become what we are now. And we are still pretty much the same intellectually as we were when we were human... about the only thing that really changed for us, is what we are on the outside..."
"Warriors generally aren't great thinkers," Lartara commented, "We're good with military, security, and hunting matters... but our caste isn't the intellectual one. That is actually in the Alphas and Servant castes... the Alphas primarily with regard to politics and "grand strategy" with the Servants actually having most of our scientific, mathematical, and knowledge for knowledge's sake..."
"The Servants are the intellectuals?" Eira asked.
"So they may better serve us or the Alphas," Lartara nodded.
"All the same..." I said slowly, "Is it that fair that we get to largely keep our minds when we gain our power... but the Thralls find themselves reduced to being simple animals?"
Eira glanced between you and Lartara for a moment. She was probably a bit confused on my answer. I was sure that Lartara had some understanding, as she remembered being Lara as I remembered being Haley.
"It was unavoidable," Lartara said after a moment, the tone of her voice accepting in a way, but not that different from your own on the matter. "The Alphas didn't want to risk an organized resistance inflicting heavy losses by simply landing Warriors. The attack ships could help... and did in the invasion... but without Earth's militaries being decimated by the Thrall Mist Virus... they might have been vulnerable to fighter aircraft or the nuclear weapons which would have ruined the idea for making Earth what Lycothos should have been... They couldn't really do anything else."
That didn't make me feel much better. I understood Lartara's point, but it didn't necessarily make me feel better. Again, Eira noticed this and gave a sigh. She came up to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulders.
"We can't change the past, Harkaal... and who knows, maybe they are happy in a way," Eira spoke, "maybe the Servants can find a way to turn them from Thralls into male Warriors...It's possible, right?"
"Possible," Lartara gave a shrug, "but never tried."
"See," Eira commented and held you to her, "The Thralls were needed to help int he conquest... and once all that is over... they'll surely turn to solving that issue. And we can all be happy."
"I hope so," I answered with a nod.
"In the meantime," Eira commented, and licked my cheek, "let's enjoy that we are together... as sisters... as friends..."
I looked over to her again. Eira gave a reassuring smile. Her ears were perked and her gold eyes were soft and I could see a sort of inner twinkle in them. It reminded me of how isolated I had been as a prisoner. There I had more often than not been alone and in that cell. Sure, I had occasionally been allowed out to be with Emily or Amanda, or to try and console Casey for how she felt after losing her parents, but in many ways I was still isolated. I had always returned to my solitary confinement with the "threat" of losing my humanity or the others would lose their humanity before me. And in the end, that happened. Emily became the Lycothan before me and there wasn't much in Eira that had been Emily and that Alpha took her threats to the point where I chose to become Harkaal. If Amanda and Casey saw me now, they likely would see very little in Harkaal that had been Haley.
Yet, as Harkaal, I felt a connection to Lartara, to Eira, to Raksha, to Verozza, to Marrh, to Sartari, to Tarrgh, to Lexeira, to Nyl, and to Lesroia that the closest thing I had felt as a human to that bond had been my relationship with Katie, my biological sister. The bond I felt to Lartara and Eira as Harkaal had killed the isolation I had felt as a prisoner. The promise from Eira that the Thralls could be helped and that they could become full Lycothan Warriors rather than being left as "animals" was reinforced by the sisterly bond I felt to Eira. Even Lartara seemed to agree with Eira that Thralls might one day become full Lycothans with us. I then reinforced my sisterly bond with Eira by hugging the brown furred she-wolf.
"Thank you, Eira," I said to Eira, relishing the bond I felt with her. Eira might not be Emily, and I may not be entirely used to Eira's personality, but she was my sister, and the bond her with her did make me feel better.
"Your welcome, Harkaal," Eira answered and hugged me back.