Tales of Daemia CH2: Lets go out for a run.

Story by Fleet on SoFurry

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#2 of Tales of Daemia


This is an adult story featuring male furry characters engaging in sexual acts, so if you don't want to read this or if you are under the age of 18 (21 in some countries), please hit the back button or close this window now.

Sorry in advance for mistakes :(

K this is chapter 2~

again, i'll probably switch between 1st and 3rd person in an attempt to confuse you :| sorry

anyways this is a bit longer but have fun :)

Mmm it's Saturday and I can sleep in today.

I stretched out and curled my toes until I heard them pop. My right arm is asleep.

"Go back to sleep," a disembodied voice said, "We dun have to do anythin today."

I smiled to myself. No, we sure don't. Wait what? Dun?

I opened my eyes to see sunlight pouring into the room. Miko was lying on my right arm and nuzzling my hand. I smiled even broader than before. For the first time in a long time, I was happy when I woke up.

It wasn't a dream.

Quickly reaching under the covers I checked myself, then I reached over and groped Miko.

Nope, definitely not a dream.

"Mmm what was that for?" Miko asked as he sleepily rolled over.

I exhaled before replying; "Just making sure I wasn't dreaming."

Miko smiled as he slid closer to me. "I'm glad you're still here too,"he said after some time.

I could see better now that there was plenty of light in the room. The floor was wooden and well worn. The walls weren't white like I had previously thought. In fact, they were light blue. The blue extended to the ceiling, which was covered and smooth unlike the lounge area I was in last night. The ceiling angled up on all four sides and had clouds painted here and there. At the very center of the ceiling was a section of blue stained glass with a yellow sun in the center.

Cute.

Miko looked at me before he realized. "Oh I guess you really didn't get a good look at the room last night," he said.

I smirked. "No I had something else on my mind last night," I said happily as I looked at Miko. "Say, Do you know how to use any of those Miko?" I asked as I pointed to the wall of weapons. I could see them better now. There were more of them than I thought. Miko said something but I was too lost in thought to make any of it out. "What?" I asked.

"All of them!" he repeated himself.

I was floored. There had to be fifteen or so different types of weapons on that wall. I could understand knowing how to use as many as five, but all of them? Miko leaned over and kissed me.

"Come on," he said, "we're going out today."

Going out?

Before I let my mind wonder on what he meant by 'going out' a shadow cast itself across the the window, blanking out the whole room. My eyes shot towards the window to see what would have caused such a large shadow so quickly. My jaw dropped.

W-What is that? It's HUGE!

I pressed myself against the window before turning back to Miko for an answer.

"Dun you have airships where you're from?"Miko asked the question like I was some country bumpkin. The ship was huge. It wasn't like a zeppelin or anything I had ever seen before. It looked more like a wooden ship from the history books but with helicopter rotors instead of sails.

How is that even flying?

The ship lost my attention as I started to notice the cityscape. The buildings and houses all looked old and outdated. There didn't appear to be any steel or plastics anywhere. Everything was built out of wood and rocks -or covered in plaster. As I looked up to my left, I could see a tall building at the top and as I looked down to my right, at the bottom of the town was a huge wall that surrounded the whole city. It was almost like a huge staircase and we were halfway up it.

Miko broke the silence: "Belleforte is like a big cone-shape. The lower, outer buildings are all houses and hotels. Most of the homeless live there too. The next 'ring' in is a little higher and is where all of the industr-industria... Well the factories are there. The next 'ring' up is the middle one. Our house is there and It's where all the merchants and shops are. Most of the night clubs and bars are there too. The next 'ring' up is where all of the upper class business are. You go there for things like banks, realtors, specialty shops, oh and the auction house is there. Up at the top," he pointed to a small band of obviously upper class buildings and houses, "is where most of the nobility live. At the very tip-top of Belleforte is the castle and the airship dock. Oh, I forgot, there's a wall all the way around the city -it's like a circle with three main gates." Miko paused before looking at me and asking,"You really dun know how you got here?" Before I could make a reply, he sprang out of bed and flung open the closet. "Come on," he called, "we get to play dress up!" Miko dressed himself up in red linen pants, a white linen shirt with a brown linen vest. To top it off he wore a brown linen hat with a wide brim and holes cut out that his hears stuck through. I wore some blue linen pants with a matching blue linen shirt. The blue shoes looked as if they'd never been warn before. His clothes fit a little tight for their standards but I thought they were perfect. Miko clapped when I had everything on. "You look great!" he exclaimed.

I feel dumb

"I feel weird,"I muttered, "don't you guys wear underwear?"

"Underwear?" Miko repeated, "Like undergarments? Haha, only women wear undergarments."

I blushed a little bit.

Stupid crazy planet.

"Well," I started, "What about a shower?" I could see the confused look on Miko's face again. "Or a bath?" I questioned.

Miko paused as he felt his chest. "I do need one, but we dun have time,"he explained, "we gotta get back 'for Boss gets here."

Who is the 'boss' guy everyone seems to talk about?

Miko tossed me a belt. I looked up at him questionly. "You might need it," he said.

"For wha-!"I shrieked as I jumped out of the way. The dagger stuck in the floor a few feet behind where I was standing.

Miko looked back at me and was terror struck. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" he cried as he ran over and hugged me, "I thought you'd be able to use something simple like a kris!" He broke the hug and looked up at me, he looked as if he was about to start crying.

"Shh no it's ok."I consoled him, "It's fine you just surprised me is all. No, I don't know how to use but I'll carry it just in case, thanks." I anticipated his next question and he nodded appreciatively. "Are we ready then?" I asked as I pointed to his door.

"Yeah", Miko nodded, "I jus gotta get a money bag from Sheldon." Miko unbolted his door and flung it open. Sheldon was standing in the doorway, poised, and ready to knock on the now open door.

"Well good," he paused "I'm glad you two decided to get up before noon. I take it you got along all right last night?" We both nodded slightly. "Good", Sheldon continued as he turned to Miko, "Here's the money for the shipment. There's eighteen pents in there and you'll only need fifteen to pay the bill. You two go out and get something to eat if you want."

Miko smiled as he took the coin purse, "Thanks a bunch Sheldon," he said as he open the main door and stepped outside. I took a step towards the front door but Sheldon grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him.

"Be careful with Miko," he whispered into my ear, "he's fragile." He released my arm and took a step back.

I know.

Sheldon smiled as he waved, "Now you two have a good time." I nodded back to him and said thanks as we left.

***

As we stepped out onto the street I noticed everyone was looking at me.

Am I really that different? There are walking and talking animals around here!

I brushed off the unwelcomed stares for now and began to take in the town. The streets had an old English feel to them -cobblestone as far as the eye could see. I looked back to the house we came out of.

Three stories? Where were the stairs?

It was pretty obvious the house was large compared to the others. It made sense though. Miko said there were seven people in the house after all. I followed Miko as we began to walk downhill. His tail was swishing from side to side in anticipation I suppose.

"We'll get something to eat first," he said in a raised voice, "I'm starving."

"Great!"I exclaimed. We walked down hill for about three city blocks.

This town is huge!

I can see all the way down to one of the main gates but it hasn't gotten any close since we started walking. We passed all sorts of shops on our way; weapon shops, armor shops, jewely stores, bakeries, butchers, and this was only one of the main streets.

After a few more blocks, Miko paused. "This way," he motioned. We took a right off of the main street down some road that didn't look too inviting. The smell of food flooded my nose and my mouth began to water. I wasn't sure what it was, but it smelt good. Miko looked back and grinned. "I hope you like this place," he said, "it's one of my favorites." The sign was old and faded but you could still read 'Rockbelle's Restaurant'. Miko opened the door and stepped through with me practically on his tail.

"Oy! 'bout time I was seein ya 'round here 'gain Miko!," called the dog behind the bar.

I'm not sure what he was supposed to be. He looked like a mut to me.

"Hey Benny!" Miko replied.

"And?," the dog asked pointing at me.

"Oh, sorry, this is my friend Corbin," Miko started, "he's from outta town."

"I see that," Benny said looking me over, "well wot will ya be havin then? The usual?" Miko smiled and looked at me as he ordered: "Yeah Benny, that'd be great. Just two of the usual and two mugs of mead."

Great he ordered for me. Atleast I won't look like an idiot ordering food that doesn't exist here.

"Oy! that be 20 ets Miko!" Benny yelled.

Miko tossed him a shiny coin, "Keep the change." he replied. Benny smiled and took off towards the kitchen.

"What did you just give him?" I asked.

"Oh you probly dun know. He asked for 20 ets and there's 50 ets in one pent. I gave him a pent. There's also 20 pents in one lot but you dun usually see thins for a lot unless you're nobility or somethin." Miko explained. Benny came back and gave us our mead.

"It doesn't look like they card people here," I chuckled to myself. Miko and I made small talk while we waited on our food. He explained how him and the others at the house put a lot of money back into the local businesses. It was like a Robbin Hood story to an extent.

Benny came back out with our food shortly after that. "Here ya go boys," he said as he sat the platters down infront of us, "tell me if ya need anythin else." We both nodded as he walked off.

Fish.

"Wow this looks good" I said.

"Yeah I love the fish here, and they give you large servins,"Miko exclaimed. I'll admit the fish was really good but I wasn't so sure about the side dishes.

"What is this?" I asked Miko as I pointed to the green stringy vegetable.

"Oh that's freshwater sweet weed," he said matter of factually, "you boil it and it tastes really good." He was right. The weed tasted like a sweeter green pea. I didn't ask about the other dish, I just gulped it down without a thought. It wasn't too bad. We said our goodbyes to Benny as we exited the small restaurant. We must have attracted the wrong crowd while we were eating. Two guys I recognized from inside where waiting on us. There was a taller one wielding a short sword and a shorter one leaning against the wall, patting a club in his hand. I took a step back but Miko put his hand up in assurance.

"We'll be takin that money bag you been throwin around," demanded the taller one. He had a scar down one side of his face. He's probably done this more than a few times before.

I need to do something! I need to get help!

I started to look around for something, anything!

Miko held up his hand again. "Relax," he said cooly, "we're fine."

The taller man frowned. "What was that you flea bag?" he spat.

"Enuf tokin, lets get em." the shorter of the two said. At that, the two bandits charged at us while Miko slowly pulled out his dagger.

It seemed like the world slowed down just for me at that moment:

The first bandit's sword came clashing strait down on top of Miko, but Miko quickly side-stepped the attack, shifted the dagger in his hand and trusted the point strait into the broad side of the sword. The sword shattered in an instant causing the first bandit to lose his balance and fall down. Miko put all of his weight on his left foot and stopped. Using his right foot, Miko quickly kicked the second bandit who was directly behind him. Following through with the momentum of his kick, Miko brought his arm that held his dagger over his head and then strait down splitting the club the bandit held from end to end. The sharp ringing of the dagger was heard echoing down the empty alley. Miko threw the dagger down with such ferocity that the now split club was visibly smoking as it laid on the cold stone street.

"We'll be going now," Miko said quietly.

Time returned to its normal speed as the two club halves bounced on the cobblestones.

Wow. What was that?

We walked back to the main street and took a right strait into a small shop. Both of us were silent as we walked slowly back to the house after paying the bill.

***

Benny cracked open the door of his restaurant to see what caused the ruckus. He saw the two would be bandits sitting on the ground in disbelief and caught a glimpse of Miko and Corbin as they rounded the corner. "You idiots!" Benny shouted, "Don't you know who that was?" Both the bandits looked at Benny. "You're lucky he didn't kill you!" Benny yelled as he shut his door.

***

When we arrived at the house, Miko opened the heavy front door and I closed it behind us.

"Did you two have fun?" Sheldon asked as we entered.

Miko coldly walked by without even giving Sheldon a glance as we moved into Miko's room. Miko stopped at the foot of the bed as I shut the door behind us. He was clenching his fists tightly.

"I'm sorry, he said, "I didn' wan you to see anythin like that."

I hesitated before replying, "Oh! No. Don't worry about it. I should be thanking you for stopping those two thugs!"

Miko slowly turned to face me. I was sure he was afraid of how I would react to him. "Y-You're not afraid of me then?" Miko asked cautiously. Miko's eyes were cast to the ground as he finished the question. His ears were pressed flat against his head and his face expressed the pure anguish he was going through.

Poor guy. What has he been through?

I walked over to Miko and he flinched as I wrapped my arms around him. "Hey," I said, "I promised I was never going to leave you, remember?" Miko slowly hugged me and nodded his face in my chest. I could feel Miko's tears through the thin linen shirt.

***

"Where is HE?" A loud voice rumbled through the large house.

A loud pounding came at the door.

"Miko? Out here. Now!" The voice commanded.

Miko quickly pulled himself away from me and wiped his face. "Yes Boss," he called as he opened the door. The door swung open to revealing an armor clad person.

I'm guessing this is Boss

Boss was a fairly tall black bear. It was hard to tell but he looked to be around six foot three or four. His armor was obviously some sort of heavy plate armor but it was black and looked like it had a lacquer finish to it. Down the left side of his face and across his left eye, he wore a deep scar. Boss was probably lucky to still have his eye. Both of his fists were clenched towards me and I could clearly see the eight lavishly decorated rings he wore. Each ring was on a different finger, and had a different color.

"Is that him?" Boss began to question Miko.

Miko nodded.

"Were you crying?"

Miko just stood still, neither answering yes nor no.

"What did he do to you!?"

Again, Miko stood motionless.

Boss directed his steely gaze directly at me.

"What did you do to Miko?" He demanded.

"I-I..."I struggled to answer but was frozen in fear.

Miko stepped in front of me and stretched his arms out wide. "He didn' do anythin. It was my fault," he said.

Boss started to edge down from all the yelling as he smiled. "That's good," he said sternly, "get dressed and follow me to the lounge." Miko looked up surprised but was interrupted by Boss before he could say anything; "You heard me Miko."

"Come on," Miko said as he quietly shut his door.

***

"I don't understand!" I exclaimed.

"Everyone has their job in the house," Miko started, "you gotta run to stay.

Run?

"Run?" I asked.

"Yeah, dun worry though. You'll be fine." Miko said from the back of his closet. He was moving boxes and small tins around until he came to a small misused chest with a lock on the front. Miko popped the lock in a instant and pulled out a suit. "I want you to wear this,"Miko said. I didn't argue as I quickly undressed and slipped the suit on. It seemed almost like spandex and just as thin, only after I had the suit on completely, the outer portion of the suit seemed to harden. "Put his on over it too," Miko said as he tossed me a leather suit identical to his. I put the suit on and we walked back over to Miko's door. Miko sighed. "Don't worry, you'll be fine," he repeated. I think he said it more for himself than for me. Miko opened the door and we stepped out into the lounge.

"Ah there he is," Boss commented. He cleared his throat and began again; "We don't have much time so I'll explain this quickly. Everyone here in the house is here for a reason. You are the only exception. Normally, to get where you are now, you would have to had began at our training compound on third main and then move to our second house on second main. If, and I mean IF, you had proven yourself an asset to the Shadow, you would have had the option to challenge first house and succeed in order to 'move in'." He explained. "Now, since you are already here and we are in need of a runner at the moment, I have decided to skip the mentioned steps and move directly to the challenge. I'll make the rules simple; you are holding a message that has to be delivered. You are by yourself in enemy territory. You have one hour before reinforcements arrive. All you have to do is hold out for an hour and you pass. Those two, " he pointed to the bench against the far wall, " will be giving chase.

My focus changed from Boss in front of me, to the two sitting silently in the back. The two were clad in the iconic black leather armor I'd gotten used to seeing by now. The only difference were the masks the pair was wearing. I couldn't see what kind of creature they were. Their fur was black as midnight but shiny and well kept. They seemed to be twins aside from their different taste in weapons and the different colored bandanas tied to their tales. The figure with the blue cloth tied around his tale had two axes. The large axe on his left was large and flat, and the blade extended all the way back down to the bottom of the handle. The smaller axe on his right was close to a fourth in size of the other axe and was almost perfectly round aside from the spike protruding from the back of the blade. The blade of the smaller axe wasn't solid either. There were patterns of holes and long, sweeping teardrop-like shapes cut into the blade to where the blade almost looked like a stencil. The other figure had a pink cloth tied around her tail and it was obvious her breastplate was more rounded around her bust. She had two bows and one quiver on her back, with a single hand crossbow on her left thigh. The bolts for the crossbow were attached to her outer right thigh. I counted eight of them.

"Well then," Boss said after allowing me to look over the pair in the back, you have five minutes for a head start. I suggest you use it. Oh, and Miko, "he paused has he turned his head towards Miko, "you go out in thirty."

Miko frowned and stepped back into his room before slamming the door.

The twin black figures in the back of the room stood up in unison and looked to Boss for permission to start. Boss looked back at me with a wide toothy grin. "You better run while you have the time," he said menacingly, "I wouldn't want you to make a mess on my floor."

***

Shit.

I bolted out the front door not bothering to close it. I hesitated at first, looking up the street to my right, and then back down to my left. I had only been down before and it was only once today. The streets were still fresh in my mind so I bolted off down hill towards the main gate.

Damnit! I stalled too long. How did I get into this so suddenly?

I dodged around a cart and jumped over some short barrels. I could see the street to my right coming up ahead.

What is that?

!

I jumped to my right as I saw an arrow strike the ground next to me and skip down the street. She was standing at the door when she shot that!

Impossible! That's got to be at least 300 yards!

I didn't have time to finish my thoughts as I rounded the corner and ran down the narrow alley as fast as I could. There's the small restaurant. I ran by without even looking in the windows to see if Benny was still working or not. The narrow street snaked around taller buildings. Potholes made up about 40% of the area of the narrow corridor. I was jumping over every other one, trying my best to keep my pace. Some young furs saw me coming and ran to my right back uphill. I rounded the corner and they were gone. The road ended at a fence. I frantically searched for anything to get me out of here.

Ah.

I moved the loose board out of the way and closed the gap as I quickly squeezed through. I ran about twenty feet from the fence when I heard the fence splinter into a thousand pieces. I turned to see the axe wielding figure in black destroy the fence with one swing of his larger axe. Before he even regained his posture, he threw the smaller, rounded axe strait at me. I could see the blur coming at me but as I watched the axe turn in air, It began to slow down and I began to count the number of rotations. It was so simple. Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, the axe was close enough for me to touch it but I simply stepped out of the way and watched in amazement as the intricate axe floated by me. Then, as if time was gradually tuned up to full speed again, the axe accelerated and dug inches into the stone wall at the end of the lane. I heard a low growl coming from the pursuer as he stared me down through his mask.

I don't know what's causing that, but I can get used to it.

The black figure began to charge me as I regained my thoughts. I dove into a low window of a house and pushed myself past the shady characters gathered in one of the rooms. Amongst the confusion, the mob began to chase me. Down a hallway, a left, up the stairs, down another hallways, up a ladder. I found myself on the roof by accident. I slammed the roof door back over and pushed a shelf of scrap metal over onto it just in time to hear pounding from under the pile. I smiled to myself as I bought my first breather since I started running. There were a few buildings I could jump to from this one. I surveyed the area around me. I could see first house up the hill about four blocks away. The house was so much larger than the surrounding buildings. As I looked back to my right I noticed I was about halfway between first and third street.

Third street is supposed to be the worst part of town.

I heard a low whirl as I glanced over. I looked just in time to see an arrow shoot strait up past the roof line. I lost the arrow in the sun but I could tell the arrow had a rope tied to it.

Shit, I gotta move fast.

In a split second decision, I judged the landing place of the arrow and hastily grabbed one of the large sheets of scrap metal and placed it in approximate area. I crossed my fingers and jumped to another roof top. I raced across to the next one before hearing a distinct 'clank' from behind me. I smiled to myself as I leapt off a balcony onto a canvas tent. I slid down the side and touched down on an alien avenue. I took off to my right before giving my mind time to make a decision. I glanced at a small shop as a I ran by it.

Great timing.

I stopped in my tracks and ran back to the shop. You could see strait through the back door of the shop to another road. I ran through as the shop owner yelled obscenities at me. I flung the overhanging rug out of my way and sprinted down to the end of the alley. It was a cul-de-sac with a low fence at the end between two buildings. As I got closer to the stone fence, I realized the wall was actually twenty to twenty five feet high.

"There he is," yelled the female in black as she pointed at me.

I was trapped now. Only one thing to do. I ran as fast as I could towards the building left of the wall. I ran up the wall a few steps before kicking off and turning in mid air to catch a window facing with my hands. I glanced over to see the two giving chase were closing in on me fast. I hoisted myself up onto the window edge and jumped back across to another window a few feet higher. I lost my grip and slipped a foot under the window ledge as I managed to hang onto a brick with my right hand. I heard a 'thunk' and a low whirl as I saw an arrow flying strait for me. I watched in amazement as the arrow slowed down. I could count the rotations of the broad head as it got closer. I could clearly see the length of the arrow undulate as it closed to a few feet of me.

My shoulder.

She was aiming at my loose shoulder. I shifted my weight just enough to lower my shoulder under the mark of the arrow and cupped my hand around shaft of the arrow. My grip tightened as the arrow made contact with the wall and drug into the brick face of the building. In an instance time sped up. I Threw all my strength into my left arm and propelled myself up to grab the ledge. Before I could finish my movement I heard a hiss as the female pulled out the second bow on her back. It looked like a crude compound bow. She deftly pulled an arrow out and fired it quickly in one fluid motion. I didn't even hear the bow fire. As I looked back, I had almost no time to react. I dug my fingers into the window ledge and kicked my feet off the wall with all my might. The arrow looked as if it were aimed at my lower back as it flew right between my outspread legs and buried itself into the wall. As my momentum shifted and I fell back towards the ground, I let go of the window facing and pulled my legs under me in time to catch the stuck projectile to use it as a springboard. I reached with all my might to grab the wall. I wasted no time on contact to hoist myself over the wall and fall to the other side.

***

The male in black smiled behind his mask as he looked at his twin sister. "I want him." he said.

The sister stomped as she turned to face her brother. She pulled her mask back over her ears and hissed, "shut up Jolice! Let's just got home."

***

Fuck!

I landed hard on the other side of the wall. I bent my legs as I landed but it was such a high fall, I bottomed out pretty hard. I was lucky I didn't blow out my knees. I looked back at the top of the wall.

They shouldn't be following me anymore

I guessed I was close to third main now. Not sure how much time I had left, I turned to start running again. I stopped as I saw three guys walking up to me. The one in the middle had a sword and seemed to be the leader.

"Hey Mick, "the leader called to the guy on his right, "What do you say we got here?"

"Looks like someone's lost his way home," Mick replied slyly.

The third one smiled. "Dibs on the armor," he said.

I looked around desperately for a weapon of any sort. My back was against a wall. There was another dead end to my left. Third main seemed to be twenty yards through these guys. I wasn't sure what was to my right, it didn't matter. I just needed to do something. I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. The lump in my throat didn't want to go down. I balled my hands up into fists and charged all three of them. Before I reached my assailants, a black blur came from my right. It was like a scene from an action movie. The black clad figure crouched down and spun quickly to knock the first guy on his back. The leader tried to strike the blur with his sword but failed miserably as the shadow kicked the leader's hand, causing the sword to fly into the rope holding the canvas above them. The blur quickly rolled out of the way and stood next to the tent as it collapsed on itself. He seemed so cool standing there, completely ignoring the three under the canvas. He was dressed just like the twins. He wore the same black armor with the same expressionless mask. Around his tail was tied a red cloth. I understood at that moment that he was here for me. His posture changed as he pulled out a long pole arm off his back. An identical red cloth was tied around the end just before the massive blade. The blade was painted flat black to match the rest of his attire. Not even the blade had a hint of sheen to it.

The hunter in black took a half step towards me before leaping at me full force. I had little time to react as his massive weapon crashed into the stone street. Sparks flew and the whole area pitted where the weapon made contact. I rolled out of the way and ran to a small awning but I was cut off before I could run through to the other side. I ducked as the figure's weapon sliced through all of the support beams in one deep-felt swing. I barely escaped as the wooden frame came crashing down. As I turned, my attacker thrusted his weapon directly at me. I jumped back just to dodge another red blur from my left. I jumped over another red blur and ducked under another one. He spun around so fast I didn't have time to adjust to his attacks

Was he getting faster? Impossible.

As I finished my thought I caught the loathsome visage of red in the corner of my eye. It was too late to move. I strained my eyes with all my might on that red blur hoping to stop it like I had done to previous objects in the last hour. I watched as the blur shortened and came into focus.

His tail?

He was a smart little devil. He got me so caught up into dodging the color red, I had completely forgotten he had red cloth on his tail AND his weapon. He wasn't attacking me as fast as I thought. He was merely presenting the illusion he was attacking that fast. As I watched his tail get closer to me, I began to smile. I stopped myself from trying to move and simply grabbed a hold of his tail. The black figure stopped dead in his tracks. Since I was still seeing things in slow motion, I should be able to handle this no problem. The figure limboed strait backwards thrusted his pole arm strait back across his chest directly at me. Even seeing things in slow motion, the pole arm moved as if time were flowing at normal speed.

Impossibly fast!

All I could do was let go of his tail and stumble backwards. I caught my heal on a loose stone in the street and fell backwards against a wall. I tried to get up, to move, but the pole arm was in the wall just above me shoulder. I gazed back at the figure as his momentum from throwing the pole arm carried him over. He placed a hand on the ground and arched his back to do a tight handspring. He wasted no time as he expertly regained his balanced and pulled out a sword at his side. Time began to return back to normal as he ran over to me. I swallowed hard and closed my eyes as the black clad figure wrapped his free hand around my throat and pressed his thumb claw against my throat. He was too strong and too fast. I had no chance even from the beginning. If I somehow got away and tried to run, he'd stop me in an instance. I gave up at last.

*BONG*

What?

*BONG*

I opened my eyes and turned my head towards the sound, completely ignoring the hand around my neck. Up the street to my right, in the middle of a small square, I could see what looked like a bell tower.

*BONG*

I looked back to the creature in black as his grip loosened. He was shaking and I could hear muffled sounds from behind his steely mask. I gazed over his shoulder to see the twins from earlier running at us from third main.

"Im sorry," he said with a weary voice.

The voice was obscured by the mask and sounded like someone talking into a tin can.

*BONG*

I blacked out. The bell in the background echoed continually in my ears.

***

I sat up fast as I grabbed my leg.

Ah! Fucking cramp!

I was naked in Miko's bed. My hand trembled as I brushed it across my throat.

Was it a dream?

I rubbed the cramp out of my calf and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. The setting sun cast long shadow across the room. I walked over to the dresser I sat the candle on the night before. There was a single match laying next to the candle. I struck the match and lit the candle. I watched the flame dance as I stood there. It felt like I was missing something. The smell of food entered my thoughts, causing my stomach to grumble.

How long was I sleeping?

I took a step towards the door before I stopped myself.

Ha I can't go out there like this.

I quickly grabbed the candle and flung the closet door open. I noticed my left shoulder was sore. "Anything I want to wear huh?" I reminded myself. I grabbed some simple white pants and a red quilted shirt. They seemed to fit pretty well. I noticed some boxes had been moved around in the closet. In the back sat a small worn wooden chest with a lock on the front. I looked around frantically. One of Miko's suits was missing. In a last ditch effort to calm myself, I spun around to look at Miko's weapon wall.

No.

There was a bare spot on the far end where a pole arm should have been hanging.

"Next to his favorite." I thought out loud.

I rushed over to the closed door and nearly pulled it off the hinges. It looked like everyone in the house was there. Boss was sitting in a large chair next to the fireplace talking with someone still wearing their armor. I'd never seen them before but they were huge. His armor hid his face and the rest of his body down to his hooves.

Hooves?

Sheldon and Keita were sitting on the bench against the far wall sitting across from the twins. The twins were sitting on an identical bench that was pulled closer to the fireplace. This was the first time I had actually seen them.

Panthers maybe?

Boss turned his head as he heard the door swing open. "Ah! There's the guest of honor now," he announced as he stood up, "I was about to come and drag you out."

"Where's Miko?" I almost yelled.

"He's fine," Boss started, "he's..."

"Where?," I interrupted. I searched the faces around the room for an answer. I stopped at Keita's smile. His index finger was extended and pointing strait up. When he saw that he had my attention, he moved his arm and pointed to the door to his right that was propped open. I didn't waste any time bolting by all of them to the door. I grabbed the door facing as stopped in the entrance of the room. I looked to my left, and then up.

Stairs.

I took the stairs two at a time all the way up the first flight. I passed a closed door for the second floor and rounded up the stairs. I noticed my knees were hurting as I stopped in front of the third floor door. My heart was beating as I took a deep breath and reached for the door handle.

Locked!?

"How is it locked?" I screamed, "There's no where else to go!"

I looked around frantically. I stopped as I looked at the ceiling. A spring loaded set of stairs was hanging from the ceiling with a small white cord attached to the bottom step. I jumped and pulled the stairs down and started to climb up them before they had even reached the floor. There was an old trap door at the top with an iron ring for a handle. I pushed on the roof door with all my might and stepped out onto the roof. Miko was sitting on the edge of the roof holding something. I gasped as the wind caught the door and slammed it over onto the roof. Miko cringed as he heard the familiar clang of the door slamming open. He was still wearing the black leather armor from earlier. HIs tail was hanging over the edge of the roof.

So it was him then...

I walked slowly over to him. The pole arm was leaning against the chimney stack, his mask sitting next to him on the roof. As I inched closer, I noticed what Miko was holding, was the weird suit he wanted me to wear under the armor. He looked away from me as I sat next to him, his ears flat against his head.

"Hey," I said, "I'm fine, don't worry about it."

He was shaking. Miko tensed up as I put my arm around him and pulled him close to me. He had been crying again. He was all choked up and his words came out slowly as he spoke.

"I-I'm sorry," Miko's voice quavered, "I couldn't say anythin.." He trailed off.

"Shh I know." I said, "And look! I'm fine see?" I grabbed his hand and pulled it to my chest. His head spun around quickly and his ears perked up.

"You're not mad at me?" Miko asked quickly.

"Mad?" I said, "How could I be mad at you? You were just doing your job right?"

Miko nodded slightly. "Are you still going to stay? he inquired.

I smiled as I looked into Miko mismatched eyes. "A promise is a promise," I replied coyly.

Miko pecked me on the lips and hugged me tightly. "Oh." he said as he reluctantly pulled away from me, "We need to back downstairs." Miko grabbed my hand as he stood up and led me back to the stair case.

***

Boss flopped back into his chair as he eyed the rest of the room. He could feel their gazes upon him. He pawed his hands nervously before he spoke. "I think I was a little too rough on him." he said regretfully. The rest of the room nodded in agreement.

Keita held up his hand suddenly as he pointed strait up. He smiled to boss.

"I see," Boss replied, "well let's hope everything was smoothed over then."

***

sorry there wasn't really any yiff in this one

ill start writing the next one and have it out within the week

it'll be loads more yiffy :O