Rogue Apprentice, Prologue: Steam
#1 of Rogue Apprentice
Disclaimer : This story contains an erotic scene between two males. If you're under 18 and/or aren't into that sort of thing, it would be a good idea to stop reading immediately.
This is my first story on YS, so I must apologize in advance for any odd formatting errors that result from a misunderstanding of something in the submission procedures. I'll try to deal with any problems that may arise once this gets posted. I must also warn that I'm likely to make some small corrections and 'adjustments' now and then as my indecisive mind may demand. Anyways...
Don't hesitate to leave a comment. I intend to continue this story and any feedback you may provide will help make it better.
Enjoy!
A lone arrow soared through the night sky. If it were any more sentient than the average arrow, it might have appreciated the tranquil scene through which it flew. The wind brushed against it, gentle and cool, lobbed inland by the mildly turbulent Spire Sea many miles away. There wasn't a cloud in the sky to obstruct the harvest moon from illuminating the field and intended destination of the arrow below. Passing swiftly through that destination was a fox on whom the evening's aesthetic qualities would not be lost.
This fox went by the name of Ethan. Simple, dark brown leathers clung to his sleek form, covering much of his white and vermillion fur. Trailing behind him was a mostly empty bag and one large, white-tipped tail below it. Turquoise eyes stared out into the night, obstructed only by a few stray strands of his mid-length, brown headfur. His blackened foot-paws dully thumped across the soft earth as they propelled him through the darkened field, falling silent on occasion to vault him over Mother Nature's little obstacles. Tonight may have been a failure for him, but at least the eve was not without merit.
Ethan looked up, taking in all that the sky had to offer as well as noticing one out-of-place piece of wood and steel. He envied that arrow briefly before veering to the left and letting it fall to rest in the damp earth beside him. Moments later, another glance over his shoulder provided a second eyeful of the thousands of stars contrasting the pitch-black sky. It was one good last look before his retreat would carry him into the nearby woods. Ethan frowned as a small part of it was blocked from his view by a violent gathering of gryphons, not unlike a cloud building up for one hellacious storm.
They were out for blood. Hardly an even trade, demanding something for the nothing stolen from them, but that's just how things were. After nearly a decade of thievery, Ethan knew full and well that attempted robbery tends to anger a mark as much as actually pulling it off without them knowing right away. Any thief would have preferred the later since it provided a much larger head start, but he didn't mind. Ethan acknowledged escape to be as big of a role in each job as the approach and pilfering. This wasn't the first time he was forced to flee empty-handed with the mark aware of his actions, but it had been a long time since something had gone wrong to that degree.
Initially marked for burglary only hours ago was the Brighwing Manor, a very large estate and home to an extremely prosperous family of gryphons. Ethan had snuck in easily enough, avoiding the servants and guards making their evening rounds as he crept through the halls. The locks protecting some of the rooms Ethan traveled through had provided little challenge as he headed toward the family's storeroom on the third floor of the manor. Their vault was an old design and equipped with tumblers that clicked audibly into place if one listened closely enough, so finding the right combination was a snap. Just as the vault door began to open, an elaborate mechanical trap that Ethan failed to detect set off a small alarm in the guard's quarters.
There had been very little in the past that could stop Ethan from performing his trade several nights each week, but times were changing. Such a device that ruined tonight's mission had been unheard of until recently. Several close calls spanning the past few weeks foreshadowed what transpired in Brighwing Manor. Many new traps of this kind had started to show up, nearly catching him off-guard more than once. They were all clever, but as with any new machination, the design was still very intuitive and not yet perfected in application. Tonight, however, answered Ethan's pondering about how long it would be before he was foiled by such a device as they improved.
Fortunately enough for Ethan, the pair of guards investigating the alarm did nothing to silence their approach. He had to suppress a laugh as their superfluous conversation reminded him how these proud gryphons liked to hear the sound of their own voice, but his mind quickly snapped back to the situation at hand. There wasn't enough time for Ethan to mask what he had been doing, so he was reluctantly forced to abandon the vault along with some of his tools. From what little he had seen inside that vault, calling this family wealthy was an understatement and leaving it all intact would be nothing short of tragic to any thief. Ethan let out a sigh, attached his rope to a nearby window and began his descent. While he was still only halfway down, the two guards spied Ethan's hook and peered down outside the window, spotting the culprit. By the time they decided cut the rope in an attempt to make him fall, he had already jumped and started sprinting away from the ruckus building up inside the manor.
Ethan knew he could lose his pursuers in the dense forest hundreds of feet away, but it wouldn't change the fact that a gryphon's wings could travel much faster than the feet of any fox until then. Before he knew it, that gathering cloud of gryphons was approaching close enough to pour all manner of ranged weaponry down upon him. The first few shots weren't terribly accurate, but as the gap closed, the gryphons' aim improved. Ethan's growing fatigue from the extended chase wasn't helping either. Several arrows and the occasional spear began to reach within inches of the fox.
"Just a few more seconds..." Ethan thought as he was within a stone's throw of the forest. Suddenly, a shrill yip cut through the dull cacophony of wings beating, feet pounding, and steel striking the earth. A fine spray of blood spattered across Ethan's headfur and snout, following a javelin that had just pierced through his left ear. All he could do was grit his teeth as he dove into the woods and continued running, chased by the fading sound of confused shouting and projectiles striking the outer trees.
Ethan's ear burned with a painful sensation beyond anything he had felt before, but he had to continue. His pace slowed to a quickened, but careful walk after he heard the gryphons flying above. They had seemed to spread out, sweeping over the thick canopy as they searched for any sign of him. A touch of the injured ear and that sharp sense of pain again confirmed that a sizeable wedge had been removed from the outer edge of it. As luck would have it, he came across a small outcropping of rock under which he could hide for a few minutes. Ethan reached into one of the smaller pouches of his bag and pulled out a roll of bandages. He folded his ear back and wrapped up that portion of his head, still wincing at the pain. As he finished tending to his wound, Ethan noticed that the gryphons could no longer be heard and figured it was safe to continue.
The rest of the walk gave him some time to think. Although Ethan wasn't by any means old, he certainly wasn't getting any younger, just as thieving wasn't going to get any easier. A sense of doubt began to prod at his thoughts. He'd have to do something if he wanted to continue successfully and more importantly, alive, but what? Thoughts raced through his head while he considered the consequences of any changes he could make to his thieving methods. It got to the point where a headache started to build from all the stress. He was still a few miles away from the town he had planned on staying at for the night when, by some serendipitous chance, he caught an unusually warm and humid breeze. Ethan glanced over in the direction it came from and spotted a sizeable, natural hot spring. A small clearing in the treetops ushered in a soft moonlight glow about the area. He couldn't help but speak aloud: "Thank the gods."
Ethan's bag and other gear dropped to the ground and his shirt was undone. Doing this revealed his slightly muscular torso with a subtle definition barely visible beneath the white fur of his chest. A quick look around the area allowed Ethan to determine he was alone. He slid off his pants, tossed them onto the pile of gear, and stepped down into the warm water. After several minutes of relaxation and letting his headache clear, Ethan slowly removed the bandages from his head and set them on the rock that surrounded the spring. It felt like the bleeding had stopped, but not before leaving a large part of the bandaged area matted in dried blood.
The spring's warm water gently flowed around Ethan's entire body as he submerged himself fully. He rubbed carefully at his ear and head, slowly working the mess out of his fur. He couldn't get all of it cleaned before his lungs demanded more air, so he rose above the water once again, just in time to be greeted by the sound of another body entering the spring. Startled, Ethan hastily wiped the water from his eyes and was able to see the tiger that had climbed in on the other side just a few feet away. He had left his clothes on the ground behind him, just as Ethan had. As he settled in, the tiger's green eyes came to meet with Ethan's, staring through the light steam rising above the water.
"I hope I'm not intruding," said the tiger, "I didn't think anyone else really knew about this place, much less that they would be visiting at this hour."
"No, I--" Ethan started to respond, now able to clearly see the stranger. He looked to be a young adult, Ethan couldn't have been more than 5 years his senior. The tiger was a little smaller than most and appeared somewhat lean. Long, black hairfur tied back behind his head matched the many stripes that cut through the rest of his predominantly white fur. And sitting just below the water's surface... "N-no not at all," Ethan quickly resumed, blushing slightly as he became conscious of his long pause, "I accidentally stumbled across this spring as I was making my way towards Ceridwen and thought it would be worth stopping for."
The tiger's tail gave a small twitch. "Ah, Ceridwen, a pretty nice town." he responded, his voice trailing off on the last few words before his ears quickly perked up seconds later. "Oh! By the way, the name's William." He leaned away from the edge of the spring, extending a paw towards Ethan.
"Ethan." He reached out to William's paw and shook. With his gaze falling to rest upon the tiger's eyes once again, Ethan couldn't help but notice he was staring at his left ear and what little blood remained around it. "Highwaymen, two of them. I just barely escaped to these woods with my life not too long ago."
"Oh, I see." William replied with a grimace. "Well, I can't let your stay in my neck of the woods be entirely inhospitable." He saw Ethan's slightly confused look. "I mean... Would you mind if I helped clean that up? My father was a doctor, so I think I might be able to help you out. With that ear."
Ethan chuckled, "By all means, I would appreciate it." He moved over so William could sit to his left. The tiger wet his paws and began to slowly work the dried blood from Ethan's ear and surrounding scalp. The light touch on Ethan's sensitive ears paired with the tiger's warm, musky scent began to arouse Ethan to the point where he slightly turned away to conceal his growing erection. He wished he could act, but refrained as he usually did in such a situation. For all he knew, the tiger was just trying to be helpful. As William's paws moved down the back of Ethan's neck, it started to resemble a massage until one paw passed over an odd-shaped scar just below the base of his neck that had been there for years. The tiger's paws stopped moving altogether then lifted from Ethan's back. The fox turned to face William. "What's--"
William's eyes shot downward to the surface of the water then back up to the fox, grinning wickedly. Before Ethan could say another word, William was upon him. Ethan instinctually reached towards the pile of clothes for his dagger, stopping just short as he realized that it wasn't an attack. It was an embrace. William's arms wrapped around Ethan and locked his lips around the fox's mouth.
Ethan could have easily overpowered the smaller tiger, but even the faintest idea of doing so left his mind as he was overwhelmed by a sensation he hadn't felt in years. He let the tiger's tongue explore his muzzle. He let the tiger's mouth move down to nibble playfully on his neck. He let the tiger's paws move slowly downward across his chest, eventually coming to rest on his fully erect member. The whole time, all Ethan could manage a soft moan while his legs stiffened, sliding all above his knees out above the water onto the smooth rock surrounding the spring. William shifted with the fox and allowed his mouth to follow his hand's example in working its way down the front of the fox, still licking and nibbling gently. It too found its way to Ethan's cock and took it all in.
The night had cooled with little wind sweeping through the forest, causing the steam to freely rise and spread around the spring, enveloping the two slowly moving bodies within. For everything that Ethan could have thought about: the thievery gone wrong, his future, why this tiger was so freely behaving as he was in a country that treats homosexuality as harshly as witchcraft... it was all blocked from his mind just like the steam that was occluding the physical world around them. The only thing that mattered was right here, simply the moment and feeling alone.
William's head began to bob rhythmically over Ethan's cock. His tongue worked its way around the shaft and sheath while his paws slowly caressed Ethan's balls and thighs. This went on for several more minutes until Ethan's body could bear the ecstasy no longer. His shoulders pressed at the rock, slightly arching his back with the feeling of climax. The fox's cock released the load that had been gathering quickly into the tiger's waiting mouth where it was promptly swallowed down. Panting lightly, Ethan relaxed and let his back gradually fall to rest again on the damp rock before he slid back into the spring a short moment later.
Ethan placed a paw on the tiger's shoulder. "H-how did you know? You could have... I--" he stammered.
"Ssshh." William purred. He took Ethan's paw from his shoulder and moved it down toward the right side of his chest. Ethan's eyes followed and widened suddenly as that paw felt a familiar series of bumps. His other paw flew to the scar below the back of his own neck, but it was pointless. He already knew it was the same mark. William and Ethan gazed into each other's eyes, nothing needing to be said. They both wrapped their arms around each other with the steam continuing to rise around them as one.