FSE

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The road from the Fell Bay to Grifon was a hard one, but Valen had seen more than his fair share of hard roads. The panther's bag was light with food and drink for one, and his long, hooded travelling cloak and wooden walking stick looked old and well-worn. His step was quick and his mood light, as he had just left the treacherous Azíl Mountains behind and moved into the forested foothills. A cool breeze rippled through his ebony fur and the trees alike as he raised his face to the shafts of sunlight that drifted down through the foliage.

As the light began to fade from the world for the day Valen spied a wispy column of mist-grey smoke rising from the trees a short distance away. Curiosity piqued, he made the decision to investigate in an attempt to relieve the boredom of the roads. However, as he drew closer, snippets of conversation drifting through the still evening air stilled his footpaws and compelled him to draw his single-edged shortsword from its place against his back and shift it to a hiding place in one of his wide sleeves.

"How much d'you reckon he'll fetch at auction?"

"Young, fit, rare thing like him? I'd say a thousan' gold at least."

Valen raised his hood and leaned heavily on his walking staff, stumbling theatrically as he entered the clearing where the slavers had set up camp. He giggled to himself as he staggered closer to one of the silhouettes sitting near the fire.

"Heehee, lookit me all drunk an' lost. G'd evenin' to ye, fellers!"

One of the shapes snapped upright at the noise, his paw shooting to the blade at his waist. The paw dropped back to his side as he saw the source of the sound - a stumbling, drunk panther.

"Good evening, friend. Would you like to share our fire for the night?"

"Been a long time since I' been in such fine company! I'd love ter."

With that, Valen collapsed and sat next to a tall, heavily muscled wolf before slumping against him, snoring loudly. The group burst out laughing at the panther's antics, the raccoon to the right of the wolf nudging him in the ribs. "I guess you make a nice bed, Nate."

"What're we going to do with him?" asked the tiger sitting opposite.

"Oh leave him, he's harmless. We already have the big money in the tent," the last of the four, a short ferret replied. Valen chose that moment to flick his sword free and roll behind Nate, holding the blade against the wolf's throat.

"I'm probably a lot less harmless than you think." He said as he dragged the canine upright, sending the other three scrambling for their swords.

"Now now, I'm pretty sure that you three - of all people - will be familiar with this situation. Drop your blades or I kill the dog."

The other three snarled and charged Valen. The panther reacted quickly, throwing the wolf to one side before slamming an elbow into the side of his head.

One down.

The tiger surprised him, leaping through the crackling flames and bringing his double-edged longsword down in a two-handed swing. Sidestepping, Valen dodged the blow by millimetres before grabbing the tiger by the wrist and using his momentum against him, throwing him off balance, then delivering a sharp blow to the back of his skull using the hilt of his shortsword.

Two down.

Valen held his left paw towards where he had dropped his staff, lines of light tracing symbols etched into the pads on his fingers. The staff leapt from the ground and flew into his outstretched paw in a burst of light. The raccoon faltered. The ferret however had no such qualms, rushing in and lashing out with three quick blows. Unfazed, Valen deflected the first two, finishing the fight on the third with a twist of his blade and a flick of the wrist, leaving the ferret's sword quivering in a nearby tree.

Three down.

The panther cheated against the raccoon, slamming his staff into the ground. A massive shockwave erupted from where it struck, scattering the fire in a shower of sparks and embers and sending the raccoon and his partner flying backwards. Valen was left untouched.

Four down.

"Amateurs," the panther grumbled to himself.

Once he was satisfied that none of the four would be waking up to trouble him any time soon Valen made his way over to the lone tent. The sight that met him inside made him start; a jaguar lay on the grassy floor, his paws bound in front of him, his mouth gagged and his eyes blindfolded. As he felt the panther's paw brush against his muzzle the jaguar began to struggle, straining against his bonds, trying to get away from the gentle touch.

"Hey, hey... Calm down, I'm not going to harm you. Just hold still and let me get these off you." Valen said softly, bending down and loosening the scrap of cloth tied over the jaguar's eyes. The bound feline went still as the blindfold fell away and he squinted, looking up at Valen.

"See? I'm not one of them, so let's get the rest of this stuff off you."

As the panther dropped to his haunches, the jaguar's eyes closed again and he began to shake, sobbing silently behind the gagging ropes. Drawing a short knife from his belt, Valen set to work: carefully slitting the rope around the jaguar's muzzle before quickly sawing through the lengths of rope around his wrists and ankles. As soon as the last restraint fell away in pieces the jaguar leapt up and wrapped his arms around Valen's shoulders, whispering "Thank you."

"I'm just glad that I could help." The panther replied softly. "My name's Valen."

"I'm Kirin."

The jaguar's voice was still a whisper as he released Valen and sat back, supporting his weight with his elbows.

"So, Kirin, do they still have any of your belongings?"

Kirin shook his head slowly. "Only my swords, they ate my food, burned my bag and my clothes, anything they didn't think was valuable."

"Can you walk?"

Kirin shook his head again, "No more than a few steps at a time."

Valen nodded solemnly as he stood, glancing around at the meagre contents of the tent.

"Unfortunately that's a common method; it leaves their captive to weak to escape. Do you know where they put your blades?"

Kirin nodded towards a sack in one of the corners. Opening it, Valen found a small bag of coins lying on top of two sheathed swords and a coil of rope. He drew out the coins and the swords, removing his bag and dropping the coins inside before taking off his cloak and passing it to Kirin. "Here, wrap yourself in this. You need to try and keep warm."

Looking down at himself, Kirin realised that he was wearing nothing more than a pair of underwear, causing his ears to flick back against his head in embarrassment as he shrugged the coat on. Valen finished strapping the jaguar's swords to his belt and slid his bag back on. "You ready to get out of here?"

The jaguar smiled weakly. "More than."

"C'mon then," Valen said as he picked Kirin up, wrapping his arms around the jaguar's knees and shoulders. "Let's get you somewhere safe."

Valen moved swiftly through the forest a short distance from the well-worn path, aiming to put as large a distance between himself and the slaver camp as possible. Kirin had fallen asleep in his arms shortly after the had started moving, the jaguar obviously exhausted by his time in captivity and able to sleep now that he felt safe. As he came up to a large oak Valen's pace slowed, his eyes flicking to a hollow hidden amongst its roots. Kirin began to stir as the panther placed him down in the space surrounded by the thick limbs, hidden away from all but careful observation.

"Whu... Where are we?" the jaguar asked groggily.

"Making camp for the night. We can hide here until morning and head for Grifon tomorrow."

"Okay."

Valen slipped his bag off and placed it in front of Kirin. "You want something to eat before you doze off again?"

The jaguar smiled, "I'd love some food."

Valen dug out the last of his food: a loaf of bread, a small wedge of cheese and a handful of nuts; passing them to Kirin.

"Thank you... thank you for everything Valen, I don't know how I'm ever going to make it up to you."

"Don't worry about it." The panther replied, laying a lay gently on Kirin's cheek. "Just eat slowly, that's probably your first real meal in a while."

Kirin nodded before tossing the nuts into his mouth and chewing slowly, pulling apart the bread and cheese to make a makeshift sandwich. "Are you sure you don't want any of this?" he asked before biting into the bread.

"You need it more than I do. Besides, I swiped some food from the camp."

It was a lie, but a believable one.

As Kirin finished the last of his meal Valen pulled a blanket out of his bag before stowing it deeper in the hollow, out of the way.

"This thing's only designed for one, but I'm pretty sure that we'll both fit if we huddle together."

"That's fine by me," Kirin replied as he shuffled closer to Valen, laying back across the panther's chest and resting his head under Valen's chin. Valen draped the blanket over both of them and wrapped his arms around Kirin's waist. "Sleep well; we'll need to start moving pretty early tomorrow."

But his words fell on deaf ears; the jaguar was already asleep in the warm safety of his embrace.