Shade Never Gets a Break
Shade grinned under his hood as he left the Traveler's Guild shop, a large leather pouch with a strap pulls him back so that he is forced to stand straight up. The leather bag holds all of his new supplies that should allow him to journey for at least a month, he even managed to buy a map from a young rat. His shoulder still ached a little from the jump about four hours earlier, and his nerves are still on the lookout from the crowd from about a hour before, but he paid it no mind, he is too preoccupied trying to decipher the map.His eyebrows scrunch up in confusion as he tries to read the strange letters and symbols of this country, his own native language has been lost for centuries, the only kind to even know, let alone speak it only includes his family and historians. Even if he could understand the language he still could not find where he is now, none of the geography shown on the map fit the local land. This map depicted mountain and plains with long outstretched deserts in the middle of it all, no area of the map even remotely resembles the lively wooded area he was in now, let alone any village close to him.Shade sighed at this, concluding that this is either a map of a foreign land or it is a false one, he hoped for the first, then at least if it has no use to him maybe he could give it to one who should need it. He folded up the map and placed it into one of his inside pockets, not caring to hide it into his veil, for fear of others watching.Shade looked around to try and remember which way he came, 'Lets see... When I reached this town the sun was setting... its midday now so I can not tell where that is... its was setting on the village chapel, or wait... was it the village inn... or perhaps the village's historical library?.. oh this place is too confusing for me...'Shade stood beside the door as he looked around, not noticing when a ball bounced off the side of his leg. He did notice however as he heard a loud happy scream and then felt something hug his leg. Shade looked down nervously, hoping it was not some sort of dog thinking his leg was a means for exposing itself. This idea however vanished and he smiled as he saw it is the small kitten girl from yesterday, she is hugging his leg tightly cheerful laughing and nuzzling his knee.Shade cleared his throat as he crouched down to her level, or at least as much as he could, bending down on one knee as he placed his supplies beside him, "Hello little one, I see that you still remember me."The cat girl gives him a wide open mouthed smile, Shade noticed that her right canine took is missing, a new one poking out slightly, "Yes Mister Shadow, thank you for fixing Lacy for me."He chuckled at the name, giving her a gentle petting on her head with his gloved hand, "It was my pleasure, besides, it would be rude of me if I had not helped."She closed her mouth now and smiled, her ear's twitching as he petted her with his gloved hand,
"Does Mister Shadow want to play ball with me and my friends?""You and your friends?.." Shade looked behind the little girl and noticed that there is a small group of four children behind her. He noted the fact that one of them looked like the son of the vixen who kept chasing him, and another looked like a spitting image of the Wolf. The other two seemed to be a small rat boy and a older Cat boy, he looked as if he could be this girl's brother. He however did not look as if he was as brave as his little sister, he stood in the back of all of them.Shade grinned nervously at the proposal, 'Yeah sure... lets all play together... I'm sure no one will find it strange that a fully cloaked figure, taller than most of the village guards, also fully hidden under thick clothing in the middle of summer, playing with the village's children will be strange at all.... oh boy...' "As fun as that sound young one I am afraid... I have to decline your offer... I am in a hurry you see, I need to go to the next town over, so that I can find my family."The cat girl's ears seem to droop sadly and she looks as if she is about to cry, "Are you sure?... We really wan to play with you mister..."Shade's cheeks start to get hot as she gets sad, 'Oh great now she is going to cry...' "Well you see I-""Excuse me sir, but are you the bird guy?" Shade looks beside him and he sees that the fox boy has now walked beside him while he was preoccupied with the kitten. He looks around him now and he sees that the group of children have actually surrounded him, the cat boy also, although he stood behind the rat boy. The wolf girl and fox boy stand side by side, trying to look into his hood."Why...Why do you ask?.." Shade asks nervously, caught off guard by the question. The fox boy had a bright red coat of fur, similar to the Vixen from earlier, the wolf girl however seemed shy as her cheeks were flushing red."My mommy told me to look out for a man with a big black cloak, really tall, and was very gentle. You look like you're that guy..." The fox boy said, his eyes glared at Shade."Did she?... Well I hope you-""Can you really charm the birds with your voice?" The wolf girl spoke up, her tail thrashed slightly in nervousness."Well I-""I heard that you jumped out of a window to escape our mommies." Said the fox boy.'Oh boy.. these are their kids...' "Well I did actually... but-"Shade blinks in surprise as he feels his hood being pulled back, his face now fully exposed to the children as the all gasp in surprise. His unkempt black hair, pale skin, and slate green eyes now in full view to the children. "Hey Mommy was right you are a hu-hmm!" Shade covers the fox boys mouth quickly, paranoia and fear motivating him to quickly stop the kid before someone over hears."Sh! Do you not know that it is rude to just pull someone's hood off?!" Shade yelled through his teeth as he pulls
his hood back up. letting out a sigh of relief as no one nearby seemed to notice. He took a deep breath to calm down before he spoke again, "Sorry... I did not mean to yell at you.... did I hurt you?" Shade gently pulls his hand away from his muzzle.The fox boy rubs his muzzle and shakes his head, "No you didn't hurt me... sorry Mister Human..." The fox boy says in a slightly nervous tone.Shade sighs and feels as if he is about to cry if frustration, "Please, Do not call me that... just call me Shade, it is my name after all."The children seem happy about this and they all cheer at once, "Hello Mister Shade!"Shade rubs his brow in frustration as the yelling causes people to start taking notice, "Yes... please can you all keep it down... I really so not want to be seen...""Are yo' playin tha hidin gam?" Says the rat boy to his right, his speech is hopefully like this because his large rodent teeth seem to be coming in at once, both of them sticking out in different lengths."Yes... I suppose you can call it that." Shade sighs to him."Are you hiding from my mommy?" the fox and the wolf say at the same time.'What is wrong with this town?!' "Yes I guess you can also say that...""Well I hope you don't mind losing Shade." giggles the wolf girl with a blush."Why do you say that?...""Oh, because our mommies told us to keep you here so that they can catch you." Says the fox boy, a evil glint in his eye now."What do you mean-" Shade suddenly notices movement out of the corner of his eye. Without moving his head he can tell immediately who it is, the bright red coat of fur and the snickering voice only makes his cheeks flush red. 'Oh no...'Shade quickly grabs his bag of supplies and jumps over the fox boy, going into a sprint as he tries to make another dash. The two Canine women see this and they quickly start to run after him.'Why does this keep happening to me?!'Shade keeps running down the main road, passing by several confused onlookers as they see a cloaked figure being chased by a Vixen and a She-Wolf. They seem to be catching up to him however, his supplies weighing him down as he is forced to be more careful. Shade tries to run faster, not caring of much stamina he loses as he runs.--------------------------------------------------------------Outside village 'Domest', countryside, 1:26 AF. Shade pants as he collapses onto the dirt road, his sweat mixing with the dirt as he painfully lays his head down on the ground. The two women slowly stop behind him, panting also, they stop just a foot behind him. His supplies in their hands as they both carry it. He threw it to the side of the road erlier to try and lighten his load as he ran. They drop it on the ground between them as they try to catch their breath."You know... You are not a easy man... to catch..." The wolf says between pants."You bring... a new meaning...
to... hard to get!..." The Vixen named Sydney adds.Shade simply lays int the road, to tired to reply as he painfully tries to breath, his lungs feel like they are about to burst and his throat feels frozen as he pulls in the cold midday air."I mean... what is your problem?... Normally when a girl asks you to.... stop you stop!... The wolf leans back now, her breath almost back to her.."Are you... afraid of us or something?... I can understand being afraid of... Hanna but why me?.." Sydney giggles and sighs as she finally finds her breath."Hey! I am not scary, least of all to him." Hanna the wolfess replies, giving her a playful punch in the shoulder."What... do you... want from... me?..." Shade painfully asks, his leg muscles aching in pain as he slowly regains his vigor.Hanna and Sydney flinch at this, smiling shyly and their tails twirl around each other. This seems to be their way of giving each other a confidence boost."Well we umm..." The wolfess mumbles shyly, surprising Shade since she seemed to dominate and commanding just seconds before."We were wondering if... you maybe want to..." The vixen nervously looks away, her cheeks blushing red."We were wondering if you would like to stay at our place for awhile..." They both say at once, making Shade blink in confusion.He shakely pushes himself over, laying on his back now and he picks himself up enough to sit up. He still pants as he stares at them, his hood down now as they can see his face.Between pants he struggles to ask, "You mean to tell me.... That you two have chased me... all day, and yesterday... scaring me to death... just to ask if... I can hang out?..."They both blush a bright red at this and smile nervously, looking away from him as they realize that they were being a bit extreme."Well... yeah..." Hannah nervously says.Shade falls back into the dirt, too tired to care about anything anymore. "Alright, I'll go! Sure I'll stay, just as long as I don't have to run again!" He laughs as he covers his face with his hands. Not sure whether he is going mad or this was some strange bit of luck.The two Canines squeal with joy and hug each other, their tails wagging in sync again as they jump up and down. They soon stop however and go to pick him up. The wolf picking him up on his right and the fox picking him up by the left. Before they start walking home the wolf picks up his supplies in her free hand, using the strap to drag it with her. The two wag their tails happily behind them selves, the fluffy tails hitting the back of his cloak as they dust him off.'Why do I have all the strange luck?'