Snow In Summer

Story by iplank on SoFurry

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Take to the night as the local legend; the noble thief Summer, in this game-like CYOA story! The kingdom of High Basin has had an issue with its derelict lower class districts that the orphan Snow has been trying to slowly rectify with her talent in taking what does not belong to her. Take from those who have more than they need to save those who have less than they need.

The white anthro fox Snow by day the black fox Summer by night, she has been swooping in to make a joke of the local guards for years now, but this heist is a bit different. Only removed from royal security for a single night- the only time you can steal the Elder Stone is during a party where the mansion is covered in hired mercenaries and filled with high-status guests! Everyone else thinks it would be impossible. Maybe they are right. But if it is; you want to find out first-hand.

For this night, you are Summer! This is your heist, time to steal the show! https://iplank.itch.io/snow-in-summer


(Game-like CYOA) You glare at the old man across from you, grinning with the couple of teeth he still has left. He has four arms but they end in a small hand with only two fingers and a thumb each- and his formerly lime green chitin encasing them has faded to a very diffused green with tiny black speckles. No idea what his beast aspect is- if you had to guess, since he has giant curved chitin spikes off the hinge of his jaw on either side... some sort of beetle? In the chair to your left just watching silently is a much younger man who appears to be a blend of tiger and bull! Enormous musculature seen easily through his stretched-thin shirt and lack of sleeves, but his pelt is marked with tiger stripes; black and white. His face is the muzzle of a feline as well- though his ears and huge horns belong on a bull. Wouldn't mind seeing what is going on in his trousers but unfortunately he isn't the socializing type. You grin with a mouth full of fangs as your coin lands in an empty glass at the center of the table and you quickly snatch the bottle up to drink. Neither of you could actually afford the wine, so you both bought it. Now you are taking turns skipping a coin off the table into an empty glass to 'win' drinks from the bottle. The old man took the coin out and rolled it between his two fingers and thumb, doing two laps around his small hand before he thuds it down hard against the tablecloth, bouncing the coin up over the glass and landing it in your cleavage! He leans back and lets out a hearty laugh, and the previously silent man to your left even smirks. Oh, he is alive then? Was starting to wonder if he was a painted statue. [color=orange]"Ha. Ha. Still counts as your turn, you ol perv."[/color] [color=limegreen]"Wait, no I missed on purpose."[/color] [color=orange]"I know.-"[/color] You half-stand to lean forward so the coin falls out of your cleavage and lands on the front of your shirt on the inside to make it easier to collect. Both men half-stand too, leaning forward with their hands on the table to get a view of your cleavage as your tits wobble into a mostly free-hang under you. You are not wearing a bra so they wobble around as they please under there. You reach in and flick the coin out into your palm so you can sit back down. [color=orange]"-but it still counts as a turn. So by all means- bounce it off my tits all you want, and I will finish the bottle for you."[/color] They probably have a better view of your cleavage than you do- there is a bushy lil tuft of fur that grows at the front of your collar bones that partially eclipses your own view of your cleavage slightly. Your boobs, like basically the entirety of the rest of your body are covered in white fur. You leaned heavily into your beast aspect... probably due to you living an unusual life rather isolated from the rest of society. You were an orphan, after all. You were disjointed from the rest of society because the rest of society tossed you out like trash. You were orphaned the day you were born, so whoever popped you out didn't even give you a chance. Birthed you and decided right off the bat- nah, toss this one, its defective. These men certainly don't think you are defective. And you've quite the list of people you've seduced on the 'job' who thought you were mighty fine too. A fox anthro- if you close one eye or the other you can sort-of see your own face; full muzzle. The few patches of naked flesh on your body are instead smooth, glossy black. Nipples and areola, your projected vulpine pussy, your lump lips, and who could forget your plump pads? You cannot roll the coin in your hand like the old man, because your pads make it twice as difficult, but plenty easy to grip as you land another shot into the cup, easily. The tip of every digit and the base of every digit- although the ones at the base of your fingers are so close they sort of look like they are just one long continuous pad. You also have a pad on either side of the base of your palm, cushioning your wrist should you decide to run on all fours. Black claws but not particularly big, your hands are otherwise perfectly human in shape. Your feet on the other hand are... well, paws, not feet at all. Because your shin is the normal length but you also have the greatly elongated feet of a digitigrade beast- you are especially large for a woman. Not huge, but, as tall as most men. You have some diffused red flesh on the insides of your GIANT ears, behind bushy tufts of fur at the openings that protect your inner ear from dust. Though your pelt looks more fitting on a snow fox, your ears are those of a fennec. With your inability to sweat, the ears definitely help you blow off unwanted heat. Your tail... well that is something else entirely. It looks like a fox tail except its freakishly large for your body size, and if you were to shave off the bushy soft fur- you'd see it has abnormal muscle control and the flesh-and-blood portion of the tail is abnormally long. You rely on it to balance sometimes, grab onto something to hold yourself up, or even stash items in its fluff to carry. So your body adapted, and turned your tail into a multi-use fifth limb. Your entire body is covered in fur, which already means you lean rather heavily into the aspect of a fox- which is why you have paw pads on your hands in spite of them still being normal hands. If your palms were entirely covered in fur you wouldn't be able to grip anything. And then you'd definitely be losing this game. You do still have human hair- which is also a bit odd, but it is not like you have conscious control of your aspect. While your fur is white your hair defines itself against the rest by being pure black- same with your eyebrows which are basically just dots on your inner brow. Terio Carn is... [b]quite the world[/b]. Everyone born a naked ape- default human. No tail, no fangs, no claws, so fur, nothing. Your beast aspect has nothing to do with genes- and doesn't actually affect your genes at all. So a dog and cat anthro can get it on, have a baby, and it will still just be a plain-ass human. The beast aspect is a physical manifestation of your personality. So, until you have a personality- you will not have a beast aspect. Children have personalities, of course, but not solidified. The beast aspect takes time to set in and shift so if your personality is in constant flux there is nothing for it to hold onto. Usually around ten years old, minor beast aspects will set in. Tails, ears, sometimes paws or talons. Then perhaps a coat of fur, or scales, or feathers, muzzle, beak? Who knows! On paper, it probably seems like you'd be able to read someone at a glance- because their physical appearance is directly dictated by their personality. But it isn't quite cut and dry as that. Because you don't know HOW the beast is connected to what part of their personality. And even if you did- that is sort of left up to interpretation. Different people associate different things in different ways. Someone with arachnophobia associates spiders to fear and danger, while a spider anthro may associate them to someone who knows how to quietly deal with pests. Why are you a fox? Hell if you know. Fox are often considered frisky and cunning, so there is that. They are also grievously short-lived, and you live a tumulus life. Old man over here? Well, if your assumption was correct and he is a beetle? Very strong, prideful, but a very tiny creature in the overall scheme of things. So, someone with pride and strength but is still well-aware they are nothing but a fleck of dust to the overall world. Pride, but not blind pride. The hunky tiger-bull to your left? Hmm, stripes so probably keeps people at bay, which... his body language also shows, clearly. Hasn't spoken a word all night and he also hasn't un-crossed his arms. Stalking predator, quiet and deadly. But bull? Clumsy, herbivore... herd animal. Loves his family, keeps his loved ones close, protects them. So overall.... doesn't go looking for a fight, so keeps to himself and his loved ones mostly, but is quick to anger and very aggressive when what he loves is threatened. At least- that is your interpretation. His appearance is based on HIS interpretation, not yours. So who knows what the actual reason is. There is a barmaiden trying to grin through it as she makes her way precariously back to the bar counter with three large mugs dangling from her BEAK. The patrons who slid them down her face chuckling in amusement while she does her best to live up to their expectations. The master of drink just scowling at them for bullying his maidens. Careful boys- this isn't the classy end of town, he might just spit in your next round of drinks. The woman looks to be a mix of crane and swan? Her spindly form and tall legs are definitely bird all the way up, ending in a long neck, a heady of white hair to match the feathers below, and a black beak that is five times longer than the head it's attached to. Wonder what feathery boobs feel like? Does she still have nipples?? You are bisexual so you have laid with many a partner and oh boy- the variety you see. Some people are a different person in bed, when the hormones start floating their regular thoughts. So... what the rest of them looks like doesn't always match what they have between their legs. And because their physical appearance is based on personality- the usual genetic limiters sort of get thrown out the window. Five-foot-even little soft boy, pulls his pants down and unfurls a horsecock the same length as his legs like someone rolling out a length of hose. Yea, it can happen. Two beasts in their aspect, both affect genitals? Four balls or two cocks? Sure. A creature that already has two cocks by default? Yeh, now we are up to four shlongs, let's keep em' coming boys! Then you have women with giant breasts that lactate perpetually because of their giving nature. Period overridden to allow them to lay eggs. Maybe four breasts, six, eight? You haven't seen one yet yourself, but you know women can and have had up to ten breasts down a single body. Sometimes they're all small, sometimes big on top and progressively smaller, sometimes small on top and progressively bigger. Sometimes udders instead of breasts. Regular breasts, but giant teats instead of nipples? Multiple nipples on a single mammary? Woman with a masculine personality? Beast aspect grows a dick. Man with feminine personality? Dude with tits. Sometimes the beast aspect overrides their birth-gender, sometimes it splits, and both exist side-by-side. Maaan, just thinking of all the combos- oop. Somethings distracts you from your francizing a moment. Two regular guards have walked into the bar, sat at the counter and are grumbling to one another about something. [color=crimson]"So, he refuses our security, while holding the biggest event in... who knows how long?"[/color] The other guard shrugged causing his sparse armor to jangle. [color=crimson]"Oh he is hiring plenty of security, just not us. Lord Granidine has hired mercenaries from several different leagues and even that monster Rine Astrid- plucked straight out of a prison cell!"[/color] The first guard slammed his mug down in anger, almost spilling his drink. [color=crimson]"Yea! How is that even legal?? Why would the Justicar allow that!? Astrid is a danger to the public! He still has a life in prison to repent!"[/color] The second guard motioned down with his free-hand, glancing around the room seeing many other patrons were now listening to their conversion in concern. [color=crimson]"Aye, well we will keep his prison cell warm for him. Terastios only hired him for the one night- it is right back to prison afterwards. As for how the Justicar allowed it... well... Terastios is his son-in-law, remember?"[/color] He thumbed a fist to the chainmail sheet over his chest. [color=crimson]"We the city guard are the protectors, not these... jack-of-all-trade ruffians. Mercs will do any old task for enough coin, whether it has anything to do with guarding anything. Why hire rogues and barbarians and ignore the force tasked specifically for the purpose of the thing you are hiring the detritus for?"[/color] A serpent man in the corner let out a single, flat chuckle, muffled by the drink in front of his face before taking a sip. [color=limegreen]"Because they are yet to shit the bed in their task."[/color] The guard slammed his hands down on the counter and stood, half-turning to the man. [color=crimson]"Excuse me??"[/color] A water buffalo woman more muscular than all the men sitting around her huffed next, past her too-long shaggy bangs, hiding her eyes entirely, though you could still feel her glare through them. [color=limegreen]"My house was ransacked the other night- even know who it was. Told the guard, told them my ex had most likely been the one to do it. Why is he still on the loose? Where is my stuff?"[/color] The second guard sighed before his partner could give a ruder response in haste. [color=crimson]"It takes time to process this sort of thing. We need to prove it was him, we cannot just take your word for it and arrest him without knowing for certain. And if we have yet to actually catch who did it- we won't know where your missing items are."[/color] She flopped both arms to her sides in an aggressively dismissing shrug. [color=limegreen]"Great, so he will have fenced it off by the time anyone catches him, so I get none of it back, so I might as well have not reported anything in the first place."[/color] Oookay, time to step in and try to save these two before they drown in complaints. These two guards chose a hell of a place to stop and drink. This is the very edge of the poor district, sure, but it is still technically the poor district. The most guard-forsaken location in the kingdom. No regular guard patrol the poor district, ever, it's utterly abandoned by the law. They don't have enough men to protect everywhere, and no one gives a shit what happens to the poor so they just abandoned it entirely. More than that though- a thief by the name of Summer has been sweeping riches out from under their noses all over the three great cities of High Basin. One heist after the other- for many years now. They have yet to stop her. So with every successful heist, Summer drags their reputation through still more mud, turning the guards into a laughing stock. Before the increasingly aggravated patrons can start pelting the guards with still more accusations, you speak up to try and steer the conversation back to the part you were interested in. [color=orange]"Granidine... he that miner lord?"[/color] The second guard looked to you, just as eager to derail the conversation into his favor. [color=crimson]"Aye, heir to the Starbed Mining Company, second richest lord in all the land. Granidines have been integral to the growth of the kingdom."[/color] [color=orange]"Right, so-"[/color] You bounce the coin, deliberately missing so you give the old man the next drink and continue the conversation instead. [color=orange]"-why the fuss over security now? He was... already famous? Surely he already has his own security from the start on a regular basis... why is that all of a sudden discouraging?"[/color] The first spoke up again after taking a long drink. [color=crimson]"The party of course, with the- the... jewel- gem-rock, whatever..."[/color] His partner sighed, snatching a parchment off the first guard's belt and tossing it to you. [color=crimson]"Folks in this end wouldn't have heard about it."[/color] You unroll the parchment- a rip in the top where it had been affixed to a post but then torn down again. Good thing the orphanage at least taught you to read before you were out on your ass. It is a declaration of a grand party, invite-only. Terastios found something they call the Elder Stone, and is holding a huge party, inviting all of the kingdom's most elite to bear witness to it at his house in a week and a half. If it is invite-only, why did he post about it? Why would the criers be needed to tell people about a party they cannot attend? You roll it up and stand to toss it back to the guard. It is a threat. This is announcing the party as a warning to anyone who intends to crash it, to stay the fuck away. Never mind his house, his yard- even the adjacent streets are going to be cut off by his security. Not only is no one allowed into his place, no one is even allowed to approach his place. They catch you eyeballing it from a street over- his hired thugs will still kick the piss out of you. That is why he hired mercenaries instead of guards. Guards follow regulations- mercs don't give a shit. Guards will arrest you if you do a crime. Mercs will beat you up because they got bored. [color=orange]"So he found a fancy rock? Figured he has plenty of those already, who cares?"[/color] The guard nodded, putting the scroll away again. [color=crimson]"Aye, well this is a one-of-a-kind. Absolutely giant zirconium crystal, uncut. King Agora Celestine himself wants to buy it off him, but before the final handshake, it has been returned to Lord Granidine for the purpose of this party."[/color] Oh, so the 'rock' is a crystal that was previously under protection of the royal guard, then returned to the original owner for this party, before being transferred fully to royal custody. Well now, that does sound interesting. Especially to you- Summer, the legendary thief. That crystal sounds like quite the hassle to keep locked up. You could... remove that burden for them. ----- Take to the night as the local legend; the noble thief Summer, in this game-like CYOA story! The kingdom of High Basin has had an issue with its derelict lower class districts that the orphan Snow has been trying to slowly rectify with her talent in taking what does not belong to her. Take from those who have more than they need to save those who have less than they need. The white anthro fox Snow by day the black fox Summer by night, she has been swooping in to make a joke of the local guards for years now, but this heist is a bit different. Only removed from royal security for a single night- the only time you can steal the Elder Stone is during a party where the mansion is covered in hired mercenaries and filled with high-status guests! Everyone else thinks it would be impossible. Maybe they are right. But if it is; you want to find out first-hand. One night, one treasure, one mansion... many, many paths. Train in four different skills and change up what equipment you bring with you on the 'impossible' heist to change your method of approach. Sleight Of Hand for speedy movement and the ability to finesse locks to get into places you shouldn't be. Deception to make love not war- trick enemies into fumbling over themselves or better yet; romance some of the guests into HELPING you steal it, while also having a fun little romp in the process. Combat to improve your strength and skill for if one of the several fight-able mercenaries catches you. Sometimes you just need to plow your problem into the ground and hit it a few times to make it go away. And last but not least- Magic. With the ability to shapeshift into several different forms, you can take routes that were impossible otherwise and simulate abilities the other skills would normally cover. Sex scenes, fight sequences, multiple routes and a somewhat free-roaming approach to breaking in. Eavesdropping on guests, finding hidden passages, treasures, or just encountering different events throughout the night. Though the story is relatively short- there is a lot of variance, allowing it to be played through many, many times while always discovering something different or a location you didn't know about. For a bit of added motivation to work toward while trying different things- there is a bit of a progression system, unlocking four backstories as you progress and earning up to six commemorative coins that represent specific stat-builds. Heck, there is even a stat to track just how pleased you made your partner if you decide to have sex with someone. There are five tiers of ending to be achieved; Bad, Bittersweet, Happy, Perfect, and Absolute! For this night, you are Summer! This is your heist, time to steal the show!