Redemption: A New Journey
#2 of Redemption
This is the second part of the story.if you haven't read the first then I suggest reading the first to get caught up with the story. As always all characters are © (copyright) of me, Calatin. if by some chance that anything is similar to anyone, thing, story, charcter, or anything then it is just by chance. Enjoy.
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"Why the FUCK am I standing here naked!?!" A naked Feldrin stood on a small podium in an outfitting room. Not in the slight amount embarrassed but more ticked off then anything. A scowl held firm on his face while Megan, the female Loiran tailor that owned the shop, had him hold out his arms. She was not a small girl but more average with black hair and a body that was easy on the eyes.
"Because, we need to size you up for your new clothes. To be honest, you're lucky I'm doing this. Normally I-" She was cut off as Zeke, Keira, and Natasha came through the door.
"Well, how is he doi- holy shit! Put some goddamn clothes on!" Zeke shouted as he walked into the changing room that put a naked grey wolf on display. There he stood, on a small platform surrounded by 2 change rooms and a set of mirrors showing every side of his body. Now he was embarrassed, there he stood with his whole body available for everyone to see. It was bad enough he had to be naked in front of Megan but now he was naked in front of the people he would be spending all his time with. A deep flush grew under his fur and arising to the point of lightening his fur color. Zeke averted his eyes and walked out of the room but Keira and Natasha stared on with intent, mainly focusing on Feldrin's mid section. Even with being a bit under weight, Feldrin still maintained a healthy toned body. Natasha's eyes roamed a little too far down and gasped as a red tip started to poke out of Feldrin's sheath. No one knew but he was well endowed aside from the apricot sized balls. A realization overtook his face as he covered up and jumped off the back of his stand. Megan looked at Feldrin's rear has he retreated behind a set of curtains.
"Well at least I got his measurements except for one hehe. Let's umm, give him some, heh, privacy now." She moved to Natasha and Keira and led them out of the room. Feldrin sighed and started to get his pants back on. He left the room only to find a hallway he hadn't seen before. A quick look right revealed a room that a strong set of scents emanating from it. He edged his head around the corner and found himself staring face to face with an entire table full of food. It held elk meat, boar meat, bacon, bear meat, fish and that was just the meat. Any fruits and vegetable that could be grown in a garden could be found at the table. To top it off, he had wine, ale, and whiskey as drink choices. But that was just the first things that caught his attention. He licked the lips of his grey muzzle and did a quick check of the room
"Well, I am all alone and there is all this food here." Feldrin said with a wide grin. He grabbed a plate and decided to dig in.
Malkain had his ass seated upon a stool and local ale in his hand. The bar he sat in was full of drunks and wanderers. Stone walls, wooden furniture, a second floor with rooms, and storage closets made it a typical bar for an inn. He drank his ale in gulps and slammed it down right as Zeke walked up. Zeke motioned to the barkeep and took a seat. They sat there in silence, taking swigs of ale until Malkain finally broke the silence.
"We ready to go? It's been forever." Malkain spoke before another swig. Dampening he dark brown beard that he never shaved.
"Yeah as soon as Megan gets Feldrin's clothes ready we will leave."
Malkain frowned slightly before finishing off his ale and getting up. "Why are we even taking him along? Can he even fend for himself? I say that we should have let him hang."
Zeke returned Malkain's comments with a harsh look that froze Malkain. He started walking to the door before turning to Malkain. "You know why we brought him along. Besides I'm sure he can hold his ground. It's obvious he holds no remorse over killing. Now no more talk like that. You two better get along." He continued walking to the door. Malkain only fell behind him and slipped outside with Zeke.
It was a brief walk from the Inn's pub to the next door tailoring outlet where the rest of the group was waiting for Feldrin and his newly made clothes. Short as it was, it was a solemn and quite walk between Zeke and Malkain. Before they entered, Malkain extended his hand in truce and Zeke accepted with no hesitation. They stepped into the front of the store and found Keira and Natasha already paying Megan for the clothes. "Thank you very much Megan, You don't know how grateful we are."
"I bet I do since not many other tailors will service Thaidrins. Don't worry hun, you don't need to show any excessive gratitude. Here's your bill. Now I wonder where that fur-ball went to."
"Get back here!!" A shout came from the back rooms. Everyone's head quickly spun to see Feldrin, wearing brown ¾ shorts and a leather jacket, streak from the back chased by the robust female chef of the restaurant on the tailoring shop's other side. Feldrin looked back for a quick second as he dashed to the door and soon found himself face first on the floor after a full flip from being close lined by Zeke. Feldrin only saw stars and pairs of feet in front of him before deciding to roll over onto his back.
Zeke laughed before becoming serious again. "Ehhem, so what's all the fuss now? Why the chasing and the rolling pin?"
"That beast made a mess of a meal I had prepared for 6 high paying guests!" The chef said as her cheeks filled with a deep red in anger. Feldrin slowly stood on shaky feet as he tried to get his bearings.
He spoke with a dazed confusion as if being run of by a stampede, "now, now! Not the entire mea-" He spun around and grabbed hold of Malkain's shoulder before he fell back onto the floor. Everyone looked at him showing mixed expressions between laughing, curiously looking at him, or sighing and rolling their eyes. Keira dug into her sack of gold and gave a small handful of gold to the chef. She looked into her hand then to Feldrin before turning on her heel and walking back to her kitchen. Zeke and Malkain bent down and picked Feldrin up so that he hung on both of their shoulders. He seemed not to notice them holding him up. Keira gave a groan, marched over to him and gave a vicious slap on the right side of his muzzle. Feldrin's eyelids flung open revealing almost blood red eyes. Before anyone could react he threw Zeke and Malkain to the ground and picked Keira up by the throat with his right hand. He barred his teeth as a ferocious growl escaped his lips.
"NEVER TOUCH ME. GOT IT?" Feldrin snarled leaving a bit of spit on Keira's face. He had his left hand ready to rip into Keira. There was a long drawn out pause as everyone was too shocked to react. Feldrin looked over his left shoulder towards Natasha. Her eyes spoke for her; they showed fear and a plea for Feldrin to stop. He dropped Keira and walked out the door. He turned to everyone, his anger subsiding when he spoke again. "I'll see you all at the blacksmith's."
Zeke and Malkain helped Keira up as Natasha looked out the door, trying to keep and eye on Feldrin. Malkain was the first and only to speak. "So I guess he doesn't like being touched." He only got sinister glares for his comment, "Hey, I'm just making sure everyone heard the first time." The tension loosened as they made their way to the blacksmith's. They found Feldrin already making plans with the blacksmith who happened to be another Thaidrin. In contrast to Feldrin he was black furred with only a set of white patches surrounding his dark brown eyes and a little less built but still had a toned frame. He stood up to greet his costumers.
"*So these are your saviours I presume.* Welcome to A Fine Cut. I'm the master blacksmith here. You can call me Dirk. So from what Feldrin here tells me, you guys are paying for a new blade for him?"
"Well after what happened at Megan's Clothing. I'm not sure anymore." Zeke said with a stern look. A glare was exchanged between him and Feldrin before a smile over took Zeke's face. Feldrin turned his gaze over to a rack of wooden weapons in the rather larger training section and walked over to pick one up. Zeke looked over to Dirk and spoke again "well, we need him armed if he is going to come with us. So what have you guys been planning so far?"
"Well first off. We've got the type of blade or should I say blades. This is actually an odd request if I might say. Here take a look." Dirk turned around and moved a set of blueprints he hand hastily edited. He shifted the blueprints around so they were facing the group. Zeke scanned them over and let the others have a peak. All the while Feldrin was using practice swords on a few practice dummies. Dirk cleared his throat before proceeding. "Well never have I had someone request these 2 types of swords for use at the same time. He wants a sword that hasn't ever been commissioned in Loiran as far as I know. It's called a Falcata, nifty sword too and a perfect test of my skill. He wants that for his off-hand while he wants a Scimitar for his main-hand with a small modification of being slightly lengthened out. We are also designing two sheaths for him, one on his back and the other on his left side. Luckily I have the perfect moulds for the blades and designers for the sheaths."
Zeke nodded as he continued to stare at the blueprints. He raised his head to look eye level with the black wolf. "How long and how much?"
"Down to business huh? Well the price is slightly discounted for you guys as you have 2 other Thaidrin in company and giving me a chance to make something amazing... so about 340 gold, no silver. As for time? Hmm, give me 5 hours to make both. It might seem quick but I got half a dozen fellow blacksmiths helping so it'll be much quicker. Oh and if you want, you can leave Feldrin here for now. He seems content with practicing."
Keira had already picked out the gold and gently gave it to Dirk. "340 there for the blade and a 60 tip for the service. Is there some place we can rest near here?"
"There is a bed area in the back. You guys can rest there for now. I'll call you when we're done. Now shoo, I got work to do." Dirk walked away from the group and turned to his apprentices, "Okay, hop to it boys this one will be a challenge and we have a deadline!"
Keira and Natasha walked through the doorway pointed out by Dirk and disappeared into the bedding area quickly leaving Zeke and Malkain standing in front of the counter. Zeke was about to speak but had no audience as Malkain walked out of the blacksmith's and towards the market area; probably looking for cheap ale. So Zeke was left standing foolishly at the front desk. His muscular hands went to his eyes and rubbed them in a showing of reluctance. He turned on his heels and slowly stepped over to Feldrin who has twirling a sword in his right hand. Zeke picked up a wooden long sword and examined it before pointing it towards Feldrin's back and speaking towards him, "Care for some live practice?"
Feldrin kicked up a second sword that was lying on the ground. His left hand grabbed the handle of the wooden short sword with precision that didn't require him to look. He turned to Zeke and took a staggered stance facing the Loiran. Zeke turned his larger blade across his body before scanning over Feldrin's stance. His eyebrows rose as he tried to understand the grey wolf's stance. The blade in his left hand was held backwards so as if the blade would run up his arm while his right hand held the blade as if it was a spear. Feldrin had turned so that his left foot was much farther forward then his right. A long silence and pause held the air between the two. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Zeke's forehead past his cheeks and finally off his jaw. This cued Zeke to charge at Feldrin and take a large swooping over-head attack. At almost the last second Feldrin raised his blades up to a crossed position and braced Zeke's attack. Wood met wood and a loud crack resided in the practice area. Feldrin gave a fierce shove and propelled Zeke backwards and then took a few steps back himself.
"Well, well it seems that that form of yours is capable of defending but can it attack?" Zeke spoke with overwhelming arrogance as though he had already won. "Now shall we continue?" Zeke charged again but this time using a sideways attack on the wolf's left, hoping to catch Feldrin off guard. Feldrin saw the attack coming and swiftly raised his left arm to block the attack. With the added leverage from the way he held his blade, Feldrin easily held back Zeke's side swing and thrust forward, stopping at the throat. He then withdrew the blade and backed away.
"1 to nothing," was all the Thaidrin said before returning to his stance. Zeke smiled and finally got a weak one in return from the tough wolf. Zeke took some steps back again and took a moment to think. Within that quick break, Feldrin charged Zeke quickly, forcing Zeke to tuck and roll away. He gave a quick swing at Feldrin's back but it only met wood as the wolf spun quickly on his heels to block the attack. The grey wolf went on the attack as he swung blades at Zeke's legs, chest, arms, and almost everywhere else. Each time he was met with a hurried parry or block. Finally Feldrin lunged at Zeke, just missing putting the tip against Zeke's chest. The Loiran took advantage of the miss and swung the blade quickly bringing the long sword to an abrupt halt just as it touched the leather jacket of Feldrin. They stepped back again and got into position to strike at each other.
"1 all now, "Zeke spoke before they charged at each other again. Wood met wood again and the battle continued in the training area. Fight after fight raged on until finally they both collapsed from sheer exhaustion. On their hands and knees they puffed out hard breaths, almost gasping for air. Zeke leaned back and chuckled. Feldrin smiled in response. Zeke put the long sword back on the rack and moved towards Feldrin and held out his hand. The grey wolf he laid his swords back into the holders he took them out of and grasped it firmly to declare a draw. Zeke and Feldrin walked over to a set of chairs and sat in silence.
It had been several hours since Dirk started his work on the blade. Feldrin and Zeke had sat in silence, Feldrin resting with his eyes closed, while the others slowly made their way back from their areas of rest. Malkain walked in through the front door with a smile as though he had just won a lottery. His hands grabbed shirt and pooped it outwards. "Well boys, that was a great 4 hours spent out, can ya'll guess what I did?"
Feldrin took one deep sniff then replied without opening his eyes, "went to a rather large bar, drank a bottle of whiskey, found a young brunette, picked her up, spent ten gold on a room, and got laid. Does that sum it up?"
Malkain still stood there proud, "nope not even close. I drank a bottle of whiskey, found a nice hot, young brunette, spent ten gold and..." The realization that he was just repeating what Feldrin said kicked in. His eyes shot to the meditating wolf and threw him a menacing glare before slumping down in a chair, "know it all fur-ball."
Keira and Natasha came out of the bed area without anyone really noticing. They strolled down to a bench and sat together on it. Their hour had been spent with idle gossip, thoughts on the group, and everything one could think of that two straight women would do for 4 hours.
It wasn't long before Dirk broke the silence with a speech he had prepared. "It has been a long struggle over the fires and the metal but we have made something amazing. No one can match these forges and our skill that we posses. Together as a whole we have made 2 of the finest blades one can find. Now if everyone can follow me, I will present them to you faithful." The group rolled their eyes and followed Dirk back into the cooling room. As soon as every had finally entered the room Dirk stopped and continued his speech. "These blades have been forged from some of the finest silver money can find. Yes you heard me; silver. These blades will have almost no chance to break and will slay many enemies in the field. No man has seen such a beautiful..."
Keira interrupted before Dirk could continue, "We get the point Dirk, can we please just see the blades?"
Dirk slumped and let out a whine, "Fine, Fine, Fine." His claws grabbed hold of the white table cloth covering a large odd looking table. "Behold!" he yelled as he whipped the cloth from the table, revealing Feldrin's new blades. Everyone stood in awe as they saw the beautifully crafted blades that were propped up on the table. Feldrin walked over to the table and picked up his Falcata. Feldrin ran his paws over the surface of the blade and hilt. The sword was made beautifully with one side basically straight while the other swooped in at the middle and back out. The handle was made out of a smooth bronze that gave off an almost golden shine. He slipped his hand into the handle and thoroughly examined the silver blade before picking up his sheath. It was a dark blue with a gold trim weaving its way along the sides until finally forming his family emblem at the top just before the entrance. He slowly slid the sword into the sheath and set it down so he could examine his scimitar. The blade was made of the same materials but the design was far different. A finely crafted handle that had a slight crook to the metal and wrapped with black leather gave way to a slightly irregular hilt that was lengthier on one side. He ran his index finger along the reverse side of the blade tracing the curved metal until it dipped into a crescent at the top. He then finished the route of his finger by moving it meticulously slow along the forefront of the blade. With that he slid the blade back into the sheath. He took off his coat so he could position the blades. He strapped the falcata's sheath to his left side then slid the scimitar's over his head and left arm so he could draw it from the right side.
"*Finer blades were never made. Thanks Dirk. Maybe we will meet in the future once I have repaid my dues.*" Feldrin spoke as he grabbed Dirk's hand with his right and then left giving a firm hand shake. Dirk said nothing but gave a smile and a nod. He turned to Zeke and walked right past him through the door.
Keira looked at Feldrin oddly as he walked away and then back to Dirk, "thanks for the service and the fine blades. We must go keep that crazy wolf under control; no harm meant."
"None took Keira. Now go find that bastard before he kills someone. See you guys around." Dirk grinned largely before taking his leave back to his quarters. Natasha, Zeke, Malkain, and Keira turned and hurried to catch up to the grey wolf. As they neared him they noticed a sight none of them had seen; Feldrin was wagging his tail. Malkain snickered before being elbowed in the gut by Zeke. He doubled over and almost fell to the ground. They waited for him to regain his ability to walk normally before catching up to Feldrin. As the group of five walked down the street they gained odd looks of almost all passersby. Many people yelled obscenities towards them just because they had rescued Feldrin. Others shook their head in disgust over the thought of a free Thaidrin. Natasha shivered over such looks but Zeke held her close making sure she wouldn't be scared as they walked to their destination; The Steel Gate of Nenarit. It loomed over the roads and anyone on it with a frightening presence. As they walked to the city massive gate, they all felt a shiver run down their spines as the gate truly lived up to its reputation of being extremely frightening. They stopped right at the border which separated dirt roads from the stone that covered Nenarit. Feldrin looked back and spit before they started down the road.
Zeke looked to the horizon and spoke, "a new journey has just begun."