Zion: Light of the New Moon, Ch 5.2 Doen
Zion - Light of the New Moon Chapter 5.2 Doen The Midnight Sun
This is the 2nd of 4 posts for Chapter 5, and focuses on Dillan, Haldyn, Jasper, and Zeke. Since we've already seen how things went for Taggart and Zachary, let's see how the night goes for the four of them.
Dillan Flynn's carriage was rare to say the least. Other than the fact that it was nearly 60 years old and still in perfect condition, it was impossible to miss the fact that it was far larger inside than the outside would have people believe. Dwarven Engineering, the ferret had explained it away, but for anyone familiar with the ways of magic, there were still unanswered questions. The conversation he shared with Haldyn, Jasper, and Zeke, however, was not about his wagon.
"I don't know..." Dillan shrugged, "Sometimes I just can't help but think that such an indecisive priest could mean bad things for us."
"Zachary is a good man." Haldyn countered.
"Boy... he is a good boy." the ferret countered. "I don't deny that he means well and that he has everyone's best interests in mind, but when you're out here in the Wild Lands you have to be ready to make split second decisions and not second-guess yourself."
"No offense, Dillan..." Jasper began, "...but I'm not exactly sure how much of an expert you are that you can say what a caravan does or does not need in the Wild Lands."
"If you don't mean to offend, Jasper, maybe you shouldn't say it." the ferret offered back with an endearing smile, "But... insults aside, I can certainly respect your questioning of my expertise. Let me assure you that, despite my fine, good looks and nearly blemish-free hide, that I have spent ample time in the Wild Lands and know--"
"I thought this was supposed to be a casual meal." Haldyn interrupted, "I get enough of these kinds of 'friendly arguments' back at Glass Hall." the lion then downed his stein of ale in one go.
"So very right you are, Lordling." Dillan bowed his head to Haldyn then looked back to Jasper, "I apologize if anything I said offended you, Mr. Sage."
"And I, you." Jasper responded in kind, raising his mug so the distaste on his muzzle couldn't be viewed.
"I don't like being in such a big traveling group." Zeke spoke up quietly.
"There's safety in numbers, my good man." Dillan noted, holding up a mug in salute before drinking from it. He licked his muzzle, "Besides... haven't you ever heard the time honored quote 'The more the merrier.'?"
The fox shook his head, "It's easier to hide when there aren't so many people around."
Dillan chuckled, "Well I would care to disagree there, Mr. Sarnash..." the ferret winked, "I find it much easier to hide when whomever is after me has more targets."
Zeke's eyes went to a spot on the wall... or perhaps some place beyond it as he gazed off into the distance, "Not when whatever's after you isn't content to stop at one... or five... or fifty... or five hundred..."
The ferret chuckled at that, "Then I suppose I haven't run into anything of that sort yet... at least, not anything that could put up a fight against several squads of highly trained caravan guards." he smiled.
"Then you aren't as big of an expert of the Wild Lands as you think." Zeke retorted.
The smile slowly bled off of Dillan's face. He had just opened his muzzle to speak when Haldyn quickly interjected. "Enough." the lion wore a scowl, "If we can't have a peaceful gathering of good times and fellowship then I think it's time to say goodnight." The lordling remained seated, and it was obvious that Dillan wasn't about to leave his own carriage.
"Thank you for the ale, Mr. Flynn." Jasper noted, setting down his half-finished mug. He stood, and offered a paw to Zeke, who accepted it.
The fox looked back at the ferret, "I hope you aren't left without your guards... you aren't as wiley as you seem." and, with that, Jasper led Zeke outside.
"He must have Lordling Rakken wrapped around his little finger..." Jasper stated once the door to the carriage had closed.
"No..." Zeke shook his head, "I've seen it before." and he began walking back across camp, "The Lordling is with him because it's convenient... the merchant thinks he has a friend and benefactor, but all the Lordling is doing is making use of his name and station to get whatever he can for free from a sniveling sycophant." the fox's fur stood on end.
"For all you avoid interacting with others you sure seem to have some insight into things." Jasper chuckled.
"I used to see it often enough at the temple." Zeke stated.
Jasper paused, and then nodded at that. he glanced to the fox, "Hmm... I see what you mean..." and he moved to catch up, "So you're saying that Haldyn is hanging around Dillan because the merchant keeps lavishing him with free room and board."
"And if the gifts ever dried up then so would their 'friendship'." Zeke confirmed.
"You make it sound so beautiful." Jasper chuckled.
"It is what it is." the fox responded, "Like attracts like."
"So what you're saying is that they're made for each other." the rat laughed, "Each taking advantage of what the other has to offer."
Zeke shrugged in response, "It doesn't have to be so self-serving... like Mr Flynn would put it, 'it is just good business'."
"Relationships as transactions..." Jasper chuckled, rubbing his paws together, "social prostitutes."
"You make it sound so beautiful." the fox responded, using the rat's earlier statement.
"Well... in a way I guess it is." the rat acknowledged, "Each of them gets what it is they want... right?"
"More or less." Zeke offered cryptically.
"It's one of those win-win situations where all anyone does is lose-lose?" Jasper grinned.
"That's fair to say." the fox nodded at length, the hint of a smile peeking out on his muzzle.
"You know..." the rat laughed, "You really ARE full of insight when you choose to talk." and he slid an arm around the fox's waist, walking beside him, "You should do it more often."
"It just takes someone worth talking to." the fox blushed once the words escaped his muzzle.
Jasper almost laughed at that, but caught himself, whiskers twitching. His ears reddened slightly and he slowly withdrew his paw from around the fox's hip. One of his ears flicked, and then the other before he looked back to gaze at Zeke in the twilight. The fox's eyes were wide open in fear and alarm.
The rat paused, "Zeke... I didn't mean--" but he realized too late why the fox was suddenly so fearful when a powerful blow to the back of his head provided cognition in the form of a black-jack. Zeke turned to run as Jasper fell, but there were two men waiting for him.
"NO!" Zeke shouted, struggling as each grabbed hold of one of his arms. A gloved hand slid over his muzzle, and Zeke bit down on the fingers in response. Teeth gnashing against bone, the fox tasted blood in his muzzle, but his fur tarted to stand on end when he realized that his assailant hadn't so much as cried out in pain, let alone make any attempt to remove his digits from Zeke's grasp.
Shakily, even more fearful, the fox slowly opened his muzzle from around the fingers, heart beating rapidly as silvery eyes gazed out at him from beneath a darkened cowl. The hand slowly withdrew from his muzzle... "You--" the fox whispered, voice quivering, and Zeke was the next to feel the harsh impact from the black-jack.
Back within Dillan's carriage, the ferret filled Haldyn's stein yet again, "This, noble sir, is a fine Myrenese cider."
Seated on the floor, the lion took a long drag off of the cup and let out a casual belch, "It tastes smooth... almost like juice." he licked his muzzle, draining the rest of the stein, "It's good."
Dillan smiled, filling the cup again, "One thing I can say about the Myrenese is that they believe that the best flavor is a subtle one..." and he set the pitcher aside as the lion began drinking anew, "Believe it or not, that cider has as much alcohol in it as Shradian Brandy."
"Really?" Haldyn questioned, blinking one eye than the other, licking at the inside of the empty cup. He flicked his ears once, then again, "I... think I'm drunk."
The ferret chuckled, slowly crawling across the floor toward the lion, "Good thing you're already at your wagon." he churled softly, "Tell me, my Lord... do you need anything else to be more comfortable?"
Haldyn lowered his head backward against the enormous floor pillow he was reclining against and shook his head, "No..." he grinned, staring up at the ceiling, "Not unless you have more of that Shradian Brandy from earlier..." he giggled.
The merchant grinned, creeping closer, "I'm afraid not, sire... you drank every last bit of it."
"All of it?" Haldyn asked, letting out a deep breath, "What a shame... it must have been a small bottle."
"Oh no, my Lord... it was a very nice size..." Dillan slowly slid up into Haldyn's lap, his paws caressing the lion's hips.
Haldyn raised his head again, gazing at the ferret for several seconds before the alcohol cleared enough to let him speak, "What are... what are you up to, merchant?"
The ferret slid his paws across to the middle of the lion's breeches, and began undoing the button there, "Taggart, back when he was in my employ, was moping around camp for far too long." he recited casually, talking at a slow pace to keep the lion's focus on his words and not the fact that his paws were sliding into the Lordling's trousers, "When I'd had enough of his attitude, I asked him why he was being unpleasant."
"What does that have to do with you sitting on my lap?" the lion demanded.
"Well..." Dillan answered, grinning as he looked at Haldyn, "At first he was unwilling to talk about it but, after I ordered him to, he explained that he had heard you spending time with Zachary..."
The ferret smiled wider, watching as the lion's inebriated brain took several seconds to register what he had said. "What did he say?" Haldyn questioned, pupils dilating in response to his own guess.
"He said that it sounded like you made Zachary cry out..." Dillan smiled, sliding his paws into the opening at the front of the breeches, "And that's quite a feat to make a Priest of Doen--", the ferret's own eyes went wide when his paws encountered what he was seeking out, "Goddess... I think I can see why!"
The lion grabbed hold of the ferret's arm and pulled him out of his lap. Haldyn got shakily to his feet and scowled, "I don't know what your game is, merchant... but I don't want to play it."
"Oh come now, my Lord... I am the faithful proprietor of the answer to all of your needs..." the ferret churled as he picked himself up off the floor, "I consider it my obligation... nay... my DUTY to make certain that your every desire is fulfilled during this journey." Dillan smiled, moving across the space between them. He licked his muzzle, arm extending again to the lion's hips.
Haldyn reached out and grabbed the ferret by the wrist, "At the moment, my desire is that you stop trying to fondle my penis."
"Maybe you just need a little more ale..." the ferret offered with a smile.
"Maybe I just need a little less Dillan Flynn." the lion stated with a scowl, and turned around, rebuttoning his breeches, "I'm going to bed... do NOT try anything, ferret."
"I wouldn't dare, sire." Dillan noted, bowing deeply to hide his scowl. The ferret casually returned to the table where the night had begun; he'd had two upstart guests and an unreceptive lordling. While, at first, he was of the mindset that things wouldn't be able to get any worse, he realized he was very, VERY wrong when his door opened quietly and three men in cloaks slipped silently in. He watched as they moved to the already sleeping lion.
"Gentlemen..." Dillan spoke up at a whisper, but he may as well have shouted by the way they spun to look at him, "I can see that you have some particular plan that I may have inadvertently caused to be altered..." he crossed his paws in front of himself at the table as one came his way, a nasty looking wooden cudgel held in a gloved hand.
"Ida kuova behln eim fais?" he asked casually of the figure in Delani. When the figure paused, he realized that investing in the forbidden instruction of the sun human language was well worth the price.
"How do you speak my tongue?" the figure demanded in heavily accented imperial, slowly lowering his hood to reveal pure golden skin and a hairless head. Amethyst-colored eyes stared at him intently.
"Not all who wander the Highway are enemies." Dillan offered casually. Despite the fact that even uttering a sentence of Delani was grounds for torture in a city, it was readily obvious to the ferret that he was no longer in a city and a different set of rules applied. "So..." he noted, "Ida kuova behln eim fais?" he repeated his earlier question again with a welcoming smile then, for good measure, repeated it in imperial, "Can we make a deal?" he motioned to the far side of the table.
The sun human took a seat, looking across the table at him with distrust; Dillan was used to distrust, and he knew he could work with that. His confidence only rose at the Delani's next words, "Quo yep eim fais?"
Dillan turned on his natural charm and replied, "The best kind of deal, my friend... the kind that benefits us both."
* * * * * *
The Doenian Caravan is obviously in trouble. First something happens to Zachary, and now... well... tune in and see!
Remember, if you haven't already, be sure to visit the journal post:
http://www.sofurry.com/page/281505/
and either reinforce Doen's chances or else add to your favorite caravan's Favor points.
This chapter is marked adult due to Dillan Flynn... to see what I mean, READ!