FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

So here's my first attempt at a fantasy story... Not much to say other than I apologize for the length and the layout about halfway through. For some reason copying the story into the upload dealy makes it difficult to actually edit and make uniform.

Anywho, have at it!

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The press of bodies around me was damn near suffocating, especially in the sweltering heat of the mid-day sun. Merchants and traders and foreigners and tourists, all jostling for a clear path through the bustling market square of Janesport. All making me regret ever coming here in the first place.

'Kristoff, what have you gotten yourself into...' I thought to myself as I waved off another half dozen shop workers flogging their wares. I came from a tiny community across the sea of no more than five hundred people, but here, here in the largest port city in the New World, five hundred would barely fill half a district.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't find it at least exciting though; home forever behind me, a mission from my guild that would see me placed with an experienced group... It felt like an entirely new life. At least it would have felt like a new life if the baggage I was carrying wasn't weighing me down so much.

Speaking of baggage...

I moved my hands about myself under my light grey cloak to ensure all of my belongings were still where I had left them. The pouches attached to the belts synched tightly around my waist were still there, as were the ones strapped to my bandolier looped over my shoulder and across my bare chest. My backpack seemed unmolested too, so I thanked my lucky stars that no one had swiped anything.

I somewhat regretted wearing the grey cloak considering how hot it was outside, but the protection it afforded my meager belongings was well worth it.

Not to mention the tight leggings and ankle-length loin-cloth I was wearing would probably attract the wrong kind of attention.

I may have been from a tiny town, but I wasn't an idiot when it came to knowing how to keep myself from getting in trouble in a big city. There were a lot of people that wouldn't lose sleep over kidnapping a young cheetah like me and selling me into slavery or a brothel.

Only being eighteen, it was a wonder people weren't just ignoring me altogether, though that might easily be explained by my somewhat unique fur colour. Instead of the sandy yellow and black typical of my species, my fur was largely light grey, with an even lighter shade running up from between my legs to my chest and muzzle. Instead of black spots, I had pure white ones.

I was eventually able to squeeze my way through the crowd and escape onto a large street that was far less crowded, but offered no less relief from the burning sun. Janesport wasn't a desert city by any means judging from the vast green forests beyond its walls, but the heat was still oppressive.

'Gilded Strumpet... Gilded Strumpet' I thought to myself as I searched the fronts of the numerous buildings I passed by. At least now I could actually _see_the bloody store signs. It was a sign of my youth that I was only five foot eleven, but I was fairly certain I didn't have any more growth spurts coming.

The Gilded Strumpet was the only name I had been given from the ranking cleric before he sent me off over the sea to this heat sink, and I assumed simply by the name that it would turn out to be some seedy tavern with dirty mismatched chairs, unclean glasses, and patrons that would likely kill you if you so much as breathed wrong.

Another agonizing hour of walking through the dry streets passed before I finally found the place. Despite being so far from the market square in an area I had assumed would be seedy beyond belief, the face of the tavern actually seemed quite pleasant.

Colourful curtains had been drawn back to allow the breeze and light of day to enter the place through large bay windows, and even the few people brave enough to sit outside in direct sunlight seemed like friendly people. I chalked their questioning looks up to the fact that I was clearly not from around here seeing as how I was presently covered up by a grey cloak, which to anyone accustomed to the heat would claim was absolute madness.

I made my way inside, pleasantly surprised to see that the interior of the place matched the exterior in its colourful decorations and generally light-hearted atmosphere. Couples sat and chatted while they ate delicious smelling food that made my mouth water, and a number of individuals were seated at the bar laughing and joking along with the bartender.

I set my green eyes to scan the tables and booths, wondering who would best fit the description I was given of my contact, the leader of the group I'd be joining. _'A tall, black wolf warrior.'_I recited the Chaplain's words in my head. In hindsight I should have asked for more considering how many dark furred warriors there seemed to be in this part of the world.

"Ahem." Came a voice from behind me, making me jump slightly and my fur bristle. I turned around to see a tall wolf, wearing nothing more than a pair of brown pants and an open black cloak that did wonders to show off his broad chest and rock hard abs.

"Judging from your clothes I'd say you're not from around here." He chuckled and crossed his powerful arms across said chest. "I don't suppose you'd be the cleric we asked for?"

It took a moment for me to regain my wits, not to mention control of my wandering eyes as I tore my gaze away from his tantalizing 'V' shaped waistline and focused on his piercing blue eyes.

"U-uh, y-yeah." I stammered. I mentally ran through a list of every god in our pantheon, thanking each of them for the blessing of just being able to speak in front of the wolf before me. "K-Kristoff Everson, Drysen Sect."

Drysen was the god of the forge, which was an appropriate path for me to follow since I had an affinity for enchanting and artimancy. The happiest day of my life was when I outshone even my instructors in a competition based around those arts.

The wolf gestured to a booth facing one of the open bay windows, where a mug was already sitting. I must have been daft to have not noticed him when I first walked in. I eagerly pulled off my cloak, sighing happily as the extra layer of warmth was taken away leaving me in just my tight knee-length shorts and white loincloth.

"I'm Jack Wells," The wolf said as he took a sip from his mug before giving me a cursory once over. It was likely just my hopeful imagination, but it felt like he was pulling off the rest of my clothes just with his gaze. "And I'll be honest; I didn't expect your guild to send us a chanter instead of a full-on healer. Not to mention one so young."

"I'm eighteen!" I said, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Clearly this wolf was a professional, as I was sure the rest of his party was too. I had no experience at all. "And every Cleric is trained to heal, I just happen to be more skilled at creating things and enchanting them."

"I didn't mean any offence." Jack chuckled. "Myself and the other two were in your shoes only a couple years ago; fresh out of our guild's training centres and off to our first missions."

"A couple years?" I asked. I had only just now noticed that throughout Jacob's pure black coat, there were patches of faded grey fur. Long marks, small circular ones; old wounds, healed over some time ago, but unable to fade completely.

"I don't look _that_old, do I?" The wolf laughed. At least he seemed friendly despite his hardened appearance. I lowered my ears regardless, firmly believing that Jack would rather send me home and wait for someone older and more experienced to take my place.

"Well, luckily for you this mission is a pretty straight-forward one." Jack leaned back in his seat with a smile.

"S-so you won't send me back?" I asked, mentally slapping myself soon afterwards for making myself sound so pathetic and childish.

"We won't send you back." Jack nodded before standing up and dropping a few coins on the table for his drink. "You've got to start somewhere, right? Come on, the others are back at the hotel room. I'll give you a quick run-down on the plan on the way there, introduce you, then we head out."

I nodded happily as I stood to follow the wolf out into the streets, my good mood barely dampened by the harsh sunlight beaming down on us.

As we started heading closer to the docks, I couldn't keep my eyes from widening at the sight of the massive buildings and towers reaching up towards the sky. The tallest was twenty storeys high according to one of the sailors on the ship I had arrived on, but even the smaller ones were enough to render me speechless. I had stood motionless on the ship's deck for nearly ten full minutes as I took in the scene before me for the first time.

Our walk down the street was no different. I followed behind Jack, which meant his open cloak obscured what I wanted to see, so instead I returned my gaze to the captivating buildings, their high arches and turreted roofs being beyond anything I had ever seen before.

"Alright, so the plan..." Jack began. The noise of the people milling about on the streets around us forced me to increase my pace to stay next to the wolf, which at least gave me a better view of his body as his cloak billowed behind him.

"Two weeks ago someone stole a magical focus from the vaults of the city bank." The wolf continued when he was sure I could hear him. "City guards tracked the thief to a manor about a two days walk from here, but the group that was sent to retrieve the focus never came back."

"I thought you said this would be a straight-forward mission?" I felt a pang of nervousness at the prospect of facing whatever had taken out a group of trained city guards.

"It will be." Jack chuckled as he patted my shoulder gently. Too bad my smaller frame took his gentle pat as a full force shove as I stumbled a little. "We figure the thief, or whoever they're working for, hired some mercenaries and they took the guards by surprise."

"Mercenaries don't make things complicated?" I asked, not feeling wholly reassured.

"Nope." Jack said with a smile. "They make things interesting."

With that, the wolf guided me up the steps of a large, beautiful building. It's high columns of black marble flanked several massive doors that sat open with half a dozen guards standing by each opening. There was clearly a lot of love and care put into the stonework, but whether it was done by hand or by the use of magic was impossible to tell.

Almost every surface of the arches around the large open doors depicted the original settling of Janesport some two-hundred years in the past. They showed the new and exotic creatures they had encountered and that had eventually become commonplace, and of the fresh landscapes of the newest province of the Empire.

I couldn't admire the stonework for too long as Jack continued through the large doors and past the guards, but what awaited me inside was far more luxurious than I had anticipated.

This hotel was far beyond what I thought a group of guild adventurers could afford. Incredibly detailed tapestries hung from the walls in massive sheets, telling the story of the Old Empire and its reformation into the New. Great battles, epic stories, and entire libraries worth of history was hanging in brightly coloured sheets that almost made my head spin.

The center of the room was dominated by a great black marble fountain, carved into the shapes of a dozen warring demons and angels alike. Clearly whoever had created these masterpieces would have been handsomely paid for such intricate work.

"In case you were wondering," Jack's voice broke me out of my stupor, and I tore my gaze away from the unsettling sight of the fountain statues. "We came across the owner of this hotel out on the roads one day. Bandits had killed his guards and were about to off his family when we saved them. Now we essentially have a permanently booked room."

"I was wondering." I let out a half-hearted chuckle, still absorbing the colourful splendour of the hotel. "Especially considering there only seem to be nobles here."

Jack chuckled as he led me down a hallway illuminated by softly glowing white lamps and I idly wondered just how much of this town was built with magic. It wasn't unheard of to hear stories about elementalists calling up great spires of rock or ice, but those only lasted as long as they could maintain the energy required to keep them there.

No, this place must have been built by hand, with magic to add the finishing touches. The prospect of such mammoth undertakings left me a little distracted causing me to bump into Jack from behind. The wolf had stopped in front of a door with a softly pulsing blue orb set at eye height into the dark wood.

The wolf just smiled and shook his head while I blushed and felt like I had just made a fool of myself. He placed a hand on the orb and the door clicked open, permitting us entry into a modestly sized room full of plush couches, two large oak desks, and a small kitchen set along the left hand wall. The right wall was decorated with crimson curtains that hung from the ceiling nearly thirteen feet above our heads, and three large bay windows with doors set into them, allowed one to exit out onto a small balcony overlooking the central courtyard.

Jack removed his cloak, much to my pleasure, and made his way past the couches to a door on the far wall. He opened it, but before he stepped inside he turned his head and gave me a smile.

"Make yourself at home. I just have to see if our hunter isn't in worse shape than when I left this morning." With that, he disappeared, leaving the door open.

I took a few minutes to gaze around the surprisingly well-kept room, feeling guilty for thinking that Jack's group couldn't possibly be so neat and tidy. I stepped over to one of the windows and gazed out into the courtyard that had been dug lower than the rest of the hotel. Large trees decorated it with several paths winding between them. There was even a fairly large pond in the center.

"So you're our new cleric." A voice came from behind me, startling me back to attention as I turned around.

I'm fairly certain my face could have burst into flames considering how hard I began to blush.

Lying along one of the large crimson couches was a shark; the orange of his back and arms abruptly turning into white on his chest, his sleek abs, and his inner thighs, but what had me blushing most was the fact that he wasn't wearing any clothing at all. His package almost made me drool. A large ebony shaft lying back against his stomach, easily seven inches long without even being aroused, and his sack held balls rivalled the size of large apples.

A large part of me didn't mind the view at all, but growing up in a Cleric's convent didn't leave much room for one to feel too open and free and this guy did.

"Clearly our new Cleric knows what he likes." The shark chuckled. I blinked rapidly and turned my gaze from his flaccid cock to his sleek, angular face. His smile was definitely charming; it almost made me want to swoon and fall into his arms.

"S-sorry." I stammered, looking down to the ground and folding my ears back. "I-I didn't m-mean to stare."

"Don't worry love, I take it as a compliment!" A slender, yet strong pair of arms wrapped around my midriff and I suddenly realized that the shark had moved to embrace me from behind. He stood a good few inches above me, at least as tall as Jack, but that didn't make me uncomfortable in the least. "Besides, who am I to turn down a hot little piece like yourself?"

It took every bit of willpower I had not to grind myself back against the bulge I felt pressing into me just above my tail. How the hell did he get behind me like that without me noticing?!

"Sav, don't molest our newest group member." Jack's voice reached my ears and I instantly felt relief wash over me as the shark let his arms drop, followed immediately by a sense of longing to have them wrapped around me again.

The wolf had walked back into the common area with a rusty coloured coyote in tow, and I felt my blush return to my cheeks when I realized the toned canine was also completely nude. He also looked fairly hung over if his drooping ears and squinting eyes were any indication. His nudity was tamed, however, by the presence of a great many tribal designs tattooed into his fur. The black markings covered his arms, a large portion of his chest, and also ran up his legs to connect at his navel, nestled between a gorgeous set of abs.

I felt even more self-conscious now considering my feminine build; I was more slender curves than anything, with no real defined muscles. Perhaps if I wound up sticking around with this group long enough that would change?

"It's gonna be hard to keep my hands off him." Sav chuckled, surprising me again as he was now sitting back on the couch, his legs open with his maleness hanging down between them.

"Kristoff, this is Savrum and Miles." Jacob said, gesturing to the shark and coyote respectively. "Sav is our infiltration specialist from the Black Guild, and Miles is our hunter and scout from the Wilds Guild."

Well, being from the Black Guild would explain why Savrum had been able to hide himself so easily and move so quickly. Renowned thieves and assassins came from that guild, and I considered myself lucky that they were on the Empire's side.

As for Miles, the poor coyote looked like he had seen far better days. He had sat in a large cushioned chair and simply held his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. Despite the groggy, near-death appearance to him, he was still quite dashing.

"Don't mind him," Sav chuckled. "We took him out for a pre-mission party last night. Bit of a tradition. We figured he'd have developed a tolerance by now."

I reached into one of my many small pouches and pulled out a length of silk cloth. The previous winter I had taught myself to fuse a chunk of ice with the fabric, making for a great cooling bandage for first aid. I stepped over to the coyote and offered it to him, mentally slapping myself for not thinking to use it earlier in the market.

"Just something to settle that headache down." I said with a smile.

Miles looked down at the fabric and gently took it from my hand, wrapping it around his head like a bandana. He suddenly looked like he was in a lot less pain, and he gave me a grateful nod and a weak smile.

His silence was a little off-putting, but I was happy to chalk that up to the hangover.

"Right lads, we've got a two day trek ahead of us." Jack said as he clapped his hands together, causing Miles to wince. "Get your stuff because we're heading out now."

"Care to help me pack kitten?" Savrum grinned as he stood up with a long, drawn out stretch, ensuring I was able to see every muscle on his body.

That same large part of my mind screamed at me to say 'yes', but as far as my quiet logical mind was concerned, Savrum was just teasing the new guy. Thankfully the shark was interrupted by a large pillow hitting him in the face.

Jack smiled and made a 'shooing' gesture to get him moving, while Miles had already disappeared back into the bedroom. Savrum pouted, but followed along.

"Sorry about him." Jack sighed. "Unless he's in the middle of a job his mind really only has one track. Well, even then..."

"It's alright. Razzing the new guy isn't something I'm new to experiencing." I chuckled. My face was still burning, but the wolf didn't seem to hold it against me. Again I ran through our pantheon of gods, thanking each of them for pointing me to such an open, and quite sexy, group of adventurers. Granted I likely wasn't their type, I wasn't even sure Savrum was into males outside of just playful flirtation, but the fantasies were now accumulating in my mind, and that wasn't a bad way to start off an adventure.

Savrum was the first to exit the bedroom, and what he was wearing I would hardly have considered proper clothing to go out in public with. A pair of tight black shorts covered down to just above mid-thigh, showing off every muscle in his lean, but powerful legs; and they certainly did nothing to make the bulge in his groin any less pronounced. Over his chest he wore a tight black tank top that only covered his strong pectorals, leaving his white stomach completely exposed to my ogling eyes.

The shark's belt had a number of pouches synched tightly along the back just above his long sweeping tail, and two foot-long daggers flanked them. The black metal of the blades didn't give off any glint or glare, which made sense considering his profession, but they still looked incredibly sharp and deadly, almost as if just looking them could cut me.

He gave me a sly grin and a wink. His clothes may have looked more at home on a female in a brothel, but his eyes screamed 'alpha male' in every sense of the word.

Next came Miles. The coyote at least looked better now that he had the cold cloth wrapped around his head, but he still looked uncomfortable, though I couldn't pin down why.

All he wore was a pair of shorts that hung a little loosely on his hips, looking like they could fall down at any moment. The coyote was far from skinny though; he clearly was mostly muscle packed into a frame more slender than either Jacob or Savrum. I found myself getting entranced by his tribal tattoos again, the swirling black designs seeming to play into each other yet remaining completely separate.

The only other piece of clothing he wore was a strap of leather looped over his torso holding a quiver of arrows and two wicked looking hatchets, and a pouch hanging off the back of the thin belt around his waist. The canine was holding a normal looking bow, but years of training with enchantments had taught me to recognize certain energies; the weapon was a powerful one, and likely very old.

Miles gave me another nod before looping the bow over his shoulders, then looked to Jack.

"Right, everyone have everything?" The black wolf asked, looking between the three of us. "Kris, since it's your first mission with us, feel free to ask us anything during the trip. We've got a two day journey to the manor, so we've got plenty of time to give you a few pointers."

Jack turned and pulled open the door, slinging his tall shield over his shoulders before stepping out into the hallway. Miles followed behind, while Savrum extended an arm and gave me a bow.

"After you." He said with a smile.

I could feel his eyes wandering over my backside as I blushed and thanked him. Perhaps I was wrong about him just being into playful flirtation...

Aside from a few upturned noses from some nobles and quite a few more curious and even lustful glances from the others, our short walk back out into the heat of the afternoon was uneventful.

I don't know what I was expecting would happen; perhaps a confrontation with guards considering everyone was armed and not even trying to hide their weapons, or maybe a really uptight noble causing a scene because there were 'peasants in the hotel'.

I guess those were situations left to my overactive and nervous imagination.

"Oh how I'll miss the lookers in this city." Savrum sighed as he met every curious gaze he got with a grin.

"We'll only be gone a week, Sav." Jack sighed and shook his head. "I'm sure you can restrain yourself for that long."

Miles gave a snort and a chuckle as we made our way down the busy streets towards the city's Western gate, earning a playful shove from the shark behind him. I couldn't help but think that, despite the length of time they had all been together, the number of dangerous missions they must have been on, they still seemed to act like children. Well, Savrum and Miles seemed that way at least.

The massive gates set into the western wall of Janesport sat half-open, but still, a veritable sea of merchants and traders and travellers were able to walk through them with plenty of room to spare. Guards were checking papers and belongings of the large number of people coming into the city, and a few were doing the same with those few leaving.

A theft from the vaults of the city's bank wasn't a situation they seemed to take lightly.

Miles' tail was wagging rapidly as we approached a pair of guards waving through some people they had just searched and questioned, Jack taking point as he pulled out a small roll of paper from the pouch on his hip and handed it to them.

"Relax Miles, you can get rid of the shorts soon enough." Savrum patted the canine's backside and chuckled before looking over at me. "He's not a fan of clothes. Typical Wild. Once we get far enough away from the city and into the woods he's going to lose the shorts and probably wander off on his own."

"I knew Wilds liked the wilderness, but I didn't really expect you to be so against clothing." I said to the coyote as I felt a slight blush creep over my cheeks.

"Took us a while to convince him he needed to wear _something_in cities and villages." Savrum laughed just as Jack was finishing talking to the guards. Our group was waved through without any searches or questions so I figured that little paper Jack had was some declaration from the mayor or whoever was in charge of the Guard, identifying us as being on official business.

As we passed through the gates I couldn't help but marvel at the sheer size of them; nearly fifty feet tall and a dozen feet thick of polished granite and wood. Thinking back to the great wars of old, I couldn't help but shiver at the prospect of having to breach a gate like this, or face whatever it was that managed to get through one. Unless an attacker had hundreds of siege ladders or some massive gate breacher, a city of the Empire simply couldn't be taken.

That didn't mean it couldn't happen, however. During my schooling at the Guild I had learned about sieges starving out a city after two years of patient waiting, or the 'Rumbler', a siege engine of massive proportions, grating its way through one of these thick gates after a few hours during a rebellion three hundred years in the past.

Wars back then were gruesome affairs of massive proportions, there was no doubt about that.

I had lost myself in my thoughts long enough for Savrum to take an interest. The shark snapped his fingers in front of my face with a smile. "You were pretty well zoned out there cat, not nervous about this mission are you?"

"N-no." I said, more than a little embarrassed at being caught with my head in the clouds. "W-well... I mean... A little, yeah. Clerics from my particular sect don't really get sent out to deal with mercenaries and thieves and the like."

"Ah, fair enough." Savrum said before wrapping an arm around my waist. "But there's nothing to worry about, we won't let anything bad happen to you."

I smiled through the blush on my face as the shark kept his hand resting on my hip, feeling equal parts discomfort and excitement at the physical attention.

"Even though we're technically letting something bad happen to you right now." Jack chuckled, taking a glance back at us. "I'm afraid that's about as 'hands-off' as Sav gets."

"There's nothing wrong with physical attention." Savrum stuck his tongue out at the wolf before us and I had to supress a chuckle at the sight of the two older males acting like bickering brothers. I was quickly warming to this group, but the back of my mind told me to stay wary; if I messed anything up their attitude towards me might change for the worst.

"Aaaand off he goes..." Jack smiled as Miles pulled down his shorts and stuffed them into his pack. The coyote breathed a sigh of relief, closing his eyes and smiling to himself as we began walking again.

"So Kris, tell us about yourself." Savrum said, giving my hip a gentle squeeze. "You're obviously not from this continent."

Well, I supposed everything good had to come to an end at some point. I mentally sighed as I put on a cheerful face.

"Nope, I'm from a small port village back in the capital province." I said, hoping they didn't pry any further beyond that. "Population of about five hundred."

"Five hundred?" Jack said. "So coming here would have been quite the shock."

"It certainly was." I chuckled, happy to have been able to steer the topic away from my old home. "Just seeing the size of some of these buildings was enough to paralyze me. Can't say I'm sad to leave the city though, far too crowded and noisy."

"Oh yeah, you're definitely going to get along with us." Savrum laughed. "We only go in to town after a mission or to stock up on items we can't get ourselves out in the wilds. Otherwise we just find a cave or build ourselves a shelter for as long as we care to stay in one spot."

The prospect of living out in the wilderness in such a way was a little daunting to think about, but I was confident that the guys would teach me everything I needed to know about trapping or building shelters. I just hoped I wouldn't wind up being more of a burden than an asset.

As we continued to walk, the fields became rough pastures, followed shortly after by dense forest as we abandoned the well-worn road other travellers used. The smell of nature was intoxicating, especially after having been in Janesport just a few hours before. It was a relief to be breathing fresh air again, and despite the humidity of the day, it felt like a blessing to be in the shade of trees instead of buildings.

As soon as we were a few hundred yards into the forest, Miles darted ahead of Jack and disappeared a few seconds later. I wondered just how wise it was to go off on his own, but knowing that he had done this regularly comforted me a little. Jack and Savrum at least didn't seem concerned in the least.

The heat was far less oppressive here in the shade, and even though it was still humid, I had to reach into my backpack to pull out my cloak as the sun began to set to keep myself from shivering.

"You're awful to cover yourself up like that." Savrum commented from behind me as we meandered through the trees. I could only smile and shake my head as I tried to focus on not tripping over any of the exposed roots we passed over.

We were presently walking up a steep embankment, and my ears flicked as they heard the sounds of running water, my mind instantly picturing the satisfaction of having a chance to clean myself of the sweat the heat had drawn out of me. As we reached the top, I was surprised to see a rather large bubbling pool of water.

I had never before seen a hot-spring, but the idea of a hot bath was incredibly alluring, even if it meant being naked around Savrum and the others. Again I mentally slapped myself; I was getting worked up with the shark's hand on my hip, but now with the chance to bathe came the risk of being completely exposed. I'd have to keep my lower half under the water, that was for sure.

The spring was covered on two sides by sheer rock reaching a dozen feet into the air, and there were dozens of large trees surrounding us to set up tents between or rest against. It was hard to tell how deep the pool was, but there was definitely room enough for the four of us at once. It even looked big enough for us to actually swim around in, come to think of it.

"This is typically our first stop whenever we head west." Jack said as he dropped his bag and cloak next to a tree. "And your first lesson in wilderness survival is part of your initiation to the group."

I cocked my head to the side as I removed my cloak long enough to drop my bag next to my own tree, while Savrum did the same not too far away. "Alright, what's the lesson?"

"Making a fire." Jack smiled. "You'll need to gather wood, enough to last us well into the night at least, and a bit to cook breakfast with in the morning. Sav and I will work on re-digging the fire pit and setting up the camp."

I was sure to record this in my journal as my first great act during my first real adventure out in the wilderness; gathering wood. If I wasn't afraid of ruining the good graces I had found myself in with these guys, I'd feel insulted. I was an enchanter, an artificer, a bloody healer! Gathering wood just seemed like something meant for a squire or servant!

As I wandered back down the escarpment, I realized that I was the closest thing they had to a squire. I had no outdoor experience, no survival skills, and I wasn't nearly as proficient as the others when it came to general knowledge of nature.

I sighed as I began looking for dry wood, what I found lying on the ground around the spring was too damp to use, so I had to head further away from the spring while muttering an apology to Drysen. It took time for iron to heat up enough to be forged into a sword or armour, just like it took time to prepare a piece of either to receive an enchantment. I had to be patient.

What little parts of the sky I could see through the thick trees was turning a rather brilliant shade of orange, and while it was beautiful, it made the forest floor just that much darker. I sighed to myself and tore my eyes away from the illuminated clouds above, only to find myself gazing into a pair of shining dark brown eyes.

"Holy hells!" I yelped and jumped back, falling onto my backside.

Miles was hanging upside down from a tree branch, still nude despite how cool the evening air was getting. The coyote was smiling wide, clearly pleased with himself for scaring the daylights out of me.

"Jeeze Miles! You almost gave me a heart attack!" I said as I struggled to catch my breath.

The canine simply let go of the branch he was on, rolling his body so he landed silently on his feet. He was still clearly amused, but his ears at least had the dignity to make him look somewhat apologetic. He walked over to me and held out his hand, which I somewhat bitterly took to get myself back onto my feet.

"I guess you'd have been safe even if I overreacted." I said as I cleaned my legs of dead leaves and twigs. "Not like I'd be able to defend myself anyways."

The typical front line cleric always carried a large mace for defense, but I was just an enchanter. I never pictured myself out here in the wilderness, so carrying a weapon just never occurred to me. Now I just felt like even more of a fool.

Miles must have picked up on my dampened mood, because the canine pulled me into a hug.

My blush probably could have lit up the forest around us right then. Here I was with a strong, sexy canine with his arms wrapped tightly around me, and his sheath poking gently against my leg. I couldn't speak, I couldn't move, and my heart felt like it was about to beat a hole through my chest.

But there was nothing sexual about the hug. Miles wasn't grinding against me, or letting his hands stray over my body. Even when he nuzzled into the fur between my blunt ears I only felt a sense of calmness and comfort. I hesitantly reached my own hands up, not knowing if a return hug would be considered going too far, but when my arms connected with his body, the coyote squeezed me a little tighter.

It felt like a blissful eternity, but after a minute or two, the canine pulled back, looking me in the eyes and giving me that kind comforting smile of his. I won't lie, I didn't want to let go of him, but the others would expect me back with firewood soon.

We completely broke the embrace, but Miles made no move to leave.

"I've got to gather firewood. Part of my initiation to the group." I said as I started looking around our feet. The light was fading faster now, so I'd be hard pressed to find enough wood before the woods turned pitch black.

Miles motioned for me to follow him, leading me a few dozen yards from where he gave me my scare and pointed to a large fallen tree. It was long dead and felt dry to the touch, so I began snapping off large branches before breaking them into smaller, more manageable pieces.

The coyote joined me, using one of his hatchets to chop larger portions of the trunk into small logs. It felt like a lot of work, but in reality we were only at it for twenty minutes before Miles gently tapped me on the shoulder, indicating that we had gathered more than enough. I had abandoned my cloak shortly after starting the activity, and now he was setting the wood we had collected onto it, making a gesture to show that I was to roll up the sides so we could carry it like a stretcher.

We'd only have to make one trip, but once we picked up the pile, I noticed just how heavy it really was. I would almost certainly be coming home with either more muscle than I had left with, or no arms at all.

Miles took the lead as we headed back to camp, not having nearly as many troubles as I had keeping a grip on the cloak while trying to maintain my footing on the uneven ground. Now I could truly understand why Miles had joined the Wild Guild.

The canine had an uncanny sense of direction, even though the forest had been plunged into deep shadow now that the sun was finished its retreat beneath the horizon, his feet never stumbled or even made more than a swish of noise as we walked over the sheet of dead leaves and twigs.

I must have sounded like a stampeding herd of buffalo in comparison.

Getting up the escarpment was the hardest part of it all, but thankfully, Miles wasn't opposed to the idea of stopping once or twice to let me rest my aching arms. Once we finally did reach the spring, I wasn't surprised to see nothing at all. I had to squint just to see Miles in front of me.

Clouds had clearly moved in, preventing us from seeing any stars and not a shred of light from any of the moons, but I was hopeful that my eyes would adjust soon enough. Worst case scenario was that I'd have to pull out my enchanted torch; another little invention of my own that I was honestly surprised no one else had thought to create yet.

"We were starting to think you'd gotten lost, Kris." Came Savrum's voice, floating over to us over the sounds of the bubbling hot spring.

I was tempted to say that I was smart enough to not get lost, but I knew that it was a lie.

"If Miles didn't show up I probably would have been." I chuckled, trying to calm my own sense of embarrassment and shame at being so new to everything. I rubbed my sore arms, but a gentle pat from Miles was all he needed to do to get my attention.

It was hard to see him in the gloom of the night, but I could see him well enough to notice that he was now crouching over a small fire pit, building up a small log cabin with small twigs and papery birch bark filling up the inside. He looked up at me as I knelt down to inspect how he had set everything up, then took my hand, placing in it a piece of flint and tinder.

A few strokes was all he used to show me how to get sparks flying, but I was a little less graceful, muttering curses as I struggled to reproduce his demonstration.

I was getting frustrated, and I supposed it showed because Miles put a comforting hand on my back, rubbing in calming circles until I had calmed down. Thankfully neither Jack nor Savrum quipped in with a joke at least.

I took another few deep breaths before trying the flint again, this time managing to get a small shower of sparks. My eyes lit up and Miles gave my back a congratulatory pat. I had to try twice more before the first piece of papery bark lit up, and the coyote was quick to lean down and give it a few helping breaths to help it spread.

Within a few minutes of the first sparks, we now had a cozy fire crackling away, illuminating our campsite nicely.

I noticed that there was a fairly large shelter set up a few feet from the fire pit; a few logs tied up a few feet off the ground between three trees, with thick cloaks draped over them and pulled back to create two half-tents in an 'L' shape. It looked like there would be enough room for two each, but it would likely still be a squeeze.

"Glad to see you two are back in one piece." Jack said as he reclined up against one of the rock walls of the spring. Savrum was floating on his back a little further in, once again completely nude with his package proudly lying against his stomach out of the water. "And look! Miles even caught us breakfast! Not that I doubted you would."

I turned to see the coyote already well underway with skinning and preparing three fat rabbits, each with a black mark painted onto their foreheads, which caused me to cock my head out of curiosity.

Jack sensed my confusion and answered while the coyote worked away. "It's a prayer mark. Wilds don't kill animals for sport, but necessity; so for each kill, the hunter offers a prayer to Nature, their patron god."

"Pretty much a 'sorry for killing one of your creatures, but this is why I did it' type thing." Savrum added. The shark put it crudely, but I got the jist of the idea and at least he wasn't being insulting about it. "Just like after a successful day of pickpocketing or a completed assassination, those in my Guild offer a prayer to Raven, goddess of the night."

I won't lie, the idea of the Black Guild had always unsettled me. Stealing people's possessions or accepting contracts to end someone's life... It just seemed like it would be too easy to corrupt and abuse such a group, not to mention just being downright evil. Savrum at least seemed like the honourable sort who wouldn't go out of his way to hurt someone without good cause.

That was only slightly comforting. I'd have to ask Savrum if he'd tell me about his guild at some point.

"Come on in and wash off then!" The shark called as he stood in the deep end of the pond, the steaming water reaching halfway up his glistening torso.

Out of respect for Miles and his Guild's traditions, I quietly thought out a prayer of thanks to Nature. I never before thought that killing something like a chicken would require an apology to a god, it had just never occurred to me, so now the guilt was enough to turn my stomach a little.

After a few moments of silence, my mind decided to change the subject to one that was far more pressing at the moment: Having to strip down to my underwear in front of three people who were still essentially strangers.

With no small amount of hesitation, my fingers started to pull open the strings keeping the front of my leggings closed. Just before I pulled them down I looked up, only to see Savrum floating on his back again and Jack resting his head back against the rock wall, his eyes closed with his face turned upwards. Miles was still setting his catches on sticks to rest high over the fire to cook, so I took the chance to pull my pants off and slip quickly into the scalding water.

I let out a half gasp, half sigh of relief as the heat of the water washed over me, making me feel clean almost immediately. I couldn't help but close my eyes and purr in contentment as I let the water wash away the grime of a day's worth of walking through the thick forest.

"Coward." Savrum's voice broke me out of my blissful rest.

"Huh?" I opened my eyes to see the shark standing just a few feet away. Being as tall as he was and given that he was now standing closer to the shallow end of the pond, I had a great view of a little over half of his tantalizing passage.

"Wearing underwear in a hot spring." The shark leaned forward with a teasing grin. "Out in the middle of the wilderness no less! That's the worst kind of sacrilege!"

I looked over to Jack for help, but the wolf was just quietly chuckling to himself as he rested back against the rocks. I had to agree though; I was out in the middle of nowhere with three guys who were quickly approaching the closest things I've ever had to best friends, but a lifetime of keeping myself modest and withdrawn was keeping me from feeling completely comfortable.

A small rock bounced off of Savrum's nose, making the shark yelp and take a few steps back into the deeper water.

I didn't have much of a chance to wonder what had happened before Miles slipped into the water next to me with a large grin on his muzzle. His arms were resting along the lip of the pond, one reaching around behind me as the naked coyote was sitting barely a foot away, but I felt a lot more at ease with him than I did with Savrum.

"Alright! Alright!" The shark laughed as he submerged himself up to his jawline and gave us an adorable 'puppy eyes' look. "I'll cut back! Can't guarantee I can stop myself completely though." He added the last part with a wink.

Thinking on it, if it was just myself and Savrum, I'd have likely fallen for him back at the hotel when I first saw him; but with Jack and Miles present, I just felt embarrassed.

Come to think of it, if it was just myself and _any_of them alone...

Miles reached over and ruffled my short head of pure white hair, making me blush partly from annoyance at being treated like a child. I couldn't stay annoyed for long though, Miles just seemed too kind, even if his silence continued to perturb me. I was willing to bet that more than likely he was born a mute, so that put me a little more at ease at least.

Still, I wondered if his voice would have been as beautiful as the rest of him.

"So what kind of enchantments can you work, Kris?" Jack asked from across the pool. I was fairly certain the smile on his muzzle had more to do with how close Miles and I were sitting, but I chose to ignore that.

"Any kind." I said proudly. "Normally someone specializes in one element or healing or alteration type, but I can work all of them. Well, most of them at least."

"You've lost me," The wolf said. Even Savrum seemed curious. "Different styles of enchantments?"

It was my time to shine. This was really the only kind of thing I could talk about with any confidence, and being knowledgeable in a subject these guys knew next to nothing about stroked my ego a little.

"Say you've got someone working at a forge that can enchant a weapon to burn as well as cut," I started. "Or a piece of armour to protect from fire, or a cloak to provide warmth. That person has specialized in the element of fire; he still might be able to put something else on a piece of equipment, say an ice enchantment, but it wouldn't be nearly as strong as what he's got a natural affinity for."

"Ah, I got you." Jack said with a contemplative look. "Just like some warriors and paladins are able to use a dozen different weapons, but are better at using, say, a sword and shield."

"Or how some of us darklings are better with crossbows or potions or daggers." Savrum chimed in with a smile. Despite the presence of the savage looking daggers on his belt, I wondered which of those three he preferred most.

"Pretty much, yeah." I said, feeling a _lot_more comfortable now that sexual innuendo wasn't at the forefront of our conversation. "All an enchanter really needs are a few materials; the item to be enchanted, a bit of what the spell is supposed to reflect, and a bit of the owner's blood to make it more powerful."

Everyone gave me a look at that point. The look was one of confusion, and a little trepidation. Blood magic was a dangerous and powerful tool, but because of its popularity among cultists and the power hungry, even simply mentioning it was enough to get you shunned. I mentally slapped myself; I had gotten too proud and too absorbed in the prospect of teaching the group about my skills.

I silently begged Drysen for forgiveness for letting my mind wander like that and for acting too prideful.

"Blood magic?" Jack asked before I had the chance to finish preparing my defense.

"N-not really f-full blown blood m-magic." I stammered, hoping I hadn't ruined my chances at getting along with them. "I-it's taught to all clerics that become enchanters. I-if you gave me a piece of your armour for example, I could imbue it easily enough with a basic regeneration spell. It would heal your smaller wounds after a few hours, but it wouldn't do much to help with bigger wounds."

Well, at least they seemed to be listening instead of jumping down my throat. I took a shaky breath before continuing.

"A simple drop of blood would tailor the armour specifically to you and your body. It would be able to deal with worse damage, because your armour would essentially _know_you. People are typically happy with just the generic enchantment, but for those that are willing to pay the forge for something stronger, they need to give a drop of blood."

"I thought that was just some kind of creepy offering to Drysen," Savrum said as he looked down at his fingers. "I didn't think anything of it when I got my daggers enchanted."

"No one ever thinks much about it." I sighed, relieved that they at least seemed happy with my explanation and weren't about to shun me or cast me out. "It might be willful ignorance in a lot of cases, because the end result far outweighs the discomfort of shedding a single drop of blood."

"Fair enough." Jack said as he sat back against the rocks once more, seeming to return to his relaxed state without any problem. "I might get you to do some work for me once we get back to town and collect our payment."

I was still shaking, regardless of how quickly every seemed to accept that particular little fact. The fear of not knowing how the three adventurers would react to the prospect of me using blood magic had travelled through me and taken a hold so fast that I couldn't get myself calmed down.

Savrum returned to floating around the deep end on his back, while Jack seemed to almost be asleep with his head tilted back and his eyes closed. Miles though, must have sensed my discomfort because his arm dropped from the lip of the pool to wrap around my shoulders and pull me closer to his side.

Again, there was nothing sexual about the contact; the coyote simply seemed to want to calm me down, and considering he couldn't offer me words, he went with the next best thing.

I hate to play favourites, but Miles was definitely topping my list of people I considered to be friends.

The next little while was spent in comfortable silence; Savrum drifting lazily on his back with a serene look on his face, Jack sleeping soundly against the wall of the steaming pool, and Miles gently holding me to his side.

I was perfectly content to keep things just the way they were, but the back of my mind was reminding me that after tomorrow, we'd likely be fighting gods knew how many mercenaries at a manor in the wilderness. The others didn't seem too worried about it, but then, they _were_professionals. Perhaps they were actually looking forward to it at this point?

Eventually, Jack roused himself and stood up, the light from the fire illuminating the curves of his powerful body, not to mention the large package shining between his legs. I had been close to falling asleep against Miles, but when I noticed Jack my eyes shot open. He looked to be the same length as Savrum, with a similarly sized sack hanging low between his legs, but his shaft was noticeably thicker.

Of course, with the way my mind seemed to have started working since I joined this group, I pictured the water dripping from the end of his foreskin as the wolf's pre-cum.

I don't think I've ever come to attention quite so fast in my entire life.

Savrum left the pool soon after, and seeing his sleek muscles glisten in the firelight didn't do anything to settle me down. If anything, it got me more worked up. The shark must have known the situation I was in, because he flashed me a smile and a wink as he headed to the fire with Jack, who was presently stringing their morning meals high up into the trees to protect them from scavengers.

Meanwhile, my cathood was now throbbing under the hot water. My comparatively modest seven inches had slid through the leg of my underwear, and I found myself cursing my choice to wear such a small, loose pair. There would be no hiding this once I left the pool.

Unfortunately for me, when I turned my head to look at Jack and Savrum, I was surprised to see both of them presently lying down in one of the tents and... Spooning?

I couldn't tell for sure, but Jack was lying on his side, facing away from the fire, and there was definitely a long orange and white shark tail slipped between his legs.

And here I thought I would be able to banish my arousal before getting out of the water.

I'd have been happy to stay in until my excitement died down, but Miles suddenly stirred, yawning widely as he removed his arm from my shoulders. The coyote stood up and stretched, not trying to show off in any obvious way, but still giving me a good show nonetheless, before he turned and stepped out of the hot spring.

At first I was saddened by the empty space left beside me, but then I was relieved to know that I had been left alone, long enough I hoped to take care of myself.

The sadness and relief were both overwhelmed soon after by a sense of utter fear.

Miles was kneeling next to the pond, extending a hand to me, apparently thinking that I was ready to head to our tent to sleep.

I found myself once again blushing madly at the thought of the coyote seeing me in the state I was in. Despite how certain I was that he wouldn't mind, I just couldn't shake the embarrassment.

The coyote before me chuckled and rolled his eyes before reaching down into the water and taking my throbbing shaft into a firm grip. I'm certain that had I been expecting it, I would've yelped like I had just been burned, but it was such a quick, fluid movement that all I could do was gasp and hold my breath.

I was looking directly into his brown eyes, my gaze held there by his comforting, almost playful gaze, while his hand remained motionless beneath the water. Miles cocked his head to the side, his expression seeming to say, 'There, I've touched it, nothing to be embarrassed about now.', and I was gradually able to exhale.

With a chuckle from Miles, and a pitiful whimper from my own muzzle, he released me, pulling his hand back out of the water and offered it to me again.

I was hesitant, partly because my mind was still recovering from the shock of the coyote's actions, but I reached up and took his hand regardless, accepting his offer to pull me out of the pool. I gasped as the cool air of the night enveloped me, doing wonders to make my cock calm down, but chilling me to the bone after spending so much time in the hot spring.

Miles surprised me again by hooking one arm behind my knees and lifting me off of the ground, carrying me over to the blazing fire like I weighed nothing.

"I could've walked you know." I grumbled quietly. Part of me was jumping for joy that the coyote was holding me like this, but my pride once again took it as an insult.

Miles simply rolled his eyes and smiled, setting me down to dry off and warm up next to the fire while he flipped open the large blanket that had been laid out on the ground inside our tent.

The warmth of the fire was quickly spreading over me, banishing the cold and relaxing me in a way I had rarely ever experienced before. I was so relaxed that I didn't even tense up when I felt a strong slender arm wrap around my waist, I just purred happily and leaned against Miles without a word.

Jack had his size and his strength, Savrum had his body and his outgoing attitude, but Miles had a calm serenity about him that just made me feel warm and wanted. I didn't know for sure exactly how the other two acted while not on a mission, but the coyote, just by virtue of how he was treating me, seemed the type to actually want something beyond the physical.

I didn't know if I could give that to him, and perhaps it was just wishful thinking on my part, but I didn't object when he gave me a gentle tug and crawled into our small tent, settling himself into the back. He was wearing that same kind smile he always seemed to have as I crawled in next to him, pressing my nose into his solid chest to drink in his earthy scent while his left arm draped itself over my body and his right slid under my neck to pull me right up against him.

I didn't care that I could feel his plump sheath and hand-filling balls pressing against my own, I didn't care that I was essentially naked myself. Being here with these three adventurers out in a strange new world, and being with Miles in particular, made me feel more alive than ever before.

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And there it is!

Please provide feedback if you enjoyed it or even if you didn't! Can't improve any other way!

PS: Thanks KlausNightfur for giving it a once over =D