Shade's Water Problems
Shade yawned as he laid back on the solid rock side of the village fountain. The sound of the water calming him down as he rests, wich normally would be the exact opposite, seeing as how the fountain is in the town square. However somehow water just does that to him, in fact the only thing stopping him from wading in the water right now is the fact that it is the town square. It may be scarce right now, but he is more than certain that seeing a human skinny dipping in the town square will most definitely get him arrested.Nevertheless it is tempting to him, the clear water rippling beside him only tempts his lust to swim. The cold drops of water that spray his arm feels as if some spiteful goddess of water is kissing him in the neck, making him want to jump into her embrace. The feel of her cool watery flesh against his hot skin, her touch wrapped around him as he swam in the pleasure of her...The idea of a goddess made of water and actually letting him touch her brought a bright red blush to his cheeks. Which only made him pull his hood down further on his face as he squirmed slightly, embarrassed at thinking such thoughts in a place like this. He decided it is time to get out of here before his imagination gets the best of him, standing up slowly and looking around to make sure no one can see the winter cherry red blush on his guilty face. His very nervous grin not helping as he stands up, walking as casual as he can as he starts to walk down the road.He was certain that if his emotions could float above his head, right now there would be a floating red cloud in the shape of a heart above his head and everyone would stare at him. 'Why does water make me so happy?... it is so embarrassing...'All of his day dreaming stops however as he almost runs into someone, "Um, sorry..." he says to them as he walks around them, trying to keep his face covered as he walks by."Hey you, come back here." the gruff voice says behind him, making Shade flinch and slowly obey, trying to not seem awkward as he does so.The man seems to be a old tabby cat, his height almost as tall as Shade's, in fact he seems as if he used to be a town guard. The scars in his fur covering his exposed muscled arms and one in particular coming from inside his shirt and reaching just under his eye. The shirt he was wearing seemed to be a old worn tunic, yet despite how old it seems it doesn't nearly have as many scars as its owner. The dark leather belt around his waist even matched his black cloth pants, which could hardly hide his thick running muscles under them. In human years this tabby could be in his late fifties, although he did not look a day over his thirties. The sight of this battle worn tom cat only made Shade even more nervous."Yes, sir?..." Shade asked more meekly that he wished."You seem as if you're the one my granddaughter told me about... let me see your face..." The cat told him, the bucket in his
right hand seemed more and more like a weapon as Shade kept glancing at it."Your granddaughter? Oh you must mean the little orange cat girl I met yesterday... I hope she is ok, I did not hurt her did I?..." Shade asked, stepping back three steps for safety.In reply to this the tom cat simply walked four long steps closer to him, apparently used to closer chats, "Oh she is fine, she told me about the nice man who tripped over her and fixed her broken doll."Shade started to feel very uncomfortable with him getting closer as he took two broad steps back, hoping he would take the hint, "That is good, I apologize for any harm I did to her. You see at the time I was running away from two... individuals..."The tabby now stood less than a foot away from him, making him flinch as he grabbed his arm to make him stop walking away. He seemed more menacing now, his height now even closer to Shade's height, this made him feel even more awkward as he tried to peer into the darkness that covered his hood, "Why are you walking away? You have nothing to be afraid of me for do you?"Shade's left eyebrow twitched at this, not wanting to seem like a criminal he did decided not to resist, "If you are implying that I am some sort of thief than I am afraid you are mistaken..."The old cat blinked in surprise at this, suddenly he let out a small fit of laughter, however he did not let go of Shade as he did so. he could tell it was all fake, the man's eyes staying on him the whole time, "No no friend, I would never accuse someone of that. Even if they wear such clothing as yours in the middle of summer, run away from two local women, and seem to cover their faces from everyone." His eyes seem to glare at him as he finished this sentence, this man was a danger to Shade and he knew it. His talking started to get louder as people nearby started to take a interest in both of them. "I can assure you, sir, that I have a valid reason for your accusations on me. As well as I can explain the reason for covering my face."He only grinned at this, his grip tightening on Shade's arm, "Ok then, please tell me then why you ran away from those two women?"Shade bite his lip at this, 'Damn stereotypical bastard...' "Yesterday I was walking down your village's park, when these two said women took a interest in me. It soon became very uncomfortable to me so I... ran..."This only made the man laugh, this time for real. Shade had no choice, he did not have enough time to think of how to properly explain it without making himself look suspicious, so he simply explained it the quickest way possible, which seemed to only draw a bigger crowd around him."Ok, then if this is true why do you wear such clothing? Surely you are very hot under them, it is after all, the middle of the summer."Shade shivered at his tone, which came out as a very threatening and suspicious one. This only confirmed his thoughts of him being a
danger. He could not help but shiver in both fear and anger, "They make me comfortable..." is the only response Shade could give, his mind too filled with the dangers to comprehend words, "I am used to the heat..."The man now leaned forward, his grip tightening so much it made Shade want to punch him straight in the jaw, "I see... then why do you wear your hood? Surely your face is not so ugly that you need to constantly wear it.""Maybe it is... however I do not want you to find out....""Uh huh... well I am going to have to go against your wish and expose you to the world." The tabby grips the top of his hood, ready to show his face to the crowd of people around him.This is the only thing Shade needed to make his adrenaline and anger flow, his gloved right hand going up quickly and powerfully. Hitting the tabby straight in the jaw.The old man was taken in surprise by this, not used to people actually fighting back to him. He was forced to take a step back and let go of him, shaking his head to clear his mind. This however did not last very long as he glared back at Shade, both of his fists ready to fight, The crowd around him eager to watch.Shade saw this and saw no way around it, if he ran away he would surely have the man after him, and he is not going to run again today. If he used his magic to teleport out he would have the attention of the entire region on him, so that was out of the question. If he used no magic however he would more than likely be beaten, his own fighting style needs more room that that he is provided. Which left only one option.Shade waited for the tabby to strike, which he did, his right arm now unburdened by the bucket he carried lunged straight at him, aimed right at his face. Shade predicted this however and side stepped to the the left, ducking under his arm as he pulled back his own fist to strike. He let a small bit of magic swirl around his hand, his right hand glowing a faint white as a shadowy mist covered his left fist. Ready to finish this fight early Shade thrust his left fist at the tom cat, hitting him on the side of his head. The mist covering his hand then pushed with him, causing the blow to have enough force to throw the cat a inch off the ground as he fall back. Shade sighed and calmed down, the tabby now knocked out on the ground. He dusted his cloak and cracked his neck, clearly glad that he was unscathed in the fight. He suddenly flinched as he felt all of the pairs of eyes on him, the crowd of people who watched earlier now seemed to be like a mob as they gathered around him. Trapping him in the mass of people as they whispered to each other, seven village guards trying to break through the ground to get to him.Shade shivered in fear, now very tempted to use his magic just so that he would get away from all the staring. The guards soon broke through and three of them backed the crowd away from the conflict. Two of them going to the
unconscious body of the cat as another two went over to Shade. Shade flinched and turned to flee, however the guard whistled at him like a dog, making him curious enough to stay.Both of the guards had the same uniform, which covered all but their wolf tails and ears, you could tell that they were of higher rank due to the emblems on their chest, that did not match any of the others. The one on the left spoke first, clearing her throat so she could be heard, "We saw what happened, do not worry. This is not the first time he has picked a fight with a stranger."Shade calmed down at this slightly, nodding and turning to face them now, hugging himself as he tries not to make his shivering known to them.The one on the right speaks now his voice much deeper than his partner's, "Do you wish to file a complaint? Normally a fight in the street ends up with blood, however you seem to be kind enough to leave our residents alive." The canine guard chuckles at this and nudges his partner, who can not help but giggle with him.Shade not getting the joke just stared at them, "So... I am not in trouble?"The female guard seems to laugh at this, "HA! No, far from it, if I could I would reward you. This bastard has been acting like the boss of us for years. If I wasn't on duty I would kiss you right now."Her partner flicks his ears at this and leans over slightly, "Indeed, however I think I would kiss you much better then she would."Shade's cheeks blushed pink at this, not sure if they were teasing or being serious. In fact all of this seemed far too strange to be right, they must be tricking him, "So... are you going to take me to dungeon or?..."Both of the guards seems to be taken back by this, both of them yelling in unison, "Are you serious?"The female one laughs and elbows her partner in the gut, "Oh, this guy is a funny one."The male guard simply holds his sides were she elbowed him and starts to laugh, the guards nearby that heard the conversation can not help but laugh along with them. The crowd that already did not walk away giggling as well. Shade tilted his head, very confused by this sudden outburst of laughter."Are you, holy smokes. Guys he is serious!" The female guard yells to everyone as she starts to calm herself, however this left the crowd half laughing and others giggling.The male wolf sighs and calms down, shaking his head, "No, we are not taking you to the dungeon. The worst punishment we can give is a hanging, the one under that is cutting off a limb or two. You must be from the city, small towns like ours don't have dungeons. Either way we're not punishing you, we're just here to make sure it wasn't a murder.""Oh I wish you were with the force. We could use more guys like you." The female wolf teases, her tail wagging hard behind her."hmm yes, we could use more cute guys." The male wolf giggles before the female wolf elbows him
again.Shade sighs and simply waits for the crowd to go away and the guards to finish talking. Now that the danger has passed he is starting to daydream about the water goddess, making his cheeks blush cherry red under his hood. This calms him down however as he stops shivering, although his posture now looks slightly too friendly as the two officers chat away at him, all the while the tabby cat gets dragged back into his home.All this seemed way to strange to Shade to try and conceive, so he just decided to go along with it, his mind still clouded by his fantasies as he thinks to himself, 'Why do I keep getting such strange luck?...'