A Long Day: Chapter 2

Story by Lance_Drake on SoFurry

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The second chapter of my story, finished later in the same day. May work on it more tomorrow.


Gavin took one last look down at his pursuers, who were growling and yelping at him angrily. He was still irritated, but couldn't hold back a cocky grin. "Heh...kiss my arse, you stupid bastards!" he shouted out, enticing them to chase him while he started to move. He leapt off the branch he was on with a powerful thrust of his legs, propelling himself to a lower branch that he swung off right into the side of another tree, which he expertly gripped and slid down, leaping off the side before he reached the ground in order to preserve his momentum. As the creatures gave chase, he effortlessly navigated through the forest, not missing his footing for a mere moment. He was a pro at this, and couldn't help from grinning as he gave the occasional look behind him to find the group that had been chasing him had grown smaller and smaller from their own missteps. "Oi! 'Aving trouble, are we?" He gave a hearty laugh, and then focused on dashing until he lost them, the grin never leaving his face until that point. Gavin loved the thrill of a good chase. He thought it only a shame that it was so easy, to him anyway, to outrun these things.

He slowed his pace down to a casual stroll soon, and started to catch his breath. What a rush, he thought, but he had enough of that for now. It was still early in the day, so for the rest of his trip to town, he focused on taking in the environment. He loved these woods. It was an excellent training ground for his skills, and still had some remains of buildings that existed near the plant, before it had gotten shut down and everyone slowly abandoned them, too, in favor of being closer to the city. He enjoyed just about everything about this forest. The crackle of the leaves and twigs beneath his feet, the semi-dense covering of trees to keep the hot sun out, and the cool breeze that passed through, making both a relieving feeling after a good run, and a pleasant sound from the rustling woods.

It had only been a few more minutes of walking before he reached the town. It sat in a valley of sorts, with woods surrounding it on all sides, save for the way to the city, which used a highway that continued onto other areas, and a small lake on the opposite side of where Gavin came from, simply called Edgewood Lake. He had been around the lakeside before, exploring that landscape there, but what lied beyond that, he did not know. Around that side were some of the more upper-class residencies that enjoyed the view of the lake, while the side he was on were more lower-class, with the middle-class being somewhere in-between. The entire town was generally put in a circle, with a crescent shape covering the forest and lake as the residential area, while most of the businesses thrived on the side closer to the city and highway. Finally, there was the new power plant, which was a much larger, more modern complex, which lied by the highway conjoining the town and city. How Gavin envied that building, wishing it could be the abandoned one instead, so he wouldn't have to deal with the constant interruptions.

Gavin's aim here was pretty straightforward: he knew someone, and old friend of his, who could help him with his current situation. They've developed a mutual relationship, with Gavin doing favors for him in exchange for tips and supplies. He knew he wasn't home right now; rather, he should now be tending to his store in town, so he'd have to cut through the lower-class section of town to get to the business district. Luckily, it wasn't far, being pretty close to the border of the residential section. He started heading down the hill.

Getting through town was simple enough. There were some people that likely recognized him, but wouldn't bother him. They knew him when he was just a young hawk, growing up here. There wasn't much left for him here, however, and he's more satisfied living away from the memories, despite his current situation. He took a few of his usual shortcuts: climbing up a worn chain-link fence, hopping over a few railings and avoiding some of the younger skaters messing around, getting to his favorite wall he likes to scamper up, to find it's once again getting tagged but some hoodlum. "Oi!" he said as he slapped the spray can out the young pup's paw "Respect the property, mate." He hurriedly climbed up the wall, leaping over to the other side, and leaving the adolescent a bit confused.

Not much further ahead, there it was: Chuck's Carpentry. "Ah Chuck", Gavin thought, "how lucky you were to have applicable skills in this bloody society. Still..." he scoffed "...you're an underhanded bastard at times." He didn't walk in the front entrance, instead going around the back like he usually does, and giving it a special knock only he and Chuck know. Upon opening the door, a simian with glasses and an apron on, covered in sawdust, answered the door. "Back again so soon, Gavin?"

Gavin crossed his arms and scowled "Well, I wouldn't be if your shoddy craftsmanship could hold down my bloomin' door!"

"Perhaps if you secured the boards correctly, you wouldn't have any problems."

"Yeah yeah, ya gonna let me in or what?"

The chimp rolled his eyes and motioned the arrogant avian inside. "Y'know, I do have actual, honest work to do. Unlike you."

"Right, honest work. And 'ow about those 'honest' jobs you give me?"

Chuck huffed air out his nose a bit and smirked "I'd like to think those are mutually beneficial."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Gavin took a seat and propped his legs up. "What do I got to do this time?"

Chuck grinned "Right to business, huh? You must be in a rush today."

Gavin crossed his arms, and spoke with half closed eyes "Yeah, sorry. Don't like 'aving my home overrun by those annoying twats every week or so."

"You know..." he started as he sat down at his workbench, starting to saw at some planks, "the town mayor has put out a reward for anyone that can take care of that pest problem. They're starting to threaten the limits of the town, and the people don't much like that."

"Heh..." Gavin leaned back, hands on the back of his head. "I doubt they'd give me anything, even if I did clear them out. Not worth the effort."

"Whatever you say, birdbrain. You're the one coming back here every week."

Gavin snapped forward and growled "Rrrgh, just tell me what you want, chuckle fuck."

Chuck smirked. "How terrifying, Gavvy boy. Alright, let me write down a list." He brought out a notepad and started scribbling things down.

As he wrote, Gavin thought of another question. "'Ey, chimp-for-brains, got any leads on some uh...'juice' for me?"

Chuck glanced up, adjusting his frames a bit "Yeah, actually. I was working on remodeling part of someone's house last week, and I noticed something useful for you down in the basement when I was moving some spare boards down there. Owner mentioned he's actually going on vacation this week, so it'll be easy pickings, even for you."

"Heh heh, very funny. Just write down the damned address on that sheet, and I'll check it out."

"Very well." He tore the slip of paper off the notepad, and handed it over to Gavin. He gave a quick read over of the list. "Mostly groceries again? You make this too easy, Chuckie boy."

"Cocky as ever, I see. They're gonna start catching onto you soon, you know."

"Yeah, but will they ever actually -catch- me? Not a chance."

"If you say so. Now get a move on. I'm already having a hard time making ends meet this month as it stands, and I can't have you dicking around here all day."

"Heh, fine. See you later, Chuck."

"In another week, I'm sure."

Gavin growled as he walked out of the shop again. He looked down at the list. Wondering what he should do first. Might make more sense to hit up the store first, before going to that guy's house. He could drop it off at Chuck's, which would give him some time to visit the house while Chuck got his stuff ready. Aside from that, he didn't get the chance to eat this morning, so a snack would be nice as soon as possible. He made up his mind and started to head off.

"This should be a cakewalk."