FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 2

A decent person for a not so decent theif

“You're too kind, it's wasted on her." Ashley said smiling, she opened the door to their room for him, and watched him lay her on the bed. Zora sat on the bed as Ashley did her thing, she removed the needle and pushed a flow of magic through Lilly's bloodstream. Zora watched with increasing anxiety as the veins glowing blue, where the poison had gone, slowly crawled up her leg, chest and made its way to the heart. Zora watched as his sister put blocks in the bloodstreams halting the progress of the poison, then she slowly eradicated it working her way back to its origination. Finally she sat back panting.

“She'll live, but when she awakes we're gonna have to talk about why someone's after her, alive. That pain would've only made her look dead and a normal person would have left a thief to die," Ashley said, “someone wanted her to disappear, while still getting her alive."

“Ok, but for now let's let her rest." Zora replied, frowning in thought, Ashley lifted her up and set her on a blanket on the floor, draping a blanket over her.

“You really don't care for her do you?" Zora asked, as he slid into bed.

“Not at all." she replied, getting in her bed as well, she flicked off the lamp and they both went to sleep.

Zora awoke, something warm was pressed up against his side, it almost feels furry! Suddenly Zora sat up, did a rat get in his bed? Suddenly he felt movement and Lilly sat up beside him.

“Why are you in my bed?" Zora asked in confusion.

“I woke up and I was cold so I-I climbed into a bed, I didn't realize someone was already in it." She blushed and got out of the bed, she wondered towards the fridge.

“Mind if I get something to eat?" She asked, opening the fridge.

“Sure," Zora replied, “there might not be anything in there though." Lilly frowned looking at the empty fridge, “I just realised I don't remember walking here."

“That's cause you didn't, I carried you here after you collapsed, somehow you'd been stuck with a poison needle."

“Oh," Lilly replied, her eyes shifted away, looking a little despondent.

“So you saved my life?" Lilly asked, she didn't seem very happy about the idea.

“No, I only carried you, Ashley healed you, she found out later that the poison wasn't deadly." he replied, patting her on the shoulder.

“Well thanks anyways I guess." Lilly replied, “can we head to the dungeons now? I get the feeling your friend over there didn't like me."

“Sure, let's go." Zora answered, grabbing his knife from the table, he quickly put his new light armor on as Lilly left the room, he then followed her out. The wind attacked Zora like a thousand needless, but the air itself wasn't that cold. The dew glittered like a thousand diamonds on the brick road, even though the sky was barely light. Ashley will be pissed that I left before she could interrogate Lilly, but that's ok with me.

“Come on!" Lilly called, waving for him to catch up. Zora dashed after her, catching up just as they turned onto the street that the guild ward was on.

“You coulda slowed down just a little." Zora said, panting as he stopped beside her. She nodded, her eyes fixed on a man leaning against the bulletin board designated for bounties. Lilly finally worked up the courage and they both walked up to the board, the man looked down at Lilly, a sneer appeared on his face.

“Hey, been awhile pip, where you been hiding, we've been looking for you." the man said, grabbing her arm.

“hey, let go." Lilly said, fear in her voice.

“If you don't want your secret to get out then you better come quietly." He said devilishly, she went silent and followed him.

“Wait Lilly, if your gonna go with him, promise me one thing." Zora said, “come to the hotel we stayed at next chance you get, I'd like your help, Ashley's gonna have me in hot water for your disappeared." He smiled, no point in trying to talk her out of going with him or trying to save her from whatever is going on, she didn't trust me I'm a stranger, I'll save her when I change that.

Zora watched her leave, he was scared for her, and he could tell she wasn't confident of her own survival either. He checked the board, there was a level eight beast with a bounty. Woah! That's a lot of money for a level eight beast. He grabbed the bounty and rolled it up shoving it into his pocket. I'll do this right away, he thought. He made his way as fast as he could to the dungeon, he was stopped by someone asking about a good place to buy armor, remembering his promise he recommended Carren's store. Finally he arrived at the dungeon, he made his way down to where level eight monsters normally roam. After awhile he'd killed a couple of low level creatures, but still no sign of the giant snake he was suppose to be after.

Suddenly Zora sensed something coming, he flashed his hand up catching an arrow inches from his face and without pause he flipped it and Drew it against his bow and fired it back at it's original owner killing him.

An ambush! Why, who's after me? He pulled his knife out and sliced an arrow outta the air, flipping the knife into the air he quickly fired off two arrows and caught his knife in time to slice another arrow in half. He could tell by the amount of arrows being fired, that he'd killed three of the archer's and there were only three remaining.

Booom! An explosion caused the dungeon ceiling to collapse, Zora leaped forward rolling out from under falling rocks, he landed on his hands and knees, suddenly he felt a knife at his throat.

“Hello, pip has told me allot about you, it seems like you've taking a liking to our toy and we can't have that." the man said,

“Oh, you mean Lilly? Yeah she's the worst thief I've ever met, but she's cute mind if I have her?" Zora replied, sarcastically.

“What! Of course not, you're gonna die here for that." The stranger said, and that's when he made his move, he flipped his body backwards, hitting the knife, his attacker held, with his knee and quickly stabbed his attacker with his own blade. Then he looked around, the cavern had collapsed, but it had opened a hole to the above floor. He left through there, there's no point in continuing to search for this beast the bounty had been a trap.

Zora sighed as he stepped into the open. That was rather annoying. I wonder what Ashley's up to? He shrugged and started walking, he made his way down the main road counting the alleys as he went, one, two, three, four, five, then turn. A couple of stalls were set up, offering different foods, Zora bought a few apples, and some meat for tonight. Then he crossed the street to where the Inn was, he quickly went up the stairs but hesitated at the door to his room. She's gonna be so upset.

Zora pushed open the door, Ashley was sitting at the table writing, she looked up and frowned.

“How'd I guess she'd be home before I could question her?" Ashley asked, her eyes glittered with anger. “Hey your aurora it's looking dark, what's on your mind?"

“I can't hide dark thoughts from you heh, it's nothing I'm fine." Zora replied, smiling, “hungry?" he tossed her an apple which she caught.

“sure." She said, taking a big bite, while Zora put the rest in the fridge. They both sat down to eat, meanwhile on the opposite side of the town.

Lilly stood in front of the one person she vowed never to see again, her original owner, and the leader of the slavers's right hand man. His hair was a fiery orange, he was wearing a white cloak, like he believed he was some kind of a good guy. His hands clasped behind his back he stared down at Lilly, Smiling, he suddenly pulled a sword from his belt and stabbed her through the gut. She coughed up blood, and smiled, she fell forward her coat hood fell off revealing fox like ears.

“Poor lithian, trying to be a human." The man said, sheathing his sword. I'm sorry I had to do that," he said sighing, “but it's my job."

Zora threw his Apple core in the trash, Ashley took one last bite before throwing her's as well.

“hey! Let's go out and walk around, okay?" Ashley said, blushing a little “you've gone out so much I haven't had much time with you."

“okay, yeah that sounds great." Zora said, smiling, “I think there's a nice grassy meadow on the other side of town, that they turned into a park."

“Then let's go!" Ashley replied quickly, happy to finally get some alone time with her brother. She hoped of the bed, grabbing her pants she pulled them on, Zora hasn't noticed before but Ashley had been sitting on the bed in just her underwear and a long shirt, long enough to make it look like she was wearing shorts you just couldn't see.

“Heh." Zora chuckled, amused by her absolute comfortability around him.

“What." She asked stopping to look at him, her fingers still buttoning her pants.

“Nothing sis, It's been to Long since we just walked and talked, ya know?" Zora replied turning to the table so he could grab his knife, and write a note to Lilly.

If you read this Lilly, Me and Ashley are currently across town, please stay here. I still want to chat.

-zora

When he turned back around Ashley was already walking out the door, motioning for him to come on. He followed her, locking the door behind him, she's a thief, if she wants to get in she will. He followed his sister down the stairs and out onto the afternoon air, the dew from that morning had long since evaporated. Zora followed Ashley at her brisk pace, doing his best to keep up as they passed the marketplace, pushing through the crowd. Soon they passed the guild ward, and headed into the northern part of the town which is where Ashley began to slow down.

“It should be up ahead." Zora told Ashley, he led the way and before long they stood by the entrance to the park.

“This looks nice." It was quite green, paths from the four entrances made an X as they went towards the circular path. a large water fountain was at the very center, the sound of wind blowing through the branches was calming. Ashley started walking slowly through the park, Zora was close behind. She stopped beneath a tree, and looked up smiling.

“This reminds me of our childhood home, there was a tree just like it." She said, placing a hand on the trunk.

“Yeah, ever since mother died, we've been so busy trying to get stable, we don't have much time for each other."

“You found an apprenticeship yet?" Zora asked, leaning against the tree.

“No, I'm thinking I'll just start taking bounties like you." She replied, looking down from the tree.

“No! You could get hurt." Zora replied, quickly, throwing his hands around her.

“You risk your life every day, but you won't let me risk mine?" Ashley asked, bewildered.

“Exactly, I want to be able to know that even if I did your still alive." Zora replied, hugging her tightly.

“Oh, that's stupid, but ok I'll get an keep looking for an apprenticeship." she said, affectionately, “come on, it's gonna start getting dark soon." Ashley started off in a run towards the middle of the park. Zora dashed after her.

Zora followed Ashley as they walked back towards the inn, the sun had gone down, suddenly something in an alley caught Zora's eye. He turned and walked briskly down the alley, on the ground Lilly lay in a pool of her own blood.

“Oh!" Zora gasped in surprise, “damnit! I knew the people taking her were bad news, and yet I let it happen." He quietly rolled her onto her back, a permanent cocky smile was on her face.

“She obviously thought she was winning tight before she died." Ashley said crouching down beside him, Zora sighed and stood up.

“Just, do your thing." He said, Ashley waved a hand over the body, it slowly began to sink into the ground.

“Come on, let's go home I need some sleep." Zora said, Ashley finished up and nodded in response.

Zora followed Ashley past the guild ward, I can't believe I did something so stupid, he thought, walking past the marketplace. I could tell she was in danger! But I did nothing. All he could think about was the look in her eyes right before she was dragged off, fear, she was afraid. Suddenly he realized he was back at the inn, he flopped onto the bed pulled the covers up and went to sleep.

Ashley watched her brother sleep, she looked down at her hand, Lilly's aurora had a weird change in it, she couldn't quite put it but something was different. She sighed and walked over to the fridge, grabbing an apple she sat down at the table. A couple of hours passed and she'd fallen asleep, the half eaten apple still in hand.

The door handle turned slowly, stopping as it reached it's locked limit, a few seconds later it jiggled making metallic sounds, but both brother and sister slept soundly. Finally the jiggling stopped and the door opened.

Zora awoke, he looked over at his sister's bed, she still slept, he rolled out of bed and crossed over to his sister. That's when he noticed the brown hair, his sister was blonde.

He pulled the covers down, Lilly!? She stirred and opened her eyes, the second she saw him her eyes went wide.

“Oh, um h-hi." Lilly said, looking quite embarrassed.

“Your alive!?" Zora asked, confusion in his voice, surprise relief sparkled in his eyes. “how?"

“Um, it's a bit of a story." She replied, blushing, “mind doing me a favor first?"

“Sure, what do you need?" Zora asked, concerned.

“Could you buy me some clothes?" She asked, blushing.

“Um, why?" He replied, confused.

“Cause I managed to lose mine." She replied, blushing a deeper red.

“Oh, of course," he said, as he sat down on the other bed. After that she quickly slid out of the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Zora sighed, he was so confused, but he got up and left anyways.

He entered Carren's store, and glanced around.

“Hey, welcome." Carren called from the desk, a couple of people milled about, looking here and there. Zora headed over to the girls section, he bought the first thing he saw that he thought would look nice on her as well as a hooded cloak, like the one she had previously.

“Mind if I ask who your buying these for?" Carren asked, smiling mischievously.

“A friend, it's a surprise." Zora replied, smiling as he handed her the money. He then quickly made his way back to the inn, Lilly had obviously just gotten out of the shower, she had a towel wrapped around her. He handed her the two things he'd bought. She smiled and thanked him before disappearing into the bathroom again.

That's when Zora noticed Ashley, still asleep at the table, a half eaten apple lay on the table. He smiled and walked over, tossing the Apple in the trash he lifted his sister into his arms and carried her to her bed, he pulled the covers over her. Huh, I wonder how late she stayed up. He then sat down on his bed and waited. Lilly stepped out of the bathroom, the dress he'd bought fit her nicely, she wore the cloak over it the hood gave her a mysterious vibe. She wandered over to him, and sat down beside him.

“Thank you for the help, I didn't want to sleep outside tonight." Lilly said, fear hiding beneath her voice. Zora nodded, frowning, he didn't mind helping, but he still had a lot of questions.

“Ok, I guess I'll be leaving now." Lilly said, standing up, she started towards the door, but Zora grabbed her sleeve.

“Hey, why don't you stay here, I don't want to see you end up dead in an alley. Also you've haven't yet explained how you pulled that off." he said, pulling her back down onto the bed.

“Oh, ok." She said frowning. “I had a familiar, all I did was allow her to die for me.

“Allow?" Zora asked, confused.

“Yes, she begged me, I didn't want her to sacrifice herself for me, but I couldn't change her mind." Lilly replied, tears in her eyes.

“Oh, I guess that makes sense, hey don't worry. Tomorrow will you go into the dungeon with me?" Zora said, still feeling quite concerned.

“Yeah, I'd like that. And afterwards we should get something to eat." Lilly replied, smiling a little.

“Hey I don't know what's going on but I'll protect you ok." Zora said, smiling, he put an arm around her.

“Hey what's going on?" Ashley asked, sitting up in bed and yawning.

“hey sis, could you do something for me?" Zora asked standing up.

“Yeah, sure." She replied.

“Could you put a disguise seal on Lilly's cloak?" Zora asked, she nodded in response, Lilly slipped the cloak off and handed it to Ashley who spread it out on the table. She waved her hand and a few runes glowed in a circular Pattern, a Raven symbol appeared in the middle. She pulled her hand away And nightly black crept outward in all directions, from the Raven on the back, till the whole cloak was covered.

“There, that should hide you from anyone but those who've seen you put it on, everyone else will just acknowledge you as a stranger." Ashley said, handing the cloak back to Lilly and she put it on.

“Hey Lilly wanna go back into the dungeon with me?" Zora asked, holding out his hand “you're my favorite supporter."

Zora walked down the sidewalk, Lilly a few steps behind.

“Hey, after this I'll buy you some armor." Zora said, moaning Beck at her, “and a weapon." Her eyes went wide and she caught up to him

“really?" she asked, he nodded.

“I promise!" He replied, they stopped outside the guild ward, Lilly stiffened beside him. Zora looked to the side a man was leaning against the wall.

“Excuse me sir." Zora said, clearing his throat, the man looked up in return, white hair with a steak of red. He had a red eye and a blind white one. He wore a black imperial outfit, a sword at his side.

“Yes, what do you need young man." He asked, grabbing Lilly's shaking hand.

“Are you a slave Tracer?" Zora asked, he knew his uniforms and this one looked alot like a Slave Tracer unit.

“No, I'm the one they call when the Slave Tracers can't track the runaway." He replied, smiling. “Your friends their? Looks quite scared," the man, pulled the hood off of Lilly's head, “ugh, you just look like her."

“You after someone?" Zora asked, a few dots still refusing to connect in his head.

“Yes a lithian number 1I11IA." He replied, frowning, “You seen her, looks alot like your friend there, but a lithian fox."

“Nope sorry." Zora replied, “though I should go." He grabbed a level thirteen bounty in his haste and grabbing Lilly's wrist, led her away.

They stopped outside the level thirteen, Zora frowned.

“Still can't believe I grabbed a level thirteen!" Zora explained, frowning.

“I believe you can do it master Zora." Lilly said, determination in her voice.

“Come on, then." Zora said, determined to not let her down. They stepped into the cavern, “we're looking for a ant queen."

“Oh, aren't those the glowing red ones?" Lilly asked as Zora sliced the head off of a giant ant.

“Yeah!" Zora replied, smiling. “You know your stuff." She blushed and nodded.

“I heard they explode." Lilly said, eyes wide. Zora chuckled and replied, “naw that's just a rumor, but they are hard to find." suddenly a minatar appeared running full speed at Zora.

“Lilly get to a safe distance." Zora yelled, he swing his sword and blocked the sword that the minatar swung clumsily. Lilly watched with a sad look on her face, before backing away. His knife in her sleeve felt like a hundred pounds.

Zora swiped and slashed, and finally the minatar fell. A couple of monster lures dropped and a couple of ogres appeared another minatar and a few ants. Suddenly Zora felt an arrow hot him in the leg, he looked down just in time to see it ripping his loot pouch of his pants and be pulled back by a rope tied to it's shaft. The shooter stood up high on a ledge.

“I'm sorry to do this to you, but I can't anymore, thanks for all your kindness I hope you survive." Lilly called, before turning and running up the dungeon stairs.

“Damn!!!" Zora yelled, kicking one of the lures so hard it shattered, “why now."