Half-Breed
Chapter 3: Half-Breed
Kent awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside, and sunlight streaming in through the window. He rubbed his eyes, and yawned. He felt like he'd slept for several days, and sat on the edge of the bed. His head started pounding, sending sudden waves of pain from his temple and through his eyes. He rubbed his temples, trying to get the pain to go away.
[Are you alright?] Sylvia asked, sending a flash of pain crashing through his head.
"I'm fine," he said, gritting his teeth. Sylvia walked over to him the best she could, and licked the side of his neck. "Suddenly have a major headache," he grimaced.
[It's your telepathic connection,] she said, [Once the headache clears, you and I will be able to communicate telepathically, as well as locate each other.]
"Couldn't you find a less painful method of doing so?" Kent said, getting up. He put his boots on and buckled his sword to his belt. Throwing on his cloak, he left the room and locked the door behind him. He tossed the key onto the desk, and walked out to the street.
The snow had left a white covering over the entire town, and a thick covering of clouds blocked the sun. The wind blew softly, the loose flakes of powder blowing down the street. Kent went around to the barn at the back of the building, and pulled open the large doors. He looked into each stall until he found Jason lying beside Alexis, nearly dead to the world.
He walked next to him, and prodded Jason's stomach with the toe of his boot. Jason stirred, and opened his eyes.
"Come on. We're leaving," Kent said, leaving the stall.
[What time is it?] Alexis yawned.
"It's daybreak," Kent replied tersely. His head was still pounding, and he wanted to get moving. He walked out of the barn, and headed for the town gate.
"Wait!" Jason called, "don't you think we should buy some supplies?"
"Such as...?" Kent asked.
"Tents, blankets, food, all that stuff?"
Kent sighed. "Sure, but let's hurry."
They walked to the shop, the wind still blowing a frigid wind through the town. There was almost no one outside, which made finding what they needed that much easier. An hour later and 200 coins poorer, the group left the city, with two 2-person tents, 4 blankets, and cooking apparel in several saddle-bags on Alexis's side. The snow had melted, and the overhead sun had dried the ground. The temperature was comfortable, and a light breeze still blew within the city's walls.
[Must I wear this?] Alexis complained about the saddle-bags, [I feel like a horse.]
"You're the strongest of all of us, and you can move faster. If we carried anything, we'd move slower," Jason replied, cutting off a rude comment from Kent.
[And where exactly are we going?]
"What the hell is with all the questions? Sylvia and I know where we're going, so don't worry about it," Kent said fiercely. His head still hurt, and the talking made it worse.
[What is your problem?] Alexis growled.
[Don't get angry at him,] Sylvia said, [it's mainly my doing.]
[He doesn't have to take it out on us,] Alexis said, moving ahead.
"Are you sure that this will wear off?" Kent asked Sylvia, "my head is killing me."
[It'll go away once we reach the mountains and start ascending. If not, we've got water in one of the bags. Now we'd best keep moving and not fall behind.] Sylvia ran up the hill that they had reached, and Kent followed. When the group reached the top, they looked ahead.
The plains spread out in front of them like a green ocean. The trees stuck from the grass like sentries; not moving, but seeming to be keeping watch over the landscape. The clouds had parted, and the sky was a bright blue. In the distance, the mountains were a dark gray, except for the upper half of each peak, which was an almost blinding white. Sylvia and Alexis could see many Eevees frolicking in the grass, and a score of Rattata.
"Hey Sylvia," Kent said, "maybe if we get hungry along our travel, we could use that crossbow on your back to hunt the Rattata and Eevee in that field."
[That weapon is none of your concern,] Sylvia's voice turned to ice, [It is never to be used.]
"We can just use my bow, Kent," Jason said, sensing tension.
Kent's headache had made him irritable, and he ignored Jason's suggestion. "Then why the hell do you carry that thing if you don't intend to use it?"
She growled. [My past is no matter of yours. You'd do well to stay out of it, if you want to continue living.]
For the moment, Kent forgot all about his headache. "There's no reason to get pissed at me. I was simply making a suggestion. If you don't like it, then leave!"
Sylvia said nothing, but turned and ran off, disappearing into the trees fringing the plains. Kent's anger disintegrated, and was replaced with remorse. He took off after her, leaving Jason and Alexis alone.
"What just happened?" Jason asked, bewildered.
Alexis shrugged. [I'm not exactly sure, myself. Should we follow them?]
Jason didn't want to stand there, nothing would get done. "Sure, let's go."
Kent stepped around a tree, and ducked under a branch. He saw Sylvia sitting perched atop a fallen log, gazing out into the trees. Her tails ran along the ground, and she seemed to be ignoring him. He slowly walked towards her, and she still didn't acknowledge his presence.
"Sylvia?" he said finally. She didn't answer him. After standing there for a while, he began to feel foolish.
As he turned to leave, she spoke. [I may be unfamiliar with your personality, but I've gathered enough to realize that you didn't mean what you said.]
"Why did you get hostile when I mentioned the crossbow?" Kent asked, sitting down on the log next to her.
[It...is a sign of my past. A very painful past; one that I long to forget and leave behind.] She bowed her head and closed her eyes. [When I was a kit, my family was captured by a fur-trapper. I was the only one who escaped. Being only a few months old, I couldn't fend for myself. A traveler found me, and took care of me until he eventually passed away. Before he died, he gave me this crossbow, and told me to entrust it to the right person. It possesses magickal qualities. It can fire rapidly, and has an endless supply of bolts.]
"And you got angry at me because of that?" Kent asked.
[I didn't want my past to catch up to me; during my years of living, everyone that I've gotten close to have been killed or died. I'm afraid that you will die as well. The telepathic link was completed overnight. Your headache was caused by me searching your mind. Your past seems lonely. Betrayal and anguish are constantly tormenting you.]
"Yes, but I try to hide it. If I let my emotions get the best of me, I won't last very long running from these knights," Kent responded. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Sylvia cut him off.
[I hear something.] She quietly got off the log, and removed the crossbow. [String it, and follow me.]
Kent pulled the string of the crossbow back, and marveled about how easy it went back. It locked into place, and a bolt was placed in front of the string from the drum-shaped cartridge below the body of the crossbow. He lifted it to his shoulder, and slowly followed behind Sylvia.
In the distance, he heard a footfall in the leaves. He put his finger on the trigger of the crossbow, and pulled back slightly when a twig snapped nearby. He picked up the sound of a sword being unsheathed, and he spun around, pulling back on the trigger, releasing the tension on the string.
The bolt hissed into the trees, and nothing moved. Another bolt had replaced the missing one, and was soon fired when he saw something move in a ditch.
A figure leapt out of the ditch, and Kent held the trigger down, bolt after bolt plunging into the sky. The figure held a long katana, and was darting left and right, dodging every bolt that hurtled towards him. Kent stumbled back, and tripped over a tree root. He fell on his back, and the figure jumped into the air, and came down with his sword aiming for Kent's chest.
Kent was sure he was going to die, but an arrow flew through the air, and hit the figure in the side. It hit the ground in a heap, and lay there, panting. Kent got up, and drew his sword. Jason had arrived, and he followed Kent with his bow drawn and strung. They walked over to the person on the ground, and rolled him over.
Just then, a girl ran up, and struck down with a huge mallet. Kent rolled to the side, and raised his sword. Sylvia dashed over and tackled her, and prepared to tear her throat out.
"Wait!" she pleaded, "don't kill me!"
[Why the hell not?] Sylvia asked, still ready to attack again.
"Because we were mistaken," the man with the katana said, standing up. He was wearing long blue pants, black leather boots, blue long-sleeved shirt with a belt around his waist, and attached to that was the sheath for his katana. "Rachel and I have been forced out of our home in the mountains, and we took refuge in this forest. We thought you were hunting us as well."
Oh gods, Sylvia thought, not more people to worry about.
"Well," the girl said, "Roy did. When I saw him get shot, I jumped out."
"And nearly killed me," Kent commented, not taking his eyes off of Roy.
"I told you that the hammer is a slow weapon. You'll never get anywhere with it," Roy complained, still being watched, "if you would've used alchemy like I told you, you would've killed him."
"Shut up," Kent commanded, kicking Roy in the side. "We still cannot let you go." As he raised his sword to kill Roy, several knights emerged from the trees on horses, armed with crossbows and swords, and carried small round shields.
"You're all under arrest for conspiring against the King! If you don't come quietly, you will be killed."
Kent looked around quickly. His crossbow was a few feet behind him. Acting as though he were surrendering, he dropped his sword on the ground, and did a backward handspring. He picked up the crossbow, and pulled the trigger and held it.
Jason threw a dagger at one of the knights, which impacted in his target's chest. Roy leapt from the ground and drew his katana. He dashed forward and brought his sword around in a horizontal strike. A knight's head fell to the ground, and the body slumped out of the saddle. The other 5 knights spurred their horses forward, and charged at Sylvia and Rachel.
Sylvia rolled to the side to avoid the horse's hooves, and Rachel hefted her mallet and swung at the knight that soared past her. The heavy head slammed into the knight's side, sending him flying out of the saddle and into a tree. Kent continued laying down a steady stream of bolts from the crossbow, and managed to aim one between a knight's eyes, through the thin metal of the helmet. He was knocked down from behind as the last knight hit him in the back of the head with his small shield.
Sylvia pounced, and sank her claws into the knight's throat. He died with a bubbling, gurgling cry, and fell silent. She wiped her paw on the grass, and turned to the rest of the group. Kent was holding the back of his head, where a small stream of blood was running down his silvery hair. Sylvia came up next to him, and healed the wound on his head.
"What the hell was that about?" Kent asked, retrieving his sword.
"They're after us," Rachel said, "You'd better go."
[We can't leave you two like this,] Sylvia said, [You should come with us.]
"No. I'll die in my place before I receive help," Roy interrupted, the arrow still in his side.
[I approve of your courage, but that course of action is foolish. You'll easily be overrun.]
"Then so be it. We need to keep moving if we want to reach the mountains before nightfall," Kent said. He started in the direction of the plains, and Jason, Sylvia, and Alexis followed.
Rachel watched them leave. "I honestly think they should've left us alone. We could've taken those knights."
Roy nodded. "Can you get this arrow out of my side?"
Rachel grabbed the shaft, and jerked the arrow free from Roy's abdomen. She opened a pouch on her belt filled with powder. She took some of it in her fingers, and blew it onto the wound. Immediately it shrunk and disappeared.
Rachel straightened the high collar of her blue bodysuit, adjusted the green shoulder and elbow pads, and retied the green cotton scarf around her waist. She slipped her mallet into the scarf, and finished by tightening the laces on her shin-high boots. "I wonder where they're headed. The only thing on the other side of the mountain range is the King's castle."
"If they're headed there, a knight and an archer won't be enough. We should follow them; they're probably gonna need help," Roy said, walking in the direction that Kent and his group went. Rachel didn't want to be left behind, so she followed after him.
The sun was high in the sky as Kent and the group made their way through the six-inch grasses of the Eastern Plains. Occasionally a Rattata would snap at their legs, and an Eevee would bound playfully in front of them. Sylvia watched one Rattata dash by with hunger in her eyes. It'd been a couple days since she'd eaten; she needed a good meal.
[Excuse me for a second, please,] she said, chasing after it. A short distance afterward, there was a rustling, a high pitch squeal, and Sylvia returned, carrying a bloodied Rattata in her jaws. [You go on ahead. I'll only be a minute. I need something to eat.]
Kent shrugged, and led the group onward. Sylvia stayed behind, devouring her prey. She tore into its side, removing a ragged piece of flesh. She swallowed it, and tore another piece from it. She finished her short meal, licking her lips in satisfaction. As she was getting up to leave, something brown shot out from the grass and landed on her. It was a large Raticate, and it was sitting on her side. Its strong jaws shot downward, aiming for her throat. She couldn't turn her head to use Flamethrower; she was helpless. Desperately, she cried out with her mind.
"Are you sure they went this way?" Rachel said tiredly.
"Quite sure," Roy replied. Suddenly he received a cry for help inside his head. "Did you hear that?"
"I did. Whatever it was, we should help out," Rachel said, pulling the mallet from off her hip.
They both ran towards the source of the mental cry, and saw Sylvia on the ground, a Raticate on her side, trying to tear into her throat. Rachel charged forward, and smacked the large brown rat with her mallet. It went flying through the air, landing on its back. It twitched, but didn't get up.
"Are you alright?" Rachel asked Sylvia as she got up.
[Fine. Thank you.] Sylvia said. At that moment, Kent came dashing through the grass, sword drawn.
"What happened?" he asked.
[Nothing, I was attacked. Rachel helped me, though,] Sylvia dusted herself off, mentally berating herself for being so unprepared for an attack.
Kent sheathed his sword, and the group continued their trek through the plains. The crossbow was still strapped to his back, and it was still strung.
[I take it that you've grown accustomed to the crossbow,] Sylvia said.
Kent remembered the telepathic connection, and he tried communicating mentally.
[Yeah, unless you want it back?] he replied. Immediately afterward, his eyes felt hot and fuzzy. His mind clouded, and he felt dizzy.
[No, you can keep it. You used it pretty well in the forest,] she said. [Something wrong?] she asked when Kent staggered.
"Communicating telepathically isn't exactly the easiest thing to do," he said, shaking his head to clear it.
[It comes with practice.]
Suddenly Alexis stopped. [Hold it. I hear something.] She crouched into a defensive position, and the entire party readied themselves. Jason strung his bow and nocked an arrow, Roy drew his sword, Rachel hefted her mallet, and Kent strung the crossbow.
Sylvia heard something move in the grass ahead of them. They were on a hill, and something large was shifting around. [Ready yourselves,] she said.
Suddenly, several knights leapt up from the tall grass and charged forward. Rattata and Eevee dashed hurriedly out of their path, but some weren't able to avoid them, and were run over by their metal shoes.
The group on the hill rushed ahead as well. Kent open fired with the crossbow, Roy cut down all the knights that crossed in front of him. Jason knocked one to the ground and put an arrow into his heart. Both Sylvia and Alexis exhaled orange-hot flames, engulfing the knights unlucky enough to not get out of the way.
When the last knight hit the ground, all was quiet. Kent whirled and raised the crossbow to his shoulder when an Eevee whimpered in fear a few feet away. When it saw the point of the weapon glint off the sunlight, it shut its eyes and tried to duck farther into the grass. He lowered the weapon, and slipped it over his shoulder.
"Let's keep going," he said, starting ahead. Rachel followed the group, but watched the Eevee as she walked by. It watched her back with its brown eyes. When it felt that they were far enough away, it decided to follow them.
They stopped in a small village at the foot of the mountains. It didn't have much to look at; just several houses and an inn. The houses were small, but smoke billowed out of the chimneys. Just watching the smoke made Kent think of the fire burning. And thinking of the fire made him shiver.
"Kent! Are you coming or are you gonna stand there staring at the chimney all day?" Jason called from halfway down the street.
The inn's lobby was large, and the front desk was only occupied by one worker.
"How many rooms?" she asked politely with a warm smile.
"Three rooms," Kent said. The woman disappeared behind a wall to fetch the keys.
The lobby had a huge fireplace that spanned half of a wall. The fire roared inside of it, and a few travelers huddled around the fire. They were at an inn, why not get a room?
"Your rooms are on the left, all in line. Have a pleasant stay," she said.
One would think that a kind worker and a huge fireplace in the lobby would symbolize a reasonable inn. In this case, that thought was completely incorrect.
The weary group ascended the steps into an unfinished hallway with no lights. The group stumbled to the doors in the darkness, trying not to step on feet and tails. Each room was about as bad as the hallway. They were simply wooden boxes with one bed and no torches for light or fireplaces for warmth. There were spaces in between the boards in the walls that allowed the wind to howl through.
[I vote that we never come here again,] Sylvia said angrily.
"Agreed. But let's get through tonight before we burn this place down." Kent climbed into bed, and Sylvia jumped in next to him, slid under the covers, and wrapped Kent in her tails.
"Do you really think we can trust them?" Rachel asked, sitting on the bed.
"I don't know. Don't reveal what you really are until we can be sure," Roy replied.
"Having my tail inside this outfit isn't exactly comfortable."
"You can let it out inside here, but if you're leaving, hide it."
Rachel unbuttoned a small flap of fabric from her outfit, and a gray wolf's tail came out. She removed the ribbon in her hair, and two gray wolf ears erected themselves. She knew full well that half-breeds weren't welcome among humans. To hide her true self, she tied her ears under a ribbon and concealed her tail inside her outfit.
"I'm going to sleep. You should do the same if we're going to stay with the rest of those guys," Roy said, stretching out on the bed and closing his eyes.
Rachel however, wasn't tired at the moment, and she wanted to see what the town was like. She left her mallet in the room; it was dark, so people probably wouldn't see her tail and ears.
She exited the building while the innkeeper was in the back room. The wind had stopped blowing, and the night was quiet and still almost to the point of complete silence. She walked down the west street, her footfalls echoing off the stone path. She heard laughter and a high-pitched whimpering. She broke into a run, her sensitive ears picking up the slightest variation in the sound.
She stopped at an alleyway, where a group of three drunk townspeople were throwing something at a brown ball huddled in the corner.
"What are you doing?" she demanded.
They turned around, swaying and giving her glazed-over stares. "Look boys," one of them slurred, "she's probably a virgin!"
She watched one suspiciously as he staggered towards her. "Be quiet and cooperative, and I promise not to hurt you," he said.
"You're revolting!" she shouted, launching a roundhouse to the man's head.
The kick knocked the man down, and the other two leapt forward. One tried to punch Rachel, but the mass amounts of alcohol in his blood only managed to make him lose balance and fall on his face. The last one succeeded in cocking a fist and releasing it, but Rachel caught it, spun around, and flipped the man over her shoulder.
She walked over to the brown ball in the alleyway and reached out to touch it. It was furry, and uncoiled to her touch. She instantly recognized it as the Eevee from the plains. It leapt into her arms, and buried its face into her breast.
"It's alright, you're safe now," she whispered. The Eevee looked up at her with its large brown eyes and licked her cheek.
She carried it back to her room at the inn. To her luck, Roy was already asleep. Quietly, she slipped in beside him, and the Eevee curled up on top of the blankets.
"Where were you?" Roy asked suddenly, startling Rachel.
"Outside," she said.
"You concealed yourself, right?"
"Of course," she lied.
"Good, because if you hadn't, people would've tried getting rid of your ears." While he said this, Roy reached up and stroked one of the gray triangles protruding from the top of Rachel's head.
Rachel giggled and kissed him. She unzipped Roy's blue pants, and slid them down. Roy removed his jacket and shirt. Rachel continued just as they always had; right to the point. She climbed on top of Roy, positioned the tip of his rock-hard cock at the entrance of her vagina, held her breath, and slowly lowered herself onto him. She went down as far as she was able to, loving the feeling of Roy's shaft inside of her wet tunnel.
She started pumping, moving easily up and down on the shaft, her juices lubricating her movements. Roy placed one hand on her thigh and guided her, while his other hand found one of her breasts, and he squeezed it in time with her thrusting.
Rachel began to feel a tingling sensation arise in her stomach and grow in intensity. Roy got the same feeling too, and closed his eyes as he let it hit. Rachel cried out in ecstasy as her orgasm hit, and she felt Roy's hot cum shoot into her. She stopped the pleasure left her, and she began to breathe hard. She rolled over onto the bed, Roy's cock still inside of her. She hugged him, still not a shred of clothing on either of them. Rachel laid her head on the pillow, and fell asleep.
Kent awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside, and sunlight streaming in through the window. He rubbed his eyes, and yawned. He felt like he'd slept for several days, and sat on the edge of the bed. His head started pounding, sending sudden waves of pain from his temple and through his eyes. He rubbed his temples, trying to get the pain to go away.
[Are you alright?] Sylvia asked, sending a flash of pain crashing through his head.
"I'm fine," he said, gritting his teeth. Sylvia walked over to him the best she could, and licked the side of his neck. "Suddenly have a major headache," he grimaced.
[It's your telepathic connection,] she said, [Once the headache clears, you and I will be able to communicate telepathically, as well as locate each other.]
"Couldn't you find a less painful method of doing so?" Kent said, getting up. He put his boots on and buckled his sword to his belt. Throwing on his cloak, he left the room and locked the door behind him. He tossed the key onto the desk, and walked out to the street.
The snow had left a white covering over the entire town, and a thick covering of clouds blocked the sun. The wind blew softly, the loose flakes of powder blowing down the street. Kent went around to the barn at the back of the building, and pulled open the large doors. He looked into each stall until he found Jason lying beside Alexis, nearly dead to the world.
He walked next to him, and prodded Jason's stomach with the toe of his boot. Jason stirred, and opened his eyes.
"Come on. We're leaving," Kent said, leaving the stall.
[What time is it?] Alexis yawned.
"It's daybreak," Kent replied tersely. His head was still pounding, and he wanted to get moving. He walked out of the barn, and headed for the town gate.
"Wait!" Jason called, "don't you think we should buy some supplies?"
"Such as...?" Kent asked.
"Tents, blankets, food, all that stuff?"
Kent sighed. "Sure, but let's hurry."
They walked to the shop, the wind still blowing a frigid wind through the town. There was almost no one outside, which made finding what they needed that much easier. An hour later and 200 coins poorer, the group left the city, with two 2-person tents, 4 blankets, and cooking apparel in several saddle-bags on Alexis's side. The snow had melted, and the overhead sun had dried the ground. The temperature was comfortable, and a light breeze still blew within the city's walls.
[Must I wear this?] Alexis complained about the saddle-bags, [I feel like a horse.]
"You're the strongest of all of us, and you can move faster. If we carried anything, we'd move slower," Jason replied, cutting off a rude comment from Kent.
[And where exactly are we going?]
"What the hell is with all the questions? Sylvia and I know where we're going, so don't worry about it," Kent said fiercely. His head still hurt, and the talking made it worse.
[What is your problem?] Alexis growled.
[Don't get angry at him,] Sylvia said, [it's mainly my doing.]
[He doesn't have to take it out on us,] Alexis said, moving ahead.
"Are you sure that this will wear off?" Kent asked Sylvia, "my head is killing me."
[It'll go away once we reach the mountains and start ascending. If not, we've got water in one of the bags. Now we'd best keep moving and not fall behind.] Sylvia ran up the hill that they had reached, and Kent followed. When the group reached the top, they looked ahead.
The plains spread out in front of them like a green ocean. The trees stuck from the grass like sentries; not moving, but seeming to be keeping watch over the landscape. The clouds had parted, and the sky was a bright blue. In the distance, the mountains were a dark gray, except for the upper half of each peak, which was an almost blinding white. Sylvia and Alexis could see many Eevees frolicking in the grass, and a score of Rattata.
"Hey Sylvia," Kent said, "maybe if we get hungry along our travel, we could use that crossbow on your back to hunt the Rattata and Eevee in that field."
[That weapon is none of your concern,] Sylvia's voice turned to ice, [It is never to be used.]
"We can just use my bow, Kent," Jason said, sensing tension.
Kent's headache had made him irritable, and he ignored Jason's suggestion. "Then why the hell do you carry that thing if you don't intend to use it?"
She growled. [My past is no matter of yours. You'd do well to stay out of it, if you want to continue living.]
For the moment, Kent forgot all about his headache. "There's no reason to get pissed at me. I was simply making a suggestion. If you don't like it, then leave!"
Sylvia said nothing, but turned and ran off, disappearing into the trees fringing the plains. Kent's anger disintegrated, and was replaced with remorse. He took off after her, leaving Jason and Alexis alone.
"What just happened?" Jason asked, bewildered.
Alexis shrugged. [I'm not exactly sure, myself. Should we follow them?]
Jason didn't want to stand there, nothing would get done. "Sure, let's go."
Kent stepped around a tree, and ducked under a branch. He saw Sylvia sitting perched atop a fallen log, gazing out into the trees. Her tails ran along the ground, and she seemed to be ignoring him. He slowly walked towards her, and she still didn't acknowledge his presence.
"Sylvia?" he said finally. She didn't answer him. After standing there for a while, he began to feel foolish.
As he turned to leave, she spoke. [I may be unfamiliar with your personality, but I've gathered enough to realize that you didn't mean what you said.]
"Why did you get hostile when I mentioned the crossbow?" Kent asked, sitting down on the log next to her.
[It...is a sign of my past. A very painful past; one that I long to forget and leave behind.] She bowed her head and closed her eyes. [When I was a kit, my family was captured by a fur-trapper. I was the only one who escaped. Being only a few months old, I couldn't fend for myself. A traveler found me, and took care of me until he eventually passed away. Before he died, he gave me this crossbow, and told me to entrust it to the right person. It possesses magickal qualities. It can fire rapidly, and has an endless supply of bolts.]
"And you got angry at me because of that?" Kent asked.
[I didn't want my past to catch up to me; during my years of living, everyone that I've gotten close to have been killed or died. I'm afraid that you will die as well. The telepathic link was completed overnight. Your headache was caused by me searching your mind. Your past seems lonely. Betrayal and anguish are constantly tormenting you.]
"Yes, but I try to hide it. If I let my emotions get the best of me, I won't last very long running from these knights," Kent responded. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Sylvia cut him off.
[I hear something.] She quietly got off the log, and removed the crossbow. [String it, and follow me.]
Kent pulled the string of the crossbow back, and marveled about how easy it went back. It locked into place, and a bolt was placed in front of the string from the drum-shaped cartridge below the body of the crossbow. He lifted it to his shoulder, and slowly followed behind Sylvia.
In the distance, he heard a footfall in the leaves. He put his finger on the trigger of the crossbow, and pulled back slightly when a twig snapped nearby. He picked up the sound of a sword being unsheathed, and he spun around, pulling back on the trigger, releasing the tension on the string.
The bolt hissed into the trees, and nothing moved. Another bolt had replaced the missing one, and was soon fired when he saw something move in a ditch.
A figure leapt out of the ditch, and Kent held the trigger down, bolt after bolt plunging into the sky. The figure held a long katana, and was darting left and right, dodging every bolt that hurtled towards him. Kent stumbled back, and tripped over a tree root. He fell on his back, and the figure jumped into the air, and came down with his sword aiming for Kent's chest.
Kent was sure he was going to die, but an arrow flew through the air, and hit the figure in the side. It hit the ground in a heap, and lay there, panting. Kent got up, and drew his sword. Jason had arrived, and he followed Kent with his bow drawn and strung. They walked over to the person on the ground, and rolled him over.
Just then, a girl ran up, and struck down with a huge mallet. Kent rolled to the side, and raised his sword. Sylvia dashed over and tackled her, and prepared to tear her throat out.
"Wait!" she pleaded, "don't kill me!"
[Why the hell not?] Sylvia asked, still ready to attack again.
"Because we were mistaken," the man with the katana said, standing up. He was wearing long blue pants, black leather boots, blue long-sleeved shirt with a belt around his waist, and attached to that was the sheath for his katana. "Rachel and I have been forced out of our home in the mountains, and we took refuge in this forest. We thought you were hunting us as well."
Oh gods, Sylvia thought, not more people to worry about.
"Well," the girl said, "Roy did. When I saw him get shot, I jumped out."
"And nearly killed me," Kent commented, not taking his eyes off of Roy.
"I told you that the hammer is a slow weapon. You'll never get anywhere with it," Roy complained, still being watched, "if you would've used alchemy like I told you, you would've killed him."
"Shut up," Kent commanded, kicking Roy in the side. "We still cannot let you go." As he raised his sword to kill Roy, several knights emerged from the trees on horses, armed with crossbows and swords, and carried small round shields.
"You're all under arrest for conspiring against the King! If you don't come quietly, you will be killed."
Kent looked around quickly. His crossbow was a few feet behind him. Acting as though he were surrendering, he dropped his sword on the ground, and did a backward handspring. He picked up the crossbow, and pulled the trigger and held it.
Jason threw a dagger at one of the knights, which impacted in his target's chest. Roy leapt from the ground and drew his katana. He dashed forward and brought his sword around in a horizontal strike. A knight's head fell to the ground, and the body slumped out of the saddle. The other 5 knights spurred their horses forward, and charged at Sylvia and Rachel.
Sylvia rolled to the side to avoid the horse's hooves, and Rachel hefted her mallet and swung at the knight that soared past her. The heavy head slammed into the knight's side, sending him flying out of the saddle and into a tree. Kent continued laying down a steady stream of bolts from the crossbow, and managed to aim one between a knight's eyes, through the thin metal of the helmet. He was knocked down from behind as the last knight hit him in the back of the head with his small shield.
Sylvia pounced, and sank her claws into the knight's throat. He died with a bubbling, gurgling cry, and fell silent. She wiped her paw on the grass, and turned to the rest of the group. Kent was holding the back of his head, where a small stream of blood was running down his silvery hair. Sylvia came up next to him, and healed the wound on his head.
"What the hell was that about?" Kent asked, retrieving his sword.
"They're after us," Rachel said, "You'd better go."
[We can't leave you two like this,] Sylvia said, [You should come with us.]
"No. I'll die in my place before I receive help," Roy interrupted, the arrow still in his side.
[I approve of your courage, but that course of action is foolish. You'll easily be overrun.]
"Then so be it. We need to keep moving if we want to reach the mountains before nightfall," Kent said. He started in the direction of the plains, and Jason, Sylvia, and Alexis followed.
Rachel watched them leave. "I honestly think they should've left us alone. We could've taken those knights."
Roy nodded. "Can you get this arrow out of my side?"
Rachel grabbed the shaft, and jerked the arrow free from Roy's abdomen. She opened a pouch on her belt filled with powder. She took some of it in her fingers, and blew it onto the wound. Immediately it shrunk and disappeared.
Rachel straightened the high collar of her blue bodysuit, adjusted the green shoulder and elbow pads, and retied the green cotton scarf around her waist. She slipped her mallet into the scarf, and finished by tightening the laces on her shin-high boots. "I wonder where they're headed. The only thing on the other side of the mountain range is the King's castle."
"If they're headed there, a knight and an archer won't be enough. We should follow them; they're probably gonna need help," Roy said, walking in the direction that Kent and his group went. Rachel didn't want to be left behind, so she followed after him.
The sun was high in the sky as Kent and the group made their way through the six-inch grasses of the Eastern Plains. Occasionally a Rattata would snap at their legs, and an Eevee would bound playfully in front of them. Sylvia watched one Rattata dash by with hunger in her eyes. It'd been a couple days since she'd eaten; she needed a good meal.
[Excuse me for a second, please,] she said, chasing after it. A short distance afterward, there was a rustling, a high pitch squeal, and Sylvia returned, carrying a bloodied Rattata in her jaws. [You go on ahead. I'll only be a minute. I need something to eat.]
Kent shrugged, and led the group onward. Sylvia stayed behind, devouring her prey. She tore into its side, removing a ragged piece of flesh. She swallowed it, and tore another piece from it. She finished her short meal, licking her lips in satisfaction. As she was getting up to leave, something brown shot out from the grass and landed on her. It was a large Raticate, and it was sitting on her side. Its strong jaws shot downward, aiming for her throat. She couldn't turn her head to use Flamethrower; she was helpless. Desperately, she cried out with her mind.
"Are you sure they went this way?" Rachel said tiredly.
"Quite sure," Roy replied. Suddenly he received a cry for help inside his head. "Did you hear that?"
"I did. Whatever it was, we should help out," Rachel said, pulling the mallet from off her hip.
They both ran towards the source of the mental cry, and saw Sylvia on the ground, a Raticate on her side, trying to tear into her throat. Rachel charged forward, and smacked the large brown rat with her mallet. It went flying through the air, landing on its back. It twitched, but didn't get up.
"Are you alright?" Rachel asked Sylvia as she got up.
[Fine. Thank you.] Sylvia said. At that moment, Kent came dashing through the grass, sword drawn.
"What happened?" he asked.
[Nothing, I was attacked. Rachel helped me, though,] Sylvia dusted herself off, mentally berating herself for being so unprepared for an attack.
Kent sheathed his sword, and the group continued their trek through the plains. The crossbow was still strapped to his back, and it was still strung.
[I take it that you've grown accustomed to the crossbow,] Sylvia said.
Kent remembered the telepathic connection, and he tried communicating mentally.
[Yeah, unless you want it back?] he replied. Immediately afterward, his eyes felt hot and fuzzy. His mind clouded, and he felt dizzy.
[No, you can keep it. You used it pretty well in the forest,] she said. [Something wrong?] she asked when Kent staggered.
"Communicating telepathically isn't exactly the easiest thing to do," he said, shaking his head to clear it.
[It comes with practice.]
Suddenly Alexis stopped. [Hold it. I hear something.] She crouched into a defensive position, and the entire party readied themselves. Jason strung his bow and nocked an arrow, Roy drew his sword, Rachel hefted her mallet, and Kent strung the crossbow.
Sylvia heard something move in the grass ahead of them. They were on a hill, and something large was shifting around. [Ready yourselves,] she said.
Suddenly, several knights leapt up from the tall grass and charged forward. Rattata and Eevee dashed hurriedly out of their path, but some weren't able to avoid them, and were run over by their metal shoes.
The group on the hill rushed ahead as well. Kent open fired with the crossbow, Roy cut down all the knights that crossed in front of him. Jason knocked one to the ground and put an arrow into his heart. Both Sylvia and Alexis exhaled orange-hot flames, engulfing the knights unlucky enough to not get out of the way.
When the last knight hit the ground, all was quiet. Kent whirled and raised the crossbow to his shoulder when an Eevee whimpered in fear a few feet away. When it saw the point of the weapon glint off the sunlight, it shut its eyes and tried to duck farther into the grass. He lowered the weapon, and slipped it over his shoulder.
"Let's keep going," he said, starting ahead. Rachel followed the group, but watched the Eevee as she walked by. It watched her back with its brown eyes. When it felt that they were far enough away, it decided to follow them.
They stopped in a small village at the foot of the mountains. It didn't have much to look at; just several houses and an inn. The houses were small, but smoke billowed out of the chimneys. Just watching the smoke made Kent think of the fire burning. And thinking of the fire made him shiver.
"Kent! Are you coming or are you gonna stand there staring at the chimney all day?" Jason called from halfway down the street.
The inn's lobby was large, and the front desk was only occupied by one worker.
"How many rooms?" she asked politely with a warm smile.
"Three rooms," Kent said. The woman disappeared behind a wall to fetch the keys.
The lobby had a huge fireplace that spanned half of a wall. The fire roared inside of it, and a few travelers huddled around the fire. They were at an inn, why not get a room?
"Your rooms are on the left, all in line. Have a pleasant stay," she said.
One would think that a kind worker and a huge fireplace in the lobby would symbolize a reasonable inn. In this case, that thought was completely incorrect.
The weary group ascended the steps into an unfinished hallway with no lights. The group stumbled to the doors in the darkness, trying not to step on feet and tails. Each room was about as bad as the hallway. They were simply wooden boxes with one bed and no torches for light or fireplaces for warmth. There were spaces in between the boards in the walls that allowed the wind to howl through.
[I vote that we never come here again,] Sylvia said angrily.
"Agreed. But let's get through tonight before we burn this place down." Kent climbed into bed, and Sylvia jumped in next to him, slid under the covers, and wrapped Kent in her tails.
"Do you really think we can trust them?" Rachel asked, sitting on the bed.
"I don't know. Don't reveal what you really are until we can be sure," Roy replied.
"Having my tail inside this outfit isn't exactly comfortable."
"You can let it out inside here, but if you're leaving, hide it."
Rachel unbuttoned a small flap of fabric from her outfit, and a gray wolf's tail came out. She removed the ribbon in her hair, and two gray wolf ears erected themselves. She knew full well that half-breeds weren't welcome among humans. To hide her true self, she tied her ears under a ribbon and concealed her tail inside her outfit.
"I'm going to sleep. You should do the same if we're going to stay with the rest of those guys," Roy said, stretching out on the bed and closing his eyes.
Rachel however, wasn't tired at the moment, and she wanted to see what the town was like. She left her mallet in the room; it was dark, so people probably wouldn't see her tail and ears.
She exited the building while the innkeeper was in the back room. The wind had stopped blowing, and the night was quiet and still almost to the point of complete silence. She walked down the west street, her footfalls echoing off the stone path. She heard laughter and a high-pitched whimpering. She broke into a run, her sensitive ears picking up the slightest variation in the sound.
She stopped at an alleyway, where a group of three drunk townspeople were throwing something at a brown ball huddled in the corner.
"What are you doing?" she demanded.
They turned around, swaying and giving her glazed-over stares. "Look boys," one of them slurred, "she's probably a virgin!"
She watched one suspiciously as he staggered towards her. "Be quiet and cooperative, and I promise not to hurt you," he said.
"You're revolting!" she shouted, launching a roundhouse to the man's head.
The kick knocked the man down, and the other two leapt forward. One tried to punch Rachel, but the mass amounts of alcohol in his blood only managed to make him lose balance and fall on his face. The last one succeeded in cocking a fist and releasing it, but Rachel caught it, spun around, and flipped the man over her shoulder.
She walked over to the brown ball in the alleyway and reached out to touch it. It was furry, and uncoiled to her touch. She instantly recognized it as the Eevee from the plains. It leapt into her arms, and buried its face into her breast.
"It's alright, you're safe now," she whispered. The Eevee looked up at her with its large brown eyes and licked her cheek.
She carried it back to her room at the inn. To her luck, Roy was already asleep. Quietly, she slipped in beside him, and the Eevee curled up on top of the blankets.
"Where were you?" Roy asked suddenly, startling Rachel.
"Outside," she said.
"You concealed yourself, right?"
"Of course," she lied.
"Good, because if you hadn't, people would've tried getting rid of your ears." While he said this, Roy reached up and stroked one of the gray triangles protruding from the top of Rachel's head.
Rachel giggled and kissed him. She unzipped Roy's blue pants, and slid them down. Roy removed his jacket and shirt. Rachel continued just as they always had; right to the point. She climbed on top of Roy, positioned the tip of his rock-hard cock at the entrance of her vagina, held her breath, and slowly lowered herself onto him. She went down as far as she was able to, loving the feeling of Roy's shaft inside of her wet tunnel.
She started pumping, moving easily up and down on the shaft, her juices lubricating her movements. Roy placed one hand on her thigh and guided her, while his other hand found one of her breasts, and he squeezed it in time with her thrusting.
Rachel began to feel a tingling sensation arise in her stomach and grow in intensity. Roy got the same feeling too, and closed his eyes as he let it hit. Rachel cried out in ecstasy as her orgasm hit, and she felt Roy's hot cum shoot into her. She stopped the pleasure left her, and she began to breathe hard. She rolled over onto the bed, Roy's cock still inside of her. She hugged him, still not a shred of clothing on either of them. Rachel laid her head on the pillow, and fell asleep.