Furry Art Pile

Chapter 1, First Meeting

In the dead of night a hyena woman was walking down the street of a Reman city. This woman was young and stood at about 5’10”. She had deep green eyes and red hair that was tied in a ponytail at the back, and was fairly messy elsewhere. She was fairly muscular for a woman, but then again she was a hyena after all. She wore simple clothing and had a dagger upon her belt as well as a map. She hated cities, this one was no exception but it couldn’t be helped, she needed clues and the city was one of the only places to find them. She scratched her head a moment trying to remember this city’s name, Its Iksus if I remember right. She hated Reman city names, always confused her. Still she counted her blessings it wasn’t any of the Leonean kingdoms.

She finally found an inn that had a vacancy sign. This particular inn looked barely livable, run down, and hardly maintained. The sign, if it could be called that read; “Wingrest Inn”, though it was missing the first I, and the S. No wonder it was the only one not filled. She grudgingly walked in. The interior was as bad as the front; the walls had holes and scratches, probably from a fight or two. The place reeked of… something she didn’t want to know. The patrons did not help improve the atmosphere at all, as a majority looked grungy and unclean. She moved to the bar, but kept a hand on her knife. She’d rather be safe than dead.

“Hello.” The bar wench greeted her jovially. She was a feline, looked to be a cheetah, or a leopard, Iris could never tell the difference between the two. “What poison do ya fancy?” Iris looked around and saw the patrons drinking from their mugs, but decided she didn’t ‘fancy’ any of the crap they were serving here.

“I need a room for the night," the hyena said.

The barmaid nodded, "Regular or premium?”

Premium? The hyena raised an eyebrow. What would be considered premium in a dump like this? "What's the price?”

“Premium is one gold a night, and includes dinner and breakfast,” the barmaid sad, “regular's two silvers; no meals.”

The hyena wrinkled her nose. Meals? From the smell of things, they'd been serving the same ones for a month. "Regular," she replied. Pampering could wait until she found an inn with some standards...

“Okie dokie here’s your room key; will you need anything else?”

“No.” The hyena woman flatly stated.

“Okay enjoy your stay!” The barmaid said to her as she made her way to the rooms.

A male canid watched her make her way back to the rooms. Now what would bring a hyena all the way out here? The man thought as he saw the female spotted hyena leave the bar and make her way to the rooms. He had been listening in on her and the barmaid’s conversation the entire time, wondering why one would come this far north. They usually live in the Leonean kingdoms, well those who are civilized at least. He judged, from her attire that she was tribal. “Interesting…” he mused to himself, something about her made him very curious. It would’ve probably been smart for him to have let his curiosity die off at that moment, but he didn’t learn anything by being a smart canine.

He got up from his table and walked down to the rooms. He looked around, now which one did she get? He closed his eyes then walked to the third door on the left.

The hyena woman heard a light rasp at the door. The bar wench? Though I told her I didn’t want anything. She grabbed her knife, walked to the door and opened it. What she saw was not the bar wench but some male canine standing in her doorway. She was taller than him, maybe by an inch or so, as he stood at about 5’8”. He had short brown hair and his fur was a slightly lighter brown hue. He had eyes that were about as green as her own, but that was the only similarity they shared. He looked to be ‘average’ not too thin but not too fat, with only a bit of muscle. He wore brown and green robes and stood very calmly.

She growled as she wasn’t in the mood to entertain guest, “Who the fuck are you?”

He bowed to her in a fairly elegant manner, “Gren Isrand at your service.”

“That’s nice now what the fuck do you want?” She said sarcastically.

“Please milady refrain from the profane language, I only wish to ask you a few things.” He responded with a pleasant smile.

She was starting to wonder about the sanity, and legitimacy of this guy, “Yea sure, what do you really want?” Her grip on her knife tightened.

“Like I said, only wanted to ask you some things, if you’ll let continue?”

She hefts out a sigh, “Fine ask mutt!”

“Call me Gren please,” keeping his pleasant attitude, “I was just wondering why a hyena is in the Reman empire?”

Now I know this guy is a loony! She though on how to answer this one, why was she still talking with this nutcase? “I’m looking for my si… someone.” She nearly told him.

He nodded, “Very good. Now I’d like to know if anything ‘unexplainable’ has occurred in your presence.”

Now this was probably the weirdest question Iris has ever heard, “Huh, what the hell are you talking about?”

He scratched his head, “Oh, nothing, never mind. Anyway I shall not keep you, I bid you goodnight.”

That’s it? He started to walk off; maybe this idiot might know something stop him! “Wait!” She exclaimed.

He turned around slightly, “Yes?”

“Do you know where the slave trades wind up?”

He stood there for a moment, “Paramina, why?”

“No reason, thank you.” She shut the door after that and locked it. Paramina it is then, hang on sis.

As Gren stood outside her room he began to ponder. Slave trade, sounds dangerous, probably a good idea to stay out of it but still… Gren smirked; I wouldn’t be much of a sorcerer if I don’t have a way to practice. He headed to his room, besides the road is dangerous, and there’s no way one woman can make the trip alone.