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The Blacke Letter; Part 2 |
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This planet, the Planet Port, was just that. Not much work was put into living quarters simply because most of it was put into shipping, docking and storage quarters. Since the planet was basically like one giant post office, solar powered ships, by night and by day flew in from all over the system of planets. Not sailing ships, mind you; there wasn’t an ounce of natural waterways or any water at all even on this planet.
Giant merchant ships, powered by solar and lunar sails, converting the energy to power great ion engines, flew to and from the planet, unloading and loading goods for other ships to pick up and take to the rightful planets. Of course, Port also served as a pit stop for all travelers and merchants alike to purchase and load up on cheap rations for the crew. Water was also shipped to the planet to be stored for those who stopped for the night only to reload.
Even through the usual hustle and bustle of shoppers and sailors during the day and some time into the night, the Planet Port was quite the dismal rock. Sewage and garbage was littered everywhere that wasn’t a part of the main docking bays, and although the living quarters were few, they were absolutely disgusting. One would rather live out on the streets, getting by with whatever they could; like me.
And so it was, that I lived on the Planet Port, on the streets, thieving petty items and garnet from any small shops, pubs or ships that I could.
I was an excellent thief; that was how I came into Shinara’s services. She caught me one day, pilfering a bit of garnet from none other than herself. She hadn’t even realized it either until I’d nearly gotten away with it. Instead of turning me into Port security, she enlisted me as a thief for her. She promised me that I’d be well-paid and protected from any snooping Port security.
I had no real luxuries of my own except school, so immediately I had taken her up on her offer. Later that very same day, she had me meet her in a small, far off pub, half on a main port and half not. She assessed my skills and was only satisfied when I had successfully filched several items and some garnet from five different customers to the bar. Shinara let me keep the stolen items, saying she had bigger and better things and pay for me to get.
For awhile, we talked, gradually becoming friendly and familiar with each other, until the barkeeper was closing for the night. In the street, we walked a ways together, and eventually, under a hypnotic sleepy spell of stupor, I let something slip; Something near and dear to me; something; some secret, that should never be told. The deepest, darkest, most well-kept secret that no one ever had a right to know. It was the worst thing to have let slip, and now, Shinara knew it.
I remembered, seconds after saying it, clapping my paws to my muzzle in shock and revelation at what information I had just relayed to her, and I remembered her reaction. Shinara had smiled. A sinister, crooked grin that sent chills of sorrow and tragedy, despair and failure down my spine. So, I did the only thing I could: without another word, I ran. I ran full-pelt away from Shinara, her words ringing in my ears as I ran: “I’ll meet you at the alley at Dock 1004 then, Chase! Be there, if you‘d like that piece of information kept to myself!”
I met her there, the very next night. That was when my career as a thief for the bat began. She was a highly respected ring-leader of the Blacke market that was widely known and never stopped on the Port. She was not the Don though; she still had to bring in some sort of money or items. So, Shinara had me steal the items for her.
From that night on, I was her thief, her slave, hers to do with as she pleased. I was not paid, I was not protected, and once, I was even brought in for two weeks to jail for being caught. Shinara had not helped me and no one had paid bail for me. Instead, since I had been assigned another task due for her that night, I had escaped, using almost all of my thieving and sneaking and prowling skills to leave undetected.
Now that Shinara had something other than money to keep me in her service, she had no need of paying me. For two years now, I had done double the stealing, for both Shinara and myself. I barely had time for school, but I stuck to the schedule doggedly. For two years, I ran myself ragged to keep my secret a secret and although most anyone would have given up by now and risked the consequences, I did not: my secret was too much of a secret.
And right now, by this time tomorrow night, Shinara wanted 7000 garnet. I needed sleep though and I needed to get to school tomorrow morning. I still needed to complete my homework too. In between events, I would need food as well.
I sighed dejectedly as I slowed to a walking pace and followed an empty street down to the very end. There was only one streetlight there, where the few battered and broken, mostly abandoned homes ended in their rows. Under the streetlight, I uncovered a hole in the ground. Lifting away the light cover that was made to look like a sewer cover, I hopped down into the dry warm tunnel, the lid clanging down behind me.
I landed in the main chamber, and was immediately on the alert for another creature in my makeshift abode. I could smell the creature instantly.
Carefully, I padded silently forward, turning on lights as I went and creeping around corners closely. I did not expect a friend to be here: I was a loner and hadn’t any actual friends to speak of.
As I rounded the next corner in the series of tunnels, I ran straight into the intruder, knocking us both flat as the lights switched off. There was a swift scuffle in the dark before a gruff female voice halted me, mid swipe.
“Chase! It’s me! Tyrsse!”
There was silence for a moment as I let the voice strike a few chords of memory. “Tyrsse!” I hopped onto her belly happily. I knew exactly where she was in the dark.
“Ha-ha! Yeah, I thought I’d drop in for a spell. Lovely little welcome though, Chase. Thought you were going to kill me for a second there!”
“Oh, I’m awfully sorry! I didn’t know it was you. I didn’t expect anyone to be here at this hour.”
I looked down at her as she laughed, watching her gentle face through the dark. Giant chartreuse eyes watched mine, twin slits matching my own as we stared each other down. After full minutes of the game, I had to blink. “Ha! I always win the staring game!” she stood up, sliding me off her chest as she went to find the light switch.
Upon pressing the button, we both recoiled at the brightness. Tyrsse, the blacke lioness, sat before me, decked in nothing but a few gold bracelets and bone tail rings. One ear was literally torn in bits at the amount of earrings pierced through it. Normally, Tyrsse would walk upright, as her anthropomorphic body was built to do, but in here, she resembled perfectly an actual female lion walking toward me on all fours. To complete the perfect picture with a spark of oddity, a small pair of glasses were balanced upon her nose, held there by a bit of adhesives on the underside of the bar connecting the two lens.
“What brings you here at this hour, Tyrsse?” I asked as she led me into another room: my bed room.
“Oh, nothing really, just a spot of trouble with the security around here.”
“So you’re staying here for a few nights until things die down a bit, eh?” I eyed her suspiciously.
“Yup!” Tyrsse proclaimed innocently. “A few nights, that’s it!”
After a few moments of silence, I walked over to the oddly shaped nest bed of bits of cloth and fabrics, torn pillows and blankets, and sat down comfortably.
“Anyway, you’ve got to hear this! Yesterday morning, after you left for your academy schooling, in the main port over at Evelain, you should have seen it!! There was this -”
I cut her short suddenly by whipping my head back to look at her, snapping a single word at her: “Liar!”
She nodded as if having not heard me. “Yes! That’s right! And do you know what- wait, what?”
“Liar.” I repeated, stepping over the edge of the bed and going to stand before her laying down form.
She looked up at me. “What’re you talking about, Chase?”
“You’re not planning on staying for a few nights, are you? The security’s blocked off access to your home haven’t they?” it was a statement, not a question.
“Oh…um…no. I’m not planning on staying for a few days…you wouldn’t mind my staying though, wouldya, Chase?”
I smiled and sat. “Of course not. Tyrsse, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”
“Oh thanks, Chase! You won’t regret it!” she leapt up to tackle me with a big bear hug. “Oh! And I took the liberty of finishing your homework for you! It’s in your book and all ready to go to school with you tomorrow!”
I blinked owlishly at the twice-my-age lioness. “That was kind of you Tyrsse, but you really didn’t need to. Besides, if I don’t do it myself, how am I supposed to learn anything?”
“Oh, well, it was half-done, and I saw it on your table and couldn’t help writing an answer when I glanced at it. Then, I saw the rest of the questions and kind-of got carried away. Heh. Sorry!”
I laid back down on the floor, forgetting the bed. “Quite alright, Tyrsse. Still can’t believe you enjoy arithmetic though…”
She smiled and adjusted the glasses on her nose before sidling up beside me as I closed my eyes, dozing slightly. “Thought you could use the help though. You were out most of the night and probably weren’t going to be thinking straight to do much homework. Not after that creepy ol’ bat, especially.”
I yawned then asked her, “How do you know that I still go to Shinara, Tyrsse?”
“Oh, I know a lot of things, Chase.”
“Heh. I know that.”
“I’ve seen you coming out of that dark place all the time. Seen the bat too. You know, you really should stop all dealings with that old hack, Chase.” in a motherly sort of way she licked the top of my head with the rough cat tongue, some primitive instinct surfacing.
“Actually, she’s really not that old…but yeah. I told you why I can’t just stop. Not with…you know…”
She smiled, and tried to keep me awake just a bit longer. “Yes, I know… now, don’t worry about it. Just do what you can for her until she doesn’t need you anymore.” she scooped me up and placed me back in the bed, and I nodded slowly before curling up against her belly for a long night of rest.
So, this was who I came to in times of trouble and whose shoulder I cried upon as I grieved away my anger and sorrow at my having told my secret two years before. Tyrsse, the intelligent, bookish student at a nearby rundown school, was perhaps my only friend, and of course, the only other of two that knew what I hid.
I loved Tyrsse to death and this older woman loved me. She was more of a motherly figure, but not quite old enough to actually have been my mother. The lioness pitied me and the predicament I was in, but strongly supported me whenever I needed it.
Sometimes I hated her attention, but I always welcomed it later when I was through being angry. Tyrsse was the best friend I could ever ask for.
 Wolf of Winds · Tue Oct 17, 2006 @ 02:12am · 0 Comments |
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