Hope + Furret

Chapter 10

"The Followers of the Divine are gonna be our best bet for finding a thief," says Furret. "They're the only place nearby that would provide any sanctuary."

Hope makes a disgusted face. "Blech. Do we have to go there?"

"Why do you- Oh."

"Yeah."

"Can't you just set aside your religious differences and deal with it?"

"They're basically a cult!"

"One could say the same about you and your religion."

"They send missionaries to our monastery!"

"So they're passionate about what they believe in. Why do you have such a problem with it?"

"Well, I'm Creosian, so I believe in — and respect — the Supreme Creator Ceora and her children, and the Followers of the Divine do not do either."

Furret hesitated, then said, "They're nice enough people. Just give them a chance. They take good care of the land, and they take in a considerable amount of people without a home."

"Yeah, well..." Hope's words drift off as she focuses on their walking.

Hope fiddles with her clawed fingertips while Furret focuses on the horizon. The forest is slowly receding behind them as they walk.

"I guess that I will try to not get into any theological debates."

Furret glares at her.

"Okay, I will make sure to not get into any theological debates."

The tiny thief nods his head in approval.

"How long does it take to get there anyway?"

"A few days. We have to make it around Elias Lake, and then we'll cut through the Bandit Grove."

Hope, only hearing gibberish when Furret talks about the various locations, decides to pipe up after hearing a word that she would normally recognize as danger. "Are there actual bandits there? If there are, we'll be safe, right? Because you're one of them."

"No, we wouldn't be safe. Why would you assume that? Never assume that you're safe. You must always expect an attack, otherwise you'll be left defenseless. Also, bandits are not thieves. We thieves have a code we live by, but bandits are just reckless. They don't stick to any laws or codes of honor. They will do anything and harm anyone in order to get what they want."

"Oh." Hope goes back to picking at her claws. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine — and an honest mistake for someone raised in a monastery, I guess." He takes a quick look back at Hope and checks her tool belt. "You still don't have a weapon. We should fix that. Next time we get to a place that has 'em, I'll get you one."

Silence falls over the duo like a heavy blanket as they walk another few hundred paces.

Hope suddenly blurts out, "Your emotions are strange."

"What do you mean?" Furret asks with a puzzled look.

"I mean one minute you're angry at me, the next you're joining me on my quest again and offering to get me a weapon."

"Well, fine. If you don't want my help, then you can get one yourself. Better yet, you can just go without a weapon and see how long that lasts you."

"That's not what I'm trying to say. I'm just saying that you can't seem to make up your mind about how to feel or act."

Furret coughs while saying, "Stuck up."

Hope glares at him in displeasure.

"Hey, I'm not the one who has an issue with everything."

After that comment, Hope picks up her pace just enough to leave Furret a considerable distance behind her, but not enough to lose him (which isn't terribly difficult considering how much taller she is). She brings her focus to the interesting nature that surrounds her on the path to Elias Lake.

Greens, pinks, and blues are on every plant that Hope passes. Most of them have long, gentle leaves that reach in to embrace her as the wind changes. The tall ones with the magenta-colored blooms are her favorite.

She continues walking until she comes to a fork in the road. Figuring that Elias Lake is going to be an actual lake, she takes the path down which she can see exactly that.

By the time she gets to the lake itself, she realizes that she hasn't seen Furret or heard from him in a while. She pauses for a moment to try and indicate to him that she's waiting for him.

Several moments go by and Furret still hasn't caught up.

Worry begins to set in for Hope, so she turns around to start back down the path and look for her partner.

"Furret?" Hope calls into the shadows of the forest. "You'd better not be leaving me alone again."

She continues walking. "Furret?" she calls again. "Furret, this isn't funny!"

Hope starts into a jog, which quickly turns into sprinting.

About 200 paces from the fork in the road, she's pulled into a shrub and pushed against a tree. Luckily, the foliage is enough to shield her horns from view.

After she partially recovers from the stunning events, she looks down and sees that it was Furret who pulled her back.

"Fu-"

"Shhh," he demands. He cautiously points a finger to the main road where three Enoinae guards are patrolling. Hope immediately sees them and hugs her back even closer to the tree bark. Furret stays crouched behind the shrubbery.

Eventually, the guards move on and Hope can let out the breath that she didn't know she was holding.

Still staring at the path that the guards just left on, Furret says, "So you were looking for me?"

"Hey, it's not like I need you or anything — I was just expecting you to show up and you didn't."

"You were worried," Furret teases.

"Yeah. Is that so wrong?"

Furret closes his mouth and goes back to the path secretly smiling.