The Firran Way

Chapter 3

They had given us Gilda and some gold, as a "going away gift." They gave enough to purchase a clipper of my own, so that became my priority.
Caenord is a port city so surely there would be one for sale at the docks, right?
I left Arashi with the stable hand, strolling down the market. I glanced to where the auctioneer was, selling a small item for much more gold than it's worth, I wasn't surprised. There was a moonshadow glider behind him though, and I stopped. "How much is that glider?" I asked, motioning to the folded piece behind him.
The auctioneer looked behind him slightly confused, this his face brightened. "I'd say about 20g, no ones been interested before."
I thought for a second, before nodding and giving him the gold, a glider would be useful since I'm on my own now.
He handed it to me, and I strapped it to my back. It was oddly light and less bulky than it seemed. The sun was starting to set, the blaring lights of the city taking over as I made my way to the port, a nuian making a trade run. Why not make a quick buck?
I stealthed, inching my way over, drawing my blades slowly. I lunged at her, appearing only when I was an inch from her face. I knocked her into the water with my weight, though following. I dove under, pulling her under by her foot and cut her shoulder and the straps holding her sword at her side. The sheathed weapon sunk slowly to the bottom, the nuian going after it. I returned to the surface, taking the pack and giving it to the trader, getting 30g in return. I re-stealthed and ran off, not waiting around to be killed.

-

The moon was up before I made it to the port, though there was people there still. A young Firran was tending to her clipper, was it for sale? "Hello, I was wondering if that clipper if yours is for sale." I said calmly, not wanting to scare the girl.
I saw her jump a bit then turn to me, "depends on how much your offering," she responded with an annoyed tone.
"50 Gilda." I spat back, it would be all of my Gilda, but I needed the clipper.
Her ears perked, and she walked over to me, her tail waving behind her. She stuck out her hand, "Deal." I set the Gilda in her palm, and she ran off without saying another word.
"Guess I'll see if I got my money's worth.." I breathed, boarding my newly acquired ship. Everything looked light, this ship was built for speed. Running my hand over the sails, I noticed they felt slightly silky. "Mythic sails?" I questioned. Those alone would've been worth hundreds of gold, let alone the whole thing being 50 Gilda. What a deal, it seems like a scam if anything. Oh well.
I returned to the stables to get Arashi, riding back down to the port, and boarding my ship. "Careful, don't move to much. You don't want to fall into the water." I warned, losing Arashi would mean losing part of my soul, we needed each other.
I raised the anchor, and took control of the ship. We nearly flew out of the port and into Castaway Straight, this boat was speedy. But it would get us to Nuia quickly.
My plan was to get into Marianople and steal a wolfhound pup. They were quite cute, and having one would prove bravery, the pups are well guarded, after all.
Docking in Halcyona and going through the mountains would be the best route, not many Nuian scum up there either.
We passed a small Seabug nest unnoticed, and the shoreline started to become visible. "Vile little things" I cursed. Everyone hated Seabugs, except the Pirates, they'd lure people into the nests for a measly piece of gold.
I pulled into the port, one of the guards glared at me. It was quite funny that they couldn't even deal with one Firran on their oh so precious land. Swinging myself over Arashi and placing my hand on his jet black fur, I gave about 5g to the guard, "keep my clipper safe, eh?" I snickered. He rolled his eyes as I passed, annoying Nuians was so fun.
Arashi loosened his mussels, increasing his speed. We darted into the mountains, disappearing from sight. We were almost to Marianople when I spotted something. I told Arashi to stop as I went over to investigate.
"Illegal Nuian farm?" I said aloud, then laughed. I approached it, un-sheathing my daggers and tearing up the farm, then returning to Arashi. "They're gunna have a bad day when they see that." And continued on.
After another 10 minutes of walking, the mountains dropped to sheer cliffs. I leapt onto the ground, my paws leaving a slight imprint to the soil. "I'm going to glide from here, I'll be back. Stay safe."
I unhooked the glider from my back and jumped, letting the winged machine catch air and lift me to the skies. It was frightening yet exiting at the same time. The Firran haven't flown before these Harani machines came into our culture.
The city of Marianople was beautiful, I could spot many guards though, ones that would be more than happy to tear me to shreds and use my pelt as a throw rug.
I turned cleanly, steering away from the city and heading to a small farm. I angled down, nearly dive bombing, then lifted up once I was 40 feet from the ground. Folding my glider mid-air, I dropped silently to the roof of a barn and stealthing.
The pups were in the center, guards on all sides. "Damn, they must really not want people from Haranya getting to these." I thought. Sighing, I grabbed hold of my bow, and bringing an arrow of poison to it. Drawing, aiming, and shot. It knocked one of the guards out, and I repeated for the others.
Once they were out, I dropped down and grabbed 2 pups; a black one and a white one. They were the rarest, and the most loyal.
After strapping them to me with glider ropes, I found a high hill, and glided out. No way in hell I was sticking around for the guards to wake up.

-

I found Arashi where I had left him, and his ears had pricked when I came up from the cliff. Now to make the long journey back to Haranya...