Greyskin

Chapter 8. Story of a cat-demon.

Lemu was born a halfling. He was a common variant race, a catsun, a hybrid of gremlin and feline races, a half demon, so moving outside of demon territories was out of the question for him and his kin. He lived in a village not too far from the pillars, about two days walk from the desert.

His father ran away when he got his mother pregnant for the third time. Now that filthy bastard was probably rotting somewhere in prison or living in some cave somewhere. Lemu didn't care, he hated that asshole. Lemu's mother was feline Numa, who now had a litter of fourteen kids. She never stopped loving after her gremlin partner left, so now Lemu had about eight half-siblings, who were all of various races. He cared for them, but he wasn't too close to them. He wasn't too close to anybody in fact.

Lemu was a loner. It was thanks to his inborn ability, a trait that could appear in some individuals. Such traits were mostly exhibited by the non-demon races, as demons didn't have them, but if a half demon was to have an ability, it would be powerful one. Lemu's ability was commonly referred to as 'snake eyes'.

No, of course a half feline had vertical irises, but they weren't really like those of a snake, instead they were usual feline eyes. The name came from a simple fact that he could see misfortune. People would ask him if there was misfortune around them and if he affirmed to the fact, people would be unlucky and when playing dice they would often get snake eyes - two single rolls. So, people would refer to him by that term.

This was little uncomfortable for Lemu, he would always be asked whether good or bad fortune was upon a person and then if he saw them surrounded by black smoke and confirmed coming bad luck, they would curse at him. He wasn't the one giving them said bad luck, he could only see it, but people didn't care. Even those who had no misfortune would often simply forget about Lemu and wouldn't speak to him until the next time they needed his gift.

So, Lemu was a loner. People didn't like being with him, many believed that simply his presence would bring misfortune, so they stayed away. He didn't care about it, once he grew up and saw the world, he wanted to be left alone.

Lemu became a thief. His gift gave him better vision in general, so seeing in the dark and being able to see people who are hidden was an asset to Lemu, plus his own heritage made him very agile and sneaky.

He was successful in his trade, often bringing some extra coins or tasty bits home to his family. His mother was a whore in a whore house, where most of her kids were conceived. Feline pregnancies were swift, so she would give birth after a few months and leave the newborn to the older siblings and then went to work.

Lemu's oldest sister also worked at a whore house, but she was a receptionist, with only rare cases of taking in clients. She would be attending to the VIP clientele, of which there were only a few. The village was a shithole at the edge of the demon world, no lords or kings came by this place.

Lemu's older brother was a hunter, well accustomed with a bow and able to hunt big game with enough preparation. He was one of the main people in the hunting party that fed the town, so he had a bit of fame amongst the residents. He would sometimes ask Lemu for help with this and that, but they weren't too close.

The younger children all came in different flavors. The oldest of the younger ones was a whore, just like her mother, who went to work at an age little to young for the trade. Apparently she was good at it, but Lemu wouldn't know, he didn't have the money to try her out...

The other children were beggars, gatherers and assistants. Just a useless bunch really, still too small for any real work. Lemu himself was barely considered an adult.

The half feline boy didn't know what to do, until he was forced to take responsibility over another life. Two lives actually. When Lemu was younger, few years back, he had a very unfortunate day. He woke up, surrounded by black smoke, not knowing what to do. His first step was a wrong one, him stepping onto a nail on the floor. There were few nails used in building, and even then only few of them were good ones. Lemu's house was mostly sticks and straw.