A Fox and a Knight - Reunion
Repay evil with good, and hell will not claim you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two months have passed since Skira's fateful encounter with a certain lizard knight, she hasn't met him since. The fox has maintained a somewhat mixed opinion about the lad and even now, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to see him again or not. Most of the time, she just didn't think about the past at all, rather focusing on the present and the future. The young fox still worked at the Inn for Keran, saving the gold coin partly as a reminder and partly as a reserve, in case everything suddenly went downhill.
``Lost in thoughts again, Ski?''
The old bear looked at her with a hint of worry in his kind, brown eyes. She looked back at him but didn't seem to be able to come up with an appropriate response.
``Pardon me for asking, but you just weren't the same ever since...''
The innkeeper tried hard to remember, before finally continuing: ''Ever since that day you came here all roughed up and whatnot.''
Skira remained silent, hoping that the ursine wouldn't pry on her, thankfully Keran seemed to notice her unwillingness to elaborate on the matter and just shrugged his shoulders.
``If you ever need to talk about anything, I am here for you, Ski.''
The fox was grateful, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the old ursine didn't let her off the hook for good. The one thing she hated about Kevran was his nosiness after all. He meant good, but he treated her too much like a child of his and not enough like an adult she was.
------------------------------
For a reason unknown to anyone but fate, she found herself walking home the same path as she did on that fateful night. Wandering through the slums at night was dangerous, with even the guards refraining from doing so, but something was telling to do it anyway, and she hated herself for adhering to that feeling.
``Well, I'm getting stabbed tonight.''
She uttered those words to the wind, before proceeding to walk down the empty street. Thankfully, the night wasn't too dark, else she would've been completely lost, as there weren't any torches or fires anywhere to be seen. The entire alley was empty, without a singular person to be heard or gazed upon, with the silence producing and eerie, grave-like atmosphere.
``Help! Anyone, please help!''
A trap, Skira immediately concluded upon hearing the feminine voice. Only a complete idiot would fall for that one, no one with any kind of common sense would ever...
``Thank the Goddess, down that alley, sir, my sister is hurt!''
Skira could hear a male voice talking to the girl, although its owner didn't yell, making it impossible for her to distinguish what he was saying.
Let it go, it's none of your business. With that thought still on her mind, the fox found herself walking straight into the direction from which she's heard the girl yelling. I am getting soft, she thought as she made her way down one of the side-alleys of the slums.
There, on a narrow intersection, she could see a young rabbit girl with an ominous grin on her face. Just as Skira got nearer to the kid, the child's grin was swiftly replaced with a feigned look of worry, accompanied by crocodile tears.
``Please, m'lady, my sister, she...''
The girl started speaking before getting mundanely interrupted by the fox:
``Oh, quit it, I wasn't born yesterday.''
Skira barred her teeth in a silent threat, making the rabbit's eyes widen in fear.
``How many friends of yours are waiting down that alley?''
The question seemed to aggravate the lagomorph. She returned to her selfish smile, before confidently drawing a short, rusty knife:
``You should have minded you own fucking business!''
The fox smirked, easily dodging the bunny girl's clumsy lunge. If they grow to believe that they have an edge over someone, children always overestimate themselves. Skira grabbed the kid by her wrist, twisting it until the knife fell on the dirty, stony ground, before rewarding the rabbit with a slap on her cheek. Now crying, the bunny ran away, leaving the fox on her own.
``I bloody hate kids.''
------------------------------
Skira was getting nearer to the source of a heated discussion. A bunch of kids, no less than five and not more than ten of them on a first glance, were arguing in a semi-circle over a wounded knight. One of the rascals must've found an opening in his plate armour by chance, as the poor lad was lying on the ground with blood gushing out from his side. The knight's sword has already been claimed by one of the larger, rhino kids, who was in the middle of wrestling with a large colt over the possession of the priceless weapon.
``Guys, we have to help him! He will pay us a fortune if we do so!'' A small buck declared, trying to convince his peers.
A zebra colt had a different idea though, disapprovingly shaking his head the whole time: ``We can't, you daft cunt! If we help him, we'll be dead come morning! Why would he pay us for `urting him?!''
Some of the other boys seemed to agree with the buck, most seemed to side with the zebra, however.
``We could also rape his ass, while we are at it, there is no harm doing it either way. Can't imagine him admitting getting fucked by a bunch of orphans!'' A Doberman pup, visibly aroused as his red rocket was partially protruding from his sheath, lustfully licked his muzzle, before getting berated by the buck:
``You would've fucked his mount if he had it here!''
The pup genuinely seemed to give it a thought, before all of them started yelling ideas at once again. None of the children noticed that there was an adult present and Skira was grateful for that, as it gave her some time to come up with an idea on how to get rid of them.
``Here comes nothing.'' The fox whispered for herself.
She wasn't half confident her little plan would work, and she was getting ready to run away should it fail. The fox walked a bit back down the alley, in order to get behind a corner. There, she tore off a piece of her dress, wrapping it around a branch that she had found lying next to a dog skull. Using the only word of magic that she knew; the fox lit the improvised torch on fire. One deep inhale later, Skira yelled on top of her lungs:
``On me, guards! They must've hurt him, we gotta hurry!''
With the torch in her, she started making her way down the alley again, desperately hoping that the kids ran away and left the poor fool alone.
Thankfully, her plan has worked. Those damned runts cleared the area in a hurry, taking only the knight's sword and purse with them. The fox had to face a different problem now, as there was no way the guy would be able to walk away on his own, as he seemed to have lost his consciousness from blood loss, and she wouldn't be able to carry him either, as he was simply too heavy for her. Instead, she decided to drag him into one of the seemingly empty buildings nearby, before she could find some help. Half the town was empty after the last outbreak of rotting death, which meant that countless houses were now empty and marked by white crosses.
Skira wasn't too superstitious, she didn't believe that the ghosts of the dead wound haunt her for entering their home, but she wasn't going to tempt them by stealing their things either.
------------------------------
The fox started taking the knight's armour off, undoing its leather straps and untying countless laces holding the plates together. Slowly but steadily, she discovered that her silly companion was in fact a lizard, although that was semi-apparent from the shape of his helmet, from the fact that he had a tail armour and from the general look of his paw guards. If you are getting a feeling that you know who the person inside the armour might be, then no worries my dear reader, so did Skira. Partly, she hoped that it was in fact the knight from before and partly, she hoped that it was not.
It was him. The revelation made her heart skip. Should she be angry? Should she leave him alone, to bleed out in this old ruin of a house, or should she help him and tend to the gaping wound on the side of his hip? She got lost in her thoughts only to discover that she subconsciously started tending to the lizard's wound, once again using the magical word for fire to cleanse it, before tearing of another piece of fabric from her dress to serve her as a bandage. The fox managed to stop the bleeding entirely but leaving him alone in this place still seemed somewhat wrong to her.
What do you owe him? Nothing, nothing at all! Then why are you still here, you silly fox?! Despite her brain telling her to walk away, Skira decided to stay there with him, cursing her own perceived weakness in the process. She lay down away from the knight, turning her back to him and curling her tail between her legs, before quickly falling asleep.
------------------------------
When Skira woke up, it wasn't morning yet, as the two of them were still surrounded by darkness. She perked up her ears, something felt off and she immediately reached for the rusty knife, that she got from the malign bunny the day before.
``That won't do you any good, miss.''
The fox growled in a low and menacing voice, equal parts angry at the three kids emerging from the darkness in front of her and at herself, for allowing them to sneak up on her. It was three of the brats from before: The Doberman, that mean little bunny girl, once again with an overly confident smile on her face, and the muscular colt, that evidently won his struggle for the knight's longsword, as he was currently holding it in his hand.
``There is no need for us to fight, kids.''
Skira tried her best to smile at them.
``What would you say if I paid each one of you a groschen and we'll all be on our ways.''
The Doberman did what he does best and shook his head in disapproval:
``That won't do, miss. Not that we won't take your money, but we want something else from you as well.''
The look he was giving her made the fox's fur bristle, she wasn't half happy that this perverted brat was the one in charge. She gave him a condescending look, one that a disapproving mother would grant a child that has disappointed her, not that the pup seemed to care.
``I want her to bloody suffer! The bitch twisted my hand, and she smacked my face! We should just beat her and-''
The Doberman growled: ``Shut up, you stupid bunny! Let the adults do the talking or I will be mounting you, instead of her!''
He looked at the bunny with fire in his eyes: ``This night is shit because of you, anyway, we are all lucky that the knight survived, else we would be hanging at the gallows come morning!''
Silence immediately engulfed the room and Skira tightened her grip on the knife, as the dog made a step towards her.
``You could likely beat me and the bunny bitch, yes. You can't beat my friend back there.''
The Doberman nodded his head towards the menacing colt.
``He is younger than you, yes, but he is also a head taller than you are and he weights two times as much.''
Skira knew it to be true, just like the stupid brat in front of her, but she hated giving up. Her continued defiance angered the pup, who was stubbornly convinced that he would achieve an effortless victory.
``He has a fucking sword, you stupid fox bitch!''
The Doberman finished his sentence just in time to see Skira's fist connect with his muzzle. One centre punch was all that it took for her to send him flying to the ground, with blood running down his nose. Despite her brain telling her otherwise, her heart won once again, she didn't kill the child, choosing her hands instead of the rusty knife.
Sadly, morality can hardly ever be expected from children. The colt didn't share her sentiment and swiftly swung his sword against the fox. Skira tried to dodge the attack and while she partially managed to do so, the cold steel still connected with her left thigh, cutting through her fur and flesh, and making her to drop on all fours.
The young horse didn't hesitate for a second, immediately pouncing towards her and kicking her into her head with his right hoof. The last thing Skira felt was pain, the worst hangover of her life, before the world around her turned into darkness.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This continuation of the story about Skira was written per request from kaiman44, I hope that they are happy with the outcome! As of now, I do not rule out the possibility that there will be a third part to this story, but I've quite a lot of university stuff to do, so if yes then idk when.
Also, thank you for reading my story, I hope that you enjoyed it! If you, dear reader, find any grave mistakes in my writing, then please let me know! I am not a native English speaker, but I would love to improve.
As always, have a good day!
