The tiger leash
Kian pulled the makeshift cloak tighter around his neck and shoulders, careful to obscure his face. He shifted the cloth to hide the handle of his sword on his back as he walked through the bazaar. He looked through the peripherals of his eyes; the tiger-like ears on his head were pulled back in alert. He caught passing glances from the auctioneers, who stood on wooden platforms, some with guns in their hands, others with the chained collars of people. One man on the nearest podium held a beastfolk woman with cat ears on top of her head. She was finely dressed, but her eyes were hollow. Kian shuddered as the man said, “Dainty and refined, perfectly suited to work or pleasure, we will start the bidding at four hundred thousand.” He walked past another auctioneer, a woman peddling a variety of weapons. Kian walked over to a building with wooden slats on the windows. A large glowing sign stood above its door that read “The pleasure pit.” he walked past a woman in the lobby, clearly unwell. He walked past the door and into a room that held a toilet and a shower.
He carefully closed the door behind him, climbed onto the toilet seat, and pushed up on the ceiling panel, climbing into the vents, careful to position himself so as not to dislodge the sword on his back from its sheath. He inhaled sharply, sweat beading on his forehead, he exhaled slowly as he continued to crawl through the vents, which arced downwards. He crawled for a long while until he finally came to a stop and rotated himself, allowing his legs to kick a grate free from its frame. He dropped down, crouching on the landing. Two guards stood holding their firearms. He walked carefully in the shadows to evade them, pulling his sword from his back and dusting off the cloak. He rotated the blade in his hand and ran his fingers across it, feeling the hard, cold silversteel on the blade. He stalked the shadows until he came to a large double he thought quietly while inhaling and exhaling slowly, “I need to do this.” he pushed open the door gently. The dimly lit room held a man on a throne surrounded by barely dressed women. He ran forward, covering the distance quickly and quietly. He leaped forward with the blade in reverse grip, intending to sever the man's throat in one smooth movement as a large fist came out of seemingly nowhere, throwing him to skid on the ground to the far side of the room. As Kian re-oriented himself, a woman in a brilliant cherry red, partially undone Hanbok, exposing a large portion of her chest covered in a variety of scars, she brought down a large blade like an icepick near him. It cracked the stone ground. She raised the blade to her hand and dug it into the skin on the back of her hand and said, “You are a delicious little morsel, kitty.” She exhaled and shuddered, “I want to pick you apart. What an exciting time to be alive.” She blushed and began laughing maniacally, “Ooh i simply cannot wait to see what color you can give me for my next masterpiece.” Her breathing sped up as the large man walked over to Kian. He got to his feet and rushed toward the man on the throne again. The large man whose punch sent him flying grabbed him by the leg and swung him in an upward arc, crashing him into the ground and sending the air flying out of his lungs. He lay on the ground, catching his breath as the woman and the large man walked over. The man had long grey hair with wolf-like ears on the top of his head and golden-brown eyes like those of a wolf. The man wore a studded leather jacket open, his gray fur-covered chest exposed with a set of black pants with padding on the knees, flowing down to a pair of boots with the woman ran over to Kian and said to the large man “can i please, please, please have him i think he would prove to be a stimulating specimen for my artworks.” The man held an arm out in front of her and said in a deep, almost growl-like voice, “No, he is not our problem. We are only here to ensure smooth movement, so i best suggest you keep on your best behaviour before they send him. We are already on thin ice after you mauled that man.” The woman raised both hands to her face, her face a bright red with blush. “Aww man, Dirus, you know I can't handle myself when I get going I just get so into it, the scents, the smells, the sensations, the tastes, it gets me hrrrgh-” the woman began to laugh she dug the icepick deeper into her hand causing it to bleed before she raised the dripping crimson to her mouth she moaned and said “Please please please Dirus.” the large wolf like man crouched over kian and said “Looks like its lights out for now pal sorry for this.” he pulled his arm back and punched kian in the face his nose began dripping with blood as he lie on the cold stone floor the wolf like man known as Dirus turned to the woman “No, control yourself Michin.” The man sitting on the throne stood up and walked over to the two and said in a quiet tone, “Excellent work, perhaps I really should consider the offers then if this is what your people can bring to the table.” Dirus crossed his arms and said, “Is there any other unwanted guests we should be on the lookout for?” The man looked down at Kian. “Probably not, I would assume his sister would not be far behind, but my men saw no such person matching her description. Perhaps she finally left this world behind or found employment in another profession.” The man in the throne crouched down, picking up the sword from the floor, raising it to the dim light. “What a curious blade, where did you acquire such a thing, little cat? It's good to see you still rely on your training; however, it is unfortunate that you are the last of the project's progeny. There were so many promising candidates, and yet you are the last.”
Kian opened his eyes. He was younger, and he held chains wrapped around his forearms; two wooden handles hanging from them on their ends were short, sickle-shaped blades. He walked across the sticky, red-stained floor. Another around his age was crawling amongst the corpses some missing arms some others with stab wounds, creating a trail through the crimson he walked over and placed the blade on the back of the neck before pressing it through in one movement, the blade poked out the front of the newly created corpses neck he let the blades hang limp again as he raised his hand to his face wiping the crimson spray. He looked to the ceiling of the dimly lit chamber, stained red. The smell of iron clung to him, and the room he let out a roar like a tiger's call to victory as he spun the blades around his forearms, bringing them to rest firmly clasped in his fingers. He exhaled his breath, making steam in the cold cellar. Two men with guns ran into the room and trained their guns at him. One of them shouted, “Stay back.” He stepped to the side and disappeared from their field of view. The man who shouted turned to the side as a sickle-shaped blade tore the throat out of his companion. He raised the gun as Kian reappeared and wrapped the chains around his arm, pulling the joint out of its socket, causing the man to fall backwards, dropping the gun as Kian walked closer, eyes narrowed like those of a hungry tiger.
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Kian stood in the throne room. The man sitting on the dimly lit throne said, “What a shame, perhaps this batch was weaker than the most for a housecat like you to wipe them out.” Kian buried one of the sickle-shaped blades in the man's eye, pulling it free and leaving him lying there on the ground of his own throne room.
He pushed open the wooden door. A younger Vina sat at a desk, looking over blueprints. She looked at him in shock, seeing him stained with blood. He said, “Chal dar,” and took her hand as they ran out of the room, the corpses of two guards lying at the door.
They ran to the docks and jumped inside a wooden crate filled with hay and racks of firearms.
They spent days in darkness, being shaken and moved.
Voices echoed from outside of the crate, a man's voice, “I paid up front for the weapons don't make me regret this, you know I'm in a currently advantageous position of power, as you must know it's in good favour to have friends in high places.” another voice said “Yes im aware king consort, please forgive my tardiness there was an electrical storm and we had to divert.” A crowbar dug into the corner of the crate. A man with long black braided hair and brilliant green eyes of unpolished jade opened the crate. He said as he gazed in, “Oh, some new friends.” he smiled and gave a slight wave. The man standing next to him said, " Deepest apologies, my lord, I didn't know there were stowaways. I will fetch the guards.” The man with green eyes held out a hand and said, “There's no need.” He turned to the two clutching each other tightly in the crate. “You guys have been in there for a couple of days minimum. You hungry? Thirsty?” Kian and Vina quietly shook their heads. The man with green eyes extended out a hand to them. “Well then, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. Why don't we get you guys something to eat and drink now? It looks like you've had a rough time of it.”
They followed the green-eyed man, who quietly led them to a small establishment. He sat down at a booth and gestured for both of them to sit down. A waitress with ears and patterned hair like a domestic cat came over with a smile and said, “Good morning, can I take your order?” The green-eyed man rubbed his chin and looked at the woman with a smile. “Can you bring out three coffees and maybe three glasses of water to start?” The waitress turned and said, “Certainly.” The green-eyed man looked over to them, huddled together on the booth opposite them, and said, “So, you tw,o I take it you're not from here. Tiger-likes are rare here. Do you speak my language?” The waitress brought out the beverages. Kian and Vina downed the water immediately. Vina spoke up and, in broken words, said: “Speak Aeuskaran here?” The green-eyed man nodded and said, “Yes, this is Dreynas. Aeuskaran is the language commonly spoken here.” The green-eyed man pointed to her. “Your name?” She pointed at herself and said, “My name Vina.” She pointed to Kian, “Brother mine, Kian.” The man with green eyes pointed at himself, “My name is Ryvr, nice to meet you. I also have a brother.” The man pointed at them. “Where are you from?” Vina said, “Island south, before that east.” Ryvr rubbed his chin in thought. “How old are you? I am 27,” Vina pointed at herself. “17 brother is 12.” Kian leaned over and whispered into her ear, “You send us back?” Ryvr shook his head, “No, I dislike the slave trade in the underground. You are free, do you need money?” Vina nodded and said, “Yes, need money, work?” Ryvr rested his elbows on the table. “You want to work? What can you do?” Vina pointed at herself, “Machines and fix,” she pointed to Kian and raised a finger to her throat, and dragged it across “Kill for you if need.” Ryvr leaned back in the booth. “I can work something out for you, get you Identifications, what's your last name?” Vina leaned forward, "Don't have not seen mother and man parent in a long, long time.” Ryvr leaned forward again in interest. “Ok then lets give you an inconspicuous name then, how about Rose?” Vina shook her head, “Too shiny.” Ryvr scratched his chin. “Ok then, how about Parker?” Vina shook her head up and down and pointed at herself and Kian, “I, Vina Parker, he Kian Parker.” Ryvr shook his head. “There we go, I know some people who can get you a job.” Vina pointed at herself and Kian, “You teach how to talk in Aeuskaran good like you?” Ryvr placed his hand over his chest and smiled, “I've never been one for teaching, but some of my wi-con-girl- it's complicated right now, they can help you talk like they do here.” Vina looked at him, confused. “Why help?” Ryvr smiled, “Because I am a man of the people, I fought with, slept with, and lived with the commoners of many lands. I like to stay grounded. It's too easy to lose yourself in a place of wealth and comfort.” Vina shook her head in agreement, unsure of what he meant by his statement. Ryvr took a sip from the cup of coffee. “After you eat, I will have the ship's doctor on the Skeleton Key look you both over. Aside from both of you looking a little skinny, you seem fine, though, but it's better to make sure.”
Kian awoke tied to a chair. The one-eyed man stood there in front of him, holding his silversteel sword. “Fascinating little kitten, you have let go of the way of Kusarigama for this?” Kian moved his arms to no effect and said, “Don't need them, they only resemble farming tools, their true purpose is to reap a harvest of lives.” The one-eyed man leaned over him, “Where is your sister? Her mind was more useful than her body.” Kian bit down and yelled, “fuck off.” The one-eyed man walked around the chair. “A little feisty, are we? You should be glad to see me again. I was your first home.” Kian struggled with the ropes on the chair. “You raised the boys you took in to be assassins, and you sold the girls as slaves to the highest bidder. The only thing you deserve is a spike through the neck.” The one-eyed man laughed, “You speak good Aeuskaran now, who taught you little one? Don't tell me you went to school, such a killer as yourself in a school tickles me in many ways.” Kian’s ears pulled back like an aggressive cat. “Good thing you don't have any more of your killer corps then, they weren't too content when I cut them down.” The one-eyed man laughed, “I don't need to find a new instructor for them because the perfect one just walked in my door. I just have to break you first, and then you'll be glad to help me train you, successors.” The man leaned over and caressed the side of Kian’s face with the back of his hand. “You're all alone in the world now, no one is coming to save you, and even if they were, it's not like they would stand a chance against Dirus and Michin.” Kian hissed at him, “You're dead wrong if you think someone won't come for me you're wrong. If you think your hired hands can stop them, you're dead wrong. When my friends come knocking, I'll cut your throat and place your head on a spike on the roof of the Pleasure Pit.” the one eyed man stepped backwards. “We will see who gets the last laugh. You should really prize the moments of respite you have. I imagine your throat will hurt from the screaming pretty soon.”