The World of Enivid; The Story of the Forgotten

Disclaimer: Everything written in here is of my creation, including all characters and locations. I would not like it if people used my ideas without my knowing.

A/N: Well, took me long enough. ROFL Didn't expect to have to change so much. I'm pretty damn happy about how this edit turned out, though. It should read a lot better than how it was before.

Chapter 1
Night Hunting, Minerva's Introduction

The bitter cold of night is usually a time of theft and danger within the city limits of Sal, the costal trade city of Enivid, with the most active harbor of all the cities on the continent. Even though the moon hung high in the sky, shining down it’s paled luminescence onto the earth, it still doesn’t deter the thieves from their nightly pillage through the houses they keep information on. The city guards constantly patrol the city, having thousands of men and women of all ages and races walking through the streets to make sure that everything is safe. Dark alleys are where they tend to keep a good portion of their sentries at to keep watch of anything abnormal moving though the allies during the night. And because of the sentry's posts in such places, this had given the thieves more opportunity to become stealthier and discover secret areas that might have not been known before as the city is far older than most citizens tend to think.

Movement was seen within a dark alleyway, shielded from the light of the moon from the tall buildings that stood like sentinels in the city. A human-like being started moving, dissembled with a black cloak, a hood over this person’s head to shield his identity. The person started to move, quite casually, through the darkness, seemingly knowing exactly where to go. After moving out of the dark ally-ways and onto one of the main streets that ran through Sal, the person's hood moved to the left, then to the right, checking to see if any guards were patrolling the street. Finding none, the body moved out into the dimly lit street, its soft leather boots patting almost inaudibly as the mass moved from one side of the street to the other, almost in the flash of a light. Something was not quite right about the person's movements. They were definitely not human.

After crossing the street and running into another hidden ally, the person decided it was time to remove the hood, pulling it back to reveal a somewhat handsome young face with pointed ears. It was a male halfling. He looked around the alley and proceeded as he was towards his next target. The halfling was cautious because this area of the city usually had the most guards. Mansions were abound here, with large courtyards and extremely tall gates to help deter thieves from entering forcefully. Well, it seemed to this little halfling that the guarding and security that they had didn’t deter him one bit. As a matter of fact, the look of joy and wonder was written all over his face, like a child in a candy store with an unlimited budget to spend.

Putting his head out very slowly, he spotted two guards standing in front of a twelve-foot metal and wooden gate, both wielding Halberds. They looked fairly tired, so they must have been standing there for hours, at the very least, the thief concluded silently in his mind. Seeing this as an opportunity to be able to scale that gate with one leap, the little halfling pulled out a crescent-shaped dagger from underneath the cloak and dashed out of the alley at lightning quick speed, slashing the throats of the guards before they were even able to notice their surroundings. Both bodies were caught by the little man, making sure that they didn’t make any noise that would disturb or alarm anyone. He placed both of them gently on the ground. Watching for a second to see blood flowing freely on the cobblestone street, he nodded his head once, wanting to make sure that they were dead. Jumping back some, the little person started at a run and jumped into the air, easily landing on the top of the gate. He looked down to see what was below him.

He was surprised by the site that he saw.

Standing directly below him was two more guards, sleeping. They were leaning back on the door, snoring quite loudly. The halfling shook to the sides, shaking his head in exasperation. Who would have thought that the guards inside the gate would have been sleeping? And there were none elsewhere within the courtyard vicinity. Jumping down from the gate, he landed on the ground silently, making sure he recoiled the shock quite well into his body. Once down there, he looked over at the guards sleeping while standing up and let out a nearly silent sigh, obviously disappointed that they were asleep. He really wanted more of a challenge when it came to robbing this place.

Shrugging his shoulders in an 'oh well' manner, he quickly moved through the courtyard, hiding behind the abundant fauna and some fountains that were scattered about on the very green and fertile land. Running through the grass, he checked to make sure that no one was around. There was nobody.

A small smile crept up on his face. Nodding his head once, he began his search into this large mansion, also planning possible escape routes and reiterating other escape plans he made while staking the house out. All thieves had to make sure they got out safely. Before anything else, the escape plan was the most important. To be a thief is to be free. Even if they were not able to get the job done, at least they would have another day to try again. The norm in Sal was the death sentence of thieves that were caught red-handed. So, needless to say, the halfling wanted to make sure he had gotten a clean escape planned from this house if anything went wrong.

Looking around, he managed to spot a small ledge on the second floor of the house in the backyard. A devilish smile crept onto his face as he sprinted and jumped up onto the ledge with a silent thud. Looking up to see if anything was around, he only spotted a small child, barely looked over fourteen, curled within a few covers in one of the corners of the room. Glancing around a little more, not thinking of the child at all, the halfling noticed that this was the storage area. His face paled a little bit, a grave look in his eyes. Something didn't feel right, he was thinking as a shudder went down his back. Quickly looking around, he hid behind a box and found the door that lead out of the room within a few arms' length to his left. Getting to the door, he quickly opened it up, thanking Mistress Luck that the hinges didn’t squeak and were well-oiled. Closing the door behind him, he saw that this area of the manor was quite . . . shoddy to say the best. The stone walls were starting to crack and mold was abundant in the cracks near the very tall ceiling. It was a long hallway with one other door at the other end. Now the halfling was starting to get really nervous. He had never seen any mansion set up like this in all the years he had been plundering.

Running through the hallway literally as fast as he could, he stopped at the door at the other end, opening it up only marginally, checking to see if there was anything behind it. There was; a sentry was standing there, this time with a sword in his right hand and a shield on his left arm. But this one didn’t wear a helmet either. Quickly opening the door, he grabbed the man’s mouth and pulled him into the hallway, closing the door in one swift motion. Pulling out his abhorrent dagger from the folds of his cloak, he quickly did the job of cleanly slicing the throat of the man, killing him instantly. He pulled the man to the side, placing him behind the door so that no one would be able to see him lying there. Since the hallway was about ten feet wide and the door only about four, he had plenty of room for it. Pulling out a piece of cloth, he wiped up most of the blood off of the dagger and the ground and placed it on the gaping wound of the now dead man, wanting to make sure that he didn’t leave a large pool of blood for anyone to see from behind the door.

Once he finished his small clean up, the halfling opened the door again and looked about to check and see if the coast was clear. Confirming that it was empty, he quickly moved into the main hall of the building and was stunned by what he saw. Jewelry, expensive elvish pottery, orcen metals refined into very elaborate weapons and armor, and so much more littered the walls and pedestals of this grand hall. With gleaming eyes, he managed to pull out a large black cloth bag from under his cloak and started to go for the small and easy stuff; the jewelry. Candlelight helped to see in the manor as the thief walked up to a case that was off to the side and a little out of the way, opening it up and savored the sight of such beautiful and fine metal-works. Placing everything in the bag gently, he checked to make sure that there were no guards where he went and had a ball gathering up all of the small necklaces filled with beautifully crafted diamonds that originated from the Mountains of Chaos Those types of diamons were the rarest and most expensive kind there were in Enivid.

Emeralds, Sapphires, Rubies, Orcen Opals, Onyxs; all types of gemstones were gathered all over the place. The thief was having a grand old time gathering everything up into his large black bag. Once he decided that he had enough small stuff, he moved about in the house a little more only to find his way to the main threshold of the Mistress of the house, Miss Roselily. Warning signals went off in the halfling's mind again at how unusual this situation was. Most of that caution flew out window when he pushed open the door. It was like a gateway into a world of fantasy. He knew he had hit the jackpot. There was not a single piece of cloth, not a single piece of metal or stone or piece of wood that was in there that was ordinary. The man had to cover his mouth to stifle his gasp that he had managed to croak in his utter amazement, almost forgetting where he was.

Once he got himself under control again, he went to work in pilfering the Lady’s room, glad that he was able to find such an able target house. This was turning into the easiest job he had ever done. Once he was finished within the Lady's room, he left and started to poke about the mansion more, his bag only a little more than half full. An ominous chuckle escaped his lips as he opened yet another door to find the room of the daughter of the lady of the manor. A sudden idea started to coalesce in his mind. Kidnaping. Ransom. Even more money. The thief completely didn't realize the small person that was standing right behind him. The large cat ears bespoke of a cat anthro-human, and what was written on the young person's face was something short of malignment. The piercing blue glare of the kid could have kill a man if he looked them straight in the eye and his face was contorted in fury as the thief started to murmur under his breath about what he was going to do.

“First, I’ll gag the kid until she is unconscious, throw her into the bag and get out of here, leaving a note for a ransom! Ah! This is just too perfect! So much money from such an easy target.” The man let out a small giggle, making sure to keep himself as silent as possible in his heightened excitement. He didn’t even know that there was anyone behind him.

The small kid wanted to surprise this thief really well, mimicking the steps that the halfling took, making sure that his footsteps were not heard whenever he walked with the man. Setting the bag down beside the bed of little Rosalyn, it opened up somewhat, revealing to the anthro kid under the moonlight all the jewelry he noticed were missing. For a second, he was entranced by the shimmering that they shining jewelry did, but peeled his eyes away from it, focusing on the uninvited and unwanted guest of the manor.

The man was about to grab Rosalyn before his feet were tripped from under him and a roundhouse kick met with his side. The child managed to keep his strength under control and didn’t send the man flying into the wall. He didn’t want to wake up the beautiful Rosalyn and so decided to keep the noise to a minimum. The thief, knowing the same thing, didn’t make a sound as he was hit. Pain was written all over the thief's face as he clutched his side. Jumping over the child, the man sporadically looked around, very much disturbed by the sudden attack from a child that nearly crushed his ribs. How was the kid able to get behind him so quietly? Something like this never happened to the thief before. The halfling immediately dived for the door to the outside balcony, only to be stopped by a pull on his left leg, tugging him while in the air, and falling to the floor with a thud. This disturbed Rosalyn only nominally, shifting around under her covers before going back to sleep again.

Both fighters didn’t realize they were holding their breaths and had let it out very slowly, giving each other a glaring look. This went on for a few seconds before the thief went berserk and jumped over the child anthro, grabbing for the bag and tried to dash out the open door. He was successful in doing so, but he still had the small kid running after him from behind, the piercing blue eyes looking like they could tear his body to shreads. This started to shake him up even more. “What the hell is a kid like that doing with eyes like those!” He murmured under his breath again, visibly scared by what he had seen within the eyes of the child. Anguish, torture, hopelessness, willingness to serve, obedient, ready to kill at a whim, ready to die for whatever cause. He had never seen eyes like that on an adult human, let alone a child. He knew that if he didn’t get out of the manor fast, he was as good as dead with the adamant look that the child gave him. Just thinking about that again gave him the shivers.

Quickly tracing his steps back to the grand hall, he jumped down from the second floor and landed on the ground floor, noticing that there were four guards sleeping not even ten feet behind him. Shocked, he went for the main door and opened it up, looking behind him to see the cat anthro running just as fast as he was, jumping in the same manner, and landed on the ground without a sound, not even reacting to the recoil of the hit. Running outside and into the courtyard, the halfling was completely terrified now. “Now I know why this place was shunned by most thieves, though it looks like it is a very easy target.” He spoke to himself now, not caring if he was heard or not. He was seen anyway, so what difference did it make?

Just as the thief was able to get to the gate, ready to pounce out of there, the small kid made his move and dashed at the man, punching him in the back with his right fist, then nailing him again with a left hook to the back of the head, and finally jumping up and doing a backflip and kicking the man up into the air; all done in such quick and complete succession it almost seemed like one move. The movements were lightning fast, sending the thief into the air about ten feet before landing on the ground with a loud thud, waking up the two guards that were standing to each side of the gate. What they saw was a complete surprise. The man was actually crawling up to them begging them to take him in. “Take me away! By the Gods, take me the fuck away!!! That kid isn’t human!” There were anguish and fear written all in his voice.

The two guards looked over to see Minerva standing there with a wry smile on his face, something that he always seemed to have, even when being punished. Shivering a little, the two guards then started to laugh, picking up the man and opening the gate to send them to the guard. One of them spoke in a harsh, manly voice. “Of course he isn’t human. He is a cat anthro.” Then the two of them laughed as they dragged the screaming thief away. When they noticed that their two comrades who were standing guard outside were dead, the same guard gave the thief a glare, asking a question. “How many?” There were anger and sadness in his voice.

The thief visibly paled, even more pale than the moon. “Three. There is one more inside that I got whenever I entered through the storage room where a kid . . . was . . . there . . . NOOO!” The thief started to writhe in fury, being dragged away by the two guards. “I can’t believe that is the same kid! No way!! This can’t be happening. The Great Najra was outdone by a kid!” He screamed to himself before being knocked out by the fist of Minerva, the same kid that was sleeping, supposedly, under the covers in the storage room. The same wry smile was across his visage.

The guards looked at Minerva, giving him a thumbs-up. “It looks like we deceived him well. Though, I am sad that we lost men in the process. I didn’t think Najra would act that rashly.” The man sighed before continuing. “Thank you very much Minerva. We probably would not have gotten him like we did without you. For a servant, you really are helpful.” He gave the kid a really warm smile and in response, the kid gave him back the same type of smile; a real heart-warming smile. Nodding once, the guard left before murmuring something under his breath. “I didn’t think the kid could smile like that . . . ” He left it at that before continuing, leaving Minerva out all alone in the city street, looking at the fallen men that were outside the gate; a truly grave face as he closed the eyes of the guards, since they were killed so quickly they didn’t even have time to react in the manner to close their eyes. “Farewell, Tarvoi and Ulelsulsa. You will not be forgotten in your work.” Minerva’s voice was very much calm and sounded just like a small child’s, though with very mature words as that, it sounded very strange coming from someone so small.

Walking through the threshold of the gate, he met up with the four men that were supposedly 'sleeping' in the great hall. The one with a red cape, signifying that he was the squad captain, called out for the kid. “Hey! Did we get him?” Minerva nodded his head once, giving them a small smile. They all rejoiced silently as the three men went to work to give the two dead sentries a proper burial. The red-capped man pat Minerva on his left shoulder, keeping it there. “You did really well. Sad to see that Najra was like that, killing my men without a second whim. You should get back to sleep. We will do the rest in getting everything back where it was before.” With a silent nod, the kid walked off to the large gates, with the captain, named Tor, looked at the kid. ‘What a kid. Nineteen years old already, yet he still looks so young. And them piercing eyes . . . ’ He shivered. ‘Creepy to say the least. You only find them kind of eyes on a true warrior; someone who is not afraid to die for what he believes in. He will have a long and great future ahead of him.’ He thought before turning to his men, helping them out, turning his back on Minerva as he entered the house and went back to his normal spot to sleep again: the corner in the storage room.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Minerva woke up the next morning to see Rosalyn standing right before him, bending down and staring at him while he was asleep. There was a flush on her face whenever he opened his deep sea blue eyes to meet her beautiful brown ones. He didn’t even notice the fact that she was wearing her short pleated skirt, showing him her bright white panties almost willingly. But he did notice that she was red in the face and her hand was outstretched, ready to touch his ears in her usual manner whenever she would praise him for doing something right. Minerva was really, really sensitive on his cat ears, nearly purring into the hands that rubbed them. Bring her hand down, she started to scratch his left ear, making the kid gasp for air as he started to purr like a cat, melting under the hand of Rosalyn. “I heard that you had caught the 'Great' Najra early this morning. I’m so proud of you, looking out for me like you did whenever he was whispering about kidnapping me. At first I was scared, but then I saw you and my fears melted away. I knew you could get him.”

This time it was Minerva’s turn to blush, though it was very faint. He was never meant to show many emotions whenever around Rosalyn and Lady Roselily. That was part of him being a servant to the Roselily house. “You mean . . . you were up the whole . . . time?” He sounded surprised, still gasping while she scratched his ears more, using both of her hands now.

Rosalyn nodded her head. “Was up the whole time. I noticed that my door was open, and saw that thief that I heard from Tor while he was briefing the soldiers on their plans. And I also saw how you looked whenever you came in. With those . . . piercing eyes . . . ” Her voice kind of trailed off, a deep red blush coming across her face now. Whenever Minerva looked up at her in a quizzical manner, she became a little startled, clearing her throat. “Anyway, I saw everything. I’m so proud that you will keep me safe no matter what.”

Minerva smiled gently, purring more as she started to rub his ears more. “It is my duty as a drudge and servant to keep the Lady and her daughter safe at any cost. If it wasn’t for the Lady, I would not be living now. I’m supposed to do as I’m told, and she told me to keep a close eye out on you and her.” His voice sounded very much childish, but Rosalyn didn’t care at all. That just made her heart melt for him all the more.

After a little bit, Rosalyn stopped scratching Minerva’s ears and actually gave him a hug, picking up his lithe, hard body into her arms and holding his sexy chest to her. He was easily able to feel the mounds of flesh from underneath their shirts, making him flush just a little bit. After a few seconds of her hugging him, she let go, watching as he kinda fell down into a pile of limp flesh and meat, red in the face from such contact with the daughter of the Lady. Rosalyn giggled. “You are really funny Minerva!” Then she gave him a wink and turned to leave, telling him something before she closed the storage room door behind her. “Today, after breakfast, I want you to train me more in fighting again. After seeing you move like that in my room . . . ” She flushed again. “...and seeing you perform one of your Earth-shattering Fist combos on Najra outside in the courtyard, I wanted to learn even more about it. Not just the basics again.”

Before Minerva was even able to retort, Rosalyn had turned and closed the door behind her. With a sigh and a shrug, he nodded his head. “Looks like I have no choice now. I wanted to avoid teaching her combinations, but I guess it will be better in the end anyway. At least this helps her learn and exercise her body. Lady Roselily was worried that her Rosalyn was going to become one of the more . . . homely daughters like he had seen with some of the other rich families that she gets together with. “Ah well. Looks like I got a busy day ahead of me.” He got up and brushed off his dirty clothing, glancing out at the large open double doors leading to the balcony outside. “It looks like our plan to get Najra actually worked. And it seems that he fell right into our hands by seeing all the right signs for a good house to rob. I just didn’t think that we would lose men over it. They were good friends too . . . ” A single tear fell from his eye before shaking his head and jumping outside, keeping his face from showing too much emotion. He needed to prepare the backyard grounds for his training session for Rosalyn.