A hornet in the honey (closed to nekoprincess)

For the Brotherhood In Whitevale, life rarely moved at a slow and steady pace. Usually the world changed abruptly and at a moment's notice, something Shinsou Vaan Osiris had come to terms with and long since drilled into his men. He would often remind them that a singular event could set the tone for something much more catastrophic and protracted, and to always be prepared for that individual moment. "Imagine the unimaginable" and "think the unthinkable" were often used slogans in his pep talks, and although they may have seemed like cheesy generalisations for the dangers of life in the Brotherhood's ranks, they were on point.

After all, in a world like Althanas where the skies could split and the earth could shake for almost no reason at all, at any given moment, the "unthinkable" was simply par for the course.

Today, the unthinkable became reality. A hornet was trying to break into the hive to steal the honey.

Shinsou, dressed in his Executor's armor and flanked by his pike-wielding honor guard, entered the Whitevale vault's chambers with a dull irritance glazing over him. A flight of stairs led down beyond the archives to the main holding area for magical artefacts, and as he made his way to the bottom level with hurried clicks of his heels, a tremor struck. The Telgradian and his men lurched, crashing into the hard oak wall that lined the stairwell itself, and a mighty series of groans came from them as the trio landed hard at the bottom of the narrow case. One could understand the unfortunate inevitability of earthquakes if one lived near a major fault line, but Corone was far from any such geological features and in this knowledge, Shinsou realised there could only be a limited number of explanations. Pulling himself up by tugging hard at the hip-height handrail, the Telgradian swore under his breath.

The bastard's using geomancery! I'll suck his eyes out through his nose when I get hold of the little...

As the group reached the final level of the heavily armored bunker, the most secure and possibly the most dangerous level, Shinsou was greeted with a disconcerting realization; this was no simple geomancer. An awful howling wind that bit at his face and whistled by with a harrowing shriek erupted from the jagged maw in front of him where an armor plated door used to be. His thoughts scrambled briefly, trying to figure who could have the power to slip into his compound completely un-noticed and do this, and what they were after. There was no time to reach a conclusion as the wind magnified significantly. A thundering crack, and whipping sounds cut through the corridor as Shinsou's honor guard flipped violently across the hardwood planks.

The Telgradian was frantic, and working with a furious intensity just to stay on his feet.

Something was terribly amiss, and Shinsou peered to the front of the large chamber through a wind-strained squint. Someone had breached the final vault. the fissure leading up to it, the one that had probably set off that earlier tremor, was enormous; an awful thing, larger and more ferocious than any earth magic Shinsou had laid eyes on.

That wasn't what bothered him the most, though.

The breached vault that lay ahead had contained an orb; a powerful relic that was so secret only Shinsou and a handpicked few knew of its existence. The fear now was that this artefact was loose in the public domain, but also that someone outside of his closely knit circle had a working knowledge of the Whitevale intestines and someone he trusted had betrayed Shinsou and the Brotherhood.

Things quickly dove from bad to worse as the wind died down and the Telgradian was able to proceed into the looted chamber. From ahead, he caught the sight of another hatch; a crudely constructed tunnel that seemed older than the one carving through the vault ceiling. Within it, a hooded man scrambled into the darkness. His massive head lurched low, disappearing beneath the sight of dirt ceiling of the tunnel. Shinsou sped forward from the main entrance, an ungainly, massive archway that looped high into the room, and drew Shira.

No way do you live...

Suddenly, Shinsou was struck by a second tremor, easily yielding to the tremendous momentum of the fissure that snaked from the escape tunnel. The resultant crash was thunderous; and the helpless trio watched as several pieces of the vault ceiling crashed to the floor, sealing the escape route and cutting the man off from Shinsou's retribution. He stood, hand clasped around the hilt of his sword, eyes widened, and threw the blade in fury at the side of the chamber.

"Get up top and find that little shit. I want him stood before me before the sun sets!"

The marketplace was bustling, merchants were calling out their wares for sale, an almost inexplicable cheer was in the air as a cloaked cat-girl and a smaller kitty girl were making their way through the stocked market stalls. The little one was scampering from store to store shouting "Mommy can we get this?" her little tail was wagging happily, as Mylie's curiosity was at its peak.

Right at this moment the kitten was happily rummaging through toys in a beautiful stall, where stuffed animals were piled sky high on the rickety wooden shelves. Dream catchers were hanging blowing breezily in a light breeze. The colors of the feathers sparkling like gems in the bright Corone sun. Little plastic statues of unicorns, and Pegasuses and dragons also adorned the shelves of the toy stall. The merchandise just begging to be bought by Mylie's hopefully generous mother.

Rainee on the other hand was cautious, her soft hands clutching the hem of her cloak as her keen silver eyes were scanning her surroundings. Ever since her encounter with the demon Belial her heart had changed. Ever since Kedx had used her and abused her as a trophy wife the cat-girl was not the same light hearted person, her hands tightened on the hem of her cloak as she whispered "Honey can you hurry up and pick something? We have to get going home!"

Mylie's little tail curled in on itself as she said unhappily "Moody mommy! More moody then before!" the little kitten's eyes fell on a stuffed unicorn, her eyes lighting up as she murmurs "I guess the unicorn mommy!"

"Good girl." Rainee said proudly, urgency was in her heart as she no longer liked being out on the streets, she was always worried something would happen to her or her daughter. Even though the marketplace seemed peaceful at the moment, customer's happily chatting with merchants they knew. But the cat-girl preferred to be in the safety of Grace manor, even with the hell from Belial that happened there.

"So your little girl wants the unicorn miss? I can wrap it up nicely for you!" The merchant said happily, he was a small man with bright brown eyes and long brown hair that he had in a ponytail. His smile was bright as he said to her daughter "Little one, you'll love that toy, it's so soft you'll be able to sleep with it!"

Mylie's tail wagged happily as she was already hugging the large plush toy that was too big for her little hands. Trying to bring it forward she tripped toy and all and went tumbling forward crashing into a man that was hurrying through the streets, something clutched in his hands.

The little kitten was picking herself up, as her toy had tumbled from her hands, running to pick it up, Mylie would have done so if a bright flash didn't catch her eye. Something shiny was winking at the little girl from where the unicorn's had tumbled onto the cobblestone street. Mylie should've known better then to pick up the orb, but her curiosity got the better of her. The demeanor of the little kitten changed the minute that her hands touched the relic, she became possessive holding it close to her and staring at it.

Danger signs went off right away for the worried cat-mother, a hiss escaped her lips as she murmured to the shop-keep "Sorry about this, I have to get my daughter and leave, here...." she stuffed gold coins, probably more then the plush unicorn was worth into the stunned merchant's hands as he stammered "But...miss! I need to wrap the unicorn so it doesn't get dirty!"

"Don't bother, the toy will be fine!" Rainee shouted softly, her tail being revealed from beneath her cloak as her hands went for her bow and arrows. Knowing this wasn't the best choice she aimed an arrow at the hooded man hissing "Who are you and what is that orb?"

The man simply let out a laugh as he stalked swiftly towards Mylie and snatched the dazed kitten up saying jovially "Ah if you only knew, it seems your little one is quite interested in it though! Maybe I can use her to discover this orbs magic?" A dark laugh escaped from the hooded man's lips as he gathered Rainee's dazed daughter in his arms and cooed "Let's go play little one! Don't you want to see what treasures this orb hides?"

Mylie's voice was inaudible as she answered meekly "Yes, that sounds like fun!"

The cat-mother knew when her daughter was under a spell by now as she hissed furiously "Damn it no games! You just die!" She let an arrow fly at the man, knowing full well she was in view of Corone's marketplace but this time not giving a damn as she thought Not again! Hell no! My daughter is not going to fall victim to some orb's magic! Possibly a demon! I won't let that happen this time!

The man meanwhile sprinted off heading into the next alley nearby Corone's merchant stalls. The arrow, the cat-mother had shot embedded itself in a straw roof of one of the merchant stalls, as everyone in the marketplace was staring at Rainee as if she was a beast gone mad. The hustle and bustle of the busy shop street had stalled to a quiet halt, everyone staring at the cat-girl as she fitted another arrow into her bow, preparing to chase the man who had made off with her poor, dazed daughter.

Shinsou had found he was always never far from trouble in Corone. The scent of it was always there, a powerful, salty whiff that incensed the nostrils and inflamed the senses.

It was a hazard of the job.

The hunt for the thief that had somehow breached his Whitevale compound had taken him to a small house on the coast's southern side. When the Telgradian's hunting party had arrived, the wind was high and blowing from the south. Waves shattered on the rock wall of the cliff face and spray rattled over the debris of the weathered heights. Other than the rolling ocean's wrath upon the shore, though, the Brotherhood party were alone. Whoever had lived there before had wisely abandoned the residence days before Osiris's arrival.

As Shinsou peered out of the rickety wooden shutters protecting the now-defunct safehouse windows, his eyes veering across the rugged cliff edges not so far away, he was reminded fleetingly of his homeland. How after the Telgradian civil war, storms had battered the port of Mythandria for a week and the winds that had carried the sea spray to the harbour tore down scaffolding about the buildings under repair. Waves had besieged the docks and the scattered timber debris of sunken ships had clattered on the stones. Then, the corpses came, the horrible rotting stench of flesh hanging over the port for weeks afterwards.

Another storm beat at the cliffs tonight, and monstrous waves shattered white against the jagged walls. In the dark, the watching Telgradian could see the explosions of foam from the breaking tides and they reminded him of the magic used to breach his vault. He could see each and every detail of the spell his quarry had cast into scores of rooms on that level in his mind. Shinsou had watched the earth tear open indiscriminately in front of him and was wracking his brains to put a name or a face to the specific skillset to no avail. Since arriving on Althanas, Shinsou had fought bandits, teamed with rogues and worked for any bastard who would pay him enough gold to do their dirty work just to get by. By now he had met all the important players in the Althanian circle of life; some of them friends, most of them to be decided, but none bore the hallmarks of his target.

That was the crux of the matter now. Shinsou knew that the item that was stolen bore consequences much bigger than a petty squabble over territory, sovereignty or power. The Telgradian didn’t expect anyone to understand until it was already too late, and that was why he had to get that orb back before anyone figured out what it was.

That was his true mission.

As with the uncertainty of the future with that relic out in the public domain, there was the same uncertainty again about the violence of this storm. Just when he thought the waves had done their worst, another two or three would explode in sudden bursts, the white water would bloom above the wall like smoke from a tar fire, and the spray would be driven by the wind to spatter against the cliffs like grapeshot.

“Any ideas?”

Shinsou's protege, a man lovingly named Soap, ran a hand through his wiry brown hair, looked out of the window and then back to a gazing Shinsou.

“We'll find the bastard, don't you worry,” The Telgradian replied with a wry smile. "The Immortals already have their snouts to the ground."

The Brotherhood agent nodded. He and the Telgradian had been partners for a long time and Soap knew precisely what Shinsou meant.

"Then we won't have to wait long; our little friend will be nothing more than ash come the dawn."

With one final glance out to sea from the comfort of the Brotherhood safehouse, Shinsou carefully closed and bolted the shutters, securing the ropes that held them to in order to prevent the harsh winds from tearing at them. Soap flicked a cigarette into the roaring fire beside them.

"We should probably ramp up security at Whitevale. You know, install a few baby-gates or something, and some gentle interrogation of the rank and file."

Shinsou, his hands gently stripping the hilt of his sword Shira, pretended not to hear the remark. He knew what it meant but the subject was a dangerous one. This wasn't as much about security as it was betrayal. Shinsou, along with Soap, had different ideas about what was needed from his men. To speak of it, though, invited trouble.

“They’ll be dealt with in time.”

The door of the ruined cottage slammed open and a giant of a man stepped into the room. He looked, and dressed, like a naval officer, despite Shinsou recognising him as being an envoy of the Immortals; the Brotherhood's most elite unit. The man grinned as he took off his cocked hat and nodded at Shinsou, ignoring Soap’s dark glare. "The warrior returns to Corone. How's the day, old boy?"

“I'm pissed off, Harore. What brings you here?”

Soap collected his coat as if he was about to leave but the envoy held up his hand. "Stay, Soap. I have a treat for you; one that even a heathen like you might enjoy." He took a dark bottle out of his sack and raised an eyebrow to Shinsou. "You don't mind?"

The Telgradian shook his head. Harore set the bottle on the table and pulled the cork.

"You lost Arius's Crucible, I believe?" asked Harore.

"You know we did. Get to the point."

"That's very interesting," Harore’s hazel eyes lit up, his lips parting to take a gulp of the murky liquid in the bottle, "How did someone get so deep into the compound?"

"We're still trying to figure that out, but it had to be an inside job." Shinsou gulped down a vast quantity of the pungent drink before passing it to Soap, who snatched it away and supped. "Any news?"

Harore said nothing, pausing in his careful pouring of the Tokay wine. "You are right, and that’s why I’m here. I have information for you." Harore's eyes twinkled. "You'd better get yourself to Radasanth. A man matching the description you gave was seen in the markets with the Crucible. Seems a little girl got her hands on it and now him, the orb and her missing."

Shinsou put his head in his hands.

"Oh, that's just fucking great. Come on Soap, let's go and untangle this omnishambles once and for all."

"Who is that woman? She's cloaked, could she be trouble?" A brown haired lass spoke to the woman she was shopping with, her bright green eyes wide as she stared at the anger cat-girl. The basket in her hand was filled with an assortment of wildflowers, and a pint of strawberries and some freshly made lemonade that she had bought from the cart that she was standing in front of. Her friend eyed the anthro intently, watching the way the white tailed cat-girl had eyes only for where an equally mysterious man had disappeared. This woman had bright ginger hair and merry blue eyes, her basket was filled with apples and oranges and a bouquet lilies that she was going to bring home with her. Looking at her friend she whispers back "I think I commotion happened with that poor woman. Something to do with that hooded man, I saw him grab a little cat-child and a mysterious orb. Perhaps that's the child's mother?" her friend nodded murmuring "Perhaps, I feel sorry for the poor woman, she looks like she's been down on her luck lately."

Even though Rainee was notching another arrow to her bow, she could hear soft talk in the marketplace around her, especially the conversation the two curious females were having. Her white ears twitched slightly as she thought You ladies have no idea of the hardships my life has been. A husband who turned out to be an enarlin mage, who dragged me to hell to try to kill me to free himself. My poor parents, lost, unsure in their ways; still stuck in hell. A selfless brother, who is so courageous he'd give his life for me.... Rainee meowed softly, her tail twitching as her thoughts continued and now Omarion is an angel because of his virtuous ways. Still covering her head with the hood of her cloak, the cat-mother begin to manuever her way past the silent onlookers.

She could smell the man with her keen senses, the stench of sulfur seemed to invade her nostrils, causing her nose to wrinkle in disgust. Somehow she was almost positive this being was not human, simply from the merry way he spoke to her as he snatched up her little Mylie and ran off with her. She could also see from the pristine look of the cobblestone alleyway, that her little kitten was not putting up a fight at all. Which meant two things for the cute little feline-mother. One was that the orb was defnitely magical trouble; and two that her daughter once more had put her mother between a rock and a hard place.

"DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!" Rainee screamed into the quiet alleyway, the scents were too much for her, as both sorrow and anger filled her heart. The marketplace scents of meats, fresh vegetables, flowers and jams and honey were too much for the distraught antrho. Her tail begin to twitch like a metronome as she gave into her animal instincts to try to follow the mysterious man by his scent alone.

She had no other choice, she recognized the scent of fire and hell, she had been there had survived and she knew by now the denizens of that heated place for the damned. Her run in with Belial had taught to be cautious but also had shown her that illusions were real, that she had to be strong no matter what. That softness was not always the answer, as her booted feet clicked against stone as she walked. She begin to scream out loudly "MYLIE HONEY! IT'S MOMMY! YOUR UNDER ANOTHER SPELL! ANSWER ME SWEETIE! LET ME KNOW YOUR OK! AND MOST IMPORTANTLY WHERE YOU ARE!"

Rainee waited a few more minutes, before she let out a growl of frustration upon receiving no response from her precious angel. Looking around the narrow alleyway, the cat-mother's mind screamed JUST WHERE DID THAT BASTARD RUN OFF TO WITH MY BABY? her lithe body was taut, poised the arrow notched to her bow, ready to fire away at anything that came into the agitated cat-girl's line of vision.