[Mkguild] A Cut Above The Rest

[Stealth]

Based on a paragraph in a Yule story that I wrote to fill narration.
Never thought I would turn it into a story.

A Cut Above The Rest
Copyright (c) 2009 Michael Nastov


	Mud, snow, ice, mud, ice, snow and more mud. Ugh. The entire lower
half of Stealth’s legs were entombed in mud by the time he reached the
cave, yes the cave. Things went bad for the cheetah after he reached
the first signal tower south of the keep. Once there he tried to find
a path across the Metamor River but there was no bridge in sight. The
water moved too fast for much ice to form across it’s length, not that
he’d be dumb enough to risk it anyway, so he grudgingly continued
south along the east bank until a bridge came into view.

	When he found it, he’d travelled halfway to Lorland from the signal
tower. The road across the bridge travelled to Ellingham which was one
of the markers on his rout but not the actual destination even though
there was nothing else out that way... Near the town the feline began
up a hill side in the snow, then a mountain side in a small hail storm
that pelted his armour and ringed in his ears until the path ended at
the mouth of a cave.

	Stealth kicked off as much mud as he could before peering inside. The
cave was more of a tunnel – it lead back down past an obstacle on the
exterior of the rock face and led to a small plateau overlooking
Ellingham. The cheetah walked cautiously inside. The light on either
end illuminated the passage well, reflecting off the ice covered
walls.

	While the icy walls lead the way the slippery silt under his paws
made for a dangerous path. Though he tried to use the steel claws on
his foot paws, he inevitably slipped and slid, gradually faster and
faster, down the tunnel. Somehow he made it down safe and sighed in
relief. Now he could see his destination – a house overlooking the
town, built upon a slope.

	The feline groaned under his breath and started up the slope.
Eventually he made it to the top, his legs trembling from the strain.
He’d almost reached the first wooden steps to the house when his hind
foot paws began to slide. As his torso alarmingly began to join them
the feline began to claw at the dirt and snow above, the steps slowly
getting further and further away...

	Stealth chirped in what sounded like the shrill cry of a bird as he
slid back down the slope, past countless sharp rocks. The feline was
thrashed about, taking small dents in his armour until he landed in
the soft snow at the bottom, save his head which rested on a large,
flat stone. Everything went dark.

------------------------

	“Ohhhhhhh...” The morph groaned.

	He woke on a very hard, flat surface, his head pounding. The armour
didn’t much shield his skull, it was designed to keep his body warm
and shield his torso. But the armour was gone. After many minutes of
recomposing his senses, the feline realised he was a physical hybrid
again... and completely naked.

	Opening his sore eyes, Stealth saw a ghastly sight. The first thing
to greet him was a skull. Looked to be a moose and mounted on the
wall. Next to it was a deer, this one a proper taxidermy job so it
looked like a live creature. There were other skulls like the moose
one but they couldn’t be identified. The cheetah was still shocked
that his skull looked so alien to that of a generic human one... was
there a cheetah skull on the wall? Some of them had large fangs,
others antlers and horns... one had horns AND fangs!

	“Do you like my collection?”

	The cheetah gasped in surprise and turned to his side. A bloodied
skull with horns, looking like some demon thing hovered there,
greeting him. Stealth promptly screamed.

	“Up here.”

	The feline looked up and found a large animal morphed man holding the
skull in his hands. Stealth promptly blushed and felt stupid.

	The bovine man grinned and moved the object in his hands as if it’s
jaw was moving, “This will be my latest masterpiece... you’re not such
a bad specimen yourself.”

	“Huh?” Stealth asked and flinched in pain but still aware enough to be afraid.

	“Your body, you’re not using it for anything... anything after death,
right? It would make a good anatomical reference.”

	“Ohhh.” Stealth groaned, feeling dizzy, “Who are you?”

	“Olong Obelisk, finest healer in all the lands at your service!” The
bull morph answered and placed the bloodied skull on a side table
before wiping his hooflike hands on a well worn cloth...

	“Healer? Shouldn’t I have an ice pack or something?”

	“Ice? Ice?!” The bovine asked, “Ice creates an imbalance, young one.”

	“Imbalance?” Stealth asked. He was long overdue to demand some
modesty as he was still very much naked before this man but he was too
scared and confused to care about modesty at that time.

	“Are you daft? Do you know nothing of modern medicine?” The bull
turned on his hooves and approached a bench with several jars.
“Injuries and sickness are the result of an imbalance, I am balancing
your humours to heal your head injury.” He turned around, holding a
jar full of...

	“Whoah! You’re not gonna put those on me!” Stealth said and pointed
at the leaches!

	The morph furrowed his ridges at the naked cheetah man, “Of course
not! I already applied plenty!”

	The feline turned to ice. He didn’t dare probe himself, at the same
time he desperately needed to. Despite all the voices in his head
screaming against discovering what he didn’t want to find, he stroked
his head and found a large bulbous thing lodged in the side of his
ear. Stealth looked more petrified then the dead animals lining the
walls.

------------------------

	“...Oww.” Olong groaned and rubbed his ears from the cheetah’s
terrified scream. “Well your throat is working I see.”

	Stealth breathed quickly, almost to the point of hyperventilating. He
looked and felt about, discovering a second on his scalp, a third
further back, two on his chest and one past the naval, near his groin.
He frantically pulled them off, starting with the one near his groin,
then the ones on his ears and chest. Blood streamed down his face and
body as he pulled them free with trembling hands.

	“Careful!” Olong said and recalled the discarded leeches. He put them
in another jar except one that he looked over more closely, “You
almost hurt Betsy.”

	Stealth sat up and turned to the side, his legs hanging down off the
table as he panted and forced back the vomit. “Wh... W...” He
swallowed again before trying to speak, “Why did you put leeches on
me? I haven’t been poisoned.”

	“Your head is swollen! They relieved the pressure.” He retorted and
put Betsy in the jar.

	“My navel?” The feline asked, his tongue lolling out slightly, his eyes sagged.

	“Can’t be too careful.” The bull shrugged and put the bottle back on
a shelf. “These are my latest children. I shouldn’t name them and form
an attachment because their lives are so short but I find myself doing
just that because they’re the only other living creatures here.” He
said with sorrow, “Except for my anatomy-rats.”

	“Anatomy rats?” The feline asked and tried to rub the blood off his fur.

	“The rats that I open up to see how they work... And my rabbits. And dogs.”

	Stealth’s jaw lay open, his ears flat before he stuttered, “Are they
dead before you do that?!”

	“Aye! Usually. Anyway, who are you and why did you come here?”

	“Give me some clothes.” The cheetah ordered bluntly without another word.

	Olong shrugged and threw an apron on the feline’s lap from a nearby hook.

	Stealth winced and batted the heavily blood soaked garment off his
legs, “Give me MY clothes!”

	“You don’t have any!” The healer retorted.

	“I have a backpack with my things, and where is my armour?”

	“Oh! THAT!” The bovine recalled and turned to one of the skulls
lining the wall. From the open jaw of one he removed a back pack that
had been slung over it.

	Stealth quickly opened the pack, expecting to find some nasty
surprise but everything was in order. He removed the breeches and
quickly put them on.

	“My name is Stealth, I am a courier here to deliver your Fadger... item.”

	“They built it to my specifications? And it WORKS?” The bull asked excitedly.

	Stealth removed a very large box that took up most of the space
within his pack. It took some persuasion but he eventually liberated
it from the back pack. “From what I’ve heard, it was an odd challenge
but the mechanics are the same, it just needs to be adjusted and
calibrated to what you have in mind for it...”

	The feline placed the box on the table that he’d once rested on, some
of his own blood was still visible on it’s surface. He opened the box
to reveal a big device that was obviously mechanical yet looked
nothing like what Fadger was renowned for – clocks. It’s surface
consisted of several dials and gauges. Each one had a symbol, one was
a bone, another looked like a portion of flesh.

	“I hope it’s... to your liking, what ever it is?” The cat scratched
his head fur.

	“It’s a body clock!” Olong said excitedly and began winding it, “This
dial tell you how long a meal will take to be passed, this one tells
you how much of that time the food will spend being digested.”

	“But how could you possibly know h-” The cheetah’s ears folded. Did
he really want to know what he already suspected? “Y- You do realise
it will take different lengths of time.” He said to change the subject
before the healer could answer the previous question.

	“It will and does, that is why this clock will help me make a
mathematical determination of the average time for different species,
with different diets and in different states of health.” He answered
distractedly, “At which point healers will be able to balance the
humours more accurately.”

	“Well, if everything is in order I’ll just be-”

	“Wait! You forgot the sum. I don’t fancy reprisals from axe wielding
vulpines for unpaid goods...” The bovine said and opened a door,
headed into a back room.

	Through the open door, Stealth got a whiff of the healer’s trade and
had to fight back the urge to vomit. And to think he’s a carnivore!
How could Olong possibly stand it?

	“I’m sure it’s been paid for already, mayhap you merely forgot?” The
cheetah said, weary.

	Through the open portal he saw something akin to a butcher shop, no,
butchers were tidier. What he did see made him recoil. He could see
all manner of... things. Was it his imagination or were some of the
fleshy objects... moving?

	The feline’s imagination held him firm, he didn’t even notice the
bull return and close the door behind him. Stealth received a pouch;
it was silently placed in his palm. He looked inside and found...
coins. No blood, no leeches and nothing moving save the metal sliding
about.

	“Did you change your mind about departure? I always could take on an
apprentice.” Olong mused when he saw the cat standing motionless.

	“No! No, I... where’s my suit? The thing I was wearing.” He asked,
looking around on the ground.

	The healer held up a sack with objects bulging through the sides.

	The cheetah took the sack and opened it up, rummaging through the
contents and taking stock. He suddenly froze and then reached in much
slower. He pulled out a skull and held it out to the bull.

	“Oh, I was wondering where I put that.” The bovine said and took the
item in his hoof-like hand.

	“What is it from?” Stealth asked, his curiosity getting the better of
him though he really wished to leave.

	“It’s a skull belonging to a red fox.” He answered and placed it on a
shelf, “Those silly things always end up in the strangest places and
still get into mischief.”

	In the time it took the bovine to explain, Stealth’s upper body was
almost completely armoured. He worked quickly, placing and fastening
each plate and sheet in place before removing another from the sack.
The feline soon had to drop his pants to complete his winter running
suit and this proved to be one of the rare occasions that he didn’t
concern himself with modesty.

	When his bits were bare save the light coat of sandy fur he let out a
large breath of air, relieved to find no stray leeches there.

	The cheetah stuffed the pouch and pants back into his backpack, slung
it over and finished building his suit. In no time he was at the door.
It felt surreal that for most of the time he’d been naked and still
was, however so long as merely his exterior was exposed and not his
innards he would not complain.

	“Stop.”

	The one command in an otherwise awkward silence spooked the feline,
his hand hovering over the door latch.

	“There is one more thing I need from you before you depart.” Olong
said, walking slowly toward Stealth who’s tail began swaying about.

	“You are mistaken.” Stealth stuttered.

	“This won’t take a moment.” The bull said, reaching the cat and
towering over him.

	Stealth held up a forestalling hand, “I’m not interested in taking
part in any-” He suddenly gasped as the bovine grabbed his tail!

	Olong held up the puffed up extremity. It fidgeted furiously in his
palm. The healer stroked the black fur on the tip and found what he
was looking for.

	Stealth flinched in slight pain as the bull aptly removed a bulbous
object from the tip of his tail.

	In his hooflike hand Olong held out a large, blood covered leech.
“Missed one. Don’t know how she got there.” He said, genuinely
surprised.

	“Can I go now?” The feline asked in a whisper, his eyes dilated.

	“Aye, you have nothing more I want. Be carful heading back down.” The
bull said, the leech lolling about in his palm.

	Stealth nodded stiffly and opened the door. He was gone fast, even
for a cheetah.

------------------------

	The return trip soothed his troubled mind, the crunch of snow dulled
the images and before he knew it he returned to the Keep. The cheetah
headed into Long House, somewhere in his mind feeling angry and
frustrated with Misha but he reminded himself that the fox couldn’t
have known. No one could have known – they need to see it for
themselves!

	When he heard approaching footsteps, Misha looked up from his pile of
parchment, “Stealth! I’ve got a-” The Long paused and blinked,
“Spots?”

	The vulpine’s eyes widened when he saw the vacant feline sauntering
stiffly towards him. When the cat stood before him he held out a
pouch. Misha took the pouch that was mechanically handed out and
looked into the feline’s eyes for a sign of life.

	“Spots? Are you alright?”

	“I am fine.” The cheetah said softly. He rubbed a sore spot near his
ear, “My... humours are in balance.”

	“Huh?”

	“I went to the house, through the hail and snow and the cave up the
hill.” He swallowed before continuing, “I saw things.”

	“Things?” Misha asked, slightly alarmed, “Well, go take a hot bath
and don’t worry about it.” The fox opened up the pouch and counted
it’s contents, “Did he like it?”

	“He did. I’m tired, I’ll see you later.” Stealth said brusquely and
turned to leave.

	“Wait! Just to let you know, you’re invited to my Yule eve party,
it’s on the 23rd at-”

	“Yeah, great, thanks.” The feline interrupted without bothering to turn back.

	Misha ear drooped, “Hmmm, what’s his problem?” He whispered to himself.

	Stealth didn’t even wait for the fox to give him his pay. Misha
shrugged, he was far too busy with Long business among several other
things to chase up the feline but he’d need to make time later,
perhaps a chat over a muffin or two.


A Cut Above The Rest
Copyright (c) 2009 Michael Nastov