[Mkguild] A Life Under the Moon I

[Jack Moore]

AN: Alright I finished Trust so it's on to Janelle's next story, this one
written in a fever state in about four days. Thank you Matthias for letting
me use Gregor. As to everyone else please read, review and give thoughts.

A Life Under the Moon - I
It was the twenty-eight of March, two days after I had first seen that bull
in the Town Square. I made a point to hit there on my patrol again the next
day and the day after. I had hit it in the afternoon the day before and the
morning today.
Yesterday had been a dead end, despite patrolling the same area for the
whole of the afternoon. The bull simply didn't show up again and I spent a
fruitless patrol walking around the safest part of Keeptown. So I responded
by going on a fruitless morning patrol between the main and market squares,
this time bringing Remmie with me.
The day was cloudy and cool, rain could come but it had yet to do so. I
don't mind the rain in the summer but any other time it is unbearable. I
glanced up at the rumbling clouds with growing dread.
"I like days like this." Remmie said, "The rain keeps the crooks inside. No
crime, easy time. And it's fun to get some fresh air."
"If you want fresh air you can join the Long Scouts." I said, scanning
faces as we walked. Humans and animals walked and crisscrossed in front of
each other but none were the animal I was looking for.
"I'm no good with a bow." Remmie said, "I'd not be a good scout, I like
being a Warden." I nodded, but inside I smiled at this. "Who are you
looking for Janie?"
"Corporal, remember that, Remmie, while we are on duty." I said. "When did
you realize I was looking for someone?"
"This is the third time you've worked the main square in three days so I
was kinda curious." Remmie grinned, "Who? A guy? Someone you found sexy?" I
rolled my eyes.
"I wouldn't waste the time of the Watch on something I could do in my free
time." Remmie shrugged.
"You got the power, I'd use it."
"I know." This was Remmie, everything about her in a single conversation.
Her ability to observe surprised me and her willingness to abuse her
position as a Warden frustrated me.
'She will make a very good Warden eventually.' I watched Remmie readjust
her belt. 'I have to train respect of the Watch into her. She does not
realize how important her position here is.'
"I hope it doesn't rain." Remmie said, "Patrolling in the rain so sucks." I
nodded. "Question, tomorrow your day off? Someone said it was." I sighed.
"Yes Warden, tomorrow is my day off. I will be spending the day with my son
and not on patrol." I thumped my tail against the ground. "I'm going on a
picnic with him."
"A day off?" Remmie whistled. "It's been like months since I had a day off.
I need one so badly; my scales ache from this tabard."
"You'll get used to it." I said, choosing not to mention that my muscles
burned non-stop for my first year on the Watch. "Days off are few in
number, we're undermanned as it is."
"Why do you get one and I don't?" Remmie asked,
"I've been longer without one and I have a higher rank." I said, my
thoughts now shifting towards tomorrow. "I'm...I suppose I am very excited."
"Suppose? You gotta be thrilled! I'd be!" I was thrilled to be spending the
day with my son. Out of work, though, less so.
I actually quite enjoyed my position on the Watch. The Watch is structured
and consistent; it is about keeping and having order in your life. Metamor
Keep needed order and I was in a unique position to provide it.
When I wasn't working it wasn't so easy. I'm used to taking orders, I'm
very good at carrying them out but I'm not so good when my day has no
structure.
As Justicar I'll be ordering the whole of the Watch. I had best get used to
it. I straightened my tabard. It's a day with Kaysar; there is nothing
difficult here. Just being with him will be good enough.
My thoughts started to drift back to the bull but not for long. Instead
Remmie distracted me with yet another worry.
"Is it true you gotta meet with the Lieutenant today?" Without her I might
actually be able to relax while on patrol.
"Yes our Lieutenant is asking to speak with all corporals." I said, "It's
not very important I suspect, since he didn't single me out among the
others. Probably wants to tell us about some new policy change."
"Why not let Tibble tell you?" Remmie asked, "Kinda weird isn't it?" I
shrugged.
"It's not my concern." A bush dog woman struggling with two arms full of
parcels walked past us, followed behind a human male trying to conceal a
knife in his hands. The woman's money bag hung tied around her waste, near
the back of her dress.
I moved in fast. The human male went for the bag and I responded with a
fist to the side of his head. The human slammed face first into the ground,
only to be stepped on by tayra male with his muzzle buried in a book. The
tayra took a glance back at the human and then at me.
"It's nothing sir, this poor fellow slipped." The tayra nodded and went
back to reading. Remmie sidled up beside me.
"Should we take moron boy in?"
"Until he's actually committed a crime, this falls into the category of
mean justice." I said. "Let him rot on the ground, he wont try to cut any
more purses so long as we're here." We resumed our patrol.
"So meeting with the big boss don't make your nervous?" Remmie asked. "I'd
be scared to death; it's the only thing I'd think about all day." Now my
stomach began to churn but I kept my face neutral.
"I can't let things like this bother me." I said. "It's just life, part of
my job. I'm not being fired or demoted; I'm just having a meeting with a
superior."
A Lieutenant is usually the highest ranking superior most people in the
Watch ever seen. Above them are the three Captains, who we never see, and
then the Justicar.
These are the ranks I would have to ascend. For now I needed to focus on
just being a good corporal.
"You seem tense." Remmie said.
"I don't know why you think that." I said. "Warden, I will tell you who I
am looking for if you will look for them as well. But you must promise me
not to tell our superiors?"
"Eli knows I keep secrets from you; that's no problem." Remmie giggled.
"You keep secrets from me?" A very drunk water monitor stumbled between the
two of us and made a bee line for the well. I yanked him up and let him
vomit on the ground. When he finished, I laid him against the well so he
wouldn't be stepped on. He could still be robbed but that's the risk you
run when you get this drunk.
A large part of being a Warden doesn't involve arresting criminals. It's
just keeping people from being hurt. You never get thanks or attention but
you're not supposed to.
If you want people to sing songs about you, join the Long Scouts.
"I keep things from everyone, even the other scalies." Remmie said. "It's
just something you do, you know?"
"I don't keep things from my comrades." I lied. I was glad Remmie couldn't
Tap me to see the truth. My powers had to remain a secret though, at least
for now. As Mr. Sotto made clear, our abilities were largely unknown to
other people. People respond badly to what they don't know, so they had to
remain hidden.
"Well I do!" Remmie chirped. "Who are we looking for?"
"A bull." I said, moving out of the way for a large pony morph to walk by.
"Beyond that, I don't know anything about him. He was carrying logs."
"Could be working for Lindsey maybe?" Remmie asked.
"Possibly but I don't think so. I think he was a day laborer." I frowned.
"Lack of things I'd expect from a woodsman, no ax and why would he be
carrying his own wood he chopped? No he was paid to bring it."
"Have you asked around any?" Remmie asked.
"Some. Not gotten anywhere. The problem is I lack the time to go out on my
own investigations." I sighed. "Would you be willing to help me find this
bull Warden Remmie?"
"You got it!" Remmie laughed. "I wanna help my friends Janie, you're my
friend. You're one of the only scalies I know outside the Fellowship."
"Please don't call me any of those things while we're on patrol." I said.
"You're too stiff." Remmie smiled at me, her pea-green eyes lighting up.
"I'm going to make it my mission to get you to lighten up some."
"I don't need to lighten up." The Watch is not taken seriously as it is.
Having a silly attitude about it won't fix that. It'll only make the
problem worse. "We have to remain serious."
"How can you take anything we do so seriously?" Remmie asked. "We live in a
city of fuzzy animal people."
"We live in a city of dangerous criminals; we have to be firm in our
attitudes." The words escaped my maw, followed by three white blurs and a
sudden burst of screaming from behind me. Eli has a sense of irony; I
believe He uses it frequently in our lives.
"Again! That's three times! Three times you've done this!" The screaming
came from a capybara named Gregor.  He was a baker and though I didn't know
him personally I knew of his reputation. Gregor was supposed to be calm,
cheerful and pleasant and possibly the nicest pagan you'd ever meet. Now he
was frothing mad, which meant either a close friend had been killed or...
"Those idiots did it again." I sighed. "Keep patrolling Warden Remmie, I
won't be long."
"Kay." Remmie didn't even look up. We both knew who could have sent Gregor
into a rage. I took off running after the three white blurs.
One benefit of joining the Watch was I was provided with a special designed
set of boots. I needed them; in the Watch you do a lot of running, usually
after morons who think a stolen apple is worth a chase across the city.
I already knew which morons I was chasing, and morons they were. I'd
personally hauled them in seven times, but I knew of at least twenty-three
other times these three had been brought in.
"Run faster!" The blur on the left cried. I had gained enough distance
though on him to reach and yank his goral tail hard. He yowled as I pulled
him down, sending up a puff of flower.
"She's gaining!" The little blur cried out to his human companion. The two
were slowing down already though I was not. The human I hit first, tripping
him as I passed by.
The tiny brown pika was the only one still running, but he was huffing and
dragging by now. I snatched him by the cuff of his tunic and lifted him up.
He grinned and giggled.
"Corporal...Janelle was it?"
"Hello Tamir." I said. "Long time. It's been almost three weeks since I had
to arrest you for something."
The flour-streaked fuzzball was a brown pika named Tamir, a former shepherd
and full time pain. He barely came up to my waste, a wide ball of fur in a
frayed blue tunic. He had light gray fur on his face, round ears with a
nick on the left.
Tamir's fur was soft brown but now coated in flour. His paws were hairless
pink things that reminded me of a rat, but his legs were more like those of
a rabbit. I glanced occasionally with envy at his tailless backside.
"What did you get into this time Tamir?" I asked.
"What makes you think I will Corporal?" He feigned innocence. I noted the
claws on his feet clench and unclench as he spoke to me, his ears flicked
back. I Tapped his mind.
'..was too upset anyway, we didn't want to make a mess out of his bakery,
we're on the right track this time!'
"You broke into Gregor's store room again didn't you?" Tamir's muzzle
dropped. "Come on; let's get you back to the other fools."
The first fool was a human male, former female, trying to push himself up.
He was a burly man (formerly a reed thin woman) with a head full of the
tightest blond curls I had ever seen. He was rubbing his forehead from
where it had smacked a rock.
He wore a tight brown tunic and dirty woolen breaches. His shoes were old
leather and falling apart. He glanced up at me, brown eyes full of
confusion and red lips twisted into a frown.
"You kicked me, it wasn't nice."
"Neither is breaking into someone else's shop. Now get up." The man was
named Adleburt, formerly something else with an A but I didn't know what.
The clothing he wore fascinated me, because Adleburt came from a fairly
wealthy merchant family. He could dress nicer but always wore rags.
Usually people dress according to their rank. I will never fully understand
the behavior of people. The third idiot was a goral named Kuno, sitting on
his bottom and rubbing his left horn. The right was broken off, had been as
long as I knew.
He had gray-brown fur and big black eyes. His fingers had thick black hoof
nails. His tail went down to his knees and was flat, covered with loose
hair. He wore an old doublet and black wool pants, torn on the left knee.
Kuno stood as soon as I approached.
"Hello Corporal." He said, "We were-
"Kuno say nothing!" Tamir snapped. "We will not be treated like criminals!
We are the Metamor Keep Pathfinders Guild!"
"You are going to shut up and you are going to march. Now march." Kuno and
Adle walked with their heads down while Tamir squirmed every second.
Tapping his mind only rewarded me with a wall of rage.
I returned to find Remmie missing but Gregor waiting for me. The large
rodent was almost uniform white in flour, arms crossed, foot tapping and
ears pulled back in anger. His eyes grew wider as he saw the three I was
bringing back.
"Were these the men who broke into your storeroom?" I asked Gregor.
"How did...yes they are. This is the third time they've done it, third
time! I've got flour on the ceiling!" I glanced at Tamir.
"How did you do that?" Tamir spit on me. I let it roll off. "I would
suggest all three of you apologize to Gregor."
"Never! We apologize for nothing!" Tamir screamed. The other two stammered
out hasty apologies, never looking up. "We had to break in you bloody fool!"
"I can't use any of the flour they spread everywhere." Gregor said, "That's
all gone and at cost to me."
"They will be replacing it sir." I said. Gregor gave a slow nod. "Do you
have anyone working with you?  An assistant or an apprentice?"
"Yes but he's not working today."

"Well then, could you use more help though?"
"To clean the mess they made? Absolutely."
"Then in my capacity to dispense mean justice, I give you these three as
unpaid laborers for as long as you see fit." Gregor grinned while the other
three's faces dropped.
"Never!" Tamir said. "The MKPG is what we are! We will find hidden rooms
and caches of power! They have to be hidden in the Keep!"
"Stop yelling you twit." I said. Tamir kept yelling anyway, now everyone
was looking somewhere else.
The Metamor Keep Pathfinders Guild is not a guild. They're three idiots who
have a tendency to break into buildings and claim that they're looking for
something. Or rather Tamir does, the other two just follow him, can't
imagine why.
What they're looking for is always the same. Tamir got it in his fuzzy head
that there are rooms holding either great treasure, wells of power or
unspeakable evil and they're hidden in the Keep. Their goal is to release
whatever is hidden. I have very little sympathy unsurprisingly.
"Just let them work with you and if they don't do a good job, tell me." I
said. Gregor nodded. "Now you three wait here, if you run again you will be
in far worse trouble."
"We ain't done-"
"Shut it!" I snapped. I dropped Tamir onto his tailless bottom. "Now stand
there and do not look at us." Tamir made the figs but turned away from the
two of us. Adle and Kuno just mumbled thanks. I sighed and returned to
Gregor, "I am very sorry about this."
"It's not your fault Warden." He paused, "I've seen you before...your name
is Janelle right?"
"Janelle yes." I said. "I'm actually a Corporal. I know you are a baker,
your name is Gregor and your baked goods are considered the best in the
keep." This made the capybara blush through his flour. "I was hoping I
could acquire bread from you."
"You want me to bake you a loaf of bread? I'd be honored War-uh Corporal."
Instantly all the anger he had shown melted and Gregor was bursting with
joy. "If you need it fresh for tonight-
"Actually I need it for tomorrow." Gregor gave a bemused smile as his eyes
examined me.
"Uh...it might end up stale if you need it for tomorrow and I bake it
tonight."
"I have to leave early tomorrow, no time to get bread in the morning." If I
stayed in the Keep, they might try to get me to work on my day off.
"Okay, okay no problem" Gregor's whiskers twitched as he bit his bottom
lip. "I can have your bread ready this afternoon; I just need to start
baking again."
"Thank you." I said. "Now I have to get back to my patrol but I will come
by here after I finish my shift." Gregor nodded.
"Alright, I'll see you then." He smiled, "Thank you very much...Janelle.
Come along you three." I shot them another glare and forced them to march
behind the baker, leaving little white steps along the way.
I rejoined Remmie, walking towards me. "So Warden, what were you doing?"
"I found some crazy man in a dress screaming about stuff." Remmie said. "He
was yelling and acting like a jackass. I told him to move along."
"Good for you Warden." I scanned behind us, looking through the crowd. I
quickly spotted the aforementioned man in a dress, a scowl and scales on
his face. "How odd."
"I think he's a scalie like us."
"Please do not use that deplorable term, thank you."
"You need to lighten up." Remmie said. I began to respond only to hear more
shouting and screaming. We looked to see a bear morph and a human woman
shouting at each other. The bear prepared to strike her when the two of us
ran in.

AN: One thing I like to do with Janelle's stories is have stuff happening
constantly. It never made sense for me to have the Keep calm and quiet,
won't feel real then.
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