9ine Chapter 1

Meanwhile, in another part of town, a very dark and musty part of town, a man was straining against his bonds in a steel chair bolted to the floor. The guard sitting nearby laughed under his breath, “ yer wasting your time good sir, those ropes are laced with silveril, you’d break long fer they will.” The man grunted and continued to struggle, knowing deep down that the guard was right.
He also knew deep down why he was here, and he felt sorry for his young bride, he never should have started dealing under the table to riffraff. He had been selling arms to the bandits in nearby villages and so forth for sometime, the fall in economy had sent him running like a dog with its tail between his legs. And for greed’s sake he had sought out other means to do more then survive in this dank time.
His dealing had gotten noticed by some local politician, who of course wanted his cut, and when Geo refused to pay out, bad things happened. Unbeknownst to Geo there was more to this then just the money, the magistrate whispered some things into the mayors ear about wanting Geo out of the picture. Geo and Timothy the magistrate had grown up here in Namir together and both loved Lauralin very much, however Geo won her heart.

Timothy stood by Geo, instead of Lauralin, on their wedding day. All the while his insides on fire with a hate for his former friend. That had been close to six years ago now, and finally he would have his revenge, and her. And for Geo it was the bay, with a certain set of new bloody stripes from neck to groin, with a certain cat in the sling for the whole deal.
Timothy waited up stairs from the dark musty basement, preparing for the appointed moment. On the table in front of him was a rather deadly looking claw, it would slide over his hand, and when he was finished murdering Geo, it would look like a feline type of animal had killed him.

Timothy felt some remorse for having to blame Nine, the cat had done some good work for him in the past. Mayor Gene had suggested him for the fall though, and it seemed sound. A lot of people around here didn’t like Nine, mostly because they were unsure of him, and the biggest fear is the fear of uncertainty. Timothy pulled on the claw and tapped twice on the door that would lead him to a dead man.
The guard looked up at the door for a moment then got out of the chair and walked over to Geo. “ Times up lad, I’ve gots to untie you now, don’t get all brave or ill lump you one good.” Geo nodded his understanding, and heard the door upstairs groan open. He looked toward the stairs and seen his old friend making his way down.

“Timothy thank….” Geo noticed the claw held in Timothy’s hand,” what the hell are you doing?!” Geo screamed. Before he even got an answer Timothy raked the claw from his throat to his groin. Geo could feel his hot blood draining down his flesh, his screams sounded far away as life drifted away from him, the last thing he ever heard was, “ get the son of a bitch into the bay, close so he washes up in a few days.” It had to of been Timothy.

Timothy wiped the fast drying blood off his hand on a dirty towel, watching as the guard drug the dead weight up the stairs. He smiled as his adrenalin coursed through his body. The thrill of the kill had always made him smile, and knowing that Lauralin would be his soon didn’t stall that smile.
Nine watched her from the alleys, tailed her from the roof tops, caught her true scent as she came close to his hidden form. After awhile he stopped thinking about the job and just watched her. She was an impressive sight, even dressed in her casual clothing as she looked at other shop keepers wares. His eyes followed the curves of her body from her head to her ankles.

He shook his head fiercely like he was throwing water from his hair, he had to stop this and do the job and get paid. That was the rules, his rules, no feelings, just payment. Bitter is beast with no where to call his own, but he did have somewhere to call home. It wasn’t much, Namir, but he had friends and a welcome bed for a hard days earnings. Yea it wasn’t much but he made the best of what it was.
The light of the day was waning into the dusk, and Nine had nothing to go on. He watched as Lauralin lit some candles in her shop windows and sat down to lonely meal. In some strange ways he had wanted to go to her, maybe comfort her, but for all his darkness he did have morals and a code to live to by. He pushed himself up off the ground in the alley he had been laying in wait and decided to head back to the Warf.

As Nine made his way toward cheap side he could almost feel eyes watching him, he took a quick look around but didn’t see anyone looking his way. He brushed it off as paranoia and stepped his way into an alley that would take him to the inn a little quicker. He zigged and zagged and finally made his way to the door of the Misty Warf. He could hear the drunken slurs and an occasional high pitched squeak of a wenches laugh, the Warf always did well.

Bigby gave him a look from behind the bar as he walked in and made for his usual seat at the end of the bar where he could put his back to the wall. Bigby strutted down to Nine and put his elbows on the bar top and rested his head in his hands, “ Where you been?”
He asked with a hint of anger in his voice. Nine eyed him with a death sentence, “ you know, it almost sounds as if you were about to make a big mistake Bigby.” The keeper backed up a little bit, “ alls I’m saying is that I don’t let you have the room as my bouncer, if your not going to be here when I need you cat.”

Bigby might have been big and dumb, but he knew better then to piss Nine off, after all he hired him for a reason. “ Anything happen while I was out?” Nine hissed to him, Bigby backed up a little more, “ no, but that’s not-” Nine interrupted him, “ the point?” and he snapped out his claw on his index finger, “ let me tell you Bigby, the point is that if you ever come to me and get in my face, like I owe you something.” Nine took in a breath and growled out, “ I’ll introduce you to the fucking point.”
“If you will excuse me master, I’m going to head up to my room send me a wench up.” With that Nine tossed down a gold piece, tipped his hat to Bigby and whipped himself out of the stool and made for the stairs. Bigby shook his head, and sneered at the drunk a few seats down from where Nine was sitting and heard the whole episode. The drunk put his hands up in surrender, and Bigby moved down the bar to Cherry to let her know Nine wanted company.

Nine bolted his chamber door and tossed his cloak and belt to the foot of the bed. Who the hell does Bigby think he is, Nine thought to him self. He pulled his case out from under the bed and put his gear away, a tiny knock came to his door. Nine quickly stowed his case back under his bed, and got up to let Cherry in.
She was young, maybe nineteen at the oldest, and she had a mane of long black hair. Her body was fresh, with curves that accentuated the sexual aura her personality sent off. Nine never had the pleasure of this one, she was new to the area and the business, but he could tell she was the plate he ordered.

He embraced her in a sensual hug and nipped her neck lightly with a fang, her flesh bumped up with goose pimples and she sighed slightly. He reached down to the hem of her woolen one piece skirt and lifted it up over her head, as he tossed it to the floor he hungrily pulled her lips to his. His claws lightly traced lines down her spine, and he grasped her round ass in both his hands and kneaded it gently.
Slowly he backed her up to his bed and pushed her down to lay across it. Once she was laying on her back looking up innocently at him he noticed the cute dimple on the left side of her chin as a grin played across her lips while he removed his shirt and mail beneath. She eyed the way his calico fur followed the line of his jaw and made its way down to his shoulders to fill out like a breast plate across his chest.
She reached up to curiously rub the fur, as he pulled himself out of his leather breeches. His eyes were playful when she looked up to them, they had a hint of lust in them. Her eyes made their way down the trunk of his body admiring the rippling muscles that could have been etched out of stone, and finally rested on the tree of his manhood. A sharp intake of breath informed him that he was more then expected.
Nine looked her over lustfully, she was not thin more like plump in the right ways that could drive a man to insanity. Her breasts were firm with no sign of sag and small brown areolas that held tight little pebbles poking from the center. Her tummy had a little baby fat that complimented her round little belly button and wide hips. Her thighs were thick and juicy and her temple was clean shaven, puffy little lips already glistening in the candle light.