Once Upon a Time: chapter one
Once Upon a Time: Under the Silver Moon
This is my first story took me a while to do it but here it is. I am trying to finish my last year of school so I don't have a lot of time to write like I wish I did. I love writing and I always will. Comments and advice are more than welcome. Anything to help me improve my writing is good. I hope everyone enjoys the story.
Running that seems like all I do. Running to try to survive, to get away from all the demons that chase me and I am pretty sure they will never give up. Dash here, around this corner, then into this alley, over a wall, and under some carts. Ohh I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Cross Alpha Shepherd. I am a young German shepherd with the normal markings of one, but instead of black and brown I have blue and silver fur with forest green eyes, standing at 5 feet tall. You can usually find me down in the bad section of town trying to avoid every horny goon ready to grab me by the scruff and bang me.
I am assuming my parents whoever they are had a sense of humor when they named me this seeing as how I am far from being alpha of anything, and as for shepherd well I spent only one year there at the abbey and I knew being a monk was not for me and I really didn't enjoy the other 3 years I spent there either. I don't know who my parents are or were but I was raised at an abbey early on in my life, and even then I caused a lot of trouble. Those monks don't know how to have fun I tell you. They did treat me differently than the rest of the young children. They went out of their way to teach me things and give me an education. When I got in trouble they didn't even punish me they would just shake their heads roll their eyes and go back to what they were doing. Well I always liked stealing things so one day I got up the nerve to look through the Abbots belongings. That's when I found the pendent. The pendent with my name and the only reason I know it was mine was because the Abbot himself came in when I was staring at the silver half moon pendent and called out my real name. After that I didn't stick around. Now I didn't even now my name before the whole incident with the Abbot the monks just called me pup or young one which to this day annoys the crap out of me. I was absolutely infuriated at the fact that they had never told me I even had a name.
So off on my own in the world ready to do anything I wanted and take whatever I could get my hands on. That was 7 years ago. I always thought about doing a lot of things, maybe be a knight to a real alpha, or be a mage. But in the end I found being a thief a lot more rewarding only because I don't take orders very well. I am a very independent fur with a very strong will. Now I love the city. I get a lot of exercise from my job. It keeps me healthy as long as I keep at arm's length. Also there are a lot of opportunities for someone in my line of work.
Here in the capital city of Heswith I made my home. It is the largest city being the capital and by far the nicest if you stay out of the bad parts of town. I chose this city out of all the rest because one there are no other cities. The country is literally that. Farmhouses, plains, and wild forests everywhere as far as the eye can see, with the occasional village. It just so happened the ruler is Lord Dwaine. At the time I thought he was the least of my worries. I just had to stay out of his way and not get caught stealing in his home.
I love ste...finding things. Things that are supposed to be seen and not touched, things that are usually heavily guarded, and then I return said "found item" and give it to my client. I then get a hefty sum of gold. Usually between five to ten pieces which should pay for a decent room, with a roof over my head, a warm bed, and a meal for my belly. Well for a week at least. I would demand more but it's hard to get anyone to take you seriously when your only 15. Being a thief for hire can be very rewarding. You get lots of interesting information and you can always go back to the last place you were at if you saw something you liked. I have never been caught once although I have come close several times, but I don't tell my clients that.
My clients range from being the lowest scum on the earth to noblemen who require my services to settle a grudge or two. I actually got to work for an Alpha once. He was the most regal canine I have ever met. That was the first time I had met Lord Dwain in person. He was a German shepherd like me dressed finely in green and gold standing at 6 foot 7 with a robust build and shining emerald green eyes a sword always present at his waist and looking about 35 years in age. He wanted me to find someone for him. I ended up with more money than I could handle. A whole whopping 100 gold coins that lasted me ten weeks and then I was back to scrounging for food. I also had his guards chasseing after me right now. I think that's the last time I will ever steal a ring from the lord Alphas room. I couldn't help it though it was just so shiny. So now through the streets of the place I call home I run trying to escape imprisonment if I am lucky. So I have Lord Dwaine the Shepherd alpha wanting my head in a noose and his men yelling at me as I weave through the streets and around people, horses, dragons, and all manner of furries trying to get away with the ring and my life. But that's not the best part there were several other alphas there at Lord Dwaine's castle. There was Lord Siclan the dragon and mage, Lady Ezereth the Crow Avian and archer, and finally Lord Grutes the bull and renowned knight. I had their men to thank for ratting on me and for chasseing me through the streets to begin with. As I was running I looked back upon the events of the day wishing I had had more common sense than I did.
It started out like every other day. I was washing my clothes if you can call rags clothes the best I could trying to get the smell out of them. It was getting close to winter and the cool air blew across my shirtless body sending a little chill up my back. That's when two royal guards came up to me. I thought I was going to get thrown in jail for stealing a guard's purse earlier that day. It was either that or I had gotten the attention of Lord Dwain and that was worse. I had been caught stealing in his own hometown and I was going to pay for it. That's when the invited me to the castle because the lord wished to speak with me.
When I got a royal summons though I thought I had hit big. I mean being the royal thief sounds like a pretty cushy job and I couldn't say no. I would get 100 gold coins and a place to stay if I proved agile enough. I would have him on my side and I could do any job he wanted me to do I would have a place to stay that was dry and neat. I could actually take baths regularly. He was actually asking me to steal something and offering me a place in the castle to call home. He had had several things taken from him in the past from nobles who resented the belongings of this fine Lord. I said yes without any hesitation. So I set out to find this guy.
Two hours later. I had just finished getting back the stolen necklace from the noble who had taken it when Lord Dwaine was throwing a party. Luckily the Pig noble was drunk which made it more than easy enough to take it back from his greasy hands. I had been promised a place to call my own there at the castle provided I behave and keep my paws where the guards could see them. When I got back Lord Dwaine even game me a key to his chamber and told me to put the necklace back with the rest of the jewelry. So up I went and I entered his room it was nice with plush carpets from other countries and silks draped from a stand probably the makings of his next outfit. A mirror and a fireplace, candles lit making the whole room a very relaxing little safe haven. The bed was big enough to hold ten people. I started to put back the necklace when I saw the ring. Normally I would have thought twice given what I was promised but the real reason I took the ring was because it matched the pendent I wore secretly around my neck. Same symbol of a crescent moon made of silver. I took the ring in my paw and flipped it over and there in the same place as my pendent just one word stuck out surrounded by all the carvings and symbols was the name Cross. I was about to take it when Lord Dwaine himself walked in. I froze not knowing what to do the ring clearly in my hand. That's when he surprised me he just smiled and said "I see you found my ring. My most cherished piece".
That sentence made me wince because I knew I was not going to be able to resist stealing it. I tried to act normal and said "ohh it is? It certainly is a beautiful piece I couldn't help but pick it up for a closer look. Just out of curiosity where did you get the ring"?
He just smiled again and stumbled a little. He replied "it was a gift from a very very dear friend who sadly has passed on. But I keep her memories with me always".
That's when I noticed he was drunk or at least tipsy from a bit too much wine from his party. He positively reeked of the stuff. This is when I saw my chance to take the ring and nobody would know. Lord Dwaine was so drunk he wouldn't remember that he had given me the key if I stuck it back in his pocket. So acting like nothing was wrong I took hold of Lord Dwain's paw and I led him to bed. *here you go my lord why don't you lay down for awhile the party seems to have taken its toll on you" I said sweetly smiling nicely and lying through my teeth.
He just nodded down to me and smiled saying "thank you boy you are really a nice young pup".
I had to hold myself back from strangling him at that moment because I hated being called pup. So I just smiled and tried to keep calm and said "there now lie down and relax" and while pushing him down I slipped the key into his pocket and the ring into mine. "Ohh and don't worry the necklace and ring are safely in you box". I didn't have to worry much about him trying to ask questions in his drunken stupor because he was out the moment his head hit the pillow. After that I dashed out of his room closing the door softly behind me and made for my own room that had been given to me next to the kitchens much to the cook's dismay. I thought I was home free and nothing could go wrong and for once I wouldn't have to run away. I wouldn't have to worry about being found out I was really happy about this turn of events but that's always when something messes up and I learned that the hard way.
Just as I was rounding the corner I ran into two mages from Lord Siclans entourage. I wasn't able to slow down in time and ran headlong into the both of them. I was about to apologize and go about my business when one of them gasped and pointed yelling at the top of his lungs " that's Lord Dwain's most prized ring. This young thief stole from Lord Dwain". The ring had fallen out of my pocket when I ran into them
That's when I decided not to stick around to see if they would hang me or just boil me alive with some spell. I grabbed the ring and ran out of the castle somehow dodging every arrow spell and sword that tried to hit me. How I did it I will never know but that brings me back to running through the streets of the one place I called home.
The guards kept yelling at me to stop and desist but I knew better. I knew if I stopped they would hang me or do some other nasty things to me before killing me. You can't steal from an Alpha and hope to go without at the very least losing a limb. It was dark and I had been running around town for several hours trying to shake the guards. It seemed like every turn I mad I ran into a different set of guards. That's when I spotted the black smith shop. I had been there earlier trying to mooch food off of him. Like always he said he'd feed me all the food I could ever want if I became his apprentice. He was a gray wolf standing around 6 foot 4 with sky blue eyes with a very big muscled build. He wears a pair of old charred pair of pants that once used to be tan a red shirt a pair of rough old boots and a smith's apron. Ever since the first time I met him he has always been looking after me that and trying to convince me to give up being a thief. Seeing this as the place I could hide for awhile I hightailed it for the smithy. I had given the guards the slip but I could hear them in the distance so I ran through the gate to the smithy and that's when I slipped on some water that had pooled from a leak in the well in the yard. As I was falling I hit my head on the anvil in the yard making a very audible ring. The last thing I saw as I was blacking out was the sliver moon shining brightly in the sky.
End of chapter one. =3