Farah's Bounty PT1

 A new/old story of my mischievous ferret thief. Watch as she encounters a gang of bountyhunters!

Farah the ferret pulled herself through the third story window of the manor house. The house lay on the edge of the city, its best defense was the lack of ornate architecture. Instead its beauty lay in the simplicity.

For a skilled thief like Farah it was no challenge at all to break in. Her glass cutter had made short work of the window, and the nimble ferret was soon within the halls.

Farah paused to look around. She let her senses grow acclimated before setting out, her tail twitching ever so slightly. On silent feet, the thief cracked the door open of the room she was in and looked about. Only silence and the bare halls greeted her. Quickly, the ferret darted down the hall to the next door and peeked in.

She grinned at what lay before her. It was a study with plans laid out on a writing desk.

Quickly Farah tiptoed into the room and examined the plans. After confirming they were what she was looking for, she rolled them up and tucked them away in her bag.

The ferret’s ears fluttered as she heard a door closing down the hall. She swiftly sprung to the door, eased it closed softly, and then hid behind a tapestry. The thief heard the door handle turn followed by soft footfalls moving toward the desk.

The footfalls stopped.

“Wait where did I… I thought.”

Farah waited.

The searcher grew frantic.

“They were just here! I…”

At that moment Farah flung the tapestry back and tossed a sedative laced dart into the searcher. The shadowy figure of a hare jerked once and then fell over as the toxins put him into a deep sleep.

Farah dashed out of the room and went back out the window she’d entered. It didn’t take her long till she was back with her client, a red squirrel.

“This them,” Farah asked as she flopped the plans on the table that lay between her and her client.

The squirrel rubbed his palms together, “Yes, excellent! Ha, that charlatan Tebbison thought he could steal my ideas? No, ma’am! I’m the greatest architect in the realm! Everyone else is a pretender.”

Farah fluttered her ears. “Hey, yeah I’m really happy for you. Money please,” she said holding her hand out expectantly.

“Oh of course…,” the squirrel patted himself down before he found his coin purse.

He dumped the contents on the table and counted out what he owed Farah.

“Thank you again for your services, thief. Uhh, you won’t mention this business to anyone, right?”

“Whatever are you going on about? I don’t even know you,” Farah said with a wink.

“That’s quite a relief to hear.” The squirrel sighed and turned his head a moment. When he turned back the ferret was gone.

“Like a ghost,” he exclaimed.

Farah however wasn’t a ghost; she was in search of the kind of spirits you drink. A successful heist called for a celebratory drink at one of the city's many fine watering holes. This one in particular was dubbed: The Rusty Dagger.

Farah sauntered through the inn doors and then stopped dead in her tracks. Her hand strayed to the hilt of her shortsword at the small of her back. In the center of the inn was a stoat, a long slim sword was at his hip unlike any blade Farah had ever seen. The stoat was holding a wanted poster with a sketch of Farah upon it.

A cougar and a cheetah stalked around the tables clad in chainmail.

“Have you seen this ferret,” The stoat shouted loudly, then his eyes fell on Farah. “You!”

Farah smirked, “Sorry sweetie, wrong ferret. Name’s Jeanette.”

The stoat laid his ears back and fixed her with a steely eyed glare. “Liar! Sabu, Pontz, seize her!”

The two felines drew falchions and advanced on Farah. The stoat also drew his slender sword. Farah ran forward towards the felines, they drew up to meet her attack; it never happened. Farah slid across the hardwood floor beneath their blades.

“Stop her! Stop… oof,” the stoat was suddenly hit by a flying chair, courtesy of Farah, which knocked him backwards.

Farah giggled to herself as she vaulted over a table and then through the open window. The window led to an alley and the cobbler’s shop stood right next to the inn. Scrambling up the loose stones, Farah reached the roof.

There were shouts from below as the trio of pursuers spotted her. The cougar leveled his crossbow and loosed a bolt. The bolt impacted the shingles just below Farah’s feet as the ferret ran across the roof.

Farah made a rude gesture at the cougar and leapt for the next building. From rooftop to rooftop the agile Ferret ran, her pursuers could only run below and curse at her. Then a figure suddenly sprung up onto the flat top roof Farah was currently on.

An orangutan barred her path with a quarterstaff in his hands.

“Not so fast ferret. You’re worth a lot to us,” he said with a twirl of his staff.

Farah smirked as she freed her handaxe, “Aww, you make a girl feel special.”

She advanced as the simian made a thrust for her chest. It was just what Farah expected as she hooked the shaft of the weapon behind her axe blade and wrenched the weapon up. The orangutan gasped as Farah stepped in and brought her foot into his knee.

The primate yelled in pain as he doubled over and Farah struck him atop the head with the blunt part of her axe.

The simian went down.

“Bye-bye,” Farah snarked as she let herself down from the roof. She knew where she was, right outside the market district.

She could hear the trio from the inn catching up to her as she sprinted for the familiar kiosks of the marketplace. Suddenly an arrow streaked past her face. Whirling around Farah saw a cloaked figure on a rooftop, the figure pulled back its hood to reveal a maned-wolf. The archer held a composite bow and was already notching a second arrow.

Farah wasted no time running into the market crowd.

“Oh, excuse me,” Farah smirked as she weaved her way through the crowd. She lifted an otter’s purse out of habit.

She knew the marketplace well, it was her hunting ground between big jobs. She could sustain herself with picking pockets and lifting items from vendors. The ferret pulled the cloak around herself as she merged with the crowd.

Farah was just starting to calm down when she bumped into someone.

“Oof,” Farah exclaimed as she slammed into a wall of armor and muscle.

“Watch where you’re going,” a voice roared, a massive horned head turned to regard her. It was a bull.

Recognition lit the fierce eyes, “You.”

“Uh, hi,” Farah said while wiggling her fingers.

“I remember you! You left me for dead in those catacombs,” the bull roared as he drew a large two handed sword.

Farah cursed her luck, she remembered the bull all too well from a previous job.

“Now, now. You made it out just fine, right?”

“Arrgggh!” The bull swung for Farah’s head.

The ferret leapt away as the great blade swished into the paved ground in a shower of sparks. Farah drew her shortsword, and cut for the bull’s torso in an attempt to close the distance.

The market goers were all gasping and screaming as they scattered away from the combatants, giving the fighters a wide berth. Many started cheering them on.

The bull parried Farah’s strike and shoved her blade away. Again Farah narrowly avoided the deadly blade. The ferret readied herself for a counter attack when a ball of blue light impacted the bull and sent him to the ground in a bright flash.

Surprised, Farah turned to see an opossum leaning on a gnarled staff. His left hand crackled with magical energies.

“Your turn,” the opossum smirked.

He hurled another magic projectile at Farah, the ball of light impacted but Farah just stood there unfazed.

“What,” the opossum frowned.

Farah held up a crystal pendant that hung around her neck mockingly. “Protection talisman, oaf.”

The ferret ran from the spellcaster only for a ball of energy to explode right in front of her, the shockwave sent her to the ground. The wizard could still harm her indirectly. The ferret scrambled to her feet.

The trio from the inn had caught up to her and, before she could escape, all three threw themselves upon her.

Farah struggled for a bit before she felt a sharp crack on her skull and she blacked out.

“Two for one,” she heard the stoat say before she succumbed to the darkness.

Original Piece: Farah's Bounty PT1 by MercenaryBlade on DeviantArt