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Description
Nithiru sighed as he turned a page in the book he was reading.
Even if Verront had been nice the past week, the rabbit couldn't relax into the "family" feeling the entire household was saturated with. He was waiting for his purpose… Whatever it would be…
Of what use would his ability to read and write be for breeding? This so called "doctor" was a strange one. Even the other rabbit Mioros, Cici and Hiin, seemed to just do as they pleased. Well, a few chores here and there, but they seemed to think they were on equal terms with the doctor. They all ate at the same table, held actual conversations, went on outings…!
It was too good to be true.

"Nithiru," a feminine voice called, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, Cici.. hello…" he shifted uncomfortably in hi seat and shut his book. Reading about a boy and a girl being abandoned in some dark forest and finding a candy house inhabited by a witch was too surreal.

The pink rabbit sat on the edge of the table Nithiru was at and smiled.
"Leon is taking us out for the day! He says we need to get out and see Old City."
Leon Verront. He was a doctor… But he never left the house long enough to call it a shift and never told anyone about his work, not even Cici or Hiin. However, he would often shut himself in a back room, behind a heavy, safely locked door. Nithiru feared that room the most. Behind it could be instruments of torture or any number of equally horrible things.

Cici furrowed her brow. "Uh, well… He kind of meant now. There's an ebb and flow to the city and we don't want to be caught when the sweepers come out, Leon would be killed."

"Sweepers?" Nithiru echoed, confused.

"Yeah, you see, there's this guy in there who's kind of… I guess you'd call him the protector. He's caused a few riots and stuff. Anyways, he and a bunch of other Mioros and Mithru  run through the city around evening, doing clean up and taking out threats. Any humans in there never come out," she explained. "Now just come on!"

Nithiru was pulled up by his wrist and out the door, having barely enough time to put on his shoes. He'd always hated shoes, but because this was a crumbling city, full of hazards on the ground, shoes were mandatory.

They all piled into Leon's car and sped off. Cici was practically bouncing out of her seat, eager to explore. Hiin, on the other hand, was quietly smiling. Hiin hadn't spoken a word since Nithiru's arrival. Leon had said it was because he was mute; he had seen something terrible not long before Leon had found him wandering with only half his right ear. What he had seen had never been worked out of him, but it was speculated that he had been caught in a riot: the severed part of his ear would never completely heal. Something about a bomb filled with chemicals that impeded scabbing and healing of wounds. It sounded nasty.

Nithiru simply watched out the window as the buildings began to become more and more decrepit. They soon pulled over into a shaded area and got out.
The place was deserted. In the distance, they could still hear the drone of New City's cars and the wails of sirens, but here, where not even the wind blew, it was eerily silent.

"Well… You three are free to do what you want, but be back here in an hour for lunch. Then we'll move to a different area," Leon said, pulling some equipment out of the trunk of his car.

Nithiru was about so as what all of it was for, or why they were moving, but was pulled away by Cici. She led them between dusty old houses and deep into a labyrinth of crumbling buildings and grungy clearings.
Anything that wasn't broken was covered in rust or grime or indistinguishable filth. Why would anyone live here?

"There's a whole bunch of Miorios that live here, chased out from New City. They city doesn't think they're worth tracking down. Even when they try, frights and stuff break out. You'd be surprised how much of a resistance is here! I'd love to talk to someone," Cici explained, continuing to babble on about political things that went over Nithiru's head. She would have gone on forever if Hiin hadn't tapped her shoulder, calling her attention to a dark corner in a nearby building.

Nithiru gasped as something inside moved. This had been a bad idea.
"Don't worry," Cici whispered, stepping in front of them. "I've got this…" Even as she said that, her shoulders trembled.

Who, or whatever was in the darkness suddenly leapt out at them, making the groups gasp and  flinch.

"New faces, eh?"

Nithiru opened his eyes and peered over Cici's shoulder to see a tall, golden-furred kaline standing with his hands on his hips.

Cici spoke up first." We.. we're just looking a-around…"

"That so? Well this city isn't exactly a tourist attraction. Where you kids from, anyhow?" the young male shifted, still wary.

Nithiru swallowed thickly and stepped out from behind Cici, pretty embarrassed for having jumped so much. This guy talked with an annoying air of superiority, but looked no older than any of them.

"We're, um, from the city. New City. We're only on a little trip here."

"..On a trip? You're under ownership?"

They all nodded in unison. The kaline frowned.
Suddenly, the danger of the situation deemed gone, Cici was all questions and excitement.
"So you live here?! In Old City?! What's it like? Are there more? Could we meet them? Are you part of the resistance? Do you know anyone who fought in the resistance?"

The kaline waved a hand in front of her face to quiet her.
"How about we start with names first? I'm Artemis," he chuckled, hesitantly extending a hand to Cici.

"Cici. It's very nice to meet you, " she took his hand and shook it dubiously.
Artemis retracted when she had finished with a slight grimace, but she didn't seem to notice.
"And these two are…?"

"Nithiru and Hiin, " she replied, pointing to each party respectively.

"Charmed. You seem to be so interested in this place, would you like me to show you the, er, 'highlights' around here?" Artemis asked with a dashing smile.

Cici practically squealed. "Oh, we'd love it so much!"

The group set off further into the maze of buildings, directed through this catwalk and that stair case or over that pile of junk and around that wreckage.
Cici was enamored with all of it, but her eyes seemed to stray most often to their tour guide. Artemis would be pointing to distant places or picking up random artifacts and all Cici could focus on was him. For such a slim being who eemed to have no muscle mass at all, Artemis had surprising strength. More than once the path had to be cleared of an offending slab of concrete and their guide took care of it with ease. Cici would giggle and stare shamelessly
Nithiru wondered if all the inhabitants walked around shirtless and in tight pants. He supposed those were all the clothes they could find, though.
But speaking of the "other inhabitants", where were they? Surely this whole area couldn't be devoid of people. They hadn't heard any other sounds apart from the noises they themselves made.
At Artemis' waist was a thick belt from which two holsters hung on either side. He always seemed to have a hand by one, ready
Suddenly, Nithiru was more nervous.

"Well, that's about it for this side. Are you guys thirsty at all? It's a bit of a hot day here. I'll grab some water, " Artemis said, apparently finished with their sight-seeing expedition.
"I'll come, too," Cici chimed in.

"I could never ask a guest to do work, much less a lady," came the smooth reply, accompanied with an even smoother smile.

Cici sighed windily.
"Oh, Hinn, I think we should come back here more often."

Hiin rolled his eyes and chose to sit by Nithiru who had taken refuge in the shade of a crumbling house complex, eyes darting around at any sound.

"Nithiru, are you okay? Don't be so worried, Artemis seems like he could keep us safe from anything," Cici mused with a dreamy expression.

"..What if he's what we need protection from?," he retorted.

"Don't be ridiculous, "she scoffed.

Artemis came back shortly with mugs of water for all of them.
"Mind you don't cut yourselves on the chips."

"So, about your questions from earlier," he said suddenly, making the rest of the group look up.
"Yes, I live here. It isn't a five star hotel, but I've been  in worse. Yes, there are others, but not so close to the city. A couple kilometers east is where I live there's a small pocket of individuals who are in the resistance, myself included, but I've yet to actually have a serious row."

"So, you're kind of like a soldier, then? Isn't it dangerous?"

"Well, " he scratched the back of his head. "I'm a bounty hunter, by trade. People contact me and I take care of their problems and get paid. It's not for kids, that's for sure, but I can handle it, " he smirked. "I also organize the defense in this area. Well, I'm pretty much the only one on patrol today, there haven't exactly been a lot of breaches—touch wood," he tapped his fingers on the small stool he sat upon.

Nithiru gasped and stood up, making the group jump and Artemis reach to his hips.
"We were supposed to be back by now! We've been out here for way over an hour and Leon is probably worried!"

Cici huffed and pouted, but stood, knowing he was right. Hiin quickly followed suit.

"Oh, owner calls huh? Hope you guys don't get in crap for it, "Artemis said, frowning. "You could always come here, you know. They have no jurisdiction here and couldn't take you back. You'd be safe."

Cici laughed. "Oh, Leon's nothing like the humans I'm sure you've heard about. He's really nice!"

Artemis just grunted.
"We're actually pretty close to where we met. If you guys came in that black car, then I can take you to it."

Nithiru was shocked. "Huh? Y-yeah, we did. How did you…?"

Artemis smirked and laughed quietly, "This is my city. Gods help me f I don't know what comes in and goes out of it."

It took a moment to settle with them as Artemis led them back, but Cici  squeaked.
"Y-you're that guy…?! The one that—"

"Causes the riots and stuff? Yeah, That's me. I haven't been in any big ones though, like I said, " Artemis finished for her, not looking back
She continued despite his somewhat curt dismissal of the subject.
".. You're the one that protects the people here? That's amazing! You're so incredibly brave…"

He looked back, embarrassment tingeing his sharp features. "Well… Maybe.. I don't know…" He turned back, seeming to walk a little taller.

They reached the clearing they had left from within minutes and bid their good-byes to  the bounty hunter.

"Maybe we'll see each other again…" Cici said softly.

"Que sera, sera."

She took Hiin and jogged off in search of Leon, leaving Nithiru with the other.

Artemis turned to him with a serious expression.
"So who's this 'Leon'? Is he really all that nice?"

Taken by surprise, Nithiru could only manage a stuttered, " We-well, I've only been there a short while… but those two have known him much longer so…"

Artemis sighed.
"Humans brainwash Miorios all the time. If those two have been with him long enough, they'd follow him into the city streets and shoot themselves. I mean, I'm not saying that this guy would. But I've only heard stories about humans that keep us as company and treat us as equals," he said. "Has he been suspicious, that you've seen?"

Nithiru thought a moment then nodded slightly. "He has this room that none of us are allowed to go into. He's in there practically all day and never talks about what he does. I…" he swallowed nervously, feeling pressured. "I remember him saying he was excited to purchase me because I was a purebred."
He wasn't sure if that had anything to do with it, but didn't feel like he should keep anything from the icy blue eyes boring into him and searching for explanations.

After a few moments, there were footsteps coming towards them and Nithiru heard his name being called. Artemis clucked his tongue.

"Don't worry, " he whispered. "I'll see you later."
He leapt at a rusted fire escape and nimbly climbed it to the top before disappearing over the rooftop.

"I'll see you later"? What was that supposed to mean…?

"Nithiru, there you are," Leon called, the addressed finally turning around.
"Come on, let's go home. We don't want to be out here much longer.

The drive home was quiet, which was surprising. Nithiru thought that Cici would be talking up a storm about the days events yet she was unusually solemn. He supposed that no matter how good a human friend was, there were just things you couldn't tell them. Meeting the man behind the mask of all the riots and trouble must have been one of those things. He caught himself wishing direly for the barrier between species to disappear and jumped. Maybe he would eventually grow to trust Leon like Cici or Hiin?
He wanted to be able to trust someone.

Had any of them looked up at the buildings like they had on the way there, they might have noticed someone following them along their roofs.

--

As they pulled into the driveway, Nithiru found himself feeling pleasantly sluggish, dozing in the wash of the setting sun from the back seat, Cici and Hiin on either side of him. Leon had looked back and chuckled.
"Long day? New experiences certainly can tire you out. Come on, we'll go inside for dinner."
Nithiru nudged his partners who yawned and rubbed their eyes before getting out, mumbling incoherent things.

"What do you guys feel like for dinner? I think we'd be better off using up the leftovers from the past few nights…" Leon said, reaching for his house keys.
He had stopped and leaned against the door.

"Leon..?" Cici called tiredly.

The man's knees buckled and he slid down the door, leaving a red streak from his head level.

Hinn yelped and clung to Cici who was still taking things in.

"Le-Leon..?!" she tried again, voice cracking.

"He.. was shot..?" Nithiru asked no one in particular as he noticed the small hole in the back of the man's head which was now starting to leak blood.

He whipped around, trying to follow where the shot could have come from and could just make out a yellowish figure with black legs.

Description
Nithiru sighed as he turned a page in the book he was reading.
Even if Verront had been nice the past week, the rabbit couldn't relax into the "family" feeling the entire household was saturated with. He was waiting for his purpose… Whatever it would be…
Of what use would his ability to read and write be for breeding? This so called "doctor" was a strange one. Even the other rabbit Mioros, Cici and Hiin, seemed to just do as they pleased. Well, a few chores here and there, but they seemed to think they were on equal terms with the doctor. They all ate at the same table, held actual conversations, went on outings…!
It was too good to be true.

"Nithiru," a feminine voice called, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, Cici.. hello…" he shifted uncomfortably in hi seat and shut his book. Reading about a boy and a girl being abandoned in some dark forest and finding a candy house inhabited by a witch was too surreal.

The pink rabbit sat on the edge of the table Nithiru was at and smiled.
"Leon is taking us out for the day! He says we need to get out and see Old City."
Leon Verront. He was a doctor… But he never left the house long enough to call it a shift and never told anyone about his work, not even Cici or Hiin. However, he would often shut himself in a back room, behind a heavy, safely locked door. Nithiru feared that room the most. Behind it could be instruments of torture or any number of equally horrible things.

Cici furrowed her brow. "Uh, well… He kind of meant now. There's an ebb and flow to the city and we don't want to be caught when the sweepers come out, Leon would be killed."

"Sweepers?" Nithiru echoed, confused.

"Yeah, you see, there's this guy in there who's kind of… I guess you'd call him the protector. He's caused a few riots and stuff. Anyways, he and a bunch of other Mioros and Mithru  run through the city around evening, doing clean up and taking out threats. Any humans in there never come out," she explained. "Now just come on!"

Nithiru was pulled up by his wrist and out the door, having barely enough time to put on his shoes. He'd always hated shoes, but because this was a crumbling city, full of hazards on the ground, shoes were mandatory.

They all piled into Leon's car and sped off. Cici was practically bouncing out of her seat, eager to explore. Hiin, on the other hand, was quietly smiling. Hiin hadn't spoken a word since Nithiru's arrival. Leon had said it was because he was mute; he had seen something terrible not long before Leon had found him wandering with only half his right ear. What he had seen had never been worked out of him, but it was speculated that he had been caught in a riot: the severed part of his ear would never completely heal. Something about a bomb filled with chemicals that impeded scabbing and healing of wounds. It sounded nasty.

Nithiru simply watched out the window as the buildings began to become more and more decrepit. They soon pulled over into a shaded area and got out.
The place was deserted. In the distance, they could still hear the drone of New City's cars and the wails of sirens, but here, where not even the wind blew, it was eerily silent.

"Well… You three are free to do what you want, but be back here in an hour for lunch. Then we'll move to a different area," Leon said, pulling some equipment out of the trunk of his car.

Nithiru was about so as what all of it was for, or why they were moving, but was pulled away by Cici. She led them between dusty old houses and deep into a labyrinth of crumbling buildings and grungy clearings.
Anything that wasn't broken was covered in rust or grime or indistinguishable filth. Why would anyone live here?

"There's a whole bunch of Miorios that live here, chased out from New City. They city doesn't think they're worth tracking down. Even when they try, frights and stuff break out. You'd be surprised how much of a resistance is here! I'd love to talk to someone," Cici explained, continuing to babble on about political things that went over Nithiru's head. She would have gone on forever if Hiin hadn't tapped her shoulder, calling her attention to a dark corner in a nearby building.

Nithiru gasped as something inside moved. This had been a bad idea.
"Don't worry," Cici whispered, stepping in front of them. "I've got this…" Even as she said that, her shoulders trembled.

Who, or whatever was in the darkness suddenly leapt out at them, making the groups gasp and  flinch.

"New faces, eh?"

Nithiru opened his eyes and peered over Cici's shoulder to see a tall, golden-furred kaline standing with his hands on his hips.

Cici spoke up first." We.. we're just looking a-around…"

"That so? Well this city isn't exactly a tourist attraction. Where you kids from, anyhow?" the young male shifted, still wary.

Nithiru swallowed thickly and stepped out from behind Cici, pretty embarrassed for having jumped so much. This guy talked with an annoying air of superiority, but looked no older than any of them.

"We're, um, from the city. New City. We're only on a little trip here."

"..On a trip? You're under ownership?"

They all nodded in unison. The kaline frowned.
Suddenly, the danger of the situation deemed gone, Cici was all questions and excitement.
"So you live here?! In Old City?! What's it like? Are there more? Could we meet them? Are you part of the resistance? Do you know anyone who fought in the resistance?"

The kaline waved a hand in front of her face to quiet her.
"How about we start with names first? I'm Artemis," he chuckled, hesitantly extending a hand to Cici.

"Cici. It's very nice to meet you, " she took his hand and shook it dubiously.
Artemis retracted when she had finished with a slight grimace, but she didn't seem to notice.
"And these two are…?"

"Nithiru and Hiin, " she replied, pointing to each party respectively.

"Charmed. You seem to be so interested in this place, would you like me to show you the, er, 'highlights' around here?" Artemis asked with a dashing smile.

Cici practically squealed. "Oh, we'd love it so much!"

The group set off further into the maze of buildings, directed through this catwalk and that stair case or over that pile of junk and around that wreckage.
Cici was enamored with all of it, but her eyes seemed to stray most often to their tour guide. Artemis would be pointing to distant places or picking up random artifacts and all Cici could focus on was him. For such a slim being who eemed to have no muscle mass at all, Artemis had surprising strength. More than once the path had to be cleared of an offending slab of concrete and their guide took care of it with ease. Cici would giggle and stare shamelessly
Nithiru wondered if all the inhabitants walked around shirtless and in tight pants. He supposed those were all the clothes they could find, though.
But speaking of the "other inhabitants", where were they? Surely this whole area couldn't be devoid of people. They hadn't heard any other sounds apart from the noises they themselves made.
At Artemis' waist was a thick belt from which two holsters hung on either side. He always seemed to have a hand by one, ready
Suddenly, Nithiru was more nervous.

"Well, that's about it for this side. Are you guys thirsty at all? It's a bit of a hot day here. I'll grab some water, " Artemis said, apparently finished with their sight-seeing expedition.
"I'll come, too," Cici chimed in.

"I could never ask a guest to do work, much less a lady," came the smooth reply, accompanied with an even smoother smile.

Cici sighed windily.
"Oh, Hinn, I think we should come back here more often."

Hiin rolled his eyes and chose to sit by Nithiru who had taken refuge in the shade of a crumbling house complex, eyes darting around at any sound.

"Nithiru, are you okay? Don't be so worried, Artemis seems like he could keep us safe from anything," Cici mused with a dreamy expression.

"..What if he's what we need protection from?," he retorted.

"Don't be ridiculous, "she scoffed.

Artemis came back shortly with mugs of water for all of them.
"Mind you don't cut yourselves on the chips."

"So, about your questions from earlier," he said suddenly, making the rest of the group look up.
"Yes, I live here. It isn't a five star hotel, but I've been  in worse. Yes, there are others, but not so close to the city. A couple kilometers east is where I live there's a small pocket of individuals who are in the resistance, myself included, but I've yet to actually have a serious row."

"So, you're kind of like a soldier, then? Isn't it dangerous?"

"Well, " he scratched the back of his head. "I'm a bounty hunter, by trade. People contact me and I take care of their problems and get paid. It's not for kids, that's for sure, but I can handle it, " he smirked. "I also organize the defense in this area. Well, I'm pretty much the only one on patrol today, there haven't exactly been a lot of breaches—touch wood," he tapped his fingers on the small stool he sat upon.

Nithiru gasped and stood up, making the group jump and Artemis reach to his hips.
"We were supposed to be back by now! We've been out here for way over an hour and Leon is probably worried!"

Cici huffed and pouted, but stood, knowing he was right. Hiin quickly followed suit.

"Oh, owner calls huh? Hope you guys don't get in crap for it, "Artemis said, frowning. "You could always come here, you know. They have no jurisdiction here and couldn't take you back. You'd be safe."

Cici laughed. "Oh, Leon's nothing like the humans I'm sure you've heard about. He's really nice!"

Artemis just grunted.
"We're actually pretty close to where we met. If you guys came in that black car, then I can take you to it."

Nithiru was shocked. "Huh? Y-yeah, we did. How did you…?"

Artemis smirked and laughed quietly, "This is my city. Gods help me f I don't know what comes in and goes out of it."

It took a moment to settle with them as Artemis led them back, but Cici  squeaked.
"Y-you're that guy…?! The one that—"

"Causes the riots and stuff? Yeah, That's me. I haven't been in any big ones though, like I said, " Artemis finished for her, not looking back
She continued despite his somewhat curt dismissal of the subject.
".. You're the one that protects the people here? That's amazing! You're so incredibly brave…"

He looked back, embarrassment tingeing his sharp features. "Well… Maybe.. I don't know…" He turned back, seeming to walk a little taller.

They reached the clearing they had left from within minutes and bid their good-byes to  the bounty hunter.

"Maybe we'll see each other again…" Cici said softly.

"Que sera, sera."

She took Hiin and jogged off in search of Leon, leaving Nithiru with the other.

Artemis turned to him with a serious expression.
"So who's this 'Leon'? Is he really all that nice?"

Taken by surprise, Nithiru could only manage a stuttered, " We-well, I've only been there a short while… but those two have known him much longer so…"

Artemis sighed.
"Humans brainwash Miorios all the time. If those two have been with him long enough, they'd follow him into the city streets and shoot themselves. I mean, I'm not saying that this guy would. But I've only heard stories about humans that keep us as company and treat us as equals," he said. "Has he been suspicious, that you've seen?"

Nithiru thought a moment then nodded slightly. "He has this room that none of us are allowed to go into. He's in there practically all day and never talks about what he does. I…" he swallowed nervously, feeling pressured. "I remember him saying he was excited to purchase me because I was a purebred."
He wasn't sure if that had anything to do with it, but didn't feel like he should keep anything from the icy blue eyes boring into him and searching for explanations.

After a few moments, there were footsteps coming towards them and Nithiru heard his name being called. Artemis clucked his tongue.

"Don't worry, " he whispered. "I'll see you later."
He leapt at a rusted fire escape and nimbly climbed it to the top before disappearing over the rooftop.

"I'll see you later"? What was that supposed to mean…?

"Nithiru, there you are," Leon called, the addressed finally turning around.
"Come on, let's go home. We don't want to be out here much longer.

The drive home was quiet, which was surprising. Nithiru thought that Cici would be talking up a storm about the days events yet she was unusually solemn. He supposed that no matter how good a human friend was, there were just things you couldn't tell them. Meeting the man behind the mask of all the riots and trouble must have been one of those things. He caught himself wishing direly for the barrier between species to disappear and jumped. Maybe he would eventually grow to trust Leon like Cici or Hiin?
He wanted to be able to trust someone.

Had any of them looked up at the buildings like they had on the way there, they might have noticed someone following them along their roofs.

--

As they pulled into the driveway, Nithiru found himself feeling pleasantly sluggish, dozing in the wash of the setting sun from the back seat, Cici and Hiin on either side of him. Leon had looked back and chuckled.
"Long day? New experiences certainly can tire you out. Come on, we'll go inside for dinner."
Nithiru nudged his partners who yawned and rubbed their eyes before getting out, mumbling incoherent things.

"What do you guys feel like for dinner? I think we'd be better off using up the leftovers from the past few nights…" Leon said, reaching for his house keys.
He had stopped and leaned against the door.

"Leon..?" Cici called tiredly.

The man's knees buckled and he slid down the door, leaving a red streak from his head level.

Hinn yelped and clung to Cici who was still taking things in.

"Le-Leon..?!" she tried again, voice cracking.

"He.. was shot..?" Nithiru asked no one in particular as he noticed the small hole in the back of the man's head which was now starting to leak blood.

He whipped around, trying to follow where the shot could have come from and could just make out a yellowish figure with black legs.