Chapter 19
Shadow makes his way quickly to the town ruins, eager to tell Sonic and Amily about the desert city he discovered. When he gets there, he grins warmly at the sight of the two building a snowman together, talking to each other as Sonic puts the finishing touch on. The Canine Pepper for the nose. His shoes crunch against the snow as he approaches them, alerting them of his presence.
"Shadow! You're back!" Sonic squealed excitedly like a small child as he rushed over to him, followed by Amily, who was smiling in amusement.
"He was worried about you." She chuckled as the blue hedgehog threw his arms around the normally ebony one.
Shadow chuckled and hugged back. "I can see that. Any trouble while I was gone?"
"No, nothing at all." Sonic shook his head. "Amily and I were just talking."
"And you didn't cause her any trouble?"
"He was a perfect little angel the whole time." Amily giggled.
Sonic grinned, wagging his tail a bit. But as he got a closer look at his friend, his tail stopped wagging and his smile turned into a worried frown. "Shadow, what happened to you?"
"What do you mean?" Shadow tilted head in confusion.
"Your face. It's all scratched up."
Shadow inwardly growled. He had forgotten about the imp's clawmarks across his face.
"And your back!" Sonic gasped, leaning over Shadow's shoulder as he looked for any more injuries. "It's all cut up too!"
"I'm fine, Sonic. Don't worry about it." Shadow assured him. "I just got in a tussle with an imp, is all." What he didn't know couldn't hurt him.
"It must've been a pretty strong imp." Amily frowned, running her hands smoothly across his back. "Imps don't normally do this much damage."
"He was a fighter." Shadow nodded. "But I managed to defeat him, and got 7 gems and a parcel of imp food as a reward."
"More imp food?" Sonic frowned as he took the bag and put it in his pouch. "That makes two parcels."
"I also ran into Lucia while I was out in the desert." Shadow added, pulling out the vial of Succubi's Delight from his quills. "She wanted to thank us for convincing Marcus to turn himself into a demon, and she gave me this."
"Succubi's Delight?" Sonic frowned, inspecting the bottle. "What does it do?"
"It's a transformative." Amily explains. "But only for the genitals."
Sonic cringed and put it in his pouch. "Yeah, I don't think Shadow or I need anything done to our genitals. But I'm running out of room in my pouch. I need something to do with this stuff."
"Well, you're in luck." Shadow grinned. "When I was out in the desert, you'll never guess what I found."
"You found Tel Adre, didn't you?" Amily smirked.
"Tel Adre? What's that?" Sonic asked.
"It's a glorious city in the middle of the desert. Protected from the corruption by a barrier of white magic." Shadow explained. "Everyone there is… dare I say it… normal… well… as normal as one can get in this world."
"You mean… they're not… you know…" Sonic blushed, but his eyes held hope.
"Not one bit." Shadow grinned.
Sonic grinned and whooped with joy, laughing and spinning around in excitement. "I can't believe this! A whole city full of uncorrupted people! You have to take me there! I need to see this for myself."
"Of course I'll take you there." Shadow chuckled. "There's a pawn shop that we can sell all this useless stuff at. And I even made a couple new friends already. Edryn and Urta. I think you'll like them." He looked up at Amily and smiled. "Would you come to the city with us, Amily? You'll be safer there."
"Oh Shadow. As tempting as it sounds, I'd rather stay here." Amily gave a warm smile. "This town is my home, and even if it's already ruined, I must keep it safe from being ruined any further."
Shadow nodded. "I understand. Then we'll meet you again tomorrow. Come on Sonic. I'll take you to the city of Tel Adre."
…
The moment the two hedgehogs step into the city, Sonic gasps in delight, marveling at how big it is.
"Wow Shadow. This is so cool!" He shouts in glee.
Shadow chuckled. "Here. Let me give you the grand tour."
Shadow started showing Sonic around the city, pointing out the things that he's noticed. As they walked, Shadow also told him what he knew about Edryn, Urta, and Quinn. When the tour was over, Shadow gave Sonic a warm smile.
"So what do you wanna do now?"
"Lets go to the pawn shop and get rid of this stuff." Sonic suggested, shaking his pouch a little. "I'm tired of carrying these corrupted things. Plus, we could use the gems for things we actually need."
"Good idea." Shadow nodded as they both went over to the pawn shop.
Upon closer inspection, they realize the pawnbroker appears to be some kind of golden retriever. He doesn't look entirely comfortable and he slouches, but he manages to smile the entire time. His appearance is otherwise immaculate, including his classy suit-jacket and tie, though he doesn't appear to be wearing any pants. Surprisingly, his man-bits are retracted. Who would've thought that seeing someone NOT aroused would ever shock the hedgehogs? His stand is a disheveled mess, in stark contrast to its well-groomed owner. He doesn't appear to be selling anything at all right now.
The dog gives a kind smile before making his pitch. "Do you have anything you'd be interested in selling? The name's Oswald, and I'm the best trader in Tel'Adre."
"Actually, we do." Sonic nodded, pulling everything out of his pouch and setting them on the counter. "A bottle of Incubi Draft. Two parcels of imp food. And a bottle of Succubi's Delight."
"Hmm, very intriguing." Oswald hummed, inspecting each item. "Tell you what, young sir, I will give you 3 gems for each item."
"That's 12 gems in total." Shadow estimated. "And we already have 7, so that would make 19 gems."
"Alright, sold." Sonic nodded..
Oswald nods and nervously pulls out 12 gems, dropping them into Sonic's waiting hand.
"Pleasure doing business with you, sir." Sonic grins. "We'll be sure to come back if we have anything else worth selling."
"The pleasure is all mine." The dog nodded. "Until next time."
Sonic grinned and skipped away from the shop, an amused Shadow following behind. "What do you wanna do now, Sonic?"
Sonic thought for a moment, then turned back to his golden companion. "I kinda wanna meet these friends of yours. Edryn and Urta? Where do you think they'll be?"
"If I have to guess, most likely The Wet Bitch." Shadow nodded his head over to the bar. "Apparently that's Urta's favorite hangout."
Sonic shuddered at the name of the bar, but then nodded. "Alright. I guess it couldn't hurt to check it out."
And with that, the two went over to the bar and entered.
The interior of The Wet Bitch is far different than the mental picture its name implied. It looks like a normal tavern, complete with a large central hearth, numerous tables and chairs, and a polished dark wood bar. The patrons all seem to be dressed and interacting like normal people, that is if normal people were mostly centaurs and dog-morphs of various sub-species. The atmosphere is warm and friendly, and the two hedgehogs hardly get any odd stares. There are a number of rooms towards the back, as well as a stairway leading up to an upper level.
Edryn, as Shadow predicted, is here, sitting down at her table alone and sipping on a glass of wine. The boys also see a rather buxom woman with short, white hair in a neck- and sleeve-less black dress cleaning glasses with her bar towel. She makes the task look simple, moreso because she has two pairs of arms, wrapped in what look like shiny black gloves. She glances up at them and smiles as they enter, and they see that she has additional red eyes spread across her forehead.
Sonic shivers, being reminded of the sandtrap. But sure the barkeep wasn't like the corrupted creature. Still, it didn't mean Sonic was any more fond of getting to know her.
At a table near the back of the bar sits one of the many curious sights Tel'Adre has to offer: a white-haired, ebony-skinned woman, sporting twitching feline ears and tail. The curious-looking and mostly human girl sports a pair of form-fitting white leggings and a matching top hat. An unbuttoned leaf-green waistcoat hangs slack around her slender hips, and it doesn't take Sonic and Shadow long to see the reason for the lack of closure: her squeezable H-cup breasts, settling burdensomely on her chest. Smooth, touchable skin covers her chest, face, hands and presumably the rest of her; it seems her animalistic accoutrements stop at kitty ears and tail. She takes a deep swig of her drink, following it up with a cute little burp.
The boys see Urta on a bench in the corner with her feet propped up on a stool. Her tail is coiled tightly around her left leg, as per normal according to Shadow. The pretty gray fox gives them a slight nod before turning her attention back to the large square bottle of whiskey in front of her.
For some reason, Sonic feels drawn to the fox girl. Unsure why, he looks back at Shadow. "I wanna talk to Urta first."
Shadow tilted his head a bit, then shrugged. "Alright. Let's head over then."
Sonic nodded and the two walked over to her.
Urta smiles broadly and noisily slurps a few dribbles of whiskey from her shiny black lips, watching them approach. She gives them a smoking-hot 'come-hither' look and slurs, "I didn't think I'd get a chance to bump into you here, cutie. Wanna dance?"
"Ugh, she's clearly drunk." Shadow rolled his eyes.
Before Sonic can answer, something thumps the table hard enough to shake it. He looks at Urta quizzically, and she shrugs through a blush so bright it's visible through her fur. As the two hedgehogs watch her curiously, the lithe fox squirms in her seat, panting and gasping, "Ummm, maybe later, I just realized I have to- OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT?"
A bit startled, Sonic and Shadow spend a moment looking over their shoulder, but can't for the life of them figure out what she was freaking out about. She must be really drunk! They turn back, Shadow ready to scold her, but Urta has vanished! She must have left in a hurry – she left her bottle of "John Doe" behind, and still half-full. The bar's back-door swings closed, maybe she went that way.
"That fox." Shadow grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "This is the second time she's run off without explanation."
"Well, then let's follow her." Sonic easily suggested, going out the backdoor. He didn't know why, but something was telling him that he had to do this.
The backdoor opens out into a narrow alley. Surprisingly, the alleyway is covered in dirt and grass. Awnings from the buildings above cover the alley in shadow, making it difficult to see anything out here. The boys can hear quiet gasps and a wet, repetitive sound.
"What the hell?" Shadow frowned.
"Shhh." Sonic hissed back.
Quietly approaching the source of the noise, they eventually spot the dark-colored fox. Her tail is no longer wrapped around her leg. Instead, it's splayed out behind her and her skirt is pressed up over her legs. Urta's totally exposed, and it's plain to see that between the fox-girl's legs there's more than a little horse. Both her hands are wrapped tightly around the quivering column of horse-flesh, stroking the pre-cum dribbling fuck-stick relentlessly as her apple-sized balls bounce under her, occasionally revealing a feminine gash drooling with clear nectar.
Urta moans and cries, "Ooh, just go down! Please cum and go down! Why won't you go awayyyyyy..." eventually breaking off into blubbering sobbing, interrupted by the occasional involuntary gasp of pleasure.
Shadow blushed and quickly looked away. He wasn't expecting that.
"Oh, um…" He started unsurely, gently grabbing onto Sonic's elbow. "Come on. You don't need to see that." He started going back inside the bar, but stopped when he realized that Sonic wasn't following him. He looked back at the blue hedgehog in confusion. "Sonic?"
Sonic stood there, wide eyed as he looked down at the sobbing fox. Her situation and the way she hated it… it was similar to him. He felt bad, seeing her this way. And because of that, he shook his head and gave Shadow a sorrowful look.
"Shadow I… I can't leave her like that."
Shadow's eyes widened a bit in shock. "So… what are you gonna do then?"
Sonic looked down to the ground, pinning his ears to his skull a bit. "Go back inside… I'll meet up with you in a bit."
Shadow didn't know what to say, so instead he just nodded and went back inside, leaving his friend with the upset herm, hoping he knew what he was doing.
