I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or any of the characters.

Hunting

Jasper narrowed his eyes as Mia walked out of the hideout, shaking her head. Another dud. He'd covered his tracks well, it seemed. He'd known they'd come for him. Of course, being a Changeling, covering his tracks wasn't hard. However, he had a nasty habit that would be his undoing eventually. He was a manwhore wherever he went. He would frequent brothels with money he'd stolen, and he'd have a hideout just outside of town where he'd bring non-prostitute women he'd seduced, and then keep them once he'd had his fun, that way he could have more fun when he felt like it. Knowing that, they were able to search villages quickly, but it was still a long process. There were a lot of towns to search.

"What are we going to do with the women he's probably collected when we find him, this time?" Mia asked. "Kill them?"

"Maybe," Jasper shrugged. "I'd rather not have to forge another new identity, even if this one is currently a fugitive. Of course, if they don't realize I'm a Changeling like him, it shouldn't be a problem."

"So...we'll let them live?"

He hummed thoughtfully before finally shrugging. "We'll see when we get there. No point in deciding anything before we know what's what."

Mia nodded, climbing up onto their stolen horse behind him, wrapping her arms around him. "Maybe we'll get lucky and a few of the women will want to show us some gratitude."

"After being kidnapped and raped for who knows how long, I kind of doubt that," Jasper snorted. "But if they offer, you're welcome to accept."

"And will my mate be joining us if they do?" Mia asked.

"If they invite me as well, then yes," Jasper nodded.

Mia smirked knowingly, and they quickly left the village, heading for the nearest city. If they knew him, he'd want to go to a larger city. There was more of a chance to hide among cities than among a village. Disappearances were common in some cities, and he could go unnoticed. And with more people, there was less of a chance for them to notice him. Or so he thought. However, as they reached the nearest city, Jasper grinned. He was here. His personality left a certain feeling in the air. An uneasiness that the whole city would feel. It was in the way the guards at the gate eyed everyone passing through suspiciously. The way their nondominant hands gripped their sheaths, ready to draw swords at any moment. Jasper shook his head, dropping his weapons into his shadow before his appearance began to change. His armor melted into his shirt, leaving him dressed plainly, his shirt's sleeves extending to full length as his vambraces melted away. His skin paled slightly, his face elongated just slightly while his nose shrunk, and his hair turned golden and grey long, held together at the back into a ponytail reaching his waist. Beside him, Mia shook her head, her blonde hair turning brown in a wave starting at her head, her ears rounding out as her skin darkened, her body growing a few inches and her cerulean eyes darkening to brown. Her clothes were tight now, especially as her breasts ballooned, but the clothes managed to successfully restrain her growing bosom. Once both had adopted their new forms, Mia grimaced, adjusting her new assets in her top before they started into the city. They got inside with no trouble at all, and then began to ask around for the nearest brothel. Apparently, there were six in the city, and they quickly headed to the nearest. It was easy enough to find, as the closer they got, the more women stood on the corners, calling out to passers by, and the women grew more and more bereft of clothes the closer they got to the building, until they finally stepped into the building and the women who worked at the brothel were walking around wearing nothing but panties, if they wore anything at all, and many were plying their trade in plain view, as all of the rooms seemed full.

"Well, hello," the proprietor of the brothel smiled, being the only clothed person in the building, as she stepped in front of Mia and Jasper. "Pay before pleasure."

"We're here to find a friend of ours," Jasper explained, passing her several coins. "He'll be here every day, probably sees several of your girls at once."

"No one here comes several days in a row," the woman said. "Our girls are too skilled at their jobs for that."

Jasper nodded, looking around. He wasn't here. He'd be memorable. And besides that, the atmosphere in the establishment, while smelling like it needed a deep scrubbing, wasn't unpleasant or tense. He thanked the proprietor, and they left, heading for the next brothel, then the next, then the next. Finally, they walked into the last brothel, and immediately knew they had found the right place. The air was tense, and everyone's eyes were on the ground, except for the six women plying their trade for him. He was reclined on a thickly padded bench, allowing two of them women to tend to his erection while the other four played amongst themselves for his viewing pleasure, all six largely ignoring his wandering hands. However, as soon as he spotted Jasper and Mia stepping into the brothel, and as soon as they spotted him, he screamed. The two women tending to him shrieked in disgust and indignation as his erection all but vanished, accompanied by a fountain of piss. The women scattered instantly, as though he'd spontaneously combusted.

"There you are, Canan," Jasper smirked as Mia extended her gauntlets' blades. "Been looking for you, pal."

Canan bolted, sprinting for the stairs, and Jasper and Mia pursued him. They could have caught him. Jasper's shadow could have cut him off, or he could have changed his shape and caught up, but they let him run. He burst into a room upstairs, frightening a prostitute and her customer inside the room, then leapt from the window onto a roof outside, only to stumble and fall to the road below. Jasper and Mia followed more skillfully, dropping from the roof to the road and landing on their feet before sprinting after Canan again. As they reached the gate out of the city, pair of guards moved to stop them, but Jasper spun past one's spear, snapping his neck, and Mia slashed the other's throat, neither losing a second on the guards as they continued to chase Canan. Then, finally, he cut left into a cave hidden between a pair of boulders. Mia and Jasper raced in after him, and finally, Jasper shifted his shape, launching himself forward as a serpent, as thick as a torso, and bit into his torso, coiling around him as the venom rapidly invaded his body.

"So, this is where you've been keeping your toys, this time," Mia mused. "Not a bad spot. You're so predictable, Canan. Always the same." She retracted her gauntlets' blade and reached behind a rock he'd been heading for, withdrawing a shortsword. "You're like an open book."

Then, she drove it into his chest and Jasper released him, returning to his original form, shifting into his white-haired form as Mia returned to her blonde elf form. Then, as Canan bled out on the floor, they turned, walking calmly into the cave. They stopped as they reached a torch, using a nearby oil pot and flint to light it, then followed the cave deeper. It sloped down quite a ways before opening into a single, wide chamber sealed off by a heavy, steel door. A ring with a single key on it sat on a peg out of reach from the door, and Jasper took it, opening the door and stepping inside. In the room, over a dozen women squinted against the light. All were young, attractive, naked, and filthy. They'd clearly been there for more than a week already, and had all been used multiple times. Jasper quickly set about freeing the women as Mia took a basin nearby and took it out of the cave to a river nearby, washing it out before filling it with water and dragging it back in so that the women could bathe in privacy from the outside world. As the women washed themselves, Jasper having to wash out the bucket and refill it between each bath, Mia gathered all of the women's abandoned clothes and laid them out, each of the women choosing their and dressing once they were clean, then leaving. All but the last. She was the dirtiest, seeming to have been there longest, and once she was clean, she ignored the clothes set out for her. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Mia.

"You killed him, didn't you?" she murmured, her lips against Mia's throat already.

"We did," Mia nodded, swallowing hard as the woman suckled at her throat.

"Then let me thank you," she smiled.

Except, as she did, Jasper caught a flash of steel in the nearly-nonexistant gap between their bodies. His right arm whipped up, sending his right dagger flashing across the distance into the woman's neck. The woman's eyes went wide as she staggered away from Mia, her dagger clattering to the ground. She pulled the dagger from her throat, a spray of blood following it, and dropped it, clutching at her neck. Blood continued to spurt between her fingers, rapidly dying down to a river coursing down her body.

"...just...anted...happy..." she choked out as the life quickly drained out of her before collapsing.

"What a waste," Mia sighed, picking up Jasper's dagger and using the woman's unused clothes to clean his blade. "Thanks for the save."

Jasper snorted, sheathing his dagger. "No one damages my toy."

Mia grinned, kissing him. "So, now that that traitor fuck's dead and can't sell us out again, what's next?"

Jasper hummed thoughtfully. "Well, we've been thieves, mercenaries, assassins, and bodyguards, as the most fun..." he considered. "Want to go play Lord?"

Mia grinned, nodding. "We going to assassinate one and take their place?"

Jasper hummed. "I don't know. I've grown kind of fond of this look."

"Same," Mia nodded. "Although..." she focused, her breasts ballooning back to what they had been in her brunette human disguise from while they were searching for their now dead friend. "That's better."

Jasper nodded appreciatively. "So, we'll kill him and forge a will naming us, then."

Mia nodded, grinning, and they left the cave, leaving the town behind. As they walked, they discussed their future Lordship options.

"Neverwinter had a change in leadership recently, right?" Jasper asked. "I doubt anyone would look the other way if the new one died. Could spin it into being related to the last one and getting revenge."

"Good idea," Mia nodded, then frowned. "I heard they hired on a lot of extra guards, though."

"Yeah, we'll need to be ready for that," he hummed thoughtfully. "Let's go pick up the weapons we ditched when that rat sold us out."

Mia nodded. "We'll need them."

Jasper nodded, and they turned, starting toward where they had left their weapons.

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