Romantic Tales from the Kingdom of Armello

You pierced my heart, like an arrow... (MercurioxRiver)

[Author's note: Hello again, my dear readers and welcome to the second chapter of Romantic Tales from the Kingdom of Armello! It's pointless explaning on which couple this chapter will focus on as the title and the image already spoil it, but i just wanted to say I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! Once again, I'm gonna give my most sincere thanks to Wolfbourne, who was kind enough to make every chapter image until now! And remember, feel free to comment and review! Now, on with the story... ]

The Lion's Pride settlement... One of the most infamous town of the whole kingdom of Armello... Why? Because that was the place where the public executions of the most dangerous enemies of the King(dom) were held...

Today a new victim was about to be beheaded, a rat with brown fur and eyes wearing some very classy red and yellow clothing with a rose, a white shirt and two earrings in each ear. He was stuck inside a pillory, guarded by four royal soldiers and an executioner as a crowd of townspeople was now gathering in front of them...

The convicted was looking at every person in front of them... He could clearly see sadness in their faces as the one creature that always helped them in the time of need in his own shady ways was about to become a Martyr...

"Mercurio, the Grinning Blade from the Rat Clan..." began to say one of the dogs in armor with a scroll, member of the royal guards "For countless crimes that you have committed against our kingdom and its people including: murder, treason, arson, adultery and infidelity, robbery, sexual offenses..."
"I just tried to kiss her, why does EVERYONE keep holding that against me!" said Mercurio, annoyed that such a minor infraction was one of the many, many reasons as to why he was about to lose his head. Literally.
"As I was saying..." resumed the guard, getting a bit impatient after Mercurio's interruption "Slander and libel, theft, fraud, perjury and worst of all, attempted murder against the King himself!"
"And you can bet your fancy armor that I wished to actually succeeding in killing the bastard!" Mercurio said with defiantly pride as the crowd began cheering for him, some clapping, some laughing, some speaking to one another, all of them making various noises.
"Silence!" Shouted the guard, shutting up all the bystanders as they didn't want to provoke the rage of the Royal Guards "Where was I? You are being sentenced to death by decapitation... Any last wish?"
"Yes, tell your mother she was one hell of a girl..." the rat said smugly, before getting punched by the golden glove of the canine, splitting a golden tooth "Damn... To think how much I had to pay for that..." he said looking down at his precious fake tooth.

Before the guard could strike him again, the executioner pushed him away saying "Stop wasting everyone time... I have a tight schedule and many other criminals to butcher..." The pig in black clothing then raised his ax, ready to cut the rat neck before saying "If you have any regret, any prayer or any last words of any kind to say, here's your last chance..."

"Yes, I still have something to say..." Mercurio said, looking at the pig with his usual confident smile "Goodbye, and have a nice trip in hell!" he said, even waving at him with one of his handpaws.

The executioner was unfazed by the the hero's supposedly last words, as many other criminal had insulted or swore at him before, and he was just about to finally strike him if it wasn't from the fact an arrow that was flung at him pierced his skull at the last second, killing him instantly!

As the body of the pig collapsed on the floor, everyone including the townspeople, the guards and Mercurio himself, looked up towards the roof of one of the houses, the only place where that arrow could be successfully shoot to kill that pig and all of them saw a female wolf with brown and white fur, serious chestnut eyes, a robust armor with rings on her soft tail and a blue cape standing on the top of it armed with a bow.

Mercurio smiled once again "It was about time, doll!" he shouted at the wolfess.

"W-Who is she?" asked one of the soldiers, clearly shaken by the sudden death of the executioner "She is River, the Howling Arrow, from the Wolf Clan and-" the other guard tried to say before getting cut off by another arrow flung at his throat by the archer.

The frightened dog in armor attempted to run away to call reinforcement, but before he could do that River shoot another arrow in his back, ending his cowardly life...

The other two remaining guards ran towards the building she was standing on top, trying to reach her but she swiftly jumped down, outmanoeuvring them as they entered the building...

The wolf quickly reached the trapped rat, freeing him by destroying the lock that kept him stuck inside the cursed pillory with a swing of her hunting knife!

"Took your sweet time to come and save me!" Mercurio said jokingly as he got up, stretching a bit.

"Just be thankful I came at all..." River replied coldly.

Mercurio picked up from the ground his sharp golden tooth and his trusty dagger and sword, as the guards left them in front of him to make him feel defenseless (Well, that backfired badly!) "Don't say such nonsense River, you would never leave me..." the rat was about to say as he was turning toward her, sheathing his weapons in their respective scabbards and putting the piece of gold in one of his pocket, before looking at her serious expression "...You would actually, wouldn't you?"

Before River could answer they both heard an imposing voice shout "Here they are! Get them!"

The both looked in front of where the crowd once was, before all the townspeople run away in panic, as they saw in the distance a squad of soldiers was marching towards them!

"Oh for the love of Wyld..." said Mercurio in a tone that was somewhere between fearful and bothered...

"Just run!" River cried out as she got on all four and started to sprint away, just before Mercurio did the same...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a long chase, River and Mercurio lost the squad of royal soldiers that was persistently chasing them.

They both hide in the boundaries of the Crimson Moor forest, adjacent to the Lion's Pride settlement, as they both were pating heavily after the long escape.

"Uff... River... Uff... Thank you so much..." Mercurio said tiredly.

"You're... Uff... Welcome" she said, smiling a bit...

"You know... You deserve a reward..." said the rat turning to the wolf, swiftly putting his two handpaws on her waist, puckering his lips to kiss her...

River responded by pushing Mercurio, pinning him against a tree, and unsheathing her trusty knife holding it against his neck!

"I... Think you are trying to tell me that I should... Keep the reward to myself, am I right?" the rat asked with a nervous laugh, as he began to sweat a little bit.

The wolf just growled at the rat, baring her sharp fangs before him...

"Yeah... That's probably it!" he said, keeping his frightened fake smile.

Before the situation could degenerate any further a rustling sound made the wolf turn around, out of fear of the fact that could have been made by their chasers...

River let out a sigh of relief once she realized that the sound was just caused by the wind brushing against the leaves of some bushes.

"Mercurio" she said calmly without even turn back to him "I need your help..."

"Oh really! Well I'll happily give it to the one girl that almost cut my neck some seconds ago!" the rouge said caustically

"It's about Thane and Amber..." she continued ignoring Mercurio's remark

Mercurio immediately changed his tune after hearing the names of his two closest friends "Did something happen to them?" he asked worryingly.

"Thane didn't come back to the clan's grounds for weeks now, and I was tasked by the elders to find out why he didn't answer their letters requesting his return" she explained "Barnaby also told me that Amber didn't come back to her clan's grounds after she partook to the latest private council..."

Barnaby, the Screwloose, was with Amber, one of the two heroes of the Rabbit Clan: A brilliant technological genius, the young rabbit was capable of doing with his inventions what others heroes couldn't with strength, magic and trickery alone...

Not that he was weak at all just because he took a scientific approach to problems: he was more than capable to crush heads with his warhammer after all!

Like River and Thane, Amber and Barnaby had a like-brother-and-sister kind of relationship, as the older rabbit often acted as a big sister to the younger bunny.

The disappearance of both Amber and Thane was like a violent gut punch to the young inventor, mitigated only by River promise to find them as he asked him to take care of adventuring business during their absence.

"It's not like them to leave everyone behind without an explanation... Do you think that each one of their vanishing is somehow related?" Mercurio asked

"I don't think it is a coincidence..." the wolf just replied "And as much as it pains me to say I'll need your assistance Mercurio: I'll never be able to find them alone by searching through the whole kingdom, it would be like searching needle in a haystack! I'll need someone who knows well the underground world of the kingdom if I want a chance to find them, and you are that person; so, are going to help me?"

"Sure, I'll lend you a handpaw!" he said affably

River was pretty surprised by Mercurio's friendly response and was even about to smile again, something she did rarely, before the rouge opened his mouth again...

"...But first, what I get in return?" he asked with a cheeky smile

The wolf could feel that her stoic expression was just disrupted by one of her eyes twitching after Mercurio's umpteenth showcase of selfishness

"Are you joking!? I saved your ungrateful arse from getting beheaded and you are now asking for a reward?!" she said rising her voice, another thing she didn't do often.

It was time like this that made River regret not killing the rat some time ago when she had the chance: she was once request by one ally of the Wolf Clan to find the thief the stole his gold and bring it back to him. She found out that Mercurio himself was the thief and in the end, she was able to corner and force him at arrowpoint to give her back the ill-gotten gains! He however, convinced her to spare him thanks to his friendship with Thane and Amber and even proposed to make an alliance!

Surprisingly enough, the huntress accepted!

She didn't know why she did that, probably because she trusted Thane's judgement so much, that if he decided to consider the petty thief a friend, then he probably deserved her trust too, just like with Amber....

That was the biggest mistake of her life...

Since he became her ally and companion of adventure until now, Mercurio was either a useless load at best or an noxious hindrance at worst: between his inability to stop stealing, the various enemies he made in the past and all the times he tried to flirt with her it was a miracle that the wolf didn't ask to be the one to cut Mercurio's head during the public execution rather than saving him!

"My dear River... I already wanted to give you a reward, it's not my fault that you refused it!" Mercurio said in a condescending tone, as he walked past her "So what are you gonna give me if I accept?" he asked, giving his back to the wolf.

The rat then heard the sound of a string stretching, and turned around to see River ready to shoot at him with her bow!

"I'll give you the permission to walk out of this forest without an arrow sticking out of you body. Deal?" she asked with an impassible expression

Right in that moment Mercurio felt so scared the he was barely capable of swallowing his own saliva, but he found a way to compose himself and answer "D-De-Deal!"

"Good... Now let's move, we are still not out of danger... The royal army it's probably still looking for us, so we need to leave this place before they find us!" she said before walking deeper into the forest.

"I'm right behind you..." he said halfheartedly...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was night time as Mercurio and River were still walking in the middle of woodland. While the wolf was overall fine, the rat started to feel tired of their trip...

"River... Can we...?" he tried to ask.

"No, we can't Mercurio, not until we get out of this forest, you should know rather well that Crimson Moor is said to be the hunting grounds of those wretched Banes... And I bet my bow and arrows that the royal maggots are still searching for us there, so resting here would be like making a death wish!" she answered already guessing what his lecherous companion was going to ask...

"How much I hate when you are right..." the scoundrel simply stated.

As they walked deeper into the forest, Mercurio started to grow anxious: he felt like someone was following them and the faint sounds he was hearing around him combined with the shadows that he almost swore he saw moving as they passed them didn't help him at all...

"R-River, I have a bad feeling..." Mercurio whispered, trying to sound not to much intimidated

"Really? What a coincidence... I feel that way too..." she replied

"Are you worried?" he asked, getting curious

"Not really... I always felt that way when I'm with you..." she simply said sarcastically, smirking

"Oh you...!" Mercurio was about to say before being interrupted by a loud screech!

They both turned around, hoping that the creature that made that sound wasn't what the think it was...

And, unfortunately for them, it was!

In front of the two heroes was floating a bird-like creature with black feathers, big wings, deadly talons, cracks in its body that let out a purple mist and light of the same color of its empty eyes and a sharp beak attached to his skull-like head.

It was a Bane, one of the natural bringer of the deadly disease known as the Rot!

"The day couldn't get any worse, could it?" Mercurio rhetorically asked as he unsheathed his sword and dagger, putting his left arm behind his back, hiding the smaller weapon as usually did in any fight...

"You couldn't resist the temptation to jinx it Mercurio!" River scolded as she pointed to her right towards another Bane!

"Damn it! How many of them are around here?!" he asked angrily as he saw another one to his left

"Too many..." River darkly replied as they were surrounded by 4 Banes!

The wolf and the rat were now back-to-back with no way to run away, the only thing left to do was battle for their life!

"River..." Mercurio began to say, without looking away from their assailants "I just want to tell you that regardless of everything, it was honor fighting alongside you..."

The wolf turned her head slightly around, giving to the rat one of her most sincere smiles " I feel the same way..." she said

Almost on clue, one of the Banes took the chance to dash towards the wolf as she was distracted and was "rewarded" of its impulsiveness by three arrows: the first struck its right wing, the seconds his chest and the third its head, killing it!

Meanwhile Mercurio was waiting for the other one to strike, and as it pushed away his sword with a swing of his wing to get closer to him to strike, the rouge fencer took the chance to stab it in the head with his dagger, ending its horrible life...

The other Bane attacked just after the other was slain, exchanging blows with the rat, forcing him to take backsteps parrying its attack until he was stuck with his back against a tree, unable to evade it anymore, but the rat took advantage of the situation to do a quick, reckless attack to its neck, cutting the head of the monster, beheading it!

"Oh the irony..." he thought as he gazed at the headless body of the Bane, considering that was the fate he would have met today if it wasn't for River...

Mercurio then looked around to see if there was any other enemy left, but he fortunatly only saw the wolf turning towards his direction...

"We did it! We survived! We won!" he thought relieved... But that feeling didn't last long as he started to count the corpses on the ground "Wait! One, two, three... Where is the fourth one!?"

The rat looked towards River once more, and to his horror, saw that behind her the last Bane was gliding out of the shadows it used to hide and was about to strike the archer in the back!

"River! Look out! Behind you!" Mercurio screamed as he ran to her before it was to late!

"Wha-" River was about to say as she turned around before being interrupted by a familiar screech as she saw that the beast was mere inches away from her and about to strike!

She thought that was the end for her and brace herself for the worst...

That never came because she was pushed away by the brave rat who was hit in her place by the beak of the foul creature as it pierced his shoulder while he screamed in pain!

"Mercurio! Nooooooooooooooo..." River herself cried out, seeing the rouge she presumably despised giving his life to save hers...

After some agonizing seconds, the Bane pushed with his talons the motionless rat on the ground, as he laid there lifeless...

As the body of her savior fell to the ground, River started to feel something she didn't felt for a long time...

Tears...

Her tears...

She shakingly unsheathed her hunting knife, her expression changing from distress to pure rage as she lunged to the monster screaming "DIE, YOU SON OF A WHORE!!!"

River stabbed the Bane through its chest, making it screech in pain before trying to slash the wolf with its talons, but the huntress stopped it before it could anything else by twisting her knife inside its wound, making the plague monster screech once again as it slowly and painfully bled out...

In the end, River withdrew her knife once she was sure the beast was dead, as it also fell on the ground and lied lifeless...

She took a look at her knife and saw that the blood of the Bane made the blade purple...

She threw away the weapon, not wanting to use one that was tainted by those monsters, as while these kind of tools were powerful, they could also infect the user with Rot!

She looked down once more and saw the body of Mercurio two feet away from the Bane she had just slain...

She couldn't believe it...

After all the adventures the faced, after all the troubles they had to endure because of him, after all the time she wished him to just get out of her life...

Mercurio finally died...

That was what she truly wished, right? That he would get what he deserved after all the crimes he committed, right? She was finally happy that he was dead now, right?

No... she wasn't...

The wolf was crying like she never did before in her whole life... The death of Mercurio affected her much more and in a totally different way than what she would have thought, as it made her realize things she completely ignored before...

River lied to herself when she said she hated the rat: Mercurio was selfish, irresponsible, perverted, greedy, cowardly and mischievous, yes... But behind all of his flaws he hid an heart of pure gold...

When the beggars asked his help, Mercurio always gave the some gold, when some innocents were in danger, Mercurio despite his fearful personality always threw himself into the fray to save them, when she needed his help, Mercurio always gave it to her...

He was a flawed rat... Yes, but that didn't stop him from being a true hero in the time of need!

Even though the wolf already saw the death of many other people before her eyes, only few of them made her feel this sad, and Mercurio's was one of them...

Why? Was because she was disappointed that all the effort she put to save his life was wasted by his selfless sacrifice, or was it because she had just lost the only one that could truly help her to find her friends...

No, it wasn't for neither of those reasons...

River was now in this state because, despite all the problems the rouge caused to her, she still cared about him... No, she loved him!

Yes, the archer actually wanted to be his fiancé , as she slowly but surely fell in love with him after all the time they spent together.

But the wolf hid her feelings with fake hate because she believed that a womanizer rat like Mercurio would never love her just as much as she loved him, and convinced herself that he probably didn't deserve her affection...

And now... He was dead... He never knew that she didn't find her that bad.... He never knew she cared for him... He never knew she loved him!

She felt like the biggest fool of the whole kingdom... Repressing her feelings for so long, insulting one of the most wonderful person she ever met in her life without ever telling him how she actually feel about him...

Making an alliance with Mercurio wasn't the biggest mistake of her life, treating him the way she did WAS!

He wasn't scum... SHE was!

And now... She lost him... Forever... As she is unable to do anything but crying on her knees...

"M-Mer-Mercurio?! W-Why?! Just, why did you had to throw yourself at it like that?!" the huntress sobbed in despair on her knees, in front of his body "No, it's not your fault... Why didn't I pay more attention?! I'm an idiot! If I had been a bit more careful, I would have spot that damned fiend retreat and you..." she sobbed even harder as she thought about that "Y-You would still be alive..."

River slowly got up, her eyes never stopped gazing at the rat "I failed you... I couldn't save you twice... The people of my clan called me an heroine... But what kind of heroine can't protect the ones she holds dear?! I'm just a tasteless joke... I'm sorry..." she said, weeping some more...

She felt her legs almost giving in, as she was barely able to stand up "I never told you how I truly felt about you... That, you are much better than how most people describe you as... That, I was so happy being at your side despite everything... That... I love you!" she said, screaming the last part in the hope that the rat would get up after uttering the magic words...

He didn't move an inch...

River pointed her snout on the sky and began to howl sorrowfully, as it was a customs for the wolves to do so after the death of one of their clan members...

She knew perfectly that would make easier for the Royal Guards and other Banes to find her, but at this point, she didn't care as she lost not only Mercurio but also the will to live...

"Ri...Ver...?"

"What?" she thought, looking around, wondering if someone really called for her...

"Riv...Er..."

She looked down on the ground and saw that Mercurio was slowly opening his eyes!

"He's.. Alive! He's still alive!" the wolf thought happily as she quickly kneel in front of him.

"River... Get away..." the rouge said, his eyes half-closed as he looked at her muzzle...

"What?! No, forget it! I'm not leaving you behind!" she said, looking back at him, grabbing his handpaw reassuringly.

"The... guards... They'll..." the rat speech was interrupted by a cough "Reach... Run... Away... River... Run..." he said, before falling unconscious once more.

"Mercurio?! MERCURIO?!" the archer called him, attempting to wake him up, in vain.

River had to think fast if she wanted to save the rat life...

She tear off some of his fancy clothes and took a look at his wound to see how deep it was and, needless, to say, she found out it was pretty deep!

But he wasn't bleeding to much, so she may still had some times left to bring him to the closest settlement and find a doctor!

BUT, the closest village they could reach in less than a day was the same one they were running away from...

BUT, if she decided to instead go to another town, Mercurio may die before they could reach it!

The huntress had no choice... She had to take the rouge to the Lion's Pride settlement, avoiding the Royal Guards in the process and finding a doctor in time!

She grabbed Mercurio, and started to carry him reverse bridal style, walking as fast as she could while also avoiding to outright run as she was afraid of hurting him more...

"Don't die on me Mercurio! Did you hear me?! Don't you DARE die on me!" she said to the rat...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The old apothecary was sleeping peacefully after a day of hard work in his bed inside his house, which doubled as his workshop, before being woken up by someone knocking on the main door...

The wise dog got up grudgingly, walking to the entrance despite feeling extremly tired and sleepy "Who in the world could be knocking on my door in the middle of the night?!" he thought irritated

At first he answered his own question by thinking that there might be some thieves or, worse, a squad of the Royal Guards in front of his door, but then he realized that none of them would actually bother knocking when they could easily burst into his home if they wanted...

"I'm sorry but I cannot..." the canine was about to say while opening the door, as he didn't want to help any client this late in the night, at least until he found out WHO was about ask for his help...

In front of him was standing a female wolf with a desperate look on her muzzle, holding an injured rat that despite the life-threatening wound on his shoulder was still somehow breathing!

"Pl-Please, h-help him..." she sobbed, her snout wet with tears...

The elderly doctor recognized who the two strangers in front of him were, and he knew perfectly that if he helped them and the Royal Guards found that out, his lifespan would considerably be shortened...

But he still was Wolf Clan loyalist, and if a member of that clan asked for his help, he would give it to them!

"Bring him inside, quickly!" he said...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mercurio slept peacefully for the whole night, despite his nasty wound, and when he woke up, he found himself in a comfy bed, covered in sheets. After he opened eyes they were greeted by some rays of light coming out of a window, revealing that it was now morning...

He turned his head on his right and found River sitting on a chair, looking exhausted. Clearly, she didn't sleep for the whole night as she was probably watching over him...

"Mercurio?" she asked, noticing that he woke up.

"Well..." the rouge said in a raspy voice "I never thought I would reach heaven after all my wrongdoings... But I still manage to do it, because now a beautiful angel is next to me..."

The wolf rapidly got to the side of the bed as she grabbed the rat handpaws "Mercurio... I-I thought you were gone... That, I had lost you..." she said

He weakly smiled "It's not so easy getting rid of me..." he joked

The rat then realized how close their snouts were to each other and decided to take the chance and puckered his lips once again...

And got a painful slap for it!

"Ow! What's that for!?" he asked vexed.

"YOU CRETIN!" she shouted in his face "Why the hell did you have to throw yourself like that at that monster?! Do you actually desire to die?! I was wearing armor, I could take the hit!"

"Yeah sure, I have no doubts that the rags you are wearing could protect you from the piercing power of a Bane's sharp beak! Hell, it's a miracle I'm still alive somehow!" he argued, as he was now his turn to get angry at the ungrateful behavior of someone.

"You completely lack of a sense of self-preservation! You always do so many stupid things that could get you killed... How do you think Amber, Barnaby and Thane would react if you died?! How do you think I would react?!" she said frustrated.

"That's who I'm River" he dismissively stated "That's one of the reason why I'm known as the Grinning Blade: I could smile in every situation, even the most lethal"

"You are so selfish! Why don't you tell my why you pushed me out of the way of the Bane's attack instead of making up excuses?! WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME THE TRUTH?!" the wolf asked, screaming once more.

"Oh for Wyld's sake! Isn't it obvious, River!?" Mercurio asked exasperated "I did that for you because... I LOVE YOU!!!"

The archer was left dumbfounded by the rouge's words... She never expected the rat to say those three words! Yes, Mercurio did regularly shower her with compliments on how good-looking she was, but she never imagine he would actually hear him saying... such strong words!

There was a long and awkward moment of silence between the two, both unable to look at each other...

Until Mercurio didn't summon all his courage and resume speaking to her "As you know, in the past, I didn't behave in the most righteous way... I lived of the stolen riches of unscrupulous nobles, or at least the part of it that I didn't donate to the poor... And regularly wasted all of my money by buying clothes and drinks, gambling and other delightful activities... I also enjoyed the... "company" of many women that I seduced with my look, manners or wealth" the rat took a deep breath before continuing "And then... During that heist that went south, I met you, River... You changed my world, girl, you made me realize just how... Empty my life was, how I believe to own everything I wanted, but I really had actually nothing..." the rouge gripped tightly his sheet "You are so different from all the other ladies I met, I don't want to just be with you for a day or less... I want to be with you for my whole life, by your side!" he let out a sad sigh "But... I couldn't tell you that... After all the shenanigans I pulled, you would probably never believe it if I told you how I really felt before... You would probably just thought I was tricking you... So, I kept all of it a secret as my heart knew that in the end my dream of becoming a better person and reveal my true feelings to you was that, just a dream..."

After his long speech, Mercurio just lowered his head, not able to make eye contact with the girl he loved...

He however soon felt something soft touching his cheek...

It was River paw, as she was kindly stroking him!

"Mercurio... Forgive me, I was unfair with you... Yes, you are sure rough around the edges, but... You didn't deserve all my hostility..." the wolf said before withdrawing her paw, looking away bashfully as she smiled "You are an outlaw, yes, but I rarely met someone who was so kind and too many people that abided by the law that were complete scumbag!" she continued before looking once again at him as she kept her shy expression "Being with you made me realize just who you hid behind that façade of a scoundrel, and I fell in love with that person... You pierced my heart, like an arrow and..." River couldn't finish her sentence as she was interrupted by the rouge, pushing his lips against hers, kissing her!

Mercurio excepted the huntress to slap him again for such bold move, but she instead gently placed her paws on his back, as she also pushed her lips in his...

"Oh my... That was unexpected!" an unknown voice said.

The wolf and the rat both interrupted the kiss and turned towards the door as they both saw an old dog standing in front of them...

"Er, maybe I should give you a bit privacy and come back to check later?" he proposed.

They both blushed deeply, as they felt a bit embarrassed to be seen in such an intimate moment, before the archer spoke to him...

"No, it's all right, Doc..." River said, making a gesture with her right paw before turning to Mercurio "He is the apothecary of Lion's Pride, and with me, one of your two saviors, Mercurio" she explained to the rouge.

"Really? Then, I must say, sir, you did a pretty good job at patching me up! I almost feel no pain in my wound!" the rat said before stretching, which proved to be a mistake as he soon felt a stab of pain in his shoulder "Never mind!" he grunted with a flinch.

"Easy there! Painkillers can help you up to a point!" the doctor said as he got closer to his new patient...

After checking his wound and changing the bandages, the dog gave his diagnosis...

"You are a very lucky rat, Mercurio... If that Bane stabbed you just a tad more down, it would have pierced you heart, and at this point there would be nothing I could do..." he explained

"Well... Being lucky is something required for my job, Doc!" the rouge joked.

River, however, was still a bit more worried "What about the Rot, sir? Did Mercurio get infected by it?" she asked, really hoping that he would answer "no"

"I'm sorry, Miss. River..." the old doctor began to explain as he cleaned his glasses "But it is too early to tell if my patient got infected by that dreadful disease.... One of the many reason as to why the Rot is so dangerous is that it takes a while for the contaminated to show the symptom of the infection... The only effective action we can take right now is waiting an see how the situation develop..."

"It's alright" Mercurio said "I know two druids that own me one, so, if needed, I think they could help me..."

"Thank you again for you precious aid, sir..." River said to the elderly dog with a grateful smile

"Think nothing of it" he replied politely "As a doctor and an ally of the Wolf Clan, I'm just doing my job"

The apothecary was about to leave as he turned to the door and said "Feel free to remain there as long as you wish, but I think it would wiser leaving as soon as possible... The Royal Guards are still searching for you..."

"By the way, about what you saw before..." River said with a blush before getting interrupted by the old canine "What do you mean? I didn't see anything out of place..." he said slightly smiling with a wink as also the wolf smirked because the dog instantly understood that it was important to them keeping this relationship a secret...

"Hey Doc!" Mercurio said, making the dog turn "Catch!" he said, throwing at him a small yellow object!

Despite his age, the doctor manage to grab the flying item with his right paw and by taking a look at it he found out it was a golden fang!

"That's the payment for the medical bill!" the rat said with a grin, revealing his missing space between his teeth.

"Well, well, well... Thank you for having paid so fast, Mr. Mercurio! I'll leave under the care of your companion and come back to check you tomorrow! Have a nice day!" the wise apothecary said before leaving.

And so like that, Mercurio and River were alone once more, but this time it was different... Because they now knew the feelings they had for each other!

"River... Could I ask you a favor?" the rat requested

"Sure, Mercurio what it is?" the wolf answered with another question

"Could you... Lay with me in the bed?" he asked with shyness "I mean, I don't certainly want to do something special right now, I'm not into the right conditions at all... I just want to... Sleep with you... If that make any sense..." he explained, blushing.

River just looked at him with one of her usual serious expression...

"Never m..." Mercurio was about to say, disappointed, when he heard the sound of metal object falling on the ground and saw his lover taking off her armor before she got in bed with him!

"I just want to be clear... I'm just doing that because I'm tired and there are no other beds in this house..." she explained strictly with a blush...

"You know that I don't believe you, do you?" he asked wryly, gently lying his head against her chest...

"It was worth a shot!" she said giggling, scratching his chin playfully.

They both cuddle for a bit in the bed silently, just enjoying the different feel of each other's fur before Mercurio spoke again...

"Yesterday, when I briefly woke up after getting injured, I heard you howling River... I heard all the sorrow in your voice... But I still couldn't stop thinking on how harmonic your voice was... If you weren't an archer, I think you would have a future as a singer!" he said, petting her head.

"I actually did sing as an hobby in the past..." the wolf explained as she was hugging him from behind as the rat was laying with his back on her torso "I sang battle ballads, folk songs and other tunes regulary in the middle of the Wolf Clan's grounds when I was younger, with Thane giving an instrumental accompaniment!"

"Wait, wait, wait... Thane knows how to play musical instruments?!" Mercurio asked, surprised beyond belief!

"Yes... What, you thought he was the kind of guy that didn't know to do ANYTHING but slicing things with his sword?" she asked accusingly.

"Hey, he never told me anything about that! And his title is The Winter Wolf, not The Freezing Bard!" he responded

"You are not entirely wrong... Thane didn't exercised his musical talent often after..." River was about to say, but interupted herself, finding hard to say the truth...

"After what?" Mercurio asked, who wanted to get to the bottom of the story

"After his father died and his brother was banished from the kingdom..." she finished to explain, sadness clearly audible in her voice.

"Oh..." the rat simply uttered, feeling sorry for his best friend...

"He never told you that either, did he?" the wolf asked sombrely

"No, he didn't... And I don't blame him at all..." he answered, with his usual facetious tone gone...

They both stayed quiet once again, before River found a way to cheer them up a bit!

"...However he did once take his old lute in his paws, recently" she said, a smile already forming in her lips.

"For what occasion?" Mercurio asked, becoming curious.

"He made a serenade for Amber..." she answered, her smile still on her face...

"That's... Really romantic! Amber is so lucky to have a guy like Thane fall in love with her! I wish I could play some musical instrument myself..." he said, feeling happy for, if a bit envious of, his friends...

"I still like the way you are, Mercurio..." River said, kissing him on the forehead.

"Recklessness and all?" he asked with a sly grin.

"There's... Always room for improvement..." she stated.

They both laughed heartily before River changed the subject of their argument...

"Mercurio... Even if it doesn't look like that... I'm really worried about Thane and Amber's condition..." the wolf said with concern...

"Me too, River... But I trust those two enough to know that they can take care of themselves easily... Especially if they are together..." the rat said, attempting to reassure his beloved

"I wish you were right... But we'll never know if they are safe if I don't find them and make sure they are alright..." she said, still unsure

"In that case... You can still count on me!" he said, putting an arm one her back

"What?! NO! Forget it, Mercurio! I'm not letting you come with me! Not with that wound!" she said with firmness

"You think little, old me would slow you down?" he asked bothered

"It's not something about speed! You can barely walk with that injury, let alone fight! It's too dangerous!" she explained

"And do you think I'm not also concerned with your safety, River? Yes, you are perfectly healthy unlike me but... If you have to sift through the entire land to find those two you will be bound to meet a lot of deadly perils! I already have a huge weight on my conscience, my dear, and I have no intention to make it even heavier by letting you run off to this adventure on you own!" he said, grabbing her by the cheeks and looking into her brow eyes, making a point...

"Mercurio, please..." she tried to say before getting shut up by his voice.

"You really want to leave me behind, when I'm wanted by the authorities? They will find me in no time if I stay in one place for too long! We HAVE to stick together, River, it's the only way!" he said before whispering "Please... Trust me for once..."

The wolf felt conflicted: she didn't know what to do... Any choice she made brought a great risk along... So she decided to believe what the one she loved said and go along with it!

"Just... Don't do anything too stupid..." the archer said, hugging the rat, making sure not too push to much of her weight against his wound...

"I can't make promises... But I'll try..." the rouge said, hugging her back...

"I love you Mercurio" she said, rubbing his cheek once again

"And I love you River" he replied, gazing at her lovingly.

They both kissed once more, before finally falling asleep in each other arms, resting for the whole day...