Dystopian Future

Ezra didn't bother switching on the lights. The windows lit up the apartment, and even if they hadn't he could find his way around the dark, and Rivik didn't need light to see. The fox soon left his side, and Ezra removed the spell, letting both of them relaxed. Now day's he could hold the spell without a problem, but he remembered how he struggled with it at a younger age. It couldn't hold a longer time, and or if he managed to do so, he often collapsed due to the amount of energy he used. He could almost laugh at that as he removed his coat and the gloves, home being the only place he didn't used them.

"You wish for some food?" he asked the fox, mostly wishing for company while he eat.
"What are you offering?"
"Fish soup"
"Could be worse" Ezra knew that meant that the fox wanted some as well and he opened the fridge, soon finding what he sought for and started cooking.

He wasn't the best chef, but far from a bad one, and despite being blind he managed more than well. He could use Rivik's eyes, that was true, but he had learned to make food at a young age without the spirits eyesight, and that habit stuck with him. As the soup was done he placed two bowls at the table, soon having the fox joining him.
"You know, I don't say this often, but your food isn't half bad"
"Oh aren't you in a friendly mood today" Ezra smiled.
"Well just for that comment, I take it back, this is awful" The Shaman knew it was false, but he didn't comment on it as they continued eating.

"But wasn't today fun, meeting the werewolf"
"You hated him" Ezra pointed out, only to hear the fox grin.
"I did not! Or okay I did, but he was a prick"
"He could be worse. There are far worse creatures out there, and during the situation I think we can give him a pass"
"He forces us to move! And he was messy"
"Both being a lie. Jax's forces us to move, and he tried to clean, interesting enough. Never think I would see a wolf clean"
"He said you smelled like his mother, that's creepy!"
Ezra laughed, well it was clear that the fox didn't like the werewolf, but Rivik rarely liked anyone. When he first encountered him the fox hated him as well. Mostly due to the fact that every shaman had detested him. Ezra founded his ways delightful, and his thoughts was often similar to his own. Ezra stroke the fox, giving him affection and it was like the animal melted, leaned into the touch. Ezra only smiled as he finished his meal.

A long time ago, Zemins father had taught him about family and what it meant to have a pack. The oldest son had never really understood the weight of it until that rainy night, when the brothers were curled up together on the bed finding comfort in the fact that they were not alone in the world. It was essentially more or less a complete mess of fur and legs, but at the same time it was nice and cozy. Xue had already managed to clean his brothers dark fur, whilst bragging about his own coat. To be entirely fair, it was both nice and soft, but inte the end he preferred his own pelt. The colours of their furs were quite similar, yet not entirely alike. Zemin had very dark brown strands of hair, with some lighter spots, while the younger brother was completely black. Another being could certainly tell them apart, if they looked a bit closer.

So what actually happened today? You haven’t really talked about it yet, Xue thought as he started nibbling at the other ones tail.
Well, to begin with my body started forcing the transformation upon me right out in the open street. So I hurried to one of the more narrow backstreets, hoping to find some dark corner. Then I noticed the fog and everything started hurting so ducking bad because I resisted, naturally. Zemin suddenly snarled towards the younger one, as he stepped over the line with his snapping. That hurt, you turd.
I’m sorry..won’t happen again, he promised and placed his head on one of the pillows instead. Anyways, what happened next? Xue continued and rolled over, with all four legs in the air. What a turd.
The white wolf got to me after I’d started screaming my lungs out. He basically dragged me down to the weird basement-office-thingy. And you know..you can’t really stop shifting when it’s started, so I turned right in front of the weird dude. It was so embarrassing and then I tried to clean up the mess I made..what a mayhem! Did you notice how the place smelled like our old house by the way? Well, his scent reminded me of moms, so I told him and then everything got weird as fuck. While retelling the story, Zemin couldn’t help but find the whole thing kind of interesting in the end. Embarrassing, yet still interesting.
The last part is really fucked up tho, but I must admit that it reeked of magic.. The other one replied, almost immediately regretting his thought.
Fuck you too.

The pale, scared fingers touched the paper as he went over different districts.
"It's would be nice to have it in a nice district" Rivik complained as he let his eyes wonder back and forth over the map.
"Well nicer district means more humans, and I am not to keen on that. Not only because it will be easier to spot us, but also because I don't want to be surrounded by them"
"It is ashame that we can't kill them"
"Well I agree, but we both know it isn't possible to kill every human, not even in the city" Maybe it had been possible if every race come together for that fight, something that would never happen, seeing the despite some of the races had between each other. "So let's find a location, and we can curse some humans, enjoying that at least"
"Oh I love when you think like that" Rivik got excited and Ezra smiled, but didn't say anything.

Ezra studied the building on the map, located in the Distillery District. It was safe enough not to be far gone, almost resulting in martial law, but not fancy enough for people to be suspected. He snapped his fingers, summoning two ravens, Corvo and Ceòl, and he stroked both of them.
"Can you investigate this for me?" he pointed at the building, former known as the Golden Cat. He knew it had been a small pleasure house once, but it had closed down a long time ago, few humans wishing to go there. The ravens nodded and left as soon as he opened the window.
"Hope its any good"
"We will know as soon as they return" Ezra started brewing another cup of tea.
"At least they are more useful than Jax"
"He is useful and you know it. We are just upset for today"
"I hate when you are right" the fox walked over to his favorite location by the window and Ezra broke the spell, letting him enjoy the view alone.

All of a sudden, there was a loud knock on the front door. It wasn’t one of those threatening knocks, but rather a firm one. Zemins amber eyes slowly moved from the door towards his brother.
What do we even do? I mean, we can’t exactly open the door and say hi. The older brother shook his head and managed to get up on his paws.
Do we ignore it then, or what? Xue wondered and followed the older ones lead, taking a swift leap down from the bed. His paws hit the floor with a loud thump and the claws clattered against the surface.
No, I don’t think that’s the way to go..what if it’s work related? Zemin pondered and stared at the door with his teeth bared.
What if it’s someone who wishes to get rid of us? You made a lot of noise earlier this day.. the younger one pointed out, with his tail tucked between his legs and a snarl across his face. It was more than obvious that the two wolves were frightened and felt attacked, even though they didn’t know who was lingering outside the door.

They waited for a while, wanted to see if the person had the decency to leave or not. Sadly it didn’t turn out for the better and Zemin finally lost his temper.
Okay, I’m fucking over this, Zemin stated and started undoing the locks with his teeth. After a short while of fiddling, the final lock clicked loudly and the door slid open.
I’m scared. Xue let out a worried whimper as he moved closer to his brother.
Don’t be, I’m sure it’s nothing, the older ensured and pushed the door fully open, only to reveal a young man on the other side.
“What..” he began, only to immediately become pale as a ghost as he laid eyes on the two wolves. “Oh fuck! You scared me, Zemin”, the man continued with a long exhale, before the colour started returning to his face. “You shouldn’t wander around in that form, it’ll end badly.”
Maybe that’s why we’re inside of our apartment and not wandering the streets? Ever thought of that, you dumbass? Zemin let out an irritated sigh and observed the man through the narrow eyes. His name was Aron, one of the men currently working under the Wang section of the association. Twenty years of age, human yet still aware of the supernatural orders. He was a nice kid, but had an annoying tendency to screw up
“Anyways..one of the other leaders asked me to give you this”, Aron continued after some unnerving silence and handed over a folder to the bigger one of the wolves. “And..is that raw chicken on the floor? Dude, that’s disgusting!”
Ok, that was it. Zemin firmly pushed the young lad out through the door and dragged it close, before starting to fiddle with the locks again.
Is it wrong to eat raw chicken? Xue asked and rolled around on the floor, whisking up all the dust in multiple small clouds.
Humans definitely think so at least. I don’t approve of their ways of judging us, they’re equally as weird and disgusting.

Ezra felt the light weight of the raven when they landed on his shoulders, he offered them both some crumbs, which they happily accepted.
"It's a negative" Corvo informed him and Ezra felt a bit disappointed.
"How come? Nothing that can be change?"
"Unless you wish to remove a large group of ghouls, no" Ceòl told him, and that wasn't something Ezra wished for. Even with magic, ghouls was hard to kill, due to their healing abilities, and most of them were crazy. While the vampires often tried to blend in, not leave trails after them, the ghouls didn't care. It was almost as they wished to be found sometimes. Ezra wished to avoid them as much as he could.
"Nasty creatures"
"They are" Corvo sounded almost as disgusted as Ezra. "But we found another potentially location"
"You never seem to make me disappointed" Ezra took use of Corvo's eyes as the raven flew over to the map.

"It's an old pub, abounded since long, just as the houses around" Ezra looked at the house, placed at the old port district, which had been fairly abounded since the new port was built. The premiss seemed to be a bit larger than he had thought, but it was isolated, making visitors highly unlikely. He would have more rooms than before, making it possible to separate his work, avoiding the risk of different magic acting up.
"And you can even make it into a store" Rivik landed on the table next to him.
"Yeah you can definitely do that" Ceòl agreed with the fox and Ezra sighed.
"I will think about it, if it pleases you" he stated, having no thought of doing that. He couldn't tell if the spirits believed him or not, but they dropped the matter.

"Can you figure out who owns it?" he asked the ravens, seeing that if he wished to settle down at the old pub, he couldn't occupy it without raising suspicious.
"We will" the two birds left once more and Ezra removed the spell, seeing he didn't know to see what Corvo saw at the moment. He took a sip from the tea, wondering if the building was for sail, and the cost, knowing that if he would start a shop, he needed to own the building.
"You are thinking about it, aren't you?" Rivik asked.
"Oh shut up" Ezra only answered him, returning to his tea, pretending that he was to occupied to talk to the fox.

What’s in the folder? Xue stopped sweeping the dust off of the floor and looked towards his brother with large eyes.
Why are you so goddam nosy? Can’t you just mind you own business instead? Zemin asked, just as he started to open the folder. There only seemed to be one single paper inside. He carefully pulled it out with one of his paws and stared at it, trying to read the text.
Come on! What does it say? The other wolf exclaimed and rolled over once more. Did you get a raise or something? Why are your eyes so huge? He later continued and shook out the black fur, that had become somewhat plastered to his slim body.
No..the boss wants me to visit him in his private residence, Zemin answered and looked extremely confused. I don’t understand why though.

It had never happened before - that the big boss had sent a private invite to the wolf. He didn’t really know why, but for some reason it felt like bad news. What if he got fired or was asked to do something more despicable than usual? If that actually were to happen, he couldn’t exactly refuse and if he did, he’d probably get killed on the spot.
Anyways..Zemin slowly began eventually, after re-placing the invite in the folder. I’m hungry as hell, and I will finish that chick before you even know it. He sent a mocking glance towards his brother, before pouncing on the raw chicken, more or less attacking it. After that it didn’t take many seconds before Xue was also trying to get a bite, resulting in some kind of strange wrestling match. In the end, the chicken split into two large pieces and both wolves got their reward. Zemin couldn’t get himself to deny that it’d have been more fun if they were in the woods, hunting live animals instead of dead ones. But that wasn’t a possibility in the world they currently lived in. Hunters flooded the forests, hoping they’d catch something nice in one of their traps. Some quality wolf fur could probably become a nice jacket or something. Neither Xue or the older brother wanted to take that risk, and there was no real hunting ground in the slums. Maybe if they wanted to hunt for humans, however that just seemed very wrong.

The hours passed by in a flinch and soon the grey shy had turned pitch black. With their stomachs filled to the brim with chicken and fish, the brothers had fallen asleep in a pile on the floor. Zemin didn’t have any dreams that night and slept fairly well considering the hard floor underneath his body. Xue on the other hand, had found a really nice position using his brother as a pillow. It really wasn’t fair at all. Even though he was fast asleep by then, he still managed to promise himself that he’d bite the younger one in the morning.

His nails made contact with the table over and over as he thought about it. The building was at a affordable price, the location was alright, and he needed a new office, however the man that owned it was a man Ezra hated. The man was dwarf, named Zeldon, and he hated for some reason unknown to Ezra Shamans. Truly Ezra didn't take to much liking or care for his own kind, but it didn't mean he liked when other hated them. The man didn't know he was a Shaman, unless it was information that had gotten out somehow, which Ezra doubted. But only seeing and hearing how he hated Shamans irritated him, especially since he talked about it openly, on the streets. The humans wasn't found of dwarfs, but they didn't kill them, and why would they? The dwarf had been smart and played their cards as they were only short people, and nothing more, bastards.

"Made a decision?" Rivik asked when he felt him moving, as it had even been a debate. Ezra needed a new location, the pub were perfect and he just needed to put his opinion away, acting mature.
"Let's go"
"Just took you the whole night to get there!" Ezra didn't answer the fox, putting on his coat and gloves, soon leaving his home.

"What do you want with the building?" Zeldon asked with a heavy accent.
"I wished to open a antiquarian, and thought the building would be perfect"
"Why my building?"
"Thought it would be a waste to let a part of our towns history getting lost. And it was a affordable price, in a decent district"
"It's almost empty out there" Zeldon was clearly suspicious, making Ezra wonder if he really wished to sell the building.
"Someone has to start with taking back the district. But if you are't interested in selling, I will be on my way" Ezra didn't felt like wasting time on the other creature, and he almost stod up when the other one hindered him.
"Apologising sir, just wishing to be sure you aren't going to do any illegal things" Ezra didn't even bother answering it, pretending to be offended by his words. "Aye I am selling it"
"Glad to hear it, heres what you have demanded" Ezra removed a check from his pocket. "The bank informed me that it's the right price"
"It is" he answered, seeing to be pleased with understanding how the man had managed to get the text on the paper. "You just need to sign the pappers, here's the key"
"I will take the papers to the bank with me, making them read it for me, and then sign it for you, is that alright?" Ezra asked as he took the keys, the man already had the money, and if Ezra didn't like the contract, a bit of magic could help him change it.
"Acceptable" with those words said, Ezra left the awful mans office, heading towards his new one.

Can you like move or something? Your head is heavy, Zemin complained and stirred impatiently. But Xue didn’t answer and only moved his head a tiny inch, accidentally leaning on a sore spot on his brothers back.
Get off! I have a bruise right there! The older one blurted out, revealing the sharp row of teeth before he managed to crawl away. With a dissatisfied, low growl, he shook out the ocean of fur and gulped up some of the water in the bowl. Thereafter he headed to the bathroom, where he started the painful process of shifting. One bone cracked, then another one and another one and eventually the rest of them. It wasn’t easier to change back into the human form than it was to transform into his true one. It might have been of the reasons why it took him no less than ten minutes before he was finally able to stand up on two legs instead of four. Both hands clutched the sink as he leaned over the basin to study himself in the mirror. The trembling fingers travelled along the pale face, making sure everything was normal.
“Fuck”, Zemin mumbled and looked back into the dirty bowl. Nothing was actually wrong with his face, but the bags under his eyes were huge and the skin was even more pale than usual.

Why are you cursing at the mirror? Xue wondered and shortly thereafter strolled into the bathroom. The dark tail was wagging and the dark brown eyes looked up upon the older brother.
“Because I want to..look at the bags under my eyes! I’m supposed to meet with the big boss today and I look like shit”, Zemin wailed and buried his face in the trembling hands.
You don’t look that bad, the younger one assured and sat down on the tiled floor.
“Thats very kind of you, but we can both see that I look like a ghost”, the other one replied and squatted down, so he could easily start to comb his fingers through the thick fur. “I wish I could just have stayed in this form instead, it’s not that bad when you start to actually think about it”, he continued quietly.
Stop acting like your some kind of sad puppy, just go there and act like you know stuff, Xue stated and nodded with determination filling his eyes.
“I’m not a sad puppy”, Zemin protested and made his way into the bedroom instead, to find a set of clothes. “What do you think about this?” he asked and held up his choice of clothing - a pair of black jeans and a white shirt.
Very causal, but sure. Go for it, bro.

Ezra coughed as a cloud of dust reached him from opening the door.
"What the fuck! Couldn't he have cleaned it before selling" Rivik was more than pissed off.
"As you woul...well actually I think that's one of the things you would have done" Ezra patted the fox stepping further into the building. The windows was whole, impossible to see through at the moment, but still whole. Some table was left from when it had been a pub, just like the counter.
"Why not opening a pub?" Rivik looked at the empty bottles scattered over the shelfs.
"Because I don't wish to deal with drunk idiots" Ezra knew he would get tired to soon, most likely doing something that would result in dead costumers, and people would hunt him. Rivik didn't answer as they continued towards the backrooms and stairs, leading to the higher floors.

The higher floors had been completely empty and in worse shape. A few wholes in the walls, broken windows, blocked doors, but nothing that was impossible to fix, and even make nice.
"We could actually live here" Rivik made them both look out over the water.
"Mm" Ezra only answered, it was more than possible, but he wasn't sure if he wished to live where he worked, for safety if nothing else, and he liked his apartment.
"Let's look at the pier and outhouses"

The outhouses was relative small, and he couldn't see a use for them except storage, and he didn't planing on overfilling the house with things, forcing him to use the storages. The Pier was in better shape than he thought, but he knew he would use that even less, not interested in buying a boat. Also; the seas was fucking unsafe with every creature living there. But it could be a nice relaxing spot, if he cared to make it into one.
"Let's start cleaning"
"Finally, I don't wish to stay here if it isn't cleaned" Rivik complained once more and Ezra walked towards the building, snapping his finger, summoning equipment to help him clean the upper floors as he did the first one for hand, if someone would come by and see him.

Once Zemin had dressed himself and combed through his black hair a couple of times, he looked at least kind of decent. Not great, but better than before. As a final touch he splashed some water on his face, trying to make himself look more awake.
Why are you throwing water at yourself? Xue asked and followed his brother through the kitchen, towards the front door.
“I’m trying to look alive, because right now I basically look like a ghoul”, Zemin explained as he started tying his dress shoes. They weren’t really that nice or anything, but still better than his other ones.
Wow, you look kinda fancy, the younger brother thought and started sniffing at the older one. Are you wearing perfume? The fuck bro, you’re not going to a date or something.
“Obviously i already know that, you don’t actually need to tell me”, Zemin began and threw his only jacket over the shoulder. “But it’s the big boss and I want to make a good impression”, he continued and opened the door, leading out from the apartment. “Don’t go out wandering in that form, okay?”

With those words, he closed the door behind him and started strolling down the street. He didn’t want to be too early, yet not late. Therefore he walked at a slow pace, with both hands in their respective pockets. The rain had disappeared, but most of the clouds still remained where they always were. It was extremely rarely that the sun peaked through them.
Zemin wasn’t surprised when it came to the greyness of the environment, because it was simply always that way. How many times had he seen the sun? Around ten times maybe? Some people had it better, when they could travel far to the south and get more frequent glimpses of it, but a rouge werewolf didn’t have much of a chance at a life like that. Just as the rest of his kind, he had to stay quiet and do his job without question. Or to be fair he didn’t know about the others, as he was the only werewolf actually working for the association. And he hadn’t met and other ones either, only seen a far at that disgusting fighting pit
The man lowered his gaze, walking carefully across the slippery bridge that led towards the nicer areas. Unlike the area he lived in, the houses here were huge and clean. Most of them were also surrounded by nicely maintained parks and high end stores. Zemin was headed for the nicest of the buildings - the really tall one with the penthouse. Life really wasn’t fair, huh? More like other way around actually.