{ "submission_id": "3782663", "keywords": [ { "keyword_id": "881031", "keyword_name": "allomancy", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "4" }, { "keyword_id": "678", "keyword_name": "anthro", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "238993" }, { "keyword_id": "1007", "keyword_name": "blood", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "22591" }, { "keyword_id": "852520", "keyword_name": "cain stafford (urbeast)", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "14" }, { "keyword_id": "303", "keyword_name": "canine", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "203264" }, { "keyword_id": "60", "keyword_name": "cat", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "223920" }, { "keyword_id": "45382", "keyword_name": "character death", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "16" }, { "keyword_id": "451237", "keyword_name": "character develoment", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "4" }, { "keyword_id": "932", "keyword_name": "death", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "13296" }, { "keyword_id": "3", "keyword_name": "dog", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "182356" }, { "keyword_id": "21562", "keyword_name": "fanfic", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1911" }, { "keyword_id": "3330", "keyword_name": "fanfiction", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "3293" }, { "keyword_id": "62", "keyword_name": "feline", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "159531" }, { "keyword_id": "1557", "keyword_name": "furry", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "132249" }, { "keyword_id": "852521", "keyword_name": "greggory bast (urbeast)", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "12" }, { "keyword_id": "190624", "keyword_name": "hairless cat", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "192" }, { "keyword_id": "359393", "keyword_name": "implied male/male", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "6" }, { "keyword_id": "191", "keyword_name": "magic", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "26743" }, { "keyword_id": "186270", "keyword_name": "magic users", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "8" }, { "keyword_id": "165", "keyword_name": "male", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1253513" }, { "keyword_id": "42664", "keyword_name": "male solo", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "25646" }, { "keyword_id": "542", "keyword_name": "mature", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "6261" }, { "keyword_id": "111014", "keyword_name": "mistborn", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "9" }, { "keyword_id": "7488", "keyword_name": "original characters", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "6177" }, { "keyword_id": "8212", "keyword_name": "pit bull", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "373" }, { "keyword_id": "2875", "keyword_name": "pitbull", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1469" }, { "keyword_id": "13974", "keyword_name": "sfw", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "31095" }, { "keyword_id": "113773", "keyword_name": "sphinx cat", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "51" }, { "keyword_id": "44769", "keyword_name": "story development", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "20" }, { "keyword_id": "848938", "keyword_name": "story focus", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "6" }, { "keyword_id": "969", "keyword_name": "violence", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "4673" }, { "keyword_id": "13849", "keyword_name": "writing", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "2119" } ], "hidden": "f", "scraps": "f", "favorite": "f", "favorites_count": "0", "create_datetime": "2025-12-30 23:25:18.651168+00", "create_datetime_usertime": "31 Dec 2025 00:25 CET", "last_file_update_datetime": "2025-12-30 23:20:15.390079+00", "last_file_update_datetime_usertime": "31 Dec 2025 00:20 CET", "username": "URBeast", "user_id": "609016", "user_icon_file_name": "360431_URBeast_urbeast_profile_use.jpg", "user_icon_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/360/360431_URBeast_urbeast_profile_use.jpg", "user_icon_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/360/360431_URBeast_urbeast_profile_use.jpg", "user_icon_url_small": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/360/360431_URBeast_urbeast_profile_use.jpg", "file_name": "5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.doc", "file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/5852/5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.doc", "file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/5852/5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.doc", "file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/5852/5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.doc", "thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/5852/5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.jpg", "thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/5852/5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.jpg", "thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5852/5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.jpg", "thumb_huge_x": "300", "thumb_huge_y": "300", "thumb_large_x": "200", "thumb_large_y": "200", "thumb_medium_x": "120", "thumb_medium_y": "120", "files": [ { "file_id": "5852636", "file_name": "5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.doc", "file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/5852/5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.doc", "file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/5852/5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.doc", "file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/5852/5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.doc", "mimetype": "application/msword", "submission_id": "3782663", "user_id": "609016", "submission_file_order": "0", "full_size_x": null, "full_size_y": null, "screen_size_x": null, "screen_size_y": null, "preview_size_x": null, "preview_size_y": null, "initial_file_md5": "f300a09e63c2ab332f906510b5160f3a", "full_file_md5": "f300a09e63c2ab332f906510b5160f3a", "large_file_md5": "", "small_file_md5": "", "thumbnail_md5": "8d0b622e3907fe6c38407fc7f905a963", "deleted": "f", "create_datetime": "2025-12-30 23:20:15.390079+00", "create_datetime_usertime": "31 Dec 2025 00:20 CET", "thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/5852/5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.jpg", "thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/5852/5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.jpg", "thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5852/5852636_URBeast_furry_oc_mistborn_au_ch_4_story_only_.jpg", "thumb_huge_x": "300", "thumb_huge_y": "300", "thumb_large_x": "200", "thumb_large_y": "200", "thumb_medium_x": "120", "thumb_medium_y": "120" } ], "pools": [], "description": "Summary:\n(All/most characters anthro/furry)\nIn the mist and ash of the Final Empire, Greggory Bast is tasked with yet another assassination task by his domineering step-father, Lord Quartermain King. Using his vast suite of Allomancy abilities, he sets out into the night to end the powerful head of a rival House.\n\nChapter 4: Greggory and his new ally Cain infiltrate Keep Lobos and evade detection.\n\n\nCharacters:\nGreggory Bast (Male, Sphinx cat (Noble), 22) Allomancer: Mistborn\nCain (Male, Pitbull (Skaa/Noble), 25) Allomancer: Mistborn\nAriadne Lobos (Female, Wolf (Noble), 50) [Unknown]\n\nNotes:\nAnother with not much to say… in the ‘each chapter intros a new metal pair’ run, I kinda struggled on where to place pewter/tin. I mean, they’re so fundamental to how Mistborn operate, I sort of wanted to include them much earlier, but it never really worked out to devote a full chapter to just them before this one. I think I had some vague implications in the first three chapters that Greggory’s senses were better, or his body was stronger/faster, but hard to say if it ended up feeling like a kind of foreshadowing to this one, or like I was just desperately avoiding talking about WHY he was ‘improved’ in those ways.\n\n… It was kinda the latter. Sorry about that heh.\n\nOn a sidenote, I struggled with how to maintain Greggory’s stealth as he entered, especially with the points that the Misting guards were burning their metals. I mean, copper would keep him hidden from the Seeker. But how does he not get noticed by the Tineye, or iron/steel Mistings? Uhhh… I’m not totally sure. I guess, internally, my thinking is that he was sneaky enough to not make too much noise for the Tineye(s) to notice, and the Lurchers and Coinshots were JUST distracted enough to not notice random new metal lines entering the Keep. Maybe that’s something of a suspension of disbelief, or maybe I made some mistakes… But, I mean, that’s kind of a thing the original books do too, where characters have metals on them and are sneaking around, but anyone with iron or steel SHOULD be able to see them? Idk if I’m just over-estimating the distance they can sense metals or what lol.\n\n", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Summary:
(All/most characters anthro/furry)
In the mist and ash of the Final Empire, Greggory Bast is tasked with yet another assassination task by his domineering step-father, Lord Quartermain King. Using his vast suite of Allomancy abilities, he sets out into the night to end the powerful head of a rival House.

Chapter 4: Greggory and his new ally Cain infiltrate Keep Lobos and evade detection.


Characters:
Greggory Bast (Male, Sphinx cat (Noble), 22) Allomancer: Mistborn
Cain (Male, Pitbull (Skaa/Noble), 25) Allomancer: Mistborn
Ariadne Lobos (Female, Wolf (Noble), 50) [Unknown]

Notes:
Another with not much to say… in the ‘each chapter intros a new metal pair’ run, I kinda struggled on where to place pewter/tin. I mean, they’re so fundamental to how Mistborn operate, I sort of wanted to include them much earlier, but it never really worked out to devote a full chapter to just them before this one. I think I had some vague implications in the first three chapters that Greggory’s senses were better, or his body was stronger/faster, but hard to say if it ended up feeling like a kind of foreshadowing to this one, or like I was just desperately avoiding talking about WHY he was ‘improved’ in those ways.

… It was kinda the latter. Sorry about that heh.

On a sidenote, I struggled with how to maintain Greggory’s stealth as he entered, especially with the points that the Misting guards were burning their metals. I mean, copper would keep him hidden from the Seeker. But how does he not get noticed by the Tineye, or iron/steel Mistings? Uhhh… I’m not totally sure. I guess, internally, my thinking is that he was sneaky enough to not make too much noise for the Tineye(s) to notice, and the Lurchers and Coinshots were JUST distracted enough to not notice random new metal lines entering the Keep. Maybe that’s something of a suspension of disbelief, or maybe I made some mistakes… But, I mean, that’s kind of a thing the original books do too, where characters have metals on them and are sneaking around, but anyone with iron or steel SHOULD be able to see them? Idk if I’m just over-estimating the distance they can sense metals or what lol.

", "writing": "The misty night swallowed the city district, buildings packed tall and high, seemingly surrounding the imposing fortification that was Keep Lobos. A wall, mostly stone with sharpened edges at the top, surrounded the outer edge of the property, with several gates, metal for lack of a better alternative, bolted in firmly at some intervals. The actual Keep was largely a short distance from the walls; enough for a few people walking side-by-side along the wide, plant-edged pathways around the sides, a small front courtyard and a larger back. Its shape was sloped, extending high several stories up in a frontal tower, square near the upper floors with three multi-floor expansive stained-glass windows adorning the front of the building. As it sloped down to the lower floors, it grew longer, extending out behind to make space for the large ballroom, the walls of which had similar circular stained-glass installations along the sides. Several limelight lamps stood outside the building, shining up against it, making the colored glass of vaguely religious displays seem to glow in the misty night.\n\nIt was through the smaller front courtyard that Greggory and his new, temporary, companion Cain dashed into the Keep's grounds.\n\nHeart hammering, Greggory flared his pewter, letting its strength and stability surge throughout his limbs. The power granted by pewter in Allomancy, of course, was to enhance one's body. Not just stronger and more durable, but more agile, faster, greater endurance... Even at the break-neck pace he approached, dashing speedily through the courtyard to the front stairs and its main entrance, a supernatural balance and dexterity kept him from losing his footing.\n\nCain must have done the same, as the large black-furred pitbull kept pace with the mistcloaked feline. He held his obsidian-edged cudgel in both hands, tucked close to his chest as he ran, easily matching Greggory's near-silent sprint.\n\nThey crossed the misty yard in no time, avoiding notice of the guards departing on either side, who moments earlier had crossed one another's patrol paths as they wound around the walls, one inside and the other outside on the city streets. Neither had noticed the pair of Mistborn breaking into their employer's grounds.\n\nGreggory was glad of that, as he and Cain sidled up to the big, wooden front doors. A few of those outdoor guardsmen had been Mistings, Allomancers with access to one metal alone. Still, even a normal opponent could be a threat, even to Mistborn, so ones with an Allomantic advantage were even more so. He'd been especially worried about one of the two Seekers he'd detected; also able to burn bronze and feel the pulses of Allomancy in use, one of them may have been able to sense the approaching duo in spite of their copperclouds providing protection.\n\nAfter all, Greggory could still feel the three groups of Misting guards outside, despite each having a dedicated Smoker shielding them. A flare of his own bronze assured they were still moving and acting as normal.\n\nPewter smoldering in his belly, Greggory pressed back against the wall beside the door, hidden by an alcove above and thick, brown-yellow crops of plants that rose well over the height of most men. On the other side of the closed doors, Cain had slipped into a crouch, the skaa Mistborn tucked low despite his muscular, burly frame.\n\nIt felt... wrong, somehow, that the pitbull lacked a mistcloak like the one engulfing Greggory. Tassels of grey and faded blue cloth, cut narrow, swayed around him, the hood pulled up close against his hairless head. It had always been something of a... an encouragement, like the cloak made the Mistborn to him. It assured him that, despite everything else his family seemed to see of him, they recognized, in some small way, the power and skill that he possessed.\n\nWith bronze flared a bit, pushing through copperclouds nearby, Greggory could feel how intricately the bulky canine managed his metal burning. Pewter kindling low, barely a thrum of it, but tin flaring to listen and feel through the door for guards inside.\n\nGreggory did the same, closing his eyes and perking his ears. \n\nAs he flared tin, it did as it always did, amplifying his physical senses. The wood porch beneath his feet felt... rougher, and sharper, icy cold in the chill, misty night. The near-forgotten sweet twinge from a bit of fruit he'd had hours ago, still just barely noticeable on his tongue, became as though he'd just taken a refreshing bite. Through his closed eyelids, the lanterns burning on either side of the door's awning seemed to blaze, intensely bright.\n\nAnd, beyond the door behind him, sounds from inside. Thumping footsteps, a murmuring pair of voices; mundane guards, shuffling down a stairwell it sounded, grumbling to each other about the long shifts through the misty night. About not being paid enough. About the utter lack of excitement that guard work provided them. \n\nHe could hear Cain's amused, near-silent scoff at the guards' conversation, muffled as it was. Greggory opened his eyes, peering down to meet the pitbull Mistborn's gaze, and flushed when the other male winked up at him, before silently nodding at the door, a quiet question.\n\n`Would you like to go in first, or should I?'\n\nThe cat, despite his warm cheeks- which he hoped even with the dog's tin would go unnoticed in the cool misty night- steeled himself and gave a nod, setting a paw on his own chest. Cain nodded back, shifting his position. Greggory stepped away from the wall, moving to stand at the middle of the two doors. With iron and steel simmering in his stores, he could see the faint blue lines ethereally connecting him to the metal inside the doors; he'd practiced some, so hopefully, with a little pushing and pulling, angling...\n\nHe winced, then, smirked triumphantly as something `clicked' over, unlocked. Deftly, pewter burning, he grabbed the door handles and turned them, shoving them inwards and rushing forward on silent feline paws.\n\nThe entryway was a big, two-story affair, wide and open with two sets of straight stairs on either side. Up the middle, a doorway sat open, heading into a darkened room that was probably for entertaining guests, or perhaps for the festivities that so enchanted many of the nobility. Doorways on the ground floor led out on either side as well, right at the bottom of the stairways.\n\nThe two guards who'd passed had descended the stairs on Greggory's right, it seemed, and crossed over to the doorway on the left.\n\nWithout the boon of tin, neither heard the careful opening of the door behind them, nor felt Cain and Greggory on silent paws slipping up behind them. Greggory lunged forward, lancing his glass dagger around and through the rear guard's throat as the man nodded at something his companion was saying, silencing him with the slightest `urk' of choking on blood. At the same instant, the pitbull Mistborn had surged, performing quite the one-handed move; he hooked his sturdy, rough-padded paw under the elk guardsman's muzzle, yanking him sharply backwards and down, driving his knee viciously up at the other man's spine with a sickening crack.\n\nSped and strengthened with pewter, the two moved and executed their attacks in the blink of an eye. Without a word, the throat-slit guard and the neck-shattered guard collapsed to the pristine floors, dead. A splash of red droplets dotted the wall nearby.\n\nGreggory fell into a crouch, tail curling near his feet as mistcloak tassels engulfed his slender figure, eyes alight as he glanced up and down the hall. Listening, by ear and by bronze senses, for any commotion that signaled they may have been revealed in their approach or attack.\n\nThere was a Tineye, a Misting able to burn tin to enhance their senses, on that floor. If anyone was going to detect them at that moment, it was likely to be whoever they were.\n\nCain, of course, had been told of the Tineye before the two Mistborn had made their approach. He nestled against the doorway leading out of the entryway, peering through it into the room beyond, cudgel held in sturdy hands.\n\nAfter a few seconds, and a flaring of bronze to check on Allomantic pulses nearby, Greggory relaxed slightly, Cain noticing and doing the same. Even with tin burning hot in his stomach, the cat found that both of their breathing and movements were near-silent; hopefully that meant they were being quiet enough that any troublesome tin Misting wouldn't take notice.\n\nAt least, not too quickly.\n\nGreggory, crouched at the foot of the stairs, glanced up at Cain's face, meeting his hard, brown eyes. The dog gave a nod, then tilted his crop-eared head towards the doorway they stood near, slight but emphatic. The entry to the basement, and its hidden vault of treasures, was down that way, along with the entrance that the canine Mistborn would prepare for his allies to enter by.\n\nThe cat nodded, but nudged a thumb back up the stairs they stood at the bottom of. His target, in turn, was stories above, in the Keep's library.\n\nThis was where they separated. A shame; Cain seemed a solid partner.\n\nAt the thought, Greggory flushed, even though only he was aware of the thought. INFILTRATION partner, he mentally corrected, ears feeling hot as he crouched, tin and pewter smoldering in his stomach, body nimble, strong, and aware.\n\nCain shifted, starting to step over the two dead guards to pursue his thieving target. Before he did, though, Greggory... well, he couldn't quite help getting one last word in. He stood, silently stepping and grasping the canine's bare, scarred forearm with his free hand. The dog looked at him, confused and alarmed, probably think that Greggory had sensed or heard something he'd missed. His ears, cropped sharp, perked, his eyes alert and alarmed.\n\nGreggory shook his head, and near-silently whispered, ``No changes. But... No Mistborn should be without a mistcloak, if you ask me. In a few nights, start visiting the Iron District belltower at the height of the night, I'll try to meet and bring you one. I'm... I think it'd look good on you.''\n\nThe dog's eyes widened, surprised. He blinked, then... slowly gave a slight wry smile. ``Then the two of us better not die tonight,'' he murmured lightly, teasingly. Greggory smiled back, heart racing and thumping so loudly in his ears that the cat was sure the other male's tin-burning would let him hear it just as loud.\n\nLowering his paw, Greggory gave a nod, both confirming and dispatching.\n\nSwift and nimble, the bulky pitbull strode over the two dead guards and through the doorway, into the half-lit room beyond. Greggory watched, heart beating and face warm, as the shabbily-dressed skaa Mistborn departed from view.\n\n`Lord Ruler, he is a handsome one...' the cat thought lightly, before quickly stifling such a thought. N- No, he... Cain was just a temporary companion who was doing a favor for the cat, now, and getting a mistcloak made for him would just be a small token of appreciation for that service. That was IT.\n\nGreggory forced himself to think of something other than the oddly alluring, scarred skaa halfbreed. Something like his actual mission, and the numerous guards and Mistings that would stand in his way.\n\nWith tin to sharpen his senses, and pewter to steel his body, the cat bolted up the steps of the stairs, taking them three at a time on bare, quiet feet. He ascended fast, mistcloak tassels fluttering softly around him, the light cloth it was made of thankfully doing little to make any noise as he moved.\n\nBut not too fast; his best defense against being noticed by the Coinshots on the third floor was to make the metal lines linking to his coins and vials seem like just another guard moving about, disappearing into the armored wanderers.\n\nProwling, tail flicking behind him, Greggory reached the second floor and moved down one of the side halls; this floor, he knew, was built around a large rectangular hallway, which itself engulfed the ballroom of Keep Lobos. The middle of the floor would be the upper floor of the ballroom, where a number of private tables would be arranged, while the lower floor would be for larger tables, a dance floor, space for a band... Nothing particularly special, as far as the cat was concentered. On the outer edge of the second floor, however, was a ring of rooms, some guest bedrooms, others meeting rooms, probably an office or two for one purpose or another. At the far end, opposite the entryway's stairs, was a flight of stairs for the nobles to ascend to the third, fourth, and fifth stories.\n\nSlinking down the hall, bare feet padding silently on the smooth and treated wood, he made his way towards the stairs. His tin-enhanced eyes saw in the darkened hallways perfectly well, the metal making everything seem brighter, sharper; even things at a distance were clear.\n\nOf course, that had also been why the mist had been easy to navigate for himself and Cain, whereas to the mundane guards and non-Tineye Mistings outside it would have been obstructing and near-blinding. Tin inexplicably made the mists seem... clearer. Not less PRESENT, really, but not something that blocked the tin-enhanced eyes. He could still have seen its movement, twisting and curling around him as he burned metals, drifting in the wind, disrupted by moving bodies, but the night was clear to his sight.\n\nNow, though, there was none of that obscuring mist. A shame; hiding in it with his cloak would have been a comfort.\n\nInstead, he moved along largely dark halls, lit only by the occasional oil lamp; not too many, of course, as the stuff was still expensive. For one not burning tin, it would likely be just enough light to navigate and keep an eye out; for Greggory, skin prickling at the slightest temperature changes, ears alert to the most distant creaks, feet sensing vibrations through the floor of another two-person guard patrol moving around the second story, it might as well have been late in the day just before sunset. Dimmer, but not dark.\n\nPewter made his every move nimble and fast, stalking forward. A right turn, then a long hallway, before making a left and then another right; the building was a blocky `triangle' shape, and this internal hall reflected that. One more right turn, and he'd be heading to the stairs to the third floor.\n\nAhead, the soft click of a doorknob turning into place. He froze, pressing his back against the wall beside him, eyes and ears alert, bronze and iron giving him additional Allomantic senses to detect who was moving.\n\nAnother guard, it seemed, based on the multiple metal lines connecting to their body in thick, steady form, denoting plated armor. But, from the slight thrum of Allomancy, he noted that this person was the Seeker, keeping as alert as one could be for infiltrating Mistings and Mistborn. ... Well, apparently not as alert as Greggory himself could be; with the number of metals he was burning, if this other Seeker had the capacity to listen through copperclouds, the feline would have been caught out immediately.\n\nInstead, the Seeker, a scruffy-furred canine woman, stepped out of whatever room she'd been in and yawned. She paused a moment, and Greggory felt her flare her bronze, head lowered slightly as she swayed tiredly on her feet.\n\nSearching for nearby Allomancers, it seemed. The cat's pewter-fueled legs tensed, the slender limbs feeling like taut cables of steel under his skin, as his nimble fingers grasped at one of the glass daggers at his thighs. Seconds ticked by as the armored Seeker guardswoman held the flare for a few moments, Greggory reflexively dimming his own metals just in case, watching and waiting from barely a meter away.\n\nThen, the woman's bronze settled, and she gave a deep, exhausted sigh. ``Fucking night duty...'' she grumbled, turning the opposite direction and shuffling along on her patrol.\n\nGreggory remained frozen, crouched and poised to attack, tin-enhanced ears listening to the woman grumble about some other Seeker who'd apparently gotten drunk and needed an impromptu replacement for the night guard duty. He listened and felt as she strode away, boots thumping steadily along the wooden floor, getting softer and softer as she moved away from the deft hairless cat.\n\nThe Mistborn let himself smirk slightly.\n\nHe moved forward again, practically stalking right behind the Seeker woman as she moved down the hall, another duo of guards just turning the corner with a hand-lantern up ahead, the warm glow of it fading down the hall as they left.\n\nAlmost easily, Greggory let his pewter burn a bit hotter as he reached the stairs, once again bounding up them on his toes, barely even creaking the sturdy wooden steps. Up, up, up, bolt left on the middle landing, up, up, up. He didn't stop on the third floor, just flaring his bronze briefly to see if he could feel the Coinshots that seemed to be posted there; he could, noting them appearing to be stationed towards the front of the building.\n\nUp from the third floor, to the fourth, to the fifth, and finally to the sixth.\n\nThis floor, according to the blueprints both his family and Cain's thieving crew had acquired, was dominated by the House head's private apartment. A massive bedroom, a big lounge, a sizeable water closet, a workspace overseeing the front of the Keep, ANOTHER lounge... and, his destination according to the information he'd been given, Ariadne Lobos's private office and library, a big room situated in the middle space, this floor being similar to the second in having a big hallway looping around the middle, with most of the rooms around the edges and a big space in the center.\n\nSlowing his approach, Greggory padded up to the double doors that led into the library space. Silently, he tilted his head and listened inside, gazing at the bottom edge of the two doors. Light filtered under them, just barely but brightly to his tin-boosted eyes, from inside, and he could hear casual, unhurried steps, soft muttering, and the clinking of ice and glass. Unless someone else was in there holding their breath and holding incredibly still, Ariadne Lobos would be alone.\n\nQuietly, Greggory prepared himself. Daggers, secure but ready. Coins, plentiful. Metals... he felt a bit low from infiltrating the Keep, so topped himself off, gulping down another foul vial of oil and metal shavings, enjoying the surge of stores he felt. Mistcloak curling around his body, hood drawn high to obscure his face, his muscles coiled and his every sense alight. \n\nThe cat gently turned the knobs, hearing them click softly.\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "The misty night swallowed the city district, buildings packed tall and high, seemingly surrounding the imposing fortification that was Keep Lobos. A wall, mostly stone with sharpened edges at the top, surrounded the outer edge of the property, with several gates, metal for lack of a better alternative, bolted in firmly at some intervals. The actual Keep was largely a short distance from the walls; enough for a few people walking side-by-side along the wide, plant-edged pathways around the sides, a small front courtyard and a larger back. Its shape was sloped, extending high several stories up in a frontal tower, square near the upper floors with three multi-floor expansive stained-glass windows adorning the front of the building. As it sloped down to the lower floors, it grew longer, extending out behind to make space for the large ballroom, the walls of which had similar circular stained-glass installations along the sides. Several limelight lamps stood outside the building, shining up against it, making the colored glass of vaguely religious displays seem to glow in the misty night.

It was through the smaller front courtyard that Greggory and his new, temporary, companion Cain dashed into the Keep's grounds.

Heart hammering, Greggory flared his pewter, letting its strength and stability surge throughout his limbs. The power granted by pewter in Allomancy, of course, was to enhance one's body. Not just stronger and more durable, but more agile, faster, greater endurance... Even at the break-neck pace he approached, dashing speedily through the courtyard to the front stairs and its main entrance, a supernatural balance and dexterity kept him from losing his footing.

Cain must have done the same, as the large black-furred pitbull kept pace with the mistcloaked feline. He held his obsidian-edged cudgel in both hands, tucked close to his chest as he ran, easily matching Greggory's near-silent sprint.

They crossed the misty yard in no time, avoiding notice of the guards departing on either side, who moments earlier had crossed one another's patrol paths as they wound around the walls, one inside and the other outside on the city streets. Neither had noticed the pair of Mistborn breaking into their employer's grounds.

Greggory was glad of that, as he and Cain sidled up to the big, wooden front doors. A few of those outdoor guardsmen had been Mistings, Allomancers with access to one metal alone. Still, even a normal opponent could be a threat, even to Mistborn, so ones with an Allomantic advantage were even more so. He'd been especially worried about one of the two Seekers he'd detected; also able to burn bronze and feel the pulses of Allomancy in use, one of them may have been able to sense the approaching duo in spite of their copperclouds providing protection.

After all, Greggory could still feel the three groups of Misting guards outside, despite each having a dedicated Smoker shielding them. A flare of his own bronze assured they were still moving and acting as normal.

Pewter smoldering in his belly, Greggory pressed back against the wall beside the door, hidden by an alcove above and thick, brown-yellow crops of plants that rose well over the height of most men. On the other side of the closed doors, Cain had slipped into a crouch, the skaa Mistborn tucked low despite his muscular, burly frame.

It felt... wrong, somehow, that the pitbull lacked a mistcloak like the one engulfing Greggory. Tassels of grey and faded blue cloth, cut narrow, swayed around him, the hood pulled up close against his hairless head. It had always been something of a... an encouragement, like the cloak made the Mistborn to him. It assured him that, despite everything else his family seemed to see of him, they recognized, in some small way, the power and skill that he possessed.

With bronze flared a bit, pushing through copperclouds nearby, Greggory could feel how intricately the bulky canine managed his metal burning. Pewter kindling low, barely a thrum of it, but tin flaring to listen and feel through the door for guards inside.

Greggory did the same, closing his eyes and perking his ears.

As he flared tin, it did as it always did, amplifying his physical senses. The wood porch beneath his feet felt... rougher, and sharper, icy cold in the chill, misty night. The near-forgotten sweet twinge from a bit of fruit he'd had hours ago, still just barely noticeable on his tongue, became as though he'd just taken a refreshing bite. Through his closed eyelids, the lanterns burning on either side of the door's awning seemed to blaze, intensely bright.

And, beyond the door behind him, sounds from inside. Thumping footsteps, a murmuring pair of voices; mundane guards, shuffling down a stairwell it sounded, grumbling to each other about the long shifts through the misty night. About not being paid enough. About the utter lack of excitement that guard work provided them.

He could hear Cain's amused, near-silent scoff at the guards' conversation, muffled as it was. Greggory opened his eyes, peering down to meet the pitbull Mistborn's gaze, and flushed when the other male winked up at him, before silently nodding at the door, a quiet question.

`Would you like to go in first, or should I?'

The cat, despite his warm cheeks- which he hoped even with the dog's tin would go unnoticed in the cool misty night- steeled himself and gave a nod, setting a paw on his own chest. Cain nodded back, shifting his position. Greggory stepped away from the wall, moving to stand at the middle of the two doors. With iron and steel simmering in his stores, he could see the faint blue lines ethereally connecting him to the metal inside the doors; he'd practiced some, so hopefully, with a little pushing and pulling, angling...

He winced, then, smirked triumphantly as something `clicked' over, unlocked. Deftly, pewter burning, he grabbed the door handles and turned them, shoving them inwards and rushing forward on silent feline paws.

The entryway was a big, two-story affair, wide and open with two sets of straight stairs on either side. Up the middle, a doorway sat open, heading into a darkened room that was probably for entertaining guests, or perhaps for the festivities that so enchanted many of the nobility. Doorways on the ground floor led out on either side as well, right at the bottom of the stairways.

The two guards who'd passed had descended the stairs on Greggory's right, it seemed, and crossed over to the doorway on the left.

Without the boon of tin, neither heard the careful opening of the door behind them, nor felt Cain and Greggory on silent paws slipping up behind them. Greggory lunged forward, lancing his glass dagger around and through the rear guard's throat as the man nodded at something his companion was saying, silencing him with the slightest `urk' of choking on blood. At the same instant, the pitbull Mistborn had surged, performing quite the one-handed move; he hooked his sturdy, rough-padded paw under the elk guardsman's muzzle, yanking him sharply backwards and down, driving his knee viciously up at the other man's spine with a sickening crack.

Sped and strengthened with pewter, the two moved and executed their attacks in the blink of an eye. Without a word, the throat-slit guard and the neck-shattered guard collapsed to the pristine floors, dead. A splash of red droplets dotted the wall nearby.

Greggory fell into a crouch, tail curling near his feet as mistcloak tassels engulfed his slender figure, eyes alight as he glanced up and down the hall. Listening, by ear and by bronze senses, for any commotion that signaled they may have been revealed in their approach or attack.

There was a Tineye, a Misting able to burn tin to enhance their senses, on that floor. If anyone was going to detect them at that moment, it was likely to be whoever they were.

Cain, of course, had been told of the Tineye before the two Mistborn had made their approach. He nestled against the doorway leading out of the entryway, peering through it into the room beyond, cudgel held in sturdy hands.

After a few seconds, and a flaring of bronze to check on Allomantic pulses nearby, Greggory relaxed slightly, Cain noticing and doing the same. Even with tin burning hot in his stomach, the cat found that both of their breathing and movements were near-silent; hopefully that meant they were being quiet enough that any troublesome tin Misting wouldn't take notice.

At least, not too quickly.

Greggory, crouched at the foot of the stairs, glanced up at Cain's face, meeting his hard, brown eyes. The dog gave a nod, then tilted his crop-eared head towards the doorway they stood near, slight but emphatic. The entry to the basement, and its hidden vault of treasures, was down that way, along with the entrance that the canine Mistborn would prepare for his allies to enter by.

The cat nodded, but nudged a thumb back up the stairs they stood at the bottom of. His target, in turn, was stories above, in the Keep's library.

This was where they separated. A shame; Cain seemed a solid partner.

At the thought, Greggory flushed, even though only he was aware of the thought. INFILTRATION partner, he mentally corrected, ears feeling hot as he crouched, tin and pewter smoldering in his stomach, body nimble, strong, and aware.

Cain shifted, starting to step over the two dead guards to pursue his thieving target. Before he did, though, Greggory... well, he couldn't quite help getting one last word in. He stood, silently stepping and grasping the canine's bare, scarred forearm with his free hand. The dog looked at him, confused and alarmed, probably think that Greggory had sensed or heard something he'd missed. His ears, cropped sharp, perked, his eyes alert and alarmed.

Greggory shook his head, and near-silently whispered, ``No changes. But... No Mistborn should be without a mistcloak, if you ask me. In a few nights, start visiting the Iron District belltower at the height of the night, I'll try to meet and bring you one. I'm... I think it'd look good on you.''

The dog's eyes widened, surprised. He blinked, then... slowly gave a slight wry smile. ``Then the two of us better not die tonight,'' he murmured lightly, teasingly. Greggory smiled back, heart racing and thumping so loudly in his ears that the cat was sure the other male's tin-burning would let him hear it just as loud.

Lowering his paw, Greggory gave a nod, both confirming and dispatching.

Swift and nimble, the bulky pitbull strode over the two dead guards and through the doorway, into the half-lit room beyond. Greggory watched, heart beating and face warm, as the shabbily-dressed skaa Mistborn departed from view.

`Lord Ruler, he is a handsome one...' the cat thought lightly, before quickly stifling such a thought. N- No, he... Cain was just a temporary companion who was doing a favor for the cat, now, and getting a mistcloak made for him would just be a small token of appreciation for that service. That was IT.

Greggory forced himself to think of something other than the oddly alluring, scarred skaa halfbreed. Something like his actual mission, and the numerous guards and Mistings that would stand in his way.

With tin to sharpen his senses, and pewter to steel his body, the cat bolted up the steps of the stairs, taking them three at a time on bare, quiet feet. He ascended fast, mistcloak tassels fluttering softly around him, the light cloth it was made of thankfully doing little to make any noise as he moved.

But not too fast; his best defense against being noticed by the Coinshots on the third floor was to make the metal lines linking to his coins and vials seem like just another guard moving about, disappearing into the armored wanderers.

Prowling, tail flicking behind him, Greggory reached the second floor and moved down one of the side halls; this floor, he knew, was built around a large rectangular hallway, which itself engulfed the ballroom of Keep Lobos. The middle of the floor would be the upper floor of the ballroom, where a number of private tables would be arranged, while the lower floor would be for larger tables, a dance floor, space for a band... Nothing particularly special, as far as the cat was concentered. On the outer edge of the second floor, however, was a ring of rooms, some guest bedrooms, others meeting rooms, probably an office or two for one purpose or another. At the far end, opposite the entryway's stairs, was a flight of stairs for the nobles to ascend to the third, fourth, and fifth stories.

Slinking down the hall, bare feet padding silently on the smooth and treated wood, he made his way towards the stairs. His tin-enhanced eyes saw in the darkened hallways perfectly well, the metal making everything seem brighter, sharper; even things at a distance were clear.

Of course, that had also been why the mist had been easy to navigate for himself and Cain, whereas to the mundane guards and non-Tineye Mistings outside it would have been obstructing and near-blinding. Tin inexplicably made the mists seem... clearer. Not less PRESENT, really, but not something that blocked the tin-enhanced eyes. He could still have seen its movement, twisting and curling around him as he burned metals, drifting in the wind, disrupted by moving bodies, but the night was clear to his sight.

Now, though, there was none of that obscuring mist. A shame; hiding in it with his cloak would have been a comfort.

Instead, he moved along largely dark halls, lit only by the occasional oil lamp; not too many, of course, as the stuff was still expensive. For one not burning tin, it would likely be just enough light to navigate and keep an eye out; for Greggory, skin prickling at the slightest temperature changes, ears alert to the most distant creaks, feet sensing vibrations through the floor of another two-person guard patrol moving around the second story, it might as well have been late in the day just before sunset. Dimmer, but not dark.

Pewter made his every move nimble and fast, stalking forward. A right turn, then a long hallway, before making a left and then another right; the building was a blocky `triangle' shape, and this internal hall reflected that. One more right turn, and he'd be heading to the stairs to the third floor.

Ahead, the soft click of a doorknob turning into place. He froze, pressing his back against the wall beside him, eyes and ears alert, bronze and iron giving him additional Allomantic senses to detect who was moving.

Another guard, it seemed, based on the multiple metal lines connecting to their body in thick, steady form, denoting plated armor. But, from the slight thrum of Allomancy, he noted that this person was the Seeker, keeping as alert as one could be for infiltrating Mistings and Mistborn. ... Well, apparently not as alert as Greggory himself could be; with the number of metals he was burning, if this other Seeker had the capacity to listen through copperclouds, the feline would have been caught out immediately.

Instead, the Seeker, a scruffy-furred canine woman, stepped out of whatever room she'd been in and yawned. She paused a moment, and Greggory felt her flare her bronze, head lowered slightly as she swayed tiredly on her feet.

Searching for nearby Allomancers, it seemed. The cat's pewter-fueled legs tensed, the slender limbs feeling like taut cables of steel under his skin, as his nimble fingers grasped at one of the glass daggers at his thighs. Seconds ticked by as the armored Seeker guardswoman held the flare for a few moments, Greggory reflexively dimming his own metals just in case, watching and waiting from barely a meter away.

Then, the woman's bronze settled, and she gave a deep, exhausted sigh. ``Fucking night duty...'' she grumbled, turning the opposite direction and shuffling along on her patrol.

Greggory remained frozen, crouched and poised to attack, tin-enhanced ears listening to the woman grumble about some other Seeker who'd apparently gotten drunk and needed an impromptu replacement for the night guard duty. He listened and felt as she strode away, boots thumping steadily along the wooden floor, getting softer and softer as she moved away from the deft hairless cat.

The Mistborn let himself smirk slightly.

He moved forward again, practically stalking right behind the Seeker woman as she moved down the hall, another duo of guards just turning the corner with a hand-lantern up ahead, the warm glow of it fading down the hall as they left.

Almost easily, Greggory let his pewter burn a bit hotter as he reached the stairs, once again bounding up them on his toes, barely even creaking the sturdy wooden steps. Up, up, up, bolt left on the middle landing, up, up, up. He didn't stop on the third floor, just flaring his bronze briefly to see if he could feel the Coinshots that seemed to be posted there; he could, noting them appearing to be stationed towards the front of the building.

Up from the third floor, to the fourth, to the fifth, and finally to the sixth.

This floor, according to the blueprints both his family and Cain's thieving crew had acquired, was dominated by the House head's private apartment. A massive bedroom, a big lounge, a sizeable water closet, a workspace overseeing the front of the Keep, ANOTHER lounge... and, his destination according to the information he'd been given, Ariadne Lobos's private office and library, a big room situated in the middle space, this floor being similar to the second in having a big hallway looping around the middle, with most of the rooms around the edges and a big space in the center.

Slowing his approach, Greggory padded up to the double doors that led into the library space. Silently, he tilted his head and listened inside, gazing at the bottom edge of the two doors. Light filtered under them, just barely but brightly to his tin-boosted eyes, from inside, and he could hear casual, unhurried steps, soft muttering, and the clinking of ice and glass. Unless someone else was in there holding their breath and holding incredibly still, Ariadne Lobos would be alone.

Quietly, Greggory prepared himself. Daggers, secure but ready. Coins, plentiful. Metals... he felt a bit low from infiltrating the Keep, so topped himself off, gulping down another foul vial of oil and metal shavings, enjoying the surge of stores he felt. Mistcloak curling around his body, hood drawn high to obscure his face, his muscles coiled and his every sense alight.

The cat gently turned the knobs, hearing them click softly.

", "pools_count": 0, "title": "Furry OC Mistborn AU: Chapter 4", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "application/msword", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "3", "name": "Violence", "description": "Mild violence", "rating_id": "1" }, { "content_tag_id": "5", "name": "Strong Violence", "description": "Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "0", "views": "0" }