Run Around

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter 1

06/10/98:

I was nearly growling as I walked through the front door of
my home. The day had been long and busy with so many people
chattering in my ears that it was making my head pound.

Dropping a half a dozen PADDs on the table by the door I
started walking for the kitchen. I could here sounds echoing
from in there so it was a safe bet that at least someone
else was home.

I was right, Oriana was in the kitchen. She was hunched over
one of the counters eating something and reading. Her tail
high in the air and swishing slowly.

With a knock on the door frame I got her attention. She look
up over her should and smiled. "Hi Fox." She said as she
stood up strait.

I returned her smile. "I thought you were going back to your
world for the day."

She nodded. "I did. Stopped by the house then spent a few
hours at the Temple." She bit into the fruit that she still
held in her paw.

I "ahhde", walking over to the kitchen table.

"Catch!" Oria shouted, I looked up in time to see an orange
flying at my face! I spun to the side, putting one hand out
to try and catch it. The fruit ran over the curve of my
fingers, rolling of the tips as it continued to fly. It's
course only stopped by hitting the wall with a dull thump.

Oria sighed. "You need to work on your control."

I rolled my eyes, walking over and picking up the orange.
"I'm trying."

She let a smile play accost her muzzle. "I'm going to teach
you to use your claws if it takes three years. You have to
learn independent control, if not all they are is
inconvenient."

I chuckled, bouncing the orange in my hand. "You made it all
sound so easy when you offered to teach me."

She shrugged. "It was easy for me."

"Of course, you've had them all your life!" I answered,
pulling my arm back and throwing the fruit at her. She tried
the catch it in same manner I did, letting it roll over the
pads of her paw and up her fingers. She though snapped her
claws out where I had not.

She gave me a smug look as she plucked the fruit from her
claws and started to peal it with one of them. "You'll learn
Fox. It's just a matter of using the muscles right."

I rolled my eyes again, sitting down at the table. "I'll
take your word for it."

Walking over to the table she pulled out her own seat.
"Problems?" She asked, looking slightly concerned.

I nodded. "Some. I just got back from a three hour session
with a pair of Counselors."

Oria frowned, she knew my thoughts on the way most of the
members of the Council seem to think I'm some great hero and
protector. She didn't say anything though, it was her way of
telling me to continue.

"Apparently their worlds are only a few light years apart,
and there starting to get into an argument about a colony
they both have lay claim to." I sighed, "They wanted me to
settle it for them."

"What did you suggest?" She asked.

I smiled. "Blow up the colony world and find some place else
to go."

She laughed. "I would have love to have seen there reaction
to that!"

I nodded. "It was interesting to say the least. Didn't solve
anything though. I suspect there going to ask me back again
tomorrow."

Oriana stood up as she recovered from her laughter. "You
should be someplace else then. Take a trip or something."

I shrugged, I liked the idea. Everything has been in a rush
sense Ken found his way around the curse. "What would you
suggest?"

"You've been talking about learning more about my world. We
good go there, look around the museums."

I smiled. "A good idea, but that would take more then a day
trip. Anyway, I want this to be down time, thinking sounds
like too much work."

She placed her paws on her hips. "Do you have an idea?"

I stood up and with out a word went into the living room.
Retrieving one of the PADDs I had left there a few days ago
I returned to the kitchen. "Pick a number between one and,"
I looked at the screen, "seven."

"Three." She answered.

I scrolled through the data on the PADD. "Ok, how about
this. Medieval world, magic common, the natives are
hospitable and the local area has a population of morphs.
Sound like fun?"

She tilted her head. "And to go there we have to do what?"

I smiled. "Retrieve a," I read from the screen, "second
stage, crystalline, room temperature superconductor that
Grasion hid there a few years ago. It even has the
directions with it."

She laughed. "I thought the Council was going to take care
of those stashes with there own people."

I nodded. "There was a few they wanted me to get. Mostly to
keep it out of the public eye."

She blew some air through her teeth. "You're serious?"

I grin to her.

She rolled her eyes and flicked her ears. "Is that all?"

I handed her the PADD. She took it and scanned over the
screen. "We might have to stay there for a day or two." She
said, handing it back.

"Ken can take care Newt until we return. I know she'll love
to stay with him."

Oriana just shook her head, though her tail was twitching
behind her.

"Remember," I commented, "This was your idea."

She nodded, laughing softly. "Fine, lets go then."

I bowed to her. "Lets get changed first, and you should put
on a cloak, just to be safe."

She nodded to me as she walked out of the room. I followed
her for a short distance before I had to go down a different
hallway to get to my room.

Once inside I dug through some of the boxes (I still haven't
unpacked from the move) until I found some clothing
appropriate for our destination.

First off was a pair of brown breechers, they looked like
leather but were softer, and they had pockets as well. I
followed that with a gray tunic and some boots that went
almost up to my knees.

Putting the belt on I stopped to look at myself in the
mirror. I'm a male human, and stand about five foot ten
inches tall. I've never been very muscular, though I filled
the clothing out pretty well. My hair is black, as is my
beard. My eyes were once a dark blue but now are almost
clear, with only a hint of color. Ice blue.

My glasses would probably be an anachronism where we were
going, but I can't see without them. Fixing my eyes had
always sounded more like a bother then an advantage.

Lastly I shrugged on a black, sleeveless vest. Then reaching
under my shirt I pulled out my pendant, letting it drop
against my chest. I always find it funny to think that
something as small as it holds so much sway over my life.

Grabbing my sword from where it was hung on the wall I
started back to the main room, tying the sheath to my belt
as I walked. The sword was a specially made weapon,
extremely strong with a blade that would hold an edge almost
forever. It was light as well, weighing no more then five
pounds.

About half way there I made a small detour into one of the
studies in the house. First off I called Ken, telling him to
take care of Newt until we got back. Then I jotted down a
copy of the information that was on the PADD.

Continuing on I meet Oriana in the main room. She was
dressed in the same basic fashion that I was, though her
breechers were green and her tunic white. Her cloak was
draped over her lap as she sat in a chair, her paws running
through an inside pocket of it. She wore nothing on her
feet, but her world never used shoes at all unless the
environment called for them.

She looked up at me, a smile crossing her muzzle. Oria was a
lioness morph and stood a couple inches shorter then me. She
was rather pretty, decently endowed her body was nicely
curved, a fact which the looseness of her current clothing
hid. Her hair was a darker yellow then the rest of her fur
and flowed down her back. Her eyes were green and slitted
like a cats.

She wore a pair of metal bands around her wrists. A gift
from me years before, and something she never took off.

"Nice," I commented.

She looked up at me and smiled. "You look pretty good
yourself," her eyes focused on the sword. "Is that the same
one Page brought you before we went to the moon base?"

I nodded, tapping the hilt. "Yep."

She grinned at me, standing up from the chair, and in the
same move sending the cloak spinning around and to settle on
her shoulders. As she clasped it she continued to grin.

"So, what are you bringing?" I asked, already guessing the
answer.

"Two daggers and a throwing knifes," she answered, "I know
how these trips usual go. You'll need a body guard."

I stuck my tongue out at her.

She smiled again and motioned down one of the hallways.
"Lead on, you know the way there."

I nodded, walking past her and down another hallway. After a
couple twists and turns we came to a small room that had
been left empty when we had moved in.

Pulling the portal control out of my pocket I punched in the
raw fold number that had been listed on the PADD. Once all
thirty five numbers had been entered I hit the button to
open the fold.

With a silent explosion a hole formed in the fabric of the
multi-verse, the result was a portal of many colors, each
swirling around the center in a strange beauty.

Returning the controller to my pocket, I grabbed the hilt of
my sword and stepped through. The was no viable sign of
transient to me, I just stepped through out the other side.
There was a drop of about half a foot to the ground bellow,
but it wasn't as bad as some have been.

Stepping away from the fold so Oria would have room I looked
around. We had landed in the middle of a large forest. The
trees around us were massive, the width at the base larger
then a normal man. Night was just starting to fall as well,
the shadows growing longer in the newly fading light.

As Oriana came through she also looked around, seeming to
relax a bit as the portal snapped closed behind her.
Spinning around slowly she took in the area.

"Where to from here?" She asked.

"To the local castle," I answered. "That's were the
directions start from."

She hummed, spinning around again. "You smell smoke?" She
asked.

I sniffed at the air a bit. "No, do you?"

She took a few steps into the woods, then a few more in a
different direction. Pausing she sniffed the air. "This way
I think." She said, pointing off into the trees.

I waved a hand at her. "Lead on then."

She nodded slightly and started through the trees. We walked
for almost half an hour before she stopped. At this point
even I could smell the smoke.

Looking over her shoulder I saw a fire flicking through the
underbrush just a few feet in front of us. I started to say
something but Oria hushed me quickly.

I instantly understood why. Voices, from the sound of them
around the fire. I could pick out two different people,
though the language was gibberish to me.

This wasn't unexpected, different worlds have different
languages. Luckily though all we had to do was listen in for
a few hours and the translators should work it out.

So there we sat as the pair around the fire continued to
chatter away. It was only after an hour that I started to
notice some of the basic patterns in the language.

Oria saw the look on my face and gave me a puzzled look in
return.

I didn't know if I could explain it to her. The language
they were speaking sounded like a version of latin, there
were even some words that I recognized. Thinking at the
translator to try and use what it had of latin to help
translate the language. I was hoping that it would speed the
process up.

It came as a shock as the translator clicked though my
thoughts and the language suddenly became clear to me.

Oria saw the look on my face and motioned towards the fire.
I nodded to her in response, leaning forward a bit to try
and listen in on the conversation.

It had stopped...

I turned to look back to Oriana but I halted when I felt the
tip of a blade against my neck.

"Excuse me," It's owner said from behind me, a man I could
tell from his voice. "but why are you spying on us?"

I raised my hands up. "Just looking around, trying to get a
lay of the land and people." I answered.

"Oh, well then, turn around please, but keep your hands in
the air if you could."

I did as I was ordered. Behind us, silhouetted in the
moonlight, were two figures, one holding a sword at me the
other at Oriana. My captor nodding his head at Oria, "your
friend as well."

"Turn around Oria." I said, the translator switched
languages automatically as I changed who I was addressing.
She did as I said.

"She doesn't know the language?" The second captor asked, a
women.

"Not yet," I answered. "Give her time though."

The lady snorted. The first just bopped his sword at my
neck. "Tell your friend that we're going to back into the
fire, I would prefer if you went peacefully."

I relayed the command to Oria and we were both escorted the
short distance to the fire. Once we were in the light I took
a closer look at out captors. The one who was leading Oriana
was a human female, she was about six feet tall and had the
look of someone who was used to fighting all her life.

Sitting down in front of the fire I looked at the male of
the pair. He was a otter morph, about my height with a short
muzzle and a long tail that he easily keep above the ground.

"Your companion has been to the Keep before." The lady
commented, looking towards Oriana as she sat down next to
me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She smiled. "I do not know of any other place in the world
has a curse such as this. She must have been here before."

"I doubt it," The otter responded. "She would have never
gotten this far without knowing the language. And if she had
been to the Keep before she would never have been allowed to
leave before she had learned the language."

"Excuse me..." I said, raising a hand.

The otter turned to me. "Oh, forgive my manners. My name is
Ryan, my companion is Sam."

I nodded to them both. "I'm Fox, and she's Oriana."

He nodded, leaning towards me. "So, where are you from, and
how did you make it so far without being killed?"

I shrugged, "Luck."

He laughed. "No such thing, not here. Still though, you are
both welcome to stay. Though you may find it uncomfortable.
She might as well, I don't know know if she would be changed
again or not."

I rubbed the back of my head. "Changed? In what way?"

Sam laughed. "Surly you have heard of Metamor Keep!"

"Not offhand, no," I said with a frown.

She smiled. "Then I'll tell you why you'll want to leave
your friend with us and run back home..."

   To Be Continued...

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This story is (c) 1998 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints
limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This
story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission
of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.
"Metamor Keep" (C) 1998 by 'Copernicus' all rights reserved.