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..."

    Chapter 2

The next morning was cold and dark. The sky was overcast in
a dark grey and it was threatening to rain. It was still
early morning, and Sam and Ryan were breaking camp. The
three of us had stayed up for a few hours as I was given a
short history of the Keep.

Oriana had drifted off soon after we had been brought to
camp. She had told me not to bother with a running
translation and to worry about anything important in the
morning.

Lucky enough the translator works if you're asleep or awake.
So she should have a decent language patch made up for the
local dialect.

Bending down to where she was huddled under her cloak I
shook her gently. She was instantly awake and sitting up,
one paw almost to the pocket in her cloak. Once she saw me
though she smiled. "Good morning." she said as she relaxed
her paw.

"Morning yourself. Come on, they're heading to the Keep," I
nodded my head at the waiting pair, "and we're going to tag
along."

She nodded, standing up and brushing her pants free of dirt.
"How far away is it?"

"They say an hour's light walk. This is just a one night
patrol." I answered her.

"How's your friend doing?" Ryan asked from the other side of
the now dead fire.

"I'm fine," Oriana responded, "Though I'll be back in a
minute." She then turned and walked a short distance off
into the woods.

Both Ryan and Sam were flabbergasted to say the least. I
just chuckled softly. It was a look that I've seen many
times before. "I told you to give her some time."

"How did she do that?" He asked.

"Magic," I answered.

He nodded. The answer gave him as much of an understanding
about how the translator work that I had. Just the fact that
it did.

Sam didn't say anything, she seemed to a quite person. It
wasn't that she was shy, it was more like if you annoyed her
she'll hurt you, a lot. Though from what I was told last
night it was understandable.

Oriana came back from the woods then, adjusting her tunic as
she walked. I smiled to the others. "Lead on then, we'll be
right behind. I want to bring Oria up to date."

The pair started to walk through the woods, though not on
any path that I could see. Oria and I hung behind them a few
feet.

"So," She asked, "what did I miss last night?"

I smiled. "Well, they like you."

She chuckled. "I gathered that."

I shook my head, "I mean that there first reaction was that
you must have been to the Keep before."

She frowned. "Why was that?"

I licked my lips. "The place was cursed," I explained," The
long and short of it is that six years ago, during the
Battle of the Three Gates, a wizard cast a curse on each
gate. One turned everyone inside into pure animals, the
other made everyone inside super bimbos, top heavy and
almost brain dead. The third curse made all the defenders of
the gate into babies."

Oria nodded as I named at each curse, her frown growing
deeper with each word.

"The Keep's wizards were barely able to cast a counter spell
that lessened the intensity of the changes. It also gives
some control over the curse to the person. They can control
how extreme the curse can go. Some better then others."

She nodded again. "So, where does it get worse?"

I chuckled, she knew me so well. "The spells never actually
left the Keep. If you stay there for more then five or six
days you'll end up being cursed yourself."

She shook her head. "The last thing you need is any more
curses!"

I laughed, "agreed, we're not going to be here that long
anyway. I just have to go to the library and find the item
and we can go. We'll be back on Prid before nightfall."

She twisting her ears a bit, but didn't say a word. I knew
what she was thinking. With our track record, there was a
good chance a war would break out before we could get home.
Of course then we'd have to try and stop it. It wouldn't be
the first time that it's happened.

We walked on in silence fore a few more minutes before Oria
spoke up again. "Did they tell you how they came to the
Keep?" She asked, waving her paw forward.

I nodded. "Ryan, the otter, was born here and had just
returned when the battle occurred. Sam had a lay over here
and got hung over one day too long. Apparently she was one
of the greatest swordsman in the country before that." I
added some extra emphases on 'man'.

She thought that over. "I can understand Sam's reaction.
That's not a pleasant thing to have happened."

I nodded in agreement. We both have had some personal
experience in that field.

We returned to walking in silence, in the distance the top
of the Keep was showing above the trees. The place was
massive, it sprawled out quite wide over the land. The stone
it was made off seem to reflect the meager morning light as
the metal that capped the turrets gave off a dull glow.

It was an impressive sight nonetheless.

Entering through a side gate I found the place to be even
more massive then I had first thought. The courtyard just
inside the walls was huge, expanding out and around the
Keep. Smaller building littered the grounds, some large even
to easy accommodate a crowd.

We only gain a few passing glance from the local population,
most of them going back to what they were doing without even
a reaction. This was an interesting place.

As we continued to walk forward Sam split away from Ryan and
headed off in a different direction. I took a few long steps
until I was next to the otter. "Where's she off to?" I
asked.

"To check in with Jack," He answered still walking, "He's
the master of arms and assigns the patrols. I'm going to
show you two around."

"How about the library first?" I asked.

He gave a soft chuckled. "The library? I know people here
who never have been near there. Why would you want to see
it?"

I decided to be honest at this point. "We've been sent to
retrieve something left there a few years ago. By a tall
albino man, totally bald."

He taped the tip of his muzzle with one finger. "I seem to
remember seeing a man like that a some years back, after the
curses. Why are you interested, what exactly did he leave?"

I shrugged. "Not much, you can take a look at it if you want
to."

He nodded as we entered through a covered archway. From
there in we were inside the Keep itself. The stone passages
were light by a series of mage lights clinging to the
stonework.

Ryan led us down a series of passage ways, at each
intersection he stopped to think for a few seconds before
going on. After a few minuets of travel we stepped through a
large wooden door and into the library.

The room was huge, it looked to be five hundred feet square
or more with three levels rising above us. The rows of
shelves, each a dozen feet tall, cut the room almost into a
maze. Shifting and turing in mind wrenching pattern. Above
us floated a dozen mage lights, each to bright to look at
for more then a second. This resulted in not a single corner
of the library being in darkness, though a few were in
shadows.

Ryan looked around the front of the room. "Fox is around
here someplace, he's the librarian. He almost never leaves
here, or at least it seems like that."

I nodded walking over to the small desk that sat at the
front of the room. "Is this the main entrance?" I asked.

He thought for a second, "Yes."

Digging into my pocket I pulled out the instructions from
the PADD. "Good," I looked up and counted the shelves in
front of us. "We need to go down that one, five shelve
lengths." I said, pointing in the direction we needed to go.

Oria walked quickly past me, moving down the hallway between
the shelves, counting them as she went past. Ryan and I
followed her lead. Once we had gone to proper distance she
looked around. "Which way now?"

I pointed left. "Seven in that direction."

Once again she lead, counting the shelves until we reached
our destination. "Up two more," I said before she could ask
the question. She smiled and walked the proper distance.

We were now at the correct bookshelf according to the
instructions. So I started counting the books on the second
the last shelf. The book my finger landed on when I finished
was huge. Sliding it off the self I was amazed at the size
of it. It had to have been at least a thousand pages.

"Can you read this?" I asked Ryan, pointing at the long
title on the cover.

He shook his head. "It was never my place to learn to read.
Fox can though, I'll go get him." Then went off to find the
librarian.

I dusted the cover off and chuckled. "I don't think anyone
has touched this book before us."

Oria nodded, crouching down a bit to look as well. "Do you
think Grasion bobbie-trapped it?"

"No," I answered, opening the cover. "He was planning on
getting this himself, a trap would have been against his
thinking."

She nodded again, taking my word for it.

Flipping thorough the pages I watched the text go by. The
form of the letters wasn't something I knew, and the
translator couldn't learn written languages without a lot of
help.

About half way though I finally came to a shallow cutout
inside the pages. Inside of the depression was a spool of
thin wire that twinkled with the light of the room.

I closed the book with a smile.

"Ryan said you need my help." A shockingly familiar voice
said as it approached us from behind.

I dropped the book and spun around to look at who was
approaching us. It was Ryan in the company of the librarian.
The man was true to his name, a fox-morph. Standing about
five and a half feet tall he seemed shocked to see me once
he registered my face.

Slowly I stood up and walked over to this man who had my
voice. He was shaking slightly, but the closer I got to him
the more composed he looked. Finally, once we were a few
feet away he smiled a bit. "You must be the third one."

I blinked as I processed that. "Third one of what?" I asked.

His smile widened. "Of us. You're the third Fox Cutter."

* * *

"All right," Oriana said as she pulled out a chair. "Would
the two of you please explain this?"

My double and I looked at each other and I shrugged. "Yes, I
would love to hear about this as well."

Ryan took his own seat, he still looked as much in shock as
he did when we left him in the library an hour ago.
Currently we were in a back corner of one of the Keeps bars,
named, interestingly enough, "The Deaf Mule."

Fox had promised to explain exactly how he had come to
decided I was the third me. I was also curious how he had
come to be here at the Keep, there was no way he could be my
double and be a native of this world.

The local Fox waved over the barkeeper. "Ryan will have what
ever he usually haves. I'll take some red wine. You two?" He
looked at Oriana and I.

I shrugged. "A little of the wine I guess."

"I'll have the same." Oriana said.

The barkeep was back an a few seconds with the drinks. A mug
of beer for Ryan and three wine glasses for the rest of us.

Fox took a quick gulp of the wine while I only sipped it. It
was a sweet wine, but did nothing to hide the bitterness of
the alcohol.

He noticed the look on my face. "Don't like the wine?"

I shook my head. "No, just don't like the taste of alcohol."

He raised his eyebrows. "You can taste it?"

I nodded.

"I can't," He said with a smile.

"We're different," as I spoke the worlds I felt myself
relax.

"Fox," Oriana said, "and Fox. Would one of you please
explain how there can be two of you, let alone a trio?"

I smiled. "It's kind of simple really, the Multi-Verse is
large enough that it's possible to have a two universes with
the same world in each. In fact they could be perfectly
duplicates of each other. In that way it's possible for two
versions of the same person to exist at one time."

"Ah..." the other me said, "so there are three Earths out
there that the three of us are from. Interesting."

I nodded. "Yes, though how did you come to be on this
world?"

He took a longer gulp of his wine. "By accident. It was five
and a half years ago."

"The sixth of January?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, the fifth. Either way, I was in my
room when I got this pulling sensation at all the hair on my
neck. I turned to look at where it seemed to be coming from
and in a blast of color a hole appeared in the corner of the
room. It started at blue but then turned into a sharp black
and seemed to pull me inside. I woke up a few miles away
from the Keep."

I nodded as he spoke. The same thing had happened to me the
first time I opened a fold.

He licked his lips. "I waited there for a day shy of a week,
hoping it would open again, trying to go again what I had
done back home. Eventually I had to give up, I found a
caravan on it's way back to the Midlands and hitched a
ride."

"So that's you're your from," Ryan mumbled, finally starting
to sip at his drink.

I frowned, thinking over his story. "Was there any fearing
at the spot where you landed?"

He nodded. "Yes, it seemed distant, more like a sound just
out of hearing then anything else. Interestingly enough
though, I ran into the spot again on one of the short
patrols last year. It feels just the same as it did at home,
but much more subdued."

I chewed my lip slightly, a bad felling growing in the pit
of my stomach.

"What's wrong?" Oria asked as she saw the look on my face.

I looked accost the table at my vulpine double. "How long
will it take us to get there, leaving now?"

He shrugged, "Almost an hour and a half, why?"

I stood up. "Right then, we need to get there, now."

Oriana grabbed my sleeve and pulled me back down. "Fox, what
is going on?"

I bit my lip softly. "I think the fold maybe an
intermittent. If it is I need to find out how long we're
stuck here."

"Worried about the curses?" Ryan asked with a smile.

I shook my head. "No, I'm more concerned with the one I
already have."

Ryan took a long drink from his mug as both Fox and I ran
out of the bar.

    Chapter 3

I entered into the small room Oria and I had been given for
the length or our stay. Inside she was waiting for me,
sitting half in and half out of the window, looking out at
the sky.

"What took you so long?" She asked without turning around.

I sighed, sitting on a chair that was in the corner. "We
walked there and back, in the interim we talked a bit."

She nodded, her tail twitching slightly. "How long then?"

"Nine days, the fold won't be there again until the
twentieth."

She turned around in the window, frowning. Then slide off
the thick the stone frame and padded accost the floor to me.
He eyes locked onto the dragon shaped pendant that hung from
my neck. "The fourteenth is the first day isn't it?"

I smiled weakly. "Yes."

She walked over to the single bed in the room, sitting down
on it with a thump. "Would it be safe for you here at the
Keep?"

I nodded. "I don't think my being Rhea will be much of a
problem here. I'm more worried about the curses on the Keep
affecting us."

She frowned again. "I see... we could leave the Keep for the
three days your Rhea. We would stay here three days then
another four days. It should be safe enough for us then."

"Mostly, but a few times it has only taken three days for a
curse to start affecting a person. So to be safe I don't
want to spend more then three days here. And even six days
so close together still might be enough to set it off."

She twists her ears a bit as she thought this over. "So,
this is more of a calculated risk then a good plan."

I nodded again. "Yes, but I have a way to help it along.
When we leave the Keep we must do it in the early morning,
or late night. The twentieth we'll leave at dawn and head to
the fold. When ever we go we'll leave at dawn then and come
back as late in the day as possible. If we can do this right
we'll spend no more then five full days here."

Oriana stood up again, walking back over to me. "Which means
we still have to spend at least four days away from the
Keep. When do we have to leave?"

"Ryan had an idea about that, he's gotten Little Fox helping
him. From the short explanation I got we won't be alone
either on our little trip. They'll tell us tomorrow if they
can do it."

"Little Fox?" She asked with a smile.

I chuckled. "It just sort of happened. You saw the size
difference between me and him."

She nodded.

"Well, he started calling me Big Fox, so I began calling him
Little Fox, and it went from there."

She placed her fingers against the side of her muzzle and
shook her head. "You two have the same sense of humor."

I smiled at her, looking back over her shoulder at the bed.
"I see we're expected to share the room." I commented.

She looked back behind herself at the wooden, cloth and
feather bed. "I noticed that as well. You can take the bed
if you want, I can sleep on the floor."

I shook my head. "I always let you have the bed," I
commented.

She nodded. "I know, but I've had experience sleeping on a
stone floor. Also, before you even bring it up, I asked
about it and there are a dozen spells on all the bedding to
keep them clean and to detract lice and tics."

I chuckled. "I guess when a third of the population has fur
it's a necessity."

She smiled. "Of course we could just share the bed."

I shook my head. "No Oria, I wouldn't..." I paused, what I
wanted to say didn't seem to come to lips. "No."

Oriana looked disappointed, but not very much. She knew me
well enough to have know I would have refused. Just as I
knew her well enough to understand that her intentions were
pure. Still though, there was something else in her eyes,
more then just disappointment, but I couldn't place it.

I also knew her well enough that I didn't ask about it.

* * *

Noon on the next day. Oriana, Ryan, Little Fox and I were
seated along one bench of a large outdoor table. On the
other side was a large mule of a man. The master of arms for
Metamor Keep, Jack DeMule.

He was looking over both Oria and myself with a trained eye,
taking in both are strengths and weakness that he could see.

Eventually he spoke. "Ryan, am I to understand you want me
to send these two," He waved one of his hands towards us,
"on a five day patrol?"

Ryan nodded. "Yes sir, they have to stay in the area for a
few days and wish to avoid the curses."

Jack shook his head. "That can not be allowed."

"Why?" Fox asked.

"First, we do not normally send patrols out that are not
residents of the Keep. Second I would never send two people
out alone."

"Ryan and I can go with them," Fox said.

Jack started at Fox for a few seconds. "Ryan has just
returned and you have never been more then a days march away
on a patrol."

Fox crossed his arms. "Then I'll go and you can pick someone
else you feel will help us."

"Third," Jack continued, "I do not have armor nor weapons
for the two of them."

"We're armed." I replied, "My sword is in the room we were
given for the night."

He looked to Oria. "And her?"

She gave him one of her more unnerving smiles. "I can handle
myself."

Jack leaned back a bit. "I will not be able to armor you."

I nodded. "That's all right."

He frowned slightly. "I will need to think about this. The
idea of sending three unseasoned people on a long patrol,
two of which who don't even know the land. It goes against
my better judgement."

He paused for a few seconds, "Still though, I do understand
the fear you have of being cursed here, and the land around
us isn't safe for lone travelers. More so with the lady
already cursed."

Standing up he looked us over once more. "I will consider
it, if I feel it will be safe enough for you I may allow it.
You will be sent a message before dark, you will know then
as to my decision. Until then I bid you good-day." He then
turned and left us, walking back towards one of the
entrances into the Keep.

Oria and I looked at each other, I could see a sense of
worry accost her face. "You all right?" I asked in a
whisper.

She shook her head. "No," that was all the answer she would
give.

* * *

Hours had now past and the four of us had once again
gathered inside "The Deaf Mule". This time though it wasn't
in shock and question, it was more of a steady worry you get
when your hoping for something.

To kill the time we had been sitting around and talking a
bit. Both Ryan and Little Fox had been telling stories about
the Keep and some of the more interesting events that had
happened inside of it.

During all of it I watched my double down almost a bottle of
wine. Even if it wasn't very alcoholic he had drunk a lot.
It was kind of a surprise for me as I never even did casual
drinking. The only reason I was sipping on wine currently is
I know better then to drink the native water of a medieval
world.

Ryan was drinking his beer again, Oria had taken a taste
from it and instantly ordered herself a mug. I was just
sticking to some wine, I hadn't even finished my first glass
yet.

As we fell into a lull in the conversation Little Fox spoke
up. "So, how long have you and Oriana been together?"

"About two and a half years now." I answered, "Since I got
back from my exile."

He shook his head. "No," He said with a smile. "I meant
together as together."

I saw Oriana instantly bush a deep red in her ears as I felt
myself stiffen up. Fox laughed. "That long then?" He asked
with a wider smile.

"We're not lovers at all," Oria answered him.

"Really," Ryan said, "you two act like it."

She shook her head. "Well, I do love him," she commented,
then blushed even deeper then before.

Fox raised his eyebrows and perked up his ears. "Oh really
then? What about you Big Fox?"

I shook my head. "We're really close friends, but I don't
love her."

He smiled even wider then before, nodding his head. "Just
casual sex then?"

I snorted in laughter, nearly spilling my glass as I was
just picking it up. Oriana looked like she was about to fall
under the table and hide.

Little Fox looked amazed. "You mean you're living with a
beauty of a women and haven't been with her? Do you prefer
men?" From the look of his face and how he spoke it, the
last part was intended as jest.

"It's my fault," Oriana said, stopping me from what I was
about to snap back at him. "We've both tried at one time or
another, I just can't get over that he's not a lion."

I noticed that Ryan was gone by this point in the
conversation. Couldn't blame him, I wanted to go after him
for my own safety.

Fox was a little perplexed by this. "How exactly did that
come about?"

"It's a type of xenophobia," I answered, "and honestly, a
common one."

He nodded. "So you're world isn't mixed species then?"

"No, just lions," she answered.

Leaning forward over the table he started to say something
else, but was interrupted as Ryan returned to the table. "I
just talked to a messenger."

The rest of the conversation came to a dead stop. "What did
Jack have to say?" Fox asked.

"You three are suppose to meet with Jaffee at the western
gate at dawn. He will lead you." Ryan answered as he sat
down at the table.

Both Orian and I let out a low breath, almost in time with
each other. This was actually going to work for us.

Little Fox stood up. "Well then, if we leave at dawn I must
prepare my armor and leave the library in a manageable state
for Chris. I shall see you all in the morning."

We all said are mutual farewells as he left. Turning back
around to face the table I was greeted with a flying fruit.
I reacted without thinking, ducking to one side and putting
my hand out to catch it.

In the same fashion as back home on Prid I let the fruit
roll over my palm and up my fingers. This time though it
stopped there.

There was a few seconds of time before I realized that I had
actually managed to catch the fruit. After weeks of being
pummeled with the soft stuff I had finally managed to catch
one on my claws.

Grinning I pulled the fruit, it was an apple, of my claws.
Oriana was clapping softly and smiling wide.

Ryan looked panicked. "You're already starting to change,"
He whispered.

"What these?" I unsheathed my claws from my fingers by
pulling them as far back as I could. "No, I've had these for
a month now, it's related to my eyes."

He nodded, still shaking. "Are you sure?"

"Yep," I answered taking a bite from the apple.

He shook his head in amazement. "I knew your eyes had to
have been magic, but claws... what happened to you to cause
this?"

I frowned and didn't say anything. He was smart enough to
take this as my answered.

    Chapter 4


A day later I was wondering if maybe this had been a bad
idea after all. After a long day of walking thorough the
forest and hills I ached all over.

Oria wasn't doing any better, she was laying on the ground
beside me. My body blocking her from the heat of the fire.

Little Fox was a few feet away, finishing the last bit of
his dinner and watching both of us as we tried to recover.

Our leader for this expedition, Jaffee, was doing better
then the rest of us. Still panting the large wolf morph
seemed to enjoy the hike. He was currently sitting on the
far side of the fire from the rest of us, watching us
slightly from one eye as he slowly ate his food.

When we had meet that morning he told us that the patrol was
a relatively safe one, to the west of the Keep and into the
hills. It seemed more like Jack was just having us flush
through the area then defending it.

"So, enjoy the hike?" Fox asked as he licked his fingers
clean.

Oria snorted as her response.

He smiled. "You two should really go out and do more, you
seem out of shape."

I chuckled. "We do a lot of work on the side at times."

He nodded, "Really? What do you the pair of you do?"

I thought that over for a few seconds. "I guess the best
description for me is a trouble shooter. Though it seems
like I'm only needed when trouble is shooting back."

He laughed, "and how about you Oriana, what do you do?"

She cracked open an eye and rolled her head so she could
look at him. "I run a House back on my world."

Fox twisted his ears a bit. "As in a whore house?" He asked.

"Exactly," She answered with a smile.

He looked back at me, "is she serious?"

I nodded, "Most of the time."

"How about now?"

I chuckled, "yes, she is."

He smiled thoughtfully. "You really have an interesting
life."

I shrugged. "At times, mostly it's pretty boring. Outside of
the politics."

He winched a bit. "And evil thing that is."

I nodded. "Yes, especial sense half the Council have decided
that I'm what holds them together."

"Ah... sounds like a problem."

"You don't know the half of it." I shot back.

He raised his eyebrows. "It really can't be that bad, can
it?"

I smiled to him, "you have no idea."

Fox seemed to be at a loss for words after then. He just sat
back and started to stare at the fire. Rocking softly his
tail swished through the dirt behind him.

"Listen," He eventually said, "I want to apologize for what
I said last night. I'm not really a good drunk and I went
way past what was appropriate."

"You're forgiven," Oria commented as she rolled up onto her
side.

I nodded. "I guess it's all right. You're not the first
person to ask about it, but not so bluntly."

"Thanks," he replied, "I think."

"Hey, Little Fox," Oriana said as she sat up. "You still
haven't told us anything about other Fox."

I nodded, every time I had tried to talk about his mention
of three of us he changed the subject. Just the mention of
it seemed to shake him up.

"I figured that you would have already meet him," He
answered. "If I had actually known I wouldn't have mentioned
it at all."

I frowned, noticing Jaffee was now giving us more attention
over the fire. "Now you have me worried about this other one
of us."

He nodded slowly, his ears flattening out as he did. "I'll
trade you. I'll tell you about him if you tell me why you
have claws."

I shrugged, that wasn't much of a trade, he was going to
have to find out about it tomorrow anyway. "Very well, but
you're first."

He smiled. "I feel honored. So, tell me, have you ever felt
that things would have been a lot easier for you if you had
been evil?"

I took in a sharp breath, "yes, many times over."

He nodded. "This third one of us, he took that path, and
took it with hatred and anger guiding him. He may not
directly be pure evil, but he's worked to be close."

I shook my head slowly, understand how easily that could
have been a description of me. The idea of being evil,
either it's defined by my actions, or who I was. It was just
such an easy concept for me embrace. At times it even seemed
to be the best way to go.

It would very easy for me to be evil in any sense of the
word.

"I took that path myself for a time," he continued, "happily
and willingly. If I hadn't been at the right place at the
right time I would still be doing what I was trained for."

I nodded slowly. Oriana just shook her head, no other
emotion showing on her face.

"Last year I meet this other Fox Cutter. He was a human and
had the same face as you."

"Ah," I commented, "that's why you seemed to be scared out
of your mind when we first meet."

He nodded. "Yes, exactly. He was different though. He had a
scar on the left side of his face, from his ear down to the
side of his face to the left side of his mouth. It locked
him into a permanent sneer. His eyes where also dark blue,
not like yours are, or even how I remember mine. His left
hand was gone as well, just a stump."

I rubbed my left wrist softly, up until the curse my left
hand had been a highly advanced prosthetic. It looked real
enough, even to an x-ray back on Earth.

"I was on a single patrol," He continued, "it was only a day
out and a day back, nothing very serious. That night, while
I was setting up my camp, he walked right in and sat down at
the fire. I tried to complain but all he did was raise his
hand to me and tell me to shut up."

He took in a short breath, "I could see that he and I were
the same person. He didn't have the beard like you did so
the face he had was almost the same as what I used to
possess."

"He looked me over and laughed, told me how pitiful I was
and how useless I was to him, and to anyone in general. Then
he snapped me around to face him and stabbed me in the
stomach."

I winched, I had been shot in the gut at the end of last
year, being stabbed would have be much worse.

"Three times he stabbed me, his knife had a serrated edge,
the kind used to rip meat." Fox shook his head. "I was found
two days later. I had barely survived, if it had been even
an hour longer I would have died. Even then it was almost a
month before I was up and about the Keep again."

I blew through my teeth. "Nice person."

He nodded. "Very, I had figured he had found you at one
point. Though, if he's still alive, I think you'll meet each
other soon enough."

Oriana looked to me. "Someone like that would have to have a
record with the Guild, maybe even a contract or two. I'll
look into it when we get home. We don't need this man
surprising us some day."

"Good idea Oria, but we'll leave that until we get back
home."

"So," Fox said, "Any questions?"

I shook my head and Oria was silent.

He nodded. "Well then, how exactly do you have claws?"

I chuckled. "For the same reason why eyes are the color they
are."

He rolled his eyes. "That can not be your answerer." He
said.

I shook my head, grabbing the pending around my neck lightly
on one hand. "Nope, that isn't. Oria will explain everything
to you tomorrow morning, Jaffee will want to know about it
as well."

"Why Oriana, why not you?" He asked.

I sighed. "You'll see." I answered, looking accost the fire
to where the wolf was sitting, watching us quietly. "Both of
you will."

* * *

Morning again, we were all awake and somewhat active as
Jaffee buried the remits of the fire to keep them from
smoldering and igniting the forest.

Little Fox was ready to go, quietly hovering around my Fox,
waiting for the answers that were promised last night. My
Fox looked worried, but he had the right to be. Today was
the day.

Damn, we originally had this all planned out. Fox would have
stayed someplace safe if Rhea's mind came back into control.
Here though, if that happened... It was an idea I didn't
like thinking about.

Fox walked over to me, the morning light reflecting off the
gem like quality of his eyes. It didn't hide his worry
though, or his fear.

"Jaffee, Little Fox," he called, "Could you please look over
this way. It's important that you watch this."

The call was unnecessary, both of them were focused on us
already.

Taking a deep breath Fox removed the pendant from around his
neck, holding it gently in one hand. Then he gave it to me,
setting it in my outstretched paw. "Wish me luck," He
whispered to me as he closed my fingers around the small
piece of dragon shaped metal.

Nodding to him I took a few steps backwards, towards the
others in the group. When I was a few feet away the air
around him started to blur. A sudden burst of power seemed
to electrify the air and in less then a blink of an eye Fox
was gone.

Standing on all fours, where he had just been, was a
lioness. Not a morphic lioness, but a real one. Large and
sleek she seemed unsure of herself as she found her footing.
Her eyes were the same ice blue color as Fox's, and for a
simple reason.

"Fox?" I asked.

She nodded her large head, twitching an ear.

"Any problems?"

She shook her head, walking over to me, each step becoming
surer as she became use to her form.

"What the hell just happened?" Little Fox asked as he walked
towards us.

I chuckled. "I would think that is obvious. Fox just changed
forms."

"Was that caused by his being at the Keep?" Jaffee asked.

I shook my head, putting the pendant in one of the pockets
of my cloak. "This predates that."

Fox snapped his fingers. "The other curse he mentioned, back
at the bar on the day we meet."

I nodded. "It was suppose to be for me."

"That would explain the form." Jaffee said.

I bent down to pet Fox on the scruff of her neck. "Yes, it
happened two months ago. It took a month to finally find
some way around it. Even then though we had lost him for a
week."

"Explain 'lost him'" Little Fox said.

I sighed. "He was effectively dead for the last week. I
can't explain, and I don't want to. Fox may when he's
changed back though."

"Why is he like this now though, you said you broke the
curse."

I shook my head. "No, we didn't break it, we found a way
around it. The pendant Fox wears, it's what keeps him human.
Still though he has to be Rhea three days after ever thirty,
or else all the spells will break down and he'll be stuck
like this."

They both nodded, far calmer about this then I was at the
time.

"Does stuff like this happen to you two a lot?" Fox asked.

I smiled. "Seems like this year it is. The first month of
the year we spent body swapped with each other."

Fox chuckled. "Damn, all you have to do his de-age him to an
infant for a while and you'll have hit all three curses at
the Keep."

In some strange way that was reassuring.

    Chapter 5

The rest of that day was uneventful, we keep marching on
through the woods on no real path. I was asked a few
questions about Fox's curse, but neither Little Fox or
Jaffee seemed to want to get to deep into the details.

That night though was interesting, Little Fox had gone into
a full fox form, basically an animal. Then curled up on top
of Fox as she sleep. I wish I had a picture of that, I knew
Fox would want one when I told him about it.

The next day though, about an hour before noon, things
starting to get a bit more interesting. We were walking
along the trail with Jaffe in the lead, then Little Fox,
then me and Fox was just behind. Occasionally I would look
back to make sure she was still there, just to be safe.

Little Fox twitched his tail a bit then drifted back towards
me. "Oriana," he commented, "I've been thinking."

"About what?" I asked.

He licked his lips, his ears twitching slightly. "Well,
something just came to me, but I'm not sure if you would
want to talk about it."

I smiled to him. "Tell me then and I'll let you know if I'm
offended."

He nodded. "Before we left the Keep, you said you're only
interested in lions, yes?"

I felt myself blushing softly. "That's right."

"In general, or only your species?"

I smiled a bit. "In general, I've been with a few people who
are not of my species. A year and a half ago I actually put
together a way to make Fox a lion, though for only a few
weeks."

"What happened?"

I frowned. "I found out that he didn't love me, so I set it
up to make him a fox and gave it to him as a gift before I
left."

Little Fox perked his ears up a bit.

"And before you say it," I quickly said, "I can't do it
again. Something in the spell stuck in his system."

He nodded rubbing his chin slightly. "That wasn't what I was
thinking actually."

"You have an idea then?" I asked.

He paused for a few seconds, then nodded. "Maybe, just
maybe. Another question first, you said that you never broke
Fox's curse."

I nodded with a frown. "No, not yet."

"So," He continued, smiling softly, "basically the pendant
forces his old form on the new body?"

I nodded again. "Yes, that's why he has to spend these days
as Rhea, or else the resistance of keeping the spell on him
would cause it to break."

He nodded, now grinning. "So doesn't that mean that even as
a human he really is, on some level, a lion?"

I stumbled a bit, feeling like I had just been hit by a
large rock. I had never thought of it like that before,
but... but if I could... I shook my head in amazement. "I'll
have to think about that."

Little Fox laughed and patted me on the back. "Nice
revelation isn't it. The curse might just be the catalyses
to get you to really together!"

I nodded. "I'm sure the irony is terrific to who ever made
the curse in the first place. It was suppose to destroy me,
force my mind under that of a real lioness' and let me watch
as she killed my friends." I shivered softly.

He nodded. "So that's Rhea then? The real lioness."

"Yes."

He frowned. "Is that you 'lost him' for a week?"

"Yes," I said again.

He shook his head slowly. "Hell of thing to happen to
anybody."

I nodded in agreement.

Then like a shot my Fox ran past us then right around in
front of Jaffe. Stopping so fast that the he barely keep
himself from falling over her.

I took a few steps forward, she was sniffing the as air her
whiskers twitched softly. She then looked back at me and
snorted a bit.

After breathing in a few deep breaths of air I shook my
head. "I don't smell anything."

"I do," Little Fox said, "it's very very faint, but I do
smell something."

Jaffe shook his head.

"Should we see what it is?" I asked.

He thought for a few seconds. "I believe so, it might be
something important."

I nodded. "Lead on Fox."

She nodded to me and started walking off to the right. We
all followed closed behind, no of us sure quite what to
expect.

After a few minuets I could start to smell something as
well, if was faint but also familiar. I was starting to like
this side trip less and less.

We came upon an open clearing after another minute. Inside
of it was pitched a series of tents in a seemingly random
fashion. Some were only half up and most looked badly made
to start with.

Little Fox swore. "Death, this place smells of death."

I nodded realizing the same thing myself as he said it.
Something had happened here, and recently too.

Fox took a slow look around the camp and then walked inside
of it. I could see her for a few seconds before she vanished
behind one of the tents.

"Lets look around," Jaffe ordered, "we must be careful."

We moved forward a bit, each of us taking one of the tents
and checking inside. Opening the small flap of the tent
nearest to me I stuck my head in. Inside, curled up on the
ground, was something that looked like a twisting man, a
short little thing as well. It's throat had been neatly slit
from one side to another.

I pulled my head back out, shaking softly and trying remove
the image from my mind. "What is that?" I asked.

Jaffe walked over to me, looking slightly pale, and glanced
inside the tent, "A dead lutin. Same as in the other tent."

"I found the same thing," Little Fox commented. "Should we
bother checking the rest or assume they're all dead?"

Jaffe paused to think for a few seconds. "If there were any
large number alive they would have attacked us by now." He
shook his head, "But to be safe we must check each tent."

Fox came back then, peaking her head around one of the
tents. She motioned with her head for us to follow her then
turned around and went back the way she came.

I followed right after her, the others were right behind,
almost on my heels, the search of the tents abandoned. Fox
lead us through the maze of tents and into the center of the
came.

Littered around a smoldering camp fire were the bodies of
five lutins. They hadn't been killed as elegantly as the
others, instead they had gone down fighting.

Fox snorted softly as we stopped and went up to one of the
largest tents in the camp. As she stuck her head under the
flat a voice from inside yelped.

We all ran over, pulling the tent flap open we crowed around
Fox to look inside. Huddled at the back of the tent was a
lutin, this time alive.

He took at us, panic stricken. "Don't hurt Dree, please
don't hurt Dree!" It cried.

"We won't harm you unless you attack us." Jaffe said,
stepping back a bit.

He tilted it's head. "Not with big lady?"

Jaffe shook his head. "No, we just arrived here."

The lutin seemed to relaxed a bit.

"Come on outside, it will be less crowded there," Little Fox
said, motioning for the rest of us to step back, which we
all did.

The little man stood up and walked out of the tent. He was
timid, looking all around as he came out into the open.

"What happened here?" Jaffe asked.

He shivered. "Bad thing last night, kill others."

I nodded. "We saw."

He shivered again. "Thirty of us came, I'm only one left."
He frowned. "Lady kill others."

"What lady was this?" Fox asked.

He looked a bit panicked. "Big lady!" He said, raising his
hand as high as it would go. "Human, long hair. She killed
others first, in tents. When we find only ten of us left.
She found us here, she killed some the rest ran away. She
hunt others, find them, find me, tell me I'm not leave, then
lady went away."

Jaffe shook his head slowly. "I don't like this."

"Who would like it?" Fox asked, "whoever this lady was, she
killed everyone but him, and from the looks of it, it was
easy for her."

"I wonder why she did it?" Jaffe asked.

"I'm more worried why she didn't kill us," Little Fox
answered. "We were close and would have been a lot quicker,
if that's what she was interested in."

My Fox snapped her teeth and started to growl softly. I
looked around were we stood and saw the problem. "Our little
friend has run off."

Jaffe looked around himself and seamed angry, "A loss, but
it would be a waste of effort to hunt him down."

"I'm not too worried about him," I commented, "that's for
damn sure."

* * *

Three days later we were back at the Keep. Little Fox had
wanted to go back right away but Jaffe had insisted on
finishing the patrol.

Nothing much more interesting happened after that, the night
after we found the camp I went able to go back to my normal
self and much happier for it. Rhea stayed quite in her
mental cage, only protesting on the first day, after that
she was silent.

Current though we were more involved in explaining what we
had found to the Keep's ruler, Thomas Hassan. We had already
told our story to Jack when we had returned to the Keep, but
Thomas had insisted on hearing it first hand.

Little Fox and Jaffe had just finished telling him what we
had found at the lutin camp. Oria and I sat to one side and
just listened.

"Whoever this lady was," Fox finally commented, "she has
been trained to kill, and is very good at it."

Oria nodded her agreement.

Thomas looked at us. "You two have been silent through all
of this, is there anything you wish to add?"

I shrugged. "I think the lady had been following us since we
left the Keep." I answered, this came as a shock to everyone
else around the small table. "I sometimes picked up her sent
in the air as we traveled, and it was all over the camp when
we found it."

We had filled in Thomas on my curse, and just my curse, so
he would understand how we had found the camp in the first
place.

"Why didn't you mention this before!" Jaffe demanded.

I frowned. "Because I could still smell her following us up
until I changed back."

That brought a small course of swears from around the table.
"Are you sure?" Oria asked.

I nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

Thomas sighed, rubbing the top of his muzzle. "So she might
be here at the Keep?"

"I doubt it," Little Fox answered. "If she had been from the
Keep the lutin would have been sure to tell us. The local
women are quite clearly from here. No, I think this lady was
showing us what she can do."

"Why?"

He smiled. "I think she wanted you to know about it. An
example maybe."

"She's decided to join the game," I commented.

Little Fox nodded, "Yes, I think so. Though I don't know
who's side she would be on, other then her own."

"What I fear," Jaffe said, "Is what Nasoj will do when he
hears of this. Would he consider it an act of war?"

Thomas shook his head. "No, I don't believe so. Our enemy is
an intelligent man, he knows what we do and what we don't
do. This was as much of a message to him as it was to me. I
think you're right, I think this Lady has left her calling
card for us, we need to be careful of her."

He rose from his seat. "I'm sorry, I need to talk to Jack
about this. Thank you for talking to me though." He said
before he left.

I sighed, sitting back in my chair, looking at the ceiling
of the library as it hung above us. "Is this good or bad?" I
asked.

"I don't know," Fox commented. "It may not change anything
at all, unless she returns."

There was a pause for a few seconds before Jaffe excused
himself. We all said are mutual farewells as he went.

Little Fox sighed as he stood up. "This has been an
interesting week." He said.

I nodded as I stretched. "Agreed."

He chuckled. "At least the two of you can go home in two
days. I have to stay here and have everyone ask me about it
over and over and over again."

Oria smirked. "We have are own problems back at home."

He smiled. "Like?"

I shrugged. "Well, first off we were only suppose to have
been gone a couple days. I'm pretty sure Ken is worried sick
by now and Newt is somewhat panicked."

"They're friends of yours?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Ken... was a friend, once. We're now more
of associates, he's training Newt it magic."

He nodded. "Very well then. Who then would Newt would be?"

"Naomi," I answered. "My daughter."

Fox's mouth nearly hit the floor. "You have a child!" He
nearly shouted.

Oria snickered softly.

"She's about ten years old." I answered, "A skunk morph. I
adopted her late last year after her world died."

He frowned. "Died... how?" He asked, from the look on the
face I could see he already had his own thoughts on the
idea.

"A Plague," I answered.

He shook his head softly. "I saw a plague ravaged village
once. It was an ugly sight, I can't image it on a world wide
scale."

I nodded.

"Well," Oria said, "on that note shall we go get some food?
I'm starving."

    Chapter 6

"A question," Little Fox asked as we walked through the
small trail in the forest around the Keep. "You never told
me exactly how come both you and I fell through that portal
so long ago."

I chuckled, "Both you and I are what is know as a Natural.
Someone with a ability to open and control the folds without
any aid."

He blew through his teeth. "How common is that?" He asked.

I shrugged. "There are about two hundred naturals know to be
living at this time. This is out of a population of over
twenty trillion people."

He laughed. "And I got stuck here while you got to see the
universe. Hell talk about a bad deal."

I nodded again. "You did pretty good yourself. You survived
here, that's not easy when you're coming in from outside a
world."

He smiled. "Thanks."

"Listen, if your interested I can teach you how to use the
folds."

He frowned. "No, I can't. I have to stay here right now, I
can run away from who I am anymore. Someday what I did will
catch up with me, I have to stand here and face that." He
smiled softly. "I'm not strong enough to stay here when I
know how to run away."

I sighed. "What did you do anyway?"

He shook his head. "You have your own problems Fox, you have
to deal with them on your own. Mine would be a burden to you
that you should not have to carry."

I crossed my arms behind my back. "I don't know, you might
be right. I have enough pain to carry around myself as it
is."

He nodded slowly. "What should I tell Ryan? I think he would
want to at least see you off."

I shrugged. "I worry that showing the location of the fold
to anyone else would have side effects that I can't predict.
Ryan knows enough that he won't tell anyone, but I'm sure
people will start to wonder on their own."

"Most of the talk is about how Oriana got to be cursed. Ryan
and Jaffee know better then to talk about this." My double
responded.

I smiled. "I don't want anyone knowing where the fold is who
doesn't already, and that's only you. I just worry that if
anyone knows where it is there's the chance that someone
anyone knows where it is there's the chance that someone
will find out how to open it. The bad part about that is
that if your not like we are, the trip trough his deadly."

He frowned. "How did Oriana come through then? Or is she a
Natural as well?"

I chuckled. "Magic of a sort," actually it was a pair of
implants over her ears. They protected her from the
telepathic force the folds put out, the same force that I'm
immune to for the sake that I am telegraphically dead.
Either way the technology that made them, qualified under
Clarke's Law as magic.

Little Fox sighed. "I'm worried Fox, I mean, what is to stop
other people from coming through to the Keep? You and Oriana
been quiet about it, but how many people, if they came here,
would panic? More so after the discover the curses and the
delay in returning."

I nodded. "You can take some comfort in knowing that the way
here isn't know and little document."

He shook his head. "No... no I can't." He pressed a paw
against his chest. "Fox, I don't think it's as hard as you
present to get here. I mean, you can come through easily,
what if someone came through with guns or something? How
would that effect things?"

I thought about it for a few second. "I see... a worth while
concern I agree." I chewed my lip as I paused. "Do you know
someone who can put together a heavy anti-teleport spell?" I
asked. "Either casting it on the area around the fold or
making some kind of talisman to place there?"

He nodded. "Yes, many, but will that stop people from coming
here?"

"Yes, it's almost overkill," I answered. "It will also keep
people on this side from using it as well."

He smiled. "Thank you. It will make me feel safer."

I nodded. "Your welcome."

We walked on for a few more minutes, before Little Fox Spoke
again. "Do you wish that I guide tonight, or do you want to
go alone."

"We can find are own way back."

He nodded. "Well then, what exactly are you taking from my
library anyway?" He finally asked. "You never told me."

I shrugged. "A book, about a thousand pages long with a
title to match."

He chuckled. "Never been touched I would expect."

"It was covered in dust."

"I don't keep some parts of the library as well as I
should." He said with a slight sigh.

I chuckled softly.

Little Fox sighed louder as we turned on the path. "Tell me
Fox, do you think you got the better end of this deal?"

I blinked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, in the long view, do you think you have a better
life then I did after what happened?"

I shrugged. "I really can't say, I don't know what exactly
your life was after your came here. Really though, I think
we're about the same. I've lost so much because of all of
this, even once my life."

He laughed. "Do you know how silly that sounds, 'even once
my life'?"

I nodded. "Yes, it's true though, at least as far as I
care."

"What have you lost then?" He asked.

I blew through my teeth. "Two really good friends, one on
Earth. The other was the first person I ever meet when went
through the folds. I also lost a great friendship when I
found that I had been betrayed, my mind changed and memories
hidden, all for what he thought was right. I've even once
had my whole self image shattered when I found out that I
once killed a man."

He frowned. "That's what was hidden wasn't it?"

I nodded.

He continued to think. "And Ken, the one you said used to be
a friend, he's the one who hid it from you."

I nodded again.

Little Fox sighed, and patted my shoulder. "My friend, I
wish we could meet again someday, but I know that can't come
to pass."

I nodded, and placed my hands in front of my chest, one over
the other. Then holding my thumbs in a triangle I bowed
slightly to him. "I'm glad to have meet you."

He smiled, returning the bow. "As I you."

* * *

"Hi Fox," Oria said, looking up at me as I entered the room.
She was sprawled out on the bed, paws resting on her chest,
her thinking position.

I smiled, sitting down in the small chair. We only had a few
hours to go before we left to go home. She didn't seem to
eager to leave though.

"Have an interesting talk with Little Fox?" She asked.

"Yes," I said with a weary smile. "He's more like me then I
first thought."

She chuckled, sitting up on the bed. "He's observant, that's
for sure."

I nodded. "Though he's has his own problems to deal with. He
told me he didn't want to know how to open the fold. It
would be to easy of a way for him to run."

She twitched her ears. "From what?"

"His past."

She ahhed softly.

"You know," Oria said after a minute, "he told me about an
interesting observation he made."

I smiled. "Oh, what about?"

She stood up and walked over to me. "About me, you, and how
you are Rhea."

I shook my head. "I don't really understand."

She laughed softly. "He made it pretty clear at the time, I
just had to think about it a lot before I could accept it."

I nodded my head. "All right then, what do you have to
accept?"

She smiled. "That your form really is that of a lioness.
Right now your being human is something forced on to it."

I frowned. "That's one way to look at it."

She laughed. "More then you know. You see, it means that no
matter how you look you're always, in some way, a lion."

I blinked, then blinked again. "You mean..."

She nodded. "Yes, exactly. It was all the understanding I
needed to get around my one problem with you." Then she bent
down, wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me.

I returned the kiss for maybe a few seconds before breaking
it off. She frowned as she pulled away.

"I need to think about this Oria," I explained. "I mean...
We have been friends for years now, and to have you tell me
that you want me and that you can finally have me." I shook
my head, "I just have to think about it."

She sat back, laughing softly. "Of course, I should have
realized. This is about as much of a shock to you as it was
to me."

I smirk. "Revelations do that."

She stood up, shaking her head. "Listen, I'm going to go and
say my goodbyes to Little Fox and Ryan, maybe drink a bit as
well. I'll be back in a couple hours."

I nodded, "Don't take to long."

She smiled to me, waving one paw as she went out the door.

I sighed, relaxing back into my chair. This was defiantly a
week I would remember. Though this had to be the most mind
blowing topper to it all. I had never conceived of the idea
that Oria just telling me one day that she was willing to,
well to be blunt, have sex.

Hell the idea hadn't crossed my mind in months. Not since we
had been mind swapped. I mean, it just never seemed that
important to me to be with her like that. I also know how
she felt on the matter, and I knew how much she loved me,
but it just never occurred to me to care.

We were closer then that anyway, living together so long it
was hard not to be. We knew more about each other then
anyone else could. The months apart we had the year before
started to prove that. We were always there for each other
when we needed it, no questions asked.

A little bell started ringing in the side of my head. I was
suddenly looking at Oriana in a different light that I had
before. I mean, I've never wanted to do anything that would
hurt her, really, I would have.

To her, being with each other, being closed and physical,
that was to her the truest form of love. A few things
started to click as the ringing in the side of my head grew
louder.

For Oria, the need for such an action yet the personal
inability to do so would have been tantamount to torturer.
It would have hurt her to no end.

Then in a sudden flash of mental light I understood. I
understood at it all felt right... that I loved her. I never
under stood that before, and to have admitted it to her
would have hurt her in ways I couldn't believe.

How long have I been hiding this from myself... and in
truth, did I really care?

A few hours later, once we were back home, I told her this.
I told her what I had now come to understand.

She already knew! That was the insane part, she had know
from the time I had been Rhea. I had told her, told her and
forgotten.

We stood there for a few minutes, in silence, just holding
each other. Then still in silence we left each other and
went to are own rooms. Nothing more happened that night,
nothing more was needed.

Still, one phrase keeping coming into my mind as I drifted
off to sleep. "Nothing's the same anymore."

----

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.
Jack DeMule is (C) 1998 by Jack DeMule.
Thomas Hassan is (C) 1998 by Thomas Hassan.