A Fox in the Works Singularity Collapse By Fox Cutter Chapter Two 01/13/2000: Rhea paced along side the wagon, watching herself as she moved near the large wooden wheel, her tail flicking back and forth as she caught the scent of some small animal moving off the side of the trail that was laughingly called a road. At least it was better on her paws then the roads on Prid, the loose dirt and grass were soft, and gave easily. She was grateful for that; after a week of traveling with the caravan her paws would have been killing her if it had been a paved road. As it was they only bothered her near the evening at the end of the day's travel. The end of the current day was approaching as the sun was setting over the horizon, the golden light filtering through the trees that lined the road. She felt there was only an hour before the head rider called a halt for the night. With a soft thump Fox jumped down from the wagon, and moved to walk next to her. The slow pace of the horses pulling the wagons made it easy for both of them to keep up. She noted that he had his shoes off and was apparently enjoying the soft ground as much as she was. He walked easily, his arms behind his back and his head held high. If he had a tail he would have been sweeping it with some pleasure. She could also see that he was holding back the instincts that were a part of him, the same instincts that she allowed to flow over herself. She didn't understand how he could repress them, and sometimes she found it hard to believe that at one point in her life she was him. "You seemed pleased," Fox said after a few minutes passed. <> she said, narrowing her voice so that only her human twin could hear it. <> He nodded as he reached down to run his fingers over the scruff of her neck, letting the claws slide free. With familiar skill he managed to hit just the right spot to elicit a purr. "I agree; we should go out to the old house more often," he said. <> she replied, noticing they were getting a few looks from the other caravan members, but they were less interested than in the first few days. The others had gotten used to the way Fox liked to talk to his 'pet'. "Maybe we could get Oria and Santhera as well, it would be nice to have the full family together out there," Fox said, a touch of a smile crossing his face. She nodded happily, enjoying the idea. She wasn't sure if Oriana knew it, but Rhea had just as much affection for her as Fox did. The idea of being the third in the marriage had come from that affection, and it had only grown since the day they had traded vows. The thought of being with her as a full lioness was therefore an attractive one to Rhea. Fox brushed his fingers over the lioness's neck as they continued to walk next to the wagon. She noticed that Ravindar was following along behind them, talking casually to someone in the following wagon. The disguised tiger looked human, and acted reasonably so, but his scent still gave him away. Luckily she was the only one of the group with a nose that was sensitive enough to notice the difference. A new scent crossed the air. It was thin, wafting past on a momentary breeze. Rhea lifted her head and took in a deep breath through her nose, pulling the strange smell in. It took a few moments to place it as a horse, but it wasn't one of the now familiar scents of the horses in the caravan. She tilted her head to the side, trying to catch a second whiff of the scent, but finding that the breeze had carried it away. Raising her head up she let the remains of the breeze brush over her whiskers, moving across the trail and towards the wagons. With a flick of her ears she turned her head to the side, looking at the trees on the edge of the trail. The fading sunlight created moving shadows behind the rows of trees. She wasn't sure, but she though she saw something moving with the caravan, following them. "Is something wrong?" Fox asked, finally picking up on Rhea's diverted attention. <> she replied, starting to angle herself slightly towards the edge of the trail. "Are you sure about that?" Ravindar asked, suddenly appearing directly behind them, his large paws dropping on both Fox's shoulder and Rhea's back. <> she replied, a little annoyed by the tiger's paw. She held her self in place out of respect for him, and his clear intent of keeping her put. "I can't see anything," Fox said as he peered out into the woods. <> she sent, her annoyance growing. Fox smiled, "Rhea, that's not all that surprising," he told her. His smile started to fade away as he saw the head rider coming their way. "You might want to keep your voice down as well," he cautioned. The head rider brought his horse pasted them, and turned it tightly so he was riding at their side. He was a tall man, his skin darkly tanned, with a reddish tinge to it, his brown hair was cropped short around his head and he was missing his left ear. "What is going on?" he asked in a low voice. Fox chuckled, "Nothing that you need to worry about, Deca," he said. The man looked down, his eyes glancing between Fox and Rhea. "Now was it my imagination, or did your homunculus say something about someone being in the trees?" he asked. "She said something about that, yes," Fox replied. Deca turned his attention directly to the lioness, "Tell me exactly what brought you to this conclusion, and keep it down. I'd rather not have everyone know if something is going on." Rhea nodded, surprised at the respectful tone the man took with her. She quickly ran though what she had seen and smelled, including why she believed it wasn't from the caravan. The head rider nodded, casting his eyes towards the passing trees with a concerned looked. "I see. You are right to be worried. I think we should send someone out to take a look, there have been a few caravan's raided out this way." <> she said, glancing back at Ravindar. The breeze picked up, and for just a moment it brought the scent of the horse once again, but stronger than before. This time not only could she smell it, but so could Fox, his head snapping around as, for just a moment, his instincts come to the foreground, only to be rapidly submerged. Fox's eyes narrowed a bit as he looked into the tree line. "I think I saw something out there," he said, trying to rationalize something he clearly didn't want to understand. "Let her go," the Deca said, his eyes tracking at the edge of the woods. "And be quick about it, we are nearing the fording, and that would be a likely place for an attack." <> Rhea said as she felt the bodyguard's paw lift from her back. She rushed forward the moment she was free of him, hurrying towards the tree line. She slowed down once she was into the shadows of the trees, lowering her body closer to the ground and skulking through the debris on the forest floor. The smell of the horse grew with each step, no longer being carried by the breeze, but covering the ground as well. In a few seconds she found the horse's hoof prints in the dirt, and she turned to follow the tracks, increasing her speed to a quick trot. In a few seconds she could see the rump of the horse, moving between the trees. There was a rider on the horse's back, a young man probably no more than eighteen years old. He keep glancing back at the trail, where the caravan could occasionally be seen between the trees. He was nervous; she could smell it under the scent of the horse, and she could see how he fidgeted in the worn saddle. "Come on," the young man muttered under his breath as he glanced forward for a few moments, kicking his horse to pick up the speed. Rhea flicked her ears back, satisfied for the moment, and slowed herself down, letting the horse and rider vanish into the shadows of the trees. When he was out of sight she turned back towards the trail, moving rapidly towards the caravan. As she came out of the trees her eyes locked onto Fox and the head rider. She rushed over to them, coming to a near stop, and panting hard as she looked up to Deca. <> A deep frown played over Deca's face as he turned to face the woods, then back towards the head of the caravan. "We are in trouble," he said and kicked his horse forward. He moved quickly down the line of wagon's pounding the side of each with his fist. Without saying a word all of the caravan members came to attention, their swords at the ready as each wagon came to a stop. "What's going on?" Samantha asked as she roused herself from the back of the wagon next to them. She was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she focused on the group. Fox glanced up at her, a serious look on his face, "Something may be going down," he told her. She nodded, fighting back a yawn as she jumped from the wagon and landed hard on the ground. Her hand went to her to her belt as her cloth tail started to flick behind her legs. She had taken her cloak off for the moment, leaving it in the back of the wagon, along with the rest of their packs. "So... what should we be doing?" she asked, looking down the dozen wagons and the people preparing themselves. "We did sign on as guards," Ravindar said, his hand resting gently on the hilt of his sword. She let out an exaggerated sigh, "Don't remind me, I hate standing watch at night," she said as the last wagon came to a stop. "It means we should be getting ready for a fight," Fox said, holding the hilt of his own sword with a firm grasp. His eyes glanced towards the tree line, his fingers flexing slightly. Samantha nodded, and pulled free her pistol, thumbing off the safety as she said: "If we have to fight, we have to fight." Both Fox and Rhea snapped their heads forward, the lioness's ears folding back against her skull as a low growl started to rumble through her body, one that was matched by a softer growl from Fox. "We fight," Fox said with bitter disappointment as he pulled his sword free. A moment later two dozen men on horse back exploded from the woods on both sides of the caravan, with more men towards the back of the wagons than the front. Rhea moved first, digging her claws into the ground as she leaped forward, her tail twisting as she rushed towards the closest of the attackers. Before the man really saw her coming she was on him, leaping upwards and clamping her jaws around the neck of his horse. The horse reared back from the pain and fright as she twisted her head. With a wet sound her jaws pulled free, ripping out the animal's neck in the process. The horse let out a muffled cry as it twisted around bucking bucked hard, and throwing the rider to ground. He landed hard on his side, the air forced from his lungs. Rhea jumped at the horse again, hitting the dying beast in the side, its legs folded under it, and it toppled like a tree, crashing to the ground onto the rider's leg, pinning him to the ground. She turned again and started back to the caravan, her eyes moving to take in the battle that was quickly unfolding. Most of the riders were off the mounts and freely attacking the members of the caravan. Fox was holding his own, crossing swords with the young man that had been following them. The young man was unsure of himself, and Fox didn't want to move in for a stronger attack and risk the possibility of a kill. Samantha was moving between fights, her gun held at her side. Behind her one of the attackers lay on the ground, a bullet in his knee. She was already heading for a second attacker. Ravindar was in trouble. He had his sword free, but he lacked his usual skill. He was fighting with two of the attackers, and was only keeping himself in check because of his strength instead of his skill. He was so focused on the two at the end of the blade, he couldn't see the third who was moving up behind him. <> Rhea yelled, pushing her mental voice as loud as she could make it. It was loud enough that it probably echoed though the skull of everyone in the battle. The disguised tiger twisted, trying to turn to face his newest attacker, but wasn't able to pull away from the first fight. By the time he would be free it would have been to late for him to do anything. It was Samantha who came to his rescue, when the call had come she had turned towards the tiger, and with startling accuracy put two rounds into the second attacker. The first round landed in his chest, but didn't stop him; the second round hit right under his chin, dropping him hard to the ground. She ran up to Ravindar, her gun aimed at the first attacker. The man was smart enough to put two and two together, and run from the fight, the other following right after. "Screw the blade," she told the tiger, "stick to your gun." He snorted, but took her advice as he threw his blade to the ground, replacing it with his gun. Rhea ran past her friends, heading for the front of the caravan. She passed other fights, keeping her eyes on them all, looking for any that needed help, but on the whole the members of the caravan were holding their own. At the head of the line of wagons the head rider was fighting with a burly looking man. Deca's horse was down, and he already had a deep gash on the side of his right arm. He had the sword in his left hand, and was fighting hard, but the attacker was gaining the advantage. She ran around the attacker, putting a few feet between him and her, and then with a loud roar she started to run towards the man at full speed. Both he and Deca stopped, and looked towards her. Deca realized what was about to happen and threw himself backwards as she leapt through the air, her paws wide, her claws out and a her jaws open. She crashed into the attacker with her full weight, throwing him to the ground and landing on top of him. Her jaw went around his neck, holding tightly, only just cutting the skin as her weight pinned him to the ground. Deca was on them in a moment, the tip of his blade pressing up against the attacker's neck from between Rhea's lips. "Now, call your men off," he said. The attacker grimaced, and let out a low gasp, his eyes rolling back as he fought back a case of panic. "Stop," he started to say, his voice failing him as he gasped and tried again, "Stop the attack," he yelled, his voice shaking. Rhea could hear the sounds of battle start to fade around them, and felt Deca's hand on her neck. "You can let him go," he said. <> she said. Deca paused, and patted the back of her neck. "Right, right. Hold him until we gather up his men." She flicked her ears to acknowledge him, and the man under her relaxed slightly as the sword point was pulled away from his neck. Adjusting her weight a bit more she relaxed her jaw, pulling her teeth free of his neck. About three minutes later she felt a hand back on her shoulders. "We can take him now," Deca said. She nodded and opened her jaws, then slowly walked herself off of him. As soon as she was clear three other men jumped on him, pulling him to his feet. Rhea shook her head, stretching herself out a bit as she turned away, and walked back towards her friends who were still near the end of the caravan. Fox was sitting on the ground, his head on his knees and his eyes half closed. Ravindar was standing at his side, watching as members of the caravan gathered up the last of the attackers. Samantha was resting on the back of one wagon, replacing the rounds she had expended. The lioness moved over to them, dropping at Fox's side, <> she asked all three of them. "They are going to execute most of the raiders," Fox said with a sigh. "The leader will be tied up and taken to the nearest town, probably to hang," he added. Rhea flicked her ears back, understanding how Fox was feeling. It was the same way she was feeling. For all the differences between the two of them she still shared his hatred for needless death. They sat together against the wheel of the wagon, both of them making a point of not watching as all but three of the attackers were taken to the edge of the tree line and killed, even the nervous young man who had been following them. "I would like to thank you," Deca said, approaching them once the deed was done. His wounded arm was bandaged and held in a sling around his neck. Fox snorted, "I would have preferred if you hadn't killed them," he said as he looked up at the man. "They knew the penalty before they attacked us. If we hadn't stopped them they would have willingly killed every single one of us," he replied. Fox said nothing in return. He turned his attention to Rhea, giving her a small smile. "I would like to thank you, it's likely that you saved my life today." <> she replied, not bothering to look up. Deca nodded and brushed at his sleeve. "I will have good things to say about you when we reach the Crown, and your aid will not be unrewarded. You are each entitled to one of the attackers' horses, and a share of the bounty on their leader." "Thanks, I'm sure that will come in handy," Fox replied, it was clear he really wanted to say something else, but he held himself back. The head rider nodded and turned away from the group, "We'll be moving out in five minutes. It would be better if we camped on the other side of the river," he said before walking away from them. "It wasn't for them," Fox muttered under his breath, glancing at the line of bodies at the edge of the trail. Then without a word he stood up and climbed into the wagon. Rhea jumped in after him, unwilling to walk for the rest of the night. To Be Continued... ----- This story is copyright 2004 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy reprints limited to one per 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.