A Fox in the Works
                    Singularity Collapse

                             By

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter Ten

I wanted to take a shower, for more than just one reason. I
felt dirty, both physically, because a long night of sex
does that when you have fur, and mentally because of what
happened. Partly because I felt like I had cheated on
Oriana, which wasn't true and I knew she would understand,
partly because I was doing it to get what I needed from
Aster.

It was with a touch of irony that I noted that I had fallen
into my wife's profession. Unlike the time I spent working
with her at Rose's house, this wasn't an abstract thing. I
was directly selling myself to get Aster's money. I was a
whore.

Resting my head in my paws I let out a sigh, feeling the
warmth of the sunlight as it fell through the window and
onto my fur. I was probably overreacting to everything. I
did what was necessary at the time; I wasn't a prostitute
because of that. The time I spent at Rose's house was what
gave me that title.

I pulled one paw away and scratched at my leg, using the
claws to dig at the matted fur. The worst part about it, in
my mind, was that he was too damn good a lover to dislike
for making me sleep with him.

"Good morning!" Aster said with a smile as he entered his
one room house, a bucket of water held in each hand as he
closed the door with his foot. "How are you feeling?" he
asked.

"Conflicted," I muttered to him as I looked away.

He sighed as he walked across the room, dumping the water
into a large barrel near the fireplace. "I'll get you a
horse today. You should be ready to ride at sundown," he
said.

"Thank you," I told him with a sigh.

The young man walked across the room to where I sat, sitting
down next to me. I was still nude, but I didn't care to
cover myself up anymore. It took a moment for me realize
that I felt defeated, which was a feeling I never liked to
have.

He reached out to touch my shoulder, and I shrugged it away.
"If it's any consolation, you are the best I've ever had."

I chuckled, but a moment later my face fell back into a
frown, my ears dropping into my hair.

Aster looked at me for a moment, his hand settling on my
leg, holding me firmly so I couldn't slip away. "Look, I'm
sorry I hurt you, you're just very pretty, and... I got
dumb. I saw you, and... you are the most beautiful thing I
have ever seen, and I just... wanted you."

"And now you've had me," I snapped at him, punctuating it
with a snarl.

He sighed. "Would it help if I told you I regret making you
do it? I would much rather have earned it than taken it from
you."

I turned my head to glare at him, "You know what? It
doesn't!" I yelled.

Aster took his hand off of my hip and backed up a bit. "Of
course not. I'm being stupid. I'm stupid," he said as he
stood up, shaking his head. "Fuck, I don't know what I'm
doing. I've been looking for someone like you all my life,
and now I've screwed it up."

My eyes went wide for a second, and then I let out a sigh.
"Are you in love with me?" I asked.

"No! Yes! I don't know," he said as he walked to the fire.
"You just... stir something in me, something I've been
looking for, and I had to go and ruin it."

"You did just that," I told him.

He shook sighed as he threw more wood onto the fire. "So...
I can't undo what I did, and I shouldn't have done it in the
first place. What can I do to make it up to you?"

I rolled my eyes, "Nothing, just do what I sold myself for,"
I told him.

The man sighed and nodded his head, "The water will be warm
in about half an hour, clean yourself up, and I'll have your
things soon," he told me as he walked towards the door.

"Thank you for that; it's something at least," I said as I
turned my head away, watching him as he walked out of the
house.

I fell back, frowning as I starred up at the wooden roof
that hung over my head. I wasn't sure what I was going to
do. I felt torn in two, and I was a little pissed as well.
Aster had been dumb, and I was at least pleased that he knew
it.

To be honest I kind of liked him. Other than his forcing me
to have sex, he kind of reminded me of myself at one point
in time. He was also beating himself up better then I ever
could, and he would be doing it for the rest of his life. It
would probably ruin any future relationship that he would
ever have, which I didn't like all that much.

Pulling myself to my feet I padded over the dirt floor to
the water, touching it with my finger. It was warming
nicely, and would soon be where I liked it. Next to the
water there was a small rag and a bar of crudely made soap.
I smiled when I saw it, scooping them both up and dipping
them both into the water, getting the rag thick with soap.

I let out a long purr as I cleaned myself, scrubbing at my
fur until the skin under it ached from the force of it all,
but by the time I was done I no longer felt dirty.

As I washed my face in the now hot water I decided that I
would forgive Aster, not that he fully deserved it. I didn't
want this hanging over his head for the rest of his life. It
wasn't as if I didn't enjoy it, just not how I ended up
involved with it.

I jumped when I heard the door open, snapping my head around
to see Aster as he came back into the house. In his arms was
a bundle of clothing. "You're looking better," he told me
with a smile.

"I'm feeling better," I answered, turning myself a bit so I
wasn't exposing myself to him.

He nodded as I turned, smiling softly, "I can see that. I
brought you some clothes; they should fit you. I'm having
some trouble getting the horses for us, but I think I can
solve that problem. We should be able to leave just after
nightfall, assuming that you still want me along."

I moved towards him, still keeping my back to him with one
arm pressed tightly over my breasts. "I could use the help,
and it would go a long way towards properly apologizing for
last night."

He smiled a bit and handed me the clothing as I came with in
reach. I took them out of his hands, and then gave him a
smile. "If you could give me some privacy?" I asked him.

A blush crossed his face. "Of course," he said and hurried
out of the house.

I laughed and shook my head as I dug through the clothing.
If he kept reacting like that it would be kind of fun to
tease him the whole way. I pulled on the shirt that was in
the pile, lacing it up over my breasts, then pulled out the
pants. I took a few moments to cut a hole for my tail before
pulling them on, even if it did take a minute to work it
through the hole. Gloves and boots followed. The boots
pinched my toes, but fit for the most part, and the gloves
covered my paws. Lastly there was a cloak which settled over
my shoulders, and when I pulled the hood up over my face I
found it deep enough to hide most of my features.

"It's safe to come in," I called as I ran my fingers through
my hair, working out the final remains of the braid that had
come with me when I changed from male to female.

Aster came back in, and looked me over with a sharp eye.
"You look good. I'm glad everything fits," he told me.

I nodded to him, picking gently at the lacing of the shirt.
"So am I," I said as he closed the door. "Thank you for
helping me," I told him.

"It's the least I can do," he said with a sigh.

I nodded again and ran my fingers down the edge of the
cloak. "If you want to make up for last night, keep helping
me, but no more sex, OK?"

"Ok," he said with a smile.

I returned the smile, even though I didn't really feel it.
"I could use a bite to eat, then you need to get the
horses," I told him.

"Of course!" he said and hurried to his task.

* * *

I paced around the small room, my paws clenched tightly
behind my back as my tail swung at my feet. I was annoyed,
and was starting to grow angry, as anyone could have seen
from the way my ears lay in my hair. The sun was almost
gone, the last of the light fading from the sky, and Aster
had yet to arrive with the horses.

At this point Ravindar had a two and a half day head start
on me, and Samantha had nearly three days. It was going to
be a hard ride to catch up with either of them, but I knew I
could do it. I wasn't so sure about Aster. The young farmer
didn't seem too experienced in the ways of the world.

I dropped back onto the couch, the single piece of furniture
in the room, and looked at the door. If I got lucky Ravindar
would already have Samantha. If that was true we could meet
up in as soon as a day. In the worst case I would have to go
to the Holy City to find them.

With a crash the door to the house slammed open, and I was
on my feet in an instant, my claws out as a low grow started
to build inside of me. I was relieved to see that it was
only Aster, but he looked worried as he closed it behind
himself.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I let my claws slide back into my
fingers.

He pushed at his short hair, panting softly. "The King has
ordered the expulsion of the Church and the Priests from the
City."

I nodded and pulled my hair back, brushing it behind my
mobile ears. "That's not too surprising, the King seems to
have a real issue with them. What is his reason for this
action?"

"He says that the Highest was going to replace the Relics
with fakes. The Church was going to hide them away so they
alone could control them. The King's taken the Relics under
his control, and has moved them into the Palace," Aster
said, looking a little panicked and slightly angry.

I nodded again and started to braid my long hair into a
ponytail. "I see, I think that makes sense. He's trying to
take control of the Church, and it's going to turn nasty in
a very short amount of time."

Aster shook his head, "Why would the King want to do that?"
he asked me.

"Probably because he feels that it's a threat to his own
power. From what I hear they weren't too keen on the way the
last war ended."

"Of course not, we were suppose to win, not this mess," he
snapped back at me.

I shrugged as I continued to work on my hair. "Be that as it
may, he has decided that he should be the one controlling
the Church. It's not unheard of, but it will probably cause
a major war. Of course you'll soon have your previous war
back now that the Queen is dead. Actually, that's a rather
effective distraction now that I think about it."

He let out a sigh, and then rummaged around the house for a
moment, coming back with a small piece of cloth that I could
tie my hair with. "I didn't want her to die, and it's tragic
that she was killed."

"It was," I said as I tied the cloth around the end of my
hair and let the braid fall, feeling it sweep two-thirds of
the way down my back. "Do you have the horses? I want to get
out of here as soon as I can," I said.

Aster nodded and started around the house, collecting a few
other things. "They are tied up outside. I also got some
food and some clothing for the pass. I just want to get a
few things before we leave."

"Alright," I told him as I pulled my cloak back on, and
pulled the hood up over my head. I tucked my tail tight
under it, and hoped no one would notice the bulge on my rear
end.

He made one last pass through the house then nodded his
head. "That should be everything," he told me as he walked
to the fireplace and upturned the mostly empty pot of water,
dumping it on the smoldering logs. With a hiss and a cloud
of steam the fire went out.

"Shall we go?" I asked.

"Of course," he replied as he walked out of the door and
into the pale twilight. The moonless sky was bright, the
dense stars providing their own light to everything around
us. I could see two horses tied up a few feet away, both of
them saddled, and with heavy saddlebags.

I pulled myself up on one, spreading my cloak out over the
horse's back as I kept my tail hidden under it. I finally
got my first look around at where I was. I could see the
City a few miles away, glowing softly from its own light.
There was flat land around us forming a farm small enough
that Aster could tend it on his own.

We took the road, moving quickly as we could in the night.
Soon we came to a main road, one that was probably well
traveled during the day, but now was nearly empty. We would
pass someone every few minutes, but no one really paid any
attention to us as we rode past.

One thing that I noticed, and it worried me a bit, was that
we were getting closer to the City with every passing
moment. The light from it was growing brighter until it
washed all but the brightest starts from the sky. "Do we
have to go so close?" I asked him.

He nodded, "The main road to the Holy City is on the other
side of the City of the Crown. At this time of night we have
to go around, so don't worry yourself about it."

"That's good," I told him as I pulled my hood down tightly
over my face as we neared a group of six men on horseback
who were riding in our direction.

I was expecting this to be the same as our other encounters;
the group was large, but we had already passed larger, so I
was only slightly worried. It came as a surprise when the
leader of the men waved us to a stop.

The leader looked us over as he moved his horse up near
Aster. "So, where are you going at this time of night?" he
asked in a pleasant voice, but I noticed his hand was on the
hilt of his sword. I gritted my teeth. This was the last
thing we needed.

"We are heading to the Holy City. We are already late so if
we could continue on," Aster told him with a pleasant smile.

The leader of the men nodded, and leaned a bit closer, "Ah,
I can see that you are in a hurry, but there is a toll on
this road, and we are here to collect it," he said.

Aster frowned and shook his head, "This is a free road, and
there has never been a toll on it before. I am not prepared
to pay it now."

The leader of the men shrugged, and pulled his sword free,
leveling it at my friend. "I don't see how you have much of
a choice. Now let's see your money purse," he ordered.

The young man sighed and pulled a small leather bag from his
belt, then threw it to the men. One of them caught it and
quickly pulled it open. "There's barely anything in here,"
he snapped.

The leader frowned, and turned his attention to me, "Where
is your money, miss?" he asked.

I frowned and pulled a little deeper into my cloak, "I don't
have any," I told him, wishing I had a weapon of some kind
with me.

"Now, that is a problem, we may have to--Lord!" he cried,
pulling his horse back as his men pulled their blades free,
all of them pointing at me.

With a gulp I lifted my paws looking between the six men. As
my eyes settled on each one, they seemed to grow tenser,
there swords lifting slightly.

"Your eyes," Aster whispered to me.

"Oh, hell!" I said realizing exactly what he meant. My eyes
must have been glowing in the collected light of the sky and
the City. The fact that they were slitted probably only
added to the shock of them.

Their leader clenched his jaw, and started to circle his
horse around to my side. His men moved out to surround Asher
and myself, leaving us trapped. All the swords were still
pointed at me. He reached out for me, and I tried to twist
away from his hand, but I wasn't fast enough. He gabbed the
hood of my cloak and pulled it back, revealing myself to
them.

"No wonder it doesn't have any money. It's just a
homunculus!" one of the men said.

The leader of the men chuckled and nodded his head. "We
should take it as the toll. We can get a lot of value for it
back at camp."

"You will not," I snapped at them.

"Wait a moment," one of the other men said as he moved a bit
closer to me. "There is a reward for the return of a feline
homunculus; if this is the one we can make even more money
off of it."

I growled softly, glaring at the men as they moved closer to
me. In fact they had moved between me and Aster, separating
us, but also ignoring him now.

The leader leaned in a bit closer, just barely out of range
of my arms. "You know, I think you're right. Lets take it
back to town, and if we're wrong we'll have a nice
plaything."

With a snort I glared at him. "Just try," I told him,
watching as Aster moved up behind the leader. I shook my
head at him. "Just get out of here," I told him. He frowned
deeply and shook his head in return.

"We are not going anywhere without you," their leader said,
believing my comments were meant for him.

I bit my lip, looking past him and towards Aster, "Yes you
are, I can take care of myself." I told him, glaring at the
young man. "Leave, now!"

He gulped and looked back at the leader of the group, then
kicking his horse he slid away into the darkness. I let out
a sigh as he left, glad to see he was out of danger.

"You are not the one giving the orders here," the leader
snapped at me, moving a bit closer, and just into reach.
"Now move!"

My claws slid free as I lunged forward, grabbing the man's
sword hand, digging my claws in and twisting. He let out a
yell of pain as the blade fell free of his fingers. I lunged
forward, sliding off the horse to picked it up from the
ground.

The others were off their horses in a flash, and glaring at
me as I brandished my sword at them. "So, what are we going
to do now? You can just walk away, or I could do some
serious damage to all six of you."

They shared some strong looks, but the leader settled the
matter when he snorted at me. "Take the thing down," he
ordered.

The men were on me in a flash, and I would have liked to say
I fought them off, bringing them all down with swift skill
and precision, but that simply wasn't the case. I was
overwhelmed, out of my depth and simply panicking. I really
didn't know what I was doing or how I would get out of it.

Terminus would have been proud of me, I managed to hold them
off for at least a minute, cutting all of them at one point
or other, but eventually they rushed me, one diverting my
blade as the other dived down, taking my legs out from under
me. I went down hard as they piled on top of me, my sword
taken from my paw as they pinned me to the ground.

"Tie it up," their leader yelled, "and watch out for the
claws."

In a short time I was bound to the back of my horse, my paws
tight against the saddle, and my legs tied with a rope that
went under the horse's belly. Trapped once more.

* * *

It took some fast talking, but the men got us inside the
City walls, and were also smart enough to gag me so I
couldn't call for help. Not that it would have mattered,
anyone who could have come to help probably would have just
taken me for money themselves.

I rode on in silence as I worked my claws against the edges
of the rope around my wrist. It was hard going, the angle
was tight and after a few minutes my wrists hurt to hell and
back, but I was making slow progress. I figured that with
another hour or two I would be free.

My captors had pulled my hood down over my head, and made a
point of keeping the fabric over my eyes. That was fine with
me as I keep my head down, staring at my paws as I picked at
the ropes, watching as thread by thread it slowly came free.

Of course once my paws were free, I still had to unbind my
legs, and that would be a lot harder. My only hope was to
catch my captors off guard, and move as quickly as possible.
The trick would be to find the right time, and have my paws
free when it came.

When our horses came to a stop I realized that I wasn't
going to have much more time. I hunched over, pulling my
paws in close as I worked harder at the ropes. I stopped as
my hood was pulled back and a lantern was forced into my
face. I tried to turn my head away, but a hand grabbed my
muzzle and pulled it back around. I glared into the eyes of
an older looking man, my ears lowering against my hair as I
recognized him as one of my would-be rapists.

"Yes, that's it," he said as he squeezed his fingers a bit
tighter, pressing them between the bones of my jaw and
causing me quite a lot of pain. I allowed a growl to slip
out, and pulled my lips back so he could see my teeth.

The leader of the group took a few steps forward and asked,
"So how much do we get for it?" he asked.

The guard laughed and pulled his hand away, leaving my jaw
aching. I snapped my teeth at his receding fingers, and just
missed as he moved them out of range. "You don't get
anything,"

The leader shook his head and moved closer to the guard. "We
were told there was a reward," he snapped.

The guard chuckled and shook his head. "Then you came to the
wrong people. There is no reward for this thing. If you wish
to argue about it, I'm sure we could come to some sort of
deal, or you could just leave now with your lives."

"Are you threatening me?" The other man said, moving a bit
closer.

The guard nodded his head. "Of course I am, and you are in
no position to push me. Leave now, or you'll die here," he
said as more men moved around the group.

The leader of the men snorted and turned around. "We'll get
nothing here. Leave the homunculus," he said, then looked
back at the guard, "but I will not forget this."

The guard snorted and crossed his arms, glaring at the men,
daring them to try something.

With some grumbling the men returned to their horses and
turned away, leaving me back in the hands of the same people
who had tried to rape me. I doubted they would be very
gentle with me now that I had killed one of their own.

He took the reins of my horse and led me towards what I knew
to be the Palace. As the horse moved I worked openly on the
rope, desperately trying to get it free as other men fell in
at my sides.

We moved around the Palace, going from the back quarters to
a side entrance. Once we reached it I felt the bindings of
my legs cut free and I was ripped from my horse and tossed
to the ground. I landed hard on my paws, letting out a yelp
of pain as my extending fingers jammed back against the
bones.

"Get up," one of the men said as he pulled me up by the back
of my shirt. I gasped as I came to my feet, clenching my
hands to protect my fingers.

They pulled me forward so hard I stumbled and ended up being
dragged over the bridge. I tried to get back to my feet, but
they weren't letting me. Instead they just dragged my along.

I was taken down a stairwell, fighting hard to keep from
falling down it. It wasn't easy but at least I was able to
get my feet on the ground at the bottom. That only lasted a
moment as I was pulled along again, down deeper under the
Palace with each step. Eventually I was dragged into a small
stone cell, maybe seven feet on a side, and thrown against
the far wall.

I tried to stay silent as I composed myself, my back to the
door. The smell of the room forced its way into my nose. It
was a deep and wet smell of human waite, and it filled the
air like a thick fog.

Suddenly I felt a fist crash into my back, causing me to
fold over, gasping for air as the pain radiated throughout
my body. "Strip," the man ordered as he bent down and cut my
paws free.

"No," I said as I gulped at the air.

He pulled out a knife and pressed it against my throat. "I'm
not giving you a choice," he said.

I flexed my fingers, letting the claw slide out of the tips,
but felt the knife press closer to the skin. I glared at him
for a moment, and saw in the light filtering into the cell a
small burn on his neck, just the right shape to have been
caused by Samantha's shell casing.

As I glared at him he pressed his blade to me once more, and
I let out a sigh and started to work at my gloves.

Satisfied that I was doing what I was told he took a step
back, holding the knife where I could see it. As I removed
each piece of clothing he took it from me and threw it out
of the open door. Soon I was naked once more, and was
covering myself in the classic pose.

The guard smiled at me, and gave me a nod. "You are very
nice."

I was silent.

He said nothing, turning around and starting for the door. I
let out a sigh and turned to get a look at the cell I was
in. There wasn't even a bed, just straw on the floor and a
pit for a bathroom.

As I heard the door close I let out a sigh, lowering my paws
as I shook my head. "Dumb," I muttered.

Suddenly I felt something heavy crash into my back, my head
snapping forward and hitting the stone wall with a sharp
crack. With my head spinning I felt arms wrapping around me
and twisting me around, throwing me face down onto the
floor.

I tried to fight as I hit the ground, but a moment later a
heavy weight fell on my back, pinning me down. One arm was
trapped under my chest, and the other was pulled behind my
back as my attacker twisted it hard, nearly dislocating it.

His breath was hot on the back of my neck, the smell of it
filling my nose. His body was placed to effectively pin me
down, making my struggles useless. Blood was running down
over my eyes, blinding one eye as the other was pressed
against the ground.

"You're mine now," he said, confirming it was the guard who
had brought me down to the cell.

Then he raped me.

   To Be Continued...

-----

This story is copyright 2005 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
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