[fur] AFiW: It's Not My Time to Go, 1: Alpha
Fox Cutter
beginning of the end for the current storyline. Hope you enjoy it,
things are getting pretty crazy this time.
I'm still working on the collection idea. There seems to be some
interest in it so I might just give it a go. To that end I'm working
on trying to have all of Year One edited in the next few months.
Even so, I want to say this again. If there isn't enough interest
express in doing this collection in may not happen, so if you want to
see it you need to let me know.
As I like to always say, you can find this story and all my stories on
my website.
--Fox Cutter
(Who's a Lion Morph)
Writer of "A Fox in the Works"
http://www.chaos-keep.com/
=====
A Fox in the Works
It's Not My Time to Go
By
Fox Cutter
1: Alpha
5/19/2000:
I rubbed the back of my head as I read over another book about what
exactly a Natural could do. I had read over some of them when I had
first discovered my powers, but I didn't really pay that much
attention to them. I was fifteen at the time and wasn't interested in
what I couldn't do, just what I could. Most of the rest I had learned
from my friends and companions.
It was just luck that I had never used my power to the extent needed
to drain my reserves. I guess I was just naturally conservative about
such things where Samantha was a bit more... enthusiastic. She had
told me that early on she had run out of power after spending a day
running through folds. I had never done anything quite like that
myself.
So, it was right there in the books, in the parts that I had skipped
in the past. The logical thing to do was to read over everything to
make sure I wasn't missing anything else. There wasn't anything major
that jumped out at me, but I did learn that my flashbacks were far
more intense than they should have been. It shouldn't have been like I
was in the world myself, but more like a dream. I suspect that came
from my level of control.
I was curled up on the couch with Rhea at my feet. My book was settled
down in my lap as I flipped through the pages. I dropped one hand down
to tease over the back of the lioness neck and she responded by
sniffing a bit and pulling away. I guess she wasn't in the mood to be
petted.
I was still planning to get Oriana on all fours, but it would have to
wait until we were done with this fold and wherever it led. I hoped it
would take us to Ms. Orange and Mr. Pink, so we could end it.
"Fox," Samantha said as she walked into the living room.
Lifting my head I looked up at her. "Samantha, have you ever had a
flashback?" I asked her, snapping the book closed in my lap.
A puzzled look crossed over her face as she came to a stop. My hope
was that she wanted to talk to me about what I had seen when we were
linked. I knew I wanted to talk to her about it, but she still wanted
to hide it. Talking about it to her was all about telling me that it
wasn't important enough to talk about. I wanted to learn exactly what
had happened, so I felt that putting her on an off footing would help.
"A few, but they aren't very fun," she said, sounding a bit confused.
"I get them every now and then myself, though sometimes they have been
hijacked," I said, thinking back to the time when Ruhk had decided to
talk to me during one of mine.
Samantha finally continued on her way and sat down on the couch next
to me. Rhea moved slightly to give her some leg room but didn't seem
interested in anything else. "How can a flashback be hijacked?"
I shrugged a bit, "By an evil god," I said offhand.
She pulled back, her cloth tail flicking slightly at this. "Are you
serious?"
"I am."
The woman shook her head and sighed. "You have a higher class of
enemies than I ever had."
"Was it one of your enemies that gave you your tail?" I asked,
reaching out to touch the cloth.
"I wish. It was my choice at the time," she said, then frowned as she
pulled away from me. "Damn it!"
Grabbing her tail with just a bit more strength I motioned for her to
sit down. "I think it's time you told me what was going on. After what
I saw when we were linked I want to know."
She rolled her eyes but stayed on the couch. "What makes you think you
are even entitled to know?"
I frowned at that. It was a good question for her to ask; hell it was
even the right question. I had no right to know about this part of her
past and how she had become wired to have a tail. I just wanted to
know, and from what I had seen when we were linked it was more than
just her tail.
"Because I've been transformed in the past, and I know what it's like
to deal with the after effects of such a change. I don't think anyone
you know could say the same thing, not even Mallory. I feel like I
should know because I've been there, and I can help you if you need
help," I said, trying to keep the words alive, but they fell flat as I
spoke them.
She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not going to tell you that, Fox."
I placed a hand on her shoulder, expecting her to pull away, but she
didn't. "I wish you would. I'm your friend; I want to help you and I
think you might need help in this case, simply because no one else can
help," I said.
Samantha glared at me and shook her head. "I don't need your help."
Shaking my head I sighed and pulled my hand away from her. "Maybe not,
but I'm still offering it. How much of a change was it? Was it just a
tail or were you completely changed?"
She looked at me for another moment then turned her head away. "I'm
not going to tell you," she said.
I watched her for a few moment moments before letting out a sigh. "At
least you had a choice in the matter. That's more than I had." I stood
up and stepped over Rhea, heading in the general direction of the
kitchen.
<<You should talk to one of us,>> the lioness said as she climbed up
to her feet and started after me.
I glanced over my shoulder as we left the room. Samantha was still
sitting on the couch, her head hanging down slightly and her tail
folded over her lap. I stepped out of the doorway and pressed my back
against the wall, hoping to hear something.
Rhea looked up at me, but didn't say anything at all. She just tucked
herself next to me against the wall and sat on her haunches. She
turned her head up and perked up her ears. <<Do you think she'll tell
you?>>
My only answer was a quick shake of my head.
The lioness flicked her ears back and nodded as well. <<I think she
will... eventually.>>
I nodded. I wanted to reply, but didn't want to speak for fear of
Samantha hearing me. I really thought that she would not tell me. It
was a secret she had been keeping for some time now, and I doubted our
little trip together would make any difference. I still worried about
how it had happened to her, even if it was her choice. Something must
have either gone wrong, or the spell wasn't removed correctly.
Maybe it wasn't my place to know, but I felt she should tell someone.
Maybe I could slip her the information for Dr. Starker, not that I had
that right. It had to have been magic, and Ken understood that and
might even be able to make the tail real if she wanted it to be.
Rhea, Ravindar and I walked back through the house, heading towards my
office. I didn't have anything I wanted to do in there. I was just
killing time. I was hoping that Samantha would call me back with a
change of heart, but it wasn't her voice that called my name.
"Fox," Oriana said, coming up to us.
I looked back at my wife and smiled. "What is it?"
"You look disappointed," she said.
"A little. I was hoping Samantha would talk to me. I'm trying to get
some information from her."
Oria nodded, her tail flicking back slightly. "You're not going to get
it. Come on, Natasha is waiting in the kitchen. We have to get going."
"I suppose so," I said and turned around, walking back towards the
living room.
Samantha met us on the way, coming out of the kitchen.
"Mallory came in a few minutes ago. He's waiting in your room," my
wife said.
The human perked up as a smile crossed over her face. "Thank you," she
said, and then moved past us, the tip of her tail flicking in
excitement.
My wife smiled a bit and ran a paw through her hair. "She is in love."
I chuckled. "I believe she is, and it's very strong." As I spoke I
reached around and pulled my wife to my side. We pressed up closely
for a moment and shared a deep kiss, our tongues teasing against each
other as our bodyguards looked away.
Oriana was the one that pulled away after a few moments. She placed
her paws on my chest and stroked her thumbs over my shirt. "I would
love to tease you more, but we have things to do."
<<I'm going this time,>> Rhea said.
My wife looked down at my sometimes sister. "And why are you going?"
<<Because you get to have all the fun. Jadith was my friend as well
and I want do to something to help her. I am going to do this,>> she
said with some force and a small head butt against Oria's legs.
She glared down at the lioness and growled. "I'm not going to walk
away from this," she said.
I sighed and shook my head. "You two work it out. I want one of you
along with me, and both of you are lethal in your own way. Just don't
get into a shouting match, okay?"
They both looked at me in annoyance and shook their respective heads.
I just smiled at them both and turned around, heading back to the
kitchen.
Natasha was sitting at the kitchen table and looking uncomfortable
about being there. The moment she saw me she stood up and rolled her
shoulders a bit. "Fox, are you ready?"
I shook my head and settled down at the table. "My wives are still
arguing about which one is going to come with me. It won't take that
much longer to decide. Once it's been done I'll pick up my gun and we
can find out where this fold leads."
She sighed and shook her head. "I wish your personal life didn't
intrude on this situation. It seems to come up often judging by your
files."
I shrugged my shoulders. "It's something that happens. I can't really
do anything about it."
"I still suggest that you try," she said, sitting down herself and
crossing her legs.
I relaxed back in my chair, not really having anything to say as we
waited for Oriana or Rhea to show up to help. In the end I wasn't all
that surprised to see my wife walk into the kitchen. She came up to me
and placed my gun on the table, along with a spare clip. "You'll need
these," she said.
"Thank you," I said, standing up and kissing her on the cheek. She
returned the kiss and teased a hand down my back to squeeze my rear.
"Are you ready to go?"
"I'm not going with you this time, Rhea is," she said.
I was surprised by this, and I guess she could see it on my face.
"Rhea made a good point. If both of us get hurt there is no one to
take care of the children. So it makes sense that one of us should
stay behind."
It was a perfectly reasonable thing to say, and attitude to take, but
it still surprised me. "Are you sure?"
"No, but Rhea can watch your back as well as I can. People have a
tendency to underestimate her. Just don't get hurt," she said, placing
her paws on my shoulders and smiling at me.
I returned her smile. "I'll try." I leaned in and kissed her full on
the lips, my arm slipping down to hold her again. She kissed back for
a few moments before we broke the kiss and hugged tighter. She pressed
her muzzle against the side of my head and I leaned forward to whisper
into her ear. "I want some fun tonight."
She burst into a fit of giggles and pushed me away. "You're a very
silly man," she declared.
"Of course. Why else did you marry me?" I teased.
Oriana just shook her head and turned away, her tail swinging in a low
arch over her legs in a way that was solely meant to tease me. "Hurry
back," she said over her shoulder then slipped out of the room.
"God, I love that woman," I said with a soft growl as she vanished
around a corner.
Natasha shook her head and tisked her tongue slightly.
I ran my hands over my head then picked up my gun, taking a moment to
feed my belt though the holster and slip it into position. "Samantha,
Mallory, Rhea. I think it's time we did our jobs," I called out.
Samantha and Mallory came down the hallway, a knowing smile on each of
their faces. She had composed herself a bit more after our
conversation and her tail was flicking in anticipation. A moment later
Rhea came down the hall herself, walking on all fours and with her
collar held in her teeth.
I bent down and took the collar from her, wrapping it around her neck.
She laid her ears back at this, finding it rightfully distasteful.
Judging from the look on Natasha's face she wasn't keen on it herself.
"This is Rhea?"
"Yes it is," I replied.
She bent down to look at the lioness, a look of curiosity on her face.
"Why is she wearing the collar?"
<<Because this world thinks of me as an animal,>> Rhea replied with an
annoyed tone.
"But you're clearly not."
I shrugged. "The lack of thumbs seems to be an issue. I've been
working on the problem but no one seems willing to take reasonability
for fixing it. Like all bureaucracies, it's easier just to pass the
buck."
Natasha nodded and stood up. "I see. Well, I'm sure that a solution
can be found. She is clearly sentient, and as should be treated as
such."
Mallory chuckled at this but did not say anything.
I smiled at the group and nodded my head. "Let's get going," I told
them. Then the group of us started down towards the fold room. I keyed
in the code and the six of us all walked inside.
Samantha and I walked up to the fold. I could feel it pull at me,
almost eager. "Do you think this fold will go anywhere?" I asked her.
She shrugged her shoulders. "I hope so. I would be pissed if we went
through all of this for just a dead end."
I nodded my head and then reached out with my power, grabbing the fold
and forcing it open. It flared to life in front of us, the light of it
swirling around the center point.
Samantha went first, followed by Mallory and Rhea. I followed right
after with Ravindar on my heels, and Natasha took up the rear. We all
had our guns out and ready to use; we didn't want to take any chances.
The fold connected to a rather plain-looking living room of a
plain-looking house. I looked around a bit as I closed the fold, not
sure where we were.
<<This is still Prid,>> Rhea said from her spot near the window.
I nodded and looked around the room. Everything was nice and tidy. A
blanket was kicked under one table and I could see plate a of
something on the table itself. "Hello?" I called out.
Natasha walked over to the plate and gave it a closer took.
"We need to search this place, and fast," Samantha said, then started
down the hallway towards the back of the house.
Mallory walked to the front door, finding it unlocked. He pulled it
open and stepped outside, moving quickly around the edge of the house.
Rhea followed him but circled the house in the opposite direction.
I started into the kitchen with Natasha following a short distance
behind me. There wasn't anyone around, or any sign that someone had
been close by. There was a coffee pot in the sink, but it was empty.
There were three doors in the kitchen. One led outside, while the
other two had less obvious destinations. I took one door and Natasha
took the other. I only found a pantry that was more empty than
stocked. A few cans of soup and some prepackage meals, but nothing of
any note.
I looked back to see what Natasha had found, but she had vanished
behind the other door. I glanced up at my bodyguard then shrugged a
bit. I didn't want her getting hurt, so it would be for the best for
me to see where she had gone.
Looking through the doorway I found a set of stairs leading down to a
basement. "Natasha?" I called out.
She peeked back up the stairway and waved her hand a bit. "I'll look
around down here. There are only a couple of rooms."
I frowned a bit and sighed. "Not by yourself," I said, but was brought
up short by the sound of gunfire echoing through the house. I pulled
back from the door, my gun held tightly in my hand as I ran out of the
kitchen and looked around the house. I saw Samantha standing at the
end of the hall next to a closed door. She had ducked down slightly
with her hand over her head. A moment later she unloaded a few rounds
into the door in front of her.
Running down the hallway I slid to a stop close to her, keeping my
head down. "What's going on?" I asked.
She glanced at me, her tail flicking in annoyance. "Two men--they were
hiding in the master bathroom and opened fired the moment I came in."
I nodded and glanced up at Ravindar. He looked back at me and nodded
his head. Leaning back he kicked at the damaged door, sending it
swinging back into the room. I could see the two men, ducking down
behind the bed. Both were human and one was holding a gun over the top
of the bed. He fired off a few wild shots that didn't come near us.
Samantha and I both returned fire. She went high, trying to hit any
part of them that peeked over the top of the bed, I shot at the bed,
hoping a few rounds would hit our attackers through the padding and
springs.
"I'm with the CSC. If you stop now you'll be under arrest," I called
out. It was lame, but I wanted to at least try to give them a chance
to surrender.
One of the men glanced up and fired at us again. This time the bullets
pegged into the wall over our head, sending drywall dust down over the
three of us.
Samantha let out a small growl, threw herself onto her belly and began
to slowly crawl around the bed. I started covering her, shooting a few
rounds over the top of the bed, hoping to distract them so they
couldn't see my friend. Ravindar was doing the same. We fell into a
steady rhythm, I would fire a few rounds, and then he would shoot his.
By the time I had to swap clips Samantha was nearing the corner of the
bed. She was just starting to edge around it to fire at the two men
when the wall behind them started to glow, then burst into flames. The
heat rushed over the room forcing all of us to duck as the wall
collapsed down into ash. Mallory was standing on the other side with a
look of anger on his face.
The two men looked up at the new doorway. With them distracted for the
moment, I lunged forward over the bed, tackling one of the men. At the
same time Samantha lunged forward and forced the other man down to the
floor.
The man under me started to struggle so I spun my gun around in my
hand and smacked the butt of my gun against the side of his temple. He
let out a pained gasp, his eyes rolling back in his head as he went
slack jawed for a moment.
"You're under arrest," I snapped and pulled the gun from his hand,
throwing it to Ravindar. He caught it, pulled out the clip, and
cleared the round from the chamber. Samantha followed the same course,
but used her telekinetic power to pull the weapon free.
I looked down at the man then back to Ravindar. "I don't suppose you
have a way to bind these guys?" I asked.
He rolled his eyes and pulled out a few large zip ties. I took one
from him and forced the man onto his back. I gathered his hands
together and closed the zip tie around them. A second zip tie went
between his hands, separating the first tie into two cuffs and
preventing him from pulling free.
Once my guy was firmly bound I turned to Samantha. She had her man
done up so tightly that his wrists were turning pink where the plastic
cut into them. "You might want to loosen those up just a bit, we don't
want him to lose his hands," I said.
She gave me a look and shook her head.
Standing up I stepped over the man I had taken down and looked up at
Mallory, then at the hole he had blasted in the wall. "How the hell
did you do that?" I asked.
He raised one of his three fingered hands and flexed them, showing off
the gems that were on each digit. "It is a contained plasma burst with
a neutralizing force field. It burns as long as I wish it to," he
said.
I snickered softly. "What a wonderful toy."
"I still want one," Samantha said, searching through the man's
pockets.
Natasha ran down the hallway, looking into the room and through the
hole into the backyard. Rhea was now sitting behind Mallory with a
look of amusement on her face. "Fox, you had better come with me," the
gray-skinned woman said, then turned and ran back down the hallway.
I looked back at my friends and then followed after Natasha. She ran
through the house, the kitchen, then down the stairs at full speed. I
rushed after her, holding tightly onto the railing as I tried to both
keep up with her and not to fall on my face. She vas jumping three
steps at a time, not even bothering with the railing, .
At the bottom of the stairs she turned to the left and went through an
open door, stopping on the other side.
I followed after her, coming to a stop and looking around the room. It
was a simple room with plain walls and a cement floor. At the center
was a table that had someone strapped to it. There was a sheet over
the top of it with stains of blood on the fabric, some fresh but most
of it dry. The face of the person was uncovered, and in the darkness
it took me a moment to recognize the face.
"Jadith," I said under my breath, rushing over to her side. I touched
the side of her neck, feeling a faint pulse and the soft sound of her
breathing. Her face didn't look that bad, other than the lines of
blood from her eyes that showed she had been using her healing powers.
Lifting the sheet up, I frowned when I saw that the rest of her wasn't
in as good as shape.
I looked back at Natasha. "Get help, now."
"Already on the way," she replied.
"Good," I said, looking past her to see Ravindar in the doorway,
looking rather concerned.
I turned back to look at Jadith, reaching under the sheet to hold onto
her hand. She shifted a bit, squeezing slightly but not opening her
eyes. I couldn't tell if she was awake or not, but I was glad that she
was alive.
-----
This story (AFiW #512) is copyright 2008 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.