Lunar Mirage

Chapter One: Chopped Beliefs

Artemis had been traveling for days, not wearing out from fatigue out all. However he was still getting used to the Desert Fox's power, and was learning dramatically more and more by every passing day. His sole purpose now was to find a well populated area, so that way he could find himself a good mate. He felt he didn't have the time nor the patience to try any other place; despite the fact that his life had now been extended a thousand fold. The Prower had traveled around two thousand miles into the desert, and he was now looking for just a simple place to settle down for the night, ask a few people where was the next populated town, and go on about his business.

In the sand dunes...

Artemis continued running swiftly through the desert, not finding any thing useful at the moment to help him with his ultimate goal. Since the Desert Fox's power was new to him, he was still blind to where he was going in the middle of the desert. He figured that the more he got in touch with it, the more he would know. That would include the whereabouts of everything across the whole planet. He simply needed to get used to the spirit inside of him. He began to get a feeling that he could not explain, it began small at first, but it started to get larger. It was something Artemis certainly not used to, but if he could put it into words, he would describe it as a blinking feeling, as if something inside of him wanted to pay attention to something. He glanced beside and behind him as he continued running and finally noticed that a large tan cloud began to come towards him from behind. 'Sandstorm... just my luck...' he thought to himself and continued running.

The grey fox's golden eyes began to scan quickly ahead of him, looking for quick shelter until the sandstorm passed over him. He continued running, trying to find some evidence of anything that could hide him from the airborne sand. He also took note that he needed better clothing. The open dark blue vest that he was wearing needed to be washed, along with his jeans. He also was aware that he needed clothing to appeal to the area and situation he was in. Even though he had a very strong spirit dormant inside of him, it still didn't mean he was invincible or impervious to everything. He still thirsted, still had hunger from time to time, and still had an interest for certain things. Of course, nothing was more important on this list of interest than females at the moment.

The grey vulpine continued running and then noticed he was about to enter into a small wooded area. He also noticed that the hard sand began to turn into stone, and the trees seemed to be good shelter for him during the storm. "Perfect..." he whispered to himself and then ran into the area. The grey fox quickly noticed small huts scattered in a clear stoned area. He also noticed that there were tents at the border of the huts, which Artemis predicted were there for those who came in and out of their area, for support probably to outsiders or for those who traveled inside and out of the group. The grey fox casually walked up to one of the tents, trying to find someone that could give him permission to enter one of the tents.

As he walked deeper into the vacated area, he noticed two figures close to each other. One was quite smaller than the other, and it was jumping at the taller figure, as if it was trying to grab something from the taller figure's hand. "Gimme it Oasis." the smaller figure whined. Artemis approached the two figures and remained silent as he watched the taller figure continue holding their hand high holding an object. As Artemis got closer, he realized that the taller figure was a brown fennec with three black markings on her face. Specifically a marking was right above the bridge of her nose, and the other two were under each eye towards her nose. Her ears were also slightly burgundy and her eyes were royal blue. She was slim, and her clothes looked very adaptable towards their current weather. His keen eye on description seemed to heighten dramatically. As he came closer, he noticed the smaller figure looked similar to the taller one. Artemis assumed that the smaller fox was related to the taller one.

He walked closer and then stepped on a fallen branch, which quickly alerted the two that someone was around. Immediately the smaller fox went behind the fennec and clung to her baggy pants. "Who's out there?" the fennec asked in a serious tone. Artemis quickly stepped closer, showing himself to the two foxes, "I'm Artemis, and I'm looking for a place to shelter myself from this sandstorm that's coming this way." the grey fox greeted. The brown fennec eyed the grey fox up and down before quickly looking at the exit of the wooded area. "A sandstorm you say? How would you know that before it came? Are you saying you saw it and then came here?" the brown fennec asked. Artemis nodded, "Yes, I ran to any place I could find shelter until the storm passes, then I want to know where the nearest urban area is from here." the grey vulpine stated bluntly. The brown fennec crossed her arms, slightly bewildered at the information she took in from him. 'Ran here? Highly doubt it...' she thought to herself. "Well you'll have to ask the chief in order to find out the next town or city... first I'll take you to our tent... if what you say is true, the storm will be on us any minute now. Come on Funsani..." she beckoned and then began walking deeper into the wooded area.

The grey fox along with the other brown fox followed his sister and then reached a tent. The two siblings stopped by the outside of the tent while Artemis slowly went inside. He looked around, quickly noticing that it was good enough to withstand the storm. Artemis looked back towards the entrance of the tent, thinking that the others were coming inside. With the inquisitive look on his face, the brown fennec quickly got the message and shook her head, "Oh, we can't come inside, Funsani and I need to go take care of some business..." she began, when another female voice cut into the conversation. "What business?" an older female asked, slightly getting into the view of the open slit. "Mom... we were just..." the brown fennec began, when she was cut off again. "Now Oasis, you know you have to go perform the ritual today. Benipe has been waiting all day for you to arrive to his tent. He's growing rather impatient." the mature voice remarked. "But mother I..." Oasis began, when Artemis slowly stepped out of the tent. This caused the two females to grow silent as he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to disturb you ladies, but if anyone is heading towards the chief now... I would advise that you make it wait. This storm is going to hit quite hard, so if anyone can make an emergency trip across your community or something to alert everyone that it's coming, I'm sure it will be helpful to the rest of your... tribe." the grey fox warned.

Artemis wasn't too sure if he was correct, he had just guessed by the certain clothing the three were wearing and the talk of a ritual dance. "Oh my sir... who are you?" the older fennec asked. "I am Artemis Prower, and I've traveled a long way on a quest to complete my ultimate goal. Of course, pit stops need to be made, it's only natural in the course of progress." he answered coolly. The way he had answered seemed to give a positive vibe to the older fennec and she smiled vibrantly. "I'm Yasmin Hala, the mother of six... well seven in a couple of months. I'll go tell the chief that the ritual will have to be put on hold until the storm is over." she remarked happily. Artemis nodded as confirmation that he understood. "Jarred and Jabari, please watch your younger sister and brother for me." the mature brown fennec said calmly and then headed off deep into the wooded area. Suddenly two older male brown foxes came into Artemis' sight and watched as they both folded their arms. They were much bigger than Artemis, quite built and seemed to love intimidating newcomers with stares and bared teeth. But Artemis was not at the least jolted by this, and continued looking down the wooded area until Yasmin disappeared from his sight.

A few hours later...

Artemis had gotten acquainted with knowing who the family was, being stuck inside the tent with them wasn't bad as he thought. But he felt it could have gotten a lot better. He knew that Nafriti was the oldest child amongst the Hala, then it was Jared and Jabari, then there was Oasis, Iboni came next and then finally Funsani. Yasmin had told Artemis much about the family, despite her children's pleas not to tell. He knew about the certain rituals that went on asking for prospering years, along with the dances that mated a female with a certain male. There were other various dances that went on with the society, but Artemis was slightly overwhelmed and wasn't too much thinking about them anyway, knowing he needed to leave for the city as fast as he could so he could find his own mate. The grey fox looked out of the slit again and noticed that the storm had finally passed over. "I guess I can go see the chief now and then I can head on. Thank you so much Mrs. Hala for your patience and your time, but I must leave." the grey fox said quickly and then stood up. "Wait, why don't you watch our ritual dance? Maybe you could give us good luck this year to our community?" Yasmin asked. Once again, the thought of extended life popped into his head. And he knew he would be a cold person for turning down an offer when he was nearly immortal compared to a lot of others.

Artemis sighed and nodded, "I'll stay... but after that I must leave." he replied quickly. Yasmin smiled and then looked at her daughter Oasis. Neither one of them knew it, but Yasmin had a plan, a plan to make their destinies intertwine forever. Artemis stepped out of the tent and walked a few feet forward, then suddenly twisted to glance back at Yasmin. "Who's going to be performing the ritual? If you don't mind me asking." the grey fox said casually. "It's gonna be Oasis, she's been practicing, and she's been a little nervous knowing it's her first time." she quickly said. "Mom! He doesn't need to know that..." Oasis seethed. The mother simply put a hand to her mouth and giggled, "Silly me. Anyway, let's go, I can't wait to see how you perform out there dear." she remarked. The family along with Artemis slowly headed towards the clearing in the woods. The grey fox glanced around casually, trying to remember his surroundings. After a few minutes of walking, the group of foxes reached a clearing with a hill near the end of it. The hill had a large hut on the top of it and a few people surrounding it chatting excitedly. As the foxes got closer to the hut, Artemis noticed metal contraptions lined in front of the hut that held a specific oily substance. He was guessing that they were to burn at night and keep the flames bright during this time if there was an event outside the hut. A fat and short brown fox came out of the tent and he looked down at his guests. "Yasmin. It's so great to see you, and I'm glad you could finally make it to proceed with the ritual." the fox quickly remarked.

Yasmin nodded, "Yes, we have Benipe, and I'm bringing along a guest of the family. Thought he would like to see our ritual's performance." the brown fennec remarked and gestured her hands at Artemis. The brown fox caught eye contact with the grey fox and something sent a chill up Benipe's spine. He frowned slightly, but tried to hide it with a big grin. "Heyyyy! Everybody come on to the court, we'll get started right away." Benipe remarked and then walked slowly back into the hut. Yasmin walked past the hut and then towards the back of it, which had even more people waiting and sitting to see the performance. Black chalk had been scratched into a circular design, showing how much room the performers had to work with. Oasis looked at the open circle nervously and realized how many people were going to be watching her. Along with the newcomer, who probably had no clue what kind of beliefs they were into and probably thought she was weird. Suddenly she felt a pair of warm hands on her shoulder and she looked beside her to see her sister Nafriti smile at her warmly. "Oasis, you'll be fine, you can do this. Don't worry so much." the brown vixen remarked. Oasis nodded, trying to gain the confidence back that she had recently lost. Benipe came slowly walking out of the back of his hut with two young foxes carrying a somewhat throne towards the circle. The two foxes set it down a little away from the circle and then Benipe sat down.

Before he made his speech, he leaned towards Yasmin, "So... who's going to be performing for the ritual this year?" the brown fox asked. Yasmin pointed at Oasis and smiled, "It's going to be my fourth child, Oasis." she answered. Benipe looked quickly at Oasis' chest, seeing that it wasn't at all up well developed as he had hoped they would be. He quickly looked at her two sisters and noticed that they were exactly what he was looking for. Quite the opposite of their sister, they both had big breasts. The brown fox slightly frowned at Yasmin's choosing, but then put on a wide smile. "How about having Nafriti or Iboni do it? I mean, you never know, an expert at dancing for the ritual or a completely new age dance could make us prosper even more." the brown fox remarked. None of the children heard this, but Artemis heard this very clearly. He only hardened his stare at Benipe, his golden eyes burning through the brown fox. Frowning in disgust, he found nothing good about the fox as he continued searching his intentions. The Desert Fox searched into everyone, trying to find out the intentions of a person, not whether they were good or bad. An evil aura could possibly be changed, but it was what the intentions were that caused them in the first place, that set who a person was for life. Yasmin hissed, figuring out quickly what his motives were for his selected choice, "No! Oasis is going to dance and she's been practicing VERY hard. Suggest something else again, and I'll rip your vocal cords out!" she gritted. Her voice was low enough for no one to hear and her face was faced away from the crowd, so they couldn't see her angry expression. But Artemis had an eyebrow arched as he heard the threat. 'Damn... that's one hard mom. I'm starting to like her. She's straight to the point about her family.' he thought to himself.

The brown fox began to sweat hard from fear and he cleared his throat. "Of course, of course, I was just... thinking of suggesting something. Never again..." he quickly muttered and then lifted his hand high to cease the crowd from talking. The crowd immediately became silent and Benipe began to speak. "We will now watch Oasis Hala perform today. Please, show respect and pray that we will have a prosperous year." he announced. The crowd nodded and then became silent as Oasis slowly walked into the circle. She sighed softly, 'I can do this...' she thought to herself. A band of foxes began to beat against drums and then began to blow on pipes. She then began to pick up on the tune of their music and glanced around her. She slowly began to lift her hands in front of herself and then began to move her body gracefully to the music that was playing. Artemis knew that the ritual was quite useless, and he realized now that slowly the tribe was beginning to suffer, as he heard a few various children cough in the crowd. He slightly glanced away from Oasis, looking into the crowd to see mother's hold their child close as they looked at Oasis dance. Artemis quickly glanced back at Oasis dancing and then realized that she had a lot of talent, and he noticed that it was quite a different form of dancing to him. However his objective quickly changed to helping the tribe. He felt this was his first job to protect, what he felt he needed to do. Something seemed to be tainting the community, and as he looked at Benipe grin at Nafriti, he was starting to understand why.

To Be Continued

Editor's Notes: Hmm, it appears that Artemis has stumbled upon a village in desperate need of some assistance. Something tells me that the village is going to need more than a dance ritual to bring prosperity back to the village. Can Artemis provide the help that they need or will he just ignore them and head to the city and search for a mate? Well you'll just have to read and find out! Please don't forget to review!

-Ultima out-