~ Signum Year 6 ~
1:45
~ At the Wall of the Felis City of Catris ~
"Yuu! Move faster! Are you trying to get us caught?"
Yuu's sneakers slapped against the pavement as he dropped down on the other side of the wall, and onto the cobblestone road of Catris.
"The only one getting us caught is you, Loudmouth Shinoa." Yuu grumbled, brushing himself off and shooting the smug, purple haired fox-girl an irritated look. "Now come on we don't have much time."
"Where's the spot again?" Mitsuba asked, her floppy golden ears twitching nervously. "If the cats catch us they're going to skin you."
Yuu made a face. "Thanks for the encouragement, Mitsuba."
"Can we just go," Kimizuki grumbled. "This is taking forever."
"Shut up, you dumbass fox!"
"You wanna go, mutt?"
"Bring it, pinky!"
"Shut up, you morons!" Shinoa hissed. "Kimizuki, I expect Yuu to be an idiot. But you're one of my kind. Keep it together."
Yuu glared and Kimizuki snorted.
"Let's just go,"
Yuu, Mitsuba, and the two foxes dashed quietly as they could through the shadowy streets of Catris. Avoiding streetlights as much as possible.
When they reached the right spot, Yuu motioned for them all to stop and shrugged the backpack off of his shoulders, pulling out the spray-paint inside.
"Why this spot again?" Mitsuba asked, raising a single golden eyebrow.
Shinoa watched her with a smile.
"Because," Yuu explained, shaking the can of paint. "That-," he pointed upwards to a single window in the building across the street. "Is the bedroom window of the Catris noble Ferid Bathory. And this wall is in perfect view."
"It's also not owned by anyone, so that Yuu here won't get arrested." Shinoa added.
Yuu shrugged. "That too." and he started to spray the wall.
The other three all grabbed their own cans of paint from Yuu's backpack and joined him.
"Why are we doing this now?" Mitsuba inquired. "Isn't this the sort of stuff we should have left back in highschool?"
"That's exactly why we're doing it one last time before the end of the summer," said Yuu. "It's our last hurrah before we grow up and go to college."
"Not necessarily in that order," said Shinoa with a grin.
"There," Yuu said when the picture was finished. "Just one last thing."
Yuu took the black spray paint and sprayed the shape of a dog's paw, claws out, in the corner.
"Perfect."
"You realize he totally knows it's you, right?" Kimizuki pointed out. "I mean, you're the famous 'Puppy Prankster' in Catris. I'm pretty sure I've seen your wanted poster."
"I'm not really trying to be anonymous," Yuu replied, "I want them to know it's me. I just don't want to give them enough evidence to prove it."
Shinoa laughed. "Well then we had better get out of here."
They all tossed their spray paint back into the backpack and Yuu zipped it closed, slinging it over his shoulder.
Then the four of them ran back to the wall and threw themselves over it, back into Vulpini Territory.
They ran to the car laughing.
"This is the sort of nonsense I'm going to miss in college." Yuu panted as they jumped into the car and Kimizuki started the engine.
"Oh come on, collage is famously full of nonsense." Shinoa encouraged.
Yuu sighed. "Yeah I guess."
"Aww come on," Mitsuba bumped his shoulder. "I thought you were excited about going to Canis U."
"I am." Yuu admitted. "But it's not like we're all going to be together…"
"We didn't go to the same high school either." Shinoa pointed out. "What's your point?"
"We're going to be busier in college," Yuu complained.
"I don't think you will be. Twenty bucks says you'll never do your homework and be under academic probation by second semester," said Kimizuki.
"Shut up! I ended high school with great grades. You just won't let that one stupid test go. I told you, foreign languages aren't my thing."
"Whatever."
Yuu humphed and slumped back against his seat.
He stared out the window, watching the lights of Voxlin pass by. It was the last week of summer. By this weekend Yuu was going to be packing up his stuff and moving into the dorms at CU. Guren was thrilled, and Mitsuba was going with him. Honestly, Yuu was excited. He just had this weird feeling…
He felt like everything was about to change.
~ Signum Year 6 ~
9:37
Outside Ferid Bathory's Mansion
Ferid stood in the streets with his arms folded. Staring at the wall graffiti that depicted him as a house cat stuck on the branch of a tree.
Ferid looked down at the Canis mark painted in the corner and shook his head.
"That little puppy again. I would have have hoped he'd have grown up by now."
Just then footsteps approached.
"Hey, Krul sent me to get you," said a voice. "She says you were supposed to be at the council meeting at nine this morning."
"I was rather distracted." Feird put a hand to his forehead dramatically and turned around the find the tall, blonde Mikaela frowning at him. "Just look at this horrible vandalism."
Mika's eyes shifted to the wall, and his lips twitched like he was fighting a smile.
"That's awful Ferid. Can we go?"
"You should be more sympathetic!" Ferid complained, stroking his own tail soothingly. "After all it's that old boy toy of yours who's responsible. What was his name again? Yuki?"
Mika's eyes widened a fraction.
"How do you know that Yuu was the one who did it?" Mika demanded, but he didn't have a lot confidence in his voice. Yuu had been labeled as a mild terror in Catris since he was fifteen. Mika had read all the stories. It was the only time he ever heard about Yuu. Even if they never had a picture of him or any evidence, Mika liked to see what sort of pranks he was pulling. They almost always made him laugh.
"Of course it was little Yuu, Mika dear. It always has been. Do you think he'll ever learn his lesson and stop all these childish pranks?"
Mika looked away, but his ears drooped.
He wasn't sure he wanted Yuu to stop. If he did… Mika would probably never hear from him again.
"Who knows?" Mika replied, stepping backwards. "But right now you have a meeting so let's go."
Mika turned and stalked off down the street.
~ Signum Year 6 ~
14:03
~ Canis City of Canidae ~
~ The Ichinose Clan ~
"Guren!" Yuu called, pushing open the front door. "Guren everyone is waiting to go on on the hunt!"
Yuu walked inside with a sigh, folding his hands behind his head. "Come on don't leave everybody waiting."
Yuu heard a creak, and then the sound of laughter.
He turned his head.
Through the open archway that lead into the living room, Yuu could see someone sitting on the couch. A tall man with nearly white hair and long white wings tucked against his back.
An Aves? Yuu thought, What the hell is one of the birds doing here?
"This must be the boy you were telling me about, Guren," said the bird-man standing up. "It's Yuuichiro, right?"
Yuu blinked and turned his head in time to see Guren standing up from the opposite couch.
"Yeah, that's him. The trouble-maker that I'm saddled with." Guren sighed running a hand through his hair.
"What's going on?" Yuu asked in confusion. "Who is this?"
Guren frowned at him. "Yuu, this is Shinya. He's an Aves ambassador. We were just having a meeting, that you so rudely interrupted."
Shinya laughed. "Oh it's alright Guren. The official meeting it's for another few days anyway, but thank you for hammering out some of the details with me," he said, walking with Guren over to where Yuu was standing.
The man smiled at Yuu, "It's a pleasure to meet Guren's little protege. I can see why he picked you. You seem very alike."
Guren made a face. "Okay… Let me walk you out. And Yuu, go wait outside with the others."
Shinya waved as Guren lead him to the door and outside.
Yuu stared after them in surprise for a moment before following.
He watched as the two of them stood and talked for another moment outside before Shinya abruptly spread his wings.
"Until next time." Yuu heard him say, and then Shinya flapped his wide, snow-like wings and took off into the sky.
Yuu blinked.
"What was that about?" He asked when Guren finally walked back towards him.
Guren raised an eyebrow at him.
"It's a delicate political matter," he said with a frown. "If I tell you, then you need to keep it to yourself for now."
Yuu nodded. "Okay."
Guren took a breath.
"The Canis and the Aves are in the middle of talks to potentially form an alliance."
Yuu's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yes." Guren replied. "But nothing is finalized yet so we need to make sure that nothing happens to screw it up."
"Wait," Yuu waved his hands. "But if we had an alliance with the Aves, and we already have an alliance with the Vulpini, that would mean we would have a majority of the races-,"
"Exactly." Guren agreed shortly. "That's why this is so important. So don't do anything stupid got it?"
Yuu nodded again.
"Good." Guren cracked his knuckles. "Now let's go join the others. I'm in the mood for a hunt."
~ Signum Year 6 ~
19:18
~ Canis Forests~
"Wow," said Shinoa later that night, when she and Yuu were sitting together around the fire after the hunt. Some of the foxes had taken to joining the Canis after the hunt was over and mooching off the extra food. Scavengers as they were. "An alliance with the birds, huh? That's huge."
"I know." Yuu agreed. "But we've got a pretty good chance. Considering they hate the Felis about as much as we do, since the whole hunting thing."
"True," she agreed. "But the Vulpini were part of that too, and you're allied with us."
He shrugged. "I guess but I still think you guys come out looking better than the cats do."
Shinoa nodded lightly. "I suppose. But you know those cats are going to lose it if this happens."
"I know." Yuu agreed with a smile. "They're going to have to go along with whatever we say since we'll have a majority now. Even the Chiroptera might leave them after this."
Shinoa laughed. "Serves them right. Those arrogant cats will never see it coming."
Yuu laughed too.
Shinoa sighed, leaning back on her hands. Her eyes swung around the campfire, back and forth in a way that might have been supposed to look nonchalant, but Yuu didn't buy it.
"Looking for Mitsuba?"
Shinoa stiffened. "Hmm? Why is she here?"
"I think they roped her into the babysitting the twelve-year-olds who still don't know how to hunt," Yuu admitted.
"Oh I see." Shinoa's expression didn't change but her ears folded back against her head.
Yuu looked at her quietly.
"Are you ever going to tell her?"
Shinoa blinked and looked over at him. "What?"
Yuu gave her a dubious look. "Shinoa… we've been friends for a long time. So let's just cut the shit already. You've been into Mitsuba since you were like fourteen."
Shinoa blushed. "Shut up, Yuu!" she snapped, smacking him on the head.
"I'm not making fun of you!" Yuu protested holding up his arms over his head. "I'm making a point! Why don't you just tell her all ready?"
Shinoa looked down, sighing.
"I flirt with her all the time," she murmured. "But she thinks I'm just joking. And besides… it's a cross-race relationship. Most people are not cool with that, even now. And I don't want to drag Mitsuba into all of that just because I have a stupid crush."
Yuu rolled his eyes.
"Okay, firstly; if she think's you're joking then you need to cut the crap and be serious with her. Second; it's barely cross-race. Canis and Vulpini have been allies forever. We do stuff together all the time. It's really not going to be a big deal. And Third, it's not just a stupid crush when it's your best friend who you've been in love with for four years."
Shinoa looked sideways at him. "Easy for you to say, isn't it? You never like anyone! The only girls you dated in school always confessed to you, and you never even seemed to care when you broke up."
Yuu frowned. "I don't know… datings not really my thing, okay? But I get the concept. And I know both you and Mitsuba really well. Trust me, you need to tell her."
"I'm not going to do that." Shinoa protested. "I can't just SAY it. I'm going to sound like a psychopath."
"Okay…" Yuu thought. "Maybe just start being a little more direct. Ask her to do stuff with you, and be more serious when you make a move on her so that she knows you're not just joking around."
Shinoa pressed her lips together.
"I guess that's not horrible advice."
Yuu snorted. "Thanks."
"But seriously, Yuu," Shinoa, said, turning to look at him. "You need to find somebody in college. If you don't start making more of an effort, you're going to die alone."
Yuu blinked. "That's a little morbid…"
"I'm serious." Shinoa's ears flared as she pointed a finger in Yuu's face. "I'm going to be your dating coach, and I'm going to help you find a really sweet little hottie so that you can end up happily ever after. And go on double dates to brunch with me and Mitsu. Or whatever the hell other couple shit I want to do."
Yuu laughed. "That's the spirit." He said, reaching up to mess with Shinoa's ears. They were soft but twitched angrily..
Shinoa smacked his hand away. "Stop it. Only Mitsu gets to pet me."
Yuu chokes on his laugh.
"Uh-huh."
"Oh you know what I mean!"
THUMP.
"OW! Shinoa!"
~ Signum Year 6 ~
20:10
~Catris~
~ Krul Tepes Mansion ~
"What?" Fried demanded. "The birds are making an alliance with the dogs? You've got to be joking…"
"I'm not," said Krul, folding one leg over the other. "We have evidence that proves that they've been meeting to discuss a potential treaty."
"Well then we need to make the birds a better deal," said Ferid with a wave of his hand. "We can't just let this happen.
"I'm afraid the Aves have no intention of aligning themselves with us." Krul replied, leaning her cheek against her hand. "They've made that very clear."
"Well then, what are we going to do?" Ferid demanded. "The second those two are aligned we're-."
"I do have a plan, Ferid, calm down." Krul interrupted with a frown. "It's clear no one knows that we have this information. And while we are fairly backed into a corner, the treaty between them is nowhere near finished, and since the two of them are on such equal footing it's going to take some time for them to come to an agreement on the treaty. So out best course of action is to push for a five race peace accords before they can finish."
"What?" Ferid balked. "Complete peace? You can't be serious…"
"Of course I am." Krul snapped. "If we make a motion for a five of five peace accords, then the Canis and the Aves will have to hold off on meetings until they hear us out. That will give us time to work on our own negotiations. If we have to, we'll go through with complete peace. It's better than being left out in the cold, which is what will happen if the birds and the dogs beat us to it. But realistically, if we try hard enough we can probably find a way to blow up the Canis-Aves deal and then everything will go back to the way it was."
"But we can't just say we want peace." Ferid pointed out. "No one is going to buy it. Even if they do, they have no reason to agree with us."
"True," Krul agreed. "That's why I have another plan."
"Oh?" Ferid raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"
"A grand gesture." Krul grins. "You know that brand new university that was just finished a few months ago? The one right on the edge of Sanctum territory?"
Ferid folds his arms. "Of course."
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Ferid cocked his hip. "State of the art. Why?"
"Because I have plans for it." Krul said wistfully. "And it's going to require Mika's help, as well."
"Mika?" Ferid grinned, "Your little angel? My, why didn't I see that coming."
~ Signum Year 6 ~
10:20
~Ichinose Clan~
It was Friday morning. Yuu was still eating his breakfast when "breaking news" broke out across the screen and interrupted his morning entertainment.
"We go live to a press conference in Catris, where Felis Nobel Krul Tepes has a message for all of Feran to hear."
Yuu nearly spit his milk.
"Citizens of Feran," said the small pink-haired Felis. "I come to you all with a humble message."
Yuu cocked an eyebrow. "This ought to be good."
"I know that the Felis have long been an aloof people, and that we have a long history of tension with so many of the other races. But today I come to you in apology. I apologize for our past, and for all the scars were have left on the proud history of the Fera."
Yuu eyebrows pulled together. "You've got to be kidding."
Yuu jumped when Guren suddenly sat down beside him.
"What is she doing?" he asked with a troubled frown. Yuu looked back at the screen.
"You see, ever since I became a part of the Felis, I have been proud to call them my people. And in my pride, I lost sight of something that I knew when I just a kid. And that is, that all of us start out the same. That all of us are one people." Krul put a hand over her heart dramatically."I lost sight of that. But then, I adopted Mika."
Yuu choked on his own spit.
The camera swung around to show a beautiful blonde, blue-eyed boy standing on the side of the stage. Looking for all the world like the picture of innocence and purity. Yuu blushed and pounded on his chest to try to stop the coughing.
"Mika reminded me about all of the things I forgot. He told me about how he had made friends, back when he was in Sanctum, and what a shame it was that he couldn't see any of them now, because of the old fashion, blind laws of the races. I was ashamed to look at him, and to try to defend this out-dated tradition of hatred and separation. So starting today, I'm going to make it. right." Krul held out her arm to Mika. "This is for you."
Yuu stared in disbelief. Is this for real? Mika…
"So today I am making a motion to end the race separation. I encourage all races to come together and to be one under the name of Fera, and to leave the past in the past, and to work together to create a future of peace."
"To show that I mean what I say," Krul continued, reaching out to grab onto a dark sheet that was covering something large behind her. "I have an announcement." Krul pulled and the sheet fell away to reveal a large poster, depicting a very large, and very beautiful looking college campus.
"On behalf of the Felis I am donating these school facilities to become part of neutral Sanctum territory, and I am personally funding a new pilot program for Fera youth of all races to come together in this school so that the youth, who clearly know better than us, may have a chance to grow together into a new species of Fera. One that is united."
"As part of this program- that I am now calling Fera University- I invite all races to select a group of 100 students with a lead student ambassador and one adult ambassador to attend the university and to be a part of the trial program for peace, where we can talk about a future without segregation. The school will open in time with the Monday start of fall semester. I hope all of you will join me there. Thank you." Krul bowed.
The crowd at the press conference started clapping, and Yuu stared blankly at the screen for another few moments before slowly turning his head to look at Guren.
"Ummm… what the hell was that?"
Guren ran a hand through his hair.
"Krul Tepes, you conniving little bitch."
Yuu blinked. "So you think it's bullshit then?"
"Not necessarily," said Guren. "I think she would go through with a peace treaty. I just think this whole thing is very excellently timed for her. If she can create peace now, then she'll stop our alliance from creating a majority, which means she'll get a better deal if she makes a treaty now, than if she's forced to surrender later. Not to mention she now looks like an angel of peace and mercy who brought together a warring people for the sake of impressionable youth. Always painting herself in the perfect light."
Yuu let out a breath. "Okay… so what do we do?"
"What else can we do?" Guren raised an eyebrow. "We'll look like dicks if we don't participate in the stupid university program. Our talks with the Aves will have to be put on hold while we figure this out. But in the meantime we need to keep our guard up around the Felis. Make sure that this peace project doesn't become the ruin of us."
"And how are we going to do that?" Yuu asked, sitting back on the couch.
"Easy," Guren looked over his shoulder. "You and I are going in as the ambassadors."
~ End of Chapter One ~
