Heat

It had only been a short time since the ordeal with Mishi had been resolved. There had been an issue to the people of Fanelia and the traders that traveled through the back woods of Fanelia that a new water dragon had moved into the area. The inhabitants were advised to use caution and be wary if they had business in the forest. Despite the warnings, the people of Gaia continued to travel as they always had.

Riis, on the eve of her birthday of seventeen, was ecstatic. The maids and servants were ever wary of the black shape that ran down the halls and, basically, wrecked the careful order that they were paid to keep. Halfway through the day, the maids were in such a state of mind, they sent a messenger to the king…

"RIIS!" The animal in question, jumped. HE wasn't supposed to find out what she was doing. She felt footsteps coming down the corridor in her direction. Using a recently acquired spell, Riis disappeared long enough to get away from her pursuers. Reappearing in a different corridor in the north wing, Riis continued her escapade.

It was as the full moon was rising that Koyo found Riis in the rose garden walking among the various roses. They way the moonlight shone on the flowers made it appear as if they were touched with silver. She was wearing clothes that he'd never seen before. They looked almost ceremonial. Koyo watched as she stopped next to the two bushes that she liked the most; the two white rose bushes furthest from the castle.

He, following his father's orders, was sent to find Riis and bring her back with him. Van was very angry with Riis and, when he had had to cancel his afternoon meetings due to her, he had the castle turned upside down looking for her. With that much commotion in the castle, it would be natural for Riis, a woods creature, to want to be in a more open space.

It was early summer, and the nights were getting warm. But as he walked towards Riis, Koyo would swear by his draconian blood that the air was getting warmer as he got closer to Riis. Sweat was pouring down his face as he got close enough to reach out and touch Riis. Despite his closeness, he couldn't hear her. Sure, he could see her mouth move and her nodding her head, obvious gestures that she was holding a conversation.

Gasping for breath, Koyo managed to speak. "Who…are you talking to, Riis?" He was shaking from the effort of standing so close. A flash of blinding light and Koyo knew no more…

"Do you really think that that was necessary, child?" Fir asked her grandchild.

"He scared scent out of me!" Riis exclaimed.

"I think you'll be spending a lot of time with him in the days to come, my child," her grandmother replied with a smile.

"Huh?" Riis, despite living in a castle, still hadn't improved a great deal on her vocabulary. Though, when Fir pointed at her attire, Riis hissed. Instead of the green shirt and loose khakis she had been wearing, Riis was now in her ceremonial attire. Where the khakis had been was a white layered skirt held on her by a green and tan belt. Her shirt consisted of a similar white material that her skirt was made of with a similar green and tan collar holding it in place. Her ceremonial sandals were absent, but Riis thought that might be because she hadn't been wearing shoes in the first place.

"How? How did this happen?" She whispered. Koyo was behind her in the place of In-Between where she talked with her grandmother.

"I think your magic, which is tied to your subconscious, found something about the boy that made him a model for a suitable mate for you," Fir explained. "Though," she continued, "I do think the bar was set awfully high."

"What will happen to me now?" Riis wondered out loud.

"Well, you're going to be four this year, right?" Her grandmother thought that she had been asking a question.

"Yes, I'll be seventeen," Riis replied. Fir scowled at her use of the human aging system.

"You're an adult at four," Fir stated. "You'll go into your first heat."

"What!" Riis squeaked as a blush spread on her face.

"Depending on how fast you answer your heat will depend on how long it will last and its intensity."

"Intensity?" Riis asked with a blank look on her face.

"The stronger the call will be," Fir replied.

"Oh," Riis replied.

"I suggest you do something about Prince Koyo," Fir stated. "Your heat will affect your magic."

Riis growled, but nodded. She already felt warm, and her ceremonial clothes were getting restricting in the most uncomfortable ways. She growled again when she realized her grandmother had left her alone with Koyo. As she was coming to this realization, Koyo groaned and rubbed his head. Turning into her fox form so she wouldn't have to explain her clothes, Koyo and Riis returned to the castle.

There was a knocking on his door at an ungodly dark hour. Van, grumbling, tumbled out of bed. Getting up off the floor with a few curses under his breath, Van wandered through his rooms to the door.

"Hold on, I'm coming," Van called as he pulled his shirt over his head. Opening the door, Van came face to face with an extremely bright light. With cursing and apologies, the light was dimmed enough for poor Van's dilated eyes. The person before Van was none other than his Dog Master.

"Dog master," Van mumbled. "What brings you to my quarters at such an hour?"

"The dogs are in heat," the dog master replied.

"Which ones?" Van was curious now. The only dogs that were close to season were the guard dogs.

"All of them milord," the dog master replied. "Every breed we have is in heat."

"Give me a moment," Van replied. He shut the heavy door before reappearing in pants and boots. The Fanelian family sword hung at his waist and swayed back and forth as the Dog master led the way down the expansive corridors to the dog kennels.

Van looked at all the kennels. Sure enough, all the bitches were in heat. But, despite all the kennels of barking dogs, there was a shadow in a seemingly empty kennel in the back. Getting the Dog master's attention, Van led him to a kennel that sported one pair of glowing green eyes.

"Come here, girl," the Dog master called.

"Girl?" Van was wondering what dog was in here.

"Prince Koyo came by earlier and put Riis in here," the Dog Master replied. "I don't know why. He seemed a bit mad."

"He was mad at me," a voice replied to them. Their eyes widened with all the emotion in the words. "I broke something in his room."

As the last few words reached their minds, a black vixen sauntered into the lantern light. Her tail was swishing behind her as if fanning something. Van gulped. He noted the dog master looked extremely uncomfortable. Her green eyes were so deceiving. Van shook his head.

"I'll take her to Prince Koyo's room," Van said slowly. "He's supposed to be watching her. Breed the dogs in the morning if they're still in heat."

"If they're still in heat?" the Dog master seemed confused.

"I think my fox here is in heat and the dogs are reacting to her," Van explained as he snapped a leash on her collar and left the dog master to turn in for the rest of the evening.

The corridors seemed so big without the hustle and bustle of the maids and servants, visiting dignitaries and, of course, the apprentices. Van took the long way through the castle to Koyo's suite. He watched as budding flowers bloomed as they passed the vases they were in. Fox magic was definitely something he knew little about. Reaching his son's suite, he opened the door, unhooked the leash, and pushed her into the room. The quick, soft click and a loud thud told him that Riis had tried to escape. Smirking, he made his way back to his rooms and his warm bed.

He knew something had woken him up. He sat up on the couch, squinting with the sudden light of the fire. Standing up and turning around, he was met with…nothing. Sitting back down, he couldn't quite place why still felt like he wasn't alone. Silken fur passed by his leg and he unconsciously reached down and petted the fox twining around his legs. It wasn't until she jumped into his lap that he realized that the fox meant the shadowfox which, in turn, meant Riis. He looked into her deep, vibrant green eyes. Something in the fox in front of him called to him, and Koyo, not knowing any better, answered.
The summer was coming to an end. The trees around Fanelia started to put on a brilliant show of colour; each type of tree trying to outdo the next. Some birds left while some traded their gaudy, showy summer colours for more subtle, drab colours for winter survival. The dogs in the kennels grew a thicker coat and if one traveled quietly into the woods, they could hear the deer locking antlers.

It was around this time that Riis became…unpredictable. When Van asked Hitomi about it one day, she merely commented that she was "moody". These days Riis was always in her fox form and always had something in her mouth. Whenever she wasn't walking, she had it tucked between her paws up close to her body. Anyone who tried to find out what it was was snapped at by Riis.

She didn't talk much either. Van talked to her during his routine meetings and when he talked with visiting dignitaries or their representatives. But other than that, he heard rumors from the servants that Koyo even got her meals for her. He wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on with her, but she seemed to disappear each time he decided to follow up on that notion. Van was frustrated and angry.

Millerna was visiting Hitomi at Fanelia when Koyo, instead of Riis, showed up outside his conference hall. His face was kissed with the cold. Van mused to himself that he must have been out feeding Hitomi's birds. He noted that Koyo looked extremely uncomfortable or worried over something.

"What is it?" Van asked. He didn't like the fact that Riis wasn't with him. During the last moon you couldn't find one without the other.

"Well, Riis is acting odd," Koyo said as he fidgeted. "Something's not right with her."

"I'll tell the advisors to postpone the meetings," Van instructed him. "You get the dog master. I'll meet you at your quarters."

"Yes father." Koyo had his back to Van and was running to get the dog master before he had finished the sentence.

"She looks fine to me," the dog master said. "She's curled right up and sleeping nice by the hearth."

Koyo and Van just looked at each other. They could clearly see her panting and stretched out on the rug in front of the fire. Father and son looked at each other.

"Why don't you go fetch your mother?" Van whispered to Koyo, still watching Riis. The dog master took his leave and Koyo followed soon after.

Hitomi entered Koyo's chambers to sweltering heat. It was almost like the deserts in Freid. Van was standing as far away from the fire as was humanely possible. There was a roaring fire in the hearth and Koyo left her side to attend to something on the bed. She followed him and found Riis, all panting and looking like a sick animal.

"Poor thing," Hitomi clucked as she sat on the bed and started to stroke the fox's ears. Hitomi seemed oblivious to the balls of light that became more numerous as she petted the fox. When it seemed she would finally see them, they coalesced, and Riis disappeared.

"Riis!" Koyo called as he lunged for her tail. Touching the velvet black of her tail, Koyo promptly disappeared as well. Van, who was perched on the rail or Koyo's balcony, flinched as a wave of magic washed over him. He wondered…

He was not where he expected he would end up. The walls of the room he was in looked like they were covered in tree bark. The shelves that held unknown items looked like woven branches! Koyo suddenly became aware of voices drifting in through a slightly open door.

"…shouldn't be so difficult for her."

"…conflicting magics…"

Curious, Koyo made his way to the door. Peering out, he saw his mother and another shadowfox tending Riis. Koyo looked at Riis then. Her face looked pained as she panted through what looked like a fever. His gaze swept down her form and stopped at…

"Dear Lord," Koyo exclaimed as he fainted.

"Well, that could have gone better," Fir replied as she spared a glance for the unconscious youth that had unceremoniously entered the room.

"Well, he does take after his father," Hitomi replied as she returned her attention to Riis. "How will this affect her pup?"

"I don't think that her pup is in any danger," Fir said slowly, "but from what you told me, she shouldn't be in this form to give birth." Both women looked at the young shadowfox.

"I'm surprised your boy could come here," Fir said conversationally. Hitomi noted the change of subject. "I know that you and your mate can Travel, but I didn't know that your son could."

"He can't," Hitomi stated simply. "He has no urge to visit Earth, or rather, the Mystic Moon. I think it might have something to do with his protectiveness of Riis."

"How sweet," Fir replied dryly. Fir and Hitomi's eyes were distant as they watched Riis. They weren't exactly looking at her, more like they were studying her aura. Hitomi pointed to a white and blue spot in her otherwise green and brown aura. Fir nodded.

"I think this is what her problem is," Hitomi said, her voice a little distant. Fir nodded again and she reached her hand out and touched it. The blue and the white mixed into a multi coloured sphere. The two women clasped hands and placed a free hand on Riis' shoulders. They watched as her aura moved, painfully slow, to the brightly coloured sphere. There was an audible hum and a soft clap of thunder as the sphere was absorbed and interlaced into Riis' normal aura. A loud clap sounded shortly after as a shadowfox replaced the humanoid that had previously occupied the table. Riis' body seemed to relax as she stopped fighting something.

"Good girl," Hitomi said as she stroked the fox's long ears.

"Quick Hitomi!" Fir exclaimed. "Grab her tail!" The two women became very busy.

tbc

AN: almost done!