July 4, 1976

Well, we now have a safe house to stay in, but not before facing some complications.
The first one was the Ryoto's dominant language happens to be Japanese.
Luckily, Red Rose knows the language from her family's dealings with the Japanese.
She's offered to teach me the language and until then she's acting as translator.
After dealing with that hurdle, finding a person to sell us a home was surprisingly easy.
The people of Ryoto are surprisingly trusting, despite my bandit's attire.
We found our opportunity to buy in the local tavern, after a half hour of drinking and chatting with the bartender.
After hearing we wished to perchase a home in Ryoto,
He pointed out that a furre by the name of Trilivanue had been planning for a couple months to move from Ryoto and that we might be able to buy his home.
We asked him to arrange a meeting with Trilivanue for us and he agreed.

Two days later, a letter from Trilivanue arrived.
He asked us to join him in the tavern at 10 o' clock that night.
Red spent the day, "Making herself presentable."
Personally, without a few personal effects, I doubt she could real do that much, but she tried.

10 o' clock found us waiting for Trilivanue in the tavern, we'd had a few drinks and I asked her about the fianceeshe was supposed to marry.
She said that it was a tradition in her family from as long as anyone could remember for the females in her family to marry a stallion from the family of Mulain.
The Mulain's were, as she described it,
a dynasty of mana users and they believed that her family had the ability to ensure that the heir was born a mana user.

Now, my family had mana users in the past, my father was one. I had read his books before and the ability to
channel mana was a freak of nature, completely random and unpredictable. A dynasty was impossible.
She also said that the females in her family were, as she put it, "Hens."
She said that most women in her family had the facilities to bare eggs, not live young.
Then she mentioned that none of the women sent to the Mulain's had ever survived the birthing of the heir.
It was practically a death sentence. She looked sad, and I know my face must have been the same.
I can't believe that the Mulain's would go so far to have an heir to a dynasty that was just luck in the first place!
Still thinking of what would happen to Red if she went to the Mulain's, I reached for an orange bottle and brought it to my lips to drink.
As I drank from it, it laughed!
I bit down in surprise on the bottle-neck. An echoing, "SHIT! OWW!" broke the silence and I dropped the bottle.
It rolled on the floor following a circular pattern across the floor. Then suddenly rolled back into a standing position.
I stared as the bottle rippled and reformed, stretching and expanding to a new shape.
This continued until it a grey tiger furre in an orange trench coat was standing before them.
He smiled at them and pulled up a seat.
He sat backwards in the chair, his tail flicking back and forth as he smiled an amused grin at us.
"Guess it serves my right for assuming such a risky form."
I was speechless, but Red Rose was apparently unfazed by the strange happenings.
"Are you Trilivanue?"
The grey tiger smiled wider, "Yes I am, miss. And you two would be?"
Red smiled diplomatically, "Red Rose"
The furre looked to me expectingly but I was still slightly shocked at his method of appearance,
so I just stared blankly until Red Rose nudged me, waking me from my shock.
"BlackTails!"
Trilivanue chuckled "Red and Black...What could be said about that?"
At that point I couldn't hold in my curiousity any longer, "How did you do that?"
Trilivanue smiled "It comes naturally for my breed."
Red Rose laughed "You one of the Cyrian shapeshifters aren't you?"
"On the nose, Ms. Rose." Then Trilivanue smiled, "Now let's get down to business."
He ordered a round of drinks, then leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.
"You two are interested in buying my home, correct?"
I tried to speak confidently "Yes!"
Trilivanue swirled his drink, a fine red wine, about in his glass.
"However, I will not just sell my home to anyone. You'll have to convince me."
While I was thinking about what he meant by "Convince me", Red Rose asked,
"What do we have to do?"
Trilivanue snickered, "It's fairly simple...We ask each other question and get an answer. One question, one answer."
I smiled, getting his meaning "Then we repeat the process until you're convinced."
Trilivanue grinned "Or until the clock strikes 11, then I make my decision."
It was 10:30 already, that didn't leave much time. "Okay then you start."
"Are you two Lovers?"
That question was unexpected and I floundered, luckily Red Rose was there to catch me.
"Yes, we are...Very passionate lovers."
Trilivanue laughed "Sure he knows that?"
Red Rose giggled "The rules say we take turns...Why are you selling"
"I want to leave Ryoto and search for something."
Then Trilivanue asked, "You two planning on Children."
Truth be told I had no idea...But Red never missed a beat as she answered "Been thinking about it."
Then she winked at me, something that surpirsed me more than anything else had that night!
But time was wasting so I pushed that aside for now and asked, "Searching for what?"
Trilivanue sighed, looking forlorn "Somewhere I belong..."
Then he brightened "I think there's more to this story than your letting on. Why do you what my home...And I want the whole story."
So I told him. The entire story of how we met, to how we fled. Afterwards he was pensive.
There was only a couple minutes left, I wanted to ask what he meant by "Somewhere he belonged"
But then Red Rose asked him, "What's your full name?"
"Trilivanue Von Kriam"
Red smiled "No offense Tril-kun, but if your going to be traveling, your going to need a less foreign name."
Trilivanue smiled "Maybe..." then continued "Very well I accept your offer, the house is yours."
I was surprised "But you don't even know what we're offering."
"And how much are you?"
"2000 in gold..."
Trilivanue looked thoughtful for a moment "I'll take it...on one condition."
I tried my best to look skeptical "And that is?"
Trilivanue smiled "That the lady gives me a new name for my travels."
Red Rose smiled then examined him for a long time. Then laughed, her eyes sparkling,
"Proteus James Fox!"
Trilivanue seemed to enjoy the name throughly, "Proteus Jame Fox? I like the sound of it!"
I could see it in his eyes, he would from this point on be called "Proteus".

Gold exchanged hands and Proteus lead us outside to show us into our new home, where he had agreed to let us stay until he could finalise the deal.
As we exited the tavern he cocked his head towards Red and asked, "You said you where thinking about children?"
Red Rose nodded curiously
Proteus smiled "Then maybe I'll stop by every so often to see how the little scamp is growing up...I'm curious to see how you two raise him."
Something prompted me to ask 'Him?"
"I have a feeling it'll be a boy..." He chuckled knowingly "That I am!"

Somehow...I felt there something he wasn't telling us...As though he knew something we didn't...Something to do with the "That I am"...