Hey, everyone! I hope you're having a fabulous day. I am. My family finally finished our last Christmas celebration. FINALLY! Don't get me wrong. Love the food, love the gifts, love the people, but when you gather a whole bunch of people in a room, there will always be pointless bitching. It is at that point that I gather up my laptop and make my way to the furthest electrical outlet.

More importantly, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Oh! I strongly suggest listening to Lady Gaga's song Teeth while reading this chapter. It's the most beautiful thing that you will ever do. (listening to music that perfectly fits a story)

Flightless Bird

"You are a vampire!"

That phrase had Isaac raising his dark brow at the woman in a skin tight jumpsuit. He blinked at her a couple of times. He wasn't sure what to do. Should he pretend to look offended, or should he burst out into hysterical laughter at such a farfetched accusation?

He was saved from having to do any of that. Millianna tilted her head in a cat-like way. "What on Earthland are you talking about?" she wondered.

Risley stood up from examining the large wings that spanned past the headboard of the bed, and she snickered, "This ain't about the show Type A; is it?"

"No!" Araña protested. "It's about the blood that I found in Isaac's flask!"

"Blood?" Millianna turned her head towards Isaac. The man just shrugged with a confused expression across his face.

Risley's snickering turned into full blown laughter. "Oh, no. Araña, you can't be serious. Millianna, I told you she would get too into it. We should have watched it during the daytime instead of before bed."

"Risley, I'm not joking! That man is a vampire. He had whiskey laced with blood in his flask, and I found it when I poured it into the sink. If Kagura hadn't cleaned it all up already, I would have shown it to you!" Araña tried to defend her accusation, but no one looked like they were going to attempt to even see her side of the story.

Risley shook her head. Between laughing, she replied, "That probably got in there during whatever sank Isaac's ship. He's not a vampire. Come here. Just look at his teeth." Risley waved her hands in a motion for Araña to come over there.

With a huff Araña approached. She leaned down but narrowed her eyes at the bewinged man in the bed. If he took one look at Araña's neck, she was going to tie him in a spider web up to the ceiling. See how the vampire liked that with his whiskey.

"Isaac, could you open your mouth for this woman before she starts driving all of us crazy?" Risley wondered.

Isaac, despite his raised brow, agreed. He parted his perfectly sculpted lips and flashed a set of pearly whites.

Araña checked them out. In Type A the fangs had been the teeth in front of the canines. His were flat like the average human's. She scowled then checked out his normal canines. The teeth there were sharp, but they weren't vampire sharp. Araña was sure that if he chomped down on somebody's neck that it could draw blood, but it wouldn't leave the vampire marks. It would just look like a human gnawing on someone's throat.

Then, she remembered something. "What if they're retractable?"

That got Milianna laughing. "Are you saying his teeth are like a kitty's claws?"

"Exactly! I bet with the right amount of stimulation his teeth would come out. Come on, Isaac. Show me your teeth," Araña encouraged. "I swear I won't tell anyone."

Isaac finally couldn't hold back his confusion anymore. He just stated, "What?"

"Show me your teeth," Araña repeated.

"Yeah, Isaac, show us your teeth," Milianna piped up, suddenly interested in the prospect of Isaac being like a kitty cat.

"But, I'm not a vampire. I don't have any teeth to show you," Isaac stated with a bewildered expression. These women were strange.

Risley mentioned, "Maybe, you need them to be stimulated?" Oh, she was getting a kick out of this. The woman reached over towards Araña. Snagging her by the wrist, she shoved it in front of Isaac's face. "Araña, you want to see them so badly. Why don't you volunteer?"

"What? No! I don't want to be bitten! You get bitten!" Araña reached over Isaac and pulled Risley's arm in front of Isaac.

Suddenly, a fight broke out in the man's lap. The two women wrestled, shoving limbs in front of Isaac's face, and even as he was stunned by the strange activity, something was going on inside of his body.

His ears picked up on the sound of flowing liquid, and he could smell something dark and rich in the air. When one of the women's nails scratched skin, accidentally drawing blood, Isaac's nostrils flared of their own accord. He could smell fresh blood, and even while he was astounded by how sharp his senses were, he felt himself being drawn to the bleeding flesh so near to him.

As soon as Isaac leaned down to reach for the women scrambling around on top of him, Kagura entered the infirmary. His head whipped up as Kagura growled, "What is going on in here?"

Risley was the first to recover. "Araña thinks Isaac is a vampire," she laughed.

The dreadlock haired woman reared back to bare her flat fangs. "Shut up, Risley. If you would have seen his flask. You would have…" Her words faded off when she realized blood was running in a tiny stream down her arm.

Immediately, her head tore towards Isaac. It was at that moment that Isaac felt two appendages in his mouth slide up into his gums. The feeling was a quick, painless glide where his canines sucked upwards into his skin.

Araña snapped, "Open your mouth and show them your fangs!"

Isaac obeyed, but he did so with a snicker on his lips. The look of disappointment on the spider web woman's face almost disheartened Isaac a bit. He, too, wanted to know what that feeling in his mouth had been.

He also wanted to know what these large, broken wings were doing on his back. He had so many questions, but none of these women had been able to answer him. Milianna had suggested that he was a Take Over Mage. She'd asked him to see if he could turn into a kitty. He hadn't been able to do that. Instead, as he concentrated on forming ears and a tail, large shadows had cloaked him over. It'd just confused everyone further. Just what kind of mage was he?

Kagura shook her head ever so slowly. "Araña, you have to drop this. I won't permit you to watch lacrima TV if you keep calling people vampires."

She stepped around the girls, and Isaac noticed Beth walking behind her. She had a bowl of soup in her hands. Steam was rolling up from the colored liquid. It smelt good, but Isaac didn't see any form of meat in there. For some reason, his body craved flesh of some kind. Perhaps, he was more of a meat and potatoes kind of man.

Even though, when the woman offered the meal up to him with a shy smile, Isaac happily accepted. "So, you met with my cousin?" he asked as he raised a spoonful of soup to his lips.

Kagura inclined her head. "She said it would be best if we took care of you until she notified us. My master said it was fine for us to accept the job. Also, she wants us to participate in the guild pageant. Would you be opposed to us visiting Crocus while you're under our care?"

With the soup finished in a matter of seconds, Isaac stated, "Doesn't seem like I have anything to keep me from it. I'd be happy to join you. Still, I have a request."

Kagura waited expectantly.

Taking that as his cue, Isaac mentioned, "I'll need someone to set the bones in my wings." To emphasize that point, he attempted to spread them wide. The seven foot span was so horribly crippled that the wings would hardly even stray from his sides. The proud lengths drooped low like any broken bird's wing would. Those beautiful appendages appeared sad.

His hopeful, purple eye looked in the direction of the five women he was surrounded by. Despite his optimism, one look at the girls told him that none of them had a clue.

The silence didn't last long. Millianna mentioned, "If you were a kitty cat, I would know what to do, but I don't even know where to start with birds."

"No kidding," Risley intoned. She stepped over towards Isaac's wings. Her hands lightly touched the thick feathers before she let loose a breath of air. "I'd say to take you to a vet, but that might be taken as an insult?"

Isaac released a short laugh. With a smile still on his lips, he snickered, "Oh, no. I understand. I just wish I knew what magic could get rid of them… Them and this mask…" Isaac's hand reached up to his mask.

When his fingers crossed it, it didn't even move. The mask was firmly in place. No matter how hard Isaac tugged on it, it would not budge. Whoever he had been when he had his memories was someone very, very strange. What could he have been hiding with this mask sealed to his skin? Also, the idea that he carried a flask of blood unnerved him.

With a look of curiosity on her face, Kagura approached. She didn't seem fazed by any of this. Her face was a regal, authoritative mask. When her hand came to run through his thick, feathers, the wings gave a shudder.

Great gods, that felt good. Her slim fingers played in his wings, and despite the unabashed reactions that caused with them, Isaac attempted not to let the comfort of her touch show on his face.

He kept his entire body in one ball of tight lipped stoicism. When a sharp pain had him sucking in a harsh breath, Isaac finally realized what Kagura was doing. She was finding the breaks.

Leaning back, Kagura had pink across her cheekbones. If she had felt the least bit as good touching his wings as he had felt when she was touching them, she hid it well. Clearing her throat, Kagura mentioned, "Your wings are mostly fractured, so we'll can put those in a splint. Can you even move this one?" Her hand gestured towards his right wing, the one hanging the lowest.

He tried to move it, but all that got him was a pain that stabbed him in the back before spreading out along his spine. Nope. That was not moving.

"I thought so. This is going to hurt, but you'll have to deal with it." Kagura stepped in a very professional manner over to the other side of the bed.

As she locked her hands on his wing, Isaac heard her team's comments. "Leave it to Kagura to know what to do in this situation," Beth cheered.

Isaac grinned. These women thought a lot of Kagura. It was such a shame that he knew absolutely nothing about her. About them. About… anything…

Kagura gave a kind smile before getting back down to business. "Alright, Isaac, I'm going to stretch your wings out. Hopefully, this will put it back into the joint. Risley, could you get Sirenia. She was doing paperwork when I spoke with her, but I think she needs to come see Isaac now."

Risley gave a mock salute before making her way out the door. Once the door closed Isaac off from curious, female gazes, Kagura brought his head back around. She began, "One. Two... Three!" Her arms gave a heartless pull at the same time that Isaac's nails shot longer.

The blackened tips sunk inside of the bed, and his eyes went wider than the moon.

Aaaaaand, CCRRAACCKK!

Poor wittle Izzy. Kagura is a scary nurse.

Heh. Heh.

Alright, guys. You know the drill. This is the little part where I tell you thanks for being fabulous. So, here it is!

You are awesome, fantabulous people, and I love the fact that you take time out of your days to entertain yourself with my writing. It truly means a ton to me. Keep on keeping on, friends!

(Gives a hand wave of epic proportions before back flipping off bed)

(Crashes into dresser)

Oh, shit. Dang it. I'm good. I'm good! You didn't see that.