TwoKinds: Redemption

by WildSnivy

A full year has passed since the events on the Na'Rella. A failed ambush and whispers of a secretive Wolf organization threatening to destabilize the Human-Wolf situation lead Keith, Natani, Zen and some old acquaintances out to unmask the ring and prevent Mekkan from plunging into war yet again. Thanks to Tom Fischbach for creating TwoKinds as source material! And you for reading!

2. Part II: Beer, Baths and Brooms

TwoKinds: Redemption

A Fan-Fiction Novel

Written by WildSnivy

Part II: Beer, Baths and Brooms

Chapter 9

Morning sunlight poured in through the starboard side porthole of the Quantum, catching the napping fox squarely in the face. Michelle cringed for a second or two, adjusting to the new level of brightness, and considered yanking the sheets back over her head for another half-hour or so. She and Evals were off-duty until it was time to cast off back home, so until then they effectively had the next few days all to themselves. To do whatever they felt like doing. Until then, life was good.

Except for one thing that needed to be checked on. As lovely as some additional rest sounded, Michelle sleepily opened an eye, rolled over onto her back, and moved the sheets down to about waist height. Grabbing the back of the bed frame, she pulled with her lower arms and arched her back as much as possible. She was seeing if the bandages around her chest had gained any more slack since yesterday, and she was disappointed when she didn't feel any. Her gender was still quite female, and she collapsed onto the bed again and exhaled with resignation.

Still not fully awake, Michelle rolled back over to her right side, facing the wooden wall of her cabin. She was considering going back to sleep for a little bit, but unfortunately the porthole was causing plenty of issues. Instead, she just ended up staring down the wall, feeling tired but not really having a way to fix that without working for it.

A rustling of sheets came from behind her, followed by a warm, strong arm wrapping itself gently around her midsection. "Everything alright, Michelle?" a voice calmly asked her. Michelle recognized it, but for whatever reason couldn't place it at the moment. All she knew was that it made her feel secure, protected, and she liked that very much.

She whimsically sighed in response, turning her head slightly towards the ceiling. "Just personal things. Things I can't really fix right now."

"I see," was the response. "Is it something I can help with?"

Michelle giggled for a second. "Not really. But..thank you."

"Maybe I can do..something else for you then?"

"Is this going where I think it is?"

"Shall we find out?"

Michelle smiled and turned her head upwards, eyes still only half-open and mind not completely awake yet. "Evals, you dog," she said as her mouth met with another one. The kiss itself felt sensational. No other words seemed to do it justice. Simply perfect. Both parties held it indefinitely, passionately, each of them hesitant for the moment ever to end...

...or until Michelle's brain finally registered that Evals was on the receiving end of it. Her eyes immediately sprung open in terrorized surprise and the ensuing scream echoed throughout the entire interior of the Quantum and most likely the majority of the shipyard as well. Michelle sat herself upright, holding her tongue out and haphazardly scraping the taste of dog out with her hands, while Evals continued to lie on the bed, ebulliently laughing at the top of his lungs.

"Morning, Mike!" he yelled through tears, still thinking this joke was funnier than anything he had ever done to his vulpine friend in the past. He had finally managed to get in a smooch with Michelle. Properly this time. "Victory is mine!" he howled, holding a fist to the air in celebration.

"Why are you in here?" the vixen angrily demanded, and then started to despair as a dark thought crossed her mind. "You...you didn't...did you..?"

Evals snickered through closed teeth and sat himself up as well. "Calm down, I was only in here for a few minutes. I just wanted to check on you," he said, tugging at the collar of his shirt. "See? Fully dressed and everything."

Michelle sighed with relief, as Evals slowly, gingerly brushed a hand over her lengthy, soft, bushy tail. "Though, it was very hard for me to resist such a...foxy individual," he remarked with a sly grin.

Michelle blushed very hard when she felt that abnormal tingling feeling jolt up her spine, and there came a slap right afterwards. A couple seconds later Evals was massaging the left part of his face, near the jowls. "Well, I thought it was witty," he remarked as Michelle jumped out of the bed and went for a clean shirt out of the dresser.

"Also, the only reason 'victory was yours' was because I wasn't awake yet," Michelle sneered as she pulled out a more colorful vestment to offset her black trousers: a deep red short-sleeve to be precise. "That would have never happened otherwise."

"How did it feel, if I could ask?" Evals inquired as he rose from the bed.

Michelle blushed again in recollection that moment. "...not bad. I..kinda liked it," she began, but then shook her head rigorously. She leered at Evals and pointed a finger at him forcefully. "And I'm pretty sure that's only my girl side talking, so don't you dare quote me on that!" she pointed out, rushing her sentence.

Evals chuckled again, hands relaxing in his trouser pockets. "In any case, Mike, I got some good news for you," he reported.

"Regarding what, exactly?"

"Well...you know, as much as I love having Michelle over, I like having my old friend with me too. So I did a little reading last night, and I think I found a way to patch things up."

Michelle paused putting on the shirt, with only her arms through the sleeves. "What do we need to do?"

"I had to break into Natani's room, but I have the book and a good share of mana crystals. I just need you around to cast the reversion spell."

Michelle's ears twitched for a second as she leered at the dog. "Please tell me you didn't actually break into..." she started.

"Yeah, I'm hoping there's a screwdriver on board somewhere."

"What did you do?"

"I may have had to kick the door in," Evals confessed. "There might also be a splinter in my foot padding. Still need to do something about that."

"You dumb, dumb doggie, you," Michelle sighed as she pulled her head through the shirt's third opening.

"Hey, this dumb, dumb doggie just found a way to fix your problem. And he also covered for you when Keith asked about you."

Michelle rubbed her head for a few seconds. "You're right, I apologize," she responded. "So, when are we going to do this..reversion, you called it?"

"I'll need a few seconds to get the materials ready, but how about we do it over dinner?" Evals offered. "I'm pretty sure it's my turn to cook anyways."

"Works, I suppose," the vixen accepted, giving herself a passing glance in the wall-mounted mirror. She paused and turned to face her reflection more directly, thinking back on the remark Evals had made the day before. He was right: Michelle was very attractive, and she stood there mesmerized by how truthful that statement was for a few moments.

"Uh, Mike?" Evals asked after some time passed. "Are you being attracted to your own reflection again?"

The male half of Michelle, more specifically the half that wasn't currently overtaken by his body's physical beauty, snapped out of his stupor and abruptly turned away from the mirror. "You saw nothing!" she quickly stammered. "And yes, dinner sounds excellent. Let's do dinner."

Evals waited to answer for a second, staggered by the speed the vixen spoke under duress. "Alright, let's, let's do dinner," he slowly responded, trying to make sure he understood his companion correctly. "I'll...make it special for you."

Michelle nodded again, covertly satisfied with the result. Or at least until another thought crossed her mind. "And this isn't a date, okay? I'm still a guy!"

"Only in spirit," Evals countered as he moved towards the door. "You're still Michelle to me until then."

"Stop calling me that!" the vixen yelled back, a smirking Evals exiting the room and shutting the door behind him.

---

Natani was still well asleep when morning broke in through the palace room's windows. The room the Basitins had situated her in was quite expansive, or at least by her standards. The bed was comparatively large, and the trunk at the foot of it coupled with the two or three dressers provided the wolf more than ample storage space for her belongings. Natani could not think of the last time she had slept as well as she had last night.

She obviously considered that a good thing. More often than not, Natani's travel arrangements either consisted of a cramped room at the village inn or a sleeping bag underneath a canvas tarp. Not that she minded standard fare when it came to lodging, but it was nice to break away from it every now and again. Plus, Basitins were nothing if not hospitable to friends of the state. So Natani enjoyed this sort of high life, even if it was just for a few days. It was a nice time to relax, ironically, despite being the third party in an assassination attempt and a spying operation. The additional sleep was a nice benefit as well, and today Natani was trying to get in as much as she could.

She rolled over and pressed a pillow against her face in an attempt to avoid greeting the sun for as long as possible. Natani was in that enjoyable state where she was both asleep, but not so far in where she was unaware of her surroundings. A time she loved to use just to think. About everything, or nothing, depending on how she felt at the time. It was a good way for her to clear her head she found, yet another feeling she enjoyed experiencing.

Zen was taking up the bulk of her thoughts at the moment, and for a very good reason. Zen had not contacted Natani ever since he first told her about Clovis and the deal he struck with him. It was unnerving, and Natani was rightfully worried about him. On the one hand, she felt relatively confident that he was just fine. His aura hadn't completely disappeared from her mind, as it would have if he was unconscious, or worse. But then, on the other hand, that wasn't really saying much. All that meant was he was alive and functioning. For all she knew about his location, he could be in a jail cell, and considering how sleazy and behind-the-back Clovis could be at times, that was not an impossibility.

No, she reassured herself. That is not what's happening. Zen might be reckless at times, but he was smart enough to know when he was being set up. The day Zen lets Clovis get the better of him to that severe a degree is the same day Natani starts wearing dresses in public, and both of the Magi Brothers knew that was never going to happen.

Natani's train of thought didn't go much further than that, because that was when a suppressed scream of terror ripped through her ears, and reflexes sat her bolt upright in her bed. Her breathing was shallow for a few moments as she tried to recover from her near-heart attack as her eyes darted around the room, trying to find the noise's source. After failing to do so, she leaned over to her left to better glance out of one of the room's many ornate windows, overlooking the majority of the Eastern Basidian Isles. Did come from outside then? This early in the morning? The streets were practically barren, as the Basitin work schedule didn't start for at least another hour and a half.

But then, that implied that it could have only come from... Natani focused on the background of the scenery, at the idle shipyard currently being glared down by the rising sun.

She pondered the idea for a second, then exhaled disappointedly for even considering the thought. Physics, Natani. For Gods' sakes. No amount of volume would ever carry a shout that far of a distance, through a solid stone medium and into Natani's ears. Really, what was she thinking? This was probably why Natani didn't count herself as a morning person: because her pre-coffee mind did things like this. She shrugged the event off after a few seconds, and then rolled her eyes back and fully collapsed back onto the bed again, ready to go back to that lovable snoozing status. She gently closed her eyes again...

"Uh, Mr. Wolf? Is everything okay?" a young voice interrupted her return. Natani reluctantly, drowsily opened her right eye and glanced off to the side of the bed, a brown-furred Basitin standing there to greet her. She was definitely younger than Keith, if the pitch of her voice and mannerisms were anything to go by. Natani's vision was still blurred a bit by her rude awakening, but her visitor proudly sported a black cloth version of the Basitin field uniform, underneath a bright yellow cape and shoulder piece.

Natani had met the juvenile before on the Na'Rella, and had to think hard to recall the name associated with the face. "Mmmmmmmmmadelyn. Right?" were the sounds her voice made, her brain not at full operating capacity quite yet.

Madelyn's expression swiftly transitioned from concern to enthusiasm. "You remember me!" she exclaimed. "How are you? It's been a while!"

"Mhm," Natani sleepily acknowledged, rubbing her hands up and down her face in an attempt to wake herself up. "Maddie, as much as Mr. Wolf loves talking to you, he needs his coffee first. Know where I can find some?"

"Right here, actually," Madelyn answered. She walked over the foot of the bed, where she had parked a small tray on the wooden trunk. "Keith told me you might need it, so he sent me in with some. Here you are!" she happily explained as she transported a steaming, white ceramic mug back to Natani and offered it to her.

Natani sat herself up and peered into the mug, studiously examining the dark brown brew within. After a second, she simply smiled at the young Basitin officer and accepted the drink. "I like you, squirt," she thanked as she took a quick sip of the brew. She held it in her mouth for a few moments before tilting her head back to formally imbibe it. "It's dark," she noted, cringing slightly at the bold bitterness of the flavor.

"It's native Basitin roast, according to Keith. I can take it back if you don't like it?"

Natani grinned back at Madelyn. "You kidding? This is great," she praised, gladly taking another drink. Madelyn was a good kid, to say the least. Quirky at the worst of times, but very useful and fun to have around everywhere else. She was also a member of the military's Infiltration Unit, from what Natani recollected. It was essentially just a fancy way of saying Madelyn was very good at masking her presence. Her training made her very hard to track and even harder to find. In fact, often times she seemed to have a very bad habit of inexplicably showing up out of...

"Wait a minute," Natani thought out loud, the coffee's full effects starting to get to work. "How did you even get in here?"

"Through the door, of course!" Madelyn answered with a small laugh. "How else?"

"Except that I locked the door last night," Natani pointed out. "So how would..."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Madelyn interrupted, not paying Natani's lament any more attention. She jammed her hand into her cloak's pocket and, after a couple seconds, pulled out a twice-folded piece of parchment and handed it over to the wolf. "This is for you too!" she announced.

Natani took another swig of coffee as she accepted the parchment and unfolded it with her free hand. She recognized the official Eastern Basitin coat of arms and wax seal in the lower right corner, and from a quick inspection of the writing, it seemed to be a formal summons to Keith's hearing concerning diplomatic relations with the Forest Wolf tribe. Moreover, she was to appear as a witness to the events that had transpired during her travels with the ambassador general and testify as much as possible to that end. The letter also called for her to present herself in the general assembly hall this evening, and that tardiness would be unbecoming and unacceptable.

In other words, the message contained nothing Natani didn't already know, and she indifferently stuffed the note into her shirt's chest pocket, not giving it a second thought. "So I pretty much just got invited to attend a hearing I was going to anyways," she summarized, unimpressed. "Lovely."

"Well, yeah," Madelyn said, a little irked at the labyrinthine Basitin bureaucracy as well. "But it's just how those stuffy higher-ups are. If it isn't written down, it doesn't mean a thing."

"Hey, careful saying that around Keith, alright?" the wolf cautioned. "What happened to you two anyways? You used to work for him, right?"

"Mmm hmm!" the Basitin nodded. "But then my mom got angry, and I had to go home, and I didn't get to see him for a while..."

"Sorry to hear that, Maddie," Natani sympathized as she downed the remainder of her breakfast.

"No need to be!" Madelyn cheerfully responded. "I got a promotion at the end of it, too, so it wasn't all bad!"

Natani pulled back the rest of the sheets and stood up to return her mug. "It's like everyone we know is moving up the ladder somehow," she said as she set the vacated mug down and moved to her dresser. "So what does that make you now? Captain?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Wolf!" Madelyn crisply answered and shot a salute in Natani's direction. "First Lieuten..er, Captain Madelyn Adelaide, on duty!"

"Alright, alright, nice to hear," Natani acknowledged, waving a hand for the Basitin to put her hand back down. She pulled a black cape out from one of the drawers and threw it over her back. Madelyn tilted her head in skepticism as the wolf secured the vestment to her green shirt with a quick overhand knot.

"You're not going to change your shirt?" she curiously asked.

"No need to," Natani responded, tugging at the knot she just made. "Changed my clothes last night."

"Why did you do that?"

Natani shrugged. "Force of habit, probably. I do a lot of sleeping outdoors, Maddie, and a trick you use to keep your clothes warm while camping is to sleep in them the night before."

"Oh," Madelyn said back, with a small amount of intrigue. "Maybe I should try that!"

"You don't need to, though," Natani chortled. "You have your own room. In the palace no less. Your clothes are already preheated."

"But maybe I'm on a mission. Up north! Where the Polar Foxes are! I'll need to do that," Madelyn enthusiastically noted. Natani really couldn't do much else but smile at that comment. Maddie may have been a strange Basitin, but Natani remembered her personality more than anything. During the Na'Rella expedition, it was like she was finally getting a turn to play big brother, and Zen was unable to butt in on it. Granted, their relationship didn't get off to a booming start. It kicked with a sappy love letter and Maddie framing Natani for vandalizing the ship's galley. At least it was all humorous in retrospect. Natani liked this role reversal, and Madelyn seemed to look up to her in a sense. It was weird how it worked out: Natani hadn't seen the young Basitin girl in a long time, and yet none of the familiarity had died off. Again, strange, but Natani liked it.

"It'll make your life easier, trust me," the wolf added, and turned towards the bedroom door. "I take it Keith was looking for me?"

"He just sent me in with the coffee, actually. He didn't mention much of anything else."

"Well, I'm going to find him anyways," Natani said, boldly opening the doors to the room. "He'll probably want to discuss the meeting's talking points and whatnot." She then turned her head over her shoulder. "Did you want to...?"

Natani never finished her question, mostly because she was now addressing a completely empty room. Once more, Madelyn had successfully disappeared from the scene, without a trace or hint of her exit.

The wolf scoffed to herself and shut the door behind her. "We'll bump into each other again."

---

Chapter 10

Strangely enough, MacMillan's was not particularly busy while Zen waited for Blitz to arrive. A couple hungry customers entering the doors every now and again kept the tavern from feeling barren, but as soon as Kayle sat them down and yelled at the cooks behind the ordering station, there wasn't much else to be done that night. Zen had taken a seat at the main bar this time, mostly because Kayle was the closest thing he had to a friend at the moment. In general, Zen despised being alone if there was someone else around he knew. Even then, he technically didn't know Kayle, unless making passing eye contact with her and chatting up her uncle qualified as knowing her. The wolf was relatively confident it didn't.

It was still nice to have someone to talk to while he was waiting, though. And by the pub's clock Blitz was actually behind schedule a bit, about five minutes' worth. The fox was characteristically late to most of his arranged meetings, and once Zen accepted that fact it started to become less of a bother. Kayle was decent company either way, and Zen thoroughly enjoyed conversing with her. Frankly, had Blitz not shown up at all, Zen would not have minded spending the rest of his evening with the bartender, just talking. Zen liked that a lot. Apart from Natani, there were not many people Zen could just sit down with, have a drink and...well, talk.

Maybe he was aided slightly by the observations he made about the green-eyed, auburn-haired bartender during his first meeting with Blitz. Almost all of Zen's inferences regarding Blitz's niece were correct. Very well mannered, friendly, too much so at times, intelligent, and, most distinctly, outgoing. The latter an anomaly amongst Fox Keidran to say the least. Most of the foxes Zen knew were introverts: shy and mostly quiet, with only a few really good friends and distant relationships everywhere else. That was the status quo for Zen's canid brethren, which was why he was pleasantly surprised when it came to Blitz and his relatives. Sociable and adventurous were high on the list of adjectives one wouldn't use to describe foxes in general, and yet, here they were. Maybe that's why they enjoyed living in the heart of Wolf country. Like minded individuals, Zen figured. Maybe that was also why he enjoyed working with Blitz. Or talking to his niece here. The implications were practically endless.

Kayle dropped off a check at one of the tables near the center of the pub and ventured back to the bar, near Zen's vicinity. She casually glanced at the clock above the door as she ducked down to grab a couple tall glasses.

"Everything alright, Kayle?" Zen asked as he munched on one of the peanuts sitting in a bowl next to him. From his view, only the Coastal Fox's burnt red, black-tipped tail was visible, peeking up from behind the bar like a periscope.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she responded as she jumped up and moved over to one of the massive kegs behind her. "Uncle Blitz usually tries to be a little more punctual than this, though."

"He's also carrying sensitive info with him," Zen pointed out. "And Blitz is smart enough not to be caught with it. 'sides, we're not in a rush, are we?"

Kayle nodded as she filled the two glasses. "Fair enough," she admitted. "I really do need to trust him more, don't I?"

"Sounds like you already do," Zen noted, cracking open another peanut. "I mean, how long have you been living with him? A couple years now, right?"

"Yeah, and he doesn't charge me rent or anything. He just gave me a room when I moved in."

"Your uncle's a good Keidran," Zen said as he flipped another nut into his mouth. "Or at least when he's not busy trying to interrogate someone."

"He knows what's important to him," Kayle explained as she brought the glasses back over to the bar and placed one in front of Zen. "And he does everything he can to protect it."

"I know how he feels," Zen said, gripping the glass and raising it towards Kayle. "Have I told you about my brother yet?"

"Don't believe so," Kayle answered, tapping her glass with Zen's. The both of them took a drink together before she continued her thought. "What does he do?"

"He's my partner for a lot of our contracts. He's out on a special assignment at the moment, though."

"How do you mean? Like one of Clovis' odd jobs?"

"Not really," Zen pensively replied, taking another swig of beer. "It's more of a bodyguarding job if anything. See, he's really good friends with this Basitin, who happens to be the Eastern Isles' ambassador..." The wolf caught himself starting to ramble and put a stop to it immediately. "It's kind of a long story. I won't bore you with it."

"Is it classified? Bet it's classified," Kayle probed, cracking open a peanut of her own.

Zen cocked an eyebrow. "Do I look like a person who cares about whether something's classified or not?" he rhetorically asked.

The vixen briefly looked over Zen for a second. "Not on the surface, no," Kayle answered, washing the nut down with another drink. "So why don't you want to tell it?"

"I just told you. It's long, tedious, and, above everything else, boring!"

Kayle smiled and leaned on the bar. "Zen, I might have known you for all of..what, three days?"

"Three, really? Could have sworn it was two."

Kayle laughed a bit before continuing. "But I can tell you right now that you are absolutely not a boring guy."

Zen returned the smile and leaned his head against his hand. "What would you have done if I was?"

The Coastal Fox shrugged. "Probably would have handed the bill to you ages ago."

"Huh, so that's how it is with you," Zen jocularly responded. "Trick a guy into buying you a round and kick him out if you don't like him?"

"Who says I don't like the guy in question?"

"Depends. Am I the one buying the beer?"

Instead of a verbal response, Zen was nicely, unexpectedly gifted a small kiss on the right cheek. His expression could be described as shocked, but that probably wasn't the right word. He liked where the conversation's mood was going: the nice mellow feeling created when he could actually talk about the deep issues with someone who wasn't Natani. And even then, he didn't have a huge number of female friends. Kayle was arguably as close to a female companion he had in a long time. Knowing that, Zen had a hard time being completely comfortable with this sort of feeling, one that he probably could never replicate with his companions or even Natani. He liked it, though. Kayle had only recently been introduced to his life, but she left a mark almost immediately. Zen was grateful for that, and there weren't many things he could say that about.

"You're a good guy, Zen," she softly whispered. "And don't think about changing that."

"Yeah, mate. Don't you change a bit," came a sarcastic voice off to Zen's left. The wolf's eyes ventured over in that direction, and whatever quasi-shocked feeling Zen had before was replaced by the real thing. Kayle leaned back past Zen's head as well, and noticed a mischievously grinning Polar Fox sitting on the stool adjacent to Zen's, leaning one hand on the bar, munching on a hijacked peanut, twirling a knife around in his right hand, interestedly spectating the scene before him.

"Hi, Uncle!" Kayle enthusiastically greeted. "When did you get here?"

"At a pretty good time, apparently," Blitz wittily responded as he raised his facemask again. "Nice to see you two are getting along."

Zen sat at his stool, petrified. Suaveness aside, Zen's only social weakness resided in the awkward area. He stiffly shuffled his stool back from Kayle, trying to avoid direct eye contact with Blitz. "Uh, uh..hiya Blitz," he frozenly stuttered out. "I know this doesn't look good..."

Blitz glanced at his niece with suspicion. "Did you spike his drink or something?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Zen, calm down. You're cool," Blitz reconciled, and noticed a customer signaling for service. "Kayle, I think one of your patrons needs you."

Kayle turned her head and nodded towards in the customer's general direction. "Back in a second," she cheerfully excused herself before beginning her walk over.

Blitz waited for a moment until Kayle was out of hearing range, then turned his attention back to Zen. "Though I will say this makes you part of the family now," he spoke, leaning his back against the bar.

"Family?" Zen repeated. "She just decided to kiss me. It's not like we're officially seeing each other or anything."

"It's pretty obvious she trusts you, mate," Blitz responded, flicking out his knife again. "Which is good, because I happen to also."

"I'm guessing that doesn't usually happen over the course of a couple days with you."

"That it doesn't," Blitz noted, fully opening the blade and holding it this time. "You see, Zen, that's a big, big problem when you're in our business. Trust is not an easy thing to build up."

"Tell me about it," Zen blankly responded, sipping from his glass again. "Clovis and I haven't really had the best work history together, so I know how you feel."

"Does it feel strange?" Blitz asked as he flipped the blade closed and slipped it back into his shirt pocket. "You usually work with your brother for these sorts of things, don't you?"

Zen sighed and turned his head away from the Polar Fox slightly. "Usually," he responded, quietly. "So it does feel strange having you as a cooperative, Blitz. No offense."

"It's fine," the agent shrugged. "You two are probably really close then, after all of your jobs together and everything."

"It's a bit deeper than that," the wolf stated, resting both elbows on the bar. "It's...hard to explain."

"Is it?"

Zen dry swallowed, trying to keep his emotions in check. He hated telling this story. He hadn't even shared it with anyone up to now. Too much pain. Too much confusion. Too much sorrow. Just the thought was enough to make him feel like his skull would split in half. His hands were already shaking, and he could feel his eyes tearing up slightly in addition.

The conversation went dead for a few moments. The wolf turned his head to see Kayle still serving her clients, fast walking from one table to the next.

"The parents died when we were still pups," Zen reminisced.

---

Templars...got power hungry one day and decided to raid the town. Mom and Pop were the first ones who knew what was going on. They wake me and Nat up, practically yelling at us to get outside. No questions asked. No explanations. No nothing. Just get outside. Go the backyard.

They somehow got us into the woodshed. Thing was stacked high for the winter, just enough room for Nat and me. Parents, got to stay outside. Templars came by, didn't have anything better to do. So they pillage the house, take what they want, usual drill. And they...killed them.

Wasn't even graphic either. It was just one word. One word. That's all they said. Then one quick flash and poof. That was it. Nat had to keep a hand over my mouth, like he was the brave one. I look over at him too. His eyes are shut tight, couldn't bring himself to watch our parents die like that. Hell, he was probably more scared than I was.

We wake up the next day in that damn shed, and Nat's the first one out the door. Sky's grey. Ground's white. Air's cold. But it wasn't snowing. Templars burnt everything they could. No buildings or bodies anywhere. Forest surrounding the village was gone too. Nothing's left. Just me and him.

Alone.

---

"Had to live on our own ever since. Didn't bother with anyone or anything else. And I'm never letting anything happen to him."

"Yeah," Blitz said back, deeper and softer than before. He set both of his hands on the bar, leaning over them deep in thought, almost mournfully. "Damn straight."

Zen turned to back the fox, and audibly exhaled. "Look, sorry for being a killjoy," he apologized. "I..said the explanation was hard, but..."

"I understand."

Zen's ears flipped up. "You do?"

"I never lost someone that dear to me like that, and I'm sorry that I can't say I know how you feel," Blitz elaborated, motioning to Kayle. "But I can say I know how you feel when it comes to caring for one person."

Zen observed Kayle a bit longer, as she shuttled food to the corner table where she was originally summoned. Blitz continued his commentary in the meantime. "I never married and I don't have any kids. So one hundred percent of my efforts go towards making that girl smile." The vixen chatted with her customers a bit, any semblance of intelligible speech drowned out in the background.

"The daughter you never had?" Zen inquired.

"The daughter I never had," Blitz repeated. "Spot on. Probably the only family I'll ever have too, apart from her old man." And then he made a most intriguing statement to follow it up.

"And I'd like to do something about that, if it's okay with you."

"Blitz?"

"You said you and your brother had been living by yourselves ever since, right?"

"Yeah. We've been making do," Zen replied, turning in his chair to face the Polar Fox directly. "We already have a good lease on a house, if that's where this is going."

"Oh, Gods no. My flat has enough of a time just holding me and Kayle," Blitz responded in his usual, lighthearted fashion. "But, listen. Once the dust settles and this whole problem gets wrapped up. If you, or your brother, are ever around and need a friend," Blitz held out his hand as he carefully selected his words.

"Kayle and I'll be here, alright?" The bandana and eye patches obscured the authenticity of his expression a bit, but the determined, forceful gaze of his other eye was all Zen needed to see. "We can't replace what you lost, but we can definitely try."

He paused for a while before nodding back to Blitz and gripping his wrist in acceptance. "This means a lot, Blitz. Thank you." Between this and Kayle's kiss just moments ago, Zen understandably started to feel just a bit overwhelmed by the vulpine family's affinity for him. Just saying that "it meant a lot" was a gigantic understatement. Blitz was right. The scars left by the Templars after that night never healed, and likely never would. The offer meant much, much more than just friendly support. Blitz seemed well aware of that, and even if he didn't, Zen couldn't have appreciated his friendship more than right now. For the first time in an extremely long while, he felt...not alone. And he liked it.

Kayle had finished tending to her customers for now and returned behind her bar, playfully tossing a coin bag into the air. "This is a fun job, but I swear, some people have no idea how to tip properly."

"In the good way or bad?" Blitz asked, relinquishing Zen's arm and turning his attention back to the other fox.

"I kid you not, five silver on an eighty silver bill." Kayle caught the bag on its fall and secured it to her pants. "I don't believe I did anything wrong."

"Kayle, some people just are just like that. There's always one of them. Don't take it personally," Blitz confided, then swung his shoulder bag over onto the bar. "Speaking of taking things personally, Zen, I think I have something for you."

Zen's ears perked as Blitz opened up the bag's main compartment and dug out a sealed letter envelope. Blitz then handed it over to the wolf, who gave the note a quick inspection. Two features signaled that the envelope came from Clovis' desk: the bright red wax stamp, emblazoned with a fancy capital "C" that the half-fox used in all formal communications, and the well-penned name of the recipient on the front. "To Sir Sean of the Distant Forest Wolves." The alias Zen used on his last job with Clovis. A rather unusual one in retrospect, but one only two people knew he used, Natani being the second of them.

"So that's why I got your name wrong the first time," Blitz observed.

"The Distant Forest Wolves?" Kayle read skeptically, and then glanced at Zen, with an odd combination of pity and criticism.

Zen stared back at the barkeeper for a second before responding. "I was on a job, got asked what my name was, and I panicked, alright?"

"And you decided to affiliate yourself with not with the Forest Wolves, but the Distant Forest Wolves," Kayle continued, emphasizing what she found to be the most ludicrous word in that title.

Zen heard the other fox quietly laughing to himself as well. "You have to admit, mate. You could have tried harder," he commented as he started playing with his knife again.

"Yeah, very funny," Zen responded, sliding out his wrist-mounted blade and breaking the envelope's seal with it. "Because you two could have done better."

The two foxes looked at each other for a moment, and smiled when they noticed they were having similar thoughts. "You know, we probably could have," Kayle pointed out, trying to quiet her giggling.

"I hear if you say it enough, it becomes less silly," Blitz teased.

"And I thought you were smart at one point, Zen."

"I get it, I get it," Zen good-naturedly waived off the jokes. "I'll make my fake names more believable next time. Now can we all shut up so I can see what Clovis sent?"

"Yeah, mate. Go for it," Blitz slapped his knife shut and leaned towards Zen. "You sure you're alright sharing this with us? I mean, it's just for you, right?"

"It is, but I don't see the harm," Zen responded, folding back the envelope's opening. Zen inched the parchment out, taking care not to damage it in any major way. The paper was twice folded, symmetrically and crisply, showing that Clovis had taken great care in preparing this note. Whatever it contained was obviously very, very important.

"And inside is..." Zen announced with anticipation as he unfolded the letter.

---

Chapter 11

The fox and dog sat at opposite ends of the rectangular, almost square table, casually enjoying the evening meal. Objectively, Evals cooked very well. Not nearly as well as Katherin used to back on the Na'Rella, but compared to Mike, Evals was definitely the superior. So when he said he'd do something special for that night, he took it quite seriously. The dog had complained earlier about not having a good steak in a long time, and decided that tonight was the night he fixed that. He cooked off two of them, served with a nice side of boiled potatoes and some biscuits. It was no exaggeration to say Evals took his dinner very seriously, and the presentation value definitely showed.

But although Evals put a lot of effort into making sure everything looked nice, there were a few touches Michelle probably could have done without. Despite her earlier protests about how this was not a date, it looked like Evals went quite out of his way to make it look like one. A three-tiered candelabra was the table's main centerpiece and, seeing as how Evals had dimmed all other light sources, the galley's main means of illumination at the time. A disturbingly sharp scent also hung about densely in the room, and for the longest time Michelle couldn't figure out what it was. It was only when Evals formally brought her dinner over that she deduced that the dog had cleaned himself up for the occasion, and likely nicked a bottle of cologne from somewhere on the ship to that end as well.

Even the dog's mannerisms were uncomfortably romanticized. "So, how did your day go, Michelle?" Evals interestedly asked as he cut off a filet of steak. He smiled innocently at the vixen, who was fixated on her plate, trying not to humor the other canine more than necessary.

"Not a date, Evals!" she firmly stated as she sliced through one of the potatoes. "And stop calling me that."

"Come on now, lighten up!" Evals coaxed, politely chewing on the steak. "You're going to be leaving soon and I don't know when I'll see you again!"

"You work with me, you dolt."

"Well, yeah, but you know I love having you over! Where's the harm in..."

Michelle glared at the dog and rested her hand on her forehead, rubbing it stressfully. "You did this to me last year, and now you're doing it again."

"What?" Evals said as he chomped on another strip of his dinner.

"Evals, there's a pretty good reason why you don't know any girls apart from my alter ego."

"Kat, Flora, Natani for a bit, that one Basitin who started the cargo fire..." Evals rattled off, raising a finger for each name he recited.

"Any girls you've actively been trying to get together with," Michelle revised her statement, narrowing her eyes.

Evals stopped chewing to think on that for a second, but then shrugged when he couldn't think of any other names. "Right. So what's the problem?"

"Not every girl you bump into is going to immediately be attracted to you, okay? I'm okay with all of this, because I've known you for a while and this is just something you do. But if you actually pulled this with someone else, there's a good chance it comes off as creepy."

"I can definitely try it, can't I?"

"And that's when it starts getting weird," Michelle forcefully stated. "Good Gods! Get to know them first and then you can start doing..whatever it is you call this."

"I call it a nice dinner with a good friend," Evals cheerfully replied, gently wagging his tail as he looked around the kitchen area. "I wonder if I can get some piano music going in here..."

Michelle sighed and ran her hands through her hair. Evals curiously turned his head to the side. "This..doesn't make you uncomfortable, does it?"

"Well..no, not entirely," she apologetically, hesitatingly remarked. "I mean, speaking as a part time girl, if we were seeing each other before this, I'd say that you put a lot of effort into making this look nice. Credit where it's due."

The dog chuckled, satisfied with his work. "Only the best for you, Michelle," Evals melodically remarked after a sip of water.

"Stop calling me that," the vixen barked. "That said, considering that I'm going to be back to my normal self after this, I have to say I find this a bit...strange."

The dog went quiet for a second. "Um, in what ways?"

"Think like this: if you hadn't cast that spell, I was still a guy, and we were eating dinner like we are right now, would you feel comfortable?"

Evals pictured that scene for a moment: Mike sitting across from him, in a very romantic setting, just the two of them... The dog immediately slammed the door on that thought and shook his head rigorously, trying to dislodge the mental image and bar its return to his head. "Yep, that was unnerving," he quickly agreed, still rattled by that thought.

"Do you see my point though?"

Evals swallowed his food and blinked before responding. "Alright, you know what?" he asked, setting his utensils down and leaning on the table. "You're right. I'm sorry, okay? I was kind of a jerk to you this morning and yesterday, and I'm not really sure if this helped at all. I just get really excited when I see her..."

"Just really exited?"

"Quiet, you," Evals woofed. "But like I said earlier, I miss my friend more than I do her. So even if I look like I'm just trying to make the most of her while she's around, it's because I like having you around more."

Evals stopped his monologue there and reflected for a moment. "...if that made sense at all?"

"No, no it did," Michelle returned. "And I..appreciate that, Evals. Thank you," she smiled at her friend. Evals returned the gesture as well.

Michelle then clapped her hands in anticipation and decided to be a little spontaneous for a change. "Right, so let's make this happen," she stated as she began to remove her shirt.

Evals' face went blank for a few moments and his tail began wagging fast enough to create a small breeze. "Uh, Michelle...?"

"Don't read too much into this, I just want to make certain it works," Michelle stated up front as she tossed her shirt off to the side of the galley.

Evals couldn't do much more than stare at the vixen as she reached behind herself to rip through the adhesive bandaging around her torso. "...I mean, I love it, but..should this really be happening here?"

"Why not?" Michelle asked, still working on the bandages. "It's a good a time as any. Plus, these things were getting a little itchy anyways."

"Um...thanks in advance?" Evals uncertainly said as he reached for his textbook next to his seat.

"Thanks for..?" Michelle was about to ask, but then looked down at her chest, gradually expanding with the released pressure of the bandages. She skeptically leered back up at her friend, who was already starting to fixate on that area of the body. Evals fumbled with the requisite mana crystals as he sloppily tried to organize them in a tidy pool in front of him while also trying to focus on Michelle and...other things.

Michelle let out a small sigh and lugubriously shook her head. "You're not going to be able to do this with a straight face, are you?" she asked disappointedly.

"Is there another test we can do?" Evals sheepishly grimaced as he twitchily flipped through the book, like he had overdosed on caffeine.

"Evals, I think this is the first time you've not wanted to see Michelle like this," the vixen observed, teasingly.

"Well, you didn't really pick an amazing time to start being seductive, Mike!" Evals quickly hissed back.

"Okay, then here's what we'll do," Michelle began as Evals finally found the correct section in his book. "We'll time it. You get X seconds of fan service, but once that's over with, you have to cast the spell. I don't care what you have to do to cast it, but you have to cast it," she proposed.

"...I think I can do that," Evals uncertainly responded, scanning through the spell one final time.

"Alright, then that's what we'll do," Michelle continued. "So, how long would you like me to keep my bandages off for?"

Evals' eyes jumped to the ceiling in thought for a few seconds. "I'm guessing...ten seconds for me to get over it?" he shrugged.

Michelle's eyebrow jumped up. "I'll give you three," the vixen sternly counter-offered, not willing to objectify herself for any longer than necessary.

Evals' gaze narrowed. "Seven."

"Five."

Evals whimpered in reluctance.

"You can do it with five," Michelle reassured the dog.

Evals took a deep breath and steeled himself. "I can do it in five," he repeated, holding his hand over the medium sized, glowing blue stockpile of mana. "I'm ready, Mike."

Michelle gripped the bandages as well, ready to hold up her end of the deal. "We go on three," she informed, and began the countdown. "One..."

"Wait, wait, wait a minute," the dog hastily interrupted, to the vixen's displeasure. "Are we going when you say 'three,' or are you one of those people who counts to three and then says 'go' or something and that's when it happens?"

"Evals..." Michelle angrily remanded.

"Honest question!" the dog innocently defended. "Does it start when I hear 'three' or..."

"Yes! It happens on three, alright?" she clarified, annoyed by Evals' attention to just this one particular detail.

"Okay, cool," Evals nodded as he set himself up again. "Start from the top again, alright?"

"Sure," Michelle exasperatedly agreed. "Aaaaaand three," she announced, yanking off the remainder of her bandages and discarding them to the side of the table.

She looked around the room curiously as she counted off the time in her head. "You know," the vixen noted out loud. "This...actually doesn't feel bad!" She slumped down in her chair a bit, trying to get more comfortable. "I can see why Kat and Flora did it so much," she continued as her posture caused her to arch her back more. Her ear perked as Evals made some sort of noise between an "urf" and a strangulation, a very peculiar one to say the least.

Michelle's mental clock finally struck five, and she wrapped her arms around her torso to signify the end of the session. "Alright, Evals, that's five. Time to..." Michelle had to stop herself because, once again, she felt confident her words were heard but not registered by the panting dog. Evals was leaning well over the table, almost lying on his plate at the angle he was at. His eyes were still wide with enthrallment, and Michelle almost asked herself if she should have even bothered setting the time limit.

"Uh..Evals?" she confusedly contacted the canine.

"That...was..amazing," Evals praised in bewilderment, looking back down at the vixen. The galley went quiet, save for the panting, as the stunned dog simply stared down at Michelle during that time.

Michelle snapped her fingers, trying to break his trance. "Evals, the spell!" she commanded.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, right!" Evals hastily woofed as he properly sat back in his chair to look over the spell again. He put his hand back over the mana pool, ready to say the word of power...

But then leaned over to his left, looking at the vixen's crossed pant legs. "You know, to be safe, maybe I should also..."

"Evals!" Michelle slammed a fist into the table.

"Okay, okay, spell time," Evals slurred, not even allotting time to space his words. He gaze jumped back to the book, and he found his spot on the page after a second of searching. He found the word of power, and the mana crystals shone intensely bright in anticipation for its saying.

"Aversa pars!" came the command, and for a moment Michelle was unable to see a thing over the mana's detonation. Her field of view was completely overwhelmed by the blue light. Whatever else was going on during this was a complete enigma, and the sudden shut off of light once the spell ended did not help the vision problems either.

But as soon as the fox was able to see again, he inspected his body and was pleased with the result. Mike exhaled with satisfaction and relief, grinning in a way he hadn't been able to in a while. "Brilliant!" he gladly proclaimed as he looked back up at his friend. "Thanks for helping..." His voice trailed off and he was rightly startled as he made a most unusual observation about the dog. His eyes went wide and a hand jumped up to his mouth to hide his expression.

"What? What are we looking at?"

Mike cleared his throat and tried his hardest to sound as innocent as possible. "So, um, here's a question for you," he started. "You know how you lovingly named my...other persona Michelle, right?"

The dog's look went uncomfortably skeptic. "Why are you bringing this up?"

Mike involuntarily snickered, still keeping a hand over his lower face. "No reason," he said, trying to avoid attention. "No reason..."

The dog blinked and Mike finally removed his hand, revealing a very, very amused smile.

"...Evalyn!"

---

The parliament building on the Eastern Basidian Isles sat just downhill from the royal palace itself, and was kept to more or less the same standards of presentation. The floors were either marble or polished hardwood, though recent renovations had converted the majority of them to the latter, out of preference for any Keidran visitors. The main chamber's ceiling was exquisitely done with a fine crystal chandelier, one of the largest known in existence, if the Templar-sponsored almanac was to be believed. Five main benches near the front of the room, reserved either for jurors or witnesses in most cases, stood proudly as the chamber's main features for conducting business. The benches demeaningly overlooked the comparatively dwarfish witness stand, as a statement of authority Keith did not care for the last time he was there. Along the sides of the main chamber ran two long, expansive areas devoted mostly to senator seating, and a tier above them were a few short rows of seats for spectators. Needless to say, both of those areas would remain mostly vacated for tonight, as this hearing was for the generals' and King Adelaide's eyes and ears only.

Public hearings and speeches happened to be Keith's area of expertise, a mandatory prerequisite for his position. Up to this point, he had reviewed his talking points five times, responded to any possible questions that may arise twice, and even coerced Natani and Madelyn into running a downsized simulation of the event with him as well. Any other Basitin would have characterized this as compulsive behavior, but for the ambassador general, it was just rehearsal. This was one among many reasons he never got nervous or confused on a regular basis: solid preparation for anything and everything that could happen given the situation.

He began reciting his speeches again as he sat with Natani just outside the parliament's side doors, in the nearby courtyard. And much like the building's interior, the courtyard was neatly manicured and landscaped to impress. The tidily mowed grass and paved walkways through the outdoor area were kept almost spotless by the grounds keeping crew that patrolled by no less than three times a day. A few flowerbeds scattered throughout the grassy areas added tasteful amounts of color to the scenery, bordered on all four sides by the building itself, with canopied walkways leading to each wing. It was a perfect venue to clear one's head, and Keith intended to take advantage of it in every way he could.

Natani remained quietly by his side, trying not to break his concentration. She was looking for hiccups in her friend's words, a sort of proofreading. There wasn't a need to focus on her part, as far as she was concerned. She didn't know the science behind it, but she always found that the less she tried to practice speaking, the more convincing it came across. Years of experience with disguising magic made Natani rather decent at improvisation, and even if it was just in the name of science, she wanted to see if she could role-play as herself in a sense.

"...with that in mind, I see no reason to terminate contact with the Wolf tribe's leaders at this time," Keith finished his statement, as he hopped up from the stone bench, saluted Natani and bowed. "Thank you very much for your attention."

Natani offered up a golf clap in response. "Very nice, General. Marvelous," she commented, dignifiedly smiling as if she was critiquing a play. "Though you can probably do without the salute at the end. I mean, you're talking to officers of equal rank."

"Save for the King. If one's above you, they all are," the Basitin corrected. "So, shall we head in?"

"It's a bit early, don't you think?"

"If Sythe is around then I need to make sure we're still on board for this," Keith explained. "The Basitins are going to be annoyed that the Wolves are out to get me, so Sythe is going to try and calm them down."

"Why should he even bother?" Natani asked, standing up from the bench and fixing her cape. "The Basitins know this wasn't a sanctioned hit,"

"Just because the authorities didn't sponsor it, Nat, doesn't mean that there aren't people still trying to get rid of me. We don't know who they are or what they want, but countries have gone to war over less important things in the past."

Natani paused for a second. "Good point," she conceded.

"Nat, if this goes well, once your brother finds out more info, we can stop this war before it even starts," Keith asserted as he began walking down one of the paved pathways through the outdoor area.

Natani followed him closely. "I think I should tell you Zen hasn't contacted me since we were on the ship. I think he knows just as much as we do right now."

"Or he's waiting for a big reveal."

"Zen's not nearly as patient as you think he is, Keith."

"Maybe it's just how his contact works. Nobody said he was getting this information locally."

"I'm pretty sure if Clovis threw a rock out of his manor, he could bounce it off of the roof of our house."

"Nat, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're genuinely worried about something," Keith observed.

Natani grunted and turned her head away from the Basitin. She never liked it when people tried to tell her how she felt. "The last time Zen was this quiet, he ended up unconscious and captured by a guy he was hunting."

Keith glanced over at his friend interestedly. "What was the job, if I could ask?"

"Ugh, let me think," Natani shut her eyes and put a hand to her head. "It was a snatch and grab, I remember helping him out through a mind meld once." She reopened them once she fully recollected the details. "You know something?"

"What?"

"I think he was actually after...yip!" Natani froze in place. Her expression was somewhere between terrified and discomforted, resulting in her eyes taking on the former mood and her mouth the latter. Keith turned around to address her, but wasn't quite sure where to start.

"Umm...Nat?" he thought would be a conservative start.

"S-s-something's coming up my leg," Natani quasi-calmly reported, her legs involuntarily shaking as a reflex.

"Like what?" Keith asked, thinking the wolf may have been overreacting slightly. "Are we talking like a spider or..."

He was cut off as he noticed an oblong shaped mass running up the outer side of Natani's right leg towards the waistline. His expression went spooked, but not at the expense of his composure. "Or maybe that thing," he finished.

Natani shifted rigidly as the thing decided to move into the area under her green drake leather shirt. "You aren't going to do anything?" she hissed, trying to keep her voice down.

"Whatever...it is, it hasn't hurt you yet, so I'm going to avoid inciting it."

"And what do I do, just stand here!?"

"Well, yeah, if it keeps it calm."

"Keith...!"

"What else do you want me to do?"

"You could always...gah!" the wolf exclaimed swatting at the object now on her back.

"Nat! Don't get it angry!"

"It was either my bandages or him, and he was starting to..ah!" Natani's hands jumped to her abdominal area. The object then changed its course up past the wolf's torso, towards the neck...

And out peeked the tiny head of a brown, long-eared squirrel, who looked at Natani curiously as the wolf intensely leered back. That squirrel knew what it did, and no amount of cuteness or innocence was going to save it. It even had a pink ribbon neatly tied around its neck, as if it couldn't get any more mind-bogglingly cutesy. Natani almost got sick at how twee this scene was becoming.

"The hell do you want?" she firmly asked the squirrel as it touched its nose with Natani's. It followed up with a small squeak, another pause, and then the squirrel lovingly pushed its head underneath Natani's muzzle, hoping for a stroke.

"I think Mrs. Nibbly likes you, Nat," Keith commented as the rodent continued to brush its head under Natani's chin.

"I think this squirrel can go..." Natani started to threat, but then looked back up at Keith confusedly. "Wait, this thing has a name?"

"Aw, Nibs, what have I told you about going up people's clothes?" Natani turned around to find yet another Forest Wolf, one that she knew through Zen but not much past that. In fact, before the squirrel interrupted her, she was actually going to point out that the Keidran now approaching them was Zen's target during his botched job. His appearance hadn't changed a bit since then either: muddy grey fur, medium length hair neatly done back and tied off. Natani also noticed a section of his hair was missing, as if it had been chewed off by something.

Natani looked down at the squirrel, and then back up at the wolf speedily pacing towards her. "Is this yours?" she blankly pointed at the rodent, its head still peeping out from Natani's neck hole. The squirrel's eyes lit up, glad to see its friend coming to it. Its tail popped up in anticipation as well and started inadvertently tickling Natani's nose. She was forced to lean back to prevent herself from sneezing, as if she had propped herself against an invisible wall.

"How much trouble am I in if it is?" Sythe asked cautiously. He never took chances around assassins, particularly the one standing in front of him. Sythe's relation with the Magi Brothers was nothing short of tangled and convoluted. His uncle hired them to find his ex-fiancée, the brothers got separated, Sythe got sucked into a raid on a Human settlement, got framed for eloping with one of them, one of the brothers got reassigned to find him... It was a very muddy history and Sythe tried not to think about it too much. Then again, he didn't really count on somehow bumping into one of them ever again, so he wasn't quite sure how that would affect the situation.

"Just get it out of my shirt," Natani sternly demanded, not willing to put up with any more of the squirrel's shenanigans.

"Hey, Nibs!" Sythe called to his pet. "You heard the man. Get out of there."

Natani could have sworn she saw the squirrel nod its obedience, and Mrs. Nibbly crawled its way out of Natani's shirt and onto her left shoulder. The squirrel coiled itself up for a moment, and then gracefully bounded from one wolf to the next, landing on the right shoulder of Sythe's white button-down dress shirt. It pressed its head endearingly against Sythe's as he gave her a quick, gentle scratch on the head. "Yeah, you're a good girl, aren't you?"

Both Keith and Natani awkwardly watched Sythe coddle the squirrel for a few moments before the Basitin spoke up. "Sythe? This was strange when you did it yesterday and time hasn't made it any better."

Mrs. Nibbly squeaked disapprovingly at that remark. "Yeah, I don't think he gets it either," Sythe said back to his companion, gently stroking her down the back.

Natani exchanged a look of confusion with her friend. "Soooo, this is the guy who's supposed to help our situation," the wolf said, keeping her voice down.

"Aster introduced me to him yesterday, and I've bumped into him a few times before," Keith whispered back. "He got here a couple days ahead of us once he caught wind of what happened."

"Is he always this screwy?"

"He's a weird guy, I know, but he's also the guy who's been keeping the Templars calm and the entire Wolf tribe off our backs. Let's just live with it and move along."

Natani leered at Mrs. Nibbly, contemptuously. "...I don't trust that squirrel."

Keith skeptically looked back up at the wolf in response. "Sorry, what?"

"I. Do not. Trust. That squirrel," Natani enunciated.

Keith went silent for a moment. "Let me get this straight: you think Sythe is a whackjob because his best friend is a squirrel. But, instead of not trusting him..."

"You heard me."

"You know how dumb that sounds, right?"

"I've said dumber stuff before."

"This is pretty high up there, if we're being fair."

"Are we headed inside soon?" Sythe asked the bickering Basitin. Mrs. Nibbly sat on his shoulder idly, looking back and forth between him and Natani.

Keith turned back to the diplomat as if nothing had happened during that time. "We were just about to, actually. Care to join us?"

"Why not. I can use the company," Sythe accepted. Mrs. Nibbly squeaked her agreement as well, and Keith could have sworn she nodded at him as well.

Natani pointed at the squirrel again. "That thing isn't coming into the parliament building with you, is it?"

"She," Sythe corrected. "And yes, as a matter of fact."

Natani narrowly glared at her counterpart. "There's no way you're serious," she said. Much like her brother, Natani did not care for excessive amounts of bizarreness when it came to her contacts, and Sythe was as weird as it came on her scale. Between his overly affectionate relationship with the squirrel and the squirrel herself, the unusualness of the entire scenario was overwhelming. Too many mental alarms were going off to justify the potential usefulness of Keith's ally, no matter what he said to defend it. Natani was fully convinced that this wolf, despite the accolades he had received, was not up to scratch in any way.

The Basitin, however, was a bit more accepting. "I could probably get her in if I asked," he offered.

Sythe turned his head to his companion and smiled. "What do you think, Nibs? Want to see me stop a war?" Mrs. Nibbly hopped off of her master's shoulder and onto Keith's, and, in one of the most nauseatingly cute scenes Natani had ever seen, raised both of her front legs and wrapped them as far as they could reach around Keith's neck. She didn't really have a problem for things being cuter than they had a right to be, but this little act had enough ham in it to feed her and Zen for a month.

Even Keith was unsure of how to react to the squirrel, and just looked at it in a stunned manner for a while instead. "Uh, you're welcome," he finally said to the creature at the lack of a better sentence.

Sythe laughed silently to himself. "She knows when she's being treated, Keith," he stated, then beckoned Mrs. Nibbly to return to him with a short, sharp whistle. The squirrel leaped back onto his shoulder and then scampered up to his head to lie down.

Natani and Keith lost their words to describe Sythe's new hat as he casually strolled by them towards the doors leading out of the courtyard. "Now then, let's see what we can do about this little problem, eh?" he casually asked his new friends in passing, as Mrs. Nibbly shut her eyes for a quick nap.

---

Chapter 12

"Will you require anything else tonight, Mr. Clovis?"

"Quite content where I am, thank you though," Clovis responded to the Keidran attendant as he leaned back against the pool's upper lip, interlocked his hands and stretched his arms. "Do send in Zen when he comes by?"

"Absolutely, sir. When should I expect him?"

"...five minutes, ten at the worst."

"I'll watch for him," she complied and bowed slightly. "Good night, sir."

"To you as well," the half-fox said as he reached over to his right for a washcloth. The attendant nodded and obediently shut the door to the bathhouse behind her. Clovis dampened the cloth in the comfortably hot water, wrung it out, then rested his head on the deck, draping the washcloth over his eyes. A deep sigh ensued as Clovis allowed himself to clear his mind and simply relax.

The room was termed as Clovis' public bathhouse, but it functioned more as a small public pool. The dimensions were right for it; the bath was a five meter square indentation in the wooden floor, with a ledge one could sit on around the perimeter. The ceramic glowed bright blue, thanks to an enchantment that kept the water at exactly thirty-seven degrees Centigrade at all times. Around the walls hung a few evenly spaced gas lanterns, but Clovis preferred to keep them off when he was the sole occupant of the bath, leaving the iridescent blue water to light the room. Against the far wall lay a shelving unit containing towels, washcloths and small bottles of liquid soap. Clovis had taken one of each: he wore the towel as he let his lower half of his body soak, the washcloth was folded and still resting over his face, and he had just begun to squirt some of the soap into his section of the bath. Money may not be able to buy happiness, but according to Clovis, it certainly helps.

The fully windowed back wall caught the last few rays of the sun setting behind the cityscape, and the expansive forest the Wolves called home beyond that. The forest Clovis called home. He hadn't visited the continent's beaches since he was a pup, so naturally his affinity for the Wolves of the Western Forests was much stronger. He didn't mind not having nearly as close ties to the other half of his heritage. It may as well not have even existed, for all he knew or cared about it. Almost everything he needed in life came from the forest and the city, and life among the Forest Wolves was nothing short of excellent.

Despite being poked fun at for his mixed blood when he was younger, Clovis considered himself part of the pack through and through. Hybrid Keidran like himself were not necessarily uncommon; a few of Clovis' most loyal agents were hybrids themselves. However, they often found themselves in the discomforting position of not really belonging to either one tribe or the other. It was an unhappy medium for many of them, but Clovis fixed that very quickly once his spy ring was fully operational. Granted, his mother's genes still left some physical marks, most distinctly and infamously the black "socks and gloves" that tended to hint at his vulpine heritage. But past that, almost every denizen of the Forest Wolves took Clovis to be one of them, unconditionally.

Which meant that, in an indirect way, he did feel a little bad for misleading Zen with the information he promised. Blitz would probably have a word or two to say to him tomorrow as well, once he found out the important message he was entrusted to deliver was essentially a business card. But he considered it necessary. To the spymaster, all data was sensitive until he had a reason to think otherwise. This information in particular was quite special indeed. Clovis was no stranger to these types of jobs, and he had uncovered some rather tasty morsels of information before. However, this one, oh, this one had to be one of his favorites to date. A remarkably virulent tip that could change Zen's outlook on the entire situation. Clovis smiled widely and licked his teeth at the prospect of sharing his most recently acquired secret.

Some mumbling came from behind the door, and Clovis intently perked his left ear to better hear it. "He's right through that door, sir," came the muffled voice of the bath attendant.

"Much obliged," was the response, and Zen slowly opened the door and stepped inside. "Clovis, are you in..." and he froze once he identified the towel-wearing half-fox pleasantly submerged in the bathwater.

Clovis lifted the side of the washcloth to verify the wolf's identity. "Ah, Zen. Nice of you to come by!" he warmly welcomed his contact, as if they were old friends.

Zen shut his eyes and cringed. "Yes, this was exactly what I wanted to see tonight. Thank you very much," he sarcastically spouted off, ungrateful that he now had a few brain cells completely devoted to seeing Clovis in only a towel.

"Oh come now, Zen. This can't be the first time you've been to a public bathhouse, right?"

Zen's silence was his only response, and Clovis chuckled a bit. "Didn't think so. Why don't you join me, then? The water is quite nice."

"I didn't come here for a bath, Clovis," Zen sternly replied, crossing his arms and crossly glaring down at his grinning employer. "You lied to me."

"For a good reason," Clovis appended, setting the washcloth back over his eye. "And you followed the directions I gave you anyways, so no harm done, right?"

"You promised me my intel, and I'm here to get it. So where is it?"

"Calm, my friend. And please, do come in. Enjoy yourself."

Zen looked down at the water puzzlingly and then back at Clovis. "I'm just here for the information, Clovis. I don't need a bath, and even if I did, it wouldn't be with you."

"It'll calm you right down. I'm confident."

"The intel, Clovis! Now!"

"And you sound tense too, come to think of it. You'd benefit quite a bit."

Zen slipped his face into his hand. "Good Gods, it's the mint debacle all over again."

Clovis snickered back, and Zen's eyes narrowed in his direction. "I can't convince you to come in?"

"Forget it, foxy. I'm here for my info, not to get into a pool with you."

"You're sure?"

"Positive," Zen affirmed, pointing a finger at the smirking half-fox. "And no amount of your antics is going to get me in there!"

---

"What am I doing in here?" Zen let out a disheartened sigh at the bath's other occupant, who probably hadn't moved at all between Zen putting his foot down on not entering the pool and his entering the pool.

Though Clovis seemed to have gotten much more serious during that time. "It's all about the appearance," he explained in an omniscient tone. He was still reclined onto the deck, on the side adjacent to Zen, the damp cloth still covering only his eyes. "The exchange at MacMillan's would have been very obvious. Nearly analogous to our friend Riley, and we all know what happened to him."

"I fail to see how this is any better," Zen blandly replied, resting his head on his hand, still skeptically eying his companion.

"To any passersby, we're just two Keidran sharing a bathhouse, casually chatting. Nothing out of the ordinary to observe. The illusion is convincing, which means we have the freedom to do what we will with it."

"Such as getting me my damn intel, right?" Zen coaxed pressingly, gesturing with his hand to get Clovis to speak like a normal person for once.

"Ah, ah, ah," Clovis raised a hand, and deeply inhaled. "Keep the scene strong," he advised as he slowly exhaled. "This is not the time for stress."

Zen splashed some water onto his face instead, and waited for Clovis' little breathing ritual to complete. "Fine, let's try again," he exasperatedly, sarcastically, half-heartedly grumbled. "Clovis, my dear, unconditional friend. Would you kindly divulge the secrets you have promised me unto my ears, such that I might possibly save my brother's life?"

"I think that's a tad over the top, even for you..."

"Clovis!" Zen barked.

"I have reason to believe The Fang might be after your sister."

The bathhouse went tensely quiet for a little bit until Zen spoke up again. "When you say The Fang, you mean..."

"The same group who's hunting my assets," Clovis finished. "A delicious little coincidence, isn't it?"

"Little coincidence?" Zen skeptically asked.

Clovis was silent for a second before responding to the disbelieving wolf. "Alright, fine. It's a relatively large one, I'll admit. But all of the data points to it, and I don't like to ignore leads."

"There has to be a lead first for you to ignore it."

"Maybe I should explain my thoughts," Clovis offered, sitting up and removing the washcloth, permitting him to talk to the wolf eye-to-eye. "Why in the world would a lowly mercenary group be interested not only in overthrowing one of the most powerful spy rings in the world..."

"Keep patting yourself on the back there, foxy."

Clovis paid no mind to that remark and continued as if it was never made. "...while also trying to take down an ambassador to one of the most reclusive nations in the world?" Clovis stopped after he finished his statement, looking at Zen expectantly. "I wasn't asking that rhetorically, by the way. I'd love to hear your input," he added.

"Except I don't know that much about PMCs so I can't really give you an answer."

"That's the key word there, isn't it?"

"What is?" Zen pressed, leaning forward.

"PMC. Private military contractor," Clovis said, his words gradually increasing in speed as he became more invested in the topic. "That's what The Fang is officially, if their government documents are worth their salt. Yes, they're a merc group, but they're more than that. They're soldiers, blacksmiths, mages, bounty hunters, merchants, the list goes on."

"If they're so big, how are we only now hearing about them?" Zen asked quizzically.

"Yes, it does seem incongruous at first. Think on it. The Fang isn't just some standard, run of the mill collection of thugs. They're a nerve center of the entire network. And it's all happening, right here," Clovis tapped the water a little bit for emphasis, rippling the water in Zen's direction. "In this city."

"Damn," Zen interjected after a small pause. "They must keep pretty quiet then, if nobody's heard of them."

Clovis perked an ear again. "Sorry, Zenny. Did you say something?"

"Right before that fight ended, one of the bandits told Nat exactly how covert his employers were. That they were anonymous, highly secretive, nobody knew who they were..."

Zen stopped himself as he drew a conclusion, and Clovis smiled, almost proudly, as he read his companion's expression. "Unless..." Zen started.

"Unless what, my friend?"

"He wasn't talking about his employers."

"How do you mean?"

"That op you assigned me and Blitz to at the bar. Someone from Black Water gave Riley the note, but that note wasn't from Black Water themselves. They were just a courier. The orders actually came from The Fang. So..." Zen paused again to make sure his thoughts were correctly aligned. "So what if they did something similar when they sent the bandits after Natani and Keith?"

"They didn't send the hunters..."

"They got someone else to do it for them."

"The world sees the bandits killing your friend and your sister."

"While The Fang was holding the cards all along."

Clovis gleefully rubbed his hands together. "Oh, this is such a fun puzzle," he cheerfully noted. "And now you see why I was so happy to see you."

Zen could do little more than stare at his overly enthralled peer. "I think you're enjoying this a little too much," he slowly responded.

"The Keidran brain is a muscle, Zen. It must be worked regularly and stimulated in order for it to fully function," Clovis pointed out, pushing his hands together, resting his chin on the thumbs and his forehead on the index fingers. "Shall we keep going?" he enthusiastically requested, much like a kid at a carnival.

Zen shrugged and restated what they had found. "Okay, so they're a special group of swords and spells for hire that'd rather not get their hands dirty."

Clovis nodded. "Now, we just need to connect them to me and your sister."

Another pause ensued, only this one felt very out of place. Zen expected Clovis to continue talking, and Clovis expected Zen to take over for him. The wolf eventually did speak up after a short while. "...and, what did you find out?"

"Nothing, actually. I didn't think this all the way through yet," Clovis shamelessly confessed.

Zen's stare narrowed, once again baffled by Clovis' wildly swerving train of thought. "You haven't thought it through yet, huh?" he inquired, monotonously.

"I wanted to save some of it for you," Clovis clarified. "Honestly, where's the fun in me deducing everything and then just having you say it back?"

"Ugh, Gods," Zen muttered under his breath. This was typical Clovis behavior too. On any other day, this would be considered likably quirky, typically par for the course when dealing with Clovis. He may have left a bad taste in the wolf's mouth once his previous arrangement with him had ended, but at least Clovis was not a dull person to talk to. He had his share of flaws, just like anyone else, but he seemed to embrace them more than anything. And if his view of "considerate" was letting someone else do the work he had promised them in the first place, as annoying as it was, then Zen could understand it somewhat. Clovis was obviously a brilliant individual, no question about it. Maybe what Zen saw as just payment was something more substantial to Clovis.

So despite being quite peeved at the near ignorance of the half-fox's excuse, Zen quickly put it behind him and decided to play along. "What else did you find, then?"

"Not much of anything else, sadly," Clovis answered, disappointed with himself. "Their logo doesn't appear anywhere else in what I found. Likely any transmittals get burnt after their contents are read."

"Good thing we caught Riley when we did, huh?"

"Do tell," Clovis scoffed. "But then I thought, they need their money from somewhere, so maybe their agents are a bit more active than they sound."

"Alright, what do they do?"

"Exactly what you think they do. Sell things. Soldiers, munitions, equipment, you get the..." Clovis' voice trailed off as his expression went from intrigued and personable to belittled and depressed. He sighed deeply and limply slammed his head against the pool deck, prompting a small jump of surprise out of his compatriot.

"Clovis, you bloody moron. How did you not see this earlier?" he quietly scolded himself, while oddly smiling that crooked grin that may as well have been trademarked considering how frequently Zen saw him with it.

"...what just happened?" Zen asked, his tone between the two extremes of confused and concerned. "Should I call for the attendant?"

"Zen!" Clovis exclaimed as he clapped his hands together and sat himself back up. "I know what we're going to do tomorrow!"

---

Six Basitins, two Forest Wolf Keidran and a squirrel were all present in the main hearing chamber as High King Adelaide called the proceedings to order. Keith stood behind the witness stand, sternly, professionally looking up at the High King and her four advisors, taking the upper benches' seats. This left Natani and Sythe sitting in the wings, patiently waiting for their turn to speak. Mrs. Nibbly took up her usual position on Sythe's shoulder, attentively standing on her hind legs.

Keith had been in exactly this position in this room a number of times before, and under less than ideal circumstances more often than not. His earlier visits to the main chamber were mostly incarcerations, first for his father's death and then for exploding a Templar sponsored construction project. Of course, he was on the defensive for both of those incidents, answering questions to keep himself out of trouble. This time, however, he had more control. More influence. And that was reinvigorating.

Although he couldn't help the feeling that he would still be defending a side heavily favored to lose yet again. A brief look over the King's cabinet members didn't help matters either. None of them, not even Adelaide, seemed content with today's topic. Keith didn't like that. Compounded with the fact that Keith barely knew anybody sitting at the panel, apart from the King herself and Alabaster, he couldn't begin to determine exactly how badly the Basidian Isles wanted a fight.

Keith shut his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. He just had to remember who he was talking to. Basitins. True, they loved their military probably more than anyone else. But the Basitin tradition when it came to Keidran affairs was to just stay out of it. Basitins had the stiffest neutrality doctrine known to date, and they almost never acted out of accordance with it. Keith didn't even get hurt during his exchange with the bandits, so it was almost like nothing ever happened. Right? Adelaide would have to understand Keith's position and that he wouldn't want it to escalate unless it had to. Just like any of her military advisors, she kept close ties with Keith and tried to keep up to date with his latest doings. So yes, she did know what this hearing was about and her initial bias on the matter. However, in this room, objectivity prevailed without exception. She held her head ambassador in high esteem, and had the utmost confidence that Keith did indeed know what he was doing. But, as much as she trusted in Keith, if the majority wanted war, then she wouldn't have a choice.

But it didn't change the fact that the Wolves still launched an attack on one of their peace officers, and that was probably the biggest argument the board could pose in favor of going to war. Do not fire unless fired upon was the Basitin mantra for these sorts of issues, and the Wolves had just pulled the trigger. Even if it was unsuccessful.

Sythe was here, though. Sythe could definitely fix things. He had direct relations to the Wolf King, his main men and his generals. He knew that they would never sponsor or condone a contract like this on a neutral faction, even if they were en route to hostile territory. If he could convince the board that this was true, then Keith had a shot at keeping his nation out of the conflict.

The Basitin's pondering session jolted to a halt as Alabaster slammed a gavel into the pedestal on his desk and started to formally commence the festivities. He spoke proudly, determinedly.

"General Keiser," Alabaster announced, standing to Adelaide's far left. "You stand before this council with news of your latest encounter with the Keidran Forest Wolf tribe. Is this correct?"

"Yes, sir. That is correct," Keith affirmed. He too knew that emotion would not do him any good here. Logic and reasoning reigned. As long as both of those were sound, he could win. He took another deep breath.

"Very well," Alabaster continued, business as usual. He extinguished his pipe with a small vial of water and set it aside on his desk. "You shall now present your testimony to this panel, as well as your two companions off to the wings. After a closing statement, we shall deliberate and give you a final decision and call to action. Do you understand this format?"

"Yes, sir. I do."

"You understand that..." Alabaster had to stop himself mid-sentence as a long yawn of boredom stretched across the auditorium from the wings. Natani didn't even notice what she was doing until Keith turned to his right and narrowly glared at her. Her hand jumped up to her mouth in embarrassment, trying not to make her loss of manners any worse.

"Sorry," she waved at the King and the rest of the panel. "Carry on, my liege. Won't happen again."

"Quite alright, Mr. Natani," Adelaide called back. "These things do have a tendency to droll on." Keith smiled a bit. It was nice to hear that, as seriously as King Adelaide took these sorts of issues, she still tried to remain somewhat familiar with those involved. Her personality foiled Alabaster's quite nicely, and it was probably good that she would be the one asking most of the questions this time around with that in mind.

Alabaster cleared his throat and continued where he left off. "You understand that, once this council has made a decision regarding the subject matter, the decision is final and all subsequent actions taken by you and your affiliates must adhere to that decision."

"Yes, sir, even if my wolf friend thinks otherwise."

"Hey!"

"Ma'am, we have recited the pledges and abide by them," Alabaster respectfully informed the king.

"Then, by the power vested in me, I'd like to call this hearing to order," King Adelaide powerfully declared, as the remaining four members of the committee nodded in unison. "General, let's hear your tale."

---

"Well, this is going to be a while," Natani grumbled as Keith began to relate his story in excruciating detail. The wolf knew well that anything could be relevant to the Basitins: where the attack happened, what weapons the bandits used, how they dressed, whether they squeezed their toothpaste from the end or the middle. But include all of those details into a story that really shouldn't need more than ten minutes to tell, and Natani was in for a very long and appallingly boring evening.

"Something tells me you haven't been to a hearing like this before," Sythe inferred. He opened up the leather bag attached to his belt and pulled out a thin, lightly salted cracker. "Basitin proceedings tend to be a lot like this at the start. It'll pick up," he assured as he handed the cracker to Mrs. Nibbly.

"You've been to this kind of thing before?" Natani inquired, observing Mrs. Nibbly munch on the cracker out of her peripherals.

"Not necessarily," Sythe answered. "I've just been reading up on them. In fact, this is the first time I've ever been to the Isles."

"What do you know about the Basitins Keith is talking to?" Natani motioned to the five committee members hovering over Keith. Her opinion that Sythe was still off his rocker hadn't changed, but maybe some small talk would help mitigate that feeling.

"I recognize King Adelaide and the intelligence general on the far right there," Sythe replied, as the squirrel finished her snack and rubbed her head under Sythe's muzzle. "But...I can't say I'm all that familiar with other three." He leaned forward and rested his head on the back of his hands studiously, as Mrs. Nibbly scampered up his neck and laid down on his head.

"This should be interesting," he noted, looking back up at the squirrelly companion.

"I hate interesting," Natani retorted with disgust.

"What do you like then, Natani?"

"Things going to plan."

"Things never go to plan."

"It's nice when they do."

"Optimism never hurt anyone."

Natani glared over at Sythe. "Are you always this negative thinking or is it just today?"

"My fiancée in an arranged marriage runs out on me, two assassins I hired end up coming after me, and now, here I am, talking about diplomacy, of all things, with one of them." Sythe looked back over at the second wolf. "I think that counts as not going to plan."

Natani reclined in her seat, casually looking out over the main floor of the chamber. "Hope Zen and I weren't too much trouble."

"Your brother's a fun guy when you get to know him," Sythe commented as he continued to study the hearing's developments. "Very easy to talk to." He paused to let Natani speak in turn, but no response ever came. He turned his head back to her.

"Natani?"

Natani discreetly pointed in the direction of a grey-colored Basitin sitting second from her left. "What is that guy up to, Sythe?" she quietly asked.

Sythe focused on the board member in question, resting his head in his hand. Mrs. Nibbly stood back up on all fours and leaned forward a bit as well. The opaque wooden banister in front of the desk obstructed the wolf's vision, but the Basitin was definitely working on something with his hands. Judging from the motions, it didn't seem to be note taking or organizing. So what else would he be doing during a parliament session?

The Basitin visually answered that question as he placed a small red crystal into a golden frame holder, and set it on top of the banister. Both wolves turned to each other, unsure of what to make the crystal except that it probably shouldn't be there. Natani was, however, familiar with the crystal's crimson hue and what sort of magic it tended to correspond to. She didn't like it.

"Sythe? What is that Basitin doing with...?" she started to ask.

"Next, we shall hear testimony from General Keiser's traveling companion, Natani of the Forest Wolves," Alabaster stated.

"Damn," Natani sighed as she stood up. "We'll figure this out later."

"No need," Sythe said as Natani moved into the aisle and proceeded down the stairs. "I'm already on it."

Mrs. Nibbly dropped her head down in front of Sythe's face, and stared at him expectantly. Sythe smiled back at the squirrel. "Why don't you go see what that Basitin's up to, Nibs?" he requested kindly. The squirrel nodded and squeaked back, then scampered down Sythe's back, into the sea of chairs, and towards the Basitin's desk.

Keith exchanged spots with Natani on the floor, and was about to head up to the wings to join Sythe. Natani resisted his passage, instead grappling his shoulder and leaning over to his ear.

"The Basitin to the King's right might be broadcasting this session," she softly notified. "Not sure why yet."

"Be careful, Nat," he whispered back. He gave Natani a motivational pat on the back then brushed past the wolf to where Sythe was seated. He climbed the stairs and collapsed into the chair closest to the aisle, knowing he would have to get back up as soon as Natani's segment was over. After a brief, inaudible sigh, he glanced over at Sythe, who shot a short-lived, toothy smile back at him in acknowledgement.

"Where did Nibs go?" Keith asked once he noticed Sythe's woodland friend was missing.

"Scouting," Sythe succinctly responded. "Natani told you about our spy friend, right over there?" He motioned with his head to the board member in question, trying to avoid pointing or doing anything auspicious.

"Nobody said he was a spy, Sythe," Keith defended. "Not yet at least. How would he even be recording this?"

Sythe fixed his eyes to the ground, like he wasn't engaged in the conversation. "You see that red crystal mounted on his desk? Looks like a paperweight?" Keith turned his head towards the witness stand and Natani, but let his eyes wander towards the suspicious committee member, blandly, expressionlessly listening to the wolf's story. Keith glanced downward a bit more, towards the visible part of his desk, and noticed the crystal hovering in the golden filigree resting on the edge.

"No, no, something's wrong," Keith murmured over to the wolf. "Basitins biologically reject magic. Why would he be carrying something like that around with him?"

"Maybe it's just a onetime thing," Sythe conjectured. "I mean, you travel with Natani a lot, and he casts spells like it's going out of style."

"Except those are just spells, Sythe," Keith explained. "The radiation those give off is nothing compared to large concentrations of mana. Especially in this close a proximity. So how in the world is he still physically functioning?"

Sythe examined the King's advisor again. "He doesn't look too edgy. Must not have had it for too long."

"Then he either just received it or he's been hiding it for exactly this reason," Keith concluded. "Still, though..."

Sythe's ears twitched briefly as the pattering of small claws on the room's polished hardwood floor approached him. Keith lifted his feet high enough for Mrs. Nibbly to dash down the row of seats and climb back up to Sythe's shoulders via his pants leg. Sythe perked his right ear up as Mrs. Nibbly stood up on her back legs, held the Keidran's ear between her front two paws, and began to quietly squeak into it at varying pitches and durations.

Keith's expression went nothing short of stupefied as Sythe listened intently to the squirrel's "words." "Is she actually saying something to you?"

"I taught her code about a month ago. Shut up for a minute," Sythe gruffly responded, trying not to miss anymore of the message than necessary.

Keith had no idea how in the world a squirrel could be intelligent enough to not only obey commands given to it, but then relay information to its master. It sounded completely implausible to the Basitin, and for a very valid reason. Then again, he had heard of stranger things before this. Eavesdropping birds, seeing eye cats, a myriad of common animals with a plethora of supernatural abilities. Maybe Sythe had her enchanted with an intelligence spell or something before they formally met. Keith didn't know the answer, nor was he quite sure if he wanted to hear it. So, as incredulous as the circumstances were, Keith didn't have quite as many reservations about the squirrel as someone like Natani would. It was very out of the ordinary, borderline insane, but not completely implausible. And if this just happened to be the way Sythe acquired his information and Keith acted on it, what was the worst case scenario? The possible spy is called out and asked to do something about his crystal? That was really about it.

Mrs. Nibbly finished squeaking after about a minute, then batted Sythe's ear twice to signify the end of her transmission. "Thank you kindly, Nibs," he told his companion as he fished out another cracker for her to munch on. She took it up to Sythe's head to do just that.

"I think our fears are well placed, Keith," he informed the Basitin as he reclined back in his seat.

"How do you mean?"

"Yes, that Basitin is using that crystal to record the hearing. And yes, he's probably going to send it off to someone once we're done here," Sythe reported, still trying to look indifferent as he told Keith his news.

"Hmm," Keith put a hand to his mouth in thought. This meeting was no longer private, and the crystal could be going anywhere once it ended. "Is he affiliated with anyone, does she know?"

Sythe looked up to his companion for that question. Mrs. Nibbly finished her current bite of cracker, shook her head no, and then went for another.

"But there were some unusual papers on the guy's desk, from what she saw," Sythe added.

Keith straightened his posture and leaned forward in his chair. "Define 'unusual,' Sythe," he demanded.

"Nibs took a look at the other desks for comparison, and whatever that guy had on his," Sythe nodded in the spy's direction again. "Doesn't match up."

"What was off about it?"

"Bunch of stuff. No letter of introduction, no meeting agenda. Almost everything had this...weird stamp on it. Skull, two swords crossed behind it," Sythe described. "Ring any bells?"

"No, but I have a friend who might be looking into it. I'll get the word out."

"Next, the expert opinion of one Sythe of the Forest Wolves, representative of the Wolf King," Alabaster summoned as Natani retreated back to Keith. Sythe stood up from his seat and adjusted his shirt as he talked to Mrs. Nibbly.

"Nibs, I think you might be better off staying here for now," he advised. "I probably won't be long."

Mrs. Nibbly turned her head to the side, like she was asking something back to the wolf.

"Just going to say a few quick things to them and I'll be right back," Sythe continued.

Keith called over to the squirrel. "You can stay with me until then if you like, Nibbly," he offered. A joyful squeak was the response, and after brushing her head under Sythe's muzzle again she hopped off back onto the hardwood floor, dashed over to Keith and jumped onto his arm in one fluid, catlike motion.

"Keep an eye on her, and I'll meet you down there in a few minutes," Sythe smiled at the rodent as he shuffled past Keith towards the stairs. He brushed his hand through his hair a few times, dislodging any cracker crumbs that Mrs. Nibbly may have left over.

"Thanks again, Sythe," Keith responded as Natani finished her ascension and sat down behind Keith in the row above him. She exhaled heavily, making a noise most reminiscent of a horse, as Keith turned in his seat to better see the wolf. Mrs. Nibbly finished climbing up the Basitin's arm and took a seat on his shoulder nearest Natani.

"Their translator could use a little work," Natani criticized as she looked back up at her friend. Her gaze instantly went sour once she identified the creature occupying his shoulder, however.

"Oh, Gods, not you too."

"Calm down, I'm just looking after her while Sythe's talking," Keith assuaged. Mrs. Nibbly friendlily squeaked at the wolf, prompting a disgusted, half-hearted "woof" in return.

"Besides, she actually did some work for us while you were with the council."

Natani untrustingly leered at the squirrel again. "That furball did something for us?"

"That member you mentioned earlier is hiding something, from what Nibs told us."

"The..." Natani paused to breathe in and make sure she heard correctly. "The squirrel told you this?"

"Sythe sent her running a while ago and she just came back."

Natani was speechless, not out of disbelief but simply just a lack of words to say. Her mouth opened twice, but both times no sound was made.

Keith waited a bit longer to see if her muteness would solve itself, and then spoke up again. "Hey, this isn't too much weirder than your link with your brother. If I can accept it, you probably can too."

The wolf was silent for just a moment longer, then shut her eyes, cleared her mind and mentally reset. "Alright, I'll humor you," she convinced herself. "So what exactly did..." Mrs. Nibbly turned her head to the side with big eyes, endearingly staring at Natani.

She put a hand in front of her face to block out the squirrel's presence. "What did..." Natani rolled her eyes. "...Mrs. Nibbly tell you?" A squeal of delight came from behind her hand as the wolf finally called the rodent by name.

Keith gave Mrs. Nibbly a quick scratch down the back as he answered. "The crystal is a recording device, and whoever he works for probably wants it back."

"I thought Basitins couldn't be around magic without...you know, losing it."

"They can't, so maybe the enchantment is not quite as potent as it sounds," Keith hypothesized.

"Doubt it," Natani said, still suspiciously surveying the squirrel. "Hearing spells are complex enough. Getting visuals to go with it is even worse."

Keith hummed and rested his head in his hands again, pensively looking over the council. "Curious," he murmured under his breath as Mrs. Nibbly stood back up on his shoulder.

"Most curious," Natani agreed. "For a Basitin, his resistance to mana poisoning is ridiculous."

Keith's ears jumped back up as he got an idea. Mrs. Nibbly looked up at him, almost excitedly. "Who said he was, Nat?"

"What are you on about?" Natani skeptically asked back, leaning towards the general.

"Can you do me a favor and see if there's any magic in this room right now?" Keith requested. "I just want to see what comes up."

"No you don't," Natani remarked as she searched her pants for a mana crystal. "You're looking for something."

"Just cast the detection for me, okay? If I'm right about this, you'll know it."

Natani shrugged as she pulled out the crystal and pressed it against her palms. "If you say so," she indifferently obliged as she shut her eyes and began to focus on the spell. Between the gaps in her fingers, trace amounts of white light leaked through as she began to channel the mana out of the crystal. She briefly opened her right eye to see if the ritual was drawing attention, then thankfully shut it again when she noticed it wasn't.

A vibrating sensation caused her hands to tremble slightly, the sign that the mana was ready. "Depredno magia," she whispered into her hands as she slowly turned her palms outwards, dispersing the spell throughout the room. A cluster of miniscule, light blue particles scattered every which way in the air, and the wolf, eyes still closed, patiently waited for them to show her what she wanted. A few seconds passed, and then Natani's field of view, initially pitch black, lit up with a variety of shapes in various colors, each one corresponding to a different sort of magic.

"What do you see, Nat?" Keith asked, expectantly.

"Give me a second, this spell does not work that quick," Natani barked as she analyzed what the spell found. First, a red rhombus appeared where the spy was sitting. "The crystal is definitely enchanted, no question about that."

"Figured."

Next, a white mass glowed next to where the outside of Natani's leg would be. "I also detected the mana crystals in my pocket. Surprise, surprise," the wolf mumbled, but her face contorted in realization as she noticed a third source, on the far end of the room. The color was a deep, mysterious purple, and the shape... "Holy crap," she said, breathlessly.

"What is it, Nat?"

"There's also an illusion in the chamber somewhere," she informed Keith. Her eyes snapped open and shimmered blue momentarily before fading back to their original hues. She leaned forward in her seat and subtly motioned towards the Basitin next to Adelaide. "And I think it's coming from him," she whispered into the ambassador's oversized ear.

---

Chapter 13

"What do we do, Keith?"

"Nothing, for now," the Basitin straight-facedly replied. "We act like we didn't see a thing."

"He's an imposter. We know he is!" Natani quietly yelled back. "How are you so complacent with this?"

"I'm not complacent with it, Nat. But I can't rip his mask off here. Not now."

"Give me one reason we shouldn't!" she snapped, pulling another mana crystal out of her pocket. "I can dispel illusions right here, right now, with two quick words!"

Keith nabbed her hand, almost like a reflex, and tugged her back down to her chair. "Listen to me," the Basitin commanded. "This hearing isn't really going the way I want it to. Unless Sythe and I pull a rabbit out of our hats, we're probably going to war."

"Didn't look that way when I was with them," Natani argued.

"Even then, the moment I blow his cover, the council's going to panic. If I want any chance of keeping the Basitins out of this, the last thing they need to know is that there's a spy on the loose."

"Then at least let me disrupt that recorder," Natani pressed, eager to do something, anything to interrupt the false Basitin's plans. "I can keep it silent."

"I think that'd only tip him off that we're onto him," Keith warned. "We're lucky enough nobody caught you casting that detection spell."

"Brilliant," Natani grunted, replacing the crystal into her side pocket. "So now we get to dance around that thing trying not to say anything sensitive."

"If it keeps the council calm and whoever he works for in the dark, then it's our only play right now."

Natani went silent again, this time with frustration. The logic didn't add up in her mind. Every piece of evidence they collected pointed towards the deceiving Basitin being a double agent, and yet Keith had no reservations with him continuing what he was doing. Natani understood the need for not alerting him, to be sure. She wouldn't be as successful an assassin as she was if she didn't. But what could one quick disruption spell do? Just one small ping of interference off of the crystal. One small statement: "I know what you're up to." So what if she was the only mage in the hall right now? For all that "Basitin" knew about her, she was a freelancer, only accompanying Keith because he paid for her to. She could very well be investigating by herself, and Keith was none the wiser. Just one small interruption, something to harass communications.

She jammed her hands into her pockets as soon as he heard her own thoughts. She wasn't by herself. She didn't have the final decision in this. And she sure as hell didn't want to make Keith's job any harder than it had to be. Keith asked her to stay her hand, and Natani would do exactly that. This is a mission, she told herself. Just stick with the plan. Yes, stay to the plan. The one thing Natani could never do well was improvise. That was what she had Zen around for. The fewer times she had to go off-script, the less she, and by extension Keith, would have to do that.

"General Keiser!" Alabaster boomed. "You may now approach the bench for your final statement."

"Thank you, General," Keith acknowledged as he rose from his seat in the wings. Mrs. Nibbly seemed to have taken the hint that Keith would be moving soon, and jumped over to the back of the chair next to Natani. Another glare of distrust from the wolf, another friendly gesture from the squirrel.

"Might I also request Sythe joins me for my closing thoughts?" Keith requested as he walked down the steps towards the stand.

"The closing statement for this hearing was to be made by you and you alone," Alabaster strictly reminded. "You agreed to this at the beginning."

"I assure you, what we both have to say is relevant to the case."

Alabaster pondered the idea for a second. "Exactly how relevant do you mean?" the intelligence general asked for elaboration.

"Relevant enough to potentially alter your decision," Keith formally stated. "Please. You'll see where I'm going with this in a moment."

Alabaster turned to the King. "Your Highness? I don't have a problem with it if you don't."

"I can't say that I do," Adelaide replied, briefly but supportively glancing at Keith.

"That's that, then," Alabaster commented. "General, you and your Keidran friend have the floor."

"Objection...!" the false Basitin interjected, jumping up from his seat and boldly pointing a finger in Keith's direction.

"Overruled," Adelaide spoke over him. "As admirable as your dedication is to these sorts of procedures, if this can influence the council's majority opinion, then I'd like to hear it."

The false Basitin continued to leer at Keith through narrow grey eyes as he sat back down, draping an arm over the back.

Adelaide looked at the audacious advisor sternly in turn, but then directed her attention back to Keith. "Sorry about that, General. You may begin whenever you're ready."

Keith took his place next to Sythe, who sidestepped towards him and leaned over a bit. "My guess is the vote's going to be three-two against us. We just need to swing one," Sythe informed him.

Keith nodded back in response and slowly started pacing in front of the council, hands behind his back. "Ladies and gentlemen of the council," he began with a formal address. "This is a tough spot for all of us. You have heard me, you heard my colleagues, and yet I get the feeling that this wasn't quite enough. Most of you feel like we need to get involved, I feel?"

The deep grey-colored council member on the far left, obviously the oldest of the five, answered first. "We sympathize with your plight, General. But this affront on you and our interests cannot, and should not, go unanswered."

"I understand, Councilor, and agree wholeheartedly," Keith returned. "But a full-scale war is not the right answer here, or at least not right now."

"The Forest Wolves already have their hands full with the Templars as well," Sythe added, leaning on the end of the witness stand with both hands. "We have no intentions of fighting a war on two fronts, even if we did know about those bandits."

"Whether your government knew about them or not is irrelevant, Mr. Sythe," the false Basitin coldly interrupted. "Your people still attacked our ambassador, out of no fault of his own. Why should we care to extend our diplomacy towards you?"

"You're burning a forest to uproot a weed," Sythe argued back. "My people don't have quarrel with yours, nor am I looking to start one."

"Then it seems some of your 'people' didn't quite get the message," was the response, accompanied by sound of papers being dropped onto a desk for alignment.

"For a race that has been relatively neutral in world events lately, you're coming off as very aggressive."

"We also believe in equality, Mr. Sythe," the Basitin snarled back. "Aggression towards one of us is aggression towards all of us."

"You can't be serious," Sythe barked. Keith glanced over and noticed the wolf baring his teeth as well. "Not to mention nobody in my tribe's government has heard of this happening until they sent me."

"Convenient," the Basitin indifferently returned. "And how do we know that isn't just a cover up, again?"

"I'm done talking to you," Sythe growled, trying not to bare his teeth in public. Keith could tell that the imposter had gotten to the wolf, and walked over to him as Sythe turned to face him.

"The hell is up with that guy?" he quietly but angrily demanded.

"I'll tell you later," Keith said, gently patting Sythe's shoulder. "Let me deal with him from now on."

"Cheers." Sythe rolled his eyes and about faced back to the council.

Keith strode back in front of the witness stand and surveyed the council once again. "Council, does he speak for all of you or just himself?"

"His motivations may be questionable," the elder Basitin answered again. "Yet the opinion remains valid."

"He's correct in the sense that we don't have much reason to trust the Forest Wolves now," added the member between Alabaster and King Adelaide, a sturdy, well-built exhibit of Basitin strength. "Ceasing relations with them is not completely unreasonable."

"Unreasonable isn't the question, sir," Keith quickly snapped back. "The question is whether it's logical."

The grey-furred Basitin removed his spectacles and pulled a silk cloth out from his pocket to clean them. "How do you mean, logical, General Keiser?"

"We have no motivation to engage our 'enemy' at the moment apart from the fact that they unsuccessfully tried to assault me," Keith clarified. "And as Sythe already told you, the only ones who really knew this happened are me, him, my traveling partner, you five and the wolves that were behind it."

"He raises a good point," Alabaster stated after a quick puff from his pipe. "Even for the other members of the board who support military action. You have to admit. That's not a strong basis for this kind of offensive."

"Exactly!" Keith affirmed. "We can't stage an attack because we need more evidence. If the Forest Wolves really want to fight us, then we need to know for certain that they want to."

"As if this isn't evident enough," the imposter muttered, blowing air at his hairline to adjust it.

"Do you have an idea?" King Adelaide asked her ambassador.

"Another question, first, though," Keith requested. "Your Highness, I know the time for the vote hasn't come yet, but may I at least see how the board members are thinking?"

Adelaide looked at the four members of her cabinet and then cleared her throat. "In the case of the Forest Wolves' attack against Ambassador-General Keith Keiser, all in favor of taking immediate military action?"

Slowly, but decisively, the older Basitin, the false Basitin, and the well-muscled Basitin all raised their hands in turn.

Adelaide nodded at the count and motioned for the hands to come down. "All opposed?" she asked as she raised her own hand. Alabaster put his pipe back down to do the same.

In the wings, Mrs. Nibbly squeaked and put her paw up as well, prompting another curious stare from Natani.

Keith sighed when he saw that the majority didn't change. "I see, then," he observed, but not with defeat as Sythe thought he would have. Instead, he intensely looked back up to the board, forcefully, determinedly. "In that case, might I propose a third option?"

Four of the Basitins in the council went shocked for a moment, save for Adelaide, who was surpressedly smiling. "What might this third option be, General?" she asked with interest.

"It's apparent that this council wants to fight, and if that's your decision, I won't get in the way," Keith spoke, hands behind his back, motionless. "But if Sythe is right and somebody else is trying to incite us, then I have a right to look into it."

"What did you have in mind, sir?" the muscular Basitin inquired.

"Allow me three weeks," Keith confidently proposed. "Three weeks to either salvage our relationship with the Forest Wolves or find out who's trying to get us involved in this war. If I can't do either, I'll shut up, step down and let the military take over. But if I can keep our country out of this, then I'm going to."

"How can you be sure you'll find anything?" the impostor doubtfully inquired. "We have no information whatsoever on who they are or what they want. You said it yourself."

"I have two reliable contacts who just happen to be Forest Wolves, right here in this room," Keith countered, opening his stance towards Natani and Sythe. "One's a government official and the other's a world class assassin. Call me cocky if you will, but I like my chances of finding a lead." Keith took care not to mention Zen in front of the spy. The last thing he wanted was for Zen to start investigating his organization with a prematurely blown cover. The consequences could have been catastrophic. He was lucky he didn't say his name by accident.

Keith turned back to the council and crossed his arms. "It's a gamble, but I think it's acceptable considering how closely down the middle this decision is. So, what do you think?"

All five Basitin took a few moments to discuss the idea with their peers, and then refocused back on Keith.

"I won't object to this plan," the eldest approved. "Though I think every action must have a reaction, maybe there is still a way to peacefully resolve this issue."

"I guess I'm alright with it too," the spy smirked smugly. "I can probably wait for a while."

"Same here," the muscular Basitin nodded. "I don't like fighting wars unless I have a good reason."

"Indeed," Alabaster blew a smoke cloud into the air. "I'm for any plan that leaves us alone, temporary as it is."

Which only left Adelaide, who was busy unscrewing an ink pen. "Very well then," she noted, pressing it against a lengthy strip of parchment. "If we don't have any major objections..."

---

"So when exactly is this supposed to end?" Evalyn begrudgingly asked over breakfast the next day. She didn't bother with the bandages like Mike had during his...episode, but she was self-conscious enough to remember to put a shirt on when she woke herself up. The worn grey short-sleeve from the Na'Rella was the only clean one at her disposal at the time, to her reluctance.

Mike flipped an omelet over the stove and turned his head over his shoulder. "More than a night, from the looks of things?" he shrugged, at the loss of a more knowledgeable answer.

"Maybe shoot for something a bit more accurate."

"Evals, this would be easier to fix if I knew what type of magic it was," the fox answered, dashing a few more spices into the eggs. "It could be an illusion, in which case it's just a quick dispel. It could be alteration, in which case I just will your Y chromosome back to existence."

"So what's the problem?" Evalyn demanded, at a louder volume. "Let's figure it out and do it!"

Mike motioned for the dog to calm down. "Easy, boy. Or, girl, maybe. Whichever one applies."

Evalyn growled a bit but was still listening as Mike continued cooking. "I went through the rest of Natani's supplies last night. You still need to patch that door up, by the way."

"I'm a tad indisposed right now, Mike," Evalyn snapped.

"Not really," Mike countered, flipping the omelet again. "Seriously, apart from the obvious, you only lost, what, two inches of height? And it's just a door."

"What was in Natani's room, Mike?" Evalyn barked.

"My point was, if we want to solve this with as little drama as possible, I need to minimize our chances of spell rebounding, and to do that I need to know what type of dispel to use, and to do that I need to know what type of magic this is."

"And to do that...?" the dog tried to speed the conversation along.

"I need to study exactly what happened to you, and sadly Natani doesn't have any books on Keidran anatomy," Mike finished, huffing for breath by the end.

"I feel like there's a spell for this sort of thing," Evalyn offered up as Mike ground some pepper into the dish.

"Except that's an abjuration spell, and she doesn't have much on that either," Mike informed the dog gloomily.

"...so I'm stuck like this is what you're saying."

"For now, yes," Mike confirmed as he slid the omelet out of the frying pan and onto a large ceramic plate. "And..."

Evalyn leaned back in her chair as Mike walked over with their breakfast. The galley was quiet for a few seconds, and then Mike spoke again, in a rare moment of relatively aggressive dialogue.

"You kind of deserved this one."

"What?" Evalyn yelled in disbelief.

"After everything you did to Michelle, and by proxy, me, I think this is a nice change of perspective," the fox stated, halving the omelet with a knife and then shoveling one of the sections onto Evalyn's plate.

"I was just trying to have a little fun, Mike! It was in good humor!" Evalyn defended. "Well, mostly anyways."

"It's the 'mostly' part that scares me."

"I told you I was sorry, right? I mean, what happened to that?"

"I didn't say I didn't forgive you," Mike pointed out, taking the inaugural bite of his work. "But while I'm trying to find a solution, maybe you can take a little time to...enjoy Michelle's experience."

Evalyn slowly nodded her head in the negative as she dissected her breakfast. "I'm not going to like it," she grumbled antagonistically.

"It's just for a couple days, at the worst. No longer than when Michelle was around," the fox assured. "You can do this, Evals."

Evalyn whined back, unmoved and with her head sadly, dejectedly resting on her fist. Mike set his fork down on his plate and reached over the table to gently, sympathetically pat Evalyn on the head. He managed to get a soft "woof" of appreciation for his efforts after a few moments, and he also heard the soft, rapid tapping of her foot bouncing up and down on the wooden floor. "You know I hate being scratched there," she cynically mumbled, minimizing emotion.

"Well, if it perks you back up, it's worth it," Mike warmly answered. "Besides, we got plenty of time for now. I mean, Keith and Natani aren't going to be back for..."

Evalyn looked back up at Mike. He was fixated on the ceiling, ears fully alert, as if he was scanning for something. "Mike?" she addressed.

"Shhh!" Mike sharply responded, still waiting expectantly for something. Evalyn kept quiet for another moment, and was about to ask again what was holding the fox's interest until the sound of footsteps running across the deck above answered the question preemptively.

The fox's ears twitched and he took his hand down from Evalyn's head. "Something's up there," Mike observed as he excused himself and made towards the stairs.

"Want me to come with?" Evalyn offered.

"No, it's fine," Mike declined. "Probably just a cat or something."

"That must be one heavy cat then, if it's making that much noise," Evalyn pointed out.

Mike stopped at the stairwell at that remark, and, improvising, shuffled over to the door to its right, the maintenance cabinet. He opened it up, searched for a moment, and grabbed the only suitable weapon he could think of at the time.

"...a broom?" Evalyn criticized, perplexed by the sheer absurdity of her friend's choice of armament.

Mike choked up on the handle, holding it next to his body like a greatsword, bristles skyward. "Do you have a better idea?" he barked back, minimizing his volume.

"And why are you whispering?" Evalyn started to giggle. "Mike, you're checking a disturbance, not breaking into the Templar archives."

"Just stay there and don't let anyone in."

"Aye, aye, captain," Evalyn sarcastically saluted the fox as he slowly began to move up the stairs.

Mike reached the hatch leading to the main deck, and slowly, carefully flipped the grating over with one hand, gently setting it down to minimize the sound he made. He stealthily crawled up onto the main deck, one hand down to support his weight, and inched towards a position behind the mast. He sat down to calm himself and modulate his breathing.

He shut his eyes for a moment and tried to relax. Mike hated tension. For someone who enjoyed leading a low-stress life with few complications, so far this trip had provided everything but. Between Michelle, Evalyn and now this, the fox was in desperate need of some peace and calm. Mike quietly put the broom down and nervously gripped his tail. This was his best plan at the time, just hiding. If he couldn't see them, they couldn't see him.

Then, out of fright, Mike found himself trying to find reassurance in prayer. He wasn't quite sure what came over him. He wasn't sure what exactly about the scenario prompted it. The fox wasn't even that religious either. And yet there he was, quietly, quickly reciting a Fox tribal chant he was taught as a kit.

"You are a strong fox. Nobody will ever break you.

"You are a fast fox. Nobody will ever catch you.

"You are an intelligent fox. Nobody will ever outwit you."

"You are a weird fox," came another voice next to him.

"Yes, I am a very weird fox..." Mike started to repeat, and then abruptly stopped once he noticed that didn't sound right. In fact, what exactly did that line come from? Mike reopened his eyes and instinctually glanced towards his left. He was greeted, rather suddenly, by a young Basitin leaning on his leg, looking directly at him with bright yellow eyes.

"Hi there, Mr. Orangetail!" Madelyn Adelaide happily greeted the fox.

Rather than giving a more civilized introduction, Mike instead decided on a sharp, loud "Yipe!" as he relinquished his tail, hastily grabbed the broom and wildly swung at the intruder. Madelyn went prone onto the fox's lap as the broom swooshed over her head and clacked harmlessly off the wooden pole.

"Get off of my ship, you!" Mike yelled in panic, without bothering to fully identify the visitor. He pulled the broom back and wound up to take another swing.

"Mr. Orangetail! It's Madelyn!" the Basitin hurriedly exclaimed, preemptively ducking for the next attack. "Please stop trying to broom me!"

The Keidran's arm halted above his head, and then the broom clattered to the ground once he saw who the perpetrator was. He breathed heavily and leaned against the mast, trying to calm himself down. "Hi, Maddie," he gasped. "Don't scare me like that."

"Why were you trying to hit me with a broom?"

Mike turned his head back to the cleaning supply, then back to Madelyn, then innocuously kicked it away with the back of his foot, sending it tumbling across the deck. "This really isn't a good time for you to visit," Mike answered. As fun as Madelyn was to have around, she tended to cause a lot of chaos wherever she went. Between setting the Na'Rella's cargo hold on fire, nearly totaling the galley and somehow managing to break out of the ship's brig twice, Mike found her to be much more trouble than she was worth, yet another source of unnecessary stress. Thusly, the less time the Keidran had to spend dealing with her, the more time he could spend researching the spell and the less time he would have to worry about what part of the Quantum Madelyn would decide to spontaneously combust today.

"Aw, why not?" Madelyn asked turning her head to the side slightly. "You're not the only one here, aren't you?"

"Well, Evals is here too, but that isn't the point," Mike retorted. "I'm a bit busy, so I need you to..."

"What are you doing? Can I help out?"

"Maddie, I love your enthusiasm, but I can handle this myself. I'm just helping Evals. He's...uh..he's..." The fox's voice died off as he realized he didn't think this excuse all the way through yet.

"Is he sick?"

"Yes, that's it," Mike jumped on the Basitin's inadvertent offer. "She...I mean he is very, very sick and I was actually about to run out to find some medicine for him."

Madelyn's ears drooped. "Poor woof-woof," she glumly replied. That was another thing Mike never understood. It was evident that Madelyn clearly remembered who he and Evals were, and yet she still resorted to nicknames that a kid would think up. Orangetail? Woof-woof? It was cute in a childish sense, but Madelyn must have been thirteen years old by this point, maybe fourteen. Mike would have thought that his given name would be more appropriate for the occasion. But, whatever. If he was remembered as Mr. Orangetail by the young captain, then Mr. Orangetail he shall be.

"So, yeah, that's why you can't really be here right now," Mike pressed as he stood up to shoo the Basitin away. "Off you go."

"Wait, I know what I can do!" Madelyn jumped up, raising her hand like she just got asked a question in school. "There's an herbalist a few blocks past the docks. Tell me what you need!"

"Thank you, Maddie, but I can handle this myself," the fox quickly said back, forcibly turning Madelyn around and lightly pushing her towards the port side exit. "Now get out of here."

"Aw, come on, Mr. Orangetail. Please?" Madelyn begged.

"It's just medicine, and I know what I'm looking for."

"What if you can't get it?"

Mike's face went befuddled. "What if I can't get it? What kind of a question is that?"

"Did you ever get past customs? Are you allowed on the island?"

"No, but I can probably get by them perfectly..."

"The shelves at the herbalist's are kinda high for you too, but I can climb them!"

"What do you mean the..."

"You're just a little vertically challenged is all."

Mike nearly blew a fuse when he heard that. "V-vertically challenged!?" he half-yelled, half-demanded for a repeat. He knew he struggled to reach the five-foot-six mark, and he was well aware that his stature was abnormally short for a male Coastal Fox. The last thing he needed was to be reminded of that by this pipsqueak who probably wasn't even out of the four-foot range yet.

"There, you see? I can help out!" Madelyn insisted, with no respect paid to the astronomical leap in logic. "So, what am I getting?"

The Keidran would have protested more, until he realized his chances of winning this debate against a hyperactive young girl dedicated to being useful in some capacity were practically nonexistent. Mike sighed in defeat, and mentally scanned through the ship's supplies, thinking on what could be useful to have.

After purging his mind of her earlier comments about his lack of height, he bent down to the Basitin's height to look at her directly. "Look, if you're this bent on helping out," Mike stated, detaching a small coin purse from a rope holster on his pants. "Then why don't you go see what your herbalist friend has as far as cold medicine and painkillers go? Put whatever you can find in a bag and drop it next to the railing there," he directed, pointing at the banister, where the stairs to the bridge met the main deck.

Madelyn's eyes lit back up as she gleefully saluted Mike. "I'm on it, Mr. Orangetail! Back in a flash!"

"And call me Mike, for Gods' sakes," he remanded as he counted out five gold pieces and dropped them into Madelyn's free hand. "Buy whatever you can with this, alright?"

"Yes, sir!" Madelyn exclaimed as she stuffed the coins into her pocket and started to run off of the ship. Mike faintly smiled as she finally began her exit, but it quickly vanished as she skidded to a halt to turn back to the fox. "Oh, yeah, that's right!" she reminded herself as she jostled her hand around in the inside of her golden cape. Her eyes widened slightly once she finished, and moved to the other side of it. "Now where is it...?"

"What exactly is it, Maddie?" Mike asked, foot impatiently tapping on the Quantum's deck.

"I had something for you, I thought," Madelyn said as she started to rifle around in the side pockets of her pants. "It was from Keith, and...aha!" she brightly declared as she yanked a rolled up sheet of parchment out of her back pocket and handed it over to the sailor. "Here you are!"

Mike took the parchment, a neatly rolled-up document secured with a blue ribbon and silver wax stamp of the Basidian Isles' coat of arms. "And this is...?" he asked, hoping for a little more information.

"Open it up and find out, silly!" the Basitin called back as she ran back onto the shipyard's docks. "I'll be back before you know it!"

Mike's eyes followed her as she turned a corner and then disappeared behind the nearby trading vessel. He exhaled with relief as he lost line of sight, and slipped the ribbon off of the transmittal. "Crazy kid," he murmured to himself. Madelyn may have been a lot to handle at once, but it was hard not to be upset after talking to her. Mike was pretty sure that he didn't see Madelyn not smiling at any time during her trip on the Na'Rella. He enjoyed that persistent optimism she always seemed to display, even if she got easily overexcited and occasionally a bit creepy.

"Alright, Keith, what's going on?" he thought out loud as he unrolled the parchment sheet and speedily read through it. The fox didn't catch all of the details, but the ones he did read made him shudder a bit, and he wasn't quite sure if it was in anticipation or surprise.

"We're headed into wolf country," he softly said.

---

Chapter 14

"And he said he'd do all of this in three weeks?" Zen incredulously inquired as he proceeded down the grey brickwork road. Today wasn't a marvelous day to be out in the capital of the Forest Wolves. It had been depressingly overcast since Zen woke up, and just started to rain five minutes before Natani called him. Almost nobody else was walking in the street at the time, and those who were had the prudence to bring along an umbrella with them. Not Zen, though. Being an assassin meant living without luxuries when on a job, and that included rain protection. His hooded, insulated shirt helped a bit, but the rain penetrated it regardless, moistening the brown fur beneath. He shivered a bit at the water's frigidity, but continued to move through the downpour at a decent enough pace regardless.

"I didn't think that was too unreasonable," Natani defended, her mental projection accompanying her brother on his promenade through the torrent. She had just finished recounting the events of last night to Zen and was now physically strolling down a Basitin marketplace by herself. "Why? Did something happen?"

"No, and with Clovis and Blitz I can make it work," Zen reassured, shaking the accumulating water off of his hood. "But, jeesh, Nat. Your boyfriend's a real slave driver, you know that?"

"He's NOT my boyfriend!" Natani yelled viciously, then clapped a hand over her mouth as her face went red. Presumably everybody in the market heard that outburst and she was trying not to draw any more attention.

Zen snickered a bit as his sibling recuperated, waiting for everything to settle down. "Do you see what you made me do?" Natani growled back.

"Nope, and that makes it even better," Zen chortled.

"Back to the hearing," Natani corrected the conversation's course. "There was a spy listening in on it. He was posing as one of the King's advisors."

Zen's smile immediately dropped from his face. "Oh, that's not good," he needlessly noted. "What happened to the real one?"

"Who knows, probably dead," Natani answered, disconcertingly unconcerned about the missing advisor's well being. "He had a recorder crystal on him too. I'm guessing it was going to whoever gave him those papers he was playing with."

"He's supposed to look like a Basitin official, Nat," Zen pointed out. "He'd look more out of place if he didn't have papers with him."

"Except they weren't the ones everyone else had," Natani added. "They had this weird symbol on them, too. Skull, two swords...why did you stop walking?"

Zen looked nothing short of stunned as Natani simply gawked at him waiting for a response. "Good Gods, Clovis was right on the money," he mumbled, rubbing his lower jaw contemplatively.

"Zen, what does this have to do with Clovis?" Natani asked as her brother caught up with her.

"We were playing with the idea that the people chasing Clovis and the people chasing Keith might be the same guys, and this practically confirms it."

Natani's projection raised an eyebrow in piqued confusion. "I fail to see how. I mean, what would a group want with someone like Clovis while also chasing down a diplomat?"

"War profiteering," Zen quickly replied, taking a sharp right turn down a flooding alleyway, the rainwater coming up over his feet. "They're called The Fang, and they make their bread selling to the military. Soldier contracts, weapons, gear, mage supplies, you get the idea."

"Ah," Natani smiled as she followed Zen. "That would explain the bandits, wouldn't it?"

"Yep," Zen confirmed. "Got hired by The Fang to bump off Keith, we figured. Basitins get sucked in, Wolves get into an even bigger war. Demand goes up, prices go up, and Fang's profits go up."

"Tricky," Natani lauded. "So, why go after Clovis, then?"

"Well, you know when I said that I needed someone who had eyes and ears all over the city?" Zen recalled.

Natani looked at Zen in a disbelieving fashion. "Are they really afraid Clovis is going to tattle on them?"

"Or at least that he'll step on their tails," Zen responded. "So they've been picking off his agents trying to keep them quiet." Zen turned his head to Natani, proudly in a brotherly way.

"This is going to help out a ton in a second, Nat," Zen smiled at the younger Magi Brother. "How'd you figure all of this out?"

"Figure what out?"

"The Fang, that fake Basitin, how'd you do it?"

Natani sheepishly looked at the ground. "It's going to sound really, really strange," she warned.

"Well, I've seen you and Keith make out before, so I think I can handle..."

"We KISSED, Zen! There's a GIGANTIC difference!" Natani boomed again, this time not even bothering with the confused and traumatized bystanders. "I swear, if you weren't on the other half of the map right now..."

"I'd still be making fun of you."

"Shuddup, Zen!"

Zen inexplicably sighed with delight as he heard Natani tell him to shut up. "It's been way too long since you told me that," he beamed. "So, come on, Nat! What was the secret?"

"...a squirrel told me," she answered, as if it was a common occurrence.

Zen had to perk an ear to make sure he caught his brother's words correctly. "Sorry, Nat. A squirrel?"

"I only wish I was making this up," Natani lamented as she rubbed her forehead.

The brothers were quiet for a moment, still trying to comprehend how Natani got her information. Until Zen wondered under what circumstances that would even work. "How in the world does...?"

"Zen, if I knew how that made any sense, I'd tell you," Natani cut him off, shamefully.

"I mean...it's a squirrel, Nat," Zen tried to talk it through.

"I told you it sounded crazy."

"No, sounding crazy means that it could happen."

"I'm being dead serious, Zen!"

"Like, how would it even talk to you? Did it squeak code at you or something like that?"

"That's actually exactly what it did!"

Zen covered his eyes with his hand. "Natani, what have the Basitins done to you?" he sorrowfully asked.

"Look, if it helps..."

"It's not going to," Zen chortled. "You are not recovering from the talking squirrel. Nothing in the world is going to top that."

Natani sighed exasperatedly. "I did detect some illusionary magic where the spy was sitting, so I'm not completely insane."

"I dunno, Nat," Zen teased behind his hood. "A few more talking squirrels and you'll have your own room at the asylum!"

"I am not going...you know what? No," Natani shook her head. "I'm not going to react. You can't make fun of me if I don't react to it."

"If you'd like, I can give Keith the visiting hours," Zen singsongingly smirked.

"Sod off, Zen!" Natani barked a third time as Zen heartily laughed between his teeth, making a distinct whistling sound. This was one of Zen's favorite pastimes: just talking with his brother and making sure he knew that he was still biologically a sister. Sure, Natani's mind and spirit were practically identical to Zen's; it was simply a byproduct of their operation. But there was a distinct physical difference between the two assassins, and Zen loved to point them out as frequently as he could, to the acute displeasure of his sibling.

Zen pulled his hood further over his head as he exited the alley into another cobblestone street. The rain was now coming down hard enough to start to neutralize the city's colors into a bland grey tone, but he did see an amorphous white and blue blob of color on the far end of the street. A couple seconds passed, and it seemed to nod in Zen's direction. Zen returned the gesture and then turned his head back to Natani.

"That's my contact," Zen said as he began crossing the street. "We're going on a little intel hunt."

"I should probably get going then."

"I'll get back to you once we're done," Zen grinned in Natani's direction. "You take care, Little Brother."

"Try not to get captured this time, alright?"

"I can definitely try."

"You better call me back if you don't," Natani responded as her image evaporated from Zen's mind. Zen exhaled out loud, not too audibly, to clear his mind and regain focus. He finished his cross as the mess of color gradually faded into a more recognizable shape: a Polar Fox leaning against a wooden storefront repeatedly flicking a knife open and shut again.

Blitz casually looked up at his lupine companion and raised his visible eyebrow. "How have you not gotten pneumonia yet, mate?"

"It's not that bad," Zen observed, looking back up at the unpleasantly cloudy sky. "If anything, it looks like it's clearing up a bit."

"You're dripping," Blitz pointed at the small puddle forming underneath the wolf with his blade.

Zen looked down as well and shrugged at it. "Okay, maybe I am a little wet," he admitted.

Blitz slapped his knife shut and flipped the blue hood of his shirt over his head. "You get in touch with Clovis yet?" he asked as both fox and wolf exited back out into the rainy street.

"I was just about to, actually," Zen informed, pressing the first two fingers of his right hand against the side of his forehead. He shut his eyes momentarily, focusing, directing the mental link towards the half-fox's end. A nice, even ringing noise was his reward, as Clovis' projection faded in next to Zen. Clovis himself was currently standing and surveying something on his desk, so to the wolf he was simply hovering to his left, gliding along wherever he walked. Zen disregarded the ridiculousness of the projection and talked to Clovis like he was actually with him and Blitz.

"Have a nice chat with your sister, Zen?" Clovis flatly asked, still looking over whatever he was staring at. Despite his best efforts to come across as serious, Zen knew Clovis too well. He was going to enjoy orchestrating this job. Enthusiasm aside, Clovis loved playing games where he was in control. Even for jobs like this. Zen didn't like the fact that he was, for all intents and purposes, Clovis' pawn for this, but remembering that this was for Natani seemed to mitigate the feeling somewhat. He held a larger role than it at first appeared. So, maybe he was more like Clovis' bishop, then? Rook, possibly?

Zen shook his head to wake himself up from the quickly disintegrating metaphor and looked back to his employer, who looked like he was being pulled along on a pair of invisible skis. "She's doing okay," he answered. "The Basitin's hearing ended, by the way. We have three weeks before the whole continent erupts."

"You have three weeks," Clovis snidely pointed out. "I have all the time in the world."

"You're not helping, C."

Clovis' ears flipped up. "Ooh, C. Now that's a good one," Clovis said to himself. "See, even you can think up good nicknames when you put your mind to it."

"Are we starting this briefing soon or not?"

"Zen, is everything alright?" Blitz checked on the wolf. He could only hear one half of the conversation, but he felt confident that the two were probably arguing again.

"I'm fine, he's just being Clovis," Zen immediately responded, then turned back to the hybrid. "Seriously, though, we're ready."

"Very well then," Clovis stated, standing fully up from his previous position. "Then have Blitz take the crystal out his pocket and tap it a few times."

"Uh, Blitz?" Zen started to request.

"Way ahead of you," the fox replied as he pulled out a deep violet colored crystal and flicked it two or three times with his forefinger. The crystal hummed softly and began to radiate more brightly, as Blitz slipped it back into his pants pocket.

"Can you hear me boss?" he asked out loud. He didn't expect to see Clovis with the crystal he was given prior, but he should at least be able to hear him.

"I can indeed," Clovis confirmed, as Zen watched him collapse into a large cushioned chair, classily folding his arms in front of him and crossing his legs. Zen still despised that habit, and Clovis never seemed to notice what was wrong with it. Or if he did, he didn't care about it, the more likely option. Zen didn't mind the fact that Clovis was the person organizing and coordinating this job; somebody had to stay behind and do it, and Clovis just happened to be exceptionally good at the position. But he didn't have to rub in the fact that he was inside his manor, sitting comfortably in his favorite chair, probably next to a decently sized fire no doubt, while Blitz and Zen trekked through a frigid rainstorm with almost no means of keeping warm.

"Excellent," Blitz commented with a slight degree of disgust. He was likely thinking the same as Zen right now. "So what are we doing today?"

"So Zen and I had a theory last night that The Fang might be trying to get a war up and running soon," Clovis began his briefing. "And today, we're going to see exactly if we're correct."

"You gave us an address, but never told us what it was," Zen responded as he and Blitz turned down a side street to the right.

"Yes, and I did that for a reason," Clovis elaborated, reaching in front of him and gently grabbing a crystalline glass full of red wine.

"Better be a good one, then," Zen cynically commented as the half-fox took a small sip of his drink.

"You're..." was all Clovis managed to say before he broke out into a spontaneous, violent coughing fit. He quickly set the glass down and doubled over, smothering his mouth with his elbow for a few moments. Behind his hood, Zen was smugly grinning as the half-fox received his comeuppance, as was Blitz, even if his bandana kept his expression mostly neutral.

Clovis finally recovered and sat himself back up. "I think I learned my lesson," he noted, dignifiedly, hiding his embarrassment to the best of his abilities. "Where were we now?"

"Where are we going, Clovis?" Zen requested his destination again.

"Ah, yes. Of course," Clovis reminded himself. "That address happens to be The Fang's main 'business office,' if you would, and you two are going to see what they've been doing lately."

Zen's ears flipped up with interest. "Go in, steal some files, don't get caught, get out?" he quickly deduced the rest of Clovis' plan.

"Sounds simple enough," Blitz nodded.

"Now you just went and spoiled everything I was about to say, Zen. That wasn't very nice," the half-fox groaned, upset that he was quickly becoming obsolete for this mission. "I didn't even get to tell you how you're getting in," he melodramatically sighed.

Blitz curiously glanced over at the invisible projection. "I'm guessing the answer isn't 'through the front door,' is it, boss?"

"Well, actually it is," Clovis huffed. "I called in a few favors last night and managed to get us all posed as arms dealers. They'll be expecting you."

"What exactly did you tell them?" Zen asked, eyes narrowing in the hopes that the half-fox didn't say he'd regret.

"Nothing sensitive," Clovis answered. "Just that two of my best agents, Seth and Krieg, would come over to their place today to finalize our deal. And they won't recognize my voice either, if that ever becomes a concern." Clovis clapped his hands and held them out. "So worry not, my friends. I have everything under control."

"And let me guess..." Zen began.

"I'd like to keep it like that, precisely," the half-fox chided as he leered demeaningly over to the wolf. "And that means I'd rather keep this low profile. So if you two would be so kind as to...restrain yourselves from killing anyone, it'd be much appreciated."

"Permission to use non-lethal force, then?" Blitz politely requested.

"Knock yourself out," Clovis granted permission. "No pun intended, of course. Now, I'm sure you two know what we're after, yes?"

"We'll be looking for anything that can tie The Fang to the Basitins," Blitz stated. "You got any ideas?"

"Any mercenary group that knows what they're doing keeps their records somewhere," Clovis replied. "Though considering this hearing happened only yesterday..."

"The files might be somewhere else," Zen deduced.

"Let me know if you need more time digging," Clovis instructed. "I have a few methods of distraction if you need them."

Zen pushed a hand down his shirt and pulled out a thin string loosely hanging around his neck. Tied to it were seven blue mana crystals, each fully charged. "Natani showed me a few things about illusion magic if things go south too," he told Blitz, showing him the rudimentary mana necklace.

"I don't expect they will," Blitz confidently replied as he stopped in front of a large, two-story stonework building off to the left of the street. A wooden sign, covered in fading green paint, displayed The Fang's notorious skull and swords logo as it gently swung back and forth in the wet wind. The appearance of the building deceived its true purpose; this was obviously where The Fang did most of their work according to Clovis' scouts, but one would have never suspected that just by walking by. With the large number of windows, ornate doors and well placed torches on the path leading to them, the operations building looked simply like a commonplace inn. Even the name used under the sign was false, identifying itself as the "Dead Man's Tavern" instead.

A quick flash of lightning lit up the cloudy backdrop to the building, followed by a soft, distant, reverberating rumble of thunder. Zen idly looked to his companions on his left and right. Clovis had regained the confidence to sip on his wine again and not choke on it, and Blitz blankly, objectively examined the creaking sign hanging above the doorway, at the lack of anything better to look at.

"This would be it," Clovis crookedly smiled, resting his head on his hand. "There's a viewing orb on my desk, incidentally. I'll be keeping an eye on you."

Zen didn't find that too reassuring, but nodded slightly in thanks anyways. He turned his head back to Blitz as the image of Clovis began to shimmer out of sight. "Right, shall we head in, Bli... I mean, Mr. Krieg?" he corrected himself, trying to get accustomed to his partner's new alias.

Blitz waved an arm in front of him. "After you, my dear Seth," he courteously, warmly replied.

---

Three resounding, hard knocks pounded the door's outside as the scrawny, white-furred wolf Keidran known as Alexei finished tallying the bar's revenues for the hour. The count was low, but it was to be expected for a stormy weekday morning. Not to mention profits from the tavern itself were inconsequential compared to the real business conducted here. Alexei thoroughly enjoyed his work, basic as it was. Just holding a simple position, like working the illusion of normal business, felt empowering, like he had become something larger than himself, even if he was essentially a grunt for the time being.

Technically, that was not entirely true right now. The title of "grunt" implied that all he was really good for was just being there, as a low-ranking nobody who just got on board with The Fang for easy money. Alexei didn't like that. He wasn't that petty. He was determined to be useful, and this happened to be precisely what he needed to prove it.

Alexei set the gold coin stack out of sight of the public, if one highly intoxicated dog snoozing away in the far corner of the pub counted as "the public," and made haste towards the main door. He grabbed the decorative brass handle and slowly creaked it open, allowing the iron chain lock to gradually tense up and prevent the door from opening any further than a few inches.

Two Keidran, both wearing hooded shirts and towering over Alexei in the height category, were there to greet him. The one in black was definitely a Forest Wolf, as his bright brown fur and longer muzzle indicated. As for the second, Alexei could only assume that he was an Arctic Wolf. Maybe if the black bandana cloaking his lower face wasn't there, he'd be able to more accurately identify his tribe.

"What do you want?" Alexei gruffly addressed the two visitors. The routine was practiced, and Alexei knew it well. Let them earn your respect. Be cold to them at first and let them warm up to you.

"This The Fang's headquarters?" the brown-furred wolf demanded. His hood was positioned just right to prevent Alexei from looking directly at his eyes, so he wasn't sure whether the question was directed at him or his partner.

Alexei assumed it was the former. "So what if it is?" he barked back.

"My name is Seth, and this is my associate Krieg," the wolf introduced. "We got sent to organize an arms deal with you guys."

Alexei recognized the names straight away. He quickly slammed the door shut, disengaged the bolt lock, and then reopened the door proper. "Should have said that in the first place then," he scolded the two dealers as they exited the rainstorm. Both of them dropped their hoods as they entered, and Alexei could now tell the one named Krieg was actually a Polar Fox, signified by the black-tipped ears. His heart sunk a bit as his prospects of doing business with his own tribe dropped to zero, but it wasn't deal breaking at all. A little bit of common ground would have been appreciated however.

"You two thirsty at all?" Alexei offered as he mantled the bar, ready to take any orders.

"Don't drink," Krieg succinctly responded, in a low, grumbling baritone.

"I'm fine for now as well," Seth also declined. "We can celebrate once we get this deal ironed out, alright?"

Well, they're fun, Alexei said to himself. "I have a meeting space in the back we can use," he informed Seth as he slid over the bar again. "Right this way," he directed as he began to escort the wolf and fox towards the basic wood door on the far wall of the tavern.

Seth nodded obediently and started follow, but Krieg seemed more interested in the snoring dog. Alexei stopped himself and walked back to him. "What is it now?" he asked with annoyance.

"Who's the dog?" Krieg mumbled, slowly pointing at the drunken canine. He arms were crossed, head tilted limply onto his shoulder, a small amount of drool being absorbed by the grungy white shirt that probably hadn't been washed in weeks. The dog inhaled loudly and tilted the bottle in his hand just enough to stain his bright yellow coat a dirty brown.

"Hurley," Alexei responded. "He's not going to hurt anyone, trust me." He tugged on the fox's collar, trying to usher him along.

Krieg swatted Alexei's hand away, and gradually, menacingly turned to him. "Don't touch," he imperatively commanded as he looked down at the white wolf, demeaningly. "Ever again."

"Calm down, there, old man," Alexei snapped back. "Just trying to keep things..."

"What'd you say?" Krieg boomed, his solitary blue eye forcefully staring at the runty wolf.

Alexei defiantly glared back up at Krieg, even though he knew he'd likely lose any fight against him. Hand to hand, that was. What he lacked in physical strength he made up for in trickery. He casually reached for his back pocket, where he kept a basic flintlock pistol he never drew except for emergencies. This didn't quite qualify as one, but Alexei was the one who made that decision. He gripped the stock, resting his forefinger above the trigger, silently clicking the hammer back with his thumb. On the other side, Krieg slipped his hand into the pouch on his shirt, slowly opening his blade with his thumb, ready to draw it at any second.

The deal had transformed, in a matter of seconds, into the tensest standoff Alexei had ever been a part of. He had gotten into these sorts of scrapes before, but nothing quite like this one. It was all about the timing. The intensity. Who goes first, who reacts, who did a better job at it. Alexei was prepared...

Until the other wolf, Seth, literally stepped in, pushing the two adversaries apart. "Alright, we got off to a horrible start," he sorrowfully observed, shaking his head. "It doesn't have to be like this, gents."

"He started it," Alexei accused.

"And I'm ending it," Seth snapped. "For Gods' sakes, we're businessmen. We're all here for one thing, and this is not it."

All three Keidran fell silent again, their eyes jumping from one to the other. Alexei was the first to act, releasing his thumb from the pistol's hammer and shoving his hand back into his front pocket. Krieg likewise clicked his knife shut and crossed his arms in front of him.

"There, you see that?" Seth beamed. "This is much better, and I'd love for it to stay this way."

Alexei crisply turned away from Krieg and continued his walk back to the pub's back room. "He sits on the far end of the table," he spat as he pointed back to the fox.

"Prick," Krieg whispered over to his comrade.

"He say something?" Alexei called back.

"He wanted to know where we were meeting, Alexei," Seth answered on his friend's behalf.

The Arctic Wolf answered by kicking in the back wall's door, leading to the bar's storeroom. A relatively run-of-the-mill one at that too. There wasn't anything too special about it; just a few bottles lined up on otherwise vacated shelving units, and a few food items scattered on square cloth placemats. It also seemed to be a bit cramped for space as well. With the dimensions as they were, one could have easily thought that the back room was actually meant to be a bathroom at one point.

The claustrophobia was done away with somewhat as Alexei knelt down and lifted up a section of the floorboards beneath him. He flipped it over its hinges like a trap door, revealing a dimly lit stairwell leading to the basement. He motioned for the two arms dealers to follow as he descended into the darkness, watching his footing and trying not to trip over himself as he went down. Seth took the stairs a bit more slowly, to the displeasure of Krieg, as he stood at the top of the staircase waiting for his partner to finish his descent.

Alexei felt around in his front pocket for a small cardboard box and opened it up, blinded by the pitch darkness of the room. He felt around in the box for a match and, after fumbling with it for a moment, managed to grab one and strike it against the box's textured surface. The flame produced did little to cure the basement's lack of light, but the cloth torch it ignited, riveted to the wooden support beam next to him, seemed to be much more effective. Alexei turned around and did the same to a second torch, filling the dank, dismal room with an eerie red-orange glow.

Seth finally stepped down on the chilly stone floor and looked around. The torches also served to unveil a few more important components of the basement, previously hiding in the black. On the wall farthest from the staircase hung a world map, with red and black ink markings scrawled across it in every direction. It was stationed above a long, rectangular table with quills, letters, documents, books and scrolls all tossed about it haphazardly and carelessly, like someone left their kid down there for the day. To Seth's relief Alexei pulled a medium-sized stool out from underneath the closer, square shaped table that had much less activity on its surface. Seth looked over his shoulder and noticed a good amount of the basement's floor space was actually behind the stairs. The torches' flames weren't quite bright enough to produce more detail than that, but the basement was deceptively large, especially considering the room above was quite the opposite.

Krieg shut the trap door behind him as he slowly proceeded down the steps, brushed past Seth and took a seat across from Alexei. Seth finished his inspection of the floor and sat down between the two, leaving one side of the square table unoccupied. "The place always this empty?" he asked his lupine peer.

"Higher-ups are at a meeting somewhere else," Alexei replied, planting two crossed arms in front of him. "It's just me working the bar upstairs for now."

He's lying. The second floor is the house barracks. There's at least six of them.

"This isn't the first deal we've ever made, Alexei," Seth mentioned, stretching his arms behind his head. "Nobody ever leaves this big an establishment for just one person to look after. How long you been working here?"

Alexei sternly looked over to Krieg, who looked like he was going for the knife in his pocket again. His eyes jumped back to Seth, who was still the more personable of the two right now. "Second year," he responded.

"Didn't think it was too long," Seth continued. "Now, let's try again. Are we alone?"

There was a small pause in between the question and answer. "...the guard's quarters are upstairs on the second floor," Alexei mumbled.

"That's what I thought," Seth grinned toothily as he leaned his forearm on top of the table.

"Don't lie," Krieg rumbled in a deep, gravelly tone as he flipped the knife open and pointed it at the Arctic Wolf.

"Is there some reason this guy can't say more than three words at a time?" Alexei demanded, annoyed with the fox's habit already.

"You don't bother him and he won't bother you," Seth informed his client, completely ignoring his question. "Besides, don't we have something more important to be worrying about?"

If he asks, tell him you work for Regis.

"Right," Alexei nodded. "We got a mail from your boss late last night about this. I don't have it on me at the moment."

"It's okay," Seth put a hand up. "Regis told us everything we needed to know."

"Let's do it then," Alexei spoke as he stood up and went to the messier of the two tables, rifling through the papers strewn about on it. "Now, where are you?" he asked himself, pushing the various documents out of the way.

Oh, now that is a mistake.

"What's wrong?" Krieg rumbled as he stood up from his stool.

"Nothing, thank you," Alexei barked back. "We had a list for you two and for some reason I can't..." His mood brightened as a piece of letter paper caught his eye, his own handwriting.

"Ah, here we are," he said as he picked the paper up and checked it for accuracy. After ensuring the order was correct, he gave the document a quick horizontal fold through the center and turned back to the table. "Now, we..."

His mouth ceased to move. His body was no longer his own. His mind felt dominated. His will completely taken over.

All he remembered seeing as he turned back to address Seth and Krieg was a bright, entrancing, beautiful green light.

---

Chapter 15

"Zen, you can uncover your eyes whenever you're ready," Blitz said over his shoulder as he lightly pushed down on Alexei's, prompting him to kneel down. The Arctic Wolf never blinked, still mesmerized, charmed by the green glow emanating from the fox's left eye.

Zen put his slowly put his arms down and gradually stood himself up from the table. "I thought that, if I saw it..."

"You're not looking directly at it, mate. You're fine," he assured the wolf as he covered the magical eye back up again. "I'll deal with Alexei here, if you want to do some scouting."

"Gladly," Zen obediently responded as he tugged one of the hanging torches out of its socket.

Blitz began patting Alexei down and found the pistol hiding in his back pocket. With care, he slid it out of the wolf's trousers, trying not to fire it inadvertently. Once he noticed the hammer was disengaged, he felt a bit more comfortable inspecting the firearm in his left has he continued to search Alexei with his right.

"Hey, Zen!" he called over to the Forest Wolf. Blitz spun the pistol over until he held the barrel in his hand. Zen walked up behind him with interest. "Check it out," Blitz enthusiastically offered him the weapon.

"A handgun?" he curiously asked as he took the pistol from the fox.

"Yeah, good thing you stopped that fight when you did, eh?" Blitz responded, still searching the other wolf. "I didn't think those were even supposed to exist yet."

"They do if you know the right people," Zen stated as he pocketed the firearm for himself. "No wonder The Fang's so popular, they have all the fun toys."

"Yeah, let's see if their intel is any better," Blitz posited as he turned back to his victim. "Now, the first thing you're going to do when you wake up..."

Zen walked towards the darkness in the back of the basement, clutching the torch in his left hand, as he pressed against his temple with his right. "Clovis?"

"I have to admit, I do feel a little bad for the kid. I was effectively cheating for you," the half-fox's voice playfully said back.

"Since when do you care about whether you're cheating or not?" Zen asked as he began to explore the darkened area behind the stairs.

"...fair play," Clovis conceded.

Zen faintly smiled in triumph as he finally managed to outwit the closest thing he had to a rival at the time. "How do we look up top?"

"Nobody's moving, for now at any rate. I'd say we're in the clear, my friend."

Zen waved the torch about, unsuccessfully finding the basement wall wherever he swung. He continued pacing around the stairs, tediously trying to find something, anything worthy of his attention. Another couple minutes of unsuccessful searching passed before he tried contacting Clovis again.

"Hey, foxboy, you know you can see where everything is, right?" Zen stated with annoyance.

"True, but this is much more amusing," Clovis admitted. "It's like hide-and-seek but you know where everyone is."

"A little help would be lovely," Zen stated, encouragingly. Clovis was never really that good at taking a hint, or at least whenever Zen was working with him. He probably was, but just enjoyed messing with him.

"Keep moving around, Zen. There should be a door nearby."

Zen took a decently-sized step in front of him.

"Colder..." Clovis crooned.

Zen turned around and took two more steps in that direction.

"Warmer."

Zen shuffled to his right a bit.

"Ooh, colder again."

"Clovis, can you just tell me how to get the damn door already!?" Zen snapped in an outrage. He typically didn't get this angry with people, but Clovis' antics were now bordering on unbearable.

"Look to your left," Clovis advised, paying no mind to the wolf's recently vented rage.

Zen jerked his head to the left, then sighed and dropped both of his arms to his sides as he noticed what else but the door on the wall right next to him. "Screw you, Clovis," he whispered in a tone trying to blend exasperation and frustration.

"Oh, you don't mean that," the half-fox playfully responded. "You know you need me."

"You'd be wrong if you weren't so right," Zen responded with annoyance as he opened the uncovered door. A well-organized office chamber met him, and this space had decent lighting for a change of pace, with two large gas lanterns hugging each of the side walls. Zen waved the torch to extinguish it and entered the bureau, leaving the door open for Blitz. The office was not overdone at all, save for a few decorative art pieces hung here and there throughout. A basic deep green rug was neatly placed on the floor as well, with two chairs resting on it for when company arrived. The desk sat on the far end of the room, in front of a row of towering bookshelves. Zen's attention was drawn to them almost immediately. Each case must have had seven shelves on them if not more, each one filled to capacity with books, organizers, and clipped stacks of paper.

Zen casually walked up to the center one directly behind the desk and picked out one of the paper stacks at eye level. Judging from the width, the stack had about fifty sheets of parchment in it, bound together by a thin metal clip on the upper corner. Zen flipped through the papers rapidly, skimming through their contents. Across all of them, there were a mess of incongruities: some were profiles, some were reports, some were simple letters. But they did have one thing in common. They all seemed to be past jobs, judging from the wording they used.

"Popular and busy," Zen noted out loud, replacing the papers back on the shelf. "Sounds like you might have competition, foxboy."

"I don't like to think they are," Clovis argued back. "For one, they have rules."

Zen glanced over at the desk and started to rummage through it as well. It was too bad he was no longer a thief, since every drawer he opened seemed to contain something valuable. Silver inlaid inkpots, a gold-encrusted dagger, a very shiny letter opener that would have to be worth something... Zen had to resist the urge to lift anything. He was finished with that chapter of his life. He wouldn't call himself lawful by any stretch of the word; if he was he probably wouldn't be working with someone like Clovis right now. But he was done stealing. His work was stable enough to keep him and Natani alive and well. He didn't want the extra money. He didn't need it.

Seeing as how the drawers were a bust as far as his information was concerned, he turned his attention to the desk's surface instead. Much like the bookcases, the desktop was kept very tidy and clean. Ink pens neatly stored on the rack near the edge, writing parchment laid in a neat stack off to the side. The only thing that seemed out of place was another set of bound paper, placed nicely on the desk's center, like it was just set there. Zen picked it up.

The first page was a profile. An illustration of a black and white-furred Forest Wolf took up most of the upper left quadrant, while the upper right rattled off biological information. This was all tidied up with a long description of the wolf on the page's lower half. Zen scanned through it out of curiosity. The name had a distinct ring to it. Domino seemed to be what this particular character called himself. Six-foot-two, one-hundred-eighty pounds, grey eyes... Zen bored himself and flipped to the next page.

Zen grinned widely as he glanced at the next page of contents. "Perfect," he celebrated under his breath, then looked back up to the door, watching Blitz finish hypnotizing the Arctic Wolf from before. "Clovis, you see this?"

"Hold that thought," Clovis stated as an image of him glimmered into view, standing next to Zen. "I think I should see this up close."

Zen tapped the papers in front of him as Blitz looked over from the far end of the basement. "Know what it is?" he asked the half-fox as he motioned for Blitz to join him.

"That would a map of..." Clovis paused and leaned over the desk as he tried to analyze the parchment. The infamous smile finally appeared after a few moments. "My word, this is the Basitin parliament building if I didn't know any better."

"Well, yeah, it says that on the bottom," Zen pointed out.

Clovis' eyes panned down and noticed the phrase "Basitin Parliament, Ground Floor" penned at the bottom of the map. "Huh, so it does," he nonchalantly commented.

"How much you want to bet that Domino guy was the spy at that hearing?"

"You know I don't gamble," Clovis smirked.

Zen quickly looked over the other papers in the pile as well. "Cover letters, receipts, more profiling..." he identified the documents out loud. He stopped again, this time noticing the face associated with the profile he was currently looking at. The sketch in the corner was of a Basitin, and judging from the small scar over his eye and the crook in his ear...

"And that's Keith," he told the half-fox, tapping the diplomat's portrait. "Hot damn, I think this is The Fang's playbook right here."

"Best grab it then," Clovis ordered as he continued to walk around the office. "We'll have to spend some more time looking at that, won't we?"

Zen quickly scooped up the papers and walked over to Blitz, who was just entering the doorway. "What do you have there?" he asked, flicking his knife around again. He hurriedly closed it as his hands had to quickly make way for the pile of parchment the wolf was now forcing onto him.

"A gold mine," Zen happily replied, gently patting the documents. "Find a good spot for this." Blitz nodded as he flipped his satchel around and opened it with one hand as he slipped the papers into it with the other.

"That's it?" Blitz asked as he sorted the bag's contents.

"It's a packet on the parliament job. I'm pretty sure it's the only good thing in here right now."

"Actually, some of these paintings are quite exquisite," Clovis praised, fastidiously studying the bureau's artwork, resting his muzzle in one hand and gently stroking his lower jaw with his finger. "This landscape in particular is very nicely done."

"That's not what we're here for, Clovis," Zen remanded. "And we need to go."

"Calm now, my friend. Nobody knows we're down here. We may as well enjoy ourselves while we have the time."

Blitz's ears jumped up as they picked up some muffled speech coming through the office ceiling, from the floor above. Zen caught a bit of it as well and looked up. "Where's Alexei? Thought he was down here?"

"Someone probably...ugh, Gods. We really need to do something about Hurley over there."

"Hey, he pays for the booze, so I'm not complaining."

"Yeah, whatever. What I was going say was, someone probably came in. Alexei's probably showing them around downstairs."

"Thinking we should check on him?"

A small pause. "Might as well. Whoever they are, hopefully they aren't being too rough with him."

Zen slowly turned his head towards the fox. "Blitz, did you ever...?" he started to ask, pointing in the direction of Alexei.

"No, I didn't hide Alexei yet."

Both of them looked at each other in silent panic, then jointly glared at the half-fox leaning against the office's wall. "Clovis..." they synchronously seethed.

"Now now, in my defense, Zen, you were the one who told me I needed to see what was on the files."

"You could've been keeping watch upstairs during the downtime!" Zen hissed. He had a list of words for Clovis right now that he wanted to throw at him, but he was cut short by the creaking of the wood, as the panel covering the top of the basement stairs slowly opened.

Blitz silently shut the door to the office, turning the handle as quietly as he could manage. Zen cleared his head and began to organize a response. "Blitz, come with me. We're going to find a way out of here," Zen commanded as he marched over to the desk, digging the mana necklace out from beneath his shirt. He turned to Clovis' projection as he freed the reserve and pulled his hood back up.

"Clovis..." Zen lost his words momentarily. "...do something. I'm not sure what you can do, but...something."

"Remember my distraction from earlier?" he offered with a smile.

"Good enough, just make it quick," Zen accepted as the half-fox disappeared yet again.

"What the hell?" came a surprised voice from the stairwell. The cover was now officially gone.

Zen and Blitz ducked down behind the desk, keeping movement to an absolute minimum. "What's the plan, mate?" Blitz whispered, calmly yet agitatedly.

"Just keep quiet and sneak around them," Zen responded, mentally preparing a spell.

"There's no cover in here," Blitz informed, peeking over the top of the desk. "We're made the moment we try to move."

"No we're not," Zen reassured as he held a hand in front of the fox and mumbled a word of power. "Absconditus."

Blitz watched two of the mana crystals on the necklace fade away, and then noticed that Zen's hand was starting to fade away as well. In fact, so was he. Bit by bit his body and clothing started to become transparent, see through, until he became completely invisible. The only way he knew Zen was still next to him was from the light passing through him, bending in a very abnormal manner, outlining his presence.

Blitz looked down at his own hand, or what he could make of it under the spell's effects. "Now that's cool," he commented as inspected the rest of the magic camouflage.

"Don't say a thing until..." Zen began, before the door to the office was loudly opened by the two guards from upstairs. Zen put a hand over his mouth and peeked around the desk, taking care not to show more of his presence than needed. The two alerted Keidran filed in one after the other, the first carrying a lit torch in front of him.

"Hey, Dirk?" the second Keidran addressed his friend. "Not to sound lazy or anything, but why are we searching in here?"

"You can't ever be too careful when it comes to this sort of stuff," the torch-bearer didactically returned, calmly searching the office. "It's bad enough we got intruders, but since we don't know where they are..."

"This place is empty, is my point. They're probably not in here."

"Yeah, you can say that once they jump you in here, alright?"

"Like, where would they possibly be?" the second Keidran skeptically asked. "Behind the desk? Maybe?"

Dirk paced over to the desk and leaned over it, sweeping the torch along the backside. Both fox and wolf froze in place, trying to do a few too many things at once. Watch the torch, try not to get burnt. Don't make any noise until they're gone. Don't move until he's done searching. Any failures would probably kill the both of them. Zen held his breath, waiting for the torch to lift. The inspection was taking only seconds, but Zen felt like he was aging centuries faster.

"Dirk, if they aren't there, they aren't there," the other Keidran moaned. "Let's try the armory, huh?"

Dirk turned his head to his companion. "I feel like there's something up here," he commented, looking around the room again.

"You're stressing this way too much," came the response, and Dirk's arm lifted soon after, the treacherous torch leaving with it. "I told you, nobody in their right mind would be here with that little cover."

"Right," Dirk replied as he marched out the door. "Right."

The two guards followed each other out the door and towards another room. Zen looked around the desk a second time, and noticed that they had failed to shut the door behind them on the way out. He turned back to Blitz with the news.

"They forgot about the door."

"Good," Blitz answered as he moved out from behind his hiding spot and began to sneak towards the opened doorway. Zen followed closely behind, mimicking exactly where he went. If something happened to one of them, they wouldn't be alone.

The two spies reentered the basement's sheer darkness as both noticed the guards at work inspecting a room across from where they were. The good news was they knew exactly where not to go. The bad news was they didn't know where to go. The torch Dirk and his friend were using happened to be the other one Alexei used to light the room initially, and they were smart enough to shut the secret door behind them as well. With it gone, Blitz and Zen had no means to see the staircase leading them out.

But that didn't mean someone else did. Thought speaking was generally harder to hear through the mental link, and Zen tried not to do it when he could avoid it, but it didn't seem he had too much of an option right now. He shut his eyes again and focused back on Clovis, hoping he was done deploying whatever that distraction of his was.

Clovis, where are you? Zen mentally demanded. He waited five seconds for a response. Ten. Fifteen.

"Sorry there, Zen. I was sending for tea. Did you need me for something?"

Blitz and I are here trying not to get killed and you decide to break for tea?! Zen shouted.

"Well, if you're going to be like that..."

It doesn't matter. We're in the dark and need to get out. Where are the stairs?

"Actually, wait there for a moment," Clovis advised. "I did see them searching the floor, and if I'm correct..."

"Nope, they're not in the armory either," Dirk announced.

"Probably further down the hall, then. Let's go," his friend stated as the two guards exited the weapons locker and turned down the narrow side corridor, the glow of the torch diminishing as they increased the distance between them and Zen.

"Now, ten meters in front, turn right, one meter, right again, up the stairs."

"Blitz, I'm right in front of you if you want to grab my shirt," Zen whispered behind him. A small amount of tension accumulated on his back as he stealthily crouched and crept towards the stairwell, as per Clovis' instructions. He started by sneaking forward a medium distance, the tugging of his shirt the signal that Blitz was close behind.

Zen jumped as Clovis' voice suddenly leapt into his mind. "Right face," he ordered.

Could you be a bit more quiet on the next one? Zen requested as he calmed himself down.

"Just making sure you know where you're going is all," Clovis pointed out. "One step forward and you should be at the stairs."

Zen held his right arm out and brushed against the rough wooden railing of the staircase. Loosely gripping the pole, Zen pivoted around to directly face the stairs, with Blitz closely behind. They were almost out, and Zen triumphantly took the first step towards freedom...

And stiffly cringed as he discovered the first stair had a sharp, loud creak in it. Zen kept his foot down, but the dreaded sound echoed bombastically down the hallway where Dirk and his friend were searching. Blitz looked down it as well, and noticed Dirk poke his head out of one of the rooms to the corridor's left.

"The hell was that?" Dirk yelled, waving the torch in front of him again.

"You're really high-strung today, aren't you?" his companion fired back. "Dude, this whole basement is falling apart. Of course there's going to be noise."

"I get the feeling you're not taking this seriously."

"Why would I? Alexei's probably the worst recruit we've had in years. I'm actually glad this happened to him."

"I had no idea you were so sadistic," Dirk remarked as he retreated to the room.

"Only towards people like him," came the response. "'Sides, there might not even be anyone down here. Knowing him, he probably just slipped or something."

"I still think we should finish searching."

"And we are. Now, get back over here and get some light under the bed here."

Zen inaudibly exhaled with relief as he continued up the stairs. Blitz kept to the side of the rickety first to keep it from screaming a second time. Slowly but steadily the duo progressed up the stairs, until Zen finally felt the underside of the door with his forearm. Zen pressed against it gently, as the trap door silently rose up to a passable height.

Unfortunately, the natural light flooding in through the storeroom windows also leaked through the gap Zen had made, and the basement was briefly lit up as a direct result. Blitz instinctually ran up the stairs, ducking his head under the door as he passed. Zen followed closely behind, still holding the door up until he reached the surface. He quickly, gently lowered it back into the floor, the soft thump of the door falling into place the signal for both Zen and Blitz to breathe again.

"How in the world did that happen?" Clovis asked himself as his agents recovered from their latest venture.

"We're not out yet, boss," Blitz reminded as he quietly turned the handle on the storeroom door, opening it just slightly enough for a peek through it.

"Well, that too, but those guards had to be some of the laziest I've seen in a while. I'm serious, that was kind of depressing. Might need to send them an apology card."

"Blitz, what's it look like?" Zen whispered over to the Polar Fox.

"At least five more of them," he calmly informed, despite his heart racing faster than he ever remembered it before. "How do the windows look?"

"Decorative," Zen replied, disgustedly. "Can't go through them without smashing them."

"Dammit," Blitz sighed as he peeked out the door again, inspecting the flood of guards now on the main floor. Even with Zen's cloaking spell, there was almost no way to get by without catching someone's attention. As much as he didn't want to admit it, they were stuck. "So now what?"

"Relax, my friends," Clovis calmly, soothingly answered. "Your solution is on its way now."

Blitz opened his mouth for more details until he heard the faint knocking on the house's front door, catching the attention of almost everyone in the main room. The guard closest to the door, a muddy brown-furred wolf, strode over to it and opened it up all the way.

He was met by a crying woman, from what Blitz could discern from the sound. He couldn't risk opening the door any more without giving himself away, so he could only listen to the conversation between the wolf and the unknown visitor.

"Miss, what's going on? What happened?" the guard asked with concern. Blitz was glad to hear not everybody working under The Fang was as abrasive as Alexei was. The girl would have probably been kicked right to the curb if that one was minding the door at the moment, not caring for a second about...

"My-my uncle is missing..." the visitor wept, and Blitz's jaw dropped as he heard the woman's voice, despite his reaction not being visible at all to Zen. That didn't make the girl's identity any less startling, however.

Zen seemed to recognize the voice as well, only his response was a bit more composed. "Blitz, why does she sound so much like...?"

"Because it is Kayle," Blitz preempted, dazed. "Our Plan B was my niece."

"To her credit, she is a very convincing actress."

"Clovis, what is she doing here?" Blitz softly demanded in as angry a tone as he could manage at that level of volume.

"Why, she's your distraction, of course," the half-fox pointed out. "Look outside again and see for yourself."

Blitz slid the door open an inch or two more, listening to Kayle literally cry for help. His visible eye went wide as he noticed that Kayle's acting, even if it was a bit overdone in his opinion, succeeded in grabbing the attention of almost every guard in the main room. He opened up the door all of the way out of curiosity. Nobody noticed it, apart from Kayle, who happened to be standing opposite the storeroom from the front door.

"What happened to you uncle?" the wolf from earlier asked kindly.

"He-he just went out for a walk earlier this morning," the vixen sobbed, her rain wear glistening from the storm outside. "It's been six hours now and I..." Kayle collapsed onto her knees, struggling to finish her sentence.

Zen quickly brought himself up next to Blitz and looked around the room. Just like any tavern, numerous tables were spread throughout the area, just high enough for him and Blitz to sneak under by his calculation. He also spied a large window near the front of the building, next to the door. The dog Hurley continued to doze in front of it, and Zen also noticed that the panel directly behind him was cracked slightly for the cool air.

"That window's our out," he pointed at the open panel.

"How long does this spell last, Zen?" Blitz asked, as he noticed his foot flickering its visibility for a split second.

"Not much longer, so we better go." Zen continued to stay close to the floor as he escorted Blitz underneath the sea of tables to their exit. Zen dry swallowed as he took cover under the first. This was arguably just as tense as the scene downstairs if not more so, just due to the extra guards and failing fidelity of the aged spell. Zen gasped as he caught sight of his hand for a moment as he passed from table to table. He couldn't renew the magic without having to get rid of the old one, and he couldn't do that at the risk of being detected.

At least Kayle was giving a noteworthy performance. "I just didn't know where else to go," she continued to cry in front of the guards.

"The police, maybe? City security?" one of the more shrewd guards offered up.

"They refuse to get a search party together until tomorrow," Kayle answered through tears. "And what if he...he's...he's already..."

She paused for effect and then leapt onto the brown-colored wolf for a consoling hug. "Gone!" she bawled, moistening his dark green shirt in the process.

"You know, on second thought, maybe I could show her a thing or two," Clovis remarked.

"You're not doing another thing with her until we get out of here," Blitz protectively snarled while trying to keep his voice down. The combination didn't mix well.

"Then on that note, your window is directly ahead."

Zen stopped underneath the table closest to Hurley's booth and waited for Blitz to catch up. The large window had multiple sliding panels on it, one for each of the booths bordering it, but they all seemed to be locked, save for Hurley's. Zen considered going for one of the locked windows to avoid waking the dog. After a glance over at the vixen, however, it seemed some of the guards were beginning to lose interest in her over theatrical plea, and discarded the idea.

"I'm not going to like this," Zen mumbled to himself as he crept over to the drunken dog's table. He grabbed the edge with one hand and then swung both up and over it, such that he landed himself on the direct center of the table. He was rewarded with a long, alcoholic snore as Hurley breathed fumes into his face. After a second of waving his hand trying to clear the air, Zen yanked the collar of his shirt over his nose, supposing he should at least be grateful Hurley was still snoozing, as he turned to the window and started to open it.

The window pane was very stubborn in moving, and Zen had to yank on it a few times from beneath before it began sliding up. He glanced over at Kayle as he continued to work on the escape plan.

"Miss, I'm sorry about your uncle, I really am, but you need to calm down first," one of the guards tried to console her.

"You don't get it! He's the only one I have and I don't want to lose him!"

"The only one you have?" another repeated with confusion.

"Yes, he's the only uncle I have," Kayle sniffled. "Do you see why I can't lose him?"

"Jeesh, time to go," Zen grumbled at her faltering acting as he finally managed to get the window acceptably open. He kicked both of his feet through the gap and slid out back into the rainy street, taking cover underneath the window from outside. He waited a few moments, and a splash of water next to him indicated that Blitz had come outside as well.

Blitz breathed heavily for a few moments as the spell began to expire. "Let's not do that again, okay, mate?" he asked with relief as he began to fade back into view.

"I'll try to avoid it," Zen replied with a now visible grin. He looked back over to the open front door, where Kayle was still trying to hold The Fang's attention.

"Look, come back tomorrow and see us if he doesn't return, alright? I mean, right now..."

"You're no better than the police are!" Kayle snapped. "I'm probably better off just walking out right now and looking for him myself!"

"And I'm saying that, for now, that's not a bad idea."

"Where would I start?" she yelled as she backpedaled out the door and turned towards where Zen and Blitz were sitting down. "It's not like he'll just turn a corner and..."

Kayle's expression quickly morphed from depressed and angry to delighted and excited as she began to sprint down the street in Blitz's direction. "Uncle!" she exuberantly cried, arms outstretched, running at full speed towards him.

Blitz apprehensively put his arms in front of him, hoping to negate some of the impact and hide his face from the guards in the likely chance this blew his cover. He cringed, waiting for the end...

Then felt an unexpected whoosh of cold wind as Kayle ran right past him and instead tackled a stranger in a white cloak who just popped out of the neighboring alleyway. Both of them fell onto the icy brick together with a splash, as three of the five guards poked their heads out of the door to figure out exactly what happened. Zen and Blitz were unsure of who or what to focus on: the guards looking their way but not knowing who they were, or Kayle forcing herself on top of what seemed to be just an innocent bystander with a now soiled rain slick.

One of the guards pointed at the wolf and fox sitting against the wall. "Do you two have any idea what just happened?" he inquired, at the lack of anyone better to ask.

"Nope," Zen quickly returned.

"No idea," Blitz promptly replied.

The guard looked back up at Kayle with confused curiosity. "Uncle Charlie, I never thought I'd see you again!" she happily exclaimed, tightly hugging her victim.

"My dear girl, perish the thought!" the stranger gently petted her hair, in a voice Zen immediately recognized. He had to slam both hands over his mouth to keep himself from saying his name in surprise. "I was just out to see the doctor. Nothing to worry about!" He leaned up to look at the two spies directly, crookedly, toothily grinning at Zen in particular.

"I have everything under control," Clovis smirked from under the cloak's hood.

---

Note From the Author

Hey guys! First off, I wanted to say thank you for picking this story up. I certainly hope you've been enjoying reading it as much as I have been enjoying writing it. At the time of this posting, we're already in the area of 100 views, which by standards, is an outstanding achievement for my first time out. It really does feel awesome knowing you guys think my work is worthy of your time, and I just want to say, sincerely, thanks so much for the support. It means more than you think it does.

Now, I should probably tell you why I'm tacking this part onto the end here. I happen to be a college student whenever I'm not doing my writing, and the end of the semester is on its way. So that means the dreaded time of the year we call finals week is upon me. And since I don't have any intentions of doing poorly on them at all, I'm taking a quick hiatus from my work to study up, nail the exams and spend some time with the family over the holidays.

That isn't to say I'm giving up here. Not at all. But it does mean Part III will likely be going up later than it usually would. I'm going to give myself to mid-January to get the material ready, but if I can get it up and posted earlier, then I definitely will. In the meantime, I certainly hope Part II here will be enough to carry you through until then.

Once again, thanks so much for taking the time to read through my work. I hope you've been enjoying it so far, and make sure you put me on alert for Part III! Enjoy the holidays until then!

Cheers,

WS

Update: A new face appears! Check out TwoKinds: Redemption Part III posted now!