CHAPTER NINETEEN

Just a Little Taste

Thorntail Hollow

Later that night…

Coyote raised her head out of the cool, blue water and inhaled, listening to the cascading waterfall as she did so. Then she turned on her back and let herself drift on the water, loving every moment of this tranquil freedom. She loved water, and she loved to swim, always wearing her bikini when she went anywhere just in case she got the oppourtunity to hit the water. This kind of alone time was just what she needed after such chaos.

At least, she thought she was alone.

Right as she stood up and began walking in the shallow part that went up to her ribs, Marcus was walking toward the pool, pulling off his T-shirt and humming an upbeat song as he did so. Both were completely unaware of each other's presence until Marcus threw his shoes and socks off and stood in his jeans and his black muscle shirt. Then, he sprinted toward the edge and cheered as he leaped off and cannon-balled into water. Coyote shrieked when she heard his voice and whirled around just in time to see him surface and take in a deep breath.

"What are you doing?" Coyote shouted.

"Jeez Murphy….oh, hey! I'm doing what you said. I'm takin' a bath."

"I see that, but does it REALLY need to be where I'm swimming?"

"Jeez, I dunno. You tell me. You're the smart one."

Coyote rolled her eyes and swam away, leaving Marcus mutter "Fine, be that way" before he claimed the undersurface for himself. He took a deep breath and dove into the water, kicking his way to the bottom. When he reached it, he stopped and looked around. The water was crystal-clear, darkened by the night sky with several luminescent fungi growing around the pool and lighting with an eerie glow that somehow seemed attractive.

Marcus liked water, too, just as long as it didn't nearly kill him like it did on Zoness.

He turned over on his back and let himself float up toward the surface. When his head poked out of the water, he inhaled and laughed.

"It's gorgeous!" he called, looking over at Coyote. "Just what we both needed, huh?

She was sitting just behind the waterfall. It was a little hard to tell from the large wall of water crashing down in front of her, but from the way Marcus saw it, she was looking at him with bedroom eyes, complete with a salacious smile. The urge to go near her suddenly became irresistible. Falling prey to her stare, he swam over to her. She was sitting on a submerged ledge just behind the waterfall. She motioned for him to sit next to her. He did. As soon as he sat, he felt a wave of nervousness rush over him. They were both sopping wet, but that didn't stop Coyote from carefully edging herself a little bit closer to Marcus…enough to turn her head and kiss him if she wanted to. The strange light from the luminescent fungi colored the waterfall a crystalline blue hue.

"How is it?" Coyote asked. "Your scar?"

"I'm fine." Marcus replied. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna bleed out if that's what you're thinking."

"Okay. Just checking."

She gazed at the waterfall.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Not the most gorgeous thing I've seen, but sure."

Coyote gave Marcus a weird look.

"What do you mean?"

"Just, you know. I've seen better."

"Like what?"

Marcus quickly struggled to think of something…something that didn't sound completely goofy. The only thing he came up with was…

"The moon."

"…oh….okay…"

Coyote felt disappointed. She was hoping he would say that SHE was more beautiful than the waterfall. After all, she was a living, breathing girl. He was a living, breathing boy. Boys and girls seemed naturally drawn to each other, so why wasn't HE drawn to HER? Maybe he was just being polite…what a gentleman, then.

There she went again, hoping that a knight in shining armor would come sweep her off her feet and carry her away to a mystical land that she always dreamed about. Lethe, the Forgotten Land, as she called it. It was there in her dreams, and there when she explored her home planet. She loved it there…if only it was real.

"Hey, Mark?" she asked. "I was just…wondering…do you have a girlfriend?"

As soon as she said that, she gasped and covered her mouth.

"Oh, sweet mercy, why did I say that?" she angrily thought to herself.

Marcus, meanwhile, was a little shocked that Coyote would ask him something like that, but was not otherwise offended.

"Well THAT came outta nowhere. No, I don't."

"Oh…okay. Why not?"

"I dunno. Don't really have the time for it."

"What about you and Anna?"

"She's cool, but we're more like brother and sister what with being on the team together."

"Huh…but would you object to having a girlfriend?"

Now he got suspicious, looking over at her with a raised brow.

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Never mind. I'm done. See ya."

Marcus felt the need to protest, but all that came out was "...ok." Coyote climbed out of the pool, her fur dripping with water and her heart filled with excitement as she walked away.

"What was that all about?" Marcus asked himself when she was out of earshot.

He thrust the thought out of his mind as he got drowsy. He slowly closed his eyes. But as his consciousness faded away and his spirit slipped into the dream world, he wished he hadn't.

Marcus was tied to what looked an awful lot like a sacrificial post. There were raging flames off in the distance, and the sky was as black as coal. He knew this fearful sort of place all too well now, and as he started praying for it to stop, he heard Kursed's ominous voice yet again.

"Quite a fun little show with you and Little Miss Coyote, I have to say."

That horrible voice…it was after him again! But where? Where was it coming from? Marcus' eyes darted around the horrifying landscape. Not above him. Not beside. Not in front. Not behind.

"Why are you doing this to me?" he screamed into the blackness. "I don't even know what you are!"

"If I told you, you'd never believe me." Kursed replied, chuckling slightly.

"Wha…what the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you some kind of demon? And how did Scales know about…"

"About your unbelievable strength? Because you got it from me. My blood is coursing through your veins, and if you ignore that fact, you'll just be lying to yourself."

"I don't need your lecture to know that I'm better off without you, so why don't you just leave me alone?"

"You have no idea who you're talking to, Marcus. How would you like it if I brought every single one of your pathetic friends to this place and set them ablaze? I'm perfectly capable of doing that!"

When Kursed finished that last word, Marcus heard screaming off in the distance. He looked out at the burning horizon. Fox, Anna, Chase, Falco, Katt, Lucy, Bill, Slippy, Amanda and even Damalgo. They were on fire! They were being burned to the bone!

"You monster! Y-you wouldn't dare!" he yelled.

"Oops. I missed one." Kursed chuckled.

A new voice. Coyote's voice screaming! All around him!

"Marcus! Help us!" she screamed.

Marcus growled. Kursed wasn't torturing with him anymore. Now she was toying with his mind!

"YOU SICKMINDED BITCH! When I find you, I'll swear I'll…"

"You'll what? Cry to Krystal? You see her anywhere? News flash: you're all alone."

Lightning cracked across the sky. Marcus could see Kursed's massive shadow looming in the sky. But where was she? Not above, not beside, not in front, not behind…wait…BELOW! She was underneath him!

"I'm getting hungry." Kursed said. "Be a good little boy and don't resist."

Kursed's gigantic hand shot up from underneath the hazy floor. It was big enough to grab a person and crush them in its massive grip.

"No!" Marcus screamed as the hand seized him.

"Nighty-night, sweetie." she cackled.

Before the nightmare had a chance to get worse, Marcus yelped in fright and shot his eyes open. He was still sitting behind the waterfall in the Warpstone's Grove. He took in a few breathes to make sure that he was still alive, then sighed and lowered his face into his palms

"God, that was the worst one yet." he grumbled. "Why won't she just leave me alone?"

He climbed out of the water and stared down into the water. Suddenly, as he continued to stare at his reflection, it was replaced with Kursed's snarling visage. Marcus gritted his teeth, grabbed his staff, and jabbed at the reflection with a furious yell. It vanished. He breathed. He calmed down…for all of three seconds when suddenly….

'AWOOooOOooOOOO!"

Marcus flinched and darted his eyes around. The sudden sound had scared him half to death. He looked to his right. Damalgo was laying a little ways away from him, sleeping like a log. Just then, the noise came again.

"AWOOooOOooOOOO!"

Marcus looked up. Coyote was kneeling on a plateau covered in a few more of the luminescent fungi. It lit her up with a wondrous and seductive glow…just as she looked up at the night sky and opened her mouth, exposing her sharp, pearly-white teeth.

"AWOOooOOooOOOO!"

It was a haunting, yet calm and lovely tone. Marcus had to admit that she had a crystal-clear voice, but whatever the case, the howling had hypnotized him. He had to get closer to the source of that beautiful noise. He walked underneath the cliff and grabbed a few vines dangling from the top. He pulled himself up in just under a few minutes, all the way becoming more and more drawn to the teenage maiden releasing that lovely howling. He carefully came up behind her. Thanks to the eerie blue light, he noticed something on both of her shoulders: tattoos. On the right shoulder, there was a guitar wrapped in a metal chain that was on fire. But on the other one, there was a strange symbol that looked like a combination of a pair of fangs, an evil eye and a radioactive symbol.

"Hey." he said in the gentlest voice he could.

Coyote looked back at him and smiled.

"Hey." she replied

"You've got strong lungs."

"Oh…you heard that?"

"I think everyone did."

"Sorry…did I wake you up?"

"Nah, I was awake to begin with. Besides, it sounds great, so it doesn't matter to me."

Coyote blushed as Marcus sat next to her, but it was all going to her plan. So he didn't have a significant other? Maybe it was time she fixed that.

"I do that whenever I feel lonely. I've just…never been this far from home before."

"Well, you've got me talk to."

"Yeah…I guess so."

Marcus took a look at the tattoo on her right shoulder. Coyote looked at him and grinned salaciously.

"You know, it's not polite to stare." she said, chuckling.

"Sorry. So what's up with that tat?"

"I got that a few months ago. I absolutely LOVE heavy metal. I listen to it all the time!"

"So you called your ship the 'Iron Maiden' because…"

"Yeah."

But the other tattoo stuck in Marcus' brain like a grape to a vine, so he decided to go ahead and pluck it.

"What about that one?" he asked, glancing at it.

"Oh, that?" Coyote asked. "I got that when I was fourteen. It's Kursed's emblem."

Marcus' heart stopped. It was WHAT?

"Why do you have that?" he asked.

"I dunno. I guess being a bounty hunter is pretty cool."

Marcus' face fell. She thought Kursed was cool?

"She disappeared about eighteen years ago without warning and no one's seen her since." Coyote continued. "I really wish she'd stuck around. I guess I just really wanted to meet her."

"…no, you don't." Marcus mumbled.

"Huh?"

"If she had stuck around…I wouldn't exist."

"What are you talking about? She saved you?"

"God no! She wouldn't save me if her life depended on it!"

"But does that mean…"

Marcus nodded.

"Wait, I thought you said Krystal was your mother." Coyote asked.

"Don't you get it? Krystal IS Kursed!"

"Are you serious?"

"I…had a dream about her."

"…tell me."

Marcus explained, in full detail, about what really happened to Kursed…about how Krystal had come home to Corneria…how she had torn Kursed out of her body and threw her away…and how Kursed was now preying on him. With each word, Coyote slowly got more and more interested and shocked. When Marcus finished, Coyote looked at the tattoo on her left shoulder and scowled.

"Well in that case, as soon as I get home, I'm getting rid of this thing."

"You don't have to feel sorry for yourself for having her as your idol. You didn't know."

"Yes, there's that, but I don't want you to think of me as a follower to a monster like that. I'm not that kind of girl."

Marcus smiled. She certainly wasn't.

"I kinda figured. Thanks, Coyote. You really perked me up."

Coyote edged a little closer to Marcus and gently brushed her tail against his thigh. His skin tingled slightly. He'd never experienced this before, but he knew that the Tail Touch was a sign of affection amongst wolfs and foxes.

"So is my howling really the only reason that you came to talk to me?" she asked with a warm grin.

"…yes…it hypnotized me. I'm not kidding when I say that your howling is the most beautiful noise I've ever heard."

Coyote blushed again. For a second, Marcus thought she was going to slap him for saying something so corny to her, but in a few seconds her grin returned and she giggled.

"Thanks" she said. "You know…you've got a pretty hypnotizing feature about you, too."

"I do?" Marcus asked.

Coyote leaned closer in and peered into his eyes.

"It's your eyes…I've never seen anything like them. Every time I look at you, I get so entranced by them…it's like you're staring into my soul."

Marcus was speechless for about five seconds, but then he smiled.

"Who knows? I probably am. And if I am, I certainly don't see anything dark and brooding, so what's there to hide?"

He slowly looked up at the night sky.

"Oh, wow! Look at that!" he exclaimed, pointing up.

From where they could see it, the sky was full of billions of stars that couldn't be seen from Corneria because of the street lights and the like. Such beauty was a rare sight, and it wouldn't be easily forgotten by either one of them.

"You'd never see anything like this on Corneria." Marcus said,

Coyote looked over at the two silver moons high above, and suddenly had a mysterious urge. Maybe it was just instinct, or maybe she wanted to entrance Marcus with her beautiful howl again.

"If you think that I have a nice howl, why don't you howl with me?" she asked.

"…uhh, I'm not a wolf. I can't."

"Foxes don't do it because foxes never try. Here, I'll go first."

She reared back her head, took a deep breath, and let out her lovely howl again.

"AWOOooOOooOOOO!"

Marcus rolled his eyes, cleared his throat, took in a deep breath and let loose with whatever he had.

"HOOooAAaaAA!"

His howl was deeper and more haunting than Coyote's, but it had a great rhythm to it and was as clear as day.

"That was great!" Coyote said encouragingly. "Now let's both do it together."

They both breathed in and let loose.

"AWOOooOOooOOOO!"

"HOOooAAaaAA!"

Marcus breathed.

"Jeez, that was awesome!"

"See what happens if a fox tries?" Coyote asked.

Marcus was speechless. She had shown him what she liked in less than an hour, AND told him that he had amazing eyes. What a catch, and she thought the same. But one thing still nagged at her. One thing that might drive a proverbial wedge between them. Better to get it out of the way than make the blast radius bigger.

"Mark…if it ever came to our fathers making us try to kill each other, would you do it? I'm not saying that'll ever happen, but…"

She melted inside when he looked at her with the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen, and when he spoke next, she felt a rush of every positive emotion she'd ever felt…including something a little bit new.

"No. I wouldn't." he said. "I think…you're too precious to me for that."

With that, a strange sense overcame both of them. Simply looking at each other was soothing beyond compare. They had both become irresistible to each other. Marcus' arms went around Coyote's shoulders, and her hands came up to his cheeks. They began leaning in towards each other and slowly closed their eyes. As Marcus came closer to Coyote, he could smell the scent of something on her breath. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't care. It just drove him to go even closer.

"Hey...should we be..." he started.

"Shhhh..." she whispered sweetly into his ear. "Just a little taste."

A little taste became something else entirely when after building up what seemed like an hour's worth of suspense, their lips touched and locked. Warmth exploded in the both of them as they laid down on the grass and pulled each other closer. In spite of how quickly he had answered her, Marcus dreaded such a scenario approaching them now more than ever. Fox wasn't the kind of person to order his son to kill anyone, though he couldn't say the same for Wolf.

But then again, if Wolf O'Donnell could create a creature this beautiful and precious, then maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

Even when they parted to breath, Marcus and Coyote didn't part from each other for even a minute for the rest of that night. For once, neither one cared about anything. They didn't care about General Scales, the Venomians, Kursed, or whatever was out there.

No. On this night, all they wanted was each other.