XII. It's All Crazy, It's All False...

It wasn't a dream.

Mai stared at her hands, extending and retracting her claws again and again. It was all real now. Sitting in the kitchen eating peach cobbler, Artemus had spun a shallow back-story for the girls with ease and Actaeon had filled in the gaps of the lie; they seemed to be used to making up tales. The history of the fox and cat had been fabricated and while Mai didn't entirely comprehend the workings of Ellian culture, she had grasped a majority of the idea.

Villages and towns were typically run by minor rulers, whether given the position by a process of election or bloodline inheritance. Earls, chiefs, mayors; a leader by any other name was put in place to uphold the law and maintain links to the rest of the country as a representative of the people under their charge. The reach of the crown was wide in influence, but information from the far boundaries could take days to get to the capital, solutions to problems taking even longer to get back to the far off villages, towns, settlements, cities. For this reason, the royals relied on these minor rulers to settle small local problems. Many leaders were what the boys had called "Beasts," the half-animal humanoid creatures such as they themselves were. Beasts were not necessarily rare, but did hold a sort of natural influence over normal, animal-less Ellians.

The nation was divided into several regions, these divisions made based on differences in cultures, climates, and customs, among other various factors. As an example, Actaeon had brought up the street vender who had sold Sukka a bucket: "Her accent and style of dress were both quite particular to Plains people. Some other regions have less distinct identities, but if you learn to note the little things, you can avoid many an embarrassment or cultural offense."

After the complicated talk of social studies, the story-weaving had begun and ended up something like this:

Sukka had been raised in the northeastern hills, an area sparsely populated by farmers and nomadic shepherding groups. Her father was the leader of a small network of towns in the region. (Artemus assured the girls that he could pull strings in order to make the story check out, if he had to, and he insisted that any legal paperwork would be easy enough to fabricate.)

The prior spring, while the royal family was on their annual tour around the country, they had stopped in one of the hills' villages and become acquainted with the girl's father. "And the man's daughter? Well, once I met her, I just had to have her." A wink followed and Sukka stuck out her tongue, looking away from Artemus and stabbing at her cobbler. This reaction only caused the prince to grin once more.


The girl had been called to the capital as a guest of the prince himself and taken the journey along with her childhood friend and bodyguard, Mai. In the hills, mountain lions were a threat and to travel alone was a dangerous feat. Even beyond the hills, the journey was dangerous, particularly in the forests. The pair had only just arrived in the city.


They'd all argued details a bit more, but come up with a solid enough lie. Actaeon shrugged. "That's enough of a story, I believe. The cat, you don't matter as much. Considering brother has taken an apparent interest in Sukka, she'll be much more interesting to the curious and the gossips and they'll overlook you. Just stay quiet like a good girl, alright?"


"You don't matter much either, you stupid mutt. Not like you're gonna become king or something. So shut your--" He had flung a forkful of peaches her way and hit her square in the face.


"Oh, oops." He growled and she hissed and Artemus watched, amused.


"You're a jerk." Mai tried to wipe the fruit filling away, but it was sticky.



"You're a moron." Threatening her with another forkful, Actaeon saw her flinch and that satisfied him well enough.

After more petty quarreling between cat and dog, Mai had headed off to settle into her room and Sukka had wandered away. The boys were busy doing other things. Mai was happy to have some time to think and being alone didn't bother her. She sprawled out on the cushy bed and closed her eyes, drifting into wonderfully bland and unexciting dreams of her old reality.

 ______________________

Even in summer the gardens were full of blooms. Sukka had wandered out into the courtyard and stumbled upon the place. She'd found her way into the twisted limbs of a tree and was looking down on the cobblestone paths, fountains, and flowerbeds below. The only sounds she could make out were the sounds of running water and windchimes. It was a good place to clear her head.

She had gone to bed a human with nothing to worry about and woken up a freak with the weight of a civilization on her shoulders. The fox thing wasn't particularly bad, but the impending possibility of destruction was a bit of a bummer.

The girl sighed and started to look for a way to get higher in the branches when her ears twitched. Quickly, she looked back down at the ground, but saw nothing. "Hello...? Someone there?"

"Hello." A voice at her ear nearly made her lose her footing. She reached to swat at whoever was there, but the figure had gently grabbed her wrists with one of his hands, his other hand lifting and holding a finger to her lips. The man was strangely beautiful, sooty eyes piercing but not threatening, smile friendly but not warm. His pitch black hair was pulled back, hanging in a messy ponytail that draped to his knees. His clothing was loose and simple but the ornaments in his hair were set with scrolling silver and inlaid with precious stone. Sukka stared back at him, but made no sound. 

He dropped her hands and she shied away. "Sorry to have frightened you, miss, but might you be lost? These are royal grounds and I can assume you understand why strangers might cause worry." 

The fox regained her voice. "I'm a guest of the crown prince, ask him yourself. I was invited here and I'm not trespassing, if that's what you're worried about."

"Oh? Interesting." He had somehow climbed down to the ground in a moment that Sukka had blinked-- she stared at him again, baffled. "My younger brother failed to inform me that he was inviting a guest. If I had known, I might have greeted you upon your arrival. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss. Welcome to our home." He bowed at the waist and glanced up at her, making eye contact that she could not turn away from, speaking with a firm voice that overcame the sound of fountains. "The sun has nearly set, it might be best if you go back inside. The guards are not likely to be as polite as I am, you see."

"Uhm... O-okay...?" Sukka half-scrambled out of the tree. "Thankyou, I suppose...?" 

"Ah, no need to thank me. It would not be suitable for a lady like to you fall prey to wolves, would it?" The stranger took her hand and kissed her fingers before tilting his head up and offering a cheerful grin full of sharp and perfect teeth. "Please find me if you need anything."

"Oh..." She glanced over her shoulder at the castle. "Well, if I see you around, then..." When she turned back, he was gone.

XI. Suckers!

 They were exhausting, the lot of them.

Actaeon lay on the grassy hill beside the road, his arm resting on his forehead, shielding his eyes from the sun that had managed to stay out long enough to both dry the ground and get on his nerves. His thoughts were currently occupied with generally irritated thoughts. The other brother sat beside the first, face tilted towards the warmth of the rays. The fox and cat had meanwhile made a game out of nothing more than a hill and two barrels of peaches; each would roll their barrel down the incline at the same time, watching to see which barrel would reach the bottom first. After the peaches stopped their roll and a winner was declared, the girls ran down and attempted to roll the heavy containers back up the grassy knoll in another, more difficult race.

"Well, brother, what do you think of them?" asked Artemus, using the toe of his boot to prod at his sibling's side.

"Of what? Of those now bruised and battered peaches? Or are you possibly speaking of the fruits' assailants?"

"You know what I mean... Do you think they can do it?" The light that got caught up in the wolf's fur lit the strands up to a shade of amber, his eyes meanwhile shining silver like a fishing lure spinning in the river. Everything about the crown prince constantly glimmered- his appearance as well as his charismatic personality. It was an indirect, reflective glow that held distance, an air of something untouchable and romantically detached. And he indeed ought to be untouchable; it was Actaeon's job to keep him untouched, even.

"It's too soon to tell. The cat, she's not much for strength at this point, but she's plenty agile. And her form is lithe and built for a graceful battle style. I'm guessing she knows how to throw punches well enough- wouldn't doubt that mouth of hers has gotten her into trouble every so often. But punches don't much suit her." Actaeon was a good judge, eyes trained to assess an opponent in the first instant of a fight, in the first instant of a meeting. "The fox... It's not that it's impossible for her to fight... I'm sure she could be taught how to land a hit... But even then, I don't think she'd be able to hurt anything if it came to it, telling by the way she cried when she saw the rabbit I killed on the way here."

"That's not her fault! You ripped the little thing's head off. And it didn't help that you shoved the kill in her face while it was still warm. Even I got a bit unsettled."

"You got unsettled? Really? Oh, brother, don't act like such a house-pup." Actaeon grinned. "Her expression was priceless, you have to admit that. When she smelled the blood? I saw a flash of her animal instinct come out before that squeal and look of disgust."

Artemus paused, trying to hide the smirk that was creeping onto his face. "... Okay, yes, it was quite a cute noise she made. But no more of that. We can go hunting on our own time."

Actaeon growled, "I'll do whatever I dang well want," and rolled onto his side, turning away from his brother.

Artemus frowned and waited a few moments before silently lowering his head to Actaeon's ear. "I've seen you watching Mai... 'Her form is lithe?' 'Built for a graceful battle style?' You've been looking rather closely, hmm? You fancy her, don't you?"

Actaeon, still laying on his side, threw his arm back, hitting Artemus square in the chest. The other boy flew backwards and let out an objection of a bark as he landed in the grass on his back, wind knocked out of him. After Artemus managed to hop to his feet, he sprinted towards Actaeon who was already halfway over to the exhausted girls.

"You didn't answer me!" Artemus spoke with a teasing sing-song as he tackled Actaeon to the ground.

"Didn't answer what...?" Mai's head tilted and her expression grew curious. Her barrel was on its side and she was draped over it, cheeks flushed from the barrel-rolling game.

"I asked him if he-- OW!" Artemus was interrupted by the sudden pain of having his tail bitten. He desperately flicked his brother's nose in retaliation. "Let go, let go, let go, let go nowww!" Actaeon only let out multiple muffled snuffing noises at the continued flicking.


Sukka was intrigued by this new game and flicked Mai's nose experimentally.

"Ow." Mai rubbed at the little pink mark.

"Sorry." She shrugged.

A sudden movement in the trees caught Mai's eye and perked up Actaeon's ears. The tiger boy they had met back in the marketplace was, in a single second, inches away from the cat's face. "Hey there," he greeted with a toothy grin.

"Ummm... Yo?" She had reeled backwards off the barrel instinctively, and was now poised in a half-crouch, ready to spring up if she needed to. She doubted she would need to. The tiger seemed harmless- obnoxious, but harmless.

"You again?" Actaeon mumbled through a mouthful of fur before releasing his brothers tail. Grabbing a fistful of orange hair, the guard pulled the tiger away from Mai.

"Hey, play nice!" The big cat swiped his hand at Actaeon, who easily caught it mid swing.

"You might want to watch those. You could hurt someone." The white wolf gave the tiger a severe glare.

The striped stranger glanced at his exposed claws and simply chuckled. "Thanks for the warning." He jerked his hand away.

"Fingers... Claws... Fingers..." Sukka still sat cross legged on top of one of the barrels, ears twitching as she thought. Reaching no conclusion she blurted, "How come he has claws now?"

"They're retractable sweetheart. Kitten here should have them too." The flirtatious young man snatched up Mai's hand and pressed fairly hard on the center of her palm, forcing out the claws. "Mhmm~"

Mai's hand tensed and points began to form at the tips of her fingernails. Her fingers curled involuntarily, rigid and ready to make a scratch. The black cat roughly pulled her hand back and watched it return to normal. She clutched her hand, mildly horrified and entirely fascinated. "Why, what...? How...?!"

"Flex your hand just right and..." He lifted a hand in front of each of the girls' face and exposed his own claws. "Pop."

"Yes, wonderful. Like we need her to be any more dangerous." Artemus let out a gruff sigh and stepped in between Hiro and the girls. "Now, why are you here?"

"I saw that you had an abundance of food, and, since we're such good friends now, I thought you might like to share some with me." He went on, now talking mostly to himself, apparently bothered. "Today was slow. Couldn't nab anything worth much at all... And the butcher got a new dog. A big, fast, ugly one." He turned his attention back to the others. "Just look at my tail!" The cat reached behind him and pulled his scraggly tail into view; it was wrapped in a dirty cloth and seemed slightly more crooked than it had earlier. "Biting tails!? Stupid beast."

Artemus muffled a laugh, forgetting for a moment how much the tiger bugged him. "Stupid beast." He tugged his brother's bushy white tail. "And also... No peaches for you!!" Letting out a growl at the thief, he bared his sharp, white canines.

The boy tilted his head and frowned, pouting. "Come on now. It's not like you four could eat all of them by yourselves. Even with you helping them." Hiro patted Actaeon's abdomen.

Both wolves growled at once.

"Hey, guys. It's okay, I'm sure we can spare a few." The princes turned to Mai with looks of disbelief; the tiger perked up. "He looks skinny," she pointed out, staying calm under the combined weight of the brothers' displeased stares.

"Well, now look who's warming up to me." He reached to pat her head but she swatted his hand away before it even made it there.

"Deja vu..." he mumbled, before speaking up. "Cmon, kitten, I'm just being friendly."

"Don't make me change my mind. Hurry up and leave. You're getting the dogs' fur all ruffed up."

Actaeon growled some more and began to make an objection.

"Oh shush, brother, it is just peaches..." Artemus gave in with an edge of bitterness.

"Yeah, brother." The black-and-orange cat flashed his toothy grin yet again. Actaeon barked loudly at the tiger, who merely hissed back mockingly.

Walking over to a distracted Sukka, escaping the growling twins, the thief grabbed her under the fox's armpits, lifted her up, and dropped her to the side of the barrel she had previously been sitting on.

"Owww... That hurt, Kevin!" She whimpered and lay where she had landed.

He looked down at her and tilted his head. "Kevin?"

"You look like a Kevin." She explained it as though it should be common sense, still on the ground.

He stared at her for a moment, mouth hanging slightly open awhile before he recovered and burst into laughter, turning to Artemus. "Real bright one you have here."

Sukka gasped and shot up into a sitting position, a shocked and hurt expression on her readable features. "So mean...You are a mean person!"

He raised an eyebrow and flicked her cheek with his tail as he moved to the other side of the barrel.

"Rawr." She gave him the most vicious of glares she could manage--which ended up not being that vicious at all. Her pair of twitchy, fuzzy ears took away from anything that may have been menacing about her.

Hiro rested his hands on the barrel. "You're too cute." He ignored the much more violent glare of Artemus that came in response to the offhand comment. Looking on down the hill, to the road, he seemed to spot something that made him grin again. "Oh hey, and just in time..." He addressed the girls giving a little mock bow and tilting an invisible hat. "My name is Hiro, ladies. Remember it, because I'm sure I'll be seeing you girls again sometime."

Actaeon narrowed his eyes. "What are y-"

Letting out a whooping call, Hiro shoved the peaches down the hill; the barrel bounced and jostled and landed solidly in a passing wagon full of hay. The tiger sped after, jumping up and knocking the driver off the bench. The surprised man landed in the ditch, which was filled with water from the rain runoff; though infuriated, he seemed to be okay, shouting expletives after the thieving tiger.

"..........."

"........"

"........."

"...... Should that even be possible?"

"..."

"Wellllll, that was fun." Mai coughed and started rolling the barrel they still had in the direction of the castle spires. "Let's go home."

Artemus sighed. "Alright..." He grabbed Sukka's hand and they all followed the road in the opposite direction that Hiro had driven off to, pretending not to notice the hay-cart man who was still blustering at the side of the road.

"'I'm sure we can spare a few.'" Actaeon mocked Mai with a high-pitched, whining voice. "Psh."

"Oh shut up." Mai huffed.

X. We All Have Productivity Issues

 "Shiny!!"

"Oh? I picked that up in the northern mountains. I hear that the smiths there use steam vents and snow to temper their metal. They don't let jus' anyone see that sort of thing, so of course I can only offer rumors when it comes to process. But as for product, I promise they do for sure have some of the most finely crafted metal-works, particularly tools, in all of Elle. So they're doin' somethin' right." The merchant girl, her spotted ears perked up, pointed at the pail that was held in Sukka's paws."Yah interested?"

"Huh? What? North? Mountains? Smiths?" The fox snapped out of shiny mode and glanced around confused.

"Ahaha, excuse her. She's just a bit drunk. You know how festival season is." Artemus flashed a grin, flipped a coin the girl's way, and wrapped an arm around Sukka. "Come on, dear, let's get going now."

"Dear...? Wait, I'm not drunk!"

"Uhhh... Thanks for your patronage!" The confused street-vendor called after the odd group as they slid back into the crowds.

Actaeon grabbed Mai and tugged her through the afternoon market bustle. "You need to keep quiet and listen until you figure out your surroundings."

"Hey, wasn't me this time!" She added as an afterthought, "Also, you're a moron."

"What? Can't hear you. It's too loud." He dragged her along more roughly, evidence that he could obviously hear her. In fact, his keen wolf ears were twitching in every direction beneath his cloak, involuntarily picking up sounds from all along the market. His ears led him after his brother who was now weaving through the scurry of bodies in the distance.

"Why did you say I was drunk? I wasn't drunk." Her blue eyes looked up at him adamantly. "I didn't drink anything."

The prince smiled at the fox. "You sure?" He leaned down and pressed his nose to her cheek, nuzzling. "Your face seems a bit flushed."

"Flirting?" Actaeon scoffed as he caught up with his twin. They had all ended up in the space between a couple of unbusy carts, finally out of the rush of people. Artemus was leaning casually back against the stone wall that bordered the marketplace. The less easygoing wolf pointed an accusatory finger at his sibling. "This was a bad idea, bringing them to this part of the town when they're like children in our world."

"Oh it's not like we brought them to the slums." Artemus backed off from Suuka's cheek, pulling her hood down a bit as he did so. "They can get away with acting clueless, since they're cute. So just relax, alright? Nobody has said a word to us unless they wanted to sell us someth--"

"Well, hellooo." Everyone's ears twitched at the sound of a catcall whistle from above. "That's an awfully nice bucket you've got there." A young man with no shoes and no shirt hopped the fair distance down from his spot atop the wall. He winked at Sukka, golden eyes glinting. His heavily pierced, big, orange and black ears were somewhat cockeyed, one perked up high, the other slipping a bit down to his left. He ran a set of dirty fingers through his fiery orange hair. "Not to mention a nice face, eh?"

Artemus frowned. "Excuse you...?"

"Hey, I was talking to the lady. Don't be rude, pretty-boy." The tiger's fangs showed with his crooked grin. "That bucket? You get it from a girl with spots and sandy hair and a Plains accent? She back in town?"

"Well, yah, I think that's the girl I got it from..." Sukka tilted her head. "Who exactly are you...?"

"I dunno, foxy. Your love at first sight?" He slid a finger under her chin. "But darling, it's just not fated to be. My heart belongs to another! Don't wait for me..." With a dramatic wince, he pressed a hand over his chest. As he turned to leave, he noticed the second girl and tossed a toothy grin Mai's way, recovering quickly from his moment. "But if you two need a better tour guide, I suppose I could spare a couple of hours... Why you been hiding that sweet face, kitten?"

Actaeon glared at the big cat, a low growl forming in his throat.

"Whoa there! Down, boy. I'm going. And, girls! Feel free to come around and find me when you lose the mutts~!" The striped stranger threw in another wink and slipped away before either one of the wolves could go for his throat.

"Was he blind? 'Sweet face' my butt."

"Know what? Nobody cares what you think." Mai moved to stomp on the guard's toes but he rolled his eyes and stepped aside.

"Okay, enough playing around, you two." Artemus stared at Sukka a moment before rubbing the cloth of his cloak beneath her chin. "You're all contaminated with his gross."

Sukka was slightly blushing again. "Well he was a bit dirty, but I wouldn't say he had gro--"

"And enough flirting, you two. What are we here for again?" Actaeon was currently holding a squirming Mai in a headlock.

"Peaches, stupid!" She elbowed him in the gut and broke free.

"Hey--!" He was slightly hunched, an arm held across his stomach. "Why would you do that, you psycho?!"

"Huh? I can't seem to hear you. It's too loud." The black cat dashed back into the hustle of shoppers, the white wolf chasing after.

"Well then, I guess we're going." Artemus wiped once more for good measure before taking the fox-girl's hand and hurrying back into the scurry.

_______________________________

"Kayah!!" 

"No, please no..." Counting goods and messing with some of the wooden and stone beads that were braided into her hair, she refused to turn around, hoping reality would just go away if she ignored it.

It never did, though. "Why didn't you write and tell me you were coming back? Well, aside from the fact I don't have a mailbox..." The tiger scooted around into her field of vision. "Anyway! I saw a fox with a seriously good looking bucket and I knew it had to b--" He was cut off as he noticed the cheetah's death glare.

"A fox, huh? With a nice bucket?"

"No! I mean... Literally. Like, she had a fox tail. And a bucket! In her hand! Like a pail."

"Right..." She was annoyed that she had bothered being annoyed. "Well, what're yah doin' here, then?"

"Of course I wanted to see you." Hiro reached to brush the girl's long sandy hair, but she slapped his hand away and went back to taking inventory of her stock. "Hey, don't be that way. It's been months! Haven't you missed me?"

"I miss the money you owe me." She looked back to him. "Oh, I get it, you're here to pay up?"

"Uhhh... I think I hear my mother calling. Well, see you later!" 

She threw her hands up and yelled at him as he disappeared into the market. "You're an orphan!!"

He turned back only to wink at her.

IX. A Kiss With A Fist Is Better Than None?

"Omnomnom~"

Hunger had quickly taken precedence over saving the world. Wolves, cat, and fox all sat in one of the palaces kitchens, the girls seeming to have lost human manners along with their human forms. Shadoe chomped at a loaf of bread, ignoring the knife that was offered and simply ripping it apart with her teeth. Actaeon frowned. "That was for everyone, you know."

Shadoe looked up from the bread, crumbs falling off her chin as she stared blankly at him for a moment before slowly extending the loaf, her fox ears lowering a bit. Actaeon turned up his nose and pushed the offer away. Shadoe, sitting cross legged on the table shrugged, her ears perking back up, and continued to eat.

Artemus chuckled. "It only makes sense that she's hungry- she's had an incredibly eventful day." He ruffled her hair to which she responded with a playful nudge.

Ryli, who had already finished off a huge, juicy peach, was perched beside her friend with a bowl of nasty looking purplish stew she had found. She studied its contents with scrutiny. The strange color made her stomach turn, but its aroma was fantastic. She dipped her spoon into the mystery stew and tentatively lapped at it a bit. Her eyes widened, a mixture of surprise and delight crossing her expression. "It's so good!" she said as she stuffed a large spoonful in her mouth.

"I'm glad you like it." One of the kitchen maids, balancing the dirty dishes expertly in a single hand, smiled sweetly at the cat.

"Thank you, Milly." Actaeon acknowledged the servant with no smile in return, exhibiting for the first time his stone-faced guardsman's mask. Artemus poked his twin's cheek but got no response. The wolf was back to normal, and his brother muttered an "aww no fun."

"Of course you're welcome, young master." She smiled warmly again and bowed her head just slightly, used to the white-furred wolf's cold demeanor

"So... Is there anythin' to do 'round here? Like a... quest...? Or somethin'..." Ryli spoke between and through mouthfuls of purple stew.

"Hmm..." Artemus shook some of his hair out of his face and thought a moment before turning to the woman who was now busily washing plates and bowls. "Milly, are there any orders coming into town for the castle's supplies today?"

"Now I tell you boys often enough that those sorts of trips are for the servants, don't I? Besides, nobody is gonna trust you driving a cart full of anything important after what happened last time."

"That was one time! A guy rolls a cart one time and then nobody trusts him ever again, eh? Oh, come on, Milly. Young princes require sunlight and fresh air to grow up big and strong~!"

"And perfectly safe gardens the size of a small village don't provide enough of that for you?"

"Exactly!"

She sighed and waved a soapy finger at the boys. "Fine. Pick me up some more peaches, will you? I'll make a cobbler for you kids. But if anything goes wrong, we never had this conversation."

"What conversation?"

"Good boy."

Artemus grinned and turned to the girls. "Well? How bout it. We could show you around the market, at least. That's the most interesting part of the city."

"Sure. Sounds like fun. This castle is getting sort of stuffy anyway. Hey, Milly, could I please have some more stew?" The cat held her bowl out, bouncing up and down a bit from the rush of energy brought on by the meal, her feline features twitching slightly.

"Of course, miss," said Milly, as she took the bowl from Ryli.

"You two, Shadoe and... Ryli, am I correct?" Actaeon said the names as though they brought his mouth great discomfort.

"That's what our parents call us, yes," snapped Ryli with an edge of bitterness, for some reason entirely unable to be civil to the guard-wolf prince. He bugged her and she felt no compulsion to hide her annoyance.

He replied with a low growl, his slate grey eyes narrowing.

"Oh hush, brother. Your names are lovely." Artemus flashed a grin that made Shadoe blush. "But... well since you'll be staying here a while, I believe it would be best to adopt aliases. Milly! You haven't heard a word of this conversation." Artemus winked at her as she brought Ryli back a bowl of stew.

"What conversation, young master?" She feigned innocence, winked back, and returned to her tasks in the kitchen. The castle had several different kitchen areas. This one catered primarily to the prince's needs, considering it was on the same floor as their living quarters and the rooms they most utilized. The main kitchen was near the banquet hall and could produce enough food to feed a ballroom full of guests.

"Well, for now, let's at least give you girls names. We can work out backstories later, but for now, names should be enough. Might as well get used to hearing them." Artemus paused for moment, mumbling softly to himself a few different names. "How about... Mai? That was the name of one of our most favored nurses when we were pups. Though she died when we were young."

"Dibs! It's a single syllable. Short and sweet. Easy to remember." Ryli... No, Mai, set her now empty bowl down on the table.

"Alright then." Artemus gave a thumbs up before patting his twin hard on the back. "Why you being so quiet? You try, Actaeon."

"...Sukka." His tone was blunt and his stone-face had turned to something of a frown.

Artemus frowned now as well, but the fox broke in before he could say something.

"OH! Yah, I like that one. Cus it's cute." Shadoe Sukka shouted through another bite of bread. "Does it have some sort of significance to you guys like 'Mai' does?"

"It means sock." Actaeon stared the girl down before snatching her loaf of bread and chomping a bite off- an irritated, animalistic bite.

There was a long pause, Sukka's hand still suspended in the place where her bread used to be held. "...I like socks."

"..." Artemus tilted his head and shrugged before stealing the bread from his brother and taking a chomp for himself. "Well, let's just grab some light cloaks and a handful of coins and we can be off. You can borrow a cloak of mine, uhm... Sukka." The crown prince pointed towards Actaeon, who was occupied with using his sleeve to wipe crumbs off of his face. "And... He has one that he'll let you use, Mai."

"What? No. I don't want my things smelling like cat." He wrinkled his nose and growled.

"Get over it." Artemus' grin and cute face didn't match his commanding tone. Actaeon growled softly once more before giving up and standing with his arms crossed in an angry manner.

"Hmm, can I do that too?" asked Sukka, hopping down from the table.

Artemus tilted his head. "Do what?"

"Growl. Like he does all the time." Her tail swished in Actaeon's direction. "Don't foxes growl...?"

"Well I can hiss now. I don't see why you couldn't growl," added Mai.

Artemus tossed the girl a wink and a half-grin. "Why don't you give it a try? Just don't make it a habit. We don't need a second growly pup in our bunch."

"Okies, let me try..." After a few quiet attempts, a small dog-like growl escaped her lips. "Ha!" Her tail waved back in forth with excitement and amusement. "Ryli, you try making some kitty sounds! Oh, oops, I mean Mai."

"Okay..." She took a breath and let out an overly loud slightly snarly meow that echoed throughout the room.

"This is awesome!" shouted Sukka. "Being human is so overrated."

Yips, growls, hisses, and meows filled the palace hallways as they walked to the boy's quarters.

Just as the four approached the rooms, Artemus turned to face the distracted girls and howled with an ear-splitting sound, a wavering pitch. The wolf song sounded like it could be heard for miles; the room seemed to open and become brighter at its ring. Mai could see Actaeon's ears rise and fall slightly as the tones shifted through a series of orderless notes. As the howl came to an end, the hall returned to normal and the girls' ears twitched at the silence.

Artemus looked to the pair for approval and was pleased with their grins. Sukka broke into appreciative applause.

"Lucky goose! I mean, sure, growling is cool, but that-"

"That was killer!!" finished Mai.

Artemus put his hands on his hips, and struck a pose, his face wearing a phony "better than you" expression. "Why thank you. No autographs, please." His idol-attitude quickly fell away as his grin took its place. "Now come on, all. We have to hurry and get back before it gets too dark."

Two doors stood side by side, identical in every way. Artemis pushed the closer one open and waved everyone through.

The prince's quarters were large; there was a bedroom off to one side, an open living room, and a door that led to the other brother's room. The sitting area was filled with old, musty maps and books. On tables and the floor sat oddly shaped globes and rolled out scrolls. It smelled something like Dirk's room back at home, with a hint of antique shop and the scent of damp leather.

Actaeon leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, eyes methodically scanning the room for danger, in full guard mode. Sukka hopped over to him.

"Can you do that too?" she asked excitedly, her tail wagging. "Can you howl like that?"

He turned to her and made a face. "... Of course, yes, I can. But there's no need to waste it." Raising his voice, he made sure the other wolf could hear. "For the mere purpose of showing off!"

Artemus gave a small displeased scoff and continued rummaging through his closet.

"Waste it?" The fox tilted her head inquisitively. "What else might it be used for, then?"

"Its like a sort of... homing beacon. With it we can hear each other even if we're miles out of earshot. It allows us to pinpoint the other's location. And it's strictly used for emergencies."

"Well... It's still cool!"

"'Cool?'"

"Yeah 'cool.' Like legit, sweet, the bee's knees, the cat's pajamas...?" Actaeon narrowed his eyes at her. His gaze made her tail stop its wag. "It means I like it," she added after a long pause.

"Hmph." He stalked off and stood moodily against the opposite wall, his eyes closed and jaw set.

Sukka tossed a frown Mai's way. The cat rolled her eyes and muttered back, "It's okay, he's just a jerk-face."

"He sucks..." The fox sat down cross-legged and leaned back, ears laying low.

"Indeed."

She was about add a few more insults when Sukka saw Actaeon's ears move slightly towards their voices. "Uh... I think he can hear us," she said instead.

"I think so too..." Mai cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "HEY!" Sukka jumped, as did Actaeon. Artemus was somewhere deep inside the closet; his happy-go-lucky humming could be heard as he ignored the scene outside. Mai continued, "CAN YOU HEAR US OVER THERE?!"

"YES!" he shouted back. "NOW WOULD YOU FRACK'N SHUT UP?!!! YOU'RE GONNA BREAK EVERY WINDOW IN THE WHOLE KINGDOM WITH YOUR SCREECHING!!"

"YOU SHUT UP, YOU STUPID-FACE!"

"HEY, STOP YELLING YOU TWO!"Artemus' voice came out muffled, but it was obvious in his tone that he was only being loud for the sake of it. He seemed amused, even.

"SO LOUDDD!" shouted Sukka, feeling left out.

Mai let out a snarling, wildcat growl and Actaeon responded with a throaty, rough one. Their eyes, green and gray, met with a glare.

"Are we done acting like feral animals?" Artemus dropped a pair of thin summertime cloaks on the bed. One was deep navy, the other a cinnamon orangish color. He shook out the blue one and handed it to Sukka. "Sorry, it still smells like that bonfire they held in the park last week." He winked and wrapped it around her shoulders for her. "We sneak out a lot." It smelled like smoke and the dark fabric was soft. The fox nuzzled at the well-worn softness happily. Tossing the other cloak over his head and draping it down so it covered most of his tail, Artemus hid his princely identity with a single practiced swoop.

Actaeon huffed and trudged through the door that led to his own room, looking back at the girls suspiciously before slamming the door behind him. He returned and chucked a crimson cloak to Mai. "Don't bother returning it. You reek of feline." She hissed at him and wrapped her lithe form in the material. Actaeon put his own dark forest green cloak on in a movement that mirrored his brother's graceful swoop.

Down several hallways and poorly lit stairwells, the group traveled until they reached a dead end. Artemus tossed a tapestry aside and began feeling along the stones. Mai coughed. The wolf turned just as his hand pressed a stone firmly. A space in the wall gave way and swung open like a door to reveal a passage behind. "Secret exit."

"Oh. Coolio."

All four slipped in and Actaeon closed the wall behind them. After many disorienting twists and turns in pitch black, Artemus stopped short, tracing his fingers along another wall to shove open an even heavier stone door. Fox, cat, and wolves tumbled out of the passageways and Actaeon again shoved the stone back into place with a slight grunt. His hands worked the thick ivy back over the wall and effectively hid any sign of the escape route. Another hidden stone door got them all out of the palace ground's outer walls. From there, all that was left was a quick skip down the path to the city.

The air was crisp and the wind was gentle. Clouds still loomed on the horizon, promising more rain to come; but for now, the sun shone down on castle and castle town alike.

Artemus turned to Sukka and moved to pull her cloak gently over her soft ears, being sure it shadowed her blue eyes. "Wouldn't want that pretty face of yours to attract too much attention and blow our cover, eh?" He grinned at her blush.

After a few silent moments, Actaeon reached and roughly tugged Mai's cloak down and over her eyes. He trotted to the front of the group before the girl's flailing punches could find his face. "... I REALLY HATE YOU!!"

"GOOD!!!"

It was bound to be the least sneaky sneaking out of all time.

VIII. And I Feel Fine

Eye-roll.

Actaeon tugged a bit of the girl's hair, drawing out an objection of a yelp. His impatience was evident in his snarky, sarcastic tone. "Oh, what? Really? You can't manage to decipher the ancient texts of a hidden civilization that exists dimensions apart from your own? So, you're actually quite dull, eh?" He scoffed. "Now shut it. Nobody expects you to get this on your own, you daft cat. If you listened instead of ran your mouth, maybe we'd get somewhere..."

"Play nice, brother." Artemus, seemingly amused, leaned and whispered softly against Shadoe's fuzzy ear as the other two continued fighting like cats and dogs. "It's actually nice to see him like this. You see, not many people can get brother to show his emotions so easily. Isn't it great?"

Shadoe raised her eyebrows. "If you say so..."

Artemus reached across the podium and pulled at his brother's ears, perking them straight up like a German shepherd's. "Back to business?"

The wolf shook his head hard to escape Artemus' hold and let out a snuff of a growl. "...She started it."

"Anyway, yes, this scroll does say something important. This is the first of the two seer scrolls. This prophecy is the not so fun one. There's a lot of fancy and unnecessary words mixed in, but the gist of it says something like... 'Ladida you're all gonna die.'"

"And you're telling me to be serious?" Actaeon glanced up at the skylight and sighed. "Alright then, I've got this one. Something like..." Closing his eyes and taking a breath, he started in, "'When these words are read, understood, the darkness will have already begun gathering ranks in the shadows. The horizon will blacken, the springs will bubble up bloody, no man, woman, child, or creature will be able to run; none will escape. If you fail to heed these words and do not look to the counterpart of this scroll, prepare to be yourself marred by the claws of sin and tragedy that seek to bring an end to the Light.'"

"That's basically it. The rest of that scroll goes on about all the horrible ways we're going to die and suffer. Not exactly pleasant reading."

"So... What does all that have to do with us?" Ryli, her expression skeptical but possibly slightly concerned, stared at the depressing ink letters.

"I told you to listen a while, didn't I? Seer scrolls always come in pairs. It's not like tomorrow is set in stone. Foresight and prophecy can only act as a warning- what someone chooses to do with the glimpse into the future may or may not change the course of things." Actaeon reached to a thin panel on the side of the podium, knocking it with his fist. The rectangular wood piece loosened and fell away, revealing a second tattered looking scroll within. He pulled it out and rolled it open on top of its twin."In the case of seer scrolls, two possibilities of the future are given. These types of prophecies usually only come about concerning huge events. Such as the end of the world as we know it. We're hoping this second scroll has provided us with the key we need to stop the events described in the first scroll from progressing."

"'The seekers will be two of blessed royal blood and beastly being. The wraith. The titan. The found will be two from afar. One with a cool approach to danger, a cold gaze for her adversary, a frigid blade for her opponent. The other with a warm heart to kindle her flame, a fiery passion to fuel the blaze of her destructive force. Stars, Moon, Void, Sun. All four must come together to aid Light, to defeat the darkness that now threatens to smother the land.'"

"Ah..." Shadoe's eyes widened comprehensively. "We're... 'the found,' then...? I don't know about all that other stuff, but we are from afar... And you did find us..."

"Exactly." Artemus' smile lit up his face. "Our instincts helped us find you. And the fact that you two transformed is proof of your resonance with this place. Can you feel it?"

"Mm..." Reaching to scratch one of her triangular ears, Ryli nodded a bit, her bad attitude mellowing. "Well... I'm not sure exactly what I feel, but... I think we can stay a while..."

"You mean...?" Actaeon, who had prepared himself for a further fight, looked between the two girls.

They grinned and replied in unison, "Yup."

"It's no Disneyland, but we could use a vacation." Ryli drew her fingers through her jet-black hair, peering up through the skylight. The sun had gone back to shining.

"Even future world-famous rockstars need a break every now and then." Shadoe shrugged her shoulders.

"Wh-what?! You think this is gonna be a break--?! A 'vacation,' she says...!"

Ryli ignored the wolf. "Well, we'll be intruding on your castle for a while, then! Lucky you."

"Who exactly is lucky...?!" 

"This should be fun!" The crown prince had joined in as well, ignoring his brother in the same way.

Actaeon suddenly wondered if the end of the world could be all that much worse than this.

VII. Library Card?

"Bull-crap!"

Shadoe jumped at Ryli's sudden outburst, her fox ears perking up.

"You kidnap us in the middle of the night, turn us into freaks, and you still expect us to help you?! I seriously doubt we could do anything for you- even if we wanted to. If you're not gonna help us get home, we'll find someone who can." Grabbing Shadoe's hand, Ryli tugged her friend towards the large, rough wooden door- before they could make it there, however, Actaeon leaped and landed in the way of their exit with a heavy thud of his boots. Ryli's ears lowered and she hissed. The involuntary and unusual reaction made her throat tickle; the small cough that followed attempted to relieve her discomfort, with some success.

"We wouldn't have gone through the trouble of finding you if we didn't think we needed you..." His expression was stern. "So let us finish." A flash of lightning lit up the room as Ryli held a staring match with the man for several long moments.

Artemus hurried to his brother's side and with an easygoing smile asked, "Please?"

"... Whatever." Ryli's tail swished as she looked expectantly from one wolf to the other. "Well then? Get to it."

"Alright, I'm on it, I'm on it. Well, my-" Actaeon began only to be promptly interrupted by Shadoe, who was raising her hand politely. "Uhm... Yes?"

"What did the prophecy say exactly?"

Artemus paused and tilted his head slightly. "Would you like to see it for yourself?"

Shadoe failed to notice Ryli's annoyed scoff and made the decision herself. "Sure!"

The princes led them down flights of stairs, through large halls with towering ceilings, and past countless doors, all outfitted with varying handles and hinges. Expensive, showy vases full of bright, exotic flowers sat on nearly every table they passed. Artemus reached for a particularly pretty flower as he walked by, and with a goofy flourish and bow, he presented the bloom to Shadoe. She smiled and twirled it between her fingers, falling into step with the young prince and listening as he pointed out portraits and antiques along their route. Artemus glanced back at the silent pair behind him and tossed his brother a grin. Actaeon rolled his eyes and inched even further away from the girl that was walking at his side.

The journey ended at a massive set of double doors. The surface of each was black, inlaid with silver markings. Artemus flung the doors open dramatically and with a gesture, directed them through. The room was at least twice the size of the girls' entire house back home. Shelves stretched from wall to wall, all filled with scrolls and ancient looking leather-bound books. Rain beat against the high, domed cieling that covered it all.

"Whoa." The two outsiders stared up in mutual amazement.

Actaeon sighed and waved a hand dissmissively. "Quite an architectural feat, indeed. Our father actually designed this addition. Not to mention it holds the largest single privately-owned collection of manuscripts in the country."

"Yes, yes, come along, let's find the scroll." Artemus trotted on ahead excitedly.

He led them up a spiral staircase to a set-apart room. A skylight provided the small space with natural light, and the downpour could be heard and seen as it hit the glass. Artemus grabbed Shadoe's hand and pulled her to a podium that was set in the very middle of the room. "Welcome to our personal study. And this here... Is what we've been studying." The prince gingerly unrolled the scroll and lay it out flat. The faded ink was difficult to make sense of- not to mention the letters were foreign, alien-looking, to the girls.

Ryli raised an eyebrow and squinted a bit. "... And these scribbles say something important...?"

VI. Prognosticus

The storm provided atmosphere for the tale.

Wind howled through the courtyard and thunder rolled along the hills. Shadoe and Ryli sat side by side on the bed, Shadoe with her knees to her chest, tail wrapped around her, Ryli with her ears twitching at each flash of lightning that lit up the sky outside. The summer storm had come without warning, taking the sun away and laying siege on the castle.

Artemus started with the story, the occasional flashes causing his tall shadow to grow and fill the room along with his excited, rich voice. "Around half a century ago, during the reign of our father's father, there was a temple discovered in the western forests."

"Two hundred years before that, a great war had torn the country apart. Elle's westernmost region is now nearly deserted, mostly wild, rugged territory. That's because at the close of the war, the nation was divided- to the west lies Agratheon. We remain Elle. The strip of land along both sides of the border is no longer populated."

"Shush., brother, you interrupted."

"Hm."

"Well, as he said, the westernmost border is only forests, mountains, deserts, the zone between the two nations left mostly alone to avoid conflict. It's not rare for ancient artifacts and ruins to be discovered in these areas. And, around two hundred years after the civil war, somebody discovered the temple. Stained glass windows with the colors all shattered about... Stone pillars at the brink of collapse... It's almost strange that it took so long to be discovered. It's practically in our backyard." Artemus glanced out the window and pointed into the treeline that began at the edge of the tall outer walls. The tops of the evergreens where whipping back and forth with the wind. "In there, only about a days walk or so. But the forests are sort of like a maze and sometimes strange things happen in there. "

"While it would seem inconvenient for Elle's capital to be so close to the potential danger of the unpopulated zone, when the countries were one, this same capital was the center of it all. So the capital remains where it has always been, the center of our world." Actaeon sat on the windowsill, stretching his long legs out along it.

"That's right. From the other side of the castle, you can see the city stretching out eastward. We'll take you there sometime! It's great. Food everywhere. People everywhere. Shiny things and good smells and lots of noise..." Artemus' tail wagged excitedly for a moment until he remembered he was telling a story. "Well, in the forest temple was found a set of scrolls, rolled up inside two identical rusted cases. There's no telling what sort of treasure the temple had held before, because it seems it had been raided and looted over time, possibly even right after the western collapse or during the war. It's lucky the scrolls survived and also lucky they weren't lost to some petty thief. Because on the old paper was written the destiny of Elle."

Actaeon watched lightning strike at the hills and, before he spoke, waited for an end to the peal of thunder that followed a couple of seconds after the flash. "It turns out that the pair of writings was actually a set of 'Seer Scrolls.' Prophecy used to be much more common than it is in modern Elle. Some say it's for lack of necessity- that we shape our own destinies. Some say it's for lack of faith. You can't trust most psychics and fortune-tellers, particularly if they work for money. They have a tendency to simply say what they think you want to hear. The scrolls discovered in the abandoned temple, however are pretty ancient. And they definately don't say anything that anyone would want to hear."

"Artemus is good with languages. We have the same teachers, but it's always come more easily to him. It seems he's just naturally inclined to that sort of thing; I suppose that's good, for a future king."Actaeon shrugged and traced a shape into the spot of fog his breath had created on the window pane. "Up until a year ago, the scrolls had been stored away, they had been forgotten, and the contents went unexplored. My brother and I started looking them over for nothing more than practice. We have open access to the library here, where plenty of old, discarded books and scrolls are kept. Though the scrolls had some tears and missing parts, we were eventually able to more or less translate the majority. By the end of summer, we realized it wasn't just a religous book or a family tree or anything typical like that."

"Because the scrolls were in a virtually dead language, it was difficult to translate the full meaning, but... From what we can tell, our kingdom is heading towards destruction."

"And you two... Seem to be the only way we can stop that 'The End' from coming true."

do do do, its a filler!

You are but a leaf that blows in the mind of the zebra that stands in the Wendy's parking lot. Much like ourselves we are caught in the purse of lies that your mother puts us in.

HOSH.

once again we are trapped in the never ending spinning of the pin-wheel, but once the child gets bored and the never ending comes to an end, we will all die. but not i, for i have 14 lives left.

Now drink of your Icee in remembrance of the, use your VCR, lend your Devils Wares Prada CD to thy neighbor, and steal it back in the dead of night for the giraffe speaks fondly of this.

"oosk nata naro ca ta destra boosk choosta ockuba!"

This bursting aerobics not only increses the stretchiness of your collective arms collectively, but your thighs will become like rocks, lacking of jiggle. And not only will we pancake his neighbors house but when the sun shines we will shine together, i told you I'd be here forever said I'll always be your friend took a oath gonna stick it out till the end now its raining more then ever, told you we'd still have each other you can stand under my umbrella, you can stand under my umbrella elle ella eh eh eh.

But if the kidney can win, and it can. I will be back to high five you, last week.



Peace.


translation- "the unicorn is getting married."

V. Blinding

Her ears twitched as she stirred restlessly in sleep.

Ryli woke with a start and shot into a sitting position, the quick movement causing her vision to blur and the drumbeat in her head to pound all the harder. She glanced around; the room was dark, its ceilings were high. She could see a tiny beam of light sneaking in through the curtains of the large window at the wall. Getting up and walking slowly to the heavy drapery, she flung the thick fabric aside, only to be assaulted by the blindingly bright daylight that proceeded to crash into the room.

After blinking several times and adjusting to the light, she looked back over the large room. It was simple- all grey stone with several soft rugs, a tall wooden door, and two other big windows along the wall. A pair of sturdy-looking beds were set against the wall directly across from the windows. In the bed next to the one she herself had turned into a disheveled mess was a sight that managed to somewhat relieve her. Shadoe lay curled in a ball beneath the blankets, and after dashing quickly to her friend's side, Ryli shook the other's shoulder. "Shadoe, wake up! we have to get ou-"

Shadoe uncurled stiffly, putting a hand to her temple and squinting up at her friend. "You..."

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"You sort of have animal ears on your head..."

"Wha- Well, so do you!"

"What...?!"

At the same time, their hands flew to the top of their heads, patting at their hair and new ears.

"Ohhhh!" yelled Ryli.

"Ohhhhhh!" yelled Shadoe in echo. Neither of them were really sure what else to do. Most people wouldn't know what to do if they gained some sort of strange, unexplained mutation overnight. High school just doesn't give training for that sort of thing.

Shadoe had just taken a breath and started to gain perspective when she saw something flick behind Ryli. "Uhmm... Don't yell again... But... What is that?!"

Ryli spun around in a tight little circle, looked behind her, and saw what appeared to be a cat tail. She grabbed at it and stared at it for an uncomprehending moment. Its soft fur had puffed up in her agitation; it reminded her of that stray kitten Dirk had brought home a year ago. The poor thing had taken to hiding beneath the couch whenever the band practiced, its fur all on end as the group ran through the loudest songs, where the drums shook the windows and occasionally annoyed the neighbors.

"Oh my god..." But as Shadoe got out of bed, Ryli's eyes widened. "Hey, hey, you have one too!"

Shadoe screamed first this time, grabbed at her fluffy tail, and held it tightly. She loosened her grip a bit, as the tighter hold had sent a sharp sensation through her nerves.

There was a soft noise as the door swung open on its hinges. The pair froze as two young men walked in. One of them stopped short at the door, his eyebrows knit together and ears laying low down against his long hair, as if he couldn't bear to step in any further. The other wagged his own bushy tail, and with one push off from his powerful legs, he leaped and landed a foot away from the two girls- the two flinched, but held their ground.

Both boys were tall and fit looking. The one that had hung back had an uncomfortable look on his face, but the tail-wagging one wore a small grin that revealed a set of sharp canine teeth.

He tilted his head to the side, and with a mock frowny face that only disturbed his smile for a moment, he whimpered, "We leave your side for hardly five minutes and that's when you decide to finally wake up?"

Shadoe blushed at the stranger's smothering familiar attitude and his proximity to her face. He seemed to be examining her and she thought she could hear him murmur something like "Huh... They are blue..." In that same moment, she managed to realize she was in nothing more than boxers and an undershirt, as was Ryli. And beneath the eyes of two somewhat handsome and also slightly odd guys, she felt fairly exposed.

"Uh... Who are you...?" Ryli, seemingly unphased by her own state of dress, frowned at both of the intruders.

"And where the heck are our clothes?" Shadoe crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh, you see, my brother is a bit of a perve--"

"Don't listen to him!" The cranky one jumped closer, shoving the other, presumably his brother, aside. "I had one of the servants take care of that. Your clothes. Now you can pick out something less... conspicuous..." His grey eyes glanced out the window, searching for anything else to look at than the girls that apparently caused him a large amount of unrest.

"Conspicuous...? Well, yah, we were in pajamas, but does it get any more conspicuous than fox ears or cat tails?" Ryli scoffed, her aforementioned tail flicking back and forth. "How bout you explain some things first?"

Shadoe leaned towards her friend and whispered, "You sure we can't get some of these clothes they were talking about...?"

"Oh cmon."

IV. Siblings and Sleeping Beauties

"Are they alive...?"

"They had better be. I'm not quite sure, but I don't think there are any sacrifices foretold in the prophecy."

A shuffling of feet, more soft, deep murmurs... Ryli sat up quickly, a dizzying disorientation possessing her form as she did so. Weird dreams... She wondered if somebody had slipped something into her drink at the gig the night before... Something was definately wrong...

"Oh look. Gmorning, there."

"Who is it...?" She couldn't open her eyes. She had flickered them open for just a moment a second ago and was still seeing spots. "What's going on...?" Her brain tried to pick apart where she was, what she was doing there. She didn't have answers to either question, hardly had an answer to two plus two.

She fell asleep again, the pounding against her skull an inescapable and violent lullaby.

_______________________________

Artemus furrowed his brows, tail stopping its wag. The pair still refused to regain consciousness enough to carry on a conversation. He had never been one for patience. "Will they be okay?"

"... Probably." Actaeon shrugged after staring at the limp bodies a moment longer. "Maybe the change was too much for them? Human bodies tend to be awfully weak and humans in general seem to be rather resistant to change and slow to adaptation."

"Huh..." Artemus scratched at his head and looked the two over again. One, the one that had called him names, had attained her true form in the shape of a fox- a humanoid body like his own, with a pair of soft, black-tipped ears, and a bushy black-tipped tail. Her fur, her hair, was a light brownish-red, smooth and velvety. The other girl was distinctly feline, still with a humanoid form, but with an added pair of triangular ears and a long, sleek tail. They would be confused when they woke up, probably.

Actaeon made a little aggitated growling noise and sniffed at the air. "They smell strange and human and despite their physical changes, it's obvious they don't belong here... Someone will find them out, if they don't get out of those... Earth things... and into something more fitting for Elle." He gestured to the clothes the girls wore, his nose wrinkling with distaste.

"You could always do it yourself. Get them into something fitting, I mean."

Actaeon's quick bark was defensive, his ears laying low and oddly enough, his cheeks going just a bit pink. "I meant that they need to wake up so they can change themselves." Though Artemus knew exactly what his brother had meant, he enjoyed teasingly exploiting and prodding at his brother's one weakness: females. What were siblings for, if not teasing and poking fun?

"Oh, okay then." Artemus grinned. His brother's ears perked up as he realized his twin had been trying to get a reaction like that on purpose.

"You're an idiot prince, you know that."

"I'm not the one who's so easy to fool. For a stone-faced guard, you're all too easy to undermine."

"Hmph..."

III. Rabbit Hole

1:23.

Ryli continued watching the digital clock on her bed side table; she always enjoyed viewing the magical moment the numbers all lined up. Across the room she could hear faint music coming from Shadoe's ear buds. The other girl had fallen asleep listening to her iPod, nothing out of the ordinary. Ryli sighed as she reached for her own iPod, and after selecting a soft play list she was finally able to drift off to sleep.

 _______________________________

Shadoe woke in a haze, her half-awake mind moving slowly, scattered. She could remember... She had been listening to her iPod. But she could no longer hear it. "The ear things must have fallen out..." she thought.

She tried moving her arm so she could find the headphones, but she couldn't move. She tried moving her legs; they wouldn't move either. Her blankets felt tight. Really tight. Like she had been wrapped in a giant burrito. Like that giant burrito was being held tight and carried away at a high speed.

Fully awake now, Shadoe could hear the wind howling loudly as it rushed by. They were moving fast- much faster then any human could run.

Ryli squirmed and wiggled but could not get free of her own blankets.

"RYLI!" Shadoe tried to yell over the roaring of the wind.

"Shadoe?!" Ryli's reply was almost lost to the air that flew past them.

"What's going on!? Who are you?!" Shadoe squirmed some more, fighting against the grip of the captor that held so tightly to the blanket-burrito.

"Ah, they're awake now," said a voice that easily overcame the wind with its deep, strong tone.

"Hold on, we're almost there," said a similar, but somehow different voice.

After what must have only been a few seconds, they stopped and were gently placed on the ground. The sound of earth being rappidly tossed about and scratched at filled the night.

Shadoe couldn't see what was happening, but fell to screaming insults, currently unable to move anything but her mouth. "You dirt faces! I hope you get hit with a semi-truck! Let us go or I'll hunt down and eat. Your. First. Born. CHILD!!!" She spoke the last few words with threatening, solid singularity.

A slight scoff of a chuckle. "Well, that's no way to speak to a king."

"King? King of what?! King of the dirt-faced, truck-squished, and first-born-childless?!' yelled Ryli

"Nice." Shadoe appreciated the play off of her own insults. Ryli echoed a "thank you."

The two then heard what sounded like a low growl. "Oh, hush." said one to the other, as the digging finally stopped. The girls were both picked up once again; the blankets had loosened a little bit. As they were tossed into what resembled a giant rabbit hole, Shadoe managed to poke her head out to just catch sight of the two figures, the kidnappers, jumping in the hole after them.

There was the sensation of falling as everything went black...

II. Howling

It was a hollow sound, the chorus of notes hit by a multitude of mutts.

With a slam, Shadoe shut the back doors of the van, the noise just barely heard amidst the barking of riled up neighborhood dogs. She yawned and peered down the street, unsure what could be disturbing every pup on the block. There was no evidence of a reason for the uproar.

"Hey, you two coming in?" A call from the porch caught her attention and she glanced around for her friend, to spot Ryli staring up at the sky. Corran called something again and Shadoe reached to grab the other girl's arm, tug her out of the trance. At the touch, Ryli jumped and her consciousness crashed back down to Earth.

"What's up...?"

"I dunno..."

"Hey, you two! I'm gonna lock you out!"

Ryli shook her head clear and yelled a response. "Shut up! You're bugging all the dogs in the city with your obnoxious voice!"

The barking and howling quieted to whimpers soon enough.

_______________________________

"I told you to be more careful. Your scent is all over the place."

The (surprisingly) elder brother tossed an apologetic grin to his twin. "Kings like to make their presence known."

"Whatever..." Actaeon growled softly in his throat and tossed the hood back over the crown prince's head of dark hair. "And stop with that annoying tail-swishing."

Artemus' bushy tail just kept wagging, despite the warning. His ears perked up at a noise down the road. His silver eyes saw her an instant after he heard her, and his tail-swishing only picked up tempo. "There, Actaeon. We've found them!" He slipped back around the corner at a tug on his cloak and turned, only to see his brother's light grey eyes glaring down at him.

"There are other people there, brother. We have to take the two and also keep mortals out of this business. Don't get your tail in a twist and go trotting out to greet the humans like some overeager pet." Actaeon glanced up at the stars. "We still time left until daylight..."

Artemus reached up and patted his guardian's, his "younger" sibling's head. "Sorry, Actaeon. Stop worrying, alright?"

"Get off..." Actaeon shook his head quickly, knocking his brother's hand away. His ears lay low, an annoyed little snarl coming from somewhere in his chest, but his body grew slightly less tense.

They couldn't fail, right? They were princes of Elle. They would not go home without obtaining what they had come for.



I. And In The Dark I Can Hear Your Heartbeat

The air was warm and heavy and smelled like summer city nights.

Ryli paused her thinking and took in a deep breath of the familiar scent. It was going to be another good summer, best friends side by side, walking home beneath the sky of endless stars that constantly combatted the bright lights of civilization.

"Well then, what'd you think of tonight?" Shadoe glanced over at her companion, the streetlight illuminating the cheery expression on her face. She slipped her hands out of her pockets and ran her fingers through her hair. Tilting her head up, she caught sight of a full moon that seemed to be continuing its eternal battle against both the lights made by man and the lights set into the sky by God. 

"It was fine, aside from..." She paused. A flash of silver that slinked around the corner just ahead of them caught her eye; but it was gone before her gaze could catch it again, nothing more than a trick of the light. "Mm..."

"It was fine, aside from....?"

"Ah, right. Dirk's drum solo was..."

"Yah. I thought so too."

"I know, right?"

The pair laughed as they rounded the corner. The van was already at the front of the house and she could hear the voices of their bandmates even before she spotted them on the porch. Shadoe dug in her bag for the key as Ryli closed the gate behind them.

"Took you two long enough! We still have to load all the stuff out of the van."

"And I'm hungryyy."

"Quiet, quiet. I forgot I had the key."

"You could have just ridden in the old wagon with us." Corran snatched the key from his friend's hand and unlocked the door, calling an "I'm home!" to nobody in particular. "Speaking of the wagon. You two get to take care of that. While Dirk and I call for a pizza."

The boys rushed inside before anybody could put forth an objection, and as the porchlight flickered on after they had slammed the door, Ryli shrugged. "No big deal. Cor might find his bass pushing up daisies in the front flowerbed tomorrow, though."

"I'd be a fan of that plan, if it didn't endanger the band's future as the most epic, famous, chart-topping group in history."

"Good point." Ryli grinned and swung open the back doors of the rusty, paint-chipped van. "I could just shave one of his eyebrows off while he's sleeping?"

The pair laughed again, still on the adrenaline-induced high of a gig-well-done. As they lugged the instruments and cords and equipment into the little two-story house, the silver glint slinked about several more corners, unnoticed.