Copyright 1990 by Bill Grobe / Anime Pro Productions. All rights reserved. Skiltaire Copyright 1982 Mark Merlino The use, reproduction and redistribution of this work in any medium or by any means, including electronic media or means, except in current unaltered form is STICTLY PROHIBITED without the express written consent of the Author and of Anime Pro Productions. Any other use or presentation of this work and the material presented shall be treated as COPYRIGHT INFRINGMENT and shall be answered by the author within the fullest extent of the Law and International Copyright Conventions. Belching Dragon: Ryokyo Lyons Internet: rstone@mirror.umd.edu FURRYMUCK--138.74.0.10 8888 "Roci_Stone" B. Grobe 215 E. Orangethorpe Ave. #183, Fullerton, CA, 92633, USA (714) 871-2544 (Voice/data) C O N C O R D A T CHAPTER ONE: CRISIS Night had touched their hilltop home, but to alert Skiltaire ears, not all was peaceful. Shyia walked from her post in the Great Hall toward her wing of Ogawa Castle. The main door was open, and in the larger room next to hers Shyia could see a light shining from beneath the bamboo door. She walked casually toward the second shoji, thinking it odd that Bill-San would be up so late. Shyia smiled, thinking the withdrawn Human had finally gathered the courage to ask help with the problem he had buried within him for so long. Shyia tried to appear nonchalant as she walked up to the door, standing close enough to cast a shadow against it. The arboreal Skiltaire felt a familliar mind on the other side of the door... But then Shyia stopped, for she felt another, stronger wave of thought touch her mind. Bill was in the midst of his deepest sorrow! She had known her lifemate's teacher and friend a long while, but had never felt so strong or so dark a feeling from the intense Human. Sensing a note of surprise and urgency, she slid back her door. "Good Eve to..." Her usual greeting was cut off by the sight of Bill-San sprawled out on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably! Gently, Shyia walked over to the convulsing body, spread herself across Bill's back, and gave him a soft hug as her head dropped close to his ear. "Whatever shadow hath touched thee, my Dear Bill... Speak it now that I might give aid to thee.." "I--Can't..." Bill answered, his voice choked off by tears and fear. "Bill-San..." Shyia began. "Bill-San is DEAD... And I wish that I could be too!" The Human's words came edged with fear and self loathing so profound that even Shyia found them momentarily daunting. She sensed that these were the first drops in a torrent of bitter water that had welled in the Human's soul. She realized it best to let the flow continue rather than try to swim upstream. "Why?" asked Shyia simply. "I'm no good to anyone... Nothing I thought I could do matters anymore... Hell, I can't even be furry!" Shyia knew better than anyfurry what her Human brother had come through to be made a member of their Pride, and what his soul felt once freed of his limited body. Bill's statements of surrender and abandonment frightened Shyia nearly as much as they did the Human who made them. "Do not loose thyself, my poor Pridemate... Wherein have ye gone to discover within thyself such pain?" Shyia asked, probing gently. Bill rolled over onto his side, to look at the beautiful female Skiltaire through swollen eyes, red with hours of anguish. "If I'm not who or what I thought I was... Oh Shyia... Please tell me who in the hell I am... Please..." Bill's startling supplications struck at Shyia's heart and stimulated her mind. For over a year, she had thought she felt a change in Bill-San, but always too subtle and personal a thing for her to mention. Outwardly, since their return from Kurusha, Bill had seemed reborn in the energy that he had shared with everyfurry at her lifemating with Ryokyo. Bill-San's health and well being had been restored, and the Human seemed to have become as animated and full of life as any of his Pridemates. "Is it we then who have done ye harm, Bill-San?" Shyia asked. Amid his sorrow and self pity, a look of terror crossed Bill's face. "NO... No... Never...!" Bill answered quickly in a state of near panic. The Human reached out trying to cradle Shyia in his arms. She went more than willingly, almost throwing herself around his neck, hugging him firmly to try to squeeze the pain out of him. She reached out and ran a sympathetic paw across his forehead before Bill went on. "You've set me free... all of you... I love you all so much... and I'm so scared..." "Whatever fear seeks you, we can fight together... Be ye naught afraid..." "Even if it's myself I fear?" Bill asked quietly. Bill could see the glint of light in Shyia's gem-like sapphire eyes. Deep within herself, she found a moment of understanding. "I lost myself, found all of you, and now I've lost myself again!" Bill said fearfully. "I'm not sure I know who I am anymore. Does that mean I loose all of you too?" Shyia could tell from the rising fear in Bill's voice that the Human had come to deadly grips with what had terrified him so deeply. "Is it so that ye have lost yourself, or have thee found thyself and seek to run away once again?" Shyia asked incisively. The cool logic of the question had the desired effect. More than anything, Shyia sensed that Bill-San needed an anchor, a rock to grab in the middle of the river of fear that threatened to sweep him away. She saw the look on Bill's face change. Only then did Shyia dare a tentative smile. "I--I guess... Oh... I just don't know anymore..." Bill said, trying for the first time to cope with all that he felt. *But soft, my Brother...* Shyia sent softly. Bill sat up on his elbows and let Shyia sit lightly on his chest, where she had slept so often. The gift of Psionics had been one of so many gifts that Bill had received at the Lifemating of his first two Pridemates. Now, if he wished, the Human could touch any of his Pridemates with the same surpassing ease as the Skiltaire lady knew and loved so well. In this moment of crisis, this gift would prove its value beyond price. "Wilt thou share thine mind with me, my Brother?" Shyia asked the formal question aloud as a courtesy. Before she reached her last spoken word, Bill's response echoed weakly in her active mind. *I am yours, my sweet Silvered Lady.* Bill's send was on a tight, narrow beam that drew nearly all the energy from his tired, worried mind. Shyia felt his energy wane, and moved to accommodate him. She padded gently up his chest, her weight and his fatigue combining to lay him flat on the floor again. Shyia reached out and put her dainty cocoa-hued paws to Bill's temples. The bridge between them was built of a single thought, shared and multiplied as their communication deepened. Their minds became extensions of one another. Shyia's vastly superior telepathic power gave her control over the flowing confusion of images that poured across the thought link at her from Bill's sub-conscious mind. The arboreal Skiltaire felt her entire body warm as she tapped the reservoir of emotional energy that came with the images of Bill's life with his furry Pridemates. Yet, as time repealed itself within the motion of his thoughts and memories, Shyia could feel something entirely different. Beyond the pool from which Bill had learned to draw his life energy, She felt a cold, clammy feeling sweep over her. Shyia had seen combat many times. She knew this sensation. And then, in a moment, an icy, cool moment, she understood what threatened to consume her Human soulmate. Shyia had felt many thoughts and emotions, from tens and thousands of other beings, alien and familliar. There was a universality to the stark, grey-black feeling. It felt like its cousin, death, but was worse because this feeling could and would torture it's victim all through life. For a moment, Shyia had difficulty accepting what she thought she felt. With all of the Pride so much a part of him, it was difficult to imagine Bill-San as being lonely--but the miserable, empty coldness that crept over him had no other name. And now, it threatened to impose a living death sentence upon him. Shyia steeled herself against its bite as some part of Bill's feelings fought to keep her away from his pain. Bill and Shyia consciously combined to push their merged thoughts beyond the onyx darkness that had eaten its cancerous way into his being. Bill was afraid, but Shyia used her strength to sustain both as they plunged deeper into the darkness. For the Skiltaire knew better than most that the seeds of darkness lay somewhere deep inside itself. If Bill-San were ever to know light again, they had to breach the blackness. Her gentle but uncompromising probe of Bill's thoughts touched another cold, almost metallic presence as she groped with him through the darkness. Shyia paused, linking again with Bill so that they could pass through whatever barrier lay ahead. Shyia felt Bill's thought energy rally, swirling up from the dark mists like a beam of sunlight through a dusty attic window. Shyia helped her Human friend focus all their energy against the obstacle that lay ahead, cloaked in the dark of loneliness. Within the light of feelings, Shyia could now see the obstruction she could feel just as well. The thought beam from their combined being touched the wall gently, almost benignly. There was no sound, but in the mirror of their thoughts Shyia and Bill could see a small piece of the seemingly boundless, dark grey wall dissolve into the swirling cold mist that surrounded it. All of their combined will had struck the wall like a laser beam, and broken from it a piece only as large as a sugar cube! Suddenly, Bill's mind felt Shyia waver, her thought impulses flagging dangerously! Feeling the amplitude of her modulation wane, it was Bill who found himself fighting to extract both himself and the Skiltaire he loved from his own darkness! For the human, it was as if he had plunged his hand into electrically charged ice water! It tore at him like a thousand knives, each cutting deeper than the one before it. They sought not to rend his flesh, but to dismember his mind and tear apart their combining! He focused all of his remaining energy into one mighty heave against the adhesive blackness. Together in the space and time, the Human felt his body convulse, wrenching and tearing every fibre of him as surely as he felt his puny bones snap!! After a moment of unequalled suffering, Bill forced his eyes open, to see Shyia sprawled out on top of him, her fur and his skin both soaked with clammy human sweat! Bill tried to suck air into his lungs to fight the pain, but his chest and ribs racked him with pain that made pleurisy seem pleasant. The Human gasped, drawing in small breaths to conquer the agony. Bill looked up at Shyia's limp, exhausted form and was filled with momentary panic until her eyes fluttered open weakly. His hands found strength to wrap around her gently as she lay on top of him, totally spent. They lay dead still for twenty minutes, neither having the power to send to the other. But there was no disguising what Shyia had attempted to do, and Bill knew it. As he lay with her in the midst of a silent cry, he realized for the first time in his life that maybe... just maybe... someone cared... Bill felt Shyia's active and energetic mind spark again, begin to rally. Two hours passed before Bill felt a familliar probe touch his thoughts. His own leapt out to grab it, using all of his restored energy to guide Shyia's thoughts to him. "Thank You, My Sweet Shyia..." Bill praised her gently aloud, his exhausted mind too weak to send his thoughts to her. *I did nothing, My poor lonely one. I sought to break through thine pain and did nearly end us both. I have done you hurt, and I am sorry. I grieve with thee, my poor Bill-San.* Shyia sent her thoughts on a beam of energy that was strong and deep. "I love you, Shyia-Kun..." Bill said, his words coming on a whisper. *I have naught the power to aid ye, my Bill-San. For this barrier is of your own craftsmanship and only ye may topple it.* Shyia sent, her thoughts full of regret and sorrow. "Have I no resource? Can no one help me?" *As such as ye have built these walls, so must the means to breach them be within you, even as we all are within you, my Dearest Bill-San.* Shyia thought at him softly, her soft sapphire eyes filling with tears. "Where must I go? What... How?" Bill's questions turned from fear to panic as something inside him felt himself being left alone again. "Ye must seek within thyself. Therein shall ye find all that ye shall need." Shyia said aloud. "Rest now, as I and the Pride rest with ye. We are ever near to thee and will abandon ye not. Rest now, and bring the light of thyself to bear against the darkness. I can say naught more." Shyia spread her exhausted body across Bill, hugging herself close to her Human soulmate as both allowed sleep to take them away from fear and regret. CHAPTER TWO: ENVOY Bill awoke from a fitful and seemingly dreamless sleep with a throbbing headache. He still wore the same coveralls, damp and icky from cold sweat. Shyia was gone, but he felt no special concern. The mere thinking of her name filled the Human with a warm, effervescent feeling-- the same one he always got when he thought of his Pridemates. It was a pleasure next to the whining, pinched off sensation his body hit him with a moment later. He figured his cut rate body had double crossed him again during the night. Using his newly discovered psionic gifts usually left him feeling good. So good, he thought to himself, he could almost pass for being furry. Ah, what the heck... He'd get a shot of neuro-stabilizer from Sandi right after breakfast, he thought to himself. He rolled over on the thick tapestry that covered the floor, forcing his body to move. /Breakfast.../ he thought. /Now there's an idea... If I don't hurry, I'm going to be--/ Bill's rambling train of thought came to a screeching halt, de-railing itself into a thousand pieces! His optic nerves seemed to throttle his brain, grabbing it by the visual cortex and strangling his momentary disbelief with a wonderful sight! The form laying atop the futon next to him was a cool steel grey with a brilliant orange-red stripe. The slumbering Skiltaire was, Bill noted somewhat strangely, very male and seemed to be the picture of fluid grace as he flipped easily onto his back, exposing himself and his snow white undercoat to Bill's eyes! His body was on the lean side, shorter than Shyia, but with heavier muscles layered beneath a thicker, somewhat more unruly coat. Looking down at the meter long mustelid, stretched out now in open and vulnerable contentment, the digits of his jet black paws curling with satisfaction, Bill felt his mouth go sandy dry. "W-wow!" said Bill in a shout of delight crushed into a soft whisper by a sudden impulse not to disturb whoever this was. After all, common courtesy, even to strangers, was a well-learned Kurushani custom. Thinking the name of his adopted race switched on the analytical side of Bill's mind, as it always did. He turned off a strange burst from his hormones and gently put this new stranger under his microscope. /Kurushani?/ Had to be... Even asleep, Bill could feel his mind. There was no mistake. /Male? That's obvious.../ Bill thought to himself. /Now,/ Bill thought to himself, /comes the sticky part... Savage?/ he wondered. The build was right, slightly stocky, yet strong and... Bill was slightly ashamed to think the word of a sleeping stranger, but nubile was the word that Shyia had used herself in their first cultural survey, and it fit well... Bill found himself thinking like a doctor and sounding to himself like a medical examiner. His body was well-developed, heavy, thick, symmetrical musculature throughout... All outward signs testified the young Skiltaire as being a member of the slightly more than wild branch of the Kurushani family's racial tree. Bill hesitated to try sending to him, remembering the unpleasant and nearly fatal jolt that an uninvited probe of a Savage Kurushani had gotten him the first and only time he was rude enough to try it. There was one other never-fail test. Savages ate a cruder form of protein as a result of their wilderness diet. It had the positive effect of layering in faster and stronger muscles than their civilized brothers, but they paid for the extra strength in the price of the smooth sleekness of coat and manner that the "Civilized" Kurushani had taken as a hallmark. One slight touch of the stiffer guard hairs on his thick fur would be enough to tell... Bill reached out gently, risking the considerable voltage that might reward his curiosity. Touching the underfur would not do. The difference in texture was obvious to the eye but not enough to prove it. He reached a finger toward the two-tone boundary in the male's coat. Touching no more than a fingertip to the slightly ruffed guardfur was all Bill needed. His visitor's fur felt more like a wolverine's than Shyia's sabline coat. His fingers risked pressing a bit harder, and the thickened, stiffer bristles of the Skiltaire's coat resisted his touch, just as nature intended! /YES!!/ Bill thought to himself on a sudden spear of excitement. This handsome fellow was savage, through and through, and it showed!! "Bill-San..." an even, strong, and slightly accented voice said softly. "If you want to play, use the strength in those hands, neh?" Bill looked up suddenly to find himself under the riveting gaze of a pair of hazel eyes flecked with green. Bill pulled back his hand as if he'd taken a full charge, though not one ampere of current had been passed between them. "What's wrong? Go ahead! I will not break!" The Skiltaire objected, a slightly hurt look in his bright eyes. "But... Sir..." Bill began, trying not to loose it all at once. "You're a perfect stranger..." Bill replied, sounding like a proper British prude, and not liking it at all. He looked at the Skiltaire with unabashed wonder in his eyes as his mind told him that he was both awake and aware of what he never dreamed he would see!! "Nofurry is perfect, and the stranger the better!" He shot back with a fast wink. Even Bill managed to crack an easy smile. The look on Bill's face asked three and four questions all at once. The Skiltaire's smile broadened. "I arrived late last night, and took the first warm, dark place I could find... Sorry to violate your territory." Their was a bright, self-confidant tone in his voice that Bill had heard somewhere before. Something in the Human's guts also told him to trust what he felt and heard. "Warm, dark places..." Bill began to say. "The best kind..." The male Skiltaire finished almost second natured. He noticed the man giving him an odd look. "If you do not want to frisk me... I want a shower and brushing... Have you a towel? I have my brush..." Before he let it fall to the futon, the mustelid visitor reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a tortice-shell brush with stiff black bristles. He let it fall on top of his pouch. His unexpected guest locked his paws behind his handsome head, giving his body a sharp and brawny flex before walking nonchalantly into the bathroom. Bill gave a low, two toned wolf whistle. The Skiltaire trotted around the edge of the door frame, wearing nothing but his natural coat. "Speak!" The Skiltaire retorted in perfict Astreli Kurushani. "How are you named?" Bill asked, phrasing the question in nearly flawless native Kurushani of his own. "Shyia tells me to ask you..." was the intimately phrased familiar response, also sent in Kurushani to Bill's mind as well as his ears. The words were phrased with the ultimatly intimate form of "you" that the Kurushani normally reserved for mated lovers or friends who had chosen to have their spirits bonded. It was an awful affront for a stanger to presume such a thing, and the Kurushani Human let his surprise and momentary anger show in both posture and native words. "Ki malushita??" Bill responded aloud, his tone challenging the brassy strangers use of the most intimate form of address in their common language. For a long moment, they stood locked in each others eyes, on the sudden edge of a fight neither one wanted. The Skiltaire bowed shortly, never taking his eyes from the Man. As his head lowered, he spoke. "Ki kiritamasta, neh?" asked the visitor respectfully asking permission to place their relationship on another footing. His head came up, proud and defiant, asking what manners required, but never showing regret or weakness to his potential foe. Bill smiled. Whoever he was, this one had a soul of iron with a brass coating, as the Kurushani Proverb said. Deep inside himself, Bill seemed to remember suddenly, so did the Human within him. "Fine... One SOB to another... Ki takashata!" Bill answered, mixing English and familliar Kurushani with a symbolically deeper bow than his planetmate, a sign of trust and friendship. "You wish to join me? Perhaps between conditioner and towel, You will remember my name." He took the loop of towel from around his thick neck and tossed it at Bill in playful invitation. The ball of towel bounced lightly off of Bill's crotch before he plucked it out of the air and sent it sailing back to his new friend in the same motion. The Human's toss was slightly high, and the towel nearly sailed over the Skiltaire's head. Bill watched the fluid motion with envy as the mustelid gathered and leapt into the air with ease to snatch the ball of cloth! The male's invitation came as something of a shock. Years of training in his Japanese homeland had stripped him of any notion of false modesty. Yet as Bill stood across the room looking at his strange guest, there was something slightly wild and magnetic that urged Bill to accept. Instantly, Bill felt the icy coldness of the wall again, and fear snuffed out the man's wish to accept. "No... That's alright..." said Bill, switching back to Kanda Japanese. Something else inside him said the Skiltaire would understand without problems. The Male Skiltaire's reaction look was one of wide open and true disappointment! "Very well..." he answered sadly, trudging off toward the bathroom like a six year old told to wash before bed. Bill watched in the mirror on his dresser as the sleek savage walked away, his lean yet hard body rippling gently as he moved. Bill looked away from the sight, shaking his head gently. Some part of him scolded himself for being some type of perverse peeping tom. As the screen to the wash room slid closed, Bill diverted his attention to his morning prayers and the Tai Chi that had become automatic. His forms were still sharp and serene, despite the vast power of the energy that flowed into a tranquil river within his being as he moved. He undressed now, more fully focused and more at peace with himself after the terrors of the night before... Yet, the night seemed to have yielded something much different than the cold ocean of fear. Bill's thoughts turned back to his strange and somehow familliar friend who bathed beneath the misting water jets of the jacuzzi-type bath. His shared being with his Pridemates had never diminished his almost child-like fascination with his Mates in fur. Yet, when he first saw the splendid Skiltaire lying above the covers next to him, Bill could not ignore the fact that he had felt something most extraordinary. Shyia and Ryokyo had slept with him before, and in relaxed positions of such open and innocent intimacy that it might have caused a normal to have a coronary. But for some reason, the sight of... /Roci.../ Bill thought and rethought the first word and name that had flowed along the river of his mind... /Roci... Roci Stone.../ Bill almost dismissed it as a joke in bad taste, but when he reconsidered the words that seemed to rise from somewhere deep inside him, Bill felt that warm, familliar feeling once again. It fit somehow, for the Savage Skiltaire had begun to exhibit signs of the well sculpted from that marked the Savages devotion to things physical rather than mental. Bill knew better than anyone that this choice didn't condemn the wilder Kurushani to being slow-witted or dull. Quite the opposite was often true. There were those who chose to renounce the opening of their distant and sacred Homeworld to strangers. Bill knew that this had been a great leap forward in technological and social structures, but along with "civilization" had come its curses as well. While the vast majority of the populace had maintained their pure Bushido Philosophy while choosing to become a wider part of the other spacefareing worlds, a small cadre of dedicated Kurushani separated themselves from the march of history. Their isolation extended to all things and newer ways. Their ferocious adherence to their unique way of life had few parallels in history. They became a powerhouse unto themselves, convincing others from time to time to renounce the "corruption" of their poor deceived brothers, and return to the Way of the wild and pure life, unspoiled by advanced technology. Their wishes had been granted splendidly, creating an absolutely fearless, driven portion of their populace, renowned for their physical and psionic skills and their perfection of a rugged, simple, and proud self-reliance. Dependant upon no one but themselves, and owing allegiance to none save the Chosen Khan of Kurusha. Ryokyo's half Savage parentage had melded incomparable strength into his sword of the Soul, leaving Bill a superlative example of what Savage heritage could mean to the fortunate few Kurushani who shared it. Bill's mind worked to co-mingle the many beautifully fluid and graceful moves of the Skiltaire with the incredible, sometimes raw power that a Savage could command. The result made even the adopted Kurushani Human shudder slightly. As he sat on the futon, waiting his turn in his now shared bathroom, he recalled a story from the Kurushani legendaria that told of hundreds of Savages banding together to attack ten and twenty times their number during the dark war of invasion. While most of their number would fall to superior weaponry, the constant and ruthless Savage attacks would shatter the enemie's morale again and again, rendering them hapless fodder for the others who would follow their relentless charges. The hiss of the water sounded inviting. Bill decided that he was being... overcautious. He scooped up another towel from the drawer and took a step toward the bathroom. As he opened the door, the spray that hit his face was bracing and cold, just the way he liked it! One of the Human's simplest adjustments to life among the Kurushani was their customary love of bathing in the icy cold streams that flowed from their mountaintops. The Human had surprised his adopted people by being not only the first one in, but the one without fur who could stay the longest in the chill currents, splashing and playing as if he had been born there! Bill padded over to the shower enclosure and tapped gently on the fibreglass door. Through it he could make out the moving shape under the water spray. A voice rose over the misters. "I wondered when you would overcome your inhibitions... Come, I need someone to wash my back." Bill smiled. He'd often done the same for others in Kukura. He braced for the splash, and stepped inside. Roci stood to one side, applying dabs of conditioning gel from a tube to his thick chest fur. He looked over at Bill and smiled. "You are lucky. This mixture is more complicated than soap." Bill had watched Shyia use a similar concoction. Once worked into the coat and the skin beneath it, unique cleaners worked to clean and soften even the Savage's rougher coat. Roci reached up and grabbed a mid-height shower head, directing a blast of icy water at the seemingly unprepared Human! Instead, Bill cupped his hands quickly in front of him, forming a scoop that shot the stream of water back at it's sender! The surprised look on Roci's muzzle curled Bill into a tight, laughing ball on the shower stall floor. With a playful chirp, Roci made a lunging dive at the Human. Beyond simple play, the movement disclosed the lightning quickness and fluid strength that came with a Savage's passion for wrestling! Bill was enjoying the sight so much that he barely resisted as Roci looped around his neck, sliding below and behind the human to lock his arms at the elbows in a stern but gentle grip! Bill might have been able to break free, testing his arm and shoulder strength against his mock attacker. But all thoughts of escape fled his mind quickly as Roci pressed his sleek but strong body close to his willing captive. "Now for a real cleaning!" Roci whispered gently as he pressed his short but handsome muzzle close to Bill's ear. That same muzzle slid slightly lower a moment later and Roci tested his strong jaws and teeth on Bill's stacked neck and shoulder muscles! Still holding tight behind the Human, Roci smiled as he heard Bill's breath catch and hold, then a long, soft exhale. The male Skiltaire felt the Human's body relax, and Roci laid him down gently on the tile floor, beneath a trio of jets that splashed bracing water all over him and his Human friend. Without a word, he stepped boldly over Bill's head and face to stand on his chest. The Skiltaire reached over to pick up the bar soap from the ledge. He paused a moment, looking over the length of Bill's slippery body with a practiced eye before wetting the soap lightly with a spray of cool water. "This will be a bigger job than I thought..." said Roci with a sly smile, as he soaped his forelimbs back to the shoulders. He waited a moment, turning to study Bill's eyes. In them he found a soft mixture of wonder and the gentle light of trust. With a broader smile, he turned back to his slippery task at paw, and dove to it gently, as if it was his life's calling. With his first touches, Roci felt Bill entire body become completely relaxed and fluid. Even his heavily knotted leg muscles gave up their struggle against gravity under Roci's gentle paws... "Chirp...!" Bill said in soft native praise and thanks as his body and mind followed a natural impulse to surrender to light sleep in spite of the cold water... CHAPTER THREE: BREAKFAST MEETING Bill awoke warm, dry, and totally relaxed! Beneath the multiple layers of cotton sheets and down comforter on the futon, Bill could feel another wider area of warmth pressed close to his waist. Bill lifted the edge of the covers gently to look. He was in his customary state of undress. He felt open, secure and comfortable. Instinct was the first to allay his suspicions. Roci lay sprawled out next to him, his large, somewhat sqareish head laying on Bill's stomach! The Skiltaire's incredibly sensitive paws wrapped themselves gently around his waist. The smooth, innocent intent of his touch filled Bill with a pleasure that the Human had not felt in a long time. /Far too long./ he thought to himself as he looked down sweetly at the Skiltaire next to him. Far beyond any sexual experience, Roci's gift of openness reached inside the Human and, for a moment, Bill felt that same warmth fill some small, far away part of himself. It seemed to radiate outward, relaxing him the same way Roci's massage had relaxed his tension. He laid down again, slowly, quietly and gently, not wanting to disturb Roci for all the stars! Before he slid back into the best sleep of his weary life, Bill dropped a hand gently to Roci's head and neck. As he let his strong fingers work gently through his rough coat and into the thick layers of muscle, Roci stirred, ever so gently. "Chirp...!" the Skiltaire intoned softly, sending as much as saying it, and snuggling even closer to Bill beneath the covers! Bill lay back on his pillow dizzy and happy until sleep gently closed his eyes again. Bill awoke slowly some time later. Like most Kurushani, Bill no longer needed a watch, but relied on the light, shadow and his instincts to tell him it was a few minutes past noon. His first impulse was to leap out of bed and race downstairs to his waiting duties. But all thoughts of that fled as he swept back the covers and looked for a moment at the contented ball of Skiltaire that lay snuggled close beside him! There was just something about Roci... Some indescribably soft, gentle feeling that touched profoundly as he looked at him. The Human hand moved forward gently, but the impulse to stroke Roci gently sublimed into a better idea as the Human spied the Skiltaire's brush laying bristles up on the small bedside table. Bill looked from the brush to Roci slowly, a slight smile spreading across the human face! Bill's first reach for the brush was across his body, just out of fingertip reach. He swore to himself none too gently and dropped back into bed next to the Skiltaire. Then, he thought of something. Again he reached across his body to let his fingers linger in the air above the night-table. But this time, he thought, things would be different. It came to him somehow, much easier than expected. No spikes, no body draining surges, nothing so cornball. Just a slow, steady, fluid feeling that came up from somewhere inside him. He looked at Roci's brush and let the flowing sensation extend his fingers. The brush twitched, as if someone had brought a magnet near a compass needle. /No,/ Bill thought to himself, /I want the brush./ It moved again, grudgingly, and suddenly Bill could feel the mass of the brush in his hand, even though his eyes told him it was still on the table. The brush lifted a bit and floated across the three inch gap, and dropped lightly into the Human's palm! Bill allowed himself a brief and somewhat Savage smile of accomplishment. The decision to undergo the Will activation had been the key to opening the door to himself and his Kurushani nature. Using his Activated Will was rare enough these days. Considering Sandi's gift had almost killed him while it gave him birth, this use didn't seem at all that unique. But as he slid the brush onto his cupped palm and looked at Roci, he decided it was worth it after all! He peeled back the blanket and top sheet. Roci was deep asleep, and the change of air made him stretch a bit, his paws opening wider, his tightly wound body becoming more relaxed. The Human took the flexible brush and began using it to best advantage to groom Roci's stripe as he slept. His touch was light, barely enough to disturb his rough guardfur. "Chirp!" Roci piped up contentedly. He rolled over on all fours, his head still down on his paws. "Harder, and a bit to the right..." Roci whispered with a sleepy smile. Bill complied, pressing the thick, black bristles deeper into his friend's fur. On his fingers, Bill felt the change in Roci's coat as the brush stokes deepened. The conditioner had done it's work, cleaning and separating the layers of fur, adding luster to the thick coat. The brush served to untangle and add air to the mass of fur, forming and contouring it to Roci's well cut-up form. Roci needed no prompting to move freely beneath the bristles, and as Bill brushed, it became an exercise in fluid motion and smooth action. Roci moved with a corkscrew style which exposed each of his fur groups to Bill's steady, even strokes. When his top coat was done, Roci looped over, exposing his thick snow white underfur to the bristles. Bill paused, an uncertain look on his face. Roci's eyes were gleaming. "Anything wrong?" Bill asked. "I never did Shyia's undercoat." "I am not Shyia, Bill-San." "She's beautiful and you're..." Bill let his statement drop, unsure which word he felt ought to be the one to say. "Go ahead... I trust you, Bill-San..." Roci whispered softly. "Just Bill, Roci... Just Bill..." he answered. Bill took his non-brush hand and slid it into the Savages chest fur, working his fingers open and closed slowly, enjoying the depth and smoothness of fur that now nearly hid his large hand. "Handsome..." Bill finished his complement with one word, but from it's tone, Roci could tell that Bill meant something beyond that. Roci smiled. "Arigato, Bill-San!" The Skiltaire's unique black paws showed their unusual strength as Roci took hold of Bill's wrist, and guided it slowly down his lean, well-defined body. "Go ahead, Bill, enjoy... I said I trust you, and I will not break..." Bill moved his free hand, allowing the flexi-brush to drop to the bed. Bill's massaging hands worked their way down his chest to Roci's ribs. The human was surprised to hear the male Savage laugh slightly! Bill made a quick mental note, hoping it would be for later use. Roci was ticklish! Among their people, it was a loss of face. It told Bill gently how far Roci had lowered his inhibitions, even those that were supposed to go to the core of what he was! Roci made a brief show of resistance, but it lasted only a moment before Roci was twisting and turning smoothly under Bill's stroking hands! For Bill, it began as play, became an anatomy lesson, and dissolved into a free for all romp, with the Human and Skiltaire rolling on the bed in a good-natured but challenging test of dexterity, stamina, and controlled strength! Bill had wrestled Shyia often in the training dojo. The female Skiltaire had a strength-to-weight ratio nearly as good as Ryokyo's. It had taken Shyia less then ten seconds to plaster Bill to the mat as if he'd taken root there. He knew the strength that Skiltaire could tap if needed. He locked up with Roci expecting to feel as if he'd been hit by a grav-tank. His new friend didn't weigh as much, but what he lacked in body mass he redoubled in agility and strength. Roci could have blasted him across the room with a streak of natural lighting, but he had no reason or need to use his potential. Roci slipped behind him, locking his paws around his Human victim's waist. Fifty kilos of gently aggressive mustelid changed Bill's center of gravity, and he toppled gently to the bed. Roci took hold of Bill's arm, pinning it behind his back and forcing the human to flip forward onto his front if he wanted to keep his arm. Roci's technique was so polished that his opponent's chance to counter came and went in heartbeat. Roci rode up Bill's back, pressed hard against him as he fell over. Roci spun around quickly, pinning Bill's reversed wrist between his shoulder blades, while his strong hind legs clamped around his head and neck. Taking advantage of superior position, Roci applied just a bit of pressure, using his body strength against Bill's shoulder and elbow. Rather than feeling pain, Bill began howling with laughter! His pinned hand flopped weakly as a sign of submission to Roci's advanced skill. Roci gave up his body lock, slipping down to nibble gently on Bill's fingers before releasing his laughing foe. "God, I expected a battleship... and I got a PT boat... Fast, light, and stronger than he looks...!" Bill gasped between panted breaths from a heaving chest. Roci blushed. "Shyia taught me from the time I could walk. I love to wrestle." Bill was now convinced that his friend was a kindred spirit. "Never been so... close... to a male of the species... Are you about average?" "What do you think?" "Never happen..." Bill answered spontaneously. "You're a champ..." "You are getting the right idea, Bill..." Roci said easily. As the Skiltaire flopped back onto the bed, Bill held back from his voice the thought of how attractive he thought the Skiltaire was. As he rolled over, Bill caught sight of his friend's hindquarters. He didn't mean to look, but Roci was so wonderfully erect that Bill couldn't help but notice. As Roci put on his belt and collar, He heard Bill's voice almost whisper... "Roci..." he said breathlessly, "You excite me... so much..." "CHIRP!!" Roci said, turning around quickly. "So it is true!" Roci paused, looking oddly at Bill. He stood up on his hind feet, stretching out to full length, before settling into a pose that sent a ripple through his body. His physique responded beautifully, and a slight shift in his stance gave Bill full view of the wild Male Skiltaire! Roci watched Bill's eyes. His pupils widened as his gaze shifted focus. He heard Bill's breathing change at the same time. Roci locked his paws behind his head, and let a snap flex show off his chest, ribs and the base of his tail... Bill couldn't hold it back anymore. He growled softly. To another Savage, the tone of the throaty chest-deep sound was, in that context, a cherished complement! Roci held the pose long enough for Bill to see all he wanted, then his lean body relaxed. Roci trotted over to Bill, who dropped to the bed, forming an instant lap for Roci the same way he'd done so often for Shyia. He snuggled down easily into Bill's lap, falling backward into his arms, into the cradle position that left his underside open the Human touch. He also reached up and put his forepaws gently on Bill's cheekbones, a sign of his absolute trust in the Man. Roci looked up at his Human friend through misty hazel eyes. "What's wrong, Roci-San?" Bill asked. "If I... made you... uncomfortable... I'm sorry. I was only thinking about myself..." Roci wrapped his paws around Bill's neck and gave him a soft but utterly compelling hug. "You could never make me uncomfortable, Bill-San... No more so than you make yourself." Roci whispered gently as his hug deepened. "Is this what's been hurting you so much?" Roci asked gently, proving that Shyia wasn't the only one with a keen insight when it was needed. "But..." Bill began... "Oh... it's... There's more..." Bill said, still struggling to dam up what some part of him said he wasn't supposed to feel... "It is all right..." Roci spoke gently, his soft words taking the edge from the hard pain that ran so deeply through the Human and into himself as well. "This one of the reasons I have come... I am here to stay... If you wish it." Bill wrapped his arms around Roci and broke down in tears!! "It is no shame... Let it out... My poor Bill-San... Why did you hold it in so long?" Roci asked, lapping gently at Bill's cheeks as his tears fell. "Can I help you, Bill...?" "Oh... You already have..." said Bill gently, sitting up and trying to look cool again. Roci knew better and so did Bill. "Perhaps you would walk with me?" Roci asked. "I would see the land that you dwell upon." he said. "And I am HUNGRY!! Remember, We have the metabolism of a Skiltaire!" Roci said lightly. Bill smiled broadly. Roci didn't know that the estate was planted with many native Kurushani fruit trees, and hybrids of a few of the indigenous nuts and grain stalks that formed the core of a Savage diet. Roci would get breakfast, all right. Once outside, the pair forgot the well-manicured paths around the grounds. Roci seemed almost the perfect picture of a wild thing as he loped easily ahead by a stride or two, but always waiting for Bill to catch up with him. Bill ambled toward a familliar grove of trees. He watched Roci closely as the light breeze carried the scent windward from the edge of the woods. Roci stopped dead in his tracks and looked ahead, his eyes shining. "Wild Dates!!" Roci said excited and zipped ahead, leaving Bill laughing at his friend's childlike surprise! Roci seemed to have come at the right time in more ways than one, for the prized fruit's season was only a few short weeks in late summer. After the torrid weeks just past, the semi-tropical tree had yielded a huge crop, which hung in heavy brown bunches from the frond bearing trees. They looked none too appetizing, unless you had the wisdom to peel back the leathery brown skin and expose the pod that lay underneath. Standing yards distant, Bill felt his mouth water, remembering the maple sweet taste of the dates! Suddenly, he wanted a handful as eagerly as his friend. He raced after Roci, following the thin trail through the tall grass that led into the grove. Beyond the grass, the ground changed. The twenty-meter trees had a shallow root system, fitting their semiarid habitat. They were planted in shallow sand pits, drawing water from the air via evaporation from the broad area of their leaves. Bill came to the edge of the first miniature oasis, he saw a sight that to an animator's eyes was the purest form of art, nearly as sweet in its way as the fruit at the top of the tree. Roci's flying leap came in a single motion, without pause in his stride. It was as if some unseen giant had picked up the wiry mustelid and sailed him over his head toward the top of the tree! In reality, Bill knew that Roci's leap had come from legs stronger pound for pound than a frog's, developed almost from the moment the newborn Skiltaire could walk. Tradition dictated a nearly relentless physical development program that gifted the Savages with a zest for life and the strength to go out and wrestle the best away from it! He walked forward slowly, feeling woefully inadequate but smiling as he watched the nonchalant manner in Roci's climb. The tree was nearly a big around as a barrel, but the grip of Roci's limbs was stronger in scale than his Human hands! Bill also knew that the leap and climb was another form of his friend's easy exhibitionism. Roci's activated Will could let him sit casually at the base of the tree and knock down individual dates if he wanted to, including entire fifteen pound bunches of the fruit. But the Savage way was the physical way, so the leap and climb came as much out of pure pleasure as ingrained habit. The Human stood back at the base of the tree, shading his eyes with his hands as he watched Roci work the tree for it's sweet prize. Bill had used many a silvery moonlit night to climb the trees in the cool air and chop out the hanging bundles of fruit. The first time on Kurusha, he'd taken a pocketknife. The next time, he'd preferred a carbide saw blade! The stalks for each bunch were as thick as Bill's wrists, and tougher than the husk on the fruit. Bill watched almost jealously as Roci snapped the stems with an easy bite. It was a graphic reminder of what the mustelid race could do, and equal reason never to tempt their wrath. Rather than let his prize fall to the soft sand below, Roci held it by the shortened stem while beginning a fluid backward climb down the tree. Less that a quarter minute later, Roci met Bill at the base of the tree with a bunch of fruit nearly twice his size. "These will be very sweet..." he said, picking one of the brownish-cast fruits from near the bottom of the bunch. Roci turned it over easily in his paws, running his claw along the natural seam in the husk. The tough outer cover fell to the ground. He held the soft heart of the fruit out to Bill. The Human took the slightly sticky seed with a bow. Bill was about to take a bite when he stopped short and offered the date back to Roci. He reached up, extending his body and took the fruit from Bill's fingers with a gentle nibble! Bill reached down a bit, running his fingers under Roci's chin as the Skiltaire ate with visible relish. Roci stopped chewing and looked at Bill oddly. "You..." he began slowly, expectorating the pit "...are all sticky!" he said with an unusual tone in his voice. Roci reached down and took Bill's fingers gently in an iron grip! Using his lower center of gravity, Roci flipped Bill judo style to the soft grass at the edge of the sand! the man's practiced tuck and roll prevented injury, but did nothing to reduce the shock value of the surprise attack! Roci moved with his victim as he sailed through the air to land softly. The Savage used the instant that it took Bill to react to hop gently onto the man's chest! Roci reached down and took hold of Bill's sticky fingers, looking at them for a long moment... Something primal filled Bill's mind with the picture of Roci biting through the date stalks... He almost wanted to pull his hand away. With a short growl, the wild male brought the fingers and hand close to his muzzle--and began licking them with tongue stokes so gentle, they tickled! Bill gave in to gentle, deep laughter as Roci cleaned and groomed his large hand, alternately licking between the fingers and nibbling on them gently over their entire length! By the time that Roci pressed Bill's clean hand back to his chest, the Human was turning bright cherry red, both with laughter and a touch of embarrassment over what he'd let his mind think for a split second before! "That is better!" Roci said. "I do not like sticky." he added, switching to Kurushani. "OH REALLY!" The Human interjected, grabbing Roci around the rib cage and rolling over in a smooth motion that pinned the startled Skiltaire to the lush grass! Bill looked down at Roci with eyes that flashed gentle fire. "Churp!!" said the Skiltaire, betraying the slightest hint of vulnerability, and showing his trust in Bill's gentleness, all in one sound. "You don't like sticky... But I like YOU..." Bill said in soft English. He held Roci's forelegs pinned against his body. It would have been no test at all for the Savage to escape... If he wanted to... Bill lowered his head slightly, using it to raise Roci's chin as he moved upward. His underfur did show signs of the dark, sticky juice that came from the fruit... Roci could scarcely believe what he felt the next moment as the Human's tongue swept gently through his coat! Slow, serene strokes that groomed the thick white throat fur, leaving it clean and dry! "CHURP!!" Roci trilled softly, sliding his forepaws out of the Human's grip and wrapping them gently around Bill's neck as his mustelid body tingled gently all over. Roci squirmed a bit until his hind legs were free as well, trying his best to wrap them gently around the man's waist, as Bill continued to nibble on him, working down his chest from his neck... After a minute or two, the thickness of the fur forced the Human to come up for another breath. He looked over Roci's broad, fluffy chest and saw his head rolling limply from side to side in the soft grass as he trilled softly with pleasure! "CHURP?" The Human inquired, trying his best to emulate his friend's natural expression. Bill rolled to one side, leaving Roci laying on his side next to him in the green grass. "Still hungry?" Bill asked in Kurushani. Roci rolled over slowly, his head still hazy, and made a grab for the bunch of dates. He rolled back again, leaving the bunch of fruit between himself and his Human friend. They looked at each other through the gaps in the bunch of dates, each knowing full well that it might well take hours to finish all of the sticky fruit! They trotted out of the oasis together as the sun signaled late afternoon. Bill was worried. "Maybe we'd better head back... The others will worry..." Bill said. "No they won't..." Roci replied casually. "Shyia took everyone into another part of the House. They will await us there." He added. "We can join them after..." "After what?" Bill asked with a sudden sharpness to his voice. "After we become together, Bill-San..." Roci responded in the same tone. "Shyia said we needed the time alone..." Bill's face mingled hurt with confusion. Roci softened both his posture and tone of voice. "You give every bit of yourself to your Pridemates..." Roci stopped at Bill's feet, stretching upward, his posture asking to be picked up. Bill did, without a second thought. "Can you spare no part of yourself to share with You?" Roci asked seriously. "Will you try something with me, Bill-San?" Roci asked as he settled comfortably in Bill's arms. Bill just nodded, unsure what to say. "Imagine Yourself... Furry..." "ME????" Bill asked, amazed. "What do you fear, Mister Animator? Can you not do it?" Roci half taunted. "I can..." Bill's sharp rebuke broke in mid sentence. Roci could tell from the distant expression on the Human's face that he had tried. The sharp spear of pain he felt from the Man at almost the same instant told the Skiltaire that his friend had also failed! "Aw C'mon... It's silly..." Bill covered up quickly. "You all know how furry I am when you're around me." he said, submerging his latest and most painful failure. "It is not the same thing, is it?" Roci asked gently. Roci locked his hazel eyes with the Man. He would brook no more lying, or his task would be impossible! "IS IT...?" Roci pushed hard and fast, just like Shyia had said he would have to do. Bill stopped, and put Roci down. The man walked ahead a few paces, pretending not to hear the painful question. Roci Stone was never one to give up easily. Especially not now, with so much at stake. "HALT!!" He thundered in commanding Kurushani. The tone of voice alone was enough to petrify the Man where he stood. "You will answer me!" he ordered. Bill paused for a moment, began to turn and respond, but after a moment shook his head and walked away. Bill's pace quickened with each step, becoming a full stride as he ran, fleeing from his hurt with every step he took, and condemning himself with his silence. "You are still building the wall, Damn you!" Roci shouted, bursting into tears of anger and frustration as he raced after Bill, who was now at a dead run away from himself. By the time Roci caught up with his human friend, his Savage anger was in full flow. There was only one way to get Bill to listen. So mote it be...! Roci cut in sharply, darting between Bill's feet. The charge carried only a fraction of an ampere, but at enough voltage to knock down an ox. It sent Bill sprawling nearly twenty meters away into the neatly manicured grass! Roci looked on in horror and hurt as Bill rolled over, convulsed and then lay still. Roci raced along the ground faster than he'd ever run before. Before Bill could draw two shallow breaths, Roci was at his side. He took Bill gently by the front of his coveralls and patted him gently on the cheek, until his eyes fluttered open. The first sight the Human saw was a prismatic view of Roci's tear-stained but smiling muzzle. "No..." Bill said distantly, reaching up and clapping a hand over Roci's shoulder. "It isn't the same... Remind me never to piss you off..." Bill added as his eyes focused again. Roci smiled, a bit embarrassed. "That is the first time I have ever done that in anger. Forgive me, Bill..." he asked quietly. Roci kept his shoulder wedged under the human's hand until Bill got to his knees. His body still shook slightly. As he regained his footing, Bill noticed that white smoke curled around the bottom of his coverall legs, near his shoes. Bill patted them out casually. "Will you come with me, Roci-San? I need to talk... with you..." Bill asked as he scooped Roci up again gently, and walked up the path toward the teahouse... CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLAVE After about one hundred meters, the white pebbled path divided in two at an ancient plum tree. Bill put Roci down, and the pair exchanged deep bows. Bill allowed his guest to precede him up the path past the pond. Bill paused at the waterfall and let the sound of the water cascading off the moss-covered stones clear his soul of the turbulence in his mind. Roci leapt easily over the segmented stones and waited for his host. Roci could hear the soft Buddhist invocation that hummed like the trickling stream. Bill's bow and hand clap signaled the start of a ceremony more ancient than their adopted Homeworld, yet having equal weight in both cultures. The Human fell into casual step with the Skiltaire, leading him to a small culvert in the rock where water from the falls kept a small stone basin filled with cool water. Roci stopped and the pair exchanged bows once more. Roci raised his forelegs, and Bill took a small scoop and slowly trickled water over Roci's jet black paws. Bill uncovered an earthenware bowl with elaborate slowness, taking out a clean piece of white cotton cloth. He snapped it out sharply, showing both sides to Roci and receiving a nod before he folded it into a loose triangle. He offered it to his guest with a face down bow, before using it to dry off Roci's paws. His paws clean and dry, guest and host reversed roles, and Roci displyed remarkably fluid grace as the Savage washed the Human's large hands in the time honored manner. Body and spirits clean, the pair turned and walked across the segmented stone walkway that led into the teahouse. Bill ushered Roci inside with a bow, and then paused to remove his shoes before entering himself. The interior of the ceremonial room was purposely austere. The tatami and surrounding walls were all a soft white or natural bamboo color. Against the far wall, there was a simple teak wood frame bearing a hand brushed kanji that signified tranquility. The only furniture was a small table for two guests and a teapot. A pair of white silk cushions waited on opposite sides of the table. Bill bowed Roci to the table and let his honored guest choose his seat. Roci returned the bow, and chose the right side, away from the door, somehow knowing Bill's preference for the left. Once Roci was both seated and comfortable, Bill fired up the brazier. He opened a special compartment beneath it, selecting three of the well aged pieces of sugi to build and light the tea fire. Using slow movements with the yard long matches, the wood seemed to spark by itself, giving the dancing flames animation all their own. Soon, the small room was filled with a pleasant warmth against the slightly cooler sunset. The Human bowed to the fire, turned and bowed to Roci, and then rose slowly to bring out the teapot. Bill opened a small compartment below the wall kanji, and lovingly took out his special teapot. He made a head bow to the ancient meaning that the pot held. He held it slightly above his head, then he knelt at his seat and put the teapot on the small table. Slow, rhythmic movements were the key as the Man removed the lid, turning it slowly in his hand, so his guest could admire the craftsmanship of more than four centuries past. Roci paid homage to the teapot, the craftsman, and his host by bowing low with his eyes cast down. When he rose again, Bill bowed his gratitude, and rose again to bring water, his guest having accepted the invitation to try the pot. The water for the ceremony was as important as the vessel. There was a small trough of bamboo built into the wall of the small house, built-in near the small firepit. It opened with the lifting of a small stone cap, and allowed a silver stream of water to fill the antique tea container. Roci was permitted to watch the progression of ceremonial movements, and as Bill placed the teapot on the brazier with a slow, gentle, but sweeping movement, Roci thanked him with a bow. But the Human's role as host wasn't yet half done. Making the tea was only half of the ancient rite's purpose. The other, equally important aspect was the attention to the appointments that the invited guest would use, and to his comfort and peace of mind. Bill turned and reached slowly into the compartment again. He brought out a tray and a set of cups. He set them gracefully on the table between his guest and himself. Roci's eyes sparkled. Bill reached down and brought up another white cotton triangle. This one he folded in half lengthwise, and with a practiced, methodical slowness, he turned each cup in his hand, wiping the inside of the cup free of any offending dust which might have violated the air tight compartment or his guest's sensibilities. He plucked up the other cup, refolding the cloth to a clean surface, even though the cloth showed no trace at all of anything save it's own pristine whiteness. This cup he turned slowly in his fingers, allowing his guest to see and admire the artistry worked into the four hundred year old cups that were brother and sister to the teapot. Each cup was small and slightly round, in a green earth tone, with relief calligraphy on both sides. One Kanji meant peace, the second was friendship. Both of the cups were alike, and Bill held them out to Roci. He indicated his choice with a simple gesture, and Bill bowed again before setting the cup on the table in fron his guest. Now came the tea. An herb as ancient as the ceremony, but as unique in its way as the non-Earthlings that performed it. Bill turned again to the cabinet, bringing out a large brown block with a texture more like tobacco than tea. Coarse-ground and heavily aromatic, it's peppery scent filled the still air within the teahouse. Bill used a small bamboo stick to break off the corner of the block and carry it across the table to Roci's chosen cup. Pausing for a ceremonial bow of approval from the Skiltaire before popping the tea into the cup and tapping the stick on the side of the cup, to be sure his guest received the full measure of the herb. The Human then repeated the action, being sure to give himself slightly less than his guest. Once both had their portion of tea, Bill pardoned himself with a bow and turned to the brazier to bring the heated water to the table. He set the venerated pot down on it's ordained place on the old tray. Both guest and host bowed to the gift of the water, each sharing the unspoken hope that the tea ceremony would bring peace and understanding between them that would flow, like the water, from one soul to the other. Bill picked up the teapot and, with a motion as fluid as the liquid that poured from it, cascaded the water into Roci's cup. But the Savage Skiltaire knew better than to drink before his host performed the final act of hospitality. Bill took a whisk from the compartment cut into the table. It was done with a flourish, so as to show the brush, like mixing tool, to be suitable to the honored occasion, and fit for the use of both guest and host. Roci bowed again to the brush as Bill set it gently into Roci's cup. The Human took the cup in his left hand, rotating it slowly to the left with his fingers, as the right-handed brush turned slowly the opposite way. The counter-mixing motion signified the meeting and mixing of yin and yang into one whole being. The stirring was done in full view of the guest, so that the meaning of the thought and symbolic action could be seen, felt, and understood. As Roci bowed his thanks, Bill could see the wild male's eyes mist with tears. Bill offered the teacup to Roci with an eyes-down bow of supplication. With quivering paws, Roci accepted it, setting it gently on the table between them. Then, the Skiltaire took the cup, lifting it slightly and giving the cup a third of a turn each of the three times Roci picked it up. As Bill watched the handsome male accept his symbolic gift and all of the meaning behind it, his throat closed with a lump. Roci picked up the turned teacup, and drank a full, slow draught from the ancient stoneware cup. The length and depth of his taste of tea went far beyond his obligation as a guest. Roci knew the legend that said the longer and deeper the drink was, so much deeper would the relationship be. Bill watched in disbelief and wonder as Roci sipped the cup dry, bending far back to bring the last drop of the bark tea to his muzzle. As Roci set the cup back on the tray gently, no trace of tea remained at all. Bill's Zen discipline fled from him. Some small voice told him that there was no shame in what the Human dared to feel. He could trust what he felt about Roci and himself in turn, for in the same instant, Bill acknowledged that they were one and the same. Bill looked at Roci and saw him looking back across the table. Roci bowed with a smile and made a fluid leap, to be scooped up and embraced in Bill's arms a moment later. They looked at each other, and themselves, and for the first time they knew had to be done. In an instant, they were there. But as Bill stood again in the awful, cold shadow cast by something he could not see, but was there nonetheless. As the Man the sought out the prison that he had built, he realized that there was... someone else beside him this time. There was a small, bright flame that seemed to burn somewhere within him that held back the clammy fingers of fear that imprisoned his mind. The icy, swirling mist hovered near, but they could not touch him! Bill was still trying to figure out why, when another feeling altogether made him turn from the misty scene. Bill and Roci took a single step forward together. In the light of the same fire that held back the mist, both could see the wall... They stood still for a moment, one within the other, and looked solemnly at the stark barrier made of hurt, pain, and loneliness. The sight made Roci sick. Not with pity, as Bill had been given all these years as an antidote, but with a wild Savage rage, so profound it shook his soul to the very root of Bill's being. Both found themselves charging as one toward the immovable, impenetrable darkness that chained them. Within their shared ears, each could hear the others roar of Savage rage. They met it together, roaring for themselves and everyone beyond the wall that Bill had ever loved. Human hands and paws became one powerful entity as they tore at the cold, grey stones. They seemed to melt with curious ease, passing away into the mist as they were touched with something beyond feeling. Bit by bit, a single block at a time, the wall that had cost them all so much melted and ran away from them, just as the icy mists seemed to recede from both of them. So profound was their rage that they barely felt the pain within them change as slowly as part of the wall before them collapsed. The rebellion against their own chains became a labor of resolution in the same instant. For as some stones past away while others remained, both could sense there were others on the other side of the wall... Others that they knew... After a single moment, the wall stood before both of them, breached by them as surely as it had been built by them. From beyond its limits, they could feel a familiar calling... There was no sound, no great, crashing moment of sound and noise, only a shared moment of quiet peace and knowing where they must walk next together. Bill felt Roci in his arms again as both walked through the breach in their wall! The space beyond it was somehow familliar and somehow alien. They felt no fear... only strangeness... "Irashaii, itoshii Bill-San...!" A familliar voice said. The sound of it knifing through the somehow benign darkness of this new place. "Ryokyo...!" "And have ye no greeting for the rest of us, Bill-Sama?" another more musical voice asked from out of the still darkness. /Shyia!/ As both Bill and Roci shared the thought of her name, the darkness was split by the soft blue light of a sphere of tamed electrical energy held between her paws. Gently, she willed it to expand, and its light was cast over a circle of familliar faces. Without any prompting, the group moved, opening a place in their circle for two, who had become one, who had become many. *Come... Claim thy place, as it has 'ere been open to thee, Our cherished Roci. Come, claim thy place amongst us as one, and we welcome ye...* Shyia and his Pridemates sent to him as one. "What about the wall...?" Bill asked. *Those stones which remain, we must break down together, Roci-San... It will take time...* Shyia sent softly. Roci stepped forward into the circle, bringing with him all that was himself and the Human. As Roci was seated in his place in the group, he felt Bill answer in Roci's voice. "We have all the time that our hearts can hold, My dearest Pridemates." And then, the Human turned, to feel Roci within and outside of himself. His heart overflowed and the darkness seemed to take on the glow of sunrise as he whispered "Welcome Home, Roci-San, welcome home."