Side Stepping

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

12/30/96:

"Fox, this is not the best time to do this." Rachel said,
walking around her desk, over to where I sat.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? All things considered, this is
the perfect time to do this."

"But three months to half a year? This isn't a vacation,
more of a sabbatical." she said, crossing her arms.

I shook my head. "I know you're the Council Head, but I need
to do this, I need to pick up my life. There is a dozen and
plus meetings left. You don't need me for the rest."

She sighed. "I doubt it, there getting fiesty with how few
meetings there have been in the past thirty days."

I stood, pulling on my jacket a bit. "That's there problem,
if they don't trust them selves by now, they REALLY need to
get help."

Rachel sighed, sitting on the edge of her desk. "Leave an
forwarding address, or something, so if I need to find you,
I can. I promise I won't use it unless it's an emergency."

I grumbled. "Fine." I took out my portal controller, and
punched a few buttons. Then taking out a note-pad, wrote
done a long number. Tearing of the paper, I folded it, and
threw it on her desk. "That's the full number, not the verse
number, the fold isn't in the database yet."

She smiled. "Leave it to you to vacation off the beaten
path, or any path for that matter."

I nodded, pocketing the controller. "I'll see you whenever."

"And Fox," she said, "don't get yourself killed."

I snickered. "I'll do my best." I said, then headed out the
door, past her secretary, and into the corridors of the
Hall.

Halfway to my house, I felt a hand grab my shoulder, and
pull me to a stop. "Mr. Cutter?" A voice said behind me.

I groaned, and turned around. Standing behind me was a male
cougar, standing about six feet tall. He was dressed in
something close to business suit. He had a slightly menacing
look about him. I knew is face instantly, he was one of the
few remaining Council members from before the HammerHeads.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Did I hear right? Are you going to abandon the Council?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm taking care of some personal
things."

"So you are not leaving for three months then?"

I groaned. "Yes, I am."

He twisted his ears a bit. "That what would you would call
then other then abandonment."

I held my hands behind my back, balling them up into fists.
"I would call that doing what I need to do."

He shook his head. "It is not your place--" He started.

Before I even knew what I was doing, my hands shot up, and
grabbed his shirt collar. Pulling him down, so he was eye to
eye at me, I let out a low growl. "Listen you bastard! You
and your fellow Council members have made me lose my world,
threaded my life, and rather helped get me into the position
I'm into now. So I'm going to be blunt, if you are so
pompous to think you need me to do anything, go craw back
into the sea where you started from, other wise, *GET OVER
IT*!" I yelled into his face.

He paused, his lips pulling up. I suddenly realized what
exactly I had done. Everything thing about this guy said
*sharp*, I had to be insane to have done what I just did.

His ears flatting, he pushed by hands off his collar, and
slowly stepped back. He twisted his tail a bit, snarling a
bit. "You... you..." Balling his fists, his claws slid out
of his fingers. "How dare you?" He growled.

I shook my head. "You don't get it do you? It's you who
crossed the line, not me! You don't need me at these damn
meetings, got that. Now good day sir." With that, I turned
and walked away, fully expect to feel his claws in my back
at any second.

"Fine," he growled. "I'll talk to the other." Then I heard
him pound away. Stopping, I looked over my should, make sure
he had actually left. Satisfied that he had, I walked the
rest of the way to the house.

Stepping over the threshold, I pulled of my jacket and threw
it on back pack loaded with camping gear. My shirt followed
it, then stomping up the steps, I grabbed a thinner shirt
from my room. I was about to head back down stairs, I
noticed Oriana's gift sitting on the table.

Walking over I picked up the vial, holding up to the light.
The brown liquid semi-transparent, washing out the suns'
glow. I still didn't know what it was support to do, and I
wasn't sure if I wanted to find out. With a flick of my
fingers, I clutched it into my hand, and slipped it into my
shirt pocket.

Heading back down stairs, I pulled on my jacket, then the
back pack. Hefting under the weight, I walked out of the
house, locking the door. Down the halls a bit, I found a
fold. Giving it a quick flick, I opened it.

I gently took a few steps through, coming out at the top of
a large cliff. Closing the fold, I took a few quick steps
back, away from the edge.

I was back at the large grassland plain, two-hundred feet
above the sea. It was the same plain I had found half a year
before, when I was helping Rachel solve the murder on
Gratin. It was large, isolated, and I could see anyone
coming for miles.

Walking a distance from the fold, and the cliff, I dropped
the back pack, and started to set up camp, I was going to be
there for a while.