()[1]
(11:00 fifth hour)
Randy parked his bike at the rack, snapped the lock in place, and paused to check his appearance in the mirror once more. He must of done it a dozen times so far, but as old as he was getting, he had to take more care with how he presented himself here. Especially here, he thought as he adjusted his ponytail. His ears were starting to grow and they seemed to protrude more than usual, but that was just an indication of his awareness of his age, he was approaching his thirteenth birthday after all. He checked his muzzle and face for signs of fur that might of grown since this morning and grinned at his fastidiousness. But then soon it would become apparent as to what he was and might not be able to come here quite so easily. He sobered up and stroked the deeply tanned skin of his muzzle thoughtfully, he'd miss being able to come here, he thought.
Deciding that his appearance passed muster, he bent over his bike to fetch his spray bottle and spray himself down once more. His medallion fell out his shirt and he quickly stuffed it back in, glancing about to make sure no one was around. Of course that's why he parked on the outside of the mall, to be certain that there was no one about who might scent him in case he had to pedal the last couple of miles here. He misted himself down and put the bottle away, checked to be sure that he had his little mister, and headed for the mall.
Gendill Mall. It was a grand place to visit for it covered dozens of square miles with shops, diners, residential areas, and parks. One could spend a good three or four hours just walking from one end to the other. He grinned at the thought of being here once more, then quickly remembered to keep his teeth covered, his adult teeth were finally in and he'd have to remember that most of the residents here were wary of his kind.
He turned the last corner and as one of the entrances came into sight, he almost came to a stop when he saw who was standing at the gateway, Randolf. That old warthog always seemed to be checking him out. He took a couple of steadying Tia Cho breaths and calmly approached the door.
A smile curled around Randolf's tusks as he came close, "Hello my young wolf."
Panic attempted to seize him, "What did you call me?"
The smile grew broad, "Wolf."
Randy sighed, his tail drooping downwards, "Is it that obvious now?"
"No, not really, you still keep it well hidden, but I always thought you smelled like a wolf." He held up a four fingered hand, holding one close to his thumb, "Just a little though." He dropped his hand and clasped them behind his back. "How do you manage to hide your odor so well?"
Randy shrugged, "Just a compound I developed, it's supposed to neutralize all organic odors. I think it does a pretty fair job."
Randolf's eyebrows elevated into his hair and his ears swiveled forward, "Pretty fair? Does a good job it does." He then frowned, "And just how does a young Wolf get interested in organic chemistry? That's not the usual study for most Wolves."
"Actually I'm interested in Biology."
"Biology?", Randolf's eyebrows went up again, "That's the realm of the Herbivores."
"I know.", Randy replied sullenly, "But I want to become a biologist when I grow up."
Randolf's nostrils flared as he drew in a whistling breath, then after a bit of consideration, calmly said, "And none of the Carnivore Colleges offer that as a course of study." Randy shook his head sadly, and was fixing to turn and go when Randolf stepped aside and flicked an ear at the open gateway.
An ear perked up, "Huh?"
Randolf flicked both ears, "Just because I know you're a wolf doesn't mean I have to keep you out."
"But isn't that your job?"
"Not really,", Randolf flicked an ear at the gateway again. Randy padded through and felt the curl come back into his tail as he continued, "I am instructed to keep possible threats from entering the premises. Now they can't come out and state that it's my job to keep carnivores out, the CAC would spin on their tails over language like that, so they leave it up to the security department in defining what qualifies as a threat to the, 'continuing peace and safety', of the mall. Now we, the security department that is, also cannot put into words who constitutes a threat to the mall, so we leave it up to the individual officer." He tapped a horny thumb against his chest, "And this officer doesn't consider you a threat to the mall."
Randy smiled up at the broadly grinning warthog, keeping his teeth covered of course, "I have done my best to keep out of trouble while here."
"Oh it's more than that, you've done you best to make sure people are comfortable around you, and that marks you as a carnivore of a different cut." He stroked Randy's hair, "Like this, bet you smell a lot of clawing about keeping your hair long."
"Not much." Randy adjusted his ponytail minutely, "Mostly because it's a rare Red Wolf to have such a deep color to their hair. Everyone assumes I keep it long because I'm proud of it. In a way I am, and you know what?" He whipped his tail around and examined it closely, "I think I might even be rarer."
Randolf peered at the fine fuzz, "You think you might be fully red?"
"Possible, one of my grand sire's was a full Red Wolf."
Randolf's flat nose flared as he whistled, "I'll look forward to it, how long before you'll know for certain?"
"Probably in a month or so, I'm almost thirteen now." The implications of Randolf's statement made him look up in surprise, "You look forward to it?"
Randolf flicked his ears and resumed walking, "Until someone calls you a threat, I cannot legally keep you from entering here." Randy grinned at the thought, forgetting to keep his teeth covered, "And doing that might cause someone to do that."
Randy quickly wiped the smile off and looked about, "Oops, sorry."
"That's all right, besides which, I really appreciate it when you come on days like this."
"How come?"
"You know why, Initiate Day." Randy swiveled an ear at him, "Come now cub, I'm over forty years old, and I've been working here for at least twenty five of those years. I know about as much as a gazelle does why wolves picked such a weird ritual for Initiation, but until you came along, at least ten times a year we could count on our peace being disrupted by a howling wolf cub who's just as scared of being here as the herbivores were of him being here in the first place. In the past, what, three years?"
"Four years, I got initiated early."
"Four years then, you've managed to give some semblance of calm to the event, and even managed to get a lot of the herbivore kids to help you in finding them and getting them involved in play."
They smiled at a passing antelope family, one of the kids called out, "Randy! Long time no smell."
His parents eyed Randy critically, "That's Randy?", his father asked.
Randy looked blandly back as Ziggy replied, "I told you he was different."
Ziggy's dad rubbed an horn as he politely sniffed, "You did, but I thought. ...", he trailed off because like some herbivores, he didn't want to cause an insult. And as curious as he was as to What Randy was, he was also too timid to ask. "He's different."
"Can I go pack with him please?"
"'Pack with him?'"
"Umm, that what he calls it when we do things together." Ziggy's facial fur stood out as he grew embarrassed and he shuffled from hoof to hoof.
His mom snapped her fingers, "Randy, now I place you. You're the one who keeps those annoying wolf cubs from causing trouble!"
Randy spread his ears apart and felt his face grow warm as Ziggy's dad examined him closer, "Ohh, okay, I remember you talking about that." He glanced at his son before looking at his wife, "I scent no bad odors about you 'packing' with Randy, what about you dear?"
"After lunch, we supposed to eat lunch with Claire."
"Thanks Mom, Dad. Randy, where can I sniff you out?"
Randy flicked an ear, "Probably the Hippo Arena, if not there then at Graze And Play."
"Ok, sniff you soon!"
They watched them walk off, and Randy saw Ziggy's mom bend closer to his dad to whisper something. As impolite as it was, he couldn't help but swivel an ear in their direction to catch what she was saying. The warthog saw that and bent an ear as well. "I don't know what he is, but he is nice.", they heard her say.
"Spying on people, how uncouth.", Randolf muttered.
They resumed walking as Randy replied, "Just curious as to what sort of impression I made."
"You've made a good one, there's even been several queries made of security as to what happened to you the past few of months."
"Really? Like who?"
"Oh, Gedfly over at Book Worms, Chello at Graze And Play, Silvia at Cooney's,..", he grinned as he saw Randy blush, "You in sweet odor with her?"
"Well,", Randy's blush grew deeper, while it wasn't unusual for cross species dating to happen, it never happened between a Omnivore and a Carnivore before. At least as far as he could find out from discrete questions asked about the subject. "I do find her attractive."
"I think that feeling is mutual." Randolf winked and flicked an ear, then asked, "By the way, how did you do in camp?"
"Pretty good, say, how'd you know?"
"When you get to be my age, you learn quite a few things about other species habits and rituals." He shrugged, "I confess I am puzzled by why you're asked to 'demonstrate' skills you'll never use as an adult, but,", he flicked his ears in a dismissive gesture, "Each to his own."
"Oh."
"How much,", he glanced about, "Kill did you bring in?"
"About two hundred and fifty in five."
Randolf nodded, "Is that good?"
"Well above average. Helped me get this." Randy made sure nobody was watching and parted his hair around his left ear to reveal a gold ring piercing it at the base. Randolf peered at it and whistled as he caught the glints of red flashing from it.
"Ruby level?"
"Yep." Randy patted his hair back in place and continued, "Fifty five of us in camp and only two ruby's handed out this year."
"Proud of it?"
"Ehh,", Randy shrugged, "Like you said, I might never hunt for myself, but I did get a good feeling of accomplishment over the fact."
Randolf eyed Randy, there was a lot being unsaid but he wasn't about to pry into the private lives of wolves, not yet anyway. "Know the feeling, got a little bronze statue myself sitting on a shelf for being one of the top wrestlers from my youth."
"That something I'd like to see, warthog wrestling that is."
"Never been by the Mudpit? Oh, never mind,", it was Randolf's turn to grow embarrassed, "You're a little too young to get in there."
"Really." At his droll tone they both chuckled.
They stopped outside of Cooney's, where a sign proclaimed 'Exotic Food for Exotic Tastes', and Randy said, "Well I'm getting something to eat, before the cubs start sneaking in, care to join me?"
"Naw, thanks though, I got my rounds to make. You just do your usual job and keep them from getting underpaw, or hoof, and up your good odors with everyone."
"Okay, later." Randy watched him plod off considering his good fortune at discovering a friend he didn't know he had, then turned into Cooney's.
The first thing he looked for was Silvia, and she was tending something behind the counter with her back towards him. He quietly padded up to the counter and after making sure nobody was nearby, let out a soft growl. She spun about startled, and when she saw him, snapped, "Randy!"
"Hello."
"Hello yourself, fine way of greeting someone you've been staying away from."
He swiveled an ear, "Had some clan ritual I had to attend."
She grabbed an order pad and leaned over the counter, "You can be straight with me," she whispered, "How'd you do?"
"Made ruby.", he whispered back.
"Oh, can I see?"
"You got to be stinking, the ring's part of my earlobe!", he whispered a bit louder that he meant to.
Both her ears swiveled towards him, "What?"
He reached up and clamped thumb and forefinger on the base of her ear, "They pierce the ear and crimp the ring in the hole, then they give it a little bit of heat to weld it shut. Hurt like a thornbush to put it in."
She snatched his hand down and glanced towards the kitchen, "You didn't tell me that."
"Didn't want you to worry." He fingered the bracelet on her wrist, "Can you get out this evening?"
"Not until after the fourteenth hour, we're expecting a dinner party."
"Okay, you want to meet here?"
She stared at him, "You've never stayed here past the twelfth hour, what smells?"
"I'm older now, my parents trust me to take care of myself now."
"Probably expect you to get a job soon too."
"Unless I get into a college."
"Silvia?", a voice called out from the kitchen, "What are you doing?"
"Taking an order Mom."
A plump raccoon stepped through the door leading to the back and sniffed disdainfully at Randy, "It's you."
"Mom, be nice, he's nice to you."
She sniffed again, put down the bin she was carrying and proceeded to set out the fruits it contained in the display case under the counter.
Silvia started writing on the pad, "Lets scent this now, you want a Dou Chou, Sizzled Rattler, a bowl of Candied Apples, and a RazzBerry Chiller."
Randy blinked, then realized her game, she thought she was going to force him to pop one of the items off the pricey order she just made for him as her way of teasing him. "Make it a Mango Chiller."
She glared at him, thinking he was going to force her to ask her mom to remove an item after she rang it up. "Alright, your total is,..", she hit the tally button and register dutifully added it up, "Five and a quarter coins."
He smiled at her, reached in his pocket, then let his face go blank, "Uh-oh."
"Don't have enough?", she asked with a wicked grin as her mom bent an ear in their direction.
"No, I forgot all I had is these." He pulled his hand out his pocket and let the five large gold coins clatter on the counter top.
The shocked expression on her face was worth it, and when she remained quiet long enough, her mom looked up to ask, "What's wrong?"
Silvia blinked, shook her head, and turned towards her. "Can we change a Fifty?"
Her mom's eyes widened in the black mask of fur across her face, "A Fifty?" She stepped over to the counter and stared at the five coins laying there for a bit before softly asking, "And just how did you get so much coin?"
Randy scratched his muzzle, then decided that since her mom suspected as to what he was, might as well use her as a gauge of the general reaction folks would have towards him. He casually laid his hand on the register and tapped its nameplate, "That's my last name."
She stared at the register for a second then realized what it was that he just revealed to her, "You're a Deabilo? But that means you're a,", her voice dropped to a whisper, "Wolf."
He nodded gravely and she continued, "But why do you come here then? Why don't you hang around with your own kind?"
"I got more friends here."
"You got,." She bit off the sentence and reached under her apron for her money belt as she mumbled, "Never thought I'd smell the day a Wolf had ANY Herbivores as friends." She snagged a fifty off the counter, dropped four tens in its place, and finished ringing up his order. "Give him his change dear, I'll go fix his order." She looked at him with a different glint in her eye before heading for the kitchen.
Silvia watched her disappear to the back and turned to him, "What's with you taking a chance like that?", she asked as she counted out his change.
He pocketed his coins and said, "In a month or so, there's going to be no mistaking as to what I am, and I still want to come here. What I told your mom is true, I got more friends here." He grasped her hands and leaned closer, "And the most beautiful person I know is here."
She blushed, the fur on her face standing on end, and tweaked her whiskers at him, "You say that now, but what about when you meet your wolfmate?"
He played with her bracelet, "I don't want to smell that yet." He sensed someone coming up behind him and let go her hands, "I'll be out on the patio."
He settled into a chair under the grand oak and considered just what he was going to do. Silvia's mom really wasn't a good odor as to other people's reactions to what he was, what he needed was for some herbivores to confide in. Some adult herbivores, the kids generally seemed to accept him without caring what he was. As he watched people pass by, he became aware of how often he was recognized by someone passing by. While he thought about this, a gazelle he knew came up and leaned on the banister. "Good odors, Mr. Gedfly."
"Good odors yourself, young cub, was getting worried you'd never bother coming back."
Randy's eyebrows went up and his ears swiveled forward, this day was full of surprises, "Had some clan ceremonies to attend to."
"Kind of guessed that,", Gedfly commented dryly, "You're about the right age for that bit of silliness your type concerns itself with."
The day was getting stranger and stranger he thought as Gedfly continued, "Do good?"
"Above average."
"That's good.", Gedfly leaned over the banister and stage whispered, "Get a ring?" As Randy stared at him in shock, he laughed, "We do know more about your kind than you think we do apparently." He sobered up as Randy nodded, "Well some of us do anyway. Though I don't think even with what I know I could stand to sit at a dinner table with you." He shuddered.
"We're not that bad. Sniff, most of the time."
"Hmm, I'd have to judge that for myself, speaking of such, your meal's here,", he gestured at Silvia stepping out the building with a tray, "So I'll let you eat in peace. Come by the store and see me later."
"I'll try." He watched him go as Silvia set his dishes out in front of him.
"What was that about?"
"He knows."
Her eyes widened in disbelief, "He does?"
Randy nodded as he unwrapped the eating sticks, "He does, and he wants to see me later." He plucked out a bit of bamboo shoot, dipped it in the mustard sauce and popped it in his mouth. Then sucked air through pursed lips, "Ouch, that's hotter than usual."
"Made is special for you." She smiled at him.
"You would." He took a swig of Mango to cool the fire raging in his mouth. "What about our date?"
"Where would we go that late?"
"I was thinking of Quincy's Palace for the fifteenth hour show."
Her eyes glittered, "Can I order what I want?"
"Of course."
"Pick me up for half past the fourteenth, I want to get dressed up for this, though you'll be a little ripe by then.", she replied, her nose wrinkling.
"I figured on that already,", he mumbled around a mouth of cooked cabbage, "I brought some clothes and am going to let out a room for a couple of days."
She stared at him in astonishment, "When your parents let you go, they mean it!"
"Hmmm." He snagged a bit of rattler and chewed. "Truth be scented, I'm better off then most wolves because my family owns such a large business."
"Large is right, at least a good half of the registers at the mall are Deabilo's." She heard her mom calling her, the restaurant was filling with the lunch crowd. "Don't be late."
"I'll be here." He watched her well filled out ringed tail sway back into the building and turned his attention back to his meal. That was one of the puzzles of life he was interested in and why he wanted to study biology. Why did each species mature at a different rate? Here he was almost thirteen and fur was just beginning to develop, and she just a little younger than him yet fully filled out. And some of his herbivore friends became furred even earlier. Yet, up until about six or eight years of age, most children looked almost alike, what with no muzzle development and no fur. That is, if you ignored the differences in hands, feet, ears, and tails. And noses, he tacked on as an afterthought, there was no mistaking a warthog's nose any time during its life.
A brown form zipped into the chair across from him and before he could blink a three fingered hand snatched a piece of rattler off his plate. "Hey!", he looked up at the gazelle who sat across from him, "Get your own."
Sten slowly chewed the piece, savoring the taste, "I got something coming, but you know I got a soft spot for good rattler." He swallowed with a sigh, rolling his eyes. "And I'm happy to see you too, thought you decided to quit coming I did."
"Told you camp might take two or three months."
"Only been that long?" Sten frowned in thought, "Yeah, really hasn't been that long. Just seemed long." His hand zipped across the table and snagged another piece of rattler.
Randy smacked at the offending hand with his sticks but missed. "I said get your own rattler."
"You know I can't afford it, besides which, if I ate a whole plate of that myself, my mom would know for sure I was eating meat."
"Would've thought that you'd have a higher tolerance for meat after all the time you've been packing with me.", Randy commented as he lightly dipped some bell pepper in the mustard sauce. "I mean, look at the amount of vegetable matter I can now consume from packing with you."
"I do, but I smell there's more to it than just that, must have something to do with that biology you're always smelling,", Sten replied as he unwrapped a set of sticks himself and arranged them. "I mean, I could eat a whole head of raw cabbage myself, for example, and it wouldn't bother me. You on the other hand,", he tapped on the plate of cooked vegetables sitting in front of Randy before picking up some candied apple, "You got to have it cooked, and you also won't be able to finish even that."
"Hmm, true." He picked up a familiar scent and turned to see Silvia's mom standing there with Sten's food. She put his plate down and looked from one to the other for a bit, then pulled up a chair and sat down.
She turned to Randy, "Does he know,", she started and trailed off.
"Ask him."
She turned to Sten and he paused, a stick full of food halfway to his mouth. He looked from her to Randy, who was busy with his food, then back to her. He lowered his sticks somewhat, "I get this feeling that there should be something I know which I don't know because she now knows something which she doesn't know whether I know." He popped his food in his mouth and glared at Randy while he chewed.
She actually smiled, "That wasn't nice, stinking him out like that."
"Does it help answer your question?"
"In a way it does, I can see that your friends do know what you are, but tell me,", she addressed Sten again, "Do your parents know?"
"Hmm, no.", Sten mumbled, then swallowed, "They know I hang around a critter named Randy, they've even met this critter, odors, the critter's even spent some nights at our spread. But I would think that if they knew, they might of thrown a fit."
"You sure about that?", Randy asked, "I had Mr. Gedfly come right up here just a little while ago and call me for what I was without batting an eye."
"Hmmm," Sten chewed in concentration for a bit. "Good odor there, I'd like to think they wouldn't object, they've always been more open minded than a green beaner, but I'd hate the thought of asking them and finding out that they would object."
Mrs. Stiwock looked puzzled, "A green beaner?"
"Yeah, that's what some of us call a herbivore who objects to even gofu." He watched Randy shudder and repeated, "Gofu, gofu."
"Cut that out, you'll ruin my appetite." Gofu, made from worms, was guaranteed to have no flavor or odor and not offend any herbivore at all. Matter of fact a lot of herbivores ate the stuff as well. But to Randy, it had a taste all right, and not a nice one at that. He pushed his plate away, "Think you did ruin it."
"Sorry." He actions, however didn't quite reflect it for he plucked another piece of rattler off the plate and popped it in his mouth.
Mrs. Sriwock shook her head at this, "Today's been very interesting. I've always suspected that you were a wolf, and not only do you tell me, you also let me know you belong to one of the richest clans. Then I find out just how loyal your friends are to you, and finally I meet a herbivore who openly eats meat."
Sten's ears shot up and he looked about, suddenly realizing what a taboo he was out doing, "Oh geesh, I'm sorry."
She waved a hand at him, "Don't be, I've always known that there was herbivores who ate more than,", at Randy's shudder, she modified her next words, "That paste, but they'd never do it out in the open."
Sten looked about, "I think I might be the first."
"You going to let other people determine how you smell?", Randy asked him.
Sten looked at him for a long breath, "That's a rough question." After thinking about it some more, he flapped his ears, picked up a piece of rattler and eyed it critically, "I think that there's a bit more to it than that." He dipped the rattler in the mustard sauce and popped it in his mouth. Then said, "Ohhh."
"Watch it, it's hot.", Randy grinned at him.
Sten snagged Randy's drink and took a swallow, "Gee, thanks for the warning." He mopped his suddenly perspiring forehead with his napkin and frowned, "Personally, I found that from packing with him, I've been eating more meat, and as a result, I tend to go longer between meals. I mean, well,", he looked at Mrs. Sriwock, "How many meals do you eat in a day."
"Hmm, three, maybe four if you count all the snacking I tend to do from working in the kitchen." She patted her plumb belly, "That's what gives me my full figure."
They chuckled over that, then Sten cocked an ear at Randy. "Two, maybe three if I feel like it, and then on certain days I only eat one full meal and a snack."
Sten nodded, "And me, before I met Randy, I'd eat six meals a day minimum." Randy and Mrs. Sriwock exchanged a glance and he continued, "And just so you know, a green beaner will eat up to ten meals a day."
"Well that would explain why a herbivore would eat meat, but now why would a carnivore eat vegetables and such?"
It was Randy's turn to scratch an eyebrow, "I'm not sure what all the benefits I get from it are, but I do notice that it's easier to mask my scent when I eat more vegetables. I mean, we've always had some vegetables during a week, but if you put them all together, you'd probably only get one meal out of them. We also like fruit, and unlike vegetables, we can eat that raw, but all together, that'd probably only add up to another meal a week."
"That's another thing, I have to deal with quite a few carnivores over the years, and you can't mistake their scent, but you, I could never quite pin down. So how do you mask your scent?"
"With this." He dug out his mister and set it on the table as another familiar scent wafted up to the table.
"Mom!", Silvia glared at her mom while balancing a tray full of food.
"Sorry dear, I got distracted."
She eyed them curiously before moving on to deliver her tray. Mrs. Sriwock watched her for a second before picking up the mister and sniffing it. She frowned and sniffed again, "Smells like apples."
"It's part of the ingredients."
"Hmm." She stood up and looked at him sternly, "I overheard you're picking her up tonight, you be good to her, you hear me?"
"Yes Ma'am."
Sten mopped his lips, surveying the remains on the table. "I wonder how many other surprises are in store for you today."
"Hopefully nothing unpleasant." He glanced at the clock, "Come on, we got less than a quarter to rally the pack."
"Herd."
"Pack."
"Herd, there's too many of us for a pack."
"How do you know how big a pack can be?"
Sten spread his ears, "Rough question."
(17:00 eleventh hour)
Randy bounced the ball, then shifted his stance to be able to put more power in his hit. His team was ahead by a point and he needed to get at least one or two more to be able to defend his lead against his opponent. He eased his weight onto his hurt paw, letting the pain flow through him, banishing it from his foremind. As he bounced the ball again, eyeing the outfield for a weakly covered area, Sten tried distracting him.
"Hurry up wolf."
Randy glared at him before returning his attention to the outfield. He signaled his runner to get set as he said, "Wouldn't have to take so long if some big grazer hadn't stepped on my paw." He bounced the ball hard for the hit and as it rebounded up over his head, he grasped his racket with both hands and swung hard at it as it came down. The ball made a satisfying pop and sailed into the outfield as he finished his spin, awkwardly hopping on his good paw.
The gazelle watched the ball to make sure that it was good hit before taking off for the first pole. His runners at the first and second poles also took off, heading for their respective next poles. The ball bounced once in the outfield, then was caught by one of the Initiate's. He glanced at the three runners in motion, judged the one heading for second was the furthest, and threw the ball towards the pole catcher there.
The gazelle there snagged the ball and took a defensive stance, the cub running towards him came to a sliding stop and eyed him warily. As the other two runners stopped at their poles, they joined in the count.
"Ten, nine, eight,", The cub shifted left, then right, but the defender was just as quick to match moves, "Seven, six, five," The cub all of a sudden took off to his left, taking the center pole option, with the gazelle hot on his heels. Now everybody started cheering them on, it was a rare cub who took this route, for up until he rounded the center pole, the gazelle only needed to touch him to be out. But after the turnabout, he needed to tackle him and that could get rough.
"Oh stenches.", Randy exclaimed.
"He won't make the turn.", Sten replied.
The cub proved him wrong by reaching the pole with the gazelle just a couple of strides behind him. And instead of running around the pole, he grasped it with both hands and swung around it, gaining a stride or two. This fustrated the gazelle who had a ball in one hand, yet he grabbed the pole with one hand to make his turn a bit tighter. The cheering got louder as they raced back to second and they were halfway there when the gazelle made dive for the cub and got his heel. The cub went down with an abruptness which couldn't be called gentle.
"Kan'zaga[2], get me out there Sten."
Sten obliged by helping him climb on his back, then jogging out onto the field to where the cub lay. Randy dismounted when they reached him and Sten started carefully checking him out. "Well his eyes are open", he muttered, then a little louder, "Wizzel, can you hear me?"
Wizzel groaned, "Yeah, find elephant who ran me over."
A slight chuckle ran around the crowd of youngsters who were gathering about, "Smart cub.", Sten muttered. He held his hand out flat in front of Wizzel's face, "How many fingers?"
The cub considered the hand, then said "Three."
Sten looked at his two fingered hand, then up at Randy in concern when Wizzel added, "Unless you not count the thumb."
That generated some more laughter, "Smart cub, you're all right, but you're out of this game I think."
"That is good to me, I not think I could with bright flashes in my eyes."
Randy frowned, "Bright flashes?"
"Yeah, but I not feel nauseous so I not think I got a bang head or other hurt." He groaned as they helped him up. He swayed for a breath or two, then looked at Bobbin, "You play rough."
Bobbin's ears spread out from his blond crop of hair, "You're the one who took the option."
"Not remind me."
"Well,", Randy peered at the mall's clock tower, then glanced at the westerning sun, "It's getting late enough so that the Initiates have to get their 'proof of being here' and go home where I think we ought to call it a day." A chorus of aww's greeting this and he continued, "And some of you herbivore youngsters too, I got bawled out often enough early on about keeping you out past the twelfth hour. But there's enough time for you to get a Honey Ice from Bear's Shack if you're quick enough to get the equipment back to the Game Master and claim the deposit I left with him."
Cheers greeted his statement and a mad scramble occurred as they dashed off to retrieve all the gear scattered about the game park. He watched them go, then leaned on Sten and took the weight off his paw with a groan.
"Hey, you ok?"
"Paw's really starting to bother me."
"I still think I might've broken something. Hop up, we'll go by the fountain and I'll check it again."
As Randy climbed on his back, he noticed that the game stands had some adults sitting in them. He peered in their direction and exclaimed, "That's the Mayor!"
"Really?", Sten glanced at them as he jogged towards the fountain, "Wonder how long they've been there?"
"Don't know, but it looks like they're fixing to come our way."
"Great odors, you got your mister?"
"No, I left it with my vest over, …"
"By the stands, and you smell like a wolf big time now."
"Well, I've been playing hard, or at least I was up until, what, two hours ago?"
"Hmm." Sten let him down and they sat on the fountain's edge while he picked up Randy's left paw and began examining it. "You let me know if I cause pain, none of that Tia Cho stuff." He braced the heel in one hand, then gently moved each toe, stroked the instep, rotated the ankle, then touched the top of the paw.
Randy calmly said, "Ouch."
"Thought so, I fractured your third foot bone here, see the slight swelling?"
"Well,", a deep voice boomed nearby, "I see it, but I'm not sure if I believe it."
They looked up, "Good odors, Mayor Nogitosh." They now recognized several parents from their own crowd.
The Mayor took a deep sniff, and wryly commented, "I don't know about that yet, cub, and this looks like it's just become an impromptu Elders meeting." He took a slow walk about the fountain, deep in thought, when he reached them again, he looked at Randy, then turned to the parents, "Has he done anything wrong."
They shuffled from hoof to hoof, then one of them spoke up, "He's here, isn't that enough?"
"No." This started them babbling, he let it go for a bit, then held up his hand, commanding silence. "It's not enough that he's here, nor should we count the fact that he's a wolf against him either. Maybe when the malls were first set up it was a valid reason, but that was almost two hundred years ago. Are we still that scared of carnivores that we need to get rid of him because he happens to be one?" He glared at them as they looked at their hooves, too ashamed to meet his gaze. He turned to face Randy, "For as long as we can remember, the carnivores used to bully us herbivores, until we started getting organized into mall's like this. For the first twenty years or so, they tried to take them over, but we resisted until they stopped and settled down themselves. Since then they've built up respectable communities and developed business's,", he spun back around, "Which we benefit from." He pointed at the clock tower, "That was wolf built.", then at his motorwagon, "And that too." He spread his hands wide, "We're surrounded by things we now take for granted which were built by the wolves yet we won't tolerate their presence amongst us?"
One of the parents looked up, "They make us uncomfortable."
Nogitosh wagged a finger at her, "Careful who you include in that 'us', I've been dealing with them for some time now and I don't feel uncomfortable around them." He snorted and turned back to Randy, "How's the paw?", he asked as he made a small gesture.
Randy grimaced, "I think Sten's right about something being broken."
"Why didn't you get it taken care of earlier?"
Randy looked towards the Game Master's buildings where the youngsters could be seen milling around the Bear's Shack. "I had responsibilities."
Nogitosh gazed at the distant group, "I see that, you think they could do without you by now?"
"I would like to smell they could,", Randy replied thoughtfully as the motorwagon hummed to a stop near them, "But there's always a chance something could go wrong."
"Too true,", he glanced at the nearby parents as he made another gesture, a couple of warthogs stepped out of the motorwagon and came up to him, "Go see that they make it out safely, let them know that we're just taking Randy here to the hospital." He turned to Randy, "Any special instructions?"
"No, except that before the Initiates leave, they have to, 'acquire', proof that they've spent the day in the open, rather than hiding out till it was time to leave."
"Oh, you mean like the hats and what not."
Randy grinned, "Yeah, generally whatever it is that they're supposed to get has to smell like it's been used by a herbivore, or at least an omnivore."
He took off his hat of office and handed it to one of the warthogs, "Well this ought to start something interesting I would think."
The warthog grinned as he added his own to the Mayor's, then looked at the parents, "Donations?"
They shuffled about uncomfortably, then one of them shucked his vest and handed it over. This was followed by two scarf's and another hat. "Ho, don't overdo it,", Randy exclaimed, "There's only five of them this time."
As the warthogs headed for the youngsters, Nogitosh gazed thoughtfully at them, "You all are right,", he addressed the parents, "In that something needs to be done, but it needs to be done by a full Elders meeting, like the petition requires, and not just us."
"I know, and I'm scared about it."
Randy placed a name for him, "Mr. Elbrock, you've never shown me any ill odors before, why now?"
"I didn't know you were a wolf before." He shuddered slightly and twitched his ears, "But now, ..."
"Does it change who I am?"
He thought about it, "No. When's the meeting, Vill?" He mate stared at him in astonishment.
"Hmm,", Nogitosh rubbed his upper lip, "I think we probably won't be able to get everyone notified tonight, so we'll have to set it for the afternoon, lets call it for the seventh hour."
He nodded, then turned and started for the Bear's Shack, with the rest of the group following him, "Hey!", Nogitosh called after them. They stopped and looked back, "Don't do anything, umm, uncalled for, and do that for me."
They talked amongst themselves for a bit, then instead headed for the game park's entrance.
He watched them for a breath or two and turned again to Randy, "Most of them mean well, but I don't think any of them had ever had any dealings with any carnivores." Randy grinned and bared a fang, "And you don't count cub. Well, you didn't count."
Randy turned to Sten, "I think I've been insulted."
"You are an insult."
"Watch it, or I'll have to put you down."
"Not with this paw." Sten tapped the paw he was holding without thinking.
The unexpected pain shot clean up his spine, "Ahh!"
Sten's ears flattened back in apology, "Oops, sorry."
Nogitosh peered at the paw, "I don't think you should be doing any more walking on that until we get you looked at by a medic." He then surprised them both by picking Randy up in his arms, "Goodness but you're light, how old are you?"
"Almost thirteen."
"Is this a typical weight for a youngster your age?"
"No, sixty five is lighter than average."
Nogitosh examined Sten as they walked towards the motorwagon, "And you're what, sixteen and about a hundred and thirty?"
"Seventeen and a hundred and forty five."
Nogitosh looked at Randy appreciatively, "And you let this little cub 'put you down'?"
Sten rolled his eyes skywards and flapped his ears, "Don't have a choice, he knows Tia Cho."
"What's that?"
(18:00 twelfth hour)
The medic stepped out of the dark room holding the C-Thru picture by the corner. He laid the still wet film on the viewing box next to Randy and snapped on the lights. Randy looked with him as he traced out the break in his paw bone, "Yep, broke clean through, but at least it didn't come apart." He sat down and examined the paw once more, "But because you continued to walk on it, the ends ground against each other,", he held up his hands, put two fingers together and wagged them up and down in demonstration, "And you got lots of little tiny bone fragments scattered about the break. See?" He picked up a probe from the tray nearby and pointed out all the little white specks surrounding the break.
The impala swiveled back and forth on his stool, rapping the probe against his hand while keeping his attention on Randy. "Now the good news is that you're young, and it'll heal quickly. The bad news is that you'll have to wear a brace for about six weeks, and you'll continue to feel some pain from that paw until your body dissolves those fragments. I'm going to fit you with a full paw brace, I can probably modify one of our braces here to fit you, we normally don't have any braces which would fit a wolf. I still want you back in a couple of days if possible so I can check to see if it's chaffing you. If you can't make it back here, at least go see the healer out in your area. Ok?"
"I'll be back,", Randy glanced at Nogitosh, "At least I hope I can be back."
He swung about to look at Nogitosh and the two impalas stared at each other for several breaths, then the medic swung back to face Randy, "Alright Vill, we've been battleboard partners for years and I know your game, is he a piece you've been holding out on me?"
"Well,", Nogitosh rubbed his upper lip, "Not until an hour or so ago. I didn't even know he existed until then."
"How does he fit in the game?"
Randy and Sten exchanged a puzzled glance and turned back to the two impalas. Nogitosh chuckled, "Welcome to the game of policies. I suppose I should explain that there's more going on here than what you can smell on the surface."
"It would be nice of you to let the game piece know what its role it." He got up and stuck his head out the door, "Bracing kit! Raccoon!"
"Oh go stink off Ev." The medic chuckled and sat back down as Nogitosh continued, "It's like this. I've been working on a policy for many years now on getting the wolves more involved here at the mall. I've always thought it unfair that a wolf couldn't live here, yet your kind has shown more, maturity, in letting herbivores, and omnivores, work in your shops. And live within your lands. Well with the omnivores at least, while I know of a few who do live out there, I've never heard of any herbivores who've chosen to do so." He peered at Randy, who twitched his ears in agreement.
"Kind of smelled that." Nogitosh rubbed his lip again, "But I needed a key, 'piece', to be able to play in my game, any carnivore who's been here for a long enough time to be accepted by herbivores. Tell me,", he addressed Sten, "How did you react when you found out he was a wolf?"
"Well,", Sten scratched an eyebrow, "By the time we found out he was a wolf, he had been coming here for several months and playing with us that we more of less just took his scent as a known." He cocked his ears at Randy, who after thinking about it, twitched an ear at him.
"Okay, I guess I should start at the beginning then."
"See Ev? I told you it was possible for a herbivore to be able to read a carnivore."
"Read?" Sten frowned at Nogitosh.
"Read. What did he say to you?"
"Oh, I smell that now, I guess you're right,", he turned to Randy, "We Do read each other pretty good, don't we." Randy swiveled both ears forward and popped a lip just enough to uncover the tip of a fang, Sten burst out laughing.
Someone rapped at the door, and an antelope stuck his head in, "You needed a bracing kit Ev?"
"Yeah, bring it in here and stick around, I need your help in putting this kit together."
The antelope eyed Randy warily as he put the box down, "You sure?"
"He don't bite, come on now, get your scent together." The antelope glanced at Randy once more before getting to work.
Sten got himself under control and smiled, "Anyway, he showed up about four years ago and wanted to join in a game of poleball with some of us. We thought it little unusual, well, because at the time we thought he was an raccoon because, you know, he had fleshy hands. And as you know, because poleball with herbivores tends to get a little rough at times, they generally don't play it with us. In his case, it didn't matter, we had a hard time catching him, and when we did, odds were he'd break the tackle and still make it safe."
"Well, it wasn't long before he was leading us in, umm, 'hunts', for wolf cubs, you know, when they're supposed to sneak into the mall on their Initiation Day. You know,", he addressed Randy, "You never have told me what that's all for anyway."
Randy kept his attention on what they were doing with his paw, but an ear swiveled about, first at Sten, then at Nogitosh. "It's basically a test of self reliance, you know, to see if they can make it on their own." His ears twitched backwards, "Or at least that's what I think, I'm not certain how it came about. All I know is that the older cubs make the younger cubs do it."
Ev laughed, "You got a ritual which you don't know what it's about?"
"You don't?"
Ev stopped what he was doing and looked up at Nogitosh, then over at Sten. Sten scratched an eyebrow, snapped his fingers together and pointed at Ev, "Overnight."
Ev looked back at Nogitosh, "High odors but I forgot about that."
Nogitosh frowned, "Well it's been a while since we were youngsters after all. You still do that?", he asked Sten.
"Just like you had to. Spend a night under the stars all by yourself." He flapped his ears and rolled his eyes upwards. "And looking back, I wonder why."
"Sten, we're going on an outing one day."
"What's an outing?"
Randy bared both fangs at him, "Live off the land and whatever you can carry with you."
"Great Odors.", Sten shuddered, "I don't know if I can handle that."
Nogitosh grinned, "You can do it."
Sten glared at him, "Then you do it."
"Watch it Vill, you're getting deep.", Ev muttered as he made an adjustment on the brace.
"You just medic and let me politic." He turned his attention back to Sten, "So what was the purpose of these, 'Cub Hunts'?"
"That question's not going to die just because you sidestepped it, its odor will come back." They all chuckled at Sten's dire intonation. "Well the cub hunt was to find the Initiates and play with them, up until then, if we found a wolf cub, we usually teased it till cried." He twitched his ears, "We thought it was a fun thing to so, but when we started getting them involved in play, we found that that was more fun."
"Well,", Nogitosh rubbed his lip, "With you gathering these cubs together, couldn't you tell that he smelled like one of them?"
"He's never smelled like a wolf, he always smelled of, apple."
"Apple?"
For an answer, Sten dug into Randy's vest which he was holding and tossed the mister at Nogitosh. He sniffed the bottle, then pointed the nozzle away from everyone and gave the bulb a squeeze. The fresh scent of apples filled the air.
Ev spun around, "Let me sniff that?" Nogitosh handed the mister over and Ev sniffed at the bottle carefully, "There's more than apple in this."
"There is,", Randy slowly admitted, "It takes me about a week to prepare a liter of it, but the liter lasts a long time."
"Can I keep this?"
"I guess so, but that would only leave me with my bottle, and that's a little large to carry."
"You got a bottle full of this stuff?"
"Yes, I have to dilute the stuff about ten to one."
"Sniff, would you be willing to share the formula with me?"
"I suppose."
"We'll talk about it later, meanwhile, I want to hear the rest of this story." He turned his attention back to the brace, "So how did you find out he was a wolf?"
"Well, it was about, what, three and a half years ago?" Randy twitched an ear at him, "Yeah, about three and a half years ago we were playing hammer ball when some bully's came along, if I remember it right, two bears and a badger, and decided they wanted to play with our equipment. It was no big deal to us, it was only a couple of coins in the deposit we would've lost, so we was perfectly willing to let them have it. But not him, he stood them off and told them to go urinate on each other." He smiled, "Thinking back on it now, it smelled kind of funny, this little cub, barely four foot high at the time, facing these three big bully's, each was better than six foot tall and probably weighing a hundred and fifty each."
"Well they thought it was funny, and after they chuckled over it a bit, one of them reached out for Randy here. And that's the last thing I remember seeing clearly because when he stopped moving, they were down. He held this most peculiar pose for a bit, and when he was sure they weren't getting up, he checks his clothes, sprays himself with that mister, then comes back to pick up his hammer and makes his shot like it never happened. They must of stayed out for a good quarter hour or so, but when they got themselves together, Randy up and looks at them, bares his teeth, and snarls." Sten shuddered, "Most frightening thing I ever seen or heard, and he didn't have his fangs in back then. And as frightened as I was just being on the side of him, their hair stood on end and they took off like he was the most dangerous thing around." He glared as Randy, "And now that I remember it, he had the odor to knock my ball clean out of the play field right after that."
Randy twitched his ears, "It was a fair shot."
"Yeah, scare the hide off me and take my ball out of play."
The adults all chuckled over that, "So,", Nogitosh began, "About how many youngsters know he's a wolf?"
"I don't know, ...", Sten trailed off, scratching an eyebrow and looking at Randy, "Three hundred?"
"Probably more."
"Over Three Hundred!", Nogitosh exclaimed and stared at Ev, "Over three hundred youngsters know a wolf comes here on a regular basis and my office never catches scent of it?"
"One stench of a secret, that's for certain." Ev flapped his ears at him then turned to Randy, "Now kid, umm, cub, pay attention." Randy swiveled both ears forward and they grinned at each other as he continued, "Don't take this off for at least two weeks, except after you bathe, and then only long enough to dry off and change the chaffing pads. And if for some reason you get the pads dirty during the day, change them, else you'll get an infection. Now,", he turned his paw sideways slightly, "When you walk, walk on this heel, it's a little awkward to do, but it can be done, just don't bring any weight onto the toe of the brace, it's not designed to hold your weight. When you remove it, you undo these two clamps, then these straps which holds the bracing onto the paw." He demonstrated the procedure, then reversed it to fasten it back on, "And that's how you put it together." He smiled at him, "And remember to be gentle when you take it off, unless you like pain."
Randy grinned back as he went on, "Now lets see you walk on this."
He slid off the table and walked about the room with a free flowing gait which drew whistles from both Ev and the antelope. "You've had a brace before?"
"No." Randy balanced on the heel, drawing his right leg up until the paw was level with his hip, at the same time spreading his arms out to the side. He made a peculiar popping action with his left leg, bouncing up off the ground and spinning completely about in the air. He landed again on the heel and collapsed into a crouch, keeping himself balanced on the heel all the way down. He held the pose for a breath or two, then stood once more, "Never had one before in my life."
Ev's mouth hung open a bit longer, then he asked, "How'd you do that?"
Sten's voice came from behind him, "That's Tia Cho." They turned to see Sten twirling a surgical knife around his fingers, "I'm not quite as good at it as he is,", he said as he grabbed the knife before it fell out of his fingers, "But I got most of the fundamentals down." He threw the knife at Randy with a flick of his wrist. They spun about to see him snag it out the air and start twirling it about his fingers. In his hand it seemed that the knife took on a life of its own, as though his fingers were just providing it someplace to spin around. "What's really scary about Tia Cho is that he didn't need to see the knife being thrown to know it was coming, that is if he sensed danger about."
Nogitosh rubbed his lip, "Which is how you managed to break his foot."
"More or less, we was playing airball and I needed to keep him from jumping up to make a point." He flapped his ears, "So I put my hoof down."
(19:30 half past the thirteenth hour)
Randy finished patting his paw dry and proceeded to buckle back on the brace. The thing really was rather light considering its strength, but it still got in the way. Like when he got undressed to take his bath, he had to remove it to get his pants off. Then that was a long process itself, even as slow as he pulled his paw out the leg, there was still some interesting moments. But that was his play clothes, they were cut a little tighter than the rest of his wardrobe, except for his spare set of play clothes, everything else would slip over the silly thing without hanging up. He grinned, there was little chance of him playing anymore, at least any of the physical games. Put something of a stink on his plans for the week, but as his first father said, 'stench happens'.
He stood and balanced on the brace for a breath, then walked about the room to make sure he had the thing fastened up correctly, he wasn't sure how it'd feel if he had it wrong, but Medic Ev said he'd know. He stopped in front of the full length mirror the roomer had provided, checking out his body from one angle to another. He was really starting to fill out, he thought, his shoulders were getting broader, there was more muscle tone, muzzle was taking on that characteristic wolf shape, his hair, ...
He swore as he fingered the limp, damp hair which hung halfway down his chest. Great stinking odors, he knew there was something he didn't smell when he decided to bathe. Well, it did need a washing, he thought as he glanced at the clock, but there was no way it would be dry enough to be shaped into his usual ear hiding ponytail before he left to pick up Silvia. He thought about it for several breaths, as impolite as herbivores thought it was to gossip, the scent was good that his current status had spread somewhat. Stenches, the roomer knew what he was. So would it hurt things if he looked more wolf? Or, he continued the line of thought, if he looked more, natural.
"(Natural.)", he muttered, that was the word, for as his second father said, '(Natural only applies to yourself. Never apply it to someone else, because their natural is not your natural.)'.
"(Good words Father, but can it apply here?)"
He thought about it some more. If he couldn't ponytail his hair, well actually he could, it would just be 'flatter' than usual and more of his distinctively wolfish ears were going to stick out, and if that was going to happen anyway, might as well give it a wolf braid. He grinned openly, even herbivores called it a wolf braid, although he did have a small problem doing it. Not only did it take time to do a braiding, but he'd only brought a few end beads with him. And he didn't really want to do a soft braiding, a soft braiding would've pulled his hair back past his ears and if he was going to look like a wolf anyway, he wanted his ring to show.
That was peculiar of the herbivores, he thought as he examined the ring hole to make sure it was clear and clean, that they gave a ringed wolf a higher degree of respect than an unringed one, without realizing it. He fingered his ring for a few more breaths, then came to a decision. After a few segments of work with brush and fingers, he stepped back and admired the results. Not bad, he thought. Two quick wolf braids drew the hair up front down neatly in front of his ears, while the rest of his hair flowed across his scalp and down his back in four soft braids. And it didn't take long, he thought as he glanced at the clock.
And swore again, it had taken longer than he thought, he had only three quarters until he was supposed to meet Silvia. He hopped over to the rack where his dress clothes were hanging and brought himself under control, he actually had more time available tonight thanks to Nogitosh, he thought. The Mayor learned of his plans for the evening and lent him his motorwagon, and its driver! He grinned at the thought of the impression that would make as he sat down on the couch and started working his pants up over the brace. It took a bit longer than he thought it would, but he finally got the cuff in place and stood to fasten the tailhole button and front buttons before running his fingers around the waist to even out the fabric. He then finished dressing quickly, pulling on the ruffled front shirt and fastening a set of gold beads in the sleeves, and then the coat.
He settled the split in the back of the coat over his tail and checked himself out in the mirror to make sure everything was where it supposed to be, then picked up his medallion and fastened it around his neck. He was about to stuff it in his shirt like usual when he thought better of it and let it lay amongst the ruffles of the shirt. The black scribed silver disk looked good within the folds of blush fabric. And father was right, the blush was a definite compliment to the deep, dark purple of the suit and pants. And having that red piping down the outside seams made the pants look sharp, although he wasn't too sure about the gold edging of the coat. At least he wasn't as gaudy as some of his friends, his carnivore friends that is. Until they figured out more about the ancients, the places where their clothing was preserved on display was all they had to go on with forming their own styles, but personally he thought that fancy braid at either the edge of the cuffs or on a board at the shoulders did not make one look better. And then there were the constant attempts to make hats like the ancients which didn't bother the ears!
(20:15 quarter past the fourteenth hour)
"Now remember,", Alvons said as he pulled up to Cooney's, "I open the passenger guard rail, not you. You're only supposed to help the lady in and out the vehicle. She gets in first, you get out first. Smell that?"
"Yeah, I smell you now."
"Yes, use yes, Quincy's Palace is a very formal place, you'll find that the patrons there speak clear Inglish, they rarely use slanted words."
"Yes, I understand."
"Good." He stopped power to the motor and slid out the right side to open the rail for Randy to get out.
"Thank you."
The antelope smiled, "And never thank me, it's part of my job."
Randy cocked an ear at him, "Smell you."
As he headed up the stairs, Alvons called after him, "And remember to open the door for her."
"That I know.", Randy called back over his shoulder.
"And try not to limp so much!"
Randy turned and glared at the broadly grinning antelope before opening the door and stepping into the diner. The first thing he noticed was that it was a wedding dinner, the newlyweds were distinctive in their formal clothes. The next thing he noticed was who they were, which meant he also knew their parents. Conversation died as people took notice of his presence there, heads turning to look at him. He looked them over, gave a short bow, then headed towards the marriage table to take part in the traditional herbivore toast for them.
"Good evening, I wish you a wonderful and long life with good odors all your days.", he said as he picked up a flower and raised it towards them. They quickly got over their astonishment and picked up flowers themselves, then followed him in eating them.
"We thank you for your kind words.", the Malemate managed to remember to say.
That jarred his Femalemate into adding her part, "And may your blessings be also upon you."
He gave a short bow of acknowledgement, then focused on Sten, "And you didn't bother telling me that your sister was getting married?"
Sten blushed and flapped his ears as he glanced from his sister to his parents and back, "Didn't think you'd care to know.", he mumbled.
His parents looked him over carefully, Silowatz let his gaze linger on the ear ring for a breath, then said, "I'm ashamed of you Sten, not only for forgetting to tell him, but not letting us know your best friend was here."
Sten looked thoughtful, then said, "Dad, I didn't know how you'd react."
"Hmm, too true." He looked Randy over once more, "I confess cub, until tonight, I never knew wolves had culture, unless this is another act."
Randy looked down at himself, made a minute adjustment to his coat, then looked back up, "It was never an act before." He flicked his ears, "Truth, you never asked, nor did I ever tell."
He thought about it for a bit, then nodded, "Truth. And though I've suspected what you were for a while now, to see you now, as you really are, comes as a pleasant surprise." He turned to his wife, who had a startled look on her face, "I've like him before, is there any reason I shouldn't like him now?
They were interrupted by Stiwock coming over to the table with a tray of drinks, "Randy, so good to see you. My, you look quite handsome in that style, and the color so much does compliment your hair. Silvia's still getting ready, she'll be down in about a quarter or two."
"That's plenty of time Mrs. Stiwock, I have the use of a motorwagon for tonight." Ears perked up all around at this for motorwagon's weren't cheap. He spotted someone out the corner of his eye pulling back the window cloth. This also restarted the conversation, and he could pick up words here and there about him.
"Mr. Silowatz, where's your good odors? Making a guest stand.", Stiwock chided.
He stared at her in astonishment, then realized that no matter what Randy was, because he was known to the family, and just happened to drop in at the right time, he automatically became a guest, even if he was only going to be here for a quarter of two. He glanced at his mate as a deeper realization hit, Randy was taking out Silvia, and Stiwock paid no heed to who he was other than his appearance! "Please, Randy, forgive my rudeness, would you care to have a seat with us while you wait?"
"Thank you sir, so kind of you to invite me." Randy pulled up a chair and sank into it with a slight sigh, he couldn't quite suppress it, his foot hurt. The brace clacked slightly as he stretched his leg out alongside the table.
Silowatz looked down at the brace, then back up as Stiwock set out everyone's drinks. Including Randy's. He looked up at her, "You're a sly old raccoon, you know?"
She twiddled her fingers at him and headed back for the kitchen, her upheld tail swaying with her walk.
Silowatz looked back down as Randy picked up his glass, "Ah, what happened?"
Randy took a sip as he glanced at Sten, Sten's ears flattened out and he rolled his eyes at the ceiling, "I hurt it while playing airball with your son."
"So that's why you were running late.", he turned his attention to Sten.
Sten frowned, "How did you know I went with him?"
"Great odors son, I have good friends too, you know. One of them gets hurt while I'm with him, I wouldn't worry about a wedding either."
"Dad!", Juntin wailed.
"Sorry dear, didn't quite mean it like that."
Her newmate wrapped his arm about her shoulders, "Your dad would've know better than to go play with his friends with your wedding coming up." He elbowed Sten with a grin.
"Hey, it wasn't like I had a big important part to play in it, you smell?"
Good natured chuckles ran around the table as Randy sipped the wine again. "Hmm, I like this."
"It's one of our vintage's, you mean Sten's never offered you any?"
"He probably considers me a little young for wine."
Silowatz looked puzzled, "That's right, not only do I not know how old you are, I'm not certain about what your drinking age is."
"I'm not quite thirteen, and,", he swiveled an ear, "I'm not certain what you mean by drinking age."
"The age when you're allowed to drink alcohol." He frowned, "You mean wolves don't set an age when you become adult enough to drink?"
"I smell you now." He touched his ring, "This is one way. The other's when you earn a badge."
"A badge, that's one of those chest decorations you wear?" Randy nodded, and he shifted uncomfortable, "I believe I know what it takes to earn a ring, but how does one earn a badge?"
"Well, if you know that much, then you also know there's only one time during a wolf's life where he can earn a ring." Silowatz nodded and he continued, "A wolf can earn a badge anytime after his thirteenth birthday, and while there's only three types of rings, there's many types of badges. Each badge means that you have succeeded in a particular area, they range from living on your own in the wild for a month, to just plain being helpful around the community. Personally, I've never heard of a wolf not earning at least one badge before he reaches his twentieth birthday."
"Do they have one for Tia Cho?", Sten asked.
"No.", Sten's face fell, "They give out medals and bars for that.", he tapped his chest where his four bars were pinned to the right side of his jacket. Sten's face brightened back up, then became very bland as he realized what he just revealed.
Silowatz examined his son, then asked, "What's, Tia Cho?"
Randy cocked an ear at Sten, he responded by flipping one sideways, Randy twitched a reply and Sten's expression fell again. "Sorry, I have to tell him.", he vocalized for his dad's sake. He took a sip of wine, "You might know the art by its local name, Mugoy."
Everyone at the table frowned at Sten, he looked at the table dejectedly, "My son's learning a hunting skill from a wolf."
"It's not a hunting skill."
They all looked at Randy in surprise. "It isn't?", Silowatz asked.
"No." Randy picked up an eating stick and proceeded to twirl in his fingers, "We consider it an art form, more of a skill in becoming aware of one's surroundings." His eyes lost some of their focus, "For example, the couple behind me are nuzzling each other."
They all turned to see, and the female there noticed their attention after a bit. She murmured something into her mate's ear and he spun about to look at them puzzled. They smiled at them and turned their attention back to Randy, who still had a far off look in his eyes, "And Silvia will be down in less than a quarter." A couple of them glanced up at the ceiling involuntarily.
Silowatz focused on Randy, "That's scary."
"Only to someone who doesn't understand how it works. Your son,", he pointed with the hand that was twirling the stick without losing it, "Has some natural ability with some of what I can teach him, I don't know if he'll ever hunt with it, but he can master other aspects of it."
"Like the fighting?"
"Maybe." He took a sip of wine, "He knows enough now to where he could take part in a tournament which is coming up in two months."
Sten's ears went straight up and his eyes shot over to his parents, "You think I could hold my own against the other first level's?"
"Might not earn a ribbon."
"But I could last a few rounds you think?"
"Maybe."
Sten frowned, "You never give me a positive answer on what I've learned."
"I'm never supposed to, meditate on that." He took sip and looked at Silowatz, "Of course sir, I understand that he's still obligated to you until his nineteenth birthday, so it depends on you giving him permission to attend."
He shifted uncomfortably and looked at his mate, "Well Erli, what do you think?"
She shifted herself and glanced at her son before returning her attention to the stick twirling in Randy's fingers, "I don't know, I heard that it can be dangerous."
The stick stopped and pointed at Sten, "I won't lie to you, he can get hurt, but the injuries which usually happen tend to be, short term hurts."
"What's a 'short term hurt'?"
"He might come home looking like he'd been mauled."
She looked at Sten, frightened, he gazed back with an earnest expression on his face. She took several deep breaths and calmed down. "I scent some long discussions on this matter."
"Sniff,", Juntin's newmate interjected, "You can teach this to anyone?" She stared at him, then jabbed him in the ribs, "Ow!"
"That depends on several things." Randy sipped his wine, "You have to have some natural ability for me to, hone. You have to have the willingness to learn. And you have to decide on what you want from it."
"Well, I've never been much of a fighter, ..."
"You don't have to be. To fully scent the subject, you don't ever have to learn anything about the fighting aspect of the art."
"I'd like to learn that bit about becoming aware of one's surroundings,", he looked at Sten, "I've never really noticed it before, but now that I think about it, Sten here has demonstrated a level of maturity which you rarely see in someone under twenty,", he grinned, "Or rather I should say a herbivore."
"Hmm, now that you mention it, you're right,", Silowatz said thoughtfully, and turned to his wife, "Sniff, you said something about it yourself not too long ago." She nodded as he gazed at Sten, "Although, I am curious about something Randy."
"Which is?"
"Why I've never heard of Tia Cho."
"Probably because it's a variation of the art from the west coast."
"Your family's from the west coast?"
"Not exactly, I'm a transaction."
"A what?"
"A transaction, although the story behind what that means is going to have to wait." They followed his gaze to the back of the dining hall to see Silvia approaching the table. She was wearing a gorgeous, sky blue dress, shot through with scarlet thread. Her hair was arrayed in a neck curl, forming a partial loop which seemed to hover just above her shoulders, and it was accented with several small gold combs, artfully placed throughout. Jangle rings of gold encircled her wrists, and as she walked, flashes of gold could be seen about her ankles. They heard a chair scrape as Randy stood to greet her.
"Good scented evening, Silvia."
"Pleasant odors yourself, Randy."
"I must say, you look stunning."
She blushed and twitched her whiskers, "Thank you, you look mighty fine yourself."
As she came around the table, Silowatz asked, "Where're you going?"
"Quincy's Palace."
Ears perked up all around, "That's fabulous, what are they acting tonight?"
"I really couldn't care, I have something better to watch."
There was several good natured chuckles at this as she lowered her head, embarrassed, and her face fell somewhat when she saw the brace.
"What happened to your paw?"
"I broke it."
She moaned, "That means we won't be doing any dancing."
He held out his arm for her to take and they started for the door, "Oh I think I should be able to manage a slow turn or two around the floor, I'd have to anyway, if I wanted to show off the most gorgeous Raccoon in the entire world." She blushed and giggled as he held the door open for her.
Her eyes lit upon the motorwagon, and she exclaimed, "Oh, Randy!" Then her eyes spotted the crest on the hood, and everyone in the dining room heard through the closing door, "I didn't know you knew the Mayor!"