[ Back ] [ Up ] [ Next ]

(05:30 half before the first hour)

His eyes fluttered open and he gazed at the dimly lit ceiling for several breaths, debating with himself on getting up. Not only was yesterday exhausting, but he stayed awake well past his usual sleep hour. It was worth it though, he thought, reflecting on the events of last night. Quincy's was just as fabulous as he'd heard it was, although the menu did cater more to herbivores than to omnivores, so he really didn't eat that much. He didn't quite remember what the acting was about, which wasn't like him, but then his attention was more on Silvia than what was going on around him. He was aware enough to notice the odd looks he received during the evening, more than once he sensed he was the topic of conversation from one table or the other as they danced about the floor after the acting, and it felt like it was split between not only the fact that he was a wolf, but that he danced so well, and with a brace!

That Brace! He jerked the covers off and glared at it. Odors, but he told Sten time and again that he needed to pay attention to such moves, otherwise the gazelle was going to get himself disqualified in the tournament by causing a serious injury. And it would affect him as well, for he was taking his first sniff at getting a master's medal, and Sten's performance would reflect on that because he'd taken him on as a disciple. If Sten was allowed to go. If he was allowed to stay at the mall. Or even keep coming to visit.

Too many ifs, he thought, and the morning was not a time for ifs, it was a time for reflection on the Creator and he apologized for it. He took several mediating breaths, and was about to pop off of the mat when he remembered That Brace. He grinned as he rolled off the mat and eased himself upright. It was going to prove to be an interesting morning workout he thought as he shucked his sleeping robe and pulled on his Jo, he debated on the shorts, but after concentrating carefully, decided against it. Nobody else was up at the roomer's and the yard was private enough. Besides, they were getting a bit tight for comfort, and this morning he had to work the brace into his routines.

He snapped a large bead set around his braids to keep them out the way, then eased through the door, gliding down the hall towards the back door like a gray shadow. With red hair. The door threatened to creak as he was opening it, he caught it in time and after studying it for a breath, applied a bit of pressure to the frame to get it past the creak. He closed it just as carefully and turned to see the roomer's dog watching him sleepily.

The dog yawned, "Wake early. Why wake early?", he growled softly.

Randy worked out the proper syntax before replying, for it was an unusual dog who bothered to learn how to speak. "Wake early ever always. Wake early meet sun, meet one who is."

The dog lifted an ear as he considered this for it was rare to have someone talk back to him in a manner he could understand, "One who is need meet when sun come? One who is not need meet when sun come, one who is ever always."

Randy grinned at this, dogs had such simple minds, "Yes, now quiet, meet special. Come meet with me?"

The dog yawned, "Me sleep now. Me meet later." With that he closed his eyes and laid his head back down.

Randy reached down and scratched him between the ears before moving out to the center of the yard. There he considered his first obstacle with his morning routine. "(Kneeling is definitely out.)", he muttered as he eased himself into a sitting position. He swung his right paw easily onto his left thigh and propped the brace holding his left paw immobile on his right knee. That would probably become uncomfortable, so he slipped his right foot under his thigh and put the brace under his knee. He shifted about for a bit until he found that he could prop his knee on top of one of the bands without it distracting him. He draped his hands loosely in his lap, bowed his head, and meditated on his morning prayers.

The sun had cleared the earth's edge before his head snapped up and he became aware of his body once more. And definitely he had found the right position because nothing was screaming in anguish at him. He planted the brace firmly on its heel, then lightly bounced up to begin with the Sira. He worked his way through the entire warm-up routine before moving to the more vigorous Ki-Chi patterns. As he twisted and twirled through the rhythms, staying alert to modifications he had to make for the brace, he became aware of the fact that he had an audience. He felt a bit of embarrassment as he flipped over his head, but he wasn't about to stop abruptly in the middle of a workout. He came to the end of the Ki-Chi and fell into the Kora, bringing his body speed back to normal once more. He finished the last movement and became still, hands clasped in front of his nose as he bowed towards the sun.

He clapped his hands lightly, adjusted his knee length Jo, and turned towards the rooming house. The roomer and a couple of the other tenants were sitting on the porch drinking some burn-bean beverage, he smiled at them as he glided up the steps and sat down to help himself to some. "Good odors."

"Good odors yourself,", the old badger who ran the rooms returned, "Would you consider wearing some shorts next time?"

"Sorry,", he blew across the mug and sipped, "Actually I have some, but they're a little tight and I didn't want the distraction this morning because I had this to take into account with my workout." He held out his braced paw and wiggled the toes.

"I'll spring the price if you're that tight for coin cub." Grebert grinned, "I mean, generally it's rare for me to have any female roomers, but if you'd been at it for another quarter segment, my cook might've seen you and I'd never have heard the end of it."

The bear and the antelope sitting with them chuckled as Randy blushed, "I'll make a note to pick some up today."

"Great odors, forgetting my manners. Randy, this is Gristen and Choten.", he pointed at the bear, then the antelope, "Gristen, Choten, this is Randy."

"Pleased to scent you."

"Nice to scent you too.", returned Choten.

"Likewise, though,", Gristen grinned broadly, "I'm certain you didn't intend for us to meet quite so much of you this morning."

"No,", Randy admitted as they chuckled, "That was unintentional."

Gristen took a swallow, "Got to admit, Mugoy looks almost like a dance, what with all that,", he swayed his arms back and forth, almost spilling his burn, "And that leaping and bouncing you were doing."

"Oh that's the pretty part to look at,", Grebert put in, "The event to watch is a tournament, makes wrestling look like a youngster game. Matter of scent, he could probably take you down.."

Gristen frowned at Grebert and turned to examine Randy critically as Choten asked, "Really? You've been to one?"

"Oh yeah, they'll let anyone watch. To be part of the tournament you got to know what he knows, and it can get rough in the elimination rounds."

"Hmm, is there one coming up soon in this area?", he asked Randy.

"In about two months, and I intend to be in it."

"With that?", Gristen pointed at the braced paw.

"This should be off in six weeks or so."

"Even so, Grebert told us that the paw was broke, sniffing which, is what made your workout really amazing, and there's no way that bone will be healed enough to take the strain by then."

"I know." Randy sipped on his burn thoughtfully, "Sniff this. I go for my first level masters medal this time round. If I miss it, it'll be five years before a masters tester comes back around."

Grebert whistled, "How old are you cub?"

"Almost thirteen."

"That's young, when did you start studying?"

"Four."

The smell of cooking wafted through the air, Gristen sniffed deeply, "Eggs, oatmeal with raisins, cornbread, fresh creamed potatoes."

Choten frowned, "What? No meat?"

Grebert flipped his round ears back and forth, "Was supposed to get some yesterday. Forgot."

Gristen heaved his bulk out of his chair, "You're getting old, badger."

>>(09:00 the third hour)

Randy let go the tiller bar and leaned into the backrest between the driver wheels as he came to a stop at the crossing, again thankful that the Mayor had allowed him to bring his bike into the Mall. Although it did cause quite a few looks to be directed at him for the usual practice was that unless it was for delivery purposes, or it was a people mover, or a special purpose mover, generally one did not ride any sort of personal movers within the mall complex. He remembered his own surprise when Nogitosh had rubbed his lip and admitted that as far as he knew, there wasn't a rule against it, it was just a habit because so much of the mall was arranged for walking and bikes. What with it's meandering pathways and such.

Still, at least there was mover paths within the mall, there had to be some means of getting large amounts of bulk items into the interior areas of the place after all, it's just they were usually used by movers and such, one never saw anything as small as his three wheel rider travelling the path.

A bell clanged from the people mover behind him and he snapped away from the scent he was following, grabbing the tiller bar and applying power to the little motor once more. He tilted his head enough so the driver could see him touch his nose in apology, then bent his attention on the path ahead. While most used the marked crossings to get across the mover path, he'd quickly found out that there was a few who would dash across wherever they happened to come out from a inner walkway.

He spotted the landmark he was looking for and saw a parking zone he could pull into. He stopped next to the power meter and looked about, it felt weird to be parking in such a large area, but then again, it wasn't like there was a bike rack with a power meter handy. As he was thinking about it, a large bulk mover backed into the zone next to him.

The driver looked at him, looked back and forth over the zone, then back at him, "I wouldn't smell right parking there if I was you." Randy raised an eyebrow and twisted his ears forward. "Well, normally we're rather careful driving these things, but all it'd take is one of us not paying attention and bam, no more bike."

Randy scratched his chin, "I smell that, but I rather wanted to put a charge on."

The antelope swiveled his ears, "That little thing's powered?"

Randy put on a strickened look, "I'm odorless." He grinned as the driver chuckled, "Yeah, it's only got two powers and one of those new little motors, but I really only have it for when I get on the ancient's path between Gertovle and here."

"It'll last all the way from Gertovle and here?"

"And back, with a little left over."

He whistled, "How fast does it go?"

"Not very, take's about an hour to get here."

"Beats pedaling though."

"You bet, took almost three pedaling."

"So how come you riding it around in here?" Randy held out his braced paw. "Oh." He rubbed an horn, "Smell this kid, err, cub, I'll be about three hours getting this stuff,", he flicked an ear at his load, "To all the places it's got to go, so why don't you pull up close next to me and use my pole?" He glanced at his panel board, "I've got plenty of power so I don't need it."

"Thanks!" Randy grabbed his tiller and zipped around the mover to the pole there, after snapping the lock in place, he broke out the charge cables and plugged them into the meter's outlet. He then grimaced, this was the first time he had to use public power and it took coins to use. He eyed his power level, examined the meter's rates, and figured a coin ought to give him a good charge. If not, he grinned at the thought, he'd just have to find a pole near Elders Field.

"Thanks again and maybe I'll smell you later."

"Have a good scent, you all set?"

"Yeah, though whoever sets the rates on these meters never figured on anything this small being plugged into them, that's steep!"

The driver chuckled, "You're probably right, how much you drop in?"

"One."

"That ought to do it, this thing,", he patted the gate of the mover, "Takes a twenty to charge up."

Randy rolled his eyes, "I should demand change."

He left the chuckling driver and made his way into University Village, mentally adding up his coin, he was spending it a bit freely, but then he had to get started somehow. Last night had cost him thirty five coins, and it was worth every slice. But the day to day costs was what had him concerned right now, the room he was renting cost him five a week, plus five if he ate his breakfast and dinner there, and an extra coin to have his room cleaned once a week, then there was another coin if he wanted his laundry done! He came to the corner of Buttercup and Firefly and looked about at the crowds.

The morning had started out with a bunch of ifs, but his meditation had revealed to him that he could stay here, so that quelled the uneasiness he felt about the Elders meeting this afternoon. Still, he had rather hoped to become established before anyone figured out his was a wolf, and the fact that he'd been no trouble during that time would've helped dispel any fears about him. As he watched the crowds, he became aware of another new fact, normally people passed him up without a second glance, but now, there was a glance thrown in his direction every here and there. And the scent came upon him, it was rather unusual to see a wolf just standing around without business to conduct.

He grinned at the thought, remembering at the last scant breath to keep his fangs covered. He started walking again, heading towards Book Worms. He rather meant to see Gadfly yesterday, but knew that he wouldn't be able to with the Initiates coming in, and he intended to see him anyway, even before he revealed to Randy that he knew what he was, about a job. Although what Gadfly wanted to see him about was putting an itch in a place he couldn't quite scratch.

He entered the store, sniffing appreciatively the smell of clean paper and fresh ink, and saw that Gadfly was busy discussing business with a supplier. "So,", the wolf was saying, "You don't want Woolly's best seller's this time."

"Not really, I've still got unsold copy from the last two or three best seller's so I'm kind of hesitant about committing more coin in that series of books. Good odors Randy, been waiting for you."

The wolf looked over his shoulder, then turned to face Randy, and he found himself with another new awareness of his standing. He was being sized up. The wolf eyed his earring, checked the four bars pinned to his vest, spotted the brace, then his gaze returned to the ring.

Randy in turn, noted the lack of a ring in his ear, but he did have three angles pinned to his right vest along with an award for life saving, and about fifteen badges decorated left side of his vest. He locked gazes with the wolf, "Well I meant to come by yesterday, but had some other business to take care of." He flicked his ear in a meaningful gesture.

The wolf tilted his head ever so slightly as Gadfly said dryly, "I rather smelled that when you never showed up, but I am glad you did come. I'll be only a minute." He gave at Randy with a peculiar look before turning his attention back to the wolf. "Now, if Woolly's was to give me some credit because of the unsold books, so I could discount them, I might be inclined to buy another lot, ..." He trailed off wistfully.

The wolf knocked on the counter, "Let me follow that scent, if Woolly's won't give you a discount, maybe my alpha can cut some coin off the price."

"Smells good to me, as long as I don't put too much crimp on your coin."

"We'll make a good odor somehow." They rapped knuckles and he continued, "Anything else on your sniffing list?"

"Hmm,", Gadfly rubbed an horn as he looked over his list, "Yeah, that covers this list, I probably missed something, but if I didn't write it down, ..."

The wolf grinned, "Then it probably wasn't an important smell.", he finished for Gadfly.

Gadfly grinned back, "You know me too good." The wolf flicked his ears, "But now that I smell it, I did notice my learning supplies seem to need checking."

"Want me to check them?"

"Please, another learning cycle is going to start in four weeks and I hate being caught short scented."

"Will do." They rapped knuckles again, then the wolf turned to Randy, touched his heals together with a slight head bow before heading towards the learning supplies.

Randy nodded back as he came up to the counter. "Well Mr. Gadfly, what is it you wanted to see me about?"

Gadfly smiled mischievously, "Nothing much, but could I ask you something first?"

Randy had a feeling what he wanted to ask, "What scent's bothering you?", he asked as he flicked an ear in the direction of the learning supplies.

Gadfly glanced that way and looked at Randy with upraised ears, Randy returned a slight nod, "Well,", he leaned over the counter, "With that odor, what happened to your paw?"

"You know Sten, that gazelle friend of mine?"

"I believe I've met him."

"He broke it."

"He did? How?"

"He used a Mugoy move I taught him without realizing how much power he was putting into it." Randy cocked an ear a slight breath before the crash sounded from the other side of the store.

He let the tips of his fangs show as he grinned at Gadfly's astonished look. "You alright back there?", he managed to get out.

"I'm fine,", came a muffled voice, "I spilled the oversize sheets, that's all."

"Ok." He stared at Randy and mouthed, 'you knew'. Randy nodded as he continued, "Well, I've always heard that Mugoy was dangerous, does he know?"

"I would say he does now, if not, I intend to give him a lesson in the dangers which the odor of will not go away any time soon."

"Good odor."

The wolf came from the back of the store, "Well Mr. Gadfly, I think I know what you need, want to check my list over?"

"No,", Gadfly made a throwaway gesture, "You've always managed to get me what I need, get on now, I know you got a few more stops to make."

"I'll see you in a week then" He gave Randy a slight bow and waited for him to return it before leaving.

Gadfly watched him go and when he was good and gone, turned to Randy, who had a wide eyed innocent look on his face. "That don't descent me for a breath, what happened here just now."

"Honestly?"

"Yes, please."

Randy looked at his braced paw, "Well can we sit while we talk?"

"Bothering you?" Gadfly gestured towards the burn corner.

"Yeah, you'd have to understand the whole story." Randy sat in a chair with a sigh as Gadfly fetched a couple of cups of burn. He graciously accepted the cup and sipped, "You know about me and the attitude I've been giving the youngsters towards the Initiates." Gadfly nodded, "Well yesterday was an Initiate Day."

Gadfly tapped his cup, "That'd be about right, first day for you older cubs to get back from camp. By the scent, I see you not only got a ring, but ruby too."

"Well that scent goes with your first question, and I'll get to that in a minute." Gadfly's ears perked up at this, "Anyway, about the ninth hour, we were playing airball when Sten decided to use that move I mentioned to keep me from making a point. Only he didn't use the exact move, he modified it somewhat. The move is supposed to knock the feet out from under an opponent, he used it to keep me from jumping by coming down on top my foot. With the scent so far?" Gadfly nodded, "If it wasn't for the fact that I was concerned about the Initiates, I would've gotten it seen to then, but because of them, ..." Randy trailed off and flicked his ears.

"You continued to walk on it.", Gadfly interrupted, "Oh I bet that hurt."

"You smelled that right, I managed to keep most of the pain from showing, but because I continued to walk on it the ends ground against each other and put little bone fragments in the meat surrounding the break."

"Ouch." Gadfly shuddered, "I broke an arm once, so I can imagine how it felt." A couple of antelopes came in the store and he called out, "If you need anything I'm over here." They glanced in their direction, did a double take when they saw Randy, looked at each other, flicked their ears, and headed into the stacks of books. Gadfly gazed in their direction for a breath, then asked, "Now what's this about that ring?"

Randy sipped his burn thoughtfully, "Why don't you first tell me what you know of Camp."

Gadfly's ears swiveled forward at the emphasis on the word, then frowned, "Probably not as much as I should know, or rather that I've been told." At Randy's slow nod he put his cup down and leaned back. "Camp happens for three months every two years where young wolves are given the chance to demonstrate their, ability to be called adults."

"Fair, but not quite accurate, there's more to it than that." Randy watched as another customer and one of Gadfly's employees enter the store. The gazelle waved at them before heading behind the counter. "Camp is also the first time young Alpha's prove themselves fit for their future."

Gadfly picked up his burn and sipped it, thinking. Finally he said, "I smell that there's a lot I thought I knew about wolves which is about to end up in a stench pile."

"Probably."

"So the ring isn't an award, is it."

"No, it's a mark of status." Randy finished his burn and put the cup down, "You know there's three rings,", Gadfly nodded, "Ruby, emerald, and gold. Ruby marks an Alpha, emerald marks Seconds, and gold marks Supers."

"So that's what you all mean when you refer to 'your alpha' or such."

"Not always, Alpha, alpha. The emphasis gives it away, we always give people over us the titles, but when we refer to one with an emphasis on the title, we're referring to one who has Pack superiority over us. Are you with me so far?"

"I think so, ..." He was interrupted by an impala who hesitantly approached their table, "Can I help you?"

"Uhh,", he glanced at Randy nervously, "I'm looking for the Bletmoth Garfunk series."

Gadfly rubbed an horn, "Err,"

"Aisle four, rack seven, third shelf on the left." Randy pointed towards the stacks.

"You sure? I was just there."

"Unless he's moved them.", Randy flicked an ear at Gadfly.

"The cub's right, that's where they should be if I have any."

"Thank you, I'll check again." He headed back towards the shelves.

"Say, you know the store pretty good."

"I ought to, the time I've spent here."

Gadfly chuckled, then rubbed an horn again, "So what's the significance of 'Pack' superiority?"

"Well, just now for example, if I thought my business with you was more important than his, I could've told him to go away for a bit."

Gadfly's eyes widened, "Which you didn't, obviously."

"Correct, I told him he had my permission to take precedence over me."

"So what would of happened if you had told him to go away and he refused?"

"I had to right to take him down then and there."

"As in fighting him?"

"Wouldn't have been much of a fight,", Randy tapped the bars pinned to his vest, "He didn't even have a bar, I'm a four bar."

Gadfly put a finger on his lips and played with his cup, staring thoughtfully at Randy's vest, finally he admitted, "You scare me."

"How so?"

"That you can be capable of such violence."

"Don't be." Randy tapped his ring, "This isn't given out frivolously, there's a lot they evaluate before they hand out the rings."

"You mean that you could be a, four bar?", Randy flicked an ear, "Go to camp and not get a ring?"

Randy nodded, "Matter of scent, if you go to camp with any level or bar, and not get a ring? You'll never be allowed to win a master's medal." He frowned slightly, "Not quite true, you might be able to get a master's later in life, but you'd have to have a chest full of awards and badges to get it."

"Hmm." Gadfly looked thoughtful for a bit, "I can smell that there's a lot more to being a wolf than I thought. There's still questions I'm going to ask every now and then, but there'll be time for that later. I did ask you to stop by because I have something for you. Something which will help you win some badges, and maybe an award or two." At Randy's puzzled look he grinned mischievously again, "I think I know enough about the badges to say that you need to earn a few in the next couple of years." Randy slowly nodded, "Well I wanted to offer you this before it was known that you were a wolf, but I think it'll still work out now. Tell me, what are you planning to become?"

Randy looked off in the distance, "Well, I rather wanted to become a biologist, but, ..." He looked back to Gadfly, "That's going to be a hard odor to smell."

Gadfly frowned, "I thought you was interested in organic chemistry."

Randy flicked his ears, "That's more of a hobby, it's fun to do, but can be a real hard odor to smell when you're trying for something specific." He pulled on a braid thoughtfully, "Of course the two are closely related, so studying one will help me with the other, still, ..." He trailed off and looked at Gadfly sadly.

Gadfly nodded knowingly, "None of the local colleges which accept carnivores offer either of them as a course of study. Even elsewhere in the country? Never mind that scent, you probably checked,", Randy nodded, "And even if they did, it would be expensive to study over there."

Randy grinned, "That would not have stopped me."

"Oh?" Gadfly's expression demanded an explanation.

"My family name is Deabilo."

"Oh great odors!" Gadfly shook his head, "Now I wonder if I should even bother offering you a job!"

Randy stared at him for a breath, then burst out laughing, he couldn't help it. Gadfly stared him, first in concern, then with annoyance. Several customers nearby looked up, startled, and he noted their expressions and got himself under control. He breathed easy for a bit, the calmly stated, "Nobody's ever heard a wolf laugh."

They looked at each other, then one of them volunteered, "Uh, no. That was laughter? But it sounded more like a, ...", she trailed off hesitantly.

Randy smiled gently at her, "A dog barking, I know." He chuckled a bit more, then continued, "Wolves Do have a sense of humor, especially,", he looked at Gadfly, "When the One sees fit to give one what they need without having to ask for it."

He saw them nod knowingly out the corner of his eye and go back to their book browsing as Gadfly's look of annoyance deepened, "You're rich, why would you Need a job?"

Randy gazed off in the distance again, "If I was accepted into a college, my father would support me. But even when that was over, I'd still have to make it on my own before I could even sniff any of the clan money as my own." He looked back at Gadfly, "Our rules of inheritance demand that one prove himself, or herself, worthy of receiving it."

Gadfly thought about it, then said, "And that's what the badges are about." At Randy's cocked ear he continued, "Fedray's been my seller for Grodfrey's Supply for about, hmm, ten years I believe. When he first started he had only five badges on him, and over the years I've seen him acquire them one by one. But I'll never forget the day he came in so happy, you'd think he had no odor. Well, I asked him what made him so happy and he pointed to his chest and informed me that he had just earned his badge of 'Self Reliance'. So, whenever I saw a new badge, I'd ask about it and I'd like to think that I know more than the average person about the badges. And awards too, I think. I know he's got one for Life Saving, even know how he got it."

Randy looked at the smugly grinning gazelle, "You're probably right about awards, they're not handed out frivolously either. So, what'd he do?"

"You remember the big windstorm days five years ago, ..."

"Yeah, who could forget? Odors that was a scary time."

Gadfly nodded, "He rescued a tiger mother and her cubs from the Shigray river flood."

"Really?" Randy flicked his ears appreciatively, "He probably got two badges too, didn't he?"

Gadfly frowned, "Come to think about it, he did, although I can't quite remember what they were."

"Helping Outsiders and Other Survival Over Self."

"That's them, but, ..."

"How did I know?", he grinned broadly, revealing fangs, "I read his chest!"

"Oh!" Gadfly grabbed his horns and pulled his head down, "That's right, you're a Wolf."

>>(11:00 the fifth hour)

Randy unwrapped his sticks and dug into his food, Gadfly and him had talked for almost two hours when he remembered the Elders meeting for the seventh and he had wanted to get something to eat before heading clear across the mall to Elders Field. Gadfly had nodded thoughtfully, recommended this little diner he knew about which served more than the light meats, then wished him the Creator's Best Scents for the afternoon. He chewed thoughtfully, Gadfly didn't seem surprised about the Elders Meeting, matter of scent, he seemed, smug.

He ate distractedly, thinking hard. There was a new itch where he couldn't scratch it and it was starting to bother him. Gadfly Knew something was going to happen at the meeting, and knew enough to where he was certain about Randy being able to start work tomorrow. "Creator, I wish I knew." Almost immediately he felt the calm assurance that everything was going to be all right, and it was humorously pointed out that his worrying about it was distracting him from the fine meal he was eating.

His ears pricked up in surprise, then he grinned, it was a very tasty meal, and rather light on the coin too. He finished the meal slowly, taking time to appreciate it, and looked wistfully at the empty plate when it was gone. He glanced at the menu, considering getting another plateful, then eyeballed the clock and decided against it. While it'd only take forty five sweeps to easily motor his way to the field, he did want to be there early.

He brought his plate to the dishwasher, thanked them all for their hospitality, and made his way outside. He was a good five sweeps walking when he noticed that the crowds seemed thinner than usual. Then he remembered that it was between learning cycles so there wouldn't be as many people about anyway. He spotted a clothing store and decided to spend a bit of time to get those shorts like he promised he would.

Fifteen sweeps later found him unplugging his bike, the driver, who was still out distributing his load, was right, his power read full. He zipped out onto the main path and started chuckling, while he knew where Elders Field was, he didn't know how to get there by the mover paths! "(Well, first time for everything.)", he muttered to himself as he set about looking for landmarks to guide him.

>>(half past the sixth)

It was an interesting adventure, he thought to himself as he bumped the front wheel into a free space at the bike rack. It wasn't that the mover paths meandered, he was just so used to the walking paths so much that he got disoriented so often that he found himself doubling back several times. He got off his bike and gazed about at the amazing array of bikes already there. And still more people were arriving! Not just by bike either, he watched a couple of movers full of people maneuver into the parking area and felt a chill travel up his spine. All this just because some scared grazers decided he was dangerous because he was a Wolf. He felt a snarl rumble deep within him and suppressed it as he waved cheerfully at the people staring at him.

He turned and headed into the field itself, down the tree lined path, and came to an abrupt, shocked, halt at the sight of the thousands of people lining the viewing slopes. What made it worse was that it was still a good four hundred to five hundred feet to the bowl itself, and the people down there looked tiny. He stayed there for several sweeps, gathering his courage, as people continued to fill the bowl. Someone stopped next to him and he looked up at an impala.

"Hello."

The impala glanced down, then looked back at the field himself. "Hello yourself. You must be Randy."

"Yep."

The impala sighed as they stared at the multitude of people there, then said, "I should've gotten here sooner."

Randy flicked his ears in agreement, "Who would of thought I'd cause such interest?"

The impala grimaced, "It's not your fault, it's those grazers down in the petition box." Randy looked up in surprise, and he grinned, "Yeah, we use the term ourselves. Although I heard that there was hundreds of them, there can't be more than sixty or seventy there."

Randy frowned as he looked in the indicated direction, "I smelled that it took at least a hundred to file a petition."

"You think right, something smells funny about this meeting, I don't envy you for being the center of attention here."

He winced, then softly admitted, "I'm scared."

"Don't be,", the impala assured him as he patted him on the shoulder, "If there was still hundreds of them, that's one odor, but now, they got to rally the crowd into supporting them, and personally,", he grinned as he rubbed an horn, "I'm not inclined to support them."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Better get on down there or you'll be late yourself." As he made his way down the lane, the impala called after him, "Break a leg!"

Randy turned and held out his braced paw, "Already did." Laughter rippled out around him from the people close enough to hear.

About halfway down, he spotted a familiar crop of blond hair sporting a set of horns he knew well, "Sten!" Sten spun about, along with dozens of kids he knew well, "Great odors! How many of you all are here?"

Sten flapped his ears as he grinned broadly, "All of us?"

"You big grazer, I love you.", he muttered as he looked over the mass of faces, he spotted Ziggy, and his parents, they smiled and waved at him. "I thought yesterday was interesting, today's better." He looked at Sten with slightly bared fangs, "I got a job."

Sten frowned, then his ears stood straight up as his eyes widened, "Here? At the Mall?"

"Have I been anywhere else since yesterday?"

"Who?"

"Gadfly, and he offered it to me."

"Now that's interesting." Sten flicked an ear down at the bowl.

Randy turned and examined the center of the bowl, after a bit of study, he exclaimed, "Mr. Gadfly's an Elder?"

"Yep." Sten looked up at the astonished wolf, after a breath or two, he said, "Pick your mouth up before someone trips over it."

Randy snapped his mouth shut and tried to glare at the gazelle, but couldn't, "Why, .." He trailed off, trying to figure out which question needed smelling first.

Sten tried a couple of answers, "Why didn't he tell you? I don't know. Why did I never tell you? I didn't think it such an important matter."

"Grr." He looked down at the bowl again and saw that Nogitosh was waving for him to hurry up. "Well, in any case, be at Pikers Field this afternoon for the tenth hour with your Jo. And let the rest of the class know as well."

"Pikers Field?", Sten looked up puzzled.

"Well, if my odor's known, might as well practice in the open as well. Hmm?"

"Good odor that, later then."

As he made his way down, he was amazed by the number of people greeting him, many whom he didn't know. The whole meeting was taking on a surreal quality he thought as he stopped momentarily by the petitioner box and looked them over. They were an awfully uncomfortable looking bunch. He stepped out onto the meeting field itself and looked about. The petitioner box was behind his right shoulder, with their speaking area just to his right. Straight ahead was the Elder platform, a large stage about five feet off the ground with tables and chairs set up on it. Then to his left was the defendant's box, where he supposed to go. Only there was three wolves already there.

"(The Carnivore Action Committee.)", he muttered as he headed towards them. He found himself automatically sizing them up just as they were sizing him. The most interesting thing he noticed was that none of them had a ring, or seemed to have much in the way of medals and awards. He stepped up to the table they sat behind and looked them over once more.

One of them finally spoke up, "(Well cub, I don't know how you managed it, but you've given us a wonderful odor to work with here.)" The other two nodded in agreement.

Randy stared at them for another breath or two, then followed the inner prompting he felt. He placed his knuckles on the table top, leaned over slightly, and said loud enough for the front racks of spectators to hear, "Leave."

They froze, their grins evaporating from their faces and they stared at him in astonishment. One of them got his wits back enough to stammer, "(But, but, you can't!)"

Randy flicked his left ear in an empathic manner, drawing their attention to it. It was almost comical the way all of them looked together at his chest, then back to the hard set look of his eyes.

"(He would.)", one of them flatly declared.

They stood and picked up their cases, and as they were leaving the box, one of them turned to say, "(We reserve the right of challenge if something doesn't smell right here.)"

Randy flicked his ear and he hurried to catch up with his partners as they made they way up into the spectator area. He was about to take a seat when he spotted Nogitosh waving for him to come over to the Elders Platform. Nogitosh jumped to the ground as he made his way out of the defendant's box and met him halfway.

"Well cub, I don't know what happened just now but that's the first time I ever saw that, what did you tell them?"

"To leave."

"And they left just like that?" Randy flicked his left ear and smiled slightly, "Hmm. I've heard stories about what that means, but I never thought to see, ..." He flapped his ears, "In any case, this petition hearing is rapidly becoming a bad odor for the filers, that box held over a hundred and fifty before you showed up."

Randy resisted the urge to turn and look, "Really?"

"Really. And as more people showed up, many just quietly got up and left. So we found ourselves smelling the same odor, that you should be up there with us to face them."

He thought about it, "That's not how it's usually done, is it."

"No,", he gestured towards the stage and they started walking, "But from the smell of things, we have enough people here where we can just take a popular count and find out how the people feel about you, and not just a bunch of scared grazers." He glanced about with mock shock, "You didn't hear me say that."

"Who, me?"

They chuckled as they reached the stage and a blast of noise assaulted their ears as someone adjusted the voice magnifier. There was a yell of pain from the far end of the stage and saw someone shaking his hand as he stood over the now glowing box containing the magnifier equipment. "I got it now!", he yelled out in disgust.

"Thankfully great odors.", Nogitosh muttered as he placed his hands on the edge of the stage and heaved himself up. "Thought I was going to have to use a speaking cone."

He turned to give Randy a hand up only to watch him bounce off the ground, touch the stage's edge with his hands, and end up standing next to him. "That's impressive. Can all wolves do that?"

"No, takes years of training. And not all wolves have the,", he waved a hand about, "Inclination to study it as seriously as I have."

"That's that, Two Chew?"

Randy flattened his ears and looked skywards, "Tia Cho."

"Right, that's what I meant to say." He smiled and Randy felt an old odor waft to the front of his mind, but couldn't quite place his nose to it. Nogitosh looked at him in concern but Randy quickly shook his head and waved the question off. Nogitosh flapped his ears and proceeded to introduce him to the rest of the Elders on the stage, finally reaching, "And this is, ..."

"Mr. Gadfly, or should I say Elder Gadfly."

Gadfly smoothed his robe as he smiled, "Only when I'm on official business."

Nogitosh looked annoyed, "You know each other?"

"Sweet smells yes, Randy's been coming to my store for years now."

"How long have You known he was a wolf?", Nogitosh asked, now aggravated.

"I rather smelled for certain when he didn't show up during camp, then shows up the day after camp ends."

"What camp?"

"You know, the spring camp the wolves hold once every two years?"

"Oh." He glared at both of them as a chime sounded, then he headed for the center seat muttering, "Everyone knew he was a wolf but me."

Gadfly chuckled as he patted the chair next to him, "He'll get past that odor." As Randy seated himself, he asked, "What happened to the CAC?"

"I told them to leave."

Gadfly gazed at his ring, "What if they refused to go?"

Randy flicked his ears, "I would have had to take them down."

"Even though it might of hurt you here?"

Randy looked at him without expression, "I called them out, I couldn't put my tail down."

Gadfly shook his head, "Well, please be more diplomatic with the customers."

Randy grinned, "A customer is a different critter entirely."

The Elder sitting next to him stared at him, then Gadfly, "You hired him?"

Gadfly just turned out his lower lip and flapped his ears as Nogitosh hammered the meeting to order.

"Gentle people." Nogitosh's voice screamed out the magnifier and the fixer at the controls adjusted it slightly. "Gentle people,", he began again, "We called this meeting to hear a petition of Threatens Safety which was filed against one Randy Deabilo,", he gestured towards Randy as a ripple traveled through the crowd, "Filed by certain concerned peoples who felt it their duty to protect the Mall because they felt his presence here would disrupt the continuing peace and safety of its citizens." He gave a hard look at the petitioner's box, "We will make our decision based upon popular count."

The people left in the box shifted uneasily and looked at each other. Nogitosh referred to his notepad, "First question we ask of the assembly is how many knew of Randy before today." A third of the crowd stood up, then gradually more joined them until better than half the crowd was standing. As Nogitosh looked over the field of people, he realized that six of the twelve Elders were standing as well.

"How many knew what he was, or suspected that he was not what he presented himself to be?" A quarter of those standing sat down. The only Elder which remained standing was Gadfly.

Nogitosh flapped his ears as he looked at his notes again, "Now how many feel threatened by his presence." It was a sad sight, everyone except the petitioners sat. He addressed them in a soft voice, "I don't mean to make a bad smell, but you need to turn around."

Some flatly refused, the rest turned, and upon seeing the seated masses behind them, many slowly sat down themselves.

Nogitosh continued in the same soft voice, "The petition was filed without cause to support it, the Elders reject its claim. This meeting's closed." He brought his hammer down as over three hundred kids erupted into cheers and clapping, gradually more people stood to join them.

Randy felt his face heat up as stood to take it all in, "This is too much to smell.", he muttered.

Gadfly came up next to him, clapping politely, "Oh this is the easy part."

He glanced at him then turned to face the crowd as the smell hit him, "Great Gory Stenches! I got to go amongst them?"

>>(quarter before the eighth)

The last well wisher rapped his knuckles and he looked down at them with a sigh, "I am glad that's over."

The Elders standing around him chuckled as Nogitosh asked, "Sore?"

"You bet." He rubbed his hand over them, "I just hope I remember all the people who've invited me to a party they're throwing for me."

"If you forget, they'll remind you.", Elder Broger put in.

"If they like you,", Elder Danash added with a chuckle, "Otherwise they're happy you forgot. Hey, there's them three from the CAC."

The three wolves came up to them and stopped in front of Randy with their tails down, finally one of them said, "(Alpha, may we have a word with you please?)"

Randy glanced at the Elders surrounding him, "Say it now."

He hesitated, thinking it over. Randy did give him an optional, but then, "Well, I guess it can be said to all of you as well. Matter of scent, this is really more for you than just for him." He straightened up slightly, and when Randy ticked an ear, he allowed himself to relax, "You know we've been rather noisy in our various protestations over the years, and we honestly thought we were doing the right thing. But this young Alpha here has shown us that more can be done with quietness than noise, so we would like you to smell our personal apologies over the actions which have been made by the CAC."

Nogitosh rubbed his upper lip briefly, then said, "We smell your apology and thank you for being wolf enough to admit your error."

"Thank you." He touched his heals together and gave a slight bow in Randy's direction, with his associates following suit a breath behind him. Randy returned the salute and watched as they walked off towards a personal mover.

When they were out of hearing, Nogitosh looked down at Randy, "You're going to explain this alpha business more thoroughly over supper tomorrow, aren't you."

Gadfly threw an arm around Nogitosh's shoulder's and led him off, "It's Alpha, and let me tell you what I know about it, maybe you'll smell something I missed asking. Oh,", he looked over his shoulder, "Don't forget, be at the store for the second hour."

"You hired him?"

"Yep."

Nogitosh looked up at the sky, "Why is it I seem to be the last to know about these things?"

"Oh shush,", Broger put in, "I want to hear about this Alpha business. You were saying, ..."

Randy watched them go, then turned to leave himself, only to wince as he took his first step and found out how sore his paw was. He hobbled over to where his bike was parked and found several youngsters gathered around it.

"Boy, that's neat, wonder how fast it will go.", one of them was saying as he came up behind them.

"It'll cover about twenty to twenty five miles in an hour."

They spun about startled, "Hey, it's Mr. Deabilo!"

One of them elbowed the one who had spoken, "That's impolite."

"Sorry Sir."

Randy pulled on a braid, "That's alright, you all like my little mover, hmm?" He sat in the seat with a sigh and eased the tiller bar back slightly to clear the rack.

"Yeah, we didn't know they made motors that small."

"They've only had them for a couple of years now, and I think they eat more power weight for weight than a real mover motor." He straightened his front wheel and looked at them, "I've got two powers on this thing but only get about fifty, maybe sixty miles before I run out."

"That's why you still got the pedals, right?"

"You bet. Lets see one of them big movers pedal their way home." They giggled as he eased the tiller forward, "Have a good odor."

"Later", "See you.", "Good odors!", they called after him as he zipped onto the mover path.

Odors, but his foot hurt. He debated on taking a dose of Pain Away but decided not to, he was going to need his full wits about for the special lesson he had planned for Sten. What he needed was someplace he could just dog around with his foot up. And he knew exactly where to do that.

>>(half past the eighth)

Even with stopping by his room and changing, it didn't take long to get here, he thought as he pulled up in front of Cooney's. And at this time of the afternoon, the place was almost empty, which smelled just fine to him, he'd had enough well wishers. When he limped through the door, Silowatz spotted him and seemed to know what he needed, she waved for him to take a seat. He smiled at her and headed into the lounging room.

As he settled into one of the cushy seats, she leaned in the doorway, "Drink?"

"Please. Water."

A few breaths later, she showed up with a glass, and looked down at him as he accepted it. She clucked and smiled, then disappeared before he could ask what was wrong. He flicked his ears, took a drink, propped his paws up, and leaned back to meditate. He wasn't at it long before he smelled her again, and heard a chair scrape behind him. Before he could do anything, a set of gentle hands started unbraiding his hair. "Hey."

"Oh you shush, you males are all alike.", came her amused voice, "Either you cut your hair short because you don't want to be bothered by it, or when you do grow it long, you never take time to dress it up properly."

"Well,", he murmured as he relaxed in her attention, "That's why I generally took to having it in a ponytail, not only was it easy to keep up, but, ..." He flicked an ear.

She chuckled, "I know, wolves do have a distinctive ear." She worked in silence for a few breaths, then started talking softly. "When I was much younger, about Silvia's age, I fell in love with a badger. He returned my attention and I thought I was the happiest raccoon around. We continued dating for several years before he came to me one day and told me that he found his mate and he couldn't see me anymore." She sighed and paused in her weaving, "I still feel the pain after all these years."

Her fingers started moving again, "I met Bora shortly after that, and even though I loved him, I had a hard time expressing myself towards him. He knew about my affair with that badger, so he was always kind and gentle to me. Unfortunately, he died soon after Silvia was born. We've been alone with each other ever since, she barely remembers him."

She remained quiet for a few breaths, "Now I see Silvia's in love with someone outside her species and feel concern for her, I don't want her heart broken like mine was."

Randy considered his words carefully, "Mrs. Silowatz, I do love Silvia, and I smell the desire to marry her."

She stopped working and drew in a long hissing breath. After a bit, she asked, "What about when you want youngsters?"

"Well, I'm not sure how she would feel about it,", he slowly said, "But it's not uncommon for a wolf to take on a second wife."

"Oh!", he felt her shock, then sensed her hand moving but let her swat his nose anyway, "You Wolf!"

"Ow.", he looked over his shoulder to see her grinning lopsidedly.

She gazed back, then turned his head so she could finish braiding his hair, "I forgot that you do that, it's so rare to hear about it in here."

Randy relaxed as she went back to work on his hair, "Actually, it's something some of us have to do anyway."

"Really?"

"Yes. I don't know exactly what the difference is, but there tends to be more females than males with us."

"I didn't know that."

"Because we've never told outsiders about it."

"Hmm." She worked in silence for a while, and asked, "What about when She wants her Own youngster?"

"Hmm, that I haven't figured out yet. I don't suppose raccoon's hire out for fathering service, do they."

"Fathering service?"

"Must be something else we only do. Every once in a while, a couple will find themselves unable to have a youngster. So husband will usually hire someone to, err, give his wife a youngster."

"I'm not sure how I feel about that, and I couldn't speak on how Silvia would feel." She fastened the beads to the ends of the braids and stood up, "I would sniff the matter carefully when you bring it up."

>>(quarter past the tenth)

Sten racked his bike with haste and started to hurry out onto the field, only to check himself and take it slow. There was no helping his lateness, his parents had never seen his Jo before, and he got a little distracted in explaining some of the designs on it. He stepped out on the freshly cut grass and saw that Randy was leading the rest of the class through some of the Sira moves, so he really didn't miss anything, he knew all that stuff, Randy was teaching him the more advanced Ki-Chi patterns. Randy spotted him and signaled the class to continue with their exercises as Sten came up to him.

Sten was about to apologize for being late when the look in Randy's eyes stopped him, and warning smells started erupting in his brain. He took a deep breath and said, "I did something wrong."

"(Yes.)"

The flatness of his voice and the fact that he was using wolf set off more odors, but he couldn't place the scents, "You mad at me?"

Randy sighed, "(No.)"

Sten never saw his paw leave the ground.

>>()

Sten blinked at the pretty blue sky, and wondered what happened. He must of gotten a move wrong and Randy managed to knock him out, but if that was the case, why wasn't Randy hovering over him like he usually did whenever that happened. And why couldn't he remember the bout? He levered himself up on his elbows and saw Randy helping a couple of youngsters in their attack and defend routines, and looked past him at the clock tower nearby. Half past the tenth, and he only got here at about quarter past the tenth, which meant that there really wasn't time enough for him to get set for a bout, or even warm up. He rubbed his sore jaw and the scent came upon him, Randy had just up and smacked him out without warning!

That set off the warning smells again, there was something he was supposed to remember and it was important. Randy looked in his direction and started his way, one of the warnings told him he'd better be on his hooves when he got there. "You hit me."

"(Yes.)"

Odors, that flat voice, and the scent hit him full blown, "This is a lesson."

"(Yes.)"

"Think, think, think.", he muttered when he realized what lesson this was. "This is Thinking Under Fire."

"(Yes.)"

"So I have to figure out what I did wrong myself."

"(Yes.)"

He was about to ask something when another odor hit him, "And as long as I ask questions which get a yes, I'm alright."

"(Yes.)"

Yet another odor wafted forward, "And I can't let too much time pass between the questions."

"(Yes.)"

There was a hint of amusement in that flat voice, but at least it gave Sten another question to ask, "And you've asked dumb questions yourself to buy time."

Randy smiled and rolled his eyes, "(Yes.)"

"Think, think, think.", he muttered as he stared at the ground in front of him. Randy's braced paw came into view and he looked up in alarm as he realized that Randy was Way Too Close. But at least he had another question, "Is this about your paw?"

"(Yes.)"

There was a slightly different timbre to the voice, and Sten realized just how much he could read into someone's voice from what Randy was teaching him. "You're upset because I broke it." He heard a scream from the back of his brain, Wrong Question!

"(No.)"

Randy played his move very openly, Sten thought as Randy popped off the ground. As he spun about in the air, Sten's body caught up with what his eyes were telling him, and he started to put up a defense, but it was too late. Randy's paw, the right one he noted abstractedly, came around and hit him upside his face.

>>()

Sten blinked, and focused on the grass in front of face, and after a few breaths, remembered how he got in that position. And almost groaned, but that probably didn't matter, sometimes it seemed Randy could sense a butterfly sneeze. He considered playing dead regardless, but if it never had helped him before, it sure wasn't going to do him any good while he was being taught by Thinking Under Fire. He rolled himself on his back and tried to gather all the scents he could on what Randy had told him about this lesson. The only safe question to ask was one which earned him a 'yes', any question which either required an explanation or got him a 'no' would provoke an attack. There was a total of seven attacks in the lesson, each round ending with him being knocked down. And violently at that, he added to himself as he rubbed the side of his face, there was going to be bruise from that one.

Any time he went down would at least give him some breathing, and thinking room, being knocked out only gained him a little extra time. Although it was time he could do without, he thought as he saw movement out the side of his eye. "Think, think, think.", he muttered as Randy came near him and squatted into a holding position, one knee on the ground, hands clasped under the thigh of the other.

"I'm alright, I think." At least he was allowed to make statements, or at least statements which didn't require a response, it was only Questions which were dangerous. Randy, while conducting this lesson, was only permitted to say either one of two words, one of which was dangerous to hear. At least the rules of Thinking Under Fire stated that Sten could hit Randy back as hard as he could, but he had an itch that it would not faze him as much. "I did something wrong and it involves your paw. Now all I have to do is figure out what I did that caused this lesson to come into scent."

"(Yes.)"

Sten turned his head to look at him, "Paw sore?"

"(Yes.)"

Odors, there was a lot of empathy in that remark. Sten studied his face, feeling his heart beating away the breathing space his had left from the last question. "This has to do with the fact that I broke your paw."

"(Yes.)"

Sten scented around his next question, trying to frame it so he could get a yes, "You had rather that I had not used the move I used on it."

'Great Odors!', he thought to himself as Randy paused to think about it, that meant that he had to decide whether the question deserved a yes or a no. And meant that Sten was getting close to the meat of the lesson.

"(No.)"

Randy popped off the ground and Sten stared in horror at the elbow coming at him before his body took over and rolled him out the way. He rolled four times, each roll gaining him height until he could bounce to his hooves and defend himself against the attack which had followed him. He deflected the jab, parried the follow up chop, elbowed down a kick, some of which still got through. He then rode into an offensive wave, coming in close to throw a chop at an exposed section of rib, aiming an elbow at Randy's chest, and bringing up a knee which scored full on his hip. They continued like this for a good thirty exchanges until a misjudgment on Sten's part allowed Randy to snag him and flip him over his back.

He took several deep breath's to clear his head, then looked over the top of his head at Randy, "Sorry about that, I Was aiming at your Right ankle. Honest."

Randy pulled on a lock of hair, then broke the rules to ask, "(How's the toe?)"

Sten looked down the length of his body at the offending appendage, "Well, it's there." He laid his head back, "Though it Felt like it was torn off by your brace when you twisted away." He flexed his toes a couple of times, "It doesn't feel broken if that's what you're concerned about."

"(Yes.)"

Sten glared over the top of his head, "Back to that already?"

"(Yes.)"

Sten got to his hooves, "Best not get caught on my back this time."

"(Yes.)"

He assumed a ready posture as Randy flowed to his paws. Sten looked past him, "Stenches." He focused on Randy, "We got an audience."

"(Yes.)"

"It don't bother you? Stenches!"

Randy actually Smiled before saying, "(No.)"

Twenty two exchanges found them both in holding positions, he was gingerly massaging his thigh while Randy worked his jaw with his hand.

"Four down, three to go."

Randy glared at him, "(Yes.)"

"You,", he picked his words with care, "Dislike having to give this lesson."

Randy's right ear twitched, then flicked in that direction, Sten turned a wary eye to his left to see a guard approaching them.

The gazelle stopped and looked them over, going from Sten, to Randy, and returning his gaze to Sten, "You alright?"

Sten flapped his ears, the gazelle's attitude was a little obvious, and it annoyed him, "One of us is going to have to explain what we're doing here."

"Yes."

"The lesson continues even now?"

As Randy said, "Yes.", Sten clutched his chest and gazed skywards. He pricked his ears forward.

Sten looked at his ears, and held out a hand, signing Randy to hold up for just a bit. Randy considered it for a breath, then spread his ears, Sten grinned, "Almost asked that wrong." Randy shook his head, chuckling as Sten turned to the guard, "This sir, is a lesson I'm being taught on something I did wrong."

The gazelle frowned, "Violent lesson."

"That it is."

"So, what did you do wrong?"

"Not entirely sure yet."

He blinked and turned a puzzled look towards Randy, "He didn't tell you?"

"That's not the purpose of this lesson, this is supposed to teach me more awareness of what I am doing with what I am learning from him."

"Yes."

Sten twitched and returned his attention to Randy as he continued, "Yesterday I broke his paw. There is something about the manner in which I broke his paw that I need to be made aware of."

"Yes."

"Tia Cho is a, hmm, powerful, ah, art, of movement." He paused and drew in a breath, but Randy just flicked an ear for him to continue, "Think, think, think."

"Doesn't he say anything to help you?"

"That's not the way it works, I'm supposed to smell the scent he's chasing me towards."

"Yes."

The gazelle glanced at Randy, "Well, you got some people over there seriously concerned about what you're doing here."

"Stenches on them, if they can't stand the violence, they shouldn't be watching." He turned his attention more towards the guard, "And I'm sorry, but you're distracting me."

Randy shifted ever so slightly as the guard said, "Well pardon my odor for doing my job!"

Sten eyed Randy warily, "That's ok, he feels that you're helping me think." Randy spread his ears and frowned at him.

"But he didn't say anything!" The guard sounded annoyed.

"He didn't have to, Tia Cho teaches you an awareness about things that go on around you which you normally don't see."

"Yes."

"It brings you insight on not only how they affect you, but how you affect them by interacting with them."

"Yes."

He must be getting close to the scent, "Think, think, think." He flapped his ears as he reviewed what he knew so far, "Yesterday I broke your paw while playing airball with a Tung Hio sweep which I modified."

"Yes."

"Which made it a different move entirely."

"Yes."

"So I should not have used a move I don't know how to use properly."

Randy paused, then said, "No."

"Stenches!"

Sten flipped over his back to cartwheel into a defense posture as Randy came at him again. Twenty seven exchanges later found him in an undefendable position from a badly aimed kick, Randy held his right hoof tight against his chest and brought his palm downwards towards the knee. Sten gritted his teeth only to watch the hand abruptly stop, and pat him on the knee.

He swayed, trying hard to keep his balance, "This counts?"

Randy grinned at him, "(Yes.)"

"Good."

That, and the sudden weight Randy found himself holding was all the warning he had, Sten twisted in his grip as his other hoof left the ground. He only could get in an abbreviated under chop at the knee as the top of Sten's hoof caught him on his right cheek. He spun over the leg he was holding with a snarl and they both crashed to the ground. They lay still for a few breaths before either of them could do anything.

Sten held up a hand and groaned, "And that makes six."

Randy rolled on his back and worked on uncrossing his eyes, "That was a dirty trick."

"Did you not once tell me that there's no such thing as a dirty trick?"

"And?"

Something in his tone caused Sten to prop himself up on his elbows. "There is no such thing as a dirty trick, only advantages taken against an unwary opponent. But be cautious in taking such advantages, for you must be more aware of what you are doing, because there is no defense against such an attack, and you may cause more harm than you intended."

Randy rolled into a sitting position and gingerly touched his cheek, "So what does that tell you." When Sten looked at him puzzled, "Lesson's not over, it's just that the odor I want to make with it will stick better if You can find the scent I'm trying to get you to smell."

"So if I still don't get it, we go for another round."

Randy closed his eyes and sighed, "Yes."

"Stenches." Sten flopped back on the ground. "Ok, let me review what I think I know so far. When I modified the sweep yesterday to keep you from jumping, I, in essence, used a dirty trick."

Randy slowly said, "Yes."

Sten was still and quiet for several breaths, then sat up, "You're not upset with me because I broke your paw, you're upset because I broke it period!"

"Why?"

"Because I did not pay full attention to what I was doing."

"Yes!" Randy got to his paws and held out a hand to help Sten up. "Tia Cho is more than a hunting skill, or a meditating skill, or a fighting skill. You Must pay attention to what you do at all times because the abilities you're learning Make You Lethal. What would happen for example, if you used Chi Poi on someone who could not defend himself against it?"

"You mean pop someone in the chest as hard as I could?" Randy slowly nodded and Sten's face grew long, "I think that would kill him."

"Don't think, Know." Randy sighed as he looked at the rest of the class, who were standing around watching them, and raised his voice, "Aren't you all supposed to be practicing something?" A sudden flurry of activity answered his question and he turned again to Sten, "When you enter the tournament, the Kill Law and the Hurt Law are still in force, they can enforce punishment against you if you violate them."

"Oh.", Sten closed his eyes and lowered his head, "Now there's an odor I never considered."

When Randy didn't say anything, he looked up to find him with an ear cocked at the crowd of people sitting at the edge of the field. He focused his hearing himself, and after catching enough bits of conversation, declared, "Oh Stenches on Them! We're not going Another Round!"

Randy chuckled, "You smell that right, but they're also wondering if we're not going another round, which one of us won?"

"Let them wonder." He was about to put an arm around Randy when a low growl got his attention, "Oh, sorry, I forgot. How's the shoulder?"

>>(quarter until the twelfth)

"Honest, I can pedal myself home."

Randy looked up from where he was making a modification to his bike, "Not with that knee."

"It bends."

"Let me see."

Sten gazed at the swollen part of his body under discussion, "Not right now."

"That's what I smelled." He put the wrench down and eased the backrest outwards until it was barely in its retainer, then picked the wrench back up to tighten the bolts back down.

"What about my bike?"

"I'll strap its front wheel down in my carryall here." He rapped the basket mounted between the back wheels just behind the motor and powers. He finished tightening the bolts and stood with a groan.

"Sore?"

Randy glared at Sten and he flapped his ears back at him, grinning. That faint odor stirred in the back of his mind but he was too tired to chase it down. "A little.", he smiled, showing full fangs.

He got up and limped over to Sten's bike as he was asked, "Have you ever been though it?"

"What do you think?"

"Hmm, once?" Randy shook his head, "Twice?"

"Yeah, twice, neither time was pleasant, but I did learn my lessons faster than six rounds."

"Ouch." Sten watched as Randy secured his bike to the basket, "Can I ask what for?"

"Well, once was for just what you learned today. The other?" He gazed off in the distance, "I got my wolf up and had to be knocked down."

"Got your wolf up?"

Randy finished tying the knot and gazed at Sten, "Uh, hmm, too sure of myself? Nothing could hurt me? I was better than anyone else?"

"Oh, we call that being too good for your horns."

Randy limped over to help Sten up, "I smelled something new though, the master learns something from the lesson as well."

Sten groaned as he was helped onto the seat, "Oh? And what did you learn?"

Randy chuckled, "When you give your disciple a break, watch out for dirty tricks."

Sten's groan had nothing to do with his injuries.

>>(half past the twelfth)

They slowly motored into a quiet yard full of Sten's relations, the sudden silence of all the youngsters had drawn the adults from inside and they all stared as Randy helped Sten off the bike and up the stairs. Erli finally caught her breath and exclaimed, "What happened to you two?"

"I learned an important lesson mom." As she opened her mouth again, he asked, "May I explain it later? I just want to soak in the salts right now."

She looked at him carefully, then eyed Randy, "Promise the Truth?"

"Yes mom."

She gestured for an aunt to help her and they assisted him inside. Silowatz watched them go then looked about at his extended family, "Alright, there will be a story for dinner, I promise, now scatter, leave us." As they returned to whatever it was they were doing before being interrupted, he turned his attention to Randy. He glared at him for a minute, then his expression softened somewhat, "You could use a soak too, you're welcome to use ours when he's finished."

"Thank you sir."

He snorted as he lead the way into a sitting room, "Don't sir me, I just found out how much pull you have today when you tossed those CAC wolves out of the hearing."

Randy turned a quizzical ear as he sank into a couch. "And what did you hear?"

"That you used one word,", he held up a finger for emphasis, "To make them leave." He sat down in a chair facing Randy, "And that you are an Alpha Wolf, and just what being an Alpha Wolf means. So, tell me why you beat the hide off my son."

Randy touched his cheek tenderly, "He gave almost as good as he got."

"And that impress's me as well, for I also found out just how powerful a four bar Mugoy Adept is."

Randy propped his paw up on the couch, then stuck a cushion under his knee to relieve the strain. He pointed at it. "You son, broke my paw yesterday using a move without paying attention to what he was doing. What I taught him today was a lesson on how dangerous he's become with what he's learned from me. He had to learn that he Must stay aware of what he's doing at all times, because if he doesn't, he could potentially kill or maim someone seriously."

Silowatz raised his ears straight up and rubbed an horn, then settled deeper into his chair and thought for a long while. "The more I learn about wolves, ..." He trailed off and just stared at Randy's paw for a bit, "You realize that because of you, people are going to learn more about wolves then the usual scents which are passed around. And it's going to cause all sorts of stenches here and there."

"And hopefully people will also find us to be a well trained bunch." Randy went ahead and threw his other leg up on the couch, then wiggled a bit to get comfortable, getting his tail out from under him.

"Well trained?"

"Well trained." Randy put a cushion behind him and leaned back into it with a sigh. "I'm not sure how it came about, but near as from what I can smell from our history, we knew we were a nasty bunch way back when the malls first developed. Since then, we've worked on keeping our tempers under control and that's how the, well, arts like Tia Cho and Mugoy and such developed. Every wolf has some training in the arts, they may never earn a bar, because it's not in their, nature, but most learn how to keep from being violent."

He took a couple of quieting breaths before continuing, "You were right in calling Mugoy a 'hunting skill', the arts Do help one to track down prey, not that we really need to hunt full time anymore.", he added with a grin, "But there were those who saw, further, than just the ability to control one's temper or improve one's hunting skill. They went on to develop the, 'fighting abilities', and these are only taught to those who learn the basics, those who master their own tempers." He turned his head to gaze at Silowatz, "I'm not saying we're able to determine the end result, we have had some wolves who, Used, the arts for, self motivated violence, but not that terribly often."

He leaned back into the cushion and closed his eyes, odors he felt tired. "That's probably why the Rings, Badges, and Medals developed, as a means of ranking someone so you could tell where they stood without getting into any sort of confrontation with them. A side scent,", he cracked an eyelid and peered out of it, "That's also when we figured out how to open the Ancient's Archive at Nap Lis."

Silowatz swiveled his ears about and focused on him, "Really?"

"Yeah." He closed his eye again, "Because they're based on the clothing displayed there."

He fell silent and Silowatz thought for a while before a scent came to mind, but when he looked at Randy to ask it, he saw the youngster's chest rising and falling in a slow, easy rhythm. He quietly got up, smiling, and as he left the room, he turned down the power to the lighting filaments.

>>()

Randy's hand shot up and grabbed the wrist of the hand reaching out to touch him, eyes glittered in the dim light as he peered up at a startled gazelle, "That's why you don't disturb a sleeping wolf."

Sten flapped his ears, eyes wide, "You mean this is a Mild reaction?"

"Yes." He let go of the wrist and swung into a sitting position, "Even when we sleep, there's a level of awareness that stays alert to what's going on around us. Most of the time, that's the worst reaction you'll get from us when you disturb our slumber. But if we're in a night vision state, there's a, barrier, which must be crossed before we reassume control of ourselves. Until we cross that barrier, we may act without thinking."

"So,", Sten flicked his ears in a 'follow me' gesture, and asked, "Just how does one wake a wolf?"

"Usually calling out his, or her name is enough."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Use a ten foot pole."

Sten started to chuckle when he realized Randy was serious, "You're not kidding."

Randy shook his head. "I remember back shortly after I got my first two bars, I was having a nasty night vision and my father came to rescue me from that dark valley. When shaking my paw and calling my name didn't bring me forth, he ignored all odor by grabbing my shoulders to wake me." He sighed, "Knocked him clean across the room I did, removed a fang from his mouth." He grinned lopsidedly at Sten, "Gave him the perfect tool for putting me in my place though."

"How?"

"All he had to do was lift his lip to reveal the empty socket and I Knew I was in trouble."

They chuckled for a bit, then Randy leaned his nose towards Sten to sniff, "You smell, interesting."

"It's the salts, you mean you don't have salt baths?"

"No, I've, we've, heard of them, but we thought that it was just one of those herbivore fops. And at that, we thought it was plain salt, that,", he took another sniff, "Is not plain salt."

"No, it comes from somewhere in the Ock Mountains, I'm not sure exactly where this batch is from, but there's hundreds of hot springs out there and many of the malls out there make their coin in selling bottles of the stuff." He looked at Randy with an amused gleam, "You Do know what a hot spring is, don't you?"

Randy growled in reply and Sten stopped, frowning in concentration, "That's right, you did mention you were from the west coast, but I'm puzzled because as far as I can sniff it, the Deabilo's have been here for generations." He flapped his ears, "Or at least their coin register's have been."

"You smell right, like I said last night, I'm a transaction." Sten opened a door and as Randy walked into the room, the wet heat scent of the bath hit him, "Odors!"

Sten grinned at his friend's astonished look, "Smells great, doesn't it."

Randy sniffed deeply and shook his head, "Great is not exactly how I'd label the smell, interesting would be a more fitting term."

"Well however you call the scent, the results of taking a soak are amazing." Sten hiked up his robe to reveal his knee.

Randy stared at the slightly swollen knee, then started undressing, "Let me in there!"

"I'd say jump in but that would be uncouth, we don't like wasting this stuff on the floor. But when you soak, remember two things." Randy pricked his ears forward, "Don't let it get in your eyes, and don't even think of tasting it. One will leave you blind for a while and the other will make you sick as a wolf." His ears shot straight up, then flapped, "I mean a, umm, err, ..." He trailed off and grinned broadly.

Randy rolled his eyes, then let him have a full throated snarl.

Sten shivered uncontrollably, "Don't do that!" He watched as Randy gingerly got into the hot water, then commented, "I smell, I always thought that there'd be more differences between carnivores and herbivores."

Randy looked up puzzled, then stretched out in the bath only to be surprised, "Hey! I Float!"

"It's the salts." He stepped into a pit next to the bath and checked the fire there, "I don't understand it completely myself, but I've been told it's because the salt water is heavier than your body. That's why you'll find several rings at the bottom of the tub, so you can pull yourself under if you want to soak your head." He looked over the edge, "Hot enough?"

Randy nodded as he felt the rings Sten was talking about, "How long do I stay in?"

"As long as you can tolerate it, you'll know when to get out." He poked the fire again, put the poker aside and leaned against the back wall of the pit. "You'll start to feel thirsty. Again, I don't fully understand it, but the salt pulls water out of your body."

"Hmm."

Randy touched his cheek, and as he started to submerge his head, Sten reminded him, "Close your eyes."

He held himself under with just the tip of his nose showing for as long as he could, it took a bit of effort. When he felt his eyes beginning to sting, he emerged and he heard Sten say, "Hold still, I'll rinse you off." Warm water sluiced over his head, he shook it and blinked his eyes, blue afterimages blurred his vision. "And I forgot, I got to rinse out your ears too." As Sten used a funnel pitcher, he watched Randy blinking furiously, "They'll go away in a while."

He shook his head again, clearing his ears somewhat, "It's, disconcerting."

Sten grinned, "What color and manifestation?"

"Grr?"

"Everybody has a slightly different reaction to, 'eye poisoning' we call it. Me, I see pink highlights around bright objects."

"Blue afterimages and they blur my vision. How long does it generally last?"

"Again, varies. Mine go away in a half to three quarters of an hour. You know Denise? My sister?" Randy nodded, "She gets white sparks which fly towards the center of her vision for hours." He swirled his hand in the bath, "At least with this batch, different salts give different reactions."

Someone on high had a sense of humor, Denise stuck her head in the door just then. She looked from Randy to Sten, then tried to peer at Randy in the purplish water as she asked, "You staying for dinner?"

"I guess,", a wicked smile broke out on his face, "You want to see me better?"

"No.", the door slammed as she made her exit.

They laughed for a bit, then Sten asked, "Thirsty?"

"Hmm, not really."

"Well I still am." Randy watched as he poured a glass of water, then down it in one swallow. His ears swiveled forward in amazement and Sten chuckled, "Just so you know, that's my fourth glass like that. And while I'm scenting about it, one thing you also don't do while soaking is drink, it'll make you stay in longer than you're supposed to."

"So when I get out, I'll probably be drinking like an elephant."

"Probably." Sten smiled as Randy rolled his eyes, then his expression turned thoughtful. Randy flicked an ear at him, and when he didn't answer, he decided to see if he could soak his cheek without dunking his whole head under. "Ever meet an elephant?" When Randy didn't answer immediately he looked up to see just his nose and the top part of his head above water, "Sorry, pick the stickiest times."

Randy popped his left ear back twice, then slowly rotated both ears. He then pricked forward his left ear and cocked the right one down.

"Well I have, must of been five or six at the time. Biggest critter I'd ever seen, he must of been about nine or ten foot tall. Strangest critter I'd ever seen." Randy's ears spread out then came back upright. "Well, he was big, real big, not just tall, must of weighed about a ton. And his hands and feet were Huge! Then there was his face to consider, his nose looked like another arm coming out the middle of his face and he could do things with it, like pick things up. And there was two, tusks I think he called them, which grew straight out of his mouth, they looked like they were better than two feet long. And his ears were like, Big." Sten held his arms out to either side of his head, stretching them out as far as he could. "And he could flap them like wings."

Randy pushed his head above water, "You sure you're remembering this right?"

"Pretty much, I know I was rather young, but there's no forgetting an elephant when you meet one. Oh, something else, his skin was gray, and not a lick of fur on it."

"Really?"

"Really! And he moved, and, talked, real, slow. Like he had to consider each word before he said it. And then it was something else entirely to watch him eat, he must of ate five, maybe six times a day, and each time he would eat a whole table full of food. All by himself. Oh yeah, you meet an elephant, you don't forget."

"I didn't think elephants came here to Erica."

"Well this one did, he was travelling with an entertainment group."

Randy's eyes unfocussed somewhat, "I remember going to one of those events they hold, first time I ever met anyone other than a wolf. Scared scentless I was. But then I was caught up in the wonder of the acts they did. And I also remember getting sick,", he grinned as he looked at Sten, "As a wolf, on the sweet breads."

Sten groaned and smiled, "Yeah, me too. Thirsty yet?" When Randy looked at him oddly, he twitched his ears, "Real comfortable in there, isn't it."

"Yeah.", Randy replied slowly.

"So comfortable that it would be easy to ignore that you're getting thirsty." Randy pricked his ears at him as he settled back down to soak his cheek some more. "There's been some deaths from people over-soaking over the years, so that's why I'm still here, we never let anyone soak by themselves." Randy flicked his ears forward, staggering the motion. "You're welcome. Hmm." He kicked at Randy's discarded clothing, "I think you should fit into something of Joey's, though it might fit little funny."

"And that's what actually brought up the elephant.", he continued as he stepped into the fire pit again, "I smell, until tonight, I've never really seen you in your entirety, and to see that your, err, build, is, well, not much different than mine, well, comes as a surprise."

"You never did any outside dating?"

"Um, no. Was never that, adventurous." He flapped his ears, "And if I did that now, Annabelle would simply kill me."

"Besides which, you would've probably dated a herbivore."

"Hmm, too true. What about you?"

Randy gazed at him, "How old am I?"

"Oh, yeah, smells, you're not even thirteen yet if I remember right. You probably just started dating, and a raccoon at that, unless you got a wolf back home." When Randy shook his head, Sten's eyes widen slightly, "Well I be stinky, she's your first?" Randy nodded, "How was it?"

"How was what?"

Sten stared at him, mouth agape, "You don't know what I'm talking about."

"No."

"Well I be stinky.", he murmured softly, then continued in that same tone, "Being intimate."

Randy felt his cheeks grow hot from more than just the water and submerged them again.

Sten shook his head, "I don't believe this. Odors, you took Silvia out to one of the finest establishments in the mall, in the Mayor's Wagon no less, and you mean to tell me that you just brought her home, nuzzled her, and told her what a great evening you had?" Randy flicked an ear and he chuckled, "You probably earned more respect with her doing that."

"Really? How?"

"Because wolves have a, umm, reputation, for, umm,", he flapped his ears, "Being in want?" He grinned broadly as Randy scowled at him, then asked, "Thirsty?"

"Starting to feel it."

"You're good for another five sweeps or so, get that cheek back under, it looks better, but it's still going to have an interesting bruise."