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(half past the second hour)

As Randy limped through the door, Gadfly looked up and began, "You're, ..." He stared at him for a breath, then asked, "What happened to You?"

"Remember that lesson I mentioned yesterday?"

Gadfly slowly said, "Yes."

"He learned it."

"Well,", Gadfly rubbed an horn, "If this is what you look like after such a lesson, I wouldn't want to see what Sten looks like."

"Not much worse, I found out how effective I've been in teaching him, he about gave as good as he got." He touched his right cheek, "This is the only visible bruise, you should see the rest of my body. I got one here,", touching his left hip, "Here,", right ribcage, "And here,", inside of his right thigh. "Then there's the other hurts he put upon me, for example he managed to toss me once and it pulled my left shoulder a bit."

"Odors. You sure you're up to working today?"

"Yeah, just as long as you don't have anything heavy planned for me today."

"That's next week when Grodfrey's shipment comes in." He grinned maliciously at Randy, then said, "First thing you can do is start prepping some burn for the customers when they start, .... What's wrong?"

Randy continued to stare at him for another breath or so as the scent he been whiffing finally came full blown in the front of his mind. "Be right back."

Gadfly watched him with a puzzled look as he limped into stacks, after a few sweeps, he reappeared carrying a large book under his arm.

"I'm sorry about that but there's been this odor which has been nagging me for the past couple of days which I just could not place the scent of. Then just now it blossomed and I knew what it was." He glanced at the book he was carrying, and asked, "You remember that thumper who came into town about two weeks before I had to go to camp?"

"Yes?"

"Now before I show you this, may I ask how much of your religion do you place yourself in?"

Gadfly sat on a stool and muttered, "First day, odors, not even the first hour of work and you bring religion in." He sighed, "Well, the basic facts, that we could not develop intelligence because of the human presence. When the One Who Is removed the human's, we came into being."

"So, the wild ones are your distant cousins?"

Gadfly thought it over, "I would have to ascribe to that as well."

"Well,", Randy laid the book on the counter, cover up, "What's different between this and you?"

Gadfly examine at the picture of the wild gazelle on the cover, after several breaths he said, "Obviously, I walk upright, his eyes are set more to the sides of his head, ears are bigger, muzzle's bigger, horns are longer." He rubbed a five inch horn, "He's got more fur on him. Something I'm not seeing?"

Randy tapped the picture where it showed the wild one's upper lip was curled back, "Teeth."

"Teeth." Gadfly touched his own and repeated, "Teeth." He looked thoughtful for a bit, then said, "Too early in the morning to smell this, go make the burn and bring me a cup."

It proved to be interesting, he had never made burn with such a large maker before. He checked the water level in the boiler, satisfied with the gauge level, he located a sparker and got the little gas flame lit. He opened the valve wide and hunted amongst the little kitchen's cabinets for the burn and some clean baskets. The baskets were easy, but as he closed the last can with a slight sigh, there wasn't any crushed bean. He checked to make sure the boiler wasn't getting ahead of him, then got the cruncher set up to crush bean. As he cranked the handle, he saw Gadfly watching him with an amused expression. He twisted his ears forward in puzzlement.

"Aren't you a left user?"

He scooped some more bean into the cruncher with his left as his right hand continued to crank, "No."

Gadfly flapped his ears as he frowned, "You're a right user? But how come, ..."

"Tia Cho." He shook the basket to see if there was enough burn in it yet. "It teaches you how to use both sides with ease, and I've just gotten so used to using my left from the training, well." He scooped some more bean in, adjusted the flame under the boiler, and shook the basket once more. "I've never thought about it, but I think I've split my use between my left and my right. To scent it properly, I write with my left for the most part, but eat with my right." Satisfied he had enough crushed bean, he slapped the basket in its holder just as hot water began spewing out the boiler. Before he could start crushing another basket, Gadfly stopped him.

"That's enough to start the day with, bring the rest of these,", he tapped the book where he had set it up on one of the counter display racks, "Up front here." At Randy's spread ears he chuckled, "Well use the cart, you odorless cub."

Randy grinned as he went to work.

(quarter past the eighth)

"From what we can read here, both books seem to be about the same subject."

The impala rubbed his lip, "The one by Togan is the one which was recommended to me."

"And I would smell that you should go with what was recommended, except,", Randy put a clamp on the page of the large catalogue and turned back to the page with the description of the book the customer wanted. "This book we would have to order, but,", he flipped to his clamped page, "We have three of these in stock." He tapped the number penciled on the page, "The book you want would have to be ordered from Grodfrey's, and I know Mr. Gadfly just place his order with them yesterday, and while I've got a good scent we could get a connection to them before they send it off to Y'rk and add this to the order, ..." He flicked his ears twice and became aware of someone else standing next to the impala.

He looked up to acknowledge their presence, and spotted a chest full of medals, ribbons, and badges. His eyes flicked up to see a ruby ring in an ear, and he recognized the gray muzzled face of The Alpha.

Automatically, he started to come up off his stool, "Sit back down."

Randy fell back onto the seat awkwardly, "Yes Sir."

The Alpha looked at the impala and shook his head, "Odorless cubs." He turned back to Randy, "You're working, you ought to know better."

"Sorry Sir."

The Alpha grinned, flicked his left ear while cocking down his right, then headed for the burn corner.

The impala watched him go, then turned back to Randy with forward tilted ears, Randy spread his then turned back to what he was talking about. "Anyway, we could probably add this to the order, but it'll take at least twenty sweeps to make the connection, so while you wait, why don't you snag the one we have available, grab a cup of burn, and check it out? And if it's not what you want, we'll see about ordering it for you."

"Smells good to me."

"Smells good to me as well,", Gadfly added as he came up to them, "Though Randy forgot to sniff a couple of scents. If we get the order placed in time, it'll be a week before it gets here, if not, it'll be three weeks before you get it. Then, that all depends on Grodfrey's having it in stock, if not, they'll have to hunt the country for a store which has one and have it shipped here, and that might add a couple of coins to the cost."

"If Grodfrey's doesn't have one, can we just cancel the order?"

"No odor, we'll just make it an if available order."

"Smells good, where do you have this one?", he tapped the page.

Randy pointed out to the stacks, "That row, should be fourth stack, second or third shelf."

"Thanks."

As the impala headed for the stacks, Gadfly clapped Randy on the shoulder, only to wince as he felt the slight flinch. "Sorry."

"You've said that every time."

Gadfly gave him a bemused look, "And I will continue to say it until I remember not to hit your left shoulder. Get to work, you got a call to make." Randy grinned as he picked up the talker's earpiece and cranked the code for Grodfrey's. "You're doing good for your first day, smell, you probably made a sale just now, he'll more than likely sniff the book he has at hand rather than risk a week wait to find out whether he'll get it or not."

"I know, I've seen you do it many times."

"True, but you,", he wagged a finger at him, "Done read more books here than you've brought."

He put on his innocent expression, "Was only making sure, ..."

"That they were the correct book for you, I know. But did you have, ..."

"Read it from cover to cover to make sure?"

They both chuckled, then Randy developed a disgusted expression, "All the wires are in use."

"Well you smelled it right when you told him,", he nodded at the impala who was sitting down at the same table as the Alpha without looking up from the book he was examining, "That it would take at least twenty sweeps to make the connection. Odors, I think there's only ten wires between here and Gertovle, and they tend to be quite busy at this time of the day. The plugger said it was about a twenty sweep wait, right?"

Randy looked at him curiously, "Yeah."

Gadfly chuckled, "She always says that." Randy flicked his ears back as he rolled his eyes. Gadfly turned thoughtful as he gazed towards the burn corner, "What does he want with you?", he asked in a quieter voice.

"Alpha business.", Randy replied with a slightly fanged grin. "Honestly I don't know, whatever it is, he's willing to wait until I'm finished work."

Gadfly's ears stood up, "Really?" At Randy's nod he added, "Well he's smelling about an hour wait." Randy glanced at the clock and looked puzzled, Gadfly chuckled, "You were late this morning, normally I'd just cut your coin but seeing as it's your first day, and you let yourself get all beat up yesterday, and broke you paw the day before, I won't hold the scent against you."

Randy glared at him, which only made him chuckle harder. "Didn't let myself, ...", he started to mutter.

"Don't get your horns tied up,", he flapped his ears as Randy looked at him strangely, "Odors, didn't realize wolves could be so easy to tease. Just, please, smell a favor for me.", he finished somberly. Randy pricked his ears forward, "Try not to get hurt anymore?"

"I'll try, but, there's times when I have to get hurt." The talker rang, and Randy reached to the earpiece only to pause and see if there was two short rings as well. When it just rang long again, he laid an ear back as he picked up, "Good odors and thank you for calling Book Worms."

(half past the ninth)

As Randy nervously approached the table, The Alpha looked up from the paper he was reading, "(Relax.)", he said in wolf. He flicked both ears forward in emphasis.

Randy stopped in front of the table and gave a short salute before taking the seat across from him, "(Still, you wanted to see me and it's hard to do that. Sir.)"

The Alpha motioned at his chest, "(Even for a fourth bar?)"

Randy grinned, "(I think I could probably be top medal and still feel nervous because of my age. Sir.)"

The Alpha smiled and held out his hand, "(This is more of a personal visit, call me Robin.)" Randy's eyebrows shot up and his ears swiveled forward as he locked thumbs and they clawed wrists. Robin chuckled, "(My father had a sense of humor, because my last name is Snestegg.)"

"(Robin's nest egg, oh.)", Randy laid his ears back and groaned, "(That's terrible.)"

He chuckled some more, "(I know, I've had to live with it. But that scent aside, I'm deeply impressed by what I saw today. You made just about every customer who walked up to that counter feel comfortable. Do you think you could teach others that?)"

Randy thought for a bit, "(Perhaps, but a lot of what I do comes from an, instinct I think I've developed from being around herbivores so much. It's like I can sense what's going to make them uncomfortable and stay, within, I don't know, a body language they understand?)"

"(So it's something of an attitude you take with them?)"

"(That might be a good way of putting it.)"

"(And yet you still manage to be wolf enough to toss out the CAC from your hearing.)" At Randy's tweaked ear he laughed, "(Yes, I heard all about it, from their point of view of course, when they came pounding down my door complaining about all the damage you've done to the good odors they've created. Now tell me the truth, what did you tell them?)"

"(To leave.)", he flicked his ear as well.

"(That's it? And they didn't challenge you?)"

"(If the CAC wants to challenge me, they'd better send more than three tail draggers to do it.)"

Robin frowned and said with a light rumble, "(When I get my claws on, no wait, it's you they're insulting, it's your challenge.)"

Randy's eyes narrowed, "(What are they saying.)"

"(That you told their three sniffers that you didn't need their help, you had high friends. That you went up on the stage and Nogitosh threw the petition out.)"

"(Half truth. I did go up on the stage, but that was what Nogitosh wanted to do because he wanted to conduct a popular count. That's how the petition got thrown out, nobody supported the petitioners.)" He growled softly, "(And I'm in no condition to make challenge.)"

"I hope you're not mad at me again.", came a familiar voice.

Randy looked up, startled, "Sten! What are you doing here?"

"I had an errand to run for dad, this was on the way back so I figured I'd cut through University here and see if you were still at work or what. Hello Alpha Sir."

Robin's ears pricked as Randy said, "I'm sorry, I'm forgetting my good odors. Robin, this is my friend Sten Silowatz, Sten, this is Robin Snestegg, The Pack Alpha."

"Well I'll be scentless, pleased to meet you Sir."

He held out his hand, palm open and Robin's eyes twinkled with amusement as he locked thumbs with him and felt him tap his wrist. "Pleasure is mine to scent a friend of Randy's"

"I'm not interrupting am I?" Robin flicked an ear and before he could say anything, Sten said, "Why thank you Sir.", and pulled up a chair.

Robin's ears swiveled forward and he glanced at Randy, catching a wag of Sten's ear out the corner of his eye. He watched as Randy flicked an ear backwards and shook his head, "This day catches me with surprises from all sides."

"Well Sir, I've been packing with Randy so much that I can read most wolf gestures."

"Packing." He shook his head again as the two youngsters exchanged smiles. "You also must be that herbivore Randy's teaching Mugoy too. No, hold that scent,", he looked at Randy's chest again, "I forgot you're Tia Cho. Great Odors Above." He sat back and looked back and forth between the two youngsters for a bit, "That's going to raise even more stenches."

Sten looked concerned, "How so?"

The two wolves flicked ears at each other for a breath, and Robin accepted the role of explainer, "Mugoy is not quite like Tia Cho. Tia Cho is ranked a bit differently than Mugoy, no, make that very differently. Randy, being a fourth bar in Tia Cho, is equal to a first medal in Mugoy." Sten groaned and Robin chuckled, "Which means that when they find out you know a, more powerful, art than they, that'll throw smells everywhere."

"Odors, how does that affect me in the tournament?"

Robin turned to Randy, "You're entering him in the tournament?"

Randy flicked his ears in a dismissive manner, "Why not?"

"Has he explained to you what will happen?"

"Basically, I know I'll be going against the other first levels for the ribbons."

"Unless you win your first three matches without flaw, then they'll put you into the second round with the second levels. And if you make three flawless wins again, ..."

He trailed off and watched Sten think for a minute, "Let me smell this right. They keep putting me against more, skilled, opponents until I lose." As both wolves slowly nodded, he asked, "What if I back out before I get too deep?"

Randy looked at Robin, "Then they won't allow me to go for my master's."

Sten turned to Robin only to see him nod slowly. "Oh stenches, I don't know if I should enter if it's going to affect you."

Robin cocked an ear at Randy who nodded slowly, "Then he's got a bad odor either way, because apparently, you're his only disciple, and he has to show ability to teach his art."

"No, I'm not his only one, just his most advanced." Sten looked up startled as Robin tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. He turned to Randy, but he had the most interesting expression on his face, which told Sten nothing at all. Except, "Yes Sir, he does have a class, sixteen of us are studying the art."

"Sixteen.", Robin continued to stare at the ceiling, "Oh Creator, he's got sixteen herbivores studying one of the more dangerous forms of the art." He looked back at Sten only to see a shocked expression on his face, "He never told you how dangerous Tia Cho is?"

"Well,", Sten lightly rubbed his cheek, "He did make it rather clear to me yesterday just how lethal I've become with what I already know."

Robin examined Randy, who helped a bit by tilting his head, "And just how does a four bar let himself get that bruised from his disciple?"

"I was under a handicap."

"A handicap?" Sten stared down at the brace.

"A handicap.", Randy echoed.

Robin straightened up, "Yes, that's one of the few things that I know of which would slow down a Tia Cho adept. Sten, you should not have been able to touch him."

"Odors." Sten suddenly grinned, "I lucked out."

"This time.", the two wolves said almost simultaneously in such a flat voice that it knocked the smile off his face.

"Ouch." Then the grin returned, "I'll just have to make sure I don't have to go Thinking Under Fire ever again."

Robin's face grew still, "Thinking Under Fire. Grr, Sten, would you excuse us?"

Sten looked at him sharply but said, "Sure. Smell, you coming over tonight for another soak?", he asked Randy.

"Yes, that sounds like a good odor. Also, tell your dad I'll take his offer."

"Okay." He inclined his head respectfully towards Robin, "It's been a pleasure smelling time with you Sir." He held out his hand again.

"I've enjoyed your scent as well.", Robin replied as they clawed wrists again.

Robin looked thoughtful for several sweeps, then said, "(Tell me, he doesn't know all does he.)"

Randy sighed, "(No, I mean, I've done my best to explain some of the details in Tia Cho, but,)", he twitched his ears and glanced about, "(It's hard turning a herbivore into a killer.)"

"(Did he know you were supposed to kill him if he failed to learn his lesson?)"

"(No.)"

"(Would you of done so?)", Robin asked softly.

Randy sighed, "(I don't think I could of, I'm his friend first.)"

"(That's bad in most of the arts.)" Robin folded his arms, "(I know a bit more about Tia Cho than most, and while I don't understand it all, I do know the price you to ask of those you find, willing, to study the deeper forms, does he know the price?)"

Randy sighed once more, "(He knows there's a price, and he has on a couple of occasions expressed to me that he's more than willing to pay the price. Again, I've turned a herbivore into a killer. In the process of teaching him, and the rest of my class, I've found that one must take a different scent with herbivores, because they have an, innocent honesty.)"

"(Innocent honesty?)"

"(They seem to have an uncanny ability to detect an outright lie.)"

"(I've noticed that, though I never thought about it much.)" He frowned a little, "(And that's another scent, I've never heard of a Tia Cho adept who takes on more than one disciple.)"

"(The rest of my class is not being taught the deeper skills, Sten is my current true disciple. The rest I'm just teaching the lighter skills, focused awareness, the deep relaxation, the fun moves. None of them have shown the inclination or aptitude to study the deeper skills.)"

"(So none of them are bar worthy.)" At Randy's nod he sighed slightly, "(That's a bit of a relief, but the scent that you managed to find one herbivore who's willing to go deeper, ...)" He shook his head. Suddenly his ears pricked straight up, "(Great Odors! Now I'm going to have to convince the committee to create Two new awards!)" At Randy's puzzled look he grinned, "(Cub, I'm convinced that you deserve a new award for becoming the first carnivore to work with herbivores as well as you do, but I think you also deserve one from the Discipline's for what you've done with Sten.)"

"(Provided he can take that step across Luing Tao, and enter the tournament.)"

"(There is that, but I smell that he will. Meanwhile,)", a distinct noise emanated from his belly, "(My stomach is feeling rumbly, ...)"

Randy chuckled, "(I know just the place, matter of scent, Gadfly recommended it.)"

"(Lead me, I got a meeting with Nogitosh this, ...)" He stared at Randy, who developed a look of dismay, "(What's wrong?)"

"(I forgot I got a supper engagement with him this evening.)" At Robin's puzzled look, he went on, "(I was looking forward to a salt bath this evening.)"

"(You're also into herbivore fops?)"

Randy smiled, "(Let me scent you in on a herbivore salt bath.)", he began as they made their way out.

(half past the fourteenth)

Randy sat back in the soft cushioned chair and politely refused the glass of distilled wine from the brilliantly dressed badger. Robin looked at him with a twinkle in his eyes and asked, "What's the odor cub? Afraid you can't scent strong wine?"

"No, it's not that, I was warned against drinking alcohol before soaking."

"Soaking?" Nogitosh looked amused, "A wolf taking a soak?"

"No stranger than a impala eating grilled meat.", Robin teased.

Nogitosh flapped his ears with a grin, "Shh, don't let my population hear you say that."

"Odors, if they couldn't tell what you were cooking tonight, they have no sense of smell."

"Well, that's one of the reason's I enjoy entertaining a wolf, gives me an chance to have something more than the light meats."

"Maybe I should visit more often." Nogitosh chuckled as Robin turned to Randy, "And you. I've never seen a wolf put away vegetables like that."

"It's taken a few years to, adapt, my gut to handling that much. And I still can't handle much of it raw, upsets my stomach too much. You got to smell it though, herbivores know how to cook them."

"I'll smell that. Vill, what were those little green things called again?"

"Brussel sprouts. Cooked in garlic sauce. With onions, and seasoned with oregano and rosemary." Nogitosh smacked his lips, "Yum."

"Yum's a good word for them. If it wasn't for the fact I know how much I can handle, I could've eaten more of them."

"It's all in the seasonings."

"Enough about cooking." Nogitosh's mate, Evalain came into the room carrying a tray of sweets, "I want to hear more about Alpha wolves."

"Ohh, what's this Danesh prepared for us tonight?" Nogitosh leaned forward in his seat, ears flapping as he examined the tray she was setting down.

"You and that sweet mouth of yours." They nuzzled each other and she sat down, "Now you were saying that even an Alpha wolf has to defer to one of, how'd you put it, a lesser rank, in some cases."

"It's always a self scent, an Alpha has to, above all other scents, maintain a peace, as first odor. Let's smell Randy's case again."

"I seem to be a consistent target for this conversation."

"You're handy cub, now shut up."

"Yes Sir.", Randy replied in such a droll tone that everyone laughed.

"Now, even if any of the CAC wolves outranked him, he still had the right to toss them out, though he would have done it in a, hmm, more diplomatic manner. The other scent is a bit harder to sniff out. If, the outcome of the hearing would have affected the pack as a whole, or even in part, Randy should of been able to smell that fact and deferred to their judgement. If he didn't, and the matter was smelly enough, he could have been stripped of his ring."

"And there would have been no chance of him regaining it?"

"None."

"That sounds cruel."

Robin smiled at her, "It is, but it's also taken us years to develop this, and we've found it to work well."

"Well then, if I understand this then, there's no means by which a gold, or an emerald, could advance to a ruby, is there."

"There's no difference between the rings,", Randy put in, "They indicate a level of aptitude."

"Aptitude?", Nogitosh mumbled around a mouthful of sweet bread.

"Aptitude." Robin picked back up the conversation, "We've managed to develop a complex set of criteria which is used in, awarding, the rings. Alphas,", he waved a hand between him and Randy, "Have an uncanny ability to step into almost any situation without knowing all the details and taking charge, or assist another Alpha in taking charge. It's hard to describe."

Randy stepped in again, "And Seconds, those who wear the emerald, are just as capable of taking charge of a situation, but they are more comfortable in doing so if they know someone's above them. Otherwise, they, prefer, the handling of details in situations, or business's, or whatever."

"And finally there's those we simply call Super's, who seem to have the ability to track, dozens, even hundreds, or different things going on around them at once.", Robin finished.

Evalain frowned, "I think I'm still a little odorless on the subject."

"You and me both,", Nogitosh added, "But I think it's because we're not used to having one's life role being set at birth, I mean at a certain age." He flashed a grin at them, "We're used to the way we do things, where one can choose what they want to do with life."

Randy flicked an ear at Robin, who flattened his in return. "It's not quite like that. Take me, for example.", Randy tapped his chest, "I want to become a biologist." Robin's ears perked up and Randy grinned at him, "Yes, I know it's unusual for a wolf to be interested enough in the life process to pursue such an occupation, but I've found enough inconsistencies in life to track down study in the subject."

"Then why,", Evalain asked slowly, "Take the effort to become an Alpha?"

"Odors." Randy clamped his hand on top his muzzle and stared over it at Robin.

"Don't look to me cub, I'm years away from my test."

Randy looked back at Evalain and after a bit, slowly said, "Because I could be one." He pricked his ears forward and raised his eyebrows.

"That simple?"

"We have a saying, do it if you can."

"Don't forget the rest,", Robin added, "Accept what you get."

"And if it doesn't smell right, change it."

"Which applies to both cubs and life."

Randy groaned as everyone laughed, "I forgot that part."

(quarter till sixteenth)

Sten poked the fire once more, then threw another log in the bath heater. He stared at the flames for a while, then stepped out of the fire pit to get him something to drink. He sat down across the room from the tub and just watched Randy float in the bath, thinking. He knew Randy noticed something different about him, yet he acted as though everything was alright. Even now, he lay there so totally relaxed that Sten had trouble determining it he was breathing.

"(Are you ready to pay the price?)"

Sten twisted his ears forward for his voice sounded faint. Then he realized with a chill that Randy hadn't used his mouth to speak.

"(Are you ready to pay the price?)"

Sten shivered, then brought himself under control, and all that Randy had been teaching him came together and he scented the whole odor. With a slight shock he found himself no longer in the bathing room, but instead he was standing on what seemed to be a small platform above a vast emptiness.

He leaned over and noted that the platform had no means of support, it floated in the middle of the emptiness. There was also no way to determine where the light was coming from, it appeared to be all around him. As he looked about him, he spotted Randy dressed in his Jo and somehow it didn't surprise him to see him just floating above the vastness.

He took a deep breath, "You've made me a killer."

"(Did I?)" Randy's mouth still didn't move.

Sten looked off in the distance, and finally said, "Only if I choose to be."

"(And knowing that, are you still willing to pay the price?)"

"What's the price?"

A faint smile touched the wolf's face, "(You have to be willing to pay it to know it.)"

Sten looked down at the platform he was on, then back up at Randy. Then with a calm assurance which surprised him, he stepped off. He came up to Randy and looked into the bright eyes of his friend, and master. "I will obey you in all things."

"(What do you feel?)"

Sten relaxed in his newfound awareness and smiled, "The One who is."

Randy sat up in the bath and stared at the blinking gazelle, "What do you think?"

"Was that real? Wait a scent, of course it was, otherwise I could not of experienced it. But how did you do that?"

"I didn't do it, you did. All I did was point out the path, you took the path."

"I did? That's right, you once told me that nobody can make you do anything you don't already want to do, correct?" Randy nodded, "But I didn't even know I was looking for that path."

"You can't find that path looking for it, you have to be on the path already. I've been there many times calling for you, this is the first time you've responded."

Sten frowned, "I can't see it anymore."

"Don't go looking for it, the harder you try and find it, the harder it is for you to find."

"Well then, how do I get back there?"

"When it comes to you."

Sten relaxed and found that he could now focus himself outside his immediate area, he felt as two members of his family walked down the hall outside the bathing room, though he could not quite determine who they were. "I at first thought the price would be coin. But as I learned more about Tia Cho, somewhere I scented that the price was more than coin, but I could not smell what. Now that I know what the price is, ..." He focused on Randy, "It's not you I place myself under obedience to, it's the One!"

"You took a bigger step than you realize." Randy picked up his brace and started fastening it on his paw, "You'll find yourself, urged, at times to do things which don't make sense to you. Other times you'll be able to see what the outcome will be. Should you disobey the One,", Randy grinned as he stepped out the bath and headed towards the rinse, "You'll find that the One is not quite as stern a taskmaster as me, though I might be used in chastising you."

"That's a scary scent."

Randy let fangs show as he sluiced cool water over his head and body. Last night he thought it was crazy to take oneself from a hot bath to a cool rinse, but it was very refreshing and invigorating. "Is it?", he asked before snapping his head about and slinging water out his braids.

"Ahh!", Sten yelled as he took cover from the water filling the air. "Hey!"

()

Randy finished tying the towel around his head and watched as Sten threw a power lever before turning off the filaments in the bathing room, this time a yellow light lit instead of a green. "What is that?"

"That?", Sten pointed to the dimly lit panel holding the filaments controls and several other levers.

"Yes, that." Randy peered at the panel closely before stepping out into the low lit hallway.

Sten closed the door and they walked down the hall towards Randy's new den. "That does two or three things, depending on what's thrown elsewhere in the spread. There's about twenty, or thirty, I forget exactly how many, similar panels throughout the house. While we only have one salt soak, we got five regular cleaning rooms, but there is right now, counting you, eighty seven people living here."

"I noticed that there seemed be a large herd at dinner last night, but it wasn't that many."

"You try coordinating the cooking for a family as large as this one, and remember, there's some families who put even more under one spread. I scent that wolves don't put quite so many under one set of roof's."

"No, not like this. Back home I lived with my parents, a brother, two sisters, mother's parents, and father had a sister of his, that was it."

"Well, we tend towards large, extended, families, and we always welcome outsider's as well,", he grinned at Randy, "But it does lead to problems in taking a bath, or rinse, depending on what you want. Each cleaning room has a panel like that one, and whenever anyone's finished with the room, they're Supposed to push the lever down." Randy chuckled at Sten's tone, "The rest of the panels each have three lights on them, red, yellow, and green, one set for each room. Red means the room's in use, green means it's free to grab, and yellow means someone's claimed it to use. Here."

They stepped into a reading room, several of the people there looked up at them briefly as Sten led Randy over to one of the panels he was talking about. "See, someone's already in the soak room, cleaning rooms one and four are free, two and three are in use, and room five's been reserved. Now you see how next to each set of lights there's two buttons. The label's are kind of worn, but the one on the right means 'I Want It', while the one of the left means, 'Never Mind'."

"Now lets smell that I want to take a clean." Randy leaned over and sniffed politely, "Cut that out." Randy chuckled as he continued, "I would come over to a panel, see that room four is clear, and push the I Want It button like this,", he did, and the green light went out while the yellow one lit. "Now, I Should have about ten sweeps to get to the room and throw its lever up, I'll expand that scent in a breath, but once that's done, the light will change to red." He pushed the Never Mind button and the lights changed back.

"Now, if I want to take a soak,", he pushed the soak room's button and the yellow light lit up as well, "And it means I want the room when you're finished with it." He cleared the yellow light and they headed out the library, "Of course it depends on me getting to the room and pushing up its In Use lever. Like I said, I Should have about ten sweeps to reach the room, but each room's, err, what did he call it, ah, circuit, is a little different. Room three gives you about five sweeps while room four's been known to give you all night to get there. But the rest of them seem to give about ten most of the time."

"How does it work?"

"Odors, I don't know, all I know is I push a button or throw a lever. There's room off one side of our power room, it's full of these, hmm, I believe the ancient term for them is relay's, and bunches of thin power wires going to each panel. Cost us some serious coin to put in, and we pay coin once a year for someone to come by and make sure everything's all right with it."

"So when I want to take a bath, or rinse, I got to sniff out one of these panels and reserve a room."

"You'll get used to it, and sniff a scent. Be ready to bathe."

"I rather smelled that."

"No, I mean have everything you bathe with on you when you decide to bathe. Special soaps, favorite scents, hair oils,", Sten reached out and rubbed a braid betweeen his fingers, "Salt's eating your hair, I'll stop by Gadfly's when you get off tomorrow and show you the best place to get some. Also if you decide to get your own bathrobe and towel, have them on you, or better yet, be wearing them."

Randy stopped and blinked, "You mean walk around in nothing but my robe?"

"You're doing it now." Randy's ears swiveled forward as he looked down at himself. "I, like, smell that this isn't something you're used to doing."

"No, it's, well, different here."

"Randy, nobody's going to care." His ears flapped, "Well, they might be curious about you at first but that will pass aside and you'll become one of the family."

"It'll take me a bit, now which way to this den I'm paying coin for."

"Den?" Sten's ears stood up as he put his fingers to his muzzle and looked down each hallway at the intersection they had stopped in.

"Den, that's what we call a place we mark as our own."

"Hmm." Sten glanced at him before examining the hallways once more.

"Lost?"

"Somewhat, I don't come down to this part very much, I think it's this way."

As they started walking Randy rolled his eyes, "I don't believe this, a person who gets lost in their own home."

"This place is huge, remember? There's over fourteen square miles under one set of roof's,", Randy whistled, "There's parts of this house I've never been in." He stopped by an opening which led into what seemed to be a small kitchen and read a map next to the door, "We're in the right area, there's your Den here."

Randy peered at the worn, but colorful, map where Sten was pointing, and noticed something peculiar about it, first was, "What scribble is that?" Then, "Smell, there's hardly any interior rooms!"

Sten flapped his ears with a grin, "That's a family language, you won't find any books printed in that." He examined the map once more before resuming their journey, "The map's are never quite right, it doesn't Show many interior rooms because they're usually part of one of the apartments. I suppose I'll have to help you read the maps so you can find your way about a bit easier."

"Would be nice."

"Well, here's quick two coin scent of this area. That back there is the local kitchen for here, there's usually a cook or two there during mealtimes, just when the cook shows up and what's available depends on who decides to do the cooking. You'll find that while we tend to have good staff here, there's the odd stinker here and there." At Randy's expression he laughed, "You'll find that most of the staff here tends to be family, mainly those who either are between jobs, or work doesn't have anything for them to do, even I have to be staff once in a while. There's a few, though, who just want to be staff for the family, they're not interested in getting outside coin. And then there's a few outsiders who work here for full time coin."

"So that's what your dad meant when he told me to watch what I pay for."

"Well, I don't know what it's like over here, but in my area, there's at three people who when they staff, you give them a token slice or two for their efforts. The locals will help you scent them out." Randy chuckled as Sten read a sign on a door they were passing. "That's the nearest cleaning room for you."

"Which one?"

"Three." A look of dismay crossed Randy's face and Sten laughed again, "I'm descenting you, it's really room five." They passed a wide, open doorway leading to a large room with various gaming tables scattered about. Only two people occupied the room, and they were so intent on their game of battleboard that they didn't even notice the two youngsters standing in the doorway. "Odors, I didn't know that this was here!"

"This is a big house."

"Gets bigger all the time too. Family motto, 'Can never have too much room'."

As they resumed walking, Randy asked, "What about relief areas?"

"You shouldn't have to worry about that too much, your apartment, I mean your Den, has one in it. But if you need to relieve while out in one of the common areas, just ask a local, there's bound to be one handy." He glanced at a map as they came to an intersection and took the right passage. "Almost there."

"Odors!" Randy glanced back the way they had come, "I'll be late getting to work because I got lost!"

Sten's ears stood up, "Now that there is one wicked smell to sniff. Wolf gets lost in Herbivore home." He grinned at Randy and flapped his ears.

"Not funny Sten."

"I think it is." He flapped his ears some more, then wiped the grin off. "Smell this, I'll spend the next few nights over and help you learn the layout and how to read the maps."

"I can smell that."

Sten glanced at a door sign and said, "Ah, your new home." He slid the door open, turned up the filaments, and stood there blocking the doorway.

Randy glared at the back of his friend, then shouldered his way through the door, only to come to a standstill himself just inside the apartment. After a couple of breaths he softly said, "You're descenting me."

"No,", Sten read the sign once more, "Cypress Five, that's what my dad said, right?"

"You sure? I smell, this place looks to be a hundred and fifty feet long and sixty or seventy deep!"

"I stink you not, look, there's your stuff in the corner, Doris wouldn't make a mistake."

Randy glanced at the pathetic looking pile of clothing, then back out to the vastness of the empty room with it's thirty foot plus high ceiling of unfinished beams. Filament holders hung suspended from several dozen spots along the beams, making the place seem even more naked.

"Dad must really like you Randy, this has got to be a fresh apartment." At his cocked ear, he elaborated, "Remember how I told you this place gets bigger all the time?" The ear flinched, "Well we always have places available for when a subfamily gets too large for the place they're in, this has got to be one of them."

They were walking down the length of the room and Randy glanced up at the ceiling, "Like, there's nobody above me?"

"No, that's roof up there."

"A flat roof?"

"Hmm, probably got some slope to it."

"Must sound awesome when it rains."

"Must."

They finally reached the windows at the far end of the room and spent a few minutes gazing out at the darkened landscape dimly lit by the bright stars overhead. It took him a bit to make out the star patterns, but Randy was able to determine, "This wall faces east."

"Well, I smell that this end would be out for the bedding room."

"Why?"

"You wouldn't,", Randy's tone gave Sten an odor, "You always get up that early?"

"Before the sun does." Randy turned to survey the room as Sten flapped his ears and rolled his eyes. "Your dad wasn't stinking me when he said I'd have to put some coin in making this place smell right."