FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Kaji Commission

By Cimmaron Spirit

**WARNING: Contains... actually, there is only one reference to nudity and genitalia in the entire thing. But there is plot development, a fight scene and wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff. Enjoy! **

There was something to be said about having the ability to shift between dimensions and the Space-Time Continuum, and Kaji knew all the good reasons. For example, if his fox ever needed a present, well that was easy enough to get. There was never anything out of stock when you could just go backwards or forwards in time and get whatever was wanted. His white fox Sitku may have a few choice words about using his God powers for such trivial matters, but the dragon-wolf hybrid wouldn't care, because he would do whatever he could to make his mate happy.

That was the reason he was here in this world, a mixture of Steampunk and Fantasy. It was almost like a video game, though Kaji knew well enough that the anthros milling around him right now where not NPC's that are just a figment of a developer's imagination and a programmer's animation, but living, breathing people with wants, desires and dreams. The draolf was only here to pick up something, and be off again.

The place he chose for this temporal excursion was the City-State of Venice, perhaps the richest and most powerful of the multitude of city-states that covered the land known as Italy in this world that was the same, but different, from his own. If it couldn't be found in the markets or warehouses here, then it couldn't be find anywhere else. Or rather, if it existed in this world, it would be found here.

Kaji did stick out a little bit in the crowd. Being six foot four inches and with wings sticking out of his back, he stood much taller and took up much more space than almost everyone else around him. It didn't help that his clothing choice was a bit... unorthodox. While everyone was going around in clothing that appeared to have stepped out of the 19th century, his modern day khaki cargo shorts and camouflage-patterned vest seemed very much out of place. Most of the people around him looked at him oddly, and maybe with a bit of dread or fear that he was some foreigner or alien. Kaji sighed to himself, but knew better than saying anything. Explaining he was a hybrid mutt from the future of a different world, and that he was a God, and that his blood ran hot enough to melt metal took too much time and would only make things worse. So, best to ignore it, right?

After a while of wandering the crowded marketplace, Kaji stopped next to a stall that was looked after by a fat, middle aged donkey. He wore a simple white shirt and brown pants, and sprung to his feet with surprising dexterity when the draolf spent more time looking over the fancy baubles and jewelry that filled the stall.

"Ahh, welcome!" the donkey exclaimed giving his best smile to the strange customer. "Please come, and let us find what you want today!"

Kaji chuckled. He knew that the Italians as a generalization, and the Venetians especially, were merchants first, last and always. That is what allowed them to make their fortune trading between the industrial powers of the northern lands and Islands and their enemies; the magic users of the Holy Alliance to the South and East. "Well, I am looking for something for a special someone."

The donkey smiled and waved a hand over the stall. "Well, take a look and see. Oh how about this?" the merchant offered, lifting up a necklace on a black string. Hanging from it was a diamond shaped piece of glass cut with many facets that made it seem more like a gem than anything man made, with an even smaller blue glowing crystal inside it. "This is very unique, as it has a small Crystal on the inside. Normally the Crystal can only be used to help magicians, but it has a beauty that cannot be passed up." The donkey held it up as high as he could reach for his tall customer, who stooped down a bit to see what the merchant was trying to do. "See how the crystal shimmers in the light? Only the finest craftsmen in Austria can achieve this perfection. Even the Germans and their factories and machines can't do this... Oh, wait... you may not see what I'm talking about. Kind of cloudy today." The donkey said, looking up to the sky, and passed the crystal necklace to Kaji. "Let me just get... aha! A Candle!" the donkey replied, pulling up candle on a brass holder, and setting it down. "Now, matches..."

"Here, allow me," Kaji said, picking up the candle by it's holder and snapping his fingers so that his thumb was suddenly on fire, and he held his lit finger close to the wick until it caught. The mutt then handed back the candle to the stunned merchant.

Behind him, Kaji could hear several people gasp. He turned around to see a group of two dozen people staring at him. The draolf raised an eyebrow, before glancing down to his thumb, still with a little flame on it. He nervously chuckled, and slapped his other paw over the flame, smothering it out.

"What sorcery is that?" one wolf cried out. "Not even the Priests can do that!"

"You mean those old farts that want to drag us back to the past?" a fox shouted back. "They are reactionary bastards that only want total control!"

"Oh, and your precious factories are making the Germans rich, now aren't they? And at what cost?" the first wolf shouted back, elbowing his way through the crowd to face the fox.

"Hey, hey, hey," Kaji said, lifting his hands. "I didn't mean to cause trouble."

"Damn that! You're just flaunting yourself and your powers to us, to show how great magic is? You must be a French agent!" the fox shouted back.

"Hey! Don't you insult the Aura and the Crystal, Forever they be Bound, like that!" The wolf replied.

The crowd was gathering nearby to see what the commotion was. Voices were raised, increasing in tempo as ideology and religion, two things that never went well together, were thrown into the mix. A woman screamed out, either because she was battered by the growing crowd or taken advantage of in these tight quarters. Everyone kept growling, a few fists and claws flew through the air and impacted someone else, and soon it was clear a riot was about to form. Kaji tried to back away, but by this time the donkey merchant had vacated the premises, and Kaji was completely surrounded. Several people tried to get closer, but when a rabbit touched the draolf that started the mess, the lapine wailed out loud and jumped back in surprise, crashing into a few other people.

"This... thing, is firey hot!" the rabbit cried out, looking at his paw to see if it was burnt. When Kaji turned around to see the rabbit, all the people behind him recoiled.

"Get the outsider!" the fox from before shouted. "He's trying to drag us into the Crisis!"

"What Crisis?" Kaji called out in confusion, but even his loud voice was drowned out by the mob.

"Get the outsider! Get the outsider!" the mob chanted.

Kaji continued backing away from the crowd until his back ran into one of the cool stone and marble buildings that surrounded the market. He knew he could fight, and he would fight, but he sure as hell didn't want to have to fight the whole town!

Something bright flashed just above his vision, and suddenly a horse was standing in front of him, lifting himself up from falling from where the source of light came. He was maybe a few inches taller than everyone else around, but was still much shorter than the draolf. His mane and tail was a dark brown that was nearly black, but the rest of the fur he had was a lighter, creamy brown color. He was dressed in a rather impressive dark green jacket and black pants, and in his right hoof-tipped hand he held a golden pocket watch.

"Now, what exactly is going on here? Speak now, or I will have to find out the hard way," the horse sternly warned. The crowd paused, and held their position.

"Sir Cimmaron," a few people murmured, as if the name meant something, but to Kaji he was just a well dressed equine that appeared out of thin air.

The horse sighed, and then turned around. For a moment their eyes locked in place, and Cimmaron's mouth dropped open, before he grinned.

"Kaji! What the heck are you doing here?" he laughed, pulling the much taller mutt into a big hug, much to everyone's surprise, none the least Kaji himself.

"Now why would you come here and not be in costume or something? You know you stick out more than most people, at least put on a jacket and pants! Maybe not a tie, but you know... And if you needed something, you could have just told me!"

Kaji looked at the horse with a blank expression, his mouth slightly agape. "Uhh... would you mind telling me what is going on here? And who are you?"

Cimmaron's smile quickly faded, his eyes going wide. "Ooohhh... right. We actually haven't met before have we?" the horse said, but then smiled and winked. "Don't worry, we will later."

Before Kaji could say anything, Cimmaron turned around. "Alright, so what exactly is going on here?"

"He's a bloody French spy!" one person shouted, and the crowd cheered in reply. After a long moment the cheering stopped, and Cimmaron's laughter had replaced it.

"I wouldn't think so. After all, he doesn't even have a French accent, does he?"

The crowd murmured, but the voice shouted back. "He uses Magic! That alone must make him French!"

Cimmaron clicked his tongue in his mouth and started walking into the crowd, until he came face to face with the fox that was making the comments before. "Ahh, Marko... I should have known you were involved. So obsessed with the idea of industry over magic." The horse laughed. "You guys don't seem to understand how equal each of them is, with strengths that counteract the other's weakness."

The fox guffawed. "Prove it! Machines and all the brilliant ideas that have come from science are better than the ancient, decadent magic!"

Cimmaron grinned and turned back to the draolf. "Care to prove them wrong?"

Kaji's eyes went wide. "What are you talking about? I don't know what is going on here!"

Cimmaron sighed. "I'll explain later. But for now, I challenge you to a duel, Kaji Ryuujin Aldewolf."

The draolf's eyes went wide again. Only his closest friends knew is full name... "Very well," he said after a moment, looking out at the hostile crowd and the smirking horse that knew way to much about it. Kaji puffed out his chest. It shouldn't be that hard, right?

<> <> <>

The horse and draolf faced each other in the middle of a large open meadow, a couple miles from Venice. Half the town had shown up, and had clustered around the perimeter that was hastily set up.

"Okay, I have no idea what is going on," Kaji whispered to the horse. "I only met you an hour ago, yet it's like you have known me all your life."

Cimmaron chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. We will have a... while to get to know each other better."

"How? I've never met you before, and right after this is over, I'm getting the hell out of here."

The horse shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, this is just going to be a simple spar. We fight until one person concedes. You use your magic powers, and I will use more Industrial methods. No God or time travel powers."

"Wait... time travel? And how do you know I'm a God?"

Cimmaron winked again, holding up his pocket watch. "I know you have the power to go dimension and time jumping, not to mention being the God of Balance. I only have the power to go through Time and Space with my Chronodevice here, but I promise I won't use it for this fight." The horse paused. "Well, not for time traveling purposes."

"How can I be sure of that?" Kaji asked.

The horse grinned. "Because where is the fun in constantly going back to fix every mistaken move?" Cimmaron's face went serious. "And you may not know it, but a lot is resting on this: the difference if the young men here and the town are going to be dragged to a civilization shattering war that will leave thousands dead and the city in ruins, or if they will survive and help rebuild the world. A crisis is mounting, and you are only one of many that have had to face it up close. But if we do this right, we can save this town. No pressure."

Kaji looked over to the sidelines, at the almost festive gathering all around him. He turned back to the town, sitting precariously on the side of a massive sea, several large canals cutting its way through the city. He could almost see half of it leveled into rubble, and the other half in smoke shrouded flames, the roar of cannon and the cries of wounded men. A chill that should not have been possible with his overheated body went down his spine.

"Alright! Are we ready?" a lithe tiger in a fancy silk suit asked as he walked to the two.

"Yes, my Doge," Cimmaron answered to the mayor and leader of the town, and Kaji only nodded.

"Very well. You have set your own rules, and I expect you to abide by them." He looked at both of the competitors. "Good luck."

The tiger made his way to the side of the ring and took his place in a special box that was erected for him and other dignitaries. Kaji and Cimmaron stood back to back, and began marching to opposite ends of the arena. A quiet rush fell over the audience as they watched.

At thirty paces, the two opponents turned and faced each other. Kaji narrowed his eyes to focus on the horse, who was still holding his Chronodevice. He wasn't seriously going to cheat, was he?

A gong to the side rang out, signaling the start of the fight. Kaji quickly made his hands burst into red flames, before hurling both fireballs at Cimmaron. The horse deftly jumped to the side and avoided both, and Kaji watched in surprise as the golden pocket watch in his hands shifted into a mean looking pistol. Cimmaron raised his left arm to balance the gun and steady the shot, and fired six times in quick succession. Kaji summoned a bolt of lightning, which reached out to strike all six bullets in midair. Several people gasped as the bright light temporary blinded them, but Cimmaron, his face serious, was unmoved. He calmly flipped the gun to expose the bullet chamber, and reloaded quickly, and fired six more times. This time Kaji bent down and unfurled his wings, leaping up into the air before the bullets could reach him.

Cimmaron looked up to see that Kaji had summoned his bow and a quiver of arrows strapped to his back, with one arrow pulled back. As he softly landed back on the field and a final adjustment to the aim, Kaji let loose and quickly notched another arrow, and let it fly as well, before repeating again and again.

The first arrow flew straight and true, but at the last moment Cimmaron ducked, only to see himself face to face with the second arrow, which he slid over to also avoid. The horse avoided the third shot, but it cleanly went through the tail of Cimmaron's jacket, while the forth and fifth kept flying to their target. Cimmaron grimaced and braced himself, lifting up his Chronodevice, which morphed into a shield at the last moment and both arrows impacted it harmlessly.

Kaji was impressed, but when he realized he was out of arrows, he let go of his bow which faded into thin air before it touched the ground, and began walking toward the middle of the field. The horse had already changed his shield back into his special pocket watch and set it on his hip before withdrawing it quickly as if withdrawing a sword. When it was fully withdrawn, the horse was now holding a long, sharp rapier in his hand.

Kaji grinned, and reached behind his back to create a blade out of fire, solidifying into a fierce and sharp weapon.

Kaji let out a draconic roar and brought his blade down on the horse, but Cimmaron deftly blocked and turned it away and made a jab at Kaji's middle but missed as the mutt leapt backwards.

"You are pretty good archer," Cimmaron complimented as he parried another strike from Kaji. "Lots of practice, yes?"

Kaji was panting as he tried to keep attacking the horse with his blade, but the horse expertly deflected each powerful attack. "A bit. You are a pretty good swordsman."

Cimmaron blocked another attack with his rapier, and knocked the draolf's sword to the side, then surprised Kaji by having his sword pointed straight at the grey fur covered middle. "Oh, that came fairly naturally," he grinned.

Kaji grunted, and swung his sword to knock Cimmaron's away from his chest. Cimmaron's grip was loosened, and the sword flew from his hand and it landed a few feet away from the dignitaries box, sticking up from the ground.

Cimmaron stood unarmed, and Kaji tried to knock the horse over again, but Cimmaron ducked below the swinging blade, and kicking out a leg, swung it around to trip Kaji. With a surprised gasp, the dragon-wolf hybrid fell to the ground, his blade sliding over toward the Chronodevice rapier.

The two looked at each other, then scrambled up to reach the closest weapon: Cimmaron reaching Kaji's sword, and Kaji Cimmaron's. However as both touched it and swung it toward each other, the infernal heat of the draolf blade seered into Cimmaron's hand, while the horse's Chronodevice started lurching Kaji around as if trying to escape his grip. They both release the other's weapon, and grabbed hold of their own, and pointed it at each other.

"Alright!" the tiger Doge shouted at the two fighters standing only a few feet in front of him and the other, nervous dignitaries. "That's enough you two! Any more, and your going to hurt innocent people!

The horse and draolf stood looking at each other, panting heavily, before lowering their weapons. Kaji's dematerialized into nothing, while Cimmaron's returned to looking like a pocketwatch. The audience sat stunned for a moment, before the first person started clapping, before the entire audience started applauding the two. Kaji and Cimmaron smiled and embraced each other.

"You were a worthy opponent, Cimmaron," the mutt said into the horse's ear.

"I knew you were, Kaji," the horse replied. The two parted, and turned to the crowd and bowed.

"I look forward to getting to know you better Cimmaron," the draolf said later that evening, after a fine dinner held by the Doge in their honor. The tiger had made the announcement that after seeing that neither Magic nor Science was more powerful than the other, they would remain out of the coming war, much to Cimmaron's delight. Kaji summoned a portal back to his house in his own world, and stepped through as Cimmaron watched.

"Please, call me Cim," the horse said, right before the portal closed.

The draolf sighed, and leaned against the walls of his house, exhaustion taking over. He looked down to see his clothing was filthy, and his fur was matted with the dried sweat from the exertion he just put himself through.

At that moment he realized that he actually hadn't gotten Sitku a gift, the entire reason for him going there in the first place. He slapped a paw into his face and groaned, sliding down the wall until his rear touched the floor. Kaji sighed in disappointment, and reached into his pockets, only to feel something in there. He pulled it out, and laughed to see the necklace that he was looking at, the blue glowing crystal surrounded by cut glass.

"That horse," he remarked, chuckling to himself. Cimmaron... Cim seemed like a nice guy after all. Maybe this was the start of a beautiful friendship.

<> <> <>

Several months later, Kaji reclined in the large, clean pool of the sento in the prefecture of Hokkaid?, Japan, around... well, the year didn't matter. It was his little guilty pleasure, to go relax in a Japanese bathhouse while Sitku was out working. He would always be back and fresh and clean for his little fox, who was none the wiser for how the mutt managed to keep clean with his overactive libido, accented by the massive pair of cock and balls that hung from the draolf's groin. Well, everyone had a secret or two.

The warm water was so relaxing to the draolf he started to doze off, the warmth and gentle feeling of the water over his body lulling him to sleep.

The gentle clip-clop of hooves on the tile floor made Kaji perk his ears. He could hear someone was washing off to the side, but Kaji didn't look over to see, and instead closed his eyes again.

The tap turned off, and the hooves clip-clopped over the tile again until they reached the large pool in the center.

"Oh!" the other person said in surprise. "I didn't see you there." The other person chuckled softly. "I'm not sure if I know you..."

Kaji opened his eyes and turned around and saw him. The draolf hadn't seen him for a long time, but Kaji recognized him instantly. It was interesting, to Kaji at least, to see that what was said of his species did apply to his visitor as well; maybe not as big as the mutt himself, but respectable nevertheless.

"Come on in, the water is great," the draolf waved his companion over. "Cim."