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Food.

That was always the first word that popped into his head after he woke up. It wasn't just a feeling of hunger, nor was the necessity for food first thing after he woke up simply a habit like so many others had. Breakfast was, for him, a requirement. Not eating breakfast was stupid and left one with an emptiness all day.

He rolled off the floor mat and started his push-ups. No food until he reached fifty. When he finished, he got up and walked to his stove. Eggs, bacon, and bell peppers were all thrown into the same skillet. Having the fridge beside the stove was certainly a convenience.

The wolf lived in a two room apartment. The bed, stove, tv, radio, sink, and fridge were in one room, while the washer, dryer, toilet, and the tub were in the other. Certainly not a bad place to live if you didn't have a lot of junk. He had been living here for the past three years, ever since he was recruited. Of course, living on the streets was much worse. If you ever got any junk, you typically sold it for food money. If you ever had any food money, thugs tried to "tax" you. Members of the "Protection Corps," a gang focused on protecting the civilian populace from the evil, hungry, homeless people, would intentionally stake out grocery stores and keep an eye out for those who they knew were homeless. Once they spotted someone, they would casually stroll over and demand that the poor person pay out their "protection tax." That normally consisted of about half the money you had on you.

One day, Kohrrt, tired of being "protected," decided to sneak in the back of the grocery store. One of the corps saw him and followed him to the back, along with three other "protecters" he had along that day. Two went around the left side of the store, and the other went with him around the right side of the store. That was the whole point. The only gang member left in the front of the store was never seen again.

The four "guards" turned the corners to the lot behind the store at the same time. Kohrrt was nowhere in sight. The first guard looked up behind the guards on the other side of the lot. An Armadillo kid and a Zebra punk armed with bats were right behind them. "Behind you!" the four gang members all shouted, right before a blunt object smashed in each of their skulls. Tragically, no one ever thought it was they who were in the trap's teeth.

Kohrrt climbed out of the man-hole in the center of the lot. The seven he had gotten together had done their job. No taxes today. They stripped the bodies and shoved them in the meat processing plant on the other side of the block. He had gotten himself a very good knife from the human guard.

He also didn't buy any meat for a week.

Kohrrt snapped back into reality. His quasi-omelette was done, and needed to be eaten. He picked the pan up and dumped the food into the plate. Salt and pepper were liberally applied, and the food was eaten. He grabbed the coffee pot (thank God for automatic brew) and poured himself a cup. No sugar, no cream. Finally, he opened the door to the outside world, and picked up the paper. He sat down, sipped his coffee, and opened the paper. He chuckled. "The Daily Dose" always did something to the front page to make it relevant to the story displayed. They made it look wet when there was a flood, they made it look burnt when there was a fire, and they made it scratch and sniff when different food festivals were being held in town.

Today it was covered in bloody spatters of red ink.

He began reading...

MURDER IN MUMIXAM

Mr. Rondre, the Alligator millionaire who owned the large mansion on the outskirts of town, was found dead by our Sherrif Tank, who recently defeated shell cancer. Mr. Tank tells us he received a warning via written message that there were seventeen bodies in the Rondre Manor, and that he would be very interested to see whose they were. Interested indeed. Mr. Rondre was a frequenter of the slave ring, and often bought young, attractive slaves (of both genders). The slaves were rarely seen again, and were generally assumed to be turned into meals for ...

Kohrrt broke the handle on the coffee mug. Thankfully it was on the table, not his lap. "Get over it," he grumbled to himself, "Law says it's legal to kill slaves, and the world accepts it." He picked the paper back up. "Fuck the world."

... into meals for the stock marketing genius. But the warning note was indeed correct: there were seventeen bodies in Rondre manor, including Mr. Rondre's. Mr. Rondre has only owned fifteen slaves while living in Mumixam. For our readers who are mathematically challenged, allow us to illustrate the problem here. Mr. Rondre's slaves' bodies were all found in the manor. (He preserved their skeletons.) Mr Rondre was found dead in his manor. Mr Rondre's one body plus his slaves' fifteen bodies equals sixteen bodies. So who did the seventeenth body belong to?

Mr. Tank informs us that the seventeenth body belongs to the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Saliel, two rat-kin who recently reported that their daughter went missing. The parents were devastated by the news of their daughter's death, and are asking not to be interviewed. (Of course, one of our reporters shouted the question of "did you or did you not sell your daughter into slavery?". Donations for his medical bill would be greatly appreciated. His insurance doesn't cover multiple bricks to the head.)

Her body was found with her left arm having been eaten, with the rest her body mercifully intact (with the exception of her womb, which we will discuss no further). What perplexes the sherrif (and the entire CSI team to boot) is the murder weapon itself. A dagger made of blue obsidian was found smashed between Mr. Rondre's eyes, which had been replaced by his "male reproductive organs." His innards were on the floor, his belly being slashed open like a fish, and a message was carved into Mr. Rondre's back and tail. Mr Tank, after much wheedling on our part, finally released the message. Mr. Rondre's back reads, "17 DED & 2 ILLEGAL. JUSTICE 4 THE 15. CHANGE D LAW OR SUFR" The message is believed to be directed toward the state council, who are currently debating whether or not slaves should have certain rights. Our own city representative, Mr. Moto, had this to say, "Are you f***ing me?! This is aimed directly at us! If we succumb to this madman's tactics, people who want slaves to not have rights are gonna use it too! I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't! I quit!"

Interesting in its own right was the paper the message to Mr. Tank was written on. "It's sin black," he says, "and has the message written in white ink as fine as any pen. Not white out, and it ain't black construction paper. I have never seen paper like this in my life. It feels just like regular paper, but it is BLACK. It was tacked up to my door from the inside of my house. That scares me."

The police say they are not currently looking for any suspects, but will try to find fingerprints somewhere...

Kohrrt put down the paper. He never left finger prints, and there was too much hair in that place to pinpoint DNA. He hadn't planned on Mr. Moto quitting, but it was acceptable. Fear on the part of the senators leads to fear on the part of the people. Not only fear, but awarness. Some would start to say Rondre should have been murdered a long time ago. If enough people actually began to feel that cruelty towards slaves was wrong, their attitude would permeate the air. Officials would become more complacent in cases of vigilantiism where abuse was obvious. Of course, should a slave blackmail an honest master who was not cruel, that slave would die. They would die by Kohrrt's hands.

He put on his shirt and his shoes. Kohrrt only dressed the part of a simple working wolf, just a man who went to work every day but Sunday. Sundays were his days off. Which was tomorrow morning, as chance would have it. Time to do some scouting.

Just yesterday, his task master had left the new information in the usual deaddrop. She had kissed the envelope in blue lipstick, which meant a minor break. Blue meant a meeting was going to occur between two possibly innocent people. Possibly innocent, not likely. It may even be possible that one was and the other was recruiting him. Either way, his goal was to find out if they were worthy of watching. He walked outside and breathed the dusk air. It was getting chilly. He started down the alley way, going to the back. An old back entrance to the post office had been bricked over to conceal its existance, but those who knew where to find it had no trouble locating it. A door had been painted on the wall to look like graffiti. Pushing the brick the door knob was painted on would open the door itself, thanks to a little charm the artist put in it.

He opened the door the post office, and his world changed from dusk to black. Little red lights lightly glowed along the edges of the floor, but other than that, no light was let in. He walked down the stairs and into the cellar. The cellar had an old entrance into the sewers, and was connected to other buildings that housed members of the shadow's grin. The shadow's grin... simply thinking of that woman chilled him to the bone. He had first met her he got to his home under the bridge the day he got rid of the "tax collectors." An ancient Rattlesnake-kin with a scratchy voice had whispered in his ear as soon as he laid down. Of course, since he didn't see her there until she talked, he jumped. And hit his head on the bottom of the bridge.

The timeless rattlesnake woman had seen his actions and was pleased. She gave Kohrrt the once in a lifetime opportunity to get the hell out of the streets and into a nice two room home that had everything paid for. He simply had to do what she told him to, and he could keep the job. He didn't even ask what he had to do; he was given a chance and he took it. Had he known then what he knew now, he would have taken care of the tax collectors a lot sooner. But the snake lady's smile scared him even today.

He opened the man hole and climbed down the sewers. The walkways were slimy, as usual, but a recent rain had washed out a lot of the stagnant stuff, so the stench wasn't bad. It was like walking into a room where someone just farted.

He pulled a blank piece of canvas from his pocket and squeezed the corner. a red, glowing map of the sewer system appeared on the fabric. One of the many treasures bestowed on him by the shadow's grin. A small portion of the map had a pulsing star on it, showing him the destination. The little arrow on the map was him. He started his way down the sewer tunnels to the place the mistress designated for him. In all his life, he had never had to go so far into the sewers.

"DAMN MOSQUITOES."He swatted eight more with one slap. He hated mosquitoes. Turned out, the mosquitoes loved him. And unfortunatley, they bred down here. Three hours into the sewers, they started to appear more frequently. Four hours into the sewers and he was contemplating how to mix DDT with toilet cleaner while it was still in the factory. The little arrow on the map finally arrived at the pulsing star. He looked up. Through the holes in the manhole cover, starlight was shining through. Mosquitoes were flitting in and out of the holes, not able to make up their mind as to wether they should go up and get hit by a car or stay down and get smashed by an aggravated six foot six wolf-kin. Kohrrt looked back at the sewer wall. A nearly imperceptable line marked where the door was, and two dots showed where a handle used to be. Kohrrt pulled the key out of his pocket. An iron bar with a joint on the end, it was a perfect fit into one of the dots. He pushed the bar against the side of the hole and pulled. The door opened. He went in and looked up. A drainhole in the floor of the building above him led directly into the sewers. Of course, nobody knew that, what with the big metal door that locked out the smell, but it still seemed pretty obvious to him. He looked to the left and found the ladder. The instructions told him that this job may be recon, but to be in an advantageous position should the need arrive to neutralize someone. The instructions also told him where to find his new toy, courtesy of the Shadow's Grin. Up the ladder and through the wall, he found himself in a small room in the attic. No access to the rest of the attic, but his present was lying in the middle of the floor. A very short, very dark katana in its scabbard was tied to an envelope sealed with blue lipstick. He opened the envelope. Her voice began whispering in his ear.

"To my dear Kohrrt,

You have finally proven yourself nearly worthy of my total trust. Nearly. You know I can not afford to trust many people. But I feel that you are like my grandson now, an official part of the family. It does not matter that I am a snake and you are a wolf, for we are both shadows. And shadows have many, many forms. You may have to take on the form of a few people tonight, my grandson. You must take the form of a detective, to see what these people are doing. You must take the form of the jury, to see if what they are doing is wrong. And if you deem that what they are doing is wrong, you must take the form of a judge, and decide if they are more valuble to us alive. And if you find neither of their lives are worth anything, you must take the form of an executioner, and ensure they do not leave that building alive. I give you this Ninjato, which you are to name. It has two charms on it: It goes through, but will not cut, skin: so that the bodies will not bleed on the outside, but the wound will still be fatal. The second charm actually lies in the scabbard. So long as you have it near you, you will know the emotions of every person within a ten yard radius of you. Neither of these abilities will be activated until you say, "I name you now" and then the name. Good luck, and may you strike with justice."

He picked up the Ninjato. He cleared his throat a little, and started the incantation. "I name you now Justice." Then he picked up the scabbard. "I name you now Brother-" He was assailed with feedback in the rest of the attic. The scabbard's ability worked to an amazing degree. As many as seven people were in the part of the attic he couldn't access, and all of them were afraid, and felt restrained. The person sitting in the far back corner was also extremely determined. That person may have been afraid, but they were planning something. Probably escape. These people were definately slaves, or had been illegally sold into the slave market. That made up his mind for the detective and the jury. The people who were responsible for tieing these people were definately doing something wrong. Just what was yet to be determined.

He put Justice in Brother, and put Brother on his belt. He climbed down the wall until he got to the ground level, and then he opened the door that led into the box. The box was a large storage container that was never moved. He had been told by a senior member of the Shadow's Grin that a lever made all escape from the building, with the exception of the sewer, impossible. The truck entrances and the doors would all lock and the lights would turn off, and the fans would all turn on and the speakers would start playing extremely loud music. That's to make sure they don't see or hear you coming, he had been told. The eye hole was a one way mirror in the "O" in "Tammy's Warehouse." The color of the mirrors matched the silver crate perfectly. The "W" was a door. A few seconds later, a car pulled into the open garage doors of the warehouse. The person inside it felt pretty good, which made Kohrrt feel pretty mean. A few minutes later, a moving truck backed into the other garage door. It backed all the way into the warehouse, and then the driver got out on the other side. A loud beep from the other side of the building meant the garage doors were closing.

A lanky skunk-kin jumped out of the car. "Hey-hey, Roddy, whatcha doin, man? I ain't gonna up and leave. I got all yuh merchendise upstairs, buddy." The Truck driver came into full view, all three foot seven of him. He was a severly annoyed Toad-kin. "Oi know ye've gawt the goods, 'buddy'. Oi'm closin' the daws so's nobody tries to make a break for it." The toad man jumped up and grabbed the rope to open the trailer. "Oi'll give ye yer money when the goods are in the truck, all toid up and noice loike. Mr. Kardon don't appreciate people bein se jumpy in a simple li'l bizness deal." The skunk rubbed his hands through his hair. "Right, right. I'm just new to all, sir, I've never done much trafficking. It's my third time." The grumpy toad stared up at the skunk. "It'll be yer last toime if ye don't get a move on it." The skunk ran over to the cargo elevator. "Yes sir, sahrry, I'll get right on it." The doors closed behind him. The toad man leaned against the truck and let out a huge sigh. Kohrrt could hear him complaining to him self, "Oi don't get paid enough to deal wit nit wits. Oi jes ain't." "He won't get paid at all after tonight." Kohrrt almost gasped. A deep voice like a dark river at night had spoken in his head. "Who is that?" he asked in his head. "I am Justice." Kohrrt looked at the sword. "You? You're Justice?" The voice sounded again, "Yes, I am Justice. You named me Justice, and you named my brother Brother." Kohrrt thought of something. "Does your brother talk?" "No, not much. He will sometimes, but he'll normally just let you know how he feels about something directly. Doesn't see much purpose for words." "This is amazing. How can you-" "Shut up, boy! The miscreant is coming back down the elevator. And If you listen to Brother for a second, you'll know that there are some very scared people coming down." Kohrrt looked out the mirror. All seven slaves came out of the elevator, tied, blindfolded, and chained closely together. The one in the back was gagged. Kohrrt wasn't the only one to notice. The toad man got jumpy when he noticed her. "Hoy now, she don't boit, do she? Oi don't loik boiters now." The skunk laughed. "Nah, this little missy knows magic. Not much, just enough to be dangerous. I was gonna cut out her tongue, but boss Bubobi wouldn't let me. Said you might charge me with 'damaged goods.' " Kohrrt put his hand on the lever. The one that knew magic was the determined one, but now it was more like she was grasping at ideas that had hope tied to them. He couldn't get a good look at any of them, what with the chains and blindfolds and hoods. The toad man pulled his hand back to slap the gagged one's butt. Kohrrt pulled the lever.

The effect was immediate. The garage doors slammed down, and the doors' locks had audible clicks. The lights were off and the attic fans and ceiling fans all turned on, accompanied by a cacophany of what had to be the loudest deathmetal in existance. The vibrations felt like they were messing with his pulse.

He stepped out of the W and walked over to the toad man. No one knew what was going on, but everyone was scared. Kohrrt had an idea. He held Justice Edge down above the toad man. Justice laughed in his head; the toad would never know what hit him. Kohrrt kicked the toad in the butt. The toad, already a great jumper without adrenaline, jumped full force-

and had his insides cut in half straight down the middle. The skin, of course, was not broken. But the brain, heart, trachea, intestines, and everything else were. The skunk was the next one to find. His emotion was the only fear that wasn't near the slaves. He was trying to open the doors. Futile. Kohrrt strode over to the skunk and severed the inside of his neck. The skunk's body hit the floor with a dull thud. The lockdown conditions had been going on for about thirty seconds now, so the slaves were starting to panic. He could feel it rising in each of them. He walked back into the W and pulled the lever again. The lights turned on, the music stopped, and the doors unlocked. The fans started slowing down just as Kohrrt pulled the blindfold off the first slave. A black, female cat-kin. The next was a white female rat-kin, then it was a white female Deer-kin, followed by a pure black female skunk-kin and a pure black female panther-kin. The last one up close was neither white nor black, but a rare shade of silver. The vixen's fur was literally shining. He pulled the blindfold off of her, and then he pulled out the gag.

"HOERT!" was the first word out of her mouth. Kohrrt's mind went numb, as he felt control of his limbs become like that of a walking dream. Conscious of their movement, but not in control.

Kohrrt did not like not having control. Bad things happen when you're not in control.

The vixen sighed with relief. Her plan was going off without a hitch. She couldn't see the toad's body on the other side of the wolf, and she didn't notice the skunk's body in the dark corner. So of course, she thought this big oaf was one of the traffickers. He might have been one those who killed her old master and kidnapped her. She didn't recognize him, though, and someone that size would have been pretty hard to miss. She planned on using him to escape.

"Okay," she started, "first off, unchain us-" she was interupted by the sound of a waterfall crashing in her head. Justice's distraction allowed Kohrrt just enough time to shove the gag back in her mouth.

"BAD GIRL! You do NOT mind rape people! Especially people who are trying to help you! Understand!?" Kohrrt was angry with her, but he was also impressed. She had tried to take control of the situation as quickly as possible. Thankfully, Justice didn't like having a mind-controlled zombie as a wielder. Kohrrt thought a quick thank you to Justice. He turned back to the vixen.

Fear. Tears. Dammit. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I killed the evil toad man and the evil skunk man, so they're gone now. I'm going to get all of you out of here, okay?" She tried to take a step back, but was held in place by the chains. "Look, I'll take the gag out of your mouth, okay? Just promise me you won't use magic on me, okay?" When she remained unresponsive, he sighed. "look, If you don't promise me that you won't use a spell on me, I'm going to have to keep you tied up while I let the others free. I don't want to do that. It's mean. So you promise?" She shakily nodded her head. "Okay, I'm going to take the gag out of your mouth now." He pulled the gag out of her mouth again. "There. Now what do you say?"

The vixen took in a deep breath and steadied herself. After a few seconds, she looked up into Kohrrt's eyes.

"Thank you."

After finding the key on the dead skunk's body, Kohrrt unlocked the chains on the slaves. His mistriss had said nothing about the slaves, so his guess is she didn't know about them. He couldn't risk security by going back into the W, but he didn't know what to do with the slaves. He couldn't just say "You're all free to go," because they had nowhere to go. They couldn't return to their old lives, because their masters were all dead, probably killed by "Boss Bubobi," as the skunk had called him. So he had to contact his mistress. He pulled out the small iron bar and put it in his ear. He then held the canvas over his face. By doing so, he was calling Shaywop, the old owl-kin who gave him his missions. She answered through her crystal ball. After silence for a minute, Kohrrt considered hanging up. Just as he was about to pull the bar out his ear, she picked up.

"Kohrrt, do you know what time it is? It is one'o'clock in the fucking morning, sweety. Do you know when I take my nap? I take it at twelve forty five to one forty five. Why the hell are you callin me?"

"I didn't know what to do with the slaves."

"The wh- There are slaves there? How many? Hang on, lemme get situated." Shaywop sat up in bed, "There, now how many slaves are there, darlin?"

"Seven. All female, All scared. One can use magic." Kohrrt looked at her. She was sitting on the car the skunk drove in.

"Magic you say? Ooh, how old is she? Is she cute?"

"Not very old, and yes. I'd send you a picture, but I don't know how with this thing."

Shaywop chuckled. "I think I'll meet her soon enough. I tell you what, sugar. You still at the old warehouse?"

"Ain't got nowhere else to go." Kohrrt jumped as a loud wumpf came in from the other side.

"So sorry, I dropped the ball. I'll be over there in a heart beat, you hear? Untill then, try to comfort the little things. Especially the magic one. You know what they say about young things with magic."

Kohrrt thought for a moment. "No, Shaywop, I don't. What do they say?"

"They'll tickle your fancy, one way or the other."

Kohrrt shook his head. "Not happenin right now. Ain't lookin for that."

"Heh, you found it anyway hon. I'll be there in a few."

The bar clicked. Kohrrt pulled it out and put it back into his pocket. The canvas had kept their entire conversation private. The seven slaves were discussing where they came from, seeing if anyone knew anyone from somewhere else. Then the rat-kin asked the vixen.

"What's your name?"

"Nacht."

"where ya from, Nacht?"

"I'm from north of the river."

Silence permeated the room. In day-to-day conversation, the only river people talked about the north side of was the river Styx. It was named for its impassability by boat, the rocks too sharp and the current to swift for safe travel. North of the Styx was the southside of Maarn, a country that had split off from Hujkilop one century ago. The civil war had subsided to simple hatred in that time, with Maarn keeping itself an independent nation, and Hujkilop having wasted years of lives and energy to have them reabsorbed. Maarn had a history as a violent place before the secession; afterwards, it became a negotiation tactic for their generals. People from Maarn were rarely welcome in Hujkilop.

The rat-kin spoke up. "I thought slavery was illegal in Maarn. How were you a slave before?"

Nacht looked at her, confused. "Vho told you slavery ees illegal in Maarn?"

"Everyone. Runaways die every year trying to get into Maarn. Those who make it make it to freedom."

Nacht shook her head, never breaking eye contact. "No, they are taken into slavery. They are sold to die highest bidder. Sometimes, die highest bidder is die army. If someone vas especially good at crossing Styx, then they are given military training and military rights. Which, other than being required to serve for eight years, is actually pretty free."

The others digested this news. Even if they ran, even if they made it across Styx, they'd be slaves. Which meant whoever wanted to be free had to travel much farther, down south to the Islands of land's birth. That was a trip indeed.

A horn outside sounded the arrival of Shaywop. Time to explain things to everyone. Kohrrt cleared his throat. "Alright, everyone. There's a school bus outside. Everyone is going to get on, and the lady inside will drop you off somewhere safe. If someone asks where you came from, tell them you came from a town near your own town. Don't actually tell them where you're from; that's asking for trouble. We'll try to keep in contact with you, but don't tell anyone of what happened tonight. Capice?"

The slaves all nodded their heads. The door opened to the parking lot, and an old owl with a ruby red dress walked in. "So these are the little honies, huh honey?" She looked around until she saw the vixen. "Everyone go ahead and get in the bus. I gotta go to work in a few hours, what with pickin up the chillin." She started pushing the nearest one to the door. "Come on, now, get a move on! I ain't got all night, now. We can all get acquainted on the bus, alright?"

Nacht was the last in line. A wicked little grin appeared on Shaywop's face. "Come on, honey. we gotta hurry. Someone probably reported the loud noise, we gotta get gettin." Nacht went outside, and Shaywop shut the door.

Kohrrt started to go outside too. Shaywop put a wing in front him. "Hon, you gotta go back the way you came. Can't leave the back door open. Potential break in security. You know the rules."

Kohrrt opened the door. "Hang on, Shaywop. I'll shut the door and come back-"

"Oh no you don't. I have one more little job for you." Shaywop placed her wings on her hips.

"I'm getting paid overtime for this. I still have to walk back, you know." Kohrrt crossed his arms.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do about that. But right now, I need you to go through the tunnels again. When you're halfway home, you'll be right around the flood gate junction. There'll be a big ol' wheel that looks like a ship's steerin wheel. I want you to turn it to the right three times. After you do that, you're done. You'll be gettin paid more after this is over, okay?"

Kohrrt thought about it for a moment. "The wheel that controls the entrance flow?"

"Yeah, that's the one. You go ahead and get goin, 'kay?"

Kohrrt shut the W. "Okay, see ya later." He opened the door back down to the sewer and sighed. It was going to be a long walk home.

At two thirty, Kohrrt was still soaked. The wheel Shaywop had told him to turn had let what had to be the entire Rio Morado in, cleaning out the entire sewer system and thoughrouly drenching anything that was still in it. Had Kohrrt not had a large grate behind him, he would have been washed away. Which was obviously why the grate had been put there. But it still made no sense to him as to why the hell someone couldn't have just built the wheel somewhere it didn't flood. But, he told himself, two good things came from this: He was pretty sure every damn mosquitoe egg had been washed away, and now the sewers (and thus he) smelled pretty clean. The smell reminded him of the lilly flowers that grew all over the river. But he was still wet, and it must have been fifty degrees outside.

He opened the door out of the post office and walked up the alley to his door. He reached for his key, but stopped when he realized he forgot to lock his door. He opened it up and went inside. Food was calling him. He kicked his shoes and socks off at the door. He took off his shirt and pants and threw them in the dryer. No point in getting dressed if you have nowhere to go yet. He turned on the oven and started pre-heating it. Lasagna was 450 degrees preheat, forty five minutes cook-

a clanging in the dryer caught his attention. "Shit shit shit shit-" he opened the door and pulled out Justice and Brother. "Sorry, I completely forgot about you guys."

"YOU SHOULD BE, YOU ARSE HOLE." Justice was pissed. Brother was relieved, now that he was out. He was a little ticked at Kohrrt for the accident, but happy to have stopped tumbling. "JUST FOR THAT, I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU."

"Tell me what? I said I was sorry, I'll make it up to you. Just tell me how I can make it up to you." Kohrrt wondered if anyone might think he was crazy talking to a sword.

"I'LL TELL YOU HOW YOU CAN MAKE IT UP. TURN ON THE RADIO. PUT IT ON 101.7. DO IT NOW." 101.7 was the classic rock station. So the sword liked rock. Whoda thunkit.

Kohrrt turned on the radio to 101.7. "TURN IT UP TO TWENTY." Kohrrt turned the knob until it reached half max volume. Kinda loud, but whatever. He went back to cooking the lasagna. The oven was still preheating, so he put the lasagna on the stove. "Okay," he continued, "what are you not telling me?"

"I'M NOT TELLING YOU, AND NEITHER IS BROTHER."

"Brother, will you please tell me?"

Brother responded with the emotion that had to be laughing and pointing at him.

"Fine, if you guys won't tell me, I don't need to know." Kohrrt put them on the counter. The oven beeped, and he put the lasagna in. He set the timer to forty five, and then he sat down in the only chair in the house. Listening to classic rock at two'o'clock in the morning waiting for dinner to be done wasn't half bad. To keep from falling asleep, he reached for his book on the table. It wasn't there. Instead, a piece of paper labeled "PROOF OF OWNERSHIP" was there. Where the heck is my Silverstein book?" Silverstein, a ferret-kin, was possibly the best poet alive. He was able to write tragic pieces, comedic occurences, everything. And now it wasn't there? He picked up the piece of paper instead. A sticky note on it read "under chair." He looked beneath the chair. There was his book. Shaywop must have been in here; she did things like that. He took the sticky note off and started reading the document.

PROOF OF OWNERSHIP

Owner: Kohrrt vonStern

Former Owners: Roberto deVinci, Alicia deVinci

Amount Paid: $0.00 (former owners gave slave for service)

Paid on: 2-30-711

Slave's Name: Nacht Blume

?

Kohrrt stared at the paper. Now he knew Shaywop had been here. She'd forgotten to lock his door, too. That school bus driver was a master forger, and could easily do this sort of thing. Wherever Nacht was, he knew that he'd be the one responsible for claiming ownership if someone tried to kidnap her from wherever Shaywop put her. He'd probably have to keep this paper on him from now on, just to make sure nothing happened to it. He folded it up and put it in his pocket. The only bad thing about boxers was how shallow the pockets were; the paper barely fit in folded up. He picked up Where the Sidewalk Ends and started thinking. Whoever Shaywop had given Nacht to would probably contact him the next evening. He started reading the book. A few minutes later, the lasagna was smelling pretty darn good. He looked up from the book to see how much time was left. He dropped the book and grabbed the oven mitts; he hadn't realized forty four minutes had gone by. With only a few seconds left, he turned off the oven and opened it. The aroma wafted out and filled his nose. Cheese... Tomato sauce... beef... and a growling stomach. This was going to last him for two days, at least. The stomach was still growling. "Man, I didn't realize I was that hungry..." His stomach knotted up. That wasn't his own stomach growling. Someone else was in here. Slowly, he picked up brother and justice. He turned around and looked for the intruder. They weren't in plain sight, so they had to have been hiding in the closet. It was the only spot there was to hide in the house; nowhere else offered a spot to hide for anything bigger than a baby rabbit. With a single bound he was at the closet door. He jerked it open- and held it there. No one was in the closet. "Then where the hell..."

A soft voice came from his bed, "Sorry, Master. That vas me."

Kohrrt looked at his blanket. What he thought was just his blankets wadded up on the side of the sleeping pad was actually the silver vixen rolled up like a cocoon.

He was going to have a long talk with Shaywop about just why you had to tell a bachelor when a guest was going to be at his house. He stepped in the closet and grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt. "How long have you been there?"

"I voke up ven you shut die door coming in. I thought the owl voman told you I am here, so I did not say anything. I thought you knew I vas here and you did not say hello because I am yust your slave."

Kohrrt finished buttoning the shirt. "Heh. How can I know you're there if you don't say hello?"

Nacht sat up. "Die Owl voman told me not to talk until spoken to."

So Shaywop had actually planned on him doing exactly what he did. Kohrrt, now fully clothed, walked over to the oven and pulled out the lasagna. "Well, if your stomach is growling more than mine, you've gotta be pretty hungry. Get over here and grab you a plate."

Nacht got off of the sleeping pad and walked to the table. Suddenly, Kohrrt was glad he was wearing lose fitting pants. She wasn't wearing the same clothes she had on before; Shaywop must have done some quick shopping. He'd have a long talk with her indeed. Putting a pretty vixen that was in a very tight long sleeve belly shirt and tight pants in the possession of a big hungry wolf was not the brightest idea. Kohrrt took a deep breath and steadied himself; self control was a lesson he had learned long ago. He grabbed two plates out of the cabinet above the sink and a couple of forks. He cut out a piece of Lasagna and put it on the smaller plate. That was Nacht's. The bigger piece was his. He turned around and put his food on the counter. He only had one chair, so he'd have to stand while he ate. He turned back around to tell Nacht to go ahead and sit at the table-

She was kneeling on the floor with her plate in her lap, looking at him. Her big green eyes stood out from the rest of her body like twin gems. Kohrrt stopped himself from just staring. "Uh, Nacht, what are you doing?"

Confusion crossed her face, "I am vaiting for you to finish eating so that I may begin."

"Why are you on the floor?"

"Because that ees where slaves eat-"

"In Maarn, maybe, but in my house you're a woman." Nacht laughed a little at that. "I mean it. Sit at the table. I'm eating at the counter so you can eat sitting down."

Nacht picked up her plate and sat down at the table.

"Good. Now start eating." Kohrrt made sure she started eating, and then he turned to his own plate. A few quiet minutes later, both of them were finished. Kohrrt picked up her plate. "You want more?"

She shook her head. "Thank you Master, but I am stuffed. I could not eat another bite."

"Is there anything else you need?" Kohrrt put the dishes in the sink.

"No. If eet ees acceptable to you, I vould like to go to sleep. I am not tired like sleepy tired, but I am exhausted. I didn't have any food for two days."

Kohrrt looked up. "They didn't feed you for two days?" He started scrubbing the dishes harder.

"Yes, but eet ees not die first time. My former master did not like me very much, so I didn't get food sometimes. She thought her fionce and I vere going to run avay together."

"I can see why." Kohrrt started rinsing the dishes.

Nacht slumped in her seat. "I vould never steal someone's mate. I do not see how you can see vhy ve vould do that."

Khorrt winced. He hadn't meant to offend her. "No, what I mean is, I can see why she was jealous. That's all."

Nacht's brow creased. "I had no power and no money, vhy vould she be jealous of me, Master?"

Now she was upset. Kohrrt sighed. "You have the one thing some women spend thousands of dollars trying to get, and another thing a lot of men look for in women," he finished rinsing the dishes and started putting them up, "and one more thing that I like."

Nacht sat back up. The master had just said she had something he liked, and she wasn't sure if she was going to like what it was he desired.

"First," Kohrrt began, "You have natural beauty. Every woman wants to be beautiful. Well, congratulations. You could be a model. What you have that a lot men look for in women is called humility. Men don't like women who are constantly complaining or gossiping, and so far you've not complained a bit. Not about my behavior, not about my house, not even about my cooking."

Nacht laughed at him. "Your cooking ees not bad, eet ees good. Vhy vould I complain?" She realized she was smiling and forced herself to stop. She still didn't know what it was that he liked about her specifically.

Kohrrt smiled. "Well, I'm the only one I ever cook for. I'll eat dang near anything, so I just assumed I've gotten used to my bad cooking." He finished the dishes and turned around. "Something else I noticed is your tenacity."

Nacht was confused again. He had told her what it was he liked, but she had no idea what it meant.

"Even when you were shackled and tied up, you were trying to find a way to escape. You didn't give up trying to get away for one instant. Even if you didn't know where you were going after you escaped, you didn't let that fear overtake you. It's something to be respected."

Nacht understood now. Willpower, probably, was what 'tenacity' meant. He liked her spirit? Well that was a change from the norm. Most people who offered to buy her from her former master didn't want her for her attitude; they were thinking of something else. Of course, her master thought Nacht had asked all of them to offer to buy her so she could escape. The only reason she wasn't sold off was, ironically enough, her master's cruel, suspicious streak.

"Anyway, you sleep on the mat. We'll be sharing a blanket, but I'll be off the mat with my back turned to you. Does that sound okay to you?"

Nacht was not used to having someone ask her what she wanted. She just nodded her head, like any other time something was offered to her.

"Okay. You go ahead and lay down, I'm going to clean the counters and the stove, then I'm gonna turn in too." He was off Sunday morning, so he wouldn't have to get up to go to work.

Nacht lied down on the mat and faced the wall. After thinking for a moment, she looked up at Kohrrt. "Thank you, Master." Then she turned back around to face the wall.

Kohrrt picked up brother. He had to know how she felt, and he wasn't going to risk moving too early. He looked at her. A blue aura of lonliness floated above her, along with anxiety. She still wasn't comfortable here. Ah well. He pulled off his shirt and laid it on the dryer. He pulled his clothes out of the dryer and folded them. Then he laid down with his back to her, and covered up.

He woke up with something warm against his back. He was still off the mat, but her arms were wrapped around his stomach. She was holding him tight. He might not get a chance like this again. He got up, waking up Nacht in the process, and got a drink of water. When he laid back down, she was still facing him. Her eyes were closed, but he knew she was still awake. He put his right arm beneath her head and his left arm behind her, holding her against him.

She moved her arms around him again and hugged him a little tighter.

He started slowly stroking her hair, murring softly with her head against his chest.

She moved the rest of her body into line with his. The only space between their bodies was where there was clothing.

No matter how much self control he had, he could never have stopped the hard on that gave him. He tried to scoot back a little so she wouldn't feel it, but she pushed forward. No hiding it now. Nacht's eyes opened wide. She had heard stories about wolves, but didn't realize how true they were. His shaft must have gone halfway down her thigh. If she kept going much further...

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she realized Kohrrt was looking at her eyes. His eyes were a strange shade of dark blue, not black like she had previously thought them. They were probing her soul.

Somthing else wanted to probe her, too. Kohrrt wasn't moving to do it, though. She wondered what that meant.

"Hey, Nacht..."

"Mm?"

"... I don't want to do this if it's just a one night thing."

"... Vhat do you mean?"

" ... Will you marry me?" Kohrrt winced as he asked it. He had just met the girl, didn't even know much about her, and asked her to spend the rest of her life with him when they started getting close. If that didn't push her away-

"Yes."

Hello.

Kohrrt bent forward and kissed her. He sucked her tongue into his mouth and played with it a little, catching her by surprise. He rolled over on top of her, with his arms behind her head, supporting both of them. Slowly, he reached down and grabbed the edge of her shirt. He leaned on his right arm and gently pulled it off, sliding it over her head and her right arm. He leaned over to his left and pulled it off the other arm. Her Bra had a clip in the front. Kohrrt slid down and put his mouth on it, running his tongue between her breasts. He bit the clip open, and nosed the left cup off. He started squeezing it with his left hand, slightly changing his grip after every squeeze. He nosed the right cup off, and started licking the nipple. Her moan made his shaft swell again, trying to rip out of his pants.

Nacht reached behind Kohrrt and grabbed the bottom of his shirt. She pulled it off of him and let go, and started rubbing his back in steady circles.

Kohrrt moved up, kissing her neck until he got to her chin. He kissed her again, and she sucked his tongue into her mouth. Kohrrt reached down to her pants. He pulled them down to her lower thighs with his hands, going as far as he could without breaking the kiss. Then he pulled up his left foot and finished pulling her pants down, but not off. He reached down with his left hand again and started rubbing her clit. Moans escaped that she had never made before.

She pushed off her pants with her feet and reached for his pants. She undid the clasp and the zipper, and started pushing down his pants with her hands. When she could reach no further down without breaking the kiss, she wrapped her legs around him, landing her feet in the back of his pants. Slowly, she pulled them downwards, until not even her feet could reach far enough to push his pants off.

Kohrrt started rubbing deeper into her, making her panties wet with desire. He kicked his pants off, and untied the string on the side of her panties. With that done, he reached over to the other side, tickling her stomach as his hand passed over, and untied that side. Nacht turned her head away to break the kiss so she could catch her breath, so Kohrrt just started kissing her neck. With a final tug, her panties came off of her, and flew somewhere across the room. Then he laid directly on top of her, holding her down with his weight.

She wrapped her legs around him again, hooking her feet in the back of his boxers this time. Slowly, she pulled the boxers down, rubbing her legs on his as her feet moved down. As soon as she had gone almost a foot down, she felt his shaft spring forward out of his boxers. It was impossible not to feel; the base must have been as thick as the head. She moaned as he started rubbing back and forth. She was scared, she realized. He might be too big. She felt his shaft go from between her thighs to further back, until she could distinctly feel the head.

Slowly, he started pushing in. At first, he teased it, pushing it a little in and pulling out. Then, he stopped going out. He started pushing a little deeper into her, forcing her walls to the side.

She moaned in ecstasy.

He pushed ahead slowly, careful not to hurt her. He stopped for a second to let her walls stretch a little more, and then he kept pushing in. She was in a state of pleasure and pain, wanting to take him in deeper, but not sure if she could. Kohrrt pushed on ahead anyway, like a slowly moving train. One second later, he had his head in. He started pushing deeper in her, careful not to push too far. If she wanted to stop, she certainly wasn't saying so. Not unless her panting and moaning was another language he didn't know. He wanted her to do it more.

He pushed ahead a little faster, forcing her walls to stretch faster, making her moan and arch her back. He licked the bottom of her muzzle. He went in deeper, finally pushing half of his shaft into her little pussy. She couldn't talk anymore, only pant and moan like he wanted her to. He started to pull out for a second, only to plunge even deeper a second later. She wailed into the air. Kohrrt pulled out a little again, plunging even deeper the second time. She was panting in quick, high pitch breaths. She started to orgasm. "Damn," Kohrrt thought to himself, "I thought I was supposed to cum first." Her walls got tighter and tighter around him, stopping all movment for a few seconds. Her juices had nowhere to go, though, except when he pulled out a little to go deeper. Very slowly, the juice made its way down his shaft. Every pump into her squirted a little more out of her.

When he finally shoved his entire length into her, his tip bumped her cervix. He was literally almost too big. He started to move into a regular rythem, going in and out, in and out. She was still breathing the high pitch gasps between moans, and he started growling deep in his chest. He started pushing harder and faster, pumping juice out of her in quick, long streams. Her moans escalated with the gasps, and she started involuntarily humping back. He turned her head back down towards him and started kissing her again. He kept her moans from escaping his mouth, pushing harder and harder into her.

Finally, he started to climax. Just as he was beginning to unload, her walls started tightening up again. He pushed in one last time and held it, letting her pussy contract around his entire length. Then she felt the warm explosion inside her. Of course, he wasn't finished yet. He started pushing deeper and deeper, until the knot in his base moved up into his shaft, shoving itself into her slit. Her pupils dilated and she wailed one last time. His knot kept all the juices from escaping.

Slowly, his pulse slowed down. His knot would tie them together until the morning. Until then, he figured it would be better if she were on top, so she wouldn't get crushed. He rolled onto his back and let his head lie on the floor, and put his hands on her head and her back. She was breathing deep breaths now, long and slow. He licked the drool from the side of her mouth. If she was lying about being exhausted before, she wouldn't be when she woke up. He went to sleep with her head on his chest.

NACHT.

For the first time in a long time, food wasn't the first word in his head. He looked down at Nacht, already awake and trying to figure out how to get off of him. She actually looked worried.

"Um, master? I'm stuck."

Kohrrt made her sit up in the riding position. "There are two ways to get you off," he told her. "Way one: we wait for four more hours." Her eyes widened at the thought. "Way two," he continued, " is have sex again. Are you ready?"

She slumped and nodded her head, unsure if she could do it again.

"Okay, just like this..."

Kohrrt put his hands on her thighs and started started rocking her up and down, back and forth, until she started moaning again. At that point, Kohrrt moved his hands from her thighs to her breasts and started squeezing again. She was only able to lift half way up, due to the knot, but she was giving her best shot at getting off. Her cervix was slamming into his tip every time she came down, making her gasp every time. A few minutes later, she came, but he didn't. He flipped her onto her back and started pumping again. Tears started pouring down her face, made from the intense blend of pain and pleasure. Just like the night before, she came again right when he did. His knot slowly receded back into his base, letting out all the juice that was holed up inside her before. He lay on top of her, out of breath. She passed out on the floor in the puddle of sex juice, oblivious to the world and its problems. Kohrrt licked the drool off her face again. Tickle you fancy indeed. He got up and started cooking.