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Sitting...sitting...and more sitting.

Natani was tired of just sitting around the house and keeping himself hidden from the rest of the world on his gender crisis. He hated sitting and feeling like he would go crazy any minute doing the same thing he always did everyday. The house probably got cleaned a thousand times over and then before long Natani would be organizing cabinets with things they had stuffed inside. It had been a while since they heard about Natani's real gender of being female but no one knew his real whereabouts so they eventually gave up on the search. Zen was out of the house working somewhere on the outskirts of Lyn'knoll since they had moved away from Trace's estate and needed to get out on their own once more.

_I wonder if I should try going out in town today. Surely it won't hurt and no one knows me around here in Lyn'knoll. Hell no one knows us from around here. _Natani thought as he got up from the chair at the kitchen table and making his way toward the hallway closet near the door, taking his cowl out to wrap around his shoulders.

Winter was fast approaching and it was starting to get colder each day that passed on. The wolf walked out of the house shivering, hoping he had enough clothes on to keep warm along with his fur coat that seemed to thicken around this time of year. Natani rubbed his arms for warmth before locking the door and walked off the porch toward town.

People walked on in the huge crowd, shopping and talking with one another. Maybe he would meet up with Zen later on and have a bite to eat before going back to the cabin in the woods. Natani made way through the crowd without trying to bump into anyone or the vendor's stands that were on the streets. This was something he hadn't gotten the chance to look at when him and Zen moved into Lyn'knoll. There were all kinds of stands around: food, clothing, and even jewelry. Shops were also lined up on the streets in buildings for ones that weren't just traveling around to set up shop. The wolf found a magic shop that sat on the corner of the street, finding way between all the people and vendors to go inside and look.

He opened the door and shut it quickly, getting away from the cold air into a warm building that held many trinkets, spell books, and many other things that magic users would need. Natani went straight to a shelf that had books lined up, picking a random one to skim through and coming to a stop on a few pages that had his eye. There were a few spells regarding hiding a person's true gender like concealing and illusions of all kinds. Even spells to change appearances all together. This was a book that Natani would love to have but the price on it seemed a bit much for him for now. Another thing he could look for was a job around town so he could afford things like this and improve his magic use.

A few minutes turned into a couple hours of looking around the shop, Natani was engulfed by some of the potions and books the place had. Going from one book to another had him distracted and interested in what different kinds of spells and the like were out there. He put the book in hand away before reaching to grab another one and bumped into the person nearby, both their books falling out of their hands and onto the floor.

"Oh I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going...." He spoke out in the Keidran language and reached down to pick up the book when he heard a female voice come from the figure that was hidden under a cloak.

"It's....alright. It was my fault that I had reached at the same time."

That voice tone sounded familiar but the femininity behind it did not. Natani shook his head and gathered his composure, picking up both books and dusting them off before he handed the other's book back over.

"I believe this one was yours....Miss....?" He struggled with words and saw the female turn to look at him. A blonde fox or what seemed to be a fox half breed. She had red-brown eyes and hair long as well as blonde reaching down in a braid, a face that seemed stern but also snooty. The female snapped Natani out of his trance by grabbing the book and holding it with both hands, staring at him with intensity. It was as if she knew him somehow. "....Clovis....My name is Clovis."

This had Natani confused, finally bursting out into full laughter as the female's expression turned angry instead of curious this time. "What is so damn funny you idiot?! Is my name that weird that you have to be so rude to laugh at?!"

He came down from the laughter and took a few deep breaths, the female Keidran tapping her foot in impatience and irritation. Natani wiped a few tears from his eyes and chuckled, responding to the woman with his voice wavering a little, "Ohh hah....I am so sorry. But did you say Clovis? The prince of greed Clovis? There's definitely no way you could be him.....wait....wait a minute...You really couldn't be....I heard that Clovis disappeared after a certain incident he couldn't show his face around anyone again."

"You'd be right there...." The female shrugged and still annoyed at the wolf's behavior. "Who wants to know? You?"

She walked off and took the book with her in hand, Natani very befuddled at this moment and followed her closely, "Wait a minute! I didn't mean to sound insulting...." Of course he didn't but in a way getting back at Clovis after all the shit he put the magi brothers through he did mean to insult the half breed. The female rolled her eyes and stopped to turn to Natani, giving that always piercing gaze of hatred toward the wolf Keidran. "You think I don't know who you are?! Natani....you haven't changed one bit....for such a reckless brat you sure do have a lovely face. Hard to forget one like yours.~"

She had him there. "And you're still the same spoiled, rich brat as always. What did I do to you to make you this bitter?"

Again Clovis rolled her eyes and continued walking through the shop, looking through more books to find what she would need to buy. She messed through books and spotted nothing she could get her hands on to help her situation. "Do you remember that mission I sent you and your brother on? To get that mask at the Dragon Masquerade? After you handed the mask over to that woman you costed me everything. And I mean everything...." The female turned to look at Natani with a sneer, voice angry as it went on and on about the situation. "I am stuck in a retched female body for gods know how long!"

Now he remembered what happened. The dragon lady who asked him to hand over the mask to Saria to get Zen's mask in exchange to save his brother's life. Natani put two and two together, biting his lip in embarrassment of the thought of being in that god awful dress and exposing himself to everyone. "Oh .......That explains a lot. Well now you know how I felt being exposed as a female. I hated it. I still do. Good luck trying to hide it now."

She huffed and continued to read through the book, burying herself into it to try to find at least something to help. Noticing Natani walk off, Clovis smirked and turned the pages and muttered under her breath, "You're still insolent as ever too.~ You never did listen to reason. Especially not to your brother."

That stopped him in his tracks and through gritted teeth the wolf did everything to retain his anger toward the half breed. Of course she was probably just expressing it out of anger and hurt but when she mentioned his brother that was another thing. "Zen did everything he could to keep me from your clutches. At least he tried to help me. You blackmailed me into doing things just to keep my identity a secret. Yet he was always the one to protect me from a monster like you. You have a lot to learn about hiding yourself....good luck trying again. You'll need it considering female fox breeds are sent into slavery."

Natani continued walking off, leaving Clovis in a stage of confusion and a little bit of hurt. Of course her female emotions would get the best of her and tears almost forming in her eyes. She went to pay for a book that could possibly help and followed the wolf out of the magic shop quietly. Her instincts told her to forget Natani but something really made her wonder what changed him to be so confident about who he is now.

_ ~To be continued..... _