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Chapter Ten

"Family plots"

By

Furry Sith Lord

"Well if it isn't Tyger, Lyon, and Dash... my 3 favorite students." Uncle Jon said as we entered his office. We had been sitting outside waiting to be called in as he was finishing with another student.

"What can I help you guys with?" He asked as he smiled while he sat behind his desk. He had various famous furs on the wall to inspire us students to achieve the same greatness as they did. They were from all walks of life: from writers, to politicians, to movie stars, and even famous athletes.

"When Lyon becomes famous you're gonna put him up on the wall right Mr. Jon?" I said and I've said it a few million times but I liked using it to boost Lyon's confidence. Despite being a great football player he was... very humble.

"Absolutely he'll be my star portrait! Oh and Dash, your evaluation will be later this afternoon so don't miss it." Uncle Jon warned and Dash nodded nervously.

We hadn't spent much time with Dash this summer because Uncle Jon was tutoring him to take the advancement exam so he could get bumped to the same grade as Lyon. Even Lyon helped him study over the summer and it was now the day when it would be determined if he was gonna be bumped to a freshman in high school or remain in 6th grade. We were all hoping for the former.

"So, what can I do for you guys?"

"Mr. Jon, we were wondering if we could apply for jobs to get a little extra spending money?" I asked as he stared at me scrutinizingly.

"If you need extra money, did you try calling your parents?" he asked.

"It's not really an option because we don';t want them to know about it." I replied.

"Oh, why is that?" he asked and I explained the story and what we had decided to do. He remained calm as he listened carefully and paused a few moments after we finished before he answered.

"Exactly how much do you need altogether?" he asked.

"Well..." I took a piece of paper out of my pocket with various amounts that we had estimated. We had maximum and minimum goals and I showed and explained the list to Uncle Jon.

"Well to be honest that is a large sum of money you'll need. You could get a job at McAlphas. They hire boys your ages but you can only work a few hours a day a couple of days a week, by law. Even if all three of you work there I doubt you'll be able to earn that much. Maybe if you hire yourselves out as private tutors you can make a substantial amount more but to be honest and no disrespect Dash but Lyon and Tyger are the only ones suited to be tutors.

In my humble opinion I would say Lyon and Tyger you should tutor your fellow classmates and get paid that way and Dash you should check out McAlphas. I'll even throw my hat in the ring. For every letter grade improvement the students you tutor get I'll add an extra dollar to the pot. That way it encourages you to help those students do better. Sounds fair?" he asked. Lyon and I looked at each other and we both knew every little bit helps us reach our goal.

"Deal." We both replied.

"If I work for McAlphas, do I get free Tail Waggin Meals?" Dash asked and we all turned to look at him. "WHAT?! I just wanna know because their dad loves them and I want to give him the toys." Dash replied and his ears dropped and they hung like braids on the side of this head. He was pouting even though none of us said anything disparagingly. Personally it sounded like a great idea and it might help dad and him bond more. Lyon was busy patting his shoulder hoping to make him feel better.

"I bet he's like that Dash," I replied.

"Well for right now Lyon, you and Tyger, stay and I'll help set you up to begin tutoring other students when they need help. It's the start of the semester so there probably won't be much work but as we near the end your customers will skyrocket. I promise you.

Dash you go get ready for the test and I'll help you fill out an application for McAlphas."

"Hey, do I get any kinda incentive like you're doing for them?" Dash asked.

"Alright Dash, I'll give you ten bucks if you pass the test with all Cs, $20 if with all Bs, and $30 if you pass with all As. if you get a mix of Bs and As I'll split the difference like $25 insteads of $30... Deal?"

"Deal! With the help I got from you and Lyon I know I can get all As." Dash bragged.

"Then go get it!" Uncle Jon replied.

Lou was walking to the dining room to eat supper when he heard the phone ring. He paused and listened as the maid answered then called out his name. He felt a bit grumpy because who was bothering him at this time of night.

Leggo wasn't home yet but he would be in a few minutes and Lou wanted to be there to inspect him. He had made it a new rule that when Leggo gets home he had to face inspection before he changed so that Lou could verify that he was still wearing pants. He would not have his husband embarrassing the family because he was acting like a puppy.

"Hello, Mr. Cervus-D speaking." Lou answered, trying to keep his voice neutral to hide his annoyance with the caller.

"Hey Lou, it's me Jon," the caller replied.

"Jon?! Is everything alright? Did something happen to the boys?" Lou's voice broke as the edge of panic broke in.

"No nothing bad happened but there is something important I need to talk to you about."

"Go on," Lou was curious as to what was troubling the boy's uncle. Besides his concern was the curiosity that Jon would call him and not Leggo. Jon and Leggo had been best friends in school but he was in a way only friends because of his husband. It didn't mean that they didn't get along but they weren't close.

"Remember how you bought the tickets for Tyger to the Con? Well Tyger told Lyon and Dash and the three of them are upset that you're not going with them to the Con." Jon said and Lou flinched.

"What?!"

"You heard me! They are upset that their father isn't going with them. It seems they love you so much that they are heartbroken that you won't go with them." Jon replied.

"I... I don't know what to say."

"There is more! The three of them put their heads together and decided to get part time jobs in order to raise money to buy you a ticket. I'm supposed to be keeping this a secret but when Tyger showed me how much they need to raise I realized they'd never be able to do it on their own with their studies and all.

I was thinking you might be able to... help them but in a way as to not ruin their self confidence nor diminish 'why' they are doing this." Jon said then fell silent as he let the words sink in.

"I... I cannot believe they... are they really doing this for me?"

"Oooh you bet they are! Lyon and Tyger are extremely smart, taking after their father it seems, so I helped them get jobs as tutors to help foster a love for learning and teaching. Dash is a good boy but he could never be an adequate tutor so he's getting a part time job at McAlphas.

Which reminds me, by the way, that he passed and is getting bumped up to freshman year in high school. He got all Bs and I and Lyon are very proud of him." Jon said.

"Lyon and 'I' are very proud." Lou corrected in his typical style. "And yes, I promise you that I will praise his accomplishments... hold on a sec." Lou replied as he heard a noise from his bedroom. He put down the phone and walked in on Leggo in the middle of putting on a pair of pants. He smiled bashfully as Lou planted his hooves on his hips.

"What are you doing?" Lou demanded.

"Oh... just changing. I'm gonna take a shower and..."

"What about the new rule?" Lou asked.

"Well you seemed busy and...

"You forgot your pants, didn't you?!" Lou sighed as he covered his face.

"Sorry,"

"Get dressed and you march yourself back there and get them!" Lou scolded as Leggo looked at him with his ears lowered.

"Yes sir," Leggo hastily dressed and rushed out as Lou casually made his way back to the phone.

Lyon, Ben, Hooper, and I were in the living area of our room wearing only our boxers as we watched television. It was close to the time we turned in for the night so we just wanted to catch a last show before turning in. We had a big day tomorrow as the semester officially started and it was the first day of classes.

My cell phone rang and I answered as I saw my father was calling.

"Father?" I asked and Lyon and Ben looked at me. They too were curious about what was up.

"Sorry to bother you so late but I heard the good news about Dash and wanted to congratulate him but I think he changed his cell number. Do you guys have his new one?"

"Oh yeah, I'll text it to you." I replied and told them why he called.

"Oh can you please put Lyon on?"

"Sure," I said as I handed my phone to Lyon.

"Hello?" he replied as his voice broke with fear.

"Hello son, Do you know I'm very proud of you?"

"Really?!" he replied as he relaxed a little and I saw him blush.

"Absolutely! You both make me proud... now your dad on the other hoof... that's another story.

"What about dad?" he asked and I leaned in to hear. I had a feeling father was up to one of his plans and Lyon had no idea he was being played. Well, played may be too strong a word because whatever father said in praise of Lyon was true because he wouldn't lie to him but he was dangling dad out there to get sympathy from Lyon because he takes after him.

"Well your dad keeps coming home in only his boxers... from work and no matter how much I try he won't listen to me." Father was complaining.

"Well you know dad," I added and decided to give my father a paw for once. "If only there was someone he'd listen to tell him not to do that."

"Hmm." I heard father quickly reply and I knew he got the message and knew what I was doing. I felt the look of Ben as he stared silently at me.

"What if I asked him not to do it?" Lyon innocently replied on que. I felt a stab of guilt in my tummy as I realized I was manipulating my brother and Ben gave me a satisfied look as I realized he knew this would happen.

"Would you? I know your dad really respects your opinion. I would be grateful for any help you can give." Father replied. I just knew the son of a bitch was smiling though we couldn't see it.

"Hey it's getting late and we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow." I added it as an excuse to end the call. Father said his goodbye's and we started returning to our rooms. As I was about to enter mine Ben grabbed my arm and pulled me aside.

"Not cool," he said coldly.

"Father was aiming for it... I merely wanted to push things along and help my father for once." I replied weakly as he glared at me.

"He's our... your brother and I expect better from his blood." Ben said and released my arm and walked away towards his room. The guilt I had felt had gotten bigger and it was now a stone in my tummy.

BH sat playing on his phone and groaned as the battery was dying again. He would have to take another trip to the city in order to plug it in to access the internet. He had been doing research to help improve the village and now that they spend the last twol m months teaching them hope to speak the holy language, which was merely the common language they renamed to encourage the hairless apes to learn it, he was ready to move on to education to get them up to speed. Soon he could go over warfare and take the next step to his plans.

Sean had mentioned that there were other shrewdnesses of hairless apes and BH planned to have this village capture them and reeducate them and use them as part of his army. They still had a ways to go but slowly his plans were becoming a reality.

Hueman suddenly entered and he approached BH and patted his head then climbed into his lap and clung to him burning his face in the fur.

"I am not a dog!" BH stated but his tone was soft and gentle. The truth was the boy was starting to grow on him and even though he swore to himself he wouldn't become attached, he was. He caught himself rubbing the boy's back as a father would a child.

"Woof woof," the boy muttered and it became obvious that the lad had fallen asleep. He couldn't believe how he was starting to fall in love with him. He was starting to become his real son and even though he tried pushing his feelings away but they kept returning.

"He's had quite a day," Sean remarked as he slowly entered and BH jumped as he heard the old man speak.

"Greetings elder, to what do I owe the please?" BH replied as they both spoke the holy language.

"I wanted to check on the boy."

"Do you know who his father might be? I mean his birth father? When I ask his mother she doesn't seem to know."

"We don't really... What's the word? Care?!? About such things. Our people die daily so it's hard to become attached to each other as your... kind does."

"But what about the mothers? You know who his mother is?"

"Yes, but women care about things like that. Men usually don't... However, his mother has never mated with anyone other than myself. He looks like me when I was younger except his skin is not the same color. So if I had to guess I think it might be me." Sean replied.

"Is that why you're checking up on him? You feel a connection of some sort?"

"Possibly," the old man replied. "But then again I'm nearing the end of my life. Our people do not live more than roughly 40 seasons... years you call it. I was born when the season changes from hot to cold. I have reached my 40th year and who can say how much longer I have. Before I return to... The Great Alpha, I wish to make sure my people are safe and secure and will live on."

"About that," BH said sternly. "I need the hunters to join me in a very special hunt. Not a regular hunt but one where we need to bring home the prisoner alive and keep him that way."

"What is this special hunt for?" The old man asked.

"In my world there are species... um animals that make tools and weapons out of something called metal. Its too long an explanation to get into but the metal must be made and fashioned in the way you turn a stone into a spearhead. I found an animal that knows how to do it and I want to capture him so he can teach your people how to make and form metal.

The best we can hope for is to sneak in when it's dark and capture him. However we have to travel a great distance and without cars, which you guys have no idea what I'm talking about, this could take weeks if not months."

"Do you need all the hunters?" Sean asked.

"No, it might be easier if we only have 3 or 4 to accompany me. I'll need to go to help them with dealing with direction and how a city works. I need the stealthiest hunters because we cannot be seem by anyone or they'll capture your people and make them slaves instantly."

"Hueman will refuse to let you go without him. We cannot risk his safety but how can we stop him?"

"That's why I'm talking to you about this plan. I need ideas because I can't afford to risk his safety either. We will need each other in order to help you better your people." BH said slyly. He needed the old man to keep the boy busy so that he could slip out with the hunters.

"I suppose I could take him on a spirit quest," Sean replied. "It would let me keep an eye on him and keep him distracted."

"Won't he insist on me joining him?" BH countered.

"Probably, but I can make up an excuse that you're needed to teach something to our people." It should pacify him and once he realizes that you took a few hunters out on a mission he'll have no choice but to accept it. I'm sure I can reassure him and once you return there will be a big rescue waiting for you."

"A rescue?!?" BH asked, knowing the old man had misspoke but was trying to correct him gently.

"What's the word? A gathering of everyone, happy and food?"

"Do you mean a reception?"

"Yes... I think that's the word." Sean replied.

The next morning BH stretched as Sean brought him 4 of the hunters. These were the best of the hunters and had great skill in being stealthy and tracking.

"Good morning," BH said to the group and they silently nodded to him. He was not surprised because many of the hairless apes thought it was unnatural that he was able to speak the holy language. Even his limited hairless ape speaking made things worse with some of them.

"Here are the ones you asked for. They are our best so they will take good care of you and the hunted." Sean said.

"Do you 'men' know what our mission is?" BH asked and a couple looked at him blankly.

"What mean mission?" One of them asked after working up his courage to ask. BH thought it was more out of curiosity of what the word meant rather than actually being brave enough to speak to the strange talking wqhite wolf.

"Mission is the... he tried thinking of a way to explain it to them. They watched him with curiosity. "It means the job we must do. Example hunters hunt food so for hunters their mission is to get food." BH explained and the hunters nodded and sighed indicating that they realized what he was talking about.

"What we hunting?" one of the hunters asked.

"A bull," he replied and the hunters understood as they started nodding to each other again. They seemed to be sharing some kind of unspoken language with each other that he knew nothing about. Dr. Avram never mentioned anything about a language which they never spoke but somehow knew what was said.

"This is important! The bull must be brought back here alive. He will teach special crafting to make better weapons. Follow me and I will lead the way to find him." BH said and they shrugged and then nodded to him. BH was glad that he understood that.

Sean brought some supplies and put them in a leather backpack that BH had shown them how to make. He had to show the design to the women, who seemed to be the ones that made clothes and did the sewing.

"Enough food and water for the trip. Enough for a month or so. Any Longer travel you need to find on your own." Sean explained. BH nodded and gestured with his hand for the hunters to follow him. They shrugged and they followed behind him. The one thing he noticed about the hairless apes was that they all looked the same to him. They all seemed to have an extremely thin coat of hair covering their bodies except for their heads and private areas. Their hair was all dark colored and they had thick beards for the men.The men seemed more muscular than the females. They had a few other features that had characteristics that made them look like apes but a few distinct differences that set them apart. It was clear to see why most species couldn't tell if they were part of the ape species or something else entirely.

While they traveled BH made it a point to learn their names so he had something to call them by instead of 'hey you.' The first one was named Jayson and he was the thinnest of the 4 and he bordered on looking like an almost skeleton. He was also the swiftest of the group but he lacked physical strength and he could slew down escaping prey and unless the prey was small he couldn't kill them instantly.

Dabid was the name of the next one he had learned. BH learned him as being the strong silent type because he mostly followed direction without saying anything. His muscles were larger than BH's and he was sure that Dabid would win paws down in a fight.

Paul was the 3rd and his nose was almost as good as BH's. He seemed to be the best tracker because the group took a break then BH and he went hunting and he discovered how skilled the hairless ape was. He taught BH a few tricks in tracking prey that BH had never known.

Lastly, and BH's favorite, was Rowlf and he was the one that talked the most. He was a little shy at first but once he got used to you he opened up and became a chatterbox. He was the one mostly talking to BH about the mission and making sure everything was taken care of. He described how he hated to be caught flat footed. The only times he was silent was when he was sleeping or out on a hunt. Even though they had plenty of food they preferred to catch fresh prey and to eat the dried smoked rations they brought.

BH had tried to explain that the bull could help them make a substance called metal but the very idea that such material could be made was beyond their comprehension at the moment. The best BH could say was that it was made out of stuff found in the earth and all the hairless apes could think of was dirt and rocks.

Back at their village once Hueman learned that BH had taken the hunters out he was sadly disappointed that he was left behind. He was watching the area from the hill where he had his spiritual journey watching and waiting. He had begun fasting as he refused to eat until 'Woof woof' returned to him safe and sound. His silent prayers were the only hope that Gawd would bring his friend home safely.

To Be Continued...