FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A/n: So, I've been toying around with this idea for a while. It's a bit of a slow start, but I hope you enjoy it all the same. Also, this chapter is clean since the dirty stuff just didn't fit story wise. Future chapters will likely have a bit more smut in them. Please enjoy the story and leave some comments, be they good or bad. It helps keep me motivated to write faster/ more often.

Also, this story is a semi-sequel / spin off of "Rebirth to the Beast" which can be found here: [url]http://www.sofurry.com/page/77270[/url]. Sorry its not one of the fancy hyperlinks, haven't figured that out yet. I recommend reading Rebirth before this story to better understand what is going on. It also has some adult work if your looking for that too.

OOOOO

Journey To Otherside

A Million Miles, A Single Step

A small, brass bell chimed as the door to the shop opened allowing the man to enter. He took a long, slow, deep breath in through his nose as he lifted the frosted blue sunglasses from his eyes and let shades rest atop his head, savoring the feeling of the cooler plastic against the bare skin. A pleased smile turned the corners of his mouth as he felt the semi-ordered chaos of the store's energy. 'Those Who Remember', as it was officially licensed, was more than just a store. It was a place alive, a creature in and of itself in many ways. Today it was in a good mood, and the spirit seemingly infected him as well.

He unbuttoned the cuffs of his black leather jacket as he moved further into the shop. His hands brushed lightly against the counter tops as he moved, near invisible wisps of power trailing after his fingertips if he got too close to one artifact or another. "Oh, to be able to open my senses to you today..." He whispered, almost disappointed, as he forced his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans. Brown eyes scanned the store for the foreign presence and soon locked on the boy near the back of the shop. "I wouldn't touch that if I were you." He warned as he leaned against the near by counter top. "That's not an artifact to be trifled with by even the most experienced, let alone a novice."

The boy, barely into his teens by the look of his plump cheeks, turned to regard the older man disapprovingly. "What the hell are you on about? It's just a moldy old monkey paw."

The man raised an eyebrow and his smile took on a mischievous, if a bit unscrupulous, quality. "Just an old monkey paw? You clearly don't know the lore surrounding such an artifact."

"I know enough." The boy declared. "It grants three wishes to the one who holds it, you just have to be careful how you word the wishes."

"Careful..." The man breathed the word like it was a joke. "Little man, careful just gets you a more detailed nightmare. Monkey paws make Djinn look like saints."

"Genies?" The boy scoffed. "You're confusing lore with fantasy old man."

"No kid." The man leaned over the counter. "You are. That blue fool from the cartoon that bastardized the Arabian Nights was fantasy. The Djinn were...are... smart, shrewd, and sadistic." He smiled again, eerily. "The spirits of the monkey paws, they're worse." His eyes lit as he finally saw the boy show a glimmer of fear in his features. "Still thinking careful words will get you all you desire?"

The boy shivered at the man's tone. "L-like I'd waste my money on some stupid piece of a dead animal." The boy edged away from the older man and once clear enough moved quickly towards the door. "How smart could it have been if it got itself killed anyway?"

"Pleasant evening to you little one." The man called softly as the boy left the shop, his words hidden by the sound of the bell chime. "Or rather it will be now that your attention is away from the monkey paw." His gaze shifted slowly as he turned his head to the curtain that lead to the back of 'The Shop', as was how the store was referred to by those who knew it's true face. "What do you think you're doing leaving something like that out here for the general public to get their hands on?"

The curtain parted and a young woman came out to the main room. "I didn't put it out here. She did." The shop tender brushed a few stray stands of long, black hair back behind her ear. "She felt a buyer would be coming, but even she cannot predict if the buyer is of suitable caliber."

"A true buyer would come in and ask for it." The man's head shook disapprovingly. "And no man is suitable to wield a monkey paw. You both should know that."

The woman moved over to the artifact in question and softly shut the display box, careful not to actually come into physical contact with the paw itself. "I agree, but I don't presume to give lecture to the Lady of The Shop." She turned her head just enough to look back over her shoulder at the man, her mahogany eyes warning him silently. "You've learned much Thorn, but you really shouldn't overstep your bounds. You are still very young to this world."

"It is precisely because I am young to this world that I can see the danger acts like these pose to our world." Thorn replied softly. "You know more than I, but you cannot tell me I'm wrong in my assessment." His brown eyes searched Jazz's. "The Lady is wise, but she does not always act in a way that is best for the Mundanes of our world."

There was a pause as Jazz pulled at the edge of her black zipper sweatshirt. "The Lady of The Shop does things that we can't always understand." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Perhaps I've been away too long." When her eyes opened again they rested on Thorn. "Perhaps it's time you went too." There was a worried, almost pained, expression on her face but she shook her head before Thorn could ask any questions. "Go to the car. I'll meet you there in a moment."

Thorn snorted slightly as he turned toward the door and exited back out to the street. Dusk was upon him as he stood on the sidewalk and he pulled his sunglasses back into place as the light of the setting sun hit him. He ran a hand over his shaved head and lightly massaged the back of his neck with one hand. "Wonder what she has planned. Any ideas?" He looked down at the sidewalk next to him and saw a few motes of gray light seemingly dance in the wind. "Hmph, you're no help."

OOOOO

"You know, I am the one driving." Thorn sighed as he turned down yet another unmarked road. "You could at least tell me where the hell we're going rather than doing you best impersonation of a cheap GPS system."

"What? You don't like my rendition of Garmina?" Jazz smiled and laughed as the young man turned a sidelong scowl at her. "I'd tell you if I could, but I'm not allowed. Even I only have a rough idea of where we're going, at this moment, anyway."

He huffed slightly. "The road is killing what little bit is left of my shocks."

She laughed again and pats him on the head. "Relax, we'll have to park soon enough." A grin crossed her face as she saw the confused raised eyebrow that responded. "Pull in over there, by the tree."

"That is way off the road..." His protests died off as he saw the knowing look of the female in the passenger seat beside him. "Which is why you probably want it in the first place." The beige sedan lumbered over to the patch of dirt beside the tree and Thorn turned off the engine. "Now what?" The response he received was to be promptly hit in the face with the black sweatshirt the girl had been wearing only seconds before. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"Shut up and get naked." She teased as she peeled off her black cotton bra, revealing her shapely, pale skinned, breasts. "We don't have a lot of time." She admonished as she wiggled out of her skintight blue jeans and pink, bikini cut panties.

With a shake of his head the man got out of the car, glanced around once to make sure they were truly alone, and pulled the black tee shirt he wore up over his head. "You going to tell me where we're going yet?"

"Nope."

He growled slightly at the sing-songy quality of her voice as he kicked off his shoes and then stepped out of his jeans. As he threw the clothing back into the car he noticed something slinking around the front of the car. "You really are in a rush." He commented to the black, feral, panthress as she came into view.

"I can't understand why you're not." She complained as she paced back and forth. "Can't you feel it?"

"Feel what?" He closed the door and locked it before stepping back. His hand rose up to chest level and his deep brown eyes closed. "Tsutsumikominasai." As he opened his eyes again the car was no longer visible, replaced with a large boulder of roughly the same size.

"You're getting pretty good at that." The panthress commented as she continued to watch the naked male. "I'm glad I found such a good student."

The man smiled and put his hands behind his neck, feeling the power grow between his palms, then pulled them up over his head as if he was bringing up a hood. As his hands passed before his face he felt the change wash over him. Bones popped and reshaped while muscle flexed and shifted. Despite the tearing and reforming of ligaments and tendons, there was no pain. White skin gave way to the rapid growth of gray fur along with a rapid protrusion of mass that became a large tail. His form collapsed inward before he fell forward to the ground, catching himself easily with his forepaws. "So?" The gray wolf shook himself to air out his fur. "Where we going now?"

Jazz's brown eyes, now flecked with gold due to her fusion with her spirit beast, sparkled in the dim forest light. "This way. Consider this your first real test." She turned quickly and ran silently into the brush, leaving a very confused wolf trying to catch up.

"This way..." Thorn grumbled in an ever so slightly mocking tone. Jazz had the advantage of seeming to know where they were going, but he didn't need to know where they were going to follow the feline. Sniffing air he locked onto Jazz's scent and raced after his mentor. In only a few moments he'd spotted the big cat before pulling up along side her. "Trying to leave me in the dust?"

Jazz's gaze flicked sideways and smirked. "Something like that I guess." Her eyes returned forward again as her muscles bunched and tensed toward her hindquarters. That tension released with the power of a full-blown spring as the panthress leapt into a nearby tree.

"Hey!" Thorn growled as Jazz began to dash along the branches, seemingly flying between the trees as one limb came to an end and another began. "That's cheating!" He barked as he pushed himself to run faster over the uneven terrain. He'd planned to play follow the leader with her since he had the advantage of speed. His deep brown eyes rose again as he observed Jazz land surely on an outstretched branch far ahead of him. The wolf growled again as the cat leveraged her weight on the tree limb to springboard herself even further away from him. "Clever pain in the ass..."

The feline slowed just a bit as she looked back over her shoulder. She knew what her student had planned, but he hadn't counted on her taking advantage of her greater agility. If he wanted to pass this test he'd have to do it on his own. "Under your own power, by your own abilities." Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she saw Thorn rush towards a tree that had fallen part way to the ground. "What is he?" Jazz bit at her lip and trailed off as she saw the wolf use the tree as a make shift ramp, leaping for the branches of the next tree. "Stubborn pain in the ass..."

Thorn closed his eyes as he floated momentarily between the tree he'd leapt from and the branches that were still to far away to land on. "Hadn't wanted to use my trump card this soon, but no helping that now." As he passed through the air his body began to change once more, but in a different fashion from earlier. This time as flesh and bone remolded it was not a human that formed from what had been wolf, but some hybrid between the two. The limb that now reached out for the tree branches looked human in shape, but remained covered in the thick gray fur of the wolf. Sharp black claws dug into the wood as the wolf-morph pulled himself atop the branch, pausing in a crouch only for a moment to lock eyes with the panthress far ahead of him, before jumping forward with greater speed than could ever be managed by wolf or man alone.

Jazz grumbled softly low in her throat as she watched the wolfling gaining ground rapidly. There was nothing particularly special about being able to take on the Fused Form, anyone with the knowledge and the training could attain such a shape. "But the speed and ease at which he's able to do it now..." She murmured as she turned her eyes forward again and put all her effort into racing away from the wolf man.

Thorn grinned at the feline's haste as he jumped from one tree to the next. It was far from a war won, but this particular battle was his. Transformation magic was a matter of state. The preset forms were as easy to take on as pouring water from one glass to the other, where everything could simply fall into place. Nature already liked those shapes and built the glasses for the user to fill so to speak. The Fused Form was more akin the bendy straw of the magic world. Obtainable, but you had to work a lot harder for it. The canine could remember the long weeks of training to get both body and spirit adjusted to take on the shape with such readiness. "Your move Jazz." He whispered as swung around a tree trunk by one paw, using the momentum to slingshot himself forward.

The panthress let her senses stretch out around her, feeling the flow of magic in the forest. If she switched to Fused she could even the playing field drastically, but she'd have to stop to gather power and focus it, which would negate what lead remained to her. "Going to need your help on this." She spoke quietly as her fur seemed to darken in coloration. "Plantas Agressivas." There was a brief shockwave that seemed to emanate from the feline. "Lets see how you deal with this Thorn."

Ears lay back on the wolf's head as he felt the curtain of power rush over him. "Oh hell. What did she..." His eyes widened to almost comic proportions as he watched the branch he'd been reaching for move out of his range only to suddenly snap back and hit him in the chest with tremendous force and propel him quickly to the ground. "Woof..." Thorn cringed as he picked himself up off his back. "What? Too lazy to help a guy out?" He complained as a few motes of gray light circled around him. "Oh, you just thought it'd be funnier to see me land on my ass. Great..."

Thorn couldn't continue that thought as several branches again began to reach for him, attempting to skewer him with their twiggy limbs. "The hell is this?" He rolled to the side and began to maneuver through the attacks with surprising dexterity. "We don't have time for this." Jumping back several paces the wolf raised his paw into the air and quickly brought it down into a tight fist level with his chest. "Kansoo."

The trees that surrounded the wolf visibly shuddered as Thorn's fist closed. The shudder soon turned into shaking and then all out thrashing as the branches began to wither and crumble away into dust. At the sign of the first few victims, the rest of the branches pulled back to leave the canine alone. "Sorry guys..." Thorn whispered as he scratched his footpaws into the dirt. "I'll bring you something to make up for that." He smiled as the wind gusted around him. "Alright, later guys."

Jazz looked back cautiously when she felt Thorn stop pursuing her. Like Thorn, the panthress had now also taken on her Fused Form to allow her to make full use of all the strengths given from the panther and the human sides. "Forgot how much more in tune his beast is to the land." A small smile curled her lips as she felt the wind, the forest's answer to whatever it was Thorn had promised the Spirits. Rising to her footpaws from her hiding place she turned her back to where she knew Thorn had resumed his pursuit. "Show me what you can do Wolfe."

The canine growled as he resumed his hunt for his teacher. "Damn, she got to far ahead." A quick sniff of the air lead him no closer either. "Covered her scent too, and has had more than enough time to mask herself with spell work." Slowing his run he came to a full stop, then crouched low to the ground. Keeping his footpaws spaced apart he brought his paws down flush against the ground between them. Triangular ears perked high even as golden brown eyes closed.

The feline hybrid did not stop, but she did slow down, as she felt the magical energy of the land waiver beneath her footpaws. "Is he trying to find me, or it?" She mused aloud as she shifted her direction again to better suit her own target.

The wolf's brows furrowed in confusion as he let his magic mix with that of the land. "It's all unbalanced. What would cause this?" He stood and began to run again, this time in the source of the disturbance. "Someone working a ritual? No, to big. It'd have to be a massive casting. Some kind of natural disturbance then." His thoughts of pursuing Jazz left his mind. One of the first things that he'd been taught was that order and balance were essential to magic. For this much energy to be in disharmony meant something unfortunate was likely to follow.

Jazz smiled as she felt her student shift course. "He felt it." Pacing herself accordingly she moved to meet the wolf at what would be the start of their travels. "He feels a bit anxious though..." The feline murmured as she sensed the tremble in his spirit. "Huh?" Purple motes of light danced over Jazz's head for a moment and the cat grinned. "Yeah, I guess he would jump to that conclusion. He never did understand that balance doesn't always mean order all that well."

With a heavy thud, the wolf landed at the edge of a small grove of trees. His ears twitched as he heard a softer thud behind him. "You sensed it too?" Thorn didn't look back to Jazz, his eyes remained locked on the shimmering pocket of air ten feet before him. "Some kind of ritual gone wrong?"

"You're being a bit of a fatalist I think." Jazz replied as she moved before him. "You think this concentration of power is a bad thing?"

"It's disrupting the flow of the area." Thorn nodded as he circled the distorted space warily. He took a deep breath in through his nose. "But I don't smell anyone else around. Is this a natural event? Should we try to ground it?"

"I don't think we could even if we wanted to." Jazz shook her head. "What you see before you is a transit point."

"Transit point?" Skepticism saturated Thorn's voice. "Transit to where?"

"Otherside." Jazz grinned.

"Otherside..." Thorn nodded. "Sure, what's that again?"

"It is the Realm that gives rise to other Realms." The panthress stepped beside the wolf and took his paw in her own. "It has many names in this Realm, you might even know a few of them."

"Oh yeah?" Thorn still watched the swirl of magic critically, but his curiosity was now piqued. "What names are they?"

"The land of make believe, Never Never Land, The Golden Land..."

"Ok." Thorn cut her off and leveled a hard stare at his teacher. "You're making this up, especially that last one."

"I am not." Jazz brought her free paw up and touched the wolf's cheek softly. "You, who believe it's impossible that we are the only sentient life in the universe, can't except the possibility of there being other Realms?"

"I believe the possibility, yes." Thorn agreed. "I just doubt the names you use for those possibilities."

A small laugh escaped the feline. "Yes, I imagine it does sound rather unlikely but..." She waited until the wolf fully locked eyes with her. "Ideas pass through the Realms far easier than flesh does, what I tell you is true."

The wolf's chest rose and fell slowly as he took a deep breath, contemplating the scenario before him. "You've been though this transit point before? Been to Otherside?" He asked quietly. The idea of what Jazz was telling him being true was tantalizing, but he couldn't help guarding against disappointment if it was all some kind of trick.

"I have been to Otherside, but through other transit points." Separating away from the wolf she moved toward the portal of swirling mist. "There is much that can be learned there, for us both." She looked into the vapors once again. "I'm going back." A knowing look was shot back over her shoulder toward Thorn. "You have to decide your own trail from here."

Thorn lifted a paw to try and stop his mentor as she ran into the transit point. "Wait!" He ran around the mist, but was only half surprised to find that Jazz was not on the opposite side of the fog. "It's real..." His long tongue flicked over his fangs as he considered his choices. "Go forward, or remain where I am?" The transit point shimmered with light as tiny arcs of electricity began to jump about within. "The magic flow...it's returning to normal." The whispered realization hastened the wolf's decision. "The portal is closing." A few more steps were paced back and forth as the mist began to gradually dissipate.

Wisps of gray light sprung up suddenly around the wolf dancing urgently before his muzzle. "Yeah, I know." Thorn's muscles tensed as he focused on the gateway. "I did promise to find some new hunting grounds." His lips curled into an eager smile as he rushed into the now smaller cloud of mist. "Let's see what Otherside really has to offer us."

At times, individuals will do something in their life that makes them feel as if the world is spinning. In Thorn's case, the world truly did spin. It also warped, bent, and fluctuated in ways that the laws of physics would tell most was impossible. For a brief instant the wolf found he looking at his own body from a vantage point normally associated with death. As quickly as the sensations began, they abruptly ended and the canine crashed snout first into the lush, green grassland.

"Stop the Realm...I want to get off..." The moaned complaint was voiced weakly. His muscles felt weak and shaky as he required every ounce of effort he possessed to even push himself to his paws and knees. The extra strain proved to be to much for the male to bare as his stomach turned on him, leaving him retching violently into the dent his face had made moments ago. "Goddess that was an awful feeling." Wiping his mouth with the back of his paw Thorn lifted his head to try and gain a bit more knowledge of his position. As he did so something made itself known behind him with a fierce, deep, and most importantly hungry, growl.

The beast leapt quickly, leaving Thorn with scant seconds to throw himself out of the way. "What the fuck are you?" The wolf found his strength restoring quickly as fear fueled adrenaline raced through his system. His eyes darted over the creature as his mind struggled to catch up in analyzing the data before him.

The beast moved upon all fours, yet was at least twice the size of any horse the wolf had seen. The body was that of lion with legs strong and paws wide, tipped with long, deadly claws. Its head was that of a noble hawk with plumage of deep brown and orange. The black beak clicked angrily at the prey that had eluded its charge. Dark eyes fixated on the wolf, determined not to loose sight of its meal again. In a moment of shock, a second set of eyes came to bear on Thorn as the head of great serpent rose above the creature's body. Scales of green and gold glinted in the red sunlight. Even so, it was not missed that the snake was not an independent entity but the tail of the massive creature.

Gray light sprung up around the wolf and began to swirl and dance insistently. "Yes! I'm aware it's a god damn chimera!" Thorn yelled as he turned and attempted to run. "A little warning before the thing bit my head off would have been better though!" He was forced to take another dive into the dirt as the chimera lunged again. "Ok, running is not going to do it." Pushing to his feet quickly he readied himself as his hunter stalked him more cautiously now.

Thorn's right paw came back behind him as he began to focus his concentration, drawing magic to his grasp. "Alright then, come on." He taunted the chimera under his breath. "Bring that ugly mug of yours to my fist." The wolf could feel his muscles tense as the great beast rushed him once again. Thorn faked a dive to the right and then leapt back to the left, then thanked every god he knew of that the chimera fell for it. His right paw rose in a swift, sweeping motion toward the predator. "Kaze!"

The wolf blinked in surprise as a much stronger gale wind than he expected to summon rose around him and slammed into the chimera. He found himself staring at the long trough of upturned grass and dirt as the beast landed and plowed through the earth. "Magic must get some kind of boost in this realm." Whispered the wolf to himself. His thoughts on the subject did not last long as he heard a cry of anger and saw the chimera already picking itself up again for another attack. "Any ideas?" Thorn asked of the gray lights swirling about him. "Or are we fucked?"

The canine dashed to the right as the chimera rushed in attack again. Anger, pain, and shock seeming to motivate the creature now more than the hunger that initiated the first attack. "Son of a bitch..." Thorn growled. "What's it going to take to put you down?" His fists rose before him defensively and began to channel more magic into his clenched palms. "Now would be a good time for some inspiration."

"Las flechas de la hiedra venenosa!"

Thorn jumped back as several flashes of green magic streaked into the great chimera. There was no explosion, but the impact sent the creature tumbling over the ground as if it had been struck by a runaway freight train. "Whoa..." Turning in the direction of the flashes origin he saw a panthress with black fur holding a large bow. "Jazz?"

The feline spared him a brief smile as she brought her right paw to the bowstring again, causing the weapon to begin to glow with deep brown earth energies. "It's not dead yet Thorn. A chimera's hide is thick. We're going to need a lot more force than what I can summon at the moment."

The wolf snorted for a moment before his ears perked as an idea came to him. "I think I know how we can generate enough force. Stay parallel to me, and be ready." He cut the magic in his paws back to less than half of what he had been planning earlier and compressed it down. "Kaze!" Two smaller pockets of wind raced forward, striking the beast in its muzzle.

Jazz frowned as she watched her student antagonize the predator. The last attack would hurt quite a bit, but it would not take down the chimera. She readied her bow again as the creature moved toward the source of its frustration. A chill ran through her as she felt the wind race around her and began to converge on Thorn. "Oh hell...he wouldn't..." She brought her paw up to her forehead and tried to massage away the coming headache. "Oh who am I kidding? Of course he's going to."

A few more blasts of magically generated wind slammed into the chimera's face as Thorn darted back from the strikes of the serpent like tail. "Come on ugly, dance for me." He leapt back again as the snake head attacked, coming dangerously close to catching the wolf's leg this time. "Ok, time to end this. Jazz!"

The panthress planted her footpaws and green energy shot from the earth and coiled up around her body until it centered in her paw. Magic still in paw, she pulled back on the bowstring, feeling the familiar hum of power, as the weapon helped focus her will. "Ready!"

Thorn brought everything he had stored up until now to bare as he thrust his paws forward. "Kaze!" The blast was not small and precise as the others had been. Instead the brute force of a gale wind slammed into the great beast. Although the chimera shrieked in surprise no harm was actually done to it, though it was lifted into the air and hurled unceremoniously at Jazz's position.

"Las flechas de la Madera del hierro." Jazz intoned softly as the magic in her palm extended out to form the bows missing counterpart. "This better work you mutt..." Came the muttered prayer as the arrows flew toward the target.

Thorn grinned as the arrows not only struck the target, but pierced through the chimera as well. "Ha!" He cried out triumphantly as the creature fell to the ground. "That's what you get for trying to eat me you son of a bitch!"

Jazz rolled her eyes as she walked toward the downed beast standing beside Thorn as he joined her. "You could have just stood behind me and helped launch my arrows rather than launch the chimera."

Thorn shook his head as he stared at the now dead carcass, a new hole right between the eyes from one of the arrows made it very clear the creature would not move again. "Don't have that kind of control, would have blown the arrows off target." He crouched down to better study the unique specimen before him, his voice falling to a whisper. "And it would have put you in harms way."

Jazz smiled, though it was small and sad, at the wolf's words. "Help me collect its fangs, they'll fetch a good price on the market." She giggled as she saw the canine's head cock to the side in confusion. "How else to you plan to buy clothing and a proper weapon?"

"This is real, isn't it?" Thorn's voice was quiet; an oddly reverent tone making it's way through. "Really real I mean. This isn't some trick. Some glamour cast over us back on Earth."

"No, it's not." Jazz paused from her looting of the chimera's corpse and crouched beside her student. She placed a paw on his shoulder and bumped his muzzle with her own. "Welcome to Otherside Thorn." Pulling away from the canine Jazz picked up a sharp stone and focused her will upon it.

The lupine watched as Jazz transformed the rock into a deadly looking dagger with her Earth magic. A smile began to curve his lips as he watched her go to work at collecting the chimera's fangs. "Let me give you a paw." Thorn moved closer and gripped the beast's jaws, spreading the maw wide to better fit the blade. "I get the feeling this place is going to hold a crazy ride for us."

"Otherside is not a destination, but a Realm of travel." Jazz's voice held a hint of sadness. "A place where souls traverse and the spirit learn."

Thorn ears went flat at Jazz's tone, know there was more meaning there than the words face value. "Well, like you said. I'm young and still have plenty to learn." He gripped the chimera's fang and pulled roughly as Jazz finally cut through the jaw muscles. "We'll take the journey one step at a time."

OOOOO

First Steps Traveled: End Chapter One