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"Mr. Lancaster!" A gravelly voice pierced Matt's dream and brought him back to reality. The husky blinked his icy blue eyes rapidly, trying to brush the sleep away. He looked around and saw that he was the only student left in the expansive lecture theatre.

"Oh, uh, I'm sorry Professor MacLearan," Matt stammered, his gaze planted firmly on his feet on the wooden floor. He rubbed his paws against his khaki colored cargo shorts, his claws catching the edges of the pockets. Matt's ears were splayed back, the young husky clearly embarrassed.

The Professor's eyebrows raised a little and his short, round muzzle opened slightly in a smile. "This isn't like you, Mr. Lancaster. Have you been all right?" The otter looked over his spectacles at Matt, eyeing the young husky fondly.

"Um, yeah, I have, um, thank you," Matt rambled as he stood up quickly, avoiding the professor's stare. The otter's brow furrowed as he stepped back to look at grey-blue and white furred dog. "I won't fall asleep in your lecture again, sir," Matt blurted as he ducked past the Professor and ran out the hall's wooden doors.

The Professor stroked his white chin fur and shook his head. "Kids," he smiled to himself.

Matt looked around the hallway. Most of the students were already in their next lecture. The few that were around were absorbed in their studies, heads hunched over notes in small alcoves around the building. A pair of white hares were chatting quietly to each other about a test of some sort. 'It's a good thing I don't have any more lectures today,' he thought cheerily. The husky walked leisurely towards the dormitory, thinking about the past few days. 'Why have I been falling asleep at random lately? I've been getting plenty of sleep at night.' Matt pondered the times he fell asleep in class, in the cafeteria, and in the library. He was thinking so intently that he didn't see the rotund kangaroo waving at him.

"Dude, we were supposed to meet outside of the science complex, remember?" Kael's deep voice penetrated Matt's reverie. The husky turned to look at his childhood friend, and saw Kael scrunching his long muzzle and rolling his eyes. The kangaroo was taller than Matt, and a fair bit heavier. His brown fur was close cropped all over, except for a mop of black hair between his tall ears. Kael's muzzle was ended by a black goatee. His green eyes sparkled with mischief though, and Matt sighed in relief. "Did you fall asleep in class again, dude?" Matt nodded in response to his friend. "Man, you've been getting more than enough sleep. You should totally see a doctor about this," Kael suggested. Matt's blue eyes widened and he whimpered a little, his ears folding back and his tail drooping between his legs. "Well, dude, I mean, this happens way too often to be a coincidence, right?"

The husky's body shuddered as he heaved a sigh. "I guess I should. I hate going to the doctor's office though. It's such a pain." He frowned and kicked at a round pillar in the hallway, then yipped in pain. Kael rolled his eyes a second time and hopped ahead as Matt grabbed his foot and held it for a moment. The husky ran to catch up to his friend, and the two arrived at the student center shortly thereafter. "Might as well go now, I guess."

* * * * *

Matt sat on the paper covered bench as he waited for the doctor's diagnosis. His black t-shirt was draped over a chair nearby, placed there by the doctor before taking his vitals. He ran his white-furred paws over his equally white-furred stomach, wondering absently about eating better so he could lose the slight tubbiness he seemed to have gained over the past few months. 'Hmm, maybe I should dye my hair blonde again. I wonder if that'd get me more dates than my natural blue?'

The husky squirmed on the seat, looking around as he tried to occupy his mind as he waited. Embedded in the cream walls was a large window from which he could see his dormitory. Under the window stood a desk covered with papers and file folders, and some of the doctor's "tools of doom" that Matt wasn't particularly fond of. The metal utensils were always cold against his skin, even through his fur. He sighed and stared at the linoleum floor, swinging his legs against the side of the bench.

The door opened and a middle-aged vixen wearing a lab coat walked in, carrying a clipboard in her black paws. Matt wrinkled his nose a little at the strong scent of the fox. Her short, wavy brown hair was clearly dyed, as it had reddish-orange roots, similar to the rest of her fur. Her brown eyes were looking directly at Matt, not wavering or betraying any emotion while she pursed her thin muzzle. Matt couldn't remember her name even though she had introduced herself earlier.

"Matthew?" the doctor asked, her voice soft. The husky turned his face to hers. "I have some bad news."

'Of course it's bad news. When the doctor can't come up with her own diagnosis, it's probably bad news,' he thought bitterly.

"Well, I've consulted with my colleagues, and we believe you have a form of narcolepsy," she stated, her voice flat. Matt just stared at her, his muzzle slightly agape. "It's a sleeping disorder, where one finds that he cannot stay awake at times, like he's been awake for days."

Matt shook his head, breaking his own trance. "Yeah, I've heard of it. Never thought I'd have it, though."

"It's common for the symptoms to be dormant until adolescence, though your symptoms are still a little late."

"What can I do about it?" Matt asked, irritation creeping into his voice as his ears twitched.

The doctor coughed. "Well, we could put you on medication."

"No way," the husky responded, too quickly. The vixen bared her fangs slightly. "No, thank you," he amended.

"The other option is to try and make a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time, every day. Maybe schedule a nap as well." She handed Matt a pamphlet. It was covered with an illustration of an otter pup curled up on a pillow, sleeping away happily. "Here's some information on it. I suggest you read it. I also suggest you notify your professors, and if you have a job, your employer."

"Thanks, doctor," Matt said, trying to avoid saying the name he couldn't remember. "I'll do that."

The bright-furred vixen put her paw on Matt's shoulder, "Keep in mind this is a preliminary diagnosis. You might not have narcolepsy at all."

"Okay." The husky's tone brightened, just a little.

She continued, "We'll get back to you with something more official at a later date. Make sure you make another appointment for a few weeks from now."

"Thanks again, doctor." Matt walked out of the patient room, made the appointment with the secretary, and left the student center. He cut through the Kinesiology complex, making his way to the dormitories.

The husky keyed himself into his 'box,' as he affectionately called his room. It was small, no larger than ten feet across, and eighteen feet from the door to the window. The walls were mortar bricks, painted white, and sound travelled through them quite well. There was a bed and a desk on each side of the room, flush against their respective walls. Each side also had a closet with no door. Kael and Matt shared the room, and it offered no privacy.

The kangaroo was on his computer, playing whatever video game was his current obsession. Matt didn't play many video games, and didn't recognize this one at all. The husky flopped onto his bed on the right-hand side of the room and started to leaf through the pamphlet, only half-reading the contents.

"So?" Kael asked, his game paused. The kangaroo had turned his chair around, his massive feet on Matt's desk to stop the spinning. "What's the deal?" Matt explained what the doctor had told him, staring blankly into the pamphlet. When Matt had finished, Kael had sat on the husky's bed and put his paw on Matt's shoulder. "Dude, that's heavy. You gonna have to go to the doctor's a lot now?"

Matt shrugged. "Probably." Sighing for what felt like the millionth time that day, Matt opened his linear algebra textbook and found his page. "I have a big test tomorrow, though, so I should study."

Kael went back to his computer. "Cool. I'll keep it down, man," he said as he slipped his headphones over his tall ears.

* * * * *

The next day, after Matt's big test, the young husky was chatting with some of his classmates about a couple of the questions and how unfair the professor was. A muscular moose was jostling a white hare in response to the hare's teasing about having muscles instead of brains, when Matt thought he had heard a whisper. "Did I just hear my name?" Matt asked quietly. The moose and hare both stared at him, eyebrows raised, and went back to discussing the test. The husky heard his name a second time, a little louder. He swiveled his ears and head around, trying to determine where it was coming from. The voice seemed distorted, as if it was calling him from behind a pane of glass. "I swear I just heard my name guys," he said, interrupting the conversation.

"Matt, are you okay? Nobody said your name," the moose said, shaking his head slowly.

"No, seriously, Chris, I'm not making this up." The husky's voice was plaintive and shrill, even to him.

"Matthew, I am calling you..." the voice spoke a third time, now at speaking volume. It still sounded distorted, but it was definitely saying his name. It sounded male, but that's all Matt could discern. Suddenly the husky felt the increasingly familiar tiredness creep into him, like he had been up for three days. His friends' conversation faded away as he slipped into slumber.

* * * * *

Matt woke up, feeling as if he had slept for hours. He groaned a little as he pushed his paws against the dirt for leverage, sharp stalks of golden grass stabbing his arms and paws. 'Wait a sec. Dirt, plants? Where the hell am I?' He stood up, and saw he was in a field full of tall prairie grass. He barely had time to orient himself before he was startled by a large thunderclap. His fur stood on end with static and the noise caused his ears to ring. He wrinkled his nose, overwhelmed by the scent of burning grass and ozone that brought tears to his eyes.

The husky dove to the ground belatedly, ears and tail pulled as close to his body as he could muster, then glanced up through the grass to look around. He saw two figures standing about fifty feet from each other. One was a panther of some sort, clad in a black robe. The other was a grey-maned lion, robed in white. Each had a wooden staff in hand and were waving them in the air. 'What on Earth is going on?'

"You shall not harm him!" The lion in the white robe jabbed his staff towards the panther, a dart of fire erupting from the tip. The black-furred cat raised his paw and batted the projectile aside, towards Matt. The husky yipped and barely rolled out of the way, the dart burning a small hole in the ground.

"Your 'savior' is a shell of a dog, still a pup! He has no power. You expect to save our world with him?" The black-cloaked cat heaved with hissing laughter. "Fine, we'll see what you can do with him. I hold no expectations. But while you play oracle, the darkness creeps ever closer." He raised his paws and a bolt of lightning shot from the sky, hitting him directly. The brilliant flash of light forced Matt to shut his eyes, and the smell of burnt grass and ozone rose once again. Matt coughed deeply, and then opened his eyes. Only the lion in the white robe remained.

The husky panted heavily, his whole body shaking. He laid as still as he could, trying to hide. The white-robed lion looked directly at him as Matt watched back, wary. "You can stop hiding now." Matt stood up slowly, brushing himself off. He was startled to see that he was clothed in brown leather breeches and a rough, blue tunic instead of his customary cargo shorts and t-shirt. Putting that aside for a moment, he stared at the lion intently. "Come here," he ordered. Matt hesitated again, then moved forward slowly but deliberately.

When the pair were ten feet away from each other, Matt stopped and held his ground. The lion was immensely tall. Where Matt was five and three-quarters feet tall, and Kael was a bit over six, the lion was nearly seven feet in height! However, his posture was stooped, and he looked like he could be better fed. While the lion's body belied his age, his blue eyes were intense and alert. The white-robed lion's staff was made of gnarled wood. Simple, except for a string of glowing blue sigils carved into the shaft. The lion's muzzle pulled back in a gentle smile and he waited.

"What's going on? Who are you? Where am I? Who was that cat in black? How in the hell are you able to use magic?" The husky's questions broke out of him, like water rushing past a broken dam.

The lion laughed, a wheezy, breathy noise. "One at a time, one at a time."

"Fine," Matt said curtly, his ears perked forward. "Who are you?"

"Well, Matthew, I am a mage of the Valiant Order. I am called Rhisanth," the lion answered with a shallow bow.

The young husky's eyes widened, his muzzle hanging open for a moment. "H-how do you know my name?"

"Because I called you here," Rhisanth said, then raised his paw to stop Matt's next line of questions. "That is all I can say on that matter currently. You must be patient," the lion said solemnly, his eyebrows lowering for a moment. "Perhaps I can answer another query?"

'That was such a copout,' Matt thought angrily, his fur starting to stand on end again. 'Not much I can do about that, though. I'm sure he could turn me into a frog or a mongoose, or something. Better not piss him off.' The husky ran his paw behind his neck and then his fluffy tail, smoothing them out. "All right, where are we?"

"We are currently in the Galdovian Plains, in the country of Yriel."

"But there isn't a country called Yriel in the world," Matt objected.

Rhisanth smiled, his fangs in good repair despite his age. "Maybe in your world there is not."

Matt's jaw dropped again. "My world? You mean this isn't Earth?" Rhisanth just shook his head. "Huh? Wha? Wait, no, what?" The husky was so confused he was spouting nonsense, stammering his way to a question. "What world is this, then?"

The lion swept his hands around him. The vast plains the only thing in sight, covered by a sky of crystal blue. "This is the world of Ameranth. Far different from the visions I've had of Earth." The mage then turned from Matt and began walking away. "Come, we can discuss these matters further at the Council. I am certain the head of the Council would want to meet you."

Matt followed the elderly mage, shaking his head and staring at the world in wonder. 'Narcolepsy, right...'