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Matt's eyes glazed over as he perused the posted grades. 'I...I failed the test!' he thought as his paws pulled his blue hair in frustration. 'How could this happen? I studied for it, I went to class, everything!' The husky's tail was hanging limply between his legs as he began to backpedal. 'Slept through class, maybe,' a small voice in the back of Matt's mind admonished him. He shook his head vigorously, trying to escape the accusations.

Suddenly Matt came to a stop, two strong paws on his shoulder. "Whoa there, Matt!" The husky turned to see his friend Chris behind him. The tall, muscular moose was staring at Matt, his long muzzle pursed in thought. Matt began to stammer an apology, but instead it came out as an incoherent whine. "Hey, hey now. What's wrong?"

'Damn it, I won't cry. It's just a test.' Matt took a deep breath and Chris felt the husky shudder. "Oh, uh, I kinda failed the math test."

The tall moose pulled the husky close to him, hugging Matt tightly. Matt could feel the moose's coarse brown chest fur against his nose, Chris' thick arms pinning the husky to the larger fur's body. Chris smelled faintly of pine. "Hey, don't sweat it Matt. The semester isn't over. You can still pass the course."

Matt sniffled, and drew back when Chris let go of the hug. The husky stared at the moose blankly for a moment before responding, "Heh, you're right, Chris. I dunno, I've been a little emotional lately." He smiled wryly before adding, "Sleeping poorly, I guess."

Chris grinned at Matt, showing his big, flat teeth. "C'mon. We can go for lunch at the campus lounge, my treat," he offered, putting his thick arm around the husky's shoulder. Before Matt could protest, he found himself being led to the student center.

The pair sat down at the restaurant, letting the waitress take their drink orders before continuing their conversation. "Thanks for bringing me to lunch, Chris. I guess failing that test hit me harder than I thought," Matt mumbled, tracing circular patterns on the table with a blunt claw.

"Do you think you failed because of your narcolepsy?" Chris asked after taking a sip of his water.

"Maybe? Probably? I dunno, it feels like a bit of a cop out, honestly."

"Did you tell Professor MacLearen about it?"

Matt squirmed, his tail scraping uncomfortably against the wooden rungs on the seat back. He stared at the movie posters on the walls rather than make eye contact with the jock. "Uh, no, I haven't. Kael keeps telling me I should, but I don't want it to be an excuse."

Chris thought for a moment, his paws fiddling with the rubber caps on the ends of his antlers. Just when Matt was about to say something to break the silence, the moose spoke up, "You know, you don't want narcolepsy to be an excuse, but you're doing everything that you can to ignore it. If you don't manage it, then it will get in the way."

The husky was stunned, his muzzle hanging slightly open in shock.

"Are you two ready to order?" the waitress, a leopard, asked. She was shaking her right leg up and down impatiently, making her green skirt ripple over her knee.

"Yeah," Chris said. "I'll be getting the garden salad. Matt here will be getting the hamburger, with fries." The waitress nodded, wrote down the order, and left the table without saying another word.

"Wait. How do you figure?" Matt asked, his eyes wide.

"What, your order? We've been hanging out for a few months now, and you order the same thing every time."

The husky brought his paw to his forehead. "No, not that. I know you know my order. I meant the not managing my narcolepsy and it getting in the way."

"Oh, that." Chris said flatly. "Just because I'm a jock and am a little slow sometimes doesn't mean I don't have a few things figured out."

"No, I mean, ugh, I'm sorry, Chris. I didn't mean to insult you." Matt frowned as he rested his head on the table using his arms as a pillow. "I guess I just didn't think of my narcolepsy that way."

The moose chuckled and grinned at Matt. "Hey, don't sweat it Matt. The way I figure it, if I can't use my slowness as an excuse for not passing my course, you can't use narcolepsy for failing yours. You just have let people know and help you with it, rather than being wrapped up in your own little world."

"My own little world." 'You don't know the half of it...'

* * * * *

Matt stood in what he thought were the Galdovian Plains, surrounded by endless fields of tall golden grass swaying in the light breeze. The young husky brushed the grass off his blue tunic and looked around. The last thing he remembered was getting home from lunch with Chris.

"Rhisanth?" he called out softly. The elderly lion did not respond or show up. Sighing, Matt looked up to the sun and tried to decipher which way was north. 'Assuming that the sun rises and sets in the same directions here as they do on Earth.' Taking his best guess, Matt ventured into the plains

He walked for an hour, his foot pads cut up and sore from stepping through the sharp grass. His breeches and tunic did little to keep him cool in the sun, but Matt didn't want to stop. He wouldn't get cooler standing in the sun either. Another hour passed and Matt began to despair of finding anything in the empty expanse, until he saw a dark smudge on the horizon. His tail wagging, he quickened his pace towards the smudge until a third hour later, the smudge had turned into a small grove of trees.

'Finally! Something in this damn world,' Matt thought with relief as he ventured towards the island of trees in the sea of grass.

As Matt reached the edge of the copse of trees, he heard a high-pitched and whiny voice shout, "Stop!" The husky scanned the forest, but saw nothing. He lifted his nose, but all he smelled were the plants and the dirt. "Why're you here?" the voice shrieked from somewhere above him.

"I'm lost!" Matt complained angrily. "I saw the trees and headed here!"

"My trees! All mine! You can't have them! Go away!"

The husky's ears laid flat. Matt was beginning to get a headache from the voice. "I don't want your damn trees, I need some shelter. I'm just lost!"

"Then stay lost!"

Matt waited for a few moments, but the screechy voice had disappeared. The husky shrugged and cautiously entered the grove. In the center was a small spring, probably fed by an underground well, and a few fruit trees mingled in with what seemed to be birch trees. Matt sniffed the air again, relishing in the clean scent of the spring. His nose pointed him to the fruit trees, where he could smell something sweet.

Matt walked over and pulled a fruit off the tree. The fruit was shaped like a pear, with a mottled blue rind, and felt heavy in his paw. He sniffed it carefully, wondering if it was edible. The smell was not unlike that of a mango, but when he took a small bite he found it tasted more like pineapple. The husky wiped his arm against his muzzle, wiping away the delicious juice that was dribbling from his mouth. 'This is really weird. Weird, but tasty.'

Suddenly Matt doubled over, dropping the fruit on the ground. He felt like someone had just punched him in the gut. "MY TREES!" the voice screamed, frantic and angry and much closer this time. Matt looked up and saw a small man standing in front of him, no more than four feet tall. It had deep green skin, which was spotted and sickly looking. Brown hair stuck out of its joints and head, and its hands and feet were clawed. The creature was gibbering and screaming still, jumping and waving its bulky fist in the air.

The green man charged Matt, but this time Matt was able to dive out of the way. The husky rolled in the dirt as the creature kept running. Both took a moment to stop and right themselves, staring each other down angrily and panting. Matt's stomach was still in pain from the initial attack, and he tried to block out the pain as he looked for a weapon. 'What to use? This thing is going to kill me!' Matt snatched the blue fruit from where he had dropped it and chucked it at the creature, hitting the green-skinned man in the arm and causing it to howl even louder.

The creature ran in, lowering its head and ramming the husky's stomach. Matt flew back a couple feet before landing on his back. He struggled for breath, winded from being knocked down. He realized that he was quickly losing this battle. The creature appeared in Matt's vision, its rotten yellow teeth showing in what Matt assumed was a smile. The husky gasped for air again, but choked on the creature's fetid breath. He noticed the little green man was holding a rock in its hands, over Matt's head. "Mine..." the creature whispered as it brought the stone down.

Blue sparks flew from an invisible barrier just above Matt, deflecting the stone just enough to graze an ear rather than his head. The husky yelped and rolled away, but the pain brought his mind back into full tilt and full of adrenaline. As he jumped to his feet, Matt grabbed a nearby branch and held it in front of him with both hands. 'What the hell just happened?'

The creature shrieked, its eyes wide and rotting teeth bared as it backed away slightly. Matt swung the make-shift staff in front of the little green man a couple of times, the branch making a deep whoosh sound with each swing. "Are you sure you want to be picking on me?" the husky growled, his own sharp teeth bared in return. The creature shrunk back and shook its head. "Good. Now, all I want is some food and water, then I'll leave you and your trees alone. I won't hurt you as long as you don't hurt me. Got it?" The creature nodded slowly. "Good, now scram," Matt snarled, swinging his staff one more time as the little green man scampered off.

Matt heaved a sigh of relief as he walked over to the pond. After placing his branch on the ground, he kneeled down and dipped his head in the cool water quickly, then shook it out of his fur. The water dripped down his tunic, but Matt enjoyed how cool it felt after the long trek in the sun. He rubbed the scraped ear, feeling where the fur had been stripped off. It was sore, but otherwise okay. After taking a drink and eating more of the delicious but strange fruit, Matt announced that he was leaving. There was no response. Bidding the now-peaceful copse of trees a silent goodbye, the husky continued on in the plains.

Matt resumed his voyage north. He lamented that he couldn't take any of the fruit with him, as he had nothing to carry it in. "What a day. Where the hell is Rhisanth, anyway?" the husky wondered aloud.

"Right here," Rhisanth's voice came from behind Matt. The husky whirled around to see the elderly lion in his white robes, smiling serenely.

"Where were you? I was almost killed!" Matt shouted, waving his fists in the air as he advanced on the mage.

The lion chuckled, "Careful, young Matthew. You are beginning to resemble the pathetic creature in the grove." The husky stopped and crossed his arms, scowling. "I was here all along, though you may not have been able to see me."

"Then it was you who saved me from the rock?"

"No, that was almost entirely your own doing," Rhisanth said quietly. The lion looked past Matt to the grove, his blue eyes squinting in the sunlight. "I thought that this test would bring out some of your latent powers, though I never imagined that it would have been so violent." He smiled slightly at the husky. "I had slowed the rock slightly, it would have only concussed you lightly. You performed admirably, though. I was not expecting you to be able to protect yourself so well."

"Well? That little shield was a complete accident! And it didn't exactly stop the rock!" The husky lifted his ears and pointed at the scrape on his left one. 'How can this total stranger be toying with me like this?'

Rhisanth shrugged. In Matt's mind, the gesture seemed foreign to the mage. "No, it did not. But you miss the point."

"What exactly is the point?" Matt barked, his toes clawing the dirt beneath his feet. 'This narcolepsy thing is turning out to be really stressful. I always thought sleep was supposed to be relaxing.'

The lion chuckled again, his grey mane rippling with the motion. "Blunt as always, Matthew." Matt glared at the mage in response. "Magic in Ameranth is a very fickle force. Most people require some sort of focus to shape the energy."

Matt had an epiphany, remembering some role-playing he had done in his younger days. "Like spell components?"

"Yes, those can be a focus. Foci can be anything, from a card to a gem, a piece of wax or a painting. Some use lyrics or a phrase as a focus. And others use specific gestures or movements. Without a focus, magic will usually do nothing, as the energy will not have been shaped in a way that makes a physical effect in the world."

"Then why didn't I need a focus?"

The elderly lion frowned for a moment, his whiskers twitching. "I do not know. Only the most powerful of magi can use magic at will, and even then they're often reciting something in their minds or gesturing discreetly. Even the simplest spell requires much skill and power if one does not have a focus. Many young magi unconsciously use an object around them as a focus when first manifesting their powers."

The husky smiled in triumph. "Then maybe I'm just that powerful. I'm your 'savior,' right?"

"Do not be so smug, young Matthew," Rhisanth snapped. Matt's ears laid back involuntarily. "You do not know how to control that power, so it does you little good. That could have been an explosion of daisies instead of a shield." Matt grimaced, imagining his body lying in a pile of daisies with a rock in his skull. The husky shivered.

Rhisanth smiled, waving his staff over Matt. "That is enough for now, though. You have done admirably." Matt felt very drowsy, and though he tried to fight it, his eyes closed and he drifted to sleep.

* * * * *

"So I didn't ask last time, but what, exactly, do you do with a humanities major?" Matt said between sips of coffee. He used to hate the stuff, but lately it served him well in keeping awake through class. He hoped it would help stave off his narcolepsy for the duration of his date.

The cream-colored cougar smiled and nodded. "It probably won't pay the bills, but it's fun," Jay said with a shrug. Matt smirked inwardly at this comment. Humanities degrees were commonly known around campus as 'Do you want fries with that?' degrees. "I love writing, so it's only natural. Maybe I'll get to be an editor, or a novelist. I'm not really sure yet, it's just my first year so I've got time to figure it out. So what do you do for fun, Matt?"

"M-Me?" Matt stammered slightly. "Um, I like to read, and cook." Jay looked at the husky expectantly, one of the cougar's paws playing with the studs in his ear. "And uh, dancing games," Matt added, his skin flushing under his white cheek fur.

"You're really cute when you blush," the cougar stated, smiling at the husky. That sent Matt even further into his blush, the husky shying away. Jay laughed. "It's all right. I'm kinda an arcade junkie myself!"

"Really?" Matt asked, his eyebrows raised. "Did you want to head down to the campus arcade for a little while after our coffee?"

"Sure, but watch out! I'm a prodigy at Ms. Pac-Man!" They both laughed.

Matt's bushy tail was wagging fiercely behind his seat as he downed the last of his drink. "I'll keep that mind!" Matt said, grinning at the cougar as they left the coffee shop. Jay walked at little ahead of Matt as they meandered their way to the campus arcade in the basement of the student center. Matt could tell that Jay was giddy with excitement at a common interest. Every once in a while the cougar would turn around, grin at Matt, and then continue walking. Matt smiled to himself as he admired the cat's lean body and playful attitude. The husky ran his paws through his blue hair in nervousness, but, realizing what he had done, re-spiked it as quickly as possible.

The sounds of video games and cheering could be heard from down the corridor, and they increased in volume dramatically as the pair turned the corner to the arcade. They were greeted by a horde of furs surrounding a Dance Dance Revolution machine, the crowd watching a pair of otters playing. The otters were clearly experienced, their feet moving quickly in time to the dance beat.

Jay looked a little interested in it, and Matt leaned in to whisper, "I'm pretty good at that thing, you know."

"Really? Looks kinda hard," he replied, moving towards the Ms. Pac-Man machine.

The husky shrugged. "Not with some practice."

They reached the arcade machine and Jay put some quarters in. The cougar grabbed the joystick, then stole a glance at Matt and waggled his eyebrows. The pair took turns, but Jay was clearly the better player of the two. Matt's Ms. Pac-Man died pretty quickly every time. As Jay played, however, he got very into the game, and whenever one heard the "Boo boo booop" noise of Ms. Pac-Man being caught by a ghost, one also heard Jay cursing loudly.

When the pair had finished playing, the crowd around the dancing game had dispersed. "Want to try it?" Matt asked, grinning. Jay looked around and saw most everyone had left the arcade, then shrugged. The husky put a couple of dollars into the arcade machine. "So you see those four arrows on the ground?" Jay nodded at Matt. "All right, you have to press the arrow with your foot when the arrow on the screen reaches the top!" Matt explained, pointing at the screen with one paw and the game pad with the other.

"Seems simple enough," Jay pronounced, getting on the pad beside Matt. The husky started a Euro-dance song and they began to play. As the arrows scrolled up the screen, Jay was having difficulty following the arrows, his feet fumbling around on the game pad. His tail lashed in annoyance, throwing off his balance even more. "Aw, man, this isn't easy at all!" Looking over at the husky, the cougar saw tons of arrows scrolling by, much faster than on his side of the screen. Matt's feet were a blur as he got nearly all of them. "Wow, you really are good at this."

When the song finished Matt looked over at the cougar, the husky's tongue lolling from the difficult song. "I don't play many video games, this is about the only one I do play. I'm a bit out of shape and practice though," Matt stated, putting a paw on his slightly rounded stomach.

"You look great to me," Jay proclaimed as he winked at Matt.

The husky chose the next two songs as well. By the third and final song, Jay was starting to get the hang of the game. Once it had finished, Jay stepped off and announced that he was done. "Was it fun?" Matt asked quietly. His chest was heaving as he panted vigorously.

"Yeah, it was fun, but I was right, it is hard!"

"It'll get easier, just takes practice!" Matt exclaimed cheerfully, smiling at the cat.

"Yeah, but now my paws are all sweaty," Jay giggled, pressing his pads against Matt's shirt, leaving wet paw prints. He then pulled them back and made a disgusted face, sticking out his tongue. Matt feigned shock, his muzzle open and his eyes wide, and Jay winked at him. The pair laughed loudly at each other. After they caught their breath, Jay looked at his watch and sighed, "I have to catch the train home, I can't be late or my parents will kill me."

They had walked to the exit of the student center, and stood just a foot apart. Matt had a goofy smile on his muzzle and his tail was wagging slowly as he stared at the cat. Suddenly Jay leaned forward on his toes and pressed his muzzle against Matt's, his tongue licking the husky's lips and tongue. Matt's nose was filled with the cat's scent, a little musky but not unpleasant. Before Matt could collect his wits and respond, however, Jay moved back again and giggled. "Well, then, cutie, I gotta go. Call me later!"

As the cougar walked away, Matt managed to stammer after him, "Y-yeah, see you later!" The husky stared at the cougar's tight jeans until he was out of sight. Laying himself down on a bench, Matt could only breathe in deeply and say, "Oh, wow!"