FSE

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"Mr. Lancaster, I'm worried about your last test," Professor MacLearan stated, staring at Matt sternly over his spectacles. "You've been a good student up until the last couple of weeks. What happened?"

Matt avoided the otter's gaze, his paws playing with the desk on the lecture seat, his claws tracing a groove in the wood. "Uh, well, apparently I have narcolepsy." The professor raised an eyebrow at the husky, who continued, "I have a doctor's note and everything. I just didn't want it to be an excuse. I should have said something earlier, but I figured I would be fine. Guess not, eh?"

The professor stepped forward and placed a webbed paw on Matt's shoulder. "No fur is an island, Matthew. Maybe a peninsula, but never an island." The edges of his eyes crinkled as he smiled. "You can ask for help sometimes, no one will think any less of you."

Matt nodded and let out an audible breath of air. He hadn't realized he was even holding his breath. "I'll try and remember that, Professor."

Professor MacLearan nodded and waved his paw, dismissing Matt. "Off you go. We'll talk about a retest tomorrow. Come to my office around four."

"Thank you, Professor," Matt's voice resounded with relief. He quickly exited the classroom and headed back to the dorm room. As he wandered the hallways through to the student center, he was deep in thought, trying to study his math without his textbook. Other students threw him baleful glares as they stepped out of the distracted husky's way, but Matt never noticed.

"Oof!" the husky fell to the ground, landing on his book bag. Rubbing his bottom as he stood up, he immediately began to apologize.

"No problem, cutie," chirped a familiar voice. Matt looked up into Jay's smiling face. "Bumping into you like this shouldn't become a habit, though," the cougar declared with a wink.

Matt felt his cheeks burn, and held his bag in front of his face. "Oh, don't worry. I'll try not to do it literally!" Matt grabbed Jay's proffered paw and let the cougar hoist him up as the two laughed.

Just as he got standing again, Matt's eyes closed. He wavered and slumped to his knees, and could hear other students gasping and yelling in reaction. The cougar caught him as he sank into slumber. "Matt! What's wrong? Matt!" Jay yelled, holding Matt and keeping him from hitting the floor.

* * * * *

"Not now!" Matt cried out before opening his eyes. Instead of the peaceful yet dull expanse of the Galdovian Plains that he had become accustomed to waking to, he was in a town. He laid on packed dirt, and his nose was assaulted by the smell of a campfire. Slowly he became aware of furs around him, crying and screaming in panic. Abruptly he realized that the smell was a bit more than a campfire as heat assaulted his back. He dragged his head from the ground and looked behind him, seeing a burning house mere feet away. Yelping, his paws and feet scrabbled against the hard ground as he pushed himself away from the fire. "What's happening?" Matt shouted, but no one responded to his question.

He took a closer look at the crowd. There were a few furs with their eyes closed, concentrating. Above the house the husky could see the sun flashing off the surface of water pouring from the air. A red-furred vixen was clutching a tarot card; a grizzled old doberman was waving a dowsing rod; a cream-colored cougar was holding a blue gem; a small girl in a red dress, a black-feathered raven, was beseeching a small doll shaped like a feral duck. Steam rose with the black smoke, but the fire grew larger rather than diminishing.

"She's going to die! That monster is in there!" A young grey wolf, no more than sixteen, was clinging to one of the mages - the cougar - trying to get his attention. Another teenaged wolf, a girl, was sobbing uncontrollably beside him.

The mage shook his head, his cream-colored muzzle pursed in grim thought. "There's nothing we can do. We don't know any magic that can defeat it," he stated bitterly.

'Maybe I can help. I'm supposed to be a hero, right? I can't let whoever is in there die without trying. This is my crazy dream, so I should be able to make it end how I want it to.' Matt summoned his nerve, and walked up to the young could and the mage. "I think I can help you, but I doubt we have much time."

The trio looked at the husky like he was crazy. 'Well, maybe that's not a bad assumption. This is kind of crazy.'

"Can you?" the young female wolf who was crying had stopped sobbing and looked pleadingly at Matt, a whine underlying her words. "My child is trapped with a monster!"

'Child?' Matt thought with alarm. 'How can she already have a...wait, right, medieval times.' The husky straightened his back and clenched his jaw. "I can try, I just need a focus," he said, his voice wavering ever so slightly. The girl didn't catch Matt's failing confidence, though the mage did.

The white-robed cougar stepped towards Matt and offered his gem. "Here. It's a sapphire, said to be the gem of the rains. You can use it." Matt took the gem gingerly and held the palm-sized bauble. It was smooth, not quite spherical, and still warm in his paws from the cougar clenching it. "It has done me no good against the demonfire."

The husky nodded, "Thank you." He turned towards the burning building and moved forward. As he approached the door, the heat overwhelmed his senses. He began to pant involuntarily, his body attempting to shed the warmth. Panic rose within Matt, but he focused on the gem and struggled to calm himself. 'I can do this. I have a focus, water can protect me, and I can save the child.'

Matt closed his eyes, concentrating, the roaring of the wind and flames drowning out the noise of the crowd. Nothing happened. 'Who am I fooling? Kazar and Rhisanth were right. I can't wield any real magic yet, even in my dreams.' The husky ground his teeth and gripped the gem harder. 'I just want to help the kid and prove that I'm not a complete screw-up.'

A single tear squeezed from the husky's eye and slid down his fur, falling onto the sapphire. The droplet followed the curved surface of the gem before dropping onto the ground. Bright light flashed from the gem and Matt gasped, his icy blue eyes flying open. He felt the heat subside, and the noise of the wind and fire had lessened.

A bubble had encased him; everything on the outside looked wavy and blurred, as if he were looking through a glass of water. Matt found he could breathe normally, and he was no longer panting. 'Amazing...' he thought in wonder as he stepped into the house, the crowd behind him cheering in anticipation.

The house inside could only be described as Hell itself. The floor below was littered with burning beams fallen from the ceiling and broken furniture, while the floor above had patches of wood missing where it had burned away or broken. Embers and ash swirled in the air, gusts of hot wind throwing them around. It smelled like a bonfire, despite the protective bubble. The stairs, however, looked to be unharmed. Matt yelped as a piece of the ceiling came crashing down beside the husky, causing the bubble to ripple and deform for a moment. Matt watched silently and shuddered as the magical barrier bounced back into a spherical shape.

"I have to get moving," he reminded himself out loud over the noise. He moved quickly over to the stairs, not running, but not walking either. The bubble felt cool and slippery under the pads on his feet but he never felt in danger of losing his balance. He cautiously climbed the steps, and slowly turned the corner at the top. Remembering the holes and weak spots in the floor earlier, Matt quickly glanced down before continuing on.

'This is crazy. It's just a dream, I can't die in my own dream, can I?'

In the hallway Matt saw a small red creature dart into a room. He couldn't figure out what it was, he had seen it so briefly. A faint cackle floated through the hall from the room. The husky braced himself against the wall, the bubble bending as he got closer to it, then walked slowly towards the door. The floor creaked beneath his weight, and he prayed that it didn't drop out from under him.

He scooted into the room, but immediately regretted not being more cautious. The small creature - bipedal with red leathery skin and a brightly colored but angular face - dove at the young husky. The bubble caved in at the intrusion, pushing the creature back. Matt thought the bubble would stop the creature, but his newfound abilities were no match to its persistence. The bubble popped, and Matt nearly fainted from the sudden wave of heat. He dropped to the floor, nauseated, causing the creature to overshoot him.

Matt's eyes stung from the heat and smoke; his nose was all but useless in such an environment. He squinted, taking in the room as he kept low to the floor. 'A crIB: ' He crawled towards the crib as fast as he could, but he felt the air rush out of him as the demon tackled him in the back. Matt rolled over, and just as the creature was about to attack again Matt brought the gem up and summoned another bubble. This time, instead of surrounding himself with it, he concentrated on throwing it at the demon. The watery projectile slammed into the small creature, buffeting it into the wall.

Stunned by the blow, the demon fell to the floor. Matt used the time he had bought by crawling to the crib as fast as he could. In the crib lay a tiny grey wolf cub, less than a year old, swaddled in a blanket. 'Alive, but unconscious. He must have breathed in a lot of smoke.' The husky cradled the baby in his arms and summoned the bubble a third time. 'I can't keep this up, between the heat, the smoke and the magic, I'm getting awfully tired.'

As Matt left the room, he felt an odd sensation from behind him, like someone was brushing a feather against his fur. He glanced back and saw the creature - its mouth twisted in a mad smile of sharp teeth - materializing small balls of fire in its hand, launching them in Matt's direction. The fireballs battered the bubble barrier, causing it to sizzle and pop. Each attack made the husky a little wearier.

"Go away already!" Matt shouted, leaving the room and travelling to the stairs. He was about to run down them when he notice they were ablaze. "No, my escape route!" Turning back, he saw a window at the end of the hall.

He dashed down the passage, no longer worrying about the floor caving in his haste to escape, and kicked out the window, shattering it. The bubble stretched and deformed to keep the husky and the wolf-pup inside it. Matt could feel the glass cut the pads of his feet and his lower legs a little. The pain just helped him stay awake. Looking out, he could see the townsfolk waiting, watching.

"Hey, up here!" The crowd looked up and cheered when they saw the husky with the child. "I can't get out by the stairs, I have to jump!" Matt yelled. "I'll drop the cub first! Catch it!" The husband nodded and stood under the window, his arms out. Matt lowered the child as far as he could before dropping it into the other canine's paws. Once the child was safe, the husband quickly moved away from the building.

'Now for me,' Matt pondered grimly. He was too large for anyone to catch him by themselves. 'I doubt my bubble will bounce, either. It bends way too much to fit the surroundings.' The husky considered what to do when he felt the tickling again. He spun around and cursed as the demon kept launching demonfire at the bubble. "Damn it! Shoo!" he yelled, waving his paws at it. "Go on! Get!" It continued the barrage, unheeding or unaware of Matt's command.

The husky's head began to swim. "I can't keep this up. I'm going to pass out any second," he said to himself quietly. 'It's only a two story drop, maybe I can just jump.' He climbed onto the window sill, the glass cutting into his paws again. The crowd gasped as he looked down. The demon fired another blast, which pierced the bubble, nailing the back of Matt's shoulder and knocking him out of the window.

'Oh shit...' Matt thought, his eyes squeezed shut. After a second, he realized he hadn't hit the ground yet. 'Nine point eight meters per second squared...I should have been flattened already!' Opening his eyes, he saw the cougar holding a feather, staring at Matt in concentration. "He saved me!" Matt shouted hoarsely, his tail wagging as he landed on the ground softly.

The house behind him groaned, and began to tilt. Matt looked in horror as the building leaned over him. "Get away!" he shouted as he ran away from the building, waving his arms in an arc. The roof caved with a loud crash, and flames licked high, reaching for the sky. From the street the crowd watched as the rest of the house began to sag, then finally imploded into a cloud of ash and cinders, temporarily blinding everyone. Once the embers and ash had cleared, there was nothing left of the home but a large pile of smoldering wood and debris. Matt gladly assumed the demon was crushed.

The female wolf ran to Matt and hugged him gratefully, thanking him over and over again. "Is the cub okay?" Matt asked, extracting himself from the wolf's tight grasp.

"Nothing a blessing can't cure," the mage who lent his gem declared, approaching Matt. The husky actually looked at the cougar this time, studying his features. He was youthful, and lithe under his white robe. Dark cream fur except for his muzzle, which was lighter. "I'd like to thank you for helping us. My name is Jason." He shook Matt's paw and smiled, the brown markings around his nose, almost like a mustache, wrinkled with the gesture. The cougar looked vaguely familiar.

Matt felt his cheeks redden under his fur. "No, thank you for letting me use your gem, it worked wonders." The husky handed it towards the cougar, twitching his ears towards the cat as he smiled. "My name's Matt."

Jason reached for the blue bauble, but instead of taking it, he closed Matt's paw around it. "Keep it as a gift from our village. You did more with it than I ever managed." The cougar's touch lingered, neither Matt nor Jason removing their paws from the gem.

Matt felt woozy, the magic use and the fire finally catching up to him, and began to collapse. He was aware of the townsfolk watching him as he fell, and felt Jason catch him as sleep swept over the husky.

* * * * *

"Kael, he's waking up! Matt! Matt!" The husky heard Jay's voice drift into his mind. He felt someone squeezing his hand.

Kael's deep voice cut through the air, "Yeah, I'm surprised he didn't tell you about his condition, man. You'd think..."

"Hey guys?" Matt said uneasily, his eyes heavy with exhaustion.

Jay pounced on Matt, hugging the husky happily. "You're okay!" Jay grinned, his brown eyes sparkling with moisture.

"I can take care of him," Kael offered as the kangaroo hovered by his roommate's bed. "You should get home, Jay. Your parents are probably worried."

The cougar nodded. "I called the 'rents. They understood, but yeah, I should get home." He looked at Matt and squeezed his paw lightly. "You should call me a little later."

"Bye," Matt said quietly as Jay left. The husky sighed, bracing himself for what he knew was coming.

"Really, dude? What the hell, man? Are you planning on not telling anyone and passing out at everybody's feet before letting furs know?" Kael berated Matt loudly. "And seriously, not telling your date? That's asking for all sorts of trouble, dude. Get over yourself and just deal." The kangaroo had walked over to his desk and sat in his chair angrily, his thick tail slapping Matt's desk in the small room. "You're my friend, man, but I can't be cleaning up all your messes, y'know?"

Matt was staring at the white bricks above Kael's bed, tuning out the rotund 'roo. He pressed a paw against the back of his shoulder under his t-shirt, and was surprised to find the fur singed. 'Maybe I'm not even a peninsula,' Matt mused before tuning Kael back in.