FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 1: Owada Anchorage, Japan

Idesin grumbled as he creeped off of the fishing boat, settling one of the conical hats they'd found onboard over his head. "Do I really have to wear something like this? My hat was better."

"Do you still have it on under that one?"

"Yeah, but -"

"Then you're wearing it." Studley shook his head, pulling down his own hat as much as he could. Even with it pulled down to the point that it covered his eyes, he still worried about the end of his muzzle sticking out the front. The otter's face was flatter - though not so much as a human's - so it could pass relatively easily. His own wolf face, though...it was a little more difficult. Neither of them had transformed to humans, both due to a lack of opportunity and because they weren't sure what the humans here looked like. Yama was the only one on the island that had come here in the last two hundred years, and even he didn't remember much of what it was like.

Thankfully, he'd had a chance to observe some of the fishermen on the boat while they were hiding. A few spare clothes taken from storage on the ship matched how the fishermen dressed, and with any luck - as long as they kept their heads down - they'd be mistaken for them. Rough woven shirts and loose pants kept their fur from being revealed, and the hats should work if they were careful.

He just wished that the humans had better footwear than the sandals that he was forced to use. Studley grumbled under his breath as he adjusted them again, shifting from one foot to another on the length of wooden boards that formed the dock. They were not comfortable in the least, though he supposed he was lucky. Idesin had webbed toes, and the band that slid between the big and second toe probably didn't feel any better to his friend than it did to him.

Their tails were the hardest things to hide, though; Studley could slip his up the back of his shirt, though that would cause a problem if it were to start wagging, but the otter's large rudder of a tail was just too large to fit into his clothes, and the harbor was a little too crowded for him to risk using any of his powers as a Wonder to transform the clothes into something capable of that. The best solution that they could work out was draping some nets over the otter's back, and making it look like he was carrying them along. Idesin grumbled from it, but Studley pushed the net around him a little tighter, making sure that it wasn't going to fall off if the otter got distracted by something around him. "That'll have to do," Studley muttered.

"So where should we go?" Idesin said. "I mean, I know they said that Rannoi came out here, but Japan's a pretty big place. We could fit three villages right here; how are we supposed to find him?"

"Do you really think he was hiding who he was when he came through here?" Studley asked with a chuckle.

"Heh, good point." The otter paused. "Hey, if he didn't hide himself, then why do we?"

"Because I don't want to spend our entire time on the island running away from the local guards," he said. "This is the first time that we've been able to get away from the village for way too long, and I'm going to have as much fun with it as I can before we go back."

"I think we could have even more fun if we weren't hiding like this," Idesin muttered. Still, he pulled the net along his shoulders, adjusting it until he was comfortable, and got a grip on it like he was actually carrying it instead of just having it draped along his shoulders. "Well, if we're going to try and find our friend, we're going to have to talk to someone sooner or later. Do you still have that spell from visiting Ramesses the Great?"

"Do you really think I'd forget that?"

"Did you?"

"No, I just never took the spell off of myself. Too useful," Studley said. It was one of the better little bits of magic that he had figured out how to use, and he'd passed it around to several other Wonders on the island. With the difficulty of actually learning so many languages when they just died out so quickly, it was a lot easier to use a little bit of magic to shift one's ears to take in different languages and translate the sounds. It made cleaning out the ears a little harder, and he admitted that it made the natural twisting and turning that his ears did a little more uncomfortable, but it was worth it to know what was going on.

Of course, he still needed to cast it on Idesin, when they had time, otherwise he could see a big problem happening the second that they started talking to people. "Let's find a place where it's not so crowded, huh?"

"Just what I was thinking, Studley." Idesin turned his head back to the port, and started walking. With little else to do, Studley followed.

The harbor was just starting to wake up, but already there were both civilians and soldiers on the streets. Studley watched the soldiers, wearing boiled leather and carrying spears, pass by some of the people kneeling at the sides of hastily put together wooden buildings. They seemed to ignore those that were crouched there, simply walking along their patrols, and the wolf stifled a growl in the back of his throat as he looked back at those at the sides of the streets. Men, women, children; all types of humans were there, either sleeping or watching those that walked by them. Not a one spoke, and the silence had the fur on the back of his neck rising.

Wooden buildings that were scarcely different from each other lined the docks. Some looked like warehouses, where some few trade goods might be kept until they were ready to be sold, but most looked like fishermen's huts. The roofs were made of reeds, and the walls were made of wood. On closer inspection, the wolf was surprised to see that the ramshackle, rough construction he'd seen from further away was surprisingly solid. It didn't match the shaped houses back on the island, of course, but the buildings didn't look like they were on the verge of falling down anymore. The wood fit together in a surprisingly artful way, though more a style that lent itself to the starkness of things than the extravagance he was used to.

Even with the sightseeing that he'd like to do, however, Studley kept his head down, focusing on the otter's back and keeping an eye on the net. Idesin was keeping up a good pace, and he was trusting him to look for an alley or somewhere private where they could get the translation spell going. He had to trust the otter to lead them now, and would likely have to continue trusting Idesin to lead them later, considering he couldn't look up without revealing his face. It almost made him miss Egypt, even with the blistering heat that desert kingdom came with; at least there he could keep his face exposed and have the best hospitality.

Still, at least this was someplace different instead of more of the same village.

The smell of fish gave way to the smell of human bodies, with fruit in the distance and seared meat - that wasn't fish - a little past that. Studley's nostrils flared at the scent, and the wolf groaned. Idesin chuckled in front of him, and he restrained himself from poking the otter. Calm, he told himself; keep calm, and he'd have the chance to get the otter later.

Eventually, after walking along the dirt streets, Idesin took a turn to the right. Studley followed behind him, and only just managed to not run into the otter when he suddenly came to a stop. Backpedaling a pace, the wolf looked up. "Safe?"

"Safe as we can get."

"Good. Take off your hat." Studley cracked his knuckles as Idesin pulled the conical hat off, still leaving that purple blob on his head, and reached up to the otter's ears. They fluttered slightly under his fingers, and Idesin's face twisted up a bit at the wolf's firm grip. "Oh, relax, it's not that bad."

"Says the guy that hasn't had to re-cast the thing in a millenium and a half," the otter grunted. "I hate the way this feels."

"You could always choose to go without, and deal with people talking about you in other languages."

"You know I can't stand that."

"Then hush." Studley looked at the ears again, going over the spell in his head. Altering a specific body part always took a little more effort, just because it wasn't sending magic energy on a default plan like changing the fish into a whale did. More to the point, the person having the magic cast on them always felt the changes happening this way. It was strange how the mind filtered out a full body transformation, but focused on the partials. The mind was a very strange thing.

Rubbing his fingers along the edge of the ears, Studley visualized the changes that they'd go through. The shifting in the ear canals, the way that the surfaces would change to reflect sound in different ways, changing the way the sounds were shaped, until they came through in a way that they could understand. He was just grateful that the otter came from a generation of Wonders a little further back; using this spell to revert languages back to a root was a lot easier than advancing them to a new language.

"Alright. Are you ready?" Idesin nodded, and Studley opened his eyes. "Here we go."

Light flared from his fingers, spreading into half circles over the otter's ears. It completely covered them in the space of a second, and judging by the grimace on the otter's face, it was spreading inside his ears. Studley forced the magic to keep going, feeling the energy running down his arms and pushing out of the pads on his hands.

His lips turned up in a smile. Too long, he thought; too long since he had been transforming things. The island was no fun anymore, and his friends were fine the way that they were, at home. But out in the world, all the things that could, should, needed to change...it made him feel alive. The power of the magic rushing down his arms, the sensation of molding the body of another like this; it was the fulfillment of his purpose. A real fulfillment.

"Studley...Studley, you can stop."

Idesin's voice snapped the wolf out of his blissful semi-trance, and he looked the otter in the eye. His friend's face was twisted up in discomfort, and Studley pulled his hands back. "Sorry," the wolf muttered, shaking his head. "I got a little carried away."

"I noticed." Idesin rubbed his ears, stroking the sensitive pink bits beneath the fur that covered the rounded tops. "Sure that worked?"

"Put the hat back on and check it out. I'm going to give myself a little better disguise while we have the time." And then maybe he'd be able to walk around without staring at the ground the whole time, and have a better time with the sandals. They were NOT made for wolf feet, that was for sure.

As he pressed his hands to his body, he felt the changes begin. Thankfully, the little alley they were in was shadowed by the roofs above them, keeping the light from shining outwards, and Idesin standing guard at the alley exit should be enough to keep others from noticing what was happening in here. He could take his time and make sure that the transformation was done right...and attractively, for that matter.

Studley pressed his hands to his chest first, shaking his head as he pushed the fur down. It folded into his skin, disappearing beneath a new layer of skin. He made sure that it matched the slightly off white color that the other islanders had, just so he wouldn't stand out as a foreigner, before continuing the change down his chest. Fur folded, disappeared beneath the magic. Skin and muscles replaced them, obvious ones, one of the few advantages of skin over fur, he thought. At least with skin, one's physique was obvious, while beneath the fur it was hidden unless one was grotesquely muscular.

He stroked his glowing hands along his belly before going past his waist. The tingling feeling around his crotch reminded him that he would have different...equipment down there for a while, and he shook his head at the loss of that. But he didn't linger there, knowing that there wasn't much time.

His pants bulged a little more in the thighs and calves as the transformation added a little more muscle in the area. Studley chuckled to himself at the sight. Some people transformed themselves rapidly, just getting the basics down, but that never resulted in anything particularly attractive. Most of the Wonders didn't mind that, but he had some standards. If he looked good as a wolf, and he was the one doing the transformation to himself, he was going to look good as a human, too.

As the transformation reached his feet, he sighed in relief as the band between his toes finally stopped bothering him. Large black furred feet shrunk down to pale human ones, and he was able to stand in the sandals without feeling like they were becoming fused to his feet. He shifted from one foot to another, enjoying the lack of pain, before reaching around his back. He barely had to push on his tail before it slid back into his spine, disappearing into his back like a noodle into a hungry mouth. It felt strange, like he was going to fall over without that limb in the back, but he knew he would get used to it. An hour, maybe two, and then he'd be walking as though he'd never had a tail in his life.

Lifting his hands to his face, Studley crossed his eyes to stare at his muzzle. "Your turn," he muttered as he laid his palm against his nose. He winced; he'd forgotten just how much he hated this part. "Just do it fast..." Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, and SHOVED on his nose. It took everything that he had not to howl in pain, and he still yelped at the feeling of it crunching back into his face, flattening out his features into the much less bulgy human norm. He panted softly, shaking his head from side to side as he gritted his new, flatter teeth. "Mmmph...right...THAT'S why most of us do it all at once..."

"You about done?" Idesin hissed from the alley's entrance.

"Yeah...yeah I think so." He turned around, resisting the urge to rub his face. "How do I look?"

"Um..." The otter paused, staring out of the alley at something else. Studley shook his head at his friend, snapping his fingers. Idesin jerked, turning his head to look at him. "Wow, not a bad look...a little bigger muscles than anyone we've seen so far, though. Isn't that a little much?"

"I like to be strong," Studley said. "Is it that much more?"

"I guess not, but...geez, you look like you could punch in a door."

"Good. Maybe that'll keep anyone with less-than-pure intentions from bothering us." He chuckled. "So, the translation thing working?"

"Perfectly." Idesin tapped his ears. "And I think I know just where we need to look for the information we need."

The smug look on the otter's face would have earned him a slap upside the head any other time. Considering their mission and where they were - and how eager he was to find Rannoi too - Studley was willing to let it slide. This time. Waving his hand, he gestured for the otter to continue.

"Some of the guards walking around here talked about this huge disturbance that happened in the markets a little further in. Something about the animals of one of the merchants suddenly rising up and tearing through the market." He raised an eyebrow as the otter chuckled. "They tore through it on two legs, rather than on four."

Studley sighed, shaking his head. "Yes, that would be a change. One of us definitely came through here. Hear anything else?"

Idesin shook his head. "No chance. The guards were walking along pretty fast, and even our ears can only pick up so much."

"And mine less than yours, now." He grumbled, rubbing his earlobe. The human body just wasn't built for the same senses that the wolf one was. Much as he liked transforming, Studley had to admit that the human form had serious drawbacks. No keen nose, no ears that could pick up sounds from further away, not even the magic that the Wonders had to transform and change the things around them. It was like the humans in general were left with a pretty raw deal in comparison to the people around them.

Just another reason why they couldn't stay on the island, Studley thought. The humans would never really be able to do much with their world without some sort of change, and they often needed a sharp poke to do something like that. He and the rest of the Wonders needed to be that poke.

Shaking himself free of the thoughts, he brought his hand back down to his side. "There's time for you to change too, Idesin; I'll take -"

"I don't need to change, Studley." The otter smirked again, pulling the hat down over his face. With the right angle, he was actually able to look where he was going, and even Studley couldn't make out the furry features that were hidden beneath the brim of the thing. "Long as I keep holding onto this net, and keep this hat down, I'm no different than the other humans around here. Besides, you know I don't like human form; it's so boring compared to being in our real bodies." He grumbled, and the otter laughed. "I'm saying exactly what you're thinking, aren't I?"

"Did I ever tell you how annoying that smirk of yours is?"

"Last week, I think."

"Well, I'm saying it again. That smirk is really annoying." Studley pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before shaking his head. "Fine. Just be careful, okay? I don't want a repeat of that lemming run a couple centuries ago."

"Hey, that wasn't my fault! They were being all playful, and I thought that they wanted to go for a swim!" Idesin protested, his smile gone. "And I got them all out again when I found out that they couldn't! You can't keep bringing that one up!"

"Heh, then tell me, just how did the lemming runs get started then? Isn't it a tradition for them now?" Studley asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I...but...It...GAH!" The otter grumbled, pulling the hat down over his head, while Studley continued to chuckle under his breath. It was all too fun to get the otter all riled up, particularly when it was something that was really, truly his fault. He watched Idesin as he walked out of the alley, and waited for a few seconds before following after him.

With the day a little further along, the dirt streets were starting to get a little more crowded. People that lived in the harbor were joining those that had sailed in, and the smell of rapidly warming bodies filled the air. Studley weaved between people with practiced ease, avoiding the elbows and the hands of people that were jammed in too tight quarters, and dodging into the brief gaps between the river of people in the middle of the street and the small groups of people that were pulling off from it and heading into the buildings. Through it all, he kept watching the otter ahead of him.

Idesin wasn't that hard to follow; the otter's net was one of the few that were carried over the shoulder that way, with most of the others being pulled along by two people due to the weight of the fish inside. More than that, the hat that the otter wore wasn't so common as Studley had been hoping. It served as a good point of keeping track of where he was, but it was something that stood out, and that made him worry. His eyes flicked from side to side every few minutes, looking for any of the guards that he'd noticed earlier. Spear points stuck up from the crowd every so often, but so far, none of their attention seemed to focus on the two of them. Probably because they dealt with newcomers all the time, he supposed; small help, but something.

They walked around a few corners, first Idesin, and then him. He could tell that they were slowly making their way towards the markets of the small port; the flow of people had turned from pressing him back to pressing him forward, and he was able to ride the 'current' easily. He didn't even have to worry about pickpockets, considering that he carried none of the 'money' that the human world worked with. Not that there weren't a few that tried; Studley felt one or two people brush up against him, their fingers pressing against a pocket or against his waist in search for something that wasn't there, followed by a barely heard 'hmmph' when they walked away, disappointed. The sound was almost enough to make him chuckle. Frustrating thieves could be ever so amusing, particularly when he didn't have to do anything to accomplish it.

Suddenly, the confined center of the street opened up. The buildings that formed the street suddenly changed their patterns, opening up into a small square. It was nothing compared to the open air markets in places like Constantinople or the north of Africa, but with three times as much street space for people to occupy, the pressure that surrounded them on all sides suddenly fell away. Studley almost stumbled at the lack of drive from behind, surprised at how quickly it could abandon him, and had to step off to the side for a moment to get his bearings.

And in that moment, he realized that he'd lost track of the otter.

He whipped his head left and right, searching for the hat or the net, or even something sticking out of the disguise that Idesin wore, anything that might give him a clue where his friend had gone. "Not good, not good, not good," Studley muttered frantically as he hurried down the sides of the market. A few merchants watched him go by, not one shouting at him - one part of the culture that he liked, nobody shouting for attention like in a few other places - but they did stare at him. Raised eyebrows and curious eyes followed him as he ran past their little stands and shops without so much as glancing at their material, and he noticed one merchant looking back the way he'd come, as though searching for pursuit.

Realizing that he was being more conspicuous than he should be, he slowed down, pausing at the next merchant. Not really caring what he sold, he leaned over and looked at some of the merchandise. Knives, and not bad ones, either. They were displayed half out of their sheaths, and he spent a little time admiring them. Couldn't buy one, but he had to admit that they weren't badly done.

With half his attention focused on the blades, he was able occasionally dart his eyes around the market to look for that otter. How he disappeared that quickly, he didn't know, but he hoped that Idesin wasn't going to cause any trouble. They needed to move quickly, not get tied down in the area because one of them had done something stupid, or caused a scene. Rannoi might have done something here - and if the animals had truly transformed and rebelled against the merchant before, he admitted that was probably what had happened - but that didn't mean that they had the same license. One disturbance could be forgotten; two or even three became a pattern, and people started getting curious.

"If you wish to buy, they will cost you little," the merchant behind the rows of knives said. Studley turned back, looking up from the blades. "My father made them this week. They will work with whatever you need, whether that is slicing food, or protecting yourself. Tell me, do any of them interest you?"

He absently pointed to one of them, a darker blade with a wrapped handle. The shopkeeper picked it up as Studley's eyes wandered again. Was that him over there, he wondered. The hat looked about right, but there were so many people around that set of stalls that it was hard for him to tell.

"An obsidian blade. My father has only made a few of these, but they are the sharpest that we have. I believe that you would do well with this, as long as you keep it clean, sir." Studley turned around again, and held out his hand. The merchant smiled, handing the blade over for him to get a good look at it. A surprising amount of trust, Studley thought, but considering the presence of the guards around the entrances and exits of this little square, he supposed that merchants could be a little more trusting.

He turned the blade around a bit, admiring the craftsmanship. They didn't have much metal back on the island; they didn't dig it up, and it took more than a little effort to turn rock into metal. Just his bracers and the collar he wore under his shirt had taken hours to transform properly. But what little metal that they had back home didn't match the sharpness of this knife. The obsidian had been honed down remarkably well, and the blade itself was thin and sharp around the edge, to the point where he didn't dare put his finger too near it to test the edge. It wasn't very long, only about five inches, but with how sharp the craftsman had managed to get the thing, he could see how it didn't need to be any longer.

Gesturing for permission to unwrap the hilt and getting a nod from the merchant in return, Studley pulled some of the cloth away. He blinked at the sight of the white color underneath, and continued to unwrap it until it was half exposed. Whale ivory, unless he missed his guess; he'd seen it a few other places, and while they hadn't been quite so cleanly white as this, it was still close enough for him to guess its source. The contrast between white and black was remarkable, but considering the smoothness of the ivory, it definitely needed the wrap for someone to keep their grip on it. Well, humans would, anyway; padded wolf hands were another story.

"I will be honest, sir. That is the best knife that I have for sale today," the shopkeeper said. "It seems you like it a great deal. Do you want to buy it?"

He did. Oh, he did. If he had the money that they used here, he probably would have laid down a purse and walked away without the change, and as it was, he was more than a little tempted to pocket the thing and walk away. After all, the magic of a Wonder could do many things, and he'd probably be able to get away with it.

But...he couldn't. Not while they still needed to find that -

"Stop! Stop! What are you doing?!" A shout rang out from the other side of the market, and Studley whipped his head around to see what was going on. The crowd was thick, but as a hat went flying and a surprised shriek pierced through the other market sounds, he could see some details.

Idesin had lost his disguise hat, and the otter's features were on plain display among the humans around him. One guard was rapidly backing away from his fellow Wonder, his armor literally crumbling into pieces of something that looked like sweet bread around him, and his spear faring little better. He was shouting something about a devil, an evil spirit - the translation spell couldn't seem to decide just which it was - and the guard's shouts spread through the crowd. Studley turned from side to side, groaning as he saw the spear points that marked the guards moving in from the north and south sides of the market. "This is just what I was hoping to avoid," Studley muttered under his breath.

"Did you say something, sir?" the shopkeeper asked.

That's right, the translation spell only did it one way; he couldn't speak the language, no matter how well he understood it. He looked at the knife in his hand again, and groaned, putting it back down on the stall. "Sorry," he said, even though he knew it wouldn't be understood. Lunging forward through the crowd, he fought his way through the milling mass before him. Nobody wanted to let him through, but he forced his way past them anyway; not many people were big enough to actually hold him back with his new body's musculature, and those few that were tended to be spread out, and trying to force their way forward as well.

He managed to break through the wall of people while the guards were still a little further away. The otter had his arms crossed, standing between the nearly naked guard and a pair of beggars, one of them with a bruise across their cheek. A bruise that looked like it might have come from a spear shaft or spear end. Studley sighed. "Guard hitting them?" he asked the otter.

"Yep." Idesin's smile was gone, and the otter looked genuinely pissed off, his eyes narrowed and his fingers clenching at his arms. His tail twitched ever so slightly, and Studley could just imagine his friend getting ready to smack someone with it. "He needed to learn to be nice, and they needed food."

"I noticed that." The crowd pulled back from him, and Studley groaned again. Probably thought that he was possessed by an evil spirit too, considering that he and Idesin were speaking the same language, and not one that they recognized. No chance of getting out sneakily now, he thought as he stepped past them and stood beside the otter. "What is this stuff? Doesn't look like the bread back home."

"I call them cookies. They should be round, though, not crumbs." He shook his head, reaching up to adjust his purple blob on his head before crossing his arms again. "I was a little angry, so I hurried them too much. Next time I'll get it right."

"Next time, maybe do it a bit more quietly? Please? I'm kind of tired of running." The spears were getting closer and closer, and Studley could even see a few of the guards barely a dozen feet away. Their shouts were clear, too, shouting for the people to get out of the way so that they could deal with the 'evil spirits' that had defied one of their own. "And by that, I mean, I'd like to spend a day in town without having to run away from it before sunset."

"What is it that you keep telling me when I'm complaining?" Idesin asked.

"I'm pretty sure I tell you some version of 'deal with it'."

"Right, right. Your turn; we're doing the right thing by helping people like that, and if we gotta run for a while afterwards, then that's part of the price we pay." The otter was being stubborn...but Studley admitted that he had a point. They were there to change things, but they changed things to help as much as possible. And while he wished the otter had been a little more circumspect...well, he couldn't completely fault him for what he was doing.

He was probably going to smack him later, though, particularly if the guards were able to catch them. "Well, now that they have a little food, I think it's time for us to move."

"Why?" Idesin asked. "This guy's not going to do anything."

"I'm not so worried about him." The three guards that were closest pushed through the regular people in front of them, and Studley grabbed the otter by the shoulder. "I'm worried about them and their friends. Run!"

"Yipes!" the otter yelped before setting off at a run behind Studley, staying right behind him. Studley raised his arms and held them crossed in front of him as he just ran, barreling people over as he went. The crowd got the message soon enough, ducking out of the way to avoid being knocked over. Their shouts were nearly deafening in his ears, but at least they weren't blocking his way. As the crowd started to fall away in front of him, the calls of the guards - shouting things like 'halt', or 'stop', or 'you will die' - followed him. He shook his head with a grunt, grabbing hold of one of the onlookers and tugging them into their path behind them.

"What are you doing?!" Idesin shouted. "They'll get hurt!"

"They'll be better off than we are," Studley muttered back. "And we gotta slow them down fast, or they're going to catch up with us."

"Well, I already did my part." The otter had done, at that, though it could have been timed better. "What about you?"

"Working on it. For now, RUN!"

They broke through the crowd and ran down one of the alleys, their sandals clacking on the dirt paths. The houses prevented them from doing anything but run single file, which was fine with him. He could run as fast as he wanted, and the otter should be able to keep up. The temptation to turn into his wolf form was there, to get out of human form, but he ignored it. If they were able to lose the guards, they would need to transform again, and there was no way that he would have the time or the shelter to hide in while that happened. Better speed or not, the wolf form was simply not an option.

Out of the alley and through another crowd they ran, the sounds of the guards behind them and the screams of the people ahead drowning out all the other sounds of the city. A passing farmer lost control of his livestock as Studley shoved his way past, and he found himself having to leap over a cow. Idesin, right behind him, shoved his way through a cluster of chicken, adding the clucking sound to the din around them for a few seconds before the crowd overwhelmed them.

Looking back, he saw Idesin picking up one of the chicken, throwing it at the approaching guards. "What are you, chicken? Slowpokes! Can't catch - ulp!"

"Stop teasing, keep running!" He kept pulling the otter by the scruff of his neck for a handful of seconds before he felt Idesin start running again, and pulled his hand back more out of the need to keep his balance than because he didn't think it was needed. His sandals clacked out a rapid beat on the ground, click clack click clack, and he knew that it was only going to get louder and faster before they were free again.

The buildings pushed them in tight with other people again, but again Studley shoved them out of the way. They were like rag-dolls, falling out of the way as soon as he ran into them, but that wasn't going to last forever. He could already feel the human body tiring, and cursed under his breath. His wolf body wouldn't be nearly tired by this point, but he squelched that thought before it could go any further. If he completely ran out of energy, then he would go wolf, but not before, not while there was a chance to avoid it.

Reaching a different part of the city, they ducked down another alley. They didn't bother trying to hide, only rushing out the other end, and only barely avoided running into a well-dressed man and his entourage. Studley tried to shout an apology as he ran down the street in another direction, but it didn't do any good. The rich guy - apparently some warlord from up north, by the way he was addressed - shouted at the guards on the street, pointing after him and Idesin. Studley ran his fingers through his hair as he kept running, on the verge of pulling on it, and he ducked down another alley. "How many guards does this city have?!" he groaned.

"I'd say -"

"Not a real question!"

"Could have fooled me. I thought you were the one with plan, Studley."

"I said I'm working on - OTHER WAY!" He slid forward a few feet before jumping out of the way of a spear, slapping a second one before it could skewer him through his chest. His fingers glowed momentarily, turning the tip of the spear into a pink flower, but he didn't have a chance to see just what the guard's reaction was before he was off on another run, the otter's giggles telling him that Idesin had managed to avoid turning into otter-on-a-stick as well.

Continued otter chuckles made him roll his eyes as his mind tried to keep track of where they'd been. They'd been in and out of who knew how many alleys by this point, ducking between the streets and trying to keep out sight, but the guards were slowly penning them in. There had to be a good dozen of them on their tail now, and if they were waiting up ahead, another big scene might not be avoidable. Turning down another alley at the sight of a trio of spearmen running in their direction, Studley groaned at the sight of a large, thick wooden barrier in front of them. A rude barricade put up hastily, it still had all the spiky bits pointing in the right direction, and more than enough guards behind it to keep them from just jumping over it. He swore, but rather than slow down, he sped up. Growling, Studley pressed his hands out in front of him.

"Are you crazy?! You're not going to be able to break that!" Idesin shouted.

"I'm not going to!" A growing howl formed in his mouth, and the alley echoed with it, the sound even drowning out the shouts of the guards pursuing them. His fingers curled, almost forming claws as Studley reached inside, feeling for that energy that he'd used before. A bunch of sticks was not going to stop a Wonder, and it wasn't going to stop him. Familiar white light glowed at the ends of his fingers, and he grinned as it spread up his hands, going far enough up his arms to reach his elbows as they got closer and closer to the wooden barrier between them and the other end of the alley.

Hitting the barricade at top speed, Studley released the light all at once. The wood turned from a pointed barrier to a round, flat one, and green rapidly sprouted above them, as well as thick branches. "Grab onto something!" he shouted at the otter, suiting his words to action as he grabbed one of the branches. The light continued to flood the growing tree as it raised itself out of the ground, the wood returning to what it had once been. His feet left the ground as the trunk stretched into the sky, the trunk spinning as it grew at an impossible rate, turning him to face the astonished guards below. He laughed, kicking his feet back and forth as he was spun around.

The otter hung on a branch just a little below him, and looked up at him with a bemused expression. "I thought we weren't trying to make any more scenes?" Idesin asked.

"This isn't a scene, this is an escape." He pulled himself up onto the branch, brushing some of the dirt off of his pants with a shake of his head. The tree continued to rotate, the branches slowly spiraling ever further upwards. Houses fell away as they rose further and further up from the ground, and more and more people were staring up at them. Some gaped, others pointed, but nobody looked anything less than amazed at what they had done.

"I think I'd call this a scene...and I don't think that was enough to get away, Studley."

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh, nothing, just the very angry guards a few branches down trying to grab my tail!"

Studley blinked, turning his attention from the various buildings and amazed people to the bottom of the tree. Sure enough, the guards hadn't been completely idle while the two of them had ridden the tree. Four of them had grabbed branches of their own and were climbing further up the tree, and one of them had reached a branch just below the otter. The spearman used his weapon to keep his balance, having stabbed the blade of the weapon into the branch, while leaning forward and flailing around in an attempt to grab hold of the otter. "The monks will deal with you! Surrender, and face your fate with -"

The guard finally got a slight grip on the otter's tail, but he had no chance to get a better one before Idesin twitched out of his hand. The thick otter rudder slammed into the guard's head, knocking him down against the branch and nearly knocking him off of the tree. Only a quick grab by the guard in question kept him from falling dozens of feet back down to street level.

Idesin turned back to him, grumbling. "Got any objections to another flashy exit, or are you still saying that this isn't a scene?"

"Uh..." Studley looked down. They were a goodly way up, and a fall from here would hurt them just as much as it would one of the humans that were chasing them. "No point really saying I do, huh?"

"I don't think so, no." Idesin shook his head, grabbing one of the leaves on his branch. "Can you handle your end?" Studley raised an eyebrow, and the otter held up a hand. "Hey, hey, just asking."

As the otter's hands began to glow around the leaf, Studley looked back at the tree. The leaves were probably not his best bet, but the only other thing that he had to work with was the branch he was standing on. Considering that was the only thing keeping him from falling to the ground in the first place, he wasn't sure that he wanted to try that particular race. He was good, but he wasn't sure if he was good enough to make that fast a precision transformation. The tree one only worked because he transformed the wood back to what it once was, rather than trying to pick something different.

With a whoop of glee, the otter leaped off of the tree. Studley watched as his friend floated off, the leaf transformed into a great sheet that caught the wind. It carried him along several rows of houses, the otter shouting all the while, before it dipped below the roof level. He shook his head; he was going to have to try and find Idesin again, but at least now the otter was safe.

Him, on the other hand...

Whipping his head back around to the guards below, he saw them a little higher than they had been. Idesin's branch having been vacated, they had nothing to worry about on their way up to him. Three of the guards were on that branch, while the fourth was still a little ways down. They didn't bother shouting at him. Either they'd lost the strength to keep climbing and shouting at the same time - something that their glares assured him was wrong - or they'd realized that it wasn't going to do any good. None of them looked like they were willing to take him alive, either. Two of them had raised spears, taking aim at him, while the third held the spear of his comrade on the lower branch and his own in reserve.

"Well..." Studley smiled. "That's just perfect." He threw open his arms as the guards took aim at him, offering himself as an even bigger target. "Come on, come on, just take a shot. I bet you can't even hit me! You definitely can't catch me!" The words weren't getting through to them based on the confused looks on their faces, but the tightened eyes, the repeated shouts, that was enough to confirm that they were still angry enough to try to get him. That was all he needed.

The spears came one by one, scarcely a second between each one as it was thrown, but that was all he needed. Lunging out to the side, he grabbed the first one just behind the bladed head, and whipped around, spinning on his heel to catch the other spear before it could go flying past him. His grin was only slightly marred by the fact that he almost lost his balance, but he still grinned as he windmilled back and forth on top of the branch. His sandals were NOT well suited for keeping balance on top of rough bark, he belatedly realized as he took a few seconds to find his footing again. At least he managed to hold onto the spears, he thought.

"Heheh, that's all I nee-Whoa!" The guards had re-armed themselves quickly, and one of them had thrown another spear at him, the blade slipping over his arm and nicking him. His clothes rapidly red around the torn skin, and Studley barely stopped himself from cupping the injured spot, the spears too important to lose to instinct. Gritting his teeth, he glared down at the guards, his lips curling up as his teeth flared with the same light as his magic. He felt them transforming, the pointed teeth of his wolf form pricking at his gums for a moment before he forced the transformation back down. "If I wasn't in a hurry..."

The guards, momentarily paralyzed from his glare, started to climb again as Studley's hands glowed with his magic. Their shouts were drowned out by the feeling of the magic rushing down his arms, the sensation of tingling power that surged through his fingers into the spears. Glowing as bright as the sun above, the spears merged together, flashing brightly as they flowed into each other, the magic forcing them to take on a completely different shape, one far more useful.

Bladed tips disappeared as the spears melted together, and the light flowed into the space between the two shafts. It stretched, pulled out wider and wider, even as the light between the two ends continued to lengthen. All parts of it stretched out until it was twice as long as his arms when they were stretched out to his sides. A twist of his hand brought a pair of handgrips out of the bottom, and he quickly slid his hands through them, gripping the new straps as tightly as he could.

The guards hung from his branch by knives and grips on the rough bark, and they glared at him as they slowly pulled themselves up. Studley fought the urge to go over and kick them off the branch, turning his back on them. The light was slowly fading from the frame on his back, the whole thing almost done, but he couldn't afford to wait any longer. Taking a deep breath, he backed up a step from the edge, and then ran forward as fast as he could, kicking off of the branch just as he felt a brush of air near his foot.

He fell. He fell fast, only just avoiding two of the branches on the way down. Studley grunted, the light fading far too slowly, the spell almost done...

With a sudden wrench, the light disappeared and the new harness on his back solidified. Grinning, Studley adjusted his grip, and felt his direction shift. He barely avoided the next branch as the makeshift wings on his back lifted him up, and swooped into the air. It carried him up and over one of the nearby buildings, and he howled into the sky in glee. It wasn't real flight, but it was darn close; he should know, he'd done it.

Looking back, he winced. The houses around the tree had been almost completely demolished, the rapidly expanding tree having taken over at least three different buildings as it had grown outwards as fast as it had grown upwards. He hadn't thought about that part, and he hoped that there wasn't anyone in the houses that had been hurt. Not that he could do anything about it now, but he still worried a little about them.

His eyes flicked upwards, to the guards still on the tree. All of them stared after him, flabbergasted at the way that he'd escaped. Even the one that still had a spear, laying flat on the branch with his arm outstretched, didn't even bother getting up. It was like they had finally realized how impossible their task of chasing him and Idesin down really was, that they had finally gotten the message that it was better not to try and just let them get away from them.

Unfortunately, the people on the ground didn't seem to have the same thoughts. As he flew towards where Idesin had gone, the sounds of bowstrings snapping caught his attention. His eyes went wide as he felt slicing wind shoot past his arms and near his head, and Studley almost lost control of his ride as he flailed around, his arms flapping the edges of the glider in a vague attempt to get a little more altitude. It worked to a degree, but the arrows kept coming, shooting past him. At first, he thought that they just had terrible aim, since none of the arrows were hitting him directly, but as he started falling back to earth, he realized that they weren't shooting at him, but at his ride.

"You pieces of -"

CRASH! The glider's wing had dipped down too far, clipping on the edge of one of the houses. The wooden slats broke off as well, but the damage was done to the glider as well. It went into a spin and carried Studley with it, whipping him around. Ground, sky, ground, sky, ground, sky, ground -

The problem with such physically strong body became apparent as soon as he hit the first building. Breaking through the wooden panels without so much as slowing down, he felt every single plank of wood in his way snapping in two. WHAM, through one wall; CRACK, through another. Flying over a street, he slammed into another house, howling briefly before the air was knocked out of his lungs by the wall on the other side of the house. He moved in a whirlwind of limbs and cracked glider parts, briefly catching sight of a few people that looked as terrified and shocked to see him as he was to see them.

Through the whole thing, his body stayed awake. He'd built it sturdy enough to weather the abuse of quite a few things, and being knocked through houses was one of them. Several bones in his arms and legs had snapped in the process, and Studley was just holding on through that pain, but his body refused to black out from it. "Next time...less nerves..." he thought to himself in the brief space he had over a street before he slammed through another building. This time, at least, he went through paper rather than solid wood. His momentum slowed enough that he bounced off of the wooden panel on the other side of the room, and fell on his face on a set of mats on the floor.

He groaned as the pain caught up with his impromptu flight, and took assessment of the damage. His right leg was busted up pretty badly, at least two broken bones. A broken rib on the right side, damaged wrist on that arm, too. Left leg was alright. left arm -

"Oooooooooooooow!" he howled as he twitched his left arm. The entire thing felt like it was filled with shards of glass, the slightest movement jarring and painful. "Oooh ho ho ho ho, that hurts...that REALLY hurrrrrts." He slumped down against the mats, shaking his head. At least that hadn't been damaged; an injured neck on top of his limbs being busted to hell would have been more than he could deal with right now. At least he wasn't in danger of dying anytime soon, or so he hoped.

Panting for breath, he looked out the new 'window' his flight had taken him through. The hole in the wall wasn't quite body shaped - he would have had to have been Idesin to pull that off - but it wasn't circular either. He could see the houses on the other side of the street through it, as well as the hole that he'd left in the wood over there. Splinters stood out like daggers, and Studley groaned again. "That has...to be...a record," he muttered. "Now where's that...otter?"

He tried to pull himself up to get a better look at his surroundings, but his ribs and arms sent too much pain through his system for him to move more than an inch or two. Gritting his teeth, Studley took a few deep breaths, fighting the urge to scream again, and slowly lifted his right arm. Carefully keeping his wrist as still as possible, he slowly closed his eyes and forced the magical energy back down his arm again. Light bloomed, almost like looking up at the sun with his eyes closed, and he sighed as he laid his fingers along his chest. He heard the bones crackling as they pushed themselves together, and he clenched his teeth tighter as they knitted together. Days, weeks, months worth of healing were being accomplished over the space of seconds, and his body was NOT happy with the hurry.

Panting by the time that the ribs were pulled together again, he reached over to his left arm. He howled at the mere touch of his fingers along the injured limb, but forced the magic into his body anyway. It ran over his forearm and shoulder, tugging the bones together like a boat hauled a carcass. Feeling the bone fragments moving under his skin made him whimper and moan in pain, and he had to stop halfway through the healing process, panting, shuddering. "Fuck...Fuck those archers..." the wolf gasped.

The temptation to lay back and wait for the pain to pass was almost irresistible, but the shouts from outside kept him from succumbing. For all he knew, the guards had already surrounded this house and were getting ready to storm it. Even if they hadn't, the only way he was getting out of here was if he could heal himself enough to move, and he wasn't going to do that by laying down.

Turning his head to the side and biting down on one of the nearby mats, Studley started over again. Lighting up his fingers with the magic, he dragged the tingling energy down his left arm once more. It burned as it sank into him, and his teeth pierced the rough mat as he bit down on it. His jaws hurt, but not nearly as much as the bones did as they pulled themselves into place. Knowing he needed to hurry, he decided to melt them together rather than knit them together.

What the buildings failed to accomplish, the melting heat in his arm nearly did. Verging on blacking out completely, Studley's howl of pain was only slightly muffled by the mat. He cried, a few tears sliding down his face before he was done. But his arm was now back to normal. Only his legs needed immediate healing now, and only the right one at that. His other arm could cope for a little while longer while he got somewhere safer.

Sitting up as he healed his right leg, Studley froze in mid-spell as he heard footsteps. He whipped his head from side to side, trying to pinpoint the source, but there was so much background noise that it was impossible. "Who's there?" he hissed. If it was Idesin, then the otter would pick up on it; if it was anyone else, the strange language would hopefully get lost in the shuffle.

No immediate answer, but he saw a shadow sticking out from a sliding panel further down the room. He pushed more of the energy through his leg, feeling the bones pushing themselves back together. They were almost healed; he just needed a few more seconds.

The panel moved, and he groaned, trying to shuffle back -

• only to see Idesin step out. The otter had a human girl in tow with him, maybe just over twenty years old, and she clung to his arm tightly. She wore a ragged red set of clothing, almost a mix of a robe and a dress, and her pale face was darkened in the way of someone that lived outside for more than a few days. Studley ignored her after that first glance, turning to his fellow Wonder. "How many guards outside?" he asked.

"About twenty on the main street, and another ten circling around the back of the house," Idesin said. He walked over, grunting as he pulled Studley to his feet. "If we hurry, we can get out of here before they notice us."

"Let's hurry then." He limped along, hobbling on a mostly healed pair of legs, and looked over at the girl following them. "Who's she?"

The otter shrugged. "I'm not sure, but she wants to help us."

"How do you know that?"

"She saw me land and sent the guards running in a different direction; I'd say that counts as helping."

"Good point." He nodded. "You can explain later, for now, let's just get somewhere safe."

Once they were out of the house, the three of them were able to get around freely. The girl turned out to be the best guide they could have asked for, taking them around the worst of the crowds and getting them through the smaller ones without being noticed. The crowds of people almost refused to look at her, and those that were with her seemed to be afforded the same courtesy. Even the few guards that they saw didn't look at her, turning away as she walked past them, and Studley wondered if they'd blundered into someone important.

As time went on, however, he realized that it was something. The lack of regard that everyone had, the fact that they looked away rather than down, and how she flinched whenever someone did look at her, told a different story. A street urchin, perhaps, grown up out here? Or maybe someone that didn't have a home, and was ashamed of it? It was hard to tell without having the full story from her, and until they were somewhere safe, he didn't think that they were going to be able to ask questions.

Eventually, they reached a small, out of the way building. It was a bit more of a hut than anything else, made up of mismatched pieces of wood and leaned against one of the other buildings nearby. Through the torn cloth draped over the opening, Studley could just make out another mat like the ones he'd landed on in the other house, stained and darkened in places. The edge of a small blanket covered the foot of the mat, but it didn't look like there was much of anything else inside.

The girl gestured for them to go inside, and Idesin carried him through the opening. After laying him down on the mat, he turned to the girl again, bowing in thanks. She blushed, bowing her head in return, and muttered something about a 'water spirit'.

Studley shook his head, lowering his hands back to his leg. His wrist twinged in pain, but it soon quieted down as he flooded it with more of the magic. "Only thing I can thank the council for," he muttered. After so long of having nothing to change, he had so much surplus energy built up that he could keep healing himself, and still be conscious. He'd been bored out of his mind as a result, but at least it meant that he didn't have to wait for a day after doing this much healing. Just the thought of being laid up while being the subject of a citywide manhunt...he shuddered.

As the bones finished knitting together, he leaned back on the mat. "So...before I thank you for getting me out of the house -" The otter beamed. "- and before I slap you for getting us chased all over the city -" The otter stopped beaming. "Did we actually learn anything in the market before we had to run away?"

"Come on, we were going to get chased around anyway. Don't you remember Rome?"

"That was a separate issue, and we said that were NEVER going to talk about that again."

Shaking his head with a sigh, Idesin said, "I did find out that it was Rannoi; the description the merchants gave me matched his usual human disguise. Tall, dark hair, always carrying a book around, and accompanied by a blocky kind of woman with gray skin."

"That's definitely him and Mirari," Studley said, nodding his head. "They say anything else?"

"Just something about getting supplies for a journey, but they didn't say where."

"They didn't say, or you didn't get a chance to ask before causing a scene?"

"Uh...both?"

"Figured." He shook his head. It was to be expected, really; without the ability to actually talk with the merchants, Idesin would have found it hard to do anything but eavesdrop on people. Good for rumors, but crap for getting any specific information unless you were really, really lucky. Most of the Wonders didn't really have any way of doing anything but listening, and with Hai Mei still pushing for the isolation of everyone on the island, most people didn't bother looking for a way.

Most people. "Well...looks like we're going to have to ask someone," Studley said.

Idesin arched an eyebrow for a second, then narrowed both of them. "You...are you saying you actually came up with something that translates both ways?!"

"Yeah, a little after I got the listening one down," Studley said. "You didn't think I was going to just listen and not do anything, did you?"

Idesin grabbed him by the shoulders. "Share it. Share it now."

As Studley chuckled, the girl stepped over to them. She hesitantly reached out, her hands almost touching Idesin's, before she pulled back. "Please have mercy on him, spirit of the river. He is hurt, he cannot know what he is saying. Please do not hurt him for speaking your language."

His eyebrows went up a bit, eyes flicking from otter to girl and back again. "Spirit of the river, huh?" he asked.

"She just keeps calling me that," Idesin said, shrugging. "I guess that the magic and the body impressed her, instead of scaring her."

"Well, maybe we can use that to get the information we need about Rannoi, and thank her for what she has done. First, though." He reached up, removing the otter's hands from his shirt. "Don't grab me like that, please? You're getting the spell on you in a second anyway, no need to get all physical about it."

"Oh, if I was getting physical about it -"

"I have Kennis back on the island, remember? I get all the attention I need from her."

Idesin laughed, but nodded his head. "Fair enough, fair enough, but if you ever want a little more variety..."

"I'll consider it. Now hold still." He reached up to the otter's head, fingers pressing against the fuzzy temples. Closing his eyes, Studley pulled on a very small amount of his magic, and slowly pushed it towards his fingertips. The energy was definitely drained, he thought. The tingle was still there, the pleasure of using it, but he needed to use a lot more effort to pull it up to his fingers. The light wasn't so bright, either, more like candlelight than sunlight, and there was no red against his eyelids this time, the way that there had been before. Probably better that way, considering how much more he had to focus. This spell was far more delicate than the ear transformation earlier.

Feeling the energy oozing through the otter's skull, Studley let his attention follow it inside of his friend. The pathways of a normal mind were fairly predictable, but with Idesin...

"Could you stop the insanity for a few seconds, please? I don't want to put mouths on your feet, or ears on your stomach," Studley muttered.

"Can't help it, sorry."

Shaking his head with a grumble, Studley tried to work with it. The otter's mind went every which way, mental pathways crossing with each other before zigzagging all over the place. A good deal of them went upwards towards the purple blob that he insisted on wearing, coming near to pushing out of his skull before coming back down again. Energy passed back and forth between mind and headgear, forcing Studley to wrench his own energy down along other pathways to avoid getting caught in it.

As he slowly got used to the strangeness of the otter's mind, he started to find indicators. Emotion, Logic, Instinct - he veered away from that as fast as possible, the size of it exerting a pull on the energy that most of the normal sized parts didn't - and many others stood out as sections of the brain, almost like neighborhoods. They buzzed with activity, with bits of the otter's own magic as well as with the various functions and thoughts coursing through it on a second by second basis. Studley pushed in deeper, riding on the back of a thought going from Logic to its inevitable conclusion, Understanding.

Leaping off of the thought as it arrived in the center of Understanding, Studley set to work. The energy slipped inside of the otter's mind, not changing so much as it was adding to, taking all that the otter had heard, all the words that had been absorbed during their walk through the town, and turning it into understanding, to let him speak what he had taken in.

It felt like it took almost a half hour in the otter's head to accomplish the changes, but when Studley pulled out, panting, he found that it had been a minute, at most; the girl had moved back, and the otter looked...mostly the same, and not impatient like he might if he'd been made to wait for a while. "There....that should do it," he said, trying to ignore the big red nose that had replaced the otter's natural one.

The otter didn't say anything, at least, not loud enough for him to hear. His lips moved in soundless grumbling, his fingers rubbing the enlarged, ridiculously red nose on his face. "This looks...so stupid," Idesin muttered, pressing his fingers against it. It depressed inwards, but didn't do anything else. "Just gonna -"

The girl bowed deeply all of a sudden, startling both Idesin and Studley by her action. "You honor me, spirit, by speaking to me," she said.

"You...are worthy of that honor," Idesin said, recovering quickly. He smiled, reaching over and patting her head gently. "You have helped us both, greatly, and we need your help again."

"Anything, spirit of the river."

Her voice was completely serious, to the point where Studley's eyes widened in surprise. This girl would do literally anything she was asked, if Idesin were to ask it. Whether it was out of reverence, or for some other reason, he didn't know, but that tone of her voice...he had almost never heard it in another human being before.

It seemed to register, at least somewhat, on the otter, and Idesin bowed his head, the move only slightly spoiled by his new nose. "We're looking for another spirit. He was here not long ago, a handful of days at most. You may have seen him in the market, when he changed things, and allowed the animals freedom to stand up for themselves." Idesin's voice was deeper than usual, Studley noted; must be trying to play the part more. "Did you hear anything from him, or about him?"

She nodded her head, still bowing. "I heard him. He walked by my street, when I was waiting for someone to serve," she said. "I thought at first he might be looking for the same services as some of the other men here, but he refused them when I offered. He...talked. That is all. He said that he wished to give people the choice to live as they wished, rather than as they must, and that he had several stops to make before he would make his...he called it his greatest change."

"All things considered, it doesn't sound too bad," Studley muttered. Still, considering it was Rannoi, and just how hard it was going to be to cover up what he'd done here, if it was possible at all... "Ask her if he said where he was going."

Idesin nodded, passing the question on. The girl nodded back. "Yes, though I don't know where it is. He said he was going across the sea, across the land of dynasties, through the eastern empire, to stop at the city upon the Seine, before heading to the north of the desert land. He said it to me, just so."

Studley shook his head with a groan, muttering under his breath. "If you're going to speak in riddles, Rannoi, at least speak in better ones than that," he whispered. "I'd almost swear he wants us to follow him when he's talking like that."

"It does kinda look obvious, doesn't it?" the otter asked.

"More obvious than I'd like...so he's going through China, what's left of the Roman Empire, stopping in Paris, and then heading to Africa. This is going to be a VERY long trip," Studley muttered. He had hoped that they'd find their fellow here, on this island, but that was not meant to be. Then again, perhaps it was better this way; they could stay off of the island longer, and not have to deal with the sticks in the mud on the Council. The very thought of not being under their thumb for as long as possible sent a grin across his face, and he had to stomp on the urge to chuckle. "Well, this should be interesting."

"Hehehe, I know that grin; we're going to have some fun, aren't we?"

"You have no idea." They grinned, giving each other a quick nod. The human only stared at the two of them, but didn't say anything; she couldn't understand Studley, and she didn't seem to want to question the otter.

Despite wanting to get on Rannoi's trail, Studley felt a little curiosity. "Do you think you could ask her about herself, and why she helped us?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure she helped us because of me, but sure." He smiled. "I want to get to know her better, too; she looks -"

"Not enough time for that, Idesin," Studley said with a chuckle, shaking his head. "Not NEARLY enough time for that." He knew that the otter would want to start flirting with anyone that moved, now that he could talk with them. It would be even harder to keep a leash on the horny Wonder now, but it couldn't be helped. The ability to talk with people around them was too important to give up, even if it meant the otter was going to start looking for new 'friends' to have fun with. He'd just have to keep an eye on him.

Once more, Idesin passed on his question, and again, Studley watched the girl's face. She lowered her eyes, whispering something, just beyond the edge of hearing. He cocked his head to his side, and nodded at the otter. Repeating the question brought the girl's eyes up, and she answered. Quietly. "I saw the spirit of the river descend from the sky, falling from the new tree. The guards were...shouting. Screaming around me. They called for people to flee from the evil spirit, and at first, I did. I hid behind Iko's house, and watched from around the corner as he started to float towards us.

"He...he never stopped smiling. The guards stood back from him, their faces scared, but...he did not look evil to me." She blushed slightly, the red more obvious than usual in her pale face, and she looked down. "I remembered that same smile from before...on the face of the other spirit that passed through. It was...it was a good smile, and I knew that he could not be evil. I wanted...I wanted to help him."

Nodding his head, Studley gestured for her to continue, his eyes flicking up to his friend. Idesin was blushing, rubbing the back of his head, and Studley chuckled under his breath.

"After the spirit transformed the weapons they carried into bread, I...I backed around the corner. I screamed, calling for help. They ran off to find me, leaving him alone. They didn't see me, at least, not then; if they had, they wouldn't have come."

"Why not?" Idesin said. "Why wouldn't they come to help a woman in need? People like that are supposed to be good guys."

"I..." She shook her head. Lowering her eyes, she whispered, "I am saburuko."

"What?"

"I didn't get that either, Studley," Idesin said. "What's that?"

"I am a servant girl...a servant to...every need." Her fingers tightened on the skirt of her clothes, and her eyes tightened. "They do not look at the shame of a woman who serves a man the way I do. They do not wish to see that I exist."

Both otter and human slapped their hands across their foreheads at the same time, muttering under their breath. They shared a glance of disgust, and Studley almost didn't stop the otter on his way to the door flap. The thought that people would ignore a woman in distress if they knew she was a part time prostitute was more than he could stomach either, but at the moment, they needed to hide. More important, the girl was helping them, and to walk out on her now would only be an insult, particularly after what she had just told them. He wouldn't have them look like they thought the same way that the guards did.

Shoving the otter back into place, Studley said, "Translate for me." He looked the girl in the eye. "I don't know your name, but you are not a shameful girl. You possess more honor than any of the men walking around out there. You, more than them, see the truth of things; you, more than anybody else here, are honest about what you do." He reached out, taking her by the hand. She looked up at him, shocked, but he refused to let go. "Girl, you saved my friend, and you helped him save me. You risked yourself to save someone that was a complete stranger to you, simply because you knew that the guards were wrong. And for that, you should see yourself as we see you: a being of the greatest kindness and standing."

The otter kept talking, speaking about a sentence behind Studley at any given time. Each word seemed to drive another point home for the girl, and the tension in her grip slowly went out of her. Tears welled up in her eyes, and it was clear that she didn't wish to look into his eyes. Yet, she held his gaze anyway, like she couldn't look away.

Studley leaned forward. "You saved us, and for that -"

"For that, we owe you a debt that we can most definitely repay."

Thrown off balance by the otter's sudden interruption and promise, Studley looked up at the otter. Raising an eyebrow for an explanation, he was left behind as Idesin kept talking. "You saved the spirit of the river, and I wish to reward you for what you've done. Tell me, what is your name?"

"I...my name is Chinatso, great spirit."

"Chinatso. That is a nice name." Idesin smiled, and for once, there wasn't the slightest hint of mischief in his grin. It was surprisingly gentle as he reached over, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Chinatso, you have been treated as no human should ever be treated. I offer you a chance at a different life, a life of plenty, and a life of comfort, but it will mean you may never be human again. You do not have to take it, but it is all the reward that I can offer for what you've done."

Transformation. He was offering her a transformation into something like one of them. But without the magic behind it -

Before he could say anything, she grabbed Idesin's hand, clasping it between her own. "I would take anything that the spirit of the river would wish to give me, but that is so much. How can you give me a new life, away from what I have? It seems...almost impossible."

"Nothing's impossible for this spirit." Idesin's lips twitched, but he somehow kept his face serious. "Do you accept my offer?"

"Yes. There is nothing for me here." Bowing her head, she kissed his fingers, and the back of his hand. "I will take your reward, great spirit, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity."

"No." Idesin gently tugged his hand back, kneeling down in front of her. His hands pressed against her cheeks, cupping them so that she looked right into his eyes. "Thank you, Chinatso. You saved us, and for that, you have EARNED this reward. This is for what you have done. This is no gift; this is what you deserve." The otter smiled again, his face drifting closer to hers. "Close your eyes, Chinatso...close your eyes, and don't open them until I tell you." As she closed her eyes, Idesin pressed his lips to hers, lips that glowed with the power of a Wonder.

The light spread from his lips to her body, infusing her from head to toe with the glowing light of transformation. Her breathing sped up in the space of a second, going from a calm, even breath to a frantic panting, loud and harsh. She tightened her grip on her skirt, and her eyes clenched tighter, slight wrinkles forming on her forehead at the intensity of the feeling behind the transformation. Little sweat drops popped out, standing out in stark relief against the glow that infused her skin.

Thinking quick, Studley turned to the flap behind him, a little magic from him growing it, lengthening it until it touched the floor. A few other flicks of his fingers dragged it out to the side as well, blocking the light from the street. He sighed as he turned back to the transformation, shaking his head and crossing his arms.

It continued at a rapid pace, the light reforming the body it filled. Points of light pushed their way out of her arms, first in small patches, and then in a flowing wave from her shoulders to her hands. Each individual strand stood out like a work of art before falling in amongst its sister lengths, the thin covering growing by layers, until her arms were covered in a rich coat of smooth fur. The same coat emerged along her neck, and along her exposed ankles as it spread across her body. Through the rips in her clothes, Studley could see yet more coming in, covering her body completely.

The kiss continued, even as the girl's head was forced back by another stage of the transformation. Her lips and her nose pushed out from her face, a pointed muzzle slowly dragged from her cheeks. The connection between her and the otter refused to break, even as she seemed to lean back, increasing the distance between their foreheads and eyes, but leaving their mouths together. Her ears gathered into a point at the tip, and slowly began the trip up the side of her head, losing more and more humanity the further up they went, until they stood at the top of her head, twitching and turning, searching for sound.

Her panting started to slow as the light began to dim, her hands covered in fur, and her feet as well. Fingers clenched, toes curled as claws replaced her fingernails, and the skin turned rough with textured pads. They were not dissimilar from his own, Studley noted absently, his eyes falling to the young girl's waist, watching for the final piece of the transformation.

It did not disappoint. One, two, three; he counted until a total of nine writhing shapes appeared beneath her clothes, squirming until the red cloth ripped. They shoved out, nine flailing, writhing tails desperate for freedom. Each tail was two times the width of the girl's head, the fur thick, soft and fluffy, and the tails themselves were nearly as long as Chinatso was tall. The weight from them almost pulled her backwards before the transformation turned inwards, the light fading as the power expended itself on building up her body to handle its own new additions. Smaller changes, unseen but obviously occurring as she found her balance; reinforcing her muscles, reversing the aging of her body to some degree, cleansing her of any illnesses that she had been suffering from, and -

Studley groaned, shaking his head as the clothes stretched slightly around the chest and the waist. "Idesin!"

The growth reversed itself, and the otter blushed as he broke the kiss suddenly. Chinatso gasped, falling into the otter's arms in exhaustion, her eyes closed as she fell unconscious. Her chest rose and fell slowly as she settled into slumber, but her muzzle was turned up slightly, a small grin on her face as she slept. She had never opened her eyes, but she had never lost faith that the 'spirit' would be nothing but honorable with her.

"Well, what do you think, Studley?" Idesin asked. "A new life as a kitsune, instead of that life as a human."

"And how is she supposed to have any better luck than we did out there?" he asked.

"They still have legends of people like here, of creatures and spirits like her. The kitsunes weren't hated, even if they were tricksters." Idesin stroked his hand through her hair, a brilliant, fiery red-orange like the rest of her fur. "As long as she's smart, she could live better than anyone else here."

"And what about the magic part of being a kitsune, huh?" Studley asked. "Did you think about that?"

The sudden shift to worry on the otter's face was answer enough for him. Sighing, he walked over to her, shaking his head as he placed one hand on her head. There was no way that she could hold onto the illusion forever; Idesin was good to give her something, but even someone brilliant would eventually run out of tricks to maintain the illusion. They needed magic to prove that they weren't some demon, to show that they truly were what they claimed. And they had no way of giving that. A Wonder could change the body, could change the mind, but they could not create what was not there. Their magic could not be given, could not be awakened. Only discovered.

Studley gritted his teeth, his fingers tightening in her hair for a moment before he pulled his hand back. "This isn't going to end here..." He shook his head. "After her saving us, I'm NOT leaving her to be arrested, or killed."

"Well, what can we do? We can't give her magic; that's impossible."

"So is everything we do." He dove into the rest of his magic, into the glowing light inside of him. The power of a Wonder...so much he could do, and now, the one time that he desperately needed to create something rather than change it, it was worth nothing. "Let me...let me think."

Studley closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths as he felt around in his pool of magic. The light was there, the light was the power that he had gotten when he had become a Wonder...but to become a Wonder, he had used something else. Something further inside, something that had allowed him to do what he did before everything had changed. It was deeper down, beneath the light, beneath the constant...beneath the controllable. Swirling currents spun beneath the magic, but Studley shoved himself into it anyway. He growled at the burning ice it filled him with, the timeless instant, the infinite nothing. That....that was it...not the power to change...but something different. Not to create...not that...but it might work.

His hands were dark, darkened past the blackest ink ever found or put to paper. It shifted, becoming pink, and then green, flickering through color after color, hue and tint and even clarity changing from instant to instant, only to solidify for a few moments longer as soon as the eye became used to it. Idesin's eyes widened at the sight, his jaw falling and his chin thudding against his chest. He babbled, words of nonsense slipping from his lips as he tried to say something, anything to describe what he was looking at.

Studley ignored him, lowering his hands to the kitsune's chest. Idesin reached to stop him, but the otter was too late. The colors disappeared on contact with her, disappearing as though they never were, but Chinatso leaped to her feet at the contact. She threw her head back, screaming for a split second. The shriek filled the room, and only the extra cover he'd placed over the opening kept the sound from leaving and catching the attention of those in the street outside. She collapsed a second later, gasping, panting, shuddering as she held her hands to her chest. "What...what did...you do?" she whispered.

"I did the only thing I could," Studley said. He looked at Idesin, waiting for him to translate. The otter just stared, eyes fixed on him until Studley snapped his fingers. "I did the only thing I could. Tell her, please."

Even as Idesin was passing the translation on, it was clear that something had happened, something was different. The tails...the tips of them flickered. It wasn't the same light as Wonder magic, but it wasn't Studley's many colors, either. Bright orange, floating almost like shadows of fire, flickered over each of her tail tips. They were barely visible, but they were there. They. Were. THERE!

He grinned even as he slumped down, sitting down again. "It worked...I can't believe it worked..."

"What did you do, Studley? I've...I've never seen anything like that," Idesin said. "Not with ANY of the Wonders. What was that?!"

"I have no idea."

Before Idesin could say anything else, fingers pushed against the cloth barrier. All three of them turned around as it was pulled aside, a familiar voice saying, "Chi, you missed so much today. Something amazing happened at the market, and -"

The knife merchant Studley met earlier paused, staring at the otter, the kitsune, and Studley. He looked at them, looked at the flap again, and then at them. "Did...I take a wrong turn?"