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Heya, furballs! Welcome to Fae's Christmas Music-Themed Special 2013! Five stories are here to tease you through the Christmas period. From the 21st to the 25th, you'll get a series of short stories all focused around a particular song's title or lyrics. In a break from tradition, this year nearly all the stories also contain elements drawn from previous years! And of course, the story for the 25th will continue the tale of Lucas and Taylor from Luka and Insensitive in previous years.

Don't forget to keep an eye on my Twitter (@FaoraMeridian) if you want to know what's going up ahead of time, or if you want to be alerted to other stories or otherwise just hear me ramble on about random things!

For now though, do enjoy Separate Ways; the third story of Fae's Christmas Music-Themed Special 2013!

• Ol' Saint Fae

Separate Ways

The whole city was expected to show up at the Ascension ceremony. Every adult who paid any fealty to the gods was to present themselves before the new acolytes of the Lord of War. Every child was to be taken from the bloody ceremony, too young to witness what they might yet have to go through with time.

There were three acolytes on that particular day, dragons scaled in red, blue and black. As the sun rose high and heated the gleaming silver armour they wore, all three males stood at attention. The heat did not shake them. The stares of the crowd did not move them. Their faces were blank as a cowled and robed figure strode before them.

The figure had not spoken much during the day. He had simply presented the acolytes according to the ancient customs while the people looked on. It was not his place to speak until the time was right. Instead the priest did as he had done for years with those three acolytes: he watched for signs of weakness.

And yet there was nothing. They were strong and focused, ready and determined. When the sun reached the highest point in the sky, there was nothing that had shaken them in the slightest. The ceremony was almost complete. The dawn blooding had come and gone. The ritual branding had come and gone. The hour-long prayer of supplication had come and gone. All that was left was the bestowment of their accorded honours.

"Acolyte Tai." The blue dragon took a step forward as the crowd watched on. "I name you Son of the War Lord and adherent of our order. This day you are his." Without a word, the blue dragon bowed his head and spread his arms out wide.

He stepped back as the priest looked up. "Acolyte Ain." The black dragon stepped forward. "I name you Brother of the War Lord and inquisitor of our order. This day you are his." Just as the blue-scaled warrior had done, Ain spread his arms and bowed his head before he stepped back again.

The hooded figure paused a moment as he looked on the red dragon. When no name was called, the final acolyte's head turned an almost imperceptible amount to the side. His eyes widened as he looked on the robed figure for the barest instant.

In that instant, glowing eyes stared back at him. Judgment bore down on the dragon's soul and filled him immediately with a previously unknown sense of purpose and power. "I do not name you, Acolyte Rek," continued the robed figure. "Our Lord names you Himself. He has chosen you."

As the crowd looked on, the red dragon immediately sank to his knees. Arms stretched out to prostrate himself as he touched his forehead to the ground. Above him, the robed figure stepped to his side. "Are you prepared to receive our Lord's power and favour?"

"I am," were the only words uttered during the entire ceremony that were not those of the priest. They resonated with calm and reverence.

When the priest's dagger descended, it was with a gasp from those in the crowd that had never witnessed the ceremony before. As it pierced the back of the red dragon's neck, brilliant light bloomed out from the contact to engulf the entire stage they stood upon. It was only for the barest instant, but the flash was bright enough to blind all those who looked on the divine light. When it faded and sight returned to the crowd, there were only three figures left on the stage.

The fourth had been reduced to a pile of glowing ash.

The remaining acolytes began to hum softly as the priest bowed his head. "Rek has gone into the embrace of the Lord of War, as have the hundreds chosen before him. His place of honour at our Lord's side has been assured, for now he does battle in the heavens against the forces of evil that threaten us all. He is Ascended."

As one, the crowd echoed the final three words. They bowed their heads until the humming of the remaining acolytes ended, and then turned and returned to their daily chores. The acolytes themselves offered the priest one more bow of their own, before he too left. With only the two dragons left on the stage, the blue turned to the black. "Congratulations, inquisitor Ain."

"And you, adherent Tai," Ain replied with a bowed head. "I know you had hoped to be chosen, but I am glad you were not. Your true talents would be wasted in warfare."

Tai just snorted and shook his head as he drew himself up straight and tall. "I will train each day regardless. I may have been given the position of a missionary and scholar, but I will be prepared for the time when war comes."

The pride in the blue dragon's voice was plain to hear, but it did nothing to hide the disappointment that lingered under the surface. Ain gave a slight smile as he squeezed tight and his companion's shoulders. "We have been realized this day, my friend. All our years of service and devotion rewarded with our true duties in the name of our War Lord. If He sees us worthy of these positions, who are we to question them?"

One of Tai's eyeridges lifted slightly as he mirrored the black dragon's smile. "Said the inquisitor to the adherent," he replied. The bitterness that Ain knew was there was not so evident in his friend's voice. "Still, you are right. These are His wishes and I feel His call. I must return to the temple."

"I feel no such summons, but I will surely meet you at evening prayer." Ain bowed his head again, and Tai shallowly returned the gesture before he turned and headed off the stage.

Ain watched him go as the smile slipped from his face. Tai was a good warrior, and a fine servant of the War Lord. His faith was unquestioned and his martial prowess was impressive to say the least. That he had been realized not as a fellow inquisitor but as a missionary was... well, the uninitiated would look upon it as insulting. Ain would not blaspheme so. The War Lord's plans were not easy for a mortal to divine.

His thoughts were interrupted by a quiet, soft clapping from behind him. He turned, and a frown touched his face as he found the source of the sound. "Hello, Vernell."

The little fox smiled warmly as he tilted his head up toward the midday sun. His white robe almost shimmered, glowing lines drawn across it from the reflection of light from the dragon's armour. "Hello, dear Ain. Congratulations on your Ascension."

"Rek was the one chosen for Ascension," he explained as he shook his head and hopped down from the stage. The last thing he needed just after being realized was Vernell. "I was simply realized."

The fox's smile remained warm and soft as he fell into step beside the new inquisitor. "Then I congratulate you on your realization," he responded. "And honestly, it pleases me greatly that you were not chosen for Ascension."

With a sigh, Ain turned to face the smaller, still smiling fox. "I can't do this anymore, Vernell. You know that."

The smile on Vernell's muzzle gained the addition of a slight smirk as one of his ears tipped back. "You can't be congratulated anymore? Blimey. You inquisitors have all the fun, don't you?"

A frown creased Ain's muzzle as he folded his arms across his chest. "You, Vernell. And you know that."

"Well, you haven't done _me_in quite some time, have you?" Vernell countered as his smile grew a little broader.

With a sigh and a dismissive wave of his hand, Ain turned away and started off into the town again. He closed his eyes and fought back another sigh as he heard the fox follow after him again. "You know this is how it has to be."

"I know this is one possible way things have to be," replied Vernell as he reached Ain's side. He leaned against the dragon's arm for only a moment before it was unceremoniously yanked away again. "Come now, Ain. Are you really going to be like this? We have been friends since we were barely old enough to talk. And lovers since-"

"That is over because it must be," Ain interrupted with a hiss as he whirled on the fox again. The smile was almost completely gone from Vernell's face by the time it came into view, replaced by something considerably sadder. "You chose your path, and I chose mine."

"I felt the call of the Mother Almighty, and you felt the draw that you and all of your people feel to war." Vernell shook his head slowly. "I respect love, Ain. I respect joy and delight and all the wonderful things about life, and I do so in Her name as much as in my own. My love for you is a gift from Her, as is yours for me. Why must you shut yourself off from them all?"

Again, Ain fought the urge to heave a sigh. He gripped Vernell gently by the arms and leaned down close enough to almost touch his forehead to the fox's. Control. Temperance. This was what he had been taught. This was what his life was to become. "A servant of the War Lord cannot have split loyalties, Vernell." That, too, had been what he was taught.

But it was clear from his cocked eyebrow that Vernell was not impressed. "Have I asked you to forsake your god?" he asked. "Have I asked you to renounce your vows of service? Have I asked you to lay down your arms and... heh, lay down a fox?"

"Quiet!" he hissed as he glanced around. No one else in the immediate vicinity seemed to have heard them, but that was only a matter of time with someone like Vernell. "You know the crown considers such things a crime. You know the scripture of the War Lord considers it a crime at worst and a battlefield distraction at best." His eyes narrowed. "And yes. You _have_asked me to lay down a fox."

With a surreptitious glance around of his own, Vernell pressed a paw against the gleaming chest plate the dragon wore. Despite the sun's efforts to heat it throughout the morning, the fox was not burned. "These are the words and laws of mortals, dear Ain," he said, before the dragon pulled back from the fox's touch again.

Ain smirked as he reached up to grip Vernell's paw and draw it gently down again to his robed side. "And what of the words and laws of my god? Are they equally meaningless to you?"

"I ask you to look to a power higher than that of the War Lord." The moment Ain let go of Vernell's paw, the fox twisted it up and around to grasp a hold of the dragon's wrist. He squeezed tight even as Ain gave it a gentle tug back. "You know your scripture. You know the teachings of your War Lord. You know his history and his power and his genesis."

With narrowed eyes, Ain let his arm fall slack. "And you would suggest that the heretical texts are true?" he asked. A new edge entered his voice as he more forcefully pulled his arm back from Vernell. "You would suggest that the Mother Almighty is mother not just of the world, but of the gods themselves? All of them?"

Vernell nodded as he rubbed at his fingers. "Such as we in Her service are taught, yes. I know it to be true. She tells me Herself." His smile retuned as he looked up and over Ain. "She came to me in my dreams last night, dear Ain. She spoke of you."

A moment's fleeting interest was banished almost instantly. A goddess who appeared directly to a young, unproven missionary? Preposterous. "And pray, tell. What could the Mother Almighty possibly wish to speak about concerning me?"

The fox's smile faltered for the briefest moment. "War is coming, Vernell. She senses it as surely as your Lord does. She knows that death and destruction and pain are coming, and She is not happy. She knows from where this war will begin, and it hurts Her." The smile turned sad once again. "Mothers tend to hurt as well when their children deign to attack one another."

There was a nugget of truth to what Vernell was saying, so far as Ain knew. There had been whispers, hushed words in the halls of the temples to the War Lord that no acolyte, adherent or inquisitor was to hear. The whispers told of grand and bloody battles, of glory and honour untold in the near future. How a missionary of the Mother Almighty would know such things was beyond him. "And do all followers of the Mother know this?" he asked.

Vernell just shook his head slowly. "Of course not. I only know because She has a plan, dear Ain. She senses hope as surely as anything else. That is why She came to me in my dreams: to bring me to my love, in the hopes of preventing such death and destruction."

When Vernell reached up again to Ain's chest, the dragon did nothing to push him aside. When the fox lifted himself up to the tips of his toes and pulled the dragon's head lower, Ain did nothing to stop him. He might have expected a kiss, but Vernell's muzzle instead brushed along his cheek. "I can show you," he whispered, and the dragon's ear fins trembled under the fox's warm breath. "I can help you understand, but not in your ways. Only in mine."

The dragon frowned deeply as he glanced around again. All it would take is one person - one perked pair of sensitive ears - and the implied method Vernell had in mind would be enough to have Ain dismissed from the War Lord's order. He'd be lucky if that was all that happened to him. "Surely the order could tell me what you need to tell me."

"Only if they wanted to, and only if they wanted to tell you the truth," Vernell countered. He shook his head slowly as he drew back from Ain again, but there was the slightest sigh as he nuzzled briefly into the dragon's smooth cheek. "I am not advocating that you mistrust your masters and brothers, dear one. I am only offering to tell you that which they would not."

"If they will not tell me, it must be for some important reason," Ain said after a moment. A momentary stutter was worked out of his voice as he spoke; that nuzzle had been a far more pleasant experience than he'd expected. "We are warriors in service to a god. We are given orders to follow, as you are in your own way. We are expected to obey, not to question."

Vernell nodded softly. "And that is why She sent me to you. You are still young enough to potentially listen to someone else. You have ties to someone who could tell you." His smile briefly slipped back into a smirk as his voice lowered again. "And, even though you bury it so deep, She knows that you love me. She knows you would trust me, and that I would share myself with you gladly even if it were not Her decree."

With his teeth forced firmly together to keep himself from speaking, Ain tilted his head up slowly. Sunlight cascaded down his face as his eyes closed. It had been painful enough when he had taken his vows to join the War Lord's order and been required to cast aside the little fox. Forsaking those vows was the sort of thing that could be just as painful. "I... cannot," he finally bit out. "I am an inquisitor now... a Brother of the War Lord. I must maintain myself to His standards."

"And does the War Lord not say also, 'Accept ever the grace of those who offer no harm, for they may come to follow Me through you,' in his scripture?" Vernell asked. "I am not going to ask you to forsake your vows. Simply to come with me... and allow me to give you the barest glimpse of what I come to warn you of. We need not break any laws... not imperial, and not divine." One ear flicked as he winked. "I cannot say that you will not wish to break them when I am done, but that is as it will be."

Again, Ain glanced around. He might have looked nervous, but he wasn't certain. Every single person that looked even remotely in his direction seemed to have an accusatory glare in their eye, as if they knew the urges that burned in his heart and his malehood. "You're a dark temptation, Vernell," he muttered quietly as he turned from the crowds. "A torment. You will not ask me to break my vows?"

"You've already broken them, dear one," corrected Vernell as he offered the dragon his paw. "The Mother Almighty knows this. She knows that you love me, and that love is a violation of your vows. But if it makes you feel better... no. I will not ask you to break your vows. All I ask is that you heed my warning." His fingers wriggled as his paw lifted a little higher.

It would have been easy to simply brush the paw aside and turn away. Vernell was a temptation, for sure. Ain almost suspected that there was something more at play in the coy little fox's mind; something that maybe the missionary hoped would bring the dragon back to him. Regardless of what else Vernell might have wanted, Ain could be sure of one thing at least. He was sure that Vernell believed he was being commanded by the Mother Almighty.

And if that was true, and the warning was legitimate, then it was worth at least the barest consideration that Vernell had begged of him. Ain hissed out his breath quietly and nodded once as he lifted a hand. "Very well," he said as his hand passed Vernell's paw and instead came to rest gently on the fox's shoulder. "But as you said... do not force me to break my vows."

"I promise to force nothing," Vernell replied. The fox smiled as he dropped his paw again and turned toward the edge of town. "Now, come along. We should still be out of sight, lest someone get the wrong idea." He winked back over his shoulder as he all but danced off. "Or, depending on the person, the right idea."

Rather than drop, Ain's hand came up to rub across his face as he sighed and followed along.

* * * * *

They travelled out of the town and into the woods for a good hour or so before they approached their destination. Ain had not complained openly once; the dragon had in fact been mostly silent the entire way out. Any question he had asked initially had been met with an insistent command to simply wait, and he'd contented himself with that as best he could. He'd be told what he needed to be told when the time was right.

Vernell had been similarly quiet, which had been enough to concern the dragon. Once upon a time it had been impossible to keep the little fox quiet. He danced and played and laughed and spoke the loudest of all the people Ain had grown up around. It had been a surprise to everyone who'd known him when he'd chosen for himself a life in the service of the Mother Almighty. The surprise had vanished when he'd confessed his love privately for Ain.

It had been then that Ain had understood why Vernell had entered her service. Love was a sacred and powerful thing to the Mother Almighty, and the one power in all the world that she had no argument against. Love, in her teachings, was the mightiest force of all and was powerful enough to topple even the gods. The imperial laws might have been clear about what love was acceptable and what love was not. The other gods might have been equally clear. In Her service though, Vernell had found acceptance, encouragement and solace in his love. He'd found a place where he could be with Ain. At least, that was until-

"We're here," Vernell announced, as he leaned back against a tree. The fox slowly waved a hand forward and to a small creek that ran through the woods. "This is the place. This is where She wanted us to be."

Ain glanced around and couldn't prevent the furrow of his eye ridges. "There is nothing here," he said, as he looked back to the fox. "This is like any other part of these woods. There is nothing."

Vernell just shook his head. "This is where She wanted us to be," he said again, as he pushed off the tree and used one footpaw to gently clear some of the downed leaves and branches near the creek. "Take off your armour."

"Take off my what?" The dragon shook his head and took a step back away again. "You promised I would not be asked to break my vows."

A flicker of amusement worked across Vernell's face as he folded his arms across his chest. "Dear Ain, if simply undressing was enough to break your vows I doubt your War Lord would have seen fit to have you named an inquisitor." He opened his robe as he spoke, unbinding it from his person and allowing it to slide slowly down toward the ground until it caught on his arms. "The cloth and metal gets in our way. We must be close if I am to show you. Fur to scale. Flesh to flesh. Body to body and spirit to spirit."

There was nothing under the robes, and it took every ounce of self-control in Ain to keep his gaze on the fox's face. He gulped as he began to unclasp his armour, and delicately began to remove the ceremonial garb he wore with it. "You have a funny way of keeping me from breaking my vows."

"I never said you would not break your vows," Vernell reminded him with a smile. His robes pooled in the dirt behind him as he stood naked in the sunlight. "In fact, I told you that She already knows that you have. I simply said that I would not ask you to break them."

Ain shook his head as he continued to remove his armour. He glanced up a moment later to snap off another unhappy remark, but the time was right for him to instead catch a glimpse of the fox's rump, tail flagged high as he bend over to spread his robes like a blanket across the ground. Breath caught in the dragon's throat as he tried to force himself to calm. It didn't work as effectively as he'd hoped. Part of that probably came from his inability to tear his eyes away from the sight.

Then Vernell turned around and straightened up again, and Ain diverted his gaze elsewhere. "What are you doing with your robe there?" he asked, as he slid off still more of his armour.

"Giving us a place to sit," the fox replied with a smile as he settled down atop the robe again. He curled his legs under him and glanced over at the stream. "I wouldn't want us to get dirty, or muddy. Robes are so much easier to wash than fur."

Despite the relatively simple tunic and leggings that the dragon wore under his armour, he had more trouble than he wanted in removing them. The tunic was simple enough and was laid down under his armour to keep the dirt from it as best he could. The leggings however proved to be more difficult. If he removed them, it would show Vernell that-

"I can smell it on you, you know," the fox said, interrupting Ain's thoughts. He glanced back over his shoulder, and his eyes instantly zoomed in on the bulge in those leggings. "Do not worry yourself, dear Ain. As I said, I have no interest in making you break your vows. Only in sharing with you what I have learned, in the only way I can."

Ain glanced down over his front and bit back a sigh. He'd hoped it wouldn't be so obvious, but there was nothing for it then. He took a deep breath and held it as he undid his leggings and allowed them to slide down his legs. His ridged shaft was already peeking out of its slit, but even as he turned his mind inward the dragon forced it to begin to retract again. Strength of will. That was a characteristic of an inquisitor of the War Lord.

When finally his tip had vanished back inside his genital slit, Ain strode over to Vernell. He crouched down at the edge of the laid-out robe and crawled awkwardly onto it before he sat flat and spread his legs out before him. "Alright. I'm here."

"The robe is blessed," Vernell said, as if Ain had not even approached. One of his paws traced gently over the fabric as he smiled. "A gift from the Mother Almighty to all those who enter her service. Wherever the robe lays is blessed equally. Here, atop this robe, we exist within Her gaze. Not the War Lord's, not the crown's... just Hers." His eyes lifted again to the dragon's as his ear twitched again. "Here what we do is holy in Her eyes, and cannot be denied or argued. This is Her ground for this moment."

"And you think She will show me what was shown to you?" Ain asked, as he glanced around. Whether it was the robe or Vernell or his words or something else, there was a peaceful warmth in the air that began to relax the dragon's muscles. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd been allowed to relax. Always had to be ready for war, always had to be ready to fight and kill and die...

Vernell just shook his head as he turned fully to face Ain. "You do not follow Her ways, dear Ain. You don't even allow yourself to feel your love anymore. You're closed off to the Mother. That is why I need to be here. To help remind you of love, and open you up again. All in the hope that, in this little moment under Her gaze, you can see what She has seen."

When the fox began to crawl toward him, Ain wasn't even able to bring himself to ward his once-lover away. He could only watch the little vulpine approach, his paws planted to either side of the dragon's legs as he drew closer and closer. Vernell rose slowly until he was face to face with Ain, and his chest rubbed against the dragon's slowly for a moment before he lowered himself again.

Exactly when Ain's malehood had pushed back out of its slit again was lost on the dragon. He did feel every moment that dragged fur and flesh down along it, and he groaned into the woods with the sensation even as the fox settled himself down gently against him. There was mercifully no penetration - mercifully? Frustratingly? Thankfully? Maddeningly? - but the dragon's length rested in the cleft Vernell's rump, pointed out toward the creek as the fox settled in his lap. "I... Vernell..."

"Hush, dear one," Vernell whispered back. His smile was gone, a deadly seriousness in its place as he lifted one paw to gently stroke down along the dragon's cheek. "I told you... I won't make you break your vows. What you feel right now, through and through, is everything that you've held back since you took those vows. I do not ask you to give into it. I can't. I won't ask."

The peace and content and longing and want that surged through every inch of Ain from tailtip to muzzle was enough to make him shake his head. "I know I shouldn't," he whispered, as he nuzzled in gently along Vernell's cheek. "Right now, I... gods above, I just want you. I can't, but I want... I want."

With a nod that nuzzled his cheek back against the dragon's, Vernell draped his arms over Ain's shoulders and pulled himself tighter and closer. "Be true to yourself, Ain. Hold onto whatever is the purest feeling in you. If this is wrong, then accept that. If this is right, accept it. But give me first the chance to show you what I need to show you... that is all I am here for." He tilted his head to the side as his eyes closed, and his muzzle brushed briefly over Ain's before he pressed forward and into a kiss.

At the contact, Ain felt his resistance begin to break down. That kiss, familiar and forgotten and repressed and delighted in flashed through his being, driven by divine power that lit him up in full. Images and sensation rushed through his body. The cries of war; pain and loss and rage and fear assaulted Ain's mind. Black smoke rose through his vision and drowned out Vernell. Flame licked up and across a battlefield as lightning broke the heavens. The soil broke and shattered as water tore across the land. Pain seared the dragon's mind.

He jerked back from his contact with Vernell. The kiss broke and the dragon fell away from the fox as he panted for breath. The cool of the soil just off the edge of the robe stole away some of the heat that seemed to pulse through his head, and he panted for breath. It was only momentary respite, before he found himself pulled back upright again. "Ain? Dear one, are you well?"

A shiver of pleasure wound through his shaft, and it was then that he realized that his malehood was still stiff and pressed against the fox's rump. "I'm... I'm fine," he managed to reply as he forced moisture back into a somehow dry mouth. His tail lashed across the ground and swept heat across the cool of the ground. "I don't know what... I don't know what it is I saw."

"Fragments," Vernell answered after a moment as he bowed his head. He shifted up a little higher, and cool air met hot, draconic shaft as the fox pulled up just off it. "You couldn't see it all, not the way I do. Not the way the Mother Almighty does."

When Ain looked up and the fox opened his eyes, those eyes were filled with little tears. "What's wrong?" he asked, as he lifted a hand. One finger gently swiped away one of the tears before it could streak that furry cheek.

Vernell just shook his head slowly and brushed the hand aside. "Even here, even now... you are more closed off to me than I had anticipated. You've buried my love so deep that I cannot share this with you." His muzzle twisted slowly as he glanced away. "Your War Lord has driven you so far from me that I cannot reach you."

"But I want you," Ain said. He wrapped his arms tightly around the smaller fox and squeezed him into a tight hug. Little arms slid around him to return the gesture as Ain sighed. "Surely you could feel it... surely you could feel how much I-"

"A male is not suited to a life of celibacy, dear one," Vernell replied as he squeezed all the tighter. "As I said, all of your pent-up feelings are coming to the surface here. I cannot show you what I need to show you like this."

As the little fox began to pull back from the hug, Ain just tugged him right back in. He gently touched his forehead to Vernell's and stared down deep into those too-close eyes. "How do I work through that?" he quietly asked. "How do I overcome that so I can reach what I need to in order to hear what you have to say? To see what your goddess wants to show me?"

As he held that stare, the fox slowly shook his head. "I told you, dear one... I will not ask you to break your vows. Your lusts must be broken for your love to be shown in full, but... I cannot help you break your vows. I promised you I would not. I- mmf!"

Vernell grunted as he hit the ground back first, the robe not nearly thick enough to cushion the blow all that well. Ain never broke contact, his muzzle pressed heatedly to the fox's in another kiss as he pinned the missionary down beneath him. The grunt melted away a moment later, replaced by a soft moan of appreciation. Arms slid up slowly along the dragon's side, but shifted to his chest after a moment and gave a gentle push. "Ain-" he began.

"You might need this for your goddess, Vernell," Ain interrupted with a shake of his head, "but... I need this. Gods all, I need you. I forgot. I forgot how you felt." He gave a squeeze at the fox's hips before he let go again, a single hand lifted to trace through the fur of Vernell's chest. "How could I have let you go?"

But Vernell pushed up a little more firmly. When Ain recoiled slowly with confusion and allowed the fox to sit up, the smoothed down his fur again and moved into a kneeling position opposite the inquisitor. "I told you not to lose yourself, dear one," he reprimanded the dragon with a soft smile. "Everything you chose over me... you made that choice for a reason."

"I made the wrong choice." Again the dragon slowly reached out, this time to simply take the fox's paws into his grasp. He gave them a warm little squeeze as he held Vernell's gaze. "I can... here, with you, I can feel again. I _want_to feel again."

That little vulpine face turned sad for a moment as Vernell looked down. "That is the power of the Mother Almighty at work... She has shown you what's deep inside. She has shown you what you buried." He shuffled a little closer until he was almost muzzle to muzzle with Ain again, and gently guided the dragon's hands back to his sides. "I love you, dear one, but you have buried yourself beneath your duty to the War Lord. When we leave this place, you will remember much... but you will not feel it."

Confusion tinged Ain's face as he frowned deeply. "How could I remember feeling like this - remembering you; us - and not be able to feel this again?"

"Because once you leave, as you have been trained, you will become an extension of the War Lord again," Vernell replied. His eyes still refused to meet the dragon's. "I had the barest window, dear one. There was only a short period of time this would work.

"Once you were realized, you had the mental acuity to receive the Mother's knowledge; divine power and direction. If I waited too long or couldn't convince you, your War Lord would fill your mind instead and block you from me forever." He snorted quietly as a sad little smile spread his muzzle. "I lost you to the War Lord once. Even if the Mother Almighty had not given me this duty, I might have tried anyway to see you one last time as you were. Perhaps as we were."

"I don't want it anymore, Vernell," Ain replied with a shake of his head as he squeezed the fox tight. "I don't think I want to go back to how I was before. Gods, I want to stay like this. Why did I give this up?"

Vernell's smile turned a little warmer as he gently pushed at the dragon's chest. Ain sat back down on the edge of the robe again. "You wished for purpose and a true duty. Your War Lord gave you that... and you will take that again. It will not be the same and it will not be through or with me, but you will find your own happiness." He crawled up and over Ain's legs again, before he settled himself down in the dragon's lap. This time, it was not just Ain's malehood that pulsed with arousal.

"I don't know if that will be enough," countered Ain as his eyes filled with tears for the first time in years. "I don't know if-"

"We never know what the future holds, dear one," Vernell interrupted as he licked up at the end of the dragon's muzzle. "Not fully. Not properly. But you're here now, and I still... I promised I would not make you break your vows."

The dragon squeezed gently at Vernell's sides as he tugged the fox into a tight hug. Vulpine arms wrapped around his middle as he rested his head atop Vernell's head. "You don't have to make me do anything," he replied, as his fingers played gently up and down the fox's spine. "But you said here we were protected... that only you, the Mother Almighty and I can see what happens here."

When the fox nodded, Ain pulled back slightly from the hug. One hand tilted the fox's chin up slowly to bring their muzzles together once again, and the two melted against one another as Ain's other hand slid lower. It traced along the fluffy length of Vernell's tail, stroking and rubbing over it as it curled up against his touch.

That arm slid down lower, resting under the missionary's backside and lifting him up slightly to tug him into the kiss. Breath rushed through nostrils as little pleased whimpers rolled through Vernell's muzzle. The kiss wasn't broken until the shift in the fox's body resulted in the tip of the dragon's pre-slicked shaft rose to stroke up the cleft of his rump. "Ah... Ain, we never-"

"If I'm going to bury how I feel about you again," the dragon interrupted as he flicked his tongue across Vernell's lips, "I need this first. I need you first. We never... had the chance, before I took my vows." He licked up again, slower, and smiled softly. "Be mine? Please? Even if just here and now, will you be mine?"

Sadness briefly touched Vernell's face again, as he reached up to stroke down the dragon's cheek. A soft smile broke through as Ain's tears soaked into his paw. "Dear Ain, I have never stopped being yours. You have me." He sighed as he pushed himself down slowly, grinding gently against the tip of the dragon's shaft until the tip began to push just barely inside. "You have me," he repeated, as he began to sink down.

Ain had been trained to endure fire, to shield himself from it with the divine blessing of the War Lord. Even so, the heat that burned within Vernell's body was unlike anything he had ever expected. Instinct immediately insisted that he buck up, that he thrust and fill and hilt inside the smaller fox's body, but the inquisitor's training took over. Patience. Control. Temperance. He allowed instead Vernell to guide himself down.

It was the most delicious torture that Ain had ever endured. There in his arms was the one he loved, with wondrous heat engulfing his malehood as his lover took him inside his body. All Ain could do was hold Vernell, to keep the fox close so as to never have to go without what he was feeling.

Gritted teeth and grunts punctuated the moans that issued like a fountain from Vernell's muzzle for each inch that he sank down around. His body spread wide, parted by his lover's malehood. Room was made for it as the ridges of the dragon's shaft shivered and flared against his inner walls. Untold sensations flashed through Vernell's body, a weave of pleasure unlike anything he had previously experienced.

When at last he was settled in Ain's lap, all of Vernell's breath rushed out of his body at once. His chest began to heave with panted breath before he looked up, and was instantly assailed by Ain's muzzle. The kiss was hard and hot and fierce, and both males wrapped their arms tight around the other. They squeezed, Vernell doubly so as their bodies met at last.

The kiss broke with the two of them panting again for breath already, and a quiet giggle rolled out of Vernell that triggered Ain's laugh as well. Foreheads touched as they both smiled broadly. "I can't believe how good you feel," Ain breathed, as he nosed gently down into Vernell's neck.

A little moan broke the fox's concentration for a second, as he rolled his hips smoothly down around that hilted length of flesh. He giggled again as Ain took his turn to moan back. "I can't believe how good this feels," he replied as her wriggled his hips slowly.

Even through the pleasure, surprise took to Ain's features as he nuzzled up along his partner's cheek. "You never...?"

As Vernell gently tugged the dragon's head back down by a horn to his neck, he shook his head. "I always waited for you," he groaned, as Ain began to kiss and nibble along his collarbone. "I always hoped you would choose me, but... I never expected this." He squeezed the dragon's head all the tighter against his neck as he sighed up to the sky. "Oh, I missed you..."

A whole string of comments were reduced to a breathy exhale as Ain found his muzzle swiftly occupied again by a fierce kiss from Vernell. One hand swiftly ran up the back of the fox's head, fur curled around his fingers as he met the advance with equal intensity. Hips rose against the rocking motions Vernell made, helping to ease his length up further. They weren't thrusts so much as a mirror to the gentle roll of the missionary's body, waves that met and mingled and parted only to come together again moments later.

Trapped between both bodies was Vernell's length, forgotten and ignored by both parties. Each was aware of the soft throb of it, echoed in the tight, warm squeezes of the fox's rump back into Ain's motions. Each could feel slick scales and damp fur where pre was milked out to rub between them. It was the barest stimulation to Vernell, so lost in the full sensation within him.

He wasn't so lost that he didn't instinctively know how to maintain it, though. His tail twisted and wagged and writhed in the air as he wriggled himself shallowly up and down along Ain's malehood. The dragon's ridges tickled and teased inside him, tugging at his inner walls with each motion. They drew him down as they flared and gave him a chance to rise again when they stilled. Each twitch and pulse marked the beat of Ain's heart, a softer, deeper repeat of the thud he felt through the dragon's chest.

It was Ain that shifted first, as one hand slid down slowly along the fox's back to squeeze tightly at Vernell's backside. The missionary's gasp at the grope broke their kiss, and his tail flicked firmly upward as he arched his back. Muscles gripped down hard on the shaft embedded in his rump as he sank down hard onto it, and fresh splatter of his own pre added a new streak to Ain's chest before it was rubbed away by the fox's fur.

Shaky arms reached up to wrap around Ain's shoulders as the missionary found himself lifted slightly up and off the dragon's shaft. His query was answered before it was spoken as that ridged length sank back inside him once again, and sparks of sensation raced through him. A heady moan broke free of his muzzle in the question's place, and his legs wrapped just as tightly around Ain's middle as he clutched tightly at his lover's body.

Every shaky squeeze that clenched down around Ain's length only teased the dragon to greater heights. Long-repressed feelings and thoughts and wants and needs were all that his mind could be filled with in those moments. It was delightful chaos, spun into a maelstrom with every time he felt Vernell's eager squeezes or heard the fox's moans of pleasure. If it had just been Ain's own pleasure, some rational part of his mind reasoned that it couldn't possibly have felt as good as it did.

But his body fit so perfectly alongside and inside Vernell's that the rightness of the moment couldn't be denied. Every thought and repressed feeling that bubbled up to the surface was tempered and blunted by the simple fact of the fox in his arms and in his lap. Each time he drew Vernell along his length with toe-curling rise and breathless descent, Ain was fixated. His senses were treated to everything that was his partner. Not a one was left lacking.

And as Vernell began to move with the rise and the fall - the fox's own eagerness taking a hold and driving him to help his lover serve both of their needs - Ain was able to feel why that rational part of his mind was right. Every shiver and tingle and surge of pleasure that he felt was all the sweeter for the knowledge that it was mirrored in Vernell's face and heart and body. Any lust from the start that might have been born of a mixture of repression and youthful exuberance was vanquished.

There was a fleeting moment of vulnerability and fear that took a hold of Ain as the reality of his situation sank into his mind again. A rock of his hips faltered for the barest of seconds as Vernell's words slipped through his awareness. The knowledge that everything that he was feeling - indeed everything _right_about their act there - would be lost after it was done brought a sense of futility. His muzzle opened as he turned down to Vernell again.

He couldn't speak. The fox's eyes were closed as he continued to move. 'Overjoyed' was the only word that came to Ain's mind to describe the pleasured peace that was spread ear to flattened ear across Vernell's face. His body didn't care about what was going to happen afterward. His mind didn't care. His heart might have cared, but it would have to have been as eager to abandon that truth as Ain's own had been.

When Vernell's eyes opened a moment later and their gaze met, it ended the moment of fear. It shattered as Ain lost himself in the fox again. Their foreheads touched again as the heat of their panted breaths washed over the other's muzzle. Ain didn't know if his heart calmed and reached the same supreme peace that was etched on Vernell's features, but he didn't care. Nothing could ruin their little moment in time. "I love you, Vernell," he whispered up into the fox's ear, as he rested his head atop his lover's.

Vernell's response was muffled as he sank his muzzle into the dragon's neck, shivering with delight and pleasure as he wriggled his hips. He nuzzled in, the motions accentuated by the resumed rock of his body in Ain's arms. Fingertips scrabbled at the dragon's back, seeking purchase to help move with his partner. Nothing but the sensitive base of Ain's wings came into contact, and they were swiftly abandoned to keep from hurting him. It was all Vernell could do to hold on as Ain's hips began to move more eagerly up inside him. He might have been concerned at the loss of his control of the situation he'd set up if it had been with any other person in all the world.

But there, with Ain, there was nothing more Vernell could do save hold on and enjoy the feel of the male he loved. Every inch of that magnificent, ridged length that split him open was felt, noted, and obsessed over. The scent of the dragon's arousal and the way it mingled with his own to create something uniquely their own teased his nose and flared his nostrils. The taste of Ain's kiss lingered on his tongue, even as it drew across his lips through a panted moan.

His mind fixated, gravitating from one aspect that delighted his senses to the next. It moved faster and faster as Ain's hips did, even as the dragon's pleasure began to naturally overcome the love of the moment. The moment broke down as their basest needs took to the fore of their minds, and even the brilliance of their moment was overshadowed by a building tide of energy that begged to be loosed, finally.

Vernell tried to hold onto the moment for only a second before he allowed it to slip from his grasp. All that they did was beautiful and natural and right for their moment, but each moment had to give way to the next. There was a time for their love and a time for their lust, a time for their fear and a time for their content. Moments that could have been and should have been and might be and would be swirled through the fox's mind, tantalizing him even as something deep inside his body reacted to the increasingly vigorous mating Ain was giving him. It coaxed sound from him, yips and cries of pleasure that only grew louder the more and more Ain gave in to their fading moment.

And then, in one overwhelming, startling second, their moment gave way to the next. Pleasure peaked, cascaded. Moans and roars and cries and growls intertwined as their bodies had, a duet howled to the sky as both males reached their peaks in tandem. Fox ground down as dragon pressed up. Black scales were painted with errant, wild stripes of white while the missionary's insides were drenched in the inquisitor's essence. For the moment when they were brought together there, in that temporary spot all their own and blessed with the silence of the world around them, their hearts beat in tandem. Where one surged, so too did the other. Love poured out and around and within, a physical manifestation there for but that one moment.

It too had to pass. When it did, it left the pair in a breathy state of tingling contentment. They panted together as their bodies began to slowly settle. Hearts beat to their own rhythm once more. Fingers gripped no less tightly at each other than they had in the heat of their mating. Ain's shaft lost none of its firmness, and Vernell's rump squeezed it no less snugly than it had when they had first begun their tryst.

When Vernell opened his eyes, he knew that Ain would not. His breathing began to regularize as he looked over the dragon's peaceful features, frozen in place. He searched them for some sign of consciousness, but knew that such a thing would not be. He had played his role in the Mother Almighty's plan, and it was time for Ain to take the stage. Vernell knew that only Ain's love could have opened the pathway for the Mother to reach him, and that her message was too great and too important to risk waiting even a moment.

He stroked his fingers down the dragon's cheek. The tremble in them didn't go unnoticed, but the fox shook his head slowly. They'd had their moment, and all moments had to pass in the end. Ain would see what the Mother needed him to see... and then he would be the War Lord's plaything again. All that could be hoped for was that Ain could discover what darkness lay ahead and help prepare for it.

A paw dipped down into his discarded robes for something he'd carefully slid off with them. It took a moment's awkward fumbling to find it - Vernell was not used to his movement being restricted by being so intimately filled - but the cool of the metal against his paw was a welcome thing. It drew a sad little sigh from him as he pulled it free.

It was little more than an amulet of sorts. A black leather cord suspended a golden icon of the Mother Almighty: a circle of coiled, golden rope that contained a roaring fire. Vernell rubbed a thumb along the rope as he closed his eyes. It had been his first icon, given to him when he had taken his vows to serve the Mother Almighty and bring peace and healing and love to the people of the world. He'd been so excited when he'd first shown it to Ain. That had been the day the dragon had decided that he should find something similar to devote himself to. That had been the day that had led Ain to the War Lord.

Gingerly, Vernell lifted the amulet up by the cord and began to gently lower it over Ain's head. When he let go again, the fox blushed and flattened his ears. A moment later and he lifted the amulet again and cleaned it of his seed, generously rubbed off on it from Ain's chest. It was no sacrilege or a desecration in the Mother Almighty's eyes, but it was precious enough to Vernell that he wouldn't want to see the shine dulled by anything. Not even something to leave a physical mark of their moment together could bring him to leave the amulet dirtied.

And that moment was well and truly over. Vernell knew it, but even so he couldn't quite bring himself to gladly leave. Ain's shaft hadn't flagged in the slightest. Be it still-pent lust or the dragon's not-so-little way of showing that he didn't want Vernell to leave, it changed nothing. Neither Vernell nor the Mother Almighty could keep a sworn follower of the War Lord from carrying out his duty. "Oh, how I wish I could," he whispered as he planted a gentle kiss on the dragon's forehead.

There was still no reply from the comatose inquisitor, but then Vernell hadn't expected there to be one. There were no more words for either of them to speak to one another. All that was left was what Vernell needed to say. He needed to wish his lover luck. He needed to apologize for the broken vows. He needed to beg him to run away with Vernell and leave everything behind. He needed to keep him wrapped up in the robes of the Mother and steal him away in the night. Need this, need that.

Instead, he settled for a gentle brush of his lips across Ain's and a soft stroke down the dragon's side. "I will never forget you, my love," he said, as he gave Ain's shoulder a warm, tight little squeeze. "You have me. You will always have me." He pressed another gentle kiss to those lips before he drew back again with a sigh. "I will wait until our next moment, dear one. Fear not. I know we will have another. I love you, Ain.

"I always will."

* * * * *

When Ain's eyes fluttered open again, he was alone and his head throbbed with barely-remembered pain. His head spun as he glanced around the woods, and a frown creased his brow. He could feel the breeze on his bare body, and his wings fluttered with unease as he stood slowly. A step back snapped a twig, and he glanced down at the soil beneath his clawed feet.

The robe was gone.

He blinked as memory rushed back through him. The robe, its protection and Vernell. What he needed to show, what they had done and how it had felt. A glance down showed his seed-streaked front. His shaft had retreated back into its slit, but the scent and the feel of the fox against him had-

The dragon blinked. Wait. How it had felt? He could remember. He remembered all of it. Not just the particulars of what they had done. Not just the sensations in a physical sense. He could remember Vernell. He could remember how he felt about Vernell. He could remember everything that the fox had told him he wouldn't remember.

And there, like a shadow in the fog at the edge of his mind, he could remember something else; something that teased the corner of his awareness, like a little crack in his mind. A message. A warning? Something dangerous, or threatening? Whatever it was, he couldn't quite recall it. It was there, but nebulous.

The more he focused on it though, the more it came back into focus. The dragon crouched down toward the dirt where the robe had been and stared down unseeingly into the water of the creek. It rippled and bubbled quietly along as he brought his mind to heel as he had been taught.

Love.

Eyes snapped open again, and Ain wondered when they had fallen closed again. He glanced around, as if trying to find the source of the word. It took him a moment to realize that it was a reverberation that existed within his mind. Love? What did love have to do with anything? Wasn't that what Vernell had told him he would need to hear the Mother Almighty's warning? He'd-

More than a warning.

He blinked as he fought the urge to look about again. All he would see is the same old woods and the same old creek. There was nothing to see or hear in the real world. Vernell was the key. Ain only grew more and more sure of that with each moment that passed. As he closed his eyes again, he cast his mind back from the fog and instead back to the fox. He luxuriated in the memories they'd created. He fell deep into everything that he'd felt as they had-

Sometimes destiny needs a little rewriting, dear Ain, flickered a quiet, female voice through his thoughts. The words didn't disrupt the memories. If anything, they only solidified them. They were themselves memories, after all.

The deeper he fell into the recent past, the more strongly the words came through. Events are unfolding fast, and you need to heed me... but you need something more than even that. You need love_, dear Ain. Vernell has made this clear to me. And so I give you something, though his gift to you. You shall have your love. You shall have something more than a warning. Something far greater a gift than vision of the future._

Respite is yours, dear Ain. Serve your master. Serve your lord, as you have always meant to. He will not know of your love. He will not know that your heart and soul belong to another. Where I could have gifted prophecy, I grant you instead protection. Wear your love's icon, and never shall you be made to forget him. Follow your heart, and you will learn all that you need to. Follow it back to him.

Even as submerged in the memories as he was, one of Ain's hands rose and wrapped tight around the amulet about his neck. Find him, dear Ain. Find him. Find him...

The words faded from Ain's awareness, and he snapped out of his memories as he felt himself lose balance and pitch forward. His free hand snapped out on reflex to catch himself, and he barely kept his face from the dirt as he breathed a sigh. In his other hand, the amulet was safe.

As he glanced down at it and drank in the craftsmanship of the Mother Almighty's symbol, Ain's mind turned back to her words. There was an ache in his heart that hadn't been there before, an emptiness that he'd never felt before in his life. The only thing in his head besides the goddess' gift was Vernell. The fox was the only thing he could think about. The fox was the only thing he wanted.

Ain turned from the creek and back to the small, carefully-constructed pile of clothing and armour. As he began to dress himself, he felt his muzzle break into a smile despite the dull ache. It was pain. It was loss, however temporary it might have been. Vernell was gone, and it hurt. That was a feeling though, and it had been something that Ain had once been trained to be purged of. It was something of himself, and it was all because of Vernell. The Mother had been right; he had to find the fox.

His smile grew wider. He'd not felt a summons after the Ascension ceremony was completed. He'd been made an inquisitor, a position of honour for the followers of the War Lord, and he had felt no summons to a temple or to a battle in the name of his god. He had felt nothing until Vernell. Now, with the fox's absence, Ain felt a pull. He felt a drive. He felt a direction, a path to follow. He knew what he needed to do. With his love's amulet tucked under his armour, Ain set off to find the little fox. If he had to tear the world apart to do it, he would hold Vernell in his arms again. They had already lost so many moments.

Ain would not let them lose any more than necessary.

Listen to Separate Ways by Journey with this Grooveshark link!

Separate Ways lyrics

Here we stand,

Worlds apart,

Hearts broken in two (two, two).

Sleepless nights,

Losing ground,

I'm reaching for you (you, you).

Feeling that it's gone,

Can change your mind.

If we can't go on,

To survive the tide ,

Love divides.

Someday love will find you,

Break those chains that bind you.

One night will remind you,

How we touched,

And went our separate ways.

If he ever hurts you,

True love won't desert you,

You know I still love you,

Though we touched,

And went our separate ways.

Troubled times,

Caught between confusion and pain (pain, pain).

Distant eyes,

Promises we make were in vain (in vain, vain).

If you must go,

I wish you love.

You'll never walk alone.

Take care, my love,

Miss you, love.

Someday love will find you,

Break those chains that bind you.

One night will remind you,

How we touched,

And went our separate ways.

If he ever hurts you,

True love won't desert you,

You know I still love you,

Though we touched,

And went our separate ways.

Someday love will find you,

Break those chains that bind you.

One night will remind you.

If he ever hurts you,

True love won't desert you,

You know I still love you.

I still love you, girl.

I really love you, girl.

And if he ever hurts you,

True love won't desert you.

No.

No.