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The heat was hell, even compared to normal Texas weather, but Will was having a good day.

FUReonix 2014 was in full swing and he was here with the only two people he'd ever want to be with, in a sweltering hot convention center filled with fursuits and porn. To his left, he was accompanied by girlfriend of four years Jaqueline, and just ahead his flatmate of two, Luis. Of course, he wouldn't have brought anyone who wasn't already part of the fandom - imagine trying to explain! As he looked around, he mused over how good it was to be among people who just understood that part of him.

"What was that?", asked Luis, struggling to hear the mumbling over the general background noise.

"Oh, uh, sorry, I was just thinking out loud I guess" Will blushed and looked down at his shoes, his laminated, deer shaped con badge swinging past his eyesight as Jaqueline gave him an amused look.

Luis swung around to face the two while walking backwards and smirked. "Didn't anyone tell you that's the first sign of madness?"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you you're an annoying di-"

Jaqueline sighed. "Will you two little boys shut up for once?"

"Ah, come on Jackie," started Luis, "you know I love him really", and began one of his customary smug smiles before colliding with a rotund, fluffy bear and stepping on his foot, sending his bag of art and bear paraphernalia clattering to the floor, as well as Luis' canine eared headband.

The man huffed and told Luis to watch where he was going, before picking up his things and moving on - as the other two just looked on in glee at Luis' embarrassment.

"Can we get something to eat now? Clearly I'm not the only one so hungry I can't focus properly", said Jaqueline, tapping her foot.

Will gave her a playful nudge. "Ahh, you don't know that he's just being a clumsy fool as usual kitty, maybe he was just doing his best to make some new friends the only way he knew how, I mean remember, he once-"

Luis butted in to finish the sentence. "Yes, yes, threw up on the guy I was trying to impress - she was there, as you well know. Are you going to keep on telling that story forever?"

Will gave an innocent grin. "Only until it stops being funny."

Luis rolled his eyes and turned around to keep moving through the hall, the others following on behind him. "It stopped being funny after like... the fifth time. Anyway, my dear Jackie, no we can't stop and get something to eat, we have to go queue up for the Notorious B.N.E.'s table before he leaves - I told you guys already that I had to go see him early".

Jackie moaned. "But I'm hungry nowwwww."

Will poked her side and smiled, eliciting an indignant 'feh'. "I did tell you to get some breakfast, didn't I kitty? It's not Luis' fault you decided you had to go get that Felis Eternia set signed first thing in the morning."

Jackie crossed her arms and walked on with a sour expression, mumbling "...I just wanted to make sure I got the limited edition poster set, okay?..."

Will chuckled. "Isn't the theme of that series supposed to be about how being spiritual and getting in touch with your primal animal instincts and needs is more important than having lots of shiny things?"

Jackie had to smile a little at that. "Well, okay okay, I guess we can't all be perfect like you, eh? Since I forgot to look after myself you better make sure I'm taken care of, otherwise maybe I'll eat you all up instead, silly little deer."

They kissed as Luis groaned and kept walking. "Hey, I love you guys and all but I don't wanna hear about your bedroom stuff, okay? I heard the vore section is great this year if you're looking to spice up your sex lives."

After waving off the standard protestations from the lovebirds, he went on. "Besides Jacks, if you really wanted you could have had something to eat when I did, at the barbecue."

She made a face. "Ew. You know I don't eat that stuff, it's nasty. Maybe you can stand it, after all wolves love the taste of warm flesh."

Luis gave a shrug and continued on. "And panthers don't? Some big cat you are! I on the other hand make the utmost effort to stay in touch with my primal side. You'd be the worst panther ever! As for me... Bacon, lamb, big juicy steaks?" He raised his arms up in the sky before letting out an exaggerated "AHHWOOOOO!"

Will and Jacqueline shrank into a mutual embarrassment and hoped everybody was too busy doing their own thing to look down on their group. The feline fanatic hissed: "It's natural for big cats sure, but I recognise that I am actually a human, unlike a certain dumbass."

Luis on the other hand seemed even happier after his dramatic yowl. "Oh, and it's not nature for us too? What do you think those incisors are for in your mouth, tearing off bottlecaps? Humans are bred to fight and dominate even now - just look at Wall Street!"

Jacqueline looked about ready to spit nails, so Will decided to step in for her. "Okay, okay, but don't you think that we have the ability to rise above genetics and be more than just animals? Just because we were like that once doesn't mean we always have to be."

"Maybe. But we've certainly done nothing that differently so far."

Will shrugged and the group fell into silence, though the echoed chatter through the convention hall was still close to deafening.

Soon they reached the other end of the hall and got a look at B.N.E's line, which snaked on for 75 feet or so - with the bearsuited man Luis knocked over earlier at the back of it - who spotted the group standing there and folded his arms in an exaggerated gesture.

"Oh, man, I'll never get my album signed now! Or get to ask B.N.E. out..." complained Luis, ignoring the earlier faux pas.

"Ever the optimist, eh? C'mon, you might still get your chance." said Will with a smile, leading the others into the queue and looking over at the DJ's table, still stacked with merchandise.

Suddenly, the popufur let out a strained whine and put his hand to his heart, his face going red. His entourage and some of the closer fans rushed over to help, but not before a lithe woman body-painted as a vixen among them seemed to trip on nothing and land hard on the floor, shivering and not getting up.

The trio were just about to start panicking when Luis dropped his bag, CDs and zines spilling out over the floor, before doubling over and dry heaving, all the while letting out a twisted yowl that seemed even more troubling than his previous one. Will stepped over the debris and went to hold up Luis, but noticed his alarmingly blackened, gnarled forearms just before his legs went weak and he collapsed into a heap. Excruciating, ragged spikes of agony stabbed into all parts of his body, and he felt a wave of bitter nausea rising in his throat before consciousness slipped away.

---

The pain was present as a dull throb rather than a roar when Will opened his eyes again, and he fought the dizzy feeling at the front of his skull as he tried to understand where he was. Panic gripped him when he realised his body wasn't responding to his brain the way he expected it to, but after rolling from his stomach to a slightly better vantage point laying on his side, his vision came slowly into focus and forced himself to calm down and look around.

Various shapes were moving around the expanse, though many bodies were scattered about the floor, like his own. Even now, he could tell something didn't seem right about the way he was seeing things, but before he could try to push away the fog that seemed to be around his mind and think about it, he felt his ears twitch, and the ringing he hadn't noticed before began to drain away.

In its place he became aware of an echoing wall of bestial sound. Before he could try to filter through the indistinct cacophony, he was startled by a ragged and pained howl from behind him, and scrambled to face the source of the cry. He felt nauseous and panicked the moment he saw - and smelled - the bloodied heap at his feet, and felt bile rising in his throat, but calmed enough to realise the wolf didn't seem to be a threat to him. As he watched, the canine raised its head once more and yowled pitifully for help that it seemed would never come.

Will saw that two of the animal's legs were badly broken, with flecks of bone visible beneath the deep crimson mess. He tried to climb to his feet and back away, but his legs felt spindly and strange, and they buckled underneath him as quickly as he stood, forcing him back down onto his belly. Shocked, the deer opened his mouth to cry out or ask for help, but after a large effort, found he could produce nothing but a high pitched bleat.

The animal, which didn't really understand it had a name anymore, looked around, desperate for help, and narrowly resisted another panicked whine when he noticed the huge black cat sitting across from him, stirring from a deep sleep. Though his body was screaming at him to run, he leaned in closer and nosed the panther, urging her to wake, and sat mesmerised, unable to move a muscle, when her deep golden eyes opened and locked with his.

The stag was both relieved and heartbroken when the predator eventually sniffed the air and looked away, his heart still racing. He watched the thing of beauty as she slowly got to her feet, a movement much more graceful than his own efforts, and slowly padded over to the broken wolf that he had almost forgotten. Under no such spell, the wounded predator-turned-prey let out a deafening, twisted yowl as he saw the cat approach, and thrashed shattered limbs in an attempt to escape, only intensifying the metallic smell so alluring to the panther.

A deep fog over his mind, the deer barely understood what was happening as a shadow suddenly leapt for the wolf's throat and the noises stopped, finally sat paralysed in terror as he watched the power of his love's merciless jaws and the splatters of crimson on her fur. Quickly, the gorging was over, and the big cat licked off her fangs, turning away from the bloody mess and towards fresh meat.

Having regained enough of his instincts to know he was in terrible danger, the deer scrambled to his hooves, adrenaline overriding his earlier pain, and tensed to run when he looked again into the eyes that were at once vicious and things of beauty, only feet away. As they both stood and stared, the tension grew palpable, and both animals were struck by a deep, cold, feeling of loss they didn't have the capacity to understand.

The stag acted first, taking one small step forward, then another, the madness within him having convinced him to lean down and dare the wrath those ferocious jaws, somehow knowing the panther was the remedy for the empty feeling inside him.

As he approached, the panther marvelled at her prey's bravery, and as he touched his cold nose to her own, her shock made her let out a fateful breath that she didn't know she was holding.

A cloud of copper and iron suddenly forced its way into the deer's weak mind as he smelled his own death, rational senses returning to him once more. At once he jerked back, freezing terror running through his veins, only to hear a deep growl as the spell was broken. He turned and began to run for his life just as the predator rose to her feet, but barely even started to sprint before his unsteady front hooves stumbled against a skinny loop of chain on the floor, still attached a picture of a smiling, carefree deer. He slammed into the floor hard, head ringing, and had only enough time left to look back at those terrible, brilliant eyes.

---

"For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imaginations, we learned to talk.

Stephen Hawking