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The Elemental Portals

Book I – Terra

Chapter II – Encounter at Dougs-ur-Mark

Jimmy found himself seated on one side of a solid oak table with his father Arthur and the vixen Aurora on the other side. Between them there was a plate of lemon cookies that no one had so much as glanced at, let alone touched. The three were engaged in an awkward silence that had lasted fifteen minutes so far, by Jimmy’s reckoning, punctuated by drawn breaths and mouths opening but with no words coming out, and fingers raised as if to make a point that never came.

Aurora was now wearing a yellow cotton dress that covered her from knees to neck. It was probably too warm for the season, but Jimmy was glad that she had covered up, considering that she was supposed to be his mother. But his brain was still having difficulty wrapping itself around that one.

The silence gave him time to think, and time to study her. She was shorter than his father and he, and slim, except around the bust and the hips, where she could rival a Victoria’s Secret model … and … and Jimmy had to drive the image that conjured out of head because it wasn’t helping.

Once he managed to get past the elongated muzzle, fur and pointy ears he was able to read her expressions. She looked worried and distraught, but also hopeful. She had his father’s hand in a tight grip and was using her other … paw? … hand, he decided, even though it had claws and pads of black material like canine paws had on each digit and on the palms. She was using her other hand to rub their entwined fingers while she bit her lip in anticipation. What could she be so wrought up about, he wondered? How about how her son, who had no idea that his mother was a fox, would react on meeting her, for starters? And by now he was half convinced that she was his mother

It's the eyes. Eyes that he had only previously seen staring back at him from his bathroom mirror.

“Soooooo …” he said slowly, “you’re my … Mother?”

His words opened the floodgates on their mouths.

“I want to explain, son …”

“…. wanted to meet you for so long, but …”

“… any chance of having a normal live on earth, then …”

“… and I felt so bad when I had to give you up ….”

Jimmy held up his hands. “Whoa, whoa. One at a time, please. Dad, why don’t you start.”

“Remember what I said about the biology being different here? That different species can mate and have offspring?” He waited for Jimmy to nod before continuing. “There is more to it than that. When they do breed, the offspring will come out as either of their parent’s species, not a mix of the two, like you see on earth. A loin and a sheep may have a lion cub the first year and a lamb the second, or vice versa. Maternal twins will be both the same but fraternal twins could be one of each, as well as being different sexes. You follow?”

“You’re telling me that you … bred … with Aurora and that I was the result.”

“Bred?” Aurora interrupted, a bit perturbed. “No, it’s much more than that, Jimmy. Your father courted me, and we were formally mated in front of our friends and families before any … breeding … took place.”

“Families?” Jimmy noted the plural. “I suppose Grandpa Colin and Grandma Winnie there for the ceremony?” he asked doubtfully.

His father surprised him by answering, “Yes. They were. But you should know that Grandma Winnie was his second wife. His first was a vixen from another branch of Aurora’s family. She died giving birth and Grandpa hired Winnie to help raise me on earth. They got along well and eventually they married, but Grandma knew that Grandpa’s heart was buried along with his first wife here on Terra.”

Jimmy’s jaw dropped to his chest, again. He was getting used to having it there.

His father lowered his head and sighed. “You see son, the Douglas family, at least our branch of it, has had a history of affinity for certain Terran species; foxes, tigers and red pandas in particular, for many generations.”

“Must be because of the red hair.” Jimmy said dryly.

His father did not catch the sarcasm. “Possibly, or the hair could be a result of the crossbreeding; apparently it goes back to the days when the first Douglas discovered a portal in Scotland. Now that I think of it, Clan Keith has a badger as their symbol and their men always have dark hair with a white steak in it, so … anyway, that is neither here nor there. While it’s true that many humans that do business here and on similar worlds have mistresses or separate families those that want to have just one family have a problem … while humans are accepted here the same cannot be said for Terrans on Earth.”

Jimmy nodded in agreement. When he was seventeen he had borrowed the car for a trip to Ottawa to see a Football game with ‘friends’ but instead he visited a small Furry Convention and witnessed a bunch of Frat boys heckling and taunting some of the obviously Furry patrons outside the hotel. If the hotel security had not intervened it might have gotten ugly. He could only image how the Terrans would be treated if one were to be caught there; caged and dissected, no doubt.

His father continued. “After you were born we decided to give you a fair chance at a normal life on earth. We had no idea whether you would want to be involved with the family business when you grew up or have other … Douglas traits … and, as I was saying earlier, this life is not for everyone. If you had grown up selfish, greedy or callous I would never have brought you here. But you’ve been a good boy and you’re growing to be a good man, so I thought that your mother deserved to see how you turned out. And I was hoping that you might … feel … something for her.”

Their expectant stares, hers with a trace of tears, tore at his heart. Half of it wanted him to throw himself across the table into their arms and the other half wanted nothing to do with this. It was unfair, he thought, to expect affection from him after eighteen years of separation … but wait, had it really been that long?

A memory stirred. “How old was I when you brought me to live on earth?”

“Three.” Aurora answered with a sob, the memory of the parting apparently still painful.

Jimmy lowered his head. He remembered that as a toddler his favourite toy had been a large stuffed fox that he named “Rora.” That’s why the name Rory Douglas on the portal scroll stood out so much for him; it was almost the same. But while Rory was a boy’s name Jimmy’s stuffed companion was definitely female. He had snuggled with it to sleep every night and dragged it around until he was seven, at which point his father convinced him that Rora should stay home to guard Jimmy’s room while he was at school. But he slept with it until he was twelve and all its stuffing had come out.

And then he recalled that the reason he loved the toy fox so much was because it reminded him of someone he missed dearly.

He looked back up at the vixen. “Rora.” He said. “Aurora. I couldn’t say Aurora.”

Her tears were flowing freely now, but there was a smile on her face. “You couldn’t say Mother, either. ‘Ma-ma’ was the best you could manage for the longest time. We were so afraid that you might have a speech defect.”

He tried the word on for size. “Mother.” He had never said the word before except as an abstract reference, but here and now it felt right in his mouth. He stood up, pushed his chair away and said it again.

“Mother!”

In an instant he was in her arms, her head cradled against his chest as she sobbed tears of joy and he hugged her tight.

“Never go away again, son.” She whispered into his ear. “Never go away again.”

Jimmy promised that he would not, a promise, like so many given in a moment of intense emotion, that proved impossible to keep.

* * * * * * * *

Back on earth Anne Steward was missing her friend Jimmy already. While she had never expected that he would invite her to the Prom, despite wanting him to very badly, she was at least counting on him to attend graduation with her. But yesterday she had received a quick text from him to the effect that he was leaving on a business trip with his dad and could she kindly drop by the house and pick up the mail every few days, please?

Well la-de-dah, she thought, not so much as a hint or a clue as to where they were headed, just a mention that it was someplace without internet access so she might not hear from him regularly.

“And don’t forget to practice your art so you can wow ‘em at OCAD.” He had signed off.

OCAD was the Ontario College of Art and Design, which she had applied for and had indeed been accepted at. But the tuition was almost seven thousand dollars a year, and she did not qualify for welfare grants or interest-free loans. There was also something that Jimmy was not aware of, that she had been offered a full scholarship at the Emily Carr Institute of Arts and Design … in Vancouver … some five thousand kilometers west of Kingston.

The smart money, and her parents, said to take the scholarship, but she was loath to leave Kingston and Jimmy behind. But on the other hand, if the insensitive little prick was going to run off to exotic lands with his father and leave her to pick up the mail … she grumbled as she emptied the mailbox and unlocked the door to sort it on the table in the foyer. She knew where they hid the spare house key so she had no problem getting in, and since she was over there so often she had her own security code for the alarm.

It was not her first rodeo; Mister Douglas occasionally sent his son to medieval themed summer camps where they taught archery, swordplay and shield work and had paid her to pick up the mail when he was away for work at the same time. The flyers and unaddressed mail she dumped in a waste basket under the table. The ones that looked business related she kept to drop off at the warehouse on her way home. Those that seemed to be personal for Jimmy’s father she left in one pile, while those addressed to Jimmy she placed in another.

One envelope attracted her attention. It had the turbaned DNA logo of the Gene Genie company. She recalled that his results were due, but this envelope was much thinner than the one her father had received with its maps and charts ands reams of paper with offers for Genealogical services and subscriptions.

She was sure that he wouldn’t mind if she took a little peek. After all, she had paid for the test.

“Dear Sir or Madam,” the letter began. “We regret to inform you that the sample you sent in was corrupted and therefore no viable results could be obtained. Enclosed herein is a refund for the full amount of the test kit and the postage incurred …”

Anne stopped reading. Damn, she thought, that sucks the big one. Now Jimmy will never know where his mother was from. She would have to break the bad news to him when he got back from wherever it was they had run off to, and she was sure that the news would devastate him.

She was so immersed in her sorrow for Jimmy’s situation that as she locked up and left, she failed to notice the man parked across the street in a car with tinted windows that followed her every move.

* * * * * * * *

Jimmy was now sitting across from his father with his mother beside him and half of the lemon cookies were gone. His parents were explaining how Terra worked in greater detail for him.

“There are several hundred species of sentient mammals scattered around the globe, all of which would be familiar to anyone from earth with half an education.” His father explained. “They are all like your mother, humanoid in form from knee to neck but with animal heads, tails and lower hind legs. Most have paws down there, but horses, sheep, deer, etcetera have hoofs. Their hands differ in that the ones you would think of as carnivores still have claws, but the herbivores generally have thick nails of the same material as their hooves.”

“There are still carnivores and herbivores? Who do the carnivores eat?”

“The mammals don’t eat each other.” His mother answered. “We eat mostly fish and birds, especially chicken. We don’t have sentient reptiles, birds or aquatic animals here on Terra, but there are said to be worlds that are exclusively populated by such species. They, uh, don’t like visiting world like ours where we eat their non-sentient relatives.”

“Here on Terra some species live off the same products their counterparts produce on Earth.” His father added. “Cows and Goats give milk for drinking and for making cheese. Sheep sheer their own wool and produce yarn for weaving or knitting. The stronger species, draft horses and oxen, use their strength as labourers or miners, generally.”

“I guess when you’re so much larger than everyone else you get typecast as the big, dumb type.”

“Not really. The size difference between the species here isn’t as pronounced as it is on Earth. Most come out about the same size as your average human, but large species, like horses, oxen or tigers are a bit bigger on average and small species, like corgis, red pandas and ferrets are a bit smaller. Anyone can go to school and anyone who can pass the entrance exams can attend the universities in the few cities they have on Terra and become a scholar, an architect or an engineer, and anyone with any artistic skill can make a living producing the goods that we trade back on Earth. But Terra is mostly an agrarian society, so the bulk of the population works the farms, fishes or raises chickens … and there is the merchant class, of course.”

“Of course.”

“It’s not so different from Earth in the iron age, except that they didn’t have any iron before we brought it here.”

Their discussion was interrupted by the sound of young voices calling excitedly.

“Mom! Is dad here? Mister Tholkes said he saw him coming down the hill with a stranger.”

“Do we have guests, Mom?”

“Do we have to wash up before we meet them?”

The source of the ruckus tumbled into the kitchen. It was two young vixens, miniature copies of Aurora without the curves. They were dressed just in skirts, but they could have been boys from their undeveloped chests and thin frames. They looked to be about ten years old to Jimmy’s inexperienced eye.

The two popped up right in front of Jimmy holding out their hands to shake.

“Hello. I’m Vikki …”

“… and I’m Mikki.”

Jimmy shook each small furry hand in turn and attempted to introduce himself. “Nice to meet you, I’m ...” but he was interrupted.

“Look at his hair Mikki!”

“He’s a Douglas, Vikki!”

“Oh, my! Do you think …”

“… we’ve never seen him but …”

In unison they screamed “It’s our brother, JIMMY!”

“Calm down girls.” Their mother told them as they bounced on their hind paws excitedly, clutching their hands in front of their mouths. “Have a lemon cookie.”

They grabbed at the plate and it was empty by the time they had taken seats on either side of his father, their father, Jimmy reminded himself. They were staring up at him with the same dark brown eyes that most of the Douglas clan had in the old portraits.

When he asked their age he was informed by the twins that they had indeed just turned ten. At which point their mother sent them to wash up and change into dresses, “in honour of our guest.”

Once they were out of earshot Aurora told him that the lifespan of Terrans was similar to that of Humans, as were the stages of life, like puberty, adulthood, middle and old age.

“We don’t have laws about when a male and a female can mate, like you do on Earth. Generally, the decision is left up to the couple, but it is considered impolite to mate before you are ready to make a commitment, so there is very little casual … coupling. And Terrans who prey on children are almost unheard of.” She narrowed her eyes. “Unlike what I’ve heard about Earth. Here we deal with that kind of behaviour quickly and severely.”

“No worries there, Mother. I’ve never, ah, preyed on anyone.”

“Good. Arthur has told me that coming to Terra for the first time can be a shock to humans because we tend to wear less in the way of clothing, especially in the summer. This time of year most folk only dress up to keep their fur clean or dry or if their work requires protective clothing. The nudity is casual, so don’t read anything into it or let it distract you. It isn’t an invitation to …”

“Couple?”

“Don’t make fun of your mother.” His father chided before turning to his mate. “He has a glib tongue.”

“It’s alright, dear. I’m just happy that we’re all together, finally. Why don’t you give him a tour of the village while the girls and I make supper?”

“Sounds like a plan. Jimmy, lets go take a walk.”

The Village, he explained, was named Dougs-ur-Mark, which meant the Douglas’s new market, as it was the second market town to grow up around a Douglas controlled portal. As such the relatively small village had shops and galleries where one could buy or sell almost any type of commodity, a boon for the locals, his father assured him.

As they strolled down the hill Arthur pointed out some of the village’s landmarks: the Municipal centre, the Volunteer Fire Department, the Guild hall where tradespeople and specialists discussed business standards over a pint of beer, and the various shops.

The largest building was a barn-like structure with a storefront on the near edge of the village. His father explained that it was the warehouse and retail outlet for Douglas Imports and Exports here on Terra.

“Everything we import to Terra goes into storage here under the watchful eye of my partner, Paul Colliman. Traders come from all over the region and beyond to buy our raw metals by the ton and finished goods in lots of a dozen or more. Of course, we sell individual items and some of our best scrap to the locals for a discount, and they keep an eye out for strangers in return.”

Inside the store there was only one customer at the moment, being dealt with by a canine that looked like a corgi to Jimmy. The dog acknowledged Arthur’s presence with a quick salute.

“G’day Clarence. Where’s Paul?”

“He’s in the warehouse doing inventory, Boss.”

“Thanks.” Arthur led his son around the end of the counter and trough a set of double swinging doors. They emerged in a space much like the warehouse back in Kingston, except that there was no artificial light so the walls were lined with tall windows and the roof was set with numerous skylights to let the sun in.

In the far corner another canine holding a clipboard with a sheath of papers on it was directing several more agile species as they scrambled up shelves full of hatchets and over piles of slightly rusty cast iron and recycled aluminum.

“Paul!” Arthur cried. “Come and meet my son, James.”

The canine turned and walked over to them. Jimmy noted that the warehouse staff here were only wearing loincloths in the hot interior of the building. His father’s partner on the other hand seemed to be wearing nothing but a canvas apron and a red dog collar. He stopped in front of the two humans and stuck out a furry hand to shake.

“Pleased to meet you, Master Douglas.”

“Just call me Jimmy, please. Everyone does.”

The dog looked very young, just older than him, Jimmy would have guessed, except that his father had mentioned that he had been partners with the canine since he took over the business, twenty some years ago, so he must have been closer to his father in age. He was a blue-eyed, long-haired collie whose ears flopped over halfway up, just like the dog in the old television shows Jimmy used to watch when he was a boy. “You know, you look just like La- …” He was interrupted by a kick to the shin on his father’s side

“Don’t say it.” His father whispered out of the corner of a big fake smile.

Jimmy did not know what offensive thing his father thought that he might say, but a quick glance at the collie showed that his welcoming smile had been replaced by a furrowed frown.

“Who, exactly, do I remind you of?”

Arthur faked a cough and leaned down to Jimmy’s ear.

“He hates being called that.”

Jimmy pretended to pound his father on the back as she whispered back, “What?”

“Lassie, don’t call him Lassie.”

Jimmy stood up, perplexed. “La- … Lawrence, uh Lawrence Pettigrew. A teacher at my school. Same long, reddish-brown hair with some white on the edges and a long nose … for a human.”

Paul relaxed visibly. “Oh. Handsome guy, I take it?”

“Oh, definitely.” In truth, flies that came within sight of the real Lawrence Pettigrew’s face often dropped dead from the shock.

“Well, welcome to the Terran warehouse of Douglas Trading.” The collie said with a sweep of its arm that ended in a bow. “I am your loyal servant.”

Jimmy copied the bow. “And I yours.”

“Oh, no! You are the heir to the Dougs-ur-Mark portal and this branch of your family’s business. Although your father counts me as a partner, I could never be so disloyal as to even think that I might put myself above, or even equal to, a true Douglas.”

Jimmy decided to set that aside for now and searched for another topic to keep the conversation going. “Uh, nice collar.”

“Oh, you like it? I saw one in a magazine your father brought over one time and thought that it looked quite dashing.”

“You, uh, do know what collars signify over on earth, right?”

“Oh yes. Normally I don’t wear it during the day, but Mistress Selena sometimes insists that I display my submissiveness to her by wearing it in public. I have a rubber mask and a red ball on a rope gag to go with it, but Selena supplies her own restraints.”

Jimmy made a conscious effort to keep his mouth from hanging open again while his father winced.

“Paul is, uh, refreshingly honest, you might say, and I’ve yet to find anything that embarrasses him. And that magazine was not mine. It was a BDSM aficionado’s publication ordered by some of the humans that chose to live full time on Terra. I’m afraid that they imported some of their kinks along with it.”

“It’s true, Jimmy. You father was never one to be dominated, although he’ll do anything Aurora demands. Just be glad she isn’t into whips, Arthur. With no fur you’d be skinned alive.”

“Thank you, Paul. That will be enough about my sex life, or yours for that matter.”

“What about his?” Paul asked, turning to Jimmy. “I understand that your father caught you fapping to a pornographic animation that looked a lot like your mother. You don’t have one of those, what do they call them? Oedipus complexes? Do you?”

“We’d best be moving on.” Arthur said, his face glowing red. “Lots to see in the village before supper. I’ll drop in tomorrow and we can go over the books, Paul.”

“Oh, okay.” The collie sounded disappointed but grumpy or not, he loyally walked Arthur and his son to the door and watched as they strolled toward the village.

“Who is Mistress Selena?” Jimmy asked when they were out of ear shot.

“A cheetah, the village prostitute. She’s only Mistress Selena to those who get turned on by being submissive. Do NOT ask Paul what he likes to do when he visits her. You don’t want to know.”

“You told him about me though.”

His father sighed. “It’s different with Paul. We’re his substitute family. You see, on occasion someone nasty or an aggressive country will take over a portal and try to corrupt or enslave the Terrans that live around it. When that happens the surrounding regions will raise an army to restore order. Paul was a soldier when he was young and while he was away fighting the invaders raided his village. They raped his mate. She was pregnant with their first child. She and their unborn child died shortly after that from their injuries. Paul was devastated. I’m not entirely sure what happened next, but I’ve heard that every member of the gang responsible later died in some very innovative but bloody ways.”

“Jesus.”

“Somewhere along the line he pissed off the wrong people and had to go into hiding. This territory being quiet and secure, thanks to our family’s backing, he settled down here. But he’s still waiting for the folk he owes to show up to collect their pound of flesh. That’s why he’s never married, even though he wants kids of his own badly. Since he can’t have a family of his own, he fills that need by being my sounding board. You see, Jimmy ... it hasn’t been easy living half my life on Earth and half on Terra, raising you on my own. Paul is a good listener, and he’s not judgemental. So, yeah, I’ve told him a few things that might be considered personal.”

“It’s okay dad, I get it. Poor guy”

“Yeah. Oh, this is the Blacksmith’s. Let’s pop in, I have to talk with the Smith.”

The blacksmith shop was open on three sides. At its centre was a bed of red-hot coals in a brick lined pit with a large steel anvil nearby. The Smith had arranged the anvil to be upwind of the fire to take advantage of the cross breeze. His torso gleamed with sweat in the firelight.

Jimmy had expected a larger breed of animal, like a bull or an ox, and was not too surprised that the Smith was a fair-sized horse. This one had a hide that was a light tan that reminded Jimmy of the buckskin jackets sold at the Mohawk reservation store near Kingston, and a dark mane. When he glanced up to see who had come in Jimmy could see that he had large hazel eyes, quite a lot like Annie’s, actually. He also had a burn scar across his left shoulder and Jimmy wondered how he had gotten it.

The Smith was big, although not incredibly so, as befitting what his father had told him about species differences here, but the way his muscles bulged as his hammer rose and fell rhythmically would make any human bodybuilder jealous. That made Jimmy think of something else about horses that made humans jealous, but the smith was wearing a protective loin cloth that was tied tight around his groin so Jimmy could not tell if he was built like a horse or a human down there.

They waited patiently for the Smith to finish shaping the metal he was working on. When he was satisfied, he submerged the part in a tub of water, disappearing momentarily in the hiss of steam that it produced. Emerging from the mist he clomped over to them on large black hooves, holding out a large hand where each digit was tipped with similar material, like thick, black fingernails.

He shook Artur’s hand first. “Mister Douglas.”

“Gael, this is my son, James, or Jimmy if you prefer.”

“It would depend on what he prefers.” The smith said with a friendly smile as he turned to shake Jimmy’s hand.

“Jimmy will be fine, Mister ...?”

“Tholkes, but you can call me Gael. Mister is for old folk and I’m closer in age to you than to your father.”

“Are you calling me old, Gael?” His father laughed. “Well, I had some news for you, but I’m afraid that it just slipped my feeble mind.”

“It wouldn’t have anything to do with a special order now, would it?”

“Ah, yes. Now that you remind me, it does. Enough Tamahagane steel blanks to produce several of the finest swords and enough cherry wood charcoal to make a fire hot enough to work it.”

Jimmy squinted, slightly puzzled. “Cherry wood?”

“The harder the wood the hotter it burns, especially as charcoal.” Gael informed him.

“Right, no fossil fuels like coal here.”

“And when we tried to import some we found that it wouldn’t burn properly. Certainly not hot enough for serious work.” His father added. Then, turning back to Tholkes he said, “Can you drop by the portal tomorrow? It should be in by then and you can get it direct without waiting for Paul to transfer it to the warehouse.”

“Sure thing Mister Douglas. I hate being away from the forge but for this I’ll make time.”

“Okay, we’ll see you then.”

They said their goodbyes and left the shop.

“When we go to the portal tomorrow to meet Gael we’ll check to make sure that spell works for you.” His father said when they were alone again. “I haven’t had much experience with them so best to confirm that it’s working properly. Wouldn’t want to leave you stranded here. At the same time, you can help Gael and I carry the steel and charcoal through.”

They were passing a shop that had a number of plucked duck, chicken and goose carcases hanging by their necks in the open window. A butcher shop, obviously. From inside Jimmy could hear the ‘thunk’ of a heavy blade striking wood. Peeking inside he saw that the butcher was an older looking rabbit with streaks of grey in her fur. She was engaged in beheading live birds and with each ‘thunk’ of the cleaver bright red blood sprayed everywhere.

She was so intent on her work that she did not see him standing there watching her at first. Jimmy could see her well as she stood behind the low butcher’s block. She had a large bosom and wide hips, a matronly type, he thought, and her long ears fell back over her head but did not hang straight down. Unlike the citizens he had seen so far, she was wearing a full apron over a blouse that covered most of her upper body and arms, because of the blood that splattered each time she beheaded one of the fowl, he supposed. She was also the first Terran that he had seen wearing makeup or jewellery, some light blue powder on her cheeks and a necklace that looked like some sort of bone or ivory.

He didn’t realize that he was staring until she looked up and their eyes met. Hers immediately blazed angrily as her face fell into a frown. She deliberately picked up her largest clever in one hand, grabbed a sizeable turkey by the neck with the other and held it toward him as if to say “this is you” before swiping the blade through the air and taking it’s head off just above her fist.

A fountain of blood shot straight up and rained down on her, making her look like the killer in every horror movie Jimmy had ever seen. Meanwhile the turkey’s head had landed on the chopping block, its mouth opening and closing in silent gobbles as its body thrashed in mid air.

Jimmy stepped back and almost fell off the raised sidewalk before his father caught him and hurried him away from the shop.

“That was Ruth. Best to avoid her; she doesn’t like humans.”

“Why?”

His father’s face went red. “Some young, foolish lad may have accidentally left a copy of ‘Watership Down’ laying around one day.”

“Ah!”

Just then a female cheetah came around the corner. Jimmy’s eyes went wide as she approached. She was not naked, but had dressed to emphasize her body, with a silky skirt slit at the front that exposed her sex with every swaying step she took and a translucent cape they came only as far down as the nipples on her perky breasts. Bands of gold and large cut gems decorated various parts of her body.

“Hello, Arthur. This must be the son I’ve heard tell of. Jimmy, is it?” Her smile was wide, toothy, friendly, knowing and somehow hungry all at the same time.

“Ye-, yes, Ma’am.”

“Ohhhh, so polite. Not like the father who doesn’t even pay me the occasional courtesy call.”

“Selena ...”

She pouted in his father’s direction. “Oh, relax, Arthur honey. I’m just teasing. I know you are ‘faithfully mated’. But ...” she said, turning back to Jimmy, “I am looking forward to getting to know your, uh, unattached son ... intimately.”

The way she licked her dark lips, exposing sharp teeth and fangs, almost made Jimmy cum on the spot.

“Not today, Selena, sorry.” Arthur said as he dragged Jimmy away down the street. “Or ever if I can help it.” He added under his breath before addressing Jimmy again.

“Is that the Selena Paul was talking about?”

“Uh, yes. Hey, look, it’s getting late. Let’s turn back.” His father suggested. “We’ll need to wash up before supper. They are very fussy about that sort of thing here.”

Jimmy wiped an arm across his brow to clear the sweat that had appeared there as he watched the cheetah sashay away, her long tail swinging in time with her hips and ass. As he did he caught a whiff of his body odour.

“Whee-ew. Guess I should have showered before we left today. But you got me up earlier than I expected.”

“The cottage only has a basin in an open outbuilding, but there is a pond nearby. Stop by the warehouse on the way, we export some of the finest cotton bath towels and there are always a few hanging about.”

His father gave him instructions on how to find the pond and he left Jimmy near the warehouse. Clarence brought him a towel that was wonderfully thick and soft. “It’s designed to dry fur, so it will work quickly on your bald hide.” The clerk assured him, with no hint of bias towards the furless folk.

Jimmy found the pond with no problem. It was just east of the cottage on the other side of a hill as his father had described it. One end was shallow and sandy, Arthur had told him, and the other was deeper with a muddy bottom that he claimed felt good between the toes. It was colder though, being deeper and in the shade of a great willow whose branches hung down to graze the water’s surface.

Checking to be sure that there was no one else around Jimmy striped off his clothes on the sandy end and went in thigh deep to start. He had learned from the Boy Scouts that sand could be used to scrub your skin clean in lieu of soap so he bent over and scooped up a double handful and began rubbing it over his body. The friction felt good, as did the sun on his skin. It was not quite bathing suit season yet in Kingston so he enjoyed the feeling while he could.

While he rubbed and rinsed his mind wandered back over the events of the day, starting with the sight of the naked fox that turned out to be his mother. He banished the image from his head, only to have it replaced by that of the silky, slinky Selena. He closed his eyes and the short skirt and cape came away, leaving her with nothing but her jewelry and the fur God gave her.

Unconsciously his hand wandered down below the waist, to a part that he had already cleaned. A little extra rubbing wouldn’t hurt though, he thought, would it?

His cock began to swell and rise as he imagined the cheetah laying naked on a bed covered with red silk sheets. In a moment he was fully erect and he wrapped his fist around it lightly, just squeezing it gently for now. In his mind she looked so real that he could almost hear her giggling.

Wait …. Giggling?

Jimmy dropped his cock and looked around wildly to find the source of the giggles, half suspecting that Mikki and Vikki were spying on him. He could se no one though, and there was only one voice doing the giggling, a voice much more mature than those of the twins.

He held his hands over his rapidly shrinking prick as he called out, “Who are you? And … where are you?”

“I’m over here.”

The voice sounded female, and it was coming from the willow. Jimmy peered into the shadows under the overhanging branches but could not make anyone out.

She was standing there in plain sight, it turned out, but Jimmy did not really see her until she moved and the illusion was broken.

She, it was definitely a she, was a tiger. She was standing upright in front of the sweeping willow branches where her stripes had effectively mimicked the pattern of the light and shadows. He noted that her stripes were lighter up near her shoulders and that they got darker the farther down they went, which had helped her lower half blend in with the darker water. She had long brown hair on her head, done in bangs over her bright green eyes and framing her face on the sides but done in a bun at the back.

She was as naked as he, but the water had made her fur slick and thin, and it hid nothing from the imagination.

She stepped closer and giggled again. “Sorry for spying on you, but I don’t see humans as young as me around here much, especially naked ones.”

She was making no attempt to hide her nakedness and Jimmy was reminded that the Terran sense of modesty was quite different from his. He also tried to remind himself that nudity here was not an invitation to have sex, but it was proving difficult, so he kept his hands firmly cupped over his groin.

“Don’t talk much, do ya? Shy? I’ve heard that about humans. It’s okay, you don’t have to be ashamed.” Her eyes wandered down to where his hands were. “Believe me, I’ve seen most of the males in town naked and you REALLY have nothing to be ashamed of.”

She was much closer now, and the water was just up to mid thigh on her, as it was for him. She paused just out of reach and rubbed her palms down along her fur to get the water out of it before engaging in a vigorous shake. It helped to puff up her fur in most places but the thinner fur on her breasts and that around her sex stayed wet and effectively transparent.

Jimmy could not help but look, first at those large round breasts with their perky pink nipples made hard by the cold water, and then at the gentle curve of her abdomen as it formed a ‘vee’ that ended in a soft, split mound. One of her hands was cupping a breast and the other was lingering close to that mound. Jimmy found himself wishing that they were his hands.

“You’re Jimmy Douglas, aren’t you?”

“Uh, yeah. How did you know?”

“There has been talk all over town that Mister Douglas had brought his son here to Terra. A lot of folk thought that he never would, that he would never tell you about us and the business would close when he retired or be sold off to another Douglas. I guess you being here means that you’ll be taking over when your time comes.”

“I don’t know about that, although I don’t think that there are any other Douglas’s around to take over either. I suppose if I want it, It’s mine.” He shrugged.

She moved a half step closer. “You, uh, seemed lost in thought earlier, Jimmy. Thinking of someone back on Earth?”

Jimmy opened his mouth, a bit shocked by her forwardness, but before he could help it his eyes drifted up as he thought about his life on earth and the very few people that meant anything to him there. There was only Annie really, but she was like family. He wouldn’t … she couldn’t … could she? No, she was his best friend, and that was it.

It must have shown on his face because the tigress moved in until her breasts were almost touching his chest. “There isn’t, is there? So, someone you saw here on Terra has caught your fancy?” She giggled again and put a soft hand to his chest. “Not Selena, I hope.”

“Well, ah …”

“Ha! I knew it. That cat can charm the worms from robin’s butts.” She said with a note of jealousy. “But she’s all business, you know. Some of us just want to have a little fun, not that there is much to have here.” She looked across into his eyes. “Tell me Jimmy, is it fun on Earth?”

His hands had come away from his groin and off to the sides in a defensive reaction as she moved in on him. Defenceless, she slid her free hand down and let it brush gently along the length of his cock, which while flaccid was still long and thick and heavy with blood that would probably have served his brain better at the moment.

“I, ah doh- … don’t even know … your name.” He stammered nervously.

“Junafir. Junafir Pawstone.”

Jimmy could not recall seeing any older tigers in town but there was a lot that they hadn’t covered.

“Nice to me- … meet you.”

“You too.” She giggled. She was leaning against him so that her breasts were squished between them and he could feel her nipples digging into his chest. Her hand was stoking his cock now, her fingers wrapping around it as far as they could reach, not quite toughing, and it was fighting to rise up against the pressure.

“Tell me, Jimmy … do you like me?”

“Oh, yes.”

Her hand moved faster on his shaft. “A lot?”

“A whole lot.” He screwed up enough courage to reach around and grip her round firm bottom.

“Would you like to mate with me?”

“Would I? I mean … are you sure that’s okay? I mean, we just met and … your parents might object.”

“Oh, pish-posh. I’m and adult now and I can make my own decisions.”

Her pout and the words she had used made him laugh. She sounded like his Grandma and he wondered exactly who had last coached these Terrans in English. They surely needed an update of their vocabulary.

His laugh relaxed her again and she forced one of her legs between his thighs as she reversed his cock and continued to stroke it. Now she was pressed fully up against him and his hands could wander around her buttocks and back, across her thighs and up under her tail.

That seemed to be a sensitive spot because she positively purred and took a nip at his neck when his hand rubbed around the base of her tail.

“Oh, by the Maker, Jimmy, that feels good. You must have done this a thousand times.”

No, actually, I’m a … I’ve never …. done this with a live girl … woman, I mean,”

She smiled and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Me neither. Not farther than this, anyway. But before we go any farther, I need to know … do you want to mate with me, Jimmy?”

Those deep green eyes, the feel of live flesh on his flesh, the feel of her muscles moving fluidly under his and the feel of her hands moving on him - especially the one on his cock – left him with no option that would allow him to keep his sanity except to say “Yes.”

And he did, without thinking or stopping to ponder the dangers in a world where any two species could breed. Such is the impetuousness of youth, especially when losing one’s virginity is at stake.

Not that he had much time to think. As soon as the word was out of his mouth she sealed it shut with hers, her tongue immediately diving down to seek out his to engage it in a wrestling match. Her hips were grinding against his and the hand that wasn’t stoking his cock into the hardest erection he had ever experienced grabbed one of his and placed it between her legs.

Jimmy had only read about foreplay and watched a few dozen porn videos with some before this, but he remembered two things: start of slowly and look for the clit, otherwise he was just groping in the dark. Groping seemed to fit the ticket at the moment though, because when her rubbed her mound it split to reveal damp inner lips, so he rubbed them too. That made them spread and first one and then two of his fingers were soon inside her, plunging in and out as he continued to rub outside with his remaining digits. If he pulled them out far enough the middle finger went up into the folds of flesh at the apex, and there was something deep down in them that felt hard. When he touched it she moaned. When he rubbed it she bit his neck again. When he made little circles around it she called on her maker and demanded that he never stop.

He had no intention of stopping, not right away, but he did wonder when it would be okay to move on to the main event. He did not have to wait long, though, as she soon tilted his stiff rod down parallel with the surface of the pond and began rubbing the exposed head against her clit, occasionally letting the lips of her pussy ride up along it too; spreading the clear drops of pre-cum that had formed there and mixing them with a slippery nectar that was oozing from her.

Suddenly, with the agility her breed was known for, she leapt into the air, catching him around the hips with her legs and around the shoulders with her arms. A flex of her powerful thighs brought her twat up level with his navel and she held herself there while she reached underneath and guided the tip of his cock into her slit. Then with a sigh she lowered herself slowly down on him, pausing and gasping as the wide shaft spread her farther open than her own digits ever did.

Instinctively Jimmy placed his hands under her ass to help take up the weight. She was lighter than he had imagined, and he was grateful for that. She was also much hotter on the inside than he had anticipated, and slicker now that her juices were flowing down his shaft to lubricate it. He lifted her up when he felt her legs flex and lowered her slowly down when she relaxed them. Meanwhile, she locked her arms around his neck so that she could push down on them when she rose and relax them as she descended onto his cock again.

With each repetition her face rose up past his and while they were on the same level they kissed and re-engaged their tongues quickly. When she was as high as she could go, so high that just the knob on the end of his dick was still inside her, she would lean back and Jimmy would have a second to suck at her breasts before she came down again. As she lowered those breasts would drag against his heaving chest, flattening and widening as her rock-hard nipples made furrows in the sweat that clung to him.

He dug his toes into the sandy bottom of the pond as she increased the pace. There was no time for kissing or sucking nipples now; he just held on for dear life and prayed that he would not fall over and plunge them both into the cool, mood killing water. But the years of martial arts training paid off and he was able to bear her wight and keep his balance as she reached a frenzied pace.

“Oh-fuck-yes-that’s-what-I-want!” she screamed in time with her thrusts as she drove herself down on his shaft so hard that he could feel her clit hitting the base of his cock. A second later she let out a yowl like her feral ancestors after a successful hunt and leaned back as her pelvis made short sharp gyrations against him.

He had to grab her forearms to keep her from falling back off him, and possibly breaking his cock in the process, but the act was only a momentary distraction from the hot, gushy feel of her cumming around his cock and the sensation that her cunt was trying to suck it out by the roots. He forgot about their precarious position and an instant later he came too.

With a powerful thrust of the hips he drove his cock as far up and into her as it would go. She howled again, the move apparently causing her to orgasm again, as what felt like liters of molten-hot cum shot out of his shaft. He could feel their fluids mixing inside as he continued to pump her. She jittered and gyrated until she could not breath anymore and only then did she pull herself back against him and clutch him tightly as their hips continued to thrust and rock feebly.

It took her a few moments to catch her breath. That was good because Jimmy could not think of anything to say that would describe how incredibly wonderful he felt. Her heaving chest against his felt amazing, her legs wrapped tightly around his hips felt amazing, hell, even the feel of his own cum leaking out of her and dripping down his trembling thighs felt amazing.

“That … that was fantastic.” Junafir breathed into his ear. “Much better than mother said it would be the first time.”

“I … I didn’t hurt you, did I? I mean, as it was your first time and you were still … intact?”

“Oh, lord no. I took care of that long ago with a little tool mother lent me.”

“She sounds very progressive, you mother.”

“Well, it’s just her and me. My dad was just passing through and left before she even realized that she was pregnant. He was her first and only tiger though, so the parentage was obvious.”

“Your mother isn’t a tiger?”

“No.”

“Oh, Jesus, I forgot about things being different here.” He struggled to lift her off him, thoughts of rinsing her with pond water to wash his cum out of her going through his head, but she was suddenly much heavier than before.

“Hey, don’t panic, Jimmy. It’s okay. You don’t have to worry.”

“You mean you can’t …” He wondered if they had some version of the birth control pill here on Terra or whether she was at the wrong point in her cycle.

“No, I mean that it doesn’t mater, not now that we’re mated for life.”

“Huh?”

* * * * * * * *

There are many airports in the Arab Kingdoms that cater to the super rich and the one that Mahmud Khan worked in was no exception. But while their money was always welcome many other commodities were not, like drugs, alcohol, pornography, and any material deemed critical of the Royal Family or Islam. That was why every VIP jet had to be inspected and cleared by a Customs and Immigration Officer like Khan.

Today had been quiet, with only a rock and roll band famous for their wild lifestyle earlier in the day. Khan had found no drugs, but then again, he had let them have half an hour to flush them all before coming aboard. He did not know who was on the private jet with the flaming arrow logo that had just taxied up, but he gave them the same courtesy, savouring his tea until thirty minutes had passed after the door opened.

As he climbed the steps to the cabin he saw that the flaming arrow was actually some kind of long thin lizard that was on fire. A salamander, perhaps, as legends said that they were fireproof, like asbestos. The small text underneath said, ‘Forward Trading Inc.’ and below that ‘Never Behind’. Khan recognized it as the name and motto of an online order company, not as large as Amazon or Ali Baba but one that specialized in expensive exotic goods.

He was greeted at the door by a tall thin bald man in a black suit that must have been very uncomfortable in the noonday sun, but the fellow had not even broken a sweat. In fact, when Khan shook the proffered hand he found it cold and clammy.

“I and Ross.” The tall man informed him, without saying if it was his first or last name. “There is just me and the flight crew onboard today. We are here to pick up our CEO, who is arriving separately for talks with the Prince. We are carrying the following goods.” He passed over a sheet of paper with a list of the plane’s supplies. There was a large denomination American note folded inside it. “I understand that the liquor will not be a problem as long as it stays onboard?”

“That is correct.” Khan said as he slipped the note into his jacket pocket. It was neither too small nor too large, and his estimate of this Ross went up a notch. Such people knew how things were done and did not usually get themselves, or their Customs Agent, in trouble. But he scanned the list just to make sure.

“I see that you have a domestic animal listed. A pet?”

“Yes. A rare crossbreed. He is in his crate at the moment.” Ross pointed to the back of the plane.

Khan admired the interior of the plane, which included a fully equipped kitchen and a saloon that were separate from a full bathroom and bedroom suite. He found the crate in the bedroom, beside a round bed that had silk sheets and feather pillows.

He stopped and studied the animal that was sleeping in the crate. It looked like a red fox, it had all the right markings, but it was much too large.

“What is it?”

Ross startled him by answering from about a centimetre behind his left ear. “A Red Wolf and Fox cross. Very rare. It has the colour and shape of a fox but the size of a wolf.”

Khan was intrigued. The creature looked like a fox. It had a long bushy tail wrapped around it and the hind paws sticking out from under them were slim and long like a fox’s, but something about the forearms looked wrong. It was laying with its front paws tucked under it and the tail was covering much of its torso so Khan reached for the crate with the intention of having it stand up she he could see it better.

As he stuck out his hand the animal growled and raised its lip to expose wicked long fangs. Startled, Khan jumped back, right into the immovable Ross.

A white hand holding folded documents appeared in front of Khan. “I have all of the necessary veterinary papers here.”

The papers were all in order, and the amount of money attached to them begged discretion.

“It’s not staying in the country, is it?”

“No. After our CEO concludes his talks with the Prince,” Ross emphasized the title of the local ruler, “we will be leaving, with the animal.”

“Alright then.” Khan produced a seal and stamped the papers in several places. “Keep it on a leash. People don’t like dogs around here.” The animal growled again at the sound of Khan’s voice and he decided to leave before it lunged at the wall of the crate and made him embarrass a himself.

Ross accompanied the Agent to the door and watched as he descended from the jet and crossed the tarmac.

“We’ve got clearance to taxi to the VIP parking area.” The pilot informed him a moment later. “The Prince’s limousine is waiting there.”

Ross smiled as the stairs folded up and the door closed. Once in the VIP area they could come and go freely, without further security checks. He turned and walked back to the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

“Is the idiot gone?”

“Yes sir. But in fairness one can’t label him as an idiot on such short acquaintance.”

The creature in the crate uncurled and stood up, pushing the hinged lid of the crate open to do so. Fully upright he resembled a human in a fox suit more than a wolf-fox cross. Except for being covered in fur his hands, arms and torso were shaped like a human’s, as were his legs from thigh to knee. But his head, tail, lower legs and genitals were all pure fox.

The fox spoke. “He’s an idiot if he doesn’t know that wolves and foxes can’t interbreed, not on this world anyway.”

“Not everyone is a zoologist, sir.”

“Humph. He made me wait forever in that crate. Where’s my robe?”

Ross produced a length of black material from out of nowhere. “Here sir.”

The fox stuck out his arms and allowed Ross to dress him while the plane taxied to the parking area.

“Say, did you see him jump when I growled? Pretty good, eh?”

“You are getting much better at it sir. There.” Ross made final adjustments to the baggy black robe that concealed his master’s appearance. “You will fit right in on the streets here sir.”

“They are going to think I’m a woman. Like that time in Moscow when that soldier tried to help me across the street.”

“An unfortunate side effect of the disguise, sir. We have hinted to the Prince though that you have Proteus syndrome, the Elephant Man disease, and that you dress like this to hide your disfigurement.”

“I’ll be sure to do my best John Hurt imitation.” The fox pretended to cower. “I am not ... an animal!”

“Oscar worthy, although scientifically inaccurate, sir.”

“Sometimes I wonder about your sincerity, Ross.” The fox began to pull on gloves and boots to hide his extremities. “Anything new come in while I was crated?”

“We had an alert from the Gene Genie division. A positive hit for Terran DNA, from Arthur Douglas’s son.”

“Arthur allowed his son to be tested? I thought he was keeping the kid in the dark?”

“It seems that Arthur doesn’t know about the test. A friend of his son purchased the kit. I dispatched a surveillance team anyway, and it was a good thing, because something must have changed Arthur’s mind. It appears that he has taken his son to Terra.”

“What! That must mean that he’s going to bring the boy into the business ... and after all my warnings to the contrary. Well, we’re going to have to do something about this, aren’t we Ross?”

“I have just the creatures in mind, sir.”

“Good. How do I look?” He asked as the plane came to a halt beside a long black limousine.

“Exquisite, sir.”

“Well, let’s not keep the Price waiting.”

They entered the saloon and the fox waited there covered by his black robes while Ross went down to escort the Prince onboard. Once he was on the plane the Prince, whose white robes were almost as large and concealing as the fox’s, walked straight over and offered his hands. He was only a little put off when glowed hands came out to engage them, but he recovered well.

“Welcome to our Kingdom, Mister Douglas.”

“Please, call me Rory.”

Paul Collieman © Collifan

Gael Tholkes © MarcusXLight

Junafir Pawstone © Frostlupus

Ruth Pawstone © Bunners