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Journal of Shadows

Entry 2

Decenbor 19th-20th, 2017CE

A blooming morning light comes into focus through the open window of a cozy living room. Allen struggles to come out of his dreamless sleep after the unbelievable series of events from the night before. Though his mind is still struggling to terms with his actions, the fight against that bovine shadow as it towered above him, the wolf nonetheless begins to accept it all. In the sense of his own personal experiences, he knows there are such wondrous things in the world but nothing quite compared to that battle. Allen raises his heavy head from the pillow that was set unbeknownst to him, under his drool-ridden face by his father, scanning the room now to find the older wolf. In the kitchen behind the couch, there he stands, that dark grey and purple striped body on full display in front of the stove preparing breakfast, just as he does most every morning. Tyler gently hums as he cracks the eggs above the pan, sways his hips just enough to catch the attention of his mate behind him on the couch, he grins. Tyler's deep amethyst eyes reflect warm memories of the last year and a half since he and Allen married, taboo of course, a father marrying his son but the relationship works for them, neither one giving a rat's ass what others might have to say about the arrangement.

"Breakfast is almost ready, just need to finish up the eggs, son." The father's baritone voice raises only slightly over his shoulder towards the couch. Allen yawns and stretches to the tips of his pads, trying desperately to touch the ceiling, and like every day he barely manages to graze the paint. It's a perfect ritual for the young wolf, especially after a night cuddled with his father.

"Morning Dad, thank you for cooking..." He sighs while reaching around the waist of his parent, still caught in the routine of the wake up process, quickly pecking a kiss on the taller wolf's neck before grabbing something to drink from the fridge. As Allen sits down at the table, he fashions a quick excuse to explain why he came home so late, not a moment too soon either as his father asks,

"You were awfully late last night, coming home. I waited up until just after midnight... was work that busy?" A mix of concern and playful teasing in that deep voice, Allen had complained in the past that his Dad came home so late during the fighting seasons. Often asking if his father's work was really that busy since all he did was "bash guy's blocks off for money". Now in his off season, and with Allen working so much for the winter holidays, it's only fair he gets to mess with his beloved, if only just a little.

"No, all we did was ring up customers for money, then bash their blocks off to get our merchandise back." Sarcasm... yeah, sarcasm always works! Deflection and sarcastic wit are common sources of amusement for the two, and in this house, one must prepare a smarmy comeback or two to survive the verbal blows.

A quick, deep chuckle rises from the depths Tyler's hefty gut, serves to reduce the tension Allen had hidden with the comment of work last night. It seems he's gotten away with this one, and going forward it's going to be another kind of battle to avoid talking about future altercations. Through the day, Allen works on going over the events of the last evening, remembering details he hadn't noticed before. The color of the sky was unusual, nothing like the clear, blue backdrop speckled with faint stars, but rather a muddled grey and green fog. The buildings seemed to be in disrepair and aged, but were they like that the whole time? No, that's not possible, just a tired mind playing tricks during a tense situation. The younger wolf decides to wait until tomorrow to ask the other two fighters, Bengali and Oreo, about the whole ordeal.

Today, however... today is reserved for spending time with his cherished husband and father, celebrating the year that has passed, anticipating whatever may come into their future. Drinks are poured, meals are had and gifts exchanged between the two, a hearty day of relaxation, dancing and singing into the late hours. With the clock on the wall signaling the end of the day, the two wolves retire to their bed together, arms wrapped around as they lumber tiredly down the hall, humming playful tunes under the covers until sleep takes them into the following morning.

A new day greets Allen once again, he rides the city bus into downtown, making his way to a scarcely visited park out of view to most anyone who doesn't know where to find it. He spots the skunk and tiger in the distance, walking carefully towards their table so as not to slip on the frosted grass beneath his shoes. Allen waves cautiously and speaks softly, not wanting to startle the couple.

"Good morning guys, nice weather, yeah?" The words come out smooth as gravel, no doubt the wolf's nerves are being tested, he's never been one to meet new people easily.

"Good morning!" Bengali, the tiger of the couple, cheerfully proclaims to the newcomer, a bright smile for anyone in the park to see, that is if there were any others present to witness it. The park is empty save for the three of them at the table, even the fire mages who were hired to melt the ice are gone on break for the holiday weekend.

"Mornin, how was your day, yesterday?" The skunk, Oreo, speaks next, a sassy tone from his lips in practiced form. He carefully watches as Allen wipes off some ice from the seat opposite the couple at the table.

"Uh, it was good, thanks." Sitting his posterior flat to the seat isn't the most pleasant experience, not from the cold of course, more so from the hard surface itself. Finally getting settled in place at the table, Allen continues into more important matters.

"So... I decided something over the last day," Taking a deep breath in finding the courage to complete the sentence.

"I want in." Silence fell over the three park visitors, a chill even Allen couldn't handle seems to make him shiver.

"I don't know what you're talking about, 'in', we're just here talking... chillin'." The pun not lost on any of them, Bengali is forced to groan along with Allen.

"Anyway, Oreo's bad BAD pun aside, we really do need to talk about the fight the other night. What do you remember about it?" Bengali's soft voice struck a pleasant chord with the wolf across from him. The conversation partner clearly anxious to hear a response, Allen felt compelled to answer.

"I remember it all, the strange way I seemed to be the only one to hear the woman's scream, the buildings looked old and worn, the sky was a muddied grey/green color, no moon, your shadows were vibrant in color and appeared nearly solid." The list continues until Oreo is satisfied.

"That's good." As Allen sits waiting for the couple to finish a private, whispered conversation, he can't help but notice the tiger's face and the obvious frown it now adorns.

"I'm not honestly sure why, but it seems we can't allow you to be involved in... this."

"Wait, I don't understand, I was a big help in that fight, your shadows weren't making a dent until I came along. It's all still new to me but I can't just be sidelined if there's some real help I can provi-"

"Why did you help?" Oreo's curt response is startling to say the least, prompting Allen to come up with a decent response. Giving up on concocting some extravagant story, he decides simply to be honest with his conversation partners.

"Almost two years ago, I was attacked by my ex boyfriend... if it hadn't been for my father coming to my rescue when he did, I wouldn't be standing here today. Since then I've tried to pass it forward and help others when I can. I don't know what is really going on with the shadows, I've never heard of one that tried to attack someone directly on it's own, but I'm willing help out however I can." An impassioned speech and possibly too honest to make a difference but the wolf knows he might as well lay out his point of view.

"How did your father help?" No clear reading yet from the skunk's face to the meaning of the question.

"He... used his shadow to fight my ex. Does that matter?"

"Yes." Another short response, obviously too easy for Oreo to pull off. "What's his name?"

"T-... Tyler." Silence met the table for the second time since their meeting started.

"Last name?"

"Gar, why?." No sooner than the response is given do the skunk and tiger huddle their heads together again to discuss this new piece of information in voices softer than a whisper.

"You're in. Bengali, explain things for him, yeah?" Oreo leaves the table to light up a cigarette some feet away from the remaining two.

"Okay dear... Alright, Allen it's time for the exposition dump then." A light chuckle and sweet smile form to lighten the mood.

"So, it seems you're already familiar with the shadow world, where the general public's deepest desires and raw emotions are separate from the physical reality, right?"

"Yeah, like the collective unconscious, from psychology."

"Exactly, but it's rare that shadows ever come to harm people, even if they're trapped in the other world for whatever reason. We're trying to figure out why they've become so aggressive and I could really use your help with the 'investigation' as it were." He crosses his arms before continuing.

"There isn't much that we know beyond the restless aggression, Oreo and I have hit a roadblock, namely the Cage and the government oversight of that organization." Allen listens intently to his conversation partner, that is, until he mentions the Cage. It doesn't take much for him to remember the lessons he had as a pup, when Tyler was trying to teach him about shadows and how they were used through history.

The State and Federal governments currently own and operate the Cage fighting organization as a means to curb the public use of shadows by those individuals who have awakened to their abilities. Such destructive forms of "magic" have been used in wars for centuries until the last 150 years when new laws were ratified by the Federal government, requiring those who have awakened to their shadow to register in a database. Those shadow users are subjected to service in the military, usually one to every ten thousand soldiers. Police departments have one shadow user per precinct, the rest in the registry are sent into the Cage as fighters for public entertainment. Those fighters that aren't sent into the Cage right away are taken to camps for training, some stay for years at a time. Any user deemed too violent or unstable to use their shadows appropriately are medicated to subdue their abilities. Allen recalls another bit, that around 50 years ago, there were experiments done to entirely cut off access to the shadow world by users, but the process was too dangerous to their overall health and wellbeing. During many operations, users that were cut off could experience any number of symptoms from depression, to catalepsis, psychosis, coma or even brain death. Further experimentation into the process was shut down by the Federal government after public backlash, when a leaked file of names and symptoms had circulated online, causing a panicked uproar.

"If you're suspecting the government is involved in some way, what makes you think having me on the team would suddenly be a good idea?" While the words come out, Allen looks over to Bengali, nervous that he might have just blown his chance to "join in" their efforts regarding the shadows. A sentiment that's quickly dissuaded by the tiger's next words.

"Your father is a record-holding shadow fighter, right?" Clearly not what Allen wants to hear right now but at least he has an explanation.

"Yeah, and working to purchase his retirement documents, which means we're under the public and government microscopes."

"Not exactly, Allen. You see, he is indeed in the eyesight of the government and the public... but you're not." Bengali waits for Allen's expression to change, expecting to see that spark of enlightenment hit him as it does Oreo so many times. To no avail however, the wolf seems as dumbfounded as ever, the tiger has to strum along hoping for his audience to catch up.

"For instance, his fans all know he's married someone recently as evidenced by the wedding band he's been wearing for the last year and a half or so." A quick pause to point to Allen's own ring finger, catching the speaker by surprise.

"Oh, you're married too?" The wolf stammers for a quick answer, finally settling on,

"Uh, e-, well... yes." failing utterly to hide the blushing cheeks under his fur of course. Bengali can't help but to smile at the rose-tinted sight before him.

"Congrats! Well, what was I saying- Oh yes! Well no one knows who he's been married to all this time... and no one knows anything about you either, except that you're Tyler Gar's son." Soft voice and dulcet tones shift deeper as the realization of the situation comes to Allen's face.

"You're in the perfect position to get information to us, about anything you can get your hands on. Collect, observe, ask, talk, do whatever is necessary and safe, be safe about it of course, but above all else please get us some relevant information about the shadow world and it's happenings, enlighten yourself and us to what's really going on... Please." Two paws from across the table come interlocked, without Allen realizing it at the time, his left with Bengali's right, to seal the arrangement. Before separating though, the wolf has a question or two for both tiger and skunk.

"If I agree to this, and I can get you the info you need... or if it turns out I can't be of much use for you information wise... you're not simply going to leave me behind are you? Will you keep me on the team and let me help you fight off the shadows?"

"Yeah, and you'll be training with me most of the time." Oreo puts out his cigarette, walking back over to the table to sit next to his mate.

"Oh, I forgot you were back there heh..." A wry chuckle should clear the mood a bit, though with more important concerns, Oreo pays the gesture no mind except to smile briefly.

"Don't worry, Oreo and I both noticed how well you held yourself out in the field the other night. It seemed necessary to rattle your, 'cage', a little. We wanted you to be honest and it seems you have been, thank you Allen." Taking his other paw from Oreo's side, Bengali brings it to wrap over his and Allen's pawshake. Oreo does the same, Allen following suit to bring his free paw to the underside of the mess of it all, finally sealing the arrangement. They break to grab a bite to eat, a packed lunch with enough to share, courtesy of the happy couple. Allen wastes no time in grabbing at the spread before him on the table.

"So, Beowulf huh?" Oreo's husky voice hits a friendly vibe this time, making the wolf feel a little more at ease being around the spotted skunk.

"Yeah, an ice mage apparently, didn't see that one coming. What are your shadows called?"

"Hephaestus." Back to the surly attitude, with an added smile.

"His is Hephaestus, god of the forge from the Graeco-Luxem pantheon. Same as mine, Apollo, god of healing, plague, light and darkness. What did you think of them?" Allen had studied ancient Graeco-Luxem mythologies in the past and always wondered if he'd have someone like Zeus or Heracles as a shadow.

Many in the shadow world take the form of gods, godesses, spirits from folklore and the like since they were the basis of such ancient beliefs from around the world before the idea arose of a collective unconsciousness. The idea holds that certain ingrained fears of the unknown, natural desires and wants, base emotions, all influenced the appearance of shadows in their own world into what might be considered gods and spirits. As progress in science, technology and artificial magic arts was made, the natural connection to the collective unconscious was lost over time. Part of the reason why shadow users are so rare is due to people's lack of ability to awaken them. The way a shadow looks and what it's called when awakened however, is tied directly to the user on a subconscious level. Hephaestus, Apollo and Beowulf were all selected by their individual user's subconscious wills and desires, it's unlikely or simply impossible those will ever change. Even the elemental-based magic each are able to perform is rooted in the desires of their users.

"It was an awesome sight, for sure! To see them both in action like that, truly fantastic!"

"Did you see the lightning the other night?" Focusing on Oreo's eyes for just a moment to determine if it was an honest question or just gleaning for accurate details of the fight, Allen felt compelled to ask, "What 'lightning'?" the couple stopped and stared at each other. They were still, as if comparing notes telepathically, a feat so rare it's almost considered a myth unto itself.

"There were flashes of lightning," speaks Bengali, at last. "One bolt nearly hit your backside." Oreo picks up the second half of the sentence. Allen was at a loss for words, he hadn't noticed the occurrence at all during the fight. "We noticed the bull was stunned as we reached the scene in the first place, most likely due to a blast of lightning magic. There were a few more blasts and when you showed up, we thought the mystery was solved." As the wolf listens, he does remember seeing a bolt flash across his field of vision while running through the alleyway.

"Mystery? How do you mean?" Oreo is the first to respond this time, his left ear flopping down a bit.

"We've come up to restless shadows like that before, each time they were stunned by electricity before we arrive. We thought you were the one doing it but then your shadow awakened to display ice magic abilities. It seems we'll have to wait to find out for sure what or who's been causing it."

"What Oreo and I have found out is that, if they hadn't been hit at all, we wouldn't have been able to damage any of the shadows in the past... Who or whatever has been helping us take them down."

With the statement fresh in his mind, Allen begins to contemplate what this could mean for the investigation going forward. A possible government conspiracy? Unrest in the public, enough raw emotion from the real world in one spot could be devastating for the shadows, so that's another possibility. Not to mention the idea of another intervening force out there providing assistance, unreachable to the group. It's all enough for the wolf, satisfied to have gotten the chance to speak with his new partners about this, a wave of relief comes to him as a phone call snaps his line of thought.

"Yeah? Oh, yes! I nearly forgot about it, I'll be home soon Dad, promise... yeah, love you too." He hangs up his cell, slightly blushed cheeks turned to his companions. "Sorry about that, we'll have to meet up to talk another time, that was my Dad. He has a fight tonight, I try to watch every match he has, only missed a couple from being sick before so I have to get back home."

"Oh? You live at home with your Dad?" Another question to catch Allen unprepared with a response, from the tiger, no less.

"Yeah... we're real close heh." As Allen gets up, the other two do the same, with quick handshakes all around to conclude their meeting. Oreo pulls the unsuspecting wolf into a tight hug to whisper into his victim's ear, a wide, knowing grin stretched across his face.

"Tell him I think it's hot." Bengali could swear he saw steam rising from the wolf's face, not sure as to what his mate just whispered but too curious not to wonder aloud until the skunk returned to his side and assured him it was nothing important. They part ways for the day, knowing there is work ahead for them to complete but right now it's okay to breathe and relax. Allen will ensure he has the free time available to plan things out with this new group. He also knows he will have to steel himself to ask hard questions later on, without placing himself under suspicion and wind up caught by the authorities.