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Counter Earth Chronicles - Dual Realities

Chapter 21: This Is The World Now And You Need To Recognize Your Place In It

April 8th YOE 35

11:00 AM Infirmary Central Tower World Seven (Chaundoon)

A worried medic can't seem to focus on his duties this morning...

"Alex, how long are you going to stare into space!" The head of medical asked me while Psi and Lilly Blossom examined Club's bandages.

"Huh, what?" I replied. "I am sorry boss- I just can't focus today."

"Alex I know you are worried about Shakara and Lady Ursa; I am too. But worrying yourself sick about it well... only make you sick."

"The knights are doing their best to determine their whereabouts." The medicine lady added.

"So I should just sit down shut up and wait." I replied to the sand dragon, penguin and goat.

"Well you could help me get ready for my report with the majesties." The she penguin suggested.

"Hmm....." The S'mar warrior said quietly observing the scene.

11:30 AM King's Throne Room...

"Sorren I don't believe I should be present." Duchess Jua said to her beau. She was wearing a stunning blouse and skirt combination while the red dragon was sporting his bandages behind a shirt and pants.

"Then do you want to conduct the informational forum updating our subjects on the state of our kingdoms this afternoon instead?"

"Well.... I... uh." The beautiful dragoness stammered. "I think we should hold off on that until we actually have something to say. I was just concerned about your subject's safety if I or any of my kind are present."

"I think you should your majesty." King Dragon said taking her paw. "Besides we have a established a protocol now for our Chaundoon friends when they become- ah unbalanced."

"Oh really?" The dragoness asked. "What is it?"

"We rebalance them." Sorren said grinning and bouncing his eyebrows.

"Will you stop!!" Jua said laughing. The red dragon was on a roll this morning.

*Ahem*

"Yes Basil?" King Dragon said addressing the colony council member.

"The head of medical and the head of planetary sciences have arrived." The bear with the grey muzzle announced.

"He looks quite handsome this morning." Jua replied.

"The open vested brown shirt with the tan pants?" Sorren replied.

"Yes as do the rest of the council members."

"It is the new tailor shop that opened next to the dentist Jua, it is something the city really really needed." The red dragon said to the white dragon.

"So is that an invitation for all of us to stay?"

"It is not an invitation to leave. Besides I am starting to appreciate the new look of our clothing- very frontier-ish colonial." Sorren commented as the department heads entered. "No more one piece outfits."

"Alright everyone think pleasant thoughts." Masha said out loud.

"And hope for the best." Song replied as Haem and Shira looked on.

Penny Penguin and Cassia Manassas entered the makeshift council chambers.

"Greetings your majesties, council members, Mathias, Mattimeo." Cassia said looking around.

"First time here?" Shira asked.

"Yes." Mrs. Manassas replied. "Nice view of the city from here."

"Well our previous location also had nice views. I miss that room." Haem signed.

"Shall we begin?" The white chakat asked.

"Penny has your team made any progress on discovering the cause of the crazy?" The ugly female pitbull asked.

"No, after studying those who were affected and those who weren't- and running every conceivable test we could think of twice, only two conclusions were drawn. There is increased brain activity by those affected." The she penguin announced.

"Do we know why?" Duchess Jua asked.

"I am no closer to figuring that out. I can say that it doesn't seem to be caused by anything viral or bacterial."

"What about those who can be affected?" Sorren asked.

"It has been our observation that only those indigenous to this planet are affected. To date no one from Counter Earth has been." The head of medical replied.

"Indirectly." Basil said looking at the spot Gia would have occupied.

"Yes all of us have been indirectly affected." Penny replied.

"Thank you. Mrs. Manassas." Song said addressing the female tentacled eyeball.

"Your majesties, council members, guards and medical, did I forget anyone?"

Those present shook their heads no.

"I think the reason medical has not found anything relevant is because the source of the crazy is not biological in nature but um... celestial."

"Shut the front door!!!" Sorren gasped as all eyes locked onto the yellow tentacled eyeball.

"That is quite an admission Cassia." Song said surprised.

"Do you have the evidence to back that up?" Basil asked.

"Yes. While my team was investigating the moons that orbit the planet, we observed this."

The extraterrestrial held out a metallic prism that projected the image of the dark moon with a red ring around it for all to see.

"That is quite eerie looking." Masha observed.

"Keep watching."

*Pulse* *Pulse*

"What was that?" Mathias asked as all those present observed dark rings ripple out of the celestial body in all directions.

"Don't know, but my team and I observed the dark rings enter the atmosphere of Chaundoon, hit the ground and radiate in all directions."

"Given the speed and the directions they are moving it..." Shira replied.

"What happens to objects the rings hit?" Duchess Jua asked.

"Weird things." Cassia replied critically.

"What type of weird things?" Penny asked. "You don't know do you?"

"We have seen only what we believe is the aftermath." The yellow eyeball replied.

"I think we have a new direction to take our study." Penny said looking at Cassia. "But our division is going to need some assistance from your division and some guinea pigs....." The she penguin said with a gleam in her eye.

That look of obsessive determination in the head of medical's eyes, did make the friendly extraterrestrial nervous. Was it an after shock from her away mission to the Great Marsh?

"Next order of business Alex Winter how is he doing?" The duchess asked all those present.

12:04 PM A S'mar warrior discovers fine dining....

"I have never seen such abundance!" Axe exclaimed. "How is this even possible?"

"It is a little overwhelming isn't it?" Diana replied kindly. Trying to keep her eyes from wandering to his groin.

"Where I am from we eat what we kill." The savage warrior replied staring at the menu.

"Well it is a little different in World Seven, here- we have a big garden that everyone attends to. That is the primary source of our nutrition. The rest comes from the forest." The female centaur replied.

"So no one here has to hunt?"

"No, we trade with others for what we need." Mrs. Wild said casting a glance to her mate as the savage was confounded by new ideas and concepts he wasn't familiar with.

"Then what do you do with your free time? Fight with other tribes?"

"No." Diana replied smiling. "We engage in other pursuits- art, music, comedy, exploration, discovery and making friends."

The expression on the feline warrior's face was one of bewilderment. Was it from the items on the menu or the exposure to a societal culture that was not his own?

"I think our customer needs some assistance dear." Hue replied.

"I have an idea Axe. Why don't I give you a little sample of everything? You can see what you like." The centaur said collecting his menu.

"........."

"This is the part where you say thank you Mrs. Wild replied." Diana said walking away.

"Thank you Mrs. Wild." The S'mar warrior replied as his attention was drawn to a conversation at a nearby table.

"How are you holding up Alex?" The female badger asked.

"Not so good. Penny noticed that I was distracted and gave me the rest of the day off. I have tried to relax- but everywhere I go, I am reminded of both of them." I replied as the badger warrior took my hand in her paw. "I had trouble sleeping last night because the bed we share... they were missing!"

"What about Boris?"

"He tried his best- but he is not Lady Ursa or Shakara and his fur is very shaggy." I replied trying not to sound too ungrateful. "But to answer your question it has been very difficult I see and am reminded of my lovers everywhere I go."

Lady Barq placed her paw on my arm.

"I am trying to remain positive to keep my mind from speculating- but I keep coming back to the fact that if my perfect person and my devious person were all right, they would have come home by now."

Axe continued to listen to our conversation.

"At the house this morning it was just Boris, Beatrice and myself- that has never happened before. Lady Barq, what if they are dead?"

"Alex there is no evidence to support that." The badger warrior replied.

"And there is no evidence to discount it either." I shot back.

"Ursa and Shakara are valuable members of this community. We will find them." The female knight said trying her best to reassure me.

"Sounds like you could use a distraction boy." Axe said chiming in.

"Perhaps I do."

"Well I decided to fill in for Lady Ursa- I am teaching her self-defense class this afternoon. Perhaps you should attend?" Perhaps you too Axe?"

"Tch!" The savage replied.

12:24 PM Friendship Park....

There was a size-able group at the park that afternoon Yogi, Angi, Corbin, Kip and the twin sand dragon brothers Ganzel and Trail were enjoying the spring weather- mostly. Unlike Counter Earth, the sky today was yellow.

"Bored. Bored. I am so bored." The black bear cub said to the mongoose boy.

"Really? I thought you would be enjoying the lack of danger on a wonderful day like today." Corbin said preparing to rub it in. "Well if you are really bored Kip there is our homework that is waiting for us."

"I am not that bored." Rose's son replied.

"Nuts!!! Not enough wind to fly a kite today." Yogi replied to Angi. "I thought April was supposed to be very windy? It is on Counter Earth."

"What is a kite?" The former faux beagle asked.

"You know, material you attach to a string and fly in the sky on windy days- unlike today." The yeti replied. "Didn't you use to build them back on Counter Earth?"

"Oh yes, yes I did! They come in many shapes and sizes and different designs! How did I ever forget that?"

"And the weirdness continues..." The manufactured toy thought to himself as he looked around the park to see what else was going on.

"You know what we really need Kip is some type of entertainment, you know sports- maybe form a league with some of the locals." The mongoose boy replied.

"You had such things on Counter Earth?" Ganzel asked.

"Yup." Kip replied to the yellow dragon in the white bottom wear. "All we have here for entertainment are the knights sparing."

"If they are sparing." The mongoose boy replied.

"Hi guys are you here for the self defense class?" I asked the bear, yeti, mongoose and dragon twins."

"Um... no." Yogi replied.

"Isn't that taught by Lady Ursa?" Kip asked.

"Psst!!! She is missing!" Trail replied to the bear cub.

"Yeah that is right... sorry Alex."

"Lady Barq is teaching in her place. But it is hard when there aren't any students." I replied as the younglings gasped.

I looked down at my feet and saw a large shadow looming over me; something was blocking the suns.

"Axe!!"

"The time has come meatball."

"For what?" I replied turning around to see the feline warrior sizing me up and down. It looked like his injuries were almost healed. Unlike Club's. Well he did have a utility vehicle dropped on him.

"A rematch." He growled at me. "Besides your focus needs focus and these younglings could use some entertainment."

*YOINK*

"WHAAAA!!!!"

I was picked up by the scruff of my neck and plopped down on a patch of gravel in front of Lady Barq. Corbin, Kip, Yogi, Ganzel and Trail watched.

"Hey guys! You gotta see this!" Yogi shouted.

The four followed Yogi to a corner of the park where a long awaited rematch between two combatants was about to take place.

"That feline savage was right. Fellas we have our entertainment for the afternoon." Kip replied.

"Will you look at that, it looks like Alex Winter and the S'mar warrior Axe from Kenja Pride are preparing to face off." Corbin began sounding like a sports commentator. "Big brother, I mean Mr. Winter bested this fierce and savage warrior during a desperate battle a few weeks ago. It looks like they are preparing to settle accounts today."

"So this is what you had in mind?" The badger asked the feline warrior.

"I plan to take his mind of his problems.... permanently." Axe said making a demonic grin.

"I think it is his way of saying that he cares." I replied to Lady Barq.

"Is it?" She asked looking at the multi-head axe he was carrying with him.

"At long last meatball we will conclude our fight!!!" The S'mar warrior growled at me. "I have longed to pay you back for my most humiliating defeat!!! I will make a cape out of your hide and a necklace out of your bones." Axe replied twirling his weapon.

"Well, he seems nice." The badger warrior laughed. "It must be the S'mar way."

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO bad kitty!" I scolded the savage while trying to keep my eyes away from his groin. "We don't do that here; this will not be a fight to the death!! These grounds are only for sparing!"

"Um, why not?" He asked looking at our badger who decided to referee.

"It isn't our way, if it was, the loser would not learn anything from the experience only one fatal final lesson." My perfect person's rival opined.

"In the long term that is not helpful to anyone even the victor." I replied.

"Then there is nothing to be gained from this." Axe pouted, his ears dropping.

"The humiliation of defeat and bragging rights over the defeated." Lady Barq cackled.

"Besides sparing allows us to blow off some steam and improve our skills." I replied to the brute with the handsome physique.

"Interesting, in my pride there isn't such a thing." The savage replied.

"Um, ok we are definitely using different weapons then." I replied nervously looking around.

"What do you have in mind meatball?"

"We will be using weapons we both aren't that familiar with." I said picking up a bo-staff near my grappling hook and tossing it to him. "No advantage to either of us."

"You will fight until one of you is unable to continue not dead." The badger warrior growled at the feline. "You got that?"

"S'mar warriors from the Kenja pride do know how to spar without killing their sparing partners right?" I asked.

"We use prisoners we have taken from other prides." Axe said proudly. "There is no danger to to our own."

I looked at Lady Barq.

"I think that was a no Alex."

"Do not hold back little meatball show me your true power!" The nude warrior ordered patting me on my head.

"And with that warning from the S'mar warrior the fighting match has begun!" Corbin said continuing the the play-by-play._ _

*GROARR*

"Wow what was that?" Kip said joining Corbin as a crowd started to gather.

"It looks like it was a attempt to deflect Alex's attention as he charged in." The mongoose boy said.

I had just enough time to block an overhead strike, the force of which pushed me backward a few spaces.

"I see the sprain in your arm has healed. Just in time for me sever it off from the rest of your limbs." He said pressing his full weight onto that strike.

"AXE!!!" I shouted.

"Fine, I will only break it then!" He grumbled.

"Lady Barq has awarded a point to the S'mar warrior for the first attack."

"Corbin, it is amazing he has such mobility with his genitals hanging in the breeze like that. Hello penis and balls."

"Kip?"

"Well they are kinda out there for everyone to see and quite hard to ignore look!" The little bear replied.

"But there are other things to look at like his goatee, the facial hair, red bandana leg and wrist bands, necklace and those muscles- wow."

"But not as prominent as his exposed groin Corbin."

"Well I am told that this race of savage warriors does not believe in clothing, something about it distorting the natural beauty of the body. Also Axe tried to wear a fundoshi leading up to this match but he found it too uncomfortable and limiting." Corbin replied watching me react to the first attack.

I could have continued blocking but instead, I yielded just in time to move out of the way as he went by I pulled back on the staff and then thrusted into that exposed masculine feline butt of his. That nice masculine feline butt- that was so firm, so tight you could bounce a coin off of it.

*TAP*

"Point goes to Alex!" The female badger announced.

"And we are tied a point each for the combatants, Alex using guile over Axe's brute strength."

That enraged Axe who charged right at me with a low sweep- which I jumped. He then followed by an over head strike which pushed me backward then, a stomach strike which I side-stepped.

I spun my staff in a clockwise motion which I thought would cause him to recoil but instead he stood his ground blocking my attacks.

*KRACK*

*KRACK*

*KRACK*

"A fierce sparing match for both combatants."

"Go Alex!" Yogi yelled. The two sand folk younglings were with him cheering me on.

I glanced at them briefly to admire my growing fanbase.... Big mistake.

*SWACK*

"Oh right in the tenders!! Can Mr. Winter recover?"

I screamed dropping my staff to cover my privates.

"Point goes to Axe." Lady Barq announced.

"AH HA HA HA HAH!!" The nude warrior laughed. "You continue right little meatball?"

"It is now two to one. Axe is in the lead."

I tried to stand up, but my balls ached. I took my stance.

"To your positions... begin!" The she beast said resetting the fight.

_"Now leading in points, the S'mar warrior is ready to finish this." _

Axe went crazy! Over head attack, groin attack, leg sweep, head sweep. With my mobility limited all I could do was duck and dodge.

He then went for another head sweep as if he was going to knock my block off- it was feint. He swept my legs and I fell backward. The next thing I knew I was looking up at him from the ground as I received a large tap to my stomach.

*OOF*

"And there it is the killer blow!" Corbin sadly announced.

"Point for the leg sweep and the tap. Axe wins 3 to 1." The she beast announced.

"AW!!" My fan club said disappointed.

"WU HA!!" The S'mar warrior shouted kneeling right in front of me. "I think we have learned something from this meatball... you are nothing."

"And bragging rights go to Axe!"

"I will get you next time." I replied sitting up.

"Lucky for you there will be a next time." He replied licking me on my forehead.

*BLEP*

"Hey, what was that for?" I asked after feeling that rough feline tongue.

"Yup, definitely alive."

(Does that mean we are friends now?)

"And there you have it, the S'mar warrior from Kenja pride wins." Corbin said finishing the narration.

"Fortunately this fight was not to the death, like Axe had wanted, otherwise our hometown favorite would not be standing or breathing." Kip finishing anchoring.

"There you have it the winner is picking up the loser in a gesture sportsman-ship after licking him on the forehead."

"Hardly worth the effort." Axe said setting me down. "However, you are quite cunning for someone so diminutive, so weak, so frail. You have earned my respect."

(Ouch)

"And it looks like our match had some spectators too." I replied looking at the mongoose boy and black bear cub who had been giving a mock play-by-play.

As Axe, myself and the badger glanced toward their direction we saw that Corbin and Kip were being pinned by Ganzel and Trail. It looked like they were initially rough housing. Until we watched as Yogi tried to intervene.

"Looks like your younglings are honing their fighting skills." Axe said.

"No. Look at the dragon's faces." The senior knight replied.

"Oh no!" I shouted limping toward the brawl.

"Ganzel snap out of it!" Corbin shouted as he was flat on his back holding the yellow dragon's arms."

Kip was bobbing and weaving Trail's attempt to scrape, claw, scratch and slash him.

"It's the crazy!" Kip shouted as we arrived.

"That will be enough out of you little one." Axe said picking up the yellow sand dragon that had Corbin pinned.

*RARRR!!!*

Lady Barq picked up the brown dragon by the scruff of his neck as well.

*GRROOOAR!!!*

"You boys ok?" I asked Corbin and Kip.

They nodded. "They were fine one minute, the next minute they were not." The yeti replied.

"Look at their eyes. It is like no one is home." My little brother replied. "What can we do?"

"Lock them up until they come out of it." I replied as Penny and Cassia arrived.

"What happened?" The head of medical asked.

"Two more succumbed to the crazy." Lady Barq said.

"Exactly what are you?" The feline warrior asked the yellow tentacled eyeball.

"Intrigued." Mrs. Manassas said eyeing the savage up and down.

"A valued member of our tribe." I replied.

Axe apparently didn't hear me, he was busy counting her tentacles.

"Hi I am Cassia."

"What a peculiar creature." Axe replied.

"Back at you."

"How did the meeting go?" I asked my penguin supervisor. Who was packed to the nines with medical gear and a bizarre look of determination.

"Medical is assisting Planetary Sciences in determining the cause of the crazy." Mrs. Manassas volunteered.

"We are in need of some volunteers...." The she penguin said with a gleam in her eye.

"Axe will gladly participate, it is the very least he could do." I replied cutting my eyes at the feline savage.

Who just crossed his arms and grumbled. Something about despite beating me, he still in the end lost.

Penny fetched another 'volunteer' before meeting us at the Manassas' sky ship on the outskirts of the city.

"What is this?" Axe asked as he joined myself, Milo, Panda Lee, Hue and Cassia on the bridge.

"Oh this is a craft that allows us to travel the universe." The she panda said to the confused warrior.

"Huh?"

"It is a sky ship that travels across the stars." I said attempting to clarify.

We stared as his lower lip stuck out quivering and his eyelids twitched like he was experiencing sensory overload.

(Hmm.... another weakness. I will have to capitalize on that.)

"Did we break his brain?" Milo asked.

"Such things do not exist in his culture." Hue advised.

"Right I think smaller words are in order." Panda Lee advised.

"Axe dear, this is a tool we use to travel from place to place." Cassia said simplifying.

"I have never seen anything like this...." He replied as Penny entered the bridge with our last test subject.

"Mathias!"

"Greetings everyone." Jua's guard announced.

"He agreed to also participate in the study." Penny announced.

With that the space family started their pre-checks.

"So Cassia what is the plan?" I asked.

"Given the rotation of the dark moon around the planet we extrapolated where the next series of pulses will strike." The yellow tentacled eyeball said.

"And that is where Penny and I come in." I replied.

"Right. Ok dear."

The alien's space craft took to the heavens and then re-entered the atmosphere to land at a arid and dry lake.

"From our calculations it should be right about here." Panda Lee replied.

"Let's get into position everyone." The she penguin ordered ushering us outside.

"Penny are you sure about this?" I asked.

"I don't believe the S'mar warrior will be a problem he seems to be immune to the effects of the crazy."

"So you brought him along as a sort of control for your experiment?" I asked.

"Precisely." She said with a gleam in her eye. "So that just leaves Mathias."

"We will be monitoring." Cassia replied as she, Milo and Panda Lee re-entered the craft.

Penny and I ran our triangular scanners over our nervous test subjects.

"Penny? Alex?" Mathias asked.

"Meatball?" Axe said uneasily.

"Readings are normal." I announced.

"Ground zero is that spot right over there..." The she penguin pointed.

"So we aren't going to take the full force of whatever the moon is putting out only the ripple of it?" The sand dragon asked.

"Shockwave actually." Penny replied stone faced.

"But boss aren't they still a little too close?"

(And so are we for that matter?)

"Off worlders aren't affected remember?" She commented. "Anyway it is here! Get ready!!!"

*PULSE* *PULSE*

We watched as a dark wave struck the site Penny had identified moments earlier and its ripple radiated in all directions flowing through Mathias and Axe. Then us. I felt a disturbing buzzing in my head.

"Let's check on our subjects." The she penguin said all wobbling.

"WAIT!" I shouted as another dark wave struct the planet's surface, then another. When it stopped everything went dark. I felt like I had been pushed out of my body and something else had taken over. I looked to my right and left trying to find my boss, Axe and Mathias but found only eternal night.

8:43 PM Three Rivers Territory S'mar Nation....

"Step lively ladies we are almost at the Mandau, Bonya and Vol rivers." The young brave ordered Saber's slaves.

"It is soooo hot!!" Naomi whined.

"Be thankful your chores are now instead of midday; it is much much hotter." Razer replied grinning.

"Master Razer could we take a break I really need it." Naomi said crouching.

"Why?" The young warrior asked.

"I think our outsider is not accustomed to temperatures around here." Annette said as she watched her fellow slave try to take shelter near a odd looking white shrub.

"Not there girl!!" Razer shouted.

"Don't touch that!" Annette warned placing her paw on the girl's shoulder and pulling her forward.

The teen was taken aback.

"Huh?"

"Watch."

The S'mar female picked up a stone and threw it at the bush. There was a bio-luminescent flash and then two white shrubs appeared where there was one.

"She really is a fish out of water." Razer laughed.

"I am never leaving your side again." Naomi gasped grabbing Annette's arm.

The two females continued to follow their guard until they reached the Vol river.

The short haired brunette couldn't help but comment on the river which looked like it had mostly dried up save for a few pockets of puddles.

"This has seen better days. Let me guess the tide is out?"

"This is the Vol river. It is used for washing of clothing." Razer said pointing to a pile of what equated to the pride's laundry on a nearby rock.

So Annette scrubbed and cleaned and Naomi rinsed and folded.

(How is it that a culture where it is a societal norm to walk around with a bare backside has so much laundry?!) The teen thought to herself.

"Don't forget your clothing." The S'mar feline said to her fellow slave.

Naomi looked at her small white loin-cloth that barley covered her coochie. Loin-cloth was a relative term- it was actually a compromise to sort of comply with S'mar societal norms. She wasn't completely clothed and wasn't completely naked in that her behind was visible for all to see.

"So this is my life now... cleaning the master's hut, washing the pride's laundry, sewing what little clothing they wear if you can even call it that." Naomi sighed. "Some great escape I made."

"Don't forget bathing and cleaning our master when he returns from battle." Annette gently reminded her co-slave.

"And staring at naked people all day and everyday- look there is long penis, I mean Javelin. Hey over there isn't that fat sheath, I mean Mace? Hey how it going chubby balls? I mean Spike. What's shaking long vagina? I mean Barb. How has your day been going hangs to the left, I mean Dart? How very, very tribal." Naomi said as her fellow slave gave her a confused look.

"Is that how you recognize everyone here by the shape and size of their genitals?"

"It is the only way I can remember everyone's names." The freckled teen replied. "By genital association. How do you identify tribe members?"

"Faces, body paint, body art, scars, weapons and jewelry." Annette replied. "Naomi do you identify me by such a name?"

"Yes."

"Really may I asked what it is?"

The adolescent stared at the S'mar female with the wide butt, E cup sized breasts with the red flower in her hair who had literally saved her from that white shrub earlier.

"Uh... my friend?" Naomi tried really hard not to go there.

"You seem unnerved this evening." She said observing.

"There has to be more than just this Annette- chores, chores, chores and chores!"

"Actually what we have here isn't that bad. Under master Saber's rule our lives are rather orderly, structured and relatively stable; we are provided with four meals a day, safety, and security in exchange for the menial tasks we perform."

"Yeah, yeah and we take care of the master when he is horny." Naomi harumpthed.

"Less talking! More working!- Faster." The slave's guard yelled.

"And the miserable experience continues...." Naomi said as she doused her loin-cloth into the water.

"I think we should take our time master Razer." Annette replied coyly.

"And why is that?" The slender warrior asked turning her direction.

"I believe your shawl is in this pile we are washing. I wouldn't want to damage it by accident."

"Very well, carry on." The warrior said waving his paw dismissively.

"You see you just have to know how to handle our superiors Naomi. What is your sub-name for him?"

"No butt." The teen replied as she started wringing out her loin-cloth.

"You, know- you are right!"

"You could draw a straight line from his back right to his legs uninterrupted." The teen observed.

"He is a young warrior... easily manipulated. That is why he was given guard duty."

"But very skilled with the blade. I have watched him practice." Naomi replied moving on to the next article of clothing.

"May I ask a personal question?" Annette said as she moved to the last item they were washing that day. "What did you consider fun where you were from?"

"Well I used to go to concerts- a lot. My favorite band was Wasted Life. When ever and where ever they were performing I would attend clubs, arenas, entertainment centers even theaters." Namoi said to her fellow comfort woman. "It was the best."

"I don't know what any of that is, but didn't you say that where you were from your chief-tan put severe restrictions on where you could go, what you could do and when?"

"Well he tried." Naomi said smiling looking at the bracelet on her wrist.

"Which is why you fled your home and wound up here."

"Yes pretty much and now all that is gone. So what do you do when not performing chores? You know for fun?"

"I watch warriors hunt, fish, fight and breed." Annette said.

"How very, very, very tribal." Naomi pouted.

"We are finished!" The female feline with the big breasts and wide butt announced to their guard.

Razer came over to inspect the pile of laundry the pair had washed in the river and neatly folded at its edge.

"Very well, you two clean yourselves up. You may bathe over there in the Bonya." The brave ordered Saber's slaves.

"Isn't that river a little deep and a little swift?" Naomi asked hesitantly. "Wouldn't this one be better?"

"No." Annette replied. "The Vol river is used for washing. The Bonya for bathing and the Mandau is for drinking."

"Nice to know."

"On your way then!" The feline warrior demanded again.

"You will afford us our privacy Razer?" Annette asked their guard.

The savage warrior wearing a green headband, tooth necklace blushed under his fur and turned his back to look away.

"What privacy?" The teen replied following her friend to the bathing river. "You aren't wearing anything and I might as well be too."

When they arrived at the Bonya, Naomi watched Annette enter in the river moving toward its center. She then motioned for Naomi to follow.

She did for a little ways before freaking out.

"Annette the fish are attacking me!"

"More like feeding off of you silly- they are round fish- they eat off dead skin."

"So you use them to exfoliate?"

"I don't know what that means but master Saber likes his property to be well maintained and presentable." Annette said as she moved around Naomi and started scrubbing her back with some oil and sap mixture- their version of soap.

"Wow, a neat freak." The freckled teen said as the female S'mar moved on to her neck and shoulders.

"I don't know what that means either but we shouldn't take too much time here we still have other chores to perform."

"Your turn." The female feline replied.

The human teen started scrubbing her companion's back at the shoulders and working her way down noticing Annette's markings she had rings like a jaguar, stripes like a tiger and spots like a leopard. Her more physical features were her big hips, wide butt and tail. What was above that was within regular proportions though. Despite those different features- Annette was a very kind person.

The teen continued to bathe her co-slave. She had just finished her back and was considering moving down to her backside when Annette's ears started twitching.

"What is it?"

"I hear something. It is Razer."

"What? Is he getting off watching us?" The teen asked.

The S'mar feline pushed her friend's head downward toward the surface of the river as they watched a horrifying scene unfold on shore.

The two watched helplessly as this humanoid fire being standing about eight feet tall with horns protruding from the sides of its head attacked their guard.

"Who goes there!" The young brave said challenging the being.

It said nothing, only fired a spark setting Razer's foot ablaze.

*GAH*

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" He screamed as the blaze traveled up his legs, then waist, torso, arms and then head.

*FOOOOOOOOM*

In the very next moment the encounter was over.

"AHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Annette pushed Naomi under the water's surface. The two watched as the whatever it was walked passed oblivious of the audience that had witnessed its slaughter.

"We should get back to the shore quickly." The S'mar female warned when the immediate danger had passed.

"Annette what is that thing?" Naomi said looking at the remains of Razer. He had tried unsuccessfully to fight the creature off. All that remained were his singed daggers.

"I don't know, but we need to warn the pride." The female feline growled grabbing Naomi's hand.

To Be Continued....

[MEANWHILE]

April 8th YOE 35

8:43 PM Rest Stop near Castle Wundagore (Counter Earth)

"Auggie, Iya right here is fine." I said smiling.

"Several blocks from Castle Wundagore?" The red head asked me.

"Why here?" The former soldier asked. My silence told them much.

"OH!!!" The two said collectively.

"Alex did you sneak out?" Iya asked me.

"And you are now sneaking back in?" Mr. Striker said.

"What would make you think that?!" I said flailing my hands nervously.

"Well it is obvious that you have run afoul of the fuzzies." The female soldier replied.

"Well common knowledge actually. You were probably on a short leash until recently." The male soldier replied. "So how exactly did you sneak out of the castle?"

"The same way I am sneaking back in." I replied looking out the back window of the beige hover vehicle the two were driving.

"A rest stop eh?"

"It makes sense." Iya replied looking at the transport vehicles parked there.

"Hmm?" Auggie asked.

"Alex here has memorized delivery schedules to and from the castle. All he has to do is stow away on one headed there, when it arrives- sneak out of it to where he was supposed to be without anyone being the wiser." Ms. Summers observed.

"My quite clever. It appears he has learned to manipulate the system Iya."

"Haven't we all Auggie."

"Will you look at the time!! I have to be some where right now!! Nice seeing you two again Buh bye!" I said jumping out of the couple's hover vehicle. I then identified my target, a delivery vehicle headed right for the loading dock of the castle. It's driver left the door unlocked.

I quickly entered making my way to the rear where I hid underneath a tarp behind some containers.

My gamble paid off, the vehicle arrived at one of the loading docks at the rear of the castle where I snuck out and was inside before anyone was the wiser. I then casually made my way down the hallway and into the interior of the castle and to the lair. I had just enough time to hop in the shower to rinse off all the scents on me from the job fair and then head into the great room before...

"Wow, you got home late." I said standing up from the sectional to the female knight who had just entered the lair.

*GRUMBLE*

I received a glare from the golden eyed warrior for my trouble. It was obvious that she had had a bad day.

She looked like she had been through the wringer literally- her blue and gold uniform was dirty, had burn patches and scuffs all over it- the biggest shocker was that she was missing portion of her left ear! It was like it had been cut right at the sides.

"Want to talk about it mistress?"

I watched as she threw her leg guards, wrist guards and shoulder guards across the room.

"Is that a no?"

The grumbling turned to growling and I took the hint. I walked over to help my grouchy ursine warrior remove the rest of her uniform, the breast plate, waist band and her cape placing it and her sword into the closet beneath the stairs.

"I have dinner ready mistress."

(I cooked it earlier. Much earlier.)

She made her way over to the high table and sat down in the black chair nearest the kitchen. I soon walked in with dinner grilled tuna and vegetables. I gently placed the plate down on the table and took my seat opposite her and watched her eat.

I had watched her eat many times before- after a long day at the office. She devoured the meal like a bear making a big catch from a small stream in the woods; it must have been a really bad day. Several minutes passed before she finally said something.

"This is very good."

"Thank you master." I replied.

"Alex you aren't eating?"

"I ate earlier and have been digesting." I replied looking at her in her undergarments.

(Among other things.)

Hours earlier....

11:00 AM World One Job Fair

"Cody, Primrose so nice to see you again. I don't get out often anymore." I said to the Time Hunters.

"Yeah we are aware." Cody replied. "Lady Ursa has you a such a tight leash."

"And in a cage." I added. "But not today. Anyway Cinder contacted me and said that I needed to speak to the two of you."

"Yes you had him looking into something you stumbled upon that you needed confirmation of." Primrose replied.

"Yes. Cinder relayed that you had something important to tell me." I said to the cat boy and rabbit girl.

"We do." Cody said looking at Primrose.

*PAUSE*

"Guys we have been friends for a long time and even shared an adventure or two. Out with it." I ordered.

"Let's start what do you remember the day of the fall?" The cat asked me.

"What fall?" I asked the white furred cat boy who looked like his puberty had increased.

"December 31st YOE 33." Cody clarified.

"That wasn't a fall day it was winter." I replied to the two of them confused.

The cat looked at the rabbit.

"Let me try, Cody. Alex, does ONE or the synoptic mean anything to you?" Primrose asked me.

"Uh, not really. Should it?"

"Sir Ram really did it. Complete utter annihilation of the entity and it only took thirteen years and our very souls." Cody replied.

"Sir Ram did what exactly?" I asked looking at the two.

Primrose stood up from our meeting place within the tent. She then went to the flap and looked out into the crowds that had gathered for the consortium event.

Cody followed as he answered my question.

"Purged the scourge."

"He altered the timeline." Primrose said coaxing me to join her. "What we have now, all that you see around us shouldn't be."

I took in the view from our location in the basement of the city.

"The empire and the modern world as we knew it came to an end that day." The white cat replied.

"Go on." I asked coaxing the two of them.

"What do you remember Mr. Alex?" The rabbit girl asked me.

"Well... that was the day of my final judgement... the High Evolutionary was pissed off that I questioned some of his decisions he had made regarding the residents or World Six and a flawed beastial friend of mine. I became a pundit of his and was declared a pre-rebel. I was levitated off of the ground... I remember his face was full of rage... then there was some sort of commotion... I can't seem to recall it... I was then judged and punished and spent a year in a cage underneath the Castle Wundagore." I said to the Time Hunters as I returned to my seat.

"Well that is the revised version that you and everyone have come to know." Primrose replied taking my hands in her paws.

"Guys?"

"The original version was that an entity that had tried conquering the planet many times before finally succeeded. It used the infighting between the empire and the rebellion to build up it's strength launching its attack on the day of your judgement."

"Prim?" I said to the rabbit girl in disbelief.

"It started with a weird cloud that emerged from the great lake in World Five. It disabled technology causing hover vehicles to fall from the sky, power and support systems to fail ravaging those in its path. From there it continued southward to World Four, World Three, World One and lastly World Two."

"How do you two know this?"

"You told us when we stumbled across you, and several survivors months later." Cody replied.

"The picture on Sir Ram's black PDA!" I shouted.

"Yes." Primrose continued. "You told us that ONE, had possessed many of the staff who worked in the castle, one of which killed the High Evolutionary right in front of you before 'acquiring' several friends of yours."

"There was a conflagration, vehicles and other arial starting striking Castle Wundagore. As it was collapsing you took shelter in a closet only to be pulled out of the rubble days later and taken to a unknown location where you, Lady Ursa, Dawn Stern, Corbin Mongoose tried to ride out the after empire era."

"It was there that Primrose, myself, Mara and Sir Ram caught up with you." The cat announced.

"How was that possible?"

"We were on a field trip with professor Love in the entertainment district when the cloud reached the city. We watched vehicles fall from the sky sparking chaos. There was a stampede and the professor was trampled."

"That was when humans and beastials started getting sucked into the sky." We watched Arthur and Minka float away. Milo and Panda Lee almost died as well but were rescued by that alien couple they had met years earlier."

"How did you two survive?" I asked on the edge of my seat.

"We stumbled upon that elevator that brought us back to the present from the waring states era with the two soldiers. They actually came to the job fair. I saw them earlier." Cody added.

"Incredible."

"We used it to contact Sir Ram the night before the fall." Primrose continued. "This is so weird that we are telling you this again."

"It took him some doing, but when he saw the events unfold the next day, he finally believed us." Mr. Spencer said picking up from where his partner left off. "Left with no options we traveled with him for thirteen years as he saved Mara and sought any and all information he could hellbent on destroying ONE and undoing what had happened."

"Well he did. I have no recollection of the empire ending or the day of the fall."

The look on the pairs faces told me there was more.

"Guys?"

"Yeah, Sir Ram and Mara had no compunction in running over or eliminating anyone who got in the way of achieving their goal." The rabbit said wistfully.

"We watched him perform some unspeakable things." The cat added.

"We even assisted." The two said in unison, the revelation was profound.

"Like what?"

"It is best that you don't know Alex. You would hate us." The rabbit girl replied tearing up.

"So you said you traveled with Sir Ram and Mara for thirteen years? That would make you twenty seven and twenty eight."

(WOW.)

"When the timeline was corrected, we returned to our lives exactly where we left off." Cody replied.

"How do you explain that you look older than your friends?"

"Growth spurt." The adult cat responded.

"So exactly how did Sir Ram eliminate this ONE?" I asked the former younglings.

"In the distant past he found a species of leech that could reverse ONE's hold on its victims. He used that to halt the entity's expansion in the past and again when we returned to the present." Primrose said.

"He has replicated that species of leech and has it housed in his labs across the empire. Primrose and I are reminded of how much was lost and what was regained because of his actions."

My mind was blown.

"There is a bit more than that." Cody replied. "But that is the condensed version."

"Come here you two." I said hugging them. "You made the best of a bad situation and no one can blame you for that."

That circles back to what that evil beastial had told me prior- messing with time is not for the meek. But he and I had done it before to avoid a bad future. I think this last go round was on a much, grander scale.

Now....

"Mistress has Sir Ram told you about his experiences with the black PDA?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

I was about to divulge what I learned today when I remembered what Primose and Cody had said to me at our meeting.

"Guys why are you telling me all this?"

"It was such a big secret. We couldn't keep it anymore Alex."

"And we needed to get this off of our chests."

"What was done to preserve the empire is tightly guarded secret." Primrose replied.

"Tell no one." Cody warned.

Telling Lady Ursa what I knew, would lead to a difficult conversation about me defying her and snooping on Sir Ram. I was ready for that. My sojourn because of the malfunctioning tracker/tracer had emboldened me. In fact it was liberating. But on another note what do I do with what I have learned?

Perhaps, I should just take in the moment. Live in the now because all that is around me, all that I see shouldn't be. But is- because of Sir Ram, and now Primrose Willow and Cody Spenser's secret had become my secret.

To Be Continued....