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Chapter 1

It was the day before the autumnal dance. The streamers were tacked up in the traditional green and silver that were St. Gabriel's Academy's colours. The cheerleaders were busy at tables selling tickets for the dance and the senior athletes were busy hazing and giving the new students a hard time. Things were all in all normal in the city Gildedtongue worked at. The chakat purred to hirself as shi sipped from hir cup of tea.

The early morning newspaper gripped in hir other hand as shi made way to hir classroom. Though shi had the first hour of hir day open, shi was one of the few teachers who actually arrived early, and stayed late. 06:43 read the chronometer at the front of the class. "Damn, thirteen minutes late," the brown furred felinoid thought to hirself while heading towards hir desk. Hir prehensile tail tucking in chairs to the student desks idly as shi moved. Sitting down shi ran both hir hands through hir red mane of hair, finding hir scalp to relieve an itch on the back of hir head.

"Today is going to be an interesting day" shi said aloud to no one in particular. This only reminded hir of an ancient Chinese curse. Booting up hir computer shi checked hir mail. Seven students writing in some excuse that they couldn't attend hir public speaking class for some reason or another. Not surprisingly, all seven students were registered to present their second speeches today. Looking over hir notes, the cancellations left only Dreamweaver to do hir presentation. Dreamweaver was one of two chakats in the entire of school population, the other being Gildy, of course. The common species has given the two a special kinship to each other. Hir parents took very good care of hir, except they were constantly busy during the day, so the young chakat went to the longtail for advice often. Gildedtongue, in exchange for the advice, simply enjoyed the platonic friendship the youth gave hir. 63 might not be too old for any chakat, but shi'll be the first to admit it is very lonely to live as long without a mate.

Gildedtongue's reminiscence was cut short by the shattering of glass. A baseball bat was being pulled out of the window, as the startled centauroid looked up. Shi dashed out to the door, wincing at the shards cutting into hir bare feet as shi wrenched the door open, looking into the hallway. Hundreds of students filled the hall, milling towards their first class, and the perpetrator was nowhere in sight. Shi pulled back and sighed, closing hir door again gently, as not to let any more glass shower. Limping to the desk shi called maintenance to come by and clean up the glass and put up some cardboard on the wreckage.

After the Gene Wars, America lay mostly in ruins, taking the fullest brunt of what could be easily called the third World War. It was the most targeted country for total land assault. Reason being that whilst the country set itself up well to defend against mass destructive warfare and terrorism, it lacked the ground force to counter an invasion, an ingenious attack through the Yukon of Canada, into Washington, then traveling eastward in its assault. Thus, those with enough time to flee took refuge in the allied countries of Australia and the United Kingdom. It was much to the shame of the American Refugees when it was the French who liberated New York and Washington D.C. Having been the focus of such a massacre gave way to new leaders with old policies. Just like how Germany reacted to the failure of the First World War, Americans in the southern sector, which became the Holy Christian Kingdom of North America (HCKNA) blamed the morphs for their problems, and the Humans First movement got its first foothold in that country.

Certain religious leaders of all walks damned and cursed the morphs. Legal and political measures were used to prosecute them to beyond the full extent of the law, stating plainly that all rights and privileges of the new Kingdom were reserved solely for people, not animals, or their kin. It wasn't until the formation of the Federation of Planets, which managed to calm the hateful policies of the time of troubles, and give morphs the joys, and benefits, that were to be shared by all living things.

"Old ideologies die hard." Gildedtongue mused as shi reached down to hir handpaw, yanking out a sizable shard of glass from the pad. A number of napkins were applied to curve the bleeding. Shi had to work quickly to remove all of the glass from hir wounds. The Turners thought they were giving chakats an advantage to their regenerative properties, however it did make cleaning small wounds a bear, especially non volatile substances like Glass, which could be logged in hir skin for years. Shi finished hir conversation with the janitors and hung up, letting out a sigh into the air. A knock was heard on hir door and Gildy instinctively responded, "Come in!" but quickly added, "Watch out for the glass!"

A tiger striped head peeked into the room and nodded, giving a short leap into the room, over the crystalline dust, then nodded in achievement. Dreamweaver had a very unique fur pattern, as shi had some normal tiger stripes going vertically along hir body, but also patches of fur that moved horizontally along hir fur, making hir look like a loosely woven tapestry. Shi padded up to the older chakat's desk with a grin that reminded Gildy of a kitten with his first mouse clutched in his teeth. Gildy decided to bite and cocked hir head, "So, what's so important that you're missing your first class to talk to me, Dreamy?"

"Guess who's going to the dance tomorrow?" the student grinned, closing hir eyes in hir smile.

Gildedtongue, much like shi always does, played with the conversation like a kitten with a moth, batting around before delivering the fatal blow. Shi rolled hir eyes a little, "I dunno, some new pop band?"

Dreamweaver smirked and shook hir head, "Gah, Gildedtongue. You're such a meanie at times. Me! Of course."

Gildedtongue gave a soft nod as shi looked at the younger 'taur, "Well, congratulations. So who is the lucky guy or gal who got to escourt you?"

"Jacob Miller, you know, the captain on the rugby team? Hehe, he is so hot out there on the field."

Gildedtongue furrowed hir eyebrows on hearing this. Shi wasn't completely against the idea of Dreamy dating an athlete, but shi had bad vibes coming off that particular one. His record was completely clean, however, so shi dismissed it as pure irrational paranoia. Hir face softened at the empathetic barrage of good feelings from the teenager. Shi smiled and gave another nod, "Well, congratulations, Dreamy. I hope you have a good time."

"Thank you. So, will you be attending it as well?"

"Of course I will." Gildedtongue smiled smugly, "I'd never turn down an opportunity for extra money and hours. I'm rather mercenary."

Dreamweaver giggled loudly, "Hehe, well, that's good. Going with anyone?"

Shi shook hir head, "No no, just little ol' me. That's good enough though." Gildedtongue shrugged, looking up at the ceiling again.

Dreamweaver leaned in close over the desk. Hir black facial fur getting a red hue of blush, as shi whispered softly, "Well, Gildy, you know, if you ever get too lonely, I wouldn't mind if..."

The young chakat was cut short by the banging of Gildy's paw on the surface of hir desk. The yellow muzzled feline swallowing a growl, "That's enough, Dreamweaver! You know as well as I do the legal ramifications of such actions. Not to mention the breaking of the student/teacher relationship." Gildedtongue calmed down as shi saw hir student's fur prickling up on end and the buds of tears forming at the corners of hir eyes. The older chakat let out a long, slow sigh, regaining hir composure, "I'm sorry. I thank you for your concern over my well being, however, you know as well as I do what the Pope thinks of underage sexual activity." The leonine chakat chuckled to hirself, "or any sexual activity that doesn't result in bouncy baby humans, for that matter."

"I know, but, well, in Chakona..."

"Trust me, I know Dreamy. I know. No one would notice, or care. But even then I would refuse, so long as you were my student. If you weren't in my class, that would be different. But, firstly, you're in my class; secondly, this is the HoCK on Terra. And lastly," Gildedtongue looked at hir clock again, "Our class starts in five minutes." Gildedtongue looked over at the door again. The glass was still all over the floor, even though it was over an hour since shi called. Shi kept a broom and dustpan for this reason, sweeping up the brunt of the glass, and then laying down a thick carpet for the non-shod students, leaving the door open.

The day went on rather uneventful for the rest of the day. Students came, presented, and left. After the final class Gildedtongue took the recordings and the notes shi made and started to critique and grade each student. At 17:45 shi finally finished all the paperwork and left the school for the day, catching the bus home. HCKNA Terran buses were almost considered torture devices for most 'taurs. Each had a section at the back for four leggers, but were rarely maintained, or cleaned off. Thus Gildedtongue stood in the aisle at the back through hir short journey. Luckily the commute was only an hour to hir apartment.

The two bedroom flat was suitable for any bachelor. A full sized kitchen greeted the eyes of anyone coming in the door. An electric stove, microwave, and refrigerator were all the appliances the chakat used. The den was just to the door's right. A small viewscreen, which doubled as a telephone and entertainment TV, hung on the wall. A videogame system hooked up to that. Pillows of all sizes adorned the floor, mostly seated around a short coffee table that served as the main dining table. Gildedtongue took no interest in these as shi pulled off hir shirt, tossing it into the hamper, and then unbuckling hir saddlebags, letting hir books and notes fall with a loud clump on the floor. The bed's siren call drove the chakat to its downy breast, where shi slept.