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Author's Note

Stories like this always make me wonder what to tag them. It spans a breadth and depth that is not common, so it's definitely not easy to tag. At that point, the tags become almost a warning of each segment of content.

I will say this was interesting to write. Yes, it has sex. It also has some funny moment and some tear jerking moments, so if you're seeking naught but a quick fap, this is not your best bet.

I was not intending to continue the Development universe at all, but when Mirror, Mirror... got to a certain point, it was so easy to tie in Tails of Power and Development. So here, five years later, you get to see one aspect of a meta-story that is now spanning three separate universes, so to speak. But only one aspect... That means there will be questions... but those will have to wait for the next parts of the other stories.

In any case, reading Tails of Power (at least the first one), Personal Development, and Mirror, Mirror... is strongly recommended, lest you find yourself scratching your head at some points. But it's not mandatory, only Personal Development fully precedes this one.

Further Development

Shadows of Dreams

Updated August 14th, 2012

---

Daniel glanced up as the windows darkened in sequence across the room. That was odd. The darkness stopped at his front door, then went away. Curiosity quickly overcoming common sense, he went to the door to check. He was very mature for an 18-year-old high school senior, but sometimes his quest for knowledge got the best of him.

There was a small padded envelope on the doorstep. A quick grab and the package was in hand. He frowned as he looked at it. It wasn't UPS or FedEx, nor even DHL. He'd never heard of S.K. Couriers. Addressed to him by name, but no other information. No return address either. Yet for some reason, his normal caution was still utterly absent as he turned and took the package into his home and up to his room.

It took scissors to get to the contents, but soon he upended the envelope onto his bed. Two DVD cases and a folded sheet of paper. The cases were back-up and unlabeled on that side, so he unfolded the paper.

Thank you for your interest in the Personal Development project. You were recommended as a candidate for our advanced sample information. This material is currently being researched and is not yet available, however please enjoy this quick preview of the upcoming technology.

His head shot up as somebody knocked on the front door. Dropping the paper on his bed, he went to investigate.

"Hi, Sandra! New skirt?"

She was holding a DVD case and sheet of paper. "I had a weird delivery, but it looks like it's from that place we went for the field trip last month. I figured I'd come and show it to you."

His head tilted. "I got the same thing, I think." He invited her in and they headed up to his room.

"Your parents are gonna get suspicious," she said slyly.

He chuckled. "They're okay with it anyway, as long as I'm responsible, they say." He tried to do an impression of his dad. "Daniel, you're 18, so you're your own person. When you move out, you can do any stupid thing you want, but while you're under our roof, don't do anything too dumb, or we'll just make sure your next chance to do something stupid is on your own."

She laughed merrily. "Okay, your 'rents are cool." She handed him the paper. "It doesn't explain much, so I guess the DVD has the preview."

He looked at the sheet of paper. It was identical to the one he had. She handed him the DVD case. It was minimally-labeled with a printed sheet slipped into the sleeve of the case as Phase Two Demo - Copy. "Where's the other DVD?" he asked curiously.

"What other DVD?"

Daniel glanced at the two DVD cases on his bed, then jerked a thumb at them. "They sent me two." He snagged them and inspected the fronts.

One had the same generic printed label. The other had no label at all. He set the second one aside and opened the first. A single recordable Blu-Ray disc was inside with a stick-on label that was about as generic as the outside label.

"They have faith in us to have a player for this, I guess," Daniel said with a sigh and walked over to his computer, dropping the disc in the drive. A few quick commands and it was playing.

No disc menu or lead in, just straight into a video that described "the future of mind development" with a lot of flowery, dumbed-down language and power-word phrases. To a layman or a neophyte, or maybe the average cheerleader, it probably would sound cool. Daniel and Sandra were rolling their eyes in short order.

In three minutes, the video preview was over. Daniel examined the disc with his computer briefly, but no extra data on it at all.

Sandra shook her head. "Sooooo... That told us... what?"

"The only decent word they used was 'psychomanipulative'. Otherwise I think I heard 'future' and 'awesome' and 'development' way too many times for a three minute video."

"So what's the other DVD?" She glanced at it.

Daniel got up and grabbed it, opening the case carefully when something inside slid. There was no disc inside, just a USB memory stick and a torn off piece of paper with a quick scribble on it reading, "Enjoy, Daniel!"

Sandra grabbed the scribbled note. "Got another girlfriend now?" she asked.

"Nope. No idea who this is from."

"Knowing what I know about you, I believe you."

He smiled gratefully and examined the USB drive. Were it not in the same package and obviously from the same place, he would've thought somebody was trying to get him infected or something. He took the drive back over to his computer and plugged it in.

Just a few files. Some videos, some audio, and a readme.txt, which he pulled up.

Step 1: Use Phase 1 or 2 to get used to it.

Step 2: Use Phase 2 at least a dozen times.

Step 3: If you used Phase 2 enough, Phase 3 will work.

Step 4: When you are comfortable with Phase 3, and ONLY if you dare... ...Use Phase 4

Step 5: ???

"If we dare? Sounds ominous."

Daniel shrugged. "I guess we can see what the others are and then see if we dare." He pointed at the first video, labeled Phase 1 - Develop in the filename. "Whatchya wanna bet this is what they showed us on the field trip?"

Sandra nodded. "I think they have it for sale on their website, so this is like a free copy."

"I didn't know that!" He moved to click once on the file, but paused before double-clicking. "We... wait..." He looked at her. "Sandra, what we did on that field trip shouldn't be possible. People can't share dreams. It just..."

"...doesn't work like that. I know. You're not the only one with brains, loverboy." She shook her head. "I tried to do research on it. Nothing."

"You too? Yeah. We communicated information that was unknown to the other without speaking. At least..." He frowned. "Maybe we were talking to each other outside the dream?"

"Way too much to say in thirty seconds."

"Good point," he conceded.

"Do you think it was a fluke?"

He pointed to the file. "We could always try again."

"Try the second one," she said, leaning over him to point at Phase 2 - Create .

Shrugging, he clicked once on that file, then paused again. "Maybe you should sit down? I dunno if you can be in the trance standing up."

She plopped on his lap and scooted back against him affectionately. "Fixed!"

"Not complaining," he said with a grin as he double-clicked on the file.

The video player loaded up and a scrolling screen appeared.

Please ensure you are seated and comfortable.

"Very comfortable," Daniel said, hugging her back against himself.

This video contains a 10-second segment starting at 1:00 minutes, a 30-second segment at 2:00 minutes, and a one-minute segment at 4:00 minutes. Following 7:00 minutes is a two hour audio-only segment that can be used while sleeping.

Daniel nodded. "Ten seconds to start should be fine. We spent long enough dreaming when we were in the 30-second one."

"I dunno. I kinda liked finding out you're good. If it ended sooner, I'd still be with the jock."

"Sooooo...?"

"Nah, ten is cool."

The screen changed to an ongoing timer that counted up to a minute. Daniel gave Sandra another squeeze as the dot appeared in the middle of the screen and he focused on it. The dot was suddenly surrounded by a flashing pattern set and a fuzzy sound came over the speakers, almost like a modem. He felt the same sensation as in the auditorium the prior month, then his vision tunneled to black.

---

"It's, like, nothing."

Daniel spun around to face the humanoid, orange tabby cat form that he somehow recognized as Sandra. He considered, then looked down at himself. Yup. Back to being a humanoid fox, and just like her he was devoid of any clothing.

He looked around and realized he had to agree with her. There was some semblance of gravity and a surface, and he was able to see himself and her, but everything else was solid black. There was nothing else. No sound except the two of them. Nothing to see at all.

"You're here," he pointed out.

"Well, you are too. But are you fake and in my head, or are we linked again?"

"I don't know. I mean, I think I'm real, but you could just be saying that because I think you will." He considered. "We need to tell each other something that the other person doesn't already know. So, I'll tell you I have a folder of nature photos on my computer desktop that I never showed you. It's just named 'N'."

"Cool. And I'm not wearing panties."

"Well, neither am I. We're not wearing anything in here."

"I mean in the real world, silly."

"Oh! OOOOooooooooh... Wait. How would I know when we get out?"

"You ask and I'll show you," she said with a wink.

"...Oooooooooooohhhhh."

"So what's up with this, this nothing?"

"I dunno. The note and the readme were all there was. You were there."

"At the field trip, they said it was supposed to be a challenge in the trance world. This is just... Boring. Let's run that way." She pointed briefly, then dropped onto all four paws and started running.

Daniel boggled. Sure, they had animal-shaped legs now, but he didn't expect that. He took off after her on two legs at first, but soon dropped to arms and legs as well to stop falling behind. Then he faceplanted with great grace. He cried out in surprise, though it didn't hurt, and that caught her attention. She looped back around and came to peer down at him.

"How come I can do that right and you can't?"

"I dunno," he grumbled, picking himself up. "It just felt so weird it seemed wrong, then suddenly I stumbled."

"Don't think about it too hard," she told him. "When I almost thought it was too weird, I started to have trouble coordinating my arms and legs. Then I just let it go and I was fine." She spun around and looked over her shoulder at him. "Follow the tail," she exclaimed, taking off with tail high.

"Or what's under it," he murmured to himself at the eyeful he got. But he took off on all fours again. As long as he didn't let himself realize how weird the situation was, he was able to run without any effort or trouble.

Finally, after maybe an hour of running as fast and hard as they could, she pulled to a stop, causing him to skid to his own halt before running face-first into that which he had been following. She stood and huffed. "There's something to be said about running miles through complete nothing."

"What's that?"

"Boooooooring!" She hissed at the blackness. "Your dream is really boring."

"True, and worse, this might just be my dream alone. So it could just be my own boring mind challenging me with the utter lack of anything but you."

"Now I'm a challenge?"

"Until we wake up, we don't even know who's real."

"Well, obviously I'm real."

"But if I'm real, then I'd think you'd say that. And if you're dreaming this alone, maybe I'd say that too." He made a face. "Did I just justify my own lack of reality?"

"Yup."

"Well, if you are real, it's just nice of me to I guess. Though... If you are real, I shouldn't need to... wait... except unless you aren't. So then I wouldn't need to be polite, but I would be anyway, because... I'm confused now I think."

"Even better, if you aren't real and you're just a figment of my imagination, you sound exactly like the Daniel I know and love."

"Love?"

She tackled him and pinned him with a purr. "Maybe it's puppy love, or some teen crush. I don't think so though. But yeah, I guess I never told you that before either. Don't look at me funny. If you're fake, I'm okay and you'll never know yet. If you're real, well, you should know sometime. It's not like I'm a ditzy cheerleader."

"But what if I snore? Could you deal with that?"

"You do. It's fine though. It's cute little snerts."

He blinked. "I do? I didn't know that. How'd you find out?"

"You fell asleep while we were talking on the phone after that long study session. I didn't mean to call you after you went to bed. But it was cute!"

He looked embarrassed, his ears laying to the sides.

"That's cute too!" she exclaimed, fuzzing his ears.

"Okay, okay," he grumbled halfheartedly. It was difficult to be grumpy when being pinned by her in such a manner.

"So what's up with this noth..."

*DING*

He blinked his normal human eyes in the real world.

"...ing stuff? Wait..." She turned partially on his lap and looked around. "Oh. We're awake now."

"You continued your sentence from the dream into the real world too," Daniel observed. "That lends credence to the idea that we're both really sharing the same dream."

"Oh, yus! Lessee... The N folder of nature photos on your desktop?"

"And you can't show me your panties."

"We were sharing the same dream! That's kind of cool, but really freaky too."

"Yeah." He gave a shiver. "Let's... focus on it being cool so we don't freak out, 'kay?"

"'Kay. Do you think maybe it's because we were touching? Maybe like some sort of bioelectric thing. That's what an EEG picks up, right?"

He thought about it. "Yeah, maybe it's possible. It could make sense. Your hand fell on my leg the first time."

She pushed away from the desk, rolling his chair back and standing up off his lap. "So we just need to try it while we're not touch..."

The fifty seconds of time between the two segments in the video expired just as she was saying that and the fuzzy sound hit them. She froze, standing still and leaning over the desk, giving him unintentional proof that she had no panties on. He leaned to the side, intending to grab the mouse and stop the video, but just glancing at the screen suddenly dragged him into the trance.

---

"Oh my god, Daniel!! What took you so long?!"

He yelped as he was tackled from behind.

"I've been waiting forever!" She rolled him over and clung to him. He realized she was near tears, so he hugged her close to try to comfort her.

"I ended up in the trance just seconds after you when I tried to turn it off."

"I've been in nothing for weeks, or months, or even years," she said, finally breaking down and sobbing. "Oh god, I started counting finally, just to try to keep some time. I counted over 38 MILLION."

He did some quick mental math and paled. "If that was counting about seconds, that's gotta be over a year. Damn, Sandra, I didn't know. How could I have known? But it was literally seconds outside." He hugged her closer. "Shhh. It's okay, I'm here."

She slowly calmed down. "I'm so glad you're here. Over a year? Over a year of nothing at all... Thank you for saving me from the nothing." She buried her face against his neck. "I think if I think of what it was like, it was like hell, literally. Don't need fire and brimstone to make it horrible."

He held her close until she finally calmed down, which by his guesstimate took a good amount of time as well. Eventually she relaxed against him and sighed. "Are you gonna be okay?" he asked softly.

"I think so," she said, pulling herself together better. "Okay, seriously, what's up with the darkness and nothing? I mean, maybe a year exploring a huge world wouldn't've been as bad."

Daniel shook his head. "No idea." He huffed and closed his eyes in frustration. "It's almost like they expect us to wave our hands and make something." He tossed his hand at the darkness and jokingly tried to make a floating light bulb.

"Oh, hey! Did you do that?"

"What?" He opened his eyes, then he squinted at the glowing bulb. "Wait... Did I? I think I might've." He laid his ears back in concentration and suddenly a second light bulb appeared above the first one. "Holy shit, I did!"

"How did you do that?!"

"I just thought about it really hard and it happened."

There was silence from her for just a moment, then he flopped against a soft surface and stuff tickled his sides lightly. Her eyes widened. "Grass!"

He looked to the side. She was right. He was on his back on grass now.

"Create! That was the name of the file," he said. "We get a blank canvas and we get to create the world in here!"

"We do?" She squeeed and jumped off him, looking around frantically.

Daniel paid attention to the grass, looking at the detail. It was odd. When he first glanced at any part of it, it seemed fuzzy in detail for a moment. Then as he focused on it, it became more and more detailed. It was as if his own mind was filling in the detail. If he thought about it, it probably was his mind filling in the detail. Curiously, he focused on one blade of grass and thought at it. It grew literally as he just willed it. He twisted more with his mind and changed it into a stem, then into a flower. A quick sniff, and only when he expected it to smell nice did it actually start doing so.

The intense light made him blink and shield his eyes. It faded and he looked around. Then his mouth fell open. The world around him was surreal. While he focused on the grass, Sandra had been busy. A huge mishmash of things. There was a giant tree, a weirdly-shaped building, a waterfall flowing out of nothing, a huge smiley face made of what looked like cake, a sparkly rainbow, a circling flock of tiny birds, a giant road sign, a steampunk engine, a sitting griffin batting at a unicorn's tail, a huge origami dragon next to a real dragon in the same pose, a bunch of floating peaches... An asteroid belt stretched across the sky against a backdrop of a nebula and the just-created star was no longer too bright.

"A pony? Seriously?" He pointed at the odd pink horse with the cutie mark.

"I wanted to see if I could make it," she said defensively. The pink pony vanished.

"That's a lot of stuff. So I found out that it starts out as a general idea, and as you focus on the details, they get all detailed."

"That makes sense. I guess it's made out of what your mind wants to make it. So it only starts with what you put into it." She spun to face him. "Watch!" She showed both hands, then cupped them together. She opened them up again and a bird flew out of them, landing on his shoulder.

"You just flipped me the bird?"

She burst out laughing. "Be like that and I'll make it poop on you."

"Sorry," he said, mollified. "This is really cool though. I wonder..."

*DING*

He was caught off-guard by the sudden change and paused in talking, but then finished anyway. "...how much we can do in the thing though, what the limits are." Before he got too distracted by her pantylessness, he hit the media key on his keyboard to pause the video.

"I was in there for a loooong time before you came in."

"And you made a bunch of stuff, like a folded paper dragon and a waterfall from nothing."

"After you made a light bulb." She nodded. "Plus, you weren't touching me at all," she pointed out.

"That kills the contact theory." He sighed and thought about it. "I won't freak out yet if you don't."

"I promise not to yet either. Do you know what this means the next test needs to be, though?"

"What?"

"I've got to be on the other side of the room."

He clicked on the video and backed up to the ten-second clip. "The short one will hopefully help too. Maybe. I think we spent less time together in the thirty-second one than in the ten-second one. I wonder... What if we try to break out at a certain time?"

"We can try that," she agreed, walking across the room. "Hit play."

He did, barely aware of how much more quickly he fell into the trance this time.

---

"I expected to find the black again," Sandra commented, poking the trunk of the tree.

"Huh. So it persists. I wonder how long it stays for? I wonder if we can, like, click save and start from a new thing and then get back to this. Can we even clear it to nothing?"

In answer, everything vanished. Then a forest started to build around him, trees and rocks and grass fading in from nothing. He took a hand at making a stream and some moss on the trees. The trees promptly vanished and the old mishmash of stuff came back. It was slightly, subtly different, but it changed back to what he remembered as he noted the differences.

"Yup!" she exclaimed. "That's, like, what? Maybe five minutes? We've never spent less than hours in here. Let's see if we can escape." She vanished.

Daniel looked around, then frowned and thought about breaking out of the trance.

*DING*

"I'm out," she said from across the room. "But it stopped with the wake-up sound right when I thought about coming out of it. How did it know when to end the video?"

Daniel hit the pause again and spun around in his chair. "I stayed in for a few seconds after you, but it broke me out the same way. Assuming we were sharing again."

"You asked about saving and resetting. I made a forest."

"Okay, so we were sharing across the room." He put his mind away from the growing implications of that. "The timing thing is weird, yus. Maybe our brains are always fitting everything precisely into the time before the bell, no matter how much they squeeze into it."

"Time-compressed mental activity?"

"Something like that. You know how it is when you have a dream and it ends at the end just before something wakes you up."

She walked back and planted herself on his lap again. "Okay, so let's go create some stuff! We know we can break out when we want to, so I won't get stuck for a year again. Just run it for the ten seconds at a time."

They spent the next hour of real time world-building for weeks of dream time, only breaking off to lock his room door and enjoy some personal time with each other in the real world before his parents got home.

"We should do more of this in the dreams too," she said. "Now that we have the video and the control and we know we share them."

He looked at her. "But we always show up as a fox and a cat. The anatomy is all weird."

"It was fun the first time. Do you have something against being a fox or being against a cat?"

"Well, no, it just... well, I didn't think..."

"You don't have to wear a rubber in the dream either."

"Good point." He chuckled. "Okay, if you think it's a good idea, I'm all for it."

"Great! Then comes the next critical test. We need to see if we link when I'm at my house and you're here."

He shivered. It sounded like an exciting possibility if it worked, but he wasn't sure if he was ready for the implications if it did. "I'll give you a copy of the video file. You have a computer that can play it, right?"

"Yup!"

"My parents are gonna be home soon too, and we have school tomorrow. Maybe if you head home with the file, we can try tonight really quick, then see what comes up."

They got up and dressed, then he put a copy of the file on a spare thumb drive for her. A quick kiss at the door when she left and he headed back up to his computer to wait for her call. He didn't know if he wanted this to work or not. The idea that it might excited him, but if it did...

His phone rang. It was Sandra.

"I've got it on my PC. Are you ready to hit play? I'm at the short first one."

"Right!" He hovered his mouse over the play button.

"Okay, I'll count down to play. Three, two, one, Play!"

He clicked and was instantly in the prior world they had made. "Wait... Did we just drop our phones in real life?"

"I don't think so," she said, looking around at the scenery, her tail swaying lightly. "Okay, give me a passphrase. You tell me 'green apple jellybeans' when we get out."

"Ah, tell me 'squishy fuzzy staples'."

"Staples? They're metal. Not squishy or fuzzy at all!"

"Exactly."

"Ooooooh. Okay, see you on the phone then. If we didn't drop them." She vanished.

Curiously, he stayed and built a few more things after she was gone, including a massive castle built into a cliff. The next time they came in, he wanted to see if it was there for both of them. After about an hour of working on details, he broke out to the bell from the video and hit pause.

"Are you still there? My phone is still in my hand."

He almost dropped it in surprise at her voice. He'd lost track of the real world during the castle building. "I'm here with your green apple jellybeans."

"Which match your squishy fuzzy staples just fine."

Both of them were completely silent for a while.

"Maybe..." she sounded thoughtful. "Maybe we said it out loud over the phone when we were in the trance?"

"Rewind the video. Look at your computer clock. Click play the instant it hits 7:32. We'll hang up."

"Okay... Love you, bye!"

"Love..." It was too late, the phone beeped as the call dropped.

He felt the thrill of the discovery as he reset the video to the starting point and stared at the computer clock. The moment it hit the time, he clicked. And missed the play button. With a growl, he moved the mouse and hit play.

"Nice castle! What took you so long? I've been adding decorations for the past half hour."

"I wasn't paying attention to where I clicked, so I clicked about three seconds late."

"At least I didn't spend a year alone again." She shuddered at the memory.

"True. Okay, so here's the next thing... I made this castle after you left last time. You saw it before I got here. If you were gone, this should all be only in my head first. Soooo... How did you see it when you got here first?"

She opened her mouth to answer, then her tail bushed up and she closed it, looking thoughtful.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"No. Nothing's wrong. Why would you think anything's wrong?"

He pointed at her tail wordlessly.

"Oh fer fuck's... Just like I can tell by your ears when you're embarrassed."

He nodded.

"Okay, yeah... I admit, when I think about it too hard, it's kind of scary. We're not on the phone, but I'm seeing something that you made after I left. It definitely wasn't here when the video woke me up. And I saw it before you got here. So it's... It's like we were linked even outside the dream."

He felt a pit in his stomach. That was a scary thought to a degree, but also kind of exciting. He realized he was more scared that she'd freak out. Especially as her entire body began to fluff up like a pissy cat.

"ARRGH!"

He flinched at her outburst, taking a step back.

"Why did I even spend time with that asshat?! Why didn't I find you sooner!? It's like we were made for each other. Nobody else had this kind of thing with the trance video. You're just fucking awesome and smart and you make me feel good and you don't suck. ARRRGH!"

The fox fell over, sitting down hard.

"Oh, are you okay?!" She was defluffed in an instant and picking him up.

"Ack, hey, I'm fine." She had literally picked him up.

"Oh, yeah, forgot how strong I am as a cat." She set him down. "I kinda like it though."

"But are we really linked, or are we just hoping this and making it up in our mind?"

"Umm... You tell me 72. I'll tell you 27. Go!" She vanished.

He escaped and heard the bell from the video. He hit pause and peered at his phone with some trepidation.

It rang.

The moment he answered it, before he even got a word out, she was breathlessly repeating, "27, 27, 27, 27... Say it damnit!"

"72."

She squealed so loudly he had to pull the phone away from his ear.

The next week comprised of Sandra being so giddy that even the people at school were looking at her funny. Daniel was excited too, but a bit more reserved. He was giving it more thought as he went.

She spent a lot less time at his house for half of it, since they could coordinate by chat and SMS to start the video and have as long as they wanted in the dream world. The second half of the week she made a few visits because they still liked snuggling in reality, though they were finding less value in it after all the things they were exploring in the dreams.

Come the weekend, she was at his house again and they headed into the dream world.

"Soooooo... I cheated..."

He blinked, his ears wilting a little at this admission from her.

"I went into the video without you a few times," she continued.

His breath came out in a woosh. He didn't admit what he thought at first. It wouldn't be polite. "Anything interesting?"

"Yeah!" She glanced down at her orange fur, then with a poof in a fraction of a second, she was human.

"Oh, hey," he said, ears perked. "We can change ourselves too?"

"Yeah, but it feels weird being human in here. I just wanted to show you I could."

"Without clothing though?"

"Oh! Yeah..." She was suddenly wearing a princess dress. "I forgot."

"Wasn't complaining."

"True. Nothing you haven't seen or licked after all." She patted the dress. "Gah, this is gaudy. Oh! I wanted to show you..." Another quick change and she was a four on the floor griffin.

His jaw was hanging again. "What on earth?"

She wasn't too big overall. Her shoulder reached the level of his waist and with her head up, she was peering at his lower chest. Her whole body was that of a lion, with only head and wings being an eagle. That made her a griffin in his mind, as opposed to a gryphon having eagle talons.

"This is like, so cool!" She spread her wings and gave a massive flap, launching into the air in a heartbeat. He watched, wide-eyed, as she performed aerial acrobatics before landing beside him.

"We can fly in the dream without changing though."

"But it's cooler when you have wings," she said sagely. "Aaaaaaaaand it's not a cat. I mean, I like the cat, and even if I leave in another form, I'm a cat when I come back, but this gives even more possibilities." She licked her beak.

He knew the way she said that. "Your mind is in the gutter, isn't it?"

"Who, me? When isn't it?"

"Point." He walked around her, looking over the new form. "So how does it feel having all four feet on the ground?"

"It's kinda weird, but kinda cool at the same time. I feel even stronger than I do as a kitty."

"You're still technically mostly-kitty."

"Oh. Yeah. But really, sit on my back!"

"What?"

"Sit on my back. Put one leg on either side of me, and sit on my back. You can fit just behind my wings."

"Are you sure?"

"GET ON!"

He flinched, grinned, and carefully climbed on. Despite his attempt to avoid putting his full weight on her, he found he couldn't keep his feet on the ground.

"Pull your legs up and use them to hold my sides. Then hold on to a big handful of the feathers on the back of my neck. Don't worry, they won't come out."

He did as she asked, marvelling at the look of the massive feathers he had to grab. Then she crouched, spread her wings, and he yelled long and loud as she sailed into the air with him astride her.

"Woohoo!" she screamed over the wind. "Hold on!"

She went into a series of loops and barrel rolls and half pikes and ... well, he wasn't completely sure what they all were really. He did know that in real life he'd likely toss his cookies. Here, it was just awesome. He finally released the death grip he had on her sides and feathers as she leveled out and flew even keel, letting him look to the horizon in the world they had created.

"This is pretty amazing," he yelled to her.

"WHAT?"

"I SAID, THIS IS PRETTY AMAZING!"

"I CAN'T HEAR! WAIT A SEC!"

She tilted her wings and did a quick climb, pressing him hard against her back. Then she dove. He wasn't even vaguely ready for that. The end result of the inversion from something around six gee to a good bit of minus gees was that he was no longer on her back.

"Aw shit," he muttered. It wouldn't hurt him when he landed. He could even fly. But that required a bit of concentration on his part, and falling seemed to preclude that. "Meh..."

He didn't get even five seconds to contemplate how best to hit the ground and whether he should try to bounce when he got there. A shape sailed up from his feet and he was promptly snagged by four feline paws. His arms were pinned as his side was pulled to her chest, her forepaws around his shoulders and her hind legs clinging to his waist. She resumed even flight so she could juggle him a bit more easily and spun him to face her. He was pretty sure it looked silly, but nobody else was watching anyway.

His arms were very carefully extracted from her grip and he managed to wrap them up around her neck and across her shoulders. His legs were left free behind her because her small body was not long enough to go back that far when his chin was against her neck. He trusted her to hold onto him with her hind legs, so he just pulled his legs up and bent them like he was sitting, which worked decently.

Her head ducked beside his and she nibbled his ear gently. "Okay, now what were you saying?"

He laughed. "You did all that just so we could talk?"

"Maaaaaaaaybe. What did you say?" She half-rolled back and forth a few times, teasingly.

"I said this is pretty amazing," he said, giving her a squeeze.

"It is, isn't it?" she said with a trill. "Soooooooooo... Now I can hear you, and I can nibble your ear, but you can't see the scenery, so it's not as fun for you."

"True. I guess you could try to catch me on your back if I have some warning."

"Better idea," she announced cheerily. "Let's do it!"

"Do what?"

She clenched her hindlegs around his waist and ground against his groin.

"Ooooh!" His eyes widened again. "You mean land and do it, right?"

"Land? Psssh! Landing is for wimps."

"...you're serious."

"As a heart attack." Yup. Given the fact that he had a distinct chill of wind against wet fur as she repositioned her hind paws to pull him even closer, it was a good chance she was serious.

"Not even any foreplay?" he asked, concerned.

"You're the sweetest guy ever, Daniel! But seriously. We're thousands of feet in the air and I'm hornier than anything, so fuck both the foreplay and me. Now."

That was truth too. She'd never been this forward before. If he ignored the wind whistling by and the fact that the ground was very far below, it was actually kind of fun-sounding. With her grip on him, her body close and warm, and the distinctive grinding against his sheath, it was easy enough to ignore those factors too.

He buried his face against her neck and felt the powerful muscles pulling her wings against the air. Catching the rhythm, he met her grinding hips in counterpoint and sooner than he expected, his own flesh slipped from his sheath. It didn't have a lick of free space to take up, so with her grip on his hips, it had nowhere to go but in.

A gasp was lost somewhere back in the windstream. Maybe two. At least one of them was his. He had NO idea how their minds interpreted the physiology of a gryphon in flight interacting with that of a humanoid vulpine. Honestly, that wasn't really on his mind anyway. He knew that this was, by far, the best thing they had started in a dream so far, and at this rate, it might just only get better.

Flying obviously took a lot of energy. That was made eminently clear by the heat of her body as he continued to slip inescapably into her. She ground her hips against his and in short order he was fully buried. The lack of space between their hips became a moot point as she started rocking her own haunches in time to the wingbeats. It was easy enough to tell she was thrilled by this. Even in a different form, he read her body like a book and knew she was on the edge even before he got inside.

Really, she was in control. She had the grip on him. She had the ability to rock her haunches that he couldn't do. She had him with all four legs, and she was going at it for all she was worth. He was just along for the flight, but god it was good. He gritted his teeth as he tried to hold on for her, wanting to ensure that she had fun.

It was only seconds before he felt her body tensing more, her wing strokes faltering as they both were getting lost in the sensation. An in-flight advisory for turbulence was probably a good idea, but neither of them would have noticed the announcement anyway. In a heartbeat, for the first time since they met, they shared her first peak with his peak at the same time. Based on the loud screech she let out and the death grip she had on him as she squeezed him with more than just paws, he didn't think she'd mind that he didn't make her cum a few times before this.

Despite the long-ago discovery that they didn't even need to breathe in the dream if they didn't want to, he was left panting as he finally came down from the peak they just shared. Her grip relaxed just enough for him to know she was done with hers, though he could still feel her clench on occasion. He clenched his fingers against her shoulders in happy response and tilted his head back, chin against her neck so he could try to look up at her.

"Ground..."

"What?"

His eyes widened. "GROUND!!!"

"Oh!!"

She pulled up just as they approached the tree line and his tail caught a few leaves, He watched the treetops flicking too close to his flattened ears as he held on as tight as he could. She spread her wings further and braked to a much more manageable speed before lighting atop a hill right after creating it.

She pulled to a halt in the air just above the ground. Her legs released him, letting his rump hit the soft hill just before she flopped happily atop him with her legs spread to either side.

"That. Was. GREAT!!" she exclaimed, rubbing her head against him.

"Erk. Watch the beak."

"Griffiness uses Distraction!" She squeezed him inside her, making him moan, then nuzzled him again. "It's super-effective!"

He couldn't help but break out laughing. Her weight was comfortable on him and he was happy to see her being so forward. It was a delightful side he hadn't seen before. They went up with him riding her, and came with her riding him for an unassisted Mile High Club membership fee. Not bad. Wait... came down with her riding... eh, either one was accurate.

"Okay... Okay... That was really cool. Meet me outside." She vanished.

He aborted out of the dream. They had gotten darn good. Ten seconds of video in the real world could be months to them if they wanted, or only take a few seconds in the dream.

"Okay. It's time. Run the next file."

He blinked at her. "The next file?"

"Yes! We did the second one so many times this week. The readme said we could do the third one when we were used to this one. So let's do it. Now."

He nodded. He didn't know what would constitute 'ready', but it did say Phase 3 wouldn't work until they were ready.

The phase three file was just a sound file. He took a deep breath and opened it.

"Please close your eyes and relax," a female voice intoned. It tickled at him that he thought he maybe recognized it, but he couldn't place it. He closed his eyes and assumed Sandra did the same.

A hissing white noise filled the speakers, slowly growing in volume. He got a little dizzy, feeling lightheaded, and the rest of the noise of the world faded away. The sound faded, then he heard a strangely-modulated voice, the same one, intone, "If you are able to hear this message embedded in the code, you can now access the trance state at will with no assistance. Thank you for participating in phase three."

The sound ended suddenly.

"...hooo, Danieelllll... Yoo hooooo!"

His eyes blinked open to find his father waving a hand in front of his face.

"Hey, there you are. You're not on drugs, are you? No, no, I trust you wouldn't do that. Just having fun with psychology stuff and psychoacoustics, eh? Dunno, no real proof that the stuff works. Just sounds like static to people."

"No dad, you know I wouldn't do drugs. Sorry, I think it actually put me to sleep." He glanced at the player. The sound file was only five seconds longer than the original announcement. Which left insufficient room for the message he heard.

"Okay, well, dinner's ready in ten. Sandra can stick around if she wants to, we have space at the table for her."

"Thanks, dad."

The man left. Both of them let their breath out.

"At will?" Sandra whispered.

Daniel was good at looking wide-eyed, and now was no exception.

"Wait... Gotta try this." Her eyes glazed over for just a second and Daniel's grew even wider before his mouth dropped open. "Wow, it's true! I just thought that I wanted to, and bam! I was in the dream! I spent about an hour checking around just to make sure."

"You looked glazed for less than a second," Daniel said. "But that's not all. I knew you were in there. In my own head. Like, I think I could've joined."

"You try it."

He nodded and tried to figure out how best to want to go into the trance. Then he was just suddenly in it.

"Hey, you're right! I knew you were in it, so I came in, and here you are."

He spun on the feline. "I've only been in here for about two seconds before you came in."

"Let's go out and time it." She vanished.

He flicked an ear. Curiously, he sat and waited. And waited. And waited more. About two hours later, he started making some stuff. Soon he was caught up in it and before he knew it, a day had passed. Crap. Was he in a coma in the outside world? He bumped out to reality.

"Okay, so now let's have one of us go in and stay, like two hours, and the other will see how long they're out for."

Daniel frowned. "I spent a day in there after you left."

"You did? You opened your eyes right as I did though. It was like you left at the same time."

"How long were we out for?"

"I dunno. I'll go in and spend a day or two. You time it. Okay? If it takes more than five minutes, try shaking me to wake me up or something." She did no more than blink. He was aware of her going in, but declined to join, figuring she was just making sure she could get in and out. "Okay, how long was it?"

"Let me get ready to time it."

"I already did it! That was three days or so."

"Really?! You just blinked, that was it."

"Oh. My. God. Meet me inside." She didn't even blink, but he felt her in the dream, so he popped in.

"Three days was a blink?! Seriously, this is a major thing! We can have sex in a dream during class and not even miss a word of the lecture."

"Damn. This is like... Wow... I wonder how far we can link from?" He paled, though it wasn't visible through his fox fur. "Sandra... We can't let anybody know about this. They'll think we're insane, or worse... If we prove we can communicate new things to each other remotely, they'll want to know how it works. It would be miserable. I wouldn't expect them to ask nicely."

"True. I know that too. So we'll stick to having sex and passing notes in class."

"That's a dangling participle."

"Group the two items to in class."

"Figured."

"You know you love me for it." She relaxed a little. "And you know, you've really helped me, Daniel. I still love it, and especially with you, but I'm not craving it all the time and unsatisfied. It's like getting some real loving is feeding a need and making me not so hungry."

"So we'll get married and then never have sex again and become cranky old farts who shout at each other?"

"We'll get to know each other for a few years and if we can still stand each other and I still love your snerts and you don't get pushed out of bed every night, we can look at marrying. But unless I get a medical condition, no damn way I'm gonna let my cranky old fart get away with not having sex."

He smiled. "I'm so glad we think alike so much. I don't want to become a divorce number. You pretty much quoted my philosophy exactly."

"You told it to me, remember? I just agree with it."

"Wow, yeah. That was like years ago."

"That was last month. We just spent years in the dream so it feels like a long time."

"Oh, hey, good point." He dropped to his haunches and had to think about that.

"This week is finals. Then a week off until we get our grades on Friday. Graduation on Saturday. Unless we absolutely tank the finals, we're golden." She sat behind him and wrapped her arms around him.

"We've already studied more than we needed to."

"Is it cheating to spend a month studying in the dream?"

"I dunno. Is there a rule against it?"

She shook her head. "Good point."

"I've got an apartment to move into once we graduate. My parents promised to cover it for half a year if I moved out soon enough, but it's not like I need them to."

She took a deep breath. "I'm happy to move in with you too, like we talked about."

"Why the big sigh then?"

"It's... It's such a huge change. Going from high school and living with my parents to graduation to suddenly moving out. You're such a great guy, Daniel. You're more than I ever imagined I'd find. Smart and nice and sexy and loving and..."

"You're gonna make my ego explode," he said, patting her hand. "I just try to do the right thing."

"You do a good job. I said it before. I'll say it again. I love you. Seriously." She rested her head on his shoulder and purred against his back.

"I love you too," he murmured.

"You finally said it," she whispered.

"I had to make sure it's true first."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She squeezed him happily and he felt a tear hit his shoulder.

"You're crying?"

"I'm just so happy. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to mess up your fur." She giggled. "That's a funny thing to say."

He reached up and touched her cheek. "Maybe we really were meant for each other. We can do this. Together. As long as I don't snert too loud."

That made her laugh fully.

"We had ten minutes to dinner according to my dad. We can do some practice with this on command dreaming until then. It's pretty cool."

She agreed and they continued to play with the concept for about five minutes. They didn't want to do anything too complicated, but they ended up spending several weeks in the dreams overall, yet each segment was but a second in reality.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" he finally asked. "It's obvious my parents like you. I'm impressed, really. They've never liked any other girls who spent any tiny time as my girlfriend."

She looked really tempted, but shook her head. "I've gotta feed the cats. My parents are out on business until the morning. I don't want our kitties to go hungry just so I can get a bite to eat."

He smiled. "I didn't know the cats were left alone. But if you didn't decide that, you wouldn't be the woman I love."

"The 'woman'?"

"You're no girl, Sandra. You're mature, intelligent, beautiful."

She smiled. "Just don't make me grow up too fast. I don't wanna become an old fogey."

"I promise I won't."

"Good." She kissed him quickly and he saw her to the door. They said their farewells, with promise of a phone call later that night before bed, and he let her go while he went to dinner.

It was just as he was starting to eat that it happened. He felt her enter the dream. He was eating dinner, so he figured she was just playing on the way home. She only had a quick walk to the bus stop to catch a bus that ran every fifteen minutes, then a boring, but short bus ride to her street, and a brief walk from there. She didn't let him drive her home most of the time because the bus system was so good.

But as the seconds ticked by and she was still in the dream, he felt a sense of foreboding. All the times they went in, it always lasted under a second. The seconds ticked by and he had a harder time focusing on chewing as they did. He could barely swallow, but managed to get it past the pit in his chest before he dropped into the dream himself.

It was black. There was nothing there. The world they had built was missing completely. She was sitting nearby, her legs hugged to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her feline ears were flat back against her skull.

"Sandra?"

"Daniel..." She sounded... hollow.

He rushed over to her. "Sandra, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"Daniel... I... I..." She broke down sobbing, barely able to speak. "I w-was at the bus stop. Th-the bus just pulled up and I was climbing on. I heard a noise. Th-there was a car running onto the sidewalk past the bus. Something hit me in the back and pushed me into the bus, but I f-felt the car hit my legs. Then I was here."

Daniel could only stare in shock. "Sandra. Oh god..."

"I..." She choked. "I can't make anything... I can't... I-I can't leave."

"Oh god, Sandra. Okay. Stay here. I promise I'll come back for you. I have to go see what happened in the real world."

She balled up tighter and nodded, her eyes glazing over as she stared at the darkness.

His parents didn't get an answer from him as he shot out of the seat, almost upending the dinner table as he left the house. He ran hard and fast. It wasn't far to the bus stop, but it still was too far for his liking. He turned the corner and saw the bus. There was a car smashed into a telephone pole just beyond it. Some cars were stopped nearby and people milled about, some taking pictures with their smart phones. He heard sirens in the distance.

His feet carried him there at a run, but he wasn't even aware of it. He shoved past the people who were gathered around the bus. He saw her, halfway on the steps of the bus. Her legs were a bloody mess and somebody was holding a blood-soaked shirt against her head.

His world shattered.

The rest of the night was a blur. He took over in a heartbeat, demanding the shirts off peoples' backs and getting her legs set with tourniquets to quell the bleeding. He checked in with her frequently in the dream, his awareness gone from the real world for only a second at a time but his arms around her for hours. He demanded she stay awake there. He made things for her, and they remained for her, bringing her a glimmer of hope.

The flashing lights of the emergency vehicles were in slow motion. He reluctantly gave way to paramedics who got to work swiftly. Given her mindset, he dared not tell her what happened when he was in the dream realm with her, but he could see the look in her eyes. He knew she saw the fear in his.

"I got hit by a car... I'm gonna die now, aren't I?" she finally whispered when he arrived for one of his visits.

"Gods, no, Sandra. You will NOT die damnit! Paramedics are here, they're going to take you to the hospital. You're going to be..." He choked. "You're going to be fine. You HAVE to be okay. You have to."

He was shocked as she was suddenly hugging him. She was standing in the dream and hugging him.

"I'll try," she said. "For you."

"For US ," he corrected her.

She nodded and sunk back to the ground, but she tugged him with her and clung to him. "For us," she agreed. "I promise."

The situation continued without pause in the real world. The drunkard driving the car had wandered a few blocks away on foot, but came back and tried to get back into his utterly smashed vehicle. Several onlookers were alert and prevented him from leaving again, primarily by piling on top of him and beating him to a pulp. Despite their good intentions, they had to be arrested along with him.

Daniel overheard an odd conversation as well. Several people who were on the bus already were giving reports to the police. All three of them who had seen the event said the same thing. She was about to get on the bus. They saw the car headlights shining on her. Then some big animal hit her from behind and pushed her onto the bus steps. They all swore that's what they saw. But there was no huge cat around, and no way to prove such a thing. All anybody knew is that if the girl hadn't fallen onto the steps, the car would have hit her square on and probably killed her instantly.

Then somebody caught his shoulder. He spun to find one of the paramedics.

"Daniel?" the man said. "Damn, I thought it was you. You're covered in blood. Are you okay?"

Daniel stared blankly for a moment before recognizing his friend. The last time he had seen this guy was a little while before the field trip. They had dinner and met a weird woman. He remembered that. "I'm... okay... I didn't get hit. I got here after she did. That's my girlfriend. That's Sandra."

"Oh gods," the man said, looking over his shoulder. "You're coming with me," he announced, grabbing Daniel's hand. The paramedic made a call on his radio and soon two other paramedics were with him. Daniel found himself suddenly on his back and being worked over by the paramedics.

"But I'm okay!" he protested.

"No you're not," his friend said. "I came over because you looked wobbly. You're going into shock. So you're going to the hospital too."

Daniel couldn't protest as he was loaded onto a gurney and onto another ambulance. His friend was with the paramedic team that first responded, so they were taking Sandra. He realized that he did indeed feel quite bad, so he relaxed. They kept him talking the whole way to the hospital, and he realized they were under full code for him too. He answered more questions about the historic line of presidents than he got asked in his history classes. They dodged questions from him about Sandra.

He checked in with her several times during the trip, but soon he was getting dizzy himself. There was more urgency from the paramedics and he blacked out with one of them shouting at him to stay awake. He just couldn't do that.

---

He woke up to the rhythmic beep of hospital equipment. His throat was dry, so he swallowed and looked around.

"Hey, Daniel, stay still kiddo. You went into full shock. You're gonna be sore for a while at least."

It was his friend again. The paramedic. "How is Sandra?" he managed to croak.

"There you go. Always more worried about others than yourself," the man scolded lightly. "It's a great attribute. Keep it up." He winked. "She's in surgery. Her legs got hit pretty bad. She had good things going for her though."

The friend stood up and paced, ticking off on his fingers. "She wasn't caught outside the bus. If she had been, she'd be gone in a heartbeat. Whatever made her fall over was tremendously... helpful..." He coughed lightly and continued. "She was also lucky that my unit was so close by. We were stopped just down the street because I had to use the restroom. We got the call just as I got back to the ambulance."

He stopped and turned to Daniel, taking the boy's hand. "Most of all, she had you. Even before you got there, she knew you were there for her. You kept her going and you kept her with us to make it this far. She's going to be okay."

Daniel's eyes widened. There was something so knowing and sincere in the man's voice that he couldn't help but believe that.

"I've requested that she be put in this room also while you are here. You two are good for each other. I could tell that just by the way you talked about it even before she became your girlfriend." He tapped Daniel's nose. "But even when you're discharged, you stick around as much as you can. Though I'm sure you two will be together no matter how far apart you are." With that, he nodded and turned. "I have to get back to my unit. I'm technically on overtime, but at least we won't get another call. Stay safe, Daniel." And he left.

Daniel stared after him. Could his friend possibly know? No... It had to be a fluke. Just comforting words from a professional paramedic.

He let his eyes close and checked in on the dream realm.

"I'm cold, Daniel."

He squatted on his haunches beside her and gathered her into his arms.

"You're so warm," she murmured. "I missed you. For a long time."

"I was so worried about you, I guess I made myself sick too. I'm in the hospital now too. They said I went into shock."

She was silent for a moment. "'Too' means that I made it there, right?"

"Yes, you did. My friend said you're in surgery now."

"I promised I'd try. I'm doing my best." She gave a tiny purr.

"You made it to here. The doctors are taking care of you now. You're going to be okay."

"I won't be able to use my legs anymore..."

"What?! Sandra, how can you say that? You're going to be okay, my friend said so!"

"I can't escape the dream, but I can hear them... sometimes... They're working on my legs. The nerves were severed. They don't think they'll heal at all. They're not happy about having to tell my parents this. They're more worried about telling you." She hugged him. "But I'm not worried about telling you. I love you. I know you love me. I know you'll be there for me. I just know it in my heart."

"Forever, Sandra. Always forever."

"Even though it's worse than your little snert snores?"

He squeezed her lightly. "Always. Forever. Even with my snert snores."

She smiled. "Go. Real time has to run, or we'll never get better. I won't be going anywhere, but we'll get through this."

He nodded and escaped the dream, though he checked back in with her frequently throughout the surgery. Soon the second bed was wheeled in and he looked across at her. He was silent as the nurses hooked up equipment and checked on him as well. A doctor came in shortly.

"You went into full system shock, young man," the doctor told him. "You're both in intensive care. Normally we don't have two beds in one room, but we felt it would be more medically sound for you two to be together. The mind has tremendous control over the body and over recovery."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"She'll be fine when she recovers. You'll be fine sooner, but she'll be close behind. She should wake up in a few hours, but she has a lot to recover from, so she'll be spending about a week here."

"Her legs?" The question was loaded.

"They should be fine," the doctor said, but Daniel knew he was lying. With the forewarning, it was easy to spot.

"Only if the nerves heal. That's unlikely though. But I'll take care of her and love her always."

The doctor stared at him hard. "Ah, yes. That... That is true." He leaned over and put a hand on Daniel's shoulder, speaking more softly. "We didn't want to worry you when you were recovering from shock already. But keep that attitude. It'll be invaluable for her to hear."

Daniel smiled a little. "She hears it from me more often than you know." He dropped into the dream just long enough to tell her that he let the doctor know he knew. She giggled, which heartened him.

Both of their respective parents arrived and worried over them. Daniel's parents were so proud of him for helping save her. But while her parents were worried over her and thanked him for his part in helping her, Daniel felt a coldness from them. They left the room frequently and had quiet discussions outside, while Daniel's mother and father stuck by him. Each time they returned, it was a chill that fell over him.

Hours passed, and Daniel suddenly realized something. Sandra hadn't woken up yet. He glanced at the clock. 12:14. Was that just past midnight, or just past noon? It had to be day. His parents were asleep in the chairs nearby.

Doctors and nurses came by to check on them more frequently. Daniel was cleared for discharge, so they'd get him out soon. But they didn't seem happy with Sandra's condition.

Then, when he went into the dream at five to visit with her, it started. Even before he went in, her presence in the dream that he was aware of from his waking world... it seemed odd. When he got in, he found her lying on her side.

"Sandra?"

She didn't answer.

He dropped to her side and shook her lightly. "Sandra?!"

"D... Daniel... The dream. It's fading. Go out. Touch me. Let me know you're... you're there with me..."

He dropped from the dream in a heartbeat and they were unable to restrain him as he bolted out of the bed to grab her hand. He felt her presence in the dream solidify and immediately joined her.

"Daniel! I... I felt like I was losing it. I can't escape from the dream, but i was falling out of it. Into... Into nothing."

"Sandra, something's wrong."

"I know. The doctors said many times I should've woken up by now. When you touched me, it brought me back. I still can't escape the dream, but I'm back in it."

"God, stay with me. I can't spend too long in here. I think I just may have panicked people and I don't want to lose track of what I was doing, but I'll come back often. Hold on tight. I love you!"

He dropped from the dream and readjusted to the fact that he had indeed panicked people. The EKG was upset because his rush from the bed pulled the leads off. His arm stung where the IV was pulled tight. Several nurses and orderlies were showing up and trying to get him back into his own bed.

"Something's wrong," he said. "Something's wrong with her. It stopped when I touched her. I have to keep touching her." He was almost frantic.

A painful grip caught his wrist and twisted it away from Sandra. His wide eyes came up as he yelped, finding the face of Sandra's father.

The man's voice was full of loathing and venom. "You stay away from our daughter. You've done enough." He pushed Daniel back toward his own bed.

"Let. Him. Go," Daniel's father said dangerously.

Daniel's arm was released, but when he looked back at Sandra, both her mother and father were between him and her. He felt her slipping rapidly from the dream.

"You don't understand," he said, now panicking as well. "Somethings going wrong with her. I need to touch her to stop it."

Desperately he went back into the dream. She was collapsed on the ground. Worse. He could barely see her. It was like she was a ghost.

"Sandra!"

She stirred and whispered, "Touch me, Daniel. Please touch me in the real world. Bring me back. I'm afraid."

He grit his teeth and dropped out of the dream, lunging to try to touch her. He found himself held back by orderlies and barely ducked a swing from her father. This was getting serious.

"Damn it, get OUT OF MY WAY! I need to touch her! She's fading away! She WANTS me to touch her!"

"YOU WILL NEVER TOUCH HER AGAIN!" her father screamed. "YOU'RE FINE NOW, GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

The equipment on Sandra's side promptly rang an alarm, then a more urgent alarm. Daniel winced at the sound as doctors began streaming in.

"You, all, OUT!" the head doctor barked at both pairs of parents.

"No!" Sandra's father growled.

"Out or I'll have you arrested. Now."

"Don't you DARE let him near my daughter!" the man spat, and even with that threat, he had to be pulled out by orderlies.

Daniel was in a haze as he watched the doctors working. He was still being held back. She was almost gone from the dream.

"Please, just let me touch her," he begged, trying to be as quiet as he could so the parents outside wouldn't hear. The equipment alarms were critical now.

The doctor looked up at the monitors. Then over at Daniel. Then he frowned, though at himself, and sighed.

"Just her hand," he whispered. "She'd want you there with her for the end." He reached up to silence the alarms from the monitors.

Daniel choked back a cry and pulled away from the orderly who let him go. He ignored the pain of the IV catheter ripping from his arm and grabbed her hand. "Sandra..."

There were two seconds of silence. Then a stark beep broke it. Followed by another, and then finally by more.

Everybody's attention shot to the monitoring equipment. Her vitals were rapidly stabilizing.

"Sandra!" He was in the dream again. She was standing. She was looking down, not looking at him.

"Daniel..."

"Sandra, you almost died, oh gods, your dad wouldn't let me..."

"I know," she interrupted genttly. "Daniel. I love you. God I love you so much. I'm going to miss you."

"Sandra? What's wrong? You're back."

"I had... there was... there was a visitor. She was so sad. But she talked to me. She explained things. I'm alive. I'm gonna stay alive now, but I can't stay here."

"What are you talking about?"

"I love you. You'll have to move on. But god, Daniel, never forget. Gods, please don't forget me. Move on, but don't ever let go in your heart."

Daniel stared. She was fading again. "Sandra!" He reached out to grab ahold of her, but his hands passed through her ghostly form. "Oh, god, no..."

"Without darkness, there can be no light." Her voice was so faint, he could barely hear it. "Without light, there can be no shadows..."

She was gone.

"SANDRA!!!" He screamed into the darkness. He hunted with his eyes and his ears twisted about furiously. He looked for any sign of her.

There was none.

He collapsed, sobbing. Soon he stopped... soon being relative... it was hours of dream time before he stopped. He looked around. He waited. He called out. He waited more. He spent a week, hoping for her return - for anything. Then he had to remember her words.

Move on, but don't ever let go in your heart.

She wanted him to move on. He had to go. But he would check back if he felt her in the dream.

He dropped back out to reality.

"She's back," someone murmured. Probably one of the nurses.

Daniel couldn't feel her in the dream anymore.

"Only when he touched her hand. Then she came back instantly," a voice said, much closer to him. The doctor patted his shoulder. "Lad, there are some things in the medical profession that we may never understand. I don't think anybody here could say what happened, no matter how many tests we run or samples we look at, but I think we can all say that she came back for you." Daniel heard murmurs of agreement. "I'm sure she'll pull through now. We'll do everything we can to make sure she does."

"She's alive," Daniel said softly, "but she's gone. She said she can't come back."

"She 'said'?" the doctor asked as Daniel set her hand down gently and patted it. Daniel turned away, focusing his attention on the blood dripping from his catheter wound, watching it slowly coagulate on his arm.

Move on...

"Doctor, her vitals are stable, but..."

There was movement for some time.

"She's in a coma."

Daniel nodded numbly. He gathered up his clothing and began to dress as they fussed over his love. Soon he pulled on his shoes and hoped that nobody would bother him over the blood on his clothes as he walked out of the room.

"What happened?!" Her father accosted him the moment he was out the door.

"She almost died," Daniel said. "I..." He sighed. "She's better now, but she's in a coma."

"Daniel!" The doctor came out and grabbed him. "Don't go away, you're the only one she responded to. You need to stay for her."

"NO," her father growled. "She's my daughter. I don't want him in there. Ever."

"You don't understand," the doctor protested. "She was dead, and if it weren't for him, she'd still be..."

Daniel wasn't there to hear the rest of it. The door closed on the fading conversation and cut it off.

His parents stood up as he walked out.

"Daniel, are you okay?" his mother asked.

"I'm... Well... I'm healthy now. I need time to recover emotionally."

His father sighed. "Her father is overreacting. I'm sure when she's back up and about, she'll make sure to see you. You're both adults after all."

"She almost just died. She's in a coma now. She's not going to be up and about even if she wakes up. Her legs will never work."

Both his parents were left speechless, staring at him.

"She wants me to move on. She wants me to never forget her and never let go. But she wants me to move on." He winced. "Her dad still has control at the hospital. I'm not married to her or anything. I have no right to see her. So..." he shrugged outwardly, but was decimated inside. "So I have to move on."

His parents nodded. "We'll... be doing paperwork for the hospital. The car is outside." His dad handed him the keys. "We'll be out soon."

Daniel nodded and walked out of the hospital.

"Daniel!"

He spun at the call. It was his friend, the paramedic.

"Daniel, shit, I heard what happened. Are you okay?"

Move on...

"Do I have any choice?"

"In the long run? No. But damn..." The man shook his head and put his arm around Daniel's shoulder. "Kid, you're the strongest and smartest guy I know. Trust me, I went through a hard time recently myself. Almost killed me, it was that bad. I know what it is to have sudden, shocking change."

Daniel's brow creased. Something in his voice was so sincere that it couldn't help but be believed. Maybe more deeply than it seemed on the surface.

"Daniel?" It was his parents. "Oh, hi. You're one of Daniel's friends. You took care of both of them last night."

"Yes, sir," the medic said. "Keep an eye on him. Shock is serious business, so don't hesitate to call us if something happens."

Daniel was in such a fog that he hadn't even realized they had already walked to the car. His parents got in and his friend held the back door open for him, but stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"You take care of yourself, kiddo. These are dark times, but I know you'll get through them." He winked. "A little fox told me so."

"Little bird," Daniel corrected in a monotone, getting into the car.

"If you say so." The paramedic paused and looked at him. "Just remember: Without darkness, there can be no light. Without light, there can be no shadows." He closed the door and waved as they backed out and drove away.

It wasn't until Daniel was halfway home that those last words clicked. His mouth fell partially open. That man knew something.

---

Finals week was hell. It shouldn't've been a problem, but his mind was not on his tests.

Word of the accident spread at the school even before it started on Monday. His days were filled with a mashup of students offering sympathy, guys expressing disbelief and trying to act all macho, and harpies... er... girls who were quick to try to fake care and take advantage of his sudden singleness.

Only the fact that he was able to escape into the dreams and work the questions out with unlimited time allowed him to think he had any chance at passing his finals. He started creating the world in the dream again, making it comfortable. But it was so different without her.

Move on...

He resolved to use the dreams to do good things. He would never forget her and he wouldn't dishonor the time he had with her by abusing what he had. He made a memorial in the dream realm. He thought of making it grand, but in the end it was simple. Simple, but the best expression of his love for her that he could muster.

On Thursday, the last day of his finals, Tony found him. Fist first.

"Get up, shithead," the jock hissed, spitting on him. "Her parents told me what you did. I'm already being held back, so damnit, I'm gonna beat the crap out of you and you'll be suspended for fighting before your last final. Then you'll be held back too."

Daniel clung to the locker, breathing hard and trying to get his wits about him.

"You think I'm stupid? You think all my brains are in my 'other head'? You'll have a whole new year with me to find out I have brains -and- brawns, and you'll be feeling the second one of those pretty bad."

As he was standing up, Daniel retreated into the dream. Moving to a new, blank area, he recreated the situation he was in in reality. Then he studied it. He examined where everybody was. He made a chalkboard and wrote down some stuff, then played with the surroundings. He looked at every detail for hours. He only had one chance.

He shoved his backpack out slightly with his foot and reached up to grab the locker door for support as he stood up, lifting the latch and causing it to catch open. The fist was swinging at his face, but the locker door was perfectly aligned to intercept it. He stumbled backward. At least it seemed like he did.

Tony's fist smashed into the locker door and the bones in his hand promptly shattered. Daniel wasn't bothering to hold the door anymore and nobody noticed his quick kick send the jock's feet backward.

The steel door slammed shut as Tony fell forward, a scream of agony at the broken hand starting to form in his throat. But with the latch stuck open, it simply bounced back out. Daniel's body shielded any eyes from the accelerative slap he gave the door just before it connected with Tony's face, cutting the scream off before it even passed lips.

Daniel passed back into the dream many times during this sequence, evaluating, adjusting, reacting, and adjusting again. The locker slammed shut again as Tony fell forward and Daniel stumbled out of the way, his foot catching the strap of the backpack for one final adjustment.

The jock was out cold as he collapsed, his crotch crunching straight into the backpack and the corner of a book. This was of course both a boon and a bane. It kept the perp from having to experience the delightfulness of what would be recorded in the hospital as "severe genital trauma requiring amputation", but it also allowed the limp body to continue to grind said traumatized part into the book until medical personnel showed up, thus causing the future requirement.

The best part about the whole event? To every observer - including the security camera - Daniel was simply at his locker when the jock ran up and punched him in the gut. Daniel managed to barely stumble to his feet while an unfortunate series of highly unlikely events colluded to permanently rob the star athlete of both his throwing hand and his three prized possessions. Daniel was purely the victim and never did a thing.

It struck him as odd that the cruel pleasure he took in what he just did seemed so... powerful. He normally wasn't one to gloat over the misfortune of others, but this had needed to be done.

After reviewing the video recording and questioning several students who witnessed it, the school administration decided that the jock was purely trying to get Daniel in trouble as well and was not goaded into it. Daniel was let off without even a warning and went to his last final, while the jock would later end up with a felony assault and battery conviction and not have to worry about being held back in school until he was 19.

The next week, Daniel could barely believe that he was graduating.

...without Sandra.

Move on...

He got his new apartment, moved his things in, and went to see his friend.

He arrived at the apartment to week-old ash and police tape. The man's apartment was naught but a bit of soot in the pile. It took many inquiries in several places to find out the building had exploded. An arson attack against one of the apartments.

Daniel called the local paramedic outfits, since he wasn't sure which his friend worked for. Soon he found the right place. The silence on the other end of the line after his query was foreboding.

"He's gone," the other side finally said softly. "He was in his apartment when it exploded. The fire was so hot they didn't even find remains. It completely burnt the steel building supports even."

"He... gone?"

"Wait... Oh shit, this is Daniel, isn't it? The guy who helped the girl who got hit by the car when getting on the bus?" He could imagine the wince on the other side of the phone. "Man, I'm sorry. Look, if I can get you anything, or do anything for you. The whole team here is hit hard too."

"No... No, it's okay. I've got to go. Thanks."

He sat down hard on the curb. First his love in a coma, and now the man he considered his best friend was incinerated. It all just got better and better.

"Meow?"

Two jet-black cats padded around him and rubbed against his knees. They purred and trilled at him until he couldn't bear it anymore and had to give the male one a chuck on the chin. The tomcat stood up on his knee for a moment and stared at him with disturbingly-deep yellow eyes.

No light without darkness.

This was definitely dark. This was as dark as the feline's fur. But even in that blackness, there was the golden glow of piercing eyes. Even on the darkest night, naught but the shine of the moon was needed to bring a flashing glint from those astounding orbs.

The tomcat rubbed a cheek against his chest, then both cats bolted off and vanished into the bushes nearby.

Move on...

He knew his friend wouldn't want him to sit here and fall apart. There had always been something special about the man. Daniel regretted that he'd never have the chance to find out what. His dream realm gained another memorial, honoring a man who gave him hope and gave him a light in the darkness.

---

"You're always right. I don't know how you do it. It would take anybody else weeks or months of research to come up with the same answers, but you read the papers, then just know the answer. I mean, sure, you look exhausted when you do, but you just know."

"It's... a skill," Daniel said. But she was right. It exhausted him. His dream world was full of medical books and information. He could literally just flip through a book at high speed and recreate it precisely in his dream afterward. But it was months of research that went into each answer, packed into what they saw as under a second while he dreamed.

He never studied in the real world. When he started having the answers to obscure medical problems, they were skeptical at first. When his accuracy count kept going up, they questioned his ability and tried to understand it. When his insight saved more lives than all the doctors in the local hospital had over their whole careers, they stopped asking questions and just paid him hugely to do what he did.

But while he saved lives, he also started to see his insight be abused. Milk the patient for money and into desperation before treating them. TREATING... not curing. Treatment that cost more money.

So much of himself went into each answer he gave. To see it squandered like this burned him to his soul. He was more than ready to quit, but there was nothing else for him.

"Why don't you have a girlfriend anyway?"

"Why do you keep asking?"

"I..." She fidgeted. "I guess I'm just hopeful."

"Then I suppose it's time I told you." He sighed. "I had a girlfriend in high school. Any claims of puppy love could be thrown out, because we loved each other dearly. She was hit by a drunk driver just before our senior finals." He shut his eyes, imagining Sandra. He never forgot.

"Oh my... I never knew. But that was three years ago. Are you going to stay single all your life?"

Daniel smiled. "She's in a coma now. Before that, she knew she was in trouble. She told me to move on, but to never forget. I don't intend to ever forget her and I will remain loyal. Forever."

"That's... that's so beautiful..." His associate sniffled. "Well, look at that. You made me cry. I think I'd better go now."

He nodded and saw her to the door.

Back in his house, he flopped on the couch and flipped on the TV. It held his attention for all of thirty seconds before he turned it off and fell into his dream world instead.

This was all that remained of her besides his memories. This was what they discovered together. This dream world meant so much to him, as his last link to her. He relaxed in a downy field for an hour, the wind whispering across the grass and the stars twinkling above with a clarity that reality could never match. He wished she could be here to share this with him. But she couldn't.

"Speaking of that..."

He was yanked out of the dream as if he just woke from a nightmare. His heart was beating fast and his breath was deep and hard. He looked around for the speaker.

"...what if she could wake up?"

His head snapped around and he saw... no... he didn't see. It was a floating shadow, like a blob of grey haze.

"What are...?" he started, but it interrupted him as if it didn't hear him.

"Will you give up your dreams for a chance for her to wake up?"

That caught him off-guard. "What?"

"You can dream. You can dream at will, control the world there, and do many wonderous things. This is great power for you. If you will give it up, I will use the power to try to wake her up."

This was beyond anything imaginable. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"How do you know you can't?" it asked in return. "A word against and I will be gone, never to be seen again. But if you will it instead, I will use the power you hold to try to waken her from her sleep of death."

He thought about it only for a moment. The answer was easy. "Do it."

"It will consume your power. You will never be able to dream again."

"Do it."

"It might not work. It is only a chance. She may not awaken."

"I don't care! Even the smallest chance in the world is something . DO IT!"

"Thrice given doubt, thrice accepted. It is done."

Daniel held his breath, not knowing at all what to expect. But there was nothing. Nothing happened.

"I am sorry, mortal. The threads were not with you this day. She still sleeps." It paused for a moment. "I am truly sorry." This last sentence was the only one with any emotion.

The shadow vanished. There was nothing but a memory as evidence that it was ever there. Was it a hallucination?

Daniel had a sinking feeling in his gut though. He tried to travel into the dream.

Nothing.

Sandra was still in a coma. His friend from years was still dead. Now the last attachment he had to them was gone. Everything he created in there. The lights, the sounds, the scenes, all sacrificed for a chance to wake Sandra up.

He sat numbly for a moment, but then he smiled. This may be his darkest hour, but like the eyes of the tomcat, there was a light there. No matter what else happened from here, he knew he gave everything for the one he loved most dearly. He did it to give her a chance.

"Rowl?"

His cat peered down at him from the banister above. He smiled. "Yeah, I still have you."

The cat batted something off the upper floor and it hit the ground below. By the sound of it, it broke. He sighed loudly and dragged himself up to see what the gravity test had destroyed.

He found the split remains of a USB drive, the case hanging open and the electronics exposed. Bite marks indicated loving oral destruction by the feline had been going on for some time. He shook his head. Better see if it had any important data on it.

He took it to his computer and shoved the naked remains of the electronics into the socket. In a moment he was staring at a folder that contained astoundingly fond memories. Two video files and two audio files, along with a readme.txt.

He ran the Phase 2 video out of curiosity. A dot, and flashing patterns and hiss, but no trance. Not even from the video. A quick play of the Phase 3 sound file played the announcement and a few seconds of hiss, then nothing. His eyes fell on the shockingly tiny Phase 4 audio file.

...and ONLY if you dare... ...Use Phase 4

It was the one they never got to do together. He knew it would have no effect. The shadow stripped him of it all. But he dared.

"This is for you, Sandra. I wish you were here with me."

He double clicked on the file. The computer screen went black. Then the world vanished.

"Passion. Lust. Love. Conviction. Cruelty. Care. Faithfulness. Selflessness."

That voice...

It was the announcer on the Phase 3 file.

"You had the passion to fulfill her wildest desires and succumbed to your lust time and time again. You grew in love together, yet had the conviction to continue on your own weave when the tapestry threads bore you away. You showed deserved cruelty to those who attacked you, relentlessly doing what needed to be done, but also showed dedicated care in saving so many others and touching other threads in a positive manner with your power. You were faithful to your love until the end. You showed pure selflessness as you gave up everything for the one who shared your passion, lust, and love."

It was... it was the woman at the restaurant... that night he visited his friend.

Warm arms wrapped around him from behind and furred paws slipped beneath his shirt, caressing his chest. One slid into his pants, causing him to moan in reaction as it drew an immediate response from his flesh. Clawed fingers undid his belt and his pants fell to the floor as he was driven by lust once more.

His companion slid around him. Grey fur that covered her vulpine body caressed his naked skin as she lifted his shirt off him. Her tongue found his throat and the gentle lick brought a squeal of delight from his lips. She stepped away, leaving him sweating and panting after only a fraction of a minute teasing him.

"This is your thread, Daniel."

She ripped a hole in the air with a claw and a colorful thread dropped through it, dangling into the nothingness. A tiny spark of light was travelling down along it at a very measured pace. It would reach the loose tip quite soon.

"You were faithful to the end," she cooed. "But, Daniel, this is the end. Now you have a choice to make, and it's a hard one."

He whimpered softly as her clawtip drew down his front, leaving a line of light red against his skin. It felt shockingly good.

"You are primed with power. You are primed with attributes. When the spark reaches the end of the thread, this will all be released. If you are with me, in me, filling me in a primal joinder like you've never experienced before, then I will direct that release and you will become one of us. You will become a Shadow Kitsune, a being of immense power."

He swallowed hard. "Could I use that power to save Sandra?"

She shook her head and shocked him out of his pleasure for a moment with a sharp claw piercing his skin. Crimson flowed down his skin. "Her threads are woven. Even with that new power, you couldn't change that." He winced as she pressed the claw a little deeper into his skin.

She leaned closer and whispered. "But that is where your choice comes in. Stay faithful to her to the very, very end. Spurn me. When you fade, your power will go to her because of your immense love and link. You will cease to exist, but your destruction will awaken her."

He'd heard similar before. He didn't even need to ask if it was guaranteed. "Touch me..." he started, and drew in a sharp gasp of pain as she pulled her claw from the wound.

"Gladly," she cooed, caressing the sore spot and healing it instantly. She pressed her lithe body against him.

He growled and shoved her away. "I was going to say," he said with a glare, "Touch me and I will do everything in my power to kill you. Sandra is everything to me. For even a chance for her to awaken, I will sacrifice everything."

"Then let me hasten your end, fool!" Her eyes flashed yellow and he couldn't move nearly as fast as she was upon him. Jaws that could snap bone closed on the tender flesh of his throat and he was barely able to breathe as they pressed. He punched her hard in the side of the head and her teeth ripped stripes through his skin, but it didn't dislodge her. Her jaws closed tighter and she pulled his head to the side as her teeth met each other in his windpipe.

He saw the spark on the thread. It reached the end. Then it faded and went out.

This was all for you, Sandra. Everything for you.

He fell into blackness.

---

Tears flowed copiously down Elara's cheeks as she released his throat. Power flowed into his body from hers and from all his deeds. She collapsed against him, sobbing for a few seconds more, then falling still and lifeless.

His limp form began to glow and lifted into the air as hers dissolved into pure energy and was absorbed by him. The power danced within him and through the cosmos, heralding one of the rarest of all events.

The glow faded and a furred foot lighted softly on the carpeted floor.

Nine triumphant grey tails swayed behind the new Kitsune as he began to absorb the knowledge he would need to do his job. He sacrificed himself with eight tails primed and so gained his ninth.

Elara... He held her power, but she was no more. She had lied to him. If he had accepted her offer, he would be a seven tail and would be able to wake Sandra. She did it to nudge him toward the sacrifice that would make him more powerful, despite that she knew it would destroy her in the process.

He dropped to his haunches, wracked with emotional pain for a moment. Then it passed. He stood, his eyes glowing golden in the dusky light.

He had balance to create.

But first, he had an old friend to wake up.

---

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