FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The musician

Chapter 1: The Overture

A commission for tew3

One time in a far away galaxy there was a planet, virtually identical to the one that you call Earth but far larger, which orbited around a star that the inhabitants of the planet called Suraia. Not one, not two, but three moons silently orbited this serene planet as it sped through the vastness of space, all three of them carrying colonies of the various races that lived on the planet. The planet itself was call Suranin, or in their ancient language 'Star-Child', and was renowned throughout the cosmos for the free-thinking nature of its inhabitants, and the widespread acceptance they had bred over the centuries for all races that were willing to welcome them in the same manner.

The story you are about to hear is the story of how this accepting attitude had originally been spread across this vast world, and the wondrous event that sparked it from the beginning. It took place over 3 hundred years before the time that I speak to you now, and it is a tale of how 2 lovers of vastly different bloodlines broke the long standing traditions of the entire planet, and gave rise to one of greatest ages of peace that Suranin has ever known, and the period which I now enjoy very much in the late hours of my life. Whether you believe this story is up to you, but I am here to tell you it, not to make you believe it.

This story revolves around our two lovers who were not only separated by birthright, but also by class, by profession and most importantly of all, by species.

The lady of our story is a beautiful spotted leopardess with the body of the goddess of beauty herself, and a mind as bright as the stars, but who bore a heart as heavy as lead from the untimely death of her late husband, and was subsequently pursued against her desires by countless suitors obsessed with her vast wealth. She was also entering the middle stages of her life, with the end of her breeding days seeming closer with every sunrise, and she had yet to bear a child, which under the laws governing the well-being of her dwindling species meant that she would soon be forced to carry the son of the richest viable male that came to them. She spent her days either reading alone in the vast library of her home, or on occasion attending high-class parties out of politeness for her friends that invited her, attempting to distract herself from this inevitable fate.

Her name was Anastasia.

And the man of our story is a poor human who made and played every kind of musical instrument you could imagine, and a few more besides that. Still very young, just out of his teenage years in fact, this man was a musical prodigy beyond your comprehension, his talents for both composing and performing in any style and to suit any mood surpassing even that of those who had dedicated their lives to the practice. There was nary an individual who even briefly listened to music without hearing his name. However, back then his species was considered the lowest order of all in the food chain, weak and feeble in mind and body no matter how inaccurate it was, rendering this talented young man nothing but a servant to those who chose to hire him for their fancy events. Out of all the money that he did earn, most of it was taken by the businesses that broadcast it, as there was no minimum wage to pay a human, and the only company that did treat him with full respect was small due to its radically accepting views on species. Despite this, he never regretted picking up an instrument and playing, and from the smallest of toddlers to the greyest of elders, his passion for his playing touched them all within seconds of him starting.

His name was Thomas.

Listen and hear my story how they met, and how one of the greatest miracles of our kind that reshaped our world forever, came to be.

---

Tonight was the scene of one of the most extravagant parties that Anastasia could ever remember attending. It was being held in a large ornate hall that had been constructed centuries ago by a master builder who had insisted that everything was assembled in precisely the manner he chose, with countless ornate statues of partially clothed male and female figures of various species placed strategically to as to still allow for a sense of space, and every last carved marble brick polished to a shine from the floor to the ceiling nearly 100 feet above her head.

Huge multi-coloured glass windows depicting whimsical legends of old fit perfectly with the giant electric chandeliers that hung motionless in the air with invisible cables, giving them the haunting illusion of floating above the heads of the guests. Beneath this hugely imposing image left behind by the building's designer, were the carefully chosen decorations and furnishings for tonight's event; each and every table constructed of the same type of wood from the same forest to ensure they matched perfectly, the dark ebony going perfectly with the sparkling black marble surrounding them. The chairs had been carefully selected as well, each one being the very clearest of white, with soft fabric tips on the underside of each leg to ensure that no screeching sound disturbed the very well-financed individuals who had turned up for tonight's proceedings. Even the staff were dressed in a long since disused apparel to fit the theme of the event, regal colours of the nobles and fallen generals for the higher ranking staff, studiously clean down to the last polished shirt button.

Even though she had to admit this atmosphere was very effective, it did little to break through the cloud of despair that had firmly settled inside her mind since the tragic events of 2 years previous, even if her appearance tonight would suggest otherwise.

She wore smooth hand woven white silk gloves which extended almost all the way up to her shoulders, bore a small diamond over each of her knuckles, and had a very subtle pattern of dancing silver dragons on the outer fabric which showed up wonderfully from the right angle. Her iridescent white dress flowed over her stunning figure like water, accenting her firm bust, attractive rear, slim waist and finely toned legs perfectly; the garment was also line with same exquisitely soft material as her gloves, and stopped just short of her ankles to reveal her slim feet; yellow-furred with exotic black patterns with darker shades of yellow blending in with them like a watercolour masterpiece, as was the case for the fur covering her entire body save for the front of her neck and the fur beneath it, though she chose not to show much of that fur on account of what it covered. Down from her head ran gorgeous locks of hair that any women would die for, a soft light-brown colour that was completely natural and framed her already stunning face stunningly.

From the back she was just as incredible a sight as from the front; her long slender tail baring rings of black fur switching places with the lighter yellow shade all the way up its length to her sculpted bottom beneath her dress, with the only artificial ornamentation being a single silver ring close to the end, which was devoid of any stone or imperfection instead carrying this message around it's diameter: "Intolerance is for the shallow, Patience is for the Hallowed". In addition to this, she also wore also wore a necklace around her neck that was similarly of simple design, which carried one bright yellow stone in its centre, with an empty place above it where another stone should be; the topaz was her birthstone that matched her amber coloured eyes, the empty place was where her husband's stone used to be.

To many gathered here, and many how simply wished to be gathered here, she was the very vision of a deity to those who admired the female figure. She had yet to meet a man tonight who hadn't taken a full look of her figure when she spoke to them, each one of them carrying an easily perceivable blush upon beholding her whether it was the waiting staff or one of the other guests who approached her.

It was only a single hour since she had arrived but already she had received no less than 7 invitations by just as many different male bachelors to join them on their private property at a later date, including an offer from Lord Harelton Worth, a black wolf and one of the richest lords on the continent, and from Sir Robert Carrington, a very successful white panther general who was quite literally soaring up the ranks and possessed a very well documented infatuation with her. She cared little for the latter as a mate or acquaintance due to his hideously inflated ego, but the former was an old friend of hers.

He had been the man to comfort her after dealing with the death of her husband, and while they had tried a relationship that made its way to the bedroom on several occasions, within a short time they had both agreed that it was simply not to be and ended it with both parties remaining firm friends despite their attempt at something more. Although she knew him well-enough to know that he wouldn't try to pull anything, she simply didn't feel like making any trips soon, just wanting to be left alone with her thoughts, no matter how poor company they were these days.

For now she sat at a table and conversed with some of her female companions, making a very good job of dispelling the bad atmosphere that some people had just assumed was natural for her, but never once did her eyes truly glow as many remembered them doing. The two canine companions, a German Sheppard pedigree Duchess in her early twenties who wore a splendid navy blue strapless dress, and a Black Cat that was easily in her fifties (except in appearance) that had come in a very nicely fitting pitch black ensemble, did a similarly fantastic job of not letting her pick up on what they noticed, the respect for their friend far outweighing their desire to tell her the truth. Both had known her for years, and had no desire to cause her any more pain by bringing this fact to anybody's attention.

As they conversed, the talk, as it always seemed to, wound its way back to males. Strangely, Anastasia was not in the least bit uncomfortable when thinking of her now deceased mate, but as was her silent depression, she was rarely able to stop thinking about him. It was nice for her to hear about other people's relationships for a change.

"So how are you getting on with Harry? That strapping young pup was practically drooling over you the last time I saw you two together Jessalina."

This came from the Black cat, who spoke kindly in a level yet clearly amused tone, cradling a clear crystal glass of sparkling white wine in her hand as she did so. The stance of her body was the stance that one would expect with experience rather than with age, no stoop in her posture, her loose arm resting comfortably on the table with neither of her shoulders sagging as she appraised the far younger canine with her intelligent golden eyes, the black slitted pupils remaining narrow due to the nearly cosmic display of electric lighting around them.

"*giggle* Oh we get along just fine these days. His position as a state guardsman keeps him very busy, the poor thing, so we make it a point to get the most out of what time we do spend together." The German Sheppard replied, her tail wagging happily through the gap in the chair near her rear.

"Is he being deployed in that first drop to the third moon next week?" The black cat asked, taking a small delicate sip of her painstakingly fermented drink and waiting for an answer.

The German Sheppard lady wrapped one of the strands of her long and meticulously groomed strands of hazelnut-coloured hair around a finger as she sighed wistfully, looking down at her reflection in the light blue liquid that sat calmly in her own glass on the table as her tail came to a stand-still.

"Sadly yes; the ships they are using have been tested, and I even demanded that I see them for myself before I let my man anywhere near it. Everything on it works just fine as it turns out, but he'll be out there for three whole months without me Marlene."

The black feline flicked her ear as she unintentional caught one of the serving staff staring at her bust, having mistaken the black fabric for her naked fur. The twitch was enough to let him know that she was annoyed, the rabbit fortunately having learned feline body language, but if she was honest it was the reaction she was trying to achieve. She wasn't out for action, or indeed looking to even flirt with anyone, but knew from much past experience than men were far easier to handle when their thoughts were below the waistline. Not even pausing in her conversation as she did this, she placed her wine glass back down on the table calmly and collectedly, not showing the slightest sign to her canine acquaintance, lest she demonstrate poor manners for appearing not to listen.

"Are you afraid for him, being so far from civilisation?" The black cat asked carefully, placing arms on the table so that her fingers interlaced in a contemplative arch, her elbows resting just on the ledge so that she did not have to arch her back.

Jessalina looked over at her with a slightly anxious expression on her face; not one that portrayed a mortal fear, but more an unnerving intuition that stubbornly denied her requests for silence.

"No, he's been in similar situations before. It's just that we'll be apart for so long, and we haven't been able to spend much of our free time together lately because of the duties I'm required to fulfil as the heir to Helios Tech. Even though I can reprogram and reassemble almost any piece of hardware I can put my hands on, there are new designs being made constantly by our field engineers as they adjust what they have to suit their own needs. As such, I am kept busy researching the possible effects of these alterations. I suppose what I'm saying is that we haven't had as much time purely around each other as we'd like."

Anastasia received the true meaning of her words instantly: they had been so busy that they hadn't even been able to make love during their time off. Even though she was looking out through the bars of her own self-enforced cage of sorrow, Anastasia remembered the feeling of truly making love to another, when it finally became more than just desire to be with them and became an outright need. She pitied Jessalina for not being able to share this experience with Harry.

Marlene had listened to this patiently; her expression changing as the German Sheppard continued from one of amused evaluation to a calculating look that Anastasia remembered seeing on several occasions before.

"So you are afraid that he will try to find what he can't have here while he's on the lunar mission?"

Jessalina stayed very still for a moment before answering.

"I love Harry; he's the man I always wanted to meet someday. But I know how hard it is for men to hold it in sometimes, it actually physically hurts them if they don't find a way to let it out. He's always quite 'backed-up' when we do get a chance to let those feelings out together, and I know for a fact that there are going to be some females on the same team as him. They all have to be in peak physical condition to even be let on the mission, so they'd probably be better looking than me anyway. I could honestly understand him doing something with one of them, but I don't want anything to happen while I'm not there with him."

"Then your solution is simple" Marlene replied, taking another small sip of her wine before addressing the hopeful looking canine.

"Talk to your company and your father, arrange to have one day to yourselves before he leaves, and spend as much of it as you can in the bedroom. Give him everything that you are willing to give him, no matter how unbecoming of a woman it might seem, and show him exactly how far you will go to stay beside him. Give him a reason to come back to you."

Anastasia nodded in approval of Marlene's simple but direct attitude, making a contribution herself that was surprisingly genuine given her current emotional status, not only to her friends but to herself.

"If you want to keep your male, then let him know that you're a female." The clouded leopard spoke in a caring tone, making the formerly troubled canine's face light up in hope. Anastasia saw the same look of hope on the canine's face that she normally saw on younger women when they were proposed to; then again, if Harry didn't ask her soon of his own accord, then he was most certainly an imbecile. Jessalina was definitely above normal in terms of looks, even for coming from a pure breed family, and coupled with her vast intellect this made her the private fantasy of virtually every young canine businessman on the continent; the very fact that a middle ranked officer that she met while he was on shore-leave at a beach had stolen her heart away was a miracle in itself, and her parents had been very thorough in checking his background, making Harry one of the luckiest German Sheppards she could remember when he got their blessing.

"It's either that or hand-cuff him to your bed." Marlene added with a sly grin, making Jessalina nearly choke on her drink in merriment, although she made no undignified noises, as she had been brought up to.

From her position across the table from Jessalina, Anastasia managed to genuinely smile at their antics. The two had been there for her throughout her entire ordeal, indeed most of her life in Marlene's case, so she always looked forward to seeing them again. This vastly orchestrated myriad of intricate ornaments and atmosphere had virtually no effect on her mood whatsoever, but her two friends could bring her spirits around in a heartbeat. She quietly guessed that this was one of the reasons that they seemed to invite her out so often these days, and thanked them immensely for their caring support.

After the two had calmed down for a bit, Anastasia debated calling for a waiter so that she might start with her evening meal tonight, having seen some of the other guests doing the same. Right as she started to raise her hand however, her arm froze in place. Gliding softly into her ears was the single most beautiful arrangement of music she had ever heard in her life; it was powerfully heartfelt and easy to appreciate while at the same time intricate and providing plentiful room for appreciation by those who practiced the art, something she quickly picked up on having played many years ago, and fit the atmosphere so perfectly that to call it background noise would have been the ultimate insult. Turning slowly in her seat, the beautiful clouded leopard looked on in astonishment at the stage where the band had started playing for them, her eyes honing in on one figure who stood in the centre and directed those around him with as little as a look or movement of one of his practiced and immaculately kept fingers.

This figure was a handsome young human with long black hair brushed out of his face and kept in a ponytail for tonight, revealing a handsome face with eyes that absolutely poured out the same emotion as the music he played, right down to the small arpeggio runs at the end of the bridges. Like a helpless moth being drawn to blazing lantern, she silently left her position at the table and made her way towards the specially arranged chairs for those who wanted to observe the bad more closely. In only a few moments she heard her friends get up to join her, but beyond the intensely well-practiced movements of the musician, very little else remained in her mind at present.

---

Thomas stood atop the stage as he had countless times before on countless different stages, performing three tasks simultaneously: keeping the band around him in tempo with himself by giving them minute signals in his body language that he had trained them all to recognize, following the arrangement of music that he himself had created flawlessly, and when it came to the sections where a solo was required, improvising with just the right notes to please the audience with only a glance of their expressions to go by and guessing perfectly each time. The assembled guests stayed absolutely hushed as he and his companions continued, not a single one of them willing to break his otherworldly spell of their sense of hearing.

He was the only human on stage, the rest of his group being made up from various species that had played alongside him since he started out in the music business, having earned his trust among many who hadn't, and as such the young man was gathering quite a fair amount of attention from the onlookers. His instrument for the moment was reminiscent of an Earth violin, but bore 6 luminescent blue strings that were strung along a fretless black neck and body, and along with the natural acoustic sounds that a stringed instrument could achieve, it also provided many electronically enhanced or distortion driven sounds if he so chose. For this environment, he chose a very soft viola-like sound that suited the classical atmosphere of the venue, letting his fingers dance across the strings as the bow in his other hand glided across them to raise and lower the volume as required. This ability to give the guest precisely the music they needed to hear was made all the more impressive by the fact that he had not been informed what kind of event he would be performing at, the only information he received about his audience being that they would be wealthy lords and ladies. One could only describe his skill with his instrument and his band as alien.

As they wound up their first song for the night, the human took a glance down at the audience to be met with overwhelming applause for their overture. He saw almost exactly the audience he had envisioned; at the front rows of seats were the ones who he had noticed at some of his concerts and even spoken with before tonight, in the middle were those who he suspected had heard of him along with the ones who had simply been drawn in by his music, and at the back were those who liked the performance but had no time for men of his species. He noticed one man, a white panther dressed in military attire, glowering at him in disgust, although it did nothing for Thomas now after witnessing it so many times. Just as he was about to look elsewhere, he noticed the Panther's gaze shift slightly, and look with and equally aggressive look to a seat about three rows in front on him and to his left, possibly at a friend or his wife who had arrived before him. Curious, Thomas followed his line of sight without pausing even hinting at it slightly in his body language, only for his breath to nearly catch in his throat at what he saw.

Not 30 metres from him sat the single most radiant example of a women that he had ever seen first-hand, in a painting or even heard rumour of. She was a clouded leopard with long brown hair, most likely in her early forties judging by the average age of the other guests, as judging her age by her looks was nigh impossible with her face easily outshining the youthful glow of any of the other guests gathered; a figure complimenting, and most likely unimaginably expensive, white dress along with matching gloves draped across her fantasy-like figure, with her long and well kept legs matching perfectly with every single trimmed exotically coloured hair and hidden muscle that rested above them. Briefly their eyes met across the short distance, and he marvelled at the life that he felt burning within those fire-like irises, almost melting his own cool-blue eyes as he gazed at her for but the shortest of moments before he bowed to the people assembled.

"Thank you very much for your applause my Lords and Ladies. What would have us play for you next?" He asked calmly in a very polite tone, his natural and smooth sounding voice that he more often used for singing carrying well to those listening.

There was a hushed murmur among the guests, some suggesting titles of songs from their youth to him much to the visible irritation of a few of the younger guests, others coming up with titles that earned perplexed stares from those around them for the sheer audacity of asking it to be placed at such an event. He was about to make his decision out of the titles called out to him, when his saw the beautiful clouded leopard get to her feet, almost making him feel bad for making such a remarkable creature leave her seat, whatever her reason.

She spoke over the assembled crowd in a voice softer than the silk garments she wore, but with the tone of wisdom that can only come from years of living through everything that life had to give, be it welcome or not..

"I think that we should give the choice of music to the one playing it for us, after all he has chosen very well so far."

Thomas noticed two females, a black feline that he remembered seeing before at one of his concerts and a far younger looking canine with wavy brown hair, look at her in what he would describe as joyous amazement, as if such an act was one they had sorely wished to see for a while. Behind her, the white panther almost snarled in fury, although any sound he did make was drowned out in the loud sounds of approval that came from the crowd at her words. He felt his cheeks heat up slightly at such kind words from such a woman, bowing slightly again before speaking in reply.

"Very well my lady, as you wish I shall play the music that I believe you want to hear. This one bears quite a few moods within it, but I think you know as well as I do, that all things can change with the turn of a friendly card."

As he finished his sentence, his flicked his wrist sharply, sending a small playing card that nobody had noticed he was holding gliding through the air above the crowd, carried by the small thermals created by their collective body heat towards the beautiful leopardess. With a small somersault and a downwards spiral, the card slipped into the feline's gloved hands, whereupon she turned it over, revealing an artistically painted ace of hearts. She clutched the small trinket to her chest gently in acceptance of his gift before re-seating herself. Thomas didn't pick up on the exchanged whispers of the leopardess's 2 friends, but he did hear the distinct sound of knuckles cracking, having a good hunch about who it came from.

When she looked back to the stage, the human was already seated at the grand piano, with another stringed instrument that resembled a guitar now hanging from a secure strap around his neck. Without another word, he started playing, and a truly remarkably fitting suite started that once again rendered the audience silent in admiration of his talents, the leopardess now blushing lightly as an emotion she had convinced herself she had forgotten now made its return at the sound of his wonderful singing voice.

---

After the band had finished the piece that she had asked them to play, there was a short interval requested from a member of the staff as there was soon to be an announcement made by tonight's host; the human relayed the message to the crowd and they slowly dispersed, but not without a disapproving sigh at the break, much to the human's amusement, though she suspected that it was the pleasure of knowing he was doing his job that spawned his merriment rather than any private jokes at the guests' expense. Anastasia's eyes never strayed from the young male as he placed is instrument on a stand and made his way to the stairs that descended from the side of the stage, wiping his hands of his perspiration on a handkerchief that he produced from his pocket before placing it back where it came from.

She moved in the opposite direction of the crowd that headed to get a better glimpse at their host as he took his place on top of a small platform assembled especially for him, unconcerned with his words for the moment, only wanting to talk to the human who had been the first one to genuinely touch her heart in so long. Marlene and Jessalina grinned broadly as they noticed this behaviour in their friend, recognising the signs from her dating years, but quickly changed their expressions when they noticed a certain male making his way to follow her, moving after him without revealing their presence to him, ready to back up their friend if it became necessary to intervene.

As Anastasia approached the young human, she met his eyes again, loving the sense of vast intellect that she got from looking into the deep blue pools. Not wasting any time, she curtsied to the handsome young man in respect before introducing herself.

"Good evening sir, my name is Anastasia Farlay. Please might you give me your name in return?"

As she had predicted, he instantly picked up on her little word-play, bowing in return as he answered.

"Of course you can Mrs Farlay, though it is hardly a fair trade with such a fair lady. My name is Thomas Andrews."

Blushing and allowing herself a quiet giggle at his quick wit, she righted herself in time with him before addressing him once again in good humour.

"Thank you Thomas, but I am no Mrs Farlay. Regretfully my husband passed away some time ago."

She almost surprised herself with how quickly she'd sought to correct that error, after all it wouldn't matter to him whether she was married or not surely. The only people it would really bear any meaning to would be her suitors, and they most certainly wouldn't listen anyway.

"Then might I enquire as to who this man is?" Thomas asked, indicating behind her with a wave of his hand. Her heart sank as she realised who he was most likely referring to by the sounds of heavy medals clinking against each other, slowly turning to face the enraged form of her least desired would-be-husband, Sir Robert Carrington.

He was quite clearly very annoyed at their little meeting, clearly already forming some ridiculously over-thought-out idea of what kind of relationship existed between the two, even though such anger was not his place as he bore no control over her actions anyway. It was one of the reasons she despised him as a man: he never once treated her as a person, only a trophy to be won, and only grew annoyed at other men being around her because he considered her his property.

"Good evening Sir Carrington." she said in a distinctly irritated tone of voice. Thomas was no newcomer to this kind of occurrence amongst the upper classes with him being hired by many of them for their events, and instantly recognised the situation from her reaction to seeing him in this state, and his reaction to another man treating her perfectly well. It was another case of a woman that all desired being pursued by those less than deserving of her, though of course he didn't allow this conviction of the scene to travel as far as his face, instead choosing to pull one of his hairs that had become stuck in the back of the neck of his suit out deftly with a flick of one of his fingers.

"Not in my opinion Anastasia" Robert growled menacingly as he approached, revealing rows of sharp white teeth extending from clean and healthy pink gums, "Get away from that piece of pond-scum this instant."

Thomas arched an eyebrow at that. It was possible that the man was insulting him by species as humans evolved from amphibians, but he doubted that the man even knew what the word amphibian meant.

"I chose the company that I keep, and if I chose this man rather than you, then that is also my decision to make." Anastasia replied, the captivating leopardess not in the least bit intimidated by the tough looking officer facing her, turning away from him and flicking her tail against the floor in a clear feline sign of rejection in their universal body language. Behind him, Marlene and Jessalina were quickly catching up to them, drawing a few looks from the few guests that had decided to neglect their host and seek other things to occupy their time instead.

"A human is not a man." The larger panther answered before reaching out and grabbing her roughly by the arm, attempting to drag her away from him though she firmly resisted, his eyes fixed on the human the entire time. This earned looks of outrage from her two female companions while Thomas slipped the hand on the opposite side of his body to the panther inside his pocket, wrapping his fingers around a deck of cards he kept on his person at all times. He did have a trick up his sleeve if things went sour, but he really didn't want to cause a scene at such a grandeur occasion as this, and his trick was far from subtle.

"How dare you do that to my friend you insolent boy." came the angry call from Marlene, the black cat baring her own teeth at Robert as her eyes flashed with malice at his arrogance. Her shout did draw the attention of a few of the guests at the edge of the crowd, but the host's loud and deep voice kept the rest of them from hearing.

"It is within my right as her future husband to see that she does not associate with vermin, short-claw." He replied dismissively over his shoulder at her.

Jessalina growled at the panther's words. Short-claw was a racist term used by the more regal feline species to describe the more 'common' of their brethren, and it was incredibly disrespectful when spoken to an older feline of either sex. Marlene grinned wickedly upon hearing him, replying in kind, only stepping up the game a few dials.

"All the more reason to let her go, smooth-stick."

Thomas saw the German Sheppard lady accompanying the black cat wince at this incredibly harsh term, and would have done himself if he knew where it came from. It was actually a very dirty insult that came from the fact that a male feline's penis was barbed, and when he released his seed into his female partner, these barbs would hold him inside to best impregnate his female; calling him smooth-stick was essentially calling him 'barbless', and by association, a very poor lover, something which the high ranking officer most certainly didn't take kindly to. Throughout all of this rage however, he never once loosened his painful grip on Anastasia's arm, much to Thomas's displeasure.

"Let go of me now Sir Carrington or I shall be forced to call for security." The iridescent leopardess requested calmly without turning to look at him, making no further movement that might escalate the current situation. In the brief pause that her words earned her, she looked hopefully over to Thomas while her man-handler began exchanging new insults with her supportive feline friend, completely ignoring the beautiful leopard's displeasure. Why, she couldn't say, but somehow his eyes were calming to her, soothing all sense of panic and danger around her and giving her the strength to stay firm. As for the human, Thomas found her burning eyes the most powerful incentive imaginable to do something to help her for reasons he couldn't understand; he knew that the instant he attempted to stop this man his job would most likely be gone with the wind in an instant, but in truth he never even expected to get as far as he had done in his short life. This world of Suranin simply wasn't meant for his kind, and compared to many of his species, he was as rich as a king already, despite being paid very little compared to others who performed the same task as him.

In that instant, when they exchanged nothing but a tiny glance, he made his decision.

Even if he did nothing, this officer obviously had it in for him the moment he saw him; if he was at the end of his career, then he might as well go out in style.

Thomas brought his free hand up to his mouth and cleared his throat loudly, drawing Sir Robert's attention back to him as the human pulled his deck of cards out from his pocket and began shuffling it expertly between both hands, also succeeding in drawing the attention of a few guests further away in addition to Jessalina and Marlene who seemed very perplexed by the human's bizarre behaviour.

"While I am not a being of great rank or of grand possessions, I believe that I have seen enough of the various peoples of this world to make an accurate judgement of you Sir Carrington, and I personally think you're a coward. Surely a being of your strength and wealth doesn't need to resort to violence to convince a lady to fill his bed unless the very act of forcing her is his pleasure, or is you personality so repulsive that you simply can't convince a woman to sleep with you no matter how you try?"

This caused a huge gasp from everyone within earshot, causing every pair of eyes in the entire hall, including the large badger who was serving as tonight's host to turn towards the human, who continued to calmly shuffle his deck of cards without ever looking at them. Behind the white panther, Marlene's mouth hung open in astonished admiration of the human's guts for uttering such a direct verbal attack; by the standards of high class conversation, the human had verbally poked the man in his eyes then proceed to kick him in his stomach, a task which nobody she'd never pressed her luck by attempting. Jessalina had her hand over her mouth in fright at the look of pure unbridled fury that exploded onto Robert's face after being insulted in front of his peers by a human of all people, hoping that the kind man hadn't just signed his own death warrant after cheering her close friend up more in one night than anyone had in years.

Anastasia felt her heart pound in her chest at Thomas's bold defiance; she knew all too well what even the lightest consequences for him would be for saying that, and he had still done it in an attempt to protect her. He couldn't hope to escape the backlash of a man as influential in the armed forces as Sir Robert. There was only one other person who had taken the same risk in order to protect her, the same person whose birthstone was missing from her necklace.

Sir Robert released her gloved arm from his vice-like grip, allowing her to cradle her now aching aching limb to her chest as Jessalina and Marlene came over and took her to one side out of harm's way before anything turned any more nasty. The large Panther flicked his tail in fury as he started a very determined stride towards the smaller male, his own frame easily a whole head larger than Thomas's.

"In case you didn't know, slave, for a beast of my league to kill a creature as lowly as you isn't deemed as murder in the eyes of the law. I'll happy wipe the dirt on my boot off against your lifeless corpse and won't even have to pay the cleaning bill." the panther spoke with great relish in his voice, extending the claws on his right hand and holding them up so the sharp black extensions glinted in the light from the chandeliers. The red eyes in his head glittered with bloodlust as his nose twitched periodically, hoping to chance upon the smell of fear seeping through the pores on the human's skin. He was to be disappointed.

Thomas remained stoically unimpressed. He was a man used to acting out his part as a matter of his job, and if this truly was the crescendo before the end of his piece, then he wasn't about to miss a single note. Fear was useless now as he had already made his choice

"I am well aware of the law, and of my species. If I could have a last request from your, then I would like to ask for a card game between you and me, it's called....."

"SILENCE, WORM MEAT!!!" the large feline bellowed as he swung he claws at the human's face, drawing a frightened scream from Anastasia as he attacked her protector. Right at the last moment however, the human ducked with agility that far surpassed any expectation of him from any of the assembled guests or indeed Sir Robert; drawing a card from the top of his deck, Thomas thrust it face down against the large feline's clothed chest and finished his sentence with a smile.

"...one card slam."

The next instant, bright yellow arcs of electricity erupted from the card, engulfing Sir Robert's entire body and forcing him to scream out in pain as his nerve endings were blasted by countless volts of electrical current. Taking his chance, the human drove a strong uppercut right into the panther's jaw-line, knocking him out in one clean punch to the complete amazement of everyone assembled, even his own band. As Sir Robert's unconscious form lay smoking at his feet, the playing card he'd used flitted from side to side in the air above him completely untouched by the electrical charge it had given; reaching out with his right hand, Thomas plucked the playing card from the air and turned it around in his fingers to show Anastasia who was looking at him like he was some kind of magician, her hand still clasped to her throat in fear for his well-being. She looked to see the printed image of a man wearing a silly multi-colour hat with pointed appendages adorning it, each holding a bell at its tip, the hand that was holding the card bearing almost invisible wires running along it down the back of a transparent glove, developed for musicians to protect them from electrical feedback from their equipment.

"Watch out for those jokers ma'am."

---

Instead of being thrown out violently without a second thought as he was expecting to be, the human was surprised to find himself greeted by thunderous applause from every single person in sight right the way to the far wall, though he made no move to bow to it. The beautiful clouded leopardess that he had saved seemed like she was about to run over to him to offer her thanks, but he saw her stop herself as she caught sight of something approaching to her right. Looking in the same direction, Thomas saw the crowd in front of him turn to look behind themselves as a large dark shape now bore over them; one by one each guest made way to allow the financier of all tonight's festivities passage to meet the comparatively penniless human.

He was an absolute giant of a man, even for a badger. Easily ten feet tall with hands that were the size of spades and muscles like watermelons, wearing obviously custom made cream-white outfit constructed from purest silk that resembled that of a king's suit for public appearances with the braided shoulder pads and golden buttons, and a large self-styled cane with a pure silver handle belaying the fact that he had more than enough money to spare even after the considerable expense of everything Thomas had seen thus far.

Quickly taking stock of the man, he noticed 5 medals placed in the exact positions that a monarch's might be; he knew little of the first two medals which appeared to be fashioned from Turquoise, but he certainly knew the other three from his history classes as a schoolchild: one for a member of the Eternal Guard (Suranin's highest calibre military unit), one for the rank of Overseer (above and beyond any rank in the army, and the second highest rank on the planet) and one that was only awarded to those who had been mortally wounded in the line of duty and had survived.

All of a sudden, Thomas felt very, very small under the black and white mammal's intense gaze.

Remembering his manners the next instant, the human immediately bowed to the towering male, remaining bowed until the large man gave his approval for him to stand up straight again, as was his place as a servant species.

"Stand up young man, you are in no trouble, and I'm no religious idol." the badger spoke to him in a deep booming voice that reverberated around the room.

Amazed at his casual tone towards him despite just causing a scene at his own public event, Thomas righted himself, managing to gather the willpower to look the large male in the eyes to confirm that he had heard correctly.

"Forgive me for saying this, your grace, but I believe have just assaulted one of your guests. Shouldn't I at least be removed from this event to prevent this from happening again?" he asked tentatively.

The large badger looked down at the much smaller human, and then over at the twitching figure of Sir Robert; he then pointed at a few of the waiters amongst the crowd and then the unconscious officer with his free arm and clicking his fingers before resting it behind his back as members of his serving staff dragged the unconscious panther away the next instant, one of them giving the human an unseen thumbs up as he did so. The mountainous badger continued once Sir Robert was gone from his sight, his deep brown eyes once again locked onto the human, memorising every feature of his face should he need to remember it in future.

"Do not take me for a fool Thomas. I have the courtesy to know exactly who I invite to my gatherings, and I'm smart enough to know the difference between assault and self-defence." The badger said with a small smile, something in his voice telling the human that he wasn't insulted by his prudent question.

"My name is Lord Terbus Abstance, young man, and I am ashamed to say that I am also that man's commanding officer. I have known for some time that he has been seeking ways to force lady Anastasia, the woman you have defended, into his own private 'care', though he chooses to call it wedlock."

Thomas was shocked by this realisation, looking over to Anastasia for a moment who seemed to be just as put off by the idea as he was, turning her head to look at the floor while she adopted the look of someone who had just bitten into a very sour grape with her ears folding back and her nose scrunching up in disgust.

"A marriage without consent? Is that even legal?" the small human asked carefully, keeping all signs of anger out of his voice that might be misconstrued by the Lord, but his attempts at hiding his true feelings out of politeness were of little effect on the observant Aristocrat, who once again took no ill meaning of his response.

"It is alright to show displeasure at that, and yes you are right, under normal circumstances it wouldn't be legal in any country. The problem is that the Clouded Leopard species is in great threat of extinction at this present moment. You may remember that a few years ago there was a virus that attacked hundreds thousands of female leopards, rendering them either dead or infertile with only a small number not being infected due to being off-world at the time. It was one of the largest tragedies of life we've had on Suranin for centuries, and even today we have still not fully recovered. Some of those, including Anastasia here, were strong enough to fight off the virus and so became immune, but its job had already been done en mass. You see, when most other species attempt at cross breeding, there is a chance of the child being either one species, the other, or a hybrid; however there is a defect in the Clouded Leopard gene for males. If a male interbreeds, then a pure Clouded Leopard cub cannot be produced, but the same is not true for females. As a result, it was passed as a law for each female to birth at least one child in her lifetime to try and help the numbers grow, and if she did not choose a suitable mate then one would be chosen for her by necessity or she could choose be artificially inseminated. Sir Robert, as a rare white Panther, is also endangered and is under the same protection, and with him also being influential, he has been attempting to convince the bench in charge of such matters to hand over custody of this fair lady to him."

In truth, while he is a very capable officer, and of pure bloodline, his family business is currently limited in the market of technology as the Farlay Company currently owns all technology researcher divisions on the planet, including his own branch. A marriage to our dear lady would force legal custody of the company into his own hands as the head male of the family, giving him almost complete control over the market for newly developed technology. He has no friends among us for thinking so little of a woman." The badger spoke clearly and bitterly.

"Here, here; we've learned many times over how deeply his ambition has corrupted him." called a gravelly voice from over to Thomas's left. Turning to face the voice, the human was greeted by the sight of a black dire wolf with very good posture and finely groomed fur dressed for the occasion in his own personalized suit that bore white at every section where it gave way to fur; white collar, white cuffs, white embellishments at the bottom of his trouser legs, each adding to the contrast between his clothing and his naturally dark fur. As the clearly wealthy wolf raised his hand to point at the human to deliver his next line, Thomas took notice of the silver ring with a white circle added in place of a gemstone that resided on his ring finger; he recognised this small honour as the mark of a serviceman previously in the armed forces who had seen more than 30 consecutive years of active duty in his life.

"I've been to many corners of this planet and met just about every kind of man I can imagine, but I never thought I'd see a man stand up for a woman like you just have more than once in my lifetime."

Out of his line of sight, Anastasia smiled warmly at the wolf's kind words, a small flicker appearing in her eyes as she looked at the canine, remembering some of the closer moments they had spent together. Thomas was slightly puzzled by the way he had said 'more than once', but knew better than to pry into the personal matters of a lord in public and dropped any hopes of following up on the subject on this encounter, lest he upset the very people who were congratulating him. For now, he gratefully accepted their words of praise, finding it a nice change from the species directed insults.

"You Thomas, regardless of species, have my thanks for intervening on Anastasia's behalf" The large badger continued, "and will have my protection if he should even think about seeking revenge. As for what should happen now, I feel that it's best that you stay for the next few days at Anastasia's abode."

This got quite a few confused and shocked looks from the guests at the bold suggestion, Anastasia bursting out in the brightest red of blushes and looking over at Thomas sheepishly, the human doing similar, only much more visibly with him having no fur to cover his cheeks or his embarrassment. It was more than a promiscuous suggestion, a healthy young man escorting a single older woman that he'd just saved back to her home to spend the night, and for all he knew they would be alone together the entire time with many sordid suggestions for passing the time. He couldn't count the number of erotic novels that must have used that plot in the past.

Lord Terbus noticed this wave of confusion spread through the crowd, but instantly silenced it by raising one of his massive paws in a request for calm. Considering that his forearms alone, even through the black fabric of his suit, were easily on par with the musculature of any of the idealistic statues that were present for tonight's event, it was hardly surprising how quickly silence was achieved.

"I know that this may seem a request unbecoming of a lady," the colossal striped mammal began as he addressed the entire assembly, "but before any of you speak your complaints, I ask you to first hear my reasoning."

Here he looked back towards the much smaller human with a look that touched on sympathy, but as with the rest of his facial expressions, they were carefully restrained to allow no hint as to the extent of the emotion in play; it was a very useful trait for a respected lord to have honed in the environment he had to live in, but also had the unintended effect of making Thomas nervous at each new word he spoke as it made it hard for him to determine which emotion he was putting behind it.

"You see Thomas, under the laws that govern the freedom of all individuals on this planet, because Sir Robert has asked for Lady Anastasia's hand before tonight and has been turned down, he is not permitted to approach her residence again unless she expressly permits it or he somehow manages to obtain a grant to take her as a breeding partner because of the dwindling numbers of her species. The late Mr Farlay was a true inspiration to us, and his wife has shown her generosity to those less fortunate then her on countless occasions without asking for anything in return; we will all see to it that he never gets within breathing distance of her again, but what could we do for Thomas?"

The finely dressed guests murmured sadly in agreement at Lord Terbus's words. He made a very valid argument, as the legislation to make humans a free species was still being processed by the high council. When humans first arrived over 2 centuries ago, they were nothing more than a handful of survivors from a doomed planet that they had called 'Earth'. After examining their history with the detailed records they had stored of their once beautiful home, they had discovered a seemingly never-ending stream of violence and intolerance towards their own kind, like events such as 'The Holocaust' or 'Tiananmen Square'. This led them to restricting their freedoms out of fear for the same thing happening again. Now this decision was close to being removed, but there were still some very powerful members of the government who preferred the idea of keeping humans as a slave-like race. As such, the law enforcement was known to take little involvement in matters involving humans for fear of upsetting some of these individuals.

Lord Terbus continued after the murmuring had died down a little bit.

"As much as we may posture and promise that each of us could provide a safe haven from Sir Robert's inevitable wrath, the truth is that he is more influential and dangerous than we sometimes give him credit for. I can reverse every command he makes if he were to do it in plain sight, but I wouldn't put it past him to assemble a few officers loyal to him to arrange a private retaliation. The only thing he fears losing is his status, which would be instantly revoked if he attempted to break the law and enter the Farlay estate against Anastasia's wishes, or even sent a messenger there without asking permission. This means that the only way we could mount any serious kind of protection for you, young human, would be to have Lady Anastasia return the favour you have done unto her tonight."

The massive badger's towering figure turned to appraise the black dire wolf that had spoken earlier, the look they exchanged telling Thomas that they knew each other very well, most likely even being part of the same military unit, though that wasn't the kind of thing most people would want to advertise.

"It pains me to ask this of an old friend, but I would also like to request that you accompany them Lord Harelton. I don't know whether he may send another to attempt what he cannot or an entire group, so I will need someone I can trust who has already been a close friend of Ms Farlay to accompany them so as not to arouse suspicion, and I want an experienced pairs of eyes there if we are to see this coming in sufficient time."

The dire wolf bowed and clamped his right fist over his heart in the Suranin armed forces salute before righting himself.

"I accept the task with pleasure."

"Erm..." the small human asked, not wanting to seem rude by pointing out a potential flaw in their plan.

The two upper class lords looked over at Thomas at the quiet sound, finding him nervously looking around at the various interested faces of every imaginable species that surrounded them, silently attempting to gauge their reactions to what was being suggested. The sharp witted badger lord quickly put the pieces together in his mind.

"Worried that someone here may inform Sir Carrington?" he asked calmly, but allowed a small smirk to glance over his lips at the comparatively small human's distress, obviously not knowing the true nature of tonight's gathering.

Lord Harelton was only a few moments behind the impressive badger, but saw fit to fill in the gaps for the musician, speaking up only after Lord Terbus had finished.

"I apologize for you not being informed of the theme for tonight's event, but we were concerned that letting this evening's true nature be known to public would cause certain undesirables, such as the man you just incapacitated, to attempt to join us against our wishes. Tonight is an event held in memory of Mr Farlay, as his 25th anniversary would have been today; people would have known that Lady Anastasia would have been present and attempted to woo her against her desires. Everyone here tonight knew him personally while he was alive, and as such is very unlikely to think less of you for protecting his wife."

There was a collective cheer from the crowd at this, making Thomas blush even more profusely at the reaction. Outside his playing, he wasn't used to being viewed positively outside of his small group of close friends, so it felt very odd to have this many people actually having a positive opinion of him. All of their cheering was completely swept aside however, by the simple look of grateful happiness that Anastasia now wore; somehow her already sculptured face leapt to being absolutely perfect, making him promise to himself that he would endeavour to make her smile as much as he possibly could. Her happiness was simply infectious.

After this, Lord Terbus dismissed the assembled throng of guests and set about making the necessary arrangements for Thomas's safety after making a point of shaking Thomas's hand, a true show of respect between equals from any man on Suranin. Anastasia then lead Thomas and Lord Harelton back through the throngs of people gathered around them as they made their way to her private vehicle in the parking spaces outside, a jet black levitating limousine that bore her family's crest in place of the manufacturer's insignias despite it being built by her own company. The human took a look back over his shoulder as they reached the doors and stood for a few moments in the cool evening air looking at the easily identifiable striped mammal still traversing the crowd as he spoke to several quite tough looking men who all wore medals upon their suits similar to the badger's own (noting how all of them stood to attention on seeing him). The young human had virtually no money, hardly any influence, and nothing of any real value that the lord most likely didn't already own, not even his musical instruments, but he promised himself that he would find some way to pay him back.

After this he stepped into the car door that Lord Harelton had politely held open for him before the dire wolf entered in turn and closed the door behind them; without the slightest hum from the new age reactors installed in the car, the vehicle rose serenely from the ground and proceeded to quietly fly in the direction of Anastasia's estate while its passengers finally got a chance to relax after tonight's events.

As the black car disappeared into the distance, a white panther stood at the back of the parking area and glowered after it, lighting an expensive cigarette and taking a deep breath before making his way to his own car headed in the opposite direction.

To be continued....