FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I know, I know! Sorry, everyone, for the major lateness of this story. Work has been murder this past week. And I had really wanted to get work done on this chapter, but whenever I tried, I couldn't do anything. I would almost say it was writer's block, but I'm not an writer, and don't pretend to be (maybe a pseudo-writer XD). Anyway, the second zodiac has been found! What will happen now that the Tiger has joined the furs you all know and love?

Will Mike fit in with the group?

What are the extent of his powers over fire?

What new zodiac will show up now?

And it's about time for me to thank all the furs that have encouraged me and made my sad, lonely dragon life more interesting. Thank you BigBadDragon, DragoonSpirit88, Ryne, and Fluxx for your emails and comments. I love hearing from furs who enjoyed my stories. Heck, I'd love to hear from ones who didn't like them, and have suggestions to improve them. Tayles (Loken), you rule! Thank you for helping me when I first started, and putting up with me all this time. And most especially, Kito. What can I say, you've been the greatest impact on not only my writing, but also my life. I can't thank you enough! This story is dedicated to you, my love...

And now the warnings. Warning: This series is of a fictional nature, and involves violence, strong language and sex between anthromorphic beings. If this is not what you're looking for, or are under the age of 18 (or 21 depending on your state/country) go back a few pages or send an angry email to yahoo :) You've been warned!

The characters I have come up with are furs of my own creation. Any resemblance to any other creatures is purely coincidental. If you want to use any of my characters, ideas or repost my story, all you have to do is ask me. I'm sure it will be fine.

PS. If you haven't read Chapters 1-4 of this series yet, you'll be hopelessly lost O.o Just click on the "more from this author" link next to the story title to find the earlier chapters. Also, any 'dream sequences' will be shown by a border of tilds ( ~~~~~~~~~~ ).

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The New Earth - Chap 5 - Descent Into Chaos

Arriving back at their apartment just before dinner time (amazingly it had only been half a day since Uzanti awoke), Trey, Uzanti and Mike were glad they were soon going to be able to relax. Walking up the stairs to the apartments, Uzanti realized that the thought of relaxation was going to have to wait. They could hear the sound of heated arguments from down the hall. Peeking around the corner into Greg's apartment, Trey was immediatly blasted by Greg. "TREY! How could you just leave here with Uzanti, telling Natalie nothing and leaving her alone to worry about what was going on! We walked in here to find that she had cried herself to sleep!" Nat just looked kind of embarrassed as Greg yelled at her friends. Everyone was shocked, even Mike. He couldn't believe such anger could come from a rather unimposing looking raccoon. Finally settling down, Greg sat down in one of the chairs in the living/dinning room area, looking to Uzanti with a look of concern on his face. "Uzanti, I know you have to do this and that this is your quest, but you can't forget that we're here to help you, ok?"

Uzanti felt really bad about what he had done to Nat, let alone Greg and the others. Looking down at his lower paws and wringing his tail, he was able to get his feelings across easily enough. Everyone smiled at the sight of the large dragon displaying such child-like habits, and Trey started to giggle at his mate. Soon they were all laughing, the stresses of the day leaving them like steam. Eventually gaining control of herself again, Resa looked to the strange tiger in the room, blushing a little at the sight of the buff and handsome feline. "And who are you?" She tried to say this very sexy-like, but only managed to get Emily giggling again. "Oh, sorry Mike. Everyone, this is Mike Dalton from America. He's a member of the zodiac, the Tiger if you couldn't tell. Mike, this is Nat, Emily, Resa, Clay, and, uhhh...do you want him to call you Dr.Cliffton or Greg?" Uzanti asked the raccoon. Greg smiled. "Well, considering I'm not his professor or team leader, I guess it's Greg." "Hello, everyone. Glad to know that my freakishness is welcomed here."

Nat laughed. "So I guess that means you have special abilities too, huh? After seeing Uzanti floating, glowing and lifting things with his mind, I don't think anything could scare us." Mike looked at everyone in the room, realizing they wanted a demonstration. Shrugging, he walked towards a shelf that had a row of candles on it and picked up a book of matches. Looking to Uzanti for permission, Uzanti nodded, and Mike struck the match, the familiar scent and sight of the match reaching all the furs in the room. Moving his paw towards the flame, it looked like he was going to snuff it out. They all gasped as the room was filled with the red symbols of the Tiger and Fire that appeared on Mike's bare shoulders. Opening his paw, they saw the flame was still there, and dancing slightly above the pads of his paw. Smiling at the reaction of everyone in the room, he concentrated some more and made the flame grow a bit and formed it in the shape of a rose. Moving over to Resa, he presented it to her. Looking into the blue eyes of the white tiger, Resa put her hand out towards the flame flower, feeling the heat emanating from it. Closing his paw around the flame again, Mike snuffed out the flame for real, threads of smoke making their way out his fist. The red light faded as both the flame and the symbols were extinguished.

"Wow, I didn't know you could do something like that, Mike!" Uzanti said, thoroughly impressed at the powers of the Tiger. Mike looked a little embarrassed, saying "Well, after Ten-Xao told me about my powers and I stopped that fire at my restaurant, I experimented with them a bit before coming here. That cat told me something else I should be able to do, but I haven't been able to do it yet. I'll try now though. Just in case, stay away from me for a minute, I don't really know what will happen." They all backed up, not knowing what Mike was about to do. Holding his paw straight out in front of his muzzle again, Mike closed his eyes, the strain showing right away and the symbols once again appearing on his shoulders. Looking at the outstretched paw, Uzanti couldn't tell if anything was happening. Then a tiny pinprick of light formed slightly above the center of Mike's paw. Growing in size and brightness, Uzanti could see that it was a tiny flame, formed from nowhere and getting larger. Suddenly the small flame seemed to shrink, finally disappearing as Mike began shaking all over. The he collapsed to the floor, the symbols once again fading. Moving over to the tiger again, concerned, Uzanti could hear a strange clicking sound. Looking down to quivering pile of fur and muscle, he could see that Mike's teeth were chattering, the tiger folding his arms around himself. Touching Mike's shoulder, he quickly pulled back again, his paw cold from the brief touch. "Emily, go get a blanket from Greg's bed! Greg, could you make Mike some tea? He's freezing for some reason!"

Trey and Uzanti dragged the tiger to the couch as everyone went about getting things to help him. Eventually Mike warmed up, the thick blanket pushed off again and the tea finished. "What just happened?" Clay asked, slightly weirded out by everything that had happened that day. "I don't know, that was the first time anything like that has happened to me." Mike looked slightly concerned at his strange malady. Greg was sitting to the side, thinking. "Mike, have you always had a flame to build your powers off of?" "Uhhh, let's see: the fire in my restaurant, my zippo in my home, the burst gas lines, the match. Yep. Why?" Mike couldn't see where this was going. "Well, this is just a hunch, but I think your abilities must be powered by heat." Mike looked very confused at this, so Greg explained. "Uzanti was told by Ten-Xao that all the zodiac's powers are supplied by some sort of energy. The Dragon, having the powers of the mind, needs sleep to be able to use his powers. Every other time you manipulated fire there was a flame to begin with, supplying you with the heat needed to control it. When you tried to produce your own flame, there was no major heat source, so your body drained the most available heat, which was from itself." Mike nodded, everything making sense now. That was why he was so cold after he tried to produce his own fire.

"Greg, you are really good at abstract thinking for a scientist, you know that? You seem to know more about these furs than they do themselves." Clay said, looking at the raccoon. Greg smiled, getting up to put the blanket away again. "Well, I always had a healthy fantasy life when I was a human child." Taking the blanket to his room, Greg came back out, walking towards Uzanti and Greg. "I think you two should practice your powers though. It would be very...awkward...if a situation arose where you had to use your powers and you, Uzanti, fell asleep and you, Mike, started shivering." Both Uzanti and Mike looked embarrassed, but everyone else laughed. "I talked with Dr.Ranford and his backers, and they'd be willing to fund our little search, provided we supply them with proof of this apocalypse. There's a empty section of the warehouse that's over the dig that I think would be perfect for you guys to practice in, and the backers will be there tomorrow so they could get their proof."

Uzanti looked to Mike, who nodded his assent to the idea. Uzanti looked back to Greg. "Sounds like a plan, Greg, but I think I better get a good amount of sleep tonight then if I'm going to use my powers a lot tomorrow." Mike looked around. "Me too. My powers don't use dreams or whatever it is yours do, Uzanti, but I'm jetlagged and exhausted. By the way, where am I going to sleep tonight?" Resa looked like she was about to say something, but Emily put her hand over the panther's mouth and whispered into her ear. "Don't embarrass yourself!" Greg thought for a minute before saying "Well, all the other apartments already have two furs in them except mine, so you can stay here if you want." "I don't want to put you out, Greg. You are the leader after all, you should have a place all to yourself." Mike answered. "Oh, it's no problem, it's been kind of lonely anyway. I'd be glad for the company."

"Ok, that's all settled, so I guess all that's left is to eat and relax for the evening. Dr.Ranford wants us in early tomorrow, so we'll probably pack it in early to." Emily got up and went towards the door out of the apartment. "After that big lunch, I think all I want is something simple. Hope you guys don't mind if I don't eat with you tonight. You coming, Resa?" Resa managed to pull her eyes away from Mike for a minute to nod towards the mouse. "Ya, that sounds good." "Sure, Emily, that's fine. I was thinking of trying that restaurant down the street. Anyone want to join me?" Greg asked, looking to the furs that were left. Clay nodded, his stomach growling already. Nat nodded too, and she looked to Uzanti and Trey, seeing if they were going to go too. "Sounds good, Greg. You gonna come, Mike?" Trey asked the tiger, who nodded as well. "Well, don't have much of a choice, since I'm mooching a room off you guys anyway." Uzanti laughed. "Don't worry, Mike. You're not mooching. We invited you here. Anyway, us zodiac should stick together."

The six furs had a great dinner from the family-run restaurant, eating there fill and then more. Walking back, very groggily, they talked of their lives. Mike learned all about their life at school in Canada, how Greg was their professor and they came to China to study the remains of the previous zodiac for clues towards the RED virus. Everyone else heard of Mike's restaurant in the USA, a higher-class place were he had been the head chef for nearly 5 years. "So you took a holiday from work to find me then?" Uzanti asked as they walked down the quiet street. Mike laughed. "Sorry, Uzanti, I didn't come here just for you. I took a leave to explore oriental cuisine. Sure, that cat said that the Dragon just happened to be in China, but that had no bearing on my decision to leave home." Uzanti was surprised at this, but when he turned around, he saw the huge grin on the tiger's muzzle, and realized he was kidding. Punching Mike in the shoulder, he caught back up with Trey, wrapping his arm around the wolf's waist as they continued back towards the apartments. Mike noticed this, and smiled. "Well, I guess you two are more than friends then, huh?"

Uzanti quickly pulled his arm back while Trey blushed, the pink showing up through the gray fur of his face. Nat, Clay and Greg laughed at their two friends, their sudden shyness rather comical. Uzanti hadn't even realized that he had done that. "Well, don't stop on my account. I guessed something must have been up, considering Trey stood between you and about six guns. It's ok, guys, I have no problem if you two are mates. You shouldn't care about what I think anyways." Uzanti smiled, happy that he found such a great new friend, and clasped Trey's paw in his. Trey smiled too. "Thanks Mike. We shouldn't care what others think, but knowing you're cool with us is still great."

They made they're way back in a comfortable silence, stopping briefly at the garden that Uzanti had found earlier that day. Trey couldn't seem to keep himself from being next to Uzanti at all times, scritching and holding paws. He guessed that it was because of the hectic day they had after the three days Uzanti had been unconscious. Uzanti didn't mind at all, he enjoyed the constant affection his mate was showing him, but all too soon they noticed how late it was getting. Greg sighed. "Well, we should be getting you boys back home or you won't be able to do anything tomorrow."

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Uzanti walked into his apartment for the first time since dropping off his luggage three days ago. Trey had brought in fresh clothes for him at the hospital and he had spent nearly the entire day in Greg's apartment. Sitting down on the couch in the living/dining room Uzanti stretched out, his sore muscles tingling and telling him his body was exhausted. Trey joined him, cuddling into the dragon, his arms around Uzanti's waist. Uzanti placed his arm around Trey's shoulder and scratched him absentmindly behind the ear, thinking about what Ten-Xao had said. "All of the cursed will die!" The thought rang in his head, bouncing around and echoing, but gaining strength instead of weakening. Somehow his thoughts must have shown on his face, because Trey rubbed his paw along the side of Uzanti's muzzle. "It's alright. I know you can stop this prophecy, you're one of the strongest individuals I've ever known. Just remember, I may not have powers like yours but I'm here for you, and I always will be." Trey reached his head up and lightly licked the side of the dragon's muzzle. Uzanti grinned, empowered by the words of his mate. He leaned down to the wolf, locking Trey's lips with his own in a brief kiss.

Trey murred into the kiss, returning it with pleasure, but eventually breaking it. "I would love to spend all night with you like this, but you need your rest. It's been a long day, and you need to recharge for tomorrow." "Thanks Trey for your concern, but I think I can spend...a...little time..." Uzanti broke into a huge dragon yawn in the middle of his sentence, ruining whatever chance he had of changing Trey's mind. "Alright, alright, let's get some rest then. I know when I'm beaten. Geez, I didn't think my own body was going to be against me." With a light laugh, they both headed to the small bedroom, stripping to their boxers and getting under the covers. Snuggling into each other, it wasn't long before Trey could hear the gentle sound of the dragon's breath. Uzanti had already fallen asleep. "Goodnight, my dragon." Kissing Uzanti gently on his chin, Trey got comfortable, leaning against him, and soon fell to sleep too.

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Uzanti opened a set of double doors and saw that he was in the seal chamber in the underground ruins. "Ugh, am I having another one of those premonitions? They sure come quite often. I hope this won't be a common occurrence, or I won't get to see any of my normal dreams." Striding into the room, he looked around. It seemed to be no different than when he first saw it three days ago. The glowing lines were gone, as someone had pushed the boulders off of the underground springs at the sides of the room. Uzanti's gaze passed over the stairway that he knew led to the tomb chamber that was below him. "Well, as long as I'm here, I may as well see these caskets I was told about." Walking across the room, he went down the curving stairs. When he got to the bottom and walked through the doorway, he noticed there were no caskets, and the sprigs were in the room. He was back in the seal chamber again. Looking behind him he saw the stairs he just walked down, but they led down instead of up. "Hmm, guess I can't go down. Makes it's because I never saw that room, so how could I see it in my mind."

Uzanti walked across the chamber again, and looked out the large double doors he had came through to get into the chamber in the first place. The dark stone of the hallway seemed to suck in all the light cast upon it by the string of lanterns along the ceiling. Seeing and hearing nothing, he went back into the seal chamber and sat down on the edge that surrounded one of the spring pools. "Well, guess I'll wait here then until something happens." That something didn't take long though, Uzanti jumping up as his ears were assaulted by a loud crash. The only thing he could think of was that the elevator must have fallen. He then heard voices coming from both the tomb chamber and the stone hallway. Walking into the seal chamber from the stairs he had tried to go down were Trey and Natalie, both looking towards the large double doors. The voices coming from the hallway were getting louder, and Uzanti could tell they weren't friendly. There was a lot of shouting and crashes, almost like there was a fight. Proving his hunches right, a female rat went flying into the chamber, almost like she was thrown by something or someone. Right behind her was a large male ox, holding up a seemingly impossible chunk of the same stone that lined the ruins at that level. The ox was using the stone as a shield against the stream of flames that were licking at him from around the edges of it. Following him in was Mike, who was using what looked like a propane torch to fuel his powers. The stone in the ox's hands then glowed a deep red, and at two red symbols appeared on each of his curved horns. Uzanti recognized them as the symbols of the Ox and Earth. Resa had made a sketch of the symbols for him, and he had seen it earlier. "He's a zodiac!" Uzanti said out loud, though he didn't seem to be noticed at all by the furs in the chamber. Looking to the rat, Uzanti wondered if she too might be a zodiac, and why they were fighting with Mike. Uzanti then heard something that surprised him more than anything else in the strange scene, his own voice. A second later, he could see himself enter the chamber behind the tiger. "Mike, be careful, the seal chamber can't be damaged! We need it!" "I know, Uzanti! But we can't let these two destroy it either!"

Uzanti stared at the scene before him, shocked at what he was seeing and hearing. First, he hadn't seen himself in the premonition he had had about Mike. Uzanti couldn't even begin to guess at why he could see himself now. Also, these were supposed zodiac fighting with him and Mike and they wanted to destroy the seal chamber! They needed that to stop the prophecy! Why would other zodiac ever want the prophecy to come to fruition? Then Uzanti saw movement out of the corner of his eye, the rat getting back up and walking towards a worklight along the edge of the chamber. As she touched the worklight, two red symbols appeared on each of her cheeks, and the worklight glowed red briefly before disappearing entirely. The symbols were that of the Rat and Energy. "So she is a zodiac too, but what did she just do?" Uzanti thought aloud, but it seemed the Uzanti in the premonition knew exactly what was going to happen. "Look out, she's done it again!" It seemed that the Rat was now glowing red all over, the symbols still noticeable as a darker red on her cheeks. Uzanti could see the symbols on his other self's wings start to glow red, just as a loose rock lifted up and flew across the chamber towards the Rat. It hit her on the shoulder, but not before she put her hands out, beams of red light streaking out from both palms. The rock did throw her off though, the beams missing Mike and hitting the ceiling of the chamber, right above Nat and Trey! Looking up Nat screamed as large rocks started to fall and Trey closed his eyes tightly, the scream then suddenly cut off. "Nat!!! Trey!!!" Both Uzanti and his dream 'clone' screamed at once, and as one ran over to pile of rubble and dust clouds that was once his lover and best friend.

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"Trey!!!" Uzanti shot upright in the bed, Trey falling off of his chest, which he had been using as a pillow in his sleep. "Trey!!" Crying and thrashing in the blanket that was still wrapped around him, Uzanti accidentally hit the wolf in the muzzle with his elbow. "Ouch!" Trey cried out, rubbing his muzzle. "Uzanti, its alright, I'm here! What's wrong?" Trembling now and still sobbing, Uzanti grabbed Trey in a huge hug, holding him tightly. "Oh Trey! You're ok! Where's Nat? Is she ok?" Trey patted the dragon on the back as the sobs started to slow. "Of course I'm ok. And Nat's in her apartment. What's going on?"

Looking up into Trey's eyes, Uzanti gave him a quick lick on the side of the muzzle. What was he going to say? That he had a dream of them dying? He couldn't do that, he didn't even know for sure it was a premonition, since it was slightly different. No, he knew it was the future he saw. He could feel it. Ten-Xao said that his feelings would be augmented by his powers, just like how he knew he didn't have much time to save Mike. But he couldn't say anything to Trey or Nat. He didn't want to scare them. Anyways, he was able to save Mike. He would prevent this somehow too. "I feel so dumb...it was just a bad dream. I guess all the excitement from today got to me. Don't worry about it, k?" Trey looked at him, obviously not convinced, but he nodded anyway. "Ok, but I want you to remember that you're not in this alone, I'm here for you, and always will be." Trey kissed him lightly, the touch brief yet reassuring.

"I know Trey. I love you so much. Don't ever leave me." Uzanti held him tightly, not wanting to let go. Trey murred, though he was a little troubled at the choice of the dragon's words.

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The next day, a large van came by to pick everyone up to take them to the ruins. In the few days that Uzanti had been out, not much had really been done. Dr.Ranford had called Greg right away once the remains were discovered, and made the tomb chamber off limits until he arrived. Once the foremost specialist had arrived, they would be able to catalog and start testing the creatures in the caskets. Then Uzanti had gone and ruined that. Well, not exactly ruin it, he just pushed the 12 caskets to the back burner. Now though, Greg, Trey, Nat, Emily, Resa and Clay were to start cataloging the remains and eventually retrieve genetic samples from them. Even though the bodies were at least 700 years old, it was still possible to get viable samples, though bone, teeth, or even some hair, fur or scales that was preserved. When he had heard on the way that Nat and Trey would most likely be down in the tomb chamber, Uzanti paled. Mike actually looked over at him, asking if he was alright. Uzanti said he was, just excited to get started with their training.

Once they arrived at the large warehouse that was over the hole to the underground ruins, Uzanti pulled Trey and Nat away from the others. "Um, could you two promise me something? It's important." Trey seemed a little concerned, but Nat smiled and said, "sure!" "Could you promise me that you two won't ever be alone down in the tomb chamber. I...uh...think it's dangerous down there, and nobody should be down there if there isn't at least a few other furs. I mean, there's so much we still don't know right?" Uzanti scratched the back of his head nervously as he spoke, but Nat took him for his word. "That's so cute for you to be worried about us. Don't worry, all of us should be down there, and Dr.Ranford's team probably will be too, ok?" Uzanti nodded, and Nat ran off to catch up with the rest of the team. Trey stayed behind though, staring at Uzanti. "You know, you can't fool me. What did you see last night? It was a premonition, wasn't it?"

Uzanti looked at the ground, unable to meet the wolf's eyes. Finally looking up, Trey could see tears welling in the corners. "Trey, just be careful, alright. I don't know if what I saw was a premonition or not. I mean, my wings weren't glowing, right?" Uzanti felt terrible lying to Trey, but he couldn't bring himself to say that he had seen his and Nat's death. Trey started to tear as well at the emotion his dragon was feeling, and did his best to cheer him up. "Ha ha! Don't worry about me, danger's my middle name after all!"

Uzanti, maybe being a little dense because of the torrent of emotions he just went though, looked at the wolf confused. "It is?" Trey looked at Uzanti in shock. "Of course it isn't. I was kidding. You mean to tell me we've known each other almost 3 years and you don't know my middle name?" Uzanti looked a little sheepish. "Well, not having a middle name myself, I sometimes forget that others most often do. What is it then?" Trey smiled at the dragon and put his arm around him, steering him towards the large doors into the warehouse. "It's Kito. Trey Kito Sutherland. Sometimes I wonder what my parents were thinking when they named me." Trey said kiddingly as they entered the warehouse. "I think it's a great name, and anyway, Uzanti isn't any better." Uzanti wrapped his arm around the wolf's waist. "I think it's cute." Trey leant up a bit and licked the dragon's muzzle, getting a blush to show through the dark scales. "If you two are quite done, I think Trey is needed at the elevator, and Greg is waiting for us over at that empty room." Trey and Uzanti both jumped, as Mike had somehow snuck up behind them. Chuckling to himself, he walked over towards were Greg was standing. Uzanti gave Trey a quick kiss and hurried after him.

Greg smiled at Uzanti as he ran up, another blush forming on the dragon's cheeks as Greg opened the door. "Oh c'mon Uzanti! Don't get so embarrassed." Mike gave him a light punch in the arm and followed Greg though the door into another section of the warehouse. It looked much like the main warehouse, a big open space with lots of equipment and junk lining the walls, only quite a bit smaller. It was still more than large enough for their purposes. "Ok, here ya go! Mike, there's a space heater and a torch over there in that tool locker that you can use. Uzanti, there's lots of stuff in here for you to practice moving, from light to heavy. Don't forget about to try out your telepathy too, though. I'll let you know when lunch is. Oh, and the backers shoud be by to see you two this afternoon, so prepare a good show for them. Ask anyone if you need anything, and me or Dr.Ranford will be up in a minute. Good luck, and be careful."

"Thanks Greg!" Mike yelled after the raccoon, Uzanti adding his thanks as well. Walking over to the tool locker, Mike rummaged through it for a bit before coming back with a small but powerful looking space heater and a propane torch. Uzanti paled at the sight of the torch. It was the same one that the tiger had been using in his premonition. Mike looked at Uzanti for a minute, before tapping him on the shoulder. "You ok? You look like you just saw a ghost or something." Uzanti shook his head, breaking apart the image of Trey and Nat that had formed there. "Ya, I'm fine, just zoned out there for a minute. Let's get started." Mike look unconvinced, but nodded. "Am I really that bad of a liar?" Uzanti thought as he followed Mike out towards the center of the room.

They practiced for a few hours on the powers they knew they could already control without problems. With the help of the torch, Mike was able to make the flame do anything he wanted. Shrinking it to the smallest flame and making it grow to mammoth size was rather easy, and he could do that without the help of the heater. Next he tried some fine manipulation, like with the flame rose he had shown everyone else the night before. He started to feel cold after a while, the amount of concentration needed to make the birds, bugs and other objects he tried starting to drain his body heat. Turning on the heater, he found it much easier to sculpt the flame to his desire, eventually managing such control as to make a flame bee fly into a lock and blow it apart and make a life-size flame clone of Uzanti. Uzanti on the other hand had no problems exploring his telekinesis. The first few times he used it really drained him, but after the couple of hours of practice he was still energetic. He tried lifting huge lockers and pieces of equipment that were easily over a tonne, and managed without much difficulty. He also tried to manipulate small objects, lifting up single grains of sand. It seemed he didn't need to be able to see the object to be able to manipulate it. As long as he could picture it, and it was there, his powers would work. Uzanti also found a great use for his powers after a suggestion from Mike. Concentrating on himself, he managed to be able to lift himself, allowing him to fly and float any way he wanted. Mike was able to do something similar, using flames to provide a 'platform' for him to stand on, and moving it forwards on waves of fire.

Finally, Resa came in to get them for lunch. She happened to walk in right when Mike had engulfed himself in a second skin of fire, and Uzanti was floating about 12 feet above the ground, a cloud of objects floating and swirling around him. She let out a little yelp at the sight before controlling herself again. Mike stopped the flames, and walked over to her, placing his arm around her shoulder. "Sorry Resa, that was probably startling." Resa melted at the touch, and just nodded dumbly at him. "Um, Resa, was there something you wanted?" Uzanti asked, smirking as she stared at Mike. "What? Oh...ya...lunch is here." Snapping out of it, she quickly fled, embarrassed. "Heh, you have quite the effect on her, you know." Uzanti grinned at Mike, who smiled himself. "Ya, I know, I'm a flirt. She's cute though."

Walking out into the main warehouse, Uzanti saw most of the others sitting at a large conference table in one of the corners. The table had a nice choice of sandwiches and salads on it, someone obviously had gone to a deli or something to pick it all up. Grabbing a ham and cheese sandwich and a bottle of water, Uzanti moved over to sit next to Trey. "So how's the training going?" Trey asked around a mouthful of salad. "Heh, chew your food first, love. It's going great. We've both used our powers a lot, and haven't had any problems so far." Greg looked at the two males, a look of surprise on his face. "You mean you've been using your powers all this time without a single problem. I thought the ease of using your abilities would increase, but not this much. I half expected to have Resa come back saying you were asleep and Mike was a frozen tiger-sicle." Everyone laughed at this, Resa laughing a bit longer than the others until Emily stomped on her paw. Mike smiled. "Nope, no problems at all. The heater helped to prevent me from using my own body heat, and Uzanti seems to have great endurance."

Dr.Ranford smiled. "Well, it looks like we got some of the most powerful furs in the world with us then. If you can use your powers this much and this well, I'm sure you can stop this terrible prophecy." Mike and Uzanti smiled at the polar bear. Soon the whole table was shouting out there own encouragements. Both Mike and Uzanti blushed at the support they were getting. Soon, lunch was finished, and everyone went back to their assigned jobs. Greg's whole team went back down to the ruins, Cathy and Travis joining them. Uzanti saw the cast on the koala's arm, and reminded himself to thank Travis later for his help in the seal chamber. Even though it wasn't his fault, he still felt responsible for his injuries. Dr.Ranford and Jenna, the only human at the dig, went off to one of the side worktables to discuss something. Mike looked to Uzanti. "Well, should we get back to work?" Uzanti nodded, but stayed where he was. "Yes, but if you don't mind, I'd like to try using my other powers here while seated." Mike looked confused, but then remembered what Greg said earlier. "Oh, your telepathy...wait, you need me for this?" Uzanti grinned. "Well, ya. You don't expect me to practice with myself do you? And everyone else is busy." Mike shifted in his chair, uncomfortable with the idea of having his mind read. "Don't worry, I was told by Ten-Xao that I can't invade a person's mind. You're thoughts are safe." Mike looked up. "Heh, you're reading my mind already though." Uzanti smiled. "No, that was just reading your movements. I promise you I will not invade you privacy, and you can end it at anytime, ok?" Mike nodded. "Alright. I trust you."

Sitting back and closing his eyes, Uzanti reached with his mind towards Mike's. He had never tried this before, but he somehow instinctively knew what to do.

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Making the connection, he opened his eyes to find him standing on nothing with Mike standing across from him, darkness surrounding them. "Hmm, ok, we've connected and are in my mind." Uzanti said. Mike smirked, looking around. "Not much in here, huh?" Uzanti laughed. "I think I was just insulted. But you're right, let's liven this up a bit." Thinking, Uzanti remembered the garden in which he first discovered his powers. Like with a rock thrown into a pond, ripples of colour and sound floated out from him, resolving into a beautiful garden in daytime with a fountain splashing behind them. "Nice effects. Ok, so I can see your memories I guess. What else can we do here?" Mike asked, looking around and touching a lily. "Wow, this feels real!" Uzanti bent down and touched the grass, feeling the mixture of coarse and soft. "You're right, it does feel real. Guess this telepathy is different from my premonitions, were everything is, well, not." The topic of his premonitions brought to mind his dream last night, and Trey and Nat being buried. Suddenly Mike gasped as the scene around them changed from the brightly lit garden to the rather dim seal chamber.

"No, no! I don't want to see this! Go away!" Uzanti yelled. The room around them shattered like glass.

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Mike and Uzanti found themselves back in the warehouse at the conference table, Uzanti shaking and rubbing his eyes, trying to erase the terrible vision still before them. Mike stared at Uzanti, surprised at the strong emotions the dragon was showing. Moving around the table and sitting next to him with his arm around his shoulder, Mike tried to console him. "Hey, Uzanti, whatever that was it's gone now. But I'm here if you want to talk about it. It might help." Uzanti looked into Mike's blue eyes, feeling the honesty and care behind them. He thought he should tell him, since it did involve him, and with his help they might be able to stop the horrendous premonition from happening. "I had another premonition last night, much like the one I had when we saved you. We're battling with two zodiacs who want to destroy the seal chamber for some reason, and...Nat...and...Tr..Trey..." Uzanti couldn't go on, the tears blurring his vision and sobs taking his voice. Mike rubbed the dragon's back, understanding what Uzanti couldn't find the words to tell. "Don't worry. The fact that we know what is to happen means that we can now prevent it. You know I will do everything in my power to stop your friend and mate from being hurt. Do you know when these zodiac will attack?" Uzanti shook his head, wiping the tears away with a napkin from lunch. "No, I don't. There wasn't the sense of urgency like when I saw you at the airport, but a few things have fit in with the premonition already. Us being here, the others being down in the ruins, that propane torch." Mike nodded. "So that's why you freaked out back there. I knew it was something other than what you said, but didn't want to force the subject. So it could be today?" Uzanti looked down at his shirt, fiddling with the wolfpaw charm under it. "I'm pretty sure it will be today."

Mike got up, pulling the large dragon with him. "Well, let's stop it from happening. We'll go down to the seal chamber and get Nat and Trey out of there. You don't need to explain right now, I'm sure they'll trust you. Then we'll go outside to the main road and wait for these renegade zodiacs there. It's the only road to the dig. That should prevent anything from happening the way you saw it, right?" Uzanti smiled at Mike, and grabbed him in a big hug. "Thanks Mike. That's perfect. It's so much better than just waiting for something to happen." Mike blushed a bit. 'Hey, no problem. I don't want to see anything happen to my new friends, right? But if you don't let me go, your mate might see us and get jealous." Uzanti let go of Mike, blushing a bit. "Heh, ya. Let's go get them out of there."

Just then, the elevator came back up. Looking at the furs coming off, Uzanti saw everyone that had gone down except for Natalie and Trey. His heart stopped beating and his blood froze. Running over to Greg, Mike right behind him, he quickly asked, "where's Nat and Trey? Why aren't they with you?" Greg looked a little confused as he carried a tray of test tubes off towards one of the examination tables. "There was only one more sample to get, so they're taking care of it so we can get started on these. Why, what's..." Greg wasn't able to finish the question as a loud crash cut him off. Looking towards the main entrance for the warehouse, it felt like he had turned to stone. Standing in the gaping hole now in the large doors were the same Rat and Ox from his dream. He could hear Mike gasp beside him and run off. Uzanti couldn't move, his body filled with dread.

The Ox looked around, finally settling on Uzanti. "Ahh, the Dragon. Glad you were easy to find. It will make our job much easier." The Ox spoke with an accent he couldn't quite place, maybe South American. He wore simple overalls and a white t-shirt. He was huge, but not overly defined, packed with power without being flashy. He snorted as he looked his opponent over, his brown eyes drilling into Uzanti's. "Yes, it saves us from destroying this place, though we will still destroy the seal chamber anyway." The Rat, for being a smaller female, spoke with a commanding voice. She wore what looked like a business suit, all in black which contrasted quite well with her white fur. Uzanti heard a sound behind him, Mike having returned with the propane torch he was using earlier in paw. "Aah, the Tiger too. Now that you're both here, the party can begin." The Ox said, stalking forward. The Rat bent down and grabbed a sheet of metal that had broken off when the doors had been blasted in. "Mike, look out, she does something with the stuff she touches and makes these beams of energy!" Uzanti shouted, his rage at the two zodiacs driving him into action. "Impressive, Dragon, that you already know my powers. Not that it will help you." The metal seemed to flow into her hand as the symbols appeared on her cheeks. Uzanti picked up a nearby table with his mind, his own symbols glowing on the back of his wings, and tossed it at her, only to have a pillar of rock come out of the ground to break it in half a good distance from her. Looking over to the Ox, he could see his symbols glowing on his horns and a huge grin on his lips. Mike meanwhile had stepped off to the side, trying to get closer to the Ox. "Stupid feline, what do you expect to do with that torch?" The Rat had followed Mike, her body glowing red now. "You may know who we are, but you obviously weren't told of our abilities. A shame, for we know of yours." Mike yelled back as he lit the torch with the built in flint, and a huge flame hawk shot out of the nozzle. The Rat's eyes went wide as the hawk flew towards her on wings of flame. Pointing her palms at the hawk, a blast of red energy shot out, blasting the hawk with such force Mike wasn't able to keep the flames together.

"Everyone, get out of here! It's not safe!" Uzanti yelled, and all the others quickly took his advice, running for a side door. The Ox picked up a chunk of rock that appeared on a pillar in front of him, and tossed it towards the group of furs. Uzanti quickly reached out with his mind and stopped the boulder in mid-flight, but the diversion had worked, and the Ox plowed into him with a tackle of such force it knocked him into the air and more than 12 feet away. Stunned, Uzanti tried to get up, only to have the shadow of the Ox tower over him. "It's over, Dragon. You shall not destroy the world." The Ox made a fist, and a sphere of rock formed around Uzanti. Unable to breath, he started to panic, using his powers to try and bust a hole in the side of the sphere. Suddenly, the sphere crumbled, and Uzanti fell out, panting for air. The Ox was across the room and smoking a little. "That makes us even from before I guess, huh?" Mike asked, walking up to Uzanti and offering his free hand to help him up. Looking towards the main doors, he saw the Rat lying on the ground. "It seems she can't use her powers too often, or I would have been blasted easily. We should get them out of here before they head down below."

Uzanti nodded, but something the Ox had said was bothering him. "The Ox said that he was going to stop me from destroying the world. Why would he think that?" "Who knows, we don't have to time to question them right...ugh!" A blast of red light hit Mike in the back, knocking him forwards onto Uzanti. The Rat ran by towards the elevator, the Ox making his way that way as well, although slowly. "Mike, you ok?! Wake up!" Uzanti shook the tiger, Mike's eyes fluttering open. "Ow, that Rat packs a wallop. Where'd they go?" Uzanti looked over, and saw that the elevator was gone. "Down! C'mon, we have to stop them!" Uzanti was wide-eyed with fear, the memories of the dream floating to the surface of his thoughts. Mike got up gingerly, but found that he was relatively in good shape. Heading to the elevator shaft, he turned to Uzanti. "They may be the zodiac we're searching out, but if they destroy the seal chamber, it's all over right? There's a chance the zodiac spirit might be passed on?" Uzanti thought of that. "I don't know. But you're right, if the seal is gone, nothing can be done about the prophecy. All furs will be killed. Do what you must." Mike nodded, and turned the torch on again. Taking a ball of flame into his hand, he hurled it at the machinery on top of the elevator shaft. Breaking the ball apart, he directed all the flames into the machinery with his powers, melting parts. The main cable shrieked, then snapped, leaving the elevator to plummet to the bottom of the ruins. "C'mon, let's go." Mike said. Uzanti nodded, and picked both himself and Mike up with his powers, and flew them down the shaft.

At the bottom, Uzanti let go of them and they dropped the foot or so to the ground. They both sunk into the ground to their knees. "What the hell is this? I thought you said these tunnels were all rock." Mike asked, quite confused. Uzanti looked around, and saw the elevator atop a pile of the same stuff they had sunk into, amazingly intact. "The Ox! He used his control over earth to break the rock up into dust, creating a cushion to land on. They're still alive, and now are even closer to the seal! We have to stop them!" Running down the hallway, Mike in the lead with a ball of flame ready, Uzanti suddenly pulled him back, just before a beam of red light could strike the wall where he would have been. "Thanks, Uzanti! How did you...." Uzanti picked up a boulder with his mind, tossing it at the Rat who dodges it. "My powers, I guess." Getting back up, Mike extinguished the ball of flame in his hand, and pointed the torch in front of him. The small flame suddenly more than doubled in size and intensity. A section of the wall bulged out, and the Ox grabbed a huge chunk of it, shielding both himself and the Rat from the flames, backing down the hallway. "We have to get rid of that Rat. Her abilities are too powerful. I can't stop her." Mike said as he pushed forward, trying to manipulate the flames to reach around the rock the Ox was holding. Each time a flame would reach around though, the rock would stretch to stop it. "Leave that to me!" Reaching out with his mind, Uzanti picked the Rat up off the ground. He could hear he startled yelp, as he threw her as hard as he could backwards. Looking around Mike, he saw that he threw her right into the seal chamber. The Ox continued backing up, walking into the seal chamber too, Mike following him, the flames licking at the doorway and walls. "Mike, be careful, the seal chamber can't be damaged! We need it!" Mike turned around and shouted back "I know, Uzanti! But we can't let these two destroy it either!"

Entering the chamber, Uzanti could see Nat and Trey standing back by the stairwell to the tomb chamber. Struck with a sudden burst of fear, he looked over to where he had tossed the Rat, only to see her over near a worklight, absorbing it into herself like in his premonition. "Look out, she's done it again!" Picking up the closest object to him with his mind, Uzanti threw the rock at the Rat, hoping against hope that this time it would stop her before it was too late. The rock hit its mark, but twin beams of red light still left her palms, only to miss mike and strike the ceiling of the chamber, right above Nat and Trey. "No, not again!" Uzanti shouted, Nat screamimg as the rubble started to fall, Trey closing his eyes tightly. "Nat!! Trey!!!" Uzanti ran over to the large pile of rock, the dust making his eyes water. Or were they watering for other reasons? Touching a rock, reaching with his mind, he knew they weren't there. He couldn't sense them at all. They were already dead! "No...NO....NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Turning, Uzanti focused his rage and grief on the two who made this all happen. Picking both the Rat and the Ox off the ground with his mind, he held them there, the two of them struggling. "How DARE you!! You burst in here, for no reason, and kill my mate and my best friend!! Why? WHY!?" Uzanti squeezed them, both of the zodiacs grimacing at the invisible pressure. The Rat started to scream with pain. Mike walked over, afraid of what his friend might do in this condition. "Uzanti, I won't try to understand what you're going through, but killing them won't solve anything." Uzanti smiled evilly. "No, but it will make me MUCH happier. They took the two most important furs in my life. They took Trey! They deserve death for that!" Both the Rat and Ox looked terrified. "Do something Rico! He's going to kill us!" The Rat pleaded, trying to look at the Ox, but Uzanti's mental grip was too strong for even that simple movement. "What am I supposed to do, Jess? I can't touch the ground to recharge my powers, and I'm still too weak from the elevator trick. We're dead." Tears streaming from his eyes, Uzanti held them there, making them wait for what was to come. Mike put his arms around Uzanti in a hug, whispering to him. "Uzanti, would have Trey and Nat wanted this? Would they want their friend, their lover, to kill for them? Please, let them down."

Uzanti sobbed, realizing that Mike was right. His rage left him, but know that he could think clearly, he had to know. He wispered back to Mike. "You're right. But I must know now why. I'm going to connect with them both." Reaching out with his mind, Uzanti found the two furs, their minds full of fear and regrets. Connecting with them, he brought them into his mind.

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Looking around, Jess and Rico could see nothing. Worried and still scared, Jess screamed when Uzanti materialized in front of them. "Don't worry, this is not real. My name is Uzanti by the way. You're in my mind, I'm communicating with you telepathically." Jess looked even more scared. "Don't worry? We're in the mind of someone who wants to kill us! How can I not worry?!" Rico moved over and placed his large paw on the rat's shoulder. "Jess, if he wanted to kills us, he could have easily. We're here for another reason." The ox looked to Uzanti at this, who nodded. "First, I have to show you something." The blackness around them rippled, and they could see that they were on a school campus of some sort. The same eagle morph they had seen in the seal chamber was hugging a human male, who looked vaguely like the dragon in front of them. The scene changed to show the same wolf that was also in the chamber kissing Uzanti in a kitchen somewhere. The scene shifted again to show Uzanti, the eagle, the wolf and a raccoon talking and laughing in what looked like a mall. The scene shifted one last time to a bedroom, where the wolf was snuggled up against the dragon, both sleeping peacefully. Uzanti could feel the tears welling up again, and started sobbing again, finally letting his emotions pour our entirely, crying harder than he had ever in his life. His best friend was gone. His mate was gone. He would never again hear Nat's cheerful voice or feel Trey's soft fur against his scales.

"Oh, Rico, what have we done?" Jess asked, starting to cry herself, the ox also tearing up. "My god, Jess, we've ruined his life. I wouldn't blame him if he killed us right now." Getting control of himself, Uzanti managed to be able to talk again. "I'm glad you understand. But the reason you're hear is because I must understand. Why are you two, both members of the zodiac, trying to destroy the only thing that can save the lives of all furs in the world?" Jess looked at Rico, her eyes still misted with tears, and Rico looked back towards the dragon. "We were told that the seal will be used to destroy the world, and the Dragon was seeking the other zodiac to accomplish this task."

Uzanti was shocked at this. "Who? Who told you this?" Jess wrung her tail in her paws. "It was this tabby named Ten-Xao. He came to me in my dreams and...." Jess stopped when she noticed the look on Uzanti's face. "Ten-Xao! He's the one that told me of the prophecy and that I was to gather the zodiac! Why would he tell you something totally different?" Rico shook his head. "All I know is what we were told. How do we know who is right?" Uzanti thought on that. "I see it like this. Either way, we can't take the risk. If the entire zodiac are needed to save the world, then we must find them. If all the zodiac will destroy the world somehow, then we must hope that we are smart enough to see it and strong enough to stop it."

Jess looked at the dragon, the honesty and the emotion he had displayed touching her. "You're right. We must seek out the zodiac. We don't know if we can trust Ten-Xao now, but there must be a purpose for us, and we shall find that purpose. I only hope you can trust us. I know it won't bring back your mate and friend, but I am so very sorry for what we have done. Can you forgive us?" Rico nodded his agreement, and Uzanti smiled, releasing his connection with them but not before saying, "yes, I think we can be friends."

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Uzanti slumped forward to his hands and knees as Jess and Rico floated to the ground. Mike stood ready with the torch, but Uzanti reached up and put his paw on the tiger's forearm. "It's ok, Mike. They're with us now." The rat and ox nodded as they moved forward hand in hand. Mike looked torn, but decided to trust Uzanti. Getting up, Uzanti smiled to the two. "Well, now that you understand what you did, I think I can move on. I have to prevent the destruction of all furs, and I know...I know that Nat and....Trey..." Mike put his arm around Uzanti again. "Yes, they would've wanted us to continue on. C'mon guys, I think we have a lot to discuss. And you need to fill me in, remember, I wasn't on that little trip you just went on.

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Nat awoke, lying on her side on some sort of hardwood flooring. She sat upright in the dark room, confused and scared. One minute she had been in the seal chamber, watching a fight between Uzanti and Mike and two random furs she had to assume were zodiac due to the powers they possessed, then she was screaming as piles of rubble were falling on her, then she was here. "Wherever here is." Nat thought out loud. "I don't know where we are yet either, Nat." Nat jumped, then smiled when she turned around and saw Trey sitting there cross-legged on the floor behind her. "Oh, Trey, what happened? I thought we were going to be crushed!" Nat hugged him, Trey returning the hug and shaking his head. "I don't know. I thought the same thing, then closed my eyes, waiting for it too end. Then I awoke here. I don't even know how long we were out for. C'mon, lets look around."

Getting up from the floor, Trey offered his hand to Nat, helping her up too. Walking carefully in the dark room, they went through the doorway and down a hallway. "Hey Trey, you notice what this hallway is made of?" Nat asked as they rounded a corner. "Yes, it feels like the same type of stone from the ruins. Maybe we're still in them, just somewhere they haven't explored yet." Nat thought about that. "But then why did that last room have wood floors. I don't think they would have put that down here 700 years ago." "You're right. Look, there's some light up ahead."

Rounding the corner, they could see a sliver of yellow light on the black stone of the hallway. It was the same stone as the ruins, complete with murals and everything. Heading further down the hall, they could see that the light was escaping through a cracked doorway. Trey looked to Nat, who nodded her readiness. Opening the door, they were both momentarily blinded by the light. Squinting into the room, Trey could finally see a familiar figure before them.

"Welcome to my prison. Well, I guess it will be your prison now too." It was Lee, the red panda that was their guide until he went missing after Uzanti activated the seal. He was pointing a gun at them.