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Mage Ch. 3

Making Friends

Rowen yawned then stretched with a grunt, glad to wake up his stiff muscles from their slumber as he was ready to take on another day but he inwardly groaned once he remembered what took place last night and it was not a good one.

The memory was still fresh in his mind...he was returning home from the little rescue mission and was quite joyous on how everything turned out towards the end. However, once the feline stepped through that door he was met with an anger that even _he_himself found horrifying.

Rowen's father looked very cross to the point where it looked as if a demon were actually possessing him with his arms crossed over his chest, a deep frown etched onto that golden cream furred face and tail lashing wildly. The young feline knew what was coming so he braced himself by putting on a neutral expression as he's always done because whenever Alexander was irate there would be a very long talk with some shouting involved and that was never pretty.

A strange thing happened though that night because right then and there the man just sighed in defeat and told his son to just go to bed. The young feline thought his father was joking or something to that affect but as he looked at him more he believed something was wrong but didn't question it and did as he was told, shrugging it off.

Now that morning had arrived, Rowen briefly wondered what might take place once he's done with school but he let those thoughts slip deep into the back of his mind. He didn't have time to worry about that so with another morning yawn he got up out of bed and trudged on over to the restroom.

As he quickly brushed up on keeping himself hygienic and groomed, his mind wandered over to Xun, causing the lion to sigh softly before sauntering back into his room and quickly changing into the school uniform. He wanted so badly to stay with him after what happened yesterday night and to hold him tight in an ever loving embrace...confess to the panda on how he really felt...touch his soft fur...and that was when Rowen had to stop because now there was an obvious bulge in his pants.

'Thankfully I'm not in public right now otherwise that would have been really embarrassing' Rowen thought with a sigh of relief once his excitement had gone down then looked himself in the mirror to make sure everything was fine. After double checking he quickly exited his room and made his way towards the door, stepping outside.

Taking a deep breath of the fresh yet cool morning air around him he strode over to his car but not before locking up the house of course...he definitely didn't want his father to berate him on forgetting to do such a simple task as that but really, there wasn't any need to since the house has a ward around it like the others in Cloverfield.

Climbing inside his car Rowen closed the door, strapped on the seat belt, turned on the ignition and drove on down towards the school which didn't take very long to get there when it only took ten minutes. After parking he quickly grabbed his backpack before getting out and headed towards the building to where he was greeted by everyone with smiles all around.

"Hey Rowen! How did you sleep?" Xun asked with a smile that could brighten up a room on a gloomy day.

"Well enough" Rowen responded while trying to suppress a yawn that was coming on while his tail swayed about lazily behind him. Truth be told, he did have a very good relaxing rest but that happened after worrying about the panda and how his father might punish him though these thoughts were pushed back once he surveyed the two pandas. "And what about you two? Doing alright?"

Justin nodded then smiled at the feline. "Yeah we're fine! Our injuries healed up pretty well over the night and left no visible scars thankfully, otherwise our parents would have freaked out..." Both bears shivered at this, seeming as if they were recalling a memory that was only reserved for themselves

"Well that's good to hear dude" Zane said with his arms folded across his chest.

"Yeah...was scary a little with the hell hounds but we managed!" Gwen chirped with a positive thumbs up.

"It would have gone a lot faster if I could burn them..." Damien pouted with his ears fallen back onto his skull and arms folding over his chest like Zane was doing.

Justin chuckled a little at the display before his face brightened up. "Oh! Before I forget...and this has been bugging me for awhile now...why haven't any of you mentioned this to your parents?" As soon as those words left his mouth, everyone averted his gaze.

"Justin...think about it. What would happen if one of these guys were in serious trouble and we told mom and dad what's going down? They'd probably tell us to stay home while they take care of the problem." Xun reasoned out which made the younger bear pause.

"You're right...sorry everyone" Justin said with complete sincerity in his voice that made everyone have their joyous attitudes come back.

Aside from the meager question, Rowen's mind went to brainstorm mode because something wasn't right yesterday and this had been nagging on him ever since the night before so now was the perfect time to voice out his curiosity. "Don't worry about it Justin but I have a question and I hope you or your brother might answer this."

Both bears kept their eyes on the lion and nodded while the rest focused on the three to pay very close attention to what was going to be said.

"Alright..." He needed to ask this to make sure he was correct but if he was that would bring in a lot more questions that had to be answered. "Your father has set up a ward around the house right?"

"For as long as I can remember there has always been one..." Justin answered, trailing off a little with his chin meeting the fingers of his paw.

"Yeah and when we woke up this morning dad never mentioned anything about it so we took it that the spell wasn't destroyed or messed with...why?" Xun asked with curiosity showing in his tone.

'That can't be right...it had to have been tampered with in order for any demon to enter a home, mage or mundane alike. But even if this was the case...why them?' It struck him as odd because of the sheer number of hell hounds that entered the pandas home that night and plus, someone who could have tampered with the ward to unleash those things without being detected must have had amazing skill.

"Rowen?" Xun called out, breaking the feline out of his momentary train of thought.

"Oh! Sorry," Rowen answered with an idle scratch to his head before continuing on "I was thinking that this might happen again...not just one night and everything's fine." He saw everyone agree to this, having taken on grim looks and he couldn't blame them because really it didn't seem likely as a random encounter.

"Although I agree with you...what made you come to this?" Justin asked with a slight tilt of his head in a questioning manner.

"Well if you really think about it, why go through so much trouble to send in demons to one home? Especially when you have to deal with a very complex protection spell." Rowen explained with a wag of a clawed finger as if he were teaching a class himself.

"But every home in Cloverfield has that so what makes this any different?" Damien asked with the classical canine confusion showing on his face.

Rowen had to admit that the husky was right on this. Every home in Winnipeg, Manitoba had a ward set up by the owner and not only that, the council would know if anyone or anything messed with the spell. He was about to voice that fact but unfortunately he was too late as the morning bell struck its usual chord.

"We'll continue later" Justin said before turning around and walked away from the group to head to class with Damien in tow.

"Well that was interesting." Gwen shook her head a bit before casting her eyes towards the feline with a concerned look. "Do you really think this will happen again?" As if on cue, all eyes were on Rowen now awaiting an answer.

A certain amount of fear gripped Rowen a little. He was scared for Xun's safety and worried that whoever or whatever it is that's doing this, he'd be too late to rescue him in time but just as quickly as those negative thoughts came, they were flushed out. With a deep sigh he focused his eyes on the remaining three though more entirely on the panda. "I have no doubt it will occur again so it would be best to be on guard."

"Ha! I can take care of whatever gets thrown at me no problem!" Xun exclaimed with a fist meeting the pads of his paw, added with a cocky grin on his muzzle.

"Right..." Gwen drawled with a smirk of her own then eyed the panda with mirth showing in her eyes. "And what did we see when we came upon you two that night?" As soon as those words left, Xun faltered and pouted, grumbling under his breath.

Both furs laughed at their friends expense but Rowen didn't join in. He was still planning on what to do about this problem, even if it was little but deep down the feline knew that this would become big if it continued without any action done.

A deep sigh escaped him as they walked down the hall towards homeroom, giving his mind complete rest over the situation. With his mind wandering around he didn't notice a voice calling out until it got louder with each shout, causing him and everyone to turn their heads to see an Australian Shepherd.

"Jake!" Gwen cried out with excitement and ran up to the canine giving him a lung crushing hug. It definitely seemed to be effective because the guy was thrashing about, trying to get out of the grip but to no avail. "Oh my gosh I was so worried!" She said while giving the dog more squeezes.

Rowen was very perplexed by the sudden intrusion and from looking at the other two, both young men were just as confused. Eventually the ferret let go, though from the very saddened facial expression she wanted to hug him again.

"Mind explaining who this is dudette?" Zane spoke up after clearing his throat to catch their attention. The shepherd opened his mouth to answer but was soon stopped as Gwen grabbed his arm and speed walked, saying that introductions will wait until lunch time.

"This will be an interesting year" Rowen muttered to himself as he followed everyone into the classroom.

~~~

"So are you gonna deliver your promise?" Damien asked in a hushed tone as everyone in the classroom worked on some history lesson that Justin failed to pay very much attention to since his mind wandered elsewhere.

He was still hung up over what Rowen had spoke of and was deeply worried that it might happen again. It was unbelievable at first but the more he thought on it, the more it seemed that they were targeted and for what reason he had no idea.

"Hmm?" Justin responded with a startled look after having his elbow bumped. The husky repeated his question again once he saw the confused look on the pandas face and at this, he hesitated to answer.

It wasn't like Justin hated the guy, he was far from feeling that emotion but he wasn't sure if he could handle having that closeness again, especially after what happened to the last person he became attached to and that was three years ago. He promised and devoted himself to never have any friends around him ever again to avoid having the pain dealt to him once more.

"Justin?" A very small whine came out of Damien after having to wait for an answer and the display became even more pitiful when his ears sunk into his skull, tail drooping and eyes becoming wide and sad.

Justin tried not to break, he really did this time as he stared at the husky with as much coldness he could muster but eventually he gave in. "Gods why do you do that?" In answer to that, the husky simply stuck out his tongue in a playful fashion and shrugged.

"But really, what's your answer?" He asked with those ruby eyes glinting merrily in the light and tail wagging slowly, though it looked like he was trying to keep it still but failing horribly.

"Well..." Justin trailed off, eyes going straight up to the ceiling to think about it for a moment though what he was really trying to do was make this canine suffer a little. Once his eyes settled back to Damien, he tried not to smile as he saw those triangular ears were up and still along with the curled up tail doing the same. 'Such a puppy' He thought with a mischievous grin.

However, before he could give out his response someone cleared their throat and as both boys turned they found it was their teacher Mr. Zandowsky giving them a hard glare. A middle aged skunk who was in his mid 30's and despite his age, he looked pretty young and very healthy to boot and if memory served correctly the man came from Brasov, Romania.

It has always fascinated Justin to see people from another country and learn every detail about where they came from. Some dabbled on to the history of their hometown, some told hilarious or sad stories and then there were some that only provided little information because the person just didn't care but even so, he was truly amazed.

Putting his eyes back to the paper Justin worked on his mundane assignment, completing it within five minutes time since it was basically the same thing that was covered in middle school. No sooner had he finished the bell for lunch rang throughout the building, causing everyone to jump out of their seats and dash for the door as if their life depended on it.

"So..." Damien drawled once they were out in the hall, persistence evident in him to the point where it almost made Justin want to kick the boy.

He thought on it once again. It sounded nice to go and spend a little bit of time with the canine's friends and get to know them all and he really did indeed promise to do this but deep down he just couldn't. It would hurt too much if he got too close to any of them.

"Sorry...I don't feel like going" Justin finally responded but once he took a look upon Damien his heart hurt. What he saw was a very saddened looking husky who looked like he got tossed out of the house.

"Well that's a bummer..." Damien muttered out with slight depression in his voice but surprisingly that downtrodden attitude was replaced with the usual upbeat one with a smile that could brighten up a room full of gloomy furs. "Oh well, we got a whole four years so you'll warm up to us in no time!"

Justin's eyes went wide like saucers for a few moments before shaking his head rapidly. It was honestly perplexing to him to see someone clearly wanting to be his friend, even though he devoted himself to never have that kind of relationship ever again. "You seem sure of yourself..."

In response to that, Damien cocked his head to the right. "Why wouldn't I be?" He asked with that ever present smile on his muzzle.

"Well...I mean..." No explanation would come out of the bear and he simply sighed in frustration before glancing back up at the canine with a tired expression. "Let's just go to lunch, I'm hungry." In order to emphasize his point, his stomach growled loudly to the point where even the husky could hear.

"Seems like you're more hungry than I am" Damien chuckled and got a swift but soft punch to the arm. He didn't say anything more since it was apparent that he was in need of nourishment as well and both walked silently to the cafeteria.

"Oh my gosh it's so good to see you again! I had a feeling we were missing someone in our little group!" Gwen exclaimed with as much enthusiasm as possible with her paws flailing about.

Xun tried hard not to die of laughter because the ferret was acting just like the type of girls she hated which was the gossipy ones though there was much more to that list and he really didn't bother bringing all of that up. Aside from this however, what caught his attention along with Rowen and Zane was the Australian Shepherd named Jake Snow.

Judging from the uniform, he seemed to have an athletic build and it was apparent that he wasn't the type to use violence because whenever such a topic came up he would cringe. Xun did think he was a little cute and it was mostly because of his eyes, the color of amethyst but he didn't see a possible future with him. What really threw him off was the fact that the guy was a monk and he didn't know that the school allowed such people but evidently it did because as Gwen stated and pointed out to the bear...they existed.

"Well it's not like I was gone forever...I was a little under the weather" Jake said with a meek chuckle before nodding to everyone present at the table. "And were my answers to each of your questions satisfactory?"

'He sounds like he's not from here...' And this was definitely true because each word, each syllable was pronounced oddly perfect. Xun was about voice this out but he was a second too late as the feline next to him did this.

"Yes but I have another one and I'm sure everyone here is thinking the same...you don't sound Canadian so where do you come from?" Rowen asked, completely ignoring the scowl he was receiving.

At this, the shepherd blinked for a few seconds in confusion before giving out a chuckle. "I had a feeling most of you would catch on to how I speak and hoped that someone would ask that," He let another chuckle go then cleared his throat "but let me not ramble, I come from Lyon France." Everyone's eyes went wide.

"Are you serious?!" Zane exclaimed with surprise and leaned forward, eyes scanning the dog as if he were searching for a lie within him. "You're joking"

"If you think I am..." Jake trailed off with a bemused smirk then closed his eyes for a minute before opening them again. "Then try and figure out exactly what I am saying in this language." He said with his mouth moving fast and once he finished, no one moved a single muscle.

"Dude...I'm jealous" And with that, the dragon sat back in his seat with a huff then folded his arms across his chest with a not so amused look.

It did indeed sounded french to Xun and he knew this because he remembered taking such a class last year but unfortunately he gave up on that. Some of the words the shepherd spoke he knew but the rest not so much he could gather from. "Well that was great but why did you come here of all places?" The bear received nasty glares from that little outburst save for Jake. "Hey, I wanted to get it out there so cut me some slack!"

"Well to be perfectly honest my father wanted to move to a place where it was quite quaint so he went online and here we are." Jake summarized with a sip of his drink.

"And here I was expecting a full on story..." Zane huffed out and got a slap on the arm by Gwen who was giving him a quick glare before returning her attention to the canine with her smile attached.

"Right...and how old are you?" Rowen questioned with an impassive stare and was met with an even blank expression.

"Sixteen." Again everyone at the table, save for the ferret had wide eyes and in response to the initial shock Jake rolled his eyes as if something like this wasn't totally revealing whatsoever.

"Well I've known all of this but where you lived before coming here I had no idea about" Gwen said before taking a sip of her own drink.

"I haven't mentioned where I hailed from to you at all?" He only got a shake of the head in response and in his eyes shone surprise but quickly shrugged it away. "Oh well, at least now you know."

Xun stayed silent throughout the entire conversation, thinking on what was said and his thoughts led to the monks. He researched on them for a time knowing that there were more and that they had a base to train and meditate. Why this particular one was in close relations with Gwen he had no clue but at least the guy was friendly enough.

He was still in thought over the subject that he never noticed Justin coming until his brother opened his mouth in greeting to everyone. "Hmm? Oh hey bro!"

Justin merely waved back before sitting down and eating his food, though he looked rather uncomfortable. Xun noticed right away and was going to ask if he was alright but stopped once he found that the young bear kept taking quick nervous glances at Jake.

"I don't see why you're afraid of me, I'm not going to bite" The canine said with a gentle tone and smiled genuinely.

Eventually the panda became much more calmer and looked at him without any fear or hesitation in him. "Sorry about that...I'm not really good when it comes to meeting new people"

"Understandable and I mean no harm." The smile never wavered from Jake as he stared at the two pandas, eyes going back and forth.

"Umm is there something on our faces?" Xun asked with a tilt of his head then looked at his brother for confirmation but only got a shake of the head. It was apparent he was confused as well about this but never said anything about it.

Jakes ears went up first before his demeanor turned to surprise and he shook his head rapidly. "Oh no no! I'm just delighted to see siblings have a bond like you two show...never lose that when things turn for the worse." Both bears blinked a few times then turned straight towards Gwen who meekly coughed, not even looking at them with a slight blush on her face.

"Well anyways..." Xun spoke to break the slight awkwardness that was starting to settle and turned his attention towards Rowen with a serious look. "Back to Damien's question earlier, what makes our home any different from the rest?"

It was strange to Xun that only their house was targeted for such an attack and it still baffled him because out of all of them, only his was selected. As to why, no one could come to a conclusion and they were all worried this might happen today.

Rowen frowned, apparently not liking the change of topic and he looked upon Jake to see if the canine was going to leave or tell him to do so but a paw was held up, stopping him in his tracks.

"This certainly sounds like a problem judging from the tension that I feel but don't be so quick as to brush me off. I'm not here just to see my close friend again, I am here to help in any way I can." The level of tension suddenly lessened thanks to those kind words but it was still present...however, Jake wasn't finished. "Now that that's out of the way I'm going to need a full explanation of the situation if you don't mind sharing."

No one opened their mouth and worried glances were cast upon one another and it was not because the shepherd had no tolerance on using violence. They were worried for his safety and well being more than anything though Xun didn't feel this way...he felt there was something more to the dog than meets the eye but he couldn't quite put a finger on it. Eventually Rowen broke the silence and explained in detail of their current situation with Jake taking in every word until it was over.

"I see...well I have no doubt someone is targeting you two and that this is no random encounter." Grim faces took a hold on everyone once those words left Jakes mouth but a paw was help up once more to stop anyone from commenting on the matter. "Now I do agree with you on the fact that it is rather odd for a protection spell to be broken but I have to say this is not uncommon in the slightest bit. As for the council not taking any action...that does concern me but they're not important as of this moment."

"So...what do you propose we do? I mean this could happen again tonight and I doubt our parents are going to be working late this time." Justin mumbled out the last words though everyone heard. Xun knew he was correct on one thing and that was their mom and dad would likely be home which meant they could be in danger as well.

This didn't bode well at all for them but Xun was determined to not let any of this let him waver. In fact he found this as an exciting challenge and couldn't wait to find out who was doing this and get his hands on them. "Well we have no other choice..." All eyes were on him now and it couldn't be helped that a grin spread on his muzzle along with his forest green eyes twinkling. "We fight and find out who this person is!"

"As much as I like the idea dude we really have no plan here and plus there's school and all." Zane stated with his head hanging low in disappointment.

"I have to agree with him on this one...unless we figure out how to handle this without anyone getting severely hurt, we're stuck." Gwen said chiming in with an ever sadder look than the dragon.

Rowen opened his mouth to say something and it seemed to be important because he was gazing at Xun as he was doing so but quickly shut it and averted his gaze. Confusion settled on the bear for a moment and he was going to ask if anything was the matter but a slight noise interrupted him, turning around to see their new found friend had cleared his throat to grab everyone's attention.

"Although this situation is quite extreme, I would advise that none of you should stress over it so please lets change to a much more simpler topic." Jake said and placed his chin on top of folded paws, eyes scanning to and fro to see who would say something.

It took awhile for the tension to settle but eventually it did and made everyone come back to their usual selves. He was right that they were completely stressing themselves over something that might not even happen tonight but possibly later so it was simply cast away.

Gwen went first to say she was planning on going to the mall on Friday, wanting to know if anyone else wanted to come along. Xun agreed to go along with his brother and Rowen but Zane shared that he was going on a little trip with his parents during the time.

"I guess I will come along as well, though honestly I have no choice in the matter considering you drag me anywhere you want to go Gwendolyn..." Jake sighed in misery though he had a small smile on his muzzle.

"You promised to not call me that anymore!" Gwen exclaimed with a flush on her cheeks, embarrassment obviously showing.

Jake chuckled in delight before focusing his attention on Justin, the smile never going away. "So when are you going to tell us about your friends hmm?"

At this the young panda almost choked on his food from those words but he calmed himself down to answer. "Oh...they're not my friends...more likely acquaintances." Justin mumbled, his ears flattening to his skull.

"I see...well one of them seems to be more than just that from the way he keeps looking over here and it seems to me he wants to join us." Everyone turned their eyes towards the person he was speaking of and sure enough, it was Damien.

It was indeed obvious that he was deciding on whether to stay with his group or branch off and sit with the rest of them but the display was almost funny because it seemed that Damien needed to use the restroom more than simply chat.

Xun knew he was a nice kid and hoped that he could break his brother's shell but something about him was completely off. He didn't know what it was but it was present and couldn't quite put a finger on it so he shrugged it away and went back to paying attention to his friends.

"Before I forget," Jake said, snapping Xun out of his reverie and saw that the canine was looking at both him and his brother, "can I speak to you two after school?"

Now this was odd...why would he want to talk to only them alone? Why not address it while everyone was here? Xun didn't have any possible answer for it but he agreed nonetheless. Justin hesitated for a brief moment but he too complied. It wasn't long before the bell rang for lunch to be over and all of the students shuffled to their respective classrooms for the day.

The remaining time in school passed by very quickly as there weren't any major assignments and no homework was passed out thankfully. Soon the usual sound of school letting out came and everyone sighed in relief, all hastily leaving their rooms out into the fresh afternoon air though Xun's friends stayed near the courtyard, conversation flowing.

"Hey guys! What are you all doing over here?" He questioned, wanting to know why they haven't drove home yet but he could probably guess why.

"We're thinking of a plan on how to catch the one who sent those hell hounds to your house." Gwen simply said as if this certain topic were just an everyday thing.

All the bear could do was sigh because they have been advised to not stress over this but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Sure, he felt ready to dish out a plan and get ready to rumble anytime but when someone says to take it easy...well he definitely couldn't deny that wish.

"I know what we've been told but we want to make sure you're safe." Rowen said in a gentle tone and then muttered something that no one could quite catch.

"Well I for one would like to see him and his sibling safe as well but please heed my advice." Everyone jumped when Jake appeared out of the blue and with Justin in tow.

'How the hells did he do that?! I didn't even feel a presence!' It was even stranger to Xun because he couldn't sense his brother either and he's always been able to do that. "How did you do that...?"

Jake smiled in response. "That is a secret and I'd love to indulge in your conversation but as I have said before, I'll need to speak with you two so please follow me." Without warning, the canine walked off.

"Guess we have no choice...it seems important." Justin said with a bit of nervousness in his tone but nonetheless he went away as well though not without his brother close by.

All three furs trekked on away from the group before the dog came to a complete halt, turning around to face the two. "The reason why I have wanted to speak with you privately is because this matter is dire and the problem needs to be dealt with accordingly and swiftly as possible."

"What problem?" Xun asked, clearly wanting to know and to get to the bottom of so they can rest easy.

"I don't see anything wrong..." Justin mumbled and his ears fell flat upon his skull once the shepherds eyes fell upon him and it wasn't kind.

"There is and under the naked eye, this is true but I can see it and you have demonic taint within you Justin." It was if time itself had stopped when those words came out and it also felt like the world was crumbling down.

Xun couldn't understand how this could have happened! Yes, they were both banged up pretty bad but they felt fine! They didn't feel anything wrong and there definitely wasn't any distinct showings of taint. "I don't...how?! And are you sure it's just him and not us both?" All he received was a shake of the head.

"It's strange but I sense no trace of taint inside of you Xun, only your brother and not only this but it's spreading very slowly. Normally it would take a matter of hours to show any visible signs and possibly a day or two for a fur to convert into a thrall...yet here he stands completely healthy...interesting." Jake cocked his head to the right, a paw cupping his chin in thought.

"Okay...so what do I do to get rid of it exactly?" Justin squeaked, evident that he was frightened of the impending news of doom and Xun couldn't blame him.

"You'll have to come over to my home immediately." Both brothers were ready to protest but stopped in their tracks once Jakes paw was held up in front of them. "Now think, would it really be a good idea for me to be at your humble abode and explain to your parents the situation?" Silence followed and he continued. "And even if they were to somehow agree to let me purge the taint out of you Justin, I would probably have to halt because this is a painful process and they would very well stop me if you ever so much as let out a groan."

'He's right...' Xun thought with a heavy sigh. He knew that their parents would have a fit if they heard the horrible news regarding his little brother though he really couldn't blame them for it because he was scared of losing him too. He was also afraid that this wouldn't work, that somehow it would fail and Justin would slowly change into a mindless thrall...a monster. 'I don't think I could handle that...'

"Hey," Justin placed his paw on top of Xun's shoulder, snapping him out of the doubtful trance "everything will be alright and trust me, by the time this is done and over with I'll be sure to stay very close to you from now on to the point you'll be sick of me!" That earned him a hug from the older bear along with a smile.

"I know I have said this before but it is good to see you two have such a close bond...but we will have to hurry here. Xun can you drive?" Jake questioned and got a nod in response. "Good, lead the way."

"Alright but let me tell my friends what's going on first." Xun didn't wait for a response as he was already rushing towards them.

"Whoa what's the rush?" Zane questioned with a confused look on his face though he wasn't the only one having that expression.

Suddenly Rowen came up to the panda, muzzles mere inches away from each other. "Everything alright?" Concern was etched onto that snow white fur as he looked from the older bear to the younger one with Jake.

Xun tried to answer but he felt something there for the briefest of moments and it was gone like a flash, spurring him into action once more. "Ahh...no...I'll explain once we arrive to his place alright? Gotta run!" And with that said, he was heading back to the two and lead the way to his car. Everyone hopped inside at once and soon they were driving down the road with the shepherd directing where to go.

"So...you're absolutely sure this will work." Justin said with an eyebrow raised, evident that he was indeed skeptical of whatever it is the shepherd was going to do once they arrived.

"Yes and this is not the first time I have come across someone with such a dilema as yours." Both of the pandas ears perked up at this response, though they were relieved to hear it.

Xun sighed inwardly with content, happy to hear such good news but he wondered briefly on how this guy could successfully treat such a thing in the first place. His thoughts wandered around for awhile but found no possible conclusion and left the matter alone. Taking a glance at the mirror above him, he smiled upon taking notice of his brother and he knew that everything would be alright.