"Graaagh!"
"Will you just be quiet?"
"Quiet? Quiet? Don't tell me to be quiet! We're going to die!"
"I DO tell you to be quiet! Don't you remember the code of the slayers?"
"What, take the money and run, a stab in the back's better than two fangs in your neck, and never yiff with the lights out?"
"... The other code. Not the one I taught you."
"... Don't panic, be courteous to your target, don't kill the innocent, and face death with grace?"
The other two turned to their hithero silent cellmate.
"I take it you're a slayer as well, then?" asked the vulpine.
The rat shook his head.
"Just a hunter?"
Another silent no.
"Blade?"
The rat shook his head again.
"What are you, then?"
The rat was silent.
After a few moments, the cell door opened, and a blue arctic wolf walked in. She glanced at the three chained figures and then called back through the door, "Wait just a moment, dearie."
The vulpine gave a start at hearing the voice. "I thought you looked familiar."
The wolf gave a short laugh. "So it was true after all, then." She padded over and stood before the fox. "I never thought we'd meet again, Rend."
"Rind (as in Mind)," he corrected. "Reports of my demise were greatly exaggerated."
"As cliche as ever, Rend."
"And you haven't changed a bitch, Iceman."
She laughed. "Haven't changed a bitch?" She tickled Rind's chin. "How precious."
The cat interjected at this point. "Wait, Iceman is a girl? And this is Iceman?"
The wolf examined the jewelry on her fingers in that annoying smug way people do. "The sand bitch herself."
"Also known as Katy," added the fox blandly. Katy slapped him.
"I told you I would kill you if I ever heard you use that name again," seethed the wolf.
Rind grinned smugly. "And that changes my current situation... how? You're already going to kill me anyway, aren't you, Katy?"
The wolf formerly known as Katy spun around and stalked out of the room, yelling "Then I shall just have to think of something worse!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three Cats
Three Dogs

A sitcom of vampiric porportions

Cast:
Syro, a green cat. A relatively inexperienced slayer.
Rind, a red fox. A very experienced slayer. Has some sort of past with Katy.
Gray, a gray rat. Doesn't talk much.
Katy/Iceman, a blue arctic wolf. An experienced vampire, near legendary status in some tales.
Jini, a black squirrel. Also a vampire, but not exactly experienced.
Sho, a white cat. A very inexperienced vampire.
Redtail, a foxtaur. Jini's friend, and possibly more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was another peaceful day at the unnamed castle. It was days like these that made Jini want to go riding. The problem was, however, that her steed wasn't speaking to her.
"Come on, Redtail, I said I was sorry!"
The foxtaur maintained his stony silence, glaring straight ahead with arms crossed as he trotted.
"Look, it was an accident, alright? Don't you walk in your sleep sometimes too?"
"At least I don't eat in my sleep," the foxtaur grumbled, rubbing the large piece of cloth he was wearing around his neck.
"Jeez, Redtail. Why are you so upset about it? You've let me feed on you plenty of times before."
The foxtaur stopped, and turned his foresection around to look at his passenger. "You always ask first," he said, quietly.
The black-furred squirrel met his gaze for a moment, then looked down at the ground. "You're right," she whispered, "I'm sorry."
Redtail turned back around and resumed walking. Both were silent until they passed by the front of the castle, where a white feline met them.
"Jenny, Icy needs to see you."
Jini climbed off of Redtail and stretched. "What about?"
"Those three we captured, most likely."
Jini nodded. "I'll head in, then. Later, Redtail."
The foxtaur hmmphed as she ran off. "What, no rubdown?"
"I'll do it," said the white cat as the two headed towards the stables.
Redtail shook his head. "No, I'm alright. I'll guilt her with it later."
"I've only known you for a little while, but I hope you don't mind me asking, why-"
"She saved my life," said Redtail quietly. "I would do anything for her."
They continued on in silence for a while. At the stables, they stopped and watched the sunset.
"I'm sorry she took from you without asking," the feline said, but the foxtaur shook his head.
"It does not matter to me," said Redtail, rubbing his arm as he gazed at the appearing stars. "It is hers whether she asks or takes, and I would not begrudge her any of it. But she does not know this," he added, turning his gaze down to the feline. "She is happier if she thinks I choose to give it to her."
"I... think I understand," said the cat after a moment. "I don't understand exactly what you're saying, but I understand what you mean."
The two watched the stars for a while, then Redtail trotted into the stables. "I'm still not sure about this Pyric business, though, he said as he got himself settled. "Jini doesn't act like she could hurt a fly."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'll kill him! I'll kill him! I really will!"
"Yes, we believe you, dearie," said Iceman, gritting her teeth, "that's why we're holding you down!"
"Jeez," said the greenish feline, who was still chained to the wall, "What did I say?"
"Whatever it was," said Rind, who was also restraining the berserk squirrel, "Don't say it again!"
"And why am I the only one still chained up?"
"Because wonderbitch here-"
"Thank you," said the wolf, sounding like she meant it.
"-You're welcome-knows me too well, and silentboy over there-" Rind motioned towards the gray rat, who was sitting in a corner looking at the wall, "doesn't look like he's going to try anything."
Syro glared at him. "So you're just going to leave me hanging here?"
"Let me kill him! Let me kill him!"
"Not yet, dearie."
"Really, Syro, don't you remember my third rule?"
"Never yiff with the lights off?"
There was an uncomfortable silence that even Jini took part in.
"Er, I meant my second rule."
The wolf turned to Rind, keeping an arm on the squirrel just in case. "Are you STILL stuck on about that?"
Rind turned towards her, likewise holding onto Jini in case she went berserk again. "Well, you did try to kill me."
"I don't want to know," muttered Jini.
"Anyway," said the wolf, "For some reason Jini here wants-"
"Jini?!" Syro panicked. "Oh shit! That's Jini?! She wants to kill me!"
Rind facepawed. "And what gave you that idea?"
Jini tried to push herself up again. "Le me go. We've got a score to settle."
Syro laughed nervously. "Look, I've already apologized for what I did to your stupid foxtaur-"

A busy ten seconds later...

"I'LL KILL HIM! I'LL KILL HIM!"
"Please don't do that again," muttered Rind, who was trying to restrain a newly-enraged Jini.
"I don't think he can hear you," said Iceman, who was examining the unconscious feline. "Maybe we should all call it a night."
"Would you mind if I-"
"Be my guest."
"I'LL KILL HIM! I'LL-" Jini slumped forward.
"I could never figure out how you did that," said Katy as she picked up the black squirrel.
"The secret dies with me," said Rind as he opened the cell door. "See you tomorrow, then?"
The wolf paused and looked at him. "Aren't you going to try and free your companions?"
Rind grinned. "I thought you knew me better than that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Good morning!" said a cheery voice.
Syro opened his eyes and screamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The white cat glanced up. "I wonder what that was," she said, then lost interest and returned her attention to the gray rat who was sitting in a cabinet. After a moment of watching him sitting still, she poked him lightly with a stick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why did you have to scare me like that?"
"I apologize if I scared you," said Redtail. "I was only trying to wake you up."
"I could have woken up on my own," grumbled Syro.
"It's almost noon."
"Where are you taking me, anyway?"
Redtail smiled. "Lunch."
"Oh. That's alright, then." There were a few moments of silence, broken by the squeaking of the cart. "Excuse me, but I think I'm seeing some discrepencies here."
"Yes?"
"First, I was captured by vampires when trying to invade their castle and destroy them, and am presumably still their prisoner."
"Correct."
"Since they are vampires, as in blood drinkers, my long-term future is in question."
"A fair assumption."
"One of the vampires is Jini, who has a grudge, a serious grudge against me for what I did to you a long time ago."
"I had thought she was over it."
"She's not."
"Oh."
"And right now I'm still tied down."
"Yes."
"On a cart."
"Mmmhmm."
"That you're pushing."
"Yes."
"And I'm going to 'Lunch'."
"Correct."
"I'm tied down on a cart, going to 'lunch' with people who are likely to kill me, one of which definitely wants to kill me."
"Right. ... Oh. I see what you mean. But I don't think she's going to have you for lunch."
"Oh."
"At least not today."
"I'm not much assured."
The foxtaur paused by an ornate door. "Just a moment, I'll tell everyone you're here." He dissappeared through a door, leaving Syro behind. A moment later, he returned. "My mistake," he said cheerfully.
"I'm not supposed to be tied down, then?"
"No, she is going to have you for lunch afer all."
"Shit."
Just as Redtail started pushing the cart into the room, Katy/Iceman ran up, panting. "Hold on," she said as she pushed through the door into the room ahead of Redtail.
"So now what's going on?"
"We found something," answered Rind, coming from the same direction as Iceman. "Looks like we're going to need your sorry carcass after all."
"Joy," muttered Syro.
Katy re-emerged, followed by Jini and the two as of yet unnamed characters.
Jini wasn't very happy. "Let's get this over with," she grumbled.
"Well, hello to you too," said Syro dryly.
"Shut up, Lunch."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What I don't get," said the wolf, "is why you started working with that idiot."
The group of seven were heading down the myriad maze of hallways that made up the castle, with Syro still tied to the cart, and the other cat and rat riding on Redtail.
"Him?" asked Rind. "He was the best I could find."
"No, really. Why him?"
"Really. Dedicated slayers have been becoming more and more rare these days. Everyone in the business seems to be becoming some other type of hunter, or even just a blade."
"I'm not up on contemporary slang. What do you mean?"
"A slayer is basically a dedicated vampire killer. Hunters are similar, but they don't specialize, and go after everything from rentabi to rogue demigods. Blades are anything from mercenaries to freelance adventurers."
"Ah."
"My turn. Why join up with those two? I mean, Jini seems a bit too.."
"Excessive with the vampire thing?"
"Yeah. Don't you need only, what, a cup of blood per month?"
"A fourth of a cup bare minimum, actually. But I get headaches with less than a full cup."
"And Jini was going to drain Syro all in one go?"
"I think she's addicted, actually. Blood can be substituted for regular food, and it is the ultimate health food, after all. Low carbs."
"Huh."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Did you find out his name yet, Sho?" Asked Redtail.
The white cat shook her head. "He said he had lost it."
"You mean he forgot it?"
"That's what I thought too, but he says he remembers it, but he's lost it."
"You mean like a title?"
"No." The gray rat spoke up for the first time.
Sho glanced behind her at him, then back to the foxtaur. "He didn't answer that when I asked him."
"Odd."
"Sometimes he answers my questions the first time, sometimes he'll answer the same question if I ask it again a few hours later. Sometimes he won't answer at all."
Redtail shrugged. "I wonder why that is."
"Apathy."
Sho looked back at the rat. "What does that mean?"
"It means he doesn't care," explained the foxtaur. "He doesn't care about much of anything, it seems. He doesn't care that he was captured, that he lost his name-"
"I do care." the rat looked up at Redtail for the first time.
Sho turned her attention back to him. "Can you tell me what your name was?"
The rat looked back down at the ground silently.
"Is that a yes or a know, or just apothecary?"
"Apathy," the foxtaur corrected.
The rat was silent.
"Well," said Sho, "You're going to need a name. How about Gray?"
The rat shrugged.
"That's probably the best reaction you're going to get from him," said the foxtaur.
"Gray it is, then." Sho patted him on the back. "Your new name is Gray, alright?"
Gray nodded.
"Almost there," Katy called back.
"Finally!" Jini yelled. "Let's get this over with."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The smaller group of six walked silently down the stairs. Redtail had stayed behind, as he was too big for the underground passageways. Syro was off of the cart, but still had his hands tied behind his back, and was trudging dejectedly along.
"I still don't see why we need this idiot," seethed Jini.
"Patience, dearie."
"Just ahead... Here we are." Rind reached the bottom of the stairs, which emptied into a plain looking room with no exits. "Syro, get to it."
Syro was silent, and didn't move.
Jini slapped him. "Whatever it is he wants you to do, do it already! And hurry up, I'm hungry!"
Syro didn't react.
Sho sighed. "Am I the only one who sees the problem here?"
Katy looked at her. "What do you mean, dearie?"
Sho grabbed Jini's wrist before she could hit him again. "The obvious problem is that his hands are tied up."
Rind frowned. "Oh."
"Wait. There's another obvious problem."
There was silence.
Sho sighed. "Okay, I'll walk you through it. What is keeping Jini from killing him right now?"
"The fact that we need his Spirit Sight?"
"He can use that?" Sho asked. "I'm impressed. Okay, so Jini can't kill him right now since we need him. Will we need him after this is over?"
"Probably not. What are you trying to say?"
"I'm getting to it. Since we won't need him after he uses his Spirit Sight, it's a fair assumption that you'll let Jini kill him, or at least bring him close to death. Get it?"
There was silence again.
Sho sighed. "As long as we need him, he won't die. As long as he doesn't use his Spirit Sight, we will still need him. The conclusion is that if he uses his Spirit Sight, Jini will get to kill him."
Iceman nodded slowly. "Oh. I see. Well, that's easily solved." She walked over to Syro. "Use your Spirit Sight or we'll kill you right now."
Sho facepawed. "No, that won't work either, because..."

Ten minutes of explanations and negotiations later...

Syro examined a wall, running his hands across the stones. "... And then here... and here... and here."
Jini grumbled as Syro stepped back and Rind studied the places he'd marked. "I still don't see why I can't even touch him until tomorrow."
Sho sighed for the fifty-sixth time. "Because that's part of the agreement. He helps those two out with whatever, and he's safe for another day. Just be glad I talked him down from Redtail being his hostage for that day."
Rind tapped each of the marked places, and the room started rumbling. A section of the wall slid up, revealing a hidden passage.
"There," said Jini. "He's done. Let me kill him." She suddenly grabbed Syro from behind, and was about to sink her fangs into his throat when Gray grabbed her and threw her hard against the wall, making the room shake again.
Everyone was silent, staring at the rat, with the exception of Jini, who was unconscious.
"Oathbreakers," spat Gray, making it sound like a curse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How the hell did such a little guy do that?"
The wolf shrugged. "Who knows. Little things come in small packages."
"I think you mixed your metaphors," said Rind, carrying the injured Jini over his shoulder.
"Cliches, actually."
"Whatever."
"I will be very upset with Jini when she comes to," said Katy, glaring at the black squirrel.
"I would if I were you. If you're going to betray someone, don't do it in front of witnesses. She ought to have learned that by now."
Katy glanced at him. "You haven't changed a bit."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The six (Jini had come to by now, but was still pretty groggy) had arrived at a strange room. There was a circular platform, surrounded by an underground lake that stretched as far as they could see. Sho sat on its edge, dropping pebbles into it. "Looks pretty deep."
Gray didn't respond.
"Pretty big, too."
The other four, meanwhile, were examining the object at the center of the platform.
"See anything, Syro?" asked Rind.
Syro just glared at the black squirrel, who was still half out of it.
"Okay, okay, we already said we were sorry about that." Said Katy. "But we might not need you to figure out this, so don't push your luck."
"Her tail-bracelet," said Syro.
Katy unclipped the ring Jini had on the middle of her tail, and handed it to the green cat. "There. Happy now?"
"Yes." Syro pocketed the bracelet, and examined the strange object, which resembled a large orb on a pedestal. "We need to remove the outer casing. It's just a shell."
Sho walked up with Gray as Rind and Syro worked on it. "What's going on... Ooooh." The casing came off, revealing a multi-colored flashing orb. "Pretty."
Syro examined it again. "I see seven nodes, one in the middle and the others orbiting it. There's a line down through the pedestal, which goes..." He kneeled down and stared at the ground. "... Somewhere. Can't tell."
The wolf sighed. "That's all?"
"Yes."
Katy growled. "We walk for miles, and all we get is this stupid orb?" She hit it, causing it to roll off its pedestal and fall to the ground, where it smashed. "Shit. Now we don't even get the-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Redtail looked up from where he was gathering fruit in the castle orchard. "Something... is wrong," he muttered, and ran towards the castle, fruit spilling out of his open backpack as he went full speed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Intro
Midnight of the first day
Thirty Days Remain

"Jini? Jini? Are you there?"
The foxtaur ran through the castle, panicking. It was nearly midnight, twelve hours since the group had set out to see what was past the hidden passages in the castle. They should have been back by now.
"Jini? Jini? Where are you?"
"Not so loud," mumbled Jini from behind him.
Redtail spun around and hugged her. "Oh, gods, I was so worried. Where were you?"
Jini mumbled something about it being too early in the morning, then said, "Downstairs."
Redtail disengaged from the hug and moved back a step, looking at her. "You've been gone for twelve hours, and I've been calling for you for the last six."
Jini shook her head sleepily. "Don't know. There was an orb, and... something happened. Woke up just now."
Redtail tilted his head to one side. "An orb?" He shrugged. "Well, you're okay now, and that's all that matters." Something occured to him. "Did you have any dinner? Regular food or otherwise?"
Jini shook her head.
Redtail panicked again. "Jini! You skipped breakfast and lunch already today! You haven't eaten anything for more than twenty-four hours!" He tore off the strip of cloth he had around his neck, grabbed Jini, and pushed her face into his neck. After a moment, he relaxed, and let go of her head. "There. Just keep drinking."
A few minutes later, Gray wandered into the room, looking confused. "What happened...?"
Redtail waved to him. "Hey. What went on down there?"
Gray glanced at a window. "I... don't know. There was an orb, and it broke, and... I woke up up here." He noticed Jini, then said something to Redtail in another language.
The foxtaur blinked. "What did you say?"
"Sorry," mumbled Gray. "I meant to say, you really care about her, don't you?"
Redtail laughed. "More than you can imagine." He scratches the squirrel behind her ears. "What was that language you were speaking just now?"
Gray shrugged. "Just something I heard a long time ago." He walks over to a comfortable chair and sits down.
"You seem more talkative now."
Gray chuckled. "I think I found a reason for living."
Redtail tilts his head to one side. "Oh? You didn't have one before, then?"
Gray glances at Jini, who is still feeding on her foxtaur companion. "I'll tell you later."
"I... think I understand." The foxtaur looks over at Jini. "I think she's asleep, though." He gently lifts her off of his neck, a little blood trickling down it.
"Well..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning of the first day

"What do you mean we're trapped?"
Katy shrugged. "I checked yesterday. Less than half a mile from the castle, I can't go any further. It was like there was a wall there."
"It was the same for me, too," said Sho, retreiving the cups from the coffee maker. "Half a mile, any direction. Sugar?"
Rind shook his head. "This has just been getting weirder and weirder. First, we all wake up upstairs in different rooms after that orb broke, and now we can't leave here. Actually," he said, "You can't leave here. Since I'm not a vampire, I probably won't be affected."
"Then why don't you?" asked Katy, sipping her coffee.
"I'm still interested in seeing what this fate worse than death is you keep talking about."
Katy laughed. "You haven't changed a bit, Rend."
"Rind."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some time later...

"Zzzzzzz...."
"Hey."
"..."
"Hey, are you awake?"
Syro groaned. "No, I'm not awake."
Sho poked him with a stick. "Yes you are."
Syro rolled over. "No, I'm not. This is a dream. You're a figment of my imagination."
Sho thought about this. "No, I think you're awake."
"Mmmf."
"Anyway, I thought you might want to know that Jenny is awake now, and she's pretty angry for some reason."
Syro went from lying down to running in less than a second. "Shit! She's going to kill me!" He tried to open the window. "Damnit, it's stuck!"
Sho watched him for a moment. "Shouldn't you be trying to get away instead of opening the window?"
"I'm TRYING to get away! She's going to come through the door, not the-" Syro's eyes went wide, and he threw himself to the ground just as the black squirrel dove through the closed window, sending glass everywhere.
Sho sighed as the dust settled. "Jenny, you really shouldn't do that sort of thing. It only works in movies."
"Shut up and get me some bandages, all right? Where did he go?"
Sho looked out the broken window. "He's past the orchard already."
"Damn." Jini started pulling the glass out of her skin, wincing. "He got away."
"Don't you think you're taking your grudge a bit too far?"
"No."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, hop on."
Syro looked over to the foxtaur that was easily keeping pace with him. "Why should I trust you?"
"Can you afford not to? I seem to remember that Jini was considerably faster than you."
"Fair enough." Syro got on the foxtaur, who accelerated to a gallop.
"So," said Redtail over his shoulder, "You're running away?"
"Hell yes. Aren't you supposed to try and stop me, or something?"
"Nah. I think she's taking her grudge a bit too far in trying to kill you."
"But yesterday-"
"That's different. I'm not going to betray her."
"Oh." Syro rode in silence for a while. "You know, I'd think you'd be the one who would be the most upset about what happened."
"I forgave you for that years ago. Besides, it was an accident, and this prosthetic has its advantages."
There were a few moments of silence.
"Where are you going to go after this?"
"..."
"Syro?"
"..."
Redtail looked over his shoulder, and saw a lack of Syro. He turned around, and headed back. Syro was lying on the ground, looking dazed.
"Hey, are you alright?"
"I think I fell off," said Syro, getting to his feet. He started to walk forward, but then stopped. "There's... something here."
Redtail looked around. "What? Where?"
"A barrier... I think." Syro ran his hand along an invisible wall. "It looks... familiar."
Redtail peered at the space in front of Syro. "I don't see anything..."
Syro walked along the barrier for a ways, sliding his hands across it. "I know I've seen something like it somewhere..."
"Um, Syro?"
"Yeah, Redtail?"
"Duck."

A few busy seconds later...

Jini groaned. "Oooergh..."
Redtail watched the retreating Syro for a while, then bent down to look at Jini. "I really think you're taking your grudge a bit too far, you know. And that sort of diving tackle only works in the movies."
"Just shut up." Jini got up, unhurt except for her pride and a large bruise on her face. "C'mon, we have to go and catch him."
"Jini."
"What?"
The foxtaur looked into her eyes. "I am going to give you some advice. Do not kill Syro."
Jini glared back. "And why not?"
The foxtaur crossed his arms. Before he could speak, Jini rolled her eyes.
"What?" demanded Redtail.
"Whenever you cross your arms like that, you're going to say something that I'm not going to like but I have no choice but to believe."
Redtail glared at her. "First, Syro can see the barrier that's keeping you in here, so he has the best chance of figuring out how to take it down."
"Damn! You see what I mean?"
"And also," said Redtail, ignoring this, "you don't really have much of a reason to kill him. He might have come here with the intention of killing you, but he probably wouldn't have done so if he knew it was you. And if it's about what happened to me, then it's far beyond time to forgive and forget."
Jini shook her head. "He took my tail bracelet."
Redtail paused. The air seemed to get colder, and his expression grew stony. "Then I have nothing more to say to you," he said, walking off.
Jini watched him go, her face expressionless. Then she walked off in a different direction, shaking slightly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noon of the first day

"It's simple, really," said Syro, pushing in a blackboard.
"So simple that it requires a blackboard to explain it?" asked Rind.
"Just shut up for a minute, will you? Now," said Syro, drawing on the blackboard, "This is-"
"Where's Jini?" asked Soh.
"Ask me if I care. Now," said Syro, "That orb we found underground." He pointed to a large circle on the blackboard. "It had seven nodes in it, as you remember." He drew seven smaller circles inside the big one. "When someone broke it-"
"Hmph." said Katy.
"-the nodes must have looked for something else to attach to." Syro drew a line through the larger circle, and drew seven more small circles outside of it. "I think they attached to us." He drew six stick figures, using six of the small circles as heads. "The seventh node went... somewhere else. I don't know." He drew a question mark inside of the circle. "The nodes attached to us are-"
"Yeah, yeah, get to the point."
Syro glared at the fox. "Okay, we can't leave."
"I already knew that! Why can't we leave?"
"That's what I was trying to bloody well explain!"
"Fine."
"Ahem... Now, the nodes are..."
Redtail had just walked into the room, his face stony. "Syro. Do you have Jini's bracelet?" he asked emotionlessly.
Syro nodded.
"You understand its significance?"
Syro nodded, a bit more slowly.
Redtail walked softly over to Syro, and the two stood there, looking at each other. Then redtail looked back at the other four. "Excuse us for a moment."
"Okay, I'm confused," said Rind after they had left. "What's all this about that bracelet?"
"Those three have a past together," explained Katy. "They knew each other long ago. Beyond that, I do not know."
"Hey," said Sho, "I just thought of something. If the nodes are attached to us, then-"
She was cut off as Jini barreled through the doors, holding a large black box under her arm. "Where is he." She demanded coldly and calmly.
Sho grabbed her free arm. "Jenny, wait! You can't kill him!"
"The hell I can't!" she yelled, pushing her off and heading in the direction Syro had gone.
"We'll explode!"
The squirrel paused just short of the door, and stared at her. So did the rest of the room, with the exception of Gray, who was still staring at the blackboard.
"Look, the nodes have attached to us, right? Well-"
"WHAT?" Jini ran over to the blackboard and looked at it. "Damn! They did!"
"Now hang on a second," said Rind. "How can you tell that just by looking at those scribblings?"
Jini pointed to the larger circle. "See this one? There was some sort of spell and it encountered interference. It had seven nodes, and-"
"I mean how the hell can you understand those?"
"They're standard spellform schematics."
"Those stick-figures are standard spellform schematics?"
"Just shut up already," growled Katy.
Jini turned back to the white cat, crossing her arms. "Alright, but what does that have to do with exploding?"
"Didn't you study this kind of thing in school? If one node of a spell is destroyed, what happens to the other nodes?"
Jini blinked. "Oh. I... forgot about that part." She sighed, but then brightened up. "Okay, so I can't kill him, but I can come close!" She made for the door, but was stopped by Katy, who grabbed her arm.
"Just cool off a bit, dearie. There's something I need to show you." She led Jini gently but firmly out of the room.
Rind looked at the grandfather clock in a corner of the room. "Almost two... How about we get some lunch?"
"Fine with me," said Sho, following him out of the room.
A few moments later, Gray looked up. Silently, he went to the blackboard and started drawing...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early evening of the first day

"Syro?"
The green cat looked down from the tree where he'd been napping. "I'm up here."
Redtail paused beneath him, looking up. "We need to talk."

Redtail walked slowly through the forest, carrying Syro with him. "I've been thinking..."
"Hmm?"
"You said it would take you a while to figure out how to disable that barrier?"
Syro nodded. "At least a few weeks."
Redtail walked on for a few more moments. "So, for those few weeks, you are stuck inside a half-mile radius from the castle."
"You're leading up to something I'm not going to like, aren't you?"
"And what makes you say that?"
"You're stating the obvious a bit at a time."
"Please, just indulge me."
"Fine."
Redtail walked on in silence for a while. "Jini is acting like she wants to kill you."
"Right."
"She is quite a bit stronger and faster than you."
"Sometimes."
"You will have to evade her for a few weeks while at the same time working to lift the barrier."
"Yeah."
"You are further hampered by being limited to a half-mile radius to hide or run away in."
"Okay..."
"This is nearly impossible, correct?"
"I'll concede that."
"So you should give up to her now and save yourself the trouble."
The two traveled in silence for a minute or two.
"I knew you were going to say something I didn't like."
"I seem to have a knack for it. Sorry, Syro, this is the only solution I could think of."
"Ergh. I understand it, but I still don't like it."
Redtail laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"Jini often tells me that as well. What are you going to do with her bracelet?"
Syro took it out of his pocket and looked at it. "I don't know. I only took it at first since it seemed like the best thing I could hold hostage against my safety, but she's more interested in killing me because I took it than getting it back, it seems."
Redtail shook his head. "She can be rather boneheaded like that. Could I see it for a moment?"
Syro handed the bracelet to him.
"Kinda funny, really," said Redtail, looking at it. "If she wanted to kill me, I would bare my chest to her and load the gun myself. But if she's not wearing this..." he held the bracelet up to the light, "I won't even speak to her. I will forgive her for anything but that." He handed it back to Syro. "I do hope she gets it back soon."
Syro looked at it for a while. "Maybe I should-"
"Don't." The foxtaur looked back at him, his expression stony. "Do not give it to her for my sake. Give it back to her for her sake, or give it back to her for your own sake, keep it, destroy it, sell it, bargain with her for it, but if you give it back to her for my sake, I will kill you. And I am much better at it than Jini is." He turned back around, and continued walking.
After a few minutes, Syro put away the bracelet and looked up at him. "I-"
"Don't apologize. You didn't do anything."
Syro shrugged. "Okay, fine. Were you serious about me giving up to her?"
Redtail nodded. "It's your best chance."
Syro sighed. "Fine. I assume you have a plan?"
"Yes. What we need to do is have you give up in a way that puts her in a mood to not harm you."
"Right after we turn lead into gold."
"Be serious for a second, alright? Now, Jini is very cut and dry, and has trouble coping with unconventional situations..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Late evening of the first day

"Never be afraid to make a fool of yourself when you have to."
-Redtail

"I was surprised this old castle had sattelite TV."
"Oh, we added that ourselves, Rend." ("It's Rind, Katy.") "The reception from the top of the castle is amazing, really."
"I didn't think you knew how to set one up."
"Redtail took care of that. It's handy having a taur around the house sometimes. Say, where is Redtail, anyway? I havent' seen him all evening."
Jini hmmphed. "He can take care of himself."
"No I can't."
Katy looked up. "Oh, there he is. Dressed in one of those leather dominatrix outfits and... pushing a large box. With a ribbon on it."
"I think it's somebody's birthday!" sang Redtail as he pushed the box in.
There was silence.
"No? Well, then, I'll just leave the box here," said Redtail cheerfully as he hopped off.
Everyone stared at it.
"Has... he had his shots recently?"
"For what?"
"I don't know. Mad cow disease, or something."
"He's a foxtaur, Rend." ("Rind.") "Not a cow."
Everyone stared at it for a little longer, and then Sho got up. "I'm going to see what's in it."
As she headed over to it, Gray put a few extra red checkers on the board.
Sho frowned as she examined the box. "It says, 'this side up' here. It's upside down."
"My mistake!" said Redtail cheerfully as he ran back into the room, wearing a french maid outfit. "I'll fix that right up for you!" He charged into the box, tipping it over.
Out fell Syro, rolling as he hit the ground. He jumped to his feet, and threw the bracelet at Jini, who caught it, surprised. He then fell backward, hitting the ground with his arms outstretched and lying there.
Everyone stared at him, except for Jini, who was staring at her returned bracelet.
After half a minute, Jini slowly got up and walked over to him. "Um," she said, looking down at him.
"Yes, I surrender totally," said Syro, who had his eyes closed. "I give up."
Jini stared at him. She stared at the bracelet. She stared at the giant birthday present, Redtail (who was now throwing confetti around, still dressed up like a french maid), the other people, and back at Syro. "Um." She looked back at the foxtaur. "Redtail?"
Redtail ignored her, throwing streamers around that proclaimed "It's a boy!"
Jini sighed and snapped her tail bracelet back on. "Redtail? What are you-oof!" Redtail had picked her up in a giant hug, and was swinging her around.
Redtail put her back down. "What's the problem?"
Jini shook her head to clear the dizziness. "He's, er,"
"He surrendered?"
"Yeah."
"Aren't you going to kill him, then?"
"Er, the nodes, they-"
"Of course!" yelled Syro, sitting up. "How could I have forgotten! The nodes! Take one out and-Damn!" He cursed, realizing he just ruined the mood. Before he could do anything, Jini had grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up. "Fine! Do whatever you want with me! Unlike some people I don't go back on my word!"
Jini dropped him. "What's with all of this stuff?"
"I was trying to distract you," grumbled Syro.
"Well, go and clean it up." Jini flopped back down on the couch, sighing. "I need a drink."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flashback
Morning of the second day
Twenty-nine days remain

"We need to talk."
Rind looked up from his breakfast. "Hmm? Me?"
"There's no one else here, isn't there?"
"Fair enough." Rind slouched back in his chair. "Wht's the problem now? Jini isn't trying to kill Syro anymore (Although we may want to talk to her soon), so it can't be that."
"It's us."
"Oh."
Katy sat down. "I just talked with Redtail," she said. "He said Syro thinks it will take him a while to get the nodes off of us or the barrier down, even without Jini bothering him. THis means we have a new problem."
"Supplies?"
"Bingo. Redtail says that we can last three weeks on what we have left and the orchard, but only with careful rationing and... sharing."
"Let's... not do that until we have to. How long do we have otherwise?"
"A few days without rationing. A week without Redtail, if you're not picky about what you eat."
"You mean we're going to eat him?"
"Rend-"
"I'm joking, I'm joking. He's going out for supplies, then?"
Katy nodded. "Yeah. He's the only one that can leave, and it's not like we can order pizza."
"Aside from being in a remote location and having no phone line, we've both made enemies who would just love to come visit us while we're trapped here."
"Right."
"While this is important, I don't see what it has to do with talking about us."
Katy shrugged. "Not much, really. But we needed to deal with it. Anyway, we need to establish a pecking order."
"I agree. We need a leader to make important decisions."
"Someone mature and experienced."
"Like one of us?"
"Exactly."
"But which? You or me?"
"Remember, we are mature and experienced," said Katy. "We can discuss this in a mature and experienced manner."
"I agree," said Rind. "After all, we are adults. We can settle this without resorting to childish bickering."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Most people will rally to a double standard."
-Redtail

Early noon of the second day

"They're still fighting?" asked Sho as Jini came back inside.
Jini nodded. "At least they've gone outside now." She looked over to where Syro was sitting in a corner, and snapped her fingers. "Double Chardonay."
"Aren't you worried he's going to turn on you?" asked Sho as the other feline walked sullenly out of the room.
Jini shook her head as she sat down on the couch. "For all his faults, Syro has always been very honorable. He won't go against his word."
Sho nodded. After a moment, she looked over at the door Jini had come through. "I wonder what they're fighting about."
"Probably who gets to boss us around," grumbled Syro as he came back in and handed Jini her drink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimer: If you have a broken leg, DO NOT attempt to drag yourself along with your hands unless you are in immediate danger. You could injure yourself even more. Likewise, if you have two broken arms, do not attempt to sit up. That's just stupid. The characters in the scene are A) Stupid, B) Masochistic, C) Self-healing, and/or D) Fictional. If you are none of the above, then in case of a broken limb, don't move and call for help. Beyond that, I don't know. I'm not a doctor, okay?

I'm also guessing about the blood loss part.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Late noon of the second day

"Katy?"
"What, Rend?"
"I need a drink."
"I need one too."
There was silence for a while.
"Can you get up yet?"
"No. I think I broke my leg. You?"
"Both arms. A tie?"
"Fine. We'll settle this some other time."
"Works for me."
(Author's note: In the original version, Katy suggested that they alternate leadership instead of settling it some other time. I changed it because I still have twenty-six days to cover (at the time of retyping), and I'm going to need all the conflict I can get.)
After a little while longer, Rind managed to lift his head, growling with the pain. "Can't you do some sort of healing thing?"
On the other side of the clearing, Katy shook her head. "I can only heal myself, and I need blood to do it."
Rind frowned. "Fine. Go ahead and drink fro me. Then go get help."
"I couldn't do that to you!"
"You've tried to do it plenty of times before now!"
"That was different." Katy sighed. "We were enemies then. But drinking from friends seems sacred. Doing it like this, out of necessity, just feels... wrong."
Rind was silent for a time. "We're friends now?" he asked.
"If you want."
"Fine with me. But I would much rather lose a little blood than not be on a comfortable bed as soon as possible."
Katy laughed, but it turned into a cough. "There's another thing," she said once she had her breath back. "You have two broken arms. Losing blood could make the injury worse, or take longer to heal."
"It's not like I'm going anywhere soon," he pointed out. "Look, just drink fro me. I probably owe you some for all the trouble I've caused you over the years."
"I think it's the other way around," said Katy as she dragged herself over to him. "You are sure about this?"
Rind nodded.
Katy carefully helped him sit up, and slid behind him, letting him lie back against her.
"Ready?" she asked softly, playing with his hair.
Rind closed his eyes. "Yes."

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