****
“I don’t know if this will work,” Whisper says, uncharacteristically nervous. I’ve never seen anything but staunch courage from my friend, but given the circumstances I don’t blame him. This is going to be hard for him. I wish we could travel in the human world but, as Whisper pointed out, he couldn’t see across realities like I can. It’s unlikely that I could find his people by myself.
After over an hour of bounding through the jungle, the landscape dramatically changes. One moment I am surrounded by a thick jungle canopy with stifling humid air pressing down on me from all sides, the next the vegetation is gone, replaced by towering, transparent purple crystals glittering like immense gemstones in the light. Each is taller than a house, jutting crudely from the earth below like the internal pressures of this world pushed them to the surface. Tall, green grasses fill the spaces between each crystal monolith like an ocean of bright green swaying in the wind. It’s breathtaking. Even Sarah, who had spent most of the trip with her face buried in the back of my coat, gives an audible gasp.
Curious, I send my vision to my own world to see what mirror is there for this place. In my world there are drab, dirty buildings at least fifty years old, covered in graffiti and twisting cracked streets with litter in the gutters. This is the first time that I feel the ugliness to be in my own world. How could two such places coexist right on top of each other? I actually feel offended that my world might taint such perfection. It rocks the foundation of all I knew. After seeing such horrors my entire life, with the exception of Whisper and Brick, I had come to believe that only evil existed in the other worlds. Places of endless dark, with only a few minor bright spots standing vigilant. Now I know it’s beyond such petty descriptions and ideas. After all, the untamed wilderness in my own world can be harsh and unforgiving, and a casual glance at a few spots could convince anyone that only pain exists there. Here, in another world, hidden from human eyes, I have found a definition of natural beauty that shames anything I previously knew. A tear of joy runs down my cheek and for the first time in my life I want to see more. I want to know more of these worlds that only I can visit. I want to see! I smile. My smile changes abruptly as three large, furry shapes raise themselves from the tall grasses like immense gophers heading right for us in long leaps and bounds. Slowing, Whisper comes to a halt, his body rigid and tense, ready to react in an instant.
“Offer no offense,” Whisper advises us as the large shapes draw near with alarming speed.
I had expected all of them to be white like Whisper but their coloring and patterns are as different from Whisper as from one another. The largest of the three and the one in the lead has light brown fur the shade of a coconut skin with a white patch over the left eye. Although I’m no expert on ferret facial expressions, my years of experience suggests that this one has one of utter loathing and contempt. Whisper had this same look after my shadow had been taunting him for a few hours. The right-most ferret is a dark chocolate and noticeably smaller and slimmer than the other two, probably female. She moves with the grace of a dancer instead of the powerful lopping gate that Whisper uses. The far left ferret has a strange mix of white and orange that I have seen in cats. While not as large as the lead ferret, this one still has plenty of rippling muscle beneath his fur and moves with surety. Both of these, like the lead ferret, do not wear welcoming expressions for us.
They never slow their pace as they close in and I feel a pit of fear in my stomach, threatening to tear itself out of my body. In a single bound done in unison all three charging shapes stop right before us, arresting all their forward momentum in an instant. The ground shakes at the impact and a gust of air buffets us along with three angry hisses.
“Clan-less one,” white eye says in a long hiss. “You dare to sully our home with your presence!” He bares his teeth to emphasize the point, not that it’s needed. The other two remain silent, content to alternate between hissing and growling. Whisper doesn’t back down. He stands tall and proud like a gladiator before an angry crowd. I notice smugly that he is bigger than white eye.
“I am no longer clan-less and have earned a new name, Hintorunner,” Whisper says. Whisper told me that upon maturity each clan member chooses their own name, in regards to their function in the clan. Scouts are ‘runners’, those that protect the village are ‘guards’ and females that want to focus on birthing litters are ‘mothers’, and so on. Whisper said once he was exiled he lost his name, the greatest shame possible for his people. Curious I asked him what his name had been. He had replied rather stiffly that the owner of that name was no more and shouldn’t be spoken of.
The three large ferrets look dumbfounded at Whisper’s proclamation. This is something that had obviously never occurred before. “You have a new name and clan?” Stammers Hintorunner, looking uncertain.
“I am called Whisper of clan Shifter!” Whisper declares, his voice booming loudly across the plain and my heart swells with pride. I truly have a wonderful friend. “My Alpha is Jerry Price, who is here to converse with the Alpha of the Bartendor clan. We are here to discuss an alliance against the Hivetung and the recovery of any younglings captured by them.” As he speaks Whisper gestures over his shoulder to me. I feel my face redden to a shade significantly darker than my hair. Compared to the large animals facing us with their sharp teeth and deadly claws I am rather pathetic. Hintorunner notices it also. He laughs a full-blown, mocking gust of merriment at us.
“How appropriate, you being submissive to a flea on your back!” Hintorunner exclaims. “I’m sure this pathetic being was the only one that would…” Whisper doesn’t let him finish. Moving with explosive force that nearly tumbles me and Sarah from his back, Whisper swats Hintorunner down with one heavy strike from his paw across the face. The blow echoes across the plain like a sudden thunderclap and Hintorunner hits the earth with shocking force. Before he could even raise his head in protest Whisper is on him, pinning him in place with the same paw that sent him sprawling. He holds Hintorunner’s head firmly into the ground effortlessly. Hintorunner thrashes like a pinned snake showering the area with torn chucks of earth, but he can’t free himself from Whisper’s iron grip. The other two ferrets take a single step forward, probably to intervene, but a single glance from Whisper is enough to make them reconsider the action.
“Oh, what fun!” My shadow declares dangerously. “The white rat finally did something useful but he still didn’t get it right. I’ll have to show him how it’s done.” My shadow, hidden until now in the depths of the tall grass around us, finally makes his presence known. Like oil suddenly bleeding from the ground my shadow spreads out, coating the ground around him in his darkness. At first he oozes out like a large, black pond. With a speed that would have shattered the sound barrier if he weresn’t insubstantial, my shadow reaches out to the other two ferrets, wrapping their front legs in his nothingness. What can only be described as absolute terror overwhelms the ferrets as they let out joint cries, tugging in vain to free themselves.
“Stop!” I yell, forcing every bit of command and authority I could into that single word. I half expect my shadow to ignore me and consume them right then and there but the darkness hesitates as if receiving conflicting instructions. My shadow struggles against me. His dark will against the force of my command. Its close but I compel him back and like a slowly receding tide he collapses into the grass, hidden except for his angry muttering.
Where he had expanded to is ruined. The grass he had coated is no more and the ground itself looks dead, almost tainted, like it had been despoiled by thousands of sacrifices to gods better left un-named. The two ferrets fare better from the assault than the ground but my shadow had still left his mark. Their legs, once covered in healthy fur, are stripped raw with large blisters covering every inch of exposed skin. Like burn victims, clear viscous liquid oozes from their sores, giving their raw skin a wet, sticky look. No
doubt if I hadn’t interrupted my shadow both of these ferrets would have been dissolved into his essence, like salt into water.
Their will broke either from Whisper’s glare or my shadow’s attack but once freed all three cower before us, completely submissive. Not the worst first impression I’ve had. “Take us to your Alpha,” I say in my most commanding tone. All three ferrets meekly rise, never meeting my eyes, turning back to the direction they came from. The two my shadow attacked have a slight limp and let out small squeaks of pain at each step. We followed, Sarah and me still riding Whisper with my shadow trailing behind.
“That actually went very well,” Whisper says, his voice low for only us to hear.
“Well?” Sarah says, part terrified and part bemused.
“My people respect power and abilities above all else. In this world those without power die and shadow’s demonstration was beyond anything they have ever experienced,” Whisper replies, matching the pace of the ferrets ahead of us. He leaves enough distance from them for our private conversation.
“And yet I get no credit for it,” my shadow says gloomily from behind us. Turning my head I catch a brief glance of darkness amidst the tall grass before it moves on.
“I’ll give you credit for it,” I concede with difficulty. “But killing them would have provoked the others. We want their help not their destruction.”
Sarah sighs. “I wish I had my gun and a jumbo coffee.”
“Which one would you pick if you could only have one?” I ask, grinning.
“Coffee,” Sarah says decisively. “Life without coffee is not worth living, so why would you need a gun?”
Why indeed.
Whisper’s home is just as marvelous as the plain preceding it. His former clan had made their home at the center of a cluster of exceptionally large, translucent crystals. The sun sets behind the crystal mound, bathing us in a rich, purple light, painting the world in brilliant shades before us. The formation is nearly a mountain with lopsided crystals scattered throughout. Some end in jagged tips while others are relatively flat and broad. In the center is a wide opening forming an inverted V which is wide enough for several of Whisper’s kind to walk abreast. A constant flow of traffic moves in and out of the entrance, some dragging in kills and others racing out on unknown errands. While Whisper’s home lacks the efficiency of the hivetung colony there is still a strong feeling of united purpose. The air thrums with their will to survive. Whisper tenses beneath me as we draw near the entrance. He has been away for a long time.
“Do you miss your home?” I ask, dreading what I would say next, but knowing I had to for the sake of my best friend.
“Yes,” Whisper says sadly. “My heart longs to be here in my ancestral home.”
“After we rescue your young, your elders should welcome you back. You could go home,” I try and fail to keep my voice steady. In many ways Whisper is the only home I have.
“No,” Whisper saiys firmly. “I shall miss my home, but I have grown beyond it. I have seen worlds none of my kind could even imagine let alone thrive in. Our journey together, Shifter, has only just begun. I belong at your side now and forever. Though I still hate being so small in your world.” Tears blur my vision and I furiously blink them away. This isn’t the time or place for such things.
“Thank you,” I say simply, though those two simple worlds hardly do justice to what I feel inside.
The interior of Whisper’s birth home is even more marvelous than the plain beyond. Everything is awash in purple light, courtesy of the overhead crystals that nearly enclose the entire area. So focused am I on the surroundings I don’t notice the hundreds of eyes staring at us until Sarah gives me a tight squeeze, redirecting my attention to more immediate issues. Eyes of all colors look at us from ferrets of equally colorful fur patterns. Most of the looks are not of friendship and warmth. Several appear to be on the verge of springing forth at any second, claws slashing the air. Hintorunner and his companions regain much of their earlier confidence now that they are in their place of power, but the limps of his companions are a welcome a reminder that we are dangerous. Whisper ignores the hissing and, in some cases, rather rude remarks thrown at us from all sides. He strides casually and confidently. Sarah and I do our best to mirror his posture, sitting up straight and looking around like we are utterly bored.
“I think I now know how a gazelle feels when confronted by a pride of lions,” Sarah mutters. I nod, not trusting myself to speak.
The walk to the center of the ferret den seems to take forever. The strain of watching the large ferrets closing in on all sides leaves an itch in my back where I keep expecting the dagger to be plunged. The urge to shift us away from here, away from all the angry eyes is almost overpowering. Doubt seeps into my mind and I wonder if I have seriously misjudged the situation. Will my plan even work? Or am I going to get us all killed? Moving my gaze from this world to my own I see with disquiet that my plan, while still functional, would likely result in a great deal of embarrassment. I sighe. Of course it had to work out this way. I really hate my luck. Oh well, it wouldn’t be the first time I made a complete ass out of myself.
Suddenly a space clears around us as three ferrets step forward. They have to be the Alphas Whisper had described to me, for they wear crudely-woven, dried bone fragments as a type of armor over their hides. The middle ferret is large even for their kind, with rippling muscle and a brown and white spotted fur pattern. His teeth are bared and thin trickle of drool escapes from his lower lip. The only time I have seen such hate and loathing from another intelligent being was the look my mother reserved just for me.
The other two are more composed than their companion but I can still see how they tense up as we come into view. The left one is black as night with cool green eyes and a half gnawed-off ear. I can see a deep intelligence in the look he gives us; it’s calculating, the kind of look you get from a professional gunslinger. The right one is pure white, just like Whisper, with eyes eerily similar to his also. The look this ferret has is not of loathing or anger or even curiosity, it’s a look of despair and suppressed pain. A relative of Whisper? I long to ask him but that will have to wait, we have more pressing matters to discuss before we become chew toys. Not allowing them the chance to insult us like Hintorunner and his group, Whisper immediately speaks up, his purring voice reverberating all around the vast chamber.
“I have come before you my former clan, once more. I am no longer the clan-less outcast. I am now Whisper of clan Shifter and ask for the aid of the Bartendor clan for revenge against the hivetung and the retrieval of any stolen young!” Whisper adds just the right amount of confidence in his tone and emphasizes the rescue aspect of our mission.
A stunned silence fills the chamber and, for the first time, the angry hissing ceases as all eyes turn from us to their Alphas.
“We do not recognize you or your new clan,” says the middle ferret with the brown and white spots. “I, Machadohunter, Alpha of the Bartendor clan who cast you out nameless one, find your presence INTOLERABLE!” The angry muttering that had been silenced by Whisper returns tenfold and those nearest start pawing the ground as if eager to pounce. This reaction was not anticipated. It’s my turn now. Whisper had schooled me well on what to do next. Sighing, I leap off Whisper, landing awkwardly near him. I was really hoping to avoid this part. Rising up to my full height, which feels woefully inadequate given those surrounding me, I raise my voice for all to hear.
“Do those of the Bartendor clan fear the Hivetung so? I was told that the Hivetung routinely steal your young. I thought your mighty clan would like a chance to rectify this.” I echo as all heads turn toward me. Praying they don’t confuse me for a bite size treat I go on. “I have a way inside the Hivetung colony, but three against so many is poor odds, even with the element of surprise. Whisper told me of his former clan’s glory and bravery equal to none in all the worlds combined. Yet
here I find only nursing whelps, afraid to leave the shadow of their crystal home. I am Jerry Price, Alpha of clan Shifter and I call you Machadohunter a coward more worthy of breeding with moles than hunting in the night!” The uproar is thunderous as Machadohunter fixes his murderous eyes on me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have used my shadow’s inspired insult.
“You insignificant insect dare insult me!” Machadohunter booms so loudly that I am afraid the purple crystal surrounding us will shatter.
“I do,” I yell, which pales next to his previous decibel level. “I challenge you, Machadohunter, to single combat of two Alphas!” This time it’s an explosion of laughter far louder than all the previous yelling combined. Yeah, yeah, laugh at the little human. Machadohunter has joined all the others at their sudden merriment, going so far as spring forth tears of unrestrained mirth and pounding his huge paw repeatedly on the soft earth. I begin to feel a bit insulted. I can be dangerous…kinda.
“Hiding behind your tears, Machadohunter? I can let you nurse from your bitch mother if you like before I defeat you,” I say, adding as much contempt as I could while ignoring the embarrassment burning in my face. That sobers him up.
“I accept your challenge, noisy insect. I will crush your head into the ground in an instant,” Machadohunter declares as a space clears around us. Whisper and Sarah also retreat, giving us plenty of room. Sarah spares me an, ‘I hope you know what you are doing look.’ Whisper, for his part, is completely unconcerned, his faith in me more solid than the surrounding crystal.
They stand together watching me, Sarah in plain blue sweat pants and a brown leather jacket looking small next to the towering shape that is Whisper. Sarah didn’t bring her gun and her strange outfit was necessary since many materials don’t survive shifting very well. I am similarly dressed with my black trench coat over black sweatpants and plain black t-shirt. I feel like a ninja except for the pink moccasins I wear. It was the only color I could find in my size. I look ridiculous facing off with the giant Machadohunter despite the sword I took from the hivetung slung over my back.
“As you can see there is somewhat of a disadvantage between us here. If you like you can have your lesser Alpha’s help you, Machadohunter,” I say, nodding to the black ferret. Once again an explosion of mirth comes forth but at least this time it isn’t entirely directed at me.
“A confident bug, aren’t you?” Machadohunter asks. “I have no need of help except to pick your remains from my teeth!” A roar of applause follows his declaration.
“Well, I don’t want to be the bringer of tooth decay and gingivitis. So have your Alphas join us here in the center so they can see and tell all,” I say, again to the mirth of all.
“They will join us. This will be quick and I don’t anyone to miss the details,” Machadohunter says as the black and white ferrets step forth. “Ready to die?”
“Not quite,” I reply, sending my gaze forth into the other worlds. “I find this spot not to my liking could we move over there,” I say pointing to a spot off in the distance.
“No, we end this now, bug!” Machadohunter says and I sigh. It was worth a shot.
“Very well, but I will make your defeat all the worse for the annoyance this will cause me,” I say and ready myself.
“Begin!” Machadohunter yells, lunging with the speed of a bullet train directly at me.
He is fast but my shifting is faster. Inspired by Solarkar and our first encounter I throw my arms wide and shift. I don’t shift just myself but the area in my immediate vicinity including Machadohunter and his two fellow ferrets. It’s instantaneous. One moment I am surrounded by snarling ferret’s the next I am back in my normal world. We appear in the middle of a basketball court during a half-time show. I snatch the leaping ferret of the air by the scruff of his neck. From the look of it I would guess that it’s a high school basketball game as team members on both sides rest on the bench, watching the cheerleaders a short distance from me perform rather amazing leg kicks, completely unaware that something rather unusual had just appeared behind them.
The crowd does not fail to notice. Rising to their feet they point at the sudden appearance of a young man and three large ferrets. A shocked mutter ripples through the crowd. Machadohunter, now much smaller, squeaks in terror and begins squirming in my grasp.
“What have you done to me?” Machadohunter cries out. I can see the other two, their eyes wide with fear, getting ready flee.
“Don’t run. If you do I can’t return you home,” I say and notice that I had shifted a patch of ground along with me. In a circle around me is grass and stone … in the middle of the basketball court. Yeah they might have trouble explaining this one away. Oh well, not my problem. The white and black ferret freeze, too terrified to do anything other than shiver in fear.
“Do you yield, Machadohunter?” I ask, lacing my voice with venom. The direct threat to his honor and the threat of being defeated by me is enough to send a surge of courage through him.
“Never! You cheated.”
“I did no such thing other than use my natural abilities just as you intended to, but enough of this. Let’s begin!” Holding Machadohunter firmly I lift him high in the air and shake him like a mother does her cub. After a few seconds he breaks down into a snarling rage at being treated like an ill-tempered pup. The crowd begins raging as well, no doubt wondering what I am doing committing animal abuse in the middle of a basketball game. They are probably ignoring the fact I had just appeared out of nowhere. All eyes are on me once again but this time they are human. I can see flashes out of the corner of my eyes as pictures, and no doubt video, are being taken.
Even more embarrassed than I had been earlier with the ferrets I address the still defiant Machadohunter. “Do you yield?” A snarl is his only response. So be it.
I grab his tail with my free hand and spin him in great, fast arcs, my arms mimicking a propeller blade. Machadohunter’s cries of pain and humiliation are drowned out by the outrage of the crowd. I hope he will yield before a PETA member decides to tackle me. I can imagine what I would tell them. ‘No it was not animal abuse. I challenged the ferret to a dominance fight so he would help me kill some really tall naked men…’ Any wonder people think I’m crazy?
Finally, as several large and alarmingly beefy audience members make their way to me, I hear the sweetest sound ever. “I yield!”
“You heard him,” I say, directing my comment to the two cowering ferrets trying to hide in the grass. They nod and it’s with some relief that I return us back to Whisper’s world. The upset cries of the angry crowd recede as the environment before me. Machadohunter, no longer small, rises unsteadily to his four feet, swaying from side to side. Suddenly, his body gives a funny lurch and he vomits a long stream of bile. I ignore the rank smell now lingering the air.
“Victory!” Cries Whisper for all to hear, having every confidence that my plan would work. Machadohunter, still busy with the task of emptying his stomach, doesn’t respond but manages to give us a nasty look before his unsteady digestive system demands his attention once more. The black ferret with the gnawed off ear along with the pure white ferret step forward around the sick Machadohunter and actually bow to me.
“Jerry Price, Alpha of clan Shifter, I Lasadamother second Alpha of the Bartendor clan recognizes both your abilities in combat and your clan as a formidable force. I will hear your plan for the demise of the hivetung and the recovery of our young.”
Sarah gives me a wide smile, her bleach blonde hair obscuring most of her eyes but I can still see hope blossoming there. Giving my own smile to Lasadamother I tell them my plan.