~The Sounds of Silence~

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The following contains content of an adult nature, including, but not limited to, adult

language and content and fantasy violence.

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ASH stood is a huge room. The room was completely white. There was a floor and a high ceiling, but, if there were walls, they were too far away to see. From the room's ceiling, there flowed three parallel waterfalls of luminescent white fluids. The three falls were access portals into one of the three parallel dimensions that make up the universe. Ash stood looking into the falling liquids and wondering what would happen next. They had missed the chance to retrieve Cole's soul once. Would they miss it again? They had managed to secure Jake's soul in the green crystal blade of one of the knives. Ash looked around and Sarah holding the glowing knife. Ash realized that this was probably the closest the two of them had been together in a very long time.

Ash thought about the human body that had played host to Jake's soul. What had happened to that boy once the soul was removed? Ash and the others had to flee quickly. When they left, the boy was lying on the ground in a coma. Would he be all right? Or, was Ash leaving a trail of comatose bodies behind in his journey to rescue his furiends? These are the questions that have been plaguing Ash for the past year. These thoughts made Ash feel like the villain in some twisted fairy tale. He looked down at the white crystal knife clutched in his paw. He had the sudden urge to plunge the glistening blade into his heart. He knew that that would not change anything, despite the fact that it would have made him feel better. Ash replaced the knife in the scabbard on his hip.

He looked across the three rivers and saw Caitlin standing off by herself. Ash had noticed a decline in her sociability ever since they had retrieved Jake's soul. She had become particularly belligerent towards Ash in the past year. He had asked Sarah if she had noticed. Sarah had told Ash that Caitlin was a teenage girl who had lost both of her parents at an early age. She had also said for him not worry. But, worry he did. Ash cared for the young lioness. He knew what had happened to her father, but had been sworn to secrecy by Michael and the archangels. Ash dreaded the day that she found out his part in Todd Hunter's death. Suddenly, a strange thought jumped into the front of Ash's mind.

"What if she already knows?"

"What if who already knows what?"

The voice startled Ash. He turned and found Sarah standing close behind him. She reached over and slipped the green glowing knife into its place in the scabbard on Ash's hip. Her green eyes never left Ash's face.

"Say. Who are you talking about?"

Ash looked away from the leopard and saw Caitlin walking towards them. He looked back to Sarah.

"I'll tell you later." Ash turned and walked over to meet Caitlin.

"All right. If that's what you want."

Caitlin walked to the waterfall to her right as she walked towards Ash and Sarah. She stepped around the cascade so that she stood on Ash's left. Sarah moved from her position on Ash's right to stand behind Caitlin. She rested both of her paws on the young lioness's shoulders. She bent over that their heads were parallel.

"Where are we going to this time, kiddo?"

"Here."

Caitlin held up a paw and pointed to a growing image in the falling liquid. Ash stepped closer and looked into the image. Ash could make out a house with a fenced in backyard. It was nighttime and there were no lights on in the yard. A bright blue pinpoint of light sprung to life in the middle of the yard. Ash looked back at Caitlin. Her paws were cupped in front of her. In them was a small pinpoint of blue light. Ash looked back at the fall then turned and walked behind Caitlin. The fox placed his left paw on the lioness's shoulder. The pinpoint light flashed and expanded to swallow the three furs. Upon enveloping the three of them, the light shrank back to a pinpoint and winked out of existence.

Ash, Caitlin and Sarah were pulled into a tunnel of glowing energy. The walls of the tunnel were covered in overlapping images. Images of furs, humans and in some cases both species coexisting flashed past them. Where there were no images, there patches of multicolored energy, glowing and pulsating as if alive. At times, a tendril of energy would lash out at Ash and strike him on the arm. Flesh and fur were sliced away from the bone only to be replaced in a matter of moments. What the hell is going on? Nothing like this had happened during any of the other journeys. Why now? Ash looked around at Caitlin and Sarah. Neither of them was being attacked like he was. Ash looked back around and watched the flesh of his right arm rip away from and the blood spilling from the torn veins and arteries.

Ash turned his eyes forward and ignored the pain. His blue eyes slowly shifted from directly ahead to the lioness beside him. She knows. She has to. Ash was sure that she had to know what had happened to her father, but how had she found out? Sarah did not know the details and Ash certainly had not told her. A blinding light ahead drew Ash's attention from the tumultuous thoughts in his mind. In the center of the light was a growing image. In the image was a darkened backyard surrounded by a high wooden fence. There was a dog tied up on the patio and the bottom of a small flight of six steps.

A pinpoint light appeared four feet above the neatly trimmed lawn. The light flashed and expanded into a large sphere of glowing white light. Ash, Caitlin and Sarah's hindpaws hit the ground. The light sphere pulsed once more then shrank to a pinpoint cupped in Caitlin's paws. She lowered her paws and took a step away from the Ash and Sarah. The dog lying on the patio rose to its paws and took a few steps towards the lioness. The dog was an adolescent male Siberian husky with copper colored fur. His ears were laid back against his head and his eyes were two different colors. His left eye was blue and his right eye green. The husky's eyes were locked on Caitlin. The dog's eyes narrowed and he began growling deep in its throat. Ash moved forward to stand between Caitlin and the growling canine.

* * *

WATER flowing over his hands in the sink, the human male washing dishes looked up from his work when he heard the family dog in the backyard. The dog was barking his head off.

"I swear, if the neighbors call the cops because of that dog, I'm havin' it put to sleep."

The man's wife walked up behind him. "Jesse. You'd never get rid of that thing. You love him too much."

"I know, Lil. Guess I better go see what the fuss is about."

Jesse turned from his wife and walked to the backdoor. He opened the door and looked through the screen door behind it. He could see the husky struggling against his collar to attach something further in the yard. Jesse sighed and called to the dog.

"Jude! Boy, calm down." The dog kept barking. "Don't make me come out there."

Jesse was about to make good on his threat when a large shape moved in the darkness of the yard. The man turned from the door and walked passed his wife into the living room. His two sons looked up at him from where they played on the floor. Jesse walked to a high bookcase and pulled a brown wooden box from the top shelf. He took the box and walked back into the kitchen. Setting the box on the counter, Jesse opened the lid to reveal a black revolver. He swung out the cylinder and pushed a bullet into each of the six chambers. When he was finished, Jesse pushed the cylinder back into place. He put his thumb on the hammer, but did not pull it back. Jesse froze completely.

"Jess?" Lilia's voice stirred him. "What is it?"

"Listen."

"I don't hear..."

Lilia stopped before she could say anymore. There was no sound coming from the backyard. The family husky had stopped barking. Jesse cursed through gritted teeth and pulled back the hammer of the revolver. He moved to the backdoor and stepped out onto the top step. He aimed the gun into the darkness. He glanced down and saw the rope that had tethered the dog to the house. The rope was stretched to its full length with the dog standing quietly at the end. The light spilling from the open door behind him fell across a pair of boots. Jesse raised the gun so that the barrel was aiming where he thought the intruder's head should be. There was a twang from somewhere in the darkness like an arrow being released from a bow, but no arrow flew out to strike Jesse.

Inside, Lilia flipped a switched and flooded the backyard with light. Lilia gasped in surprise at what she saw. Jesse lowered the revolver and gave a low chuckle. Standing in the center of his lawn was the fox named Ash Reynolds he had first met four years ago. The fox had saved the life of his wife and first-born son and in return the child had been named Ash. There were two other creatures like him standing beside him. The both appeared to be female. The young one was standing behind Ash with a frightened look in her stunningly blue eyes. The other was about an inch taller than Ash and had an aluminum compound bow clutched in her outstretched paw. The arrow that she had loaded into the bow had been caught by Ash mere moments after it had been released. Ash smiled at Jesse then turned to his two companions.

The three animals began talking in rapid, hushed voices. Jesse used his thumb to pulled the hammer back and push it forward gently. The backdoor opened and Lilia walked down the steps to stand beside her husband. She smiled at the sight of the fox. Ash held up his paws for silence and turned back to the humans. He gave them a large smile and walked over to them. Ash took Jesse's outstretched hand then turned to Lilia. Unable to contain herself, Lilia threw here arms around the fox's neck and hugged him. Ash put his arms around Lilia and squeezed her tight. It was the closest he had been to any version of his parents in three years. The sound of a clearing throat brought Ash back to the present.

"Sorry. Ladies, this is Jesse and Lilia Reynolds. Guys, these are my furiends. Sarah O'Connell is the tall leopard on the right and Caitlin Hunter is the short lion on the left."

"It's nice meeting you all. Let's go inside."

Ash and the two felines followed Jesse and Lilia into the kitchen through the backdoor. They moved through the kitchen and into the living room. The four year-old Ash Reynolds looked up from the floor as his namesake walked into the room. The tall fox looked down at the toddler and smiled. The human child had the same blue eyes that Ash had. Beside the boy was an infant that was no more than a year old. The infant turned his eyes up towards Ash. The baby boy's eyes were a gleaming gold color. It can't be. Ash lowered himself to the floor to look the small boy in his eyes. The kid looked back at Ash and grinned widely at the fox. The child reached up with one of his chubby, little hands and touched Ash's cold, wet nose. The little boy pulled his hand back and stared at the canid. Ash held up his paw and touched the child's nose with the padding on the end of his finger. The child fell backwards and began laughing.

"I see you've met Micah."

"Yeah. We've met."

Lilia sat forward in her chair and looked at Ash. "So, what brings you and your friends all the way back here?"

"We're looking for something. Sort of."

"What do you mean 'sort of'?" Jesse reached down and lifted Micah from the floor. "You're either looking for something, or you're not. There's no middle ground."

"I'm looking for something that one of my furiends lost a few years ago."

"And, you're looking for it here? What exactly did this friend of yours lose?"

Ash swallowed hard before he spoke. He had never had to explain his task to any fur or human. "He lost his soul and I have to get it back."

"His soul!?" Both human adults repeated the words together.

"Ash!" Sarah snapped admonishingly at the fox.

"What?" Ash looked at the leopardess.

"Do you really think you should tell them about your mission?"

"Why not? They might be able to help us."

Caitlin stepped forward and spoke. "But, can we trust them?"

"Yes."

"There are a lot of things I thought you were, but an idiot wasn't one of them."

"Okay, first of all, Caitlin. I said I trust them and that should be enough for the both of you. Secondly, we really could use the help. And the truth is, I don't really care if you trust them or not, but they're my furiends and I want their help. The only way they can help is if I explain everything to them. Got it?"

The lioness did not answer, but she did not retort either. Caitlin glared down at Ash then left the room. Sarah followed Caitlin out with her eyes then looked back at Ash. She gave him an admonishing look then walked after Caitlin. Ash watched her leave then sighed to himself.

"Forgive them, they must have woken up on the wrong side of the dimensional divide this morning."

"And you?"

"You can't wake up if you don't go to sleep."

"How long haven't you been able to sleep?"

"What are you? My psychiatrist?" Ash sighed. "I can't remember the last time I had a good night's rest. I've been hopping across dimensions and through time for the past four years. Three of my furiends had their souls switched with their counterparts in another dimension inhabited by furs a few years ago. They were killed. It's been explained to me that, since their souls were not a part of those bodies in the strictest sense, their souls still lived."

Lilia and Jesse looked at each other then looked back at Ash. Ash was silent for a few more minutes then continued.

"I have to travel through different dimension to try and find their souls so I can take them home. I was given these to help me retrieve the souls." Ash pulled the crystal blades from the scabbard on his hip. "Each knife is a container for one of the souls I need to find."

Jesse sat forward. "Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt. Why does this green one have a more solid look to it? These other two look like they're hollow."

"That's because they are. The green one looks solid because there's a soul in the blade. Of the three, I've only been able to locate one."

"Why is the white knife glowing so brightly?" Lilia held the knife gingerly in her fingers.

"That's the one I'm looking for. I need to know if you know..."

"Ash!"

Sarah had walked back into the room. She stood in the doorway with her paws on her hips. Ash looked up at her and said nothing. The look in Sarah's green eyes told Ash that she wanted to speak with him privately. Ash excused himself and rose from the floor. Ash took a few steps then stopped. He turned and looked behind him and saw the child named Ash walking with him. Lilia called to the child and he turned and ran to his mother. Ash looked back to Sarah and followed her out of the room. Sarah stopped in the kitchen and rounded on Ash. There was a murderous look in her eyes, but Ash ignored it. Even if she did not, Ash knew that she could not kill him if she tried.

"What are you doing?"

"Telling them everything."

"Why the hell are you gonna do that for?"

"We've been through this. They're my furiends. They deserve to know. They can help us."

"I don't trust them."

"Who do you trust?"

Sarah stopped her tirade. Ash had struck a nerve. He turned from the leopardess and placed his paws on the counter. Ash looked around and saw Caitlin sitting at the dining table fidgeting with something. The fox watched and noticed that it was the locket that Todd Hunter had shown him. Ash had given it to the lioness once they had met. Ash put Caitlin and her problem from his mind and turned back to Sarah. She was still glowering at him. Ash lowered his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

"Why don't you trust them?"

"They're human."

Ash looked at Sarah with raised eyebrows. "That's your reason? 'They're human.' That is the most narrow-minded thing I have ever heard you say. There is nothing wrong with these humans."

"They have no reason to help us."

"That's where you're wrong. Four years ago I saved their lives. All of them. So, if you wanna look at it that way, they owe me."

Sarah stared back at Ash. "They'll try to harm us."

"Why? What reason would they have to harm us?"

"In the last world, the humans tried to kill you because they were afraid of our kind. If they tried it, these humans will certainly try it."

"I think there's something wrong with your logic. Remember, the last world we were in, the year was something like 3572. Here, the year is 2013. Furs haven't even evolved yet. We're the only ones. And, as I have said numerous time, these humans will not hurt us."

"But..."

"Drop it! They're helping us whether you like it or not."

Ash turned from Sarah and left her in the kitchen, fuming. Ash walked back into the living room and sat down in an unoccupied chair. He sighed and rubbed his face.

"You should get some rest, Ash." Lilia's voice was exactly like Ash remembered.

"Yeah, you look like hell." Jesse rose from the couch as he spoke.

"Well, that's exactly how I feel. Can I just lay down on the couch?"

"Sure, go right ahead."

Jesse knelt down and lifted the infant Micah from floor. He bade Ash a good night and left the room. Ash heard him walk up the stairs to the second story. Lilia walked the other way and headed towards the kitchen. The small boy walked over to where Ash sat and looked up at him. Ash smiled at the boy and patted him on the head. The boy smiled and ran out of the room. Ash rose from the chair and moved to the couch. He laid down on the couch and closed his eyes. Ash let go and slipped into a dream. He saw his own family. They were all smiling back at him with love in their eyes. The scene abruptly changed. The happy expressions of his furiends and family vanished and were replaced with looks of hatred. His family attacked him and began tearing him limb from limb. Ash tried to cry out, but could not.

* * *

ASH sat up fast. Sweat poured down over his face as he sat on the couch and tried to catch his breath. His heart was pounding; it felt like it was going to explode. Ash shifted his position on the couch and put his hindpaws flat on the floor. He sat forward and started taking deep breaths. He dropped his head into his paws to try and clear his thoughts. The fox had not had a dream like that one since he had been bonded with the demon Kordak. That had been long ago and in another life. Another life that did not exist any longer. Ash looked around the room and saw Caitlin curled up in one of the large armchairs. Sarah was stretched out on the floor. The husky from the previous night was standing over her looking down into her sleeping face.

"Hey! Come here."

Ash's voice was just loud enough to get the dog's attention and not to wake the sleeping felines. The husky trotted over to Ash and sat down in front of him. Ash rubbed the top of the dog's head. The husky flattened his ears out to either side in a show of pleasure. The fox rose from the couch and walked into the kitchen. The husky followed him the whole way to the sink. Ash took a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water. He started to raise the glass to his lips when he heard a low whimpering behind him. He looked back and saw the husky sitting on the tiled floor with a bowl clutched in his jaws. Ash smiled and took a sip of the water he had fixed himself. He set the glass down and took the bowl from the dog. Ash filled the bowl and sat it on the floor in front of the canine. Ash saw a name printed on the side of the bowl.

"Jude."

The husky stopped drinking and looked up at Ash. Ash waved a dismissive paw and looked away from the dog. Jude looked back at his bowl and resumed lapping up water. Ash picked up his glass of water and took another sip. Lilia walked into the room and smiled at Ash. She moved towards the sink so Ash stepped out of her way and sat down at the counter. He watched this human version of his mother busy herself with the morning chores. She walked to the refrigerator and retrieved a carton of eggs. She suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Ash reached forward as if to touch her arm.

"Do you and your friends eat eggs?"

"Yeah. Well, I do. I don't know about them. We haven't had breakfast together since we've met. We've been on the move a lot."

"Oh."

"Do you want me to go find out, or should we just go on the assumption that they'll never trust you and will probably think you're trying to poison them?"

"Might be good if you go ask them."

"Okay."

Ash slid off of the stool and walked around the corner into the living room. Sarah was sitting up and rubbing her eyes, but Caitlin was still fast asleep. Sarah turned and looked at Ash, but did not smile. Jude the husky trotted into the room and moved around Ash to sit in front of the chair Caitlin was curled up in. Before Ash could stop him, Jude stretched his head forward and touched Caitlin's bare hindpaw with his nose. His cold, wet, canine nose. Caitlin woke with a start and nearly kicked the husky in the muzzle. The dog jumped back out of the way. Caitlin sat up and rubbed her eyes. She saw the husky and sighed. Lilia called Jude to the kitchen and the dog took off around the corner. Sarah stood up and looked at Ash.

"Do either of you want eggs, and if so how do you want them?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Sarah stepped around Ash and headed for the kitchen.

"Okay. How about you, Caitlin?"

"Scrambled's fine."

Ash nodded then went back into the kitchen. He relayed the information to Lilia as she cracked an egg open on the side of a small saucer. Sarah was sitting at the dining table looking away from the woman. Ash sat back on the stool he had been sitting in earlier. He sat with his back to Sarah. He watched Lilia move around in the kitchen the way his own mother had down so for so long. Caitlin came walking into the room. She headed for the table and sat down across from Sarah. Once Lilia had gotten everything on the stove where she could leave it, she turned and walked to where Ash sat. She looked down at his right arm and noticed some discoloration in the fur. There were lines in his fur that seemed darker than the rest of his fur. Lilia opened her mouth to speak when there was a knock at the door. Jesse called down from upstairs that he would answer the door.

"Who could that be?" Ash began to slide off the stool.

"Might be the Browning boys. A friend of theirs has been acting a little strange. They think there might be something supernatural behind, so they said they'd bring him here for Jesse to look at."

"Ash." Sarah rose from the chair. "We should hide."

"All right, but only until we see who it is. The Browning brothers are furiends of mine, too."

Ash, Sarah and Caitlin slipped from the kitchen and stepped around the corner into the living room. They heard the door open and then there were voices. Ash recognized the first two voices as those of Sean and Dan Browning. The voice he heard next he did not want to believe he had heard. Was it really possible? There was a final voice. Another voice Ash recognized. Ash furrowed his brow.

"What are the odds?"

Ash stepped around the corner. Sean and Dan stood at the counter smiling at Lilia as she finished cooking and served them each a plate. Two other humans stood to one side with their backs to the entrance to the living room. One of the humans was a girl with long brown hair. The other was a boy with close-cropped brown hair. The boy continually shifted the positions of his feet, almost as if he was uncomfortable with them. Dan looked up and saw Ash standing in the doorway. The boy and the girl seemed to catch the grin that spread across Dan's face and turned to see what he had seen. The two humans turned and saw the fox standing behind them. The girl gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. The boy, on the other hand, smiled broadly when he saw Ash. Ash saw the familiar shade of green their eyes had. He knew exactly who they were.

"Hey, Ash. How's it goin', buddy?" Sean walked around the boy and girl and clapped Ash on the shoulder. "These two gaping adolescents are Calleigh and Cole Sommers. Cole's a little crazy."

"I am not!" Cole's protest brought his sister back to herself.

"Oh, please. You claim you're a wolf trapped in a human's body."

Calleigh stopped abruptly and Cole raised his eyebrows. She turned her head and looked at Ash. She suddenly did not seem as sure that her brother was out of his mind.

"Oh, my God. So, you're not crazy?"

Ash cut in. "No, he's not crazy, but we have to talk."

"I'm amazed you can talk in the first place. Where in God's name did you come from?"

"If you'll take a seat, I can try to explain a few things."

The Sommers twins took a seat at the table. Jesse sat down across from Cole with Lilia at his side. Sean and Dan stood against the far wall facing Ash, holding their plates of eggs. Ash turned and walked back into the living room. When he returned, Sarah and Caitlin were trailing along behind him. They stepped around Ash and stood against the wall behind Jesse and Lilia. Caitlin stared at the floor, the ceiling and everything else except the humans. She refused to make eye contact with any of them. Sarah was another story. She made it a point to lock gazes with each and every one of them. When she did, Sarah gave them the most evil look she could manage. Ash was just glad that she was not constantly telling him to be quiet because the humans could not be trusted. Ash looked over and glared at Sarah until she stopped.

Ash glanced around the room. He hardly knew where to begin. There was so much he could tell them all. So much he did not understand. So much he did not want to talk about. Sean cleared his throat loudly. Ash looked up at him and nodded. He glanced around at his audience once more before beginning.

"For those of you who don't know, I'm from another dimension. I've been here before, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that I am here now and I am looking for something. Well, somefur actually."

Calleigh broke in. "Some... what?"

"Oh, sorry. I think the human equivalent is 'someone'? Is that right?" Dan nodded his head. "Anyway, my furiends and I came here looking for something of great value to a furiend back home."

Sean stepped closer. "What is this something of great value your friend lost?"

"His soul."

"Sucks to be him."

"Yeah, wouldn't you agree, Cole?"

"You bet your six-foot tail is does."

"Actually it's five and a half, but who's counting." Ash's tail swished around behind him. Calleigh noticed for the first time the fox's unusually long tail. "Look, as crazy as this might sound. I need to get my furiend's soul out of that body and take it back to his own."

Dan began shaking his head. "You're right. That does sound a little crazy. How exactly do you intend to remove the soul?"

Ash pulled the glowing white crystalline blade from the sheath on his hip and held it up for all to see. He turned the knife over in his paws a few times before raising it to eye-level. Ash peered into the blade for a few moments. A worried expression flashed across Calleigh's face as she looked from her twin to this strange fox from another dimension. She turned in her chair to fully face Ash.

"What's gonna happen to Cole?"

"I don't know. I've only done this once before and I didn't get to hang around long enough to see what all happens."

"So, you want to stick that thing in my brother and you don't even know what'll happen?"

"Look, I know this sounds a little crazy, but..."

"A little crazy? It's fucking wacko!"

Cole grabbed his sister's elbow. "Calleigh."

Ash dropped his eyes. "Listen, this is the only way I can make things right. Besides, it's Cole's decision. Not yours."

Calleigh rounded on her brother. Cole's eyes were narrowed in deep consideration.

"I don't believe this. You're actually considering letting this thing stick a knife in you? You're even crazier than I though you were."

"Calleigh. You have to believe me. I don't belong here. I'm not the Cole you grew up with. I'm not losing my mind when I say I should have a muzzle, big ears, a tail and grey fur over every inch of my body. So yeah, I'm gonna let this fox stick a knife in me."

"All right. Caitlin, get him ready."

Caitlin moved from her position at the wall to stand behind Cole. She touched him on the shoulder. Cole rose from the chair and followed Caitlin out of the room. Calleigh started to rise from her chair, but Ash placed a paw on her shoulder. The Browning brother's moved from their places at the wall and walked over to where Sarah stood. The brother's began talking to Sarah. For a few minutes, it was them talking and her scowling back at the two humans. But soon, Sarah began to smile and converse with the boys. Something they had said or done made Sarah comfortable enough to talk with them as equals. Jude the husky came around the corner and sat on the floor beside Calleigh. Ash pulled a chair up and sat in front of Calleigh. Calleigh ran her hand over the top of the dog's head. She looked up at Ash as she did.

"Why are you doing this?"

"What?"

"Why do you do this? Getting these souls."

"Because I have to. A demon tried to ruin my life and got three of my furiends killed in the process. Our souls had been moved to different bodies, so when the bodies were killed the souls were released. They couldn't find their way home, but managed to break into other dimensions. Their souls were spread out among different time periods in these dimensions. I was given the task of gathering their souls and returning them to their rightful places."

"And, you've only got one and you don't know what happened to the guy afterwards, right?"

"Yes, but as I said before, we were in a hurry and didn't have the chance to stick around."

"Why was that?"

"The people their had apparently had a bad experience with the furs of the time and were persecuting them. I was next. They wanted to crucify me, but the furiend I was looking for was able to convince them just to hang me."

"Hang you? Well, I must say you look good."

"Well, they didn't really get the chance to actually hang me. But, I escaped and they were coming after me with pitch forks and other sharp objects, so I had to extract the soul and leave."

"A really odd question just popped into my head."

"What is it?"

"Is this the first time you've found Cole?"

Ash sighed. "No, it's not. A couple of years ago, I came across another version of Cole. His family wasn't as understanding as you seem to be. They had him committed to the psych ward of whatever hospital it was and had essentially forgotten about him."

"What? Why?"

"Well, when you're brother started saying he should have been a wolf, what was the first thing that went through your head?"

"Okay, at first, I did think 'sanitarium!' But, I was just glad he was talking again."

"What do you mean?"

"About six years ago, he came out to his friends. They freaked and attacked him. He hardly spoke for the next few years. The first meaningful thing to come out of his mouth was 'I'm supposed to be a wolf.'"

Ash chuckled to himself and scratched under Jude's chin.

Calleigh leaned in. "What would you do if one of your friends woke up one morning and said they should be a human?"

* * *

ASH stood over Cole as he lay on the dinning room table. Cole no longer had his shirt on. Instead, there were numerous markings on his arms, chest and face. The symbols were marked out in black body paint. There were three vertical lines in the center of Cole's forehead with the middle line extending down to the tip of his nose. An intricate spiral design had been drawn on both of his shoulders with a line running the length of his arm and terminated in another spiral design on the back of his wrists. Though they could not be seen, there was a series of elaborate motifs running down his spine. A large sigil had been placed over his heart and another string of strange designs down his chest, disappearing below the waistline of his jeans. Cole's green eyes stared straight at the ceiling. Ash leaned over him.

"Are you okay?"

"You ask me that one more time and so help me I'll rip your muzzle off."

"He's fine."

Ash looked at Calleigh and smiled. She returned his grin with a small smile. Ash turned his head and looked towards Caitlin. The lioness was not smiling. It had seemed like years since Ash last saw her smile. The fox smiled at her. Caitlin returned the smile with a scowl. Ash looked away and pulled the knife from its place on his hip. He held the knife over Cole's heart, the blade pointing downwards. The white crystal blade was glowing brighter than ever. Ash's blue eyes began emitting a glow as well. Ash stabbed the knife downward into Cole's chest. The tip of the blade pierced the skin under the center of the large sigil. No blood ran from the wound created by the blade. The darker areas of the fur on Ash's right arm flashed blue and began glowing brightly. The glow revealed the many and elaborate symbols and letters that covered his arm, giving him the power to extract and replace souls.

The pommel of the knife began giving off a warm glow. The black markings on Cole's body turned white and began blazing intensely. Quickly, Ash reversed his grip on the knife and pulled the blade out of Cole's chest. The glowing white markings turned to mist and streaked for the blade of the knife. The once hollow, translucent blade was now solid and opaque. The symbols on Ash's arm stopped glowing as he lowered the knife. Sarah stepped closer and bent over the boy's body. She placed her ear against his chest and listened. His heart was still beating and he was still breathing. The leopardess reached up and pulled back Cole's eyelid to look in his eye. She looked up at Ash and shook her head. This Cole's soul had not returned from wherever it was. Ash put the knife on the table and cursed himself silently. Calleigh grabbed Ash's shoulder and spun him around.

"What happened? What did you do?"

"I told you this might happen. I said..."

Tears steaming from her eyes, Calleigh turned to the counter and seized a pair of scissors from their place on the wall. She turned back and lashed out with the scissors. The sharpened tips tore through Ash's shirt and pierced the skin and muscle of his left shoulder. All gathered gasped as one. Ash did not flinch. He reached up and wrapped his paw around Calleigh's hand. Holding her hand in his paw, he pulled the scissors out of his shoulder. I deserve worse than that. Ash maneuvered her hand until the scissors were positioned over his heart.

"Next time you want to try and kill somefur, go for the heart."

With little effort, Ash pushed the blades of the scissors through the flesh and bone of his chest and into his heart. Calleigh gasped and pulled her hand away. Ash turned his eyes away. He walked to the backdoor and opened it. Ash walked outside and sat on the bottom step. He sighed and pulled the scissors from his chest and sat them on the step next to him. The two wounds glowed and healed. The bloodstains and the tears in his clothes vanished as well. Ash heard the door open behind him. He expected to see Lilia or one of the Browning's. He was surprised when Caitlin stepped down and squatted down in front of him. The young lioness was the last fur, or person he had thought would come to see if he was all right. She raised a paw and touched Ash lightly on his knee. He looked up at her. There were tears in his eyes.

"Why did you do that? Stick the scissors in your heart, I mean."

"Punishment."

"For what? For leaving that boy in a coma? Or, for saving your furiend's soul?"

"For your father."

Caitlin rose and took a step back from the fox. Ash did not look at her. He could not bare to see the look on her face. To his surprise, a paw fell lightly on the top of his head. Ash felt a soft breeze pick up and begin to whip around him. He raised his eyes to look at Caitlin. Her own eyes were closed tightly. Images began flashing before his eyes. He was back four years on that rooftop. Todd Hunter was standing in front of him. Caitlin was standing off to the side watching everything that happened. The dizziness caused by feeling his furiends die rippled through his body once again. He lost his balance and fell forward. Todd stepped in front of the fox. Ash noticed now that Todd had purposefully placed himself in the path of the blade. The dying lion vanished and Ash was back sitting on the patio steps. Caitlin removed her paw and sat down next to Ash.

"The past year, I blamed you for my father's death. For the past year, I've hated you. I wanted to kill you. And, now, I found out that he used you to kill himself. Why would he do that with me still out there?"

Ash cleared his throat. "He thought you were dead. He thought that he had nothing left to live for."

Caitlin looked at the ground and was silent. Ash lifted his arm and put it around her shoulder. The lioness leaned in and rested her head on Ash's shoulder. Though she did not cry, Ash knew that what he had told her must have devastated her. Ash turned his eyes towards the sky. Dark clouds had begun to move in and block out the sun. Ash thought maybe a storm was coming, but them noticed the eerie glow behind him. The fox turned his eyes back to the house and saw that the glow came from inside. A bright flash in the sky made Ash and Caitlin look up. Lightning was streaking from the clouds to congregate in the form of the same sigil Caitlin had placed on Cole's chest. The sigil flashed once brightly then vanished. Ash looked down at Caitlin. The two rose from the step and walked back up to the door. Ash pulled back the door and saw the human Cole sitting up on the edge of the table rubbing his chest.

"Oh, my God! Why do I feel like someone stabbed me in the chest? Where's my shirt?"

Calleigh leapt forward and wrapped her arms around her brother's neck. Cole put his arms around his sister, a confused look on his face. He looked around and caught sight of Ash and Caitlin standing in the doorway. Sarah walked around from behind Cole and gave the crystal athame to Ash. Cole saw her and his eyes only got wider. The fox took it and slid the knife into the sheath. Lilia walked in and passed Cole's shirt to him. He put the shirt over his head as he slid off the table. The human walked over to Ash and looked into his eyes.

"I guess I have you to thank for getting me out of that big black void I was stuck in. Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"I'm really glad to be out of that void, but I hated to leave her there."

"Leave who where?"

"There was a girl there. She was really scared. We all were. For about a year there were three of us. But, the other boy disappeared. When he vanished, there was this strange green light. It got really bright and them he was simply gone."

Ash looked down at Caitlin. A large grin spread across her face as she realized what this meant. Ash was not leaving behind a string of soulless bodies in his journey from dimension to dimension. The fox had to fight the urge to throw his arms around Cole's neck. The human boy would never understand how much it meant to Ash that he had simply woken up. All of Ash's growing reservations about his task suddenly melted and slipped away. He had no more worries about anything. He had reconciled with Caitlin and Sarah had been happier since they had gotten Jake's soul. Ash now felt that nothing could stand in his way as he made his way home. Ash turned his thoughts back to the dining room and its occupants. Calleigh and Cole had moved off to the side and were talking softly together. Every so often, Ash would catch little glances from the human twins as they chatted. Caitlin touched Ash lightly on his arm. He turned to face her. She was smiling at him.

"I think it's time we left."

Ash looked around the kitchen at the humans. "Yeah, I think you're right." Ash walked over to where Sarah stood and tapped her on the shoulder. "Let's go."

Sarah nodded and headed for the backdoor. The three furs walked out of the kitchen and into the backyard. They stood together, Caitlin in front and Ash and Sarah side-by-side behind her. Sean and Dan Browning came out the door and called for them to wait. The other occupants of the house, including the husky called Jude, came outside to say their goodbyes. Calleigh ran up and gave Ash a light peck on the side of his muzzle.

"Thank you for giving me back my brother."

"Your welcome. Now, stand back. We have to go."

Sean stepped forward. "Ash, hold up. Take this. It isn't much but it's the least we could do."

"Do for what?"

"We never got the chance to properly thank you for helping up that first time you were here. The vampires and all."

Sean pulled out an antique looking knife. Ash took the knife and looked at it. It was black with a wooden handle upon which there was a pentagram carved. Ash looked back at the human for a moment then past him to his brother Dan. He looked back at the knife then slipped it into a pocket on the inside of his coat.

"I'll add it to the collection. Don't know if I'll ever need it, but thanks anyway."

"Sure thing, pal."

Sean took a few steps back to join the rest of the humans. Caitlin raised her paws and cupped them together. A bright point of white light appeared in her paws. The small point flashed and expanded into a bubble large enough to engulf the three waiting furs. The humans had to raise their hands to shield their eyes from the light. The glowing ball of energy surged and flashed again then shrank back to a small pinpoint. The pinpoint of energy soared high into the sky and disappeared into the clearing clouds. The four-year-old Ash and the infant Micah both stared upwards after the light. The infant raised his tiny hands up, as if he was trying to seize the light.

"Fox."

The gathered humans turned their eyes on the infant boy as he uttered his first word.

* * *

ASH stood once again in front of the three waterfalls. This time, however, Caitlin stood beside him. Ash put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. From the moment he had seen her picture in that locket, he had felt responsible for her. When he had met her, Ash had come to think of her as the little sister he had never had, but always wanted. Caitlin looked up at him. She had the look of somefur that wanted to say something, but was not sure if she should. She decided to ask her question anyway.

"Ash. I wanna ask you something and please don't laugh at me."

"Why would I laugh at you?"

"Because, what I'm about to ask you, may sound a little childish."

"Well, your fifteen. Your entitled to a few childish questions every now and then."

"Yeah, whatever."

"What's your question?"

Caitlin became silent. She was suddenly very unsure about asking Ash the question that had been rolling through her mind for the longest time. She pulled away from Ash and moved to stand directly in front of him.

"I don't want to be alone anymore."

Ash looked at Caitlin, confused. "You're not alone."

"No, that's not what I meant. I want a family. I want somefur to call mother. Father. Brother. Sister. I want to be somefur's little sister."

"Are you asking what I think you're asking?"

"When we get home, would you consider talking to your parents about adopting me?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Sure. Why not?"

Caitlin ran at Ash. She jumped up and threw her arms around the fox's neck. Ash wrapped his arms around her and held her off the ground. Caitlin gave Ash's neck another squeeze then jumped down and ran to where Sarah stood. Ash watched her as she told Sarah about what Ash had just told her. Sarah smiled and looked past Caitlin at Ash. Her eyes had a quizzical look in them. Ash nodded in response to the silent question. He had every intention of talking to his family about Caitlin. And, if they won't go for it, then I'll adopt her myself. Ash looked into the three flowing waterfalls. An image began to form in the falling luminescent liquid. He saw Calleigh, dressed in dark pants and a black jacket. She was standing alone, looking over a small stone object in the ground. A grave! Somefur had died. Ash found himself wondering who it might have been.

"It won't be long now, Calleigh."

~End The Sounds of Silence~