THE GOLDEN CHORD

Written by & copyright of Foxonian Foxonian@aol.com

Featuring Cassie, Cassie's Band and Yang Li

Cassie, the Rock & Roll Vixen
http://www.cassietherockvixen.furtopia.org

Please read the prequil, "Home Front," Featuring Cassie, Foxonian (Cassie's husband) and Cindy (Cassie's bass player)
http://www.cassietherockvixen.furtopia.org/home_front.txt
Please read the sequil, "Taste Of Life," Featuring Cassie, Shiva (Cassie's security chief) and Foxonian (Cassie's husband)
http://www.cassietherockvixen.furtopia.org/taste_of_life.txt

All characters created by & copyright of Earl Bacon except Laretta, who is created by
and copyright of Andre' Cotton, Alex, who is created by and copyright of Donna Fritz,
Vixina and Cloudchaser, who are created by and copyright of Cloudchaser Shaconage and
Victor & Ben, who are copyright themselves.

"The Golden Cord"

It was a busy day in NYC's Chinatown district.  Both humans and furrymorphs wondered the crowded streets, buying
and selling various items ranging from fish, to furniture, vegitables to glass vases.  Occupying a prominent position
in all this activity was Wu's Oriental Trading Co.  It's huge windows displaying the latest in Chinese furniture
and antiques.  A few humans of Chinese descent could be seen looking at the contents within the shop, but most were
non-asian New Yorkers and other out of city tourists.  However, sudden silence began to fall over the nearby streets.
It was such a shock, that the humans and other furry morphs in front of Wu's suddenly turned away from the store windows
to see the cause of it.  Down the street, a large number of Chinese furry-morphs and humans were circling a large
tall figure walking toward Wu's.

Upon closer inspection, one of the Humans cried out, "I don't believe it! A Golden Dragoness!!"  The object of the all
the attention was close to 7 ft. tall.  She had a long mane of golden head hair that went about a 1/3 of the way from
her reptilian-like head, down her snake like neck.  She wore a black leather jacket with a saying in Chinese
characters stiched into it's back.  underneath was a green leather minidress whos hem ended about ½ way up the
dragoness's mid-thigh. Her shapely human-like legs, ended in reptilian footpaws that had green painted toe-claws.
Each middle toeclaw sported a golden ring and there were ankle bracelets also of gold that accented the effect.  On
her "ears," the dragoness sported earings with two Chinese characters made out of jade.  On the end of her 4 ft.
long dargon-like tail that jutted out the rear of her minidress, another bracelet could be seen just below the spiked tip.

"Blessings be upon you,Honoured one!  You grace us with your presence!" came the cry from all those who saw her as
the dragoness made her way to the door of Wu's.  While she smiled and waved, it was clear that this giant of a lady
was becoming annoyed with all the attention she was receiving.  Upon reaching the door, the dragoness gave two knocks.
A young furry-morph vixen dressed in a traditional Chinese kimono answered and bowed her head before speaking.  "It is
an honour, Mistress Yang Li!  Master Wu is expecting you!  Please,come with me!"  The dragoness fallowed the young
vixen into the shop, lowering her snake-like head to do so.  A panda furrymorph male in a tuxedo quickly
came behind,shutting and locking the door, leaving a large group of humans and furry morphs waiting outside.

As Yang Li waited,she reached into her dark green suede hand bag and took out a long black cigarette holder.  "I
really shoud stop smoking these things," the dragoness thought as she took the cigarette out of the case she carried
with her.  With a slight snort of flame from her right nostril, Yang Li placed the lit cigarette in the end of the
holder.  She then put the other end in her reptilian mouth, clenching it slightly behind her large incisors.  The
dragoness then seated herself on a large oriential teak chair that had been constructed for her kind (with a hole in
the back board that allowed her tail to poke through) and crossed her shapely human like golden scaled legs.  "Dear
sister!  It is a pleasure to see you again!  "Wu said as he entered the room accompanied by the young vixen that had
been at the door earlier.

Dressed in his usual green three piece Armani suit, accented by a green neck tie with a large golden dragon upon it,
Wu came off as the classic showman.  One thing that Yang Li noticed was that his long curved whiskers were waxed,
giving the appearance of a figure from the 19th century.  She thanked her good fortune that females didn't have them.
"You know why I am here, brother.  We need to talk," Yang Li said as she pulled out the spent butt of her cigarette
and placed the holder on a tray that was lying on a table next to the chair.  "But, of course" Wu said.  He then
motioned to the young vixen to leave the room.  The young furry morph bowed and pulled the door closed behind her
upon leaving.  "Now,what does my honorable sibling require of me?" Wu asked as he sat down on another teak chair
across from the dragoness.

"You can cut the 'fortune cookie' routine with me, Wu.  You know how much I hate the way you milk that with the
common folk." Yang Li replied, snorting slightly with disgust, leaving a small puff of smoke from her nostrials as she
did so.  "Very well.  What do you want?" Wu said with a cold look coming over his reptilian-like face as if he knew all
to well what the answer was going to be.  "I would like to meet the Rock Vixen.  I know you can arrange it," Yang Li
said in a calm tone of voice.  "I see.  Are you still conviced that she can help you with this "career" of yours?  A
career that no one of our kind has done nor should do?" the dragon replied as he raised his head so it was towering
over the dragoness's.  "I am!  I must do this Wu!  You know that you can't stop me in this!" Yang Li answered raising
her head so it was level with Wu's.  For a moment both golden dragon and golden dragoness stared at each other, their
large reptilian eyes pupils narrowed to vertical dark slits.  Finally,with a note of exasperation in his voice, Wu,
pulled his head back and said,  "Very well. I will arrange it."

"Cass, why are we all here?" Cindy asked in a slightly annoyed tone of voice.  It hadn't been easy to put the
group together on such short notice, but Cassie and her human husband Foxonian had the phone tree ringing for two
days before to pull it off.  She had also insisted that everyone bring their equipment too.  Now,since she said little
else to them, Cindy, Vixina, Rachel and Alex all came wearing their usual stage attire.  Fortunetly Cassie arrived and
saw them without being seen.  She had worn just a t-shirt, demin minidress, white socks and some sneakers.  "I'm glad I
had this at my home studio and not in NYC," Cassie thought to herself as she ran to her bedroom and quickly changed in
her stage dress.

Foxonian and the Rock Vixen had been working for over a year and had contructed a large building just down the slope
from their converted ski lodge.  It was a full recording studio, equipped with a mixing boards, booths and a
large living/crash space equipped to resemble a living room, complete with huge windows that overlooked the
Berkshire Hills.  Despite the problems that had occurred and were later resolved during the Live 8 show last summer
(and Cassie's donation of her pervious Vette to help the cause) the work on the studio continued.  Now it was
finished, allowing Cassie and her band mates a place to record that they could use whenever they wanted to.  As she
was cinching up her last seamed light blue nylon stocking up her right leg and making sure that stockings on both
her human-like legs were hooked onto their individual leg garters, she noticed a cab pull up out side.  Putting on her
blue pumps, Cassie left her bedroom and walked down the hallway. As she passed the large living room, she called out to
the rest of the band saying that she had someone they might want to meet.

Rachel looked over toward the door and said "I wonder who this is going to be?" "Maybe, it's a new keyboardist!" Alex
said with a wide grin that caused the gothic doe to gave her a stare that could have made water turn to ice.  Walking
over to the window, Cindy peered out and her mouth opened so wide that it looked like the snowleopardess had just
stepped on a hail with one of her nylon stocking covered human-like feet.  "Whar is it, Cind? " Vixina asked.  "Guys,
you are never going to believe this!" Cindy replied shaking her head in disbelief at the figure coming to the room.
At that moment, Cassie entered the room.  Next to her was a golden dragoness a good 1 Ft. taller than her or anyone
else. Yang Li wore a slightly different outfit than the one she sported in Chinatown.

Though she still had all the same jewelry about her body, she now had on a green sleeveless blouse, accented by dark
green leather skirt that ended just above her human-like knees.  In her right hand was a large guitar case.  In order
to get through the lower doorways, Yang Li had to lower head snake-like head and then raise it again, causeing her mane
of golden hair to flap like a sail and her earrings to jingle.  While this maneuver was dictated by necessity and
was almost second nature to her, it ended up having an unnerving effect on the rest of the furry ladies in
attendance.  "Guys, May I present Yang Li. She wanted to meet us and play a few tunes with us, if it's okay" Cassie said
in a cheerful tone.  "Uh, you wouldn't happen to know another dragon named Wu, would you?" Rachel asked, showing
clear nervousness on her face, a rareity for the gothic doe.

"Of course! He's my brother.  Can't you see the family resemblance?' the dragoness replied with a wide toothy grin
that would have looked menacing if Cassie hadn't started to giggle.  "Tell you what, why don't we head down to the
studio now? Yang Li? Would you mind?" Cassie asked.  "Not all.I would like to plug in.  Do you have an amp I can use?"
Yang Li asked as she opened her guitar case.  Inside the case was a guitar with a "strat" style body that was made
entirely of bakelite that had been stained and panted to resemble jade.  Three golden square humbucking pickups were on
the body.  The 4 volume and tone controls were all numbered using Chinese characters.  Along the fretboard two
Oriental dragons were inlayed in gold, one coming from the guitar's body, one from the headstock.  Both dragons met face
to face in the middle of the fretboard.  On the headstock itself was the pick of a small pagota with a stram running by
it covered with a foot bridge.  A pair of small cranes flew above.  All were inlayed in gold on a black background.
The whole instrument was about 20% larger than a normal Strat would be, mainly because it's owner was also larger.

"WOW!! Where did you get this??? It's BEAUTIFUL!!" Larettta exclaimed as the wolfess continued to admire the
instrument.  "I had it made for me in Hong Kong.  Trying to find a guitar that I can play that doesn't look like a
ukulele is kind of difficult," Lang Li replied with a note of pride in her voice.  "If you would like, I have the name
and contact information of the luthier.  I'm certain he could make one just like it for you, abiet a little smaller,"
The dragoness said with a smile.  "Hey! Can that guy make bass? I would like something like that too!" Cindy
exclaimed.  Yang Li then went to her purse and taking out some paper and a very large pen (made to size for her
larger reptilian hand claws) began to write down information for both the wolfess and the snowleopard.

Upon finishing, Yang Li then snapped her guitar case shut held it in her right hand. As if on cue, all of the other
ladies grabbed their instruments(except for Ratchel and Alex,who already had their keyboards and their drums in the
studio respectively).  Cassie then grabbed a guitar case and walked down the hill along a special paved walkway to
the studio.  As the other ladies piled in, Cassie felt a little sorry for Yang Li.  The poor dragoness had to keep
ducking through the 6 ½ ft. doorways.  Thank goodness the main recording studio had a 9ft.  ceiling.  As the band began
to unpack their instruments, Cassie reached down and opened her case, revealing a new type of guitar.  "Hey Cass!  When
did you get that?"   Cindy asked as the other ladies turned to see.  "It was a gift from my husband.He said that it was
one of the few Les Pauls I didn't have," Cassie replied, as she strapped on a 3 pickup guitar that had banjo-like
inlays along it's neck and an elaborate headstock which sported flowers and curved vine inlays.

"Yes.It's an Artisan.I used to own one once,but found it a little too small for me" Yang Li said as she plugged in her
much larger and elaborate guitar into an amp stack that Cassie had provided for her.  "Only you could say that and
mean it!" Cindy said with a laugh that caused the dargoness to chuckle in reply.  "Okay,is everybody ready? The let's
do it!" The Rock Vixen exclaimed as she lead the first song.  For the next two hours, Cassie and the co. went through
every song in their catalog, plus many cover tunes from everyone form Zeppelin to Metallica.  Through it all,
Cassie continued to be amazed at the dragoness.  Yang Li Was easily her equal in terms of guitarmanship, if not
better.  She knew every lead, every rhythm track that the Rock Vixen did.  About the only thing that Cassie found a
little unnerving was the way Lang Li's snake-like neck and head would bob around as she played.

From what she could tell,so did the rest of the band.However,one thing they all did agree on was how awesome a
guitarist the dragoness was.  After the session, Cassie scheduled a meal up at the lodge, and Yang Li attended.  As
the meal ended, Laretta asked the still eating dragoness, who towered over all the rest of the seated ladies, "Yang Li,
with all your obvious talent, why haven't you gone professional?"  "Well,it's like this," The dragoness began, as
she finished wiping her large mouth with a napkin, "My kind are usually discouraged from going into any profession
that somehow "cheapens" the image that we are famous for."  "Yeah.  You guys are supposed to be sacred or some such
to Chinese people, right?" Cindy asked.  Yang Li nodded and replied "To a degree.  We are also harbiners of good luck
and fortune.  A lot of it is ancient tradition.  It's been perpetuated by those of our kind who wish to "exploit"
humans and furrymorphs who believe in these things for their own ends."

Cassie, Cindy and Rachel looked at one another, and it was clear how Yang Li felt about her sibling's behavior in
this regard.  "Actually, I haven't decided what I want to do yet.  I am going to stay in the U.S. for a while, since I
have no desire to return to China.  There are few of my kind and the locals there do not give us a moment's peace.  In
this country, unless you go to places like Chinatown in NYC for example,people are more tolerant.They might stare at
me, but I won't be worshipped." Yang Li then stood up and said,"if you would excuse me, I feel the need to smoke and I
do not mean from my own internal fire" she then held up her cigarette holder and her case.  "Of course!" Cassie said with
a laugh.  She then watched as the dragoness rose from the table, straightened her dark green skirt and walked out to
the door, her long reptilian tail moving back and forth slowly as she moved.

"Well, what do you think, guys?" Cassie asked the other ladies.  "I think she's great!  I would play with her
again anytime!" Laretta said with a grin,  "Me too!" Vixina added.  "I think she great too,best I have heard since,
well, you!" Cindy said with a grin.  "I know.  I have done some checking and she really hasn't played
professional anywhere, not even in China.  I can't imagine how someone with her talent could go unnoticed" Cassie
replied as she drank a glass of water.  "Maybe her talent was intentionally not noticed.You heard what she said.
It's possible that there were those who saw to that," Rachel remarked.  The Rock Vixen then thought of what she had
seen and heard of Wu and his so called connections.

She closed her eyes and mumbled a curse at the thought of what that dragon was doing to his own sibling for the sake of
his own pride.  Sitting on the front step of the lodge with her back against a railing and her human-like gold scaled
legs crossed, the dragoness took slow puffs from her cigarette holder, closing her repltian eyes with each exhale.  "Am
I intruding? " Cassie asked as she came out of the door.  "Not at all," Yang Li replied as she stubbed out the
cigarette with one her toe claws in the driveway.  "I just want you to know that we all think that you should have a
place with us.  I realize that due to your kind not liking our profession that you wouldn't want to play with us
onstage, yes?" Cassie said.  The dragoness nodded before adding, "My brother has contacts within the music industry.

He would see that your efforts would be in vain"  "Exactly.  That why we would have you do session work.  You would
get full use of our new studio to record whatever you want, when ever you want, in case you should decide to take
the plunge on your own.  Plus you could record our albums with us.  Of course,you would have to use an alas,  since
we couldn't use your real name on the liner notes.  Got any ideas?" Cassie asked with a grin on her muzzle.  "I'm sure
I could think of a few," the dragoness said as she took her large reptilian hand and clasped around Cassie's furpaw.

THE END