Dark Realizations

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

03/18/97:

    Chapter 1

Once again I was back on Mydisia Base, for the same reasons
as there ever had been. I wanted to find out more about
Marn. He was an enigma and was going to crack it.

I just wasn't sure I wouldn't be dead from old age by the
time I did. Finding anything on Marn was more of a pain in
the neck then I could believe. Page had found nothing, nor'
had any of the people she had asked for help.

So once again, I was trying for the old fashion way of doing
it, I was going to keep bugging Marn until he gave up and
told me. It may not be the most scientific way to do it, but
it usually worked.

Turning a corner, I felt my trench coat billow out from
under my arms. The deep tan coat had become something of a
old friend in it's own way. It was kind of like Fox and his
army jacket. It felt right to wear it, almost as if it was a
part of me, made for going around like I was.

Brushing past someone, I stepping into the bar. Glancing
around I saw Marn in a booth in one dark corner of the room.
He was once again wearing the body armor, his jacket over
it. His one ear was twitching slowly, almost expectantly.

He was staring right at the door, and when he saw me come
in, his face became pale through his already white fur.

Walking accost the room, I sat down accost from him, and
smiled.

"Go away." He ordered, his voice low and very serious.

I shook my head. "No Marn, I need to talk to you."

He growled reaching around the table. He grabbed my arm and
yanked me around the one seat of the booth, until I was
right next to him. "This is _not_ a good time," he hissed,
"I suggest you leave before problems start."

I smiled a bit, though nervous. This might be a quick way to
find out what I needed. "Tell me what I want to know then."

He frowned, then shook his head. "Damn it Oriana, I'm not in
the mood to play and this is not a game. Leave right now if
you have even the slight interests in self preservation."

I backed up a bit, feeling my ears flatten out. "Are you
threatening me?" I whispered through clenched teeth.
Suddenly I really wanted to get out of there.

He shook his head, then nodded. "No, not directly, but if
you stay here much longer, you will end up deeper then you
could image."

I gulped, I could see in his eyes that he was telling me
more truth then even he liked. I nodded. "You're right, I'll
go."

I started to slip back around the booth when someone sat
down. It was a ferret of some kind and didn't look to happy.
His eyes shifted from between both Marn and I. He grunted.
"I heard you were a bit rusty, but I didn't expect you to
need help."

Marn looked at me, then back at the ferret. "Not exactly--"
He started, but the ferret cut him off.

"Oh, don't go all strong and tough of me. I know you're
ranking, it's not as if your the best." He smiled. "I
suppose this isn't the easiest of jobs for you now, so I
guess help may be needed."

Marn glance once again at me and frowned. I could see a his
mind working behind his eyes, and finally decided on
something.

He leaned back a bit, resting his shoulders on the back of
the seat. "Yes... it did look a bit rougher then I planed
on, being how long it has been sense I've had any real hard
work, and at times help is nice. It does come at a cost
though."

"Being?"

Marn smiled. "My partner here gets half the amount I do, and
half of the full payment in advance."

The ferret frowned, twisting his long neck slight, thinking.
After a few seconds he nodded, then reached into his
clothing and removed a small card. Punching something into
it, he threw it on the table in front of Marn.

"Twenty-Four hours." He stated, then thrusted a finger at
me. "And I want her there." Then jumping out of the booth,
he walked out of the bar.

As he left Marn slumped. "Damn," He muttered, "damn damn
damn!"

I started to slid around the booth, planing to go. "Sorry
about being here Marn." I quickly said. "I'll let you get to
your business."

He growled and grabbed my arm. His claws were out, and
digging into my skin. "Sit down now!"

I sank back into the seat, accrost from him.

"I was hopping he would decided I was asking for to much."
He said, grabbing the card from the table and stuffing it in
his jacket.

I shrugged. "Well, you get more money for this."

He keep his paw holding my arm, though the claws and
retracted. "No, it's nothing like that. He said he wanted
you there, and you will be there. If not we will both be
dead."

I went limp. "What?" I whispered.

"If you're not there he'll report it to the Guild," he
continued, ignoring my question, "and as there would be no
record of your death, or even membership. I would be killed
for taking you along like this. Then the Guild would hunt
you down and kill you as well."

I gulped. "What Guild are you talking about?"

He frowned, and twisted his right wrist, showing my the
badge on his jacket again. "I made sure you saw this last
time! Are you so dense that you can figure out what it
means?"

I shook my head. "I could find any record--" I started.

"Bull-shit! Anyway, what kind of guild do you think has a
symbol of a heart with a dagger?"

I shook my head again. "I don't know--"

He cut me off once again. "That's perfectly clear!" He let
go of my arm and leaned slightly forward. "Guess what,
you're going to find out a lot about me, first hand!" He
sounded like he was shouting, but was still mostly whispering.

He pulled something out of his jacket. It was basically a
tube about four inches long and an inch thick, with a
second, thin, four inch tube projecting from one end. At the
base of the small tube was a twist dial that had writing on
it's six sides.

Setting it down on the table, he looked me right in the
eyes. "First, I am a professional assassin." He spoke very
coldly, each word seeming to be carefully chosen. "Second,
and for you, the most important, until this is over, so are
you."

I shook my head hard. "No, not at all. I'm leaving now," I
said, shaking. Then started to stand.

Before I got even an inch, Marn had grabbed my arm and
pulled my back down, right up next to him. He had the tube
thing he had pulled out of his jacket in his paw, then small
ending against my belly.

"Did I not make myself clear? This is not an option. If you
don't go, we are both dead. If we pull this off and someone
finds out about you, we are both dead. If you do not do
EXACTLY what I tell you from this point in, you are dead,
and I may be as well."

I didn't say anything.

He frowned a bit. "Right now, it may be easier just to kill
you myself, here and now. Then pay a friend at the Guild's
records office to add you in, so when it's check out, I'll
survive it. Though it probably will take every cent I have
and then some to do."

I was shaking in his grasp, not sure what to do. Bending
forward a bit, he stopped with his nose right in front of
mine. "I would rather not do that, I like you to much. So
here is the deal, until the target is dead, you do
everything I tell you. You understand that."

I quickly nodded, unable to say anything.

He smiled a bit and let go of my arm. Taking the weapon, he
set it back on the table. "I knew you would understand."

I just moved back over to the other side, rubbing my upper
arm. "You would actually kill me?" I whispered, my voice
almost inaudible.

He nodded. "If I had no choice in the matter." He said
flatly, his ears drooping slightly. He shook his head a bit.
"Not with this though," he tapped the weapon. "I don't have
any kill drugs in it."

I nodded some, still shaking. He just reaching into his
jacket and pulled out a small box of silver tubes, each
about an inch long. Then picking up the weapon, he gave the
base of it a twist and pulled it down. It slid out the same
length as the grip, inside it held seven of the silver
tubes.

Twisting it, he pulled out two of the two, and drop them
into the box. Then carefully he pulled out two new tubes,
replaced them in the weapon and closed it. Twisting the dial
a bit over all six settings, he gave it a quick check, then
slipped it, as well as the box, back into his jacket.

Looking back up at me, he smiled, then pulled the weapon
back out. Sliding it over the table to me, he said. "It's a
Needler gun."

I slowly picked it up, resting it in my paw. It only weighed
a few ounces and the grip was soft. There was one hard part
in the grip that moved a bit as I ran my thumb over it. I
assumed it was the trigger, so didn't press it, though I did
keep the small end pointed at the table.

"What is a Needler?"

He smiled a bit. "It shoots crystalline needles. They easily
go though most any fabric and instantly dissolves into the
blood stream of the target. The only way you know you've
been hit is a slight sting. Then the drugs in the needle
kick in. The dial selects between then different types."

I nodded a bit, twisting the dial. I couldn't read any of
the writing in it, but it really didn't matter to me.
Reaching down, I twisted the base and opened the gun. "Why
are the six settings on the dial, but seven of the these?" I
tapped one of the sliver tubes.

He reached over and took it from my paws. "This one," He
said, tapping one, "Is the base mix, without it it's
useless. The next three are knock out needles. Ten shots
each. Then a five shot, short term hypnotic drug and the
last two are three shots each of death."

With a smile, he slapped it closed, then put it back into
his jacket. "The only draw back to it is the range. It's
only good for about eight feet with any kind of accuracy."

I nodded again.

"Do you have a weapon on you at all?"

I shook my head.

He sighed, then pulled a gun out of his jacket and set in
front of me. He also set two clips with it. "I hope you're
skill with it has improved."

I nodded some, taking the gun and clips and putting them in
and inside pocket of my coat. "Kalie was giving me some
lessons before I left. I'm still not to terribly good, but
better then last time."

He frowned a bit. "Don't use it then unless you have no
choice." He then stood and threw some money on the table.
"Let's get started shall we?"

I gulped and stood on my own. I must have been quite a
sight. My face pale, my tail on the ground and my ears
drooping into my hair.

Marn gently took my wrist and escorted me out of the bar.

    Chapter 2

Walling down the hallway, Marn pulled a folder out of
someplace in his jacket, and passed it to me.

I took it, and looked down at it blankly. "What's this?" I
asked.

"The information on the target."

I nodded slightly and opened it. There was only a few sheets
of paper inside, covered in a writing I couldn't read, as
well as a picture. It was another ferret, mostly brown fur
with a streak of white in his fur. Dresses in what looked
like a suit of some kind.

He was the man Marn was going to kill.

The man Marn and _I_ were going to kill.

I started to shake, badly, very badly. I dropped the folder
and pulled out of Marn's grip. Leaning against the wall I
slid down it, wrapping my arms around my legs. I was shaking
even worse, my whole body shivering.

Marn bent down next to me and put his paw on my shoulder. He
didn't say anything, he just stayed right there. After a
minute I got back into some sort of control of my body and
the shaking finally stopping.

"Thyrn's eyes," I whispered, "I'm going to be part of a
murder."

Marn gripped me tighter, but more to cause pain, more to try
and reassure me. "It happens to all of us at some time or
another. Usually though we've chosen to do this, not made
to."

I glared at him.

"I won't tell you it will go away, or you'll get used to it.
It doesn't and you don't." He touched the side of my face.
"I hope this is the only time you have to face it."

I nodded.

He reached over and picked the folder up from where it had
landed. Standing up, he proffered me a paw. "Come on, we are
on a clock."

I took it and slowly stood, though a bit wobbly. I leaning
against the wall for a few seconds until my balance came
back, then we started back down the hallway.

"Did you get a chance to read any of this?" He asked,
motioning with the folder.

I shook my head. "Can't read the language."

That caused him to pause, then shook his head. "Yes, I
should have know that." It was more of a scolding to
himself.

He slipped the folder back into his jacket and stuffed his
paws into his pockets. "He's the head of a large
cooperation, and has one hell of a security system around
him. Most of the document details the security, and a few of
his stats."

I nodded slightly, keeping my eyes downcast. "Why do they
want him dead?"

"Maybe he's a chronic jaywalker. I don't know, people tell
the Guild, and the Guild sends them to who ever they think
can pull it off. I'm not told the why of it, just that it
needs to be done."

He stopped talking as the hallway dead ended. Pulling his
paws out of his pockets, he had a strange looking fold
controller. Punching a few buttons he opened the fold.
Putting the controller away, he pulled his needler out of
his jacket.

With a smile to me, he stepped through.

I stopped for a few seconds, considering just running away
right now, but from what Marn told me I didn't think I would
survive it.

Gulping, I stepped through after him.

I came out in a back alley someplace in a large city. The
sky was overcast and brownish grey with many large
skyscrapers right around us.

Marn smiled again as I came through. "Thank you."

"For?" I snapped.

He sighed. "Not forcing me to bring you through." Then
glancing around he started down the alley. I followed him
again, crossing my arms some.

We moved down the alley, and onto a main street. We started
down the, and keep walking for a few blocks. I was happy to
see the it was a multi-species universe, so we didn't get to
many looks as people passed us.

Finally I gave up trying not to talk. "Where exactly are we
going to?"

He chuckled. "Right here actually." Then entered into one of
the larger buildings. Glancing up, before I went it, I saw
that it was about thirty stories tall. Actually dwarfed by
all the other, larger, buildings around it.

Pushing through the doors, I found Marn talking to the
receptionist. I noticed that I couldn't understand what
either one of them were saying. I rubbed the back of my head
and walked over to stand next to him.

There conversation went back and fourth for a few minutes
until the receptionist pointed him towards a small hallway
off the lobby.

He smiled and started walking over to it, I was following.
"What was all that about?" I asked.

He glanced over at me then nodded for a second. "I had to
get her to tell me where security was." He said, turning
into the small hallway, which turned out to be lined with
elevators.

Walking past them Marn moved to a small unmarked door. He
gave a quick knock on it. There was a pause and the door was
opened. There was a quick conversation between Marn and the
man at the door. It ended when suddenly had his needler in
his paw, and shot the guy.

The guy slumped down into Marn's arm, as Marn pushed inside.
After a few seconds he stuck his paw out, and motioned for
me to come inside.

I stepped into the room. It was cramped and filled with
monitors and computer equipment. The two people that had
been in the room where piled in the corner. I could see
though that they where both breathing.

Marn closed the door, then sat down at one of the two chairs
and started typing away at the keyboard.

I sat down next to him. "What are you doing now?"

He glanced over at me, and gave me a small smile. "If you
keep asking questions like these, I may start to think that
you want to join the Guild."

I scoffed. "Hardly Marn."

He shrugged. "I know, it was a bad joke. What I'm doing is
disabling the security system so we can go up to the top
floor. The target is already there, so there isn't going to
be to much of a hunt on this one."

He punched the last few buttons. Then pulling a knife out
from inside of his jacket, he stabbed it down into the
keyboard.

There was sparks for a few seconds, then the computer shut
down. Marn smiled, returning the knife from where he got it
at, then picking up a set of keys from next to the destroyed
system he stood. "That was the easy part." He said.

Walking over to the door, he opened it and motioned for me
to go out. He followed me, locking the door behind himself.
"There, that should give us about half an hour to take care
of this."

I nodded as he hit the call button for the elevator. When
one finally arrived we stepped inside of it. Marn used the
keys he had grab to do something on the control panel. Then
hit the button for what looked like the top floor.

He bounced the keys in his paw as the doors closed and we
started to rise. He threw the keys to me. "I set it for
express, no interruptions until we reach the top floor."

I nodded again, watching as the numbers clicked by. "Then?"

He shrugged. "I go first, neutralize any guards, find the
target and kill him. Then you come in, we get the picture,
and then go home."

I crossed my arms, smiling a bit. "If Fox was here he would
say that it was way to easy."

Marn chuckled. "Maybe so, and the security was a bit easier
to take out then I expected. But this is actually just going
well."

The elevator started to slow down, this puzzled me for a
second. "What's the top floor?"

"Thirty."

I blinked, that didn't match what I though the floor was. "I
think we're coming up to twenty-three."

He looked at me, furrowing his brow a bit, then up at the
counter for the current floor. His ears instantly went flat.
"How in the hell, it's set to express, it shouldn't be
stopping early..." he trailed off as the elevator lurched to
a stop.

He looked at me, then grabbing me around my shoulders yanked
me back against the side of the elevator car. Just as he did
the doors slide open and gunshots started.

Bullets pounded into the back of the car, digging into the
metal. Marn started pounding on the controls hitting buttons
at random until the doors closed.

The pounding from the gunfire echoed as it his the elevator
door. It faded a bit as we started up again, but still rang
out.

Marn counted off under his breath, then smashed the stop for
the elevator.

Leaning against the wall he let out a deep breath. "Fuck!"
he yelled, "they could _not_ have found us so damn soon!"

He looked at me, then back at the back of the car. "Unless
they knew that we were coming. Which means that this is a
setup against the Guild."

I rolled my eyes. "So we do what?"

He smiled a bit, looking over the ceiling. "What we always
do, take out the target."

"But if it's a setup," I protested, "wouldn't that be what
they want?"

He nodded, jumping up and pulling on the grid that held the
lights. It popped and swung down, lights and all, showing
the trapdoor above us. "Yes, that's exactly what they want.
What they don't count on is that we plan for this type of
crap."

He tilted his head, looking up at trapdoor. Then reaching
into his jacket and pulled out a small disk. "This will make
sure that this little setup doesn't work." He then stuck it
back inside. I was starting to wonder how much he had
stuffed inside of the jacket.

"So how do we get to him?" I asked, then winched at how I
said it. I sounded like I wanted to kill this guy, and I
didn't like it.

Marn smiled at me. "Simple, I set it up while I was in
security so that it doesn't report when the elevator has
used the emergency stop. There going to be up and down the
building looking for us."

"We're cheating then."

He nodded. "It's in Guild's membership charter." He said,
reaching up and swung the trapdoor open.

    Chapter 3

Jumping a few inches, Marn grabbed onto the lip of the
trapdoor. With a quick heft he pulled himself up and onto
the roof of the elevator. There was a few sounds of
shifting, then he stuck his head back over. "Coming?" he
asked.

I nodded, then jumped on my own. Gripping hard, I slowly
pulled myself up and over onto the top of the car. Marn
nodded as I got up and motioned me away from the hatch.

Reaching down back inside the car, he grabbed the light
grill and slung it up until it locked back into place. He
gave it a final shake then turned back to me.

"How far up would you say it is?" He asked.

I looked up into the darkness of the shaft. "Five or six
floors."

He nodded, reaching into his jacket. He felt around inside
of it for a few seconds then came out will a wheel of some
kind, hanging off of it was a cloth handle about a foot in
length.

He grabbed the handle and pulled on it. It pulled out a few
inches, trailing out something that looked like spider web
silk. He proffered the end to me.

I took it into my paw. "What is this?"

"Auto-winch" He said, attaching the large end onto his belt.
"It's how you're going to get up."

I tilted my head a bit. "How are you going to get up?"

He smiled at me, pulling something out of the left sleeve of
his jacket and grabbing it in his left paw. Then raising his
arm, he twisted his paw a bit. He waited for a few seconds,
then giving me a wink, he suddenly vanished.

I stood there for a second, then looked up. I saw the
glimmer of the line from the winch as it rose up the shaft.
"Marn?" I called lightly.

"Relax," I heard his voice echo softly. "And keep quiet!"

I crossed my arms, though still holding the end of the winch
line. I watched above me, trying to make out Marn in the
darkness. It wasn't much needed, as after a minute light
started to flood into the shaft from higher up.

Covering my eyes for a few seconds, I blinked away the burn
in. At the top of the shaft I saw Marn, swinging slightly,
next to the doors for the top floor.

His swinging speed up until he swung through the door. After
another minute Marn stuck his head into the shaft. "Close
the trapdoor, and hang on." He said.

I kicked the trapdoor close, and hung onto the handle on the
end of the winch line. After a few seconds it became taunt,
then started to lift me into the air.

I held onto it with both paws, even then I was barely
hanging on while finally came to the lip of the floor. Marn
reached down and grabbed my arms, pulling me up out of the
elevator shaft.

"What exactly was that?" I asked him as he unhooked the
winch from where he had mounted it.

He stuffed it back in his jacket and smiled again. The
pulled back his left sleeve, showing a device that was
strapped to his upper arm. "It's a climber. Expensive toy,
but helpful. It's set almost exactly to my weight though,
that's why I had you use the winch."

I ran a paw over my hair, loosening where I had it pulled
back at. "Sounds like something that would come in handy at
times."

He nodded, pulling his needler out of his jacket, holding it
prone in his paw. "Now things get harder. We're getting
closer to the target and he will have guards. More if he
knows we're coming."

I sighed, stuffing my paws into the pockets of my trench
coat. "Nice to know."

He nodded again. "You may want to arm yourself."

Reaching into the pocket where I had stuff the gun, I pulled
it out again. Flipping the safety off, I cocked it. My
skills may have improved over the past months, but I really
didn't trust myself to be to accurate with it.

Marn started down the hallway with the bank of elevators,
moving slowly as he checked around the corner.

"What was that disk you showed me in the elevator."

He looked back at me, chuckling a bit. "You mean this?" He
asked, producing it in his paw.

"Yes."

"It's a holographic recording of the original meting with
the buyer, lock, stock, and request to kill. I just leave it
at the crime scene and he won't survive a week." He grinned
again. "You don't screw with the Guild."

I frowned a bit. "Nice."

Before even he or I knew what was going on, someone jumped
out from someplace, tackling Marn. His needler went flying
in one direction and the disk towards me.

I followed the disk with my eyes as it rolled in a long
curve in my direction. I started to move to pick it up when
I heard a yell. Looking up I saw that Marn was fighting with
one human male dressed in a guards uniform. Another guard, a
male lion, was running at me.

Shooting my gun at him, I ducked down trying to grab the
disk. It slipped under my paw as the guard piled into my,
forcing me back against the wall, my gun flying sideways.

The guard on top of me growled, his ears laying flat against
his head. One of his paws was digging into my right wrist,
his other was against my chest.

I swung at his face, my claws extended. I slashed over his
muzzle, cutting three long gashes. He yelped a bit, losing
his grip on my wrist.

I twisted my arms, breaking lose from his grip, though I
felt his own claws cut against my skin. Taking my fist I
forced it into his own cut, sending him back a few inches.

Moving back some, I kicked his leg, forcing him farther off
of me. I tried to move out from under him, but before I
could get very far, I felt the barrel of a gun pressed into
my belly. The guard smile at me, then said something, which
I took as some kind of insult.

He pushed the gun harder and gave me a wide grin, using all
of his teeth. Suddenly though, Marn was looking over the
guards the shoulder. He grabbing his neck and pulled him off
of me, throwing him back.

Marn shuffled back a bit, around my head, at the same time
kicking the disk from where it had come to rest on the
floor. As he and the guard fought, I follows the disk as it
rolled over the floor.

As it twisted around I saw it heading for the still open
elevator shaft. I stood a bit and dived for it, grabbing
almost an inch from the edge. Unfortunately I didn't stop
moving. I slide into the shaft, stopped when a good portion
of my upper body was in the air.

I pulled myself back, working slowly back from the edge, the
disk held tight in my paw. Getting back far enough I pulled
myself back and resting against the edge of the door.

Marn was still struggling with the guard, the other was on
the floor, his head bent farther was normally attainable for
a human.

Finally getting the upper hand in the struggle, Marn got
behind the guard and got his paws around his neck. The guard
struggled with him still and I saw his paws.

Suddenly time seamed to stop. The pads of the guards paws
where wrong. Instead of the normal leathery black they where
studded with what looked like rubies. They covered most of
the pads, down his fingers, with a large gem right at the
center of his palms.

As I blinked they where gone, his paws back to normal.

"Don't kill him!" I yelled at Marn.

Marn looked up, staring at me for a second. Then suddenly
holding a knife in his paw, he smashed the base of it into
the back of the guards head. The guard's eyes rolled back
and he fell to the floor.

Marn stood, the knife suddenly gone, and walked over where
his needler ended up. "Why did you want me to save his
life?" He asked.

I gulped, glancing at the guard, then back to Marn. "I just
didn't want you to." I lied to him, flat out. I didn't want
to tell him my reason, and definatly not what I saw.

He shrugged, then growled. "Damn!" he said, smashing his
needler against the wall. "The fucking thing is jammed!" He
sighed and stuffed it into his jacket. Then walking over to
where my gun and falling, he picked it up and checked the
clip, then it vanished into his jacket.

"I saved the disk." I told him, holding it up.

Raising an eyebrow he chuckled a bit, then produce a second
disk. "I have more then one of them."

I frowned a bit. "Oh."

He walked over to me and patted my back. "It was still a
good thing to do Oriana. Now give me the clips."

I handed them over.

"Sorry about leaving you unarmed." He told me. "Unless you
can use a knife."

"It's ok, I'll let you lead for know on."

He nodded. "Good then. Now, we have a target to kill." Then
started down the hallway.

    Chapter 4

It was still hard to believe actually. Here I was, with
Marn, going to kill someone who's name I didn't even know.
On the whole it had a overly surreal quality about all of
it. Or at least it would have, if we hadn't already been
attacked twice.

I was starting to feel the same shaking that I had gotten
back on the base. It was starting right at the base of my
tail, and was trying to work it's way up my back.

I held it back as much as I could, but still felt my paws
shaking where I had them balled up into fits and stuffed
into the pockets of my coat.

I really wasn't sure what was getting to me more though, the
fact that I was walking towards being part of a murder, or
what I had seen on the guards paws.

The gems, it was strange to see them anywhere except in
illustrations, but I was sure I saw them. The same patter of
rubies where support to cover Thryn's paws. It was a large
part of the early chapters of The Book of Thryn. The origin
of the gems where a mystery, but where well document. It was
accept to the point that every once and again one of the ten
high priest would have the patter tattooed onto there paws.

I had yet to come accost anything in the Book about seeing
the gems on someone's paws and I wasn't sure of the meaning
behind it. Though I hoped saving the Guards live covered
that meaning as well as it could at the time.

Marn stopped in front a pair of large doors. Running his
paws over the wood, he nodded. "This is it." He announced,
the gun once again in his paws.

Slowly he pushed open the door, sticking his head inside the
room. After a second he just side inside. "No one's home."
He said, holding the door open.

I steeped inside the room and found myself in a well
appointed office. Most of the room was made up of leather
chairs, and a dozen different paintings. Some hanging,
others sitting of stands around the room.

Marn walked around behind the large wooden desk that
dominated one wall. Behind him a full floor to ceiling
window filled the room with sunlight.

Sitting down in a huge leather chair, he pulled up behind
the desk. "Expensive tastes." He said, running his paws over
the desktop. Then he turned and addressed me. "Close and
lock the door, then sit in the corner, out of the way."

I nodded and closed the doors, locking them five different
times. I then moved a chair into one corner and sat down in
it.

Marn was already making himself at home at the desk. Already
having going through the drawers, he was continually loading
and unloading the gun.

"You're not much for waiting." I said.

He nodded. "It's not pleasant in my line of work. You can
get distracted easily."

I shrugged, looking down at my paws, flexing them slowly, my
claws siding in and out as I went.

"You're mad at me." He said, his voice emotionless.

It really hit me right then. "Yes, I'm very mad at you." I
said in the same type of voice, my eyes still on my paws.

He sighed. "I'm really sorry I brought you into this."

"You didn't have a choice, I force the issue by insisting on
digging into your past." As I said it, I understood how true
it was. It was my fault I was in this situation, not Marn's
or anyone else. It was souly my fault.

"There was still a choice--" He started, but shut up at the
same time I heard a door open in the room.

Looking up I saw that one of the bookcases was actually a
door, and had just been opened. The target walked out,
dressed in the same kind of suit he had been wearing in the
picture I had seen back on the base. He looked the same
expect for the white in his fur was a bit thicker.

Marn was suddenly relaxed at the desk, leaning back with his
feet (which I noticed where in boots) resting on the
desktop. The gun was in his paws and he had it resting on
one knee, though still pointed at the target.

The ferret looked over both Marn and I, then walked into the
room, closing the door behind him. He steeped lightly over
until he was in front of the desk, his back towards me.

He started up a conversation with Marn, totally ignoring me.
There conversation went back and fourth, the ferret talking
a lot with his hands, his voice bouncing up and down as he
emphasized some point.

Finally the conversation seemed to come to an end, as the
ferret seamed to make some final point. Marn gave a short
reply, smiling some and raised the gun.

I looked away, not wanting to see what was to come next.
Thusly I missed what did come next.

What I heard was a gun shot, a yell Marn, and a crash of
something large hitting the floor.

Looking back to them pair I didn't see either of them.
Getting onto my feet, I moving so I could see behind the
desk. Marn and the ferret were tangled together. They where
both fighting each other, with blood already on both of
there faces.

The ferret got a slight advantage as he plowed his fist into
Marn's stomach. As Marn buckled over, the ferret got to his
feet and ran past me, giving me a shove, and over to one of
the bookcases.

Ripping a book of the shelf, he opened it and pulled out a
knife about four inches long with an inch of hilt. Throwing
the book on the floor he started walked back towards the
desk.

I back into another corner, trying to keep out of this
fight. The ferret noticed this and smiled at me, saying
something. Then holding the knife in some kind of fighting
position, started around the desk.

With a scream Marn leaped out from behind the desk and
crashed into the ferret, his shoulder going into his chest.
As the ferret staggered back Marn produced his knife again,
once again almost as if from no where.

He walked toward where the ferret was staggering to his
feet. Marn was saying something long and complex that had
some natural rhythm to it. I guessed it was probably poetry,
but couldn't be sure.

The ferret nodded a bit when he was done, then gave some
kind of retort. He then jumped at Marn, swinging his knife.

Marn simply dogged, bringing his own knife out, slashing the
side of the ferret's suit, while the ferret's attacked
missed by inches.

The ferret turned and looked at Marn, bobbing slightly.
Glancing down at the cut in his suit he saw the slight
trickle of blood running from the cut.

With the scream his lunged and Marn again. This time Marn
jumped out of the way, grabbed the back of the ferret's
neck, and sliced the other side of his suit. Then threw the
ferret down beside him.

The ferret slowly rose again, then turned to look at Marn.
He snarled, his eyes glowing in anger. He spat something
out, then lunged at Marn again.

Marn moved again reaching for the ferret's neck, but as he
moved so did the ferret. He grabbed Marn's right wrist and
twisted it hard. Marn gasped, his paw opening, and his knife
sliding out and hitting the floor, sliding a bit towards me.

At the same time the ferret twisted his own body, throwing
Marn against the floor. He landed on his back and seamed
stunned for a second.

The ferret took advantage of this, jumping onto him, his
knee in his chest. His knife falling towards Marn's neck.

Marn seamed to recover some what, grabbed the ferret's arm
just in time to force it up and away from his neck. I could
see a speck of blood flowering on the white fur of his neck,
growing from a small nick.

Marn continued to struggle with the ferret, who was forcing
the knife down against Marn's neck once again, using both
arms and the weight of his upper body. Marn had just his one
arm to try and force him away, his other pinned my the
ferret's left knee.

Marn twisted his head a bit in his struggle and yelled out.
"Oriana HELP!"

His yell brought me to most of my sense. I scanned around
the floor, looking for the gun. I couldn't find it, but did
see Marn's knife a few feet away from me.

Running a bit, I picked the knife up in my paw, then ran
behind where the pair were fighting. Standing behind the
ferret, I held the knife if both paws and raised it up about
level with my chest.

Then saying a prayer to my own salvation, I closed my eyes,
and thrust the knife down into his back. That is, I was
aiming for his back, but he must of seen something in Marn's
face and tried to move out of the way. For, when I opened my
eyes I found the knife was buried in the back of the
ferret's neck.

It had twisted a bit and blood was spurting out of the
wound, covering the handle of the knife. My mind finally
clicked on that I still hand my paws wrapped around the
handle still, and they where covered with his blood. In fact
there was blood over most of my lower arms, more covering it
with each second.

I let go of the knife and slowly backed away, my eyes
focused on my paws. I still saw, barely, Marn pulling his
way out from under the ferret, then check his pulse. Finally
he stood pulling something out of his jacket, which he threw
into the air.

It flashed quickly, then flew back into his paw. He replaced
it, then threw one of the small disks onto the floor of the
room.

My vision started to blur after that, my focus souly on my
paws. I could feel the ferret's blood starting to dry in my
fur, it discussed me more then I can ever say. What blurred
my vision even more was the fact that I had physically
killed him. Not Marn, nor anyone else, I had done it, I was
a murderess, an assassin.

I heard Marn whispering into my ear. I looked up at him, my
vision coming back into focus. The scenery had changed. We
where no longer in the office, instead it looked like one of
the hallways in Mydisia Base.

"Are you alright?" Marn asked me, holding my shoulders
tightly.

I looked at him, then shook my head. I could see darkness
creeping into my vision.

He started to pull me, "come on," he said, "lets get you
cleaned up."

My vision started to blur again. I didn't want to go with
Marn, or even see him again. I needed to get someplace safe.

I pulled out his grip, feeling dizzy. He watched me for a
few seconds, then reaching for me again.

I moved away from him, my paw digging into my pocket for my
portal controller. Opening it, I saw that it had blood from
my paws smeared over it. I couldn't see the buttons on it
though, my vision to blurry. I punched in one of the few I
knew, hoping to get it in right.

Light flared behind me as the portal opened. Turning, I
stumbled through, closing as soon as I was on the other
side. Looking around I saw that I was where I wanted to be
at.

Dropping the controller of the floor, I stumbled down the
hallway, pulling my way along as my vision finally turned
all to black.

    Chapter 5

I was halfway inside the hall of my ship, working out the
last few connections that had looked questionable from the
control room. It wasn't necessary exactly, but I had to keep
occupied until I heard back from Oriana about being there
when I launched it.

"Fox." Sora said from where she was standing, just a few
feet away.

"Yes?"

"Someone's here."

I pulled myself out of the hole dusting my hands off on my
pants. "I'm not expecting anyone." I said, turning around to
see who it was.

It was Oriana! She was standing at the entrance to the
hanger looking a bit haggard. She swung her head around to
look at me, then took three steps into the room and
collapsed on the floor.

I was running before I even knew it, dropping the tools I
had been holding as I went. I dropped to the floor a few
feet away from her, sliding on my knees until I was right
next to her.

Pushed my fingers against her neck, I found her pulse. It
was still strong, though her breathing was ragged. Gently
grasping her shoulder, I rolled her face up.

I was shocked at what I saw. Her arms from paws to her
elbows were drenched in blood. There was also blood smeared
over the pockets of her pants and her shirt. I wasn't sure
if it was her blood, or someone else's and didn't really
know how to go about finding out.

Actually, I could only think of one thing to do. Carefully
working my arms under her body, I heft her up and started to
carry her to the hospital.

I would have preferred to have taken her to the medical ward
in the Marble Hall it's self, but that was to far away with
out going through a fold, and I didn't want to risk it.

Walking down the hallways, I stepped into one of the
elevators, Sora hot on my heals. As the doors slide closed,
I spoke to the air. "The closest emergency room." There was
a pause as the my request was processed, then a lurch as it
started sideways.

"Who is this?" Sora asked.

"Oriana." I explained.

Sora looked over her, then back at me. "Oh..."

The elevator paused for a second, then started in another
direction, working it's way through the large underground of
the massive industrial section of Prid where my ship was
docked at.

Leaning against one of the walls, I adjusted Oria so I was
resting some of her weight on my leg. "Grab the phone." I
told Sora.

She nodded, pulling her wings tight against her body and
picked up the phone.

I gave her a number, and she punched it in. After a few
seconds she shook her head. "It says there away from the
phone."

I frowned, and gave her a second number to try.

She punched it in then nodded. "It's ringing this time."

"Then pass it over."

She set it against my ear and I trapped it with my shoulder.
It rang once more then picked up. "Hello?" the voice on the
other end said.

"Rachel, where's Page?"

There was a pause from the other end, then Rachel spoke
again. "Well... she's actually out on a date. Why, what's
wrong?"

I winched a bit as the elevator once again changed
directions, causing me to jar my elbow against the wall.
"Oriana just showed up with blood up to her armpits, and
passed out. I want to know what the hell she's been doing
over the past three months."

"Oh," Rachel said.

I continued. "Right now I'm heading to the closest hospital
to where my ship is. So you get Page and get her onto this."

"Fox, this is the first time she's been out in ages, I
really don't think it would be a good idea."

The elevator changed direction again, this time going up.
After a second one wall turned transparent, showing the
ground falling away at a rapid speed.

"I don't have time for this right now. You call Page and
tell her that her date has be relocated and get her on that
now!" With that I left the phone drop to the floor.

Sora looked at me for a second, then down at the phone. She
then grabbed it and hug it up.

After about ten more seconds then elevator stopped and the
doors opened. Stepping out I was in a much larger hallway
then the one I had left behind. Getting a better grip on
Oriana I started down it. After a short ways it opened up
into a larger room with a desk a few feet away.

The mink behind the desk saw me as I walked in. Before I
could say anything she was already on the phone with
someone. A second after that a stretcher was in the room as
well, and a nurse was helping me lower Oria onto it.

As they took her inside the hospital proper I started to
follow, but was stopped the by receptionist. "You stay
here." She told me.

"But--" I started to protest.

"No." She said, cutting me off. "You'll only be sent back
here. Right now they need to do what they can, all you can
do now is sit down and wait."

I slowly nodded, letting out a breath that I didn't know I
had been holding. "I guess."

She nodded, sitting behind her desk. "I'm also going to need
you to fill out some paperwork as well."

I nodded again.

Then reaching into her desk, she pulled out a some folded
white fabric rapped in plastic. "Put this on." She told me.

I picked it up. "What is it?"

"A shirt, you need a clean one."

I raised an eyebrow at this. I was wearing a work shirt, but
it wasn't that dirty. Glancing down at my chest I saw what
she meant. The was an imprint of Oria's arm in blood on the
shirt.

I blinked, then headed into the labeled bathroom, where I
changed the shirt, stuffing the bloody one into the plastic.
Walking back out I sat down next to Sora.

"Oriana is the one that made you a fox?" She said, her voice
flat.

I nodded. "Yes, that's her."

She frowned a bit, but didn't say anything else.

After a minute or so the receptionist called me over to her
desk, and we started on the paperwork.

That took ten minutes to complete, all the time I was
starting to get more nervous about Oriana. To pass the time,
I was slumped over in my chair and counting in binary on my
fingers.

"How's Oriana?" Someone asked as they sat down next to me.

I looked over, and found myself looking eye to eye with
Rachel. She gave me a bit of a smile.

"I don't know yet."

She nodded. "Waiting is always a pain."

"Yes it is." Someone else said.

I looked forward. Page was standing a few feet away from me,
looking a bit annoyed.

I frowned. "Damn Page, I'm sorry. It could have waited, I
didn't need to pull you away from your date like this."

She sighed. "I would have be madder if you didn't actually.
Oriana is my friend as well."

"Do you know what she's been doing?"

She nodded. "She had me searching for information on Marn,
she even brought me in some of his finger prints."

I blinked. "Marn? Did she say why?"

She shook her head.

I sighed. "It's a start." I said rubbing my forehead.
"Listen, tell your date I'm sorry about all of this."

She smiled. "Do it your self." She said, motioning off to
her side. It hit me there that someone was standing just off
to one side.

I glanced over, about to say something, and stopped. Page's
date was a female, a female squirrel morph actually. This
caught me a bit off guard, but I shrugged it off. I wasn't
one to complain, having spent time with males myself.

She stood about five and a half feet tall, her fur mostly
grays, though with white are her muzzle. Her outfit was
interesting, the shirt and skirt she was wearing had no
sides. In fact they looked to be once piece. After a second
the reason became clear as I registered the large flaps of
skin that ran from her wrists, where they rested on her
hips, up her arm and down her body to just under her knees.

She actually was a flying squirrel. I had never actually
seen a morph of one before, and it struck me a bit odd, but
not by to much. She gave me a slight smile that was more in
her blue eyes then her mouth. That was when the last oddity
about her registered. She had horns. Not really large ones,
or long ones, but a pair of small horn, maybe three inches
long, resting on her forehead.

"Sorry about all this." I said to her.

She nodded. "It's alright." She said in a very clear voice.
"These things happen."

Page spoke up then. "Fox, I would like you to meet Milgrove.
Milgrove, this is Fox Cutter."

I stuck my hand out. "Nice to meet you."

She took my hand into her paw, and shook it. "I can say the
same, though the reasons could be better."

Those reasons where made perfectly clear when the nurse
walked over and said to me. "She's awake if you would like
to see her."

* * *

I was slowly sitting myself up in the hospital bed, my
vision finally starting to clear. I had been striped and
washed, then put in a hospital gown. I was glad of that,
they blood was goon from my hands, and least physically.

Looking down at my paws again, I saw that an IV was hooked
into a vain, and that the pair of metal bands that I always
wore around my wrists had been removed.

I frowned at that, hoping who ever had taken them off
figured out how to do it with out destroying them. They had
been a gift from Fox from when we were first together and I
didn't want to lose them.

I glanced up from my paws as I heard the door to the room
open. I was a bit surprised to see Fox walk in, though not
by very much. The only verse number I could remember was the
one next to the docking bay he was using.

He smiled at me slightly, then pulled a chair over next to
me and said down.

We both looked over each other for a minute there. I found
that I had missed him a bit, and that I still loved him as
much as I had back when I asked him if it was shared.

Finally I broke the silence. "Did you like your gift?" I
asked him, my voice coming out as hard whisper.

He nodded, taking my paw. "Yes, it was just to short lived.
How did you do it?"

I shook my head, not wanting to tell him yet, I didn't
expect he would be to happy about what I had made it out of.
"Later."

He nodded a bit more. "How are you felling?"

I frowned, looking down at my lap. "Terrible, and numb." My
voice was becoming a bit clearer.

He squeezed my paw a bit. "Want to talk about it?"

I shook my head, feeling my hair flip around a bit. "Not
now, no."

I heard him let out a slow breath. "You're room is still
open." He tried to make it sound casual, but it felt more
like he wanted me to come back.

"I don't know how long that will last."

He squeezed my paw again, but didn't say anything.

We both sat that we for a couple minutes until a nurse stuck
his head into the room. "There's someone here demanding to
see you." She said.

"Who?" I asked.

As an answer the nurse vanished, and Marn walked into the
room.

"Marn." Fox and I said at the same time. Though where his
was in a surprise, mine was in hate.

The nurse followed him in. "It's ok." I said. The nurse
shrugged and left.

Marn took another chair, and sat down on the other side of
the bed. He glanced at Fox. "I would like to talk to her
alone."

Fox frowned a bit, but stood and walked out, leaving us be.

Marn started the conversation. "I'm sorry, this wasn't
suppose to happen."

"No, really." I said, pulling my paws close to me.

He nodded. "It was suppose to be a quick and easy one. None
of what happened. You where just suppose to watch it all,
not get involved in any way. I wanted to show you that
digging into my past as you were wasn't any game. To get you
to stop before you found out anymore. It was just suppose to
scare you, not this."

"You didn't have a choice." I mumbled.

"No, I had a choice, I could have turned the job down, or
play of that you were some cheep whore or something of the
like."

I resented that remark, I was far free cheep. Looking up, I
glared at him. "I didn't have to be in this." I growled at
him.

He nodded. "I was mad at you. I could have just told you, or
giving you a shove in the right direction, but I wanted to
rub it in your face. I didn't want you wallowing in it
though."

"So all that stuff about not going with you was a lie."

He shook his head. "No... that was all true, and part of why
I'm here."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He frowned. "With what happened the Guild is going to do a
full investigation, and there going to want to know about
you."

I whimpered, remembering what he told be back at the bar.
'If we pull this off and someone finds out about you, we are
both dead'. This would count as being found out.

"So we're dead." I said bluntly.

He sighed. "No... not for now at least."

I gave him another sharp look. "What do you mean?"

"After you ran off, I couldn't follow you. So I had to drop
my proof off to the guild. While I was there I pulled in
every favor I had ever owned to me, and left a few IOUs
behind as well. Though as far as the Guild is concerned you
have been an Evaluation for the last month, and this was
your first ride along, as it were."

I nodded slowly, curling up some. "So we're safe?"

"Mostly." He said. "The Guild will call you in a few months
from now to do your evaluation. You washout there, you
leave, and they forget all about you."

I looked at him. "But?"

He sighed. "If you don't have enough skill to justify going
along with me on this one, there going to get suspicious and
look into it. _Then_ we'll be dead."

"You're going to have to train me then." I muttered.

He nodded. "It will look a bit strange for a Journeymen to
train an Evaluation. Though with all the records saying I
had you before I was knocked down it won't be to out of
place."

"Knocked down?"

He lifted his wrist to show me the Guild patch. The colour
of the dagger had gone from black to silver. "It took my
rank as a Master to pull this off."

I frowned, and was about to tell him I was sorry when it
realized that I wasn't. It was his fault all of this
happened, he was the one who should feel sorry.

"Good." was all I said.

He growled lightly. "Listen Oriana, neither one of us wants
to be anywhere close to the other after this. If you want to
live though, you'll let me get you good enough to flunk the
evaluation without causing suspicion."

I sighed. "Fine, after that I *never* see you again."

He nodded, standing. "Deal." He said, throwing something
onto the bed. "Put that someplace that is visible when you
want it to be. I suggest the inside of your sleeve. I'll see
you in a few days" with that said, he turned and walked out
of the room.

Picking up what he had thrown, I looked it over. It was just
a bit of cardboard. Flipping it over I saw what he was
taking about though. Attached to it was the Guild patch.
Though on this one, the dagger that crossed the heart was a
deep rust colour that contrasted with the red of the heart.

I threw it onto the table next to me, then laid back down
onto the bed. I hope this would go fast, I wanted out of it
quickly, and I wanted away from Marn.

But until then, I was an assassin, no matter how much I
hated it.

-----

This story is (c) 1997 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a
person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a
fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not
be removed. 'Milgrove' is (C) 1997 by J. 'Packrat' McCoy, and is used with
permision.