Fur World
A story written by SonicBlu for Bryan Keller

All content within this story is (c) 2001 SonicBlu. 
Any similarities with characters past or present, living or dead, is purely coincidental. 

One:

	The heat from the sun was glistening throughout the mid-summer skies and beat down upon the Earth like hellfire with its sweltering radiance. Amongst the crowd, a tired citizen of Seattle, Washington was just coming home from a hard day at work. During the winters, his job with the town garage were not as bad as they were during the hot, summer days, where he had to spend the entire time under the sun. For his work, Bryan repaired automobiles of all different styles and since the summer days brought in a lot of different car troubles, Bryan found that he had to do his work out in the backside of the garage since there was constantly a shortage of space inside the garage itself. Bryan didn't seem to mind, since he always enjoyed a nice remedial time at the local bar and grill. Since Bryan had no automobile of his own, he walked along the streets toward his home with the other pedestrians and the feeling of sweat beading from his forehead was the only moisture that was felt, which made his throat very dry.

	Bryan Bowers was a man of a rather large build and taller than most men his age. At twenty-one years old, his height and his goatee gave the impression of a more mature nature. Being of a legal age, he felt a lot more comfortable about walking into the local liquor-swilling establishment, knowing that he can whip out his identification card at any given moment instead of hoping that his looks was good identification enough. Bryan stopped just in front of Sammy's Bar And Grill and opened the door. 

	The bar was rather dark when he first entered, which set his eyes more at ease. He walked slowly to the bar and smiled up at the bartender, who was seen wiping the bar top with a damp cloth. Sammy always wore a white dress shirt with a black vest and was always neat and clean, no matter how busy his establishment got. His straight, brown hair had always been kept short. Sammy had an unmistakable smile, which he showed quite often whenever he greeted his best customers. The smell of barbequed beef filled the air, which mingled with the usual cigar and cigarette smoke from the customers at the bar. The television set behind the bar was broadcasting the latest football game, but hardly anybody was paying any attention to it. The loud chatter in the room made it quite difficult to hear the sound of the TV. Sammy looked up at Bryan as he took a seat in front of him at the bar and stopped wiping the bar counter.
"Hey, Bry guy. Off of work early, aren't we?" he said with a smile.
"You know it, Sammy. I can't stay too far away from this place too long. Anybody want to fire me for wanting to pay a visit to a good friend and some good alcoholic beverages can just go right ahead."
"That's awfully nice, Bry. I'd say you were tryin' ta swindle a free drink from me."
"One could try, eh?" Bryan said with a chuckle. Sammy shared the chuckle with Bryan and procured an ice cold, opened bottle of beer at Bryan's fingertips, happily awaiting consumption.
"On the house, Bry. You know I wouldn't argue that with ya."
"Mighty appreciative, Sammy." Bryan said.
"Eh, think nothin' of it, Bry. You're one of my best customers. It's also not every day where my life gets saved from a bunch of hoodlums, either. Drink up." Bryan raised the bottle in thanks to Sammy's generosity and began to drink.

	Sammy had known Bryan for many years and even though he looked older than what he was, Bryan felt deep down inside that Sammy had to have known about his age. When Bryan was fifteen, he first met Sammy and tried to get someone to buy him a beer to take to school with him. Sammy grew wise to what Bryan was doing and asked him to leave. That night, Sammy was attacked by thugs in the night when he tried to get into his car. Bryan happened to have been watching him closely hoping to meet up with someone willing to buy him that beer he never was able to get earlier, and he jumped to Sammy's defense. Bryan had always been a burly guy even in his teen years, and the two thugs that attacked Sammy didn't stand a chance against him. One of the thugs even came away with a broken leg, the other one had his ribs busted. Both attackers had to have been taken away in an ambulance. Bryan remained with Sammy to make sure he was going to be alright and from then on, their friendship developed stronger and stronger.
"How old are you anyway?" an exhausted Sammy asked his rescuer as he wiped the trail of blood from his nose.
"I'm f....nineteen, sir."
"Sir, I'm not in the army, neither are you. My name is Sammy and all my friends call me Sammy. You?"
"Bowers. Bryan Bowers. At your service." Bryan said and extended his hand. Even though Bryan had lied about his age when they first met, the conversation they shared was pretty much forgotten about between the both of them and a strong friendship grew from the ashes of defeat that once was an attempt to gain free alcohol, but turned out to be a night of peril that neither of them would never forget. Sammy even gave Bryan a few beers here and there, so identification was not that much of a problem then. Now that he had turned twenty-one, he walked the streets a more wiser and more mature gentleman. 

	As Bryan reached for his second beer, he turned his head up to gaze at a couple walking into the bar. One of them was wearing a dog collar around his neck attached with a leash, which was clenched tightly in the hand of his partner, a person dressed completely in leather and wearing a spiked leather bracelet around his wrist. The bartender did a double take as the couple took a seat at the bar, only two seats away from Bryan.
"Afternoon, guys. Um...what can I get ya?" Sammy asked, still staring unbelievably at the odd-looking couple.
"Two beers." Sammy nodded and returned with two foaming mugs of draft beer and placed it on the bar in front of them. The one holding the leash took both beers in his hands.
"One for me, hon?" the leashed person asked.
"Beg for it." his partner replied. The leashed person began to place his paws limply to his chest and gazed up into his partner's eyes with a sad look and let out a gentle whine.
"Aww, good boy." he said and slid a mug to his hands. The leashed person panted happily. Bryan shook his head in disbelief after seeing the strangeness of the couple.
"Hey, Sammy, what's up with them?"
"Oh, they're harmless. They're both here for that convention at the hotel next door."
"Convention? What kind of convention?"
"They have it every year. It's some sort of fur convention. People come from all over the place to attend each year they hold it. I kinda got used to it after awhile."
"What kind of people attend this...fur convention?"
"Oh, I get lots of people coming through here dressed up in full body fursuits. There's all different kinds of animals they dress up like, foxes, lions, wolves, dogs, cats, you name it."
"Sounds immature! Who in their right frame of mind would resort to such a thing? Sounds like something for little kids. It don't really exist!" Bryan said and finished the last of his beer. Sammy leaned in close and whispered his reply to Bryan.
"Maybe so, but they bring in good business, so I'm not one to discriminate. 'S long as they keep bringin' in the business, I'm happy."
Bryan looked up from his empty mug and noticed that the couple was standing directly next to him. He follows his eyes up slowly to face the couple and stops when his eyes meet theirs.
"What?" Bryan asked.
"Excuse me, but what was that you said?" the one holding the leash said. Bryan looked at the name badge that was pinned to his leather shirt and it bore the name "BadDogg" His partner bore the same type of name badge, only his name read "SubbedPuppy".
"It's kid's stuff, man. Look at you two. You're, what, in you mid twenties? ...and what's up with this getup?" he asked, pointing to SubbedPuppy's collar and leash.
"This is my mate." BadDogg said in an aggressive tone.
"Mate?" Bryan said and omitted a loud chuckle. He returned his gaze into BadDogg's eyes after his outburst of hysteria.
"Hey, you might not understand us, but at least we don't go around talking about you non-furries. We don't get into your business, so I would advise that you stay out of ours."
"Great. I'll stay in my world. It's called 'reality'. You should visit it sometime. I'm quite happy being my human self in my human world. Look, I don't have anything against you both for being gay or anything like that. I understand perfectly...but calling him a 'mate'? What are you, a couple of animals?" BadDogg and SubbedPuppy exchanged glances, smiled softly, and then looked back at Bryan.
"Yes, in a way, we are. Both in spirit and in heart."
"Whatever. Just watch out for the dog catchers. You both might wind up in the pound for not carrying your license tags." Bryan said and let out a light chuckle. BadDogg grumbled loudly and began to draw his fist back. SubbedPuppy placed his arm around BadDogg to restrain him.
"No, hon. Don't do that, please? We can't reason with him, let's just leave him alone. Don't worry about him. One of these days, he might learn about what it takes, but until that day comes, we shouldn't start any wars against people like this." BadDogg grunted and threw his fists down at his sides and stomped off to return to his seat at the bar, where they sat for the next twenty minutes to enjoy a nice, refreshing mug of ice cold draft beer. As the furry couple left the bar, Bryan couldn't help but to omit a loud chuckle. Sammy finished wiping the counter of the bar and returned to Bryan's presence.
"Another beer for ya, Bry?" Bryan nodded with a wide grin, still not able to get the image of what he had just seen out of his mind.
"Look, Bryan, I know it's odd, but as long as they're happy, that's all I care about."
"Oh, I understand, believe me. It's just that I think the entire thing is so weird. Such a thing just cannot really exist. I'm glad to be in the world I live in."
"Yeah. I guess you're right about that, Bry. Go ahead, drink up." Sammy said and moved over to another group of people and joined them in conversation.

	Bryan had knocked off eight mugs of draft beer before he rose slowly from the bar. He checked his watch and noticed that the time had flown by rather quickly. 
"Well, time for dinner. I'll see you again, Sammy." Bryan said as he laid a twenty dollar bill on the bar counter. "Keep the change, my good man." he said and slowly made his way to the door.
"Keep well, Bry guy!" Sammy called out from behind.

	The sun seemed to be three times as bright as Bryan was used to as he left the darkness of the bar. He donned his sunglasses and continued walking towards his apartment. From next to the bar, the hotel seemed to be crowded by fursuiters, energetic people, people wearing tails to their pants, and people carrying large stuffed plush animals. Bryan paused momentarily to watch the action and then shook his head slowly. 
"It's beyond me." Bryan muttered to himself. As he continued on, a voice called out from behind.
"Hey...HEY YOU, STOP!" Bryan turned to face a short, skinny man who appeared to be in his late thirties, and wearing an orange fox tail with a black tip attached to his jeans.
"Hey, do you know WolfDragon? I'm supposed to meet him here."
"What are you talking about?" Bryan replied, losing his nerve with the entire furry concept.
"Well, he told me he knew someone that matches your description, so I thought I would just ask to see if you were him."
"First of all, I'm not a furry. Do I look like a furry to you? Now why don't you scoot, or scamper, or pad along, or whatever it is you do. Just leave me alone, alright?" Bryan said as he started to turn away.
"Well, I'm soh-ree! Geez, you didn't have to act like that. I thought you were one of us. Listen, if you do run into someone with the name WolfDragon on his badge, will you tell him I'm looking for him? I'm Foxxy-Loxxy by the way." Bryan flashed an angry glare.
"My name is Bryan. A nice normal name for a normal person. I am a member of something called reality. Perhaps you've heard of it?"
"Forget it." Foxxy-Loxxy said and walked sadly away.
"Geez, the nerve of these freaks." Bryan muttered to himself. He walked along the streets in the hot, baking sun until he reached the door to his apartment. He fished around in his pocket for his keys.
"Come on, it's hot as hell out here!" Bryan muttered to his fingers as if they could reply. He finally got a grip on his key ring, pulled it from his pocket and quickly unlocked the doorknob, then flung the door open with a sigh of relief.
"Ahh, wonderful air-conditioned home!" he said as he placed his keys on the kitchen table. He reached into his refrigerator for a bottle of beer and held the door open a bit longer to enjoy the cold air from within. Once satisfied, Bryan closed the refrigerator door and walked into the living room. He grabbed the remote and turned his television on, hoping to find a decent program to settle down to. Bryan flipped through channel after channel, zooming past commercials, talk shows, weather reports, and children's cartoons.
"Six-thirty and not a damn thing on. Figures." Bryan said as he continued flipping through the channels. He passed by several commercials and cartoons, most of them having a furry motif. He turned his television off and tossed his remote aside.
"There's no escape from that, is there?" Bryan mumbled to himself, and then remembered the encounter he had with Foxxy-Loxxy.
"He had to have been almost forty...and wearing a fox tail? Looking for Dragon Wolf or Wolf Dragon or something like that. Ridiculous! What ever happened to regular names like John or Tom? Foxxy-Loxxy...puh." Bryan whispered as he rubbed his forehead gently with his thumbs.

	As Bryan was sitting in the silence of his living room contemplating his thoughts on furryism, the telephone rang, breaking Bryan from his train of thought.
"Bryan here." Bryan said as he held the receiver to his ear.
"Bryan, it's Jim. What are you doing tonight?"
"Oh, nothing much. Probably just kick back a couple beers and be bored out of my mind. What are you up to, Jim?"
"I'm going to be going to a convention tonight with some friends and I was wondering if you wanted to tag along with me. We're meeting in the hotel bar and grill. They serve excellent Japanese food. You up to it?"
"Oh, no. You're not one of them, are you?" Bryan sighed.
"Well, I think it's a great community. I met lots of really great friends through the fandom and I'll be meeting a few of them tonight for dinner. You're welcome to come with me."
"Jim, you know that you're my best friend, right? ...But I do have to say this. The whole furry thing is for kids, man. Heaven's sake, man, you're twenty-three years old!"
"Oh, I know that, Bryan, but there's a lot more to it than you think. Trust me, this is not just for kids, but a lot of us mature adults also find our own enjoyment from it."
"Yeah, well I don't have anything against you about this, Jim. I'm not one to turn down a nice bar and grill, so I will join you there, but leave me out of the convention stuff. I'm happy being my human self."
"I understand, Bry. The restaurant is in a different area of the hotel than the convention is, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'll pick you up in an hour then?"
"Sounds good. Talk to you later, Jim, and remember to watch your ...umm...tail." Bryan said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, always a wise guy. See you in a bit." Jim said and hung up the phone. Bryan shook his head as he placed the phone back onto the cradle.

	As Bryan finished off another bottle of beer, he looked in the refrigerator, noticing that his supply was running low.
"Damn, I'll have to get some more while I'm out tonight." he said to himself as he closed his refrigerator door. He raised his arms to stretch out and noticed right away that from spending the entire afternoon in the sun at his workplace, he sure could use a nice cool shower. Bryan decided to take his time as the refreshing water jetted from the faucet onto his exhausted body, giving him the right treatment he needed.
"Oooh, this is nice." Bryan said to himself as he rubbed his soapy handcloth over his chest and stomach. He began to wash his backside and then chuckled to himself.
"Good thing I don't have a tail back there to maintain. I wonder how they would clean themselves if they did really have real tails."
	
	Bryan stepped out of the shower when he felt his skin beginning to wrinkle. He dried himself off and quickly dressed into his casual wear. He decided to have just one more quick bottle of beer while he waited out the remainder of his time until Jim showed up. Just then, the knock he was waiting all hour for was rapping against his door. Bryan opened the door to see his best friend standing there. He was dressed in blue jeans and a black T-shirt with images of kittens scattered about. He hadn't shaved a single day since he tumbled through his teen years, so Jim had a full beard and mustache. Bryan smiled and stepped out of his apartment onto the welcome mat. Jim stepped to the side as Bryan approached.
"Let's go." Bryan said as he closed and locked his door.
"Wow, I guess you're as hungry as I am, huh?" Jim said. Bryan nodded in agreement and then froze as his eyes glanced upon Jim's name badge. Bryan performed a double-take when he saw it.
"Um...SoftKitty?" Bryan said, reading the name on Jim's badge.
"Yeah, Bryan. That's my character's name. SoftKitty Snugglicious at your service." Bryan burst into a sudden uproar of hysteria at the sound of the full name of Jim's character.
"I used to think Jim Peterson was lame enough, but SoftKitty Snugglicious? Oh, God!" Bryan said and emitted another loud chuckle.
"What? It's a rather cute name and it suits me fine." Jim replied and gave Bryan a quick, soft hug. Bryan returned the gesture and hugged back and then looked his friend in the eyes.
"Jim, I love ya like the best friend that you are, but if you don't mind, I'd like to stick to calling you Jim Peterson. SoftKitty Snugglicious just seems too..." Bryan stopped himself as another loud chuckle brought out from his throat. Jim smiled and shook his head, knowing how he feels about having to use that name on a daily and regular basis.
"Oh, no problem, Bry. I know how different of a world it is for you and I wouldn't want to make you do anything you didn't want to do."

	As they passed through the crowd of gathering furs outside the hotel's entrance, Bryan tried as best as he could to contain his comments and hysterical reactions to the types of people he saw. Jim reached into his duffle bag and placed a set of false whiskers on his face and a pair of cat's ears on his head. He turned once again to face Bryan as he opened the hotel door for him.
"Come on, let's get some food. I'm starved." Bryan almost burst into uncontrollable laughter seeing his best friend in costume, but he also understood that this was a way to show fanfare for what one believes in and tried his best to hold his hysterical outbursts to a minimum. They crossed the lobby of the hotel to the restaurant on the opposite side. They took a seat towards the back of the restaurant for better privacy. As they ate, Jim explained to Bryan about the furry fandom. Bryan still couldn't seem to understand how something so huge can appear so normal in everyone else's eyes, but he also wasn't one to discriminate against his best friend for showing an interest. After their meal, Jim rose from the table and slid a twenty dollar bill to Bryan's hands. 
"Here you go. Have a good time here and have some Saki. I'm going into the convention now. I told the cat pack I'd meet up with them."
"Oh, no, you don't have to give me any..."
"Bryan, please, I insist. It's the least I can do for a friend like you."
"But Jim, I laughed at you when you put on your cat face. I made fun of your furry name. I can't possibly be worthy of this."
"You are, Bryan, for understanding what this means to me and to show that your friendship does mean a lot to me. Please, I insist. Have some Saki."
"Jim, you're a good man ...or umm...cat...whatever."
"Well, I'm flattered to be considered either." Jim said with a light chuckle and gave Bryan a soft hug. Bryan hugged back and then headed to the front of the restaurant to find a seat at the bar.
"Saki, please." Bryan said. The bartender bowed and slid a shot glass of Saki to Bryan's awaiting hands. He held the glass up and smiled to the bartender.
"Banzai." Bryan said with a grin as he raised his glass. The bartender smiled a wide grin.
"Ah, you funny customah. Nice guy. We like-a you. Make good for business." the bartender smiled and walked away.
"Nice place." Bryan whispered to himself. 

	As Bryan enjoyed his Saki, several furries entered and left the restaurant. Bryan didn't pay much attention to them but he also didn't feel as alienated from them as before. Granted, he still didn't quite understand them, but the more furries that came and left, Bryan felt that much more comfortable being around them. As Bryan was finishing off his sixth Saki, he turned to look up at Jim, whom has entered the restaurant accompanied with five other furries.
"Hi, Jim. How's you'se going tonight?" Bryan said in a slurred tone.
"Yeah, you're toasted alright." Jim said with a chuckle. "I thought I'd bring the cat pack by so you can meet them." Bryan smiled as his eyes panned along the small lineup of furries, some only wearing cat tails and ears, while others wore no costume at all, but each of them wore a convention badge bearing their character names along with a small drawing of anthropomorphic felines.
"Nice to pleasure to meet ya." Bryan said in a drunken tone. The cat pack smiled and waved and a couple of them meowed their reply.
"Listen, you look like you need to lie down. I'll take you home now if you want." Jim said and reached out for Bryan, helping him to his feet.
"Ohhhh-keeey, man, like, do you know where I live?"
"Yeah, you're definitely gone. I'll see you all in a bit." Jim said as he turned to his fellow feline friends. They all meowed and walked away, heading towards the convention floor. As Bryan turned to walk away, he waved to the bartender.
"Bansai Kawasaki Mitsubishi!" Bryan called out. The bartender fully understanding Bryan's drunken state chuckled merrily.
"You one wasted customah but we like-a you. Made business good for me. Have nice evening." the bartender called back. Bryan began to swerve and tip as he walked towards the exit.
"No, wait, come here." Jim said as he wrapped his arm around Bryan's shoulders to support him.

	The walk to the apartment complex was not a very pleasant one and seemed a lot longer than it should have been. Bryan spoke aimlessly as he walked, not sticking to any particular subject. Jim did his best to reply regardless of Bryan's condition. As they walked along, Bryan was too far gone to be able to walk straight and kept dipping and swaying with every step. They finally reached Bryan's apartment much later than anticipated and he leaned Bryan against the wall as he attempted to unlock the door and then helped him inside. He lay Bryan down on his bed, making sure he was lying on his stomach before he quietly left the apartment.

Two:

	Through the night, Bryan tossed and turned as if his dream was enthralling enough to be realistic. He could have sworn that the cold breath of wind in his dream that swept over him was as real as his very existence. He tried his best to curl up, using his body heat to keep him warm, yet something occurred to him. He remembered his bed to be much softer than what he felt and he always felt the warmth of his blankets, even during the coldest of winters. He kept his eyes closed as his hands felt around for his blankets to pull over him. When he couldn't feel the softness of his mattress, his mind began to grasp the difference. As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw before him a pair of thin legs standing before him. He wearily followed his eyes upward to get a better look at the curious bystander. His eyes widened with shock when they froze on the face of the creature before him. Standing about five and a half feet tall was the largest rat Bryan had ever seen. He wore a pair of baggy shorts and a dirty t-shirt that had developed a few holes. His tail swished slowly back and forth as the rat held his gaze down onto the astounded intruder. Bryan rubbed his eyes thinking that his vision was playing tricks on his mind. He gazed again in the face of the rat standing over him and with his walking stick, the rat began to poke Bryan's stomach with it.
"Hey...hey you. Get up." the rat hollered. Bryan moaned slightly as he tried to speak, still feeling woozy from the previous night.
"I dunno where you came from or where you're a-goin', but yer in my alley. Get up!" the rat said as he jabbed Bryan's ribs with his walking stick. Bryan leapt to his feet and began to back slowly out of the alley.
"I...I'm sorry, I...who are you?"
"Who am I, who are you, or rather, what are you?" the rat asked.
"It's too early for games, man. You're probably with the other freaks in that convention, aren't you?"
"What're ya talkin' about? I ask ya what you are, I didn't expect no backtalkin'."
"I'm a human for flipping heaven's sake! Don't you know what a human is?"
"For yer information, I ain't never seen yer kind before an' you better hope there ain't many of ya in da world. Now go on, beat it." The rat waved his paws frantically, signaling for Bryan to leave his presence. Bryan turned and slowly left the vicinity of the alley into the streets. Bryan's eyes were widened with shock as he walked along the streets of what appeared to be a small village. All of the buildings were made of pure stone and the streets were all dusty and dirty, as if nobody's ever used pavement before. Around the village stood a vast forest where several furries were seen going to and from the woodsy surroundings carrying with them their hunt for the day. These were the types of animals Bryan was used to seeing, but he had to ask himself where the furries came from. The very types of characters that Bryan found disbelief in were now walking along the sidewalk with him in real time. Bryan noticed the many species of animals that passed him by. All of them stood upright and walked and talked like humans. Each furry that spotted Bryan's appearance exchanged perplexed gazes with him as they walked past.

	As Bryan took another look around, the first thing he noticed was that the air was very clean. The sky appeared to have a deep, bright tint to the color of blue, as if it was untouched by pollution. Several shops lined the sides of the roads where several horse-drawn carriages constantly passed by. Bryan also noticed that the rest of the villagers were of different breeds of animals, yet they could all stand upright and walk, talk, and act just like humans.
"They're real. Holy crap, they're really real!" Bryan said as he rubbed his eyes, taking another good look at the world where he had ended up in. 
"What is this, where the hell am I?" he asked himself, hoping to find the answer. He leaned up against a nearby building and placed his hand upon his head.
"Think, Bryan." he told himself. "Think. What happened last night? I was at the Japanese restaurant last night and Sammy's bar yesterday afternoon. I've been drunk before and I recovered from it just fine. Why is it different now?" No matter how hard Bryan thought it over, the solution to his questions were never found. Bryan started feeling a sense of fear within his veins as he looked around the village. He had traveled quite a bit and never saw such a place exist before and he also knew that he was no longer in Seattle, Washington. He wasn't even sure if he was on Earth anymore. With this thought in mind, Bryan continued walking along the sidewalk. He kept his eyes pointed to the ground as he walked along, not wanting to believe that his greatest peeve is now a reality. He knew that watching where he was going should have been vital, for walking in the opposite direction was a small pack of wolves engaged deeply in conversation amongst themselves. As Bryan collided with them, the wolf pack began to growl.
"I...I'm sorry." Bryan stammered.
"What the hell am I looking at here?" one of the wolves said. "Hey, Jonas, have you ever seen anything like this before?"
"It's unusual to me, Seth. Whatever it is, it sure looks putrid."
"Hmm, I think he looks cute." another wolf uttered.
"Esmerelda, you think everyone is cute. That's a problem."
"Not really, Connie. I just have a good eye."
"Could someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Bryan interrupted. The wolf pack looked at one another and then looked back at Bryan. It was obvious that neither one of them had ever seen a human before, but the look in their eyes showed Bryan that they had other ideas for him.
"I would like to see what makes him tick." Seth said as he began to poke Bryan's chest with his claw. Bryan tried to bat Seth's paw away, but it only made him poke in other areas. Jonas leaned forward and sniffed Bryan's face.
"Yecch! Smells like old pub trash." he replied.
"Hey, hey, come on now. Let me go." Bryan said angrily. 
"Why should we do that?" Connie said as she stood in front of him, blocking him from trying to get away.
"I...I don't want any trouble, please let me go. I'm just lost and I don't want any trouble."
"Maybe trouble will come looking for you." said Esmerelda.
"Maybe trouble's already found you." Seth concluded. Each of the wolves were making their own contribution to causing Bryan to feel more nervous and afraid than before.
"Alright, what exactly are you anyway?" Connie asked as she reached out with her paw to squeeze Bryan's arm, getting a feel of his skin against her paw.
"Hey, stop that. I'm a human. My name is Bryan and I come from Seattle, Washington."
"Human? What's a human?" Seth asked.
"You mean none of you know what a human is?" Bryan asked. Each of the wolves shook their heads slowly.
"You think he's safe or anything, Jonas?" Seth asked.
"He's a stranger in a strange land. We better take him with us."
"Are you crazy? You want to bring this thing into our home?" Seth replied.
"What do you think is gonna happen to him if he stays out here? He won't last two days out here."
"But he's so unusual. Why do you want to keep him around? How do you know we can trust him?"
"Oh, Seth, that's all you ever worry about, isn't it?" Esmerelda joined in. "What harm can he do with us? He looks so inferior, so weak compared to us. We have instincts."
"So can he. We might learn a few more techniques from this creature if we take him with us." the wolf named Jonas piped in. "I say we take him with us."
"Look, um, wolves. I just want to find out what I'm doing here, how I got here, or hell, any bit of information I can get is vital. Can I go now?" The wolf pack exchanged glances with each other and then back at Bryan.
"You may thank us later for doing this. Come on, let's escort him home." Jonas said. Each of the wolves crowded around Bryan to make sure he doesn't slip away. 
"Hey, come on. You can't do this. I demand that you let me go." Bryan complained, but neither wolf would let up. Jonas seemed to know what he wanted to do with the new arrival to their village and his fellow brother and sisters seemed okay with it. Bryan could clearly see that Jonas was the pack's leader.

	Bryan found it useless to try and argue against four tall, rough-looking wolves, so he remained silent throughout the rest of the walk. He froze in his tracks as the wolves led him in front of the opening of a large and dim cave.
"Here it is. This is our home." Jonas said. "Come inside, Bryan. We give you our word that we will not harm you as long as you give us your word that you won't harm us."
"Yeah, one wrong move in there and this will be the last thing you see." Seth said as he snarled his teeth viciously into Bryan's face. The smell of Seth's breath reeked of bloody, raw meat and Bryan noticed his teeth were stained a light shade of pink. Bryan was now convinced that the red dots on Seth's white shirt were drops of blood and immediately fell into submission amongst the wolf pack.
"You will speak only when spoken to. Anything happens that we don't like, we'll pulverize you." Seth said as he punched his paw with his fist. Bryan quickly nodded his response and they slowly entered into the cave.

	The wolves' cave was dimly lit by the many torches attached to the walls. They seemed to have made quite a decent home for themselves and each cavern was very well-decorated as that of a castle in the medieval times. Bryan looked around and smiled, having an interest in the medieval times himself. 
"Nice. Very nice." Bryan complimented. The wolves each glared angrily at Bryan for not following their rule of remaining silent. Bryan's facial expression quickly changed to sorrow and he shyly hung his head.
"Sit down." Jonas said. Bryan started to raise his head up and he felt a sudden grip on his shoulder.
"SIT!" Seth said and forced Bryan to sit on the floor of the cave.
"Oof. Is that really necessary, Seth?" Bryan said angrily, which only made Seth angrier and he leaned forward, giving a frightening snarl. Bryan slowly backed away and didn't say one single word.
"Here, better restrain him with this." Connie said and flipped Seth a coiled piece of rope. Seth caught it and looked back at Bryan, who was now found scooting along the floor backwards. Seth approached Bryan, each step increasing in speed. Bryan felt a sudden hardness hit his back. Startled, he turned to look up at what he had bumped into and he was gazing up into the eyes of Esmerelda. She smiled down onto the frightened human, trying to reassure his fears.
"Es, don't just stand there, hold him down will ya?" Seth called out. Esmerelda shrugged and reached down, holding Bryan by the shoulders. 
"NO! Let me go! I..." Bryan froze as Esmerelda gazed into his eyes. Her grip upon his shoulders was gentle and Bryan could easily break free from her restraint, but chose not to. His gaze into Esmerelda's emerald eyes were mesmerizing enough for making him back down from wanting to escape. Seth began to wrap Bryan's arms to his body with the rope and ties another restraint around his legs, holding them together.
"What's this for, Seth? Don't trust me?"
"Ha! You're really asking for it, ya know. Really asking for it." 
"Seth. That will be all. Leave us now. You are of no help to me." said Jonas. Seth growled as he walked away. He gave Bryan a nudge to his ribs with his foot as he walked by.
"Hey, what's the deal?" Bryan asked, but Seth refused to answer.
The vacant spot on the floor where Seth had occupied was soon replaced with Jonas and his two sisters standing closely behind. They all folded their arms to their chest and held the same gaze into Bryan's eyes.
"Listen, Bryan. This is to protect you." Jonas tried to assure Bryan that it was only necessary, but Bryan saw it as something much different.
"Yeah right, you just don't trust me, do you?"
"Well, it's partly why we had to tie you up, but we also did this to make sure you don't escape on us when we ask you our questions. Who knows what would happen to you out there. You could've either scared away all of the life around us or you could've  easily run into Chico and his bunch of coyotes and you wouldn't know what to do then. They're not whom you want to meet all alone somewhere." Jonas explained. "Either you'll be their next meal or their newest cohort. Either way, it's not going to be good, so trust us."
"Chico isn't quite the type you want to meet, even if you had others around you." Esmerelda piped in.
"Fair enough. I'll answer anything you want and I don't care about any Chico or his crew. After interrogating me, would you be releasing me from this rope?"
"We ask the questions here, Bryan. Where did you come from?" Jonas said as he lunged forward, staring curiously into Bryan's eyes. 
"Seattle." Bryan replied in a shaky tone.
"Seattle? Where's that?"
"In Washington, don't you know anything?" Bryan asked while looking around the cavern at the wolves who were exchanging puzzled expressions amongst each other.
 "What's the matter, aren't I even on Earth anymore?" Bryan asked nonchalantly. Each wolf shook their head slowly.
"I don't know if we can trust him. You heard the way he talked to Seth. What in your right frame of mind were you thinking, bringing him into our home like this? " Connie asked her brother as she placed her paws to her waist.
"We find out what his intentions are. If he deceives us, we'll think of a way to make him come to his senses. If he still doesn't cooperate, we'll just let him see how well Chico handles him." Jonas said. 
"Trust me, I have no intention of going against you wolves. If I wanted to, I would have killed you all when I first saw you."
"You against four of us wolves? Uh-uh, try again." Jonas said.
"I wouldn't have come here with you." Bryan said.
"Nope. We took you here by force. Try again."
"Look, I don't know what you want me to tell you, just take my word for it. I don't want to hurt anyone. It's obvious that I'm no longer in my world of origin anymore. Why the hell would I want to hurt any of you? I haven't been hurt by you yet, save for that nudge from Seth's foot. You're just going to have to trust me. I'm not planning on dying anytime soon. I won't hurt any of you, not even Seth for kicking me. I'm a survivor anyway. I get by with what I have and I don't need anything more than that. What do I have to lose?" Bryan said as he stared into Jonas's eyes.
"Alright. We'll just see how self sufficient you are. Connie, Esmerrelda, untie him. If he has to trust us, then we have to trust him. The two wolves nodded and proceeded to carry out their brother's request. Once the restraints were removed, Bryan rubbed his wrists and ankles where the rope was tightly wrapped and then rubbed the area where Seth had kicked him. 
"Hey. I'm sure he didn't mean that." Esmerelda said calmly as she bent down to pick up the rope.
"It's okay. I'm sure he'll come to his senses." Bryan whispered back. 
"He usually does sooner or later. Why don't you get cleaned up? You can use the bath in the next cavern."
"Thanks." Bryan said as he rose slowly from the floor. He brushed the dirt from his jeans and looked back into Esmerelda's eyes. "You're very kind." he finished.
"Thank you. I do what I feel is right. My brothers might not agree with me, but hey, I'm not a cub anymore." Esmerelda whispered back. She watched as Bryan disappeared into the cavern to bathe.

	The cavern appeared very dark with only a single torch to keep a dim glow about the room. There was an unmistakable aroma of sulphur and smoke in the air from the fire pit in the middle of the floor. A large pot sat next to the smoldering ash filled to the rim of water. Bryan could easily see the ceramic bathtub in the corner and after gazing around the cavern, he got an idea of what to do next. He placed a couple blocks of wood into the pit and rested the pot on top. He attempted to ignite the fire by striking a pair of flints together. Once the fire was ablaze, Bryan proceeded to fill the tub with the water, giving adequate time to fill the water, allowing it to heat evenly. Once satisfied with the bath, Bryan stripped off his clothing, taking a nervous look behind him to see if anyone was watching. He swiftly slid his briefs down his legs and stepped into the tub.

	Once Bryan was freshened with a relaxing bath, he started to dress up. Bryan had only donned his briefs when he was startled to hear the sound of soft footsteps and Bryan flipped around. He immediately covered his lower half as his gaze froze upon the intruding wolf.
"What? What do you want?" Bryan said nervously, but then found forgiveness when he realized who had walked in on him.
"I'm sorry, Bryan. I didn't know you were...um"
"No, no, it's okay, Esmerelda. Stick around if you want to."
"I just wanted to let you know that dinner will be served very soon. Here, you can put these on." she said as she laid a pile of clothes on the floor of the cavern. "They're Jonas's. He wanted to give these to you himself, but I insisted that I do that for him. I also wanted to find a chance to get to know you a little better."
"Great." Bryan said as he looked down at his undressed body and then back up into Esmerelda's eyes. "So is the mighty Jonas still angry with me?"
"No, Jonas is just being overly cautious. It's Seth that was angry with you. Don't worry too much about him. He will always have Jonas to answer up to, so just mind yourself and you'll be fine. Jonas will protect you once he gains your trust." Bryan nodded slowly and then shivered slightly, still standing in the cavern in only his underwear. He looked down at his slight covering and then back at Esmerelda.
"Oh, right. I'll let you get changed first." she said, giving out a light chuckle. "There's a hole in the back of the sweat pants for Jonas's tail, but it shouldn't be that big of a deal. This shirt hasn't been worn by Jonas for quite awhile, so I don't think he'll miss it. I'll let you get dressed now." Esmerelda said as she turned and walked slowly out of the cavern. Once the room was clear again, Bryan finished getting dressed and headed into the main den where the rest of the wolves were waiting for him.
"Hey, Jonas. Isn't that your..." Seth started, but got cut off with Jonas's reply.
"Yes, Seth. Don't worry about it, alright? I would much rather have him wear something of mine than to have him wear that awful getup he was wearing before."
"How can you know you can trust him? I still don't think it's a good idea to..."
"Enough, Seth. When I want your opinions, I'll ask. You ask me this one more time and I will tie a rope around your muzzle." Jonas growled. Jonas had always been the decision maker of the entire pack, and if it ever came down to it, he would not be afraid to show his true instincts against a fellow family member, especially with Seth. Once Jonas put his foot paw down, everyone listened.
"I don't have any intention of doing you or your family any harm, Seth. I..."
"Shut up! You speak when you are spoken to!" Seth replied angrily as he slammed his fisted paw down and pointed his finger with his other paw at Bryan.
"Seth, I said enough! If you want to gain his trust, he has to gain ours first. Next time you have something to say, don't." Seth immediately grew silent, but also kept a rather angry-looking glare to his expression.
"Alright, now that this is out of the way, let's go over some rules. First, what's ours is ours, not yours. You need something, ask us." Bryan nodded his reply.
"You can speak if you want to. That was Seth's decision, not ours. Secondly, food is very scarce around here. You do you own hunting. If you can't do that, you're screwed. We are not going to be providing for your hunting. Only the strong survive, got it?" Bryan nodded again, still afraid to speak out.
"Rule number three. You can stay here as long as you feel you need a home. If you can't follow rules one and two correctly, you won't have anywhere else to go because you'll be out in the wild. Understand?"
"The wild? Isn't this the wild?" Bryan asked as he looked around his surroundings.
"No, this is civilization, stupid. The wild is in the forest where the animals do not walk or talk like us. They are the prey. They are weaker than our superior ways. We must hunt them to survive here. Now, do you understand the rules?"
"Yes. One question. Why did you take me in when you did? You didn't know who I was, didn't want me to leave, and took me here against my decision. You didn't know whether or not you can trust me, yet you're giving me a chance. I'm confused. Am I friend or enemy here?"
"You really want me to answer that?" Seth said in a sarcastic tone. Jonas growled deeply and lifted a corner of his muzzle to show a bit of tooth in a slight snarl. Seth immediately quieted down once again and Jonas continued.
"You might have something that we need. You might have instincts that are different than our own."
"I thought so. This wasn't just to save me from the wild, is it?" Bryan said as he smiled a sly grin.
"Okay, I admit it. Half of it is because of our well-being. The other half, you have to earn. Now, we'll offer our trust to you as we see fit, in hopes that we get the same from you in return." Jonas said as he looked around the den at the expressions of the other wolves' faces. 
"I assure you, my intentions are all good. I only get nasty when the situation calls for it." Bryan said as he cracked his knuckles.
"Good. That's at least one thing we have in common. We will share our meal with you from our earlier kill, but tomorrow when we hunt again, you are on your own. Connie, start cooking the feast."
"Whatever happened to 'please', Jonas?" Connie replied as she placed her paws against her hips.
"If you want to eat anytime tonight, I suggest you do it now." Jonas replied. Connie shrugged and silently walked off into the next cavern to start the fire.
"So, Bryan, tell me, how would you go about capturing prey?" Jonas asked. 
"Well, I never really had to hunt to eat. Where I come from, you can just go to a store and get the meat that you need without hunting it yourself. You can get vegetables there without having to grow them yourself. You can buy clothes without having to make them yourself too."
"We have tailors. What kind of a shop would sell meat? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Where are your instincts?"
"I don't have the kind of instincts you have."
"How do you expect to survive out in the wild? Don't you have wilderness in your world?"
"Of course we do, we just don't live in it."
"I don't know how you call yourself a survivor when you can't even hunt."
"I survive on what I learned in the Boy Scouts." Jonas stifled a chuckle as he gave his reply.
"Whatever that is, it sure sounds stupid. If you can't hunt and you're not strong, you won't ever survive."
"I beg to differ." Bryan replied.
"Well, good luck then. You are going to need it." Jonas said with a chuckle, not believing the responses he's hearing from Bryan. Jonas now sees him as someone who may need help, but now that he was among the wolf pack, Jonas knew now what he had to do.
"I can survive. If I have to, I'll survive." Bryan whispered back.
"Well, if you need some pointers, I can give them to you."
"No, don't bother. Im fine." Bryan replied. 
"Alright, I guess the only thing that's left is to warn you about Chico."
"Who the hell is this Chico you keep mentioning? Sounds like some kind of Spanish gangster."
"Chico and his two brothers, Ralph and Grant. These three coyotes are very dangerous. If you are not careful, they will kill you. They hunt the civilized and refuse to hunt for wild prey. I've seen them do it. They have no heart and no consideration for those that they hunt."
"Whoa, whoa, hold it. Let's back up. Chico hunts other...furries?"
"Furries? Is that what we are called in your world?"
"Yes."
"Then yes he does. The name of the game in the wild is 'hunt or be hunted'. Do you think you are up to it?"
"I'll be fine. If I need to eat, I'm sure I'll do what comes naturally. If I run into this Chico, I can hide."
"You can hide. He can still find you. It's every ...um, furry...for themselves out there. Every day you live could be your last."
"It's no different from where I'm from. You could get killed walking across the street and being run over by a careless driver. You could be shot. You could get diseases. There are thousands of different ways to die in my world."
"Then I guess the only thing to do is to wait and see what happens." Jonas said as he rose from the cavern floor. "By the way, we all eat together. Dinner is in a few minutes." he said as he left the room. The entire cave smelled of cooked beef and the mere aroma made Bryan begin to salivate from the mouth. As soon as Jonas left the cavern, Esmerelda slowly entered. She poked her head around the corner at Bryan, who was found leaning against the cavern wall.
"Hi, Bryan. You alright?"
"Of course, Esmerelda. I'm fine. I was just having a little chat with Jonas."
"He wasn't too rough with you, was he?" she asked as she sat down next to Bryan.
"Oh, no. Just telling me what to watch out for. Is Jonas always so strict?"
"Jonas was always the one that took care of us. Whenever any of us got hurt, Jonas was there to fix our wounds."
"Why does Seth always act the way he does?"
"He's jealous of Jonas for always calling the shots. A lot of the time, Seth always had an attitude. Even when we were all pups."
"Don't you ever get tired of always having to follow his orders all the time?"
"We don't have much of a choice. We belong in the pack. We can never be separated."
"You can make life your own, can't you? Make your own decisions." Bryan said as he started to reach for Esmerelda's head and gave her a gentle petting with the stroke of the backside of his hand.
"I...I can't. Together in the pack, we are strong. Alone, we are all weak. That's the way it's always been and that's the way it will always stay."
"Pardon me for saying so, but that sucks." Bryan said as he slouched forward.
"Sucks? I'm not sure I understand."
"That's slang. It means 'that's terrible.'" Bryan explained.
"Oh. Well yes, it does have its disadvantages, but in this pack, we all watch out for one another. Together, we are strong, but alone, we are all weak." Esmerelda repeated.
"Esmerelda, what are you doing in here? Go help Connie with the feast and stop trying to annoy our guest." Jonas said as he stood in the archway of the cavern. Both Esmerelda and Bryan leapt at the sudden appearance of the strong-looking wolf.
"Oh, Jonas. It's okay, she's not..." Bryan started.
"Go now, Es." Jonas said as he pointed his finger at the cavern entrance. Esmerelda emitted a gentle sigh and proceeded to follow her brother's request. 
"Jonas, you didn't have to do that. She was just trying to talk, that's all."
"She's got a job to do and I don't need anyone to alter her duties." Jonas replied, the tone of his voice sounding with anger and authority.
"Jonas, listen to me. Esmerelda and Connie are both stuck here. They both feel like they're being imprisoned here. It may not be any of my business, but you really should think about the way other people feel first."
"Esmerelda and Connie are both family. They belong to the pack and therefore must do their part to provide for the rest of the pack. We all watch out for each other and we are not complete without one another."
"I understand this, but you still don't have to be so strict."
"When that becomes your business, I will ask you for your opinion, but until that moment comes, you will honor my pack."
"I do honor your pack, Jonas, which is why I'm helping you on behalf of your fellow wolves. Just think about it, please?" There was a short pause before Seth's head appeared through the opening of the cavern.
"Jonas, it's ready."
"Thank you, Seth. Come on, and one more word about this and I will hunt you, got it?" Bryan nodded slowly and the pair followed Seth into the den where the feast commenced.

	Not one word was hardly spoken during the entire duration of the feast and Bryan watched in amazement at the eager eating habits of each wolf. He stared for a moment to watch them eat and then gazed down at the slab of beef that lay before him. He didn't bother asking for a knife and fork since it was obvious to him that the wolves before him had never heard of such a thing. He picked the beef up with his hands and proceeded to tear into it with his teeth, trying to fit in with the others. Even Bryan thought that this was not normal, but he was not one to question what was now so common in the world of which he ended up in. Dining in a home that was not his own was more than a reason enough to keep his mouth shut as he ate. Bryan tore chunks of beef with his fingers before each bite since he still wanted to keep as neat as he could, even though that was a task in itself. Chunk after delectable chunk entered into Bryan's mouth and his chewing was rather slow-paced. The wolves had finally finished with their share of beef and then gazed hungrily at Bryan's unfinished portion. With saliva dripping from their muzzles, each wolf reached over to grab Bryan's remaining meal and they started growling and snarling at each other as a battle to see who gets the rest of the beef. 
"What the...hey, that's mine. Come on, guys. Calm down, will ya? Hey, what's the deal?" Bryan complained, but neither wolf was listening, for they were all busy fighting over Bryan's unfinished meal. Seth reached across the table and gave each wolf a swipe of his claw as his free paw held the generous portion of beef tightly. Each wolf yipped and held their faces as the scratches became more and more visible. With victory in his veins, Seth shoved the entire beef portion into his muzzle, almost swallowing it whole. The wolves now returned to their seats and slowly stared up at Bryan, who was still trying to piece together what he just saw.
"You have to be quicker than that." Seth said as he gulped. He licked his muzzle clean of the beef's juices and patted his stomach gently with his paw.
"Um...why...did you do that? I wasn't even finished." Bryan asked.
"We're wolves. It's our nature to finish what doesn't get finished by the others." replied Jonas.
"But I wasn't finished."
"You weren't finished with your meal when we were. You have to be quick."
"But that was just plain rude!" Bryan said as he slammed his fist down onto the floor of the cavern. 
"Rude? No. Rude is leaving unfinished portions out to attract other animals to our home. That's rude. If one of us doesn't finish by the time anyone else is, it is the duty of the quick and the strong to finish it for the weak." Seth replied. Bryan didn't want to argue against that, for he felt that his human traits can never out-strengthen that of the wolf. He especially felt as if he had no place to complain since he was in a situation where he was now the weaker species and must accept what is around him, realizing that his ways can never be theirs.

	Bryan let out a loud yawn and stretched as he rose from the cavern floor. Although he intended on finishing the rest of the slab of beef, he still felt as if his hunger was somewhat satisfied and was now ready for sleep.
"Come with me. I'll show you to your room." Jonas said and approached the tired human.
"Thanks." Bryan said, wearily. "I really do appreciate what you have done for me. It'll take me awhile to fully adapt to your ways, but I think I can do it."
"You shall learn, human. We shall teach." Jonas said quietly. He led Bryan into a dark cavern, which soon became illuminated with the glow of Jonas's torch as they entered. On the floor in the corner was what appeared to be a bed, made of the warmest of elk skin and seemed quite smooth to the touch.
"You shall sleep here. Rest well, for tomorrow is a big day for you."
"Goodnight, Jonas. Thanks again."
"Don't thank me, just sleep." he said as he turned away, returning the darkness to the cavern. Bryan was lying awake for awhile to allow the sleep to overcome him. As he looked out of the door of the cavern, he noticed the shadows of the wolves dancing across the walls of the dimly lit cave. He watched for awhile as the shadows moved about and then the entire cave grew silent. Bryan slowly faded into a gentle sleep soon after.

"No....n......no...don't eat me...." Bryan whimpered in his sleep. He tossed wildly as if he was being shaken by an unseen presence. "P...please let me go..." he continued. From the next cavern, Seth tried to find sleep, but Bryan's constant muttering continued to echo into their room, making it twice as hard to find his slumbering peace. Seth sprang up with widely-awakened eyes and nudged Esmerelda, who had no problem finding sleep.
"Es....Esmerelda, wake up!" Seth said. Esmerelda murred lightly as she turned over, still not fully awake. Seth drew his arm back and gave Esmerelda a light scratch to her shoulder.
"Esmerelda!" Seth exclaimed in a louder tone. Esmerelda slowly opened her eyes and gazed into the eyes of her angry brother.
"What?" she replied, wearily.
"Go check on the human, he's driving me up the wall." Seth whispered, hoping that his exclamation hadn't woken his bretheren.
"Why don't you check on him, Seth? He's keeping you awake. I was already sleeping." she whispered back.
"Don't ask questions, just do it. Now!" Seth growled and started to snarl his upper muzzle. Esmerelda shrugged and walked slowly into the next room. She felt around in the darkened cavern for Bryan's sleeping body and followed the sounds of his heavy breathing and gentle muttering.
"Please don't do this....leave me alone..." Bryan continued whimpering. Esmerelda was reluctant about awakening the nervous human, so with a gentle paw, she placed it softly against his forehead. Almost immediately, Bryan's muttering quieted down and his body seemed more relaxed.
"Poor guy." Esmerelda whispered and gave out a gentle yawn. She looked back into the cavern from whence she came from and then turned back to gaze upon the sleeping human, who was now more at ease than he was before. She proceeded to lie down next to Bryan and watched over him as he slept until her eyes grew heavy with fatigue. She draped her arm around Bryan's waist and held him as they both drifted into a comforting sleep.

Three:

	The morning sun shone brightly through the cave's entrance. Jonas, Connie, and Seth have all risen to greet the morning, giving a prolonged yawn and stretch. They looked around the cavern and noticed they were short one wolf. 
"Where's Esmerelda?" Jonas asked, turning to Seth.
"She's..." he started to reply as his eyes grew wide, realizing where he had sent her. 
"What is it, Seth?" Jonas said using an impatient tone in his voice.
"Well, the human was driving me crazy and I couldn't sleep with his mumbling. I sent Es into the room with him."
"You WHAT?" Jonas shouted and reached out to scratch at his brother's face. Seth yipped and growled at his brother.
"Hey! I needed to sleep, what else would I have done?"
"Well you didn't have to send Esmerelda in there. Who knows what would've happened?" Jonas shouted and was about to claw at Seth's face again when Esmerelda appeared at the entryway to Bryan's cavern. 
"What's the matter?" Esmerelda said as she yawned. Jonas ran over to her and gazed deeply into her tired eyes.
"What's the big idea? Why weren't you asleep in your bed?" Jonas said in a loud, aggressive tone.
"Why do I need a reason to stay? Besides, Bryan seemed like he needed help."
"You didn't have to sleep with him, did you?" Seth bellowed.
"Hey, you're the one that sent me in here, so don't yell at me, alright?" Esmerelda shouted back. 

	The thunderous arguing between the wolves stirred an arousal in Bryan's slumber and he slowly crept along the cavern floor silently, wondering who they were angry with this time. 
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the traitor that's moving in on our family." Seth said sarcastically.
"What? What are you talking about?" Bryan said in a drowsy tone, his eyes still trying to adjust to his awakened state.
"He wouldn't know about this. He was asleep when I went in there and he was in the same position I found him when I awoke." Esmerelda replied.
"What are you talking about?" Bryan repeated, still not sure of what was going on.
"Esmerelda slept with you last night, that's what." Jonas said in a low, disappointed tone, followed by a hard punch to the cavern wall.
"I only did that because he seemed like he needed someone there with him. Why can't you ever let me make my own decisions for once?"
"Because you are not aware of the consequences that can come about." Jonas said and turned, pointing an angry finger at his sister.
"Then how am I supposed to learn anything? You guys always call the shots for Connie and I. I'm sick of it, and Connie is too."
"Speak for yourself, Es. I don't speak for you." Connie said as her arms crossed against her mid-section.
"Fine, you all may be happy with your life, but I'm not. I want to live for myself!" Esmerelda shouted and stormed off into one of the dark caverns. The sound of soft sobbing echoed through the cavern and can be slightly heard through the cave.
"Great. This is all your fault, Jonas. If we never brought this human here in the first place, this wouldn't have happened." Seth said angrily and then started to approach Bryan slowly. "And YOU...you'd better watch yourself. I have enough mind to slaughter you for this, but since you had no idea of what was going on, I'll refrain. Just watch yourself." Seth hollered as he stepped by Bryan, who was still trying to figure out what was going on.
"If you ask me, Esmerelda's just being impossible." Connie finished.
"If I may say something?" Bryan piped in.
"WHAT?" each of the wolves replied in unison and facing Bryan.
"Esmerelda is right. You should be supporting her rather than making her live for your lives."
"Why should we do that? So she can continue being careless? Look, we've let her on her own once before and she failed. She's just too careless. Don't become an obstacle. It's not your decision on how to run this pack, so keep your nose out of our affairs." Jonas said.
"Jonas, Life is full of mistakes and if you can't learn from them, how will you know otherwise? You have to realize that Esmerelda is not a little cub anymore."
"It's in the wolves's heritage to protect the youngest, for they are always the weakest and least experienced." Seth grumbled. "Something I'm sure you will never learn."
"Seth, let me reason with you. I know you don't like me one bit, but I am in your house and I do have some kind of significance here. Since I've been here, you have not once shown me the slightest bit of hospitality. You have no right to stand there and tell me what I do or don't know. You hear me? NO RIGHT!" Bryan said and began lunging forward with a clenched fist towards Seth's stomach. Seth leaped back to avoid the flying punch and lashed out with his claw, scratching at Bryan's arm and attempted to bite his neck. Suddenly, Seth's head jerked backwards and as Bryan looked back up, he noticed that Esmerelda had come out of the darkness of the cavern to pull Seth away.
"Not this time, Seth." Esmerelda said as she threw her brother to the cave floor and pinned him down.
"What is with you, Es?" Seth replied as he rose from the floor.
"Leave him alone, Seth. The last thing he needs is your attitude. You harm one more lock of fur on his head and I will get mean. Understand?" Esmerelda said as she snarled her teeth angrily, her arm drawn back in attention, ready to bring it down upon her brother's face. Seth silently nodded and turned away, walking towards the cave's entrance.
"Hair." Bryan said as he approached Esmerelda, placing his hand upon her shoulder.
"What?" she replied, slowly turning to meet Bryan's gaze.
"It's hair, not fur...and thanks for helping me." 
"Well, I heard the two of you fighting. I knew what I had to do."
"I'm glad I'm on your side, Esmerelda." Bryan said with a smile. Esmerelda couldn't help but to smile herself and the two held the gaze between each other until Jonas broke the silence.
"Hey, you two. Let's not forget our daily hunt." he said and slowly turned to join up with 
Seth, who was found sitting down outside the cave's entrance. Jonas looked over his shoulder at Bryan and Esmerelda, still holding the gaze between each other. Connie made her way through the main room of the cave and shook her head slowly at what she was looking at.
"You are both pathetic!" she said in a low tone. Esmerelda broke her gaze with Bryan and flashed a disappointed gaze into her sister's eyes.
"It's called emotion, something you need to learn, Connie."
"Yeah, yeah. Later. It's hunting time now. By the time you're done staring at each other, there won't be any more wildlife."
	The three wolves began along the path through the rustic village that led to the forest, leaving Esmerelda and Bryan behind. Bryan didn't seem to mind putting off the hunt to spend the quality time with Esmerelda that he wanted. With a quick, gentle beat of his heart, Bryan softly whispered.
"You're very lovely, you know that?" he said, giving a gentle smile as he slowly reached out for Esmerelda's paw. She smiled a wider grin as her paw came into contact with Bryan's flesh.
"Th....thank you. You're...very nice yourself."
"What are you doing hanging around here? Don't you ever get the feeling that you're trapped here?"
"I had no other choice. They're my family." she said as she lowered her head.
"Hey, hey...no." Bryan said as he placed his finger gently under Esmerelda's chin to raise her head up. Their eyes met once again as Bryan continued.
"You don't have to live with them anymore if you don't want to. I....well, what I wanted you to know...would you like to live with me?" Bryan stuttered, the feeling of his heart becoming greater with every word he uttered.
"With you? I...I don't know what to say." she said as she lowered her head again. "I...I would like that, but..."
"But what?" Bryan said as he softly gripped Esmerelda's shoulders softly. Esmerelda slowly raised her head.
"I don't know if it'll work. I mean...look at us. I'm a....and...you...you're..."
"I don't see any difference, Esmerelda." Bryan said as he leaned closer, holding the deep gaze within Esmerelda's eyes. "I see you as Esmerelda, not a wolf."
"I would like for it to work out, okay? I really do, but I don't know if I'll be taken care of like my family does. They might be mean at times, but they do care about me and they keep me alive. You just don't seem to have the right instincts. I...I'm sorry, Bryan. You're very nice, but I need more than good attention. You understand?" Bryan lowered his head and nodded slowly. A lump developed in his throat as he tried to speak out.
"I....I do understand. I...was just....hoping that maybe we could...make a life for each other the way you wanted. I guess I was wrong." Bryan sniffled as he turned towards the cave's entrance. He noticed the coil of rope that had once restrained him upon his arrival and grabbed it as he headed out of the cave. 
"Bryan...wait, I..." Esmerelda started.
"Just...leave me be." Bryan called back as he continued running into the direction of the forest. "...Bryan...please..." Esmerelda said as she lowered herself to her knees and began crying heavily. 

	Bryan ran through the village trying to hold back the tears in his eyes. As he ran, several of the furry villagers poked fun at the fur-lacking creature that had inhabited their peaceful dwelling. Bryan found it very difficult to hide his sorrows and tried to put the villagers' comments out of his mind, knowing that if he wasn't heartbroken, he could easily teach a lesson or two about their respect to others.

	Esmerelda remained on the cave's floor for several minutes until her tear-shed finally subsided. Her fur under her eyes were matted to her face from the tears that were shed. She wanted to make things as easy as possible for Bryan to accept with the facts. If it's one thing that she had learned being with strong family is the instincts of the true wolf that lives within her. Her needs needed to come from that of another wolf and she felt that she could never get the same thing from a human. Esmerelda left the cave to catch up with Bryan hoping to explain, but couldn't find him anywhere.

	Bryan sat in the heart of the deep forest with his back against an oak tree as his tears continued to fall from his eyes. He softly called Esmerelda's name out in a low whisper, his voice gave out with a tiny quiver that erupted like a rumble from his throat.
"Oh, Esmerelda. I wish it didn't have to be this way." Bryan said through his sobbing. As he cried, the need for food rose within his stomach and gave him constant reminders of needing attention. His fingers softly ran across the rope as he held it tightly with his hands, then gazing up at the strong limb of the oak tree. He never thought of ever doing anything suicidal, but after having lived with the wolf pack and the treatment he underwent, the loss of his only chance of becoming closer with Esmerelda, and being lost in a world that wasn't his own was just enough of an incentive to take it into a more acute consideration.
"What do I have to lose? I should have done this in the first place. I should have given the wolves my life." Bryan climbed the oak tree to tie the rope around the limb tightly and then climbed back down again. He gave a couple light tugs to test the rope's strength and then proceeded to collect several large rocks of which to stand upon. Once he found an ample amount, he stood upon the rock pile and tried to maintain his balance as he placed the rope around his neck. As he made a complete loop around his neck, his feet gave out, causing a startled reaction in Bryan's heart. He gripped the rope tightly with his hand as he fell which slipped from his grasp as his body landed face down on the ground. He flipped over onto his back and let out a loud moan of agonizing pain and shook the burning sensation from his hands from the rope that slid through his grasp. As he lay on the ground, he looked up at the rope still dangling from the tree's limb and placed his hands to his head.
"What am I doing? I can't give up this easily." Bryan whispered. He rose from the ground and attempted to climb the tree once again to free the rope from being tied tightly around the tree's limb. He wasn't concerned anymore about committing suicide or the dangers of the forest and the wildlife around him. He was no longer worried about how he had been treated amongst the wolf pack or of the negative encounter with Esmerelda. He needed food and filling the need was mainly on his mind.

	Bryan slowly rose to his feet and wiped the moisture and dirt from his face. Although his heart may have been in pain and his attempt for ending his life fell through, he somehow had just enough strength left within his heart to try and hunt for food. Bryan thought back to the times when he was in Boy Scouts and how he learned how to create traps to catch wild prey in case of emergency situations. He tied one end of the rope around one of the larger rocks he had collected and strung it around the oak tree's limb. He found some cover behind the thick brush and waited for wildlife to arrive. As he waited, he looked at his watch. Surprisingly enough, it had not been damaged in the fall. Time crept along slowly for Bryan as he held the rope waiting for an unfortunate creature to come across the forest floor. 
"Geez, this thing is heavy. All I need is just one creature to come by. Just one." Bryan whispered to himself. He silenced his pointless whispering as he heard the sound of tiny paws creep along the ground, making soft crunching noises with the dry leaves that blanketed the area. Bryan peered through the foliage of the brush and noticed a four-legged, orange fox sniffing the ground at the foot of the oak tree directly underneath the dangling rock.
"No...shoo...get away from there!" Bryan whispered. The fox looked up and sniffed the air around him as he investigated the forest.
"That's right. Get away from there. I don't want to catch you. Go!" Bryan said in a louder tone. The fox gazed quickly behind him and then scurried quickly away. He heard the sudden sound of crushed dry leaves and snapping of twigs under foot directly behind him, causing him to release the rope and sending the heavy rock to come crashing down onto the ground with a loud thump. Bryan turned quickly behind him and gazed face to face with the very wolf that had given him a hard time earlier.
"Ha! You'll never catch anything but a cold if you keep letting your prey get away from you like that."
"I...I didn't want to kill the fox." Bryan said in a startled tone.
"I...I didn't want to kill the fox." Seth repeated, mocking Bryan's quivering tone.
"Hey, stop that. I'm serious." Bryan replied.
"Maybe someone needs to give you a lesson in hunting. Out here, any wildlife is food. You could have brought home a good kill, but no. You had to let it go."
"I don't hunt foxes. I..."
"Get it through your head, human. You keep doing that and you starve. I'm catching up with the others. You better stay clear of us. I don't want you to contaminate our instincts and our techniques with your careless human ways."
"Let's settle this RIGHT now, Seth." Bryan said as he stood up from the forest floor. Seth crouched into an attack position and came at Bryan with a bite to the neck. Bryan drew his arm back and gave Seth a strong punch to his stomach, causing Seth to release his mouth from Bryan's neck.
"Ouch! Hey, what the..." Seth didn't get a chance to finish before Bryan came at Seth with another blow to the stomach, sending him falling backwards. Bryan looked down and cracked his knuckles.
"The next time you get in my way, I will do that again, now go join you so called 'family' and leave me to my own hunting." Bryan said as he gripped his shoulder tightly with his hand, which was now starting to bleed heavily. Seth growled in a deep tone as he rose from the ground, trying to hold back the urge to strike Bryan with his claws.
"You're going to get yourself into some deep trouble if you're not careful. Don't say I didn't warn you." Seth said angrily. Bryan shook his head as Seth turned and walked away. Bryan watched as Seth disappeared from sight and then proceeded to set his trap up again. Hiding in the same place, Bryan gripped the rope tightly in his hand while thinking over his mistake.
"Puh. I hate to admit it but Seth may be right. That fox may have been my only means for food and I let him go." Bryan whispered. He secured the rope tightly around the branch of a nearby tree which held rather well. He figured that, if anything, he could easily spring the trap if a creature were to find its way underneath the dangling rock. He waited behind the bush for what seemed like hours and the hunger within his stomach was rising.
"Man, to hell with this. Maybe they have something back at the cave." Bryan thought. He checked the rope carefully to make sure it wouldn't somehow spring itself while he was away and then began his hike through the thick forest to the caves on the other side of the pastoral village. He learned to stick to the shadows out of harm's way this time and didn't seem to run into too much trouble this time around. He wandered through the outskirts of the small village until he was within range of the very cave that he was taken to upon arrival in the new world.
"Hello? Esmerelda? Jonas? Connie?" Bryan called as he poked his head into the wolves' cave. Not a single sound was heard except for an occasional sound of mice that scattered about in the darkness.
"Anybody here? Seth?" Bryan called. Even seeing the sight of his arch nemesis would at least be a bit of comfort, but nobody was seen. Bryan lowered himself to the floor of the cave and pictured an image in his mind of Esmerelda and how beautiful her emerald-green eyes shimmered as the light of the torches reflected upon them. He thought of how gentle her fur felt to his touch and the feeling of his heart when they felt themselves becoming a bit closer to one another. The image was so gentle and soothing that Bryan started to break down and cry once again. Bryan opened his eyes momentarily when he heard a gentle sound approaching.
"Es?" Bryan gazed around, but all that was seen was a small, white mouse scurrying across the cavern floor. With a swift motion of his hand, Bryan grabbed the mouse and held it up for him to see.
"Well, it's not much, but you're food anyway." Bryan said, not wanting to have to resort to hunting small wildlife when he could be enjoying a nice, juicy steak the way he's used to in his own world that he may never see again. 
"Gentle creature, so small and timid. Please forgive me for what I must do." he said quietly. Bryan closed his eyes and turned his head as he twisted the mouse's head until he heard it snap. The mouse let out a high-pitched shriek before it lie motionless in Bryan's hand. He skewered the mouse and held it over an open flame which he made in the same room he took his bath and waited until the right moment to begin eating his hunt for the day. 

	Several more hours passed and Bryan had managed to catch himself a couple mice to make somewhat of a satisfying meal for himself, but it still wasn't enough to fulfill his spacious appetite. He poked his head outside of the cave's entrance, hoping to catch a glimpse of the wolves in the distance, but none of them were found. He also noticed that the village nearby was unoccupied by the villagers.
"What's going on?" he asked himself. Bryan rose from the floor and brushed the dust from the sweat pants that Jonas let him use and proceeded to head back to the forest to see if he can track any of them down. He found himself back at the thick brush he hid behind earlier and the first thing he noticed was that his trap had been sprung. He lifted the rock, but found nothing underneath. He got a sudden feeling running through his veins that something didn't seem right. He thought of the population of pedestrians throughout the village had somehow decreased greatly and the ambient sounds of the forest also seemed unusually quiet. Bryan began to search through the forest for any signs of life other than his own existence. He tried sniffing the air around him to see if he could pick up on anybody's scent, but his human senses were far too inferior for that purpose, for fresh air and pine needles were all he could smell.
"Come on, where are you guys?" Bryan whispered. He stopped walking in his tracks when he heard the distant sound of crunching dry leaves slowly approaching. He ducked behind a large pine tree for cover and knelt down, hoping not to cause a disturbance. He could hear the voices of the small group getting louder as they approached the vicinity.
"Man, Chico, you were right." one of the voices said. "They didn't stand a snowball's chance in the pit of fire against us."
"Stick with me, Ralph, and you will learn all that I know." the one identified as Chico replied. His voice sounded quite powerful and aggressive and there was a slight growl in his tone. Bryan peeked around the trunk of the pine tree at the beings of whom the voices belonged to and was staring directly at the family of coyotes that Jonas warmed Bryan about. 
"Crap. That's probably them. Now what?" Bryan thought to himself.
"Hey, Ralph, you are sure that you restrained the prisoners well, right?"
"No problem, Grant. I may be slow but I'm not stupid."
"Alright, alright. Just checking. So, Chico, when do we feast? I'm starving!"
"Hey, put your ambitions on ice, will ya Grant? We'll feast when I say we'll feast. Not a moment too soon. Got it?" Both of the coyotes nodded silently. 
"Hey...what the..." Grant said as he cast his eyes ahead, focusing on an orange blotch of fur that seemed to be approaching from the distance. The other two coyotes turned into the direction Grant was looking and the three of them noticed a family of anthropomorphic foxes approaching.
"RALPH, YOU DOLT!" Chico said and smacked Ralph on the back of his head. Ralph let out a loud growl and glared angrily at Chico.
"Hey, what was that for?"
"You said you secured the prisoners! That means that the rest of them may be loose! Grant, you go back to the ditch and check on the rest of them, NOW!" Grant didn't even hesitate before he departed. 
"You had better make sure the rest of them are still restrained or else I will hunt you instead." Chico said and prodded Ralph's chest with his finger.
"Ow, hey...I don't know how they escaped. They were all tied down tight enough. I did my job just fine, Chico."
"Oh, get off of it and help me!" Chico said, giving Ralph an aggressive shove and almost knocking him over. With a flying pounce, Chico leapt and tackled one of the foxes. The other four scampered off into various directions.
"It's them! Run! Run for your lives!" the fox yelled out. Chico leaned closer and growled, showing his teeth at the fox that he had pounced.
"Your family will be joining you in a moment, fox. What are you doing over here?"
"I don't have to tell you anything, Chico. We're all tired of you bullying us all the time. We've had enough."
"Hey, Chico. I caught them. All of them. What do you want me to do with 'em?" Ralph said as he approached, holding onto the three remaining foxes' paws.
"Over here! Chico said and pointed to the foot of a pine tree. Ralph threw the foxes against the tree and they tumbled to the ground, whimpering heavily.
"Please, Chico. Let my family go. My mate, my son, my daughter...they don't mean anything to you. Take me instead. Please don't hurt them."
"Shut up!" Chico hollered. "Ralph, bring the vixen! The little vixen!" he ordered. Ralph took up the fox's daughter with his large paws and cast her down to the ground at Chico's feet. From behind the large pine tree, Bryan grumbled in a low tone and picked up a nearby rock.
"Nobody hurts a child in my presence." Bryan muttered. The two coyotes looked up into the direction that the grumble came from, both realizing that they might have been hearing things and then turned their attention back to the captured foxes.
"What are we gonna do with 'er, Chico?" Ralph asked. Chico removed his large knife from its sheath and held it high for both frightened foxes to see.
"I want you to watch this, fox. I'll start with your daughter." he taunted by holding the knife's blade close to the young vixen's cheek. Her tears fell like rain from her eyes and she sobbed even heavier at the sight of the blade.
"First, I'll slice her neck open." he said and made a quick motion across the vixen's neck, not enough to penetrate the furry neck, but enough to allow the point of the knife to glide across the fur. "Then, I'll go for her nice furry coat." Chico said as he slid the knife down her chest and stopped at her stomach. The point of the knife sent frightening chills through her body as she quivered, too scared to move.
"NO! DON'T!" the fox yelled. "Leave her alone!"
"Or else what, fox?" Chico said as he held the knife's blade to the frightened fox.
"Or else answer to me!" Bryan said as he emerged from hiding and threw the rock directly at Chico's head. "You will NOT harm one single lock of fur on either of them."
"Ow! Who are you supposed to be? Bah, never mind. Ralph, get him!" Chico yelled as he gripped his head and a small amount of blood started to form where the rock landed.
"Right." Ralph said as he started racing towards Bryan. With a great leap, he tackled Bryan to the ground and struggled with him. Bryan put up quite a fight to resist being helpless underneath the angry coyote. Through the struggling, Bryan spoke out.
"I....can't let....you do this.....I would...love to see...you die....for this....."
"You sure are a strong one I'll give you that." Ralph said. Bryan rolled over on top of Ralph and gave him a mighty punch to his stomach. The impact was so hard that Bryan jerked his hand back and shook off the stinging pain.
"Ow, what the hell are you made of anyway?" Bryan uttered, but didn't get an answer. Ralph took a hold of Bryan's neck and rose from the ground. With a swift motion of his arm, Ralph cast Bryan towards the pine tree and caused him great dizziness upon impact.
"Don't.....harm....the....foxes...." Bryan said as he faded deeper into unconsciousness and then his entire world turned to black.


Four:				

	The world around him seemed rather fuzzy as Bryan slowly tried to regain consciousness. He moaned lightly as his eyes tried to adjust to the blazing sun that shone down from above. He felt a constant paw slapping his face and Bryan shook his head a bit, hoping that his dizzy feeling would subside quicker. Once his vision cleared up, he saw the appearance of the very fox that he attempted to rescue from the coyotes' clutches. Startled, Bryan sprang into an upright position.
"Hey, you alright?" the fox said as he smiled down upon the wakening human.
"You! You're alive? How can that be possible?"
"The coyotes took us all back here. They weren't quite finished with their so-called 'hunt', so they are out to finish their task. Either that or they're trying to make us sweat. My name's Conrad. Are you alright?"
"Y...yeah, I'm fine. I thought I failed you. I was almost certain they killed you."
"No, I'm alright. My family is safe now." he said as he pointed into the direction of the familiar foxes.
"What happened? How did you get away?" Bryan asked, not understanding why either of them had been killed.
"There's more time to explain later. I wish to thank you for your courage and help. Without you, my family would have surely perished. I'm eternally grateful to your deed." Conrad said and gave a pleasant bow of appreciation.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I don't care what it takes, Conrad. If there was ever a child being hurt, you bet you biscuits I will step in." Bryan said with a great deal of conviction in his voice.
"Well, I can guarantee you that you now have a place amongst us. I told everyone of your deed." Bryan looked around at some of the nearby furries, and each one smiled and nodded.
"We're sorry we made you uncomfortable, unknown creature. Please forgive us." said one of the anthropomorphic tigers.
"Well, we're all in this world together. I don't know how I ended up here, but I am on your side." Bryan looked up and saw the wolf family making their way to the brave human.
"Hey, you're alright! We were worried about you." Esmerelda said.
"Yeah, we were wondering where you went off to." Jonas said. "I'm sorry I acted the way I did." Jonas extended his paw and Bryan shook it gently.
"Hey, where's Seth?"
"Oh...well, let's just say that he's doing perfectly fine way over there." Jonas said as he pointed into the far distance where Seth was sitting. "He's still not yet gotten accustomed to entrusting you just yet. Frankly, I think he's just being his own impossible self."
"Well, he'll come around...eventually." Bryan said with a sigh.
"I really am sorry though about the way I treated you back home. I may not have trusted you then, but I sure do now." Jonas said. Bryan placed his hand upon Jonas's shoulder.
"Hey, man. It's all good. It's in the past. Where exactly are we anyway?"
"You're in their territory now. Them coyotes are full of surprises." a nearby anthropomorphic raccoon said.
"Pipe down, Gerry. He'll learn sooner or later." Conrad piped in. "I'm sure he has questions about us as we have for him. Right now, we need to plan an escape. Those fools are still out there gathering up more of us."
"Why?" Bryan asked.
"Later. I'll explain later. We need to get out of here now. Time is very short."

	Bryan rose to his feet and began to dip and sway from the dizziness, but was able to maintain his balance after being upright for awhile.
"Here, give me your knife, Byron." Conrad said. The large anthropomorphic ox tossed his knife to Conrad and he began to remove the restraints from Bryan's wrists and ankles.
"Thanks, Byron." he said as he tossed the knife back to its rightful owner. "Now we have to find a way to get out of here. You see him?" Conrad said as he pointed down into the direction of the small clearing nearby. One of the coyotes was found pacing back and forth at the only entrance to their territory which was surrounded on all sides by thick thistle brush. The only means of leaving was to follow the pathway leading downhill where one of the coyote brothers was guarding the entrance. "Somehow, we must make it past him."
"Alright. We're pretty much alright way up here. We don't really have to take that route down, do we?" Bryan asked as he looked around. Conrad shook his head slowly and pointed behind him. Curiously, Bryan walked slowly across the ground and noticed that he was now standing atop a large cliff that emptied out into an even thicker forest below.
"Oh, crap." Bryan whispered. 
"The only way is through the main entrance, but take a look over to the left of the entrance. See that cave?" Conrad said as he pointed. Bryan nodded his reply.
"I know that cave like the back of my paw. If we can make it inside that cave, we'll be okay."
"Wait, wait. What if they follow us in?"
"We'll have to improvise. It's either that or stay here and become their dinner." Conrad said. "Now, do we have any ideas?"
"We could all group together and run right over him." Byron said as he cracked his knuckles.
"What if that doesn't work? That thing is practically a brick wall." Bryan said, remembering the stinging feeling he received when striking him earlier.
"Come on, that guy against a group of us? We can easily take him down." Conrad said.
"I don't know about that. There is a way you can escape here without making a single sound. Just follow me. I have an idea." Bryan said and the entire population followed closely behind. Once they got three quarters of the way down the winding path, Bryan stopped.
"Okay, we're almost there. I need all the males to remove your shirts."
"Our shirts? Why?" one of the furries asked.
"Just do it, Mike." Conrad replied. "His idea is a lot better than anyone else's at this point." he said as he slipped his shirt off over his head. The remaining male furries followed suit.
"Great, now tear them in half like this." Bryan said and tore Jonas's shirt in half lengthwise down the middle.
"Hey, Bryan, that's..." Jonas piped in, but silenced himself as Bryan flashed a mean glare.
"Do you want to get out of here or not? Now tie your shirts to your paws to muffle the sound of your footsteps. Quickly!" Bryan said as he began to tie the pieces of the shirt around his ankles.
"Hey, what about us?" Conrad's mate piped in.
"The males will carry the females across. We'll all go in small groups. Just wait for my signals and follow my lead. Let's go." 

	Bryan led the trail of furries down the remainder of the path and ducked behind the foliage that surrounds the entrance. Bryan held his hand up for preparing the first group's departure. The males took the females up into their arms and waited for Bryan to give the signal. The coyote walked slowly to the right side of the entrance and Bryan motioned for the group to move. They moved silently across the entrance and into the nearby cave. Once inside, not a single being was seen. As the coyote walked to the left of the entrance, another group formed near the entrance. Bryan held his hand up and waited for the coyote to walk to the right. Once the coast was clear, he motioned for them to make their move. The number of furries grew smaller as Bryan directed them towards the cave. By this time, everyone managed to slip past the guarding coyote and it was down to him and Esmerelda. He picked her up in his arms and glanced around the thick shrub that surrounded the entrance for the coyote to make his way back to the right side. Bryan nodded to Esmerelda and quickly made his way to the entrance of the cave. Once inside, he was greeted by several thankful furries.
"Shh, keep it down. That coyote can still hear us." Bryan whispered, but gave unto the crowd a comforting smile. The group remained in the main entrance to the cave and it was there that Conrad decided to speak.
"Bryan, over here." Conrad said and pointed to an empty spot on the cave floor for him to sit. Bryan nodded and lowered himself to the ground. 
"I bet you want to know more about them. Chico and his brothers are a vicious group indeed. They never liked hunting in the wild. Nobody knows why that is, but I have a theory about them. Wildlife is too easy for them to hunt and as cold and black as their hearts are, they probably don't feel that the wildlife is worth the effort, so they decided to take on a different challenge and decided to go after us. It started out small at first and then the village was in grave danger from them. At first, we thought there was a serial killer on the loose, but when I saw my own kid brother, Thomas, go into the wild for food and never came back, I got suspicious." Conrad said as he started growing quite nervous and sniffled a bit. Bryan placed his hand upon Conrad's shoulder to comfort him. 
"I understand, Conrad. It must have been very hard for you. You don't have to tell me this if..." Conrad held his paw up for Bryan to silence himself and shook his head slowly.
"No, it's alright. I have to tell you this. Anyway, when I got to the woods, I saw those three coyotes finishing off what was left of Thomas's remains and flicked away his bones. I recognized my brother from the clothing of his that were cast aside and the color of his fur, which they skinned right off of his hide."
"Oh, no. That's so sad." Bryan said in a low tone.
"I figure that these coyotes are the biggest threat this village had ever seen before. These coyotes pride themselves in what they do as their own means of survival. They don't do this for fun. After I saw Thomas being consumed, it lead me to believe strongly that these coyotes are...cannibals." Bryan shook in his shoes at the very word Conrad finished off with. There was a sudden yell coming from the direction of the coyotes' dominion to break the silence of the moment. 
"What was that?" one of the furries shouted.
"Shh, keep it down. Conrad, you take the group to a safe spot in the cave. I'll check out that yell."
"Good luck, Bryan." Conrad whispered and Bryan separated from the moving group of furries. Once they were out of sight, Bryan crept out of the cave's entrance and could hear the sound of Chico's aggressive shouting to his fellow brothers. As Bryan snuck closer to their domain, he could easily make out their words.
"How in the world can anyone be so careless? You are a sorry excuse for a member of my family, Ralph. I put your eagle eyes to work in the front of our territory and you let them slip right by! How did you do such a thing?"
"It's like I told you. I was doing my job. I did it well."
"NOT WELL ENOUGH!" Chico screamed as he began to draw his arm back.
"Chico, hold it!" Grant said as he stopped Chico from bringing his claw down onto Ralph's throat.
"Let go of my wrist, Grant!" Chico shouted.
"No, listen. I hate to be the one that does the thinking here, but think about it. The longer we stand around here, the further the live prey are going to elude us."
"As usual, you're right." Ralph replied as he shrugged.
"Ralph, shut up will ya?" Grant said and continued. "Now, you know they couldn't have climbed through the shrubs here. You know that the only way out is through the entrance at the bottom of the hill."
"I stayed there, too. You have no right to tell me that I left."
"Ralph, I told you once, don't make me tell you again. SHUT UP!" Grant shouted and pointed at his brother angrily. "Now, you guys get your acts together and follow me. It's obvious they're in that cave over yonder." Bryan's eyes widened and headed quickly down the path towards the cave's entrance. He took a few glances behind him to make sure he wasn't being followed too closely. Once he was in the darkness of the cave, he looked nervously for the group, but was unable to find any of his newly-found friends. Bryan proceeded through the caverns he was sure he could remember before departing from the group, but he realized that he was only getting himself more lost than if he stood still. He took a few glances over his shoulder but could not see through the darkness of the caverns to see anyone behind him. He took that chance and called out into the darkness.
"CONRAD!" he yelled, hearing no reply except for the echo of his voice coming back to him.
"Hey CONRAD! WHERE ARE YOU?" he yelled, hoping that the coyote group wasn't sneaking up on him. He heard the sounds of soft footsteps approaching him and quickly turned around into the direction of the approaching sound. Suddenly, there was a furry grasp upon his bare shoulder. He flipped around startled and emitted a loud, startled cry.
"Whoa! Hey, Bryan, it's just me! It's Conrad! Come on, will ya? The rest of the group is waiting." the familiar voice said. Bryan sighed a breath of relief to hear the sound of his fox friend as opposed to the accented voice of the coyote family tracking them down. Quickly, they scurried throughout the caverns until they were reunited with the remaining fugitives.
"Okay, we're safe now." Conrad looked around quickly as he breathed heavily through his muzzle. Over half of the furries that were huddled together held torches to brighten the room. Bryan looked upon a cavern unlike he's ever seen before, yet to him, it appeared as something he's seen in movies of fictional fantasy.
"We're not quite that safe, though. They're still behind us. Last I saw, they were coming right this way."
"Yeah, right. Those coyotes never come in here unless they absolutely have to. They know that their prey lives in the woods and not the cave. Don't worry about it, Bryan. We're deep in the catacombs now. I should know. I know the layout of this cave front and back. You happen to be standing in the very place for furry salvation. These deep caverns serve as catacombs, keeping those that have already lost their lives to the Coyote Cult."
"We really should press on. I don't want to take any chances." Bryan said.
"I'm with Bryan." Jonas piped in and stood to Bryan's left.
"Count me in too." Connie followed. Esmerelda just smiled and nodded her response. Seth didn't say one word, but glared at Bryan angrily. Bryan looked up at the wolf with a surprised glance and Seth returned his gaze with a blank stare. 
"Yeah, that's right. It's not over yet, human. You still have to prove your worth." Seth whispered. "Come on, Seth, the human almost risked his life to save Conrad and his family. Show him some respect."
"What has he done for me, Jonas?" Seth grumbled and walked to the other side of the catacombs.
"Well, let's go then." Bryan said as he shook his head swiftly, trying to shake off the uneasiness of Seth's negativity. 
"Hold up, some of us are still tired." one of the tigers piped in. A few of the furries had already been sleeping.
"Hmm...well, we're in a safe zone here. Alright, let's take a bit more time. This will give us a bit more time to get Bryan up to date with the Coyote Cult."
"Coyote Cult? So that's their name?" Bryan said. Conrad nodded as he took a seat in front of Bryan. He held his torch to the right of his face so that it gives off just the right glow. 
"They have a name. It's just as cruel-sounding as their reputation is. The first one born was Chico. He always loved to be in charge. He feels that since he's older, he should be the one to carry the weight for his brothers. Then there's Ralph. He's the middle child in their family. A couple years later, Grant was born. Grant was always the studious of the three and always managed to come up with the best ideas."
"Why aren't they realizing this?" Bryan cut in.
"Oh, Chico would admit it, but he refuses to let another furry, even his own flesh and blood, tell him how to arrange things. It's either his way or no way."
"Lucky for us." Bryan whispered.
"Very lucky. Chico might not be as smart as Grant, but if they ever got together as a team instead of a chain of command, they would be very dangerous."
"They are dangerous, Conrad." a nearby skunk shouted. "Have you ever seen their muscles up close?"
"Have you ever felt their muscles as your fist is hitting them?" Bryan replied back. The skunk shook her head slowly as her eyes froze in Bryan's gaze.
"Well, this fist already knows." Bryan said as he raised his bruised knuckles for all to see. There were a few scattered gasps about the catacombs.
"Oh, they're tough alright, but they won't ever team together. Chico won't stand for that and Grant is too smart to tell Chico everything he knows. Although they aren't very good apart, they can still be quite dangerous. Observe the wall." Conrad pointed. Bryan followed his pointed finger towards the names inscribed deep within the rock wall of the lives that were given over to the Coyote Cult.
"Wow. I guess they've been pretty busy." Bryan said as he panned his eyes across the wall.
"Yeah, but this one....this one right here..." Conrad said as he pointed to a particular name. "This was my....." Conrad paused for a saddening sniffle of sorrow before he continued.
"Conrad?" Bryan said as he placed his hand upon Conrad's shoulder. He could see a couple tears streaming down the fox's furry cheek.
"I'm alright. It's just that..when I think of it....it gets to me...in HERE!" Conrad said as he placed his paws over his heart.
"I understand perfectly, my friend. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"No...it's okay. I don't mind telling you. This name...was my brother's...Thomas....I told you about him. I was lucky to be alive myself, but it should have been me."
"No way, Conrad. You can't talk like that." Bryan said.
"No, Bryan, I admire your concern, but no....it should have happened."
"But it didn't, did it? That's a sign that you have a purpose in life. His time was met. You're still going. That should mean something. That should mean you have a purpose in life. I'm sure you'll figure it out someday. We all do at one point or another."
"I'm sorry, Bryan. I find it very hard to talk about sometimes and..."
"You told me enough about your brother. Please, continue about the Coyote Cult. What is their motivation? Why do they hunt...us?"
"I told you. They're cannibals." Conrad said.
"I know that, but I still have a hard time accepting the fact that they do this to....to us."
"Guys, can we drop it please? It's grossing me out!" Gerry, the anthropomorphic raccoon replied.
"Okay. Well to sum it up, they are on a hunt, but they hunt us instead of the wild. They like to capture us and place them in their domain to make us worry and sweat before they do us in. It's like they play 'cat and mouse' with us." Conrad said nervously.
"Eh, let 'em play what they want. I like to play 'cops and robbers' with them myself." Byron said with a wide grin.
"As many times as you get captured, Byron, I'm surprised you haven't gotten tired of it yet." Conrad said with a chuckle and prodded his ox friend on the arm with his elbow.
"Alright, so we know what they want and why they want it. Let's just get back to the village. I feel so defenseless just sitting here. I might have a plan on getting rid of those three coyotes for good." Bryan said.
"Now you're talking like ya got some instinct in ya." Connie said as she walked over to the human and gave him a playful punch to the arm.
"So it's decided?" Esmerelda said, looking up into the eyes of her pack members. Jonas exchanged glances with Seth, then with Connie, then back to Esmerelda again. From the silent shared expressions, Esmerelda could already tell what they were going to say.
"Alright, Bryan. You've earned our trust and you've certainly proven yourself worthy more times than I would have ever expected. Congratulations. You are now one of us. Welcome to our family." Jonas said and shook Bryan's hand, followed by a tight bear-hug by Connie. Seth slammed his fist against the wall and walked off into the darkness of the catacombs and a distant growl from Seth's voice was a sure sign that his approval was nowhere close to being met. Esmerelda walked slowly to the human and paused before reaching out to him. She glanced quickly into Jonas's direction, of which he gave a quick nod with his head. Esmerelda smiled and took Bryan into her arms and planted a soft, gentle kiss upon his lips. Bryan held the gentle kiss for several minutes before letting it go. From within his chest, his heart felt aflutter with the feeling that was meant to have come out in the first place when they first met.
"I....I want some time....you know....think about what I said to you this morning." Esmerelda said as she lowered her head. Bryan placed his finger under Esmerelda's chin and raised it up to meet his gaze and offered a comforting smile.
"Oh, Esmerelda. You needn't be sorry. Sometimes we all need a little time to work things through." The catacombs grew silent as the loving moment between Esmerelda and Bryan grew between each other. Tears filled the eyes of the more sentimental of furries in the group, and a good supply of tearshed were also being shared between two species of a different sort. The wolf, who's tears fall in gentle streams down her emerald-colored eyes and her fur matted to her cheek. The human, who's eyes were moist with a good tear-shed about to commence. Both species originating from worlds apart, yet sharing the same feelings for each other. Bryan still felt he had a lot to learn before true animal instincts become him as well, but this incident turned out to be a very good start indeed. Meanwhile, the rest of the furries hadn't even known Bryan for very long, and already earned the trust of the entire village, all within his first two days of arrival. Bryan also feels that his work is far from over, but for the moment, he would rather choose to spend a nice quiet moment with 
Esmerelda, than to be running for his life from the Coyote Cult. Something had to be done, but nothing was going to happen until someone comes up with a decent plan. For the time being, Bryan could care less how many coyotes are after him and that they can all stay at bay. The only force Bryan could not conquer was holding back the words that came screaming from his heart as he held Esmerelda close in his arms. With a soft whisper, he speaks.
"I.....I love you, Esmerelda Wolf."
"I love you too....Bryan Bowers" Esmerelda whispered back.

Five

	As the furry group stood from their much needed rest, they were all set out to leave the cave and return to their once-peaceful village. Bryan led the group with Esmerelda in his arm and the wolf family leading closely behind. There was no sign of Seth at all and the wolf family were getting worried.
"If you ask me, I think Seth should be left here." Esmerelda said.
"We can't do that. Seth is still our family. We must do what we can to see to it that he's taken care of." Jonas replied with a sigh. "Although, there are times where I do wish he would get an attitude adjustment, but it's not likely."
"I'm sure Seth will come around. One needs to learn from their mistakes and Seth just needs to make a real serious one first." Bryan finished. Just then, Bryan heard the sound of a distant footstep, followed by the loud shriek of a mouse.
"Hold up, guys. Wait right here. Esmerelda, you too. Go with them." Bryan whispered. Esmerelda nodded and joined up with the rest of the group while Bryan silently moved forward, using the darkness of the cave as his surroundings. He could practically hear the distinct breathing sounds of the Coyote Cult from several caverns away. Bryan turned back to the group and whispered.
"They're in here. Everyone stay quiet." Bryan whispered.
"Where do we go from here? This is the far side of the cave. There are no more caverns to run to, we'll all be killed!" one of the furries shouted.
"Shh, keep it down. We're not out yet." Jonas whispered. "Conrad, is there another way out?" he asked as he turned his gaze to the wise fox.
"This way. I know another route. It leads to the upper levels of this cave."
"Right. Let's go." Bryan said and hurried along the cavern wall until they reached a large boulder that was blocking a hidden passageway. Byron lent a helping paw and used all of his strength to move the rock and allowed the group to file quickly onto the inclining cavern. Once everyone was inside safely, he lifted the rock far enough for himself to squeeze through before it came rolling back in its original place. 
"Okay, now it's going to be very dark in here. Stick to the walls and follow my lead." Conrad whispered. Not a single word was said in response, however everyone complied with his instruction and felt along the cavern wall as the group ascended. Soon, they reached the end of the twisting incline which looked over the room they were previously inside. From above, they could see the entire floor of the cave. The furries carefully made their way across the narrow pathway leading into the next cavern and their path was blocked by several large rocks, which slowed them down quite a bit as they made their way around them. The group continued along the narrow pathway until they were all safe and accounted for inside the dark and spacious cavern, still thinking of a better plan to elude the Coyote Cult. 
"Now what do we do?" Gerry asked.
"Not sure. We need a plan B. Anyone have any ideas?" Conrad whispered. 
"Keep the group in here, Conrad. I'll see what I can do from up here." Bryan whispered as he rose from the cavern floor. 
"Bryan, wait." Esmerelda said as she sprang to her feet. She raced over and kissed Bryan softly on the lips. "Good luck, hon." she finished with a smile. Bryan smiled softly back as his hand lightly caressed Esmerelda's furry face. He turned and walked quickly back into the previous cavern and sat on one of the larger rocks. The sound of the Coyote Cult were slowly approaching and when Bryan got a closer look, he noticed that Seth was accompanied by them.
"What the...." Bryan started and then made his way silently back to the cavern.
"Guys, this is bad. They're right below us and they have Seth."
"Oh, no." Connie said and covered her muzzle with her paws.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I owe you wolves something for letting me stay with you. I'll get him back. Just get everyone back to the village. Keep them hidden. I'll see what I can do."
"No, Bryan. I can't let you do that! What if you'll be killed?" Esmerelda said as her eyes began to fill with tears.
"Es, please have faith. You need to be strong as the rest of us need to be. Please, will you wait for me?" Bryan whispered and kissed Esmerelda's paw softly. Esmerelda sniffled her reply and nodded slowly.
"Good. Conrad, you take the group back to the village."
"What about you? You won't know your way back!" Conrad replied. 
"I'll go. Conrad, you stay with Bryan. I'll take the group back. They can hide out in our cave." Jonas said. Without a single word, the furries fled from the cavern, leaving Bryan and Conrad alone to find a way to put an end to the Coyote Cult once and for all, while at the same time, saving Seth from their clutches.
"Any ideas?" Conrad whispered as they gazed down upon the cult from below.
"None yet. We have to think..." Bryan began to reply, but was cut off with Chico's loud entrance.
"Alright, I'm here. Where are they?"
"I don't get it, they had nowhere else to go. I was almost sure I had them all cornered." Seth said.
"You promised me those fools, now WHERE ARE THEY?" Chico growled. Seth trembled as he dropped to his knees.
"I....don't know where they are."
"Bah, you are worthless. I should just hunt you right now and have you for our supper tonight. You'd like that, wouldn't you, dear brothers?" Ralph and Grant both nodded and began to salivate from their muzzles. Chico's stare flashed back into the eyes of the frightened wolf and Chico slowly approached.
"I find it a shame to have to put an end to a fellow Coyote Cult member right after the initiation. Sadly, you've learned the hard way that you can never be one of us unless you were born with our flesh and blood, right brothers?" Grant licked his muzzle of the dripping saliva that continues to develop around his muzzle and Ralph nodded with widened and eager eyes.
"Come on, guys, we can still catch them. They have to be here somewhere. They can't just disappear into thin air." Seth said, but it was too late. Chico started to draw back his arm about ready to strike.
"The rocks." Bryan whispered and lifted one of the heavier ones. Conrad nodded and followed suit and aimed it above Ralph and Grant's heads. Conrad and Bryan nodded in unison and brought the heavy rocks down upon the two coyotes' heads, knocking them both unconscious. 
"What in tarnation? What are you doing up there?" Chico shouted as he cast his gaze up to the level where Bryan and Conrad were standing. 
"...YOU! BOTH of you are going to get it now!" Chico said angrily. He picked Seth up by his throat and threw him across the cavern floor, sending his body crashing against the wall.
"UNFF!" Seth screamed and fell to the ground. He placed his paw to the back of his head and felt the moisture of his blood against his paw.
"Let's end this RIGHT now!" Bryan said and leapt down onto the lower floor of the cavern, just barely missing his target. Chico dropped and rolled back slightly and then sprang to his feet. Conrad followed by leaping down and landing in a crouched position. Chico took a look at his fallen brothers, whom have now been laying in a puddle of their own blood. He turned his gaze back to Conrad and Bryan with a shocked expression.
"You....killed....my brothers."
"You killed a lot more of us, Chico." Conrad said.
"You were going to kill Seth, weren't you? Just call it a fair exchange." Bryan finished. 
"No! I cannot let this happen. I will avenge their deaths." Chico said and brought out a large knife and threw it towards Conrad. Conrad ducked and felt the wind of the blade soaring past his ear and hitting the floor at the other end of the cavern. Chico ran towards Conrad in a striking position and knocked him down to the ground. Bryan leapt behind Chico and began to strangle him.
"Get off of him now, you heartless bastard!" Bryan grumbled as he strangled as hard as he could. Even Chico's neck seemed quite hard to the touch and was difficult for his hands to grip tightly.
"You fool. How do you expect to win with such weak intentions?" Chico grumbled and flipped Bryan over his head and onto Conrad. 
"OOF!" Conrad shouted, feeling the sudden weight of Bryan's body crushing his own.
"Two for the price of one. I like those odds." Chico said merrily and backed slowly away to find his knife which had been cast aside. He felt along the floor of the cavern to where he thought it had landed, but could not find it. Chico turned his head in an attempt to find his knife and also noticed that Seth was also missing. 
"What's going on..." Chico started to exclaim, but was cut off by the sound of Seth's loud shout, followed by the sharp puncture of the knife that plunged deep into his chest.
"AAARGH!!!" Chico screamed as he dropped to his knees. Before too long, the sound of Chico's painful scream faded slowly away until the cavern was silent once again. Seth removed the knife from Chico's chest and let the blood drip onto his body, as he spoke in a low grumble.
"That's what you get for messing with my family!" Seth shouted and cast the knife aside. He turned to face Bryan and Conrad, whom were found trying to rise from the cavern floor. Conrad clutched his stomach with his paws and gave a short cough.
"Guys?" Seth said as he approached. "I feel I should say something." he said as he faced Bryan and reached out for his hand to shake. "I am so very sorry for the way I acted. I never knew you had it in you. You stretched your neck out for me even after the way I treated you. I feel like quite a fool now."
"Hey, it's all good. The important thing is that you're safe and that you realized your errors." Bryan said as he continued shaking Seth's paw, hoping that such a moment would never end.
"Maybe you do have what it takes to survive out here after all." Seth said with a grin.
"I told you once, and I'll tell you again. I'm a survivor. I get by. Nobody harms family in my presence. Your brother and sisters invited me into your family, which means that I have invited you all into mine. Including you, Seth."
"Me? But I hated you. I even went to the coyotes to have you killed."
"I kinda figured that out."
"When I heard that Jonas inducted you into our family, I couldn't handle it anymore. I went right to the one that I thought felt the same way I did. I went to Chico and his brothers hoping to be in their family by showing them where you all were."
"That would have been a mistake. Have you ever figured out why there are only three in the Coyote Cult and no known survivors of the cult being of other species? Sooner or later, they fall victim to their cannibalistic ways." Conrad said as he gripped his lower back with his paws, still feeling the pain of Bryan's body crashing on top of him.
"I never thought of that." Seth said as he lowered his head in grief. "W...will you ever forgive me?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Bryan said and gave his new wolf brother a huge hug. Seth smiled widely and returned the gesture with a bear hug of his own. Conrad sniffled at the teary moment and couldn't help but to contribute to the union with one of his own hugs and the three stood in the darkness of the cavern in a tight embrace. The smell of death lingered in the air, however standing unaffected by the unbreakable pact that was being shared amongst friend and relative...a representation of different species and different worlds, coming together as one. Through the silent moment, a voice broke out, putting an end to the precious moment.
"There will be no more names to be added to the catacombs. No more lives to be lost. The worry and fear are now a thing of the past, and it's all thanks to you." Conrad said with a wide grin.
"No. It's all thanks to the three of us." Bryan corrected. 
"Right. Now, let's meet up with the rest of the villagers. Tonight, we feast." Seth said as he looked along the ground at the fallen coyotes. Seth started to lower himself about to reach for Chico's body, but felt a sudden grasp upon his shoulder. Bryan held his hand to Seth's shoulder as he spoke.
"No, Seth. Leave them to fester within the walls of these caverns. We may never pass this way again, for it is here that the Coyote Cult shall be laid to rest forever. We must leave them to their peace in hopes that history does not repeat itself, which will happen the very moment you consider consuming one of them. Trust me, it's for the best. Let them go." Bryan whispered. Seth looked up to Bryan with a blank gaze and slowly formed it into a gentle smile. As they left the cave and headed into the direction of their peaceful village, Conrad cast one final glance into the direction of the cave and whispered.
"May history never repeat itself. May the Coyote Cult forever be laid to rest." he spoke, his voice giving out with a slight quiver. He turned and ran towards Bryan and Seth to catch up to them, everyone knowing rather well that peace shall be restored once again. If not for the help of the brave human that had given everything he had, Fur World would never have found its much needed peace. As the moon set upon the village, all was peaceful and life continued onward for its furry inhabitants and its newest human resident.

Epilogue:

	It was such a beautiful spring afternoon. The flowers were just barely fresh in blossom and birds of many different colors encircled in the skies above. The sound of bells chimed from a distant church and a good population of furries were found within its walls all dressed in their best clothing. 
"Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to bear witness to the forming of a mateship between Esmerelda Wolf and Bryan Bowers in holy matrimony. Do you, Esmerelda Rebecca Wolf take Bryan to be your lawful wedded mate?" the minister of the church recited from the bible that he held before him and smiled up at Esmerelda, whom was wearing the softest of wedding dresses ever made within the village of which Bryan considered his new home. 
"I....I do." Esmerelda stuttered and heaved a sigh of relief.
"...And do you, Bryan Matthew Bowers take Esmerelda to be your lawful wedded mate?"
"I do." Bryan spoke in a gentle tone and smiled softly as he held his gaze in Esmerelda's emerald-colored eyes, which seemed to sparkle mystically in the light of the sanctuary.
"Then by the power invested in me, I pronounce you both legally wed." said the minister as he closed his book and smiled at the newly wed couple. Bryan and Esmerelda held a kiss between each other, followed by a thunderous cheer from the assembly of furries gathered within the church. Seth wiped a lonely tear from his eye as he shook Bryan's hand tightly.
"You're stuck in our family now, Bryan." Seth said in a cheerful tone.
"Who says anything about being stuck with you all? I know I'm going to love being a wolf." Bryan said and wrapped his arm around his best man tightly.
"Ow, hey watch the grip, Bry." Seth said while giving a delightful chuckle. Bryan smiled and released his grip from around Seth's neck and then reached for Esmerelda's paw and happily walked down the aisle of the church as the organ player played the song that marks the end of the marriage ritual.
"I love you, Bryan Bowers." Esmerelda whispered.
"I love you too...Esmerelda Bowers." Bryan whispered back and gave his new wife and loving mate a gentle kiss and continued walking arm in arm with her past several furries whom were all throwing up rose petals as the couple made their way slowly out of the building. Both Bryan and Esmerelda seemed lost in a world of love within each other, which continued to linger onward with every single gaze Bryan cast into Esmerelda's hypnotic eyes as their lives together began anew within a world of love, family, new friends, new instincts, and the realization that perhaps a world of furries really was more than what met his eye so long ago. Bryan gave a soft smile as he held the thought of his happiness in the world he had arrived in when compared to the world he once came from where he was a less-understanding person. He was now a part of the furry world forever and he would not have it any other way. As he gave one final gaze to his new mate, he emitted onto her a gentle smile and a soft kiss upon her paw as the horse-drawn carriage carried the couple away to their new home.

The End