Su and Bretts Story                                             New 16 June 1999
Su:

Trel'la has suggested that all those who witnessed and were a part of the Change record their stories, that they not be lost, and that later generations of furs may learn from and be entertained by the tales.

Brett and I's is certainly not the first of these chronicles, nor, I hope, will it be the last, but our change was, I think, a little more unusual than some. At least it was for Brett. *

*Now *that* is the understatement of the century! ---Brett ** **Perhaps not the century, my own. Millennia, perhaps. After all, none of the others became dragons... but I'm getting ahead of myself. --Su

I know that noone who made the Change will ever forget the night that held it, but in my mind it is as important for what I knew would happen as for what I hadn't dreamed of.

After all, it wasn't every day I got to meet the other half of my soul.

Brett and I had, after a great deal of wishing and hoping and praying and scraping up of funds, managed to arrange it so that we would be at the same science fiction convention. *

*A convention was a gathering of fans (rather like those who became furs, really, and I am quite frankly surprised so few made the Change) of science fiction (and fantasy, and anime, and role playing games, and being furry) who gathered at special times (mostly in hotels) to talk and debate and fight and dress up and party.)

There are other pawfasted couples who only knew each other as words on a screen before the Change; Trel'la and Faranus, Georgie and Timm-- but none of them were quite so far away from each other as Brett and I were. He lived halfway across the world, in Australia, and I lived in Texas.

This was very very special for me indeed.

I vaguely remember hearing about the supernova, but I was so excited at the prospect of meeting Brett I barely noticed, except to stare out at it through the window as I fell asleep.

Finally it came time to leave for San Antonio, where LoneStarCon2 (aka the somethingth WorldCon) was to be held. Jeannie, my elder sister, was driving me; I wanted to save as much money as I could. Brett and I would be sharing a hotel room (a source of great nervousness to me), and the tickets were preregistered, but every little bit counted.

I don't remember the road trip very well at all. I was too much in a daze. n.n

I checked into the hotel, picked up my badge at the register's table, and went to meet Brett at the airport.

                  ******

Brett:

I'd never visited what was the United States of America before; Australia, as Su said, is a long, long way away.  It had taken me a while to organize plane tickets and the time off work (I worked for the Government in Australia.. as a kind of teacher).   The flight was awful, to be honest; spending nearly 24 hours on a plane is not fun.

I'll admit that I had been more than a little interested in the supernova that had been talked about, but with all the preparations I hadn't had much chance to read a lot about it.  

I stumbled off the plane and noticed that I looked more than a little rumpled and unshaven in a mirror.   "Oh, great.. perfect way to meet Su," I sighed, running a fingertip over my jaw. *  

*Darling, you know darned well I'd've been happy to see you if you'd been hairy as a Sasquatch. --Su **

**Perhaps, my love.. but then you know what they say about first impressions. --Brett

I made my way through the crowds towards the front entrance, where Su said she would meet me. The damn plane had gotten me there two hours late, so I moved through muttering apologies as I went.

I ended up stumbling into someone at the entrance, and I sighed. "Sorry about that, miss," I apologized, looking at my watch. "I'm just a bit late at the moment."

"It's all right, I understand perfectly--" she pulled up short, staring intently at me.

I blinked at her. "Err.. Su?" I asked cautiously.

She nodded slowly. "Brett? It is you, isn't it?"

I grinned at her. "Damn right it is," I said. I couldn't recall a time in my life when I'd been happier.

She just stared for a moment, but then a slow grin began to light up her face. "Anata!" she squealed, and glomped me.

Being somewhat prepared for this reaction, I'd already dropped my bag. I hugged her very tight. "Aisai," I said softly, holding her close. I held her for a long moment, not really wanting to let her go.

She held on just as tightly, then finally-- reluctantly--let go. "C'mon, Brett-kun. Let's get you to our hotel."

I nodded and picked up my bag (I try and travel light if I can.. one big bag is usually enough). "Sounds like a good idea to me.. this time difference thing is rather strange. Normally it'd be dark outside and I'd be sleeping at this time."

Su nodded. "Sucks, don't it," she said. She took my hand and began to thread her way through the crowds.

                  ******

Su:

We took the shuttle bus to the hotel(it wasn't far), and Brett checked in. I had a copy of the schedule, but nothing at all was due to happen until tomorrow. 'Shall we get some rest?" I suggested. "It's my bedtime too, y'know." I kept odd hours to be on Brett's schedule, and I was feeling it.

Brett nodded. "Another good idea..." he stretched a little. "Gawds its nice not to be stuck in that tin can.. 24 hours in a plane is not something I recommend."

I nodded and proceeded to collapse upon one of the beds, fully clothed. I was out like a light in a matter of seconds.

According to Brett, he grabbed a quick shower before following my example.

I woke up to a sense of great pain in my posterior. Gods, I felt weird... my teeth and gums ached like I'd been on a sugar binge, and the room smelt funny. It was much too warm, but the sound of the A/C blared in my ears, much louder than it had been.

I got up slowly and felt my way to the bathroom. The bell around my neck rang loud in my ears.. oh no. Not another of those bedamned migraines, please, not NOW...

I flicked on the switch. The lights above the mirror came on, horridly bright, and I tried to stare blearily into the mirror, eyes closed. ..Oh yeah. I didn't have my glasses on. Why bother opening my eyes? I did it anyway. Force of habit.

I closed them again immediately.

*Hells,* I thought. *I'm hallucinating. Never thought the lights could develop THAT much...*

I ran some water and got my hands wet, rubbing my eyes. H'm. I seemed to have gotten my gloves wet.. interesting, I can feel the fur through 'em just fine.

.....Gloves? FUR?

I carefully lowered my arms and opened my eyes again, slowly. If it was a hallucination, it was the most sharply-focused one I'd ever had. What with being legally blind and all, I needed glasses to see the figments of my imagination, let alone the thing calling itself reality.

The person in the mirror was certainly lovely, by all respects... she was covered in short calico fur that started out dark black and brown at the tips of the long rabbit ears, well-sprinkled with large splotches of that orangeish color that is called cream. It continued down her face, underneath a small golden headband-like tiara, set with an emerald stone. The fur was darkest at the tip of the shortish blunt muzzle, and faded almost to white at her cheeks in identical spots, bordered by her cheekbones and continuing down her throat, which bore a silver bell on a collar of green ribbon.

Her whiskers were long and graceful, and seemed almost silvery in color. Her emerald eyes were slit-pupiled, and almost hid the bemusement in her face. It was impossible to tell what color her body fur was, as most of it was hidden by a white leotard with a rather low-cut green sailor collar, tied at the front with a crimson bow. What cold be seen of it through the collar seemed to be a snowy white.

The leotard bore a tiny decorative skirt, of an identical green to the collar and the ribbon choker; the fabric was almost too short to really be called a skirt, and seemed to be more of a ruffle than anything else.  It was tied at the back with another of the crimson bows, this one's ends trailing longer than the skirt, to flutter in the breeze.

Between the ends of ribbon, poking through a hole that seemed to have grown around it, was a long and graceful tail; it swung slowly back and forth, and seemed to have a mind of its own.

The fur of her arms was darker than her head fur, at least to the wrists; her hands were clad in small white gloves that buttoned at the wrist. She had only four digits, counting her thumbs.

Her plantigrade (and rather lovely) legs matched her arms, darkening almost to solid black as they reached the toes, except for the spots of cream. Her right foot had a white sock of fur, and she walked on her toes.  

Her long, rich red hair spilled down across her shoulders and back, almost reaching her ankles in its long fall.  

I gulped as I recognized Sailor BunnyCat, the first of the Sailor Morphs.

I noticed idly that I seemed to be balancing on my toes, and looked down. Her feet were mine; there was the white sock, and the calico fur.

I twisted around, trying to see if there was a tail, and ended up losing my balance entirely. I fell to the ground with a loud crash.

Brett woke up with a start and groped for his glasses. He felt a moment of disorientation, then remembered where he was.  Something had woken him up. He thought for a moment. It had been a crash or something.  

He stood up and moved over to the bathroom, where the noise had come from. "Su?" he called softly, tapping on the door lightly, "Are you ok?"   He scratched the back of his hand idly, noticing that his skin was itching a little.  

He also had trouble keeping his glasses on his face, and awkwardly held them up so he could see.

"Ow...." I said through the door. "To tell the truth, I'm not sure. Come in please, and tell me if I'm hallucinating? The door's not locked..."

Brett finally just let the glasses balance on his nose, and he opened the door slowly.  He took a long look at me. "Su? is.. Is that you!?" he asked in amazement.

I lifted one gloved hand and flexed it in a way I hadn't been able to before. Long, wicked-looking claws extended themselves from my fingertips. "If it isn't, I really don't want to think about it," I said, and looked hard at Brett. "You look... funny."

'Funny' was an understatement. His ears had gotten a bit pointed, and his eyes seemed a bit more... drawn out, somehow, as if someone had taken hold of each end and stretched the almond shape out a bit. His irises looked.. odd.

"*I* look funny?", Brett said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not the one that's grown fur and a tail! ..Sailor BunnyCat, right? Is that some kind of costume for the con?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm not funny, I'm bizzare. And I wish it was; I'd ace the Masquerade in realism." I began going about the business of getting up. "And yes, it is.. as for yourself, take a look in the mirror."

Brett looked in the mirror, and was more than a little startled. "Wha.." he mumbled.  He stared for a long moment. "Maybe we're still asleep?" he offered as an explanation.

I managed to haul myself up by the bathroom counter and stood carefully, twitching my new tail about carefully. "If we were, my tail wouldn't hurt from landing on it."

"Good point. ..Uhm.. Well then, I have no idea." He looked me up and down. "Well, you always described SBC as rather attractive, but I must say I underestimated how sexy she is."

I'd never've thought a blush could show through fur, but it did. "...Thank you, anata." I considered my new height. "Whoa, funky, I'm almost as tall as you."

Brett grinned at me and stepped closer, so that he was looking down slightly. (He had to stand almost against me for that). "Still not quite there, however," he said with a wink.

I looked up at him, suddenly very VERY aware of how close he was. For all of my words of affection, I was still very nervous about the physical side of things. I smiled up at him. "Good," I said. "I like tall men."   "Well, I guess we'd better go find out if anyone else is around," Brett said, stepping back a pace. He looked around thoughtfully. "I wonder if this has happened to anyone else?"

"Hai," I said, relaxing a bit. "Thank goodness we're at WorldCon, we can pass it off as a really GOOD costume.." I shuddered a little at the thought of being locked up and studied forever.

Brett noticed the shudder and frowned, "You ok?" he asked carefully, "Don't worry.. I'm sure we'll work something out."

I nodded slowly. "It's just... what if everybody else HASN'T? The con won't last forever.."

"It's ok, Su," Brett said, patting me on the shoulder with a smile that wasn't quite as sure as he'd have liked to be.

I knew he wasn't certain, but didn't press the issue; just led the way out of our room.

....I suppose, in a way, I was right. It hadn't happened to anyone else. He followed me, not liking the silence outside. Usually a convention would have made more noise.

The hotel was completely empty.

"This is more than a little strange.. let's check out the reception desk area," he said.

I nodded. Again, no one. We took the Riverwalk shortcut to the Convention Center in the early dawn light.

We tried the con suite, the video rooms, the lecture rooms that were still being set up--- nothing. In one room, 'Night of the Comet' played to itself, projected on an enormous screen.

"This is more than a little frightening, Su."

I nodded. "I had a nightmare, once; I wished everybody would go away and leave me alone. ...I wonder if that was prophetic?" I drew a little closer to Brett, absentmindedly wrapping my tail around his waist.

Brett felt my tail and almost jumped before he remembered it was mine. He reached out and gently took my hand. "What do you think we should do?" he asked.

"Kick gave me his number, to call collect if something went wrong.... I'm going to try it."

Brett nodded. "I've got a card here.. I think I'll try home and see if I can get an answer."

We found a phone with an outside line and rang the number. It rang and rang and rang without answer.

The result was the same at Brett's home.

We tried Jeannie's cell phone.

That, at least, was answered. "..Hello!?" Jeannie said, answering on the second ring.

Her voice sounded funny, rougher somehow. "Oneechan! Thank gods you're alright! Where are you?"

"Somewhere called Fredricksburg."

"What the hell are you doing *there*!? I thought you were going back to Houston!"

"Visiting some relatives. They're gone, and the whole town's empty."

"It's like that here at the con too. I don't know about all of San An. ..Jeannie, do you remember how to get to the hotel?"

"..Yes. Su, you sound odd. have you ..changed? Is Brett there?"

"Yes, I've changed, and yes, he's here." The line began to sound a bit funny. "Look, Jeannie, the line's going odd. Just come here as soon as you can, okay?"

"I *crackle*'m com*scrssssssssch*ing." *click* *beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*

I hung up carefully. "At least *somebody's* out there," I said.

Brett nodded, "That is good to know.. she mentioned she'd changed too?"

"Hai. She didn't say to what, but she sounded.. kinda growly, I guess. Her voice was more throaty."

"Kinda like yours is?", he asked.

I blinked. "It is?"

"Just a bit.. purry, I'd say."

I smiled a bit, and idly tapped the bell at my throat, making it ring. "Cool. I always wanted to be able to purr."

Brett laughed. "Indeed.." His expression became a bit more serious though. "I wish I knew what had caused this," he sighed.

I pondered for a moment. "Let me think about that," I said. "Say.. I've got an idea." I led the way back to my room. I'd packed my computer and brought it with me; Kani-chan was *mine*, after all.

I logged on and checked my mail. For once, there was absolutely nothing on the FFML. This was a bad thing. I tried getting on my two MUCKS, Kawaii and Furtoonia. Nobody was on Kawaii at all, not even a Wiz, but FT had an odd message: "Furtoonia MUCK is down temporarily as we move to a bigger operating system to better meet the needs of our users," it read.

Brett looked over my shoulder and read the message. "Hmm.. most unusual," he said, stating the obvious.  He looked around. "How long until Jean gets here?" he asked curiously.

"Odd," I said, and tried FurryMUCK, which I had just applied to. I got a variation of the same message. "Mm? Oh.. depending on how fast she drives, anywhere from an hour to twenty minutes..."

I tried Tapestries MUCK, which I wasn't old enough to join yet. Again, the same message. "Weird, weird, weird."

Brett nodded, "Maybe we should go search around the city for a while until she arrives? I'd like to find *someone* else we can talk to", he suggested.

"Not too far, tho. Wouldn't want to miss her."

"Right," he said. "I'd suggest that you wait here, but...  I think I'd prefer that we stick together."

I nodded. "I keep getting the feeling that if I let you out of my sight, you'll disappear.."

Brett put a hand on my shoulder, "I won't," he promised.

I squeezed his waist gently with my tail. I still hadn't let go. "I know," I said. "I won't either."

I stopped suddenly as we were leaving the room. "Hear that?" I said.

He frowned, "No", he admitted, listening hard.

"Well, *I* do," I said, twitching my ears a bit. "It's a car horn...  JEANNIE!" I shouted, and took off running, dragging Brett with me. He hurried to keep up.

Apparently, I could run at a fairly decent speed; much faster then I'd been able to do before, and without even being winded. As we waited in the elevator, I swore never to get as out of shape as I had been as a human again.

Brett was more than a little winded by the time they stopped. "My, *PUFF* aren't *GASP* -we- *HUFF* energetic *PUFF* today?" he managed to get out.

"Er... gomen, love," I said embarrassedly. The elevator went DING! and the doors opened.

Just outside the main doors was a small steel-blue car. Inside it was a vaguely foxish woman. She'd stopped blowing the horn, to my relief.

She jumped out of the car when she saw us, and hugged me tightly. "Su! Goddess it's good to see you."

Brett smiled. "Good to see another living person," he said with a chuckle.

I tried to get a good look at her, but it was hard. She was.... a bit fuzzy around the edges, and hard to concentrate on. Sometimes she seemed more foxish, and sometimes she looked almost completely human. Most of the time, tho, she seemed to be an anthropomorphic Arctic fox, at the moment a bright snowy white.

She stepped back from my hug and gave Brett a looking over. "So. You're Brett?"

He nodded. "I am.. Or at least, I was last time I checked. My ears weren't quite as pointy yesterday, however," he said, rolling his eyes.

Jeannie gave him a hard look. "I expect your irises weren't going oval, either," she said.

"Yeah, exactly.. so did you see anyone on your drive?"

She shook her head. "Not a soul, or even a body."

"Well, I have no idea what we should do... You ladies are the experts on the US, I'm just a Aussie tourist."

"...Let's go back to Houston," I said. "Maybe..."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe somebody else made it. Most of my family's there, anata. I've got to see..."

Brett nodded slowly, "I understand. ..I guess I'd go home if I could to check, too." He took a deep breath, "Ok then, I guess we should get going ASAP."

"Wait a moment," Jeannie said. "If almost all the people are gone, won't things start to collapse pretty fast?"

"It's not that long a trip to Houston from here, but something might happen. We'd need supplies."

"Quite probably", Brett said, "And don't forget human nature.. I doubt everyone we meet will be nice."

"So," I said. "First we must prepare as best we can."

"Probably a good idea.. may I suggest we find a more durable vehicle?"

"You may," Jeannie said with a grin. "I saw an RV lot as I was driving in."

"Sounds like a good place to start.. I have a driver's license, although I've never driven a left-hand drive car.."

"I can't drive at all," I said.

"Ahh.. but since we'll be driving.. and most everyone has disappeared.. I'd say that's not a problem," Brett said with a grin. "We might want to get loaded up with some food, too.. finding fresh stuff might be difficult."

"Love, I haven't the faintest idea how," I said. "But yes, definitely. Who knows when the power might go?"

"Right," Jeannie said, heading into the hotel. "We'll get your stuff, and then we'll begin."

Brett nodded and looked wistfully over at the convention center. "I always wanted to visit a proper convention," he said with a sigh.

I hugged him. "Poor love."

Brett hugged me back briefly. "Well, let's get moving then," he said with a half-forced smile.

                  ******

Brett:

While I was packing up my stuff, I decided to change clothing to something a bit less warm. The temperature was surprisingly mild outside (to me, at least) so I grabbed something more suited to summer.

As I pulled off my shirt, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I stared.  My chest had several flaky bits of skin, literally hanging off.  

I grimaced and pulled the skin off. It flaked away easily, and the new skin under it was nothing like I'd ever seen. It was hard, leathery even.

I quickly slipped my new shirt on as Su came back into the room. I dumped everything into my bag, and hefted it onto my shoulder (noticing absently that it seemed a bit lighter).

She smiled at me. "You about ready, love?"

I nodded and walked over to her. "Let's get going," I said quickly.

                  ******

Su:

We got all our stuff stowed in the car, and drove off to pick our new RV.

Breaking into the office wasn't hard; Jeannie had a crowbar in the trunk. We picked the best one, meant for six, and a trailer for extra storage. Then we headed for the shops.

"Ok.. Well, I'd suggest we pick a survival store first.. a couple of tents and some good sleeping bags seem to be in order, plus other camping stuff.."

"We'll want several Jerry cans for gas tideover, and supplies for repair of the RV, too." Jeannie pointed out.

Brett nodded. "Also, I think we should pick up some medical stuff.. antibiotics and such. I'm no doctor, but I'd prefer to have a few different options.."

"One thing, tho," I said. "Can we be sure what it might do? Jeannie and I definitely aren't human anymore, and who knows what you might be."

"Well, as far as I know.. viruses are viruses.. maybe we can't be sure, but I'd like to have some there just in case.. Who knows if one of us gets sick, or hurt? We have to have something."

I nodded. "And bandages are basic, no matter what aspirin might do."

"So is antiseptic, I think.." Brett said.

And so we stocked up. Tools and camping equipment and medical supplies and all the fresh and preserved food we could find. Maps, too, paper and CD.

We spent all day provisioning, and spent one last night in the hotel.

                  ******

Brett:

I woke up before Su and Jean the next morning; my eyes didn't seem to want to focus, and I put aside my glasses. Looking in the mirror, I was dismayed to find that my eyes had taken on an even more reptilian appearance.  

My brown eyes now looked almost a dull orange color, and my eyes were even thinner.  My teeth were slowly turning into fangs.  It was horrible.  

I pulled off my shirt and noticed that the skin on my back and chest had all fallen off, revealing the leathery skin underneath. My hands were thinner, and I looked a bit taller than I thought I was.  

I noticed that the skin on my arms was starting to flake off, and I resolved not to scratch at it anymore.  My back was also as itchy as all hell, and I rubbed at my shoulders awkwardly.

"What the hell am I turning into?" I whispered to myself.

"Anata? Are you all right?" Su said behind me.

I jumped slightly. "I don't know", I admitted.

Su stood at the door, and at this, she opened it. Her eyes widened, and the tip of her tail went forward to flick gently against my cheek. "Goddess, anata..."

I stepped back a bit. "I don't know what I'm turning into, Su. I haven't got a clue.. It could be something dangerous!" I looked at myself again. "I look like a reject from a b-grade horror movie.."

"So you'll look as scary to something we might run into on the road. You haven't down anything evil yet; and I'm certainly not about to drive you away."

I smiled at her, trying not to bare my new fangs. "Thank you, Su.. I just hope that I stay me."

She smiled, taking great care to let her own fangs show. "That, I can't tell you. But I hope so too."

I chuckled and leaned forward, kissing her on the cheek. "They look cute on you," I said with a wink.

She smiled and wrapped her tail around my waist. "Why thank you," she said, kissing his cheek. "I rather like yours."

I laughed, "I think that I'd prefer to do without 'em, however.." I said, idly tapping one of them with a finger.  I looked at my chest. "No wonder I'm not feeling temperature changes," I observed, idly pinching at the skin.

She took off one of the gloves (she wasn't sure how to get off the fuku) and touched the skin gently. "Interestin'."

"It's like a snake or lizard's skin.. maybe I'm becoming a snake-man or something..? I dunno why that'd be the case, though."

"Well, I turned into BunnyCat-chan, and Jeannie's apparently become a character in some stories she used to write. Who might you have written that's reptilian?"

I frowned. "I don't recall anyone I've written about who's reptilian, to be honest.." I admitted, "No snakes or lizards."  I shrugged. "Well, whatever happens is gonna happen if I want it to or not." I turned to Su. "I'm just glad that you're not scared of me or anything, at least as far as the change goes".

"Darlin' love, compared to my father lizardy dudes are nothing. Besides, I love you, and how you look isn't going to change that."

I smiled at her and put my hands on her shoulders, bending low to look her in the eyes. "I love you too", I said firmly.

Su kissed me.

I returned the kiss and put my arms around her, hugging her gently.

She nestled close, looking thoughtful. "It's interestin' kissing with fangs."

I chuckled and hugged her a bit tighter. "Indeed," I observed.

"Now if you'd only done this last night, I wouldn't have had to interrupt a tender scene," Jean said dryly. "However, you didn't and I had to and I have. We should get going, guys., the sooner we get there, the less chance they have of perhaps leaving."

I looked over at her and nodded. "You're right," I said, and kissed Su on the top of the head and hugged her tighter. "We'd better get going as she says, love."

"Hai, hai," Su said reluctantly.

We grabbed the last of our things and moved down to the RV. "Do you want to drive?" I asked Jean, "You know the roads at this point..."

Jean nodded. "That's probably for the best," she said, and climbed into the driver's seat, which we had modified for tails after Jean's long rant on the subject.

We set off at a cautious pace, and I found myself keeping an eye on the road ahead. "There's a pile of cars up ahead," I said, noticing the pileup, "You might want to try a side street."

Su peered down the road. There was something, far off in the distance; that much was certain. But a pileup...? "Anata, how longsighted ARE you?" she said slowly.

I blinked, "Err.. I can just about read the registration plates on the back of each car from here," I said.  I frowned. "It is a rather long way away.. especially for someone who's supposed to be nearsighted." I didn't have any trouble re focusing on things at close range, though.

Su nodded thoughtfully. "I see.."

I smiled. "Well.. that's one bonus to these strange eyes I guess," I said with a chuckle.

                  ******

Su:

I curled up on one of the beds in the RV and thought. There was something niggling at my subconscious about Brett... I'd have to be quiet and let it come out before I pounced.

Brett glanced over his shoulder at me and smiled a little awkwardly before turning his eyes back to the road.

Jeannie had Brett check a map for her, and she took a turn down the side street to follow the route that would get her to the the highway fastest.

The trip was fairly uneventful, aside from the early pileup; we stopped at one of the public picnic areas and got out to stretch out legs for lunch.

As I always do, (I don't know why) I made a beeline for the swingset.

Brett smiled and walked over with me. "Want a push?" he offered.

"If you would be so kind," I said, picking a swing.

Brett moved behind me and kissed her on the back of her neck once, before proceeding to get me swinging.

Brett soon had to get out of the way, as I started pumping with a vengeance, sending the swing higher and higher each time it went back and forth. It was great fun... until it didn't stop going up and did a flip over the bar. I lost my grip and fell.

Brett gasped and managed to get underneath me to break my fall. I twisted in mid air, and landed on all fours-- on top of Brett, poor love. He fell to the ground heavily as I landed on him.

"Oof!" I oofed. "Anata? Daijoubou?"

Brett picked himself up off the ground. "Umm.. I'm ok," he said, sounding surprised.  He dusted himself off, and the last of the skin on his arms fell off. "Ahh well," he said with a sigh. "Looks like I've finished shedding my skin.. I wonder what's next?"

"I wonder," I muttered. There was that little hint again... I got up and dusted myself off. The fuku didn't seem to be at all dirty. "C'mon, love," I said. "Let's go have lunch."

Lunch was tuna salad sandwiches, with carrots for me, and sodas for everybody. (Jeannie and I had to use straws, a thousand blessings on their inventor.)  I'd thought it would be hard eating them, what with the fangs, but I seemed to have kept most of my omnivore teeth.

"Very nice," Brett said with a nod. "So how long until we get to Houston anyway?"

"A couple of hours, I'd say," Jean said, munching on some jerky.

We got gas at a station near the rest stop, and then Jeannie beat her estimate by half an hour.

Houston was echoingly empty, just as San Antonio had been.

Brett shivered a little. "Does all this empty- quiet give anyone else the creeps?" he asked.

"Yes," I said bluntly, listening hard. We drove through downtown, even though it was out of our way, just to see if there was anyone else. There didn't seem to be.

We combed through the apartment complex Jeannie and I lived in with my mother and her father, next door to her mother and my step siblings. There was no sign of anyone, just... emptiness. Ann's apartment was flooded; somebody'd been running a bath.

"Where's the highest point in the city?" Brett asked. "I might be able to see some sign of other people with these new eyes.."

"Uhm... d'you know, I can't remember. Probably in downtown somewhere... but I want to check the boys' apartment first."

Brett nodded.

Jeannie insisted on bringing the cats. I agreed with her; no way in hells was I leaving Wasyuu-neko or Sweetie-cat.

"You two might want to pick up extra clothes and such as well", Brett suggested.

"Already did," I said. "Speaking of which, what about you?"

Brett shrugged. "I've got enough to last me a few days.. we can always do some more 'shopping' if we have to."

"For that matter," I muttered, "How the hell do I get out of this fuku?" The fuku might stay clean, but I didn't. I wanted a bath.

"What? it doesn't undo?" Brett asked, looking closer at her for any signs of buttons/zippers/hooks.

"Nope. And I tried the ribbons; they don't untie it, no matter what our lemon stories said."

Brett coughed and avoided looking in Jean's direction. "Do you have pockets in that thing?" he asked.

"Yes and no," I said evasively.

"Umm.. usually it's one of those.. not both," Brett observed dryly.

"Well, there's two things you could call pockets," I said, and produced a carrot from nowhere. "There's the little dimension the Senshi all seem to have..."

Brett nodded. "Oh, ok." He looked a little confused. "What's the other?"

I blushed as red as my hair. "Hmerspche," I mumbled.

"What?"

"Hooterspace," I enunciated carefully.

Brett blushed. "Ahhh.." he said. "If I recall, SBC had a little wand-thingo that she used to change.. do you? in there somewhere?"

"I might, but I.. never got up the nerve to try it."

Brett shrugged. "Now is as good a time as any.. it might be the last chance you have for a bath for a while," he observed.

I nodded, still blushing. I bit my lip and reached down the low-cut collar, beginning to rummage. "Gods, this is embarrassing.."

Brett pointedly turned away. "Sorry Su," he sighed.

After a moment, I felt the odd sense of my hand being very, very far away, not unlike the feeling I got when using the other pocket. Something hit my hand, and I grabbed it, pulling it out.

"Find something?" Brett asked.

"Hai," I said, staring at it. It seemed to be a small wand, about the size of a rather fat ball point pen. The body was the same green as my collar, topped with an odd silver knob in the shape of a bunnycat's head. There were the long graceful whiskers and long rabbit ears, but on its forehead was an odd mark. I looked closer. On its forehead, instead of a tiara like mine, was a small golden crescent moon.

Brett peered at it. "That looks about right," he said. "The only question now is how you use it to get rid of the fuku."

I stared at it for a moment. Almost without thinking, I reached my awareness into it (as a part of my mind wondered HOW exactly I'd done that) and.. flipped a switch.

There was an odd feeling, as if power was pouring out of me, and then it stopped. I looked down at myself.

I was still furred, but now I could see that my breasts and belly fur were a patch of white that ran down to my crotch. My hands were still three-fingered, as before, but now I could see that the fur, as black as on my legs and feet, covered my fingers entirely, and half of my palms, but the heels of my palms were... strange.

I looked at the heel of the right one. It was a pale brown, and rather rounded, not unlike the pads of Wasyuu-neko's own paws, and the pads on my own feet. I touched it lightly with a fingertip, and then, very gently, with the tip of one claw. It was very sensitive, and soft to the touch, but not as my human skin had been, rather silky; this had a rougher texture.

I looked at my left. It was the same, only black in color, and my hand was white-socked in mirror to my right foot.

Brett blinked in amazement. "Wow.." he gasped.

I glanced down quickly. As I wasn't aroused(thank the Lady), my nipples were hidden in the fur. I covered my crotch with a hand. "Er... I think I'll go have that bath now.."

Brett blushed crimson and turned away, "I'll start putting everything in the car," he mumbled as he moved out of the room.

I went into the bathroom and had a lovely hot bath. I used most of my shampoo doing it, but at the end I knew several things.  I like my water hot and horizontal; I did NOT have dandruff anymore (thank gods, that might've been nasty with fur); and what color my nipples were.

I got out of the bath and dried off, then considered the wand. It was probably best to be a Senshi; who knew what we might encounter?

I held up the pen and tried to remember the phrase. "Usagineko power, MAKE UP!"

There was a brief sense of whirling around, and a lot of ribbons flying everywhere. I still swear I heard fanfare. At any rate, when it was over I stood there in my fuku, and it was as pristine as the first day I'd had it.

Wasyuu-neko let herself into the room (the bathroom door had a bad latch) and sniffed inquisitively at me. I got down on the floor and sniffed back.

After a moment, she satisfied herself that I was still her human, even if I had had the brains to get fur, and rubbed her cheek against mine.

I stood up and picked her up, putting her on my shoulder. She batted at my ear, and I thought better of it, deciding to just hold her instead.

Jeannie and Brett had packed up most of what we were going to take, and Jeannie went to have her bath.

"So how different is it to have fur?" Brett asked thoughtfully, reaching up to scritch Wasyuu-neko behind the ears.

"Physically? Rather... You have to be careful about clothing, or it'll rub your fur the wrong way and drive it into your skin. ..I'm still not sure why the fuku isn't bothering me. Maybe it's the magic.

"Anyhow, you also tend to be rather warmer; I'm not sure how we're going to manage in Houston."

Brett rubbed his neck a little. The skin was flaking away from there too, now. "I hope having scales gives me the same advantages," he observed, his voice more than a little uncertain.

I hugged him gently. "Mentally, tho..... It's wonderful, love. I feel *right*! As if I'd passed some kind of test and been given the best body I could possibly have. It's... wonderful."

Brett hugged me back, a little woodenly. "I.. I'm glad you feel that way, love," he said, his voice still very unsure.

I kissed him. "Ai shiteru," I said quietly.

Brett returned the kiss briefly. "I love you, too," he replied firmly, "But I think we'd better get the rest of the stuff down to the car before Jean finishes her bath.. I've noticed she doesn't like to be kept waiting."

I smiled a bit. "This is true."

Brett grabbed up a few more bags, and I followed suit. "To be honest, I'm reluctant to have a bath myself.. I'm afraid I'd lose most of the rest of my skin."

"Well, it's not like you've been sweating, either."

"Good point," Brett said with a chuckle. He let me precede him down the hallway, and watched my tail swish back and forth. "So.. how'z the tail feel?" he asked curiously.

"Mm?" I said, pressing the button for the elevator with it. My hands were full. "Oh... it's cool, actually. I'm glad I made it prehensile; it's useful."

"Looks it," he observed with a nod. There wasn't much packing left to do, and it only took one more load. By then, Jean had finished her own bath.

The lights had started to flicker alarmingly as we left; just as the automatic gates were opening, it went down completely.

Brett shook his head. "I'm amazed it lasted this long," he observed dryly. "Maybe we should pick up a generator?"

"Perhaps," Jeannie said. "But first we'll have to do something about the gate." It had stopped half-shut.

Brett hopped out of the RV and walked over to it. "Hmm.. I wonder how heavy it is?" he mused.

"Can't be very," I said. "It was the motors keeping it shut, after all."

Brett put his shoulder to it and pushed. It moved a tiny amount. "Hmm." He looked over at me. "How strong did you make Sailor BunnyCat?" he asked.

I stepped out and eyed the gate. "Well, she's a Senshi, so she's got the basic things, like enhanced strength and speed, and the natural advantages that come with being the cabbit-type hybrid.."

"I see..." He moved over a bit to make room for me. "Well, I'd welcome a bit of help."

I faced it in the direction it would move, and wrapped my hands around the end bar. "One of those being VERY strong legs," I said, and began to walk forward.

Brett found himself doing very little of the work, as I pushed the gate back mainly by myself. "Hmm.. you definitely are useful to have around, my dear," he said with a laugh.

We moved it enough to drive the RV through, and I gave him a small bow. "I thank you, my own."

Brett bowed in return and offered me his arm.

I took it, and was escorted into the RV.

Brett rubbed the back of his shoulder absently as he sat back down in the RV.

"What's wrong?" I asked, toying with something I'd found in Hooterspace.

"Just a bit sore.. and itchy," he replied.

"Oh? like how?"

He shrugged. "Sort of behind my shoulders, and at the base of my spine.. it's like an itch under the skin.. really strange."

"Interestin'," I said, and glanced down at the thing in my hand, which jingled. It was the tiny silver bell my brother Random (well, I called him Random; his name was Ben) had given me to wear, not long before the con. "So I can always find you," he'd said.

I frowned. I could've sworn it'd been something else, another necklace I'd been wearing, before-- oh, well. I shoved it into the pocket.

It wasn't a very long drive to the boys' apartment, especially by the highways; there hadn't been much traffic on the road at the time of the Change.

Neither Jeannie nor I had a key, but I remembered the window that didn't shut properly. It was easier to clamber through it, now, with a body more suited to climbing and my own claws.

I let Jeannie and Brett in, and we began to look around.

It wasn't just suddenly abandoned, like other places we'd been; things were missing.

Clothing and food had been chosen and packed, and all the camping gear was gone. Things had been chosen carefully, and an exit had been made. There was an air of 'we may return' about, but I had no clue how long they might be gone.

"Hells," I said.

"Well, all we have to do is figure out where they'd go," Brett mused.

"*You* try predicting what any of my brothers are going to do, then. I sure can't." I sighed. "Well... now what?"

"It's a pity none of us turned into a part-human, part-bloodhound," Brett said with a sigh.

"Still too much smog around to do any good. Messes up the scent, and harmful to the nose."

"Hey, I found a note on the fridge," Jeannie called.

The note said, in Random's semi-legible writing, 'Gone to Seattle. I want to check on my friends. Don't know when we'll be back, if ever. Benjamin, Devin, and Jeremy.'

"Hmm.. Seattle.. is that far from here?" Brett asked.

"Oh, only about 2,500 miles, give or take a few," I said lightly.

"Er.. did the note say when they left?"

"Nope, but it can't have been that long ago.

"Maybe we can catch them, then?"

"We don't know the route they're taking, but we could try."

Brett nodded. "It's worth a try."

"It's not as if we've anything else to do," I agreed.

Brett nodded. "We should probably leave them a note, just in case they come back.." he observed.

Jeannie volunteered to write it, as the one with the most legible writing. We outlined the plan and the route we were taking, then went to stock up a bit more, getting a pair of generators and increasing our gas layover. Finally, we left.

We took I-45 north, but only got to Conroe before it got dark. There was no real reason not to stop, and a great many not to drive at night, so we found a niceish motel.

The power was down, but there were enough gas stations nearby that we felt safe in using a generator.  

                  ******

Brett:

It took a while to heat up enough water for a bath, and I was beginning to regret not taking one earlier when I'd had the opportunity.  I slid into the bath water slowly. It took a while for the heat to penetrate my new skin, but when I did it was more than relaxing.  

I think I might have dozen off for a few minutes; when I opened my eyes again, I decided to get rid of the rest of the dead skin.  

After quite a bit of scrubbing, I'd gotten rid of everything except the skin on my face.  I took a deep breath and scrubbed at my face for a while.   I closed my eyes for a moment, then looked at myself in the mirror.  The skin on my face was slightly different from the rest of my body; it wasn't as leathery.

The skin seemed to be made up of small scales, very, very tiny ones.  I noticed a pair of dark splotches on my back, as if there was something under the skin.  (Have you ever tried to look at your back in a mirror? It's not easy to see any detail).  I wrapped a towel around my waist and stuck my head outside. "Su, ...could you come in here for a minute?" I called.  

Su was curled up in a chair, detransformed and wearing only a pair of shorts. "Sure," she said, putting down her book and getting up.

She looked closely at my face as she came in. "Your face looks different already," she said. "I guess your changes are speeding up a bit."

I nodded. "Looks like it..." I gestured to the bath. "It looks like my old skin is gone."  I rubbed the back of my shoulder. "I can't see clearly what this dark splotch is under the skin on my back.. It's sore, and itchy.. could you take a look?"

"Sure," she said. "Turn around." I did, and she gasped. "Skuld, Eris, and Selene BLESS!"

"What?" I asked, half turning around.

"I can't believe I didn't realize it before..." she mumbled. "Turn back around, so I can describe it right.

"...Well, let's start with what must be the source of the itching... The skin of your back is kinda transparent, anata. It's even starting to tear in places, from where your... wings press against it."

"W.. wings?" I asked.

"Hai. I recognize the shape from pictures in that one book on dragons Anne McCaffrey wrote, the one I told you about..? ..Gomen, I'm rambling. But it's the only thing that makes sense, considering everything else...

"They're moving back and forth, like they're trying to get out. Do you think you can control it, now you know they exist? It was like that with my tail..."

"Ahh, I don't know.." I tried holding myself as still as possible.

"Okay, that worked. Now, try to move just them. If it's that much like my tail, it's kind of an automatic thing, like breathing; you can take it over if you want."

I nodded and tried to move them left and right a few times, slowly, repeating out loud what I was intending.

"Good.. good... they're going just the way you're saying they'll go. Can you do one at a time? Try to move your left wing."

I tried.

"Very good. Now just ignore them."

I nodded and just relaxed.

"Just like I thought. They've gone back to moving around by themselves, trying to get out... there's also this little bump down at the bottom of your spine. I think it may be the beginnings of a tail."

"Wings and a tail?" I wondered aloud. "What on earth am I becoming?"

"Adding in everything else? A dragon. You write them, after all. Or at least, you wrote one. I think you're turning into Gothan."

I blinked. "A dragon?" I mused. "So I'm getting taller, growing wings and a tail.. and what? scales?"   I looked at myself in the mirror. "Gothan, huh?" I sighed.

Su nodded. "Yup," she began. "I-- love, why do you look so upset?"

I looked at her for a long moment. "Susan.. if I become a dragon.. what happens to us?" I asked.

She looked thoughtful for a moment, as if trying to remember something, then looked downcast. "...Oh."

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Su.. I'm sorry," I whispered.

She took my hand in both of hers and held it to her face. "I don't care. I'll stay with you anyway."

I lightly caressed her cheek with my fingertip. "I love you," I said quietly. "I'm sorry, I wish this was different.."

"I love you too, and it's not your fault... Too bad I couldn't have turned into Su, then at least I..." She stopped for a moment. "Wait a minute.. Love, I'm going to have to think about this. I'm going to bed now; you finish your bath." She leaned forward and kissed me, gently.

I returned the kiss and held her for a long moment. "Sleep well Su," I said firmly.

She nodded absently and turned to go, carelessly shutting the door behind her and barely missing her tail.

I looked after her a moment. *She must have been more upset than she'd let on..* I thought. I slipped back into the water and rinsed out my hair with a sigh. "At least I'm not losing my hair," I observed.

The bath didn't take much longer, and I dressed reasonably quickly, moving back out into the room.  

Su was curled up in a loose ball in the middle of the bed. She'd removed the shorts for comfort, and only a pair of underwear preserved her modesty. The end of her tail twitched unceasingly.

I walked over to her, and looked down at her for a long moment. I leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "Sleep well, love," I whispered.

She stirred a bit, but didn't wake up.

I laid down on my own bed, which as luck would have it was on the same side of the room that Su was facing.  I watched her for a long time, until I finally fell asleep.

                  ******

Su:

Brett had a few surprises the next morning. During the night, his wings had decided to break through, The basic structure was there, but weren't anywhere near flight-ready; a thin membrane only partially covered the wings.  The wings weren't that large as yet, but obviously they were larger than they had been when I'd examined him the previous night.  

His face looked more.. bestial; his fangs had grown quite a bit, as well. He'd grown a small tail, about 2 & 1/2 feet long; like mine, it seemed to have a mind of its own.  

He looked at himself in the mirror and shook his head. "Great.. just perfect," he grumbled as he carefully cut holes in the back of one of his shirts.

"Sheesh," I said. "Worse than puberty."

Brett flapped his wings a few times. "Worse than useless at the moment until the, uh, membrane grows over completely," he commented. He turned to face me and tapped his chest. "Check out the texture of my skin now," he invited.

I hadn't changed yet, so simply reached out and laid my palm on his chest. "Goddesses, love, it's practically metallic."

Brett nodded, "But I can still feel your touch through it," he said. "It's really strange.." He put on his shirt, the wings fitting through it neatly. He eyed his tail, for which he'd quickly modified his pants. "So how do you control these things?" he asked, looking at it suspiciously.

"Remember our session with your wings last night? It should be like that. Just ignore it, but be careful of doors."

"Ok.. I think I can remember that," Brett observed, grinning a little and showing off a *large* number of nasty-looking teeth.

"Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice teeth, love. Too bad there aren't any dentists anymore."

Brett grimaced, showing off the teeth again. "Sorry, I forgot.. if I didn't know it was me, I'd be afraid of that reflection," he said, glancing at the mirror.

"Actually, I kinda like 'em," I said.

There was a pounding at the door. "Let's get going, people! Brett, it's your turn to drive for a while. I'll navigate," Jeannie yelled through the door.

"I wonder if I could scare her?" Brett mused.

"Jeannie's hard to scare," I said, pulling out my transformation wand. "Just a minute!" I yelled back to her. "I wonder if I can transform without the call...?" I thought for a moment, and another of those switches caught. A brief transformation resulted. "Well wha'd'ya know." I headed out the door.

Brett followed closely, and smiled broadly at Jeannie, "Growl," he said, making clawing gestures at her halfheartedly.

Jeannie raised an eyebrow, then growled back.

My fur stood on end, which was an interesting sensation, especially under a fuku. "Gah!"

Brett laughed. "Ok, ok.. so you growl better! I haven't had a lot of practice yet," he said, holding up his hands in surrender.

"And don't you forget it," Jeannie said with a grin.

We got in and started off. I spent a little time hooking Kani-chan into the RV's stereo system, and we soon had my mp3 collection to listen to as we traveled. I spent the rest of the day reading(one of mom's books from her commune days on low-tech farming) and playing with the cats.

We drove at a good pace for most of the day, finally stopping at a little 'town' just past the Texas/Oklahoma border.*

*I use the term loosely; it had its own convenience store/supermarket/cafe/body shop, next to a larger bingo hall run by the local Indian reservation.

The lights were on in the body shop, so we decided to stop and make sure that the RV was okay with the supplies there. Who knew? We might even find somebody.

At first glance, it seemed to be as abandoned as everywhere else, but something felt... wrong. As if had been meant to make it *look* abandoned, and in fact wasn't at all. "Something's wrong," Jeannie said.  

Brett frowned. "Looks a little too inviting to me.." he agreed.

I nodded, listening hard. "I do believe we've been expected," I said as several figures stepped into the open doorway, blocking the only visible exit. "Well, wha'd'ya know."

"Nice to know we're not the only three people left," Brett said, loud enough to be heard. "So what do we do now?"

"You pay the toll," one said, stepping forward into view. He was one of several wolves, and seemed to be the leader. "Your RV will do."

Brett sighed, and shook his head. "I'm afraid that we scavenged this RV fair and square," he said. "If you want to know where from, we can tell you.. there were about a half dozen like it."

"In San Antonio," the wolf observed. "If we wanted to scavenge one, we could easily do it; there are several lots near here. No, yours will be taken in lieu of your lives; no one crosses our territory without our permission."

"Mate, you really need to be less territorial.. if there's only a few of us left, we need to work together, not against each other," Brett said firmly.

"Oh, yes," said our new 'friend'. "*Help*. We've seen your help in the past, and we ended up here. We need no one's help but that of our own people."

Brett frowned. "I don't understand," he admitted.

"Americans had a long history of making deals with and then screwing over the Native Americans," I told him, never taking my eyes off the wolves. "Hence the term 'Indian giver'."

Brett shook his head. "So what?" he asked, turning to the wolf man. "It's not like any of us belong to a specific cultural background, anymore.."

"Speak for yourself," the wolf answered.

One of his followers tapped him on the shoulder, then whispered in his ear. He nodded. "I have, however, been reminded that there our few women in our camp," he said with an unpleasant grin. "You may go, lizard-boy; we will keep yours."

Brett's eyes narrowed dangerously. "The women aren't mine.. but they're certainly not yours," he growled, his voice a bit deeper. His wings spread out behind him, rather impressively; they'd grown a bit over the day, and his wingspan was just under 6 feet. "And that's *Dragon* boy."

The wolf's eyes widened, and he pulled out his gun, shooting Brett in the chest.

Brett staggered back, clutching at his chest. He fell to his knees, and lowered his head for a moment.  

Then he slowly raised his head at the wolf and smiled, showing lots and lots of teeth. "That was fucking stupid", he growled.  He suddenly flapped his wings and launched himself forward, snarling.

Jean snapped something in a guttural language, and one of the wolves went down, covered in flames.

Another of those switches went *click*, and I was deathly calm. I gathered my right hand in a fist, and pulled it down slowly. "TSUKI NO KIHARI DENKOU!" I yelled, and snapped it forward, flinging a ball of lightning forward and taking out two of the other wolves.

Brett wrestled with the wolf for a few moments and pulled the gun from his hand. He pushed the barrel into the wolf's chest. "Let's see how *you* like being shot in the chest," he said, looking pointedly at the other wolves, who were reaching for various weapons.

The remaining pack members halted at this, and began slowly backing away.

Brett grinned down at our new friend. "What do you reckon, mate?" he asked, smiling widely again. "You gonna let us go? My female friends don't seem interested, and they're obviously too much for you to handle.."

"Just... leave," the wolf grated.

Brett looked over his shoulder at us. "Get in the RV and move it outside," he instructed. "I wanna keep my little insurance-wolfie close by." He pulled the wolf to its feet and moved outside, indicating for the others to move back.

We followed instructions and got in, driving it slowly outside. Noone moved to stop us.

Brett slipped into the RV. "Move it!" he called to Jean, still keeping the gun pointed at the leader until we were down a street and out of sight. At that point, he threw the gun as far away as he could and laid down on one of the beds, clutching at his chest.

I got the first aid kit and went over to him. "I should've known it wasn't as easy as you'd made it look," I said. "How bad?"

Brett grimaced, "No blood," he said. "That would have been a dead give-away..." He took a shaky breath and took off his shirt. There was an obvious dent in the metallic skin on his chest. "It really, really, really hurts," he hissed.

"I don't doubt," I said absently, trying to remember something. When I'd written her, Sailor BunnyCat could attack.. but couldn't she also heal...?

I reached forward and held my palm just above the dent, idly noting that my hand seemed to be glowing with a white light. "Tsukikage no Chiyu!" I declared, and the light flashed into him.... Then I fainted.

                  ****** Brett:

I caught Su before she could fall. My chest felt better; it wasn't completely healed, but it was a long way along.  I picked her up and sat her on my lap. "Jean, how far do you think we'll need to go to get beyond their range?" I asked, stroking Su's face gently.

"Well, I don't know much about Oklahoma, but reservations are often pretty big... still, it'll be dark in a couple hours. Let's get as far as we can, and then stop for the night," she suggested.

"Ok," I agreed, and climbed into the front passenger's seat, still cradling Su. I held her gently as we drove along.

Jeannie glanced over at me. She rose an eyebrow, but said nothing; just smiled slightly and went back to driving.

We drove for nearly two hours before the sun went down below the horizon. I held Su the whole time; I'll admit I was more than a little worried about her.  

We stopped at a rest stop for the night, and I gently stroked Su's face. "Su?" I whispered, trying for the first time to wake her.

"..Wha? Who? Where? When? Nani?" she asked, waking up.

"Shh... It's ok, love," I said. "You collapsed.. it's dark now, and we just stopped for the night."

"So you woke me up to go to bed?" she asked.

"And for dinner," Jean said. "But if you don't want any, we can feed yours to the cats..."

"No! No, that's okay."

I chuckled. "I was also worried about you and wanted to make sure nothing else was wrong," I added with a little hug.

She stuck her tongue out at her big sister, then tickled my nose with the tip of her tail. "I'm not that fragile, anata."

"Ok, ok," I said. "I also wanted to spend a couple of hours hugging you. Fair enough?"

She grinned. "That works."

I smiled and nodded, "Okey dokey.. so do we break out the tents? or sleep in here?" I asked.

"It was made to hold six people," Jean observed. "There's no reason to sleep outside, unless you want to.."

I looked outside at the fading light. "The other thing is, I wonder if we should keep an eye out overnight.."

"We could take it in turns to keep watch?" Su suggested.

I nodded. "Probably not a bad idea," I said, "Let's get dinner first. I'm really hungry tonight for some reason.. maybe it's being shot.."

"Me too," Su said, and made for the little fridge. "I put some salmon to marinade; if Brett would grill it, we'll have a lovely dinner."

I nodded and went outside to prepare a grill. It didn't take long to get everything sorted out, and my mouth was watering as the salmon cooked. I could hardly wait to taste it.

Su busied herself inside the tiny RV kitchen, and by the time the salmon steaks were grilled she'd turned out some lovely saffron-spiced rice, steamed broccoli, and a large salad, with some peaches they'd gotten from a roadside stand earlier that day for dessert.

I carried the fish over to the little table the ladies had set up, and sat down in one of the folding chairs we'd brought along. "Looks nice, Su." I complimented her.

She bowed, and we all set to. I found myself eating more than usual; after the meal I still felt rather hungry.  "Delicious," I said with a grin.

Su grinned back, continuing to demolish her half of that very large salad. "My thanks, dragon mine."

I was still hungry, but I clamped down on the urge to eat anything else; I'd already eaten lots more than usual. Cleaning up wasn't too difficult, and afterwards we all sat around for a while. I looked up at the sky and was pleased to see so many stars.

I glanced over at Su and Jean. "If you girls want to get some rest, I'll take the first 'watch'," I offered.

Su nodded and yawned. "Since I've already had a few hours, I'll take the last," she offered. "It's not like I'm driving, after all."

I nodded. "I'll wake you when I get tired," I said to Jean.

She nodded, and both girls went into the RV.

I watched the stars for a long while, and listened to the girls' slow breathing to the steady rhythm of sleep. I smiled. "Well," I observed quietly to myself, going back to stargazing, "I guess you sparkling ones are a small bonus from the loss of most of humanity."  

I was two hours into my watch when I suddenly *had* to eat something, and raided our 'supply' trailer.   A messy hour of eating later I found myself drifting off, so quickly I couldn't even call the girls to let them know.

It was only shortly before dawn. I could tell because of the way the horizon was lit up; the clouds were like molten silver.

I staggered away from the supply trailer, awoken from a restless sleep. I looked down at my hands. They were wicked-looking claws now; my four fingers and thumb had been replaced by three digits that ended in a sharp-looking silvery nail.

My wings stretched out around me, rather massively actually-- they were almost as wide as I was long.

My legs and arms had changed shape rather significantly too, and I found myself walking on all fours; it was easier than trying to walk on two. I caught a reflection of myself in a mirror, and I was transfixed for a long while. At least now I knew for sure what I had become.

A gold dragon.. Su had been right. I was only a really little dragon, about fifteen feet long from nose to tail tip. My skin, which had been patchy, now reflected the light from the pre-dawn. It had formed into scales, and each was polished and seemed to be made of fine gold. Of course, if I continued to grow at the same rate as I had since *the* night, I'd be more than 30 feet long in under a month. It was difficult to walk, and I found myself flapping my wings awkwardly as I moved.   

I looked again in the mirror on the side of the RV. A single scale on my chest was still dented, but there was no pain.

I had attempted to be as quiet as possible; I didn't want to disturb everyone else. My vision was remarkably clear, and I had no trouble at all seeing everything around me. I walked down beside a tree and leaned against it a little. High above me a pair of robins sat together, pleasantly chatting about how nice a day it was going to be and how happy they were with things now that the 'noisy' ones were gone.

I listened to the two birds talk for a few minutes before it really registered that I could understand them.  It was strange. I found a few more animals, and found I had no trouble understanding them either. I felt the dampness of the grass against my scales, but I wasn't cold; in fact, I didn't feel any difference in the temperature at all - I guess dragon hide is a good insulator.

I looked back at the sound of movement and noticed Su coming outside. I stared at her for a few moments, letting my extremely accurate vision run over her.  She was beautiful in this form, more lovely than any creature I had thus far seen.   Her expression was worried, and I sighed, moving out from cover and towards her, slowly. I wanted to apologize so badly for turning into this creature, one that quite obviously couldn't be her mate.

I put those thoughts behind me and raised my head to look her in the eye. "Nice morning," I said, my voice sounding strange to my own ears, very deep, almost like the rumble of thunder.

                  ******

Su:

I woke up at dawn and looked around. Jeannie was still in bed, and there was no sign of Brett. I should've been woken up to stand watch a while ago... oh hells, something must've happened to Brett!

I scrambled out of bed, not bothering to change to Senshi; I just pulled on some shorts and went out the door.

I looked around, trying to find him. I'm still not sure why I didn't call him, but I suppose it doesn't really matter; there was a rustle a ways away, and a small golden dragon made its way towards me.

I'd expected this intellectually, but what was happening didn't really get through to me until I saw him like that. He came forward and looked me in the eye. "Nice morning," he rumbled.

I shut my mouth with a snap. "Very nice," I said. "I always did like camping here--" I shook my head so hard my ears flapped. Ow. "I'm rambling again... So. It did happen after all."

Brett nodded, his long neck describing a graceful arc. "It did," he said. "I must say I thought I'd be bigger.."

"You're only 24," I said. "Practically a hatchling by dragonish terms."

"Hey!" Brett said, his wings stretching a little, "24 would make me.. Uhm.. a very young dragon."

"Which disturbs my point how?" I grinned at him, tail twitching.

"Ok, ok", he said, chuckling deeply. "So I'm only a baby dragon.."  He spread his wings picturesquely and snarled, baring his teeth. He then looked at me curiously. "Was that impressive?" he asked with a wink.

I clapped. "Very nice! I must get someone to draw you like that sometime."

Brett moved his head closer. "You're not too upset?" he asked hesitantly.

"Anata, I've ALWAYS loved dragons. Remember that one story with Washuu? Besides, I remembered something last night. Collapsing must have helped my memory."

"What did you remember?" he asked curiously.

I leaned close and kissed him on the snout. "Golden dragons are natural shapechangers."

Brett leaned into the kiss a little and nuzzled me lightly. "You're right, but.. if I recall the set of dragonic rules that I used when I designed Gothan.. a 'baby' dragon is gonna have a bit of trouble working out shapechanging.. It's not till dragons are mature that they get most of their abilities." He looked up at the sky for a long moment. "I'll give it a go, but I think we'd better get Jean up first and have some breakfast."

"All right, my own. I'll go do it." I turned to the RV and stuck my head in the door. "Oi! 'Neechan! Wake up, it's time for breakfast!" I ducked a pillow missile and pulled my head back out with a grin.

Brett looked on with an amused expression, which suddenly turned downcast. "Oh, damn," he said. "I just remembered that last night I kinda ate a large portion of our supplies".  

"We can get more," I said. "At least, the preserved stuff, and most of the fresh was in the RV."

Brett grimaced. "I hope I don't get the urge to do that again," he rumbled.

"Well, you did a LOT of changing in a night. You shouldn't need to do anything that major again, I think, so hopefully that can be avoided."

Brett nodded.  He picked up the chair he'd been sitting on in one taloned 'hand' and folded it up, then he laid down beside the RV, his tail curled up around him and his head resting on his forearms.

Jean eventually exited the RV, fur mussed and eyes mostly shut. She peered blearily at Brett. "What a cute dragon," she said, and went to use the rest stop's facilities.

Brett grinned. "Wow, I'm cute," he rumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Nothing fazes Jeannie when she's tired," I told him. "Besides, you *are* a cute dragon."

"Just call me 'Puff'," Brett grumbled. "Cute isn't gonna scare many bad guys."

"Don't worry," I said with a grin. "Just keep eating your vegetables and you'll grow up to be a big scary dragon!"

Brett snorted. "Oh thanks so much," he said with a chuckle. In revenge he lifted his head and licked my face with his very long wet tongue. "Mmmmm, tasty," he commented with a grin.

"I'm a cabbit, not a vegetable. And if you keep acting like that, you'll NEVER get to find out how I taste," I said with a wink.

"Oooooohhh," Brett said with an answering wink. He nudged me a little closer and wrapped his neck partially around me in a dragonish sort of hug.

I hugged him back and tickled him under the chin with my tail.

"I love you," Brett rumbled, "and I love what you're doing with your tail."

"I love you too, dragon mine. I'd show you other things I can do with that tail, but Jeannie will be coming back in a bit and it's easier if one's partner is humanoid," I said with a grin.

"Good point," Brett replied, letting me go. "I'll try it after breakfast."

                  ******

Brett:

Breakfast didn't take long, and I found that I still liked eating the same things.. just more of them. It made me a bit concerned over were we'd pick up more food; there *should* have been enough for all of us for several months stored in the trailer.  Now with the way my new body put away food, it was going to be more like a few weeks.

"You," Su said reflectively, "are going to have to learn to hunt."

"Indeed.. although I dunno how I'm suppose to tell people from animals," I said, looking at her significantly, "What if I wanted, say.. oh, I dunno.. something that looks similar to a rabbit..?"

"Don't eat rabbits, then. And I doubt that anyone wanted to be a cow."

"Or a sheep, or a fish.." Jeannie put in.

I snorted and sat down, deciding to try what Su had suggested to me earlier.  Shapeshifting was supposed to be something gold dragons could do as easily as breathing, but since I'd never been one, I didn't have the faintest idea how to go about it.  

I took a deep breath and looked 'inside' my mind. Something seemed to be there when I thought about changing forms.  

"Er, love?" Su said hesitantly. "You're starting to glow."

I heard her, but I was a little caught up in the feeling; it was as if I were shrinking. I felt my body almost melting.. it was a rather unusual feeling; not quite painful, but definitely uncomfortable.

*From my point of view, he was getting smaller and smaller, and his form was becoming more and more humanoid. The glow was getting brighter and brighter, as well. --Su.

I opened my eyes and looked at my arms. They were almost human, but if I looked closely I could still see the scales, and my skin was now almost a bronzeish color. I still had wings, a set that although smaller, still looked rather large from my point of view.  My tail was still there, nearly four feet long. It looked rather scaly.   My chest and legs were similar to my arms; I looked nearly human, except for the wings and tail.  

Su looked at me for a long moment. "You remind me," she said slowly, "of an older male Mink."

I chuckled. "Well, it's nice to know that I have a human form.." I admitted.  Then I realized that I was naked. "Uh, where did I leave those clothes?" I must have blushed a deep crimson.

"They disappeared, I think. I'll get you some more." Her blush was almost indetectible under the fur, but it was there.

I grimaced, and noted in relief that Jean was still inside the RV and didn't appear to be looking in my direction.

Su turned away and went inside, tail twitching rapidly in agitation. She came back in a few moments with a pair of my pants and one of my modified shirts.

I pulled the pants on hurriedly. "I must remember that for next time, clothes don't come with the change," I muttered. I gave Su a look. "How come you get clothes and I don't?"

"Because Senshi were designed by a shoujou manga artist, aka 'fashion designer'?" she said with a grin. "I'm just glad they aren't a product of the shoujou of the 80's. I'd probably have a different outfit every time you looked at me."

I blushed slightly. "At least you're clothed," I pointed out. "This could be more than a little embarrassing if anyone else is around while I change.."

"So pretend you've got a secret identity to keep and do your best to change out of sight."

I chuckled. "Ok, ok.. So my dear, what do you think?" I asked, turning around for her inspection (now that I had some clothes on).

She paused for a moment, her expression completely blank, then began to bounce around. "My fiancee's a Dragon Half! Waiwaiwai!"

I grimaced. "I'll take that as a 'I can put up with it'," I observed.

"But you're so CUTE!"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh great.. Cute again, huh?" I said with a sigh.  

"Hey, don't knock the fact that I *like* your changes."

I gave her a worried look. "Oh.. I'm not, love," I said, stepping a little closer. "I just.. I guess I'm not used to being called cute."

She facefaulted.

Literally.

It looked rather painful.

I smiled a little awkwardly at her.

After a moment, she picked herself up off the ground. "You haven't been listening for the past year and a half then, anata no baka."

I took her hand. "Oh, I heard you my dear.." I said, squeezing her hand.

"Then either it didn't register, or you thought I was lying."

I shrugged. "I thought you were just being nice to me," I admitted with a tired grin.

She closed her eyes for a moment, head bowed. "Su?" I said gently, squeezing her hand again.

"Love," she said quietly, her tone intense, "I know that I have lied to you before. I almost lost you because of it, and if it hadn't been for Kickaha-tousan I would almost certainly be dead by now. But please, believe me when I swear to you that every word I have ever said to you in praise, *I* have believed to be true."

I put my hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. Now that I'd regained my normal height, she was only slightly shorter than me. "Su, I guess I just have problems thinking of myself in that way," I said with a wry smile. "But I'll try not to argue anymore, ok?"

She wrapped her tail around my waist and pulled me close. "All right....  You know something funny?"

I put my arms around her, and managed to convince my own tail to wrap around her waist. "What?" I asked.

"I have to believe you when you say I'm beautiful now. After all, I made her to be."

"I do think you're very beautiful, but then I thought that anyway," I replied with a smile. I hugged her tight.

I broke the hug reluctantly. "We'd better get moving, Su, or we'll never catch your brother," I observed.

She sighed. "Hai, anata."

We'd been driving along for a few hours, and nothing much had gone on.. We'd found another place to stop for fuel and some food, but nothing else. I began to shift a little uncomfortably. My wings felt rather restrained, and my tail kept twitching.

"You okay, love?" Su asked.

I shivered slightly. "Actually, I feel a bit strange," I admitted, "Confined, almost claustrophobic.. my skin feels strange."  I felt rather dizzy. "Jean, could we stop for a minute?" I asked.

Jean pulled over onto the shoulder immediately. "Of course."

I got out quickly, my wings and tail twitching uncontrollably. It was actually a bit painful, and I fell to my knees as I felt something like electricity run up my spine. I blacked out for a few moments. *

* It was rather like when he had first changed, only in reverse, and his body seemed much more distressed. Eventually, his dragon form lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious. --Su

I awoke slowly. "Oooh.. I didn't know dragons could have headaches," I muttered.

"I think everything that has a head can have a headache, love," Su said, and knelt beside me. Her hand was glowing with that white light, much less brightly now.

The headache dropped about ten levels in intensity. "Ahh.. thank you," I said gratefully. I looked down at myself. "Looks like it's only a short-term thing," I sighed.

"Well, you're only a baby dragon."

I nodded. "Now the question is.. how the *hell* do I fit inside the RV?" I asked, looking at the vehicle. it was big, but not big enough for me, even if I could get through that tiny door.

"You could ride on top," Jeannie suggested.

I looked up there and nodded. "Ok," I said. "You'll have to keep it slow, at least until I get used to it".

"Of course," she agreed. "Are you sure you can get up there, though?"

I flapped my wings and jumped. The wings provided enough of a boost to let me land gently upon the roof of the RV, though I scratched some paint off with my claws before I got a good grip. My tail had to be curled up around me, but it wasn't too uncomfortable; kinda like sitting with your legs crossed, really. After too long, it'll get sore.  

I craned my neck down. "Ok," I said to the girls, "Let's give it a try."

"You're sure?" Su asked. "You don't think you'll fall off?"

"Well, just don't go too fast for the moment," I said a bit nervously.

Jeannie sighed theatrically, and the girls climbed into the RV. After a moment, the engine started, and the RV began moving slowly down the road.

It would have been a bit uncomfortable if I wasn't a dragon; as it was, it was rather nice, with the wind blowing in my face.  I lowered my head on my long neck down to the passenger window and tapped my nose on it.

Su turned to face it. Her eyes widened when she saw me, and she quickly rolled the window down. "How is it?"

"Not bad," I said with a smile and a quick nuzzle. I looked over at Jean. "You can pick up the speed a bit.. ", I advised her.

Jean grinned, and the RV sped up significantly.

It wasn't too bad up on the roof; it wasn't hard to hold on. I kept my wings half extended at the right angle, and they had the effect of holding me to the roof rather soundly.

I could even chat with Su, although my neck got tired after a few minutes.

We stopped for lunch and I found myself eating quite a bit, much to my embarrassment. We got back on the road, and I found myself experimenting a bit with my wings. I took a careful hold of the RV with my forepaws and then let the wings lift me up gently. It was quite nice for a while, just gliding in the afternoon sunshine above the RV.  I learned a little about how my wings handled, as well - and then we came to a low bridge.

I didn't notice it until almost too late. "Oh shit," I muttered. I didn't have time to pull my wings in and drop, so I let go of the RV and let my wings take over. It was very, very scary at first, until I got somewhat of a handle on it. I found that a dragon really soars more like an eagle, letting updrafts provide lift. I managed to keep up with the RV by taking a direct path where they had to turn.

I flew down beside the RV and tapped Jean's window with a talon. "Er, could you slow down a bit so I can land on top? I kinda fell off," I said sheepishly.

Jean cackled, but slowed down obligingly at a glare from Su.

I landed on top and got a good grip again, folding my wings down tight so I wouldn't risk the same problem again.  I kept my head up top, rather than risk any comments from Jean or rebukes from Su.  

We stopped a little over an hour later at a lovely looking rest stop, not far from a largish stream. I jumped down from the RV and looked around. "Good choice," I said to Jean as she and Su got out.

Jean grinned. "I'm getting good at picking these."

There were several little grills spread around the place, and I went off to find some firewood.   Jean and Su had unpacked our table and a couple of chairs by the time I got back with a load of wood. "Now.." I said with a grin, "This is something I've  been wanting to try."  I piled up the wood and carefully set out the makings of a fire.  

I concentrated for a long moment, and then exhaled.   A tiny trickle of fire emerged, igniting the wood almost instantly.  

I felt a little disappointed, really.

Su clasped her hands, grinning widely. "Kawaii!"

"Bugger," I grumbled. "I'd hoped that'd be more spectacular."

"You're only a baby, dear one."

I sighed, "I know," I muttered. I moved over beside Su and sat down beside her, my head on my paws.  

Su wrapped her tail loosely around my neck, reversing the dragon-hug I'd given her that morning.

I raised my head and nuzzled her gently. It was quite pleasant, actually-- just sitting beside her as the sun went down, the sounds of night beginning.   The fire in front of us crackled warmingly and I found myself almost dozing off as Su's tail stroked my neck gently.

                  ******

Su:

I smiled fondly down at the dragon who'd just yawned and rested his chin in my lap. He wasn't very big yet, so it wasn't too heavy, but somehow I didn't think that would be so for many days longer. Still, at the moment, it was lovely.

Brett started to snore lightly, his tail twitching back and forth in time with his breathing.

Jean raised an eyebrow. "That was fast."

I nodded. "He seems to like being stroked under the chin; I must remember that."

Jean rolled her eyes. "Don't fill me in."

I blinked. "Oneechan, you aren't normally this sarcastic..." I said tentatively. "Is something wrong?"

Jean blinked. "I am?"

I nodded. "Normally you only get this sarcastic when you're stressed or upset.."

Jean shrugged. "I'm fine."

"...All right." We sat in silence for a while.

"Yesterday, back at the reservation, what was that language you spoke when you threw the fire at them?"

Jeannie smiled slightly. "High Old Norse."

"...Sou ka. That explains why you turned into an Arctic fox."

The silence stretched out for some time, until the fire popped, and Brett woke up. He rose his head, blinking owlishly. "What'd I miss?" he asked, looking around.

"Nothing."

He licked my face. "Good.. then I haven't missed dinner?" he asked hopefully, looking over at the fire. I had a thick stew bubbling in a large pot.

"Nope," I said, checking it. "In fact, it's just about ready."

Brett grinned. "Oh good," he said cheerfully, peering over at the meal.

Dinner was enjoyed by all, and there were no leftovers.

Brett noticed my yawn. "Bed for you my little kitty," he said with a playful shove in the direction of the RV. he noticed Jean was blinking a little, too. "I'll keep an eye on things for tonight."

"You're sure?" I asked.

Brett nodded and nuzzled me gently. "I'll sleep at the door to the RV. I doubt many creatures will bother you with a dragon at the door." He glanced at Jean out of the corner of his eye. "Even one as 'cute' as me."

Jean grinned unrepentantly and did the Eyebrows Thing. "I'll leave you two alone," she said, and went inside.

Brett sighed. "Is she ok with us?" he asked me quietly.

I stroked his chin with the tip of my tail, ignoring my big sister. "She is, she's just.... well, she's always been lonely. And... I think the Change has effected her personality. It's effected mine too tho; I've become more bouncy, and I literally do things like facefault...

"I think her character was even more emotionally deprived than she was, anata."

Brett leaned into the strokes. "I dunno, I just get the feeling she's being rather.. cool towards me. Which is understandable, I guess.." he admitted. "I don't know why it makes me uncomfortable though."

"Well, I think I have something of an idea... What alignment was Gothan?"

"He was a gold dragon. Lawful good, of course.." he replied.

"Sou ka. That does explain a few things... Jean's Fox was meant to be her world's Loki, my own."

Brett sighed. "Oh," he said, lowering his head, "And I wanted to be friends with her.. I can see that's not gonna be likely."

"Meant," I said firmly. "Not was. Due to a great deal of turbulence in said world, not to mention a contrary streak a mile wide, Fox also had very, very strong leanings towards being chaotic good. She was still only the trickster, and hadn't yet become evil."

Brett smiled a little sadly. "I guess there's also the fact that I'm 'competing' for her sister's attention as well," he observed, "That's always a bit difficult.."

"I think it'll be okay. Jeannie has always been very strong of character, but at the moment she has to deal by being as acerbic as possible."

"I guess," Brett said, forcing another smile.

I kissed him gently on the forehead. "It'll be okay, I'm sure of it. It's got to be."

Brett licked my face. "I wish I was human right now," he said, nuzzling me lightly. "But I think you need to get some sleep tonight."

"Darlin', since I don't know how to drive, it doesn't matter *when* I sleep."

Brett tilted his head slightly and looked at me for a long moment, then sighed. "Su, I'm sorry.. I don't think I could change tonight. *I* am a bit too tired," he admitted.

"I was kidding, my own. And telling you something for later. Goodnight."

Brett curled up in front of the door, like a big watchdog.   I went inside and collapsed into bed.

                  ******

Brett:

We drove for another two days, stopping only for a brief rest during the day and when it got dark.  

I continued to sleep outside the RV door each night,   and found that most animals (even the large ones) tend to avoid dragons. I even ran into a large wolf one evening while gathering wood; it took one look at me and ran off whining.  

Anyway, it had been nearly five days since we'd started out, and I was noticing that Jean was getting even more caustic and sharp when we stopped for the night.

I leaned my head down and tapped on Jean's window. "There's a farm up ahead," I said after she rolled it down. "How about we pull off there?"

Jean raised an eyebrow. "Why? There's a couple of hours more daylight left."

"It looks like a good place to stop; I doubt we'll find anything better in the next couple of hours," I said. "Besides, I think you need a break from driving-- we've gone under two bridges today, and the only reason I didn't have my head taken off at high speed was a combination of luck and longsight."

Jean looked rebellious for a moment, then nodded. "All right."

It was a nice little farm, all set out neatly and orderly. There was a herd of cows milling around not far away, and it looked like it had its own water system, and a set of solar panels!  As we stopped I jumped off the RV and went for a more detailed look around.  I bounded back across to the girls as they got out. "Deserted," I confirmed.

"You were really that--" Jean began to snap, then caught herself. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. But still, somehow I'm not surprised."

I looked at Jean and shrugged. "I don't make the same mistake twice," I said firmly. "We got caught once; I won't get caught again."  

She smiled slightly. "Wise of you."

"The other thing is.." I grimaced. "You've been becoming more and more snappish in the last couple of days, and your driving is more and more erratic.. I think we all need a day off."

She paused to consider this. "..Strange.." she muttered. "Do you know, I believe I shall have to agree with you? For some reason I have the most horrible feeling that something awful will happen if we don't..."

I frowned. "I think we could all do with a bit of a rest," I said quietly, "But what do you mean?"

Jeannie closed her eyes, and shook her head. "I'm... not sure, really. But of late, I've been getting images.. fleeting glimpses of things I've never seen before, and then I see the thing I saw passing by on the side of the road. I even saw those last two bridges, and what might happen... I tried going deliberately against it, to see if it was true. And so what I saw happened; you just barely missed getting hit, as I'd seen."

I blinked. "When did this start?" I asked.

"Not long after the Change. They were fuzzy at first, but they've been getting clearer."

"What did you see about tomorrow?" I asked curiously.

"Something... horrible will be passing by on our route tomorrow. If we stop for a few days, we'll miss it... At least, that's what I think."

"Ok.. well, let's get things sorted out for tonight," I said, looking around, "We can take tomorrow 'off'".

"All right," she said, and went into the RV.

Su emerged from the house, which she'd been exploring. "It's lovely, my own! There's all this preserved stuff inside, and everything seems to be in good condition.."

"Great," I said with a nod. "Looks like we can stock up a bit too."

"So we're staying for a few days?" she asked.

"Probably just for tomorrow; we'll keep moving the day after that", I said. I paused for a moment. "That's assuming you two don't mind," I added. "Don't let me railroad you into something.."

"I don't mind at all," Su assured me. "This is a nice place to stop, and there's only so much you can do if you can't drive."

I nodded. "Ok, love.. could you do me a favor and grab a set of my clothes out of the RV for me?" I asked with a grin, "I think I'd like to practice being humanoid for a bit."

"Null perspiration," she said, and flashed the V-sign.

I smiled. "Thank you, love."

Su went into the RV, and brought out my clothes a few moments later.

I took them from her and disappeared around the back of the barn for a few minutes. I'd been practicing in the last few days, and the change was easier every time I did it. It was like my body remembered the from the previous time. I could also last longer in the form as well. A few moments later (after I'd put some clothes on) I walked back around to the main farmhouse.

                  ******

Su:

I helped Jeannie unload some of the things we thought we'd need, then made a beeline for the kitchen.

I'd seen it briefly when I checked the house to see if it was empty, but hadn't really given it much attention. It was lovely, really; fairly large, with plenty of room to work, a gas range and oven, an enormous, still-functioning refrigerator, and that huge pantry, full of canned fruits and vegetables and other things, and an adjoining door to a smokehouse.

Brett walked in. "Impressive," he said with a grin.

"Isn't it? We *must* remember where this is... maybe we could make a home here, if we don't find Ben and the others."

Brett smiled. "Settling down here isn't a bad idea," he agreed, walking a bit closer and hugging Su gently.

I returned the hug, wrapping my tail around his waist again. "I'm so glad there's a proper oven here; I was scared I'd forget how to bake."

Brett laughed, "It's a nice change from eating on the road," he agreed.  He kissed me lightly. "I think I'll grab a nice long bath," he said with a chuckle. "Whoever lived here liked cooking and large baths.. people after my own heart."

"Go for it," I told him. "I've got dibs for after dinner; I'll be needing it."

Brett laughed and kissed me again before disappearing from the kitchen.

I took a moment to satisfy a whim and looked into the fridge. Most of the stuff inside (especially the milk and eggs, I was glad to see) hadn't gone bad yet, which only broadened my grin. Plans danced in my head as I peered into the walk-in freezer catty-corner (What an odd term that seemed now!) from the the smokehouse door.

"SUGOI!" I couldn't help but shout. Ice cream and steaks and whole sides of beef! This was beginning to look like a deus ex machina, but I didn't care.

I emerged from the freezer, shutting it carefully behind me. Hopefully I could catch Brett before his bath.

I managed to catch him just before he went in. "Ne, love, would you like a steak or a whole side of beef?"

Brett raised an eyebrow. "Uhh, just a steak would be fine for tonight.. tomorrow morning though I'm sure my dragonish form would like a side of beef.." he replied.

"Right. Probably take that long just for the thing to thaw.. How would you like your steak?"

"Well done, thank you my dear," he said with a smile. He'd finished filling the tub. "Ah, this is gonna be nice," he said, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

I slapped my forehead. "Gomen! I'll just be going now.."

Brett grinned at me. "Oh, don't let me force you out," he said with a wink.

"I'm busy, dammit. But feel free to come in on *my* bath."

Brett blushed slightly. "I might just do that," he said a with a silly-looking grin.

"I'll be hoping for it." I winked at him, and left.

I headed back for the kitchen at a very brisk pace and began cooking like a maniac. Steaks, salad, biscuits, six different kinds of vegetables and enough pies to last us for a week..  I went a little crazy.

Brett walked back into the kitchen after his bath, his hair still a little wet. "You realize that the smell generated from this room is almost as irresistible as you are?" he asked, walking up behind me and kissing me on the back of the neck.

I wrapped my tail around his waist and kept an eye on the stove. "That *was* the plan, my own.."

"You've succeeded then, my dear," he said, hugging me gently. "Now, the big question: when do we eat?"

"Now," I said, beginning to take pots off the stove. Cooking in my fuku had turned out to be a good idea; it was physically impossible for the thing to get stained, and the gloves kept me from getting burned and my fur out of the food.

Brett lent a hand with getting everything set out. "I'll finish getting it sorted out," he promised. "Why don't you go find Jean?"

"All right." I kissed him and went off to find my big sister.

Jeannie was sitting outside on the ground, watching the sun set. A tiny breeze that didn't seem to be touching anything else whisked around her, ruffling her fur.

"Oneechan?" I said quietly. "Time for dinner.."

She nodded, not looking at me. "I could tell from the smell," she said, getting up and dismissing the breeze. "You heard me talking to Brett." It wasn't a question.

"Hai," I said. What else could I say? "I didn't have much choice in the matter... These ears."

She nodded. "Then you know about the visions."

"Hai," I said again. "And...... I'd like to thank you for agreeing to stop here. If not for the risk, then just for the rest and letting me have access to an oven again."

She shrugged, and went inside. I followed her, sighing.

Brett had everything set out by the time I walked back in. "Ladies," he said grandly, bowing slightly. "Shall I show you to your table?"

I laughed, and even Jeannie cracked a smile. "You may indeed," I told him.

Brett held a chair out each for Jeannie and I; he even draped napkins across our legs and helped us in with the chairs before sitting down himself.   "It looks lovely," he said with a grin. "Thanks for making dinner, Su."  He raised his glass full of Coke in a toast. "To the chef, may she continue to amaze and delight with such feasts."

Jean raised her glass of Sprite to me. "Indeed," she said.

I blushed, but raised my Dew to meet the toast. They hadn't let me pack any in the RV, but I *had* managed to stow some in the pocket. "My thanks to such an appreciative audience. Shall we begin?"

Much eating later, Brett leaned back in his chair. "Ahhh... that was just incredible", he sighed.

I bowed a bit. "You're welcome."

Jean nodded. "Very nice," she said.

Brett looked over at Jean. "You were awfully quiet during dinner.. anything you want to talk to us about?" he asked. "And I know, I'm not exactly subtle.. but then, I never have been."

Jean shook her head. "Not at the moment, no," she said. "I think I'll just get to bed... goodnight."

She stood up and made her way to the room she'd picked for the night.

Brett shook his head. "I can tell there's something wrong, but she won't talk about it," he sighed.

"She never does," I said sadly.

Brett nodded. "I guess not," he observed. "I wish I could convince her to trust me.. or you."

We began gathering things to bring back into the kitchen. "Jeannie never trusted anybody, even before the Change," I told him. "And now even less.   

"...Well, as soon as I get these dishes done, I can have my bath."

"I'll do the dishes," Brett promised. "You go relax."

I smiled and gave him a kiss. "Don't be too long."

Baths can be SO much fun. n.n

                  ******

Brett:

I awoke early, and it took me a few moments to realize where I was.  I smiled at the young lady laying next to me, her head on my shoulder and her tail entwined with mine.  I still had trouble believing that what was going on was real and it wasn't a dream...  As Su had said to me last night, if this was a dream, I didn't want to wake up.  I laid beside her for a few minutes, just listening to her breathe and watching her face as she slept.  

Finally, I very, very carefully unwound our tails and transferred her head to the pillow. I pulled the sheets up over her, and gave her a light kiss on the cheek.

Quickly slipping outside, I moved quietly through the farmhouse, making sure not to let the door slam behind me.  The sun wasn't up yet, and the air was reasonably crisp.  

I stretched my body in a few different directions and then relaxed, taking on my dragon form again.   It was like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes, or a well-worn jacket..  

I wouldn't have traded last night for anything, but I hadn't really slept very well - I was kind of restless spending the night in my humanoid form.

I took a deep breath, savoring the cleanness of the early morning breeze. The farmhouse and barn and suchlike were on a small rise (not really big enough to be called a hill), just so that it was distinct from the fields set aside for cattle and planting.  

I decided to test out my wings a little. The few flights I'd made had involved desperate situations, and it was more instinct than any real planning.

I lining myself up and took a short run to start off. Getting airborne was much more effort when I didn't have the extra speed of the RV, and I found myself laboring to get airborne.  Dragons kinda soar like eagles, catching updrafts and such. It wasn't hard, once I'd gotten some altitude, to just float on the air currents.

I gained more and more altitude, marveling as the ground spread out below me. It was a bit scary, since I didn't really like heights, but having your own set of wings tends to help your perspective on these things.  Soon the farmhouse dwindled in even my own longsight, and I simply soared.  

An eagle on a nearby thermal called a greeting, and I nodded to it. It was happy the sky was so clear, and once the sun came up completely it would be hunting.  

That gave me pause. I felt hungry-- did I want to hunt?

Something inside of me seemed pleased with the idea of the hunt, but there was also something repulsive about it. The added issue of eating something that might have been a sentient creature made me feel a little sick.  

Su's words came back to me, that most people probably wouldn't want to come back as a cow. I spotted a herd of cattle not too far from the farm, and without thinking I dove at them, picking a juicy looking one.  I was in mid-dive by the time I was wondering how I'd know a juicy cow from a non-juicy cow.  I was also a tad slow in my dive, and one of the cows spotted me.  The herd immediately took off in different directions.

What was worse was the fact that I could clearly understand what the cows were communicating with each other-- they were scared, their plaintive moos could tell me that-- but it was more than a little disconcerting.  I tackled the cow I'd picked out easily and held it down.  It was mooing and calling its fellow herd members for help. The poor thing was terrified!  

Part of me said: Ignore it and kill the thing, that'll end its terror.  

I just couldn't do it.

I let the cow go and walked slowly back to the farmhouse.  I was hungry, but logically I knew there was a side of beef defrosting in the kitchen. I didn't *have* to kill to eat, and until it was necessary, I *wouldn't* kill to eat.

The sun rose slowly, and I curled up on the porch and let it warm me up a bit.

                  ******

Su:

I woke up abruptly, with the most awful feeling of absence. Something was missing. "Nan da!?"

I looked around frantically, brain still fuzzy. Where was I? Whose bed was this? What was missing!?

I scrambled out of the bed, tripping over my own tail. "Ow!"

That, at least, reminded me. I was on a farm somewhere in Kansas, the bed was whoever's it had been, and Brett was missing.

Very well then, time to go find him. I untangled myself from the bedclothes and pulled on a pair of shorts.

I gave the house a quick run through, then opened the door to the porch. Brett was sitting there in his dragon form, looking at the cows out on the field with a sad expression. "Anata? Daijoubo?"

Brett looked up at me, and his expression changed to an almost shy smile. "Good morning, love," he said, raising his head to nuzzle against me gently.

I kissed him on the snout and curled up beside him, leaning against him. "I woke up 'cause you weren't there," I said, almost sulkily.

His expression became apologetic, and he wrapped a wing around me. "Oh.. I'm sorry, I had to change back," he explained. "And I don't seem to need as much sleep as I used to."  He nuzzled me again and licked my cheek. "I just didn't want to wake you," he said, "I'm sorry."

"It's all right," I said comfortingly. "You didn't know I would." I kissed him on the forehead and began to scratch him under the chin with the tips of my claws. If bullets couldn't get through, I doubted I could hurt him, and even if I did healing was available. "What's wrong?"

Brett leaned into the scratch, obviously enjoying it quite a bit. He rumbled in appreciation, which was like a purr, only much louder and deeper. He sighed and hugged me a little tighter. "I just found out that I'm not much of a dragon," he said with a sigh, "I tried a little 'hunting', but I couldn't bring myself to kill.. the poor cow was just too upset. I seem to be able to communicate with most animals, and it was screaming for help the whole time.."

I grimaced. "Poor love," I said. "I don't blame you, really... if I could hear my salad pleading with me not to eat it I don't think I'd have much of an appetite either."

"I guess dragons just pounce before the animal of their choice knows what's going on," he sighed.

"Why not practice on something that won't cry? You need to learn to kill in one stroke."

"Like?" he asked.

"Well, something of about that height," I said. "You've got to learn how to strike a target period before moving on to moving ones...

"There's lots of haystacks and such. You could try that."

"I guess so," he sighed.

"I'd recommend breaking its neck. Fast, tho I wouldn't know how painless."

"Ya." He looked a little pale.

"Gomen, my own. It is rather awful to think of... you could try living on fish?"

"I guess so, but I think dragons need to eat red meat," he grimaced. "Worst luck." He looked around. "So what do you want to do today, my dear?" he asked.

"I thought I'd work on fine control of my powers," I said. "Don't want to accidentally fry anybody with ball lightning."

"I hope I can help out a little," he said with a grin.

"Like how? Target practice?"

Brett grinned. "So long as you promise not to fry me," he said with a wink.

"I suppose I could practice missing..."

"Good idea," he grinned.

I concentrated for a moment, and was once again fuku-clad. "Care for a game of Dodge before breakfast?"

"Ooohhh," he said with a wink. "Think you can hit me?"  He jumped off the porch and took a zigzag course to the fields.

I jumped up and tore after him, a smallish ball of lightning appearing in one hand. "INCOMING!" I shouted, and lobbed it at him.

Brett flapped his wings and took off into the air, dodging and jinking, easily avoiding the first little ball of lightning, "Missed by a mile!" he called back.

"Oh, you WANT me to hit you? Try these!" I yelled, throwing a pair, one from each hand.

Brett turned on a wingtip and looped once, only just getting out of the way, "Closer," he roared.   He turned and swooped at me, letting off a little ball of fire.

I dodged, countering it with one of my own balls of lightning. They met and canceled each other out, and I threw another at him while he was distracted.

Brett yelped a little as he caught part of it on one wing, and he grimaced a little. "Got me," he allowed.

"Time out, then. You all right?"

Brett nodded. "Come on, you can do better than that!"

"Time in!" I yelled, and threw another pair, this time from one hand. Part of me wondered how much I'd be paying for this later.

Brett dodged the first one and caught the second with a quick blast of firey breath.  He dodged low behind some trees, using them as cover, and suddenly shot out of cover directly at me, his paws extended and an amused expression on his face.

I ducked and rolled, hopping up onto his back as he flew over. "Hi hi!"

Brett grinned and flew straight up, twirling around and around.

I clung like a burr. "Ha! I don't get airsick!"

He flew over a nearby manmade lake that was used for irrigation and flew low across it. "Feel like a dip, kitty?" he asked.

"Why not?"

Brett dove into the little lake with a huge splash.  

I let go and swam for the surface, coming up laughing.

Brett surfaced not far away and grinned at me. "Like a morning swim?" he asked.

"Yes, actually. What's it like swimming as a dragon?"

"Not a lot different to flying actually," he replied.

"Somehow I'm not surprised."

Brett swam over and nuzzled me. "Most enjoyable," he said. "That was a good morning workout!"

"That it was. Now you get to fish me out so I can go make breakfast."

Brett picked me up and carried me to the edge of the lake, depositing me in a relatively dry spot.

"Gooooooooooood dragon!"

"Thank you, M'lady."

I gave him a hug and detransformed. My shorts promptly got wet. Oh, well.

Brett shook like a big dog, spraying water all over the place.

I sighed and got wetter. All of a sudden everything went black.

                  ******

Brett:

All of a sudden, Su just crumpled backward. I jumped forward and caught her before she could hit the ground.  She felt rather light, and I picked her up and carried her back to the farmhouse.  

I used my lowest 'setting' and dried her off pretty easily then sat down in my usual position on the porch, with her lying in my arms. It was nice; I rested her head on my shoulder and wrapped her up with my wings to keep her warm.

Su shivered a little and nestled closer.

I hugged her closer and licked her face gently. "I love you," I whispered softly.

Jeannie walked out onto the porch, yawning. She noticed Su. "Is she okay? What happened?"

I looked up at her sheepishly. "We had a bit of a workout.. I think she overdid it," I confessed. "I should have been more careful.. and we should have eaten something first."

She sighed, but didn't seem overly aggrieved. "Well, she did this after that first fight; I can only assume that this is what happens," she observed. "Seems to have taken a while longer, though; maybe she's getting inured to it."

"Like me with the shapechanging," I observed. "The more I try it, the longer I can sustain it.. and I seem to be getting better with my fire breath too."

She nodded. "And I'm getting better with the elemental magics," she agreed. "Still, extrapolating from earlier, I guess we should just put her to bed for a while and wait for her to wake up..."

I smiled. "I can sit with her for a while," I said, holding Su gently. "And the morning sun will keep us both warm."

Jeannie smiled slightly and shrugged. "At any rate, I'm going to have some breakfast."

"Enjoy," I said with a grin. "I'll have some when Su wakes up." I licked Su's face again and settled down to wait for her to wake up.

Something like four hours later, Su finally stirred. "mrrtz..?"

I blinked a little, awakening from the 'half sleep' that seemed to be another natural ability of dragons. I nuzzled her gently. "Su love?" I asked. "Are you ok?"

"ow, my head..."

I looked at her eyes closely. They weren't too different from normal, I was pleased to note. "You've been asleep for about four hours," I said, "Don't move straight away, I've got you." I hugged her a little.

"believe me, i don't want to... did i overdo it?"

I licked her face gently. "You did," I confirmed. "You blacked out once we'd gotten out of the lake, thank gods.. I don't know what would have happened if you'd fallen unconscious while we were swimming!"

"you'd've done your best to fish me out before i drowned, i'm sure. fortunately, i had the good sense to wait until i was out of the water...  h'm. i wonder if detransforming had anything to do with it?"

"It could have," I mused. I retracted my wings and helped her slowly to her feet. "You ok to walk, or should I carry you?" I asked, very concerned.

"my head hurts too much. balance? what's that?"

I picked her up gently and carried her over to the little table and chairs that we'd set up on the porch. I helped her sit down and steadied her.   "I'll get you something to drink," I said.

I took a deep breath and changed forms. Ignoring my unclothed state, I hurried inside. I couldn't for the life of me remember which room we'd slept in, so I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around myself. I returned with some cool water for Su a few moments later.

Su accepted the water and drained it in a matter of seconds. "Whoo, dehydration.."

"What do you feel like to eat?" I asked her.

"Steak. Lots. Cut up and turned over."

I nodded. "Ok," I said with a grin, "I'll cook some up."  I looked down at the towel I'd wrapped around myself. "Er, as much as I love parading around in just a towel," I said (I imagine I was blushing a bit), "Can I ask you.. which room did we sleep in last night? I seem to recall throwing our clothes in the corner.."

"Head down the hall to the bath and hang a left. We were in the master bedroom."

I leaned down and kissed her gently. "I'll be back," I said with a grin.

She returned the kiss with a reassuring smile. "I know."

I went inside and found some clothes, then dropped off a pitcher of water with Su before I started cooking. It wasn't too hard to cook up the steak for her(I also cooked a couple of extras for Jean in case she turned up for lunch). I was going to eat the side of beef that Su had found last night (in dragon form of course).  

I delivered lunch to Su with a flourish. "Is there anything else my Lady requires?" I asked with a bow.

"A kiss, of course."

I kissed her firmly. "Enjoy, love," I said with a smile.  I looked around carefully. "I wonder where Jean went off to?" I mused. "She's gonna miss lunch.."

"She went off to practice with her magic," Su observed, already halfway through her first steak.

"Damn.. we shouldn't practice that kinda thing alone!" I said. "I'm gonna have a fly around to find her."

"All right, my own. I'll be okay here."

I kissed her again and quickly shed my clothing (so I wouldn't rip up yet *another* set). I resumed my now-natural form, and took off. I circled the farmhouse a few times, gaining height.

I spotted her in the far pasture and flew quietly over, circling over her.  She appeared to be stalking something.

I watched as she stalked a rabbit.  She looked like a pro, and she caught the poor little thing easily; it didn't know what hit it. I landed not far away from her. "So where did you learn to do that?" I asked her curiously, trying not to look at the poor dead rabbit in her paw.

Her form, which had been changing from almost-human to mostly-fox, had settled into almost complete fox form at the moment. Only her size (almost the same as when she was normally walking around) and her hand-paws marked her as different, at least until she spoke. "I don't know," she said. "I just can."

I frowned. "So it's more instinctual?" I asked curiously, remembering my own form's almost overwhel- ming instincts.

She nodded. "Fox always took care to know all her forms equally well... though I must admit I never wrote her like this," she said, assuming a more anthropomorphic form. "I guess it's just how this world works."

I sighed. "I guess so," I agreed. I looked at her catch. "Think you could teach me?" I asked, "Dragons aren't as subtle, but I could do with *some* instruc- tion in hunting."

She eyed me thoughtfully. "I could try..." she said. "Let me give it some thought."

I nodded. "Well, I cooked some lunch for Su," I said, "If you want to come back to eat?"

She nodded. "All right," she said. "I may be able to catch it, but I'm still not sure I want to think about actually eating it, not yet..."

"Well, we should probably cook it, since you killed it.."

"I'll give it to Su. She learned how on her grand- parents' farm." *

                  ******

Su:

I was finished with my steaks by the time Brett came back, and was working my way through a salad. Jean followed a little behind him, carrying some- thing small and white. I couldn't tell what it was at this distance.

Brett smiled at me and flew the remaining distance. "How was the steak?" he asked.

"Delicious, though I wish you'd turned it over sooner."

"I'll remember that," he promised, curling up and sitting down right beside me.

Jean approached at a rather slower pace, and placed something in front of me. It was a plump white rabbit, neck neatly broken. "Nicely done," I noted. "Your work, neechan? Brett's too big; he'd just squish it."

Jean nodded, looking faintly ashamed. "..Yes," she admitted.

Brett looked at her and smiled. "It's the way of nature," he said quietly. "Fox hunts rabbit.."

"I'm very proud of you. Would you like it stewed or fried like chicken?"

"Fried, I guess. You can disguise it with several chickens."

"All right," I said, and got up. "Now to skin it so I can get it ready for cooking.."

Brett looked on curiously. "You learned to do this on a farm?" he asked.

"They raised rabbits for pets and to sell to gourmet restaurants."

"Ahhh," he said. "The closest I've come is watching someone skin a Kangaroo.."

"Oh?"

"Ya," he said with a nod, "And they're built a bit different, and much bigger than rabbits.." He sniffed the rabbit. "Rabbits were considered one of the worst pests in Australia's history by the way.. we didn't eat 'em.. just killed 'em."

"They're good eating, actually."

"I don't recall having tried rabbit before," he mused.

"It's kinda like chicken, but not as flaky. Denser, y'see."

"Mmm," he said, "I'll have to try some." He glanced over at Jean. "Although I guess when I have to hunt I'll probably go after bigger things," he observed, "I'd still appreciate any pointers you can think of."

Jean nodded, still looking faintly ashamed.

Don't do that," Brett said, leaning his head over and butting against her gently. "It's ok, really.. instinct is instinct."

She sighed and sat down to stare at one of her steaks. "I know, and I've killed chickens, to eat... but.... never directly like that. Never just with my bare hands and my claws and and slavering for the blood."

Brett moved over beside Jean and put a wing around her gingerly. "It's ok," he insisted. "I almost did the same thing this morning, the emotions and instincts of our new forms are overwhelming sometimes." He hugged her gently. "Just remember that we're your friends, no matter what our or your forms," he said firmly.

Jean nodded after a moment, tho she didn't return the hug. "..Thank you."

Brett quickly hid an expression of hurt and covered it by moving back over to me, his expression faintly downcast.

I stroked his head comfortingly. "Jeannie doesn't hug much," I whispered to him.

Brett nodded silently. "I just hope she believed me," he replied aloud with a sigh. "I don't mind if she doesn't like hugs, but none of us need to feel like we can't count on each other at the moment."

"I know I can," Jeannie said softly.

Brett looked at me and then at Jeannie. "Something else, ladies.. after Su's little lapse this morning, I think we should only practice our new abilities in each other's company.. No going off and practicing something that could hurt you."

Jeannie pondered this for a moment, head to one side. "Agreed."

I nodded.

                  ******

[Something like a week later, story-wise; this was written with Kickaha]

Brett:

The mountains were quite lovely, and it was easy to tell that we'd been going higher and higher in the last few days.  The sky was nice and clear.   The view from the top of the RV was quite good, even if I had to curl my tail around uncomfortably to fit on.  I lowered my neck down to the window of the RV to talk to Su. "Love, how far ahead did you say Haxtun was?" I asked curiously.

"I didn't," she called back up. "But I'll check."

There were quite a few birds riding thermals off in the distance, and I had to resist the urge to join them.  I glanced across at Jean. "You're not getting tired are you? When we started this trip I was supposed to do half the driving.."

Jean shook her head. "I'm fine," she said. "If I was tired, I'd tell you."

I rolled my eyes. "Ok, ok," I said.

"Speaking of driving, it's about twenty," Su said. "Closer to nineteen, really.. and do not question Jeannie. Jeannie is Ivanova, and Ivanova is God."

"Many thanks to my fan club," Jean said with a slight smile.

"Hmm.. only twenty, huh?" I mused, looking longingly at the birds in the distance.

"Anata," Su said. "If you feel like flying, what's keeping you?"

I grimaced. "I don't wanna leave the two of you alone," I admitted.

Su flicked a tiny ball of static at me. "We'll be fine."

I grinned at her and nuzzled her face gently. "Thanks, love."  Two seconds later I'd launched myself from the back of the RV and was steadily climbing into the sky.  It was *so* much easier flying when you already had some speed up.  

Climbing higher, I was even more impressed at the view.  Soon the RV dwindled down to a tiny speck crawling along the ground. Remembering what I could from the map I set off at a reasonable pace, my longsighted eyes scanning ahead for the little town that Kick had often described to me.

Su waved out the window. "Have fun!"

                  ******

Ed:

I looked at the sky and didn't like it at all. Clear as crystal, and as pure as a virgin's conscience. Around here, that was a perfect invitation for a thunderstorm or tornado. But with no weather service anymore, there was no warning.

Aili was over at the farm we'd cleaned up for Andreshka and the others we'd found. Andy (gawd, he hated the way I'd Americanized his name) was a good friend, but living with a Russian bear in the house was just a little too much for my nerves.

Damn.. a Russian turning into a bear. SOMEONE up there had a twisted sense of humor.

Tommy was cleaning up the farmhouse the three of us had chosen. The transformation had not only made her a rabbit, it had turned her into the ultimate housewife, to the surprise of all.

And the were-couple from Boulder were busy savaging what they could from Haxtun. They'd noticed how I winced every time we were in town and I saw the inevitable wear and tear on the abandoned buildings. This was their little gift to me.

There wasn't anything that needed to be done, and that was the problem.

I'd spent my life following a sense of duty, and now there was nothing to do.

Killing those bastards in Colorado Springs didn't help, either. Andy and the others kept telling me that it was the only way to save him and his friends, but it still preyed on my mind.

Tommy came out of the kitchen, wiping her paws on a towel. "You're brooding again."

"Who appointed *you* my conscience?" I snapped, then regretted it.

Tommy grinned at me. "Aili did, for when she's not here.. hey, what's that?"

I followed her glance. "Either we're both seeing things, or something REALLY big is up in the air."   I bit my lip. "If someone salvaged an Air Force fighter, we're screwed."

I shoved Tommy towards the basement. "Get in and take shelter. I'm getting the Boys."

I'd found it in the old National Guard armory. British built, the Boys was one of the biggest damn rifles ever made. .55 caliber, intended to kill small tanks before the bazooka was invented, it would put a hole *through* an elephant. If it couldn't stop whatever this was, we were in deep shit.

Running back outside, I could see that whatever it was, it was flapping wings. BIG wings.

I braced myself behind the Boys and waited.

As the shape got closer, it became a little easier to distinguish. Long neck, batlike wings, golden scales-- it was a dragon. It circled around a few times before landing out in front of the farmhouse and looking around curiously, sniffing the air a little.

"Friend or foe?" I asked cautiously. The Army had never covered frontal assaults by saurians.

*Gawd, I hope it's friendly,* I thought. *If not, I am SO screwed.  It could prolly eat me for a mid-morning snack.*

The dragon looked up and took me in with a long glance. "Uh, mate.. you'll probably find that if you ask anyone that while you're pointing a cannon at them, they'll probably say friend?" the dragon asked. His voice was reasonably deep, with a distinct Australian accent.

I blinked a few times. "Okay. Point to the dragon. You're not feeling particularly hungry at the moment, are you? If not, I'll set this down."

The dragon shook his head. "Nope.. I had a nice big breakfast this morning." He sat down and tilted his head slightly. "Looks like you're setting up a nice little farm here."

I set the Boys down. At 36 pounds, it was pretty damned heavy, and I wasn't the most muscular fur around. "Thank you. If I'd fired, I'd probably have broken my shoulder with this bugger."

"Well, I'm pretty sure it would have killed me, if that's any comfort?" the dragon offered, grinning a little and showing off a great many teeth.

I laughed. "I suppose. And yeah, thanks for the compliment. I've pulled in a few others who made the Change, and we're trying to hold together until we figure out what's going on. I'm Ed Becerra, retired GI and would-be survivor. Who're you, and where are you from?"

The dragon laughed. "Ed?" he said. "I never would have recognized you.. You don't much look like that picture you had on the net anymore." The dragon moved over and offered one talon. "We've met.. my name's Brett Handy, as strange as that sounds coming from a hatchling dragon."

"Brett? As in 'Oh, My God' Brett? Okay, it's official. God IS pulling practical jokes on me, personally." I shook my head and winced as the shoulder that had supported the Boys let me know what it thought of the abuse it had taken. "How the heck did you get here in the US? And is Su with you?"

"Yes, *that* Brett," he chuckled. "And I was here to meet Su at that convention, remember? Although it seems like a lifetime ago, now.." Brett stretched his wings uncomfortably. "Su and Jean are on the way.. I just flew ahead cause it was such a nice day. They should be here in a bit."

My jaw sagged slightly. "Jesus Quack! Guests? I forgot about Tommy! TOMMY! It's okay! It's someone from the net! Come on up, and get cooking. We got guests coming."

Brett raised one eyebrow. "How many people have you got here?" he asked curiously.

"For here, there's me, Tommy and Aili. You remember her, I should think. I still recall her 'discovering' that I'd stayed up late when I shouldn't have. Turns out it wasn't so much a little BIRD whispering in her ear as it was a little dragon, no?"

I laughed as the dragon showed some embarrassment.

Brett grimaced. "I'd hoped you'd forgotten about that," he mumbled.

"And there's a second farm just over the rise with some more people that I found while getting Aili. Another five that we tripped over... hey, what's that in the sky?"

A large ball of lightning was rising high into the sky, eliciting a loud crack of thunder.

Brett looked up. "I've been out of sight too long," he said, "Su's signaling me.." He nodded to Kick. "I'll go direct her to where you are. I'll be back shortly," he promised.

"Good to go, then. You let her know what's up, and we'll get a meal ready here for ya'll."

Tommy crept out of the storm cellar at that point. "It.. it doesn't eat rabbits, does it?"

"Thanks mate," Brett replied. His takeoff wasn't exactly impressive (he must have still been a novice flier), but he managed to get airborne and circled the farmhouse once before flying off in the direction of the lightning.

I turned to Tommy. "Don't worry.. besides, if he's hungry, we'll slaughter a beefalo. Get on the horn and get Aili back here. We got guests for dinner, Tommy."

About a half hour later, an RV appeared on the road approaching the farm. Brett was draped over the roof.

I shook my head, then bit my lip. I was NOT going to make a 'my ass is dragon' joke. Nope. Nope. Not me. Not today.

Tommy had pulled some bottles of Jolt and Dew from the ice house, and they were sitting in a bucket full of ice shavings on the porch. I figured it was the neighborly thing to do.

Brett jumped down off the roof as the RV stopped, and he stretched his tail. "I hate curling it up like that," he muttered.

The RV drew up into the driveway, and an anthro- pomorphic cabbit clad in sailor fuku hopped out. "It's the only way you fit, as you know damned well."

Brett sighed. "Ok, ok," he said, "And getting a lift is easier than flying.."

An arctic fox lady stepped down from the driver's seat. "Even if it DOES slow us to a crawl."

I gritted my teeth. *Okay, second thing on the list. I am NOT going to make any 'foxy lady' jokes. They could be hazardous to my health.* "Uhh.. exsqueeze me? Introductions, please? I can guess, but Tommy hasn't met you yet, and I suspect we're all in forms that aren't quite what we're used to."

Brett grinned, once again showing all those teeth. "Indeed we're not.." He smiled at Tommy. "I'm Brett, and don't worry.. I don't bite."

"Okay.. This is Tommy, and she's from the Tapestries MUCK. We ran into each other when I went to find Ailuro down south. Fortunately for me, the phones worked long enough for me to get in touch with Aili. She's over at the next farmhouse, by the way. She'll be here in a bit."

The cabbit turned to us. "Kick? I should've known you'd be the coyote. He doesn't eat rabbits, Tommy-san. Cabbits, if asked nicely, but not rabbit."

"I'm Ed, and if the giant Aussie suitcase-in-training is Brett, then you must be Su," I grinned.

She winked, giving the V-sign. "You know it."

"Suitcase?" Brett rumbled. "I resemble that remark.."

The fox bowed slightly. "I'm Jean, Su's stepsister, and the only one of this traveling circus that can actually drive."

"Hey!" Brett protested. "I can drive when I'm humanoid.. it's just that being humanoid is even more uncomfortable than curling up my tail for hours at a time."

She grinned at Brett. "To repeat, the only one who can drive."

"Hey, you think it's bad now, boyo? Wait till it's shedding season, Brett!" I turned to the fox. "Glad to meet you, m'lady. I don't think we've met before."

"Only occasionally, on IRC. You might know me better as 'Jeannie-neechan'."

"Ahh.. I believe I remember that." I waved an arm at the dragon and the cabbit. "So, how'd these two rope you into to this misadventure? And where you headed?"

"Somebody had to get Su to San Antonio for the con.... Ostensibly, Seattle, after Su's brothers. They left a note back in Houston saying they wanted to check on a few friends."

"Ouch. I hope you weren't planning on driving through Denver to reach Seattle. If so, you'd best make other plans. Hey, want a soda?"

Su went back into the RV. There was a brief moment of colored lights and violin music, and she came back out, wearing a pair of shorts and a pair of cats, one draped over each shoulder. "PLEASE tell me you have Dew, 'tousan. They wouldn't let me bring any."

"Check out the barrel on the porch, Su. We cleaned out every machine and store in the next three towns. It's even iced." I nodded to Tommy, and she bounced over the to barrel and pulled out a pair of 20 ounce bottles, taking them to Su.

Brett chuckled and laid down, resting his head on his paws, "Oh no.. it's taken days to break her of that addiction," he grumbled.

"I got news for you, Brett.. I got a friend who figured out the formula. Soon as I can get my hands on some oranges, we can MAKE Dew."

Su biiiiiiiiiih'd Brett, happily accepting a bottle. She chugged it, then took the other for slow sipping. "Arigatou!" she said cutely, seeming much more bouncy. "Nani? COOL!"

Jean just closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Hey, we can't let the ultimate creation of civilization fall. There MUST BE DEW! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Tommy gave me that _look_ she'd learned from Aili.

Jean gave me a similar look.

Brett rolled his eyes and let out a dragonish snort.

I grinned at Su. "So I'm a little gone on Dew. It's a weakness. Aili teases me about it." Behind me, I _knew_ Tommy was twirling a finger in the air next to her head. I could tell from the smirks on the three faces in front of me.

Su grinned back. "You don't have to make excuses to *me*, 'touchan. It's one of my own."

"Anyway.. pull up a chair and have a cold drink. It's prolly been a LONG drive." I frowned at Brett. "Or pull up *something*, anyway. I got nothing in your size, I'm afraid. I never planned on having a dragon for dinner." I blinked. "Hmm.. that didn't come out quite right, did it?"

Brett did a 'curl up like a very large dog' impression. "I'm pretty comfortable," he observed.

"What can I get you to drink? As I recall, you weren't into hooch, and aside from soda, water, and some milk, that's all we have at the moment."

Su picked a chair near Brett and flopped into it. "Him? He likes coke."

"S'okay mate.. it's hard to drink from a can in this form," he observed with a wry smile.

"So change, silly lizard."

"Mmm.. not a problem, then. I have a cask of Coke syrup in the barn. Stole it from an Arby's the next town over." I grinned, eyeing him. "Given your size and *its* size, you're a perfect fit."

Brett glanced at Su. "I'm a bit tired, love.. flying around all day tends to do that," he said. "I'll change later.." He nodded to me. "Thanks, mate.. I might take you up on that later," he said.

Su put a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry, love, I forgot."

"In the meantime, there's clean rainwater, and we can drag out a barrel for you to drink with." I waved Jean onto the porch. "Lemme take a moment and see if Aili's on the way."

I ducked inside and went to the cupola atop the farmhouse. There was a small dustcloud moving rapidly from the direction of the farm where Andrushka and the others had settled. My soulmate was on her way, in her own special style.

I came back down. "Aili's on her way. She's only a few miles away, and should be here in moments."

"A few miles?" Brett asked.

Su smiled slightly.

"You weren't the only one to get a few benefits, Brett. Aili came out of this a cheetah, with speed to mat..Oooomph!"

A black-spotted yellow blur blew me off my feet and knocked me into the rocking chair behind me. "Kicky!" it squealed.

"*kaff kaff* Ladies and gentleman, may I introduce my mate, Ailuro McInTyger?"

Aili eyed them warily. "Who are they?"

I beeped her on the nose. "Your personal spies, my love. Bunnycat and Company."

Su grinned wider. "Hi, neko-chan! I'm Su, he's Brett, and the fox eyeing your drinks barrel is my  big sister Jean."

Brett raised his head and grinned at Aili. "You used to call me 'bouncyroolet' when we chatted online," he observed with a chuckle.

Jean waved absentmindedly. "Hi. We haven't met."

Aili smiled so wide, the ends nearly met at the back of her neck, then she grabbed Su and hugged her as if there would be no tomorrow.

"BUNNYCAT!" she shrieked. "You made it!"

Su hugged her back just as tightly. "Yup! Nice to see you as I'd always imagined you, Aili-chan."

"Uh.. baby? If you squeeze her much harder, we're gonna have senshi pate, hon. Maybe you should hug a little less tightly?"

She just stuck her tongue out at me, and hugged Su some more.

Su gave the V-sign. "It's... okay, really. I... heal fast... Neko-chan, a little less tightly please?"

I looked at Brett helplessly. "I'm henpecked, I am. Or should that be cheetah-pecked?"

Brett grinned widely. "Don't tell me you're complaining?" he asked.

Ailuro poked me in the shoulder with a free paw. "Careful how you answer that, unless you want to sleep on the couch again, Kicky!"

"Uh.. would you believe 'no comment', Brett?"

"I might," Brett said with a wink, "But I doubt Aili will."

"True, but then I don't have the advantage of being able to sleep with you, Brett." Aili swatted at one ear. "Hmm.. THAT didn't come out too well, either. If this keeps up, I'll end up with athlete's gums." Everyone laughed.

Brett chuckled and nudged Su with his nose. "Do me a favor and grab my clothes for me?" he asked. She nodded and slipped back into the RV, coming out with a set of clothing, which she handed to the dragon. "Be back in a minute," Brett said, trotting off around to the other side of the RV.

"Well, food time, I suppose. Carrots for the cabbit and for Tommy. I know what Aili wants. Jean? And what would Brett want?"

A figure walked back around the RV, "Any kinda food is fine," Brett said, "This form doesn't need quite as much to fill it up."  He stood about 7 foot even; his skin was a light gold color, and he had a set of wings and a tail. His eyes were rather reptilian, and his ears were pointy.

"No biggie, then. We just smoked a beefalo the other day. Steaks all around, for those who want them." A thought struck me and I frowned.

Brett stretched and sat down in a vacant chair. "What's up?" he asked curiously.

"Be careful, if you decide to hunt. Aili reminded me of something shortly after I found her. If everyone from the various mucks was transformed, there are _bound_ to be a few people who were changed into NON-anthro forms. Four legs, no voice, and all that. We're being REALLY careful about what we hunt and where."

"We already worked that out," Brett said grimly. "I also have this little problem.. Dragons can talk to animals. It's hard to eat a cow when it's 'begging' for it's life.."  He shuddered.

Ailuro nodded. "I'm sticking to fish for my meat."

"Mmmm.. hadn't thought of that, Brett," I replied. "Aili and I have carnivorous leanings, of course, and Tommy *can't* eat meat. We found it makes her ill."

"So either I swoop down and kill the cow straight away, or I stick with preserved foods until they run out and I'm forced to look elsewhere," he sighed.

"For the most part, I'm trying to stick to cattle and beefalo that have brands. We figured that not even the nuttiest people on Taps would come back with *brands*.

"And as I know all the local ones here in Colorado.." I shrugged. "It's the best I can do, and no matter how hard I try, unlike Aili, I can't live on fish alone. Like you, I need real meat, Brett."

"Ya.. meat is something that Dragons really have to have," Brett agreed.  

I looked away, embarrassed. I didn't LIKE that side of myself, and it showed. And from the expression on Brett's face, he didn't either.

                                    ******

[Below is a bit of a summary - perhaps a week or so after they arrive at Kick's?]

Brett:

There are times when being a dragon has its advantages. For example, any time I have to start a fire, having a built-in lighter is certainly good.  I'd been practicing with my fire actually, since that first night when I'd only managed to come up with a trickle of flame I'd progressed quite a bit.  

I was always careful where I practiced, so that I didn't set anything large on fire. In fact, I found that my own hide was more than a little fire resistant, so usually if a fire got out of hand I could stamp it out or roll on it to put it out.

In fact, my skin seemed impervious to fire-- I tested the skin on my arm with a quick blast of fire, and found that it didn't even warm it up.   Obviously, I couldn't accidentally cook myself.  

I had gotten to the point where I could literally melt iron with my breath; it was impressive-- especially since I'd started out with a flame that had trouble lighting paper.

I'd also found that I could expel a different kind of gas, chlorine.  I actually found this out accidentally-- filling the area you're in with poisonous gas isn't a good idea. I recommend avoiding it at all costs.  

Ironically, I don't appear to be immune to the gas, but I do know how to expel it with enough force so that it doesn't cloud around me and only effects an area in front of me.

My claws were rather sharp; in fact when I went to cut up wood, I didn't take an axe-- my claws were quite enough.  As a dragon I was also reasonably strong - I could almost lift the RV (and at two tons, that's rather a lot).  I found, however that while I could lift a lot, I couldn't fly while carrying much of a load - if I pushed it I might have been able to carry Su for a short period of time, or someone smaller for a bit longer.  

All in all, I was beginning to enjoy being a dragon; flying was fun, and I wasn't bothered by animals-- most tend to run when they see a dragon approaching.

I'd also gotten a bit more comfortable about changing into a humanoid form, although it was still a bit uncomfortable. There were some situations that required it, after all, and as Su keeps telling me, being humanoid does have *some* advantages.

                                ******
To Be Continued