One "Introduction"

...............

Some introduction, huh?

Honestly, though... I don't know what to say to start off this whole...

thing. Umm... I guess I could start off with something philosophical.

Yeah... umm...

There was a Western philosopher who proposed that this life we're living in

right now is probably not... real. You know... this isn't reality, but just

one big... dream. You know? A college professor offered this explanation

for this kind of philosophy. Suppose that we're nothing but brains in vats,

all linked to a supercomputer made by a mad mad scientist. We don't realize

this, though, because our senses are focusing on the little program that

this supercomputer has that keeps our senses focused on. Yeah... so we are

living in this virtual world, thinking it's our reality, when in truth... we

are nothing but... well... brains in vats linked to a supercomputer.

Wasn't there gonna be a movie based on that explanation? Sorta? Wasn't it

gonna be released somewhere around the summer of '99?

There was another philosopher from China who made the same philosophy. One

day, he dreamed that he was a butterfly, fluttering throughout the woods,

landing on flowers and taking in its wonderful scents. Then when he woke

up, he wondered if he was, I quote, "a man dreaming I'm a butterfly, or a

butterfly dreaming I'm a man." I believe his name was Lao Tzu.

I seem to be feeling the same way too, right now.

I mean... it's easy to feel this way when you're a silver-furred

anthropomorphic panda.

Yeah... that's me right now. My personal fur, my main alter ego, Setsu Mei

Zen. The retired international martial arts champion and medical/biology

doctor super-prodigy at age 15. Or that's the way I made him, anyway.

After about two years of getting into the gig of bein' a furry, composing

and editing and reediting his history, powers, etc., this is what it all

leads to. Me. Instead of the ultra-popular, seemingly unstoppable kempo

master that I made him be in the beginning, I hacked and stiched Zen to

become the unusually popular, retired martial artist and medical genius, who

is currently undergoing adolescence to the fullest. Sexuality, self-denial

and self-hatred, confusion, social anxiety... everything. Adolescence

proved to be his greatest opponent since the reigning champion of the last

worldwide bujutsu tournament he entered since he was 10. Yes, adolescence

proved to be his greatest opponent... almost the fatal one that promised to

kill him if he wasn't being careful.

Sounds a lot like me right now, before I became Zen.

Zen has been through a lot in order to get in touch with these feelings

I've been mustering up, without my will. He's been through betrayal, lust,

love, racial and species hatred, rape, sexual expression... the lot. Twice

he's tried committing suicide and twice he failed, thanks to the efforts of

his stepsister and guardian, Setsu Mi Sen.

Setsu Mi Sen... my 2nd alter ego. 19 years old, an anthro panda with

midnight-blue fur. Tested and proven a super-genius in the field of

physical therapy and anatomy at an early age, academically whizzed through

elementary school, then middle, then high, then college and graduate school.

All finished by the time she was 17. She had an extremely rough time

trying to deal with the harsh realities of life, and has managed to pull

through with masculine and feminine determinism, courage, wits, and guts.

At age 18, she took up a job in law enforcement, and proved quickly to be a

very valuable member of the force. So she became a jack-of-all-trades

rather quickly. She normally did undercover and investigative jobs that

sometimes often led to a gunfight, and periodically she did work at nearby

state prisons as a psychologist. She also took up a job teaching in a high

school in Sendai, Japan once, successfully taming a class full of once-wild

and rebellious teens, and making a reputation as a teacher in the country.

Sen had the qualities I had always dreamed of having, yet I knew I would

never have unless I do something about my hesitation and timidness.

Periodically I wished she was my real sister.

Well... my wish came true. Here I am, leaning against the door of a red

1994 Ford Mustang convertible (with the covers down), watching the barren

deserts of northern Texas pass by my eyes in a blur, with the sun glaring

down at us, as if in anger. The driver happened to be Sen, driving at 67

mph so the engine wouldn't overheat in this 101F heat. Taleweaver was

curled up in the backseat, with his four wings wrapped around him tightly so

the wind wouldn't blow him away, dozing off with a map of the USA's freeways

in his hand. He looked awfully peaceful as he slept.

Taleweaver of the Sui'dahst tribe of Mana Dragons. Real and full name,

Arin Zy'shou. 46 Earth years of age (that's 23 years of age on the planet

from which they came from, and that would be an equivalent to 23 years of

age to a human). Taleweaver is my 3rd alter ego, created based on the

concept of Mana Dragons and their world from SquareSoft's "Seiken Densetsu"

game series (that would be "Secret of Mana" in America). In the beginning,

Taleweaver and the whole Mana Dragon idea was supposed to be only for

roleplay on a MUCK I used to be on, but I've really gotten into playing as a

Mana Dragon that I began to expand on the concept of Mana Dragons and their

world, turning it into my own creation. So far I was able to create a

philosophy, a way of life, the ten different tribes of the Mana Dragons,

etc. etc. etc. I wanted to make this whole thing seem as real as possible,

and it was tons of fun doing so as well. I was finally able to thrust all

of my idealistic values into this... being.

The Sui'dahst Tribe consists of light-blue Mana Dragons who all worship the

sub-goddess of their world, Undine, who was the Mana Spirit of Water. As a

result, the land in which they lived in up on the clouds (the Kingdom of

Mana, where all the Mana Dragons reside in) goes through all four seasons in

a cycle, and the appearance of the land in each season is very

distinguished, especially during winter time. Sui'dahst Mana Dragons

consist mainly of teachers, mentors, tutors, and other sorts of academic,

political, and philosophical jobs. Normally their role in the whole of

things is to supply the world with education and enlightenment, and when

there is political tension in the secular world, everyone turns to a

distinguished Sui'dahst Dragon to help settle the dispute. That is a role

of all Mana Dragons; the peacemakers of the world down below.

Taleweaver would be considered two things in the world of Mana Dragons.

One, because his academic ability surpassed other Sui'dahst Dragons by

threefold, he was able to learn the most complicated things like, say,

quantum physics when he was 30 Earth years of age (15 in human years). Two,

Sui'dahst Dragons have absolutely no talent for hand-to-hand, melee, and

ranged combat. Taleweaver, however, is somehow able to take on a beginner

fighter from one of the warrior tribes, and defeat him with some effort (the

fighters of the Mana Dragon warrior tribes are marvelous, almost

unbeatable), not to mention he is able to use a little bit of magic from the

other seven Mana elements besides Water. A genuine freak of nature, just

like Zen and Sen. Not in the norm like everyone else.

So here we are. In a 1994 red Ford Mustang convertible in a desert in

Texas, all three of my personal furs. Just travelling east towards a

certain West Virginian city. That's us. Right...

~o To be continued, eh? o~