Characters and concept are (c) Squirrel 1, used with permission. 

A sneak preview; for the full story see the description.

Elemental Love
by Winter

Kyle woke up as soon as the first rays of morning sunlight fell upon his face. Yawning widely, he stretched his muscles to chase away sleep, then sat up. He scratched his back, yawning again, then a wide grin spread across his lips. Today was his birthday, his twelfth birthday! Thinking that he could allow himself the luxury of sleeping in on this day, he sank back into bed and wrapped himself up in his blankets. Just another couple of minutes...

No more than a quarter of an hour had passed when he woke up again, this time sitting up with a start. Someone had tousled his hair and blown into his ear, yet he knew that he was alone in the cabin and the door was locked. He looked around, still feeling drowsy, but he couldn't see anyone. Just as he was beginning to calm down, convinced that he had only been dreaming, someone kissed his cheek. With a yelp of fear, Kyle leapt out of bed, tossing the blankets aside even though that left him as naked as the day he was born. He took a fighting stance, ready to defend himself against the intruder, but except for his battered old teddy bear Cougar, the bedroom was empty.

"H-hello?" he all but whispered, eyes wide open with fright. "Is a-anybody there?"

The only answer was a faint rustling of the air that almost sounded like a boyish giggle. Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle thought he saw the window curtains move, but when he turned to look they were perfectly still. Must've been wrong, he thought to himself. The window was still closed.

Half an hour later he had finished his breakfast, treating himself to two eggs to go with his bacon instead of the usual one; he even made himself a couple of link sausages on the side. He had all but forgotten the morning's events, half managing to persuade himself that it was all just a dream. After all, why would someone break into his cabin, into his bedroom, just to play with his hair and kiss his cheek? If that someone had stabbed him to death in his sleep and stolen everything he owned, it would have made much more sense. There hadn't been any rogues or bandits in these parts of the forest for quite some time, though, so that was unlikely.

After clearing away the dishes Kyle sat down with a mug of apple juice, still as naked as when he had got out of bed, while he wondered what he should do with his day. Semi-consciously, he touched the spot on his cheek where he had thought he had felt soft lips, smiling to himself. Who would have kissed him? He was just a little kid! Well, not so little anymore, now that he was twelve. Some of his friends used to say that he was cute, but none of them had ever kissed him. Kyle looked at his reflection in the metal mug he was drinking from. True, it was a kind of cute face that looked back at him. Large blue eyes, a small nose, slightly freckled cheeks and soft, thin lips. Lips that would have liked it if someone really had sneaked into his bedroom and kissed them. Someone cute, he thought with a slight giggle. Some cute boy.

Kyle knew that he preferred boys to girls in 'that' way, the way that counted, but he had never met anybody he had liked well enough to kiss. He had seen a few boys at the market that he might have fancied, but they had always been gone before he had summoned up the courage to walk up and talk to them. Snapping out of his musings, he finished his drink and went to pick out his clothes for the day. Settling for a pair of grey cotton shorts, white briefs and his favourite shirt, a pink, tight-fitting t-shirt, he grabbed a towel and a bar of soap and went outside to wash himself.

Kyle locked the door behind him and hung the key around his neck, on its thin chain, then walked down to the little creek that ran through the clearing where his cabin stood. The water, he knew, would be next to freezing this early in the morning, but he didn't really mind. A nice, cold bath always got him started, no matter how tired he was. The clearing was empty, except for a couple of shy deer who were grazing just by the edge of the forest. In the trees surrounding him, birds were singing joyfully as they greeted the new day. The summer sun was shining brightly, chasing away the last of the night's mists, and there was not a cloud in sight on the beautiful, blue sky.

"What a perfect day," Kyle said to himself as he put his things down and stepped into the water, gasping as always at the first contact with the chilly water. He giggled. "A perfect birthday."

If there were one thing his mother had taught him that had stuck in Kyle's mind, it was to keep himself clean. After getting soaked he soaped up good, finishing by lathering up his shoulder-length, light blond hair. He watched his reflection in the water and giggled again; he was all but covered in suds, almost looking like a snowman. Taking a deep breath, he dived into the creek, letting the stream carry all the foam away. But as he swam along the bottom, he suddenly felt a hand touch his thigh, running its fingers upwards along his butt crack before it vanished. He swirled around, kicking out but hitting nothing. The water was very clear and lit by the sunlight, yet when he looked around he saw nobody. Not even a fish that could have touched him. Sputtering and coughing, he broke the surface, gasping for a little while before regaining his breath. This time it wasn't a dream! He swam to the shore and got out, then started drying himself off. Weird, he thought. Weird and spooky.

* * * * * *

He had just finished getting dressed and was walking back home, when he spotted a familiar figure walking down the path to the cabin. Sapling, or Sap as everyone called him, was a couple of years older than Kyle; a ragged-looking teenager always wearing the same torn, often filthy clothes. His reddish-brown hair seemed as if it had never seen a comb, or even heard of soap or shampoo. Kyle quickly forgot about the strange things that had happened to him that morning, and waved happily to his friend. The two of them had stuck together ever since Kyle was little more than a toddler, and had often helped each other out after they were both left on their own. He thought of Sap as the big brother he never had. To Kyle's surprise, as Sap got closer he noticed that his friend had washed up pretty well, and his clothes seemed clean, too. Only his hair was its usual ruffled mess.

"Happy birthday, Kyle!" Sap said, almost falling backwards as Kyle leapt into his arms. They hugged briefly before Sap put him down. "Hey, no kissing or I'll slap your rump, birthday or not."

"I wasn't gonna kiss you," Kyle lied. He laughed. "You're such a sissy."

"Me? I'm not the one that tries t'kiss boys, you know." Sap grinned as he dug through his pockets. "Got you a present, buddy."

"Really? What is it?"

"Hey, calm down! Here it is. Happy birthday, kid."

"Don't call me kid anymore," Kyle said, trying to keep his voice low but unable to keep it from breaking into his usual high-pitched boyish soprano. "I'm twelve now."

"Yeah, really old, I know," Sap teased. "Should've gave you a walking stick instead."

Kyle frowned, but kept back the smart remarks or the stuck-out tongue that would normally have followed such a quip from his friend. Instead, he focused his entire attention on the tiny box that Sap had given him. It didn't weigh much, and Kyle half wondered if this was another joke. But when he opened the box, he couldn't keep back a surprised gasp. He lifted out a gold chain necklace, holding a gold medallion. As he examined it closer, he saw that the medallion had an image of a wolf's head engraved into it. Tears of joy formed in his eyes as he crushed the air out of Sap in a mighty hug.

"Thank you so much!" he cried, kissing his friend fully on the lips. "You're the best!"

"Yuck! Hey, cut that out!" Sap did his best to look completely revolted, but Kyle could tell that he wasn't really mad. "Enough with the kissing!"

"Thank you so much, Sap," Kyle said again. "I love it! Where did you get it? Damn, it must have cost a fortune!"

"Not really." They walked up to the cabin and Kyle unlocked the door, letting them in. "I got it at the market. Jewellery is quite easy t'get your hands on these days, after they let the furries in to share the marketplace."

"This is a furry necklace?"

"See any hair on it, stupid?"

"You know what I mean, Sap, don't be an idiot!"

"Well, it's made by furries, if that's what you mean," Sap said, tousling Kyle's hair as they sat down at the kitchen table. Kyle went to pour them both a mug of apple juice. "I got it from a wolf lady, traded it for one of my glass mosaics."

"It's beautiful." Kyle had already hung it around his neck, proudly displaying the medallion on top of his pink shirt. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," Sap said with a somewhat embarrassed grin as he received yet another hug. "Say, wanna come with me to the market today? I thought I'd buy you a birthday lunch."

"Yeah, great! I'll get ready right away!"

* * * * * *

An hour and a half later, they had left the forest and were walking along a wide, dirt-covered asphalt road, slowly getting closer to the old ruin town where a common marketplace had been set up. After centuries of mistrust and intolerance, Kyle knew, humans and furries had only just begun to interact freely, and this marketplace was one of the places where they were no longer separated. Everybody traded with everybody, and anyone who caused trouble was banned from the place. Not that there ever was any trouble, except for the occasional raised voice of someone who thought he had been cheated in a trade. A few years back a band of criminal outcasts, both humans and furries, had been wiped out by a gathering of the local farmers and traders, and after that anyone with dishonest intentions had known well enough to stay away. That battle had cost a lot, though, Kyle thought, trying to recall his mother's face.

He was snapped out of his reverie when he felt that his shoes were beginning to get filled with sand again. For the third time since they had started walking, he had to stop and empty them. Feeling slightly irritated at having his thoughts interrupted, and for slowing them down, he walked over to the side of the road and leaned against one of the rusty old signposts. The paint on the sign was almost gone, but he could still see most of the markings on it. What they meant was a knowledge long lost, but both boys believed as most people did, that they were writings of some kind, in a language nobody spoke anymore. Whatever they had meant, they had another meaning now as this particular sign told Kyle and Sap that they still had five miles to go before reaching the marketplace. An hour's walk if they kept their pace up.

"You oughtta get new shoes, kid," Sap teased as Kyle shook the sand out. "Those must be full of holes."

"Look," Kyle protested, "there's not a hole in 'em, I know that for sure. They just keep getting full of dirt anyway."

"I thought I was the one that did that," Sap said, laughing.

"Yeah, that's true." Kyle leaned over and kissed his friend's cheek, earning another set of disgusted faces. "I'm glad you washed up for my sake, though."

"Oh, it's not as if I didn't need a bath, anyway." Sap blushed slightly. "My toes were beginning to grow moss."

"I can believe that."

Giggling, Kyle leapt out of the way as his friend lunged at him. They chased each other round and round for a while, before ending up in a pile on the road, both trying to wrestle the other down. As always, Sap won easily, pinning his younger friend to the ground.

"You give up?"

Kyle shook his head, so Sap started tickling him, until the younger boy was screaming with laughter and had to fight hard in order not to lose control over his bladder. In the end he gave in, and they got to their feet again. To his dismay, Kyle found that his shoes were full of sand again, so he sat down and took them off. Both boys examined them, but found no visible holes. Kyle put them on after emptying them, but as he got to his feet he put his hand on the ground for support, and suddenly he felt someone touch it. When he looked, his hand was covered with dirt, as if he had half buried it in sand. He shook it off, but instead of falling to the ground, the dirt seemed to fall sideways, running down his bare legs in a way that almost felt like a caress, ending up in his shoes again. Kyle was puzzled, as well as a bit scared, while Sap shook his head and stared in disbelief.

"Man, you are a dirt magnet! And I thought I was bad."

Kyle thought he could hear a faint, deep laughter, sounding as if it came from very far away, but since Sap didn't seem to hear it, he said nothing. Was he going crazy? He decided to put his shoes in his backpack and walk the rest of the way barefoot. Every now and then, he felt as if something tickled his toes as he walked, but decided not to say anything about this, either. After a while, he hardly even noticed it.

* * * * * *

The two of them had a great time at the market. Kyle never did tire of watching the crowd go by its business, nor did he ever tire of watching the furries. No matter how many he saw, the animal-folk still felt new and exotic to him. Every now and then he spotted some young furry boy he thought looked cute, but before he could muster enough courage to talk to them, they were gone. Sap, however, had no such problems. Ever so often, he would simply walk up to a girl, either human or furry, and within a minute they'd be talking as if they'd known each other their whole lives. Kyle felt a bit envious with his friend for this gift, but he comforted himself with the fact that there were other talents he possessed that Sap didn't. Such as a brain, he told himself, grinning inwardly.

At midday, they went to have lunch in a crowded tavern. Feeling a little adventurous, Kyle tried a fish dish he had never tasted before, and to his delight it turned out to be delicious. Each bite seemed to just melt on his tongue, as the spicy flavour filled his mouth. As he was finishing the last of his meal, a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. There was nothing there, however, although he could have sworn that he had seen something, By now, he was beginning to get used to the odd things that were happening to him, and felt more annoyed than scared this time.

Twice more he thought he saw something that wasn't there, some kind of movement that only seemed to be visible to him. Sap was too busy flirting with a waitress more than twice his age to see anything, or indeed to notice that his friend was moving his head back and forth, to try and catch the flicker in full sight. But nothing more happened, not until they were just about to leave, when a candle on their table suddenly fell over, landing with the flame hitting the back of Kyle's hand. To his astonishment, he wasn't burned. Even if he did snatch his hand back quickly he should still have been blistered, but his hand hadn't even felt hot. More as if warm fingers had stroked it for a fraction of a second. He stared at the toppled candle, and saw the flame wink at him, then die out. This time he did feel a bit scared, especially when he thought he heard a whispering voice just behind his ear, although he knew nobody was there.

"See you soon, Kyle."

After that, Kyle didn't really feel like spending more time at the market. Pretending that his hand hurt, he let Sap help him pick out some groceries, then paid for them and bid his friend farewell. Leaving Sap to a raccoon girl who was all but clinging to him, Kyle started walking back towards his cabin. This time he had no trouble with sand in his shoes, and the journey was pleasantly free from oddities and surprises.

* * * * * *

By the time he had put his groceries away and made himself a mug of tea, he felt in dire need of a bath. The afternoon sun had made him sweaty, so after he had drained his mug he slipped out of his clothes and hung his new necklace on the back of a chair, smiling once again at the gift. Then he picked up soap and towel, humming a tune his mother had used to sing to make him sleepy at night. He no longer remembered the words, but he liked the melody. Naked as the day he was born, he walked towards the door. This was the luxury of living far away from the nearest settlement, he mused; he could walk around as dressed or undressed as he cared. He enjoyed being naked, feeling the air against his skin. It also made him feel naughty in a way he never dared to be around people. With a happy smile on his lips, he stepped out through the door and stood eye-to-eye with a strange boy.