Crimson Claws & Fangs ch.10

      After several hours of travel Grey Wolf has found his way through San Diego’s traffic to the town house that was once Samantha’s home. Samantha had been pretending to sleep, thanks to what she overheard Grey Wolf say earlier on the phone. In the dark of night she has felt safe enough to remain in her were-dire form this entire time, only changing back to human form as she pretends to wake up.

 

     As she gets out she sees a for sale sign by the bank on the front lawn. The front door is of course locked and Samantha peers inside the small windows in the door to see that there is nothing inside. Even though she knew she was coming to this, she still felt angry enough at actually seeing it to revert back to her crimson furred form. Reflexively she reaches to her pockets for a key only to remember that not only are these not her pants, not only has she spent a year naked in the desert, but she also more than likely had destroyed her house key or lost it during that same first transformation when she murdered two men and had to flee from being shot at. Before Grey Wolf can utter a word she rips the door knob off and opens the door.

 

     She looks around the empty house and says, “I’m guessing after I went missing they must have packed all this up after the investigation, I really hope it went to my parents and wasn’t sold by the bank.” As Grey Wolf begins to walk towards the door she turns and asks him to stay outside, she wants to investigate the house and needs to absorb this. Grey Wolf shrugs and backs off thinking, “This must be very emotional for her, she will undoubtedly join us, she has no where else to go” he huffed a little laugh to himself at that last thought.

 

     Inside the house Samantha thinks, “I have got to get away from this guy.” As she moves through the house she slowly makes her way to the back door, which is opens quickly and makes a run for it. Grey Wolf hears the sound of the back door opening quickly and the sound of running, “shit!” he exclaims as he transforms and jumps high into the air above the house meaning to give chase. As he is high in the air seeing the crimson blur that is Samantha jetting through the unlit backyards of the neighborhood Grey Wolf is hit by an invisible force that sends him flying back down into the house, to his surprise. He impacts the tile floor of the kitchen forming a small crater around his body. However he had phased through the roof like a ghost, he only realized that by looking up and seeing no hole from where he had come.

 

     As she starts to stand he sees a strange creature standing in the room, it looks somewhat similar to a were-dire, only more fox like. The legs while human are more muscular and dog like with five toed pawed feet. The arms are much the same way, like canine paws with an opposable clawed thumb. As he looked further up the creature was clearly female with two c-cup fur covered breasts with a thick tuft growing from the cleavage. Her head was far more fox like than any were-dire or even a dire. Like what one might expect a fox’s head to look like if it had a forehead. The overall fur color was a stark yellow like a Japanese fox with a white abdominal fur color, save for the breasts and the breast tuft which were yellow as well. He looks behind her to see a distinctly fox like tail whose tip just reaches above the ground behind the paws.

 

     All this together spelt one thing to Grey Wolf, “a Kik?” he says aloud, confused. He had heard of them from his training in the H.E.P. but had never seen one before. The woman clearly hearing his thoughts says in a very feminine none-distinct East Asian sounding voice, “a Yah Kik, actually.”

Grey Wolf stands completely to his feet a little dizzy, “Yeah I think I remember those, a bunch of lesbian Virgin Maries of the Kik.”

 

     “Advanced feminine Hermaphrodites actually, and you should watch your tone with me.” She retorts.

 

    Grey Wolf ignores her remark as he finally steadies himself and his head clears, realizing she must have been the one that hit him, “You are interfering with my mission,” he says, “I have direct orders from Censa herself…a Dire or Rai I guess you’re kind might call them, in case you don’t you.”

 

    Yasha acting oblivious to what he had said asks, “Do you recognize me from the H.E.P.’s archives?”

 

    “What the hell does that have to do with anything?” he snaps back frustrated with this interloper.

 

    “Well,” she says, “If you paid any attention to the names and pictures of the major players on this world in the H.E.P.’s archives you would know that I am Yasha, the personal attendant of none other than Lady Kitsu herself.”

 

      Grey Wolf freezes remembering an incident years ago when he saw Censa speaking with Lady Kitsu, the giant snow white female Dire with an upraised tail like that of a cartoon skunk, and how Censa was acting in a way he had never before or since seen her act, timid. She seemed to have been afraid of Kitsu, who as he recalled was actually Censa’s aunt. As he thought about it he also remembered a yellow haired woman who was with her…”

 

   “That was me.” Interrupted Yasha, who had once again been eaves dropping on Grey Wolf’s thoughts.

 

    “None of that matters.” Spouts Grey Wolf, “I was sent to find a were-dire that Censa sensed whose powers had recently emerged & to bring her in.”

 

     Yasha looked thoughtful for a moment, “Censa is all the way over in

New York City, every so often people with Were-Dire blood in them transform and become true Were-Dires. Usually they are descended from the Clan of Censa she created long ago,” she indicated Grey Wolf “your people I believe.”

 

    Yasha raised her hand to stop any remarks by Grey Wolf before continuing, “When ever she senses a new Were-Dire has emerged here she can easily assume they are her’s so she sends someone like you out to recruit them for her secret society.”

 

     Grey Wolf was about to ask her something when she stopped him, “Before you ask, I know all of this because this type of situation we are in now has been discussed between Lady Kitsu and Censa. If you don’t believe me you need only ask your superiors, namely Shadow Vixen, about Shadla. We are in a very similar occurrence actually.”  

 

    Yasha smiled a toothy smile and continued, “In fact Lady Kitsu and myself were actually a very short distance from Rhuen and Versa when they had their children, of course they likely sensed our presence, but it would have been improper for either side to have interfered with each other during that time. It was around that same time Versa turned that woman into a Were-Dire. So per the laws of the Rai that woman belongs to Versa and Censa has no say in the matter.”

 

    With a growl and a huff Grey Wolf asks “Why didn’t Versa inform Censa about this? Or any high H.E.P. officials not to interfere with her new little project?”

 

     Yasha lets out a slight laugh, “Versa has been out of the loop since ancient times and hasn’t interfered with Censa and her group since back when they first formed to fight Common-Zontz.” With a shrug Yasha adds, “Besides it was Versa who told you Crimson Vixen’s name and where to find her. You were merely a pawn to help get her out of the desert and into this city; you have served your purpose.”

 

    Grey Wolf becomes enraged by Yasha’s condescending tone, “I am more than 200 years old! I am well aware of the rules the Dire go by!”

 

    “Is that so?” she asks.

 

 

    “Yes!” he yells back, “The rules say a Were-Dire can pledge their allegiance to who ever they want despite who it was that created them or who they might be descended from.”

 

    Yasha simply shrugged, “and that was how they solved the issue with their blood based creations. This allowed them to be viewed as children of the Rai rather than mere creations with the same liberties as any descendent species.”

 

  In a flash she moves nose to nose with Grey Wolf and states in a threatening tone, “I am more than 3,000 years old, so don’t be pretending to teach me anything. Remember that free will means you can’t force her to serve your group, you can only persuade her.”

 

   She stops, backing up and with a smile and wag of the finger simply states, “& you should be very careful about who you cross in the mean time.” Before Grey Wolf could respond she faded from sight as first a blue hue, an outline, and then nothing.

 

     Yasha is still in the room, only from her point of view everything is in a blue hue, like a world of perpetual shadowy twilight. Grey Wolf remains where she left him, except now he can’t see her, touch her, or detect her presence any other way at all. Grey Wolf frustrated, especially after realizing Yasha must have been stalling him so Samantha could gain some distance, transforms back to his human form, leaves out the front, gets in his jeep, and drives away.

 

    Yasha still in the twilight world walks out the back to see Lady Kitsu and Versa standing next to each other looking like two grand regal queens of the forest. From Behind Versa and Kitsu’s fourteen foot frames steps a shorter Rai, standing eight and half feet tall. She has black fur save for a white spot just above her cleavage, which isn’t as developed as the two behind her. Yasha bows to the ground like an obedient ninja on one knee and head lowered before them, “I have done as you desired mighty goddesses.” Versa turns her grey muzzle to Kitsu and says, “Your pet is very skilled sister, and it seems my daughter Censa’s empire has grown in ways I wouldn’t have believed only a year ago. I will need to keep a closer eye on Crimson Vixen from here on.”