by Melanie Ray
“Here.” Becca grabbed Tiger away from Litalia. “Very sorry again.”
“Tiger?” Carress looked through the door.
Tiger grumbled but stopped moving around. "Dangit, I thought this was a way out. It's nothing but another apartment. What the heck?"
“Come on, it’s back home with you,” Becca insisted. "Move it."
Shimmer uncrossed her arms and looked back at Wye. "Mangs at 1:00, tonight. If you're late, we’ll leave."
Wye smiled as he watched her and Shimmer leave.
“Not on the run.” Danva looked over at Wye. “Not hurt, not mistreated, simply living out her life in great conditions. Do you get it yet?”
Wye didn’t know what to say. She did look happy, she was taking care of Tiger and Carress, and she was safe and sound. Still, the Pink Kingdom wasn’t where she belonged. Was this truly the best he could do?
“Oh Phaver, did you hear about this ‘Earth’ thing?” Litalia dug out some mashed vegetables and placed them on Phaver’s plate. “We’re supposed to move there and leave the Furry dears here.”
“They aren’t dears ma,” Phaver grunted. “They’re barbarians.”
“No, no. They’re just not very smart,” Litalia disagreed. “I think they could be like charming children if our kingdom would take care of them better.”
Wye couldn’t believe what he was hearing. What?!
“I don’t want to go to this Earth place, I like it here.” Phaver frowned. “Why should we have to leave?”
“I heard on the news, this Earth is being scouted.” Litalia continued, “They haven’t done anything yet because leadership is so strange. In one area it’s like a royalty, and in another they say there are houses and estates? No one understands exactly how its run.”
Wye took his next enthusiastic bite. They didn’t try anything yet? “They haven’t taken anything over yet then?”
“Not yet, I hear they have made five new transporter models though,” Litalia answered. “It sounds more like we’re taking over the planet.”
They are, Wye thought bitterly. “Knocking off the inhabitants would make us the barbarians, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh.” Litalia thought about his statement. “Good point. Why do we have to take out the inhabitants?”
“It’s a state of emergency.” Phaver replied. “That’s all they say. I don’t want to leave to some planet I don’t know of though, I like it here.”
“Now Phaver, you have to come.” Litalia insisted. “We don’t do this all the time, and they insist everyone goes. Something must be going wrong with the planet.”
“I agree.” Danva looked over at Wye. “We can’t save everyone, but if there’s a chance to save ourselves, maybe we should take it?”
“What? Something’s happening to Pagnia?” Wye looked around the table. Everyone seemed to agree that something crucial was going on, was there more to it than just taking natural resources? Really living there? “They are scouting, and they’ve just got five?”
“Yes, but they plan to attack soon,” Danva reminded him. “What do you plan on doing?”
“Danva.” Wye looked over at his father. “Have you seen those transporters?”
“Yes,” Danva looked over at Wye and sighed. “Litalia, Phaver, I’ll be back. I need to talk to Wye alone.”
Wye nodded and went out with Danva. “They haven’t taken over yet,” He whispered. “We’ll take them all for a ride of our own. My friends and my family. Any extra we can destroy.”
“How do you plan on getting your friends in?” Danva frowned. “I’ve got one ID Wye, just one. How many are you needing?”
“If we keep the rest of the kids hidden and calm, they’ll get through alongside us.” Wye said. “There’s Xiam, Zaria, Muin and me.”
“Four?” Danva groaned. “That’s impossible. I would have to knock out and surgically remove some.”
“Do what you gotta do.” Wye frowned. “You left me for years out there without so much as a letter sent to tell me that you were alive. You owe me this!”
Danva grumbled. “I’ll do what I can. For now, I’ll escort you out of the gates. I’ll find some unwilling civilians,” he sighed. “Let’s hope I can keep them trapped long enough to pull this off. Now where should I meet you?”
Chapter 46
DOUBLE DATING
“He’s here? He’s back, he’s back!” A Furry shouted as Yed walked back into his house.
“Where are your kids?” M-Win asked as she saw Yed come in alone. "Didn't you find them Mr. Huffy?"
“Their fine,” Yed said as he looked at Muin. He had been too overwhelm with the past the last time he spoke to her. “Come on M-Win, we need to talk.”
“Talk about what?” M-Win followed him up the stairs.
“I’m getting us home, before it’s too late.” Yed smiled at her. “We’re going home.”
M-Win finally gave him a smile. “So everything’s okay?”
“Everything is as fantastic as it can be,” Yed replied. “I met my family again.”
“Really?” M-Win said, “That’s great. Is that why you are less predator-like to everyone? Have you gotten out of the mood you were in?”
Yed nodded. “Where’s X, I need to talk him.”
“Oh, are you sure you need too? He’s kind of mad at you," M-Win said.
“You don’t say?” Yed put his hands to his mouth. “Paging patient X, the former Xiamipoc Vallencio! We are seeing you now!”
M-win cracked up laughing and slapped Yed on the back. "Yep, you're back to normal."
Yed watched as Xiam angrily marched up to them.
“Wipe the frown off and get in my room.” Yed gestured behind him. "We're gonna have a talk brother."
Xiam grudgingly followed. “What?”
“Cheer up. Iridescent won’t be happy if her date’s in a grumpy mood,” Yed teased. “You ready to see your wife?”
Xiam looked at him strangely. “What?”
“Fur’s different, memory’s different, but the attitude and the warno she had been is still the same,” Yed said. “Her feelings are probably the same too, just give her some time.”
Xiam's eyes were wide and his head tilted at a funny angle “What?”
Danva stood beside the giant wall where Yed told him to go. Yed looked at the four ID’s in his hand.
“You get them?” Yed demanded more than asked.
“Innocents are going to be thrown out of the kingdom for my actions, you know that, right?” Danva presented the four small metal ID’s with a gun of some sort next to it. “This is going to hurt briefly.” He put the small ID’s like bullets into the gunlike object and handed it to Yed. “Put it at the top of the wrist and aim it downward but not too far down.” Danva supervised him as he got it into position. “Pull the trigger.”
Yed felt the sharp sting in his arm. "Xiam and M-Win aren’t gonna like this."
“I HAVE TO SHOOT MYSELF?” Xiam questioned as he looked at the gunlike instrument. He held it up to his wrist. “Like this?”
“Further back,” Yed corrected the aim for him. “It might sting a bit. Pull it.”
“Ow!”
“Told you.” Yed smiled as Xiam rubbed his arm. “Congrats, you can now go into the kingdom for your date.”
“What was that noise?” M-Win came over and saw the commotion.
“I’ve got a surprise, close your eyes.” Yed smiled with a big grin. “Be a good female about this, and maybe I can round up some candy?” He took the gun from Xiam and quickly hit M-Win with it. Reasoning with her would be harder, especially after she heard Xiam’s yell.
“Owie!” M-Win cried as she grabbed her arm. "You bastard, what the hell did you do?"
“Muin?” Zaria quickly came over to check her out. “You okay? What happened?”
“I can show you. A real male should feel his female's pain.” Yed held the gun to Zaria’s wrist. He had to get everyone injected before anyone else started running out and tried to take it for them
selves.
“Yed Smilliat has an ID giver?!”
Too late. He quickly shot Zaria and heard his cry. He watched as Furries started to tumble out. “I’m out,” Yed said to them. “I’m out, now go back inside.”
“Well, how come they got one?” Koko whined. “What about us?”
“We’re going to help be undercover,” Zaria lied for Yed. “This won’t be a fun trip.”
“I didn’t want to be undercover,” M-Win whined. “Nobody asked me.”
“First night, Xiam and I are undercover.” Yed said as he looked at his father. “At One O’ Clock, right?”
Danva nodded. “Are you sure about this? Your family is so much happier here.”
“They’ll be happier on Earth,” Yed disagreed. “Figure it out.” He pointed to the house itself. “You can have the floor.”
“All this work and I get the floor to sleep on?” Danva complained. “Do you know what it took to get those ID’s? Do you have any idea how complicated it’s going to be to get us those transporters?”
“You’re lucky I’m letting you in,” Yed said. “It’s still my house, dad.”
XIAM LOOKED AT HIMSELF in the mirror. A date with his wife? He hadn’t seen her in so long, what would he say? "My clothes aren’t speaking well for me." He looked down at his clothes. Through all the trouble, chaos and near death experiences, they had seen much better days. He looked at his dirty brown hat. Maybe if he shook it out some? "Not much better," he decided as he tossed it away. He looked at his filthy shirt. He hadn’t cared so much about the way he had looked for some time, but he was going on a date with Iridescent.
“Knock knock.” Yed opened the cracked door all the way and leaned against with some clothes on a hanger. “They aren’t exquisite, but they aren’t dirty. I was always prepared for anything in this place.” He handed them to Xiam. “Don’t be nervous, you two hit if off once before.”
“I haven’t seen her in so long,” Xiam looked at the mirror and the new clothes. “How did she even notice me in the first place?”
Yed smiled. “Don’t worry Xiam, Everything will turn out okay. You seen M-Win’s kids lately by the way?”
“Yeah, Zaria’s trying to talk to them.” Xiam shook his head shamefully. “She’s staying as far away as she can from them.”
“It’s a lot to deal with, believe me.” Yed groaned. “From Aryu to parenthood, it’s a big step.”
Xiam put on the new white cap. "Dashing or overdoing it?" He sighed. “Yed? I know you don’t have to follow Protector guidelines anymore, since you aren’t one, but are you going to go after my sister?”
“I knew Ezra a long time ago, Xiam." Yed said. "The only thing I have on my mind, is to get out of here and get back to Earth safely.”
“And after?” Xiam questioned.
“How should I know?” Yed rolled his eyes. “Would you stop obsessing about me and your sister? I already told you the whole kid thing was King Sheward’s fault, and I didn’t feel like getting killed for treason! Besides, like it or not, I’ve been your brother more than half a century. Show me some decency, will ya?”
Xiam couldn’t help but smile. Yed may know about his past, but his feelings were clearly compromised. “I will, but try not to lead her on if you can help it?”
“Just focus on the good, okay?” Yed insisted. “You're meeting your wife tonight, Xiamipoc Vallencio. Just have fun.”
BECCA LOOKED OVER AT Tiger who was sitting far away from Shimmer and Carress. Carress was between her and Shimmer on their couch, but Tiger had isolated himself on the arm of the couch. “Tiger? Would you like to sit over here? We have snacks.” Tiger didn’t answer back. He felt out of his territory and just wanted to get back to the Ring Kingom again.
“How about we talk?” Becca urged him. “Did others who knew Carress also take care of you? Could you explain a little more?”
“He had a metal bracelet like me when I was a baby,” Carress answered Becca instead. “He showed it to me.”
“That just meant you both were plucked from the other kingdom and sent here,” Shimmer spoke up. “That has nothing to do with relation.”
“Someone dropped me off a long time ago and gave a little paper with basic information about me.” Tiger said. “I had a sister named Carress, and I was a boy found in the Ring Kingdom but couldn’t stay. So there, can we drop it now?”
“Plus, we found our Grammy.” Carress smiled at Becca. “She knew all about us and our parents.”
Tiger didn’t care to listen as he touched his tail again. “I miss my fur and this gel sucks.”
“It’s called furgon.” Becca left the couch and went over to the young boy. “You won't have to shave for at least three days.”
“You’re weird. How come they consider you citizens? You're Furries too.” Tiger complained.
“We aren’t Furries, but we are born with some of their defects.” Becca smiled. “For example, we aren't barbaric.”
“I’m not barbaric!” Tiger shouted. “Pinks are the barbaric ones!”
“Uh huh,” Shimmer looked over at Carress. “You don’t believe that, do you?” She was surprised when Carress nodded yes. “What? We aren’t barbaric at all.”
“Pinks are bad.” Tiger looked at Becca. “You’re not a Pink, you are a Furry. If you were a Pink, then you would have enjoyed seeing us die.”
“OH,” BECCA FELT A STING in her heart at the cruel words. “Some of us aren’t very nice, but no one wants to see you die.”
“We aren’t barbaric.” Shimmer replied. “Except for that Earth place. I can’t believe we are supposed to be taking over another planet. Can’t we protest? It seems wrong.”
“We’ve always had reasons for everything,” Becca reasoned. “There must be a reason for this too.”
“No, Pinks love war, plain and simple.” Tiger growled.
“You’re grouchy. Perhaps we should get you to bed?” Becca suggested. “It’s been a busy day. What do you think Shimmer?”
Shimmer turned off the TV. “It is getting pretty late, I guess we could call it a night.” She looked down at Carress. “You can share the spare room with your brother. There’s no bed, but there are two sleeping bags. Or if you want, you can sleep with me and Becca.”
“I’ll stick with Tiger,” Carress said. She went to the spare room and opened the door. Her guardians brought in sleeping bags and laid everything out for the two. She smiled but caught Tiger’s look. He wasn’t exceedingly happy to be staying overnight. She watched him climb into a sleeping bag, and she climbed into the other. As the door was closed, Carress cuddled up closer to her brother. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t like it here, I want to go home.” Tiger said. “Carress, we have to get out. We don’t belong here.”
“We do though,” Carress said. “Tiger, even you had an ID.”
“I may have been brought here, but I don’t belong here.” Tiger insisted. “We are busting out of here soon, Carressy. As soon as I know the others won’t be waiting outside the gates. One more day, tops.”
Carress sighed. “One day?”
“It’s either them or me.” Tiger frowned at her. “Carress?”
“You.” Carress whined. “I can’t lose my family, and that’s you.”
“Exactly.” Tiger finally smiled. “Now get some rest. One more day, and we are out of this kingdom.”
AT THE GATES OF THE Pink kingdom.
“My name there is Wye,” Yed informed Xiam as they walked. “You’ll need something different too. When we’re ready to make a move the gals can remember, but not until then. Any ideas?”
Xiam shook his head. “I don’t know, X?”
“X sounds good, very on the spot name.” Yed laughed. He and x moved over closer and smiled at the guard. “We were on a tour, we’re ready to go in now.” He looked over at Xiam one more time. Head to toe they had both been made to look like Pinks. X shaved his tail and each of them put plenty of covetall on their hair. They entered the gates
in a matter of seconds and walked toward a roller. After speaking in an unkind manner, the roller operator took them to the front of the restaurant they had been looking for.
Xiam rubbed his hands nervously. “Yed? I mean, Wye? Are you sure this is the place and time?”
Wye smiled at X as Iridescent approached them. “Positive, X marked the spot. Remember, her name's Shimmer and Ezra is Becca.”
Shimmer held out her hand to X. “I’m Shimmer, your date, I guess.”
X smiled as he shook hands back. He couldn’t stop staring. She was exactly the same as he used to remember her. The only difference was a shaved tail. Yed was right, inside was still Iridescent. “Hello, I’m...X.”
“Hello, X.” Shimmer shook his hand and sat down next to him. She looked at the food on the menu.
“F-feel free to get whatever,” X laughed nervously as he gulped. For some reason, it felt like he had met her for the first time.
“Get something expensive,” Wye insisted. "I'm not cheap."
“So, uhhh...Shimmer?” X asked. “Have you gone out much?”
Shimmer couldn’t help but smile back. “Not much. You sure do seem much nicer than a lot of guys I’ve known.”
“I’m on a date with you. How could not I be?” X continued to smile, unaware of his little blunder.
Shimmer chuckled and started to blush. “X, is it? Do I know you? I feel like we’ve met before.”
“Maybe, I get around.” X chuckled. She may not remember, but she felt the connection. Yed was right, maybe he could still get her back?
“Where’s Becca?” Wye had to ask.
Shimmer waved behind Wye. “She is right behind you.”
Wye watched as Becca took a seat next to him. “Hi?”
“Hello,” Becca said.
“...” Wye didn’t know what else to say. More than a half a century. It had been more than half a century since he’d spoken to her. Since he'd been her Protector, since he stole a kiss, since they hid and since she was taken away. What could he say after all that? "...nice dress.”