"Going to sleep the day away, or something?" A voice asked, to which Jane slowly opened her eyes, and frowned. She was in the reception, Silverfang's grinning face looking down at her. All she could do was stare, and mutter 'wha' a lot, so Silverfang took the initiative.

"Apparently you and a few of your classmates just suddenly collapsed in Tutor, so they brought you down here, and called the people listed to come get you - of which I am very happy it was me and not him" Silver explained, the last word dripping with venom. "I was at home when the call came in, Eliot had gone to do some Eliot stuff, so I had a free moment to come get you" he explained, but Jane simply shook her head softly some more.

"But...no...Emily, she...” Jane said, trying to explain what she had just seen. 

"Ohh, Emily is fine. Saw her talking to this woman with huge tits. And a nice dress as well, but I’m a guy, my eyes are naturally drawn up there" Silverfang joked, but Jane was still shaking her head.

"I...died in her lap...” Jane uttered softly, plastering a confused, but rather worried look onto Silverfang's face. Silver got off his seat and took Jane’s hands, though before he could speak, someone else took the opportunity. 

 

"Sounds like one 'ell of a vivid dream" a man said from behind them, as Jane looked around, she saw it was the Head Teacher, rather exotically named 'Laas Nebak'. A very friendly tone, but also a great disdain for the letter 'h'. She wondered how this man had ever gotten such a high position with his informal tone, but maybe he had a different tone for more important stuff. He was, amazingly, making a pristine suit, perfectly ironed, look scruffy and ill-kept. Looking up at him, Jane frowned gently. He looked a lot like the caretaker she had seen around; to the point they could be twins. "But, don't worry, no matter what you saw there, it didn't 'appen. We’ve got ot’er people making the same kinda noise, gonna look inta that later. For now, don’t worry so much about it, w’atever you saw, exists only in ya" he explained.

 

"Ok" Jane replied, still groggy but awake enough to stand. What Nebak said made sense, there was no way she could have died. Case and point, being alive right now to contemplate not doing. 

"Right. Yea. T-to, your place" she exclaimed, stammering a word or two but remaining steady.  Silverfang stayed at her side to keep her stable and not on her ass, which was appreciated. Jane still had a strange, confused look plastered on her face, but she managed to keep her thoughts on the road ahead, instead of on her very confused mind.

 

Staggering to the wolf-man’s home, Silverfang opened the door and escorted Jane to the couch. He then took off into the kitchen to get her a drink and give her a moment. Jane closed her eyes as Silver potterd around; she was so sure it had happened, unlike any other dream, it wasn't fading from memory. She could clearly see Emily's face, so terrified.

"Here you go" Silverfang announced, snapping Jane out of her not-quite-asleep state. Jane smiled and took the drink, sipping it a few times before placing it on the nearby table.

"Thanks by the way" she said to Silver with a shy smile.

"Thanks for what?" He asked. 

"Bringing me here, being supportive. Helping with my confusion and - you haven't done this one yet, but I hope you will - not telling Eliot the details" She said, reeling off each reason for thanks.

"Ohh, sure, especially the last one. You can count on me" He told Jane, nodding his support. “Though, ya smell different. Anything happen last night?” He asked, cocking his head gently. Jane mulled through how she smelled different - the fact that Silver was pretty lupine just never occurred these days - and if she wanted to tell him about that. However, it was cut short by a key entering into a lock, giving her a reprieve from having to answer.

 

"Anyone home?" Eliot shouted, opening the door.

"Yea I'm here. And I got a carry-on as well" Silverfang told Eliot, who laughed a bit.

"Aren't you meant to be at school?" Eliot asked Jane, keeping the door open for another girl to walk in.

"Ohh, I got this bug thing along with several other people, and so they let me go" She said, clutching her drink and taking another swig.

“A bug thing. Right” Eliot didn’t try to push the point, just accepting the reason and taking off his scarf. Staring at Eliot for a bit while he disrobed from all the clothes that sane people wore when going out into cold this, cold, Jane finished the drink and put it down, shaking her head and standing up. Where the bloody hell was the unnatural dissociation when you wanted it?

“I’m going to see if I feel better after a shower” she told them, ambling off up that way and getting in.She let the water run on her body for a while, trying to wash away the dream, though it clung to her. So very tightly, did it cling to her. Then she got to shampoo, and scrubbing down in an attempt to wash it off that way. Didn’t help, but did at least give her something to focus on. 

 

When she was finished Jane turned the shower off and stepped out, rubbing herself dry with a towel before wrapping one round the hair. It was a good feeling to be clean. Like physical cleanliness helped with mental cleanliness or something. Stepping up to the mirror, wiping off the condensation, and picking up a brush, Jane ran it through the short red hair. The eyes in the mirror seemed….brighter, than they usually were. Like everything today, that made no sense, but maybe the condensation on the mirror was doing something, so she just finished her hair brushing and toweled off her hair again.

 

After that, she’d steal some of Eliot’s clothes, simple pair of Jeans and a T-Shirt that hung off her thin frame but was better than being naked. With hygiene done and actually feeling better for it, Jane smiled at the mirror, told the day up to this point to piss off, and headed down the stairs. Sniffing the air as she walked down the stairs, Eliot had obviously gone to the kitchen and was doing some cooking. 

"What you got cooking Eliot?" Jane asked as she walked into the Kitchen, cracking an eyebrow.

"Food. It will be done soon, go help Silverfang set up the TV" Eliot said, he never gave a definite answer of what he was cooking before it was done, but Jane asked every time anyway. It was their ritual interaction, after all. 

 

Heading back into the front room, she’d pause for a moment. Though the rest of what happened was told to get lost, one thing could be dealt with, so she approached Silverfang and emptied the table for the coming food and drinks. 

“Hey. Do my, eyes look brighter?" She asked, staring at Silverfang so he could get a good look.

“Is this about the whole ‘you smell different’ thing? Because that’s not a physical smell. It’s more…” he gestured with his hands, the universal symbol for having no idea what the word you want to say is.

"Never mind. It’s fine, just a little scatterbrained today is all" Jane replied, shaking her head and finishing prep in time for Eliot’s arrival.

"Grubs up" he said setting the large plate down and putting some smaller plates next to it.

Jane took a modest amount, biting into one of the chicken pieces as she sat back down. The flavour exploded in her mouth, the herbs went perfectly with the meat and made the whole thing beautiful.

 

"Mmmmm. If I ever get rich, you’ll be my personal chef" Jane announced loudly, leaning back on the couch. Eliot didn’t seem to share the opinion, and just shrugged.

"Well I just got lucky that's all. I threw a load of leftover meat into a pot and chucked in a ton of herbs. The result was not too bad" he said with a big head, popping a piece of beef into his mouth before there was a knock at the door.

"Friends?" Eliot asked, though there was a head-shake from both Silver and Jane. Sighing, he got up and headed to the door,  heading to the door and opening it. As he opened it, however, he was greeted by the sight of a fist, which quickly connected with Eliot's face, knocking him back from the door and sprawling him out on the carpet. His tattered, pitch black overcoat swaying slightly in the breeze and his one eye - the other had a large scar over it and the eyelid was shut - scanned the room, taking in each person in it calmly. 

 

"Hello" The man spoke, casually greeting the room. The surprise didn’t last, and Eliot crawled back to his feet, supported by Silverfang, who had sprouted a tail and his fingers slowly turned into claws, his teeth grew longer and sharper, till they resembled a set of wolf teeth rather than human teeth.  

"Please, take a seat. I have just come for Jane, you don't need to get involved" The man told Silver, obviously highly confident of his skills and the inevitable victory he would have if Silver tried to fight him. However, a plate of meat flew at his face and showered the room with bits of food. Batting away the plate, he was punched in the kidney, a powerful blow that had him reeling back out of the door.

 

“Who the hell is this guy?!” Jane exclaimed, watching Silver back up a step and then drop-kick him, recovering with surprising grace as the assailant was punted clean into the road.

“Someone to beat the crap out of, I’ll say. Grab a pan” Eliot told Jane, heading into the kitchen and coming back with a pair of pans. The reaction was so strange, but not unwarranted, so Jane would accept the pan and go out into the street. There, the fight was going poorly for Silver. No longer surprised, the man’s skill was surpassing Silver’s savagery, and the wolf-man nearly had his arm dislocated before Jane cracked her pan around the scarred man’s head. He staggered from the force, and Jane used that time to help Silver up. Bunching together, the three stood against the man, who just let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head.

“Can’t believe it. Is it my hubris? Or is there actual merit to you even now?” The man asked rhetorically.

 

Before anyone could do anything or offer a reply, The man’s form shuddered softly and changed, the tattered overcoat he wore grew darker, till it was so dark it seemed to steal light from it’s surroundings. A Broadsword formed into his hand, the same dark colour as his coat. The frayed edges of the coat turned into a pristine, fully buttoned version of itself. His face changed as well, the area where his eye was scarred turned skeletal, which made his calm look all the more menacing. To see it happen before their eyes, was hard to comprehend. The sword was a definite danger to be sure, but he was also missing part of his face. The cosmetic upgrade was just water under the bridge compared to the rest of the transformations. His confident smile turned into a look of shock however, and he brought his sword up in front of him.

 

The reason came blazing past them a second later, a pair of yellow beams shooting between Jane and Silverfang’s head and smashing into the sword, scorching it and leaving gouges in the front of the blade. The man was completely ignoring the pan-wielders now, staring past them to a person coming down the road. Jane looked back and saw an incredibly strange sight. 

 

There was a woman, of great beauty striding up the road. Her white hair was played with by a none-existant wind, and her skin was incredibly pale, much like her eyebrows and even her eyes. It was like a snowbank had gotten up and put on a robe, white top and long red skirt that covered her feet. Much akin to Silver, the woman had pure white ears, almost invisible among the same coloured hair, and two tails of the same white swishing behind her. 

“The early bird gets the worm, but the second rat gets the cheese. You moved to soon, Shadow” She’d exclaim, stepping past the trio and standing in front of them.

“Ha, calling yourself a rat, Kiko?” the man - Shadow, the fox lady had called him - exclaimed, pointing his sword at her. The fox lady just smiled and then vanished from sight, reappearing in front of Shadow a moment later and - from the sounds of it - crushing several ribs with a two fisted punch to the torso. Shadow was knocked back from the force, coughing and grunting with pain. He glared for a moment and then spoke.

“Tsk. Planet’s ley-lines are shit. Aint so up my own arse I think I can take you here. Fuckin...ahh” he’d have a much less civilized and smooth tone here, letting out a final grunt of pain and then disappearing into his own shadow. 

 

After the man fully departed, the fox lady looked to Eliot’s nose, bleeding from the blow, and shook her head.

“Learn to duck, would you?” she’d comment, taking out a tissue and cleaning the blood from his face.

“Err...who...are you?” Jane asked, stepping forward a bit. The day had been rather subtly weird up to this point, where it just dropped the pretense and went full bore weird with no restraints.

“Kiko Ator. No title you’d ever recognize, but you can call me a friend for the time being. You had sex last night, yes?” The fox asked. Jane recoiled a bit from the sudden question, and SIlver looked to her with a shocked gaze.

“That’s why-” he started, only to be cut off by Kiko, who finished wiping Eliot’s nose and burned the tissue to ashes.

“She smells different, yes” the Fox finished, stunning Silver as well. People had finished his sentences before, but how she she know that Jane smelled different? 

“Now” the fox continued, stepping back and looking at the open-mouthed looks of the three in front of her. “I am not here to babysit you, I am just here to fulfill a promise I made to a woman I care about. You can come with me now, or stay here and deal with the other people yourself” She’d finish, putting her arms behind her back and waiting for a response.

 

“Other...people?” Eliot asked, an apprehensive tone. 

“Yes. Your friend here-” she’d gesture to Jane “-Had sex last night. Sex she wasn’t...exactly, enthusiastic about” Kiko was about to say more, but Eliot gave a sigh and looked to Jane.

“I knew that guy was no good. Did he...was it…?” Eliot asked, the question speaking itself as Jane shook her head violently.

“No! I mean...ugh, I don’t know. There was none of the implied violence or assault that goes along with that. I just...It was too late by the time I decided that I’d rather not” she replied, grabbing one arm with the other and rubbing it gently.

“Jane. It’s never too late to voice that decision” Eliot replied, a tone somewhere between serious, and stern. Emphasising the seriousness of the situation.

“Whatever your decisions on it, the universe decided to take it as non-consensual. And so now you have been brought a step closer to an inheritance that will change everything. This makes you desirable to pretty much everyone who can get to you, and that man-” she’d flick a finger to where Shadow was standing. “-Is just the first”

 

Kiko finished, and then stood in silence again. This...was heavy. Like, way heavy. Like, what even the hell, heavy. But eventually Jane looked up to the fox and nodded.

“Alright. Where is this place you want to take us?”