FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

_ Bonds of Gold by K9Lupus _

The gathered yangul had finally secured their kill. Beneath a flurry of shifting feet they scrabbled for purchase around and atop their prey. With a wheezing breath shooting a bloody spray into the air, the heft of the ceratoro collapsed onto the ground, lifeless and still. Miles of trudging through the desert were now paying off for the scaled beasts with each undulating gulp of flesh and fur that traveled down their gullets. Hidden behind a paltry sand dune Castor Reynolds furiously jotted down research notes and sketches in his journal of the momentous discovery.

The yangul were an intriguing reptilian species. The firsts colonists of Teranovus were reminded of the vast discoveries of gold found in the Yangul province of Russia on Old-Earth when they caught sight of the flourished, rigid crests of yellow and orange scales found on males. The scales wrapped around their necks much in the spirit of a lion's mane, and sharply glinted the light of the dual suns above. The yangul were towering, wingless approximations of the fabled dragons from stories back on Old-Earth. Sturdy and robust in stature, individuals were seldom seen alone, instead favoring to travel in small bands and hunt cooperatively.

They carried themselves with a proud, sure-footed gait on powerful forelimbs reinforced with heavy muscle stretched across their chests. These layered, powerful fibers further trailed up the backs of their necks and attached along the base of their jaws, granting them an immensely devastating bite for whatever would unfortunately find themselves as prey. Long, whip-like tails trailed behind the creatures, small notches seen missing in places from older individuals as a result of perceived conflicts with their kin. For as majestic they were to behold, much of their lives still remained a secret from those who made their home here.

Supported by the planet's strikingly dense concentration of oxygen, they and the other megafauna who resided there were able to grow to larger proportions than any of the life humans had left behind during the Last Days. Besieged by a ceaseless flurry of unavoidable space rock, only a small portion had been able to escape from their dying world with few daring to witness the planet crumple beneath the weight of one mighty, massive blow millions of light years in the making.

The colony had since been successfully established for several years, with many of the original passengers aged considerably on their extended voyage through space. Through their trauma they had bore witness to the death of one world and the birth of another. Fewer and fewer remained every year who could recall laying on beds of grass to look up at only a single sun in the sky, or the loud, busy commotion of expansive cities. United under the common thread of refusing extinction for themselves the people of Teranovus had done well for themselves, but now faced a new, spreading threat that would require immediate action.

********

Castor snaked himself above the crest of the dune to get a better look at the group while they continued to feed on the slain ceratoro bull. He noted the way pairs of individuals would take their turn to feed before relinquishing the carcass to another set. Were they mated pairs? Perhaps there was a ranking system within the groups for feeding order. From the direction of their pursuit was home towards the East for them? More notes and scribbles made its way into the margins of his research notes. A curious yangul yearling had lifted its head with bloody lips and fixed a red eye in the direction of Castor. It took a few steps, recognized the shape as something other than another of its kind, and wailed an alarm call to the rest of the band.

Castor immediately skidded down the dune as a chorus of roars rang across the open desert. The muffled boom of pounding feet slammed closer and closer as Castor reached his sand skiff. The long, golden neck of a mature male came into view cresting the top of the dune, and a much larger version of the yearling's crimson eye focused all of its fury on the intruder interrupting their feast. Castor pounded at the engine to start, but it only gave a sandy cough.

"I knew this filter was going to kill me one day. Come on, come on....you hunk of junk!" Thoroughly insulted, the engine whirred into life with a large clump of clogged sand spitting out at the yangul's face as Castor zoomed far away from his choice subjects. The yangul sat back on its haunches, loosed a snort of frustration, and returned back to an easier meal.

********

Castor dusted off his jacket and sloughed off his boots, pouring out another several handfuls of sand from them before entering his home on the outskirts of the colony. Living here was the best of both worlds for Castor; close enough to report his research to the council when needed, and yet none too far from the wild expanses of Teranovus to venture out for the day and still be home before the second sun dipped out of view.

Phoebe turned up from her book and greeted her husband with outstretched arms, the two exchanging a heartfelt kiss while little Rigel waved a chubby baby arm in his father's direction from where he played on his belly among a spattering of toys. She examined her husband more closely, and felt the dried sweat at his brow, his sand-blown hair, and extended tear at the bottom seam of his jacket.

"I take it today's expedition was successful for you to be coming back home looking like this." she scoffed.

And right on cue Castor was off.

"You wouldn't believe it! There were five yangul, young adults by the looks of their throat patches. You should have seen the way they moved across the sand. They must have been showing the youngest their hunting formation." Castor was immersed in one of his fervent recollections of his "work" for the day. Phoebe nodded from time to time, feigning interest in her husband's passion that she didn't quite understand. It was risky, but she trusted him to take necessary precautions around them. She was certain that he was the most knowledgeable of any person in the colony on them, and it doubled as helping him blow off steam from his work for the council.

Castor and Phoebe had only been young kids when they were rushed onto the spaceship that would guarantee them a future. Over the many years they had traveled their course through the cosmos, they had gotten to know one another, care for each other, and eventually love the other more than anything else in their metallic shell of a world. Finally landing on Teranovus was a joyous time for all, and Castor was certain he wanted to carve out a life with his beloved here. They soon were settled in their own dwelling and were happy together. The love they shared was as bright as many of the stars they had hurtled past as they had grown up, and with time their son had resulted from their union. Rigel knew not of the Earth or the common games and places that the kids of before would learn of before the Last Days. Teranovus's soil would be his home, and Castor and Phoebe only wished the best for him.

With his vivid recollections done for now Castor turned his attention to his son who was content to examine a small model transporter with his mouth. "And how about you little guy?" Castor cooed as he knelt down beside his son. "You going to go fly with the cadets when you get older? Better get some practice now!" Castor lifted his son high into the air on an impromptu journey weaving through imaginary planets and asteroid belts around their home. When Castor increased their speed to evade an approaching threat Rigel laughed and cuddled tighter into his father's arms.

Phoebe smiled seeing her two special guys enjoying themselves, but Castor caught the downward glint of her gaze and the slight purse of her lips. Rigel was ready for more fun, but Castor promised him they'd get back to playing later.

"Did everything go ok with maintenance today? Hunt's not trying to come in and manage your resource crew for you again is he?" Castor asked as he caressed Phoebe's shoulders.

"No, he's not causing any trouble again. Only wondering what to make for dinner is all." Phoebe answered as she started to head towards the kitchen.

"Oh ok. By the way, how's Trish? Did they finish processing her medical report? She had called in the other day saying she wouldn't be available at the lab since they had scheduled her to go in the morning."

Phoebe stopped at the doorway and turned to her husband with tears brimming at the corners of her eyes.

"She called earlier and...she's not coming in anymore. She's got it Castor. She tested positive for scourge.

"What?!" Castor exclaimed, surprising little Rigel and causing him to accidentally knock over his small tower of blocks, mimicking his father with his own crying wail. Castor was quick to scoop his son up into his arms.

"I'm sorry bud. I didn't mean to spook you." he murmured in Rigel's ear while he rocked him on his chest. Phoebe was using the door frame for leverage to steady herself.

"They're going to keep her in quarantine and try and make things as comfortable as possible for her before..." Phoebe choked on the last words, unable to face their grim reality.

"It's ok sweetheart. We'll manage. It's good that they caught it earlier rather than later. It can be slowed down more this way if she wants more time."

Phoebe wiped away tears away with the back of her arm and nodded.

The ailment known as The Scourge had been one of the unfortunate costs of relocating to Teravnovus. Carried through the airborne spores of several fungal species, symptoms were at first innocuous, a faint itch on the arms and legs with the appearance of a mild, red rash. This quickly developed and spread as inhaled spores interacted with proteins on the surfaces of cells to allow transmission and replication of new, deleterious segments of genetic code. Nearly every type of cell within the body would come to be affected: bone, muscle, skin, blood. Once fully incubated, through a mechanism still not yet fully understood, those cells would then be programmed for apoptosis, cell death. The disease caused all body cells to sequentially flake off resulting in large gaping wounds, blindness, sensory loss, nervous system abnormalities, and eventual organ failure. Death was often a welcomed relief for those suffering from it.

Castor worked in his genetics department devising treatments for scourge alongside the top minds within the colony. As of yet, no treatment had yielded adequate results. With their population still establishing itself after their years of traveling through space, any single major medical event like this could spell the end of humanity forever. Castor's hobbyist ventures to study the yangul were not only for pleasure, but had gone to yield a presented, yet unproven hypothesis that yangul genetics may carry the answer to solving the spreading issue of scourge among humanity. Analysis of their blood had shown that the yangul were unaffected by the spores carrying scourge, despite proteins found with the same receptors allowing for transmission of the infectious genetic content. Castor hypothesized that the creatures had evolved a defensive mechanism within the nucleus of their cells that prevented the spread of scourge.

His radical hypothesis had put Castor at odds with the other researchers. Isolated within his own work, Trisha had become a valued ally to share his ideas with, but now with this new update he would be forced to engineer his own solutions if he wanted to have a hope of retaining a future for his family.

********

Castor pushed around chunks of lightly-seasoned, quartered potatoes immersed in a savory dark gravy, one of Phoebe's best meals that even the picky Rigel had no qualms about eating lost in thought over Trisha's plight.

"I have a meeting with the council tomorrow." he hastily spoke between bites.

"Perhaps they'll finally be giving you the time of day to listen to what you've been telling them this whole time. I imagine losing one of their best to this is going to prompt some immediate action." Phoebe finished with a heavy, grave tone.

"Shame if it would have to come to that, but I wouldn't put it past them." Castor replied with a fresh heap of potatoes stuffed in his mouth.

Rigel offered his own input on the situation with intermittent splats of broccoli dipped in gravy dropped from his plate onto the ground. Both Castor and Phoebe rolled their eyes at their son's antics and looked to each other indecisive to who's turn it was this time to help clean up after him.

"He takes after you, you know that?" Phoebe jabbed with an accompanying quirk of her brow.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Castor answered after swallowing another large bite.

"Nothing. Just that you're important to him is all." Castor sighed and put down his fork to attend to his son's growing masterpiece on the floor. Phoebe grinned and continued her meal, satisfied to get this small break even though it was her turn.

********

The council's chambers were constructed with the highest-grade materials available to the colony. Tiered rows of carved wooden seats and extended desks had been constructed with the trees of Teranovus to lift the council up according to rank. Rolling banners toppled down from the chamber's vaulted ceiling displaying the colony symbol of of a man and woman coming together to tend to a single sapling. The whole place had an air more alike that of royal court as opposed to an area for democratic justice.

Castor entered, formally greeted the council as was expected of all who arrived while they were in session, and fixed his eyes on the highest seated of all the men and women there, a grizzled, worn man with a long, purple coat dipped in black at its pointed ends. With a single wave of the man's hand the council silenced and all eyes were now on Castor.

"Chancellor Trence, thank you for the opportunity to speak with the council today. I was told that you had need of me, but was not briefed on the nature of this meeting." Castor said with as straight a back as he could muster.

"I am sure by now you have heard the news of Ms. Waltz's unfortunate circumstance, yes?" the chancellor began.

"I have. Trisha is a great research partner in my department. To think that scourge will take her soon brings great sorrow to my heart."

"Heart rarely has a place in this line of work Mr. Reynolds. Decisions must be made with the good of the people in mind. To interject yourself into the equation would be to unnecessarily risk progress." voiced nonchalantly.

Trence paused and purposefully gathered his thoughts before next speaking.

"Mr. Reynolds, we find ourselves in harrowing times. Scourge is continuing to surface in the other districts and yet we still have no solution for the crisis that we face. To the public we are working at developing an end to this tragedy, but I ask how close are you to having something that we can use today?"

"My department has been developing preliminary models based on the yangul research I've presented. It's only a matter of ti.."

The chancellor's hand was striking and unyielding in its command, and Castor silenced once more.

"Preliminary models do not save lives. Time has been given to you and it must now be redirected. The council has spoken on this matter and has come to a majority agreement. Henceforth, any research involving the yangul has now been classified as subsidiary content, and as such is exempt and further suspended from any colonial funding programs. Personnel is to be dedicated to minimizing the impact of symptoms from the spores to improve quality of life for those affected. You may appeal the council's decision following our outlined procedures."

A man walked from the base of the tiered rise to deliver a set of documents onto Castor's desk before quietly returning to his post. Castor stood, wide-eyed and shocked at the announcement. Grabbing the appeal documents, he crumpled them into a loose heap and scattered them on the floor.

"Will you not listen to reason? I've presented enough evidence for the council to consider. The research is clear. If we want to put an end to this catastrophe for our people then we have to consider alternative means from outside ourselves. Or would you rather see us crumble and retreat to our spaceships in desperate home for another planet when we fall short. I fear humanity would not be so fortunate the next time, and I doubt you want to be the one to issue such an order Chancellor." Castor uttered with veins tightening at either side of his neck.

"You still speak in the council's chambers so I urge you to watch your words." Trence sternly reminded. "Insubordination is not tolerated when we all must work towards our survival. We value your work and dedication to the people of Teranovus Mr. Reynolds, and we know this is difficult to hear, but sometimes these matters must occur to sharpen our focus when it is needed most."

"I'm on the brink of a cure for our people and you're going to shut it all down?!" Castor yelled in disbelief.

"This meeting is hereby ended. You may go Mr. Reynolds. You'll find a full briefing on suggested personnel changes in the morning. The council thanks you for your time and service."

The other council members began promptly leaving the chamber in practiced, organized fashion.

"You've made a grave mistake Chancellor. I just hope that you'll come to see the error of your ways before more senseless loss needs to occur." With a begrudged expression, Castor saluted and turned away from the council to exit the council's chambers, already envisioning the chancellor's bewildered, frustrated expression when he came back with the answer they needed. He would not stand by while everyone continued to suffer. Castor had a plan, but questioned if the cost would be worth it in the end.

********

Castor returned home late that evening carrying a secured metal case. Phoebe greeted him at the door, but spied heavy bags under his eyes accompanied with a slouched, pensive appearance.

"Hey hun. What did the council have to say? I was thinking that you were going to be home much earlier than this. Rigel's already in bed upstairs." Phoebe wrapped her arms around him and rolled her knuckles over the tight spot between his shoulders.

"It's been rough. Long story short, the yangul research is getting the axe."

"What? That's the best lead we have right now to stopping this though right?" Phoebe asked.

"It is, but it's no longer deemed necessary to the council. I think they're trying to stem the bleeding this whole mess has causing publicly and redirect focus towards another, more immediate program they can advocate to keep the public from lashing out. People are going to want answers for the dead whose lives were thrown away by a government unwilling to look outside its own walls."

"I don't disagree about that, but what are you going to do then?" Phoebe inquired eyeing the metal case in her husband's hands.

"What I'm going to do is right here." Castor opened the case to reveal a complex arrangement of syringes and filled vials, a personal on-the-go laboratory. "I've isolated the compound within the yangul blood that prevents spread of scourge to other body cells and placed it within a bacterial vector. It can be injected into a human subjected to grant the same inherent immunity they have. There's one issue though."

"What's that?"

"It's non-specific. Once it activates, it will go to work configuring the entire body to match that of the host sequence over approximately a week's time."

"Castor, let me get this straight, this will turn someone into one of those things?!"

"Essentially, yeah. From my projections, it's highly likely that our consciousness would remain intact even in the new bodies."

"_Our_consciousness? You're planning on using this on us?"

"Phoebe, I've got no other choice. The council's got me against the wall, and I don't want to lose you, or Rigel, or hear about anyone else having to suffer like that. It has to end, and this is how we do it." Castor slumped down on the couch, pleading with his eyes towards his beloved. Phoebe joined him and stared out at the tools while she spoke.

"Sweetheart, you know I love you more than anything in the world and I've supported you through your research, but this is a little much to prove a point."

"You have to trust me hun. Do you want one of us to be next? Do you want to have to make the call to arrange for Rigel to go into quarantine?" Castor questioned.

"Don't start putting this on me." she retorted, then relinquished. "Are you sure this would keep all of us safe?"

"Yes."

"Let's sleep on it and we'll talk it over in the morning, ok?" Phoebe caressed Castor's cheek and kissed his brow, breathing out a heavy sigh.

********

In the morning, Castor rolled out of bed and was surprised to find Phoebe waiting for him downstairs instead of a lone cup of coffee.

"Not going in today sweetie?" Castor inquired, making himself comfortable beside his wife.

"Last night I said we'd talk things over. That's what we're doing right now. When you first asked me to marry you when we landed on Teranovus I knew that you were someone special that I was happy to spend the rest of my life with. Then when Rigel came along that happiness grew again. We've had our ups and down together, but in all of that we've had each other. I don't enjoy going through the districts and seeing the fear that people try and tuck back on their faces; it never completely leaves them. If doing this can help get rid of scourge and stop more cases like Trisha's from happening...then that's worth it. I can follow through on something like that.

I'm a little scared though. I don't want to forget everything we've been through to get to this point. I don't want to forget the smell of you coming back from the desert, Rigel's little smile, or the way you made me feel when your lips first touched mine all those years ago cooped up in that cramped closet."

Castor grinned and nodded, recalling the fond memory.

"Promise me that we keep our past with this."

Castor eyed the ground and shook his head from side to side. "I can't. Not with 100% certainty. I love you too much to tell you otherwise. We will be changed, but my love for you stays the same. That I can promise."

Phoebe grabbed his hand, squeezed tight, then glanced at the case still on the living room table from the night before.

"Ok, let's see what happens then." she said with a sealing, tender kiss upon his lips right after.

********

Castor spent the remainder of the morning checking the concentrations of the doses again. Once satisfied, he spent time with his son playing his favorite imaginary games and went for a walk with Phoebe in the early afternoon. It all felt bittersweet. After dinner, Castor sat with his family in their home and readied the syringes for their journeys toward the unknown. Phoebe offered to be first and Castor didn't protest. They had spend too wonderful a day together to have an argument about it right now. Castor assured her that effects would most likely not start until the night while they slept. It would take time for the bacterial vector to begin its work reprogramming their cells to offer immunity.

The injection itself was relatively painless, even if needles weren't exactly Phoebe's cup of tea. Little Rigel went afterwards, distracted with some small sweets he barely noticed the needle at all until the inevitable sharp pinch caused him to tighten his grip on his mother. Castor felt a twang of guilt, wondering if he was doing right by his son who didn't even get a choice in the matter like he or Phoebe did. He only hoped that with time he could one day explain why he had done this. Lastly, Castor directed Phoebe for his own injection. The fluid was thick and cool within his veins, thinking only of blissful memories of the past as they would each embark on an uncertain future.

The first night was uneasy for the family. Phoebe was queasy and slept restlessly, reminded of her bouts of morning sickness while pregnant with Rigel. The nausea ebbed as the night went on, and was soon replaced by a tingling warmth trailing down through her legs. Her thighs ached as if she had walked countless miles during the day. She was uncomfortable, but without pain. Pressing her face hard into the pillow, she could hear the muffled sounds of Castor and Rigel also struggling in their own way with the injection. With a faint groan as the warmth rolled down through her heels, Phoebe focused on willing the suns up as quickly as possible.

********

Castor woke in the morning at the first rays from the first sun. He rolled over to face Phoebe, his neck cracking several times in the process as he rubbed her shoulder. She woke with a stretch, lifted her head from the pillow with matted hair extending out in every direction and managed to sit up rather ungracefully.

"Good morning." Castor said, looking her over and wondering if the serum had failed to work as intended. Nothing was discernibly different about her.

"Good is a generous word for today. I feel like a truck ran me over, then wanted to see how I was doing and ran over me again while it backed up." Her eyes glanced up at Castor, paused, then dashed frantically in small motions back and forth.

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

"Nothing...I think. The injection's working like you thought it would." She reached her arm and caressed her knuckles along the side of his neck. Beneath her touch Castor could feel that his neck had thickened and lengthened out a short ways during the night with new, compact, tight muscle. The corners of his jaws were tight, and his ears had shrunken down to barely protruding nubs on either side of his skull. Most striking were the few faint sparkles of golden scales catching the filtering light through the window meshed across the skin there.

"Like a yangul.." Phoebe voiced with a hint of awe. Castor confirmed with a touch of his own and redirected his attention to his beloved

"What about you?"

Phoebe flipped the covers off to reveal the result of the strange feelings throughout the night. Her legs had changed considerably, thighs and hips carrying new added musculature similar to Castor's at his neck. The pads of her feet had widened some, toes swollen into slightly thicker, longer shapes. Her heel was stretched and bony, giving the illusion of an almost elegant appearance. At the ends of her toes, her nails had darkened at the tips and ended in small, curved points.

"It's real...wow..." she whispered feeling the tops of her legs and immersing herself in the alien sensation of wiggling her altered toes. The faint motions of his parents moving had woken Rigel up. Upon wiggling out from under the covers, it was clear that the injection had also taken to him, but neither Castor nor Phoebe were prepared for how greatly their son had changed overnight.

Lingering patches of his brown hair fell away from the top of his head as he slid across his pillow, studying his parents with a goofy smile on his face baring the start of a broad snout. His eyes swam with red flakes and splashes mixed into the light brown, his pupils still rounded for now. Rigel's changes had left him nearly doubled in size overnight. He clambered with earnest towards his mother, oblivious to the pronounced length of his fledgling tail stretched out behind him as he snuggled into her warmth.

Phoebe held her son and felt the spattering of scales at his back through the gaping tears of his pajamas. Rigel slowly became aware of the difference in feeling and wanted to investigate himself, reaching a hand across to only discover more and more things that weren't quite right. He was most intrigued by his tail, poking and prodding at the new appendage to no end with Castor and Phoebe both laughing as their son explored his new body.

"He's changing much faster than either of us are." Phoebe mentioned as Rigel laid back down after seeing his parents not moving anywhere.

"He's young so perhaps his body is more receptive to a process like this." Castor offered.

"Makes sense." Phoebe quietly answered while trying to overlay the image of the boy she put to bed the night before on top of this new version of her son.

********

Castor and Phoebe notified their respective departments that they would be utilizing their accumulated time off. The resource acquisition team wished Phoebe well and wondered what had taken her so long to want any time for herself. Castor's research department was highly concerned and advised him to stay to help navigate through the personnel changes that were starting to role in from the council. Castor was firm in his decline.

"The time will be worth it." he spoke with conviction before silencing his communicator.

Their collective transformation gradually continued throughout the day, and by the setting of the second sun that night Castor possessed a short, stump of a tail and thickened, clawed digits. Phoebe's chest had begun to barrel forward with scattered scales replacing much of the skin on her limbs. Rigel was quickly becoming adept with his altered form that allowed for much greater movement than he enjoyed in his completely human shape. Castor had observed that for as formidable the adults were, yangul offspring who were sometimes targeted by other predators displayed swift, movements to help evade danger. He hoped his son would never have to face such trials.

Sleep came much easier that night, and the family greeted each other once more with the rising of the sun. Rigel voiced a quiet chitter, his throat sliding up and down in tone as a strange rumble traveled up the length of Castor's and Phoebe's spines. An image took shape in their minds of a water faucet, their own here in the house with the water running into the sink.

"Water?" Castor and Phoebe simultaneously asked. Rigel bounced on the bed excitedly and hopped into his father's arms, gripping his shoulders with talon-tipped hands while the rest of him clung as best he could. Rigel made the chittering sound again, and this time after the sound rolled through their bodies Phoebe and Rigel saw through their mind's eye Castor picking Rigel up when he was still human. They felt his joy and heard his giggling cries as he and Castor played their flying game together.

"We can try playing for a little while after we get you that drink ok?" Castor said, then without thinking much on it murmured a quieter version of the same sound Rigel had made, focusing on his intention towards his child. Rigel sat still with the long slits of his red and brown eyes scanning back and forth. He reached a hand out to something which did not exist in the physical world, but still carried weight and meaning within his mind.

This wondrous exchange abated Phoebe's fears of losing what she and Castor had built together. If the yangul were capable of such communication, what else about them had eluded Castor and the rest of humanity this whole time?

********

The change progressed at a variable pace over the next days, slowing during the day and speeding up during times of rest. Castor grew more and more to resemble an adult yangul, growing in size and girth with a now proud display of golden scales wrapped across his sinuous neck and throat. Emerging stubs of bony ridges protruded from his cheeks with the nubs of silver horns pressed up from his brow. Darker scales of sandy beige and chocolate brown replaced his human skin. His eyes were large, roaming gems with vertical slits. Like Rigel's they had retained an aspect of his former humanity, only splashed with the rich crimson color that all wild yangul possessed amid the brown he had given to his son. To Castor, Phoebe's eyes were even more beautiful, like fire and ice held shakily together. By the end of the fourth day, walking upright was only possible for short bursts of time for Castor and Phoebe, with Rigel already showing speed and control in going from place to place on all fours. They bedded down that night curled together in one large heap on the living room floor, the bedroom now much too small for either Rigel or Phoebe to make their way through comfortably without leaving a huge mess in their wake. This would be the last night they would spend here in their home. Tomorrow would be the start of their journey towards locating the yangul. Castor hoped they would have the answers they would need to bring back to their people.

At first light with no belongings and only each other they departed. Rigel cackled a soft cry as the only home he had ever known shrank away from view, but Phoebe nudged his flanks with a prod of her nose forward. She rumbled her throat and sent him calming scenes from her childhood to occupy his thoughts. The desert sands were hot beneath their feet, but Castor led his small band in stride, navigating nearly imperceptible landmarks from his trained eyes until they reached a scraggly patch of forest near mid-afternoon.

"Here we can rest." Castor bellowed.

Phoebe settled within the shade of a forked tree, her long heavy tail draped over the space in between. Rigel made a game of rearing back to hit and prod at the tip of his mother's tail. The game promptly ended when he decided to make use of his new, pointed teeth causing Phoebe to recoil when he bit down. Rigel settled afterward for exploring and came back some time later covered from nose, to the tip of his tail n a light-gray powder.

Rigel chittered the scene to his father with a beaming grin, Castor reliving Rigel's discovery of a patch of gray, bundled growths sprouting from the ground, with rounded tops that ended in flourished silver tips before he proceeded to tumble around in it, sending a heap of powder up into the air. Castor shook his head to dissipate the shared memory with frantic eyes directed at his son. Rigel shirked back, fearing he had made his father upset somehow. Across the small glade, Phoebe had gotten herself comfortable for a nap, and spotted her boy covered in the dangerous gray. In an instant, mother's instincts took over for her and she rushed to his side only halted by Castor's neck bracing back her chest.

That concentration of spores would have had them showing symptoms of scourge within minutes of their arrival, but Rigel appeared fine. He rolled to his side to study a passing insect, without any alarm or distress whatsoever. Rigel's head swiveled back and forth wondering why his parents were being so weird right now. Castor and Phoebe breathed a collective sigh. At least they knew they were safe from the invisible danger of scourge now.

A set of shuffling bushes within the forest broke their focus away from Rigel as Castor reared back onto his hind legs to assess any nearby danger. He loosed as formidable a roar as he could muster. Silence. Then a reply, much louder than his own that startled several birds from the area. Another male yangul appeared, carrying a shimmering golden-scaled mane that trailed down to his shoulders. His body was low to the ground and the end of his long tail batted the trunks of the nearby trees. The stranger rumbled a low murmur, and a stream of textures and shivers floated through Castor's mind. This wasn't quite the same as the shared memories Castor had enjoyed with his family. Instead of an image coming together, the sounds manifested as twinges in his muscles urging him forward. In a far-off voice he didn't recognize Castor heard the command "Come." bounce around his mind. Phoebe flashed him a concerned look, but he was the first yangul they had met, and didn't appear dangerous. They needed answers to bring back to humanity Castor took the first step forward, with his son trailing a bit behind. Phoebe stayed close beside Rigel, her eyes vigilant and alert to any unwelcome surprises.

The stranger led the trio through the other side of the forest and out into an open field with small rises and dips worked into the landscape, like water boiling at the surface of a pot. Beyond the field lay the same barren world Castor and his family had spent the morning trudging across. Rigel glanced back at his clawed feet, shifting them uncomfortably and mumbled under his breath. Castor brushed his tail across Rigel's side, but when he turned to look back at the field the stranger had vanished. It was only when he saw the underside of the yangul's tail swaying back and forth like a broken flag pole and descend down into the earth that he understood. It was going to get dark.

********

Below the ground, a vast network of subterranean tunnels, hidden to the rest of the world became known as the three travelers continued their way to a destination they did not yet know. Their yangulian eyes adjusted to the omnipresent darkness outside of an occasional shaft of light, another entrance to the tunnels. How long had it taken to construct these? Dozens or hundreds of years? To think this was all below the colony and wasn't on any records was baffling. Most traffic from the human colony traveled across the sands for direct lines of travel to ores or other valuable resources, rarely diverting from what was known to be safe. To potentially be able to use these tunnels to avoid the brunt of the afternoon heat would open up all new possibilities.

After several miles of walking, the yangul who had served as their guide sat back and bellowed another series of deep sounds to the group that tingled through their muscles.

"Answers you want are here. Do not wander. Stay close. The Elder waits for you. "

Then the yangul slipped within an offshoot within the wall with Castor following behind, Rigel sandwiched between his parents, and Phoebe at the rear. When their passageway finally opened up once more, Rigel froze in place with wonder causing Phoebe to knock her son accidentally over flat on his snout. A grand city of rock, stone and sand lay carved out from this pocket of the world. A spattering of wooden accents outlined open, cave-like dwellings etched into the walls with smaller structures spread throughout the enormous chamber. Construction worked with the natural features present: the angles of rocks jutting out were considered and even a great stream wove around the outskirts of this hidden city. And to warrant such beauty, the city was well-populated. Yangul of every size and shape were present here, traveling through sandy corridors or clambering up towards their dens. A pair of females lay side-by-side in a beam of focused sunlight gently attending to each other, their gravid bellies filled with new life. This was truly their world.

The yangul guide kept them to a straight, direct path to the tallest structure, a wide, rounded tower of rock at the center of the city. Other yangul on the path stopped and stared at the newcomers, one growling loudly at Rigel and causing him to hug close to his mother's side. Castor could scarcely believe all of this. His research on these creatures was a paltry speck compared to what he had experienced in his changes and now what's been seen here.

They group arrived at the entrance to the rock tower and before entering Phoebe loosed a rumble directed at the guide.

"Where are we?" she questioned.

"The Heart." the guide replied with an agitated twitch of his tail. "Come. Do not keep The Elder waiting."

Inside, the tower was filled with adornments from every corner of Teranovus: displays of minerals and unique stones lined the long entrance hall along with other strange gadgets and contraptions Castor could not discern the purpose of. At the far end of the hall, loosely curled within a rigid, open stone bowl of a throne, was the largest yangul Castor had ever seen. The great goliath was at least several feet longer than any other yangul he had observed on his expeditions. Trailing down his left brow was a ragged scar which trailed down his jaw and back towards his neck, framing a portion of his golden mane of scales in bright pink. Other smaller scars of scratches and bites littered his hide, and the middle digit of his right forefoot was bare and empty in its socket. The elder was grand, battle-scarred, and victorious in all his glory.

The heft of his body lifted from his resting place, fixing a single molten eye upon the strange mixes of man and his kind. The Elder grinned, revealing a set of formidable teeth. When the elder next bellowed the might of the tingle in Castor's body was a full surge, trembling each muscle into a quaking quiver.

"Welcome." The Elder extended to his guests.

Castor remembered his meetings with the chancellor and the rest of the council and bowed towards the great yangul. Rigel copied his father as best he could along with Phoebe as well. The Elder grunted in approval. The guide that had found and brought them all here approached The Elder and stood beside him. Castor looked back towards his family, stared into their eyes which were no longer human, nor fully those of the yangul and hoped he was leading them on a good path. He approached The Elder with his neck stretched high and a wide-footed stance.

"Our people are ravaged by a great illness on the surface. Your kind are immune to it. We chose to be this way to escape it and we hope to learn from you in order to save them." Castor voiced.

The Elder was still wary. "Why should I trust you? You are not wholly as we are." The Elder rang into their thoughts with a softer tone.

Now Phoebe was the one to came forward nudging Rigel along to stay with her.

"This is Rigel, my son, and we became like you to save him. You are right, we are not all as you are, and at first I was uncertain this was right, but I see that he is safe now and that is what is most important to me. All mothers share this instinct to care for their young. I imagine that your females are no different. We are parents wanting the best for him and those we care for. Nothing more. That we share together." Phoebe ended, placing her scaled hand atop Rigel's head briefly.

"And what have you to say little hatchling?" The Elder questioned further.

Rigel trembled under the full attention of the elder, but glanced back to see his father still standing proudly. He mirrored him and then closed the distance between himself and The Elder until he stood in front of his slightly ajar maw. Rigel chittered loudly towards The Elder and shared with him a memory, his favorite of all he had forged in his young life. It was late at night and Castor had taken him out on the sand skiff when he was unable to fall asleep. Across the sands they traveled together while his little hands reached up to try and bring the stars or the greenish hue of Teranovus's moon down for closer examination. To The Elder he sent all the warmth and love he had felt in that short burst of time.

At the edges of The Elder's worn lips creased a small smile. He considered their statements and the bold actions of this youth coming to face the one who many capable yangul males dared not trifle with.

"Very well. I have seen what I needed to see. We will assist you with this illness you speak of. However, all things are exchanged. Your family shall be our breath, the line between the worlds. Do you accept?"

Rigel ran back to his father and stood between his forelegs. Castor from him to his beloved standing just beside. She gave him a quick nod.

"Yes, we accept." Castor answered.

"Good. There will be much to do when the two suns rise again. For now you may claim any den as your own. All will know that a bridge between our peoples was forged today, most importantly by your bravery one called Rigel." The Elder ended with the bright molten fire of his eye studying the splashes of a red sea joined within the brown of a new, connected world.