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“Are you sure this is... a normal way to go over important tactical information?"

Kestrel smiled a little sheepishly at Helen, chuckling and shaking her head. “Normal... not really... but... what's normal around here? I mean..." she held up her hand, making a flower appear in it, which she handed to Helen.

The tigress took it and laughed softly, holding it to her nose to breathe in its scent before she tucked it in her hair. “Mmm, fair enough, I suppose," she said, giggling as they walked through Robin's town, which was largely taking cues from Medieval English architecture. Her people really had embraced the whole Robin Hood mythos.

Still, there were significantly more modern elements to the place, giving a faint sense of a Renaissance festival. Still, Robin walked with her to a little cafe of sorts, finding a nice spot for them to sit under one of the parasols. A rather sweet chipmunk came and took their orders before scampering off. “It really is just so... alien to me to see furs like her so happy... there's not a lot for the 'civilians' to be happy about where I am from..." she said, the sorrow evident in her voice.

Robin smiled and reached over to put her hand on Helen's where it was sitting on the table. “Hey. That's what we're trying to change, yeah? So, what can you tell me about your... about Zaros' compound? It would be good to know what kind of defenses there are... how many soldiers he has... what kinds of weapons we can expect to deal with. Those kinds of things." She pulled out a notebook so that she could take notes on what Helen had to tell her.

The tigress actually asked to see it, opening it up to a clean page and started drawing an actual map of the compound, marking certain places on it. “I did a lot to build and arrange the city... Zaros was never one for that kind of organization... or thinking things through," she said with a little lopsided smile as she chuckled. “I don't think he even fully realized that I didn't arrange the place in the most... efficient ways possible," she said as she started marking out the barracks facilities, which were all rather clumped tightly together around Zaros' “palace" structure. This made for an inner ring of the city that was a highly concentrated military zone.

“So, that part makes sense, at least for someone like Zaros. Here's where I got sneaky," she said, marking several spots in the middle city, which looked... just a bit awkward to get to. “These are the armories. I went with a lot of small ones, and I made sure that it would take some work to get to them in an emergency," she said with a great big grin. She then started marking off spots around the outer walls, showing where the guard towers were. “What's even better is that Zaros thinks of our forces as... pretty much invincible. So, he didn't think anything about it when the towers that I built were very exposed. Not a lot of armor, or things for the defenders to hide behind, right?"

Robin was watching intently, thrilled to have this level of detailed information at their disposal. “This is brilliant... This is the kind of information that we need in order to be able to plan an attack on the city if we need to. And, knowing where everything is, we can make sure not to hit any of the civilian centers," she said, taking a deep breath as she looked at the map she'd drawn. “So, that mostly just leaves the question of how many soldiers he's got."

Their food arrived about then, and they took a moment to get started eating while they continued their conversation. Robin was rather bothered when she heard just how many soldiers Zaros had at his disposal. Over two thousand in the city. He really had been aggressive in picking the people from the communities that they had assimilated for any men of fighting capacity and had seen to their training and... worse, indoctrination.

It bothered her to hear about how the people who had once been neighbors and family to these men had talked about the way that they had changed. It didn't help that every year, Zaros took them out on “maneuvers" for several months to reinforce his indoctrination and hone their training.

“I've seen what they're capable of when they are actually deployed on an attack," Helen said, sounding grim. “I was there when they raided several of the places where the government was holding furs in preparation for relocation to the district that they had built. They very specifically left only a few men alive, and they... made examples of the ones that they had killed. I'm really not surprised that the governments of the area capitulated to his demands when it came to sending all new furs to him," she said soberly.

Robin couldn't help but wince at that, looking out across the idyllic street. “Right. So, the question is, then, do they favor guns, other weapons... or tooth and claw?"

Helen sighed, “They're all trained with guns, of course. But Zaros teaches them pride in their natural weapons. Be they horns, teeth, claws, hooves... it is his mythos of the superiority of the wilds. It is... rather terrifying to see them in action, to be perfectly honest."

Robin sighed and folded her hands in front of herself, resting her elbows on the table as she thought. She was quiet for a long moment. “I don't want to just kill them..." she said, pausing for a long moment before she continued, “Cadi told me about something she did back when she was still in the district... she used her magic to make a shithead politician and his super-macho bodyguard face what it was they were actually doing to others. Like... she trapped them in their own heads and forced them to look really hard in the mirror in a way that they couldn't escape from." She was quiet for a long moment after that.

Helen raised an eyebrow, sipping on her strawberry milkshake. “And... how did that work out?"

Robin couldn't help but laugh. “The senator became our biggest and most devoted advocate in the political sphere... even sacrificed his career and his freedom to help give Cadi the chance to find the island. These days, they live up in the main city, and they're all lovely people. They've even become furs, themselves. The senator calls herself Alex now, going by her first name, and the two former bodyguards are a lovely couple, too. They go by Beth and Jane, and Alex is quite happy with her former pilot, Cassidy."

Helen blinked, looking over the top of her milkshake at Robin, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. “Oh," she said, taking another long, thoughtful sip. “Yeah... that... could work... we'd just want to make sure we could do it to a lot of people at once... I guess..." she said.

Robin nodded her head, “I'd want to talk more with Cadi so that I could better understand how she did it... but yeah. If we can only do it one or two at a time, that's not going to work the best. But... she did that even before we got to the island, and she was able to really tap into all of the power here. And, if these people had lives before, where they were actually decent people, then it stands a good chance of getting through to them."

Helen set down her milkshake and frowned, looking very disheartened at that. Robin was surprised at that response, looking at her in confusion as she asked, “What's wrong?"

Helen frowned and rubbed her face as she wrestled with her thought. “It's that part about... having lives before... where they were actually decent people... I mean yeah... for most of the soldiers, that's not going to be a problem... it's... it's my brothers that I'm worried about, yeah?"

Robin set her tea down and nodded her head, furrowing her brow a bit. “Ah... I see what you mean..." she said, her voice distant.

“All they've known is Dad's way of looking at the world... he raised them from cubs to be like him. And... I mean... it's not like they're all bad... Martin and Lucas are... actually kind of nice. They're the twins, and Dean... he's a muscle-head, but Dad had mostly gotten tired of hammering it in by the time he was born. It's Aman that we need to worry about. He believes the lies to his heart."

“Him and Zaros himself," Robin said warily, a worried look on her face. “I don't like the idea of killing him... but we might not have a hell of a lot of a choice if he's as dangerous as you say he is."

“Oh, he is," Helen replied, her hands moving down to rest on her lap for the moment. “I don't know. We'll have to figure something out. But we're not going to do that in twenty minutes over tea and sweets," she said with a tired smile on her face.

Robin nodded her head and closed the book, pushing it off to one side. “That reminds me... you look like you're really enjoying your milkshake. A new experience for you?"

Helen actually laughed at that, giving Robin a lopsided smile as she nodded her head. “Yeah. Ice cream isn't really a thing where I was from... and we don't have strawberries. Don't get me wrong, there's other fruits and sweet things to enjoy. There's even this really nice rice pudding, cooked in milk and spices, with little bits of nuts in it and fruit, and that is really delicious. But... these cookies..." she said, looking down at the plate of cookies, which had been... rather properly decimated during their conversation.

Robin grinned at her and nodded her head, “Gotcha, so those are something that you really like," she said with a warm laugh, “I'll have to keep that in mind. I think one of their tricks is that they use almond flour, which gives it a really nice sweet edge to it."

“Mmm, whatever it is, it's..."

But she didn't get to finish saying what it was, as her eyes re-focused, her pupils narrowing to points as she pushed Robin back and away. A large rock had flown across the square at them as screams started to fill the area. Robin didn't thud on the ground, but rather rolled with practiced ease, getting into a fighter's crouch.

In the middle of the square, she saw a doorway, with a fiery-orange tiger standing in it as a squad of six soldiers stepped out to flank him.

Helen gasped, staring at the arrivals with wide eyes, “Jacob?"

He grinned at Helen, chuckling and shaking his head. “So... so much for you being a prisoner, eh sis? The way Aman told it, you got captured, trying to attack the intruders. I'm going to have to have a word with him about that... dad, too." As he stood there, he made a gesture, and two more of the cobbles floated up from the ground, hovering on either side of him.

Robin bared her teeth, glaring across at him, “How did you get here?"

Jacob laughed and looked disdainfully at the young vixen, clearly not taking her seriously as a threat. “Oh. Well, I guess we've got your friends to thank for it. One of them dropped something, and there were these green stones in it," he said, gesturing to the necklace hanging around his neck. “It's pretty neat what the stones have let us do since we found them. There was one for each of us. Even Dad."

Robin swore at that. The scanner had contained N-crystals, and they had found them and started using them. “Heh... so, you like playing with your fancy new toys, do you?" She jabbed, trying to keep his attention on her, even as the soldiers were looking around, eyeing the civilians who were running for cover... entirely too predatorily.

Robin tried to focus on the story that Cadi had told her about getting into Brett and Jim's heads, but she just couldn't manage it. Her anger was running way too hot. “Assholes. If you want someone to dance with, come and dance with me," she said, directing it toward the soldiers.

They laughed and grinned at her, clearly underestimating her given her age and gender. “Like you'd be a worthwhile fight," a dog said from the group, snorting in derision.

“Why don't you come and find out?" She was staying low, ready to fight against these people, even as she was sending out mental red alert alarms to any of her people and the other guardians that she could reach.

Jacob laughed and shrugged at the dog, saying, “Just make it quick with her, alright? We need to bring sister home so that Zaros can deal with her."

The canine laughed and practically sauntered over to stand facing Robin, “Oh, I'm going to enjoy this..." he said, his teeth and claws bared.

“I bet you will..." she said, and she was off like a flash, moving faster than his eyes could follow. She slipped around behind him and kicked out the back of his knee before she did a quick flip and cracked him across the back of his head with her own knee as he was tumbling forward.

She landed with elegant form, staying low in a fighting stance as she looked at the others. “Well? Who wants to dance now," she asked with a sneer.

Well, she'd done it. She'd kicked the hornet's nest. The next one to charge was a bull, his horns lowered, clearly intending to gore Robin with them, but the vixen deftly danced out of the way, some small throwing knives suddenly in her hand for a split second before they thudded into the bull's legs, leaving him to stumble and plow forward into the side of one of the buildings.

The next was a pair of cats... not tigers, but rather a panther and a cheetah, who came to rush her. These ones would be more agile, and she would need to be careful with that. Especially if they knew the first thing about fighting as a pair. It didn't seem as though they really did, though, as Robin was able to slip away from the cheetah and kick him into the onrushing panther. They tumbled together, but weren't out of the fight, getting back to their feet.

Before Robin could finish with them, though, she had to jump and twist, dodging the cobbles that Jacob had finally decided to launch at her. She actually grabbed hold of one as it flew past, and she spun in the air, throwing it at the panther, hitting him in the head, and knocking him senseless. “Thanks for the assist," she said to Jacob as she danced, getting her footing back.

Next came a whirl of color as a rooster rushed her, and she caught a couple of gashes from his talons, wincing and gritting her teeth, but not giving them the satisfaction of crying out in pain. She snarled and dropped low, taking a cue from Jacob's use of the environment with Nothing's abilities. She turned the stones beneath him into mud, letting him slip and lose his balance before she quickly re-hardened it, leaving his feet caught in the stone, unable to act.

This was no time to rest, though, as the cheetah rushed her from behind. She dropped flat to the ground, tripping him and sending him sprawling into the rooster, who was still fighting and flailing as best he could with his trapped feet, leaving the swift feline to have to deal with his ally's frenzied movements.

She saw Jacob starting to head over to Helen, and she very quickly started to see red. She roared as a wall of fire lept up from the ground between Jacob and Helen, cutting him off from her right as a heavy fist came down on her back, sending her sprawling onto the ground. The last fur was a gorilla from the looks of things, and he was going to be an interesting one to deal with.

He swung wildly at Robin, who rolled and dodged, doing her damnedest to evade his blows. Thankfully for the vixen, though, he was too focused on her to notice the heavy fist coming in to punch right across his jaw as Briar joined the fray, having gotten Robin's call for help.

When Jacob saw the other guardian joining the fight, he quickly decided that this was when he needed to get out of there. His necklace glowed, pushing the flames out of the way as he went to grab Helen to drag her back through the portal, but he did not expect what happened next.

Helen was not freezing or panicking, but rather, as his hand reached out to grab hold of her, there was suddenly an ornate barrier of light between the two of them, which his hand bent awkwardly as it collided with. She was glaring at him fiercely as she gestured and sent the barrier flying at him, knocking him away from herself.

Her eyes were glowing with golden light as she looked at the other soldiers and held her hand up. As she did, her fingers were open, but when she clamped them closed, it was as though they were in her grip, leaving only Jacob free. She turned and looked at her brother with her burning, golden eyes. “Go and tell father that I'm not so easily dealt with, and I will not be returning with you... or any of our brothers. Tell him that any soldiers that he sends to attack this island will not be coming home," she said, her teeth bared as she looked at him.

He got the message and moved quickly back toward the doorway that he'd opened, though he was doing his level best to make it look like a controlled retreat. “And you should know that father isn't going to rest until this place is under his control... and he has dominion over the magic of it. He will use it to finish his work, purging the world of humans... by making them all as us."

He slipped through the doorway before it closed and vanished, leaving the fallen soldiers scattered around the square. Robin raised her eyebrows, giving Helen an appraising look. “Neat trick."

Helen looked a bit surprised, herself. “I didn't know I had it in me," she said with a laugh, looking at the furs and sighing. None of them were moving to attack anymore. If anything, they looked as though they were trapped in waking nightmares. Robin sighed and freed the rooster's feet from the stone, restoring it to its former state, while other members of the crew finally arrived, along with the other guardians.

Cadi was the last to arrive, and she stood there surveying the scene. She checked on the attackers, using her magic to help the crew get them up from where they'd landed, even summoning stretchers for them. She looked into their eyes, seeing what was happening within them before she nodded her head and looked at Robin and Helen. “They will be alright. No unhealable wounds... and I see that you decided to take a page from my book with Brett and Parson," Cadi said, laughing softly as she looked at Robin.

The vixen smiled lopsidedly, “Actually... that wasn't me. I couldn't focus on that well enough. Helen actually did that part toward the end of the fight... with her own magic."

Cadi raised an eyebrow, looking at her daughter curiously. “Interesting. I think that you and I and Tammy are going to need to sit down and figure out a few things," she said with a chuckle while the fallen soldiers were carried off to secure rooms in the keep... just somewhere to have them until they came around and could show that they'd had a change of heart.

---

A while later, Cadi, Helen, Robin, and Tammy were all in the palace labs, with Helen wearing a tight gym top and shorts as she stood in the scanner's field. On the monitor, Tammy was looking at the reading, especially noting the magical pattern surrounding the tigress. “Fascinating. It really is amazingly intricate, but at the same time... very raw. It must be a truly ancient magic."

Helen looked at the rather beautiful patterns on the screen, getting a bit of an odd feeling from them. “It's from the same temple complex where Zaros formulated his philosophy of the superiority of the wilds," she explained, her brow furrowed. “Could it be connected to the teachings that he was drawing from?"

“Quite possibly. Without being able to study the ruins in question, I wouldn't be able to say for certain. But, if there is one thing that I am certain of, it is that with it being such raw magic that it would be comparatively straightforward to refine to suit what you want out of your magic," Tammy said, nodding her head, “Though, there was one part of your story that I'm not quite clear on. When you went back to the ruins to stop the magic, can you tell me what happened in more detail?"

Helen made a face and nodded, “Yeah. I went back into the chamber, and I tried... pushing the crystal from where it was floating. When I had first activated it, there were all sorts of ancient-looking runes that didn't look like the language in the rest of the temple that started appearing, looking like they were just... freshly carved into the dome. When I touched the crystal with my hand," she said, holding out her right hand, “and tried to move the crystal from its place, the crystal just... crumbled, and the runes... winked out."

She paused as she was retelling the events of that day, a distant look in her eyes, “As it crumbled... I remember now... it was like there was a rush of energy into me, I just... didn't have time to think about it all that hard, because the chamber and all of the corridors started collapsing around me, and I had to run to get out of there." Her brow was furrowed, and she brought that hand up to look at it before turning to look at it on the monitor... and it did kind of look like a focal point of the pattern surrounding her body.

Tammy and Cadi exchanged looks, nodding in agreement before Tammy said, “It is possible, Helen, that when you touched it again... the magic transferred from the crystal into you. Depending on the age of the crystal, it is possible that the magical forces that were involved were just more than it could handle. Though, as you saw, that did mean that the energy wasn't there holding up the temple any longer, it was in you."

Helen blinked and stared at Tammy in shock. “Wait... so... you're saying that becoming," she paused, gesturing frantically at herself, “Was because I messed with the crystal in the first place? That would mean that everyone who turned into furs in the surrounding temple was my fault, too..." A worried look came across her face, and Cadi walked up to stand beside her, placing her hand on Helen's shoulder.

It was interesting to see the contrast between Helen's magical aura and Cadi's, which was far more nebulous and shifting... but had an elegant fluidity to it, all the same. “We're not going to fuss about 'faults'... that means that you did something that was bad. Yes, you may have been the one to activate the crystal, but you didn't have any intention to cause what happened next. If anyone is at fault, it is the ancient people who left the ruins there with the spell to where even a simple touch could set it off. They're the ones who bear the most responsibility... just leaving something like that lying around, even if it is buried in ruins in the jungles."

Helen relaxed at that, taking a breath and nodding her head. “You're right... what matters now is that I take responsibility for helping the furs that were made by the magic. I know I'm not responsible for Dad, or what he does... but I can't let him hurt people the way he does," she said.

Interestingly, as she took that resolution, Tammy saw the pattern shift just a little. She didn't comment on it, but it did give her hope that Helen would be able to do some wonderful things with what she had.

Cadi smiled and patted her daughter on the shoulder. “That's my girl. I am rather curious to see what kinds of dreams you'll have tonight," she said with a little laugh. “My first night here was when I finally got to meet Nothing. On one level, I wouldn't be surprised if he came to see you... but I also wouldn't be surprised if he let you explore your magic on your own a little," she said with a laugh.

Robin's ears perked up a little, “If she needs a place to stay, we've got plenty of spare space at the castle," she said, inwardly swearing at herself for the way that her heart rate was quickening.

Cadi laughed softly, smiling warmly at Robin and shaking her head. “Thank you, Robin. But I think that for tonight, being closer to the window stone will do better. But I do appreciate your concern for Helen's safety and your desire to make sure she is somewhere that there are people ready to fight if needed," she said, the twinkle in her eye letting Robin know that she understood what was going on... and was giving her the 'gift' of a plausible explanation for the offer.

Helen smiled warmly at Robin, her tail flicking a little. “Maybe after I've connected with my magic some, I could come and stay at the castle with you," she said... not understanding Robin's motives, but... she really did want to be close to her.

Robin smiled with just a little bit of sheepishness as she chuckled and nodded her head. “That sounds like a good plan. Thank you. For right now, though, I should check on the furs that attacked us, and see how they are doing," she said, just trying to find something to help clear her head.

Helen... didn't help matters by saying, “I should go with you since I'm the one who they'll know... and who... messed with their heads," she said with a little laugh, heading toward the changing room where she'd gotten out of her dress. She changed quickly and efficiently and was out a moment later to stand beside Robin, who opened a portal to the holding area of the keep.

When the door closed, Cadi couldn't help but laugh and look at Tammy, smiling from ear to ear. “Ooooh boy... Poor Robin has it bad..." She was trying... and generally failing to get ahold of herself.

Tammy looked at Cadi in confusion, blinking in surprise at the tigress' reaction. “She... has it bad? I didn't notice anything wrong with her," she said.

Cadi got control of her laughter and wiped her eyes, beaming at Tammy. “She has a huge crush on Helen... she just doesn't know how to handle it," she said, pausing to catch more of her breath, “Did you notice where she'd had the 'debriefing' with Helen? At a cafe in a rather lovely part of town, with sweets and drinks... she fought like she was protecting her mate, which is why she couldn't pull off the trick of getting into their minds and fought as viciously as she did... and then that offer of letting Helen stay at the castle with her?" Cadi fell into another round of giggles, just trying to breathe through it all.

Tammy blinked in surprise, processing the things that Cadi was saying, taking a very analytical approach to it. “Oh..." she said as she processed things before she couldn't help but giggle and smile at Cadi, “I see what you mean... and it is pretty cute," she said with a bright smile as she turned to her computer, going back over the readings. “What I'm finding really interesting, though, is that Helen's magic is... it makes me think of a raw, uncut crystal. It needs some shaping and polishing, but when she figures that out, it's going to be... well, a thing of beauty," she said, her tail flicking.

Cadi walked over to look at the screen as well, “Well, here's hoping she can pull that off. If we're lucky, Nothing will be able to help with that."

“Even without Nothing's help, watch this," Tammy said, rewinding the recording to when Helen was talking about what she needed to focus on, “Pay attention to the pattern," she said before she started playing it.

Even Cadi noticed the way the pattern had shifted and become clearer. “Remarkable. So, it is truly feeding on her sense of purpose to power itself," she said, nodding her head. “I think that we're in good hands, then."

---

At the castle's holding area, there were six rooms, where the furs that had attacked with Jacob were being held. There were members of the crew watching over them as Robin and Helen arrived. They were relaxed, which Robin took as a good sign as she walked up to Jake, who stood and saluted Robin. “All of them are awake and lucid," he reported.

“Thank you," Robin said, taking a breath as she walked over to the cell that the dog who she'd started the battle with was sitting on the edge of his pallet, looking at the floor. She leaned against the bars, grinning at him. “So... feeling a little bit clearer-headed?" Her tone wasn't aggressive. Wary, yes, but she was calm.

He jumped a little as she spoke to him, looking up at her where she was leaning against the door to the holding cell. He took a deep breath and nodded his head. “Yes," he said, bringing his hand up to rub his eyes for a moment before he brought it back down and blinked. “I'm sorry," he said, his tone calm and earnest.

Robin smiled lopsidedly at him as she opened the door and stepped inside with Helen, pulling up one of the chairs in the room which she set across from him with the back facing his direction before she sat down on it, crossing her arms on the chair's back. “Thank you for apologizing. Want to talk about it?"

He flinched a little at that, gritting his teeth before he relaxed and looked at Helen, even more pain and regret in his eyes. “Zaros is... very persuasive... especially when he is singling you out with praise for being the kind of person that he wants you to be. I think that's why he made sure to spend so much time with us out training... to build up and reinforce himself as the kind of person whose approval we wanted," he said, resting his elbows on his knees.

“He would be so... enthusiastic with his praise when we did well... to the point where a look of disappointment from him was... worse than the lash of a whip. He... made us believe the world that he wants to build is a good thing. The story that he spun for us was... seductive." He took another long, deep breath which he let out slowly.

He looked back up at Helen. “She showed me the lie of his stories. She showed me what it would look like if he succeeded. A world of furs under his dominion," he said, needing to close his eyes tightly for a moment as a shudder passed through him. “She stripped away his illusions of paradise... showed us the world turning in on itself... devouring itself... leaving us to prey on the weak... the civilians... once the humans were gone... and once there was nothing more to take from even them... she showed me how he would turn to take everything from even us... his devoted soldiers and disciples."

“We're nothing to him but pawns. At the end of the day, there is only one person he cares about at all, and that is himself... he'll try to devour this world... and it will never be enough to satisfy his appetite." He looked up into Helen's eyes, “You showed me that... I hate it... but... thank you."

Helen smiled and walked over to the dog, reaching out to gently stroke his head, as he just relaxed and breathed, looking as though he was finally at peace.