The heavy wooden door of the Chapel swung open, and Lisa gasped.  “Oh my God!” She ran over to where Adam was supporting Todd and looked up into his bandaged face. One white strip spanned each cheekbone, already starting to show red through the cloth. The wounds under them would be open, she knew, with no stitching. She instinctively reached up toward them, and Todd’s paw caught hers and held it firmly but gently.  Lisa blushed and felt silly – of course it wouldn’t be good to mess with the dressings right now, after they’d just gone on.  “Are you all right?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m okay...” Todd said, but his voice was weak, and the stains running down his chest and belly showed that he had lost some blood. When he was doing the right thing, Lisa thought, he always tried so damn hard.

“We had an EMT on site,” Adam said, “and he checked Todd out.  He had a bit of a fainting spell, but he isn’t in shock. It was a very good marking – Geraden knows what he’s doing. He probably won’t need any touch-ups if he takes good care of the scars.”

“Touch-ups?” Lisa and Todd said at the same time, though Todd’s eyes were a little wider than Lisa’s.

“Err… yeah. It happens.” Adam winced a little.  “Brutus did mine because we were at the Westriver site, and Gerry wasn’t there. His paw shook so much I had to get them re-done a few weeks later.  Don’t worry though!  I was watching, and your marks are going to be very strong.”

Lisa felt Todd shiver against her. “Think you’re gonna have to have dinner without me hon,” he croaked.  “Sorry. I kinda puked a little after I woke up.  Don’t really feel like eating.”

“I’m not going anywhere!” Lisa lifted his arm over her shoulder.  “You’re coming to the bathing room with me, and we’re going to get you cleaned up.” She regarded his face again. He was tired and haggard, but his eyes betrayed a hint of satisfaction that reminded Lisa of when they’d first met in college. Todd raised an eyebrow, and Lisa looked away; she realized that she must have been staring.

“No water on the face,” Adam said, “and make sure he changes the bandages and applies the ointments.  It’s going to sting like hell every time for a few days, but he’s got to do it.”  Lisa nodded, taking the little plastic bag Adam held up.  “I’ll keep him on track. Come on, tube sock,” she said gently. She hefted his weight up over her shoulder and helped him down the stone corridor.

By the time they got to the bathing room entrance, Lisa was worried about her ability to keep him standing, but he seemed to be gaining some strength as they walked. “What is this place?” he sniffed at the air in the changing room.  “Smells like a pool, but without the chlorination.”

Lisa nodded.  “That’s basically what it is.  I guess you always used the shower in the new warren, but a lot of folks like this place.  It doesn’t get hot, but it’s not cold either, and it’s fed directly by an aquifer.”  She led him through the arched doorway into the bath proper.  The room was about the size of a garage, with a low, rounded ceiling, and an oval pool in the center.  A small waterfall splashed into one end, about a foot wide and flowing directly out of the stone wall.  The air was cool and humid.

“Brutus!” Todd said.  Lisa looked up and saw the large Rabbit sitting in one end of the pool.

“Oh!” he said, standing up from the water.  “You’ve done it! You joined up!”  He started to get out.  “I’ll let you have the pool!”

“It’s all right,” Lisa said, guiding Todd toward the water.  “We’ll sit near the outlet so we don’t bloody up the water, and you can stay if you want.  I kinda want to keep Todd talking to make sure he doesn’t drift off.”  Todd looked like he was going to protest at that, but he was still leaning on her.  She helped him into the water.  His fur stood on end for a moment, but the water wasn’t too cold, considering it was coming from an underground stream, and soon he was easing himself in the rest of the way, sitting on the little underwater ledge around the edge of the tub.

“Congratulations!” Brutus said, smiling.  “You look a lot like my weasel did right after.  Don’t worry, it gets easier.”

“I wish they’d give me something for the pain,” Todd said as Lisa took off her diaper and slipped into the water next to him.  “Every time my face moves at all, I feel it.”

“The antiseptic they put on you should have some local anesthetic in it,” Brutus said.  “But not too much.  The pain is kind of part of the point, from what I understand.”

Todd groaned.  “Shit, this is with anesthetic?” He lifted a paw and began gently washing the blood from his chest, watching it flow into the little outlet spout next to him and through a passage in the wall opposite the waterfall.

“It’ll get better once the bandages are off,” Brutus said.  “Couple weeks or so, probably.  Just make sure you apply your ointments.  One is the antiseptic, and the other is a hemoglobin binder, so the scars stay nice and red, rather than going pink and white.”

“Huh,” Lisa said.  “I always wondered why Contrition marks look so much redder than my old appendectomy scar.” She leaned against Todd, putting her arm around him under the water, and sighed. “I’m really proud of you, hon.”

Todd hugged her back. “Thanks.  It feels right.”

They sat in silence for a while, then something occurred to Lisa.  “Did you see… was Arvetis there? At the ceremony, or whatever it was? I know I shouldn’t ask for details about what happened, but I just want to know if he’s all right.”

Todd coughed and frowned.  “Yes. He didn’t say much, though. When I woke up from the faint, he was taking the stairs into the underwarren. I think he went straight back to his cell.”

Lisa sighed. “I really was hoping...”

“Yeah, I think Geraden was, too. He looked angry – I think they fought about it.”

“God damn it.” Lisa caught Brutus’s flinch out of the corner of her eye. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to curse. I just don’t understand! I know Arvy’s worried about Elyssa, but hiding himself away isn’t helping anything.”

“He’s preparing,” Todd said drowsily, his head lolling to the side.

Lisa blinked and cocked her head.  “Preparing?  Hey, Todd, are you okay?”  She nudged him, and he sat up with a snort.  “Uh!  Yeah, sorry, started to doze a bit.”

“What did you mean, Arvy’s preparing?”

Todd glanced over at Brutus – the Rabbit’s ears were perked, and he was clearly paying attention to the conversation.  “I… shouldn’t repeat things he told me in confidence,” Todd said. Brutus’s ears went back down.

Lisa put her paws on her hips.  “Hey. This isn’t fair, Arvy is my friend and I’m worried about him. And you clearly both know something about what’s going on.”

Todd looked down at his paws, fidgeting with them. “I’ll tell you if you really want to know, but I do think it was a private conversation from his point of view, and it’s not anything you need to worry about.  It’s not anything real, he’s just… depressed about getting older, I think.”

Brutus coughed. “I’d dispute the characterization of Arvetis’s concerns as unreal, but I agree with Todd that it’s not anything you need to worry about, Lisa. He’s going to be fine, especially once they find Elyssa.”

“Okay...” Lisa frowned and looked away.  She still wasn’t happy about this, but she didn’t want to force Todd to break the trust that Arvy had evidently bestowed on him. Especially not now.  “Sorry, I wanted to pamper you tonight.  I didn’t mean to get onto this tangent,” she said, putting her arm back around Todd.

Todd smirked. “I don’t think pampering me is what this is all about.”

“It’s about whatever I want it to be about, when you’re with me!”  Lisa scooped some water up in her paws and scrubbed his fur, washing away the blood and the fear-scent. She cleaned him in silence for a while.  Todd put his arm around her and rested his chin on top of her head, between her ears. As much as she teased him about his height, she loved that he could do that. She leaned her head against his chest.

“I was just thinking, earlier, about when we first met,” she murmured.

“College?”

“Yeah. The Prey rights group, remember? Meetings in the back of the coffee shop, every Wednesday night.”

Todd chuckled. The sound was resonant in his chest against Lisa’s ear. “If those folks could see me now!”

“They could, you know! Well, not those specific guys, but remember, we had that guest speaker from the Order once.”

“Big, fat Badger, right?” Todd said, his voice going a little slurry with fatigue again.

“Yeah. You could do that – go back and talk to the group about what you’re doing and why.” A few moments went by with no response. Lisa wondered if he was considering her suggestion, but then the weight of his chin increased on her head, and he snored a little through his nose.  Lisa nudged him in the ribs.  “Hey.  Ya big doofus. Not in the tub, you’ll drown and I’ll have to find someone else to marry at the end of the month.”

Todd snorted and woke up, lifting his head off her. “Sorry! I’m really drained.”

“It’s okay. I’m pretty sure you’re just tired and not in shock, so I’m comfortable leaving you alone to get some sleep, if you want.  I set your things up in a private room. I can show you where it is.”  She noticed his little round ears fold back at the reminder that he would be sleeping alone. She didn’t want to hurt him, especially now, when glimmers of the old Todd were beginning to show through the depressive shell he still hadn’t shaken since arriving at Corwin Hall. But she knew it would be disastrous to back down.

“Yeah, I think I should get to bed,” Todd said.

Lisa stood up, climbing out of the water and helping him out.  She took a couple of towels off a rack against a wall and handed one to him. She picked up her diaper but didn’t bother putting it back on yet.  “Do you want one?” She held it up.

Todd shook his head.  “Not tonight.  I’ll put one on before I sleep so I don’t wet the warren’s bed, but right now I don’t think I can... you know.” Lisa nodded. She did know; he didn’t want the intimacy of a changing experience right before she left him for the night.

“I understand,” Lisa said. She did, too – but she also feared the gnawing anxiety that understanding was going to produce in her all night long. As she walked him out into the hallway and toward the private rooms, she almost gave in, almost asked to stay in his room with him tonight. But she had a good idea of where that path went, and it wasn’t to a happy marriage.  She kissed the side of his muzzle when she dropped him off in front of his room, handed him the little plastic bag with his ointments, then quickly turned and walked away before he could see the pain on her face.

***

The next morning, Lisa slid out of bed and popped the tapes on her soggy nighttime diaper.  She had slept better than she thought she would, despite her loneliness and pitch-dark thought cycles, though only because she’d slept so little in the past few days that her body had overridden her mind. Now, at least a little rested, she had a plan. She was going to put it into action before breakfast.

She balled the diaper up and tossed it into the diaper pail, cleaned herself up with wipes, took her little white Escitalopram pill with a glass of water, and slipped into a breezy pleated skirt and tee-shirt.  No diaper this morning – she needed to air out for a little while, and she thought she might need to move quickly.  

She hurried down the stone corridor, her footfalls making almost no noise despite the echoing hallway. She was taking a back way to the Chapel; the normal route would have taken her past the dining hall, and people were probably gathering there for breakfast.  She was counting on it, in fact. Arvy didn’t take breakfast in the dining hall, but maybe anyone who might otherwise stop her would be there instead. 

She came up to the Chapel door and found it closed but unlatched. She leaned into it, and it swung open enough for her to peek her head inside, peer around, and find the numinous room empty.  She hurried across the rainbow-lit marble floor and down the stairs into the underwarren.

At the bottom of the stairs, she stopped. The corridor stretched out in two directions – to the right was the old, disused section of the underwarren where they’d spent the night after the fire. Arvy’s cell was off the corridor to the left, but the door in that direction was closed – Lisa had never seen it closed before.  She padded up to it and silently dropped to all fours, pressing her nose to the bottom of the door and inhaling.

Fox! The musky, almost-sweet scent was unmistakable. There were only two Fox residents of Corwin Hall, and this didn’t smell like either of them.  He was male, and he smelled earthy – a Red Fox.  She pulled away from the door; if she could smell him, then he might be able to smell her.  She bit her lip, looked up the stairs, then around behind them.  An idea formed in her head, and she smirked.  What did she have to lose, after all? It wasn’t like they were going to kick her out if she got caught; she was only trying to see her friend.

Lisa stepped up to the door, took in a deep breath, and pounded on it as hard as she could.  Then she ran back to the hollow, shaded area behind the stone stairs and waited.  She couldn’t see the door from behind the stairs, but she heard it open and smelled the Fox more clearly now.

“Hello?” He had a low, silky voice. Lisa kept waiting, and eventually she heard his toenails clicking on the stone steps, ascending toward the Chapel.  She did a slow count to six in her head, hoping it was enough time for the Fox to start searching around the Chapel, then silently hurried out from behind the stairs, heading for the open hallway door.

“Whup!” The Fox’s paw caught her from above, jerking on the back of her tee shirt and pulling her against the side of the staircase.  He jumped off the stairs, landing in front of her and cutting off her escape.  “Smelled you a mile away, love. Now, what were you up to?”

Lisa coughed, rubbing her neck where the front of her shirt had momentarily closed off her breath. “Hey!” she complained, her voice raspy.  “I’m just trying to see my friend!”

The Fox looked down his long muzzle at her, his head cocked to one side appraisingly. The Contrition marks under his eyes were bright red and a little bit puffy – probably only six months or so old. He put his paw against the side of the staircase, his arm preventing Lisa from moving away. “Trying to see your friend? What’s your name?”

“Lisa! And yes, Arvy is my friend and I’m worried about him.  Do you people have him locked up or something? Why the closed doors and guards?”

“It’s not my job to answer your questions, love,”the Fox said. But some of the threat had gone out of his voice, and he was smiling a little.  “It’s my job to keep snoopers out of that hallway.”

“Yeah?  Well… I’m a Mouse, and you hurt me!” Lisa said, rubbing her throat again.  “You’re not supposed to do that.”

The Fox lowered his eyes and backed away, taking his arm off the staircase. “Yes, that’s fair. My apologies. We’re off to a bad start.  Pleased to meet you, Lisa. I’m Ken.”  He held his paw out, this time open.  

Lisa frowned and look at him skeptically, her head tilted sideways. “Hello, Ken. Apology accepted.”

Ken’s smile was wide and toothy.  “Good! Actually, I’ve heard a lot about you. Your fiancee spent last night with me and another Order member, and we talked long into the wee hours.”

“Oh!” Lisa blinked, caught off guard. She wasn’t used to someone in the warren being more familiar with Todd than with her, and it was somehow off-putting. “Good! I’m… I’m glad he had someone around. He has nightmares.”

Ken nodded.  “That he does.”  The Fox glanced back over his shoulder, through the ajar hallway door. “And it’s evident he loves the Hell out of you. I reckon you won’t cause us any trouble if I let you through… assuming you can make it up to me.” He wore that foxy grin easily, and his eye twinkled.

“Make it up to you how?”

“Coffee. This afternoon, at the Starbuck’s down on the corner.”

Lisa crossed her arms. “I’m engaged.”

Ken raised his paws, holding them open in a gesture of surrender. “Just coffee! I want to get to know my new friend’s fiancee. I didn’t take Todd to be the ‘my-girlfriend-can’t-have-male-friends’ type.”

“He’s not. But you’re coming on strong, and you’re a Fox.”

“Now that’s speciesist!” Ken protested, but he didn’t lose the twinkle in his eye.

Lisa smirked and uncrossed her arms. “No institutional power; it’s just stereotyping.”

“Oh, well that’s fine, then; I couldn’t possibly object to being stereotyped.  Look, no ulterior motives, I swear. Tell Todd about it, see how he feels!”

Lisa looked the Fox up and down, taking in something that she hadn’t noticed before. He was dressed in a blue shirt and a thick white diaper; she recognized the brand from the warren’s supply. He was the only Order member from outside that she’d seen wearing one.  “All right, Ken. Let me through, and I’ll have coffee with you. If Todd’s all right with it!” She didn’t actually feel the need for Todd’s permission, but she figured he had a better read on this canny Fox than she did. If he wasn’t trustworthy, Todd would let her know.

“Excellent!”  He stood to the side of the door and gestured her through with an exaggerated bow. “I’ll be after you in a moment; I have to put on a show. But I don’t think he’ll kick you out, once you’re in.”

Lisa gave the Fox a perplexed look as she stepped through the door and down the corridor.  Put on a show? She shrugged and headed for the familiar cell-room to the right.

“Kenrick? Who was that? I heard you talking,” a voice called out from the room.

“Just me, Arvy,” Lisa said as she stuck her head in.  “Oh!” She couldn’t hold in the cry of surprise.  The room had changed since she’d last seen it. The cell still stood in the center of the room, with Arvetis sitting in a wooden chair, but everything else had changed. A desk now sat in the cell too, covered in loose papers, a computer monitor taking up one side of it.  The wall opposite the cell door displayed a large corkboard, papers and articles and photographs pinned up on it. Geraden’s old double-bed had been removed from the cell, replaced with a single small cot from the emergency shelter.

“Lisa!”  Arvetis turned from the computer, frowning. “What are you--”

“Hey!” Ken ran into the room behind her. “M’am you have to leave! Sorry, Arvy, she bamboozled me!”

Arvetis held up his paws. “It’s all right, it’s all right.  She might as well stay. I trust her. Thank you, Kenrick; please return to your post. And don’t let any other Mice bamboozle you!”

Ken nodded solemnly and turned to leave.  As he passed Lisa, he gave her a subtle wink. Lisa glanced at the ceiling and let him move past her.  “Arvy, what is all this?” She stepped further into the room, picking up a printout of a Web page titled Red Fang. “Is this all about finding Elyssa?”

Arvetis nodded. “Yes, ultimately. And the people who burned the warren.  We think...”

“You think these guys have her.” She held up the printout. “Pred supremacists?”

Arvetis sighed. “Maybe. We don’t know, really. They’ve become more active online in the last year, and some people have linked them to some unsolved disappearances. It’s not much more than conspiracy theories at this point, though.”

Lisa walked over to the corkboard and looked over it – mostly printouts of posts from anonymous Web forums. The content was disgusting; it took her a few moments to realize that the posts were using the word “food” to refer to Prey.  

“Don’t read them, dear,” Arvetis said. “You don’t have to. I do, and I can barely stomach it. Why did you come down here?”

“I was worried about you!” She picked up a printout of a Weasel wearing a cartoon graphic tee-shirt. It was a mugshot. “You’ve locked yourself away. I understand you need to find her, but surely some of this can be left to the police.”

“Gerry doesn’t trust the police. And honestly, the longer she’s missing, the less I do too.”

“All right, fine. But sealing yourself away doesn’t help anything! You could come up for meals. Go outside in the courtyard once in a while, let yourself be around other people.”

Arvetis laid his ears back and looked away. “Lisa, I know you think you’re helping, but you’re only making this more painful.”

“Todd told me about how you’re preparing.”

Arvetis’s reaction caught her off guard. He stood up, his ears pinned back, one side of his muzzle raised in a snarl. “That is none of your business!”

Lisa took a step back, the fur on her back tightening and pulling up.  She’d never seen the Wolf look this angry. “Arvy, I--”

“I opened up to him about my faith and the future of my soul, and he treated it like back-fence talk!”

“Your faith?” Lisa glanced around the spare, undecorated cell, and the penny dropped.  Preparing. depressed about getting old. Todd really had told her all she’d needed to know. “Oh. No, Arvy, I’m...”

“What did Todd tell you, exactly?” Arvetis narrowed his eyes, looking down at Lisa. 

Lisa dipped her nose, fidgeting. “Nothing, really,” she said, her voice low. “He said you were preparing for something, but he was half-conscious.  He didn’t say anything else. I was just worried… about you, and what you might do. I thought if I pretended I knew, you’d open up.”

Arvetis raised his nose, keeping his eyes pinned on her. She squirmed. “Well. Operation successful, then.”  He sat back down in the wooden chair. “You're a sly little Mouse when you want to be, aren't you?” The absence of any humor in his voice made the words harsher than their meaning.

“Arvy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know--”

Her apology was interrupted by Geraden barreling in through the door, holding up a manila envelope.

“Arvetis!  Lisa?” He glanced at her, frowned, then shook his head and looked back at Arvetis. “It’s true. They have her.”  He opened the envelope and shook something out onto the desk.  There was a sheet of paper and a small plastic bag – the kind Lisa associated with college and twenty dollars’ worth of pot.

Printed on the paper in large block letters was a short, curt message. “BREAK THE STONE.” In the baggie was a small clump of torn-out Rabbit fur, ragged and crusty at one end, the same cream-tan color as Geraden’s fur. The same as Elyssa’s.