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This is an on-going series of loose stories.", "count": "24", "submission_left_submission_id": "1004599", "submission_left_file_name": "1381598_Fritti_exploring_nezinoma_salis_-_looking_for_faekitties.txt", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/1381/1381598_Fritti_exploring_nezinoma_salis_-_looking_for_faekitties.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/1381/1381598_Fritti_exploring_nezinoma_salis_-_looking_for_faekitties.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/1381/1381598_Fritti_exploring_nezinoma_salis_-_looking_for_faekitties.jpg", "submission_left_thumb_huge_x": "200", "submission_left_thumb_huge_y": "200", "submission_left_thumb_large_x": "200", "submission_left_thumb_large_y": "200", "submission_left_thumb_medium_x": "120", "submission_left_thumb_medium_y": "120", "submission_right_submission_id": "1290358", "submission_right_file_name": "1808784_Fritti_meanwhile_in_minnaluna_-_faekitties_and_mry_culture_part_2_of_2_.txt", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/1808/1808784_Fritti_meanwhile_in_minnaluna_-_faekitties_and_mry_culture_part_2_of_2_.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/1808/1808784_Fritti_meanwhile_in_minnaluna_-_faekitties_and_mry_culture_part_2_of_2_.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/1808/1808784_Fritti_meanwhile_in_minnaluna_-_faekitties_and_mry_culture_part_2_of_2_.jpg", "submission_right_thumb_huge_x": "300", "submission_right_thumb_huge_y": "300", "submission_right_thumb_large_x": "200", "submission_right_thumb_large_y": "200", "submission_right_thumb_medium_x": "120", "submission_right_thumb_medium_y": "120" } ], "description": "Whoops, I totally got behind on my story uploads here, there are four stories I have written in the series which I totally forgot to post here. So here's me fixing that!\n\nSeeing as how I managed to adopt that gorgeous butterfly kitty from Bourbon, who basically looks like - and from the moment she became part of my harem... I mean, collection, is - an anthro Faekitty, I of course had to write a story that will introduce her and explain her. Because so far, the only Faekitties we've seen and heard about have been the tiny little feral quadruped ones. So what exactly is the deal with this tall anthro one? We need answers!\n\nAnd who better to investigate all of this and find those answers than my hamster reporter Hazel? She's on the case! When people started spotting the tall anthro butterfly-winged feline, Hazel was informed since she once wrote an article about Faekitties. And now she's on assignment to find out everything about both the regular feral Faekitties, and this strange new anthro one!\n\n*chuckles* I have to admit, though, that the story quite ran away with me. Which is nice, because it's been a while since my stories last did that! But it also means that when I reached page 12 and still hadn't gotten to the actual story, I decided I'd better split it up into two parts; the preparation, which is this story, and the actual investigation which is the second part. Or that was what I thought anyway, the second part of this story is actually also still preparation. But you'll see just how much there is to tell! Hopefully you'll get as hyped up as Hazel is!\n\nThe submission is rated Mature, since while there is not actually any sexual activity going on, there is a decent amount of talk about such stuff - and better to be safe than sorry, right? >~_^<\n\n© to me are:\nMry species\nFaekitty species\nHazel Krecek\nHeavenly Sky\nFada the Faekitty\n\n...and the others mentioned in this story. In fact, we will be seeing quite a bit of Heavenly Sky's sister Summer Sky in part 2, and I will be getting some art done of her, too!", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Whoops, I totally got behind on my story uploads here, there are four stories I have written in the series which I totally forgot to post here. So here's me fixing that!

Seeing as how I managed to adopt that gorgeous butterfly kitty from Bourbon, who basically looks like - and from the moment she became part of my harem... I mean, collection, is - an anthro Faekitty, I of course had to write a story that will introduce her and explain her. Because so far, the only Faekitties we've seen and heard about have been the tiny little feral quadruped ones. So what exactly is the deal with this tall anthro one? We need answers!

And who better to investigate all of this and find those answers than my hamster reporter Hazel? She's on the case! When people started spotting the tall anthro butterfly-winged feline, Hazel was informed since she once wrote an article about Faekitties. And now she's on assignment to find out everything about both the regular feral Faekitties, and this strange new anthro one!

*chuckles* I have to admit, though, that the story quite ran away with me. Which is nice, because it's been a while since my stories last did that! But it also means that when I reached page 12 and still hadn't gotten to the actual story, I decided I'd better split it up into two parts; the preparation, which is this story, and the actual investigation which is the second part. Or that was what I thought anyway, the second part of this story is actually also still preparation. But you'll see just how much there is to tell! Hopefully you'll get as hyped up as Hazel is!

The submission is rated Mature, since while there is not actually any sexual activity going on, there is a decent amount of talk about such stuff - and better to be safe than sorry, right? >~_^<

© to me are:
Mry species
Faekitty species
Hazel Krecek
Heavenly Sky
Fada the Faekitty

...and the others mentioned in this story. In fact, we will be seeing quite a bit of Heavenly Sky's sister Summer Sky in part 2, and I will be getting some art done of her, too!", "writing": "Friday. It usually was a day in the work week at which people were a bit more relaxed. The weekend lurking at the end of the day tended to make people more cheerful, and most of the times it were mostly loose ends that were tied up in running projects, rather than a lot of work being put into starting up new projects - those could wait till Monday.\n\nIt was not that way in all enterprises, though. In the office building of the \"Merian Meridian\", the main newspaper of the small city of Merian on the Minnaluna mainland, people were running around with sheets of paper or typing away behind computers in frenzied rhythms. There was a lot of hard work to get the evening edition planned out and laid out. Phones were ringing all over the place, voices were ringing out, sometimes orders were shouted through open doorways.\n\nOne of those doorways, leading into a small office, had a head poking around it; the head of a Flamelin with the fur pattern of a snow leopard, but with vanilla-colored spots and rosettes in her milk-white fur.\n \"Hazel?\"\nFrom behind one of the three computers in the room, another head popped up; this time the head of a short-coupled hamster lady.\n \"Yes? Oh, Sandy, it's you. What can I do for you?\"\n \"Steve's got a tip in. Asked if you can come to his office right away.\"\nSteve Fox was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. The hamster lady gave a nod of her head.\n \"I'm on my way.\"\n \"I'll walk you.\"\n\nSaving her work, the hamster woman closed her text processing program and reached below her chair, pulling the handle to make the chair sink down. Standing at the remarkably short length of three feet and eight inches, Hazel needed to do that so she could slip out of her chair without needing to jump to the floor. She reached up to her desk to grab a clipboard with papers on it and a pencil which she stuck behind her ear, walking over to where the large feral feline was still waiting in the doorway.\n \"What's the tip about?\" she asked while walking.\n \"Steve didn't say.\" The large Flamelin gave a funny sort of shrug while they walked through the corridors. \"You know how he is. He just said it was right up your alley, and it was big.\"\n \"Big, huh? Yeah, sounds right up my alley alright,\" Hazel chortled.\nShe was never too shy to mock her short stature. The Flamelin Sandy chuffed a short feline laugh.\n \"Well, you have proven that you can handle the big assignments, after all.\"\n \"I suppose. I just hope it's not a fluke, like the last time he got a tip about something big.\"\n \"You'll find out in a moment, I'd say.\" They had reached a door, which Sandy pushed open with her head to look around it. \"Boss? Hazel's here.\"\n\nShe pushed the door open further, using her large feral body as a doorstop so Hazel could step through the doorway. There was a fairly large, half-round desk in the back of the room, with two computers and several telephones on it. Behind it a firmly built silver fox in a smart suit was sitting back in a high-backed leather office chair. Hazel walked up to one of the lower chairs in front of the desk, lowered it, sat down and then pulled the other lever to raise the chair back up so she could look over the desk at the fox.\n \"What do you have for me, Steve?\"\nThe silver fox checked through a few papers.\n \"You did an article about these mythical tiny little butterfly cats said to live on the Nezinoma Salis island a while ago, Hazel, didn't you?\"\n \"Uhm... yes, Faekitties they called them,\" Hazel nodded, running a finger over her whiskers in thought. \"So what?\"\n \"There's been a sighting of a winged bipedal feline near the beaches of Fandago,\" Steve said, scanning one of his papers. \"About six and a half feet tall, female, mostly black of fur with bright yellow underarms and lower legs and a mostly yellow tail, white hair, and the wings are like those of a Richmond birdwing butterfly. Several people have reported sightings of this female, and the Fandago \"Morning Star\" newspaper got in touch with us because they remembered you work for us and you wrote that article about those... Faekitties. A number of the people said this female looked like an anthropomorphic form of a Faekitty.\"\n \"As you may remember, though, my article never proved that Faekitties actually exist,\" Hazel pointed out, tapping her pencil against the side of her muzzle as she had been taking notes on what Steve had been telling her. \"So why are you telling me this? Aside from it having a little bit to do with my old article?\"\nSteve leaned back in his chair and folded his paws together on his chest, fingertips touching.\n \"Simple. We want you to investigate these rumors, hopefully find this female that has been sighted, and if you can, speak with her. It could be a real big scoop. Can you see the kind of questions this situation raises, and what kind of answers we could get?\"\n \"Hmmm.\" With a slow, thoughtful motion Hazel ran the end of her pencil through her right whiskers. \"Yes. Who, and what, is this female? Is she a Faekitty? Is she an evolved form of a Faekitty? Could she be proof that Faekitties actually exist, and could we possibly find some through her help?\"\n \"Exactly,\" Steve nodded. He sat back up again. \"What we want you to do, Hazel, is travel to Fandago and try to locate this female, if possible talk with her. And we want you to travel to Nezinoma Salis and see if you can get more information on Faekitties from the locals there. They're bound to know a lot more about them.\"\nHazel perked up. That sounded like a very interesting trip. She lowered her ears the next moment, though.\n \"How would I get to Nezinoma Salis, though? They have no connections to the mainland; no ferries, no airport, nothing.\"\n \"That's easier than you might think. Visit the garage named Heavenly Auto Repairs in Fandago. This garage is owned and operated by a female Mry; you know, those feline taur-like creatures who populate Nezinoma Salis. If she could get from there to here, she must know of a way to get from here to there. She may even still have connections in one of the towns on Nezinoma Salis who could help you along while you're there.\"\nHazel perked back up.\n \"Do I get travel expenses?\"\n \"Carte blanche.\" A small grin appeared on the silver fox's face. \"We do expect you to have something for us within a week, however, and we would like to get a definitive result eventually, in no more than a month, either beyond a doubt proving that Faekitties exist, or proving that they don't.\"\n \"And if I don't manage that?\" Hazel said, tilting her head a bit.\n \"Then you will have to pay half of your travel expenses yourself.\"\nHazel thought it over for only a moment.\n \"Fair enough. When do I leave for Fandago?\"\n \"Today. Right now. You can pick up an expense voucher at Accounts.\"\n \"Do I send any columns or articles to fill my daily spot in the meantime while I'm over there chasing the Faekitty story?\"\n \"No. We want you to fully concentrate on this.\"\n \"But what will the readers think of my daily stuff not appearing?\"\n \"We'll run a 'Died Suddenly', if you'd want.\" There was a playful teasing grin on the fox's face.\n \"Thanks a lot,\" Hazel smirked with a good-natured grunt. \"They'll expect a two-page article about how I came back from the dead when I return after this mission.\"\n \"Well, it would certainly increase circulation.\"\n \"Sure it would. But if it's all the same to you, I'd prefer if you'd go with the usual procedure.\"\n \"Fine, if you wish,\" Steve said with a light chuckle, sitting up again. \"Good luck, Hazel. Do your best, okay?\"\n \"Don't I always?\"\n\nWith a short laugh, Hazel lowered her chair so she could slip out of it, sticking her pencil behind her ear again while stepping out of the editor's office. Returning to her own desk in the office she shared with two others, the short hamster leaned against the side of her desk as she took the telephone and made a phone-call or two, getting her neighbor from across the road to look after her little one and a half story bungalow during the time she'd be off on her trip, and to a friend of hers who worked for the Fandago newspaper called the \"Morning Star\" to get as much information as she could about the sightings of the butterfly-winged bipedal feline. Then she got her light overcoat and hat and left her office.\n\nStopping by the Accounts department to pick up the voucher for her travel expenses, Hazel calmly walked out of the building with a bit of a spring to her step. To be honest, she was quite excited about her new assignment. She always tackled each new assignment with a certain degree of excitement, but this one in particular had her smiling to herself continuously as she walked through the building and out to the parking lot at the side. The things she had heard about the behavior of Faekitties when she was doing research for her previous article were... quite interesting, to say the least. And if it turned out the little creatures actually did exist, then... well, Hazel could see she was going to have a lot of fun with her assignment. A [i]lot[/i] of fun.\n\nIn the lobby, the small hamster paused to put on her hat and coat before stepping outside through the large glass sliding doors. It was still early in the season; spring was only just on its way in, so the weather was a bit temperamental still. There was in fact a light drizzle dampening the buildings, the streets, the trees and bushes, and coating the cars in a thin film of shimmering beads of water. Hazel turned up the collar of her coat and quickened her pace as she made her way across the parking lot towards her car.\n\nThe grey sky and light drizzle seeping down from the clouds made the hamster's car look even worse than it already did by itself. It was a 1988 Chevrolet Celebrity sedan, a four-door model, in a metallic light green. The smooth coat of paint was however disrupted by irregularly shaped patches of a brownish red color all over the bodywork, where rust and small dents had been treated with sandpaper, filler and lead paint. It showed that while Hazel took enough care of her vehicle to not have it rust away under her little tush, she didn't care enough to have the car repainted to make it look nice and smooth. The only more expensive modification that had been done to the vehicle became apparent when Hazel opened the front driver's side door; the pedals were extended so the short hamster could reach them from the driver's seat, which in turn had been heightened a bit to allow her to look over the dash and the steering wheel so she could operate the car safely.\n\nStarting the sputtering engine, Hazel turned on the headlights and wipers before backing out of her parking spot and pulling off the lot. She drove home to pack a small suitcase, taking both some summer clothes as well as some warmer clothes, not entirely sure of what the climate in Nezinoma Salis would be like so she prepared for any kind of weather. Of course she also packed her notebooks, a fresh box of pencils and a sharpener, as well as her smaller travel typewriter and a packet of sheets of paper for it. After a bit of silent deliberation while she packed her toiletries bag, she also slipped a small spray bottle looking quite like a perfume bottle in the small bag before she packed it into her suitcase.\n\nShe was back on her way quickly again, driving out of Merian and taking the main road towards the coast. With it still more or less being in the middle of the day, the traffic was not too bad so Hazel could make good time. Within an hour and a half, she arrived in the smaller coastal town of Fandago, looking around her as she made her way through the streets. As her car started complaining about being thirsty by means of a small orange light beginning to blink in the fuel gauge, Hazel pulled up to a gas station to re-fuel.\n\nThere was a small convenience store on one side of the lot. After filling the tank and having put the gas cap back on, Hazel stepped over to the small shop, figuring she could get a map there, or at least ask for directions. Just as she reached the door, she looked around when a green and white police patrol car pulled onto the lot and stopped right by the store, letting out a quite tall and slender lilac-point Siamese cat woman dressed in a blue deputy sheriff's uniform. Ah, perfect!\n \"Excuse me, officer?\" Hazel said politely when the woman had reached the small shop.\n \"Yes? Can I help you, ma'am?\" the tall feline deputy smiled, tipping her hat.\n \"I hope so,\" Hazel nodded. \"Could you perhaps tell me where I may find the garage named...\" She checked her small notepad for a moment. \"...Heavenly Auto Repair, please?\"\n \"Oh, of course.\" The tall feline stepped past the store to the corner of the lot and pointed down the street. \"Follow this street in that direction and take a left at the second intersection. Follow that street all the way to the end and take a right. About halfway down is Heavenly Auto Repairs. You can't miss it, it's a quite large lot with several buildings and a number of cars on it, and there's a very large sign over the entrance.\"\n \"Thank you very much, officer,\" Hazel smiled.\n \"You're welcome, ma'am. Have a nice day.\"\n \"Thank you again, and likewise.\"\n\nWith a friendly wave, Hazel walked back to her car, got in, started the engine and calmly pulled away from the gas station, turning to the right to follow the road in the direction the deputy had indicated. At the second intersection, she took a left turn and drove all the way down the street to make the right turn at the end of it. The street she ended up in turned out to be some kind of ring road, enveloping the town and separating it from the beach at the side Hazel was driving down.\n\nThe deputy sheriff she had spoken to had certainly not lied when she'd said the garage was impossible to miss. The premises easily spanned the ground space of five houses, with one large building prominently in the middle and a few smaller buildings on either side, as well as a number of cars. The entrance was wide enough for two semi trucks to drive through side by side with room to spare, and a huge sign reading Heavenly Auto Repair over it.\n\nThe main building sat back on the premises, a small section on one side having a regular door and a few windows while three very large, foldable garage doors occupied the front of the rest of the building. In front of the building were several parking spaces, most of them unoccupied which allowed Hazel to park her car right in front of the building. As she killed the engine and got out of her car, the small hamster found herself being looked at from one of the large opened garage doors, where a positively huge feline taur, a Mry, was standing, dressed in the top half of a denim mechanic's overall with her paws on the spots where the hips of her anthro upper torso met the shoulders of her feral lower body.\n\nBeing a hamster standing at only a bit over three and a half feet tall, Hazel was used to most people towering over her. It never bothered her. But looking at that very large Mry, she momentarily felt dwarfed by the massive presence. Yet Hazel couldn't help giving the large Mry an appreciative look as well. The soft blue fur, with the small wavy darker blue and white markings along the upper parts of the feral front and back legs and the tail, and in the woman's face, looked very pretty indeed, and the long white hair cascading down from the top of her head all the way down past the shoulders of her feral lower body gave her a sense of... lightness.\n\nThe smile curling the massive double-bodied woman's upper lips as Hazel stepped over to her was comfortingly friendly as well.\n \"You must be miss Heavenly Sky?\" Hazel smiled.\n \"Tha' be me, 'oney,\" the large blue Mry nodded. \"C'n I 'elp ya? Got troubles with tha' crate?\" She nodded at Hazel's rather beat-up car.\n \"Hm? Oh, no, no, my car is fine,\" Hazel said. \"Or at least I think so,\" she added with a soft giggle, offering a paw. \"My name is Hazel Krecek, from the Merian Meridian. I did come to ask you for some help, but it's not about cars. Could I perhaps steal a few minutes of your time for some questions?\"\n \"Sure, I don' see why not,\" Heavenly Sky smiled, gently, almost carefully shaking paws with Hazel, then motioning towards the small windowed section on the right of the large building. \"Wouldya wanna follow me to me office? We c'n talk there.\"\n \"Thank you,\" Hazel smiled.\n\nShe followed the large feline taur to the other side of the building and into a small office, looking around and locating a chair that was low enough for her to sit in. Sky stepped around the massive mahogany desk that was in the office and sank down on a set of pillows behind it, straightening out her overall a bit.\n \"Well then, 'oney, what c'n I do ya f'r?\"\n \"I have several inquiries, actually,\" Hazel smiled, pulling out her notepad and pencil. \"The first is about sightings of a tall female feline, a bipedal one with butterfly-like wings. Have you heard anything about that?\"\n \"Ain't jus' 'eard 'bout'er, I seen'er,\" Sky said with a soft chuckle.\n \"Oh!\" Hazel looked up full of interest. \"You did? That's amazing! Can you describe her to me?\"\n \"Sure.\" Sky leaned back a bit, licking a finger and rubbing it over her left whiskers. \"She stands 'bout as tall as me, bit more mebbe. Mighty sleek, she is, very soft, short fur, mos'ly black, with light yellow on'er ears, lower arms an' lower legs from 'bout 'ere to 'ere.\" She traced lines along her own arms and feral front legs with a finger to illustrate. \"Yellow tail with black end. White fingers an' toes, long white 'air. Clear red markin's above'er eyes, over'er cheeks an' 'round'er neck. An' some kinda saddle-like markin' in clear red on'er back, runnin' over'er sides to the sides of'er ribcage. Them wings she 'as are pretty darn massive, black ones, with blue markin's on the upper ones tha' run into light green 'long a black 'eart. Lower wings 'ave blue markin's too, smaller ones 'long the edges runnin' into yellow 'round a black 'eart, and there's a few green markin's 'long the top edge of'er lower wings.\"\n\nHazel was scribbling furiously in her notepad, nodding every now and then as she wrote down the description Sky was giving her as good as verbatim. When Sky was done, Hazel looked up again and tilted her head slightly.\n \"That's a very detailed description. How do you know what the markings on her body look like so exactly?\"\nSky curled her lips into a small grin.\n \"She flits 'round nekkid's a jaybird, 'oney. Seems kinda naive, too. Like as if she ain't got no clue it ain't done runnin' 'round nekkid in public like tha'. Then 'gain...\" Sky shrugged lightly. \"Ain't like she's seen in public much anyways. Folks who seen'er, they seen'er mos'ly 'tween the forest an' the beach at the Outcrop.\"\nAgain Hazel perked her small round ears with interest.\n \"Where exactly is that?\"\nSky opened a drawer of her desk and pulled out a map which she unfolded on her desk, leaning over a bit to point out the narrow strip of land that jutted out from the lower south-west corner of the Minnaluna mainland.\n \"It's right 'ere, 'oney, see? Tha' li'l strip o' land is the Outcrop. It's mos'ly beach, with forest startin' right b'hind the dunes. Ain't very popular as a beach neither, 'ardly no one goes there 'cause there's a lotta gravel an' pebbles in the sand.\"\n \"I see,\" Hazel nodded, leaning over quite far in her chair to look at the map. \"So it's probably very quiet and secluded there? That would make it an ideal place for a creature like her to hang around, I suppose.\" She looked back up at Sky. \"Could she have come from the Nezinoma Salis island?\"\n \"Who'll say?\" Sky shrugged. \"It's possible, as ya can see the distance 'tween Minnaluna an' Nezinoma's the shortest 'tween the Outcrop an' the southern cliffs o' Nezinoma.\" She folded up the map and sat back again. \"Gotta admit, it'd make sense if she came from there. She does look a mighty lot like a Faekitty, af'er all. But then a mighty big'un walkin' on two legs.\"\n \"That brings me to my second question,\" Hazel smiled, also sitting back again and crossing her legs so she could rest her notepad on her knee. \"The Fandago Morning Star got in touch with the paper I work for because a number of the people who had sighted this female mentioned she resembles a Faekitty, and it is known that I have once written an article about the myth of Faekitties. So my second question is, what can you tell me about Faekitties? Do they actually exist, and have you ever seen one?\"\nHeavenly Sky let out a cheerful laugh.\n \"Oh 'ell yeah, they sure exist, 'oney! Ain't no myth 'bout that, I can tell ya!\" She winked. \"I ain't only seen'em, we used to 'ave a couple of'em, me sister an' me, back in the day I still lived in Clear Lake Town on Nezinoma.\"\nBiting back a squeak of surprise and excitement, Hazel looked up at Sky once again with wide, sparkling eyes.\n \"You did?! So they don't only actually exist, but they're even kept as pets? They're really real?\"\n \"Sure did, 'oney!\" Sky confirmed with another cheery laugh. \"They's as real as ya an' me sittin' 'ere. I could tell ya plen'y o' things 'bout'em, too! 'Eck, I may even still 'ave a picture or two o' some o' the ones me sister an' me 'ad back in the day.\"\n \"Oh! Could I see them, please? And could you please tell me everything about them? What they're like, what their behavior is like, everything?\"\n\nHazel was almost bouncing in her chair with excitement - quite uncharacteristic for the calm, mature and seasoned woman she was. But this was so big! Not only had she just heard that both the sightings of the strange butterfly-winged feline were correct, and that Faekitties really did exist, but she was talking with a woman who had first-hand experience with both of them! Heavenly Sky laughed softly again, rising to her four feet and stepping out from behind the desk so she could walk to the door of the office to close and lock it.\n \"Be glad to, 'oney. There, better if we ain't disturbed f'r a while, 'cause it's quite intimate stuff I gotta tell ya 'bout them Faekitties.\" She stepped back to the desk and settled down on the floor in front of it, next to the chair Hazel was sitting in. \"Now then. Faekitties are sure as 'eck real, 'oney. Then been 'round f'r as long as I can remember, an' likely even longer'n we Mry been 'round. They look like yer regular feral, quadruped kittycat, bu' with a pair o' butterfly wings on'em, and they's only 'bout 'tween three an' four inches big, ya see. They's always females - ain't no males of'em. So they's also, what ya could call, decidedly lesbian.\" The large blue Mry chuckled softly at the light squeak Hazel let out at that bit of trivia. \"They feed on nectar o' flowers, but they only really thrive on nectar o' women, if ya get my drift. They's highly sexual-oriented li'l critters, they are, an' it's the fluids o' women an' the sexual energy o' women bein' stimulated sexually an' reachin' a climax tha' gives them Faekitties the power to thrive an' reproduce. Tha's why'em are so highly sexual in the wild, an' even moreso when they's kept as a pet by a woman. They's jus' followin' their nature, but it's tha' highly sexual nature tha' makes'em so popular with women, single women 'specially.\" A playful grin curled the upper lips of the large blue Mry and made her whiskers dance as she looked at Hazel. \"C'n I getcha somethin' to drink mebbe, 'oney? Ya seem to be gettin' quite warm under the collar there.\"\n\nHazel was indeed getting it harder and harder to maintain her calm, collected professional composure. Her face was glowing with a warm blush while she slowly wriggled in the chair a bit, her fur-less little toes curling as she pressed her one leg upon which her notepad was resting down over the other it was crossed over. Pulling in a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment before sending Heavenly Sky a somewhat apologetic smile.\n \"Ah... yes, a drink sounds like a good idea. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so excited. It's just...\"\n \"Shucks, no worries, 'oney,\" Sky chuckled while she rose to her four feet. \"I c'n understand all too well. There's a damn good reason them Faekitties are called a lonesome Mry's best friend, after all.\" She winked as she stepped to the door of the office, unlocking and opening it. \"Be back in a jiffy, 'oney.\"\n\nShe closed the office door behind her again after having stepped through it. Hazel tilted her head for a moment, then smiled and leaned back in her chair while pulling in another deep breath. With a quick glance over her shoulder at the closed door, she stuck her pencil behind her ear, uncrossed her legs and reached down under her dress quickly. Shivering slightly and smoothing her dress back down after she had pulled back her paw, the short hamster smirked playfully at herself as she looked at the glistening damp traces on her bare-skinned fingers. Good golly, the things that Mry had been telling her about Faekitties... Hazel had heard similar things before when she had been doing her research for the first article she wrote on the mythical Faekitties, but never before in such a candid and detailed manner.\n\nAnother shiver traveled down and back up her spine as she pulled the pencil from behind her ear to make a few notes in her notepad. If everything Heavenly Sky had been telling her was true, and if it was common practice to keep Faekitties as pets where the Mry came from, then... Hazel bit down a soft squeak as she thought about the possibilities. She also pulled in another deep breath, trying to regain her composure a bit more. It wasn't done coming across like an over-excited schoolgirl, especially not since Heavenly Sky was most likely her most important source of information, and possibly her key into getting to Nezinoma Salis and hopefully finding and studying Faekitties in their natural habitat.\n\nThe sound of the office door opening and closing caused the hamster to look around, smiling as she saw Heavenly Sky stepping back into the office. The large Mry had two plastic bottles of clear spring water dangling by the necks between the fingers of one of her paws, and she was holding a small brown envelope in her other paw. Settling down on the floor next to Hazel's chair again, Sky put the envelope on the desk and handed Hazel one of the blue plastic bottles, uncapping the other and taking a small swig from it.\n \"There y'are, 'oney, a nice refreshin' drink.\" She patted the envelope with her free paw. \"Found some o' them pictures I mentioned b'fore, too.\"\n \"Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you,\" Hazel smiled.\n\nShe uncapped the bottle she was given and took a few small sips of the cool water. For a few moments, both of them sat in silence, every now and then sipping their water. It was rather clear Hazel was having trouble containing her excitement, however, stealing glances at the envelope every so often. Sky let out a soft chuckle, setting her bottle down on the desk.\n \"Dyin' to see them pictures, 'oney, ain'tcha?\"\n \"Well... I can't really hide it that well, can I?\" Hazel giggled softly.\n \"Nah, it's quite obvious,\" Sky chuckled. \"Go on, 'ave a look.\"\nShe took Hazel's bottle and put it on the desk while handing the hamster the envelope. Hazel carefully opened it and looked inside, pulling out a number of old-fashioned polaroid photographs.\n \"Ohmigosh! They're so adorable!\" she squeaked as she looked at the photos. \"Look at how tiny they are! And so colorful! Oh, they're so cuuute!\"\n \"Ain't they, though?\" Sky smiled, calmly leaning on her desk with one arm, her feral forepaws crossed one over the other. \"Tha's th'other main reason they's so popular as pets.\"\nNodding slowly, Hazel looked through the rest of the pictures before slowly looking back up at Heavenly Sky.\n \"You said your folk calls them a lonesome Mry's best friend. I know that is a joke often said about certain sex toys, but... why do Mry say it about these little creatures?\"\n \"Shouldn't be too 'ard to guess, 'oney, should it?\" Sky chuckled, turning her upper torso a bit and patting her quadruped lower body with a paw. \"Look 'oney, with the way we's built, I'm sure ya can imagine pleasurin' ourselves is a mighty tricky business. But we Mry get them urges an' needs just as well as ya biped folk do, ya know - mebbe even more. But with the way we's built, we either 'ave to assume very uncomfortable positions to masturbate, or 'ave 'elp from someone else. So when a Mry is in the unfortunate position tha' she's lonesome, tha' she ain't got no one to 'elp 'er, what could be a better friend f'r 'er than a highly sexual li'l critter tha' ain't only very eager, but even needs to indulge in sex to even thrive an' survive?\"\n \"That... yeah, that makes sense. I never really thought about that,\" Hazel nodded. She shivered again, a new blush beginning to form on her cheeks at the very candid way the large blue Mry spoke about sexual matters. She looked back at the pictures to try and distract herself a bit. \"So... are they sold in stores? If they're kept as pets?\"\n \"Hardly. They used to be, but demand quickly outstripped supply. They don' breed well in captivity, ya know, and they only live f'r 'bout eight to ten years,\" Sky explained. \"If I ain't mistaken, there's a sex shop in Oceanside tha' still 'as a few Faekitties in their stock, An' mebbe one in Mountain City. But I ain't sure.\"\nOnce again Hazel nodded slowly, drawing in a deep breath or two and managing a smile as she looked at Heavenly Sky.\n \"That sort of brings me to my third inquiry, in a way. My boss told me he wants me to go to Nezinoma Salis and look for Faekitties there myself, talk with the locals to get as much information as possible. But there is no way in and out of Nezinoma Salis from here, is there? My boss said that talking to you would give me the best chance of finding a way to travel into Nezinoma Salis. Is that true? Could you help me get there?\"\nThe large blue Mry grinned widely.\n \"I can do ya even one better'n tha', 'oney. Like I mentioned, I 'ave a sister, an' she still lives there. I'm sure it wouldn't take me too much effort to convince 'er to pick ya up 'ere an' show ya 'round Nezinoma f'r a bit. 'Ere, gimme a sec, 'oney.\"\nShe rose back up and stepped behind her desk, opening another drawer and pulling out a quite large cell phone with an unusual large and thick antenna. Hazel blinked in surprise for a moment, and couldn't help herself.\n \"What kind of phone is that? I've never seen a cell phone like that.\"\n \"Satellite phone, 'oney,\" Sky smiled. \"Ain't no phones at all on Nezinoma, not even land lines, let alone cell phone towers. Ya can get a bit o' reception f'r yer cell phone in Oceanside, but any further inland an' ya lose reception. Me sister's been down 'ere coupla times b'fore though, so I got'er one o' these so we could keep in touch.\"\n\nHazel nodded in understanding, sitting back a bit and concentrating on her notes while Heavenly Sky made a call on the satellite phone. Only every now and then did the short hamster flick one of her small fur-less ears to some of the things she heard Sky say, eventually looking up when the blue Mry finished the call.\n \"There, all taken care of, 'oney,\" she smiled at Hazel while putting the phone back in her desk drawer. \"Me sister, Summer Sky's 'er name, will be glad to come pick ya up from 'ere an' show ya 'round Nezinoma. Ya can even stay at 'er place f'r as long's ya need.\"\n \"Ohmigosh!\" Hazel squeaked. \"That's amazing! I can't believe how helpful you have been, miss Sky! And your sister, too! Where will I meet her?\"\n \"S'aight 'oney, s'what we do,\" Sky smiled, waving Hazel's gratitude away with a paw. \"Us Mry, we always 'elp each other's best as we can.\" She stepped back out from behind the desk. \"Summer still lives in Clear Lake Town, tha's at the northern side o' Nezinoma. She'll be goin' over to Oceanside an' borrow a sailboat t'morrow so she can sail to the 'arbor 'ere in Fandago an' pick ya up.\"\n \"Thanks! Thank you so much!\" Hazel said happily. She calmed down a bit. \"I don't suppose I could bring my car with me, right? Do you know if I could rent a car over there?\"\n \"I doubt it,\" Sky said with a light chuckle. \"Mry culture ain't as advanced as things are 'ere in Minnaluna, 'oney. They do 'ave cars, but it's only one model, an' we don' really get the concept o' rentin' out stuff. Ya could probably borrow a car though, they'll be glad to 'elp ya like tha'. Or ya could buy one, they's crazy cheap what with 'ow Mry culture still relies a lot on tradin' an' such.\"\n \"Oh! Well, that could work, I suppose,\" Hazel nodded slowly. \"If I would buy one, though, I would need to have it modified, get the pedals raised so I can reach them. Do you think they can do that there?\"\n \"Easy,\" Sky nodded. \"They'll even put in a seat f'r ya. Technology may not be very advanced, but they's sure ingenious in their 'andiwork.\"\nHazel nodded again, running the end of her pencil through her right whiskers.\n \"Do they use a monetary system? Do they have money as a currency? Or is everything done by trade?\"\n \"Tha' they do. Matter o' fact, there's a Mry merchant in the Fandago 'arbor where ya can buy Mry currency. Coins o' gold, silver an' copper. There's five coppers in a silver, ten silvers in a gold. In dollars, that'd be...\" Sky ran a paw over her whiskers, thinking for a moment. \"Twen'y cent f'r a copper, a dollar f'r a silver, ten bucks f'r a gold.\"\n \"That's not very much, indeed,\" Hazel agreed, quickly scribbling down notes again. \"How much would you suggest I bring along, if I were to buy a car there, have it modified, and have money for all normal expenses?\"\n \"Las' I remember, there's a shop sellin' cars in Oceanside, an' they ask twen'y gold f'r a car.\"\n \"You're kidding! That cheap?!\" Hazel squeaked. \"That's like two hundred dollars for a brand new car!\"\n \"As I said, they's crazy cheap, 'oney,\" Sky chuckled. \"Mry don' need much, since they mos'ly use trade. I'd suggest ya bring 'long 'bout four 'undred dollar's worth o' Mry currency, ya should be more'n set with tha' for sev'ral weeks at least.\"\n \"I will! Yeah! That sounds perfect,\" Hazel nodded, again scribbling in her notepad. \"So I will meet your sister at the harbor here tomorrow? Does she know where that merchant is? Or could you tell me? Oh, and at what time should I meet her?\"\n \"I'll do ya one better 'gain, 'oney,\" Sky smiled. \"Ya come 'ere to me garage t'morrow at ten in the mornin'. Ya c'n leave yer car 'ere, I'll drive ya to the 'arbor, show ya to tha' merchant so ya c'n pick yerself up some Mry money, an' introduce ya to me sister.\"\n \"Golly!\" Hazel squeaked again. \"Thank you so very much again, miss Sky! I can't believe how great a help you have been already, and all the extra help you're giving me!\"\n \"As I said, tha's what we Mry do, 'oney,\" Sky smiled, giving a small, playful wink. \"An' who knows, mebbe ya can sometime do me a favor in return. 'Eck, I'll likely be askin' me sister to get t'gether some things from Nezinoma f'r me t'morrow, an' ya c'n bring it back f'r me when ya return.\"\n \"Of course! I'll be glad to help, that's the least I can do,\" Hazel nodded. She checked her watch. \"I can probably still catch my boss and get a few extra things taken care of. Miss Sky,\" she looked up with a bright smile, \"I can't thank you enough for all the help you have given me. I will see you tomorrow here at your garage at ten o'clock. And could I maybe ask for one last favor? Could I borrow one of those photos from you, to show my boss as proof? I'll give it back to you tomorrow.\"\n \"Sure, 'oney,\" Sky nodded with a smile. She scooped up the polaroids and slipped them back into the envelope which she then handed to Hazel. \"Take the whole thing, that'll be easier.\"\n \"Once again, thank you so very much,\" Hazel smiled, carefully tucking the envelope in her purse. \"I will be careful with them, and I will return them to you when I meet you here at ten tomorrow morning.\"\n \"Tha's fine, 'oney,\" Sky nodded, helping Hazel off the chair and accompanying her to the office door and back out of the building. \"I'll be seein' ya t'morrow then.\"\n \"You will!\"\n\nShe waved after the large blue Mry as Sky stepped back into the garage through one of the large open garage doors, walking over to her car herself. Before getting in, Hazel leaned against her car and drew a paw over her face, breathing in deeply for a moment. Golly! This was just unbelievable! Lowering her paw, she opened her purse and took out her cell phone, searching through the contacts database and pressing the speed dial for one of the numbers.\n \"Steve? It's Hazel. Are you still in the office. Good! Stay there! I should be there in an hour and a half, two hours. I've got news, and it's huge! Yeah. Yeah, alright, see you soon.\"\n\nPutting her phone back in her purse, Hazel stepped around her car and got in behind the wheel. She drove back to Merian as quickly as she could and the traffic allowed her, quietly mumbling to herself as she already started constructing sentences in her mind. When she reached the office building of the \"Merian Meridian\", she parked her car right in front of the entrance - in the no-parking zone - and rushed into the building. She didn't even knock when she reached the office of her department's editor but instead went right in and closed the door behind her, striding over to Steve's desk with as large steps as she could take.\n \"Well then,\" Steve remarked calmly. \"You seem to be rather excited, which is not too usual for you, Hazel. What's the big news?\"\n \"Several things, and I will be needing a few things from you, too,\" Hazel said. \"First off; Faekitties are real. They exist.\"\nSteve quirked an eyebrow.\n \"Proven beyond a shadow of a doubt? Already?\"\n \"Definitely and irrefutably.\" Hazel opened her purse and took out the brown envelope Heavenly Sky had given her. \"I have the proof right here.\" She opened the envelope and took out the polaroids, laying them on Steve's desk. \"Careful with those, I have to give them back to the owner tomorrow.\"\nSteve quirked an eyebrow again, picking up the photos and sifting through them, every now and then quietly humming to himself.\n \"Hm. Hm hm. Seems legit enough. I'm impressed, Hazel.\" He looked up. \"Can we copy these?\"\n \"I don't want to run the risk. You never know how brittle such old polaroids are, and I promised the owner I'd take very good care of them. However, I will very likely be able to snap pictures of live Faekitties myself when I'm in Nezinoma Salis.\"\n \"Right. That might be even better, come to think of it. What else do you have so far?\"\n \"Better information, and better help than we could ever hope for. That Mry lady you suggested I visit, Heavenly Sky; she's amazing. She gave me a lot of inside information about Faekitties as well as some on Mry culture, and she got in touch with her sister who still lives on Nezinoma Salis to come over and pick me up tomorrow to bring me there and house me while I do my research and interviews there.\"\n \"Excellent. What do you need from me?\"\n \"A digital camera with zoom lens from the Photo department. Six hundred dollars in cash. And a satellite phone.\"\nSteve had been nodding slowly, but looked up and tilted his head when Hazel mentioned the satellite phone.\n \"Those are damn expensive, and you know we only have a couple. Why do you need one?\"\n \"Because we need to make this big, Steve. Much bigger than what you initially suggested to me. From what Heavenly Sky told me, I could make up Mry culture is very different from ours, and very interesting. I want to stay on Nezinoma Salis for an extended time, not just to find Faekitties, but also to study Mry culture and write a series of articles about it.\"\n \"And what does that have to do with a satellite phone?\"\n \"I'll need that to phone in my articles. Heavenly Sky told me Mry culture is by far not as advanced as ours. For one, there's no telephones whatsoever on the whole island, not even land lines. Cell phone reception disappears as soon as you move away from the coast. I have no idea if they even have a postal system, so the only way I could keep in touch with the office here is with a satellite phone. Heavenly Sky used one to call her sister on the island and she told me it's the only way to have any form of communication between there and the Minnaluna mainland.\"\n \"I see. Alright, you convinced me.\" Steve pulled a few papers from one of the drawers of his desk and started writing out a few things. \"You can go pick up a camera from the Photo department, and I'll write you a check for the money. I take it that's to convert to whatever currency they use on that island?\"\n \"Indeed.\"\n \"I thought so. Will you stick around for a bit longer? It may take a bit of time to obtain a satellite phone.\"\n \"Yes, I will be at my desk. I'll write a quick filler you can run in my regular spot in tomorrow's paper, to explain where I will be going and what I will be doing.\"\n \"Very good.\" Steve handed Hazel a check and a paper. \"Here you go. I'll hunt down that phone for you now.\"\n \"Thanks. As I said, I'll be at my desk.\"\n\nHazel put the envelope with pictures, the paper and the check in her purse and left Steve's office again, while the silver fox picked up one of his phones to call one of the departments. Walking quickly, Hazel made her way to the office she shared with two others and got behind her desk, starting her computer back up and beginning to type at the professional speed of eighty-two words per minute, which was her personal best.\n\nWithin eight minutes, the short-coupled hamster had finished the short filler article, sending it off via the in-office email system. Not long after, the vanilla-spotted Flamelin named Sandy stepped into the office and turned to Hazel who was just shutting off her computer again.\n \"You ready, Hazel?\"\n \"Just. Did Steve get that phone for me?\"\n \"He did, you can pick it up in his office.\" They started walking to the editor's office together. \"Did you really already find Faekitties?\"\n \"Not live ones,\" Hazel smiled. \"But I got some photos from a Mry who's had some as pets years ago. So I know without a doubt they are real, alright.\"\nThe large quadruped feline chuffed a soft chuckle.\n \"Are you going to bring back one or more from Nezinoma Salis if you find them there?\"\nHazel giggled softly.\n \"Who knows? I would be very tempted, that's for sure. But I will need to make sure they can even survive here on the mainland. The climate here may well be very different from the climate on Nezinoma Salis, and I wouldn't want to accidentally harm any Faekitties. They're way too adorable for that!\"\n\nSandy nodded as she saw Hazel into Steve's office to pick up the satellite phone. Steve had even thought to provide several additional batteries for it, as it was not certain there might even be electricity on the Nezinoma Salis island. Stopping by the Photo department, Hazel also picked up a rather basic digital camera with a zoom lens and an eight gigabyte memory card, which would give her more than ample storage space for taking lots of pictures.\n\nBy the time the small hamster got back to her car, the banks were already closed, so she merely drove straight to her bungalow. She could stop by a bank to cash the check on her way to Fandago the next morning. After a quick shower, she hopped into bed to get herself a good night's sleep, which she managed to sink into despite her heightened excitement over everything that lay ahead for her the next morning. This was going to be so much fun!\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Friday. It usually was a day in the work week at which people were a bit more relaxed. The weekend lurking at the end of the day tended to make people more cheerful, and most of the times it were mostly loose ends that were tied up in running projects, rather than a lot of work being put into starting up new projects - those could wait till Monday.

It was not that way in all enterprises, though. In the office building of the "Merian Meridian", the main newspaper of the small city of Merian on the Minnaluna mainland, people were running around with sheets of paper or typing away behind computers in frenzied rhythms. There was a lot of hard work to get the evening edition planned out and laid out. Phones were ringing all over the place, voices were ringing out, sometimes orders were shouted through open doorways.

One of those doorways, leading into a small office, had a head poking around it; the head of a Flamelin with the fur pattern of a snow leopard, but with vanilla-colored spots and rosettes in her milk-white fur.
   "Hazel?"
From behind one of the three computers in the room, another head popped up; this time the head of a short-coupled hamster lady.
   "Yes? Oh, Sandy, it's you. What can I do for you?"
   "Steve's got a tip in. Asked if you can come to his office right away."
Steve Fox was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. The hamster lady gave a nod of her head.
   "I'm on my way."
   "I'll walk you."

Saving her work, the hamster woman closed her text processing program and reached below her chair, pulling the handle to make the chair sink down. Standing at the remarkably short length of three feet and eight inches, Hazel needed to do that so she could slip out of her chair without needing to jump to the floor. She reached up to her desk to grab a clipboard with papers on it and a pencil which she stuck behind her ear, walking over to where the large feral feline was still waiting in the doorway.
   "What's the tip about?" she asked while walking.
   "Steve didn't say." The large Flamelin gave a funny sort of shrug while they walked through the corridors. "You know how he is. He just said it was right up your alley, and it was big."
   "Big, huh? Yeah, sounds right up my alley alright," Hazel chortled.
She was never too shy to mock her short stature. The Flamelin Sandy chuffed a short feline laugh.
   "Well, you have proven that you can handle the big assignments, after all."
   "I suppose. I just hope it's not a fluke, like the last time he got a tip about something big."
   "You'll find out in a moment, I'd say." They had reached a door, which Sandy pushed open with her head to look around it. "Boss? Hazel's here."

She pushed the door open further, using her large feral body as a doorstop so Hazel could step through the doorway. There was a fairly large, half-round desk in the back of the room, with two computers and several telephones on it. Behind it a firmly built silver fox in a smart suit was sitting back in a high-backed leather office chair. Hazel walked up to one of the lower chairs in front of the desk, lowered it, sat down and then pulled the other lever to raise the chair back up so she could look over the desk at the fox.
   "What do you have for me, Steve?"
The silver fox checked through a few papers.
   "You did an article about these mythical tiny little butterfly cats said to live on the Nezinoma Salis island a while ago, Hazel, didn't you?"
   "Uhm... yes, Faekitties they called them," Hazel nodded, running a finger over her whiskers in thought. "So what?"
   "There's been a sighting of a winged bipedal feline near the beaches of Fandago," Steve said, scanning one of his papers. "About six and a half feet tall, female, mostly black of fur with bright yellow underarms and lower legs and a mostly yellow tail, white hair, and the wings are like those of a Richmond birdwing butterfly. Several people have reported sightings of this female, and the Fandago "Morning Star" newspaper got in touch with us because they remembered you work for us and you wrote that article about those... Faekitties. A number of the people said this female looked like an anthropomorphic form of a Faekitty."
   "As you may remember, though, my article never proved that Faekitties actually exist," Hazel pointed out, tapping her pencil against the side of her muzzle as she had been taking notes on what Steve had been telling her. "So why are you telling me this? Aside from it having a little bit to do with my old article?"
Steve leaned back in his chair and folded his paws together on his chest, fingertips touching.
   "Simple. We want you to investigate these rumors, hopefully find this female that has been sighted, and if you can, speak with her. It could be a real big scoop. Can you see the kind of questions this situation raises, and what kind of answers we could get?"
   "Hmmm." With a slow, thoughtful motion Hazel ran the end of her pencil through her right whiskers. "Yes. Who, and what, is this female? Is she a Faekitty? Is she an evolved form of a Faekitty? Could she be proof that Faekitties actually exist, and could we possibly find some through her help?"
   "Exactly," Steve nodded. He sat back up again. "What we want you to do, Hazel, is travel to Fandago and try to locate this female, if possible talk with her. And we want you to travel to Nezinoma Salis and see if you can get more information on Faekitties from the locals there. They're bound to know a lot more about them."
Hazel perked up. That sounded like a very interesting trip. She lowered her ears the next moment, though.
   "How would I get to Nezinoma Salis, though? They have no connections to the mainland; no ferries, no airport, nothing."
   "That's easier than you might think. Visit the garage named Heavenly Auto Repairs in Fandago. This garage is owned and operated by a female Mry; you know, those feline taur-like creatures who populate Nezinoma Salis. If she could get from there to here, she must know of a way to get from here to there. She may even still have connections in one of the towns on Nezinoma Salis who could help you along while you're there."
Hazel perked back up.
   "Do I get travel expenses?"
   "Carte blanche." A small grin appeared on the silver fox's face. "We do expect you to have something for us within a week, however, and we would like to get a definitive result eventually, in no more than a month, either beyond a doubt proving that Faekitties exist, or proving that they don't."
   "And if I don't manage that?" Hazel said, tilting her head a bit.
   "Then you will have to pay half of your travel expenses yourself."
Hazel thought it over for only a moment.
   "Fair enough. When do I leave for Fandago?"
   "Today. Right now. You can pick up an expense voucher at Accounts."
   "Do I send any columns or articles to fill my daily spot in the meantime while I'm over there chasing the Faekitty story?"
   "No. We want you to fully concentrate on this."
   "But what will the readers think of my daily stuff not appearing?"
   "We'll run a 'Died Suddenly', if you'd want." There was a playful teasing grin on the fox's face.
   "Thanks a lot," Hazel smirked with a good-natured grunt. "They'll expect a two-page article about how I came back from the dead when I return after this mission."
   "Well, it would certainly increase circulation."
   "Sure it would. But if it's all the same to you, I'd prefer if you'd go with the usual procedure."
   "Fine, if you wish," Steve said with a light chuckle, sitting up again. "Good luck, Hazel. Do your best, okay?"
   "Don't I always?"

With a short laugh, Hazel lowered her chair so she could slip out of it, sticking her pencil behind her ear again while stepping out of the editor's office. Returning to her own desk in the office she shared with two others, the short hamster leaned against the side of her desk as she took the telephone and made a phone-call or two, getting her neighbor from across the road to look after her little one and a half story bungalow during the time she'd be off on her trip, and to a friend of hers who worked for the Fandago newspaper called the "Morning Star" to get as much information as she could about the sightings of the butterfly-winged bipedal feline. Then she got her light overcoat and hat and left her office.

Stopping by the Accounts department to pick up the voucher for her travel expenses, Hazel calmly walked out of the building with a bit of a spring to her step. To be honest, she was quite excited about her new assignment. She always tackled each new assignment with a certain degree of excitement, but this one in particular had her smiling to herself continuously as she walked through the building and out to the parking lot at the side. The things she had heard about the behavior of Faekitties when she was doing research for her previous article were... quite interesting, to say the least. And if it turned out the little creatures actually did exist, then... well, Hazel could see she was going to have a lot of fun with her assignment. A lot of fun.

In the lobby, the small hamster paused to put on her hat and coat before stepping outside through the large glass sliding doors. It was still early in the season; spring was only just on its way in, so the weather was a bit temperamental still. There was in fact a light drizzle dampening the buildings, the streets, the trees and bushes, and coating the cars in a thin film of shimmering beads of water. Hazel turned up the collar of her coat and quickened her pace as she made her way across the parking lot towards her car.

The grey sky and light drizzle seeping down from the clouds made the hamster's car look even worse than it already did by itself. It was a 1988 Chevrolet Celebrity sedan, a four-door model, in a metallic light green. The smooth coat of paint was however disrupted by irregularly shaped patches of a brownish red color all over the bodywork, where rust and small dents had been treated with sandpaper, filler and lead paint. It showed that while Hazel took enough care of her vehicle to not have it rust away under her little tush, she didn't care enough to have the car repainted to make it look nice and smooth. The only more expensive modification that had been done to the vehicle became apparent when Hazel opened the front driver's side door; the pedals were extended so the short hamster could reach them from the driver's seat, which in turn had been heightened a bit to allow her to look over the dash and the steering wheel so she could operate the car safely.

Starting the sputtering engine, Hazel turned on the headlights and wipers before backing out of her parking spot and pulling off the lot. She drove home to pack a small suitcase, taking both some summer clothes as well as some warmer clothes, not entirely sure of what the climate in Nezinoma Salis would be like so she prepared for any kind of weather. Of course she also packed her notebooks, a fresh box of pencils and a sharpener, as well as her smaller travel typewriter and a packet of sheets of paper for it. After a bit of silent deliberation while she packed her toiletries bag, she also slipped a small spray bottle looking quite like a perfume bottle in the small bag before she packed it into her suitcase.

She was back on her way quickly again, driving out of Merian and taking the main road towards the coast. With it still more or less being in the middle of the day, the traffic was not too bad so Hazel could make good time. Within an hour and a half, she arrived in the smaller coastal town of Fandago, looking around her as she made her way through the streets. As her car started complaining about being thirsty by means of a small orange light beginning to blink in the fuel gauge, Hazel pulled up to a gas station to re-fuel.

There was a small convenience store on one side of the lot. After filling the tank and having put the gas cap back on, Hazel stepped over to the small shop, figuring she could get a map there, or at least ask for directions. Just as she reached the door, she looked around when a green and white police patrol car pulled onto the lot and stopped right by the store, letting out a quite tall and slender lilac-point Siamese cat woman dressed in a blue deputy sheriff's uniform. Ah, perfect!
   "Excuse me, officer?" Hazel said politely when the woman had reached the small shop.
   "Yes? Can I help you, ma'am?" the tall feline deputy smiled, tipping her hat.
   "I hope so," Hazel nodded. "Could you perhaps tell me where I may find the garage named..." She checked her small notepad for a moment. "...Heavenly Auto Repair, please?"
   "Oh, of course." The tall feline stepped past the store to the corner of the lot and pointed down the street. "Follow this street in that direction and take a left at the second intersection. Follow that street all the way to the end and take a right. About halfway down is Heavenly Auto Repairs. You can't miss it, it's a quite large lot with several buildings and a number of cars on it, and there's a very large sign over the entrance."
   "Thank you very much, officer," Hazel smiled.
   "You're welcome, ma'am. Have a nice day."
   "Thank you again, and likewise."

With a friendly wave, Hazel walked back to her car, got in, started the engine and calmly pulled away from the gas station, turning to the right to follow the road in the direction the deputy had indicated. At the second intersection, she took a left turn and drove all the way down the street to make the right turn at the end of it. The street she ended up in turned out to be some kind of ring road, enveloping the town and separating it from the beach at the side Hazel was driving down.

The deputy sheriff she had spoken to had certainly not lied when she'd said the garage was impossible to miss. The premises easily spanned the ground space of five houses, with one large building prominently in the middle and a few smaller buildings on either side, as well as a number of cars. The entrance was wide enough for two semi trucks to drive through side by side with room to spare, and a huge sign reading Heavenly Auto Repair over it.

The main building sat back on the premises, a small section on one side having a regular door and a few windows while three very large, foldable garage doors occupied the front of the rest of the building. In front of the building were several parking spaces, most of them unoccupied which allowed Hazel to park her car right in front of the building. As she killed the engine and got out of her car, the small hamster found herself being looked at from one of the large opened garage doors, where a positively huge feline taur, a Mry, was standing, dressed in the top half of a denim mechanic's overall with her paws on the spots where the hips of her anthro upper torso met the shoulders of her feral lower body.

Being a hamster standing at only a bit over three and a half feet tall, Hazel was used to most people towering over her. It never bothered her. But looking at that very large Mry, she momentarily felt dwarfed by the massive presence. Yet Hazel couldn't help giving the large Mry an appreciative look as well. The soft blue fur, with the small wavy darker blue and white markings along the upper parts of the feral front and back legs and the tail, and in the woman's face, looked very pretty indeed, and the long white hair cascading down from the top of her head all the way down past the shoulders of her feral lower body gave her a sense of... lightness.

The smile curling the massive double-bodied woman's upper lips as Hazel stepped over to her was comfortingly friendly as well.
   "You must be miss Heavenly Sky?" Hazel smiled.
   "Tha' be me, 'oney," the large blue Mry nodded. "C'n I 'elp ya? Got troubles with tha'  crate?" She nodded at Hazel's rather beat-up car.
   "Hm? Oh, no, no, my car is fine," Hazel said. "Or at least I think so," she added with a soft giggle, offering a paw. "My name is Hazel Krecek, from the Merian Meridian. I did come to ask you for some help, but it's not about cars. Could I perhaps steal a few minutes of your time for some questions?"
   "Sure, I don' see why not," Heavenly Sky smiled, gently, almost carefully shaking paws with Hazel, then motioning towards the small windowed section on the right of the large building. "Wouldya wanna follow me to me office? We c'n talk there."
   "Thank you," Hazel smiled.

She followed the large feline taur to the other side of the building and into a small office, looking around and locating a chair that was low enough for her to sit in. Sky stepped around the massive mahogany desk that was in the office and sank down on a set of pillows behind it, straightening out her overall a bit.
   "Well then, 'oney, what c'n I do ya f'r?"
   "I have several inquiries, actually," Hazel smiled, pulling out her notepad and pencil. "The first is about sightings of a tall female feline, a bipedal one with butterfly-like wings. Have you heard anything about that?"
   "Ain't jus' 'eard 'bout'er, I seen'er," Sky said with a soft chuckle.
   "Oh!" Hazel looked up full of interest. "You did? That's amazing! Can you describe her to me?"
   "Sure." Sky leaned back a bit, licking a finger and rubbing it over her left whiskers. "She stands 'bout as tall as me, bit more mebbe. Mighty sleek, she is, very soft, short fur, mos'ly black, with light yellow on'er ears, lower arms an' lower legs from 'bout 'ere to 'ere." She traced lines along her own arms and feral front legs with a finger to illustrate. "Yellow tail with black end. White fingers an' toes, long white 'air. Clear red markin's above'er eyes, over'er cheeks an' 'round'er neck. An' some kinda saddle-like markin' in clear red on'er back, runnin' over'er sides to the sides of'er ribcage. Them wings she 'as are pretty darn massive, black ones, with blue markin's on the upper ones tha' run into light green 'long a black 'eart. Lower wings 'ave blue markin's too, smaller ones 'long the edges runnin' into yellow 'round a black 'eart, and there's a few green markin's 'long the top edge of'er lower wings."

Hazel was scribbling furiously in her notepad, nodding every now and then as she wrote down the description Sky was giving her as good as verbatim. When Sky was done, Hazel looked up again and tilted her head slightly.
   "That's a very detailed description. How do you know what the markings on her body look like so exactly?"
Sky curled her lips into a small grin.
   "She flits 'round nekkid's a jaybird, 'oney. Seems kinda naive, too. Like as if she ain't got no clue it ain't done runnin' 'round nekkid in public like tha'. Then 'gain..." Sky shrugged lightly. "Ain't like she's seen in public much anyways. Folks who seen'er, they seen'er mos'ly 'tween the forest an' the beach at the Outcrop."
Again Hazel perked her small round ears with interest.
   "Where exactly is that?"
Sky opened a drawer of her desk and pulled out a map which she unfolded on her desk, leaning over a bit to point out the narrow strip of land that jutted out from the lower south-west corner of the Minnaluna mainland.
   "It's right 'ere, 'oney, see? Tha' li'l strip o' land is the Outcrop. It's mos'ly beach, with forest startin' right b'hind the dunes. Ain't very popular as a beach neither, 'ardly no one goes there 'cause there's a lotta gravel an' pebbles in the sand."
   "I see," Hazel nodded, leaning over quite far in her chair to look at the map. "So it's probably very quiet and secluded there? That would make it an ideal place for a creature like her to hang around, I suppose." She looked back up at Sky. "Could she have come from the Nezinoma Salis island?"
   "Who'll say?" Sky shrugged. "It's possible, as ya can see the distance 'tween Minnaluna an' Nezinoma's the shortest 'tween the Outcrop an' the southern cliffs o' Nezinoma." She folded up the map and sat back again. "Gotta admit, it'd make sense if she came from there. She does look a mighty lot like a Faekitty, af'er all. But then a mighty big'un walkin' on two legs."
   "That brings me to my second question," Hazel smiled, also sitting back again and crossing her legs so she could rest her notepad on her knee. "The Fandago Morning Star got in touch with the paper I work for because a number of the people who had sighted this female mentioned she resembles a Faekitty, and it is known that I have once written an article about the myth of Faekitties. So my second question is, what can you tell me about Faekitties? Do they actually exist, and have you ever seen one?"
Heavenly Sky let out a cheerful laugh.
   "Oh 'ell yeah, they sure exist, 'oney! Ain't no myth 'bout that, I can tell ya!" She winked. "I ain't only seen'em, we used to 'ave a couple of'em, me sister an' me, back in the day I still lived in Clear Lake Town on Nezinoma."
Biting back a squeak of surprise and excitement, Hazel looked up at Sky once again with wide, sparkling eyes.
   "You did?! So they don't only actually exist, but they're even kept as pets? They're really real?"
   "Sure did, 'oney!" Sky confirmed with another cheery laugh. "They's as real as ya an' me sittin' 'ere. I could tell ya plen'y o' things 'bout'em, too! 'Eck, I may even still 'ave a picture or two o' some o' the ones me sister an' me 'ad back in the day."
   "Oh! Could I see them, please? And could you please tell me everything about them? What they're like, what their behavior is like, everything?"

Hazel was almost bouncing in her chair with excitement - quite uncharacteristic for the calm, mature and seasoned woman she was. But this was so big! Not only had she just heard that both the sightings of the strange butterfly-winged feline were correct, and that Faekitties really did exist, but she was talking with a woman who had first-hand experience with both of them! Heavenly Sky laughed softly again, rising to her four feet and stepping out from behind the desk so she could walk to the door of the office to close and lock it.
   "Be glad to, 'oney. There, better if we ain't disturbed f'r a while, 'cause it's quite intimate stuff I gotta tell ya 'bout them Faekitties." She stepped back to the desk and settled down on the floor in front of it, next to the chair Hazel was sitting in. "Now then. Faekitties are sure as 'eck real, 'oney. Then been 'round f'r as long as I can remember, an' likely even longer'n we Mry been 'round. They look like yer regular feral, quadruped kittycat, bu' with a pair o' butterfly wings on'em, and they's only 'bout 'tween three an' four inches big, ya see. They's always females - ain't no males of'em. So they's also, what ya could call, decidedly lesbian." The large blue Mry chuckled softly at the light squeak Hazel let out at that bit of trivia. "They feed on nectar o' flowers, but they only really thrive on nectar o' women, if ya get my drift. They's highly sexual-oriented li'l critters, they are, an' it's the fluids o' women an' the sexual energy o' women bein' stimulated sexually an' reachin' a climax tha' gives them Faekitties the power to thrive an' reproduce. Tha's why'em are so highly sexual in the wild, an' even moreso when they's kept as a pet by a woman. They's jus' followin' their nature, but it's tha' highly sexual nature tha' makes'em so popular with women, single women 'specially." A playful grin curled the upper lips of the large blue Mry and made her whiskers dance as she looked at Hazel. "C'n I getcha somethin' to drink mebbe, 'oney? Ya seem to be gettin' quite warm under the collar there."

Hazel was indeed getting it harder and harder to maintain her calm, collected professional composure. Her face was glowing with a warm blush while she slowly wriggled in the chair a bit, her fur-less little toes curling as she pressed her one leg upon which her notepad was resting down over the other it was crossed over. Pulling in a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment before sending Heavenly Sky a somewhat apologetic smile.
   "Ah... yes, a drink sounds like a good idea. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so excited. It's just..."
   "Shucks, no worries, 'oney," Sky chuckled while she rose to her four feet. "I c'n understand all too well. There's a damn good reason them Faekitties are called a lonesome Mry's best friend, after all." She winked as she stepped to the door of the office, unlocking and opening it. "Be back in a jiffy, 'oney."

She closed the office door behind her again after having stepped through it. Hazel tilted her head for a moment, then smiled and leaned back in her chair while pulling in another deep breath. With a quick glance over her shoulder at the closed door, she stuck her pencil behind her ear, uncrossed her legs and reached down under her dress quickly. Shivering slightly and smoothing her dress back down after she had pulled back her paw, the short hamster smirked playfully at herself as she looked at the glistening damp traces on her bare-skinned fingers. Good golly, the things that Mry had been telling her about Faekitties... Hazel had heard similar things before when she had been doing her research for the first article she wrote on the mythical Faekitties, but never before in such a candid and detailed manner.

Another shiver traveled down and back up her spine as she pulled the pencil from behind her ear to make a few notes in her notepad. If everything Heavenly Sky had been telling her was true, and if it was common practice to keep Faekitties as pets where the Mry came from, then... Hazel bit down a soft squeak as she thought about the possibilities. She also pulled in another deep breath, trying to regain her composure a bit more. It wasn't done coming across like an over-excited schoolgirl, especially not since Heavenly Sky was most likely her most important source of information, and possibly her key into getting to Nezinoma Salis and hopefully finding and studying Faekitties in their natural habitat.

The sound of the office door opening and closing caused the hamster to look around, smiling as she saw Heavenly Sky stepping back into the office. The large Mry had two plastic bottles of clear spring water dangling by the necks between the fingers of one of her paws, and she was holding a small brown envelope in her other paw. Settling down on the floor next to Hazel's chair again, Sky put the envelope on the desk and handed Hazel one of the blue plastic bottles, uncapping the other and taking a small swig from it.
   "There y'are, 'oney, a nice refreshin' drink." She patted the envelope with her free paw. "Found some o' them pictures I mentioned b'fore, too."
   "Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you," Hazel smiled.

She uncapped the bottle she was given and took a few small sips of the cool water. For a few moments, both of them sat in silence, every now and then sipping their water. It was rather clear Hazel was having trouble containing her excitement, however, stealing glances at the envelope every so often. Sky let out a soft chuckle, setting her bottle down on the desk.
   "Dyin' to see them pictures, 'oney, ain'tcha?"
   "Well... I can't really hide it that well, can I?" Hazel giggled softly.
   "Nah, it's quite obvious," Sky chuckled. "Go on, 'ave a look."
She took Hazel's bottle and put it on the desk while handing the hamster the envelope. Hazel carefully opened it and looked inside, pulling out a number of old-fashioned polaroid photographs.
   "Ohmigosh! They're so adorable!" she squeaked as she looked at the photos. "Look at how tiny they are! And so colorful! Oh, they're so cuuute!"
   "Ain't they, though?" Sky smiled, calmly leaning on her desk with one arm, her feral forepaws crossed one over the other. "Tha's th'other main reason they's so popular as pets."
Nodding slowly, Hazel looked through the rest of the pictures before slowly looking back up at Heavenly Sky.
   "You said your folk calls them a lonesome Mry's best friend. I know that is a joke often said about certain sex toys, but... why do Mry say it about these little creatures?"
   "Shouldn't be too 'ard to guess, 'oney, should it?" Sky chuckled, turning her upper torso a bit and patting her quadruped lower body with a paw. "Look 'oney, with the way we's built, I'm sure ya can imagine pleasurin' ourselves is a mighty tricky business. But we Mry get them urges an' needs just as well as ya biped folk do, ya know - mebbe even more. But with the way we's built, we either 'ave to assume very uncomfortable positions to masturbate, or 'ave 'elp from someone else. So when a Mry is in the unfortunate position tha' she's lonesome, tha' she ain't got no one to 'elp 'er, what could be a better friend f'r 'er than a highly sexual li'l critter tha' ain't only very eager, but even needs to indulge in sex to even thrive an' survive?"
   "That... yeah, that makes sense. I never really thought about that," Hazel nodded. She shivered again, a new blush beginning to form on her cheeks at the very candid way the large blue Mry spoke about sexual matters. She looked back at the pictures to try and distract herself a bit. "So... are they sold in stores? If they're kept as pets?"
   "Hardly. They used to be, but demand quickly outstripped supply. They don' breed well in captivity, ya know, and they only live f'r 'bout eight to ten years," Sky explained. "If I ain't mistaken, there's a sex shop in Oceanside tha' still 'as a few Faekitties in their stock, An' mebbe one in Mountain City. But I ain't sure."
Once again Hazel nodded slowly, drawing in a deep breath or two and managing a smile as she looked at Heavenly Sky.
   "That sort of brings me to my third inquiry, in a way. My boss told me he wants me to go to Nezinoma Salis and look for Faekitties there myself, talk with the locals to get as much information as possible. But there is no way in and out of Nezinoma Salis from here, is there? My boss said that talking to you would give me the best chance of finding a way to travel into Nezinoma Salis. Is that true? Could you help me get there?"
The large blue Mry grinned widely.
   "I can do ya even one better'n tha', 'oney. Like I mentioned, I 'ave a sister, an' she still lives there. I'm sure it wouldn't take me too much effort to convince 'er to pick ya up 'ere an' show ya 'round Nezinoma f'r a bit. 'Ere, gimme a sec, 'oney."
She rose back up and stepped behind her desk, opening another drawer and pulling out a quite large cell phone with an unusual large and thick antenna. Hazel blinked in surprise for a moment, and couldn't help herself.
   "What kind of phone is that? I've never seen a cell phone like that."
   "Satellite phone, 'oney," Sky smiled. "Ain't no phones at all on Nezinoma, not even land lines, let alone cell phone towers. Ya can get a bit o' reception f'r yer cell phone in Oceanside, but any further inland an' ya lose reception. Me sister's been down 'ere coupla times b'fore though, so I got'er one o' these so we could keep in touch."

Hazel nodded in understanding, sitting back a bit and concentrating on her notes while Heavenly Sky made a call on the satellite phone. Only every now and then did the short hamster flick one of her small fur-less ears to some of the things she heard Sky say, eventually looking up when the blue Mry finished the call.
   "There, all taken care of, 'oney," she smiled at Hazel while putting the phone back in her desk drawer. "Me sister, Summer Sky's 'er name, will be glad to come pick ya up from 'ere an' show ya 'round Nezinoma. Ya can even stay at 'er place f'r as long's ya need."
   "Ohmigosh!" Hazel squeaked. "That's amazing! I can't believe how helpful you have been, miss Sky! And your sister, too! Where will I meet her?"
   "S'aight 'oney, s'what we do," Sky smiled, waving Hazel's gratitude away with a paw. "Us Mry, we always 'elp each other's best as we can." She stepped back out from behind the desk. "Summer still lives in Clear Lake Town, tha's at the northern side o' Nezinoma. She'll be goin' over to Oceanside an' borrow a sailboat t'morrow so she can sail to the 'arbor 'ere in Fandago an' pick ya up."
   "Thanks! Thank you so much!" Hazel said happily. She calmed down a bit. "I don't suppose I could bring my car with me, right? Do you know if I could rent a car over there?"
   "I doubt it," Sky said with a light chuckle. "Mry culture ain't as advanced as things are 'ere in Minnaluna, 'oney. They do 'ave cars, but it's only one model, an' we don' really get the concept o' rentin' out stuff. Ya could probably borrow a car though, they'll be glad to 'elp ya like tha'. Or ya could buy one, they's crazy cheap what with 'ow Mry culture still relies a lot on tradin' an' such."
   "Oh! Well, that could work, I suppose," Hazel nodded slowly. "If I would buy one, though, I would need to have it modified, get the pedals raised so I can reach them. Do you think they can do that there?"
   "Easy," Sky nodded. "They'll even put in a seat f'r ya. Technology may not be very advanced, but they's sure ingenious in their 'andiwork."
Hazel nodded again, running the end of her pencil through her right whiskers.
   "Do they use a monetary system? Do they have money as a currency? Or is everything done by trade?"
   "Tha' they do. Matter o' fact, there's a Mry merchant in the Fandago 'arbor where ya can buy Mry currency. Coins o' gold, silver an' copper. There's five coppers in a silver, ten silvers in a gold. In dollars, that'd be..." Sky ran a paw over her whiskers, thinking for a moment. "Twen'y cent f'r a copper, a dollar f'r a silver, ten bucks f'r a gold."
   "That's not very much, indeed," Hazel agreed, quickly scribbling down notes again. "How much would you suggest I bring along, if I were to buy a car there, have it modified, and have money for all normal expenses?"
   "Las' I remember, there's a shop sellin' cars in Oceanside, an' they ask twen'y gold f'r a car."
   "You're kidding! That cheap?!" Hazel squeaked. "That's like two hundred dollars for a brand new car!"
   "As I said, they's crazy cheap, 'oney," Sky chuckled. "Mry don' need much, since they mos'ly use trade. I'd suggest ya bring 'long 'bout four 'undred dollar's worth o' Mry currency, ya should be more'n set with tha' for sev'ral weeks at least."
   "I will! Yeah! That sounds perfect," Hazel nodded, again scribbling in her notepad. "So I will meet your sister at the harbor here tomorrow? Does she know where that merchant is? Or could you tell me? Oh, and at what time should I meet her?"
   "I'll do ya one better 'gain, 'oney," Sky smiled. "Ya come 'ere to me garage t'morrow at ten in the mornin'. Ya c'n leave yer car 'ere, I'll drive ya to the 'arbor, show ya to tha' merchant so ya c'n pick yerself up some Mry money, an' introduce ya to me sister."
   "Golly!" Hazel squeaked again. "Thank you so very much again, miss Sky! I can't believe how great a help you have been already, and all the extra help you're giving me!"
   "As I said, tha's what we Mry do, 'oney," Sky smiled, giving a small, playful wink. "An' who knows, mebbe ya can sometime do me a favor in return. 'Eck, I'll likely be askin' me sister to get t'gether some things from Nezinoma f'r me t'morrow, an' ya c'n bring it back f'r me when ya return."
   "Of course! I'll be glad to help, that's the least I can do," Hazel nodded. She checked her watch. "I can probably still catch my boss and get a few extra things taken care of. Miss Sky," she looked up with a bright smile, "I can't thank you enough for all the help you have given me. I will see you tomorrow here at your garage at ten o'clock. And could I maybe ask for one last favor? Could I borrow one of those photos from you, to show my boss as proof? I'll give it back to you tomorrow."
   "Sure, 'oney," Sky nodded with a smile. She scooped up the polaroids and slipped them back into the envelope which she then handed to Hazel. "Take the whole thing, that'll be easier."
   "Once again, thank you so very much," Hazel smiled, carefully tucking the envelope in her purse. "I will be careful with them, and I will return them to you when I meet you here at ten tomorrow morning."
   "Tha's fine, 'oney," Sky nodded, helping Hazel off the chair and accompanying her to the office door and back out of the building. "I'll be seein' ya t'morrow then."
   "You will!"

She waved after the large blue Mry as Sky stepped back into the garage through one of the large open garage doors, walking over to her car herself. Before getting in, Hazel leaned against her car and drew a paw over her face, breathing in deeply for a moment. Golly! This was just unbelievable! Lowering her paw, she opened her purse and took out her cell phone, searching through the contacts database and pressing the speed dial for one of the numbers.
   "Steve? It's Hazel. Are you still in the office. Good! Stay there! I should be there in an hour and a half, two hours. I've got news, and it's huge! Yeah. Yeah, alright, see you soon."

Putting her phone back in her purse, Hazel stepped around her car and got in behind the wheel. She drove back to Merian as quickly as she could and the traffic allowed her, quietly mumbling to herself as she already started constructing sentences in her mind. When she reached the office building of the "Merian Meridian", she parked her car right in front of the entrance - in the no-parking zone - and rushed into the building. She didn't even knock when she reached the office of her department's editor but instead went right in and closed the door behind her, striding over to Steve's desk with as large steps as she could take.
   "Well then," Steve remarked calmly. "You seem to be rather excited, which is not too usual for you, Hazel. What's the big news?"
   "Several things, and I will be needing a few things from you, too," Hazel said. "First off; Faekitties are real. They exist."
Steve quirked an eyebrow.
   "Proven beyond a shadow of a doubt? Already?"
   "Definitely and irrefutably." Hazel opened her purse and took out the brown envelope Heavenly Sky had given her. "I have the proof right here." She opened the envelope and took out the polaroids, laying them on Steve's desk. "Careful with those, I have to give them back to the owner tomorrow."
Steve quirked an eyebrow again, picking up the photos and sifting through them, every now and then quietly humming to himself.
   "Hm. Hm hm. Seems legit enough. I'm impressed, Hazel." He looked up. "Can we copy these?"
   "I don't want to run the risk. You never know how brittle such old polaroids are, and I promised the owner I'd take very good care of them. However, I will very likely be able to snap pictures of live Faekitties myself when I'm in Nezinoma Salis."
   "Right. That might be even better, come to think of it. What else do you have so far?"
   "Better information, and better help than we could ever hope for. That Mry lady you suggested I visit, Heavenly Sky; she's amazing. She gave me a lot of inside information about Faekitties as well as some on Mry culture, and she got in touch with her sister who still lives on Nezinoma Salis to come over and pick me up tomorrow to bring me there and house me while I do my research and interviews there."
   "Excellent. What do you need from me?"
   "A digital camera with zoom lens from the Photo department. Six hundred dollars in cash. And a satellite phone."
Steve had been nodding slowly, but looked up and tilted his head when Hazel mentioned the satellite phone.
   "Those are damn expensive, and you know we only have a couple. Why do you need one?"
   "Because we need to make this big, Steve. Much bigger than what you initially suggested to me. From what Heavenly Sky told me, I could make up Mry culture is very different from ours, and very interesting. I want to stay on Nezinoma Salis for an extended time, not just to find Faekitties, but also to study Mry culture and write a series of articles about it."
   "And what does that have to do with a satellite phone?"
   "I'll need that to phone in my articles. Heavenly Sky told me Mry culture is by far not as advanced as ours. For one, there's no telephones whatsoever on the whole island, not even land lines. Cell phone reception disappears as soon as you move away from the coast. I have no idea if they even have a postal system, so the only way I could keep in touch with the office here is with a satellite phone. Heavenly Sky used one to call her sister on the island and she told me it's the only way to have any form of communication between there and the Minnaluna mainland."
   "I see. Alright, you convinced me." Steve pulled a few papers from one of the drawers of his desk and started writing out a few things. "You can go pick up a camera from the Photo department, and I'll write you a check for the money. I take it that's to convert to whatever currency they use on that island?"
   "Indeed."
   "I thought so. Will you stick around for a bit longer? It may take a bit of time to obtain a satellite phone."
   "Yes, I will be at my desk. I'll write a quick filler you can run in my regular spot in tomorrow's paper, to explain where I will be going and what I will be doing."
   "Very good." Steve handed Hazel a check and a paper. "Here you go. I'll hunt down that phone for you now."
   "Thanks. As I said, I'll be at my desk."

Hazel put the envelope with pictures, the paper and the check in her purse and left Steve's office again, while the silver fox picked up one of his phones to call one of the departments. Walking quickly, Hazel made her way to the office she shared with two others and got behind her desk, starting her computer back up and beginning to type at the professional speed of eighty-two words per minute, which was her personal best.

Within eight minutes, the short-coupled hamster had finished the short filler article, sending it off via the in-office email system. Not long after, the vanilla-spotted Flamelin named Sandy stepped into the office and turned to Hazel who was just shutting off her computer again.
   "You ready, Hazel?"
   "Just. Did Steve get that phone for me?"
   "He did, you can pick it up in his office." They started walking to the editor's office together. "Did you really already find Faekitties?"
   "Not live ones," Hazel smiled. "But I got some photos from a Mry who's had some as pets years ago. So I know without a doubt they are real, alright."
The large quadruped feline chuffed a soft chuckle.
   "Are you going to bring back one or more from Nezinoma Salis if you find them there?"
Hazel giggled softly.
   "Who knows? I would be very tempted, that's for sure. But I will need to make sure they can even survive here on the mainland. The climate here may well be very different from the climate on Nezinoma Salis, and I wouldn't want to accidentally harm any Faekitties. They're way too adorable for that!"

Sandy nodded as she saw Hazel into Steve's office to pick up the satellite phone. Steve had even thought to provide several additional batteries for it, as it was not certain there might even be electricity on the Nezinoma Salis island. Stopping by the Photo department, Hazel also picked up a rather basic digital camera with a zoom lens and an eight gigabyte memory card, which would give her more than ample storage space for taking lots of pictures.

By the time the small hamster got back to her car, the banks were already closed, so she merely drove straight to her bungalow. She could stop by a bank to cash the check on her way to Fandago the next morning. After a quick shower, she hopped into bed to get herself a good night's sleep, which she managed to sink into despite her heightened excitement over everything that lay ahead for her the next morning. This was going to be so much fun!
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