CAUTION: This story contains implied sexual activity between minors, mild violence, and profanity. Reader discretion is advised.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Masala Chai
by IndigoNeko and TaintedThylacine
Chapter 10
Saturday, March 5th, 2016
Alex leaned across the center console and planted a kiss on the side of hir mother’s muzzle. “Thanks, Mom,” the young tigress said, turning around and pushing open the door of the SUV.
“You’re welcome, Love. Have fun,” the older tigress said, watching as her daughter grabbed the backpack in the footwell and shut the door, then walked up the cement walkway towards the Winters family’s front door. Alex hefted hir backpack over one shoulder and knocked on Azalea’s front door, then turned and waved back at her. Raenne waved and put the transmission back in drive.
A moment later the half-jerboa opened the door, smiling at the sight of the tigress wearing only a ‘Hello Kitty’ t-shirt and knee-length black skirt. “Welcome. I’d say something about you looking cold, but you like the cold,” Azalea said, poking her tongue out as she stepped to the side.
“Afternoon, Alex,” Cora said, peeking from around the corner. She was already making dinner for the family, and scents of chicken and spices tickling the tigress’ nose. “I’m making brown chicken stew for dinner.”
“It’s the best way to keep warm when it’s cold out,” Beth said, waving to Alex from her spot on the sofa.
“Smells spicy. Yum,” the young tigress said, stepping inside and taking off hir sneakers.
“I put in the amount of habaneros the recipe calls for, but I know you and a few other family members like it really hot so I have some extra ones chopped up that you can toss in.” Cora said before popping back into the kitchen.
Alex grinned. “Thanks.”
“We’ll yell for you when it’s done,” Beth said, looking up from her book for a moment before going back to reading.
“Come on, we have a new game to play.” Azalea took Alex’s paw and tugged her in the direction of the stairs.
Alex followed along behind. “Wait, like... a new video game or what?” shi asked as they thundered up the stairs.
“Something like that. There’s these new things called card games. They use the latest graphics. High def 1080p.” The hybrid giggled as she led the tigress to her room where they were greeted with the sight of the green-haired field mouse sitting on a cushion.
Alex came to an abrupt halt as shi saw Willow. “Uhhh... Hi Willow,” the tigress said, blinking in surprise. Shi hadn’t expected to see the mouse from art class here. Then again, Azalea and Willow had seemed to hit it off quite well the day before. “How are you?” shi asked, walking into the room and setting hir backpack against the wall next to the door.
“Hey Alex. Surprise, it’s a three-way sleepover,” Willow said with a smile as she kept shuffling a stack of white cards before placing them atop of a tall stack of more white cards. “I already explained the rules to Azzy. Alex, you ever play Cards Against Zoomanity?”
“No,” Alex replied, shaking hir head as shi walked over to where Willow was sitting. “Never heard of it before.”
“Sooo, come, sit and I will tell you a story, I mean the rules.” Willow said as she started dealing out the white cards, a stack of ten cards for each of them. “First, this is the Family Edition. The original game is way more gross. Each round, someone is the card czar. They flip and read a black card. The others play a white card that they think is funny and goes with it. The card czar picks the winner. Simple.”
The tigress snagged one of the pillows from Azalea’s nest and dropped it next to the pile of cards, taking a seat. “Okay.”
“Don’t worry. I will go easy, and start us off,” Willow said, reaching for a black card and reading it. “I don’t really know what my mom’s job is, but I think it has something to do with blank.”
The tigress picked up the small stack of white cards that Willow placed in front of hir and read the first card. The idea was so absurd it made hir giggle. “So... Do I just give you the card I think goes best?”
“Yes,” Willow said, taking the card that Azalea was handing her.
“Kay,” Alex said, handing over the first card with a smirk.
“Okay,” Willow repeated what was written on the black card before reading one of the white cards. “Rubbing lotion on a hairless cat… or Screaming the F-word.”
Azalea giggled at the two choices, the field mouse shaking her head a little. “I wonder what it would be like to rub lotion on a hairless cat.” She muttered turning to look at Alex, “you know I have a really nice shaver…”
“No shaving your house guest. But lotioning a hairless cat got me,” Willow said, handing the black card to Azalea.
“You can go shave Micro if you want, but you’re not getting near me with a pair of clippers,” Alex muttered. “Who’s the next card czar?”
“You.” Willow motioned to the pile of black cards.
The tigress picked up one of the black cards and read it aloud. “Uhh... ‘New from Hasbro! It’s BUNGO: The Game of blank’.”
Azalea took a moment or two to look through her card before giggling as she handed one to Alex. Willow followed suit, nearly breaking into laughter.
Alex took the two cards that Azalea and Willow held out, reading them. “BUNGO: The Game of... Covering my body with Vaseline and sliding on the floor like a slug. Uhh... and BUNGO: The Game of Getting my ponytail stuck in my butt....” The tigress paused a moment before busting out laughing. “Okay, that one got me,” shi said, handing the black card to Azalea.
“I know my audience,” Azalea said with a smile as she reached out to pick up a black card.
“Well, I guess I need to be a little more random to tickle a tigress,” Willow said, getting a smirk from Alex while looking over her cards.
“Okay, my turn. ‘It’s BIG, It’s SCARY, It’s blank!’,” Azalea read the card, then waited on her friends to pick something.
The tigress spent a few seconds looking over hir cards. “Well, this isn’t funny, but it’s fitting,” Alex said with a frown as shi handed over a card.
“Don’t worry, Azzy’s sense of humor is just as… strange as Jennifer is.” Willow snerked.
“Bite me,” Azalea said, looking at the cards.
“Wait, you know Jennifer? The white rat?” Alex interrupted.
“White rat, pink eyes, escaped from a lab? Yeah, I know her. We have a few classes together. Why?” Willow asked, tilting her head a little.
“We sit with her at lunch and Azzy plays games with her at the game shop,” Alex explained. “You’re right about her being strange. Smart, but gullible. Anyway... who’s the winner, Azzy?”
“It’s BIG, It’s SCARY, It’s EVIL! aaaand... It’s BIG, It’s SCARY, It’s Nasty cousin Amber!” Azalea said, reading out the choices before pondering. “It’s always a cousin named Amber… but evil is more fitting.” She handed the black card to Alex.
“Yay. Willow’s turn?” Alex asked, accepting the black card.
The three children continued to play for several more rounds, occasionally giggling at a particularly funny combo. They stopped only when they were interrupted by Cora calling them for dinner, standing up and thundering down the stairs.
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Saturday, March 6th, 2016
Alex pushed the door to the game shop open and walked in, once again wrinkling hir nose at the smell. Jennifer Morton was sitting at the same table she had been last time, only this time she was facing a wolf boy. There was a vinyl mat laid out on the table along with a veritable army of miniatures: rats, dwarves, and various monstrosities.
The tigress stepped inside, followed by Azalea and Willow, walking over to the table and sitting down to one side. Unlike last time, there were actually a few kids their own ages in the shop this time, playing Pokémon at one of the tables.
“Oh, she’s about to delete someone,” Azalea said upon seeing that Jennifer was playing against someone else.
“She’s on the warpath,” Willow said as they walked closer and saw that Jennifer was commanding her Clan Pestilens rats.
“Oh, she is. Sucks to be the other guy,” Azalea said, seeing that the wolf that she was gaming against was commanding an army of Dawi.
Alex looked over the battle map. “Hey Jennifer. Is this that Warhammer game you and Azzy were playing a while back?”
The wolf glanced over at the tiger cub that had taken a seat at their table, then rolled a handful of dice.
“This isn’t a game; it’s war.” Jennifer watched the wolf’s dice landing, thankful he didn’t roll well. She pulled a few of her Plague Monks off of the field. “Dwarf-things are going to suffer-die for that.” The white rat pulled out a small tape measure and took a few measurements.
“She even has her lucky tape measure,” Azalea said, peering around the table, trying to figure out what she was going to do.
“Oh,” Willow leaned in between the two. “She’s got Gutter Runners about to ambush.”
“Oh. Yeah, he’s done,” the hybrid said, noticing the groups of Gutter Runners hidden in the ruins of a building near the dwarves that just attacked.
Alex had no idea what they were talking about, and stayed silent, watching as Jennifer picked up the aforementioned Gutter Runners and moved them next to the dwarves.
“Let the weeping poison seep into your dawi flesh and suffer.” Jennifer smiled, rolled her dice, laughing at the high rolls that she landed. “Ooooooh,” she gloated as the wolf removed several of the dwarves from the group. “Ohhhh and don’t forget that the other group takes damage from the Congregation of Filth effect on the terrain there.” The wolf sighed again as he pulled a few more of his army from the field.
“I hate when she does that,” Azalea complained.
“You’re just salty cause she locked you down that one time, you couldn’t get near her Plaguesmog Furnace.”
“Yes, I am. Cause she just sat there and picked my army off, without moving,” Azalea complained.
“You keep whining like that and you’re next.” Jennifer side-eyed the half-squirrel as she made the rolls for her Plaguesmog Furnace and the wolf cleared a few more of his army and one of the ruin tiles.
The battle between the rat and wolf didn’t last but a few more turns. A final volley from the Furnace took out the last of a pack of dwarves, leading to him failing his morale check. He gathered up the last of his army and packed them away as Jennifer did the same.
“What brings you nerds here?” the white rat asked, looking at the party.
“We had a sleepover last night and decided to come play some games before we go home. We dropped in to see if you were here before we head to the arcade. Azzy brought her Warhammer minis just in case,” Alex said, watching the wolf pack up and get ready to leave.
“Good game. I asked for a challenge and you gave it to me. I will play you anytime,” the wolf said as he picked up his box of minis and wandered off into the shop, heading towards the wall of miniatures in the back of the store.
After the wolf left, Alex turned back to the jerboa-squirrel. “Azzy, you said you were gonna teach us how to play if Jennifer was here.”
“Jennifer, think you can switch to teacher mode from war-rat mode?” Azalea asked, sitting down at the other end of the table and starting to set up her army.
“I can be a good teach. Just don’t expect me to share my secrets,” the rat said as she started resetting her army. “Gather ‘round goobers, and learn the ways of the true race, and be blessed by the Horned Rat.”
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Alex caught hirself just before the chair shi was sitting in fell over backwards, grabbing the edge of the table to stabilize hirself, then let the front chair legs return back to the floor. “I need to stretch my legs,” shi said, standing up from the table where Jennifer and Azalea were slugging it out with their respective armies, having long since shifted from ‘teacher mode’ to ‘war-rat mode’. The young tigress brushed off hir black capris, the straps and buckles jingling, and pulled hir black ‘Hello Kitty’ t-shirt back down below hir waist.
Glancing around, Alex walked over to the bookshelves and began looking some of them over. One of the shelves had a section of books devoted to the artwork of World of Warcraft. The cover art of a dwarf riding a gryphon was pretty cool. Shi picked it up and started flipping through the pages. A moment later, Willow walked up next to hir.
“Did you find something interesting?” Willow asked, leaning in close.
“Yeah,” Alex said, turning the page. “My dad used to play this game. The artwork’s really cool. The game itself is kind of boring, though.”
“It can be fun. I like watching my friends play while I crochet or something. There are better ones out there like Star Wars: TOR.”
“I prefer racing games. Or fighting games,” the tigress said, flipping the page again. “If I’m bored I’ll play adventure games on my Nintendo DS... or on my phone, if I forget my DS at home.”
“Yeah, I can see you liking racing games.” Willow nodded. “I’m so bad at them though, save for that one where you get points for crashing.” The mouse stood there for a moment. “Sooooo, is there anything that you can tell me about Azzy? I mean you dated her, so you know some secrets.”
Alex frowned, glancing at the green-haired mouse. “Hmmm. So, originally her family’s from California. You met Beth and Cora last night. Beth’s an attorney or something... and shi’s a herm like me. Beth is technically Azzy’s dad. Her mom, Cora, is an artist and does a lot of portraits of interesting crossbr- er... hybrid individuals,” the tigress said, catching hirself at the last second before accidentally using politically incorrect slang. Shi turned the page and whistled at the beautiful illustrations in the book, wishing shi was that good of an artist.
The mouse nodded. “All handy things, but what about Azzy? Secrets, weakness, things that make her laugh, melt?”
The tigress smirked and glanced at the field mouse. “She loves brushing her tail and has very sensitive ears. She’ll turn into a puddle if you nibble on them.”
“I knew about the tail, but now I will use the ears.” She smiled devilishly.
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Friday, March 18th, 2016
The car engine went silent as David pressed the button on the dash of his SUV, then unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed the driver’s side door open. “Remember to be polite,” he said to his daughter as shi pushed the passenger door open.
“Yes, Dad. I know,” Alex said as shi slid out of the seat, landing on the asphalt of the small parking lot. The young tigress walked around the back of hir dad’s white SUV and pressed the button on the trunk, waiting a few seconds for it to open. Shi and hir dad pulled out the duffle bags with their karate gear and the staves of various lengths that shi had been practicing with over the past two months.
The white tiger pressed the button on the trunk to close it again after they’d retrieved all their gear, then followed his daughter across the street and the other half of the parking lot, then up the stairs to the flagstone courtyard. All of the cherry trees lining the courtyard were still dormant, sadly. David was looking forward to seeing what they would look like when they bloomed. He came to a stop just before running into his daughter. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I just... Wow. This is... way bigger than I expected,” Alex said, staring across the flagstone courtyard at the dojo. It was absolutely massive, and looked exactly like an ancient pagoda or grand temple straight out of a Japanese anime or something.
“I thought you saw it already,” David said, looking up at it as well. He had to admit, it was impressive... but so was the final bill that Sebastian Mendelssohn had handed them earlier that week, at well over half a million dollars.
“No,” Alex said, tightening hir grip on the staves as shi started across the courtyard. “Mom took me up here to see the courtyard and foundation, but they hadn’t started the dojo yet. This is sick. It’s like one of those temples from Japan or something.”
David raised an eyebrow at the term; he’d never heard someone call something ‘sick’ in a positive sense before. “Spot on. It’s loosely based on the Hōryū-ji temple, in Ikaruga, Japan. Though the inside is strictly a dojo, rather than a temple,” he explained as they walked across the flagstones and up the few steps to the main entrance. As they approached the shoji doors, they slid open automatically thanks to the motion detector hidden just above them.
Both tigers came to a stop just inside. The dojo itself was huge and surprisingly well lit. Other than a meter-wide ring of wood panel flooring along the outside edge, most of the dojo floor was beige-colored vinyl gym mats, several of which had large black rings on them for sparring, and a much larger black ring smack in the center of the dojo. The ceiling went in a few feet from the walls, supported by wood pillars, before opening up in a huge open atrium.
Alex looked around, taking in the various Japanese kanji and murals that had been painted in black on the white walls, along with an impressive number of Japanese weapons that had been hung on the walls. Some of the swords and other weapons shi remembered from their basement back in Oregon, but didn’t remember there being so many.
As the door slid shut behind them. Raenne stepped up the stairs from the basement on the right side of the dojo, followed by a short red panda with a graying muzzle. The red panda wore a white gi, in contrast to hir mother’s black one. The black belt around his waist had a wide swath of gold stripes.
“I must say, I’m extremely impressed. You’ve clearly put a lot of thought into this... not to mention money,” the red panda said, with a strong Japanese accent. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d have sworn we were standing in the middle of Osaka. And you said the foundation was poured only two months ago? Amazing.”
“Yes, only two months ago. Hey you two,” Raenne called out as she spotted David and Alex. “Come on over here and meet Mr. Kobayashi. Nobu-sensei, this is my husband, David, and my daughter, Alex. This is Nobu Kobayashi, the ISKF representative, and one of my previous teachers. He’s a sixth-dan black-belt.”
Alex walked along the wooden walkway around the edge of the dojo towards them and set hir duffel back and staves down before turning to face him. Shi was a bit surprised that the red panda was so short; he was slightly taller than shi was. The tigress turned to face him and returned his bow, making sure to bend lower than he did, out of respect. David did the same.
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” the red panda said. “Please, call me Nobu. My joints remind me often enough how old I am; I’d prefer not to be reminded when people call my name as well.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Nobu-sensei,” David said with a smile. “Thank you for flying out here to see the dojo.”
“Mom, where’d you get all these weapons?” Alex asked, turning and pointing at the walls, which were lined with spears, staves, swords, sai, nunchaku, kama, and dozens of other weapons that shi had never seen before, much less knew the names for. There were at least a dozen types of swords on the wall nearest to them.
“Most of them were in the boxes in the back of the garage. I purchased a few of them over the last month to fill in the bare spots on the walls. Eventually I’ll teach you how to use all of them,” the older tigress explained.
The red panda raised his eyebrows. “You know how to use all of them? Are they all functional?”
“Yes and yes. Learning weaponry is my hobby,” the tigress said, grinning.
“Incredible,” the red panda said, shaking his head. “Back on topic... I still need to call the city to verify that the structure meets building codes, then I can administer Alex and David’s belt tests.”
“Belt tests?” Alex asked, confused.
“Yes, love,” Raenne explained. “Nobu-sensei has agreed to administer your sixth-kyu green belt test while he’s here.”
“All three belt tests for Alex-san, actually. Eighth through sixth kyu,” Nobu corrected, holding his palm up towards the older tigress. “I am certain shi has earned them, but technically you can’t administer belt tests as a D-rank examiner in a new dojo; there’s a one-year probation period. You’ll need to qualify as a C-rank examiner to skip the probation period. You can get that qualification at the Master Camp in Philadelphia this June, when you test for fifth-dan rank.”
“I thought that didn’t matter since I’m a C-rank instructor,” Raenne said, frowning.
“The fact that you are a C-rank instructor is the reason I’m willing to administer their exams,” Nobu said, smiling in return. “I know they’ll pass. Personally, I think anyone who is a ranked instructor should also be granted an equal rank as examiner, but...” The red panda shrugged. “I didn’t write the regulations.”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing that the Master Camp is coming up soon,” the tigress said with a sigh, then turned to her husband and daughter. “Go on downstairs and get changed while Nobu-sensei calls the city hall. Oh, and can you check on the twins while you’re down there?”
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Alex carefully set down the tanbo sticks down next to the jo and bo staves, panting for breath. Shi had just finished demonstrating over a dozen different strikes, half a dozen stances and falls, and gone through six different kata: Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan, Heian Sandan, Shushi no Kon Dai, Kanazawa no Bo Dai, and Seikun no Tanbo. The young tigress stood back up and jogged back across the mat to where Mom and Mr. Nobu were standing, speaking quietly while the red panda put on a set of sparring pads.
The red panda turned to the younger tigress as shi stood at attention. “I must say, I’m impressed by your precision and speed, Alex-san. Your mother says you know the bo and tanbo variations of the Heian kata and even know a few jo kata.”
“Hai, sensei,” Alex confirmed. “The jo staff kata aren’t Karate, though. They’re from Aikido.”
The red panda nodded. “I suspected as much. We don’t use the jo staff much in shotokan,” he said, standing and tightening the strap on his head pad. “The last test is kumite. Raenne-san will officiate while we spar. We’ll go through six different attacks, blocks, and counterattacks. First you’ll attack while I block and counterattack, then I will attack while you block and counterattack. After that, we will have an open kumite session, if you wish.”
“Hai, sensei,” Alex said, bowing and then following the red panda to the two stripes in the middle of the largest ring in the center of the dojo.
“First, you will attack with Jodan Oi tsuki. I will defend with Age Uke and counter with Chudan Gyaku tsuki. Then I will attack and you will defend and counter,” Nobu explained. Then he bowed and nodded at Raenne, who stood to the side of them.
“Hajime,” the older tigress called out.
Perhaps two minutes later, Alex and Nobu bowed to each other, having finished the basic kumite drills. “Very good, Alex-san. Do you want to have an open kumite match?”
Alex glanced over at hir mom, who gave a slight nod. The younger tigress turned back to the red panda. “Hai, sensei.”
The red panda smiled. “Very well. No claws. No strikes to the face or groin. Do not hold back.” He bowed, then took a Fudo Dachi stance.
Alex bowed in return, then reached out to tap gloves, slightly worried by the fact that shi wasn’t wearing pads hirself. Shi took the Moto Dachi stance, waiting for Mom to start the match.
The moment the older tigress called out ‘Hajime!’ Alex danced forward, closing the range then quickly threw a mae-ashi geri front kick as fast as shi could, snapping hir left foot out so fast the cloth of hir gi cracked like a whip. Nobu barely managed to lift his knee in time. As hir shin bounced off his leg, shi planted hir left foot on the floor, already twisting hir hips and threw a reverse kick just as he was putting his leg down, catching him in the chest.
“Yamé!” Raenne called as Nobu fell backwards, somersaulting twice before getting back to his feet.
The red panda adjusted the pad on his chest, blinking. He’d fought numerous black-belts that were slower and weaker than this child. He walked back across the mat to the two bars painted in the middle of the ring where Alex-san stood at attention. “Very good. Waza-ari.”
He reached the line painted on the mat and held out his padded glove, waiting a moment for the young tigress to tap it, then once again took a Fudo Dachi stance.
“Hajime!” Raenne called out.
This time Alex took two steps forward before leaping into the air with one foot out and the other tucked underneath, a classic tobi geri flying side kick. Nobu ducked to the side, raising an arm to ‘block’ and throw the child off-balance, which barely saved him from the uraken uchi backhand strike shi threw at him while going by. He turned in place, following as shi landed and darted back towards him, then threw a hook kick in hir direction. The child ducked under his leg, spinning as shi closed the distance and landed a roundhouse punch, mawashi zuki, against the side of his head, despite the hand he’d raised to guard. He shook his head; if not for the padded helmet, he’d be seeing stars. If shi landed another hit like that, he was going to call the match.
“Yamé!” Raenne called out again.
“Yuko,” Nobu said, walking over to the lines once again. He held his fist out and tapped Alex’s paw once again, wondering if he was actually out-classed by a ten-year-old child.
“Hajime!”
This time Nobu took the lead, darting forward with a front kick of his own. The child side-stepped and darted past him. He spun, raising his fists to block, then continued to spin in place, wondering where the young tigress had gone. A blow to the back of his knee planted him on the floor and he fell forward. Knowing what was coming next he quickly rolled to the side, just in time to see a foot descend on him from above. The tiger cub’s heel smashed into his neck and collarbone.
“Yamé!” Raenne called out, darting over to the grey-muzzled red panda as her daughter rolled away and got to hir feet. “Are you alright, Nobu-sensei?”
The red panda carefully felt his collarbone, checking to make sure nothing was broken. He was certain he was going to be bruised. “I believe so. What happened?”
“Alex circled around you and landed a side-kick to your knee, then front flipped over you, finishing with an axe kick. Kakato otoshi geri,” the older tigress said, helping the red panda back to his feet before turning and glaring at her daughter. “I didn’t even know shi could do that.”
“Ippon, and match. I concede,” the red panda said, taking off his helmet. “You are a skilled and dangerous opponent, Alex-san. I suspect I will be seeing you attending karate tournaments soon. I will be following your career with great interest.”
“Domo arigato, Nobu-sensei,” Alex said, bowing.
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Alex fidgeted with the tips of the green belt around hir waist, watching Mom and Dad throw kicks and punches at each other while Nobu kept score and called starts and stops as needed. The red panda had readily admitted that there was no way he would make for a decent opponent against someone of David’s size and instead had Raenne take his place.
The young tigress winced as hir father hit the floor with a thud that shi could feel from twenty feet away. He was quick enough at getting back to his feet, but it was obvious that Dad would be feeling that tomorrow. Nobu called a halt and had the two tigers return to the center of the ring before resuming the match.
Another two minutes later, Nobu called the final halt. Mom won (as usual), but Dad had definitely given her a run for her money. Alex watched quietly as Nobu finished filling out the forms and gave Dad a certificate, then shook hands while offering his congratulations.
“Alex-san!” Nobu called out. “Your mother says you have a camera, yes? Would you take a picture of us?”
Alex quickly stood. “Hai, sensei,” shi said, darting over to the stairs that led down to the basement. A moment later shi returned upstairs, iPhone in hand.
David and Raenne stood next to each other, holding the certificate, while the shorter red panda stood in front of them, smiling. Alex quickly opened the camera app and held the phone out, getting them in the picture. “Say cheese!”
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Saturday, March 19th, 2016
As the black Nissan Murano came to a stop on the gravel parking lot, Alex stopped singing the Cossack Lullaby. Luckily it was still effective at calming the kittens sitting in car seats to either side of hir. Shi waited impatiently as hir parents climbed out of the front seats and opened the rear doors to either side of hir, taking the twins out of their car seats and putting them in baby carriers that they strapped to their chests. Surprisingly, the cubs were looking around with their bright gold and blue eyes and mostly quiet, rather than mewling or yowling.
Hoping that the twins would stay content for the rest of the evening and not interrupt the ceremony, Alex crawled around the baby seats and hopped out of the SUV. Shi straightened hir black capri shorts and tight teal t-shirt before leading the way across the gravel parking lot. Surprisingly, there weren’t nearly as many cars as there had been the last time they’d been here. Then again, this evening was just the opening ceremony and the initiation; most of the actual festivities would be tomorrow.
Unlit lanterns and torches had been set up at the edge of the parking lot and in a line that led across the field to the forest that surrounded the Grove. The young tigress looked over hir shoulder at hir parents who were casually strolling along, holding hands like a pair of teens on a date. “C’mon! The opening ceremony is in like ten minutes.”
Alex sighed as hir parents finally picked up the pace, then started making hir way across the field, careful not to step in any dips or holes in the ground. Dusk wouldn’t be for another fifteen minutes, but it was already getting dark, and shi was afraid the Grove itself would be even darker.
The prediction was definitely accurate; as the five tigers entered the forest, it was positively gloomy. The fur on the back of Alex’s neck stood on end as they walked under the bare branches... at least until shi caught sight of brightly colored clothing through the trees. Shi picked up the pace, jogging down the path until shi reached the heart of the Grove where dozens of people were standing around the stone circle, all wearing robes in bright spring colors: green, yellow, pink, and white.
“Hey Alex,” a young mountain lion in the crowd called as he caught sight of the tigress. “I’ve got your robe,” Jerome added as he held up a folded bundle of green fabric.
Alex jogged the rest of the way, coming to a halt at the edge of the small crowd where Jerome was standing and handing over a small handful of cash in exchange for the teal green velvet robe that he held out. “Thanks again, Mrs. Hammond,” the young tigress said to Jerome’s mother, who stood next to him.
“You’re welcome, dear,” the older mountain lioness said with a smile. “I take it these are your parents?”
“Yep,” Alex said, as hir parents walked within talking distance. “My mom, Raenne, my dad, David, and my little brother and sister, Nick and Kate. Mom, Dad, this is Mrs. Hammond, Jerome’s mom,” the young tigress introduced the adults. “She makes delicious cookies. She also made my initiation robe,” shi added before unfolding the bundle of fabric. After finding the bottom edge, shi stuck hir arms inside and let it drop down over hir.
“Wow. Cotton velvet in that weight is expensive. Twenty bucks a yard,” Raenne said as she walked over, glancing at the robe her daughter was trying to put on. “That explains why Alex asked for an advance on hir allowance. Thank you, Mrs. Hammond.”
The older mountain lion smiled. “Please, call me Dakota. I take it you’ve got some experience with tailoring?”
“Oh no,” Raenne said, shaking her head. She pointed at her daughter. “When we lived in Oregon, hir best friends’ mom was a fashion designer. Julia would occasionally talk shop about the things she was working on. I picked up a few things,” the older tigress said with a smile.
While the adults were talking, Jerome reached out and helped the younger tigress find the arm and neck holes, managing to get Alex dressed in short order while several other children approached, including Steve, Cindy, Brandy, and Jason... the rest of the bus stop gang. They were wearing robes in white, pink, green, and yellow, respectively.
“That teal green goes really well with your orange fur,” Cindy said.
“Thanks,” Alex said with a smile. About that time, the sparse crowd began to grow silent as someone called for everyone to step back and make room. The young tigress followed the other five children, coming to a stop at the inside edge of the thin crowd that encircled the standing stones that surrounded the great oak at the heart of the Grove. As a priest in a dark green robe walked forward from the crowd, chanting in Gaelic, the crowd began to hold hands, forming a chain that surrounded the circle of standing stones and the great oak within them.
While clasping paws with Jerome and Brandy, Alex spotted the ears poking through the person’s hood and realized that the ‘priest’ was Sharleen, the high priestess, officiating for the opening ceremony. The black fur and white spot on the back of the bengal tiger’s ears was a dead-giveaway.
As Sharleen reached the first standing stones, she switched to English and called upon the elements, one by one raising offerings above her head towards the great oak, then setting them down upon the flat stone altar: burning incense for air, a lit candle for fire, a filled chalice for water, and a bowl of soil for earth. The high priestess then gave thanks to the Horned God and the Goddess for the returning of the light as Winter turned into Spring.
Chanting once again, Sharleen lit a taper of wood from the candle and walked to the stack of wood just inside the circle of stones, using it to light the bonfire. As she did so, several people, including Jerome, started handing out slips of paper. “Write your wishes of growth and renewal for the year on this, then we’ll cast them into the bonfire,” the young puma said, also passing the tigress a small stick of charcoal.
Alex blinked, then frowned. After a second shi quickly wrote Nicholas and Katherine’s names down on the scrap of paper. The faster they grew up, the better.
__________________________________________________
As the crowd began to disperse, the High Priestess approached Alex and the rest of the Bus Stop Gang and handed Jerome, Steve, Cindy, and Brandy folded slips of parchment. “Are you ready for a very special initiation ritual?” the bengal tigress asked.
Brandy unfolded the piece of parchment to see what it held. Her eyes went wide and she blurted “Are we calling the quarters?”
With a smile, the Priestess replied, “Alongside some of our elders, yes. Please read the lines carefully and try to memorize them. You have heard them all before.” Sharleen looked over at Alex’s parents and said “Please follow me as I... explain what is about to happen.” The bengal tigress turned and followed one of the many paths away from the grove and into the forest. “Earlier today, I received a request from one of our elders. She has never made a request like this before.”
“Do you mean Sonnet?” Jason asked excitedly, following along behind the rest of the group.
“Yes, little one,” the Priestess said with a smile, “but let me continue, for those here who do not know what they are about to see.” The bengal tigress continued to lead the small group further down the path, where they were joined by three adults in black hooded robes with ornate gold and green trim, holding wooden torches to help light the way.
“Sonnet is... gifted among our local practitioners,” Sharleen continued. “She is also different in the fact that she truly lives in this forest. She is deeply connected to nature and the mountains here. She has lived her entire life barely setting hoof into the world outside. With that said, I ask that you do not judge her for her ways and her nature. I have already spoken with all the other parents of those present, and they understand where we are going and what you will see.”
The group paused as they entered a smaller clearing. Around the perimeter of the nearly perfect circle were several fallen and cleaned tree trunks with fur blankets laid on them for seating. Slightly further in were six small standing stones, no more then three foot tall each. In the center was a small stone altar, arranged with ceremonial tools. The arrangement was more ornate than Alex had seen before.
A tall candle stood behind two hand-carved statues, one of the Goddess and one of the Horned God. A bowl of salt and one with water sat to either side of a bell and above the bell was a censer from which flowed a trail of smoke from burning incense. Though Alex could not place it, the scent brought to mind warm spring days and open fields of flowers. Leaning against one side of the altar was an ornate sword, point stuck in the ground, and behind it stood two individuals wearing fur cloaks.
The high priestess turned to Alex. “You are to wait here until you are called. Your parents may be seated.”
While David and Raenne both took a seat on one of the blanket-covered logs and removed their baby carriers, each of the three elders and the high priestess guided the four young practitioners into the stone circle to take their places at the points of the four cardinal directions.
The two figures behind the altar pulled back their hoods as they approached the altar. As their cloaks shifted, it became obvious that the shorter of the two, a young deer-hybrid, wasn’t wearing anything beneath hers.
On the doe’s head sat a simple golden band adorned with the phases of the moon. The other, a male Bobcat, lifted an antler adorned leather headband from the altar and set it upon his head, giving him the appearance of a white-tail buck in spring.
The doe took the sword in both hands and raised it to the sky, fully revealing her sky-clad form beneath the cloak. “The circle is about to be cast,” she announced in a melodic voice that seemed to reverberate through the trees.
“I freely stand within to greet my Lady and Lord,” the doe-hybrid intoned. The elders and bobcat echoed her declaration in unison.
The doe moved to the edge of the stone ring, placing the tip of the sword in the dirt. “I draw this circle in the presence of the Goddess and the God, where they may come and bless their children,” she recited, walking in a loop that followed the standing stones, tracing a perfect circle along the ground. As she finished pacing the circumference, she recited “This is the boundary of the circle. Only love shall enter or leave.” For a moment she locked eyes with Alex, sending a shiver down the young tiger’s spine before she returned to the altar.
Standing at the north side of the circle, both High Priestess Sharleen and Cindy raised their arms, calling out “I call upon thee, elemental Earth! As we are kith and kin, come and meet with us as we prepare our circle. Secure and guard the boundary of the North!”
To the east of the ring, another elder, this one a Bernese mountain dog, raised his arms with Jerome. Together they recited “I call upon thee, Elemental Air! As we are kith and kin, come join us as we prepare our circle. Secure and guard the boundary of the East.”
A warm breeze rolled through the clearing as Brandy and Star Dreamer raised their arms, bellowing “I call upon thee, Elemental Fire! As we are kith and kin, come and join us as we prepare our circle. Secure and guard the boundary of the South.” The sound reverberated through the surrounding forest.
Lastly, a large elk raised his arms with Steve, both of them chanting, “I call upon thee, Elemental Water. As we are kith and kin, come meet us as we prepare our circle. Secure the boundary of the west.”
As the wind and sound of the forest died, leaving an unearthly calm, the doe standing behind the altar chanted “The circle has been cast as a circle of power; anchored by the elements and blessed from above and below, inside and out, around and about us. So mote it be!”
Facing the spectators and Alex, the doe intoned, “I, Sonnet, Chaser of the Wind, Blessed by the Goddess, Cleansed in both Heart and Mind, proclaim that only truth be spoken, and truth be heard.”
As silence fell, Alex heard nothing but the beating of hir heart. It seemed to grow louder with each pulse, to the count of thirteen, before the lull was broken.
The bobcat with the horned headdress spoke with authority, saying “A seeker is among us. Alex Andreyev, Proven by Magic, doth desire to join those who follow the way of the Craft. I remind you, though it has been said before, that this is not a matter to be taken lightly. For your immortal soul shall thus be deeply committed to the paths of the Goddess and the God. If this is what you truly desire, join us now at the altar.”
Alex paused. Was this truly what shi wanted? The most fundamental principles of the Wiccan religion, such as reverence of nature, personal responsibility, equality for all, and the injunction to do no harm to others, were something shi could commit to for the rest of hir life.
Taking a deep breath and swallowing hard, Alex stepped forward and crossed into the circle,
careful not to mar the line scored in the dirt. Shi hesitantly approached the altar, locking eyes with the doe’s dark and mysterious brown eyes. Alex’s golden eyes seemed to glow in the torch-light.
Sonnet, holding the young tiger’s gaze, said “Know well that love and trust must be freely given, before they may be freely received. Know well the import of thine own words, for even thy blood and thy life may ultimately be required. Do you desire to join your destiny with ours?”
Alex swallowed hard again, then nodded hir head. “Yes,” shi murmured. The quiet response seemed to echo in the trees.
“Do you seek the path that stretches beyond life and death?” Sonnet intoned.
“Yes,” Alex repeated.
“Will you serve the Goddess and revere the God?” Sonnet asked.
“Yes,” the young tigress stated. With each affirmative, Alex’s voice grew louder, more confident.
“Will you guard that which is shown you from the unworthy?”
Willing to keep the coven’s secrets, Alex gave one final affirmative. “Yes.”
“So mote it be!”
Sonnet leaned forward to place a hand on Alex’s shoulder to present hir to the gathering, then jerked back the moment she touched hir as if burned. The doe-hybrid stared into the tiger cub’s eyes, whispering “Such sorrow and rage, and all with sound reason. To keep it caged thus will only hurt you and those you love.”
Before Alex could respond, wondering what the doe was talking about, Sonnet raised her head and announced “In the Name of the Lady and those pledged to her, I place this Threefold Charge upon you: To Know the Goddess and the God, to Love the Goddess and her Consort, and through the knowledge of the Way to serve the Goddess and the Horned one. Do you, Alex, freely accept the Charge?”
Alex stood in silence for a moment, the doe’s whispered words echoing in the back of hir mind, before realizing that shi had been asked to accept the Threefold Charge, and quickly answered “I do.”
“So mote it be, and welcome, dear Sister.” With the final affirmation, Sonnet dipped her finger
in a small bowl of oil on the altar, and traced a solar cross on the tiger’s forehead.
Sonnet returned to the altar and lifted her hands to the sky, unashamed of her nudity beneath the cloak she wore. “Lord and Lady, we have been blessed by your sharing this time with us, watching and guarding us, guiding us here in all things. We came in love and we leave in love.” The doe raised the sword towards the sky and continued, “Love is the law and love is the bond. Merry did we meet, and merry do we part, and merry will we meet again. Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!” The doe paused for a moment before finishing with “The Circle is cleansed.” With her final words, the unearthly calm lifted from the small clearing.
The elders and their initiates then recited the farewells to the elements. First water, then fire, air, and earth, each in turn, reciting “You have shared your power with us and secured our circle as we worked. May we ever remember your power and our bond, one to another. This ritual is ended. Go in peace.”
After the ritual had ended, Alex walked over to her parents and baby siblings, feeling a bit... overwhelmed. The initiation ritual had been way more impressive than shi had expected, and Sonnet’s comment about keeping sorrow and rage caged had struck home and stuck fast. Just thinking about the events that had led to hir living in Colorado still made hir want to cry and smash things. So had finding out about Elizabeth and Chris. The recent kidnapping and even more recent breakup made hir feel the same. Clutching the small black Book of Shadows they’d given hir, Alex gave hir mom and dad a hug, resolving to talk to them about it later... and maybe the therapist as well.
“Well that was... interesting,” Raenne said as she picked up Nicholas in his baby carrier. Shockingly enough, both Katherine and Nicholas had not only remained quiet during the entire ceremony, they were still looking around with small, bright eyes that glistened in the torch-light.
“Yeah. I didn’t expect it to be so... uh...” Alex paused, trying to think of the right word.
“Ritualistic? Ceremonial?” David suggested. “Cabalistic?”
The young tigress rolled hir eyes. “The ceremonial stuff isn’t any worse than Catholic Mass with its ritualistic cannibalism,” Alex pointed out, sounding more like a college student than a ten-year-old kid.
David’s mouth hung open at that response. “Uhh...”
Raenne smirked. “Shi’s got a point,” the tigress said, following the group of robed figures as many of them started down the trail back towards the center of the Grove.
“Look, I’m just reeling from the fact that I just watched a nude deer perform a ritual that looked like something from the dark ages. And how the heck did they do that whole spooky silence thing? Do they have bluetooth speakers hidden in the trees or something?” David said. The white tiger picked up little Katherine’s baby carrier and strapped her to his chest, turning to follow his wife.
As the family of tigers started toward the path leading back to the festival grounds, three tiny cubs, no older than three years old, erupted from the forest. Alex turned to watch as the trio, clad in only small brown cloaks, ran towards Sonnet, who knelt and welcomed them with open arms. After a moment, the doe nodded to one of the three, who walked over to Alex.
The little hybrid, a mix of deer, canine, and bobcat by her markings, looked up at the tigress and held up a clear crystal sphere the size of a golf ball. The polished stone seemed out of place in the toddler’s paws. “For you. Is quartz. Is for heal-ing, and mo-shuns, and to pur-fy neg-tiv-tee.” Despite the toddler’s age, it was obvious she was versed in the metaphysical powers of the crystal.
“Uhh… Thank you,” Alex said as shi awkwardly accepted the crystal, hoping there was something in the Book of Shadows they’d given hir that explained how to use it.
After accepting the cub’s gift the young hybrid hugged hir around the waist and said “Welcome, and bless’d be, Sister.” She ran to rejoin the other cubs, then disappeared into the forest, followed by their mother. The older bobcat began cleaning up the ritual site, scraping his foot through the marks on the ground and retrieving the last of the trappings the other elders had left behind at the altar.
Alex watched the bobcat for a moment, wondering just how old Sonnet was; she barely looked to be in her mid or late-teens, but apparently had cubs of her own that were older than Nick and Kate. The young tigress turned and jogged after hir father, who was heading down the trail following the rest of the group. After swapping both the crystal sphere and Book of Shadows to one hand, shi took hir father’s paw, walking alongside him.
David smiled down at his daughter, then glanced around to make sure nobody else was nearby. “I gotta say, while I’m pretty sure I won’t take up Wicca myself, I’ll happily come watch that young woman perform ceremonies anytime.”
“Dad!”
__________________________________________________
Sunday, March 20th, 2016
When Alex and hir dad returned the following day for the second half of the Ostara festival, the dirt parking lot was packed so full that they had to go back and park along the road. The crowd was so dense it felt more like a carnival than a pagan festival.
“Just how big is the pagan community here?” David asked as they walked across the field towards the Grove. “This is incredible. There must be hundreds of people here.”
“Pretty big,” Alex replied with a shrug, paying more attention to where shi was putting hir feet than talking with hir dad. “Steve said it’s the largest pagan community in Colorado. People drive out here all the way from Denver.”
“What, for a... for food, an egg hunt, some games, and maypole dancing?” David asked.
“Solidarity and comradery,” Alex replied as they reached the edge of the forest. Both their noses twitched at the smells of cooking food.
“I didn’t know you even knew those words,” the white tiger muttered, following his daughter into the trees, drawn by the scent of breads, meats, and spices.
“They were on last week’s vocab sheet,” Alex said, flashing hir father a grin.
A few moments later, the two tigers stepped out into the first of the main thoroughfares that would eventually lead to the center of the Grove. There were far fewer vendor stalls, many of them having been replaced with portable smokers, barbecues, ovens, stoves, and food preparation tables.
“I’m guessing this isn’t exactly FDA inspected. But damn does it smell good,” David said, drawn to one of the stalls that was selling plates of herb-roasted lamb, asparagus, carrots, and greek lemon potatoes. “Want some, kiddo?” he asked, pulling out his wallet.
“Sure,” Alex said, walking over as hir dad handed the vendor a twenty dollar bill. Shi took the paper plate of food that the vendor handed hir, along with some brown utensils. Shi frowned and held up the fork, wondering who’d come up with the idea for cardboard forks and knives. It had the word ‘biodegradable’ stamped on the handle along with the recycling symbol.
The two tigers walked over to one of the many picnic tables that had been set up along the center of the thoroughfare for people to eat at, sitting down next to a teenaged chelsea collie and alaskan malamute. The two girls were trying to feed two pairs of half-feline, half-canine twin boys who looked to be in the ‘terrible twos’.
“Wow. Two pairs of twins?” David asked as he sat down near them, followed by his daughter a moment later. “That’s a handful. My wife’s at home taking care of our twins right now.”
“Yeaaah, they’re a handful alright,” the black-furred malamute said, tugging on one of the toddler’s shirts as he tried to crawl up onto the table. “Stay on the bench. You don’t need to climb on the table to get your sippy cup,” she told the cub, reaching over and nudging the aforementioned cup closer to the child.
“How old are yours?” the chelsea collie asked, glancing at the younger tigress as shi picked up hir utensils and took a bite of the lemon and herb roast potatoes.
“Three and a half months,” David answered, picking up his own cardboard utensils and using them to cut into the roast lamb, surprised at how well the stiff paper utensils held up.
“Are they sleeping through the night yet?” the collie asked, helping one of her own cubs to take a drink.
“Nope,” Alex spat out before taking another bite of the potatoes. They were surprisingly delicious.
David sighed. “No, not yet,” he confirmed. “But here’s to hoping.”
The collie girl smiled. “That’s too bad. I hope they start sleeping through the night for you, so you can start getting some rest again. It sounds like she needs it.” The teenager giggled.
“Eh, Shi’s fine now,” David said. “I put up sound-proofing panels in the nursery three weeks ago. It helped a ton, even if it was a bit expensive. Didn’t it, kiddo?”
Alex nodded hir head while swallowing. “Yeah. I can sleep through the night now. But the first month after they started making noise was miserable.” The young tigress watched as one of the half-collie toddlers put his sippy cup back on the table and awkwardly used a spoon to shovel bits of potato into his muzzle. Shi frowned and glanced at one of the half-malamute boys. “Your kids have really similar coat patterns. Do they have the same father?” shi asked.
The chelsea collie and alaskan malamute glanced at each other for a moment before nodding. “They do. Long story short, he was a snowshoe cat that I met on a cruise a few years ago,” the teenaged collie said, smiling. “These four were an unexpected blessing.”
David was going to ask another question when one of the toddlers, who was trying to stand up, lost his footing and started to fall. The white tiger lunged behind the malamute, managing to grab the back of the child’s shirt before he fell... but too slow to save the plate that the toddler was holding. Peas, corn, and bits of carrots and potatoes flew through the air in a rainbow of brightly colored food, peppering a teenaged moose boy and red panda girl who were pushing a pair of strollers past the picnic table.",
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