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A thing to note, this story is based upon the game Ironclaw by Sanguine.

Another thing of mention, it's not heavy into sex. Oh, it's there, but it's more storytelling.", "writing": "\tThe sun beamed in though the ancient windows of the stony room. It was a quiet room with many beds. All but one of those beds were empty. The light streamed onto this bed, as if it had been drawn especially to it.\n\n    \tThe lump in the bed stirred stirred grouchily. Under the sheets was a black kitten who attempted to bury his head into a feathery pillow. It was as if the sun was trying to pry his eyes open. The kitten groaned audibly and tossed in the bed, trying to hire form the sun. The sun, however, was not going to give up that easy. He groaned again and it echoed off the stony walls of the old, yet tidy room of The Order of The Generous Paw.\n\n    \t\"Edis? Are you awake?\" A somewhat dour voice asked from behind the door. It was Sister Winifred. Edis groaned again and tried, to no avail, to further bury himself into the bed. \"Edis, I'm coming in!\" The voice said, sounding somewhat agitated at the silence.\n\n    \tThe old oaken door with iron bracing flew aside. Standing in the doorway, and spilling out into the hall was a massive horse named Sister Winifred. She looked very burly, and it was guessed that she was of the Belgian line. Her unhappy face framed by the traditional black and white whipple.  \"Kitten! Get up, get washed! Get dressed! The new Father arrives today.\"\n\n    \tEdis groaned again and tried to hide from the onslaught of sunlight and Sister Winifred. Sister Winifred, however, was not going to have it. She grabbed the sheets with her hoof-hardened hands and yanked the sheets aside, revealing a black kitten trying to hide form the morning sun.\n\n    \t\"Get up!\" Sister Winifred beckoned and turned her attention towards a wardrobe, containing Edis's clothing.\n\n   \t Edis rolled over and sat up. His bell upon his collar ringing gently. He stretched in the sunlight as it played upon his jet black fur. He was unhappy. His dream was so wonderful because he was with his parents again...\n\n   \t It was a year ago. Some place in the countryside, in a little country village. The houses and buildings were few but nicely kept, with their thatched roofs.  Outside the village were fields for hay, and some of the hay had been harvested and put into haystacks. The blue sky clashing against the emerald green fields and hills was everywhere and somewhere in the distance was the shadow of a castle.\n\n  \t  Everyone was happy. Edis and his mother were outside, working with hay, his father was off talking to some other men. Then it happened. It was the something terrible he remembered hearing the menfolk talk of. Two local nobles were squabbling over the land.     Menfolk mounted upon large lizard-like mounts called destriers. One group was clad in armor much like that of a local clan of boars, the other group were obviously horses. The horse clan, known as the Avoirdupois had supposedly owned the land, but the bore clan, known as the Doloreaux claimed that the land was theirs. And somewhere in between, someone though it would be a grand idea to destroy the village. So the groups clashed in the village. The villagers were caught in the middle and slain like vermin. Edis escaped only because his mother had the forethought to shove him into a haystack.\n\n   \t The noises were terrible. Screams of agony and the sound of sword and spear clashing against plate and shield. The sounds of the destriers, snorting and braying pierced the din of the skirmish. The sound of heavy footfalls and hard-falls accentuated the noise. It was like a chorus from hell. \n\n    \tEdis was scared and didn't move. He closed his eyes tight, hoping that if he couldn't see, no one could see him. And eventually the sounds died, but the smell was terrible. After what may have been a good hour of silence, he crept out from the hay to look upon the village.\n\n    \tHis eyes beheld a bloody and terrible sight. Some of the buildings burned merrily. Smoked curled up into that blue sky, polluting it with the smell of burning wood and what smelled like charred fur and flesh. The emerald fields were torn up in places, and the dirt road going though the village was littered with broken objects and broken villagers.\n\n    \tAnd in that dirt road were the mutilated corpses of his mother and father, their blood staining the hard-packed earth. Edis turned away, his yellow eyes welling with tears. He sat down hard upon the earth and lamented over his mother, the roar of flames, his only company.\n\n    \tIt was a good few hours. The sun had set and dusk had come upon the damaged and broken place. And then there was a gentle touch upon his shoulder. Edis turned in shock and anger. He was afraid that it was one of the raiding parties to clean up. He hissed and bared his claws blindly.\n\n    \t\"Stay your self, kitten.\" The voice said kindly. Edis looked at the tear-blurred figure in the dim lighting. He became less aggressive and wiped hsi eyes with the back of his furred paws. The figure became less blurry. And the figure was accompanied by a few others, all clad in brown robes, clinched with a simple knotted rope.\n\n    \t\"Who are you?\" Edis mewed.\n\n    \t\"Kitten, I'm Brother Fransisco. We are on a pilgrimage to the Abbey of S'allumer's Open Paw. We were hoping for lodgings here... but I fear we have arrived too late for that...\" The monk said. Edis looked into the monks furred face, two friendly eyes were framed by a raccoon markings. Edis looked at the others in Brother Fransisco's company, they were all different, but all clad in the same simple outfit.\n\n    \t\"I lost my mommy...\"  Edis sniffled.\n\n    \t\"Oh, \" Brother Fransisco said lowly. He placed a blanked upon the kitten. Come away from the village with us. This is no place for you now.\" Edis nodded and the group broke up, several monks held back in the village, a few others went further out of the village. There in an undisturbed patch of emerald grass the remaining monks sey up a cozy camp.\n\n   \t A fire burned cheerily, unlike the fires that once burned the village. Some of the monks were cooking and chatting, somewhat subdued, others were tinkering with objects that were in a wagon, pulled by a massive rhino monk named Brother Thorvald. However, the monks at the camp kept changing. Some monks woul appear, while others vanished for periods of time. \n\n    \t\"Why aren't you all here?\" Edis asked, catching a monk returning from the village.\n\n    \t\"Oh, don't worry yourself, little kitten. Just relax and enjoy yourself.\"  Said a goat. Edis stared that this monk, for goats never frequented this area. The goat's horns were impressive, curling upon themselves close to 5 or 6 times. Edis let the issue go and was then swept up into the company of the cooks and the entertainers. Even though the mood was somewhat somber, the music was soothing and the food was warm and filling.\n\n    \tIt was somewhat of a shock when Brother Thorvald picked up a delicate looking mandolin and strummed it.\n\n    \t\"Play something, Brother Thorvald!\" A monk called out.\n\n    \tBrother Thorvald grinned, a mischievous glint in his eye. \"And that I will, Brother Mavir. That I will.\" The rhino tuned the delicate instrument deftly. Edis was amazed that such a beast could handle such a delicate looking thing. Brother Thorvald then ripped into a tune.\n\nIt's cold and raw the north winds blow\n\nBlack in the morning early\n\nWhen all the hills were covered with snow,\n\nOh then it was winter fairly,\n\nAs I riding was riding o'er the moor,\n\nI met a farmer's daughter,\n\nHer cherry cheeks and sloe black eyes,\n\nThey caused my heart to falter.\n\nI bowed my bonnet very low\n\nTo let her know my meaning.\n\nShe answered with a courteous smile,\n\nHer looks they were engaging.\n\n\"Where are you bound my pretty maid,\n\nIt's now in the morning early.\"\n\nThe answer that she made to me,\n\n\"Kind sir to sell me barley.\"\n\n\"Now twenty denarii I've in my purse,\n\nAnd twenty more that's yearly,\n\nYou need not go to the market town,\n\nFor I'll buy all your barley.\n\nIf twenty denarii would gain the heart\n\nOf the maid I love so dearly,\n\nAll for to tarry with me one night,\n\nAnd go home in the morning early.\"\n\nAs I was riding o'er the moor\n\nThe very evening after,\n\nIt was my fortune for to meet\n\nThe farmer's only daughter.\n\nAlthough the weather being cold and raw,\n\nWith her I thought to parley.\n\nThis answer then she made to me,\n\n\"Kind sir I've sold me barley.\" \n\n    \t\"Brother Thorvald!\" Brother Fransisco said, looking quite taken aback. The other monks laughed and chuckled. \"That is NOT a song for ears so young!\"\n\n    \t\"Bah! I see no harm in such a song. A song is but a song.\" Brother Thorvald said with a smile lingering on his gray and leathery face.\n\n   \t \"But the young one....\"\n\n    \t\"Edis.\" Edis chimed in, realizing that no one asked his name.\n\n    \t\"Edis,\" Brother Fransisco continued, \"He could learn much sin and vice though such a song.\"\n\n    \t\"Oh, I'm not sure about that. Maybe he might learn how to sell barley?\" Brother Thorvald cracked. Brother Fransisco shot the rhino a deadly glare. This melted the grin off Brother Thorvald's face.\n\n    \tEdis wasn't quiet sure what was wrong. He though the tune was quite cheery. He continued to hum the tune and eventually fell asleep.\n\n    \t\"Now look what you did! You put that dirty ditty into his head!\" Brother Fransisco whispered to Brother Thorvald.\n\n    \tLater that night, Edis awoke, needing to do to the bathroom. The toddled off to a nearby bush and relieved himself. He returned to his spot by the fire and saw Brother Thorvald, hunched over something by the fire.\n\n    \t\"Brother Thorvald?\" Edis asked. The rhino looked up and into the yellow eyes of the kitten. \n\n    \t\"Oy! You should be sleeping! Why are you awake?\" Brother Thorvald said, shifting his mass towards the kitten.\n\n    \t\"What are you doing?\" Edis asked and peered at the space to see a sketchbook.\n\n    \t\"Ah, well, I find when I can't sleep, I'm usually inspired to draw.\" The rhino said.\n\n    \tEdis then pounced and landed on the book before the monk could react. Edis then thumbed though the sketchbook. There were pages of all sorts of sketched. There were detailed flowers and country scenes, all sketched with charcoal. There were portraits of all sorts of furs of both genders. There were drawings of what seemed to be events, of wars and invasions; and whaling ships. And then there were nudes. He cocked his head as he studied a drawing that looked very much like himself.\n\n    \t\"Hey!\" Edis turned to the voice, and suddenly the sketch book was purloined from his black paws and spirited away to god knows where by a great grey hand. 'That's not for you!\" Brother Thorvald said. A monk snorted and stirred at the disturbance.\n\n    \t\"Can I draw like that?\" Edis whispered.\n\n    \t'Maybe one day.\" Brother Thorvald responded, not knowing that Edis had seen the nudes and that the question was not so much at drawing as a whole, but rather the nudes. He would have liked to see more, but something told him that Brother Thorvald really didn't want someone look in his book. \"Now, got back to bed.\"\n\n    \tWithout much else to really do, Edis went to sleep. The next couple of days after that bled together, but eventually the kitten and monks reached the Abbey of S'allumer's Generous Paw. The cathedral was rather old looking, much older than maybe even the Cathedral de Temoin. It lacked sweeping windows of Gothic design, and was instead, rather squatty, and Romanesque. The walls were gray and dingy, and the roof was tiled with red tiles. Large vines of wisteria grew over the walls and the main gate was framed by large and sweeping willows. All the plants looked as if they had been there since the beginning of time. Off to the sides there were other buildings, they looked less older than the main building. Some of them had large windows of the Gothic design, but they were made of some clear material, Edis later learned was glass, a rare thing for sure. Back in his village, windows were covered with oiled papyrus, vellum, or bone. None of these windows had any decorations. They were just clear.\n\n    \tWhile Edis was rubber-necking the inhabitants of the abbey came out to welcome the pilgrims. and from here, Edis was taken in as the first orphan in the Order of the Open Paw.\n\n    \tEdis shook the water off his face. He had been thinking about the past while washing the basin on the nearby table. The image of his mother and father dead would be something that would never leave him, but the charcoal sketch in Brother Throvald's book would also never go away. Why sketch him? Edis wondered about that was interrupted.\n\n    \t\"Kitten! Do you not have a single decent thing to wear!?\" Sister Winifred proclaimed, completely flabbergasted at the lack of clothes that were either not soiled, laundered, or in good condition.\n\n    \t\"I think what I have is fine.\" Edis said and turned to meet the stern Belgian's gaze. That's when the nun turned a bright shade of pink. Edis hadn't been wearing sleeping clothes. \"Edis! Behind the screen now!\" Sister Winifred commanded the naked kitten. Edis rolled his eyes and did as he was told. Several months ago he directly disobeyed an order from the sister to stop making mud pies in the abbey's garden. She was inside, leaning out a window, and he was outside. She couldn't possibly reach him, he thought. He ignored her and her command and continued to shape mud pies, or more or less, mud pasties. He didn't have anything to keep the muddy crust in. \n\n    \tBut then, as quick as lightning, the stern horse-nun dashed out of the building and boxed Edis on the ears. Then she pulled him by the ears inside, to take a bath. He yowled then and hated the incident. That too was burned into him memory, mainly because Edis only took baths on his own terms, but usually those terms were voided by some sister who though he smelled too much like the fish down at the abbey's dockside, or that he was too caked with mud.\n\n    \t\"Sister Genevieve?\" Sister Winifred called out to a passing figure.\n\n    \t'Yes, Sister Winifred?\" Responded the nun. Sister Genevieve was a slender, brown, and youthful doe, her black eyes piercing, but exuded kindness that was lacking in Sister Winifred's nut-brown orbs of cruelty.\n\n    \t\"Will you watch this kitten? He hasn't any decent cloths, so I need to fetch some.\" The somewhat irate Belgian said, thrusting a hoof-hand at a screen. \"He's not decent to boot. Been sleeping buck naked again.\"\n\n    \t\"Yes, Sister, I'll watch over him. Mayhap you should also take some tea? Should help with your nerves.\" The deer said demurely. This calmed the horse done somewhat.\n\n    \t\"I believe you're right. I've yet to have my morning tea. After that, back to work.\" Sister Winifred said. She then clip-clopped herself out of the room, her foot-falls echoing in the stone building.\n\n   \t \"Edis?\" Sister Genevieve asked the screen.\n\n    \t\"What?\" Edis's voice called back from behind the screen.\n\n    \t\"Why are you being naughty? You can come out from being the screen.\" Edis emerged, wearing only his red leather collar and yellow bell. \n\n    \t\"You think I'm being naughty?\" Edis asked.\n\n    \t\"Well, Sister Winifred seemed to be upset with you.\"Sister Genevieve said and looked him over.\n\n    \t\"She's just mad at me because I don't have any good clothes.\" Frowned Edis. \"why aren't you angry that I'm naked?\"\n\n   \t \"Well, I believe our Lord created us perfectly. Clothing is something we wear because we think we are imperfect.\" Sister Genevieve responded.\n\n    \t\"They why are you wearing clothes?\" Edis asked and pointed at the deer.\n\n    \t\"Well, society has certain rules. Society says we should be modest and not parade S'allumner's perfection. But if you ask me, I think it's perfectly fine to sleep without clothes on.\"\n\n    \t\"Really?\"\n\n    \t\"Yes, I do.\"\n\n    \t\"Do what?\"\n\n    \t\"Think and do.\"\n\n    \t\"You sleep naked?\" Edis asked and chuckled.\n\n    \t\"Now, you laugh. What's wrong with me sleeping naked?\"\n\n    \t\"You're a nun...\"\n\n    \t\"So? You're a naughty kitten.\"\n\n    \t\"No I'm not!\"\n\n    \t\"They why do you have vellum shoved under your mattress?\" The sister asked, her attention had been caught on the vellum sticking out since she was called in.\n\n    \t\"I'm... er... saving it.\"\n\n    \t\"That's funny, because I heard just the other day a certain kitten had been seen running out of the libraries with vellum. Would you know who that was?\"\n\n    \t\"Not me!\"\n\n    \t\"That's funny. I don't know a 'not me' that lives here. Do you?\"\n\n    \t\"I only took scraps.\"\n\n    \t\"But you took. You could have just asked.\"\n\n    \t\"But Brother Zophar doesn't like to part with his scraps.. and he was just going to throw them away.. and I wanted to draw.\"\n\n    \t\"Ah, well who can blame Brother Zophar when kittens thieve his materials? So what do you draw, Edis?\"\n\n    \tEdis smiled. Sister Genevieve always seemed to be interested in his art. She knew very well that he did take vellum and papyrus form the library. It was all pretty much a game. Edis pulled his drawings out from under the mattress and showed them to the deer.\n\n    \t\"Who's this?\" She pointed at a page. The figure was a large circular figure with a circle for a head and two triangles sticking out near to black dots, which had to be eyes. \n\n   \t 'That's Brother Thorvald. Do you think Brother Throvald will come back?\" Edis asked. \n\n    \t\"I don't believe so. I'm sure Brother Thorvald has many other things to attend to at his monastery Why do you ask?\"\n\n   \t \"I want to draw just like him!\"\n\n    \t\"Oh, I see.\" Sister Genevieve smiled and in the distance a distinctive clip-clop could be heard getting nearer. \"No best duck behind that screen or else you'll call down Sister Winifred's wrath.\" She patted his black kitten bottom and he scurried back to his screen. Genevieve picked up the spilled drawings and stashed them neatly under the mattress.\n\n    \t\"Has he been any trouble?\" Sister Winifred said, looking a bit more relaxed.\n\n    \t\"No Sister. Not at all. Haven;t even heard a peep form him since you left.\" Sister Genevieve said, \"Now, if you will excuse me, I need to attend to the latrines... my job today, you know.\"\n\n    \t\"I don't envy you at all.\" The horse said as the deer left. Edis felt sorry for her. Sister Genevieve should have been give the task of watching him today, not the sour old Sister Winifred. As much as he wanted to say this, he dared not. He was afraid for his ears. \"Kitten, here's some clothes, put them on and see how they fit.\"\n\n   \t Over the top of the screen flew some clothes. The shirt was a loose fitting one with a drawsting to close it. Much like what a pirate would wear. If having to dree nicely meant dressing like a pirate, then he could deal with this. The knickers, however, were a different story. They fit, but they were a tight fit. They seemed to have been name form a similar material as the shirt, but black instead of white. He jumpped out from behind the screen.\n\n    \t\"Shiver me timbers ya ol' barnacle of a nag!\" Edis said, in a voice he though was very pirate-like. His jovial attitude washed away as the sour face of Sister Winifred looked him over. \n\n    \t\"If I put this vest on you, then you might not look so much like a bilge rat...\" Sister Winifred sighed and put the vest on Edis. It was made of the same black material as the pants and matched wonderfully well. Edis though it made him look more liek a pirate, but realized if he said something more, Sister Winifred would probably make him change into something else. He allowed himself to look somber to hide his excitement.\n\n    \t\"What was Sister Thessala thinking?\" Sister Winifred clucked to herself. This of course took Edis off guard. Horses weren't chickens... how did she cluck? Again, a question to ask someone else at a later time. \"Now you behave, don;t get dirty and come when you're called. Understand?\"\n\n    \tEdis nodded with feigned somberness.\n\n    \t\"Now, Kitten, I have things I have to do, but you are to stay with me and make yourself scarce.\" Sister Winifred neighed out. Edis was always somewhat amazed that Sister Winifred would never refer to him other than 'Kitten.' \"Stay out form under foot and be quiet.\" She grabbed the black kitten by his left hand-paw and drug him down the hall to a room with other nuns some of which were busy with straightening up the room, others getting stuff ready to make it presentable. \n\n    \tThis must be the new father superior's room, Edis thought. He sat on a bench and then wondered about something. If he annoyed Sister Winifred in just the right way, would she pawn him off to someone else?\n\n    \t\"Sister Winifred, is this the new father superior's room?\"\n\n   \t The response was a grunt as she called out to the Sisters. Sister Winifred wasn't actually doing any work, so much as being a task master.\n\n    \t\"Sister Winifred, why are we getting a new father superior?\"\n\n    \tAnother grunt after she told one sister she was swinging her feather duster with too much gusto.\n\n    \t\"Sister Winifred, where exactly does dust come from?\" Edis asked, noticing the dust flying off the duster that was 'swinging with too much gusto.' It had struck him as odd that there was this thing called dust.\n\n    \tNo response, other than more grunts, like we was trying to drown him out.\n\n    \t\"Sister Winifred, if S'allumner made everything why do we have to clean up? Dirty belongs to Him.\" Edis asked, thinking further on the subject and reaching a spiritual level about dirt and dust. Some of the nuns snickered at this questioning. One when to answer, but was hushed up by the Belgian task-master and her command to work on cleaning the drapes. Sister Winifred was agitated again.\n\n    \t\"Sister Winifred, what do you suppose S'allumner looks like?\" Sister Winifred was trying not to listen. Edis knew he was starting to play his cards right now.\n\n    \t\"Sister Winifred, do you think that S'allumner has a belly button?\"\n\n    \t\"Sister Winifred, what would S'allumner do with a belly button if He had one?\"\n\n    \t\"Sister Winifred, why do we have belly buttons?\"\n\n    \t\"Sister Winifred, what is that stuff that gets caught in the belly button?\" Edis could swear that he could hear an audible snap coming form Sister Winifred.\n\n    \t\"Sister Winifred, do you think...\" Edis started. The horse strode though the room with the power of an iron plow. The nuns parted and hugged the wall as the Belgian strode towards Edis. \n\n   \t \"Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis!\" Sister Winifred Chanted out into the kitten's face, \"That's it!\" She grabbed him by his left hand-paw and dragged him down the halls again. His paws stumbling as the nun hurriedly pulled him, her nerves shot.\n\n    \tAnd suddenly, he noticed, she was taking him to the library. Sister Winifred threw the door wide open and started the quite Bother Zophar, a fluffy, bespectacled, and quiet doormouse.\n\n    \t\"For the love of all things holy, Brother Zophar I implore you to care for this kitten until the day it through!\" Sister Winifred bellowed out. Books from various stacks swayed gently. Before Brother Zophar could even meagerly protest, she threw Edis down on a padded bench and strode out, slamming the door behind her.\n\n    \t\"Um, hi?\" Edis said cutely, doing a cute wave while wagging his digits.\n\n    \t\"You! You're here to steal my vellum again! Aren't you!?\" The doormouse said, his squeaky voice rising.\n\n    \t\"Uh, no.. I ah... well.. I'd like to...\"Edis stammered, not at all ready to deal with the fury of Brother Zophar.\n\n    \tBrother Zophar took a deep breath and collapsed back into his favored chair, the one he rose from when a Belgian with a bee in her whipple barged in, black kitten in tow. \"I pray to S'allumner you won't disturb me as badly as Sister Winifred.\" The doormouse said in his squeaky voice, less tense now.\n\n    \t\"Well, if it would be okay.. could I...\" Edis started to ask, hesitantly. \n\n    \t\"Here, take these scraps and do as you will. If it will keep you quiet and give me respite from that monster of a sister.\" Brother Zophar said and pushed some materials towards the end of his cluttered desk. Edis rose off his seat and went to collect the offering. A quill, some ink, a piece of coal and several scraps of book sized vellum.\n\n    \t\"Thank you, Brother Zophar.\" Edis said and looked up. The gray doormouse had buried his snout into a text and responded with a squeaky grunt and a wave of his hand-paw.\n\n    \tWith all these things about, Edis quietly drew what he remembered from his life. He drew the day in the village and illustrated his finding. He illustrated the pilgrimage he took with Brother Thorvald and the other monks. He also drew pictures of his days at the abbey. There was a weak chuckle over his shoulder when Brother Zophar took a peek at Edis's depiction of Sister Winifred, drawn with horns coming from her head, a pitchfork in her hoof-hand, and fire coming out her nostrils and ears.  \"Oh!\" Edis exclaimed when he noticed that Brother Zophar had been watching him.\n\n    \t\"I'm not going to tell.\" Brother Zophar said in a squeaky whisper and winked at the kitten. Edis smiled and continues to draw. The doormouse got form his seats and was shelving materials.\n\n    \tAfter a while, Edis couldn't draw anymore. He couldn't think of anything more he could draw and he was practically out of vellum anyway. As if Brother Zophar knew, he spoke up, \"Edis, would you care for a story?\" The kitten's eyes grew wide. He had heard that Brother Zophar was an excellent story teller. \n\n    \t\"Yes please...\" Edis said and watched the doormouse. The doormouse then went into a story about some folk long ago. They once had build a city underground. The folk worshiped and earthly-fire spirits that resided in teh magma chambers below the city. But one day these folk fell ill after a pirate had stumbled upon their city. The pirate apparently brought a disease the underground folk were not able to get better from. And so, the pirate, a guest bringing pestilence to his hosts, survived the plague and was the only one left. He found many treasures the underground folk had, and he took many of them to build his own pirate empire. He never drew up a map because one day he planned to go back and plunder the tunnels for more booty if ever his empire needed it. It was wise, but sad. Because eventually, like all furs, he grew old and slow. And one day the pirate was not on guard when one o his underlings killed him, hoping to know the secret location of the underground city. Alas! The dead old pirate never wrote down the location, and the whole city was lost in the spilled pirate blood.\n\n    \t\"What kind of treasures did they have, Brother Zophar?\" Edis asked. He'd always been fond of pirates, and even more so because of his current clothing.\n\n   \t \"Well, there was talk of a massive ship that could sail the skies and cloth made from pieces of the stars. And I think there was something about living statues, guarding the secrets of the underground folk.\"\n\n    \t\"What kind of secrets?\"\n\n    \t\"I'm not sure, Edis. I don't know where this city is, and I don't believe there was ever such a  thing.\"\n\n    \t\"Aww.. why not? There's magic, isn't there?\" Edis asked. Magic was, of course, commonplace, but hardly practiced in the abbey. If it was practiced at all, magic was something that only the upper echelons of the Generous Paw did, and only when needed.\n\n    \"\tYes. I suppose you're right. But the possibility of a flying ship, and airship, so to say, sounds preposterous. How would it stay airborne?\"\n\n    \tEdis shrugged. He didnt even understand the concept of flight. All he understood was that if you threw a pebble in the air, it was going to come down. But if the pebble had wings like a damson fly, it could fly. \"Do you think the airship had wings?\" \n\n    \t\"Well, I would think that it would have had to. The lizards of the air need wings, and the bird-folk and the bat-folk fly with wings. What else could make something fly?\"\n\n    \"\tEr, I dunno. Um, Brother Zophar, I need to go potty...\" Edis whined. He had been holding during the story, too enraptured to leave.\n\n    \t\"Well, you know where the latrine is. Go and come back.\" The doormouse said. Edis hurried out, clenching his hips together.\n\n    \tRunning down hall, the kitten only had the latrine on his mind. Yes, the room was stinky, but Edis remembered that earlier Sister Genevieve mentioned mucking it out. That meant it might not be so bad. \n\n    \tWUMPPH! The kitten ran into something large and furred. He looked up to see a round and manly bear dressed in slightly ornate robes standing in the hall. He was about as big as Sister Winifred, but he has a softness about him.\n\n    \t\"Well, hello kitten. Where are you off to in such a hurry?\"\n\n    \t\"I gotta pee.\" Edis said. His legs were still clenched as he did a little dance in hopes it would help him until he reaches the latrine.\n\n    \t\"Oh, in that case, please take me with you. I need to go myself as well.\" The bear said. The black kitten continued past the bear and soon to a large wooden door. Edis hefted it open with all his might and ran inside. The large bear followed. Inside the room was divided into to pieces. The first was a room where some winter clothing hung. It seemed that the moths were repulsed by the smell from the latrine, and so part of the room was used for storing winter clothing. This room was called the garderobe. Past this garderobe were benches with holes. The holes were set over a large system of pipes that slid waste down into the pits. Edis didn't know much about this, but he knew this was where he was expected to potty. He pulled off his trousers and sat down. Water smacking the dry pipes made its usual sound and Edis signed with relief. Besotting his trousers could land him in trouble today.\n\n    \tAs he continued to make potty, he looked around. The big bear was seated on a hole, but rather than going potty, he was rubbing his crotch. A large piece of flesh then started to make itself obvious in the bear's paw. The bear sighed while he rubbed himself and arched back. He then opened his eyes and set his gaze on the kitten who was slightly puzzled as to what was going on.\n\n     \t\"What's your name, kitten?\" The bear said, gasping slightly. His mass bouncing slightly with his strokes.\n\n    \t\"Edis.\" The kitten mewed, facinated by the large member in the bear's paw.\n\n    \t\"You know what this is, Edis?\"\n\n    \t\"No.\"\n\n    \t\"Come here. Touch it.\"\n\n    \tEdis hesitated. \n\n    \t\"It won't hurt. I promise.\" The bear gasped. Edis then went over and placed a paw upon the member. It was hard and veiny. It was also a little wet. He went to pull his paw away when the bear rested his paw on the kitten's.\n\n    \t\"It'll be fine, Edis. Relax.\" The bear then guided the kitten's paw up and down the member. The bear seemed to be enjoying this rubbing and the member continued to get wet. Edis thought it might be pee, but it smelled different, It smelled musky and salty. Soon the bear was no longer guiding the kitten's paw, but leaning back and moaning softly as Edis continued to stimulate the bear. suddenly the bear's face flushed and unexpectedly, he grabbed Edis by the back of the head and held him in font of his member. Edis tried to struggle, but he was unable to break away when he was slipped in the face with a gooey, hot and wet substance. He sputtered and tried to yelp, but the bear cuffed him and said \"Shush!\" Edis was confused and a little dazed.\n\n   \t \"Clean yourself up, Edis.\" The bear commanded. Edis looked around for a basin, but those were nowhere to be found. No one washed their hands after going to the latrine. \"Lick it up, kitten.\" The bear said, noticing the look of shock upon the kitten's face. Reluctantly the kitten began grooming his face of the substance. It was terribly salty and warm. It was slightly bitter, but not too much. Soon edis had cleaned most of his face.\n\n    \t\"Good boy.\" The bear said. Edis was puzzled. He didnt understand what just happened. The large member that was in the bear's paw was gone. where did it go?\n\n    \t\"Come along now. we have work to do.\" The bear said, back in this first warm and friendly voice, rather than the rather forceful one.\n\n    \tAs they were leaving the latrine, there was a faint squeak. It was Brother Zophar. \"Oh! Father Superior! Oh my! I didn't think to see you here! Why are you here?\"\n\n    \t\"Please, just call me Father Justan. I came early because I had urgent natural needs to attend to. Edis here was kind enough to show me where to go. He was no problem at all.\"\n\n    \tHow did you get in without creating a hub-bub?\" Brother Zophar asked.\n\n    \t\"Because I didn't arrive with pomp and circumstance, Brother. I'd rather come plainly.\"  Father Justan said.\n\n    \t\"Oh then you will most definitely be welcome here!\" Brother Zophar said.\n\n    \t\"Bu what was...\" Edis asked, starting to get his spunk back.\n\n    \t\"Oh yes, I had a talk with young Master Edis. I believe he needs religious instruction. I would be most delighted to provide him with lessons.\" Father Justan offered.\n\n    \t\"Oh, I will make sure sister Winifred knows of that. She will be most pleased.\" Brother Zophar said. The three of them walked to the Great Hall, the Brother and Zopahr talking about the mundane things that people of clergy talk about. Edis was still puzzled. What had happened? What was all of that back there? He sort of though it was fun, and he wondered what had happened to the member he was rubbing.\n\n    \"\tYou'll look forward to my instruction, Edis.\" The bear said to him as the entered. Residents of the Order were bustling about. Brother Zopahr then passed a little mouse nun and informed her of the presence of the father Superior. She ran off to inform the acting head, who just happened to be Sister Winifred.\n\n    \t\"Getting down on one knee, the bear then said softly into Edis's ear, \"Do not say a word of what happened, or I can crush you like,\" he started and noticed a beetle scurrying across the floor. With a quick swipe, the bug was in pieces, \"This very beetle. Do you understand, Master Edis?\"\n\n    \tEdis gulped. Sister Winifred came over and welcomed the bear who stood to receive her welcome. Edis then wondered about the lessons that he would be given. And then he wondered about what it would be like to be a pirate.\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "\tThe sun beamed in though the ancient windows of the stony room. It was a quiet room with many beds. All but one of those beds were empty. The light streamed onto this bed, as if it had been drawn especially to it.

    \tThe lump in the bed stirred stirred grouchily. Under the sheets was a black kitten who attempted to bury his head into a feathery pillow. It was as if the sun was trying to pry his eyes open. The kitten groaned audibly and tossed in the bed, trying to hire form the sun. The sun, however, was not going to give up that easy. He groaned again and it echoed off the stony walls of the old, yet tidy room of The Order of The Generous Paw.

    \t"Edis? Are you awake?" A somewhat dour voice asked from behind the door. It was Sister Winifred. Edis groaned again and tried, to no avail, to further bury himself into the bed. "Edis, I'm coming in!" The voice said, sounding somewhat agitated at the silence.

    \tThe old oaken door with iron bracing flew aside. Standing in the doorway, and spilling out into the hall was a massive horse named Sister Winifred. She looked very burly, and it was guessed that she was of the Belgian line. Her unhappy face framed by the traditional black and white whipple.  "Kitten! Get up, get washed! Get dressed! The new Father arrives today."

    \tEdis groaned again and tried to hide from the onslaught of sunlight and Sister Winifred. Sister Winifred, however, was not going to have it. She grabbed the sheets with her hoof-hardened hands and yanked the sheets aside, revealing a black kitten trying to hide form the morning sun.

    \t"Get up!" Sister Winifred beckoned and turned her attention towards a wardrobe, containing Edis's clothing.

   \t Edis rolled over and sat up. His bell upon his collar ringing gently. He stretched in the sunlight as it played upon his jet black fur. He was unhappy. His dream was so wonderful because he was with his parents again...

   \t It was a year ago. Some place in the countryside, in a little country village. The houses and buildings were few but nicely kept, with their thatched roofs.  Outside the village were fields for hay, and some of the hay had been harvested and put into haystacks. The blue sky clashing against the emerald green fields and hills was everywhere and somewhere in the distance was the shadow of a castle.

  \t  Everyone was happy. Edis and his mother were outside, working with hay, his father was off talking to some other men. Then it happened. It was the something terrible he remembered hearing the menfolk talk of. Two local nobles were squabbling over the land.     Menfolk mounted upon large lizard-like mounts called destriers. One group was clad in armor much like that of a local clan of boars, the other group were obviously horses. The horse clan, known as the Avoirdupois had supposedly owned the land, but the bore clan, known as the Doloreaux claimed that the land was theirs. And somewhere in between, someone though it would be a grand idea to destroy the village. So the groups clashed in the village. The villagers were caught in the middle and slain like vermin. Edis escaped only because his mother had the forethought to shove him into a haystack.

   \t The noises were terrible. Screams of agony and the sound of sword and spear clashing against plate and shield. The sounds of the destriers, snorting and braying pierced the din of the skirmish. The sound of heavy footfalls and hard-falls accentuated the noise. It was like a chorus from hell. 

    \tEdis was scared and didn't move. He closed his eyes tight, hoping that if he couldn't see, no one could see him. And eventually the sounds died, but the smell was terrible. After what may have been a good hour of silence, he crept out from the hay to look upon the village.

    \tHis eyes beheld a bloody and terrible sight. Some of the buildings burned merrily. Smoked curled up into that blue sky, polluting it with the smell of burning wood and what smelled like charred fur and flesh. The emerald fields were torn up in places, and the dirt road going though the village was littered with broken objects and broken villagers.

    \tAnd in that dirt road were the mutilated corpses of his mother and father, their blood staining the hard-packed earth. Edis turned away, his yellow eyes welling with tears. He sat down hard upon the earth and lamented over his mother, the roar of flames, his only company.

    \tIt was a good few hours. The sun had set and dusk had come upon the damaged and broken place. And then there was a gentle touch upon his shoulder. Edis turned in shock and anger. He was afraid that it was one of the raiding parties to clean up. He hissed and bared his claws blindly.

    \t"Stay your self, kitten." The voice said kindly. Edis looked at the tear-blurred figure in the dim lighting. He became less aggressive and wiped hsi eyes with the back of his furred paws. The figure became less blurry. And the figure was accompanied by a few others, all clad in brown robes, clinched with a simple knotted rope.

    \t"Who are you?" Edis mewed.

    \t"Kitten, I'm Brother Fransisco. We are on a pilgrimage to the Abbey of S'allumer's Open Paw. We were hoping for lodgings here... but I fear we have arrived too late for that..." The monk said. Edis looked into the monks furred face, two friendly eyes were framed by a raccoon markings. Edis looked at the others in Brother Fransisco's company, they were all different, but all clad in the same simple outfit.

    \t"I lost my mommy..."  Edis sniffled.

    \t"Oh, " Brother Fransisco said lowly. He placed a blanked upon the kitten. Come away from the village with us. This is no place for you now." Edis nodded and the group broke up, several monks held back in the village, a few others went further out of the village. There in an undisturbed patch of emerald grass the remaining monks sey up a cozy camp.

   \t A fire burned cheerily, unlike the fires that once burned the village. Some of the monks were cooking and chatting, somewhat subdued, others were tinkering with objects that were in a wagon, pulled by a massive rhino monk named Brother Thorvald. However, the monks at the camp kept changing. Some monks woul appear, while others vanished for periods of time. 

    \t"Why aren't you all here?" Edis asked, catching a monk returning from the village.

    \t"Oh, don't worry yourself, little kitten. Just relax and enjoy yourself."  Said a goat. Edis stared that this monk, for goats never frequented this area. The goat's horns were impressive, curling upon themselves close to 5 or 6 times. Edis let the issue go and was then swept up into the company of the cooks and the entertainers. Even though the mood was somewhat somber, the music was soothing and the food was warm and filling.

    \tIt was somewhat of a shock when Brother Thorvald picked up a delicate looking mandolin and strummed it.

    \t"Play something, Brother Thorvald!" A monk called out.

    \tBrother Thorvald grinned, a mischievous glint in his eye. "And that I will, Brother Mavir. That I will." The rhino tuned the delicate instrument deftly. Edis was amazed that such a beast could handle such a delicate looking thing. Brother Thorvald then ripped into a tune.

It's cold and raw the north winds blow

Black in the morning early

When all the hills were covered with snow,

Oh then it was winter fairly,

As I riding was riding o'er the moor,

I met a farmer's daughter,

Her cherry cheeks and sloe black eyes,

They caused my heart to falter.

I bowed my bonnet very low

To let her know my meaning.

She answered with a courteous smile,

Her looks they were engaging.

"Where are you bound my pretty maid,

It's now in the morning early."

The answer that she made to me,

"Kind sir to sell me barley."

"Now twenty denarii I've in my purse,

And twenty more that's yearly,

You need not go to the market town,

For I'll buy all your barley.

If twenty denarii would gain the heart

Of the maid I love so dearly,

All for to tarry with me one night,

And go home in the morning early."

As I was riding o'er the moor

The very evening after,

It was my fortune for to meet

The farmer's only daughter.

Although the weather being cold and raw,

With her I thought to parley.

This answer then she made to me,

"Kind sir I've sold me barley." 

    \t"Brother Thorvald!" Brother Fransisco said, looking quite taken aback. The other monks laughed and chuckled. "That is NOT a song for ears so young!"

    \t"Bah! I see no harm in such a song. A song is but a song." Brother Thorvald said with a smile lingering on his gray and leathery face.

   \t "But the young one...."

    \t"Edis." Edis chimed in, realizing that no one asked his name.

    \t"Edis," Brother Fransisco continued, "He could learn much sin and vice though such a song."

    \t"Oh, I'm not sure about that. Maybe he might learn how to sell barley?" Brother Thorvald cracked. Brother Fransisco shot the rhino a deadly glare. This melted the grin off Brother Thorvald's face.

    \tEdis wasn't quiet sure what was wrong. He though the tune was quite cheery. He continued to hum the tune and eventually fell asleep.

    \t"Now look what you did! You put that dirty ditty into his head!" Brother Fransisco whispered to Brother Thorvald.

    \tLater that night, Edis awoke, needing to do to the bathroom. The toddled off to a nearby bush and relieved himself. He returned to his spot by the fire and saw Brother Thorvald, hunched over something by the fire.

    \t"Brother Thorvald?" Edis asked. The rhino looked up and into the yellow eyes of the kitten. 

    \t"Oy! You should be sleeping! Why are you awake?" Brother Thorvald said, shifting his mass towards the kitten.

    \t"What are you doing?" Edis asked and peered at the space to see a sketchbook.

    \t"Ah, well, I find when I can't sleep, I'm usually inspired to draw." The rhino said.

    \tEdis then pounced and landed on the book before the monk could react. Edis then thumbed though the sketchbook. There were pages of all sorts of sketched. There were detailed flowers and country scenes, all sketched with charcoal. There were portraits of all sorts of furs of both genders. There were drawings of what seemed to be events, of wars and invasions; and whaling ships. And then there were nudes. He cocked his head as he studied a drawing that looked very much like himself.

    \t"Hey!" Edis turned to the voice, and suddenly the sketch book was purloined from his black paws and spirited away to god knows where by a great grey hand. 'That's not for you!" Brother Thorvald said. A monk snorted and stirred at the disturbance.

    \t"Can I draw like that?" Edis whispered.

    \t'Maybe one day." Brother Thorvald responded, not knowing that Edis had seen the nudes and that the question was not so much at drawing as a whole, but rather the nudes. He would have liked to see more, but something told him that Brother Thorvald really didn't want someone look in his book. "Now, got back to bed."

    \tWithout much else to really do, Edis went to sleep. The next couple of days after that bled together, but eventually the kitten and monks reached the Abbey of S'allumer's Generous Paw. The cathedral was rather old looking, much older than maybe even the Cathedral de Temoin. It lacked sweeping windows of Gothic design, and was instead, rather squatty, and Romanesque. The walls were gray and dingy, and the roof was tiled with red tiles. Large vines of wisteria grew over the walls and the main gate was framed by large and sweeping willows. All the plants looked as if they had been there since the beginning of time. Off to the sides there were other buildings, they looked less older than the main building. Some of them had large windows of the Gothic design, but they were made of some clear material, Edis later learned was glass, a rare thing for sure. Back in his village, windows were covered with oiled papyrus, vellum, or bone. None of these windows had any decorations. They were just clear.

    \tWhile Edis was rubber-necking the inhabitants of the abbey came out to welcome the pilgrims. and from here, Edis was taken in as the first orphan in the Order of the Open Paw.

    \tEdis shook the water off his face. He had been thinking about the past while washing the basin on the nearby table. The image of his mother and father dead would be something that would never leave him, but the charcoal sketch in Brother Throvald's book would also never go away. Why sketch him? Edis wondered about that was interrupted.

    \t"Kitten! Do you not have a single decent thing to wear!?" Sister Winifred proclaimed, completely flabbergasted at the lack of clothes that were either not soiled, laundered, or in good condition.

    \t"I think what I have is fine." Edis said and turned to meet the stern Belgian's gaze. That's when the nun turned a bright shade of pink. Edis hadn't been wearing sleeping clothes. "Edis! Behind the screen now!" Sister Winifred commanded the naked kitten. Edis rolled his eyes and did as he was told. Several months ago he directly disobeyed an order from the sister to stop making mud pies in the abbey's garden. She was inside, leaning out a window, and he was outside. She couldn't possibly reach him, he thought. He ignored her and her command and continued to shape mud pies, or more or less, mud pasties. He didn't have anything to keep the muddy crust in. 

    \tBut then, as quick as lightning, the stern horse-nun dashed out of the building and boxed Edis on the ears. Then she pulled him by the ears inside, to take a bath. He yowled then and hated the incident. That too was burned into him memory, mainly because Edis only took baths on his own terms, but usually those terms were voided by some sister who though he smelled too much like the fish down at the abbey's dockside, or that he was too caked with mud.

    \t"Sister Genevieve?" Sister Winifred called out to a passing figure.

    \t'Yes, Sister Winifred?" Responded the nun. Sister Genevieve was a slender, brown, and youthful doe, her black eyes piercing, but exuded kindness that was lacking in Sister Winifred's nut-brown orbs of cruelty.

    \t"Will you watch this kitten? He hasn't any decent cloths, so I need to fetch some." The somewhat irate Belgian said, thrusting a hoof-hand at a screen. "He's not decent to boot. Been sleeping buck naked again."

    \t"Yes, Sister, I'll watch over him. Mayhap you should also take some tea? Should help with your nerves." The deer said demurely. This calmed the horse done somewhat.

    \t"I believe you're right. I've yet to have my morning tea. After that, back to work." Sister Winifred said. She then clip-clopped herself out of the room, her foot-falls echoing in the stone building.

   \t "Edis?" Sister Genevieve asked the screen.

    \t"What?" Edis's voice called back from behind the screen.

    \t"Why are you being naughty? You can come out from being the screen." Edis emerged, wearing only his red leather collar and yellow bell. 

    \t"You think I'm being naughty?" Edis asked.

    \t"Well, Sister Winifred seemed to be upset with you."Sister Genevieve said and looked him over.

    \t"She's just mad at me because I don't have any good clothes." Frowned Edis. "why aren't you angry that I'm naked?"

   \t "Well, I believe our Lord created us perfectly. Clothing is something we wear because we think we are imperfect." Sister Genevieve responded.

    \t"They why are you wearing clothes?" Edis asked and pointed at the deer.

    \t"Well, society has certain rules. Society says we should be modest and not parade S'allumner's perfection. But if you ask me, I think it's perfectly fine to sleep without clothes on."

    \t"Really?"

    \t"Yes, I do."

    \t"Do what?"

    \t"Think and do."

    \t"You sleep naked?" Edis asked and chuckled.

    \t"Now, you laugh. What's wrong with me sleeping naked?"

    \t"You're a nun..."

    \t"So? You're a naughty kitten."

    \t"No I'm not!"

    \t"They why do you have vellum shoved under your mattress?" The sister asked, her attention had been caught on the vellum sticking out since she was called in.

    \t"I'm... er... saving it."

    \t"That's funny, because I heard just the other day a certain kitten had been seen running out of the libraries with vellum. Would you know who that was?"

    \t"Not me!"

    \t"That's funny. I don't know a 'not me' that lives here. Do you?"

    \t"I only took scraps."

    \t"But you took. You could have just asked."

    \t"But Brother Zophar doesn't like to part with his scraps.. and he was just going to throw them away.. and I wanted to draw."

    \t"Ah, well who can blame Brother Zophar when kittens thieve his materials? So what do you draw, Edis?"

    \tEdis smiled. Sister Genevieve always seemed to be interested in his art. She knew very well that he did take vellum and papyrus form the library. It was all pretty much a game. Edis pulled his drawings out from under the mattress and showed them to the deer.

    \t"Who's this?" She pointed at a page. The figure was a large circular figure with a circle for a head and two triangles sticking out near to black dots, which had to be eyes. 

   \t 'That's Brother Thorvald. Do you think Brother Throvald will come back?" Edis asked. 

    \t"I don't believe so. I'm sure Brother Thorvald has many other things to attend to at his monastery Why do you ask?"

   \t "I want to draw just like him!"

    \t"Oh, I see." Sister Genevieve smiled and in the distance a distinctive clip-clop could be heard getting nearer. "No best duck behind that screen or else you'll call down Sister Winifred's wrath." She patted his black kitten bottom and he scurried back to his screen. Genevieve picked up the spilled drawings and stashed them neatly under the mattress.

    \t"Has he been any trouble?" Sister Winifred said, looking a bit more relaxed.

    \t"No Sister. Not at all. Haven;t even heard a peep form him since you left." Sister Genevieve said, "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to attend to the latrines... my job today, you know."

    \t"I don't envy you at all." The horse said as the deer left. Edis felt sorry for her. Sister Genevieve should have been give the task of watching him today, not the sour old Sister Winifred. As much as he wanted to say this, he dared not. He was afraid for his ears. "Kitten, here's some clothes, put them on and see how they fit."

   \t Over the top of the screen flew some clothes. The shirt was a loose fitting one with a drawsting to close it. Much like what a pirate would wear. If having to dree nicely meant dressing like a pirate, then he could deal with this. The knickers, however, were a different story. They fit, but they were a tight fit. They seemed to have been name form a similar material as the shirt, but black instead of white. He jumpped out from behind the screen.

    \t"Shiver me timbers ya ol' barnacle of a nag!" Edis said, in a voice he though was very pirate-like. His jovial attitude washed away as the sour face of Sister Winifred looked him over. 

    \t"If I put this vest on you, then you might not look so much like a bilge rat..." Sister Winifred sighed and put the vest on Edis. It was made of the same black material as the pants and matched wonderfully well. Edis though it made him look more liek a pirate, but realized if he said something more, Sister Winifred would probably make him change into something else. He allowed himself to look somber to hide his excitement.

    \t"What was Sister Thessala thinking?" Sister Winifred clucked to herself. This of course took Edis off guard. Horses weren't chickens... how did she cluck? Again, a question to ask someone else at a later time. "Now you behave, don;t get dirty and come when you're called. Understand?"

    \tEdis nodded with feigned somberness.

    \t"Now, Kitten, I have things I have to do, but you are to stay with me and make yourself scarce." Sister Winifred neighed out. Edis was always somewhat amazed that Sister Winifred would never refer to him other than 'Kitten.' "Stay out form under foot and be quiet." She grabbed the black kitten by his left hand-paw and drug him down the hall to a room with other nuns some of which were busy with straightening up the room, others getting stuff ready to make it presentable. 

    \tThis must be the new father superior's room, Edis thought. He sat on a bench and then wondered about something. If he annoyed Sister Winifred in just the right way, would she pawn him off to someone else?

    \t"Sister Winifred, is this the new father superior's room?"

   \t The response was a grunt as she called out to the Sisters. Sister Winifred wasn't actually doing any work, so much as being a task master.

    \t"Sister Winifred, why are we getting a new father superior?"

    \tAnother grunt after she told one sister she was swinging her feather duster with too much gusto.

    \t"Sister Winifred, where exactly does dust come from?" Edis asked, noticing the dust flying off the duster that was 'swinging with too much gusto.' It had struck him as odd that there was this thing called dust.

    \tNo response, other than more grunts, like we was trying to drown him out.

    \t"Sister Winifred, if S'allumner made everything why do we have to clean up? Dirty belongs to Him." Edis asked, thinking further on the subject and reaching a spiritual level about dirt and dust. Some of the nuns snickered at this questioning. One when to answer, but was hushed up by the Belgian task-master and her command to work on cleaning the drapes. Sister Winifred was agitated again.

    \t"Sister Winifred, what do you suppose S'allumner looks like?" Sister Winifred was trying not to listen. Edis knew he was starting to play his cards right now.

    \t"Sister Winifred, do you think that S'allumner has a belly button?"

    \t"Sister Winifred, what would S'allumner do with a belly button if He had one?"

    \t"Sister Winifred, why do we have belly buttons?"

    \t"Sister Winifred, what is that stuff that gets caught in the belly button?" Edis could swear that he could hear an audible snap coming form Sister Winifred.

    \t"Sister Winifred, do you think..." Edis started. The horse strode though the room with the power of an iron plow. The nuns parted and hugged the wall as the Belgian strode towards Edis. 

   \t "Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis! Edis!" Sister Winifred Chanted out into the kitten's face, "That's it!" She grabbed him by his left hand-paw and dragged him down the halls again. His paws stumbling as the nun hurriedly pulled him, her nerves shot.

    \tAnd suddenly, he noticed, she was taking him to the library. Sister Winifred threw the door wide open and started the quite Bother Zophar, a fluffy, bespectacled, and quiet doormouse.

    \t"For the love of all things holy, Brother Zophar I implore you to care for this kitten until the day it through!" Sister Winifred bellowed out. Books from various stacks swayed gently. Before Brother Zophar could even meagerly protest, she threw Edis down on a padded bench and strode out, slamming the door behind her.

    \t"Um, hi?" Edis said cutely, doing a cute wave while wagging his digits.

    \t"You! You're here to steal my vellum again! Aren't you!?" The doormouse said, his squeaky voice rising.

    \t"Uh, no.. I ah... well.. I'd like to..."Edis stammered, not at all ready to deal with the fury of Brother Zophar.

    \tBrother Zophar took a deep breath and collapsed back into his favored chair, the one he rose from when a Belgian with a bee in her whipple barged in, black kitten in tow. "I pray to S'allumner you won't disturb me as badly as Sister Winifred." The doormouse said in his squeaky voice, less tense now.

    \t"Well, if it would be okay.. could I..." Edis started to ask, hesitantly. 

    \t"Here, take these scraps and do as you will. If it will keep you quiet and give me respite from that monster of a sister." Brother Zophar said and pushed some materials towards the end of his cluttered desk. Edis rose off his seat and went to collect the offering. A quill, some ink, a piece of coal and several scraps of book sized vellum.

    \t"Thank you, Brother Zophar." Edis said and looked up. The gray doormouse had buried his snout into a text and responded with a squeaky grunt and a wave of his hand-paw.

    \tWith all these things about, Edis quietly drew what he remembered from his life. He drew the day in the village and illustrated his finding. He illustrated the pilgrimage he took with Brother Thorvald and the other monks. He also drew pictures of his days at the abbey. There was a weak chuckle over his shoulder when Brother Zophar took a peek at Edis's depiction of Sister Winifred, drawn with horns coming from her head, a pitchfork in her hoof-hand, and fire coming out her nostrils and ears.  "Oh!" Edis exclaimed when he noticed that Brother Zophar had been watching him.

    \t"I'm not going to tell." Brother Zophar said in a squeaky whisper and winked at the kitten. Edis smiled and continues to draw. The doormouse got form his seats and was shelving materials.

    \tAfter a while, Edis couldn't draw anymore. He couldn't think of anything more he could draw and he was practically out of vellum anyway. As if Brother Zophar knew, he spoke up, "Edis, would you care for a story?" The kitten's eyes grew wide. He had heard that Brother Zophar was an excellent story teller. 

    \t"Yes please..." Edis said and watched the doormouse. The doormouse then went into a story about some folk long ago. They once had build a city underground. The folk worshiped and earthly-fire spirits that resided in teh magma chambers below the city. But one day these folk fell ill after a pirate had stumbled upon their city. The pirate apparently brought a disease the underground folk were not able to get better from. And so, the pirate, a guest bringing pestilence to his hosts, survived the plague and was the only one left. He found many treasures the underground folk had, and he took many of them to build his own pirate empire. He never drew up a map because one day he planned to go back and plunder the tunnels for more booty if ever his empire needed it. It was wise, but sad. Because eventually, like all furs, he grew old and slow. And one day the pirate was not on guard when one o his underlings killed him, hoping to know the secret location of the underground city. Alas! The dead old pirate never wrote down the location, and the whole city was lost in the spilled pirate blood.

    \t"What kind of treasures did they have, Brother Zophar?" Edis asked. He'd always been fond of pirates, and even more so because of his current clothing.

   \t "Well, there was talk of a massive ship that could sail the skies and cloth made from pieces of the stars. And I think there was something about living statues, guarding the secrets of the underground folk."

    \t"What kind of secrets?"

    \t"I'm not sure, Edis. I don't know where this city is, and I don't believe there was ever such a  thing."

    \t"Aww.. why not? There's magic, isn't there?" Edis asked. Magic was, of course, commonplace, but hardly practiced in the abbey. If it was practiced at all, magic was something that only the upper echelons of the Generous Paw did, and only when needed.

    "\tYes. I suppose you're right. But the possibility of a flying ship, and airship, so to say, sounds preposterous. How would it stay airborne?"

    \tEdis shrugged. He didnt even understand the concept of flight. All he understood was that if you threw a pebble in the air, it was going to come down. But if the pebble had wings like a damson fly, it could fly. "Do you think the airship had wings?" 

    \t"Well, I would think that it would have had to. The lizards of the air need wings, and the bird-folk and the bat-folk fly with wings. What else could make something fly?"

    "\tEr, I dunno. Um, Brother Zophar, I need to go potty..." Edis whined. He had been holding during the story, too enraptured to leave.

    \t"Well, you know where the latrine is. Go and come back." The doormouse said. Edis hurried out, clenching his hips together.

    \tRunning down hall, the kitten only had the latrine on his mind. Yes, the room was stinky, but Edis remembered that earlier Sister Genevieve mentioned mucking it out. That meant it might not be so bad. 

    \tWUMPPH! The kitten ran into something large and furred. He looked up to see a round and manly bear dressed in slightly ornate robes standing in the hall. He was about as big as Sister Winifred, but he has a softness about him.

    \t"Well, hello kitten. Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

    \t"I gotta pee." Edis said. His legs were still clenched as he did a little dance in hopes it would help him until he reaches the latrine.

    \t"Oh, in that case, please take me with you. I need to go myself as well." The bear said. The black kitten continued past the bear and soon to a large wooden door. Edis hefted it open with all his might and ran inside. The large bear followed. Inside the room was divided into to pieces. The first was a room where some winter clothing hung. It seemed that the moths were repulsed by the smell from the latrine, and so part of the room was used for storing winter clothing. This room was called the garderobe. Past this garderobe were benches with holes. The holes were set over a large system of pipes that slid waste down into the pits. Edis didn't know much about this, but he knew this was where he was expected to potty. He pulled off his trousers and sat down. Water smacking the dry pipes made its usual sound and Edis signed with relief. Besotting his trousers could land him in trouble today.

    \tAs he continued to make potty, he looked around. The big bear was seated on a hole, but rather than going potty, he was rubbing his crotch. A large piece of flesh then started to make itself obvious in the bear's paw. The bear sighed while he rubbed himself and arched back. He then opened his eyes and set his gaze on the kitten who was slightly puzzled as to what was going on.

     \t"What's your name, kitten?" The bear said, gasping slightly. His mass bouncing slightly with his strokes.

    \t"Edis." The kitten mewed, facinated by the large member in the bear's paw.

    \t"You know what this is, Edis?"

    \t"No."

    \t"Come here. Touch it."

    \tEdis hesitated. 

    \t"It won't hurt. I promise." The bear gasped. Edis then went over and placed a paw upon the member. It was hard and veiny. It was also a little wet. He went to pull his paw away when the bear rested his paw on the kitten's.

    \t"It'll be fine, Edis. Relax." The bear then guided the kitten's paw up and down the member. The bear seemed to be enjoying this rubbing and the member continued to get wet. Edis thought it might be pee, but it smelled different, It smelled musky and salty. Soon the bear was no longer guiding the kitten's paw, but leaning back and moaning softly as Edis continued to stimulate the bear. suddenly the bear's face flushed and unexpectedly, he grabbed Edis by the back of the head and held him in font of his member. Edis tried to struggle, but he was unable to break away when he was slipped in the face with a gooey, hot and wet substance. He sputtered and tried to yelp, but the bear cuffed him and said "Shush!" Edis was confused and a little dazed.

   \t "Clean yourself up, Edis." The bear commanded. Edis looked around for a basin, but those were nowhere to be found. No one washed their hands after going to the latrine. "Lick it up, kitten." The bear said, noticing the look of shock upon the kitten's face. Reluctantly the kitten began grooming his face of the substance. It was terribly salty and warm. It was slightly bitter, but not too much. Soon edis had cleaned most of his face.

    \t"Good boy." The bear said. Edis was puzzled. He didnt understand what just happened. The large member that was in the bear's paw was gone. where did it go?

    \t"Come along now. we have work to do." The bear said, back in this first warm and friendly voice, rather than the rather forceful one.

    \tAs they were leaving the latrine, there was a faint squeak. It was Brother Zophar. "Oh! Father Superior! Oh my! I didn't think to see you here! Why are you here?"

    \t"Please, just call me Father Justan. I came early because I had urgent natural needs to attend to. Edis here was kind enough to show me where to go. He was no problem at all."

    \tHow did you get in without creating a hub-bub?" Brother Zophar asked.

    \t"Because I didn't arrive with pomp and circumstance, Brother. I'd rather come plainly."  Father Justan said.

    \t"Oh then you will most definitely be welcome here!" Brother Zophar said.

    \t"Bu what was..." Edis asked, starting to get his spunk back.

    \t"Oh yes, I had a talk with young Master Edis. I believe he needs religious instruction. I would be most delighted to provide him with lessons." Father Justan offered.

    \t"Oh, I will make sure sister Winifred knows of that. She will be most pleased." Brother Zophar said. The three of them walked to the Great Hall, the Brother and Zopahr talking about the mundane things that people of clergy talk about. Edis was still puzzled. What had happened? What was all of that back there? He sort of though it was fun, and he wondered what had happened to the member he was rubbing.

    "\tYou'll look forward to my instruction, Edis." The bear said to him as the entered. Residents of the Order were bustling about. Brother Zopahr then passed a little mouse nun and informed her of the presence of the father Superior. She ran off to inform the acting head, who just happened to be Sister Winifred.

    \t"Getting down on one knee, the bear then said softly into Edis's ear, "Do not say a word of what happened, or I can crush you like," he started and noticed a beetle scurrying across the floor. With a quick swipe, the bug was in pieces, "This very beetle. Do you understand, Master Edis?"

    \tEdis gulped. Sister Winifred came over and welcomed the bear who stood to receive her welcome. Edis then wondered about the lessons that he would be given. And then he wondered about what it would be like to be a pirate.

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