[Vfw-times] Cassie story-"Fortunes"

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Fortunes                                                                      
                                                                              


Written by & copyright of Earl Bacon Foxonian at aol.com

Featuring Cassie, Rachel (Cassie's keyboardist) and Dominic & Xu (both 
created for the story)

Cassie, the Rock & Roll Vixen
http://www.cassietherockvixen.furtopia.org

Please read the prequil, "Reaching the Limit" Featuring Featuring Cassie, 
Laretta (Cassie's rhythm
guitarist), Slim (Cassie's chief roadie) and Cindy (Cassie's bassist)
http://www.cassietherockvixen.furtopia.org/reaching_the_limit.txt

All characters created by & copyright of Earl Bacon except Laretta, who
is created by and copyright of Andrew Cotton, Alex, who is created by and 
copyright of
Donna Fritz, and Vixina & Cloudchaser, who is created by and copyright of
Cloudchaser Shaconage

It was a damp raining day.  A lone figure could be seen walking toward the 
small shop, located in NYC's China Town.
The figure stopped in front of a store that had written in both Chinese and 
English: "East Orient Trading Co."
The Collie-morph looked at the store for a moment.  It had in it's window all 
the typical oriental items that one
would expect: small pagoda like lights, oriental-style furniture and various 
small jade Budda statues and so on.
Dominic wondered what his old friend wanted him for now.  As he entered the 
door,the bell attached to a cable under
the floor mat sounded and a 5" tall Red Panda furry-morph femme,dressed in a 
white shirt and black pants walked
toward Dominic.  She had her long black head hair done up in a bun with a 
Chinese style comb.

"Good day to you, Sir," The red Panda morph began, "Is there something of 
interest you would like to see?"  "Yes.
I've come to see Xu," the collie morph replied.  The red panda femmes eyes 
brightened as she spoke.  "Yes!
Most Hounorable Xu is here.  I will tell him you are here, also.  Please 
wait."  She then went into the back.
Dominic looked at a black finished Chinese table, with various artwork done 
in gold paint along it's sides.  How nice
it would look in Rachel's Apt., he thought.  "You have a good eye,my 
friend.That table comes from the Ming era"
Coming up to face Dominic was a ten foot tall golden dragon-morph.  Dressed 
in a blue suit, Xu cut an impressive figure.
His long, snake-like neck came out of the suit and streched for about 3 feet 
to his long reptian like head.  Xu
had typical "whiskers" jutting from the sides of his snout and some from 
under his chin (like a goatee).  His
reptilian arms had four claw-like hands and he had two claw-like feet jutting 
out from his suit pants.  Also, coming
out from just above his suit pant seat was his long, scaled tail with it's 
spade-like tail tip.

"How much?" Dominic inquired.  "$1,200.  Very reasonable for such an old 
piece as this, don't you agree?" Xu said with
a toothy smile.  The collie-morph thought for a moment and said "Xu, you did
n't go to all the trouble of leaving me
a message just to make a sale,did you?"  The dragon morph chucked for a 
moment and replied "Alas, no.  But if I can
get one before we begin to talk, then I am a wise merchant indeed."  Dominic 
let out a slight laugh at Xu's
pseudo Confucionism.  It was bad enough that most human Chinese and 
furry-moprh Chinese tended to look upon
dragon-morphs(especially gold and white ones) as persons of wisdom and 
philosophy, but when the dragons themselves
began to believe it, you knew you were in trouble.

The collie moph knew that Xu had something important to tell him, else he 
wouldn't have bothered him.  Xu tended to
move in criminal circles.  He also had dealings with the oriental vampires 
and kitsunes, so if something was going
on that spelled trouble to Dominic, the dragon would hear of it first.  "Tell 
you what,I will buy this table.  It's
just what my girlfriend could use".  Dominic said.  "Ahh.  It is good that 
you mention her.  She is the reason I
have asked to see you."  Xu the motioned for the red panda femme, "Please 
have this table prepared for shipping.
Our customer will be taking posession of it soon."  "Yes Most Hourable Xu." 
the panda femme said, bowing to Xu as
she said so.  Dominic just shook his head.  If only that woman knew what that 
dragon was really like,would she
still treat him with such honour and reverence?

"Come, this way my friend.We must talk in private" Xu said as he went inot 
the back room, lowering his snake-like
head to clear the entrance with out breaking stride.  In the back room, 
Dominic found a table with a black, felt
table cloth on it and two chairs.  Xu sat at the chair near the door (to keep 
an eye on the shop no doubt).
Dominic took the other chair.  Xu then lowered his head so it was level with 
Dominic's and began, "As you know, I
hear many things in my dealings with your kind and others.  The attention 
that you have been giving this young
"gothic" lady is getting noticed.  Especially amoung your own kind.  The 
Vampires have tried to keep their
existence unknown to the goths, who try to seek them out.  They think that 
the goths will, if they become like you,
be dangerous and not respectful of the older Vampire clans."

The dragon took a sip of some green tea that he had in a small cup on the 
table in front of him that Dominic
hadn't noticed before he continued.  "And that is not all.  There is also an 
individual that once knew your
girlfriend that is starting to get some of my underworld freinds involved via 
money.  I have heard that this
person wants to cause a lot of trouble to her and all those whom she calls 
friends"  Dominic thought for a momemnt as
Xu continued to sip his tea.  The Vamp clans he was aware of already didn't 
like him all that much, since he was
a furry-morph and he also knew that he took a great risk by persuing his 
relationship with somone who followed
the gothic culture, which most vamps considered a perversion of their own.  
He could handle them.  It was the
latter threat that had him worried.

Aside from the fact that she had been in a bad relationship once, Rachel 
hadn't talked about her past all that much.
He knew so little about this area that he wasn't sure what to do about it.  
>From what she did say, about that
former boyfriend, the collie-morph didn't think he had the intelligence to 
carry out something that would have
gotten Xu's attention.  He could be wrong,but he didn't know.  This threat 
wasn't just against Rachel,but also
against him and the rest of the Cassie's Band.

"Is there anything you can tell me about  person who wants to get some of 
your underworld friends to help them?"
Dominic asked.  "No. I can, however, find out for you, but it will take time. 
 You must understand, it's the nature
of my friends business not to give out clients' identities.  I will have to 
offer them something that will change
their minds." the dragon said with a straight look on his face.  "You know I 
can pay whatever price you need.  Just
let me know how much and when," Dominic replied.  "Agreed.  And now, I 
believe your table is ready."  The dragon
waved to the red panda femme, who returned the wave as she waited on a 
another customer.

A human looking at pagoda lamp.  It was just as well he was leaving, the 
collie-morph thought, It was getting near
his feeding time and the two small non-sentient rabbits he had in his house 
kitchen waited. He stll hadn't told
Rachel about his true nature.  He didn't know how she would respond to him.  
Worse,what if she believed that her
love for him was due to his "influence" over her and not real?  At first, he 
did use his powers to contol her will,
but he stopped when he saw that she responded to him so easily.  Most females 
didn't.  Then he found his own heart
begin to open to her,in a way that it hadn't since Carmilita, his human 
vampire lover ended her long life.

All these questions ran through the collie-morph's mind until Xu distracted 
him by asking "I will send the table to
your lover's address.  I know where it is.  Remember, as a gold dragon, I see 
all things," he said with an almost
evil grin on that snake-like face.  "Here," Dominic said as he handed the 
address on a piece of paper he had written
on earlier."  Let's do the honourable way, okay?"  "As you wish, my friend.  
I will stay in touch concering that
'other matter,' of course." the dragon said as he showed Dominic out of the 
shop.  As he walked away into the rain,
the collie morph felt something in his pocket.  Stopping, he reached into the 
pocket of his raincoat and pulled out
a fortune cookie wrapped in plastic.  A joke from Xu?  He wasn't the type to 
go in  for such humor,so it must
be important.  Opening the cookie, he read the fortune inside.  "Beware the 
Winter Solstice.  All signs point to
great misfortune on that day.  Your lucky lottery numbers are 3 12 25 36 41."

Munching on the cookie for a moment, Dominic started down the street to the 
car he had parked around the block.
What did this mean?  Beware Dec. 21?  Why?  More Riddles.  Damn that 
dragon-faced soothsayer!  Why can't he ever
tell you a straight answer?  In a small garage in lower Manhattan, a 
doe-femme in gothic dress spent
considerable rubbing polishing compound into a dark blue 1958 Chrysler New 
Yorker convertable.  Stopping to see
her deer-like face, covered white make up and dark eyeliner around her large 
blackeyes, Rachel seem pleased with the
wax job and the look of the finnish.  She still had one area to do on the 
hood.  Taking the rubbing compund, the
doe-femme begins to apply the paste like substance to the surface, her long, 
black head hair braid getting in her way
as it worked it's way over her shoulder, forcing her to push it back over her 
back as she continued to polish. 
Another thing that was happening was that she she continued to reach over the 
hood over her car, the bust of her
black "beer-maids" dress began to lower, revealing two large, 
white-furred,human like breasts.

After pulling up the front of her dress twice,  Rachel just decided to let 
the thing drop.  So what if her breasts
were exposed?  This was her private garage that she was spending a fortune to 
house her car.  The door was shut
and there were no windows. Besides,she thought, they could probably help in 
the polishing, since they were big
enough.  Having made up her mind, Rachel pushed the top of her dress down to 
her waist,  so she was naked from the
waist up and continued to lean over the long hood and  polish.  Unknown to 
the deer-femme,a tall figure stood in
the garage, entering without making a sound.  As he stood and watched, 
Dominic was startled and a little
embarassed watching Rachel polishing her car topless.  But then he began to 
admire her as an object of beauty.  The
way her upper torso and breasts moved in a sensuous motion with her polishing 
was so lovely.

At this momoent,Rachel looked up and hurredly pulled up the front of her 
dress, covering her breasts.  "Honestly, I
wish you would let me know when you are coming into a room!" the doe-femme 
said in a started voice.  "Sorry."
Dominc began, "I'll try to remember.  Everything okay?"  Rachel put her 
compound on the floor next to the car and
walked toward Dominic.  Wrapping her arms around the collie-morph and giving 
him a long, passionate kiss, she
replied "Not now.  Everything is just fine. Why do you ask?"  "I don't want 
to worry you.Let's just say that I'm
keeping my eye on some things on your behalf," Dominic said.  Rachel let out 
a laugh and said "You know, sometimes
you sound and act just like one of those suave heroes from a romace novel!  
Listen, Cassie's in town today.  She had
to go to a meeting at the record company's headquarters.  We were going to 
have lunch together before she goes back
to Massacusettes.  Wanna tag along?"

Taking the doe's hand,Dominc leaned down and kissed it sayng "whatever My 
Lady desires."  "Oh, you" Rachel said as
she kissed him on the forehead.  "Come on, help me get the garage door 
open,so we can go over.  It's almost 12
now."  Phil's Eatery was a new place over near Greenwich Village that Cassie 
had taken a liking to during her last
trip to the City about two months ago.  The Rock Vixen was dressed in her 
stage outfit (sleeveless lightblue
dress, slitted to the thigh on her right side, light brown nylons stockings 
and garters on her legs, light blue pumps
on her feet), beacuse her meeting was also a photo op with various bigwigs.  
Rather than bring a change of
clothes, Cassie just decided that if she was recognised, it wouldn't matter. 
She was going home right after lunch
with Rachel.

"Hey,Cassie! " a voice called out over the low mumur of the place.  The long 
black haired vixen turned to see the
gothic doe-femme wasn't alone.  Next to her came a handsome collie morph with 
slightly long, but neatly styled
reddish head hair and wearing an expenisve  Armani suit.  "Hi Rachel.  
Dominic!  I didn't know you were comnig.  What
a nice surprise!"  "Thank you, Cassie," Dominic said as he and Rachel sat 
down at the table.  "How is Foxonian doing?"
Dominic asked.  "Quite well," Cassie began.  "He's spending this time off 
from all the stuff involved from running
the band to take up a hobby."

"Like what?" Rachel asked,holding Dominic's right hand on the table.  "Well, 
he starting collecting vintage
shortwave radios.  He has about 20 of them so far.  He finds them at flea 
markets and spends the evenings fixing
them and cleaning them up.  You should see him!  When he finds one that he 
thinks is neat, it's like a kid seeing a
gift at Christmas!  His eyes just light up!  We spent the whole evening one 
night listening to programs in countries
all over the world.  I even heard one of our songs "The Night Has Come" 
translated into  Russian!"  "That sounds
nice, Cassie.  I'm glad that you and Foxonian can spend this time together.  
You both could you use it."  Dominic
said.  "Thank you and I'm just as glad that the same applies to you and 
Rachel," The Rock Vixen said with a sly smile.

The doe femme and collie-morph gave each other a smiling glance before Rachel 
said, "Cassie,thanks for giving us
all this time off.  How did it go with the record label guys?"  "I would be 
lying if they were thrilled with us
going totally off "on hiatus" like this, but they are going to release a sort 
of "re-mix" of some of our greatest
hits for the fans, so that should keep them happy for now.  Mind you, I can't 
guarentee that we will be able to take
the whole time off, but a year and a half looks like a sure thing."  After 
Cassie finished taking, the waiter
brought the menus.  After they had finnished eating, Rachel said that she had 
to use the bathroom, this left Cassie
and Dominic alone for a moment or two.  "Cassie," Dominic began.  "Can I ask 
a favor from you?"  "Sure.  What is
it?" the Rock Vixen replied.

"If you hear of anything that you think could be a real threat to yourself, 
Rachel or anyone else you both care
about, please let me know at once, okay?"  The collie-morph said in a low 
voice.  Startled, Cassie said "Uh, sure.
Is there something you know or heard that could make you worry like this 
Dominic?"  "Possibly.  But I'm not sure.
If I'm lucky, it's nothing.  Thanks for agreeing to my request," Dominic 
said.  "Anything I should know about?"
Rachel said as she sat down next to Dominic.  Upon seeing Dominic shake his 
head, Cassie replied "Oh, just  small
talk.  So what are you two going to do now?"  "Rachel told me that were are 
going for a ride in her ancient
vehicle," Dominic said as he placed his arm around the gothic doe.

"Translation: I'm taking him for a ride in my car.  Doesn't he sound almost 
Dickensian at times?" Rachel said with a laugh.  "Oh, yes and you love him 
for it, don't you?" Cassie replied "Well, I'm off to Mass.  Gotta get home to 
see if my lover fell asleep at his workbench, with a screwdriver in his hand. 
 Goodbye you two!  Have fun!  "With that, the rock vixen turned and with a 
final wave, walked over to her red-orange 2002 Corvette parked out by the 
side walk in front of the eatery and drove off.  As Dominic and Rachel walked 
out of the eatery tword the New Yorker arm in arm, the doe femme said "What 
did you ask Cassie to do for you?"  "To keep her ears open" the collie morph 
said.  "But, why?" Rachel asked as she got in the car.  Upon sitting down 
next to her, Dominic said as he kissed her passionately on the neck, "To see 
if my forune comes true."

THE END