[Vfw-times] MK story Four times the Charm part 1

[COkane8116 at aol.com]

Been too long since ther has been a taur story so Foxeris and I have 
rectified that. Hope you enjoy and feel free to send comments and suggestions 
to us both!

Chris & Foxeris



******************

   This is set a few days after my Counterstrike story in January. It is only 
a few weeks since Winter Assault happened.                  


                        Metamor Keep
                    Four Times the Charm

                            By:

                      Christian O'Kane
                       And Fox Cutter

For Misha it was good to be back at the Keep and among
friends and family. The fox had been away far too long. He
was tired and his whole body seemed to ache. His side hurt
where he had broken two of his ribs and the wound on his
face hurt every time he moved his jaw. At this point in time
he was happy to just be alive. He should be helping to
repair the damage or helping to train troops but he was just
too worn out to work up any enthusiasm. He needed to just
relax and recuperate so he decided to do research on the
Giantdowns and loose himself in some books. Let his mind and
body heal.

Moving past the rows of books and scrolls the fox headed
towards the desk of Cutter the Head Librarian. Misha was
glad that the library seemed to have survived intact when so
much else had been destroyed.

He wondered how the fox was doing. Misha knew that the
librarian had killed three assassins set on killing the Duke
but had been badly wounded in the fight. The fact that the
calm and friendly librarian had killed three highly trained
assassins so easily hadn't surprised Misha. He had always
suspected that there was more to him then met the eye.
Everyone at Metamor seemed to have some deep, dark secret.
The place seemed to grow them naturally.

The scout found Cutter seated behind his desk his head
resting in his folded arms upon the dark wood of the desk.
His right leg was bent under the chair but his left one was
stretched out straight in front of him. His whole body
sagged listlessly. For a moment Misha thought that he was
looking the corpse of someone killed in the recent attack. A
body that had lain undiscovered till now. Then he saw an ear
twitch and a hand came up and scratch it. Then the limb
returned to it's resting place.

"Cutter?" Misha asked softly.

The librarian sat bolt upright in the chair and stared at
Misha, blinking and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Misha.
I didn't hear you come in."

"Sorry to bother you," Misha apologized as he moved closer.
"I'll come back later if you're too tired."

"Not tired," came the weary reply. "Just worn out. Can I
help you with something?"

"I'm looking for a few books on the Giantdowns. Particularly
Dark Keep and the area around it. I can come back later."

"No need," Cutter answered in a sad tone so unlike his usual
cheerful one. "I don't have anything else to do or think
about." He stood up in a slow almost listless manner and
took hold of something that leaned against the desk. It was
cane made of dark mahogany wood and topped by a handle of
pure silver.

Leaning heavily on the cane Cutter moved slowly from around
the desk and limped off down a row of book shelves. Misha
followed close behind. The librarian moved with a slowness
that the scout found painful to watch. It took a long time
to move from the desk and through the stacks of books. A
time that passed in total silence, the only noise being the
slow, steady tap of the cane touching the floor.

Finally unable to withstand the monotonous silence Misha
tried to fill it with conversation. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alive," came the listless answer.

Was there much to cleanup here in the library? Any damage?"

"None."

"I heard you saved the Dukes life by killing three
assassins. A great deed."

The librarian stopped dead in his tracks. Turned and looked
at Misha with eyes that seemed full of all the worlds pain.
"All I did was murder three people."

Misha started to say something but the pain in those eyes
stopped him. "A lot of good people died in that bloody
battle."

Cutter slowly turned around returned to walking. The rest of
the journey was made in silence. A silence that Misha made
no attempt to fill.

* * *

Misha dropped the three books on the table with a soft thump
and sat down beside them.

"Those should help you," Cutter said in a bland tone as he
headed towards his desk.

The scout looked at the books for a moment and made a
decision. He couldn't leave the vulpine alone, not in the
mental state he was in now. "Cutter," Misha said without
looking up from the books.

The librarian stopped but didn't turn around, just stood as
still as a grave.

"I guess you've heard that Long House got hit pretty hard,"
Misha said.

"The whole keep has suffered."

"I know but the physical damage is nothing compared to the
disorganization. The keep fixed the damaged stone and would
but left we're left reorganizing things and putting them
back in their proper places. We could use the help of
someone used to keeping things organized, like you."

"I'll have Merlia help you," Cutter responded without
missing a beat or looking at Misha. "She's the best
Librarian at the Keep."

"YOU," Misha countered. "Are the best. We could really use
your help."

Cutter resumed walking and didn't answer except for the tap,
tap of his cane.

"In cleaning up we've found several new rooms," the scout
commented. "One is a library."

Cutter paused for a moment then started walking again. "I
know about the small library you have there. Just the basics
you can find in most cheap book markets."

"No," Misha replied, ignoring the implied insult to Long
house. "This is different. I found a copy of Ternat's
Articulam, complete and in fine condition."

The librarian stopped and turned his head to look at Misha.
The eyes that looked at him seemed to burn right through his
skull. For a moment the pain was gone replaced by eagerness.
Then the pain returned and he looked away.

"It's the truth," Misha said answering Cutter's unasked
question. He didn't mention that he had actually found
Ternat's book several months ago in a basement storeroom and
had simply forgotten to tell him.

"I really need your help in sorting through all of those
books. Some of them could be a lot more dangerous," the fox
said. "Plus we have all sorts of stuff laying around in
various store rooms. Some of it I believes dates back to
when the elves lived here."

The librarians eyes widened noticeably. "Well. I could spare
a few minutes of time to look things over."

Misha relaxed. Delighted to have succeeded. "How about we
head off now? Do you need anything before we leave?"

"Actually," Cutter stuttered. "I was thinking that perhaps
sometime later this week."

Misha stood up and tucking the books under his arm walked
quickly over to Cutter. "Nonsense. No time like the present.
Besides things are dead..." he paused. "Quiet here." He put
his free arm around the Librarians right arm and slowly
pulled him towards the door. Reluctantly Cutter let himself
be pulled along.

As the two headed for the door a sudden thought occurred to
Misha. "Kyia," the fox thought silently. "I've never asked
for anything before but this is very important. Please give
me a small room of books. Doesn't have to be anything
exciting, just enough to keep his mind off of his pain.
Please!" Cutter heard nothing of the scouts silent wish.
Misha just hoped that the Keep had.

* * *

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The tap of Cutters cane as it struck the stone floor was the
only sound to be heard as the two slowly made their way down
the corridor. For Misha the walk had turned into an
endurance test. The librarian with him walked at an
agonizingly slow pace and offered nothing in way of
conversation. Worse still Kyia seemed to conspire to keep
all other living beings away from them leaving the two to a
long, slow, silent walk.

Finally, unable to stand it Misha started a conversation.
"How is the leg doing?" he asked. "Is the wound healing?"

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

"It has healed all that it will," came the clipped answer.

"They couldn't heal the damage?"

Tap.

"No."

Misha didn't speak for a moment, trying to decide what to
say.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

"Raven and her Lightbringers can heal you if you are willing
to pay their steep price. A very steep price but they would
heal you completely," The scout said calmly.

Tap.

"Such healing would cost me my immortal soul."

"Too high a price," Misha commented. "Are you a Follower? If
you don't mind me asking."

Tap.

Tap.

"I follow the teachings of the Twins," Cutter answered
calmly.

"I see," the scout replied. Misha had heard of the religion
but knew next to nothing about it. "I must confess that I
know little about the religion."

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

"I just had an interesting thought," Misha commented, giving
up on getting any information from Cutter about religion.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

"Oh?"

"Walking would be a lot easier with four legs instead of
just two," the scout commented.

Tap.

Tap.

"You mean like my animal form?"

"Yes. With four legs you would be able to walk again at a
good pace and I bet it wouldn't be as painful."

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

"True, but an animal has no arms. And I can hardly carry
books in my mouth."

"Good point," Misha answered. "It would leave too many teeth
marks."

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

"I would need a form with four legs and arms. No form like
that exists outside of myth."

"Oh?" the scout answered. "I wouldn't say that." He had the
perfect counter to that last statement. Misha stopped and
took off his pants. With a flick of the hand he threw them
in front of the librarian.

Cutter stopped and looked at the pants laying on the floor
then at Misha with a confused look plain to see. That soon
changed to surprise. The scout could easily understand why,
it wasn't every day that someone like Cutter would get to
see a foxtaur.