Fleet had fallen asleep on a couch in Whisper Paws Hospital for a little sleep. He'd been working hard that day and had felt really tired. Closing his ice blue eyes, he was out like a light which was odd. He usually had a long series of dreams from his many years of realm exploring. Tonight, he had none, just pure sweet sleep.

He woke when someone barked at him. *What are you doing running around in a doctors uniform! Honestly child, where's your parents?* the voice sounded irritated and twitchy from coffee.

Fleet woke up and blinked. Where was he? Why was the female lupinossai dressed in white mad at him? He looked down and was almost swallowed up in lab coat and smock way too big for his little 7 year old body. The female lupinossai was still barking at him.

*Come on. Let's go find your parents. What's their name?* the female stopped and looked at the clothes closer. *And how did you get into Dr. Wolf's locker? Honestly, child, you are in trouble.*

Fleet felt his little paw was taken up and he was pulled out of the clothing. Parents? His parents were at the farm. What was this place? He was carried to a waiting room full of Lupinossai as the female looked for anyone missing a pup.

Fleet didn't recognize anyone and didn't like it one bit. Where's mom? Where's dad? He began to squirm and wiggle and managed to get free of the female lupinossai. He made a b-line for the glass doors and ran out into the Den, very confused. All he knew was his name was Fleet, and that he couldn't find mom or dad.

******

A week later, Fleet is now ten years old and the confusion wasn't any better. He'd manage to find some smaller clothes and an orphanage and even hung out with other young lupes. He managed to go a place called the Soul Garden and there among the many soul gems, found his parents. They were but souls now, long dead. He sat in the garden trying to understand what had happened and why they were gone.

Fleet woke up in a strange room, barely remembering crying on the trail leading out of the Southern Glen. The faint memories of a beautiful female Lupinossai holding him and singing to him ran flitted through his mind.

He rolled over in the huge bed, well huge to his little body, and felt something hard in one of his paws. Lifting the paw he took a look at a pendant with two soul gems set within intricate silver wire formed into the shape of wings. As he stared at this odd, foreign pendant a voice spoke in his mind gently.

"As you grow, you will know what to do with the soul gems of your parents. For now, wear them close to your heart and soothe your tears in their love." the voice faded away.

Fleet held the pendant close to his little heart and went back to sleep feeling lost still. He was in a land of strangers.

Fleety was having a few days of utter confusion. One moment shi was sleeping in a bed at the Red Dragon Inn, the next morning shi woke up in some ladies lap. She said her name was Ammy and that she would take care of me, but I've never seen her before. I'm a bit scared now. The house I am in has a few other Lupinossai in it but I don't know any of them either.

I'm gonna try to sneak out sometime and find Tairen. At least I know him.

Tairen was lucky that he had a curious sniffer otherwise he wouldn't have been able to find his friend Fleety at the Inn. And after finding him he enjoyed having juice with her then playing around in the Inn with hir. He always enjoying chasing and wrestling with her. Along with sneaky tickles! But when Fleety got hurt he was so worried, but thankful that a dragon healed hir even though he didn't say it. He was still a bit shy to others.


Once Fleety told Tairen shi has been, he was much happier now that he knew where to find his friend Fleety being either at the inn or at some beach house he mentioned, however he didn't know where the beach house was. Either way he was glad he knew just where to find hir. After all that play he got all sleepy and Fleety let him sleep in hir room at the Inn. Tairen forgot all about not suppose to be staying out so long. No doubt Fiim would get worried and a litle upset at him.

Fleety lay sleeping hir room at the Inn. Shi twitched as shi dreamed showing off hir genetic link to canines. It wasn't a nightmare shi was having but a pleasant dream. Shi was on the white beach of the Twilight Islands and had discovered how fun it was to play with wet sand!

Shi had started on building a huge sand castle when Tairen had found hir. A smile touched hir tiny muzzle and hir tail wagged in hir sleep as the dream played out more. Hir and Tairen kept building the castle and shi told him shi was his princess, and that he should be hir knight and they'd have dragons on the outside of the castle to protect it and ponies on the inside.

Though even hir dreams she still didn't know what a pony was. More twitches in hir bed as shi played tag in hir dreams. Lupis the pup loved to run and run. If shi could just run hir whole life shi would. The beach though faded and soon shi was sitting on couches listening to grown up telling hir about things Fleety didn't know or remember.

Those talks always confused hir and shi met hir son last night. How did shi have a mate and pups? Fleety wasn't a mate. Fleety was a kid, playing in sand and running around happy. Shi started tossing in bed as hir dreams went darker. The memory of the first battle hir eyes had seen in Lupinoss came back to haunt hir.

Shi had been a bad pup and snuck out of the house and got lost in the forest. The sounds of battle had drawn hir curiously to the front lines where shi saw a Lupinossai soldier fall in front of hir dying. He was bleeding from the muzzle and looking at hir with eyes growing cold and white.

*Help me, please! Make the pain go away!* the dying Lupinossai would gurgle and howl at hir.

Shi found hirself stepping backwards trying to leave the dying Lupe. The solider grabbed hir t-shirt staining it with blood. He pulled hir close to him.

*You can't run, Fleet. You can never run from what you know. Your past will always follow you. Please, don't leave your dying brother here on the battlefield. Please, heal me.* the soldier pleaded and went still releasing hir shirt.

Hir blue eyes went wide as shi looked around and there were bodies everywhere. Shi yipped and sat up in hir bed panting hard looking around in the dark scared. Shi hugged the stuffed husky plush Lene let hir have close to hir.

That dream had come to hir before when Xangrath was talking about war to Garnet. But the soldier in that dream didn't say that much. Closing hir eyes shi found the dream plain as day staring right back at hir. Shi pulled up the face of the dead Lupe and studied it hard. Another memory sparked in hir mind.

Fleety remembered hir family now. There was Fleer, hir dad, Aluu, hir mom, Street, hir big brother, and... Maroo, hir middle brother. That face of the dying soldier was hir brother Maroo. Shi remembered why shi snuck out of home that day. Shi heard brother was in their village for a rest from the war, but the enemy had gotten close and he went back to war.

Fleety shivered in bed alone with hir thoughts and memories. Shi remembered when the village shaman went to see to the pour souls that died that all of their souls were gone, missing. Dad and Mom were upset by this.

Shi kept very still and quiet searching for the happy dream shi had. Shi was finding hir missing memories were more terrifying than hir not remembering them. Tairen was going to get a really big hug and maybe shi won't let go.

Fleety's nightmares seemed to lessen with staying with Fiim and Tairen. Being around other Lupinossai seemed to keep hir calm quite a bit. Though one thing was bothering hir a lot. Feeling, odd feelings of hate, anger, stress, confusion, panic, and pain kept seeping into hir. Fleety felt like someone else was in hir little heart feeling all of this, and it scared hir when the urges to hurt or kill someone touched hir.

Tairen was helping though. He was such a good buddy to hir, though some odder feeling were creeping in there too. Shi heard a few adults whisper that shi was looking like a 14 year old teen that just sprouted in all the right places. That confused hir. Shi didn't have plants or trees growing out hir. How was shi sprouting? Though hir mind couldn't comprehend the comments, hir body indeed was filling out with generous dose of curves and the start to a nice chest.

That brought something to think about as well. Hir and Tairen loved to play chase and wrestle. He's never caught hir or pinned hir down until the other night. Shi actually slowed down and let him catch hir, and shi was giggling and enjoying even being pinned. Tairen didn't seem to notice anything was up though. Maybe it was just hir?

Fleety did show Tairen a new trick shi remembered. Shi was able to trace glowing lines from star to star and make the figures move and talk and speak. Fleety even taught Tairen how to make his paws glow with soft white light. Shi seemed to love teaching Tairen things. Shi felt like shi had a little brother all to hir own. That thought always made hir giggle.

It's been a while since shi saw the pretty Lupinossai named Ammy or the other Lupinossai that was with her. Shi hoped they weren't lost and lonely.

Tairen kept getting so worried about his friend Fleety every time shi snuck out at night. Tairen wasn't sure how he could help his friend feel better and even be hir knight if she kept sneaking away to some place far and alone. It was kept making him upset and he would keep telling Fiim about it and be comforted by her. He wasn't purposely wanting to get his friend in trouble, Tairen was just so worried that something bad could happen if shi was out all alone. Especially when he couldn't find hir in any of the common places shi would be.

But the night Fleety came home with a hurt paw and blood on hir pants made him go into panic mode. When Fiim stood and shouted at Fleety, it scared Tairen some. He could have never imagined seeing Fiim angry and even shouting. Tairen felt so bad for telling on Fleety, but he had to.

Later in the night when Fiim's parenting and Fleety's bath was all over, Tairen felt a little better when his friend comforted him. The promises made him feel a little bit better, too. But when shi mentioned that shi saw dead people, that was creeping Tairen out a lot. Though Tairen would tell hir that he'd do his best to protect hir from bad dead people if they ever came at her. Only question to Tairen now was would he be seeing them, too? He only hoped so he could protect Fleety from them.

Fleety was getting older every week. Now shi was hitting 17 and hir attentions for Tairen had grown even fonder. Shi would try to sneak air kisses to him when Fiim wasn't looking. Fleety had filled out quite well over the last two weeks, and was quite the looker.

However entranced shi was with Tairen from hormones, shi did notice with anticipation that Fiim was getting closer to whelping her pups. Maybe shi could help Fiim during that time? Shi did start doing more around the house so Fiim could rest and take it easy. Seems Fleety was turning into a perfect little house lupe.

Fleety was sitting at the kitchen table in Tairen and Fiim's house playing hir violin softly. The music helped Fiim to rest and sleep. Fleety was worried as Fiim's belly was so huge. Shi thought maybe Fiim would explode and that didn't make a very pretty picture in hir mind. Shi'd seen Lupes explode before. Shi wasn't sure how, but the memory was there.

But exploding was the least of hir worries. Though shi felt stirrings of something that wanted to heal and care for people, shi didn't know anything about whelping puppies or helping Fiim too. There were rumors that a Den was nearby and a really kind doctor named Fen was there. Fleety knew Fiim and Tairen didn't like strangers or being in public much, so shi never pursued the doctor to check on Fiim. Now though, every day, Fleety was getting worried about Fiim and her pups. They must be coming soon.

Aside from the worry about Fiim, something else grew within hir. Feelings, emotions, and if shi had to put a word to it, longings. These things would wake hir up in the middle of the night and not let hir sleep. Shi found sneaking out and into the garden next to the house to play hir violin helped lessen the feelings. Hir feelings and emotions seemed to flow into hir music and leave hir in peace.

The last three nights though, they got stronger and shi was sleep walking now. Shi had blurry, fuzzy dreams of loving someone dearly and wanting to hold and caress them. Anytime shi got close to this person, they were always blurry and hard to see in hir dreams, the feel of wood on hir paws would wake hir up. Hir paw would be on the door of Tairens room every time.

As shi sat playing a sweet lullaby song, Fleety had to wonder if one night shi would wake up in his room? They were friends, and shi treated him like a little brother, but he was growing up and looking very strapping and strong though a little thin. But that was Tairens herritage and shi didn't mind. In fact shi was sure shi saw him admiring hir out of the corner of hir eyes, but anytime shi looked he was looking elsewhere.

Ending the song, shi gave a small little smile as shi wondered in hir mind. Would it be such a bad thing to sleep with Tairen?

Fleety stiffened for a long moment, but shi could smell the scent of Tairen. Even so, shi played along.

"Hmm. I don't know. Sounds like someone cute, brave, and gentle. Is it my knight in shining armor?" shi asked with curiosity then turned in the chair quickly and gave Tairen a long hard kiss on the lips.

Pulling back for a moment, shi saw that smile on his muzzle. Something warm was felt inside hir and it was like shi was on fire when he smiled. Any caution or thought melted from hir mind and shi pulled him into a tight hug and kissed him more. Fleety's paws loved feeling the new muscles in his back and shoulder. After a few minutes, shi pulled away with a slight hitch in hir breath, panting from excitement, emotions, and hormones.

After a few more moments, shi found hir voice. "Tairen... I love you."

It had been days since they had whispered their love for each other. Fleety continued to grow into a beautiful lupe and shi enjoyed watching Tairen grow both physically and mentally. He was considered hir best friend, confidant and moral support. Lover was something not quite added to that list as shi pondered more of the memories that flooded in. Fleety's term as a young one was soon nearing it's end and more memories from hir recent past came unheeded.

Shi spent most of the daytime helping Tairen with house chores, fixing things, cooking (shi found out shi could cook really good), and making sure Fiim was resting well. With hir returning memories all of the medical skills were at hir clawed finger tips. Fleety no longer feared if Fiim would deliver suddenly. Shi was ready and could handle the delivery without worry.

During the evenings hir violin sang soft and sweetly, filling the little house with music from the old country, setting Fiim at ease and entertaining Tairen. Shi was always careful not to play any slave or war songs as shi knew they were all scarred by those events. However, when the music was over, the meals eaten, the dishes cleared and everyone asleep the memories and dreams were hir company. Hir half dreamed, half sleep-walked forays to Tairen's bedroom door increased until shi hear the soft click of the door opening one night while still half asleep.

Fleety pulled hirself away from the door and sat in the hallway holding hirself, torn between wanting companionship, a warm touch, love and the memories of his mate Ammy. Shi'd mentioned to Tairen that shi had had several mates, and a few kids now and it hurt to see the look in his caring eyes. Shi cursed hirself that day for mentioning it, but shi had to. The memories of who Fiim and her pups belong to placed Tairen as the father and the mate. What was shi to do? Shi loved him like shi'd never loved the other before. He was there for hir in all of hir fear and misery. He knew hir, like few ever did.

Could shi just throw away hir relations with Ammy though for Tairen? Could shi willingly ask Tairen to leave Fiim and his pups? Fleety shook hir head violently to make the questions leave. Leaving the hall quietly, shi found safety in the Fiim's rocking chair by a low banked fire. It rocked softly with little sound. Tairen had made this for her. He had made a lot of things for her in this house. The house itself was a gift from Fleety and Ammy when they found the young couple.

Hir heart ached and sunk lower with these memories. Shi'd have to leave. To be here any longer would just hurt Tairen and Fiim more. It was a nice thought by hir heart rebelled and wouldn't listen. Hir mind soon joined in alliance and convinced hir to leave now would put Tairen in a world of hurt and confusion not mention leave Fiim stranded when so close to whelping.

Pulling hir hair, she wept quietly. More memories came to hir of events with Ammy, hir daughter Lene, and many more intimate times. Fleety latched onto them, held them close like a miser and his coins. A few hours passed in the quiet house with just the soft squeak of the rocking chair, a pop of wood burning, and hir muffled sobs noting any life was in the room.

Then it hit, the one memory that shi had spent so much time avoiding, so much time healing or running from. The night of the Ebonny Knight having his way with hir. Breaking hir, defiling hir, driving hir nearly insane and laughing the whole time.

Morals and conscience be damned, shi bolted from the chair, up the hall, and opened Tairen's door. Shi didn't care if squeaked. Shi didn't care if the books shi tripped over made noise. All Fleety cared about was being held and told everything was going to be okay. Bed covers taken in hand, shi slid into his bed, wrapped hir arms around him and cried hir heart out into his chest.