Pulling the warm bundle that was Doll closer, Spitfire nuzzled his face in the back of his neck. Drawing in the scent of the other no-fur helped to ground him, to get his brain working again. The trauma of the draining ritual was still tormenting him and the added knowledge of his lack of bond with Guru made Spitfire want to start crying again. But he had cried enough. Besides, right now, Doll needed him. His no-fur friend was freshly back from the ritual, which hadn't gone as intended. At least that was what Spitfire had been able to pick up from the Hares who had brought Doll back. The orders that the two no-furs were to be caged together told him something was going wrong with the pirates and their fucked up rituals. Hares were running back and forth outside the hold where the no-furs were housed. The no-furs that were already here before Spitfire and Doll showed up were murmuring in distress. This was not normal then. Something was happening. Something bad, he assumed. Craning h
Wound's paw traced the designs on the book that had been entrusted to him. It had been a very nice, quiet few days since he'd returned to the Underworld. Sitting with Gran. Playing board games and sipping tea. Holding his sweet Innehavre while they drifted off to sleep.Time in the Underworld was only so forgiving,though,and blissful ignorance was only tolerated so far. The ancient Demon with a tom’s formcould feel the Underworld pressing upon him to open the book and restart his part in the story. There were things he needed to know. Choices he needed to make. And truths he really,really wanted to ignore.If he didn't open the book soon, life might choose for him. And if that happened, he might not be prepared for what was coming.He sighed. Gran was in the other room crocheting Wound a pair of warm slipper socks, singing along with the record playing. The tired Demonwanted nothing more than to go sit on the floor near the fi
Left alone to tend to the helicopter, Jinx found himself lost in too many thoughts that he didn't want to have. Liam and Hades had made flimsy excuses to take off from the small airport for the time it was going to take Jinx to refuel and get clearance to take off again.Of course, after his long and storied history with Hades, Jinx recognized shady tom speak for going to do something that might require a quick getaway. Not that Jinx could imagine what either of them could get up to in a town that obviously sprang up around the airfield and couldn't have more than one bar. He hoped he never had to find out.The fueling team, which was one cranky old tom and his assistants who looked to be hardly more than kits, were at work on the helicopter. There was nothing for Jinx to do for a little while. He followed the signs from the landing pad to the pilot's lounge. Lounging sounded like a great idea right about now.The room designated as the lounge had one sagging couch and a couple of fol
Priest lit the final candle on his private altar. He'd instructed Bright to keep any nonsense as far from him as possible. Stepping back he closed his eyes and held out his paws to the side, claws up."I know you reward those who take up the cause themselves. You are lifted up by what we can do ourselves. But I've done enough study to have learned you find joy in aiding us if we strive to answer the call with our own power most of the time."Having already made the space sacred, the pirate captain felt safe enough to shed his strong veneer. He began to cry. "Father of Hares, He who watches over all of us. I need a sign. And not just any sign, an irrevocable one. I can no longer be a part of Agent's machinations. I only ever wantedthe no-furs who serve our Work to find sanctuary and those who will love them the rest of their lives."I would never break up a true bond nor torture a bonded no-fur unless I didn't know." Priest got down on one knee and took off
Watching over him, Spitfire saw Doll was finally awake as the smaller no-fur stuck his head out of the blanket. The weak smile was a vast improvement though he could still make out the sores from the pins around Doll’s lips."Hey there, Spitfire. I'm feeling better. More like myself. You did that." Doll moved to snuggle against Spitfire. "You did that." The second time he said it it was more dozy and the taller no-fur thought he was going to lose him again to another round of fitful sleep.Just then, the smaller Hare appeared - the one that never mocked and always had something for them. Like the blanket."You little guys must be hungry. I've got a nice big bowl of broth and some cut-up apples for you." He opened the little slot in the cage and slid them through. "Eat up! There's plenty more where that came from. You need your strength.""Thank you." Spitfire gave the Hare a half smile and reached for the apples. He shifted so he was more between the Hare and Doll. He wanted to get t
What passed for a town around the landing pad they called an airport was just as disappointing as Hades expected. He was able to buy some water and snacks, nothing exciting but better than the nothing they'd been running on for the better part of 48 hours. Something had happened with Jinx while he was gone. The Orangelo wasn't willing to talk about it and was flying in sulky silence. Liam was equally moody and equally unwilling to discuss why. Hades could guess that the mafioso was pissed he wasn't able to get any more information about either his missing husband or the source of the red gems. They were going to have to put in some serious efforts once they got to Sundown Port. Which sounded like a perfectly awful place. Full of water and drama. Hades would put money on it. And to top everything off, the closer they got to the ocean, the worse he felt. His newest discomfort was a ringing in his ears that was becoming hot. He worried it might be a fever. Could a tom get a fever from
Though he tried and tried, Spitfire wasn't finding a way to help Doll. They had been bundled up and moved to the private chambers by the sneering Nickel after he was done abusing Doll. Spitfire had raged and screamed but it was to no avail. He could not help his bondmate. He was useless even after Doll had been shoved back into the cage. Once they were left alone in the small room, Spitfire cleaned Doll up. He was worried about the blood coming from his pocket. He was worried that Doll might have been too traumatized and would miscarry the kits. The effect of a miscarriage on a no-fur’s body and mind could be fatal. Tossing the rags he'd used into a pile by the door, Spitfire tried to convince Doll to crawl into the bed and rest. But Doll was not cooperating with the care he was trying to give him. The tiny no-fur was getting more and more hysterical the longer they were locked in the room. "Please, Doll. Please." Spitfire tried once again to get him to stand up from the floor and
Does he really respond to you calling him skin-sheath?Spitfire's voice inside his head was disorienting for Hades, but then he reached out to Doll and his paws weren't paws at all. Flexing the fingers, Hades tried not to be smug as Doll crawled towards him. There was trepidation on Doll’s face, but he would deal with that quickly. For now, he had to figure out how to ignore the sassy no-fur's voice in his mind.It's my body, dickface. You can't kick me out. You're here by my leave.Hades wasn't sure that he liked having his mind read but it didn't seem like he was going to get any privacy at all in this situation so he tried to focus on Doll. Spitfire didn't seem to be as agreeable to letting him focus.Can you help him? He's so scared. I don't... Our bond is too new.Not sure how to directly communicate with someone while they were connected this way, Hades hoped that thinking what he wanted to say would do the tr
Epilogue - Part 2Shadwell Sebastien Woolsey, also known as Hades, stomped in out of the rain, shaking it off his fur before he went any further into the house than the entry hall.He could hear the commotion in the main room. It was the kind of overwhelming noise only two bunnies, one large Northern Forest tom, a cosmic entity, and ten kits could make. It was the sound of a happy home, one that Hades had never dared to dream he could have. After his own rough upbringing with a sire who was embarrassed to be a Black-fur and an anonymous no-fur father, Hades had long since put aside any thoughts of being a sire himself.But his mates had changed all of that and helped him to realize he wasn't afraid of being a sire. He was just afraid of being his sire. Hades didn't feel shame about his fur color nor that of any of his many, many kits. He didn't think he was capable of feeling this much love. Though, he was grateful to Ink who had given both of the omega bunnies anti-pregnancy Marks. T
Epilogue - Part 1Guru hadn't been back to the Mousetrap since its renovations or since his kits with Spitfire were born. With all the little ones around and a very grumpy ginger-furred bunny to deal with, he'd barely left the mansion where himself, Spitfire, Doll, and Hades now resided.There was definitely a touch of Chaos everywhere he looked. A few booths sat at a slightly less than 45 degree angle and had straps like a carnival ride. No doubt when the bar was open those were full first from the novelty of it. Then there was the tricked-out pie case. Guru salivated a little, having heard from his mate Hades all about the supposedly world-famous pies.Jinx didn't have time to make them anymore so he'd begun to teach his brother Ink. Today appeared to be one of those sessions as Jinx was snatching a knife away from his paler brother and grousing about the proper way to cut certain fruits.The big Blonde tom put a paw around the other bunny in his life, his sweet Doll. Who looked esp
Everything was quiet for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.Spitfire sat down where he was, in the middle of the rubble left from fighting so many automa-toms and Agent's Hares. This part of Atlas City was wrecked. He wondered what it looked like outside of the battle barrier they had erected. Was Guru's mansion still okay? Did they still have a home?A ripple of auric energy told him Cosmo was on his way, having secured the collapsing bridge. Good, that was good. He needed to bond with his avatar mate to recover his god aura properly. But for now, since the battle was done, Spitfire was going back inside to see Doll and the kits. He needed to check on them. Something about this silence didn't feel... natural.Cosmo's voice in his mind assured Spitfire that it was not. Time had been frozen by a god and until it restarted, only the deities would be able to function.Spitfire wondered how long it would be before he knew how to do that. It was a pretty cool trick.He stood, stre
The ten of swords was not a magick to use lightly. Jinx had never actually cast that card before. He had been warned, repeatedly, that there were cards in the deck he was given that took as much as they gave. The pinnacle of the swords suit was one of those cards.Clutching his bleeding paw against his chest, Jinx drew one long breath after another. Everything smelled awful, the air was so thick with blood that he could taste it. He was certain that there was screaming all around him, but he couldn't hear it over the roar in his ears.He'd finally managed to end this stupid battle. He was the undisputed God of Chaos now. Jinx could feel it in his bones, right down in his soul. The power was flowing out of Agent's body as quickly as the blood that was pooling under both their paws."The kits..." Jinx's enemy was croaking out a few last words. "Are they safe?"Jinx's eyes followed Agent's weak attempt to reach out. There was a wavering shield, made up of th
Liar.The word kept echoing in Agent's head and in the air around him. The Demon was lying to him. They were made of lies and deceit, after all. There was no way King had pined for him for all those years. Tricksy had made a huge mistake when he'd tried to create the Innehavre bond. He'd killed a young no-fur, but it wasn't just any no-fur. He'd killed the oldest of his and King's litter. Stripped his soul bare and left the tom who loved him to take the blame.King had to know what happened to their kit. Both of them kept an eye on the three no-furs who were theirs. They couldn't help it. They were parents, after all. They worried.But throwing himself into the reincarnation cycle was the only way to make sure that the Innehavre bonds continued. Tricksy needed to sacrifice time and his own connection to King to the ancient powers that gave him his powers as the God of Chaos. Those beings, older than any god who now walked the earth, had changed who he was. Made him the God of Chaos an
*****Author Note - be warned, this chapter has the loss of a newborn in it ********If Priest so much as suggested movement, Doll growled at him and threaten his life. Ink seemed to be less in a hurry to take the small bundle from his arms.The no-fur cooed and cuddled the tiny, tiny form. "Hush, my kit. It will be alright. Your Daddy is right here and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."In his head, Doll knew the smallest of his kits was gone. In his heart, he couldn't part with the sweet grey and white striped tom kit. He heard him release one small, strangled cry before Ink started swearing and Priest turned to try to revive the poor little dear before handing him to Ink and not turning around presumably so Doll didn't see his tears.Ink had said words... Sorry and hold him... Doll didn't really hear them all over the roaring in his head as he was handed the still kit.He kissed the babe's forehead, his tears unchecked. "I'm sorry, little one. I didn't get to let you grow. I tho
Lexi was enraged. At his clever attackers and at himself. He had headed straight back to the bar when he caught a glimpse of tufted ears and the skin of a no-fur neck.Deciding rather than join the fight against the automa-toms, he would capture and defeat the one controlling them, the Demon began to stalk Agent. As he'd gotten closer, the image of Agent began to fade away.A bolt of what had to be Chaos magick slammed into him, sending Lexi flipping end over end. When he'd started to push himself off the ground, Lexi was in his least powerful form, that of a green tom.Having no idea what auric power his tom form had as it wasn't a glamour any more, Lexi could barely summon any energy to mold and was no match for a trio of Tawny-furs that had thrown some kind of aura-draining net over him.Now he struggled to escape the net while the Tawnys had just fucked off.Muttering to himself, Lexi considered what the trap had meant. "Does Agent think I'm so easily beaten? No, he's like super s
Hades found himself alone with Doll again and he wasn't sure what to do. He was holding his hand, muttering encouragement, but that felt like nothing.Spitfire had experience with this stuff and Guru was able to ease Doll's nerves with his singing. Ink and Priest, though they were practically strangers, were doing more for Doll than he could manage. Maybe he should join Jinx and Spitfire outside. He was good at fighting. But that meant leaving Doll and Hades wasn't sure he was ready."Look at them, pretty baby," Hades whispered, nodding his head towards the line of bins where their kits were bundled up and mewling, an occasional wail comingfrom one of them. "It's hard to believe that this is really happening.""I can't wait to hold each one in my arms." Doll let his head fall back on the soft blanket. "Or see all of you cuddle them. Although I will be glad to rest, I still feel there's a somebody or two in there. But they seem quiet for now." His no-fur's
Arriving after three of the kits had been born, Spitfire took a moment to check on them before he grabbed Doll's hand and leaned close to talk to him."Look at how good you're doing, sweetheart. Three of our kits are already in the world." Spitfire stroked Doll's sweaty hair. "I know, this is awful. It feels like it will never end, but you are nearly done."The new Black Devil turned to look at Ink, who was acting as the birthing doctor. "How many more are there? He is nearly done, right?""There's at least one more. But without an ultrasound, I can't say for sure." Ink replied, already coaxing out a fourth kit."Little one so big." Doll sounded exhausted. He leaned his head against Spitfire. "But he looks just like Guru, my beloved. Only completely White-fur and with my copper eyes. He's gonna be trouble. This one is kicking a lot but much smaller.""They're all going to be trouble, I think." Spitfire nuzzled the side of Doll's face. The thundering sounds of battle from outside were