\n Since I hate to disappoint, here's some "small print" for this chapter.

\n First, the characters, locations, and events in this story are fictional creations of Reserved Rodent.  Occasionally, names of locations and entities from the real world might be referenced in this work.  If so, it's just to grant realism to the background and should in no way be considered accurate representations of these places, events, things, or people in real life.  Any other resemblances found within this work to other works are accidental as well as coincidental, and should not be considered monumental.  In whole and part, original characters in this work belong to Reserved Rodent.  This work was written with the intention of posting it and surrounding chapters on SoFurry.com.  If you must take it and post it elsewhere, at least leave it fully intact, including these warnings to give credit (or blame) where it is due.

\n Now, we don't really have anything naughty going on in this chapter.  Bummer, I know.  There is some reference to child abuse, but no actual abusing of children goes on within this chapter.  If this kind of subject matter will offend you, I know you can find something else that will not, so keep browsing.  (Unless you want to be offended, then, read on, I suppose, just don't complain if you get what you're looking for.)

\n Future chapters are going to range from spotlessly clean to various levels of naughtiness.  I do not foresee delving into extremes, but there will be various adult level activities, including M/F and M/M.  I will make sure to tag such adult segments correctly, so make sure you pay attention, because they will also have warnings in this italics stuff at the front.  All this is mentioned here so you don't get surprised (not that I expect you will be if you're browsing this site or have read all the previous intro italics.)

\n Special thanks to fellow writer and all around great feline, Tengu the lynx, for proofreading this chapter for me.  Anything less than perfect that remains is due to me being stubborn and ignoring his help.

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\n For Every Door that Closes

\n by Reserved Rodent

Five

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\n Next I knew, I was rising, slow and steady, from a deep sleep.  At least to the point I heard someone sobbing, "Please be okay.  Please get better, Randgr.  I'm so sorry I hurt you.  Please don't die."

\n Those words broke through my calm, jerking me immediately awake.  

\n My eyes shot open, taking in a barely visible, taught hide ceiling.  Seven wooden supports came together overhead.  Apparently, I was in a decent sized hut of some sort, laying on soft furs on the floor.  A light, coarsely knit fabric covered me from feet to chest, though my arms rested on top of the sheet.  It was dark, but upon turning my head, my improved night vision easily took in the sparse room.  There were just two of us in the room, and I recognized the sobbing young hyena holding my right hand.

\n "Hey," I said, grinning a little at seeing that the kid I saved was healthy outside my odd dream.  "You weren't the one that hurt me.  And my friends call me Randy."

\n The pup's head jerked up at the sound of my voice, eyes wide with surprise.  My right arm was given a tight hug as he started yipping and yapping faster than I could understand.  I managed to get the gist of it through his body language; he was filled with happiness and relief.  

\n "Slow down, easy there," I said softly, reaching over with my left hand to give him a pat between the ears.  "I'm not planning on rushing out of here, so you have plenty of time to talk."

\n The kid cackled softly, "Sorry.  People tell me that all the time.  Well, not that they aren't planning on running off, not that they do run off, but I do get told to slow down and calm down all the time."  His words had reached a pace where I could catch and understand them, but even his slow speed made me tired just listening to him.

\n "I'm just so happy that you're awake, Randgr," he continued.  

\n Before I could ask about his pronunciation of my name, though, he was already miles past it.  

\n "I was sure you were strong enough to survive, what with how you killed the poresect, but everyone was so worried about you not being able to focus.  I tried to tell them how good you could focus so they had me hold your hand.  Then they made my brother hold your other hand to try and help you focus.  I never really understand what the females say about magic, but then, that has to be why only females can do magic.  We're supposed to always listen to them, so I did and held your hand.  But I have no idea what they had to do, because it was magic, and since I'm a boy, I don't know magic.  I sure was confused when they said you were doing a little bit of magic because they also said you didn't have any magic on you.  But none of that matters because you're awake now.  And you're going to be alright now.  Right?  Please?"

\n I had to chuckle at the big, puppy dog eyes he was giving me as he gripped my hand like a vice with one paw while running his other down my arm.  Fur being petted against the grain tickled a little, which didn't help.

\n "I feel pretty good, so I have to think I am going to be fine.  What... "

\n "That's great!" he shouted, giving my whole arm another ferocious hug.  "I knew you would be.  I told Vargr and Fangr you'd be okay, but all Fangr did was hit me again for talking about you.  He hit me a lot for running off to see what the flash of light had been during the day.  Was that you using magic to get here?  He said I was lucky I didn't die going out there and finding you.  He called me stupid for trusting you when I didn't know you.  I got hit for doing that too.  He thinks you just didn't kill me because the porsect was a real danger, while I was just a silly pup.  He also thinks the porsect was sick and refused to let me have any of the meat that the tribe harvested from it no matter how much I told him it was real fast and mean.  You're a big hero for stopping it.  We were all starting to get worried about having enough food since it had been scaring a lot of the game away and... "

\n Wanting to get him to slow down - so I could ask about who was beating him - I reached out with my left hand open to wave at him in an attempt to slow him down.  

\n The reaction I got shocked me with its intensity.  His ears went down flat as he flinched away.  The scent coming off him stunk of fear and his stance changed to that of a very submissive, scared child.  

\n "Easy," I set my hand back down against me, using my calm voice.  "You're okay, I just wanted to ask you if I can have my arm back.  I don't want you to pull it off by mistake."  

\n I gave him one of my most gentle grins.  He relaxed a little as he let go of my hand and arm - but he still acted like he expected a beating.

\n I arranged myself so that I was also sitting like him, legs crossed on the furs.  I was happy that those who had helped me had left my boxer briefs on - I had no desire to flash the kid.  From what he had said and how he was acting, he'd enough trauma.  The night air was cool, but not to the point I had a need for the sheet, so I wrapped it around the youngster.

\n "You're not in trouble with me," I soothed.  Having the sheet for a kind of protection seemed to have helped the kid a little, but he still looked scared.  From how off-handedly he had talked about what Fangr had been doing to him, I had not expected him to feel this scared of me.  "It's good that you have that strong of a grip.  I just wanted to get more comfortable.  The past couple of days have been kind of long for me, you know?"

\n "Yeah.  Waiting two days for you to wake up took forever."  While his ears were still down, his short fluffy tail gave a few wags behind him, so I figured I was making some progress.  

\n And evidently, I had been lying here unconscious for over forty-eight hours.  "So I was hoping to talk with you.  I'm new here and I had a couple of questions about what you've said, but you weren't giving me a chance to ask."

\n "Sorry," he muttered, tail drooping.  I needed to stay friendly, not accusing.

\n While tone of voice was helping, this wasn't like talking to an animal.

\n I needed to remember to watch what I said better as well as how I said it.

\n "It's alright.  I would have let you keep going, but I was hoping I could get your name."  I raised my eyebrows and wiggled them.

\n Hey, it worked on getting my niece to laugh when she was about his age.

\n "Gregr," he said, acting a little embarrassed.  "Though my oldest brother, says I don't deserve an adult name yet.  He still calls me Greggie."

\n It seemed like the kid wanted to go on, but he stopped.  I wanted him to keep talking as well.  Maybe me asking about the one he didn't say was hitting him would get him to start chatting again.  "Is that Vargr?"

\n "No.  I mean, Vargr is my brother, and he is older than me, but he's used my adult name since I killed the yaprik."

\n The last word startled me slightly.  It, like the brothers' names, did not translate into anything in my head.  I wondered if the only reason I was associating porsect with the term he had used was because I had associated the word I had made up with the beast.

\n "So, Fangr is the brother who is mean to you.  How often does he hit you?"

\n I almost reached up to give myself a smack on the head.

\n Randolf, master of smooth segues I'm not.

\n "Yeah.  He always does it when I need punishment, which he says is a lot.  He's especially been mad since me and Vargr have been referring to you as our brother, but you got some of my brother's and my spots on your shoulders, including the family black one on your shoulder blade."

\n That got my attention.

\n I turned to look at my right shoulder and sure enough, there were dark brown spots, slightly larger than a stamp.  My shoulder blade was not something I could look at, but the marks I was able to see dotted my fur almost halfway to my elbow.  

\n These were defiantly a new addition.

\n I had just had the tiny, couple of hairs sized flecks in a few places.  A quick twist of my shoulder brought the biggest of the points I had seen when I was examining my new shape into view.  It appeared as I remembered, but as I looked, the back of my mind tickled with one of those thoughts that you know is important, but can't recall in detail.

\n Before I could zone in on the feeling, the young hyena cackled a little, "You won't be able to see it no matter how far you put your head over, under or around that shoulder, Randgr.  It's on your left side, silly.  Here, see, it looks like this, though bigger, cause you are bigger."

\n I glanced over at Gregr.  He had turned his back to me and was pointing over his left shoulder.  Sure enough, in the series of dark brown spots over his furred back, there was a lone black one sitting on the inner corner of his shoulder blade.

\n "So that's the family mark, and I somehow got it while..."  I wasn't sure what had happened, and I figured letting the kid ramble would get me no useful information.  Maybe I should treat the odd dream as plausible information and see if he could validate any more of it.  Obviously, his and Vargr's names had been correct.

\n "There were several females who helped me in this room, right?"  This was a simple question, and I believed the answer would be 'yes.'

\n Several female scents of various strengths had been noticed by my nose.  While unsure of how recent each had been ion the room, I felt confident they had all been in within the two days I'd been here.

\n The kid yipped an affirmative as he turned around to face me again.  All of his fear seemed gone now, which made me grin.  "Yeah.  There was Gran Lisa, of course.  She's in charge of everything magic... well, kinda everything.  At least all the big stuff.  And Shala too.  She's Gran Lisa's youngest granddaughter.  I feel sorry for her because I can tell she has troubles with Diba thinking she gets special treatment."

\n "Gran Lisa is an elderly woman with grey fur and black spots?  Shala's the late teenager of similar coloration?  And was Diba the more reddish base-colored girl who growled at Shala?" I asked, going on a hunch that my dream had been based at least partially on things I might have seen.

\n Nodding after each question, Gregr gave me a lopsided grin.  "Were you just pretending not to know all of them?"

\n Shaking my head no, I gave out a slight sigh.  "I just have some fragments voices and images that I thought were a dream.  I must have been half conscious.  I remember you and a larger male that just looked to be a brother of yours.  He was carrying me back, while a gorgeous woman followed while... making gestures across her body.  I remember hearing the name 'Vargr,' which it turns out belongs to one of your brothers.  In the dream, Gran Lisa and Shala were mentioned, as well as your name.  The last one I heard was Mira, which in my vision, I associated with the female following you and Vargr through the jungle."

\n Little Gregr was staring at me with his mouth open.  I worried a little at his silence, but not for long.

\n "Wow!  That is all true stuff!  You said it was a vision?  Can you see the future?  Can you tell what the weather will do?  Can you do other magic?  How is it you can have visions?  Where did you come from?  Can all males do magic there?  Can you teach me how to do magic?"

\n Struggling hard not to burst out laughing, I could only shake my head.  He didn't seem interested in answers yet anyway.  He was more running through all of the wondrous things that might be.  Sure there were a few times, like where I was from, that I could have given an answer more than a nod or a shake would, but as he rambled on, those were few and far between.

\n Trying to interrupt him again was out of the question; it was refreshing to see him talking animatedly again.  

\n But Gregr was also showing just how tired of a kid he was as he went on.

\n He fought to keep his eyes open, but eventually ended up sliding backwards to stare up at the ceiling.  His hands grew less active with trying to express how big his questions were and his voice moved slowly into muttering.

\n After twenty or so minutes of this whole process, the pup seemed to be asleep.

\n He'd murmur and softly growl occasionally, but his eyes were solidly closed.  

\n I rearranged the sheet to cover him from the chill night air a little better, then grabbed a few of the thick furs he was not on, dragging them over to the back wall.  After setting them against one of the wooden supports, I took a seat.   My back against the wall, I planned to watch over Gregr until someone showed up to tend to either him or me.

\n Part of me hoped it would be Fangr so I could let him know just how little I thought of hitting kids for telling the truth.