Spirit Bound (Furry Story)

Chapter 110: Elimination Round

The four friends are at school and have had a lunch meeting with the committee in charge of setting up the charity auction for Principal Davis. Ahjeet Jhansi and Betty Chan are consipiring to cause trouble for Liam, but he needs the help of both people to make this event one for the history books. Once class is over he'll be on his way to the auditorium to see if he can find enough help -- of sufficient quality -- to ditch Betty and spare himself the trouble.

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Liam nodded to Faelen and Geoff as they put their books into their respective lockers after Integrated Science, the last class of the day. What a terribly infantile class that was. The only saving graces were that he got to sit close to his friends, and it gave him time to work on other problems, including his homework. Today, the latter was what he had done, freeing up the remainder of his evening. He watched Geoff lead Faelen to the gymnasium locker room to change into their soccer kits -- Geoff the picture of eager anticipation, while Faelen looked closer to resignation.

Nathanial's locker clicked shut, and the adorable Akita ensured it was locked before cautiously walking over to him. It was most apparent that Nathanial was feeling tense today, likely due to Nicholas's trouble, combined with the stress from Alpha McDougal's visit, though both were interconnected. Nathanial's stress-induced speech impediment was quite strong as he stammered, "L-Liam." The pup cleared his throat. "U-Um, I w-want to call Nanny and P-Poppy over sometime s-soon to look at Nick. I-I can't let this g-go on anymore. W-Would you please be there? I--" Nathanial looked down and away. "I don't trust them with him. This is pretty much what they wanted; well, not the specifics, but..." He trailed off and followed Liam toward the music room.

Liam detested those two Demon Mages; he couldn't think of worse Demons to be connected to -- ones that delved into others' secrets and spread illness. He was a private person and a healer; such individuals were a trial when they were not gaining demonic energy from their filthy habits. Yet it was Nathanial asking; how could he say no?

He nodded, despite his misgivings. "I shall. They cannot help him alone; they will require my help as much as or more than I require theirs." He pulled Nathanial into the washroom nearby. "Would you be able to open a portal? I require my shakuhachi, my bamboo flute."

Nathanial nodded and cocked his head for a moment before leading the Rottweiler around the corner to where the urinals were. "I-It's pretty busy outside, so I may have to close the portal suddenly."

A tiny portal no bigger than Liam's palm winked open for a moment, showing the floor of the art room, meaning Nathanial must have opened it by the ceiling to check to see if the room was vacant. A split second later a full-sized one opened facing Liam's easel.

Liam dashed through, grabbed his shakuhachi, and returned, noting his father was home -- if upstairs and occupied with some pornography and his libido. "My thanks." Nathanial nodded and closed the portal before following Liam out of the washroom.

They were nearing the auditorium after retrieving Liam's violin from the music room, when Liam detected the distinct scent of scales. Jhansi slithered around the corner ahead of them and began weaving his way down the same corridor as they were, toward the auditorium. He had his camera and a notepad -- it was most obvious he intended to report on the auditions. This area of the building was primarily occupied by the twelfth year students, who were quite used to the distinct anatomy of the Serpent, so Jhansi was able to freely move without worry of being tripped over.

Jhansi glanced back over his shoulder at them, his hood flickering open at the sight of the Rottweiler just enough to reveal a glimpse of the brilliant orange scales within. "Ah, Smith and Nathanial." He paused to allow the Dogs time to catch up before addressing the Akita. "I didn't think you'd want to audition, Nathanial."