He'll go along o'er the wide world with me;
Leave me alone to woo him. Let's away,
And get our jewels and our wealth together,
Devise the fittest time and safest way
To hide us from pursuit that will be made
After my flight. Now go we in content
To liberty and not to banishment. -W. Shakepeare, As You Like It

The air is damp and dark. Darkside smells of mold and rot, but its residents get used to it after awhile. Tonight they huddle indoors with their loved ones. No one goes about outside when the Procession is hidden and the island is in cloud.

Wyn sleeps restlessly in the tiny apartment she shares with Zephyr. She wrestles with a blanket in one corner of the floor, growling at her dreams.

Wyn barks something unintelligible and pulls the cover around herself as if in response. She kicks out with her feet and slams up against the wall. Her eyes fly open and she sits up.

Close by, what at first glace would seem to be another gray-and-white wolf rests on his back, staring quietly out a small, cracked and dirt-streaked window at the night sky. Only a few stars manage to filter through the grimy pane, but he doesn't seem to be really watching them. A moment later, his eyes snap towards Wyn as she awakens, and he sits bolt upright. "Wyn? What's wrong?"

Wyn touches her muzzle with one paw-covered blanket, and inspects the rough cloth. "Nothing," she softly. She untangles herself from the blankets. She stretches her right arm and paw to put feeling back into them.

Zephyr sighs, stretching and brushing absently at his muzzle-blunting prosthetic. "Bad dream?"

Wyn blinkblinks as her eyes focus in the dark and she wakes. She snifs. "Drat," she wufs. "I dreamed I was here."

Wyn wrinkles her nose and touches her face. The mask comes away easily. "Owow-fur! Ow. There."

Zephyr's ears droop as his gaze returns to the window. A shaft of moonlight catches dust in the air, and highlights the path of a small beetle crossing the floor. "Seems like bad dream, doesn't it?" He blinks and turns back to Wyn. "Can you get that back on alright?"

Wyn drops the mask to the ground. She fliks her ears and lays them halfway back. She mumbles something noncommittal and leans back against the wall, hiding her response in darkness.

Zephyr yelps softly, alarmed, and tries to catch the mask as it falls. "Careful, if that breaks… " He inspects it carefully, seeing that it's alright. "I don't like these… costumes any more than you do, Wyn… But it's our only hope to not be captured."

Wyn fumbles around behind her and discovers that the rock she's been sleeping on is her brush. She raises it to toss and then thinks better of it.

Wyn begins brushing out her tail. Color flakes away like so much dust in the dim light.

Zephyr acks, and reaches for the brush. "Wyn, no! That's taking the dye out!"

Wyn softly wufs, "I don' want to wear it."

Zephyr pauses… "Wyn… " He looks down, then up again. "I know, it's uncomfortable, but a dungeon, or a cage, or… torture is even more uncomfortable. We _have_ to wear these… at least… for now. Until we think of something."

Wyn softly wufs, "They're not after us."

Wyn stands and goes to the window and throws open the shutters to let more light in. There is no glass. The fog is so thick that it billows into the room.

Wyn softly wufs, "No one cares what happens in this part of town. It's the trash heap. They prolly think we're dead."

Zephyr's eyes go wide and his ears flatten. He jumps to his feet, trying to move Wyn away from the window… "Wyn… Listen to me. The people out there are poor. They get news. There's a really, really big reward for us. If they see us, and recognize us, they'll know they're instantly rich. You don't think they'll turn us in?"

Wyn brushbrushes at her tail with her paw. She reaches out for her brush. "I need that," she wufs quietly.

Wyn softly wufs, "I have the cloak. There are other wufs. The Joo-pa-nee."

Wyn softly wufs, "Besides, with my fur all cut funny they will think I am wrong in the head."

Zephyr holds the brush gently in his paw. "Wyn… I… yes, I know, the Jupani. But you don't know the language. And they'd turn you in too, most any citizen here would… it'd make them rich, solve all their problems, and they'd think they were turning in a criminal. They don't know… "

Wyn frowns.

Wyn says, "I don't care about them. Give me the brush. I'll… go back to the forest. Mebbe there's food on the Mountain."

Wyn says, "Who would believe the people here? I bet there've been a hunnert foxes an' wufs turned in for our sakes. Prolly some other species, too."

Zephyr shakes his head. "What forest? The one we were in? With the bloodhounds after our tails? And… no. I've seen places like this. Wyn, I don't think they'd care if you were alive… or… " He sighs. "Not. Everyone on this island, we have to hide who we are from."

Wyn lays her ears back and stares at the brush.

Zephyr closes his eyes, and quietly holds out the brush. "I'll never deny you your will, Wyn. Ever. I just wish you'd listen. It's going be a _lot_ harder for you to hide without your disguise."

Wyn softly wufs, "I don't agree. I don't have the body or the grace to be a cat. And I can't stop myself smelling things everwhere I go. I bet there're people looking for a faking-it cat slave right now, 'cause I'm so ridiculous in this getup."

Wyn growlies softly. "I don't like cats. Dat poodle set me up, like for a joke."

Zephyr mrfs. "Well… that… I'll have to agree with. I think she should have tried for a bear, with lots of padding. But the… I forget what they're called, the race you're supposed to be. They're mute, which covers you not knowing the language. And they're slaves, so nobody really looks at them."

Wyn goes back to brushing out her tail. "First chance I get, I'm taking a bath. At least I'll feel like a wuf, even if I won't look like one until I change my coat."

Wyn says, "The others looked at me. Some of them knew, Zephyr. They just didn't say anything, that's all."

Zephyr looks quietly at Wyn. "You really think they could tell?"

Wyn scratches at her muzzle, annoyed by the feel of phantom glue she can still imagine is there.

Wyn says, "I think so. I think people know we're not who we pretend to be. They haven't guessed who we are yet, but they will."

Zephyr takes a deep breath. "Do you think they know _I'm_ not real? I've been trying, with the tail and all… "

Wyn says, "I haven't seen any new notices up for you _or_ me lately. The old ones are fading. They've forgotten about us, that's what."

Wyn looks at Zephyr.

Wyn halfsmiles and swishes her tail. "I think it's kind of cute."

Wyn flikfliks her ears.

Zephyr's ears blush softly inside, and he looks quietly back at Wyn. "I… um… " He smiles weakly. "I guess… that's good?"

Wyn says, "Er, I don't know. Probably. Some of them seem kind of dopey to me."

Wyn says, "The wufs, I mean."

Wyn finishes her tail and begins brushing out her feet, working her way up.

Zephyr nods. "That I'll agree on. Not exactly geniuses." He keeps looking at Wyn, glancing at the fake, buttoned-on coverings of the rest of her 'costume'. "I don't know… I think you'll really be in danger from anyone on this island if you don't wear it, Wyn… but I also know how perceptive you are."

Wyn softly wufs, "I want out of here, Zephyr. I can't live this way. I'm starving. The air is foul, the people are foul. I'm not used to being 'prey'."

Wyn muses, "Mebbe I'll just go knock on the front door of the Temple and see what happens."

Zephyr winces. "Neither am I. We… " He stops. "Wyn… You _know_ what would happen. I hope you're not serious."

Wyn crosses her arms. "Mebbe I am," she wufs.

Wyn softly wufs, "I was supposed to go there from the beginning. That's where _you_ went. If you hadn't fought them, mebbe they wouldn't have been rough. And you're a male. I'm not the same threat to them. I see how they treat us here."

Zephyr opens his mouth and closes it again, then slumps back against the wall. "I've been trying to figure out a way to get us off this… island, at least for now. I don't know what's 'down there', but… " He blinks. "Wyn. I only got out of there because I was _taken_ out. They would have kept me there, in that hole of a dungeon. And do you know what they do to prisoners? They… shave them. Shave their fur off."

Wyn's voice has a hint of emotion in it, just a tinge of a vague warning.

Wyn says, "I've already lost everything. I haven't any pride left to injure."

Wyn growls, "Lookit me, I'm a _cat_."

Wyn unbuttons her costume and tears it off.

Wyn takes a deeeep breath and lets it go. She swishes her tail wuffishly.

Zephyr watches the wolf. "No, you're not. You're disguised as a cat, you're a wolf, and a pretty special one, too. One I care about. And one that I won't let get hurt or captured, that I'll put before myself."

Zephyr's ears droop as he glances at the torn costume. "Well… that's that. Now what? Wyn… do you… want to try to get off this island? I can't guarantee it'll work, I don't have enough information to go on… but I can try."

Wyn stops. She looks at the fox with round eyes. "Don't. Please. Don't talk like that. I got no idea how to think when you do that."

Wyn thinks . o O { Or mebbe I do, and that's why I get scared. }

Zephyr looks back at the wolf, his expression softening as his gaze meets hers. His ears perk questioningly.

Wyn says, "How? There's no way. We can't jump or fly."

Wyn turns away uncomfortably.

Wyn thinks . o O { I could fit through the window. But Zephyr could follow, and he _would_. }

Zephyr lowers his eyes. "Those airship things. There's got to be some place on them, a storage area or something, where we could hide? At least until it touched down on the ground, and then get _off_… and be free."

Wyn thinks . o O { And I really don't want to be alone. }

Wyn says, "I want to know what's supposed to happen to people like us."

Wyn says, "It's got to be better than this. Those balloons are dangerous."

Zephyr tilts his head. "What's supposed to happen? And… the balloons, I've been thinking about a lot. They're not that dangerous, actually. We just need to find one that looks sturdy, that's going somewhere that might work out."

Wyn turns to look at Zephyr over her shoulder. "Freedom is worth any price. I don't care where it goes."

Wyn nods. "They didn't treat Breakfast badly when _he_ arrived here."

Zephyr nods, and meets Wyn's gaze again for a second before remembering, and lowering his eyes. "It is. I agree. Er… bre… oh! Ben… No, he got lucky. We got beat on. But… " He smiles a little. "We're alive, healthy, and not alone, aren't we? That's a… start?"

Wyn looks at her feet and notices the beetle crawling past. She reaches over to step on it.

Wyn softly wufs, "We're not any safer than this bug. I can't live with my life in danger. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm all tensed up inside, all the time. Freedom to live is the most important thing."

Zephyr says, "Nothing's wrong with you, Wyn… I feel the same way. We're predators… not prey. We're not _meant_ to live like this, it's… wrong. We both need freedom, space to run, and not… have to look over our shoulders all the time." "

Zephyr holds out a paw, and whispers. "So… do you want to try? If those airships are built like I hope they are, there should be a space in most where we can hide, where the crew isn't around much."

Wyn looks at her feet. "I'll trade a dungeon cell over this. It's worth it to me, Zephyr. If they come for us again, I'm not going to run."

Wyn nods.

Wyn says, "It's worth trying."

Wyn says, "As long as I can't see the ground while we're in the air. Blindfold me and tie me to the ship somehow. I'll curl up inside a barrel. Anything."

Wyn puts her paw in Zephyr's.

Zephyr shakes his head and smiles softly. "No… if what I'm hoping works out, it'll be just like hiding in a closet till we're there." He gives Wyn's paw a warm, reassuring squeeze. "Let's get our stuff together, dawn mist's the best time to sneak around, I think."

Wyn thinks . o O { You must think I've lost my mind. You're probably right. }

Wyn looks at Zephyr a moment. { Thank you, } she thinks, { For not running off without me. }