One thing Gill hadn't expected was for every lion in the room to get into line, including
Mary and her parents.
"What are you doing?" Gill asked bewildered.
"Well~," Mary scratching her side Lance left on the chair, "Everyone else was getting in line
so I thought I should too."
Felicity defended, "Would have felt rather awkward not to."
Brian just said, "Got caught up in the moment really."
Gill face palmed, "I said 'officers' you three aren't. Step aside."
"Yes sir." The three original lions echoed respectively and took some steps back leaving
the eleven other lionesses and the other male who was on the opposite end of the line
from Brian.
Mary secretly was slightly disappointed in that none of the lionesses had colors that while
somewhat fantastic, weren't anything that were completely illogical (none of them had
shades of blue, green, silver or purple for example), Mary knew logically that them being
the bright colors of the rainbow would make hunting totally impractical, last thing you
wanted to do while hunting prey was stand out. Mary had almost expected all the lions to
turn blue! That said, their fur color was decently diverse.
Felicity heard what Madam Serenity said to Bobbi about lions being polygynous. Of course
Felicity had read that too while she and her husband had been looking up details. At the
time of course the two of them were going to be simply the only two lions around, and
then their only choices were to be assimilated into the wolf pack or become like their
daughter and there hadn't been time to consider such thing as giant wolf monsters
beating down your reinforced door. 'Of course we're now basically planning a war council
so it's not like we have time for that now either...' Felicity remembered when Brian had
considered that he might have ended up a lioness opposed to a male... Felicity in spite of
Madam Serenity believing they were being blind knew there were going to be risk, but as it
stood now, it was their only option.
Trevor found himself eyeing the lionesses carefully in spite of himself. Paul wondered if he
should divert his eyes or not, but he hadn't been for Mrs. Hardy so it would have been
rather silly to begin now.
Madam Serenity just looked at the lions and seeing one really really big train wreck headed
for an ammunition dump.
'Is that Gary?' Gill thought something about the color of the lion man's mane being
familiar, 'Well, I'm going to find out soon enough.'
Truth be told, Gill actually found it strangely jarring with the lions still wearing their
badges like they were pendants while apparently having all the modesty of a career
nudist... Part of Gill wanted to chastise them for being out of uniform, but he doubted
there was anything their size anyway.
"Okay, let's try this again, you are each to say your name, rank, and mission. Afterwards
we'll begin planning on the best way to neutralize the Smith wolves without killing them
and begin the process of removing their brain washing."
Bernie raised a paw, "Uh, sir, you could just look up our profiles since our existence as
lionesses as part of the transform cascaded back through the past of the space/time-"
"In line officer."
"Yes sir."
+++++++
June and Pearl were of course with their children, Zack had proven surprisingly diligent in
collecting what supplies they would need for the island. While Martha could certainly look
after all the pups, June and Pearl hadn't had a chance to get to know their children that
well yet and wanted a chance to bound with them as Kaylee had with her children and
Darla with Alice.
Zelipe talked about his former life in a passive tone, his mind glazing over many many
details, but being able to remember every detail of his collage courses. Amy outright
talked about her former self in third person! She calmly wrote in kanji while talking to her
mother about her previous parents before Zack and June. June was left stunned after
asking Amy where she had learned Kanji (after being told what it was) when Amy said she
hadn't really 'learned it' at all, she had merely known it after being born into the pack.
The gray and silver she wolf look into the eyes of the white and redlined wolf cub,
wondering if there was a deeper meaning to her child.
That was when three dirty blond busty she wolves came into the room.
"Welcome Beta Females!" Pearl and June greeted obediently.
"Hello Betas!"
"Welcome to our room Beta-Sans!"
"Hello," The triplets echoed, "We have something important Master wishes to ask of you."
"Whatever it is we shall obey." Pearl replied.
"Say it and it'll be done."
"Actually," Darla said, "This is regarding your pups."
Both she wolves eyes widened slightly.
Julie continued, "So Master wants the choice to be YOURS, given they are your pups and
Zackery's."
"Where is Zackery anyway?" Fran finished.
"Helping move supplies with other males who are able." June explained while Pearl hugged
her son closer wondering what Master could possibly want with her child.
The triplets sighed, "Then I guess we'll have to wait till he gets back."
"What is the question?" Pearl asked concerned.
"As an emergency alternative and delay tactic to the evacuation." Fran began.
"Master wants us to use Amy and Zelipe's special talents to convert the unsuspecting and
helpless humans in the various nearby estates into part of the pack to cause our numbers
to basically explode making any threat the two lions pose meaningless."
Amy nearly dropped her brush, leaving an ugly mark turning the kanji 'water' into 'ice.'
While her mother didn't see it, Amy got a look of alarm and foreboding on her face. The
image of a butterfly clawing back into it's cocoon came to mind. Her mind raced.
"Would it help everybody?" Zelipe asked innocently.
"Yes dear..." Pearl said not letting go of him, "It would, but .. it would be dangerous."
"A large pack of wolves would be with each of them." Julie assured, "And there would be
no humans prepared for our arrival through the mirrors."
Amy thought of everything Brian had heard about the curse, everything he had known.
Then the sun rose in her head and she moved from her mother to among the triplets. "If I
may, I may have an alternative to the alternative Master-Sama wishes to put forth."
The triplets blinked and looked down between their cleavage at the little eight year old
pup.
Amy put on her best face. "Is there not a part of the art gallery where victims of the curse
doomed to be naught but statues of various sort reside? Both classic and modern? Both
whole and busts? If I may be so bold, would it not be less dangerous for us, and thus less
unwholesome to our father and mothers, for us to collect new wolves from there?"
"Would that even work sis'?" Zelipe asked confused.
"I do not see why not. They would still have souls would they not? Trapped and doomed
forever to remain but pieces of art, unable to speak, unable to communicate with anyone?
They would embrace us as their saviors regardless of the conditions of the transformation
or not... " 'And it would be something good rather than something evil.'
The triplets all looked at each other, then at the white/red wolf pup, then at her mother,
then at each other again.
"We'll discuss this with Master at once!" They said together and left at once.
Amy breathed a sigh of relief. Deep down, some part of her that hadn't existed before her
transformation knew that the wolves could eventually become a beautiful natural part of
the world... but if they continued to treat humans as stock, their future would be a short
and violent one.
++++++++++
Abbey went to go get a tiny compact mirror (the kind Master wouldn't notice her carrying
in a million years and wouldn't act questions on her carrying one when they were moving
out in a rush). She didn't say anything when she saw Master, after all, it was supposed to
be a surprise what they were doing for him after all. And it wasn't proper to spoil
surprises.
The master was busy explaining to Kaylee's copies that no, they WEREN'T going to be
regional governors of different parts of 'Big Bad Island.' (Amber had come up with the
name surprising not Amethyst).
Meanwhile the red/violet Margot asked, "Megan are you really sure that Zack should go? I
mean, he still has that limp from earlier and males didn't prove that much of a match for
the lions the last time, and he has two pups to think about--"
Megan exasperated, "Oh come on! He's just Zack! Who cares?"
"Amy and Zelipe for one..." Anne pointed out politely.
"It's okay," Zack said automatically, "I'm to service you she wolves in all things, I'm.. I'm
sure my pups understand that... "
Everyone there knew that was just the transformation talking... but so what? Wasn't it the
transformation talking whenever they spoke of Master, or spoke of their pack? Or Spoke
how they were PACK-MATES meant to look out for one another? What difference did it
make?
Terri defended, "Sandi is already hurt, I don't think she should risk going in again."
Megan said, "So you're more worried about a black eye than a pack mate?"
Sandi then said lowly, "No... No I'm not... it's... Ashley's more important."
Beatrice remembered Pearl's tom-foolery... Pearl had felt guilty and sick over going behind
Master's pack... Beatrice saw none of that in Megan's eyes at all. "Megan.. this is childish.
If Master learns that you did a risk like this without his okay Alpha Female is going to
demand you be added to the gallery!"
"ONLY if we don't succeed in getting Ashley back! IF we do, we'll be heroes!" And I'll have
paid back that mangy cat for hurting my brother and for betraying our location to that
fortune teller!!
Anne said, "As if we failed we'd be statues before tomorrow evening! I don't wanna be a
paper weight!"
"Chicken!" Megan snapped back. Anne took a step back and shrunk some even though she
was a few inches taller than Megan actually.
Beatrice was stunned by how suddenly Megan's attitude was changing. "Megan... pack-sis,
I know you're upset about Roger, but this isn't how to make up for things."
Megan counted the wolves she had quickly called for this, not counting Zack, 'One, two,
three, four, five, six. Sandi is the only already injured, will need Zack as a meat shield.'
Megan opened her mouth and spoke, "Jasmine, Margot, Anne, Beatrice, Terri..."
+++++++++
"Just so I know," Lawrence said, his gigantic muscular frame barely covered by the shady
palm tree, "I'm not going to end up looking like you am I? No offense, but I don't think I'd
look good with long hair, flowers and solid color eyes."
"Opal and Jasper carry it well." Carnelian explained calmly having drawn the straw to look
after their 'guest.'
"All the same I prefer the way I am now."
"And we all preferred the way we were before we were made into wolves, but we're all new
and improved."
"All the same again, I just prefer things didn't get MORE complicated then they already
are."
Carnelian waved it off, "Don't worry, Cobalt changed into one of us because of her way of
saying the transformation."
"Which isn't how it said from what Master said."
"Well, none of you have changed yet from being around us."
"Good... we've had ENOUGH changes personally for now. Is she ever going to stop singing?
"
"Likely after the sun burns out... "
"At least it's pleasant... Is that the Smurfs theme?"
"Maybe..."
Amethyst moved like a pleasant summer breeze among her fellow gem colored wolves
who kept expecting her to trip or -something- but moved flawlessly from one gay step to
the next.
"Opal is so cute! Master is so cute! Jasper is so cute! Roger is so cute! Zack is so cute!
Ulysses is so cute! Nick is so cute!"
"I think the less we worry about it the less it's going to cause trouble." Ruby said to
Emerald the two of them holding different ends of a tree they had timbered (pulling it up
by the roots was risky business even though possible with their combined effort).
"At this point I have to agree." Emerald replied.
+++++
"Fine," Nicole sighed, "We'll do this the old fashioned way, a one and a two and a-"
Nick blinked away... "Oh... hello Nicole... did we get the fortune teller?"
"Aren't you going to ask what you're doing inside me first?"
"No... not really..."
Nicole sighed, "Figured."