Hello all, Ive gathered a few names here today to be the first to sample my new mailing list. Members of this mailing list are pretty much the only people in the world who are going to see my writings since those hell hounds at Homestead closed down my account (they changed to a pay service, I lost 3 years of work to those bastards. they wont even let me back on to get my work out of there). Anyways, I'll be sending out these little e-mails whenever I get enough work done (around once every two weeks). All you have to do is decide whether you wish to be a part of this. If you have any feedback, plot suggestions, character suggestions, or anything else, please e-mail me. But dont tell me about bad spelling or grammar useage, since I dont have a spell checker in hotmail. First order of buisness today is the warning. I have to do this incase of the slight chance theres a stupid person in the audience. THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. NOTHING IN HERE ARE THINGS I ACTUALY BELEIVE IN. EVERYTHING CAME OUT OF MY HEAD. ALL CHARACTERS ARE COPYRIGHT ME UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED. I'm going to start out with the very beginnings. In a galaxy far away from our own, there lies a single, giant planet that circles without companion around a burning star much like the sun. However, on this planet are contained within a world that cannot be explained by mere science or logic, but by looking within the hearts and minds of the very gods themselves can we fathom its contents. For the sake of classification, we will call this planet Alto. This ball of dirt, water, and various other materials is one of the only other planets in the universe that is inhabited by sentient life. Take a look at the animals that live on our planet earth. Felines, canines, vulpines, lupines, ursines, equines, call them what you will. Give these animals the gift of wisdom, you would have the inhabitants of Alto. Bipedial creatures that only the gods could have coordinated. Imagine for a bit, that these humanoid animans, these 'Anthros' are actualy superior to humans in many feilds. Such as the Anthros can use and understand magic, and humans cannot. Anthros can actualy perform amazing feats that even olympic class athletes would find impossible, but it takes usualy decades of training. Imagine a world where the sentient inhabitants are without need of government, that self-sufficiency, and freedom reigns over the need to submit. The planet known as Alto has no name, except for the sake of this story. Why? Because nobody on the planet cares enough about what to call it, there are always more important things in life. The gods and their avatars are the worlds police, judge, and jury. Without true wisdom, humans are only able to realize the existance of two prime dieties: Jehovah (God) and Lucifer (Satan), the two prime dieties of our home dimension. Theres are also many 'lesser' dieties that reign amongst the multiverse, and each have their respective followers. This first story that Im going to write is called 'The Ageless'. Its narrated by a creature from one of the outer planes who wound up in our universe and has been there since birth. I apologize on the weird text positioning on this, as this was written using microsoft works and I copied and pasted onto this interface... After chapter 2 this problem shouldnt occur anymore, however I may lose some readers at chapter 2 due to content (its just plain weird). Enjoy, this story will get better over time, intros are always the boring part. The Ageless Chapter 1. When I saw her, I swear to every god in the multi-verse that my heart stopped. I never ever imagined for a thousand years that her loveliness would snare my gaze ever again. I felt like I had lived forever without so much as a how-are-you from her. Many a night of that time I would dream of her loving touch. I would dream of the days and nights when our hearts were one. My name is Locke, I am a sorcerer, but I prefer to call myself an enchanter since my talents lie in transmutation, Illusory, and shapeshifting magiks. My species? Well, how should I explain. The name of my species is called the Talis. You probably have never heard of such a race of creatures. Thats because we are not native to this universe, the Prime Material Plane. According to my research, the Talis hail from to one of the outer planes, such as Limbo, or the Negative Material Plane. We blend in really well within the Anthro world which the humans call Alto. But we are also incredibly rare, by my last census by using divination magic, I found only twenty of us living in the PMP. Talis are pretty short (4-5 feet tall). We are mainly clothed in olive colored fur with deep red tiger stripes on our backs. Our ears are shaped like a cats, like one that is listening to sounds coming from behind it. Our most noticeable feature are our long, whiplike tails usualy up to ten feet in length that have a large plume of hair growing off the tip. Talis bodies look very frail, Talises with muscles no longer exist, we look as if we barely have the strength to lift twenty pounds. But looks can be very deceiving in our case, some great heroes in this planets history were Talis. As I was saying before, I had been apart from a certain female for a very long time and was shocked out of my mind when I saw her. The humans say absence makes the heart grow fonder. If you had been apart from someone you love, hate, and cry for as long as I have, most would have died for sure. She was sitting at a fancy outdoor cafe eating lunch, drinking tea, and reading a newspaper. She had that coy smirk on her face that told me she was enjoying herself. She was a Talis, like me, which made her easy to recognize. But something about her intrigued me. I noticed the ghostly form of a female vulpine enshrouding her body. It appeared that during the time we did not see each other, she had been practicing racial illusions. Smart girl. Illusions of that nature are just that, they arent real although the caster feels what the illusion feels, it is easily dispelled. I threw away racial Illusions long ago when I learned to actually change my bodily structure into that of different species, which is naturally called shapeshifit magic. When not home, I was a male Vulpine. I was able to see through her illusion easily. On my left arm I wore a bracelet that I had enchanted with an 'oracle' spell that allowed me to see through such things. I watched her as she sat there at the cafe. She was so stunningly beautiful, just like the day we had first met. She was wearing a gray business suit with a skirt that was cut cut above the knees, it made her look really hot. I had almost decided against talking to her, she seemed so happy sitting there sipping tea. I was afraid seeing me would cause her a lot of pain. We had been through so many traumatic events, I have seen furs kill themselves after enduring only a fraction of what we had suffered. Yet, in the long run I felt I would go mad if I didnt say something. If I had missed her so much as I did, she had to have felt some desire to see me after all we had been through together. Swallowing my negative emotions into a pit in my stomach, I began to walk over to the table she sat at. My feelings sank into the bottom of my belly in a huge, unpleasant lump. My fur began to clam up with anxiety, the lump in my stomach began to grow bigger as I approached her. She ate with very skilled manners as I came over, she looked as if she had not a care in the world, her attention mainly on the newspaper in her hand. As I pushed through the crowd of walkers, a fear welled up in my mind, a fear that somehow she would see who I was. I imagined her screaming and running from me, and I would be left alone once again. All seemed silent when I reached her table. I assume my mind was blocking out all the background noise. I pulled up a chair and sat down at the table opposite from her. Her face was concealed by the newspaper, which meant she didnt see or notice me. My hands were shaking as if I was in an earthquake, my mind flashed across my eyes many of the memories we shared together. Our memories... I could hear a scream, her scream as she cried out to the gods for blood, the blood of our enemies. It was our enemies that were the very reason that we had to wear these disguises. As I sat there I was trying desperately to think of what words would be appropriate for a greeting, but my mind refused to work. My heart raced and my hands had become sweaty. I had to say something before she noticed me and ruined the moment. "H-h... Hello." I finally spat out. "Great job dumbass!" I thought to myself. Taking a deep breath I managed to gain a bit more control over myself. I tried to put on a calm, cool attitude. Leaning my elbow on the table and bending toward the back of her paper. I was so close I could hear her eat, by the gods I missed hearing that. "Greetings." I tried again, praying that she wouldn’t associate my mannerisms with when she knew me. "Mmmh?" She replied. I felt relieved, she didn’t recognize my visage. But that wasn’t enough, I had to talk with her in my true form, like old times. Then it came to me, a phrase known only by the two of us that we used to greet each other back in the old days. It was perfect! "Vie ritru Thaxcisulia." I said. It was old tongue. It meant 'My one Thaxcisulia.' Thaxcisulia was her true name. The one given to her at her birth. "Hmm?" She said back, My heart sped up, I had her attention, albeit a fraction of it. It took all the strength I had to keep conscious as the newspaper lowered, and found myself staring right at her trueform. The ghastly form of her dispelled illusion was still encircling around her, about half a foot taller. Her cyan hair flowed freely over her shoulders like the base of a waterfall. It was like I was staring at an angel. I knew deep in my mind I had every right to hate her like I could no other. I had every right to draw a blade and slay her. But for some reason I could only feel love for her. The time we spent together I cherished more than any other time in my life. I leaned forward more till my fox nose was less than a foot from her own. I could see a bewildered look in her eyes, she had no idea who I was. As far as she knew, I was a perfect stranger getting uncomfortably close. She shrunk back a bit and took another sip of tea. I tried again. "Vie ritru Thaxcisulia." I said. As soon as I said her true name, I watched her head fly forwards and spit our a small jet of hot tea all over her newspaper. She sat there in stunned silence for a half a minute with her eyes wide as oranges. It was then I shed my vulpine body and changed back into a Talis. Then she suddenly began to scream. "OH GODS! OH GODS!". At this point I couldn’t tell whether she was happy or scared to see me, but she sure was surprised. Yet her reaction instinctively worried me, she was being way too loud. I grabbed her by the arms and tried to shake her out of it. Those arms, they felt so soft and smooth just as I remembered them. But it didn’t work, so I tried the next thing I could think of. I threw the rest of her tea on her. As I did it, I felt a twisted sense of pleasure, and at the same time I felt sorry for doing it. She looked absolutely miserable, tea dripped from every fur on her face. I could see through her illusion that she was fighting back tears, and losing. After a minute she began to get hysterical again. "We cant..." She seemed to protest. " Not here! We have to..." She began to sob, and reached into her purse that was lying on the chair next to her. She searched through it frantically, tossing out tampons, perfume, combs... anything you can think of a female carrying. Her arms shook as the pulled out a small black box. She fumbled with it for a bit but her hands were way too unsteady to undo the fasteners that held it shut. Finally, she collapsed her head on the table, crying her eyes out. I couldn’t think of what to say. I felt dreadfully sorry for what I had done, but also I felt like she deserved it. I tried to get up and place my hand on her back. She responded by leaping to her feet, sweeping her items into her purse, and running off into the thick crowd. Things had pretty much turned out like I had feared. I felt like I could just cry, like I had blown the last chance of reestablishing a line of communication with undoubtedly the most important being in my life. Changing back into a fox, I got ready to leave. Then I noticed it. She had left her little black box on the table next to the now ruined newspaper. I had the feeling she had not done this on purpose. But that little box gave me some hope, perhaps a clue. My conciense told me not to look into the box, but I had to. My heart began to race once again as I undid the fastens carefully. The box contained the one thing I never expected to find, pictures. All of them folded up, trained eyes such as mine easily determined how old each photo was. They were pictures of only myself and her. They were of us just having fun together. Riding an eagle, skiing, water sliding, swimming, and a couple of pictures of us being intimate. The dam finally burst and I began to silently cry. It felt as if I was sobbing off an eternity of sorrow. While still weeping, I took out the last item in the box. It was not a photo, but a note. It was written in ancient writing, the paper felt like just touching it would cause it to crumble. But I could still read it. My one Thaxcisulia (Eva) Every day I wake up thinking of thine never ending beauty. I cherish the day we met as the day I would become a god. My only thoughts of these past lonely nights are of none but you. I pray for the cold season to pass quickly so I can be with you again. I hope you enjoy your twenty sixth birthday. My love for you conquers death. Locke The tears soaked my fur as I read the note over and over. I just couldn’t believe she would keep that all these years. Lastly I looked at the date it was written. The forty second day of the second month of the year 1164. I looked at my digital watch. It was the thirty seventh day of the seventh month. Then I looked at the year: 697765. Damn! I had almost forgotten I was nearly seven hundred thousand years old, I look exactly the same as I did when I was sixteen years old. It was at that moment I realized why she acted the way she did. We were both alone, alone in a world where its impossible for us to have a lasting relationship with just about any life form. She was not scared of me, although she should have been somewhat. She was frightened by the almost infinite horrible memories that were imbedded in both our minds. Yes, we had both lived very, very long lives. Perhaps too long. All Talis share this fate, the fate of near immortality. This does not mean we cant die, it is just extremely difficult to kill one of us. I feel comfortable now talking about this since the means to destroy us no longer exist on this plane. To kill a Talis, you need a weapon forged from one of the outer dimensions. Immortality is not a blessing, but a curse. You can never truely love someone, you can never really have friends. For in the blink of an eye, they grow old and die. Such is my curse of eternal life. Thats pretty much my feelings on my longevity. I never will know if my enemies are all truly dead. Every fifty years or so I have to relocate to avoid suspicion. Sometimes I fake my death and sneak out of the morgue. Stolen corpses are always blamed on Necromancers. Although if theres something like I'm married, I'll avoid relocation as long as my wife is living. Now I dont want that to sound cold and callous, because I never marry unless I truly care about my partner. I always told my fiancés before we are married that I am going to outlive them, but usually they figure it out when they have been dating me for several years and I haven’t looked the slightest bit different. My last wife was named Celestia, and she was without a doubt the kindest, most loving person I had ever met. I grieved horribly when she had died seven years ago a few weeks to the day I saw 'her' again. I went through a very long and deep depression for about a year after she died. My only comfort was I that I gave her a good life without a doubt. When I think about all the wives Ive had (it goes into the hundreds), I think I would have gladly traded my immortality to be able to live forever in the afterlife with them. But life isn’t fair, Im an immortal, not a god. In this era of science, I made my living teaching history at Elmdor University in Iva. What better a history teacher than one whos actually lived through just about all of it. I've had close to seventy years of experience at Elmdor, reason being is I think the schools management staff changes too much for them to ever remember how long Ive been there (records arent kept on Alto, we can actually trust each other for information on this planet, but it does allow me to be able to lie sometimes when I have to). Teaching is a pretty fun job, except its hard for me to command respect. It would be for anyone if they looked like the youngest one in the classroom. I sat at the outdoor cafe for hours looking over the old photographs she had left behind. The memories of our days and nights flooded my senses. Some of them fun, exciting, wild, reckless, even kinky. Others were sad, cold, and full of hate, even hellish. The box was empty, and so was my heart. The sun was beginning to set once I collected myself. I looked at my watch, it was 27:59. I was thirteen hours late for my class, no sense in trying to teach it now. I picked up all the old photos with the note and placed them in the black box. My eyes were drained of tears, but I felt the need to weep. I felt like I had blown my last chance for true companionship. Who knew how many millennia it would take for us to see each other again. Then I noticed something on the table. Something that was not there before, a card. That sneaky little bitch must have slipped it under my elbow while I was looking over the photos. My heart filled with hope as I reached down and picked it up. My hope turned to joy as I looked at it. On the front of the card was the face of a vixen. It looked like 'her' vixen face but I knew that it was a hired model since cameras see through illusions. It also has some information printed on it. Eva: Business Consultant We service the rest to make them the best. Catchy little jingle. But Eva..... So she was using that name now. She always insisted I call her Eva when we were much younger (say when we were just 300000 years old). I was surprised that she was calling herself that again. Below her name and slogan the card gave a business address, a phone number, and a website. Quite a useful amount of information, but knowing by knowing about previous actions done by her in such a high emotional state, I felt she didn’t realize this would be such a useful tool in me finding her. Flipping it over, I saw a note, written in a very hurried manner. Lock... Please dont come near me... Please! Love Eva. Now if you know a lady as long as I have (shes roughly the same age as I am, as all living Talis are), you know when they mean something. Given the trails we had been through, we had some very shocking memories that easily could have given her an emotional tornado when triggered by the sight of me. A plan was already forming in my head. I could have it accomplished an just a few days. Smiling, and with my facial fur matted to my skin by dried tears, I picked up the box and the card. It was dark when I finally left the cafe, the walk home seemed to last forever. ----------- end of chapter 1-------------- Chapter 2, coming in a day or two.