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Paladin of The Dark Sun

By,

Absolom Nightwolf

Introduction

Start Recording

"Hello! Sorry, that was a little loud. My name is Alixandra Cecilla Astarte. I doubt you would know me. Or rather, I hope you wouldn't, as everyone else in my school seems to know who I am. I've only been here a few months, and everyone of the students here have passed judgment on me already. I didn't ask to be this way, and all I'm looking for is a friend. That's all I want. Apparently, that's to much to ask here. The boys keep eying me and making rude, often suggestive, remarks. The girls are even worse. I always thought that boys were the worst bullies. I was wrong. High school girls are a lot meaner. More subtle. They go more for humiliation than the actual physical stuff. Not that they won't resort to that, but that maybe because I go to a private school. I hear public schools are worse. I mean, for speaking to a hansom guy just for directions to a class, I get tripped, have my things stolen, and end up with tacks on my chair. And then there are the threats, both verbal and written. Such things as 'Stay away from my boyfriend or else.' As if I was interested in him. Mom and Dad are talking about moving again. Sigh.

Oh, sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself. You don't know me very well yet. Well to start off with, I'm a Foxling of the black variety. Though you probably knew that just by looking at me. Ha ha. Mom says I get it from her father. Both Mom and Dad are both reds, as is my big brother, though he takes more after Aunt Ruth, who's a gray. I currently stand at four feet, and haven't grown an inch in three years. Mom says it's only a spell, as Dad was a late bloomer and he's five feet! Giggle. Brother's even taller at six, but he says that's due to the combat implants. He's a Space Knight for the Phoenix Clan. Sorry, I'm babbling. I'm supposed to be talking about myself.

Dad says that we Foxlings resemble foxes from Terra and the other colonized worlds to which humans have spread. Though we look like foxes, Foxlings have bodies similar to those of humans, save we have tails and look like foxes. Ha ha. One of my teachers, a tall gray Guarden himself, says that the Canius race (which includes Guardens, Foxlings, and Caernars) are anthropomorphic. Not sure I understand what he means. Well, unlike the Guardens and Caernars, who have human like legs and feet, our legs and feet resemble more of our Terran 'cousins.' Though our legs are straighter, we do have double knees, or as one of my relatives said,..snicker...double ankles. We also have large padded paws for feet. Much like my cat, Sandy, though with out the retractable claws. These paws are really nice because we seldom have to worry about shoes. The pads are soft, but tough, and I seldom have to worry about burning my feet on sun baked concrete or have them freeze in the snow. There are exceptions, like a still cooling lava field, but they don't happen very often. My eyes are slitted like those of my cat as well, giving us great night vision, and no, I'm not color blind. Sorry, I get that a lot. What color? Well...one, my right, is a golden brown, and the other is a very pale blue. It's almost white, it's so pale. Why the two eye colors? I'll tell you another time. I don't want to talk about it right now.

Now when I was young, and still a boy, I always wondered what would my life be like if I was born a girl. I mean, I was always a little feminine in my jesters and attitudes, but I... What? Yes, I was born a boy. My original name was Alixander Cecil. My parents had it changed after...after the incident. Sniff. Sorry, it still bothers me. I'll get to that eventually, just not now. As I was saying, I was always a little feminine. The other boys would always tease me about it, especially about the colors I wore. Purple is my favorite. Though a bright green is a close second. You know, in hind sight, I would have rather have had that type of teasing compared to what I have to put up with now. Still, it hurt at the time. I was never able to be like some of the other boys in sports. I wasn't especially strong, and I was never very big. That kept me out of sports like baseball, football, and soccer. What I could do was run. I'm also good at swimming and gymnastics. Funny thing is, I'm even better at the last two now. I love swimming; I would join the swim team if...if I didn't have trouble with the other girls.

Where was I born? Well, I've been on Asgard all my life, though we've moved quite a bit in the last few years. Mom and Dad won't say it, but it's my fault. I can't seem to blend in, and I keep getting into trouble. Huh? Oh, right. Birthplace. Sorry. If you haven't guessed, my mind tends to wander. OK, Mom says that I was born at Beverly District Central Hospital close to the city limit of Yggdrasil. Sorry? Yes! I was born at the capital. No, I've never been able to see the palace. The day that...that is on the day...the day things changed...we were scheduled to go...sniff, sniff...I'm sorry...sorry...please...give me a moment...sniff...

Pause Recording

Ah, that's better. Sorry. I can't stop myself sometimes. Where were we again? Oh, that's right. I was scheduled to go on a field trip to the palace the day...the day I became a girl. What?! No!! I don't want to talk about it! I don't even want to think about it! Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm so sorry. Please...sniff, sniff...hic, sniff...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...sniff, hic, sniff...I'm sorry...sniff, sniff, sniff...hic... no...sniff...I want to...hic...continue...sniff...give me...a moment...

Pause Recording

Sniff...well, I've lived at...sniff...Jutenheim and Vanaheim. I liked Jutenheim. The streets were covered in soft snow half the year, and the elementary school, West Arctic Elementary School, had this huge indoor pool! Yes, heated and everything! Cough. It was also the first time I wore a girl's bathing suit. Well, what was I supposed to feel! Of course I was embarrassed! I had been a boy only a month earlier. What?! Stop laughing! It's not funny! Snicker. OK, maybe it is; NOW. But I was really embarrassed at the time. Thankfully I got over it as soon as I got into the water. I loved it. I was able to swim for most of the week after classes, and either Mom or Dad took me a couple of times on the weekends. That was a great time. We were there for a little over two years, and Jon was with us almost to the end. Huh? Oh! Jon's my big brother. Jonathan Wolfgang Astarte. We call him Jon. He got accepted into the Charlemagne Knight Academy about two months before we moved. Yes! It was great! He got into the most prestigious military academy in the Sapphire Empire! Jon was always super smart.

How old? Let's see. I'm thirteen, so that would make him...twenty? Yeah. There's a seven year difference between us. Dad says I was an accident. Wha- Why are you making that face? Oh! Sorry. No, he always says that with this big grin on his face. Snicker. Mom says he would spoil me if she allowed him. No, Dad loves me and has always been there for me. He would never hurt me if I didn't deserve it.

Oh, yes. I've been in trouble several times. I've been smacked a few times by Mom, mainly for talking back. She spanked me a couple of times when I was really small. I was only spanked by Dad once. I had run away from school, when we were living in Vanaheim, after a particular nasty encounter with a group of bullies. A teacher was trying to break it up, but by then what had started out as name calling had devolved into physical contact. Unfortunately, I was on the receiving end. I ended up with two broken ribs, with a third cracked, and several bruises. I didn't know it at the time though; everything hurt. Anyway, the teacher finally got those girls off me with the help of the principle and a couple of other teachers. He bent down to help me, but by then I was blind with terror. I lashed out and accidentally hit him in the eye. It was then that the adrenaline kicked in and I ran. I couldn't tell you were I was going or were I ended up; all I wanted to do was get away. I fainted somewhere and woke up in the hospital.

I spent a week in the hospital before they sent me home, restricted to my bed. Mom found me a home tutor while I was recovering. Turns out it was a good thing she did, as the principle had suspended me for hitting a teacher. The teacher, who sent me this really nice card, and my Dad argued with the principle about it, but he wouldn't budge. Yeah, he was a jerk. I never liked him. He kept ogling the pretty girls, and it was freaking me out. I didn't recover for several months. Those girls really gave me the works...no, I'm alright. Thanks.

After I was healed, Dad almost tanned the fur off my bottom, and said that was for scaring him out of ten years of his life. Then he hugged me tight, cried, and said he was sorry. I had never seen him cry like that. It still scares me. Jon heard about it and got leave to come home. I never did go back to that school. Jon and Mrs. Peterson, my tutor, kept schooling me until Jon had to go back to the Academy. Mrs. Peterson stayed with us until we moved, what, four-in-a-half, five months ago. Mom still has her number. I really liked her. No. Mrs. Peterson is a human. She has two boys, Rex and Isiah. They're both in High School. Yes, I've met them. They're both like her; really nice. They played with me when Mrs. Peterson wasn't teaching. Never met Mr. Peterson, though.

Why did we go to Vanaheim in the first place? Dad got a better paying job. He's in cyber security. Mom gives lessons in cooking and quilting. Most of my blankets are made by her. Jon said that Mom went to cooking school before she met Dad, and the quilting was a hobby before she had Jon. Dad got a transfer to Alfheim a couple of days after my thirteenth birthday. No. I hate it here. No on wants to be friends, and I keep running into people I knew back in Vanaheim. I don't-

What? We're out of time? Oh, sorry. Yes, I'll continue to take the medicine Dr. Ferguson gave me. Next week? Yes, Ma'am. I'll tell Dad. Goodbye."

"Doctor's Notes: The first session went better than I thought it would. Miss Astarte appears to be a good girl, much more talkative then most of my clients. I'm not sure if I believe this story about her being born a boy, but I have seen a lot of strange things in this universe, so I will reserve my judgment. She kept referring to 'the incident' that changed her into a girl, but refuses to talk about it. Miss Astarte can not even mention it with out falling to pieces, and yet she talked about being beaten up by a bunch of bullies so casually. Whatever this 'incident' was, it left her very traumatized. Though at one point, I was not sure if she was more upset by the mention of it, or yelling at me. The diagnosis of her previous doctor seems to hold up so far: emotionally unstable, seeking approval, and the need to have friends. Doctor Ferguson said she suffers from nightmares and had given her a prescription for Hansovine. It's only a mild sedative, but it does not seem to have done her any harm. I will keep her on it for now, or at least until I learn more.

Astarte is not a common name, especially among the Canius. I could take a look and see if I can find anything out on this event that happened five years ago...No, I had better not. Better to let her tell me when she is ready. I would like to have her take a nerve scan, however. I will need to talk to her parents about that. When she gets older, maybe by the time she is sixteen, I think I would like her to take a Psi Test, and possible an Old Arts Test as well. I know a few decent wizards that should not scare her. Let us see. The next client is not until three-o-five. That should give me plenty of time to get lunch and prepare. Clatter. Melissa, would you like to join me at Franklin's. They have a special- Whoops. Computer, stop recording and log off."

End Recording

Extraction from the recording of Doctor Amanda Wellington, Psychiatrist to one Alixandra Cecilla Astarte. Confiscated by order of The Department of Paladins under the auspices of Sif Sapphire-Metis.