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''What..Friends...'' It gasped. ''They all died out here after they got..Sick with the..Desert flu...''

Hassan stared warily at the fox. "You said earlier you deserted them. If they died, then you didn't desert them."

''I had to..Kill them t put them out...Of their pain..'' And it passed from the heat, sandy fur bristling. The helmet rolled off to reveal some warrior scars, ones earned in battles or from saving someone special.

Hassan sighed and rubbed his head. "If you did it to help them, then there is no reason for you to be paying the price." Not that he could agree with assisted suicide--to him dying at the hands of another knight or even a thief would be preferred over wasting away from illness.

"Surely you can do penance for something like that? How..." he hesitated, "how long have you been this way?"

The fox was out cold, but it looked pretty old, still bearing the marks of an aincent warrior. It seemed the tent was where it had spent decades trying to preserve it's fallen comrades. Yet cursed to be a fox, for a mistaken identity left it only able to use the small falchion it had.

Seeing the fox was unresponsive, Hassan crept closer to it and quickly tossed the falchion to the side. One less thing to worry about, he began to pry off the remaining armor that the fox wore. Maybe there was more to this curse than he suspected.

The fox stayed out cold as then age old armor was removed to show many scars and burnt in symbols for warriors and a symbol of the wind hidden scratched into it's hind leg. It would seem odd for it to still have the tattoos on it's front arms, yet it also had a black gem melded into it's bottom jaw. A victim of what most called a mad priest.

Hassan looked at the scars and contemplated the rune for wind, and then finally at the black jewel embedded in the fox's jaw.

"Well, my first bet would be the jewel. After that, it's a toss up." Gently, carefully, he wrapped his hand around the fox's muzzle, keeping it shut so that the fox didn't bite him. And then he felt the jewel to see just how embedded it was. Would it be impossible to remove without drawing blood? He hoped not, but suspected that it would be.

It was embedded deep into the jawline, almost in the bone. As if someone had slammed it into their at full force hard enough to get it wedged in there. It was rough, and the surface was full of small razor sharp edges like that of a knife.

Hassan growled. Was there no other choice? He really didn't want to have to dig out a jewel embedded in the creature's jaw. It would be bloody for one thing, and downright cruel for another.

Well, maybe he'd try to work it loose. He moved so that he wasn't directly in front of the fox and then pulled out his sharpest knife. He stuck it in the hot sand for a few seconds, heating the blade, before carefully placing the point against the razor sharp edge of the jewel. Slowly, he began to work the tip just past the jewel, attempting to work it free. His other hand, remained steadfast around the fox's muzzle.

The fox fidgets in it's sleep, causing the blade to hit it's jaw deeply. It snorted in pain, and the jewel jarrs loose but brings skin with it.

Fortunately the heat of the blade would cauterize any blood that might begin to form. Hassan paused to heat the blade in the sand once again, before continuing. And then with the jewel loose, he severed the remaining bits of skin still clinging to it, and he drops the jewel to the ground--not wanting to touch it now that it was free of the fox's jaw.

For good measure, he looked the fox's jaw over. There would be a dent and it probably wouldn't ever be covered with fur anymore, but at least the jewel was gone.

Please let this work, he thought vainly.

The fox yelps in pain fidgeting again as the curse starts to lose its grip.

Hassan stands back, watching and waiting for what will happen next. It seemed something was happening, but was the curse really going to be lifted? He slid the knife back into his boot and then grabbed his scimitar. Just in case.

The fox soon fell limp, and the room fills with steam. When it disspiates a human wearing cracked armor was in it's place through unconcious. Or so it seemed human. With a long fox tail, paws, and crooked ears.

Hassan sighed. Right. He was going to need Murat's help right about now and he didn't know where to begin to find his friend. He'd run all the way out here on his own anyway.

He rose and stretched a little, feeling cramped and still bruised after the fun of dueling a little fox. "I'm gonna see if I can't find a friend. You can stay here and relax."

So saying, he set out to find Murat.

The odd human remained silent.

Meanwhile, Cass was curled around Murat, fast asleep. The storm was over, vand the ground littered in feathers from baby thunderbirds.

(Aww, baby thunderbirds must be adorable!)

Hassan finally found them. Not because they were hollering for him or searching them. No. He heard Jasafar bellowing at his approach.

"You guys are sleeping on the job? Murat, I found something you're not going to believe. Can you come with me?"

Murat stirred groggily and rubbed his face. "What'd you find? Oh! Hassan. You survived. Where's the fox?"

"Follow me and I'll take you to him."

Cass yawned droggily, sneezing from a feather. ''Where'd all these feathers come from? Did the fox kill someone?'' She asked, folding her wings as she heard Hassan and Murat. All the feathers seemed transparent, and wispy.

Murat frowned and shrugged. "I'm not sure where the feathers came from. Hassan?"

Hassan shrugged. "I wasn't here, remember? Maybe your dreams came real? Look, are you going to follow or not? Because I'm not sure how long he's going to stay passed out."

Murat frowned. "Who?"

"What do you mean, who? The fox! But he's not, really, well, you'll find out shortly."