Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:52:41 -0600
From: J Wolfstone <argouru@gmail.com>
Subject: Hirsune, Pt. 6

(see the beginning of part 1 for the pronunciation guide)

Hirsune
Pt.6 - There's Got to be a Morning After

by argouru
aka jxwolfstone


Kyle, - No, Kylenus! - awoke slowly, aching deep inside, but only in a
single place. He realized that spot was where his naro had been, before his
father had destroyed it in lustful passion as he had initiated his youngest
son into manhood. The young man rose up a bit slowly to see he was back in
the guest room, naked in bed and feeling both happy and awful at the same
time, as though he'd had the best experience of his life, and was now
paying for it royally.

As the events of the evening swam back into his consciousness, he sighed in
contentment. *Yeah, that'd pretty much sums it up,* he thought weakly with
a smile. Then he looked down at himself in amazement, his mouth hanging
open slightly in joyful wonder...

His entire body was now covered in a short, thick layer of dark body hair
that hid the skin beneath, and completely covered his body. Looking into
the mirror on the closet door, he saw a youthful bearded face resembling
those of his father and brothers staring back at him. Turning his gaze back
to his body, he saw that his penis was now seven inches long flaccid, and
two inches wide, with a generous foreskin covering the glands.

Kylenus also discovered, as he rooted around his stomach with his fingers,
that his navel had disappeared. There was no longer any trace that he'd
ever even had one at all. He moved his hand up to stroke his nipple,
squeezing it gently until a warm wetness spread onto his long and dexterous
fingers. He squeezed again, drenching his fingers, then lifting them to his
mouth to suck his delicious man-milk from his fingers, savoring the sweet,
musky taste.

*It really happened,* he thought to himself in joy.* I'm really a Hirsune
now! Just like Dad, Mark, Davin and Kav... And my name is Kylenus!* He
wanted to whoop with joy, jump up and dance, feeling like a teenager, which
in a way, he was once more. He wanted to flex his masculine muscles in the
mirror and feel lust and pride at the display, and enjoy the pleasures of
his new body, but as he tried to get up, the soreness in his egg canal gave
him a painful stab of protest, and he reluctantly laid back down instead.

*Damn, I think I overdid it last night.... Maybe later...* Still feeling
exhausted, he drifted back to sleep...



A knock at the door awoke him sometime later, and Kylenus sat up slowly as
the door opened gently.

"Hey sleepy-head." Kav said, entering the room. "You awake yet?"

"I don't know. Am I still alive or did I cum to death?"

"No, you're alive." His brother's eyes traveled up and down his
body. "Fuck... Just look at you! ...Kylenus... You're so fucking hot! I
could hump you right here and now..." He added, his hand moving down his
nude body towards his groin, then stopping himself with a frown. "but Dad
said to let you finish recovering, first," he finished, looking deeply
disappointed.

"Yeah, I'm still kinda sore at the moment, so I'll have to take a rain
check on that. I'd say Dad ripped me a new one, but there was only the one
naro in the first place!"

"I know," his brother replied in sympathy. "I remember my own Grand Rite. I
was sore all next day. Hey," he added, studying his younger brother's face,
"You look younger than me now."

"I know, I feel like a teenager again. It's like I went back in time or
something. It's weird, but kinda neat at the same time!"

"You feel up to eating?"

"Yeah, I'm starving."

"Good, cause Dad said his nipples are too sore to nurse you any more for
awhile, let alone anyone else!"

"Sorry about that, but the transformation kept me ravenous." He groaned
from the residual ache deep inside him. "Help me get there, will you?"

"Sure... What're brothers for?"

"Fucking?"

Kav laughed as he moved forward to help his eggling brother to his feet...

"Look who's up!" he said, a few minutes later as they entered the kitchen
and Kav set the younger sibling down gingerly into a chair, as everyone
greeted him warmly.

"Hey, guys," Kylenus replied tiredly.

Ardenus walked over behind him, hugging his youngest hatchling
affectionately. "How you feeling, Son?"

"Pretty shitty, to be honest. It feels like you tore my insides out... But
in a good way."

"I'm sorry, but I've always felt it would be better to do it hard and fast
and get the discomfort out of the way so you can enjoy getting fucked
regularly as soon as possible. Don't worry, though. You'll feel better
soon."

"I hope so, I want to start getting used to this new body and break it in
properly," the young man said, tilting his head back to look up at his
father.

Ardenus chuckled as he bent down and ground his bearded chin playfully
against that of his son. "I'm so proud of you... You took it like a real
man... My beautiful Kylenus." He kissed the youth deeply, letting the lad
suck on his tongue as he chewed playfully on Kylenus' lips. "I can't wait
to fuck you again," he breathed husky into his son's mouth. He reluctantly
pulled away. "But for now, let's eat."

"Think you can keep up with us this time, Kylenus?" Davin teased.

"One way to find out," the former-human said, eyeing the food Kav and Mark
were bringing to the table. There were steaks, mashed potatoes and brown
gravy, corn on the cob, yams and rolls, with water and tea, and he eyed it
all hungrily.

"So Kylenus," Mark said, "Can we still call you Kyle for short?"

"Well... That was my human name, and I don't really want that
anymore... But you can call me 'Ky' instead."

Ardenus sighed in mock-fustration as he sat down
smiling. "Impatient. Lazy. Ass. Kids." he said jokingly. He looked to each
of them in turn, by order of seniority, trying hard to look serious, but
failing as he talked. "I go through all that trouble to give each of you a
perfectly good name, and you're all too damn lazy to say three lousy
syllables. 'Mar-ka-no', 'Kav-ar-in', 'Ky-len-us', and' Dav-in,'" he said,
ticking each name off on his fingers, then glanced back to Davin. "Which is
only two, in your case, but still... Perfectly good names, but no, not for
you little punks!"

"Don't lump me in with them!" Davin protested in mock indignation. "I, if
you haven't realized, insist on being addressed by my 'full' name."

"You don't count!" Kav countered. "Dad just couldn't come up with a good
third syllable for you."

Davin glared at his younger brother in annoyance.

"Fine," Mark said around a mouthful of meat. "We'll just Just start calling
you 'Dav'. Happy?"

"Thrilled," Davin responded dryly.

Everyone chuckled as Davin rolled his eyes. "By Penis.." He muttered to
himself, as everyone dug in.

'Ky' even managed to polish off a fifth plate of food before they all were
finished with dinner, much to everyone's satisfaction...



Harian turned Kylenus' head from side to side, noticing the depth of the
transformation in the youth's facial features.

Ardenus watched, feeling a sense of pride in his son as the doctor
inspected the transformed person within his medical examination room at the
town's clinic. Kylenus, having discovered that he was now a foot taller
than before, had to borrow clothes from Kav. "Don't worry, we'll by you new
clothes after we visit the doctor and grab some lunch," his father had said
before they left home.

There was a vague scent of recently spilled semen in the examination room,
which aroused the youth, as Kylenus sat nude upon the vinyl-padded table,
smiling slightly as the elder's deft hands explored his new body.

"Truly remarkable," Harian breathed, stroking the young man's fuzzy
jawline. "I hadn't heard of this aspect of the change... ...Age
regression... Fascinating... Tell me Kyle, er, sorry, Kylenus... How old
were you before the change?"

"Thirty five," the youth replied.

"Really? Well... There's no record of a human that old ever having been
Gifted before. I'll have to share this interesting bit of trivia with my
colleagues. You actually look about six years old to me."

Kylenus stared at him in shock, and the doctor addressed his confusion. "We
Hirsune mature at a rate of about three times that of humans, so basically,
you'd be just around eighteen to twenty years of age among humans. Now
let's see," he continued, running a hand down to the young man's right
nipple, and squeezing it tenderly until a small amount of milk squirted
forth into his palm. He raised it to his face, sniffed, then licked
it. "Hmm, very nice. Milk production is normal..."

The doctor moved his hand to the lad's arm, raising it up. "Produce some
musk for me."

"How?" the former-human asked, uncertain what to do.

"Oh.. Well, " Harian explained, stroking the side of the torso just below
the hairy pit. "There is a gland in here, contract your muscles in this
area to put pressure on it."

Kylenus did so, and felt a sudden dampness in the hair of his underarm. His
nose wrinkled in pleasure, his penis, which was already partially aroused
from the doctor's touch, began to stiffen further.

The doctor breathed in the heady scent eagerly. "Yes, musk production is
also going well..."

He moved his hand down Kylenus' furry stomach to confirm the absence of a
navel, then further, inspecting the penis and testicles, pronouncing them
fit, and then working down past the groin as his other hand gently pushed
back on the youth's shoulder, urging him to lie back.

Kylenus complied eagerly, and spread his legs and putting his feet into the
stirrups as he felt the medical professional's touch on the most intimate
part of his body. Feeling the gentle probing of the elder's fingers, he
consciously relaxed his anus, using his newfound ability to control those
muscles. He smiled as the healer's nimble fingers gently probed his
entrance, beginning to explore the opening that lead into his procreative
passage.

"Bare down here," Harian said, placing a hand on Kylenus' torso, midway
between the base of his shaft, and where the navel had once been.

The youth did so, and felt his solem squirt forth from his egg canal into
the doctor's hand. Who raised it up to examine the secretion.

"Very good. Proper consistency," Harian said, rubbing it between his
fingers, "Smell," he added, inhaling deeply. He licked it from his hand and
shuddered slightly. "...And taste. Yes... Your solem gland has fully
matured. I believe you'll enter your first season this year." The potent
powers of the solem began to affect his senses slightly, and his cock tip
poked forward through the fabric of his slacks, pressing gently against the
edge of the open anus. The doctor looked down upon Kylenus, silently
asking, who smiled sexily, nodding slowly.

Kylenus heard the doctor unzip his pants, which dropped to the
floor. Moments latter, he sighed in pleasure as Harian's phallus slowly
sank into him, inch by inch.

"Oh yes... Very nice... Nice and smooth..." The doctor said, using the
sensitive nerve endings of his penis to aid him as he used it as a natural
probe, exploring the youth's reproductive tunnel slowly. He stopped at one
spot in surprise, turning to Ardenus. He had much experience in these
matters, and instantly understood what it was that he was feeling deep
inside the lad's insides.

"He... He had a naro?"

"Yes," the proud father said, stroking his long erection slowly; having
enjoyed watching his son's body being explored outside and in, and had
freed his penis in order to pleasure himself as he observed. "It must've
grown in when the egg canal formed. We discovered it only just before his
transformation was completed. Naturally, of course, I performed the Great
Rite immediately as his brothers bore witness. Then... Mere moments after I
bred him fully for the first time, he achieved the onam," Ardenus gasped,
flexing his knees as a short burst of pleasure filled him, both from the
pleasure he was giving himself, and at the lustful memory of the Great Rite
he had performed on the young man.

Hearing this proved too much for Harian, and the doctor began to grunt as
he mounted Kylenus, sliding his shaft deep into the lad's arse, making
long, deep strokes until his orgasm rose, and his seed gushed forth into
the hot wet tunnel of flesh that enclosed his spasming prong.

Coming back to his senses, the doctor ended his orgasm quickly, remembering
he had other patients to see that day.

Slowly, he slid out of the youth, who gasped as that wonderful fullness
emptied out of him, leaving Kylenus feeling hollow. He stroked himself
rapidly, unable to resist, and his precum spurted free to coat the hair on
his chest. His eyes locked onto those of his father, who slowly approached
the son, speeding up the pace of his own self-pleasuring as he approached
the lad, and stopped as they stared deep into each other's eyes.

"Umm..." The lad moaned in pleasure as he masturbated. "Fuck yeah..." He
paused slightly at a hand on the tip of his shaft, and looked up to see the
doctor smiling down at him.

"Bare down on the area inside you that's just behind the base of your
penis," the doctor instructed.

When Kylenus did as instructed, and more clear precum trickled out of the
gash on the tip of his dong, coating the head with more lubrication. He saw
Harian examine the precum in the same fashion as with his solem, before
smelling and finally tasting it.

The doctor nodded in approval. "Precum is fine... Now let's see the final
product." He watched the young Hirsune lustily pleasuring himself upon the
examination table.

Kylenus returned his attention to his own body, feeling the first prickling
of an oncoming orgasm. "I can feel it," he breathed, his stroking
increasing in intensity. "I can feel the power of Penis rising up within
me..."

Ardenus was visibly moved by this, and stepped closer to his son, stroking
himself feverishly. "Yes, Son. Embrace it. Let the power of fuck consume
you. Give into your lust... And splatter your spunk all over yourself!"

"I will! I will!" the lad cried, gritting his teeth as he felt his orgasm
rushing towards him like a freight train. "Pour forth, my Penis. Drench me
in my own juices! Bathe me in my own spunk! Do it! Please! Yes! Yes! Yes!
...FUCK YEAH!" he cried, as his jism burst forth from his piss-slit,
covering him in his own hot, sticky sperm. "THANK YOU, PENIS! THANK YOU!"

This proved to be more than the father could take, and he groaned in
orgasm, beginning to anoint his son in the seed that had made him. His
groan turned into a gasp, however, as Kylenus suddenly turned his head,
diving down on his parent's gushing member, moaning as he drank his dad's
sperm for the first time.

The father swayed on his feet, feeling his son's mouth upon his member for
the first time, and only through an act of will did he manage to stay on
his feet as the youth's talented tongue danced around his convulsing
glands. His mind reeled, having had no clue that Kylenus had such a gifted
mouth and tongue, and swooned in ecstasy as the lad pleasured his
still-spunking rod.

As Kylenus, tongue plunged into the erupting hole at the end of his
father's shaft, the elder convulsed wildly, and backed away out of the
lad's reach, still cuming, pulling free from the young Hirsune's mouth with
a snarl of surprise, quivering all over with sensory overload.

He leaned over, bending forward slightly at the waist in shock at the
intensity of the orgasmic feelings racing through his phallus, and making
him hunch forward. The effect made him look like a hulking, beefy
Neanderthal, who's penis continued to gush it's seed onto the floor as it
bobbed wildly up and down, contracting and releasing the muscles, making it
bounce violently as it continued to spew it's spunk through the air to
splatter wetly onto the floor of the examination room. His face screwed up
into a silent growl of intensity.

His snarling face changed slightly, as he gazed through his fierce eyes at
his son; a swelling of combined emotions coming to his face, mixing with
the snarling ferocity: Shock, surprise, wonder and pride mixed into his
facial expression at how his hatchling had driven him to such a degree of
intensity.

He grasped his phallus, and screamed in fierce joy, dropping to his knees
and stroking his still-orgasming tool, and his consciousness faded into the
sacred state of cock-goon, lost in sensation until he knew nothing else. He
collapsed onto his side, lost in his phallus, convulsing in a fetal
position as his orgasm slowly faded over the course of several minutes, and
leaving him a veritable drooling vegetable upon the cum-drenched floor.

Harian smiled down at his fellow elder, then turned back to the son without
concern. He reached forward, scooping up some of the lad's cum to examine
it. "Texture... Smell... And taste." He sighed, savoring the newest member
of the community's seed upon his tongue. "So sweet and musky. Truly the cum
of Hirsune." He smiled down at his patient.

Curious, Kylenus gathered his spend jizz into his hand, and sniffed to find
the scent pleasing. He tasted it, and moaned in pleasure as his taste buds
exploded from the rich, musky sweet flavor. He'd never liked cum before,
but that was when he was a human. Now that he was Hirsune, he found himself
craving the stuff, and began to eagerly scrape up as much of his semen as
he could, feasting on it.

"Was there any pain or discomfort as I mounted you?" the doctor asked, and
the lad shock his head in silent answer. "Good. Then you're fully healed,
and can now mate freely as you wish."

Finally, once Kylenus had finished devouring his own spent seed, his gaze
fell to the prone form of his dad curled up on the floor. "Is he OK?" he
asked the doctor with concern, as Ardenus twitched slightly.

"He'll be fine," Harian smiled."He's just in cock-trance at the
moment. He'll come out of it soon. Oh," he added, turning to the
youth. "I'm on lemongrass, so no need to worry about me seeding you,
despite the fact that you're not in season." At the young man's blank look,
he elaborated: "Lemongrass serves as a natural contraceptive for us by
interfering with the ability for genetic material to bond with an egg. Even
if I hadn't, though, you still most like wouldn't get pregnant, seeing as
you're not in season."

"Season?"

"Our reproductive cycle is similar to certain animals, and we can usually
only breed successfully when our reproductive cycle reaches its peak and we
go into heat, though it has been known to happen out of season on very rare
occasions. The heat can come on at different times for different folks,
however. Mine is in the early spring, so I've begun a regimen of lemongrass
tea every few hours to avoid pregnancy. I should be there soon now, myself,
but it can happen to some Hirsune as late as mid-summer. When that happens,
our sexual impulses override all else, and all we do is take every penis we
can get into us, which among Hirsune - who possess very prominent sex
drives - that's never really been an issue."

He looked up at the wall clock, as Ardenus began to stir. "Well, I have
another appointment soon, so I'll need to take my leave. You seem like a
perfectly healthy young Hirsune, Kylenus, and came out very handsomely." He
smiled. "And Kylenus... Welcome to the community."

He directed his attention to the shifting hairy form on the floor. "Take
your time, Arden. See you later," he said to the father, who grunted in
acknowledgement as the doctor left the room...



Ardenus let out a loud belch two hours later, as he and his son exited the
town's dinner stuffed full of hamburgers, fries and chocolate
shakes. "Ahh... I needed that. Cock-trance always makes me so hungry! I
still can't believe it though," he said, turning to the youth with a huge
grin. "I had no idea you had such a talented mouth. I'm gonna have to start
making good use of that tongue of yours," He breathed, pulling his son into
a deep, passionate kiss as they stood on the sidewalk in the sunlight, a
few passers by smiling at the display of affection between father and son.

"This is strange, though," the former-human said as they broke the
kiss. "We're acting like lovers, but I still think of you only as my Dad,
and not like a boyfriend. I love you, but not romantically no matter how
affectionate we are. It's a bit confusing."

"Well," Ardenus said, "We Hirsune are a non-monogamous species. We mate
openly and freely. I could strip you down and fuck you right here in the
middle of the street, and no one would complain. I can do the same to
anyone walking by, and would you feel even a bit jealous?"

"No... I wouldn't," Kylenus replied, feeling surprised at the truth he felt
in this statement. He realized he had not the slightest twinge of
possessiveness towards his dad, and would gladly step aside if Ardenus
chose to mate with someone else right in front of him. He knew that his dad
felt the same way, and had already proven so with Harian, showing no need
to even so much as give his permission for them to fuck. Sexuality was
automatically a given for Hirsune. It was who and what they were as a
species.

"But even though this isn't romance or possessiveness," Kylenus added, "I
still feel a very deep love for you... And my brothers too. It's nice, but
confusing."

"The closest thing a Hirsune has to a monogamous mate is his family. If my
dad were still alive, he'd be the same to you as the rest of us. That's how
it is for us, our bond of love is for our family as a whole. We don't need
romance as long as we have each other to love and support us. That just
shows how strongly Hirsune you've become, Son." He leaned down to kiss the
lad again. "I know you're a man now, but I can't stop thinking of you as my
boy. You don't mind, do you? If I still call you that?"

"I'll always be your boy, Dad," Kylenus breathed, Kissing his father deeply
for several minutes.

"So!" an angry voice snapped at them, and they broke the kiss and turned in
shock to see the angry, redheaded elder standing before them, looking
furious. "You went ahead and did it, huh? Gave our sacred gift to one of
those scum!" he spat in fury, his eyes nearly bulging in their sockets.

His protective instincts rising up, Ardenus placed himself in front of
Kylenus, taking an aggressive stance. "Don't you dare try anything!" he
said in a low, threatening tone.

"Look at you!" Volnaro shouted angrily, disgust plain in his voice. "Taking
in one of those filthy things! Have you lost your mind?!?"

The few people in the street stopped in shock, staring at the tableau
before them in front of the dinner.

"What I do is none of your business, Volnaro!" Ardenus shouted back. "Keep
your narrow-minded prejudices to yourself. What happened isn't his fault,
and you have no right to take it out on him! He's not like them!"

"What's all this?" the bald-headed Hirsune elder who served as head of the
religious faculty for the community said, running forward from the temple
to see what all the shouting was all about.

His sleeveless, vestal white robes with golden detail depicting gushing and
urinating phalli upon it, and cut so that it sat open wide on his torso
like a leather bar vest in order to display as much of his nude, furry body
beneath as possible, trailed back from his body as he came jogging up to
them, his penis sagging as he lost his holy erection from
distraction. "What is going on out here? Volnaro, what's the meaning of
this? Why are you making such a racket out here?"

"That's why!" the redhead shot back, thrusting an accusory finger at the
lad behind the farmer.

Welvayan, the head priest, turned with confusion to the lad being shielded
from harm, then started in surprise. He had only glanced at the youth as he
had approached the scene, and thought it was the farmer's oldest son
Markano, but looking back, he studied the unfamiliar face for a moment
before understanding dawned on him. He felt a sexual stir of interest that
distracted him from Volnaro's wrath, and he smiled gently at the lad, who
smiled awkwardly back at him before returning his gaze to his accuser.

"So he Gifted the human. He was well within his rights to do so, and this
solves everything now! The human is now one of us, and we are secure once
more... I see no problem here."

Volnaro looked at the priest in shock. "You're crazy! Those things," he
said, jabbing a finger at the lad, "are filthy murderers!!! I'm not going
to put up with this insult!"

"Kylenus is my son," Ardenus said, his voice a threatening growl. "By seed
as well as in heart, and if you even think of touching him again, I swear
I'll rip your arms off and use them to send you to your forefathers!"

"Come now, Ardenus," the priest replied, shocked at the savagery of the
display of protective instincts the parent displayed for his son. "There's
no need for threats. I don't approve of Volnaro's behavior either, but
there's no need for violence! Surely there's a better answer than
dismemberment and bludgeoning!"

"I'm sorry, Welvayan, but I won't let him vent his fustrations on my boy!"
the farmer growled threateningly.

"Volnaro!" another angry voice shouted. Everyone turned to see mayor Pareus
striding rapidly towards them, looking furious. He drew up to the redhead,
shoving his face into Volnaro's. "I thought we'd discussed this and settled
the matter. What do you think you're doing? Are you seriously trying to do
what I think you are? Even if you are the head of the guard, you have no
right to countermand the council's decision and take matters into your own
hands!"

"You can't seriously be thinking of protecting that monster! I know them!
I've seen with my own eyes what they're capable of!"

"This has nothing to do with that! You're being blinded by-!"

"I KNOW!" the redhead shouted savagely. "I know exactly what they're like!
All they do is hate and destroy!!!"

"What is your problem with me?!?" Kylenus said, stepping out from behind
his father, who tried to hold him back. "No, Dad!" he said, turning to his
father. "You took my virginity and made me an adult. I need to start acting
like one... And that includes dealing with my own problems!" Kylenus had
never felt angrier in his life, and dearly wanted to rip that nasty,
scowling head of its owner's body and beat him to a pulp with it. He closed
his eyes, his body trembling violently, and took deep breaths.

After a few moments, his temper faded slightly, and he was able to speak
again. "You heard me! Why are you acting so hatefully to me? Why?"

"Ky-" Ardenus began, choked with emotion and worry, scared that Volnaro
might hurt the boy, or worse, that Kylenus would haul off and hit the
elder, which would look very bad indeed. But as he saw the lad get his
aggression under control, his tension eased slightly.

Kylenus stepped forward, and seeing the look of worry on the mayor's face,
held up a hand to the elder show he didn't want this to get
violent. Relaxing visibly, Pareus nodded slightly, as more and more Hirsune
who had heard the commotion gathered close to listen.

"Why?" Kylenus said, turning to Volnaro. "Why do you hate me so much? What
did I ever do to you?" he asked, emotion choking his voice at the anger and
injustice he felt.

"You're a human! That's more than enough for me!" Volnaro shot back
angrily.

"And what's got to do with anything?" Kylenus snapped back, his fingernails
digging into the palms of his hands.

"You killed my grandfather!" the redhead spat fiercely.

"WHAT?!?" the lad exclaimed in shock. "NO! I never killed anyone in my
life!"

"I saw them! The humans who killed him! 1939, Portland, Oregon! We were
traveling, my granddad and me, to get supplies. We traveled farther than we
normally ever would've. We had to! Your kind were having their stupid
'World War' and supplies were hard to find! We encountered some humans
during the trip. Granddad took a fancy to them and offered to share his
passion. But those filthy things felt no lust at all! All they felt was
rage and hatred! They hit him, knocking him to the ground, where they spat
on him and called him a queer as they slowly beat him to death! I was still
to little to help him, and couldn't do anything to stop them!" The redhead
sobbed uncontrollably in rage."I could only hide in the bushes... Watching
helplessly as they murdered him! That's why I hate you, Human! Your kind
feel no joy, no passion! All you do is destroy!!!"

Kylenus listened intently to the elder's story, his feelings sliding
towards that of being sickened, then angry once more. "Look at me! You
remember what I looked like as a human, right? Then tell me one thing! Was
I one of them?"

"W-what?' Volnaro, stammered in confusion, shocked by the question.

"Was I one of the two humans who killed your grandfather?"

"What? N-no, but-"

"Then why blame me, personally, for his death?" Kylenus' features softened,
his anger fading. "You're talking about something that happened long before
I was ever even born! I'm only thirty five, for crying out loud! You're
talking about a tragedy from over seventy years ago! That's -literally-
twice as long as I've been alive! ...Look... I'm sorry about what happened
to you. I'm sorry that he died, and I'm sorry that you were forced to watch
it. If you think I feel even the slightest sense of pride at being human,
then think again. I was a victim of homophobia too! I lost my family, my
friends, my job and my home... Simply because I didn't want to hide who I
was anymore. I wanted to live openly and honestly, but when I tried, I was
shunned, treated like a traitor and cast aside by everyone I knew, simply
because I only liked other men. It hurt so much..." Kylenus paused, his
voice thickening, "That I didn't want to live anymore. I came out here
looking to die, and instead, found everything worth living for! And when my
Father offered to make me like him, I gladly gave up my humanity! I hate
them as a whole nearly as much as you do, but I always believed in being
fair. The humans I hate are the ones who shunned me! But I know enough not
to blame all of humanity for the crimes of a few! I only blame the ones
responsible for my pain! And partially, -partially-, because of that, I
didn't want to be a human any more, so I gladly accepted the offering. I'm
a Hirsune now, and proud of it!" he finished, thumping his chest savagely.

He looked at Volnaro, who stood there looking stunned. "I'm sorry if that
isn't good enough for you, but there's nothing more I can say. If you want
to live your life full of pain and anger instead of finding joy in what you
still have, then go right ahead. But don't use me for a foil to get back
and a pair of murdering bigots who died long ago. I don't deserve that. All
I want out of life is as much pleasure as I can get, and to enjoy being
part of a loving family... Like I always longed for."

There was a scattering of applause from the crowd, some of whom praised the
lad with comments like: "Well said!" and "Hear! Hear!"

Stunned into silence, Volnaro starred at the ground... Then, as if in a
trance, he slowly walked away down the street, disappearing from view
without saying another word.

Pareus smiled at Kylenus, and the priest patted him on the shoulder. "Very
well spoken." Welvayan said with a smile.

Ardenus grabbed the lad from behind in a gentle bearhug, kissing the top of
his head. "That's my boy! I'm proud of you, Son!"

Kylenus sighed in contentment, as the townsfolk offered words of praise and
welcome to Kylenus before the crowd dispersed...