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From: "Stasya T. Canine" <stasyatk9SPAMUNDESIRED@juno.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} (rp) The Luck-Bringers - Merlin and The Twins - The Power that Binds Us Together (1/?) M-herm-herm nosex shapre-shifting (Stasya T.	Canine)
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M-herm-herm nosex shapre-shifting 

---

The Power that Binds Us Together
'The Luck-Bringers'
Merlin and The Twins (Cathy and Becky) by: Stasya T. Canine

---

I am not a religious person.  Yet, there is something in the aura of many
churches that draws me in and calms me.  Often, when I need a place of
quiet sanctuary, I will find a small country chapel and pause briefly to
fill myself with that gentle peace.

Many centuries ago, one such pause changed my life and that of two others.

* * *

As I knelt before the altar and began my own ritual of peace, the priest
gasped and then walked over to stand on my right and watch.

Once I finished, I looked up and smiled slightly.  "My ways are not yours,
but we have much in common.  What I do in no way defiles that which you
hold to be Holy.  Were it so, I would have paid the price for such
sacrilege many years ago."

"Indeed?"  His smile was slightly forced.  "There are legends of a man
with powers not given to ordinary men."

"Is that so?  Then if those legends have any basis in fact, He would have
long ago made His decision about the fate of that person.

"Wouldn't you agree?"

He nodded thoughtfully.  "Perhaps it is an omen."  What was this?  I was
seldom greeted with such poorly concealed eagerness when discovered.

"An omen?"  I looked back at the altar and inwardly sighed.  "Good Father,
I have the impression that you have a reason for hoping a certain legend
is based on facts.  Facts that, in all honesty, are rather prosaic and
hardly worth the tales they have spawned."

I carefully stood and faced him.  "Not many priests seek the wisdom of
those not of their faith.  I thank you for the peace of your chapel but I
sense you desire my company for more than just quiet contemplation."

He nodded and relaxed a bit.  "You do not deny the legends?"

"It depends on the legend."

He smiled at my careful response.

I continued briskly.  "To save time, while I am known by many names,
'Merlin' is indeed one of them.  Is that the legend you wish to be true?"

"Perhaps."  He hedged.  "After much soul-searching and prayer, it came to
me that a local problem may be solved easily if I could find someone who
was known to be on the side of 'light' and also skilled in things usually
associated with those who walk the path of 'darkness'."

"You are extremely open-minded."  I was pushing things a bit.  I wanted to
see just how comfortable he was with 'magic'.

He turned his head and gazed at the alcove with the cross in it.  "My
superiors have often said it is my one great failing.  I do not 'prosecute
the faith' as strongly as they feel I should.  It is why I find myself
here, serving as a simple village priest, rather than in finer
surroundings in some large city."

"However, I have been called to do my work.  If He, in His wisdom,
requires me to do it here..."  He turned back and smiled gently.  "I will
do the best job I know how.  If the salvation of my flock requires that I
admit there are things that He has chosen to keep hidden from most people,
things my faith would find distressing if I openly admitted their
existence, then I will freely confess to such thoughts."

He raised his voice and called out.  "Come to me, my little ones.  This is
the person I have been seeking."

Two wolfhounds bounded into the church and settled at his side.  I studied
them and I had the impression they were studying me.

"Two hounds have caused you to seek me out?  I fail to see..."  I
hesitated as a rare but familiar shift in the currents of power touched
me.

"Witch's spawn and worse is what these two have been called.  Correct?"  I
looked at them and then at the priest.  "True servants of the dark could
not seek the sanctuary of the church in their time of peril. Unwillingness
to accept the truth of this 'detail' is about to lead your flock into a
rash decision.  A decision that will firmly place the feet of the people
you care for--on a path you do not wish to see them follow."

"It is so."  He sighed.  "I cannot hide them much longer.  There is
another, more embarrassing detail.   A rumor that I can neither confirm
nor deny.  I will leave the three of you to make your own path.  I shall
pray for your success."  With that, he turned and walked down the aisle
and out the door.  There was a soft click as the door closed and then a
firmer thunk as he locked the door.

I turned back and confronted the hounds.  "Well?  You either trust me or
you don't.  I am indeed one of those known as 'Merlin'.  Your powers,
whatever they may be, will not embarrass me or cause me to abandon you to
an uncertain future in this village.

"If the legends you've heard are the same ones I hear all the time, they
all agree on one thing.  I am not an oathbreaker.

"The good Father left a window open.  I sense that he is distracting the
people from their search for the two of you.  Wisdom dictates that we
leave while we have the chance to do so, quietly."

I shifted myself into the shape of an owl and flew though the open window.
 To my relief, the hounds bounded through the window and followed me into
the forest.

* * *

I set an easy pace for them as we traveled.  After about a mile, I settled
to the ground in front of them and shifted back to my natural form.

"Now, I think it's time the two of you shifted into your natural selves.
If you shifted while naked, rest assured that nakedness does not bother
me.  I will leave it up to you to decide if you want me to watch the
process."  I turned away and waited.

"Merlin?  Thank you."  The voice was female.

"You're welcome."

"Before you turn and see us, the rumor the priest spoke of is true.  We
are not as normal people."  It was a second female voice but it was
slightly different than the first one.

"This difference you speak of?"  I gazed off at the surrounding trees.
There was a long silence during which there was a whispered conversation.

"When we became women, we also developed certain parts that let us
function as men would.  This, and waking up one night to find ourselves as
hounds - is the extent of our physical differences."

I nodded slowly.  "May I turn and greet you properly?"

"We are naked."  It was a whisper.

"So?  Would it make you more comfortable if I also, was naked?"  I heard
another hurried conference.

Instead of answering my question, the two of them slowly walked around to
stand in front of me.  I smiled.  "I see nothing more or less than two
very beautiful people.  Your 'differences' do not bother me."

They studied my face.  I studied them as intently as they examined me.  I
didn't bother to hide my curiosity at their unusual forms.  I had heard of
such but never seen people who were both female and male.

I smiled slightly.  "I have heard of such as you.  This is the first time
I have been gifted with a meeting."

"And?"  It is a challenge.

"I find you both highly desirable.  Perhaps it is too soon for this but,
in addition to friendship, I will offer more."  I paused briefly and then
spoke softly.  "Should you ever desire it, I offer you a chance to find
out how deep my feelings for the two of you run within me."

"We have just met.  How do we know you speak the truth about your
feelings?  Many have spoken thusly."  The one speaking shrugged.  "You
have seen the results of our trusting mere words.  Only the priest proved
himself by his actions.  All others have used honeyed words to take
advantage of us and then discarded us when they discovered the truth of
our natures."

"I would do this by speaking the one language that is incapable of
concealing the truth."

I looked at each of them before I continued.  "I would stand naked in your
presence and let my body be your window into my soul."

They looked at each other for a long time.  The more self-assured one
spoke without looking at me.  "Would you speak thusly if we were in our
other bodies?"

I spread my hands in a gesture of helplessness.  "I am a man.  I freely
admit that certain desires rage within my body.  I had not considered what
you ask.  My oath that I am willing to expose myself under those
conditions and abide by your decision."

"Your oath is enough for now.  Perhaps, someday, we will ask you to honor
it."  She turned to me.  "My name is Cathy.  My sister's name is Becky. We
have no coin with which we can repay you for your kindness - other than
our friendship and our bodies."

I nodded in understanding.  "I do not ask for anything that is not freely
given.  It is my way to help those I find in need."

I smiled slightly.  "If you care to join me, you would be welcome in our
village.  Accepting the odd is a way of life there.  In the meantime,
allow me to gift you with some suitable clothing for traveling."  I held
out my hands and simple country dresses appeared and fell to drape
themselves over my arms.

They took them and put them on.  It was Becky who spoke next.  "Thank
you."  She stepped forward and hugged me.  Cathy hesitated before
embracing both of us.  As I wrapped my arms around them, I felt them
stiffen and then relax.  I braced myself and waited as their bodies shook
in time to their crying.

"Merlin?"  Becky finally recovered her composure.  "Why did you help us?"

Instead of answering directly, I let go of them and used my head to point
at the path.  "We should be moving.  If the villagers are typical, they
will search for a bit and then give up.  We're ahead of them now."  I
smiled to take the sting out of my words.  "We should not tempt fate by
lingering."

They nodded and we started off.

"To answer your question, I have sworn a private oath to help those who
are 'unusual' or who have somehow discovered that there is more to this
world than what is seen by normal eyes."

Not surprisingly, one of them asked the obvious.  "And if we had been
ordinary, but in trouble?"

I moved to hold a branch out of their way as we passed a tree.  As she
passed me I looked at her calmly.  "I would have helped, even then.  I
might not have been as ready with my offer of physical truth and the
invitation to join us at our village."

She blushed and then offered me a wan but honest smile for my candor. "You
aren't like other men, are you?"

I gave her a slight bow.  "You aren't like other women."

Slowly, as we walked, they began to open up and tell me some of their past
and their hopes for a better future.  After a few miles it became clear
that they had been so often misused by men  that they were uncomfortable
in my presence.

At dusk, when we paused for the night in a small clearing, I decided to
take action to relieve their fears.

"Abide for a moment.  I can sense that you are uncomfortable in my
presence.  I will do something to help allay your fears, which, in all
honesty, are justified by past mistreatment."

They looked at me and then each other.  "Fears such as ours cannot be
eased by mere words from a man.  How do you propose to overcome that?"

"Watch, and learn."

I walked to the center of the clearing.  Once there I raised my right hand
and held it outward in greeting.  "Lady Kay."  One of them gasped in
surprise as I started my request.  "Keeper and more.  I seek your help. If
you would, follow my heart to where I now stand."

The dying sun illuminated a whirl of sparkles that gathered at my final
words.  Without fanfare, a woman in a gingham dress suddenly stood in
front of me and reached for my hand.

"Merlin.  It has been long since you called."  She smiled slightly.  "Now,
seeing the two young ladies who shiver in the cold, I begin to suspect the
problem."

I let go of her hand.  "In truth, they are indeed part of the problem. Or,
rather more accurately, I am."

She tilted her head slightly and waited.

I didn't bother to hide the anger in my eyes.  "These two young Ladies,
through no fault of their own and without desire on their part, have been
set on the path of power.  Instead of joyous discovery, they have been
ill-used and cast aside.  A village priest discovered me while I was
seeking renewal in his chapel and had the courage to seek my help rather
than cast me out."

When I paused for breath and to regain control, she turned to study the
twins.  Her voice was gentle.  "And in spite of his willingness to help,
he is, after all, a man.  There is more to your shivering than the simple
chill of the night air."

They glanced at me and then nodded.  If I had them identified correctly,
it was Cathy who said it for both of them.  "He is.  There is."  She
carefully straightened herself and spoke with all the dignity she could
muster.  "Lady Kay.  Who are you, that Merlin must ask--rather than
summon?"

Before Kay could answer I spoke softly.  "She is The Lady, Keeper of
Merlin's Castle, and my heart.  She is also my true and unconsummated love
who patiently helps me while I wait for 'The One who will complete me as
no other does'."

Kay turned to me with surprise in her eyes.  I held up a hand to forestall
any comments.  "They would have learned the truth soon enough.  I have
already offered them the truth of the body and a life in our home, if they
desire it."

She turned back to them and her expression was wary.  "Is this speaking
true?"

Becky wilted slightly and her sister caught her as she sagged.  "It is. We
have nowhere else to go.  As for his offer of the body, we haven't decided
yet."

"Merlin?  The offer was not casual?"

"No.  They are shape-shifters and would be unlikely to be welcome anywhere
else."  I hesitated and then sighed before continuing.  "I have seen them
naked.  There are desires of the flesh involved.  That is natural.  More
importantly, I feel the calling that fills my soul, as it does when I
think of you."

She laughed very softly and gently.  "Merlin, you have always been careful
in these matters.  To be blunt, you love them."

"Indeed, it is so.  I love them both."

"Then I will be gentle with them."  Kay reached for the girls and wrapped
them in a hug.  "We will be waiting for you."  The three of them vanished.

---

Stasya T. Canine
April 26, 2001

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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