The next morning Hands and his pack woke up. Singer had ended up spending the night with them and she was curled around Hands when she woke, "Morning Pack Father, thank you for talking to me. I do feel better than I had." *I am still scared about having a pup since I am not sure about being a mother but you help. There is a lady in Toes' pack who has been helping as well.* Singer rolled out of the bed and after pulling on her robe left the section. She might have to talk to Misty and Skye as well but for the moment she did feel better.

Hands sighed as she left but he decided not to say anything. He also rolled out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. Once inside he took care of business before stepping into the shower. Zahria was there and she turned towards him and gave him a good hug, "Morning Hands and let me do your hair and back." She really liked his new looks and wanted to give him a bit of attention.

He grumbled at her, "I know you just want to get your hands on my ears." Even as he said that he turned to give her access to his back and hair. The water felt good and he was not looking forward to the trial this morning. Having the attention of a pack member was helping him relax as well. All his girls had been so very helpful and it was time for him to pay them back. He had the perfect idea come to him though it would take a bit of time.

She snorted before leaning over and nuzzling an ear, "Of course my pack father, how could I not want to play with your ears? Now relax." Most of the pack wanted to go with him to the trial but they couldn't. He had made his opinion known on that. They were to go to class and keep learning. He was going to deal with this and that was that.

~~~

When they walked into the courtroom it was much like the previous morning. There were a number of people there both as witnesses and reporters. Ray glanced around and kept his arm around Gentle as they walked in. He gave his brother a good hug and finally settled down on one of the benches. Last night both Gentle and Zantha had comforted him. It hadn't been sexual but Ray was honest when he admitted he loved Gentle and was coming to care for Zantha. It was so odd since until he met the Folician's he had rather liked being taller than the women in his life.

Zantha was so different from either Flitter or Gentle. It wasn't just in looks but she came across as... "Oh brother, no wonder I get along with her so well. She is a younger version of Aqua." She was very calm but had an active sense of humor. An example was the other night when she had nipped his ears to get his attention. To be honest that really had shocked him. Ray figured at some point they would have some fun but... He had to clear his mind or certain reactions would distract him.

As he was starting to glower at the front of the court room Gentle and Zantha traded looks over his head. They had a damn good idea of what he was muttering about. Just for good measure Gentle leaned over and nuzzled one of his ears, "Relax Pack Father, we are all here for Hands and the rest." After one more nuzzle she sat back up and slightly adjusted her robe slightly.

Hands had been watching Ray and almost asked what he had been muttering about and decided not to. For some reason, he had a feeling it was one of those adult things and he really didn't want to know. Instead he glanced at Savory and pulled Nuzzle a bit closer to his chest. Yesterday hadn't been fun in any way and he had a feeling there was going to be more of the same. As they were cuddling the bailiff called the court to attention.

Sees Clearly slowly strolled into the room and settled down in her chair, "Bailiff call the court to order." She waited for that before turning it over to the prosecutor.

The prosecutor stood and addressed the court, "Before we continue the line of questioning we would like to address an issue the defense brought up. Since she was questioning the mental status of Pack Father Hands I wish to call Doctor Dancing Wind to the chair." Once Spike had been sworn in the questioning had started.

Zantha moved forward and settled down next to Hands and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He was going to need support for this and since Hands was still recovering. He was doing so much better than when he had been sent to Savory's house. That didn't mean he was doing perfect and with the added stress of what had happened he was going to need everything he could get. She mentally started quietly singing to him via the implant. From behind her she could feel support from Dancer as well.

Ray was going to need support as well but he was an adult and so was his pack. Many of them were there unlike Hands pack. Even though he had ordered them to remain at the temple, it had been decided the trainees didn't need the additional stress, *Just lean on me Hands. I will give you all the support I can.* Zantha felt both Hands and Nuzzle lean against her as they questioning continued.

Dancer and Golden were watching Hands and Ray as they were listening to the conversation. When Sees Clearly called for a break Dancer contacted the prosecutor, *I am sending Hands, Savory, and Nuzzle home to the temple. I am not having them forced to listen to this. If needed I will have them brought back for questioning, from now on unless needed, they are going to remain at the temple.* The others could do what they wished but Hands and the two girls belonged to both her and Golden's temple.

It only took a few moments for it to be discussed before it was agreed on. Dancer contacted Hands, *I am taking you back to the temple. You have better things to do than sit here listening to people talking. You are getting behind in your training.* She stood and after giving several of the others a good nod she swept out of the room.

Hands turned and gave Zantha a good hug before picking Nuzzle back up and walking out. He was starting to get stressed again listening to this bullshit again. When he left the room, he kept his head up and kept as much dignity as possible. Savory walked next to him and stood as proud as he did. Once they made it to an air car and settled down he slumped back and looked strained, "If you don't mind I am going to meditate Temple Mother." He needed time away from everyone.

Dancer gave him a good hug, "There is a meditation room in your section. Go and make use of it and I will check with you later." She watched the three head towards their section. Once she finally made it to her office she contacted the temple's lawyer, "Contact the prosecution and inform them Hands and the other two are not coming back to the trial unless they are actually needed. I can feel he is starting to stress again. I will not have him collapse on us." Once that was done she turned to her desk and wanted to growl. Melody had a nice pile of paperwork for her to deal with.

Later that night the questioning about his mental status caused one of his reoccurring nightmares. It was a flashback to when he had been forced to kill that female. Losing his parents had been horrible to deal with but he didn't have nightmares about that. Having Ray lose Flitter had hurt as well but the Goddess had helped comfort him. Even the stress of helping to save Dreamer caused very few nightmares though there were some.

In the case of that female he had taken a life and even though it was getting better they still came back. Thanks to the questioning it came back in full force. What made it even worse was the defense was in the room questioning him on every move he made in the dream. She was picking apart every action and reaction as he was making them.

When he finally woke up it was with a gasp and he was drenched with sweat. Nuzzle was fussing and obviously having a bad dream as well. Savory thankfully wasn't next to him or he would have been forced to stumble over her. He managed to make it out of bed and to the bathroom. When he almost latched onto one of the sinks and looked in the mirror his hair was slick and greasy looking. His ears were lowered and his face was drawn, "Oh fucking hell that really sucked."

As he was holding onto the sink Light came into the bathroom and wrapped her arms around him, *Savory is comforting one of the other trainee's. She felt you wake up from the nightmare and asked me to check on you. Nuzzle has been tucked in with River and Dreamer for the moment. Let me help you to the shower.* As she touched his shoulders she could feel the remains of the nightmare holding on.

Hands finally leaned back and rested against her comforting arms, "Thanks Light Skies for all that." The offer for help to the shower was appreciated since after the nightmares he always felt like a noodle. It wasn't much later before he was tucked back into bed. When he woke, he found Shadow was curled up with him as well. Misty's section wasn't part of his pack but they had all come to mean so much to him and his girls. They all thought of them as sort of relatives, *Thanks Shadow and give my sister a hug when you go back.*

~~~

When Dancer talked to him later that morning and informed him of her decision Hands had been conflicted. He had felt thankful he wasn't going to have to go back unless needed for additional testimony. He had been really glad Nuzzle Savory weren't going to have to listen to the defense tear apart everything they said. Hands had also been upset because he really did feel he should be there for the entire thing. What he hadn't expected was Dancer's rather firm instructions.

"Pack Father Strong Hands I didn't ask for an opinion or thoughts on this. I have discussed this with Priest Golden Fields and this is our decision. You belong to my temple as the Pack Father of Pack Liraque. You also belong to his temple as a priest trainee. We have decided this is for the best. You need to get back to training both for your education and as a future Priest of the Pack Lord. Is this understood?" Dancer hated coming down like that but it was also time to start reinforcing their authority.

That wasn't to say that Hands didn't respect them, he did, but that almost since he hit the grounds he had been forced to act on his own. Hopefully once the trial ended, or the main trial, he would be able to settle down and stop just reacting. There was still so much for him to start learning about both temples not to mention his new society.

Hands had stiffened up slightly before giving her a slight bow, "I understand Temple Mother. If you will excuse me I need to get back to class. It has already started and I do not wish to miss much." It was most definitely stilted but Hands was sure that Dancer could feel both his relief as well as all the other emotions.

"That is fine Pack Father Hands and I will ensure you will know if you are needed for the trial." Once he left she mentally wanted to sigh. Pups at his age were at that prickly stage where they were no longer little but not quite older. Thankfully with the trainee's it wasn't nearly as bad since they weren't in charge of a pack. Hands had the additional aspect of being a pack father starting to come forwards as well. It was earlier than normal since he had been forced to step up and now he had to really learn what he could and couldn't do. That was frustrating for her and Golden as well. They didn't want to quash his urges to lead but it needed to be tempered.

When Melody came in Dancer bared her teeth at her, "If that is a pile of reports and paperwork I will bite you." She had started clearing the mess up and wasn't in the mood for her desk to be piled up again. She had sensed Hands' nightmare the night before which was one of the reasons she had put her foot down. Dancer didn't know the content of the nightmare but it had been one of the worst for a long time.

Melody sent a soothing surge of affection to Dancer, "I do have more but they are still sitting on my desk for the moment. I figured you would need some tea. This is some that Savory recommended to me. It is called Spicy Red Chai and is very good. I have a few snacks as well." She settled the tray down on the desk before moving around behind Dancers chair and started giving her a good neck massage. As she was working she was slowly draining off some of the stress and tension. Melody was also Dancers Liraque as well as assistant and knew this morning was going to be difficult for her.

Dancer dropped her head forward and groaned slightly in enjoyment, "Thank you Melody and as so many Liraqua have said, you are too good for me." By the time Melody was done, Dancer did feel better and then groaned since some morning nausea hit and she had to take several deep breaths, "Then again I might bite Golden for having done this to me as well."

Melody laughed as she leaned forward and lightly nuzzled Dancer's neck, "I can't wait to see your baby Dancer. I am sure in the end you will be pleased and look back at the entire process as being worth it." After one last nuzzle she started out of the office.

Dancer couldn't resist, "Correct me if I am wrong but isn't your next heat coming up? If you wish to talk to Golden please do." She couldn't resist poking a bit of fun at Melody with that. If she did spend time with Golden she probably would end up pregnant as well. When the closing door cut off a slight growl from Melody, Dancer started laughing, "Oh great, I need to look at creating a nursery for the new pups which are likely to start happening." At least it would distract her.

~~~

That evening Rain went in search of Hands and found him sitting in the boy cave, as Hands called it. Hands had made a joke about since they weren't men yet a boy cave was proper. When he walked in he noticed Hands was sitting in the large chair Hands and claimed. What was somewhat amusing was he had a stein of something he was drinking. It was comforting as well, "Pack Father do you have a few minutes to talk?"

Hands had heard the boy come in since Rain hadn't been trying to be quiet. For a brief moment, he almost told Rain not at the moment since he was still very irritated with Dancer and Golden, "I am thinking about some things but we can talk for a few." Hands wished Rain would get more comfortable with calling him by his name instead of pack father. Occasionally the pup would slip and call him Hands but that was usually when he was really distracted.

Rain moved over and settled down in a chair near Hands. The chair was large enough he had to pull his legs up and curl up to be comfortable, "I hope this won't disturb you too much Pack Father but I had a dream last night. It was in a place sort of like this but..." He fumbled for the words, "well bigger. There was a large male who Pack Father Golden Fields felt a lot like. There were a number of females scattered around as well. In the dream, he welcomed me before..." Rain was scratching behind one ear as he tried to remember what else had been said.

Hands sat up when Rain started talking and a small smile played across his face. For now, this had caught his attention and Hands could put his annoyance with the Temple Mother to the side, "Let me guess he had a really large stein of ale or beer, the females were all lovely, and he had a presence to him?" Toes had talked about his visit to the Pack Lord's domain at one point. Hands had met the Pack Lord as well.

Rain looked at Hands and his eyes were starting to open wide as he listened to Hands describing the dream, "Just like that Pack Father. He had a really strong presence to him but it was really comforting. One of the ladies was holding me and she made me feel really comfortable and happy. Have you had this dream before as well?"

Hands snorted before he leaned back in his chair and took a drink of his juice, "Rain I think the Pack Lord just stopped by to say hello. No I haven't met him a dream like you did but I have met him and our Goddess." A wry smile crossed his face as he was speaking, "My pur widdle brain wanted to melt down. She did like the people bones I offered her thankfully." He had to start laughing, *Golden I have Rain with me and the Pack Lord stopped by in his dreams last night. What should I do?*

Rain stopped and stared at Hands and his eyes widened even more, "Really?" His voice was a squeak and he couldn't really figure out what he should feel, "But why me, I'm just a pup." Now he sounded like Dreamer even if he didn't realize it.

Golden shook his head as he headed down to Hands' section. He had a feeling the Pack Lord was going to take a hand in this, *Give me a minute Hands and Rain. We need to talk about this.* He walked into the Pack section and after handing out some hugs he told the girls they needed privacy. When Golden walked in he gave Rain's ears a quick pet before he settled down in another chair, "Tell me about the dream son."

Rain leaned into the pet for a moment before giving Golden a serious look. It took him a few moments to realize he was staring, "Sorry Pack Father but you feel similar to the person in the dream." He repeated what Hands had said verbatim.

A comforting sense flowed into the room. Hands and Golden traded looks before turning to look at Rain. His expression said it all since Rain was looking almost enraptured. When the Pack Lord stepped out of one wall all three of them stood and bowed slightly to him, "Welcome to the temple Gentle Rain." The Pack Lord moved over to the boy and knelt and took his hands. When he did the color of his bracelets changed, "You are one of my potential Pack Fathers son. Look to Golden, Ray, and Hands to teach you what you need. My blessings on you my son." He stood and faded from view.

Hands was somewhat more than shocked, "Well crap, that puts the fox amongst the chickens." Nobody here would understand what that mean though he did.

All Rain could do was stare at his bracelets before he burst into tears.

Hands looked over at Golden before he moved over to Rain and pulled the boy into a gentle hug, "Hello Potential Pack Father Gentle Rain. Welcome to the other pack fathers and..." He settled for giving the pup a good hug. As he was holding him Salty walked in and over to them. Her expression was composed as she approached them.

She wrapped her arms around the two of them and lightly nuzzled Rain's cheek, "I need to talk to you Gentle Rain. May I please?" She settled for holding him as she waited for Hands to reply. Salty had been called to the room.

Both Golden and Hands could feel something in the air and Hands was forced to release Rain into Salty's arms. Hands finally stood up and stepped over next to Golden as they waited. It actually wasn't a long wait but if felt that way.

Rain turned into Salty's arms and leaned against her, "What do you wish to talk about Liraque-Trainee?" Somehow, he knew what she was going to ask was going to both change and rock his world. So much had happened that he was frankly terrified.

Salty turned him towards her and held him, "I, Liraque-trainee Salty Johnson renamed you. Will you please accept me as your Liraque?" There was a faint hint of power as she asked which caused the others to freeze in the room.

Gentle Rain leaned into her hug and rested his head against hers since they were of a similar height. When she asked him the question he felt time stop for a moment. A different feel and voice impacted on him. What it really said he would never be able to tell anyone even when he was