{"sf1_id":712156,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Chapter 6","author":"Aeturnus","words":1922,"posted_at":"2014-06-01T01:57:00.000Z","tags":["Coyotetaur","Drama","Fantasy","Human"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/712156-chapter-6","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/712156","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=712156\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"6      For the next couple\nof weeks Martin uses most of his free time to tutor Trevor, but wishes he could\ndo more. Whenever he tries to help around the house, his parents tell him to\neither lie down and/or don't worry about it. The coyotetaur hates how they're\ntreating him. He has a nasty cut. It's not like he lost a leg. At least his\ndoctor sees nothing wrong with him staying active. Martin hopes he never\nbecomes seriously ill. Having no choice but to stay in bed would drive him\ninsane.      The coyotetaur\ncouldn't control his tail the day the doctor tells him he can return to his\nduties, and to celebrate the occasion, he and Trevor run into the woods and\nhave a couple of wrestling matches. They return to Cauldron by late afternoon.\nMartin shakes his head as he carries Trevor on his back. No wonder his friend\nspends most of his time in the woods and/or at the farm when they're not\ntogether: there's hardly anybody their age to play with.      Martin attends the\nlatest meeting knowing his dad has a point. It doesn't hurt to hear what the\nmayor and deputy mayor has to say when they say it, and to voice his opinion\nwhenever possible. The coyotetaur sits through the entire thing biting his\ntongue. He wants to tell off certain residents, but knows that'll only cause\nhim to be thrown out. At least the mayor and deputy mayor made it clear hunting\nno longer falls on just him and Trevor, but hearing residents complain about\nhaving to go out and do some dirty work angers him. Then the bad news:\nelections will be held at the beginning of winter. Martin doesn't see the current mayor\nand deputy mayor winning.      The coyotetaur wags\nhis tail when Trevor mentions he's ready to return to their duties. They\ndiscuss when they should leave and how long their trip should be, and agree to\nnever return to where they ran into that wild boar. Martin tells Trevor he'll\nsee him later and heads home. It'll be nice to leave the house for a couple of\ndays. He may even see if his old man wants to tag along. Give him a chance to\nlearn a thing or two from Trevor. Martin finds his parents in the backyard, and\nsees the expression on his mom's face. That alone ruins his moment.      \"Ma, pa? What's going\non?\"      \"Your father... has\nsomething to say,\" Mrs. Patton said.      \"Today I've decided\nto quit, and I told Mr. Watson so shortly after the meeting. We both knew my\nday was bound to come so I decided to end things now besides of dragging it\non,\" Zues looks at his son. \"I'll also be leaving early tomorrow morning.\"      \"Where you going,\npa?\"      \"I don't know, but\nsomewhere that's better than here. Before you say, no, you're to stay here.\nI'll return for you and your mother when I have a new job and found a house. I\njust wish I know how long it'll take.\"      \"I wish you'd rethink\nthat, dear,\" Martha grabs her husband's hand. \"It's safer to travel in groups.\"      \"I know, hon, but if\nsomething happens to us all, what then?\" Zues kisses his wife's cheek. \"I'll be\nfine. Traveling shouldn't take long, it's the other things that might take me a\nwhile.\"      \"Have you talked to\nTrevor? He can give you some pointers, pa.\"      \"Mr. Watson said the\nsame thing. I may consider it. I bet I know what else you want to ask.\"      Martin nods. \"Think\nwe can-\"      \"Absolutely not.\nTheir wellbeing isn't our concern.\"      \"Come on, pa. You\nknow they're both hard workers. Trev can bathe us and his ma can clean our\nhouse.\"      \"You mean treat them\nlike servants? I thought you had more respect for your friend.\"      \"I do, pa, and that's\nnot what I meant. I'm sure they'll want to do something else.\"      \"I'm aware, and the\nanswer's still no.\"      \"But pa-\"      \"No! No more.\"      \"Listen to me, pa.\nYou'll need Trevor for your travels. Do you know how to treat certain wounds,\nor which leaf is safe to chew on? Can you even hunt?\"      \"I'll take my\nchances.\"      \"Please take his\nadvice, dear,\" Martha said. \"I want you to come back for us.\"      \"I'll consider it,\nbut he's to stay put when I return. His and his mom's place is here.\"      You're wrong, pa.\nTheir place is anywhere but here.\"      \"Know what, fine. I\npromise to think upon it during my travel, but I'm not making any promises,\"\nZues looks at Martin. \"Happy?\"      \"It's at least better\nthan a no, and they don't even have to stay with us, pa. Just long enough until\nthey can get their own place.\"      \"As I said, son, I'll\nthink upon it. Moving along, anything you want to tell us?\"      \"Yeah, one. Trev and\nI plan to go on a hunting trip tomorrow,\" Martin looks at his dad. \"I was\nhoping to have you tag along, pa.\"      \"Come to think of it,\nI will,\" Zues rubs his chin. \"This will be a short trip, and I'd like Trevor to\nshow me what he knows. We leave early tomorrow morning and we come back the\nmorning after. Go inform Trevor the plans, and bring him here.\"      \"Yes, pa.\"      Martin finds his\nfriend at the farm, and tells him the news while bringing him to his house. The\ncoyotetaur doesn't mention the other half of the conversation he had with his\ndad. They spend the rest of the evening going over what they'll bring, how far\nthey'll travel and preparing their weapons.       Zues lies beside the\nfire pit and swats at an insect flying around his face. Now he remembers why he\ndoesn't care for camping. Sleeping outside and having to deal with bugs isn't\nhis idea of fun. Zues holds back a chuckle. It's a couple of things he'll have\nto put up with during his travels. Shame nobody in the village has a map. At\nleast he'd know how long it'll take to travel to certain places.      The coyotetaur pays\nclose attention to everything Trevor does. He now understands where Martin\ncomes from when he says the human isn't nearly as dumb as everybody thinks.\nZues wishes he wasn't part of the group. He accepts a flint and hatchet, and\ngoes to work starting a fire. The process is a lot harder outdoors than it is\nindoors. The coyotetaur thumps his tail when sparks ignite the dry timber after\nthe thirtieth strike. He studies his hands. They're a little sore from holding\nthe rock and hatchet, but it beats going without a fire.      Mr. Patton helps his\nson prepare dinner and watches Trevor gather additional wood. There's more the\nhuman can teach him, but he doesn't expect to camp outside all that often. Zues\nplaces two slabs of meat on a flat rock. They've done little in the way of\nhunting. Mr. Durant won't be happy when they return, but he should also know by\nnow game has gone elsewhere. Mr. Patton stretches his front legs and asks how\nmuch wood he should gather. He nods at the explanation. Collecting at least\nthree days worth isn't a bad idea. It's one thing to keep in mind on the rare\nchance he has to sleep outside.      Zues leads Martin and\nTrevor back to his house early the next morning, and prepares for his trek. He\nlearned a lot during their small trip, more than he thought he would. The\nbiggest involves the bond his son has with the human, and that alone has him\nthinking about their conversation. He had no plans to bring Trevor along when\nhe returns for his family, but now it's one thing he'll be sure to think about.\nZues puts the last of his things into a knapsack, kisses his wife on the cheek\nand hugs his son before leaving. He hears Trevor bound after him.      \"Mr. Patton, sir, is\nthere a way I can convince you to stay a little longer?\" Trevor walks alongside\nthe coyotetaur. \"Or find somebody to travel with?\"      \"I'm afraid not. The\nlonger I put this off, the harder it'll become for me to leave,\" Zues said.\n\"Any reason why?\"      \"I don't want Mrs.\nPatton and Martin to go through what my mom and me went through.\"      \"That I understand,\nand I'm aware I'm taking a risk by traveling by myself, but I'd rather not put\nmy family at risk until I know it's safe.\"      \"Forgive me, sir, but\nthings won't stay the same. You may run into trouble on your way back.\"      \"I swear I'll be\ncareful. I do know of a place that's close by. Hopefully they'll have a map I\ncan look over,\" Zues said. \"I have a question for you, Trevor. If I were to\nbring my family with me this very moment, would you be willing to come? I know you\nand Martin talked about leaving some time ago.\"      \"As I told him, sir,\nI have to make sure my mom's being taken care of. Mr. Watson said he'll bring\nher in, but I also have to show him what to give her. I would be willing to\nleave this moment if you're willing to wait for me to take care of those couple\nof things,\" Trevor closes his eyes. \"She's not doing well.\"      \"I'm sorry to hear.\nHow bad?\"      \"Bad. She wants me to\nleave Cauldron. She doesn't want me around to watch her slowly die.\"      \"Losing one's parents\nis never easy,\" Zues stops at the edge of town. \"I'm afraid this is where we\nmust part ways. Thanks for the company.\"      \"Safe travels, sir.\"      \"Trevor, have you\ntold Martin what you told me regarding your mother?\"      \"Not yet, sir. He's a\ngood friend, but I'm afraid of what'll happen if I do tell him. I wish-\"      \"What's done is done,\nit's too late to apologize. I would've found out even if I wasn't leaving\ntoday, and I would rather hear it from you,\" Zues looks at Trevor. \"I do\nsuggest telling Martin what you told me, but I won't hold it against you if you\ndon't.\"      Trevor nods, \"Thanks\nfor allowing me to follow you to the edge of town, sir. I know you didn't have\nmuch love for me at first, but I also know that's no longer the case.\"      \"We have to change\nour way of thinking, it's the only way to make progress. Plus I've always been impressed\nby how hard you work. I just wish I wasn't so stubborn to appreciate it,\" the\ncoyotetaur said. \"I do apologize for the things I've said and done throughout\nthe years, and I'm afraid this conversation must come to an end or I'll never\nleave. I'll see you when I return, Trevor.\"      Trevor fights the\nurge to disobey the coyotetaur. He wants to help Mr. Patton stay safe and to\nkeep him company during his travels, but he also has to believe he'll be fine.\nThe human walks back into town once he can longer see Martin's dad and looks at\nthe ground. He misses those heart to heart chats with his dad. Trevor returns\nto his friend's house, and fills him in on part of the conversation he had with\nMr. Patton. He never mentions his mom's illness. Trevor asks Martin how long he\nwants to wait for his dad, and agrees to wait until around late winter, early\nspring.","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/696064-chapter-5.json"}