The Gift, Edward's Chapter 6, Part 4
Story by comidacomida on SoFurry
Welcome to the continuation of Edward's "The Gift" story line on SF! This is post 4 in Chapter 6.
Having already heard from the other spirits and two-out-of-three parts of The Ancient One, Edward puts Green on notice by telling him that anything the Spirit has to share with him can be done in the presence of everyone else. Green eventually agrees, but has the last laugh when he informs Edward that the Human will have to choose what they discuss. That means, of course, that readers will have to make the decision. Here is what readers chose:
1) -- went straight for the throat. "You keep saying how nobody and nothing matters to you, but every time we talk about my mom you get quiet like she's different. Why?"
The Gift
Edward's Storyline, Chapter 6.4
copyright comidacomida 2018
The furry Dragon brought up a good point, and it helped me make sense of everything. "So... this War Spirit chick... she's not just looking to become more powerful, she's paying a huge amount of upkeep for her power."
Tom spoke fatalistically from his place in the corner. "Yes... and to do otherwise means she would risk oblivion. While she may overlook us involving ourselves in her affairs this time, we had best not make a habit of it."
I glanced from The Ancient One to Tom, then back again. "Okay... and what about Green? Green said he had something to share too."
The green Dragon's deep, bass voice rumbled out of Ch'upikaq's muzzle. "Yes I do... but it is for you alone."
He never wanted to make anything easy. Rubbing my forehead, I balanced the idea of giving Green his turn against giving the other Spirits the cold shoulder. "Come on... everyone else shared in the open... you can too."
The Ancient One's body slowly lengthened and broadened, becoming Green, whose muzzle remained resting on the coffee table. He looked, by all accounts, like a lazy lizard sunning itself on a rock as he rumbled "Red and Ch'upikaq did not share in the open-- they showed you something in your mind."
Green was apparently interested in arguing, but if that was the case I was more than capable of proving my point. "Sure... fine-- but they did it in front of everyone else. There's no reason you can't too."
"Because I don't want to."
It was a very 3-year-old thing to say but that didn't make it invalid from his point of view, I was sure. Regardless, I wasn't going to play that game. "So you're not going to share whatever you want to show me because I won't let you do it in private?"
His snort was accompanied by a very straight-forward "Yes."
I wasn't completely done messing with him. "Yes, you WILL share it, or yes, you are not going to share it."
Letting out a long, grumbling sigh, Green rotated his massive body, head slipping off the table and onto the ground so he could roll onto his back and look up at me from his place on the floor. "You do not want what I have to share?"
At that point I was starting to lose my patience. "You know... for being such a savage, violent, primal killing machine you sure can 'passive-aggressive' like a bitch."
Red hijacked Green's muzzle before the scaled Dragon could reply. "I do not believe 'passive-aggressive' can be used as a verb, Edward."
Dealing with Green was enough; I didn't want to have to cope with Red's corrections too. "Well I just did."
Rather than press the issue, Green extended a wing along the ground, motioning to it with his arm. "Come, Edward. Lay with me."
I scoffed. "On the floor?"
The Dragon scoffed right on back. "I was going to suggest your room but you said you wanted to stay here with everyone."
Rolling my eyes, I stayed where I was. "You aren't making this easy, you know. Is this a Green-style temper tantrum? Are you being difficult on purpose?"
Rather than answering my accusation he just repeated his earlier statement. "You do not want what I have to share?"
Sighing, I slid off the sofa. "Fine... but only because you're willing to do it here with everyone else. This is called compromise, Green, and it's the sign of a well-adjusted individual."
He didn't provide a comeback for my statement, laying where he was as he extended his arm to me. On my needs, I crawled the few feet over to him and took hold of his talon, steadying myself for another one of those strange and wild rides I got from Red and Ch'upikaq... but, other than feeling his talon in my hand, I got nothing. "Okay... was something supposed to happen."
He spoke to me in a tone that sounded like he thought I was stupid. "You aren't laying down, boy."
I responded back to him with just as much apathy. "Well, your wing is in the way."
Green flexed his wing slightly. "If I do not want you laying on my wing then you will go right through it. I am a Spirit, Edward-- did you forget already?"
His continued jabs didn't do much to make me feel any better about having him around but, truth be told, considering his talon felt so physical the courtesy of not flopping down on one of his appendages had been more on my mind than the fact that we could pass through one another. "Well excuse me for showing a little courtesy."
The Dragon chuckled, even as I laid down, right on top of his wing. Rather than have it pass through me, the membranous limb took my full weight. He folded it inward, wrapping it around me with surprising flexibility and, even though he could only half-close it, I was left with an almost sleeping-bag feel surrounding me. He had craned his neck so that his muzzle bobbed over my shoulder. "I am not so delicate to worry about whether you lay on or beside me, boy. Save your courtesy for those in need of it."
Sighing to myself, I rolled my eyes. "I don't know why I even bother..."
I felt his thin, warm, forked tongue tickle my ear. "Because you are a Human."
Scoffing at that, I went to slap his muzzle away but I found that my arms were wrapped up in his wing against my body. It wasn't so tight a hold that I couldn't move but, by the time I had worked my arm to where I had a clear shot of his face he'd already moved away. I couldn't say why I was so willing to argue about everything Green said-- he just brought it out of me. "Not all Humans are considerate... or even polite, for that matter. Most aren't, in fact."
His enormous lungs worked like huge bellows, his chest rising and falling before he stated with a sigh "Your mother was both."
It was one of the very few times The Ancient One had brought up my mom without me initiating the conversation. It was shocking in a sense, but it was also frustrating. "Are we going to talk about that War Spirit, or my mom?"
He pulled me sideways, rotating his body until I was laying on him rather than just his wing. "I said I had something to share, but I did not say what."
Despite my frustration with the Spirit I was surprised by just how much I didn't mind being coddled-- some primal joy of being babied or something? I couldn't say; I wasn't babied much as a kid. Finally surrendering if for no reason other than to encourage Green to get to the point, I asked what I'm sure he wanted me to ask. "What are you going to show me, Green?"
I was truly surprised when his voice turned surprisingly warm and compliant. "Whatever you wish to understand, Son of Sofia. You are our Seeker. I will hide nothing from you."
It wasn't the first time I'd heard The Ancient One use the term 'Seeker', and I could tell there was something special in its meaning. It was obliviously important, but I still wasn't exactly sure HOW important. Determined to put that to the test, I--