A Reason to Live pt 8
*Disclaimer*
The following (part 8 of the series 'A Reason to Live') contains both mystical/metaphysical and Judeo-Christian Religious aspects. If you are offended by any/all of these subjects, you are strongly encouraged to avoid reading this or any subsequent works with the title 'A Reason to Live' that are written by me. Thank you for your compliance.
A Reason to Live pt. 8
Kyle stood, hidden behind a rocky outcrop, waiting, as a fox ran down the mountain path. At the last second, he stuck his foot out and tripped the figure. She let out a startled yelp as she went sprawling into the air. Moving swiftly, Kyle caught her before she hit the loose gravel path.
"Who are ya and why are ya followin' me?!" he demanded. The fox coughed in reply, the air having been knocked out of her from colliding with Kyle's arm.
"That hurts me, you know, Kyle. You haven't even been gone a full decade and you don't remember me?" The two Furs stood face to face. A light morning breeze had picked up, and the fox's tribal garb rippled in the wind.
"Look" said the jackal, sighing. "To the best of my recollections, I've never met ya before in my life. And ya still haven't told me why yer followin' me."
"I'm not a spy or anything if that's what you're thinking." She trailed off, then spoke again. "My fur used to be reddish orange, if that might help jog your memory, 'cause I'm sure we've met before." Kyle turned his head slightly, staring off into the distance and towards the mountain range. Deep within his mind, an old memory resurfaced.
"I guess its been awhile, Shelly. But you still have not told me why yer here." The jackal stared into the fox's ash grey eyes.
"This is how you greet your friends, by nearly knocking them out?" she laughed, but not bitterly. "If you must know, I had to leave the village, my home." The jackal did not respond, merely continued walking down the path.
"Hey!" Shelly shouted. "You aren't just going to leave me here, are you?" Kyle turned around and looked straight at her.
"That was my plan yes." He spoke rhetorically "Ya can walk can't ya?" Once again he started walking. The fox hurried to catch up.
"You've lived in the desert longer than anyone I know; you know how to survive out there. I," Shelly faltered, not used to having to admit her inadequacies, "I don't." The jackal walked on, but called out his response over his shoulder.
"If I brought ya with, ya would only be a hindrance; ya know neither of the desert plants and herbs, nor of mystical lore of the desert and surrounding lands. On top of that, I remember now why I spent as little time with ya as I could; yer so damnably annoying." Tears began to well up in the fox's eyes.
"You're cruel, Kyle, and I think you like being cruel. It's why you left the village to live in the desert, isn't it? So no one who wanted to be with you could."
Kyle walked on, indifferent to Shelly's tears. She called out one last time, hoping to elicit a response from him. "You're a heartless bastard Kyle! I hope you die out there!" Without even breaking stride, Kyle countered.
"No, I have a heart. There's a monster out there, however, who fits the heartless bill." Kyle kept moving, eventually disappearing over a sand dune, leaving the sobbing Fur in his wake.
When the roll was called, not one of the tribals was missing. Though some were in various stages of intoxication, everyone was gathered in the open area inside the walls. Murmurs ran through the assembled crowd. A hushed silence fell over the gathered Furs as the man in black, followed closely by the wolf chieftain, moved to address the group. The wolf cleared his throat, then nervously addressed the villagers.
"Uh hello everyone. I've, uh, got something important to say to you all." Drunken cheers from the crowd encouraged the leader. "You all remember, a few days ago, when I summoned you all to discuss the human's proposition? Well, he's here now to collect." An uproar began in the ground which threatened to drown out the wolf. The power armored man spoke out above the crowd.
"Listen now, and listen well to what I have to say. Your leader here" the man pointed to the wolf. "Did call a meeting, to which all of you were invited, and there you agreed to my terms." The drunken individuals in the crowd sobered, while the sober members were faced with the stark realization of what they had agreed to. Depression settled like a fog on the crowd. Noticing this, the man capitalized on the opportunity.
"Come now, don't be so sad. My yoke is not one that is too heavy for you to bear, and if you are obedient, things will go very well for you. Slaves, women, weapons, food and so much more can be yours if you sear fealty to me." The people, reassured by his kind words, began to form a rough line. One by one, the tribals knelt down and swore their allegiance to the ebony clad man. Slowly, with the all the patience gained of millions upon millions of years, the sun began to rise.
Roxanne and Raymond lay side by side in the sand of the canyon, covered by their clothes. They had their arms around each other, and lay half dozing, completely at peace. The sun was just beginning to cast its rays over the horizon. Raymond sat up and got dressed. Roxanne followed suit a few minutes later. Raymond dug through his backpack. He pulled out a small mass wrapped in brown paper. He opened it. Inside were a few small pieces of the fried lizard, some grainy desert wheat bread, and a section of sweet barrel cactus.
"I guess Kyle wasn't lying when he said he packed us some food." Roxanne opened her bag, and pulled out a brown paper wrapped mass. Opening it, the same food items were inside.
"First time in quite a while we've had a premade breakfast, baby. What do you say we stay here and eat?" Raymond grinned,
"You can read my mind Roxie."
"Of course I can Ray, we've been together so long its like reading a book." Raymond sat down and Roxanne sat down opposite him. The two began to eat. As they sat in the slowly warming sand, the two felt calm and at peace for the first real time in ages.
Two sets of canine footprints led down the trail coming from the plateau top village. One, smaller, followed another, larger, set. The footprints went out into the desert, towards the canyon entrance. A male voice, Kyle's, calls out.
"I know yer followin' me, so ya might as well show yerself." Reluctantly, Shelly climbed to the top of the sand dune where Kyle waited. "Look, if ya turn around know, I'm sure they'll let ya back in the village." Shelly, wearing a reddish brown skirt and dark brown shirt, walked up to Kyle. Around her waist was a leather belt and a sheath, the handle of a dagger sticking out from it.
"You don't understand Kyle; I can't go back to the village. There's a human in charge now, and he hates me."
"Don't be offended too much; the man in black hates most people." Kyle walked over to where Shelly stood. Instinctively, Shelly moved back, startled. She quickly regained her composure.
"So wait, you've met him too?" she asked.
"Yes" replied Kyle. "And know yer a part of all this, whether ya like it er not. Listen, I'm sorry for how I treated ya before." He stuck out his right paw as a gesture of good will.
"Apology accepted, but a part of what?" She grasped his paw with hers and shook it, then let her paw fall to her side.
"It's a very long story. But since yer traveling with us now, I can tell it to ya if ya would hear it."
"Wait a minute, who's 'us'?" asked the vixen. Shelly stood at Kyle's side, and the two began to walk towards the distant canyon entrance.
"Us would be me, Raymond, a wolverine, just between ya and me he seems a little head strong, and Roxanne, an eagle, who seems to be the more dominant half of the relationship. Anything else ya want to know?"
"I guess I'd like to hear the story then, if we don't have anything else to do." The pair walked on as Kyle began the story of the man in black and also what he was doing with Roxanne and Raymond traveling across the desert.
All the people of the village had pledged loyalty to the human, and were now carrying out their daily routines. Everything was normal except for the amount of excited conversation that went on. The man in black and the two Furs of his entourage went into the main building.
The lioness cleared her throat. The human and the wolf turned to look at her.
"Yes?" asked the man in black. The lioness timidly spoke up.
"Um, well, what do we do now?" Before the man in black could respond, the wolf, Frank, asked his own question.
"Sir, why doesn't she have to call you sir or master or anything?" the man in black just laughed. After about a minute, he stopped. The two Furs stared at him, expecting an answer.
"Oh! You were serious. You're just a funny little wolf, aren't ya? I never even told you to call me sir, as long as you were respectful. It's just your own mind, like I said before. As for what we will do next, some of us will be headed south and east, through the mountains to the forest and plains on the other side... What is your name, anyway?" the man in black asked of the lioness.
"I was named Patricia in my village, but now I guess I'm whatever he" she gestured towards the wolf "wants to call me."
"You hear that, wolfie?" said the man in black as he was rubbing the fur on the wolf's head. The wolf seemed to enjoy the affection from his master, an ecstatic look on his face. "Just be nice if you choose to give her a new name." The man stopped petting the wolf, and abruptly walked towards the door. "Now you two play nicely, you hear?" the man in black called over his shoulder as he left the room. The wolf looked sad, then turned his eyes towards the lioness.
"You can keep your old name. Look, I'm sorry for how mean I was the first time we met, but I thought he was going to take you away from me." Patricia sighed,
"You're my mate now, Frank, and you're supposed to take care of me. But if you want to play rough, I can play rough" she added, suggestively. The wolf got up and untied the strap holding the fabric door up. It drifted in place, blocking off view to the inside of the room. Minutes later, the sound of yelps and passionate groans issued forth from the room.
Dawn was now in full swing, and the pair of canines had covered half the distance from the plateau to the canyon entrance. Raymond and Roxanne had finished their meal, and had drifted back off to sleep. As they traveled, Shelly asked questions of Kyle. Kyle, for the most part, deflected or ignored the questions.
"So you've really been living in the desert all alone for all these years?" Kyle sighed
"For the last time no. there have been travelers over the years, and no matter where I my God would always be there with me."
"Okay, okay, sheesh. You don't have to yell. You never had a wife, or a girlfriend, or anyone?"
"I didn't yell. I had my wife for briefly, but other than her, no one else. There's a spring up ahead, so we can get water there if you need it."
"Good, I was getting thirsty. If I told you I thought you were really hot, what would you say?" the duo had reached the spring, a pool of water flowing out from underneath the sand blasted granite boulder. Green shrubs and grasses grew around it, as well as small desert wildflowers. Shelly got down on her knees and bent her face to the water and drank. After a few seconds she stood up and wiped the water off of her muzzle.
"Well, aren't you going to drink any?" she asked Kyle.
"No, I'm fine. I have drunk from the fountain of the water of life." The two Furs kept walking.
"Oh, well, anyway, you didn't answer my question." She turned and looked Kyle in the eyes. Kyle returned the stare.
"If ya said that to me, I would have to say that if yer trying to flatter me for some reason, it won't work, and if yer trying to seduce me, yer gonna have to try harder than that."
"Oh well in that case, Kyle, you're really hot."
"Shelly, what's yer deal? First, you hated me, and now, well I don't know but you obviously don't hate me now."
"You're right Kyle. I did hate you; you were a jackass, but now, it's like there's this peace coming from you, and I like the feeling. I'm not sure what it is, but it makes me feel calm and at peace."
Though Kyle did his best to love everyone regardless of who they were, and was himself always at peace and thought peaceful thoughts, he had never known his aura to affect people.
'Interesting' he thought to himself, as the two Furs continued to walk.
To be continued...