Gaias Sight Part 2 Once I had reached my office I broke down. The kind of tears that shatter a soul. Neolin was so unnerved by it he had run to find Luna because he was convinced that I was wounded in some way and as a matter of course she had brought Nightshade to find out who my attacker was. Once I had been able to tell them what was wrong Luna had to enforce that Nightshade could not go and rip off Brennans balls as punishment for his callous treatment of her queen. And she also had to give Neolin a very edited explanation that yes in a way I was wounded but it wasnt visible and it was because Brennan had done something very, very stupid. Then Neolin asked if he could bite Brennan and I answered only if he showed up at the house. Then after a brief argument, which I didnt care if I won or not, one of Nightshades girls who had recently learned to drive took me and Neolin home. Now I was curled up under the futon in my room in my tiger form, hiding from the world and feeling sorry for myself until I had to shrug on the mantle of the responsibility once again the next day. Things were much simpler in animal form and it made it much easier to deal with the emotional pain. Suddenly I heard a quiet knock at my door and I peeked out from under my hiding spot to see Maggie still in a waitress uniform carrying two pint containers of ice cream and two spoons. “Ice cream and a shoulder to cry on, the two best things to soothe a broken heart.” she said, waving the ice cream. I huffed, crawled out, shifted forms, and reached for the long nightshirt hanging from the corner of the bunk bed. “Alright, who squealed?” I asked, pulling my heavy mass of hair out of the back after pulling it on. “Nope, Im not going to tell. It would just upset you more.” Maggie said as she handed me a pint and a spoon. Yum, marshmallow, my favorite. I curled up on the futon and pried off the top as Maggie sat down next to me. “So, he showed up at the diner huh? What kind of a story did he try to feed you? I bet it was a good one.” I said bitterly as I shoved the first spoonful in my mouth. Maggie gave me a long look. “According to him nothing ever happened with anyone... ever. He just got so tired of fighting them off and then getting in serious trouble when he seriously hurt one of them that he started to not fight back at all. He said you wouldnt let him get a word in edgewise.” she said, then waited for me to explode. I had had enough exploding and emotional hurricanes for one day so I didnt have it in me, I only snorted. “Yeah, right, from what I saw he didnt seem to mind Betsy the Blond Bimbo pressing her assets up against him and it was clear that she knew exactly what points to hit. Plus, if that sort of thing were happening it would have been brought to me as the Council Elder to deal with.” I said, shoveling another bite into my mouth. “I dont think so Sophie. Consider it for a moment. If they actually had brought it to you what would your first instinct be?” she asked me. I stopped for a moment and thought about it. “To go and rip out a few throats and then announce that anyone who lays a finger on him again will suffer the same fate while Im still painted in their blood.” I said simply. “Exactly my girl. They didnt bring it to you because they know your association with Brennan and they dont want you to go on a rampage through the female teenage population.” Maggie replied, completely unbothered by my words. I sighed. “Thats the problem. Though that may be my first instinct I have enough restraint not to act on it and deal with the situation with the decorum required of the Council Elder. Now that Ive finally put my paw down and shown my teeth to Nightshade and told her we are going to start doing things my way I suppose I am going to have to start flashing my fangs with the Council itself.” I said with resignation, shoving another spoonful of ice cream in my mouth and licking the spoon. “So, are you going to forgive him? He seemed pretty torn up when he showed up at the diner.” Maggie asked me. I sighed. “Eventually. Hes going to have to work for it and Ill say my apologies for my part in this whole mess. Until then I think I have enough on my plate to keep us both occupied. I had a meeting with one of the Councilmen and the Mayor of Fielding Falls today. Apparently the Eastern Empire decided to dump a problem square into my lap.” I said, giving her a regretful look. “Eastern Empire? What kind of a problem would they dump on you?” Maggie questioned warily. “The kind that permanently occupies one of the two remaining guest rooms.” I told her before explaining about our new incoming guest. Our home was large, with two stories, an attic and basement, five bedrooms, and three bathrooms. One bathroom was attached to my bedroom, the other to the master bedroom, and the other was the main bathroom located downstairs near one of the smaller bedrooms that Maggie had moved into barely a month before. She claimed that the Master Bedroom was much too big for her but I secretly suspected that she did it because she knew some nights Brennan was sneaking into my room and she wanted to give us some privacy. Just thinking about him hurt so I forced my mind elsewhere. “Wow. It seems we are getting good at taking in those who need it. I take it you already have some ideas on which room to put her in?” Maggie asked thoughtfully. “I was actually thinking of giving her the master bedroom if you dont mind. That way she can have her own bathroom.” I replied scraping the bottom of my ice cream container. Maggie frowned. “You said the girl is blind. Are you sure its a good idea to give her a room where she has to walk up all those stairs?” she asked in concern. “I thought about that. From what they said she has been blind from birth so Im pretty sure she has adapted pretty well to living without eyesight. Being a tiger I dont want to give her a small cottage of her own in the village unless she insists because Im pretty sure she will just feel ostracized and alone.” I answered, clearly having put some thought into it. Maggie sighed. “Alright my girl, its your show. Ill let you do it.” she replied. “There is one problem though.” I added, scrunching my nose up. “Whats that?” Maggie asked curiously. I turned my ice cream container upside down. “You didnt bring enough ice cream.” I replied with a pout. Maggie laughed and lead me downstairs to the freezer where she had stashed the extra ice cream. * * * I was waiting at the bus stop, leaning up against Maggies blue SUV. Nightshade had been at the house that morning for some unknown reason and when I had tried to leave in my beat up old car to pick up our new guest both Maggie and Nightshade had staged a protest. “She may be blind Sophie, but she certainly isnt deaf. Not to mention the smokestack coming out of the back of that thing would knock her over gasping. Take Maggies car.” Nightshade said pointedly with a conspiratorial look in Maggies direction. I hadnt put up much of a fight, but I did wonder what the little sprite was up to. Now I looked at the small, pretty gold watch that Maggie had bought me as a Christmas gift for my first Christmas, wondering why the bus was twenty minutes late. Finally the bus pulled in and an assortment of people got off, picking up their luggage from the side of the bus where the driver was unloading it. Finally there was only one large suitcase left and the driver stood to wipe the sweat from his face. That was when he noticed me watching him intently. “You here for that blind girl and her guard dog?” he asked me. I nodded. “Yes. Were there any problems that I need to know about, and is that hers?” I asked him, gesturing at the suitcase. “Nothing tangible, and yeah, its hers. When she got on I let her get on first and gave her the option of sitting up front for easier access. Doesnt say a word, goes straight for the back and that damned dog growls at anyone who gets too close. Shes still back there so watch yourself or you might get bit. Youve got ten minutes before I have to load up again and be off.” the driver told me before walking off toward the terminal. After I put the suitcase in the back of the car I climbed onto the bus and moved toward the dimly lit back. At first I thought the large white object sitting in the aisle was some sort of bag, until it lifted its head to fix me with a baleful green glare and snarl at me. I had heard of a rare few white wolves, but I had never seen any with bright green eyes, interesting. I held my hands up away from my body when he could see them and stopped. “Peace, brother. I mean no harm. I am here from Eagles Landing to pick both you and your charge up.” I said cautiously. The wolf snorted and turned his massive head towards a dark figure in the seat to his right. :This is ridiculous Kaia. They send a mere child to escort us.: he told her, clearly disgusted. I swallowed my snarl. “Pardon me but I ceased to be a child some time ago and I take insult to being referred to as such. Just because Im young doesnt mean I dont have the experience for several life times. Now if you dont mind the driver told me I had ten minutes to get both of you off this bus. Now we can do this two ways, the easy way or the hard way. Right now Im itching for a good fight because Ive had a pretty piss poor couple of days but the option is yours.” I snapped a little harsher than I intended. I heard the bare whisper of words, too quiet for me to catch. :You lead and we shall follow.: the wolf said shortly after. Having lost the remainder of my patience I turned on my heel and left the bus. I waited by the door of the car knowing the two were probably having a private little pow wow before emerging. Finally the white wolf emerged, giving me my first good look at him. He was easily twice the size of any of the other wolves in the village and though he was mainly white he had dark smoky striped patches on his pelt that puzzled me. The girl was also somewhat of a surprise. She was of average height and thin, but had the wiry grace of long practiced martial arts trainers. Though she was supposedly blind I had no doubt she was highly dangerous. At the moment she was wearing a black kimono dress with billowy sleeves embroidered with red lotus flowers and had a high mandarin collar. Underneath it she was wearing a pair of loose black pants and a flat black shoes. She also wore a pair of dark glasses with round lenses. From her loose sleeves she pulled a folding white cane and used it to find her way to the car with minimal help from the wolf. Finally everyone was in the car and we were on our way home. I decided to give them a few minutes before asking a few exploratory questions. “So, your name is Kaia right? My name is Sophie. And what is your name brother wolf? I would like to have a name to call you.” I asked, looking back at him in the rear view mirror. He whined uncomfortably and laid his ears back. :You are the first in a long time that has been able to hear me other than Kaia...: he started. “Its alright Bataar. If she wants to know about us its only fair.” Kaia said quietly from the passenger seat. “Thanks. My little brother is going to love you. He can finally babble at someone other than me about his adventures in learning to hunt.” I commented idly. “We were told that we would be staying with the Council Elder.” Kaia stated simply. “You will be. Weve set you up in the master bedroom which has its own bathroom, unless of course you mind going upstairs. Maggie moved into the smaller bedroom downstairs a couple of months ago when we fixed Neolin up with his own room so I wasnt sharing with him.” I continued, giving them both a small glimpse into the world they would be entering. : We werent aware that the Council Elder had children. If we will be taking up valuable room in the household we would be happy staying with someone else.: Bataar said from behind me. I laughed so hard I almost had to pull over. “Im sorry. The reason Im laughing is that no the Council Elder doesnt have children and the reason for that is that Im the Council Elder.” I replied finally. Kaias head snapped toward me. “Youre joking.” she said in a harsh whisper. “No, Im not.” I returned, wondering at the change in her attitude. Her hand snapped out and gripped my forearm hard enough to bruise, nearly causing me to crash. “Your animal species? What is it?” she demanded in a high, harsh voice. “Im a tiger, like you. The first tiger to ever live in Eagles Landing. You might say Im adopted. Maggie is my guardian. And Neolin, even though he is only eight years old is one of the rare few that are unable to shift form. I took him in when I found out he was being abused.” I explained quickly. I watched as Kaia seemed to shrink into herself and retreat from everything, even herself. Bataar whined once and then the rest of the drive was spent in silence. I was so lost in thought about my passengers that I wasnt listening to Bataar quietly describe the house as we drove up to it. And I also nearly missed the fact that my beat up piece of junk car was missing and parked in its place was a racy, bright red sports car. I stopped the car and turned off the engine. “I need you to wait here until I come back.” I said, breaking into Bataars description. “Is there something wrong?” he asked me carefully. “My car isnt here and I dont recognize that one. Im going to go make sure Maggie and Neolin are either gone and someone else is here, or any other number of possibilities.” I replied, opening the car door and quietly slipping out. First I circled the house, taking in the recent scents and seeing if any strangers had shown up. The most recent trail I found was Nightshade and Brambles from that morning. Growing more concerned I shifted my hands into claws and silently slipped into the back door. I quickly reached the kitchen and found Maggie doing dishes, scaring her witless by creeping in the back door flashing my claws. “Gaias garters Sophie! One of these days you are going to give me a coronary doing shit like that!” she snapped irritably, throwing the damp dish towel at me. I deftly caught it and shifted my fingers back to normal. “Is there anyone else here with you?” I asked quietly. Maggie gave me a strange look. “No. Nightshade left shortly after you did and Neolin went out back a little while ago and hasnt come back yet. Ive been inside doing chores since. Why?” she asked, puzzled. “My car is gone and I dont know whose car it is that is parked out front but its no one I recognize.” I said in a deadly quiet tone. Maggie immediately went to the front of the house, pausing at the side table to retrieve a Glock 45 pistol. Wow, this was new. “Tony has been taking me to the gun range and insisting I keep it around.” she said at my shocked look. Before I could say anything Maggie threw open the door and strode out into the front yard toward the bright red little car. I followed her and watched as she plucked an expensive envelope out from under the windshield wiper. Carefully she tucked the gun into the waistband of her jeans and opened the envelope to pull out a small sheet of expensive vellum. She read it, laughed, and handed it to me as Kaia and Bataar left the SUV and approached us, Kaias hand on Bataars back as he guided her. “A gift from the Forest People for our Queen” the delicate calligraphy read. Then below it in Nightshades unique scrawl “I was outnumbered and overruled so just shut up and accept it with good grace and dignity. Keys are under the visor.” I crumpled the vellum into a tight ball in my fist. “Im going to skin that girl alive!” I said with a snarl. :What girl? And could you actually do that?: Bataar asked me, cocking his head to one side in thought. “The question should be, dear Bataar, not can I do it but how long it will take me to accomplish it under the present circumstances.” I answered truthfully in a happy little voice. :Oh, I like her Kaia.: Bataar said with a chuckle. “Now youve done it. He will want to compare technique.” Kaia returned in a soft bedroom voice. I just rolled my eyes. “Maggie, this is Kaia. Her wolf friend is named Bataar.” I introduced. Kaia held out her hand and Maggie shook it. Immediately she came to attention. “You are human.” she said in the tone I recognized from the car. Bataar gave me a look that froze me in place as I tensed. Maggie just chuckled. “So they tell me. I may not be as tough as your kind but I welcome everyone in my home. We are all a gift from Gaia meant to be shared.” she said, moving to walk away. Kaia kept control of her hand. “Very true, Gaias gifts should not be ignored, they may save your life one day.” she said, her voice oddly resonant and compelling. Maggies brow furrowed as Kaia let go of her hand. Time to change the subject. “Okay, lets go get everyone settled.” I said, ushering everyone towards the still open front door. No one argued.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 15:33:27 +0000
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