[Mkguild] Warmth in Darkness Part 6

[Stealth]

Damn, mid scene break. This is the last part.


Stealth turned his head down, "I'm sorry I took it out on you. It was
stupid. I don't know why I said it."



            Edmund suddenly hugs his friend. "I understand. Forgiven."



            The cheetah had been taken by surprise but he soon returned the
hug.



            "Don't let it worry you anymore my dear friend. After all
forgiveness is a part of the faith. I'm not some unreasoning fanatic." He
said kindly.



            Stealth smiled and nodded. "Have you always had that approach
and perspective to your duties?" He knew Edmund was a good person however,
he still remained unsure of the paladin's gift.



   Edmund nodded. "I always have. It is one of the reasons I joined this
order and not one of the stricter ones."



            Stealth rubbed his chin in thought. "Ed, you told me something
sometime past; that we accept ideas that we once rejected and our
experiences haunt and change us... Something or other. You were referring to
this?"



   The paladin nodded. "We all live and learn with time. I discovered then
that evil often comes disguised as good and that those who scream the
loudest that they do God's work often do not."



            Stealth nodded. "It is a sad fact that people use your faith and
many other reasons to justify their own ambitions." The cheetah turned away
from the paladin and now looked up at the stars. "If I recall from history,
the Suleimans carved out their empire to create 'peace'."



   He nodded in response. "To be fair to those long dead people. They had
suffered several brutal invasions in the past. But you are right they were
simply greedy. A conqueror will always find a reason to attack someone."



            Suddenly, Stealth rose to sit upright and looked at the knight.
"I just remembered where we are..."



   Edmund gave a chirp of laughter. "Now you are finally nervous about being
in a forest full of ghosts?"



   The cheetah rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm nervous, that's a natural
feeling."



   The paladin shook his head. "Relax. I deal with spirits and the undead
and you are under my protection. The spirits will respect that."



            "I just didn't mean to make an example of Suleimans in a place
full of their dead." Stealth informed.



            "The spirits here are trapped by their own deaths and they pay
little attention to the present." The paladin explained. "You are safe so
long as you are not a lutin."



            "Trapped to live the last moments of their lives over and over
each night..." The cat let the thought roll and sadly turned his head down.
"Why do they?"



   Edmund shrugged. "I wish I knew. Something holds them here. I will find
out the reason someday so they can all finally rest easy."



                As the night wore on ever slowly, the cheetah coalition,
despite being diurnal or day active animals, sat wide awake letting their
senses open up the forest around them. The fire slowly died out, the bright,
warm and comforting flames eventually retired to nothing more than glowing
embers moving and twisting through spent kindling like earthworms in the
topsoil.



            Stealth reached out his hand to the remaining warmth, when he
looked up once more he only then realised just how dark the night became.
Even eyes made for seeing in the dark needed a source of light to reflect
from. The cheetah reached out with his ears and nose as he waited out the
dreary darkness.**

* *

---------------------------**



                The night was quiet when Edmund suddenly stiffened. "Remain
calm Stealth but we have a visitor."



            "...what?" Stealth's voice lowered to a whisper, "what do you
mean!?"



            "I have told you of the Shadow Fox that inhabits these woods?"
The knight reminded, "Well he is here with us now."



   "Where?" Stealth asked looking around nervously.



   "Behind you," Edmund said calmly.



   Stealth whipped around quickly and spotted a shadowy figure standing near
a tree. He stiffened and bared his teeth in fright as he stepped backward.



   "No need to be afraid." Edmund stated factually in an even tone.



              Stealth's eyes widened and he crouched low to the ground
getting ready to bolt and run away as fast as possible.



              Edmund grabbed Stealth by the scruff of the neck and lifted
him up. "Do not run away." He said holding onto his wrist.



                Stealth seemed to relax a little and stood up straight. But
he stepped quickly behind the paladin putting Edmund between him and the
shadow.



            "Relax Stealth. If he wanted you dead you would already be
dead." He said.



            "Oh... that's very... comforting..." Stealth mumbled from
behind.



            Stealth crouched behind Edmund peering over his shoulder at the
shadow fox with just his eyes and the top of his head exposed.



            Edmund took Stealth and gently pulled him around in front.
"Stealth this is Shadow Fox. He is the guardian of the woods. And has been
since the fortress was destroyed,"



            Stealth said nought; the cheetah just yearned to leave. His tail
swished around violently, though the rest of him stood frozen.



            "This is Stealth. A good friend of mine who is more then a
little shy," The paladin said to the shadow.



            Thoughts ran wildly through the flighty feline's head. What the
hell was this? Why are they here, in the haunted woods in the dead of night?
What the hell was Edmund thinking? This man encouraged over a hundred to be
taken by the curse; he must surly have known what he was doing. But now face
to face with a living shadow, Stealth seriously began to doubt the paladin
was in a suitable state of mind.



   The cheetah knight was silent for a moment, not watching the shadow but
instead looking at Stealth. His eyes missing nothing of his friend's
reactions. He nodded seemingly liking what he had seen. "Relax Stealth. I've
met him many times before and he is friendly. So long as you are friendly."



   "How does he recognize you?" Stealth asked nervously. "After all the last
time you were here you weren't a cheetah." He added in a rasping whisper. **



   Edmund gave a short chirp of laughter. "I've been here since my change.
Several times. But I doubt that a little change of flesh would confuse him.
Nothing escapes his notice."



            Stealth looked bemused at that and turned his attention fully to
the 'fox', trying hard to remain calm. Besides, he didn't want to offend the
Shadow.



   The shadow looked at the young cheetah in silence for what seemed to be a
very long time. The creature seemed to see right through him and down to his
very soul. "Netala He," Came the words in a voice as soft as an evening
breeze.



   "What did he say?" Stealth asked in a voice tinged with fear.



                "Relax Stealth he doesn't mean any harm. He said Hello. So
say hello to him. Please!" Edmund beseeched adamantly.



            Stealth remained silent for a long time before he spoke.
"...Hi?"



             "Give him your real name," Edmund ordered gently.  "This is a
rare honor Stealth. Few people ever get to see him let alone actually talk
with him."



            The feline tried to speak but found his voice caught in his
throat. But he eventually managed, "I... am Orix" He staggered.



            There came a faint whisper of a sound that might have been a
laugh. "You have shown more courage then most of those I have met in the
last 7 centuries. Most just run in panic."



            The cheetah took a few deep breaths and gathered up his nerve.
"I did come close, sir." The cat quivered.



   "Only a fool is without fear. A true measure of a man's courage is
whether he controls his fears or is controlled by them," Edmund commented.



            Stealth took another breath and nodded slowly, keeping his eyes
fixed on the shadow while Edmund stood at his back.



            The Shadow looked at Stealth for a moment. "You are an
interesting one. Frightened yet courageous. No one wonder Edmund calls you
friend. You will go far in this world and do many great things." With that
the figure started to fade back into the darkness.



            The cheetah had an open gape. He stared at the trees where the
shadow once stood. For a few minutes his gaze didn't waver.



            Edmund didn't speak but simply patted Stealth on the shoulder.



            After they settled back down by the spent fire pit Edmund took
up his place once more on watch. He settled in and relaxed for the remainder
of the night though the paladin wondered at how Stealth fared. The poor lad
couldn't settle down to rest at the camp before, after this he probably
won't be able to sleep for days. Soon the knight's ears perked and he turned
to the other cheetah. Stealth purred softly as he lay motionless. He slept
peacefully. Edmund smiled then turned his gaze back to the woods.



---------------------------**



            Nothing but silence accompanied them on the trip back,
punctuated by the horses' steady hooves. And so it had been since day break
when the coalition set off from their camp deep in the haunted woods.
Stealth had spent many slow hours contemplating the events of the previous
day. He'd been whisked away from reclusion and then learned of Edmund's
strange task. They searched in the ancient ruins to find a small dagger that
Stealth had been allowed to keep. Then they travelled through an ancient
tomb and found fresh corpses at the end! After that he received that item;
the paladin's... gift. Not long after pondering on that he recalled the
vivid memory of that incredible encounter.



            The cheetah didn't even notice they had long since left the
woods behind. Edmund on the other hand remained well alert of his
surroundings. The knight did not speak, keeping vigilant as-well as allowing
his friend the time he needs to sort things out.



            Stealth had a feeling this trip would be on his mind for some
time yet. Some things were straight forward; ironically the Shadow Fox for
one which probably didn't mean any harm. The dagger, that will need some
thought. And as for the other object he didn't know what to think. The
cheetah fumbled about his pocket and removed the small object. Stealth
opened out his palm and regarded the item resting in it. A long string
coiled about his fingers and claws attached to the wooden tree on his thick
pads.



            He made peace with the devout follower knight many months
earlier, when they met. While it did frustrate Stealth that Edmund seemed
more or less cryptic in their first discussion, though relenting to say some
disappointing things =96 which he was at-least honest about =96, in the time
since their talk, theology remained taboo. In fact, not once had the knight
brought it up or gave Stealth the idea he was being pestered to worship
something that he didn't believe in. And he did say there was no hidden
meaning behind the tree. Edmund is a Paladin; he has to tell the truth.



            So it really was a gift as a friend, but why? Why didn't Edmund
just give him a new quill or something? Well, that would be a dull gift he
supposed, then what could Ed get? What is Edmund interested in? The
cat-knight's apartment lay bare of any adornments or sign of hobbies. The
cheetah only had two hobbies; helping people and serving his god.



            'Maybe-.....!'



            Stealth's musings were cut short when his horse slipped fording
a slippery creek. Neither the rider or the horse fell, however as the
cheetah gazed at the small object in his palm, it slipped with the sudden
jerk of motion and fell clear into the mud.



            The cheetah chirped in shock and pulled hard on the reins of his
steed. Edmund watched with concern and bafflement as he saw his friend's
horse rear up before landing back in the water with a splash. Stealth
quickly climbed off its back and sifted through the mud with his paws,
looking slightly distraught.



            Finally, he found the tree, though entombed in a layer of mud.
Stealth turned from the muck to the clear water, which he already stood in
with the horse. With careful paws he freed the tree from grit, using his
claws to gently remove any gravely specks till it was clean.



            The cheetah laced the string around his fingers this time and
placed the Yule tree in his palm once more. 'This tree represents Edmund's
life...' Stealth thought, 'it's something important to him, and he gave it
to me...'



                Edmund came around on his horse looking perplexed at the
determination. "I thought you didn't like my gift." The Knight said, "Why
did you go to that length to retrieve it?"



            "Because Ed," Stealth began, "it's a gift from a friend."





Warmth in Darkness

Copyright (c) 2008 Chris O'Kane and Michael Nastov

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