Visions in the Wind part 4 [Fanfic]
Here's part 4 of this fan fic. I hope you enjoy reading it as
mush as I enjoyed writing it.
Fortuna bless and keep you all.....
Edward Becerra (and Kickaha)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Visions in the Wind: Transitions
by Ed Becerra
-----------------------------------
Kickaha woke with a start. *Whaaa..., Oh! I must have fallen asleep in
Davey's chair. I never realized what a blessing it would be to have the
pain taken from me. I've got to find some way to thank Sonia Hedgehog.
I've lived with this stupid back for so long, I'd forgotten what life was
like without the pain. I owe her a lot. Hmm... Gotta think of something
nice to do for her.*
He reached down for his cane. "I <hack, hack> should take a walk and
stretch, before I get stiff again. Besides, I wanna see what Knothole looks
like. Seems like a pretty place. I should get to know it better. If Old
Man is right, I'm going to be here for some time. Guess it's going to be my
home, for a while."
He walked out the door, carefully shutting it behind him. *I'm Davey's
guest. Behoves me to be thoughtful.*
The late day sun shone brightly, reminding Kickaha of his native prairie.
He felt a little homesick. All those trees, so close together! And the
grass. It was green, not the proper brown buffalo grass of home. Nor was
it nearly tall enough. He looked around. Not a yucca plant or prickly pear
cactus to be seen. He sighed.
"This had better be worth it, Old Man. You know I don't belong here.
Ain't natural. I belong to the Rockies and the Plains. Coyotes just ain't
made for civilization."
He wandered around Knothole, greeting the inhabitants, and learning the
village layout. As he drifted through the streets, he happened to pass by
Princess Sally's place.
"Hello, Kickaha!"
"Oh, hello, Princess! I didn't see you there. Is there anything I can
do for you?" Kickaha asked.
"Not right now. But there IS something we can do for you. We're getting
together some volunteers to put up a hut for you. I know you're having
trouble with your back right now, so you don't have to join in, if you don't
want to." Sally smiled at him. But she didn't get the response she
expected. Kickaha was shaking his head frantically.
"Aahhhh... No, no, no thank you, Princess. Don't put yourself out.
I'll find someplace in the forest to den up in. Don't trouble yourself. No
problem. Don't really need a hut. Everything's okay. Really. Yeah.
Don't need a hut..." All of this was coming out at a high-speed babble that
surprised Sally. Kickaha was backing away from her as though he'd just seen
Robotnik rise from the grave. Suddenly, he turned and ran. She could see
from his awkward stride how it hurt him to run that quickly. But why was he
running? And from what?
She watched as he stopped just inside the edge of the forest, and leaned
against a tree, propped up by his cane, panting. Something was wrong here,
she thought. But what? It didn't seem like a case of Outsider mood. At
least, not one she was familiar with. He seemed... afraid. But of a hut?
She turned to look for Nicole. Perhaps the computer might have the answers
she needed.
***
At the edge of the forest...
"A-huh, a-huh, a-huh..." panted Kickaha. *Oh, yeah* he thought, *behave
like some savage from the wilderness. Smooth move, stupid.* He shuddered,
and sat down suddenly at the base of the tree. *Oh, Fortuna, I didn't think
it would hit me that quickly! What am I going to do? What am I going to
tell them? That I _can't_ live inside Knothole? They'll think me
ungrateful. Or even a spy for Snively. I don't know what to do! Help me,
Great Spirit!*
His breathing eased, and his panic subsided, but his worry remained.
***
At Princess Sally's hut...
A cute girl bobcat was speaking with Sally.
"There's not a great deal in the database about the Wild Pack tribes,
Princess, and what is there dates from before the Great War and Robotnik's
coup. What I have found does seem to answer your question, however. You
said he seemed to panic when you mentioned putting up a hut for him?"
"That's right," answered Sally. "Until then, he seemed all right. But
when I brought up the matter of the hut, he began to shiver, then ran into
the forest. He stopped running once he reached the edge, though. The last
I saw of him, he was sitting beneath a tree, shaking violently."
"... Demophobia ..." said Nicole.
"What's that?"
"An unreasoning fear of being surrounded by crowds of people. It seems
that the coyote tribes share a great deal with their unevolved kin. Like
them, the coyote people form loose, widely spread family groups, with only a
few in each pack. They prefer to live underground, in burrows dug into the
sides of small hills. And they feel extremely uncomfortable when surrounded
by large numbers of people. In many cases, as time passes, this feeling
becomes demophobia. In fact, many coyotes become hermits." Nicole blinked.
"From your description, Princess, I'd say he's having an unusually strong
reaction to the number of people living in Knothole."
"Is there anything we can do to help him?" asked Sally.
"Well, moving him as close as possible to the edge of the village would
help. The fewer the people near to him, the better. And we should try to
make him feel at home. The unfamiliar setting of Knothole is probably what
triggered his panic attack. The Great Forest looks nothing like the High
Prairies that were his home. There is very little here that would seem
familiar to him." Nicole told her.
"Familiar settings. Hmm... Nicole, you wouldn't happen to have any
pictures of what a typical coyote burrow looks like? Or any descriptions
of them?"
"Checking... There are several descriptions, and a few sketches of a
traditional coyote lodge that were made by a researcher from the University
of Mobotropolis before the Great War. The paper he wrote contains them,
along with brief descriptions of how it was furnished and what living in one
was like." Nicole looked at Sally. "They are somewhat dated. But they are
the best I can come up with."
"Good. They'll do. Print out several copies. I've got to go speak with
Rotor. I think I have a solution to this." Sally turned and headed to
Rotor's workshop. "When you've got the copies made, bring them to me. I'll
be at Rotor's place. And see if Dulcy's available. I'd like to talk with
her."
***
An hour later, a nervous coyote wandered back into Knothole, headed for
Davey Crockett's hut.
*Maybe if I get a good night's sleep, I can deal with this. But I really
dread the thought of having to explain things to Princess Sally. She's
gonna think I'm the most ungrateful cur since... since... Fortuna! I
can't _think_ of anyone that ungrateful!*
As he walked toward the hut, Bear caught up with him. "Hey there,
Kickaha! How are you? Feeling any better? Sally said you were having a
few problems settling in. Nothing serious, I hope."
"Uh.. Yeah.. Right.. Nothing serious. Just a little nervous, a new
setting, far away from home, all that stuff. Yeah. That's it. No big
deal." Kickaha chattered.
Bear could see how nervous the coyote seemed. Maybe... Yes. He touched
the coyote on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Besides, I hear
Princess Sally has something she wants to show you tomorrow morning. I
understand that your folk are nocturnal, so you might want to get some rest.
Sunrise comes pretty early in the morning around here."
"All right. You're right. I need sleep. Yeah. That's the ticket.
Sleep. Good idea. Good night." Despite his fur and the warmth of the
evening, Kickaha was shivering. He went inside the hut and went straight to
bed.
Bear turned toward his own hut. *He's having a hard time with this. If
there ever was a born hermit, he's one. I hope Sally's idea works.
Otherwise, his only hope is to live out in the forest, like Sandra
Nightweaver.*
***
As the morning sun shone through the windows of Davey's hut, it lit up
the cot Kickaha lay upon. The coyote wasn't sleeping easily. He was
twitching and growling in his sleep. Every now and then, he let out a small
snarl. Davey noticed this, but thought it best to leave him be for the
moment.
*I'll just let him sleep for now. If he doesn't wake up before breakfast
is over, then I'll get him up myself. I wouldn't want him to miss Sally's
surprise.*
After eating, Davey headed back to his hut, carrying a tray of food for
Kickaha. He set it down on a table, and looked over at the cot. He was
still asleep, and still dreaming. Davey went to shake him by the shoulder.
To his surprise, he was almost bitten for his trouble. Kickaha snarled and
snapped at him without even opening his eyes.
"RAAAGGGHHH!! YOU BAST... Oh, Fortuna! Oh, David! I'm sorry! So
sorry! I thought... I didn't realize... oh, crud." Kickaha put a paw to
his head. He had a mortified expression on his face. "Ah, gods, I'm so
sorry."
"Bad dreams, huh? Ah been there myself, once or twice. Must be pretty
bad if you wake up in a kill-without-warning kinda mood. Wanna talk about
it sometime? It can help, to have a friend to share the load." Davey smiled
at him. "I've had good friends here help me get through my problems. They
can help you, too."
"I don't know if I have that right, David. I don't want to lay my guilt
on anyone. No one deserves that." Kickaha was silent for a moment. A look
of ancient sorrow crossed his face. "No one but me."
"Hey now, Kicker! Ah thought I was the one carrying around all the blame
around here. After all, Sally's been constantly telling me nobody blames me
for being a Kintobor. Quit tryin' ta hog all the guilt, guy." Davey put a
paw on Kickaha's shoulder. "These are good folk, here. They'll help you if
you let them. Now eat some breakfast. I got a surprise to show you when
you're done."
"What's that? A hut?" Kickaha started to shiver slightly. "I don't need
a hut, I really don't, I can live out in the forest..." He'd begun to
chatter again.
"Naw, no hut. Something different. It wouldn't be a surprise if I told
what it was, now would it? You just eat up. Don't want to keep Princess
Sally waiting, do ya?" David pushed him over to the table and sat him down
in front of the breakfast tray. "Besides, Nicole told us 'bout your
`problem'. Seems it's a coyote kind of thing. Don't worry about it. We
can handle it together. Now EAT, already!"
***
Breakfast had been finished, and Kickaha and David were walking toward
the Power Ring Pool. Kickaha was becoming more curious by the second. As
they'd walked, he noted that Knothole seemed rather quiet. He hadn't seen
anyone in the streets. Something was going on, but what?
When they reached the pool, David turned off towards a small trail that
led off through the underbrush on the far side of the small pool. "Come on,
Kicker. It's this way."
"What's this way?! Come on, Dave! If you leave me hanging like this for
much longer, I swear I'm gonna sneak up on you tonight and super-glue your
mechanical arm to your cot! I KNOW where you live. I KNOW where you sleep.
AND I know where I can get a few thousand Nerf bricks, real cheap!" Kickaha
threatened. Davey laughed at that.
Kickaha wasn't feeling as nasty as he sounded, though. The further they
got into the forest around Knothole, the better he felt. He knew why, too.
*It may not be the High Prairie, but at least there aren't many people here.
It's quiet and lonely, just like home.* Something deep inside him unknotted
and relaxed. He let out a deep sigh of contentment.
"Almost there, Kick." Davey was a few feet ahead of him, and the cyberfox
was a foot or so taller than he was, to begin with. Kickaha couldn't see
past him. And jumping up to see over him seemed a little undignified.
"Here we are! Take a good look, Kicker. Tell us what you think!" Davey
had an ear to ear grin. (Which is something to see on a fox.)
They'd just come upon a small clearing. From the looks of it, a large
tree had fallen, years ago, and knocked down a number of others. Running
along side of the clearing's edge was a tiny stream. Near the center stood
Sally, Rotor, Bookshire, Dulcy and a number of others. they were standing
next to what seemed to be a large hole in the ground. There was a large
pile of cut sod nearby.
Kickaha could hear Rotor saying, "No, no, the fire pit goes in the center
of the Great Room, not to the side. The sleeping cabinets are what go on
the sides. And remember to lay the granite tiles in the fire pit, first."
Kickaha's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He
walked forward. It was real. "Whaaa... How... Why... This... this
looks just like the lodge of Three Young Buffalo. How did you...?"
Sally laughed. "Nicole told us what the trouble was, and she had
pictures of the sort of home you were used to living in. All we had to do
was find a small clearing on the edge of the village. Tails had seen this
one from the air, and Sonic checked it out. Near enough to be safe, and far
enough away for a coyote."
Rotor turned toward him. "We don't have enough sod to cover the entire
burrow, but the mages all say that a spell to make grass seed grow fast is
an easy thing to do. It'll be ready to live in by the day after tommorrow.
Within the week, it will look just like the pictures Nicole found. Two
weeks from now, you won't be able to tell it from any other small grassy
hill."
"I.. I.. I don't know what to say. I don't know how I can repay
you..."
"Just do what you can to help overthrow Robotropolis and further the
cause of freedom, Kickaha. That's all anyone needs to do." Sally told him.
"Oh, don't forget to schedule an appointment with Sir Charles. You need to
take care of that back. Remember what I said about people who wouldn't
listen to good advice?" With that, she shot Davey another one of her
_looks_. He flinched, and held up both paws.
"I'll be good, Sally, honest I will!" Davey whined. "I promise!"
Sally humphed. "You'd better. Or I'll set Sonia on you. And you know
_SHE_ won't take any excuses from you." At that, Davey went white under his
fur.
Now it was Kickaha's turn to laugh. "Looks like she's got you by the
shorts, good buddy. I'd advise a quick surrender before it's too late.
After all, you know females never take prisoners. I thought you knew that."
He snickered uncontrollably. "The girls are _always_ more dangerous than
the guys. Ah learned that a looong time ago. Hey, come on, let's go see if
they can use any help putting my lodge together."
And with that, David and Kickaha trooped over to lend a hand.
***
-----------------------------------
Now for the legal stuff.
Sonic the Hedgehog, Princess Sally, Knothole,
et cetera, by Sega of America
Blood and Metal, Davey Crockett, and The Wild Pack
by David Gonterman
Kickaha by Edward Becerra
Sonia Hedgehog by Emily Smith
Bear (The Hermit) by Daniel Davis
Sandra Nightweaver and Bookshire Draftwood by David Pistone
BAM Nicole by Alex Weitzman
Coyote is a spirit of the native peoples of the Americas.
Please respect him as you would your own beliefs.
Received on Sun Jan 28 1996 - 01:30:06 PST
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0
: Thu Mar 19 2015 - 12:17:03 PDT