| The Fellowship of the Binge Chapter #2= - Fond Farewell- All Characters are © their players 2003. Special thanks to Bibok, Blue and Tombfyre for special help given in this chapter J --- - - - - It had been a weary, dreary night. Kuga had found that the most recent death, and the most painful (that of his mother’s) had occurred only 4 days ago. Trying to not push the point too far in to an already tender wound, he tried to find out why Ben had been left alone, when he should have been surrounded by his friends and family. Ben had no answers for him. It seemed that his particular fondness of furry kind and his friendship with Kuga had pushed his human friends away, but that did not explain why the Social Services, Government, Local Council or other such organisations had acted the way they did. Such was Kuga’s mind when he was woken. It must have been around dawn, for the birds were as yet just beginning to sing. Ben had told Kuga that the last thing he was going to do was let this disaster ruin his life – ‘It’s destroyed enough lives already without mine becoming another victim to it’ he had said. Brave, bold, possibly a way to hide the bereavement, but Ben was a soul of strong character, but even so, to pick up the pieces from such an event is hard for anyone, for the wounds go deep and are often so painful. Kuga eventually stirred from his slumber (with a headache, for he had been crying the night out with his friend) to face the morning ahead. In essence, the house, the money in his pocket and Kuga was all that Ben had left in life, it was a wonder that he hadn’t committed suicide already. Kuga bent over to pick up the post – one letter. It wasn’t a letter of reconciliation from family, friends or any such folk, but an official letter dated and sealed to the owner of the house; it was from the Bank who held the mortgage. Ben was busy doing something outside, so he opened the letter and read the content of it – I shall not repeat here the inconsiderate and greedy nature of the words that was written in that letter, for they are too much for anyone to bear, it is not something one usually hears in civilised conversation. But in summary, the bank had said that they wanted their money for the mortgage, and they had long waited for an instalment upon the house. Their waiting had been in vain. Now, they wanted the house. They were evicting the home’s occupants effective at midnight that same evening. If Kuga’s heart had been in his mouth when he arrived, if his heart was in his feet when he met Ben, then it was surely through his shoes by now. What dreadful and horrible people would do such a thing to someone who had had so much befall them already, and at such a young age? He had to tell him. - Ben was outside, in the chilling wind, which quietly respected the silence that morning. He had gotten up to finish something – Ben was burying his mother. Although a cross had been laid there earlier, he had yet to return his last parent to from whence she came. Ben was leaning partially on a shovel, his throat was lump ridden, and his eyes were laden with tears. Kuga quietly joined him and stood beside his friend, when on so many occasions before, that space had been empty. They both cleared their throats. “On many occasions I played on this grass, watched it grow, cut it and even laid it down in place of a concrete bed. Now, it is the final resting place of my kin… Rest in peace, mum.” Each gave a silent bow, and Kuga added quietly “Sleep silently and may we ever have your spirit and soul grace this spot.” Ben placed an arm on his scaly friend, and out of his jacket pocket he took a lone daisy, and let it lay in his hand. “You always told me that daisies were the happiest flowers, and that they laughed the most in God’s Garden. In my garden, you were my daisy, you gave me light and happiness. May your soul find its way to the world beyond this…” The lump in his throat was too big to continue or say more, so he placed the daisy on his hand-made coffin and offered a moment of silence. Taking up a shovel each, the pair silently buried Susan Ann Wiles in the earth. After this, the air was peaceful, and somehow, in someway, Ben’s shoulders seemed to loose some of their burden, and the garden became more peaceful, more hallowed. Smiling thankfully at Kuga, Ben tidied and went to clean up. “It is done.” - What happened afterwards is too awkward and too downcast to repeat here also. Although Ben seemed now to be at peace, his heart was still heavy. Kuga did manage to tell him about the eviction notice, although this news did not seem to either surprise or shock him. He just nodded and took it in his stride, although he knew that now his circle of friends and family had turned his back on him, he had nowhere to go. Kuga had been travelling all over; he had been staying with Kiyo, Talonsaurn (in pillow form, mind you, as he could probably explain if you were to ask him politely enough), Hafler and others. Kuga did have a home on an island somewhere in the pacific, but it had long since been destroyed by other events, which is another tale for another day. Kuga, although I hate to use the term animal, was such, and could as such ‘rough it’. However, having a home taken away from you was not a good thing, especially when it is all that you have left. Ben could only take what he could carry with him, so he could not take his family videos, his family photos, memoirs or other such things of sentimental value. Apart from a little food, water, clothes, his journal, wallet, phone and music; his memories would have to do. Fortunately, the people of the Midlands are not with caring, and so it was in this tale. Ben and Kuga had often spent their earlier days talking to friends through the Internet, and had made many acquaintances there. Blue was one such friend. The Dragon lived to the south, and was kind towards them both. He arranged for them to stay with him (indefinitely if needs be), and would even take them to his house by means of carrying them while he flew. Ben was grateful and thankfully accepted this kind offer. But his character would be tested one last time before he left. On that evening just as they were preparing to leave, someone jumped over the wall in the garden, and desecrated the graves of his family. To say that Ben was heart broken was not true, he was as devastated as when they had all died, it was like them dieing all over again to him. “Why can’t they leave them alone – even when they’re dead?” sobbed Ben. “I don’t know why, I don’t have any answers, just my faith in my knowledge that…” he was unsure of what to say, “that you have the strength to pick yourself up from this and not hold a grudge against the perpetrator of this awful event, as awful as it is. You’re above that.” He let this settle on his friend. “You’re right. I just feel…sad, sad that I can’t stay to restore the graves to their original design and sad for the soul who felt they had to do it in the first place.” He let out a sigh. “Come on Kuga, I think it’s time to go, I don’t think we should keep Blue waiting.” Kuga nodded and headed for the door. Ben paused as he was about to pass through the door, for the last time. He stopped and turned around, watching as his childhood ran through the halls, his teenage years strolled through the doors and his family walked the staircases. Now, all a memory, to be forgotten in the dawning of some other family to take up residence here, in the Bell House at 19 King Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme. Stepping out of that door was the bravest thing he had ever done in his life. He was walking in to not only the cold night, but in to the unknown, uncertainty and the future, all alone save for what he carried with him and his friend Kuga. He bid his home a fond farewell and cast his keys in to the letterbox. - The walk down the road to their meeting place with Blue was not as foreboding as you might expect to be considering what the young man had already fared. Indeed, he was true to his word; he was not going to be solemn and stricken. True, everyone needed their time for mourning and grieving, but there was an appropriate time for all things, and the time for that for Ben had now passed, he would move on. Kuga was glad and thrilled that he was able to share this burden with him; he would later come to say that he would not have traded these past few hours with Ben for any other experience. They had taught him more about strength of character, will and determination then any film, book or lecture ever could. “In truth Kuga,” Ben remarked as they quietly made their way to Station Walks, where Blue was waiting, “I will always miss my family. I will always cherish them in my heart. But as I’ve learnt with being friends with you and other furs, I could compare this time in my life to an empty stomach.” The analogy seemed lost on Kuga, and couldn’t quite see how the two scenarios would compare, but Ben seemed quite confident in his metaphor. “Right now, I’ve lost my nourishment, my source of strength. You might even say that I’ve run out of fuel and resources.” Kuga, still lost, nodded and grunted his general ‘yeah…’. “But I ask you, what happens in ordinary life when you get hungry when you have an empty stomach?” “Is that a trick question?” He chuckled and shook his head. “You eat. You fill your stomach with something else, replace what has now passed on. Although my family have passed on, it doesn’t mean that I can’t find other things to fill my life with…” Sound sage advice. “Well, to tell the truth, I’m actually quite nervous about meeting Blue, scared even.” Kuga grinned, he liked this sort of conversation, he didn’t have to think on two levels. “I can understand that, but I don’t think there’s any need to be afraid. He’s a good person from what I hear, besides, he’s British and Blue, your favourite colour too.” Kuga gave him a wink, and Ben grinned back, tightening a shoulder strap on his bag pack. “Anyway, he’s only about as big as us, so we can take him down if needs be.” Ben just gave Kuga a funny look, as he often did when Kuga used his lateral thinking. They rounded the corner and saw Blue sitting on a bench down the little path, under a tree – they recognised him instantly. Sensing their presence, he stood up and brushed off whatever it was he had been snacking on. They approached each other and stopped about a metre short. Blue was the first to speak. “Good evening Master Wiles, Kuga, good to meet you both at last.” He offered a friendly claw, which they both took and shook. “Good to see you again mate!” exclaimed Kuga, “Good just to meet you at all!” Came Ben. “ Yes, although I wish we could have met under better circumstances.” “I agree” remarked Ben, “but a wish is nothing more than a dream, and that dream won’t be coming true I’m afraid. However, as far as I’m concerned, it won’t get much better than this; I’m starting a new life…” he said, raising his shoulders and chest. “Here here!” called back the blue and green dragon. Indeed, Blue was friendly, although perhaps a little shy – as anyone else would be in their shoes (not that Blue or Kuga were wearing any). His voice was perhaps slightly above normal, but he was a gentleman/dragon (depending on how you look at it) and a decent fellow. “Well, the night is moving on, I suggest that we take advantage of the brilliant moonlight and be on our way.” “Yeah,” said Kuga, “It is a wonderful night sky.” Ben tightened his bag pack again, looking thoughtful. “I don’t mean to sound sceptical, but just how are you going to carry us both?” “Good question. Well, I was just going to ask you about that actually, ‘cos you’re a little more…well built than I remember you or Kuga saying.” Even in the darkness, Kuga was sure some blood rushed to his friend’s face. “Not that I mind, as I say, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of meat on the bone eh?” Ben nodded embarrassingly. -Now you have probably seen the hole in this idea from the beginning, but this trio were only just realising it- Blue motioned for Ben to spread his arms out as he picked him up to see how heavy he was, “Phew, you’re heavier than you look haha, either that or you’ve packed a lot of things in to that bag of yours!” “Ur, yeah. Another question though…” “Oh yes?” “How’s Kuga going to ride with us, somehow I don’t think you’re going to be able to carry a 230 lbs human and a…” Kuga threw him a look that read ‘Shut up’ all over it – he didn’t mind people commenting on his size too much, but his weight was something else, because for his age he should be 5 tonnes by now, but he was only 6 ft tall instead of 15 ft tall, and was only about 500 lbs; “…a dinosaur aswell.” Blue had picked up on the glance and grinned at both of them, and patted Kuga on the side. “Not to worry, I’ve got it all figured out.” He closed one eye and rapped on his forehead, and with that he pulled out a little cotton bag, tied with a piece of purple string and held it up for them to see. “This is a present from a friend who lives out of town, it’s a weight reducer. Essentially, it’s basically the stuff that allows Phoenixes to carry immensely heavy loads, you don’t actually loose any weight, but you feel very light, and it allows me to carry you no problems until we get back to my place.” Kuga cocked an eyebrow and nodded slowly his approval. Blue untied the bag and sprinkled a moderate helping of the light powder (it looked and smelt like talcum powder actually) over Kuga’s body. Within 10 seconds, Kuga started to twitch and fidget, as he felt himself lighten. Ben had the honour of flying on his back, and promptly positioned himself in between his wings and held on around his neck. “Hope you’re all wrapped up, it’s going to be a cold flight.” Blue told Kuga and Ben, well, just Ben since Kuga wasn’t wearing anything, he never usually did. As Blue was about to lift off to hover above Kuga and pick him up, Ben was sure that Kuga actually looked thinner, he seemed a lot fitter and less chunky – must have been the lights! Blue grasped Kuga around his [thin looking] sides and started off. Ben was thoroughly enjoying himself, and even though his face was a little cold, to fly like a bird was exhilarating and breath taking, it was a peculiar yet wonderful experience, something he had desired to do all his life. Kuga, on the other hand, being more safety conscious, was a little more apprehensive. “Is it going to be bobbing up and down like this the whole way?” called up Kuga to Blue, who was getting used to a double load in flight, he chuckled at this, which only increased the bobbing, if only slightly. “Just make sure your tray tables are in their fully closed and upright position.” Kuga rolled his eyes, “Yes…and thank you for flying with ‘Bobbing Blue airlines’, we hope you have a non-life threatening flight…” Ben grinned at Kuga trying to hide his partial fear of flights and heights through sarcasm and humour. “Well is it?” - - |
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