"The Gift": Richard's (SF) Storyline, Ch 4, Part 5
Story by comidacomida on SoFurry
Hello readers, and welcome back to "The Gift"! This is the final post of Chapter 4 for Richard (SF).
After a lengthy discussion with Treboada and Sabhana, Richard is left holding the attention of the three spirits joining him outside his house and, under the gaze of the two Wolves and Jack he finally decides it's time to make a decision, and it isn't an easy one. Although this is the end of the chapter, I still have the need for reader input, thus the decision is left up to all of you. This decision will have a strong bearing on the next chapter and, likely, the rest of the story!
Here is the end result of the vote:
a) -- came to the conclusion that the Wolves were already making the decision easy for me by leaving. "Alright... okay. I can't support all of you. I understand. I get it. Thank you, then... for... everything."
The Gift
Richard's (SF) Storyline, Chapter 4.5
copyright comidacomida 2018
Sabhana nodded softly. "Your soul burns brightly, but it burns for reasons aside from the Spirit. You will be a very successful student and you will do well in life, but you could scarcely handle being bound with two spirits, let alone four."
Jack stepped back as if slapped, but he recovered quickly. "But, that doesn't mean he can't try!"
Sabhana shook her head again. "No... I have seen it, and Balam has seen it. This is why he is giving Richard his space-- in the hopes that Richard will come to the same conclusion about you as he has about us."
Treboada shook his head. "Yeh 'eard what she said, Berd... all-in-all, yeh may not 'ave a place by 'is side... not if th' Ket 'as th' lad's fondness."
Still reeling from what it was I was hearing, I realized that Sabhana probably knew a lot more about it than I could and what good was having an expert if you wouldn't listen to them. "Then... what can I do? How can I fix this? How can I be a good Seer for Spirits?"
Sabhana's expression was both soft and firm at the same time. "Realize your limits."
Before I could object to her suggestion Treboada piped in. "When yeh spend time at th' gym an' yeh lift weights yeh dunnae go liftin' 600 pounds, do yej, lad? Yeh gotta know yer limits, an' what yeh doin now is pushin yehself too much. Yeh cannae keep it up, an' we be really seein' that now."
I glanced back to Jack for support but the Gryphon only shrugged his shoulders, wings raising and falling with the motion. Regardless, he tried, addressing the two Wolves. "If thou wouldst be willing to try--"
Sabhana interrupted him. "That is NOT what Richard needs, Guardian, and you should know that. We are pulling him in different directions and he is trying to accomidate, but there is not enough of him to go around."
Treboada nodded. "When all yeh do is fight fer scraps then nobody gets a full meal. The boy cannae keep it up an' we can see it. Yeh be spending all o' yeh time tryin' so hard t'make it work ye dunnae see the signs that 'e dunnae have it t'give."
I objected. "But I'd LIKE to!"
The black Wolf shrugged. "Well... yeh may like t' lift 600 pounds but that dunnae mean yeh'll succeed if yeh try. All yeh gonna do is get yehself 'urt."
The discussion was going nowhere so I brought it back to the point I was trying to make. "So how can I be the best Seer possible if all you're saying is that I can't succeed?"
Sabhana let out a soft sigh and stepped back, trailing her claws through the end of her long mane absently as she spoke. "Richard, you are doing so much and trying so hard that I can see you really want to be a good Seer... that is half of what it takes."
Finally receiving some positive feedback I pushed in that line. "Okay... so what's the other half?"
She repeated her earlier statement. "Realizing your limits."
Gritting my teeth, I put my hand to my forehead. "And what if I don't LIKE my limits?!?"
Having spoken a little louder than I'd intended, I glanced around to see if anyone was within earshot to see and hear me 'talking to myself'. Fortunately it was late enough in the evening that there weren't any spectators and I looked back to Sabhana. "I still think I can make it work. Can you give me that chance?"
Treboada nodded succinctly. "Aye, Lad... yeh just gotta get rid o' th' Ket."
The statement caught me by surprise and, frankly, left me a little agitated. "Do you have that much of a problem with him? Is that what this is about?"
The big black Wolf shook his head, motioning to Jack with a thumb. "Nay, lad... yeh could get rid o' th' Berd if yeh wanted. Same result in eitheh case."
The Gryphon let out a squawk of indignation. "Mind thyself! I am not thy enemy."
Treboada crossed his arms over his chest as he stood defiantly. "Nay, Jack... na'er an enemy... just an opponent in th' contest."
I didn't like the way he phrased that. "Contest? What? Why?"
Sabhana let go of her mane and stepped up so that she was right in front of me. She reached out to rest a paw on either shoulder or, rather, so that they were outstretched and floating just above them since she couldn't touch me. "Richard... consider this math question: How much can you subtract from two before you have a negative number?"
The question was so remedial that I found it hard to think that she actually expected a real answer. "Is that rhetorical?"
She maintained eye contact. Her right ear flicked. "How much?"
I sighed. "Two."
Sabhana spoke simply and directly. "You cannot support every spirit you encounter, Richard. No matter how creative you are with math you can never subtract more than two from two and expect a number that is not negative."
Gritting my teeth against the impossibility of the situation. "Then how can I make the first two a three? or a four? or a five? .... or a ten?"
Although I fully expected either Sabhana or Treboada (or both of them) to tell me that it was just a pipe dream but I was both surprsied and demoralized when Jack's voice was added to the chorus of negativity. Although they each had their own way to say it, the sum total of their responses were "You can't."
Out of the three spirits, his answer was the one that got my attention the most. Turning to him, I leveled my question. "What do you mean?"
The Gryphon let out a sigh. "Richard, thou art not capable of maintaining four spirits... any of us could tell this."
I was caught somewhere between wanting to storm off down the street or walk back into my house and slam the door. In the end, however, I just stood there and made my next demand. "If you could tell then why in the hell did you follow me looking for these two? Wouldn't it have been easier just letting them go off on their own so you wouldn't have to deal with the extra competition?"
Lowering his head, Jack nodded and shrugged at the same time. "Mayhaps, Richard... but tis not about what it is I desire-- tis about what thou hast requested."
Treboada shook his head. "Ah, Jackie-boy... yeh got it bad."
Sabhana interposed herself between Jack and myself. She spoke calmly and softly but with a distinct, unyielding tone to her voice. "Richard, you have not focused your time on Treboada or myself. Whether you meant to or not, you have shown where your interest lays in Spirit companions. I do not take offense, and neither does--"
"Dunnae speak fer me, Lass... ah'm plenty offended."
Despite the gruffness of Treboada's tone I could still see the faint smirk at the corner of his muzzle. It was hard to believe that they were so relaxed about walking away. Then again, I had essentially been ignoring them so was it such an impossible thought to understand that they felt unwanted? It was a tough situation, and, when I turned to look at Jack's attentive gaze it was all the more difficult. Taking a breath, I--