FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Gift

Richard's FA Storyline, Chapter 1.3

copyright comidacomida 2018

When the rest of the spirits were likewise settled I set my food off to the side for a minute so I could write something down on a scrap paper I'd readied. I switched off between writing and eating; to anyone else in the cafeteria it would look like I was doing homework while having lunch, but to the spirits, I was using Jack as a mouth piece. I had plenty of questions and I had plenty of comments and the not-quite two hours until my next class would give me some time to figure things out.

Putting pen to paper, I decided that the courteous thing to do would be to give the Cats a chance to explain themselves so I wrote "Okay... so I'm a Seer and I'm here. What do you want with me?"

Once Jack had a chance to relay what I'd written the two Cats looked at one another in surprise as if they hadn't actually expected me to be receptive to their presence. To be honest, I was already way out of my depth with just two spirits but I wasn't about to be rude and turn them away when they really hadn't done anything wrong. In the end it was Sabrina who spoke up first. "That's... a complicated question, Seer."

I wrote onto the paper and took a bite of my lunch, chewing while Jack relayed my words. "The seer is Richard and he says that thou mayest call him by that name."

Phillips' eyes gained a glimmer of light and his smile spread wide. "Thank you, Richard... it's been over a century since we've been able to call a human by name."

As he spoke, the Cat ran a paw across the top of his head and I was surprised to see that his fur looked fuller, shinier, and more vibrant. Sabrina smoothed out her blouse and crossed her paws in front of her on the table. "Richard... you're new to being a Seer, right?"

Rather than waste any space on my scrap paper I nodded as I set down my fork and made ready to write again. Phillip responded to my confirmation. "One reason why spirits refer to Humans who can see us as 'Seer' is because when you interact with spirits it empowers us. The littlest of kindness you show to a spirit grants them large amounts of power when you do so directly and willingly. Something as simple as letting you call us by your given name is equivalent to us following a Human around for a week and getting it passively."

Jack scowled, fluffing his wings out when I glanced at him. He addressed the Cats as much as me. "We haven't had much time to go over everything yet. This is one reason I had meant to keep things simple and separate thee from one another."

I looked back to my paper and wrote a note to Jack, sliding it to him: Does the power I give them get taken from you?

He shook his head. "Nay, Richard. Thou art a Human. Humans produce spirit energy aplenty just by being Human. What thou dost give to them does not come from me, but it could be given to me instead. Many spirits with a Seer will jealously guard him or her-- aggressively at times."

Sabrina, who had stood up to look at what I'd written flicked her tail as she sat down. "Which, I'll point out, is what happened out there in the commons."

Jack scowled; considering he had a fairly unmoving beak I was surprised when I realized I knew him well enough to differentiate the expression. "There are enough desperate spirits out there that I can not be too careful... Richard is more than my Seer-- he is my ward, and I am his family's Herald."

Phillip stood up, spreading his arms wide. "Well... now you can see that we're no trouble and we don't want to hurt him... in fact, Sabrina and I have a few decades of experience in helping Humans with spirit matters."

Sabrina nodded. "Right! We could even help train Richard!"

Although Anapa hadn't said a word since we sat down I looked to him and saw that the entirety of his attention was on the paper as I wrote. His ears were up and his lazer-pointer focus could well have burned holes in the table. When he saw me looking his ears and eyes rotated to me, calming immediately. He took a moment to sound out the words, pointing at the paper. "Words. Letters."

Phillip smirked. "Wow... poor Richard. It looks like your Sorcerer isn't very good at English, is he?"

My next question was obvious at that point as I wrote it down: Sorceror? What's that?

Sabrina smiled, eyes lighting up as she pointed at the paper. "Two 'e's, Richard-- there's no 'o' in Sorcerer."

It was Jack who actually answered my question. "Most Spirits have a specific method they use for interacting with the world. Some spirits, like me, are Warriors, while others, like Anapa manifest their power in other ways."

Sabrina laid both of her paws palm down on the table and a strange glowing green glyph appeared on it. "Like magic."

I sat back in my chair, food forgotten. I was so surprised by the effect that I even started with a "Wh--".

Recovering quickly before actually speaking more than a syllable I went right back to writing on my paper and showed it to Jack. He shook his head. "No, Richard... the magic of spirits is far different than the stories among mortals such as thyself."

Phillip reached out and took hold of a section of the luminous rune created by Sabrina and lifted it up into the air as if it were something physical he could touch. "It's not THAT different, Herald... in fact, most of the Seers who take a Familiar are able to use magic... with a little help, of course."

I just started writing my next question when the male Cat slid around the table. Jack's talon went to the hilt of his sword when Phillip lowered the symbol onto my paper. I looked at him quizzically and Sabrina motioned to it. "Write on top of it. Trace it."

Glancing to Jack, the Gryphon's beak was pressed firmly closed; it was readily evident that he didn't like Phillip being so close to me, but the grip on his sword wasn't as tight as it had been earlier in the day, or even a few moments before. Anapa snorted. "No."

Phillip's fur puffed out slightly and his ears lowered for a moment. "It's harmless. There's no reason why he--"

The Jackal snorted again and gestured to the Cat, urging him out of the way. "Go."

I met Phillip's gaze and motioned with my eyes; the Familiar seemed a little dejected but did as I requested. Anapa took his place and pointed at the glowing rune, lowering his claw to it, and dragged the tip across my paper, adding a rich purple colored line to what had been there in green. He nodded, apparently pleased with what he saw and he gestured at it and mimed writing. "Good. Do, Hem-Netjer. Do."

Not able to get any clarification on the point I looked at both Cats and then the Jackal; all three nodded so, shrugging, I began to write on the paper, carefully tracing the line that sat glowing atop it. The sensation was strange, as if my pencil was a magnet being dragged along by another. I'm not really all that good at art, and I can't even trace very well half the time but following the rune was as easy as breathing. The moment I had copied it onto the paper I sat back, watching as the glow suffused into my writing. A moment later, both disappeared and, I noticed, so did all of the notes I had made while sitting at the table.

Jack looked surprised; Anapa looked satisfied; Sabrina and Phillip looked pleased with themselves. I--