Who Is Good or Evil? [Narrative]

[Trevor Rhys]

*Note* I'm still a bit new to the time frame(s) here. Might need to adjust.

(This takes place a few months prior to the present time.)

Laura could not decide what to serve. She paced around in her kitchen, stopping every few seconds to either ponder the question at rest, or to check the cupboards or refrigerator for ideas. She would do this over and over, thinking that if she kept checking, something inside would change. It was a fruitless effort, of course, but she felt like she had to do something, because as it stood now, she was not doing anything.

It was not that she did not have plenty of choices as far as refreshments went. Had she had the job of serving anyone else, she would know exactly what to prepare, and would have done so ages ago. However, her guest outside was not one of her usual visitors. He was a special case; the first of his kind. She continued to pace and think to herself, trying to come up with a solution.

What to serve? Water? Wine? Does he drink wine? Do THEY drink wine? And is he hungry? Do they like pastries? Do they EAT pastries? I assume he would not like anything with meat in it. Maybe a carrot? Would that be offensive? Maybe I should just ask him. But I should at least bring out something. Yet I don’t wish to offend him. Then again, he is a…

“Zut alors!”

Laura stamped in frustration before making a decision. Man may not be able to live on bread alone, but all things drink water. She went over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a crystal pitcher she had left there. She made her way over to the sink, stuck the pitcher under the tap, and turned on the water. The vessel began to fill with cold water. Before it could reach the top, Laura turned the faucet off, giving the pitcher a little twirl to stir up the liquid.

She took the now full pitcher over to a couple of glasses she had put aside, and poured some of the water into each. And just to make sure they stayed cool, she went over and opened the freezer, reached into the ice box, and pulled out a few cubes of ice, which she put in each of the glasses.

Ice cold tap water. It was not the most exquisite of refreshments, but it was something she was sure that her guest would enjoy. At least she hoped. She figured everyone could enjoy fresh water. Now she just had to take it out to him.

Laura placed the pitcher and the two glasses on a small tray she had on the counter. She lifted it up, carefully, and proceeded to make her way to the back of her house. There, she found the screen door leading to the outside closed, and so she turned around, slowly and carefully, and used her back to push it open. Once outside, she took a look around her yard.

It was a farm. A small farm, an old farm, but a farm it was. It had been in her family for generations, though it looked like hers would be the last. She had to sell off most of her land to pay rent, and she could no longer afford to keep any livestock, save for a few hens. All that was left was an acre sized plot adjacent to her home, and a barn beside that. She had a tractor to plow with, another relic from her family’s history. The tractor, like so much at her home, was falling into disrepair. Last time she saw the machine, all the paint had chipped off, and nearly the entire thing had rusted. However, that was not the sight that greeted her.

The tractor looked brand new. At least, the metal did. Polished, clean and free of rust. It was shining in the summer sun. Only the paint was missing, and then the tractor would have been restored to its golden years. It looked fantastic.

Once her initial moment of awe had passed, Laura took a moment to look around. That was when she noticed something else. It was not just the tractor that had been refurbished. Almost everything that was metal, from her tools, to the fencing, even the roof of her house. Everything had been restored to a quality even she could not remember having seen. Never in her life had this old farm look so good. So new.

She turned her attention back to the tractor. It was then she noticed a pair of antlers poking out over the far side of the machine. She made her way over to her guest, still somewhat speechless about everything that had changed in just a few short hours. By the time she was within a few feet of him, she managed to get out a singe sentence; her voice softened due to the surprise.

“C’est magnifique…”

[Trevor Rhys]

*Note* It is at this point those more well versed in the French language may wish to pay more attention, that they may be able to correct any mistakes... Though I shall try to catch them myself.

“C’est magnifique…”

When Trevor heard this, he dropped what he was doing (not that he was holding anything) and poked his head up from behind the tractor. A few feet away from him stood a woman he assumed to be in her late thirties with long, wavy brown hair wearing a common blouse and holding a tray with water. He immediately recognized her as Laura, someone he met earlier in the day.

The Shika-Jin was walking down one of the old roads of the French countryside, taking in the sights. For all his travels, he never spent much time in France or mainland Europe in general, and was hoping to rectify that with a little cross-country excursion. Today, he passed by a woman who’s old car broke down on her as she was making her way back home. Trevor was not much of a mechanic; he had worked with engines a little during his visits to Flint (they are mostly metal, after all), but that was the extent of his experience. Still, he thought he could at least try to figure out some way of using his power over Metal to help.

Of course, meeting new Humans never went all that smoothly. In fact, the woman’s first reaction when she saw Trevor was to leap in surprise, scream, and then come at him with her deceptively heavy handbag filled with Trevor could only imagine what. When that failed she tried a large stick she found on the side of the road. A very pointy one. She tired of chasing the poor Jin after a while, and when Trevor explained he might be able to fix her car, she relented, mostly out of exhaustion rather than trust. Fortunately, Trevor made good on his promise, and, with a few metal-molding tweaks, was able to get it started. Laura, relieved, apologized to Trevor who just brushed it off, saying he had heard worse ‘hellos’. No point letting this particular meeting get to him. After introducing herself, Laura wanted to thank him, but then decided to ask him for another favor.

Laura drove Trevor back to her farm. Trevor wanted to be polite, but it really looked warn down and decrepit. Laura, however, understood this, and was even less diplomatic about it. The place was falling apart, she said. She wanted to see if Trevor could use his ‘magic’ to fix up her old tractor like he did her car. If she could not get it running, she would be behind on the harvest, and winter planting, and she’d have to either sell it for scrap, or pay for even more repairs and parts. Trevor agreed, and since then, he had been outside, working happily under the summer sun. He always enjoyed an opportunity to work his skills.

The Shika-Jin walked around the tractor towards the woman. His had taken off his vest a while ago, and his pants were a bit stained from both his traveling and, now, the machine. When he reached her, he cocked his head and started scratching behind his ear with his right paw. “My French is about as rusty as that tractor was, but… That means ‘good job’ right?” Trevor was so glad that she could speak English; though her accent still poked through and she liked to add in common French phrases out of habit.

“Not just good. Fantastique! I cannot believe it! Everything looks brand new. Oh!” Laura held out the tray towards her guest. “Here. I was not sure what to get, but I hope you like water. If not I can…”

“Thanks!” Trevor did not mean to interrupt her like that, but seeing the tray had reminded him just how thirsty he had gotten. He grabbed one of the glasses and brought it up to his muzzle. He took a nice long gulp, downing the contents at once. When he was done, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Sorry… That was great. Thank you, ma’am.”

“I should be thanking you,” she said back. “I only asked you to fix my tractor. I was not expecting you to do all this.” She laid down the tray and spread her arms out. “This is wonderful.”

Trevor returned the glass to its tray. “Well, actually…” His face started turning a little red under the fur. “When I was working on the tractor, I got…bored. So, I decided to take a break, and I noticed all the rusted old metal around here, and I thought ‘I’ll just take a few minutes to clear my mind by taking a look at that’, and… I spent more than a few minutes on it.” The Shika-Jin gave an embarrassed sounding laugh after explaining what happened. Laura just smiled back. It was almost charming to her.

“That was… Very sweet of you.” Trevor noticed she hesitated a bit making that sentence. He figured all this must still be very weird for her. Working with and thanking a person who was, to her, a half-man, half-animal freak. Trevor understood. The Jin may be coming out of hiding, but it would take more than a couple of years for acceptance. Still, Trevor was surprised by the amount of Human kindness he had found on his travels; present company included.

[Trevor Rhys]

*Note* Also, I have no concept of brevity, apparently...

“I need to thank you,” Laura continued. “Is there anything I can—“

The Shika-Jin had to interject, raising both his paws to quiet her. “Don’t thank me just yet. I still need to make sure this thing can still run. I told you I wasn’t much of a mechanic.”

“No problem. I’ll go get the key.” Laura was about to turn and walk away, when Trevor grabbed her shoulder gently to stop her from leaving. He felt of tinge of tension coming from her.

“It’s fine. I can start it myself.” He let go, gently, and went back over to tractor, climbing up onto its seat. He took a couple seconds to reacquaint himself to the controls. Wheel, clutch, brake, ignition… Everything looked good. Trevor put his hoofed foot down onto the clutch. Then he raised the middle and index fingers of his right paw and pointed them at the ignition. He felt the mechanical workings within the ignition cylinder. Then he turned his paw right, about ninety degrees. The ignition turned with him and, after the engine gave a few spurts, the tractor soon started up. Trevor smiled at the success, while Laura started giving him applause. The Shika-Jin turned off the machine the same way he started it and climbed back down.

“Sounds better than ever before,” Laura exclaimed. She walked over to the tractor, just to give it a closer examination. “And you said you know nothing of machines.”

Trevor scratched the back of his head again. “Well, I really don’t. You should still get a professional to double check my work. But… I think it’ll work fine for the rest of the year.”

“Wonderful! Stay put, s’il vous plait.” Laura turned away from the tractor and made her way back to the house. Every now and then she would turn her head to marvel at Trevor’s craftsmanship a bit more. When she finally did disappear back inside the house, Trevor walked over to the tray the French woman had left behind. He poured himself another glass from the pitcher, and took another long gulp. The Shika-Jin, now that he did not have his mind somewhere else, was really starting to feel the heat.

Laura returned a few minutes later. In her hand she was carrying a small bag. Trevor could pick up the sound of metal on metal inside, like jingling. He had an idea what was inside, but decided to wait and see if he was right.”

When she returned to his side, Laura handed Trevor the bag. “Here, I want you to take this.” After taking the bag from her, Trevor peeked inside. Like he thought, it was money. A bag so full of Franc notes and coins that he could not even count how much was in it just looking.

“I… I can’t take this,” he stuttered. “This looks like a lot. And with all the trouble you’re having here, I’d feel…” He reached out with the paw holding the bag, to give it back to her. Laura, in response, gently slapped him on the paw.

“Non, I won’t take it back. I had been saving that long before I met you, for repairs. After everything you’ve done, well. You may not know it, but you’ve saved me more time and money than I could have hoped.”

Trevor acquiesced, and walked over to his traveling bag he had thrown over to the side, placing the money inside. This was not the first time he had been offered money for his services. He needed a way to pay for his traveling, and whenever he entered a friendly Human or Jin town, he would do odd jobs. He only hesitated this time because Laura seemed so nice. But, this would go a long way to keeping him fed during his trip.

[Trevor Rhys]

Trevor picked up the bag and put it around his neck. After taking a sigh of relief, he turned back to Laura. “Well, if that’s everything you need, I really should get going. I’d hate to impose on you anymore.”

Laura waved her hands. “You are not imposing. And you’re staying for a proper meal. It’s the least you deserve.”

Trevor shook his head, antlers hung low. “No… I really should get going. But…” He perked his head up, and put his fingers together, grinning. “If you have, maybe, a baguette for the road… I just love those.” From what little experience he had with French cuisine.

Laura started laughing at the Jin’s behavior. She started walking back towards the door to her house. “I’ll see what I can find. You just wait here.”

Laura went back into the house, leaving Trevor alone again. However, he was only left alone for a couple of minutes before he heard someone approach him from behind. The Shika-Jin turned to see a younger man, just over Trevor’s age, walking up towards him. He wore a long coat and a wide-brimmed hat that looked more appropriate for a western desperado than a French farmer. He was sure the man came for him, because he stared at the Jin right in the eye without hesitation.

“Excuse me!” As the man called out, Trevor noticed that his accent seemed to be more subdued that Laura’s. “You wouldn’t happen to be that Jin that has been traveling through here? The one with a talent with fixing up anything made of metal?”

Trevor nodded. “That sounds like me. Can I help you?”

The man stopped, a few yards away, now that he was sure Trevor was the one he was looking for. “Yes. I come from a village about a day’s walk from here. We have some work for you, if you’re interested. We’re happy to pay you whatever you want.”

Trevor actually took a moment to think about it. Normally, he would jump at the chance to help someone if they needed it. But something was not right about this. Whenever he felt uneasy about a situation, he would get this weird tingle down his spine down to his tail. It was his Insight, detecting something off. And this time, something was definitely wrong. Trevor just did not know what.

“Sure.” He finally said. “I can try to be there as soon as I can tomorrow. Is that alright?”

The man made one quick nod, then took a piece of paper from his pocket, and laid it on a nearby pile of wood. “Directions to the village. We’ll be waiting for you.” The man tipped his hat and made one more nod, then turned and left. Trevor noticed his walking speed had sped up a little bit as he made his way out. Almost like he wanted to get out of there quickly.

The Shika-Jin went over the meeting as he walked over to the wood pile to pick up the directions. A man comes over, asking for his help. Offers a vague job, leaves directions, and then departs as quickly as he came. It just all seemed so weird. But the weird part was not about his actions. It was his lack of action.

That man did not show a bit of surprise or apprehension when talking to the Jin. If anything, the man was sizing him up. Analyzing him. And for a moment, as the man left, Trevor could have sworn he saw a small, yet twisted, grin cross the man’s face when he agreed to come. And Trevor still felt that chill down his spine.

“I’m back!” Trevor turned to see Laura coming up from behind. She was carrying a couple of baguettes in her hand and a jug of water at her side. “Who was that?”

Trevor paused a moment before he answered. “I don’t know. Not yet.”