All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.
Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place two weeks after "Meetings and Plots".
East and West
By SN/TVfan
Email: Sam_Nary
Queen Florence Island
Natsilane quietly walked along a quiet path along the island. The island had become very beautiful after he had defeated Raven and thanks to Grandmother had remained so. There were some things that worried him however. As he looked back, he remembered that Grandmother had always urged that the follow the ways of his ancestors, and remained with him so long as he disagreed with her. Then, after he finally accepted them and defeated Raven Grandmother left. She promised to talk to him from time to time, but recently, that was no longer possible. He was alone.
Shortly after the Second Unseelie War ended...
"Grandmother?" Natsilane spoke into one of the islands small creeks, hoping he could get a chance to talk with Grandmother today, "Grandmother, are you there? I have a question for you."
The water simply moved along its path as it had always done. Grandmother's face did not appear. After a minute or so, he only sighed and prepared to walk back toward the village. A coughing sound stopped him, and he turned to see a man standing behind him. The man was dressed in jeans, a white tee-shirt, and a dark colored jacket and was looking almost like a bearer of bad news. Natsilane soon became curious about the pointed ears.
"Do I know you?" Natsilane asked.
The man sighed, "I'm afraid not. I'm better known in the desert southwest. The northwest coast is not exactly my territory. But, this is something you should know."
"Who are you?" Natsilane demanded, "Why are you here? What do I need to know?"
The man sighed again and looked down, as if to collect his thoughts. From his facial expressions it looked to Natsilane that he was saddened by something, as if he had lost a friend.
"My name is Coyote," he answered slowly, "I'm a fey, like those you've met and dealt with and befriended before."
"Fey?" Natsilane asked, trying to remember several things that Grandmother had told him before she left, "You're not here to harm the land, are you?"
"No," Coyote shook his head, "I may be a trickster, but I've generally tried to teach a lesson, not amuse myself. Not all of us are as bad as Raven was. I'm here, because something has happened."
"What has happened?" Natsilane asked, becoming more confused by the minute.
Coyote sighed again, "The fey community has not been peaceful of late. A tyrannical villain seeking to rule attacked Avalon."
"Is everything alright?" Natsilane asked, trying to figure out what had happened.
"They are now, at least for the world," Coyote replied weakly, "but while the good guys won, it wasn't without cost."
"What happened?" Natsilane demanded urgently.
"Your grandmother is dead," Coyote looking down, "I was trying to find the right way to say this, but I'm afraid I'm at a loss for words that would make this easier."
"Dead?" Natsilane asked, his voice suddenly weak.
"A warrior/trickster fey called Loki killed her," Coyote answered.
"She can't be dead," Natsilane urged, "She taught me everything."
"No fey is truly immortal," Coyote sighed, "Aging and nearly all diseases matter little to our race, but iron and magic are things that can kill us."
"She can't be dead," Natsilane repeated, nearly in tears.
"I'm sorry," Coyote managed to say.
"So what do I do now?" Natsilane asked, "She was the one who knew most of my culture's old ways by heart. I need her help every now and then."
"Again," Coyote said weakly, "I'm sorry for what's happened. If there was anything I could do to fix this, I would."
"I've already missed her, even while she was only on Avalon," Natsilane said weakly, "I don't know what I'm going to do now that she's gone. I don't know what she knows."
"I don't know what she knows, either, but I promise you I'll do anything I can to help," Coyote answered.
"You would help me?" Natsilane asked, "I hardly know you, and you hardly know me. And you said you're of the desert southwest."
"I can help you get through the period of mourning that everyone goes through when a close friend dies," Coyote answered, "And I can help you research anything about your culture that you need."
"I could use someone to talk to about her," Natsilane commented.
Coyote would remain for a week or so talking with Natsilane about their experiences. Natsilane telling of what Grandmother had taught him, Coyote telling of his occasional meetings with Grandmother before the Gathering. At times it surprised Natsilane how close Coyote and Grandmother were. Especially considering how much younger Coyote was. After his experience with Raven, he assumed that all younger fey did not get along with the older fey. But, Coyote and Grandmother had been friends, even though they had only met on a handful of occasions.
"You dealing with everything?" Coyote asked a week later.
Natsilane shrugged, "About as good as I can, but I'll be okay."
Coyote nodded and took a few steps toward the far horizon.
"Coyote," Natsilane spoke up forcing the southwestern fey to stop after a few steps, "Thanks for coming up here."
Coyote turned and snapped his fingers and a small notepad with numbers written on it fell into Natsilane's hands.
"What's this?" Natsilane asked.
"My phone number," Coyote answered, "Remember I told you I'm living back in the mortal world once more..."
"With a rather cute girl," Natsilane finished.
Coyote only smiled, "Yes, but should you ever need help with anything, give me a call."
Coyote then vanished in a flash of green light.
Present
Natsilane hadn't run into any problems that would require Coyote's help, so the walk was merely to enjoy nature. And nature around here seemed to be beautiful. He wished that Grandmother was there to see it, but he was largely beginning to get over learning of her death.
"I hope everything I've done is how you would have wanted it," Natsilane thought for a moment before hearing voices coming from a place off of the path.
Natsilane also managed to smell wood burning. He immediately moved to investigate. It was relatively late in the evening, and the sun had already set, so he assumed that some tourist had come onto the island and set up a campsite. He'd politely tell them that camping was not allowed on the island in order to preserve the land and to respect his people. The present fire also indicated meant there was a risk of a forest fire, which Natsilane could not allow. He couldn't let the island go up in flames.
As he got closer, he began to make out the words that were being spoken. All of them were in a foreign language and he couldn't understand them. He hid behind a large tree as he observed the group. He found there was a large group of gargoyles gathered around a small campfire with a few monks as well. All were dressed in oriental clothing and most of the gargoyles seemed to resemble dragons. Two looked more like oriental versions of Goliath and Angela, having more human-like features. The human monks were defi nitely oriental.
"Great," Natsilane thought to himself, "I group of gargoyles has come here, and none of them can speak English, and even less likely able to speak the Haida language. I can't even tell them that it would be better to go to the village."
Then a thought occurred to Natsilane.
"Coyote," Natsilane thought, "Maybe he can help. Now to run back and get his number."
Meanwhile, among the monks and gargoyles, Fang Shui was commenting over the previous leg of the journey. Yoshi translating every word spoken for Yama. "Man, the last week has been the coldest I have seen since Tibet," Fang Shui grumbled, "Thank goodness there is no snow here."
"It is still too cold for my tastes," another monk spoke up, "I wish there was someplace that we could go that is indoors."
"We're still fairly far north," Yoshi spoke up to inform the others, "I think somewhere off the coast of Canada or southern Alaska, both of which are known to have fairly cold climates."
"How long do you think it will take to reach New York?" Je Lu asked the Japanese interpreter.
"Weeks, I'd assume," Yoshi sighed, "Both the United States and Canada span continents. It will surely take time to cross them."
"What of the temperature?" Shi La asked, "The monks could only barely go through 'Alaska' without freezing to death."
Yoshi then pulled out a map that he had taken with him when he had found lying on the ground of a dark alley in Anchorage and began to look at it. After a few moments he sighed before answering the Chinese female.
"It will be cool or cold almost the entire way," Yoshi answered, "We're actually in the 'warmer' parts of our journey right now, and that's only because we're so near the ocean."
Shi La and Je Lu looked toward the monks who huddled closer toward the fire.
"Perhaps we should go looking for something they can keep warm in besides their robes, my love," Shi La spoke to Je Lu.
"Where?" Je Lu sighed, "I did not see any large animals and even if there were, none of us have any sewing material to manufacture the new clothing for them."
"Maybe we should go further south," one of the other males in Je Lu's clan spoke up, "Go to where it's warm and then head north to New York once we get to the next ocean."
"That would take too long," Yama countered, "If these supermen who have caused trouble in Tibet are given more time to plot, who knows what they will accomplish."
The others sighed as Yoshi translated Yama's message.
"But what of the monks?" Je Lu asked, "We must protect them as well."
Yama, himself sighed after he heard Yoshi's translation to him, "I do not know. It appears we will have a trouble if we take either direction."
Tibet
Two squads of Chinese infantrymen slowly made their way along a narrow mountain path that lead to a Chinese military base, not more than a mile from the capitol of the province of Tibet. The base was there to provide deterrence in case of an insurrection and from past fear that the Soviets might have invaded from the west to force the Chinese to follow them. Now the concern was truly the Arabs living in the former Soviet republics and in Afghanistan and Pakistan who were preaching radical Islam. The recent rise in incidents, however, showed no connection to any outside threat, and was growing more serious in nature. Chinese patrols and supply convoys were being ambushed. Strangely, most of the soldiers survived the ambush only find that all their equipment had been taken. To respond to this, the military was being ordered to boast the defenses around its bases in Tibet, and particularly the capitol of the province. The soldiers had been flown in from Shanghai and were now escorting a supply truck, carrying fuel and ammunition to the base that the infantrymen were assigned to.
They marched quietly and briskly along the road, hoping that nothing would happen. They scanned the area along the sides of the road. There was nothing that indicated that there was any danger. Then, suddenly, from behind some large rocks, two hand grenades were thrown and landed among each squad of soldiers. When they went off, a pulse went out that knocked everyman in each squad to the ground and flipped the truck over behind them. Each man soon fell unconscious. A small group of men, in gear that camouflaged them perfectly with the ground along the road then stood up and began to approach the scene.
"They're all unconscious," One man said as he checked the bodies of the Chinese soldiers.
"Good," another answered him, "Our leader has ordered that we are to avoid killing our enemies as much as possible for the time being. Strip them of the weapons and equipment."
The man then turned to the rest of the men in his group, "Search the truck"
Then quickly went about their mission and left the scene alone.
"Do not worry," the leader of the group said, "Soon we will be strong enough to throw the Chinese out of this province and can move on to conquering them. They can not defeat our leader."
Khan was meanwhile involved in a very different task.
"What's the status?" Khan asked one of his technicians working in a lab inside their secret base.
The technician turned from the computer screen which appeared to be downloading something very extensive to face his leader.
"We are currently downloaded the world's nuclear launch codes from the Illuminati files," the technician reported, "Thankfully, since our network is still connected to the Illuminati's files, they can't think of us as pirating the information."
"Good," Khan smiled, "How much longer before we have control over the world's nuclear arsenal?"
"We will have full control over every country that uses ICBMs as their primary method of delivery of nuclear weapons within the next five hours," the technician reported.
"Good," Khan smiled, "We wouldn't want the Illuminati to deprive us of ruling the world by blowing it up, now do we?"
"No, we wouldn't," the technician answered, "But this control will only apply to the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, the People's Republic of China, India, and Pakistan. As they are the only declared powers in the Illuminati's list. I have others digging deeper to look at 'suspected' nuclear powers, which includes Israel, and powers that are clandestinely developing nuclear weapons, Iran."
Khan nodded, having read the Illuminati's files with respect to the world's nuclear powers. His current intention was to gain control over the launch codes, so that should any of these nuclear powers attempt to 'nuke' him, he could shut the launch down before they even fueled the missile half way.
"The problem is that the Illuminati did not intend for these various terror networks to grow up out of nowhere," the technician continued, "And they are not likely to be as advanced as a country like the United States is, but nuclear weapons are nuclear weapons, and with the demise of the Soviet Union, large sums of weapons grade plutonium have gone missing. They will eventually oppose us, and I wouldn't it past them to simply drive a car with a warhead in the backseat into a building."
"Hopefully those I have researching the Illuminati's files on the various forms of magic and sorcery will provide us with the means to prevent that," Khan commented, "if not, we can simply use the Illuminati's information to hunt down their cells one by one."
"Of course, sir," the technician answered and returned to his work.
Arizona
"Hello?" Beth spoke as she answered the urgently ringing phone.
"Uh, is Coyote there?" a voice asked somewhat urgently from the other line.
Beth pulled the phone back to look at it with a rather curious eye. Most people only knew that she lived there. Only the clan, her family, the Xanatoses, and Titania and her Court knew about Coyote living there as well. The voice didn't sound like any of the gargoyles, her family, or the Xanatoses, and they fey would 'call' Coyote by appearing in a mirror.
"Who is this?" Beth asked, almost immediately.
"My name is Natsilane, but I prefer Nick," the voice answered, "I need to speak to Coyote. Please, it's rather important."
Beth still had no clue as to who 'Nick' was, but was beginning to believe that Coyote had visited someone during one of his many travels and sighed heavily.
"Hold on," Beth instructed and began to walk around the small apartment that she and Coyote were living in, looking for the southwestern fey.
She found him out on a porch looking out over the small town that they were living in.
"Hey," Coyote said when he saw her, "What's up?"
"Nothing much," Beth answered, "You have a phone call from some guy named 'Nick'."
Coyote immediately took the phone and began speaking into it.
"Yeah, what's up?" Coyote spoke, "...uh-huh...uh-huh...wow... Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can."
"So, who's Nick?" Beth asked as Coyote hung up, "Does he live around here? Why didn't you introduce me?"
"Nick is a friend of Grandmother's," Coyote answered, "Remember the elderly fey I told you about?"
Beth nodded, "The one that Loki killed during the Unseelie attack on Avalon."
"Nick is Grandmother's grandson and has been a student of hers before the Gathering," Coyote answered, "I went up there, shortly after we returned to Arizona to tell him what had happened to her. I promised him that I would try to help him as much as I could since Grandmother provided him with much of the guidance when there was something that he didn't know or hadn't learned."
"So, what traditional northwestern ritual do you know that he's needing help for?" Beth asked.
"Actually, he doesn't need any of that kind of help," Coyote shrugged, "Apparently, he's found a large group of 'Asian' gargoyles that can not speak English."
"You can translate languages?" Beth asked.
"I can give Nick the ability to understand them and give them the ability to understand Nick," Coyote answered, "Think of it like a translator."
"Do you need any help?" Beth asked.
"No, I shouldn't be too long," Coyote answered, "I'm pretty sure I'll have to fry my own dinner though. I'll make it up to you, I promise."
Beth nodded as Coyote teleported away.
Queen Florence Island
Coyote arrived to find Natsilane waiting for him. He looked around and found he was in his lodge in the village.
"You're not watching them?" Coyote asked.
"I don't really want to spy," Natsilane answered, "And my phone and your number were here. I couldn't have called you there if I tried."
"Let's get going then," Coyote answered, "they may even have moved on by now."
Natsilane nodded and began to lead Coyote back down the path that he had taken earlier that lead him to the small encampment. The gathering was still there, and seemed to be in the middle of an intense discussion about something.
"That's them," Natsilane commented.
"And all you want is for them to understand you when you tell them it'd be better to come into the village?" Coyote asked.
Natsilane nodded, "I can't do any more right now when I don't understand a word they're saying."
"Well, I don't think that's too bad," Coyote commented and began to rise into the air, and chanted...
"Visitors from an eastern land,
English you do not understand,
understand the western word,
so all voices, can be heard."
With that, a green light wrapped around both Je Lu and the gargoyles and humans traveling with him and around Natsilane. The Chinese clan was completely startled by the occurrence. Once the light faded, each traveler checked themselves over and the ones next to them. Nothing appeared to have changed.
"What was that?" Shi La asked, in Chinese.
Yama's eyes widened in surprise.
"What is it?" Yoshi asked him.
"I understood her," Yama said back, in Japanese, which caused several of the Chinese gargoyles to look to him, with similar looks of surprise.
"How can that be?" Shi La asked him, "How can you understand? I spoke in Chinese, which you obviously don't know."
"I know I don't understand Chinese," Yama answered, "That's why I brought Yoshi. How I understand you know, I don't know."
Several other members of Je Lu's clan began to wonder how they now understood Yama without it going through Yoshi first. Fang Shui and the monks were now also curious. The sound of footsteps and a new voice speaking startled them.
"You're newfound understanding of each other, and of English would be because of me," said a rather human-like man as he floated in midair above them, while another human approached the campsite from the trees nearby.
Je Lu, Yama, Yoshi, and most of the Chinese clan's males approached both of them with a firm intention on fighting the two intruders. Natsilane began to back away, while Coyote 'stood' firm.
"Hey! Cool it!" Coyote instructed, "We're not here to fight anyone."
"You were spying on us," Je Lu growled.
"We did no such thing," Coyote countered, "And if you want to get technical on offenses, it is you who is in the wrong, not us."
"What!?" Je Lu growled.
Yama meanwhile had grabbed Natsilane and lifted him into the air.
"Explain yourselves," Yama ordered, "It is not proper to spy on people."
"I wasn't spying," Natsilane insisted, "My name is Natsilane, Nick for short. I came across your campsite a little while ago while on a hike..."
"You were spying!" Yama interrupted.
A green light suddenly reached out from around Coyote's hands and pulled all the gargoyles away and sat them down rather roughly.
"Now, if you're through thumping your chests like Tarzan," Coyote commented, "Perhaps you could let Natsilane finish his story."
The group was quite surprised by this and sat in silence.
"The island you've camped on is called Queen Florence Island is home to my people, the Haida," Natsilane explained, "Now while hiking is tolerated, camping outside of the village is prohibited because of the small amount of land that is available for use. I wanted to tell you that you would be welcome to come to the village for the night, but it appeared to me that you wouldn't understand English or the Haida language. So I asked Coyote here to come and give us the ability to understand each other."
"All of this because you couldn't understand us?" Shi La asked, stepping forward.
"And because you would not have understood me," Natsilane answered, "I only wanted to say that you could come into the village for the night and warm up before you continue to wherever it is that you're going."
Je Lu sighed heavily, realizing his overreaction to their appearance and arrival.
"You must pardon us for our actions, Mr. Natsilane," Je Lu answered, "My clan has been through much."
"Why are you so calm?" Yoshi asked, "Is there a clan that lives nearby?"
Natsilane shook his head, "Grandmother told me once that gargoyles used to live here, but for some reason that even she could not explain, they died out. But awhile back a small group of travelers visited the island, and three gargoyles numbered among them."
"Goliath?" Yama asked, "You've met him?"
Natsilane nodded, "Why do you ask?"
"He and his companions visited Japan once," Yama explained.
"They were on a quest determined by Avalon," Coyote explained, "It sent them where they needed to be."
"How do you know all this?" Fang Shui asked, "And how are you able to fly like that?"
"I'm a fey," Coyote answered, "A creature of magic. That green light you saw earlier was simply a spell that will let you understand what others are saying. You're still speaking Chinese, Japanese, and English, respectively, but my magic enables you to hear the words in your own language."
"Well, that will make things much easier from here on out," Yoshi commented, "We don't need a translator anymore."
"Yes, but what a bizarre way to have that problem solved," one of the monks added.
"Well, since getting past the language barrier was all that I was needed for, I really must be going," Coyote answered, "I've got a girlfriend back in Arizona that I need to spend time with."
With that, Coyote gave a respectful bow and vanished as he did so. Je Lu and his clan were very surprised by seeing all this, and Yoshi and Yama were somewhat surprised by seeing the fey's behavior as well.
Natsilane ignored it and continued with his own message, "I will say again that you are welcome to come to the village. You can warm up and continue your journey tomorrow."
"Did your 'Grandmother' explain to you about gargoyles?" Je Lu asked.
Natsilane shook his head.
"We sleep during the day and will have to continue our journey tonight," Je Lu explained.
"Where are you going?" Natsilane asked.
"We must journey to New York to rendezvous with a female gargoyle named Demona," Fang Shui answered.
"At least come back to my hut for a bit and get some warm clothes," Natsilane urged, "The Rockies are always cold this time of year and New York has recently had a very bizarre streak of wet and cold weather. You'll need clothing that can keep you warm."
"You would provide this for us?" Fang Shui asked.
"No offense, but you look like you're freezing," Natsilane answered, "I think you'll need it."
"We thank you for your generosity," one of the monks told him.
"It's the least I could do," Natsilane answered
Natsilane then began to lead the monks back toward the path while the gargoyles remained around their campfire, which was beginning to die out.
"Make sure the fire is out before you come to the village," Natsilane told them.
"I think we will remain here," Je Lu spoke, "Cold temperatures do not bother us. We will put out the fire though. Thank you for helping our friends."
"Don't mention it," Natsilane answered and began to walk away.
Fang Shui and the monks returned about an hour later with their robes folded in their arms. Each monk was wearing a light jacket and a pair of pants.
"The people in his village were most generous," Fang Shui commented as he approached Je Lu and one of the Tibetan clan's females, "Mr. Natsilane gave us socks, but the other villagers donated the pants and jackets and shoes."
"Yes, and they're warm clothes too," another monk added.
"It is good that you feel comfortable," Je Lu nodded, "But we must be going now."
"Of course," Fang Shui nodded.
Tibet
Khan stood before the communications screen, this time, talking with one of his operatives sent to the Middle East.
"It seems things are better than expected," Khan commented.
"Yes," the commando nodded, "But, I'm afraid that Mr. Bin Laden will not be ready to act as your decoy until fall of 2001. I am under the assumption that our uprising is to occur sooner."
"We can push it back if necessary," Khan replied, "I trust you did not tell Bin Laden that he is only my decoy to keep America out of my affairs."
"I did not, sir," the commando answered, "but I will say sir, it was hard. The man is absolutely mad."
"Maybe," Khan smiled, "But even madmen have their uses. Continue with your mission."
"Yes, sir," the commando saluted.
The End...
