Respect between Enemies – The BetanWerecat

Gundam Seed: "Descending Sword" and after. OCs with appearances by canon characters. The actions of Kira, Athrun, and the others have far reaching effects. Ah, interpersonal relationships! What joys they are. Rated T for language and off screen activity. (Reviews are welcomed but not required. This is written only for my own enjoyment. Flaming me will get you ignored.)

Ok, sorry I'm a bit late. Work has been hectic and will continue to be a zoo for at least the next couple of weeks. Updates may be erratic for a while.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed.


The sweet smell of sage came with the smoke. The only light in the small lodge came from the tiny fire he fed so carefully. One hand kept the pulse of the Spirit Drum unbroken. He chanted softly now; he could feel the vision gathering around him. It would show itself to him very soon now. Yes!

A young golden eagle fell from the stars, wings spread wide. He was met on landing by a red Thunderbird and together they flew to join a blue and white Thunderbird. The power of the Thunderbirds was dim, muted for this time. He understood that they could take no active part in what was to come. They could advise the eagle but they could not fight for him.

An even younger snow white jay and a bounding kit fox pup raced from the stars, following the eagle, determined he should not be alone. They too were met by the red Thunderbird and taken to join the eagle at the home of the blue and white Thunderbird. The eagle was not pleased to see them. The jay stood unflinching at the eagle's screaming attacks but the kit fox pup bounced, snarled and jumped back at the eagle until he was too worn to fight them any longer.

Others came to the aid of the eagle. The Winged Whale's Child, whose song was heard from ocean to star, advised him. The cunning Wolf found him teachers. The Daughter of Lions opened her territory to him. The Spirit Seeker was ever there when his heart darkened. And the twined Thunderbirds stood beside him always, lending him all they could, making sure the jay and the kit fox were as prepared as the eagle for what was to come. The time spent there was short. Yet when they left to begin their journey, the eagle was somehow a bit larger, the jay slightly older, and the kit fox no longer such a pup.

They came to the chanter's land, where his own Spirits could watch them. His vision saw them much more clearly now. They moved over his lands lightly. Their dealings with the people they met were honorable. They were quick to avoid trouble. But they would not be able to evade it forever.

Two different items showed themselves to the chanter. One would save the eagle. The other would grant him swift death. It was the chanter's duty to choose which to give him. He was shown the questions to be asked and the answers he would need to help him make his choice.

The visions slipped back into smoke. The fire flickered again in front of his eyes. He finished the chant and let the drum fall silent. He had all he needed now. It was time to let the fire burn down to ash. The boy and his friends would be here in the morning.


"I like this country." Voril Joule remarked as he drove the sturdy but unremarkable rental van out of the ranch drive. "It's as honest as the people who live here."

"It's rather bleak though." Yuri replied, eyes taking in the late autumn landscape.

"You think so?" Voril looked around them happily. "It's so clean here, the bones of the planet show all around us. Everything isn't covered up with plants and buried under a few kilometers of soil. Everything you see means something, is a record of some event in the world's ancient history or part of the brief life of the seasons."

"It's unfortunate that there's no call for geologists in the Plants." Adrian noted. "You seem fascinated by the subject."

"I discovered dinosaurs on a very early trip with the family to Chicago. There's nothing quite like being six and walking in the door of a museum to find a Tyrannosaurs Rex lunging at you to get your permanent attention." Voril admitted. "I've been interested in the earth sciences ever since. Somehow, it just isn't the same when you think of studying out in the asteroid belt. I mean, yes, its rocks and all. But you need a helmet and spacesuit and you can't really touch anything until you've brought it into a lab and made sure it was decontaminated. Here I could pull over anytime and touch whatever I saw."

"I wouldn't." Yuri said dryly. "It might be another rattlesnake. While being poisoned might not kill you, it wouldn't be much fun either."

"You know what I meant!"

"I'm sure he did." Adrian cut in before the two of them could get to squabbling. "But you have to admit you really didn't pay enough attention there. You were very lucky not to have been bitten. Rattlesnakes aren't the only things out here you shouldn't just go around petting like kittens either. So while I grasp the idea, I suggest a more thoughtful word choice if you don't want to be open to more barbs, eh?"

"Yes sir, I understand." Voril groused.

"So, Yuri, how are we doing with your wool buying? Can we stop now and just head for Kayla's yet?" Adrian asked.

"We're doing well and no. There are two more names on the old list I have to check off in this area before it would be logical for a real Lubbek buyer to leave. I told you I have to investigate every former seller! We even planned this route to make sure it passed the fewest possible on the way to Kayla's. But the people who are keeping an eye on us know who sold to Dad before the war too and they know Dad would offer his contracts there first before he took on any new deals. We're stuck with visiting or at least calling them all."

"Did your family ever buy wool from the Grayhawks?" Voril asked. "I don't recall you mentioning them on your lists. What reason would we have to go out there if they've never sold to Lubbek Imports?"

"You know, I didn't think they had either. But that message I got from Mom yesterday morning says we did buy a small trial lot of pure black Merino from them. Most of what we import goes for industrial uses but a small amount is used for textiles. The Merino was intended for the Textile Group. Mom found the appraisal sheet for the Grayhawk wool a couple days ago. Apparently it was of very good quality and had a buy recommend on it. She wants me to see what other natural colors they have and how fine the best of their white is. So, yes, we have a solid reason to look up the Double Hawk."

"Did you tell her we might not have a chance to talk wool there? That this might be one real fast in and out depending on how hostile the family turns out to be?"

Yuri just watched the muted colors of the landscape for several seconds before he answered his Captain's pained questions. "No, Adrian, I didn't. Because I don't want to accept that it will come to that."

They drove on a good forty kilometers before anyone said anything more. It had been a busy morning already. They'd arrived at the sheep ranch at eight on the dot, long after the rancher had been up and far too late to be offered breakfast. The timing was deliberate on Yuri's part. The family was Naturals; he didn't want to put them in any position where they thought they were obliged to offer any hospitality to Coordinators they didn't choose to. It was more than enough to be invited in and offered just coffee and a chance to make a deal on the autumn shearing.

It was small courtesies like that, and the honest report that he'd lost the eye to a ZAFT GINN – without any mention that the pilot was a deranged member of his own Team – that had smoothed the way for Yuri's buying trip. It hadn't hurt that it was the son of the importer who had come to renew the contacts either. His two bodyguards, with their rather exotic western Pacific version of the Dreyfus uniform and their unfailing politeness were also assets. He had actually already met the very modest goals his father had had for a trip that really wasn't about the wool business at all.

Voril rolled his shoulders, working at a kink they'd developed when another, more pleasant concept interrupted his thoughts. "Is anybody but me hungry?"

"I could eat." Adrian agreed from where he was lounging across the back seat.

"Something cold to drink would be nice." Yuri decided. "What's marked as the next likely spot on the map?"

Adrian unfolded the almost indestructible sheet for this section of the trip Kisaka had supplied them back in Aube. They had maps like this for every section they were planning to travel through and for many surrounding areas in case they were forced to alter plans on the fly. He gave it a careful study to be sure he knew exactly where they were before answering.

"It looks like there is a general store and fuel stop just a few more kilometers up the road. The 'shopping opportunity' symbol is there too although it isn't a town so I've no idea what it's there for."

"Well, we can give it a once-over." Voril said slightly dubiously. "We have found a couple of those places that had decent food and that didn't try to throw us out before we could refuel."

"Worth a try." Yuri agreed. "If it looks too unpromising, how far is it to the next real town?"

"Uhm, looks about a hundred k. On this road, at least an hour and a half."

"That's not too far." Voril said cheerfully. "I won't die of starvation before then."

Yuri just looked at him. "Where do you put it all? I swear, you're going to eat the Atlantic Federation into submission by causing local famines! How can you stay so skinny when you out-eat both of us?"

"I'm a growing boy." Voril replied primly. "I know because my Mom told me so."

"Oh spare me!" Adrian dropped flat on the back seat. "I'm getting indigestion now."

"Don't start you two!" Yuri snapped. "The truck stop or whatever it is they call these things isn't all that far off. I don't need to arrive with you guys in the middle of one of your one-upsmanship contests!"

"Yuri, how old are you?" Voril asked, a bit irritated.

"Calendar or mental?" He returned coldly.

"Never mind."

Adrian decided it was a bad time to laugh and managed to hold it down to a wide grin. Fortunately, no one was looking at him or it might still have cause ripples. He didn't sit back up until he had his face under control.

When he did, they were just rolling over the top of a ridgeline. A broad, fairly shallow river basin came into view ahead of them. The road cut through it in a thin white line that moved in the sinuous curves of a snake. It jumped the water over a smallish bridge only a few kilometers ahead and vanished momentarily behind a surprisingly thick stand of trees on the high side of the riverbank.

"Well, I guess the place we're looking for will be near the trees because it's marked as close to the river and the bridge." Adrian told his companions as he studied the map again.

His guess was correct. The place was surprisingly large and even more surprisingly, prosperous looking. Although it clearly had grown in sections over time, it was in good repair and neatly painted. The parking area was recently paved and the fuel pumps looked new. So did the sign mounted across the face of the center section announcing this to be Charlie Yellow Dog's General Store and Pawnshop.

"Charlie Yellow Dog?" Yuri muttered. "That can't have been an easy name to grow up with."

"Not if he was among the Anglos, no." Voril agreed. "But it's nothing bad as a Native name. Or at least that's what I was told when I was a kid."

"You've been here before?"

"Here, no. But I've been in the area and there are a lot of Native names that wouldn't be all that great to have to grow up with in other societies that are just normal here. I mean, would you want to be called Manygoats or Killed Deer?"

"You're making those up." Yuri said in disbelief.

"No I'm not. Manygoats is a name you'll find among the Navaho and I met a Chippewa who's name was Steven Killed Deer up in Michigan when I was eight. If you think the Native names here are interesting, you should really look at some they still use in China. You get out in the back country there and some of the old beliefs about jealous spirits have stuck people with some horrible names. Yellow Dog is great next to being called Pig Urine."

Adrian and Yuri both stared at him. "Now you really are joking!"

"Not in the slightest. His grandmother was terrified the spirits would be jealous of her family's good fortune at having three sons and demanded they call him that to save him from their evil attentions." Voril shrugged. "They were a backwards little community way out in the western Chinese desert. He was hardly the only one there with an appalling name either. Those people were scared to death of both the government and the spirits. They didn't even know what a Coordinator was! They wanted Dad to leave because he was poking around the old Silk Road fort and they just knew he was going to get the demons that lived there mad at them for letting him do it."

"Did you go?"

"Oh yeah. When the odds are thirty locals to one Coordinator, yeah Dad left. Especially since Mom and I were with him. Besides, the fort had pretty good documentation already. He was just there to do his own eyeballing. He'd already seen most of what he wanted to when the first of the locals arrived and he'd finished by the time things got ugly."

"Your father took some reckless chances with your family's lives, you know that?"

"Maybe. But we went an awful lot of interesting places." Voril noted with a nostalgic smile.

"Yes, I'm sure you did." Adrian brought them back to the present cheerfully. "But we're here for that food you wanted. Pick out a parking spot and lets see about getting some."

Voril didn't have to be reminded twice. He pulled into a spot in front of the general store side of the place. As he did, the only other car in the lot pulled out. Adrian wasn't sorry to see it go. It cut down the chances for trouble every time you reduced the number of people they had to interact with. Despite the Dreyfus uniforms, there had still been several places where three unmistakable Coordinators hadn't been welcome at all. He locked the car doors when he noticed Voril had overlooked that detail and followed the other two into the store.


The only customers had made their purchases and were just dawdling their way out the door. Charlie sighed quietly and sent young Nathan off to get his lunch. It was time to get the boy out of the way anyhow. He would not be an asset when the eagle, the jay, and the fox pup got here. The kid took off like he'd been given the rest of the week as vacation instead of just a lunch hour. The old man grinned toothlessly as the boy dashed out the back to grab his bike. Nathan's girl was home from the Army. He'd be very late getting back today and for once he wouldn't be in trouble for it.

That left the place to old May Whitehorse and himself. And he'd already warned May that he would be doing Spirit work in here this afternoon. She'd feed the boys and as soon as they wandered into his side of the place, she'd take her own meal and a good book out back under the trees. Nor would she come back until he turned the back light on to let her know he was done. He already knew he could trust Roadrunner and Armadillo to keep any other humans from stopping by until everything they shouldn't see was cleared away.

The dawdling customers finally left. As they opened the door though, Charlie saw Roadrunner look in and nod once before dashing off. So, they were here. He leaned back in his high backed, well-padded stool and looked into the general store, curious as to just what they actually looked like. The visions had only shown him their spirit forms.

The fox pup was the first through the door. He was a fairly tall, quite lean boy dressed in that semi-ZAFT style uniform of white boots, red pants and jet black tunic-coat with its trademark belt sporting their intertwined D and S buckle that Dreyfus Security had made famous throughout the western Pacific and the movie industry had made well-known everywhere else. He had pale gray hair, short around the face but just past the shoulders in back and large, darker gray eyes that had a lively curiosity in them. The eyes were somewhat almond shaped although he didn't look in the slightest oriental. Good, broad cheekbones, long straight fox-type nose and a sharply pointed fox chin under a neat but small mouth. Charlie almost grinned. Damned if that boy's ears weren't just about pointed too! A kit fox pup indeed!

The young man behind him was dressed in local Western business casual. Not quite as tall as the young fox nor as excessively lean, he was still a striking boy. He looked better in person than he had in Kayla's pictures. Hospital gowns and bandages hadn't flattered him. Dark, metallic gray hair that shaded close to black fell across his right eye and tumbled to his shoulders. The one visible eye was a vivid, robin's egg blue. Then he turned his head slightly and Charlie realized there was only one eye. The other socket was covered by a patch that nearly matched the hair. He had a pale complexion and a warm smile. But until he caught the eye clearly, he saw nothing to show him the white jay.

When he met that single eye, he understood. The bright curiosity of the corbie glittered there. So did the innate distrust for strange situations that was another hallmark of the corbies. White Jay might only have one eye but it missed nothing. He was the alert sentinel, ready to cry warning at any need.

The golden eagle followed the younger two in. Ah, yes, this was Kayla's ZAFT boy all right. He was taller than the other two but only a bit heavier in build, and that most likely because he was a year or two older and had filled out a smidge more. The Dreyfus uniform looked damned good on the Fox, it was outright imposing on the Eagle. Where the pup still moved like one at times and the jay showed slight signs of the injuries that must have gone with the loss of the eye, the eagle was all fluid grace in motion. Charlie snorted very quietly as he realized the boy had the amber-gold eyes of a raptor too. Oh, yeah, it was easy to see what the first attraction had been for Kayla with this one!

The boys vanished into the depths of the store, headed for the small deli in the very back. Charlie listened closely but heard nothing other than May's occasional cackle of laughter. At least one of them had a pretty decent sense of humor given how often he heard it. Then he could hear her heavy tread as she came up to talk to him.

"Nice boys." May announced as she settled her bulk into the other seat behind the checkout counter. "Pretty too. It's a shame that one's lost an eye. They're all Coordinators aren't they?"

"Yep. Tain't nothing to worry about though. They got better things to be doin' than botherin' us."

"Thought they might. That tall one, with the dark chestnut hair, he's almighty anxious to get someplace. He's gonna hafta wait a bit though. Its gonna take that skinny kid a while to go through all that food he ordered." She shook her head with a grin. "He's gonna be lettin' that belt out a bit when he's done with this meal!"

Charlie grinned. "Fox pup thinks he's starvin' does he? Well, boys tend to that when they hit his age. I'm kinda amazed the other two ain't joinin' him. They ain't that much older'n him."

"Oh, they aren't gonna starve either." May laughed. "They just aren't gonna need to be lettin their belts out so bad."

"Where'd they set up?"

"They went out back, under the trees. From the way they was lookin' round, you'd think they all grew up on one of those Plant places and hadn't ever seen dry country before."

"Dependin' on where they are from, they might not have. The two of 'em are dressed like they was from Aube or Oceania maybe. That third one, can't tell from his clothes. But since he's hired them from way out there, he ain't no local either."

May looked at him questioningly. "Charlie, why would the Spirits care about three foreign Coordinator boys? Tisn't like they were gonna stay round here for them to worry about."

"No, they ain't stayin'. But something one of 'em is gonna try to do will affect some of our people. The Spirits want to know a bit more about these boys before they get where they're goin'. They seem like honest kids but even the honest ones can make real bad mistakes without meanin' to."

"Ah!" She nodded, understanding completely or so she thought. Charlie didn't bother to correct her. May understood enough to keep her content and out of the way now. Although it was very interesting to him to note that she'd taken to the three Coordinator kids so quickly. She didn't warm to strangers like this often. He was seriously looking forward to meeting them now. May'd had her say; she took herself back to her deli kitchen where she was queen and only the ignorant and the idiots questioned it.

Charlie plugged in the hot plate and started slowly warming up the first of the drinks he had ready for the three boys. He was going to be sending them on a vision quest, on fast forward as they had no time for the traditional days of fasting, dancing and prayer. So they were going to need some help reaching the proper mental state quickly. His small pot soon gave off a clean, somewhat sweet scent. He wondered if he was going to have any trouble getting them to try it. If they'd over-eaten as badly as May suggested, they might not have much room left for the drugged herbal tea.

It was a good half an hour before the first one showed up. He wasn't particularly surprised that it was the young fox following his expansive curiosity into the pawnshop side of the place either. This boy hadn't learned how dangerous it was to indulge that curiosity yet. Charlie did have to suppress a grin though as he noted that May had been right, the kid had definitely had to let that fancy belt out a bit here.

Then the boy surprised him. He'd gotten maybe ten feet past the door when he stopped. The gray eyes began to widen in shock and the mouth actually dropped open. Awe followed the shock. His gaze locked on a display case in front of him with a collection of very old Kachina dolls neatly set out, museum-like description sheets beside each. He managed the five steps needed to get close and went to his knees in front of it, face almost touching the protective glass.

"Holy . . . . ! They're real!"

One hand came up, visibly shaking slightly. He didn't touch the glass but Charlie watched him read each sheet and almost drink in the essence of each of the Kachinas. Now where had a Coordinator boy from the Plants learned to know about Kachinas? More to the point, where had he come to appreciate them to the point of near worship?

To the old shaman's fascination, the Kachinas welcomed the boy's regard. That was even more surprising that the kid's knowledge. For these weren't made-for-tourist items. These were, as the Fox had so quickly realized, the real thing; ceremonial Kachinas that had actually been used for a good two hundred years.

"Voril? What's wrong?"

The Jay stood in the doorway, eye darting about, seeking the danger that he thought must be here to have put his friend in such a state. The quiet image of an insignificant businessman was gone. Here was a veteran soldier of the ZAFT now, ready to move on whatever enemy was present.

"They're real, Yuri! A lot of this stuff is real! This is so wrong!" The boy cried.

"What?" The Jay was confused now but still on the lookout for any enemy.

"This is the history of a people here, Yuri. And it shouldn't be." The Eagle said quietly as he also looked around him. "These things are heritage items, the kind of things you never part with."

"What did we do?" The Fox whispered, barely loudly enough for even Charlie's unusually keen ears to hear him. "When we sent down the n-jammers, what did we do? I never thought this would come of it. These belong in someone's hogan or kiva, not here for sale!"

The shaman decided it was time to start the testing. "When the choice is lose the land or sell the Kachina boy, ya part with yer heritage in the hope ya can hold on to enough to have a future. The past won't feed the kids today."

Amber-gold raptor eyes turned to him, anger and no little guilt in their depths. "That may be reality sir, it doesn't make it right. I'm not the historian Voril is but even I know most of the heritage of the people these things belong to has already been lost to them. It's just wrong to see them lose the rest."

Charlie shrugged. "I ain't gonna argue with ya there. But wrong or not, it don't change what's real, an' that's no jobs, no money, but the bills keep commin'. They gotta be paid somehow. People sold the small stuff first, hopin' it'd be enough. Then the war dragged on and it weren't. The decisions got harder an' harder but the present usually wins out over the past. Ain't many folks gonna starve to death or get throwed off their land just to keep these things. Not when the 'things' can save their lives an' the land both. I hear they got something called an n-jammer canceller now and they'll be gettin' the nuke plants back on-line afore long. It'll take a while before the economy round here picks up but once the energy comes back, the jobs'll follow it. Then this'll stop."

"That may take a long while." The Jay said quietly. "It's easier to leave than to come back."

"Yes, once a business migrates, it almost never migrates back. It will have made new connections in the new location and have a whole new workforce trained in. Dad's theory about the economic roots of migration may not be real solid when it comes to individual people but it is pretty good as a business model." The Fox was sitting rather dejectedly on the floor now.

"Enough Voril. No one here had anything to do with starting the war. Nor did we have anything to do with making the decisions that resulted in the wrecked economy around here. That isn't our guilt. We have enough things we did do to be guilty about if we want to wallow around it that destructive emotion. We don't need to borrow the big ones we had no hand in." The Eagle said firmly.

"Biting you that hard is it?" The Fox asked softly before he turned to stare at the Kachinas again.

"Joule, shut up!" The Jay snapped, but he too had a darkly introspective look to him.

"Ain't boys yer age who start the wars." Charlie said, letting a weariness he didn't really feel color his voice. "Ya just get to fight 'em. The fellas who pick the fights don't die in 'em real often."

"Azriel did." The Eagle said bitterly. "But the price was too high."

"Always is." Charlie agreed grimly.

"Trading the Hawk for that bit of garbage and the Dominion wasn't a good enough deal."

Interesting, Kayla's boy really was angry about that loss. Charlie wondered who this 'Hawk' had been.

"Mu La Flaga knew what he was doing Adrian. He knew the Strike was damaged. He knew it was a full shot from a positron cannon when he put the mobile suit in front of it." The Jay turned his single, deeply unhappy eye on his friend. "Let it go. It was his decision. Don't begrudge Mu his choice to save Murrue Ramius. You would have done the same if it had been Kayla on Archangel's bridge and you in the mobile suit."

"I'm not the Hawk of Endymion. It isn't the same thing."

"Now you're being stupid." The Fox said bluntly as he slowly stood up. "Who isn't important. It's what they did and what it cost that matters in the end. Because when you break it all out, that's how you have to tally win and lose in any battle. I may have graduated too late to see any action, but that doesn't mean I didn't learn anything while I was going through school."

"Who you lose is part of the cost Voril. And in the case of someone like Mu, the name is worth far more in the military equation than one life." The Eagle told him.

These ZAFT kids regretted the death of the Hawk of Endymion? The Eagle and the Jay both sounded like they'd actually known the man too. Charlie decided he wanted this story someday. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to worm it out of them today.

"Ya boys drink tea?" He asked them harshly, realizing they'd just handed him a nearly perfect opportunity.

"Eh?" The Jay replied as all three stared at him.

"Got some tea I'm tryin' out here. That man deserves a toast an' the tea's all I got to hand."

"Pour it!" The Eagle ordered.

Charlie poured four modest mugs worth. Three were set with their handles out for the boys. The forth, his, had some additional materials in the bottom. He was going to be drinking the drugged tea right enough, and the antidote right along with it.

"To the Hawk!"

The four mugs touched lightly. The tea was good and warm but not really hot. All three boys downed the entire mugs contents before they carefully and firmly slapped them back on the counter. They stood silently for several seconds, just staring at the empty mugs, each somewhere else with his own thoughts.

Then the Jay gave a small shake and turned away. He walked off, then paused, apparently unsure where to go. Still, it wasn't long before the colors in the rugs hanging behind the security plexi lured him away to just stand and stare at the complex work.

The Fox drifted toward the front door and the stunning examples of beadwork displayed there. He was soon back down on his knees, face up against the glass as he studied it as closely as he could. It was clear he was going to be there for a while unless someone dragged him away.

Charlie watched as the Eagle was drawn to the jewelry. He seemed to have a good eye too. At least he was paying more attention to the best of the very old pieces than he did to the lesser, more recent work.

The three were now separated by a good thirty feet each. It was time to begin. He reached under the counter and turned on the sound system. He heard the chant and the drum because he was expecting them. The Coordinator boys could probably hear them as well if the stories about the kind of modifications done to make them were even close to truth. But they were all three more occupied inside their own skulls than outside them at the moment and the sounds were low enough not to even really ask for their notice.

But the chant and the drumbeat were both hypnotics. And those three boys were wide open to them at this moment. Charlie would be the first to admit he didn't know much about Coordinators. He'd only known a handful and none of those well. But one thing he had noticed was that they were just as susceptible to the tricks of the shaman's trade as any Natural; that in fact they could be even more vulnerable than a Natural because they picked up so much more of the world around them without always understanding what they were doing. And quiet discussions at the pow-wows with his fellow shamen had led him to suspect that if you could catch them off guard, they'd be dead easy to hypnotize.

He sat silently in his chair, letting chant, drum, and drug do their work. Fifteen minutes into the song, he lit a smudge bundle and put it in the heavy ceramic pot with the deep sand inside it he used to do this safely inside the shop. This was the companion for the tea. The combination should put them under quickly.

The Fox was closest to him and hit hardest by the smoke from the smudge. He slumped down in minutes, was laying curled on his side on the floor with his half-closed eyes unfocused in under ten, already started on his quest. Charlie could barely see the Spirit Fox that sat by his head, talking to him. Nor could he hear the young man's answers. He wondered if these Plant bred, man-made children would remember any of these meetings with the ancient Spirits of the Earth.

Across the room, Crow and Jay both stood with the hapless Yuri lying still between them, his head rolling slowly from side to side as he tried to follow who was talking to him at any one time. And across the way, Kayla's Adrian was slipping to his knees, eyes wide as he stared straight at Golden Eagle, a fascinating look of amazement, disbelief, shock, and longing on his face. The old man reached under the counter again and turned up the bass on the drums a bit. This was a rush job of a vision quest, it needed the help.

Time slipped by. Charlie checked each of the boys to be sure they were all right. Then he grabbed what he needed from the back and set about making up the 'hot toddy' they'd all need when they came out of it. Once he had that put together, he left if to simmer gently on the hotplate while he checked on things again.

Grandmother of Bears was holding young Joule like he was a cub, whispering something in his ear. Fox sat beside her, nodding his approval. The ancient shaman hoped the boy would remember whatever it was she told him. She didn't bother to advise many any more, he was more honored than he knew.

Beaver and Wolf were lecturing the Lubbek boy with Jay putting in his two cents every so often. He studied that with some unease. It wasn't a common pairing, especially to be teaching a corbie. They suggested not all the fighting was done for the boy yet.

But he stopped cold when he realized who was sitting with the Ito boy. Golden Eagle was still there of course. He was the boy's totem now. But sitting politely facing them both was Coyote. And from the energy he gave off, it was not a shadow sending either. It was Coyote himself, the Trickster; he who was both friend, and enemy, of Man.

Charlie sat down slowly. It had been over forty years since he'd last seen this One. Adrian Ito was either important in and of himself or he was destined to help those who were. Coyote did not visit lesser people any longer. There were too many of them in the world these days. Not even he could divide his attention that finely.

He had no idea how long the conversation between Ito, the Eagle and Coyote lasted. But as with all things, it did end. When it did, Coyote walked over to where Charlie sat and jumped up on the counter. He reached under it to tug on one of the two items placed there.

No words were exchanged. But Charlie understood. This was Ito's fate. This was what he must have to meet it. He bowed briefly to the Greater Power. When he looked up, the Spirits were all gone and the three boys were asleep on the floor.

First things first. Charlie turned the bass down again. The visions would be over now and it was trying to give him a headache. Then he picked up a large tray filled with small pieces of jewelry and walked over to the boy who would now and forever be called Laughing Fox by any who could see into the Spirit world. He had made his Journey, whether he'd ever intended to or not, he would need a talisman for his Spirit powers.

The shaman put the tray down beside the sleeping Fox. He reached over and gently shook his free shoulder once. Seconds later, that hand rose and began to pass over the tray. Suddenly, it fell.

Charlie lifted the boy's hand and set it gently back at his side. He took all three of the items that the palm had covered and put them on a separate tray of their own, spacing them out so that his choice would be unmistakable the next time. He set the large tray aside and ran the test again. This time the desired talisman was unmistakable. As it was already set up as a necklace, the shaman simply slipped it over the boy's head. He repeated the process with the other two and within minutes all three were wearing their new talismans.

The old man put the tray away and checked his 'toddy'. The restorative was ready but a bit hot. Well, it could be cut with water without losing any power if they drank it all. He measured out the dosages into clean cups and added enough ice water to make it drinkable.

Then he stood and considered the situation. This stuff worked pretty quickly. If he wasn't careful, he was going to have a very wide awake and probably pissed off Coordinator on his hands before he could get the drink into the last one. That would not be good for the boy who didn't get his share of 'toddy' as Charlie seriously doubted the newly awake one was going to just stand by and let him dose his buddy. Well, he was just going to have to do a bit more prep work then.

He picked up the cups and took one to each boy. Then he went back and propped each one of them up against whatever was handy that let him set them fairly upright with their head slightly back. When he was done with that he straightened the crick in his own back. This was work damn it! He was getting too old to be doing this alone anymore!

By the time he had them all ready, they were no longer so deeply asleep. Charlie was relieved to see it. It would make pouring liquids down their throats much safer.

The Fox was a very cooperative boy. He just drank what was held up to his mouth without fuss. The Jay was a pain in the butt. He had no plans to drink any more strange stuff, no sir! Lacking time to be nice about it, Charlie pinched his nose shut, forcing him to open his mouth to breathe. In between breaths, he got the restorative into him. The Eagle didn't want to drink any more strange liquids either but he gave in when the old man put a thumb on his jaw hinge and held it open. He had the last of it down the Eagle before the Fox could get up off the floor.

"What the hell did you do to us old man?" Voril Joule was a bit unsteady but he was up and going and would be damned dangerous if someone pushed him into a fight right now.

"What was necessary, Laughing Fox." Charlie replied calmly as he took the last cup back to the counter. "Yer a warrior of the ZAFT. No warrior should go into battle before he's been on his Journey an' knows his true name. Ya, at least, will get this in the right order. Yer friends are doing it backwards."

"What did you call me?" The boy was suddenly very wary.

Charlie sat down gratefully in his chair. He was honestly tired now but this wasn't over yet. He still had some explaining to do to these youngsters and one more item to get them to take with them.

"I called ya who and what ya are; Laughing Fox of the ZAFT." He waved a hand at Yuri and Adrian who were both awake and aware but not standing yet. "Yer friend with the one eye is White Jay and yer leader is Eagle's Heart. I've known Kayla Grayhawk since she was in diapers. I've seen the book of pictures she brought back with her. I was kinda expectin' to see Longsight with the Jay an' the Eagle since he was in some of them pictures. Ya wasn't in any of 'em."

"What are you?" Voril asked, eyes narrow with suspicion and something like dread.

"He's a crazy old goat. That's what he is." Adrian snarled as he staggered to his feet.

"Maybe, maybe not." His wing replied. "He's talking about warriors, Journeys and true names here. I think we have a problem."

"What kind?" Yuri asked, checking carefully for trouble.

"The magical kind that they believe in and we don't."

"Kindly make some sense here." Adrian snapped, clearly completely unsettled and very nervous.

"Boy's telling ya I'm a shaman, Eagle. An' it happens he's right." Charlie told him calmly.

"Yuri, what's that thing you're wearing?" Adrian suddenly asked.

"That's his Spirit talisman." Charlie answered for him. "An' if ya look, ya'll find ya got one too. So do ya, Fox. Ya keep those close now. I don't even recommend takin' 'em off to shower. They guard and keep yer spirit energy. An' I don't care if ya believe in it or not, I'm telling ya, ya got it now! Ya can do yerself a world of hurt tryin' to leave that behind."

"The hell you say!" Adrian Ito's eyes blazed.

My, my that boy was mad! He yanked the talisman over his head, stamped over and slapped it down in front of Charlie. Then he turned and walked away. The shaman started counting his steps under his breath. This boy had been talking to Coyote! His talisman glittered with the power that One had loaned to him. He wasn't going to get far before the talisman let him know it was not going to accept being abandoned.

He reached twelve when Ito suddenly grabbed his stomach and collapsed on the floor. The look he shot back toward the counter where he'd left the talisman held shock, disbelief and blind rage. The rage won.

He threw himself to his feet and tried to move forward. He managed another five staggering steps before his legs gave out under him. Charlie was impressed. He'd never seen anyone do more than two before. The other two ran over to help him. Oh, now they were going to be in trouble too.

The instant they touched Ito, both the Jay and the Fox dropped bonelessly beside him. Neither appeared able to move at all. Ito lay panting, eyes taking the situation in while his friends struggled to move. Even from where he sat, Charlie could see the rising panic as they realized they were effectively paralyzed.

Eagle's Heart might be angry and he might be stubborn but he wasn't stupid or cruel. He had no idea how this was being done but he did know how to make it stop. There was still fury in the eyes, a lot of it; nevertheless he accepted reality and turned back in surrender. It was only when he put the necklace back on however that his friends were released.

"Spirit power is real boy." Charlie told him quietly. "An' for some reason ya got some real role to play in this world. Get used to it, 'cause the Spirits'll make sure yer always in the right place at the right time for whatever it is yer needed to do."

"Why do your spirits give one rat's ass about me? I'm not one of your people."

"Don't know. But yer not the first who wasn't of the People they've took an interest in, not by a long shot. Yer not even the first of yer own kind they've marked out as destined. There's a pair of boys over to Aube right now who carry the power of Thunderbird. They used that power to help them destroy them nukes aimed at yer Plants not so long ago."

"Athrun and Kira?" Yuri asked, startled.

"That's the names, yep. Kayla had real nice pictures of them boys. That green eyed one, Athrun I think, he's gonna be a long time decidin' what he really needs from life. Other one's gotta learn there's folks out there just born bad. He's a warrior born an' he pretty desperately wishes he wasn't. But someone's gotta be there to keep the peace an' he's elected for this generation. Him and that Athrun kid. Even if they aren't always doin' it on the same side."

"Then what am I that your spirits have to meddle with me?" Adrian demanded.

"Like I said, don't know. Coyote didn't stop to tell me."

"WHO?" Voril yelped.

Charlie looked at him calmly. "Coyote."

"The Coyote? The Trickster God?"

"There's only one Coyote, boy."

"Want to clue me in?" Adrian asked, one eyebrow up.

"Coyote is the god of deception. This is both good and bad kinds of deception mind you. He is both friend and enemy to humans. When Coyote enters the picture, everything goes up for grabs. He changes all the equations. And he has a very long and colorful history of messing in the human world for both good and ill. I know maybe three Coyote stories and I heard those so long ago I'm not sure I could repeat them correctly. I was about four at the time. But I do remember being very seriously impressed with how dangerous it was to have him interested in you."

Charlie nodded. "Dangerous or one huge blessing, ain't much middle ground with Coyote. I take it Eagle, ya don't remember any of yer Journey then 'cause he stopped by to talk to ya."

"No." Ito replied shortly.

"I wonder who I talked to." Voril said with introspective interest.

"Well, Kit Fox, yer totem for one and Grandmother of Bears for the other I saw with ya. She don't advise many these days. I hope ya remember it sometime." He looked over at Yuri and added, "Saw ya with Jay and Crow at first, then Beaver and Wolf came by later. Ya'll want to try to remember what they said too. None of 'em are minor spirits and all will have given ya information ya'll need in the future."

He turned serious black eyes on Adrian Ito. "Yer here for Kayla and yer kids ain't ya?"

Level amber eyes met his stare. "Yes."

Charlie nodded slowly. "Well, yer the one she wants. An' the Spirits approve of ya. So there's one more thing I've got for ya."

He reached under the counter. And he paused, considering everything he'd learned of this young man, his friends, and the young woman waiting for him. When his hand moved again, it did not pick up the item chosen by Coyote.

"I had a vision last night. I was told to give ya this. Ya wear it under yer shirt with yer talisman. Point of fact, ya might want to shorten the talisman's cord for a bit so it don't interfere with this. Ya'll need it at Kayla's. I don't know what for and I don't know how long, just that it's necessary. Ya'll know how to use it when the time comes."

Ito accepted it somewhat reluctantly and looked it over. Charlie knew he would see nothing more than a somewhat heavy silver disc about four inches across with five concentric circles on it hung from a sturdy silver chain attached at two points. The young man looked at the piece and back to the shaman several times before he put it on and tucked it away as directed. He shortened the talisman cord as well.

They didn't stay long after that. There was nothing more he could tell them right now and they were not sure they wanted to know more anyway. He did have them get their map out though and he showed them a shortcut through the People's lands that would save them better than a day's travel yet take them by the ranches they still needed to visit. Time was getting shorter than they knew, they needed to save all they could.

As he watched them leave, he became aware that he was not alone.

"You changed the selection." Coyote said.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Because it occurred to me that just maybe there was four tests runnin' here today instead of three."

The Trickster laughed.