Resistance C26: History

Resistance
Chapter 26: History

I woke with the mother of all headaches pounding away at my skull.

I groaned.

I was lying on the sofa, with an arm and a foot dangling off. Fenek was dozing nearby in one of the armchairs. As I got up, he did too, and helped me up, while pausing to magic away my headache.

"That, is why dragons don't touch spirits." he remarked, while offering to make breakfast. I was also told that the rest of the occupants of the house had not woken up yet. A glance out the window showed it to still be dark.

I sighed. "Fine, you win. Bloody prick."

Fenek shot me a hurt look and I brushed him off. "Anyway, I'll cook, Fenek. You go and rest."

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[Fenek]

Why had he been so adamant about having spirits? He only served to bring upon himself the suffering that I had tried so hard to shield him from...

My only reward was to be scolded... I sighed as he went about preparing breakfast... Perhaps he still needed time to adjust.

Beneath everything, I could still sense a sort of resentment. Not really directed at anyone... He just seemed unhappy at having been turned into a dragon.

Initially, I hadn't quite understood it, but after the first few days, it dawned on me that from his point of view, he had been turned into the very thing he had been fighting against. He didn't like it, and wanted to go back to being human. However, that was impossible now... And he knew that...

Perhaps ranting about not having spirits was his way of letting it out? it was hard to say, and I hadn't the chance to speak to him about it.

Not to mention the fact that he was now the head of a clan, and that not the entire clan was present yet. Atheros had told me in private that the rest would only come once the word went out that the new head was ready to assume his place...

I glanced at the former human, as he made soup and warmed up the bread, while listening to the music coming from that device of his, which was somehow tied to another device that was 'charging' it with the energy stored from the Sun...

He had lost everything, and now he wasn't even human anymore. I empathised with him, and being his Companion, shared his feelings.

He did, however, conduct himself very well despite all that, and kept his emotions far below the surface, in a vault of sorts... He rarely even thought about them himself, let alone speak about them to anyone...

He becokned me over, and I helped him to set the table, while he carried out a large pot of steaming mushroom soup, that smelt of the fresh mushrooms and some cream that he found somewhere. He insisted that it was not rancid.

That was followed by a large plate piled high with bread that looked to be slightly browned by the fire.

I took a sniff at the bread, and asked, "Is it not burnt?"

Keane shrugged. "It's called toasting the bread. It's supposed to be a bit burnt, so that it's crispy, but not so burnt that it turns black. Try it, I think you'll like this sort of stuff."

I tried it. It tasted slightly better than normal bread, but I liked the fact that it was crispy. I smiled and nodded, while he smirked and set down a second plate, before flopping back down onto the sofa.

Within a few heartbeats, Atheros came down with the others, probably having smelt the food. They began eating, and I did the same. Keane, however, had dozed off.

It took me a while,  but I managed to coax him to get up and eat. He grumbled a great deal,  saying that he wasn't hungry and just wanted to sleep...

He was probably still tired from the previous day...

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[Keane]

I just wanted to sleep, but Fenek was insistent. I ended up joining the rest for breakfast.

I had my food and made some idle chatter. Eventually, Silvera chased the younger ones off for their morning lessons,  while Atheros stayed at the table with me and Fenek.

Atheros seemed to pause for a moment,  as if making a decision. He seemed to settle on something and asked, "Father, I want to know what your life was like before the war... If you're willing to discuss it, that is... I've always been curious about the old world, and how the human army worked... Will you teach me history?"

I shrugged. "Can be done. Later."

Fenek snorted. "You're not doing anything now..."

I went back to the sofa and laid down. "Yes I am. I'm going back to sleep."

Fenek huffed and dragged me back to the table, much to Atheros' amusement. "Don't be lazy!"

I groaned and shrugged. "Fine. But first,  Atheros, I have to clarify something."

Atheros gave me a confused look,  but asked me to continue.

"You've said a few times that the way I do things is very different from my predecessor... What was he like exactly? I honestly have no idea..."

Atheros paused for a moment,  dipping his head sadly.

I realised what a dumb question I had asked. "Eh, if you don't want to talk about it, I'm fine. I understand."

Atheros shook his head and replied,  "No, you have a right to know how I was brought up... He was very strict,  with almost everything we did. We had to ace every test,  conduct ourselves well, and never interfere in his affairs. If he had been in your place, I don't think I would have gotten the chance to learn to shoot a gun. He would have probably have branded me as a coward. Still, he cared for us. Just that he didn't show it much... We always had good food and a good life, away from any danger and such... You, on the other hand,  Father, are almost the opposite..."

He paused and looked me in the eye,  awaiting my response. I simply nodded. "I can see his logic. Do well so that you can get a good job,  and conduct yourself well so that society accepts you. He shielded you from the ugly side of life. I, on the other hand, live on the ugly side. In dragon terms,  I am and always will be a criminal, an outlaw. I'd be more than happy to keep all of you away from all the fighting,  but it cannot be done. Sometimes, you have to experience these things to learn from them,  so that if you get caught in a situation like that, you know what to do. That's how I do things. I see why now. Thanks."

Atheros nodded. "So, since we have no training planned for you today so that you can rest, may I ask you to schedule lessons for all of us in the old world disciplines?"

I shrugged. "Don't see why not. Fenek, do we have any coffee around?"

Fenek cooked his head at me. "What is coffee...?"

I sighed. "I'll take that as a no. Any tea, then?"

Fenek nodded. "You want some?"

I rolled my eyes. "No no no. I ask you for fun. Of course I want la!" Fenek rolled his eyes at me and I shrugged. "I'll go and make. You go and call the rest. Tell Silvera that I'm hijacking her class. Thanks. Atheros, hold on. Might as well teach the whole lot of you at one go, yes?"

Atheros nodded,  his eyes sparkling. "You're quite mean to your companion, Father. Why?"

I snorted. "Not really mean. Mean was how I treated him when I just met him. Now it's a sort of love hate thing. It's complicated and he's annoying sometimes. It's my way of getting back at him."

As I went to the kitchen,  I heard Fenek laugh from upstairs at my remark,  while Atheros was confused.

I ended up with the whole bunch of them, including Fenek, Silvera and Agenor, who all wanted to listen in as well. It was then that I realised that I had no idea how to teach anything anyway. I had no textbooks, no lessons plans, nothing... Just all the random crap in my brain...

I sipped my tea. "Okay, since I have no lesson plans whatsoever, lets just start it off with questions, from Atheros since he mentioned wanting to know about life before the war. Ask away."

Of all things that could be asked, I had the most general question thrown my way. "What was life like in the old world?"

I paused for a while,  thinking about how I was going to approach this. I drew a blank and blurted out,  "Easier than now."

There was silence as they all waited for me to continue. I was not getting out of this...

However,  my thoughts were shattered by the sounds of sirens outside.

"The fuck?",  I muttered, grabbing my gun and bloting in the direction of the sound; the gates. For some reason or other,  the rest followed.

I reached the gate just in time to see a sight that used to be a daily thing for me. CBRE response vehicles. A handful of Ford foresters,  and Mercedes sprinters, all with my unit's logo printed on the doors,  and they drove in with the lead vehicle blaring it's sirens. As the large forester rolled past, Victor waved.

I found myself grinning like an idiot,  ad Victor stopped the vehicle and exited,  asking me to do the honours.

It felt so surreal,  like reliving history as I chambered into the vehicle with Fenek and Atheros, along with the other two children. Agenor and Silvera opted to return to the house first.

I set the siren to full blast and hit the accelerator,  while the rest of the vehicles followed. We shot down the streets, and ended up in the car park, where the short-lived adventure ended when I shut off the vehicle and chambered out.

Atheros prodded the unit insignia. "This is familiar to you, no? I saw the way you stared at it just now,  Father."

By then,  the other dragons had already clustered around,  while the resistance members went about unloading the vehicles. In the background,  a few trucks rumbled in. With the increase in manpower, the raids were becoming more fruitful,  since we could haul more with more vehicles and people...

I smirked. "Now I have somewhere to start. You see,  this logo is that of my unit..."