Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Wing and the Quest for the Holy Grail ❯ Phuketanapitispoor Manakawatra, aka Gift ( Chapter 10 )

Ok, I confess to a certain amount of poetic license in the last chapter with the laws of physical reality in regard to human male anatomy. I know no human male is capable of twenty-four consecutive acts of intercourse in a single afternoon. But, being a middle-aged woman approaching “that time of life”, I can dream, can't I?

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Chapter 10: Phuketanapitispoor Manakawatra, aka Gift

The dragon's cave looked pretty much as it had when Duo and Wu-Fei first saw it, except that the dragon himself was curled up in the sun in the clearing in front of the cave with his spiked golden tail resting across his snout. Several of the knights halted nervously on the bluff overlooking the clearing.

Heero rolled his eyes in disgust.

“Those of us who are proceeding should continue on foot,” Percival said and he dismounted. “The rest of you may hold the horses.”

Everyone dismounted and Percival, Hagrimore, Damodin, the five pilots and Roku marched down the bluff toward the dragon.

Gift opened one jet black eye as they approached and Damodin faltered to a stop some two dozen paces away.

“This seems an adequate distance,” Damodin said. He didn't look terribly happy to be that close.

“Aye, seems about right to me as well,” Hagrimore agreed. He also didn't look particularly happy as he stopped beside Damodin.

Heero just snorted as the rest of them walked right up to the no-longer-sleeping dragon and stopped no more than ten paces away from his scaly green nose.

Gift lifted his head and yawned hugely, displaying several impressive rows of sharp white teeth. His long red tongue flicked out between his long curved fangs. Then he sat up on his elbows and crossed his forelegs.

“What's anon?” rumbled Gift.

Wu-Fei stepped forward. “Do you remember me, noble Gift? I am Chang Wu-Fei.”

“Yes, I recall thee,” Gift replied. “We engaged in a bit of love-play last fall.” He looked at Duo. “I recall thy companion as well. But these others are new to me.” Gift grinned. “Hast thou come to amuse me? For I have not picked my teeth with a sturdy knight these two moons past.”

Damodin and Hagrimore paled. Percival lifted his chin defiantly.

“We didn't come to fight, Gift. We came to ask you a question.”

“A question?” Gift rubbed his chin with one clawed hand. “In sooth, I must hear thy question ere I can say if I will answer it or not.”

“Very well.” Wu-Fei beckoned to Percival and Percival took a half step forward.

“Noble Gift,” Percival said with a slight bow, “I am Sir Percival of the Knights of King Arthur's Round Table. My companions and I are engaged in a quest for the Holy Grail. This quest has taken us through many trials, where successful completion of each trial points us to the next. Upon completion of our last trial, we learned that knowledge of the next trial might be had from you, and we have come to ask if you can direct us on to the next stage of our quest.”

Gift chuckled. “Which lucky gentleman was he who vanquished Duke Moreby's maidens?”

“It was me and I don't call it lucky!” Duo growled. “What did you go and tell those girls about sex for? I'm still sore.”

“I am a little curious about that,” Quatre spoke up for the first time. “I thought dragon's preferred maidens. Encouraging them to have sex seems to go against that preference.”

Gift chuckled again. “We dragons only tell folk that; we are not so picky as unicorns. But now then, I must tell thee that I cannot answer thy question so simply. Thou must earn the knowledge.” Gift reared up and flared his great golden wings. “Methinks thou must fight, so choose thee one of thy number to engage me, and shouldst thou win, I shall tell thee what thou wouldst hear.”

Heero frowned. “If we win, you'll be dead. How can you tell us anything then?”

Smoke curled up out of Gift's nostrils. “That poses a problem, in sooth. If thou dost answer that riddle, thou wilt have answered half thy question.” Gift huffed a thin jet of fire in Heero's direction. “Shalt thou be first?”

“Absolutely!” Heero drew his sword and charged at Gift. Everyone else scattered to the edges of the clearing to give the combatants room.

It quickly became obvious that Heero was trying to maim the dragon without killing him, but this limitation was severely hampering his effectiveness. After a fight that lasted over an hour and left Gift and Heero both with numerous bloody gashes, and Heero with a few singed spots as well, the two backed off to take a rest.

“Thou art as pleasant a fighter as thy companion, Sir Knight,” Gift said with a smoky wheeze. “How art thou called?”

“Heero Yuy.”

“Thy name suits thee well, Sir Heero: compact and efficient, as thou art.” Gift flopped down on his belly. “If thou wilt, I shall avow I have not won this contest, but neither hast thou.”

Heero squatted down with his sword stuck in the ground in front of him. “So what does that mean?”

“It means,” said Gift, “that we must engage in an alternate contest.”

“I don't mind fighting,” Heero said.

“Nor I, but I like thee, and I would be saddened should I accidentally kill thee.”

“That's fair.”

Roku was sniffing curiously at the tip of Gift's spiked tail.

Gift looked over his shoulder at the little tiger. “How now, youngling. Think thou to have a go at me?”

“Oh, no, Master Gift!” Roku replied. “I've just never seen a dragon before.”

Gift's bright black eyes opened wide. “Thou canst speak! I trow I have never seen the like! How came this to be so?”

“He's my son,” Quatre said.

Gift regarded Quatre quizzically. “Thou made thy offspring a striped cat?”

“He was born that way.”

“Thou didst mate with a striped cat?” Gift sounded very confused.

“No!” Quatre growled. “I was sort of a female tiger when I gave birth to him.”

“That is… most astonishing!” Gift looked back over his shoulder at Roku. “Wilt thou come closer, little cat, that I might have a better look at thee?”

Roku trotted around and sat down in front of Gift.

Gift lowered his head until he and Roku were nose to snout.

“You might want to have a care there, Gift,” Duo said. “Quatre's a might protective of Roku.”

“Thou mayest trust me to offer no harm to thy youngling,” Gift said in a deep rumble. He touched noses with Roku and sniffed. “I do scent more to thee than meets the eye.” He lifted his head and looked at Quatre. “This is indeed most intriguing. In sooth, methinks thou art a sorcerer. Is this not so?”

“I am,” Quatre said gravely.

“Well,” said Gift. “It is an uncommon use of thy skill, I must acknowledge, and very clever.”

“Do you have any offspring?” Roku asked.

“Alas, no, little one,” Gift replied. “The nearest female of my kind lives four counties over, and she is somewhat prickly of nature.”

“Do little dragons look just like big dragons?”

“More or less, though somewhat less thick in the body.”

Roku thought about that for a moment. “Ok, watch this!”

“Roku, wait!” Quatre exclaimed.

But it was too late. Little Roku shimmered blue for a moment, and then a gangling adolescent dragon formed in his place. His scales were orange rather than gold, with tan scales on his belly and a thick stripe of black scales down the middle of his back.

Gift reared up in astonishment.

Heero put a hand over his face and shook his head.

Trowa, Wu-Fei and Duo grinned.

Quatre frowned sternly. “What do you think you're doing, young man?”

“I'm a dragon!” Roku announced gleefully. He flared out his little orange wings. “Master Gift, can you teach me to fly?”

“Absolutely not!” Quatre exclaimed.

“It would be my pleasure, young Roku,” said Gift.

Quatre strode quickly forward and grabbed Gift by the spines growing out of his chin. He yanked the dragon's head down to eye-level and glared into Gift's black eyes with a dangerous expression.

“I will take a very dim view of it if my baby is hurt in any way,” he said in a deadly calm voice.

Gift blinked at Quatre in some alarm. “I will take the utmost care of thy child, Master Sorcerer,” Gift replied carefully.

“See that you do.” Quatre released Gift and the dragon quickly backed up several paces.

Gift glanced nervously at Duo. “Thy companion is rather touchy.”

“You should have seen him when he was pregnant. We're all lucky to be alive.”

Quatre glared at Duo.

Gift turned to Roku. “Come, little one. I will show thee the fine art of dragon-flight. But thou must do as I tell thee, lest thy loving parent be unduly concerned.”

“Yes, Master Gift.”

Everyone watched as Gift explained the principles of lift and drag, and how it applied to dragon wings. Then Gift and Roku leaped into the air and flapped away. It only took Roku two tries to get airborne. Within minutes, he was swooping through the sky in loops and dives that had Quatre shaking his head and muttering in Latin.

“It's not good when he mutters like that,” Duo remarked.

“No, it's not,” agreed Wu-Fei.

They edged away from Quatre.

“How long do you think they're going to do that?” Hagrimore asked after a while. “We still have not got the answer to our question.”

“True,” said Percival. “The dragon said he would propose an alternate contest.”

“I suppose we shall just have to wait until they're finished.”

After several minutes, Gift and Roku flew back to the clearing. Roku executed a high-speed entrance and then stalled out at the last instant. He dropped three feet to the ground laughing happily.

“Whee! That was fun!” Roku ambled up to Quatre and licked his face with a long, thin dragon tongue. “You should try it, Mama!”

“Maybe another time, sweetie. But you had better change into another form or we'll lose the rest of our knights. It's bad enough with Papa Wu-Fei breathing fire.”

“Yes, Mama.” Roku returned to his tiger form.

“That is a most amazing skill,” Gift remarked admiringly. Then he glanced at Wu-Fei. “But did I hear Master Quatre aright? Art thou truly possessed of the most honorable talent of fire-breathing?”

“Yes, thanks to you,” Wu-Fei said with an angry frown. “And I've got scales growing all over my back, too! They itch, dammit!”

“Unfortunately, itchy scales are a burden all dragons must bear,” Gift said with a sigh. “But that is why we like maidens. They are always willing to apply a little oil to the spots we cannot reach.” He turned to Duo. “And what about thee, Master Duo? Has my gift been of use to thee?”

“Oh, yeah, but the curse is just a blast,” Duo growled. “I can hear people's thoughts.”

“In sooth? But thou dost not find this useful?”

“Not in crowds.”

“Ah.”

“Master Gift,” Percival interrupted. “I would like to return to the subject of our original question regarding our quest.”

“Oh, yes.” Gift nodded. “I did propose an alternate contest. I find I like thee, so I will set thee a simple contest. I will give thee a riddle. Should any of ye answer it, I will set thy feet upon the path to the next trial.”

Gift thought for a moment, and then he spoke:

“Soft as down, thick as night, no sword may cut, nor passeth sight. What am I?”

The three knights exchanged confused glances, but Wu-Fei smiled.

“Shall I say it, or would someone else like to?” Wu-Fei said.

“Go ahead,” Trowa replied.

“Fog!” said Wu-Fei.

“Correct!” Gift cried. “Thou art a most intelligent human, Chang Wu-Fei.”

“Thank you.”

Gift grinned. “Once again, I have had a most pleasurable day. Methinks I shall have to spare the local villagers any depredations for some few weeks as thanks. But, thou art waiting most patiently, so I shall keep my word.” Gift sat back on his haunches, folded his wings and lifted his head dramatically. “Carved on the druid's altar in the heart of the Black Forest are the sacred words that light the darkness.” He lowered his head and winked at them. “In sooth, that is all I am supposed to say, but as I like thee well, I will tell thee that the Black Forest lies eight days journey to the north, and that the druids only use the altar on the nights of the full moon and the new moon.”

Percival bowed deeply. “I thank you in deepest gratitude, Master Gift.”

“Thou art most welcome, Noble Knight. I will tell thee something else. If thou and thy comrades would avoid fattening my belly in the future, thou hast only to speak my name and I will spare thee. So remember it: Phuketanapitispoor Manakawatra.”

“We are all dragon-food,” said Hagrimore.

“Nonsense,” said Trowa. “It's easy: Phuketanapitispoor Manakawatra. See?”

“My tongue hurts just listening to you say that.”

Gift chuckled. “Master Heero, now that we have fought, methinks I owe thee a gift.”

“Don't take it,” Duo said immediately. “You'll regret it.”

“Now, Master Duo,” said Gift, “thou chose thy own gift. I am not to blame.”

“I didn't!” Wu-Fei exclaimed. “I never wanted to breathe fire or grow scales.”

“Perhaps not,” Gift said, “but thou must agree that being unkillable is useful.”

“He has a point,” Heero said.

Wu-Fei grumbled something unprintable under his breath.

“One moment,” Gift said and he retreated into his cave. He was gone for only a few moments and returned holding a golden armband between his claws. He offered it to Heero. “This band will give thee the power to appear as any person whom thine eyes have once beheld.”

Heero took the armband and studied it for a moment. “How does it work?”

“See thou the carving of a face with closed eyes?”

“Yes.”

“And upon the opposite side a face with open eyes?”

“Yes.”

“Place thou the band upon thy arm with the open eyes facing out and thy own face wilt thou wear. But turn thou the band so that the closed eyes face out, while holding the image of another person in thy mind, and as that person wilt thou appear. Thou wilt appear thus until the band is rotated again.”

“Hmm…” Heero slid the band up onto his left upper arm with the open-eyed face facing out. Then he glanced at Duo for a moment and rotated the band. A second Duo appeared in the clearing in place of Heero.

“Oh, that is too creepy,” Quatre said. “One Duo is probably more than we need.”

“Hey!” Duo exclaimed. “I think he looks pretty good.”

“He still smells like Papa Heero,” Roku said.

“He will sound like himself, also,” Gift added. “The glamour is one of sight only.”

The Duo clone rotated the band again and Heero reappeared.

“That's pretty cool,” Heero acknowledged. “Thank you, Gift.”

“Thou art most welcome, Sir Heero.”

“Why is it that Heero gets the cool gift?” Wu-Fei grumbled.

“Because he's got the biggest…”

“Shut up, Duo!” Heero snapped.

Gift yawned. “If thou wilt forgive me, methinks I am ready to resume my nap.” He bowed his head gravely. “It has been a pleasure, gentlemen.”

“Thank you, Gift, for aiding us in our quest,” Percival replied politely.

Gift curled back up and closed his eyes.

The group left the clearing and climbed back up the bluff to the where the other knights were waiting. Some of these knights regarded Roku with expressions of vague alarm. Noting this, Quatre began to grumble to himself.

“What's the matter, Quatre?” Trowa asked as the group rode back to Hammersly.

“I don't like the way those knights are looking at my baby.”

“He did turn into a dragon, Quatre.”

“They've seen him change shape before.”

“Into a little boy. A dragon is something else entirely.”

“They should have realized that if he can change from a tiger to a boy, he can change into whatever he wants.”

“They probably just never thought it through before.”

“Well, apparently they are now. And I don't like it.”

Trowa regarded Quatre worriedly. “You're not thinking of turning them into anything, are you?”

Quatre frowned. “Not permanently.”

“Quatre…”

“Ok! Fine! I won't turn them into anything. They just better not try anything with Roku, that's all.”

The innkeeper didn't hide his surprise very well when they returned to the inn.

“So, you avoided being eaten by the dragon a second time?” he said. “That is quite impressive.”

“We're good friends with the dragon, buddy,” Duo said. “You just keep that in mind when you're making unreasonable demands for payment.”

`Of course! Of course!” the innkeeper said hastily. “How about a nice dinner?”

And the group settled down to a solid meal of beef stew with fresh bread and butter, roast chicken, leek and onion pie, soft yellow cheese, bread pudding with raisins and apple tarts.

Roku had some of everything, which could be determined easily by examining his fur.

Quatre shook his head mournfully. “He needs a bath again.”

“Yup,” Trowa said.

“Oh, goody!” Roku said.