Hirsune

(see the beginning of part 1 for the pronunciation guide)

Hirsune Pt.3 - Trial and Error

by argouru aka jxwolfstone

Ardenus reached town square, panting heavily from exertion, and saw the boy's bike abandoned on the steps of city hall. Little punk didn't waste any time at all, did he? He thought angrily as he lumbered up the steps, clutching a stitch in his side behind his right milk bladder, and made his way towards the mayor's office. As he ran through the building, he heard people muttering and saw them staring at him - some in worry, others in accusation.

Before he could reach the door, it burst open, the head of the town council, and therefore the leader of the community, stood before him, looking grave. "Ardenus? Well, if you're here, and in this condition," he added, taking in the exhausted state of his fellow elder, "I can only assume that what my son has told me is true. What have you done Ardenus? Explain yourself!"

"Pareus, please- let me gasp explain!..." Ardenus forced out between pants from fatigue.

"Alright, come in," the mayor sighed, stepping aside and gesturing for the farmer to enter. As Ardenus past him, the mayor caught the smell of drying semen. He frowned, as this only provided confirmation to part of his son's tale.

As the farmer entered, he saw Evarni standing in the corner, glaring at him defiantly. A surge of anger filled him. Despite being a lover and not a fighter, he wanted to punch the little brat, and the defiant expression on the boy's face only heightened that feeling. He throttled the impulse down. Getting violent now would only make things worse that they already were.

Pareus entered, then looked at the boy. "Out!" he said.

"But Dad! I-"

"Enough! I know exactly why you were sneaking around out there. Stealing food from others again! Go home! Now! You're grounded! And if you're not in your room when I come home, it'll be even worse for you!"

Shocked, the boy left quickly, closing the door behind himself. Pareus threw himself down into his chair. "I swear, I don't know where I went wrong with him. I try to raise him right, but that boy is so damned determined to have everything his way without the slightest concern for how it affects others..." He trailed off in disgust. "All right, explain yourself. Ev said he saw a strange human mating with you at your house. So, what's the story?" he finished, his face a neutral mask, betraying nothing.

Ardenus sighed as he finished recovering his breath, and began to tell his fellow elder the events of the last few days...

"So you see, I couldn't just let him die like that," he said to the mayor some time later. "He's just a hurt and lonely boy, no matter how old he is on the outside. I... I don't think he's ever had anyone who was really supportive of him. It's as if I'm the first person he could ever open up to... The first person who ever gave a damn about him. He has no one out there who wants him, and nowhere to go. I want to take him in. If I don't, he won't last a month. He'll try it again, and next time, there most likely won't be anyone there to stop him... I couldn't live with that, not after having given him some sense of hope only to have it dashed so suddenly. It'd destroy him."

"And very likely all of us as well. Humans can be very vengeful." Pareus sighed, putting his head in his hands. "If it were up to me, I'd say that we could take longer to figure this out, but that damned boy of mine made -that- option impossible. All the way in here he was shouting about your human guest. I'm sure word has already gotten out. I saw several people leave the building just after he came in shouting. By now, the rest of the council will be finding out... I'll have to call an emergency meeting, and I'll need you to stay here for now. You've violated our laws, no matter how good your intentions, Ardenus. Where's the human now?"

Ardenus looked up in shock, first that Pareus was basically arresting him, then feeling fear for Kyle's safety. "Wait! What're you going to do with him?"

"He'll have to be brought before the council. Arden, this will go easier for you if you cooperate with us." He saw Ardenus' determined face. "Look, I promise nothing will happen to the human without you there. That's the best I can offer you right now."

"He's at the farm," Ardenus said numbly, feeling defeated...

Kavarin heard shouting from the house as he approached, and dropped his fishing gear and catch, running to see what was wrong. He reached the house just as the town guards came out the front door, hauling a terrified-looking Kyle between them, a furious Davin following them as he shouted protests.

"You can't just haul him off like this," Davin was shouting. "He's still a person and he has rights! Are you forgetting my father is part of the town council?!?"

One of the large, burly guards turned to him. "Our orders come from the mayor himself! If you have a complaint, take it up with him!" They all but dragged the human into a city vehicle in the driveway.

"Then I'm coming too!" Davin said, following them.

"Davin, what's going on?" Kavarin asked, running forward.

"That stupid brat Evarni snuck onto the farm, saw Dad with Kyle and took off. Dad went into town to try to explain, but I haven't seen him since, and now these thugs are arresting Kyle!"

"Shit! What do we do?"

"I'm going with Kyle. Follow us in the truck."

Kav hurried inside for the keys, and came out to find the car already speeding away down the road. Cursing, he ran for the truck...

Markano stepped out the front door of his friend's house, giving Narendus a kiss of gratitude. "Thanks, I really needed that. It's been so stressful at home that I really needed to let out some steam."

"You sure you don't want to talk about it?" his friend asked with concern.

"No... I don't really want to talk about it yet," he replied untruthfully, his eyes sweeping the peaceful main street of the small town. "Thanks anyways-" he began, but was startled when one of the city's two official cars tore down the street quickly, passing them. "What the-?" He began before honking from behind caught his attention. He turned to see Kav speeding towards him in the family truck, coming to screeching halt near him.

"Mark! Get in!"

"What's going on?"

"They found out about Kyle and came for him. Dad came into town to explain but I haven't heard from him since!"

"Dammit!" the eldest sibling swore, dashing for the passenger side door...

It was nighttime later that day, and the leaders and involved parties were gathered in the town meeting hall, which also served as the courtroom for settling disputes. However, it had never been used for such a serious situation. The council, town guards, Kyle, Ardenus and his three sons were the only ones present. The rest of the community was being assured that the situation was under control, and the council would soon reach a decision on what to do. All Hirsune were worried. This was the most serious situation they had ever experienced, and some folks were nervous, while others thought it would be better to simply get rid of the human to ensure their safety. Everyone was awaiting nervously for the council's decision...

Six mature Hirsune sat at all but one of seven chairs placed in a row behind a long table set sideways at the back end of the room. The empty chair would normally have been filled by Ardenus himself. He was standing before them instead, this time, being the offending party. The farmer's three sons sat nervously in chairs in the front row facing the table. In the middle of the room, four large-muscled guards stood, two surrounding the scared and pale human, two on either side of Ardenus. The grey haired Hirsune sitting in the center seat behind the table cleared his throat.

"So, you're the human who's stirred up so much trouble for us," Pareus said, looking upon the pale-looking human, and rubbing his grey beard thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Kyle replied nervously. "Sorry about that," he finished sheepishly, feeling the need to apologize.

"You're sorry?!?" an angry-looking redheaded Hirsune on the left said. "Do you think this is a joke?!?" he shouted furiously, slamming his fist down upon the councilmens' table, sending a plastic cup flying off to the ground, where it bounced around, scattering water across the wooden floor.

"No, I-" the human began, almost stammering.

"Enough!" the redhead interrupted impatiently. "We all know what humans are capable of! I say we execute him and be done with it!"

"NO!" Ardenus shouted.

"Surely, not!" protested a bald headed Hirsune with a blonde beard and body hair on the right.

"QUIET, EVERYONE!" Pareus shouted overtop of them both, slamming his gavel on the table to bring order. "We will consider the matter -properly- before we come to a decision! And as we are a Democratic council," he added, glaring at the hostile redhead, "we will vote on the matter. Now we've all heard Ardenus' explanation: The human, feeling alone and suffering, tried to end his own life, but Ardenus saved him and nursed him back to health. However, before he could explain the situation to us, his fellow council members, the human was discovered and news spread before it could be contained. Ardenus. Do you have anything else to add?"

"Yes. I've seen what the human is like when he lets his guard down. I've seen what kind of person he truly is, and I trust him. I know that he won't betray us to other humans. He has no family, no one who cares for him. He's alone in the world, and-"

"All the easier, then!" the redhead cried, standing up and moving quickly around the table to grab the human by the shoulder. "No one will miss him. We'll kill him and then there won't be any need to worry about-"

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SON!!!" Ardenus shouted furiously, his voice ringing off the walls; a look of ferocity marring his handsome features.

The entire room fell silent, everyone staring at the farmer with stunned expressions, who stood there numb with shock at what he'd just said. He then realized that he meant it.

"You heard me!" he said dangerously, glaring at the redheaded Hirsune, who had frozen in place, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"Let him go, Volnaro," the mayor said, regaining his voice.

Reluctantly, the redhead released the human's arm and stepped away.

Behind him, Ardenus could feel the eyes of his three Hirsune sons boring into him. But how could he explain how he felt? The human only wanted to be loved and accepted. During the time Ardenus had nursed the human back to health, he'd bonded with him, Father to Son, and the human had shown signs of accepting him as a father figure. He was beginning to see Kyle as a son just as much as his three naturally hatched boys.

The three sons stared at their father with shock at first, but then each thought hard about the matter, coming to their own conclusion silently.

I can see why, Kav thought to himself. Dad feels responsible for him, and you'd have to be blind not to see that he really loves Kyle now as much as us. He smiled slightly to himself.

I hope Dad knows what he's doing, Davin thought to himself. I can see why, though. Kyle seems rather nice. I wouldn't mind having him as a brother.

Dad... Mark thought, shocked more than his brothers at their father's behavior. What does he see in this human that I don't? Markano had always trusted his father's judgment in the past, despite his protests to the contrary. He had to admit, though, that Kyle seemed rather nice, once he'd gotten to know him. Even if he -is- way too bald, the eldest child thought with a misplaced spark of amusement. But still... he thought, sobering, He's a human. Dad can't be serious...

"You can't be serious!" Volnaro said in shock. "He's a HUMAN! You know what they do to our kind! Even if you did do what I think you're planning on doing... It's absurd!"

"Despite Volnaro's objections," said the bald elder. "He does raise a good point, Arden. What, exactly, are your intentions with him? Do you plan to Gift this human?"

"Gift him?" Ardenus said, looking at Kyle. "I... Honestly hadn't thought about that... I don't know... It's a possibility, I suppose... Only if he consents to it, though..."

"Well," Pareus said, sounding grave, "Regardless of your feelings, you violated our highest law and may well have brought danger down upon us all. As an elder and member of this council, you should know better than that. Therefore, we have little choice in the matter..."

"Wait!" Kyle said, pulling forward in protest.

"Kyle, don't!" Ardenus said, trying to keep attention away from the human in an attempt to protect him.

"You have something to say, Human?" Pareus replied. "I suppose it's fair, seeing as how this is all because of you... Speak."

"Please don't hurt him," Kyle begged them. "It's my fault all of this happened. I didn't mean to hurt anyone! Well... Not anyone else, that is... I only wanted to stop hurting... To stop being alone. I didn't know there was a town here! I was just looking for a place to die. Look, I don't care who or what you are. So what if a town full of hairy hermaphrodites want to fuck each other silly! What's the harm in that?"

"Well said," the bald elder muttered to himself, smiling slightly. Pareus heard the comment, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

"You can keep your secrets," the human continued. "I don't care. I came here to die... And if that's what it takes... Then I'll surrender myself to your judgment-"

"Nooo!" Ardenus moaned, straining against the guards holding him in protest.

"-But on one condition!"

"Go on," the mayor said, leaning forward in interest.

"Please spare Ardenus. It's my fault this happened. He was only acting out of kindness. He shouldn't be punished for showing compassion, should he?"

"Even if this means your death?" the mayor asked slowly.

"I came here to die anyways, so what's the difference? If it'll make you feel safer and spare Ardenus in the process, then go ahead."

"No," Ardenus pleaded. "You can't kill him. Please! This isn't our way! We value life, not destroy it! That goes against everything we believe!"

Behind him, his three Hirsune sons joined in with their own pleas and protests. The individual words indistinguishable as they echoed off the walls.

"No, you don't get it!" Kyle interrupted them. "It's OK. I wasn't afraid to die then, and I'm not now." He turned to Ardenus. "You gave me what I never thought I'd have: love and acceptance. Even if it was only for a little while, it's more than I ever hoped for." He had to stop then, as tears filled his eyes and emotion choked his throat. He hung his head. "At least this way," he continued with effort, "I can die happy."

A chair scrapping brought everyone's attention to the council table, where the bald elder stood quickly. "No, I cannot abide this!"

"Welvayan?" Pareus asked, looking to the elder who served as head priest of the community.

"Ardenus is right," the priest said. "We are lovers, not killers! I will not abide the killing of this human, not for any reason! Ardenus has spoken for his defense, and the human has offered his own heartfelt vow to honor our secrets. I know we haven't voted yet, but I say that Ardenus be granted mercy on grounds of compassion, and the human spared."

"I agree," said another, black haired elder thoughtfully, as he sat next to the priest.

"As do I," said the elder to the far left.

"I abstain from any punishment for now," said another gray-haired elder at the far right. "But I do feel that there should be a probationary period for the human to judge the sincerity of his words, and the possibility of Gifting addressed fully."

Pareus turned to the remaining silent elder. "Falmaru?"

"I will state now," said the remaining elder scratching his graying brown hair, "That I am uncertain as to the sincerity of the human... But as I'm outvoted, there's little left to consider. I'll abide by the vote of the majority."

"Volnaro?" Pareus asked, turning to the fiery-tempered redhead.

"I still vote for execution of the human, and that Ardenus be stripped of all rights and privileges!... But as this is a -Democracy-, my vote doesn't matter now, does it?" He finished, looking at those who voted favorably with open disgust.

"Very well," the mayor answered, shooting the redhead a dirty look. "I also vote for clemency-"

The three Hirsune youths cheered loudly.

"HOWEVER!..." The head of the council added, shouting over the noise, bringing instant silence from the boys, who suddenly looked fearful.

"The human is now your responsibility, Ardenus, and you will be held accountable for his behavior. He is to remain under your care while his trustworthiness is evaluated. Of course, if you should choose to truly make him your own, then the issue will, naturally, become mute. Also," he added, leaning forward gravely, "I must impress upon you the seriousness of your actions. Therefore, your voting rights within this council are hereby suspended for the course of one year. You may continue to sit on the council, but you will have little say, and your vote will only be considered in case of a deadlock." He turned to the rest of the elders. "Does my ruling agree with you all?"

Murmurs of accent came from all but Volnaro, who stood rigid and silent.

"Volnaro?" Pareus pressed.

"Fine!" the redhead snarled, and stormed out of the hall.

"Meeting concluded!" the mayor stated in annoyance, banging his gavel and glaring angrily at the departing figure's back.

The boys cheered as they rushed forward, the guards releasing Kyle and Ardenus.

"I'm sorry," Kyle said quietly to the father. "It's because of me you basically got demoted like that."

"What?" Ardenus asked in shock, looking at the boy in surprise. "It's only a year, Kyle. That's basically just a slap on the wrist. It's actually the best I could've hoped for, really." He looked at them all and smiled in relief. "Come on, let's go home."

As they walked out of the meeting hall, Markano gently pulled the human back. "Did you really mean that?" he asked in shock. "You really would've sacrificed yourself to save Dad?"

"Yeah," the human replied quietly. "I meant every word of it." He slowly walked away towards the exit.

Mark stood motionless, feeling a new respect, for the human as he watched Kyle move away slowly, as well as a growing guilt at himself, ... And yet, there was also sadness mixed in with it... For he had seen that along with the sincerity, there had been a haunted sadness and guilt in the human's eyes as he spoke...

Kyle rode in silence within the cab of the truck. With Ardenus driving while wrapping a protective arm around the human's shoulders, and Kavarin sitting on his right while the last two Hirsune of the family rode in the bed of the truck, Kyle felt as though he was surrounded by matched furry bookends, what with the almost identical appearances of the people on either side of him.

The human sat there numbly, trying to process what all had just happened.

He'd never been more afraid in his life when the two burly town guards had hauled him away. That Davin had gone with him had been a small comfort, but the human knew that there wasn't anything his host could truly do to help him.

But why had he been afraid? No one wanted him, his so called family and friends had proven that.

He was out one night for dinner at a restaurant with his parents, older brother and younger sister. The subject eventually wound around to asking Kyle why he still had not found a woman to settle down with. He'd had a rough day at work, and being badgered yet again about his endless status as a bachelor, that he'd finally told them the truth. He'd come out as a gay man to them.

He hadn't expected them to react warmly, but the way they had reacted had been even more painful than he'd thought. "I knew from t he start it was a mistake to keep you," his mother had said in a nasty tone, looking as though she had just bitten into something with too much pepper in it. His sister sat there looking as though she would rather be anywhere else, and refused to look at Kyle the rest of the night. His father and brother were worse, however, looking at him with such disgust and hatred that he was afraid they would leap from their chairs and attack him if they weren't out in public.

They had refused to even allow him into the car to go home to his parent's house where he had been staying the night. He'd had to take a taxi there, and arrived to find his possessions dumped into the garbage. They refused to answer the door or the phone. His family had disowned him.

The next day at work, he was so distraught that he dropped a case of expensive whiskey at his job at a liquor store. He offered to pay for them, which the manager accepted graciously with a sympathetic smile, then asked him why he seemed so put out that day. Tired of hiding who he was, he explained. His boss developed a closed expression, and walked stiffly into his office. Half an hour later, Kyle had been called in and told that the whiskey was too valuable a loss to simply ignore, and that he was fired.

He arrived home and met with his friends, a married couple named Bob and Alice, who lived two doors down. When he explained why he had lost his family and job, they had grown cold. "You should've told us you were a fag to begin with," Bob had said, as Alice looked at him uncomfortably. He was asked politely to leave, which he did, and the last people left in his life were gone from it.

He had tried to find another job, but after three months of searching without success and no income to pay rent, his landlord had evicted him. He'd had no one left to turn to, and was hurting so much from the betrayal of everyone he had known, that he not longer felt as though he could trust anyone.

Realizing how alone he was, he'd made up his mind. If this was the best life had to offer: pain, loneliness and eventual homelessness, then it was a life he didn't want. He'd longed to travel across America one day anyways, so he decided to make that his last action in life. He'd not worried about paperwork, or valuables; he'd placed into his car only what he had truly loved in life, making the car into a funeral barge. Then he picked a random direction, and drove. Anytime he reached an intersection, he'd picked a direction at random, traveling vaguely east. It didn't matter where he ended up as long as he could travel some before he died.

He knew he wouldn't get all the way to the east coast. The car was old, and his money low when he began the trip, so he'd promised himself that he'd go as far as he could. Then, once the car had gotten him as far as it could, that spot would be where he would die. He had a pistol and a few bullets, and had planned to shot himself.

When he'd reached the river, however, he had decided that the river would be a good enough way to die, seeing as it was so cold. Jumping into it had taken every ounce of willpower he'd had. All he had wanted was an escape, the pain to finally end.

But the river hadn't claimed him as he'd wanted it to. Ardenus had saved him instead. Kyle had been shocked at first, when he'd first awoken, and had then been horrified to find that he was bawling like a toddler before a complete stranger.

But then something strange had happened. Not only had the stranger not looked down on him with scorn for displaying unseemly emotion, but had shared in that pain. For the first time in his life, Kyle was with someone who had genuinely cared about how Kyle felt, and even expressed anger that others had made the human to suffer. Ardenus had not rejected him for being different, but felt pity for him for being cast out by everyone the human had ever trusted.

He had been shocked to find out that a completely different species of people existed in the world, and while these people were vastly different in so many ways, they had shown the human more respect and kindness than he'd ever had from even a single human.

Then, everything had fallen apart, and he had been drug away as a prisoner. He felt a deep sense of guilt that he had gotten them into trouble. When the court, or whatever they were, had went to pronounce their verdict, he'd felt the need to act. Others didn't deserve to pay for his own mistakes, especially those who had treated him better than anyone else ever had before in his life. He owed them.

The part of him that still wanted to die didn't mind this. He'd hated wanting to commit suicide, and while he knew he was doomed either way, at least he could repay them for their kindness by taking all of the blame onto himself. It wasn't nobility or heroism he had felt, but a deep sense of obligation. He had done this to them, so he wanted to make things right by his hosts.

But when the angry redhead moved forward and grabbed him, his fear overrode his feelings of obligation for a moment, until Ardenus had defended him, calling the human his son. Kyle still didn't know what to think of that. Here was someone he'd barely met, looking ready to kill to defend him.

Kyle was still in shock when he heard the court go to pass sentence, and had jolted out of himself. He did the only thing he felt he had left to do, he could thank Ardenus for his kindness by doing the only thing he had left to him to do, offer to take all of the blame, so that the person who had shown him kindness and defended him wouldn't have to share the blame for the human's mistakes.

But something odd had happened. They were given mercy instead. Kyle's willingness to take all of the blame had touched the elders, who had chosen to show mercy. Now Kyle was on his way back to the farm, not knowing what the future held, or even how to feel.

He was jarred from his reflection as they pulled into the dirt driveway of the farmhouse, and he got his first good look at the place.

The farmhouse was a large rectangular home of indeterminate style. Made of pine wood logs that were lacquered, the house had a golden wood color with dark brown trim and a large, walk on porch that wrapped halfway around the house with golden wood banisters. The upper floor of the house looked slightly different, as though someone had tried to copy the building style of the main floor, but had altered it slightly. The grey tiled roof was slanted down towards the front from the peek, with squarish window boxes jutting forward from it in three places.

As they got out of the truck, and walked towards the house in the evening light, Kyle walked as if in a dream, not certain what to think or feel...

Ardenus was in his own bed tonight, but with company, for he had asked Kyle to share his bed with him. Not for sex... At least not tonight, but for shared comfort. "Thank you," he said quietly, hugging the human close to him. "You have no idea how much it means to me... What you said... What you were willing to do for my sake..."

"I meant it," Kyle said softly into the Hirsune's hairy chest. "You gave me more that I ever had any right to expect. I never thanked you for that, Ardenus."

The Hirsune used a hand to gently turn the boy's head up to face him. "... Call me Dad... Please?" he asked, his voice thick with emotion.

Kyle stared up at him, his face unreadable.

"I meant it, you know," Ardenus said, "What I said back there in that room. You're mine, if you want to be. To me, you're now as much my son as any of my hatchlings. I'd be honored," he added, his voice growing thicker, "if you'd join us and become part of our family. Even if you are a human rather than Hirsune, you're one of us as far as I'm concerned."

Kyle thought about it for several minutes, Ardenus waiting in silent anticipation and hopefulness. "I want that too... Dad," he said quietly.

Ardenus felt his heart swell with happiness and love, and he kissed the boy, no, his Son, passionately, but gently until they fell asleep in each others arms...