In a Just Cause: Broken Circle

by Edward Becerra
______________________________

   "There is no retreat, but in submission and slavery... The war is
    inevitable -- and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!"
      - Patrick Henry, American patriot.

                                   * * *

   "<I'm worried about David, 'Sky. Between the battle with his father, and
the ROCC, he seems to be swinging from mania to depression and back again.
That's not healthy.>"
   
   "<You cannot live his life for him, my love. Only he can do that. He must
find his own way, just as you have found yours.>" Privately, Nightsky was
worried for her husband. She thought he was dwelling too much on David's
problems, and not enough on his own. "<Besides, we have yet to deal with the
legacy of the Pack.>"
   
   Kickaha sighed. "<It's not our concern, 'Sky. The elders tried to use me,
dishonored me, betrayed me, and then exiled me. They can rot forever in the
cesspool of their own evil, for all I care. I'm not going back. Ever.>"
   
   "<Ever is a very long time, dearest. Who knows what the future will
bring?>"
   
   "<If it brings the elders back into my life, the only way I'll face them
is with my shotgun in one hand and one of David's light sabers in the
other.>" His eyes glowed with supressed rage. "<The next time we'll meet
will be across a battlefield. When that happens, only one side will be
walking away. I don't care what Sally or King Acorn has to say about it.
Someone is going to die. And it won't be me. I didn't start this fight. But
I _will_ finish it.>"
   
   "<I hope it never comes to that, love. I don't wish to lose you to the
battle madness.>"
   
   "<Never, my one. Not even death could keep me from you. Now that we have
found each other again, I will never let you go.>"
   
   "<Well, since you have all that passion stored up inside, let's see if we
can't put it to some good use!>" She dived at him, knocking him across the
bed.
   
   "<HEY! Wait a moment! We didn't even lock the front door...>"
   
   "<I told you I'd get you back for tickling me there,>" she purred. "<And
I'm a woman of my word!>"
   
   *Oh, well,* Kickaha thought. *Could be worse. At least Sally got us a `Do
Not Disturb' sign. And I think we're going to be using it a lot...*
   
                                   * * *

   Some time later, an exhausted coyote wandered into Antoine's coffee shop.
He sat, and waved to Antoine.

   "Ahhh... What do you have with a _lot_ of caffeine, Ant?"

   "What iz zee mattair, my friend?"

   "... just really worn out, Ant.  Really worn out."

   Antoine gave a knowing smile.  "Zee wife, she iz zee handful, no?"

   "She is the handful, yes!" Kickaha sighed. "I may not live through this."
He scratched at his scar. "But what a way to go!"

   Antoine just laughed, and bustled off to get him a big pitcher of the
strongest chickory he had and a large pastry. "You will need zee sugar, ma
friend."

   Kickaha just gave a tired laugh.

   He'd finished the pastry and was drinking the last of the chickory when
King Acorn walked in. His back was to the door, and he failed to notice the
king until he saw Antoine nearly brain himself bowing to his majesty.

   "King Acorn! M'lord! I'm sorry, I didn't see you!"

   "No matter, lad. Your back was to me." The king's brow furrowed. "But
that was a poor choice of words. A `lad' you are not. Sally has told me of
you and your wife."

   Kickaha gave the king a twisted grin. "Yes, I've noticed. Almost everyone
in Knothole is a child, by my standards. Rosie, Bear, Joesph, a few others
are my age or older, but that's about it. Robotnik seems to have either
killed or roboticized every one of your subjects near my age." He laughed
sadly. "I felt like a young man, until I came here. Now I feel like some old
grey-pelt."

   "Oh?," said King Acorn, raising an eyebrow. "How's that again?  You're
younger than I am.  What does that make me?"

   "D'oh!" *Really smart move, bonehead. Why don't you borrow a phaser from
Davey and shoot yourself?* He hit himself in the forehead with a paw.
"Sorry, your majesty. I don't think my brains are working very well, right
now."

   Now it was the King's turn to laugh. "Apology accepted. Sally told me
that the two of you are newlyweds. I remember what that was like."

   "Sally's mother must have been a wonderful person, your majesty. For the
Princess is a great leader. She kept Knothole together despite everything
Robotnik threw at it. You must be very proud of her."

   "I am.  But that's not what I'm here to talk about."

   "I'm at your disposal, your majesty."

   "I'm curious, Kickaha. How is it that you're here? I know how the tribes
feel about city dwellers, and that some still hold the days of the Great War
against us."

   Kickaha's fur bristled, and the King noticed. "If you'd rather not talk
about it..."

   "It's all right, your majesty. It's a long story. The short version is
that they, the Pack, are _not_ my people any more. The House of Acorn is.
And I think and believe what I choose to, not what others would choose for
me. To use some words from one of David's Earth shows, `I will not be
pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. I am a free
man. My life is my own.'." He clenched his fists. "And I do _not_ intend to
let anyone abuse or betray me again. That's why I fought for your daughter,
m'lord, and why I'll fight for you. Robotnik wasn't the only evil in this
world, merely the largest. Pun intended."

   The King nodded slowly. "I can understand that. But if you ever feel
more kindly towards the Wild Pack, I would like to know.  Once this war is
over, I'd like to have more peaceful relations with them. Too many mistakes
were made in the past. It's long past time to correct them. And I'd like you
to be my ambassador to the Pack."

   Kickaha dropped his mug in shock. It shattered unnoticed on the floor.
"That... that would not be a good idea, your majesty." He shook his head.
"David, perhaps. Or Ryan. Sir Kain would make an excellent ambassador. I
would not."

   "And why not?"

   "Too much past between myself and... some others in the Pack, sire. It
would only get in the way."
   
   The King looked at him levely. "That's a pity. I could use an ambassador
who truly understood the people of the Wild Pack. Remember, if things ever
change, I'd like for you to serve me in this way."
   
   Kickaha shook his head sharply. "What's between the Pack and myself will
never change, sire. Never."
   
   "Never is a very long time, my wild friend. You never know what the
future will bring you." The King stood, and left.
   
   *That was almost exactly what 'Sky said to me this morning!* He shivered.
*Could this be a sign from the spirits? Fortuna, I hope not. Knothole is my
life now. Not the Pack.*

   Antoine came to sweep up the broken mug. Kickaha left in confusion, not
knowing quite what to think.

**********************************

   A week later, things seemed to have returned to normal for Kickaha. King
Acorn hadn't said anything further about his becoming an ambassador, Dave
had calmed down some, and the war against Robotnik's forces was going well.
Nightsky was still a little... ahem, overly affectionate; but then again,
they'd had quite a few years to make up for. Although the thought did cross
his mind that he might soon be found dead of exhaustion in his bed, with a
silly smile on his face.

   *Not a _bad_ way to go,* he mused. *Although they might have some trouble
filling out the `Cause of Death' part on my death certificate!*

   He was sitting outside the lodge, cleaning and oiling his shotgun, when
young Kopter came running up the path from the Power Ring Pool.

   "Mr. Kickaha, Mr. Kickaha!" the little fox was shouting. She wasn't
looking where she was going, and ran right into him as he stood up.

   "Ooomph! Slow down, youngling! And calm down. What _is_ the matter? Tails
ask you out on a date or something?"

   "No, Mr. Kickaha! The stranger, the stranger is back!" She stammered in
her haste to get the words out. "And he wants to see you again!"

   "And what stranger is that, Highflyer?"

   "THE stranger, Mr. Kickaha."

   "You don't have to call me Mister, child.  And I'm confused.  Which
stranger do you mean?"

   "The one you fought, sir.  The one that threw Uncle Davey through the
wall of the dojo!"

   He went perfectly still for a long moment. "The one I fought, Kopter? You
mean Jon Quick Kills?"

   She bounced up and down in her excitement. "Yes, yes! That's what he said
his name was!"

   "All right, Kopter," he said in a cold voice. "I want you to go tell
Uncle Davey that he's back, all right? Then tell Princess Sally and King
Acorn, too. Can you do that for me?"

   "Ok, Mr. Kickaha. Is something wrong? You don't look very happy."

   "It's all right, little one. And thank you. Now you'd better go run that
errand for me. I'd do it myself, but I've got something very important to do
right now." He picked up the shotgun and quickly began re-assembling it, his
hands blurring in his haste. "Run along, Kopter. And take care, child. Take
care."

   After she'd run back down the path, he took the shotgun into the lodge
and yanked open a drawer, spilling out several fully loaded magazines.
Nightsky heard the clatter and came into the great room.

   "<What is the matter, my love?>"

   "<It is Quick Kills.  He has broken the circle.>"

   She gasped. "<But why? What reason could he possibly have for
returning?>"

   "<I don't know. Nor do I care. He has broken the honor of the circle, and
that is _all_ that matters. Now it ends.>"

   "<The Princess and her father will _not_ be pleased if you slay him here,
my love. Could you not wait, and deal with him away from Knothole?>"

   "<I respect them too much to deceive them, 'Sky. If they must punish me
for what I'm about to do, I accept that. But I will not lie to them. Not
even by misdirection.>" He slapped a magazine into the shotgun and checked
the safety. "<Quick Kills dies. Here. Now. And I take full responsibility
for what I'm about to do.>"

                                   * * *

   By the time Davey had reached the center of the village, Sally and her
father had already arrived. She was busy filling her father in on what had
happened the last time the young coyote had appeared here. This time,
however, things seemed a little different.

   *He's just standing there. He's not trying to do anything.* Davey thought
to himself. *And he's not acting half as stuck up as he did the first time.*

   Suddenly, everyone was startled by gunfire. Steel buckshot screamed over
Quick Kills' head. The bystanders turned and saw a furious Kickaha running
towards them, shotgun at the ready. They scattered in all directions.

   "HOW DARE YOU RETURN HERE? HAVE YOU NO HONOR AT ALL??" he shouted. "You
know the price of breaking the circle!"

   Sally stepped between them. "Stop this at once! Are you mad? What of your
promise to me?"

   "This goes beyond that promise, my Princess. By returning here, he has
set a challenge neither of us can ignore. This time, it is to the death."

   "You know we can't allow that." Sally had seen him this angry only once
before; on the night he'd stormed Robotropolis for his wife.

   "Yes, I know. I also know what I must do." He pointed the shotgun just
over her shoulder. "We are not welcome here any longer, oath-breaker. The
Great Unknown is that way. We can settle this there."

   "ghobe'. Qo'. jIHneH..."

   "In Mobian, honorless scum! I would have Knothole know _why_ you've
broken your word." growled Kickaha. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. It
was Nightsky. He turned to face her.

   "Give him the Ten Words, my love. No matter what he has done, that _is_
his right."

   "Kh'thak! All right, 'Sky. For you. And _only_ for you." He turned back
toward the younger coyote. "Ten Words, Quick Kills. And no more than that.
Now speak."

   Quick Kills dropped to one knee and threw back his head, exposing his
neck. In a dull voice, he began to speak. "I lay my arms at your feet and
bare my throat for your claws. I shall follow your trail and will not stray
from the path you lead..."

   Kickaha's shotgun dropped to the ground with a thud. Then he turned and
ran for the forest as though demons from hell were following at his feet.
Nightsky just stood there in a state of shock. Then she staggered, until
Sonia rushed to her side to support her.

   "SoSoy! What's the matter? What's going on?" she asked.

   "They're dead," Nightsky whispered. "They have to be. That's the only
possible explanation..."

**********************************

   In King Acorn's hut...

   "...and this was an oath of loyalty?" the King asked.

   "It is the ruStay... the ceremony used when new leaders of the tribe are
chosen. And when an elder is picked for the Council of the tribes, or when
someone is adopted into the tribe." Nightsky told him. "There is no way he
could have given that oath to my mate. Not unless the elders of his tribe
are all dead. The words are a little different in my parent's tribe, but the
meaning is the same. Quick Kills was trying to swear to my husband as the
leader of his tribe."

   "But why did Kickaha run?" Sally interjected.

   Nightsky sighed. "That was what the elders themselves were trying to do
to him, Princess. Trying to turn him into a warleader, someone they could
use to lead the entire Pack against the cityfolk." She shook her head.
"Didn't you ever wonder why he always followed others, and never sought to
lead, himself?"

   "Well... yes. But I thought it was something personal." Sally frowned.
"So he was afraid of leading?"

   "Yes. And he was determined never to trapped in that way again."

   "So when this happened, it was as if his worst nightmare had come true."
King Acorn said. "I feel sorry for him. But he has to face this. He can't
run away from his problems forever. And we need him." He raised his voice.
"Lt. Kintobor!"

   David stuck his head through the door. "Yes, your Majesty?"
   
   "I want you to assemble a search party. We need to find Kickaha. But
don't try to take him yourself. Just track him, then report back. I don't
want him spooked."

   "You got it, sire. If I can't find him, he can't be found." David gave
the King one of those toothy grins, the kind that reminded everyone of his
father.

   King Acorn smiled back. "Don't get cocky, son. And find me that coyote."

                                   * * *

   "My daughter tells me that you fought with Kickaha once before, boy.  Why
was that?"

   "Kh'thak! naDev vo' yIghoS, Ha'DIbaH!" snarled the young coyote, in a
dispirited tone.

   Nightsky hissed, and one wing-tip claw lashed out, cutting Quick Kills
across the nose. "Show respect, cub! Acorn leads this tribe. My mate holds
him as the High One." 

   King Acorn had to smile at the thought of his kingdom being called a
tribe. *But then again,* he thought, *between Knothole and Greenwood, what's
left really isn't much bigger than one of the Pack's tribes...*

   "<Kickaha is the only...>"

   She hissed again, an ear-piercing whistle that made everyone in the room
flinch. A claw stopped just before it touched Jon's eye. He got the message.
He gave her a surly look, but began to answer the King's questions.

   "I fought him before, because the elders sent me to bring him back. I was
punished for failing them."

   "And now?"

   "The elders of our tribe are dead. I am here to swear to our new leader.
And to beg for his return. We need him."

   "And how did this happen?"

   Jon took a deep breath, and began. "After my return, a pair of the
machines you call Swatbots approached the lands of the Pack. There, they
stopped and remained, unmoving. When scouts were sent to discover their
purpose, the machines delivered a message, then left peacefully."

   King Acorn mumbled something to the effect that he never should have
built a robotic royal guard, then asked what the message was.

   "A simple one. The fat one," Sally snickered at that, "wished to treat
with us. He claimed we had a common goal; the destruction of the city
people. He made an offer: he would supply us with the weapons needed to
destroy Knothole, and we would supply him with the true warriors he lacked.
He said we had nothing to fear from him. We were part of the wilderness,
something he had no wish to conquer. If we stayed within our lands, he would
stay within his."

   "And someone believed those lies?" Acorn was growing more incensed by
the moment.

   "None openly claimed that the fat one lied. Except my people. The other
tribes said they would at least listen. We refused to even hear his words. A
day later, our elders were found dead in their lodges. There were no marks
on their bodies. We still do not know what killed them. That night, a note
was found near their pyres. It said that we should find other leaders, ones
who would listen when their betters chose to speak. Else the tribe would be
doomed."

   "Now _THAT_ sounds like the Robotnik we've all learned to know and hate.
He always _was_ full of himself." Sally didn't like where this story was
headed. Swatbots were bad enough. But at least they were stupid, and when
you shot them, it was just a machine you'd destroyed. Real people, with a
grudge, coming after Knothole? Even if the Freedom Fighters won, it would
start a civil war just as damaging as the rebellion against Robotnik!

   "We did not know which way to turn. So I was sent to beg for Kickaha's
return. We need him to lead us. There is no one else."

**********************************

   David, Sonia, and a few other volunteers followed Kickaka's trail, which
looped around the village, then headed towards the Great Unknown.

   "He's moving pretty fast, Davy," said a wolf named Wilfred. "Do you think
we can keep up with him on foot?"

   "The way he's running... No. But now that I know the direction he's
headed in, I think I know where he's going. Let's go back to Knothole and
get some hovercycles. If I'm right, we can be waiting for him when he gets
there."

                                   * * *

   Sonia looked around curiously. "What is this place, Davy?" She stirred
the remains of an old campfire with a twig. "It looks like someone was here,
before." Tall fir trees sheltered an overhang formed by a small hill. It
looked like a peaceful place.

   "This is where Kicker brought me when he took me on the spirit quest.
When I saw what direction he was going, this was dead ahead. I'm pretty sure
this is where he's headed." He sat down on a fallen log. "The rest of you
better fall back aways. You too, Sunny. If he sees any of you, he might take
off again, and I don't know where he'll go next."

   The others pulled back into the forest, and David settled down to wait.
It didn't take very long. About a half hour later, a crashing in the
underbrush announced Kickaha's arrival. Davey waved to him from across the
small fire he'd built while waiting.

   "Come on and sit down, Kicker. I've cooked a couple of hot dogs. You
gotta be pretty hungry after a run like that."

   Kickaha wandered over in a daze and accepted one of the hot dogs. "How
did you know...?"

   "Didn't take much, buddy. You headed here straight as an arrow. Pretty
predictable."

   "Oh." His muzzle twitched. "And you're here to drag me back to King
Acorn, I suppose."

   "Not it you don't want to go. I owe you that much. If you want to keep
running, I won't try to stop you; or let the others do it. But Nightsky is
worried sick, and she's waiting for you at your place."

   Kickaha winced. "You really know how to punch all the right buttons, you
know that?"

   David grinned. "Hey, I _am_ a Kintobor! Button pushing is what we do." He
waved an arm at the cycle half-hidden at the edge of the clearing. "So you
wanna come home, or what?"

   "Home," Kickaha sighed. "Funny, I never thought I'd be using _that_ word
again.  It's different, being mated." He took a deep breath and let it back
out. "All right. Go ahead and call the others. I can hear them trying to
hide out there. Let's go home."

                                   * * *
   To be continued...

-----------------------------------

Now for the legal stuff.

Sonic the Hedgehog, Princess Sally, Knothole, 
et cetera, (c) by Sega of America 
Davey Crockett, Blood and Metal, and The Wild Pack
(c) 1995 David Gonterman [DGONTERMAN@aol.com]
Sonia Hedgehog and Kopter (c) by Emily S. Smith [SoniadaH@aol.com]
Kickaha, Nightsky Windrider, and Jon Quick Kills
(c) by Edward Becerra

Coyote is a spirit of the native peoples of the Americas.
Please respect him as you would your own beliefs.