The Story of Gandalf
The three things:
Gandalf the Pearly and his heteroflexible band of miscreants,
10 giant, fire breathing fire ants who are bi-polar
a one-legged eskimo

Armageddon smiled at Neeka’s question and said, “Well big Fur it might not be apparent to you but Bruce should be able to guess.” He looked at Bruce smiling.

Bruce looked a little confused, not really an unknown state for the Moose and shrugged his shoulders, “I honestly don’t know. I know the ones I saw were all about an inch tall and could fly, but Neeka certainly doesn’t fit that description.”

Armageddon tilted back his head and howled in laughter, “No, no he doesn’t, right now. But that is exactly right Bruce. That is at least one more ability that Neeka has!”

“OK, now I’m more confused than ever!” Bruce stated. “I say he isn’t like the other Faerie Fur and you agree with me but say I am right? How?”

Armageddon laughed in his Wolfish way again. “You are exactly right Bruce. You see, all Faerie Fur can attain the size of the Faerie you saw and all can fly when in that form. That includes your friend Neeka. When called to Celebration all Faerie Fur must attend in that form. Now, most Faerie Fur are that form. That is how they were created and have always been. However, there are some like me, and like Neeka that were not born Faerie. To attend Celebration they must be able to take that form so it is an ability that all Faerie must possess.”

Neeka looked at Armageddon and asked very interested, “So, you’re saying, I can fly?”

Armageddon nodded, “Yes, in your Faerie Fur form.” You may also gain flight in your current form, but that remains to be seen.” The Wolf paused for a moment and asked, “Would you like to see?”

“Yes, absolutely!” Neeka responded as Bruce tried to absorb all that was being said.

The Wolf looked at Neeka and said, “OK, close you eyes. I want you to imagine you’re shrinking, smaller and smaller until you’re the size of a butterfly. Once you feel you’re that size, open your eyes.”

“That’s it?” asked Neeka? “Just that?”

“Sorry to disappoint you Neeka.” The Wolf laughed, “I’d say there’s no magic involved in this, but there is, a great deal of it. You see, in order to use your abilities all you have to do is think of them. Your other abilities will probably be discovered by accident. If you think of doing something, or try to do something, and you have ability in that area, it will take over. The problem with discovering all of your abilities is we would have to try them all and there are literally millions of different abilities.”

“So close your eyes and try to make yourself small. Let’s see what happens.”

Bruce and Armageddon watched as Neeka closed his eyes and then watched the most fascinating transformation. Neeka started to glow ever so slightly and shrank equally in all directions at once. Shrank isn’t quite the right word however. He because smaller but his head stayed at the same level it had been when he started. Halfway through the transformation a pair of translucent wings appeared. When Neeka opened his eyes he was no more than an inch tall and hovering slightly above both Bruce and Armageddon.

Neeka opened his eyes. “Holy cow! You two are huge! I thought you said I would shrink, not make you two big!”

The Wolf laughed at that and said, “Neeka, look down at your feet.”

Neeka looked down and for a brief second was scared. He looked at where he was used to seeing his feet and didn’t see them at all! Then he did see them but they weren’t on the ground! He felt like he should have been falling but he wasn’t. When he recovered after a few seconds he looked at himself. As far as he could tell he was the same as he had always been, with the exception of the wings sprouting from his back,

He looked at the Wolf and said, “I did shrink, didn’t I?”

“Oh yes. You certainly did. You’re about an inch tall and we look bigger to you because of that.”

“But why aren’t I falling and why don’t I have to flap my wings to stay in the air?”

“Well, your wings aren’t really wings at all. They’re magic collectors. You are collecting magic from this area, in small amounts, and are using it to keep yourself in the air. That’s how the Faerie Fur fly and move around. They use magic. If you want to move to another area, just think about moving there and you’ll go there. After a little practice you’ll be quite graceful at it. You’ll take to it just like walking or galloping. It’ll become part of you.”

Bruce held out his hand and Neeka thought about moving to the outstretched palm and as Armageddon said, he moved quickly and lighted easily in Bruce’s palm.

Bruce chuckled and held his friend up to his nose and said, “I never thought I’d be carrying you like this! This is very interesting!”

“Also very useful.” Stated Armageddon. “Think about Neeka this size, and you hiding him in a small pouch attached to your belt. You could get him past guards and into areas that he might not otherwise be able to go. A very useful ability.”

“And I can return to full size at any time I wish?” Neeka asked.

“Yes, as long as you are not confined in a space smaller than your natural size. For example, if you were in a pouch on Bruce’s belt you could not change back, once freed however, you would be able to change in an instant. Ready to change back?”

“Yes, this is nice but I like my normal size better!”

“Wait!” Bruce said, “Let me put you down, er, out, umm, Just fly out of my hand will you? I don’t want you stepping on me when you change back!”

Neeka laughed, “Sure Bruce!” With that Neeka flew off a few yards and suddenly changed back to his familiar size. The wings were gone and he looked just like he always had.

“Amazing. Simply amazing.” Bruce said, and then started laughing hard. Armageddon and Neeka looked at each other and then at Bruce who was laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face. He held out a hand indicating to his two friends that he was OK and then, after a few long seconds got his laughter under control.

“What was that all about?” asked the Wolf.

“That was about Gandalf the pearly and his heteroflexible band of miscreants.”

“Who??!!” asked Neeka and Armageddon almost simultaneously

“Gandalf the pearly and his heteroflexible band of miscreants. A troupe of performers at the local fair. They are the most amazing performers I have ever seen! They start with two of their troupe getting into an argument. A loud argument meant to draw attention to themselves. The argument progresses through insults, then insults to each others family, then questioning the ancestry of each other and their respective mothers and grandmothers. They question each other’s fathers virility saying that even a one legged Eskimo would but hotter mating with their mother. The insults continue until finally they draw swords and begin fighting.”

Armageddon frowned and said, “Doesn’t sound very funny to me.”

“Oh, it’s not, right then. Everyone around thinks these two are seriously fighting. They are thrusting and slashing just as though they meant to kill each other, and the blows ring out quite loudly. They are putting effort behind it!” After a few minutes one or the other of the combatants calls out to a friend and he joins in the fight. It’s two against one and the blows are ringing out as loudly as ever. The one who is fighting alone then calls out to a comrade and he or she joins the fight and it’s once again equal.

Armageddon and Neeka listen attentively, fascinated at where this is going.

This calling of comrades happens two more times until there is a close circle of 8 Furs all slashing and blocking well placed blows. The crowd doesn’t know what’s happening and for all anyone knows this is a serious fight between very skilled swordsmen because not a single drop of blood has spilled even though the fighting is vicious. Suddenly though, on some secret cue, all the Furs throw their swords at the Fur directly opposite them. The swords all rotate through the air, never touching and the Furs catch the flying weapons without missing a beat and the fight continues as though nothing happened.

“Wow!” Neeka said, “Amazing!”

“Oh, but this is only the beginning.” Bruce continued, “The crowd now knows this is a show and begins clapping, showing their approval. Some Furs in the crowd and yet part of the troupe begin clapping in a rhythm that is soon picked up by the rest of the audience. Once the beat is firmly established the fighters continue their battle, but their stroked and blocks are timed such that the ringing of steel against steel picks up the audience beat. It’s like the fighters are now musicians in that each sword pair is slightly different and produces a different tone.”

“Beautiful.” Said Armageddon. “It has to be a beautiful sound.”

“It is. It’s strikingly eerie too since you’re seeing what looks like a pitched battle to the death yet you’re hearing a wonderful harmony and the entire crowd is wrapped up in the melody. The fight continues on with changes. Sometimes the fighting Furs toss their swords to the Fur across from them as before but at other times they throw them sideways to the fur next to them. So you get a ringing sound that seems to move around in a circle as well as continuing the beat set up by the audience. After watching the mesmerizing battle for a few more minutes you don’t believe it can get any more complicated it does. The crowd has circled the fighters, but unbeknownst to the crowd as a whole is that other members of the troupe position themselves directly behind the fighters. At a hidden signal the swords are again thrown across the ring but this time the fighters that were fighting step to the side and the Furs behind them step forward and catch the flying blades and continue the fight anew!”

“I would love to see this!” Armageddon said with true awe in his voice. “That has to be something to behold.”

“It is said Bruce, but the best part is the one who calls himself Gandalf the Pearly. A Fox, and not a young one at that. As the battle rages on Gandalf walks through the crowd reading poetry on the futility of fighting with one another.”

Both Armageddon laughed at that statement. The Wolf with his normal laugh-howl and Neeka with an amused snort.

Bruce continues his story with, “As Gandalf walks through the crowd he appears completely unaware of the battle he’s walking towards. He walks right up to the ring of combatants and continues readying loudly from his poem. As he reads aloud to a rhythm, the clashing of the swords takes on the rhythm of Gandalf’s poem and the most important emphasis of the words read are emphasized with load ringing of melodic metal.

Armageddon shakes his head from side to side grinning at the picture of the Fox preaching peace in the midst of a battle and the battle taking on the rhythm of the poem about peace!

“The Fox, oblivious to the battle continues forward right into the middle of the ring!”

“No!” Neeka said, “Doesn’t he get hurt?”

“Not even a scratch!” Bruce replies, “He walks into the ring, still reading, and stops in the middle, Swords are flashing all around him, missing his muzzle, tail, ears, hands, everything by mere whisker thicknesses and he continues reading like he is standing alone in a large field reading to the grasses!”

“Finally, though, Gandalf finishes his poem and at the same moment all of the swords are tossed into the air and as Gandalf slaps the book shut with a loud thump the Furs catch the swords and bring their tips together with a single tone, all of them meeting over Gandalf’s head.”

“Simply beautiful.” Armageddon says, “Simply beautiful.”

“And funny.” Adds Bruce, “The argument leading up to the fight and Gandalf strolling in is what started me laughing.”

“But what made you think of that troupe?” asked Neeka.

“You did actually.” Replied Bruce. With your new found ability to shrink I thought of how much better it would be for Gandalf to be able to shrink to your size. When I thought about Gandalf I thought how absurd it was and then burst out laughing!”

“Your mind works in strange ways!” laughed Armageddon.

“Yeah, I know.” replied Bruce. I won’t go into the dream I had about the ten giant, fire breathing fire ants with bi-polar disorder.”

Both Armageddon and Neeka looked at Bruce rather strangely. Bruce looked at first one, then the other and burst out laughing!

“I’m sorry. Couldn’t resist! Had you both going didn’t I?”

Armageddon looked at Bruce and said, “You’re a strange individual Bruce. I like you!”

Bruce laughed and asked, “Is there anymore we need to know? We have to get going back to the village and help if we can. They are probably still recovering and could use some extra help.”

“Only that Neeka’s ability to communicate can only be heard by other Faerie and yourself, since you two had the ability to communicate in the first place. As I’ve said before, he may have other abilities yet undiscovered but they may develop with time.”

“Will you be accompanying us back?” Neeka asked hopefully. “I’d like to learn more.”

Armageddon smiled at the great Horse, “No, I’m afraid I can’t. I have things to tend to here. I’ve been neglecting them too long already. The only other thing you have to know about is Celebration. Once a year all Faerie Fur get together to celebrate. Attendance is mandatory.”

“How will I know when it is?” Neeka asked concerned, not wanting to miss his first one.”

“You will be called. Trust me, you will know. I have to go now.” Armageddon added. “It was nice to meet both of you and I’m quite sure we will meet again.” He looked at Neeka and said, “You take care of this Moose, Neeka. And Bruce, you look after this Faerie Fur.”

“I will.” Neeka said nuzzling the Wolf fondly.

“Sorry to see you go.” Bruce added, shaking the Wolfs outstretched paw.

“You have things that need taking care of Bruce, and so do I. Best we both get to them.”

With that the Wolf began to grow to over 60 feet tall. He looked down at his two friends and said, in a voice that sounded ever so much like musical thunder, “It’s easier and faster to travel this way.” With that he turned and strode off, stepping over trees easily. Bruce noticed that the Wolf made no noise with his departure, and while he could not be totally sure, he thought he saw that the Wolf was not actually stepping on the ground. He made a mental note to ask the Wolf the next time he saw him.

“Well my friend, shall we go to the village?” Bruce asked Neeka.

“Sure.” Neeka replied, watching the tips of the Wolfs ears disappear over the distant hills. He felt a little sad. He was now different, and alone. Not alone because he loved Bruce dearly, but still, he was alone in what he was. He was going to have to do a lot of thinking on that one.

After he had broken camp and made sure the small breakfast fire was out Bruce saddled Neeka and made sure the liter carrying Macor was firmly attached. He was not sure what to expect on the ride back, only that it would not take nearly as long as the trip here did.

“Are you ready Bruce?” Neeka asked. “I won’t go very fast because I don’t know what full speed will do to either you or Macor.”

Bruce grabbed the horn of the saddle tightly and said, “I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be. Let’s go!”

But that is a story for tomorrow.