Moving Along Remastered

Chapter 40: My Decision

Moving Along Chapter 40: My Decision

Now it was my turn to stare at his hand. Mine had fallen to the side on its own after being refused. The temptation to take his hand was nearly more than I could resist. I could feel my wants, my needs lining up with his. Seeing our parents' smiling faces again. Erick returning to a world where he could finally be accepted as he was. Roxy being free to live out the life that had been taken from her. No more wars between the furs and the lizards or the lingering bad blood between them. Reality beyond imagination at our fingertips.

All I had to do was join with him again to become whole. That's something I realized I wanted for a long time. To be whole again. To fill the void left by the people I'd lost. It'd been so painful to carry the burden of their absence with me. Now we could end that together and finally be at peace. I looked to Zuboi who had a hopeful smile on his maw. He only wanted a world without pain or hardship. Isn't that what we all wanted? And despite that, I still hadn't taken his hand yet. Even though it was the easiest choice. The one with the happiest ending we could've hoped for. Except it wasn't an ending worth sacrificing innocent lives for.

"You're wrong, Zuboi," I answered at last. He raised an eyebrow in mild surprise by my answer. "The world isn't ours to rip apart and piece back together as we see fit. Every soul inside of you has the right to choose the life they wanna lead." Though I couldn't see them, I felt the confused and scared souls of the billions of Furfolk and Lizards he'd taken. What right did we have to consume their life force??

"Why should they get to choose??" The wanderer snarled out in outrage. "All they've done their entire lives is inflict misery and tragedy onto one another. I'm saving them from having to go through anymore needless hardship!! Using their soul energy in exchange is a small price to pay for a promised peace!!" His rage rippled through the air in waves that rolled against the back of my fur. My suspicions about something were all but confirmed then, though I pretended not to notice anything.

"Part of life is accepting that terrible things will happen," I responded in an even tone, though I shifted into a defensive stance. Chances were slim we could continue to talk this out. However, I was still willing to try, "you were so busy feeling sorry for yourself that you-...you missed out on what was most important." Like I had. Plenty of good things came and went in my life that I let pass me by. Rather than appreciate what I had, I'd been consumed with what could've been rather than what was. I'd been given a friend. Someone who'd stuck by me through thick and thin. I should've stuck by her too.

"That's easy to say when you've lived a life away from constant war!!" Zuboi spat his retort. "For generations I have had to fight for my right to exist!! You couldn't possibly know how it feels to be seen as a lesser being, unworthy of the very air it breathes!!" Behind his overflowing rage I could feel the sadness deep in his cracked soul. It tried to reach out to me, though I kept my distance. "Everything I've done has been for the sake of survival!! To right the wrongs of this world starting with what it did to us! We have a chance to return what's been lost. Don't let it be wasted." Desperation filled his gaze while his hand shook in place. It was a final plea to not have to fight any longer to achieve his goal.

I replied with my ears lowered, "fighting to keep what we already have isn't a waste, Zuboi. Not when there are so many wonderful souls worth fighting for." Thoughts of my friends flitted through my mind. Ziro holding holding my paw close to him. Amelia leading me to her home in high spirits. Sirine hugging me tighter than I would've liked while Erick attempted to pry me from her. Roxy cringing from brain freeze after eating her ice cream too fast. I wouldn't trade those beautiful moments for anything. Definitely not to cling to a past that I'd never get back. "Pain and loss are part of living. When those things happen, it's up to us to keep moving along the path to a brighter future. Not by ourselves, but with those we've made connections with." My voice remained gentle as I explained it to him. "That's the true power of a soul."