Ayida-Weddo and the Tales of Heroes

"Well?......," the dragon commented. "Aren't you going to run?"

"Why would I run?" the man simply commented to him in a very relaxed manner.

The dragon slammed its claw into the ground next to him, throwing dirt into the air. "I am going to eat you. That's why!"

The man's eyes looked at the dragon. He was unfazed. "You are in pain, my child."

The dragon's eyes gave a confused look at the man. "Why are you not running? They always run."

"Why would I run away from such a handsome creature of the water such as yourself?"

The dragon got agitated as it opened up its jaws and roared at the man with a near-deafening sound. It echoed through the surrounding landscape. The man closed his eyes for a short bit as the wind from the dragon blew into his face. The dragon suddenly stopped and looked at the man with more confusion as the man reopened his eyes. It was breathing hard.

Zoe stood watching the entire scene like she was watching some play.

"You won't run. You don't scream for your life like the others. I could eat you, chew you up and spit out your bones, human!"

"But you won't," the man calmly replied. "I see good in you. I also see a creature that is in pain."

The dragon backed up a bit as it stared at the man. Its serpent eyes could peer into the man's soul. It simply stood on its four legs like some confused dog. It could have attacked the man at any second and torn into him, but he didn't.

The man extended his hand to the dragon slowly. "My name is Siddhartha Gautama. I am a wandering traveler. I have spent my life trying to figure out how to fight against suffering. I have discovered it. What is your name?"

"I.....I am. Why are you doing this, human?" the dragon asked almost calmly.

"I see much pain in you. I can see it in your eyes. You have inflicted much suffering upon others. Where do you live, dragon?"

"I was born in the Swat River west of here...." he replied with a snarl.

"That is quite far from here. If you ate people, then why are you here?" Siddartha asked the dragon.

Zoe looked at the dragon and then back at All. She was amazed to see that the dragon was not trying to kill the man but instead talking to him.

The dragon looked down and didn't respond.

"You ran away from there, didn't you? Why did you run?"

"I......there was no food there," the dragon responded.

"If that is the case, then why didn't you eat me just now? You have had more than an opportunity to do so."

Siddartha's hand was still extended to the dragon. "You did it because you wanted attention. You wanted to inflict suffering on others because you have no friends. You want to have others notice you, but you don't know how."

The dragon looked away for a moment and then back at the man. He slowly lowered his hand back to his lap.

"Let me tell you a story, my dragon friend. I was once a prince that owned three palaces. I had a wife and all the pleasures a human could ever have. I knew one thing, though, and one thing that was the truth. It was a lie. I lived in luxury while others around me were suffering and in pain. To me, it was all fake. My life in a palace with everything my father threw at me. I knew it was not real compared to what life really had and what others didn't have around me. You know what I did? I ran away from it all. I left my wife and son behind and lived in the countryside."

"Why?" the dragon asked.

"It was fake," Siddartha responded. "Whenever I left the palace grounds after telling my father I wanted to, I learned that he would purposely hire and clean the areas where I was going. He deliberately staged things around me when I wanted to meet the real people, whether they were having problems or not. After some time, I knew that having money, resources given to your father, possessions were too much for me to handle."

"Is that why you are out here?" the dragon asked him.

"No.....I learned I solved the problem in life. I reached enlightenment. I can die happy that I have reached it. If you eat me right now, I can die happy that I reached it," he said with a smile. "But I know that I am not here to talk about me. I am here because you came to me."

The dragon smiled. "Perhaps you surprise me that you do not retreat, that I am more interested in learning about you. Besides, you are so skinny that if I eat you, I would be hungry again soon."

"I know what you need. You were never hungry. You never needed to eat people. You did it because you feel doing it will draw others to look at you even if they fear you. You would have earned a name in being the creature that kills other people. What if I told you that there was another way? There would be another way you could help people, and you would be remembered for your actions instead. You could do what I am doing right now and learn about the Four Noble Truths. You could reach enlightenment as well."

Siddhartha took a deep breath. "When I fled to the countryside, I joined others in seeking out the truth of human suffering. I fasted over and over again. I was inflicting self-harm on myself. I lost so much weight more than you see me now. Finally, a woman came up to me and begged me to eat. She knew that I was hurting myself. I finally caved into her request and ate the food she gave me. It is possible if she never showed up that I would not be talking to you right giving you the attention you want."

The dragon went and rested his belly on the ground. It crossed its front legs as his head perched on his legs and front claws. "Continue....." it requested.

"Her actions moved me so much.....I stopped with my fasting and had one desire. I wanted to know the truth once and for all. I meditated for almost fifty days as I slowly put all the past teachings and ideas of other instructions into one. I concluded that I must forgo material desire and immaterial desire, sensual desire, ill will towards others. I also remembered one other important thing: the act of Sujuta, the woman that fed me. That woman had little to nothing that was determined to see me not suffer. It moved me so much that I also realized that this world was not as horrible as I saw it. There are good people around you; you just have to see it. Just like you. I know that deep down, you are a good dragon."

"What do you call this belief?" the dragon asked him.

"Others call me the awakened one or Buddha."

"Do you allow dragons to be a part of it?"

"I am considering letting women be a part of it. I don't see any issue why you can't be a part of the group."

The dragon smiled. There was a sense of joy that filled his heart. For the first time, a human reached out to him and told him that he could be a part of something greater and be with others who would welcome him.

Zoe decided to walk forward a little bit to get a better view of what she was seeing. The sight of a dragon was incredible. She had walked past All and out of her view as she marveled at the scene.

"My name is Apalala," The dragon told Siddhartha Gautama.

"Apalala, that is a wonderful name. I would be happy to have you with me. Are you able to take different forms? You are so big I am afraid that we will always be meditating outside."

The dragon nodded. "Yes, I can take up human form for some time."

"Come and relax with me by the tree."

The dragon went and perched by the man as the dragon felt peace for the first time in his life. Things became silent as Zoe smiled at the events she saw.

"I like this story, All. I think....." she turned her head to look at the monk but what she saw was not the man she was standing with but the same blue dragon that she was looking at just now with the Buddha.

The dragon put his butt to his tail as he used his back knees to help support him up enough that he did not have to be on all fours. He had his forward claws resting on his back knees.

The dragon was speaking to her now in his deep male baritone voice. "My name, my real name is Apalala, the only dragon to ever convert to a religion. It took time for me to do it, but I eventually converted to Buddhism when he was near death. Everything you saw was almost 1,500 years ago. I followed him throughout his life, and for the first time in my life, I had a friend. He was right about me. I killed and hurt people because I wanted people to notice me even if they feared me. He showed me that I could help others and use my powers to aid others when they needed help. I committed to a life of nonviolence and peace. As time progressed, I learned that I could maintain my human form longer and longer and even still have some magic that I could use. After his death, I wept for his loss, but he told us that he had accomplished his goals in life. I know with myself that I could never die, but I could still live a part of that process as long as humans live. I returned to my birthplace in the Swat River. I discovered that a disease had broken out in the villages that ran along the river. I learned that the disease was coming from the river itself. The villagers feared me at first, but I walked up to the river as they watched me use my powers to cleanse the river. The disease came to an end, and the people recovered as I saved them from certain death. The dragon that killed and ate people saved the lives of thousands......."

"You are a dragon......," Zoe said. "Apalala......it is a beautiful name," she walked up to the dragon as she extended her hand. He was so large, but she put her hand to his body. Her fingers rested on the forward left claw. She was never afraid of him. She could feel the scales of the powerful creature from her fingertips. The dragon simply watched her with a calm smile. The dragon did his best to hold her hand despite having claws and talons the size of tires. She bent over and rested her head on his knee.

"Thank you for saving my life," she told him. "For giving me a home, for feeding me, and helping me when I needed it the most."

"Of course, Zoe."

Chapter 7: More Discoveries

Thomas's jeep pulled up to a small house by the LAMCO warehouse. There were a series of abandoned tennis courts that he could see on his right. In the far distance, he could see the empty swimming pool. His attention was the small house not far from the courts.

"He had to be here," Thomas said out loud. "I will search this town from top to bottom if need be to find my answers."

Thomas put his jeep into park as he shut the engine off. He opened up the door and climbed out of the jeep. The area was hauntingly quiet. A place of former recreation, it was now just a shell of a place. He did not bother looking at it too much. He turned his attention to the small home where the old man directed him to go.

He noted the environment around him. He could see the Nimba mountain region. The Nimba nature areas of nothing but forests were close to him. Not far was the abandoned iron mine of LAMCO, where the iron was drawn and cut from the Earth. Now it was nothing more but a hollowed-out pit with orange sand around it and water that filled the center. Beyond were Guinea and the Ivory Coast. There was nothing but abandoned and neglected equipment gathering rust. It was clear skies, but rainfall was expected in Liberia, and that could quickly change at any moment's notice. Yekepa was a place where fighting did occur but way less than other areas during the Liberian civil war. Besides what could be plundered here, which happened, there was really nothing else of value or any real strategic value to controlling it. Most of the civil war was on the west coast. Monrovia being the capital, was obviously the area you must capture if you wanted to control the nation.

Thomas took his pistol and holstered it as he shut the doors of the jeep and walked up to the small home. He could see activity inside the house as he made enough noise to make sure that anyone around the area would know that he was there.

"Let's hope this man is still there. Hopefully, he is the friendly type of person."

He stepped up to the small concrete patio of the home. It was not big, having only a couple of windows. The roof was falling apart, and the paint was peeling from the sides. The door was of basic construction with nothing fancy to it.

Thomas put his fist to the door and politely knocked on the door. He waited for a bit to see if there was any action going on. He then knocked again. He stood there for a little bit. Finally, after a short bit, the door opened up to reveal an old man with a heavy dark complexion. He held a cane in his hand to help keep him steady.

"Hello, sir," Thomas addressed him quietly. "My name is Thomas. I come from the United States on an important mission that you might be able to help me out."

The old man stepped forward and talked in a very coarse African voice. "What....do you need help with, young man?"

"First, thank you for giving me this time to talk to you. I have been assigned to investigate paranormal activity from an organization in the United States. I essentially look for weird things, unexplained events, and whatnot. I spoke to another individual from the town, and he knew that you experienced an unusual event. Do you have the time for me to ask you these questions?"

The man seemed like he really had nothing else to do. On the one hand, it was an odd request but it broke up the atmosphere of skepticism in the environment. He finally nodded his head.

"I was sent to investigate an event where a man was supposedly shot by another, but the bullet did nothing to him. This supposedly happened ten years ago. I spoke to another man that said that you met this individual and witnessed the event. Is it true?"

The old man looked away for a short while as he looked away and think to himself. Then he looked back at Thomas. ".....Yes. I saw the event take place. I was at a small church rally when a man dressed in red robes walked up to check the area out. We had a rally to pray for all that died around here and help push for peace. Seemed pointless, especially when another war broke out. I heard that the fighting west of here has stopped?"

Thomas nodded. "Yes, I don't know how long it will last, but Charles Taylor has been forced out of power."

There was relief in the old man's eyes. Thomas noted that the man might not have access to the radio and is going by word of mouth to get his information.

"Hopefully, the warlord north of here got the message," the old man commented. "He has taken over the northern villages and part of this town just recently. I will pray."

"Me too," Thomas replied.

The man looked at Thomas. "Yes.....there was a shaman or monk that was dressed in red that participated in the rally. He seemed like a friendly man. He stuck out like a sore thumb because he had a skin color slightly darker than yours. Some even mistaken him as a white man, but he was kind to all of us. The people at the church rally always noted this individual. We went to the backroom to have a talk to learn more about him. There were only a few people in the back when I talked to him to get to know him better."

The man had to shift his cane in the grass and dirt to keep his balance.

"We can sit down if need be," Thomas told him, but the man waved his hand at him.

"It's ok. I need to keep my body standing, or my body will just keep getting weaker. I saw the young man at the church and spoke to him briefly when a fight broke out outside from the church. Two men got into a nasty argument, and of course, they decided to do the worst thing at a church rally. One of the men pulled a gun on the other. The other man attacked him to grab his gun, and the gun aimed in my direction. I watched as the red-robed man got in front of me like he knew what was going to happen next. The gun went off, and the bullet flew to his shoulder, where it bounced off of him. The bullet did nothing to this man. He literally put himself in front of the fire to protect me. He saved my life. I almost did not believe it when it happened. No one would have walked away from getting shot like that. He would have been on the ground bleeding. Only the two others that were there besides the men fighting witnessed the event. A member from LAMCO went and recorded the events that occurred."

"What else can you tell me about this man?" Thomas asked.

"I thanked him for getting in front of the bullet, but he simply smiled and bowed to me. He wanted to learn more about the environment. He told me that he was a traveler from far away that wanted to find a place to rest and relax. I told him he chose a place where war was all around him, but he asked about our forests and a place nearby that he could settle down. He was bald and wore a simple red robe. He looked young, like around your age. I didn't mind getting a chance to learn more about him, but he left the rally and walked east towards Guinea. I never saw him again. That was almost ten years ago."

"Hmmm....thank you. What is your name, sir?" Thomas asked.

"Samuel," the man replied.

"Thank you for telling me all this," he looked at the surrounding environment. "Did you work here?"

"Yes, I did. I even helped take care of the courts and the pool. I miss those days. That pool was an oasis in a forest. I remember all the kids that came to that pool to get a good swim. That was so long ago."

"Maybe things will get better again," Thomas remarked. "I need to find this person. Take care of yourself. I will be leaving."

Thomas shook Samuel's hand. They both nodded as they parted ways. Thomas walked to his jeep as he opened the door and hopped in. Samuel walked back into his house and closed the door.

"Shame.....I got a lead, but I need to learn more about where this stranger might have gone. Damn, I wish I had more to go on. I have been lucky so far, but where might have this man gone to?"

He started up his jeep and put it into forward gear as he started to move forward. He began to inch his way from the nearby tennis courts as he was getting closer to the abandoned swimming pool. He then stopped as he started to think about where to go next.

"If this mysterious individual is a traveler, he could be anywhere by now. He might not even be here anymore. I might need to head into Guinea to see if I can get any information on this.....monk. I can try to head north from here, but if there is a local warlord that has taken over that area in a place like this, I am only asking to be shot at some more. I guess I need to head into Guinea, but I won't have enough gas to make it back. Damn. What do I do?"

Thomas put his hand to his head as he tried to think of what to do next. "I should go and eat and get something to drink. I can enjoy the relaxing view of an abandoned pool and buildings. What a tourist haven this is......."

He drove his jeep closer to the pool, leaving Sam's home into the far distance. He was not far from it as he put the jeep into park. He shut off the engine as he reached into his backpack. He pulled out a water bottle and started to drink it. He then pulled out an MRE and started to take the package apart.

"Let's see.....Macaroni and Cheese, Pot Roast, Broccoli.....and M&Ms nice."

*******

Thomas thought back to the events of the day as he finished up his meal and stuffed the trash into his backpack. He never imagined he would have made it this far. No person that he knew back home would ever make a trek like this. It was a suicide mission, after all, yet here he was.

"I need to know where I need to go next....where do I go? Did I make this whole trip for nothing? What about the people I shot? That kid, I can't shake the fact I shot a kid."

He went and placed his hands together by the steering wheel as he started to pray. He needed a miracle.

"Dear God, I make this prayer for those that are part of this terrible war. I have committed a great sin and killed a man, even if it was in self-defense. I shot two others as well, including a boy. I ask that you watch over these people and give them a better life than what they have now. Make sure that the child heals both physically and the mental trauma that he will suffer now after the war. I am on a mission to find others with a great power. I ask that you guide me on this journey. I need a sign. Otherwise, my mission will be inconclusive. Please......give me a sign."