The Ancient One and his Companion were again far to the west of their homes. They settled into the yard of a luxurious mansion where five men laid around sprawled in front of a makeshift stage. Various musical instruments were everywhere.
The Ancient One knelt down, picked up a bag of marajuana, and shook his head. He went up on the stage and picked up a guitar. He played a couple of notes to adjust it, then some beautiful music began to pour from the instrument. The Ancient One's companion looked surprised. The Ancient One only smiled at him.
"Old talent," he remarked. "These things aren't that much different from a lute or, a harp."
His companion returned his grin. One of the men on the ground began to stir. "Way cool, man!" he muttered. "Somebody is really jammin'!"
He rolled over and looked up. "Hey, guys!" he cried, "It's The Winged One and he's hot today!"
The other men began to stir. "Sure is!" one of them yawned. He slowly gained his feet and made his way to a set of drums and began to pick up the beat The Ancient One was playing.
Soon all the others were on the stage joining in.
"It's not quite your style though," The Ancient One commented, "Donald. Gotta change it a bit, kind of like this."
The Ancient One changed the music. It was still basically the same, but had a more primevil beat. The musician nodded. "Almost got it!" he commented, "but more like...."
Again the music shifted. The others quickly picked it up."Hey, winged buddy!" the lead guitarist asked, "this ditty got words?"
The Ancient One began to sing and the others soon picked it up. After they'd gone through it a couple of times, The Ancient One stopped.
"That ought to fill that empty track on your next album just fine. You know the rules."
"Of course!" the lead singer answered. "Whatever we make on that piece goes to charity: those nice little groups you keep telling us about. But we do it secretly so we don't spoil our dope head hard rock uncaring image."
"Good," The Ancient One answered. He stepped off the stage and picked up the bag of marajuana. "Thought we had an agreement," he remarked.
"We've got off all the hard stuff!" the lead singer answered. "The strongest thing we've been drinkin' is beer and not too much of that! We just need a little to get the creative juices flowing."
The Ancient One shook his head.
"Your creativity," he remarked, "isn't in this stuff. It's in your mind. This stuff only messes it up. No more, understand?"
The lead singer nodded. "Whatever you say, winged buddy, it's just, well, old habits are hard to break, but our word on it; NO MORE!
The Ancient One went over to a gas grill, turned it on, and threw the marajuana in it. In a short time it was completely consumed.
One of the performers walked over to The Ancient One's companion. "Ooooooh!" he remarked, "Wouldn't want him mad at me!"
"That's a fact!" The Ancient One commented. "Well, gotta fly!"
One of the band members came over. "Heard what happened to laughing boy!" he remarked. "Thanks!"
"Nothing to thank me for," The Ancient One answered. "I appreciated that tip. Rmember, no more."
The band leader nodded. "Whatever you say!" he answered. "If it hadn't been for you we'd be bloody blotches on the mountainside. Take a long time to pay that back!"
The Ancient One smiled, spread his wings and leapt skyward. His companion quickly followed.
How long have they been working for you?" he asked.
"They don't really work for me," The Ancient One answered, "I just help them out sometimes, and they help me."
"And get rich on the music you give them!" his companion complained.
"They pass it around," The Ancient One answered, "they pass it around."
The hunting had been good lately...it had been VERY good, but still not quite good enough. Things were not well, they were not well at all. This music would help a little, it would begin to awaken some of Their Sleeping Children, but would They be too few? Was it already too late? These thoughts troubled The Ancient One.....they troubled him greatly.