InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Deep Woods ❯ Chapter 2

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

In Deep Woods 2:


Megumi huddled in on herself, arms wrapped around her stomach, in the middle of the forest as far away from anybody as she could take herself.  She didn't dare travel that way, for fear that Fenn would be able to trace her.  Instead, she had run, for hours it seemed, and tried to stop the storming thoughts that plagued her.

She had been young in years back then.  She used to run wild with all the boys until her mother despaired of her ever settling down.  Then she met Trace.  He was unlike any other youkai she had ever met.  He wasn't a wolf; in fact, he wasn't a derivative of any animal form at all.  He was more akin to the wind, or perhaps the water, flowing, hard to pin down.  He was unpredictable, and that intrigued her.

He also paid attention to her.  Where everyone else talked to her like she was a flighty thing--and she was--Trace listened.  It was no wonder she fell in love with him.  She remembered her shock the day her mother had surprised them at the summer house, how she seemed to already know Trace.  She hated him, and Megumi didn't understand why.  Then Trace had taken her in between, the way Fenn had yesterday, and it opened up new worlds to her.

She hadn't realized her mother could travel that way, too.  Megumi's tumbled thoughts screeched to a halt.  Could any of her other relatives do it, too?  If so, why hadn't she heard about it for all these years?  She was sure her mother never walked in between since she had come mysteriously to the present.  Like everybody else, Megumi had assumed her grandfather, Inuyasha, had had a hand in bringing her mother back, using Tetsusaiga to span the centuries.  Megumi's brow furrowed.  Had they all been lying to her?

Since Fenn had stolen her memories of that time, Megumi had no way of knowing.  In her memory, her mother had disappeared for centuries, and everybody believed her dead.  Megumi had grown sad with remembered and forgotten losses.  She had never married, never wanted to become that close to another being.  Now she understood why she had always felt that way.  Trace.  She allowed herself one small tear for the years she had lost.

But you can't change the past.  Megumi took a deep breath and stood up.  She was done feeling sorry for herself.  Fenn had blocked her from returning to the cave where Trace waited, but not for long.  She had figured out rather quickly that she could only go in between to places she already had a connection to.  So she would go to her grandmother, the great miko Kagome, and plead her case.  Kagome would understand.

First there were some things she needed to do.  She brushed off the seat of her slacks.  The Megumi she had been for far too long was no more.  She was taking her old life back, and to do that, she needed a drastic make-over.  She wondered if she could go in between to the mall.  Let Fenn follow her there--she was done crying, and she was done caring what he thought.

Megumi disappeared from the forest as thought became reality.  Fenn stepped out from behind a tree.  She hadn't sensed him; he hadn't let her.  No, he would not bother tracking her to the mall.  She would come home when she was ready, and then there would be a reckoning.  Fenn had caught wisps of her intentions.  She was a strong girl, and as she said, it had been far too long since she had taken control of her own life.  He would allow her this freedom, but he could not let her go to Kagome.  That would ruin everything.

At the mall, Megumi pawed through bins of bargain clothes in the basement shop that proudly advertised such things.  She drew out a pair of forest green tights and draped them over one arm.  Another bin offered up a satiny pink and silver vest, shot through with delicate vines, which buttoned down the front.  She took that, too, and found a gray long-sleeved fitted blouse to go under it.  The last purchase she made from this particular store was a very short multi-colored stripy skirt which flared out at the bottom.  Satisfied, she paid for her purchases and carried them around the mall.  She still needed shoes.  Boots.

She picked a pair of soft gray suede boots which folded over at the top and hugged her legs like a second skin.  At the same store, she found a black velvet ribbon which looked more like a collar than a necklace.  She bought it.

Megumi took her purchases to the public rest room and quickly changed clothes.  She tied up her long, black hair into a high pony tail, not caring that it exposed her swept-back youkai ears to the world.  Reconsidering, she snatched up her expensive holo, which was designed to disguise her youkai features, and reattached it to her wrist.  She left the rest of her sensible clothes in the stall.  Now, she could really start shopping!  WIth a lighter heart, Megumi went back out to the mall shops to see what else she could find.

She came home the same way she went--in between--startling Shippo as he sat once again in her living room, with Fenn of all people.  Megumi had popped into her own bedroom, and was on her way to make something decadent for supper when she walked by them.  She gave them both a brilliant smile, pirouetting to show off her new outfit, and flounced on into the kitchen.

Shippo stared.  He could have sworn there was no one in the house except Fenn and himself.  He must be slipping.  "What the hell was that?" he asked.

Fenn grinned.  "That, my friend, is the new Megumi."

They could hear bangs and crashes coming from the kitchen, and once, a barely suppressed curse word.  The smells that arose soon after were . . . interesting.  Shippo wrinkled his nose and sneezed.  "What did you do to her?" he asked, breathing through his mouth.

Shippo had been extremely relieved when he checked back earlier that morning to find Megumi sleeping silently in her bed and no sign of the youkai Fenn.  Megumi's barrier was still firmly in place, keyed to let him pass as her guardian and protector.  He had left again soon after, and only just come back to check on how she was doing.  The barrier was down--again.  He would have to have a serious talk with that girl.  Fenn came strolling down the long drive,purely coincidentally, he maintained, and offered to accompany Shippo to check on Megumi.  But when he went to the house, with Fenn trailing behind, Megumi had been gone.  Or so Shippo had thought.

"I'm going out."  Megumi came out of the kitchen, licking her lips, which were suspiciously red.  "You can let yourselves out--both of you.  Don't bother waiting up."

"What did you do?"  Shippo pinned Fenn with a suspicious glare.

"Why do you assume I had anything to do with it?" Fenn asked innocently.  "Megumi obviously has a mind of her own."

"Of which you know everything," Shippo replied tartly.  "If you didn't plant the thoughts in it, you must have known what she was thinking.  That," he pointed towards the closed door, "isn't the Megumi I know."

"Maybe you don't know her as well as you thought," Fenn answered, and left it at that.  He stood, stretched, and said, "I might as well go, too.  See you around, Shippo."


 
Fenn took the opportunity to pay Trace another visit while Megumi was out blowing off steam and Shippo went home still stewing about Megumi's abrupt personality change.  Shippo blamed him, of course.  And he was right.  Fenn wasn't about to confess to Shippo, however.  He would find out in due time, and by then, it wouldn't matter anymore.

Time.  Fenn smiled, and stepped back just a little, something he had the power to do but rarely bothered.  He needed to get things settled before Megumi contacted her grandmother, however, and by moving backwards, he saved himself a little bit of time.  He grinned again.

New York was lovely this time of year.  The crowds pulsed against his senses as he strolled among them, siphoning off energy as he brushed by the driven businessmen in their impeccable suits, and bumped helplessly against wide-eyed tourists as they stopped in their tracks to stare at the skyline.  Aah, he'd missed this!

An older woman crumpled to her knees behind him, and the crowd eddied around her, leaving her worried and bewildered daughter to help her back to her feet.  Fenn felt a twinge of regret, but he did not look back.  He had taken a tiny bit too much, or possibly she was weak to begin with.  That didn't stop him from draining off even more energy from the crowds, and, invisible to the humans surrounding him, offshoots of his essence sprang into existence, seeking life of their own.  He couldn't allow that.  Fenn sucked their energies back into himself. They were as yet formless, and he felt no guilt at reabsorbing them.  They were only manifestations of himself, after all.

When he had taken all the life he could hold, Fenn disappeared, flowing forward and diagonally across space and time until he found the sealed cave where Kagome had imprisoned Trace for the last half-millenium.

His offshoot was there, still slumped on the floor in seemingly the same position as last time, but Fenn knew he was aware.  Kagome had given him life since then, and Trace had consumed it.  He was not as weak as he pretended.

"Trace."  Fenn used words, and the creature on the floor raised his head, staring at him with burning eyes.  After his involuntary outburst the first time Fenn had shown up in his prison, Trace had lapsed back into stony silence.  That was fine with Fenn.  'Father' was not a word he would use to describe himself.  "Get up."

Trace ignored him.  Fenn strode over and grabbed the recalcitrant creature by the front of his--clothes, if you could call them that--and hauled him upright.  He shoved his stolen energy into Trace, and watched his eyes widen in shock.  It only took a few seconds before Trace was controlling the energy flow.  Fenn knew he would have to stop him soon, or he would no longer be able to.  Already, he felt weakened.  Trace, on the other hand, grew in stature and in power before Fenn's eyes.  "Enough," Fenn croaked, pulling away.

Incredibly, Trace let him go.  Fenn hid his thoughts as best he could from this creature who was so like him.  If their positions had been reversed, Fenn wouldn't have let go.  Fenn shook his head and sank down into a comfortable crouch next to Trace.  After a moment's hesitation, Trace sat down next to him.

"Why are you here?" Trace asked, sticking to verbal speech since Fenn had set the tone.  "You never bothered with me before, not even to kill me.  Now, twice in as many days?  What changed?"

Fenn was possibly the only creature on earth who could kill Trace.  Long ago, Trace had been just a chance offshoot of Fenn's excess energy, like so many others, but Trace had survived enough to gain first sentience, then form, then autonomy.  When Fenn had realized it, he tried to reabsorb the creature Trace had become, and so Trace had hidden from Fenn, for centuries, until he had become strong enough to rival his maker.  About the time he had given himself a name, Trace, because he left none, he also realized that his maker had forgotten all about him.  That, alone, was enough to make Trace angry.  He had spent the greater part of his existence becoming, and there was no one to whom it mattered.

"Megumi," Fenn said quietly.

No one except, possibly, Megumi.  She came with her grandmother, the great miko Kagome, ostensibly to learn, and Trace never acknowledged her, never spoke to her although his heart yearned to do so.  It would hurt too much.  Rather let her think he was a subdued demon, beneath her notice.  The trouble was, Megumi did notice him.  Even with her memories blocked and with no encouragement from Trace at all, Megumi paid attention to him whenever she came with Kagome.  She brought him cleam clothes, even though he didn't need any.  She washed away the grime from his passive face as he stared stubbornly into the distance, refusing to make eye contact.  Always, Kagome hovered nearby, ready to zap him should he touch her inappropriately or make any move towards her whatsoever.  Kagome, whose eyes saw too much, allowed her granddaughter to minister to the youkai who had stolen her innocence all those years ago.  Trace knew she was testing him, and he refused to play along, even when Kagome fed him small bits of energy.  It was no use.  He could never escape his prison, and he truly did not want to anymore.

"Leave her alone," he rumbled, peering at Fenn through shaggy bangs.  He was thrumming with the energy Fenn had fed him, to Fenn's own detriment.  He could easily overpower his maker now, but what good would that do?  "Go away."

"Don't you want to go to her?  I think she would like to see you."

Trace's head shot up.  He stared at Fenn, who now mirrored his appearance, down to the filthy clothes he stubbornly wore.  "What?"

"Go.  I'll stay here and take your place for a while," Fenn said.  "Don't forget me."  It wasn't much of a risk.  Unlike Trace, Fenn could leave any time he wanted to, if he had the energy.  Trace's eyes narrowed in calculation.  Fenn had used up almost all of his energy on him.  Perhaps he would not be able to leave so easily anymore.

"She brings me rabbits," Trace said, speaking of Kagome.  If Fenn was careful, he could build up his strength through Kagome's little offerings.  He might not be stuck here forever.  Trace had no intention of coming back.  He looked inward; yes, Fenn had released the barrier that held him to this prison.  He was free!  The world was his again!  With an audible pop, Trace disappeared, leaving Fenn wearing his likeness to take his place in the cave that had been his prison for over five hundred years.

Fenn sighed.  Trace was too much like him.  He might gorge himself on life and start a wave of unexplained deaths that would surely draw the notice of the Taiyoukai's.  Or he might not.  Time would tell.  Fenn smiled to himself.  Well, this was certainly boring.  He had set things in motion.  What happened, happened.  He looked forward to talking with Kagome again.
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