A/N: Thanks to the encouragement from my very appreciated reviewers, I am finally inspired to continue this story. Enjoy! (BTW: I know the first chapter was in present tense, I really don't know why I wrote it that way, but this one is going to be in past tense.)
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Is it finally happening?" Reki called bursting through the door.
"What the Hell is going on!?" cried the new feather in obvious pain. She clutched at her back ripping at the cloth covering the offending ache. Her entire back felt so hot, like it was engulfed in flames.
"Don't worry this is supposed to happen, only it took you a bit longer than normal," said Reki as she gently moved the girl's quivering hands to lift up the back of her shirt and inspect the progress. At this Reki's eyes went wide and her mouth fell open.
Where there had once been the usual small reddish bumps caused by growing wings, there were now two long lumps that reached all the way down to the girl's lower back. Both were about three inches wide at the top but widened out at the bottom to be as wide as Reki's hand from finger tip to palm. She had never seen anything like this before. She traced her hand along the large protrusions as she starred in disbelief.
"Ahhhahhh!" The girl's splitting cries startled Reki out of her awe. There was something very odd about this girl, very odd indeed.
Three days earlier…
The eyes of all the Haibane were curiously focused on the new feather, so new she didn't even have feathers yet. She just sat there looking back at them feeling strangely like an animal in a zoo.
"You weren't lying up in the attic for too long I hope?" A girl with short light brown hair and kind eyes asked.
"Um, ahh…I don't remember being in an attic."
"Oh, good." A girl with blond hair and glasses replied.
"I like your hair…" a tomboyish girl with short dark hair said as she reached out to touch the new girls curly dark-brown locks that reached to her shoulders. "I'm Kana, by the way." As the girl leaned over the new girl noticed she had something grey sticking out of her back and focused on them. 'They look like wings…?'
"And I'm Reki," said the black haired women she had met first.
"I'm Rakka," said the girl with short brown hair and kind eyes.
"My name is Hikari," said the only blond of the group. "And that sleepy looking women there is Nemu." She pointed to a women with long brown hair who was yawning.
"Yawn…hey, I was getting to it. Yeah, I'm Nemu."
As they introduced themselves she focused on their backs. 'What the Hell? All these girls have little grey wings…'The new girl was shocked and intrigued by this. Then she noticed they all had little gold circles floating above their heads. 'Wait, am I dead or something? Are they angels?'
"Are you angels?" she asked incredulously, and they all started to laugh.
"No, no," explained Reki. "We're Haibane. That's why we have wings."
"You're a Haibane, too," said Rakka.
"I don't have wings."
"Oh, you will soon. They're going to grow." Reki said this like it was something so completely normal for a disoriented girl to hear when she woke up in a strange place. Of course the new girl just starred at her in utter disbelief.
"Well, you know our names now, so what's yours?" asked Kana before the new girl could question the concept of "growing wings."
"Umm…" She suddenly realized she had no idea who she was. Her face paled and she looked over at Reki, feeling like this strong women may be able to help somehow.
"She hasn't got a name yet. I was just asking her about her dream when you all barged in here."
"That nightmare…what's that got to do with my name?!" She sounded almost appalled at the idea.
"That's how we are all named, from the dream we have when we're in the cocoon," explained Rakka. "Like, my name means falling because I was falling in my dream."
"Well, I wasn't doing anything in my dream."
"The dreams are vague for everyone. Just take a deep breath and let the memory return." The new feather breathed in deep expanding her large lungs, showing off her wide chest and strong broad shoulders. 'Damn, this girl looks like she was built to fight or something,' thought Reki. "Alright, now, can you remember anything that was in your dream?"
"There was nothing there. It was scary, all I can remember was darkness," explained the new girl frowning.
"Okay, was there anything in the darkness?" Reki coaxed.
"No, nothing."
"Oh, I know, we could call you 'Kaimu' which means 'nothing,'" Suggested Kana.
"But that's kind of rude don't you think, calling her 'nothing'?That's like saying she's worthless." Rakka defended.
"Not really…that's what her dream was about!" Kana argued turning toward Rakka.
"No, it's still rude!"
"So, what do you wanna call 'er then? Got any other bright ideas?"
"Well, no but…"
"So, she'll be Kaimu. I think it's cute."
"Wait, no, I agree with Rakka we can't name her 'nothing.'" Reki chimed in.
"But what else is there, you wanna name her something scary like 'Darkness?'" Kana rebuked.
"Well, maybe not that exactly but something like 'Mayonaka' for 'midnight,'" suggested Reki. The new feather starred quietly as she watched the girls argue back and forth silently having a dispute of her own. 'But darkness was what that nightmare was about. Darkness was all it was.'
"But she didn't know what time it was in her dream." Kana said petulantly.
"Okay, now you're just bein' a smartass." Reki accused.
"Kurai…" said the new girl suddenly as if being snapped out of trance. All eyes turned to her in surprise. "That's it…I want to be called Kurai."
"But, That means 'darkness?'" said Kana in astonishment.
"Yeah, but that's what my dream was about. All encompassing darkness." It wasn't as if she looked happy with her new name; she just looked like she had made up her mind about it.
"Are you sure?" asked Reki. Her resolve was strong as she answered,
"Yes, it's fate after all, how can I argue with it."
"Yeah, I guess it kinda is. We don't control what we dream about in the cacoons. Alright, that's that. Everybody, welcome the newest Haibane to Old Home, Kurai."
"I'm not a Haibane," Kurai said furrowing her brow.
"What? Yes, you are. You just haven't grown your wings yet."
"How can you know that for sure?"
"I just know. Trust me, they'll grow soon and you'll feel more like one of us," Reki said tenderly, placing a hand on the girls shoulder. Kurai didn't argue with her past that, but she just couldn't help but feel that she was not like them.
A/N: Sorry I write such short chapters. Hopefully I'll finish the next chapter soon. I'm more in the mood to write this story than I am my other fanfic, which is a romance while this story is about being confused, lost, lonely, and searching. Reviews will certainly help me write faster, so please let me know what you're thinking.