Chapter Four: Midnight Fire
ARGHHHHHHHH! I'm really, really sorry I haven't updated for so long!
I'm leaving for Utah soon....so I'm updating and publishing as much as I can...This chapter will be fairly short.
Danny is still trying to rediscover his identity....when a wild woodland boar rises to attack....
....and finds out, while his memory may beyond reach, that the Phantom in him is still very much alive.
Dedicated to YOU, if you're choosing to read this after so long!
Quote:
"Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go..."
Danny sighed.
Had that really happened, then? Thirteen days ago?
Finally, Finally, Danny got to take off some of these annoying bandages. It felt good to do so, even though plenty parts of his body still throbbed
and ached dully.
Natsumi was busy molding a pot about of wet clay pottery on the porch, imprinting autumn leaves into her design. Danny watched her. It felt nice
to do so.
Danny smiled....but then, felt a bit of a tweaking sadness in his heart.
He LIKED Natsumi. Natsumi was a quiet, kind woman with a gentle heart and somewhat elegant way of doing daily routine things.
It would be a terrible shame to have to say goodbye to her....
But he wanted answers. Now.
And they weren't coming to him.
It would be very interesting....to find out who and what he was.....did he have any friends? Family?
But what if...
What if he didn't have Anyone waiting for him in Amity Park? What if he was just some stranger who, quite literally, fell from the sky?
Would Natsumi mind if he continued to stay with her?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There was nothing more terrible and wonderful in this world then being loved.
So thought Natsumi as she washed her hands, looking idly at the window where Danny was sitting in the old cherry tree out front.
She thought MAYBE it wasn't the best idea for him to do so in his condition....but he climbed fairly low, and she supposed it was safe enough.
Danny's ribs were still not very good....she would wait two more days, TOPS. Just Two.
Are you sure you're not simply making excuses? asked an unpleasant voice in her head.
Natsumi shook her head. No, No.....Daijiro had to go home. His family had to be worried sick about him.
What if he doesn't have any family?
Natsumi's eyes narrowed. For heaven's sakes-someone had to know the boy! A friend-a relative-anyone!
Besides, even if the child didn't, he should be in a foster home...somewhere in the suburbs or city. Not here, in the countryside...where a teenager
could hardly be happy....
Didn't Teenage boys like...cities? Cars.....girls.....magazines....skateboarding? Something like that. Here, there were indigo skylines dashed with
silver light at night, wind rustling through the trees like a restless sea. There were chipmunks and deer peering out at you from the emerald
leaves.
There was fresh air....and flowers with icy streams that made you shiver uncontrallably as you stepped into one, clear and as hard as diamond,
fish hurrying away when you did so, and when you stood still, they came to curiously peer about, rushing away when you made the slightest
movement....
Mountaintops where the world was gathered before you....a bright, jewel like one at that....and the only thing you would need to complete the
look would be a scepter...and a stick was usually sufficent.
Natsumi sighed as she put the dishes away.
She so did love her land.
And Daijiro hadn't yet complained...but...
...she would like to know his opinion.
Natsumi turned to look out the window to see Danny.....
But Danny was not there.
Natsumi blinked.
Odd...
She could have sworn that....
And then she turned pale.
There was a figure lying on the ground.
And a wild boar pawing the ground, snorting and tossing its head.
Wild boars are possibly one of the most dangerous animals out there. People don't realize that.
They will challenge without hesitation, charging viciously headfirst into battle, ready to kill or be killed.
Danny must've gotten down....
....And then...
Natsumi turned hot then cold.
Without a second thought telling her how remarkably stupid she was being, she sprinted outside.
Aghhh...
Danny winced as he clutched his chest, red now gently spilling from his reopened wounds.
What....
His eyes narrowed as he stared at the boar, it obviously preparing itself for a second attack....
Biting his lips to prevent a fresh howl of pain, he instinctively held up a hand to protect his fac, when-
An enormous stone crashed on the boar's side. It squealed and staggered a little, obviously dazed.
Danny blinked in bewilderment. What....
Fresh panic filled his heart as he yanked his head around, wincing.
Breathless, Natsumi stood, chest heaving as she stared at the boar, fear very evident in her dark, almond shaped eyes.
The boar let out a furious yelp, then turned...
And ran Natsumi down.
A scream echoed from Dannys lips, but rusty red blood only ran down his lips.
Natsumi!
NATSUMI!
As the boar attempted to smash itself down upon a struggling Natsumi, Danny flung an enormous stick at it, infuriating it further.
The boar pawed the muddy earth, turning to Danny now with mad eyes. It let out a shrieking growl, and raced forward.
Danny's anger came full circle as he raised his hands....
And an enormous, bluish ripple appeared at his waist and gently but insistantly pulled his humanity away.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was frightening, even in his rage and terror for Natsumi.
Raven hair transfigured to a luminous, moonlit shadow, while his Japanese shirt and shorts slid neatly into midnight black and a matching silver
pair of gloves, boots, belt.....and hair for that matter.
Natsumi weakly raised her head....
And her eyes became huge as Danny Phantom took Daijiro's place.
Danny stared at himself in raw, empty shock.
.......what....?
The boar let out a roar and charged forward...
Danny, still in shock, raised his hands to protect himself-
BANG.
And a swirling mass of emerald energy struck the surprised boar straight in the stomach, crashing it towards the fence.
CRACK.
The boar smashed into the wood, where it lay there a moment, dazed and grazed, before pulling itself up and taering away.
"N-Natsumi?" Danny croaked, taking a crooked step forward.
Natsumi staggered up....and Danny felt a sinking in his heart asthe two stared at each other with shocked, black and now emerald, eyes.