Okay, it took me a little longer than I thought. Sorry about that; bunch of stuff to do. But here's Chapter Nine!

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SORA

I was the first to get up in the morning, hardly able to wait any more to go looking for Naminé. Riku and Esmeralda were still sleeping—Riku in the other bed, and Esmeralda on the floor. She had actually insisted on the arrangement, saying that we needed the sleep more than she did, and that she was used to sleeping on harder surfaces anyway. Neither Riku nor I felt entirely comfortable with our host sleeping on the floor, but she would not let us object.

And, now that I looked at her, sleeping on the floor in the early morning, she did look comfortable. I guess she really was fine with not sleeping in a bed.

I looked away from her, not wanting to stare at her form for too long; she was quite beautiful. I mean, not that I would ever be drawn away from Kairi, but…you know how things…well, I mean, I…know what, forget it.

I checked the clock on the nightstand next to the beds. It was a quarter to six, early enough for me to debate whether or not I should wake the other two. We had gone to bed fairly early last night, but the other two might want more sleep…then again, what if the adlets changed their plans with Naminé? Or what if they didn't need an actual full moon to perform the transformation spell? We couldn't afford to lose any time.

I swung myself out of bed, telling myself that, even if I let them sleep for a while, I could walk around for a bit and get my blood moving, maybe even take a shower. But as I headed towards the door, I saw Riku stir, and heard him say, "Sora?"

I turned to him. "You're awake."

"Mm, yeah." He sat up. "Haven't gotten quite used to the time difference. I've been awake for maybe ten minutes."

"And, what, you were trying to get back to sleep?"

He shrugged. "I doubted I would, but I didn't quite have the energy to get up." He gave a brief yawn. "But now that you are, I'll follow suit."

I looked back at Esmeralda, who was still lying on the floor. "What about her?"

"We can let her sleep for a little longer, at least." He nodded towards the bathroom door. "You going to shower?"


I took a brisk shower, but even so, when I got out, I found Esmeralda also awake, Djali by her side. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"Good," I said. "I'm ready."

"Good," she said. "Let's get ourselves all ready, and then we can be on our way."

And, after we had dressed, eaten a quick breakfast, and gathered our things, we were.

Riku and I both carried our guns, while Esmeralda carried a dirk, which she said she would only use if things became unexpectedly dangerous for us. She also wore a necklace with an emerald set into it, which apparently helped her to contact the spirits no matter where she was. She also had a first-aid pack, filled with both standard items and things that she had learned how to use during the course of her many travels. We each carried some food and a few items of clothing, as our search was expected to take a couple of days.

So we were traveling fairly light, but still had enough to comfortably last us the required time.

And now, finally, we were able to go. To find Naminé. To see the sister that I had thought dead for a dozen years. To save her.

If needed, that little part of my mind reminded me.

I shook my head. Whether or not Naminé would want to stay with the adlets (please let it be not), I had to see her again. To make sure that she was safe, and do everything I could to ensure that she stayed that way.

"Time for another hunt," I said to Riku. He nodded.

Carrying her dog, Esmeralda lead us to the woods, renting another cab and having the driver drop us off at a certain spot. He seemed puzzled, given that there was no obvious place for us to go, but didn't complain when Esmeralda paid him, and was willing to drive off and leave us there.

"Now then," she said, putting Djali on the ground, "let's track them down."


ROXAS

My sleep that night was not interrupted by more nightmarish visions, but it wasn't the soundest I've ever slept. I found myself waking up a few times during the night, though I did manage to fall back asleep fairly easily afterward.

I can't say I didn't get a lot of rest, though. Due mostly to jetlag and time difference, I fell asleep before nine p.m. and woke up just after nine a.m., and it felt good. Sure, you wouldn't want to sleep like that every day, but after all the stress and sleeplessness I had been experiencing, sleeping for twelve hours (maybe a little less) made my body feel more relaxed than it had been in a long time.

It made me feel confident, confident that this vacation would give me just what I needed to recover from the past few months. So I was at ease when I got up, dressed, and meandered down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. I was able to eat leisurely, too, not worrying about anything I had scheduled that would require me to hurry up. I wasn't too far from the coast, and thought I would go down there and see what there was to see. And there was no scheduled time to do so; I would go when I pleased.

I didn't have too much else to do, though, so it wasn't too long before I was headed down to see what I could see. There was a small cliff not very far from the hotel, where I found a handful of other people standing to take in the sights. Nearly all had a camera, or, in the case of a couple of them, binoculars. I joined them, looking out at the coast and the water beyond. It was quite magnificent.

A few people made noises and pointed, and I saw a bald eagle flying nearby. I watched it soar for a few seconds, then angle towards the water, looking for fish, no doubt. A moment later, it was successful; it dived down, making a splash in the water, and emerged with a fish in its talons. People around me oohed and took pictures. I did the same, having brought along a camera myself. I had thought that I would want one, and I was right.

After a few more wildlife sightings, including a couple of orcas, another bald eagle made an appearance. Following the actions of the other one, it circled the area around the water for a moment, then made a dive. For an instant, it looked as though it would have the same success as the previous one.

Then, something happened that no one expected.

One of the orcas burst out of the water right next to the eagle, jaws open. Stunned, I watched as the unfortunate bird was subjected to the mercy of the whale's sharp teeth, which brought it down into the water. Once there, it didn't have a chance; this was the orca's territory now, and it was much more powerful than the eagle. Soon, a small pool of blood was visible on the water's surface. The people around me seemed fascinated, their cameras clicking rapidly and their voices murmuring how they had never seen something like that before.

Less inclined to watch, I turned away. The event had left an impression on me, though. It seemed unusual, for a killer whale to attack an eagle like that. Surely there was easier, meatier prey for it to get? Was there a reduction in the local fish population?

But then, I saw something that drove those thoughts entirely out of my mind.

Another one of the orcas had swum up to the rocky shore, and looked to be trying to pull itself up onto land. That was odd enough—why would a whale be trying to beach itself?—but it was nothing compared to what I saw next.

Before my eyes, the whale changed. Its black and white skin turned brown, and hair began to sprout up all over its body, which became leaner. Its flippers grew thinner, and appeared to move up its body. Its dorsal fin sunk into its back. Its head shifted shape drastically, keeping a long nose but taking on a forehead and neck, with ears extending from the sides. Its tail shrunk severely, with another pair of limbs sprouting from below it, seemingly out of nowhere.

The whole process only took a few seconds, but when it was over, it would be nearly impossible to know that the orca that had come up to the shore had transformed into the creature that now stood on the rocks.

A large brown wolf was perched on the shore, brown shaggy fur dripping wet. It shook itself, then trotted into the wooded area that was laid out below the cliff.

I was still trying to process this. That was impossible, what I had just seen. An orca transforming into a wolf? There was no way that could happen…

But I had seen that, hadn't I? I wasn't going crazy, was I? I blinked several times, making sure I wasn't still asleep. Still dazed, I turned to the other people near me, to ask if they had seen it, but it was clear that they hadn't; they were still focused on the orca that had brought down the eagle.

I wasn't sure what to do. For a second, I considered ignoring it, but cast that idea aside quickly; I couldn't ignore it, and if I did nothing, I would begin to question my sanity. In fact, I was doing that already; what other explanation was there for seeing what I had just seen?

No, there had to be some other reason. Something that would allow me to see a killer whale transform into a wolf in a few seconds. I couldn't be going crazy…could I?

I hurried down to the woods, anxious to get to the bottom of this, and verify that I hadn't lost it after all of the recent stress.


I got to the area just a couple of minutes later, keeping my eyes open for any sign of the orca-wolf. I'll admit, I wasn't sure what I was planning to do if and when I found it—I just needed to find out, somehow, that there was some sort of reasonable explanation for what I had seen.

I didn't find anything immediately while walking through, and found myself at the shore where the transformation had taken place. I looked around, and saw a set of large paw prints leading in a different direction. I followed them, keeping my eyes open; that wolf had looked large enough to hurt me if it wanted to.

As I walked along, I saw more evidence of the creature's process—more paw prints, broken foliage, a bit of hair here and there. So it was around somewhere. I kept going, unconsciously increasing my pace as I did so. I was determined that I was not crazy; I had been doing so well this morning, hadn't I? I had to find this creature. I had to.

It had enough of a head start, though, so that I was going along for quite a while. However, several minutes into my excursion, a thought struck me, and I stopped. Where was I? The woods beneath the cliff had extended into a much broader forest, and I could walk for hours without finding human civilization. Panic began to grip me, but then I tried to reassure myself. Calm down, Roxas, I thought. You haven't been walking for too long. Just retrace your steps. It'll be easy enough; that wolf made a fairly clear trail. Just follow it, and you'll be back at the shore.

That was true, wasn't it? Except…could I just leave now? If I turned back, I wouldn't find out what I had seen. Maybe I could do some research? But what if that turned up nothing? I could keep going, but not only was there no guarantee of finding this creature, but there was a larger chance of really getting lost. I was stuck.

Just like always.

Frustrated, I let out a yell and kicked a tree. "Why does everything have to be so goddamn hard?" I yelled. "I just can't get away from it, can I? I'm just cursed, no matter what I do, is that it? So, why bother? I'll just do whatever I want, huh? But you'll find a way to mess even that up, won't you? Well, I'm sick of it! You hear me? Sick of it!"

I stood, panting from the effort. It made me feel better to yell it, but it didn't exactly help my situation.

Suddenly, I heard a rustling, and turned to see a large brown shape slipping through the trees. Instinctively, I took off after it. The wolf was close now, slipping away, but not fast enough to get out of my sight. I ran, just thinking, What is this creature? I have to know.

But then, I saw the figure in front of me shift. It was no longer running away from me. Now, it was facing me. I stopped, several yards away from it, though I still had a pretty good view. It didn't seem to be much more than a regular wolf, albeit a larger-than-normal one. It was looking at me, and I wondered if I should back away, move forward, or just stay where I was.

Then I saw what looked like hunger in its eyes, and stopped wondering.

I began running a split second before it did, but, as I could hear from the noises behind me, it was faster. Only a couple seconds into our reversed-positions chase, I realized that running would be futile, and the only way to get out of this situation would be if I could somehow fight it off. It would be difficult, but not (I hoped) impossible.

I turned, only to find the wolf much closer to me than I had expected. I tried to put my hands up to defend myself, but the wolf leaped and crashed into me, sending me flying. A second later, I felt my head hit something hard, and my vision went black.


SORA

The first few hours of searching had a kind of excitement to them. If you've ever began an adventure (or something like one), you should have an idea of what I'm talking about: you really feel like you're about to do something important. And I most certainly did. I was going to find my sister, and if she had any reservations about becoming an adlet, I was going to take her back home with me. Esmeralda and Djali led us through the woods, the latter occasionally using his sense of smell to track the adlets down, and Riku and I readily followed.

However, after we had been on the trail for a few hours, gotten caught in a few branches, and turned around a couple times, other emotions began to set in. Worry that we might not get there in time. Irritation that we would have to go through several more hours of trekking through the woods. Doubt that Esmeralda may not be as big of a help as she had claimed. By the time that we took a break for lunch, my initial positive feelings were largely eclipsed by the others.

Riku took notice and pointed it out. "Something troubling you, Sora?"

I shrugged. "Just worried."

"We'll get there, don't worry," said Esmeralda. "We have time, and I accounted for delays like we've had."

Still, I didn't feel satisfied. I wanted to find Naminé as soon as possible, not spend another two days wandering through the wilderness, only possibly on the trail of the creatures that took her.

We ate our lunch in silence, Riku glancing at me from time to time. I could sense his concern, but I didn't know what he could do to make me feel more at ease. So, we finished eating in an awkward atmosphere. Trying to dispel it, Esmeralda stood up. "So, shall we continue?" she asked. "The sooner—"

But she stopped, and looked down at Djali. The dog had perked his head up, and seemed to be aware of something nearby. "He senses something," she said.

Esmeralda had told us all she knew about her dog the previous day, which, all things considered, wasn't much. As far as she knew, Djali was nothing more than a dog, albeit one with an usually high level of intelligence and sense. He seemed to understand what she said, or at least what she wanted, and could sometimes sense things that humans could not. Now, apparently, was one of those times.

Djali spent a few more seconds pacing, sniffing the air and growling slightly. Then, he trotted off, in a direction almost perpendicular to the one we had been taking. "What is it?" I asked. "Does it have anything to do with Naminé?"

"I couldn't say," said Esmeralda. "But I don't think he would take us along if it wasn't important."

It had better be, I thought, as I followed her and her dog on a different path through the woods.


Djali led us for a little while, but all I could think was that this was a detour, costing us time on our way to find Naminé. Still…something about the dog's demeanor made me believe that this might be worth checking out.

Then, suddenly, he stopped, standing still with his hair standing up, growling softly but fiercely. Esmeralda brought herself to a complete halt. "Danger ahead," she said in a low voice. "Be careful."

I took out my gun, and saw Riku do the same. Carefully, we advanced in the direction that Djali was facing. Esmeralda followed, and, with some reluctance, so did Djali. Several minutes later, he stopped entirely, his eyes wide. "There's something right up ahead," said Esmeralda. Cautiously, Riku and I edged around the row of trees that stood in front of us.

The area in front of us was largely clear of trees, with several rocks around the area. And it was not uninhabited. A number of large wolves were visible, some wandering around, others sitting still.

Riku turned to me, his expression both anxious and questioning. I could tell what he was thinking. What were those creatures, and why had Djali led us here?

Whatever the case, we needed to find out quickly. Those wolves were likely to smell us, or hear us, or see us, if we lingered for too long. Or taste us. But apparently, there was something in or near their encampment that Djali had wanted us to see.

A moment later, we saw it.

The wolves had a gathering of what looked like prey in one spot. They were mostly large animals—a few moose and an elk, which were all incapacitated, with broken legs or broken backs. None were dead, though—yet. But they were not my concern. What was was the only being there that wasn't a large deer-like mammal.

It was a man. A young man with spiky blond hair. And, even from this distance, I was pretty sure I could see who it was. From a few hundred feet away, the unconscious face of Roxas White was pointed in my direction.

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Thoughts? Comments? Hopes/Expectations? Anyone know what the creature Roxas saw was? (Hint: it's not a generic shape-shifter)

Next chapter to come fairly soon!