Chapter 11

Disclaimer: C'est mon histoire. Ah! Pardon! C'est une histoire du Disney. (Is Disney masculine or feminine? Somebody who speaks French better than me help me out here)

It was the sinking of the sun that finally woke Erika somewhat from her hunger-pierced daze. She'd sunk into a sort of trance after her captor had left the clearing, not really sleeping but not really alert either. In that time, the sun's hard golden glare had faded to coat everything around in a dusky ruby glaze. Erika hitched herself further up the tree she was leaning against, trying to shake her head slightly to clear it. Both of these actions were mistakes. Her back and neck muscles screamed with tension, and she had a terrible dehydration headache. To top it all off, after a quick look down she realized that her legs, arms, and probably her face were badly sunburned. She felt so hot and dried-out that she expected to be able to turn to dust any minute, like Sandman from her father's old comic books.

"I almost wish I were Sandman," she croaked out. "Then I wouldn't mind feeling like this quite so much." She sounded like a bad case of bronchitis personified. In a vain attempt to bolster her spirits, she ran down a long list of curses in her mind, mostly at her captor but also at herself, Barry and Celina's killers, plus a few for Mai and even Jerry for contributing to her present situation. Her imagination quickly ran out, leaving her as weak and empty-feeling as before.

Something moved out of the trees and into the clearing. Erika, who had started to sink back into her half-awake state, jerked herself upright, thinking it might be her captor returning. Her reward was sharp twists of pain from her back and head. She winced…and then forgot about everything else, even her aches, at the sight before her.

Bounding into the clearing came not one, but five sleek, silvery-brown coyotes. Each bore something in its jaws: a bag of potato chips, an entire half a deli sandwich still in its paper wrapping, a plastic baggie of grapes, and another of baby carrots. The last of them, the one with a muzzle so gray that it looked white compared to the rest of his tawny coat, carried carefully a large bottle of water that was still three-quarters full. He (she was pretty sure it was a male) dropped his prize into her lap, while the others ranged their gifts in a ragged semicircle before her.

Erika stared. Her hands moved of their own accord, snatching the water bottle and taking two thirsty swigs before her brain started working again with a lurch. To drink or eat too much, too quickly after being deprived for so long would only make her sick, and she would lose what little nourishment she might have gained. She set the water bottle down carefully again and capped it, her hands shaking.

"Thank you," she said softly. Already her voice sounded much better. She tried out a smile. "Don't you guys know you're not supposed to feed the prisoner?"

The silver-nosed coyote nodded solemnly, large dark eyes fixed on her face.

Erika swallowed hard. "Can…can you understand me?"

He nodded again. Erika sighed and settled back against the tree. "I thought one of you did last night, but then I almost convinced myself I dreamed that. You aren't shapeshifters too, are you?"

This time the coyote shook its head. He seemed almost amused.

"Oh. Well, then how can you understand what I'm saying?" she asked. The coyote shrugged, its shoulderblades bunching together under its smooth fur. "You don't know?" Erika guessed. A head shake was her response. "You can't explain?" A nod. "I see. Then why did…oh, never mind. I doubt you helping me can be explained with a nod or a shrug, either."

A nod was her response. Erika smiled a little, hiding her frustration and puzzlement, and turned her attention to the food. She ate in small bites while the coyotes watched, all five of them projecting an air of smug satisfaction. They continued to watch as she hid the food and water she hadn't managed to finish in a hollow of the tree she'd been leaning against.

"I hope he won't notice that. Don't give me away, now," she told to them when she'd finished. Their silver-nosed leader panted agreeably, as if to say he wouldn't. At least, that's what she hoped he was saying. "Thanks. You guys are lifesavers."

Now that she had the energy to spare, she concentrated some of it on making her sunburns slightly less painful. With nourishment in her stomach and the worst of her pain gone, Erika finally felt as if she were up to facing her captor in Round 2 of whatever strange game they were playing.

She checked her watch. It was about 7:30, and soon it would be dusk. The usual time to get ready for the nightly run. The ground normally covered by herself and her mother would be unchecked for two straight nights now. It wouldn't take long for local bad eggs to figure out that the absence of Typhoon and her apprentice meant they had a free range. Innocent people would get hurt, and she was caught kicking her heels because some rogue hero thought her mother had invaded his territory! She sat back down again with a thump, crossing her arms over her chest.

"This whole thing is stupid," she told the coyotes. "By this point I'm pretty sure I don't have the information he wants, and whatever he thinks my mother and I are mixed up in honestly has nothing to do with us. But how am I supposed to convince him of that when he won't believe a word I say?" She sighed. One of the coyotes, a female this time, came up to gently nose her face. Erika held still. However oddly they behaved, they were still wild animals, after all.

The female finished smelling her and sat down, panting contentedly. Her breath smelled terrible, but her pose was so much like dog's that Erika couldn't resist reaching out and running a cautious hand over her head. The coyote tensed, and Erika withdrew her hand quickly. But when the coyote didn't move, she hazarded another try, and this time the coyote allowed it. Erika stroked her gently for several minutes, frayed nerves settling somewhat. The fur was rougher than she'd expected from its shining appearance, but a glance at her hand showed that this was from dirt rather than a quality of the fur itself.

"You need a wash," Erika commented, smiling and wrinkling her nose. She thought of the stream she had splashed through the night before, and stood up. "Come on. We'll go get wet before it starts to get cold for the night."

The coyotes followed several paces behind as she made her way back out of the clearing to the overgrown path, and followed it until she heard the stream gurgling. Sliding down the embankment, Erika paused long enough to remove her shoes and socks, and then, for good measure, her t-shirt and shorts as well.

The coyotes watched her warily from the top of the embankment. When Erika looked back at them, she laughed at their identical expressions of puzzlement.

"Come on," she urged them. "It won't hurt, it's just wet." To prove it, she stepped into the stream herself, dressed in nothing but her underwear. Her bare feet tingled at the chill of the water, and she smiled. She hadn't done anything like this since she was a little girl still clutching her father's hand. Doing it by herself for some reason made her feel slightly daring. Choosing a smooth, flat rock that was just barely submerged, she sat down and let the water run over her legs. Its coolness soothed the remaining ache of the sunburn that she hadn't been able to completely heal for fear of using too much energy. She sighed and closed her eyes blissfully.

When she turned around, the coyotes were gone. Silly them, afraid of a wash, she thought. Still, their sudden disappearance made her feel slightly lonely. Trying to banish the feeling, she slid off the rock and knelt in the streambed, leaning forward to dunk her face and hair under the water.

She sat up suddenly. The woods were too quiet, and the back of her neck prickled. Her Academy-honed instincts screamed that someone was watching her. Slowly, she stood and made her way back to her clothes. She reached down, plucked her t-shirt out of the pile, and pulled it over her head. When her head emerged again from the tangle dark cotton, she found herself staring straight in a pair of blue eyes inches from her own.

Erika squeaked and took a few staggering steps backward. This motion brought into focus the rest of the enormous, dark-furred figure before her. Her captor, of course. Who else had she expected? And worse…how long had he been watching her?

"You indecent Peeping Tom," she hissed, glaring furiously as she fought her t-shirt for possession of its armholes. She won, but he was now standing squarely over the rest of her clothes. "Move," she growled, taking a step forward.

He bared his teeth, and she realized that in her own fury and embarrassment she had failed to see the fur fluffed out along his back. He was as angry as she.

"Why did you leave the clearing?" he snarled. "I told you I wouldn't be in a good mood if I had to track you down!"

"Track me down?" Erika scoffed. "It's a five-minute walk back to the clearing, if that! Now let me get the rest of my clothes, you, you—" She bit back the list of epithets for him she'd come up with earlier. Insulting him further would get her nowhere.

The fur on his back flattened a little, and his blue eyes grew calculating. "I'll settle for a few more truthful answers, since you've already gotten yourself into this predicament."

Erika was ready to scream with fury. "Everything I told you earlier was completely true! Now let me get my clothes. Please."

"Not until you're ready to tell me what you and your mother are up to."

"Nothing," snapped Erika. "How many times do I have to tell you that? Now, have you had enough of your private peep show or not?"

The comment was calculated to startle him, and succeeded. He blinked, and took a half step backwards, which was all Erika needed. Lightning fast she bent down and grabbed her clothes and shoes, clutching them to her chest as if he would snatch them back. His eyes flashed furiously when he realized what she'd done, but he didn't move. He watched her with an odd expression as she slid into her shorts, pulled on her dirty socks, and laced up her shoes. Erika shuddered slightly under his gaze, remembering that, after all, he was a human male no matter what shape he wore. Her face burned anew with embarrassment and anger at the thought.

So furious she forgot any thought of danger, she turned her back on her captor and scrambled up the bank of the stream towards the overgrowth path. Though she would hardly describe her wrath as murderous, she understood at that moment how someone might possibly become so overcome by anger they could kill. She lost all fear of future consequences, and her only thought became to get away.

She stalked down the path. Let him think that she was heading back to the clearing; when she reached the turnoff she simply kept on walking. It didn't matter which direction she went, all she cared about was to get as far from the source of her embarrassment as possible.

Erika walked for a long time. Twilight fell, and then true night. She started to stumble over roots and branches strewn on the path, but still she kept on walking. Deep down, she knew she had broken her bargain, but even after her anger subsided she kept on walking.

Eventually, she had to stop to catch her breath, but since she was in good shape she knew that she was several miles from the converted picnic shelter. She sat on a log on the edge of a large clearing and allowed her body to settle down. She was thirsty again, but did her best to ignore it. When her heart rate had slowed somewhat, she looked around curiously. The dark woods around her were peaceful and quiet. Too quiet.

A rough hand dropped over her mouth, another pinned one arm behind her back. At first she thought it was her captor in human form at last, but quickly dismissed the idea. Even when he had ample chance to touch her, or even do her outright harm, he had never done so. But then who had grabbed her? She squirmed hard, ignoring the pain in her twisted arm.

She heard a click and felt something metal come to rest against her temple. Immediately, she stopped struggling. Though she could heal almost any wound to her body, blowing her brains out was so quick a death that she could never bring her powers to bear in time.

"We've been waiting for you, little healer," a man's voice whispered. "Someone took care of your mentor for us, but we knew you wouldn't be far behind her."

Several things occurred to Erika as her brain worked rapidly to prevent blind panic. The first was that she hadn't been called little in years, and was indignant at such an epithet being applied to her. The second was that there were more than one person who had been lying in ambush for her, since the man had used the words 'we' and 'us.' The third, a much more disturbing thought, was that these people didn't know anything about the shapeshifter with whom she'd made the deal to spare Mai. In fact, these were probably the very people with whom her captor believed she and her mother we in league with! A muffled yell burst from her.

The hands holding her tightened. "Hold still, kid. You won't like the teeth I can grow, if pushed to it," the man growled. Another shapeshifter, Erika thought. She froze. "That's better," he said, and his hands loosened slightly. "Now, be a good girl while we decide the best way to get rid of you."

"It's got to be under the radar, like the other two," another voice, further behind her, pointed out lightly. This voice was also male. "We were lucky only Typhoon was suspicious enough to check out their murders. It needs to stay that way."

"Why don't we keep her?" the man holding Erika asked. "She's a healer. You know how rare that is. She might be useful. We could threaten to snuff her helpless mentor if she disobeys us."

"Maybe," the second voice said thoughtfully. There were few moments of silence. Then, "No. The benefits don't outweigh the risks. This one's clever, and she's been trained by Typhoon. Odds are she'd find some way to escape and inform on us before she'd ever be of use."

"Then how are we going to do it? Have her walk to her own death, like the last one?"

"No. This requires some thinking about. Anything we do to her, we have to ensure she can't heal her way out of," the second voice replied.

Erika listened to this exchange in silent horror. So, not only were these people the ones her own shapeshifter was looking for, but it was likely they were responsible for Celina and Barry's deaths as well. She had to escape, but there was no way that she could see to do it.

The men were still talking behind her. "…drowning?" the first one was suggesting.

"Hmm. A possibility," answered the second.

"Or what about…" the first man's voice trailed off. Erika could feel his hands tightening on her mouth and arm again. "What was that?"

"I hear nothing," the second man replied.

"There's someone out there." The hands were now pinching Erika's skin.

"I believe you. Your animal ears are better than mine," said the second man, his voice almost a whisper. Then he shouted, "Show yourself, or the girl dies!"

A deep growl that might have been mistaken for thunder was the response, followed by a series of higher growls that were no less threatening. The sounds seemed to come from all around the clearing. Erika tensed, waiting for the next move to be made. All she knew was that it wasn't her move to make.

Author's Note: Dun dun dun! Cliffie! Don't hate me, please. Those of you who know Beauty and the Beast (the movie or musical) probably can guess what's going to happen next. So review, and tell me how evil I am.

I hope no one was too offended by the stream scene. If you read original fairy tales you will find a surprising amount of implications of nudity and sex, even extramarital sex. (Rapunzel, for instance. Children's books tend to gloss over the fact that the witch finds out about the prince's visits because Rapunzel's clothes no longer fit—she's pregnant with twins. Gasp!) So I feel this is pretty mild in comparison. If anyone thinks it would be appropriate, feel free to tell me so in your review and I will up the rating of this story.

SamoaPhoenix9