A/N: This is part two of three in the Invader arc. Naturally, since it is an arc, and a suspenseful one at that, I end on a cliffhanger. Sorry. You may insert my evil cackling here. Still, I hope you enjoy this drabble chapter, and you guys are, of course, welcome to entertain me in the comments by speculating on what will happen next. I love every one of your comments.

As always, read and enjoy.

The Western Forest (Invader Arc: 2/3)

It had never been my intention to rule. I struggle enough with my ordinary life, I didn't need the added burden of others. Even now, their dependence frightens me. Can I, will I, protect them? The cost of failure is too high.

The western forest is different from its eastern counterpart, though both, as is the nature of any forest inhabited by spirits, have an eerily beautiful quality to them that is enough to catch the breath even as it sends chills of fear down the bravest of humans.

There is no moon, but that does not hide the thick, tall white pines that loom overhead. Even with a full moon, the forest would be dark, the forest floor covered in dry and crackling pine needles, a contrast to the softer deciduous forests of the east. No undergrowth can form under the shadows of the pines.

And here, there are no monkey spirits to serve as guardians. The spirits that used to dwell in this forest have temporarily relocated, only waiting for their lord and god to give them the clear to return.

"Human or spirit?" Natsume whispers softly, putting a hand on Nyanko-sensei's white, glowing fur. Exorcist or spirit, he will need to keep his voice soft, for either will have the ability to hear him.

Nyanko-sensei sighs, shifting uneasily, and Natsume feels his own inner tension rising.

"Human." The white beast growls. "I could practically taste the stink coming off those seals they have hung around the trees."

Heart in his mouth, Natsume asks the question he is dreading.

"Is it a clan we know?"

"Neither Matoba nor Natori," Nyanko-sensei says. "Which is why I'm still in my current form, though I'm starting to reconsider."

"Huh?"

"Idiot," Nyanko-sensei says impatiently. "Both Matoba and Natori know about this form. Imagine what they would think if I'm spotted confronting another exorcist clan. Do you think they won't assume you're involved?"

Natsume stiffens.

"Then Misuzu and Hinoe had better not show themselves either," Natsume says, fear and nervousness making his voice tremble. "Didn't the two of them confront the Matoba clan before?"

"That old woman while you were trapped in that stupid house of theirs," Nyanko-sensei mutters, adding a curse afterward that Natsume pretends not to hear. As if that bit of information finally decides him, a puff of smoke later, Nyanko-sensei is back in his form of a fat cat. "Of course, there is another way out of this," the cat adds, slyly looking up at Natsume now from the ground.

Despite the serious nature of the situation, Natsume smiles, and pretends not see the shining bit of drool dripping from the corner of the cat's mouth.

"You're not allowed to eat them, sensei."

The cat grumbles.

"Besides," Natsume adds. "If an exorcist is devoured, there will soon be more to follow."

"Well then at the very least, let's get rid of those seals," Nyanko-sensei says, in a tone of voice that can only be described as a sulk. "That should be easy enough for you to do."

And indeed, Natsume can sense the seals even from where he is standing. The malevolence he senses makes him shudder, but thankfully, he is powerful enough that the seals can be destroyed from where he is.

It takes only a few seconds for Natsume to ground himself into the energy of the earth beneath him. Glowing with energy, he sends out a pulse of energy that, to his senses, is like a wave of color, pale and translucent, white and glittering.

Half the feeling of malevolence disappears after the first pulse. By the second pulse, Natsume knows that there are only a few, truly powerful seals left.

"I'll have to search them out individually now," Natsume says, sighing.

Nyanko-sensei looks up at him again, a look of dissatisfaction on his face.

"After all this is over, I'll have a talk with your worshipers. You're going to need to wear a mask."

Natsume nods, disliking the idea, but also knowing why Nyanko-sensei is insisting on it. For him, more than any other spirit, a mask is essential.

"I sense an area of power a little ways in front of us," Natsume says.

"Then let's go," Nyanko-sensei says. "Because of you, I've missed dinner. I expect double payment when I get back."

Natsume laughs.

They take off, Nyanko-sensei clinging to Natsume's shoulder while he flies through the air, maneuvering rapidly around and past the trunks of the white pines. If it had been any other time, he would have found it exhilarating.

By the time Natsume arrives at the first site, he finally understands what Hinoe had once told him about human "stink," a spring day that now feels like an eternity ago.

"This… is not just a seal," Natsume says, looking at the giant circle and the symbols etched into the earth. Even standing a goodly distance away from it makes him feel sick to his stomach.

"If you had flown over it, you would have been sucked into the pot," Nyanko-sensei says, his left paw motioning toward the innocuous looking pot, no more than the size of Natsume's fist, standing in the middle of the circle.

"Are you sure?" Natsume asks, thinking back to all the times when he himself had been a part of creating those circles. He takes a step toward the circle, then another. With so much interfering energy in this area, it will be hard to sense any human in the miasma. "What about the human? Where's the human that made this? An exorcist needs to be here to activate it."

He is still a few feet away when he feels the burst of power. A wave, blacker than the night sky, is suddenly spilling out of the pot, rising inexorably higher.

"Natsume!"

Soon, Natsume can see nothing.

Cultural Notes: The white pines described in this story is the Pinus koraiensis more commonly known as the Korean Pine, but I chose to refer to it as a white pine, since it is in Japan, and Natsume's not likely to know it as the Korean Pine. It is part of the white pine family. In the mountains of Japan, it can grow up to 8,500 feet, with trunks that are 6.6 feet in diameter, which should give you guys an idea of how eery the forest is. And large.

Anyway, this should be enough to prove that I am ridiculous when it comes to detail. I actually looked up the silly trees, nerd that I am. Graduate school is rubbing off on me. For more information you can look up the Korean Pine on Wikipedia.