Silver Beast: Oneirocriticism

May 23 – Saturday Morning

As planned the Higurashi's packed up their beach gear later that morning and headed to the pier. It was a beautiful sunny day with just enough of an over cast to give them some relief from the early summer heat. When they got to the pier they were relieved to find the beach relatively vacant. It was still early in the season for swimming but they knew that it would quickly change when more families came out throughout the day. Even from the car they could see that the waters were calm and beckoning them to take a swim. Eager to feel the gritty sand beneath their feet they quickly parked the car and readied for their long awaited family outing.

"Last one in the water is a rotten egg!" Sota shouted as he pushed open the car door.

"Hey, wait up!" Kagome laughed as she quickly shouldered her beach bag before running after him.

Having gotten a head start Sota quickly out paced his sister. After stripping down to his swim trunks and flinging his beach items carelessly into a pile on the sand he ran into the water. He instantly regretted his eagerness because the water's appearance was very deceiving.

"AH! Cold! Cold! Cold!" Sota exclaimed as he quickly doggy paddled back to the beach.

"Look who's the rotten egg now!" Kagome laughed at her brother's quivering blue lips.

"Shut up!" Sota grouched as he went to grab his towel from further up the beach.

"Is the water really that cold?" Alice asked as Kagome walked down to the water's edge.

"Oh yeah! It's freezing alright." Kagome shivered as the cold water washed over her sandy toes.

"It looks so inviting though!" Alice frowned in disappointment.

"We aren't in Florida Alice." Grandpa Bob chuckled. "I'm not surprised the water up here is cold."

"That's alright, we can still stick our feet in and enjoy the sunshine." Kagome said as she began to walk down the beach collecting shells.

Other than the water being cold, the warm sunshine made the sand and the early summer breeze feel warm against her skin. Hearing the gulls and the rush of the waves crashing on the shore was very peaceful. It brought a calmness to her soul that she hadn't felt in a very long time. By the time her short's pockets were full of shells she'd walked a great distance down the beach. Wishing she had a bag to hold them all in she reluctantly turned back around and headed towards her family's spot. As she made her way back down the beach she suddenly got the familiar tingling sensation curling down her neck.

"Shit…" Kagome cursed when she realized there were two human families relaxing on the beach nearby.

Not wanting to draw unwanted attention to herself she ran as fast as she could to the small fishing dock up ahead of her. On its deck was a small shelter house, perfect for her to hide behind. Just as she rounded the corner of the small hut-like structure her powers surfaced and her blue eyes illuminated with an inner golden glow. Her vision much like the one she'd had a couple weeks ago at school showed various images depicting a horrible storm on the horizon. She saw massive pine trees as tall as apartment complexes bending over from hurricane-like winds and the skies raining down with blinding rain. Golf ball sized hailstones compacted with the earth leaving rivets in its wake with the combination of sleet.

The torrential storm would hit the western coast of Canada just before the sun had set making the darkness of the night even more foreboding. She even saw a TV screen showing a local weatherman urgently telling his viewers to stay at home from the deadly storm. His voice sounded desperate. Almost as if the storm would be the end of the world. There wasn't a date or time projected in the vision as to when the storm would come but she knew it was soon. She'd received many visions of deadly storms like this in the past. Most of the storms she saw were relatively harmless but occasionally she'd receive visions of hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic explosions, earthquakes, landslides and tsunamis that would cause mass destruction.

Although seers like herself were gifted with the ability of foresight, they were not destined to alter the future. They were simply the vassals of the gods. The communicators, interpreters and translators of the heavens. What was shared through their visions and fortune telling were meant to help guide and comfort the universe around them. If seers tried to change the future there was always a price to pay. Many have tried to manipulate the world and its ever turning time table into their control. Unfortunately for them they weren't able to control the after affects of their choices. Man was not destined to be the master of creation, time and space. They did not have the mental capacity to comprehend the inner workings of the universe.

This of course meant when one life was saved others often died in their stead or mass destruction occurred some place else. Balance had to be kept in the world, meaning to have peace and life the also had to be chaos and death. One could not be without the other. The world needed balance and shifting it to fit man's desires never worked out for anyone in the end. It was because of this drastic consequence that it was frowned upon for Seer's to adjust the outcome of their visions. They could give advice to those who asked, assist them when they could; even drop hints or suggestions on what their future might hold but never enough to manipulate their destinies to their desires. There was a reason fate was destined to happen.

Those who were caught abusing their powers were punished by the gods accordingly. In some cases that means the laws of the land became involved such as the Society or Secret service. Once you were taken into their care you never saw the light of day again. Kagome had already used her powers to save one girl's life. She was already on the Society's watch list meaning if she acted out again she'd not only risk her own safety but her family's. It was another reason why her family had relocated to the secluded town of Port Hardy. Here she would be less likely to abuse her gifting. If not, then she'd have to deal with the consequences for her actions in being punished accordingly to the SSFC laws.

Thankfully much of the world's technology and forms of communication have alleviated much of the seer's usefulness in modern times. Now computers and telescopes read the stars for them and satellite dishes, seismographs and other advanced machines help monitor and predict upcoming disasters, cancers and asteroid strikes. True, robots couldn't necessarily predict when an assassination or bombing were to occur but military reinforcements and modern cameras and sensors can help slow things down and keep an eye on high risked areas. They also couldn't predict natural occurrences like disease; famine or freak accidents but medical science and statistical research were getting closer to solving these issues every day.

The knowledge that the world would go on even if shit happened is why Kagome hadn't worried the first time she'd received the vision. This time however her vision went past the raging storm. This time she saw a maze of metal buildings that appeared to be close to a large body of water. As her seer sight scanned through an unfinished section of the building she heard the sounds of gunfire and saw dead bodies scattered all over the cold concrete. Pools of blood were washing away with the heavy rains and the sound of a steady drip of water leaking through the battered tin roof rang true in her distant mind. She could tell whatever was going to happen the fight was going to be intense and the gruesome aftermath was extensive.

The vision was almost over when three more gunshots were fired followed quickly by a pained scream and then eerie silence. The last thing she saw was a hand adorned with bloody claws laying limp in a rain puddle and the silencing of a heart as it failed to beat. As soon as her vision receded she sucked in a large gulp of air and leaned heavily against the small hut's outer wall. Heavy visions like that always took a lot of energy from her and she had a feeling this wasn't the last time she'd see this vision. There was more left unsaid that needed to be finished. She didn't know what it was about just yet or where or when it would come. What she did know however was that something big was coming and she was somehow linked to it.

She felt a strong connection to this vision like she had with her friend back in Washington. This vision felt like another test and she didn't like it one bit. She was about to leave the dock when she heard voices coming from inside the hut. Growing curious she snuck closer to one of the rickety windows along the side. It took her a minute to adjust her eyes to the dark interior of the building but what she saw caused her heart to plummet into her stomach. There less than two feet away from the window was Hojo holding a silver plated gun, capable of killing magic dwellers such as herself. From the angle he was standing he couldn't see her but it wouldn't take much for him to adjust the barrel of his gun and blow her head into pieces.

Fear unlike anything she'd ever experienced before curled her spine when she noticed the hut's walls were adorned with maps and images of what appeared to be people. Some of the pictures had red marks crossed through them. She could only guess that they were either crossed out because they were now dead thanks to him and his Rebel hunting friends or were discovered to no longer be magical creatures like they'd suspected. Seeing how their images weren't taken down however had her leaning more towards the first option. The thought of Hojo being a killer or being related to a killer made her stomach queasy. No matter how she looked at it, those individuals at one point had been people and now they were dead. If she wasn't careful she too could end up with her picture up on that wall.

"How about now dad?" Hojo asked snapping Kagome out of her dark thoughts. She gulped nervously as he adjusted his stance to look down the barrel of his gun.

"Relax your shoulders a bit." A man said as he came up behind Hojo to adjust his stance slightly.

"Like this?" Hojo asked as he squared himself a little better with his feet.

"Perfect. If you shoot like this you'll never miss your target." His father smiled as he admired his eldest son.

"Awesome." Hojo smiled as he lowered the gun to his side. "When do you think I'll be able to join you guys on the hunt?"

"As soon as your marksmanship improves." His father said, making Hojo groan.

"But Dad! We don't have time for me to be perfect. The Silver Beast is back and the crew needs everyone they can get to hunt him down!" Hojo exclaimed as his father went to the grinder on the far side of the hut to adjust the shape of their homemade gun.

"You won't be any good to the cause if you're dead son." His father frowned as he looked through the magnifying glass on his tool. "Hunting down werewolves is extremely dangerous. It's nothing like our deer or elk hunting trips. They are three times more aggressive than a Kodiak grizzly and as fast as a chaeta. You'd be torn to pieces by the time you came upon one. If you decided to join the Rebellion you need to understand that when we step into those woods we are no longer at the top of the food chain. We might be searching for the Silver Beast but he is the one hunting us down. You need to be ready for anything. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah… I just really want to get this guy. We know he is the reason Kikyo's messed up. How many other girls has he hurt or killed that we don't even know about?" Hojo sighed as he set the gun down on the workbench. "I just wish I knew what his human side looked like so I could get him when his guard is down."

"We'll kill him eventually son." His father agreed as he stared up at an old blurry photo on the wall. "Whoever the bastard is, he and all of his freaky werewolf friends' days on this world are numbered."

As he glared up at the distinct silver werewolf running on the beach he traced over a faint scar running along his arm. What neither he or Hojo saw however was Kagome's horror ridden expression as she peered in through the window. There was no question in her mind who that creature was in the photo and her heart pounded wildly in her chest at the knowledge. Terrified at what she'd just discovered she quickly but quietly crept away from the tiny hut. It was only after she'd managed to slip under the deck and run down the beach that she let her tears fall down her cheeks.

She needed to talk to someone from the Society about what she'd just learned. She wasn't positive but she had a feeling these rebel fighters were the dead bodies she'd seen in her vision. If they were gearing up for war, the Society needed to know about it. She might not be able to alter the future but she hoped sharing what she could would potentially avoid the inevitable from happening. It was her duty to share what the gods had shown her. Her vision could help prevent dozens, perhaps hundreds of innocents from dying. It was a long shot, but a hope she held onto tightly.

[End of Chapter]

Authors Note:

Oneirocriticism - the art or practice of interpreting dreams and visions.