ii.
Chapter Eight: I Dreamed I Was Alive
"We're all in the same game, just different levels. Dealing with the same hell, just different devils."
She shifted on the couch. It was dark in the large room, and she was alone. (something she felt grateful for, for once- considering her options for company.) The couch smelled okay, she dimly registered as stuffed her face into the crevice where the back met the cushions. It smelled kind of like... a weird mixture of the Red Clouds.
Her nose scrunched then, because it also kind of smelled like blood. (Surely that was Hidan's fault) Nanami might be a wild beast but she appreciated smelling clean, even if she understood the necessity of a little blood sometimes.
"Echk." She informed the cushion of her displeasure.
She couldn't sleep here. This sucked. She rolled over again to face the gaping openness of the room.
Nope, that was worse. She pulled the blanket Raven Eyes had given her over her head in an attempt to ignore how large the room was.
She missed the herd. Soft breathing bodies surrounding her that were sensitive to even the subtlest of sounds. Deer were like hyper aware sleeping buddies who were always on watch and didn't mind a little cuddling.
This place was cold. And open, way to open. If she had to be alone she'd be sleeping beneath the roots of a tree, surrounded on all sides by soft earth. She grumbled quietly to herself and slid off the couch like a snake off a branch. She crawled on all fours in the dark, silently with muted chakra until she was laying on her belly underneath the low table.
This was a little better.
She curled her legs in tighter to her body, and rolled onto her back while attempting to not think about the openings on all sides.
She sighed. Maybe a comfortable place was going to be impossible here.
She blinked up at the flat wooden surface above her head in discomfort. She rolled over again, taking the blanket with her. Another blink into the dark.
Oh, of course. Why didn't she think of that sooner?
Nanami slunk her way silently into the kitchen and pulled open the first cabinet door she thought she could fit inside.
It was blissfully empty, not too tight a fit, and best of all it was enclosed on all sides.
She crawled inside, avoiding the U pipe from the sink drain and let out a contented sigh as the door shut behind her silently.
Much better.
Someone was screaming.
Probably Loud Blood. That guy had no sense of common decency while other people were trying to sleep.
She curled tighter into her blanket and shoved her face farther into the crook of her arm.
A loud bang, followed by a clatter and more yelling.
More voices.
What's with these people?
A muted thump and then blissful silence once again. She sighed in relief. Much better.
She was hovering on the cusp of returning that that dream she been having...
Her hands were morphing into paws, a gentle shifting from human to animal that she found pleasant and gratifying. Like maybe now her outsides matched her insides. She flexed claws into the dirt, digging little furrows with their length. Her body shook, fur erupting from her spine and down her arms and legs, a wet crunching snap and her limbs changed shape.
She stepped forward, dried leaves crunching beneath her new form, chakra blazing, filling her with strength and speed. She was running, fast padded feet swiftly through the underbrush. There was no urgency, just the pure joy in the run itself. She leapt over a river, powerful muscles coiling and springing, the air whipping past her as she cried her joy into the night.
Nanami who wasn't quite Nanami anymore- was free.
Others were nipping at her tail playfully, joining the chase. Her brother maybe, a flash of blond fur and a grinning maw full of sharp predators teeth and a tongue that lolled to the side.
It was a wolfish grin on the face of her kin (Her brother was home, he had returned to her!) and excitement soared into her throat as-
Squeaking hinges and then someone was touching her shoulder.
Nanami jerked back hard enough to slam her head on the back of the cabinet and yowled.
The hand withdrew.
"Nanami."
Baby teeth bared, snapping together with a harsh clack that fit together in a jagged snarl half ready to sink her canines into flesh.
She slowly registered the crouching form of Raven Eyes as he watched her patiently regain her senses. Dark eyes full of something she didn't understand.
She blinked, and pulled chakra laden fingers out the the wood she'd been sinking them into.
Right. She was in an underground place full of Red Clouds, sleeping beneath a kitchen sink. She allowed herself a moment to mourn that her dream was just that, a dream.
An exhale. "Raven Eyes, Nanami is sorry." Not that he would of let her bite him, but it was the thought that counted. (she might of liked to though)
He nodded, as if this was a perfectly acceptable occurrence and stepped back so she could come out.
She did slowly, feet first on all fours; feeling edgy, a little disoriented and tired.
Her teeth fit together with another snap as she rose off her hands and followed Raven Eyes into the main room.
Loud Blood lay on the floor in a heap, seemingly unconscious. Huh, that explains that.
Beating Hearts was righting the table from its upturned position. His acid green eyes slid to her bleary eyed from, registering her presence with a blank face.
"I see you found her." He commented in an offhand kind of way to Raven Eyes, who nodded.
"What!" A cry from behind one of the doors lining the back wall, and then Burning Earth was there too, streaming too many words for her to follow along with.
It was too early for this.
She slunk over to Beating Hearts, edging past Raven Eyes who let her go. He had made himself comfortable at the table with a pile of papers and a writing utensil. (a pen maybe? She had never seen a pen in this life.)
She sat next to him like the dignified beast child she was, enjoying the ambient heat and the sensation of rushing waterfalls from his chakra. His acid green eyes slid to her for a moment over the top of his high collar in some kind of silent acknowledgement before returning to his papers.
She laid her head down on the table and watched him for a minute. Beating Hearts was not a small man, and sitting next to him made her more aware of it.
She let her mind wander away, absently watching as he appeared to be tallying accounts on paper.
She had always been good at math, once upon a time. Nanami found watching him divide the average and carry the one pretty comforting. It was normal, (Not in this lifetime, but in another distant one.) It appealed to the part of her that was grown.
She thought she would like to help, if she knew the words to offer.
Raven Eyes returned, he joined them at the table across from her and she lifted her head as he slid what appeared to be a thin paper book towards her.
She tilted her head to the side, gaze traveling from the book to Raven Eyes. Beads clacked together and she brushed the feather away from her face.
"I will oshieru, you will listen." he said simply. She frowned, and nodded slowly.
He wanted to teach her more words, maybe? That would be nice… she wasn't sure though.
He nodded, more to himself than to her it seemed. "Good." He flipped the cover open to show square boxes full of pictures. He started at the top, clearly pronouncing each word for an animal, an action, a place. There were many pictures. Nanami followed along diligently, repeating the words and attempting to commit them to memory.
It wasn't easy, and sometimes he would stop and point to a box on a previous page and she would have to tell him what the word was.
She found her eyes wandering longingly to Beating Hearts math tables.
Math was a universal language, one she already knew. Too bad that wasn't on the menu today.