Strange narrator guy: *in a very serious voice* Due to an unfortunate accident involving a tractor, dreamchasereternity will not be able to tell the 7th chapter of 'Echoes in the Wind' today. Please tune in next time for…
*loud thud*
SNG: HEY! SHUT UP BACK THERE! *blinks and continues in serious voice again* As I was saying…
???: HEY! What's Autumn doing tied up in a closet???
SNG: o.O;;; umm…
Dream: DARIKEN YOU BAKA KISAMA!!!!!!!!!!!! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU!!!!!
Dariken (SNG): *in monotone voice* No one is available to take your call right now, please leave a message after the beep! BEEP!
Thorn (???): Dari, what are you doing?
Dariken: *sniffle* I wanted to tell the story today…
Dream: TOO BAD! That's my job!
Dariken: ;_;
Dream: …you can say the disclaimer…
Dariken: YAY! Dream does not own the cast of Yu Yu Hakusho! Though she wishes she did!
Dream: ^_^ I'd let Arielle burn Kuwabara and then lots of people would love her forever!
Thorn: Kurama would probably mad.
Kurama: *walks in* not after what Kuwabara said about me being a pervert.
Dream: *hugs Kurama* Dari locked me in a closet! It was dark and scary and…and…I couldn't breathe!
Kurama: DARIKEN! WHY'D YOU LOCK AUTUMN IN A CLOSET???
Freckles: Hey, umm, sorry to interrupt but the readers are getting impatient.
Dream: okie dokie! Thorn, would you like to announce the chapter?
Thorn: ^_^ sure! Everyone this is chapter 7: Yume(Dream)
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~*~Autumn's dream:
The little black fox climbed up a tree and curled up into a ball on one of the branches. She knew the fire was getting closer and that it was stupid to hide in a tree but she didn't care. She closed her eyes tightly. She longed for her older brother's company. He said he would always protect her because she was his baby sister so why wasn't he there? Why didn't he pick her up and carry her away from this nightmare? Why couldn't she find the courage to get out of that tree and find her family??? She knew why…it was because she knew it was too late. Deep in her heart she knew…
As the fire drew closer Phantom started to cough. The thick smoke in the air was making her feel faint. She stood shakily to move to a different tree and fell. She lay on the ground in a puddle of foul smelling liquid that she knew as blood. She was too weak and dizzy to move. She lay there waiting for the cold hands of death to come and take her away from her misery. As she lay thinking about how her family and friends had been so completely fooled by the demon that was, at that moment, going on a rampage through the forest making sure that he had gotten every single one of the foxes. She knew that he would then make his way to the other mountains and kill the rest of the Mist Mountain Kitsune.
A sudden flame of anger surged through her. It was so unfair! They had never done anything wrong! Why had the demon targeted them out? She hated the demon for being unjust. She then targeted her anger to herself saying that she should have tried harder to warn them. She knew that he was going to do something bad, she knew! None of the elders had listened to her; they had told her that she was just a pup! That she didn't know what she was talking about! The stranger was so nice to them. He helped them build up the small village. He taught the youngsters of the outside world. It had been him that convinced her brother to leave. That was two years ago. Why now had the stranger decided to attack?
It suddenly hit Phantom. The elders had recently given the stranger a pendant allowing him free access to all the places guarded by kitsune magic. He would slaughter them and take the crystal. One thing still puzzled her, Why were all of the bodies she had found tailless? Their tails were symbols of their age and power…They were the center of the kitsune's energy…Was that it? Had the stranger found some way of stealing their spirits by cutting off their tails? If that was so then the stranger was more powerful than he should have been.
Phantom stood shakily. She shook the blood off of her fur and took off running towards her home. She tripped on something as she ran. She landed face first in the dirt. She looked back. She had tripped on the still form of a young fox about her own size. Phantom gasped, the other fox's cream colored fur was stained with blood and her beautiful cream colored tail gone, but there was no mistake. There on the ground at her feet lay her twin sister, Melody, dead.
~*~End dream sequence~*~
Autumn woke up gasping. She rubbed her head. The dream was so real; she could still smell the blood and smoke. She took a moment to relax before lying back down. How on Earth did Phantom survive so long without killing herself??? These memories are horrible! Autumn felt a wave of sadness from her inner spirit.
A soft whisper echoed around her room. For a moment Autumn thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her but she then caught three words that calmed her spirit immensely, "Don't lose hope…" With that Autumn drifted back into the world of dreams, her thoughts only on the field of muffins before her.
The next day Autumn wasn't as perky as usual. She could still hear the crackle of the fire from her dream, could still see the still form of the cream colored fox before her. Yusuke and Kuwabara decided to leave her alone because she had seemed so edgy the day before. Kurama, on the other hand, refused to leave her be until he found out what was bothering her.
"Go away." Autumn mumbled. She had her head resting on her arms.
"I will do no such thing. What is bothering you, my dove?" Kurama used the nickname in an attempt to soothe her.
"I have a headache, go away." It wasn't completely a lie, she did have a headache.
Kurama put his hand on her shoulder, "I know you're not telling me the whole truth." Autumn mumbled something under her breath that sounded like 'baka kitsune.'
The teacher walked over, "You okay, kiddo?"
"She has a headache." Kurama explained.
"And doctor Shuichi is taking care of her?" Justin Rose smirked. He and Kurama had actually become somewhat friends.
"Everyone go bye-bye now. Autumn wants to go to sleep." Autumn said not moving.
After Mr. Purdy and Justin had left, Kurama whispered to Autumn, "Did you have another dream?"
Autumn was silent for a moment. "Yes." She sighed.
"It'll be alright, Autumn." Kurama said soothingly.
"No. It won't. These memories are horrible. I hate them more than I've ever hated anything. I know now why Phantom tried to block her memories from me…" Autumn's next comment was spoken so softly that Kurama could barely hear it, "I don't know how she was able to carry such a burden for so long without ending her own life."
"Autumn…"
She cut him off with a forced smile, "I'm sorry. I'm making you depressed. We should talk about something else."
Kurama looked at her with worry written clearly on his face, what can I do to help her? ''This is something she'll have to learn to live with on her own. All you can do is listen when she is willing to speak and stay by her side when she is not.' You're right. 'Of course I am.'
"Tomorrow's the big trip." Autumn sighed. I don't know what I'm going to do once we're at the mountain…It'll be torture remembering seeing the aftermath of what happened in my dream…
"Are you sure you want to go? It might be too dangerous."
Kurama smiled as he saw that his comment did exactly what he had wished. "HEY! I thought I told you that I was going to go no matter what! I'm going!" Autumn yelled, her depression quickly forgotten.
Kurama feigned a disappointed sigh. "If you must…"
Autumn smiled. "Yes, I must." She said with the air of someone who has just own an argument.
Autumn and Kurama talked happily for a while. Peter picked up a roll of duck tape and turned to Greg, "What would you do if I taped your mouth shut?"
"You want to? I'll do it! Gimme the tape!" Greg reached out for the tape.
"It was a hypothetical question…"
"I don't care. I'll do it." Greg took a piece of tape and put it over his mouth.
Autumn and Kurama started laughing. Peter also laughed. Greg was walking around for a while with tape on his mouth. Soon Frank came over and Greg taped Frank's hands together. Frank was struggling to open his backpack. Greg went back to the tape and taped his legs together. Autumn, Kurama, and Peter were laughing hysterically now. Hiei, outside the window, arched an eyebrow at the human's stupidity.
James, another 9th grader, offered to tape Greg's hands together. Greg nodded. Soon Greg had his hand taped together behind his back. He started hopping around the room until he fell over onto the floor and started moving around trying to find a way up. Autumn, Kurama, and Peter were in pain form all the laughing. Even Hiei was now laughing, though, of course, nobody knew.
The teacher yelled, "Get him up off the floor and untie him!"
James helped Greg up, but Greg didn't want to be untied. He started trying to hop away. Mr. Purdy yelled again, "Leave the tape on his mouth but take the rest off!" (A.N: this actually happened today…o.O)
After the moment of entertainment Autumn was acting "normal" again. Kurama smiled and was grateful for Greg's stupidity.
That afternoon Autumn contacted Margaret and told her the plans for the trip. Margaret agreed happily and started packing, which reminded Autumn that she still had to pack her own bag. She packed everything she knew she might need. This included extra clothes, her hair combs, etc.
By the time she settled down for bed, she was well prepared for the trip. Little did she know that no amount of packing or planning would prepare her for what was going to happen the next day…
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Chuchu: YAY! CLIFFIE!!!!! ^_^
Thorn: o.O you're not supposed to be happy about that…
Chuchu: …why not?
Dariken: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Dream: *claps pots lids together next to Dariken's ears.
Dariken: O_O AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M AWAKE!!!!!!!! I'M AWAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dream: ^_^
Thorn: Was that really necessary?
Dream: Yes, yes it was.