The previous episode and this episode take place in one night, but I didn't want to do that. I wanted to stretch it out a bit and include some bonding and planning, so here we go. Happy Winter Solstice! Hope everyone is having a good time this holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

"Said goodbye to you my friend

As the fire spread

All that's left are your bones

That will soon sink like stones"

Your Bones by Of Monsters and Men

I woke to the feeling of pain and looked up to see Scott holding me, resetting my arm, and taking the pain away. My brain and thoughts were fogged and clogged as my eyes focused, and my body throbbed. And the events came rushing back moments later with some of the pieces filled in by Scott.

We went to Oak Creek in search of Lydia who had been taken by the nogitsune. Noshiko and the Oni beat us here, wanting to kill the nogitsune, which wouldn't be a bad thing if it didn't seem like Stiles was having his life force drained by the monster, meaning they were still connected in some way. But while we were standing off against Noshiko, Void was able to switch control of the Oni over to him, and he used them to draw the others away from me. I fought against the nogitsune.

Though it wasn't much of a fight so much as it was me getting my ass kicked.

Right as Void was going to stab me in the gut with my own weapon, Allison shot an arrow at an Oni, and it turned into a shadow. Then, in the brief moment of shock, a different Oni stabbed Allison, and the rest were recalled by the nogitsune.

Allison died.

I knew what I should have felt. Sadness. Despair. Guilt. But I didn't feel any of it. Only emptiness.

By the time the police had arrived, my surface bruises and cuts had healed, and Boyd, Kira, and Stiles had left at the behest of Chris to make our story as believable as possible.

Two assailants, he told us to say. Two injured. One deceased.

And it wasn't me.

I thought it would be me. The nogitsune had been prepared to strike, to sink my kunai into my stomach and feed off my pain while I bled with the Oni distracting the rest. But Allison killed one. Somehow. And Void retreated with the Oni.

The only reason I could think of was how Void must have been just as surprised as the rest of us. When I had killed an Oni, he seemed to expect it, treasure it, take sick pleasure from it and how I couldn't replicate it. How none of the other kitsune could replicate it either. Like a taunt. A final laugh. But Allison had made a keima, a knight's move, an effective attack used to diminish the running space of a group in Go. And it had worked.

And then, just like the night outside the animal clinic, the Oni took the chance to attack in retaliation, that time managing to hit their target, unlike previous.

Isaac had already been downed, so all he could do after the Oni stabbed Allison was catch her as she fell. Down went our knight as the opposing king retreated with his forces, leaving the rest of us to watch as she died.

I didn't hear her dying words, too far away with blood pounding in my ears as I passed out from the pain and lack of oxygen.

The reality of the situation set in slowly, and those who could stand had to pick up the pieces. I hid my chain dart in my jacket. Lydia collected the discarded arrows and handed them off to Boyd before collapsing on her knees at Allison's side. Boyd got Kira and Stiles out of there. Scott took away my pain as my body did its best to heal; he always seemed to be doing that. And Chris managed to coach those of us who remained to repeat a simple story that we could remember and be prepared to repeat and repeat and repeat.

When the police and ambulance arrived, we were ready to share our stories.

It was dark. Two people tried to steal our car, Allison's car. They wore masks. We saw something sharp and metallic. Isaac and I were attacked. We saw Allison fall. They ran off. It happened so fast. It all happened so fast.

The paramedics cleared each of us, though they did want to bring Isaac and me to the hospital at first. We protested, said we were fine, said we wanted to go to the station with Scott and Lydia. Our wounds were healing, slowly but surely, but at least on the outside they seemed healed even if they still had longer to go on the inside. At best we looked roughed up and sleep-deprived, neither of which were lies.

At the station, we were each questioned individually by Sheriff Stilinski and Deputy Parrish, lasting until almost dawn. Each of our parents were called too, well, except Isaac's. Melissa placed Isaac and Scott in Agent McCall's care when Scott talked to her on the phone. I assumed he briefly explained what he could, that she didn't need to leave work, that he would explain everything as best he could later. But mine and Lydia's moms arrived as quickly as they could. Once Lydia was done with her report, she left with her mom, going home for rest.

Isaac was the last to be questioned, and Scott and I sat on the bench outside of Noah's office with my mom kneeling in front of me, rubbing my knee. She didn't seem to know what to say. I didn't know what to say either. Scott couldn't seem to talk, staring at the floor in front of him. And I didn't know what Chris had been doing, only that he joined us outside the office just a few moments before Isaac had finished being questioned.

Then Noah said we were free to go.

The time seemed to blur as Isaac decided to leave with Chris instead of returning to the McCall house, and Scott took up the offer from my mom to bring him home instead of getting a ride from his dad. Whatever Agent Douchebag and Scott had talked about prior to us leaving for Oak Creek seemed to put a damper on what little of a relationship they had been trying to establish since Douchebag had been told about Scott's werewolf-itude. So, Mom drove Scott and me.

With the three of us alone in the car, my mom felt comfortable enough to ask, "What really happened?" It took her a while to work up to that point, and I assume she only decided to because neither of us seemed to be willing to volunteer the information without prodding.

I looked at Scott in the back seat, but he hadn't seemed to hear her question as he stared out the window, so I answered, "The nogitsune now controls the Oni."

Mom's hands clenched around the wheel, and then she relaxed them with a sigh, willing herself to stay calm and collected. "Then he got Noshiko's last tail and used it to change their allegiance," she told us. I looked at her, happy to know my theory had been correct but also curious if she had more to say. "Nogitsune are creatures of darkness, and so are Oni. Not that he needs them to create havoc."

"He has three now," Scott added, his voice scratchy and hoarse. I glanced back to see him still staring out the window with empty eyes, but looking lower, I noticed his hands curling into fists. He still had some fight left in him. "One less than before. Allison killed one."

"Seriously?" my mom said. "How?"

"She shot it with an arrow." Scott tore his gaze from the window, turning to face me and my mom in the front. "I don't know why it was different."

"Maybe Chris will figure it out," I said. "He knows more about hunting supernatural creatures than the rest of us."

Scott nodded. "Hopefully."

When Mom pulled in front of Scott's house, I had intended to get into my car that I had left there and drive it home, but I paused before closing my mom's car door, and my eyes settled on Scott's back as he walked up to his front door. Leaving him alone didn't seem right. I may have had a decent friendship with Allison, but he loved her, and she was gone. Whatever Chris, Scott, Isaac, and Lydia were feeling was a hundred times worse than the rest of us, except perhaps Stiles who felt responsible for it all.

I looked at Mom, and she seemed to know what I was thinking before I had even thought. She gestured to Scott with her head and gave me a gentle smile.

I returned the smile and nodded then closed the door.

"Scott!" I called out, jogging around up the walkway as Scott opened the front door. I heard my mom's car pull away from the curb and drive off behind me. She wasted no time.

Scott turned just inside the doorway with confusion written on his face. "Yeah?"

I took in a slow breath then said, "You shouldn't be alone."

I couldn't read his change in expression then. I couldn't tell if he was relieved or grateful, sad or anxious, annoyed or curious, or even simply tired. Try as I might to read his emotions, he had a better grasp of mine than I did of his unless they were obvious. He usually displayed his emotions on his sleeve, but the hidden ones were harder to discern, like whatever he felt the moment he heard my offer. I could see his thoughts swirling in his eyes, but what they meant, I had no idea.

That is until he decided to speak, then he went back to being obvious.

He took a few moments before stammering out, "I-I'm okay." Awkward Scott McCall trying to play off his own troubles.

"No, you're not." I gave him a soft, reassuring smile. "And it's okay not to be."

I took a tentative step forward and wrapped my arms around his torso, hugging him. For a moment, it felt odd hugging him. The only time I could remember initiating a hug with him was after he had defeated the Darach and saved us all from suffocation in the cellar under the Nemeton. Then he hugged me after learning his dad was trying to get Stiles' dad fired as well as how a teenage girl was trapped in the body of a coyote, and he didn't know how to deal with either of those situations.

Then after a few seconds, Scott wrapped his arms around me, returning the hug that I didn't know I needed. Truth be told, as much as I didn't want him to be alone or to wallow in his guilt, I didn't want to be alone either. I think that's what he figured out as we stood there embracing as though we were scared the other would drop any second.

His whispered words reached my ears. "I was so scared."

"I was too."

"No, I—" He took in a sharp breath. "Stiles could hardly walk. Isaac and Boyd were cut up. Allison fell. Then I saw you lying there and thought. . ." His grip on the hug tightened, growing desperate and shaky. He thought I had died, too. That two people had died and he hadn't been there to stop it.

"I'm okay," I tried to reassure.

"It's okay not to be," he repeated back to me, seeing through my white lie.

And he was right. I didn't feel okay. Each blow dealt by Void could still be felt by my body. I didn't want to think about it. But physical pain was temporary. Mental pain lasted.

"Can we go inside?" I asked quietly.

Feeling him nod, he left the hug before I did, albeit slowly, his hand lingering on my arm. He moved to the side, let me into the house, and shut the door behind me.

I followed Scott upstairs to his room.

Just a few hours ago, we had an escaped banshee sitting on his bed directing us to where Lydia was being held. Turns out, maybe we should have heeded Lydia's warning to not find her, but at the same time, we couldn't in good standing leave her alone with a nogitsune. If we didn't try and save her, there was a very real possibility she would have died instead of Allison since Void still would have used Noshiko's final tail to take control of the Oni. And Allison would never leave Lydia to die even if it meant her own death.

Scott sat down on the edge of his bed, roughly took off his shoes, tossed them aside, then set elbows on his knees, leaning forward on them. I could only imagine what was going through his head. What if we hadn't gone? What if he hadn't split up with us? What if he had gotten back to the group sooner? He would wear the weight of the world on his shoulders if he could just to keep it off the rest of us.

I sat down next to him and said, "Drowning yourself with what if's won't help."

"I know." He sighed and shook his head. "I can't help it." He set his chin on his hands. "It's all I can think about." Scott closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them again and picking up his head to look at me. "Thank you for staying."

"Of course, Scotty." I set my hand on his shoulder. "Like I said, you shouldn't be alone. Not after what happened. It's probably why Isaac went with Chris when he could've come back here."

Scott nodded, and his eyes drifted back to the floor, setting his chin on his hands again.

"Is it bad to feel as terrible as I do?" he asked, speaking quieter than before. "To feel as guilty and responsible? Stiles is dying. Argent lost his daughter. She was saving Isaac." It sounded as though he was berating himself for missing her, for being affected by her death. Like he thought he shouldn't feel as guilty and sad and desperate as he did.

But that was the shitty thing about emotions. You can't choose what you feel.

"That doesn't mean you're not allowed to feel anything," I said gently, my thumb lightly rubbing over his jacket. "That's what's so great about you. You feel for everyone. Wholly and deeply. I'd be more concerned if you didn't feel anything."

"Things were so much easier before the bite," he mumbled.

I couldn't argue with that. He may not have been popular or had as many friends, but he had Stiles and his mom. No one was fighting or dying. There were fewer life-threatening problems to deal with. All he had to worry about were his grades and his job.

"Do you wish you could go back?" I couldn't help but ask.

Scott stayed silent, pondering the question, and I let him. It was a difficult question to answer. I didn't know how I would answer if I were in his position. As a member of the supernatural community even before he had, I probably would have been dragged into all these messes regardless, even if they would have looked different, but as a human, he wouldn't have been.

Then he decided, "No. No, I wouldn't go back. Despite everything, I don't think I could go back to before I got the bite. Without the bite, I wouldn't have ever met Allison, Derek, or Kira. I wouldn't have more friends, a pack. I wouldn't be trying to reconcile with my dad." A half-hearted huff left him as he let a small smile settle. "I wouldn't be good at lacrosse." I smiled at the amusing little addition, then he lifted his head and looked at me. "You wouldn't be sitting here."

Yeah, I wouldn't, would I? I may have been his tutor freshman year, but that was it. We weren't friends. We didn't talk outside of classwork. All I had was Isaac. As good as that was, it had no competition against what I had now. Isaac no longer had to fear his father. Boyd was no longer alone. Riichi and Cora came back since they heard Derek had become an alpha, as short as that lasted. My parents and I were reconciling from our years at odds. And I had friends. I had a pack.

Foxes don't run in wolf packs, but I did. I had a pack. One to protect.

Sure, maybe we could have saved Erica or Allison by doing something different or attempted a different route when dealing with the Alpha Pack or the Darach, but I suppose it's no use looking to the past or dwelling on what we could have done. We still had something to protect.

"And I don't plan on being anywhere else," I said with a nod.

"Neither do I." His gentle, secure smile then became tainted by something akin to amusement as he spoke again. "But you might want to reconsider because you smell like blood and look like The Walking Dead."

I couldn't help the punch to his arm, but the little laugh he could muster was nice to hear.

Scott gave me a shirt and pair of shorts to wear, and I took a shower to wash off the blood and sweat that had accumulated from the fight. The heat of the water didn't beat the comfort of the hug from earlier, but it was pretty damn close, helping ease the tension and aches from my joints. And I didn't realize I had healed cuts on my arms from the fight until I washed the blood off me.

After finishing the shower, I dried off, got dressed, and wiped down the foggy mirror in order to check my reflection.

As my eyes locked onto my reflection, they drifted down to my throat. The bruise had healed, but I could still feel Void's hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing tighter and tighter. My chain digging into my skin. His nails drawing drops of blood. The difficulty to breathe. The pain coursing through my body. The cold of the blood in my veins. Black spots dancing in my eyes.

A sharp knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts. My eyes flashed orange as I took in a gulp of air and felt the throbbing of my pulse.

"Sara, you okay?" Scott asked through the door.

I quickly pulled my hair up into a decent but wet ponytail then opened the door, seeing Scott standing there with blatant concern. He must have heard the rise of my heartbeat or the smell of anxiety. With a friend like Stiles, he had to have gotten used to both by now.

"I'm fine," I tried to dismiss, rubbing my throat, but then I sighed, knowing it was pointless to lie to him. "You know I'm not. Don't look at me like that." Passing by him to leave his bathroom, I stopped in my tracks when the tips of his fingers brushed against my forearm, and I looked at him. "I'll be okay."

That seemed to quell at least some of his concerns for the time being.

Scott nodded and dropped his arm, moving on with the conversation. "You can take the bed. I'll take the floor."

"You're insane. I'm not hijacking your bed," I argued.

"And I'm not making a guest sleep on the floor or couch," he countered. "Especially not after the night we just had."

"You're impossible."

"So are you."

We eyed each other. Just two stubborn people not wanting to back down, neither of us wanting to take the bed from the other. But with a quick glance at it, I realized it was perfectly big enough for two people to share.

"Sleep with me." It took me a moment to realize how that sounded. I shook my head, blinking. "That came out wrong."

Scott looked like he was holding back a laugh. "Sure, I'll sleep with you."

"Shut up, Scott. Get on the bed." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I'm making it worse. Just lay down."

"I'm not sure that makes it any better either," he said, rocking on his heels, "but it does make me feel better about what I said in the kitchen that one night."

Good with your hands. Oh, I remembered that clearly. We need to stop making a habit of saying innuendos after life-threatening fights though.

I spared him an unamused glance as we both moved to either side of the bed and laid down. Curling on my side under the warm blanket wearing baggy clothes gave me a sense of relief and ease that I don't remember feeling since after Deucalion and the Darach had been dealt with. Though some of the tension and unease still remained considering we hadn't beaten the nogitsune yet. But my body didn't care. It was exhausted, as was my brain, but despite that, I didn't know if I would be able to fall asleep.

And Scott seemed to notice.

He had laid down on his side as well, facing me, but where I had curled into a ball, he had splayed out as best he could without encroaching on my space. He should've just let me sleep on the floor or couch downstairs without argument if he liked to take up space when sleeping. But knowing he was right there helped with the alleviation of tension.

Something about him always managed to fill me with calm.

The only light on in the room was the lamp behind him, though sunlight from the dawn began filtering in through the windows. It had been an exhausting night, and now the night was over, ready for a new day. As hopeful as that may have sounded, the new day would turn into night, and the nogitsune with his new Oni would come out to play again.

"You can't sleep, can you?" Scott asked quietly, looking into my eyes.

"I don't know," I replied at the same level.

He was quiet for a few moments then spoke again. "Have you heard his voice?"

I looked away and picked at a loose thread on the pillowcase. "Not since last night."

"What'd he say?" Scott asked, reaching out and setting his hand over mine.

The movement got me to look back at him. "The usual. Taunts about my abilities." I sighed. "And he said we have no tesuji left."

"Tesuji?" Scott repeated. His eyebrows knitted together.

"Good plays."

"But the game isn't over yet."

"He might as well have us in atari."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," he reassured.

I raised an eyebrow, eyeing him skeptically. "You don't even know what atari means."

"Based on your tone, I assume it's not the video game company and that it's a bad thing that might mean we're about to lose."

I shrugged with an agreeable hum. His guess was close enough.

Scott shook his head and shifted to lean on his elbow. "Anyway, even if we lack good plays, we might still have plays. There has to be something we can still try. Even if it's a longshot."

An idea flickered in my brain. Not necessarily for what we can do about the nogitsune but what we could do if we were playing Go. "Divine move."

"What?" he asked.

"A divine move," I repeated, the corner of my mouth quirking up as I sat up. "It's an exceptional, out-of-the-box move that Go players can only hope to play once in a lifetime."

"What would that even look like?"

As a novice in the game of Go, it was understandable Scott wouldn't quite see how that could play out on a board with innumerable possibilities and outcomes.

"Games like chess or checkers are about capturing your opponent's pieces or one specific piece," I explained. "But Go is all about gaining influence and territories. That's why the board opening is so important: it determines where your starting influences and territories are and where you'll want to concentrate your efforts. But sometimes you'll make a mistake, like responding to a move by your opponent when it would have been better to gain more ground."

"And that's all we've done," he said. "We've only been responding to Noshiko or the nogitsune's moves."

I held a finger up. "But we have influence and territories. Influence and territories that neither of them has. Their only territories are Oak Creek and Eichen. That's where they had the advantage, but now, Noshiko has no advantage. No stones, no territories, no influence because Void took it. Void needed to capture Noshiko's stones so she couldn't use them against him, but that means, if he is treating this like a game of Go, he'll use the Oni to gain influence and capture territories, not individual pieces, not until he has the territories we have."

He nodded slowly, coming to understand what I was saying. "And we have the rest of the town. The animal clinic, school, hospital, Sheriff's Station." His head began to dip as a despaired expression cast over his face. "He's going to move against those places next."

"Exactly," I agreed.

Scott's head shot up, eyes showing desperation to figure out a play to counter the nogitsune. "So how do we move?"

"Uh, okay, let's see. . ." I trailed off, trying to think of what I would do if my mom was trying to take over my influences on the goban. Then I changed my tactic. What I would do is start a fight, but that was definitely not what we should do.

Looking around the room, I quickly grabbed one of Scott's notebooks and a pen sitting on his desk before settling back down on the bed. He sat up, folding his legs under him as I opened the notebook to a blank page. I drew out a quick, sloppy square and split it into quadrants to mimic a goban. Then in each quadrant, I wrote down Clinic, School, Hospital, and Station.

"Okay," I started, looking up at Scott, "at the very least, we need to fortify our territories by placing our stones at key points. The territories you listed are the ones most important to us, so those will be what he hits." Under Clinic, I wrote Deaton. Under Hospital, I wrote Melissa. Under Station, I wrote Noah and Agent. And I left School blank since we were technically the ones that fortify it, so we didn't count.

"Is Agent my dad?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, I thought writing out douchebag might be a bit much." I waved my hand. "Anyway, these are who hold the territories. The entire pack still in school holds that territory, so it has the most protection and the most liberties."

"Which means that will be what he hits last," Scott said. "Since it will take the most effort."

"Right, so we need to divvy out our spare stones to the other territories. Extend an even number of spaces, then your opponent won't know where to invade." I looked at the piece of paper and crappy drawing as the sense of hopelessness at our planning started to set in. Throwing my hands up with a sigh, I shook my head. "Or maybe it won't matter either way and he'll manage to take them all since this isn't actually a game of Go."

"Don't," he cut in, giving me a stern look. "Let's just start with this, okay?" His gaze softened and I went with it.

"I know, I know." Adjusting my grip on the pen, I wrote as I talked. "If we send Boyd to the station, they'll have at least one werewolf for protection. And with his ROTC background, he can be there under the guise of asking Noah questions about being in the military without looking out of place. Then for the hospital, we should send Chris and Isaac. You know, grieving father, supportive boyfriend, and all that jazz." I muttered that last bit, but Scott still probably heard. "Then for the clinic, we should at least send Riichi. He already works there. And with everything going on, I'm going to drag my mom into this and have her go there, too."

"Are you sure she'll agree to that?" Scott asked.

I tilted my head. "Well, considering that if we don't beat the nogitsune she'll either die or be forced to leave town, then yeah, she'll agree."

He nodded. "That's a good point, as much as I hate to admit it. So, what about Derek and the twins?"

"The hospital is out since the twins and Isaac don't get along, and Derek hanging around the station with his past probably wouldn't be a good idea."

"They should go to the school then," Scott decided. "The clinic already has some basic defenses against the Oni with the Mountain Ash barrier, and we'll need a real presence if the rest of us aren't there."

I nodded and wrote down Derek, Ethan, and Aiden in the School quadrant.

"Which leaves five of us," I said. "Me, you, Kira, Lydia, and Stiles."

Scott took a moment to think before deciding, "I don't think Stiles or Lydia should leave my side. With the nogitsune using them both, they shouldn't be sent away to one place, especially not any place we know will get attacked. But we can't leave them alone and defenseless either. And Noshiko might be right about a fox and a wolf working together to defeat the nogitsune, so Kira should go with Boyd or Isaac, and I'd feel a lot better with you by my side."

I couldn't help the smile pricking at my lips nor the tight feeling in my chest.

The way he sounded so sincere and earnest, it almost didn't matter what we were planning or discussing. He could make walking through Hell sound doable. But after what had happened, I didn't know if I was the best person to go up against the nogitsune with him.

"I know that look," Scott said quietly.

"I just. . ." I looked down at my hands, picking at my nails. "If he can turn the Oni, use flies to control our friends, slap me around like a ragdoll, what else can he do? And what can we do? We have no idea how Allison killed an Oni. We have no idea if killing the nogitsune will kill Stiles. We have. . . we have no idea."

A hand was set on top of mine, stopping the picking at my nails, and I looked up at Scott.

"We'll figure it out," he reassured. "We'll keep trying." Scott's fingers curled around my own, in a comforting, warm grip. "There's something I've been meaning to ask."

When he paused, I could feel nerves set in since he seemed unsure if he should ask, but I couldn't tell what his uncertainty was surrounding. Whether it was the question itself or who it was directed at.

"Before the nogitsune separated himself and Stiles," Scott started, tentatively meeting my gaze, "when he was paralyzed, he called you something. A hakaimono. It affected you more than the other word, and you wouldn't explain what it meant. So, what. . . what does it mean?"

Taking in a slow breath, I said, "Destroyer." Void's words as he held me up by my throat repeated in my mind. "That I'm born to burn the world down. To burn the world and let the darkness spread."

"You're not." Scott's grip tightened around my hand. "It doesn't matter if your abilities fit with his. You get to choose what you do with them. You're not a destroyer. Sara, trust me when I say you're not."

"I hope you're right."

Tesuji – a clever play in Go

Atari – near equivalent to "check" in chess, when a group of stones has only one liberty and may be captured; technically means "about to win"

Goban – a Go board

Hakaimono – destroyer