Hi! I'm back from a hiatus, and decided to update this story. I doubt anyone's keeping up with this anymore, but if you are, here's a new one just for you.

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Wednesday didnt look up. "You say that like you didn't enjoy my parties when you were younger." He traced a line on the map. Shadow took a left turn, riding by a sign that proclaimed 'Lakeside, next five miles.' The sign made it look like a grand place, though from experience Shadow knew it wasnt really.

"Haven't really been anywhere for the past few thousand years." Shadow raised a eyebrow. "But who's fault is that?"

It seemed like a rhetorical question, and the awkward silence that followed suggested that perhaps there was an answer, but nobody wanted to say it. The rest of the car ride was ridden in quietness.

--

They arrived at Lakeside around midday. The sun was beating down from above like some infernal torturer (a drastic change from the weather they had left behind), and everyone in the car was in various degrees of uncomfortableness . Fenny in the back was flipping around, obviously trying to find the cool spot on the leather seats, while Wednesday was outwardly calm, the little trickle of sweat on his neck the only indication that he was hot as well. Shadow, meanwhile, was halfway to chugging his water like his life depended on it.

Then the Lakeside sign appeared, welcoming them to the small town that Shadow considered his home now. He turned left, and the familiar rooftops appeared in his sight. Some he wasn't quite sure who they belonged to, others he had been in. Whatever the case, they were a comforting sight. Shadow pulled to a stop on the bridge near the bus stop, the old breaks squeaking and probably alerting half the town that they were here.

"How long'll we be here?" Fenny asked, leaning in through Shadows window to look at Wednesday. He had jumped out of the car almost as soon as they had stopped, and seemed anxious to get going. Shadow recalled Wednesdays comment about him 'running free like he used to.' Perhaps he meant literally.

Wednesday traced his finger along the map, not bothering to look up. "You'll be here until I need you." He glanced up at Fenny with a 'why are you still here?' kind of look.

Fenny huffed. "Right, right." He seemed like he wanted to say more, but refrained himself. "Well then come on, Shadow. Let's get out of this infernal heat." He waved over his shoulder for Shadow to follow, stopping on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. Shadow was quick to follow, the wind that breezed past him as he walked welcomed greatly. "See ya, old man!" Fenny called it over his shoulder as the car drove away, any response lost to the road.

"Are you related?" Shadow ventured. He was curious about this newcomer. Other than a name, he knew almost nothing.

Fenny looked at him, and then frowned at his hands. "You know how hard it is to keep track of family these days? Everything's always changing."

Shadow raised an eyebrow. Fenny sighed. "Yes, we're related.. though not by blood?" The teen cocked his head. "He's more of an adopted uncle than anything else." Shadows mouth formed an 'ah.' "I see," He said, even though he didnt.

Fenny laughed. "No you dont, but who cares? Come on. Let's go get out of the heat."

--

Fenny had settled in rather nicely to Lakeside, and the residents were charmed immediately. The boys mood seemed to change the farther away Wednesday got, and by that night Fenny had a bag of pasty's, on the house, stored in the fridge and a content grin on his face as he ate one.

"Is Fenny your real name?" Shadow ventured, sipping a hot coco as he poured over the book of Herodotus he had gotten from his landlady. He'd read it in prison, of course, but that had seemed like a life time ago.

"Nah," said Fenny, looking up from the pasty. "Its a nickname, one I didnt quite grow out of. We never did get properly introduced, did we? Everything's been kinda rushed since the old man picked me up." Fenny stuck out a hand. "Fenrir Lokison, at your service."

Shadow shook it with a raised eyebrow. "Like the wolf," he said, remembering an old children's book his mother had read to him as a little boy.

Fenrirs grin was more than a little devious. "Exactly like the wolf."