Night Wind
By: Wilona Riva
Disclaimer: Butch Hartman does; I don't.
Tennyson
"You should have seen it, Kwan!" Dash crowed at the A-List's lunch table a few days later. "Mr. Lancer wanted to know why he was crying and all Fenturd could stammer was 'I, I, I...' Man, it was hilarious."
Kwan frowned. "May be it touched a cord somewhere in his past?"
"Pfft," Dash said, waving him off.
Mikey felt sorry for the new kid. Word in the grapevine was he was a ghost the Fentons caught sneaking around the lab the night the lights went out in Georgia. Georgia was Nathan's code word for Amity Park, due to the weird amount of peach-scented crap the local shops sold. Personally, he thought it was all hooey. He turned and looked over at the new kid who was staring at the huge salad that had been dumped on his plate. The Goth is taking over; he'd better watch out for the meat junkie's revenge.
"Too normal to be a ghost," he muttered.
"You say something, nerd? one of the jocks muttered.
"No, sir, just wanted to give Mr. Baxter his completed assignment for Coach Tetslaff," he whimpered, assuming the subservient posture he'd adopted when talking to the elite of Casper High.
"Thanks, dork," Dash said, jumping in to cut the kid a break. Sure he was mean to the guy, but it wouldn't kill him to be nice once in a while to his homework mule. "I'd better get an A on it."
"I did my best, sir," Mikey replied softly.
"Then get out of here," Paulina chimed from the seat across from Dash. "You're scaring my nail polish."
Mikey bowed and tripped over his laces. Kwan snickered and gave Star a high-five.
Phantom growled, a bit of a green glow in his blue eyes. Night Wind do not treat others in such a rude manner. He had an American Sign Language book open next to his tray and was practicing some of the signs, while simultaneously, staring at the salad Sam had put on his plate.
"I know, Danny," Sam replied, guessing at some of the signs he was improvising on. "You're way too fast at learning this."
"He's had practice, Sam," Tucker answered. "Eat some meat, dude; protein is brain food."
Phantom scowled and shoved a lettuce leaf in his mouth to keep from retorting to Sam's quiet comment about the Night Wind's treatment of the Ryu being no better than Dash's treatment of Mikey.
"That's beside the point," she added. "Danny, when Mr. Lancer was reciting Crossing the Bar, you were crying . Did you ever get to meet the ghost of Alfred Lord Tennyson when you lived in the Ghost Zone?"
"No," he mumbled out loud for their benefit. "I was crying because I remembered."
"It was Night Wind's favorite poem," Clockwork explained to Ain, the Observant as the scene went blank. "Before the Dragon Wars, he used to come often to me to borrow my copy."
"Ah," she noted. "Phantom meant something else, though."
"Aye," came the confirmation.
"What was he remembering?"
"The beginning," the answer came, as the next scene unfolded.
"How is your homework coming , sweetie?"
"Almost done, Mom," Mikey replied, trying to ignore the aggravating itching he was feeling; the dark runes were back again and he was wearing short sleeves tonight.
The movement of his arms, raised his sleeves long enough for his mother's attention to be drawn to them. "Emerson Michael Elias, what have your father and I told you about the evils of tattoos?"
"They're not tattoos, Mom," he protested, yanking his arm back. "They itch like crazy and come and go. Nathan and I have tried every rune generator and book out on the Web and in the libraries at school and in town and we can't crack it. They only come out when a ghost is present."
His mother frowned, and let it pass. She reached out and pulled a lock of his fading red hair for scrutiny. "Haircut and color tomorrow. I'll make the appointment in the morning."
"What's so weird about having a normal hair color?" Mikey asked. "You and Dad keep shoving normality down my throat. First, the stupid diet change, then I find out I'm adopted, and now the same cut and dye job I have to get every two weeks. I'm sick of it."
"White is not a normal hair color for one you're age," she replied. "As for the diet, I'll talk to your father and maybe we can find some middle ground. How about you come help me pick out the ingredients for dinner that will agree with your idea of a diet?"
"Veggie and cheese pizza?"
"Sounds good to me."
Mikey looked in the mirror as he followed her out the room.
Who am I?
Ain watched the scene flicker briefly to a scene later that night of a ryu tuning her guitar in the park, while Phantom and a grey-skinned teenage ghost floated down to meet her.
"He's full of surprises, isn't he?"
"The Night Queen's phantoms hide many secrets," the Clockwork Chronos Wind