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Chapter 2 – Shade

I was somewhere else when I woke up, or at least that's what it looked like. I couldn't tell, for sure. It didn't feel like I'd moved. I was lying just the same way I'd been before, the grass crushed all around me, but there was something about the trees.

They weren't the same trees.

I don't know how else to say it. They were in the same places, but they weren't so high anymore. They didn't block out the sun as much, just kept me in the shade. I'd think I was going crazy, but I'm already here, alone in a place beyond death surrounded by shapeshifting trees and oddly benevolent wolves. I'm not sure there's that much crazy left to go.

I got up slowly. There didn't seem to be any hurry. I'd died once, after all. How much worse could it really get?

I took a look around but there really wasn't anything else to see. It was the same thing in every direction; patterned, in a way that it really shouldn't have been. It was made, grown, not left to ramble, but it still didn't tell me anything. Not who grew it or why, not where they were or where I am, or why.

What am I supposed to do?

I whispered it at first, then shouted it, hoarse and crying, but nothing answered no matter how many times I tried. Eventually the birds started to sing again. There was nothing else out here. I was alone.

After a while, I started to walk. I just picked a direction at random. I didn't know where I was, and I didn't feel like waiting around long enough to see which way the sun was moving. Straight was as good a direction as any.

I didn't find anything. There was nothing new to see. More trees, more birds... A noise. Maybe I'd heard it before, I don't know. But there was something about it that made going closer seem like a bad idea.

After a while, I started to run.

The forest lasted longer than my breath. I slowed down, panting, and again there was nothing to see and just birdsong in my ears. I couldn't run if it came again, not anywhere worth running. Gradually the birds grew quiet. I stood still, muscles tensed. Nothing moved.

"H... Hello?" I whispered, but it seemed at least as loud as the beating of my heart. Why did I do that? What kind of suicidal impulse is that, trying to will the unknown into something that will answer back with words rather than tooth or claw?

But this time it did.

There were two of them, and I could just barely see them through the leaves. There was no time to think it through, to wonder what it meant, as they were already coming, already pushing through the branches between us.

"Hey, wait! It's okay!" The one in the front was doing the talking. He was tall and muscular, but I was taller, and his hair was blond to my black. His voice was loud. I couldn't think of anything to say. "I thought I saw you before," he said, his eyes narrowing, close enough now for us to talk comfortably. "What's wrong? I'm not gonna hurt you."

"I thought I... Never mind." I shook my head. What on earth was there to say?

"Well, don't, alright?" He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I'm Terry," he said, extending his hand.

"Alex," I replied. After a moment, I shook it. I tried moving my mouth, but nothing else came out. He was looking around with a sense of wonder.

"I just can't believe this place, y'know?" His voice was so different from mine. What did he think it was? What did he know that I missed? "It's just too good to be true." He grinned, suddenly embarrassed, and turned his eyes back to me. "Sorry, I've just... been waiting for this. For a long time."

"I..." Waiting for what? I wanted to ask—What is this? Where are we?—but my mouth hadn't caught up with my brain.

"Right! Well. I guess... I... should... figure out where we're going!" He turned to look at one of the trees beside me, walked up to it and put his hand on it for a moment before chuckling in approval. He turned back over his shoulder to look at me and smiled reassuringly. "I'll be back in a minute or two!" he said, and started to climb the damn thing.

I guess I kept staring for a while as he disappeared up the trunk, because when I felt something brush against my upper arm, it was like I'd been shocked. I whirled around, telling myself that I could face whatever the hell lived in this forest, but there was just a girl.

"I'm sorry...!" She had jumped back, but was now standing motionless, her wide eyes staring into mine. Her voice was hardly louder than a breath. "I needed to know if you were real."

I reached out and slowly placed my hand over hers. I tried to smile. She bowed her head at the touch, looking down at the ground.

"I don't even know what happened. We were driving home and then... lights, and everything started spinning, and when it stopped I couldn't feel my legs and my father wasn't breathing. I didn't know anything could hurt that much, but it stopped, and I was here, but it wasn't here." She stopped, willing me to say something, to know something, but I didn't, and more words tumbled out of her.

"It was like a painting. It was here, but it wasn't a real place, and then he came and made it real, and now I'm here and it doesn't hurt anymore but I don't know what it is. I don't know what I am." I held her hand tightly, and she gripped back. It felt real, the first real thing in a long time.

"I'm Alex," I said, "and until I met you I thought I was dead." Her head snapped up to look at me again, and somehow she ended up in my arms. Not crying, not laughing, nothing like that, just holding me as I held her, the last solid things left. After a while, she backed away, grinning cautiously through her long, dark hair.

"Thank you," she said. She inclined her head upwards. "He didn't... I didn't know what to say. My name's Mitsuko. I-Oh!" I took a step back. A small brown and grey bird had flown down from above and landed on her shoulder. Its talons dug into her skin, but her smile was wider than any she'd given me.

"It was in the... the painting. I didn't know if it would come back!" She reached up with her other hand and rubbed its neck. It preened. She turned to look at me again, and this time her eyes were alive and dancing. "Want to figure out where we're going?"

I blinked.

"Watch this." The bird suddenly shot upwards, winging its way through the canopy until I lost sight of it in the branches. She let out a sudden snort of laughter before her eyes glazed over. A noise behind us caused us both to turn. The blond boy was there, a few feet up the tree. Something hardened in his expression. Automatically, almost guiltily, I let go of Mitsuko's hand and took a step away from her, surprised to find her doing the same. A moment passed. He was slow to speak.

"There's a mountain—"

"—over there," the girl interrupted, pointing. "And over there," she turned and swept her hand in the other direction, "it looks like ocean." I hadn't noticed, but the bird was back, perching on her other hand. There was real anger in the boy's face, now. I could see him gritting his teeth, snarling, but he was interrupted again by a noise I had heard before, but a lot louder.

A lot closer.

We all started to run.

I could feel the noise as well as hear it. It pulsed through me, coming from everywhere and nowhere, until it got louder. Then I knew it was coming from behind us. I looked over my shoulder in time to see the trees part and a monstrous insect appear between them, flying just above the ground. Its wings were blurs that were longer than my arm. It was gaining.

"Go!" I yelled. "I know this thing. I've got a plan!" I don't know if they heard me, but they kept running. I turned around and stood my ground. It stopped about thirty feet away from me, landing heavily, clicking its legs and fangs. It was bigger than anything I'd ever seen before. My hand flew to my hip and closed on the handle of a knife that I didn't even know I had. It's cold and I'm afraid.

I don't have a plan.

A/N: I can't work out how much to put here. I could probably fill this up for ages talking about where I'm going and what I'm doing with the story, but I think it's better to let it speak for itself. This chapter is quite a bit longer than the first, and I rewrote most of it at least once. I haven't worked out any ideal length or update schedule, mostly because I wrote and posted the first chapter more or less in one night, and didn't really expect to get that done.

All feedback is welcome, but all questions might not be answered. Oh, and I'm going to stick the date in here, because I hate it when I'm reading something and there's no indication of when previous updates were posted.

~01/07/12