Thanks again to TriOblivion for reviewing, though I'm not opposed to others reviewing =)

And with my mastery of non-rambling I give you... The next chapter =)

Chapter 11 - Silent Wondering

"How the hell can anyone sleep in such a place? The ground is too hard and roots are sticking into my back," the complaining of an absent-without-leave doctor easily reached the ears of the, also AWOL, records man, who had quickly found an adequately comfortable spot.

"It seems you're not really suited for life in wild, are you Setsuna?" The young man spoke quietly, sparing the suffering doctor a glance before resting his eyes. The older of the pair grumbled some more, thinking of the comfortable bed from the inn they'd stayed in the night before. He sighs and, finally finding a position without a root in his back, settles down, letting the comforting arms of sleep envelop him, thoughts for the girl he follows swimming through his mind.

I peer around at the trees surrounding me, different from the ones I recall falling asleep by. My feeling of being somewhere else increases with the fact I'm on a track rather than the clearing I was in before as well as the absence of Ryôsuke.

Movement behind me brings my attention from the differences and to the girl that's making her way through the bushes edging the track. Before anything else I notice that she's going through the bushes, as if she were a ghost, then recognition shoots through me as I see her face.

"Saeko?" She turns to me, having been looking behind her as if watching for pursuers. Her face is blank for a moment before realization flickers in her eyes.

"Doctor More." Before I can say anything else, her arms tighten around me in a hug, simple instinct guiding my own around her. A low growl rumbles from the side, both of us breaking the hug to see what was there. My jaw drops at the sight of the largest-freaking-wolf-I've-ever-seen-in-my-life standing a few feet away, giving me a glare that, if looks could kill, would drop me dead on the spot.

"Aeshma? Why are you here?" If not for the death glare directed at me I would have stopped my ex-patient from going to the demon. The only explanation I can think of for the demon being so protective of the girl would be if this was the one that wanted her in the first place. My thoughts on preventing the demon from getting Saeko vanished in a proverbial puff of smoke. Somehow the girl and wolf seem to be communicating over a telepathic link, although how one could be forged over such a short space of time, I wouldn't begin to guess.

After a few minutes of silent conversation, the wolf turns to me and a, just as deep and rumbling as his growl, voice rolls over me.

I apologise for my overreaction. I haven't had proper time to find out about Saeko's life between now and our previous time together. You have my greetings Dr Setsuna More, and my thanks for looking after this child for five years.The wolf dips his head at me before turning back to the trees it had come from, pausing for a moment to look at Saeko, presumably giving her a passing comment, and then dissolving into a thick black vapour, pouring through the trees. The girl standing near me quickly speaks before I have the chance to start a volley of questions.

"Before you ask, that was the demon who raised me, he sealed my memories and gave me to a human family because I couldn't deal with him killing some demon hunters who would've killed us both, I was only ten. I got my memories back and he's now helping us. Also, this is a dream, Aeshma and I are still real, as is this place but it's a dream, or vision if you prefer. But beside that how are you?" I stand with my mouth hanging open like a goldfish for a few moments while the child's words sink in. I respond with a simple 'not too bad' before asking how and where she is, and telling her that I'm travelling north towards her with Ryôsuke. This time she stands with her mouth open as if to catch flies. When she eventually finds her words all she comes out with is a loud "What?" before clamping her hands over her mouth and dragging me through the trees and bushes as fast as she can manage.

"Wait a moment, Saeko, why are we running?" I try to make sense of her actions, if this is a dream then surely it doesn't matter what happens to us in it. She stays silent, determined to keep moving. Behind us I hear the sound of bushes rustling, as if someone is following us. I attempt to repeat my question but before I have the chance, she clamps her hand over my mouth, pulling me to the side of the faint trail we'd been following whispering a quick order to stay silent and not to move. Without giving me the opportunity to respond, she vanishes into the undergrowth, staying low so as not to be seen. I pull my head back into the tree and wait, hoping she'll remember which tree she left me in.

After a few minutes she returns, quietly speaking, though through the wood of the oak I can't make out her words. I step out from the tree and sit next to her on the soft, grassy ground.

I wait for her to speak, giving her time to think over how she wants to tell me what needs telling. It takes only a few moment before she starts, telling me of the dreams, of which this is one, the people from other worlds that she needs to send back, as she brought them here, before they destroy this world, as they would their own.

After a few hours of explanations and, later, idle chatting, the sun begins its torturous heave over the horizon. I see the girl next to me begin to fade, before darkness consumes my vision.

Setsuna jerks awake to see his companion standing over him with a pot of water, looking as if he was about to pour the water over the doctor's head in order to wake him up. Ryôsuke set the pot onto the ground and pushes a chunk of bread with cheese into the other's hands, waiting for him to say what had caused him to wake in such a state. Unsurprisingly the explanations and time for explanations to sink in took most of the morning, Setsuna deciding it would be better to speak while walking else they would not get very far.

Saeko wakes less violently than the doctor but still more so than had become normal. Soon enough the group is on its way once more, Saeko using the long and boring travel to question Aeshma on his little appearance the night before, one thing that hadn't happened in any earlier visions, although the doctor hadn't been in any others either, a strange occurrence that was still puzzling her.

I can enter the dreams of whom I choose, any demon powerful enough can. The rumbling growl of Aeshma rolls around her mind, answering her thoughts despite the fact they weren't posed to him as questions. I can't offer any way in which the doctor was there, he is no demon, nor hunter that has stolen the abilities from one. I do not know enough about him to give any other solution, but it is not good that he tries to follow us, the closer he gets the more demons there will be, and I cannot help him from here. The girl made no reply, and the demon left her to her thoughts, instead keeping an eye on the chatting humans that followed, thinking of the hollows as such for the resmblence they bear. He watched the child-like form of Nel clinging to Ichigo and glaring at Hichigo, though the demon couldn't fathom why, the flame haired Lavi, with his deceptive obliviousness when in fact he was observant enough to notice even the tiniest change in a person's behaviour, and the shorter albino, trying not to openly stare at the orange haired shinigami.

The demon shook his head, wondering about the reasons behind the strange and pointless actions of humans. His mind offered no answers to this question, leaving him to copy Saeko with his own silent wonderings.

Another chapter done and posted, review please =)

Your attacked-by-kittens-but-still-typing-on author

Kouseki