I didn't get quite as much as I wanted done for the Halloween celebration as I wanted, but I wanted at the very least to get this fic done and out.

Last night, it snowed, 3 inches (in October). Apparently this hasn't happened since the 1970s. It also managed to make half the trees in our backyard keel over and snap. I feel like I just witnessed mass genocide...

On a side note, poor trick-or-treaters. Hope it gets warmer, for their sake.

Chapter 15

Madara hadn't known what to think when he had first seen Natori on the streets. He'd only figured it would be easier to search for Natsume without the limitations of a clay cat form. His nose was stronger, he was faster and could cover a wider area. It truly was an odd feeling, being so near the barrier. It was like a blindfold was wrapped around his entire being and he couldn't sense anything in the vicinity, and even though he could see with his eyes and hear with his ears, it was almost like watching a film. Something always felt missing.

He was already plenty distracted when the exorcist stuck his head out the inn window, as though they had been together all along.

But then, Natori had said that he'd seen Natsume, although he'd been awfully dodgy about the specifics. The man had refused to tell him anything more, and instead led the way towards the forest.

The moment the man had passed the rice fields, Madara felt like someone had suddenly turned the volume to max on the silent film. He buried his head into the closest surface, which happened to be Natori's shoulder.

"Hm? Something wrong?"

Madara twitched. "You mean you can't feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"The aura. Everything suddenly started blaring when you stepped onto the road."

"Oh…" Natori trailed off, looking as though he were in thought. He was probably trying to strain his own senses. After a while, he slumped. "I'm sorry, I'm no good when it comes to these things. Hiiragi's much better than I am."

"Bah, useless humans."

Then, just when he'd started to get attenuated to his senses returning to him, they were deafened again by the equivalent of a giant blare the moment the human set foot into the forest.

"Gaah, warn me before you do that again!" Madara wanted to cover his ears with his paws, but he couldn't do both while clinging to Natori's shoulder. Plus, he wasn't too sure his paws reached around his head.

"Do what?" The kid was starting to look alarmed.

"Never mind…" Madara grumbled. "Just hurry along. What was it you wanted to show me?"

"I already told you, you'll know when we get th-"

He never finished his sentence. Madara, effectively blinded, didn't see it coming either and ended up getting launched high into the air as something leaped from the trees above and knocked Natori to the ground.

The cat spat the dirt out of his mouth. "You fool, be more caref-!" he said before he choked down his words.

Natsume!

But as he lifted his eyes to see the two grappling just a few meters away, it had never been more obvious that this was not Natsume.

"I knew you'd come back here… Why can't you just leave!" cried "it," claws sprawled on both of Natori's shoulders, snout dripping with teeth just a few centimeters from his nose.

"We seem to be in this position quite a lot. Is there something you wish to tell me?" quipped the exorcist, but even from this distance Madara could tell that he was not joking.

Its fur was a tea brown, light and slightly yellow, and its two tails, though nowhere nearly as gorgeous as Madara's own, furled like alert snakes behind it. Its triangular ears were folded back against its skull, and its lips were drawn back from its canines. Around its two front paws were wrapped two long strips of paper, decorated with runes.

The fox had the honey brown eyes and the aura of Natsume Takashi.

Unnerved, but trying to maintain his composure, Madara stayed back, resting on all four stumpy paws. "I don't suppose you have a likely explanation for all of this?"

It was Natori who picked up the question, although it had been directed at both. "Hiiragi had a theory, but she finds it just as impossible as you do right now."

Madara practically collapsed from the relief. He'd finally found him. Natsume was there, right in front of him.

With the problem of actually locating his wayward charge cleared, Madara prepared himself for the next hurdle. Appearances aside, there were other questions that needed answering. There weren't many reasons Natsume would attack his friends, especially one he trusted as much as Natori.

"Why aren't you leaving? Go!" the fox yipped again, tired of being ignored. Now that Madara looked closer, its limbs were shaking, and its tails were twitching left and right not out of agitation, but out of nervousness. Natsume never did have an assertive personality, but he was clearly hostile against the two of them.

"I call your bluff," said the cat, startling Natsume as he whipped his head up. "Stupid Natsume, what in the world have you gotten yourself into? Did some spirits tell you that they needed some help, so you fell head over heels to get it to them?"

"Natsume," chipped in Natori, "I don't know if you were put up to this, but you need to come home. Everyone's worried about you."

"Home? 'Natsume?'" repeated the fox. The tension was starting to leave its limbs, but Madara was more concerned with what Natsume had just said. The creature shook his head vigorously. "Stop trying to confuse me. Please, just leave!"

"I'm sorry, but we can't do that," Natori said without a trace of a smile. "Not until you come back with us."

Natsume growled. Madara didn't know what the brat was playing at, but this was one time the spirit would not cave in. He was not going to play house for the next fifty years so that Natsume could run wild for the rest of his.

He hadn't even considered the possibility that Natsume would be so desperate as to charge at him. He almost didn't dodge in time as Natsume's sharp claws sank into the earth.

A wave of anger crashed inside Madara. With a large billow of smoke, the small clay pseudo-cat was replaced by his true form in all its glory. From sheer size alone, he knocked the unruly fool backwards. "Oh?" hummed Madara, "Did you actually think you could get away with attacking me, you stupid, ungrateful brat?" He advanced a step, making Natsume retreat three. "I didn't come all this way to indulge your temper tantrums!"

"Wait, Cat!" cried Natori, "We're not here to fight him!"

"Every child needs to be taught a lesson!" With that, he lunged forward, jaws first.

It was the second time that day he'd eaten dirt.

He looked up, and there was Natsume, wide-eyed with surprise and fear (Madara could smell them radiating from him). Good, he'd better be scared. Shifting his weight onto his front claw, he dived forward again.

Again, his jaws clamped around nothing but air.

"Stay still!" he grumbled, but the fox would do no such thing. He weaved between the paws, around the jaws trying to clamp around him, and scampered up Madara's side to his neck … where he brought one claw back and swiped.

Madara roared in pain. "You little prick, you actually went that far…" He threw himself to the ground. Not able to react in time, Natsume was pinned under his neck.

Went that far… But Natsume wasn't the kind to attack others unless it was a matter of life or death. Even for the sake of demons, even if they had requested Natsume to follow along with some crazy plan of theirs, the fool wouldn't go this far.

There was something wrong, something more wrong than just this sudden change in appearance.

Wind knocked out of him, the fox didn't move as Madara stood. A whoosh, and the canine was wrapped tightly in paper bindings with a strength that belied their fragile appearance.

"I hope you didn't hurt him, stupid cat," said Natori as Natsume struggled and strained, jaws clamping shut with the swiftness of a steel-trap over and over again.

"He looks quite energetic to me," said Madara as he placed a paw over his ward. The kid had escaped from the chains before, and quite easily at that. He didn't want to risk it this time. "Natsume, I'll ask you again. What have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"What do you want?" shouted back the fox.

"We're your friends, Natsume," said Natori, approaching slowly. "You can tell us what's going on, and we'll help."

"Friends?" snorted the boy. "Friends don't try to body slam each other." The slanted eyes narrowed. "I don't even know if you're telling the truth. Why should I believe you?"

"Truth? The truth about what?" prompted Natori.

Madara snorted. "Maybe we weren't important enough and he forgot all about us in these two weeks."

Right after he said that sentence, he froze. He remembered Natsume's earlier words and he realized why something just felt off. The tight clench in his ribcage didn't let up when Natsume uttered his next words. "I … really don't remember." He finally ceased his struggles.

"Don't remember … don't remember what?" Natori had almost certainly figured it out, as well, but he was still denying it.

But Natsume was done with his moment of weakness. "Just let me go, all right? I don't know what you want, but please, promise not to hurt anyone here."

"You fool, that's not the problem here," growled the white spirit. "The problem is that you apparently don't know who we are. Nor do you seem to know who you yourself are either."

Natori's head shot up. "You mean … amnesia?"

"It's not impossible."

"But that's so unlikely…"

"Then why not ask him, then?" Madara turned to Natsume, who was still trapped beneath his claws. "Do you know who you are?"

There was no hiding the kid's flinch. "From your conversation, I'm … assuming my name is Natsume?" he said haltingly.

Natori removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "This … wasn't what I was expecting."

"I don't think anyone expects to find someone with amnesia, you dolt." Looking back down, Madara continued, "Your name is Natsume Takashi and you've been missing for two weeks. We can sort out the details later, but first, we need to get go-"

For the second time that day, the ground burst beneath him and he lost his footing with a cry. Before he knew what was going on, he hit the ground with a thud and a wall, a large mass, stabbed upwards. With a roar, he swung his claws.

Again and again they came. "Enough!" White enveloped Madara's body and immediately, the assault shrank back, shirking the purifying light.

A heavy silence hung over the group, interrupted only by Madara's heavy pants.

Natsume was nowhere to be found.

Natori knelt and examined the splinters. "These are tree roots. There must be a spirit controlling them."

But Madara wasn't listening. Rather, Madara was darkly chuckling, a low rumble that deeply unsettled Natori, judging from the man's expression. "Ooh they've done it now. I have had enough."

The exorcist sighed. "And finally, he's snapped."

"You say something?"

"No, nothing at all."

Without another word, Madara launched himself forward. Within the barrier, he could see Natsume's position as clear as day. As two figures appeared in the distance, the snarl twisted itself into a smirk of anticipation.

They were so going down. And then he'll drag Natsume by his little twin tails, beat the story out of him, and then settle down for a good night's rest.

Yes, that sounded like a very good plan.