Chapter 14

Feather in the Wind Part 2

Author's note: This chapter mentions a few things that I just want to define so no one feels left out. "Taiyaki" is a Japanese festival treat that basically consists of sweet bean paste between a pair of fish-shaped waffles. They're REALLY good. I also mention the Richter scale. For anyone not familiar with it, it's used to rank the intensity of earthquakes and runs from 0 to 10, with ten being the strongest. Ok, that's it!

The midday sun was at its peak in a bold, clear sky. The light blared through the tightly drawn shades in Satoshi's apartment, throwing eager patterns across the opposite wall. Dark glanced at the window, as if telling it not to rush him, and loaded a flashlight from Satoshi's bottom drawer into a backpack on the bed. He stared at the bag for a moment, reviewing its contents, then smirked approvingly. Zipping up the fly of the bag, he picked up a long black coat that he'd thrown over the bed and pulled it on, pulling his wings tightly against his back. "See how you like it in there, useless One and useless Two, he quipped somewhat accusingly, throwing the pack over his shoulder.

He turned toward the door, which suddenly burst open. "Dark!" Risa bounded into the room looking excited about something. Her expression visibly faded as she saw the bag he was holding. He studied her, waiting for her to speak.

"You don't look like you're going to the festival," she said unhappily.

Dark frowned apologetically. "Risa, you know I can't afford it. If flight's not an option, the only thing that makes sense is to go to plan two. The sooner I go, the better. A day's wait could mean Daisuke's life."

"A day more could also mean your life. Your wings could recover and you could approach this safely. Even Satoshi doesn't think the other plan is likely to work."

"I'll make it work," Dark said. "We don't have another choice." The angel touched Risa's shoulder and gave her a firm look. "Risa, they're not going to fly again," he said, wishing she would stop arguing otherwise. It stung.

"Why assume that? Why do you have to give up? If they were going to kill him, don't you think they'd have done it already?" Risa pleaded.

"Yes." Dark said. His violet eyes bristled with anger and loss.

Risa's expression drained white at his anger. She looked guilty and confused, and then a flush of indignant frustration colored her cheeks. "And what about me? Where do my feelings come in?" she demanded. "Or did you think you're the only one who will suffer if you get yourself killed? Is that it? After all this time, I'm just that girl who gets in the way of your missions, all over again. What do you take me for, anyway?" she nearly screamed.

Dark crossed his arms and just looked at her as she seemed on the verge of tears. He took a deep breath, turning his head to look at the window. Why was she doing this? "Don't. There's a lot you don't know about me," he said, making an effort to be tactful, but the words were still cool with frost as they left his lips.

"Apparently there is," Risa murmured, studying him like he was a total stranger. "So, start teaching me." She touched the strap of his backpack and nudged it off his shoulder. Dark didn't help her; it fell to the strong hook of his bent elbow and hung there stubbornly. "One more day. Just give yourself that, and then if you need to go, I won't stop you," she said, looking straight into his eyes.

Dark locked eyes with her like they were locking weapons. He didn't realize he'd made a decision, but apparently his arm did, because it straightened downward, allowing the pack to fall by its strap into the firm grip of his hand. He reached sideways and set it back on the bed. "Lead the way," he said, turning her toward the door by her shoulders as if they needed to hurry before he changed his mind.

Risa smiled triumphantly. She reached up and took his hand from her shoulder, clasping it firmly and dragging him out of the room. Dark allowed her to tug him out into the main room. "Satoshi, aren't you coming?" she asked the blue-haired boy, who seemed absorbed in a news report on television.

The boy looked over at them. "You guys enjoy it, it's really not my thing," he said, sounding distracted.

"You said yesterday you'd come," Risa said disapprovingly.

"I'm sorry, there's something I need to check on." Satoshi's words were patient, but he seemed very serious about staying. His eyes kept drifting back toward the TV.

"What's going on?" Dark asked, starting towards him, but Risa pulled him back toward the door.

"Oh no, you don't. We're going. Let Satoshi sit there and be gloomy," she said firmly, pulling Dark out of the room. He exchanged a brief eye contact with the Hiwatari, who held up his cell phone and narrowed his eyes. 'I'll call you if something happens,' his look reassured the angel.

Dark managed to nod without looking too ridiculous as he was physically yanked out the door.

-oOoOo-

Humans. Were. Everywhere. Krad's expression worked into a reflexive scowl as he stood at the gates of the school, letting the crowd mill around him like a rock in a stream. His gold hair shone like a sun in the fair weather. He was wearing tan slacks and an untucked, white collared shirt under the long grey coat that covered his wings. The day was too hot for the coat, so he wore it open. To say he was having second thoughts was an understatement. What was he thinking, coming out to an event like this? He hadn't made any promises. But now, it was almost a point of pride.

Just beyond the crowded gateway were hundreds, maybe thousands of students, parents, siblings, and other guests who'd decided to attend the school festival. Booths dedicated to various shops and games bordered the schoolyard like some Egyptian bazaar, and upbeat rock music was blaring from a radio somewhere in the mess. Different human words came to his mind, like 'festive' or 'cheerful', but they seemed sharply contrasted to his own impression of the scene, which was 'overwhelming' at best and 'hellish' at worst.

He'd come back to this plane determined to destroy humanity, and yet here he found himself standing at the gates of one of their functions, actually thinking about going in and participating, and feeling like some kind of imposter. He didn't belong here. He really didn't. A throng of human teenage girls brushed past him, giggling about something as they entered the fair. He glared at their backs as they disappeared into the festivities. How could it be so easy for them and so wrong for him? He'd been invited.

With that thought he stepped forward into the crowd. It moved with him as he took a straight course into the throng. He shuddered at the sense he had of being absorbed into something pulsing and alive. A girl about Jirou's age tugged on his sleeve, telling him something about a fashion show in ten minutes. She broke off, fascinated as he looked down at her and she could see his face. The hand-made flyer she'd been holding up to him pulled closer to her chest and she blinked. "Do…do you want to be in our fashion show?" she asked nervously, starry-eyed.

Krad fought back a cross remark, remembering that the day would be easier if he could blend in. Snapping at a little girl would not help, even if she was keeping him from getting to the school building, which seemed like an oasis compared to the crowd out here in the yard. "What?" he asked flatly, at a loss for words.

She tugged on his pant leg, waving for him to come closer. Krad rolled his eyes, but knelt down so the girl could reach his ear. "You're really pretty," she whispered.

The angel turned his head and stared at her. He supposed a human of his gender would be offended by her choice of words. But nobody ever said he wanted to be human. He looked at her closely for the first time. "How about modeling yourself?" he mused awkwardly, touching a loose strand of her long, velveteen black hair. The hair was healthy but unstyled, the way girls wore their hair when they never expected anyone to look at them.

Her face lit up – in a few years, it would be a pretty face, if she dared to wear it with confidence. "You think I can?" she asked, big dark eyes shining.

Krad frowned, unsure how to handle her excitement. "Yes," he said flatly and stood up, continuing his trek toward the school. Her eyes followed him for a moment before she turned and wove excitedly through the crowd back toward the fashion show booth.

The angel's expression drifted back into a focused frown as he worked his way through the commotion, although he wasn't as tense. Surprising. Either he was growing numb from displeasure, or he actually felt slightly less out of place. Either way, it was still a relief when he reached the relatively open stairway area that led to the glass doors of the school's front entrance. He climbed the stairs in a swift, fluid movement and walked directly to the brick wall next to the glass doors. He turned and leaned against it, drawing a slow breath and looking out at the crowd like he'd just climbed out of a pool full of jellyfish. His gold eyes hardened as he surveyed them all and caught himself looking for a certain blue head in the crowd. He gritted his teeth in a snarl. That was about the last person he'd wanted to think of at the moment.

"You actually came," a voice murmured from his left. Krad snapped his attention to the side, cold eyes settling on the kid's small form coming out of the glass doors. "You look mad…did you wait long?" Jirou said cautiously, coming up next to the angel as the door swung closed behind him.

"I just got here," Krad said, looking away at the crowd.

"You don't like us much, do you?" The question brought Krad's gaze back down on the boy. "Humans," Jirou clarified, looking at him for confirmation.

"You know I do not," Krad said, hoping the next question wasn't why he'd come to the festival when he despised them so much. He didn't know the answer to that one any more than Jirou did.

Jirou closed his eyes, thinking, accepting. When they opened again, he seemed determined. "Want to go try the taiyaki booth?"

Krad scanned the crowd of milling bodies. "I think not." He turned a sour glare on Jirou as the boy grabbed his hand and began tugging him toward the crowd anyway.

The boy had to stop tugging when he realized it wasn't working. Krad hadn't struck him yet, but the look on the angel's face was far from tolerant. "Why come here if you don't want to do anything?" the boy demanded.

There it was. "I can observe from here."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of crowds. Or…afraid of humans?"

Krad scowled at the confused boy. "A lion does not walk calmly through a pack of hyenas," he said. "It's not fear; it's common sense." He shook his head, wondering why he was bothering to explain himself to a human child.

"Master," Jirou said, because he needed the emphasis of a name and still didn't have one, "No one here wants to attack you. You're the only one plotting. The only one angry…"

Krad arched his fingers into fists against his palms, leaning back against the brick. "If you want 'taiyaki', get it. I will remain here." His voice sounded overdrawn, tired.

Jirou had never heard the angel so strung out. Looking Krad over suspiciously, he turned and walked out into the crowd to find the right stand. 'And see a few other things while I'm at it,' the boy thought. 'I'm not missing the fair just because of him.' Still, he felt a pang of guilt when he looked back at the angel. He looked very alone against the brick wall, despite his calm posture. The boy wondered for the thousandth time who the stranger was, and where he actually belonged.

-oOoOo-

Dark raised his head attentively as they approached the festive atmosphere of the schoolyard. He froze at the gates of the school, looking out over the crowd. Everyone here was having fun, with no cares beyond the day's festivities. Sharing the same wish. Dark could feel it like a positive energy rolling through the crowd. It made him long to step forward and become part of it.

"…rk. Dark!" Risa's voice brought his attention over to her. "Are you alright?"

"Of course," Dark said, managing not to sound distracted. "There's something amazing about…this. I wonder if any of them even realize it."

"It's like listening to a thousand drums beating together," Risa said dreamily. "They're all holding the same rhythm without even thinking it."

Dark turned to stare at her. "Yes…yes, that's it exactly," he murmured in wonder. "You can feel that?"

She threw him a smile that stole air from his lungs. "When I'm with you," she answered. She grabbed his hand before he could respond and dragged him into the crowd.

Dark followed her at a half-jog, thinking about the soft squeeze of her fingers. The crowd's cheerful energy spread to the dark angel effortlessly, like a drug, and he found himself smiling without meaning to. This was his element. Art, passion, excitement. It would take physical effort to let his anxiety follow him here. Did Risa know that bringing him here would do this to him?

"Oh! They have taiyaki," Risa gasped and pulled him toward the tent.

"Going straight for the junk food," Dark snickered. He was rewarded with sharp heel on his sneakered foot, but Risa still dragged him to the stand.

"Two taiyaki please!" Risa called to the little boy who was running the shop

"I'm sorry, we just sold our last two," the boy said, pointing to another student with red-black hair who was making off with two taiyaki. "If you come back in fifteen minutes, we'll have more."

Risa turned on the boy who'd just snagged her taiyaki and collared him. "Hey, if you let me buy that from you, I'll give you 500 yen," she said sweetly to the boy.

"Sorry, I need it," he said, giving her a suspicious frown and tucking the waffly treats further under his arm for safe keeping.

"But you have two," she said almost pitifully. Dark slapped his hand to his forehead and began pulling at Risa's arm, wishing she'd give it up.

"One's for my friend," the boy said stubbornly.

"I don't see your friend," Risa challenged.

"He's over there," he said, pointing to the school, "And he's been waiting a long time for me, so I have to go. Sorry," he said, breaking away.

Risa raised up on her tiptoes to see the school steps, still suspicious, as if she'd be able to tell which one was his friend just by looking.

"That went smoothly," Dark said, following her gaze to the school. He muttered a curse as he and Risa spotted the same thing at the same time. A slim figure with long gold-blonde hair and an aura of power that only belonged to one person. Normally, Risa might not have been sure from this far away, but standing next to Dark, she could actually feel the magic dancing along his skin as their powers called to each other. Krad seemed to notice it too, jerking upright from his casual stance against the school wall.

"What is he doing here?" Risa said very quietly, her voice trembling as she let go of Dark's hand.

"I have no idea," Dark frowned.

"You lied to us. You told Satoshi he wasn't coming back. You lied!" Risa shouted. She pounded her right hand on his chest, shoving him back.

"I said what was needed to keep you safe," Dark said.

"You call this safe?" she cried, raising her hand like she would hit him again. Instead she just glared at him, hurt and confused.

"Risa, go someplace protected," he ordered stiffly.

"What are you going to do?"

"For once, just do what I say and go!" he snapped.

"Yes, Sir," she growled, shoving roughly past him and disappearing into the crowd.

Dark's eyes dimmed and looked back at the school. Krad was standing at the top of the stairs, presumably trying to spot Dark's head in the crowd. The dark angel watched as the boy from before scrambled up the stairs and stopped at Krad's side. He held up the taiyaki he'd protected from Risa, but Krad looked distracted, not bothering to take it.

Dark didn't have time to indulge his curiosity about who the kid was or why Krad seemed to know him. Maybe the boy was just some stranger who thought Krad looked like he needed a taiyaki. Dark had a feeling it would take more than a fish-shaped waffle to fix his counterpart's attitude. He collected his anger and made his way toward the front of the school. This was bad news, approaching Krad in a public, crowded environment. But now that the white angel knew of his presence, Dark wasn't sure he could trust him not to grow impatient and just start blasting the crowd. He kept his head down and pushed toward the building. His own anger was rising as well. The weight of his unresponsive wings under his coat reminded him of how much the other angel had taken from him.

Risa didn't look back as she ran for the side door of the school. Angry tears streamed down her cheeks by the time she reached it. She looked up with bleary eyes and saw that the school had an old fashioned bell tower surrounded by a low stone balcony. That looked like a safe enough place, plus she could use the privacy at the moment. Pulling the heavy door open, she ran inside and found the stairwell, running past a pair of students who were carrying a box full of costumes down the stairs.

Her heart was pounding when she reached the top. She searched and found a smaller second door that led up to the tower area, and made her way up the narrow staircase until she reached the balcony. Heart pounding, she looked down at the tiny heads milling through the crowd. How could Dark lie about something this important? She collapsed to her knees and turned to sit with her back to the cool brick of the balcony wall. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she curled forward and tried not to care what was happening on the ground behind her.

-oOoOo-

Satoshi sat straighter in his seat on the couch as the commercials broke and the newscaster reappeared on the screen.

"And now we're back to bring you an urgent update on the earthquake warnings that are in effect for this area," said a leggy young woman in a blue skirt suit. "Previously, our geologists suspected the possibility of minor earthquakes between 1 and 3 on the Richter scale this afternoon. As you know, tremors of this scale are small and pose little danger to buildings and personal belongings. As always, these reports are speculative and cannot accurately predict exact times or intensities for the shakes." She took a deep breath and stared seriously into the camera.

"Unfortunately, we have just been alerted that the forecast has changed. Warning tremors have been detected that indicate a much stronger quake is incoming within the next ten to thirty minutes. Teams throughout the area are on high alert for a possible Richter 8 or 8.5 occurring soon, if not immediately. Citizens are encouraged to find shelter in basements or beneath doorways of strong, modern buildings until the quake has passed, and to communicate this warning to as many people as possible, as this warning is urgent."

The woman's voice continued in a steady stream of tense syllables, preaching to an empty room. Satoshi had run to the bedroom, hammering Risa's number on his cell phone next to the window, where the reception was strongest. The phone clicked for service and began ringing. "Come on, pick up," the boy muttered, glancing at his watch. Out on the street, people were walking calmly. The vast majority of the city would not be watching their televisions at two in the afternoon on the nicest Saturday of the year. The phone rang in long, droning waves of sound, unanswered.

Risa lifted her head off her knees and sullenly dug her vibrating phone from her purse, glancing at the caller ID. "Not now, Satoshi," she sighed, having no idea what to say to him. She didn't know how to explain why she wasn't with Dark, or that his psychotic former counterpart was apparently part of the festivities. It occurred to her that since she loved Satoshi, she ought to want to tell him what she was upset about, but she didn't see the boy as a source of comfort. She never had. It was an odd revelation. She thumbed the End button, then reconsidered and just powered off the phone. "Sorry, I'll call you later," she apologized to the phone softly, cradling it against her forehead.

The call ended with a computerized beep. Satoshi narrowed his eyes at the display as it returned to his main menu. Grimacing, he dialed Risa's number again and clutched the phone to his ear. Her cheerful voice came on the other end, greeting him happily and asking him to leave a message. "Risa, it's me. There's an earthquake warning, you need to get somewhere safe. Call me back," he said quickly before slamming the phone shut. He had no idea why her phone was off, but whatever was going on, she wasn't getting his message in time for it to matter. He tugged his sneakers on, grabbed his keys and ran for the stairwell, slamming the door behind him.

He narrowly avoided bowling over a pair of women carrying groceries as he burst out on the ground floor and hit the street running. The school hosting the festival was an older building, definitely not designed to take a Richter 8 quake. Why the hell didn't she answer her phone? Did she forget to charge it again? That flaky girl… He tried to focus on running and not being annoyed as he wove through the other pedestrians at a full sprint.

-oOoOo-

TBC…

I just came out of a two month –complete- writer's block. I had to leave my job for various reasons and the buildup to that left me too drained to muster any creative effort, but I seem to be back, so I'm gonna roll with it.

A few shout outs…

Liz – Thank you for your review! Very, very glad you like it!

Arktos – Thanks! That's extremely flattering. There are a lot of good fanfics out there, I wish I had more time to find and read them!

Bansheegrrl – Thanks!! I'll try to keep things rolling. This last update took much longer than normal, blah. Thank you very much for reading!

Horselvr4evr123 – Nice to meet you! I'm so sorry you've had writer's block, I hope it clears up soon (or that it cleared up since your review)! If you've still got ideas, please don't give up writing! Thanks for your review, let me know if I can help by reading your story in return sometime.

Poisoned Black Rose – I'm glad you like my descriptive writing! I wish I had more patience for description. I often think I don't take enough time with it, but my head thinks "go plot go!" Ha ha. Thank you for reviewing as always!

Determindtowin – Cool, you're still around! It was nice to see your review. Life is busy, good luck with it and no pressure.

Stormshadow13 – I'm glad the painting scene worked out! That was the reaction I was hoping for. You ask very good questions!! ("Is the reason that his wings don't work because the rabbit was his wings and he never really had his own? And if so Isn't there some way that they can be fixed magically? Also couldn't Dark just summon Wizz... the rabbit to him to be his wings again?") I definitely have completely omitted Wiz from the story, not exactly by accident. To be honest, it's because I think it's a flaky mascot character, which I understand isn't necessarily the popular view (grin). As I understood it, Wiz was some sort of extension of Dark's power that made it possible to avoid summoning 'real' wings like Krad, because doing so would put some enormous strain on the wing host (i.e. Satoshi's freakout sessions every time Krad's wings grow out of his back). I'm going to use the argument that Wiz ceased to exist along with Dark when he was sealed. It's a very reasonable question though, but nah, there won't be any obnoxiously cute bunny creatures in the story.

Sapphire – (Cheers) I'm really glad you liked that scene with Krad and Jirou. It was tough to do without taking anyone out of character, but based on your reaction, hopefully I had at least partial success there! Thanks for your review as always!

Bunny Grl – Sorry I still didn't get the Satoshi/Krad reunion going! But as you can see, it will definitely happen in the next chapter, which should hopefully be done very soon. I hope Dark gets to fly again too! -Waves authory magic wand thing and ponders his fate-

THANK YOU!!!