{"sf1_id":762478,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Wandering Shadow: Chapter Four","author":"LucarioZer0","words":6129,"posted_at":"2014-09-30T05:12:00.000Z","tags":["Canine","Clean","Human","Magic","Plot Development","Story Progression","Wolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/762478-the-wandering-shadow-chapter-four","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/762478","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=762478\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n4\nWill woke with a start as the clock's bell rang. It was morning. He\ncouldn't have gotten more than a few hours sleep. He hadn't even gone to bed,\nbut had instead fallen asleep seated on the couch. Jenna was curled up beside\nhim, asleep with her tail wrapped around her body.\nWill sighed sadly as he looked at her. She was still a wolf, and showed\nno signs of changing back to her normal self any time soon. Whether by luck or\ndesign her mind seemed unchanged, so in that respect she was still herself. The\nunfortunate side to that was that she was all the more upset by her\ntransformation. That had resulted in him spending most of the night trying to\nconsole her.\nAs he watched her sleep, Will momentarily considered waking her, but\ndecided she would be better off asleep for now. With how distraught she had\nbeen the night before, he was in no hurry to put her through more of the same.\nWill groaned quietly as he got up off the couch. He was still pretty\nsore from being thrown onto the table. The table itself was worse for ware\nthough, amounting to little more than kindling at that point. He hadn't even\nbothered to move the debris yet. But then, a broken table wasn't terribly\nimportant to him at the moment. He had more important things to worry about.\nAs if to remind him of that his stomach grumbled. He sighed. Since he\nfigured it probably would be a good idea to eat before dealing with anything\nelse, Will went to the kitchen and started preparing breakfast. He hadn't\nactually cooked in years, and he knew it wouldn't be as good as Jenna's cooking\ncould be, but with things as they were he didn't have much choice.\nAfter a short while breakfast was ready, and he was reasonably pleased\nwith the results; not restaurant quality, but edible. He piled the food on to\ntwo plates and with them in hand walked out to the den. He immediately realized\nonce there that with the table in pieces he had nowhere to put them. Taking a\nquick look around he decided to set them on one of the shelves of Jenna's\nbookcase.\nWith his hands free he set to moving what was left of the table off to\none side of the room. Once it was out of the way he picked up the shredded\nremains of Jenna's dress, took them to the kitchen, and unceremoniously dropped\nthem into the trash.\nWhen he returned to the den he was unsurprised to see that Jenna was\nstill deeply asleep. Will smiled sadly. At least some things hadn't changed. He\nwalked across the room and knelt beside her. She was breathing softly, and her\neyes were fluttering ever so slightly. He almost hated to wake her, but he knew\nshe needed to be involved in the decisions they had to make--especially\nconsidering they revolved around her.\nWill placed a hand on one of her furry, snow white shoulders and nudged\nher gently, trying to wake her as quietly as he could. After a moment her eyes\nopened and she raised her head to look at him. Jenna looked almost happy for a\nmoment when her eyes met his then she caught sight of her nose. Her ears\nflattened and with a dissatisfied look in her eyes she wrinkled her nose back\nand forth as though judging it.\nJenna sighed. For an instant, brief as it had been, she had thought she\nhad imagined it all. But the proof was plainly in front of her. She gritted her\nteeth, trying to stall the outpouring of emotion she felt coming on. In a way,\nher emotions weren't even really focused on one particular aspect of what had\nhappened to her. She was depressed over how it seemed to have essentially\nruined the simple happy life she had been leading. She felt anger over the fact\nthat she had no control over it, and that there seemed to be no reason. She was\nconfused by her new form, with all the muscles and senses and thoughts she had\nnever had before. It was all so much to deal with, and even though Will had\nthus far made a point of trying to comfort her, he probably had little to no\nidea just what was going on in her mind.\nJenna shook her head, both in frustration and to try to clear her\nthoughts. She took a deep breath, and thought to herself I can't spend all my time worrying, or I won't be able to do anything\nabout it.\nShe looked up to Will again. He had been sitting patiently by, waiting\nto see what she would do, and how she would react to the fact that she still\nwasn't herself. He was more than a little surprised when he saw determination\nin her eyes, but he was glad to see anything that wasn't angst. Seeing his\nsurprise Jenna gave him a look that seemed to ask What? Were you expecting dramatics?\nHe actually smiled a bit when he said, \"Glad to see you're feeling a bit\nbetter. Listen, before we start talking about what to do about...all of this, I\nkinda made breakfast, so we should probably eat before it gets cold.\"\nJenna rolled her eyes, but nodded in agreement. She was hungry, but then\nthey had neglected to eat the night before. Breakfast sounded like a good idea,\neven if it would waste some of their time. She stood and stretched, then\nlightly hopped off the couch and headed into the kitchen. Will stood and\nfollowed her, wondering what she was doing.\nHe was surprised to find her pushing out her chair at the kitchen table\nbefore jumping up to sit on it. Apparently she was intent on acting as though\nnothing had really changed. Since it was what she wanted, Will went back to the\nden, grabbed the plates off the shelf, and returned to the kitchen once more,\ndepositing one plate in front of her and another in front of his chair. After\ngrabbing a fork for himself he joined her at the table.\nAs he started to eat she eyed him. The first thought that popped into\nher head was What, no fork for me?\nIt clicked in her head after a second that she couldn't even hold a fork\nat the moment. She sighed to herself. This was one place where she would just\nhave to make due with what she had. Moving carefully to get a gauge for how far\nout her muzzle actually extended, Jenna lowered her nose to the plate and made\nthe attempt to snap up the food in her jaws. After a few less than successful\nattempts she managed to get a mouthful. No major victory, but at least it was\nsomething.\nWill watched the whole process out of the corner of his eye. Under any\nother circumstance he might have found it amusing to see a wolf doing that, but\nto him it just served as a reminder of what had happened to Jenna. Hell, she\nherself was a reminder of that. Her very presence reminded him of the fact that\nhe hadn't been able to protect her from...whatever had happened. Every time he\nlooked at her he felt a twinge of guilt and pain in his heart. He couldn't help\nbut feel at a loss, even as his mind raced to think of a way to fix things.\nOnce his hunger was satisfied Will set down his fork and crossed his arms\nin front of him, resting them on the table. \"There won't ever really be a good\ntime to discuss things...so we may as well now.\"\nJenna looked up from the last little bit of food she had been trying to\nwork into her mouth, and after a second she nodded. There was no point in\nputting it off.\nWill sighed. \"I...I don't even really know where to begin with all this. I\ndo know that...whatever happened to you, we're going to find a way to get things\nback to normal. The problem is that I don't really know how. I don't know much\nabout actually using magic...and that's what undoing this will require.\"\nJenna nodded. She knew his own limitations would make any course of\naction difficult. She perked up a bit as an idea occurred to her. But how to\nget it across? Oh, I know!\nShe jumped off her seat and ran out of the room, leaving Will feeling a\nbit baffled. She seemed to have left with a purpose, but he couldn't begin to\nguess what. He waited there for a moment or two and just as he was considering\ngoing after her she came back. As Jenna sauntered over to him he could see she\nwas carrying something in her mouth. She dropped it on his lap and sat down\nbeside his chair with an air of self satisfaction about her that seemed to say,\nLook how clever I am!\nLooking at what she had dropped in his lap he immediately recognized it\nas his badge. He frowned, puzzled for a moment before he pieced together what\nshe was trying to tell him. \"I don't think going to I.O.M.E. with this is an\noption.\"\nShe scowled at him, tilting her head in a questioning manner.\nWill ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck.\n\"Well...there're a couple reasons why we shouldn't. First is that most people\nthere are like me in that they can't or won't use magic, so they don't know\nmuch about it. And more importantly...\"\nWill hesitated, trying to think of the best way to say what he was\nthinking. \"More importantly, the energy that transformed you seemed to have a\ndark nature to it, which I.O.M.E. could see as potentially dangerous. If they\naren't able to find a way to reverse it, then they would likely lock you away\nto keep any residual dark energy in your body safely contained. I've seen it\ndone before. Not usually to animals or people--in fact it's almost exclusive to\nitems and artifacts--but I'd still rather not take that risk.\"\nWill wouldn't admit it, but he also secretly suspected that if he were\nto return to the office just one day after Greer had all but forced him to take\ntime off, the result wouldn't be pretty.\nJenna sighed. He was probably right. She didn't like it, but he was\nprobably right. What are we going to do?\nAn uneasy silence fell as both tried to think of something they could\ndo. Finally Will came up with a sort of compromise. \"There is one person at\nI.O.M.E. who knows a fair amount about magic. I shouldn't really go to the\noffice to talk to him about this though. Maybe I can find out where he\nlives...speak to him more privately. He may be able to offer some advice, at the\nvery least.\"\nJenna tilted her head to one side. She was rather curious to know who he\nwas talking about.\nGuessing at her meaning Will said, \"He's the lone member of our office's\nR\u0026D department. Quentin. He's kinda quirky...and his inventions don't always\nwork well, but he's the closest thing to an expert I know of.\"\nJenna nodded understandingly. It's\nnot much, but it's the best we have for now, she thought. She sighed sadly.\nEven if they could find some way to change her back, she would still have to\nspend some amount of time in her current form. It was an idea that was more\nthan just a bit unappealing. She knew she would just have to deal with it\nthough, and hope that Will would learn something of use.\n***\n\"No, you stay here. You'll just draw unwanted attention as you are.\"\nJenna's ears flattened out as she glared at Will. She didn't want to be\nleft all alone.\nIt was night time, just a bit after six. Will was about to head out to\ntry to track down and speak to Quentin. He had waited until that late in the\nday since he knew Quentin worked during the day, and he would have a better\nchance of catching him as he was leaving the office to go home. It had also\nbeen in part so he could spend the day thinking about how to approach the issue\nif he did manage to talk to Quentin about it. Other than that the day had been\nspent in somber silence, and that alone was enough for Will to be glad to get\nout of the apartment for even a short while.\nHe also wanted to leave Jenna at the apartment, as he had said, because\nshe would draw attention to them; wolves weren't exactly common place in the\ncity.\nWill knelt down in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder. \"I\nknow you don't want to be alone now. I wouldn't either. But just for now, it'll\nbe better for you to stay here. Alright?\"\nJenna avoided meeting his gaze. She felt as though she were being abandoned.\nShe knew he didn't see it that way, but then it wasn't as though they were\nexperiencing recent events with the same mindset. She licked her lips\nnervously. More than anything else, she didn't want to be alone with her\nthoughts, and no one to turn to if she should lose control of her emotions\nagain.\nJenna shook her head as she looked back at him. Will sighed. \"Even when\nyou can't speak you're stubborn as hell. I get that it'll be hard right now,\nbut could you please just stay here for my peace of mind?\"\nJenna gritted her teeth. She shook her head again and growled. She\nwasn't having it.\nWill stood up, taking a step back from her with a scowl on his face.\n\"Dammit Jen, I know you don't want to, but I'll lock you in if I have to. This\nshouldn't even have to be argued. I don't want to leave you alone, but it's\nsafer right now. I just want to try to keep you safe until we can reverse\nthis.\"\nJenna hung her head. She hadn't really thought out his reasoning beyond\nthat he wanted her to stay. If he was doing it for her--or at least mostly for\nher--she could live with it for just a little while. She looked back up at him\nand nodded reluctantly.\nWill smiled softly. \"Thank you. I'll do my best to be quick.\"\nHe leaned down and planted a kiss on top of her head, then straightened\nup turned to face the door. He looked back over his shoulder once, then opened\nthe door and stepped out into the dying rays of the setting sun. The air was\nalready growing cold. He drew his jacket a bit closer around him then set off\ndown the stairs to the street below. He turned in the direction of the I.O.M.E.\noffice and walked down the street at a brisk pace. Convincing Jenna had taken\nlonger than he had planned. Hopefully he wouldn't be too late to catch Quentin.\nAfter making the usual half-hour walk to I.O.M.E., Will took a seat at\nan outside table of a café across the street from the building, ordered a cup\nof coffee, and waited.\nOnly twenty minutes had passed--barely enough time for him to finish his\ndrink--when he spotted Quentin walking down the front steps of the I.O.M.E.\nbuilding. Will dropped enough money on the table to cover his bill and set off\nafter Quentin, following him from the opposite side of the street. Once they\nwere a decent distance down the street Will cut across to the side Quentin was\non and increased his speed. When he was only a few feet behind the brown haired\nscientist he said Quentin's name loud enough to get his attention.\nQuentin turned and his face lit up. \"Will! What are you doing here?\nWait, don't tell me, you missed work so much you sought me out to feel like\nyou're working again, right?\"\nWill shook his head. \"No. I couldn't care less about work right now.\"\nQuentin blinked a few times, as though he didn't understand. \"That's not\nlike you at all. I dare say you have my attention. What's going on?\"\nWill hesitated. \"I...need your help with something...something rather\npersonal. I'd like to speak in a more private setting.\"\nQuentin nodded. \"Alright then. My home is just a few blocks away. We can\ngo there if you like.\"\nWill agreed and they set off. It only took a few minutes of walking to\nreach Quentin's house--house being a generous term. It was only one story in\nheight--which was far from uncommon--but it and many others beside it were\nincredibly slim; clearly they weren't designed for space, or more than one\noccupant. This became even more apparent as Will beheld the cramped quarters\nwithin. While his and Jenna's apartment was on the small side, even he had to\nacknowledge just how minimal a life Quentin seemed to live.\nLike Quentin's lab at the I.O.M.E. office, the interior was essentially\nspotless, almost as though no one lived there. It was also sparsely furnished,\nconsisting of only the bare minimum of what was needed, it seemed. Quentin\nturned to face Will once they were inside and the door was closed behind them.\n\"Well, here we are. Feel free to take a seat somewhere, and we can discuss this\nissue you need my help with.\"\nLooking around Will saw a fireplace set into one wall, with a pair of\narmchairs in front of it. Will took a seat in one, and--after lighting a fire\nwhich cast a warming orange glow on the room--Quentin took the other. Then, Will\nbegan to talk. After what felt like an eternity silence fell. Will waited with\napprehension, hoping Quentin would have something to say.\nQuentin leaned back in his chair and watched Will silently, as though\ntrying to figure him out. Finally he said, \"From anyone else I would think that\nstory was meant as some sort of sick joke...but I doubt you would do that. So I\nhave to ask: what is it you think I can do for you?\"\n\"I...I don't really know. You know more about magic than anyone else I\nknow, so I thought maybe you could offer some help or advice.\"\nQuentin shook his head. \"My specialties are in making things. Metallurgy\nmostly. I'm not going to be much help with something like a person transforming\ninto a wolf.\"\nWill's shoulders slumped. \"But...you...can't you offer any advice\nor...anything?\"\nQuentin thought for a moment, then said, \"I don't know anything that can\nhelp you, but I know someone who might.\"\nWill sat up, looking hopeful. \"Who?\"\n\"An alchemist friend of mine. Anita. She generally does the same sort of\nwork I do, but she recently started doing research into the possibility of\ntransforming organic matter, an area where alchemists don't normally work. She's\nbeen working on this theory that--seeing as living things are basically just\namalgamations of chemicals--an alchemist could do to an animal of human what\nthey do to lead or tin.\"\nWill stood up excitedly. \"So she may be able to help then. Where is she\nnow?\"\nQuentin hesitated then said, \"That's the difficult bit really. She lives\nin England.\"\nWill blinked a few times as the meaning of that hit him. \"So we can't\neasily speak with her. How long would it take to get a message to her? And to\nhear back?\"\nQuentin shrugged. \"It would take about a week and a half to get to her.\nThen when she can find the time to respond, it would take about the same to get\nback here. So...three weeks, absolute minimum. It could be longer though.\"\nWill sat once more and sighed. \"So my only real option at this point is\nto wait for almost a month, and hope this friend of yours can help from this\ndistance, all while Jenna suffers in her current form.\"\n Quentin shook his head. \"It's not\nyour only option. You could also go to see her in person.\"\nWill laughed. \"Are you serious? Go to England?\"\nQuentin nodded. \"I am. If you want to resolve your issue as quickly as\npossible, it seems like the best option.\"\n\"I don't have the money to get two people to England and back, not to\nmention that I would have to take an unexplained leave of absence from work!\"\n\"One person and one wolf,\" Quentin corrected him, \"They wouldn't charge\nfor Jenna in her current form, or if they did, it would be a pittance. Besides,\nif you don't go now, there's a chance you would have to go anyway. I doubt\nAnita would be able to do anything from this distance anyway.\"\nWill didn't have an argument for that. Quentin was completely right.\n\"I...would have to see what Jenna wants to do. Until then I won't know for sure.\nShe'll probably want to go though. So I guess it would be best to get your\nfriend's information.\"\nQuentin nodded. \"Let me go write it down for you.\"\nHe stood from his chair and walked out, leaving Will alone with his\nthoughts. Going all the way to England would be taxing, not to mention\nexpensive--even only paying for one person. But it would be worth it to get\nJenna back to normal, wouldn't it? He shook his head. Of course it would! He\nshouldn't even have to think about it!\nWill began to grow impatient as the minutes ticked by. Finally Quentin\nreturned and--to Will's surprise--was carrying a bundle of black cloth with him.\nWill eyed it curiously. \"What's all that?\"\nQuentin smiled. \"Something I want you to test for me since you're going\nto be traveling. Consider it like a fee.\"\nQuentin shook out the bundle and revealed it to be a cloak. \"This is\nsomething I've been working on. Assuming I've done it right--which I'm pretty\nsure I have--it should be able to protect you from almost every environment.\nRain or snow, heat or cold. Plus it should retard flames as well.\"\nWill quirked a brow. \"Why a cloak though? Why not just make it a coat?\"\n\"Two reasons. One, this covers the whole body. Second...the material\nseemed to take better to the energy I put into it. I tried with a few coats and\nthey...ignited.\"\nWill suddenly felt reluctant to even touch the cloak, let alone wear it.\n\"That's not very comforting.\"\nQuentin shrugged. \"This is the only cloak I ever worked with, and after\nthree weeks it still hasn't gone up in smoke.\"\nHe held the cloak out to Will, who reluctantly accepted. \"Alright. But\nif it does light me on fire I reserve the right to seek whatever vengeance I\ndeem fit.\"\n\"Fair enough. These are also for you.\"\nQuentin proffered an object which Will immediately recognized as\nLightning Shot. \"What's this for?\"\nQuentin smiled with something akin to pride. \"Also testing. This is the\nsecond version of the Lightning Shot design. After reading your report on the\nfirst one, Greer wanted me to make some modifications. It now holds six more\nshots than the original. But that's not the great part. The original design\njust impacted the target. This version punctures like a bullet, and discharges\nelectrical energy into the target to stun whatever part of them you hit.\nNeedless to say, it hurts.\"\nWill quirked a brow. \"But what makes you think I'll have an opportunity\nto use it? Do you know something I don't?\"\nQuentin hesitated. \"Well...I've never told anyone before...but members of my\nfamily have a bit of a gift. It's a sort of ESP. We can't...foretell the\nfuture...but we can get a sense of whether things to come will be good or bad.\nWill...I'm sorry to tell you this...but I sense something dark along the path you\nwalk.\"\nWill smirked. \"Is that so? If you can sense if things will end badly,\nwhy do you still have me test so many of your inventions?\"\nQuentin shook his head. \"Mocking me and my abilities yet again. I know\nit sounds ridiculous, but please trust me when I say you'll be glad I gave you\nthat.\"\nWill sighed. \"Fine. Just don't be offended when I say I hope that power\nyou claim to have is nothing but nonsense.\"\n\"For your sake, I hope so too.\" Quentin reached into his pocket and\nproduced a slip of paper, handing it to Will. \"That's her address in London.\nHer full name is Anita Conlin.\"\nWill pocketed the paper and the Lightning Shot then donned the cloak,\ndeciding it would be easier than carrying it. \"I know I mock you at times...but I\nreally do appreciate all of this. I'll make sure I put all of this to good\nuse.\"\n\"I hope so. Now it's getting late. You should head home.\"\nWill nodded and walked to the door. As he opened it and stepped into the\ncold night air he looked over his shoulder and said, \"Thanks again Quentin.\nI'll let you know how things go once it's all over.\"\n\"Just worry about getting it done, and good luck.\"\n\"Thanks.\" Will closed the door behind him and set off back toward home,\nfeeling just a bit hopeful for the first time all day.\n***\nJenna's ears perked up when she heard the front door unlock. She bounced\noff the couch--where she had been waiting since Will had left--and ran to meet\nhim as he came in, hoping he had good news. She canted her head to one side\nwhen she caught sight of him, wondering why on earth he was wearing a cloak.\nWill smiled apologetically as he turned to face her after closing and\nlocking the door. \"Sorry I took so long. It didn't go as quick as I would have\nliked.\"\nShe nodded understandingly then stepped forward and pawed at the hem of\nthe cloak as though to ask, And what is\nthis?\nGetting her meaning he said, \"Quentin gave it to me. It's supposed to\nprotect from most any weather. But we have more important things\nto...uh...discuss.\"\nJenna nodded. She wanted to know what--if anything--Quentin had had to say\nabout her condition. She walked back into the den with Will following a few steps\nbehind. They took up seats at opposite ends of the couch then Will told her of\neverything that had happened since he had left the apartment. When he finished\nhe asked, \"So what do you think? Should we go? It may very well be our best\noption.\"\nJenna thought for a moment then nodded. She didn't want to wait longer\nthan she had to, so it only made sense to do whatever would help things along.\nWill sighed. \"Well...alright then. Tomorrow I'll start working on how\nwe'll actually get to England.\"\nShe nodded again then moved to his side of the couch and laid her head\nin his lap, cuddling up to him. She felt almost relieved by the idea that there\nwas someone who may actually be able to reverse the change she had gone\nthrough. At the same time she was worried though. If it turned out that there\nwas nothing that could be done for her, they would have wasted their time, and\nshe would still be no closer to being human again.\nShe sighed softly when Will placed a hand on her shoulder and gently\nrubbed his hand back and forth along her side, trying his best to make her feel\nbetter. It didn't help much, but she appreciated the effort. All either of the\ncould do anymore was try to make the best of things as they were, so even such\na simple thing as momentary contentment was a welcome change.\nThe night would pass with the two of them once more falling asleep on\nthe couch. Though neither would admit it, both felt as though it would be wrong\nsomehow to sleep in their bed. When morning came Will once again did his best\nto prepare breakfast, and once again it was passable. Once they had eaten he\nleft the apartment to withdraw what money he could from the bank and find out\nif any ships at the city's port would be making transatlantic voyages any time\nsoon. This of course left Jenna home alone yet again.\nShe had put on a brave face that morning for Will's sake, but inside she\nwas hurting far too much to really be okay with being left on her own. One of\nthe first things she had discovered about her new form was that she had lost\nthe ability to cry. She had felt in the past couple days that she could use a\ngood cry. Strange, she thought, what you never realize you would miss.\nTime seemed to pass at an incredibly slow rat as she waited. She had\nnothing to do to distract herself. The though occurred to her a few times that\nshe could probably still read even as a wolf, but at the same time she felt\nlittle motivation to do much of anything, and she was worried about damaging\nher books anyway. All that left her with was trying to sort out her own\nfeelings, which was generally a rather depressing task that she tried to avoid.\nShe eventually fell asleep on the couch her dreams haunted by strange\nimages of watching her own body become disfigured and morphed while shrouded in\ndarkness. She was having one particularly intense dream when she was awakened\nby something nudging her shoulder. Her eyes snapped open and she was greeted by\nthe sight of Will's face. His familiar features and compassionate brown eyes\nserving as welcome relief from her nightmares.\nShe jumped off the couch and into his arms, snuggling up close. His brow\nfurrowed with concern. \"What's wrong?\"\nShe had no way to answer, so she did all she could and nuzzled him,\ntrying clear her thoughts.\nThough he didn't know the exact cause, Will could easily tell how\ndistraught she was--not that she needed much reason in her current state.\nHolding her close he said, \"I don't know if this will help, but you may like to\nknow that I've arranged for us to be on a ship that leaves early tomorrow\nmorning. We'll be on our way by sunrise.\"\nJenna nodded to show that she had heard and nuzzled him again. It made\nher feel a bit better, but she still couldn't help feeling just a bit\ndepressed. I hate this all so much,\nshe thought. Why me? Why us?\n***\nAfter just a few hours of fitful sleep on both their parts, Will and\nJenna readied themselves to leave. Rather Will readied himself, as Jenna had\nnothing to do but sit around and wait. As she sat on the couch, waiting for\nWill to gather up what he was taking with him, a thought occurred to her. The\nwreckage of the table was still sitting off to one side of the room, unmoved\nsince Will had put it there in the first place. Of her dress however, nothing\nremained to be seen. She slid off the couch and wandered into the kitchen,\nabsentmindedly looking for any sign of it--or rather what was left of it.\nJenna felt a flash of irritation as she spotted a piece of green fabric\nclinging to the edge of the kitchen trash bin. Surely Will hadn't thrown it\nout. There must be some salvageable piece left! Looking down into the trash she\nwas less than happy to see what remained of the dress; at least it was right on\ntop.\nUsing her paw to poke through the remains she found what looked to be\nthe biggest shred, which was still only about a foot and a half long and rather\ntattered. Even so, it still had to be useable for something. She carefully\npicked up the piece between her teeth and carried it back out to the den, where\nshe sat waiting for Will with the fabric in her mouth.\nA few minutes passed before he finally appeared, once more wearing the\ncloak Quentin had given him. He also had his gun and holster at his waist and a\nsmall bag hanging from one shoulder. The bag contained the information on Quentin's\nfriend Anita, the money he had retrieved from the bank, a spare set of clothes,\nand his I.O.M.E. badge, which he had tossed in with the rest on an impulse.\nWhen he caught sight of her sitting there with the shred of the dress in\nher mouth he cringed slightly. He had hoped she wouldn't find it, if only because\nhe knew it would upset her. He cleared his throat and said, \"I'm sorry. I\nshould have told you I threw it out. It didn't look like much could be salvaged...and\nI didn't think you needed the reminder.\"\nJenna let out a short growl and lifted the piece of fabric into the air,\ntrying to get across the idea, this piece\ncan be used, or at least saved!\nWill sighed, and assuming he understood her he said, \"I know it was your\nfavorite, but it's destroyed. What do you want me to do, tie that piece around\nyour neck like a scarf?\"\nJenna blinked a few times in surprise. She hadn't actually thought of\ndoing that. She nodded in reply. I rather\nlike the idea, she thought.\nWill rolled his eyes. \"Alright then, hold still.\"\nHe walked over to her then knelt down beside her and took the scrap of\nfabric from her mouth. He folded it once lengthwise to hide some of the more\ndamaged looking bits then placed it across the front of her neck, pulling the\nends around behind her head and tying it with a knot. He tested it by pulling\nonce or twice, then stood back up and asked, \"Happy now?\"\nJenna gave a halfhearted nod. She wasn't really happy per se, but she\ndid feel happier at least. She stood up and stretched before walking out of the\nroom in the general direction of the front door. Clearly she was ready to\nleave. Will smiled and shook his head. \"Just a minute, I want to make sure I have\neverything first.\"\nHe pulled his bag out in front of him and quickly went through the\ncontents, checking that everything he needed was inside. Everything was there\nexcept for the Lightning Shot Quentin had given him, which was loaded into his\npistol. He readjusted the bag and took a look around. He wasn't looking for anything\nin particular, he was just looking for memory's sake. He knew there was a real\npossibility that after this trip they wouldn't have the money to keep their\napartment for very long. He wanted to at least get what may be one last look at\nwhere he and Jenna had spent the last few years of their life together.\nHe smirked as his eyes came to rest on the shadow box that hung a couple\nfeet above the couch. It was the very same one that held his sword. Thoughts of\nhow often Jenna had berated him over even having it--let alone displaying it--in\nan odd way made him think of happier times.\nAn almost ludicrous idea occurred to him then. Yet somehow it also\nseemed like a good idea. Though he didn't set much store by Quentin's \"prediction\"\nabout darkness in his future, Will had to admit that the cautious side of him\ndid want to pay some heed to that warning. Plus, a gun couldn't solve every\ndangerous situation. He smiled and quietly said, \"Why not?\"\nA few minutes later he joined Jenna at the apartment's front door.\nLooking him over she rolled her eyes when she realized he had attached the\nsword and its sheath to his belt. She gave him a look which matched the thought\nin her head: Really?\nWill just smiled and shrugged, guessing at the meaning behind her\nexpression. \"May as well. Not like it does any good hanging on a wall.\"\nJenna shook her head but didn't pursue the subject further. If he wants to look foolish, she\nthought, that's his choice.\nSensing her approval--or at least toleration--Will stepped past her and\nopened the door, gesturing for her to go out first. She walked through and he\nfollowed suit, stopping only for a moment to take one last look at their home\nbefore closing the door and heading out into the semidarkness of the early\nmorning."}