{"sf1_id":798990,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Wandering Shadow: Chapter Nine","author":"LucarioZer0","words":3852,"posted_at":"2014-12-23T06:09:00.000Z","tags":["Canine","Character Development","Human","Magic","Wolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/798990-the-wandering-shadow-chapter-nine","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/798990","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=798990\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"9The morning\nbroke cold and grey on the day after they left Arles. With how late they had\nleft the city they hadn't made it far before night had come, leaving them with\na significant distance remaining before they would reach Nice. They likely\nstill had another two days of traveling ahead of them.As they traveled\nthey had taken to an unspoken pattern of seating, with David handling the\nreigns and Will and Jenna sitting in the back of the cart. David wasn't overly\nfond of the arrangement, as it left him little ability to rest, but he didn't\ncomplain. Though he wasn't always the most caring person, he at least knew he\nhad little to complain about compared to Will and Jenna.He took one hand\noff the reigns, trying to draw his coat closer around him. David sighed. It was\nfar too cold. At least those two have\neach other for warmth, he thought. He glanced back over his shoulder, his\neyes widening slightly. He furrowed his brow, a bit confused.Will and Jenna\nwere on opposite sides of the cart. Will had his cloak drawn tight and Jenna\nwas curled up, her tail wrapped around her. David returned his attention to the\nroad before them, sighing almost imperceptibly. In the short time he had\ntraveled with Will and Jenna, he had gotten a pretty good gauge for what they\nwere like. Will was clearly a very serious person, with generally strong morals.\nJenna was a bit harder to read, but she seemed significantly more relaxed than\nhim.The one thing\nthey seemed to have in common was that they--in spite of their apparent\ndifferences--loved each other. David didn't remotely understand how they had\nmanaged to stay together as long as they had, but it was clear to him that they\nwere drifting away from each other. Near as he could tell, their relationship\nwas in a delicate stage, and the slightest thing could send them even further\nfrom one another.First it had\nbeen Jenna's energy enhanced attacking of the bandit. David thought he had\nhelped mend that divide back in Paris. Now it appeared as though the knowledge\nthat their goal was still so far away had driven them apart once more. \"I'll\njust have to do something about that then, won't I?\" He whispered.From behind him\nWill asked, \"What was that?\"David looked\nover his shoulder, surprised that Will had heard him. Thinking quickly he said,\n\"Oh nothing really. Just complaining about how bloody cold it is.\"\"Oh.\" Will\nwatched as David turned once more to face the road. He was a bit suspicious,\nbut decided it didn't matter. It was probably just his general distrust of\nDavid making him paranoid.Will sighed,\nwatching as the cloud of warm breath floated away in the chilly air. If they\nhad been home then--and if things were the way they used to be--he and Jenna\nwould have been cuddling on their sofa, a small blaze going in their little\nbrick fireplace. He missed those days. He was sure Jenna did too. She probably\nmissed them even more than he did. Even simple, quiet moments like that seemed\nto have vanished from their lives. His looked over at Jenna, and their eyes met\nfor an instant before both shifted their gaze.Jenna didn't\nwant to look at him any more than he wanted to look at her. She had grown sick\nof his pushing her away. She wanted to be close to him, to find comfort in his\nembrace, but she could tell he wanted nothing to do with her--at least not as\nshe was. It broke her heart to think that if they couldn't change her back,\nthen Will might simply find himself unable to love her any more.As the day\nmarched neither Will nor David spoke and Jenna made no attempts to communicate\neither. As the hours passed by, they sky grew greyer, with clouds gathering\nabove. By mid afternoon they sky was black and the road was dark. Then came the\nrain. It began with but a few drops here and there. Soon it was sprinkling,\nwhich added a fine mist of water droplets to make the cold that much more\napparent. Eventually the clouds above burst, drenching the trio in rain and\nchilling them to the bone.Will had some\nprotection from the elements thanks to his cloak, but it was plain to him that\nthe others weren't faring well. Shouting to be heard over the downpour, Will\nsaid, \"David, we need to find shelter. I don't care what it is. Just the next\nplace you see where we can get out of this will work.\"\"Doesn't look\nlike we'll find much, but I'll keep an eye out!\"Another ten\nminutes passed in the unrelenting storm before David called out, \"I think I see\nsomething up ahead! Could be a house or something!\"Will strained to\nsee through the sheets of water until he finally caught sight of what David had\nbeen talking about. The shape that came out of the shadows was that of what\nseemed to be a barn, though why one would be randomly placed at the side of the\nroad was beyond what Will could, or could be bothered to comprehend. Either\nway, it was shelter.David urged\nVincent on toward and into the barn, finally freeing them from the rain's cold sting.\nAll three got off the cart, Jenna shaking the water out of her fur while Will\nand David tried to squeeze as much as they could out of their clothes.Stepping out of\nthe puddle he had left behind Will took a look around. The barn seemed to be\nabandoned. \"Well, at the very least we can spend the night here. I doubt we'll\nbe disturbed.\"David stretched\nand yawned before saying, \"Lovely. I'm going to get some sleep then.\"David made his\nway toward the back half of the barn and walked into one of the stalls, apparently\nintending to sleep there. Not feeling quite ready to sleep, Will took to making\na closer examination of their surroundings. His searching turned up almost\nnothing except some old wood and equally old hay. Will put some of the hay down\nin front of Vincent, figuring the horse would appreciate a meal.The rest of the\nhay he laid out in an empty stall to serve as a bed for him and Jenna. He then\ngathered up a few pieces of the wood, piled them up in the same stall, and lit\nthem with a match from the book he kept in his bag. Once he was satisfied that\nthey would be comfortable he looked around to see where Jenna was. To his\nsurprise she was lying near the barn's entrance, staring out at the rain.He walked over\nto her and knelt down, placing a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up at\nhim he smiled and said, \"It's not much, but I've made one of the stalls a bit\nmore comfortable. It should do for the night.\"She stared at\nhim for a moment then turned her head away, looking back out at the rain. Will\nfurrowed his brow, confused. \"Jenna? Is something wrong?\"When she failed\nto reply in any way he sighed. \"Alright...well I'll be over there if you want to\njoin me.\"Jenna watched\nhim walked over to the stall out of the corner of her eye, wondering how he\ncould fail to see how much she was hurting. She gritted her teeth, feeling a\nsurge of anger as she began to shiver. Even now he was distancing himself from\nher and her needs. She wasn't so self-centered as to believe she should be the\nonly thing he was focused on, but she should be at the top of the list!Anger turned to\nanguish as she curled her tail around her body, resting her head on the fluffy\nappendage. She sniffled quietly, glad the sound of the rain was there to drown\nit out. Like so many times before she wished she could cry, if only to feel the\nrelief such an emotional outpouring would bring. But like every other time,\ntears never came, the only drops on her face having come from the storm.She hunched\nslightly as she heard thunder rumbling above. She wasn't afraid of thunder per\nse, but she wasn't a big fan of it either. She preferred that her surroundings\nbe quiet, and thunder had a habit of ruining otherwise peaceful moments. It\ncertainly wasn't doing anything to improve her current mood.Will on the\nother hand was barely disturbed by the thunder, outside of mentally registering\nthat it had happened. As he lay atop the bed of hay his mind was too busy to\nworry about something as simple as thunder. He was trying to work out why Jenna\nhad been so cold toward him before, and why she seemed to be against joining\nhim there in the stall.As far as he\nknew he hadn't done anything to upset her all day. What could she have against\nhim? He rolled onto his other side, hay sticking to his clothes. At least it\nwasn't wet, he thought. He had had the forethought to hang his cloak on a hook\nnear the fire, which he was hoping would have it dry soon. Of course, the\ninside of the cloak was already dry, never having been wet in the first place.\nIt was a testament to the magics Quentin had put into the cloak. It really did\nseem to repel the elements rather well.Will shook his\nhead. That wasn't important to think about! Not at that moment at least. He\nneeded to figure out why Jenna was upset. He thought and he thought, but the\nanswer seemed to elude him. What had he done? He would need to know that before\nhe made any effort to mend the situation. He couldn't apologize for something\nwhen he didn't know what he was apologizing for.The was a flash\nof bluish white light through the stall's window as a bolt of lightning lit up\nthe sky, sending out another rumbling wave of thunder. That time the sound\ncaught Will's attention. Odd, he\nthought. Normally Jenna would be snuggled\nup with me during a storm like this. She always wants me to hold her when the\nweather is like this back home. I guess she doesn't much want to with the\ndistance that's grown between--Will's eyes went\nwide as clarity came to him. Jenna wasn't upset over something he had done. She\nwas upset over what he hadn't been doing. For the past week or so he had been\ngenerally ignoring her. Not so much because he wanted to, but because it had\nbeen easier that way. He hadn't prevented the growing divide between them. He\nhadn't even tried.He sat up,\nplacing his head in his hands. \"Oh god...I am an idiot. I kept pushing her\naway...and now I may have pushed too far. She must hate me right now.\"Dropping his\nhands to his lap he looked up to the ceiling. \"I've really fucked up, haven't\nI?\"He felt simply\nhorrible. He had already felt more than a bit of guilt over how they had\ndrifted apart, and for how he hadn't been there for her as much as she probably\nneeded, but he hadn't thought it had progressed to such an awful point. He felt\nmore than just horrible in fact. In that moment he felt like a horrible person.Lowering his\nhead his eyes drifted over to the dying fire, and to his cloak hanging above\nthe remaining embers. He stood and walked over to the cloak, pulling it from\nthe hook.  It felt dry. Good, he thought, maybe I can still fix things.Leaving the\nstall behind he saw that Jenna was unmoved, still lying in that same spot and\nstill staring out at the rain. He walked over to her, and as he drew near he\ncould see she was shivering. He sat down beside her and without a word draped\nhis cloak over her. When she looked up at him with questioning eyes he simply\nsaid, \"You looked cold. I thought this might help.\"She stared for a\nfew seconds then looked away from him again. Even with how seemingly\nemotionless her stare had been, Will knew she was very upset. He had seen that\nstare before, only one other time in their relationship, and it had been at a\ntime when their relationship had nearly come to an end.That thought\nscared him. He didn't want to lose her. He wasn't sure of what to do next. After\na few moments of thought, he decided to do the thing that would be both the\neasiest and the most difficult. He would just have to tell her the truth.\"Jenna...I want\nyou to know...that I'm sorry. For too long now I've been distancing myself from\nyou. It was...well selfish. I figured it would make it easier for me to deal with\nall of this, so I didn't try to stop it. I felt badly about it, but I figured\nit was for the best. I should've known better. I should've known it would just\nmake things that much harder for you.\"Jenna tilted her\nhead slightly, so that she looked at him with just one of her emerald eyes. It\nwas piercing, as though looking into his soul. He knew that look too. She was\nwaiting for him to say more.He gulped.\n\"I...well I don't want you to think I've stopped loving you, because that\ncouldn't be farther from the truth. Everything I've done up to now...I've done\nwith the best intentions in mind. Even...even down to hiding from you just how\ndangerous your situation really is.\"He could see he\nhad her attention now, as both of her eyes were focused on him. He took a deep\nbreath and prayed she wouldn't hate him. \"I...after I saw you injure that man\nwith the energy that's inside you...I realized just how bad things really were.\nThat energy...it's may be doing more than just keeping you in that form. There's\na possibility that if it takes control of you...if it's too much for you to\nhandle...it could take even your mind away from you, truly changing you into a\nbeast. It could even just destroy you outright.\"Will had to\nchoke back the upwelling of emotion he felt at just the thought of either of\nthose scenarios. He could see too that Jenna wasn't taking the information very\nwell. Her eyes were wide and she seemed stiff. She was dumbstruck.Her thoughts\nwere in chaos as she tried to reconcile what he had just told her. At first she\nfelt anger and contempt, then it changed to sorrow and regret. She looked to\nhim, the question in her eyes of why. Why had he kept this from her?Will looked away\nfor a moment then looked back, his eyes meeting hers. \"I didn't tell you before\nnow because I didn't want to upset you. I figured you had enough to worry\nabout. I just didn't want to see you upset over one more life altering issue.She gritted her\nteeth, looking away from him. She took a moment to think about everything, not\njust that he was saying, but that had happened since her change. From those\nthoughts one emerged above the others. There's\nnothing I can do but pray.It was true. She\nhad no control over her form. She couldn't simply wish things back to normal.\nAll she could do was hope that they would find someway to reverse what had\nhappened. Until then there would always be some reason for her to be upset.\nWhat did one more matter?She also\nrealized that if she really could die at any moment, or lose her sanity to\nwhatever was inside her, then she should treasure every day that went by\nwithout that happening. She looked back to Will, who seemed to be anxiously\nwaiting to see how she would react. Her eyes softened a bit. It may not have been the best course of\naction...but I think he really did it with my best interests in mind. He's always\ndone what he thought was best for me. I...I can't believe I even thought...that he\ncould stop caring. He couldn't if he tried.In that moment\nshe decided to forgive him. She knew he would probably make other mistakes in\nthe future, but at the very least she could forgive these ones, knowing they\nwouldn't be repeated. She shimmied across the floor and crawled into his lap,\ninching up his torso until her head was resting against his chin. She sighed\ncontentedly as she felt him pulling the cloak over them both like a blanket, wrapped\nhis arms around her, holding her close and warming her. More than that though,\nhe was protecting her, like he always tried to do.With a light\nshove she knocked him onto his back, which only made him laugh. He smiled as he\nhugged her a bit tighter. \"I really am sorry Jen--\"He was cut off\nby her placing one paw over his mouth. He nodded, getting the message. She\nremoved the paw and he whispered, \"I love you.\"She felt a pang\nof sadness, as she couldn't return the words, but decided it didn't matter, as\nlong as she returned the emotion. She nuzzled his neck for several seconds,\nhoping that was enough to say how she felt. It must have been enough for him at\nleast, as he squeezed just a bit tighter, before loosening his grip enough for\nher to roll off his chest, taking her place beside him.It wasn't long\nbefore the rain slowed to just a drizzle and the sound of thunder was but a\nmemory. By then they were already asleep, lulled into the realm of dreams by\nthe rhythm of the rain and the comfort of being together.***When Will woke\nthe next morning he immediately squeezed his eyes shut to protect them from the\nbright morning sunlight. Keeping his eyes shut he sat up, stretching his arms\nout over his head. He yawned widely, still worn from the previous day. Will\ngritted his teeth and opened his eyes a little bit at a time, waiting for them\nto adjust to the harsh intensity of the sun. He blinked a few times to clear\nthe tears and after image the bright light left in his retinas.Once his vision\nhad cleared enough for him to see clearly, Will furrowed his brow in confusion.\n\"What the hell?\"The barn they had\nspent the night in seemed to have vanished, and there was no evidence anywhere\nof the previous night's storm. Looking about he could see the piles of hay\nwhere gone as well, though there was a small circle of ash--the only evidence of\nthe fire he had lit. The cart and Vincent were where they had been left the night\nbefore. Jenna was still asleep by his side, and he could see David fast asleep\nseveral meters away.Will scowled.\nDavid. He had to have something to do with the barn's seeming disappearance.\nWill turned and gave Jenna a few gentle nudges to wake her. She batted his hand\naway with one paw at first, then grumbled and opened her eyes, blinking away\nlight just as he had done.She stood and\nstretched in cat like fashion, shaking out her fur and ruffling the green\nfabric of her scarf in the process. She then sat back on her haunches and\nlooked at him, a loving sort of look in her eyes. That look turned to one of\nconfusion as she realized what was different about their surroundings. She\nlooked over to David and growled. Will smirked. \"You wanna wake him up, or\nshould I?\"Jenna looked\nback and forth between Will and the somnolent illusionist then jerked her head\ntoward David, indicating she wanted Will to handle him. If I do it, I can't guarantee I won't bite him, she thought.Will smirked.\nBased on her expression, she wasn't too happy with David. Will stood and walked\nover to the illusionist. He wasted no time in placing his foot against the man's\nribcage, nudging him more than hard enough to rouse him. \"Come on you limey\nbastard, wake up.\"David smacked\nWill's foot away and rolled over. \"Piss off. Do you have any idea how tired I\nam?\"\"Stow it. You\ncan sleep after you explain what's going on around here.\"Jenna nodded as\nshe waked up and sat beside Will, giving David a hard look. David tried to\nignore them, but he could somehow feel their eyes boring into the back of his\nhead. Finally he flipped back over and asked, \"What the hell do you want from\nme?\"Will crossed his\narms. \"I want to know why there's suddenly no barn, when we spent the night in\na damn barn.\"\"Yeah, that was\nme. What of it?\"\"Okay...call it an\nobvious question, but why did you feel the need to use your abilities on Jenna\nand I?\"David rolled his\neyes. \"What the hell are you complaining about? You and Jenna were drifting\napart, yeah? Well, I helped fixed it, didn't I? So how about you shut up and\nlet me sleep. Between the barn and the rain--the bloody rain was such a pain in\nthe ass--I'm exhausted.\"\"I...you...you're\nright.\" Will sighed then smiled down at Jenna. \"I hate to say it, but he is\nright. We're better off than we would have been if he hadn't done anything.\"Jenna nodded\nreluctantly. We do have him to thank, I\nsuppose. As if we didn't already owe him enough.Seeing that they\nwere no longer upset with him--as though they had any right to be!--David stood\nand dusted off his clothes before walking over to the cart and climbing into\nthe back. \"Lovely. Now I'm going back to sleep. If you want to keep--\" he was interrupted\nby a yawn, \"--traveling, then you'll have to drive the cart for a bit.\"Will and Jenna exchanged\na glance, and Will shrugged. Jenna went ahead and jumped lightly up onto the\ncart's bench, Will only a few beats behind. Will grabbed the reigns, intending to\nspur Vincent into motion, but paused, a thought occurring to him. He turned on\nthe seat and asked, \"David, why did you help us? What did you stand to gain by\nhelping us with our relationship?\"David grumbled,\nlooking up at Will with a groggy scowl. \"Bloody hell. If you must know I just...rather\nhate seeing people's relationships fail, alright?\"Will quirked a\nbrow, and exchanged a glance with Jenna, who seemed equally unsure of what to\nmake of David's response. Will decided to let it go though, and said, \"Alright\nthen. We'll wake you up if we need you for anything.\"David didn't\nreply, opting instead to roll onto his side so he was facing away from Will and\nJenna.Will rolled his\neyes, smiling as he did. What did it matter. He and Jenna were both feeling\nbetter then they had in entirely too long. A contented silence fell over the\ntwo as they settled into their seats and Will urged Vincent into a steady trot,\ntaking them down the road once more."}