Chapter 13
Taylor woke up on an unfamiliar couch, with a bag of frozen peas lying on her face. The first thing she did was to swat them off, letting the slowly-melting vegetables tumble to a stop on her chest, instead.
The second thing she did was to turn her head and empty her stomach. Someone next to her exclaimed in disgust, but she was too busy coughing on the acid to apologize.
"Yuuta, boy, stop flailing and go clean yourself up. Souta, get a washcloth and help."
"This isn't my house."
"Souta."
"...yes ma'am."
Warm fingers gripped at Taylor's shoulder and tugged, and she sat up to follow their direction. In the next moment a glass of water was pressed into one hand, and a damp paper towel into the other. Taylor made use of them, and finally wiped at her face enough to let her squint more clearly. She was in someone's apartment, now sitting on their couch with Sunny taking up the bulk of it. A stooped old woman with a cane stood in front of her, giving her a visible once-over. The woman clicked her tongue, then stomped away towards the kitchen. Taylor looked for her glasses, found them in Sunny's mouth, and retrieved them. A quick tug on the wolf's fur and Sunshine wriggled into Taylor's lap for a hug.
An upperclassman she vaguely recognized was nearby, cleaning the rug and grumbling about it. Souta, she supposed, and the teen returning to the room with a fresh shirt was Yuuta. "Uh... hey." He offered. "Sooo... you're awake now?"
"Stop stating the obvious, Yuuta." The old woman called.
Yuuta glowered, but didn't speak against the old woman. Instead, he turned back to Taylor. "I saw you in school earlier, but uh... you looked busy. I wanted to return your ofuda that bitch slapped around."
Taylor shook her head, ignoring the woman in the background ('Yuuta, language!'). "Keep them," she mumbled.
Souta finished cleaning her mess, tossed the rag into the garbage, then came back to give her a steady look. "The Oni called, had me pick you up. Didn't say to give you a ride home, but you want one?" On her lap, Sunny sneezed, and Taylor shook her head in response. Souta grunted, "Okay."
"Going home, Miko?" The old woman clomped back into view. "I give you some melon bread to take home. Yes, Souta, I have some for you too. Don't beg." Souta gave the tiniest fistpump. Taylor heard Yuuta snort and cover his mouth with a hand. The old woman came back with a large ziplock bag, filled with bread rolls with a cross-hatched crust. Sunny was gracious enough to take the bag in her teeth, tail already wagging at the faint smell of sugar. The canine hopped off the couch, stretched, then leaned into Taylor until she agreed to swing one leg over and settle atop the wolf's back. Souta opened the door for them as the wolf carried the girl out of the apartment.
Yuuta watched them go, accepted a bread roll from his baachan, then after a moment asked, "Did we just watch a shrine maiden ride off on a wolf the size of a donkey?" ('Yuuta, what did I tell you about speaking the obvious?') Souta just grunted. "Is... nobody else bothered by this?"
Souta gave the younger teen a sideways glance. "How long you lived in the Bay?"
* * *
They took the elevator down, then exited the apartment building and started down a sidewalk, Sunshine keeping to a fast, easy gait. Heads turned, but no one barred their path. When Sunny turned down a familiar street, heading towards the shrine, Taylor grabbed the wolf's ruff and tugged.
"No. Take me home." Whiiine.
"No, Sunny. Take me home!" Taylor gritted her teeth, felt her mouth pull down in a grimace. "I just-- I want to go home."
Sunny slowed, then stopped, her tail lowering from its jaunty wave. She turned her head as far as she could, looking back, but Taylor looked down and hid behind her hair. Sunshine whined, just once, then turned around and started back down the street, towards the edges of ABB territory.
The sun was setting by the time Sunny turned the corner of the Hebert's street, then sidled behind the house to the back door. Taylor slipped off the wolf's back, fumbled for her key, and unlocked the door. The bread rolls were tossed onto a counter in the kitchen, and a fresh bag of frozen vegetables was taken from the freezer and pressed into service for Taylor's bruise. Taylor took her ice and her silence and sat down with them on the much more familiar Hebert couch. Sunshine sat in front of her, and waited.
"Sunny, I..." A tremor worked through Taylor's shoulders. "I don't want this."
The wolf cocked her head. Taylor swallowed, and continued. "I don't— I know you were right there in the shrine, and— and you wouldn't have let him really hurt me, but... Sunny, I know I said I wanted to be something special someday, but if this is what it takes I don't think I'm cut out for it."
Sunny whined, ears folding back and brows drawing together. Taylor wiped her nose on her sleeve. "I just.... I just want to hang out with my friend. Is that okay?"
Sunny made a low noise, then leaned in forward and licked at Taylor's unmarked cheek, covering her face with the slobber of sorrowful apology. Taylor squeezed her eyes shut, but grabbed Sunny's ears and rubbed them. She traced the red markings along the wolf's brow and cheeks. Forgiveness.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry, but I'm scared." Sunny hopped up onto the couch and put her head in Taylor's lap. They sat like that, together, for the rest of the daylight.
Danny Hebert came home after dark, every muscle and tendon taut as a bowstring. He found his daughter asleep on the couch, salt and a darkening stain on her cheek. Danny walked out of the room, curled one hand into a fist, and bit on it until he broke the skin.
Then he returned, and picked his daughter up, to carry her upstairs and put her to bed.
* * *
Taylor was at school the next day. She rebuffed all questions: the teachers ('what, you're concerned now?') and the students ('it's fine'). She answered only one: Yuuta wanted to know if she'd liked the melon bread. She had. It was a family recipe, apparently.
The students who recognized her asked each other, and their friends, and their families instead. There weren't any answers, only more questions, but the ripples began to spread.
Lung had gone to the shrine. Lung had been there, and the shy girl was still alive. Not unmarked. But unburned, and unbowed. Mostly.
Even better, Sunny was waiting by Taylor's bike when the last bell rang. She'd found a Frisbee, and the wolf was more than happy to find an open field to toss it around in. The canine was quite good at it, surging into somersaulting leaps and tossing the disc into the air. Then Taylor would run, and try to catch the toy.
About a half hour into the game Taylor stopped and held her hands in a T. "Wait, wait, stop! Are we doing this backwards?"
Sunshine chuffed.
* * *
Danny was at work the next day, despite his reservations. Dragon had sent out an alert yesterday, when satellites picked up a sudden change in weather patterns over the city of Brockton Bay. It had lasted for only five minutes or so, but that was enough to have the Protectorate on edge. Weather-like powers weren't unheard of among parahumans. Aerokinesis, hydrokinesis— even forming small, localized storm clouds had been reported. But to change the cloud formations, wind direction, and humidity over an entire city? Capes could be powerful, even obscenely so, but they weren't forces of nature.
(Not to say that there weren't powered forces of nature... but those didn't bear thinking about. Chessman had never participated in an Endbringer battle, and he had no intentions of starting. Not while Taylor was still in school, at least.)
It was worry enough to get Armsmaster to stop going over his helmet cam of his encounter with the dog and get back on the street, taking Chessman with him as they followed Dragon's derived GPS of the weather disturbance's center. They had to pass into the ABB's territory, which did not lessen the worry. Anything that was trying to poke at Lung was cause enough for concern, though likely more for the collateral damage than anything else.
"You know... I don't remember all these trees being here," Chessman remarked, looking out the passenger window of the unmarked PRT transport. Saplings, covered in pale pink buds, about five feet tall on average.
"Neither do I. I'll grab a sample from a few before we leave, just to be sure. And make sure Blasto is still in one place."
Dragon's directions led them to a quiet back street. About halfway down, a red painted arch stood proudly at the entrance to a large lot, the only one well-kept in sight. A cobblestone path led to a medium-sized building with an uncommon design. Armsmaster and Chessman approached, taking note of the lot's appearance and structures. There were some items left near the opening of the recessed building, and Chessman took a quick look through them. An odd selection, and to just leave them here? Something was missing.
"There's some significance to this, but I don't recognize it offhand. What about you, Armsmaster?"
"I'll get it photographed and confirmed later. Right now, I recognize this."
Chessman walked back out of the lot, to where Armsmaster was examining the fence and the neighboring properties. The fences for all of them had been painted, and recently by the bright hues. It was more carefully done, but the color selection was a match to the rogue painter Armsmaster had encountered. It was difficult to tell under the coating of vines and fallen leaves, but the buildings bordering the shrine looked more intact than they had any expectation to be. Armsmaster hmmed and started eyeing the closest power lines and poles.
"I've got a few motion-sensor camera setups. Legal, though technically for deer. Get some of your pawns ready and we'll get this place wired."
