Chapter 2

Warning: This chapter contains some mature themes. If you do not feel comfortable with that, please don't keep reading.

When the tent was empty, Beno turned to look at Margaret.

"You know him?"

Margaret sighed. "Yes. We knew each other a long time ago, Before Mikal or the NPK or anything."

She peered at Beno. "Beno, your face has gone white."

Beno gulped down a breath of air, trying to hold himself together as Margaret stared at him in confusion. Finally, he said "Margaret, I know that man. He was there, at my village. He was in command when they came to confront us, and he ordered the soldiers to fire."

This was too much. Not her Joumon, surely her Jomon would not do such a thing.

"Beno, that's awful."

"Is it?" Beno whispered. "He's done worse you know. I mean what are some gunshots in the face of what he's done. He's done so much, so mu-"

Margaret cut in "Beno, you're rambling. What are you talking about?"

His dark eyes like lead staring into her's, Beno said "Margaret, he raped my sister. "

"And in that moment, her heart stopped. She couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't think. Joumon, her Joumon had raped someone- raped. It was too much, so she leaned over and retched until there was nothing left in her stomach, and Beno held her hair back. When she was done, she shakily leaned back against a crate.

What could she say? No words seemed genuine enough to express the chasm growing in her heart so she simply said "I have no words. Beno, I'm so sorry for the pain you've gone through and I have no words for it."

He stared at the ground and said quietly, "What happened happened."

They lapsed into silence, waiting for whatever would come next.

But Margaret's whole being was still buzzing. All she could think was "Joumon is here. Joumon is here after all this time."

So much had changed since then, and yet there was something about him, some connection she had with him that felt just as defiantly present as the first day they had met. She imagined him somewhere in the camp, maybe walking from tent to tent or talking to a soldier. Just the fact that he was so close made her whole being wake up and buzz with energy.

And then she realized with a shock, that he was probably with Kariss. And he was probably doing whatever it took to get information out of him.

It was several hours before a soldier entered the tent with Kariss and let him slump onto the floor before leaving. Margaret and Beno stumbled towards him, tripping over their bound hands. Margaret sighed sadly when Kariss raised his head. His face was bloodied and swollen, one eye half closed with a large welt growing around it. He slumped against a crate. "They hardly even asked me any questions." he mumbled, his voice thick through cracked lips. "But I didn't tell them a damn thing."

Margaret squeezed his hand. "Just rest now."

Sharply Beno said "His arm is broken."

Sure enough, Kariss's left arm was bent at an unnatural angle.

"We'll have to put a splint on it for now. Margaret, help me find a piece of wood or something to use."

It was fortunate that Beno had trained as a medic. He was able to lash Kariss's arm to a makeshift splint. After examining the rest of Kariss carefully for any more fractures, Beno said "They'll be coming for one of us next, since Kariss didn't tell them anything."

"We have to get out." Margaret said.

"Margaret you saw how big the camp is, there's no way we could leave without being caught."

"What time do you think it is by now? 4:00 maybe? Almost everyone will still be asleep. This is our best chance to go, if we wait for tomorrow night there's no telling what shape we'd be in."

She could tell Beno was thinking, trying to imagine all the possible escape routes. Eventually he said "The mountains aren't far, maybe a half mile. If we could make it out of the camp we could hide there."

"So... do we just go for it?"

Beno smiled weakly. "I guess so."

Kariss had lapsed into unconsciousness so they gently shook him awake.

"Kariss" Margaret whispered "can you walk?"

"Hm? Maybe."

He moved his legs experimentally and then slowly made his way to his feet. One by one, they slipped under the canvas back wall of the tent into the chilly night air. The camp was like a maze of dark tents, each one holding soldiers that might discover the fugitives at any moment. With Margaret and Beno supporting Kariss on either side, they hobbled from shadow to shadow, always watching for lights or people in the distance.

It felt like a million years before they spotted the edge of the camp. They emerged from the city of tents into an open boulder field, but Margaret could make out the dark outline of the mountains not far away. As they neared the mountains, more trees started to appear until they were walking steadily uphill through the forest. When they had reached some cliffs in between two mountains, Beno pointed out a cleft in the rock where they might hide. They wriggled their way into a small cave sheltered by the overhanging cliffs. Kariss sank down onto the ground gratefully.

"We need rest." Margaret said "We can sleep here for a few hours, then circle around to meet up with Alistar."

Kariss was already nodding off and seeing this, Beno nodded in agreement. Despite the chilly air Margaret found herself feeling strangely sheltered among the big stone roots of the mountain. It was a relief, to escape into the wilderness where she could rest and process all that had happened. 

All she really wanted to do was sleep, but her mind was still whirring, tripping through disjointed memories and feelings that left her confounded. She was drifting back now, to a different time. A different universe, really. Joumon's face swam before her eyes. They were in the forest, where they had gone on a camping trip to celebrate Margaret's birthday.

She was leaning against him as they sat by the fire, her head nestled against his shoulder.

"Was the bakery busy this week?" she asked him.

He thought for a moment. "About medium. I know I should be glad to have the job, but honestly I just want to get out. It's driving me crazy to spend all day in that kitchen. It seems like there's gotta be something more out there."

Margaret slid her hands around his waist. "You're not in the kitchen now." She said with a grin.

He chuckled. "No I'm not." With that, he pressed his lips on hers and they leaned into each other with trusting passion. Between kisses, Margaret gazed into Joumon's eyes.

"What?" he asked

"Sometimes, I feel like I can see right through your eyes into who you really are."

Joumon grimaced. "Then you see the ugly parts too."

"I do, but trust me when I tell you the good parts far outshine the ugly parts. You are beautiful Joumon and don't you ever forget it."

Joumon pulled her into himself and wrapped his presence around her as she embraced him fully. She ran her hands across his cheekbones and around his chin, kissing him on the forehead. They were wrapped in each other. Totally one, and totally happy for it. Hands pulled at clothes until it was just them, free together. For a moment, Joumon pulled back "Margaret, are you sure?"

She looked him in the eyes. "Yes. It's good"

There was no more questioning and they threw themselves into each other once again.

Later that evening, they were laying in the pine needles, still tangled in each other's arms and legs when Joumon said "When I was a kid, my Grandmother used to tell this story."

"Story?"

"Yeah. She would say 'listen to this story and always remember it because even if it doesn't make sense now, you will understand it someday.' It was about shape shifters. The shapeshifters could change into anything they wanted, but it came at a price because they couldn't always control their powers. They would change form and become another person or even another animal without warning. For this reason, most shape shifters lived a solitary life, because they could never recognize each other when they changed shape. But there were these two shape shifters, lovers, who were always able to recognize each other, no matter how many times they changed appearance. The other shape shifters called the lovers cousin souls because they knew each other so deeply that they didn't need physical appearance to recognize each other."

Joumon fixed his eyes on hers "We're cousin souls, Margaret. We'll always be able to recognize each other because our souls are one in the same."

Margaret smiled. "Cousin souls. I believe you're right Joumon."

With a jolt, Joumon's face lurched before her again, this time cruel and lean, miles away from the man she had known in the woods. Was this really what he had become? Margaret pushed him out of her mind in frustration. She had to sleep and then she would wake up, go find Alistar and run like hell to the border. She would never see Joumon again, he deserved no space in her mind or in her life. With that,Margaret felt sleep slide over her. She relaxed into it, infinitely relieved to leave reality behind.

Author's Note

As always, i'd love to hear your comments on this