Wayward paths forthcoming ((John Greywolf))

She entered the establishment quietly; even opening the door slowly enough to barely ring the bell gingerly tied at the top of the door frame.  Instantly the various aromas of the store struck her senses, causing her eyes to wince a bit, but her steps continued to carry her forward.  If others within the store looked, Shade paid no heed, not making eye contact with anyone as a sign that she wished to be left alone.  Her thoughts automatically drummed up the one memory she had of this place when Jayda and Brix were with her, and that day led to a most unexpected battle to remember.  


A lot had changed for all three of them since then....


The store itself seemed to have stayed the same, though.  Some of the small tables and chairs had been moved about, but little else.  It was mostly illuminated by the sunlight streaming through the large windows with a dim lamp glowing from the counter next to the antique register.  There were candles lit here and there. mostly flickering for the feel of comfort, rather than the use of light.  Meanwhile, Shade took her time scanning over the various items upon the shelves.  So many herbs with names she could never pronounce, but at least descriptions were provided for each one.  She simply needed sleep, but obtaining it had been hard to come by for quite some time.


As always, while her mind tried to center on one thing, her chaotic thoughts raced about like a hurricane making concentration a struggle.  Shade purposely blamed the constant annoyance on her current fatigue, but deep down she knew the truth she would never admit to.  They were all gone.  They all moved on with their lives.  Even her brother.  Although Shade expected it, knowing it was for the best for them all, she never expected to be left so empty, especially now, without her powers.  So Shade had striven to keep herself distracted and working countless hours as Headmaster to Balamb Garden to the point of exhaustion in hopes to block out the memories.  Doing such had proven ineffective.


Now annoyed with herself, Shade began grabbing anything that was listed to assist in sleep, be it herbs, tea, candles... just so she could get the hell out of the store before her thoughts drove her mad.  Once at the counter, she dumped her armload onto the counter without so much as a word and waited to be rung up as her hand fished through her pants pocket for her money.

John stood across the street from Grandmother Twylah’s incense shop watching as the world around him moved on by without so much as a glance toward his direction. He smiled thinking on all those who passed his spot, everything changed and yet nothing really changes. A woman motored by speaking into a communicator oblivious to even the crowd, and then a man charged past going in the other direction in a rush, probably missing some meeting the Shaman thought. Yes, as much as it had all changed nothing really changed.

He thought of Wahkan again and wondered how his friend was making out. He had left but with the condition he would return, the large man just needed to tend to some overdue business. John knew what his friend was referring to and he hoped a final resolution would lead Wahkan’s troubled soul to find peace finally. He smiled knowing whatever the outcome Wahkan would return, and then John felt his mood change as he thought of his other friend.  Keiko had left Midgar aboard her new air ship, the Crescent Moon, and when he asked if she would come back the Pirate just smiled. It wasn’t a ‘no’ by any means, but then it was not a ‘yes’ either. It was the kind of smile one puts on when a question has no true answer, just a probable outcome. The medicine man might be walking down the street one day when lo and behold there she’d be, the adventuress herself, but it would not be prudent to hold your breath waiting for that moment to happen. John suddenly smiled remembering Nafessa, Keiko’s companion, and almost laughed as he saw all the images of her running about so excited to be traveling it made her look crazed.

The shaman was still deep in thought about the sky pirate when he spotted another friend, one had not seen for some time.  She looked deep in thought as she walked up and then into Grandmother Twylah’s shop. He gave a small laugh as he watched Shade open the door trying not to ring the bell above; more than obvious she didn’t want to attract attention. John bit his bottom lip just a bit weighing the sudden want to cross the street and follow Shade and the fact she may not want company. He had seen on more than one occasion those unfortunate enough to end up on her bad side.

Yet, it only took a second for John to decide.

He stepped out f his spot with a quick step cutting off another lady talking on her communicator as well and just for safety’s sake he ignored the colorful phrase she called him as he crossed the street. He wondered if Twylah had a pot of peppermint tea on as he slowly opened the door to the shop and stepped in spotting Shade at the counter.


She looked up and as she noticed him John tipped his hat and spoke calmly. Good day Shade, how have you been?

Shade stood as rigid as a brick wall while waiting for her purchase to be rung up by anyone.  She grew a bit annoyed that this place appeared sorely unattended where thieves could easily slip out the door with whatever merchandise they chose.  Just when she was about to call out for an employee, the faint jingle from the entrance silenced her voice as instincts brought her muscles to tense and her right arm to flinch back for her sword strapped at her hip.  


Instincts... that's all it was.  Years of training and automatic reaction.


She didn't even spare the newcomer a glance until the voice spoke up and said her name.  Her head turned and her eyes widened slightly with a bit of surprise that someone would recognize her until she saw the face and remembered John from her first and last visit here.  After a quick assessment from head to toe, Shade took note of his unique appearance.  One that didn't seem to fit into the environment of a busy city.  He reminded her much like a fish trying to fit in with the desert life... Her first encounter with John led to pretty much the same impression, so it was obvious his distinctive style was never effected by time.


She gave the man a curt nod and returned his casual greeting. “Greywolf....” She turned her head again, looking back to the doorway behind the counter while mentally scorning the employee for taking their precious sweet time as she replied to John's question with a lie.   “I'm  just peachy....”


The silence that followed grated Shade's nerves.  With her fingertips now drumming the counter top impatiently, her steel hues met with John's again with her voice still flat of emotion. “You look well...”  Shade was never one for casual pleasantries, nor was she one for patience when finding herself feeling awkward.  Finally, with a sigh of irritation, Shade pulled out her money from her pocket and left far more than she owed for her items.  While reaching across the counter for a bag, the agitation in her tone was evident. “Do me a favor... tell whoever is here that I was in a hurry.  I left the money here and they can just keep the change...”  She tossed each item into the bag without care while muttering her annoyance under her breath before heading out the door in a flurry.  Had she foreseen the speedy pedestrian  rushing down the sidewalk with briefcase in hand and his attention solely focused on his heated discussion on his cellphone, Shade could could have paused for a fraction of a second to avoid the head on collision.


It wasn't the crash of bodies landing on the sidewalk that set off her temper.  It wasn't the loss of her purchase thrown and scattered to the street and currently being run over by passing vehicles.  The fact that the middle aged man was now shouting insults to her intelligence with colorful profanity was simply the icing to Shade's limitations to her patience.  The man was already back on his feet and sputtering his rage over his now dirty and disheveled suit, and all the while through his cursing insults, had the nerve to demand that Shade be charged for the cleaning bill.  Shade took her time getting back to her feet, but not out any soreness from the fall.  She was buying her sense of control some time, but failed miserably when the man grabbed her by the arm and jerked her toward his fallen documents from his briefcase while ordering her to chase down the papers and pick them up.


Perhaps her gender gave him the impression she weak.  Maybe it was her small frame.  But the last thing he would have ever expected was the gloved fist that came slamming hard into his nose with a loud crunch and left him instantly unconscious and sprawled across the sidewalk at her feet.

There are some things you just see coming John thought as he watched Shade drop the man who had walked into her with one solid punch to the jaw. The way she acted, the confusion in her eyes, and finally the tension in her body…it all added up to one giant trap ready to spring on the first wayward soul to step in its jaws. Yet the shaman felt no sorrow for the man on the ground, not one bit, cause if he had the common sense not to touch Shade then he just might be walking and talking still and not about to be taken to the nearest medical commissary where he was more than likely going to end up with a tube or two in him. John could have helped him, healed his physical body, but then that would leave the hole in the man’s soul and the shaman had little taste for trying to fix the ailment.

“Oh my…did she just-“John heard from behind instantly recognizing the voice, it was Tala, grandmother Twylah’s daughter and worked at the shop.

The shaman turned and smiled cutting off the young woman. “Everything is fine Tala, but can you please replace Shade’s purchase. I think she’d like that very much.”

“Oh yes, I can certainly-“ Tala started to say when a smaller version of her let out a cry.

“Wow! She knocked him out with one punch!” Taima, Tala’s small daughter yelled as she stepped out from the counter. “Did you see that mother?”

“Taima, get back and stop staring!” Tala hissed the command.

“She looks mean! Can she knock you out with one punch John?” Taima asked excitedly missing what her mother demanded.

The shaman just smiled and nodded to the little girl. “I hope to never have an answer to that question little one, now do as your mother asks.” She did stepping back behind the counter as John turned and headed for the door.

The scene out just past the door was chaotic to say the least. A mob had started to form around Shade and the fallen man, most either staring at the fallen man or whispering while staring at her. John moved out past the door and quickly looked around noting exits were disappearing quickly, but it didn't matter really as he and Shade could easily make one, it was just he didn't want to attract more attention. Someone was dialing the number for the constabulary and that would not even begin to help the shaman decided.

“Hey, she hit that man for no reason!” A lady in the crowd yelled accusingly.

“No ma’am, he grabbed my friend here. I saw it and she only defended herself.” John remarked quickly smiling, and just as he finished a man standing nearby joined in.

“Yeah, the dumb ass got what he deserved!”

“What? Are you saying our friend here deserved to get his face punched in?” Another man asked quickly. The mood of the crowd started to change, divide, and John instantly knew this turn of events could lead to nothing good. He started to raise a hand when someone else on Shade’s side yelled out.

“Yes he did! He grabbed the lady here and he never tipped me when I served him at the diner!”

John turned to see a defiant young lady, about Tala and Shade’s age, gnashing her teeth and pointing a menacing finger at the man. Tipping, really? Insults started to fly like thrown knifes, an even mix of threats to Shade for hitting him versus those cheering her on for laying him out like a cheap suit. It made John wonder just exactly how bad was this man’s life and just what kind of a path he walked. The shaman turned back to Shade and whispered over the growing riot.

“This isn't exactly what I expected when I came out here.”

Then someone on the man’s side, in the back, pushed someone else for Shade and that was all it took. A single push turned into a punch and then everyone was fighting.

Shade made no move, standing stiff and still while staring at the unconscious man on the ground.  When a few stragglers began to take notice and shout their comments, she could only drop her head to rub her throbbing temples with a heavy sigh.  The one time she leaves her duties to run a simple personal errand, and this is the muck she lands in.


Trouble.  It seemed to follow her everywhere like a homeless puppy demanding her attention.


The crowd of people slowly began to grow, and with it, the heated words, whether they were against her, or in support of Shade's assault.  The more the tension grew, the more it ate away at her patience.  Her agitation wanted nothing more than to just turn away from the scene and  walk off without so much as a glance back.  It didn't matter to her if people approved of her actions or not.  But the last thing she needed was to be arrested for walking away from the scene.  That alone would keep her from getting back home and to her duties, where she sorely needed to be right now.


As the amount of spectators increased and the shouting grew louder, Shade was just about to snap at them all when John's voice piped up next to her.  Her eyes gazed about the countless faces in pause to his comment.   “I've learned not to rely on expectations, my friend, save for one....”  She shook her head slightly as the people now began to argue heatedly with each other over an incident that had nothing to do with any of them.  Were people so desperate to be included in any form of drama because they themselves felt so insignificant of attention?  With a soft snort of disgust, Shade finally turned and locked her steel gaze with John's again.   “Expect the unexpected.... that's always the certain guarantee.”


Just then, as if on cue to her words, the fight broke out amongst the crowd.  With an inward groan, Shade automatically felt the responsibility for it.  Had she just ignored the guy's ignorance of human decency in the first place and walked away from him from the start, there never would have been a scene for people to crowd around to in the first place.  So it was her mess to clean up...  


She couldn't very well sock them all flat on the ground, and there was no breaking up the amount the people separately on her own.  The only solution that came to mind was to distract the angry mob all at once, and with a spectacle that would grab everyone's attention all at the same time.  Shade's only tool for such a ploy was sound asleep  beneath her hair and curled around the back of her neck, so with a regrettable sigh, she reached back and gave the small bundle of fur several nudges to wake him up.  How the blasted little creature slept through all the commotion was beyond her, but Skittles always was an oddball of a squirrel.  Although he reached adulthood in age for his species, Skittles demeanor and obnoxious behavior was still that of a crazed youngling overdosed with sugar.   And he too was living proof of Shade's philosophy about expectations.


Finally, the small head peeked out through Shade's mane of hair, yawning widely over her shoulder as the shouts and fists flew around them.  After a few blinks, the rodent gave his head a shake before stretching his body slowly and now revealing all the multiple colors through his fur that earned him his name.   “We need to break up this mess, Skittles... but in a way that makes everyone scatter and run off on their own.  Think you can handle that?”  His reply was an excited chatter of just his tiny teeth before leaping off of her shoulder, and as he scampered through all the trampling feet, Shade looked back at John with a lift of her right eyebrow.   “Might wanna step back for this.... He gets carried away sometimes...”


True to her word, Skittles spun into a massive whirlwind tunnel that ignited his unique gift to transform his shape.  Now in the middle of the street stood a ten story multi colored.... gummi bear....


While dropping her face into her gloved hand, Shade's words were muffled with a long drawn out groan of misery as flocks of people now screamed in terror and ran amok in all directions for escape as the gargantuan gummi roared out in all it's gooey fury while flapping it's fat arms in the air and taking a casual stroll down the middle of the street.  Meanwhile, Shade dared to raise her head, yet kept her hand over her face to peek through her fingers.   “I knew I should have stayed in bed this morning...”