DISCLAIMER: I do not own Soul Eater.
A/N: The second chapter from the Soul Eater fanfic that I originally posted on Quizilla. This is also revised and edited as the first chapter was.
The Sound of a Soul
By: Mental Verin
Chapter 2
Melly woke up to a thrumming in her head, the tell-tale signs that something was in the forest. Sliding out of bed Melly quickly changed out of her clothes from the day before and into a new set before padding out of her room, quietly making her way past Jim’s closed bedroom door. Be careful to skip the floor boards that creaked throughout the house, she made her way to the front door and turned the knob silently, thanking Shinigami that Jim kept all of the door hinges well oiled so they wouldn’t squeak, and opened the door only enough to where she could slip out with ease.
The clearing outside of the house was empty, an early morning fog spread through the air lightly. Everything in the forest was asleep; the only noise was the sound of Melly’s light breathing. She glimpsed around, the shadowy silhouettes of the surrounding trees visible through the light fog as she stepped down from the porch and onto the soft grass. The quiet continued to spread out and Melly closed her eyes to concentrate on the invisible pulse of the forest. She could feel the lingering vibrations that had woke her up but she had to focus to find the thread that would lead her to the source of the small disturbance. In her mind she saw the roots of the trees surrounding her, all connecting to each other like a single organism, and saw it. The pulse that wasn’t a part of the forest glowed in her mind like a red dot on a map.
With a second though, Melly ran off into the trees, following the map in her head of the forest and where the newest member of the forest was. She hopped over roots and boulders, fallen trees and small streams in a memorized and quick path that took her towards the center of the forest, where the largest and oldest trees lived. The gold bangles on her wrists and ankles chimed in the cool morning air as the teenage witch ran with confident grace over the mossy ground.
Melly slowed down her pace to a light jog as she came to the very center of the forest where an old oak, the originating tree and oldest in the forest, was planted. Slowing to an observing walk, Melly circled the tree, her curious red eyes skimming over the tree’s thick roots for that red dot on her mental map. She almost circled the tree completely before she saw who it was that had intruded into this domain without consent.
He lay among the roots, his breathing deep and calm as he slept in the nestled warmth that was provided by his own body. He wore a yellow and black letterman jacket that had an insignia stitched over his left pectoral and deep burgundy red pants. Yellow, black, and white shoes that looked like they had teeth covered his feet as the heels dug into the loamy soil of the forest. His white hair was ruffled a bit with a few fallen leaves from the oak above him clinging to the shocking locks but otherwise held in place by a headband with patches stitched in it. One read SOUL and the other EAT.
Melly watched his sleeping face as he lay in the roots of her favorite tree and enjoyed her second viewing of this handsome boy who had wandered into her forest in the night. She had the urge to get closer to him and kneel beside his sleeping form. With light and hesitant steps, Melly approached Soul quietly so she wouldn’t disturb his sleep just yet. His sleep was peaceful as his back leaned back into the oak so that he was in a sort of sitting position. Melly reached out and traced the line of his strong jaw, up his cheek and over his brow. She gently stroked a stray strand of white hair from his face and tucked it behind his ear in a soft caress.
