Page 38 of Shinji Takahashi: Into the Heart of the Storm

Shinji pulled his arm free. “You guys go,” he told her, still gazing at the boar. He could feel its impatience, urging him on, and backed away from her. “Go back to camp. Tell the Society what happened. But I have to follow the boar.”

“Why?” Lucy demanded.

“Because I’ve been having visions of this place,” Shinji snapped, frustrated. “I’ve seen this island before, in my dreams. There is something trapped here; it keeps calling to me, wanting me to free it. I think the boar appeared to lead me to the place I’m supposed to go. Just like the shark, showing us to the hidden map. And since I’m a guardian, I’m the only one who can do this. That’s why it came for me.”

Roux blinked, staring at him like he was insane, but Lucy’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“You’ve been having visions?” she repeated. “Of this island? When? How long has this been going on?”

Shinji felt a thump of guilt in his chest but shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. A few days.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“Why? So you could tell Oliver and Phoebe about it?”

Lucy’s eyes filled with hurt. Shinji was sorry the moment he said it, but he didn’t back down. “I’m the guardian,” he went on, wishing he could make her understand. “The Coatl sacrificed itself to grant me the magic of the font. Whatever happened on this island, I have to fix it. The Storm Boar has been leading me here from the beginning. I can’t turn back now.”

“You don’t have to do it by yourself,” Lucy began, but Shinji turned and walked across the clearing without bothering to answer.

“Shinji,” she said, her voice tense.

The white boar didn’t wait for him to get close, but immediately turned and slipped into the undergrowth, vanishing from sight.

“Shinji!” Lucy shouted after him.

Without stopping to think, he followed.

Lucy and Roux hurried after him. “This is crazy,” Lucy hissed as they caught up. “Following a wild pig into the forest. We’re going to get so lost.”

“At least it’ll be interesting,” Roux added, sounding far more nonchalant than he should have. Or maybe he was trying to act like he wasn’t affected. “Talking sharks, sirens, and magic ghost pigs. Maybe we’ll run into a unicorn next.”

“You don’t have to come,” Shinji insisted. “I don’t need help. Go back to the others and let them know what’s going on. Tell them I’m fine; I’m just doing guardian stuff.”

“Stop it.” Lucy glared at him as she shoved a wayward

lock of blond hair behind one ear. “One, I’m not leaving you alone out here with a spooky wild pig, even if you are supposed to be following it,” she snapped. “Two, I still can’t believe you didn’t tell anyone you were having visions. What do we even know about this Storm Boar? Is it a guardian like the Coatl? Why is it trapped? How do we know we’re even doing the right thing setting it free? Did you think about any of this, or are we just going in a random direction because a wild boar told us to?”

“You know, maybe this is why I didn’t tell you anything,” Shinji muttered. “You ask too many questions.”

“And you don’t ask any!” She made a disgusted motion, prompting Tinker to squeak in protest from her shoulder. “You think you have to do this all yourself. And now we’re following a wild pig through a rain forest without any grown-ups knowing where we are, maybe running into something dangerous, just because you want to be a guardian. If my dad heard about this, he’d tell me how dumb it was to rush headfirst into something without knowing anything about it.”

He felt irritation flare inside him. “Go back to Hightower, then,” he snapped, whirling on her. “If you miss it so much, you should just go home. You can have your workshop and all your inventions, and you won’t have to worry about me dragging you into danger anymore.”

Silence fell. Shinji and Lucy stood there, Shinji flushed and angry, Lucy with her expression gone cold and icy.

After a few moments, Roux gave an uncomfortable cough.

“Uh, hey, guys? The boar isn’t stopping. Maybe we can have this fight when we’re not in the middle of the forest?”

Shinji looked up and saw the white boar’s hindquarters still walking away from them through the trees, its short, bristly tail flicking from side to side. He glanced back at Lucy, but she wasn’t looking at him anymore.

“Fine, go follow your pig, then,” she said in a cold voice. “I’m still not leaving you out here alone. But if something happens, it’s not my fault.”

Guilt gnawed at Shinji. Why had he said that? That was the second time he had thrown Lucy’s upbringing back in her face. But there was no time to talk about it now; the boar wasn’t stopping and had nearly disappeared into the undergrowth. Suddenly afraid that if he lost sight of the boar it would disappear, Shinji jogged after it. He would apologize to Lucy later; right now, the Storm Boar was counting on him.

He had to find out what it wanted. He had to getsomethingright.

They continued through the rain forest, following the pale form of the boar along game trails and narrow paths. Nothing stopped them or got in their way. The trail, though it wound lazily through the thick undergrowth, was mostly clear. Shinji saw more birds and insects, but no larger wildlife. Except the white boar keeping just within their sight several yards ahead.

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