Enter the Hound: The Origin of Inu

Epilogue

 

            It was a lovely funeral, if such a thing was possible.  Inu finally got to meet Frostfire’s parents, though not in the way any of them ever imagined.  Her own family was there, waiting for her to say her goodbyes at the grave site.  They didn’t plan on going anywhere any time soon.

            Austin stood beside her, his arm around her shoulders.  She was wearing Frostfire’s long leather coat.  She liked it; it smelled like him.

            “His body was never found,” Austin said softly.  Inu nodded, but she the thought didn’t give her any hope.  Even if he had survived such a strong release of fire and ice, the rubble would have crushed him.  It was better in her mind to believe his body had been torn apart in the explosion than to hold onto the slim hope that he had somehow survived.

            Reaching into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, Austin pulled out a small box.  “This was in the duffle bag Cori-O brought with him that night,” he said.  “I’m pretty sure it was meant for you.”

            Inu took the box and stared at it for a long time before opening it.  Inside was a broken charm on a chain.  She had seen such charms before.  Bought whole, the charm was meant to be broken on purpose so that each half was unique and could only be matched to each other.  She smiled and closed the box, tucking it into her own pocket.

            “So, now what do we do?” Austin asked.

            “We go on,” she said, her voice shaking despite her efforts to remain calm.  “We graduate next spring and move on.”

            Austin nodded.  “I understand.  I don’t think I can stay here anymore, either.  I’m thinking about just packing up and leaving, you know?  Maybe do some travelling.”

            Inu looked sharply up at him with wide eyes.  “Don’t you dare,” she said.  “Not now.”

            Austin chuckled.  “No, not now,” he said.  “I’ll graduate with you first.  But then I’m out of here.  This place…it just doesn’t fit anymore.  ‘Austin’ doesn’t fit anymore.  It’s kind of like what Nadine went through, except without the nervous breakdown and homicidal tendencies.  I’m not ‘Austin’ anymore.  I don’t know who I am, really.  You and Cori-O, you guys were lucky.  You figured it out before the rest of us.  Now I have to figure it for myself.”

            Inu nodded.  She understood.

            With or without Frostfire, she was still Inu.

            Now she just had to figure out what that meant.

            And she knew exactly where to start.