with claws like knives and teeth like daggers
by SoulJelly

part two

for Alana

Yumi tosses and turns in her bed, dreaming of wild things.

It's dark and she's running. She moves by smell more than sight, rabbits thrash in the undergrowth, there are sounds of tiny bones and branches snapping. There is only the thrill of the hunt, laboured breath, darkness and brown and green.

She's in Jeremie's room, watching him work. His bed is soft and after last night's fitful sleep, all Yumi wants to do is close her eyes. Her body feels bulky and cumbersome. Too much hair and muscle. She shaved this morning and already can feel the regrowth prickling her skin.

Jeremie spins his chair around and smiles at her around a large yawn. Yumi tries not to feel angry with him, but anger is second nature these days. She feels like dry brush on the constant verge of setting aflame.

"It's going to be all right, Yumi. Remember," says Jeremie, "XANA hasn't beat us yet."

It's true, Yumi thinks, but as she looks at Jeremie's face she remembers all their sneaking around and covert world-saving, and all she can think about is how good they have all become at lying.

"I'm fine," she tells Odd and Ulrich.

They can see the moon faintly in the daytime sky, one very full, pale eye that stares down at Yumi like a threat, a promise. She's taken off her watch, staunchly avoids looking at her mobile phone. It's afternoon, still – there's time left – but she doesn't want any reminders as the hours creep closer to nightfall. The weirdness with Ulrich hasn't gone away like it usually does, and now his presence beside her on the bench is… distracting.

He smiles at her. Yumi's heart gives a mighty surge. She almost reaches out to grab him, to- something, she doesn't know, she just suddenly wants no one else to be around. Odd is seated on Ulrich's other side and his shoulder jostles Ulrich's as he raises a can of soda to his lips. Yumi just about resists the urge to snarl at him.

Though she won't admit it, Yumi is afraid. She doesn't know if she can endure this a fourth time. There's the build-up, a slow crawl through days where her body rejects itself and bulks into something primal; then, the aching pain of transformation, the snapping and reshaping of bones and the shifting of skin; and finally, the dull aches afterwards that even the returns to the past can't seem to fix. Caught in the relentless tug of the lunar cycle, Yumi doesn't ever quite feel right these days. The wolf is always there, threatening to leap out from under her skin. She's been avoiding her parents, Hiroki too, just in case.

She remembers parts of it, after the fact – in flashbacks, in dreams – but she'd rather they think she doesn't remember anything at all. It's easier that way. She doesn't want any more details, doesn't want to dwell on the scratches, the torn clothing, the blood.

"Ulrich deaaar!"

Sissi is all swaying hips, all softness and curves, floral perfume. She ignores Yumi and Odd, leans down to Ulrich with a simpering smile. "How are you, Ulrich? I haven't talked to you properly in ages. Do you want to study together this afternoon?"

Ulrich rolls his eyes, but before he can answer Yumi cuts in.

"He's good thanks. He doesn't need your help."

Sissi raises an eyebrow. "How rude. You know, you've been acting weird lately Yumi, even for you." Her lip curls into a smirk as she eyes Yumi's plain clothes and broad shoulders. "Maybe Ulrich wants to hang out with a proper lady for once."

Yumi's cold glare meets Sissi's disdainful sneer.

Then Sissi reaches out to put her hand on Ulrich's arm, and Yumi sees red.

"Yumi!"

She's on her feet-

Shoes scuffle on gravel-

A shriek-

Angry shouts-

A snarling sound, which Yumi finally realises is coming from her.

Ulrich and Odd hold her back by the arms, struggling with the effort. Sissi flinches as though the punch had actually landed. Yumi breathes hard, muscles straining beneath her shirt. It's all happened so quickly, it takes her her a good few moments to calm down. Everyone in the grounds is looking their way. Someone is calling for Jim.

"What are you doing?" yells Sissi. She's gone pale but there are two high spots of colour on her cheeks. Her fingers tremble as her hands lower to her sides.

"No, wait, Sissi! I'm sorry, I- "

The principal's daughter is already stalking away. When she glances over her shoulder, the fear in her eyes is unmistakeable.

"Wait until my father hears about this, Yumi Ishiyama!"

Odd pauses a beat then races after Sissi, trying to calm her down, trying not to get Yumi in any more trouble than she's already in.

Ulrich is staring at Yumi with that now-familiar look. Anxiety, pity.

His hand is still on her arm. She shrugs it angrily away.

It's getting dark when they reach the factory.

Jeremie is tapping away at the supercomputer, a comfortingly familiar sound. He's frowning, deep in concentration, and ducks his head guiltily as Yumi and Ulrich appear in the elevator doorway.

"Everything should be finished soon. I'm sorry Yumi, XANA's been so relentless with attacks it's been hard to keep up." He looks paler than usual, gaze a little unfocused behind his glasses. Ulrich pulls a flask from his bag and wordlessly hands it over. Jeremie takes a long swig and continues to type one-handed.

Yumi's nose twitches at the smell of coffee. She smiles, but it's forced and tired.

"It's okay, Einstein. Make sure you get a long rest after all of this is over."

"I should be so lucky," says Jeremie with a wry chuckle. "We'll see what XANA has to say. Anyway, the good news is that I've been able to recreate your genetic structure from your virtual code. I'm not exactly a geneticist, so it's been a little complicated."

Ulrich's gaze is a little vacant, already lost.

Jeremie continues, "Ideally I'd keep examples of all of your DNA stored here just in case, but I shudder to think what XANA would do if it got hold of something like that."

Ulrich and Yumi exchange glances and shiver.

"Mad scientist vibes, Einstein," says Ulrich. "That's a little creepy even for us. Anyway, we should… go and get ready. Come on, Yumi."

Ulrich descends the ladder, bag slung over his shoulder, and Yumi follows. The metal is cold under their palms and rings loudly as they descend, duck into the small room they've found adjacent to the scanner room. It's still upended from the last time they were here, with claw marks gouged deep into the wall and a cushion torn to shreds, tufts of fur among its stuffing. Yumi stares pointedly at the ceiling.

"Is everything okay?" she asks.

"All sorted. Odd has me covered at the dorm and your parents think you're spending the night with Aelita."

Yumi nods. Anxiety is gnawing at her gut.

"Hey. I'll be next door if you need me." Ulrich wraps an arm around her. She breathes in deeply and her lips brush his neck. They blush.

"Wait." Yumi whips her head. "Do you hear that?"

"What-?"

And then—then the vines are everywhere and they don't need to hear Jeremie yelling from the floor above to know that XANA is attacking.

They erupt from the floor, thick cords of green that wind through every crevice and fill the room with a cloying, earthy smell and undercurrent of sewage. Thorns scratch them deep enough to draw blood and flowers release sprays of stinging pollen.

Before either of them can react, the vines lift Ulrich bodily from the floor and drag him through a gap in the shattered wall. Yumi catches one final glimpse of his terrified face before he is swallowed by the darkness. She races after him without a second thought.

She's forgotten how big the factory is as she winds her way through mazes of corridors, leaping over old machinery, desperately trying to follow Ulrich's trail. The cold air stings her throat. She barely even thinks about where she's going until she finds herself on the main floor of the factory. Presumably, exactly where XANA wanted her to be.

Moonlight pours through the high windows. Yumi is frozen.

There's no more time to think before she's bursting out of her skin, snarling and snapping as the wolf breaks free at last.

Senses sharp and keen now, she knows exactly where Ulrich is. Vines pin him by the wrists and throat to one of the factory walls and blood trickles in tiny rivulets over his skin. He gives a rattling cough as the vines cut off his air supply; his legs kick feebly and then hang limp.

The wolf snarls.

Mine- it thinks.

My friend- pleads Yumi.

Nothing else matters. Not Aelita and Odd racing to Lyoko, not Jeremie being slowly tortured by more of XANA's vines. Yumi's entire world has shrunk to this.

Claws and teeth.

Desperation.

Rage.

The vines snake around her paws and snag on her fur, but Yumi bites at everything within her reach. She sinks her teeth into each and every branch and tosses her head, growling, fighting as though this were XANA itself. Weeks of anger, helplessness, frustration, fear – everything is poured into the destruction of her enemy. Vines scatter like corpses across the floor.

Yumi and the wolf, united in a common purpose, throw back their head and howl.

The battle goes on and on until-

Finally…

Silence.

The vines wither at last and stay dead. The wolf sniffs suspiciously, eyes narrowed, waiting for XANA to spring back to life, the primal part of its brain forgetting for a moment about the tower.

There's a soft sound in the shadows as Ulrich's body collapses to the floor. He stirs a little but doesn't wake up. Defenseless.

Yumi can smell the blood on him. It's in her head, painting over all of her senses, setting her heart racing.

The wolf slavers, remembering torn flesh and glistening muscle. Power, instinct.

There's a long pause as, disorientated, the wolf tries to remember what to do.

Ulrich wakes to hot breath on his face. He gasps aloud but forces himself to stay calm as he stares into a pair of huge yellow eyes.

"Yumi," he rasps. "It's me, Yumi."

He waits, holding his breath, fists clenched, expecting his life to be ripped from him at any moment.

The wolf blinks long and slow, almost as though it's at war with itself.

And then, it turns and walks away from him.