Wind in the trees - (2 Parts)

[Niceguy]

The Wind in the Trees

Author: Niceguy

A Witch Hunter Robin fanfiction

Setting and all non-original characters are property of Sunrise

Part 1 of 2

"Can you believe the boss?" Sakaki whined. "I mean come on! Waking us up at this hour, just because of a tree?" It had been a late night, and the three hunters awoke at five O'clock to the sound of the phone ringing. It was the chief, and they were being sent to one of the city's parks to check out a 'three meter tree that grew there over night.'

"A tree doesn't grow from nothing to a height three meters in one day without help. You know there's a possibility of this being the result of a craft." Amon's tone was all-business, as usual. To Sakaki he sounded as if he had gotten a full night's sleep and was not chasing down yet another witch until two AM the night before. Sakaki wondered how he managed.

"I know but… *yaaaaaaawwn* if it did grow that fast, it's probably not going anywhere. Couldn't they have just called us in at eight? All this, for a three meter tree…"

"Apparently the chief felt it was important for us to get there as quickly as possible. Now wake up Robin… We're here."

Sakaki gently jostled Robin awake. "Oh my… *yawn* I'm sorry… I fell asleep!"

"Yeah, I'm jealous." Sakai replied with his trademark smirk. "Come on. Amon is waiting."

The three left the parking lot and headed toward the center of the park. Once they cleared the outer border of trees that helped isolate the park for the noise and pollution of the city, they were stunned by what they saw. What should have been acres of green grass was now dried, brown and lifeless. The pond, which had been big enough to accommodate rowing boats, was bone-dry. The ground beneath it was cracked, the rowboats lay scattered here and there around the dusty basin. In the middle of what used to be the pond was a small island, occasionally used by the odd couple for a picnic. It was now almost completely crushed under the largest tree any of the hunters had ever seen. The tree was not three meters tall, as the hunters had assumed from their limited briefing, but three meters wide! The hunter stood at the edge of the basin for several minutes stunned as they tried to figure out how tall it was.

"50 meters at least, I'd say," a voice came from behind the trio, startling them. In their amazement they had not heard the man's approach. He was an older, weather beaten man, possibly in his sixties or seventies. He wore what looked like comfortable jeans, a loose fitting plaid flannel shirt and a wide-brimmed canvas hat. On his belt was a canteen and he used a long walking stick that looked like it had seen quite a bit of travel.

"What is it?" Sakaki asked, his amazement still showing. "A Redwood?"

"Heh..heh..heh…" The old naturist laughed. "No sonny – no Redwood's growing here! They get a lot bigger anyway! No… it's an Elm. Just a plain old… well, not a plain old… but just an Elm."

"I've never heard of an Elm getting that big before." Robin said, finally getting over her shock.

"Well, any tree can grow to amazing heights – what stops them are the ravages of time. They age just like we do. So for every bit of growing they do, they have to spend energy repairing the damage done to them… by the wind, man, insects, fungus… you name it."

"So did this one manage?" While he was just as shocked as the other, Amon's tone was as level and calm as if he was chatting about the weather.

"Well, I don't know how it happened, but as for why… It was able to reach this height because it did so without being subject to the decay of time. You see… This happened overnight."

"It seems so hard to believe!" Robin sounded amazed.

"See for your self." The old man produced a digital camera from his shirt pocket. "I took a picture of the lake just yesterday, around noon." The trio could see the date-stamp on the picture as well as the fact that the pond was full, and the island had nothing on it but grass. "That's why the pond dried up. To grow this fast, it would need an incredible amount of water – so it sucked up as much as possible from the surrounding area. It probably leached all the nutrients from the soil as well."

"But how could that be possible *cough-chough* without any sunlight I mean? *ahem* If this happened during the night…" Sakaki's throat was dry and his voice was failing him.

"Sunlight is just energy son. And the sun is but one means of providing energy. Perhaps what ever happened, the energy came from… another source." The man offered Sakaki his water.

"No thanks. *cough*. I still don't get…"

But Amon interrupted him. "Thanks so much for your help, sir. How can we get a hold of you, in case have any more questions? You seem to know this place well."

"I know it and love it," replied the old man. As he wrote down his number Robin noticed that the vial of Orbo hanging from Amon's neck was bubbling, ever so slightly. She rubbed her nose with her index finger as Sakaki's coughing got worse. After the old man left, Amon turned to his team.

"There definitely a craft at work here. I'll retrieve a sample of bark from the tree to send the lab. You two should wait in the car… and run the air conditioning."

"*cough, cough* Why? *cough* We'll be fine…" But Sakaki was getting short of breath, and his coughing was getting worse.

"This tree grew to a height of 50 meters in one night, taking all of the water from this lake to do it. My guess is that it putting out an unnatural high amount of pollen at the moment. If it generated by a craft, the Orbo should protect me. But you too are both showing signs of being affected."

"Hey… I'm fine! I *sniiiiiiif* just…" Robin trailed off, as Amon just stared at her knowingly. Her nose was running profusely, and the itch she had felt earlier was getting worse. She decided not to argue. It was bad enough that Amon already saw her as a kid, she didn't feel the need to add 'snot-nosed' to his image of her. "All right I'll go back… to… the… c-car… w-w-with… Saa… SaaAAH… HAAAHHHH-chmpht!" Robin stifled the violent sneeze that nearly doubled her over. Amon was about to say something when a scream was heard a dozen or so meters away.

"Fire! Fire! Trash-can on fire! Help! Help!" It was a woman; apparently an early riser planning to take a morning jog in the park. Before the hunters could respond, the old man joined her and used the water in his canteen to put out the fire. Amon stared at Robin.

"Did you do that?" He asked quietly, but in stern tone.

"*sniiiiif* I don't… know." But she'd had the same thought, so just in case she decided it would be better if she didn't sneeze for the time being. "I'll *sniff* go back to the car *sniff* with Sakaki *sniff*." Sakaki was now hacking rather profoundly while Robin's nose now ran beyond her control. What was making her nervous was the thought that her power also now seemed beyond her control. Considering the amount of dried grass surrounding them, and the lack of water nearby, she was slowly coming to the realization that they were in considerable danger.

_______________________________________________

Once they returned to STNJ headquarters, Sakaki headed over to sick bay, while Robin and Amon sat down in the conference room. Their resident information gatherer and computer hacker extraordinaire, Michael, was waiting to brief them on the information he was able to pull down from the net.

"The weather service is reporting record pollen counts – and what's remarkable is that it's not just a record for this time of year, but almost double the previous record for any time of year. Also, apparently that huge tree in Kaede-park was just one of several arboreal anomalies that occurred. We have a report from the Watanabe Golf Club that a dozen such trees popped up on several of their fairways – doing extensive damage to the entire course. Also… the water authority has issued an emergency alert to all citizens to conserve water. They didn't give any details, but I did some digging. According to the cities hydrological monitoring equipment, the city's water levels are about what they would be after a year-long drought – assuming continued, normal consumption by the city."

As the team considered this information, the chief came in with some bad news. "Sakaki will not be able to join you two today. His conditioned has worsened and he's been taken to the hospital for treatment."

"*sniiifff* Is he going to be all right?" Robin asked.

"Oh, he's basically being treated for smoke inhalation. He'll be given an expectorant as well as supplemental oxygen and bed rest. But he nowhere near fit for duty today… Say Miss Sena, you don't sound so good either…"

"*sniff* Oh it's nothing… *sniff* probably just that *sniff* 'record pollen count' that Michal mentioned. *sniff*" Robin smiled, trying to appear tougher than she felt at the moment.

"Well… OK…" The chief sounded concerned. "Just let us know if your condition worsens.

She considered the fact that she had been inside the air conditioned building for almost an hour now, without her 'condition' getting any better, but decided not to mention it.

"In any case," the chief continued, "I've got Karasuma and Dojima over at the Water Authority checking things out there, so I need you two to investigate the Golf Course."

_______________________________________________

Fortunately Director Zaizen knew the Club's owner, so Amon and Robin were able to gain access easily as well as interview the manager.

Amon started with the manager strait away. "Do you have any security footage? If someone entered the course last night, would you have a picture of them?"

"Ummm… Yes, we have cameras posted – not out on the fairways mind you, but if someone broke in through the perimeter, we might have gotten a shot of them. Security's checking the tapes now, so I'll let you know if they find anything."

"Thank you. One more thing – is your irrigation system working?" Amon asked.

"Ummm… No… not yet. The water level is still too low, so the sprinklers are off line… Why?"

"No reason, but I highly recommend you get them operational as quickly as possible. Amon gave a sideways glace to Robin.

"Hey! I…. *sniiiiiffff*." Robin went silent, still being pierced by Amon stare.

_______________________________________________

The course itself was almost completely dried up. Every drop of water had been squeezed out of the ground. Not a single blade of green grass was left anywhere. Spread throughout the course were a dozen mature trees, none nearly as big as the one they had seen that morning, but fully grown mature trees none the less. The itch in Robin's nose was reaching a near insane intensity.

"It's just like at the pond. All the resources in the ground have been siphoned up to feed the trees. What kind of craft would be capable of such a feat? I've never seen a craft like this before. Do you have any ideas?" Amon looked over and was struck by Robin's appearance. His young partner's nose was bright red, and streams ran from her eyes. Her voice sounded both stuffy, and a bit hoarse.

"Well, *sniff* they'd have to be strong in both water and earth crafts…" Robin couldn't stop rubbing her nose. "Back home, I've seen the craft used to *sniff* help small herbs or flower gardens grow *sniff* but nothing like this. They'd have to be a master… uh… hmmmm… I…. aahhh…." Robin vigorously rubbed her itchy nose with her fingers, but it didn't look like she would be able to holdback the sneeze.

"ROBIN! NO!" Amon rushed forward, not sure what he could do to prevent the inevitable.

"Haaa… AAAH-chmpft!" Again she stifled, but her craft activated just as it had done that morning, but this time to a greater degree. Two rows of flame crossed in an 'X' pattern between the two hunters, the heat was intense and the fire spread quickly through dried grass.

"AMON!" Robin cried out. Both hunters were forced away from each other as the flames spread between them. Amon's vial of Orbo protected him, keeping Robin's flames far enough away to leave him uncomfortably hot, but in not real danger. Robin, on the other hand, never used Orbo and in her current state was unable to muster the necessary concentration to control the fire that threatened to encircle her.

"ROBIN! WATCH OUT!"

But just as it seemed she would be engulfed in flame, the sprinkler system kicked on. The pressure was still a little low, and it was not enough to douse all of the flames right away, but there was now enough moisture to prevent the fire from spreading. Amon ordered Robin to go back to the (air conditioned) club house to wait for him. While she would have welcomed that advice just a few minutes ago, the sprinklers had soaked her clothes and she was not looking forward to waiting for Amon inside the cold building, soaking wet. She was however, in no position to argue.

_______________________________________________

Back in the conference room at headquarters, Robin's sniffles had not subsided. While she nearly froze, waiting in the air conditioned club house in her wet clothes, Amon's investigation turned up two clues, which he shared with the team. The first was a hand-written note, on what appeared to be parchment, that he'd found nailed to one of the trees.

"For too long I have witched while men in power raped this planet. I kept hoping things would get better, but my hope is gone. Now I have the power to restore the balance, to fix what mankind will not, and to reduce this virus to a more manageable level for Gaia."

It was signed "Arbor"

The second was a grainy photograph taken by one of the security cameras the night before. Once Michael was done cleaning up the picture, the team had a fairly decent photograph of their suspect. After a few minutes searching on his computer, Michael continued the briefing.

"I ran a few searches for anyone using the alias "Arbor." Within the past few weeks, several web forums received posts from a user or users with that handle. All of the posts read just like Amon's note – a lot of radical, threatening stuff. Basically, he sounds like some kind of eco-terrorist. I'm pretty sure that the "virus" he's referring to is Mankind. Assuming it's the same person, he uses that metaphor several times in his posts. He also uses the same sig line on every one of the forums I found him on: "Negative Carbon Footprint."

"*sniff* What does that mean?" Robin inquired.

"Well… Put simply… Power plants, cars, and various other things emit large amounts of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere. The leading scientific theory is that increased Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere is causing our planet to grow unnaturally warm. So the more electricity you use, the more you drive, the more power that is used to produce the goods you purchase… the bigger your Carbon Footprint."

"*sniff* OK… but *sniff* I still don't get why…"

"Trees turn Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen." Amon pointed out. "He's planning to undo the change in the atmosphere by creating artificial forests."

"Yeah," Michael continued, "But whatever that will do for the atmosphere, it's wreaking havoc on the water level, and the quality of the air in the city! Based on Robin's and Sakaki's reactions, I'd say that, along with the impending drought conditions, he's going to make fast progress in 'reducing the virus to manageable levels.'"

"Thanks Michel. Do me a favor and see if you can dig up anything else – an accomplice maybe, or a small group of followers. Check the newspaper archives, I have a hunch he may have been underground for awhile. There may be some info there that the websites don't have." Michael nodded and went back to his desk to do some more digging. "Robin, I'd like to have a word with you in private, if that's OK."

"*sniff* Sure."

Amon closed the door the conference room. "Has this happened before? You craft activating when you sneeze?"

"No. Today was the first time. I always used to have enough control over my craft, by my power has increased so much since my coming here, it may be increasing faster than my ability to control it."

"And you won't use the Orbo?"

"No – it's disgusting. And besides, if I did it would block my power completely. I wouldn't be much use then, would I?"

"Hmmm. Then I think you should use this." Amon handed her a black breathing-filter mask, Robin viewed it incredulously.

"What? Why?! I know you're concerned, but why can't I just take something…"

"Two reasons. First: As the allergen is of an unnatural origin, standard medicine may prove ineffective."

"Yeah, but…"

"Second: Your reaction, while inconvenient under certain circumstances, is your body's way of expelling this allergen. And I think that's why you are still walking around and on duty instead of in the hospital – your body didn't allow the stuff to accumulate the way it did in Sakaki. Even though he didn't react immediately, eventually the amount of particulate in his lungs grew to dangerous levels. Just in case, I'd prefer you not suppress this defense mechanism."

"Oh boy… First the glasses and now this. You just love making me look ridiculous don't you?"

"You know as well as I do that you need…"

"...the glasses. Yes, I know. That still doesn't mean I have to like them." Robin was just getting over her self-consciousness about the glasses, and was not looking forward to walking around in public wearing a breathing mask.

"There is one other thing I want to know. Why do you… stifle?"

"Huh? I don't know… *sniff* just habit I guess. Why do ask?"

"If you body is trying to rid itself of something undesirable, I wonder if that's such a good habit."

"Hmmm…. You know, I hadn't thought about it before. But when it happened, I felt a strange sensation inside of me. In my lungs, my throat, my sinuses… it was like I could feel the particles being incinerated." She noticed how surprised Amon looked. "No, it didn't hurt or anything! *sniff* I'm sure I was safe! But somehow… I was just aware of it. I think my body was actually using my craft to combat another."

Just then Michael burst in, "Amon, I found something! You've got to see this!"

Back at Michael's desk, he showed the pair what he found. "It was over 30 years ago, but there was a small and secretive group of eco-radicals calling themselves 'Gaia's Army.' Their activities included tree-spiking and other acts of sabotage, so as a security measure they always used alias in any written communication. Many of the group's members never knew the others by anything but their aliases. According to the article, 'Arbor' was one of the group's founders. The other used the alias 'Trail.'" They never found out who Arbor really was, but the authorities did apprehend Trail, whose real name was Hideki Saitoh." Amon's blood ran cold. He pulled from his pocket the card given to him by the old man that morning – the name written on was "Hideki Saitoh."

"We've got work to do." Amon was in a hurry to leave, but the Chief came in with Karasuma and Dojima in tow.

"Amon, Robin, I want you to go with Dojima and Karasuma here to the Walled City. Within the last hour, a portion of it has become structurally unstable, apparently due to several trees growing right up through the foundation! It sure looks like our mark!"

[Niceguy]

The Wind in the Trees / Part 2 of 2

The Walled City was not far, and the four raced over in Amon's car. When they arrived they were shocked by the damage. An entire block on the southeast corner was ready to crumble. It was beyond 'structurally unstable': the walls and roofs were cracked and splintered and were only being held up by the veritable forest of trees growing through them. As they approached, Amon spotted someone sitting on a sidewalk bench half a block away. He recognized the man's hat and walking stick from their previous encounter.

"Hello, Trail." He called to the man.

"Heh… heh… heh… Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. So you found me out did you sonny? Do get too excited now. I did my time. Now I just want to be able to take a few walks in peace."

"Do you recognize this man?" As Amon showed him the photograph from the security camera, the man appeared crestfallen.

"I was afraid of this," he sighed. "I didn't want to believe it, but I was afraid of this. Arbor."

"What can you tell me about him?"

"We were close friends once upon a time; radical idealists fighting back against the machine of industry." The man smiled, as he recalled the days gone by. "He was by far the more radical of the two of us. He always wanted to do more. To act. The tree-spiking was his idea. I still did the time for it though."

"Are you a craft user as well?"

"I was… and don't bother explaining yourself, yeah, I know all about Solomon. That's one of the reasons we used the aliases way back when. It was more than political idealism that brought us together."

"What was your craft?"

"I had a knack for purifying air and water. I couldn't ever do more than a small pond or stream, but I did what I could. Arbor… he had the power to increase life. Not in people, or even animals mind you… but in plants. He'd always repair any damage done by a tree-spike, or whatever else we did. It helped cover our tracks… as well as just seeming like the right thing to do. But I don't have anything to fear from the likes of Solomon now. As his power has apparently grown exponentially with age, mine has diminished. I can't even purify the water in my own canteen anymore. So when you ask me if I am a witch, I can honestly say… Not anymore."

"Can you tell me anything else about him?"

"Not much that you don't already know. He's dangerous. I only ever wanted to help preserve this planet we live on, but he always saw human overpopulation as the problem. I don't know where he's been all this time – we lost touch after I went to prison – but if he's this strong, you can bet he's ready to make his vision a reality!"

"Thanks old man. You should probably get away from here. I don't plan to hunt you, but I can't guarantee that the rest of Solomon will see things the same way." The old man nodded and shuffled away.

"OK team. Let's move in."

_______________________________________________

Inside the Walled City looked as though it was a rain forest. Vines covered every wall, and trees towered over them. The only sign of their modern urban surroundings was the sound of a radio, off in the distance, warning citizens that water service was being interrupted due to record low levels. That was the difference between their current environment and a rain forest – the air in here was incredibly dry. Although the mask helped, Robin's nose still itched and ran, but not as bad as before.

They slowly crept down a vine infested alleyway. Overhead parts of the buildings would occasionally groan and creek, ready to come down at any time. As they rounded one corner, they spotted a man at the other end of the wooded corridor. Amon called out to him: "ARBOR?" The man ran. Guns drawn, the team pursued.

As the team pursued, they reached a four-way intersection. Amon gave the order to split up. Robin took the left passage. At this point she was thankful for Amon having given her the mask, although she would not give him the satisfaction of letting him know it helped. While she stalked down the corridor, she noticed the vegetation getting thinker and the light growing dimmer. She stopped for a minute to get her bearings. While she looked around in the near darkness, she took off her mask so that she could wipe her upper lip, which had grown sticky since her nose still ran and the fluid just collected under the mask.

Suddenly a hand flew out of the darkness.

*SLAP*

The mask was lost.

"*sniff* Who are you? Arbor?" She put her glasses on, but her eyes were starting to get irritated again, and it was already hard to see in the dim light. She spotted some movement in the shadows. "Don't move," she called out, "or I'll fry you."

An answer came in a raspy voice from the shadows. "I don't think you are going to do that. The Walled City would go up like matchsticks and people still live here, you know."

"*sniff* I can control that..." She turned to face the voice but in focusing on her target, she missed the vines that had crept round her ankles. Trying to spin in place, instead she fell. More vines grew and wrapped around her wrists. She was trapped.

"No. In your state I don't think you can... just like you couldn't on the golf course." So he had been watching them, Robin realized. More vines grew, further tangling her. She could move her head, but her arms and legs were almost completely wrapped in the thick brush.

"I think you'll like this one." The raspy voice called again. To Robin it sounded as though Arbor had retreated, but as he did another vine grew down from the darkness above her. The end of it was covered with bright purple flowers that had a sweet smell to them. As pleasant as the odor was, the tickle in Robin's nose immediately rose to a nearly mind-altering level.

"Aaaah… Haaaahhh…" Control, she thought. I must control it. I. Must. Not. Sneeze. She struggled to free her hand. The drive to rub her itchy nose was almost primal now. She was breathing out of her mouth. It wasn't helping. She was trying to think of something… anything to get her mind off of the growing, maddening itch and the consequences of what would happen if she gave in…

"Aaaah…. Aaaah… Oh…. Aaaaaaahhhhh…. HAHAHAT-TCHOOO!" For some reason she hadn't stifled this time. So much of her attention was focused on her nose and what was bothering it that she had none left to keep her craft in check. A fireball emerged from her mouth and nose, scorching the bloom that was causing her so much distress. Although it did not catch fire, it did retreat. The urge to sneeze however did not, and four more came in quick succession.

"Hayat-TCHOO! Hat-tchoo! Hah… Hah… Hat-tchoo! HAAAH… Hat-TSHOOO!" Four more fireballs, and now the foliage was beginning to wilt. Robin could feel the vines around her ankles and wrists start to grow soft and slack. She freed herself, and while only a second ago the urge to rub her nose was nearly maddening, at the moment she felt completely clear, as if the inferno that emerged from her tortured respiratory track completely cleared both the air and her body of the irritant. Using her craft, she doused what little flame there was, so as not to endanger the ramshackle slum, found the breathing mask and made her way out. She soon met up with the rest of the team, but none of them had encountered the strange shadow with the raspy voice.

_______________________________________________

Back at headquarters the team waited impatiently. Nothing could be done to save the southeast block of the Walled City, and demolition teams had already started razing it. Michael could not find anything else to go on, and there were too many potential targets to stake out all of them. After several hours and a take-out meal that nobody touched, the chief burst in – there was a break in at the city's power plant. No trees or other strange occurrences had been reported, but the chief had a hunch it was their guy.

When the arrived, police squads were actually pulling out, concluding that it was a false alarm. The four hunters made their way to a back entrance, where Michael said he would be able to temporarily disarm the security system. They entered into a section of the plant that was offline for maintenance and luckily no maintenance was being done that night.

Once inside, the team began to look around. The strange smell was first noticed by Amon, but soon all four recognized it: a gas leak. Somewhere in the sprawling darkness, someone had sabotaged the gas main. In the distance they here a loud clanging noise. They drew their guns and ran towards it.

The team crossed the plant floor and spotted a shadow at the other end of a small corridor. They sped after it, still aware of the smell of gas in the air. In their haste they missed the hunched figure hiding in the shadows. They rushed right past their quarry and into what looked like a locker room. A security gate made of iron bars slammed shut behind them.

"You have interfered with my plans already, and you are a threat. Therefore you shall be eliminated. And the best part is that the cause of your own demise will also bring down this filth-spewing monstrosity! And no one will even make the connection." His gaze intensified and the cement floor beneath them began to crack.

Amon, Dojima and Karasuma leveled their pistols and fired. Since the Orbo pellets were air propelled, they had nothing to fear from the gas. All three shots cleared the iron grate and struck the old witch in the chest. He fell, temporarily incapacitated, but otherwise unharmed. As their attention turned back to Robin, they could see panic on her face. More of the strange vines had grown through the floor, several bearing the same purple blooms that had given her so much trouble before.

"Haaah… Haaaaaaaahh…"

"Robin, no!" Amon called, but he was out of ideas. They needed time to pick the lock on the gate, but Robin's nose was not going to give them any. Even in top form she would not be able to extinguish this much gas, once ignited.

"Haaaaaah…*sniiiiiiiiffff* Haaaaah…" She was rubbing her nose, desperately trying to keep the tickle at bay.

"HAH… HAAAH… HAAAAAH… *ptchltlx*!" Dojima had walked over and firmly pinched Robin's nose between her thumb and forefinger. Robin was as surprised as anyone that this worked.

"Ok…" Dojima began sweetly. "While dear Robin stands here and holds her breath, does anyone know how to get that lock open?"

"I'll take care of it, sweetie." The whole team jumped. The voice came from the other side of the grate.

"Trail!" Amon called out.

"That's right sonny." Trail produced a key ring and, after a few tries, opened the iron gate. "Now you, sweetie," He said looking at Dojima, "You get her out of here."

He looked at Karasuma. "I uh… don't own one o' them cellophones. You want to call the power company? Report the leak?" Karasuma got right to it.

"I suppose you'll have to call the factory?" Amon was shocked that the old man knew about that. The old man was able to read him clearly. "I told you before sonny… I know all about Solomon."

"What are you going to do?" Amon asked him.

"I think I'll stay here. With my friend. They can take us both. I'm tired of running." The man seemed resigned to his fate.

Seemingly indifferent, Amon nodded. "I notice you don't seem affected one way or the other by the spores." Amon pointed at the vines, which now nearly filled the room, continuing to grow despite their creator's unconsciousness.

"Well… I told you I was able to purify water and air. A man my age couldn't have made it through that plant, what with all the gas. Without my craft, I'd have collapsed before even figuring out where you were, or what Arbor was up to."

"But… you also said your power had diminished; that you couldn't even purify the water in your canteen anymore!"

"Heh heh..." There was a twinkle in the old man's eye. "I lied."

For the briefest moment, somewhere in the dark recesses of his heart, Amon did sympathize with the old witch sitting in front of him - the man who had saved his life. But he could already here the trucks from the factory approaching. It was the only time he'd ever kept a target company until the moment the trucks arrived and the only time he ever thought of letting a witch go free.

___________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading.

If you enjoyed this fanfic, click the link below for more...

http://www.sneezefetishforum.org/forums/in...;showentry=4581

[chui]

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is so totally amazing!!!! i never dreamed someone would write Witchhunter fic...and this is just.....oh my...im unable to find the words.....

GENIUS

that just about says it! the story is wonderful.....it fits the characters so well....i mean i would expect to see in in the anime...its just so great!!!! and Robin being unable to control her craft when she sneezes....pure MAGIC!!!!!

and i love how you portrayed Amon..... he is sooo well written *faints*

oh my...im going to have to read this again...and again.....and again.......

[Geist]

Wonderfully done!

You did an EXCELLENT job on the characterizations and the story was VERY believable! I'm seriously impressed! Share more of your awesome fics, please!

~Aku

[shadowpath]

I tip my hat to you, sir *tip*. That was very well done, it almost felt as if I was reading the script for a Witch Hunter Robin episode. I am equally impressed by the accuracy you put into this fic. Bravo, I for one would definitely like to see more.

[Niceguy]

Wow. I'm embarrassed now! Thanks! I'm glad you guys liked it!

[~~~]

You rock! I've waited forever for someone to do a witch hunter robin sneezefic. You should know that I now adore you.lol. Keep up the good work.