Authors Note: Okay, this is actually a rewritten story. I wrote it a few years back but was never pleased with the ending. I rushed it just so there would be one. So, in addition to sharpening the whole story, I added over 10k words, mostly to the end. I am much more pleased with this version. It is all written, so you don't have to worry about it ending part way through. There will be 9 chapters, most about this length or a little longer, with the last chapter being pretty short. I am thinking I will update twice a week, maybe Thurs and Mon.

It seems like so long ago since Shaman King came out, but it will always be something I write. I first started by writing Shaman King FanFics and I won't ever be able to forget that. Also, I have always been, and will always be RenxPiri.

Now let's get this over with: I do not own Shaman King. Pairings might have gone over a LITTLE differently if I did.

Now, this story has a lot of memories and dreams. All of these will be in italics. Because there are some points where one dream fades into another a ## will be used at the start and end of each one. This either means that a new dream or memory has started or you are back in the present day/real world. A single # indicates that you are still in the real world or the same memory.

Credit for the story picture goes to MayaPatch on DeviantArt mayapatch dot deviantart dot com/art/Ren-X-Pirika-546996100

#

Chapter 1

#

"Are you really sure they'll like me?" she asked nervously, playing with the ring around her finger.

Giving a sigh he rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. And if they don't then we will just come back here and stay."

"I can't make you choose between me and your family Ren-kun," she told him sadly.

"Pirika look at me," he ordered, only continuing once their eyes met. "It wouldn't even be a choice. I would choose you in a heartbeat and never look back. Nothing could ever make me leave you. Please believe that."

She couldn't help but giggle at his words. No one else would believe how gentle the Tao could be when it concerned her. He never showed it to anyone else. Although he had never said it out loud, he loved the blue haired Ainu girl beside him. She was everything he wasn't, always happy, giggly, childish, hyper, innocent, yet still he loved her more than anything else in the world.

He told her she was lucky when he had talked to her brother about it instead of just making her run away with him, but really he wouldn't have had it any other way. He had respect for her brother and knew how it would hurt him if she left without a word. Even more the deciding factor was how close the two were and how lost she would be without him. Horohoro had basically raised her and the two had become nearly inseparable over time. Moving in to kiss her they were pulled apart by the screeching of brakes outside and the jerk of a crash.

Opening his eyes Ren found himself laying on the asphalt bleeding. Looking around he tried to take in his surroundings despite how blurry his vision was. It was obvious that he had been thrown from the car with how both his vehicle and a few more were totally wrecked behind him. The one thing he couldn't see was her.

Forcing himself to his feet he could see the blood on the ground near him from where she had landed and a trail that led away from the street but nothing more. She had to have been in worse shape than him, at the very least because of how much blood the other puddle contained. It looked like mere moments had passed by as people from the other vehicles were just crawling out and the crowd had only started to form.
"Pirika!" he managed to call as he started to follow the short trail.

#

"Get your filthy hands off me you worthless human!" they heard a man shout from the back of an ambulance.

Horohoro and Yoh shared a look and ran forward. Coming into view they weren't all that surprised to see nearly a half dozen men trying to restrain Ren and treat his deepest wounds.

"You really should let him go. I promise that we will take care of him, but if you don't back off he's going to hurt you," Yoh explained quickly as Horohoro dragged Ren away from all the people. Neither of the other men had seen this kind of anger and hatred in his eyes since he rebelled against his father not long after the group of them met.

He tried to fight off the blue haired man but he pinned his arms behind him and held him there. "Let me go you bastard I need to find her!"

Yoh put a gentle hand on the other man's arm. "Ren you need to calm down! You're losing a lot of blood and we need to understand what happened."

They could see the caring friend they knew struggling with the angry child he once was. "Let me go, she's gone!" he snapped.

Horror filled Horohoro as he glanced over the scene franticly. Letting the other man loose he faced him. "Where is Pirika?" he begged, eyes filled with barely controlled panic. "What happened to my sister?"

The cold, dark look in Ren's eyes showed which side of him had won. "I have no use for beings such as yourselves! Now remove yourself from my sight."
Yoh and Horohoro shared a worried look. Whatever happened had sent Ren back to the hateful person he was before them.

When they gave him no response Ren jerked away from them and tried to walk away. One of his hands gripping his arm tightly in an attempt to stop the bleeding but it wasn't working well. With the extent of his injuries and the amount of blood he had already lost Yoh knew he wouldn't get very far. No matter what the Chinese man wanted at this point, even he couldn't go on like this for long.

Knowing what he had to do, at least for the moment, Yoh came up from behind and knocked Ren hard on the back of his head, causing the now unconscious man to crumple to the ground.

"But what about my sister? I need to find her," Horohoro exclaimed in desperation.

"I promise we will Horo but if Ren doesn't get help he could die. The people here have searched close by and found nothing so she isn't here. Once Ren is awake again we will make him tell us what happened. Until then he needs us more."

Unable to keep a few fearful tears from falling he just nodded as Yoh threw his friend over his shoulder and started back to the onsen.

#

Faust had gone back to Germany for a week to assist with his family's clinic, but by a stroke of luck he had finished early. It was supposed to be another two or three days until he returned but he had flown in late last night instead.

"What happened?" he asked sharply seeing the unconscious man they returned with.

"There was a crash of some kind and that's all we know."

"Bring him upstairs."

Once they set him on the bed, Faust started to work on him while Yoh got some rope from outside. The German man looked up at him in shock. "What are you doing?"

It was one of the hardest things Yoh had ever done, but he tied Ren securely down, allowing only enough slack so Faust could roll him slightly to examine his back.

"What are you doing Yoh?" Tamao asked in surprise as she walked in.

"What I need to. Go downstairs and call Lyserg. Tell him we need him here as fast as possible, nothing takes priority."

Sending one last fearful look around the room the pink haired woman ran out to follow the orders she was given.

Looking back down at his friend Yoh couldn't help feeling bad about what he had done. The problem was he didn't see another choice. Ren had proved with the paramedics that he was not afraid to use violence at this point. He obviously wanted to get Pirika back, and would stop at nothing to do it.

Their best chance to find her would be by working together. Ren was the only one who had been in the accident, who had seen exactly what happened. Yoh and the others needed that knowledge. Not to mention that if Ren got out he would cause problems and they didn't need another thing to deal with right now. Hopefully if they got Pirika back, they'd get the old Ren back again as well.

#

Although he was alone in the room, the entire house knew when he woke up again. His angry curses in Mandarin could be heard for nearly a block. "Well, I guess it's time," Yoh muttered sadly to the group as he led them up the stairs.

As if Ren realized where he was, his shouts turned to Japanese, letting them understand for the first time. "Damn you! Bastards such as yourselves cannot control me. You will all be sent to hell before I will be successfully contained!"

Manta gave a nervous laugh at the threats. "I kinda wish he had stuck to Chinese."

Opening the door they saw Ren pulling at his bindings so hard they were digging into his wrists. "Free me or I will kill you all!" he raged, any sanity missing from his eyes as he looked over at all of them.

"Ren, calm down. We need to find Pirika and we can't do it without you. Try and remember what happened, please," Yoh begged.

Ren stiffened at the name he knew so well. "She doesn't need your help. I can save her by myself. Now release me you fools!"

Turning to the blond doctor Yoh was desperate. "What's wrong with him?"

"It could be that he suffered a damaging blow to the head that has affected his mind in some way, or it could be the loss of Pirika simply unbalanced him to this point. He was never what I would call emotionally stable; this could have pushed him over the edge."

"Well what can we do for him?"

Faust just shook his head. "There is little we can do besides give him time to heal and hope that his mind recovers as well. In this state he is unlikely to tell us anything about Pirika's whereabouts."

"But he is the only one who knows anything about my sister! Make him tell us!"

Putting a hand on Horohoro's shoulder Yoh spoke comfortingly. "Lyserg will be here in a matter of hours and at that point he can dowse for her. None of us are giving up until we get her back."

Falling to his knees, the other man could do nothing but cry.

#

In the hours that had passed others had begun to arrive. Manta had taken time off work so he could be here to help in any way possible. Ryu had been out on a road trip but once they had managed to contact him he had started back immediately. Yoh was guessing he had taken the speed limits as simple suggestions because he arrived an hour ago and was vague on exactly where he had been. They had even contacted Chocolove and he was going to get a flight as soon as he could.

Once they had finished assembling everyone they could, Anna pulled Yoh into their room. "I'm assuming this is going to be a time intensive operation," she began calmly.

"We don't know anything Anna, she could be anywhere. I know you aren't going to approve of me dropping everything but Pirika needs us. This has to be done."

Looking at her husband with an understanding smile she spoke, her words catching him off guard. "I had been going to suggest we send Hana to Yohmei and Kino. Without him here there will be nothing to distract us."

Giving a happy smile Yoh moved forward and hugged her. Returning the hug Anna whispered one last thought, not bothering to hide her concern. "You need to work fast Yoh. The longer it takes the worse her chances are. She isn't that strong and I've never met anyone more naïve. I doubt she can make it alone."

"I know Anna. We'll find her. We have to."

Anna's reaction might have seemed off to the others with how she normally distanced herself, but Yoh knew better. Over the years she had grown fond of all of their friends, especially the Ainu maiden. Tamao had always been more of a sister or a close cousin to the Ikato making Pirika the first girl she had been around just as a friend.

Like everyone, she could be driven crazy by the hyper, excitable girl, but really that was part of her charm. She wouldn't be Pirika if she could keep herself from bouncing on the bed or stay quiet for even an hour, but they loved her for it all. Pirika was one of a kind, and losing her scared them as much as losing any of the others would have.

#

A loud knock sent Yoh and Horohoro running to the door and when they opened it they saw a flustered Lyserg.

"Would you mind telling me why I was dragged out of my bed for this?"

"Pirika is missing," Yoh explained before Horohoro had a chance to fall into hysterics and confuse him more.

"What do you mean missing?"

"She was going to China with Ren and there was an accident of some kind. We don't know any more than that." Yoh was trying to explain quickly and calmly in order not to work up the Ainu.

"How can you not know anymore? The plane ride is about fifteen hours why haven't you asked him about it yet?"

Now Yoh was starting to look uncomfortable, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Maybe we should just show you," he suggested, only adding to Lyserg's confusion. Sensing how shaken everyone was he followed quickly without asking any more questions.

What he saw stunned him. Sitting on the bed yanking at the ropes that held him was Ren, but not a Ren he had ever seen before. "I demand that you release me you worthless beings! Free me now and I will make your deaths quick!"

Stepping out of the room he looked at Yoh in shock, his face paled out of fear. "What happened to him?" the British man asked in disbelief.

"When he was hurt in the accident and Pirika disappeared something happened and he changed back into who he was before he met all of us."

"He used to be like this? And you allow him in your house? Near your son?"

Now Yoh looked angry for the first time. "I gave him the second chance he deserved. Don't forget that I gave you the same."

At least Lyserg had the sense to be ashamed as he lowered his head a bit. "Sorry Yoh. What can I do to help?"

Acting like the last few seconds had never happened Yoh led him downstairs again. "We need you to dowse for Pirika. Ren isn't telling us anything and we don't have a clue where to start."

Sighing sadly he nodded. "The more I know the more likely this is to work. Tell me everything."

The pair of them sat down at the kitchen table, getting space from the others in the living room. "Bason came to us after the accident. Horohoro and I were here so we ran out after him. The accident had been pretty bad, a half dozen cars including the limo they had been in. They were all trashed and it looked like many of the people involved had been thrown from their vehicles. We heard Ren threatening the EMTs so we went to stop him from attacking them. He was already different by then and Horohoro had to drag him away and restrain him. He said we had to let him go because he had to find her. At that point we realized Pirika wasn't there. I had to knock him out to get him back here. Once Faust was working on him and we had called you I went back to look around but there wasn't a trace of her anywhere. I worked out where Ren must have landed and the spot she most likely hit. There was a short blood trail, but it only led a few feet before it stopped. I tried to follow it and look around the area but there was nothing. That's all we know."

"Can you find me a map of the city?" he asked the brunette quickly. Giving a nod Yoh walked out. Truthfully Lyserg knew very little about the Ainu girl besides the basics. He knew her name, he knew she was overly hyper and loud, and he knew how hard she worked to help her brother. The Usui siblings had always been very close and he could only guess what a wreck Horohoro must be at this point.

Yoh brought a map out and let Lyserg work while he went back out to the living room. "Can you give him anything to knock him out again? All he is going to do up there is hurt himself."

Faust nodded and headed upstairs, allowing the others to breathe a sigh of relief when the shouting and crashing finally stopped.

#

Her eyes fluttered open slowly, but everything was off and confusing. It looked like she was in a tent of some sort, but she had no memory of how she got here. Actually she had no memories at all. Sitting up she couldn't help but notice how wrong the loose white silky dress she wore felt on her skin. She didn't know what was wrong about it, it just was.

Moving around the room she ran her fingers over all the items, trying to bring back any memories at all, but only fuzzy feelings filled her. Suddenly she heard a noise behind her and without any idea of what she was doing she grabbed the dagger she had seen on the table and spun around ready to fight.

Behind her was a brunette man with hair down to his waist and chocolate brown eyes.

He felt somewhat familiar, as if she had known him a long time ago, but for the life of her she couldn't place him. "Who are you and what have you done to me?" she asked angrily, keeping her fighting stance.

"I rescued you. Your brother, your boyfriend, all of your friends, they abandoned you saying you were too weak. I found you barely alive a few days ago and brought you here to heal."

"W-why can't I remember anything?" she asked nervously.

"I don't know," he told her sadly. "They must have hurt you before I found you."

"But you said they were my friends, why would they hurt me?"

The man moved slowly forward and took the blade from her grip and set it down before he pulled her into her arms. Feeling safe in his warm embrace she started to cry.

"You deserve better than them. Not only do I promise to keep you safe but I will also ensure you will get your revenge." She cried until she was exhausted again and he led her to the bed, pulling her down beside him.

#

When she woke the next morning she could remember the few events from the night before, but still couldn't remember anything prior to that. Rolling over, she saw the same man she had seen the night before watching her. "Are you finally awake my pet?" Trying to ignore the way she wanted to pull away from the nickname he had given her, she nodded.

"Do you remember anything else?"

"No. I don't even know who you are. Just that I think I know you."

Refusing to show his glee at how well this had worked he gave her a small sad smile. "I am Hao, the true shaman king."

At the word shaman a few scattered images flashed through her mind of a blue haired man with a snowboard, a brunette nearly identical to the man in front of her with a katana and a smaller man with purple hair who had both a spear and a sword. A large soldier was standing behind him, only partially visible. There were more that passed quickly, but for some reason these three stuck out the most.

"Are you starting to remember?"

"Yeah. I can see a group of people and ghosts."

Giving a small smile Hao nodded. "Most likely it was your brother and his friends."

"But you said they hurt me?"

"They did. Your brother and another man were trying to train you, but you had less talent than they wanted and sent attacks at you that were far too powerful. Once you had fallen they left, thinking you had no chance."

Trying hard to pull up the images of them she could only find ones where they were all smiling. "I only remember being happy with them," she tried to explain.

Hao put a hand on her shoulder sympathetically. "The real truth is probably too hard for you to process at this point so your mind is blocking it." Instead of trying to remember their faces she tried to remember when they attacked her.

##

It started out fuzzy, but slowly, it started to clear. She was standing a small distance away from the snowboarder, who she suspected was her brother and the man with the purple hair, holding a small dagger to defend herself as they came at her again and again. Attack after attack came and at some point she wasn't able to dodge anymore and they all started to hit her. Without saying a word to her they looked at her battered body and walked away.

##

Coming back to the present she found she was crying in Hao's arms. "Don't worry pet. I won't let them hurt you again. Instead I will train you until you can rival them in power and you can get the revenge you so deserve. Would you like that?"

Running through the scene in her mind again she clenched her jaw and nodded.

"Then I will go right away and get what you will need. You are free to wander around the area as you desire, everyone will help you. I shouldn't be gone long, only a few hours."

With that he left and she was alone. She might as well start to explore. If she wanted to stay here and learn from Hao she should at least know the area and the other people here. Walking out she found herself in the middle of a large camp. There were tents scattered around the area with a large fire pit in the middle and people training or doing mock battles in any open space they could find.

The way the dirt and grass felt under her feet was something she liked. Instead of heading in any specific direction she just wandered aimlessly, taking in everything she could. No one approached her, opting instead to give her space but she didn't mind.

Being out in nature like this made her feel comfortable even if she was basically alone. Maybe she could stay this way. Hao seemed to care about her, at least more than her old friends had. They would regret what they had done to her; she was going to make sure of it.

#

After her brunette savior had returned he led her to an area a little distance away and passed the dagger she held the night before over to her.

"This is Oyuki. She is a Yuki-onna," he said motioning to the pale white ghost beside him.

She was actually very pretty, with porcelain skin and smooth dark hair. She was dressed in a white kimono and it looked as if there was snow blowing in the wind around her despite the warmth of the May weather.

"I'm afraid I don't know what type of spirit you used before but I have seen you work with the snow spirit your brother possesses and you seem well connected with the element." Pirika gave a nervous smile as the spirit gave her a small bow. "Take the dagger and create an oversoul however you feel comfortable," Hao instructed.

It took a number of tries but finally she managed to move Oyuki into her dagger and in doing so expand the weapon until it was the size of a sword, the blade of which was made of ice. It was sturdier than she expected it to be and when she touched it, the cold was more than she had ever felt before. Now that she had the basics he started running through things with her and it all came back quickly.

#

She had been at the camp only a week when the first nightmare shook her. The scene of her last birthday replayed for her, but it was fuzzy, as if she was watching it through a clouded lens.

##

Ren had already helped her finish her homework and they were just waiting for Horohoro to get off work. Pirika was impatient because Ren was taunting her with a wrapped present he had gotten her, but refused to let her have it until her brother was ready to give her what he had gotten as well.

It felt like days had passed by the time she heard the front door open. He must have been expecting her reaction, because he didn't look surprised when she came running out from her bedroom, bouncing with excitement.

Giving an amused grin at the frustrated Tao that walked up behind her, he hugged her quickly. "So I was thinking we could eat dinner and maybe watch a movie before you get to open anything."

She knew he was just yanking her chain but still it aggravated her. Crossing her arms angrily over her chest she glared at him. "Onii-chan!" she whined.

His snickering started to upset her even more but before she could yell he walked to the kitchen and pulled a box out of one of the cupboards. He passed it over to his sister, pulling it back for a moment before she grabbed it. "You can see it but you have to wait until Tamao gets here to open it. She's bringing dinner in the next twenty minutes or so."

Pirika gave an angry stomp but reached for the box, accepting his terms. It was heavier than she had expected but only on the bottom. The top felt all but empty.

"Can I shake it?" she asked hopefully.

Horohoro rolled his eyes. "I learned not to give you breakable things a long time ago."

Giving him another glare she shook the box a little. Nothing was moving around on the bottom, but the middle seemed to be filled with littler things that were shifting around. She had a concentrated look on her face as she tried to guess the contents. It was overwhelming frustration that made her set it down and walk away.

Tamao arrived only a few minutes later, to the delight of both men. Once Pirika had let go of the box she had started pacing circles around the room, making them dizzy. Looking between the anticipation Pirika had, and the way Ren and Horo were about one lap from pinning her to the wall, the seer giggled.

Before she could be ambushed she handed over her own gift. When Pirika sent her brother a hopeful look he rolled his eyes and nodded. Sitting down on her favorite cushion she pulled the paper off. Tamao smiled happily as Pirika opened up a new, large scrapbook.

"Now you can get rid of that shoe box held together by duct tape that you keep your pictures in."

Pirika laughed. She had been using the same box to hold her pictures for years and every time it would rip she just added another layer of tape to keep it secure. Leaning over she gave her friend a hug.

Next Ren pushed something towards her. She had a feeling that this one was breakable so she held it more carefully than she had the others. After she ripped the wrapping she saw she had been right. In her hands was a photo printer that could be hooked right up to her camera. For months she had been trying to save for this, but her brother had been getting less hours lately so all of her earnings were put right into bills and other necessities.

"How did you know?" she asked. Knowing that he might do this, she never uttered a word about it.

"You aren't as sneaky as you think," he told her with that cocky smirk she liked.

"What are you having Bason stalk me or something?" she asked, not wanting to let it go.

"No I haven't, and I won't tell you my secret or I won't be able to use it again."

Pirika couldn't decide whether she was angry that he was snooping, or happy that he had put that much work into finding out what she really wanted. They were staring at each other until she finally broke. That damn smirk won her over every time and she hated it. Well, she pretended she did.

"Thank you Ren," she said softly. He was the one person here she wouldn't hug right now, since he was the only one who wouldn't appreciate it. The look in his eyes though promised she would get as much of a make-out session as she wanted once they were alone.

There was a blush on her cheeks Horohoro tried to ignore as he pushed the heavy box towards her. Something made her think it was picture related as well, but she didn't know what it would be. When she opened it she saw it was closely linked to Tamao's. The box was filled with all kinds of scrapbooking supplies. It had everything from crimped scissors and stacks of pretty paper to stickers and ribbons.

She had been buying a few little things here and there over the past few months but hadn't really gotten enough to do much. With all this she would be able to assemble the entire book and use all of her favorite pictures. Jumping forward she hugged her brother tightly and kissed his cheek. "Thank you Onii-chan," she giggled.

Before anyone could stop her she ran to her room to dig the photographs out of her closet. Turning to run back out to the living room she ran right into Ren who took the box from her and set it down on the bed. Pirika smiled as he moved in to kiss her.

##

Pirika sat up, panting desperately. The second his lips had touched hers she had been jerked from the dream. Hao was still asleep next to her and feeling the tears welling up she got up and left the tent quickly, not wanting to wake him when she started crying.

As soon as she felt the wind blow against her skin she shivered. Running her hands over her arms she realized that she must have woken in a cold sweat because there was a thin layer of water covering her. Luckily she had grown up in the frigid north so a slight breeze wouldn't bother her all that much, especially after what she had just seen.

Not wanting to be bothered she walked past the edge of camp where there was a small lake she liked to sit by. Walking out onto the dock she sat at the end and dipped her toes in the water. For a few minutes she tried to empty her mind and just relax, but it wasn't working well.

After that she just tried to avoid thinking about her dream, but when you only remembered a week it didn't give you much to go on. In the end it just kept coming back, time after time, so she let it. The dream was more real than she had ever thought possible.

It was as if she could feel the wrapping paper under her fingers and she could smell the food cooking in the kitchen. The scariest part was how happy she had felt. She felt safe and loved and excited and a number of other emotions she could have only imagined before. Sure feelings came to her since she had woken up, but never anything as intense as the second Ren had kissed her.

Only two names had come back to her yet, that of her brother and boyfriend. Pulling the ring she kept on a chain out from under her shirt she edited her thought. Hao had said he was her boyfriend but the diamond ring in her hands told a different tale.

She couldn't remember getting it. All she knew was it was on her finger when she woke. It also hadn't been on her finger in the dream she just had. Did that mean that he hadn't given it to her, or did it mean the dream was just that, a dream?

As if not knowing who she was wasn't confusing enough things just had to get more complicated. Up until now she had trusted Hao completely, but did this give her doubt? Of course it did, but should it? All she had was one little flash of something that she couldn't confirm. When she saw the things Hao reminded her of she was awake. Didn't that mean that it was more likely to be true?

If her friends did care about her, why wouldn't they have come for her? It had been five days since she woke up and the large gash on the back of her head made her certain she was out for at least a few days. That meant they had a week to find her already and she was still alone.

More than enough time had passed where they would have come if they wanted to. Their absence proved their priorities. Taking a deep breath, she got to her feet and walked slowly back to her tent.

#

"I'm tired of wandering around this stupid city because of your mistakes. Just find my sister!" Horohoro yelled at the dowser as they walked back into the onsen. He had every right to be upset and Lyserg knew that. She had been gone a week and they had looked in every corner of the huge city.

"I'm sorry Horo. You know this isn't a perfect art and I still haven't gotten any strong readings. At the moment we are just going off little pulls. Truthfully I don't think she is in the city anymore."

"How could she have gotten out of Tokyo without anyone noticing?" the Ainu snapped angrily. "She had to have been hurt at least as bad as Ren and she isn't anywhere near as strong as he is. I don't see how she could have gone 10 feet, let alone out of the city."

"Maybe she didn't go by herself. It's always possible someone found her and took her somewhere."

"But she disappeared so fast," Yoh told them. "Unless someone saw what happened they wouldn't have had time to grab her. No one on the street saw anyone else come or go."

"Maybe it is time you start thinking about the other possibility," Anna suggested dully, stepping out from the living room.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Horo snapped angrily.

"I know none of you want to admit it, but if she was hurt worse than Ren and didn't get help right away she couldn't have survived."

"NO!" Horohoro shouted back at her, face pale, before he ran off to deal with his pain alone.

"Would searching for a person be different from searching from a body?"

Lyserg didn't want to admit it, but she was right. He was looking for Pirika, but if she had died and her soul was gone he wouldn't be able to find her.

"Maybe tomorrow you should try searching for her body," she suggested in a tone much softer than her normal one before she walked away.

#

Ren could feel something fighting to keep him under, but he was fighting harder. His mind was too fuzzy to remember what he was supposed to do, but he knew it was important and it could not wait. The last time he had woken up he had start shouting and cursing, trying everything he could to break free. This time would be different. If he didn't let them know he was awake he would be able to get out of this.

When his eyes finally opened he saw the room basked in fading light. That would give him a number of hours to free himself and get a fair head start.

Suddenly an image of her forced its way into the front of his mind and it took everything he had not to start screaming again.

Theses idiots knew she was gone but they kept him from helping her. Not a single one of them would be able to find her. They weren't good enough. Only he was. Despite the rage that was bubbling its way up he stayed in control. If he couldn't get out of this nothing could save her and that was the only thing that mattered now.

Trying to confirm his situation he looked around the room. His arms and legs were both restrained and judging by the IV in his arm he had been out for a few days. The longer he was looking around the more he could feel the hazy cloud of medication they had used slipping away. It was only minutes before he was able to think clearly. The drug was still there, but he had buried it behind his determination. Nothing would stop him.

Looking down at his bindings he tried to find a way out of them. It was only a reinforced rope, but whoever had tied him knew what they were doing. Luckily they hadn't bothered to tighten them because they were sure he was out cold. Fools underestimated him. They would not make that mistake again. He was sure.

There was blood on the rope around his wrists and cuts to match so he must have been fighting harder than he thought. The pain hadn't even occurred to him yet and he hoped it would stay that way. He started to twist his wrist back and forth, testing how loose it was. It was a little too tight to slip out of on his own, but some liquid might help.

Without a further thought he pulled hard, reopening the cuts from before. He gave a cold smirk as he felt the blood flow down his hand. It took a little coaxing but he was able to get out without too much struggling. As soon as his hand was free he started untying the other bindings.

Once the restraints were gone, he yanked the IV from his arm and he got quickly to his feet. He hadn't been expecting the rush of disorientation that washed over him. There was a deep wound on his leg and the pain nearly sent him to the floor.

Gritting his teeth he limped over to the desk that held Faust's medical supplies. Digging through it, he found the morphine the addicted doctor kept hidden. There were little stashes with each of his medical kits. Everyone here knew about them.

This should be enough to last until the pain became manageable. The drop to the ground from this second story window would be painful and he didn't have time to wait for it to subside before he could escape into the darkness. Going to the closet he pulled out his kwan dao before he knew he was ready.

"Bason," he ordered sharply.

When the warrior appeared before him he was obviously concerned. "Bocchama you should not be up!" It had been years since Bason had seen such a cold, hateful glare from his master and it worried him.

"Your opinion is of no concern to me. Now are you going to do your duty and obey me or are you going to prove how pathetic you are and break your promise to the Tao family?"

As much as he hated it, he wouldn't leave his master. Not like this. Ren was in no state to be alone right now and if Bason abandoned him he might not get another chance to help. Even if Ren wasn't right, Bason would do everything in his power to assist him.

His first chance came when Ren threw himself out the window. It was obvious that he wouldn't have landed safely so Bason forced a merge to soften the blow.

Instead of helping it just made him angrier. "If I have a need for you I will summon you. Until then stay out of the way." Shaking his head sadly the warrior followed, only hoping things wouldn't get too much worse.

#

The entire house was depressed through the night and into the next morning when Lyserg took out the map again. Wanting to give him space Yoh decided to check on Ren, but when he opened the door he saw only an empty bed and the curtains flowing in the wind.

"Faust!" he hollered quickly, pleased when the doctor came instantly. Yoh pushed the door fully open and led the German into the room.

"Scheisse," the man snapped softly looking at the IV that had been pulled from Ren's arm. "His system must have overcome the sedative I was using. I didn't expect it to happen this quickly."

"Is he healed enough to be up and about?"

Now the blond shrugged. "I wouldn't recommend it but we've seen him fight through far worse."

Sighing Yoh tried to think. "At this point I still think we need to focus on Pirika at the very least so we will know what happened. Horohoro can't handle much more of this. I'll get Ryu to search the city for a sign of Ren. Even if we do find him though, I don't know what we could do to stop him." Faust nodded and left the room.

#

The day had been just as unhelpful as all the others days had been by the time they got back to the Onsen but they were slightly more hopeful than when they had left that morning. They hadn't found a body and Lyserg wasn't getting a strong reaction looking for that either so now it was most likely she wasn't in the city.

Not that that was much help. At least if she had been here they would have a limited search area. If she wasn't then she could be anywhere. They wouldn't even know where to start. The only thing they knew was that she couldn't have gotten out on her own. They had just settled down when Ryu came running in, pieces of his wooden sword in both hands.

"I take it you found him?" Yoh asked sadly.

"Yes master Yoh. But short pants was not himself."

"Has he attacked anyone?"

"A few people who got in his way were injured, but not too badly. Mostly he is just destroying everything he comes across."

"Until people really start getting hurt I don't want to deal with him. The fight would be long and not only would he get further injuries, but he might take a few of us out of commission for a while as well. Right now we should focus on finding any trace of Pirika. I think we are going to have to start searching outside the city and that is going to take time and people to do properly."

"Come on Yoh. He's angry. He won't have any focus and should go down easy," Horohoro said, not understanding the logic.

His words didn't calm Yoh; instead he only shook his head. "But he has a purpose, something he's fighting for. You of all people should know what kind of fuel that is."

"But master Yoh are you just going to let him rampage through the city this way?" Ryu asked helplessly.

"That's all we can do for now," Yoh muttered to the surprise of everyone in the room. It was obviously a painful decision for him to make, choosing who to help. Normally he wanted to help everyone, but he was right. Pirika needed them more. "If he gets too out of control I'll go after him myself, but we'll leave it for now."

#

Author note: Hope you enjoyed this. Please read and review. That will let me know I'm not the only one still in love with Shaman King!