Summary (The actually good one that doesn't have a limit on characters I can use):

He found her half-dead in the forest. She hides behind a wall of secrets that the others don't seem to notice as easily as he does. Yakumo seems to be the most oblivious of all, or just doesn't bring it up. After all, this girl knows about Shinzo. How could she afford to hurt this girl's feelings by bringing up unwanted subjects? The girl is obviously struggling with some inner conflict, but does well to hide or ignore it to bring another smile to the group, but with that smile also comes more dangers. Why is she now a target of their enemies? Is it because she knows of Shinzo, or is it for a different reason entirely?

First chapter! I've gone back and re-written this already. Now I'm just bored and correcting errors. Go back and reading this, I'm still not satisfied. I was when I finished, but now I'm not. My standards for my own writing are constantly growing more demanding. Anywho, on to the disclaimer:

Mushra: Why do you even do these? If you actually held the rights to Shinzo you wouldn't be writing fanfiction. They'd see it on their TV screens.

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The Light of Shinzo

Chapter 1

Failure

"Takashi, Seru! Hang on!" A blast echoed throughout the otherwise quiet forest. A group of birds seeking safety flew from their roosting spot, their chirps rising above the noise as they rose.

"You can't possibly hope to save them." A beam of dark purple energy shot upwards toward the dim morning sky. As it thinned and dissipated a bird that had been in the way of its destructive path fell back to the canopy of green. It landed a few feet away from a boy and a girl, who were trapped in a translucent, purple sphere. The dark haired teens were pounding their fists on the inside of the prison as they watched the battle unfold before them.

In a small clearing surrounded by beaten trees, stood a girl and a dark figure. The girl's breaths came out heavily through her pink lips. Her medium-length, chestnut hair stuck to the back of her neck and cheeks with sweat. The gold circlet on her forehead reflected the spots of sunlight that shone through the trees. A fierce look was in her blue eyes as she glared at the figure in front of her. Her grip around her gold quarterstaff tightened as he let out a dark chuckle.

The figure seemed to be cloaked in a dark aura, maliciousness seeming to radiate from him. He glanced toward the two in captivity behind him with power hungry, battle ready crimson eyes.

"You failed," he mocked in his dark, deep voice. "Give up and accept your defeat."

He extended his palm toward her and a large purple orb shot toward her with alarming speed. The girl jumped up and out of the way. The attack zoomed beneath her and hit the tree behind her. As she was in the air, she raised the blade edge of her staff above her head. She brought it down to meet the ground where the figure was standing only a second before. She looked up to see him leaned against the sphere that was holding the two teens. The long haired girl glared up at him with her clear, purple eyes. The spiky haired boy gritted his teeth in anger and closed his eyes, which were identical to the girl's.

"Why keep this up? You're only hurting yourself," a loud crack behind her made her gasp as he added, "and others." The tree that had been hit a moment before had a large indention in its trunk. A large crack was spreading its way around as the tree swayed threateningly. Luckily, it began to lean away from them. It cracked more and groaned with effort as it leaned more and began to fall. The bushes cushioned its fall a bit and kept it from echoing, but the crash was still mind numbing as it shook the forest floor.

"As usual," the man added after the last had branch cracked, "you can't seem to help anyone."

"Shut up!" she screamed in rage. "I'm not giving up to you!" She threw her staff at him. He tried to dodge, but hadn't made it in time. The blade pierced the top of his shoulder and pinned him to the tree behind him. A red stain began to form around the point of impact.

"I'm not done yet." The girl's body began to glow with a soft light. "Angel's Light!" The energy began to flow faster as she prepared to transform. The man smirked.

He pulled the staff out of his shoulder with rapid speed as a black orb formed in his other hand. It had a purple fog around it and was surrounded by black, electric jolts. He jumped up and ran toward jabbing the orb through her chest. A black beam shot out from her back when it hit. The light around the girl immediately faded. When he removed his hand she fell to her knees, clutching her chest. Her eyes were wide in pain and surprise, her body trembling violently.

"W-what did y-" her meek stuttering was cut off when a round of coughs shook her form. She fell forward onto her hands. She coughed louder and blood sputtered out of her mouth, decorating the ground between her hands in crimson speckles. She remained still, trying to calm the tremors that racked her body.

"I sealed your powers," he gloated. "You can't heal yourself or go into hyper mode." He walked past her, towards the two hostages. A round, swirling vortex of black and silver opened near him. "Now if you don't mind, I'll take these two with me." The girl extended a hand to him weakly.

"Wait!" she called. Her eyes pleaded him. "Leave them alone. Take me instead." The man smirked as he watched her beg.

"You have no idea how I wish to, but I can't," he sighed disappointedly.

"Why not?" She was on the verge of tears. She was desperate.

"Your element resists my control. They, on the other hand..." He looked down at the two captives. They stared at the girl with pain filled eyes as they pressed their palms against the prison wall. The man looked back at the girl. Without another word he stepped through the portal, the sphere following behind.

The girl watched with dismay as the portal shrank and disappeared. She fell on her side and gazed at the spot where the three had left. The tears from earlier slid down her dirty cheeks.

"No," she murmured quietly to herself. "Not them. Please, no." She continued to stare at the spot, with a forlorn hopelessness in her eyes. Her eyelids slowly closed over her watery sapphire orbs.

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The group had set up camp near a river. The clear water reflected the mid-day sun off its glimmering surface. On the other sides, they were flanked by woods. They had set up their three tents around some logs and a campfire. Kutall was currently cooking a steaming stew as Yakumo, Binka, and Saago played in the river with the kittens. Mushra was asleep on a high branch of the nearest tree.

"Hmm... This won't do at all," Kutall silently mused to himself as he poked the fire with a stick. "Mushra!" The sound of his name startled the teen. He sat up too quickly and almost lost his balance.

"Mushra!" Kutall called again after he didn't receive an answer.

"What?!" the young Enterran demanded. He did not take too kindly to being awoken from his nap.

"Go get me some firewood," the large cat-Enterran ordered. "We won't have a proper lunch otherwise."

Mushra groaned in protest but nodded. He whistled and jumped from his branch, his feet meeting his hover board without falter.

"Fine, fine." he grumbled as he sped off down the trail.

After the camp had left his sight, he sped up. The wind blew at his face and his normal grin returned to greet the world. He looped in the air once and smiled. He loved even the simplest of tricks; being upside-down, even for brief moments, was his favorite. He could see the world from a different perspective. He grinned and jumped into a front flip, stopping halfway through a second rotation, his feet landing on the board that was now above him. He looked around, surveying his topsy-turvy world.

"Now where is some firewood?" he asked to no one in particular.

He righted himself and began his search again. Then, he spotted a long, thick branch jutting out from the middle of a tree. He grinned at the challenge. His speed picked up as he neared it. He jumped into the air with a back flip and landed on the branch in a handstand. He prepared to push off the branch, abut it snapped along an already growing crack he failed to notice. He tried to force himself back into the air, but didn't get too far. His foot landed on the board at an angle and slipped. The silver board shot off and landed in a bush as he landed ungracefully on his butt.

"Ouch," Mushra complained. "That wasn't too fun." He got up and ran to where his board had landed. He pushed through the green shrub and froze in shock. He was in a small clearing surrounded by trees. Many were beaten and scratched, while some had blood spatters on them. A large, thick one had fallen over at a crack in its trunk. Everything looked as if there had been some sort of explosion.

He spotted something in the middle of the clearing. It looked to be a heap of clothing at first, but upon closer inspection, he found a girl. Her light chestnut hair was tangled and matted with splotches of blood. Her smooth creamy cheeks were tear-stained and dirty. Her upper arms were covered in bruises, cuts, and dirt. The aqua shirt that was netted at the top was torn and dirty. Her black capris were no different. Upon her forehead was a gold circlet, much like his Crown of Cora.

"What the heck happened here?" he asked in amazement. He stared at the girl. His lips were drawn and his eyes were in concentration. He noticed the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Bringing his thumb and index finger to his lips, he let out a shrill whistle. His board flew towards him with its regular hum. He bent down and picked the girl up gently in his arms. As he stood up, she groaned. He looked at her face. Her eyes were partially closed, but she was looking at him.

"Please," she whispered weakly. Her voice was low and rough. Mushra seemed surprised she spoke. He nodded once and jumped on his board. The girl closed her eyes again as he sped back toward camp.

Okay. I'm finished with it now. I'm going back and re-uploading chapters to correct grammar and spelling mistakes. The only major changes will be to chapter 2, so don't worry about re-reading if you already read them, though you might want to take another look at chapter two. It's not that important, but do what you want.

Please review, the guardians smile on upon it.

~Mushraluvr