Title: Zizuph's Vision


Author: StarQuality


Disclaimer: I don't own the game. Well, ok, I own MY copy. But...


Summary: One of Shaman's priests has a vision, and it changes the way that they battle.


A/N: So, I wrote this. I was... Bored? Inspired? That's the one. I like the names of the warriors/braves/etc. Sorry if it's not written very well, I was in pain when I started this. Um... Matak Shaman is the green Shaman, Chumara Shaman is the yellow, Dakini Shaman is red, and Shaman is the blue.


Story:

Shaman stood on the reincarnation site and looked out over the sea. Her braves gathered around her and bowed down. Through the mist, she could make out the Chumara island. She was lost in thought, when she was pulled out of her daydream.

"Shaman.. Shaman..." she turned around. Auel, her chief warrior, was kneeling before her, "Zizuph wishes to speak with you."

"I see. Well. Lead me to him, Auel." Auel got to his feet and bowed to Shaman. Then he led her into a large hut. Shaman looked into the middle of the room, were Zizuph, the High Priest, was sitting, deep in prayer. "Leave us Auel."

Auel bowed once again to Shaman and Zizuph, and left the hut.

"Zizuph."

Zizuph began chanting, "Bonshu... Bonshu... Bonshu..." Shaman sat down opposite him. "Bonshu..."

Shaman was a patient woman. She waited. And waited. After almost an hour, Zizuph looked up at her.

"Mighty Shaman." the old man looked deep into the fire before him. "You will be wondering why I asked you to visit me. I have had a vision."

"A vision, Zizuph? A vision of what?"

"A vision. Our warriors... The Chumara." Zizuph stood up. "Please, follow me outside."

Shaman got to her feet. They walked out of the hut, and over to an area of dirt. As they walked, braves and warriors bowed down to her.

"Hamal. Fetch me a long stick." Zizuph said to a passing brave. Hamal nodded and ran over to a hut. He picked up a long and thin stick from the pile of fresh wood and presented it to Zizuph. "Thank you. You may go."

The High Priest drew a large circle in the dirt. He left a gap, and drew another large circle a few inches away from the first.

"This," he wrote a 'C' in one of the circles, "Is the Chumara. And this," he pointed to the other circle, "Is us."

Shaman nodded. She wondered what he was going to say. She wasn't sure whether to trust his visions. They had been correct before.

"Our battle plan, is that we construct our boats here." Zizuph drew a square on the edge of the empty circle. "Then we send out five of our boats, one containing four braves and you, one containing warriors, one with priests, one with firewarriors and one with spies, correct?"

"Yes." Shaman wondered what he was getting at, "What has this got to do with the Chumara?"

"Well. Whilst we are sending out the boats, there are braves, warriors, priests, firewarriors and spies on this island. My vision is thus. The Chumara soon realise this." Zizuph drew some arrows from the empty circle to the 'C' circle. Then he drew another arrow from the far side of the 'C' circle to the empty circle.

Shaman frowned, she still wasn't sure of his point,

"The Chumara realise that while some of their army are defending themselves against ours, they also have spare braves, warriors, priests, firewarriors and spies. Therefore, they can build boats here," he drew another box on the 'C' island, near the start of the arrow, "And send them around to our island. We will not be prepared for such an attack and they will overpower us. That was my vision."

He looked up at Shaman. She was nodding. "I see. What are... We going to do about it?"

Zizuph started to walk to the far side of their island.

"This is where the enemy ships may arrive. Here, we need to build defence."

"Guard towers? Fires?" Shaman asked, "Maybe we should consult Rikbiel."

"Rikbiel, yes." Zizuph agreed. Shaman called out to a brave,

"Lazai!" the brave ran over and fell to his knees before her. "Where is Rikbiel?"

"He is in the hut, Shaman, creating mana with Tetra. Shall I fetch him for you, Shaman?"

"Yes, Lazai, tell him that we need his advice."

Lazai scurried off in the direction of a medium hut. He came back a few minutes later, with Rikbiel, the brave in charge of building, running behind him. Lazai and Rikbiel bowed to Shaman and Zizuph, and Lazai was excused.

"How may I help you, Shaman? Zizuph?"

Zizuph explained the situation to Rikbiel. The brave thought. He paced up and down the area. Zizuph and Shaman watched him. He kicked the ground. He bent down and felt the earth.

"I believe that this is possible. We must act quickly. I think that we should build three defence towers. One on the East end, one on the West, and one in the middle. Around the tower in the middle, there should be two fires." He paused, "Outside the East and West towers, one fire should be placed in front of the entrances."

"Who will go inside the towers?" Shaman asked,

"For that, you will need to consult Oranir."

"The firewarrior chief. Yes." Shaman summoned him.

"Shaman. Zizuph. Rikbiel." Oranir said, as he came near them. "What is it that you want me for?"

"We wish to know who we can put in the guard towers. It will have to be someone brave, someone that can fight." Zizuph said, he surprised the others, he had been in deep thought for a long time.

Oranir looked at them all. "Which guard towers? I do not see any..."

"No, we have not built them yet Oranir. There will be three. One here," Rikbiel pointed to one edge of the island, "One here," he pointed to the spot in front of them, "And one over there." he pointed to the other side of the island. "We wish you to choose who shall be in each. And who will guard them."

Zizuph excused himself, bowed to Shaman and went back to his hut. "Rikbiel." Shaman said, turning to the brave, "Fetch your men and begin building. We need to act quickly."

"Yes, Shaman." Rikbiel went to round up braves. He soon returned, with several braves behind him. They all bowed to Shaman, and then started to prepare the ground for the three huts. Rikbiel walked in between them, watching them jump on the ground and collect trees. Shaman watched them too, until Oranir called to her.

"Shaman?" she turned to him, "These are my three best firewarriors. Esme, Jukar and Dameal."

The three men bowed to Shaman. She nodded. "Yes, they look strong enough. Are you willing to do this?"

"I speak for us." Jukar said, "We wish to help protect our island and our tribe. We are prepared to do this any way we can."

"Good. Then you shall. You must understand that you may die instantly, the guard towers are the first buildings that will be destroyed if the enemy tribes arrive here." The three firewarriors nodded. "You are dismissed. You included, Oranir." The four men left her alone.

Shaman wondered what to do. She wandered around for a bit, until she noticed something odd. Something was flying above the island... It was green. This worried Shaman. "What... AUEL!"

The chief warrior came running out of his hut. "Yes, Shaman?" she pointed upwards,

"What is that!?"

"Oh... No... That's a balloon, Shaman."

"Yes, I can see it's a balloon. What IS it though!? Where is it from!?"

"It's green. The Matak tribe. They must be nearby. Look, there are two more balloons. And a third. I will raise the alarm." Auel ran towards the largest warrior hut. Streams of men came running out, they went to the edge of the island to protect the braves who were still busy building the fires and last guard tower.

Shaman was thinking about taking cover. But what kind of leader would she be, if she could not help to protect her own island? She ran down the hill she was standing on, and made her way over to the warriors who had made a defensive wall along the coastline.

"Shaman, do not worry, we do not want you to get injured in battle!" a warrior said, as she pushed her way through the men,

"No, Paniel, I am going to assist you."

The balloons floated down and landed on the shore. Shaman's worst fears were confirmed. Matak Shaman was in one of them. She stepped out and looked directly at Shaman.

"Auel." she muttered to the warrior, "I will take her."

"No, Shaman..."

"Yes, Auel. Do as I say. Good luck everyone." she shouted.

The battle began.


"We meet at last, Matak Shaman." Shaman said,

"Yes. And I shall have to kill you. I hear that you have a good army." Matak Shaman laughed as she watched her own warriors kill Shaman's braves and warriors. She didn't laugh so much when she realised that Shaman's priests were converting braves. "Somehow I doubt that."

"Oh, really. Well." Shaman watched one of her braves collapse on the ground. It was Hamal. The brave who had got her and Zizuph a stick. "We shall see."

"Yes. We shall." Matak Shaman let out a high pitched scream. Shaman smiled. Her incantations had worked. Whilst Matak Shaman was talking, she had muttered Hort-en-ga under hear breath, and Matak Shaman had died in the swamp that appeared. Shaman hoped that none of her tribe went near the marsh, but that couldn't be helped.

"Shaman, we have defeated the Matak tribe. There is one brave left. Would you like to..." Auel started to say. Shaman held up a hand, and he stopped.

"No. Fetch a priest. Quickly, before Matak Shaman reincarnates. He shall be one of us." Shaman warned the tribe that the swamp was there. The braves set to work in fixing the guard towers. The warriors went back to their huts. The priests went into the temple. The spies, who had not come into battle, stayed in their huts. The firewarriors returned to their huts too. Shaman was left alone.

'What do I do now...?' she thought to herself. Shaman started to walk around the land where the battle had taken place. There were a few members of her tribe, lying on the ground. Dead. Shaman walked around them. She came to the body of young Hamal. "Oh Hamal..." She knelt down beside his body. He had a knife through his stomach, his eyes were open. Shaman leant over him and gently pulled the knife out. Then she pulled his eyelids down so that he looked like he was sleeping. Normally she would just leave the dead, but Hamal was one of her most loyal braves. He deserved respect.

"Are you okay, Shaman?" Vohal, one of the spies said, making Shaman jump.

"Yes, Vohal." she looked sadly at Hamal. "I want to bury Hamal."

"Shaman?" Vohal was confused. Shaman never wanted to bury her tribe members.

"He was loyal. He was a good brave. He deserves to be treated specially." Shaman stood up and walked away. Vohal followed her, "He will be buried here." She said, stopping next to the reincarnation site. Shaman turned to Vohal, he nodded. "Fetch Rikbiel."

The digging of Hamal's grave did not take too long. He was not a particularly large man, and so it did not have to be very long or wide. Shaman wanted it quite deep, in case of enemies. She didn't want them digging up his body.

"We now commended Hamal to the God's." Shaman had asked Zizuph to perform the burial and he was only too happy to.

"Thank you, Zizuph." Shaman said, as Geno and Shetel filled in the hole.

"My pleasure. Now we must get back to our battles."

"Yes, yes, you're quite right." Shaman took one last look at Hamal before Geno put a very large pile of earth over the top of him, covering most of his body.

The High Priest went back into his hut. Shaman followed and they sat together in silence for awhile. Suddenly, Chassan, a firewarrior, ran in, collapsed at Shaman's feet, panting.

"Shaman.. Dakini... Tribes... Arriving..."

"What!?" Shaman got to her feet and dragged Chassan up with her. "Where?! How!?"

"They are sailing, Shaman, they are almost here." Chassan ran outside to show her. Shaman quickly followed, and she squinted to see the red boats coming towards them.

"Get Auel, Chassan. Quickly." Shaman stood rooted to the spot. Two battles in one day.

"Shaman?" Auel came running up being her, "What... Oh..." He stopped when he saw the red masts of the approaching ships. "Shaman, my men are tired. They will not fight well."

"Then... We cannot win."

"Yes, we can." Zizuph said, quietly. Shaman looked at him, he had come outside too.

"How, Zizuph, if we cannot fight?" Auel asked,

"Shaman, you have powers, do you not?" the old man asked,

"Yes... I do." she said. Shaman started to think about what powers she had. "Angel of Death!"

"That is what I was thinking." Zizuph had a small smile on his face, "All of the braves, warriors and firewarriors will have to protect you. The priests will stand around the whole tribe, so that we can catch any member of the Dakini tribe that does not go to fight."

"Good. I will inform the troops. Excuse me."

"Hurry Auel, we don't have much time."

Shaman and her tribe stood their ground.

"Everyone... Stand back." Shaman concentrated. 'Mort-aza...' She fell to the ground. The mana had been drained out of her.

"Shaman?" A warrior, Natiel, who was also trained as a kind of doctor, was standing over Shaman. "Shaman, are you awake?"

"What..." she opened her eyes. The sun was streaming through cracks in the hut. "What happened?"

"Do not worry yourself, Shaman, we won the battle." Natiel smiled.

"Good. I will get up now." Shaman sat up.

"Yes, Shaman. But, please don't go outside yet."

"Don't be ridiculous. I am going outside."

Shaman went out into the fresh air. The sight that met her eyes nearly made her cry. There were dozens of bodies lying around, and two of the buildings were totally destroyed. Auel, Zizuph, Oranir, Rikbiel, Natiel and Vohal saw her and rushed over.

"Shaman, we did not want you to see this. Please, go back inside." Rikbiel said, "My braves are working hard on the rebuilding."

"How did this happen?"

"Dakini spies, Shaman." Oranir said gently, "We did not know that they were spies. We thought that they were..."

"Yes. I understand." Shaman said. She suddenly had a thought, and rushed off towards the reincarnation site. Hamal's grave had not been touched, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Shaman. We have one more tribe to defeat. The biggest and strongest." Auel said, when they had reached her. "The Chumara, it will be no easy task. But the men are all rested."

"Good." Shaman watched as one of the guard towers was rebuilt. "I will be fully rested too."

"Shaman, we do not want you fighting again." Zizuph said slowly, "We do not want you in any danger."

Shaman wouldn't listen. She went into her hut and recharged her mana. Tetra and Lazai joined her.

"Shaman..." Tetra started,

"I do not want to hear it. I am going to battle. I do not want to discuss it." Shaman said, before he could say anything.

Tetra and Lazai knew that they wouldn't win against her, so they just rested. They had just built up a small hut and they were tired.

Zizuph came through the door of the hut. "It is time. The Chumara are coming."

Shaman leapt to her feet. Tetra and Lazai looked at each other, but followed her lead. The four walked out of the door and took their places along the coastline.

"We never did launch the five boat attack. They came here..." Zizuph muttered to Shaman. "I am not sure if that is a good thing."

"It is. We save energy. Our braves do not have to make out boats. We do not have to travel across the sea." she said thoughtfully, "Also, we are on our own land. We know everything that is here." The first three Chumara ships docked.

"That is very true, Shaman. I have always thought," the fourth ship docked, and the fifth grew closer. Once that had docked, the battle was to begin. "That you were a deep woman." Zizuph said. Shaman smiled,

"Well, I have always thought..." Shaman didn't get to finish her sentence, the Chumara had fully docked. The third and final battle had begun.

"We meet, lesser Shaman." Chumara Shaman said as the two of them got closer. "I have waited to meet you for a long time."

"I agree. I have waited also." Shaman took a quick look around her. She heard screams from braves. From both sides. She heard warrior's battle cries. From both sides. She saw four of her youngest braves defeat a Chumara warrior together. This gave her inspiration. Without waiting for the Chumara Shaman to reply, she grabbed a knife from one of her own dead warriors and plunged it into the Chumara Shaman's shoulder. This was not enough to kill her, but it made her sink to the ground in agony. "And now I shall defeat you."

Before she could cast a spell to finish Chumara Shaman off, Shaman was grabbed by a Chumara firewarrior. Shaman still had the knife in her hand. She turned around to face him and stabbed him in his back. Before she let him fall, she pulled the knife out of his back, and gauged his eyes out. That would teach him.

"Where were we, Chumara Shaman?" Shaman's spell was interrupted yet again. She heard a scream coming from the east. Auel was standing over a Chumara priest.

"I was nearly converted. Zizuph was my saviour." Auel said, looking at the old High Priest with admiration and thanks.

"Good, we cannot afford to lose you Auel." She turned back to the Chumara Shaman. A part of her didn't have the heart to kill her. Then she thought of all of the men that she had killed. Her men. Her tribe. "But, we can afford to lose her. Everyone had better move."

Not everyone did. A foolish Chumara warrior thought that he could beat Shaman. He didn't know that she had a knife. He suffered a slow and bloody death. Shaman stabbed him in the chest, the abdomen and the neck.

The Chumara Shaman was the last to die. She was to suffer the knife first. Shaman plunged it into her other shoulder. Then, into her stomach, finally into her throat. Finally, 'Hort-en-ga' The swamp claimed another Shaman.

~*~

Wow. That is called PROUDNESS! I am so proud! I wrote such gory-ness! Or.. Gore, I suppose, lol. I really quite like that. Apart from the title, but then, title's aren't really my thing. Actually. It wasn't that good. Oh well. I like it, damn you all. No, not damn you all. I have cookies. I'll give you a cookie for a review? Good deal?