Diclaimer: All non-original characters do not belong to me. No profit is made from writing fanfiction, it is simply for personal enjoyment.
AN: My first ever Shaman King fic, so be nice. I'm a Ren fan and I'm the name Len because it sounds quite close to his real name Dao Lian, which will be important for the plot.
Anyway enjoy…and please review, as this is the only way I can get any feedback from the readers and improve the story.
Horo Horo groaned as the bus passed over other pothole in the "road", which would not have passed for a dirt track back in Japan. Half lounging out of the open window, he panted as he wiped the beads of sweat that trickled down his face and plastered his pale blue hair to his forehead.
"Ah…man, why does Lenny have to live here of all places!" he moaned, tongue lolling unceremoniously from the corner of his mouth. The summer climate of South East China defiantly disagreed with Horo Horo.
The bus was not air-conditioned and the heavy humid heat weighed down on the passengers. Most were experienced Chinese and the apparent oven like temperatures did not seem to bother them as much. Some had thought to bring electric fans that occasionally wafted a small breeze to the back of the bus where Yoh and Horo Horo were struggling to survive.
"You know, Horo Horo, I think we should have sat in the front of the bus," said Yoh as he tried to fan himself with a copy of Shouen Jump.
The bus was not traveling fast enough to illicit more than a lazy flow of hot air through the open windows, which did nothing to elevate their suffering. In fact, as Horo Horo found to his cost, the inside of the bus was actually cooler but Horo Horo had lost the will to live shortly afterwards so the windows remained open and the sound of cicadas chirping in the distant peach trees was the only thing that floated in.
"Ah…I don't care anymore. Damn Len! He allows finds a way of torturing me…this is his doing, I swear!" raved Horo Horo as he waved his arms that were dangling out of the window.
"Horo Horo, China has always been this hot…" said Yoh as he covered a yawn. The heat was making him sleepier than usual and all he wanted to do now was to have a nice long nap. Unfortunately the bus driver had other ideas. The seats jerked and groaned as the bus fell into another large pothole and turned sharply around the corner.
The winding mountain trial was leading them higher up the mountain. Hopefully the air would be cooler up there and the wonderful scent of ripened peaches might just be enough to distract Horo Horo from his ranting. There was whole forest of wild peach trees growing up the lush green mountainside. The peaks were purple ridges against the brilliant blue of the sky and somewhere in the green jungle was the Tao family home, their destination.
"I need…water," hissed Horo Horo as he hung his head out of the window only to pull it back in again when the dust billowing from the road entered his eyes.
"Here have mine," muttered Yoh, "or better yet get out that iced tea you keep in the thermos flask,"
"Ice teas…for emergencies…" insisted Horo Horo, but his resolve broke down as a wave of heat blasted him from the open window.
The iced tea, which would have been considered warm in normal conditions, was delightfully cool now and the duo sipped it with appreciation. Three rows in front a small girl eyed the small plastic cups hopefully but Horo Horo carefully screwed the lid back on and stowed the flask away in his satchel.
They remained delightfully cool for a whole ten minutes before the spell of the iced tea wore off and the heat once again enveloped them in its crushing embrace.
"You know, when you asked me to come to China with you, I thought we would be traveling by first class private jet!" said Horo Horo with some bitterness, "I mean what's the point of being Shaman King if you have to suffer like this,"
"Horo, you know that the position does not bring riches or luxuries," said Yoh seriously, "and don't even think about mentioning spirit control because you know we are not supposed to do that in front of mortals."
"What difference would it make, they can't see it anyway and Corey's just dying to get out of this heat,"
"You know, Horo Horo, I'm sure glad we're speaking Japanese or the other passengers would be giving us really weird looks by now," Said Yoh smiling, "and besides isn't Corey bathing in your iced tea?"
Horo Horo's face went from fatigued and sweaty to infinitely shock in under seven nanoseconds, which was by no means an mean feat.
"What!" he shouted so loudly that several people, including, rather frighteningly, the driver, turned around to observed the source of the racket.
"Calm down, Horo Horo," whispered Yoh as he smiled nervously at the pairs of inquisitive eyes that trained first on Horo Horo's face and then his hair. "She just entered to cool down. Now be quite before they kick us off the bus!"
It was an empty threat. Everyone soon lost interest and the bus driver thankfully returned his attention to the road, although why this would necessarily reassure Yoh was a mystery. The man did a better job while staring at Horo Horo's hair than at the road.
"Hai yo wo fen zhong dao Dao Shan Ting" said the driver but no one reacted apart from Horo Horo.
"What did he just say, Yoh," he asked, "Are we being fined for causing a commotion?" He looked around wildly as if to search for a box labeled "bus fines" but then relaxed after seeing that no one was staring at him.
"Perhaps we are reaching a rest stop…that would be nice…" said Yoh wistfully. This however did nothing to reassure Horo Horo. Within the blink of an eye Yoh found himself three centimeters from Horo Horo's face, staring in a pair of large black saucers.
"What do you mean by, 'perhaps'" he hissed in a low and dangerous voice. Yoh grimaced and thought he felt a rather large sweat drop trickling down the back of his head. "Are you telling me that you don't understand Chinese…"
"Relax…" said Yoh but without his usual casualness. "Of course I understand Chinese, we got this far haven't we?" Horo Horo seemed satisfied and released Yoh before another commotion could break out. "I just find it a bit more difficult to decipher regional accents. Just give me a minute…"
Horo Horo resumed an almost normal position beside the window and pressed his forehead against the glass where it remained stuck. Yoh could understand basic Chinese but he had not been listening to the bus driver and so could not try to translate what he had said.
"I definitely heard the word "Dao" that's Chinese for "Tao" isn't it," said Horo Horo as he pressed his palms against the glass to pull his forehead away from the pane.
"Yeah, guess we've been calling Len the wrong name for all these years…no wonder he was so grouchy!" said Yoh cheerfully.
"Grouchy! He was more than grouchy, he was foul tempered monster with crazy hair!" cried Horo Horo, but thankfully the other passengers paid no attention. His forehead peeled off the window with a squelching sound and a large patch of red remained on his tanned skin.
"Really, Horo Horo, it took us five days to get here, could you just calm down already," sighed Yoh and resumed trying to fan himself with the magazine.
"You mean that the bus driver said we're nearly there…as in the Tao family home," said Horo Horo. All previous animosity disappeared to be replaced with the slightly more annoying emotion of great excitement.
"Uh…yeah, well he's slowing down, I suppose we'd better get our bags," said Yoh confidently as the bus screeched to a halt. A cloud of yellow dust billowed from the tyre tracks and obscured the scenery.
When the dust finally settled and all the bags were arranged on the floor of the bus, it became painfully clear to both boys that they had not stopped near to any sign of human inhabitance. The huge forest of wild peach and pine trees bordered one side of the road. A dark green expanse that extended up the steep mountain side, interrupted only by the white and brown forms of large rocks jutting out of the ground like ledges.
The other side of the road was less attractive. The dirt track was bordered by perhaps a foot of parched brown grass and beyond that the decent of the mountainside became invisible. There was only a vast area of empty space between this mountain and the next. Bird flew in flocks across the gap that seemed to extend for miles. A huge narrow crater of sorts had been formed between the mountain peaks and when Yoh peered over the edge of the road, the steep mountainside covered in green jungle, which extended downwards for over half a kilometer sent him spinning backwards with vertigo.
Yoh sat on the back seat and breath heavily, while Horo Horo hung out of the left window looking down into the dark green and purple blanket of trees that covered the valley. The billow of yellow dust signified the place where the dirt track was, winding up the adjacent mountainside like an invisible snake. Another truck was coming but it would take another three hours for it to get here. Unlike Yoh, Horo Horo had grown up in the snowy mountains and such heights were a common occurrence.
Strangely every other passenger on the bus was beginning to unload their luggage from the rickety racks above their heads. The little girl had previously set her sights on Horo Horo's iced tea was even putting on her own pink backpack. Several of the well-equipped passengers even unloaded small telescope like trinkets which they hung around their necks with pieced of straw-coloured string.
"Ah…Yoh are you sure this is were we get off, cos for one I don't see any houses, and two Len is not one to invite a whole truck load of friends over, is he," asked Horo Horo as he gestured towards to the passengers who were clearly getting off the bus.
"Nah…this is probably as far as the bus goes…we've got to make the rest on foot," said Yoh cheerfully as he swung his satchel over his back. It poked out awkwardly as it also contained his prized sword. Horo Horo on the other hand displayed his alarming transformation from vaguely normal to angry monster again.
"You mean we're going to walk in that!" he screamed so loudly that the window panes rattled but the other passengers remained unmoved. They had probably gotten used to his shouting by now.
"Calm down Horo Horo, I'm sure it won't be a long way," said Yoh calmly
"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING!" this time the scream was so loud that it echoed eerily from the mountains and sent several flocks of bird shooting into the sky. All heads turned this time but disapproving stares had replaced inquisitive looks.
"Shush, Horo Horo, you're bothering the wild life. I know exactly where we're going, all we got to do is ask the bus driver,"
For a long moment Horo Horo look as if he was about to blow again but the heat had taken its toll and he slumped forwards with a dismissive gesture.
"I knew you weren't that worried," said Yoh cheerfully.
The driver had disembarked as well and was standing on the edge of the cliff taking deep exaggerated breaths. He was fat fellow, who looked as if he had spent his whole life wedged in the driver's seat of some vehicle or other. His t-shirt was grey from sweat and grim, while his pants look relatively new, they too had been stained yellow around the cuffs. A Japanese caption pronounced the shorts to have been produced by a company called Sodez, which neither of the boys had ever heard of. There was a distinctive wet patch where the driver's stomach protruded from his body like a ledge and in this wet patch rested his driver's license fastened to his neck by a piece of straw-coloured string.
He had a care free face, plump and wrinkled for beyond his years. Sweat dripped from his brow as if he had been washing himself and trickled into his beard that dangled down limply like thin pieces of black lace. Currently he was mopping his brow with a sodden yellow handkerchief.
Both Shamans were rather reluctant to approach this figure for they were not sure whether he would understand Yoh's brand of Chinese.
"Ni Hao hello…" said Yoh hesitantly as he disembarked from the bus. The other passengers had formed small family groups and were standing around chatting amicably and exclaiming about the view. "Wo shi re ben ren I'm Japanese"
The expression of realization dawned on the drivers face and he broke into a happy smile.
"I speak Japan," he said proudly and both boys grinned hesitantly.
"We are going to Dao Jia Zhuang Yuan The Tao Family Home," said Yoh as he read the name hesitantly from a piece of note paper.
"You no get there," said the driver throwing up his hands. It was sheer luck the Horo Horo was still removing his luggage.
"Why not?" asked Yoh, refusing to feel panicked. Len had never given him wrong directions before.
"Bus no go up mountain. Bus stop here. People see," the driver gestured up the mountainside to what Yoh had previously thought was a rock. It was in fact a small pagoda built on top an area of cleared land. "Dao Ting," explained the driver.
Yoh gazed up at the small black and red pagoda set against the green mountainside, it was a long way up and there was no path in sight.
"But do you know where the Dao family home is?" he asked feeling slightly panicked.
"Dao Zhuang Yuan far away, top of mountain," the driver looked for a moment as if he was fighting a strange internal battle and finally his resolve broke. "No go there…bad place…bad qui," he gestured wildly around as if to make his explanation more plausible. "Bad air there…not good…not for tourists."
"Don't worry, Mr. We're visiting a friend who live near there, we just want to know the general direction of the place. Please, or we'll be spending the night in the forest…" added Yoh in a pleading voice.
"Ah…bus no go there…take too long," the driver grimaced as if his conscience was berating him, "Ah…look, I take you there…no come back for two hours," he held up two fat and grubby fingers.
"Three hours! It will take us three hours to get there!" said Yoh
"On foot!" added Horo Horo who had appeared with his assortment of bags all covered in a fine layer of yellow dust.
"Bus no go up!" exclaimed the driver exasperated.
"But why?" whined Horo Horo as he slumped forwards and his snowboard trailed on the ground.
"Road too steep…road not good. Why you want go?" demanded the driver angrily.
"Look, I told you we're meeting a friend there and we have to get there before sunset," said Yoh.
"I tell you…bad place…bid bad place…bad qui there…dangerous," muttered the driver feverishly.
"Yeah well, we've been there before and it's not half as bad as you think it is," declared Yoh and then decided it was not a good idea to have told the driver that. Now he would probably come to the conclusion that Yoh was also part of the "bad qui".
"You been there!" the driver gasped and his eyes widened to reveal fine red lines.
"Well not exactly…we came close, but that's besides the point -"
"Yeah," yelled Horo Horo, "we just want you to take us there and we'll pay you…see lots of money," he held out two hundred yen to the driver and waved it under his nose.
The heaving panting driver groaned as if deciding whether the supposed dangers of his expedition would be worth the money.
"Ah…four hundred," he said holding up four sausage like fingers. Horo Horo growled angrily and withdrew his cash.
"Two fifty," he said heatedly. Yoh sighed, it was amazing were Horo Horo found the energy argue about these things.
"No! Three fifty," shouted the driver and several passengers were starting to give them strange glances, not doubt wanting to know what was taking the driver and tour guide so long.
"Three hundred," said Yoh and stuffed a fist full of twenty-yen notes into the driver's hand. He hesitantly counted the money, all the while looking as if he was about to do something he would spend the rest of his life, which wouldn't last very long, regretting.
"Come… we go via Dao Ting…other people waiting," he mumbled.
Yoh beamed brightly into the sunlight, at least they were on the right track. Horo Horo on the other hand look murderous but decided to reserve his energy for the confrontation with Len. No doubt he was silently cursing Len as the cause of his distress.
There appeared to be a rough sort of animal track that led up to the pagoda. It had once been paved and small fragments of the grey stone could still be seen imbedded in the dark brown earth. The trees on either side were positively vibrating with the cacophony of cicadas and crickets. Despite being in the shade, the air was still stagnant and humid while insects buzzed above their heads and attempted to land on their faces.
The gorgeous smell of ripe peaches was just enough to keep the tourists from turning back to the bus. The track was not as steep as Yoh had envisaged it to be but the going was still difficult because of the lack of paving. Once or twice Yoh caught a glimpse of red spotted deer running in the dark recesses of the trees and small rabbit like animals that seem to be able to vanish at will.
The forest seemed to be alive with invisible life and the dark forest floor was a great contrast to the bright sunlight of the open road. Once or twice Horo Horo stumbled and the soft sniggers of the girl with the pink backpack could be heard down the narrow line of tourists.
They trudge for what seemed like an endless time, staring at their dusty sandals and only looking up to brush insects out of their faces. The hill was too steep and the forest too dark to see more than three hundred metres in front of them. The path stretched infinitely forwards like a giant brown chalk line interrupted by white umbrella like mushrooms that grew near to tree roots.
Finally after ten minutes of trekking rays of sunlight began to emerge and all of a sudden they were standing on grey flag stones worn with age. Before them spread a magnificent sight. A huge pagoda over seven stories tall dominated the square, with two smaller counterparts on either side. They were painted in red and black but had intricate dragons carved into the wooden beams. The carvings were laced with gold that glittered in the bright sunlight.
Beyond the pagodas stretched a huge square where statues of supposedly famous ancient people had been carved from the small grey stone as the pavement. Their names were etched on the pedestals and painted in gold. Needless to say neither boy understood what the words meant.
"Wo men zai zhe dai shan ge xiao shi. Ru go ne xiang her shuai zhe li you ge jing," announced the bus driver and the crowd of tourist burst into animated chatter.
"What'd he say?" demanded Horo Horo staring blankly at the huge buildings.
"He said that the tour group will be staying here for three hours and that there is a well if any one wants to drink,"
"Who'd want to drink from a well?" asked Horo Horo as he followed Yoh towards the bus driver.
"Magic well here…heal people…people come to drink," explained the bus driver who was once again mopping his brow.
"So are we going now?" asked Yoh. The driver hesitated.
"Don't you want drink?" he asked hopefully but the sheepish grin faded from his face when Horo Horo bared his teeth in anger. "We go now…take long time," he complained and started to cross the square.
There were perhaps twelve statues in all but no one had come to look at them. Instead all the tourist party had cramped themselves onto the narrow stairs of the pagoda. Some waved at the ground despite the fact that there was no one there. Others exclaimed loudly in Chinese.
The bus driver led them to the edge of the square where another wider path started. This one, thankfully, was paved with smooth white stone and seemed to be very well maintained by some invisible hand. In fact as they trudged along the path became cleaner. Stray leaves piled on the edges on the path in small heaps as if some one had been diligently sweeping.
The path continued in an almost straight line through the forest and the incline became gentler after about twenty minutes of trekking. Yoh finally had time to admire his surroundings. The trees in this part of the forest became more scattered allowing patches of sunlight to shine onto the path making it seem as if a strange jigsaw puzzle had been laid out on the track.
They walked in silence appreciating the beauty of nature. While a cool breeze blew between the trees and dried their clothes, the air remain hot and humid and despite his Shaman training Yoh began to pant almost as heavily as the bus driver. Horo Horo lagged behind and kept fingering his satchel with impatience.
"Not long now," panted the driver as they climbed up an unusually steep stretch. It had been over an hour since they had left the pagodas and the pace had become incredibly slow despite the cooler conditions. They often stopped for rests along the roadside and once Horo Horo had even attempted to climb a peach tree. Needless to say he fell out empty handed. The path had become wider as they climbed and now it was wide enough to accommodate six people walking a breast.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a white wall loomed before them completely blocking the path. The top of the wall was lined with oriental style black clay tiles that formed a steep ridge, like a roof. On closer inspection the path continued around the wall. The thick cluster of peach trees blocked out most of the wall from sight but judging from the black tiles visible over the treetops the wall was at least eight foot high.
"So are you sure this is the Tao home?" asked Horo Horo as he surveyed the area. "You remember when we last came here, Yoh, it was nothing like this. Wasn't there, like, no life within about a kilometre of the place?"
"Nah…" said Yoh reassuringly, "we're just approaching from a different direction that's all. Beside who else would live on top of a mountain in a walled enclosure?"
"Hey Mister, where's the door?" asked Horo Horo as he turned around to face the drive. However to his astonishment the path was empty behind him, stretching downhill as far as the eye could see.
"Where's he gone?" asked Yoh, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice.
"I guess he really doesn't like this place," muttered Horo Horo, "and I don't blame him. It looks tranquil enough but it feels really creepy. He probably scrammed down that hill as soon as we stop to talk."
"That's not possible," said Yoh earnestly. "He's cloth sandals are soaking wet, if he did go there should be foot prints,"
"Well, it's hot and water evapourates fast, besides does it matter? Even if this is not the Tao residence we can still go in and ask someone where it is," said Horo Horo feeling rather unconcerned. Did Yoh really expect that fat driver to stick around after they reached this place?
"No, we would have heard him, he's too fat to sneak away like that. Beside we've only been talking for about a minute. Even if he ran we would still be able to see him," reasoned Yoh becoming more worried.
"Look, buddy, I don't know why you're getting so worked up about this. The guy probably knew a short cut through the forest or something. Besides he was probably in a hurry to get back to the tourists. Come on, we can't stand here chatting all day or we won't get to Lenny's in time for dinner." said Horo Horo as mouth watering images of Chinese banquets floated into his mind.
"How do you know that Lenny will even invite you to dinner?" asked Yoh with a grin.
"What! He has to, I'm his friend…I mean guest!" cried Horo Horo and felt the mother of all blushes blossoming over his face.
"Come on, we have to hurry, the sun will be setting soon," muttered Yoh giving the empty path behind him a finally glance.
They trudged along the wall hoping to reach the main gate. The wall continued for five hundred metres until it was interrupted by a wooden door. It was strong and sturdy, studded with iron nail for reinforcement. There were no guards on this side of the door, presumably they would be on the inside.
"Er…Yoh, don't think it's a bit strange to have like this little unguarded door in the wall. I mean the Tao's are big on security," said Horo Horo hesitantly as Yoh pulled at the brass knocker.
"Well it's probably our only chance of getting in. We'll have to walk for mile to get to the main gate, you know," muttered Yoh as he confidently knocked the wooden door with the dragon knocker. A surprisingly loud sound was produced which echoed in the forest and startled the birds.
"Um…do you think the guards will know we're coming, cos I'm not really in any condition to fight," said Horo Horo but just in case he had started to unpack his snowboard. Corey shot out from the duffle bag and glared at him from under her leaf as if to condemn him for waking he up too early.
"Well, we'll just have to wait for a while," said Yoh sleepily and sat down on the path with a lazy yawn.
"Geeze, do you ever do anything besides eat and sleep?" asked Horo Horo, "I've known you for four years now and you are the biggest slacker I have ever met in all my travels!"
"Well you obviously haven't been meeting a lot of people on your travels," mumbled Yoh and his eyelids slipped closed.
They waited vainly in silence for about ten minutes for any sound of live could be heard on the other side of the door. Horo Horo's patience was growing thin. Suddenly there came the sound of footsteps approaching but Horo Horo decided against knocking again. The footsteps were too loud to be one guard and too orderly to be… well normal.
Instead of nearing the door however the footsteps simply passed it by and by the time Horo Horo had launched himself at the knocker the sound of the patrol had disappeared.
"Ah! Come back you blockheads, we need to get in!" he shouted in vain.
"You know, Horo, I think it would be much quicker if we scaled the wall," came the sleepy reply from the Yoh.
"What? Are you crazy? Don't you think that there are wards to keep people from scaling the wall and climbing inside?" demanded Horo Horo and Corey nodded in agreement.
"It's really all just a test," said Yoh causally, "I've been thinking, that driver was really human. He's purpose was to guide us here. The first test was the transport, and the second test was convincing the driver to take us here, the third, of course, is figuring a way to get inside the building. Lenny has a few tricks up his sleeve, you know."
Horo Horo's face turned crimson with anger.
"Why that sadistic little monster, when I get my hands on him I'll rip him to shreds and feed them to his zombies!" cried Horo Horo, sounding very distressed.
"Don't yell, I bet he's watching us right now in some way or other and I can just see him smirking at your face!" laughed Yoh.
"Alright, Lenny, if you're here…I've had enough of your stupid games. Let us in before I tear you to shreds!" cried Horo Horo, pointing accusingly at the nearest tree.
"That'll just make him more delighted, Horo Horo. Come on or we'll never make it in time for dinner."
The two shamans prepare themselves for the jump.
"Amidamaru, Spirit Unity," cried Yoh
"Corey, into the snowboard," shouted Horo Horo. With a whirl of spiritual energy they flipped simultaneously over the wall and landed neatly on the other side.
What was waiting for them was an utter shock…
AN: Cliffhanger…anyway please review so I can improve on my writing…constructive criticisms welcome.