Frolic
By: Aviantei
[Twelve Shots of Summer: Go/五 6/12]
A Shaman King One Shot
The wind rushed by from atop the Spirit of Fire, sending Hao's long hair and cloak tossing through the warm morning wind. Though not quite to its full size, his spirit ally had grown much over the years and could easily cart a handful of his followers along for a ride. By the time the Shaman Fight proper would be upon them, the Spirit of Fire would be able to fit everyone without issue. But for the day, that much space wouldn't be necessary. For what Hao had in mind, the Spirit of Fire simply needed to be able to provide transport for two.
Seated not too far behind him was Aviantei, her shorter brown hair fluttering with each passing breeze. She sat on the Spirit of Fire with that ever-serious expression of hers, though one of her hands patted against the Oversoul's pulsing orange back. When her thoughts reached Hao's, her mind had little but an intense focus on their surroundings. It didn't suit a girl of her young age at all.
"You've been quiet the whole ride, Aviantei," Hao said, leaning back on the palms of his hands to look at his subordinate. Aviantei already had impeccable posture, but she snapped to attention the second Hao addressed her. "Did I disappoint you that much when I told you that you weren't allowed to train this morning?"
She tried to fight it, but Aviantei's face slipped closer towards a pout. Hao suppressed his chuckle. "I don't understand why, Hao-dono." Though she'd become fluent in English at a very young age, the past four years intermingling in with the rest of Hao's followers had stripped away the last traces of her native accent. "Even when we're searching for new recruits, you always let me at least practice some form of techniques."
"Are you worried I'm disappointed in you?" In an instant, Aviantei's eyes flicked away, staring at the expanse of sky flying past them. It was more than enough of confirmation. "It's nothing of the sort. Today's simply a special day, that's all."
"Is it?" She still didn't look back at him. Though her mind had already been razor-focused, Aviantei redoubled her mental efforts—it was a valiant effort to not think of something. Even so, the traces wormed their way in the edges, and a soft sigh spilled out of Aviantei's lips. "I don't want to celebrate my birthday."
"No, you don't want to let Issebella go overboard while celebrating your birthday." At the sound of the Italian girl's name, Aviantei turned back to him with a grimace. Hao let the laughter free that time, which brought a flush of indignation to Aviantei's cheeks. "In case you haven't noticed, Issebella isn't here. And not everyone spends their every waking day training, Aviantei."
Aviantei scoffed, her childish expression gone once again. "Isn't that because they're stupid?" On her quest for strength, she didn't have the patience for anyone who didn't do the same.
Hao met her expression with a smile. "You need your rest."
There was only a second before she relented. "Yes, Hao-dono."
"Excellent." Hao clapped his hands, the thick fabric of his gloves pressing together between his palms. While he would give commands when necessary, he much preferred to save them for necessary circumstances. While the likes of the X-Laws may have thought differently, Hao's followers were just that: his followers, not his slaves. "If nothing else, I thought it would be a shame if you didn't celebrate this birthday properly, at least."
Turning to fully face Hao, Aviantei went back to patting the surface of the Spirit of Fire. "You make it sound as if there's something special about growing another year older."
Hao chuckled. "Considering I've gone through over one thousand birthdays, I can see where you're coming from." Aviantei kept her expression composed, but there was still the mental spike of pride from getting anything even resembling praise from her master. "You, however haven't quite had the pleasure, Aviantei. At the very least, I think you should do something special since you're turning ten."
Aviantei had been very candid about the details of her childhood before she had joined up with Hao. Even if she hadn't, he had heard more than enough in the recesses of her mind. He knew well enough what turning ten would have meant for her. And while he couldn't say that the future he was offering her was much better, at least none of that would happen for years to come. As the dams that Aviantei had put up in her own mind threatened to crumble, Hao took her hand and guided her towards the Spirit of Fire's head.
The world spread out beneath them, nothing but stretches of land with the occasional strip of road or dots of buildings. Farther out on the horizon, the shimmering surface of a clear lake drew nearer. Not even needing a spoken command, the Spirit of Fire dipped into a gentle decent. Aviantei's eyes scrunched up as she searched the land, then popped open wide as she caught sight of where they were landing.
"Is that…a festival of some sort?"
"That it is," Hao said, smiling at the faint flicker of excitement Aviantei didn't even seem to notice was blooming in her mind. "If nothing else, I'd like to offer you a day away from everyone else as a present."
Hao hadn't known the exact purpose of the festival when he'd chosen it as the destination for Aviantei's birthday, but that hadn't been the point. It simply needed to be a place full of distractions, and the party around them more than fit the bill. Excited English thick with the accents of the British Isles flew around all around them, along with the occasional licks of what people could manage in Celtic. Food, music, laughter, and drinks, especially beer, spilled from every corner, and no one even batted an eye at Hao's unique sense of fashion or even that two ten-year-old children were running around unattended.
Of course, being smaller had its advantages. Even with his usual appearance, it didn't take much effort to swipe any concessions they needed without attracting any attention whatsoever. Though Aviantei started the trip constantly surveying for enemies and a hand on her elements pouch, she'd started to ease up after a couple of servings of corned beef and some strudel for dessert.
As a rule, Hao tended not to be a fan of crowds, especially when they were full of humans. He'd long since gotten a grasp on his out of control abilities, so he no longer heard the thoughts of everyone within an immediate vicinity, but it was still frustrating to see humans milling about as if they weren't responsible for so much wrong in the world. Aviantei's eased state of mind helped relax Hao's own.
There would be time to cleanse the world after he won the Shaman Fight and became Shaman King.
But for today…
Not letting himself dwell on the future, Hao focused on the girl at his side. Aviantei was a very bright onmyoji and had an immense amount of potential—her elemental name signaled that much. She worked to an almost obsessive degree to grow stronger and reach her goals. It was admirable how she'd picked herself up from adversity and settled down on her chosen path. But though Aviantei had such determination, she never allowed herself to act like the child she was.
Matilda, Marie, and Canna had tried letting Aviantei into their group before, but she had refused. Issebella was in the process of almost harassing Aviantei to be her friend, and that effort wasn't seeing much success either. Hao and all his followers allowed themselves some self-indulgence, whether it be into their respective hobbies or just socializing around the campfire. Aviantei never did.
I want you to achieve your goals, Aviantei, but it won't do you any good if you burn yourself out.
So if she wouldn't accept an invitation from anyone else, Hao would do it himself. He'd drag her around on an adventure, let her do something for fun. He let her try whatever food she wanted. He challenged her to carnival games. He pulled her into the clearing amongst the dancers of every age and showed her the right steps to take to move along with the music. And has she got the hang of it, Hao sang the lyrics under his breath, letting Aviantei's rare smile spur on one of his own.
Most of the time Hao found the return to childhood after reincarnation to be an inconvenience. But on some days, he supposed, the ability to enjoy the world with an almost untainted enthusiasm made up for it.
Evening descended, but that did nothing to thin out the crowds of people. Yes, many attendees had left, but more had rushed in to take their places, and the hubbub and laughter increased as many tucked farther into their drinks. Though he had no interest in purchasing anything, Hao browsed through the racks of Celtic-style clothing beneath a merchant's awning. Though handmade, Hao had to admit that the seamstress had a decent amount of skill.
"Um, Hao-dono?"
Aviantei's voice reached him even from closer to the back of the tent, and Hao abandoned his halfhearted perusal to make his way towards her. The fresh spike of her mana from seeking him out made meeting up with her all the easier. Though the fun of the day still filled most of her thoughts, there was a slight spike of nervousness present. "What is it, Aviantei."
"I was wondering…does this trip count as my gift request, or…?"
Hao blinked in surprise. He allowed his followers to make a request for their birthday gifts—and no matter how unreasonable it was, he'd make an effort to fulfill it. Most often everyone would want more expensive things that would be harder to steal without making a big scene, which often involved going somewhere else to procure it or even relocating the entire camp. Aviantei hadn't used any one of her requests since she'd joined him.
"Did you find something you want?" Hao asked, flashing her an easy smile. Too embarrassed to say so, Aviantei nodded. Resisting the urge to peek into her thoughts and find out right away, Hao took her hand and gestured onward. "Show the way. Though if it's something bigger, we may have to leave right away. I don't mind, but make sure you have your fill of everything else first, alright?"
"No, it's…" Still unable to get the words out, Aviantei shook her head and started to navigate through the crowd. She made easy use of any open gaps, cutting a quick path through the festival goers and further up the line of merchants stands. Almost near the end, she stopped in front of a display of jewelry sparkling underneath the display lights. Sucking in a breath, Aviantei raised her free hand and pointed. "This one."
In terms of jewelry, it wasn't anything overwhelming: just a thin silver necklace. At the end of the chain was a small charm, hardly even a few centimeters tall, but the shape was an unmistakable small star. Hao stopped short of tucking his hair behind his ear to show off the star design on his earrings; if he teased Aviantei too much, she'd likely back out of accepting the gift.
"Not a problem," he said, casting a glance at the stand runner. The woman was busy, but still had a sharp eye. Their hands still intertwined, Hao lead Aviantei out of the crowd of people and toward a clear patch of grass. A few scattered trees lined behind them, and Hao plucked a fresh leaf from one of the low hanging branches. A few murmured words and a miniscule amount of his mana reserves later, a single shikagami popped into existence. Hao sent it the command, and the leaf spirit zipped off into the crowd. Within minutes, it returned and deposited the necklace into Hao's waiting hand. He dismissed the Oversoul and turned to Aviantei. "For you."
"Thank you, Hao-dono." She picked up the necklace and stared at it for several moments before bringing it to her lips. "Sal," she whispered, the elemental language spilling off her lips with practiced ease. Aviantei offered her mana to the necklace, feeding energy into it the same way one would form an Over Soul. But she wasn't trying to manifest a spirit; instead, her goal was to make the metal of the necklace open to her, to become loyal to her presence as an onmyoji. Such a process tended to take multiple attempts over time, but there was almost no resistance at all as the jewelry became bound to her mana.
"As expected, Aviantei," Hao said, bringing a fresh rush of pride to her thoughts. Her smile just a little bit wider, Aviantei found the clasp and went about hooking the necklace around her neck. The star shone in what festival lights reached them by the tree line. "Was their anything else that caught your eye?"
Realizing herself, Aviantei shook her head. "This is fine," she said, her fingers pressing against the star pendant. "But, I was wondering…if it would be alright to celebrate like this next year, too?"
It had taken a lot of courage to ask that question. But Hao could feel her resolution to move forward here, too—to make her birthday something to look forward to instead of dread. "Whatever you want, Aviantei." And then, because he knew it would be alright to say, "Happy birthday."
Aviantei's lips parted for a second, but the uncertainty fell away from her eyes. "Thank you very much, Hao-dono."
And that night, when they flew home towards the camp and Aviantei fell asleep on the back of the Spirit of Fire, Hao would check her thoughts for nightmares, only to find a sense of peace and that her feelings for him had grown past mere admiration as a leader.
[Author's Notes]
Since there were five posting days in June, it's really disorienting to be at the halfway point for [Twelve Shots of Summer] already, but here we are! This piece came about as my entry for this week's prompts of "Stages of Life" and "Transportation." I honestly struggled with ideas for this one. I thought about writing something for the manwha Like a Butterfly (which you should totally read because it's amazing), but one of my songs I use for Aviantei came on in my music collection and I figured I could go for that route instead! After much tinkering, this was the result! In case you couldn't tell, "Stages of Life" refers to both the celebration of birth and Hao's perspective as someone who's way too old, while "Transportation" goes with the rather unconventional method of Air Spirit of Fire!
Much like last week's "Alternate Speed," "Frolic" goes ahead and looks at Hao's perspective (though I cheat and do that in Aviantei canon anyway). One of the ideas I've been itching to play with is how, despite being a literal one-thousand-year-old soul, Hao still has to deal with the physical components of his age (*cough* this is important to the main story *cough*). In this case, I feel like it would allow him to at least act like a kid every now and then. There's just so much open time before the Shaman Fight I feel like everyone would just kind of indulge every now and then.
In any event, this one shot was also important because part of Aviantei's (Ivy's) design is that she has a small star necklace that I honestly never had an origin story for. But now one exists! Haha.
If you liked this one shot, you should also go and check out the rest of the fantastic [Twelve Shots of Summer] community. If you're just wondering when the heck the new Aviantei chapter is coming, never fear! It shall arrive in December!
Thanks for reading!
-Aviantei
[07.04.2018]