3rd Star: The Angry Bear

"Shaman King Tournament?" I said, repeating what the man said. "What's that?"

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when the Great Spirit, which controls the world, manifests itself in the physical plane," the man explained, stretched his arms out. "So if a Shaman were to take control of it, they could shape the world in their image."

"And what is a Shaman?"

The man flinched. "You don't know?"

"No, should I?"

In response, the man put a hand over his face and groaned. "Oh, boy!"

"That doesn't answer my question."

Just then, something flew past me and hit the man's face. Surprised, he fell down as the thing levitated back around. It was the paper star, which still had the yellow eyes and the blue aura. But what drew my attention more was the bright letter at its center which I recognized.

"Hoshi," I realized.

The paper star made a small chirping noise in response.

"I see how it is," the man abruptly said as he got up once more. "You were pretending to be ignorant so your Guardian Spirit could attack me while I wasn't looking."

Looking at Hoshi, I responded, "That's not what I—

"Enough talk!" The man snapped. "Let's get this test over with!"

Removing his poncho and scarf, the man revealed he was wearing a sleeveless shirt made of brown leather with the same bear-paw insignia from before with matching pants and moccasins underneath.

"Before we get started, I should probably introduce myself," the man stated as he took out some red face-paint and smeared a line across his face. "My name is Uran. I'm a Patch Officiant, and my Guardian Spirit is Big Bear!"

As the man tied a brown-and-tan headband with zigzag patterning around his head, the giant bear I saw before appeared behind him. It stood on its hind-legs with transparent white fur that had black patterns covering its entire body. Staring down at me with cold pupil-less blue eyes, it roared loudly.

"In life, it was a Spirit Bear that had been taken in by a traveling circus," Uran stated, showing off the leather braces on his arms which had bear claws sewn into them. "Seeing how poorly it was being treated, I freed the Spirit Bear from captivity. Unfortunately, it couldn't survive in the warm desert environment as they normally live further north in Canada. So out of guilt for my mistake, I mercy-killed the bear which decided to stay with me as a Guardian Spirit instead of passing on to the afterlife."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with this 'test' you mentioned?" I asked.

"Oh, right, I got side-tracked," Uran realized, as Big Bear shook its head. "The test itself requires two steps: first, you need to create an Oversoul, and then hit me with it."

"An Oversoul?"

"It's when you merge a spirit with a solid object, allowing it to do actual damage in the real world instead of just in the spiritual plane," Uran described and pointed at Hoshi. "Your Shikigami is a perfect example of that."

"Shikigami?" An image suddenly flashed in my mind, causing me to have a sudden headache.

"Don't play dumb with me," Uran growled. "I'm not falling for the same trick twice."

"But I wasn't tricking you," I insisted. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

"Then hit me with your Oversoul, and maybe we'll talk." Uran clenched his fist, causing the bear claws on his braces to glow.

Meanwhile, Big Bear seemed to vanish though its enormous paws remained. They merged with the bear claws, followed by a flash of light which blinded me and Hoshi. Once it subsided, I saw the man's hands covered by metal gauntlets shaped like bear heads with the bear claws sticking out having grown longer and sharper.

"Come on, Onmyoji," Uran taunted, sharpening the claws. "Show me what you've got!"

He then came charging toward me, so I dodged and hid behind a cherry blossom tree. Hoshi did the same, but we weren't safe for long as he cut down the tree we were hiding behind with one claw. It immediately came tumbling down, forcing Hoshi and I to run away.

Why did he call me an Onmyoji? I wondered, hiding behind another tree as Hoshi flew back into my breast-pocket. What does that even mean?

The same image from before appeared in my mind again, of me being attacked by a monster that resembled a black star with an eye shaped like a downward crescent moon and a giant mouth full of fanged teeth. This brought on the headache, as Hoshi chirped loudly. Uran had found me once more, and proceeded to cut down the tree I hid behind.

"This isn't going the way I hoped," Uran admitted. "Either show yourself, or admit defeat!"

Irritated, I shouted, "Leave me alone!"

Immediately, Hoshi flew out of my pocket and straight toward Uran. Remembering what happened last time, Uran blocked Hoshi with his gauntlets. I watched but the headache grew stronger, causing my vision to blacken.

In my mind, I saw myself with smaller hands folding several origami stars with Hoshi floating next to me.

"Don't worry, Hoshi," I said, though my voice was higher-pitched. "All your friends will be here before you know it!"

"Shizu."

I looked up and saw my mother enter the room, looking down at me with surprised eyes.

"What are you doing?" My mother asked. "How did you summon that Shikigami?"

"You mean Hoshi?" I corrected. "He just showed up."

"When?"

"A few days ago," I responded.

"And you're not feeling tired?"

"Nope."

The memory then suddenly faded, as someone shook me awake. I opened my eyes to behold a grey alien wearing a long robe with a metallic brooch shaped like a UFO. Surprised, I curled up.

"Oh, sorry," the alien apologized, and a bright light followed.

In the alien's place stood a young girl with wavy black hair, tan skin, wearing a bandana that had triangle-shaped patterns on it, and two long feathers pointing downward.

She noticed I was staring and blushed. "H-Hi, Shizu…Rakugaki."

Confused, I sat up from the ground. "Who're you?"

To be continued…