Chapter 9: Of Medicine And Jokes

At The Mansion…

"INUYASHA!" Kagome shouted happily.

"Hah. I knew it. Shamans are still not half as strong as demons!" He exclaimed proudly.

Tamao muttered softly, "Er… Inuyasha? You better stop soon."

He ignored her advice, and continued, "Youkai power is so much stronger. Hah. I don't see the big deal about Hao!"

The happy look on Kagome's face dissolved into a frown.

"Oswari."

There was a deafening boom, and dust flew all over the place.

Back At The New York City Airport…

Faust looked forlorn, as he sat beside Anna and Manta, then he asked dully, "What are you people doing here?"

"Nothing much, just handing this secret manual to Yoh. How about you?"

"I'm going back to Germany. Perhaps the Shaman Fight is not for me. Besides, it may not be able to bring Eliza back."

"Your late wife?"

"That is correct."

"I can bring her back," Anna said softly. "I am an itako."

"Itako?"

Manta answered, "An itako is a spirit medium. Anna-san can summon Eliza back."

"Really?"

She held the necklace of 1,080 beads in one hand, closed her eyes and then began to chant. The necklace floated in the air in front of her and glowed, as the ghostly figure of a woman appeared slowly.

"[Faust…"

Back In The Town…

The X-Laws were now gone, nowhere to be found and Inuyasha was still angry at Kagome for the 'oswari' just moments ago. He kept his arms crossed, as the group headed for the next town.

"Come'on Inuyasha. Don't be so petty. You can let Sesshomaru to use your senses to find Patch Village."

"[I'm not going into that filthy body!"

"I won't let THIS guy enter my body anyway!"

The argument lasted for quite awhile. Everyone shook their heads in disbelief – the argument was really just between Kagome and Inuyasha (Sesshomaru barely spoke a word). The weather was very hot that day, but other than the discomfort, the trip was quite enjoyable. They reached another small town, and began to ask around, but once again, with no success. They were about to leave the town when suddenly, a boy called after them.

"HEY! Wait up!" He shouted, as he ran after them. "I see you guys are missing some members. Can I join your team?"

"Team?"

"Yeah. Theme park!" He slid his right hand along his left arm, mimicking a roller-coaster ride.

Everyone turned away at those very words, and was about to walk off when the boy waved his arms frantically.

"WAIT! Okay okay… My name is Chocolove. Like you guys (except for inuyasha, he muttered softly under his breath), I am a shaman." Everyone was now paying some attention. "I heard from some of the priests, that we have to form teams of three, in order to participate in the shaman fight. Hao has already formed his TEAMS."

Tao Ren looked skeptical, and asked suspiciously, "How did you hear of it? We have traveled for so many days now, and we never heard of anything like that."

Chocolove grinned, and then a spirit of a jaguar appeared. "With him of course."

With that, he did his oversoul and explained, "My mediums are: One, my own eyes. Two, my own nose. And three, my own limbs. With Mic here, I can possess exceptional senses, even better than inuyasha."

"Humph. How do you prove that? You're just a shaman. You aren't comparable to a strong youkai like me!"

"Uh… You're just a hanyou aren't you?" Chocolove asked. "Sorry. I overheard everything just now, that was why I came."

"FINE. Read those words over that that sign!" Inuyasha pointed at the tiny dot of a road sign.

"Gas station 5 miles away," he laughed. "The name of the gas station is 'Billy's Powerhouse'. Just let me travel with you guys for awhile and you will realize I am not lying."

Everyone discussed and they came to the same decision. Along with Yoh's group, Chocolove headed for the gas station.

At The Adirondack Mountain Range…

Anna, Faust and Manta were heading for the direction pointed by the beads. Though the rocky road ahead was covered in flora, the scorching sun was still melting the skins off their faces. Irritated (except for Faust, who was still very happy that he could see his wife again) and hot, they climbed the mountains and crossed the streams. They were about to climb another mountain when they saw a familiar figure – it was Hao. Manta was so shocked his face turned a ghostly white colour, while Anna and Faust remained expressionless.

"Arh. Anna. Delivering the secret manual to Yoh?"

"Call me Anna-SAN, and I'm glad you know. Get out of my way. He needs it to defeat you."

"Indeed. He needs it desperately. Yoh is still too weak to help me become the shaman king. But to defeat me?" Hao laughed loudly. "Impossible."

"Y-Yoh will defeat you!" Manta cried out suddenly.

"How rude! Nobody talks to Hao-sama in that manner!" screamed a little African girl, who was standing beside Hao.

"Your name is Manta, right?" He asked, smilingly. "I applaud you bravery, but stay out of this unless you're a shaman."

"I shall repeat myself once more." Anna was suddenly in front of Hao. "Get out of my way."

Hao walked off slowly, "Get the manual to Yoh soon. I need him to become stronger. Opacho, let's go."

With that, the spirit of fire took the both of them and flew off into the sky.

"Anna-san…" Faust muttered. "I will do whatever I can to help Yoh become the shaman king."

Anna looked at him, as the sides of her lips curled up slightly.

"Thank you."

At 'Billy's Powerhouse"…

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!"

Inuyasha was frantic. He could not believe that Chocolove was right, and that his senses are not as good as Mic's. There were some laughter here and there, and Tao immediately took the chance to form his group.

"So my team will include Horohoro and Chocolove."

"WHAT? I'm NOT teaming up with a China-boy!"

"Who are you calling a China-boy??"

Ren's fist came into contact with Horohoro's face all of a sudden, leaving behind a bruised eye, and causing some anger to build up. Ren dragged him away from the gas station, where they did their oversouls. Amidst the explosions of ice and fire, Chocolove shouted at them.

"Let's solve this amicably!" He shouted. "Like monks."

The last two words were the turning point. Ren poked his huge nose with his kwan dao, while Horohoro drove his snowboard on his head with a tremendous force.

Yoh shook his head and sighed, "I envy them. They're already so close, even though they have only met for a few moments."

Tamao then blushed slightly, giggled, and shook her head repeatedly, then she asked very softly, "Senior Yoh. Can I join your team?"

Shizen stopped her immediately, and asked her back, "Remember what Master Yohmei said to us? We're supposed to form a girls team to help Yoh. Besides, imagine what Anna-san will do to you if you really end up in Yoh's team."

Yoh turned around, confused, "Huh? Did anyone just call me?"

"Nothing nothing…"

"Hehehe. Okay."

"The three of us shall form a team then," announced Kagome.

"What shall we call ourselves?" Shizen prompted.

They began to brainstorm some names for their team, as Yoh, Rick and Inuyasha stood behind them (Sesshomaru, and Bankotsu floated beside them).

"Aww man. I wanted to join the girls – at least I know Shizen. Are we really going to be teammates? I barely know you, Yoh."

"Hehehe. I wanted to join them as well, but I could not imagine Anna's fury… If she ever found out I did that." Yoh began to tear slightly. "Just thinking of it makes me cry."

"…"

"Hehehe. It's okay, Ricky. We can always build up friendships."

"Don't call me RICKY. I'm RICK! R-I-C-K Rick!"

"Okay okay… Relax."

Soon after, everything was resolved. Tao Ren would be the leader of his team, Team The Ren, though Horohoro was very strongly opposed to the idea. Kagome would the leader for the girls' team, Team Hikari (light). This left Yoh and Rick, which meant they need one more person to form another team. Putting that aside, the group continued their journey, moving from cities to towns, and towns to cities. They finally reached the Adirondack Mountains near New York City.

"Anna?"

In front of them, were now Anna, Manta, and Faust!

"Yoh. What took you so long?" Anna walked towards him calmly. "Hao and his group already entered Patch Village."

"W-w-w-we got kinda lost."

There was a moment of awkward silence – Yoh seemed to have used the wrong words.

"Er… Anyway, what's Faust doing with you?"

"Faust will be your new teammate, because he is strong. We have all witnessed his raw power before."

There was some commotion, as many of them showed their disagreement and discontent. Those who were seeing Faust for the first time were completely lost. Then Yoh and Sesshomaru noticed at the same time – an unfamiliar spirit of a beautiful lady floating beside Faust. At the sight of that, they immediately understood, and began to hush the rest.

Finally, silence fell once more, and Yoh asked, "So Anna… Any idea where Patch Village is anyway?"

"Yes. But in order to prove yourself worthy of me, you MUST find it yourself."

"I'm not so worthy of you…" Yoh whispered to himself.

"What did you say?"

"Arh! Nothing nothing! Hehehe…" Yoh shook his head furiously. "Anyway… Can you just give us a clue?"

"Okay. But just ONE." Anna moved her finger around the place. "There is a clue somewhere around here."

Yoh surveyed the surroundings. On the hard, granite mountaintop was reasonably dense vegetation, and some squirrels dashed up and down the trees; other than that, there were nothing else. Then he saw. There was a small painting on a large core stone. Yoh bent down to take a closer look.

"Guys. Look. There's a painting here."

Everyone crowded around Yoh, as they looked closely at the painting. The clear outlines of the painting depicted a jaguar, with the sun above its head.

"What? I don't see anything!" Inuyasha pushed Rick away to take a closer look.

Manta squinted his eyes, and muttered, "I can barely make it out… But I think it looks like a rabbit."

Tamao spoke for the first time in days, "Only shamans can see it!"

"But Manta is not a shaman. How come he can make out part of it?"

Inuyasha then sat down, and spoke, "Actually, I cannot see spirits. I can only hear them. That's why I can't sense most of their presence."

"[Really, Inuyasha?" Bankotsu asked suddenly.

"BANKOTSU!"

"Maybe Manta is part shaman. Since he can see spirits clearly."

"That would explain everything… But now what?"

They continued to stare at the painting for a few moments.

"Come' on, Anna… SAN!" Horohoro begged. "Just tell us what this clue means."

"No."

"Please…"

"No."

"Pretty –"

"No."

"…"

"Hmm… Jaguars represent agility! Maybe we must run around the rock?"

"Howbout the sun?"

"Oh yeah…"

"It brings light to people! We must wait till the sun shines on the rock?"

Tao Ren looked carefully, and realized. The core stone was a doorknob. He mustered all his strength, and turned it so that the sun in the painting faced the sun in the sky. Immediately, a trap door leading downwards opened up. Surprised, but glad they found out the answer to the clue, they cautiously proceeded into the darkness beneath. Then, just before Inuyasha entered, the trapdoor closed quickly, plunging them into total darkness. Inuyasha was now the only person outside the passage.

To see, they all did their oversouls, whose energies provided a little light. They continued walking, and they found another painting on the wall. This time, it was one of a wolf and a cloud. They moved their fingers along the rock, and found some gaps – this was too, a door. The only question now was how to open it?

They tried everything but with no avail. They tried attacking the door with all they could, they tried singing to the door, and they even tried begging the door. Anna stood at a corner, shaking her head in disappointment. After several tiring tries, Horohoro leaned on the door, panting. Annoyed, Rick stuck his Banryu into the ground.

"Ow…"

Rick helped him up and he thanked him quickly. Right in front of them is another painting.

"The last painting. The dog."

They finally understood. This entrance was customized for them – it would be different for each group. Yoh removed Sesshomaru from kyũselshu, and they moved towards the rock, which has began to glow. It glowed brighter, as they moved closer to it and finally, everyone of them were engulfed in the bright, white light, and then everything went blank. They were going to Patch Village.

In The Residence Of The Patch Chieftain…

Lady Goldva was looking at the screen. She took out a remote control and adjusted the brightness – the light was too blinding.

"Good. All is going in the way of the Great Spirits."

-END-

Hello people. Thanks for the endless support. Really glad that people are actually reading my stories. I think I may not able to update much. This year is really scary. We have tests like every week, and we all mug like crazy, almost no time to even breathe. Haha. Really, and the story format is also kinda interfering with my gp essay thing. GP's all factual and no-nonsense, while my story is like... you know... Haha. Okay, enough with my rubbish. Once more, I thank you all for reading. Below are some notes.

Note:

1. The paintings in the story actually depict the five warriors in my story.

2. The jaguar represents Chocolove and Mic - who has the speed and swiftness of a jaguar.

3. The sun represents Tao Ren and Bason - who possess the fiery might of the sun.

4. The wolf represents Horohoro and Kororo - the icy, ferocious wolf.

5. The cloud represents Rick and Bankotsu - whose hellberd can create lightning bolts.

6. Finally, the dog represents Yoh and Sesshomaru - the legendary dog youkai, who possess infinite power.

That's all folks. I'll try to finish another chapter over the chinese new year. Oh yes. Speaking of that. I wish everyone a happy and prosperous Lunar New Year!