I decided it would be a good idea to see where Hao was at during the last three chapters. Of course you all know that his second lifetime took place in the Patch village. There's really nothing else about his early life there that anyone really knows, so I decided to get a little creative. And, anyway, I was tired of not having Hao in the story :)

Hao had gotten used to the sand. It was everywhere. He had gotten used to it being forever stuck inside his moccasins and trapped in his clothes when the wind kicked up. After a while, one could get used to many things. He had gotten used to the sharp rocks and the hard ground. He had gotten used to the dry summers and the snowy winters. He had gotten used to the vastness and the emptiness and the endlessness.

He hadn't gotten used to the loneliness. Even after five-hundred years.

Training wasn't hard for him anymore. Hao knew it would be rigorous and possibly painful to become a priest of the village. They started him young. But he got used to it quickly. He was much better at it than any of the others. And he was, of course, the strongest of all of them.

They knew there was something off about him from the moment he was born. Hao kept mostly to himself, as he had in his first childhood. He had little time to pay attention to anyone else. Most of his time was spent training, or meditating, or relearning how to play his flute, because the flutes they made here were strangely designed and harder to play. Nobody bothered him much.

Nobody knew who he was.

Well, one person knew. She was once the interpreter to the Great Spirit, the chief of the tribe. She knew who he was from the moment he was born. She knew the legend from five-hundred years ago. But she was an old woman now who tended to ramble on about strange and incoherent things, so nobody paid much attention to her. He certainly didn't. All he wanted was to be left in peace. And to win the Shaman Fight. And to find his wife.

The spell hadn't gone quite like he had hoped it would. Hao had been able to choose where his new birth would take place. Hers, on the other hand, was completely out of his control, and she didn't have enough strength to control it herself. Her location was an absolute mystery to him. All he could do was pray for her safety and wait until the day when he could get out of this barren desert and search for her.

But the Shaman Fight was approaching and there was much to get done. The ten priests, chosen from birth, (something he was still rather skeptical about), spent most of their time training in the wilderness, learning how to survive, how to perfect their oversouls, and preparing for the journey that they would soon take, although they had no idea where it would be.

"The Great Spirit has chosen the location for the preliminaries."

The ten priests looked at the chief with surprise and curiosity. Hao sat in the back of the group, already aware of what this new chief was going to say. She was the daughter of the old chief, since it was a title passed down through blood-line. She was young and knew very little about being a messenger to the Great Spirit, but with her mother's deteriorating condition, she had had no choice but to step in and take the position. She was also desperately in love with Hao, which was something he would've liked to avoid completely.

"The first phase of the Shaman Fight is to take place in a place called France, in a continent called Europe," the chief continued.

The ten priests began to mutter among themselves, some filled with curiosity, some with fear, some with anticipation.

"You must prepare yourselves for a very long journey," the chief said. "According to the Great Spirit, you will find this land by walking to the East until you find the ocean, then you must cross the ocean and find land once again." As she said this, she drew a map in the sand in front of her. "The Great Spirit will show you the way. You must leave immediately." She looked at the ten priests. "Are all of you ready to do this?"

"It is all the will of the Great Spirit," one of them said. "We must go without fear."

The others nodded and made noises of agreement. Hao smiled with amusement. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. Maybe she'll be there, at the Shaman Fight. Maybe…

The others left to say goodbye to their families. Hao's new family was a small one. His new mother cooked and looked after the children. His new father hunted a lot and rarely spoke to him or his siblings. He had two younger brothers. They meant very little to him, and he to them. He had never attached himself to this new family, and they didn't seem to mind much. He didn't need to say goodbye.

"H-Hao," the chief spoke up before he could leave. "Could speak with you?" He looked back at her expectantly. Her name was Xylo, and was considered one of the most beautiful women in the village. Her shamanic power wasn't very great, but her family had been the leaders of the Patch tribe since the beginning. She had power in ancestry.

"I just…wanted to wish you good luck," Xylo said, her eyes on the ground in front of her. "I know it'll be a long journey, and there's no way of knowing what will happen. I…hope you'll stay safe."

Hao found Xylo's thoughts amusing, although a little unwanted. No matter where he was or what he looked like, he always had the same effect on women, and it was starting to get a bit tiring. He hated to disappoint them, and he always felt terrible when he did. But Xylo would eventually learn that he wasn't hers to take. Hao had almost perfected his shamanic techniques. Perfecting the art of letting someone down gently, on the other hand, was not working out as well as he'd hoped.

"I appreciate your concern," Hao said levelly. "But you shouldn't worry. We will be safe with the Great Spirit's guidance." With that, he bowed to her and turned, listening to her cry out softly in her mind, but choosing to ignore it. Some things are better left alone. And, anyway, it was possible that she would get over her silly crush after being gone for several months, even years. By the time he returned, she would most likely be married to one of the other men in the village. He would be out of her mind in no time.

With a deep breath and a final look at the village, Hao of the Patch followed the ten priests into their new adventure.

So there you go. Yes, I do intend to use Xylo much more in the future, but first, I must reunite the lovers. Believe me, it will be beautiful. Or maybe not. It depends on how I'm feeling at the time. Thanks for reading :D