Aviantei

By: Aviantei

Part Twenty-One: Reconnaissance

A few days later found Ha-Gumi sitting around the campfire for a late lunch. While Kaede had yet to do much more than observe during training, Ivy had compromised by putting Issebella through her paces. Militaresco had gotten fed up enough to insist on training Issebella's form through integration, while Ivy and Mya had expanded their repertoire of water-based attacks in the process.

She'd gotten so caught up in trying to distract her thoughts from her conversation with Lyserg that she hadn't even realized it was time for a meal. The saving grace was that their late mealtime meant most of Hao's followers had wandered off to their business, although Big Bill was napping in the open air while Tecolote plucked at his guitar several tents away.

Kaede poked her head up from leaning over the fire. "Seconds are ready," she said, holding up a skewer. Today's meal consisted of fresh caught lizards, which tasted much better than first glance would lead one to expect. "Ivy-san, do you want some?"

Knowing that she'd need the calories if they were going to continue training into the afternoon, Ivy nodded. "Thanks," she said, receiving the skewer. She poked it back into the ground near Mya, letting that serve as the spirit's portion of the meal.

Issebella looked on with a hurt expression. "Hey, you're not offering me one? That's not fair at all!"

Without even batting an eye, Kaede stared back with her usual blank expression. "That's because you'll take them all and Ivy-san won't get any."

"She hardly eats anything anyway! Come on, just at least three more. Principessa's gonna try to wreck me during the next round of training."

"You mean she is going to," Militaresco said without any trace of remorse. He floated as a spirit ball next to Issebella, appearing as nothing more than a floating helmet reflecting the light of the Great Spirit in the distance. "Somehow you've managed to become even more sloppy than before."

"That's only 'cause the both of you are slave drivers!" Issebella pouted, but her expression cracked into a grin as Kaede relented two of the fresh cooked lizards. Finishing off her own skewer, Ivy glanced to Mya for confirmation that the spirit had her fill of the offering. Once Mya nodded, Ivy plucked it up and settled into her second portion, the somewhat tough skin giving way to juices in her mouth. "You're never happy with just going with the flow. And Principessa here is too busy comparing me to some other person I haven't even seen fighting! Can't you be a little more reasonable."

Ivy shrugged. "It's not my fault that there are other people who would be able to take you down with some extra effort." She wanted to say the same applied to Kaede, but barking up that tree was just more frustrating than helpful. Ivy felt confident in her own abilities, but she wouldn't be enough to take down some three-man cells on her own. Even she had to hesitate against the idea of fighting someone like Jeanne or even Gandala's Sati without proper backup. "If nothing else, you should be at least on the same par as someone like Ren-chan. You've had Over Soul training for far longer than he has, after all."

"I've been wondering," Kaede said, taking steady bites from her own lizard, "who is this Ren-chan you keep talking about? He seems like he's someone important to you. At least, that's what it sounds like when you mention him in training."

Well, it seemed Kaede wasn't entirely spacing out while Ivy and Issebella sparred. Ivy waved her lizard-free hand through the air in dismissal. "More like he's my prey." Somehow, Ivy got the impression of confusion on Kaede's deadpan expression—or maybe that was the raised eyebrow Issebella had donned. "Come on, surely you guys so the last match of the round in Tokyo? Ren-chan was Yoh-dono's last opponent."

Kaede's eyes flicked to Issebella. "We only just barely arrived at the ceremony, thanks to someone." Issebella muffled her awkward chuckle by taking a rather large bite of lizard, which she proceeded to choke on.

Ivy sighed. Why am I not surprised in the least? "Ren-chan was my first opponent in the preliminary rounds." Among other things she wasn't in the mood to discuss. Finished with her meal, Ivy placed her skewers in a neat pile and then leaned back to stare at the Great Spirit in the distance. "Of course, I beat him. But he's got decent potential. I'm looking forward to seeing him grow." She had the feeling he could give her a real fight one of these days.

"Aw, come on, I have potential, too!" Issebella said, her voice almost tapering off into a whine. "I won my preliminary matches with a perfect record."

"I'd say that was due to a lack of quality in your opponents," Militaresco said.

"Wanna say that again?!"

"I'm saying that you won't have the opportunity to be up against such weaklings in the next round, you foolish girl!"

Sitting in perfect seiza form, Kaede ignored the bickering match that broke out between them. "I don't think I've seen you look so excited before, Ivy-san."

Ivy blinked. "Huh?" she asked, even as Mya nodded beside her. "What's that supposed mean?"

Having batted away her spirit ally for the time being, Issebella bounced back with a grin spreading across her face. "Oooh, yeah, Principessa has that look in her eyes." She leapt to her feet, her hair flying in a blur of blond and brown. "I know, let's go meet this guy! If you're interested in him, then I wanna see."

Ivy narrowed her gaze. "Do you really think I'll let you skip training over something as inconsequential as that?"

Issebella tossed her hands into the air, muttering several sentences in Italian that was just quiet enough for Ivy not to make out. That was likely for the best. "Look, you're the one who keeps comparing me to him. How am I supposed to know what I'm aiming for if I can't even see the standard? It'll be recoi—reken—"

"Reconnaissance," Kaede offered.

"Yeah that!" Issebella said with a click of her fingers. Then she turned her best pleading expression on Ivy, even though it had never worked before in the past. "Just for a little bit, I promise. Then you can go back to beating me up in practice however much you want. I promise I won't complain!"

Militaresco snorted. "Are you telling me you intend to do nothing but lose from here on out?"

Feeling the forming migraine at the front of her skull, Ivy dipped into her leaves to alleviate the situation. Beside her, Mya smiled, her blue eyes as bright as ever. "If I may, Ivy-dono, it's been some time since you've seen him. It might be nice to see how the boy's progressed, especially if you're interested in him as an opponent."

She had a point; though some others in Hao's group had encountered Yoh's entourage upon arriving in the Patch Village, the last time Ivy had seen Ren had been when they were falling from the Patch Over Soul jet. The journey to the Patch Village not only tested potential affinity with the Great Spirit, but also one's strength of will. She could only imagine how Ren's experiences had shaped him since then, let alone since his battle with Yoh.

Across the fire, Kaede looked on with the faintest light of interest in her pale green eyes. Well, I guess I don't have any choice then.

Giving one last mental thanks for the meal, Ivy stood. "Alright, we'll go," she said with a faint smile, and Issebella threw up her arms in celebration, "but I'll enjoy your offer to become a training dummy when we're done, Issebella."

Issebella's cheer cut off in a strangled noise in her throat. Ivy and Kaede both ignored their teammates coughing fit as they extinguished the fire and set off.

Finding Ren was rather simple, even in the increasingly crowded Patch Village; between his mana signal and a quick divination via the Earth and Mya, Team Ha-Gumi found him training in an outlying area of the Village not unlike Hao's campsite. Amongst the expanse of ruddy rocks and occasional swipe of moss stood Ren, arms crossed as he barked out orders to his teammates, who were sparring a bit away.

"Hm, is Ren-chan the grumpy, spiky one?" Issebella asked, scanning the area with a curious expression. Kaede remained silent, but her expression seemed no less attentive. "I can see why you're interested in him. He's a lot like you, Principessa."

Ivy tried to keep the scowl off her face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, y'know, Principessa, you're a bit—oh, crap, is that who I think it is?" Not even offering a further explanation, Issebella leapt down from the rock structure Ha-Gumi had assembled on, charging right past Ren and to the mock battle his teammates were in. Her words switched to a rapid fire and hyper steam of Italian that faded with the growing distance. "Ciao!"

Ivy increased the calming output from her leaves, but still pressed a hand to her forehead. "What is that idiot doing?"

"Making a fool of herself, I presume," Kaede said. And then, without missing a beat, both girls jumped back, avoiding the glowing presence of an Over Soul as it swiped in front of them. The familiar overbearing pulse of Ren's mana met Ivy's senses, and she smiled, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"I see you haven't broken that habit of flinging your weapon at anyone that upsets you, Ren-chan!" Ivy said. Not even bothering to check if Kaede would follow, Ivy hopped down to Ren's level, crossing the remaining distance between them in quick strides. Ren released his Over Soul, but he didn't lower his weapon. Ivy didn't even bother to tap into her elements, even though she could sense how much he'd grown since their last standoff. "Goodness, I thought you would have learned something since Hao-dono showed you up at Yokohama."

Ren scoffed, his eyes narrowed into thin slits. "And I think you would have learned some tact. Anyone who tries to see what their enemies are preparing should expect some form of retaliation." Ivy shrugged, not letting the words get to her. Unlike Lyserg, Ren was someone she regarded as prey. Him seeing her as an enemy would only spur him on to become stronger. With reluctance, he tore his gaze away from Ivy to instead look at the interrupted battle, where Issebella's ever louder Italian was audible. "I assume that fool is your teammate. What in the world is she going on about?"

Issebella had latched onto the blue haired boy who'd tried to pick a fight with Hao after the Patch jet had collapsed. Ivy didn't recognize the other person with them, a dark skinned boy with a full afro of hair. Both boys had dropped their Over Souls, a small koropokkur and the spirit of a cheetah hovering near their shamans. Horohoro looked bewildered as Issebella clasped his hands.

"—and that we met each other again has to be some kind of fate! I knew that destiny would bring us together again. Oh, I know, handsome, let's go out for dinner sometime, I can front the bill, no worries. Y'know, your eyes are prettier than I remember—"

It had been some time since Ivy had regretted learning Italian so much, but boy did she feel it now. It seemed that the years had only made Issebella more of a flirt. "You don't want to know," she said, once again suppressing a sigh. "How in the world does she even know that kid anyway?"

"They met in Tokyo, I believe," Kaede said from behind her. Ren's eyes flicked to the newcomer, but Kaede's lack of malice (or any emotion for that matter) seemed to be enough for him to not deem her a threat. That didn't erase the terseness in his muscles, though. "At least, he matches a description she told me about. She wouldn't stop talking about how it was tragic they couldn't understand each other."

"What nonsense," Ivy and Ren said at the same time. Scoffing, Ivy sent a quick command to the earth, sending Issebella toppling to the ground. "Honestly, you're the one who said this would be reconnaissance, Issebella," she shouted across the short distance between them. "We didn't come here so you could be a flirt!"

Issebella groaned, wiping desert dust from her dress as she stood. "You're so mean, Principessa," she said, slipping back into English. Ivy crossed her arms, not having any of it. "I can't believe you'd ruin a fated reunion like this. You have no sense of romance at all!"

"Wait, wait, wait," Horohoro said, failing his now freed hands through the air. "You can speak English?!"

Distracted once again, Issebella turned back to Horohoro. "Well, yeah, it'd be silly to prepare for the Shaman Fight and not at least learn it." She then paused, staring at the boy until something seemed to connect in her brain. "Wait, you can speak English?!"

"Clearly!"

Issebella clutched her chest in mock distress. "Then we've been missing out on talking this whole time? I thought I'd never get a chance to have you understand my pickup lines. I'll have to start from the beginning. A do over!"

Having recovered some semblance of his sense of mind, the third boy on the scene cupped his hand to his chin in thought. "Well, I guess you could say things got lost in translation," he said, then started laughing at his own joke. Issebella, in true fashion, started laughing along. It took much more of Ivy's willpower than she liked to keep the grimace from her face.

No more nonsense. We're not going to do a damn thing but train when this is over.

If the way Ren's eye seemed to twitch was any indication, he was having similar thoughts. A moment of eye contact later and the two shamans decided that they'd refrain from criticizing the other's choice in teammates.

"I know, you gotta meet the Principessa! And Kaede!" Issebella snatched Horohoro's arm, a grin stretched over her face. I mean, she already knows Ren-chan here—" Horohoro couldn't contain his splutter of laughter "—but we should all introduce ourselves. Oh, you can come, too, afro guy!"

Jogging alongside Issebella dragging his teammate through the dust as if nothing was wrong, the other boy flashed a thumbs up. "The name's Joco McDonnel!"

"Issebella Vargas!"

"I'm so glad that we didn't get off to a rocky start." Ivy wondered if it would be possible to open a hole in the ground and smother herself. Before she could even think about it further, the trio had assembled in front of where Ivy, Ren, and Kaede all stood. "Ren, you didn't say anything about these girls."

Ren's expression managed to look stoic and annoyed all at once. "That's because I only knew about one of them, you fools. The others are new additions."

Catching some semblance of his breath, Horohoro lost it the moment he laid eyes on Ivy. "Hey, you're one of the people that was with Hao!" he said, pointing an accusing finger in her direction. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Considering Ivy had already shown her hand to Ren, there wasn't much point in trying to deny it. She tucked back a stray lock of her hair. "Glad to see that your memory isn't so shoddy that you forgot that so easily," she said. Though her training with Mya and water made the presence of ice clinging to Horohoro's mana obvious, it wasn't enough to cause any concern. He was still a fledgling, all things considered. "But to clear the air, I'm Issebella's team captain. Ivy is fine." No need to spread that embarrassing nickname any further than Issebella's mouth.

"Kiha Kaede," the last of Ha-Gumi said, completing the cycle of introductions. She even dipped her head in a short bow.

Joco nodded, clapping his hands together. "Let's see, between the two of you, you're gonna leaf Issebella here behind," he said, producing the object in question between his fingers. Ivy didn't get any elemental response out of it, so she assumed it was some rubber prop. Some Japanese seemed to have made it to Issebella's memory, as she resumed a fresh round of laughter at the pun.

Kaede tilted her head. "Isn't that kind of a stretch?"

"Of course, I gotta stay limber!"

"More like bending over backwards."

"Hah, you're the perfect straight man!" Joco said. Kaede too busy muttering "Tsukkomi?" under her breath to object as Joco patted her shoulder. "You know what, you guys are alright."

Horohoro waved his arm, pointing back to Ivy. "Hello?" he said, agitation spiking up the volume of his voice. "Are just gonna forget the fact that she's one of Hao's people? That's kind of a big deal!"

Oblivious, Issebella shrugged. "Yeah, but Kaede and I are, too. That's why we're a team with Principessa." Words stuck in Horohoro's throat, especially when Issebella put on her best pout. "Aw, Horo, don't tell me you don't like me anymore. You and I have something really special, you know!"

Unlike Ivy, Horohoro had no immunity whatsoever. "Well, I didn't—"

"Enough!" Ren's harsh shout overpowered everyone else's voices, echoing out into the distance of the cavern. Ivy relished both the temporary peace and quiet, as well as the way losing his temper twisted Ren's expression. Deciding that their collective teammates weren't worth the effort anymore, he turned on Ivy. "If you just came here to distract me, then you're seriously underestimating me if you think this sham of a tactic will work."

Flicking a lock of hair out of her face, Ivy smirked. "Aw, don't be like that Ren-chan," she said, watching his tongari spike up in irritation at the honorific. "Let's be honest here: you wouldn't be worth it if this distracted you. I just wanted to make sure that things were going okay for you. After all—" Not forming an Over Soul, Ivy let her mana saturate the air around them. "You need work if you're going to be a worthy challenge."

"Is that so? I seem to recall landing a blow you didn't expect in the preliminary rounds." Though Ivy had healed the wound so that it didn't leave a scar, on occasion she still could remember the sharp bite of his refined Over Soul. Ren donned a cocky expression of his own, though it wasn't as harsh as it had been back then, nor was his own pressure of mana. "I'm still standing here. And I haven't backed down on what I said back then, especially if your planning on picking a fight with me:

"Your opponent is the one who will become the Shaman King."

Before the words would have done nothing but agitate her; they had when Lyserg had declared Jeanne as the tournament's winner. But in that moment, all Ren's declaration made her want to do was grin. I didn't choose wrong, after all.

Without hesitation, Ivy stepped closer, making sure that she took advantage of the gap in their heights to look down on him. Ren jutted up his chin in response, not once breaking eye contact. "That's a good look in your eyes," she said, "but you don't stand a chance against Hao-dono if you can't do more than land one blow on me."

Ren scoffed. "Care to see if you can hold up those words?"

"Oh, don't be silly." Before Ren could even think about reforming his Over Soul, Ivy took a few steps backwards, keeping tabs on the Shamanic Oracle just in case. "I'd much rather wait until I'm certain I won't just knock you out again."

"What was that?!" Ivy spun around on her heel, not even paying attention to keep an eye on Ren. She didn't have to. "You haven't grown out of that habit of dismissing others, I see. I'll show you what happens when you underestimate me!"

Ivy's heart clenched, but she forced herself to keep walking. It was a good thing she'd turned her back, or he would have seen the grimace on her face. "Issebella, Kaede, we're done here," she said, voice managing to come out even. It was all she could do to keep the rush of memories swelling up inside her. He had remembered, it seemed, but—

No, Ren-chan is different than he was back then. And no matter what he says, so am I.

"Oh, and Ren-chan," she said as Issebella and Kaede caught up with her, the Italian spouting off farewells to Horohoro and Joco, "I'm not underestimating you at all. I just know that what's worth it is all in your potential." She tossed up a hand in a dismissive wave, ignoring the scrutinizing look Kaede was giving her. "So do me a favor, will ya?

"Don't disappoint me."

[Author's Notes]

Hello again everyone! As promised, here's the next chapter as part of my ten-year fanfiction celebration! We finally get to see Ren again, plus the rest of his team. I've been planning this sequence for a while now, so it was a blast to put on paper. Also Ivy and Ren's dynamic is one of my faves to work with. Just saying.

Thanks to LyriaHeart and Arrow-chan3 for the reviews since last time. I promise that, no matter how long it takes, I will always come back to this story and work towards finishing it up. I have the whole outline after all. Would be a waste not to make it happen.

Moving forward into my eleventh year of writing fanfiction, I plan to start giving all my fics more regular updates so nothing goes untouched for too long (or years, as some stories unfortunately have had to deal with). If all goes well, I'll have chapter 22 ready for the beginning of January, but we'll see how it goes. If not, you can expect new content in 2019 regardless, so please look forward to it!

-Avi

[12.19.2018]