DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shaman King. I only own Tori and Nix and Shima and all those OCs. :P

Don't get too excited; I'm still going on my promise to keep from updating until all the epic action chapters are finished. However, today is a special day. You want to know why? One: summer vacation started yesterday. Two: laptop is now virus-free. Three: several days ago, I dropped my thumbdrive in the toilet - I dropped Muffled and all my Ren - er, Shaman King pics and all my other works in progress in. the. toilet. After seeing the life of my computer flash before my eyes (little did I know that my laptop wouldn't have to be set back to factory settings), I saved it, and then promptly took a shower and scrubbed my hand to death. Thanks to my handy-dandy iPod, I Googled what to do; I set it under my lamp for DAYS to dry it. Several hours ago, I decided, "it's now or never" and I put the thumbdrive in. And SUCCESS! There IS a deity out there that loves me! :D

But seriously, I was stressing for those days. I mean, I dropped MUFFLED down the toilet. What the hell? Call me butterfingers. But seriously, do you know what love is? It's sticking your hand down a toilet to save something. Or, you know, other stuff.

Anyways, all that aside, I did survive finals. SUMMER VACATION! More writing time. Woo-hoo! :D

This chapter's a little on the short side. However, I think it's action-packed. And... oh gosh...I... I won't... THESE EPISODES MADE ME... *stumbles away so she doesn't spoil anything* You all will hate me...

Fifty-Five: The Forbidden Forest

It was damp and dark in the tunnel. Though the jagged ceiling rose high above me and the walls were far apart, I felt as if they were closing in. I pushed my legs to go faster, not bothering to oversoul; even Patch members couldn't move freely in the Forest - or me for the matter. If I tried to fly over the trees, I would be pulled to the ground like a stone.

I fully expected at least one of the priests to run after me, but Anna and her demons must've been doing a good job. I knew I wouldn't want to go up against her.

When I finally broke out of the cavern, I had to squint against the light of the Great Spirits. At first glance, it looked like they were at the other end of the massive Forest, but in actuality they were on another plane of existence.

I regained my bearings quickly and began to run down the stone stairs to the forest floor below, all the while scanning for the others. My eyes and ears were the only things that really worked here in the Forest; the Great Spirits drowned out all other auras, though they didn't make me that dizzy for some reason. Unless someone was five feet from me, I wouldn't be able to sense them. I would have to leave it for fate to find the others before I made it to the other end of the Forest.

I rushed into the trees, and for a long time the only thing that I could hear was my own breathing and the muffled vibrations of my feet pounding on the mossy ground. Even though I knew I was going straight toward the other end of the Forest, following the familiar tug on my body, I felt lost.

Then, far off somewhere to my right, I heard an explosion.

I stopped short, but momentum made me fall to the ground. Quickly, I scrambled to my feet, Nix appearing beside me lest I need help, but before three seconds had passed I was already running toward where the sound had come from. I had to know what had happened.

"Aw, Cat-chan, you look terrible."

Startled, I nearly fell flat on my face again, but I caught myself and whirled around to see two priests standing among the trees: Jink and Nichrom.

For a moment, I was scared: what if they had come to forcefully take me back to the other priests? I wasn't a fighter, and both Jink and Nichrom were known for it, even if Nichrom was young. It hit me then that maybe I would be more of a liability than a help to the others…

'Catori,' Nix whispered urgently, 'they weren't in the cave earlier.'

An epiphany came to me then: the reason why Nichrom had been acting so strangely; why I had been questioning him.

'You're on Hao's side, aren't you?' I realized.

Both men smirked. "Hao-sama thought you'd come on your own, Catori," Jink said.

I found myself glaring at the duo even though the words sent a slight chill through me. 'So that's why none of you lackeys came to find me.'

Nichrom shook his head. "Actually, Cat-chan, he wanted to see if he could gain the Great Spirits without your help."

The information caught me by surprise. 'But - but he'll hurt them!'

Jink and Nichrom shared a look before they burst out laughing, but I was too taken aback to do anything about it. If Hao tried to take the Great Spirits by force without my aid… he wouldn't be able to gain their full co-operation, at least not at first, but both he and the Great Spirits… they'd be in pain.

"C-Catori," Jink managed through his chuckling, "do you think he cares?"

"He's going to change the world, Cat-chan," Nichrom added, managing to control his laughter. "He'll wipe out all humans with the Great Spirits, and all those too weak. I highly doubt it matters-"

'Don't call me Cat-chan,' I snapped suddenly, beginning to see red. I wanted to know why they were going against the Patch, against the teachings they'd been taught all their lives - against the Great Spirits. But then I realized that I was doing the same thing, sans the last part (at least, I hoped so), and that knowing why wouldn't change the fact that these two had decided what they were going to do.

Nichrom raised an eyebrow, all amusement forgotten. "Why not? Hao-sama-"

'I don't give a damn what he thinks!' I yelled. Without a second thought, I whirled around, following the tug in my body, and rushed back through the trees, away from the two who were, like me, traitors that would never be able to go back to what they had once been.

()()()()()()

I ran a full ten minutes before I stumbled straight into the path of a spiked ball on a stick.

It was that sudden: at first, all I saw was a huge mass of oversouled iron and steel rushing toward me, and the next moment I was barreled into from the side and pushed out of the way. There was a huge crash, and the earth shook for a moment, but I was more aware of the person that had just pushed me up against a tree in order to prevent me dying.

"What the fuck," Ren snarled, "are you doing here?"

Though he had just saved me, and I had come to help him and Yoh and the others, this kind of greeting made me angry. 'I'm here to try and help you guys, damn it!'

The Tao began to huff, but he abruptly cut himself off, his gold eyes sharpening as they flicked to mine.

The next moment, however, was filled with another large crashing sound, and Ren grabbed my arm to yank me away from the tree as the giant mace decimated it. Finally, I realized that maybe I should try to figure out what the hell was trying to kill us, and I looked up to see Luchist perched atop his dark archangel. Even though he was incredibly high up, we somehow locked eyes for a moment, and he paused in his attack.

"Ah, Tori-san," he greeted loudly. "Hao-sama thought you'd come here on your own."

Every time I heard the bastard's name now, my fist trembled. 'Nichrom and Jink already told me that!' I spat.

"Nichrom?" Ren repeated next to me; confused, I turned to look at him. For one second, both of our guards were down, and the butt of the mace was suddenly jabbed between us. Startled, I jumped backward, as did Ren, so that we were farther apart.

"I'm afraid I can't hurt you, Tori-san, lest Hao-sama actually needs you," Luchist "apologized." "You're welcome to continue on while I deal with Tao Ren." He nearly spit out the name.

Hardly before they were out of his mouth, however, there was a flash of gold, and the staff of the mace was cut in half.

"She's not going anywhere before I find out what the fuck's going on," Ren snapped at Luchist, although he looked at me as he said it.

I felt anger course through me again, and I didn't understand why. Of course Ren would be acting like an asshole at a time like this - I shouldn't be surprised. He would still be suspicious even if I did tell him everything and more. I was ready to say something - anything in my defense, or just something stupid in retaliation - but suddenly everything shook, and I swore silently. What the hell were the Great Spirits doing? Hao was going to hurt them!

'Come,' the collected voices commanded in their nearly alien language; the volume shook my body along with the ground. 'Show us your souls.'

Immediately, white light burst up from the ground in huge cylinders. There must've been at least a hundred of them all across the Forest, reaching up toward the sky. In a way, for a moment, it was beautiful.

But for the first time for me, it was terrifying.

Each of our attentions was focused on the lights, but I was jerked back to reality when Luchist's oversoul suddenly moved toward the nearest cylinder. Before either I or Ren could react, the man leapt into the light, and both he and his oversoul disappeared.

Ren let out a growl audible even from here, and he took a step toward the light before he stopped himself, as if he had suddenly remembered something - namely, me. Before I knew what was happening, Ren was glaring at me straight in the eye, his sword pointed directly at my throat.

"What," the Tao spat, "does Hao want with you?"

I could somehow find the time to wonder just how many times Ren was in the position to stab me to death. I decided that answering his question instead of explaining everything then and there would probably be the best course of action. 'Right now, he's trying to take the Great Spirits by force, but if he can't do that he's going to try and use me.'

Ren's eyes tightened, and I could somehow tell that he had caught my stress on "try." "How?" he asked.

I tried not to flinch at the question - that was the one thing now that I didn't want to explain. I didn't miss too much of a beat, though. 'I'm supposed to aid the Shaman King - I give him a special furyoku to better unite with the Great Spirits. Without it, both the Shaman King and the Great Spirits are hurt and the unity isn't complete.'

Ren's eyebrows scrunched up at the information, and I continued. 'I'm a Patch secret, Ren - that's why I was-'

"You knew everything."

The simple statement silenced me.

Ren shook his head, a scowl on his face. "You always knew how to get to Patch Village, and probably everything else, too. I don't care why, but you lied to us and used us. But also, why should I believe you now?"

The words were like knife thrusts to my conscience, and I needed to defend myself. 'I never wanted to-'

Ren pushed his sword forward, and the cold steel touched my neck. "You used to confuse the hell out of me," he admitted harshly. "There was always something off with you. But now all I know is that I shouldn't let you take another step - for if you are telling the truth, then it's best if you get as far away from here as possible." Judging by the way he said it, he didn't believe me one bit. He shook his head again. "You were never worth the confusion."

Something inside of me broke. 'He can't - I don't have all the-'

"Ren!"

The sudden call caught our attentions, and I looked to see Jun standing there, Pailong behind her. The Tao girl was panting slightly, but her eyes were hard as they flicked from Ren to me and back again, and to the sword between us.

"Good," Ren said brusquely. "Nee-san, keep an eye on her. Don't let her leave." Without any further explanation, Ren shot me a look before he turned around and rushed toward the cylinder of light, disappearing inside.

It wasn't until he was completely gone that I realized I had unconsciously put out my hand as if I could stop him. I don't have all the furyoku, I wanted to say. You have some, too.

Before I could think any more, I rushed toward the light, intent on finding Ren and making him believe me. Before I could get more than a few steps, though, a slender hand gripped my arm firmly, and I looked to see Jun staring at me in confusion and concern.

"What is going on?" she asked. Her blue eyes slid over my bloodstained clothes. "What happened to you?"

Very suddenly, I wanted to cry (what was happening to me? PMS?). Everything was just so fucking frustrating, things were moving far too quickly, and my thoughts didn't seem to want to co-operate with me. Not to mention the fact that I lied to everyone and that Hao was probably going to succeed in killing us all.

"Tori-kun," Jun said seriously, "what-"

'I didn't want to lie,' I gushed, hoping that Jun would understand me; that someone would forgive me. 'I didn't want to, Jun!'

The Tao's eyes widened, and she let go of me, taking a small step back.

I had to control myself, I had to sound like a rational person. But I think I lost rationality forever ago. 'Jun, I have to help them, I have to tell them the truth.' Damn it, now I was trembling, but I didn't feel that there was anything I could do. 'I have to - I-I can't leave them, not now - I need to help, I need-'

I broke off, tears finally coming to my eyes and spilling down my cheeks; in response to this, Nix appeared at my shoulder and nuzzled me. I felt terrible, crying at a time like this when I could've - should've - been running after everyone. Ren hadn't given me my doubts, but he had pulled them out of me and spat them in my face, so much that they were overwhelming.

What could I do? I wasn't a fighter. The best I could do for them was heal; I would be a liability for the rest of the time. If I was right, Hao wouldn't be able to fully use me, but that wouldn't stop him from trying, and that would undoubtedly-

I shook my head, trying to clear it. I had to try and stay positive. More than anything, I had to go after the others and make sure that they were all right. So what if they hated me for the lies; it was far better if I did my best to help them. Making sure they were safe mattered far more than I did.

"…Tori-kun…"

I looked back up to see that Jun had come closer. The Tao girl's head was to the side slightly, puzzled and concerned and hesitant. After all, she and I had hardly ever had a real conversation before, and suddenly I was blurting out all this stuff to her without ever moving my hands or my mouth.

"Why does Ren want you to stay here?"

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand like a small child would. 'I… I lied so much that he won't even believe the truth. And… I didn't get to explain it to him fully: I'm supposed to give the Shaman King a special furyoku, and that's why Hao wants to use me - but I don't have all the furyoku, so… Hao can't completely use me.'

Jun was silent for a moment; she continued to look confused. She was probably trying to hold back fear at my communication method. "Maybe Ren doesn't want you to get hurt…?"

My first urge was to laugh, but I repressed it. Jun didn't know what she was talking about. Ren sure as hell wasn't worried about my well-being. He wanted me to shut up and stay out of the way.

An odd, new determination rose inside me. I'd show him. I'd slap it into his skull that I wasn't who he thought I was. That I wasn't worthless.

Before I could have another thought, I jerked away from Jun and rushed toward the cylinder of light, letting it engulf me. Though at first it felt like I was floating in nothing but whiteness, soon everywhere around me was a stormy grey, like clouds, and they did nothing to help my nerves. Before I could get too used to it, the color dimmed to a misty grey, and I was falling.

Before the panic of falling could fully set in, Nix nestled into my hand, helping me to oversoul. I floated down to the damp ground, looking around to get my bearings. A grey, ominous mist pervaded the air along with the nearly overwhelming presence of the Great Spirits, and odd, tall rock formations pointed up toward the sky. I recognized the place as being the outer edge of the Great Spirits' domain; I'd have to run - no, fly, that's faster - to find the others.

I unfurled my wings to take off again, but I suddenly froze, my eyes trained straight ahead.

'Did you see a flash?' I asked Nix, scared not just of Hao appearing out of the mist and snatching me up but also of him doing the same thing to the others. It was too easy to imagine Hao burning the others like he had done to Jeanne, even if the girl did survive.

'I can't be sure,' Nix admitted. 'Don't worry - I'll help you keep a lookout.'

Though it was impossible to be completely assured, Nix's words calmed me enough to get me to lift myself off the ground a few feet in order to fly. Within a few seconds, I was speeding, but also going slow enough to keep a watchful eye out.

It was a good thing I was, because I don't know if I could have dodged the attack beam that suddenly shot out of the mist.

I spun through the air a couple of times before I could right myself. Heart pounding in my chest, I looked wildly toward where the attack had come from, and I realized that I could hear shouts and crashes and bangs. The sounds of people battling.

Slower than before, lest I get hit by another beam, I flew toward the sounds. I felt like I was going both too fast and too slow. No doubts were running through my mind at that moment; I still wanted to pound some sense into Ren, but I needed to make sure that the others were all right.

Vague shapes formed out of the mist. I could recognize the giant shape of Faust's oversoul of Eliza, and I flew faster, managing to pick out the individual forms of the guys: Chocolove, Ryu, Faust (standing on giant Eliza's shoulder), Ren, and HoroHoro, whom was perched atop the giant form of Kororo. They were facing off against a handful of Hao's lackeys, three of whose oversouls were giant.

Even as the forms became clear to me, one of Hao's lackeys appeared out of nowhere with a giant, Lego-like oversoul and struck HoroHoro's oversoul dead-on.

HoroHoro yelled and rocketed through the air back toward me before he came to a skidding, rolling halt on the ground. For a split second, I felt absolutely cold as I saw the bits of red that spattered him, and at the sound of a gunshot I looked to see Luchist's archangel bearing down on HoroHoro, its mace raised to strike.

At the same moment I swooped down to HoroHoro - as if I could somehow save him - the blow was blocked by Ren.

The Tao's muscles were straining against the force of the archangel as he held it back with the staff of his oversoul; it was easy to see that, even for him, it was nearly too much. His body shook with the effort, but all I could do was stare at him, outlined by the light of his oversoul.

And then, Peyote's giant skeletal oversoul struck Ren away with a sword.

Blood spurted from his side, and Ren was tossed into the air like a doll.


a/n Oh, gosh... *sobs* I hate doing a/n's at the end of chapters, but this episode... T.T My Lenny-Ren...!