Broken Worlds 9

Meeting with the Wiseman

Disclaimer: As I've said before, Digimon is not mine.

Getting ready to leave camp, Makoto told the others about his and Ai's past.  Ruki went for a walk to give them time to get everything read for the journey to find Shibumi.  She wondered what kind of man Shibumi was and what help they could be to them.  Waiting after sunrise, she went back, hoping everyone would be ready.

"We've been thieves all our lives," Makoto explained.  "After our parents were killed."

"Killed how?" Shuichon questioned.

"I'm not sure," Ai said. "We were awfully young. It was almost 7 years ago. Someone, I don't know if it was a man or woman, was after our father first.  My mother got in its way and begged it to leave us in peace.  It killed our mother, then our father."

Ruki stopped and stood by a tree.   That was how she killed the men.  She went after the men first and when a woman tried to stop her from doing her task, she killed them for it.  Without anyone to stop her, she was able to destroy the men.  "I did it," she muttered.  "I killed their parents."
"Without our parents to take care of us," Makoto said, "we had no choice but to become thieves. That's how we were able to survive."

"They're thieves," she said, "because of me."

"There you are, Ruki, where have you been?"  Ryo dropped his hand on her shoulder.

Ruki gasped. "Ryo! I…was just out for a walk while you were talking.  Are we ready to leave now?"

"Yes," Juri replied. "Everything is ready.  Let's be off now that the sun is out.  Shibumi is waiting for us."

"How are we supposed to meet him?" Makoto asked.

"Alice told us that he'll find us," Jenrya replied.

The demon seekers picked up their supplies and headed out.  Walking for about an hour, Ryo noticed something was eating at Ruki.

"Ruki, what is the matter?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"You're so…quiet and tense," he said. "I can tell. What is it?"

"Those children."

"What about them?"

"I killed their parents. I overheard them talking about how their parents were killed. That was how I killed people," she explained.  "Those children…are thieves because of me."
"You are mistaken," Ryo said.  "It wasn't you. It couldn't have been."

"What do you mean?"

"They were killed seven years ago, long before you even became the assassin known as Midnight Fox."  Ryo told her.  "It had to be someone else.  You were in the arena with me at the time. There's no way you could've done it."

"Then…it had to be someone possessed by a demon, like I was." She said.

Suddenly, Shuichon stopped and began sniffing the air.

"Shuichon, what is it?" Jenrya asked. 

"We're not alone," she replied. "Something is here."  She pointed her nose in the air, trying to decipher the scent.

"What do you smell?"

"I don't smell anything," Hirokazu said.

"It's coming from over there," she turned and pointed.  "In the trees."

"I do hear something," Juri said.  "It sounds like…wings."

Trees fell down, ripped from the roots.  Something big knocked them over.  Shuichon jumped. "It's coming! It's one of the DEVAS!"

A giant bird, a rooster in fact, flew through the trees and cackled.  "Prepare to die!"  It circled in the air above them like a vulture.

"The rooster," Takato said.

"Let's roast that turkey!" Hirokazu declared, "Then we can eat it!"  He pulled out his crossbow, aimed and shot its right wing.  It dived and swayed a little, but did not crash down.  "Kenta, your turn!"

"Right," he pulled out his own crossbow and shot the bird's other wing.  It swayed again but it still did not crash.  Its wings were enormous.

"What element is it?" Takato asked Juri.

"I'm not sure," she replied, pulling out her metal card, "but I can find out!"  She threw her card at the rooster like a ninja star, which it changed into.  It lodged into the roster's leg.  "It's definitely is not metal or water.  If it was water it would've went right through him and if it was metal it would only leave a small scratch."

"Good thing it's not metal," Shuichon muttered, "I don't want to break my leg again.  Jenrya, let's go!"

He nodded and the two martial fighters ran toward the rooster.  Shuichon jumped and grabbed onto its talons.

"I'm going try to bring it down!"  she exclaimed, jumping off it's foot and kicking it in the face.  It howled and she climbed up on his back, punched it in the neck and tried to make it move down. 

"Get off me, infernal human!" it screeched.

"Jenrya!" Shuichon urged.

Jenrya jumped and pulled on its tail feathers.  He tried climbing up to where Shuichon was, but the rooster got mad and jerked them off.  Shuichon landed on all fours like a cat, but her brother landed a little less graceful.

"Try poisoning it," Ai told her brother.

He nodded and pulled out his darts and blow stick.  He aimed for the heart but it didn't take any effect.

"I don't understand," he mumbled.

"Its feathers are tough," Jenrya said, "and hard. Not like the boar."

"Look at his legs," Ruki said, "they look like a pair of tree trunks."

"Exactly!" Juri exclaimed, "Wood is its element!"

"Explains the splinters in my hands," Jenrya muttered.

"Wait, Juri!" Shuichon cried, "you're not going to use a fire card, card are you?"
"Fire is the best thing to use on wood," she said.  "You may need to stay back."

"What is wrong, Shuichon?" Ai asked.

"I'm…afraid of fire," she replied

"I'll use a lightning spell instead," Shuichon said, "but he will catch on fire still."  She pulled out her lightning card and it began to glow blue.  She sent a bolt of lightning at the large bird, but it easily dodged it.

"It's too fast!" Takato cried.

"It can't fly if it can't see," Ruki muttered, pulling out an arrow from her quiver.  She shot the animal in the eye.  It squealed and shook his head and was shot again in the other eye.  "Now, card mage!"

"I'm Juri," she whispered.

Ruki groaned but Juri tried the spell again.  The bolt of lightning hit it's wing and brought it down.  Before she had to use another spell, a giant raccoon jumped on the rooster and began to devour it.

"Where did that raccoon come from?" Ryo questioned, appalled.

Hirokazu groaned, "Oh, that blasted raccoon is eating it!  I'm starving!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Juri saw Takato standing very still, with his eyes closed tight and his mouth clenched.  He collapsed and the raccoon was gone.

"Takato!" Juri shouted, catching him and kneeling down.  Jenrya looked down at him.

"Did he…do that?" Jenrya asked.

"I believe he did," Juri said, "but it was too much for him to keep it going."

Takato groaned and opened his eyes. "Did it work?"

"Yes, the rooster deva is destroyed," Juri replied.  "Takato, did you make that giant raccoon?"

"I was trying to think of an animal that eats chickens," he said, "and then I remembered that raccoons once tried to get into my family's chicken coup.  Then…it just appeared. I was just trying to make it look like an illusion to scare the rooster but I think I made it a bit too real."

"You must be able to summon creatures then too," Jenrya suggested with a grin.  "Good work, Takato."

"Thank you, Jenrya."

"Can you walk?" he asked.

"I think so.  I feel a little weak."

Jenrya helped him to his feet and supported his weight with an arm around him.  "Shibumi should be able to explain it more."

Shuichon turned and sniffed the air.  "I smell something."

"Not another deva, is it?" Ai asked.

"No, it's human," she replied. 

A foot stepped on a dry leaf.  Shuichon flinched at hearing the crunch. Then a pair of hands began clapping.

"Who's there?" Ruki demanded.  "Come out! Show yourself!"

A man stepped out of the trees, clapping.  "Well done, demon seekers.  You took care of the Deva yourselves.  Perhaps in time you'll be able to finish the dragon."

"Who are you?" Jenrya asked.

He smiled.  "I am Shibumi."

"We've been looking for you."

"I know. Follow me." He turned around and a portal opened up in front of him. The demon seekers exchanged glances then followed him through the portal.  It took them straight to Shibumi's home.  Jenrya blinked.

"I feel like I've been here before," Jenrya said.

"You have, Jenrya." Shibumi said.

"How do you know my name?"

"Because I knew your father."

Jenrya and Shuichon looked at each other.  Shuichon gasped as Jenrya stepped closer to Shibumi, trying not to stammer. "Y-you knew my father?"

Shibumi nodded. "Yes, we were friends.  We met as scholars about thirty years ago."

"Alice told us you'd be able to explain how tog et to the demon's world."  Takato said. "Where did the demons come from? How was the world created?"

"From our dreams."  Shibumi replied simply. "Our nightmares and thoughts. That negative energy from your nightmares created the demon's world and everything in it.  Now it's trying to invade our world."

"It's bad enough they've invaded our nightmares!" Ruki shouted. "And our bodies.  I suppose you know what happened to me."

"That's right, Ruki I do." Shibumi sat down on the steps of his quite handsome looking house.  "The demons need negative energy to survive. They thrive on it.  You were just reeking with negative energy and the demons were attracted to it like moths to a flame.  You were so full of hate and anger that the demon inside refused to leave.  You were never satisfied after killing a man so you had to keep killing men.  They take over your whole body and senses. When you were tired, it took away your desire to sleep.  It took away your desire and need for food.  That's what the demons do. They take away your needs so they could fulfill their own."

Ruki clenched her fists.  "Those monsters!  They made a puppet out of me!"

"They made puppets out of many people, Ruki," Shibumi explain, "That is why we have to destroy their world.  It is very important that you all don't show any negative emotion.  The demons could sense even the slightest hint of negativity and once they feel it, they go straight to the source."

"Like sharks," Shuichon whispered, "they can smell it miles away the way sharks can smell blood."

"That is one way of putting it, yes. Fear, sadness, anger, hate, guilt--the demons love it."

Shuichon sighed.  She had a negative emotion she could not shake: her fear of fire.  A demon could be after her now because of it.  Could she overcome her fear of fire before a demon took over her body? She looked over at Ruki.  A part of her still resented Ruki for what she almost did to her brother and Ryo.  She knew she had to push away these feelings but how could she, when feelings were apart of her?  It was feelings that made up the person. And how could anyone feel anything positive in this world?  Feeling negative emotions is what prompted to do what must be done.

"Is that possible, Shibumi?" Juri asked.

"What?"

"To…control feelings," she said.  "People are free to feel whatever they want, even bad feelings.  Everyone is entitled to feel anger or sadness once in his or her life. No one can be happy forever.  Feelings are what make a person do what needs to be done. Like guilt, you see.  If a child takes something without asking, they are entitled to feel guilty about it. It's the guilt that makes him decide whether to keep it, or give it back.  Without feelings, we'd be as if were dead, sir."

Takato raised an eyebrow and looked at Juri. "Juri, what are you talking about?"

"I'm right, aren't I?" she questioned.  "All feeling is what makes us human.  It's what separates us from animals and demons."

"Animals feel," Shuichon muttered, as if she has been offended.

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry, Shuichon," Juri said, "but our feelings are not the same."

"Juri has a point," Ruki said.  "It's so easy to become angry or sad, especially the way things are now."

"I am not asking you to feel only positive things for the rest of your lives," Shibumi said. "Just try to refrain from feeling anything negative until you finish your mission. It is very important that when you come in contact with a demon or evil spirit, that you do not show any fear or hate."

"Even if it's toward the evil spirit?" Ai asked, confused. 

"Even that," Shibumi said. "They don't care what the feeling is focused on."

"That's…impossible!" she exclaimed.  "They are so evil.  They're the reason why my parents are dead and all I treasured is gone! How can I fight them without an ounce of fear or resentment in my heart for what they done?"

"They must know how angry we are," Makoto added.

"We'd have to become as empty of feeling as them," Takato whispered.

"Precisely," Shibumi said.  "Now, I have to train you what you need to learn.  All the weapons you have now are useless to the demons."

"They worked on the Devas," Ruki said, "some of them."

"Because the Devas were like giant animals.  They're part of this world and the demon's world. The demons are not at all like the Devas." He stood up and walked inside the armory.  Kenta and Kazu gasped at all the weapons.  "For you, Hirokazu and Kenta, you've been using crossbows for your Bounty Hunting days and you are excellent with those weapons.  So I will give you magical crossbows.  Bows and arrows for you, Ruki, with an enchanted sword.  Ryo, you are skilled with many weapons and you will need the strongest you can get.  I will make an axe for you."

"I'm handy with an axe," he said.

"Good.  Ai and Makoto, the weapons I have for you are enchanted short swords.  The poisonous darts will do nothing to them."

"We've never used swords before," Ai said.

"Now is a time to learn," Shibumi said.

"Do we get weapons?" Jenrya asked, gesturing to his sister.

"Not unless you want them," he said.  "Your martial art skills are uncanny and behind that you have spiritual energy to add to your attacks.  With your amulets, you'll be able to use them."

"My mages," Shibumi turned to Juri and Takato, "your weapons are already magical.  Magic cards and an ability to create illusions will be enough on the demons."

Juri took out a card, "do you have more?"

"I do," Shibumi replied.

"Shibumi, can you help me control the illusions?" Takato asked. "After making the raccoon, I was left very weak."

"Yes, it will take you some time to become strong enough to master them," Shibumi said.  "But your amulet will help you with that.  All you have to do is simple.  Just imagine something and it becomes real.  You can make it as real or an illusion as you wish. It is yours to control."

Takato nodded. "I'll just have to practice."
"Yes, practice makes perfect," Shibumi said, "so let's get practicing."

TBC