Shooting Stars
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is IT my 3rd installment! Now why the HECK was Shaman King so frigging open-ended...?! GRRRRR. Anyway, back in the land of Patch, things aren't going as smooth as they seem. Plus, the debut of the new X-Laws, and Hao reminiscing with his pal, Spirit of Fire. Ren takes a trip down memory lane and bumps into Kotone in the process in Chinatown; then meets her again in the Funbari Onsen. HMMM. The smell of OC pairings are in the air. R/R PLEASE~~~!!!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Shaman King and all its characters and Asato Tsuzuki + his 12 Shikigami; they are owned by their respective authors. I own OC's portrayed herein. So NO SUING~~~!!!
Fallen
"..."
The huge 54 inch television screen right in front of them was a show of pure static, its drone heard throughout the room. Ordinary people would've called up the cable operator or a TV repairman to fix it, but then again, the person who was watching it was not an ordinary person.
Goldva frowned. It's been 3 days already, and still the static hasn't let up.
"Mistress Goldva..."
The old woman didn't turn around.
"What is it...?"
"Have the Great Spirits..."
"No, they haven't appeared as of yet." Goldva continued staring at the static screen. "It's been 3 days."
"Should we call Eddie...?"
"Nah, he'd only do this in, and it'll only become much worse. Shilva...could you gather the rest of the remaining Guardians here?"
"Yes, Mistress Goldva. As soonest?"
"As soonest."
The Patch Guardian Warrior gave a small bow then left the room. Goldva just continued staring at the screen.
"This is REALLY bad. Has he awakened...?"
"..."
Marco blinked, then gave a small bow. "Yes, Mistress Jeanne..."
"Marco. Could you please call and gather all of them here...? It is most urgent that I speak to all of you."
"Certainly, Mistress Jeanne. At once."
Marco leaves. He then returns a few minutes later, with a couple of young men and women in tow.
"Mistress Jeanne..." they said, their eyes cast respectfully down to the floor.
"..." The Iron Maiden, which was standing in the center of the dimly-lit room, was just quiet for a while, then the face hatch opened (^^;;), revealing the face of quite a young girl with gray hair, her eyes closed. She slowly opened them, then gazed at them with her kind deep red (OO;; it kinda looked like it) eyes, which had seen and felt so much suffering than all of them inside the room put together in the last 4 years that had passed. "I am very glad to see you all well. It's been quite a while since we all talked together like this..."
"We are all fine, Mistress Jeanne. You are too kind."
Jeanne smiled (BTW, anybody out there who knows her SURNAME?! OO;;). "It is nothing. You have suffered so much to join me here in my solitude, it is but natural I should be taking good care of you."
The Iron Maiden opened, and revealed Jeanne, dressed in a frilly white nightgown held up in silken ribbons. The young men and women bowed even lower. "Mistress Jeanne~~~!!! How...we are very unworthy of your presence..."
"Do not say such matters. I am not so far above you, to make me think that I am special." Jeanne looked over at them, a gentle smile tugging at her lips. "I am very glad that you have all decided to come here at such short notice. I have something very important to say to you."
Marco looked over at Jeanne. Certainly, this must be a very serious matter as she called all of them to gather here...
"What I have feared, has come true. He has awakened."
"~~~!!!" Marco's eyes widened. "But...that can't...he's DEAD~~~"
"It is what I have feared. It is for this reason why I have allowed myself to serve the Iron Maiden again...I have many fears and doubts and uncertainties...that he didn't really die that day." Jeanne nodded. "He has been biding his time...waiting..."
"Mistress Jeanne...if that's the case..." Marco began.
"He will strike again. I know he will. He had 4 years. What he did those 4 years...I don't want to know. But I fear his powers have become even greater. If that is the case, then I have no other choice but to finish what I have started 4 years ago. I have been readying myself..." Jeanne's eyes became a little sad. "He will come again to rule with hatred and evil...and I will not have that. He had already caused so much suffering..."
"We will follow you, Mistress Jeanne...whatever happens, we will always be behind you...!!!"
"..." Jeanne closed her eyes. "The path to true salvation is cruel. Do you still intend to follow me...? For this concerns only those who have nothing else left to lose."
"..." A young boy stood up, his slate gray eyes cold as ice. "I have nothing else to lose, Mistress Jeanne, except my life. As I was too young to do anything back then, this is the right time that he should be shown what is truly right and just."
A young woman with dark brown hair stood up. "And I."
A young man with unnaturally straight silver hair stood up, his deep blue eyes narrowed and set. "And I!"
There was a chorus of answers that shot up from every side of the room, and Marco nodded in satisfaction.
Yes.
Hao Asakura wouldn't be left awakened that long.
"..." Hao Asakura gazed up at the deepening night sky, which was now flowering with stars. It was quiet and calm, and the breezes that came up to him hinted of a crisp autumn ahead...something which he had not really experienced for the last 4 years.
Where was he...?
The flames of the bonfire beside him crackled and burst with renewed vigor (^^;; you get the idea), as Hao reached out to instinctively pull the cloak more firmly about him. He blinked, then looked over his shoulder. "Thanks, Spirit of Fire...I really needed that. I haven't been feeling warm lately..."
A huge glowing red Power Spirit appeared behind him, seeming to warm his young master more by means of his innate flaming heat. Hao smiled then gazed over the twinkling lights of Tokyo which he could see from the hill he was sitting on at a distance. "Gee. It's been a long time ever since I gazed at the Tokyo night skyline like this. It's as if I've traveled so far away..."
Spirit of Fire was just quiet.
Hao looked up again. "The stars seemed so much farther now, don't they...? I used to see them almost within my grasp...floating...like jewels..."
There was a black and white flashback, showing 13 year-old Hao floating in space, stars swirling about him. His eyes were half-closed, his expression glassy, his tattered cloak billowing uselessly about him, his wounds so deep it scarred his mind and soul and physical body.
It was...
Spirit of Fire looked down, and Hao struggled to get rid of the peculiar empty, freezing feeling that had suddenly gripped his entire being. He also looked down. "What is it...? What is it, Spirit of Fire..."
Spirit of Fire pointed. Hao crept a little closer to the edge and found out that it was just Kotone.
Seeing her clearly under the street lamps like this made him feel like he was home again.
But...
Where exactly WAS home?
Kotone, who was still huggling chibi puppy spirit ball Asato, blinked and looked up. Hao retreated quickly back into the shadows before she could see him, feeling a flush steadily creeping up his face. Spirit of Fire had this very huge question mark over his head as he looked down quizzically at his young master.
"?" Hao blinked, then gave an awkward laugh. "Heh. It was nothing, Spirit of Fire. Nothing."
Hao stealthily looked down to where Kotone was still standing, looking up through the total darkness above her, where it completely cloaked the both of them. She stayed on for a couple of seconds more before continuing on her way, still huggling chibi puppy spirit ball Asato.
Hao let out a small sigh of relief, watching her as she made her way down the street.
"Unusual, isn't it, Spirit of Fire? For some reason...I feel as if I know her from a long time ago. That shoukanshi...where have I seen her before...?"
The vendors were all noisy, the pedestrians were all noisy, everything else was noisy in Tokyo's Chinatown later that next afternoon, and Ren couldn't have picked a better spot anywhere else in where he could spend this stupid hangover in peace.
Basson was looking at his young master worriedly. "Bocchama...do you need to sit down or anything? I'll go look for a bench so you could sit out your hangover in peace..."
"No. Never mind, Basson, I'll just throttle Jun once we get back to the building." Ren had several throbbing lines about his head, his eyes devilish little slits. "Fooling me with that stupid water trick...she should have remembered I'm not yet accustomed to drinking TIGER WINE, as I'm only 17. But NO, she just had to go ahead and pour me all those full glasses until I completely blacked out and I had NO idea I was delivering a monologue until the chauffeur said I was delivering it at the top of my voice via a long-range megaphone." He sprouted several twitches on top of his head. "And I was to get to the SCHOOL for an INTERVIEW~~~!!!"
"It was really unfortunate, bocchama. But...everything went fine..."
"It's a GOOD thing everything went fine, my mouth was desperate in delivering another monologue a while ago, and I nearly lost it." The twitches erupted into a million tiny ones. "JUN you are SO DEAD~~~!!!"
"..." Basson just gave a goofy smile. Normally, his young master wasn't this violent against his older sister, but Jun talked Ren (in his Tiger Wine mode) into delivering a rather horrifying spiel in front of their family friends' daughters to which they all turned beet red and he narrowly proposed to one of them on the spot. It was even more horrifying than an arranged marriage.
If Master Yoh should hear of that he would laugh until he dies of total asphyxiation. Basson was praying Amidamaru wouldn't have heard of it from the many other spirits hanging about last night.
There was a furious tinkling of bells as Ren pushed one of the store doors open, causing the baker to look up in surprise.
"O-oh! Yes, what can I do for you?"
"Do you have any of those assorted bean paste buns left? I'm planning to buy a dozen boxes, take out."
"Yes, of course." The baker nodded. "I've a new batch just in, freshly baked. Would it all be filled with bean paste?"
"Pineapple, grape, lychee, salted egg...I don't know, I guess all assorted flavors you have here, a variant of each in every box."
"Alright. Anything else?"
"..." Ren looked at the laminated menu card posted just in front of the cashier, wherein the entire menu was written in flowing Chinese script. "I'll have...the Boat Platter, and a tall pitcher of sweet iced tea." He then reached into his back pocket and took out his long leather wallet. "Do you take Crescent (BTW, I'm just making this credit card line up...^^;;)?"
"Well...yes, sir." The baker then punched his purchases into the cashier. "1 order Boat Platter, 1 order of a tall pitcher of sweet iced tea, 12 orders of assorted buns."
He then swiped the transparent credit card (with a funky looking crescent moon design on 1 side) onto the credit card slot (^^;;) by the cashier and waited until the cashier hummed and printed out a neatly printed receipt, and the machine with the credit card slot printed out a credit slip for Ren to sign on.
The baker blinked as soon as he saw Ren's name on the credit card. Ren, who signed his name with a flourish, returned the credit slip to him.
"I'll serve your order as soonest." The baker handed him his credit card back. "Enjoy your meal, sir!"
Ren was toting his purchases from the bakeshop a little while later, looking through the busy thoroughfares of Tokyo Chinatown, quiet and thoughtful. Basson thought it best to leave his young master to his thoughts, and reminisced about the sights and smells of his bygone childhood, like this present scene, but not quite.
Ren blinked then looked at the many peddlers hawking their wares to passersby and shoppers alike. His eyes softened. As a child, he never really knew life outside the clan palace, for his father was bent on torturing them in training every single day as long as he could remember. He didn't have a normal childhood like anybody else out there...as he was the heir to the Tao, he was always pushed to his very limits in trying to get himself stronger, and become the most powerful shaman there is, and ordinary people were very afraid of him and them and shunned them for they were different. He would always listen in wonderment as their old nanny tell them of curious things going on beyond the 4 walls of the clan palace...he and Jun would sit on floor cushions, mesmerized, enthralled by simple life of the common folk which they so longed to experience, scions they were of a very powerful and extremely wealthy shaman clan in all of China. The Tao Clan in the last 4 years had become even more prosperous, and in spite of all the money and all the privileges and all the bells and whistles accorded to them as prime examples of life at the highest society, Ren still felt restless and hollow. He had everything he could possibly ever want...friends who showed him more than what money couldn't bring...what else was he missing?
"...Mama likes mandarin oranges best, oh, I do hope they're sweet enough..."
"Don't worry, Kotone-sama, they're the sweetest! I'll haunt that old guy for you if what he said was false."
"Don't, Asato! I don't want any trouble..."
"Of course, I was only kidding, Kotone-sama..."
Ren glanced idly to his right. At that same instant, Kotone passed by him, engaged in a lively banter with a floating spirit ball, her fine eyebrows drawn together in a helpless gesture as her spirit ball looked like a very smug chibi puppy.
"Asato, you're becoming EVIL..."
"No, of course NOT! I'm just acting as your honorable Power Spirit, and nothing else."
"...bocchama...?"
"?" Ren blinked, then looked over at Basson, who was staring at him. He blinked again. "Is anything wrong, Basson?"
"Errh...you looked....quite dazed, a while ago. Are you feeling fine, bocchama?"
"What on EARTH are you talking about?"
"...never mind."
"..." Ren was just quiet and went on ahead.
He had the strangest feeling he met what he was missing just a short while ago.
"REN TAO~~~!!!" SD Yoh leapt at him as soon as he appeared by the raised platform leading into the living room of the Funbari Onsen a little while later, bowling SD Ren over and sending the both of them toppling to the ground in a flurry of flying arms, legs, and feet. "Boy oh BOY I've MISSED you OLD MATE, OLD BUDDY~~~~!!!"
"Do you MIND?! I'm having a MAJOR HEADACHE right now and I've not yet completely recovered from my JET LAG~~~!!!" SD Ren snarled, his teeth tiny jagged fangs. "So YOH get OFF of ME~~~!!!"
"Say you miss ME, Ren, and I'll get off of you," SD Yoh said with a grin.
"YOH~~~"
"SAY it~~~!!!"
"BASTARD~~~"
"Heh, I KNOW you've missed me SO much, REN~~~!!!" SD Yoh started rubbing his cheek against SD Ren's, much to SD Ren's chagrin. "Come ON say IT~~~!!!"
"I'm NOT saying ANYTHING~~~!!!"
"SAY IT~~~!!!"
"NO~~~~!!!"
"..." Basson was wiping his eyes with a handkerchief. "I truly THOUGHT I wouldn't be seeing bocchama this HAPPY again..." He blew his nose onto the handkerchief loudly, while Amidamaru patted him comfortingly on his back.
Yoh was still laughing as he got off Ren at last and held out a hand to help him up. "Sorry about that, Ren. It's been 4 frigging years since I had an opportunity to pounce on you like that..."
"Do me a favor, Yoh, and just shut up for a minute," Ren said, grabbing Yoh's hand and hauling himself up on his feet. He pointed at the box beside him. "You almost made me squash my coming home present."
"Oh, WOW! Bean paste BUNS~~~?!" SD Yoh grabbed the box then gave a hearty little grin. "I guess it's gotten all moldy and safe right through customs..."
"ASSORTED bean paste buns." Ren looked around. "You should talk. This place is still as junky as the last time I remembered it, and I think it's become so much worse."
"Sorry, I haven't any limitless supply of credit cards to help me by, lugging around my 2 million pieces of furniture by means of my 32 private jet planes." Yoh nodded. "And hey, it's not that junky, I've been doing a little refurbishment here and there, and it looks quite as elegant and awesome as the old onsen inn it used to be."
"The keyword is 'quite'." Ren shrugged. "Well? What'll it be?"
"I'm trying to get past Astalte in the annoying Frozen Dungeon. Care to give me a boost?" Yoh asked him.
"No. Hey, is that old perv still in that bathroom?" Ren replied.
"He NEVER really left the place, even though how many times Anna tried sending him off to limbo one time too many." Yoh nodded. "Alright, go unload all you want, I'll make us some snacks."
Ren took some time out in relieving himself at the bathroom, to which the old man popped out and Ren gave him a whack of a folded up newspaper from nowhere. He then zipped up his pants, washed his hands, dried it with a towel, then went towards the living room. He heard Yoh laughing, and heard a familiar female voice which broke into soft giggles as well.
"...the trick is to get the Avalon all fired up, look..."
"Hee hee HAH HAH HAH!!! Of COURSE why the HELL didn't I think of that..."
"?" Puzzled, Ren walked out into the living room, and saw Yoh with the girl he passed by in Tokyo Chinatown a short while ago.
"Heh heh heh...uh...oh." Yoh turned and grinned at Ren. "Hey, Ren! I'd like you to meet my pipsqueak!" He grabbed Kotone and had his arm draped loosely about her shoulders. "This here is Kotone Takizawa, a childhood friend of mine from Izumo. Kotone, that guy standing over there is my other best friend, Ren Tao. Be careful because he pokes with his shark fin when he gets annoyed."
"Hi. How do you do?" Kotone greeted him, in a slightly muffled voice because Yoh was short of throttling her sideways from where he sat. "Yocchan didn't tell me he has another best friend..."
"Don't worry, Kotone, you're STILL my best friend," Yoh proclaimed happily.
Ren blinked.
Oh NO.
Where had his insides gone TO?!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AUTHOR'S NOTES: REN TAO GETTING NERVOUS~~~~?! What the HELL is this world coming TO~~~?! Oh well.
