Shaman of Emerald Flames
Chapter 2: Child Of Loneliness
Disclaimer: Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei
I only own the original characters and some original concepts.
Flamers: I have yet to be flamed for a fanfic, but anyways I dun really care if you flame me or not. I certainly won't like it since I think it's very rude to flame people. If you have constructive criticism or an ideas for me I will accept them gladly and with politeness. Flaming is immature and rude and any flames will be ripped to pieces and fed to my kitties and my dog.
Author Notes: This is a rewrite of the series , meaning plot changes
I'm also going by the manga because I have no access yet to the anime, and five seconds of the dubbed near killed me.
Couplings: Yoh x Anna, Amidamaru x OC, Ren x OC
Warnings: original characters, romance, cursing, insanity and once again plot , also might be a bit of out of character ness.
Also if you would like to use Koneko or any original characters please let me know.
Also I want to thank Just a Little Disturbed for beta-ing my story. She saved you all from the terror of my awful grammar and spelling.
One more thing: This happens before Ren first comes into the series and before the Soul Boxing issue in the manga
Italics and {}- flashbacks
~ Koneko-chan
~~~~~~~
Koneko sighed tiredly, as she made her way up the stairs to an old Shinto shrine. It was a Friday and the last day of school for that week, so she had skipped school to go meet her new sensei. Well, not exactly new; she knew the woman too damn well for her own good. Her sensei was one of the people in her life she'd rather not know, for the sake of her own well-being.
"Where have you been?" A sharp female voice demanded, as she finally reached the top of the stairs. Koneko looked up to see a woman leaning against a tree near the stairs, her midnight black hair cut short, her dark eyes the color of cold steel. She was dressed simply in a white kimono-like top and baggy, red pants of a miko.
"I got lost Keikan-san," she said flatly and had to duck a piece of wood being thrown at her head.
"Your sense of direction hasn't improved, Akikaze," the woman said shortly. "Pick those up, NOW!"
Koneko sighed and picked up the pieces of wood that had been thrown at her. "Neither has your temper."
Keikan waved her hand, as if to say her temper didn't matter and walked towards the main shrine. The young red head followed obediently and put the wood down with the rest. She then walked over to the woman and was immediately hit upside the head.
"The hell was that for?!" she asked, rubbing her head and was instantly hit again.
"First, because you were unguarded and second, you were cursing."
"So what?! Why the hell can't I curse?" She was smacked again. "STOP THAT!"
"Cursing isn't becoming of a young priestess or a young lady."
"Screw that! I'm a martial artist, not a lady, and quite frankly, I'm going to make a pathetic priestess. I mean, I integrate with demons! Priestesses and demons are ancient enemies," Koneko said, crossing her arms. She then yelped as a piece of wood hit her smack in the face. "Itai!"
"You will not curse on temple grounds. If I can't make you into a lady, I'll at least make you more polite and obedient."
"Since when do ladies throw wood at people?"
"AND I'll teach you to watch your tongue more often."
"But I like not watching my tongue!"
"Do you want to be hit again?!" Keikan growled, her eyes glinting darkly.
"No, not really...but I get the feeling your going to do it anyway."
The black haired woman gave a dark glare. "You are rebellious."
"No, I'm twelve years old, surrounded by demons, and I'm sarcastic."
"Same thing. Get inside and I'll give you your uniform."
"I don't wear white or pink," Koneko said stubbornly, as she followed the older woman into the shrine.
"I know. Asakura-san already informed me of this. Your uniform is green and black."
"WOOT!" Koneko grinned when she was given another dark glare.
"You're to be here for your duty and training every Tuesday and Thursday."
"What about my homework?"
"Do that on your own time!" she snapped as Koneko sighed and turned away to leave.
"Where are your prayer beads?"
Koneko stiffened and looked back at her blinking slowly. "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT!!!" she cursed loudly.
Keikan surprisingly didn't hit her, just stared at her in shock. "You forgot one of your most powerful items."
"Well...I...um... haven't slept in almost a week," she said slowly, whimpering upon seeing the look the woman was giving her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So how did it go?" Yoh asked as Koneko walked beside him.
"She's as much a bitch as ever." she replied, stretching her arms out, revealing large black and blue bruises.
"What'd she hit you for this time?" Yoh asked, wincing as he looked at the bruises.
"Cursing...and then for forgetting my prayer beads back home. She then suggested that I go back immediately and get them," Koneko shuddered at the very idea of it.
"Yeah, your sadistic, not masochistic," he stated as he jumped the gate to the cemetery. She rolled her eyes.
"I wouldn't even say I'm entirely sadistic; I mean, I don't enjoy seeing people in pain. More the opposite. I hate seeing people in pain, though I do lust after battle. I think that it's just the nature of the warrior," she said, jumping over the gate as well.
"Neither Midori or Saki can tell me the answer to that one, though," her eyes lit up then. "Amidamaru-san, may I ask a question," she asked as the samurai appeared beside Yoh.
"I think it's perfectly normal for a true warrior to want to battle and be challenged, so perhaps it is our nature. I never thought a girl would ask me a such a question."
"I'm not a normal girl," she grinned.
"I can tell."
"Sugoi.." they both turned to look at Yoh as they heard his voice.
"The stars sure are bright tonight," he said gazing up at them. Koneko sat down beside him and smiled softly.
"Yes, you're right." She then frowned and looked around. "Didn't Manta-san want to come star gazing with us?"
"Nope, he said he had prep school." Yoh shrugged.
"Oh..." her voice trailed off and then she noticed a small wolf looking over at them, from down the hill.
"Wolf ?" she blinked.
"Huh?" Yoh saw it to and rubbed his eyes. "I thought wolves were rare around here."
"It was red and black... it must have been a dark fire wolf," she commented thoughtfully. "It look liked a ghost and only a pup at that."
Yoh nodded, then smiled and kneeled on the ground beside his friend. "What are you thinking about?"
"I was just wondering why such a young pup would be a ghost. Maybe it was just me, but it looked so lonely," she said, sighing and looking back up at the stars.
~~~~~~~
{"Where did everybody go?" Chikazu asked, looking around frantically through the ruins of his families' den. His wolf ears twitched and he froze, his small young body tensing, tail moving back and forth nervously.
"Did we get rid of those pesky wolves?" he heard a ningen's voice ask. He cursed under his breath, that voice was very near.
"Who knows? We'll just kill any of the pups that have survived. I mean they left, so the pups are only worth their hides and furs." Another voice came. In shock he dropped the dagger that he'd been holding. They hadn't been killed, they had left. His proud honorable pack had fled, like a pack of cowards. Hot tears stung his fire red eyes as his tail drooped.
"How could they leave? How come they left me?" He asked softly, starting to cry. "Why was I the only one left behind?" He stiffened suddenly, picked up his dagger, and ran behind a large rock that would easily hid him.
"There's definitely one here," one of the ningens said. He growled low in his throat. He would not flee from those filthy rats, the dirty scum that had drove his entire kind into hiding. He'd prove he was worth more to the name of demons then his entire pack! He would prove he was no coward.
He jumped out from behind the rock, tackling one of the tall ningen men and plunged his dagger deep into the man's throat killing him. Seconds later, a sword was plunged through his back and he screamed out in pain. His pain from not only the deep fatal wound but also from the emotional pain in his heart.
Chikazu collapsed, the blade still in his small young body, and tears ran down his cheeks as he died. Even in that moment as the last of his life energy left his body, he didn't know why they had left him behind.}
Chikazu opened his red eyes, quickly wiping tears from them. It had been over 200 years since his death and he still hadn't figured out why his entire pack had left only him behind. It still hurt. He shook his head, calling himself an idiot. Of course it still hurt! He had two hundred years of being a ghost to think and remember it. He looked at the tall cat demon who floated near him.
The only reason he had agreed to help the feline with his revenge on human kind was because he was so lonely. He had died a child and was still very much a child. He hated being alone more then anything. The past two hundred years had been spent alone, no ghost understood. The demon ghosts just laughed, made fun of him and turned him away. The human ones were either too terrified of him or hated him for being a demon.
It was things like hate and revenge he still didn't understand. Just like he didn't understand why Nezumaru had to hurt the shaman female in his plan to use her for his revenge. He knew she was a human and wasn't worth much, but she was still a living person and she had done nothing to the demon race to wrong them. He had a feeling the feline would really hurt him if he asked again, but he did it anyway.
"Nezumaru, why?" He asked the cat demon, who turned to look at him in annoyance.
"Pup, if you ask me that one more time.." he cracked his knuckles and growled as Chikazu pretended to cry. "She's a human female, it doesn't matter whether she gets hurt in this or not."
"B-but it matters if she dies in this right?"
"She can die after I use her to complete my revenge. She's the only shaman I know of that can integrate with demons, so I need her alive till this is done. Then she can go throw herself off a cliff for all I care."
He sighed again sadly and then was grabbed roughly by the larger demon.
"Listen. You better not be having any regrets, " Nezumaru snarled, holding his face close to the young wolf demon's.
He could barely suppress his whimper. "I'm sorry. I'm not...I'll bring her here just like I promised," he said and was released.
"Good. Now GO!" the cat demon snarled and watched as the pup scampered off in fear.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Both Yoh and Koneko were jolted out of their stargazing by the sound of a loud explosion and screams.
"A fire starting in the middle of the night; that's unusual," Koneko commented as she watched a building in the distance ignite in flames.
"Hai, the flames don't look normal either," Yoh said, sitting up.
"I'll handle this," she said sharply, standing up and brushing her uniform off.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. If it's a demon you would just get into danger," she reminded him calmly.
"Good point, but becareful. You don't have your naginata with you."
She nodded and ran off in the direction of the fire.
"Do you think she will be alright Yoh-sama? It is as you say: that's not normal fire," Amidamaru questioned, materializing behind his master. Yoh just laid back on the ground and grinned.
"Don't worry about it, Amidamaru. Koneko's good at handling demons; actually, it's one of the things she's best at." He gazed at the stars happily. "She can sympathize with demon-kind more then any other person I've met. Who knows? Why maybe it's because many humans have wronged her in similar ways that demon-kind has been wronged."
"Yoh-sama?"
"Koneko grew up with me only from about the time she was six. Her life before that was a living hell," he said, his voice barely audible.
"I didn't know...she seems to be such a happy girl," the samurai's voice said, trailing off.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Sugoi !!!" Koneko exclaimed as she stared at flaming building. "Such a impressive fire," she said to the figure she could see hiding in the flames. The young wolf demon stepped out of the fire and stared at her.
"What do you mean such an impressive fire ningen?" He asked angrily.
"You started this fire didn't you?"
He nodded.
"It's a great and beautiful fire. It must have taken a lot of energy to cause it," she smiled cheerfully. "It would take me ages to set a building this big on fire, but then I'd just being use my lighter."
"Your lighter?"
"Hai, I like fire."
"Your an odd shaman."
"Indeed I am. But as much as I like fire, this is wrong. I don't think I have to lecture a demon about why it's wrong to kill people, but why did you do this?"
"None of your business," he snapped. "Aren't you going to run inside and save the pour burning ningens?"
She shook her head, "no that would be merely foolishness on my part. Even if the building had stopped burning by the time I got here, they would still die."
" But..but.."
"I like running into fires. It's fun! But that would probably half kill me or I'd suffocate from the smoke," she said simply. "I'm a pyromaniac, but not so much of one that I'd set my own body on fire by running into that building."
The small red and black wolf demon look troubled, Koneko caught what was troubling him immediately.
"You set this building on fire purposely to lure me here and get me inside didn't you."
He nodded sadly. "Your a filthy ningen, but I don't want to really hurt you. I was just supposed to lure you inside enough that you'd be coughing from the smoke and then I was supposed to knock you out. I don't want to hurt you, honestly I don't."
"Why were you supposed to do that?" she asked, suddenly worried about why anybody would want her unconscious.
"Nezumaru told me to."
"So..just because someone tells you to do something doesn't mean you should do it." She then grinned at him. "I usually do things because people tell me not to do them." That made him smile a little.
"Because if I don't do what he says ... he'll leave me alone.." he coughed out. "...and I don't ..want to be alone again."
"What's your name?"
"Chikazu..." He blinked when she knelt down and touched his face gently. She thought absently, that he must have been surprised that she could touch him.
"How?" He asked wide eyed and she just smiled.
"I'm a shaman, I can touch ghosts," she paused. "You look very lonely and as if you have been alone for a very long time."
"I have ..they all left me alone," he whimpered, starting to cry.
"Your pack?" she asked and he nodded tears running down his cheeks.
"It hurts to be left all alone to die ..." she hugged the ghost gently. "I know that...from experience."
"You're a strange ningen and a strange shaman."
"Hai. Chikazu-san, would you like to come with me?"
"Come with you?" He pulled away from her and stared at her in shock.
"Yes. I suppose you already know I can integrate with the ghosts of demons. I like your fire skill, it's very impressive. I won't force you to do things you don't want to do. I also have two other ghosts that are demons, so you wouldn't be alone and you can come with me to school if you want."
He stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, then finally he nodded and smiled, "I'd like that a lot."
"Now what to do about this building... What do you say we just let it burn, after all it is a beautiful fire."
"HAI!" he agreed cheerfully. "Maybe your not a filthy ningen after all. Your kind of nice, too."
"I'm around two other nice ningen's a lot, too. One's not a shaman, though, and he's kind of shrieky. The other I live with."
"Is he your mate?" the wolf pup asked, almost innocently.
"HELL no!" she said quickly, shaking her head. "Yoh is noway in hell my..mate.."
"Then why do you live with him?"
"Because we're good friends," she grinned. "If that makes any sense."
"Can I be friends with him to?"
"Sure you can! He loves making friends; almost to much for his own good," she said sarcastically, which made Chikazu laugh.
"I'm glad I'm not alone anymore.... but I think Nezumaru really will try to hurt you now."
She shook her head, "don't worry about it. To hurt me, he'll have to get past Saki and Midori." She frowned when she heard sirens. "We need to leave now... otherwise I'll get in trouble with the authorities." With that said she ran off back to the graveyard, with the ghost trailing behind her.
~~end chapter~~