"Achoo!"
Once more, birds scattered from their nests to find a safer haven than where someone was rudely tramping through their forest. Horohoro sniffed and pulled his snowboarding jacket closer to him. He still hadn't fully recovered from his little jaunt a few days earlier, but he was eager to get back to Japan. He sneezed again.
Damn this gauntlet…Clutched in his hand was a crystal--or so it seemed--gauntlet. It was clear and intricate designs seemed to be pressed in between in the sides. It was part of his gift. Or so he liked to think…
He had discovered his destiny--or at least some of it. He was the reincarnated soul of the ancient Ainu warrior, Kamui-otopush. Along with the new knowledge he had gained from his "awakening" he had gotten a strange, strong feeling that he had to go back to Tokyo and see his friends. He felt that there was something he had to do now. He could feel the plants and the Earth tremble beneath unseen feet. It was unsettling, and he had to warn everyone. Especially Izanagi.
"Ah-ah-ACHOO!" the ground wavered.
¬.¬
Ren rubbed his hands together in the growing cold. His breath came out in short puffs of steam as he tried desperately to ignore the frost that was beginning to settle in his hair and tip his shark fin down.
What is going on? There shouldn't be any snow this time of the year. It feels like Horohoro's gone on a rampage.
Leaves began to fall from the trees and whisper safely to the ground. The night air was beginning to feel like Antarctica during winter. Ren cupped his palms around his elbows and started rubbing them to keep warm. He felt faintly faint and his nose was running. He finally lost his temper.
"Horohoro! If this is some kind of sick joke you had better quit it now!"
The soft rustle of snow answered him.
"Achoo!"
Ren rubbed his bright red nose and looked around at his surroundings. He could just see the outlines of the Tao castle through the haze of darkness and snow that blanketed his vision.
'Master Ren, are you alright?'
"Yes, Bason. I'm fine. A little cold won't kill me," the Kwan Dao slung over his shoulder was beginning to irritate his skin as he felt the metal freeze. Another cold blast of air whipped its way through the trees and sent Ren stumbling back a few steps. "Well, hopefully not…"
He could hear something up ahead, though he wasn't sure if it was a fever or if he was going crazy. It sounded like metal-on-metal. He fought the wind, trying to find out with in the world could make that noise in the middle of the woods in a snowstorm. The wind pushed against him, sending him falling to his ass. The Kwan Dao fell from his shoulder and into the snow. Bason looked at him, concerned, but Ren flashed him a look that screamed: "Touch me and you'll die--again!"
The purple-haired shaman crawled on his knees towards the noise and pushed through some bushes. What he saw there he hoped he would never see again in his life--or afterlife.
They were…not even creatures. Certainly, they were tall and took on a human basis for a body, but they were…twisted. The faces had gaping holes in the pale skin. Their eyes were completely dead; just faceless, white pearls stuck into two eye sockets. Black robes billowed about their lean, fatless bodies. Their limbs were stick thin, and reached out like dead tree branches from their bodies. They appeared to be fighting, against what, he couldn't tell at the time. They seemed to be trying to dog pile their attacker--who, Ren saw with some horror, had spiky blue hair, a tan snowboarding jacket, and tan shorts on. Horohoro!
Ren's jaw sat at his knees as he watched his old comrade fight the strange creatures. The blue-haired boy hadn't noticed he was there yet. But, there was something different about him…Ren just couldn't put his finger on it…
He watched as Horo spun around in the air and landed a perfectly executed roundhouse to one of the things' face. In a flurry of snow it was repelled backwards a couple hundred feet. The Ainu ducked a blow coming from behind him and then jumped up, effectively slamming the thing right under the chin. That was it! His fighting style was different! There was no use of any oversoul, Kororo, snowboard…only physical attacks! He sucked in a breath when Horo was jerked from behind and had his arms pinned.
Grabbing the Kwan Dao that lay silently by his side, Ren picked himself up from the ground and raced towards the battlefield.
"Chya!" he roared, slicing one of Hell's creatures right down the middle. The one holding Horo dropped him and moved towards the new attacker.
"Aaaaahhh. Taaaaaoooooo Reeeeeeeeeennnn. I waasssss woooooonnddeeeeeering wheeeeeen yooooouuu'd shoooooow up tooo yoooour looooveeer's ressscueee…" it hissed through inches of missing teeth. Ren blushed slightly, but didn't let that stop him from cutting down the beast in one slash. He panted and looked over at the Ainu boy slowly, wondering he'd caught the thing's remark.
Horo looked him up and down, a puzzled look on his face. "Um, who are you?" he asked bluntly.
Ren's eyes widened. "What the hell does that mean?" He barked at the other. Horo continued to stare at him.
"Oh, I apologize if I'm being rude," he said, smiling, though Ren saw that his eyes held suspicion. "My name is Kamui-otopush. I appreciate your help." He held out his hand politely.
To say the Chinese shaman pulled a Yoh would be an understatement. His eyes went completely blank as his jaw dropped through the ground. He pointed his finger at Horo and fell to the ground in utter shock. Then a thought struck him.
"Quit fooling around, Horohoro. I already apologized to you for everything."
Kamui-otopush looked at him in confusion. "Who's Horohoro? What are you apologizing for? If it was for interrupting the battle, do not worry. Had you not struck them down--"
Swirls of clouds flew about as Ren sat on the ground with his hands across his lap. He couldn't have amnesia, could he? Does he really not remember me? Why did he say his name was Kamui-otopush? He couldn't have amnesia, then. Amnesiacs don't remember anything, including a fake name. So what's his deal? Did Jun put him up to this? What's going on here!
"Um, are you okay?" The blue-haired boy looked down at him curiously. "Are you injured? You look really pale." Ren stared at Kamui-otopush, his eyes blank. What was he supposed to do now? How could he convince "Kamui-otopush" that he was really Horohoro?
"By any chance did you hit your head on the way here?" The purple-haired shaman asked.
"No, why?" The other replied, looking even more confused.
"It was just a thought," Ren searched his mind for questions he could ask that would reveal the answer to the strange predicament. "May I ask why you're out in these mountains alone?"
"That's top secret," The boy's black eyes looked Ren over with heavier suspicion. "Though I am curious to why you are here."
Ren sighed, deflated and feeling utterly defeated. "Actually I was looking for you." Ren looked around. "Where's Kororo?"
"Who's Kororo?" was his answer. The little spirit appeared beside Ren in an instant. Her eyes were relieved to see the boy and she began to make frantic motions with her arms, pointing at Kamui-otopush.
"Did something happen to him?" Ren asked her. She nodded. "We should get him back to Yoh's house," he sighed and stood up. He looked at the blue-haired boy. "Listen, I think I know where you're headed and I'm going to help you get there."
Kamui-otopush frowned. "I do not need help. And how do I know you're not my enemy?" He glared at Ren. The Chinese boy felt a pang in his heart at seeing distrust in Horohoro's eyes, even though he knew it wasn't his love. However, he just rolled his eyes and continued down the mountain. After a few moments he heard the other give a sigh and begin to follow him.
"So, stranger," Kamui-otopush said from beside him. "Who are you and how do you know where I'm going?"
"I am Tao Ren, and even thought you do not remember me, I am a friend of yours," Ren replied, refusing to look over at the other.
"Hmn, I thought you seemed familiar," He said thoughtfully. "I apologize if I offended you earlier."
Ren gave a dry laughed. "No need to apologize--all we do is fight anyways." He quickened his pace; he neither needed nor wanted to talk to "Kamui-otopush" about Horohoro.
As the purple-haired boy walked away from him, Kamui-otopush could've sworn he'd seen a long of sadness of the boy's face. Who is this strange boy? He's familiar, like a friend from a past-life. He shrugged it off and decided to ask Ren more about how he knew him.
"But we have to be better friends than that if you came all the way up here to find me, right?" he asked curiously.
Ren blushed a little and turned away. "I was just in the area and I decided to look for you." The Ainu frowned again and stopped walking.
"That makes no sense--"
"Will you just shut up!" The boy reeled around on him. "You are not my friend--I don't even know who Kamui-otopush is! What was between me and Horohoro is none of your business! All I want to do right now is take you to Yoh's house so I can try and figure out what happened to Horohoro!" He turned back around and continued trudging through the snow. Damn that stupid amnesiac! As soon as he gets his memories back I'm gonna kill him! He saw Bason watching him and growled in the ghost's direction. Bason looked at Kororo and shrugged as they began to follow his edgy master.
Hmn, so I guess my name was Horohoro. Kamui-otopush thought to himself and went on following the highly emotional boy ahead of him. Well, if he can take me to Izanagi, then I guess he's somehow related to our destiny as well…
Author's Notes: Well, that's that. Another chapter done. Oh, and Kamui-otopush is from an Ainu myth called Kotan Utunnai. You can thank Saroya and her endless supply of useless knowledge from finding the name/myth. (Of course, in the myth he's not nearly as empty-headed as he seems in this chapter. You can also thank Saroya for that, it is her specialty ;;-) If you want to know more, email Saroya at Thank you all for reading our story and please review (unless you're one of those evil flamer's and then you can just go bye-bye, k?). Thanks to all of you who have been giving us your support! We loves you!
Story Title: Demon's Eye by Deep Purple
Chapter Title: Wherever I May Roam by Metallica