A Kiss from a Rose on the Grave
Disclaimer:
I Do Not own any of the Shaman King characters, the place they live in, or indeed anything to do with them. I also do not own the Night World, or any of the principles of it- especially the soulmate principle. I do not own the song 'Kiss from a Rose' by Seal.
I do own my characters, and everything about them
That is Gul, Sparrow, Astrid, Fahd, Steren, Sher, Tierra, Lorccan, Shyam, Torqueo and Jasmine. I own where they live, etc.
shibi chibi - I promise there will be fighting in the next few chapters!!
Kyoyama Kita - Thanks for the support!
Chapter 2 - Of Sneezes and Screams
Blank Blue eyes stared back up at her. Blood was streaming across the corpses' neck, a product of desperate stabs and slashes.
What have I done?
The girl on the floor was losing her sheen already; the death pallor was beginning to take effect.
The pupils of the blue eyes became dark, and a film developed over the top of them; they became flatter. Ginger hair matted with blood was in disarray on the floor, but ones eyes were instantly drawn to the bloody mess of a neck.
"What am I?" Gul collapsed to the floor sobbing. She gathered her best friend's body into her arms and wept until the sirens were heard out side.
Gul raised a tear stained face and looked at the little girl in the corner who was cowering in fear. With a new resolution Gul leapt and ran out of the window, watched by the blue eyes of the girl. The little girl learnt her first lesson that day.
You can trust no-one. Not even your best friend, nor your mother.
The 8-year old crumpled down next to the body of her sister and swore that these were to be her last tears. She took the pendant from around her sister's neck and proclaimed herself the Raven, in honour of her dead sister's pet name for her. She rooted around on the floor for her sister's pendant, wound it around her fist and jumped out of the window going in the opposite direction of the murderer.
The main article in the papers the next day told of a murdered teenager, and her missing sister. A plea was called out for information, but none was given.
1 year later it told of another death. A mother who could not handle the loss of her daughters had died of a heart failure.
At least, that was what the press was told.
Gul woke up in a cold sweat, and pulled the covers further over her body. She shivered involuntarily, and switched her light back on. It was 2 o'clock in the morning. She groaned, but realised that she wasn't going to get back to sleep.
Cornflakes are the best thing for me now.
Of course there was no real nutrition in the food; it was more of a comfort thing.
Anna shivered in her sleep. She woke up abruptly and trembled slightly. She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. Leaning against the counter she sipped the drink and let herself go, it wasn't often she had a chance to just ... not think about things. She had so much pressure on her in the daytime it was a welcome relief to just listen to the breeze and have no worries.
Footsteps snapped Anna out of her reverie. She scowled at Yoh as he walked sleepily into the kitchen.
"Oh. Hi Anna." He yawned.
"What are you doing up? You're supposed to be asleep, we have school tomorrow."
Yoh smiled at his fiancée. "Exactly, we have school. Not just me. What are you doing up anyway?"
Anna looked out the window as Yoh came over and leant next to her. Yoh knew he wasn't going to get an answer out of her so he tried another topic.
"What happened at school today? You seemed kind of ... quiet on the way home." At this point he paused and blinked. "And you didn't give me any chores to do. Not that I'm complaining." He added quickly when he caught her gaze.
Anna sighed. "I've just got something on my mind."
Yoh had never seen her so pensive and forlorn; he desperately wanted to wrap his arms around her and comfort her, but he knew very well what kind of reaction he would get to that. She turned around to face him and for one tense moment he thought she was going to hug him, but instead she put her glass in the sink.
Yoh buried his head in his hands and groaned when he was sure her footsteps had gone. Anna was never going to accept him.
So I must to get better for her.
Gul walked in her garden, fingers trailing over the top of flowers until she found her Roses. She sat down on the grass, damp with morning dew, and plucked a White Rose. She traced the delicate inside of the plant and took a deep breath of it's scent.
Roses bring so many memories.
She thought dejectedly. Memories ran like water through the fingers of the young, yet not so young girl.
Then there was only peace.
Gul leant onto floor on her back and rested the rose on her chest, looking for all the world like a sculpture of a young goddess, with wine-red hair and pale skin. The sun slowly came into the world, while a soft breeze caused cream coloured muslin to flutter around her body.
Orange-Green eyes snapped open as she heard a rustle in the brush. Moving with the grace her heritage brought on, she stalked over to the exact place, and parted the brush.
Nothing.
Nothing, but a smell of cat... no, not cat...
Flash.
Memories she had been trying to hide resurfaced.
Flash.
A small boy slowly changing into a cat-like creature about 2 foot long. A Jaguarundi.
Flash.
A sly-faced, half-changed shapeshifter mocking her. Evil eyes.
Flash.
A scar on the creatures face... blood on her hands.
Flash.
Gul clutched her head in her hands; she had fallen onto her knees a long time ago. Apparently it was over.
Gul was sprawled out on the table as Steren entered the classroom. Fahd was next to her, while Shear was emphatically gesturing to emphasize his dialect. Needless to say, both looked utterly bored and Steren had sneaky suspicion that Gul was actually asleep in her arms.
Steren approached the table and nudged Gul with her elbow. Awake instantly, Gul looked up at Steren and mumbled "This had better be good."
Steren smiled mysteriously. "Oh, it is."
Opening her hands Steren revealed a delicate, exquisite necklace.
It was about the size of Gul's thumbprint, and the detail was extraordinary. It was cast of gold, with flecks of an orange gemstone emphasizing the pattern. It depicted a woman in a chariot, driven by semi-large felines. The woman's hair was of amber, as were the flecks in her billowing cape and armour. The animals and the sky were of gold, while the chariot and reins were a mixture of both.
Gul looked up at Steren, speechless. Steren waved her hand.
"No need for thanks, I wanted to use up that Amber anyway, and the gold is cheap to my family. Besides, I have a strange feeling that you're going to need protection soon."
Steren seemed to space out for a few moments, but snapped back to reality not long after. Gul saw Shear and Fahd exchange worried glances. Steren shook her head and continued.
"You remind me of the Norse Goddess Freya anyway. She was often depicted as riding a chariot pulled by Lynxes. Amber is traditionally used for success, abundance, healing, vitality and joy. It is also the sunstone, symbolising Light and Goodness." Steren paused and yawned. "Amber and Jet are a powerful combination. Together they represent light and darkness, good and evil, sun and moon, Yin and Yang. Wear it at all times and you should be safe."
Steren yawned again. "Oh! Excuse me! I went bed late last night." Steren wafted out of the room quickly. Gul turned to Fahd and Shear who looked uncomfortable under her gaze. Fahd fidgeted, while Shear became very interested in his fingernails. Gul prodded the panther. "Okay, spill. What was all that about." Fahd fidgeted before speaking in his soft, elegant voice. "There's kind of something wrong with Steren..." He scratched the side of his face and looked up at Gul, who raised an eyebrow. Shear kicked his friend in the shin. The lion then looked to Gul and smiled wanly. "There's nothing wrong at all."
Fine play it that way. Gul thought as she subtly invaded their minds, but both were more intelligent than she had given them credit for. They were blocking her by making their minds animal like, and highly difficult to read.
The moment Anna walked into Room 860b she was assaulted by the sight of a dishevelled looking Gul glaring at the mismatched pair of friends.
Anna sat down a few seat behind and to the left of Gul, and took out her notes, planning to give them a quick do over before the test. A mass of squiggly diagrams swam in front of her eyes; she peeked out of the corner of her eye at her fiancée. She was shocked, for once he wasn't asleep. Unfortunately he was talking with his friends and giggling at certain intervals. Anna snapped out of her reverie as she noticed Gul squatting down in front of her desk. Anna converted a start into a cough, and looked suspiciously at Gul.
"How long have you been there?" Anna demanded.
The corners of Gul's mouth twitched up in a smirk. "Long enough to know were your eyes were drifting."
Gul was openly grinning now, and it was irritating Anna no end.
However, Anna being Anna said nothing.
Gul spoke again. "So ... Who is he?"
Anna snorted. "You know Horo Horo, the small boy is Manta. And the other boy is Yoh...My fiancée."
The annoying grin was back on Gul's face, but Anna changed the subject this time.
"Where did you get this necklace?" Anna instinctively reached out for it.
"No! Wait, don't touch-"
Too late.
Anna felt a shock shoot up her arm and made her feel dizzy-sick. She felt momentarily fazed and struggled to retain a level of consciousness.
Anna looked sharply at Gul, but as the Itako was about to say something the teacher entered the classroom and with an apologetic grin, Gul swept away to her desk.
Maths, I hate maths. Gul thought as she walked with Anna to her next class.
"Is Mr Donahue an okay teacher?" She asked Anna.
"He's boring and slow, we never learn anything in his lessons, but apart from that he's a great teacher."
Gul laughed. "He sounds fun then!"
Anna couldn't help but smile.
Sometimes it's a nice thing to have girl friends to chat to, instead of just the boys. Anna thought. Speak of the devil.
Yoh and Horo Horo ran to catch up with the two girls.
Yoh held out his hand. "Hello Gul!" He caught her look and continued. "Horo Horo told me about you."
The blue haired shaman smiled cheekily at Gul.
Gul shook Yoh's hand and glared simultaneously at Horo Horo.
---
The girl Gul had attacked yesterday walked into the classroom. She looked pale and wan like she had some kind of illness. Gul squirmed in her seat. She couldn't help but feel slightly guilty even though being a hunter was her nature, and humans would always be her prey. Of course, Gul could feed off animals, but they stank and the blood did nothing to her- human blood would greatly enhance her powers.
The girl turned around and froze. She had seen Gul.
The girl's mouth and eyes turned into three perfect circles as she started screaming.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Monster!
The pitch of the girl's scream hurt Gul's ears.
Oh no. She shouldn't remember, I wiped her memory. Gul could feel the ice settling in the bottom of her stomach. Act cool, just act cool.
The hysterical girl fell to the ground, her whole body convulsed as she gulped and wept in terror. As scared as Gul felt, she couldn't help but feel fascinated at the girl's behaviour - Did it really hurt them that much?
I could have sworn it doesn't hurt them.
Gul creased her face in an expressionless mask, as the paramedics carried the poor gibbering creature out of the room. The rest of the class turned back to the teacher; after a few furtive whispers.
Apart from 3 shamans and two shapeshifters.
The little evil creature followed its master through the underbrush. His Yellow-Blue eyes shone with a stupid happiness.
The creature in front of him stopped in his tracks, causing the smaller one to bump into his legs.
The little Jaguarundi sneezed and snuffled. He just wasn't used to this type of weather, where he came from it was permanently hot.
The 6" tall man in front of the snuffling boy turned around to look at him and said menacingly.
"You'd better not be lying about this, shapeshifter of the lower order." It was a barely concealed threat.
"No, Torqueo, she was most definitely here."
The tall man swung around and belted the small boy across the face.
"Fool!" He hissed. "Names are power, how dare you besmirch my name by speaking it, you filth!"
The 'man's' ragged silver hair moved in the wind, revealing 4 stubby horns on his forehead.
He spoke 4 words softly onto the wind.
"Finally, you're all mine"
The small shapeshifter touched the searing burn left by his master's imprint, and decided not to say anything.
These Dragons think they know everything. But then again, he probably does - being hundreds of thousands of years old.