Shaman King: Horohoro & the Panda
Chapter One
Disclaimer: I do not own either the Shaman King manga or the Shaman King animated TV show . . . yet.
Author's Note: MY FIRST SHAMAN KING FAN FIC IS HERE!!!!!!! & I couldn't be anymore excited! Since I love that little snowboarding shaman so much, I'm gonna make my first one for him. Horohoro & the Panda! Horohoro & the shaman gang meet a young shaman girl in the small village of Zhao. This village is like a retirement home for former shamans & upcoming shamans to come. Horohoro & the young shaman girl, Xiaoling (pronounced Shoa-ling) hit it off as good friends as both use elemental spirits. But an angry disowned brother with delusions of grandeur has something to say about that. Find out how the story unfolds!
(Begin story!)
Cold & snowy was how the day was as the shaman group of Yoh, Manta, Ren, Ryu, Anna, & Horohoro made their way to the small village of Zhao, the next stop on their way to Dhobi village. (Excuse my spelling. I'm not completely sure how you spell it.)
Ryu walked stiff-legged & frigid on the snow covered path. "When are we going to reach this village?" he said in his foreign accent.
Horohoro shrugged. "We should be there any time now. So, in the mean time, enjoy the weather!"
Ryu looked down at the snowboarding shaman in disbelief. "What's to enjoy? It's freezing!!"
"Not to me," Horo said with a wide grin.
Ren looked away from the babbling buffoons & towards the road ahead. He could see the form of a young girl walking ahead of them with a basket at hand. "Hey," he said to his companions. "Look up there."
They looked up & saw the girl. Ryu flailed his arms about, yelling, "Hey! Hey, we need your help!!"
A sweat dropped down Yoh's brow. "We don't need help that badly, Ryu."
The girl stopped & waited their approach. "What is it you need help with?" she asked when they reached her. She had short, raven black hair and deep, doe brown eyes. Her skin was a dark tan as if she were out in the sun all her life. She wore a thick white hoody with black sleeves. The hood was up to reveal what looked like a panda face, complete with the ears sown on top. She wore black pants & brown hiking boots.
Yoh rubbed his head, sort of embarrassed. "We just need to know how far away Zhao village is from here, ma'am. Sorry if my friend here over exaggerated it."
She smiled sweetly & said, "No, that's okay. You won't have to walk much farther, strangers. Zhao village is just over that hill." She pointed up the road over a small hill. The tops of buildings could just be seen from the hill crest. "My name's Xiaoling & I'm heading for the village myself."
Yoh gave a small bow as he thanked Xiaoling. "My name's Yoh. I'm a shaman & these are my shaman pals."
The group introduced themselves one by one.
Ren gave a curt bow of his head as he introduced himself. "I'm Ren."
Ryu gave as best of a debonair smile as he could muster. "& my name is Ryu," he said with a hand to his pointed goatee.
Anna smiled & said, "& I'm Anna."
Manta looked up with a nervous grin & said, "I'm Manta. I'm not a shaman but I can see ghosts & spirits."
Xiaoling smiled politely & said, "Nice to meet you all." She looked up at the nervous face of the snowboarder. "& you? What's your name, Mr. Snowboarder?"
Horohoro jumped & his face turned beet red. "Uh-um, m-me? M-My name's Horohoro. Heh, heh. Nice to meet you."
Xiaoling smiled a laughing smile at his nervous behavior. "No need to be so nervous, Horohoro! Come on, follow me," she said as she turned about to lead the group to Zhao village. When she turned around, you could see a small poof of a tail attached to the bottom of the hoody.
Xiaoling led them past twisted sakura & Japanese oak trees covered in snow, past small rock formations on the edge of the road, & past beaten trails that meandered through the forests that skirted the road. They reached the peek of the hill & saw that Zhao village was a relic of a town. The buildings were no more than three stories & were built with old Chinese architecture with a stone well in the middle of the village. It was covered in snow & no doubt the water was either dried up or frozen solid. Anna looked at the granite statues that stood at the front gate. They depicted great bears with fierce claws & teeth & eyes of jade.
Ren, being of Chinese lineage, found the village very tasteful. Xiaoling waved & smiled at the locals as they passed shops selling food & other goods. They stopped at a three story inn with a sign at the front depicting a panda bear munching on some bamboo shoots. The sign had both Chinese & Japanese characters that read, "The Panda Inn."
Xiaoling turned to the others & said, "Feel free to stay here, guys. This is my family's inn. I'll arrange for your rooms." She stopped & counted how many of them there were. "Six will be a perfect fit," she said with a smile.
She led them through the red front door & into the inn. The first floor was basically a pub; small round tables inhabited the left side of the large, warmly lit room, complete with a bar & two waitresses; on the right side of the room was a long, comfortable looking couch & two arm chairs on either side surrounding a flagstone fire place. It was a bright, festive looking room with paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling & paintings & prints on the walls depicting elegant Chinese women & men & the Chinese Zodiac.
There was a tall, lanky looking man behind the counter of the bar & he waved at the sight of his sister. He had messy, raven black hair and dark tan skin. Wire rimmed glasses framed his squinty, cheerful eyes & his grin was infectious. "Xiao! Xiao, you're back! Good to see you. Who are your friends? Are they shaman?"
Xiaoling smiled as she waved at her anxious older brother. "One at a time, Palden! One at a time! Yes, they are shaman. We met on the road & they were asking about Zhao so I sort of escorted them here." She looked at the others and said, "This is one of my many older brothers. His name's Palden and, as Ren could probably guess, his name is Tibetan, not Chinese."
Yoh waved with a broad grin, saying his normal greeting. "Yo, Palden! I'm Yoh."
The others introduced themselves, each shaking Palden's hand – Palden with much gusto. Anna was curious about these two & about this village. She decided to take her question to Palden. "Palden?" she asked, sitting at one of the bar stools.
"What can I help you with, Anna?" he said, polishing off an acrylic glass.
"How can you ask if we're shaman so easily?" She gave him a scrutinizing look.
He simply smiled his infectious smile & replied, "Because I'm a shaman, too. Our entire family is just one, great big line of shamans. Heck, more than half of the people in this village are, used to be, or are going to be shamans. Didn't you notice all the spirits floating around?"
Spirits were indeed floating about the village, & even in the inn they stood in. Men & women sitting at the bar or at one of the tables had spirits of their own floating over their shoulders. Palden had a rather gruff looking black bear hanging on his shoulder & Xiaoling – who was going through the contents in her basket – had a small, cute looking panda bear sitting on her head. It waved gleefully at Amidimaru – who waved back in return with a kind smile.
Manta looked overwhelmed. "I've never seen so many spirits or shamans in one place!"
Horohoro looked at the adorable panda sitting on Xiao's shoulder. "Xiaoling, is that an elemental spirit?"
Xiaoling looked up from her basket & nodded with a smile. "Yep! This village was once famed for the relationship it had with bears of all sorts & earth elements. Every shaman that came from this village had a bear spirit & used the earth element. The original village in China was destroyed because of a shaman war that broke out in the mountain region it was in. So, because of the constant feuding in China, the village elders decided to rebuild the village here in Japan."
Palden grinned at his younger sister. "See? I told you those history lessons would come in handy! Xiao's like our village spokesperson."
Xiaoling gave him a cold, anguished glare & said, "Well, I don't wanna be the village spokesperson! I entered the Shaman Tournament for a reason but you've kept me cooped up in Zhao!"
Horohoro looked curiously at the girl. "You entered the tournament, too?"
She nodded & added, "But Palden here doesn't want me to leave the village until I have a group to travel with. I'M NOT A BABY, PALDEN!!! SO BACK OFF!!"
Palden was tying a bonnet on her head with a sweet, babying smile on his face. When Xiaoling ripped the bonnet off her head, he pouted & said, "But you're the youngest in the family & you know I worry about my little sis!" He started to hug her but backed off when Xiao glared a spiteful look at him.
Horohoro raised a hand sheepishly & said, equally sheepishly, said, "If he won't let you travel without a group, why not join ours?"
Yoh added in agreement, "Yeah! That'll be a great idea!"
Xiaoling's face was lit with excitement as she turned to the still pouting brother. "Please, Palden! Let me join!"
Palden placed a hand to his chin as he thought. "I don't know . . ."
"Palden," Horo interjected, "with all due respect, I don't think it's fair to keep your sister from joining the tournament. She's a shaman, just like you, & I think she's old enough to leave."
Palden gave him a malicious grin that somewhat scared Horohoro & said, "Well, that's not your decision to make, now is it, snowboarder boy? Eh?" His face grew dark & spooky as he loomed over Horo.
Xiao pulled him back by the ear, & said, "Would you knock it off, Palden?"
"Well," Palden said, leaning back with a soar ear. "I'll let her go on one condition."
Xiao looked hopefully up at her brother.
"If Xiao can defeat one of you in a shaman battle, then I'll let her go. So," he said, creating a dramatic pause, "who will face her?"
TO BE CONTINUED!! BUM-BUM-BUMMMM-DRAMATIC REVERB!!!
Author's Note: WHAT DID YOU THINK, FU-FU-FU?!?! Was it good? Could it be improved? Should I make another chapter? Do you have any good ideas for the next chapter? (If it's who she'll fight against, forget it. I've decided to put her up against Horohoro. It'll build up the relationship between them – WHICH IS WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO!!) I won't make another chapter until I get some reviews, mi jentes! (Me-hen-tess is how you say it. Knowing my spelling, it's probably spelled wrong. It means my people.)