A/N: Thanksgiving is around the corner!
Kazooie: YAY!! LOTS A FOOD!!!
Banjo: YUM!! FOOOOOD!!!! 8)
XD For the holiday, I'm gonna give you guys an extra long chappie!
Banjo and Kazooie: T.T; Yay.
Here it is! :) Oh, and sorry, Cubie, but your guess is also incorrect. You got the "Youth" part right, though! (hint hint) Keep guessing you guys! Here's the chappie!
Kyra was a mystical creature.
And I wondered what it felt like
To have magic at your fingertips.
I was very curious.
The Amethyst Shamans: Chapter 4: Experimenting with Meditation
Kyra began getting used to Banjo's company the past few hours (Banjo had sent the others out, so they were alone), slowly beginning to reveal to him about her past and her tribe. He listened with open ears, becoming quite interested and fascinated the more and more she spoke about it.
"Wow, you're a shaman?" he asked, wonder flickering in those beautiful eyes of aquamarine.
"Yes," Kyra responded, sounding a lot less shy. She reached into her purple sheath on her leg and pulled out her dagger, completely carved from amethyst stone. "This is an amethyst dagger. In my tribe, we use it to carry out our magic."
Banjo looked at it, mystified. "Wow… I've seen shaman sticks and pools, but not daggers."
Kyra raised a brow slightly as she sheathed her knife. "Oh, so you've had experience with shaman magic?"
"Well, I'm no shaman myself, but I have a couple shaman friends," he explained, leaning back in his chair and chuckling to himself. "Actually, in our adventures, I've been the object of their magic, and they turned me into all kinds of animals and objects," he chuckled, knowing very well how strange that sounded.
But Kyra did not laugh, instead looking at him in interest. "Really? And you haven't had any side effects when you were transformed back?"
His face contorted in thought, then he shook his head. "Nope."
"And you don't use magic?"
"None at all."
Kyra looked at him with a new interest. Not noticing this, Banjo glanced up at the clock.
"Well, I'm gonna go check on the girls." He stood out of his chair and approached the front door. "I'll be back in a bit. You go ahead and catch up on some rest." And with that, he stepped out and gently shut the door behind him.
Kyra watched him leave, then began deliberating with herself. How could Banjo be immune to the side effects of magic? In her early teachings, she had learned that even a slight transformation could completely alter a being's behavior, unless they were magic users themselves. Was Banjo infused with a magical immunity? Or was there more to him than what appeared…?
Pondering this over, Kyra decided that Banjo might've been more mysterious than he seemed, and that a close analysis was crucial if she wanted to learn his weaknesses.
Would an immunity to negative magic be a weakness? she thought briefly, then subconsciously answered her own question by shaking her head. No, if anything, it'd be considered a strength!
She felt tired and flustered from everything that had been happening since she left her island home. But sleep would not cure the tiredness she had. Only meditation would bring her to complete tranquility. She brought out her incense burner and her amethyst dagger…
----------
Banjo barely took two steps outside the door before he was confronted by the whole gang: Kazooie, Tooty, Bottles, Jamjars, Mumbo, and Wumba.
"…the heck are YOU all doing here!?"
Kazooie pointed an accusing wing at Tooty. "She blabbed!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"No, Bottles did!"
"Oh, yeah… He blabbed!"
"Shut your beak, chicken legs!"
Banjo trembled like a volcano and screamed, "SHUT UP!!"
Everyone instantly went quiet, and Banjo, realizing his sudden outburst, felt astounded as he looked at his group of friends.
"S-sorry, guys… I-I didn't mean to…"
"So, fuzzface," Jamjars rudely interrupted. "Who's this 'Kyra' these punks keep talkin' about?"
Mumbo grinned in glee. "Mumbo want to greet her!"
"…And we give her big heap welcome!" Wumba finished.
Banjo sighed, massaging his forehead and trying to keep calm. "Look, you guys, Kyra's still hurt from the monster's attack, and she's staying here until she recovers, that's all. When she gets better, then you can see her. It's just… she's really shy, and…"
"You sure that's the whole story?" Bottles commented, getting many snickers from most of the rest as Banjo's face turned red. He then glared dangerously.
"Hey, knock it off!" he scolded. "You guys are so immature!" His look softened slightly as he looked down at Tooty and Kazooie. "I'm gonna start on dinner. You two get the others home and come straight back."
"Hey, wait a dang minute!" Jamjars protested. "We don't need no escorts! What're you, our mom!?"
"Look, I'm doing it to be safe! That monster most likely came from Gruntilda, and if she's going to strike again, I don't want anyone else getting hurt, alright?"
The answer to this were a few more giggles and chuckles. Filled with annoyance, Banjo turned on his heel and slammed the door closed. Sighing deeply, he leaned against the door, slowly cooling down as he pushed his angry thoughts aside. Jeez, how immature could his friends get…?
These thoughts were soon pushed aside as his nose twitched, catching a whiff of a strange, sweet smell in the house. His gaze dropped down to the carpet where Kyra sat cross-legged on the floor, facing the brick fireplace. Two small sticks of burning incense sat beside her, emitting silky lavender smoke that twisted around the house, hovering close to the ceiling.
Carefully, as not to disturb her, Banjo crept across the floor, stepped over the incense, and squatted down in front of Kyra, looking on in curiosity as she sat there, eyes closed and elegant paw holding the dagger.
Must be meditating, Banjo cleverly deducted, propping his chin in his paw as he watched her silently. His gaze soon rested upon the amethyst dagger, the mysterious weapon that was used in her magic. It was made of complete amethyst stone, with not a stainless steel blade, but a perfectly carved stone blade. How these people crafted it so perfectly, with the smooth blade and the sharp edges, was beyond him.
So it's used for magic… he silently mused, slowly reaching for it. I wonder… Could I…?
But he immediately drew back his paw when the door creaked open and Tooty and Kazooie stepped inside. Banjo leaped to his feet, approaching the cupboards swiftly.
"Hey, Banjo," Kazooie greeted him casually. "Hey, sorry about that back there. You were right- those guys were being immature!"
"Well, what can you do?" Banjo responded bluntly, placing a pot on the stove.
Tooty smiled in delight as she took a whiff of the air. "Ooh, it smells pretty in here!"
"That's Kyra's incense," Banjo explained, smiling down at her. "She's meditating at the moment, so let her be."
"Meditating? Weird…" Kazooie commented as looked closely at the completely still form of Kyra.
"She's a shaman, you see…"
"Ooh…" Tooty breathed dreamily.
The rest of the time was quiet as Banjo prepared the meal. The smell of his cooking mixed with the incense, and strangely, it smelled heavenly. Tooty and Kazooie sat patiently, averting their attention between Banjo and Kyra every so often.
When it was finished, Banjo instructed them to set the table while he attempted to wake Kyra from her trance. Carefully approaching her, he wondered at first how he would awaken her. Then, gently, he brushed back a bit of her hair and whispered quietly in her ear, "Kyra… Kyra, wake up! Dinner is ready."
Her eyes opened quickly as if awaking from a nightmare, and she looked up at Banjo mysteriously. "Banjo? Did you wake me?"
"Yeah," he admitted truthfully. "Sorry, but dinner's ready."
Understanding, Kyra nodded and put out her burning incense. As Banjo stepped away from her and began serving, she looked up at him uncertainly. Usually nothing could awake her so easily out of meditation, so how was he able to do so without even using a spirit-call? More mysteries had suddenly appeared, and Kyra decided it would take a while to learn the answers to the riddles within this bear.
But that was fine, she had all the time in the world…
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Dinner went by smoothly. Kyra opened up more to Tooty and Kazooie, telling them the same things she had told Banjo before. They seemed very interested, and this somehow made Kyra a lot less shy around her new friends.
Banjo noticed this right off the bat, happy that she was able to get along with them so well. The friendliness he had offered her earlier must've helped boost her confidence, and he was glad for it.
But now as the tenth hour struck quietly and everyone was asleep, Banjo sat at the end of the bed with something else on his mind. He looked over at the nightstand that held Kyra's few belongings, mainly at the dagger. He was still thinking about earlier, with that magical dagger and how it would feel to have the magic at his disposal.
Finally, curiosity took over, and he reached in and carefully pulled out the amethyst dagger, looking it over thoughtfully. He didn't know how, but he could feel the magical energy within the spiritual weapon.
Banjo began thinking carefully. He couldn't use the incense, since he practically couldn't light a fire without burning himself in the process. Besides, the beautiful smell would probably awaken the others. He had to find something else to get him in the mood.
His gaze then rested upon his CD player, and his brain clicked in realization. As quietly as possible, he opened a cabinet and brought out a certain CD from the rack. Placing it into the CD player and the headphones on his ears, he got in position on the carpeted floor, crossing his legs with somewhat difficulty. He then held the mystical dagger in his paw and pressed PLAY.
As the Soft Rock music he loved so much began to play, he slowly turned up the volume, but not loud enough that the others could hear. He then gently shut his eyes and his mind automatically unfocused into a comforting state of deep blackness…
He was alone, but not afraid.
It wasn't like sleep, not at all.
Like a way of escape from reality.
Blissful tranquility filled the deep recesses of his mind.
His cares slipped away.
His thoughts melded together into a pool of emptiness.
He felt as if his soul had fled from the restrictions of his body.
His spirit floated on through the sheer nothingness…
And he felt truly free.
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Banjo woke quite some time later when the music stopped abruptly. Confused, he looked down at the CD player, realizing the batteries had run out.
He blinked in confusion as he looked down at the amethyst dagger, still in his paw. He looked up at the clock. It was almost six in the morning.
Wow, I was gone THAT long? he thought fleetingly. The others were still asleep, but as the sun began to rise outside, he knew they would be waking up pretty soon.
Calmly, he stood and slipped the dagger back in its place, looking as if it was never touched. He sighed in contentment as he looked over at his sleeping companions; precious Tooty sleeping in her tiny bed, Kazooie dangling in her blue backpack that hung on the hat rack, Kyra laying elegantly in the larger bed, clutching the blankets tightly. A heartwarming smile spread across his face as he felt strangely cheerful for such an early hour in the morning. Was it, perhaps, that the meditation had calmed his spirit? Yes, it had to be.
Wordlessly searching in the food cabinets, he realized he had to go out for a few things before he could make breakfast. Leaving a note where they could find it, Banjo left with a cheerful and optimistic air about him.
A/N: So? So? SO?
Banjo: It was… interesting…
Kazooie: Okay, I guess…
(whacks them both upside the head) Anyways, when December comes around, I'm gonna start posting up another Christmas special. I've got good feelings about this one.
Banjo and Kazooie: (puppy eyes)
No, you do not star in it!
Banjo and Kazooie: Darn…
So look out for it soon! And I PROMISE I'll get to ROTHOT ASAP, when I finish these two fics, comprende? Review, people!! 8D
