It is only a matter of time

Hey! sorry for the wait everyone! I just finished my Chemistry and Psychology A level exam sighs dramatically, any ways I'm glad you're all enjoying this fic so here's another chappi for ya! This one's a bit dodgy in my eyes but tell me what ya think anyways, and remember; lots of reviews lots of chapters!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Shaman King I'm just borrowing them for a bit of twisted fun.

Summary/Blurb: What if HoroHoro and Pilika had a tougher past than Ren? And what if that past came back so soon?

Warning: This is my first fan-fic on shaman king so excuse all the ooc-ness…oh and there's a few bad words…not much else really so I'll leave ya to it. Enjoy!

Ch-3, Whispered nothings

HoroHoro slowly woke up, groggily and stiff. He heard voices whispering and an unmistakable;

"Shush… he's waking up!" very carefully he opened his eyes, and was surprised that he did not recognise his surroundings, although they seemed vaguely familiar. Foreign faces gawked at him from all directions until…

"No!" he yelled bolting upright, scattering the children, then, frantically looking around, on the verge of hyperventilation. 'Not again!' he pleaded for his mind to stop playing tricks on him. He closed his eyes and opened them again hoping the dreary scenery would change but, alas, he was back again…alone.

"No…" he sighed in shock, eyes wide as old forgotten memories reeled through his mind. Attacking at full force, paralysing him, sending his mind into a depressed recessive attitude.

"No!" he yelled, this time in English so the other boys could understand him, "I will not be subjected to this again!" he yelled pacing the 9x9 cell, trying to find a way out of the crude cell but finding none. He hopelessly leant against a wall and slowly slid down it until he was sat down staring woefully at the ceiling, tears silently falling down his scuffed cheeks.

"No." he whimpered as he hid his face in his arms and cried long and hard for the first time since his last ordeal here.

"Pilika you have to tell us what happened because we can't help your brother if you don't!" Ren half yelled at the distressed girl.

"Ren, calm down. She's not gonna talk if you yell at her." Yoh said feeling just as frustrated but acting calmer.

"Pilika my dear, you can trust us." Ryu said, kneeling in front of the child, "We want to help." Surprisingly he knew just the right words to coax Pilika into to explaining.

"Really?" she asked hesitantly, before looking at the nodding faces of the family she'd come to be a part of. "Well," she started, "It…it started about…four years ago when Oniichan and I were visiting my auntie in the village of Defun'dou…we didn't know that we weren't welcome there…"

"Why is that?" Manta asked curious as always to learn.

"well apparently the village of Defun'dou was at war with the Ainu people. No one in our village knew why," she explained, still hesitant, "So my mother and father took me and Oniichan to my Aunts' house so they could talk about it and find out what we had done to make them so angry…only… (sniffle)…they wouldn't listen to us…" she paused to wipe away a stray tear from her cheek. "Mother and Father came back to my Aunts' house for safety and told Oniichan and I to go upstairs and hide up there." She paused trying to find the rest of her words. "we heard a lot of shouts and screams…then we heard a window smash downstairs. It wasn't long after that, that we smelt smoke from down stairs." She looked around at the horrified faces staring at her. she instantly stilled her tongue refusing to say any more until she met Ren's gaze. He seemed to hold her there, encouraging her to go on with a vow to rescue her brother.

Anna noticed Pilika trembling slightly and put a comforting arm around Pilika's shoulders. Anna may be angry and grumpy most of the time, but she knew how to comfort as well. She wasn't the hard-ass bitch her reputation made her out to be. (A/N: This is how I see Anna, if I'm wrong about her then please tell me and I'll attempt to put her right)

"a…a…another window smashed and we saw the flames in the master bedroom grow wildly out of control. Oniichan said that we have to go but Mother and Father had told us to stay, but if we did, we would've died… he carried me down the stairs, I suppose he didn't want me trailing behind. The smoke was so thick, I couldn't breathe. But we made it to the kitchen with out any problems…" she stopped suddenly pictures flitting through her mind, reminding her of how upset she was, and how scared she felt.

"The ceiling had collapsed in the kitchen and under the rubble I saw my Mother's shawl, I thought the worst. Oniichan turned around and found the lounge and the large patio doors that led to the garden and the forest behind it. We managed to escape to a cave in the side of a cliff. There we huddled together until…they came." She spoke the words with venom, making the others wish they'd never asked.

"The villagers surrounded us and had us trapped in the cave, with no escape. We were taken to a camp for the children of the Defun'dou's enemies, and were split up. I was forced to work in the factory all day and sometimes all night too, but Oniichan was forced to train and learn martial arts. He didn't know he was being trained to kill." She stopped there waiting for the inevitable onslaught of insults and rejections that HoroHoro had assured her would come. But they didn't. She did hear then gasp and murmur things like

"Those bastards"

"Why?"

"How?"

She waited for them to quieten themselves before continuing.

"He didn't have a choice. It was the rules of the camp. He had to fight to the death and win or I'd go without food or water…. For the tournaments I was hung in a wooden cage above a pit of spikes and so was some one else, but they were on the other side of the battlefield, both Oniichan and his opponent were to fight to the death or their siblings would go without food. It was the rules." She repeated. "It was horrible, at first he refused but when he saw what they would do to me…he…did what they wanted him to do." She was crying now, in Anna's embrace, but forced onwards with the story. "I yelled at him to stop but more and more people were put on the battlefield for him to defeat." She cried hard for a minute, reliving the fights in her mind, wishing them away, but still they came.

After she had calmed down slightly she continued,

"One night I managed to escape through a small hole in my cell, and stole the keys from the guard. It took me several minutes to find Oniichan but I did. He was so ill; I thought I'd lose him. But he managed to escape with me that night through a fox hole in the fence." She stopped, thinking back to that time and how angry she'd felt towards those people, for causing her brother to become so ill.

"It was the middle of winter" she continued, "and all we had on was our undergarments, but we made it to a house after, I don't know how long. Oniichan was very weak and had a high fever, but he survived. The woman then contacted the police station who phoned our parents to come pick us up. We told the police where the camp was but it had cleared out. The bastards were never found. We vowed to never think about what had happened during our stay at the camp, to never tell anyone. Not even my parents know what Oniichan did to feed me." she started crying fresh tears again,

Ren knew he'd had his share of hard times and always took it out on HoroHoro but if he'd known for one second, he'd have…he paused mid thought…would he have been so hard on him? He honestly didn't know but he'd promised Pilika that he'd find him and find him he would do! But how?

That night, while everyone was sleeping, Ren lay awake, hoping his friend was comfortable and well. Bason had long since disappeared doing whatever it was spirits did when it was dark, and everyone was snoring away, even Anna.

But still Ren could not sleep. If he closed his eyes, he'd see HoroHoro, slicing some poor kid's throat, with tears in his eyes wishing he could help Pilika in some other way. He'd look through HoroHoro's eyes and watch as, one by one, thousands of children were slain by his hands. He'd see himself in his own woes and see HoroHoro's happy face turn sour like it did when he was taken.

How could he do it? How could he act like it was nothing? The very thought of killing someone scared him, but to actually have killed someone and so many of them, and then act so…so…positive…so optimistic about life, it was unthinkable. One thing was for sure, he'd find out from HoroHoro himself or he wouldn't find out at all, and Ren was a person who liked to get what he wanted.

Creeeeaaaakkk

What was that? Ren sat up in bed, listening to the Ainu's house. A storm was still at large outside and the winds howled through the forest surrounding the quaint ice village. Just the wind Ren sighed. Why was he so easily scared now? What was wrong with him?

Tap. Tap. Tap.

There it is again. Ren stood up from his futon and moved to the bedroom door, grabbing his Kwon Doe as he went. He peeked outside into the dark hall, armed and ready for a fight.

Knock. Tap. Tap.

It's coming form downstairs. He slowly moved to the top of the grand stair case and stood in a defensive stance peering through the dark shadows. A shiver crawled up his spine as he began to descend down the stairs, weary from insomnia.

Sploosh. Tap. Tap. Knock. Bang.

It's in the kitchen. He thought to himself as he crept up to the kitchen door. A light shone form under the door way showing that some one was in there. Slowly he opened the door, and swung at the intruder.

"REN!" Pilika yelped as she ducked just in time, missing the edge of his Kwon Doe by mere millimetres.

"Pilika! What are you doing?" Ren gasped as he realised what he was about to do.

"I was getting a glass of milk, but I spilt it." She said showing her wet pyjama top. "what are you doing?" she asked.

"I heard some noises and I thought that someone had broken in." he said truthfully, still fighting for air.

"nobody in our village has ever had any crime committed against them." She said as she moved past him, back towards the stairs.

"Really? I would never had thou-" Ren began to reply but was cut off by was hard hit to the back of the head. He fell back unconscious, dropping his Kwon doe.

Pilika let out a stifled scream but was grabbed from behind. She felt a rag cover her mouth, and immediately felt the numbing effects of the sickly sweet liquid it was covered in. she started to lose consciousness as a figure came out of the darkness, showing his face.

"No!" she gasped in to the cloth, "Ren help me! Please." But he was out cold. Slowly she faded into the awaiting arms of sleep.

A/N: will Ren wake up in time to save Pilika? Will the others wake up and realise what's going on? Will HoroHoro lose his mind? Find out next time in "Old habits die Hard"