It's only a matter of Time
MY GOD! I'm so sorry for not posting sooner,I had A levels and everything so really sorry about that.
Okay, I was gonna tell ya where Chocolove and Lyserg were last chapter but I couldn't fit them in between all the action so I'll tell you now; Chocolove is in the USA visiting a friend (I don't really know his character so he's not in the story,) and Lyserg is staying with him, for the same reason as above!
And in answer to a question raised in my reviews, Koloro (I'm spelling her this way because that's how it's spelt in the official website! There are other ways of spelling it tho!) Is with Ren et al. because I'm assuming she won't know how to find HoroHoro unless he calls for her specifically, but if I'm wrong then please correct me! The reason he hasn't called for her yet is so that his cover isn't blown as a Shaman as this is crucial to the story.
Any way, enough drabble...on with the story!
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!
The First Fight
Pilika stifled a gasp as she fell onto Yoh, feeling a searing pain shoot up her leg from her ankle as it twisted in an awkward direction.
"Pilika! Where were you? What happened?" Ren reeled off the questions as he rushed over to help her up.
"I was in a shack, tied up, I escaped and ran here!" she said answering every question with no emotion. "We need to find Oniichan!" she said changing the subject immediately.
"Are you ok? Did they hurt you?" Yoh asked noticing her limp a little.
"I'm fine but Oniichan needs us, we have to find him!" she said more urgently.
"Why?" Manta asked as he caught how she was pressing the subject.
"I really have to tell you why?" she snapped, turning her icy stare in his direction, which elicited a little "Eep!" out of him
"It's just that you seem even more upset now than you did before, Pilika, what did you hear?" Faust asked as he watched her limp over to the couch.
"The Tournament starts tonight." she said worriedly, knowing full well what HoroHoro would be put through. "They'll wake him up early, and train him all day then force him to fight in the Tournament tonight."
"They can't force him if he doesn't want to; they have nothing to hold against him. You're safe here." Manta said trying to make up for the earlier mistake.
"He doesn't know that. What if they show him my headband? What will he think?" she asked forgetting to mention the fact that they now had it in their possession.
"Alright we'll go as soon as we can, but you're staying here." Yoh said as he stood up. Pilika shot up in sudden protest.
"What!" she shrieked, but stumbled on her ankle and fell forward into Ren's arms.
"I don't care whether it's your brother or your pet pig we're saving, you're not coming on that ankle, and that's that." Yoh said firmly, walking out of the room to get his Harusame.
Pilika sat down on the worn sofa and silently watched the fire as it burned a hole in the back of her mind. She, Manta, Anna and Faust, sat there quietly for a long time, until Pilika spoke up "Do you think he's ok?"
To Anna, the strong minded and determined teen, now sounded very fragile and small. She now understood why HoroHoro and Pilika were so close, but so very far apart.
"He's a strong kid thanks to you Pilika. He'll be fine." She answered in the most positive way she could with out promising anything. This seemed to help as Pilika leant back into the armchair, bringing her legs up into the stand alone chair, curling up in a comfortable position. Soon she was asleep, in front of the fire.
Anna dug out a blanket and draped it over her still form, wishing the phone lines hadn't been brought down. At least that way they could tell Pilika's parents what had happened, but now they had to go out and find HoroHoro before he was moved further out of their grasp.
She had no idea that those two had been through such a tough time together, and that worried her. 'What else are they hiding?' she wondered as she moved towards the door.
"Manta. Watch her for me." She asked without giving an option. Manta nodded and decided to bury his nose in a book. Faust followed Anna to find out what the plan of action was.
A sudden chill woke HoroHoro from his slumber. He woke up gasping as ice cold water dripped down his back and chest.
"Good, you're awake." A voice said from deep within the shadows.
"You again." He sneered wishing for solitude but knowing it would never come. As his body woke up he began to feel the effects of sleeping in that position. His body was stiff and lethargic, his thigh was in agony but he showed no reaction, he showed no weakness.
"Me again." The burly guy confirmed. "Now that little stunt you pulled back there is not acceptable, and my patience is wearing thin." He moved closer to HoroHoro and grabbed his chin, forcing him to face the burly man. "It will not be tolerated again, and to make sure of that, we have to set an example to the rest of you filthy scum."
With that, he pulled out his whip and snapped his fingers, signalling totwo of the five cronies he had in the other cell. They unlocked his chains and turned him around so that he was facing the damp wall. His shirt was then pulled off him, and he was secured in place again.
The first lash was a surprise and elicited a cry of pain from him. His hands reflexively gripped the chains as he suppressed the second cry, and the third, and fourth and fifth, and so on. It seemed to last forever but was only, in actual fact, 10 minutes, before it stopped.
His back was on fire. Every move he made set the sparks of pain flowing through his body. God he hated this place!
"Get him ready." The big man said from somewhere behind him. Hands grabbed him and turned him around, sending new waves of pain through him. His hands were released, unexpectedly, and he fell to the floor, still unwilling to voice his discomfort. His shirt was roughly pulled on to him and he was shoved in the direction of the door, shackles only on his wrists, but not on his feet allowing him to walk freely.
He was lead to a white room with a group of 8-10 other children silently waiting for someone or thing to happen. He was left with the children wondering what was about to happen until he remembered exactly what he was forced to do in this very room last time.
Train.
That meant that the Tournament would begin soon. He shivered involuntarily as he remembered the battle field and the fights that had ensued there.
It was then that the 'Master' chose to enter the room and scare all the children witless, all except for HoroHoro who wasn't afraid of him. He'd learned from this guy all he knew about martial arts but he had a sneaky advantage too. HoroHoro was shaman, 'Master' wasn't.
"I see our new recruit has decided to behave himself long enough to join us. I am told that you have endured my training before, so you will be familiar with the water bucket exercise." He stepped aside revealing a metal bar about 2 metres long with a 10L bucket chained to either end. "Would you care to demonstrate this to the others?" he prompted.
HoroHoro was pushed over to the bar with a shove from one of the guards that had accompanied the Master. Slowly he stood in front of the bar and placed his hands as far apart as the shackles would allow, which wasn't very far. the Master smiled waiting for the inevitable failure. ButHoroHoro also smiledknowing this was going to be easy.
He lifted the bar high up above his head, then smiled to himself as he watched the Masters face fall in disbelief. He began to swing the buckets around without spilling a drop, then decided he'd had enough fun.
He swung the bar and buckets at the four guards hitting every one of them before jumping up and grabbing the key from one of the guards, then hightailing it to the door. He didn't even get to the other side of the mat.
The Master tackled him to the floor, and jolted his back, marring his wounds open again, as he wrestled him until he could no longer move a muscle. Shackles were re applied as pain began re immersing, memories resurfacing, and tears began travelling down his cheeks once again as the pain became too much.
'Koloro!' he howled in his mind, 'Help me! Koloro, I can't do this alone.' He whimpered again as more pressure was added to his already burning back and thigh. He could only tolerate so much, but this was too much. He squeezed his eyes shut, and called for Koloro, again, hoping she could hear him. 'Koloro, no one must know of this place, but I can't do this alone, I need you, hurry.' He gasped as his arm was suddenly pulled back and a distinctive 'snapping' sound was heard. He could feel his grip on consciousness getting weaker and weaker, so he called out one last time, 'Koloro, please help me...'
Koloro was watching over Pilika as she slept on the armchair, wondering why her Shaman friend had not called out to her yet. The other spirits had nagged her about it asking her why HoroHoro would not call for help but she wasn't sure she was ready to answer them. There were only two reasons she could think of, upon why he wouldn't contact her; 1) he didn't want to be found, and 2) he wasn't alive to be found. She really wished it was the former and not the latter.
She floated over to the window and watched the falling snow outside when suddenly a mental message blasted through her thoughts;
'Koloro!' it was HoroHoro! 'Help me! Koloro, I can't do this alone.' She felt an intense pain in her mind, as though his pain was being transmitted with his thoughts. 'Koloro, no one must know of this place, but I can't do this alone, I need you, hurry.' She knew what he was asking and started tracking his energy signal immediately, focussing on him and him alone, trying to find him among the billions of people that inhabited the Planet. But the last message chilled her to her nonexistent bones.
'Koloro, please help me...' something in his voice thatshe'd never heard from him, paralysed her. He sounded so weak, so vulnerable, so unlike the happy, strong, HoroHoro she knew. She could tell that he was fading fast in that horrible place and not just physically; he was slowly losing his mind, his identity, his spirit. He was close to breaking and could do very little to stop it.
This made her even more determined to find him, but alas, she could not. He must've fallen unconscious other wise she would have found him by now, she'd know if he died because she'd feel his presence as a spirit but that could not be found either.
She'd have to wait until he woke up to find him again, but would it be too late?
A/N: What will happen next? Will HoroHoro lose his mind? Will Koloro find her beloved Shaman friend? Find out next time in 'Faith, Friendship and Hope'