Chapter 4: Izumo Trails

Next day, it was a bright day but cruel winds would like to make their skins to fall off. Traveling would not best fit today perhaps for the winds that blew icy Siberian winds. Not good for traveling, winds are signs of bad weather. But what should they do? It was their schedule to go to Izumo, his obaasan was expecting them to arrive sooner for the ceremony that will held in Wednesday. So they were in his room with his friend Manta packing their bags for the trip.

"Ow… I think we should postpone are trip for today, Yoh-kun." Manta said as he glimpse in the window near him and saw the bright sun rays entering his room. "Even that bright sun rays can fool us, sometimes that intense light ray hides some dark clouds and could cause some bad weather."

"Maybe so. But were going to Izumo, good or bad weather, Manta. Besides were going to aboard the train, that won't cause problem." Yoh answered him with grin. "And obaasan is waiting for our arrival."

"Oh. Yes, she would. She must be excited as I am." Manta shriek with joy now that there was no trouble at the hazarding weather conditions. "But I wonder if you would like the guys to go to Izumo too?"

"Huh? What guys?" he said without looking to his friend and continued his packing of clothes.

"I mean… Ren…Horo-Horo… and the others?" He said facing Yoh. Yoh gave a tiny 'oh!'. "They might like to go there in Izumo and congratulate you as well." He said and zipped his luggage.

"Yes. I hadn't forgotten them, Ren was in China… and Horo-Horo and Pirika is in the north, but I don't know where the others are. So I just give Ren and Horo-Horo a letter before going to the station, you see I had wrote a letter to them last night." Yoh said as he pulled out to his luggage's pocket two white envelopes. "There might be a mail box in the station ne? Or maybe I just phone them in Izumo when we get there."

"Good idea, Yoh-kun. Let's go down, Anna-chan might be going berserk if don't get down there quickly." Manta said and lifted his luggage and worked his way to the door and opened it.

"You're right, she would be seriously go bananas if we could keep her waiting for ages."

"Speaking of going mad… what about those two pesky animal spirits of Tamao, they'll surely cause trouble and not to mention Anna despise them." Manta finally said as they step in the floors of the landing.

"I don't know, Anna will take care of them." He simply replied.

In the landing floor the saw Anna who hadn't got her luggage beside her instead she was crossing her arms and waiting for them.

"Did we keep you waiting, Anna-chan?" Yoh ask with a grin in his face. She shook her head and asks him, "All your belongings there?"

"Hai!" the both chorused.

"Well then let's go, there won't be anymore tickets for us if we just stand here, we've got to go there early." He said to them as he step to the ground and felt something odd in his feet; it was the last night's letters. It was not yet clean up. The whole ground was filled with those letters Konchi and Ponchi had brought last night.

"We can't go with that mess!" Anna said coldly. "Yoh, Manta start picking up those rubbish while I'll go to the spring to recharge." She said as she strode her feet opposite to them.

"But… But… Anna what about our trip, these can swallow up an hour cleaning this mess." Yoh protested but slightly feared of what he had said. "I mean… we can't get to Izumo faster with these." He blurted and stretches his arms to point the swarm of letters.

"And Konchi and Ponchi would ruin everything again…" Manta added.

Anna's eyebrows rose. "Ponchi and Konchi won't cause anymore trouble… in fact they would not cause trouble in our journey…" she said as the two materialized next to her and were wrapped with Anna's electric blue bead and was yelping loudly. "And don't worry about our trip to Izumo… I'll take care of it… we would arrive there sooner as Kino-sensei had thought of."

"We are going to miss the train!" Manta split out a worrying look.

Anna glared at him. "We are not going to aboard in the train." She said shortly.

"But… Anna… The train is the fastest transportation we can ride going to Izumo." Yoh objected with her.

"Well I suppose that THERE other mode of transportation faster than a train." She said ridiculously.

"Huh, But the bus is the only we can ride besides the train, but the bus is not that fast, it will take us ages to get there." Manta split out a worrying look at her again.

Anna glared at him and, "I said we will make it there before dusk." She said firmly and no hesitation.

"Before dusk?" Amidamaru materialized next to his master.

"How could we get there that fast Anna-chan? Even the fastest train won't make us there before dusk." Yoh asked her again calmly.

"We. Are. Traveling. On." And she pointed out their lowest part of their body. "Our. Foot."

"Our foot? This is completely insane!" Manta said with outrange and completely forgotten that Anna was around them. "How could we get there faster with our bare foot? We will walk?" he continued.

"Keep it down shorty or I'll make yourself walk for miles and miles way!" she roared with a threatening look at him. "And start cleaning you slugs!" she roared again and stormed out of their sight.

Yoh sighs. "I think you got her mad." He said grinning.

"Don't make me scared." He said firmly.

"Why? You are not scared?" he asked.

"I am scared to her for ages!" he said with a disgruntled look

They both laugh at what Manta had said. And start cleaning and picking up those letters

Meanwhile Anna had got inside the spring, and took off her clothes.

'I need to rest and recharge my strength, after this I would use too much energy…' and she leap in the tub of hot water.

'How relaxing…' she said mentally to her mind and poured a handful of warm water to her head allowing it to get wet.

'Izumo… you are just a few blocks away from us…' she said and dive her head to the warm water of the spring.

'I need to meditate also… without unificating my strength and my energy I cannot do what I need to do… all my strength… my energy… furyoku… charka…' she mumbled.

"Yoh-kun are these going to an end, I think I had a back ache!" Manta complained to his friend and massaging his back.

"Don't worry ne? Just rest for a while I'll take care of these." He said to his friend and still picking up the rubbish. 'Wonder what Anna was doing?"

"You see Yoh-kun; we can't get to your house with Anna's plans… I think this might be kind of a training, you know." He said in a relaxing tone and lying in the couch.

"You think so?" he asked him with alarm.

"Come to think of it, Anna wants us to travel using our foot! But for a second, she said to me if I kept complaining I would walk for miles! Get it!" he blurted out.

Yoh cast a don't-try-to-make-joke-this-time look to him, "This time, I am really sure Anna wants to kill me!"

"Don't worry Yoh-dono, Ma'am Anna won't do that, at least I think." Amidamaru cheered him up.

"Amidamaru! It is not comforting!" he cried.

"All things cleaned up?" a cold voice echoed to his ears and he felt a sudden fear in his stomach.

"Yes Ma'am Anna! All ready!" Amidamaru cried. Anna examine the two for a second and spoke.

"Well now, let's go." She said with an air of leadership.

"Err… Yeah… good idea." Yoh said and lifted his luggage.

"Follow me." She told them shortly. And she moved her feet to the door and got outside but they weren't going anywhere else, Anna was leading the way wrongly.

"Err… Anna-chan… the gate is this way…" he corrected her. Anna glance at him.

"I know." She said coldly with a dark look to him. "But this will be our way to Izumo."

"To Izumo, that's our backyard!" he corrected her again. "This is the gate we will pass the gate in order to get to Izumo."

Anna wore a sarcastic smile and go on with her walking to their backyard.

"I think Anna had lost her sense of direction." Manta whispered to him. "But it is good to follow her ne? I don't want to received a slap to her." And passed at him to follow her.

"What was gotten into her?" and shake his head and follow them.

"I think ma'am Anna wants to give us further instruction before leaving." Amidamaru suggested to him as they were at the back.

"But if she wants to give instructions, she can give it inside our house ne?"

"Oh! Good point Yoh-dono."

"Here we are." Anna said finally and halts to their own backyard. In their backyard he saw an unfamiliar in the ground a 10ft. diameter outline of a circle was drawn in white paint tumbled onto them.

"I don't remember we have that in our backyard earlier." Yoh said as he notices the huge circle.

"You would not remember that because, I had just drawn that circle last night." She told them as she circle the drawing and some kind of examining the circle.

"Nice drawing of a circle, what did you use for that a compass or-" Manta was cut off by Anna.

"I think I am ready." She said still looking to the big circle and completely ignored Manta.

"Ready for what?" Yoh said with puzzled eyes.

"Ready for the trip to Izumo." She told them.

"C'mon! lets go!" Yoh bark to them but before his feet could step around Anna stops him with a yell. Now he was confused, Anna said she was ready to leave but a second later she stopped him from leaving. What's with the circle that she needs to show them?

"C'mon, go inside the circle." She bark at them. "With your bags! Quickly! You three also!" she roared and pointed the floating spirits.

"What is this Anna?" Yoh ask as he got inside the circle.

"We are going to Izumo." She told them. "Through the use of an enchanted gateway."

"Enchanted?" Manta asked with mystified reaction.

"Gateway?" Yoh continue Manta's question.

"Also known as a portal." She finished her sentence.

"A portal? Yes… I had read about those but… it doesn't exist…" Manta yelled to her.

"What is a portal?" Yoh asked his friend next to him.

"A portal is a some kind of a way gate, a mystified way gate… can travel to different dimensions… I think that's what the spirits use to enter the heaven."

'Yes. A gate to open a passage to a whole different dimension or world… but I will not use that instead I will only open a portal going to the Asakura temple." She told them.

"Some kind of warping or… teleporting?" Yoh whispered with amusement.

"Yes. Kinda like teleporting but a bit different. I'll open the portal and we can get through there."

"And then we're on Izumo in no time."

"That's brilliant!" shouted Yoh who was really amazed with the process.

"But opening and traveling to the portal has a negative effect." She said seriously. "It will lessen the time of our journey but it will also not lessen our energy." Manta and Yoh exchange looks.

"Opening a portal is a tiring method; first the one who will open the portal would have the strength, the power, the concentration, and all the elements of our body… plus the physical, mental, spiritual and also social capabilities of the opener of the portal. Riding on the train make us tired, well this will also drain our energy… or even much more drain the opener's soul." She finished.

"What? You would risk your life just we can arrive there faster?" Yoh said and looked angry. Why would Anna risk her life but they can just aboard in a train.

"I am heavily trained. I can handle this." She said firmly without looking at Yoh.

"You never done this before, how could you say you are trained for this?" He howled at her stupidity.

"Why worry… draining my soul will be just a small percent of my mistake in opening the portal." She looked at Yoh for the first time after she said that she might loose her soul. "And don't you trust me?"

Yoh felt silent for a while and spoke. "I trust you Anna!" he roared.

"Good." She smiled oddly. And grab her electric blue beads to the spirits with quick motion. ("Were free! Were Free!" the two pesky animals shriek with joy.) 'Guide me kami.'

"Okay, just stay where you are don't move oddly whatever I will do." She instructed them seriously. With a split second she threw her electric blue around her and before it got to the ground it floated like there's no gravity on the ground. 'Oh… kami… help me with this'

She raise her hands and stretch it infront of herself and put her one hand on top of the other and yelled, "PORTICULLIS!" a deafening sound was heard through the whole backyard. And a shaking of the ground was felt.

"PORTA!" she again roared with all her might and changes her finger prayer position. Again the sound was louder than before and earth is really shaking like mad!

"POWERS OF SPIRITS I CALL YOU! FIRE, WATER, EARTH WIND, TIME COMBINE!" she yelled again and knelt and slams her both open hands in the ground. All of them felt as if the ground had been hit with a very huge massive thing that causes some impact but no craters seen.

"LET ME OPEN THE PASSAGE TO OUR DESTINATION" she again spoke but now with softer voice and closes her eyes tight and clutches the earthy ground. Yoh, Manta and the others watch her with amazement and tucking their fingers in their ears for the great noise that was heard everywhere.

She opened her eyes quickly, "IZUMO!" a clashing beam of light tumbled to them inside the floating bead where Anna was inside. Strong winds came too so they can't see Anna inside the bead of lights. Anna's hands poke outside the bright lights of the beads and grab them even it was floating in the air. She threw in onto Yoh and Manta, to the circle and Yoh felt the lights transported to them and also the strong winds coming to the ground that cause them to cannot see properly. "Anna? What is this? Is this the portal?" he yelled at her with all his might because it was very noisy.

"Yes it is the portal but I haven't open it yet!" she yelled back outside the circle. "Keep your eyes shut! All of you!" she added.

"What did she said?" Manta said who was having a hard time opening his eyes because of the blinding upwarding lights.

"Just keep your eyes shut!" he yelled back to him. And he took a last glance to the light, it was very bright and he can't hardly see Anna outside the outrage of the lights and the floating beads. 'Kami… help us…'

Outside, Anna stretch her hand upward with opened palms and cried, "OUVERT!"

The bright lights shoots out colorful rays of light with the shades of pink, purple, blue, green, yellow and red.

'THE GATE IS OPEN!' an unfamiliar voice echoed to their ears. Anna jumps inside the circle and in the twinkling of an eye Yoh felt that his navel being hooked upward and felt dizzy… he felt that his stomach had turned upside-down and rolling to the ground… like the ground goes around like rotating like mad! For a moment he thought he would faint, and then after just a few minutes of nuisance his feet slams to the ground and goes shaking and wobbling. He opened his eyes and saw a circling grassy ground. 'Is this our backyard?" he muttered in the thin air still dizzy. He found Manta and Anna kneeling onto the ground. Manta moaned with his dizziness. Anna got her feet up and stands weakly.

"Were here…" she mumbled, "Were here in Izumo."

"We are here?" he asked her as if he can't believe it and felt something in his stomach, he vomited to the grass.

"I think I am tire-d". Anna said as she falls to the Yoh's arms. 'She is surely tired of what she had done…' he thought.

"I am tired too Yoh-kun…" he heard Manta moan and fell silent.

Then he felt sleepy too and fall completely to the ground with Anna beside him.

…TBC

A/N: So this is it! They had traveled to Izumo through Anna's ability to open the portal but had they landed to the Asakura Temple? You all soon find out to the next chapter.

By the way thank you for all those who had review, those who had said this is or plead that this would be a yohxanna fic, well I am not going to follow you! Hehehehe I don't want you all to spill the beans hehehehe that's all, I will mention all those who had reviewed after the fic had been completed, Sayonara!

vienne louis jean spellman.