Well I only got 6 reviews for the last chapter, but I don't care I'm gonna keep writing this story cause it's one of my favorites and cause it's getting too excited to end it now. If you read this story and like it, can you please review it? I'd really appreciate it. Well anyways here's chapter 3.

Chapter 3: Lonely journey
Started: 5/20/05
Finished: 5/25/05

Disclaimer: If I owned Shaman King, I'd immediately claim Hao as mine. Hee hee just kidding.

Horo Horo stomped his way across the street walking further and further away from the Asakura household. A look of pure anger written across his face because of the earlier situation.

"Ugh who does Ren think he is? He won't even go help two friends in need? It's like he has a heart of stone or something. He doesn't care about anyone!" Horo Horo shouted as he kicked pebbles across the street with his foot. "And now he's even got Pilika thinking the same way. What the hell is he thinking?"

Horo Horo suddenly stopped and looked up as he found himself in a dark park that was about 1 mile from the Asakura household. (A/N: The same park that Yoh was walking through earlier)

He looked around and saw nothing but darkness. The only light around was the light from the moon and the faint lights that came from the light posts a few feet away. He suddenly came to realize that he had no idea as to where he was going. He didn't have a clue as to where Yoh or Anna were, so where was he going?

"Wait a sec...where am I going?" He asked himself. He looked around at his surroundings once more. Thousands of thoughts hit his mind as he was surrounded by silence.

What if I'm not even going the right way?
What if I've been going the wrong way this whole time depriving Yoh of much needed time?
What if Yoh and Hao are battling already?
What if Yoh's hurt?
What if Anna's hurt?
What if one of them is dead?

With each thought that came into Horo Horo's mind, anxiety and goose bumps soon followed. The feeling of uncertainty was to much for the ainu. He would just have to trust his own instincts in hopes that they would lead him the right way.

Horo Horo continued to walk through the cold embrace of the night hoping Yoh and Anna were ok.

Back at the Asakura household, Ren, Pilika , and Tamao remained in the same positions in which they were in when Horo Horo departed.

Ren was sitting calmly on the couch tapping his foot, Pilika was sitting on the floor hands together above her chest praying that Horo Horo wouldn't be harmed, and Tamao was sitting on the steps holding the soft warm towel to her face so that it could provide even the smallest amount of comfort that she needed.

Pilika continued to sit on the floor becoming impatient by the minute. She didn't like to sit and wait while her brother was out on a dangerous mission. It just wasn't her way. The young girl slowly rose from her position on the floor and spoke.

"I can't take this anymore. I don't like waiting just hoping that my brother is okay. I want to make sure that he's okay. I can't sit around like this anymore. I have to go!" She shouted.

"Calm down." Ren answered as he continued to tap his foot on the darkened floor. "Horo Horo's fine. There's no way that he could possibly know Yoh ran off to." He said calmly.

"How can you be so sure?" Pilika asked.

"It's your brother that we are speaking about. If he doesn't find something in 10 minutes, he gives up." Ren replied.

"Yeah, but...I don't know. He doesn't really have to find Yoh to get himself into trouble. Sometimes, trouble finds one that is hiding and least expecting it." (A/N: I'm starting to sound all philosophical XD)

All of this talk of trouble and danger was making Tamao anxious. She didn't like to sit around while people talked about such things. It worried her even more. She wouldn't listen any longer.

Tamao slowly parted away from the warm towel and stood up from the steps. "Uh I'm just going to go upstairs and clean up the mess left behind in Anna's room." Tamao said anxiously.

Ren and Pilika both looked at her and simply nodded. As Tamao slowly turned made her way up the steps, she knew deep inside that Ren and Pilika understood that she was just trying to make up an excuse to avoid the conversation.

As Tamao grew closer to Anna's room, a fear grew in her soul. She breathed slowly as she prepared herself to see the pain left behind by selfish acts such as the one that had just occurred. Pain such as blood on the carpets, pieces of shattered glass scattered along the floor. A cold breeze that would blow in giving off an eerie feeling to anyone that stepped into the room. It was time.

As she slowly creaked open the door to Anna's bedroom, her thoughts were realized. The sight of shattered glass and stains of blood filled the room. The ghostly breeze made it's way through the shattered window with ease. The entire room was filled with sorrow and pain. Tamao's eyes slowly filled with tears as she imagined the struggle that must have taken place in this room while she was sleeping.

She slowly kneeled down onto the ground and placed the white towel onto one of the stains on the ground watching it soak with Yoh's blood. The sight was too much for Tamao.

Seeing an inanimate object soak in the blood of her first love, made Tamao's heart ache. Even though she had given into the fact that Yoh's heart belonged to Anna and had accepted it, she was still very loyal to Yoh and was very close to him. Just the thought of her sleeping in her warm bed, while Yoh battled at the loss of his physical strength made Tamao realize that what Horo Horo said was actually true.

As she continued to wipe the stains and pick up pieces of glass off the floor, Tamao couldn't help but think if she was worthless after all.

"Ow!" She shouted as a piece of glass parted from her hand and fell onto the ground. Tamao looked down at the palm of her hand. "I'm bleeding." She said. Tamao traced her finger along the cut and then looked at a blood stain on the floor. She sighed.

"What am I complaining about? This cut is nothing compared to the cut that Yoh must have received when he was trying to prevent Anna from being taken." Tamao quickly wiped the layer of blood that was coming from her cut and continued to clean the room.

As she scrubbed the floor thoughts flooded her mind as she was surrounded by silence. Flash backs of what Horo Horo said to her.

Flashback:

Horo Horo then sighed and let go of the door.

"I'm sorry Tamao, but I just can't do that. I am not one who likes to wait around like you. I am a person that takes action and stands up for my friends. You of course have never really known what it's like to see one of your friends in danger, but I have. So you can stay and worry like you always do, but I'm going to go and help my friend!" Horo Horo then walked out the door and slammed the door behind him.

End of flashback

The same words repeated over and over again in Tamao's mind.

Flashback:

"So you can stay and worry like you always do, but I'm going to go and help my friend!"

End of Flashback

Every single time that Tamao replayed that thought in her mind, she became more and more disgusted in her self. It was true. All she ever did was worry about someone and hoped that they would be okay. She never made an effort to guarantee the safety of an individual that she cared about. Never. Every single time that she worried and never took action, her friends would get hurt, but mange to survive. Well it was time to take action and ensure that her friends didn't become injured just because she was too afraid to step up and defend her friends.

Tamao stood up and looked down at the white towel covered in red stains in her hands. Her eyes narrowed as she took the towel and flinged it onto the ground. Her mind was made up.

She was going to follow Horo Horo.

Tamao slowly walked out of the room and walked determinedly down the steps.

Ren and Pilika looked on as they saw a determined Tamao make her way towards the front door.

"Hey Tamao?" Pilika called. "Where do you think you're going?" Pilika slowly rushed over to the door as Tamao opened the front door.

Before Tamao could leave, she decided to give her explanation.

A smile grew on her face as she turned towards Pilika.

"Horo Horo's right. I do worry too much." She started.

"Wait...no Tamao. Horo Horo didn't mean that. He was just angry and he didn't realize what he was saying." Pilika tried.

"No. I've been thinking about it and Horo Horo was right. Even I agree with him." Tamao replied. "It's time for me to break my selfish ways and go out there and defend my friends." Tamao looked out into the moon lit night where her journey would soon begin. "And so, I'm going to follow Horo Horo. Hopefully he hasn't found Yoh, Hao, and Anna without me." She grinned.

"Tamao you can't be serious?" Pilika questioned.

"I'm quite serious Pilika. Well...it's time for me to go." With that said, Tamao made her way out the door and into the cold embrace of the night.

"Tamao wait!" Pilika stretched out her hand, but was not able to grasp onto Tamao's arms.

"Let her go." Ren said.

Pilika turned. "Ren..." She called. "Two...Two of our friends are gone now and you still don't think that it's right to stop them?"

"It's not that it's not time to stop them. They are both unaware of the risks that lie before them by making such foolish decisions. That's all." He explained.

"But Ren. We should at least follow them and stop them before their decisions take them too far." Pilika suggested.

Ren continued to stare down at the silhouette of the moon on the floor, but did not answer.

"Do you want to leave me to...Pilika?" Ren asked calmly as he slowly looked up.

"What?" Pilika asked as her eyes widened.

"Is that why you are so eager to follow Tamao and your brother?" Ren asked.

"What?" Pilika slowly walked over and sat down on the couch next to Ren. "What do you mean, do I want to leave you? I don't want to leave you alone Ren. It's just that I don't trust that my brother can stand by his decisions alone. He's not one who always comes out a winner, and so I want to ensure that he comes out of this situation okay." Pilika responded as she also caught sight the moon silhouette on the ground.

"I see." Ren responded.

Silence flowed through the house as both Pilika and Ren sat alone in the house. Neither of them said a word.

Yoh continued to make his way through the darkness of the night in hopes of finding his love in time and not harmed. He made his way through a dark and dense forest a few miles further away from the park that he had walked through earlier.

"Master Yoh. Slow down. You are getting even more scratches on your arms by cutting through all of this thick vegetation." Amidamaru said concerned.

"It...doesn't...matter." Yoh panted. "I have to find Anna before Hao does something to her." He said as he continued to use his sword to cut down the branches that were in his path.

"But how do we even know that we are going in the right direction?" Amidamaru asked.

"Because." Yoh grunted. He quickly made due of a tree branch that was hanging in front of his face. He then stopped and turned to Amidamaru.

"Because I can sense him. I can sense him Amidamaru." He started. "I have just realized that all of Hao's pointless babbles are actually true. Like he always tries to explain to me...we are one. We are connected. And it's this so called 'bond' that I have with him that allows me to sense his presence no matter where he may be. I never realized that this connection was real until I started to think about it. And as I thought about it, I started to feel his presence resignating from somewhere in these woods." Yoh finished.

"I see." Amidamaru said as he stared down at the ground. "So he is somewhere in these woods?" Amidamaru asked as he looked onto the darkness of the proceeding trees.

"If my instincts are right, then yes. He is somewhere around in these woods." Yoh said.

"Then let us move forward and find Hao once and for all." Said Amidamaru determinedly.

"Hmm...right." Yoh answered. He raised his sword once more and continued on his journey.

Little did Yoh know that Hao was waiting for him as well.

Anna watched from her chained position as Hao trained and prepared himself for Yoh's arrival.

"This time little brother, you won't survive!" Hao grunted as he did sit ups on the cave floor.

Anna looked back onto the ground. "Yoh...please." Tears slowly started to flow from Anna's eyes. "Avoid this place. Save yourself."

Author's Note:
Yet another long chapter eh? I'm really sorry for the slow moving chapters, I guess I just have a lot to write don't I? Well I hope that I this fic can regain it's fame again and receive more reviews than it did in the last chapter. But in order to do that I need you guys to review. So if you read this story and you like it so far, please review and tell me what you think. Thanx a lot. Love you all! bye!