Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king, nor any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters, that including Hana Horutari and Sofia Faust. I own the plot and rights to this fic... Yeah that's it. I'm hoping to get Beast wars on DVD though :DDD.
Author's Note: Yaay. Things are getting exciting now. And soon this fanfic will end. Jeezus this was quick. And thank you to Feline who gave me a name for the teenager . Translations! 'Ruhe' means 'quiet!', 'Hölle Jagdhund' means 'Hell Hound', and 'holen sie!' means 'fetch!'. 'Seda' and 'Bala' is Portugese for 'Silk' and 'Bullet'.
"Don't touch me!" Sofia slapped away her father's hand. But before Faust could even look shocked, she was dragged out into the street and shoved out of the teenager's hand. The guests in the restaurant emptied out in a herd to watch the fight. Ren had to actually wait until there was room for him to shove people out of his way and see what was going on.
"My name's Darian." He heard the teenager call out. Ren snarled, trying his hardest to not stab through the crowd. Yoh and HoroHoro were behind him to just make sure of that. "What's yours?"
"Ren calm down, she'll be fine." Yoh reassured him, holding on to the Tao's shoulder. "She can handle herself, remember?" HoroHoro managed to grab Ren's kwan dao and guide the two through the crowd. Ren's grip tightened over the weapon. He didn't CARE if she could handle herself. He didn't care if she could beat him with two hands tied behind her back! He wouldn't DARE let someone touch her.
"Why do you care?" He heard Sofia's voice above the muttering and cheers of the crowd. An opening split through the wall of shaman. HoroHoro spotted it and darted for it.
"I can see them!"
Darian stood a few meters apart from Sofia. Thumbs fiddling with the loops on his jeans. The two whips poised and ready in his fingers. Sofia stared at the ground, duffle bag at her feet and walking stick stabbed in the ground beside her. He grinned, shrugging with casualty in his tone.
"I just figure I should know the name of the girl's funeral I'd be going to."
With one flick of his wrists, the whips were cracked out. The aura of over soul danced along the leather lines. Darian smiled. Sofia smirked. "It's only polite."
Ren glared up at the sixteen-year-old. "Leave her alone!" Yoh and HoroHoro sighed in annoyance. Darian arched a brow, side-glancing the Tao teenager. "If you want a fight, I'll be happy to kick your ass. But don't even THINK of hurting her." The honey-colored eyes blinked a few times at him.
"Oohh, you her boyfriend 'er something?" Both Ren's and Sofia's face flushed red. He sweatdropped before taking another step forward.
"It doesn't matter who I am! You touch her and I'll have you face down on the ground in a second!" Darian stared deadpan before turning back to Sofia. "Don't you look away from me!"
"Hey, how 'bout calling off your attack dog, enh?" He shouted. The blonde tensed up, her cheeks red.
"Ruhe, Ren!" She gritted out. "Stay out of it!" Ren went to reply, wanting to say that he wasn't going to let her start meaningless fights with complete strangers. He WANTED to say that, but before he could, Sofia was already on the ground. The crowd gasped.
"Did anyone see that?"
"What hit her?"
"Did she just faint?"
"Something definitely hit her."
Darian smiled, fingers tapping against his whips. "Whoops, finger slipped." He quipped, walking up to her. Ren's eyes widened, before narrowing down to a threatening scowl. Luckily, Yoh, HoroHoro and Chocolove all grabbed his limbs before he could move.
"Ren. Calm. Down." HoroHoro said, keeping his grip over Ren's arm and neck.
"Let me go!"
Sofia sat up, her arms and chin limp. Darian rolled his eyes. "It's totally your own fault for letting your guard down, you know." The blonde raised her head to face him, two slashes along her left cheek with blood slowly seeping from the tiny openings. "Uh oh, you're bleeding." He gasped with fake surprise. Darian kneeled down and brushed his thumb against her cheek.
"Don't touch me." She muttered darkly under her breath.
"Oh, but you're just so totally pretty. No punch though."
One hand clung to his wrist, whilst the other gripped at his neck. "I said don't TOUCH me!" She screamed. Another gasp from the crowd. Ren's eyes widened considerably. Darian smirked and stretched out his free hand. He cracked one of the whips. Her eyes flinched.
"You missed one, little girl." The leather sliced through her other cheek, making her fall on her side in recoiled pain. The hands went to her face. Darian stood back up and drew out his other whip once more. "Now it's totally silly little mistakes like that, that cause accidents. Safety first."
She was thrown back again, at least a meter in the air before rolling across the gravel and dirty. New wounds showed upon her arms and face. This time, the crowd got a good look at the over soul upon the whips. Leeches twirled and spun around the leather cord of their medium. Dark with red spots along their back. Their bellies covered with a dark pink.
Sofia rose to her feet, though looking ready to fall back down. "Good girl, Seda." She furrowed her brow, taking a deep breath. One of the cords slid back up to the brunette, curling around his leg affectionately. Darian grinned. "The totally great thing about leeches is that they keep the blood flowing and from clotting with a chemical called 'hirudin'."
Another slash across her arm came from the other whip. Darian merely chuckled. "Bala's sure taken a liking to your blood. But see, this is what happens when you blindly challenge people stronger than you." He shrugged. "All I need to do is keep going and going and going until the pain is too much for you. You'll slowly break down."
"Until the pain is too much for me?" A small laugh emitted from the small blonde. Her grin grew. "You think you can comprise a strategy sheerly upon PAIN? On ME?" She lifted her head up, grinning widely with a sadistic curve to her eyes. "I haven't felt pain in years, DARIAN. So don't you DARE lecture me upon pain." Darian arched a brow as she reached behind her head and tugged at the pony tail holding up some of her hair. "Don't you put yourself above me." The tresses of blonde fell around her face. Ren, HoroHoro, Yoh and Chocolove stared in shock. "Don't you DARE assume I'm weak!"
She looked, in almost every way, like an exact replica of Faust. The doctor sighed, dipping his head down. "Oh dear."
Darian just chuckled. "So, little girl's got some punch then." The pale blue eyes glared forward. He cracked one of his whips, her knuckles flexed. "What'chya gonna do? Are you even a SHAMAN, lit--" He was cut off by a sudden blow to his head from behind. "Aagh! What the hell!" He whirled around, expecting to see Ren or her father standing behind him with their weapons out. But Ren was still being held back by Yoh and the others, and her father had disappeared from the crowd. All he really noted was that the duffle bag was opened. He glared and turned back around.
And was suddenly on the ground with a giant paw against his chest.
A giant dog stood over him, only just a meter or so above the Patch Restaurant. The fur was mostly the jet black. The rest, on its long and grinning muzzle and the belly covered most of the protruding, black, rib cage was a deep red. The ears were pointed high and along its back stood jagged, red thorns starting at the back of the head. Its tiny, white pupils glowered down at Darian from beneath its massive paw. The tail was pure, black bone that wagged threateningly from right to left. Strong enough that it made a small breeze for the crowd below.
Atop of the head stood Sofia, gripping a belted leash that tied between the large dog's jaw. The fangs that poked out from the lips couldn't have been bigger then a small stool each. Deep pants were heard.
The group stared up in disbelief. "Since when did Sofia know how to make a giant over soul!" HoroHoro asked incredulously. Partly in fear, partly in shock. Ren's voice had left him.
"Did you teach her, Fau-- Faust?" The doctor had disappeared from the crowd. Yoh bit his lip. HoroHoro glanced behind them.
"Where'd he go!"
"Faust must've taught her." Yoh flinched at the sight of Darian beneath the giant dog's foot again. "He must've wanted her to protect herself I guess." Ren furrowed his brows in confusion. She wouldn't, would she?
"That is one MESSED UP over soul. Looks like something out of a vampire movie." Chocolove grimaced. No jokes. Ren's hand twitched. He had to help. He had to make sure she didn't do anything she'd regret. Then again, would she really regret doing it?
Sofia smirked wildly. "Mein hölle jagdhund." She said affectionately, leaning down and rubbing the top of the dog's head. "Can you still HEAR me, Darian?" She yelled. The teenager was concentrating on freeing his arms. "If you CAN, I'd like to give YOU a lecture on pain." She tugged at the leash twice. Frankensteiny lowered his head to stare down at the brunette. Sofia stood tall. "You see, pain is merely a message. Are you LISTENING, Darian?" She tugged once on the leash and the large dog pressed down against him. He cried out. She shivered with a smile. "Good. Like I was saying, pain is a message. A message from the nerves to the brain, basically shouting out--" Frankensteiny pressed down again.
"AAaagh!" He cringed. She smiled.
"Yes, that'd be the word." She gripped onto one of the thorns behind her and held it tightly beside her. With one tug, the paw lifted up off of Darian. His left arm looked broken. Though it was only a few seconds of relief before the dog batted him away down the street. "Holen sie!" She shouted. The dog took off after the body, skidding to a halt to nudge him with his nose a few times. Sofia smiled, shivering from the waves of pain from the body below. "The reason your plan would fail on ME, is because I'm able to turn off the nerves that send the message. I'm an EMPATH Darian, did you know that?" No answer, merely moans of pain. "Oh no, that's right. You didn't. See? This is what happens when you blindly challenge people who are stronger than you." She mocked. "And I will make you learn that lesson PROPERLY."
Ren glared up at her. "I won't let her."