DarkTaoAngel: This is a very short chapter, but I am trying to update my other stories at the same time, so bear with me! If I get enough reviews, I will write this story, and I might just make it longer! But only if you review, so review!
Summery: Ren is blind, and no one seems to know where he is. The battle with Hao had just ended, with everyone thinking that he had been killed. Hao is alive, though, and he has Ren with him. but Horo has something to say about this. Love triangle: Hao x Ren x Horo!
"Where am I?" Ren asked, not really expecting an answer. He sat up abruptly, finding himself to be sitting alone on a small futon. He looked around him, but he saw nothing. It was so dark, pitch black almost, in the room, so not even the smallest light could be seen. There must not have been any windows in the room. It was enough to make anyone go mad, but Ren was not about to jump to any conclusions. He merely laughed a bit to himself, hearing his own voice sounding raspy and scared.
Ren felt a bead of sweat slide down his face, and then another one trickle down his nose. He tried to convince himself that he had merely overexerted himself in training, and was tired, so as to explain what was happening around him. But he knew that he had not been training for almost a week.
And then he remembered it: he had been searching for Hao for the past week. He and a few friends- no, he did not have friends, only enemies, but that was beyond the point at the time- had been looking for Hao. And they had found him and fought him. But, what had happened after that? It was all a blur to Ren, who could hardly remember anything.
"How is everybody?" Faust asked the groups of shamans before him, hoping that the battle with Hao would not have damaged any of them beyond restoration. Luckily, none of them had been hurt too badly; at least they were all alive. They all seemed to be fine for the most part, all except for Yoh, who had a puzzled look on his face and was staring blankly into the distance.
"Hey, you guys, where is Ren?" Yoh asked, bewildering the whole group.
"I thought that he was with you, Master Yoh." Ryu said, acknowledging that he, too, did not know where Ren was. He looked around the group as they each in turn shrugged their shoulders.
"Well, he can't be with…" Yoh began, but he stopped abruptly as he heard a noise from overhead. He looked up and was shocked to see the Spirit of Fire, looming over them all and soaring up into the sky. It then flew away, more than likely going to rejoin its master.
"Hao," Yoh said, and he and the other shamans started running in the direction that Hao's spirit ally had gone, "Hold on Ren, we're coming!" Yoh shouted, and they all started sprinting, as fast as they could run.
"Ren…" Horo said, hoping that they would not be too late.
The darkness was impenetrable, and no matter how hard he tried, Ren could not adjust his eyes to the black. He was beginning to worry, and he was still unsure of where he was or what he was doing there.
It was then that Ren heard footsteps coming down the hall, or what he thought must have been the hall, and towards the dark room that Ren was sitting in.
The footsteps grew closer, and the door to the room opened. Light flooded into the room, but Ren could not see the figure that had entered the room. He did not understand at first why he could not see anything in the room, but then it dawned on him, and, as the figure spoke, Ren knew that what he had thought was true.
"That is right, Ren, you're blind."