This is Chapter 10 of Forgotten Shamans vol 1: The Bride of the Tao. Obviously… the main character of this story is Ren's bride :)

I do not own Shaman King or any of its characters. I'm just a gigantic fan XD…

Recap:

Yue has met up with Hao on her way from the Tao Manor. Hao has invited her to join him, and she has walked through an unknown bubble to see what Hao has to offer.

Quick note on this chapter: Sorry this took so long. Until I'm a professional writer I have to take time out for other things… I'm sure you all understand :) Next chapter will be up a lot sooner… promise promise…

Review pls:) I love you for it XD

Mahalo plenty!

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Yue was falling through a void, but there was light at the bottom, and she stopped right at the edge. The light before her, the dark behind her. She hovered above an icy lake in snowcapped mountains.

There was a priest by the lake, facing two demons. There was something familiar about the priest… He was a man in this scene, but his features were the same. Could that be Hao!

The demons attacked him, but he pushed them back with a shield. They jumped into the lake, the splashing water giving them a temporary cover, and then one jumped back out to attack the priest. But Hao, using his power, bound the demon back into the lake. The second demon jumped to attack right behind his kin, but Hao dodged the attack, ending up behind the demon, and with the same power he used to bind the first, the priest bound the second demon as well.

Yue was dumbstruck by the ease of the priest's task. Demons were strong, and no one in their right mind would challenge a shikigami. It was possible to beat them, so she was told, but what she had just witness was beyond possible. Hao defeated not one, but two demons with the same effort he used to breathe!

The priest turned to face his employers, who were standing a little ways behind him. They were probably merchants, judging from their pack horses.

"Thank you for defeating the demons for us. We hope you will render your services to us again in the future." The leader of the group bowed. Hao bowed back.

"What power…"

Yue looked around her. There was no one else there. But none of the people were speaking.

"It's a demon wearing a man's face."

"Don't look away or he'll get you too."

Could they be?

"You guess correctly." This time the voice had an owner. Yue turned around to see Hao, the priest, standing behind her. "Those are their thoughts."

"Their thoughts?" Yue turned back to look at the merchants. All of them wore smiles on their faces, but she could sense their fear as well. She felt a cold clench her heart when she remembered the fight. If she had been there, she knew she would be afraid too.

"Humans do not understand power like this. This is something only shamans can perceive."

"Shamans?"

Hao nodded. "Come with me." He floated away into the darkness.

Yue wondered if she should follow, but it seemed that the scene by the lake had ended. The merchants had gone on their way.

"Wait." She hurried after the priest.

The scene below them changed and Yue saw rapids in the river below them. Hao descended to the rapids, and started walking through it, like he was taking a stroll through the park.

Yue gasped. Shamans were still humans, subjected to the laws of nature. She loved and had great respect for the power of nature, but no amount of love or respect in any way, shape or form would turn rough waters calm beneath your feet.

"This is the power of Shamans. It is a part of nature. We can see the flow of nature. We can see it beyond what the natural eye sees. Humans cannot understand this, and this is why Shamans will always be stronger than Humans. And this is why their extinction is unavoidable."

The landscape transformed, and Yue found herself watching from the top of a volcano. She knew that she wasn't really there, but she could still feel the heat from the bubbling lava below her. Beads of perspiration formed on her face.

She looked down and saw Hao walking through the lava. How could this man do such things? He stopped, and bent down to scoop a handful of lava with his hands. Yue watched as the lava trickled through his fingers. How could he control, no… overcome nature in such a way.

Yue felt like herself float up high and higher, away from the ground, until she saw the entire world. She was hovering in space, the world at her feet.

"You can have this power, but you do not yet. It is I, who awaken these memories. And it is I who can open up the future."

"The future?"

"Look at the world as it is today."

Several images flashed before her eyes. Yue saw sea birds, and fish dead from oil spills. She saw animals dying because their forest homes were cut down. She saw smog covering the cities, covering the vegetation with a layer of dirt. With every scene, it was as if her heart was getting stabbed. Her hands instinctively covered her heart, but there was nothing she could do to stop the pain. She closed her eyes, but the scenes became more and more vivid. She curled up into a ball, her hands covering her head. She wanted the scenes to stop. The pain was so intense that she started screaming, and nature cried along with her.

The images suddenly stopped, and Yue felt soft, prickly grass beneath her. She slowly let herself uncurl, and pushed herself into a sitting position. The grass was luscious and full of deep green shades. A gentle sound of running water made her look up at the brook, and the doe with her foal by her side. The foal was drinking from the brook, and the doe nibbling on some grass.

The wind whispered through the trees, and Yue looked up to see the leaves dancing. Birds were perched there, singing a language that she didn't understand, but their notes touched her heart and she could feel the peace and happiness that the birds were celebrating.

She looked down from the tree and saw squirrels gathering nuts on the ground. They scampered around playing tricks on each other, trying to see who could get more nuts. One brave little fellow scampered to her. Her heart skipped a beat. She had never been so close to a squirrel before. The squirrel looked up, unafraid, his nose twitching.

"What do you want, little guy?" She stretched out her hand and the squirrel jumped into it. She lifted her hand up carefully. She didn't quite know what to do now.

The squirrel jumped onto her arm and scampered up to her shoulder, and nuzzled her cheek.

"Beautiful is it not?" Hao, the priest, walked towards her.

"This is paradise."

"It is. Even Humans would be able to see that this is beautiful. But they cannot experience this." He held out his hand to the squirrel on her shoulder. There was a nut in his outstretched hand, and the squirrel leapt from her shoulder to his hand. It squeaked a word of thanks, and then scampered down Hao's robes back to his play fellows.

"And they cannot see that." He waved his hand and Yue saw the winds blow through the trees. She was stunned. She had never seen wind before. It was like a soft stream of dancing shimmers.

"These are my memories now, and this is what I see. But it can happen."

Yue found herself in the air, hovering above the lucious meadow.

"I have only mastered the five elements. But when I become one with the great spirits, I will become the world itself, and everything will return to the way it is suppose to be."

The way its suppose to be… a beautiful paradise…

"For the sake of the coming world, I shall grant you power as well."

A bright burst of light shone from Hao, and Yue had to shield her eyes from it.