This is Chapter 13 of Forgotten Shamans vol 1: The Bride of the Tao.
I do not own Shaman King or any of its characters. I'm just a gigantic fan XD…
Recap:
Yue has exited the Chou Senji Ryakketsu… now you need to read the rest of this chapter… and the next few ones too…
Quick note on this chapter: OMG OMG OMG! Freakin edited this within an inch of its life. I actually condensed two chapters into this one. I hope it came out smooth. Please please please review and let me know KK
Enjoy Enjoy!
Mahalo plenty!
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The tree was ancient. Her crown was taller, and her branches spread further than her neighbors. Her buttress roots provided many nooks for the woodland animals to hide in, and comfortable seating for weary travelers. She was the tree that was closest to Hao's tent, and Kasai's temporary home.
Kasai didn't like Hao. He was over confident. No matter how Hao had justified it in his mind, he wasn't a god. A powerful shaman, yes. But still a human. Still fallible.
Perhaps he was being too quick to pass judgment on a human he did not know. Hao had been watching over Yue this past week. He rarely left his tent, and when he did, he never walked very far.
He felt the wind stir. There was a new presence.
Strange… It was similar to Yue's furyoku. Was she awake?
Kasai saw Hao carrying Yue out of the tent. It was her furyoku. As her guardian spirit, he could pick out her furyoku pattern from among a million shamans. It was light, and airy, like the feeling of the wind ruffling through your feathers. But now, he sensed darkness, and suffocation, like being trapped in a cage too small for you.
"Yue-chan, what happened to you?" he thought.
Hao selected a mossy patch under the tree, and fussed about Yue's sitting arrangement for a moment.
"Are you comfortable?"
Yue nodded. Hao seemed satisfied, and walked away.
"Kasai?" It was little more than a whisper, but Kasai heard her, and flew down.
"Mistress, are you okay?" He knelt in front of her.
She was leaning against a great root, her knees propped up to her chest, and her arms resting on the ground. Her eyes were closed and her head tilted back.
"Do I look the same?"
Every word she uttered seemed to have too much breath in it. Almost like it hurt.
"Yes. Exactly as I remember you."
"I don't feel the same."
By now, Kasai guessed at what happened.
"What you're feeling is your new strength."
"I don't feel stronger. I feel strange."
"Your subconscious has created a barrier to shield you from your furyoku. If you lose control of it, the strain on your body would be too much, and you would die."
Could this have been prevented? He thought back to the mountain, where they had first met Hao, and played that scene over and over in his mind. Was there something he could have said? Something he should have noticed? Something, anything at all that he could have done?
Yue sat there. Unmoving. You could barely tell she was breathing.
In a single day, she had become stronger than she would probably ever have been in her lifetime. But was it worth having this much power if you are not in a condition to control it?
No… She had not asked for this strength.
Damn Hao. He knew what was going to happen.
"It was wonderful, Kasai. The world was at peace. Nature as it should be. You would have loved it. I could see you soaring in the sky, flying with the wind."
Did she support Hao's ideals now?
Everything she was going through right now was Hao's fault. How could she say anything good about him?
"I need to get better." Yue mumbled.
"Do you intent to fight for Hao?" Kasai stammered.
How can you support your enemy? How can you help the one who hurt you?
Kasai had been Yue's guardian ever since she was a child, and had watched her grow up, watched her become strong. He treasured the explosive, fiery, overly emotional girl that he called Mistress.
But he had lost her. Yue would never be the same again. She would always be battling to control her furyoku. The moment she slipped… Kasai did not even want to think of the outcome.
He hated Hao.
"Kasai?"
The tone was soft, but the sound was the same. Kasai looked at Yue, and sighed.
He did not like Hao, but he trusted Yue. Regardless of his own reservations, his own emotions, he had always known that he would give in to her. A shaman asked him once if it bothered him to follow someone else's will. He had said that a warrior existed to serve his Lord. Loyalty and duty were a warrior's greatest joys.
Did it matter how he felt about Hao?
Resigned to his decision, he smiled.
"Understood, Yue-chan."