Miraculous Taboo
A fanfic by Setsumi-san
Chapter Eight: Salvation for Sheng Ju
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"Damn," Ren swore, "Is… there anything… the old man won't do to… get his way?"
He was currently knocked over on the icy tile floor. The big cat's humid breath and thick drippy saliva puffed into his face and stung his wounds. Son of a bitch! He could have demolished a little kyonshi like this within seconds if he wasn't so focused on the pain.
No! He was the great Ren Tao and he would be damned if a little thing like this stop him! Besides, this situation with his sister could not go any more awry! Heaven knows what else En could have done! What if he had summoned a demon to decapitate Jun, drive her to suicide, or rape her?
"I…am…stronger…than…this! BASON!!" he shouted.
"As you wish, young master!" Bason said.
Ren's veins bulged and he bit his tongue hard enough to taste blood as he put all his strength into an oversoul. Ka-chow, ka-chow, ka-chooowww!! A thunderstorm of shining furyoku filled the room, and the remaining predator was instantly destroyed.
"Heh. Who's… got… claws… now?" he huffed.
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All at once, an instinctive flash of dread interrupted Lee Pyron's meditation. It was as if his love's spirit was screaming out to him. When he noticed she was nowhere to be found, he abandoned his body and scanned for her by sky. To his horror, she was flailing deep about ten feet underwater.
He shot down like a lightning bolt to possess her, and immediately wished he hadn't. It felt like she hadn't eaten in three days and her lungs were water balloons in danger of bursting any minute. He had no idea how weak she had gotten!
Forcing the body into survival mode, Jun/Pyron ignored the harsh saltwater in her/his eyes and swam back as though trying to escape the Furies. After what felt like a millennium, he dragged her body onto land and came out. Even though she was pale and coughing up saltwater, she was alive.
"We need to get you to a doctor," he eventually said.
"No! Hack! Pyron, we'll leave a trail," Jun protested.
"Forget about trails. First of all, you almost drowned. Plus, I felt your fatigue from the combination of the spell and pregnancy. We're going."
"I'm breathing, aren't I?"
"Do you hear yourself?"
"I know I sound foolish, but it's too risky. I'll tell you what: Let's wait one day to see if I improve. Please? Just one day."
Jun loathed begging, but they had a genuine dilemma on their hands.
"Fine," Pyron reluctantly relented, "But I'm only doing this because I see your cheeks regaining color."
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After staggering to the medical wing and resting for about half an hour (7), Ren plotted what to do next.
"Pyron is strong, but he's no match for whatever else En might throw at him," he mused aloud, "I don't like what that corpse puppet did…but… I'm not heartless enough to support abortion either. Bason, where did my big sister tell the pilot to fly?"
"I-I do not know, young master. I only heard her cry out your name as she was being carried off," Bason replied.
"You FOOL! Arrrggh, must I do everything myself?" he seethed.
The enraged young Chinese man punched a hole in the wall and went outside to search for any clues or witnesses to his sister's location. The mountains were bare and chilly and the only signs of life were moss or the occasional bird of prey circling overhead. Damn! Finding clues here was as futile as trying to get Yoh to do housework.
Hmm…Maybe Big Sister has that pilot's phone number stashed away somewhere, he pondered.
However, before the Tao heir could search inside he heard a male voice cry for help amongst the rocks.
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The ivy-haired woman's energy slowly returned after she slept for a day. Her partner insisted on constant bed rest, and reminded her that mothers of twins needed more than the average pregnant woman. Jun had always fantasized about never leaving bed…until now.
She sighed and scratched her knee for the billionth time. It was just her luck to get the worst pregnancy ailments in the book: mood swings, fatigue, and itchy skin. The boredom didn't help either. How she wished she could simply doze the next trimester and a half away!
Suddenly, her stomach started to twitch repeatedly. She made a surprised little whoop sound and sat up. What were those alien sensations? They were too painless and rapid to be false contractions or kicks.
"Could it be…? Pyron! Pyron, come here!" she said excitedly.
He walked over and asked, "What is it?"
"Feel this. I think our girls have their first case of the hiccups," she laughed.
He put his gigantic palm over her stomach and beamed. Jun was right!
"Wow," he murmured warmly, "We'll have to write this down."
She took his face in her hands and kissed him sweetly. Milestones like these made all of the hardships worth it.
"I love you," she told him, "Our girls our going to be perfect little pearls because they have the perfect father."
"That's it!" he declared, eyes lighting up.
"What's it?"
"Perfection and Pearl will be their names: Wan Mei and Zhen Zhu. What do you think? No girls in China will have more original names."
"I think we have an agreement."
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Ren stopped dead in his tracks. The last thing he needed was an injured person to carry around. Then again…the victim might have had some information. He sighed and climbed toward the voice.
"Who's there?!" Ren shouted.
"Hello? Hello, please help me!" the man screamed again.
"Where are you?!"
"ARRGH!! I…I don't know! I'm trapped! Come quickly!"
"Keep shouting!"
Ren soon discovered that the stranger's arm was pinned beneath a boulder and he quickly pushed it off. The man screamed and his eyes watered in agony. His arm was bent grotesquely at a right angle. Something had to be done immediately.
"Be quiet and hold still!" Ren snapped.
The shaman gave him a vial of medicine he kept in his pocket for emergencies and fashioned a sling out of a ripped piece of his shirt. He studied the victim for about five minutes as he calmed down. He was in his early thirties, dressed in various furs, and his nose was as big as a sausage. This man clearly wasn't the worldly type.
"Thank you so much for rescuing me, young man. My name is Sheng Ju Hui, and I was trapped under that rock while trying to escape from some dangerous tiger kyonshi," he panted.
"Are you also a shaman?" Ren questioned.
"Yes. Astrology is my specialty, and I came to these mountains for some spiritual train-"
"I have no time for your life story! Look, tell me if you saw a small jet a few minutes ago."
"Are you talking about the one headed south?"
"South, hmm? Listen, my sister was on that plane and she's being pursued. If you really want to repay me, help me get to her. I'd call on some closer friends, but I don't have the time. Do you have any abilities which could help us track her down?"
"No. However…I know someone very powerful who can.
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7. Just suspend your disbelief about his quick recovery. Ren likes to take action even when he's injured, as seen after Yoh and company saved him.
