Shaman King

Violet Twilight

Rated: T

Genre: Romance/Fantasy/Drama/Supernatural/Action Adventure/ Angst

Pairings: YohAnna HaoOC OCOC RenPirika HoroHoroTamao LysergJeanne…

A/N: Heya just figured I'd try this. Feedback is appreciated. Thanks for reviews so far.

Part One: Glisten

When rain falls, its does not wash away negativity

Chapter Two

"Unless I missed something, that's some sort of magical sword, right? And a creepy looking one at that too…" a certain male Ainu mused, blinking as the boy rotated his limbs. Ren frowned suspiciously at him, grasping his Kwan Dao anxiously. The others either observed in silence or titled their heads to the side, curiosity overwhelming any fear. Anna folded her arms, stepping back a bit, to only exchange glances with her fiancé. Yoh brooded thoughtfully, before opting to approach the odd boy; feeling Anna's dark orbs boring into his back. Hesitant hazel met grand green as his head was fully raised, along with his body.

He sheathed his sword and made his way over to Yoh, excruciatingly slowly, which made the brunette gulp and feel sweat begin to form. He paused just short of him to cast a secretive glance at another, before focusing his attention on the unsure shaman before him. Snapping out of his reverie, Yoh laughed uneasily and extended his hand in a gesture of friendship. At this the boy's eyebrows rose and unlike he was expected to, his hands remained dangling without a purpose at his sides. Noting there was going to be no handshake, Yoh withdrew his hand; feeling slightly backed up when Ren and Ryu joined him.

"Now, who are you my mysterious friend?" He quizzed cheerily, flashing the boy a friendly grin. He winced and recoiled when he was glared at with a deep intensity. Yoh sweatdropped while Ren proceeded to shake his head; marching right to the boy and staring him down. Neither blinked, until Ren folded his arms and his eye lids drooped.

"Your name?"

"Kei. Kei Arashi."

Someone felt their heart slow.

Ren raised a brow.

"Tao. Tao Ren."

Arashi gave him a nod, giving the same person from earlier a fleeting glance, before turning away and beginning to walk calmly away. The others eyes widened and Yoh darted forward, hands cupping his mouth.

"Hey! Where are you going Arashi? What were those things?"

Arashi halted and eventually looked over his shoulder to Yoh, expression impassive, eyes covered with a blanket of ice.

"They're called shadows," he began in a hushed tone, so everyone had to strain their ears to hear. "They feed on the darkness in people's hearts and minds. They're horrible."

"We can see that…" the green eyed dowser muttered underneath his breath. HoroHoro cocked a confused brow at Arashi, which the shaman happened to notice.

"How come we couldn't kill them and when we did hit more were made? Then you come and-and…what did you do?"

Arashi rolled his eyes, sighing in resignation as he promptly wrenched out his blade again, stomping up to HoroHoro. He thrust it up in front of the boy's face, scowling as he did so.

"Your weapons need to be blessed before you fight a shadow. You see, every weapon has a unique signature. They also have one of three types. Yours if the pure type. The shadows weapons, say those black energy orbs are black energy. If one is more powerful than the other, they will transfer it to black or pure. In this case, the black kicked the ass of your pure, so it used the new black to heal itself and clone with the leftovers."

"What's the third type?"

"Medium; neither black nor pure."

"C'mon, that was obvious Ryu."

"But Lyserg-."

"Shut up and listen. My blades type is black-."

"But you destroyed-!"

"HoroHoro isn't it?"

"Eh? Moi?"

"Hai. Shut up and listen. My black overpowered theirs, but in a case of it being the same type, I can change it to pure or medium, or perhaps increase the power of my black. There are many things you can do; shadows of this common kind tend to use them to heal and whatnot. I sometimes use black to increase my own."

"What exactly did you do?"

"I turned them pure and fed them to your weapons."

"How the hell do you turn them pure?"

"Ah, that is related to your soul and heart itself. If they are good and strong, once in control of the black or whatever, you can bend it to your will."

"Kick ass! But-where the hell do they come from?"

"…I do not know HoroHoro. I am on a quest to destroy them." With the finishing statement, Arashi sheathed his sword again and gave them an icy smirk, waving with a flick of his wrist and swivelling around on the ball of his heel. He could feel them watching him with intent, sending him into shivering.

"S'cuse my French, but hey you bastard, you haven't told us what the hell signatures are!"

Arashi halted and gave a loud groan, whirling around to give HoroHoro a menacing glare. This time however, they ambled up to him, quite fine with listening for a bit more. They couldn't deny they weren't intrigued, but they were frightened somewhat…

"Signatures have to be uncovered. They are made from the heart and eventually established upon your own personal weapon. To gain them, you must prove something to yourself. Now may I go?"

"Hold up," Yoh said, gifting him a large grin, "we wanna help you."

Arashi arched a brow at him, his eyes showing his alarm.

"We are?" Many confused people chorused. Anna, Jun and Ren were among them who kept quiet, to themselves. Arashi turned fully to Yoh, interlocking eyes yet again.

"Be aware if you join me, your lives will be placed in jeopardy and it'll be a hard trip. Do you really want that…?"

"Hai, its fine. It's getting a bit boring around here anyway. I'm sure no one minds…"

"Well..."

"Don't worry Manta," Ryu cut in, his large grin plastered upon his features. "We'll look after you. Promise." The boy's features lit up as Ryu made an oath, while Arashi silently marvelled upon the warmth surrounding them.

"So, how about it Arashi-san?" Anna spoke indifferently, catching the gazes of some. "Are we coming?"

He gave Anna a frigid smile, taking her hand in his own.

"If you want."

: Part One:

I warned you

"How about we ask…the…no one's here…"

How'd I know we'd be found out?

"Nukumi-chan, no one has been here for years by the looks of this place. It's deserted."

Quickly, take form!

"Let's just check a little deeper in."

"Ok. It's your adventure."

Nukumi and Gachou walked briskly through the undergrowth, until they came to the heart of the quaint and ghost town village. There was a fountain situated to indicate it was the centre, but it was not spouting any water and the remaining water stored in the circular alcove at the bottom was stagnant. Nukumi hastily held her nose, cringing as the lingering smell of decay seeped up her nostrils, while Gachou stayed quiet, not attempting to shield himself from the smell.

"Do you think there are any spirits here?" She queried, slowing her pace and scanning the area. Gachou shrugged easily, patting her on the shoulder.

"Maybe, maybe not. It would be to see with closed eyes rather than open." The female nodded in agreement, dark eyes twinkling as she curtsied to a bemused Gachou and sped off with the intrigue of a child. Gachou sighed, shaking his head, before a grin wormed its way onto his face and he followed her. Hell knew why, but Nukumi had opted to come into the adventure with a dress rather than trousers. Like her emotions, she either hated dresses at one point and favoured trousers/shorts, but a lot of the time vice versa…

"Ah, Gachou oni-chan…"

"Hai?"

"What time is it?"

"Two hairs past a freckle." The boy drawled, pulling up his sleeve and studying his arm carefully. Nukumi rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and stopping yet again. He was getting rather weary of it, but she was obviously peeved at him. The raven haired girl was now quite a distance ahead, revelling in the sights, before a peculiar noise met her ears. She blinked and peered over her shoulder, anxiety mounting when the same noise perturbed the calm silence, yet she could not locate the source.

"Gachou oni-chan." she murmured, sighing in relief when the much taller man ambled over, concern glimmering in his deep set brown blue eyes. She hopped over to him, grasping his large sleeves tentatively; concerned eyes darting around in frenzy.

"Nukumi-chan, what is it?" a voice inquired, making the female crane her neck to meet vibrant blue eyes holding a mixture of concern and intrigue. She smiled reassuringly at the woman infront of her, pinching her eyes shut so the nervousness was not fully displayed.

Seira had seen it in her eyes and scratched the back of her neck, squinting in a slightly irritated manner. The transparent figure floated towards her slowly, a grin worming its way onto her face.

Seira, to save further explanations, was Nukumi's upbeat and positive guardian spirit. She was currently twirling her short blonde locks, her grin spreading out across her face. At seeing the grin, Nukumi found it infectious and gave a mirrored one, which extremely put Gachou at ease. But hold up. What had frightened her in the first place? Nukumi, sensing his perplexed nature turned to him, her smile faltering. She recognised that air of concern all too well.

"I just heard noises," she muttered, her eyes drifting downwards. "Nothing much…" His eyes became solemn as his guardian ghost materialised beside him, arms folded and expression thoughtful. Daichi ran his ghostly hand through his long orange hair, before a relaxed expression adorned his features.

"Nukumi-san, I do believe you mean the noise from those?" He quizzed, his finger directing their gazes behind them.

Nukumi quickly paled and then promptly screamed.

: Part One:

"Anna? Are we still going to that place?"

"…I don't know Yoh. That depends on Kei-sama here."

"Please call me Arashi. I am deterred when people refer to me by my surname and add all that 'san and sama' stuff."

"Hai…"

"And where were you headed? I am sorry if I have-."

"We were going to a temple of sorts. It does not matter though."

"…The purity temple?"

"Hai…"

"The one in Aomori…"

"…How are you-?"

"HELP ME!"

The conversation between Arashi and Anna was halted by an agonised plea of help, causing everyone in the large group to hastily turn around and gawk at the source of the voice. An elderly man lay sprawled out on the ground; back first, gazing soullessly at the pale blue sky, mouth timidly open. His brown eyes were strained as they fell upon the group and opening his mouth yet again, he choked out in a much smaller voice; "Help me."

The majority of the group bolted towards him, but the blonde and brunette remained, shrouded by a hushed tension. As the others fussed, Arashi and Anna exchanged solemn glances, before cautiously approaching; hanging in the back of the jittering, huddled crowd. HoroHoro stooped down and supported the man as he attempted to sit up, which resulted in only a severe fit of coughing. HoroHoro flinched and Manta who loitered infront gulped; eyes wide. Ren's forehead creased in concern and Anna herself looked a tad perturbed, but Arashi stayed impassive, eyes like continually falling sleet.

"What's wrong?" The male Ainu questioned, surveying the man who arched in his grasp from his coughing. "Where are you hurting?"

"It swiped three quarters of my soul," he rasped, eye lids drooping absently, "It relentlessly assaulted me and took much of my soul."

"What-?"

"How old are you?" Arashi cut in bluntly, eyes planted on the man.

The man blinked, before he mustered up a light frown.

"I am twenty eight."

Everyone's eyes widened, with the exception of Arashi, whose expression told all his secret suspicion had been confirmed. HoroHoro handed the man over to Pirika and jumped to his feet, staring evenly at Arashi.

"How is that possible?" He asked, both to the man and Arashi.

Said brunette shrugged casually and turned away, brooding at the unearthed ground.

"When you lose portions of your soul; you lose your vitality and youth. Simple enough, losing three quarters of an age can do more than double someone's actual age."

"What did this Arashi?" Jeanne questioned in an agitated manner, ruby eyes glimmering.

"It was a…ghost." The man spluttered; body heaving in Pirika's unexpected hands. The female Ainu felt sweat trickle down her face as she found herself grimacing. Ren cringed somewhat and opted to kneel down by her side, offering to take him. She gratefully handed him a way, feeling her stomach lurch as she observed his pupils dilate. Arashi locked his green orbs on the man, who lay unconscious in Ren's arms, before shrugging again and waving his hand, indicating he wanted to resume with the journey.

"Hold up. We aren't going yet, right?" Manta questioned, proceeding to tug on Arashi's sleeve. He blanched and backed up when he was given a venomous glare. Arashi sighed dejectedly, blowing his dark strands from obscuring his view.

"This ghost could be anyone. How do you intend to find him or her?"

"Ano…why do we not track his life force? Surely you can track it Arashi-sama?"

"Tamao. Call me Arashi. And I suppose we could, but it is distracting…"

"We can't leave him. C'mon Arashi, it'll be quite fun." Yoh spoke cheerily, flashing him a grin.

"We'll have to bring the man with us." Ryu explained, his dark eyes transfixed on the slumbering figure.

"Sure," Yoh said, repositioning his orange headphones, "let's go."

There were murmured agreements while Ryu and Faust gently picked the man up, their frowns prominent. The group began to walk away, following the faint feel of a life force, while Arashi did not move, staring emotionlessly after their disappearing figures. His feet began to walk forward of their own accord, wanting to join in with aiding. He frowned gingerly, his blade; Kyuui clinking as he went.

This people confused him terribly. They were so opposite.

: Part One:

"Calm down kiddo," Daichi soothed with a hearty laughter, "they won't hurt you. They're harmless forest spirits."

Nukumi bit her lower lip tentatively, her eyes scanning the trio of five inch high oddities. Having realised she had stopped screaming, they dropped their branch made hands and smiled happily, adoration flooding their eyes as they peeked up at her. She blinked curiously at them, fear depleting as she knelt down to get a closer look. When she saw the look in their eyes, she squealed and forgetting her 'overwhelming' fear completely, glomped them. Gachou rolled his eyes playfully, Daichi burst into jubilant laughter and Seira grinned, rotating her limbs.

The Brazilian ninja and Japanese lumberjack exchanged amused looks, as Gachou tapped the much shorter female on the shoulder, ceasing her glomping as she cast an innocent and ecstatic to him.

"Hey, it looks like they want you to follow them." Seira mused, brows arching in an entertained manner as the little forest spirits jumped on her lap. She titled her head and smiled fondly at them, before looking back to her guardian.

"Where do you think they want me to go?"

Seira shrugged. "Dunno. Go check it out. We'll stay here. Have fun!"

Whether Nukumi even considered objecting to the idea was thrown out of the window as her eyes were drawn to their glowing brown eyes. She squealed again and reached her feet, darting off with a spring in her step; the poor forest spirits clinging on for dear life. Seira chuckled, winking at Gachou.

"Shame you don't have her energy. I'd like it if you did."

Despite his dark skin, it was easily viewed heat had travelled to his cheeks and in response to Seira's oblivious nature, Daichi noted for her and appeared behind his master, clapping his hand on Gachou's shoulder, though it went through and went unfelt.

"Don't let the fact that she's four years older intimidate you."

Gachou blushed furiously and rolled his eyes. For the sake of not losing his cool, he walked briskly at the murky fountain and glowered dauntingly at the musky water, wishing for the red to fade.

: Part One:

"Sabishii-sama! Didn't you order Aoi to shut the doorway?"

"Of course." The older man frowned, silvery white locks falling across his face and enhancing his strict features. A young girl fiddled with her fingers as his powerful and intense gaze flitted directly to her. She felt so very exposed, but was clad dressed in dull white frills, halting her mind from straying from her set task. Sabishii rubbed his nose, his feet shuffling along the ground as he trudging to the open window.

He hung his head, before whipping his body around, crossing his arms and grimacing.

"Jinkei, you have a new task. Go and find Aoi."

She nodded quickly and turned away, ambling off; her loose dark blue hair swishing as she did so. He proceeded to gaze thoughtfully at the ceiling which was scarred and scorched from previous fights in the very room. He sighed in a distraught manner, his youthful but skilled eyes glimmering.

Have you found Aoi?

"He has left…"

Did I not warn you he would leave?

"Hai, you did."

Are you going to disobey me again?

"Of course not…"

Good…

"But where has he fled to? How do we find him?"

Baka.

"Nani?"

I found him; I found him running.

"…Then why?"

Your older brother is bad Sabishii. He has broken my heart by not trusting my intentions. Do you want to do the same?

"Iie…"

Ah, that is the reply I sought to hear. Now we're going to trample him and his little allies. Leave the brunette alive though.

"Hai…"

We start with the dowser.

Tsuzuku