Author's Note: Yuuki~desu! … Review, pwetty pwease? Pwetty, pwetty, pwetty pwease? *puppy eyes*
FONT EXPLANATION:
"Characters Talking"
Main character thinking
Stressing something or time skips announcements
"Main character's spirit talking"
Chapter 3: Tao Mansion
Ten days later
"Tche. The place hasn't changed at all in those years..." I grumbled under my breath, extremely careful not to disrupt any small rocks in order not to alert the rescue party trudging forward on the mountain path below me.
"I don't think that's surprising." remarked Yami, his black wolf form trailing behind me. "The Taos hadn't made any changes to the mansion in over 2000 years as a reminder of their former glory."
I continued up the steep mountain terrain, concentrating on feeling out for any traps, hidden sensors or anything else that would compromise my location to the head of the Tao clan.
"Of course YOU would know." I growled.
Though I was sure he heard me, he didn't comment on it.
"You know, you've been extremely quiet since we got here." I started, trying to get him to confess what was on his mind.
It took a while, but he did seem to take the bait. "May I speak freely?"
I inwardly gulped at what he'd asked, knowing it did not mean anything good.
"Go on." I said hesitantly, preparing myself for the onslaught of cuss words and most likely, scolding.
"I know you are not here only because of Hao's orders, and while I do not mind it, I have to know. What do you plan to achieve by coming here? If it's a fight with Ren, you know you'll have the opportunity later."
I stopped and turned to stare at the obsidian wolf. His midnight-blue eyes showed nothing but curiosity with a great deal of wisdom one ought to expect from a spirit as old as him.
"Truthfully? I do not know myself. What I do know, however, is that this party of greenhorns has a very slim chance of actually succeeding this little 'Rescue Ren' mission. And that is even with Bason's help."
I waited for Yami to comment on the obvious, that I was simply stating what we both knew, but he never did. And that was what probably prompted me to tell him exactly what I thought I wanted to get from this trip.
"I know that if I do not help free Ren, there will be no way for me to fight him. I also know that going in there, even as a help from sidelines, means risking what little of advantage of surprise I have. It is also very obvious to me that after Ren is free, he will go and try to beat En and I won't be able to idly sit by and watch. I am also sure that if either Kyo or Shu were to stand in my way, I wouldn't fight against them and simply retreated."
My voice quivered with the last statement and I had to actually take a deep breath before continuing. "What I expect from this trip is a change. A big one. But I have no idea what kind and how it will affect me, my ideals and possibly affiliations..."
"I see. Thank you for being honest with me." my guardian spirit replied, his impossibly dark blue orbs staring into my golden ones with something akin to affection.
The little talk slowed us down enough that we had a hard time catching up to the bunch of misfits. They were already standing on the edge of the cliff which overlooked the wide rock plains that were supposed to be full of Jiang Shi under the control of Tao En.
As it turned out, there were none. Okay, this is definitely not good.
Luckily, we were now close enough to the rescue group to hear what was being said.
"That's... Where Ren lives?" asked a dumbstruck-looking Yoh, staring at the giant pagoda-like mansion.
Ryu seemed to agree with the younger man's amazement as he simply said: "It's huge."
Even Horohoro couldn't help but gulp as he only now realized the true wealth of the Tao family. "That's not all that's huge. Look at all this countryside. In comparison, Hokkaido is so small..."
Manta, at the moment being probably the most level-headed one, was instead impressed by the location of the main Tao family mansion. "It's the Kishu region. I never expected to see such a place at the Tibetian border... Not the mention the way here was quite a trip. We had to travel 10 days." he paused for a second before finally finishing his thought with a bit of a relieved expression. "Anna was nice to have let us go like this."
Bason reluctantly floated over to the humans, his head hung low in a semblance of shame. "I thank you all for coming here. For it was I who dragged you all into this."
Yoh, with his easy-going attitude that was the tiniest bit similar to his brother's, was the first to respond. "What are you saying? We came because Ren is our friend. We can't just leave him alone when he is in trouble."
Everyone agreed with him, adding their little piece to the reason for their coming.
What a bunch of idiots. They simply do not know when to start taking things seriously.
Fortunately for me, the sweet-talking was interrupted by the arrival of more than a little disconcerted-looking Amidamaru and Tokageroh.
"It's very strange! The area around castle seems completely deserted!"
The samurai's report was quickly elaborated by his enemy from the past life. "Yeah! I didn't see anything either! Not even a bug!"
Yami, now standing beside me, growled lowly not liking the situation any more than I did.
Bason realized the fishiness of the situation right after us, not wanting to believe for one second that Tao En was not waiting for them and this wasn't just one big trap.
I almost choked when I heard Yoh wondering whether En was taking a nap. My spirit, on the other hand, had a hard time holding in his hysterical laughter.
Thankfully, before the wolf exploded, the band was already on their way to the pagoda.
"Time to get serious." I breathed out, my eyes never leaving the group. "Here is the basic plan: we use the Shadow Path and follow Yoh Asakura. We will not interfere in the fight unless either the Asakura, Jun or Ren are in a life-threatening situation or until En appears."
"Very well, Mistress. Let us depart, then." the wolf agreed, his form changing into that of a living darkness and wrapping around my body. As soon as there was not a patch of my skin visible, I got dragged below the ground, into the Shadow realm. We traveled from one shadow to the other, no matter how small it was, until we found the person we were looking for.
The Realm shook as a deep, dark voice resounded in the vast, black emptiness, seemingly coming out of every and none direction at the same time. "We have successfully blended with the shadow of Yoh Asakura."
Time for work. "Well done. I want full 360 degrees visual contact and audio."
"Connecting."
In matter of seconds I was assaulted with thousands of vivid images, all of them picturing the main lobby from a different angle. There wasn't a single detail that could escape me like this.
I listened to Bason explaining the structure of the mansion, giving the party as much information as he could without taking too long. "Our objective is to free Ren." he said lastly, making sure they understood.
"It doesn't matter anyway. Tao En will probably come after us. We will have to deal with him eventually." said Ryu matter-of-factly.
Horohoro cracked his knuckles, his high and mighty attitude once again rearing its ugly head. "Heh! I can't wait. I'm looking forward to giving him a beating."
It was then that Manta decided to pipe up. "Excuse me... What am I supposed to do?"
I froze for a moment, for the first time realizing we had a useless human on the team. Why in the seven names of hell had they let him come? I wondered, but dismissed it as quickly as it came. The human wasn't important. For all I cared, he could get killed.
Yoh answered Manta's question, his whole demeanor changing. "Manta, you will do just as Bason says. This fight will not be like the fights we've had before. This time, our lives are at stake. I don't want you getting mixed in the action."
At least someone gets the gravity of the situation...
"Since we don't know how well Ren is, we'll have t rescue him quickly." the boy continued.
That was when the nightmare began. There, on the balcony leading to the upper level of the pagoda stood five Jiang Shi. The Gokufusei.
"The farthest you will ever go shall be right here." announced their leader. "You intruders are not welcome to do as you please. We will not allow such things."
Ryu, still not entirely out of the initial shock of seeing the five figures appear out of nowhere let his mouth run. "What? Those are the guys that we must fight?! What are they?!"
I would have smacked myself if I were any other person.
It was in that split second that the Yon-Johtoh attacked Ryu, using the speed boost his leopard legs provided him with. He went right for his face, slicing his ridiculous hairstyle in two and scratching his head, judging from the steady stream of blood flowing down his forehead.
Using the moment of surprise this attack gave them, the five elite Jiang Shi all attacked at once, aiming for the intruders.
With lightening speed, Horohoro collected fallen Ryu from the ground, caught Yoh under his other arm and threw Manta on top of him, getting them safely away from the devastating attack.
"So you have managed to dodge our quick attack... You maybe weak, but it seems you know how to defend yourselves." praised Ichi-Johtoh, with his hand still buried in the stone tiles of the main lobby.
Murderous aura surrounded Horohoro as he dared to ask the questions that seemed to be on mind of all of the humans. "Who are these guys?"
"These Jiang Shi were perfected by combining the greatest parts. They are the best ones that Lord En has in his possession. But I never thought we would have to face them. The situation does not look too good for us." mumbled Bason weakly.
Horohoro, already beyond himself with rage strapped his snowboard on his arm, not caring one bit who he was facing or insulting, for that matter, as he called them ugly toys.
"You annoying kid!" shouted San-Johtoh, thoroughly offended by Horohoro's name-calling. "My elephant feet will shut that big mouth of yours!"
"Shut up. You guys are too loud." growled the Inu tribe boy in response, activating his new attack and freezing San-Johtoh.
"Who's next?!" he cried out, unaware of the quick Jiang Shi standing behind his back, ready to strike.
Before he got the chance, however, the Jiang Shi with leopard legs was cut in half by no one else than the fallen motorbike gang leader.
"You destroyed my new ultra thick haircut!" he screamed as he continued to slice his opponent into small pieces.
After his anger was vented out, he turned to the young Asakura, looking gravely. "These things aren't worth your time, master Yoh."
"Yeah, leave this to us. You go save Ren." agreed Horohoro.
Seeing that his friends were serious, he did not question their decision and instead let Bason lead him down the numerous hallways, into the dungeon where Ren and Jun were being held.