Author's Note: Yuuki~desu! I probably forgot to mention this, but I'll probably be using many, many chinese words. I'll try to post their meanings up but if I leave out some, please free to point it out!

Kwan dao – Ren's spear-like weapon

Lu Jia Dao – Deerhorn Knives (Look them up. They're pretty cool...)

Revieeew!

FONT EXPLANATION:

"Characters Talking"

Main character thinking

Stressing something or time skips announcements

"Main character's spirit talking"

Chapter 4: Dungeons

"Good. Very good." I whispered to myself as we neared the dungeons.

Now I'll have all the people I need to worry about in one place.

I held my breath as we neared the all-too-familiar double doors. Yoh, without any care for the possible enemy assault pushed the doors open, making the panes bang against the bare dungeon walls.

"What was that?" asked a very soft, female voice, coming from the fifth cell on the left.

The young shaman slowed down, seeing as we had arrived at our destination and there were no guards to worry about.

"Heh." came a sarcastic male chuckle from the cell before the one holding the female. "Looks like Bason couldn't help himself."

Yoh continued to trudge down the damp hallways, not in the slightest affected by all the human bones scattered on the ground and skeletons dangling from the walls.

"It's disgraceful that they will see me like this." continued the voice that couldn't belong to anyone else than Tao Ren bemusedly. "I don't understand why they came here, but it looks like they made it all the way here."

That's when the slumped form chained to a metal dragon used for torture looked up to smirk at the Asakura shaman standing right before him. "Yoh." he simply greeted and the other boy grinned like it was Christmas again.

"Yo."

Not wanting to bother with trying to find the keys, Yoh cut the bars with his oversoul, the metal tubes falling loudly to the ground.

I winced at the noise and felt Yami do the same.

The easy-going teenager then took off the chains that held Ren and went to open Jun's cell.

I noted the scattered body parts on the ground of her cell and couldn't help but wonder what En had in mind, letting her have her Jiang Shi even after she defied him.

Jun stood up from her work, eager to see how her brother was doing. She followed Yoh back into Ren's cell and silently watched as the brunette crouched beside the Tao heir, who was massaging his bruised wrists.

"Hey Ren are you okay?"asked the concerned boy.

With a typical Tao pride, the golden-eyed shaman glared at his rescuer. "Of course I'm fine. Who do you think you're talking to?"

The green-haired woman took it upon herself to apologize for her little brother's rudeness, only for the Asakura boy to shrug it off. "I'm just glad to see him back in shape again."

"I really didn't think you guys would come for us. Thank you, Yoh, I give you my deepest thanks."

The boy blushed, avoiding the woman's gaze. "Eh.. It's nothing, really. But we should get going now."

Their companion, however, shocked both of them with his next words. "We are not going anywhere."

Jun looked like she was about to argue with him, but he cut her off.

"I came here for a reason. I am not going anywhere until I succeed in defeating my father."

My own demeanor darkened, wicked smile twisting my features. "Well, there you have it, Yami. We are going to fight Tao En."

"Mistress, forgive me for asking, but are you sure you want this? You won't be simply getting your revenge, you'll be disobeying Hao's orders and revealing your identity."

If he had a corporeal form, I would have glared at it. "I am sure. This is as good chance as any to bring En down and Hao's orders explicitly said I was to ensure Yoh did not die prematurely, meaning I am going to step in only when either Yoh or Ren are in danger. Is that acceptable?" I asked mockingly, knowing he could not deny the logic behind my words.

"Yes, Mistress."

I put on a fake smile that was as bright as a light bulb and exactly as empty. "Wonderful." I said in a sing-song voice, my excitement getting the best of me.

Ren got up, tightening the thin sash around his waist and walking out of the cell. "I'm gonna go up right now. You can leave if you have finished what you came to do. See you later." he said, minutely glancing at Yoh over his shoulder.

Jun was left there standing open-mouthed. She visibly couldn't believe how thick-headed her brother was.

"Ren! Wait a second! What are you saying?!" cried out stupefied Yoh, unable to comprehend what he just heard. "I mean, if you had defeated your father in the first place, we wouldn't have come. Look at yourself. Can't you see you're all beaten up?! You have plenty of time... Come back later!"

Yoh's persuasion seemed fall on deaf ears as Ren went on his way, only stopping when he finally decided to answer. "You don't seem to understand my situation. I can't live on with such a humiliating defeat." His gaze then hardened, as did his resolve. "I thank you for freeing me."

Jun at last getting hold of herself tried to support Yoh's idea by crying out after Ren's quickly retreating back. "You know father's great power! He's too strong!"

Without stopping, Ren's from disappeared in the poorly lit hallway.

"Oh well. It's too bad." sighed the brown-haired shaman. "That's just the way Ren is. Once he has made up his mind, there's no turning back." He smiled then, though it didn't reach his eyes. He looked tired and resigned. "There is no other way. We are already here. Might as well help him to the end."

Jun, believing she heard wrong, turned to stare at the boy, breathing out a very weak "What?".

Still smiling, but not answering,Yoh then took off, running in the direction Ren had left. "Wait up, Ren! You're tired! How about we rest a little?!" he offered good-naturedly.

Annoyed, the Tao boy sped up. "What do you want from me? You're the one who's tired."

"I don't want anything." interjected the Asakura heir. "I'm coming to help you fight. That's all."

"I don't need your help." bit back the dark purple-haired shaman harshly. "Just go back home to Japan. It's better for you."

"Won't they ever stop bickering?" I groaned miserably, my earlier excitement somewhat lessened by the oncoming headache the two were causing me.

"I could always shut them up." came a sickly sweet answer. I could picture Yami giving me his version of Cheshire cat grin.

"No matter how alluring it sounds, it is not a good idea. Not yet, anyway."

"But if we leave won't you be sad and lonely?" asked Yoh with a completely straight face.

Ren whipped around, pointing his finger at Yoh. "Of course not!" Calming down a bit, Ren elaborated. "I'm saying that you will just be in my way. Don't take this the wrong way, but you are just too nice. And being nice won't get you anywhere with such a man."

For once, I found myself completely agreeing with the young Tao. En wasn't someone who could be treated as an equal, living being. Only as a beast. Bloodthirsty, mindless beast that has almost no sense of morale.

Yoh completely dismissed Ren's words of warning, acting as if he already met the man. "Feh. What man? Your father? I already heard about it from Bason. There aren't such parents."

And this is exactly why I'm never going to like Asakura Yoh. Always seeing the world through his rose-colored glasses...

"Yoh... I don't hate my father."

Well that's new. I admitted.

"I came here to eliminate the hatred. The tattoo on my back. It is the symbol of my hatred that has always remained. It is a family law. Given to me as a child. But that is not the source of my anger."

Subconsciously, I reached down to scratch at my bandaged right shoulder, trying to get rid of that tingling sensation his words had caused.

"I am angry at my own person. For letting myself be influenced into hurting others."

Grabbing the kwan dao that hung on the wall to his right, Ren expertly tested its weight in his hand, gripping its handle unnecessarily tight.

"Even if I change my ways, the memories will remain, just like that tattoo. That is my reason. I want to escape all those memories and to do so, I must destroy the one who left me this mark. It may be a foolish notion, but this is my fight. I don't want to see you die for something like this."

Unknown to the young Tao, Yoh started smiling halfway through his speech. "Everything will work out. You'll see." he said, snaking his arm around the other's shoulder. "We didn't come all the way here to see you die. We came here to fight together. We'll never know what will happen if never even try." Yoh said truthfully, making the purple-haired teen stare at him in puzzlement.

I noticed them sooner than the two males, but didn't do anything about it. I knew those two Jiang Shi and their ways. They weren't the type for stealthy attacks.

"Hey guys. You look quite spirited." chuckled the bigger of the two, his voice only a little more pleasant than nails scratching the blackboard. "But this is the end of the road for you. The only way you're getting through... Is in pieces."

I almost fell over when I heard Yoh squeal upon catching the sight of them. "Kyaa! They're so ugly! I didn't see them before!"

Ren glared at the two opponents, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Those are the Jiang Shi who hurt my sister."

The bigger one grinned, shamelessly admitting to having tortured Jun. "We are the Jiang Shi in charge of the dungeon. We are called the Torture Brothers. Those who wish to escape are going to be severely tortured."

"What?! Are they serious?!" asked Yoh incredulously.

Ren merely smirked cruelly. "Sounds interesting. Torture? Not a problem. But I'm gonna take control of this game."

As was to be expected, the Jiang Shi got offended and attacked recklessly.

The chinese shaman used the little time he had to address his friend, smirk not leaving his face. "Yoh... Do what you want. Just make sure you don't get in my way."

Quickly catching onto the meaning of his words, the carefree Yoh agreed.

With a single blow, Yoh took care of the smaller of the two Jiang Shis while Ren effectively incapacitated the bigger one.

Together they then rushed up to the top, intent on reaching their goal – Tao En.