DAY 7 (6th Day of Chikhai Bardo)

When he next awoke, it was not to pleasant circumstances. Judging from the light, it was early morning at best. There was a heavy feeling of energy in the air, almost to the point of making it feel like he was inside of a thunderhead. He sat up quickly, and found the source of the energy without any trouble. It was Hikari. Small arcs of what looked like static electricity were jumping along her skin, and he could feel intense heat from her direction from the current flow.

Permitting himself a small yip of alarm, he moved over to her side, braving the couple nasty little shocks he got along the way. He reached out to grab her arms, hoping to shake her out of whatever she had fallen into. He stopped, however, when his hands came in contact with her aura. Peace. Pure peace, that was what he felt. Was it possible that she had reached personal nirvana, and this was the result? She was supposed to be altered by this, but in such a violent way? He had no more time to hesitate and ponder, however, when he was abruptly fried by her energy – he was just not having good luck with that lately – and tossed into the bushes on the far side of their camp. Choosing to remain where he was rather than risking a false step into more pain, he pushed as far back as he could get into the foliage and still be inside his barrier. Which was still intact, amazingly enough.

Hunching up in a ball as tightly as he could get, trying to be as small a target as possible, Shinzou was wishing he could at least save his pack from the onslaught, but it was in the middle of her rapidly growing inferno of energy. He was starting to seriously fear for his life as crackling ribbons of greenish fire moved closer and closer to him, now only a few inches away.

Suddenly, Hikari's eyes snapped open, and the power that had permeated the space around her abruptly imploded with a muffled bang, sucked into her body and lighting it up like a torch. The green glow darkened almost to the point of becoming blue, her entire body bathed in fire.

Shinzou gradually uncurled, peering at her hesitantly. Was she going to explode and crisp him to death? Was she going to just gradually fade out? What was going on here? Shinzou mentally cursed Joiro for not letting him know about this important and potentially deadly phase, but then recalled that it was probably their fault for doing things out of order.

Finally, after what seemed like days but was in truth about an hour and a half, Shinzou worked up the nerve to venture out to retrieve his belongings, keeping a wary eye on his potentially destructive companion the entire time. As soon as possible, he scooted back over to his 'safe spot' in the distant bush, and sat down to wait and watch.

Lack of sleep gradually overcame his nervousness, as absolutely nothing new happened with the other occupant of the clearing for the next couple of hours. Shinzou was rudely awakened again, but this time it was because he had nodded off and fallen over from his sitting position. Pushing himself up and rubbing his now sore head, the Apothecary noticed that Hikari's glow seemed to be migrating to a single point in the middle of her chest. Blinking, he watched as first the entirety of the green glow, and then the substance of her body was pulled into the fuzzy orb.

Shinzou wasn't sure this was a good thing. Was she ceasing to exist? Had he really screwed this one up big time? It surprised him even more when the Hikari-ball apparently became solid, and dropped to the ground with a loud clunk. It bounced a few feet and rolled to a stop.

That was… anticlimactic. Shinzou thought, his eyebrow twitching. So, was he now guiding a pearly green ball to the afterlife? Sighing, he glanced at the sky and noted the brightening line of the horizon signaling the approaching dawn. Another sleepless night. Great, this was just how he wanted to start out his trip through the incredibly dangerous and trying Spirit Realm. Deciding that a little, softball sized sphere was not a significant threat, Shinzou moved back into the open, picking leaves and twigs out of his hair and clothes.

Deciding that he didn't feel like starting a fire, and that he could use a break from ramen, Shinzou munched a couple of granola bars for breakfast, glancing at the 'remains' of his companion every once in a while. Since she didn't seem to be very observant right now, he hadn't bothered to take any measures to conceal the spirit markings on his face this time.

He had tried last night, and had found that, unsurprisingly, he could no longer seal his energy away enough to take on a fully human form. The nature of the spirit plane was amplifying and drawing out powers that he usually kept tightly sealed away. The only good thing was that he could now get away with his inborn magics without calling attention to himself. One of the reasons he was always lost, which wouldn't happen if he perpetually used his 'homing' sense, was that it made him very easy to track. He had been using it excessively the last few days due to necessity, and fervently hoped that no one… unfortunate had picked up on his trail. That would be one more thing he really didn't want to have to deal with right now.

As it was, his mental mapping ability was not an ability in this realm; it was part of his nature. He was never lost in the realm of spirits, no matter where he was or how he got there. He was counting on this to be able to lead him where they needed to go, wherever it may be. It usually worked better if you had a specific destination in mind, but he could also give it free rein and combine it with vague intentions and still manage to end up in the right place. He absently flipped the theoretical 'on' switch in his brain and got a quick reading. West. What they needed was west of their current location.

Now that he was positive as to the direction to take… Shinzou had no idea what to do. Hikari was currently an apparently inanimate object, and he had no idea how long she would stay that way. Sighing, he moved over to where the orb had come to rest, and cautiously picked it up. It felt gently warm, as if it had been sitting in the sun for hours, though the day had just barely begun. Quietly inspecting it, Shinzou found it perfectly smooth and round, and a uniform colour all over. There was nothing to symbolize the young woman's spirit that it had been created from. Not knowing what else to do with it, Shinzou set it down near his pack and went back to watching the sun rise.

The more he thought about it, the less pressing the issue of 'what now?' became. After all, if Hikari no longer was, then his quest was over. If she had reached nirvana, there was no rush. Either way, he might as well sit here and let things happen for a while. In other words, Shinzou decided to catch up on his sleep.

She really is converting me into a nocturnal creature. Damn. He thought to himself as he settled down on his once again unrolled sleeping bag. He had positioned the Hikari-sphere directly in front of him, so that he would be able to see it immediately and at all times. As he dozed off, he couldn't help but wonder if Hikari was really gone from his life. He also wondered why exactly this thought bothered him. He didn't miss her, the annoying, naïve, immature ghost girl, did he? Bah, he always got too attached to these idiots who followed him around…

He found himself thinking of other faces too, ones he hadn't seen in a long time. Kumori, Takae, and even Kigai… I wonder what they're doing, and I wonder what they'd say if they were here…Once again, Shinzou Hyougotani was alone.

Consciousness filtered in slowly for Shinzou. He was aware that it was a pleasant seventy-something degrees, that the ground was hard even with a sleeping bag, and that it didn't sound like anyone was trying to kill him at the moment. Two out of three wasn't bad, so Shinzou decided life was okay right now.

Opening his eyes to check the 'sphere situation,' he noted what was possibly a minor improvement. The spirit symbol that he had come to recognize as signifying 'Hikari,' as it appeared on her Styx River stone when she inhabited it, now graced the shell of the orb she had left behind. Shinzou decided that this meant that she hadn't gone into nonexistence, and he was cheered slightly at the revelation.

Glancing around, he found he had managed to sleep half the day away; it was now afternoon. Yawning and stretching, he stood and set himself to work gathering firewood. Once he had a decent sized pile, he sat back down, not lighting the fire just yet. He allowed his senses to flicker across the nearby terrain, receiving a mental wave from Rundig, who was working, as usual. The other nearby beings were taking no notice of them; either they couldn't sense them, or if they could they didn't find them suspicious. They might be assuming that he was waiting on someone to return through this gate, as occasionally happened.

In boredom, he reached out for the green orb of Hikari again, poking it irreverently with a finger, rolling it around on the ground. He surprised himself, though, when he began talking to it.

"Hey girl. How long are you gonna stay like that? We've got things to do and places to be." As he expected, there was no answer, but he was not looking for one. He continued his one sided conversation, absently wondering if she could hear him, and if she would kill him when she returned to normal. If she ever did, that was.

"You know, if finding inner peace turns you into a green ball, I'm not sure it's all its cracked up to be. I mean, lots of people search their entire lives for nirvana, but I wonder if they'd be so dedicated if they knew they'd end up like this."

He paused for a moment, looking up at the clear sky. "I hope you change back soon. Being by myself is feeling pretty strange…"

He trailed off, his mind wandering as it was apt to do in such situations. He was pondering the important topic of whether to eat ramen, beef jerky or both for dinner when the spirit ball began vibrating, rolling away from his fingertips. He blinked at it, dropping his arms onto his knees as it rolled in a zigzag pattern to a point about five feet away from him.

Bright cracks formed in the smooth surface, and the spirit symbol changed from green-black to stark white. Choosing to trust his instincts to tell him if there was any danger, because he was really tired of sitting in that shrub, Shinzou chose not to move and sat back to watch the latest transformation.

Shortly, the shell split with a soft crack. Shinzou was rather expecting it to explode, so he was interested to note that it held its shape for a moment, and then seemed to melt, the pieces slowly softening and opening onto the ground like a flower opening its petals. A flat disk of light was revealed, growing and spreading, taking shape. Shinzou watched with eyebrow raised in disbelief as the energy took on a human form… a familiar one.

Soon, Hikari was sitting in front of him once again, eyes closed and glowing. As her light faded, he became aware that something was different. She looked a lot more… solid. And colourful. She almost looked… alive. He was puzzling over this when she finally opened her newly blue eyes and looked around. Spotting him, she paused for a moment, then reached over and whacked him on the side of the head.

"Ack!" Shinzou found himself on his side in the dirt from her blow. Shoving himself back up, he rounded on her, "What was that for?!"

"Just because I'm a spirit ball doesn't mean I can't hear you!" She sat back with her arms crossed.

"Hear…? You heard what I said? Then why are you hitting me?"

"Well, I couldn't really hear what you were saying, but I knew you were talking… and whenever you open your mouth it's always a punishable offense."

"You just hit me for no reason?!"

"I had a reason! I told you! Besides, I wanted to."

Shinzou was fuming. Why exactly did I want her back again? She's nothing but trouble and pain for me!

His pouting was brought to an abrupt halt, when he realized two things. First, Hikari was now solid. Not ghost occasional psychic solid, but real solid, like him. Secondly, and more importantly, she was naked. Yikes. His eyes abruptly turned into dinner plates, and he twisted himself around so quickly that he felt something in his back wrench. He squeezed his eyes shut and felt his face burning from a massive blush.

What the heck?! Why is she naked?! Wait, solve problem, and then think about why. He opened his eyes in order to search for his pack. Once he found it, he yanked the top open and pulled out the first piece of clothing he found, one of his shirts. Shutting his eyes again, he turned around and held it out in Hikari's general direction.

"Eh? What are you…?" Her voice trailed off as she apparently took notice of her… situation. He felt the shirt grabbed hastily removed from his hands, and turned back around. He opened his eyes to look in his pack again, taking a few extra moments to hunt for clothing this time. He could still feel the hot blush on his face as he handed her a pair of his pants and some of his boxer shorts as well, simply holding them over his shoulder and not actually turning around.

After a moment, she tapped his shoulder to signify that it was safe to turn around, so he did, although a bit slowly. Part of his mind, the part that wasn't still dying of embarrassment or completely confused about what had happened, noted that she looked kind of cute in his clothes, which were far too big for her. She had the sleeves of the shirt rolled up to her elbows, and the pants heavily cuffed.

"Um…" He started.

"So… any clues as to why I was naked?" She was maintaining an astonishing level of composure.

"Well, while you were dressing, I thought about it a bit, and I figure that it has something to do with the fact that you're 'real' now."

"Real?" She glanced down at herself. "You mean life-like solid?"

"Yeah. It's my theory that you've been altered by moving onto the spirit plane, and also by passing Chikhai Bardo… congrats on that by the way."

"Yeah, thanks. I guess we ghosts don't have much use for clothes."

"Ghost clothes are quite literally a figment of their imagination. You all have clothes because you think you do. Your essence is really just your body." Body… oh, bad thoughts. Shinzou fought down the urge to blush again. He needed a topic change.

"Thanks for the class, professor. Now, what's next?" Topic change acquired, Shinzou was quick to answer.

"It's time to start on the next part of our journey, of course." He stood up and dusted off his pants, offering her a hand up. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet. He noticed that the waist of the pants he had lent was so large that they were threatening to fall off, so he pulled a couple of spare bandannas out of his pack. "Here. I think you can use this as a belt. I'd offer you mine," He gestured to the belt he was wearing, "But it's the only one I have."

"That's okay. This works." She demonstrated by knotting the ends of the bandannas together and then wrapping it around her waist like a sash, while Shinzou rolled up his sleeping bag for travel. The young man was mildly surprised that she was able to do this with only two, but then again she was very slim.

Shinzou grabbed his pack, closing it securely and swinging it onto his back. "Shall we?"

"Sure… where are we going?"

"West, my friend, west!" Shinzou gestured grandly toward the direction that the afternoon sun was heading for. Then, he set off in a direction that was approximately northeast.

"Hey, where ya going? I thought we were headed west!" Hikari trotted after him.

"Well, we're on the east side of the gate clearing, so if we went straight we'd have to cross it in the open. I've got to avoid all the gate travelers, so we're taking the roundabout route."

Shinzou walked in a semicircle around the gate until he was on the far, western side, where he turned and set off due west. Hikari followed him as he pushed his way through the foliage, which thinned out the farther they got from the clearing. Luckily for the two travelers, they stumbled across a worn travel trail heading in their general direction.

"All right. Now we at least know there's something in the direction we're heading." Shinzou set out eagerly down the path, at a much better rate than when he had had to fight the local vegetation. Hikari was doing her best to keep up, but found herself breathing hard after a few miles.

"Hey – Shinzou! Wait – up!" She cried after him. He pulled himself up to a stop, and then turned around and trotted back to her side.

"Sorry," He apologized, "I've gotten out of the habit of traveling like this with other people." He graciously offered her a piggyback to their next destination, which both of them had sensed was a few miles off yet. Once she was securely settled on his back with her arms around his shoulders, a bit of a trick considering her was still wearing his pack, he set off again at not quite his original pace.

"Say Shinzou…" Hikari spoke once she adjusted to his stride.

"Hmm?"

"I didn't get to ask earlier, but what's up with your face?"

Shinzou froze in mid-step, abruptly realizing that the neck of his shirt – his mask – was around his throat, and that his spirit markings were available for the whole world to see. After staggering a bit to regain his balance and composure, he began trying to stutter out an explanation. "Oh, um… well, that is…"

"Don't lie to me. Come on, you've probably just got some sort of lesser demon in your family line somewhere, right? That's what those are, magical markings, aren't they?" From her view over his shoulder, she inspected the angled stripes on his cheeks, connected by a vertical line on each side of his face and ended with tiny, separated triangles. There were minute intricacies in the design from up close, but from a distance they looked solid black.

"Well… I guess you could say that." It's as good an explanation as any for now.

"I thought so. I dunno why you're so nervous about them though, they're pretty cool."

"Cool?" Shinzou started running again, fighting his instinct to blush. "If you say so. But they usually freak people out, so I keep them covered."

"Well, you don't have to here, do you? We're in the realm of spirits, so lots of people here must have them."

An astute observation for a newbie, but not containing all the facts. "Yes, they are common here, but you have to understand that a person's spirit markings tell a lot about him or her. They identify your clan, your ancestry, and your power level. It's best to keep them to yourself, really."

"Yeah, you aren't much of a show off, are you?"

"Not really, no. Especially when it means that it keeps people from coming after me and trying to kill me."

"That bad, huh?"

He only grunted in reply, continuing to run towards their destination, freeing a hand momentarily to pull the cloth up to cover his face. They were getting close to populated areas now. Once they were within about a mile from their destination, Shinzou came to a stop and let Hikari down.

"Eh? What's up? We were making good time." She was puzzled at this change.

"You can walk from here. I want my hands free, in case I need them. Besides, we don't want to call attention to ourselves."

"Right. So long as you promise to slow down."

"Yes, I know." The two set out, walking this time instead of running. "We're going to have to figure out if you can still switch over to your 'portable' version, though."

"You mean my stone possession? Yeah, I'm wondering about that too. If I can't do that anymore, what else can't I do?"

"Pessimistic, aren't you?" Shinzou called over his shoulder, though he was not really one to talk, normally being the president of the regional doom-and-gloom club. "Maybe you'll be able to do more, different things instead."

"That'd be nice, but I don't think I'm that lucky."

They continued on in silence, broken only by Shinzou's whistling, which Hikari brought to an abrupt end when she attempted to kill him for it after about ten minutes. So it was that they staggered into their first Spirit Realm town a bit dirty and ragged, and also sporting a new lump on the head in Shinzou's case. The Apothecary glanced unconcernedly around, getting his bearings in the strange town. They needed a place to stay, but Shinzou wasn't sure he would be able to pay for accommodations. Money wasn't the same here as it was in the physical world. Trade and power credit were popular, but there actually was a form of currency. Not that Shinzou had any of that.

"I guess we'll have to work for our dinner…" Shinzou murmured under his breath, catching Hikari's attention.

"Work?"

"Yes, I don't have any money that's good here. So unless you do…" She shook her head, "Well, I guess we have to sell either some items or some services."

"Services?" A dubious look crossed her face, "What kind of services?"

"Uh, well… mercenary work is easy enough. Killing someone's enemies for them. We could also do specialized tasks, if we had the necessary skills."

"So, you've got all kinds of specialized skills, right?"

"Not the kind most people are looking to buy, I don't think." He headed for the main thoroughfare of the settlement, stopping in a dusty alleyway to observe the passersby for a moment. He could hear Hikari's footsteps – and odd realization – as she came up behind him to stand at his shoulder. Shinzou scanned the crowd and the shops, looking into what kind of value system there was here. His eye paused as it passed over a clothing shop; Hikari really needed some clothes of her own. She was getting stares from the few civilians who noticed them for her oversized, male clothing. Oh well, add it to the list. It wasn't like any of these people staring had any room to comment, some of them were blue and green, with one eye or six, eight legs or none at all.

Making up his mind, Shinzou stepped away from the wall he had chosen to lean on and moved into the crowd, glancing over his shoulder to make sure his ghost was following. She was, and sticking very close too. The strangeness of the beings all around appeared to be bothering her a bit, having only been around humans and the occasional demon for her entire life. That was nothing compared to this place, where she was actually the abnormal one, appearing almost entirely human. Only the slightly faded colour of her hair, skin, and eyes and the thin bands of deep blue the marked her throat and wrists showed that she was not a 'normal' person.

Shinzou cast around for his new destination. There should be… ah, there it was! A bounty office. It was a great place to find work, but dangerous for someone like Shinzou, with a price on his head, to walk into. Opting to live dangerously, the warrior made a beeline for the small, dark building. He had some misgivings about taking Hikari along on this phase, but had no where else to leave her.

He stepped through the doors into artificially harsh lighting, causing him to squint his eyes as he adjusted. Once he could make out the interior of the main room sufficiently well, he spotted a desk man – er, beast – off to his left. He walked over to the man-sized, furry black creature that was the only other occupant of the room and leaned on the front of the chest high desk the thing was sitting behind. Hikari, not knowing what else to do, remained near the door.

Focusing a bit to recall the standard dialect of demon-speak, Shinzou cleared his throat and growled out, "Hey."

"What do you want?" The fuzzy creature snarled back.

"Since this is the bounty office, I'm wonderin' if there's any local heads floatin' around." Man, this deep throated growling – Shinzou's attempt at appearing as tough as possible, mostly - was hard on the vocal cords!

"Another bounty hunter, eh? You're new though. I know all the regulars, and you ain't one. 'Specially not with that girl." Its yellow eyes flickered over to Hikari, who was listening with interest. She caught herself staring and quickly averted her eyes to look at anything else, not that there was much in the room. Just a couple tables and chairs, a bulletin board of some sort, and a door in the back. A door with some nasty gouges and scratches around it… She wondered what kinds of creatures had been going through that door to leave such marks.

Shinzou, on the other hand, was providing an excuse. "We're traveling mercenaries. The girl can actually hold her own, so I use her. We're just lookin' for some cash while we're in town. Now, ya gonna tell me the scoop, or what?"

Accepting this explanation for now, the deskman nodded. "Well, if ya wanna start small, we've got a rogue toad demon in the woods somewhere. Doubt you'll have much luck with him though, he's small fry and someone's already gone after him."

"What else?" Shinzou drummed his fingers on the desktop.

"Well, got a oni who got on someone's bad side, got a decent price on him and he's rumoured to be in th' area." At Shinzou's slight gesture, the beast handed over a small scrap of paper containing information. The Apothecary scrutinized the scribble on it for a moment, then handed it back.

"If that's your idea of a good price, things must be really slow 'round here." He drawled in apparent boredom.

"Whatever ye like, he's on the low end. Just sayin', he's good for a meal."

"Not good enough for me. Tell me something interesting." Shinzou stared into the demon's baseball sized eye in a challenge. This guy obviously didn't think he was a real bounty hunter, which he actually wasn't, but still. He was trying to foist off the lower bounties as 'good,' something that any professional would know was a lie. Shinzou was lucky he had hung out with a real bounty hunter for a while about a year before, so he knew the tricks of the trade.

The ragged pile of black fur on the stool behind the desk nodded. "Fine. Here, I'll tell ya our best 'o the week. First off, a bear demon everybody's been lookin' for for forever. Those are tough, I'm sure ya know. This 'un's a nasty one, known ta kill whoever pisses him off."

A piece of paper was passed to Shinzou, which he scanned and then pocketed, nodding for the informant to continue. It did without hesitation. "Next up is a longstanding member of tha list. Carxin, the assassin that used ta belong to one o' the kings of the west. He's supposed to have showed up in the area." A second piece of paper was passed.

"And out on tha fringe, but still up, somebody said there's one o' the Reaper Clan nearby. Everybody an' their brother without anythin' better ta do gonna be after him." A final note found its way into Shinzou's hand, and he scrutinized it carefully. Oh great. Reaper.

"That's all?" He queried of the little beast.

"That's the best of 'em." It nodded back.

"Right. Thanks." Without anything further said, Shinzou turned and headed back out the door, picking up Hikari on the way. Once they were out the door and about two hundred feet down the street, Hikari called for his attention.

"Hey Shinzou!"

"Yeah?"

"What was that in there? What were you two saying, I couldn't understand you."

"Oh, that? It was the demon dialect. You'll pick it up pretty quick, don't worry. It has a magical learning nature."

"Magical learning nature?"

"Yeah. In other words, you don't really learn it; you just literally 'pick it up' by being around it because it has a really light magic overtone. You don't even notice it."

"The things you learn… Anyway, what were you two talking about?"

"Well, as I said earlier, since we have no skills to sell we're going to have to earn money with our second option. Mercenary work. In this case, bounty hunting. I was picking up some information on some marks."

"Bounty hunting? Isn't that dangerous?"

"That's why it pays so well." Shinzou kept walking, heading out of town.

"That's swell and all, but why are you in such a hurry?" She was trotting to keep up with his long legged stride.

"I just don't think it'd be a good idea to stay in this town for very long." Shinzou's mind flickered back to the information the bounty informant had given him, "Yes, I think we should get going."

Hikari rolled her yes, but didn't pry. She did, however, want to know who or what they were hunting. "So, who are we after then?"

"Hum. Well, we have some options. One of 'em, a bear demon, I don't want to mess with. I think we'll go after a guy called 'Carxin the Assassin.'"

"Carxin the Assassin? With a name like that, shouldn't we be staying away from him?"

"Well, the third option isn't one, so he's what we've got." He cast an eye over at her. "Besides, maybe other people will think as you do and we'll have a free run at him."

"So he says, with so much confidence. I'm warning you, I won't forgive you if you get killed or maimed doing this."

Shinzou shrugged. "We need money. There's nothing else to do. Think of it this way, the sooner we finish this, the sooner we can move on in our quest."

Hikari sighed dramatically, and then resigned herself to their new job. "So, how do we find this guy?"

Shinzou responded by tapping the side of his head with one finger. "Built in locating device. I've already memorized the little bit of information I was given, so now I'll just have to home in on him."

"Neat. Why do you have something cool like that?"

"It's genetic. I can't find my way out of a cardboard box on the Physical Plane, but I can literally find a needle in a haystack in the Spirit Realm."

"Wait a minute. You were finding your way around just fine all the time I was with you in the physical world."

"Well, I can tap into my Spirit Realm powers, but it leaves a trail. One that people, bad people, have already picked up on."

"So that's why you're in such a hurry to leave. I see. Why didn't you just say so?"

"Hey, if you had a tendency to get lost in oval room would you like to brag about it? My explanation wouldn't make sense unless I informed you of that, so you should be glad I told you that much."

"So why are you using it now if it lets people track you?"

"Well, here in the Spirit Realm, it's so low level that it blends in with all the other ambient and active magics. Only on the Physical Plane, where magic is the exception rather than the rule, does it actually leave a traceable path." Picking up a faint trail, Shinzou altered his path to follow it, gradually spiraling in on his intended prey. What do you know; the guy actually was pretty close. Usually public bounty information was partially correct at best.

The sun was closing in on the horizon as Shinzou finally caught sight of Carxin. It was amazing, after three days of essentially sitting around, so much had changed in the last three of four hours. Moving to a perch on a large tree branch, Shinzou peered down at the creature he had chosen to defeat.

I'd better do this quick. I don't want to have to fight in the dark, not against him. Shinzou quietly slid his pack from his back and secured it in the branches as he observed the seven foot, lean, muscular humanoid being. Carxin had gray skin and white pupil-less eyes, large hands and feet with long fingers and toes. He looked like a killer. A killer that was sitting idle next to a stream, no doubt resting before continuing his travels.

Shinzou heard a soft call from below him, and glanced down to realize that Hikari hadn't managed to make it up into the tree branches with him. She was currently signaling for his attention, waving for him to come down. Raising an eyebrow, he cast a glance at Carxin – he hadn't moved – and then hopped down to land beside her.

"What?" He was a little irritated to be interrupted during this invaluable reconnaissance.

"That guy by the water over there, that's the one we're after right?"

"He's the only one here, isn't he?"

Ignoring his sarcasm, she continued, "I'm getting a weird feeling off of him. Do you sense it too?"

"Huh? No, I don't sense anything strange." Shinzou was puzzled by her question.

"Well, I do," Hikari insisted, "And I'm telling you, he's got a nasty black aura!"

Shinzou took a step back at her veminence, raising his hands in supplication. "Okay, I believe that you see something, but I'm just telling you that I don't."

"Oh?" Shinzou froze, eyes widening, as a rough voice spoke behind him. "An aura?"

Hikari was frozen as well, staring at something – rather someone right over Shinzou's left shoulder. And the only possible candidate… was Carxin the Assassin.

Aw crap! When did he sneak up on us?! Shinzou fanned his senses out, locating and mapping the person behind him, trying to plan a move that wouldn't cause a quick end to this hunt.

"You know," the deadly sounding voice spoke again, "If you're going to hunt someone, you need to be quieter about it. I heard you two from three hundred feet away."

"Thanks for the advice." Shinzou replied, his eyes narrowing as Carxin's exact position was now in his mind. Without giving time to react, Shinzou dropped his left shoulder and spun around to his right, aiming for the lower torso with his powerful fists.

Unfortunately, his blows did not connect as the intended target leapt backwards and out of range. Well, it's all right, all I wanted to do was to get him out from behind me, and now he is. Now I can fight him head on. Shinzou allowed a small smirk cross his lips. It was time to fight. He brought his fists up in front of him and put his weight on his toes.

Carxin, on the other hand, was standing back and watching the young fighter prepare for battle. He silently sized Shinzou up, smiling the whole while, his stance loose and open. Suddenly, without warning, he was in motion, his right hand and knee aimed for Shinzou's neck and stomach, respectively.

Shinzou barely blocked the flattened hand that would have crushed his throat, and couldn't completely dodge the gut attack. He was thrown backwards, but managed to land on his knees, coughing and gripping his abdomen as he glared up at Carxin. The other didn't miss a beat; as soon as both of his feet were back on the ground, he launched himself at the momentarily downed Shinzou, who tucked and rolled to one side to escape the blows.

Or at least that was the intention. Shinzou gritted his teeth as he felt some of the hits connect on his back and side. He uncurled himself quickly and crouched on all fours, his head snapping around to follow Carxin as the assassin darted to the right, trying to get behind Shinzou again. The Apothecary would have none of this, though. He first twisted around to face his attacker, and then used his powerful legs to launch himself into the air.

Carxin brought his arms up in a defensive block, obviously expecting Shinzou to do a head dive directly down onto him. He was a bit surprised when this did not come, and swiveled his dull gray head around looking for his opponent.

Shinzou had taken to the branches again, landing lightly on one and propelling himself from tree to tree in graceful leaps. Now he was the one with the back shot. Unlike some people, Shinzou was not against attacking an enemy's back, so long as the other had tried the technique before him. In cases like these, he didn't consider it cowardly, just fair play.

Shinzou didn't pull out any of his weapons just yet; the reward was for dead or alive, but he really didn't want to kill the guy unless he had to. That being the case, when he dropped down out of the trees and onto Carxin, he attempted to end the fight quietly with a solid punch to the base of the neck, coupled with something resembling a headlock.

He landed his attack perfectly, but was a bit more than disappointed when it barely fazed his victim. Carxin twisted his head to the side so that Shinzou found himself staring into one of those dead white eyes, made all the creepier by the sadistic grin underneath it.

"Is that all you've got, boy?" The rasping sound of Carxin's voice snapped Shinzou back into action. Since his first punch had had at least a minor effect, Shinzou decided to try it again. And again. He slammed his fist into Carxin's neck with blinding speed, over and over, at least until he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and hurled into a tree trunk.

Wasting no time on acknowledging pain, Shinzou snapped his legs out to wrap around the trunk he had been thrown into. As he had hit it upside down, this left him hanging for a moment before he exercised a feat of strength to pull himself upright, hugging the tree and scrambling up the trunk into the protection of its limbs once again.

The assassin decided not to fall for this trick again, and put himself into motion as well. "Well, I have to admit, that hurt a little bit. Seeing as that's the case, I don't think I want to let you do it again. I see you like climbing trees like a monkey, boy. Well, what will you do if you don't have any to hide in?"

Shinzou was forced to follow as the other moved into a clearing next to the tiny stream he had seen earlier. He paused in the branches at the very edge of the clear space as Carxin placed himself in the middle of the tree-free zone.

Bah. If he thinks this will stop me… he is gravely mistaken. It is true that I prefer having trees, but I can fight just as well without them. Shinzou dropped out of the branches and into the tall grass of the field, crouching on his knees and remaining perfectly still, eyes fixated on his target.

After about five minutes of dead silence and complete motionlessness on both sides, Carxin gave in and pulled a small dagger out of a sheath on his leg. Snapping his wrist, he flung the gleaming blade at Shinzou. Or rather, where Shinzou had been. As soon as the motion started, Shinzou had been on the move, making a straight charge for Carxin while remaining bent over to use the grass as cover. He dodged to the side as another identical blade flew towards him, missing cleanly.

Shinzou was a bit puzzled as Carxin didn't do either of the things he had expected, namely holding his position or moving backwards. Instead, the gray skinned man rushed forwards into Shinzou's charge, actually jumping over Shinzou's head at the point that their paths met. Shinzou made an attempt to slash upwards as Carxin passed over his head, but missed by millimeters.

Dammit, he's behind me again! The human warrior slammed his body into a momentum change of exactly ninety degrees, so that he was now running perpendicularly to his original course. His recently healed leg barely held up to the stressful maneuver, and Shinzou was reminded that he was fighting at less than his best.

No wonder I'm not getting any hits in. I'm moving really slowly today. He bolted out to the edge of the clearing again, sliding to a stop to face Carxin, who was motionless again, about twenty feet from Shinzou's original position. This didn't last long; as soon as the professional killer had a bead on the Apothecary's new position, he moved around in an arc to get behind him again.

Doesn't he realize this isn't working? Shinzou was seriously confused by his enemy's movements, moving towards the center of the clearing himself. He slid to a stop as a third dagger embedded itself in the ground near his feet. What was up with this guy? A professional assassin that couldn't seem to hit the broad side of a barn, yet kept trying, wasting his weapons?

No way. He couldn't have gained such notoriety with this bad of aim. Shinzou set a piece of his mind that was not occupied with running or tracking Carxin on the issue. One dagger at the edge of the clearing. One at the center. One between those, but offset to the side about fifteen feet. A pattern? Three points, add a fourth and you get…

A trap? Shinzou scanned the weapons that had been thrown as Carxin zigzagged towards him, forcing a retreat. Yes, he sensed magic… but worse than that, he sensed more of the things than the three he had seen land.

Did he set those things up before he even came after me? Indeed, this seemed to be the case. Judging from their signatures and extent of entanglement in the magic surrounding them, they had been in place before he had set foot in this field, hidden by the tall grass that Shinzou himself had been using for cover. And the pattern he saw…

Abruptly realizing the danger he was in, Shinzou tried to alter his course and move into the area on the other side of the clearing that Carxin was currently occupying. The other smiled his dead grin as he watched this change in motion.

"Ah, finally figured it out, have you? Well, too late for you!" A final dagger flew from Carxin's grasp, sinking into the earth to Shinzou's right, and completing the pentagram of weapons, which Shinzou had been carefully herded into the center of.

Blood red energy lit up the magic symbol, and then ran into the middle of the form to attack Shinzou. The young fighter hit the ground hard, writhing in pain a fire burned across his nerves. He could feel something inside of him screaming in agony. Something that rarely saw the light of day. How could he…?

Shinzou turned pain-glazed eyes up to see Carxin standing at the edge of his trap, looking down at the man he had entrapped with amusement. "Yes, that's right. I know what you are. Why do you think someone such as myself would still be in an area where he has been identified? I was looking for you. It was quite fortunate that you found me instead. I would like to think that's fate."

"W-why?" Shinzou barely ground out.

"Why you? Well, you are worth a good bit more than I, especially to my former master. The one who –" He took a moment to spit in disgust, "Who placed this damnable price on my head. If I bring him your head instead, he may well forgive me and lift my bounty."

Shinzou growled deep in his throat. His life was nothing more than a bargaining chip? He could feel the darkness in him growing, along with powerful claws on his hands and feet, and his normally sharp canine teeth turned into fangs. Colours bled and ran in his vision as his eyes changed, the irises expanding to overtake the space until the whites were nothing more than a rim around each orb. His pupils grew and turned to slits in the sea of roiling gray they now inhabited. His already slightly pointed ears tapered and lengthened. The magical markings on his body expanded, coating almost every available piece of skin in intricate patterns.

The magical trap around him sparked and screeched as his own power erupted and pushed it back. The red energy flowed over his skin still, but he could not feel it. Carxin took a step back at the waves of sheer ferocity emanating from his supposedly defeated prey. He froze, however, when Shinzou's burning eyes snapped up and fixed themselves on his face.

Shinzou was pissed.

The pentagram's internal structure disintegrated, leaving only the outer 'points' of the symbol intact. Shinzou was crouched in the same place that he had been trapped, but did not remain there for long. There was a small hissing pop, and he phased out of existence, only to reappear about twenty feet in the air, with his arms crossed over his chest, and knees tucked up. Carxin, completely unprepared for his trap not to have worked, never had time to dodge when Shinzou unleashed two glowing blades of energy from his hands, snapping them down as if hurling a physical object.

Carxin shrieked as Shinzou's attack sliced his arms cleanly off at the shoulder. He watched, horrified, as Shinzou popped out of existence again, this time reappearing right in front of the armless assassin. The last thing Carxin saw was Shinzou's foot, heading for his throat.

There was a wet snap as his neck was crushed from the powerful sideways blow. The body spun to rest on the ground as Shinzou landed lightly behind it, his momentum causing him to slide for almost eight feet and leaving furrows in the soft ground. Crouched on his toes and the fingers of one hand, his slitted eyes never left the now lifeless corpse of Carxin.

There was dead silence in the clearing. Shinzou was completely motionless, waiting, as if he expected the other to rise to battle once again. This fight was too short. It had not satisfied his anger. How had such a weak creature caused him pain?

At this point, the forgotten member of the gathering reappeared from under the trees, where she had watched the entire fight from beginning to end. Hikari had known better than to interfere with Shinzou's fight, especially since she had little experience and no idea of her current abilities. She had seen him transform, seen him kill so ruthlessly. She had no idea what to think.

She hesitantly approached him and the remains of Carxin, and almost died again when his deadly eyes moved over to scrutinize her. It appeared that he didn't even recognize her. Would she be his next victim? She was shaking miserably as she worked up the courage to speak. After a couple of tries, where her mouth moved but her voice was frozen by his glare, she finally managed to stutter out, "S-S-Shinzou?"

He blinked, his eyes widening as something like an electrical current ran through him. He shook his entire body as if ridding himself of some physical entrapment. He rose from his predatory crouch, suddenly seeming so much more human. And also far more sane. His actual physical appearance didn't change, he still wore his true physical form of the Reaper, but his mind descended from its haze of bloodlust.

"Hikari?" He sounded hesitant, noting her obvious fear of him.

Relieved, she moved up to him, "Are you okay?"

"Ah, yes. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You're kind of…" She trailed off, gesturing vaguely at his new 'look.'

He glanced down at himself, as if just noticing the change, though he was very aware of it. "Yes. Believe it or not… this is 'normal' for me."

"Normal?" She looked understandably skeptical.

"Er, well, not 'normal' per se, since I spend most of my time as a 'human'… but real, if that makes sense. The human form, and even the marked form you've seen are actually the result of a limited shape-shifting ability. This is how I really look."

"Really? Um… cool." Now thoroughly reassured, she ignored his disbelieving look as she moved over to inspect the remains of Carxin.

"What are you looking for?" Shinzou joined her, looking down with unhappiness at the corpse. To lose control like that… not only was it disturbing; it was frightening and dangerous as well. He might well have seriously injured Hikari if he hadn't snapped out of it. Guiltily, he reined in his inner nature and returned to his mostly-human form, the demon markings on his cheeks the only remaining evidence of his inner beast.

She finally answered him, "You remember that dark aura I was telling you about? He still has it."

"He still has an aura? Stuff like that usually dissipates pretty quickly after death." Shinzou eyed Carxin, and did a nice double-take as he noticed that now he could see some sort of blackish atmosphere surrounding the body. "What the - ?"

"Get back!" Hikari shoved him back with an arm across the chest as the darkness abruptly roiled, taking on a life of its own. It flowed up, taking on a nebulous form, humanoid only in the fact that it apparently had two arms and two legs. There was no head to be seen.

"What the hell - ?" Shinzou yelped in confusion as the aura-beast solidified and took one staggering step towards him and Hikari. He scrambled to his feet and took up a defensive stance, not sure exactly how he should deal with this situation. Occasionally, he had seen spiritually powerful humans and demons who could give their auras some sort of autonomy, but in all his years, he had never seen someone's aura take on a life of its own after the death of the host.

While his mind was running furiously through his mental catalogue searching for some sort of reference to a situation like this, the aura thing kept moving, staggering forward but gaining better coordination and control with each step. It was a mere ten feet away now. Darkness was falling as the day drew to a close, the blue-gray of twilight giving the whole scene a tinge of unreality.

Suddenly, Shinzou noticed that its trajectory wasn't aimed to end at his location. Instead, the creature seemed focused on a point – or rather, a person – behind Shinzou and to his right. Casting a quick glance, he confirmed his darkening suspicion. The creature was after Hikari.

Why? Why is it after her? I defeated its host, she isn't even a threat. The plainly terrified ghost was backing up, her eyes wide and her body shaking as she stared down the monstrous black being.

Deciding that this had gone far enough, Shinzou resolved to defeat this remnant of Carxin as he had defeated the assassin earlier. That thought in mind, he launched himself at the creature's side, as it was in the process of passing by him to get at Hikari. Shinzou's foot swept out in a powerful side kick, aimed at the lower rib cage.

The creature didn't even acknowledge his existence. The young warrior's foot passed through the fiend's side cleanly, the rest of his body following on sheer forward momentum. A painful coldness washed over him as he felt his body cease to respond to his commands.

Hikari watched in shock as her protector slammed into the ground gracelessly, gasping in pain as the impact fell on his recently injured leg. Shinzou couldn't even touch that thing! What do I do now? She thought in panic as it continued its advance.

She retreated a few more steps before the monster changed tactics, apparently finally coordinated enough to actually launch an attack. Crouching down, its arms swinging in a disturbingly limp manner, it threw itself bodily at the little ghost girl.

Dodging faster than she thought possible on pure instinct, Hikari desperately tried to get out of the way. She nearly succeeded, but as she rolled to a stop she felt something she hadn't experienced in two centuries. Pain.

The distantly remembered feeling of blood running down her back told her that the living-aura had landed a hit – and injured her. Tears came to her eyes as she staggered to her feet, finding the beast preparing another attack. A quick look at Shinzou showed he wouldn't be any help; he was still down for the count and apparently struggling to breathe if the deep gasping breaths he was drawing were any indication.

I can't run and leave Shinzou here! That thing will either turn around and eat him or just chase me down, and I don't think I can run faster that it can! What can I do? She bolted out from underneath its mass once again, feeling the recently created flesh of her thigh separate and the blood beginning to flow down her leg.

I can't do this! Why is it after me? And why couldn't Shinzou hurt it? Without realizing it, she had moved back towards the 'protection' of Shinzou, and had unwittingly brought him back into the creature's attack field. She watched in horror as the heavy foot descended towards her immobile companion, to crush and gouge him to death in the dirt.

Shinzou convulsed in apparent pain as the giant foot passed straight through his chest, leaving no mark of its passing as the creature lifted it to take another step towards its target, Hikari.

Wait…it didn't touch him? How?! It's been clawing me to death! She watched Shinzou. Yes, he was apparently very uncomfortable, but there was no blood or wounds showing. Shinzou can't touch it, it can't touch Shinzou… but it can hit me. Logically… I can hurt it?

Deciding that she had no other options than to try out her spur of the moment assumption, Hikari darted at the creature, aiming for one of its knees. With a solid thock her fist connected with its flesh. Unfortunately, her punch had no effect on the monstrous beast, as it swiped at her, drawing blood on her upper arm this time.

I can hit it! Hikari thought with momentary euphoria. She was brought out of it as the aura monster came after her again. Ah, too bad I can't fight…

This time her dodge was a little to slow, quite likely delayed by her thoughts. She found herself pinned to the ground by one massive paw, the five long claws entering her chest and shoulder. It was pain unlike she had ever known. She saw her death – no, she was already dead, it couldn't be that – her end of existence sweeping down at her throat in the form of the other forepaw, and brought her free hand up in a futile gesture to ward off the inevitable blow.

Shinzou, I'm sorry… I kept telling you not to get hurt, not to die… but I'll be the one who goes first instead. A single tear leaked from her closed eye.

The track of the tear was cold in the newly born night's faint breeze, but a new, warm feeling awoke in her chest. It flowed from this point outwards, to the arm she had raised in her defense. There was an impact…

But no pain. Hikari cracked open her eyes a bit to see why she was still breathing. Her lids flew open at the sight of some sort of pale green energy crackling along her forearm, holding the huge black claws at bay. A faint sizzle – the sound of flesh burning, and the claw was pulled back hastily. Hikari felt her new energy flow to her pinned shoulder and suddenly the other paw was withdrawn as well.

Gasping in pain, only one thought ran through her head. What did I just do? The monster didn't give her time to ponder though, throwing itself into one more attack, both forepaws aimed at her chest. She raised her hand; palm aimed directly at its chest, and felt a release of power.

A burning green ball of energy shot out of her open hand, and through the creature's chest. It jerked upright, and without a sound blew apart, disintegrating into nothingness. The abrupt silence that followed was broken only by the soft thud of a small object hitting the ground.

It's over…I won…These were Hikari's last thoughts as blessed unconsciousness took her away from the pain and the fear.