Shaman King: Spirits of Those who Came Before

It was a particularly quiet night in the Granite City, to the far north of Scotland. A dark night on the which the stars seemed to shine brighter than ever on living history.

The animals of the night all had started to cry and howl earlier on... but now, only the sounds of man remained and even those were diminished.

For this was not a night fit for the living, for those of the flesh. The night on the which the Star of Destiny showed itself, shinning brighter than any other in the dark sky, was a night for spirits... and those who lay between the two worlds.

In this quiet, a girl sat atop a grave on Trinity Street at midnight... the crystal of her glasses reflecting the heavenly lights as she glanced up at the sky.

She was dressed in modest clothes, jeans, boots, shirt and sweater... a totally unremarkable girl sitting alone in the night.

Only thing was... that she was not alone.

Her ears caught the voices of an entire busy crowd... and as she lazily looked down around her she saw an entire field filled with people walking among the graves. A veritable collection of the city's past inhabitants.

The girl kicked her feet softly in slight annoyance to her noisy spectral neighbors as she shielded her eyes from the Star's brightness with one hand "They'll be coming soon... No, they are already here..."

"The whispers in the winds woke them, the word of the servants brought them here... and the light from the Star is the last confirmation"

The girl dropped from the tall gravestone and started walking, the mass of spirits casually parting to give her way as they continued their discussions, their fights, their gossip.

"I don't know why the servants picked Aberdeen of all places for the first fights... but what is done is done. And it stands as my responsibility to look over them" the girl said, only addressing the brightest star in the sky... as if it was it's fault that she was on this situation.

Though, it most likely was.

Aberdeen city, Scotland. The Granite City, the Grey City and the Silver City with the Golden Sands. For some reason, the organizers of the Shaman Tournament have elected this city as one of the many battlefields around the world.

Shamans from all over the globe, picked seemingly at random have been assigned this as the place where they shall engage in battle... this is the place where they shall prove themselves worthy of competing to become one with the great spirit... To become Shaman King.

Aside from the name of the city, you have also been informed that if you can't find a shelter on your own means, you may contact Sue Grant at Trinity Cementery to be given board and food.

With the Star of Destiny in the sky, it's not long before the fight starts.

Li sat in a pub. He obviously looked out of place but he didn't mind. The monks fought him better then that. He drank a Pepsi when he waited for his turn to fight.

Vicente slumped weakly on a street corner, the starved look in his eyes and his desperate posture at odds with the impeccable custom-tailored suit and shoes he wore, somehow untouched despite his implied difficulties.

A spectral man floated beside him, and though he wasn't visible to most in the crowd to those who could see him he bore a striking resemblance to the young suit-wearing vagrant, though his clothes were more old-fashioned and much more modest. The ghostly man spoke up in a tone that was half-way between a humble servant and a slightly exasperated parent

"Padroncino, couldn't we just contact the Cemetary for a place to stay rather than living on the streets since it already took all of our money just to get here?"

Vicente grinned in a knowing way and responded in a lecturing tone of his own "Orlando, you of all people should know that as the future Capo of the Corvi family and I can't afford to incur any debts i'm unable to repay, and there are most likely no services I can provide for them in return. So, until we can work out a solution, this minor tribulation will be as nothing to me; besides, it will give me valuable insight on how the common man lives!"

Orlando seemed overcome, tears in his eyes "Padroncino, you truly are a shining example of a man of honor!"

"Come on, Teddy! Can't we just go to the hotel already?"

Theodore "Theo" (and as he'd recently become known, "Teddy") Marks was reaching the end of his rope here. First the pain in the ass flight out here, then the cramped bus ride, and now this? A nature hike listening to his Guardian Spirit whine.

"No Nyx," he said with exasperation, "we've got to go to the cemetary first."

"But why? I wanna go back to the hotel and watch some movies!"

"There's someone there that we were told to meet, and I think we should meet them. Case closed."

"Yeah, but didn't they say that was if you needed a place to stay? We've got a hotel room! A hotel room with free cable, room service, and comfy beds! Come on, it'll be fun!"

The woman behind him continued to go on about the hotel, momentarily losing herself in her slacker's paradise. Theodore sighed. This was Nyx? Primordial god of night, protogenoi Nyx? She'd been his Guardian Spirit for going on four months now and he still couldn't believe it. That someone so feared and respected... could be so childish and lazy. The way the world works, he mused to himself.

Of course, now he was lost in thought, giving Nyx the perfect opportunity to surprise glomp him from behind. "Pleeeease, Teddy? Come on, think about it, we can lie down, eat some chips, watch some old Spaghetti Westerns..."

"Ughhh..." He took a deep breath. "Don't you think it would be a good idea to get to the competition before we start fighting?" She nodded. "And don't you think this cemetery would be the best place to get a look at the other shamans?" She nodded. "Good. We're going."

She slid off of him, sullen and disappointed.

edited 25th Apr '12 1:46:29 PM by KSPAM

"So, Shuji, you definitely thought this whole trip out?" The black-haired spirit asked cheerfully, her younger companion currently stuck at yet another street.

"It's not my fault people don't write things out in Japanese here!" Shujiko retorted, finding it incredibly difficult to read any signs or talk to a native, even with a dictionary in hand. Of all the places for this tournament, why'd it have to be somewhere with a giant language barrier...?

Makoto merely giggled, at ease with the whole 'hopelessly lost' thing. "Well, I assume we're in the right place, all you have to do is find a cemetery!"

Shujiko tried reading a street sign again, the characters still not magically forming into something she could read.

"But if you're really desperate, just look lost and pathetic! I'll bet my entire family fortune an important character takes notice of you immediately!"

"Not helping..." Shujiko muttered, then glanced at her spirit companion. "Wait, you have a family fortune?"

Makoto merely grinned playfully.

edited 22nd Apr '12 9:13:56 AM by TroperRoxas

"excuse me sir, but can you point out on this map where the cemeatry is" Li said in near perfect English. He sounded like Bruce Lee when he talked. The barkeeper pointed it out on the map and asked him why he needed to know. "My adopted great great great grandfather is burrows their ando would like to see his grave." he lied, well not a really a lie, it could be the truth, anything was possible.

Li left the bar and headed to the "X" on his map and jumped the east fence entering the cemeatry.

Alice walked through the streets of the Aberdeen, eating her lunch as she walked. The shaman attracted few glances, looking for all the world like an ordinary girl with the day off and enjoying a piece of pastry. She had been very glad to hear that the tournament would take place this close to home; it had not even taken her a full day of travel to get here. Also, it would be easy to blend in.

Already she had arranged for cheap lodgings at a small Bed and Breakfast, posing as a student who was researching Northern European Folklore. But still, she had decided to go check out the Trinity Cemetery. Maybe she could find out more about the ones she would be going up against

Also...she liked graveyards. She arrived at the site, she pushed the gate open to walk among the graves.

"..." Akari looked at her meal, which seemed to be a steak with an assortment of leafy greens on the side. Holding up two plastic forks; one in each hand, she jabbed it into the meat and picked it up to her mouth, where she attempted to take a bite out of the thing. Needless to say, the thick meat was being rather problematic to get in her mouth, and she was drawing looks from the native inhabitants.

"Western food continues to elude me..." She muttered, before glancing at the nearby knives. Putting down her fork, she picked up the two plastic knives and vigorously slashed at the beef. In the midst of the moving people, she spotted a head of black hair among the red, brown, and yellow. Staring at the back of the other, she barely withheld a cry for help concerning how to eat the strange food in the cheap plastic tray.

Li folded up the map and put it in his pocket where he felt a slip of paper that read "free rooms for shaman's, tell your friends. -Barkeeper". "How kind of him" thought Li. Ng appeared behind him. "Offer him money for his troubles, if he won't take it you'll help him how ever you can." she said with a motherly tone. "Yes ma'ma." Li replied.

After a few minutes more of sitting on the street corner Vicente stood up, seemingly inspired.

"I've had a wonderful insight! There will definitely be many shaman from other lands gathering at this graveyard, and as such it will be an excellent opportunity to judge the enemy before we fight them!"

Orlando seemed to mull the idea over "It's a sharp tactic, but I thought you said men of honor can't depend on any services they can't repay?"

"We won't; it will just be a chance to spy on our enemies and learn their weaknesses."

With that he headed in the direction of the cemetery.

edited 23rd Apr '12 2:57:11 PM by Dblade26

"Hey there" called a voice from among the graves to Alice as she walked on the lonely graveyard. Or at least... lonely to those who couldn't see the spiritual. To a shaman there were few places as busy and noisy as a cemetery.

The voice came from a plain looking bespectacled girl with short brown hair, who was sitting with her back to a big stone cross "Came here to watch the stars?"

Li would soon find a spirit coming to greet him on the graveyard... a dog whose fur shined with an eerie light and which had no eyes came to bark at him.

"Ni hao, gou" (hello dog is Chinese) Li said to the dog. He satred at the dog for a bit then said "WOOF!" to it to try and scare it. It had no effect.

"Not tonight, I'm afraid."

Alice gave the girl with the glasses what she hoped was a disarming smile. She wasn't very good with people. Was this person perhaps her contact person?

"I...I seek someone named Sue Grant. Would you happen to know where I can find her?"

"Well, she's within sight... at around ten paces from where you are standing. So, you're not here to watch the stars... but you were guided here by one" Sue said, lazily standing up and finally averting her eyes from the night sky to glance at Alice "I'm Sue Grant... I was contacted by the servants of the Great Spirit to watch over those competing on Scotland. Nice to meet you"

The dog tilted it's head at Li's words and bark before responding with one of his own before he ran further into the graveyard.

"Nice to meet you too, miss Grant. I am Alice Ó Marcaigh, a Shaman."

Alice smiled. The contact seemed like a nice person. A bit strange, perhaps, but so were most Shamans. She picked up on the sound of a dog barking nearby, but paid it little heed.

"Uhm, so, are you responsible for the matches themselves or just the lodging and, uhm, food?"

"Lodging and stuff... though I might be required to step in and mediate a couple of matches, make sure some people qualify for the tournament... that sort of thing" said Sue as she pushed her glasses a tad higher over the bridge of her nose "So, where are you from Alice Ó Marcaigh?"

Li followed the dog to Miss Grant. "Are you Miss Grant?" Li said coming up behind the girls."I am Li Bu"

edited 23rd Apr '12 9:44:35 AM by vanthebaron

It was a little intimidating, being in the city for the first time. After all, up until she set off on her shaman journey, the only thing Sister Mary could remember was the convent. But even if it was a little scary, she couldn't deny how exciting it all was. Here she was, going out into the big wide world for the first time, setting off on her grand adventure to become Shaman King! Oh, it was all so-

"...Boring."

The devilish spirit standing to the left of her faked a yawn. "I thought the city would be more interesting, Mary, but it's so... So... Boooriiing! Blah, knew this whole thing was a stupid idea."

"Of course an uncultured bore such as yourself would find it boring, Lilith," the angelic spirit on the young nun's right side responded. "You could never understand the subtle ambience that is civilization, after all." The angel stuck up her nose smugly and adjusted her halo with one hand. "Besides, going here was Mary's choice. Do you think she made the wrong choice in coming here? Are you questioning her judgement?"

"Well... N-no, but..." Lilith's lip quivered in fear as the angel gave her a stern look. "Maaary! Eva's being mean again!"

Sister Mary merely gave the spirits a bemused look, before breaking into a fit of giggles. "Ahahah, you're both so silly." With a smile, she took both of their hands, and continued on down the street. "But no more arguing, okay? I want you two to get along from now on. Even with the grace of God on our side, there's no way we can win this tournament thing if you're always fighting each other."

Reluctantly, the angel and the demon agreed, and headed off with the nun down the street. Hopefully they'd find the cemetary sometime soon, although seeing the Sister's sense of direction... But no, if she was right it was just around the corner.

...She wasn't right. Rather than the cemetary, she instead found herself running headfirst into a young asian woman, and in her confusion not only managed to not realise the girl was also being accompanied by a spirit, but ended up sprawled on the ground on top of her.

"Waaah! Sorry, sorry, um..." It didn't look like the girl understood English. "Um... You're... Chinese, right? Um..." Thankfully, Mary had read a few books on Chinese in the convent. She wasn't exactly perfect at the language, but it was better than nothing. "Um... Knee how, mes enfants! Schezuan hoi sin sushi sauerkraut?"

...Hopefully the girl would understand her apology. Hopefully.

"...Aw man, she's got shorts on under her skirt!" moaned Lilith, trying to get a peak. "And I wanted to see her undies, to-OW!"

"Thou shalt not pry upon the panties of a young maiden," said Eva through clenched teeth as she massaged her knuckles. "Underpants are the soul of a girl. You shouldn't peak at someone else's soul."

The collision was rather unexpected.

Having turned a corner and hoping she's find her way to that cemetery, Shujiko had instead run into someone, resulting in her falling to the ground with the other person atop her.

Grunting in surprise, the shaman winced at the pain in her behind, and glanced at the other girl. She was dressed oddly... wasn't she one of those religious girls?

...And why was she speaking Chinese?

The girl's words flew over her head, as did two other voices. Stupid language barrier!

"Um, I... don't speak Chinese..." Shujiko muttered, wondering if the girl understood her. Probably not. Hearing the snickering of her spirit, Shujiko tried to shoot her a glare from her current position. It was pretty difficult.

"Looks like I was right!" Makoto laughed triumphantly. "Someone did show up! And you've got at least two new admirers!"

Shujiko looked confused.

"The girl riding you," Makoto explained. "And the one checking out your panties."

"What?!" Shujiko yelped, squirming desperately. She had evidently forgotten of her precaution to prevent such a thing, but Makoto was in no rush to point this out.

"...You two speak Japanese, by the way?" Makoto asked the two other spirits. "'Cause my english is a little weak."

[[spoilers: yay for miscommunication]]

edited 23rd Apr '12 3:41:00 PM by vanthebaron

Vicente sat on top of a grave marker and waited for others to arrive.

When they did he would observe for now and see what he could figure out about them.

edited 23rd Apr '12 4:09:33 PM by Dblade26

Colyn peeled his cheek of the train window. The journey couldn't really be called long, he'd been lucky enough to be sent to prelims in Scotland, rather than half way round the world. But still, a whole day stuck with his father and Morty in confined spaces was near unbearable.

"Are we there yet?" Morty asked for the 6,234,193rd time.

"Yes," Colyn groaned softly. This sent the spectral hound into a fit - running all around, sniffing and barking up a storm. A storm only Colyn could sense.

Ignoring Morty with months of practise, he pulled out the directions he'd printed off to the cemetry. Why the cemetry first? Partly because the person overseeing the prelims - a Sue Grant - would be there, but also because it was only courteous for Morty to say hello to the loyal Death Hound.

There was probably a bus or something, but a walk would calm Morty down. A touch. The hound was still sniffing everything, however not marking anything. Thankfully.

And his Dad? Well he was abusing his ghost status to leer at some MILFs. Colyn ignored him too.

After a little while the trio arrived at the cemetry gates. And as normal for a shaman the cemetry was very busy. Colyn made to enter but Morty grabbed his ankle with a warning growl.

"Fine, we'll wait for the Hound," Colyn grumbled, "Don't see why we can't go in and find him to say hello."

"I'm Sue, that's right. Another contestant I see" said Sue as she regarded the newest arrival.

Meanwhile, the eyeless dog which guided Li now went over to the graveyard's main entrance and barked Colyn.

Colyn's group didn't have to wait long before the local hound arrived. Looked like this one had no eyes, creepy. Even Morty's "who's-been-a-stupid-pup-who-needs-to-be-punished" red fire eyes were at least there.

"Ruff," Colyn half barked back to the dog, Morty had taught him the basics of canine communication but he always felt like an idiot doing it. Though any further conversation was unneccessary as Morty approached and started barking. The hounds "talked" for a bit, then sniffed each other's butts (they were dogs). Satisfied the eyeless hound trotted into the cemetry and cocked his head, obviously waiting for them to follow.

"Come on," Morty said while dragging Colyn's pants. "She says we're welcome, and she'll show us to the lady we're after."

"I'm got that. Wait. She?"

Morty released Colyn's leg and let out a bark of laughter, "What? You didn't think a Hound could be a Bitch?"

Colyn didn't respond, just concentrated on picking his way along the path left by the Hou- Bitch. Looked like an unusual number of the residents had turned out, though this was probably the most interesting thing to happen in a while. And Colyn's Dad... was chatting them up.

"Dad, stop hitting on the locals. Mum'll kill you again when she finds out."

"You're no fun," Hugo whined, but desisted. Or at least restrained himself to quiet flirting.

A little while later they arrived at a small congregation of living people. A younger looking girl with glasses, a girl about his age, a scruffy suited guy off to one side, and an asian looking... monk? Oh well, better introduce himself.

"Ah, hello. Is one of you Sue Grant? I'm Colyn Corlett, here for the prelims. So, how does this all work?"

Oh dear Great Spirit. Now Morty was flirting with the Hound. He was surrounded by leches. Why couldn't he have been born to a normal family?

"Where is everyone else" Li asked looking around.