Dragon Shaman 2: The Smoky Mirror
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Paranormal/Supernatural › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
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763
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Category:
Paranormal/Supernatural › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
763
Reviews:
0
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Memory Retained
Dragon Shaman
Book Two: The Smoky Mirror
Chapter 3: Memory Retained
By: Teresa Huddleston-Garcia (LadyRainStarDragon)
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Birdsong woke her from sleep, and two blue eyes opened to take in the world around her. Sitting up, a thick blanket puddled in her lap and on the equally thick futon. The plain screens forming the room were barely recognized, although she knew this had been the room she had stayed in at the lower Sengen Shrine.
BlowingWind stood, brushing her hair back behind her ears as it curled forward to cup her jaw and reached for her pointed chin. Her brow furrowed, and her mouth drew downward.
“How did I get here? I thought I was in the forest?”
She left her room to wander the hall on her way outside.
“Something is missing. Who is missing?”
Her head pounded like a drum, and she touched her temple as kind brown eyes flashed in her mind. The gleam of polished coal in the bright sun and a dancing wave of ruby flames followed the puzzling vision. As quickly as the vision came, it was gone. The screens of the hallway fell behind, and she stepped out into the courtyard beneath the kiss of the sun.
A small sea of stone lapped between wooden buildings centuries old, or so it seemed. The stone lamps known as toro were seen as well, solemnly keeping watch over the shrine and its occupants. Fujisan towered majestically over the forest around the shrine, smiling down upon all about her feet. The young woman pooled on an out-of-the-way section of the porch, staring out over the courtyard as she tried to piece together what had happened.
She remembered running through the forest in the dark, and then the cave she had camped at. After that was a blur, a man helping her to ascend the ancient volcano, a marriage ceremony of sorts, then time at the base of Fujisan again, all with a distinct air of unreality. A few words, not even loud enough to be a whisper, slipped out.
“Was it just a dream?”
The disappointment in her voice surprised her as she looked for the man in her dream. Obsidian was gone, and he had looked so much like her dead fiance that it could easily have been a dream. In some ways, it was a relief to think it was a dream, but if it was then her search for Obsidian’s soul was still as long way from finished.
BlowingWind sighed loudly, shattering the stillness for a moment, surprising herself.
A young man had been meditating beside one of the toro, and he stirred from his thoughts at the sound of her voice. When she locked eyes with him gold eyes blinked back at her, and she could see and feel the young man looking at her very soul. After a moment, he smiled and got up, moving toward her with an inhuman grace. Curious and still exhausted from her short walk, she stayed seated.
“I see that you are awake. You’ve put the shrine in an interesting state of affairs, and many here were worried about you while you were gone.”
The young man sat next to her, and continued.
“Forgive me, I have been rude. I am Sagukari Akaisu.”
“MountainChild BlowingWind.”
The young man smiled and took her move, a very forward move by both his society’s standards and BlowingWind’s usually preferences. However, she was tired, and felt that surely in a shrine she should be safe.
“Here you are! I had left to get some fresh water and a clean cloth, and you weren’t in bed. I’m glad to see that you are awake Kaze-chan.”
The deeper voice had a possessive tone to it, and the previously unnoticed figure kneeled down where she could see his face. It was familiar, and flashes of starlight and rain-coated spider webs danced before her eyes as they struggled to retain focus. The world spun and she felt herself falling forward, but was caught gently against a white-shirted shoulder.
Arms gathered her up and held her close as her vision returned to normal. She could feel that his features were marred, and felt his worry, without knowing how.
“You’ve overtaxed yourself again. Back to bed with you, you need to rest if you want to go home under your own power Little One.”
She could feel herself nodding even though she struggled against it. Part of her trusted him without question, and part of her had the overwhelming urge to bash his head with the nearest handy blunt object for holding and addressing her in such a familiar way.
The other man cleared his throat delicately, and she weakly turned her head to face him.
“I take it that you know this man.”
She nodded, smiling a little as she answered. “Ryu.”
Her eyes slid shut, but not before she saw a spectral tail behind Akaisu. Ryu’s voice was tense as he spoke to Akaisu, bowing an awkward farewell over the limp woman in his arms.
“I’m sorry, but she is in no fit state to visit. She actually shouldn’t have even gotten out of bed, but she really doesn’t like to take things lying down.”
Ryu stood up, and carried her back to her room. When he had her propped up on her futon, and she had gotten the first whiff of the miso soup that he had also brought for her along with the cooling water and clean cloth, she opened her eyes and spoke softly.
“Was that a Kitsune?”
Ryu nodded, then brought a spoonful of the broth to her lips. BlowingWind took it as he expounded.
“I don’t know how much of what you remember. Your breath smelled of a memory-hiding spell. That particular one was with the Tengu that had given you whatever you had been eating.”
BlowingWind closed her eyes, then opened them again, taking a deep breath.
“It seems my heart got me in trouble again then. I think I remember most everything, but it’s all disordered and hazy, like a dream.”
“You didn’t eat much of it then. The spell won’t be very strong.”
Ryu brought another spoonful to her lips, and again she ate it. Several spoonfuls met the same end, and she quirked an eyebrow at the dragon, who chuckled and obliged her with his answer.
“Counter-spell for memory loss, the benefits of soy, and a little healing and strengthening magic that I picked up from my Sensei as a child. Maybe a little love spell thrown in to improve my chances with you.”
The latest mouthful squirted onto his face.
“The last was a joke BlowingWind.”
Even though she was tired, she reached up and grabbed near his nose even though she couldn’t see any hairs. Being a dragon meant that there were probably some whiskers hiding somewhere in that vicinity hidden by illusion. A quick tug confirmed her half-formed suspicion, and his hand, spoon and all, flew to shield his nose from her wrath.
“Ow. Ok, I get it, not funny.”
“Not in the slightest you. . . scaly coyote.”
“I see you are getting stronger already. How comforting. What a great healer I am, although my patient could give me a nicer thank you after watching over her for yet another week.”
Ryu handed her the bowl as he tried to pout, which she finished herself very quickly by drinking directly out of the bowl while he winced about it.
“At least you have a good appetite.”
“Your healing didn’t include anything I’m going to have to find something to bludgeon you with to restore my sense of honor, did it? Have I really been out that long?”
Ryu took the bowl carefully, his muscles coiled to leap for safety if she made another aggressive move.
“No, there are females here whereas there were none at my little retreat. Yes, you were really sleeping for another week. I came close to losing you a couple times, but it seems a certain you lady had left instructions to NOT be taken to the hospital if she got hurt or sick.”
He glared, crossing his arms with the bowl still in hand. His display would have been more terrifying if his eyes weren’t heavy with concern. BlowingWind looked down to her lap.
“I see. I’ve been a burden to you. I’m sorry, and thank you.”
Ryu huffed, then felt her forehead.
“You’d worry me more if you weren’t being at least a little trying. Besides, it’s rather nice to have someone call me on the things I do. I know very well I can be overbearing and a little too hot to handle.”
BlowingWind smiled, her eyes taking on a strange glint, curious, he leaned a little closer to get a better view.
“BlowingWind? Are you laughing at me?”
Despite having pressed her lips into a firm line, the laughs escaped out of her nose. Giving up, she let them escape in a more comfortable manner.
“You’re so full of yourself Ryu!”
He blinked and felt her forehead again, his lips turning down even further as his brow began to show slight furrows.
“I should hope so. If I wasn’t full of me I’d be someone else…”
BlowingWind’s laughter returned at the confused Kami, but it was brought up short by his sighed comment.
“And to think I thought you’d soon be ready for me to take you shopping for your coffee and chocolate that I had promised you. I guess since you are obviously still a bit delirious you’ll just have to stay in bed for another week. I had even used the phone that they have to get my old apartment set up for the brief time you’ll be in Tokyo.”
BlowingWind sighed, looking down into her lap. With the quiet escape of her breath the band around Ryu’s heart tightened another notch. When she looked back up, her eyes carried the same tsunami of sadness that he had first seen in them only a few weeks ago.
“What makes you think I have no place to stay? There is a family that I have been staying with, and I must have them very worried. I have to let them know that I am intact. Ji-san must feel terrible if the news that I went missing has reached him, which I’m sure he has already received.”
“You have a family here? I thought you had said you had left your mother back in America?”
BlowingWind winced as his words fell out of his mouth, eating away at the heart she tried to keep hidden as if those simple hurt words had been drops of acid rain. Ryu hadn’t meant it to sound as desperate and broken as it had come out. He pulled back abruptly, crossing his arms and looking casually away, a veil covering his eyes as he tried to hide his feelings. BlowingWind sighed.
“I met a man on the flight here, and he insisted I meet his wife and stay with them until I got my feet under me. He is no treat to you, if that’s your worry.”
Ryu’s eyes widened, and he swallowed his feelings. They audibly clicked as they slid down his throat.
“I am not threatened by any human. I am merely trying to fulfill my duty to you as guardian. I already know that you have no intentions of being available to any male.”
“And thank you for respecting that Ryu.” BlowingWind murmured as she leaned forward and quickly pecked his cheek.
His eyes now were about as wide as dinner plates in her opinion as he blushed and his hand flew to where her lips had brushed him. Realizing perhaps a little too late what she had done and the possible thoughts she may have given him, she blushed and hunched her shoulders, then her eyes bored into him when she snapped.
“Now, when can I go home to collect my things and say my goodbyes? More importantly, when do we go shopping? Don’t let that get to your head either!”
Book Two: The Smoky Mirror
Chapter 3: Memory Retained
By: Teresa Huddleston-Garcia (LadyRainStarDragon)
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Birdsong woke her from sleep, and two blue eyes opened to take in the world around her. Sitting up, a thick blanket puddled in her lap and on the equally thick futon. The plain screens forming the room were barely recognized, although she knew this had been the room she had stayed in at the lower Sengen Shrine.
BlowingWind stood, brushing her hair back behind her ears as it curled forward to cup her jaw and reached for her pointed chin. Her brow furrowed, and her mouth drew downward.
“How did I get here? I thought I was in the forest?”
She left her room to wander the hall on her way outside.
“Something is missing. Who is missing?”
Her head pounded like a drum, and she touched her temple as kind brown eyes flashed in her mind. The gleam of polished coal in the bright sun and a dancing wave of ruby flames followed the puzzling vision. As quickly as the vision came, it was gone. The screens of the hallway fell behind, and she stepped out into the courtyard beneath the kiss of the sun.
A small sea of stone lapped between wooden buildings centuries old, or so it seemed. The stone lamps known as toro were seen as well, solemnly keeping watch over the shrine and its occupants. Fujisan towered majestically over the forest around the shrine, smiling down upon all about her feet. The young woman pooled on an out-of-the-way section of the porch, staring out over the courtyard as she tried to piece together what had happened.
She remembered running through the forest in the dark, and then the cave she had camped at. After that was a blur, a man helping her to ascend the ancient volcano, a marriage ceremony of sorts, then time at the base of Fujisan again, all with a distinct air of unreality. A few words, not even loud enough to be a whisper, slipped out.
“Was it just a dream?”
The disappointment in her voice surprised her as she looked for the man in her dream. Obsidian was gone, and he had looked so much like her dead fiance that it could easily have been a dream. In some ways, it was a relief to think it was a dream, but if it was then her search for Obsidian’s soul was still as long way from finished.
BlowingWind sighed loudly, shattering the stillness for a moment, surprising herself.
A young man had been meditating beside one of the toro, and he stirred from his thoughts at the sound of her voice. When she locked eyes with him gold eyes blinked back at her, and she could see and feel the young man looking at her very soul. After a moment, he smiled and got up, moving toward her with an inhuman grace. Curious and still exhausted from her short walk, she stayed seated.
“I see that you are awake. You’ve put the shrine in an interesting state of affairs, and many here were worried about you while you were gone.”
The young man sat next to her, and continued.
“Forgive me, I have been rude. I am Sagukari Akaisu.”
“MountainChild BlowingWind.”
The young man smiled and took her move, a very forward move by both his society’s standards and BlowingWind’s usually preferences. However, she was tired, and felt that surely in a shrine she should be safe.
“Here you are! I had left to get some fresh water and a clean cloth, and you weren’t in bed. I’m glad to see that you are awake Kaze-chan.”
The deeper voice had a possessive tone to it, and the previously unnoticed figure kneeled down where she could see his face. It was familiar, and flashes of starlight and rain-coated spider webs danced before her eyes as they struggled to retain focus. The world spun and she felt herself falling forward, but was caught gently against a white-shirted shoulder.
Arms gathered her up and held her close as her vision returned to normal. She could feel that his features were marred, and felt his worry, without knowing how.
“You’ve overtaxed yourself again. Back to bed with you, you need to rest if you want to go home under your own power Little One.”
She could feel herself nodding even though she struggled against it. Part of her trusted him without question, and part of her had the overwhelming urge to bash his head with the nearest handy blunt object for holding and addressing her in such a familiar way.
The other man cleared his throat delicately, and she weakly turned her head to face him.
“I take it that you know this man.”
She nodded, smiling a little as she answered. “Ryu.”
Her eyes slid shut, but not before she saw a spectral tail behind Akaisu. Ryu’s voice was tense as he spoke to Akaisu, bowing an awkward farewell over the limp woman in his arms.
“I’m sorry, but she is in no fit state to visit. She actually shouldn’t have even gotten out of bed, but she really doesn’t like to take things lying down.”
Ryu stood up, and carried her back to her room. When he had her propped up on her futon, and she had gotten the first whiff of the miso soup that he had also brought for her along with the cooling water and clean cloth, she opened her eyes and spoke softly.
“Was that a Kitsune?”
Ryu nodded, then brought a spoonful of the broth to her lips. BlowingWind took it as he expounded.
“I don’t know how much of what you remember. Your breath smelled of a memory-hiding spell. That particular one was with the Tengu that had given you whatever you had been eating.”
BlowingWind closed her eyes, then opened them again, taking a deep breath.
“It seems my heart got me in trouble again then. I think I remember most everything, but it’s all disordered and hazy, like a dream.”
“You didn’t eat much of it then. The spell won’t be very strong.”
Ryu brought another spoonful to her lips, and again she ate it. Several spoonfuls met the same end, and she quirked an eyebrow at the dragon, who chuckled and obliged her with his answer.
“Counter-spell for memory loss, the benefits of soy, and a little healing and strengthening magic that I picked up from my Sensei as a child. Maybe a little love spell thrown in to improve my chances with you.”
The latest mouthful squirted onto his face.
“The last was a joke BlowingWind.”
Even though she was tired, she reached up and grabbed near his nose even though she couldn’t see any hairs. Being a dragon meant that there were probably some whiskers hiding somewhere in that vicinity hidden by illusion. A quick tug confirmed her half-formed suspicion, and his hand, spoon and all, flew to shield his nose from her wrath.
“Ow. Ok, I get it, not funny.”
“Not in the slightest you. . . scaly coyote.”
“I see you are getting stronger already. How comforting. What a great healer I am, although my patient could give me a nicer thank you after watching over her for yet another week.”
Ryu handed her the bowl as he tried to pout, which she finished herself very quickly by drinking directly out of the bowl while he winced about it.
“At least you have a good appetite.”
“Your healing didn’t include anything I’m going to have to find something to bludgeon you with to restore my sense of honor, did it? Have I really been out that long?”
Ryu took the bowl carefully, his muscles coiled to leap for safety if she made another aggressive move.
“No, there are females here whereas there were none at my little retreat. Yes, you were really sleeping for another week. I came close to losing you a couple times, but it seems a certain you lady had left instructions to NOT be taken to the hospital if she got hurt or sick.”
He glared, crossing his arms with the bowl still in hand. His display would have been more terrifying if his eyes weren’t heavy with concern. BlowingWind looked down to her lap.
“I see. I’ve been a burden to you. I’m sorry, and thank you.”
Ryu huffed, then felt her forehead.
“You’d worry me more if you weren’t being at least a little trying. Besides, it’s rather nice to have someone call me on the things I do. I know very well I can be overbearing and a little too hot to handle.”
BlowingWind smiled, her eyes taking on a strange glint, curious, he leaned a little closer to get a better view.
“BlowingWind? Are you laughing at me?”
Despite having pressed her lips into a firm line, the laughs escaped out of her nose. Giving up, she let them escape in a more comfortable manner.
“You’re so full of yourself Ryu!”
He blinked and felt her forehead again, his lips turning down even further as his brow began to show slight furrows.
“I should hope so. If I wasn’t full of me I’d be someone else…”
BlowingWind’s laughter returned at the confused Kami, but it was brought up short by his sighed comment.
“And to think I thought you’d soon be ready for me to take you shopping for your coffee and chocolate that I had promised you. I guess since you are obviously still a bit delirious you’ll just have to stay in bed for another week. I had even used the phone that they have to get my old apartment set up for the brief time you’ll be in Tokyo.”
BlowingWind sighed, looking down into her lap. With the quiet escape of her breath the band around Ryu’s heart tightened another notch. When she looked back up, her eyes carried the same tsunami of sadness that he had first seen in them only a few weeks ago.
“What makes you think I have no place to stay? There is a family that I have been staying with, and I must have them very worried. I have to let them know that I am intact. Ji-san must feel terrible if the news that I went missing has reached him, which I’m sure he has already received.”
“You have a family here? I thought you had said you had left your mother back in America?”
BlowingWind winced as his words fell out of his mouth, eating away at the heart she tried to keep hidden as if those simple hurt words had been drops of acid rain. Ryu hadn’t meant it to sound as desperate and broken as it had come out. He pulled back abruptly, crossing his arms and looking casually away, a veil covering his eyes as he tried to hide his feelings. BlowingWind sighed.
“I met a man on the flight here, and he insisted I meet his wife and stay with them until I got my feet under me. He is no treat to you, if that’s your worry.”
Ryu’s eyes widened, and he swallowed his feelings. They audibly clicked as they slid down his throat.
“I am not threatened by any human. I am merely trying to fulfill my duty to you as guardian. I already know that you have no intentions of being available to any male.”
“And thank you for respecting that Ryu.” BlowingWind murmured as she leaned forward and quickly pecked his cheek.
His eyes now were about as wide as dinner plates in her opinion as he blushed and his hand flew to where her lips had brushed him. Realizing perhaps a little too late what she had done and the possible thoughts she may have given him, she blushed and hunched her shoulders, then her eyes bored into him when she snapped.
“Now, when can I go home to collect my things and say my goodbyes? More importantly, when do we go shopping? Don’t let that get to your head either!”