Post by Lord Cyber on May 30, 2005 21:59:12 GMT -5
Aimee was angry...
Josh was crying...
And that scaly monstrosity that Bishop just hog-tied was whimpering like a scared pup.
Bishop lowered his arms but kept his grip on the metal rope. He shot a sideways look at Aimee. The look she returned was raw with fear and anger.
"Somebody here is lying to me...and something ain't right!" Bishop looked back at Josh. Sand was clinging against the sweat on the teen's face and arms....probably more of it was down his shirt, pants, and boots. "This fight is over. I'm not going to kill you Josh, but I'm not ready to fight with you either. There's no way you can keep that thing a living monster forever, especially after I've broken your concentration twice now."
The girl had no footprints in the sand.
The Black Wyrm did.
Bishop had almost pieced it together...and then he felt the metal rope go slack against the beast.
"Virgil...what...!?"
"Ah ain't done nothin'!" An ethereal voice with a southern twain replied from the rope.
Bishop spun quickly to see a lithe and beautiful Aimee stepping free of the loose bindings where The Wyrm had been. He quickly looked back to where she was standing before to see The Wyrm there...it's features were faded at the edges and he could now see through the beast.
"Bishop should know that Josh is not to blame. This is how we survive. This is how we fight." Aimee's voice still sounded angry...but there was a sadness to it now as well.
"You're the medium..." Bishop had finally put it all together. "Your flesh is the medium for Josh's spirit...and while that thing is using your body you're nothing more than a spirit..."
Bishop dropped the rope. It had turned back into a length of chain by the time it hit the sand. Virgil stood next to Bishop now and looked everyone over.
"Ah reckon that won't do."
"I agree, Virgil...I guess that's it...we're done."
"Wait! Bishop should also know that I have my own spirit to use."
Bishop closed his eyes and wondered if kicking Josh, who was still lying on the ground next to him, would make him feel any better.
"Aimee...I don't care what you have...it won't do you any good if Josh sends you, it, whatever, into a fight and you get killed or knocked out before you can use it."
He opened his eyes again and clenched his fists. Looking at her, he saw a small purple glimmer clutched between her thumb and finger.
That was the breaking point...
"That's it! That's your spirit! That speck!? Why even bring that up, now? If this were a real fight, you'd be dead and you wouldn't be able to use...what is that...a slug?"
She tossed it at Bishop.
More correctly, she tossed it on Bishop. The small glowing purple blob latched onto his arm...and then sunk into his flesh.
"Leach!?" Bishop's arm went numb, then it went limp at his side. Then he felt the rest of his body start to go numb before he blacked out.
They would later tell him that he screamed like a girl before he fell.
**********
He needed a three man team...he didn't know where to go...didn't have any friends...that was mostly why he was here. Talking about ghosts in the South meant you were touched...or a looney...or something else that should be locked away forever.
So he was alone in a sea of shamans. No nerve to talk to any of them...but he needed two. He was going to ask the great spirit for help...go right to the source.
But on his way around the lake, that Patch Official told him a better way to go...a way that led him through some bushes, off a cliff, and on top of Josh and Aimee.
As they asked Bishop for his help...and he walked away with them back to town...he looked around and realized that this wasn't the way to the great spirit at all.
...was the Patch Official really who he said he was...
**********
"I think Bishop is coming to...I think..." Aimee hovered over Bishop. They had somehow gotten him back to his bed in Josh's room.
"Why are you two here..." Bishop found that his entire body felt stiff and lazy. "I mean...why do you two want to be Shaman King?"
"I don't." Josh's melancholy tone came from somewhere near the foot of the bed.
"Because we have no where else to go..." Aimee paused for a moment then continued. "No family...no home...no one, except Bishop. So we will fight for Bishop."
Not only did he feel stiff and tired...now he felt guilty. He stared up at the ceiling past Aimee's face...she did have a pretty face. As he looked at her he realized he didn't want to be Shaman King either.
Bishop snorted. Then he began laughing until tears came to his eyes.
"What does Bishop think is so funny?" Aimee said with "the look" of hers.
"I'll tell you later...I'll tell you about how we lost and won at the same time...and about how three friends were brought together that didn't have anyone else....right after I remove our team from the competition."
And he did.
FIN
Josh was crying...
And that scaly monstrosity that Bishop just hog-tied was whimpering like a scared pup.
Bishop lowered his arms but kept his grip on the metal rope. He shot a sideways look at Aimee. The look she returned was raw with fear and anger.
"Somebody here is lying to me...and something ain't right!" Bishop looked back at Josh. Sand was clinging against the sweat on the teen's face and arms....probably more of it was down his shirt, pants, and boots. "This fight is over. I'm not going to kill you Josh, but I'm not ready to fight with you either. There's no way you can keep that thing a living monster forever, especially after I've broken your concentration twice now."
The girl had no footprints in the sand.
The Black Wyrm did.
Bishop had almost pieced it together...and then he felt the metal rope go slack against the beast.
"Virgil...what...!?"
"Ah ain't done nothin'!" An ethereal voice with a southern twain replied from the rope.
Bishop spun quickly to see a lithe and beautiful Aimee stepping free of the loose bindings where The Wyrm had been. He quickly looked back to where she was standing before to see The Wyrm there...it's features were faded at the edges and he could now see through the beast.
"Bishop should know that Josh is not to blame. This is how we survive. This is how we fight." Aimee's voice still sounded angry...but there was a sadness to it now as well.
"You're the medium..." Bishop had finally put it all together. "Your flesh is the medium for Josh's spirit...and while that thing is using your body you're nothing more than a spirit..."
Bishop dropped the rope. It had turned back into a length of chain by the time it hit the sand. Virgil stood next to Bishop now and looked everyone over.
"Ah reckon that won't do."
"I agree, Virgil...I guess that's it...we're done."
"Wait! Bishop should also know that I have my own spirit to use."
Bishop closed his eyes and wondered if kicking Josh, who was still lying on the ground next to him, would make him feel any better.
"Aimee...I don't care what you have...it won't do you any good if Josh sends you, it, whatever, into a fight and you get killed or knocked out before you can use it."
He opened his eyes again and clenched his fists. Looking at her, he saw a small purple glimmer clutched between her thumb and finger.
That was the breaking point...
"That's it! That's your spirit! That speck!? Why even bring that up, now? If this were a real fight, you'd be dead and you wouldn't be able to use...what is that...a slug?"
She tossed it at Bishop.
More correctly, she tossed it on Bishop. The small glowing purple blob latched onto his arm...and then sunk into his flesh.
"Leach!?" Bishop's arm went numb, then it went limp at his side. Then he felt the rest of his body start to go numb before he blacked out.
They would later tell him that he screamed like a girl before he fell.
**********
He needed a three man team...he didn't know where to go...didn't have any friends...that was mostly why he was here. Talking about ghosts in the South meant you were touched...or a looney...or something else that should be locked away forever.
So he was alone in a sea of shamans. No nerve to talk to any of them...but he needed two. He was going to ask the great spirit for help...go right to the source.
But on his way around the lake, that Patch Official told him a better way to go...a way that led him through some bushes, off a cliff, and on top of Josh and Aimee.
As they asked Bishop for his help...and he walked away with them back to town...he looked around and realized that this wasn't the way to the great spirit at all.
...was the Patch Official really who he said he was...
**********
"I think Bishop is coming to...I think..." Aimee hovered over Bishop. They had somehow gotten him back to his bed in Josh's room.
"Why are you two here..." Bishop found that his entire body felt stiff and lazy. "I mean...why do you two want to be Shaman King?"
"I don't." Josh's melancholy tone came from somewhere near the foot of the bed.
"Because we have no where else to go..." Aimee paused for a moment then continued. "No family...no home...no one, except Bishop. So we will fight for Bishop."
Not only did he feel stiff and tired...now he felt guilty. He stared up at the ceiling past Aimee's face...she did have a pretty face. As he looked at her he realized he didn't want to be Shaman King either.
Bishop snorted. Then he began laughing until tears came to his eyes.
"What does Bishop think is so funny?" Aimee said with "the look" of hers.
"I'll tell you later...I'll tell you about how we lost and won at the same time...and about how three friends were brought together that didn't have anyone else....right after I remove our team from the competition."
And he did.
FIN
