Under the burning sun (Open)

[Hao Asakura]

This could not be the Great Spirit's will.

Hao had only slept for a few hours - it was always difficult to do so when there were so many thoughts in turmoil around him. Even after he had spoken with Yoh, he felt the lingering sour notes of his brother's fear, his worry. There was pity there too, which had only infuriated him - the sympathy of one who couldn't possibly understand what it was like to bear the burden of his abilities. And that pathetic promise - what good was it, bringing back the humans they would kill tomorrow? They were endangering the tournament. If left alone, they would try to ruin it, as they had ruined everything else. The humans dared to try and take away his chance to set everything right. They deserved to burn.

Yoh could be so naive.

But an Oversoul could not be attained without confidence in one's abilities, and the strength of will to remain calm no matter what pressed on his mind. So he put aside the fact that his followers were dead, that his brother couldn't understand how even his human friend would one day turn on him. The former had been expected, after all - he had known when they had first starting doubting him. The latter... well, he would learn, inevitably. Unless he took back the lesser half of his soul before he got the chance to - but really, that wasn't even necessary now.

Eventually, he had slept, soothed by thoughts of fully testing Kurobina's power. And after that... would come the journey to Mu. And then -

And then his crowning.

But when he had awakened, it wasn't to the building Yoh and his friends had laid a claim to. He stared up at open sky, with the foreboding weight of something wrong sinking in. This wasn't the island. He couldn't feel any shamans nearby, especially not the calm wellspring that was his lesser half's furyoku. He searched further and -

Not even a flicker of anything he recognized. Opacho, Yoh, Anna, the ragged band of Five Warriors meant to stop him, even those shitty Buddhists - everyone was gone. He had gotten used to the comfort of knowing they were near, that he could rely on them to oppose him and mouth off and get in the way of his plans. Everything had been under control. He had been so close.

It couldn't have been the Great Spirit - he had been accepted into the tournament each and every time. So... so where was he? How had he gotten here? Why was he alone?

No... not quite alone. He could hear thoughts, on the very edge of his reishi's limits within the area. Getting up, he looked around, frowning at the sight of a cluster of skyscrapers and houses not too far off. He had woken up in a small park, judging by all the trees and well-kept lawns, which was thankfully empty. In the midst of a human city... he couldn't imagine many worse places to be, at the moment. Still, standing around and feeling sorry for himself wouldn't help him figure out what had happened, and how to get back.

With that in mind, he headed for the the entrance to the park - one with quite a nice fountain, and many people passing by, or sitting on provided benches to talk. Their thoughts flowed over him, many cheerful enough to be hardly noticeable, but others angry, or brooding. He did his best to ignore it, as he ignored the strange looks his clothes garnered from some of the people paying attention.

Hao smiled. The Spirit of Fire was still with him, though not manifested just now. If he felt like it, he could kill every human here. But not now. First - information.

"Ah... I know this is an odd question, but I don't suppose anyone could tell me where this is?" he asked, waiting more for the thoughts of the scattered groups than any audible answer.

At least the reishi made some things convenient.

[Phoebe Halliwell]

As Phoebe had always understood it, Kansas was a...fairly calm state. Nothing was ever supposed to happen there, right? Aside from the occasional tornado blowing everyone to Oz, or whatever. So needless to say, she was just a little disgruntled at having to track the banshee that'd shown up on their radar all the way out here. Not that it was as convenient as it could have been, when you had a sister who could teleport, but...even so, they were pretty far from home. There was little to be done about it, however. If a banshee went unchecked, it was capable of causing some serious damage. Maybe a calm place like this would be better off just getting used to that, though. With all the rifts that had been popping up in the past year or two, Phoebe doubted that anywhere would remain normal for long.

The trouble with banshees was that they could be incredibly difficult to track. The best way to do it was to track their screams - but banshee screams could only be heard by potential victims...or an animal with extremely sensitive hearing, like a dog. It had been easier to come across the latter. She'd visited the local animal shelter and volunteered for their dog walking service, and they'd been happy to lend her a pretty Beagle mix. Only problem was, she wasn't sure whether her new friend was leading her towards the banshee - or towards the other dogs in the park. Right now, she was kind of suspecting the latter...though of course, it was always possible that the banshee was hiding out in the woods beyond the park. As she paused to allow the dog to sniff at a nearby tree, Phoebe tightened her hold on the leash and gave a faint sigh.

"I'm telling you, you'd better not be wasting my time." she told it, albeit somewhat good-naturedly. The beagle lifted his head, his ears pricking - but what had caught his attention wasn't a banshee. It was a seemingly human voice. Phoebe turned towards the speaker too, perking up at the familiar sense of confusion and bewilderment - even frustration. This was someone who had obviously just come through one of the rifts. Maybe they weren't as common here yet as they were in the bigger cities, because some people looked equally confused. Quickly, Phoebe gave the leash a tug, and hurried over to him with the shelter dog trotting obliviously behind her.

"Hi there!" she shot him a friendly greeting as she came to a halt, wrapping the leash around her hand and relaxing enough to give the stranger a smile. "You probably just came through one of the rifts - don't worry, it happens a lot. You're a little ways outside Lawrence, by the way. Lawrence, Kansas." She paused there, studying him for a reaction or any signs of recognition. Some people were fortunate enough to come from an alternate world similar to this, and were still familiar with places like Kansas at least in name. But she knew that others came from worlds that were altogether different, and shared little to no similarities with the one the rifts had pulled them into. The second category was always a little trickier to deal with. It was harder to get people settled that way - but she and her sisters had been helping anyone they came across who'd wandered through the rifts none the less, and this was worth taking a little break from her monster hunt for.

[Toothless]

The angle of the sun cast the alleyway in shadows as a creature backed itself up against the dead-end wall. Teeth bared, a deep growl echoing forth from its gullet, the creature's ears twitched and flaps vibrated in an attempt to locate the sound from that morning. Toothless and Hiccup had come to the country of North America out of curiosity. However, last night, the Night Fury had encountered a sound the likes of which he'd never experienced. It was a piercing, ethereal shriek. The noise sent chills up the dragon's spine and his blood boiling as his stomach twisted in turmoil. Toothless has been quick to note that Hiccup could not hear the sound. However, with both of his ears in addition to the four ear-flaps along his head, the Night fury could hear the unearthly scream all too well.

Unable to locate the sound, Toothless slowly and hesitantly crept from the alley, blinking into the soft light of the sun as his pupils narrowed to slits; the sun here was so much brighter and harsh compared to the light that shone from the sky of his home. He looked first down one side of the way and then the other, wary of the humans he'd encountered in this place. They were quick to let fear grasp them and the resulting situation was not something of which Toothless was very fond; it didn't help that he was unable to avoid attention in the sky without his Hiccup-Friend. Finding the coast clear for the moment, the dragon sped across the stone-like path that was the dominion of those metal creatures that raced everywhere.

The Night Fury slipped into another alley, one that didn't end and led into a secluded path towards the back. As his ears continued to occasionally twitch and vibrate in an effort to hear that sound again, the unsuspecting dragon would periodically trip over the pesky trashcans left out by the resident humans; it was a wonder no one came back to inquire as to what sort of creature could possibly be growling and moaning in such a way in addition to the loud crashes. However, Toothless remained focused and made quick progress. Whatever had produce such a terrible noise was a clear danger and could potentially put Hiccup-Friend in harm's way; and that is something Toothless would not tolerate, especially considering how close the creature had sounded the previous night.

Spotting something unusual out of the corner of his eye, the Night Fury twisted and dashed down another alley, leaping into the weak cover of the trees before any human could identify him in any way. Weaving through the evenly spaced trees, the dragon broke upon the quaint park with a ferocious demeanor; which had been a vital mistake. What Toothless had mistaken for a startling scenario and the eerie shriek of the unidentifiable creature had in fact been a mass of those strange, fuzzy Human-Companions and the high-pitched screaming of young human children. This was, apparently, some form of playful event ground similar to the main hubs of social communication found on Berk. Gulping back the volume of gas he'd intended for a bolt of fire, Toothless gave the two closest humans a flat look and growled dryly in his throat. You are not Screaming-Threat.

[Hao Asakura]

Confusion, uncertainty - and then a wall, or that was the easiest way to describe it. A specific area where he heard no thoughts, could not read anything at all. One person here was completely silent, and she was coming towards him.

Did she have reishi too? That was... he was inclined to believe it was impossible, given he had just arrived. What were the chances of that? But she wasn't a spirit... it was possible, that she had some kind of ability that blocked his own. Right now, it was both unnerving and almost soothing - at least he had one less person to listen to. But how could he trust her words, her expression, when he knew all too well how easy it was to fake it?

Still, he turned towards her and smiled back, pushing away his current resentment. If she did share in his ability, then there was a chance she would pick something up from him - that meant he had to be calm.

Besides, letting himself throw a tantrum just because of a small setback would only ruin his control, and make it that much harder to figure out what was going on. Hao crouched, extending his hand to let the leashed dog sniff it, but kept his eyes on the woman who had approached him to explain. She clearly had experience with this, but her explanation wasn't improving his mood. Kansas? Rifts - so he'd somehow been taken through what, a wormhole? That meant... unless it was still here, still accessible, that he was blocked off from the Shaman Fight.

He didn't want to think of what would happen if he remained trapped here. Would he die in this world as his brother was chosen as Shaman King? Then he would have to reincarnate again....

He could do it. He had the patience. But he had been so close.

"These rifts... so people just coming out of nowhere is normal here? This world must be a mess," he said instead, keeping his voice light. "I can't say I expected to show up here -"

There was a steady stream of thoughts, quickly approaching, and focused on - on screaming? And it didn't have the same clarity of thought to it as a human. Instead, it was rooted in instinct and impulse, which meant it was an animal. And quite soon, he had the opportunity to study it as it burst out from the cover around them. What a strange mix of eastern and western myths, if it had been a spirit - the sinuous grace of the dragons he was more familiar with, but with the wings and body of a western type. But it wasn't a spirit - and he was reminded strongly of a cat as it stared at them.

He smirked at its blunt line of thought, but kept his own movements slow and smooth as he turned towards it. A cat-like dragon, that was clearly alive and intelligent. A being just as interesting as the woman whose heart he could not read.

"Hello there." His voice softened, but giving away that he got along better with animals instead of people was hard something to be used against him. Most people found it easier to show affection, or would happily kill another person but despise cruelty to an animal.

...He supposed he fell into that category as well.

[Phoebe Halliwell]

He seemed to calm somewhat at her words. Phoebe wasn't sure whether it was because the knowledge of what was going on had put him at ease, or whether he was just trying to keep up appearances - the former seemed more likely, since the rush of negative emotion genuinely seemed to be ebbing. She watched the dog greet him enthusiastically, nosing at his offered hand, and felt herself relax a little. If you needed to form a quick first impression, then judging a person by the way they treated animals wasn't a bad way to go. "It's pretty bad, yeah. You haven't even seen - " But if she was going to tell him about the chaos that had overtaken some of the larger cities, or even try to offer him further help, there was no time.

There was a rush of sudden emotion that was not her own - a wave of ferocity and defensiveness, the need to protect, the fear of someone important getting hurt - she turned quickly, not quite sure what she was expecting, and was entirely taken aback as a sleek black dragon landed nearby. The only time Phoebe had ever run into a dragon - a pair of them, actually - was when her nephew had used his still-developing abilities to bring them into this reality. This dragon was different, however. Evidently, it was not nearly as destructive, because although it had swooped in with the intention of attacking, something had evidently changed its mind. The way it paused and stared over at them cynically made Phoebe hesitate. This wasn't the behavior of a vicious, mindless animal - and very quickly, she felt curiosity start to overcome her wariness.

The dog she'd temporarily adopted, however, didn't take it quite as well. Yelping and barking frantically, it tugged sharply at the leash - whether to lunge at the dragon or to bolt away, Phoebe wasn't sure, but she quickly tightened her grip and pulled him backwards again, kneeling down and trying to calm him as the man she'd just spoken to greeted the dragon quite kindly. So he was an animal person - Phoebe thought she might like him already. She wondered what Kit might make of him; her cat familiar was typically an excellent judge of character. But for now, she focused her attention on the dragon itself, unaware of its thoughts or how relevant they might be to the little monster hunt she'd been conducting. This thing was kind of...well, cute. For a dragon. It had an almost feline quality, its slitted-pupil eyes regarding them inquisitively. Phoebe almost had to smile, but thought it might be best to save the pleasantries until she was sure there was no threat.

She still wasn't getting any hint of direct aggression from him, though, and until that changed she saw no reason to panic either.

"...The way he came swooping in here, I almost thought he was going to attack us." she murmured, her brow furrowing slightly. She wondered why the dragon hadn't - or, if that hadn't been its intention in the first place, she wondered what had brought it here in such an urgent matter. Maybe it could even understand her now...though, unless they got really lucky, she doubted it could reply in turn.

[Toothless]

Toothless looked the pair up and down, measuring them with a hint of annoyance. A human woman and child; however neither of them smelled exactly human. The woman was permeated with the scents of herbs and something otherworldly, much like Gothi-Viking-Elder of Berk. The Night Fury would be intensely curious, in fact he was, however there was still a clear and present danger. The child, on the other hand, was... unusual. His flesh certainly smelled as a human's did, but another scent clung to his form. He smelled of sulfur and smoke and ash and flame. He reminded Toothless of the dragon nest that had been home to the Red Death.

With ridged brow furrowed, Toothless had finally had enough of the pesky furry-companion creature's senseless yapping and snarled menacingly at it, the barest threat of consequence issuing from his gullet if the thing didn't quiet itself. The dragon mentally shook himself of his previous thoughts and uttered a soft growl. Woman-Elder and Odd-Child very distracting. The Night Fury dropped back down to his forepaws and turned his back to the duo, huffing softly to himself. Must find Screaming-Threat. Walking back into the slightly more secluded area of well-tended trees, the dragon's ears twitched and swiveled and buzzed, doing his absolute best to try and find the creature that set him on edge.

His ebony tail curled in around himself, its prosthetic fin a grim reminder of his disability. For a moment, Toothless recalled the Whispering Death that had found him on Berk. His claws dug furrows into the soft ground and he recalled the feeling of how useless he'd felt when they'd fought. The irritating dragon had remained in the air and the Night Fury had been too prideful to accept Hiccup's help. Toothless dreaded what he might find at the source of the eerie screeching. If the mysterious creature could fly, the dragon's attempt to subdue it before it had the chance to harm Hiccup-Friend would become imposingly difficult. However, just the thought of involving his dear companion sent chills down his spine.

As he continued to listen, Toothless measured his surroundings and what he could remember from his forays into this village. The tall structures that appeared to be the homes of these humans could potentially be used against an airborne opponent. The Night Fury's gaze swept the trees around him. They would be a much more preferable field of confrontation. Toothless was familiar with how to distribute his weight as to climb and remain atop a tree. In addition to that, the cover the trees provided would draw less attention than fighting a monster while scaling buildings and rooftops. His singular, organic tail-fin flexed, anticipating the worst.

[Hao Asakura]

Hao didn't quite wince as the dog began to bark. That likely wouldn't ease the dragon's temperament - and he still had to figure out how to show he could communicate with him without... making it clear what his abilities were. Unless sharing that would push the woman into identifying just what kind of powers she had.

He couldn't be sure, of course, because he couldn't read her. As soon as his powers seemed to become a heavy burden, he just had to be dragged away from the fight and to some place where he wished they would work properly. If he was certain the Great Spirit was behind this, he would have called this a test - or a god somehow being moved to pettiness and ironic mockery. But... there was no way to tell if there had been a reason for this.

At least he could understand the dragon. Now if only he could decide how to handle this.

"He seems like he's searching for something... and it's clear we're not it." He glanced at the woman again. Clearly not a normal human... but was it worth it to risk it?

But then, he hadn't exactly gone through his lives being cautious. Really, even the dragon wouldn't give him trouble - and whoever and whatever she was, it wasn't likely that she was stronger than he was. This was a new world, as well, which meant no one had any idea who he was. He could afford to play around with a little risk... as long as it wasn't too great. He had to get back, first of all.

Somehow.

"What's this Screaming-Threat?" he asked the dragon casually, following him and making sure to keep his distance, so he wouldn't feel too intruded upon. "And why are you looking for it?" He didn't need to look back to gauge the stranger's expression - he'd hear her reaction audibly anyways, and besides, looking back would ruin the effect of seeming very nonchalant about it to begin with.

And to be brutally honest with himself, he hadn't ever really been around a living dragon before. Dragons were typically... representations. A river spirit might take the form of a dragon, especially if it was a large river, but no matter what, they were always spirits. Hearing a dragon's thoughts, so couched in reactions and such strong feelings, and yet undeniably less tangled than a human's or a shaman's -

It was... interesting.

If he could let himself be interested in both of them, he wouldn't need to worry so much about how angry he was.

And just how much he wanted to get rid of the humans in the area right now.

[Phoebe Halliwell]

Her attempts to calm the dog hadn't quite been successful, but when the dragon snarled at it, it leaped back with a slight whimper and went quiet. Phoebe felt a brief flicker of relief - she knew the dog was still frightened, but at least it wasn't creating a scene. With any luck, it'd realize the dragon wasn't interested in it soon enough, and relax. She straightened up again, but before she could speak, the dragon had slipped off towards the tress. The waves of determination it had been radiating were still present; it was focused and driven. And the growing sense of urgency she was picking up probably didn't mean anything good, but without any way to communicate with the creature, there wasn't much she could do to find out more about that. ..Except follow it, perhaps.

The teenager she'd greeted before already seemed to have the right idea. She trailed after him, keeping her eyes on the trees - until he suddenly spoke again. Not to her, but to...the dragon. It was obvious; the way he was so clearly focused on the creature, already expecting an answer to come from it. Intrigue tempered with wariness immediately washed over her. "Wait a minute - you can understand it?" She hadn't run into very many people who could speak to animals before, if that was what he was doing. Her first thought was that he could actually understand the dragon's speech itself - but then, thinking back, it really hadn't been too vocal apart from the obvious snarling at the dog. Could it be that...they were communicating on a mental level? Phoebe shifted, glancing between them with a growing sense of curiosity. It wasn't until she recovered from the surprise that what had just been said really hit her.

Screaming-Threat.

Immediately, her entire posture changed. She stiffened, her inquisitive expression shifting to something much more uneasy, and immediately turned to stare at the dragon again. ...Of course. It could probably hear the banshee just as well as any dog could. And, for whatever reason, it was already seeking the monster out. To protect someone, perhaps? That would fit with the feelings of worry and protectiveness she'd been picking up earlier. There were still about a thousand questions she wanted to ask, though, but she wanted to wait to see what else the dragon would tell the boy first. Although it seemed clear that it wasn't entirely familiar with the threat it was facing - so she decided to clarify. "...It's a banshee." Phoebe murmured, frowning at the dragon. "I think he's looking for a banshee."

[Toothless]

With his numerous sensory appendages, Toothless was capable of far more than the dog accompanying Phoebe. With enough quiet, the dragon was capable of hearing the commotion of the main square of Berk while resting within his own little grotto. Of course, with such amorous humans close by, he was having a smidgeon of difficulty. He was able to pick up the occurrences happening throughout the park as well as two or so blocks in every direction, but he couldn't focus enough to listen beyond such a distance. With any luck, it would be dark soon and the population of humans would return to their homes. Determining the time of day was particularly difficult on this body of land. The sun did not act as it did where he called home.

As Odd-Child spoke up again, asking about the Screaming-Threat. It didn't register with Toothless how he'd managed to procure his mere thoughts; in fact, the Night Fury didn't pay him much heed besides a derisive snort. Quiet. Listening. The dragon had been quick to note that many humans of this world seemed incredibly self-absorbed and invasive. They would see a large, black dragon with vibrating ears and immediately think that either they would be attacked or that they must indulge themselves.

However, his left ear twitched back towards Woman-Elder and his whole posture stiffened at her words. Nothing within his control moved in the slightest. Banshee. He'd heard that word, before... But, where? The Vikings of Berk where tremendously superstitious; especially when it came to their gods. In fact, they'd nearly thrown him off of Berk once because they had thought Thor Odinson had been furious over his presence on the island. Personally, Toothless couldn't care less about any gods. As long as he could hunt, eat, play, and stay with his family; he was happy. Though, he still held respect for Hiccup-Friend, and his gods.

However, this wasn't any god. Yet, he had heard of it crop up in discussion of them. He had overheard Stoick-Father as he chatted with a visitor to Berk. The visitor had mentioned banshee and Stoick-Father had compared the creature with the Fylgja. When Toothless had expressed his curiosity, the great Viking had explained that the Fylgja was a creature that only appeared to a Viking when death was nearly upon him. Toothless searched his memory for proof, but he could find no recollection of Stoick-Father implying that the shriek he'd heard was connected to the Fylgja. However, what he did remember was what the Viking had said to the visitor to end their discussion.

'Same creature; different name.'

Like lightning, the Night Fury whirled around and bore down on Phoebe menacingly. Hoping with all his heart that she could understand Dragonese, Toothless spoke with a guttural moaning. You know Screaming-Fylgja. Can you find it? I need help. The dragon wasn't normally one to admit to requiring assistance. But, if this was indeed a Fylgja he'd heard, Hiccup-Friend could be in very real danger. His pride was more than willing to stand aside for Hiccup's safety. At least now he had a name to give the Threat.

[Hao Asakura]

Hao found it hard not to smirk at her question, but his expression was more sheepish - as if his ability was hardly as stunning as one might think. As if it wasn't such a burden, as well as an advantage. "Ah... yes, something like that," he said, expecting more questions to follow - but clearly something he had translated had struck a nerve.

He turned to look back, taking note of how her behaviour, how her casually interested demeanour had completely vanished. So she knew when to be serious... he would have to watch out for her, just a little. From the way she had asked about his understanding of the dragon, it didn't seem as if she had reishi herself, or she would have leapt to that conclusion already. Which meant... a similar power? Was her mind simply shielded in a way that even his powers could not penetrate?

Questions for later, maybe.

She, at least, seemed to know what the dragon was so obsessed with. A banshee - a spirit and omen of death, in his own world. In this one... it could well be different, but he was sure if it appeared now, he could handle it easily. Perhaps the Spirit of Fire could do with a snack, since it had been torn away from its own world - but no, he couldn't do that with anyone else hunting it down.

"That doesn't sound good," he remarked, jut before the dragon came to his own conclusion and whirled around to demand answers from the woman. "I guess I'll have to play translator, won't I? He's asking if you can find the banshee. He needs help to track it down." He sighed deliberately. "And I'll come along and play translator, I guess. But an omen of death sounds like it'll take some effort to take down..."

Maybe when the opportunity came up, he could admit to what he was - but right now, he wanted to see how this mysterious woman could handle it.

At least this was a good distraction.