Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Within The Darkness ❯ The Possession ( Chapter 2 )

 

 

 

 

Something comes and bursts repeatedly in the middle of my life.

 

And then I can't return, yesterday fades away.

 

I can't stop the thing, if I am alive.

 

 

A tugging startled Bason out of his near-trance. He felt something tugging at his arm. The fishing line. A fish had finally taken the bait. This fish was a fighter; it was hard just to hold on to the reel. Then Bason got an idea. He made sure that the line was locked so it wouldn't extend any further, and he began to walk backwards. Instead of reeling the fish in, Bason would drag it out of the water. After walking a few yards, he saw the fish flop in and out of the water. It was a large catfish that must've been at least eleven pounds. This would be plenty for two people. The catfish flopped and jumped wildly as Bason pulled it onto dry ground. Bason swore that he heard the catfish hiss or growl, but maybe it was his imagination. Fish don't make noise, do they? He pulled the reel back a little more so the fish couldn't jump back into the water. It seemed to flop and struggle forever. After four minutes, the fish was finally still. Bason reeled the line in before walking towards the fish, so as not to put too much stress on his injured arm. Bason put the rod between his left arm and his side, and picked up the fish with his left hand.

 

Bason turned around and began to make his way back to Kwan Yin's house. He wondered how Ku Li was doing. When Bason reached Kwan Yin's house, he removed the fish from the hook and leaned the rod against the house. He walked in the house, holding up his fish. “Look what I caught!” Bason said, proudly displaying his catch.

 

“Oh wow!” Kwan Yin exclaimed. “Here, come see what Ku Li did.” Ku Li was standing by the oven with her back to Bason. Kwan Yin went up to her and whispered in her ear. Ku Li turned around. Her face and suit were splotched with flour, and she had a large grin on her face. It looked like a big bag of flour exploded in her face, but Ku Li seemed content.

 

“Look what I made for you!” Ku Li said gleefully. She picked up a plate with some strange object on it and showed it to Bason. The thing was a tan-colored, amorphous blob. It looked like… bread? This thing didn't look like any loaf of bread Bason had seen before.

 

“Um, what is that?” Bason said, pointing to the blob on the plate.

 

“It's bread, silly,” answered Ku Li, still smiling. “Kwan Yin showed me how to do it, because I didn't know how. I think this is pretty good for a first try, what do you think?” Bason managed to smile. “Is that the fish you caught?” Ku Li asked, looking at the fish Bason was holding. Bason nodded. “That's a big fish! Did you… gut it yet?”

 

“No,” Bason said. Why would Ku Li want to know if he gutted the fish yet? “I was going to go outside and do that right now.”

 

“Can I watch?” Ku Li asked. Kwan Yin's stomach turned at the thought of Bason gutting a fish.

 

“I guess so,” Bason mumbled. “But why would you want to? When Kwan Yin watched she got sick. I don't want you… getting sick all over me.” Bason remembered when Kwan Yin vomited all over his armor; she had never been so embarrassed. Bason picked up a wooden cutting board from Kwan Yin's counter and took it and the fish outside with Ku Li following. He couldn't believe that Ku Li was going to watch him gut a fish. He walked to the nearby pond fed by the river that everyone used for washing clothes and bathing. Bason set the cutting board on the ground and laid the fish on top of it.

 

“What do we do first?” Ku Li asked, wide-eyed.

 

“Well, I usually cut the head off first,” Bason answered as he removed a dagger from its sheath on his belt. He never thought he'd be explaining this to someone. Bason quickly cut the head off the fish and pushed it to the side. Strange… he felt something when he cut the head off the fish. He wished the fish were alive so he could make it suffer. Yes, he would love to see this animal suffer. He thought of what it would be like to do the same to another animal, like a dog or cat. It would feel so good to hear an animal scream in pain. It would make him feel so powerful.

 

“I said what do we do next?” Ku Li shouted in Bason's ear. He was startled out of his daydream. What were these thoughts I just had? Thought Bason. Was that really I talking? I would never want to make any animal suffer, what's wrong with me? I have to answer Ku Li's question or she'll get suspicious.

 

“Oh… sorry,” Bason mumbled. “Uh… next, I take the insides out of the fish and then cut it into pieces to cook.” Bason sliced the fish open and removed the organs inside. He then cut off the tail and sliced down the middle of the fish. He cut the fish into two large filets, leaving behind the various organs and backbone. He held up the two clean filets. “See, now we can cook these and eat them right away. The good part is that you don't have to pick bones out.”

 

“Oh, that was intresting,” Ku Li said, looking at the remains on the cutting board. This wasn't that gross, she didn't know what Kwan Yin's problem was. “What do you do with the… leftovers?”

 

“Well, I usually just dump them by that tree over there, and some animal comes by and eats it,” answered Bason, pointing to a tree. Bason walked over to the tree, dumped the trash, and walked back to Kwan Yin's house. He set the two fish filets on the counter and put the cutting into a sink of soapy water. “It's Kwan Yin's turn to do the dishes,” Bason said, giving Kwan Yin a wry smile. She playfully scowled back at him.

 

“So Bason, do you cook the fish yourself?” asked Ku Li.

 

“Yeah,” he answered, checking to see if the fire in the stove was hot enough.

 

“He can cook food on a fire okay,” Kwan Yin added, “but if he tries to bake something in the oven, he'll burn the house down.” Ku Li giggled.

 

“I can't wait to see how it tastes,” Ku Li said. Bason hoped that he wouldn't botch this attempt at cooking. Except for baking, his culinary skills were decent. The stove in Kwan Yin's house was actually a grill. A grill of iron bars covered the fire. Directly above the stove was a large ventilation hood that led to the chimney. The fish filets sizzled as Bason plopped them onto the grill.

 

“These shouldn't take too long,” Bason said as he took a seat at the table, keeping one eye on the stove.

 

“So, how often do you cook?” Ku Li asked.

 

“Usually everyday. Since Kwan Yin doesn't eat meat, I usually just cook for myself. I can grill things pretty well, but I'm terrible at baking. I don't know why I can't bake… I mean, baking and cooking on the stove are kind of the same thing right? I guess I just have bad luck when it comes to baking things; I'm just not good at it. Maybe I'm better at actually cooking on the stove because I can actually see the food cooking.” Ku Li interrupted Bason's ramblings and pointed to the stove. “Oh yeah, I forgot.” He walked to the stove and flipped the filets over before they burned.

 

“You were saying?” Ku Li said.

 

“Um…” Bason mumbled. He's lost his train of thought again. That happened a lot when he started babbling. “What was I talking about?”

 

“You were rambling again,” Kwan Yin said.

 

“My Bason doesn't ramble,” said Ku Li. “He just has a lot to say.” Ku Li liked the way that Bason babbled when he started talking. Maybe it was because Bason was so much like herself. She thought it was cute when he started talking endlessly about things. They usually took turns doing that. Bason would prattle on about something, and when he got tired of talking, Ku Li would take her turn prattling.

 

“Did anyone tell you that you too are so cute together?” Kwan Yin commented. Bason and Ku Li both looked at each other and then glared at Kwan Yin.

 

“No, not really,” replied Bason. “What do you mean by we're `cute' together?”

 

“You know what I mean,” said Kwan Yin. “You two are made for each other, don't you know that?” Bason and Ku Li did know that, but no one ever told them that. “It's like you both know what each other is thinking.” Kwan Yin didn't know how close to the truth she was. Bason and Ku Li had an empathetic connection; they knew each other's emotions. “Do you know how much Ku Li likes you, Bason?” Bason knew. “You should see the way her face lights up when she talks about you. And Ku Li, the same thing happens with him. I'm sure people probably say that you two are too young to know if you love each other, but I think you do. I can tell.” Kwan Yin was right, again. She was always very perceptive.

 

“Yeah you're right,” Bason said. “It's just that no one ever said it like that before.”

 

“I think your fish is done,” Ku Li said, breaking everyone's pensive moment.

 

“Oh, yeah… I think you're right,” Bason said, walking over to the stove. He removed the filets from the hot grill and placed them on separate plates. Kwan Yin took a large bowl of salad she prepared and placed it on the table. Then she placed the warm loaves of bread on the table next to the salad. Bason brought the two plates of fish to the table and placed one at his and Ku Li's spot. Finally, Kwan Yin brought a pitcher of milk, which she'd gotten twenty-one minutes earlier. Bason was the last person to sit down at the table, and Ku Li gave him a pouting look.

 

“Aren't you going to have the bread I made for you?” Ku Li asked.

 

“Oh… yes, I forgot.” Bason stood up and retrieved the plate with Ku Li's “bread” on it. He sat down and looked at the strange thing on his plate. It didn't look like bread, but it might taste okay. Looks weren't everything. At least it wasn't burnt to a crisp like Bason's failed attempt at baking. Ku Li had an expectant look on her face; she was waiting for Bason to eat it.

 

“Go on,” Ku Li urged. Bason removed a small piece from the loaf and put it in his mouth. It didn't taste bad. In fact, it tasted fine. Ku Li wasn't bad at baking. Bason couldn't understand why the bread took on such an odd shape, though. “Oh you like it!” “I'm glad you like it because I was worried that you might not even want to touch it because it looks so weird.” She looked at the fish on her plate. Ku Li grabbed a fork and ate a piece of the fish. “Ooh. This fish is good. You're a good cook Bason; did anyone ever tell you that? I like this place so much better than my house because at my house I have to act like a little lady. Well, I am a lady, but I don't like being one. It's so nice to live simple like this. Have you ever seen how many forks are at the table at my house? Four! I don't even know what they're for, but Chin Lien says it has something to do with etiquette.”

 

“Four forks!” Kwan Yin said. “Why would anyone need four forks?” Ku Li shrugged her shoulders; she had no idea why they needed four forks. “And what do you mean by etiquette?”

 

“Oh etiquette is just a big word grown-ups use to justify their weird rituals,” answered Ku Li. “When people are visiting the house I always have to follow `proper etiquette'. My father has all these stupid rules on how you're supposed to eat, and how to act. I hate it so much! I wish I lived here instead of having to do all that stupid stuff. Chin Lien says I have to do these things because I'm a lady and that's my job.”

 

“What kind of things do you do?” Kwan Yin asked. She was curious as to how a proper lady usually did.

 

“Well, sometimes people come over to see my daddy and they have a big banquet. I have to sit there and act pretty while all these weird people talk to Daddy about things. I have to eat a certain way and I can't talk or anything. And then sometimes we have these big parades and stuff, and I have to dress in a small skin-tight dress and wave at people. Plus, they never let me have any fun because I'm a lady and they don't want me getting hurt. Sometimes when I don't want to do things I try to get out of it.”

 

“How do you try to get out of it?” Kwan Yin asked.

 

“Sometimes I pretend that I'm sick, but that doesn't work well anymore because Chin Lien usually knows when I'm faking it. One time I dyed my hair brown so I wouldn't go to some stupid `function'. I got in big trouble and my hair was brown for two months, but it was worth it.”

 

“You dyed your hair brown?” Kwan Yin asked. She couldn't believe she would do that. “How in the world did you do that?”

 

“I had some paints that I used sometimes, and I had some brown paint so I rubbed it all in my hair. You should have seen the look on Chin Lien's face when she saw it.” Ku Li lowered her fork to the plate for more food, but there was nothing left. She didn't even realize she'd eaten that whole fish already. “Wow, the fish is gone. That was really good, Bason. Why didn't you tell me that you could cook before? What kind of fish is this anyways? I don't think I've ever had it before.”

 

“It's a catfish,” Bason answered.

 

“Meow,” Ku Li said, giggling.

 

“No, I think they call them that because they have whiskers, like a cat. Anyways, this was a good one. Catfish don't usually taste that good. Sometimes they taste like mud.”

 

“Well, you did a really good job,” Ku Li said as she stood up and kissed him on the cheek.

 

“Oh that's so cute,” Kwan Yin teased. “Why don't you two lovebirds go outside? I'll clean up.”

 

“Oh thank you,” Ku Li said. Ku Li once again grabbed Bason's hand and took him outside. “What are we gonna do now?” Ku Li asked, excited.

 

“I don't know,” Bason said. “What do you want to do? There's a whole bunch of things we can do. We could go swimming, or go for a walk in the meadow, or…” he trailed off. Ku Li looked around and her eyes locked on the pond that Bason used to clean the fish by. A portion of the pond had dried up and left a large pit of mud.

 

“Let's go play in the mud!” Ku Li suggested gleefully.

 

“You want to play in the mud?” Bason asked, confused. He never knew any girl that wanted to play in the mud. Bason liked Ku Li even more now.

 

“Yeah, come on! I never get to do anything fun like that at home. I'll race you there!” Bason stared at her for a second, and she bolted for the pit of mud. Bason ran after her and they both stopped when they reached the edge of the mud pit. “We should probably take our shoes off,” said Ku Li. She sat on the ground and removed her shoes. Bason agreed and proceeded to remove his boots and armor. He thought it would be a good idea if he took his helmet off, so he removed that, too.

 

“You go first,” Ku Li said. Bason slowly stepped into the cool, soft mud. It felt good between his toes. “That's not what I mean,” Ku Li complained, “jump in!” She pushed Bason hard and caused him to lose his balance. He fell face forward into the mud. “That's it, now you've got the hang of it.” Ku Li walked to Bason's side as he was trying to get up. He lifted his body out of the mud, turned around, and sat down. “Wasn't that fun?” Ku Li teased. Bason wiped some mud off his face. The whole front side of his body was covered in cool muck.

 

“Oh, that was a blast,” Bason said sarcastically. He extended his arm and pushed Ku Li. She, in turn, fell over backwards into the mud pile.

 

“I'm gonna get you now!” Ku Li said playfully. She grabbed a handful of mud and lobbed it at Bason, hitting him squarely in the chest. What ensued a fierce battle between Bason and Ku Li, using clumps of mud as weapons. The two repeatedly pushed each other in the mud and dumped it in the other's hair. Bason and Ku Li couldn't remember the last time they had so much fun. After about ten minutes, Kwan Yin came outside to look for them. She saw Bason and Ku Li hurtling muck at each other and walked over there to see what was going on.

 

“Are you two having fun?” Kwan Yin asked. Bason and Ku Li stopped and stared at Kwan Yin, as if they were caught doing something bad. They were completely covered in mud from head to toe. They looked like strange brown creatures from another planet.

 

“Yeah we're fine,” Ku Li said holding up a handful of mud.

 

“Don't even think about it!” Kwan Yin said, slowly backing off. Ku Li decided not to make Kwan Yin mad, so she threw the mud at Bason instead. Kwan Yin decided to leave them alone.

 

“I think we've had enough fun,” said Ku Li, throwing one more dirt clump at Bason. “Let's go for a swim in the pond.” They both stood up and wiped as much mud as they could off themselves. Then they both ran and jumped into the pond, making two huge splashes. “This is fun, we can wash our clothes while we're still in them!”

 

“You are fascinated by the simplest things,” Bason said. He submerged himself underwater and tried to get all the mud off his hair. When he came back to surface, Ku Li was smiling at him.

 

“You missed a spot,” she said, splashing him without warning. Bason splashed back, and for the next few minutes, they relentlessly splattered water on each other. When they finally tired of splashing each other, they stepped out of the water. Their clothes were really heavy when soaked with water.

 

“What now?” Bason said. Ku Li shrugged her shoulders. “We need to dry off. Do you have extra clothes?”

 

“Uh-huh. I brought two dresses with me. I can change into one in your house.” They both walked, soaking wet, in Bason's house. When they had almost reached it, Bason saw Chu Jung approaching them. Oh great, Bason thought, here comes Chu Jung. “Who's that?” Ku Li whispered.

 

“That's Chu Jung. He thinks he's in charge of the woods,” Bason said. Chu Jung approached them with his usual smug expression.

 

“Bason. Who's this person?” Chu Jung asked. “You really like bringing strangers into the woods, don't you?” he said in a condescending tone. Bason was starting to feel angry now. Not his usual tired-of-Chu-Jung's-attitude anger, but something deeper.

 

“This is Ku Li,” Bason said, trying to be calm.

 

“Oh, the high-class girl you're always talking about,” Chu Jung commented mockingly. “She doesn't look high-class. And why's she in Kwan Yin's dress? She's obviously not Kwan Yin.” Bason was starting to get angrier. He tried to contain it. “She's a poor excuse for a human, just like you.” This was it. Bason had had enough of Chu Jung. He was going to pay for his words. The darkness in Bason's soul came to the surface. Bason was filled with rage now. Bason let the rage take over, and he lunged at Chu Jung.

 

“I'm going to kill you!” Bason bellowed. He knocked Chu Jung onto the ground and jumped on top of him. Chu Jung was so scared by Bason's reaction, that all he could do was try to shield his face. Completely consumed by blinded rage, Bason began to pummel Chu Jung with punches. All Bason could see and feel was the desire to kill Chu Jung. His bloodlust wouldn't be filled until he beat Chu Jung to death. Chu Jung removed his hands from his face and tried to grab Bason's arms. Bason took advantage of this and planted a fist on Chu Jung's face. Bason punched again and again and again, each impact harder than the last. Chu Jung's face was covered in blood. Blood flowed from Chu Jung's broken nose and from his split lip. Another fist landed on Chu Jung's jaw and it broke a tooth loose. Chu Jung could taste the blood in his mouth; he prayed that Bason would stop. But this wasn't enough. The punches weren't enough. Chu Jung wasn't dead yet, Bason had to try something else. He wrapped his hands around Chu Jung's neck and began to squeeze. Before he could squeeze harder, he felt something pulling violently at his back.

 

Ku Li and Kwan Yin were trying to pull Bason off of Chu Jung. A sudden impact on Bason's left cheek jarred him out of his insane rage. Kwan Yin had smacked Bason with her palm. Bason let go of Chu Jung and Ku Li dragged him away. Kwan Yin knelt by Chu Jung, who was bruised and bleeding, but still conscious.

 

“What did you do!” Ku Li screamed, almost in tears. What had happened to him?

 

“I don't know!” Bason screamed. He was distraught and completely disoriented. Why did he just do this? It wasn't Bason attacking Chu Jung. It was something else. Something had come up from inside him and had taken over his body. Bason had no control. He could only watch as his body pummeled Chu Jung. Ku Li tried to approach Bason and comfort him. He shot up and glared at her. “Leave me alone!” he shouted. “Don't come near me! I don't deserve your pity!” Bason turned around and ran away from the whole scene. He pushed through the crowd of Chinese children that had gathered around Chu Jung. All Bason could do was run. He ran as fast as he could, but he didn't know where he was going. He thought he heard Ku Li yelling after him, but he wasn't sure. All he wanted to do was escape. He had to keep running.