p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Author's Note: This takes place two years before the second OAV when Yakumo is searching for Pai. /spanbr /br /[Written on November 14th, 2002]/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"[Last edited 8/18/15]/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"br /Disclaimer: Don't own 3x3 Eyes. Never will. Yuzo Takada owns all the rights. br /-br /strong style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Interlude"/span/strongbr /Chapter Onebr /br /The girl appeared to be seventeen but also could have been a youthful adult. It was difficult to tell. The air about her seemed to be shifting, distorting the energy all creatures projected. She was five feet and eight inches. She wore ragged black jeans that covered petite hips. Her upper body was covered by a long sleeved red shirt with the design of a black dragon etched on the front. An ebony leather jacket completed the ensemble. Her face was distressed, hazel eyes downcast. Forever fixed on the rough terrain of the sidewalk below /br /Brushing aside a strand of long brown hair, the girl glanced up, searching for the presence that watched her. "You can stop hiding in the shadows. I know you're out there. I can feel your energy as plain as day."br /br /She suppressed a smile as the sounds of the night did anything but recede. If anything, they grew even noisier. The chirping of crickets from the bushes around the path seemed to mushroom like a symphony warming up for a /br /Just as she was about to shake off the encounter, a shadow near her began to shift. Nearly all of the girl's senses concentrated on the figure as it approached. She laughed out loud when she realized it was only a human. Not a yokai or any sort of demonic being. She began to apologize then stopped. This was no ordinary human./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her gaze slowly swept the young man's body. Underneath a dirty cloak, he wore light brown pants, and a sleeveless shirt that nearly hid a muscular yet slim chest. Her eyes grew wide when she hesitantly put out a hand to feel the enormous energy that surrounded the figure. His ki was off the charts./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"One word came to mind, and she uttered it before she could restrain herself, "Wu!"br /br /He jerked as if shot. A tan hand pulled back the hood that covered his face. Dark brown eyes watched the figure before him through thick black bangs, unsure if this was an ally or /br /"You know of my kind?" Yakumo asked curiously then started. "You wouldn't happen to be Valeka McNamara, would you?"br /br /A wide smile blossomed on Valeka's face. She spoke Japanese easily, having studied the language since childhood. "A Wu, knowing of my existence. That makes this encounter all the more interesting. Don't you agree, Fujii Yakumo?"br /br /Yakumo took a step back, forcing himself to reevaluate the situation. He'd heard this Valeka was a good person so why was he feeling ill at ease?br /br /"You are rather well-known, being one of the only two Wu to roam this Earth. I am honored you know of me."br /br /She regarded him silently for a moment. "I am not your enemy. If anything, I am your ally. While I'm a normal human being, I am talented in the mystic arts. I know of your dilemma, Wu. You have lost that which you swore to protect, correct?"br /br /Yakumo nodded, /br /Her next words came out cold, calculated. "How did you locate me?"br /br /Yakumo met her gaze evenly, refusing to be intimidated. "I tortured one of your servants…"br /br /Valeka exploded into laughter. "So you are the one T'so told me of. Foolish demon. He told me of a gigantic vicious being!"br /br /Yakumo smiled though he was unsure how to behave around this girl. She acted like an immature teenager one moment, and an adult the next. It was rather hard to keep balanced. "I see it was not so."br /br /Valeka's laughter died away, and she walked a few feet away. She paused underneath the streetlight and looked towards Yakumo with a troubled expression. "If I told you of Pai's location, would you leave me so soon?"br /br /Yakumo grabbed hold of Valeka before he knew what he was doing. "You know where Pai is? Tell me!"br /br /She stared at him, one brow cocked in anger. Realizing he'd nearly tackled her, he released Valeka. He fell to his knees in front of her. "Please, I beg of you…"br /br /A tight smile curled on Valeka's face and she knelt in front of the fallen Wu. "She is in the place where you first met her. Tokyo…br /br /"But know this, Yakumo-san. She is alive and well. You have untapped energy inside you and I can teach you how to put it to good use. It will be very useful when you protect Pai." Yakumo said nothing, and then raised his head. He considered her words /br /"If anything happens to your Sanjiyan, you may kill me. My body cannot regenerate like yours. I will not revive. How about it?"br /br /He stood, offering Valeka a hand. They shook hands, grinning at each other. "I accept your offer, Valeka-san. Where do we start?"br /br /emstrongTo Be Continued?/strong/em/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"[Last edited 8/18/15]/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"br /Disclaimer: Don't own 3x3 Eyes. Never will. Yuzo Takada owns all the rights. br /-br /strong style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Interlude"/span/strongbr /Chapter Onebr /br /The girl appeared to be seventeen but also could have been a youthful adult. It was difficult to tell. The air about her seemed to be shifting, distorting the energy all creatures projected. She was five feet and eight inches. She wore ragged black jeans that covered petite hips. Her upper body was covered by a long sleeved red shirt with the design of a black dragon etched on the front. An ebony leather jacket completed the ensemble. Her face was distressed, hazel eyes downcast. Forever fixed on the rough terrain of the sidewalk below /br /Brushing aside a strand of long brown hair, the girl glanced up, searching for the presence that watched her. "You can stop hiding in the shadows. I know you're out there. I can feel your energy as plain as day."br /br /She suppressed a smile as the sounds of the night did anything but recede. If anything, they grew even noisier. The chirping of crickets from the bushes around the path seemed to mushroom like a symphony warming up for a /br /Just as she was about to shake off the encounter, a shadow near her began to shift. Nearly all of the girl's senses concentrated on the figure as it approached. She laughed out loud when she realized it was only a human. Not a yokai or any sort of demonic being. She began to apologize then stopped. This was no ordinary human./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her gaze slowly swept the young man's body. Underneath a dirty cloak, he wore light brown pants, and a sleeveless shirt that nearly hid a muscular yet slim chest. Her eyes grew wide when she hesitantly put out a hand to feel the enormous energy that surrounded the figure. His ki was off the charts./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"One word came to mind, and she uttered it before she could restrain herself, "Wu!"br /br /He jerked as if shot. A tan hand pulled back the hood that covered his face. Dark brown eyes watched the figure before him through thick black bangs, unsure if this was an ally or /br /"You know of my kind?" Yakumo asked curiously then started. "You wouldn't happen to be Valeka McNamara, would you?"br /br /A wide smile blossomed on Valeka's face. She spoke Japanese easily, having studied the language since childhood. "A Wu, knowing of my existence. That makes this encounter all the more interesting. Don't you agree, Fujii Yakumo?"br /br /Yakumo took a step back, forcing himself to reevaluate the situation. He'd heard this Valeka was a good person so why was he feeling ill at ease?br /br /"You are rather well-known, being one of the only two Wu to roam this Earth. I am honored you know of me."br /br /She regarded him silently for a moment. "I am not your enemy. If anything, I am your ally. While I'm a normal human being, I am talented in the mystic arts. I know of your dilemma, Wu. You have lost that which you swore to protect, correct?"br /br /Yakumo nodded, /br /Her next words came out cold, calculated. "How did you locate me?"br /br /Yakumo met her gaze evenly, refusing to be intimidated. "I tortured one of your servants…"br /br /Valeka exploded into laughter. "So you are the one T'so told me of. Foolish demon. He told me of a gigantic vicious being!"br /br /Yakumo smiled though he was unsure how to behave around this girl. She acted like an immature teenager one moment, and an adult the next. It was rather hard to keep balanced. "I see it was not so."br /br /Valeka's laughter died away, and she walked a few feet away. She paused underneath the streetlight and looked towards Yakumo with a troubled expression. "If I told you of Pai's location, would you leave me so soon?"br /br /Yakumo grabbed hold of Valeka before he knew what he was doing. "You know where Pai is? Tell me!"br /br /She stared at him, one brow cocked in anger. Realizing he'd nearly tackled her, he released Valeka. He fell to his knees in front of her. "Please, I beg of you…"br /br /A tight smile curled on Valeka's face and she knelt in front of the fallen Wu. "She is in the place where you first met her. Tokyo…br /br /"But know this, Yakumo-san. She is alive and well. You have untapped energy inside you and I can teach you how to put it to good use. It will be very useful when you protect Pai." Yakumo said nothing, and then raised his head. He considered her words /br /"If anything happens to your Sanjiyan, you may kill me. My body cannot regenerate like yours. I will not revive. How about it?"br /br /He stood, offering Valeka a hand. They shook hands, grinning at each other. "I accept your offer, Valeka-san. Where do we start?"br /br /emstrongTo Be Continued?/strong/em/p