While I had lots of fun writing this chapter, I feel a lot of the imagery died out at the end.  I may have been tired, or I may just not have noticed that I was getting lazy, but I promise to pick up again in the next chapter. For now, I hope you enjoy!

~~^__^Anita Ashworth^__^~~

Part III: The Cloak of Yen Shui Fahn


    Athena closed her eyes and began to focus on the small tree standing before Bao and
herself.  She allowed her mind to drift forward until she found it, the textures of the bark and the
leaves leaving odd sensations as she mentally traced the outline of the tree.  It took almost ten
minutes for her to shape her mind completely around it, from every leaf to every insect, she could
feel the plant, knew every crevice along its thick trunk.  She tried to force her mind further and
further into the plant, but it was like trying to walk through a rock.  Athena felt her body waver as
her spirit almost slipped out of its shell under the strain of trying to meld completely with the tree.
She gave up, knowing that it would be a long time before she possessed such skill.
    Now she moved with her mind down into the roots, feeling her way through the dirt and
along the sinewy, underground limbs.  The roots of this tree covered no more than a three foot
radius, and after a further sixteen minutes she was able to shape her mind around the root
structure.  She had it!
    It felt as though she held the tree in her very arms, and the mental embrace began to rise,
pulling the tree with it.  Now the difficult task came.  As she slowly lifted the object from its
earthen foundations, Athena forced a mental pressure down on the soil around the roots, keeping
the soil from rising and spilling over into large clumps around the excavation.  She was sweating
visibly from the effort, and had to remind herself to breathe occasionally, for so much of the
psychic girl�s mind was concentrating on the process that her normal functions were being
affected.  Master Chin had told her that the exertion was so intense as to be dangerous, and for
that reason had waited until now to teach her this sort of mental control.
    It had been well worth the wait.  Now, staring at the ground in awe, Bao was amazed at
how his companion had dug up the tree without disturbing the soil but for where the roots had
come from the ground.  Athena could not observe this because the tremendous effort she was
making had cost her the control it took to open her eyes.  Slowly, she began to plant the tree
where she had taken it from, feeling out the ground with her mind to trace where it would return.
After about seven minutes, she had finished, and she opened her eyes.  She looked over at Bao, a
dazed glare in her eyes.  Bao was still staring at the ground by the tree, which looked completely
undisturbed.
    �Wow!  That was grea�Aagh!�
    Bao was knocked to the ground as Athena fell over on top of him.  He scrambled from
underneath her body, and brushed himself off as he stood.  Seeing her lying there with her eyes
open, breathing heavily, he knelt down, clutching one hand around his knees, and poked her in the
arm a few times.  �You okay, big sis?�  His face was a mask of innocence.
    Athena took a deep breath.  �Could you sit me up, Bao?�  She gulped and spoke again as
he hoisted her back up and dragged her two feet back to lean against a tree trunk.  �That was
quite a strain!  I can�t even move!�
    There was a pause, and they both said, �Master Chin�s going to be proud!�  They smiled
at each other knowingly.  Then Athena started to slip to one side and Bao had to catch her.
    �I�ve never done anything so difficult,� she said.
    �You�re amazing, big sis!�  He sat down next to her and tapped his toy dragon against his
shoe a few times.  After a few moments of idleness, he looked over eagerly.  �I�m tired from
training!  Can we go back now?�  There was a hint of whining in his voice.
    As he listened to her response, he stared at the dragon.  After a moment, he narrowed his
eyes.
    �...It�s becoming late anyway.  And I need to rest.  Let�s��
    Athena was interrupted as Bao stood and said determinedly, �I want to try!�
    Taken aback as she was by this sudden outburst, Athena told him to go ahead, and offered
a few tips as he took a few steps toward the same tree.
    �Good luck!� she barked after him, moving her shoulders a bit now that feeling was
coming back into them.
    The wind picked up slightly.  She saw Bao close his eyes and concentrate.  After a
moment of watching the tree, it began to waver.  Athena was not surprised.  Master Chin had
mentioned that Bao had amazing power inside of him, even though the boy released it carelessly.
Perhaps he would have an easier time with...
    ...She braced herself as the tree was torn from the ground and watched helplessly as it
crashed to the forest floor not ten feet away, entangling itself in the branches of other trees.  Bao
had tried to hard.
    Athena was about to encourage him and tell him that he shouldn�t think it would be easy
to control it the way she had, but suddenly the ground shook violently, and she watched as the
tree disintegrated before her.  A moment later, as though a ball had torn a path through the forest,
the trees within a twenty foot radius of the one Bao had pulled disintegrated as well.  Those on
the outskirts of the invisible blast looked as though large sections of their trunks had just
vanished, and a few fell over as a result.
    Without speaking, Athena watched Bao turn quicky, scratching his head and giving a half-
hearted laugh.
    �I tried too hard, huh, sis?�
    She merely nodded.  How the hell had he been trying?  Had he tried to pull the tree from
the earth, or the other way around?  Whatever had happened, it was obvious that he needed to
learn to control his powers far better than he did.
    Athena picked herself up unsteadily, eyeing the boy with kind but disapproving eyes, and
said.  �We�ll work on that.  Now,� her legs began to give out again, and she fell to her knees,
�could you please give me a lift back to master Chin�s?�
    Bao nodded and, obliging happily, raised an arm, lifting her into the air about three feet
above him.  She felt him release, and suddenly she was floating on a soft cushion of the boy�s own
mental energy.  She sat there a moment and watched him march happily along the trail that
marked a short five minute walk back to their teacher�s makeshift home.  Then, she lay down
thankfully and rested more comfortably than she had in a long time.


    She awoke on the small cot in the hut the master had built.  Bao was sitting in the corner,
staring at the ground.  He looked rather impassive; not the usual, cheery person he was.  Athena
tried to get up, but her muscles still had not recovered completely, and she lay there, looking up at
the ceiling, then back down at Bao.  Then she noticed that her teacher and Kensou had not yet
returned.  Turning her head to Bao, she made an effort to ask where they were, and was shocked
when she found she could not speak.  She tried and tried, but each time she felt as though she was
being choked by an unseen force.  Then, with horror, she realized she had recovered enough to
move, but that she was being held in place by some sort of psychic hold.  Her powers were to
weak from practice to fight it off, and she lay there helplessly, trying to communicate somehow
with Bao.  Finally, Athena put all of her remaining strength into sending him a telepathic message,
and realized that Bao�s mind was occupied with something that was blocking her from him.  In a
moment, she felt it; a tingling in the air around her.  Bao had summoned an absolutely incredible
amount of energy and was concentrating it on himself!  Athena could not figure out what he was
doing, but she struggled in every way possible to release herself from this restraining grip.
    It was then that Kensou entered the room.  He looked around the small room, seeing
Athena resting on the master�s cot.  He waved, and she waved back.
    She hadn�t done so of her own will, but he was none the wiser.  However, Kensou had felt
the power in this room the minute he�d been withing fifteen feet of it, and he immediately looked
down at Bao, raising an eyebrow.
    �Bao?�
    The boy just sat there, staring at the ground a few feet ahead.
    �Bao?  Wake up!�  Kensou prodded him with his foot.  Master Chin was coming up from
the field outside, and Athena watched him as he approached the hut, sure that he would stop
whatever madness was going on.
    Finally, Kensou gave Bao a sharp kick, and the boy leapt to his feet, screaming.  He
jumped back, and Kensou went wide-eyed as he saw Bao raise his hands in fright.  A white energy
grew in front of him, until it was almost twice the boy�s height.  It happened so fast, Kensou
could do nothing but fall to the side.  The force as the ball passed him was so incredible that he
was thrown back and through the wall next to the left of the entrance.
    Eiji Kisaragi ran on, watching from outside as the hut�s entrance collapsed and a blazing,
white ball of energy almost as large as the hut itself burst forth, screaming down the path toward
the man who had trained the three people in the hut.
    No...no! thought Eiji.
    The master looked up as the ball was right on top of him.  There was a flash, and for a
moment, Eiji was blinded.
    The wind died down around him.  He stopped, breathing slightly as he bore witness to the
most incredible act he had ever seen in his life.  Master Chin stood there with one arm
outstretched, completely unscathed.  He looked as though he had just finished a simple task, like
reading a book or doing laundry, and he continued his way toward the hut, looking around at the
mess.  The rest of the hut had collapsed, and Athena, Bao, and Kensou suddenly found
themselves under the starry sky of the night.
    Eiji took this all in, then once again his mind shot to Chin, the man who had taken the
brunt of that incredible force with ease.  He had certainly come to the right man.


    Athena rolled off the now dusty bed, grasping her throat.  She was free at last!  The air
tasted much better now that she could savor it in larger portions.  Frowning angrily, she picked up
the first object she could find�the small dragon Bao had been playing with, and prepared to throw
it at the back of Bao�s head as the boy stood, breathing heavily, a few feet away.  There was just a
moment�s hesitation as she drew back her arm, but it was long enough for the effect to take hold.
She hurled the dragon at the back of his head, shouting, �What were you thinking!?�
    Then something overcame her.  She watched Bao for a moment as he stood, wavering a
bit.  The boy was wide-eyed, his jaw hanging loosely.  He appeared to be in some other world.
However, Athena couldn�t seem to concentrate at all on what was happening.  She felt as though
she was in a day dream.  Everything around here was registering, but she was lost in thought.  For
a moment, the events that had just taken place seemed unimportant, confused. Then Kensou put
a hand on her shoulder.
    �Are you okay?� he asked.  No sooner had he spoken than he found himself being lifted in
the air by his neck, Athena�s hand clasping and squeezing his throat tightly.  She threw him to the
ground with strength that was reinforced by her psychic abilities and stood before him as he lifted
himself up on one elbow, clutching his throat.
    Kensou looked into her eyes.  There was a terrible, terrible hatred in those eyes, and her
stare was so horrendously violent-looking that he found himself frozen, unable to think of what to
do.  He watched helplessly as his one true love raised an arm to one side, gathering her energy.
Her hair fluttered in the sky, waving in a psychic wind of incredible strength.
    Athena breathed a hate-filled sigh and said, menacingly, �Die, you!�
    Kensou raised a hand, knowing he was not powerful enough to ward off this attack, and
he closed his eyes, hoping for a miracle.  It never came.  He felt the impact, was hurled across the
ground, and finally came to rest a few yards away from the collapsed hut.
    But he wasn�t dead.  He lifted his head�now cut and bleeding in several places�and saw a
man dressed in black standing between himself and the crazed Athena.
    Eiji Kisaragi took the brunt of another powerful psychic attack and was pushed back
several feet.  He held steady, however, forcing the power back with his own projection of ki.  His
mental powers were not on par with hers, however, and he had to think fast.  He was still too
tired from his fight with Kyou to hold up against his new adversary.  Quickly, he turned and
shouted to Bao, �The dragon!  Destroy it!�
    The boy ignored him, and he looked back at the fallen Kensou for any sign of help.
Kensou tried to stand, but stumbled and fell.  Eiji looked ahead into Athena�s eyes, preparing to
physically attack her.  There was no help for it.  She would have to be hurt to be stopped, even
though she did not control herself at the moment.  With a grunt, he forced his own power into the
blade and cut through her next attack.  Then he lunged...
    There was a cracking sound off to one side.  The butt of Eiji�s sword stopped just before
Athena�s eyes, and the girl blinked momentarily, then leapt back as she realized who she was
looking at.
    Eiji sheathed his sword and stood tall, looking over to master Chin, whose foot was on the
now crumbled dragon.
    �You three had better learn to get along in my home!� he said, half-heartedly.
    Eiji�s brow furrowed at him.  �Why didn�t you help them before?  And don�t play any
�weak, old man� games with me, either!  I�ve seen your power.�
    Chin curved his lip and blew his hair up out of his face, revealing one eye.  He put his
hands behind his back and said, matter-of-factly, �I wanted to see if she could fight it herself.  It
looks like my training hasn�t done much for her.�  He peered at his best student, who looked
embarrassed and ashamed.
    �So you were going to let her kill that boy?�
    Now Chin raised an eyebrow at his accuser.  �You should know that at times training can
be very harsh.  I wouldn�t have let him die, though.�
    Eiji hesitated, remembering what being brought up as a ninja had been like.
    �What...happened to me?� Athena quavered.  Kensou came stumbling alongside her,
staring in an odd manner at Eiji.
    �You remember me, eh?  I left you lying on the ground, unconscious in the 1995
tournament.  Bet you were hoping you would never see me again, weren�t you?�
    Kensou straightened.
    �Relax.  I�m not here for a fight.  There is a situation I must discuss with your teacher��
    Eiji stopped midway through his explanation.  There was a sobbing sound coming from
behind him.  Everyone turned to Bao, who had begun to cry.  Kensou put a hand to his forehead
and sighed.  �Nobody here knows what the hell is going on, and now he�s going to start up!�
    Athena took a few steps toward Bao, leaning over to tap him on his shaking shoulders.
The boy was rubbing a hand in his eyes, and out of nowhere he turned, causing Athena to fall
back in surprise, as the boy plunged his face into her abdomen, crying out loudly and clutching
around her waist.  Immediately, Kensou was envious.  He�d never gotten that close to her before.
    Athena patted the boy�s head and comforted him.  �There, there,� she said.  However, it
did little to stop his fit of bawling.
    �I couldn�t help it!� he sobbed, tears streaming down his face like water down a gully.  �It
was an awful voice!  It kept telling me to hurt everyone!  You, big brother...even teach!  It was
awful!�
    �Just calm down,� she tried.
    Eiji turned away from them and faced master Chin once more.  �I�m here to ask you��
    ��About Arinori?�
    Eiji paused for a moment, then nodded at Chin.  �Of course, you must already know then.
He�s made a move for the cloak.�
    Chin just nodded.
    �I advise you to take this seriously.  You haven�t seen the extent of his power just out of
these two.  He was able to control the fighter, Kyou, as well.  And worse...�
    He waited, not knowing how to word what he had next to say.  He paced around in
thought for a moment, coming within three feet of the master, and looked down into his
unmoving eyes...eye, as the case may be.  The master�s hair was unkempt.  It was gray and
sprouted everywhere from under his tiny hat.  It gave his head the appearance of an upturned
sundae.
    �It appears he has been able to successfully control the powers of the orochi.�
    Still, the master did not appear to be the least surprised.  He merely turned.
    �We�ll talk.  Kensou?  Clean up this mess, and help Athena get my house put back
together!  Then I want you all to rest.�
    Chin began to walk away, and Eiji followed.  As an afterthought, Chin turned and
shouted, �You�ll need it!�



End Part III
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