DAY 6 (5th Day of Chikhai Bardo)

Shinzou awoke feeling completely refreshed after the first full night's sleep he had gotten in days. Yawning and stretching, he slitted open his eyes but made no immediate move to get up and face the new day. Hey, this might be his last day alive, so why should he be in a big rush to get out of bed?

Of course, that was the same excuse he used every morning. It always drove his family nuts; they couldn't understand that he wasn't being fatalistic, just lazy. He let his eyes wander over the little hollow, finally finding Hikari stretched out on her back on one of the fallen tree trunks.

"Good morning." She called out when she noticed his eyes on her.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Morning." He pulled himself up into a cross legged position and ran his fingers through his hair, moving it from sleep mussed to everyday messy in about fifteen seconds. All right, now he was ready to face another day.

"Anything interesting happen last night?" He asked as he crawled out of the tent and moved to check his shield. Still intact, just like yesterday.

"Only one close call." He voice came from behind him, "But I just laid low for a few minutes and it left."

"How close was this 'close call'?" Shinzou was immediately concerned, although Hikari was unruffled.

"Well, something big came about forty or fifty feet from us, stood around for a while, and then turned and left again."

"It just left?"

"Yeah. Is something wrong?" She asked curiously.

"Er, no. Not really. It didn't bother us so I suppose we're all right." Shinzou turned back to camp, making a note to go and check out the area where the creature had been standing after breakfast. One could never be too careful.

This was why about thirty minutes later he found himself nosing around under an ancient oak tree not far from camp. It hadn't taken him long to find the right spot, even with only a vague direction from Hikari and his own tendency to get lost. Yep, it was hard to miss six foot long, four toed tracks. Judging from the depth and number of the prints, that thing had indeed stood there for a while. And what really worried Shinzou was that it had apparently been staring at their little hidden hollow the entire time. Unfortunately, it looked as if they hadn't quite escaped notice.

Hikari, who had followed him and listened to him voice these facts, was looking more and more worried.

"Is it my fault? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, there was nothing you could do that you didn't." Shinzou rose from his crouched position in which he was inspecting one of the gigantic footprints. "In fact, by doing nothing you probably kept it from attacking us."

"So… what kind of critter was it?"

"Um... I'd say better than ten feet tall, and probably a couple thousand pounds. Knowing demons, probably has really big teeth and claws too."

"You figure?"

"If it didn't, it'd be dead by now. It isn't big enough that it could get by one size alone, and not small enough to be good at running and hiding, so it'd need to be able to shred stuff."

"Like us."

"I certainly hope not, but theoretically yes." He dusted off his pants absently and started back to his tent. Once there, he collapsed his tent, for he anticipated being somewhere quite different by the time he'd need it again. Even if he was still on this side of the Gate, he'd definitely be camping somewhere else. It wasn't a good policy to stay at a campsite that had been obviously staked out by demons.

Securely tightening the straps that held the tent in its roll to his pack, he secured the load over his shoulders and followed the path he had memorized to the Spirit Gate. Reaching his overlook point, he gazed down at it, and saw the expected lack of travelers currently around. Good. This part, at least, was going according to plan.

He trotted down the slope parallel to the edge of the open space, wincing slightly at the twinges his leg's muscles sent up to his brain in protest to this treatment. Spotting the small dark brown scrap of cloth he was using as a flag told him that he had reached his first destination. A surreptitious glance around showed that his ropes were mostly intact; a couple hadn't survived the night but he had been expecting that. Moving onward until he reached his second, dark green flag, he once again found everything in order, and paused for a moment to gather himself.

He once again went through the motions of covering his arms, face and hands before allowing the restrained magic in his body to take over. He'd need all the power he could get for this. Besides, it helped that releasing his magic like this made him 'feel' more like a demon, and thus more likely to pass muster. After a final warning to Hikari to remain silent, and a quick spell to hopefully mask her presence, he was ready.

He moved out into the clearing, attempting to look like he belonged there. The Guardian didn't even look up as Shinzou approached, occupied as it was with a minor ice demon at the moment. The Apothecary made his way through the knee high, wind rippled grass of the field, his stormy eyes locked on his target.

The great beast finally acknowledged his approach when he came within twenty feet of his destination. Large red eyes turned to follow his approach, but the Guardian said nothing. Finally, just as Shinzou was beginning to sweat at the cold silence that was greeting him, it spoke.

"You wish passage?"

Shinzou replied with a nod. The less talking he had to do, the better. Less chance to put his foot in his mouth. However, there was something strange in the great creature's expression.

"You seem suspicious. I think I should like to talk to you."

Oh crap! Didn't even last thirty seconds! Stupid, stupid plan! Shinzou was ranting in his own mind, but had no real excuse to run away just yet. That would only prove he had something to hide, and totally ruin any chance to make it through the Gate here.

He was a bit surprised, however, when the Gate Guardian turned around and, with a motion of its great clawed hand, opened what appeared to be a small pocket dimension. Shinzou blinked for a moment, this was unexpected, and then followed the creature inside at its gesture.

I can't run away, but I don't know if I can break out of another dimension! This is not looking good… Shinzou could feel his stomach sinking to somewhere around his knees, but tried to chalk it up to the dimensional change.

Glancing around, Shinzou found himself in what he could only assume was the Guardian's personal lair. Well, that made sense, they weren't on duty all of the time, but couldn't leave the vicinity of the gate. Definitely something to add into his ancestral journals.

The creature once again made a gesture, this time for him to take a seat, which he did rather cautiously on a low stone bench.

"You'll have to forgive me; I do not often invite others into my home." The guardian beast had settled itself on a large worn stone outcropping, and seemed to expect an answer.

"Er, um, well… it's all right. Really." Shinzou winced under his mask at how pathetic and nervous he sounded. He hated being weak or cornered, and he was both at the moment.

"Well, I hope so." It sat back and cocked its head, inspecting him for a moment, "I should tell you that my name is Rundig before I ask yours."

Shinzou hesitated. How should he answer? How much did this Guardian know? It picked up on his dilemma, to an extent, and answered his unspoken questions.

"I will also say that I am aware of whom and what you are, and that I have no intention of exploiting the fact. I only wish to know why you have chosen to come into my presence."

"How-?" Shinzou stopped and shook his head. "I am called Shinzou. Shinzou Hyougotani. And I have a need to enter the Spirit Realm very quickly, and this Gate was most convenient."

"I see. This might have something to do with that littleghost accompanying you?" It turned the statement into a question, eyes peering at the magical stone that adorned Shinzou's neck.

Knowing that the jig was most certainly up, Hikari exited the stone and took up a position at Shinzou's side, but remained silent. The young man, on the other hand, looked up at the Guardian. "You saw through my spell?"

"No. Your spell was quite good. If I had not already been aware of her presence, I would never have known she was there, though I can certainly recognize a Styx river stone when I see it."

"Then-?"

"I observed your camp last night. I noticed quite a bit of activity in the area the other day, and went to check it out. Part of my duties, patrolling the grounds around the gate."

"I see…"

"And when I came across the remains of a large snake demon that had been causing trouble in the region, I naturally wished to know whom had killed it, and if they would prove to be more trouble than the original demon."

"That sounds reasonable." Shinzou actually found himself starting to relax a bit, his mind being taken away from the problem of being discovered by the Guardian's tale.

"Seeing as I have been gate-keeping here for several centuries, I know the land here like the back of my hand. It was of little trouble to me to locate you."

The Guardian paused here, and Shinzou felt his trepidation returning. "And what will you do now?"

It sat back at his question, and finally answered after a minute. "I know that you are one of the Lost Clan, a people that my Clan has long had alliance with, though others abandoned their ties to you so long ago. It is such unfailing loyalty to our comrades that allowed me to be selected for our current position, actually. As this is the fact, I would allow you to enter the Spirit Realm through my gate if it were solely my decision. However, I have codes and rules to follow, and simply allowing you to pass would likely get me in a lot of trouble."

Shinzou nodded at this. He knew this was true. "I have no intention of asking you to break your vows about protecting this gate. All I ask is that you tell me how I might earn the favour of passage."

The Guardian chuckled. "I was waiting for you to ask. Now, in order to use a gate, you must have right of passage, which you do not, or you must defeat the Guardian of the Gate in combat."

Shinzou wilted a little at this. Damn! He knew it would some down to a fight! He stopped a moment later at the creature's soft chuckle.

"Allow me to finish before you lose hope, young one. As I was saying, you must defeat me in combat. Combat having a rather liberal definition."

"How liberal?"

"I am also not permitted to injure you because of our alliance, thus I cannot physically attack you. So how about, say, a battle of wits?"

Shinzou looked up to see if the Guardian was serious. He certainly appeared to be. Taking a deep, relieved breath, Shinzou gave a small smile – not that anyone could see it through his mask but maybe it showed in his eyes – and replied. "All right. So, what's the game?"

"I personally enjoy word games, and if memory serves they are a favourite hobby of your clan as well. So how about a Riddle Duel?"

A Riddle Duel? Hm. They were used in ancient times to test one's intelligence, and Rundig was right, Shinzou and his family were neurotic collectors of such information.

"Heh heh. You're on!" Shinzou put his elbow on his knee and placed his chin in his palm, his traditional Word Game stance. He was one of the best in his family, consistently beaten only by his grandmother. He had the confidence to win! Hikari on the other hand simply sat back, a look of complete disbelief on her face at the odd turn this 'confrontation' was taking.

"Some quick rules." Rundig cautioned. Shinzou nodded for him to continue. "The first to fail to answer a riddle loses. Since we are both on a schedule, it appears," The giant's eyes turned to Hikari, who smiled back nervously, "we shall limit the answer time to thirty minutes. If you have not figured it out by then, you have lost. The same goes for coming up with a riddle to ask; it must be done within thirty minutes." A large hourglass timekeeper materialized on a stone between the Shinzou and Rundig. "Wrong answers are permitted, so long as the right answer is provided within the set amount of time. However, you may only answer incorrectly three times, your fourth incorrect answer counts for a loss."

"I agree to the rules you have set." Shinzou replied seriously; these were very much like the system his family employed when they played such games, so he felt well prepared.

"Alright. Who shall start?" Rundig smiled back, which was a bit strange to see a gigantic monster do.

Shinzou gestured in the other's direction. "You go ahead. This is your game, after all."

"Very well. Answer this if you can:

'At night they come without being fetched,

And by day they are lost without being stolen.

What are they?'"

Shinzou didn't even have to think about this one. He immediately called out the answer, "Stars! Now, my turn…

'The beginning of eternity,

The end of time and space,

The beginning of every end,

And the end of every place.

What is it?'"

Rundig barely had to think about this one either. "The answer is the letter 'E.'"

Shinzou ran his hand through his hair while Rundig thought of his next riddle. They were just getting warmed up on these old classics, they'd get into the good stuff eventually, but Hikari was looking completely baffled already. Such was the fate of a non-wordsmith caught in the crossfire of a duel such as this.

Hikari herself was just glad that the test wasn't in the form of a fight. She really didn't feel up to getting pummeled by this gigantic creature, which was what had been sure to happen. She was also hoping that Shinzou, the idiot, would be able to hold his own in this Riddle Duel. The guy had said something about this being a hobby of his, so maybe they weren't doomed after all…

Rundig voiced his next riddle:

"'I never was, I am always to be,

No one ever saw me, nor ever will,

And yet I am the confidence of all,

To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball.

What am I?'"

"Tomorrow." Shinzou answered instantly. Time to get this duel moving, he decided, and paused a moment to come up with a good one.

"Think of words ending in -GRY. Angry and hungry are two of them. There are only three words in the English language. What is the third word? The word is something that everyone uses every day. If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is."

Shinzou mentally patted himself on the back as the Gate Guardian took a minute to think. It wasn't good enough to stump him though, as he finally replied, "Language."

And the game continued…

Hikari leaned against the cool stone wall of Rundig's chambers and yawned to herself. Six and a half hours later, and they were still going at it! How did she know it had been six and a half hours? Well, Hikari had been staring in boredom at the second hand on the great clock mounted over the entranceway for about two of those hours. When they had started out, the two had been snapping off riddles back and forth pretty much instantly. However, the longer it went on, the harder the riddles became and the time between question and answer grew greater as well. Both combatants were beginning to look weary, but still game. Ugh, what kind of nerds could do this for hours on end? Hikari's opinion of Shinzou's intelligence had taken several great leaps upward, but she still thought he was a moron for getting to deeply into this. Had he completely forgotten their objective here? They had entered this cave at about ten in the morning, which meant that it was now almost five in the afternoon!

A dark cloud began to form over her ghostly head as she continued to listen to the two others present completely forgetting about her and playing their stupid word game. Come on Shinzou, how hard can it be to come up with a stumper?

Another fifteen minutes passed. Hikari changed from watching the clock to watching Shinzou struggle to come up with new riddles. He was quite comical to watch, drumming his fingers, scrunching up his brow, and she was sure he was frowning horribly underneath that damned mask he was still wearing. He had loosened up enough to roll up the sleeves of his jacket and shirt, and Hikari had been surprised that she hadn't seen those big tattoos of his earlier. Through, to be fair he had been wearing long sleeves every day since she met him. At any rate, he had some sort of angular designs in black over his wrists, and they appeared to extend further up onto his arms.

Hikari's eyes tracked from her companion's forearms to the large hourglass on the stone between Rundig and Shinzou. She looked, blinked, blinked again and looked at it. The time was almost up! Whose turn was it? Who couldn't answer? She couldn't tell. Both of them looked incredibly serious, one trying to solve the riddle or come up with one, the other probably trying to come up with another riddle for the future if this one was answered.

Hikari moved to the edge of her seat as the black sand steadily trickled away, marking a soon to come end to this match. Then, the last grain fell, and it was all over. She jumped to her feet and shot over to Shinzou's side, eager to congratulate him for winning or pound him for losing. To her pleasure, he was smiling up at her.

"You won?!"

"Yep. And man am I tired!" His eyes widened as she squeaked in joy and gave him a powerful hug. "Okay… okay… yes, yay, we won… can you let me go now?" His voice had been growing weaker and weaker as he progressed from lack of oxygen. Man, for a ghost she had a really good grip!

Rundig's powerful chuckle broke into their 'moment,' and Hikari jumped away from him, much to Shinzou's relief. The young man caught his breath as Hikari stood aside and blushed furiously. Rundig cleared his throat.

"If I may ask, what was the answer to that last riddle?"

"Oh, that?" Shinzou grinned, "A shadow."

The gigantic creature paused for a moment, and then burst out laughing. "Leave it to a person like you to come up with one like that!"

"So, we can go through the gate now, right?" Hikari looked up at the Guardian hopefully.

"Indeed. A promise is a promise," No one noticed Shinzou's slight wince at this statement, "And Shinzou defeated me."

"I guess we should be on our way then." Shinzou turned towards the exit, only to be stopped by Rundig's call, "Perhaps you should wait for a few hours."

"A few hours? We barely have that much time left!" Hikari was getting very close to panic mode. "Why do we have to wait?"

"Think about it," The gatekeeper explained gently, "I have been in here, engaged in this duel for several hours. There is no doubt a small crowd waiting to pass through the gate, on both sides."

"And we need to keep a low profile," Shinzou nodded as he agreed, albeit reluctantly, "We'll have to wait until the crowd clears out a bit." He sat back down and motioned for Hikari to join him. Rundig turned and exited to the physical plane, leaving the two travelers alone.

"Don't worry. He'll let us know as soon as it's safe." Shinzou soothed the overly tense and anxious ghost beside him.

"I certainly hope so. You seem to trust him a lot."

"Well, his clan and mine have an alliance…"

"Yes, I know. I was listening to that part of the conversation. What I want to know is why your 'Clan' is tied up with demons. What kind of people are you?"

"That… is a conversation for another time."

"Why? It's not like we have anything else to do."

"Well, I don't feel like explaining it right now."

Hikari puffed up angrily; he was still keeping his stupid secrets! "That's a cheap cop out, Shinzou!"

He simply shrugged in reply, "I can't help it. I feel what I feel." He turned to stare at some imaginary point in the air in front of him, leaving Hikari to steam by herself.

I honestly don't know what's the matter with him! He was all together for that entire competition, but as soon as I try to start a semi-serious conversation, he totally spaces out! She turned her back on him and occupied herself with glaring at one of the walls. Men!

Shinzou, on the other hand, was thinking of far less consequential things than the nature of the sexes. Man, people say that word games aren't physical, but my brain is really tired! And I have almost no plan of what to do once I get across the gate… I focused all of my energy on getting here and getting through. Better do some thinking now…

The two weary and tense travelers sat, lost in their own thoughts, or torture and murder plans depending on which one you're talking about, for almost two hours. Finally, Hikari could stand the heavy silence that encompassed them no more.

"Where they hell is that guy! It's eight o'clock at night, for gods' sakes!" She burst out with this angry cry, and as if summoned Rundig appeared just at that moment through the dimensional doorway nearby. He took in the little ghost standing with fist upraised and a chagrined look on her face, as well as the warrior sitting beside her who was gracing her with a bemused half-smile.

Choosing not to comment, Rundig simply said, "There is not much traffic at the moment, so I think you may get through without notice. I don't know how long this lull will last though, so we should hurry."

Moving into action, Shinzou climbed to his feet and shouldered his pack, tightening the straps until they were snug. Without being told, Hikari evaporated into the Styx river stone around his neck, disguising her presence. Rundig nodded at their efficiency, and turned to led them out through the portal. Shinzou was right on his heels as they reappeared directly in front of the great Yonuri Gate.

This is it. Finally, we can step into the Spirit Realm and the first leg of this journey will be over. Shinzou stared into the dark, swirling mass of energy that was the connection between two vastly different realms. Just walk through… but I get the feeling that it won't be that easy.

Glancing around, Shinzou indeed found that there were no others present in the vicinity, just as Rundig had said. The Guardian stood over the gateway, his hand extended. The deep violets and blues shifted to lighter blues and greens as the doorway 'opened.'

"It is ready." The Gatekeeper's voice boomed out. "I wish you luck."

Shinzou walked forwards toward the gate, but stopped to bow humbly to Rundig before stepping through. "I thank you for all your help and loyalty to our alliance. Be assured, if your Clan requires our assistance in the future, you shall receive it without hesitation."

"I will remember that, young one. Now, you must go; there is a group of fire spirits fast approaching."

With a final nod, Shinzou took that last step forward, and was enveloped in darkness. The there-yet-not-there colours flowed over him, surrounding him in a sensation of pleasant warmth and unbearable cold at the same time. Perception changed, senses opened up, connections were established…

And something went wrong. Shinzou was suddenly aware of pain. Lots of it. Electrical current, much like the one he had experienced when he was sealed out of the Yamamoto's house, coursed through his body. His mouth opened in a pained cry, but no sound escaped. He could vaguely feel the waves of agony rolling off of Hikari as well, but was absorbed by his own pain.

They were literally flung out the other side of the gate, bouncing and rolling to a stop after about thirty feet. Hikari had become separated from her possession stone somehow, and ended up about ten feet from where Shinzou finally came to a stop. For a minute, she was frozen from the residual pain of their transit, but she finally managed to shake off the deep ache and move to Shinzou's side.

He was, quite frankly, catatonic. His eyes were wide open but blank and staring, his mouth slightly open and every muscle in his body limp, except for the small tremors that shook him every couple of moments.

Hikari tried valiantly not to panic. They finally reached the Spirit Realm, and her guide might be dying! No way! She took to shaking him, trying to wake him up.

"Shinzou! Shinzou, can you hear me?! You need to snap out of it!" He did not respond, so she shook him harder, "Shinzou! Get up you good for nothing, stupid, antisocial, annoying, brainless bum!"

"Hey! I am not brainless!" Shinzou yelped indignantly. Hikari dropped him in shock as he abruptly returned to life, and then proceeded to squeeze the life out of him again in another one of her hugs.

"Dummy! I was worried! You looked like you were dead!" For a minute, all he could manage was a strangled gurgle in reply, and then Hikari remembered that he needed to breathe. She released him, and after gasping in air for a few minutes, Shinzou shook his head and tried to get back on track.

"We… we need to get out of sight." He peered at the landscape around them, spotting a convenient patch of vegetation that looked safe. "Over there, quick."

He staggered to his feet, and with Hikari's help made it into the bushes, growing more and more nauseous along the way. The ghost girl didn't look much better, being far paler than usual. She practically dropped him on the ground and collapsed next to him, before looking to him for answers.

"Is that supposed to happen?"

Sighing, Shinzou shook his head and replied unhappily, "It never has before. Something must have interfered with our journey across the plane boundaries."

"What though? We were supposed to get me here so I can move on to the next level of Nirvana, right?"

Shinzou slammed his right fist into his left palm in realization. "Of course!"

"Eh?"

"Nirvana! With all the trouble we've been having for the past few days, you never got to meditate and come to peace within yourself."

She blinked, surprised at this oversight. "Oh yeah. I was supposed to do that."

"Right. So, we got through the gate, but because we weren't supposed to go through until you were at peace, we got zapped."

"Well, sorry about that. I guess we'll just have to move on then."

"Not hardly." Hikari looked to Shinzou in surprise. "You still have to pass the first phase before we can move on. Have you been feeling more and more ill the farther we get from the Gate?"

"Now that you mention it… yeah. So, we got to the Spirit Realm, but can't go any further until I pass this test or whatever… what a drag."

"This is important Hikari. Don't take it so lightly." Shinzou scolded her irritably. Being electrocuted gave him a really nasty headache. "You're going to have to really work hard, you only have a day left to finish this, no matter which side of the gate we're on."

"No way! I'm still on a time limit?!"

"I would assume so. So sit down and start meditating on enlightenment."

"Easy for you to say." She muttered under her breath. If Shinzou heard, he did not comment, standing up and moving to set some wards around their new camping spot. They wouldn't be going anywhere for a while.

Once they were shielded from visible and magical detection, he returned to Hikari's side to see how she was doing. He raised his eyebrows as he found that she had slipped into a deep meditative trance, without him having to show here how.

"There are some things I know how to do." She murmured, causing him to sit back on his heels in surprise.

"Sorry. Am I interrupting?"

"You're broadcasting emotions. Disbelief, worry, even a little amusement are what I detect."

"Oh, right. Ghosts are very sensitive to emotional states…"

"Yes. So if you don't mind…?"

"Eh? Oh, certainly." Knowing he couldn't leave the area to give her peace, he settled in beside her and entered his own trance. Hey, it would do him some good too, help him balance his emotions, heal his body and mind, and some inner peace of his own couldn't hurt. After a moment, he sensed Hikari return to her soul searching, leaving him alone with his thoughts. It had been a while since he was last on the Spirit Plane like this.

His body was rapidly becoming acclimated, and he worked to smooth and accelerate the process. The sooner he was in synch with this plane, the sooner he would be able to do his best work. He also allowed his senses to spread out, finding all sentient beings nearby. His abilities also told him that one other member of his Clan was on this side of the plane. Specifically, it was… his sister. Yikes. Better steer clear of her. Good thing she was pretty far away. Not quite so far away as to not be available if he should need her, however…

Time passed, and Shinzou cleared his mind, settled his thoughts, and allowed himself to become revitalized. He was vaguely aware of Hikari doing the same, sinking lower and lower into the mellowness of nirvana. Stronger grew the gentle, warm feeling of the faint spirits of ancestors that lived within him, guiding, helping and teaching him everyday.

Unfortunately, Shinzou's spiritual enlightenment was brought to an abrupt close by one of those necessities that living things have. Namely, he was hungry. Really hungry. Shinzou finally realized, when the loud rumbling of his stomach awakened him from his trance, that he hadn't eaten in about twelve hours. Hikari was undisturbed as he stood up, his legs protesting bitterly at the cramped position they had been in for the past couple hours. Keeping his thoughts as 'quiet' as he could, Shinzou checked to see if his barrier was strong enough for him to get away with a small fire. Yes. Good, this meant he could cook something!

Twenty minutes later, he sat down with a cup of ramen. Turning his back to Hikari before pulling down his mask to reveal his magically marked face, he looked out at the scenery through the small holes in the branches of the surrounding bushes. Hikari hadn't had time to comment on the view since they got here, or he would have likely heard about it. As for Shinzou, he had been here before and knew what to expect. And what to expect, wasn't much.

The Spirit Realm, for all its mystique, seemed very much like the physical plane at first glance. Plants, animals, stones, dirt, water. All the regular stuff. It was when you paid a little attention that the big differences came out. Fantastic colours and shapes, living things that didn't look as if they should exist. Oh, and the powerful energies that pervaded everything. There was essentially no native creature in the spirit plane that did not have access to magic, ki, chi, spirit energy or something of the sort; it was like finding something in the Physical world that didn't need oxygen to survive. Shinzou knew that the farther they got from the gates, the weirder it would get. The Gates, being links between the two realms, allowed a certain amount of spill-over across the boundaries.

Shinzou always liked the fact that there was still day and night on the Spirit plane, to an extent. It never truly became night, just as it never became full day. This place existed in a sort of luminescent limbo, varying only in shades of twilight. Shinzou was now experiencing the drop in ambient light that signaled the fall of night.

Still being as quiet as possible, he pulled out his sleeping bag and unrolled it on the ground. He decided that there was no need for his tent tonight; it didn't feel like they'd be getting here the heavy overnight dew dampness that had been plaguing the other side of the gate. He stretched out on his stomach on the soft roll, keeping his all of his senses alert to their surroundings. Just after nightfall was a time when many demons and spirits were very active, and he and Hikari were essentially helpless should they be found. He took some comfort, however, in the fact that he was near Rundig's gate, and knew that the gatekeeper would do his best to see that they were not bothered. Shinzou had picked up on one of Rundig's scheduled switches between the two sides of the gate, and sensed the large demon noting his continued presence nearby as well.

It was also good that Hikari seemed to be making a lot of progress in her meditation. It was really impressive that she had that much control over her thoughts and such a well defined sense of self. Of course, these aspects of her personality might become a detriment later, but for now they were quite useful.

It became dimmer over the course of the next hour, and Shinzou rolled over onto his back to view the stars he had not seen in far too long. The Spirit Plane had its own constellations, unique collections of pinpoints of light just as fantastic as those on the Physical Plane, if you were actually able to see them. It was hard to find the tiny lights when there was still light radiating from somewhere. Right now, the constellations of the bat, the frog and the tiger shone overhead, casting their soft light delicately through the dull gloom.

He felt himself nodding off, the darkness of exhaustion crowding at the edges of his vision. Would it be all right to sleep here now? He glanced at Hikari, and was less than surprised to see her give him a small nod. She was probably hypersensitive to everything in their little clearing by now. Deciding to trust her judgment, but making sure that the farthest he got was a light doze, Shinzou allowed himself to sleep off the trials of the day.