[Plot Topic] Finding the Warrior of Water

Hiroyuki didn't full understand what Karasu was telling him.  Well, he did and he didn't.  He understood the string analogy, and how the two castles sorta were connected.  Hiroyuki also understood how one castle anchored another, but not how the Shadow Lands existed in their own plain of existence.  He had so many questions about that he was ready to burst.

Were the Shadow Lands their own third world then?  If there were the Physical and Spirit Worlds, was the Shadow Lands some kind of hybrid?  Couldn't the Spirit King just have shut the connection off between the two worlds?  What was Ibu's weapon and how could it have bound the two worlds together?  Why did it it backfire?  

Perhaps Karasu sensed some of Hiroyuki's questions, because she simply smiled as the two continued their stroll across the Spirit World, towards the Palace of the Heavens.  If Karasu knew the answers to Hiroyuki's questions, she did not answer them.  Perhaps they would be answered when the two trained together, but until then they would continue to nag at the back of Hiroyuki's mind.

Then, the two froze.  They hadn't even reached their destination yet, and a voice started whispering through their head.  Hiroyuki couldn't quite understand it, but it seemed that Karasu did, and she was communing with it as if the voice were an old friend.  Was this a normal thing in the Spirit World?  Was this what usually happened?

Karasu continued to walk through the Spirit World, passing through fields, over logs, and reached a dark wood about an hour later. The remainder of the trip was spent in silence but Karasu knew Hiroyuki's head was filling with countless questions. At least he had a desire for knowledge and a yearning for learning.

Karasu smirked at her ability to rhyme. She couldn't fault Hiroyuki's eagerness. There was nothing wrong with a student who wanted to learn more. But first he needed to learn duty, cold utilitarian thought and pragmatism. Hiroyuki needed to learn to kill. Perhaps during the teamwork training with the Avatar she would teach him.

Karasu froze. They were about halfway through the woods when the wind picked up and whispers joined the gentle breeze. Then the voice sounded in her head, and perhaps Hiroyuki's too judging by the face he made. Karasu knew who this was once she heard the voice. It made sense. Guess the walk would be cut short now.

It was the Spirit King. Owlan had called her, sensing her energy in the Spirit World. He asked her questions about her mission to retrieve Hiroyuki, and once Karasu ensured Owlan she had succeeded and that they were on their way back, Owlan teleported them through the Spirit World to the Shadow Lands, right in the middle of a crowded Throne Room filled with Royals, and Paladins and other Warriors and the rest of the Order of the Elements.

Hiroyuki was royally confused, the poor boy, and Owlan was giving the order to which he would address everyone's issues. He would see the Royals first. He needed to understand what the outside world was like and what could be done. Then he would see the Warriors and the Avatar. He would explain to them what their job was, and why they were there.

Owlan wanted to give them the breakdown of their schedule as well. Finally, Owlan would meet with the Order of the Elements, and discuss their first thoughts on the Warriors. Such was normal. Ever since Amuri, Warrior of Water, went rogue, turning on her fellow Warriors and killing them off one by one. That was not a good time. Worse for Karasu actually, because Hiroyuki was her reincarnation. Damn. At least he hadn't inherited her blood lust.