LLAMA LORD ZENKI by Taisa http://dungeon.taisa-labs.com Original story: Friday, March 21, 2003 Shepherdess Chiaki has been raised on tales of her great ancestor, the Lama Ozunu, and his servant, the Black Child. A practical girl, she considers it a fable and keeps her mind on more modern matters: marriage, money, material gain, and her job as a llama herder. When her modern concerns lead her to a marketplace plagued by Evil, she takes her first step towards discovering that a practical mind is a powerful weapon, but not as powerful as the Black Child. ************************************************************************ Lama Ozunu Enno had been a great llama shepherd in his youth. When Evil descended upon the Himalayas 1200 years ago, he held up his shepherd's staff in defiance and called upon the holy power of the deceased Dalai Lamas, banishing the Evil forever. Legend has it that the Dalai Lamas of the past imbued their powers into his staff, giving the young shepherd Ozunu Enno the power to control 'The Black Child.' Accounts of the Black Child's form and powers were greatly distorted by time, but as Chiaki understood it, he was an impressive Beast, tall as Everest, powerful as one thousand cart llamas and alpacas -- a demon imprisoned by the Lamas millenia ago and bound into their service ever since then. Whosoever wielded the Staff of Lama Ozunu in times of Evil controlled the mighty hand of the Black Child. ******** Chiaki twirled the 'mighty Staff' like a baton. It was her duty in the early mornings to tend to the llama herd while it grazed outside the Lamasery of her great ancestor. Located high in the Himalaya mountains, away from civilization, the Enno Lamasery didn't get a whole lot of business these days -- not even with the name of the legendary Lama Ozunu Enno associated with it. In fact, he was less of a legend and more of a myth after 1200 years of peace. No one believed that Evil had descended 1200 years ago. No one believed there was ever a savior called 'The Black Child.' Someday, no one would believe there was ever a Lama Ozunu either. And so the Lamasery had to rely on other means to survive. The land became used once again in its ancient capacity -- its role from the time of Ozunu's youth -- yes, the Enno family was back to raising and herding llamas, and Chiaki was their beautiful, young shepherdess. Unfortunately, the llamas were not of such an enlightened existence as to be able to appreciate her flowing purple hair, her soft porcelain skin, her velvetine pink lips, her dark shimmering blue eyes, her firm round breasts, her tight taunting buttocks, and her overall stunning good looks. Chiaki was bored. Looking up into a clear, cloudless blue sky, she hummed the ancient verse her Grandmother Saki had taught to her when she bequeathed the Staff unto her (it had a really catchy beat): ~I recite the verse to call forth the Black Child~ ~Holy Staff, tear the Dark Fabric that binds him~ ~Burst forth! Vajra on Ac! I herd the Black Child!~ ~Obey my Staff! Be filled with Light! Banish sin!~ Humming was the only way she was ever heard practicing it. For obvious reasons, it was somewhat embarrassing to sing out loud. Attracted by the sound of her beautiful voice, a small group of the llamas she attended grazed closer to her. Chiaki watched them chomp, spit, and kick up divets of grass. She suddenly found herself wishing for something grander. For a long time, she wanted nothing more than to go to the big market at the base of the mountain. And today, Grandma Saki would finally allow her granddaughter to accompany her. Chiaki gazed dreamily away from the Lamasery, towards the dirt path that would lead her down the mountain, and finally take her away to... ******** THE MARKET, LATER THAT DAY. Grandma Saki drove the cart that carried them into the market. Two of their strongest male llamas -- the studs of the herd -- pulled the cart with steady energy. Chiaki found herself thinking, during the ride, that when she married she wanted a strong and sturdy man; a man not unlike her cart llamas. Once she realized how disturbing and sick that thought really was, she stopped thinking it. Happily, at about this time the market came into view, and she found millions of other sights to occupy her mind. Multi-colored patchwork tents lined every street, providing shade for hundreds of merchants with thousands of wares to peddle. Exotic fruits and vegetables, foreign clothing and shoes, intricately- carved jewelry, ceramics, handicrafts, vases, baskets, tools -- Chiaki was in heaven. Grandmother had spoken of the market before, but the young girl never could have imagined what splendor it truly held. "Don't wander far from the cart," Grandma Saki instructed, noting the eager look of wonder in her granddaughter's eyes and the trail of drool seeping from the corner of her mouth. "I want you to keep an eye on it while I gather supplies." "I will..." Chiaki replied distantly. Physically, she was standing in front of Saki. Mentally, she was already at the jewelry tent. "Do you have your Staff?" Grandmother asked. "Eh?" "In case you get in trouble, I want you to be carrying the Staff. I probably won't be able to hear you if you scream for help. I don't want you to be defenseless." "Oooooh, like, so I can beat molestors and thieves to death brutally with its ancient, wooden, 'infused-with-Lama-power' head, huh!!" "... Um... Yes. And don't forget the incantation I taught you, either. Powers more wicked than molestors and thieves may be lurking within the market," Saki warned darkly. Chiaki blinked, snapping out of the jewely tent and back into reality. "... You're... joking. ...... Right?" The old woman simply smiled, turned, and walked toward the center of the market. "Grandma?? Right?!" Chiaki called after her retreating form, but she had already walked out of hearing range. "......... Oooookay. Right, then." She spun on her heels to fetch the special widdle shepherding Staff from the cart, whistling a disrespectful "koo-koo" as a comment on her grandmother's sanity. She gave each of the stud llamas a pat on the back to say farewell before wandering off. The stud llamas stuck their tongues out and spit at her. "Eeeeeew!!! Nasty llama spit!!!" she squealed, hopping away. Once she reached the first tent, she tried to be very slick and stealthy about wiping the llama spit off her dress and onto the patchwork cloth. Grandmother had given her some money to buy whatever trinket she liked, and Chiaki began to gravitate naturally to the jewelry. It didn't matter than none but the unappreciative llamas would ever notice her wearing it -- she wanted it. Bright, shiny, distracting objects... ... That's when she saw it. A lovely necklace with a glimmering heart-shaped pendant resting in the center of a silver chain. It looked exactly like a pendant that she remembered from one of her favorite stories. She had to have it. Looking up to the merchant, she asked: "How much?" The merchant smiled to the young girl -- a wicked smile that believed the pretty little thing to be naïve. "For you? I can let this rare and valuable piece go for... Hmm... just 400 yuan!" "400 YUAN ARE YOU FREAKIN' NUTS OR SOMETHING!??!" The force of Chiaki's voice literally knocked the poor merchant over. "I bet you got your greasy mits on it for closer to 40!" The merchant choked back his surprise. The girl was young, but she certainly knew the value of money. He got back to his feet and prepared to do a little haggling. "I see that you neither understand nor appreciate that the value of an item can go beyond what it is worth when melted down to its most basic state. I'll have you know that this pendant was hand-carved in Japan to the specifications of a powerful medium, who imbued into it all the psychic powers of good fortune she could conjure. The necklace brings very good luck to its wearer!" "Good luck, MY ASS," Chiaki doubted loudly. Several people nearby turned to look at her. "It's good luck for sure if you can talk someone into paying you 400 yuan for it -- though I think taking advantage of the mentally unstable would be a sin that would give you bad karma for lifetimes to come." The merchant was certain he didn't like the kind of attention the young girl was drawing. He wanted to get rid of her quickly. "Very well, then, Miss. What would you consider a fair price for this valuable piece?" Chiaki answered without hesitation: "100 yuan." She was only carrying 200 yuan. "300 yuan," he replied. "150." "200, half my original asking price, and that's my final offer." Bunching her brow, deep in thought, Chiaki considered how badly she wanted the necklace. Golly, she loved the story she had read... But she only had 200 yuan! "And because I like you..." the merchant began, drawing her attention back, "... I will throw in something for free." CHA-CHING!! The magic word! Free!! Didn't matter what it was-- Chiaki immediately felt like she was getting a deal. "DONE!!" ******** Chiaki muttered to herself, cursing her own foolishness, as she hauled the horrid rug on her shoulder back to the cart. Filthy, dirty, ancient... and black. Who would create anything so morbid as a black rug?! No wonder the bastard gave it to her for free. He would have had to /pay/ anyone else to take it. Chiaki wouldn't have been surprised if the grotesque, moth-eaten thing was as old as the Enno Lamasery. 'Antique,' he had called it. 'Rare and valuable,' he had said. Chiaki could think of many more descriptive and far less flattering words for it. Most of them were just four letters long. And golly, it sure was heavy. It was rolled up, so she couldn't be sure how long it was, but judging by the weight, it ought to be able to carpet the entirety of the long hallway of the Lamasery. Twice over. /Who knows... maybe Grandmother Saki will like it/, she thought pessimistically. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" -- A woman screamed not far from Chiaki. Chiaki felt her blood boil. The thought that some vile fiend was perpetrating a dishonest act against a hapless and innocent victim made her seethe for justice. She picked up her feet and ran as fast as her legs would carry her (with the added weight of the rug and the balance-altering presence of the Staff -- which means she wasn't very fast) to the scene of the crime. When she arrived, Chiaki couldn't believe what she was witnessing. In front of the exotic fruits and vegetables tent was a giant, two-headed monkey. "MY. NAME. IS. BUBBLES.," the giant monkey bellowed. "GIVE. BACK. MY. BANANAS.!" There was a woman in the giant monkey's paw -- the one Chiaki had heard screaming. Frightened, the woman was clinging helplessly to a basket of bananas. "Help me! HELP ME! Oh, won't anyone help me?!" "GIVE. ME. BACK. MY. BANANAS. AAARRRGGGH!" "Oh, my GOD!" Chiaki exclaimed. "What's going on here?!" The man standing next to Chiaki happened to be the fruit merchant. "I... I don't know... we just got a new shipment of bananas in today. This is the first time we ever ordered from Neverland Banana Company. Once someone tried to buy them and take them away, though, an angry monkey came out from nowhere! He... He ate one of the bananas, and began to transform!! Suddenly, the monkey had two heads, and he was talking, and he wanted all the bananas! It was like he was possessed!" "Bananas of Possession, eh?!" Chiaki replied, striking a dramatic pose. "My great ancestor was the Lama Ozunu Enno! I wield his Staff! /I/ shall undo this Beast!" Dropping the rug, she lunged into battle. "I AM YOUR OPPONENT, BUBBLES!!" "WHAT'S. THIS.? A. LITTLE. GIRL.? HA. HA. HA.!!" the monkey bellow-laughed down at her. She struck a blow to the monster's shin with her mighty Staff as the people of the market watched on in awe at her bravery. "OWIES.!" the monkey bellowed. "YOU. WILL. PAY. DEARLY. FOR. THAT.!" It then scooped her up easily into its other monkey paw. Chiaki retaliated by bopping it repeatedly on the head with the mighty Staff. "OW.! CUT. THAT. OUT.! DAMNIT.!!" She whapped it in the eye. "OOOOOWWWWW.!!!! ENOUGH. OF. THIS.! I. WILL. CRUSH. YOU.!!!" Bubbles declared before he dropped the other woman with her basket of bananas and used both paws to squeeze Chiaki. Chiaki gasped for air as she felt her lungs come close to collapsing. /Great ancestor Lama Ozunu.../ she silently prayed, /... help me... Send the Black Child to aid me... I am not powerful enough to herd this monkey alone....../ A powerful wind then blew through the marketplace. Chiaki's vision was beginning to darken as she could no longer breathe, but she saw the black rug she had dropped... unfold... ... And something emerged, which had been rolled up inside... ... It was... ... It was...... ................... "AH! I'M FREE! I'M FREE AT LAST!" a black baby llama announced, stretching his stubby baby llama legs and yawning. Sniffing the air, he grinned evilly. "I smell a Banana of Possession!!" he declared in a high-pitched voice. The baby black llama was so decidedly unimpressive in comparison to the giant, two-headed monkey that no one payed much attention to him. Grandma Saki finally made her way through to the crowd and saw what was going on. "CHIAKI!!" she cried. She looked around frantically for some way to save her daughter. There was just one thing she could think of: "Chiaki! Hold up your Staff! Recite the incantation! The Shepherdess' Song to Call Forth the Black Child!" Everyone fell silent at mention of the Black Child's name. Was there really such a savior as the legends claimed? "THERE. IS. NO. BLACK. CHILD.!" the monkey contended. "IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE YOUR HEAD SO FAR UP YOUR ASS," a young child's voice called from somewhere within the crowd, "YOU'D SEE HIM STANDING BEFORE YOU, YOU WHACKED-OUT MONKEY!!" The people surrounding the source of the angry voice backed away, creating a circle around... the baby black llama. "DO YOU SEE NOW, BUBBLES?! REMEMBER ME?!" The monkey caught sight of the baby llama. "IS. THIS. SOME. KIND. OF. JOKE.?! YOU. ARE. NOT. MY. ANCIENT. ENEMY.!" "I /AM/ THE BLACK CHILD, THE MIGHTIEST LLAMA LORD IN THE WORLD, AND I WILL TAKE THAT BANANA OF POSSESSION FROM YOU!" the small llama bleeped in the mightiest voice it could conjure. The baby llama, its unusual black fur shining in the sunlight, charged the evil monkey -- "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" he screamed his battle cry -- and butted his tiny head into the monkey's sensitive groin. The monkey keeled over and dropped Chiaki, grabbing its battered crotch instead. Chiaki gasped for breath as her grandmother ran to be at her side. "HA! That's what you get, Bubbles! Now, I will take your Banana of Possession!" "Is that... " Chiaki started, then coughed. "Is that the Black Child?!" "I... think it is, Chiaki. Not as impressive as I thought he would be," the old woman admitted. "Are you sure you recited the verse correctly?" "Huh? I didn't recite the verse at all!" That was when the giant monkey slapped a backhand into the baby llama, sending it flying so forcefully into a tent that the whole thing collapsed, a cloud of dirt pluming into the air like smoke. "OH MY GOD!" someone in the crowd shrieked. "HE HIT THE CUTE BABY LLAMA!!" another cried in disbelief. "LET'S KICK HIS ASS!!!!" they all screamed, charging the groinally-challenged monkey and jumping it. The two-headed monkey named Bubbles was quickly beat up, tied up, locked up, and more-or-less subdued. The crowd dispersed once again, and the market returned to its normal business. The baby llama picked himself up, brushed himself off, and trotted over to the one with the Staff -- Chiaki. "You, girl. Change me into my true form, so I can claim my Banana of Possession." Saki and Chiaki stared down at the little llama. "..... OH MY GOD, HE'S SO CUTE!!! LIKE A PUPPY!!!" Chiaki cried, scooping the baby llama up into her arms. "Can we keep him, Grandma Saki?! I saw him roll out of the rug I got today! He belongs to us!" "Of course you may bring him home," the old woman replied. "He is the savior, the Black Child, and it is the responsibility of the descendant of Lama Ozunu to control and herd him with the mighty Staff of Protection." "What the hell are you talking about, you old bag?!" the baby llama bleeped. "My name is Zenki! I am the mightiest llama lord in the world! I will be herded by no one!!" "Ooooh, his name is Zenki!" Chiaki giggled. "Ooooh, that's so cute!! Ooooooooooh!" Zenki bit her arm, and she dropped him with an "Ow! Little bastard!" She slapped him hard and then picked him back up, cradling him protectively. "Naughty, naughty baby llama. We'll have to break you of that biting habit!" "Come along, then," Saki said, walking towards the cart. "I have completed my shopping, and we may return home." "Okay!" The black baby llama snarled. "I WANT MY BANANA OF POSSESSION!! TURN ME BACK INTO MY TRUE FORM, YOU BITCH!!!" Chiaki slapped him again. "Watch your mouth, little llama! I have no idea where you picked up such bad language, but I'm not gonna tolerate it!" "What the heeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllll~" Zenki cried, as Chiaki carried him, the black rug, and her Staff away. ******** "I can't help but be concerned," Grandma Saki confessed, driving the cart back up the mountain. "The Black Child is only released in times of great Evil. I fear that there will be more such as Bubbles." "Don't worry so much, Grandma," Chiaki replied. "Bubbles wasn't that tough. You saw how all the townspeople were able to take him down when they worked together. They hardly even needed the Black Child." She then turned her attention back to the baby llama in her lap. "Come on, now, snookums -- take your ba-ba like a good bay-be." Zenki refused to open his mouth for the bottle of milk she was trying to force down his throat. He kicked and snorted angrily. Finally, her baby talk and her condescension got to be too much. "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME?! I AM THE MIGHTIEST---MMPH!" When he opened his mouth, she rammed the bottle in. "That's a good baby! I knew you'd like your ba-ba! Isn't that tasty?!" "MMMMMPPPHHH!!!!!!" "Eeeew! He's dribbling and spitting!! Eeeeeewwww!" Chiaki squealed before she slapped him again. "Stop that!" Tears welled up in poor baby llama Zenki's eyes. "Look!" Chiaki said to Zenki, pointing to the strong and sturdy stud llamas pulling the cart. "If you drink your milk like a good little llama, someday you'll be big and strong like our stud llamas! Don't you want to be a big, strong llama lord someday??" "... Chiaki, please treat the Black Child with a little more respect..." Saki requested, sweat-dropping profusely. ******** "Change me back... Change me back... Change me back... Change me back..." Zenki chanted, following Chiaki as she helped Grandma Saki put away the supplies. "That's really annoying," Chiaki told him. "Be a good llama like all the others and BE SILENT!" she commanded, bopping him on the head with the Staff. Zenki suddenly found that he no longer had the power of speech. /THAT BITCH!!/ he thought. /HOW DARE SHE USE THE STAFF TO SILENCE ME, THE MIGHTIEST LLAMA LORD IN THE WORLD, AND REFUSE TO TRANSFORM ME?!?!/ "Wow, Grandma! He listened to me finally! Did you see that?! He stopped talking!! I really am a good shepherdess!" Zenki watched indignantly, yet silently, as Chiaki jumped to her moronic conclusions. "Before you know it, I'll be able to herd him like all the others! Someday, when he's a big llama and doesn't need to be fed from the bottle anymore!" The little baby llama spit on her. "EW!!! LLAMA SPIT!!!! I HATE LLAMA SPIT!!!" *SPIT*SPIT*SPIT*! "EW! EW!! EW!!! STOP SPITTING!!" she ordered, using the Staff to bop him on the head again. Zenki lost the power to open his mouth entirely. "MMMPH!!!!" "Chiaki!" Saki suddenly exclaimed, having come upon a realization. "The Staff! Its powers appear to go beyond the simple ability to herd the Black Child! You can control him completely!!" "Who cares?" Chiaki immediately replied disinterestdly. Saki's face faulted, as did Zenki's. "I mean, it's not like he can /do/ anything." *SLAP* to Zenki's ego. "Anyone could have kicked the big monkey in the balls." *SLAP* "He's totally small and unimpressive." *SLAP*SLAP* "If he wasn't so cute, I'd just skin him right now, and sell his rare black hide for a really handsome profit!" *SUH-LAP!!* "But luckily for him, he's a cutey-wutey widdle wama, aincha Zenki??" she patronized, leaning down to pinch his fuzzy llama cheek. He stomped his llama hoof on her toes. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! YOU LITTLE BASTARD!!!" Chiaki screamed out in pain before picking up the 'cutey-wutey widdle wama' and chucking him out the cutey-wutey widdle window. "GO GRAZE FOR A WHILE AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL YOU'RE IN A BETTER MOOD!!" Chiaki had apparently forgotten that she had made it impossible for him to open his mouth. Grazing was not an option. For this, vengeance had to be wrought, and Zenki decided that the only way he could cause trouble now was by wandering into the garden and kicking up flowers and vegetables and divets of grass in a portion of the yard that was not visible through any windows. "Chiaki... please try to treat the Black Child with more respect..." "But Grandma! He spit on me!! --- Ooh, hey, you sure got a lot of bananas! What's the occasion?" Chiaki was immediately distracted from the topic of 'respect for the Black Child' by a large basket brimming with young, green bananas. "That nice fruit vendor gave them to us. He said they were a thank you gift for your bravery in facing the giant, two-headed monkey that terrorized his tent." "There sure are a lot... It looks like his entire shipment! Are you sure he just wasn't trying to load them off on you because no one would buy any of them after an incident like that?" "......... You've been reading too many horrible stories, Chiaki. People are far better-natured than you give them credit for." Zenki trotted back in at the moment, grinning from llama ear to llama ear, dirt and mud covering his little black hooves. "Look!" Saki said. "Even Zenki-dono has improved his disposition, and in such a short amount of time! We are all good- natured at heart, if you only give us a chance!" "Aaaaaw... isn't he cute when he smiles??" Chiaki bopped him lightly on the head with her Staff and said, "I hereby redeem your power of voice! -- Or something." The first words out of the tiny black llama's mouth were: "I rearranged your garden, bitch." ******** "MY GARDEN!!!" Chiaki bawled, kicking divets of grass back into place, reburying carrots and tomato plants and onion bulbs, replanting flowers that looked as though they had been chewed on. "MY POOR GARDEN!!!!" Zenki, a smug llama look on his face, sat on his llama honches on the sidelines. "More like poor whoever-has-eat-the-nasty-crap-you- grow-in-your-garden," he commented idly. "I never knew a carrot could be sour." "Yooooouuuuuuu......." she fumed. "I WISH YOU'D JUST DISAPPEAR!!" she yelled, launching the Staff at him. He ducked his little llama head and dodged it easily. "Careful with that. If I disappear, you'll have to face great Evil on your own. You need me, and you better show me more respect. I'm the mightiest llama lord in the world!" he said. Then he spit. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I HATE LLAMA SPIT!!!!!! I DON'T NEED YOU!!!! I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Chiaki threw herself at the little llama this time, and she wasn't quite as easy for him to dodge as the Staff. They wrestled and they grappled. She strangled and clawed. He bit and spit. She slapped and pounded. He stomped and spit some more. They rolled around on the grass, and eventually hateful death blows became tickling, and they started to laugh. The other llamas watched the new-comer, Zenki, playing happily with their shepherdess. It stirred something dark within them... Zenki snatched Chiaki's new silver heart pendant in his little llama jaws and ran off with it. Chiaki was up like a shot, chasing him into the hills, and they eventually disappeared from sight. That was when the llamas of Chiaki's herd knew it was safe. ******** "Look at them..." said the rare, hairless llama called Kuribayashi to his llama kin. "He has only been here for one afternoon, and already he is her favorite." "Perhaps it is Fate," said the blonde llama named Inugami. The purple llama named Kokutei nodded in agreement. "You only say that," remarked the old, wise llama named Jukai, "because you have no interest in women. We all remember the time you refused to go with that cute little llama-ette named Sayaka, who had a nice body, because you preferred to be with Kokutei." Inugami frowned his indignance while Kokutei growled as best a llama could. "Maybe you can accept Fate..." said the blue-haired llama named Goki, sniffling, "but you were never her favorite! You have lost nothing today!" He was one of the stud llamas who had toiled to pull the cart to the market and back that day. "Aw, yes..." consoled the llama who no one liked named Kazue. "Before the new one arrived, Goki was her favorite! Doesn't anyone care about his feelings?" "No," replied the powerful llama witch named Karma. "But I know of a way to gain great power... to defeat the black llama child they call Zenki and have your way with Shepherdess Chiaki..." "HOW?!" all the heterosexual male llamas cried. The llama witch simply smiled and motioned to the green bananas which Saki had hung on the front porch to ripen. ******** Zenki descended from the hills, trotting towards the Enno Lamasery with a grim satisfaction. Chiaki followed behind him, grumbling all the way. "I can't believe you swallowed my necklace," she said, appending the thought with a string of invective. Suddenly the small llama stopped, and Chiaki, who wasn't paying attention, tripped over him. "DAMNIT, ZENKI, WHADDYA THINK YOU'RE---..." When she looked back to curse his name, he wasn't smug as she thought he'd be. He wasn't even looking at her; he was looking into the sky, which, the young Shepherdess noticed, had quite suddenly become filled with black clouds. Thunder cracked fiercely as lightning struck the surrounding area, and they both knew something was terribly wrong when a Middle Eastern style theme began to play in the background. ::THAT IS HIM...:: A dark voice spoke from the skies. The dark clouds parted, and a gigantic Beast descended into view. It was a horrid amalgamation of the llamas Chiaki herded. They had been assimilated into one large, floating mass of llama appendages. Each llama head extended forth from the body of the creature like tentacles that snapped and spit. Chiaki scrambled to her feet as llama spit came raining down. "MY LLAMAS!" she cried. "How dare you amalgamate and float without the permission of your Shepherdess? AND SPIT ON ME!?" That was when it became apparent that the llama spit was acidic, and Chiaki's clothing was dissolved from her supple, lithe body. She gasped and ran to hide her naked form behind a rock. "Just wait until I get my Staff," she threatened, "and then I'll give you a herding you'll never forget!!" ::YOUR STAFF? OH... YOU MEAN *THIS* STAFF...?:: The Beast had taken the Staff from the place where it had landed after Chiaki threw it at Zenki. Now, they both watched in horror as the Beast snapped the Staff in two and threw the pieces down the mountain. "NOOOOOOO!" Chiaki and Zenki both cried. "Now I cannot herd you!" Chiaki lamented. "Now I can't become the mighty Llama Lord!" Zenki bleeped. ::NOW IS THE TIME, MY LLAMA BRETHREN... KILL THE BLACK CHILD!!:: The llama tentacle heads unleashed a mighty llama roar. /No.../ Chiaki thought. /I can't let this happen... Zenki will be utterly destroyed!/ Zenki, not one to be intimidated even in his baby llama state, roared as well as the Beast descended toward him. /I may not have the Staff any more, but I'm still a Shepherdess! I have a responsibility to herd these llamas no matter what! If I can't do it, then no one will. AND I CAN'T LET ZENKI DIE!!/ Chiaki, in her nakedness, emerged from behind the rock. She threw herself between Zenki and the Beast, spreading her arms wide to block the Beast's path. It worked. The Beast's descent was halted. Not only that, damage was inflicted upon it. One look at Chiaki's firm, round, bobbing naked breasts, and every male llama's nose began to bleed. The rain of acidic spit was replaced by a shower of llama blood -- pints and pints of it. ::NO... ARRGH! I AM LOSING STRENGTH...!:: Zenki stared up at Chiaki, unblinking. She was shaking, and not just because it was cold out. Her courage was amazing (and so was her naked body). She was risking her own life right now... just for him. No one had ever done that before. The baby black llama slowly felt himself wanting to become the mighty Llama Lord. He wanted to be transformed to his true shape for the sole purpose of protecting his Shepherdess. Suddenly, all the male llama heads were drawn into the body of the Beast, and the rain of blood ceased. The voice which spoke after that was female... ::IT IS UP TO THE FEMALE LLAMAS NOW... KILL THEM BOTH!!:: Then the male voice from before came, muffled from within the body. ::NO! DO NOT KILL THE SHEPHERDESS! WE'RE NOT INTO NECROPHELIA!:: ::LIARS! WHAT ABOUT INUGAMI?!:: ::...... OKAY, *MOST* OF US AREN'T INTO NECROPHELIA......:: ::NOT GOOD ENOUGH! THE SHEPHERDESS DIES NOW!!:: A bolt of lightning struck the earth right next to Chiaki, and she was thrown several feet away. "NO!" Zenki bleeped. "I won't let you hurt her!!" His rage and his desire to protect overtook him, and in a flash of light Zenki became... THE LLAMA LORD!! "THE LLAMA LORD ZENKI STANDS BEFORE YOU!!" he announced, charging in to do battle. Chiaki's eyes fluttered open, and she beheld the true form of the Llama Lord. A full grown llama, twice as large as an ordinary one, his long black mane was bright red at its spikey tips. A beautiful jewel adorned the center of his foreheard, a fang protruded from his mouth, and his eyes shone crimson. Light purple stripes were a striking contrast to the black fur on his cheeks, and... was he wearing armor?? Then Zenki truly was the the Black Child... afterall. She watched him fly up into the skies, charging the Beast. "VAJRA!" he cried, and a great diamond horn emerged from the jewel in his forehead, causing him to look like a unicorn of justice. The horn pierced the tentacle head of Kazue, but none of the other amalgamated llamas seemed disappointed to see her go. ::HA! IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?! ... LITTLE DO YOU REALIZE, WITHOUT KAZUE WE ARE NOW TEN TIMES AS STRONG!!! HAHAHA!!:: And it was true. The Beast was now ten times as fast, and it struck Zenki down with ten times more strength than it could have before. The Llama Lord crashed into the earth, creating a clean crater. Chiaki looked down upon his bleeding form with horror, knowing that this was not a battle the Black Child could win alone. As the Beast looked murderously towards Chiaki, she silently prayed to her great ancestor, the Lama Ozunu Enno, for the strength to fight back and protect all she loved. Then she heard a voice... "Blood of my blood." She gasped. "Lama Ozunu?!" "The power of Shepherding resides in your own heart." "I thought it resided in the Staff..." "You mean you don't have the Staff?" "No." "Oh. Well, actually, you sort of need both your heart and the Staff." Meanwhile, the Beast had lifted Zenki's body out of the crater and was using it for a game of hackey-sack. "Very well then," Ozunu's disembodied voice continued. "I'll lend you a hand." With that, Chiaki's great ancestor came into view before her, shining brightly with the sacred light of Buddha, holding in his hand a new Staff. She held her breath as he walked towards her. Once he was almost to her, though, he stumbled and caught onto her body for balance. "Lama Ozunu! Are you okay?!" Chiaki cried with concern. "Oops!" Ozunu said. "Did I accidentally trip and grab onto your bare breasts? I'm sooo sorry~! Heh heh heh..." "ARE YOU HERE TO PROTECT YOUR DISCIPLES OR TO COP A FEEL?!" she blasted. "Honestly? A little bit of both..." Chiaki snatched the Staff from his hand and threatened to hit him with it. Ozunu phased out of view before she could do any damage. Then Chiaki raised the Staff above her head and recited the Shepherdess' Song to Call Forth the Black Child: ~I recite the verse to call forth the Black Child~ ~Holy Staff, tear the Dark Fabric that binds him~ ~Burst forth! Vajra on Ac! I herd the Black Child!~ ~Obey my Staff! Be filled with Light! Banish sin!~ A light began to emanate from Zenki's bruised and battered body. So bright was it that the Beast was blinded, and it dropped his body. But the body did not fall -- it was carried in a pocket of wind gently back to earth. The light transformed him. His top half became humanoid as his black hair fell away to reveal golden skin beneath. He stood on two llama legs now. In his human hands he wielded a great axe. "I AM ARAGAMI ZENKI," he declared. "WELCOME THE LLAMA OF BUDDHA!!" Chiaki felt her knees become weak in his presence. She fell to the grass and watched with disbelief. The female llama Beast was not unaffected -- so hot was Aragami Llama Lord Zenki that the creature swooned and sighed, lost all powers of logic and fell out of the sky to be near him. Once she was in range, Zenki sliced her right down the center with his mighty axe. Darkness at once exploded as the Beast was undone. The thunder and lightning subsided as the dark clouds dissipated. Strewn across the hilltop of the Enno Lamasery were the unconscious bodies of Chiaki's llamas (except Kazue; she was really dead) and the 108 unripe Bananas that they had eaten. "MM! DELICIOUS!" Zenki said, gobbling the Bananas of Possession. "Is it over?" Chiaki asked, her voice shaking. "Is the plague of Evil subdued?" "For a short time, it is," Aragami Zenki replied. "Somewhere, on the Neverland Ranch, a Tree of Possession grows and continues to produce Bananas of Possession. The Bananas we faced today were not yet ripe, but someday, a Beast will come forth which has eaten 108 *ripe* Bananas, and the plague of will return and be more powerful than ever before." "Wh-what are we going to do until then...? Just sit here and wait for it?" "No," Zenki said darkly, finally turning to face her. "My seals are undone and Ozunu is no longer here..." Chiaki gulped, knowing that this situation didn't look good for her. "I'm going to have freakish, beastial, humanoid sex with you day and night." "EXCUSE ME???" "You're really hot. And you risked your life for my sake. It's the only way I can pay you back," he explained, kneeling before her and taking her leg into his hands, suckling on her inner thigh. "Let me go! I didn't do it to save you! I couldn't let you die because then I'd NEVER get my necklace back!" "WHAT?!" Zenki blurted in disbelief. "... In that case," he said, dropping her leg and taking up his axe, having apparently had a change of heart, "I'll kill you and end my service under the Enno line. Girl, prepare to die!" "NOOOOO~" Chiaki squealed. However, just as Zenki brought his axe down to crack her skull open, the Staff of Protection shone, giving off a light that stripped Zenki of his strength and size. When Chiaki blinked away her fright, she looked down and beheld the mightiest of Llama Lords... As a little black baby llama. "Kuso!" Zenki bleeped. "I can still kick your ass like this, just wait and see!" he said, charging into her with his little baby llama head. Chiaki screamed and slapped him, easily knocking him away. "Hahaha!" she laughed. "You're my baby llama now, and you have to obey me!" ******** And so began the tale of the Shepherdess Chiaki and the legendary Black Child... END.