I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.

Thalim of the Ten Patch Officiants stood in the flatland plans right outside a small town in the middle of the states, moving a handful of local wildflower seeds around in his had. He reached out with his spirit, touching each one in turn, feeling the wealth of history and wisdom that lay dormant within the lands, held close by each an every plant in the field.

But even with all this knowledge, he still didn't know what it was that was calling out to him.

The preliminaries for the Shaman fights were underway, and each of the Ten Patch Officiants were searching the four corners of the globe to find the Shaman who would compete for the title of Shaman King.

But to Thalim's knowledge, there were no Shaman families in this part of the country, so where was all this Furyoku, this spiritual power, he was sensing coming from, who was it that was demanding to be tested, to see if they were worthy of fighting in the tournaments.

Thalim's eyes darted from the Earth as he sensed the power growing closer. "Sorry, I hope you haven't been waiting long." A young voice said with a bit of a laugh. Thalim looked up to see a small boy in his early teens standing a short distance away from him. Thalim couldn't help but be surprised at how unremarkable the boy looked. A normal tshirt and jeans, black hair, blue eyes, rather pale skin; he didn't really have the look of a Shaman, then again, so many Shaman have started to get disconnected from their roots as they grew up in the modern world.

It wasn't like that in the Patch Village, they keep the old culture alive, even if they did see the benefit of things like a wireless phone rather than having to call up wind spirits that could get bored and drop their connection at any time.

But even though there was nothing off about the boy's appearance, he had a certain feel about him. Like something was off. The grass underneath his feet seemed uneasy from being so close to him, panicking in its own way.

"There is no need to apologize. You are not late, I was simply early." Thalim said with a bit of caution. His voice was just as rough as the others of the Patch clan, though his appearance was less rough, and much closer to that of an average man. "I was not aware of any Shaman in these parts. So would you mind telling me your name and the name of your spirit for the registration? Or would you prefer to take your test first and then tell me if you pass?"

The boy smiled. "No need for secrecy I guess. I'm Danny Fenton, and this is my primary spirit..." The temperature in the air dropped dramatically and Thalim flinched back as a large and very physical spirit formed behind the boy. It was twice the size of a normal man with snow white fur covering itself entire body. A short snarl revealed large yellowing canine teeth and the beast's eyes glowed a deep mixture of blue and red. As its paws touched the ground, the flowers froze in place, turning into crystal replicas of their former selves.

"I am Frostbite." The spirit said as it stood next to its Shaman. Thalim's eyes went from the frozen horns on the spirits head, to its open toga like garb.

"A Far Frozen." He said in surprise. Such spirits were prideful and had form of their own, with enough power to influence the living world without a medium. It had been thousands of years since the last time one had been made into a guardian spirit.

"I assume the rules have not changed as to the nature of the preliminaries." Frostbite said in a rough and echoing voice. Thalim brew twitched, this spirit had been involved in the Shaman Fights before.

"No, they have not. If you manage to strike me, then you will have gained entry to the tournament." Thalim said, gathering his own power to prepare himself for the attack that was bound to come. "Green Seeds." He murmured, calling out to the ancient spirit of nature he was in contact with. A spirit that was made up of millions and millions of lesser spirits of the grass and leafs. Sewing the power into the wildflower seeds he tossed them out into the air where they grew into large monstrous creatures made entirely out of plants.

"Alright Frostbite, let's get started." Danny said, holding out his right hand to reveal a long wooden pole. "Into the hunter's staff."

The form of the Far Frozen seemed to dissolve into a ball and was pulled into the staff. Thalim gasped as the already cold air turned frigid and a cloud of mist pushed off of the boy, completely hiding him from sight.

As the mist cleared Thalim could see the boy standing their with a long spear with a spear head that looked like a large and jagged tooth. The shaft had turned into a polished ivory color and a cold blue glow surrounded the boy and the weapon in his hand.

None of this was out of the ordinary. It was just an Over Soul. Something Thalim had seen a thousand times, but... the boy himself had changed. His eyes with a vivid green and his hair had lost all its color, becoming as white as the Far Frozen's fur.

The entire thing was over before Thalim even recovered from his shock. "PERMAFROST!" Two echoing voices rang together before a wave of icy power crashed down on Thalim.

This tournament would be different. Something unforeseen had just arrived.

Too depressed from grading papers to write anymore today, all my students were idiots, so I just dug this up from a while back to post.

Now I'm going to the after finals party that we professors have in order to drink away the sadness and compare whose students were the stupidest. I think I've got a good contender this semester. One of my boys thought you had a four hundred percent chance of flipping a coin two times and it being heads both times. God what a moron.