Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or the characters taken from the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime/manga.

This is my first fanfic, so.. yeah. Review and give me pointers! I already have most of the story written, though. :)

Chapter 1

The hot sun beat it's rays down onto the golden sands of Egpyt. It was summer and was one of the hottest days of the year. Dispite the heat, a teenage girl was outside, in the desert, training.

A blade swung down, the sun glinting off it's shinning metal. The girl side stepped quickly and the sword missed. She danced around the attacker, dodging every strike and anticipating every move.

The girl was sixteen years old and she had long, layered, golden-brown hair. It shone in the bright sunlight and swirled around her as she avoided attacks. Her eyes were deep purple-blue with lighter violet flecks. She was average height and was in perfect physical condition. Her face was perfectly proportioned and her skin was spotless and naturally tanned.

Finally getting bored of the dance, she swiftly kicked one leg out from under the attacker when he lunged and he fell to the ground. She put a foot on the wrist of the hand holding the sword and pointed her own, unused, sword at his throat.

"I win," she said, grinning.

"Again," the man on the ground rasped. He was out of breath and sweating terribly. "Now let me up."

She removed her foot from his wrist and extended a hand toward him. Gratefully, he took her hand and she pulled him to his feet.

"I think that's enough for today," the man said, panting.

The girl watched him carefully. He was badly out of breath and probably deheidrated. The Spirit Master wasn't old, only in his late thirties, but the heat was taking it's toll on him.

"Come on, let's go get some water," she said, turning to begin walking toward the city. The Spirit Master walked up beside her and they started moving.

"You know," she said, wiping her gold-brown hair out of her eyes, "we should really just bring water with us."

He smiled and gave her a sidelong look. "Ah, Kahlaya, you know that if you ever get stuck in a fight, water won't be offered.

Kahlaya laughed. "I'm not worried about myself! I meant bring water for you!"

He grunted. "I may not be as young as I used to be, but I can handle the heat."

Kahlaya shrugged. "Whatever you say, Master."

When they reached the city, they headed to the Spirit Master's house. Kahlaya was born in a city far away from this one and so she lived with her master to do everyday training.

Inside the house was ten times warmer than outside, but it was nice to be in the shade. There were a few jugs of water on a counter, so she grabbed a pair of cups from a shelf and filled them with the warm water. Giving one of the mugs to her master, who was already seated at the table, Kahlaya took a seat across from him and gulped down the gross water.

She set down the empty cup and looked across the table at him. His real name was Okpara, but almost no one called him that. He had black, shoulder-length hair with graying streaks and deep brown eyes. He was well built and wore a plain, cream coloured tunic. A pendant, hanging on a string around his neck, was the only indicator that he was someone of any importance. It was the Spirit Master's pendant. There was only one in existence and it was passed down from Spirit Master to Spirit Master.

He had been looking out the window, but now he turned his attention to her.

He smiled. "You are getting very skilled."

She returned the warm smile. "Thank you, Master."

His gaze moved back to the window. "Soon you will be able to go to the palace. To fulfill your destiny and stand at Prince Atem's side, as his Divine Guardian." He met Kaylaya's gaze. "You're training will be complete soon."

Her eyebrows pulled together. "Soon? What do you mean? I can fight pretty well, but I can barely control my spirit animal. I mean, I still shift at the full moon. And I can't shift on demand."

Okpara laughed. "I said your training would be finished 'soon'. You have been training for your entire life. 'Soon' is still months away. Don't worry. You will be able to shift on demand. We have been working hard on controlling your spirit animal. You are progressing greatly."

Kahlaya smiled and sighed, leaning back in her chair. Her eyes wandered to the window. The palace wasn't visible on this side of the home, but it was still there. Still close. It would be her home in just a few months. She would be living with the Pharaoh and his son, Atem. Protecting him, fighting for him. Kahlaya growled softly. She didn't like that her whole life had been decided as soon as she was born with the same eyes as the Prince and at the same time. But what really gave away her Divine Guardian status was the mark with which she was born. She looked down at her arm. Turning it over, she revealed the mark of a Divine Guardian on her inner right forearm.

To anyone who just glanced at it, the mark was only a series of swirls and lines, but, if it was looked at carefully, it was easy to distinguish the wings that spanned out and folded. Then, in the middle of the swirls was the shape of the angel. The lines were black, but had a silver linning to them and sparkled in sunlight. It represented a guardian angel. Smirking, Kahlaya turned her arm back over.

"There's a full moon coming," she said, looking at Okpara. She hadn't realized that he had been watching her.

He nodded. "Yes. In four days, the full moon will arrive. We will then be able to work on you controlling your spirit form."

She sighed. "Sometimes, it's a lot harder to concentrate in my spirit form. I can't really grasp the concept of controlling my energy."

"This is understandable. In your wolf form, you won't completely understand the human language and ideas. I know that you have gotten better at it, though. You have improved much since your first shift when you were thirteen. Now you can even use your telepathy."

Kahlaya nodded. She shuddered when she remembered her first shift. It was one of the worst and most frightening times in her life.

It was the first full moon after her thirteenth birthday. She had had a full day of battle training and was exhausted, but her spirit form was ready to show itself. It was quite late at night and she was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, but too restless to. Kahlaya remembered feeling extremely tired and somewhat sick. She had a terrible headache and she had begun to enter a cold sweat.

When the moon had finally made it's way around the house and moonlight slanted into her room, it shone directly on her. Her body immediately went ridged and pain had shot through every nerve she had. She screamed as the burning ripped through her. She had felt as if her entire body had been placed in a fire. Then her limbs had begun to spasm and shift.

Her muscles and bones morphed to accommodate her new body and her clothes tore as fur erupted from her skin and her nose became a snout. Her eyes hadn't changed though. Everything else had, but not her eyes. They had adopted the wildness of the wolf, but they were still her eyes.

That night, and the rest of the full moon, Okpara had to lock her in her room. Throwing in food and water when she was asleep. That first change, she was completely wolf. The next change was better. It was less painful and she kept more of herself than she had the first time, but she was still mostly wolf. Every time after that, she progressed. The shift became easier and now it hardly hurts. She can keep her entire mind while she's a wolf, except for the understanding of human ideas and some words. Her wolf side still couldn't process them. She could also use telepathy to communicate with humans.

Kahlaya shivered as she remembered her awful shiftings. She had to go through all that, just to serve some Pharaoh for the rest of her life. Somehow, all the jewels, gold and food that came with her duty, just weren't worth throwing her life away.

She accidentally growled. Okpara cleared his throat, breaking her away from her angry thoughts. Her head snapped up to meet his eyes. Kahlaya hadn't realized how long she had been living in her memories. It was now twilight and the light in the house was dimming.

"Why don't I make us some food?" Okpara said, rising to his feet.

"Yeah, that would be great." To reinforce her answer, Kahlaya's stomach growled loudly.

Blinking rapidly, Kahlaya pressed a hand to her forehead and tried to rid her mind of her painful memories and focus on her tasks ahead.

She was the Divine Guardian of Prince Atem, soon to be Pharaoh Atem. She was born to protect and serve him and there was nothing she could do to escape that duty. She should be honoured to have been chosen by the gods to be the new pharaoh's Guardian, but, somehow, she just couldn't bring herself to feel that way.