Thousands of stars lit the skies in the outskirts of America, wrapped around it like a comfort blanket. It was an icy cold winters night. Spring was certainly on it's way, but it had been cold for so long that hope had been lost long ago. This was indeed the coldest winter America had ever had to face.

Two teenage girls were sat beside a dirt road, waiting for something that seemed would never come. It was incredibly eery. Silence was all that they could hear. The girls were shivering violently underneath their thin coats. One of them was rather pale, her skin glowed in the darkness. Her checkered black and red jacket clinged to her, but it wasn't enough to fight the freezing cold. The fluffy hat she was wearing covered her ears, her dark red side fringe poked out from under the front of it. She looked up at the stars, her kohl lined eyes were a shimmering hazel color, with a tint of green around the edges. She wore plain blue jeans and black lace up boots that came up to her knees. She was holding a flask of hot chocolate, taking little sips every so often. Her name was Vicky. A sigh came from her mouth, which made a white cloud and she looked over to her companion. The other girl sat ontop of her numb hands, trying to bring the feeling back. She wasn't wearing a hat, but her long dark brown hair flew around her face in the blustery wind. Her fringe shaped around her face. She looked over to her friend. Her eyes were a hypnotising dark seal brown color, almost black. Her thin jacket was black and purple, with rabbit ears dangling from the hood. She wore just simple black jeans and red Dr. Martin boots. Kelly was the name that belong to her.

"I d-don't think I can h-h-handle it anymore, I want to just d-die here on the s-s-s-spot." Vicky spoke, stuttering almost every word due to how absolutely freezing she was.

"W-w-we have to s-stay here." Kelly stuttered back, giving Vicky a serious look.

They were waiting for a man named Hao Asakura.

2 Days Earlier:

"Okay so..." Vicky muttered to herself, holding a map of Tokyo in both hands. Vicky and Kelly stood in the middle of the dirt track. They had come across two winding dirt paths facing each other in opposite directions.

"Are we lost?" Kelly asked her best friend, looking doubtful.

"Hmm..."

"What does 'hmm' mean? Just admit it, we're lost." Kelly told her, dropping her bags of belongings on the floor.

"We're... not lost, well we weren't until we got to here." Vicky said, pointing to the spot on the map and then looking at each of the dirt paths. They wasn't on vacation. They were simply two ordinary Shaman's on the way to the Shaman Tournament. Well, it was that ordinary. Even though it was over a year until the tournament officially started, they were making sure they knew where exactly to go. Training was a sure thing, so they were planning on finding a professional trainer to help them become the best.

"Great." Kelly muttered, face palming. Kelly was usually the positive thinker, but for some reason, she wasn't really feeling it lately. Her strange dreams kept her awake most nights. Dreams that she hadn't even told Vicky about. She knew how much of a worrier Vicky was, so she didn't want to upset her.

"Should we just pick a random road and just go with it?" Vicky suggested, looking towards the left. "Boy, where's the Chesire Cat when you need him."

"I wouldn't go left if I were you." A voice called behind them. They both spun round. There were a group of people walking towards them.

"Oh, err... you're heading to Patch Village too then?" Vicky asked them, feeling a little awkward. First impressions and new people weren't her thing, so she suprised herself when she started talking to them.

One of them nodded, smiling widely. "Yep." He must of been the dude that spoke first then... Vicky thought, as the image of him started to save in her brain. His eyes were brown, he had long brown hair tied up in a ponytail, a couple of bangs hanging from both sides of his face along with orange headphones behind his ears. His clothes were a black sleeveless top with orange interieor and trousers to match, which had a orange case on the leg and black sandals. Wow, he likes orange then.

"Such divine creatures!" Someone cried. A quite tall man with a large quiff as his hairdo ran over to Vicky and Kelly, he took both their hands in his and kissed them. "So lovely to meet you." Vicky quickly took her hand back, looking disturbed. Kelly looked on at him, bewildered. The man didn't notice their expressions and walk back to his friends, with a dreamy look on his face.

"Sorry guys." The orange lover said, sweatdropping.

"That's Ryu for you." Spoke a voice at the boy's feet. Vicky almost fell over with shock. A tiny boy with a mop of hair, no bigger than her ankle was standing there, looking up at them both. Vicky coughed, trying to disguise the fit of laughter that was dying to be released.

"Yoh." The girl next to him said impatiently, her arms folded. The red bandana she was wearing around her head fluttering in the cold breeze, along with her dark blonde hair which came to her shoulders. Her eyes were as black at the above the knee dress she was wearing. There were long beads around her neck and there were red sandals on her feet.

"Aww, come on Anna, let them come with us?" The boy named Yoh pleaded.

"It's cool, we're fine. We don't wanna intrude." Kelly piped up, waving her hands at them.

"You heard them, Yoh. Come on." Anna said coldly. Yoh bowed his head, looked up at Vicky and Kelly with a weak smile and shrugged at them, looking guilty. The girls smiled sadly as they started to walk away.

Vicky looked at the other people who were with them. A boy almost as small as Kelly walked past had a strange tongari hairstyle. It was purple. He wore a long black coat and a yellow scarf that hid his nose and mouth. He stared at her. His golden eyes glaring right through her. Vicky swallowed and focused on the next boy that walked past. He was quite taller, lanky even. He wore a white and blue windrunner, shorts and trainers. His spikey light blue hair was kept back by a headband. He was a lot easier on the eyes, Vicky felt relaxed as she looked into his beautiful dark eyes...

Vicky suddenly felt a slight pain in her arm and jumped. Kelly had pinched her.

"God, you totally have the hots for him!" She hissed. The blue haired boy slid past them, giving them a puzzled look. Vicky wasn't sure if he heard Kelly or not.

"I do not, I was looking at his outfit. Shorts, in this weather? Seriously?" Vicky muttered, rubbing her sore arm. She watched as the Shamans headed up the right side of the dirt path.

"Yeah, yeah, change the subject." Kelly said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey! You can talk, I saw you take a little peek at that pointy headed guys butt!"

"I DID NOT!" Kelly yelled, turning a deep crimson.

"Chill! I was just kidding, why've you gone so red?" Vicky asked, now dying of laughter at Kelly's face.

A few hours past, and the girls were on the road towards their destination. It felt like they were on the dirt path forever. They couldn't see Yoh and the others in the distance anymore. Either they were very fast, or the girls were just really slow. Kelly said the first option. It was getting dark, which meant it was getting colder. Vicky squinted and saw something coming up ahead.

"What's this... looks like someones sitting on that huge boulder."

"Maybe he's hitching a ride?" Kelly suggested, squinting too.

"How many vehicles have you seen so far?"

"...None." Kelly answered, giggling nervously. They were getting closer and closer now, so they could make out who it was. It was another boy, this time in a white poncho. His hair was long and brown. Vicky found his face very familiar.

"Isn't that Yoh?" Kelly pointed out.

Vicky shook her head. "No... it can't be. His hair was shorter than his."

"They look so alike." It wasn't because of him looking very much like Yoh, but the fact that she had seen him somewhere before. Somewhere... not in reality.

"Hello, ladies." He spoke, as they finally got in speaking distance with him. Vicky and Kelly exchanged looks. He even sounded like Yoh from what they could remember earlier. "I sensed your presence." He added. His long, shiny hair made him very attractive. He jumped from the boulder, landing on his feet like a professional in front of them. He was wearing red lego sandals. Kelly stared at them in awe for a few minutes.

"I've been gathering a few people to join my... family," Hao continued, "You two are very powerful, very powerful." Suprised flooded both the girls faces.

"Really?" Vicky asked him, her eyes full of happiness.

"Yes. Will you join me?"

"Who are you exactly?" Kelly asked him, not looking as happy as Vicky. There was something going on here, what's his game?

"My name, is Hao. Hao Asakura."

"Oh." They both said bluntly, looking non the wiser.

"Well, why do you want us? Surely there's Shaman's out there who are way more powerful than us."

"I haven't seen any so far." Hao told them, with a smile. "What are you're names?"

"Vicky."

"Kelly."

"Well, Vicky and Kelly. I see you're all alone here, in a foreign country with only each other to count on. I have a group of followers who would love to welcome you to our little family. I know you're going to enter the tournament... I could train you to be the best." Hao explained.

"Sure." Vicky replied quickly. Then added, "Do we get ponchos too?" She then felt a strong tug from Kelly, who pulled her arm and dragged her out of Hao's hearing.

"What on earth are you doing?" She hissed, making sure it was still in a whisper.

"Why can't we join him? I mean, he seems nice, friendly, hot...-"

"What if something bad happens and we're in the middle of it? I don't want any trouble. We've both had enough of that to last us a lifetime. Please, can we just decline this?" Kelly asked her, sounding desperately. Vicky sighed deeply, looking at the floor.

"Okay."

Kelly gave her a quick hug and they turned back to Hao, who was still waiting there patiently and smiling.

"Uhm, sorry Hao... but we're gonna have to pass." Vicky told him. There was a long pause. Hao wasn't smiling anymore.

"You see, I don't take no for an answer." He said in a low voice. He raised his arm up and clicked his fingers. There was a suddenly hot sensation in the air, causing their hair to fly in every direction. Something was appearing out of nowhere behind Hao. Vicky and Kelly looked up wide eyed and saw a huge red monster-like figure standing at least 50 feet tall. Vicky felt the urge to scream, but she couldn't get any words out. She looked over at Kelly who looked like she felt the same.

"Join me now, Shamans, or perish." Hao said coldly, the beast above him leering over at them.

Vicky closed her eyes, held out her hands in front of her and yelled, "OVERSO-!"

"Vicky! You can't fight him, you know he's too strong." Kelly warned her, grabbing her before she could oversoul properly.

"I can try."

"No, I won't let you... do it alone." Kelly added, reaching out for her weapon in her pocket.

"You fools." Hao laughed. He clicked his fingers again and the red demon reached down and grabbed them both, each in his gigantic claws. They both screamed and struggled but it was no use. It was too strong. There was no escape now.

"Join me now, or Spirit of Fire will devour you. I'd hate to see such power go to waste, but he'll be satified." Hao told them, smiling up at his Spirit.

"ALRIGHT!" Vicky screamed, in pain. Her whole body was being crushed by the monster. She noticed from the corner of her eye that Kelly had passed out.

"KELLY!"

"She'll be fine. I want you both to stay here. If you run, I will catch you. If you hide, I will find you. Be warned." Hao said to her. The last thing Vicky saw was being placed back onto the ground, then she blacked out.

"W-what the..." Vicky slowly rose up from the ground, hold her spinning head. Hao and his 'Spirit of Fire' were nowhere to be seen. Maybe it was all a dream? She suddenly remembered Kelly, who was lying beside her. She looked over and saw Kelly staring up at the black sky.

"It wasn't a dream." Kelly whispered, as if she'd just read Vicky's mind. Vicky's heart started pounding.

"He told us to stay here."

"Forget it. I'm not staying around for that lunatic, no matter how good looking he is." Kelly told her, getting up onto her feet.

"Kell... he threatened us. He said... he said..." Vicky explained to Kelly what he had said to her before she passed out. Kelly shivered, but it wasn't just because of how cold it was.

"What are we gonna do?"

"We'll have to do it. We have no choice. He could kill us, he could kill our families. We have to join him." Vicky said, chewing on her nails. "All we have to do, is wait."

Present Day:

Snow started to fall where the two teenage girls were sitting. Whilst waiting for Hao, they had fallen to sleep. Kelly's eyes fluttered open, welcomed by the site of a sight that pleased her, even at her darkest hours. She gave a small smile. Snow was her favorite kind of weather, if only she had the strength to get up. She was completely numb, frozen solid it seemed. Then, after a moment of what she imagined was bliss, her recent troubled thoughts came back to her. Why did they go right? Why did they have to listen to those group of people telling them to go not go left? Why couldn't they just have gotten lost and all would be the same as usual? Why did it have to be them? So many questions loomed in her mind. There was something not right about Hao, that's for sure. Threatening someone to join his family? Did he treat his own family and friends like that? Maybe he was just joking. Sick joke to pull on someone.

Drifting in deep thought, she didn't realise there was someone standing in front of them. It was a girl this time. An extremely pale girl with long straight jet black hair down to her back and bright orange eyes. They narrowed and looked down at Kelly. She wasn't smiling, and she didn't look very welcoming. Her clothes were just a white Chinese robe with a red dragon at the bottom, black leggings and black dolly shoes.

"Are you Kelly?" She asked, her tone not friendly.

"Yeah... you are?" Kelly asked, putting on the same tone as the girl.

"Domino."

Kelly smirked.

"Something amusing you about my name? It's not my real name, peasant." Domino snarled, looking at Kelly as if she really was a dirty homeless peasant.

"So, Domino." Kelly began, biting her lip to stop her from smirking again. "What brings you to the lower class?"

"Funny. I've been sent here by Hao, although, he must be insane to let you join us."

"Believe me, we didn't have a choice."

Domino gave a small, evil laugh. "I thought as much. Wake your friend up, I don't want to be wasting anymore of my Hao's precious time."

Kelly raised an eyebrow, I guess she'd do anything for him then. Poor sap. Oh, and Domino. Kelly started smiling to herself.

"Are you deaf? I said wake her up!" Domino snapped, kicking Vicky in the leg.

"WAH?" Vicky cried, falling backwards.

"Hurry the hell up." Domino hissed.

"Who the fudge are you?" Vicky asked, jumping up onto her feet a little too fast and hurting her sore leg. Kelly joined her.

"Hao's secret admirer." Kelly muttered to her, making Domino get even more angry.

"Enough of the whispering! Hurry up and get a move on. I haven't got all day."

A:N - RIGHT! So, I have re-wrote my Shaman King story countless times, and I've finally decided to scrap 'Home Sweet Home' because in all honesty, it was going nowhere. This one now has more of a plot to it now (It's the same jist, so don't worry). Enjoy! I hope people aren't too disappointed about my other story being deleted. Neko and Usagi mean cat and rabbit btw. I'm the cat, Kelly's the rabbit! I couldn't be bothered to add and explain it in the story. If you're Japanese and reading it then you should know anyway ;) xxx