The Story of Princess Hao

Disclaimers: I do not own Shaman King. Though I would very much love to own Hao in his princess gown :]

Notes: The "Princess Hao" part was included in the second last (if i remember right) chapter of the manga as said by Anna. I know that there was a full meaning behind it but this story doesn't. It was just something that I wanted to write on a whim.

When I say "her", I mean Hao. It wasn't a mistake. It's just a lot easier for everyone.

Takes place in an AU that's kinda similar to the original storyline. Slight shounen-ai material. By that I mean, HaoxYoh :]

Btw: I tried to make this story as short as possible so I got rid of a lot of details o.o' Comments and criticism welcome~

Enjoy?

It started out as a typical night since they have started on the journey to Patch village. The six friends were gathered beside a campfire that they had used for dinner and now for clearing in the forest provided a good campsite for them that seemed safe and convenient. Ren and Horo Horo were arguing again, a couple feet away from the campfire. By dowsing, Morphine and Lyzerg pointed out the general direction while Manta and Ryu studied the map, which was illuminated by the fire.

Ryu scratched his head as he sat cross-legged. "Hm…So we should g—" He started, only to be interrupted by Manta.

"Ah! I know this place!" He leaned over the map, talking about the place that Ryu's finger was pointing to. "We're near the princess's castle!"

"Princess…" Horo Horo turned his attention slowly from Ren to Manta.

"Castle…" Smirked Ren as he also turned to him.

"Ahh? What's that?" Yoh asked as Amidamaru appeared behind him.

"It's just a legend, nothing to worry about." Manta said. The you-better-tell-us-now expressions on everyone's faces didn't surprise him too much. "Okay…When I was young, I heard about a legend that tells of a beautiful princess that is held captive by an evil king who goes by the name of Hatred."

"Beautiful princess?! We must go save her!" Ryu exclaimed, jumping up from his sitting position. He brushed his hair with a comb and then looked up towards the direction of the castle with a dreamy sigh. And the princess will fall for me…

"Don't go off into your delusions." Ren warned with his arms crossed. "I'll be the one to defeat this Hatred and save the princess."

"What did you say…?" Ryu demanded menacingly.

"You heard me." Ren smirked. The two of them went off into their own world of throwing insults at each other.

"We should pass the castle sometime tomorrow morning." Manta said, studying the map.

"Well then, let's go save her!" Horo Horo said with a triumphant smile.

Yoh nodded and laughed. "Sounds fun."

The next day the 6 friends traveled on. It wasn't long until they saw the top of the castle poke out from behind the treetops. Then, it only took a couple more minutes to reach the clearing where the castle stood.

"Wooow. It's bigger than I thought." Said Horo Horo as he glanced around excitedly.

Yoh shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun and looked up. The castle was indeed big and looked like something out of a medieval fairy tale. As his eyes scanned across the castle, movement from a small window near the very top caught his eyes. He saw a flicker of a figure.

"Did anyone else just see that?" Yoh asked.

"See what?" Manta asked.

Lyzerg had been staring up towards the same window as well. His gaze stayed there until Yoh walked past him.

"Come on." He said with a smile at Lyzerg.

Yoh led the way towards the castle and stopped at a giant metal gate.

"Manta, I think it's best if you stay here." Yoh said quietly to his friend.

Manta thought about it for a moment. "Good idea." He nodded with a nervous smile.

"So how are we suppose to get in?" Horo Horo asked impatiently, interrupting the two..

"We break it down!" Ren said as he charged towards the door. "Bason!" The door did not budge. Moreover, there wasn't even a scratch on it. He growled and prepared to attack again.

"Wait…" Yoh said with his eyebrows knitted.

Almost immediately, the gate swung open as if they were invited in. The gang walked in slowly and cautiously with their weapons drawn. When the last person stepped inside, the gate swung closed behind them. It was pitch black until suddenly, a booming voice called out. "All those who wish to get to Hao must get past me!" The old chandelier suddenly lit up with fire and cast an eerie glow onto the huge room. From out of the shadows, countless demons of different sizes appeared. So then her name is Hao… Was the thought in everyone's head before they were attacked by the demons. The demons weren't very strong but very numerous. It didn't take long for Ren to take over the tide of the battle by himself.

"Ha. Could've handled these by myself." Said Ren smugly as he lowered his weapon.

"T-then can you handle all of them too?" Horo Horo with his eyes bugging out as he pointed to demons who were now a lot bigger and than before.

Ren chuckled, "No problem. You guys go ahead, I'll catch up." He didn't let a chance for anyone else to object before charging at a demon and then slicing it in half neatly. "I said go!"

The four of them sprinted up the winding stone staircase.

"Master, are you sure we shou—" Ryu started.

"Nn. Ren can take care of himself." Yoh said with a smile on his face.

After a couple more minutes of running up the winding staircase, they arrived on the second floor. They paused for a while, gasping for air. The floor that they were on was also dark except for a couple of torches that lit the sides of the walls. At the end of the long hallway, light shone from a crack under the door.

"Hey-… look." Lyzerg gasped out, pointing at the light.

"That must be where the princess is!" Ryu said as he instantly regained all of his energy.

They took off towards the room. The light blinded them when they pulled open the giant doors. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the sunlight pouring in from the open windows before they realized where they were. They stood at the entrance of a beautifully decorated room with expensive-looking furniture were framed in gold and silver. What greeted them was a figure with long, straight hair in a beautiful gown that stood with her back to them, gazing out the window.

That person…Lyzerg gasped.

The person by the windowsill turned around in what seemed like slow motion. Her luscious, mahogany hair shone under the sunlight as it flowed majestically behind her when she twisted her neck slightly towards them. Her soft facial expressions showed the slightest bit of surprise before it became emotionless. Hair ribbons which looked like stars stringed together tangled themselves delicately and neatly in her hair. A crown nestled on top of her head with matching earrings in the shape of large stars. A couple of gold stars strung together and worn at the waist of her gown glittered brilliantly as she faced them.

Ka-wa-ii… Was the one main thing that dominated the minds of these four boys.

Lyzerg refocused quickly. Must be the figure I saw... He concluded.

"You've made it this far already…" Princess Hao said softly, her lips curving upwards. Her smile graced upon the four friends and made them forget about the demons or the evil king. What brought them back to their senses was a large bang that sounded not far behind them. They whipped around to find Ren in the same hallway.

"Ren!" Horo Horo called out to see his friend being overpowered by the demons.

Yoh ran up to Princess Hao and grabbed her wrist. "Come on! We're getting you out of here." He smiled and tugged her along as he ran behind his friends. Hao didn't want to follow at first but then eagerly went along with them. This could actually be interesting. With Ren, Horo Horo, and Ryu fending off the demons, they kept going along the hallway until they reached the staircase again. From below, Lyzerg could see that demons were already making their way up.

"This way!" He called to Yoh. He led the way up the staircase with Morphine. It wasn't long until they were hit with another sudden blast of light. The stairs ended on the roof of the tower. Yoh and Lyzerg, who were protecting the princess backed up further to give their friends some space. But as soon as the demons reached light, they all disappeared. Before they even had a chance to react, they were plowed to the ground by Yoh and Lyzerg, who were thrown backwards into the air.

"Ugh…" Horo Horo moaned in pain as he sat up and rubbed his hurt back. He looked up to see an ominous sight greet them.

A towering giant that seemed to be made of fire stood in between Princess Hao and everyone else. It waved its hand towards the princess, sending embers and small flickers of fire, warning her to move back. The princess did just that and quickly moved back until she was against the battlements of the back. The giant spirit roared angrily and started to attack them. The one giant was proven more than the five of them could handle. Yoh glanced past it to see if the princess was doing okay but was caught off-guard by the spirit and sent flying. He hit the tall part of the battlement, which Lavie recently found out was called a merlou, only a few feet away from where the princess stood. She walked over to Yoh and helped him up.

"Are you okay?" She asked with a smile but a tinge of worry in her voice.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Yoh said as he stood up and dusted himself off. "Do you have any idea how to stop this?" He asked, keeping his eyes switching from the battle to the princess.

"The spirit of fire is not a 'this'," She started. "And there is…one way." The pause in the sentence somehow made her lips curl upwards into a smile. This smile was nowhere as warm as the one she had been giving.

Yoh didn't notice. "A way? Please tell us how to, Hime."

"Fine…But you have to kiss me."

This sentence stunned Yoh. Kiss her? Anna will kill me. He thought, nervous at the thought that if Anna knew about this. "Can't someone else do it?" He asked meekly.

"Nope. Has to be you." She stated simply.

Yoh argued with himself for a moment inside his head. The scream of a friend caused him to make up his mind. Slowly and hesitantly, he closed his eyes and leaned in for the kiss. Almost immediately after their lips met, his back also met with the wall. He opened his eyes in surprise to find out that the princess had trapped him against the wall with her own body. He tried to push her back gently but she was proven a lot stronger than he had imagined. He found her tongue brush against his as she took her time in exploring his mouth. She finally pulled away, leaving a breathless Yoh in surprise. She laughed and turned around.

"As promised…" She said and waved one hand in the air.

The spirit immediately dissipated into her palm, which left the other four in wonder as well.

"Master!" Ryu called out as they ran towards Yoh and the princess.

"So that was your spirit?" Ren asked, his eyes narrowed. He received a nod and a smile in reply. "Then why--…"

He was cut off by Hao's voice. "You were the first to make it this far, congratulations. Not many people make it past the first floor."

"But then the legend…" Horo Horo was interrupted.

"Word of mouth from the humans change over time." Hao laughed. "But thanks for attempting to rescue me."

"Of course, no need for thanks!" Ryu said with a loud laugh, his skin hot. "Well, unless you insist on a kiss as a reward, Hime…" He hinted not very subtly as he flashed his signature grin.

Another laugh from the princess this time. "Sorry, I'm not that way, and I'd appreciate it if you stopped calling me 'Hime'."

"Does…that mean you're bi--…" Ryu started out only to be interrupted again.

"No." Hao laughed. "I'm a boy."