Disclaimer: We do not own Shaman King (dying a little inside) just our OC's. And the story line.

Title: Jeweled Cage

Summary: She was trapped in the gilded cage of her family; he had been trapped in the dark prison of his family's past. She longed for freedom; he already had it. She fled from her family, but escape is not an option, only a delay of the inevitable. Will he be able to do for her what his friends did for him? Ren/OC (Not pure romance)

Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance, Comedy

Rating: T for now. Will change if anything arises. Probably won't.

A/N: Aloha. Well this is the first chapter of our new fic (our first one sucked. Hopefully this one doesn't). It will end up crossing over with the sequel of an already in progress story by one of the joint writers, Ammirra. The story is her only story at the moment and is called Elementalists. Yes there are two of us writing this. I'm Hikyrrou. Ya this doesn't seem tooooo much like shaman king…at the moment but just wait. It gets better. Oh ya, this takes place approximately a year after the beginning of the first tournament. In the anime anyway. WELL!! Enjoy!

Chapter One: Pillow Wars!

"But Papa! I want to join the tournament!" a young girl complained futilely, looking at her feet.

"NO! You will not waste your time with such an unsuitable activity! You will remain here and act as a princess must!" a large man snapped back at her. He was wearing gold armor, scale mail, a red velvet cape with snow leopard fur lining and a gold crown with embedded rubies.

"Papa! Other girls are in the tournament!" She continued to push her luck in a hopeless attempt to get her way.

"Other girls are not princesses of their country! You have a duty here Arleanna, end of discussion!" He pointed down the rich hall. "Go to your room, stay there until you've pulled your head out of the clouds." With that he turned, his cape billowing behind him, and left his daughter gawking.

"Hah!" A seventeen year old girl came up behind the first. She was heavily jeweled and wore an overly ornate dress. "Why would you even want to enter in that tournament anyway?" she said as Arleanna whirled around to meet identical orchid eyes. "You'd get all sweaty and sticky! Disgusting!" Then the second girl stalked passed her, silver violet hair flowing.

"What do you know Lamia!" she called after her sister. "Argh! I can't take much more of this!" She turned on her heal and marched to her room, curly silvery pale violet hair bouncing. She closed the door irritably behind her and stood before a full length mirror. Looking herself up and down she scowled, "I hate this," she cried. Scornfully she took off her gold and silver circlets placing them carefully on an ornate desk beside the mirror. No sooner had she placed the last of the circlets on the desk then there was a knock on the door. She turned, her hands still on the circlet, and stared at the door. Then slowly she walked to it and opened the door to see her violet haired mother.

"Arleanna, what is this I hear about you wanting to enter that confounded tournament?!" Her mother's usually kind voice was harsh and reproachful. "Madness child! Such an event is no place for you!"

"Mama! I wish not to talk about it now. Can't you let me alone awhile?" Arleanna said, looking at her feet again. Her mother looked at her a moment then turned and left. Silently Arleanna closed the door then collapsed on her enormous bed and started to cry.

Arleanna's spirit materialized to the left of the weeping girl, placing a hand on her shoulder for comfort. "Do you really need your father's permission to participate in the tournament?"

Arleanna looked up with tear filled eyes, "Papa is the king, how can I just go without his permission Shan?

The spirit frowned, "He is the King, but he should be your father first."

Arleanna blinked, "what?"

"He would be your father whether he was King or not Arleanna. He should let you be who you are, his daughter, not the younger princess."

Arleanna stared at her spirit, then smiled sadly and wiped her eyes. "That's true Shan." She shook her head, "But Papa has forgotten how to be a parent."

The spirit opened her silver wings slightly, annoyed. "You shouldn't speak about your father that way." Her eyes narrowed. "It may be true but he is your father."

Arleanna rolled her eyes. "You've said that already. I have he queen of repetition, Shanayru Hakyri, for my main spirit! What's the world coming to?"

Shanayru made to tackle Arleanna but the girl rolled off the bed and stuck her tongue out at her spirit. "Arleanna, get back here!" Shanayru gave chase, and the two ran around the room, Arleanna giggling. Finally Shanayru jumped over the others head then tackled her in triumph.

Arleanna and her spirit went down in a mass of flailing limbs, hitting the floor with a loud thunk. Arleanna emitted a squeal as they struck the ground. She shoved Shanayru off her gently saying "this means war!" the whole while a big smile was plastered on her face.

Shanayru faced her grinning. "Bring it on girl!" She raced for Arleanna's bed and in one motion grabbed a pillow and flung it into Arleanna's face. "Pillow fight!" The two girls commenced in an all-out pillow-war.

Someone came knocking at the young princess's door but they were too enthralled in their pillow fight to hear. The girl listened to the squeals and laughter coming from beyond the door and sighed. She continued knocking on the door even louder and began calling to her. "Princess? Princess, I know you're in there. I can hear you," she called. "If you're any louder everyone in the castle will hear you." As if on cue the giggling stopped and Arleanna opened the door.

"Mamaya," she greeted breathlessly. She stepped aside to let the servant girl in. When she was clear of the doorway, Arleanna quietly closed the door. "Sorry about that," Arleanna giggled. Mamaya looked around to see pillows and blankets strewn across the floor.

"Oh great," Mamaya sighed while pushing her brown bangs out of her face. "Now I have to clean all this up."

Arleanna looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry…"

Mamaya laughed at the princess. "Why are you sorry? You had a good time didn't you?"

Shanayru materialized behind Arleanna. "Greetings from the spirit world Mamaya Kortcha."

"Greetings from the servant world Shanayru Hakyri," she replied, finishing their little game. They both giggled at their own stupidity. Mamaya began to clean up after the pillow-war. "So," she addressed both combatants. "Who won?"

"You did," Shan and Arleanna replied together and began to giggle.

"How did I manage that?" she asked.

Shan grinned wolfishly. "You stole our ammo." The three girls laughed at the old spirits sense of humor. Shan and Arleanna began to help Mamaya clean up their mess.

"Stop that! Do you want me to lose my job?" Mamaya asked jokingly of Arleanna.

She smiled at her friend. "Of course not, I'm just helping." Mamaya giggled and tweaked the blankets back into place. Arleanna stopped and stood silently for a while with sad eyes. Mamaya turned to her with a questioning look. "I had another fight with my father…" Arleanna trailed off sadly.

Mamaya finished with the pillows then asked, "About the tournament?" Arleanna nodded sadly. Mamaya continued tidying up the room. After a moment of silence she spoke again. "Who cares what your father says. Well, he is king and all but you should be able to do what you want to do."

Shanayru nodded in agreement. "She's right you know."

"How in the world am I supposed to do that?" the princess asked.

The servant girl was silent for a moment. "I have an idea," she grinned. "But I will only tell you if you can beat me."

The girl and her spirit looked at each other, and then they both lunged for the pillows and threw them at their brunette friend, and thus commenced pillow-war II.

A/N: yeah, this chappie was sorta short, but its just the first chapter so. Well, please R&R! Tootles folks!