Yay, my first story. Honestly, I have NO idea how this will turn out. Yes, this will be an OC story. Yes, this will probably suck. Everyone is probably sick and tired of these. But please rewiev anyway. POV will be my characters, unless noted otherwise. Oh, and I'll be using japanese names. Please don't be very hard on me, okay?

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" my mom said as she shook me awake. "You don't want to be late for your first big tournament, do you?

"Five more minutes, please!" I mumbled in my pillow.

"Come on, Cat, it's the friggin' tournament of Eurasia! You're lucky that I'm too old for this one, or otherwise it'd be me going to Germany!" My brother told me loudly while pulling me out of bed. "You better win, or I'll make you duel me every day!" He tried to threaten me, but it didn't work, since I absolutely loved dueling him, even if I lost every time. Well, he was four years older, so I guess I had a legitimate excuse.

"Seriously though, get up. We have to get on the plane." my mom told me in an almost harsh voice. "Come. Dad is making us breakfast." she said while turning her back and going to the kitchen.

I have never been a morning person. I groaned as I sat up in my bed and looked around. It was still dark outside, about five am, and it was snowing heavily. My brother, Robert, was standing in the doorway and staring at me. The light behind him was almost blinding. Curse those powerful light bulbs. I looked at him for a bit, my mind slowly catching up with today.

Holy cow, today we were going to Germany, to the tournament! Wait, what if everyone there is better than me? What if...

"Umm, Rob?" I asked my brother. "You're experienced as a duelist. What if I... lose? And don't win a single duel?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure you won't. And even if you will, you're already the national champion in your age group! That's pretty neat for an eight-year-old brat like you." He said. "But if you really lack the confidence, let me give you something. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his deck, taking the first two cards from the top. I looked at them. The Black Luster Soldier and Black Luster Ritual. His favourite cards. "Here. I want you to put them in your deck. You do remember the strategies that I told you? About summoning it?" He asked me with the most serious tone I had ever heard him speak in.

I nodded and took the cards from him. After that I took my deck and put them in it. "Wait. Now I have forty-two cards. You told me that the less cards you have, the better. What should I take out?"

He took my deck from me and inspected the cards for a second. "Hmm. What about one of the Hyonzaryus and that weird equip spell card?"

"But Hyonzaryu's my favourite!"

"Liaaar. You told me yesterday your favourite card was the Blue Eyes White Dragon."

"Yes, but I don't have it! Or maybe you see some Blue Eyes casually scattered around?"

"Just take out the damn cards."

I pouted as I did what he asked. Hyonzaryus were my next favourite card. Sometimes it was as if I knew when I was going to draw one, which made planning my turns a lot easier. Still, I had another two in.

"What's taking you so long? The food's getting cold!" my mom yelled from the kitchen. Rob and I looked at each other, before rushing to where the voice came from.

My dad had made omelet and bacon. I walked in the kitchen, inhaling the delicious smell. He had made a lot, which was nice, but I wasn't very hungry. Usually whenever I didn't eat my food dad became sad and thought that it was because I don't like his cooked meals. That was totally untrue, I just don't like to eat a lot in the morning. I stared at my brother, who was glomping down his food as if it was his last meal. After he was finished, he looked at my plate with the expression of a hungry wolf. I nodded and he put all of my food in his plate.

Dad turned arouned and noticed my plate. "Oh, Cat, finished already? Well, you do have a long three days before you, I guess." He tried to sound objective, but his expression practically screamed "pleased". I smiled as I drunk my milk.

"Now, Catherine, don't drink too much milk. You know we won't have a chance to visit the restroom before the plane." mom said, already knowing that her words will reach deaf ears. No one can take my precious milk away from me!

...not even my grandmother, who could be scarier than Dark Necrofear.

After we finished our breakfast, mom started to do the dishes, dad double-checked the luggage, while Rob and I finally changed out of our pyjamas and into normal, civilised clothes. I looked into the mirror on the wall. Big, brown eyes stared back at my own. I averted my gaze and stared at the floor. Not like there was anything to see in the mirror anyway. Pale skin, straw-coloured hair, skinny frame. You couldn't tell I had been doing shotokan for almost a year and a half. My family and friends always told me I looked normal, but I knew I looked odd. I looked too... too weird. Some girls in my class called me Scarecrow. I suppose I did really look like one.

Suddenly something made me look back into the mirror. There, standing right beside me, was a dragon. Hyonzaryu. Sometimes I could feel him with me, and even see him. He made me feel safe. Once I told my parents about him. They started fussing about me feeling alone and making up imaginary friends. I knew my brother could see him as well. Sometimes he-

"CATHERINE ANN! If you don't get your dreaming ass here right now, we're gonna miss the plane!" Mom shouted from the corridor of our flat. I shook all my thoughts away and grinned to

myself as I ran to her.

We we're ready to go. I was ready to go. I was ready to win.

"Wait, I think you forgot something." Dad said with a smile. I stopped running with one of my legs still in the air and almost resulted in falling down.

"What is it that I forgot?" I asked him.

"Your enthusiasm!"

"Nope. I got it right here!" I said with a sincere smile.

Just like I said, I was ready to win.

And that ^ was my first chapter! What do you think? Was it very boring? I promise it will grow better. It's hard to write a character who has just woken up. Anyway, please R&R!