A/N: This is my first posted Shaman King fic so please be patient with me and please no flames…though I'm not sure what they are…

Summary: This story begins a few days after the anime ended. Instead of the Shaman Tournament happening all over again after a year, Yoh, Ryu, Trey (Horohoro), Lyserg, Ren, Jocko, Manta, and Faust are all co rulers under the title Shaman King. A lot of this story is based on the manga.

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Shaman King, it belongs to Hiroyuki Takei. I do, however, own the original character in this story and she's great. Just kidding. I don't know.

Clashing Blades

Reincarnation I

Stars and Scars

Tokyo, Japan

"Hurry up or we'll leave without you, you imbecile!" Ren snapped impatiently.

"Hey, I'd like to see you carry at least one suitcase packed with Pirika's clothes!" Trey yelled back. He panted in exhaustion as he dragged five large suitcases. "In fact, why don't you carry all five for me!"

"A noble like me doesn't need to be subjected to such manual labor." Ren said smugly. "That's for servants."

"Bailong, are my things too heavy for you?" Jun asked worriedly.

"Nothing is too heavy if I carry it for you." Bailong replied slightly grunting. He had to be carrying at least ten different types of luggage.

"That's so sweet." Pirika cooed. "Why aren't you that nice to me Trey?"

"Are you kidding! He's in love with her! If I was like that it'd be incest!" Trey said incredulously.

Ryu snatched up the five suitcases Trey had been carrying. "I could carry anything for Pirika!" he announced, hearts blooming in his eyes.

"It's not so bad." Yoh said laughing slightly. He was staggering under the weight of eight suitcases.

"You're just saying that so Anna won't kill you." Manta pointed out.

"What's that shorty?" Anna said from behind Manta. He gulped as she snapped her beads like a whip. "I thought so. Now go carry one of those suitcases."

"Hey Ren, have you made sure this jet hasn't been messed with?" Jocko asked.

"Of course it hasn't been messed with!" Ren said angrily. "No one messes with the Taos or anything that belongs to them!"

"Tell that to Hao, the Hanagumi, and everyone else who's beaten you up." Tokagero retorted with a snicker.

"We won't get to Mt. Jiao Shan by tomorrow at this rate." Lyserg said worriedly.

"So hurry up and get your leaden posteriors on the jet!" Ren said. Everyone boarded the jet and the luggage was finally deposited in the luggage compartments. The jet took off and after a while the peace was broken by a single question.

"Dude, who says 'posterior' anymore?"

Beijing, China

Crash!

"Rrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnn!" a little boy wailed as he ran into the kitchen. A girl looked up from chopping vegetables.

"What is it now Keiji?" she asked in exasperation.

"Look Ruan, I cut myself on one of the throwing daggers." the little boy said tearfully. Ruan wiped her hands on a cloth and knelt by him.

"Let me see." she said examining the injury. "Well, it's not deep; all you need is some ointment and bandage." She walked over to a shelf and took a small jar of ointment and a roll of cloth bandage. "There, all better see? Just be careful with the blades."

"Thanks Ruan." said Keiji. He hugged Ruan. "I love you. Just don't tell anyone."

"Love you too, kiddo." Ruan said ruffling Keiji's hair. "Hey Reiji, I thought I told you to look after him!"

A ghost appeared next to Ruan. He had the same blue-black hair as Ruan and Keiji and looked about eighteen. His clothing was black as well. "You did, and I did, but there's not much a ghost can do when a kid refuses to let go of the dagger."

"Keiji, you'd better listen to Reiji okay? Even if he knows nothing about raising his younger brother." Ruan said.

"Ruan, the fish is burning." Keiji said pointing.

"Oh, shit!" Ruan exclaimed rushing to turn the stove off. Reiji shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Burning the food and cursing? Now who knows nothing about raising her younger brother?" he said in amusement.

"Still you." said Ruan unperturbed. "It's not too badly burned. Now shoo, both of you, I have to finish lunch."

After the boy and ghost left Ruan turned back to chopping vegetables. Then suddenly there was a flash of light from behind Ruan and she turned. There was a flame and when it disappeared an earring clattered to the floor. Ruan stepped toward it cautiously and picked it up. It was a large oval shape that was rimmed red with a silver star.

Ruan's eyes widened and she quickly pocketed the earring. "Reiji! Watch Keiji, order out tonight there's money in the safe, you know the combination."

Reiji appeared as Ruan ran into her bedroom. She began to change her clothing. "Ruan, what is it?"

"It's the call. It's come." Ruan said. She finished and dashed out the door. "Ouroboros!"

Castle Tao, China

After the plane had landed Jiang Si carried their luggage up to the Castle Tao. Yuan, his wife, and Zhen were standing out at the gates to greet them. "Welcome!" Yuan boomed grinning like a big Chinese Santa Claus. He seemed more cheerful than the last time they'd met. "It's so good of you to decide to stay a whole year. We could use some more liveliness than the corpses around here."

"Great to see you too." Yoh said waving with a big grin on his face. "Thanks for having us."

"You must all be hungry. Please come in. The meat is freshly cooked." Ren's mother said ushering everyone in with her fan.

"She's a woman after my own heart." Jocko said laughing. "Get it? Heart? It's meat!" Everyone just stared.

"Uh…let's just eat, shall we?" Zhen said after a while. "You can unpack later."

A Few Hours Later

"I'm stuffed. This walk was a good idea." Yoh said.

"Pirika better not be rearranging my underwear." Trey said turning back to stare at the castle every once in a while.

"How pitiful. You have your sister doing everything for you." Ren sniffed.

"Ren! I just got your scarf out of the wash; put it on, you'll catch your death out here!" Jun called. She came running from the Castle Tao with a yellow scarf in hand.

Everyone laughed and even Faust and Lyserg snorted. "What a caring sister! She would probably be a wonderful wife." Ryu said the hearts blooming in his eyes again. Ren brandished his Kwan Dao and Bailong cracked his knuckles loudly.

"That's my sister you're talking about, you greasy haired buffoon!" Ren snapped furiously. Then Faust put a hand on Ren's shoulder and Amidamaru and Bason tensed.

"We're not alone." Faust said in a low voice. Everyone slowly pulled their weapons out. Just then a glowing dagger flew out of the thick undergrowth and embedded itself in the tree directly behind Trey's head. Trey turned slowly and touched the dagger; then yelped as it shocked him.

"Come out and fight you coward!" Ren shouted at the trees. Moments later a slim figure stepped out of the forest.

The figure was clad in black fighting robes that had been altered to fit closely to his form. He had a white and red mask covering his face and pale blue eyes peered out. His hair was black and tied back in a long ponytail. The bangs were swept to the sides of the face/mask, the left being longer than the right, and hanging from the right ear was an earring with a star on it.

Lyserg pointed at the figure. "That's Hao's earring!"

"It's impossible!" Amidamaru exclaimed. "Master Yoh defeated him!"

"That guy's hair's black and his eyes are blue." Manta said. "It's not him. This guy's too weird."

"Yeah, Hao was kind of a show off." Trey said yawning. "This guy's probably a pushover."

"Is he a kabuki actor?" Yoh asked curiously. The figure in question did a pratfall as their words crashed down on his head. WEIRDO! PUSHOVER! KABUKI ACTOR!

Finally he straightened up and whipped out a weapon that looked really, really familiar. It was a long staff with a wide curved blade on one end and a sharp spearhead at the other. "Hey that's a Kwan Dao, isn't it?" Yoh said pointing.

Manta shook his head. "No, that's a Japanese naginata. It's one full blade instead of being split." He corrected.

"So what are you, Japanese?" Lyserg asked pointing his dowsing pendulum at the strange figure. The figure said nothing, merely leaped into the air and pulled five daggers out of his belt and threw it down at them. They glowed green like the first dagger and came down on the group rapidly.

Yoh and Ren deflected two with their blades and Trey put up an ice shield. In that instant the masked figure knocked Yoh off his feet with a sweep of his naginata. He slashed downwards to deliver the killing blow. As the blade came down on Yoh's head another blade blocked it and pushed the masked figure away.

"If you want him you'll have to get through me first." Ren said lunging at the masked figure. He swung his Bason integrated Kwan Dao at the other and they launched into a rapid block-thrust-parry battle. Eventually the masked fighter got the better of Ren knocking him to the floor. He brought his blade down just as Bailong grabbed one end of the naginata.

"I'm afraid I can't have you hurting my little brother." Jun said from behind them. "Bailong knock him out."

The masked figure ducked under Bailong's arm and was almost instantly jabbed at by Ren's Kwan Dao blade. It missed flesh and snagged the black cloth tearing it at the left shoulder. The cloth tore away from the left arm revealing a pale arm. There was a black dragon tattooed around the upper arm and a white scar ran through it. The masked figure leapt away swearing. A large creature shimmered into view. It resembled a dragon and was an onyx black. Its eyes were an emerald green and its wing were huge spreading over them. It wrapped itself around the masked figure and they both disappeared.

"Who was that guy?" Trey said.

"That was no guy." Ren said getting up. "That was a girl. And I know exactly who she is."

Trey stared from Ren to where the masked figure had disappeared and back at Ren. "You just got your ass handed to you by a girl?"

Beijing, China

Ruan muttered curses under her breath as she was released by Ouroboros. There was no way the Tao siblings could have not seen the tattoo or the scar. How could she be so clumsy? She took off the top of the fighting robes; there was a black tank top underneath it. She changed into jeans not bothering to remove the black boots she wore on her feet. Ruan shoved her naginata into a closet full of weaponry and took off the earring. There wasn't much time left.

Castle Tao, China

"Our Ren and Jun were attacked! This is unacceptable! Who was it!" Yuan bellowed.

"Calm yourself Yuan. Let the children handle this." Zhen ordered.

Upstairs in Ren's chambers everyone else was gathered around the computer Manta was hacking away at. "So this dragon tattoo is only done on the successors of the Qing family. They ruled China alongside the Taos but were rivals to them. After a while the Qings were nearly wiped out and they became allies to the Taos but there was still a great deal of rivalry with many members on each side. The last remaining main Qings are Qing Ruan and Qing Keiji. They're mother was Satsuki Asakura, third cousin to Mikihisa and Keiko, Yoh's parents. She died soon after Keiji the youngest was born. Ruan and Keiji's oldest brother Reiji died in a fire at the age of eighteen. Ruan was the only one with a Chinese name because she's the successor. The spirit Ouroboros has been passed to her though she doesn't use it much; it's one of the most powerful and rivals the Spirit of Fire which she has now gained possession of. She works as an assassin now at age fifteen after she severed ties with all Qings and takes care of her little brother Keiji at eight. She's supposed to have roots in every shamanic art and once worked for Hao Asakura. They were once…urk!" Manta choked at what he saw next. Yoh peered at the screen and his eyes widened.

"Whoa, it says they dated each other." he said in shock.

"That's disgusting, that monster didn't have a feeling in his heart." Lyserg spat.

"Where are you getting all this information Manta?" Faust asked gazing intently at the screen.

"I hacked into the Patch's files. They keep up to date records on every shaman in the world." Manta explained.

"Never mind that, where is the bitch right now?" Ren asked glaring at Ruan's photo.

"Um…she lives in Beijing. I'll print out the map." A sheet of paper came out of the printer and Ren snatched it up.

"You can all come with me or not." Ren said grabbing his Kwan Dao from the wall.

"I'm coming Lord Ren!" Bason said floating after him.

"Why're you so obsessed with this anyway, Ren?" Trey asked.

"I have a personal score to settle." was all Ren said as he left. The others quickly followed.

Beijing, China

"I can't believe she's related to you Yoh." Trey said. "You think she knows?"

"I don't know." Yoh said shrugging. "But it's pretty interesting don't you think?"

"Dude, she's like your cousin and she just tried to kill you. She tried to kill all of us! That's not interesting, that's sick. She's probably avenging Hao her boyfriend." Jocko remarked.

"She probably just had it tough. She can't be all that bad. If we talk it out she might stop trying to kill us." Yoh said hopefully.

"The way Ren's going on I highly doubt that." Manta said.

"Yes, he's a hotheaded little boy." Amidamaru said nodding in agreement.

"I've never heard him call a girl a bitch before." Ryu said. "It's certainly rude to the young lady."

"Ren's just still holding a grudge from when he was young." Jun said quickly interjecting.

"What grudge?" Faust asked curiously.

"Don't you dare tell them!" Ren yelled from ahead of them.

"Well you see, Ruan was Ren's rival and once she beat him badly." Jun explained.

"Jun!" Ren yelled. "Hmph, the little bitch just got lucky. I managed to get in a slice."

"That scar through her tattoo was from Ren." Jun elaborated. "Her scar to him, however, was on his calf painfully near an area we do not speak of."

"She almost sliced off his dick?" Trey asked laughing.

"…Yes." Jun said wincing at the word.

"She probably couldn't find it because it was so small." Jocko said cracking up.

"Shut up! I'm man enough in that area." Ren snapped. That just made them laugh harder.

"Oh look, is that it?" Lyserg asked pointing. Up ahead was a blue house with Japanese maple and plum trees and bamboo plants decorating the lawn. Cats were prowling around the plants and on the roof.

"She couldn't be bad if she likes nature." Yoh said as if that proved his point. "She likes cats like you Ren."

"I do not like cats!" Ren snapped.

"Then how do you explain that tiger plushie on your bed?" Trey jeered.

"Shut up!" He pounded his fist against the door. Everyone waited on baited breath.

Inside

Ruan heard a pounding on the door. "That should be the pizza man." Ruan said walking for the door. "Coming!"

Outside

"Coming!" came a feminine voice from inside.

The voice came closer as the person inside neared the door. "Ni zenme cai lai! (Why're you so late!) The pizza was supposed to be here an hour ago! This better be free, I have a brother to feed!" someone complained as they opened the door.

Standing there was a girl of about fifteen. She had pale blue eyes that were wide with shock and black hair tied back in a ponytail. The left bang was longer than the right and there was no earring but the tattoo with the scar was unmistakable. "Shit!" she yelled. "Reiji, get Keiji out of here! Now! Ouroboros, Spirit of Fire, go with them!"

"I thought Reiji was dead." Manta said confusedly.

By then the girl had already dashed inside with Ren on her tail. She ran into a room, pulled out a naginata and raised it just in time to block Ren's attack.

Inside

Ruan struggled to keep Ren off of her. The naginata had splintered under the force of Bason and the Kwan Dao. She punched him in the face and ran past him into the weapons room.

Racks of weaponry lined the walls and Ruan grabbed a sword and two daggers. The daggers she hurled at Ren who had come into the room after her. The others were now crowding in as well pausing just a moment to gawk at the array of weapons. Ren charged at Ruan once again and she kicked him away dropping the sword for another naginata. Ren sailed straight into a closet full of training robes and the wood was smashed to pieces.

"You're destroying my house you clumsy idiot!" Ruan yelled. "I just cleaned the damn place!"

"Shut up! You tried to kill me!" Ren yelled back.

"You were in the way! Besides it's not like the world would miss your sorry ass!" Ruan retorted.

"At least I have a family to mourn for me!"

"What do you know! I still have a brother to take care of!"

"And how's that going?"

"Just fine thank you very much! So if you don't mind why don't you just leave so I can kill the one I was supposed to!"

"Over my dead body!"

"Fine then!" Ruan dropped the naginata and leapt at Ren catching him off guard. She was too close for him to reach with his Kwan Dao and she wrapped her hands around his throat and they both tumbled to the ground with Ruan on top.

During all this the others watched with a sort of horrified fascination. They were much too alike. Much, much too alike.

Ren managed to get his hands around Ruan's throat as well and they rolled around trying to get the better of the other. Ruan kneed Ren in the groin and he gasped in pain. He reached up and grabbed her hair yanking hard. Ruan screamed in rage and slapped Ren across the face. During all this Bailong had gone up to them and he pulled them apart. Ren was placed gently to the side and Ruan… Well, Ruan was thrown into a wall.

Ruan winced as she felt a couple of her ribs crack. The back of her head felt horrible and when she touched it with her hand and drew it away it was sticky with blood. Blood was dripping from her mouth and her right ankle was twisted. She saw Bailong drawing near her and she flashed a wry smile at him. "Why is it, the boy always wins?" she said before passing out.

"I think I wet myself." said Jocko as they stared down at Ruan.

"She'd to kill you for that." Faust commented lightly. "But don't worry; I'll put you back together."

"Dude, that's just creepy."