Disclaimer: I don't own shaman king, just my oc.

Warning: swearing, nudity, violence and funny bits =]

Note: yay thank you awesome people who reviewed! I love you guys =] btw if u have any questions about anything feel free to ask, I'll be happy to answer as long as it don't give away too much of the story =] luckily this is one of the few stories that I've written where I actually know how it's going to end, it's just a matter of getting to that ending lol.

Chapter five – Desert

Kaiyou awoke the next morning on the hard ground outside Hao's tent. The sun glared in her sensitive wolf eyes and she growled irritably. She stood up and stretched, digging her claws into the hard earth. The camp was silent. No one was awake other than her, and she took that as a chance to go out and get some breakfast. Without a sound she padded into the surrounding forest, and greeted the darkness with open arms.

By the time Hao awoke it was about nine in the morning, three hours later than he was used to waking up. He breathed in deeply, catching the fresh sent of moss and trees. For some reason he felt happy and relaxed, something he was defiantly not familiar with. He got dressed and stepped out of his tent, feeling the welcoming sun lighting his face. Most of his followers were already awake; yet another thing that was different to him, he had always been the first one up every morning. Opacho came running up to him, a beaming smile spread across her face.

"Hao-sama!" she called, "did Hao-sama sleep well?"

He smiled at her lightly.

"Yes thank you Opacho." He answered. He looked around for Kaiyou, and frowned when he didn't see her.

'She didn't run off while I was asleep did she? Damn that girl, if she has she will pay for it.'

He tried to keep his voice even when he turned back to Opacho; he didn't want her to know that he was mad.

"Opacho, where is Kaiyou?"

"Kaiyou?"

"The wolf."

"Opacho has not seen her, Hao sama." The little girl answered, sensing the uprising tension in the air. Hao's frown deepened for a moment, but he visibly relaxed when he saw a dark shape moving through the trees towards the camp.

Kaiyou padded into the clearing, a dead rabbit clamped in her jaw. Usually she would have eaten where she caught it, but she thought it would be funny to see the camps expression as she ate. She slumped down in the dirt, in clear view of everyone, and tore at the rabbits flesh. The three girls in the group went pale, and Billy looked like he was going to be sick he was turning that green. Hao was smirking, though she had expected that reaction, but the little girl Opacho was the one who shocked her the most. She was watching curiously, her large button eyes fixed on the wolf and it's meal.

When kaiyou had finished with the meat, she began chewing on the bones. It was a good way to keep her teeth sharp, and the crunching could be heard all across camp.

Hao felt like laughing. She hadn't run away at all. In fact she had wanted to stay, just to gross out the camp. He walked towards her, all eyes in the camp on him, except for the wolf who was still chewing on bones. She ignored him, not bothering to look up or even acknowledge he was there at all.

'Maybe if I ignore him, he'll just go away.' She thought.

"Don't count on it." He said.

She looked up at him, blood stained her mouth and she shot him a predator's smile.

'I was hoping you'd take the hint.'

"We're heading towards the western desert today, are you ready to leave?"

'I can't go to the desert, I'd fry!'

'Then change into something more comfortable, like a camel." He smirked.

'Great, then I can spit on you.'

"Or we could make you carry the luggage."

'I am NOT being a camel.'

"Well your coming with us no matter what form you take. I suggest you change soon though, were leaving in an hour."

'Yeah yeah, whatever. But if I die it's on your head.'

"Well don't die then." He said, walking away and back over to Opacho.

Kaiyou had decided to change into a fennec fox as they travelled across the desert, because their abnormally large ears were perfect at keeping the little creatures cool. Unfortunately there were still a few drawbacks. She defiantly wasn't happy with the size of them, and how useless she would be if she were attacked. Hao reassured her that she was perfectly safe, but his word didn't exactly convince her of anything. Another thing was that her fur was still black, and black attracts heat, so she still got pretty hot. That, plus her short stubbly legs, made her tired a whole lot quicker. But being the stubborn creature she was, she refused to give in and admit she was worn out.

Opacho watched her curiously. Kaiyou remembered the little girl's reaction to her when she first saw the new creature following the group, and instantly she knew that the child was at least a little suspicious of her, as was the rest of the group. Opacho turned away from her when she realized that she was beginning to fall from Hao's side and scurried back over to him.

"Hao-sama?" she asked, waiting patiently until he looked down at her before continuing, "What happened to the wolfie?"

He smiled at her before glancing over at the tiny Kaiyou who was glaring at him with the same ice blue eyes that should have chilled his skin.

"Wolfie is now a little fox" he answered, putting emphasis on the 'little' part. Opacho spun around to look at her, watching the black fox pad silently across the sand, and smiled.

"Can wolfie change shape?" the little girl asked, pulling her attention back to Hao, who was still smiling mischievously to himself.

"Yes, she can." He answered.

'Thanks for saying it out loud, now the whole frigging camp knows about it.' Kaiyou thought.

"Well now that they know you may as well take your true form." he continued walking as he spoke, thinking that it wouldn't be the best idea for her to see his grin.

'You bastard, you planned this didn't you?'

"And why would I do that?"

'How should I know? I can't read minds unlike some egotistic maniacs around here. Well you can forget it anyway; I'm not showing your little pawns my human form.'

"Fine, but you must be pretty hot like that right? With all that fur after all. And aren't you're stubby little legs getting tired?"

The camp were listening intently to the one side argument of the argument that they could hear, wondering what on earth the small fox was if it could change its form and what Hao wanted it for. Everyone was curious about the creature's 'true form', at least everyone but Hao, who had seen it before.

'Well the more tired I get the slower you all have to go. Unless of course you want to leave me behind?'

"Or I could just get Billy to carry you." Hao smirked evilly.

'There is no way I'm going to let that fat bastard carry me, I don't wanna be his lunch!'

He laughed aloud, and Billy looked at him suspiciously till Hao glanced over at him and the man quickly shifted his gaze.

'Besides I don't want to be seen naked by a group of complete strangers.' Continued Kaiyou stubbornly.

"I'm not a stranger." Smirked Hao.

'No you're just the freaky pyromaniac who kidnapped me and is making me follow your brain dead groupies, all of which happen to hate humans, something that I AM!'

"No need to yell, I'm getting a head ache."

'If you don't like it then don't read my thoughts you weirdo!'

"Okay that's it." He said, stopping suddenly and turning on her, flames dancing in his eyes and his face hard like stone. He lunged forwards and she dodged him, dashing to her left before turning back to face him as he dived for her again. He was slower than usual, and she knew he was just toying with her. She changed into a desert mouse and burying under the sand. But at the last possible second Hao grabbed at her tail and lifted her up in the air. She struggled, squeaking in protest. The camp watched them with wide eyes, mostly from shock, but then there were the ever curious eyes of Opacho, a bright smile lighting up her face.

'You bastard Hao! Put me down right now! I mean it! Seriously I will kick your ass if you don't let go.' Kaiyou cried.

"Are you done?" he mocked, smirking at her devilishly.

'No damn it I am not done!"

"Too bad, now quit squirming"

'You may not know this but being hung upside down by your tail hurts!'

He dropped her onto his hand, and she shook the dizziness from her head, before glaring back up at him.

"Better?"

'No, put me down.'

"You're walking too slowly and I want to make it to our destination by sun down, so I'm going to carry you."

'No way, how do I know you won't do anything to me?'

"You're in the middle of the desert, surrounded by people that follow me, and in mouse form. Don't you think that I was going to hurt you I would have done it by now?"

'That still doesn't make me trust you.'

Hao sighed, and gently lifted her up onto his shoulder as he carried on walking.

"I promise I won't hurt you. For starters I'm letting you close to me, if you wanted to hurt me you'd be in the best position to do so." He explained. He hated having to explain every little thing he did, usually he just did things and no one questioned him. But now he had a strange little human in his group. Someone who didn't trust him in the least, called him names, and certainly wouldn't be willing to lay down her life for him. She was the only person who told it how she saw it, and she was the weakest among them when it came to anything shaman related. But what she lacked in spiritual power she defiantly made up with in wit and cunning; and the mouth to top it off. Hao couldn't understand that although she was everything that should have driven him ballistic; she was also the only one who was safe from his fiery fury. He realized that it wasn't that he couldn't hurt her; it was that he didn't want to. That was defiantly something new to him.

'Fine, but try anything weird and I'm biting your ear.' She said finally, a small frown on her mousy face.

He laughed "I wouldn't expect anything less. Now get some sleep, I know you're tired."

'What are you my mother?' kaiyou thought, but she yawned anyway, a small noise close to Hao's ear. He felt himself smile as she curled up by his neck and using his hair to block out the rays of the sun.

'I'll sleep, but whatever you do don't drop me.'

He laughed again. "I won't."

So there you have it people! Chapter 4! Hope you liked it. If you do then please review! Haha that rhymed . anywayz, again, if u have any questions go ahead and ask away! Your questions will really make my day! Haha another rhyme! Wow I'm such a nerd lol.