Hey I'm back! Now for chapter 8! Opps! (Untapped Zen and Zeero's mouths).

Zen- Were you trying to kill us!

Zeero- I need Air! I need Oxygen! I need SAKE (and some caffeine if it's possible)!

//…// = Yami talking to Yugi

/…/ = Yugi talking to Yami

===============================================================

Chapter 8: Summonings and Sacrifices

The portal opened above a forest and then the group noticed that they didn't have any ground below them.

"Yah!" they yelled as they plummeted down into the mass of trees below. Shiro and Katana managed to land on their feet, Zeero and Akio managed to get a hold on tree branches so they didn't fall down so hard, Yugi and the others landed with a huge thump.

"Ow! It think I broke something…" moaned Joey. They got up and the Sonraku group didn't even have a scratch on them, but Zeero did fall out of the tree. Then red eyes came from the shadows. The figures came out of the darkness, they were cat spirits.

"Spirits are suppose to be good right?" asked Mai.

"No, some spirits are evil as some demons are good. We demons just have a bad reputation. We like to keep things simple here." said Shiro.

"Shiro, Zeero, Katana, Akio! What are you all doing here?" asked a familiar voice. Then they saw Hoshi running up to them.

"Hoshi, long time no see!" said Katana as she picked up the ball-o-fluff in here arms.

"It's okay, they're my friends." said Hoshi to the other cats. The cats looked at each other and then their eyes lost their red and turned into whatever color they were.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"This is my hometown, I hope you like it!" said Hoshi.

"It's beautiful!" said Tea. The surrounding area was like a meadow with several willow trees in the center. The cats had little huts in which they lived in. A lot of kittens ran up to them and purred since they were not able to talk yet.

They entered the large tent where Hoshi's father, the Koneko Tribe's leader, Kureta, was studying some special summonings.

"Dad, here are my friends I told you about!"

"Ah yes," said the cat surveying the group. "Didn't you say four humans from another world came to this planet? I see six of them." Hoshi just then noticed Kaiba and Mai. "Uh… You've brought more friends here?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Let me get this straight, you're saying our worlds use to be connected?"

"Yes Yami, the planet Earth and Sonraku were once connected. But with evil demons being resurrected by human souls the Forbidden Trinity Dragons, Chaos, Fury, and Eternity sealed away the portal to Earth. As soon as the world was sealed away demons virtually forgot that that planet ever existed. I was one of the spirits who've helped the Egyptians learn how to summon Duel Monsters." said Kureta.

"You what?" exclaimed Joey.

"If you want I can teach you, after all it's been… I don't know… a millennia since I've last taught summonings." Everyone does an anime-style faint.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I'm tired!" complained Tristan. It took them seven hours just to learn how to summon monsters. Then it took four more hours to learn the usage of traps and magic cards in Sonraku. Everyone was either sitting or leaning against something. Summonings is a test of strength and will for the mind, soul, and body. Shiro and the rest of the gang didn't have to learn summonings, one they chose not to and second, Akio dragged Zeero and Shiro off into the woods to practice their fighting techniques.

"If you think you're tired you haven't seen the real spiritual summonings. Those can kill a person whose mind or soul is not strong enough." commented Kureta. Shiro was leaning against the doorframe as Akio was yelling in pain as Hoshi was healing his wounds. When Akio was facing Shiro he got careless and ran into a tree and fell into the river. Shiro and to fish out a wet, angry elf from the water. Then his ear twitched and his eyes narrowed, he looked at the sky and dark clouds were approaching. Something's coming…he thought. He was right, a chariot made out of bones came. It was followed by a whole army of demons! And on the chariot drawn with three-eyed horses was…

"It's Kariudo!" yelled Shiro. Sure enough the Skeleton Demon was coming towards the Koneko Tribe's village! Everyone rushed out of the tent to face the demons.

"What are you doing here, Kariudo!?" demanded Kureta.

"Nothing really Kureta. But my demons here are short in their food supply of blood, so I hope you wouldn't mind if they…" before the demon finished the army began their assault on the village.

"I activate the Dark Hole Magic Card!" summoned Yugi. The demons were sucked into the hole.

"Very impressive, but you've missed several." smirked Kariudo. Shadow demons became to sprout out of the ground like daisies. Shiro, Akio, and Zeero's weapons did no damage to them.

"What the…" stammered Shiro and the shadows surrounded him and devoured him.

"Shiro!" yelled Zeero as he tried to pull his friend from the shadows. He was too late.

"We've got what we've came for! Let's go!" yelled Kariudo as the shadows covered him making them disappear.

"Why'd they take Shiro!?" asked Hoshi. Her father looked worried.

"I hope they're not going to perform the Soul Ritual and revive…" he started to say.

"You don't mean!" shivered Hoshi her eyes growing wide.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Shiro groaned and opened his eyes. He was chained to a wall and in front of him was a coffin.

"Well, you're awake." said Kariudo as he and the Shadow Demons emerged from the shadows.

"So what's with the coffin?" asked Shiro. Kariudo smirked. "Oh, I get it. This is suppose to be one of those soul rituals isn't it? Well you're not getting my soul!"

"But you should be honored to revive one of your ancestors, the feared Saber-Tora!" With that the ghost of the cat-demon leaped out of the coffin and bite Shiro on his right shoulder, he cried out in pain and tried to fight it off. "It's no use, he'll drain your soul until you're just an empty case!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"There it is!" cried Hoshi. They finally got to the entrance to the temple of skulls. They rode on the dragon to get up to the floating temple. They rushed into the temple, strangle no demons were attacking them. They reached a door and Zeero and Akio slammed into it and saw…

"Shiro!" called out Zeero. Shiro's eyes opened in surprise for a moment hearing his name called out, then his amber eyes darkened and his head slumped down.

"(evil laughter) I should thank you for calling out his name! For that second he was distracted from fighting for his soul Saber-Tora has won!" cackled Kariudo.

Then the saber-tiger demon released it's grip on Shiro and gave a roar of victory. Shiro was now a soulless puppet and Saber-Tora was free to unleash his destructive power!

===============================================================

Next time on Heart of a Demon: Shiro here! Yes I know, I've lost my soul and the gang only has five minutes to get it back before I'm permanently stuck like this! Not a very good ending. Look like I'll have to figure out some way to help because Saber-Tora is no push-over when it come to battle! Next time- Five Minutes Till Death! See ya around!

===============================================================

A.S- Sorry I didn't explain much! But I'm tire from typing and I've just come back from California!

Shiro- Please R&R!