Yay! I'm glad you guys liked last chapter!

I got the idea of a band from me and my friends, since we've got one too! I, like Kigali, play the guitar.

So, I hope you like this chappie! Review if you have time, k?

Disclaimer- Me no ownee Shaman King

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 The Hijacked Balloon 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Lanai gave us our falconer licenses and instructions of our trip. We had to cross the Sahara and once on the coast, use Oversoul to get to Japan. "The fastest way" she said. We were going to cross the Sahara in a hot-air balloon, which was the safest way to go, but we all chose backup methods of transportation to go in. I took my hoverboard, Asali took a small foldable hang glider (She controls wind) and Ramissa, after much indecision, took a hang glider like Asali's (Asali would control her wind too). We packed everything and loaded the balloon with water (Ramissa's idea of course).

I said goodbye to Tabitha with a smile. I promised her I would make our Tribe proud, and that I'd come back when I became the Shaman Queen, if not sooner. She laughed and said, "We'll see. We'll see." I hugged her and each of her spirits, especially Tundra, the wolf, who had become a good friend of mine during Tabitha's extreme trainings.

Even Blizzard, to Asali and Ramissa's dismay, came to say goodbye. They had never seen her before, but they got along just fine. We climbed on the balloon and let the sandbags go. We waved as we rose into the cloudless day, then Asali called forth a breeze and we were off. It was a very comfortable balloon. It was pink and violet in color and the basket was big enough for all three of us to lay down side-by-side comfortably plus our backpacks. And Ramissa's water.

"Hey, umm... Ramissa? Why all the water?" I asked, lifting out of the way the twentieth gallon of water. It was our third day in the air, and I must admit, either the loss of personal space or the heat was getting to me.

"Aren't you scared to die of thirst? Here? In the vast Sahara?" She said dramatically.

"Not really, I tend not to get short on water, if you know what I mean." I called back, cupping my hands and letting water fill them magically. I let Liberty drink out of them. She was perched in one of the sides of the balloon and looked very thirsty. I moved on to hydrate the other birds. Asali dug through her backpack.

"Whatcha looking for?" I asked her. She took out a CD player.

"This." She held it up for us to see.

"No way! You get a CD player! I always wanted one of those!" Complained Ramissa.

"Ok...wanna listen...?" they manage to fit both their heads into the headphones. I shook my head and turned to Zoe, who slept calmly in my arms as a sweet leopard kitten. I sighed and climbed on top of a wooden box of water bottles to see over the high walls of the basket. I have to confess that I had gotten used to the desert. It wasn't as dead as it first appeared. I watched the sun set over the sand dunes, creating a mystical pink in the sky. I sighed again. It was very beautiful. It sort of looked like the northern lights... if you narrowed your eyes and tilted your head to the left a bit.

"I think Tabitha's right." I told a snoozing Liberty. "I'm too stubborn. I should just get over it and accept the desert as my new temporary home." She chirped sleepily in response. She was like a mini-Blizzard. I laughed at the thought and started to climb down the box when something caught my eye. It was a tiny, twinkling light. I snatched the binoculars out of my bag.

"What is it?" asked Asali.

"I see something." I put the binoculars to my eyes and aimed them towards the lights. There were now two... three... ten... twenty... forty... eighty...

"What do you see?" Ramissa asked me. I put down the binoculars and rubbed my eyes.

"I don't know..."

"It might be a mirage, you know." Offered Asali. At this point, Zoe had woken up.

"It looks like a castle. The lights are the windows." She concluded. Everyone leaned over the edge of the basket for a look. The sun was now setting right behind it, giving its profile away.

"It's a palace!" Exclaimed Asali.

"But I thought Lanai said there were no other palaces around."

"There aren't. This one must have been hidden in some way..." Asali bit her lip.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, concerned. When Asali bites her lip, it's a bad sign. A very bad sign usually followed by some kind of scream-and-run-for-it kind of risk.

"Let's just say that most tribes that habituate the Sahara aren't as friendly as ours and—"

"Let's just say you're right! LOOK!" Ramissa pointed downwards. We leaned over the basket again. I gasped. There was a cloud of sand following us.

"It's a caravan! Those things specialize in bringing down balloons like this one. Hurry up! Get in the center of the balloon. Kigali, tell Zoe to take the hawks to a safe spot until you call for her! Ramissa let the sandbags go! I'll try to get us out of here as fast as possible." Asali gave the orders fast and smoothly.

"Well, at least someone knows what she's doing." Said Ramissa. We did our tasks as fast as possible. The balloon rose as we dropped the weighs and Zoe took off as an eagle, followed by three other birds of prey. But there was a slight detail we didn't count on. BAM! What the? BAM!

"Asali! They're shooting at us!!!" I yelled at her.

"Don't worry, I'll take us up in no time at all." She said positively, while waving her hands. The wind picked up. "We'll be up in a second." POP!

"Um... Asali? There's a hole in the balloon." Informed Ramissa.

"Ok, don't worry, we can still make it out! Just throw the water! It's weighing us down." We did as we were told, hurling the gallon-bottles of water at the caravan. Several of the freaky-looking men were struck and fell off their horses with a loud yell.

"HA! TAKE THAT!" I yelled. POP! Another hit! The balloon hissed as the air flowed out of the gaping bullet holes. The basket tipped over suddenly and Ramissa was thrown out of the basket.

"MISSY!" I grabbed her hand just in time. She was hanging from my hand, dangling right over the caravan.

"DON'T LOOK DOWN!!!" I yelled at her over Asali's howling wind. She looked down.

"AAAAHHHH! KEY!!! HE'S AIMING AT ME!!!!!!" He was. I tried to heave her into the basket, but I was halfway out myself, and gradually slipping as the basket became more lopsided.

"ASALI! HELP!" She grabbed my legs and heaved me in, but just as I was pulling Ramissa in, another pop was heard. Then another. The deflated balloon went down fast. With most of the air resistance gone, Asali's wind was pretty much useless. In fact, it had turned into a nasty sandstorm. The balloon collided to the ground with a huge crash. We poured out of it and into the sandstorm. I couldn't breathe! Sand everywhere!!! Sand in my mouth... in my ears... in my eyes... I couldn't see! I felt around for something and found my backpack and my hoverboard, but there was no sign of Asali or Ramissa.

"Hey! ASALI! RAMISSA!!! WHERE ARE Y—" Someone grabbed me from behind. Not them. I turned my hand to find a toothless, black-bearded man frowning at me. He covered my mouth with a piece of cloth and threw me on his horse. I lay there stunned for a second. And then I noticed we were galloping at full speed towards the palace. I saw several other horses by me, two of which had Ramissa and Asali thrown over their bare backs very much as I was right now. Some others had our few belongings. I groaned. There went the neighborhood.

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So? How was that? Lol, I think Ramissa's obsession to water's pretty funny. So yay! They're off to the Tournament... if they ever get there, lol. As you'll see in the next chapters, our girls can get into a lot of trouble.

Next Chapter- Of Crazy Sultans and Slutty Outfits