o.o Wow, I haven't written anything in forever. Ah hem, hell all! I am Sweet Fur Inu, or just Inu, or just Sweet Fur, I don't care. This beith
my first mankin fic. So...be nice 3 I am not new to writing, but I will warn you all, most of the fics in my profile are from quite a while back
and mostly suck probably, because i was a sucky writer then. So..yeah. ; I hope you all enjoy this though! Rawr, and it shall(or at least i'll
try o.O;) be mary-sue free, nya!

Just a quicky note: Because this involves OCs, and takes place during the Shaman Fight, things may be twisted now and then. Though,
nothing major. Also, it will follow a combination of the anime and what I know of the manga. Just a head's up

They were falling. All falling, they had actually been thrown out of the plane! All the contestants hurling towards the ground. A girl whimpered as she fell through the air. Her mind was racing, what had happened was most unexpected. She had to think fast, or she'd be
crushed upon impact with the ground. She closed her eyes and tried to think for a second. Think of her training, as short as it may have
been.

"L-Levitation!" she choked out. Suddenly she stopped falling and was in control She stayed levitated in the air, and sighed with relief. The girl
then began floating towards ground, while looking for her partners. She caught a glimpse of them, combining their oversouls to land safely.
Shaman. That's what they were. It was all so weird, and still so new to her. Strange, yet amazing at the same time..The girl stopped thinking
as she landed on the ground. A pretty perfect landing, she didn't fall or slip or anything! She was rather proud, and she smiled slightly.

"Very good Yuki-chan!" a friendly voice called out. The girl turned her head to face a boy about her age, with spiky brown hair and orange
headphones, and who was a bit taller than she.

She nodded in reply. "Yeah, I guess.."

"Glad to see you are safe, Miss Yukino." an older boy said. He was tall, dark skinned, and had black hair which formed into a pompadour.
(AN: oO; Did I spell that right?)

The girl took a moment to look at their surroundings. They were now in the American desert, and that's just what it was, a desert. She
looked back over at the group she was with. The boy, Yoh, and the older boy Ryu were there, but there were also two others. The boy
dressed in a big jacket and shorts, with spiky blue hair and a headband, that was Horohoro. The other boy, who tended to keep to himself
and stay a bit away from the group, was Ren. The spiky-haired, Chinese Shaman with a short temper. And then there was she. She was
Yukino Yorokobi, age 14. She had short, light brown, almost goldenish, hair that just reached to her shoulders, and deep green colored eyes;
a light pink clip held her bangs to the side on the right side of her face. She wore a navy blue jacket which hid a pure white tank top, and a
red pleaded skirt with brownish colored boots that just went above her ankles. Yoh was the one she was most familiar with in this group. Ryu
and Horohoro she had only recently met, and Ren...well, Ren she knew, but not very well. She had met him once shortly after Yoh and she
probably wouldn't be there if it wasn't for him, his words gave her the courage to let go of her old self..Yukino's train of thought was
interupted by Yoh.

"Yuki? You coming or what?" he asked, as he and the others had gotten a bit ahead of her while she had spaced out.

She blushed a little with embarassment and nodded, running to the group.

"I think she's gonna slow us down..." Horohoro commented, not sure of her.

"..I will not!" Yukino said, annoyed at the comment.

"Don't worry Horohoro, it'll be ok. She's fine. You won't slow us down will you Yuki?" Yoh said cheerfully.

"No.." she replied. Horohoro sighed, and they continued on. Looking for a place called Patch Village. The name and that's all they knew, but
they needed to find it or be disqualified.

A few hours past, and they found nothing. Nothing at all. It was all desert, that was it. The group still trudged along, though much more slowlythan before. Yukino stopped, wiping some sweat from her forehead.

"Can we stop? Please?" she begged, tiredly.

"I second that idea.." Horo agreed, sitting down right there.

"Yoh-dono, do you think we should stop? It will be dark in another hour or so, I think we should continue looking some more.." Yoh's Spirit
Ally, Amidamaru, questioned.

Yoh shrugged. "Youre right, but...they all seem a bit tired.." he replied.

"Ha. I'm not the least bit tired. We should keep going, if theyre all too tired, than too bad, we'll leave them behind. It's a sign theyre too weak
anyhow." Ren scoffed.

"Nah we can't do that.." Yoh said.

"What? I'm not weak! Admit it Ren, youre just as worn out as the rest of us!" Horohoro yelled, springing to his feet, glaring at the Chinese
Shaman.

Ren rolled his eyes at the Ainu, enraging him more. "Like you could find it on your own anyway!"

"I most certainly could!" Ren argued back.

"Ugh, can we please not argue?" Yukino spoke up. "Ren, can we please just rest for a little bit?" she begged.

Ren looked at her and sighed. "Whatever." he replied, walking a bit away from the others. Yukino and Horo both sighed with relief, and Horo
sat back down, Yoh and Ryu joining him.

The sun was setting, and it was getting darker in the American desert later that day. Yukino had fallen a bit behind the group of Shaman, a worn out look on her face. "Oh..my...god..please can we stop!" she begged.

"Oh come on!" Horohoro angrilly replied.

"Yuki, just a little longer.." Yoh said.

Ryu nodded, "Just a little bit more Miss Yukino, then we can rest again."

Ren said nothing, but looked at her a bit. They then continued on walking.

"Oohhh...my feet are killing me..I think there's a rock in my shoe...Yoh, what have you dragged me into..?" Yukino said angrilly.

"Gah, don't start complaining now!" Horo said.

"Shut up! Youre a guy, guys are used to being out in the hot sun and being all sweaty and sticky, and and...Oh i wanna go home already!"

"See Yoh? I told you we shouldn't have brought her along!"

"Horohoro..She's just.." Yoh tried to defend her.

"Just be quiet, all of you." Ren snapped, and they all shut up, and continued on.

Later on, night had set in, and the group had stopped for the night. They had built a fire, and were all sitting around it. Except for Ren, who
had gone off to be alone, and said he'd be back in a bit. Yukino sighed and got up.

"Where are you going?" Horohoro asked.

"..I see some water over there, i'm going to wash my face and cool off." she said, and walked off.

She kneeled down by the water and splashed some onto her face. It felt so good! Yukino unzipped her jacket, and took it off, revealing her
snow white tank top. She cupped some more water in her hands and splashed herself with it. She did this a few more times and then wiped
off her face with the sleeve of her jacket. She sighed with relief and then felt something. She blinked and looked to the side. A lizard had
come by her, and was crawling on her hand. Yukino's eyes widened and she flicked it off, screaming. Her scream alerted the boys by the
camp fire and they immediately came racing to where she was.

With a sudden slash, the little lizard was cut in two. That scared Yukino even more, and she backed up a bit, bumping into none other than
Ren. She looked up at him and sweatdropped. "Th...thank you.." she said, standing up. He nodded in reply.

"Eh..Yuki?" Yoh asked, confused.

"Are you alright Miss Yukino?" Ryu asked worriedly.

"What was that about?" Horo asked.

"Erm..it was a lizard..thing.." she replied, slightly embarassed.

"She was just startled. It's alright now." Ren said.

Yukino nodded in agreement to that. "Sorry for worrying you.." she apologized.

"It's ok! Let's go back and eat something now...I'm hungry." Yoh said, and they all headed back to the campfire they had made.

Later that night, the group was getting ready for bed. Yukino made her bed slightly away from them all, and Yoh looked at her funny.

"Why're you doing that? You'll be all alone.." he said.

She blinked. "Well...I'm a girl. You're all guys. I don't feel right sleeping with all of you.."

"Why? It's not like we'd do anything! ..Who'd want to anyway!" Horohoro said, overhearing the conversation.

"Shut up Horohoro!" Yukino yelled back.

"Well ok, but i thought you were gonna be more of a free spirit now?" Yoh asked.

"..I am. But...that still doesn't mean i'll sleep with you all.." she replied.

"Ok then. Good night, Yuki-chan!" Yoh said with a smile.

She smiled back, "Good night."

Soon, the fire was out and the boys were all sleeping. Yukino lay there, a smile on her face. They were a bit annoying sometimes, but she
enjoyed being with them. This journey may be hard at times, but it would be worth it, that she could tell. The Shaman Fight would help her
find out about her powers, it had to. Why else would they have invited her if she wasn't a shaman, but could merely see ghosts? She knew it
would all eventually be answered, and that afterwards, nothing would be the same...and that sort of excited her. She closed her eyes then,
and fell fast asleep...

Rawr, I hope it came out ok. Please don't judge Yukino yet! And I know this chapter sorta centered around her, but yeah, kinda want you allto get to know her a bit. Well I hope all in all it wasn't too bad, i'll write the next chapter soon, please read and review!
No flames. Constructive Critisism I don't mind, in fact i sort of expect there to be a little, I really haven't written in a while. But don't flame me!
Oh, and next chapter, there will be Lyserg :D