Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, and I am sorry that I have not updated recently. It is almost Christmas break, and so I will make sure that I update much more then!

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It was a dark night in late August, the moon relecting its shadow upon the openriver in the background. The lakes ripples remained unmoving, and a desolate and lonely feeling cascaded over the area. The bridge over the river was extremely loose looking, but it too remained still in the night.Though the area felt lonely and void, it was far from that.

Three figures silouettes cast shadows over the illuminated landscape. They were unmoving and silent, occationally conversing for short amounts of time in whispers. They would turn and look over their shoulders from time to time, as though afraid that they were being watched by another person. They were also each holding weapons, a sure sign that something was coming, and they were prepared for the fight. They were also holding a singular mortuary tablet each, as they were all shamans.

They were all boys, and and one of them, the tallest, had blue hairand washolding a snowboard in his arms. He wore a snow jacket, even though the night was not cold, and his pale blue eyes stared solitarily at the ground. He was clearly focused on what was happening around him, as though he was waiting for something. His name was Usui Horo.

Another one of the boys was a slightly shorter one with mahogany brown hair. He was wearing a black and orange uniform, much more suited for the weather than Horo's clothing. He wielded two swords, one was small, antique,and red, the other was a long samurai sword. His usual smile was replaced by a look of seriousness, much like the look upon Horo's face. His name was Asakura Yoh.

The final boy was standing alone several feet away from the other boys. He was the shortest in the group, most likely due to the slight age difference between the them all. He was leaning against a long Kwan-Dao, or Chinese spear, with a hollow hole near the point, and a crimson red grip. This boy always had a serious and slightly hateful look about him, and it was especially noticable in his fiery gold eyes, which looked as though they could peer into a person's soul. This boy's name was Tao Ren.

They were all staring off in opposite directions, scaning the area with their eyes for any sudden disturbance. They did not have to wait long, as they heard a rusling sound behind them all.

They turned to see three more people entering the scene, only this time they were all girls. They were being held captive and in chains bound by thier captive around thier arms and legs. Three older men stepped out of the darkness, each clutching weapons in one hand, and the chains of one of the three girls in the other hand. The girls were looking to the ground, thier hair falling down over their faces. One had shortpink hair and pink eyes, her name was Tamara; another had blonde hair, and brown eyes,her name was Anna; and the last had blue hair and unseen blue eyes, her name was Pirika, Horo's younger sister.

"Put her down!" Horo shouted out of the silence, giving away his possition to his sister's captive. The sight of her in chains was just too much for him to bear.

"As you wish." Stated a large man holding a chained whip with what looked like panda claws at the end. The girl he was holding was Anna, Yoh's fiance since the age of thirteen. She was not one to give in to pain, she was strong, but she was also on the verge of tear at that very moment.

The three girls were flung painfully onto the rough pavement as they fought with all of their strength to stand up. They were forced after several painful minutes of struggle to give up, where they all three slumped back onto the cold, hard ground. The boys took a few steps towards them, but were stopped immediatly by the other three men. They all brought out various weapons, integrated their ghosts into them, and prepared to battle with everything they had to defend the girls.

Though the other three men fought well, with increadable strength and furyoku, their skills were easily matched by the boys. Two of the men went down quickly, but the boys were running out of strength as well; they would have to finish this fast.

The only man left was a tall man, with a spanish accent and a strong, tall ghost with him as well. His ghost was in the form of a skeleton, which held in its left hand a short but strong sword. It was advancing on Yoh and Horo.

Horo had little furyoku to defeat the last man, and so he was sruck down shortly, leaving Yoh as the man's new target. Ren rushed to help, and in the process, he became the new enemy. The skeleton began to advance on him instead of Yoh.

Ren ran as fast as he could, to the point where he was out of breath, and nearly out of strength. He was forced to give up, as Yoh was too far away to save him now, and was struck mercilessly by the gigantic knife of the skeleton.

Ren was flung bacwards, not too painfully, but enough to send him off side and onto the bridge. He was able to breathe a sign of relief, but it was soon replaced with panic as he realized that the bridge was breaking. The sides both snapped, and Ren was sent plummeting into the river. The last thing he heard before his ears were completely under water, was Yoh shouting his name. And then he could hear nothing.

He was drowning; he could feel the water-pressure forcing him to sink to the bottom of the ocean. Water was filling his lungs as he fought to break free of the hold that was upon his body. His eyes were closing slowly; he could barely see, barely breathe. A hand reached out to him and he took it, thinking that he as abou to be saved from drowning.

He took the person's hand as he saw a faint reflection of a young woman with long hair, though he cound not tell right away who it was.

She gripped his hand as best she could in am attemp to pull him up, but the waters were too deep, and they were able to pull him back under again.

The waves began to swirl him down, as water filled his lungs once again. He fought with all he had to break free, but he was unable to, and eventually, Ren went unconcious...