AN: I'm trying to get a lot of this story written in a short time, so the next few chapters will be rushed and everything, so please feel free to tell me if there are any points I need to improve on when I edit them later on.

Mega MEGA thank you to the person who sent me their drawing of the fanfic! It won't let me send a message back to you, it says that you're no longer a user, but my goodness it's an amazing picture, thank you so much! Feel free to email me! My email Address is available on my profile and I'd love to talk to you 3 Kiri0410

Thank you for the reviews and everything again! *huggle*

The sun had stopped its laughter and fell asleep; the moon had risen and took its place, picking up the eerie laughter. Maka shuddered, holding the book close to her chest. Kid wasn't much better off than Maka; they walked side by side, almost leaning into each other to share what little body heat they both had. Maka sighed and she could see her breath in front of her. She looked to Kid.

"How f-far do you think we are…?" She asked, trying to force her teeth to stop chattering.

Kid looked to her "I'm not sure…I hope we're not too far, you're lips are starting to look blue…" He said, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders. If her cheeks weren't already red from being cold, Kid would notice her blushing. They walked for another hour before they heard the slow steady rise of music. It didn't sound modern. It sounded like war drums and poorly made guitars and flutes. Maka and Kid got a glimmer of hope in their eyes again.

They looked to each other and smiled hopefully, they ran towards the sounds, but they both tripped, rope tightening around their ankles, Maka's left and Kid's right ankle. They were then hoisted into the air, Maka squealed and used the book and her hands to hold her skirt down then looked around "what's going on!" Kid was looking away from Maka, just in case "a trap…?"

Eventually, a few people holding swords and crossbows emerged from the trees and bushes, they wore tribal looking masks designed with skulls on them and long black cloaks. One person, who was particularly tall, stepped forward. He seemed to be the leader since his mask was brilliant and white and looked the most fearsome; he also held a scythe, instead of a sword or crossbow like the others.

Maka and Kid looked to the leader, staring at him intently. Maka whispered to Kid "is that…?"

Kid shook his head "I don't know-"

"SILENCE."

Kid and Maka jumped a little, freezing in place. Maka gulped but kept her glare on the man, not showing any fear. He stepped closer to them until his face was directly in front of theirs. He looked to Kid closer. He lifted his hand and Kid shut his eyes, waiting for whatever he was about to do, Maka was ready to block his attack. The man raised his hand and pushed his mask up.

Maka gasped lightly and nudged Kid "L-Lord Death?"

Kid's eyes snapped open and looked to the man. He looked like Kid, only a lot older. His eyes were a rich purple colour and the white stripes in his hair where connected. He spoke again.

"A grigori soul…and another Shinigami? Who are you two? And how could you be a shinigami? No…not a Shinigami" He said, leaning closer to Kid "…a soon to be Shinigami, you're not quite there yet."

Kid wanted to say something, but his mind went blank. It had been a long time since he'd seen his father without the mask. He was perfectly symmetrical and Kid couldn't help but be completely mesmerized. Maka looked to Kid then looked to Lord Death

"Please, who we are is not important. We've been sent here to help you Lord Death!" Maka said bravely, she was not afraid of Lord Death, she knew at some point he'd turn into the silly guy he was in her time. So he couldn't have been all that terrible.

Lord Death snapped his attention from Kid and turned to Maka. He tilted his head a little "hmm…you've got some gall girl…" he pressed the blade of the scythe to her cheek "girls shouldn't be speaking out of term." He turned back to Kid "have you not taught your wench to mind her place?"

Kid said nothing, knowing full well Maka would put Lord Death in his place. She looked to the rope around her ankle and shot out a shard of her soul, slicing through the rope and dropping the two to the ground, both of them landing on their feet.

Lord Death stepped back, a little shocked she could control her soul in such a way, before he could try and attack the two, Maka stepped forward "stop Lord Death! Please listen to us!" He stopped, but he still held a cautious stance.

Kid looked to him "Lord Death, surely you are aware of the rise of evil souls." He said, finally finding his voice, remembering the words in the book.

Death looked confused "…what? How did you know about that?"

Maka spoke up this time "I have a grigori soul, my ability to see other souls is quite advance, even for a girl of my age" she said, almost cynically "and Kid here, obviously, possesses the potential to become a shinigami and that speaks for itself. But that isn't why we're here…" she looked to Kid.

Kid nodded "we have reason to believe that the witches or…rallying an army." He looked to his father "we need to prepare ourselves. My friend and I have been sent here to warn you about this. We are also willing to lend you our services as fighters."

Death stood there for a moment, listening to them explain themselves, then bit down on his lower lip, then he erupted in loud laughter. Maka and Kid looked to each other, looking highly confused and dumbstruck. They looked to Lord Death and Kid cleared his throat to get him to stop laughing, but that didn't stop him.

Maka grew steadily more and more annoyed, gripping the book in her hands tightly.

Kid watched her grip tighten on the book "Maka don't-"

"MAKA CHOP!"

It was too late. Kid winced and grimaced, looking at Death cautiously who had abruptly fallen silent and to his knees. Maka stood over him, gripping the book in her left hand tightly "don't mock us! You not only underestimated me as a girl but then openly laughed in our faces when we try to warn you of a great danger!"

Kid looked to Maka and straightened up and looked to Death, it was then he remembered that he wasn't this version of death's son. He glared "she's right you know. You asked for that when you messed with my friend." He stepped forward in front of Maka "Lord Death or not, I will not have you disrespect my friend"

Maka looked to him "…Kid…"

Lord Death remained still then looked up with a murderous look in his eyes "very well…if you can show me the proof of this…witch army, within a months time, then, I will act on your words and respect you." He stood up "you are welcome to stay with us at Shibu…"

The two sighed and nodded, though they seemed brave just now, on the inside they were terrified, after all, this was Lord Death in his darker days.

Death grinned and held up his index finger "but. After a couple of nights rest and preparation, you have to fight the strongest of our village."

Maka and Kid's face fell "…what?" Maka managed to voice out.

"You heard me, you have to prove yourselves powerful enough to take on these tests, to find evidence. If you fail, I collect your souls.

Maka looked to Kid, suddenly not too sure. He looked to Maka and smiled a little, taking her hand and looked to Lord Death determinedly "we accept" Maka blushed and nodded.

Death looked between them "…very well. Come with me" He looked to the other hunters "the rest of you, surround them. Make sure they don't even so much as finch towards a weapon." The hunters straightened up "yes, Lord Death" they said in unison, like a small army.

Maka frowned and backed up into Kid, a little afraid of what was going to happen next. The hunters circled them and Lord Death began walking from the direction he first appeared. Kid glared back at the hunters and held Maka close "stay close to me Maka, I don't trust any of them yet." He whispered into her hair lightly. Maka blushed a little and nodded, staying close to Kid as they walked.

It didn't take long before they emerged from the trees and found themselves surrounded by houses and huts made from wood and stone. Many of the houses had blacksmiths, armourers or soldiers practicing or creating something just outside. Lord Death walked straight through the small town. The people stopped and stared at Maka and Kid, they really stuck out like a sore thumb. Kid in his smart suit and Maka in her shirt, sweater vest and skirt. Most of the men were wearing armour and weapons on their belt while the woman wore dresses and looked weak and a little bit scared by the presence of the strange new comers.

Maka made a face, she was going to refuse to wear one of those dresses "excuse me, Lord Death, but where are you taking us?"

Lord Death stopped and looked back at them "you'll be staying with a trusted family of mine. They're a family of incredibly strong warriors. None of them are related, but they all came together from another village that had been destroyed. You'll like them little miss green orbs, three of them are girls."

Kid looked to him "oh? Who are they?"

Lord Death smirked "You'll just have to wait and see. They're out of the village on some business, so for tonight you'll have to be on your own." He stopped outside of a large stone house "this is where you'll be staying, there is a bedroom left on the top floor so you'll have to share. I'll have someone bring you some armour in the morning for you to change into." He opened the double doors and motioned for them to step inside.

Kid looked to Death then to Maka "come on, Maka…" he took her hand and walked inside. Maka frowned a little and followed him anyway; she wasn't comfortable with all this, it was a little too strange. Death closed the door behind them and Maka fell to her knees "I can't believe I gave Lord Death a Maka Chop…"

Kid looked to her and smiled a little "hey, it's okay, he kind of deserved it." He helped Maka back to her feet and looked around curiously "uck…this place is just…asymmetrical garbage…" He looked around the house in utter disgust; he clasped his hands together and got to work on cleaning the house up and making things symmetrical. He was right too; it was messy, like a group of highly un-clean lazy people lived there. Paintings on the wall were not straight, there were even stains on the walls from previous food fights and chairs over turned. There were a few clean places now and then, were someone must have tried to clean up though.

Maka watched him and laughed nervously at his antics. She looked back down at the book in her hands, trailing her fingers over the cover. She sat down on a nearby chair that had not been destroyed or overturned and opened it again to see if the Lord Death of her time had written in the book once more. She sighed, there wasn't another word that had been written on the pages. Closing the book, she stood up and went to help clean the place up. It wouldn't hurt to help make a good first impression, right?

After a couple of hours of rearranging furniture and scrubbing the walls, the two teens could relax. Maka wiped her forehead with the back of her hand "finally…" Kid stood back and admired his work, arms folded and head held high proudly, nodding his approval. He then paused and looked to Maka.

"Hey, Maka?" She looked up once she heard him say her name "you were looking at the book earlier…was there anything new?"

Maka shook her head and frowned "sadly, no. We could check again now, see if something has been added since then?"

Kid nodded "excellent idea…" he went to retrieve the book from the kitchen were Maka had left it. Maka stood up and followed him, once she got into the kitchen, which was mostly wooden with a large steal cooker that needed wood or coal to cook something, Kid looked to her and smiled a little "over here Maka, there's a new message" he said happily, his hand rested on the image in the book.

Maka smiled and walked over, standing beside him and looking at the message. Kid, like last time, read the words aloud.

"Seems you two have made an excellent start. My guess is that you'll be doing the old 'prove your worth by fighting my strongest' huh? Oh, right, you won't be able to answer questions." This earned a small giggle from Maka "I can, however, explain to you a little bit more about the condition you two find yourselves in."

Maka pulled two wooden chairs over to Kid and the boo so they could both sit down, she had a feeling this might take a while…