Prologue

Water is patient. Water just waits. Wears down the cliff tops, the mountains. The whole of the world. Water always wins.

Very rarely did Youko Kurama ever get involved with his own dirty work now that he was the King of Thieves. Petty murder without the benefit of a payout was now enough beneath him to get others to do it for him. No reason to get your hands dirty over nothing, right? Even the petty murder of his own men.

But it had been so long he had forgotten why he ever enjoyed it in the first place. It was stealing at its finest. What better thing to take than something that can never be taken back? Something that could only be taken once, something so dear and precious that people guarded with their lives – literally.

Youko's expression remained cruelly as he watched Yomi step over her limp body, raising his sword, the ends already filled with her blood. Her golden eyes looked passed her killer and were glued on his, "You're going to kill me?"

Youko's ears twitched a bit, it sounded more like a statement than an actual question. Yomi stopped for a second and looked back at Youko.

"Why?" It came out as barely a whisper. But that was what she was now, soaking in her own blood beneath him, just a whisper of what she could have been. Youko leaned off the tree he was on and gave a nod to Yomi. "You are no use to me anymore."

As just as simple as that Yomi swung his sword toward her head. She quickly rolled over and scratched his inner thigh, causing him to gasp in surprise and drop the sword to clench the scratch marks. After all, all she had to do was wait for her right moment. She was raised a ninja. She spent nights in trees, days staking out fields, weeks trapped in a hostile village with just a pocket knife for company. She was good at waiting.

She scrambled to her feet and made a run for it. She gasped as a sharp pain slashed her back. Her knees buckled and she twisted down the cliff to a surging river. Youko Kurama stood over the cliff where she had fallen, his whip in hand, the ends dripping with blood.

Yomi limped over to him quickly and growled, "She got me by surprise."

"I saw."

"You want me to go after her?" Yomi was already reeling as Youko turned to him slowly.

"No, not you." Youko said simply walking to their campout. Yomi raised an eyebrow. "I have something else for you to do, I will send someone else to find and dispose of her."

Yomi clenched his jaw in annoyance, but didn't say anything and just nodded. Yomi quickly jumped and disappeared in the trees as Youko was about to follow him he looked one last time before he disappeared within the forest as well.

The river was dyed red when a hand propelled itself from it to grab the edge of the riverbank. The girl pulled herself up, coughing up water and blood. She dragged herself on her stomach and rolled herself on her back. She took long, deep breaths the wounds on her body slowly closing themselves up.

She slowly tried to stand only to fall back down from dizziness. Healing the external wounds didn't replace the large amount of blood she had lost. She lay sprawled against the soil, as helpless as a baby. Youko never left anything up to chance, so if she had any chance at surviving she knew she had to do something and quick.

So she grabbed the orb that acted as a guard protection plate for her elbow and smashed it against the ground. Now all she had to do was wait.

A/N: So this is just the prologue and I will have the first chapter up pretty soon! This will not end up being a Jin/Touya story, and will have an OC. Warning you right here you guys! Review all you want and thank you for reading!