Tale of a Red Moon

My true first fic! I'm really excited right now!
Alice: Are we in it? *points to herself, Mary, Leo and Mana*
Me: Yes! But you all show up later on. Hope you folks enjoy! Leo, declaimer please!
Leo: Sakura-san doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX. All she owns is this plot, and the OCs!

All tales have a beginning, and this one is no different. For if a tale didn't have a beginning, then why would it be told? This story is about a boy, his dog, their travels, their past, and everything that people don't see. It all started 500 years ago on a cold February night. When death was as common as dirt and a Red Moon hung in the night sky…

Prolog: Why my heart cries

"I'm HUNGRY DAMMIT!" screeched a deep voice. A young girl in her late teens -with shoulder-length, ruby colored hair and golden eyes- sighs for the tenth time that day. Her guardian demon could be such a pain in the rear when he's hungry. And they're out of luck, no bandits in sight or range of smell. "

Sorry, Jehu, but there are no souls for you to eat," is the girl's reply. The demon wolf Jehu, who's fur coloring is dark teal with golden amber eyes, groaned. No souls means having to hunt animal souls, and they aren't as tasty… but then again.

"Can I-?" Jehu began to ask but the girl shoots him down.

"No, you can NOT feed off my soul! We are in a forest, so hunt for an animal! You can eat their souls…" Jehu pouted, so much for that plan. "And you remember the LAST time you fed off me while in the wilderness? I couldn't walk right AND we were attacked by agents of the Priests!" the girl added. Insert anime sweat drop for Jehu here. That day wasn't THAT bad: sure they almost got killed, but that's an every day thing. And she suffered worse, example being when she couldn't walk for a whole week, but there was some added damage. Before Jehu could voice his complaint again, the sound of rustlings leaves and the smell of humans who hadn't bathed in over a year surrounds the duo. Then cruel chuckling is heard as the band of thieves walk into the open. The girl and Jehu get into a defensive stance to fend of the attackers. The fat guy, who the duo believes to be the leader, steps forward and recites some clique 'bad-guy' speech,

"He he, little girl, we got you surrounded. Hand over all your valuables and we wont hurt you and your doggy. Or maybe you could give us something else…" the bandit and his men all lick their lips.

The pair just rolls their eyes and decides to 'play' the brave heroes.

"We have nothing to give you!" the girl responds, Jehu laughing dryly at the idiots in their way.

"Who do you think you are, girly!" the head exclaims. The girl smirks, then does something that no common man can do. She summands an wave of celestial aura.

"I'm the Demon Saint, Akasuki Senshi! And I don't take too kindly to humans who threaten me and my 'dog'," the girl, Akasuki, smirks. Jehu sifts into his humanoid form, giving him the appearance of a boy in his late teens with dark teal-colored hair, deadly orange eyes, and pale skin wearing a black turtle-neck tank top with a dark-purple sleeveless leather trench coat over it, black wrist bands, black leather straps on his upper arms, black leather breeches with purple boots that come to the knees with black straps and the whole outfit has more buckles than needed. Add the fact his eyes are glowing and his teeth has fangs and you can guess how the bandits are feeling.

"N-n-no! It c-can't be!" the head denied as his minions ran for their lives. Too bad Jehu got to them first.

"In all honesties, bandit, I'm glad you showed up," Akasuki states, the bandit getting time to notice that her outfit consists of a dark red shirt with a leather vest dyed a lighter shade of red over it, black wool breeches, and dark red leather boots that come up to her knees. Around her neck is a bright red chocker and a thin dark-red thread-chain with a egg-shaped silver crystal charm.

"Now I don't have to feed Jehu, so I thank you!" Akasuki continues.

"Ahhh… I'm not that bad, am I?" Jehu asks as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. His master could be such a tease at times.

"Only when you are either hungry or horny," Akasuki dead-panned. The last bandit was too scared to move, let alone notice he wet himself or try to run.

"So what do you think we should do, Aka-chan? Do we kill him or turn him in for all he's worth? You are running low on money and I'm good for about a month or two with that feeding," Jehu remarks.

"How many times do I have to tell you NOT to call me 'Aka-chan?" Akasuki asks darkly before beginning to think it over while Jehu prevents the scum from running on them. It wasn't that hard.

"Y-you w-won't g-g-get a-away with t-this! The Priests of Heavenly Snow will banish your vile soul to the deepest depths of Hell!" the bandit shouts. The two laugh at the man's words.

"Like that's ever gonna happen!" Jehu says while clutching his side and the bandit as he laughs. Akasuki's giggles rang sweet to the bandits ears, which should have sounded the opposite to him.

"If you're that worried about us, just so you know I'm a high-level Mage, which means if I need to I can change my appearance and that of my dog's to keep those," she crinkles her nose in disgust, "hellions from capturing us. And besides, who would believe a thief? I surely wouldn't."

Jehu continues to laugh as if the man had told a funny joke.

"So, what is your name? You can tell me know, so you could live longer, be thrown into a nice and safe jail cell, and wait for whatever punishment you deserve. Or I can just kill you know, end it all and claim that I killed you while saving a fair maiden from your clutches to have the maiden receive the reward in my stead. I can even play the part of said maiden," Akasuki continues.

"HA! Maiden, my ass! You got off that ship a looong ago!" Jehu bad mouthed. Akasuki glares at her demon, who gulps in fear.

"Do you want a full month on the floor again, mutt!" She asks angrily, and Jehu quickly shakes his head in response. Akasuki smirks,

"Thought so," she turns to the man again and grads his tunic, saying very sweetly "so what will in be, hum?" That was all it took to make the man sing.

"Kya! My name is Den, leader of the Beast Slayers!" the man cries before covering his mouth. The two before him exchange a look before smirking. This man, Den, is wanted for almost every crime in the book. He and his gang are up in the 'Most Wanted' category in the land of Atari.

"Well, that answers that then," Jehu says. Akasuki nods her head in agreement. Someone this cruel is worth a lot of money, alive or dead. And the Priests can't know she's right at their front door, so that leaves one option. Akasuki has a sword appear out of nowhere and positions it to kill Den. Den, in turn, tries to back away from the mystic sword but is stopped by Jehu, who grabs the bandit by the scruff of his neck.

"But! Why are you going to kill me! I told you my name…" Then Den realized, he's worth more dead. And the witch has magic to use, meaning she could easily get away with this and the Priests would most likely run the direction she points to. Den begins to plead for his life, but it was all in vain. With his dying breath, Den screamed.

~A few hours later~

A farmer, with his two sons, were riding in their wagon full of produce when they hear the sound of a distressed woman crying. They turn their heads to the entrance/exit of the forest road to see a young girl, most likely in her late teens, running their way. Her hair, long and black, was covered with dirt and had twigs in it and her dress, simple in design and colored a white-gray, was torn slightly near her chest and badly on her skirt. Her tanned skin was cut up and bleeding, and her storm-gray eyes held untold horror as she raced to them.

"Please, oh please help me!" the maiden cried, grabbing onto the farmer's arm in desperation.

"Woa, young lady, what's the matter?" the man questioned, a noticeable lisp in his voice giving him an faint accent.

"M-me and my brother were traveling to the Priests to see if they know of a just man in need of a wife, when the Beast Slayers attacked us! They easily knocked out my brother, thank Ra he's alive, and tried to-to…" the girls lower lip starts to shake before she begins to cry. The eldest son, a man in his early 20's named Genjiro, gets off the wagon and hugs the scared girl, hoping to Ra that she'll find comfort in the embrace.

"If it pains you to say it, then don't," Genjiro smooth voice starts, "we know what those filth are capable of…" he, along with his brother and father, send a death glare in the direction of the forest.

"But how did you escape?" the younger by ten years, Isamu, asks.

The girl hiccups, then turns her body, still in Genjiro's arms, to the young boy and says with a horrified voice, "The Demon Saint Akasuki Senshi came and ordered her demon pet to kill the bandits!"

The men gasp, the Demon Saint is near by! Ra only knows what trouble she could cause the village. And the Priests…

"What happened next!" Isamu demanded, causing the already frightened girl to seek refuge in Genjiro's chest. Said man gives his brother a light scold, before beginning to rub the maidens back as she cries. When she stopped, the girl continued to recite her story.

"Instead of killing me and my brother, she healed him of most of his major wounds and left, saying she and her pet are heading North in search of a relic in hopes of it being the means to destroying the Priests of Heavenly Snow. She asked that I take the reward for the dead bandit's head and use it to complete my journey. She believes I deserve a chance before ending the world…" The farmers were angry, sure the witch saved a maiden and her brother but that doesn't excuse her from trying to destroy the Priests!

"Where is your brother now, fair maiden?" the father asks kindly.

The girl sniffles before answering, "he's still in the place the bandits attacked us. He was well enough for me to go find help, or so I believe, and only the Beast Slayers roam this forest, right?" the girl asks more to relieve her fear than anything else.

"Yep, those goons were the only band here!" Isamu said cheerfully.

"But that wont be for long, though. There are other bands in the kingdom. But they wont move in for a while from now, seeing as both officers of the Priests and that Demon Saint lady are going to be there a long while!" The father continued, still the girl sighs in relief then begins to lead the men to the site where her brother, a tall man in his late teens-early 20's, was laying against a tree looking no worse than wary. The farmers hoist the man into their wagon, gently lifting the maiden into the front seat by the father and Genjiro with Isamu in the back with the brother, and began their hour journey to the near-by village to retell the news and the maiden's story. By the time night has fallen, she has been proposed to by every single male in the village, had her brother fully healed by a medicine man sent by the Priests to this village, got provisions and a new dress, bath and meal from the kind people, and a cozy room and bed at the village inn. Everyone was tired and happy by the time the sun set, and everyone was in bed before then. Well, almost everyone…

~That very night~

The maiden got up from her bed when she was sure every residence in and out of the inn were asleep.

"Stupid humans…" the girl murmured under her breath as she changed back into the appearance of Akasuki. Then Akasuki walks up to the bed where her demon was lying asleep. With a ruff shake, Jehu was also awakened and back to his true appearance.

Yawning, Jehu whispers, "Why are we awake? We got free room and meals for two weeks thanks to your sob story!"

Akasuki replies, "I'm just checking to make sure you're okay. The Priest's so-called 'Holy Magic' could have actually injured you instead of 'heal' you! They know very well Ra left them when they nearly destroyed the Senshi clan 100 years ago… and I don't want to lose you, Jehu," she said lovingly, giving the demon a sweet kiss on the lips and some of her life energy just to be sure Jehu was going to be okay. Leaving a speechless and stunned Jehu behind, Akasuki returns to her bed to sleep off the events of the day. But before falling asleep, she sends a prayer to Ra in hopes of it being answered. And when it did, she didn't like it, just like to last hundred times she prayed that prayer.

The two weeks flew by before the siblings or the villager could believe it. The maiden was, for the whole stay, asked to marry every single man in the village by parents, siblings, or the men themselves. Even Isamu tried pairing up his brother, and his sister, with the girl! But either his siblings, both interested in someone else, or the maiden's brother stopped his and everyone else's advances. He and his sister have a journey from their father to complete and nothing but a good break and additional funds would stop them! The reward from the Priests was greatly welcomed, and was used to pay the villagers for their stay, but said people wouldn't take but one-fourth of the money owed out of pure kindness, touching the siblings, secretly Akasuki and Jehu in disguise, to accepting the offer and giving them-though they didn't know it at the time- about half of the dept. The siblings then began their journey anew, in hopes of fulfilling their true calling.

~To Be Continued~

Me: I hope you like it, and all shall be made clear as the story progresses. To help clear things up some, I'll tell you this.
1) A 'Saint' is the highest level of Mage in excistence in this fantasy world. A 'Demon Saint' isn't really a title but an act of rebelion against the power over the land.
2) Yes, the OC paired with Jehu is needed and her importance to the story will be seen as it is written.

Thank you, Lizzie-chan for pointing out the flow flaw of my fic! Hope the read is more smooth!

If you have questions, please leave a review and I'll answer them as best as I can. If you have a few ideas, please feel free to say them and I'll see if they can be added. All flames will be used to either fuel Jehu's rage or cook stews. See you all soon!