Chapter 1 – A New Land and Lord
I don't remember dying. In fact I didn't remember much when I woke up in the forest. My body was cold and covered in snow. Pushing myself from the ground I shivered and stood, only to come crashing back to the ground. "Ugh" a pathetic moan escapes my mouth at the impact. I am so small and cold; I curl into a ball and think about falling asleep when I hear a growl. I open my eyes and find a large wolf staring down at me. Tears fill my eyes. "Are you going to kill me?" I ask in a whisper, the wolf growls and stalks towards me. "I don't want to die…" I hear the wolf push off the ground to lunge at me, my eyes clenched so as not to see it. Swish! I hear something connect with the wolf and I shiver once more.
"Child, open your eyes." I open my eyes slowly to see a man in front of me. He has golden eyes and long white hair with a crescent moon on his forehead. He also has a pink stripe on each cheek.
"Who a-are you?" I shiver violently. He picks me up and begins to run. In a short time we reach a house. He steps in the door and begins shouting orders. Taking me up the stairs he sets me on a bed next to a roaring fire. He pulls fur after fur on top of me.
"Akio?" a female voice breaks the silence. He turns to the door as a beautiful woman steps in. She looks like an angel to me. Her long hair is a midnight black, and her skin is very pale, contrasting with her bright green eyes.
"Hoshiko, come in my love. Come meet the child." She comes in and gracefully kneels next to me. Her hand lays on my head, stroking my hair as she gives a lovely smile.
"What unique hair. Akio…" she turns to her husband who nods in response. They seem to have a silent conversation with just their eyes. I reach my small hand from the blankets and grab her hand, bringing it from my hair to in front of my face. Her hand has claws… and so do mine… where am I? She turns her attention back to me and smiles once more. "What is it child?" I look up into her green eyes.
"Why do you have claws? And me?" my eyes fill with tears once more, this time from confusion. I don't know who I am, where I am, or what I am. She immediately croons at me and lifts me into her arms. I wrap my tiny arms around her and clutch her kimono. I am just a little girl.
"I am a dog demon, little one. My mate is Akio," she nods to the man who saved me, "and you have claws because you are a demon pup." My eyes must show my confusion still. "You are a dog demon, just like we are, but you are a child or pup as we call them. What were you doing in the woods, little one?"
"I..I don't know. I don't know anything."
"Not even your name?" I clutch her tighter and shake my head. I can't remember anything.
"Would you like to stay here with us, pup?" the man, Akio, speaks up for the first time. I turn to him and see a kind smile on his face.
"Can I?" I whimper. He lays a large clawed hand on my head.
"Of course you can, you have no family or memories. We just need to give you a name." I nod and smile at him, finally having warmed up enough to move my limbs without much trouble. I clamber down from Hoshiko's lap and sit in front of him excitedly. He laughs deeply and stroked his chin in thought.
"Haruko." Akio looks to his mate, who spoke the name, and smiles.
"I think Haruko is a great name, on account of her hair. What do you think?" he turns back to me. I think it over and test it a few times.
"Does it mean something?" I ask
"It means 'Sunlight Child', your hair is a brilliant gold, a color that is very rare. I have never seen such a color on a demon before." Hoshiko says as she pulls some in front of my face for me to see. It is a bright golden color. I smile and nod.
"I like it. I will be Haruko!" they laugh as Akio picks me up.
"Haruko it is then." He held me until I fell asleep, and when I awake in the morning I am alone in the room, with the fire burning low. I sit up and stretch. Throwing the furs off of me, I get up and scour the room, looking at all the new and interesting things. There are so many things in here, most of which I don't recognize. I hear footsteps approaching the room and hear a faint knock.
"Come in?" I'm not sure how to respond. But I think it was correct because the door opens and a female comes in. she has black hair with two red ears sticking out the top. She smiles as she spots me.
"Good morning miss Haruko." She bows lowly, making me uncomfortable.
"G-Good morning, um, who are you?" she giggles and bows once more.
"I am Emi, I am your maid." I smile and walk up to her.
"You do not have to bow. I'm not special or anything." She stands, looking at me surprised. She kneels down next to me and puts a hand on my shoulder.
"You don't know then?" I shake my head, having no clue what she is talking about. She sighs and smiles. "You were taken in by our Lord Akio, you are a princess now that you are his ward. You are very important, Miss." I frown a bit and look down. Akio is a lord? Then is Hoshiko an important Lady as well? "Miss?" I look back up at Emi. "We must get you ready for breakfast." My tummy growls and I smile sheepishly. Emi laughs and walks over to the closet, pulling out strange clothing.
"What are those?" I question her. She turns in surprise.
"These are Kimonos. You wear them." I look down as the pants and shirt that I am in, they are ratty but they are comfortable. Even though the clothing she pulls out is beautiful it does not look comfortable.
"Can't I stay in my clothes? Those look…." Unsure of how to finish, Emi kneels next to me and finishes my sentence.
"Uncomfortable?" I nod and blush a little. She smiles. "You have to change for breakfast. Perhaps you can talk to the Lord and Lady and see if something else may be appropriate?" I nod and she holds up two kimonos for me. One is pretty pink with butterflies on it, and the other is a deep purple with black swirls. I pick the black one, and Emi helps me put it on. She shows me the socks that go with it and the sandals that I wear inside. Taking my hand, we walk into the hallway and down the stairs. I look at everything I can on my way, seeing many interesting and new things surrounding me. We pass by a garden, covered in snow from last night. Finally, we make it to breakfast. I see Lord Akio sitting at the head of the table, and Lady Hoshiko is on his left side. On his right is a little boy. Emi excuses herself and shuts the door.
"Haruko, come and sit next to me." Hoshiko pats the seat next to her. I walk over and kneel like she is, on the pad that is sitting on the floor. Someone sets food in front of me and I thank them before they leave. I look at the little boy across the table, to find him already looking at me in confusion. I blush a little and look at Hoshiko. She smiles and turns to Akio.
"This is my son, Haruko. His name is Touga." He turns to Touga and pats him on the shoulder. "Touga, this is Haruko, she will be under your protection from now on." Touga smiles and nods to his father, then turns his smile on me. I offer a smile back before we all start to eat.
When we are all done, the servants take the plates away, leaving us sitting at the table with tea in front of us. We sip it quietly as I contemplate asking my questions. Unsure of if I am aloud to break the silence; I tug at the sleeve of Hoshiko's kimono. She turns to me and nods.
"I… don't understand some things still." She smiles and holds my hand.
"We expected that you wouldn't understand everything right away, sweet heart. Ask anything you want."
"What are Demons?" they look a little surprised, and Touga jumps in.
"How can you not know about Demons? You are one." I blush and look at the table, embarrassed by my own lack of knowledge.
"Touga!" Hoshiko scolds him. "She has no memory before last night, everything she may have known before is gone. Be more courteous!" I glance up at him and he looks a bit shocked at me.
"Sorry, Haruko, I didn't know." I smile at him. At least he really didn't know.
"It's ok Touga, you didn't know so I forgive you." We smile at each other and then I look back at Hoshiko.
"Demons are one of the three races of beings in the world. There are demons, beings with enhances senses and abilities. Then there are humans, they are mortals that share this world with us, their senses are dull and their lifespans short. The others are the Gods, worshipped by both human and demon alike, though humans would prefer to think we are Godless heathens. The Gods watch over all beings and determine the fate of this world." I nod, taking everything in.
"Haruko, I can see you are uncomfortable." Akio states. I look at him for a moment before realizing that I am fidgeting and my feet have fallen asleep.
"I am not used to Kimonos, can I wear something else?" I state it bluntly; the truth needs no sugarcoating right now. He throws his head back and laughs out loud. Even Hoshiko giggles a bit. When he calms down I see him wipe his eyes before speaking.
"Of course you can, as long as you are covered you need not worry. You can go to the seamstress today and get new clothes." I smile, going to say thank you when he interrupts me, "But, you must wear formal clothes for formal occasions, understood?" I nod quickly
"Thank you!" I hop us and run over, tackling him in a hug. I get my new clothes and am very satisfied with them. I wear slippers to cover my feet, and pants that go down to my ankles. I have a calf length skirt, with slits in the sides to make it easier to move in. And for the top I have a short-sleeved top that ties on the side. As I grow I have more of them made for me. I learn the ways of pack life and the ranks that go along with it. Akio is the Alpha Male, meaning he is the leader. Hoshiko is his mate and Alpha Bitch, meaning she is the pack mother who leads when Akio is away for work. Touga will someday be Alpha, but right now he is just a pup like me. We attend lord and lady lessons every morning and then we train in the afternoon. It took some convincing for me to be able to train with the sword, but I wore Akio down after a lot of pestering. He finally let me so I would stop whining.
As the seasons pass Touga and I grow, Touga into a strong and cocky young man, and I started growing into a young woman. I was strong but I remember when I started to bleed one night, I thought I was going to die.
Flashback
I was sitting in my room cleaning my sword when I felt something strange happen. I stood up to find blood where I had just been sitting; I felt all around and found it on the butt of my pants as well. I was scared. My breathing got heavier and tears filled my eyes. "Why am I bleeding?! Oh Gods why am I bleeding?!" The tears began to fall as I backed away from the blood. "EMI!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. My door slammed open and Touga grabbed me.
"Haruko? Haruko what happened?!" He smelled and looked at the floor, to that spot of blood. Growling he began to look me over.
"Touga!" Hoshiko stood in the doorway in shock. Touga pushed me behind him and turned to the door. His mother looked from him to the blood on the floor. "Oh dear." Looking back at us, more footsteps rang in my ears as Akio appeared in the door, followed by Emi. "Akio…"
"I know." He answered. "Son, come with me. Let your mother and Emi take care of Haruko." Touga let out a soft growl, to which his father growled louder taking a step into the room. My grip on Touga's haori tightened a bit before loosening. 'Akio isn't going to hurt me.' I thought to myself before letting go of Touga all together. Bloody prints were on his back as I looked down, realizing my hands had been bloody when I had grabbed him.
"Touga," I whispered. "Touga its ok. I'll come and see you later ok?" he turned to me, finally showing me his red eyes. We had learned about our beasts in our lessons, but this was the first time I was seeing it for real. Slowly he nodded and walked out with his father. I fell to the floor as Hoshiko and Emi rushed over to me. "Why?" I choked out. "What's happening?!" they both pet my head and lead me to the washroom.
"Haruko, you are a woman. Your bleeding means you can bear pups of your own soon."
Flashback end
That day still rings clear to me. I had been so terrified of my own blood. It had made me train harder to be strong for the pack. Touga must have gotten a talk of his own from Akio that day, because he never questioned me again why I was bleeding. We still were best friends, we still trained together, and nothing really changed between us. Things didn't change until Hoshiko was killed.
It was my hundredth year of life here, I had grown to be five foot and six inches, my golden hair was down to my thighs and my demonic markings had come in the day I started to bleed. A silver crescent moon was on my forehead and I had one silver stripe on each cheek. My eyes were cold silver that became steel when I was angry. Over all I was an attractive demoness, with a larger bust than most. The day had started out like any other; I got up and had breakfast with Touga. Akio and Hoshiko were away to the south for a diplomatic meeting that required both of their attendance. It wasn't until the afternoon the alarms sounded. Akio rushed in with Hoshiko in his arms, blood dripping to the ground and covering his front. I rushed with him to the medical wing and helped in any way I could, handing bandages, getting water, but it was not enough. She had been attacked and poisoned. She only lasted until midnight.
"Haruko, come… here." She gasped at me. I stepped to her side, opposite from Akio, and took her hand. "I-I want you to t-t-take my p-place as Alpha Bitch. B-Become the P-Pack Mother for m-me and t-take care of T-Touga."
"Hoshiko…" tears slipped from my eyes to fall on her hand. She smiled as she placed her hand on my cheek. Images filled my head; a path, water, a cave. I blinked down at her and smiled sadly. "I will, I w-will take your place as Pack Mother." I slipped to the background and watched as Touga and Akio stayed with her in her last few moments. When she slipped away, Akio let out a heart-wrenching howl, and clutched her body to him. He threw many medics away from him when they tried to separate him from the body. "My Lord." I placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Haruko…" his eyes were red and tears fell like rain. I squeezed his shoulder and smiled sadly.
"Let her go, Akio. She wouldn't want this." He looked down at her and kissed her one last time, before letting them take her body away. Taking their hands, I led Akio and Touga to the bath. Akio needed one to get Hoshiko's blood off of him, and I didn't trust him alone in there so I made Touga take a bath as well. I slipped out and directed the staff on what needed to be done for Hoshiko's funeral. I was living up to my promise to here. I would take the position as Pack Mother seriously. Working through the night we had everything ready by sunrise. As the sun rose we stood to burn Hoshiko's body. I lit the fire myself and in the silence, we watched the fire. I held Akio and Touga's hands in mine as we watched. The crowd dispersed and we were the only ones left to see the pyre die down. Servants gathered the ashes to bury.
"Haruko." I looked at Akio to acknowledge him. "You will have to go on a journey to take the Alpha Bitch status." I nodded, having gathered that much from the images Hoshiko had shown me. "She showed you…." I smiled slightly and squeezed his hand.
"I know my Lord, I will be ready by tomorrow's sunrise." He nodded and turned to head inside. Touga stood with me and watched him leave.
"He worries me." Touga stated. He looked at me.
"I know, he worries me too. But I have a journey to make. Will you look after him in my absence?" He nodded absentmindedly as we stood there looking back at the ashes being gathered.
"How long will you be gone?"
"I do not know. But I know that it won't be a short time. This is a ceremony that each Pack Mother takes." He sighed as we walked to the castle and sat on the steps.
"You should have someone go with you."
"No." I states quickly. Turning to face him, a frown set in my face. "No one is allowed to journey with me. I gathered that much from the information I have on it. I have to make this trip alone."
"Still, I wish I could accompany you."
"They need you here. Your father just lost his mate. Be his rock and lead the pack in his stead until he is ready to resume his duties." He nodded as he hugged me to him.
The next morning both Akio and Touga came to bid me goodbye. I had a heavy cloak around my shoulders, my sword, and a bag of provisions to get me to the cave. I hugged them both, making them promise to stay alive for me. Emi hugged me, fussing to make sure I had everything I needed for the trip. With that I took my first step out the front gate since I had come through it as a pup, and set out for the cave that held the answers of my new position. With one last wave, I turned my back on that castle.