Chapter I: Down the Rabbit Hole

Akurei had no idea what hit her when she fell down the rabbit hole, so to speak. She was just listening to her music on her way home from school when the bigger students shoved her out into the road. She regained her footing, but fell immediately after. She heard the howls of laughter turn to screams and the next thing she knew, she was sitting in the middle of a bone-riddled cave. "Wha-?" she started. Suddenly, a monster out of some kind of fantasy novel entered, apparently living in the cave. She quickly crouched down, hoping to go unnoticed by the demon, or whatever it was. The creature caught her scent and screeched. "Holy crap!" Akurei screamed in response. The thing was finally visible and it was horrid. It had the body of a centipede and the torso of a man with a snake's head and it was covered in blood, gristle, and who knows what else. The appearance may have been nasty, but it was nothing compared to the stench. The beast smelled of blood and decay and fire. Akurei started to sneeze. The demon moved with lightning-speed and wrapped its body around the girl, starting to suffocate her. "Let—me go—you—!" she started, but quit when the demon jerked her, cutting off her air. Then it wrapped its body around her shoulders, covering her nose and mouth. She held out for as long as she could, not wanting the foul smell in her mouth and nose, but she just had to breathe. She felt the constriction on her chest and couldn't breathe deeply and some of its flesh got into her mouth. She bit it, hoping she could make it let go. Instead, she just got blood streaming in a hot, foul river into her nose and mouth, forcing her to swallow it, drown trying to spit it out, or drown trying to keep her mouth clear to breathe. She drank, loathing every mouthful and getting gallons poured onto her, but at last, the demon collapsed as a shriveled corpse with not a drop of moisture in its body. The smell, the shock, the blood, it was all too much for Akurei. She fell to the ground, passed out.

Sometime later, she awoke. She tried to stand, but her legs weren't working the way they should. "What's going on?" she wondered. She sat up and rubbed her pounding head. Suddenly, she felt something furry brush her hand. The girl pulled at it to see what it was, but yelped when it hurt her. "What the hell?" she muttered. She rummaged for her bag and pulled out her small mirror. She saw that she had fuzzy wolf or dog ears. Akurei tugged at them again and yelped when that hurt her. She rubbed them, and toyed with them and tried to move them for about an hour. Suddenly, her new ears picked up a sound. The sound of screams came to her and she smelled the scent of fresh human blood. She tried to get up, but when she did, she fell backward because her balance was still off. She looked at her feet and screamed. Her feet looked like talons! Someone screamed again and she jumped up and started running and tripped on an old skull. She scrambled up again and took off. Her balance was much better than before and she looked back and saw that she had a tail. Her eyes widened and she ran faster, towards the burning village. People were on horses with torches and spears and other weapons, shouting and yelling. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" she screamed. Some villagers caught sight of her and started running, only to be trapped by the men. Akurei ignored the villagers and focused on the men. They caught sight of her and charged towards her. "Get her!" one of them screamed. Akurei leapt up and the next thing she remembered, there were dead bodies littered around her. But only the raiders and plunderers were killed. The villagers had all run off. She went looking for something to clean the blood off and came across a river. She leapt in and started to bathe. Her clothes were relatively unscathed, so she put them on again. She put her boots in her bag and started walking, trying to get used to her new body. Why do I have this? She wondered. Why is my body different now? Her ears pricked at the slightest sound and her nose picked up some scents she ordinarily wouldn't have been able to. She kept walking along the pathway for a few more hours, not running into anyone for long. Those who did pass by her would see her, and then run away. After a while, she ran quite literally into a few people wearing strange armor. She looked up, an apology on her lips, when the fist came down right on her cheek. She staggered back, vision slightly blurry, and yelled, "What in the hell was that for?!" The reply came in the form of a blade attempting to hack through her shoulder. She yelped and staggered back. Turning to run, someone threw a chain around her and yanked. Akurei fell back writhing. She opened her eyes and saw a girl and a boy standing over her. The girl had black, pink, and red armor while the boy had black, yellow, and teal armor. The boy's blade was stained with blood: her blood. The girl had what appeared to be a giant boomerang, but she was holding the chain ends that imprisoned her. "You realize it's rude to try killing people that ran into you, right?" she said, sarcastically.

"Shut up, monster," one of them said. They were wearing masks, so it was difficult to tell who was speaking. The voice sounded female, though.

"Come on. What did I ever do to you guys?"

"Silence, demon."

Demon? She thought surprised. Her face must have shown her confusion because one of them scoffed and said, "Your body and ears are proof enough."

"Oh," Akurei replied, "Well, actually, I didn't mean for them to appear. I got attacked by a demon and—"

"I said silence!" the girl shouted, yanking on the chains.

Akurei yelped and squirmed, trying to escape the tight bonds that held her. "Why are you doing this?"

"You are a demon. It is our job to slay beasts such as yourself."

"So you're demon hunters?"

"Yes."

"Hm," Akurei mused, "Well then, would you mind explaining where in the world I am? Since you two seem like the types who know where they're going, you should be able to answer my question."

"You're a day's ride from the village," the girl said. She turned to the boy and said, "End her."

"No!"

Akurei struggled against the chains and let loose a wolfish howl to try and get somebody's help. The boy, raised his blade and brought it down on the demon girl. She screamed as the point bit into her other shoulder, "Help! Somebody, help me!" She curled into a smaller ball and covered her head. Suddenly, a large pack of black wolves came tearing down the slope with several men right behind them, all growling at the demon hunters.

"Eh? What's this? A couple of big-shot demon hunters picking on one who won't even fight? That's just sad," one of the men said. "Just be on your way, fools. You're outnumbered." The two looked down at Akurei and back at the demons. They seemed to think better of a confrontation and turned to take a different road. When they were gone, Akurei sighed in relief and tried to pull the chain off, but winced when it rubbed her cuts.

"You idiot. Don't you know you don't have to let them walk all over you like that?" A younger-looking boy crouched down beside her. His whitish gold hair fell forward as he gently began untangling her from her chains, taking great care to avoid worsening her cuts in her shoulders. Akurei watched him with wide eyes as he showed her the first kindness she'd seen since she was attacked by that demon. "You won't…hurt me?" she asked, tentatively.

"Why would I hurt you? Just keep still and I'll get these off you."

"Because everyone seems angry that I'm not human. I thought I was, but I guess not," she looked away, scared. "Who are you, anyway?" she asked.

"I'm Okami. What's your name, pretty one?"

"Akurei," she said, blushing. She looked toward the wolf demon again. He was checking the depth of her wounds, "We'll have to go back to the camp to fix you up. Hey guys!" he called, "I'm going to take her back to the den."

"What!"

"No way!"

"I heard Koga was still visiting!" the others shouted.

"Come on, she needs help. I'll patch her up and then we can send her on her way. That okay with you?" Okami asked, turning to the half-demon. She looked up at him and nodded. "Could you help me up? I'm not sure I can stand."

"Sure, here," he held his hand out and helped her get up, "Wow, you really aren't steady on your feet are you?" he asked, noticing her dog-like paws.

"Not in the least. I have no clue how to walk. The tail helps with the balance, but I definitely can't walk yet."

"You have a tail?" he asked, surprised. In response, Akurei lifted the thin tip of her tail into the air, the light fur feathering whispering lightly in the breeze. He whistled through his teeth and wrapped his arm around her to support her while she stood. "Here, try walking," he said after she got steady. She nodded and took a few wobbly steps and stopped to regain her balance. After a few minutes, she took a few more. Okami followed close behind to make sure she didn't fall or anything. The others were waiting for them to get moving so they could hurry back to the Tribe.

"Come on, Okami!"

"Yeah!"

"Let's go!"

"Coming!" he called back. "You ready? We'll be running pretty far."

Akurei smiled grimly, "I should be able to make it if I've survived this long."

He patted her back gently, "Then let's get going."

"Right." Akurei took a few steps away from him, then proceeded to destroy what was left of her tank top and then made it a wrap to cover her chest. Man, those demon-hunters really had it out for my clothes, she thought. After she finished, she lunged into an easy jog after the waiting wolf demons at the top of the hill.