Prologue

A young ebony haired girl sniffled quietly in the darkness of her bed chambers, a fresh bruise just starting to form underneath the snow like skin of her cheek. A soft thump of a familiar pair of feet landing on the wood floors several feet in front of her. "Hey, why are you hanging out over there?" A slightly higher pitched young girl's voice asked in between a mouthful of bread. Most likely stolen from the kitchen no doubt. "Umi? Hey I asked you what-"The girl stopped as her sky blue eyes adjusted to the darkness and saw the purple bruise on her lady's face. "What the hell is that!? Who did that to you!?" Her blue eyes darkened in sudden outrage at the slight possibility that her friend had been harmed while she was supposed to be watching her.

Umi turned away and covered her cheek with the sleeve of her silk kimono, wiping away the tears that had started to form in her steel grey eyes. "It's nothing Yuri. Don't worry about it. I just fell down and it hurt." Yuri's brow furrowed, not believing her friend entirely but knowing when it was best not to follow up. Her black tipped white fox ears slightly pulled back in annoyance as she knelt down to Umi's level. "Wanna get out of this dump?" She smiled brightly, tiny fangs gleaming in the low light. "Yeah. Where to this time?" Umi asked as they proceeded to exit in Yuri's favorite route, through the window of course. Yuri stopped for a moment to think, the breeze lightly carrying the scent of the village below on the air. "I don't know. Let's go exploring through the forest and see what kinds of things we can find." Umi noticed a deep gash on the back of Yuri's neck that was partially covered up with her short black bob of hair.

But just as Yuri knew to keep her thoughts to herself for the most part at least, so did Umi and she kept her lips sealed about what might've happened to Yuri earlier on in the day. The villagers didn't care much for Yuri, not even her own parents had wanted her, saying she was a disgrace to fox kind simply because she was a little different than the rest of them. Umi knew, along with the rest of the village, what Yuri's full demon form truly looked like. But unlike the others who couldn't look past the outward appearance of her true form, Umi could see the untapped potential in her friend and body guard. Following alongside the agile and swift white fox kit they made it quickly to the edge of the village without being detected by anyone else.

"Come on! You're lagging behind here!" Yuri taunted, a challenge in her blue eyes that Umi knew all too well. "You know you always lose Yuri so why even bother?" The young girl chuckled slightly and picked up the pace. "You never know! Today could be the day you eat my dust!" Umi smirked, knowing all too well that there was no way a two tail like Yuri could ever hope to win in a race against a nine tail such as herself. Regardless she still thought it'd be a much sweeter win if she let Yuri get a little ahead before forcing the kit to eat her words. As they ran Yuri's eyes gleamed with a light that only really came out when she was running full force. It was almost as though running allowed her the freedom to be herself that life in the village never could.

Umi understood that same feeling of freedom. After she noticed Yuri's stamina starting to wane slightly she smirked and took her chance to steal the win. "Ugh! Ok maybe not today but someday!" Umi shook her head with a soft smile at her friend's determination. Yuri flopped down onto the nearest soft patch of bright green grass with a sigh. "You know I wish I had brothers like you do so I could go running around all the time with them. Not that you're no fun or anything Umi." Without realizing it Yuri had suddenly stepped on a landmine. Umi's eyes narrowed slightly, at the remark. "No you don't. Brothers suck." Yuri shrugged her slender shoulders not noticing the dangerous waters she was wadding into with the topic. "I don't know. I think it would be pretty awesome to have someone else related to me that I could hang out with. You're pretty lucky I think." Umi's eyes watered in anger. "If you want them so badly then you can have them!" Yuri jumped in surprise at the amount of rage in her friend's voice and before she could say anything Umi was off.

"Wait! Get back here or you'll get lost again! Umi! Wait!" Yuri rushed after her young leader in training, not knowing what she had done wrong but not wanting her to be alone. She knew there would be no way for her to catch up to the powerful nine tail but in spite of it all she carried on. Until she noticed the first drop of rain hit the tip of her nose. "No…damnit! No!" Yuri cried as she hurried on. Umi's feet barely hit the ground as she ran, tears streaming uncontrollably from her pale face. She didn't know exactly where she was going but she did know that Yuri was somewhere behind her as always. She knew that it wasn't Yuri's fault for making her upset and that she didn't do it on purpose but she wished that sometimes Yuri wasn't so dense. Couldn't she tell that there was something going on? Without realizing it she tripped over a tree root that was hidden from her sight. The first few drops of rain hit her warm skin on her bruised cheek. Picking herself up she didn't immediately realize that there was someone else standing there watching her with enraged eyes.

"Don't you dare move another muscle demon scum!" Umi lifted her grey eyes in surprise at the small human girl that wasn't much taller than herself in what looked to be like a tiny version of a priestess outfit. There was a strange scent attached to the human that she hadn't recognized before but it was certainly a powerful aura and not one that she felt she should be messing with in her current state. Although her fox demon pride got the better of her mouth. "Who do you think you are talking to? I am Umi! Now get out of my way…please." Umi stood and faced the young human girl.

The girl glared in disgust as she pointed a wooden arrow towards her threateningly. "Die demon!" The human shouted as the clouds unleashed their burden upon the world. The arrow just barely grazed her neck, severing the bell that had been tied around her throat by Yuri so she could keep track of her. Realizing that this little girl meant business, Umi did the only thing she could think of. She ran. The pain from whatever poison that was in the arrow was slowing her down and the thick mud pulled at her tiny feet. In the back of her mind she wondered where Yuri was and why had she run away from her body guard in the first place. The human girl followed her diligently all the way into a clearing where an old wooden well was located. Another arrow whizzed past her head. It was good thing this girl was a lousy shot otherwise a few inches to the left and she would end up with a hell of a headache. Umi hurried toward the well looking back at the strange human girl and not paying attention to her footing. Her foot slipped on the slick mud, landing her face first down the well, as she fell her head smacked the hard side and blackness consumed her vision…