Sorry that this has taken so long. No, really, I'm sorry. And, by the way, this chapter takes place on christmas day. I hope you like it!
Aokaki darted through the forest, her vision rapidly blurring and her memories becoming fuzzy. Blood dripped down her forehead, chest and legs, reminding her that her family was still threatened by a group of very powerful youkai dog demons.She stopped and listened for her cousin's 'all's well' yowl, but heard none.
She was now sure of the worst.
She called to her daughter, who rushed to her side.
"I am now certain that I will die," she hoarsely stammered," Save yourself while you can! Go find safety!" She knew her instructions were vauge, but it was all she could do...
The cat demon looked up and her eyes widened.
The last thing she saw was a blood-red moon.
" - And that's what happened to your great grandmother." The old woman finished.
"Tell us another one, grandma!" one of her younger grandchildren urged.
"Yeah! Tell us the one about grandpa and the lizard demons!" another suggested.
" Please, please, please, please, please?" the children begged.
" Alright, Alright! It was a dark, stormy night, and your grandfather was just a boy..."
Chi-Niiro Getsuei Go-Ruden sat down by the fireplace, bored with her grandmother's stories. There were only a few stories she told that interested her, and the grandpa/lizard demon story was not one of them. She sighed and began to braid her long, chestnut bangs, when her cell phone rang.
The girl sighed again, this time in frustration.Cell phones were too short to reach her kitty ears and her mouth at the same time, and she had very good hearing when she wasn't wearing a hat, which was bad when the volume control using the hat was either 'too soft to hear' or 'loud enough to make you go deaf'. Besides, some of the younger human kids would flip out if they found out she was a cat demon , and so she couldn't take off the hat and reveal her ears.She scurried into the hallway and answered the phone.
" Mushi-Mushi."
" Hi Niiro, it's Hisui ." Niiro's friend, Hisui Uyoku Hasu answered.
" What's up?"
" Are you doing anything next week? Elipson & Psi are coming into town next week, and I won four tickets to their concert!"
"Awsume! I don't think I have anything going on, but let me check..." Niiro dashed into the kitchen and asked ,"Raidou, are we doing anything next week?"
" No, we aren't - now could you please let me get to the oven before the biscuts burn?" came the reply. Niiro mumbled a quick 'gomen' while exiting the room, and tripped on her tail( which has been shoved down her left pant leg the whole time).Embarrassed, she then hid in a closet, and barely took the time to tell Hisiu the reply before hanging up. She then began a conversation with herself about the frustrations of being a cat demon.
" Being a cat demon is so annoying! First of all, I have to wear a hat everywhere if I can't find the potion to make my tail and ears go away( temporarily, of course!) and I have to stuff my tail down a pant leg, which is really uncomfertable with the possibility that I can trip on it!" she whined. "Now everybody's going to think that I'm a klutz- and possibly insane, if they hear this conversation. To top it all off, I can't even get into my full-demon form... I mean, come ON! If I have to put up with all these annoyances, I should at least have some amount of power to balance it out! Hey, this closet seems kind big. I wonder what's in here..." She proceeded to explore the closet.
After what seemed like hours of finding junk, scrolls,and old scrapbooks, something caught Niiro's eye. There was a small, dusty box on the bottom shelf- the kind of box you'd put jewelry in!
Now that's more like it! she thought as she greedily snatched it from the shelf. She wiped at least one of the many dust layers off the box, and opened it.
Inside, she found a three inch long, silver bangle with an emerald embedded in the side opposite of the clasp that closed it. She opened the clasp and put the bangle on her arm.
"Chi-Niiro? Are you in there? The food is ready…" Her grandmother said as she opened the closet. She saw the bangle, gasped, and pulled Niiro out of the closet with a frown.
Niiro had the sinking feeling that she was in a heap of trouble.
Japanese word meanings:
hisui - jade ...uyoku - wings ...hasu- lotus... go-ruden---golden ... raidou-mother... gomen- sorry...