Demon Trails: Naraku's Gone

by Ichiyama

After Inuyasha and his friends defeated Naraku,they went their seperate ways.Now a new demon is bringing trouble to the Fudal Era and a new Generation must fight.The well has long since been destroyed and Inuyasha and Kagome have long gone. Defend History

Demon Trails

The Journey Begins

Chapter 1: Old and New

The sun was high in the sky and it was midday. The heat was almost unbearable; the only rest was from the cooling river near the farms or the trees and bushes that edged each farmer's field. The fields were golden and the hedgerows the only green apart from one field; which was the field that was next to a cottage that belonged to the owner of the dozens of fields that there are in site.

The cottage was white with a golden thatched roof. There were two floors which were split outside by a black beam that went all the way round the cottage. The chimney was brick and had smoke climbing from it as if repelled by the house. Around the oak door were bushes and shrubs that were cut neatly into squares and under the five windows at the front all had a flower box under them. One look at the home made you think that a happy family lived there but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

The front door swung back and out of the cottage came a girl with long hair that was almost black and her eyes were hazel coloured. She wore a blue dress that covered her legs and had sleeves that covered her arms all the way down to her wrists. On her hands she wore white gloves and on her feet she wore black boots that were laced at the front. By her ankle was a puppy that had black, white and brown markings all over its body. The puppy seemed to be six months old and his brown eyes glinted in the warm sunlight. The puppy followed the girl everywhere she went and was very obedient. The girl travelled round to the back of the cottage and entered the chicken coop commanding her pup to sit outside the coop; it obeyed straight away and sat to the right of the chicken coop gate. Shutting the gate behind her, the girl spread the chicken food across the floor of the coop and the chickens rushed to the food and gobbled it up quickly. Shutting the gate tightly and bolting it the girl went to the green field and lay in the sun. Her companion followed closely behind her and lay next to her head after the girl lay down.

The moss beneath the grass acted like a pillow for the girl to lay her head on. She watched as the clouds passed her by and watched as the clouds took forms or rabbits and other animals. The girl seemed to be in a trance and she relaxed in the sweet smelling grass. The girl's puppy shifted as it slept in the warm sun dreaming of chasing small animals. The girl looked at the puppy and watched as its legs moved as if it were running through woods. The girl smirked at her pup as it dreamed and whined in its sleep and this felt warming to the girl as it meant her puppy was happy and healthy.

Suddenly a shadow in the shape of a person came over the girl and she sat up in surprise. The boy that casted the shadow looked to be fifteen, the same age as the girl, and had short blond hair. His bright blue eyes were almost as blue as the oceans and he had a pointed chin. He wore black trousers, boots and shirt and had a red robe on his shoulders. The boy looked like he could be important but the scar over his left eye and the dirtiness of his face and clothes showed otherwise.

"Do you have a room I can stay in at your cottage? I wish for a place to rest and eat." The teen asked friendly.

"Well erm... I haven't ever had anyone come and stay in my home before." The girl answered a little bit shy as her pet turned onto its belly.

The boy looked at the dress that the girl wore and realised that she wore gloves and a very warm dress on such a hot day. The girl stood up and brushed herself down to get the grass out of her dress.

"Interesting. Why do you wear a dress that is so warm? And why do you wear gloves as well?" The boy said as he twisted his head to look at the length of the dress.

The girl was embarrassed and pulled her sleeves down even further then she had it before. The boy suddenly understood that he forgot to introduce himself.

"Sorry I forgot to introduce myself. I am Nagito Hikura, I'm a traveller and I always are on the move."The boy explained.

"I'm Rosie Hikuchki. I own the land that you're standing on." The girl said stretching out her hand.

Suddenly just before Nagito could shake her hand Rosie pulled it back to her side, blushed and headed off in the direction of the cottage indicating to Nagito that he could come by waving her hand at him.

Arriving at the cottage Rosie opened the door and placed the bag that had the chicken feed on it in her kitchen. The kitchen was the same colour as the bricks that the building was made of and the floor was covered in white tiles. The kitchen had green surfaces with golden taps for the sink. In the middle of the room was a table made of oak wood with five matching chairs.

"So do I get to stay then? If you let me then I will do some of the house work you need doing." Nagito asked unsure of what the gesture before meant.

"Yes sure. I am gonna hold you to that promise though." Rosie laughed.

"This house is so big. Where is your family? I mean you can't live here all on your own." Nagito asked being very rude.

Rosie looked down at her feet worried about her past as she thought back over two years. She paused and a tear rolled down her cheek and fell onto the girl's shoe.

"It was two years ago to this day. My parents were in their new car and had to go and travel far away for a while. I was the only person they could trust to care for the farm. I was left at the farm on my own and shortly after hearing the car leave I heard a crash. I... I went out to see what happened and saw that the car was on fire and..." Rosie couldn't say anything else the memory was too painful and she ran up the wooden stairs that led to the first floor and attic.

Rosie ran into her room sharply swinging her bedroom door open; almost breaking it off its hinges. She fell onto her bed which had black covers. Her room had bamboo sheets spread across the walls and her wardrobe was made of pine wood. Scratching at the wooden door, Rosie's puppy pawed and whimpered to be allowed into the room. With a wave of her hand, Rosie managed to open the door without even needing to go near it. The pup sprinted up to the bed and curled on Rosie's chest. Rosie waved her hand the opposite way to the way she did before and the door closed by itself.

"Hikura. Why did I tell him all of that? I know that it hurts to speak of it. So why did I do it?" Rosie said to her puppy as it looked up to Rosie's eyes.

The pup fell asleep on her stomach and began to snore loudly. Looking up at the sealing, she thought of the night that her parents had died in the car.

It was late at night and the stars were out with a full moon. The car was on fire and there were tires thrown 10 metres away from the car and was set on fire. Rosie's parents were lent forward and were not breathing or moving at all. She tried to get her little brother out of the back of the car but as she did so the car exploded throwing Rosie ten feet away from it. Rosie screamed in pain and her arms and legs were blown off. She was bleeding heavily and she eventually fell unconscious due to loss of blood. A month later she woke in hospital screaming and had robotic arms and legs inserted into the places where he arms and legs first were.

"It was so long ago. Two years that I lost my arms and legs." Rosie said as she pulled back her dress sleeve to reveal her metal arm. She gently petted Hikura, who grumbled as he woke slightly from his deep sleep.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. The sudden sound echoed in Rosie's ears like someone shouting in a cave. Hikura jumped off the bed and growled at the door. Rosie stood and answered the knock just after pulling down the sleeve on her dress. She opened the door slightly and peered through the opening.

"Nagito. Did you want something from me?" Rosie questioned confused at how he worked out where her room was.

"Well I wanted to apologise for asking what I did. I shouldn't have done as it was too personal and I should have thought about what I was asking before I asked it." Nagito apologised hoping that Rosie would forgive him.

"It's ok. How were you supposed to know what happened." Rosie reassured.

"Why did you offer to shake my hand and then pull your hand away at the last minute?" Nagito asked.

Rosie looked down and pulled her sleeve over her arm to try and cover her arm as much as possible. Eliot looked at the arm and then looked at Rosie's head concerned for her. A tear suddenly rolled down Rosie's cheek and fell to the floor.

"Are you ok? Did I say something too intruding? I'm sorry if I did." Nagito concerned grabbing Rosie's hand. "Your hand is so..." Nagito paused not wanting to finish the sentence.

"That is the reason that I didn't want to shake your hand. I guess you had better look rather than me tell you." Rosie explained as she pulled up her dress sleeve to reveal her metal arm.

"A metal... a metal arm? What happened to your real ones?" Nagito asked forgetting about how upsetting it could be to Rosie.

Rosie pulled her sleeve back down over her arm and squeezed through the doorway. Her pup sat next to Nagito and looked up at him with his deep brown eyes as if to say he went a little far with that question. The pup then went down the stairs following his master. Rosie then walked back into the garden of the cottage and it was becoming dusk. She walked over to a tree that had a huge chunk of bark missing from part of it and some of the branches hadn't got any leaves; even though it was spring. Rosie slumped in front of the tree and looked up at the bare branches. Hikura, the beagle puppy, came and sat on Rosie's lap and looked longingly into the tree.

"This is the place. These past few years without them I have always brought flowers to this very spot. I brought them lilies and roses and each year for two years I have come to this spot this very night and prayed for my family's safety." Rosie told her pet as she thought out loud.

Rosie pulled her sleeve back up her arm to reveal the robotic arm underneath. Looking longingly at her arm she remembered the time she had normal arms and legs.

"Ever since that day I have locked myself away from the world and myself to myself." Rosie recalled as she mixed the earth next to her.

Rosie gazed into the sky as the clouds began to turn orange and float past. She looked longingly at the sky and thought about the time she awoke from the coma. She was scared when she woke and confused about where she was. She didn't even know that she was in hospital and when she woke she screamed so loudly that it echoed through the hospital.

Nagito soon arrived in front of Rosie and looked at her as she stared through the tree branches. The metal arm glinted as the light caught the metal body work. Nagito looked at the puppy as it began to sleep; the breathing at the same rhythm as Rosie's pounding heart. Rosie suddenly realised that Nagito had come out to check how she was. Trying to get up, Rosie almost fell over and the pup rolled off her lap and grumbled. Nagito managed to catch Rosie as she fell forward and supported her as she got to her feet.

"I'm sorry. I slipped as I got up." Rosie laughed rubbing her head.

Nagito stroked Rosie on the head where Rosie was rubbing it. Nagito smiled at her, took her hand and pulled her to a far field. Rosie blushed as she was being taken across the field but wished she could feel the warmth of Nagito's hand against hers.

"Where are we going Nagito? Where are you taking me?" Rosie asked as she was being dragged across the field. Nagito just looked and smiled at her. "What did you used to live here? You seem to know where you're going."

Nagito took Rosie to the furthest field and on the brow of the hill was a small statue made of stone. The statue looked almost like a totem pole and was worn by wind and weather. The writing on the front of it as worn but you could make out what it said. 'Let the Bright Stars Always Guide Your Life.' The words had nearly been completely worn down so it was hard to make it out properly.

"What is it supposed to mean?" Rosie asked as Nagito knelt in front of the statue.

"I'm not sure. My dad just showed me this statue and told me that if I had any troubles that I should come and sit here and think around it." Nagito explained.

Rosie sat to the right of Nagito and looked at the statue. Nagito, who was kneeling in front of the statue, closed his eyes and let the cool breeze brush against his face. A tear rolled down his cheek as he sat there and Rosie got out a tissue and wiped it off his face. She looked at Nagito concerned as she was unsure of why he cried. Suddenly Nagito opened his eyes, which seemed to penetrate right through to Rosie's soul, and Rosie immediately sat back on her knees and lent back on her hands.

"Thanks for that. I guess I don't normally come here so when I do I get to think about my past too." Nagito thanked as he put his hand over the top of Rosie's.

Rosie blushed and pulled her hand back against her side. Her face turned bright red and she closed her eyes and turned her head away to look at the ground to her right. Nagito looked at Rosie and the expression on his face became apologetic and he brought his hand back to the side of his body.

"I'm sorry that I did that. I wanted to thank you but I'm not sure how." Nagito replied as he patted Rosie on the shoulder and stood up to look over the valley below.

"It's ok. I'm just not used to people being so friendly towards me. I guess I need to change and get rid of the old and allow a new future." Rosie replied looking up at Nagito as he gazed across the beautiful sunset.

The sunset made the sky turn golden and clouds turn pink. The valley below looked picturesque and was so pretty that it made Rosie forget all her troubles. A tear came to Rosie's eye as she was astonished at the beauty of her home.

"I never knew that my home was so pretty. I always kept myself inside when it began to get dark and so I never really looked at the valley at this time." Rosie explained like she was dreaming.

"Well we had better get back to your cottage. It's going to be a cold night tonight I'm sure of it." Nagito suggested as he put his hand out to Rosie to help her get up.

Rosie rubbed her arm and the sleeve crumpled up her arm. She looked over the valley and Nagito looked down at her to see a tear roll off her cheek.

"I've never had anyone be so kind to me. Because I have these metal arms people have treated me like an outcast. As if I was some kind of monster or demon." Rosie explained.

"Ever since my parents and brother were killed I kept my self away from other people as I have never wanted anyone to see me like I am." She finished.

Rosie stood up and walked toward the cottage. Her puppy, Hikura, followed behind almost making Rosie fall over. The night soon arrived and the full moon lit up everything that the light could reach. The stars looked like diamonds scattered against a black dress. Rosie walked to the tree where her parents and brother were killed; this time carrying a rose with her.

"Mother. Father. Brother. I'm going to have to leave soon. I need to start a new life. I need to forget that night all those years ago and move on with my life." Rosie explained to the place where her family died. "If I lose myself in grief then I will never live the life you would have wanted me to. I know I'm leaving the family business but I think you understand why I am doing this." Rosie said lying the rose down on the ground and looked up at the starry night sky and cried.

Rosie turned round and headed back to the cottage. This time Hikura didn't follow Rosie to the place where her parents had died, instead he stayed in the house to play with Nagito.

By the time Rosie had entered the house Nagito had already started to light the candles all around the house. He struck a match and lit the last candle that was next to the cottage front door just as Rosie entered the house. Rosie was surprised to see that all the candles in the house had already been lit and was a little relieved. Rosie entered the kitchen and took out a steak pie from the oven and onto the oak table on a white plate.

"Would you like some of this pie I cooked earlier? I was going to save half for tomorrow but I might change plans by then. So would you like some?" Rosie called from the kitchen to Nagito.

"Oh erm... ok I'll have the other half. Do you have some carrots or peas or something to complement the pie?" Nagito asked.

"Ya, I have some fresh ones I picked from my vegetable patch this morning." Rosie called back from the kitchen. "You'll have to wait a bit for me to cook 'em ok?"

Sitting round the table Nagito and Rosie were opposite to each other. The steam coming from the pie warmed the mouth even before the pie was put inside. The meat in the pie was so soft that it almost seemed to melt in the mouth. The pie was accompanied by peas and carrots and the carrots were sweet and crunchy while the peas were just sweet. There was orange juice as the drink and Nagito took a sip from the glass he had his in and looked at Rosie as she placed a carrot and piece of steak in her mouth with the fork.

"Nagito. Is it ok if, when you leave tomorrow, that I come with you on your journey?" Rosie said randomly to Nagito.

"Oh. Ya sure I don't mind that you come with me?" Nagito replied as he smiled at Rosie.

When the pair had finished Rosie stood up to take the plates. Just then Nagito stopped her and took both of the plates and glasses and placed them into the sink. He filled the sink quickly and washed the plates and glasses, dried them and then placed them in the cupboard where they came from.

"Oh thanks for that. I'm so used to doing it that it's nice to take a break from doing it for once." Rosie thanked and patted Nagito on the shoulder.

"It doesn't matter I don't mind doing it for you." He replied

Chapter 2:

A New Journey

The sun had just begun to rise as Nagito and Hikura came down the stairs. Rosie had already woken and was preparing food to take on the trip. She packed canned foods and fruit as well as some cuts of meat to cook on the journey. She placed the bag outside the front door and went out to the tack house and got out two saddles and reins and placed them near the stables at the back of the cottage. Nagito soon came out looking for Rosie and found her in the stables at the back of the cottage.

"I like your horses. They're beautiful." Nagito laughed as he stroked a black horse on the nose.

Rosie smiled at Nagito as she placed reins on an appaloosa coloured horse. It was finely built and looked like it was only good for riding and not very good for carrying anything heavier than a person. Rosie then passed the reins to Nagito who was a little surprised to see her handing the reins to him.

"You know how to put a saddle a horse, don't you?" Rosie said and Nagito nodded.

"Good then I'll finish tacking up my horse; from now on that appaloosa is yours as I'm not going to need it." Rosie commented as Nagito became shocked.

Rosie then turned to look at a black horse that had a white star on his forehead and was built like a cob. It seemed to be very strong and looked like it could carry a person and a load of heavy bags. Rosie's saddle had a pouch on it for Hikura to be placed in and after placing him in there, Hikura shuffled in the pouch and yapped at Rosie. Rosie then took his horse to the cottage door and took the key to the door and locked it.

"Right are we ready to go?" Rosie asked Nagito.

"Ya I guess we are. Thanks for the horse by the way." Nagito said as he mounted the appaloosa.

Rosie picked up the bag filled with food and placed it on a tie on Rosie's horse's saddle. She then mounted that horse and rode it off towards a wood that was south of the cottage. Rosie was surprised at how fast they had arrived at the wood as she had taken the journey before but it never took the short amount of time it did. Suddenly the wood split into two roads and Rosie was unsure which way to go.

"So do you want to go to the next village or keep travelling through the woods Nagito?" Rosie question as she stopped her horse to look at the sign which was very worn down due to bad weather.

"I think that we should go to the next village it might be best if we do." Nagito suggested.

The two turned to the right and walked down the cobbled road. It was a long time before Nagito noticed something strange that Rosie was wearing. It was a purple hood with a black wolf with red eyes.

Why is it a black wolf? And why does it have red eyes? Nagito thought to himself.

The hot sun was unrelenting on this day and so the horses needed constant supplementation and rest. The horses tired easily because the road was directly in the bright sunlight. It was while they were resting that Nagito got to get a closer look at the wolf on the robe of Rosie. The wolf was hand stitched and the eyes were made of small plastic, red coloured gems.

They had been travelling for a long time now and it began to get dark and the sunset turned the sky golden. Rosie had set up camp with tents and sleeping bags that she packed in the bag with the food. Nagito had gathered wood for a fire that they were lighting in a clearing where the camp was. The horses were tied to a nearby tree and their tack was removed and rested on a log near them.

"Be careful out there I heard that there are demons in this wood and they will take anything they can get a hold on." Rosie warned Nagito.

Red eyes suddenly appeared in bushes, trees and gaps between the tree trunks. Nagito then took a sleeping bag out of the tent and laid it next to the fire so he would be warm outside the tent. Rosie entered the tent and crept into her sleeping bag while Nagito slipped into his sleeping bag. Just then a demon appeared in the clearing and with each step it took the floor of the clearing became burnt. Out of the tent Rosie sprang as a demonic wolf with golden eyes with slit pupils. The demon screeched in terror at the sight of this form and ran off into the woods too fast for Rosie to catch up with. Nagito, hearing the commotion, woke to see the demonic form of Rosie and screamed in terror.

"Please Nagito. Don't be scared it's me Rosie. Please don't be afraid." Rosie said as she turned back into her human form.

"This is another reason that I kept myself from the world. Since I was little I was able to change into this form, I have more control over it now but I still fear that I will lose control and hurt the people I care about." Rosie began to cry.

"I'm sorry. You said that you knew that there were demons here and when I saw that... I got a little scared." Nagito explained.

Rosie stepped back into the tent as she wiped a tear from her eye and let the then, door fall till you couldn't see into the tent. Nagito looked into the wood and saw that the red eyes had gone and it was almost more frightening as it meant, that you couldn't tell where the demons were. Nagito looked at the tent and then curled back down in his sleeping bag and fell into a deep sleep. Rosie looked up at the top of the tent and thought about the look on Nagito's face when he saw her true form and as she put her hands behind her head she suddenly felt a pair of black wolf ears. As soon as Rosie felt them she turned on her side and looked at her purple robe with the black wolf on it.

"Where did this robe come from? And why was I given it to wear now and not wear from young? It is the right size for me now and fits me perfectly. So why was I given it all that time ago?" Rosie said to her puppy. Soon she was so tired that she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore and fell asleep too.

The sun rose causing the land to appear as golden as the sky. Rosie woke to find that Nagito had already lit the fire to cook breakfast on and had been cooking bacon and sausages ready for her to eat. When Rosie came out of the tent she was wearing her purple robe with the hood over her head to hide the ears that appeared after she had changed the night before. She sat next to Nagito who became puzzled at the fact that Rosie wore her hood up but didn't want to say anything. The footprints from the demon were clearer now and it looked like the footprints were scorched into the ground but as soon as they went into the wood they vanished. Rosie rubbed the scorched earth and looked at the burn marks as if it were controlling her. Nagito came up behind Rosie and placed his hand on her shoulder surprising Rosie. Rosie then took down the tent and rolled up her sleeping bag with Nagito's and placed them on the saddle which was on her black horse. Hikura ran round the clearing chasing butterflies and trying to catch them.

"Hey Rosie thanks for the horse and tack. It feels better riding my own horse compared to riding someone else's horse." Nagito thanked as he placed the tack on his appaloosa.

"You look like someone I once knew and I didn't need the horse so I thought you would be better off with it then I am." Rosie explained as she picked up Hikura and placed him in the pouch on her horse's saddle.

Placing everything on the tack Rosie mounted her horse and took a quick look towards Nagito. Nagito mounted the appaloosa and they were soon heading out to the next village. The sun had risen now although it was only just past sunrise. The warm sun broke through the trees of the wood like strips cracking through the trees. Nagito looked at Rosie with uncertainty as he followed Rosie. He was unsure why she had her hood up over her head but was so worried about upsetting her that he didn't want to mention anything.

Soon the wood began to thin out and the trees started to disappear giving way to fields of rice. The women working in the fields wiped their brows and placed the rice into bags on their backs so the rice could dry out. There were children running on the paths playing as if there wasn't a care in the world.

Nagito and Rosie had to travel in a single line as the path was only wide enough for them to fit one horse along it. Soon the village came into view and it seemed to be quite a small one too. There were market stands build into houses and pubs and cafes were dotted around the village too. The houses were all made out of bricks and the roof tiles were the same colour as ebony wood. There were about four windows at the front of each house and the doors to each building were made out of some dark wood. Suddenly one of the doors swung open really fast and a small girl with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a black dress, ran out of the building and came running at Rosie. Rosie was a little surprised to get such a warm welcome and Hikura leaped out of his pouch into the arms of the blond girl.

"Hey Higuchi. I thought I'd stop by and get my arms and legs re-measured. How's the family by the way? I haven't seen you in such a long time and I've been so busy I forgot to write to you." Rosie said as she dismounted her horse and hugged the blond girl.

"They're ok. It doesn't matter that you forgot to write as well I know how busy you get on that farm of yours." Higuchi replied. "By the way who's the boy you're travelling with? He's kinda cute."

"Come on, I want to get these arms and legs sorted first we can talk while you are making sure that they are the right length." Rosie said as she pulled her friend into the house where she came from.

In house was filled with parts of metal arms and legs as well as tool and gears to repair them with. There was a table in the corner of the room with some parts that were half way through being completed and there were blueprints for new designs of arms and legs scattered across the floor. Higuchi went to the table and picked up a piece of string, that had knots at set intervals on it, and let the one end drop to the floor while holding the other end. Rosie took off her robe and hung it on the hook on the back of the closed front door.

"Right I need to..." The girl paused as she noticed her friend had black wolf ears sticking out of her long hair. "So you changed into your wolf form. Why? You know that it does this to you, so why did you do it?" Higuchi asked rubbing her friend on the head and patting her shoulder.

"I did it to protect the guy I'm travelling with. He let me come with him so it's the least I could do for him." Rosie explained as she removed one of her arms and, sat on a chair next to the table with all the parts on.

"Right I had better get to measure your torso length so I can get your arms and legs the right length. Hadn't I." Higuchi laughed as Rosie took off both of her legs and leaned back against the chair. She took the string and placed it against Rosie's body and measured out up to two and three quarter lengths on the string. "Wow. I'll have to add a whole three inches onto your new legs so that they are the right length for you. So that guy you're travelling with. Do you like him as well?" Rosie began to blush at the comment but didn't know why.

Meanwhile Nagito had been wandering round the village with Hikura and looked at the market stall that there were in the village. He saw two people take his and Rosie's belongings into the local inn and the horses into the stables at the back of the inn. The stalls that were dotted around the village had different merchandise. From sweets and fruit to jewellery and pots. There were calls from the people on the stalls calling out special offers like two-for-one or two hundred grams for one pound. The smell of cooking steaks from the cafes hung on the air with such a sweet scent that it made you want to go into the cafe just to smell the food.

Nagito left the busy village and walked out to the fields with cows and sheep in them. He looked across the valley and settled down in the field in the sun. Surrounded by flowers and animals Nagito looked into the sky and thought about what he had seen the night before. The golden eyes of Rosie glared into him and had sent a cold shiver down his spine and made his body go stiff. It was the first time he had ever truly been scared of something in his life.

Back at the house Rosie had her arms resting in the metal sockets on her body. Higuchi turned the arm so that it was in the right way and pulled a lever on the arm which connected the nerves to the wires in the arm. Rosie screamed in pain as the wires connected and an electric shock surged down the arm. Higuchi then did the same thing with the legs and Rosie flexed her arms and legs to make sure they worked properly.

"These ones are lighter than the others you gave me. They seem to be a lot stronger too. They are a lot easier to move. Are they a new design?" Rosie told Higuchi.

"Ya it is a new design. I thought you would be the perfect person to try them out on, seeing as u needed new arms and legs and all." Higuchi replied laughing.

Rosie stood up and put on her robe placing her hood on her head as she did so. The gems on the hood glinted as they caught the sun coming through the window. It was afternoon and nearly dark outside the window.

"I had better go get Nagito. He won't know that we are done." Rosie said as she opened the door and headed into the village.

"Now I wonder where Nagito and Hikura could have gone. I bet he went to the fields at the back of the village." Rosie thought out loud.

Rosie ran straight to the fields at the back of the village filled with sheep and cows. On the brow of the hill, with the fields on it, Rosie found Nagito asleep with Hikura curled on his chest. She woke Nagito who sat up so quickly that Hikura nearly fell off his chest. Rosie laughed as Hikura sneezed as he got back up.

"I bet you're wondering who that girl was that greeted me so warmly earlier. She's my first friend. She used to come round my house all the time when we were little and we used to play together all the time too. Her name is Higuchi Naskayami. I trust her more than anyone else I have known, I even trust her with my life." Rosie explained as she sat down next to Nagito and her puppy. "I am all sorted now you can go to the inn and have something to eat. I'll catch up with you later." Rosie said as Nagito stood up and looked back down on the valley.

Sunset had just begun. The sky turned golden to red to purple. It was dazzling and so beautiful that it brought a tear to Rosie's eye. The valley below had clusters of houses and a winding river flowing through it and the bright blue colour of it shined in the sunset. Nagito headed back to the village and left Rosie to sit on the hill on her own. Rosie sat in the sun and leaned back on her hands and looked into the sky longingly. Soon stars began to appear in the sky and Rosie had to head back to the village soon too.

At the inn for had been cooked and the smell of it welcomed Rosie into the inn. It was the smell of roast beef and vegetables. Rosie had opened the door to see that her food was layed out on the table ready for her arrival. The other had only just begun to sit down as well so when she came the food was freshly cooked.

It wasn't long before everyone had finished and Nagito, Rosie and Higuchi sat in front of the fire as the night set in. Rosie gave a loud yawn and rubbed her eye. She was still wearing he robe with her hood up and as she yawned she stood up and headed to the second floor of the inn.

"Guys I suggest that you get a good night's sleep. Especially you Nagito. We need to get up early so we can leave this place early and travel further." Rosie called as she reached the second floor of the inn.

Walking round the corridors on the top floor, Rosie looked at all the paintings that were hung on each wall. Some were of flowers and some were paintings of scenery. One of the paintings of a house looked exactly like Rosie's home cottage. Rosie went straight to her room and took her hood and robe off of her body. In her room there was a mirror on a desk and as she looked into it a tear came to her eye. The tear rolled off her cheek and onto Rosie's black top; staining it with her tear. Rosie took off her black boots after untying the laces.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Nagito opened the door without asking if it was ok. Rosie looked up to see Nagito enter the room and Nagito stared at the ears on Rosie's head. Rosie stood up and tried to get close to Nagito but as soon as she took a step forward Nagito took a step backwards away from Rosie. Tears filled Rosie's eyes and she ran out of the inn and into the dark wood; which seemed to be so much more frightening then it was the night before.

In a clearing in the wood there was a log that was almost completely rotted through. Rosie went and sat on the log crying out of loneliness and sadness. The moon looked as if it was crying with her and the stars looked like the moons tears this time rather than diamonds. Suddenly, in the moon light, there was a demonic aura. Then a demon that looked like a human appeared in the clearing with Rosie and patted her on the back. Rosie sharply turned to see a person with black hair that was spiked a little and reached his shoulder. His dark brown eyes looked at Rosie as if he had known her for a long time and was worried about her. He wore a black shirt with black trousers and an ankle length, black leather jacket. He had yellow eyes with pupils that were like cats eyes with a soft look upon them. The eyes seemed to be welcoming towards Rosie and he looked to be fifteen years old. The stranger held out his hand for Rosie to take and hold as if it would save her life.

"Take my hand. I know why you are crying and I can help you with that pain. I can train you to overcome such terrible things and make yourself stronger." The deep voice soothed Rosie's emotions and she soon stopped crying.

Unsure what to do Rosie, nervously, took the hand and slowly stood up and walked with the strange man through the trees and away from the clearing.

Chapter 3:

A Demons Plan

Rosie took the boy's hand so gently that it was like a feather falling on the floor. The boy's hand was soft and Rosie's hand fitted into it like the hand was a glove. The boy pulled Rosie by her arm towards a cave inside the wood.

The cave as dark, except for a small fire in the middle of the floor, and had a small stone sink with a wooden tap that was connected to a river above the cave.

"Demon, what is your name?" Rosie asked the human-like demon.

"Narako is my name. I am a demon tamer and a little shocked at how someone like you called me demon when you are one yourself. All the beasts that are around here are mine to control. I have them watch you when you come into my wood." The demon replied.

Rosie sat with a metal tankard in her hand and took a sip of water from it. She looked down into the water and a tear rolled down her cheek and splashed into the tankard. Suddenly there was a rustling sound outside the cave and Rosie turned sharply to the cave entrance. A ball of shadow surrounded Rosie and within the ball Rosie turned into her black wolf form that was as big as a fully grown man. The ball exploded and Rosie appeared in her beast form and her golden eyes stared into the dark wood with anger.

Demons came from out of the shadows and surrounded the cave entrance. The red eyes of the demons glared at Rosie and watched her every move.

"What are they doing here? Why are they staring at me?" Rosie asked Narako.

"Steady. They aren't here to hurt you. They're here because I told them to come here to come and see you." Narako explained resting his hand on Rosie's back.

Rosie calmed down and turned back into her human for but this time, as well as having the wolf ears, Rosie's eyes stayed golden with slit pupils. Rosie looked back into the tankard and saw that her eyes had stayed as they were for her beast form.

"No they can't. Why are they like this? Why have they stayed as the demon form?" Rosie worried as she threw the tankard to the ground.

Narako again patted Rosie on the shoulder and gave her a bowl of soup with chunks of meat in it. The smell was inviting and made Rosie have to try some. The soup calmed Rosie and seemed to put her in a trance as soon as she took the last mouthful.

"Good you ate it all. Just what I wanted you to do. My dear." Narako said as Rosie dropped the bowl and seemed to be controlled by Narako. "Now my dear. I wish for you to destroy that terrible village where that horrible boy hurt you so much." Narako said softly to Rosie.

A ball of shadow appeared around Rosie again and she was back in her wolf form. She then sprang out of the cave and ran straight to the village in seconds. Arriving at the village Rosie pushed her claws into the ground to make her stop dead. Opening her mouth a huge shadow ball formed just in front of it and it grew bigger the longer she held her mouth open until, she suddenly lunged forward and the ball shot away from her mouth and hit one of the buildings with a market stall built into it. The building collapsed and only the foundations were left. Hearing the commotion, Higuchi and Nagito ran out of the inn and saw Rosie destroying more houses with her shadow balls.

"Rosie! Stop this now. You are destroying the whole village. Please Rosie stop this." Higuchi screamed at Rosie as se fired another shadow ball.

Rosie glared at Higuchi but this time Rosie's eyes were glowing bright red. The cold stare went straight through Higuchi and Rosie lunged at her going in to kill her. Suddenly a huge dog jumped in front of Rosie and blocked the attack from happening.

"Stupid demon. Don't get in my way. I won't let anyone stop me from doing this." The deep growling voice was so different to Rosie's normal voice that, it seemed like this beast couldn't be Rosie.

Narako suddenly appeared behind Rosie and stroked her from her head to her tail. Rosie leaned into the hand like a cat rubbing against someone's leg. Rosie's eyes closed with pleasure as Narako kept on petting Rosie on her body.

"Good pet. You have done exactly as I told you. Come my pet let's go from here that is enough destruction for one day. We will destroy more some other time." Narako commanded Rosie as she changed back into her human form.

This time when Rosie turned back into her human form, she had teeth like fangs in her mouth. Narako patted Rosie on the shoulder, turned round to head back to the wood and Rosie followed closely behind him. She followed Narako all the way through the woods and up to the cave and sat on the floor next to the fire. Rosie was still in a trance but was still upset even in this trance.

"My dear what's wrong? You seem to be worried about something." Narako asked

Suddenly there was a rustling noise outside the cave and Rosie quickly turned into her wolf form again. She sprang out of the cave and looked all around the wood. It was now night and the full moon gave Rosie a bright edge to her. Rosie looked round and saw one of the bushes move and jumped straight in front of it clawing away at the leaves. Inside the bush Nagito hid to try and watch Rosie. Suddenly Rosie stopped and looked at Nagito in surprise and turned back into her human form.

"Nagito? What are you doing here?" Rosie asked starting to come out of Narako's control.

Demons suddenly surrounded Nagito and Rosie and began to growl at Nagito. One of the demons took a step forward towards Nagito and Rosie stood in-between the demon and Nagito.

"If you dare harm him then you won't know what hit you." Rosie snapped at the demon as she helped Nagito stand up.

"How did you break my control? What did you do to her insolent boy?" Narako demanded as he exited the cave.

Soon the sun began to rise and Narako flew off away from the cave in a flurry of demons and disappeared into the sky. Rosie fell to her knees and began to breathe really deeply. Her chest felt like it was being crushed and felt really tight. Suddenly she fainted and Nagito picked Rosie up and took her to the inn.

Rosie woke to find herself laid down on the couch in the entrance of the inn she was staying at. Her arm had been bandaged but she didn't know why. Rosie couldn't remember what happened to the village. All she knew was that some of the buildings were destroyed and that people had been badly hurt. Nagito walked up behind the couch and looked over Rosie as she lay there looking at her bandaged arm.

"You know, you're beginning to look more and more like demon each day." Nagito laughed as he placed his arms on the back of the couch.

"I do. I mean I know I have the ears and eyes like a demon but how else do I look like a demon?" Rosie asked as she sat up on the couch.

"You have teeth like a dog now Rosie." Nagito explained as Rosie pushed a finger against each canine. "You had better get some sleep my friend. You'll need it."

Chapter 4

An Unknown Family

Rosie woke before the sun had even risen. She took her belongings, wincing as she picked up her bag, and placed it on her horses back. She took the reins of her horse and walked away from the inn. She mounted the horse and headed towards the next town. She kept on moving and got as far away as she wanted from the village and stopped in a clearing in the forest to watch the sunrise.

Nagito woke to find a note on his bedside table. Nagito read the note in his mind. Dear Nagito, I'm sorry but I have to go and leave you. I am worried that if you become a closer friend to me then more things like this will happen to you. Although I have only known you for a few days I still don't want to see you, or anyone else, to get hurt. I have left Hikura ,my puppy, to you as I can tell that he cares about you. Please try not to follow me as you will only get hurt. Stay away from me from now on. Rosie. Nagito sharply got up from his bed and ran down the stairs of the inn in his pyjamas. He almost slipped down the wooden stairs as he ran towards the front door.

Back at the clearing, Rosie sat and watched as the warm sun rose up and began to warm the cool morning air. Rosie placed her hands behind her head and rested her head down on the soft grass beneath her body. She stared into the rainbow-like sky and watched as the clouds passed her over head like she didn't matter to the world. Rosie looked to her side and imagined Hikura playing with the flowers next to her but then the imaginary puppy faded and Rosie remembered she had given her puppy to Nagito. Rosie sat up and looked across the quiet valley. Standing up a tear came to Rosie's eyes and she looked down at the ground as the tear fell to the grass.

A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around Rosie's body and pulled her close to the body they belonged to. Rosie turned and pushed herself away from the person in fear of who the person was. When she looked at the teenager he looked similar to Rosie. He had ears but they were silver, like the boys hair, and were thinner and shorter and seemed to be more like dog's ears rather than those of a wolf. The man had golden eyes that looked exactly the same as Rosie's and wore black trousers that were tight to his skin, a white shirt and a blue jacket.

"Hello there, Ishudria. Do you not recognise me?" Rosie's face was filled with fear. "So you haven't fully regained all your powers." The strange boy said twisting his head to the side. "Maybe my name will help you to remember me. Kuraku Hasiguchi is my name. My friend, please say you remember me." The boy seemed to be sad that Rosie didn't recognise him.

The boys face was so memorable to Rosie but she didn't know why. She didn't understand who he was? Or why he was there? But she knew that he was important to her for some reason. Rosie stepped forward to get a closer look at the boys face.

"How do I know you? Where do I know you from? And why did you call me Ishudria. My name is Rosie, not Ishudria." Rosie told Kuraku as she looked closely at the boys face.

"I think it would be better if I showed you rather then telling you." Kuraku explained as he held out his hand to Rosie.

Rosie remembered what had happened with the last stranger she trusted. She could remember how she was controlled by Narako and how when she trusted him he had betrayed that trust.

"You still have those stupid metal arms on. Don't you? Why don't you take them off? Now that your power has returned your arms should grow back on their own." Kuraku stated smiling at Rosie warmly.

Suddenly Rosie found that her right arm had been torn from her arm with the socket still attached to it. The place where the arm was bled heavily when suddenly Rosie's original arm grew back and she had a normal skin and bone arm.

"What? What the hell is going on here? How the hell did that happen?" Rosie screamed at the boy as he held her metal arm and socket in his hand.

"It is one of your powers as a demon. Any damage done to you, no matter how serious, is undone and your injuries re-heal." Kuraku explained smiling as he dropped the metal arm on the ground. The boy then sprang at Rosie and pulled her metal left arm and leg and they grew back quickly. "See. That is one of your special abilities." The boy then took the last leg and that grew back straight away.

"My arms and legs? They are back to normal? So you're telling me that I, myself, am a demon." Rosie said.

"Just come with me you'll understand better if you come with me." Kuraku stated as he put his hand out to Rosie again.

"Now come, Ishudria. Come back home to your father."

"My father? He's still alive?" Rosie was surprised to hear this news and realising, that if she went with Kuraku, she would find her father she took the boys hand with a gentle grasp.

Kuraku took Rosie through the woods and up a steep hill. Rosie held the reins to her horse tight so that she didn't lose her horse or the items on its back. The group had to step over fallen trees and large boulders that had been swept there many years ago due to heavy floods. The trees were split by the path that the group were walking up and the wood seemed to be a place that not even the birds would enter or sing in. Walking up the steep hill a creature suddenly stood in the middle of the dirt track. The creature was a huge black panther that stood at 8 feet tall. It had red eyes and sabre-teeth. Around its tail was a yellow bow that seemed to be like a collar from an owner of the beast. The demon jumped at Rosie's horse and killed it making the bag it was carrying burst open and its contents spill across the ground. The creature lunged at Rosie knocking her to the ground and licked her face smothering it with saliva.

"What the hell are you? What the hell is...?" Rosie suddenly remembered her pet. "Rikuchi? Wow it is you!" Rosie seemed to be so happy and she gave the cat a huge hug and hung off its neck.

Rosie sat on the back of her pet and placed the torn bag on her pets back. Most of the contents had fallen out but there was still food in it and so Rosie took it with her. Rosie was still a little upset at losing her horse but she didn't need it anyway and she understood why her pet killed the horse. The group soon arrived at a huge shrine that had white walls with red roof tiles on it as a barrier to stop intruders.

There were two stone dragons at a huge pair of wooden gates that were 10 feet tall. The dragons eyes suddenly glinted and the two statues became real dragons. The dragon on the right was bright fire red and the one on the left was ocean blue and they both had yellow eyes.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The dragons asked in unison.

"I am Kuraku Hasiguchi and this is Ishudria Nagarota. I am here to bring this princess back home." Kuraku stated indicating towards Rosie.

Princess? Rosie thought to herself. Does he mean me?

"The princess is back? Tell everyone that the princess has returned." The red dragon commanded the blue dragon, which immediately flew off into the shrine and opened the huge gate from the inside.

Rosie and Kuraku entered the shrine and Rosie saw that there were seven different buildings. Each one had a demon head on it and each head represented different kill levels. The demon head that showed the lowest skill was one that looked similar to a horse; but had two mouths and four eyes, and was dark black. The demon head that showed the next best strength was one that was a giant centipede head that was bright red and glinted in the sun. The next strongest was a building with a monkey-like head with its eyes closed and had a huge nose. The fourth strongest was represented by a demon head that was similar to a human but the nose was disfigured and had been cut in half by something like a sword or dagger. The third strongest was shown by a lion head that was three times bigger than a normal lions head and the teeth were like daggers. The second strongest was represented by a snake head with two tongues sticking out of its mouth and with a horn in the middle of its head. The strongest was represented by a giant, red wolf head that had its canines sticking out of its mouth a little bit. Each building was white on the outside and had three floors. The roof of each building had brown tiles covering them and each window had some wooden shutter to block the light out or to close at night.

"Do you wish to see your father then? Do you wish to return to your home?" Kuraku asked as he pointed to the building with the red wolf head on it.

Kuraku walked toward that building and took Rosie with him. They entered it though the sliding doors and saw an elderly man sitting between two wooden doors. He had wrinkled skin and one single patch of hair on the top of his head. He wore a black kimono with a white shirt beneath it. He looked up at Rosie and his sea blue eyes were filled with experience and skill.

"Princess, you finally have come home. After all these years, we have waited for your return to this place." The elderly man's voice was a little coarse but still had a clear tone to it; which was recognised by Rosie as soon as she heard him speak.

"Kyako-san I haven't seen you for so long. I didn't even remember you till you spoke those few words to me teacher. I'm sorry I forgot you." Rosie apologised as she knelt to the floor on one knee placing her fist to the floor.

"You don't have to apologise. I know that you would forget me. I'm just happy that you remember me now." The old man replied. "I'm guessing you want to see your father, seeing as you haven't seen him in such a long time. He's on the top floor in the room to the left of the stairs." Kyako said as he indicated to the door on his left-hand side.

Rosie ran to the door and sung it open so hard that it nearly broke off of its hinges. She sprinted up the wooden stairs so fast that she nearly fell over her own feet. The stairs wound round and round up the middle of the building. On the third floor of the building there were three doors. The one that Rosie took to the left of the stairs had roses inlayed into the wooden door. The rose branches tangled with one another and became one branch at the bottom of the door. The door handle was made of ebony and had a wolf head carved into the front of it with ruby eyes. Rosie grasped the handle with anticipation and slowly turned it to open the door.

She only opening it half way and peered through the gap and looked into the dark room. The only light was from the window that was slightly blocked by a figure that sat on a raised platform. The figure was completely black, due to the light edging him, and there wasn't much that could be distinguished from the figure. The only thing you could tell was that the figure was male.

The man stood up, turned and looked at Rosie. The man walked towards the door and Rosie shied away from the dark figure.

"My daughter, please don't be scared of me. I keep this room dark so that I could think of you and your mother without being disturbed." The man came out of the room following Rosie and shut the door behind him.

As soon as the man stepped into the light Rosie could recognise him. The man had long, blond hair with silver eyes that seemed so welcoming that they would take you inside of them and keep you there at your happiest forever. He wore a long jacket that as black and covered his whole body. Around the collar were spikes of the fabric that stuck up like needles. He had yellow wolf ears and his canines were all like the ones of a wolf. Rosie just stood there looking at him and couldn't think of anything to say to her father.

"My daughter, aren't you going to say anything to me? I haven't seen you in so long my child." The man said as he embraced his daughter for the first time in ten years.

"Father, is it really you? I can't believe that you're there and that I have a father. You don't know what happened to the family you gave me to, do you?" Rosie said as a tear came to her eye.

"My sweetheart, I know what happened to them. I know about the crash and how you had metal arms and legs." Rosie's father told his child and hugged her tightly. "Come I wish to show you something that I have wanted you to see for a long time." The man said as he took Rosie by the arm and walked back down the stairs.

"Where are we going father? What do you want to show me?" Rosie asked as they got to the ground floor.

The pair walked out of the stairway and into the entrance of the building. As soon as they entered the room Rosie saw Kuraku kneeling down on one knee. She was confused but was taken out of the building and into a beautiful garden that was at the back of the building.

The garden was full of beautiful flowers and fruit trees. There was a lake with a small island in the middle of it that was connected by a small bridge made of wood. The small island had a peach tree growing in the middle of it and a bench under the tree. The peaches were strange as they were bright red instead of a golden-like colour. The bench was made of white marble where the legs were made to look like small pillars.

Rosie and her father walked through the garden and over the bridge to the island. They sat down on the bench under the tree and sat there quiet and still not talking to one another for a few moments.

"This was your mother's favourite spot. She used to bring you here as a baby. You always used to dip your feet in the water and you always took a lily from the lake. I remember once you took one out and brought it to me. You placed the lily in my hair above my ear and then were surprised when it began to wilt a few days later. It was on the night that the lily completely wilted that your mother and I took you to the human family to protect you from the people who were after you." Her father remembered hoping that Rosie would too.

"Father, why were there people after me? Who were the people coming after me? And what was it that they wanted to do with me after they had me?" Rosie asked.

"I'm sorry, but that is something that I can't tell you. You will have to learn that all on your own." Rosie's father sounded disappointed that he couldn't help his daughter. "I'm sorry I can't help you. I just wanted you to be safe and that's why I sent you to live with the humans and made you forget me and all of this so you couldn't be traced."

Rosie stood up and left the garden and headed into the forest. The dark wood held no life apart from the demons that control it. Bats, birds and even deer wouldn't go near the woods for fear of the demons feasting upon them. All the people in the local villages would stay away as they thought that it was cursed. Rosie soon found a clearing in the wood where the sun seemed to touch the ground with its rounded edge. She lay down in the middle of the field and placed her hands behind her head. The sky was becoming coloured in the sunset and the clouds he turned pale pink at the edges nearest the sun.

Rosie's huge demonic cat soon came into the clearing and curled round Rosie's head. The cat comforted Rosie like an old friend and it brought her tail up near Rosie's body. The demons tail swayed slowly and in rhythm with Rosie's heartbeat. Kuraku soon arrived to see Rosie with her head nestled in Rikuchi's dark fur. He looked down longingly at Rosie and knelt down next to her. He rubbed her face and softly pushed back Rosie's fringe so that it was out of her eyes.

"What happened? Where did I fall asleep this time?" Rosie asked as she woke from her sleep rubbing her eyes and stretching all of her muscles. "Oh hey Kuraku, where am I? I've kinda forgotten where I fell asleep."

"It's ok you can stay here if you wish, you can stay here I'll lay here with you." Kuraku replied as he then lay down next to Rosie, to the dismay of Rikuchi. "You know that your friend has been looking for you. There have been reports that a human has been searching in the Cursed Wood asking if anyone has seen a girl matching your description." Kuraku explained as he looked down at Rosie.

"He's an idiot. I left him that note and he still come after me. How does he think he's going to protect himself without any weapons?" Rosie said frustratedly hitting the ground. "I wrote to him not to follow me or to try and find me if he can't follow me."

"That's probably the reason why he came after you? The note probably made him want to come after you more. He probably wants to protect you because you protected him." Kuraku told Rosie as she turned to look at him.

It was now night and the moon was slightly smaller then full. It was still just as bright as when it was full. The sky was a little cloudy but you could still see patches of stars. The cool air gently blew against the three as seemed to be from a different place.

"I remember about our past all those years ago. I remember how we used to run through the woods and chase each other playing catch the demon, and how I always won." Rosie laughed and teased annoying Kuraku. "I remember how you always used to go in a sulk after I beat you. I always made you laughed afterwards though, because I would change into one of my funny animals and you'd burst out laughing."

Rosie gazed up at the sky and watched as a shooting star flew over her head with grace and beauty. The crisp air made each breath appear as a cloud and then fade into the night. Rikuchi looked at Rosie and Kuraku with contempt as Rosie thought back into her past. Rosie curled up rubbing her head in the warm fur of Rikuchi and slowly fell asleep.

Out of the woods suddenly came a huge snake-like demon with glowing red eyes and fangs that stuck out of its mouth. The fangs were dripping with blood and the demon smelt strongly of dead bodies. Kuraku sharply stood up and glared at the demon. He growled deeply at the beast and as it lunged towards him Rosie jumped at the beast in her demon wolf form. Rosie swung at the demon causing claw marks, on the body of the demon, out of shadow. The beast screamed as it disappeared, by breaking up into glistening petals, and floated away on the breeze. Rosie, with her demonic eyes, watched as the petals floated away over the valley below. Rosie turned back into her human form but this time she had a wolf nose as well as the ears, eyes and teeth. Rosie looked down at her hands and saw that she also had claws on her hands instead of nails.

"Wow you're fast. I didn't think that you would still be so fast after all this time of not being a demon." Kuraku explained with surprised tone in his voice.

"Well just because I haven't remembered who I really was and where I came from doesn't mean that I forgot what form I could change into and how to fight." Rosie beamed. "So you thought that I would have forgotten how to fight. I guess because I forgot you, you thought that everything that I learned here."

"We had better head back, you will need sleep so that you are ready for tomorrow." Kuraku told Rosie as he woke Rikuchi to get her to stand up.

Rikuchi grumbled as she stood up, still a little sleepy, and she walked over to Rosie and invited her to mount her. Rosie got on Rikuchi's back and Rikuchi headed off back to the shrine. Kuraku followed closely behind them and as they re-entered the shrine Kuraku and Rosie split off and Rikuchi walked towards the building with the demon wolf head on it.

Rosie walked into the building, past the old man in the entrance and up the stairway she used to see her dad. On the top floor she thought about the room she used to stay in as a baby and turned to the left of the stairs. The door had wolves inlayed into the wood. The wolves looked like they were playing as they twisted and turned round one another all the way down the door. The door handle had a horse's head on it that had sapphire eyes and was made out of ebony wood.

The room on the other side of the door was pitch black. When the light filled the room through the open door it seemed to change from a lonely place to a welcoming room. On the walls were paintings of Rosie, her father and a blond haired, blue eyed woman to the right of Rosie. Rosie in the picture looks to be five and had a beaming smile on her face. The room also had other paintings of lilies and tulips. There were also pots filled with sand so that incense sticks in them to burn. There was also a platform, which was raised, next to the window where the shutters were closed.

Rosie walked across the room, to the raised platform, and saw that there was a mat that had been rolled up and there was a pillow next to the rolled up mat. Rosie unrolled the mat and found that inside it was a sheet to put over her body. Rosie then placed the pillow at one end of the mat and curled up on the mat covering her body with the sheet. Rosie then fell into a deep sleep, breathing heavily as she fell deeper and deeper into the sleep.

Rosie's demon father was still in the garden and had stayed there all day. He looked up at the red peach tree, and thought of how he and his daughter used to play in the garden. He thought of the days when the pink flower petals of the fruit tree fell slowly on the wind. He remembered the day that Rosie ran through the falling petals and ho she slipped and almost fell onto the bench.

Why don't you trust me my child? Do you not remember me properly? Rosie's father thought to himself.

Chapter 5

Misguided Actions

It was the second day that Rosie had left the small village and Nagito had stayed there hoping that Rosie would return to village. The day that Rosie had gone missing, Nagito took the horse that Rosie had given him and had ridden all day searching for Rosie.

Nagito as exhausted because he had been searching all through the night as well. Nagito's hair was un-brushed and had leaves and branches tangled up in it. Nagito couldn't stop thinking about the letter and what Rosie had put, but he couldn't do what she had asked because he didn't want to see her get hurt.

"So, you want some breakfast? Seeing as you were up all night looking for her." The inn keeper asked.

The inn keeper had long, black hair that was tied into a pony-tail. He wore blue, baggy jeans and a white shirt that was covered by a red apron. The red apron was covered in oil stains and patches of beer on it.

"Ya, that sounds good. I'll have a big breakfast like a builder's breakfast. The toast should be golden rather, than blackened, if you don't mind." Nagito replied as he pulled the leaves and sticks out of his hair.

Nagito sat at the bar of the inn, as he waited for his breakfast to be cooked, holding a glass of orange juice; which he swirled as if impressed by the juice. He took a sip from the glass and gulped the juice down, causing his throat to almost roll. He glanced outside and looked at the destruction that had happened to the village.

The inn keeper brought out Nagito's breakfast and placed it in front of him. Nagito looked at the inn keeper and thanked him for bringing out the breakfast. Nagito then cut into his bacon and toast and pushed them into the fork. He then placed the food in his mouth and chewed it slowly as he looked out of the window. He did the same with all the other food that lay on the plate and when he was finished he left the inn and walked out to the stables at the back of the inn.

The appaloosa was in the stable and was munching on some hay from a hay net that was tied to the side of the stone chamber. Nagito sat on a stool that was next to the stable and looked at the note closely. As he read it again he felt like he was Rosie writing the letter. He could see a tear stain in the top corner of the note where Rosie had cried as she lay the letter down on the bedside table. Nagito gathered the tack from the tack shed and placed the tack on the horse and tied them tightly. He led the horse away from the stables and mounted it at the edge of town. Nagito made the horse move off towards to wood he thought Rosie could have gone towards, having to brush back branches and thorns so that they wouldn't get tangled in his hair and the horse's mane.

It was now midday and the sun was high in the sky. The day was slightly cloudy and some of the clouds were slightly turned grey. The dark wood denied any light into it and suddenly leaping from the wood came a tiger-like demon that was white with red stripes. The fiery eyes of the demon glared at Nagito as it stood in front of him. As the demon lunged the appaloosa reared and cantered off back towards the village. Before the demon could reach Nagito a black wolf stopped the demon and clawed at it. The tiger then tried to attack the wolf but the wolf dogged and bit the tiger. The tiger then turned into golden petals and floated away up towards the bright sun.

"What are you doing here?" The deep, growling voice of the wolf was memorable to Nagito. The demon then changed into Rosie in a flash of light. "I told you not to come. I wrote in that letter not to follow you."

"I didn't want you to get hurt. You have become a good friend and if you got hurt I don't know what I would do." Nagito explained stepping close to Rosie.

"Leave, get out of here. That demon was weak; there are much stronger demons then that." Rosie demanded as she left for the shrine. "Next time don't do something like that I don't care if you don't want to see me get hurt. I can take care of myself, I'm more worried about what would happen to you rather then what would happen to me."

"Wait Rosie, I want to talk to you." Nagito called as he grabbed Rosie's jacket. "Please, you left in such a hurry that I didn't get the chance to talk to you."

"That was the point. I didn't want you to try and stop me from going. You know I did it for your own safety. I was worried that you were going to get hurt if you stayed around me, so I left you to carry on with your journey." Rosie shouted at Nagito as she pulled her arm away from him.

Rosie soon returned to her demon form and sprinted away to the shrine. Nagito stood there for a few moments and just stared into the wood. He was so shocked that he couldn't move for a moment but then realised that Rosie had gone without him. He ran after Rosie and found the white walls that protected the shrine. Nagito tried to get close to the gate when suddenly the two dragon statues at the front gate came alive.

"Human, leave this place. If you wish to live then you had better go far away from here." The dragons echoed in unison; their deep voices sending a chill down Nagito's spine.

"No, I'm here to see my friend Rosie. She came this way and I know she is in there." Nagito commanded at the two dragons. "I'm gonna take her from here whether you want me to or not."

Nagito tried to get close to the gate but the two dragons wrapped around him and stopped him before he could get to the gate. Suddenly Rosie appeared at the open gate and leant against the wooden door. She looked at Nagito with a disappointed look and seemed to be angry and happy at the same time.

"I told you not to follow me. I commanded you to leave me alone and to go back to the village. Now leave, I don't care how you think of me. If you stay then you will get hurt and badly too." Rosie said as she turned and re-entered the shrine.

"But wait, please Rosie I need to stay with you. You are the only person who has stayed with me for even part of my journey. You helped me even when you didn't know me and I... I felt like you are important to me in some way. Please come back on my journey with me, I'm begging you." Nagito screamed at Rosie as she went right into the shrine.

Rosie ignored him and continued into the shrine. She sat in the garden she and her mother loved so much and, walked to the island in the middle of the lake. Rosie sat on the bench and looked up at the sky that was pure blue and a tear rolled down her cheek and into her hair. Rosie wiped her eye and sat forward to look at the flowers that were in front of her.

Suddenly a shadow of, what looked like, a giant bird appeared over Rosie and as she looked into the sky again, she could see a huge black bird in the sky that had a wing-span of eight feet. The huge bird shape landed in the garden and the bird changed into Nagito and looked sweetly at Rosie.

"What? What are you? Why did you come? This place is for me and my family and no one else. Nagito you need to go. I told you, I am not going on your journey with you. I'm sorry but I am going to stay here. I have a father here and paintings of my mother." Rosie told him.

Suddenly Rosie's father appeared at the front of the garden and he walked towards Rosie standing to her right when he arrived at her side. Rosie's father looked down at Nagito, who was a head shorter then Rosie's father, and he scanned him up and down his body.

"What are you doing here? Why don't you leave her alone? She told you to let her be so, why don't you do so?" Rosie's father stated as Rosie tearfully glanced down at the flowers by her side.

"Sir, I want your daughter to come with me. I wish for her to continue on our journey together. I wish for her to travel along side me and come with on my life." Nagito begged at Rosie, even though he looked like he was talking to her father.

"Don't you get it boy. She doesn't want to go with you, she wants to stay here with me and all of her family here." Rosie's father smirked.

Rosie put her arm in front of her dad as he stepped forward. She looked up at her father and smiled sweetly. She walked forward towards Nagito and took his hand to show that she still cared about him. She took Nagito out of the garden and into the courtyard of the shrine.

"Nagito, this is my home. This is where I grew up and this is where my family is. My home is here and I wish to be here especially for my father. I haven't seen him for so long and I haven't done the things that I want to with him. Please trust me I will come back here and do what I wish with my father. After that I will leave and travel round the world with all of my companions, including you." Rosie reassured.

Rosie's father followed Rosie and Nagito closely and watched what Rosie had to say to Nagito. He felt bad that Rosie was doing this for him and that she wasn't staying because she wished it for herself. Kuraku was also close by and he watched as Rosie hugged Nagito with a warm embrace and held his shoulders tightly in her hands. Rosie looked at Nagito as if it was the last time she was ever going to see him again. Rosie's father stepped forward towards Rosie and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"You can go with him. You don't have to stay here with me just because you haven't seen me in a long time." Rosie's father explained as he looked down at his daughter and at Nagito and saw how much Nagito care about Rosie. "My daughter, can't you see how much he cares for you. Go with him on his journey. I have managed to stay away from you for all the years that you were with that human family so I can wait for longer, I don't mind honestly."

Rosie looked up at her father and smiled at him as if to thank her father for being so kind. Kuraku move towards Rosie, Nagito and Rosie's father. Kuraku grabbed Rosie's arm and pulled her towards him. He held her close to his heart and looked down at her with sadness.

"Please don't go again. I have only just seen you and now you are leaving again. Please I want to be with you for as long as I am able to. Please I beg of you to stay!" Kuraku cried at Rosie.

"If you want, you can come too. Join us on our journey. I mean I dunno where we're gonna go but you can still come with us."Rosie said a little nervous of Kuraku's answer.

Kuraku had a shocked expression on his face and Rosie looked at Nagito to check that it was ok with him to let Kuraku come with them. Nagito nodded in approval and smiled at Kuraku to reassure him. The three took it in turns to smile at each other and, Rosie then headed to the building with the red demon wolf head on it to get some of her items that she had brought to the shrine with her; and even some that she had left there when she was little.

Chapter 6

A Wild Wolf

Kuraku, Rosie and Nagito were all wide awake and ready for their new journey. Rosie had Rikuchi ready to go with some food and some water supplies so that they didn't have to worry about what they were going to eat or drink. The cool morning air made the cheeks of all of the people glow bright red. Rosie placed her purple robe over her shoulders and let it sink to the floor gently. She sat on Rikuchi's back and got her to walk out of the shrine with Nagito and Kuraku walking on either side of Rikuchi. Rosie offered a place on Rikuchi's back but Rikuchi grumbled at Rosie as she offered so the two boys didn't get on.

The trio rode through the wood until the wood stopped and there were only fields and mountains; which were far off in the distance. The sky was clear as crystal and the sun graced everything with its light. The heavy padded footsteps from Rikuchi left paw prints in the earth. Rosie now had a staff, that was strapped to her back, which she could use to fight with if she was ever too weak to change into her wolf form. Kuraku had a sword that was sheathed at his side and the hilt had a horse head, carved out of brass, at the end of it and the handle was wrapped in ribbon. Nagito was given a bow and some arrows and the bow was carved to look like some thin wings.

Suddenly there was a scream, from a little girl, by the river; which flowed gently. The girl, of about eight, was in a pink dress and had blond hair that was tied into two pony-tails on either side of her head. Her deep blue eyes were soft and full of fear and tears. A group of brown wolves were chasing the girl up the river and snapped and snarled at the terrified child. The girl tripped over a boulder and had twisted her ankle in the process. Rikuchi jumped in-between the girl and the wolves, and roared at the pack of five wolves; which ran away yelping in terror. Rosie, who was still mounted on Rikuchi when she leaped at the wolves, dismounted onto the soft mud of the river bank and walked over to the girl.

"Are you alright little child? I think that you might have sprained your ankle so you will have to rest it for a little while." Rosie smiled as she looked at the girl's ankle.

Rosie picked up the girl and placed her on Rikuchi's back so that the girl didn't have to walk anywhere. The girl stroked the soft fur on Rikuchi's back and she curled up on it. Rikuchi's shoulders moved with each step taken and this made the girls head roll as she lay on her back.

"Where is your home little girl? Which village are you living in?" Rosie asked the young girl as she stroked Rikuchi's head between her ears.

"My village is the next one we go to on this path. Thanks for saving me from those terrible wolves. They were so terrifying." The little girl said with a waver in her voice. "My name is Kykio Kiyoyo, by the way." The little girl smiled.

Soon the group arrived at a village with only five houses in it. The houses were made of wooden slats that were nailed together on a wooden frame. The roofs were made of thatch and a couple had straw birds made on the top of them. There were lots of people in the village and in the field around them too. The ones in the fields were bringing in the crops for the season and placing them in a storage hut; which was the only building that had a wooden roof and only one room.

The girl jumped off Rikuchi but then curled into a ball, with her hands on her ankle, when she felt the pain on her sprained ankle. One of the women in the village, with long black hair and a green dress and eyes, ran over to the girl calling her name when she saw that she was in pain.

"Mum, these people saved me from a pack of wolves." Kykio smiled at her mum as if it were a normal thing.

"Thank you, for saving my daughter from the wolves." The woman thanked. "How can we ever re-pay you?"

"Don't worry, it's ok you don't have to re-pay us. We did it coz we heard that someone was in danger." Kuraku explained. "We don't care about anything like that, we can see that you only live in a small town so everything you have must be special or important to you."

Suddenly there was a loud, echoing howl coming from the fields. A pack of twenty wolves came charging across the field and after the village. Some of the wolves were black while others were brown and about three were grey. The wolves arrived at the village and started to attack the people; who ran away screaming in terror of the veil beasts. The wolves were snarling as they attacked the village and their teeth were stained slightly yellow. Rosie changed into her shadow wolf form and was double the size of each of the wolves. There soon came a human over the field at an incredible speed and stood in front of Rosie in her demon form.

The human soon didn't look like a human up close to Rosie. He had a black wolf tail sticking out of his back that waved and twitched as the teen looked at Rosie. The boy wore shorts made of fur and had jet black hair. The boy's ears were pointed like a dog but they were still human.

"Now this is new, who are you? And why is someone with your power not with me?" The voice of the boy was almost sweet but had a hint of a growl in it.

"Stop your wolves now." Rosie growled at the boy with cruel intent. "If you don't I will have to kill each one."

"Why would I do that? They need exercise and food, don't they, and this is best way to give them both." The boy said. "Now sleep child, sleep sweetly." He finished throwing a strange fruit, which exploded when it hit the ground, and a gas inside it sent Rosie to a deep sleep.

The teen then took Rosie, while she was sleeping, and the pack of wolves followed behind their leader as he left the village; disappearing into the distance. The boy ran to the mountains, which were in the distance, and into a cave that was hidden by bushes. Inside the cave were others that were similar to the boy that took Rosie. They all had tails, which were similar to a wolf's, and their ears were pointed the same too. At the far side of the cave was an area that was covered with soft fur and had stones surrounding it.

The boy then placed Rosie on the patch of soft fur and let Rosie sleep soundly in the warm fur that wrapped her body. The boy growled at the other wolf types as they began to come close to Rosie.

"Come on boss, why can't we take a bite from her? She looks so sweet." One of the wolf people asked complacently.

"Because you can't, if anyone tries to hurt her then they will have to face me. I will kill anyone who dares to cause any pain of any sort to her. Got that all of you!" The boy seemed protective of Rosie; even though he didn't know her properly.

When Rosie awoke she found the boy standing in-between her and the other wolf people. She rubbed her eyes and sat up; feeling the soft fur under her body. Rosie looked all around her to see that the boy was stopping the other wolf people from harming her. Rosie watched as the boy turned round and knelt down close to Rosie.

"Hey I'm Rukio, I brought you here to join my pack. With your power you could help us fight the monsters that keep attacking us." The strange boy stated as he looked at Rosie.

Rosie shied away from the boy as he looked at her eyes and saw that, she too, was a demon. He looked surprised when Rosie looked down at the floor as he tried to get close to her. Rukio stood up again and left the cave, with four wolves, and went out hunting for something for Rosie to eat.

Back at the village Kuraku, Nagito and Rikuchi were all trying to find where Rosie was taken. Rikuchi pushed her head to the ground and sniffed it to find a trace of Rukio's scent. She then raised her head and stretched out her neck to sniff the air for traces of Rosie's scent. She soon picked up Rosie's scent and looked sharply at Nagito and Kuraku. Rikuchi then ran towards the same mountains that Rukio ran towards and followed the train of the scent in the air. Rikuchi growled sharply as she came across the bush hiding the cave, and stared straight at the bush harshly. Suddenly the wolves that had followed Rukio came after the small group and began fighting them wildly.

Inside the cave Rosie could hear her pet scream as it got bitten by two of the wolves and she ran out to protect her pet. She changed into her wolf form and snarled at the wolves as they began to step closer to her pet trying to attack Rikuchi. Rukio ran down to the wolves and stopped them as soon as Rosie got involved in the fight.

"Stop fighting, the girl has now involved so you will stop." Rukio commanded his pack.

Rosie was surprised to find that as soon as she went to help her pet Rukio made his pack stop too. She looked at Rukio confused and worried about why the boy did so. Nagito and Kuraku stood in front of Rosie to separate her from the boy. Rikuchi growled at Rukio as he tried to get close to Rosie to ask her to stay with the pack. Rosie changed back into her human form and pushed Nagito and Kuraku a-side to allow her through.

"Rukio, I can't be part of your pack. You can see that my friends won't allow it and they won't let me leave them." Rosie explained apologetically to Rukio.

Rukio looked at Nagito and Kuraku as they glared at him angrily. Rukio laughed at the two and sent the wolves to attack just them.

"You two love her, don't you? That's why you won't let her go anywhere without you." Rukio laughed as his wolves attacked the two.

"Stop it, please don't attack them. They are my friends and I don't want to see them get hurt." Rosie screamed at Rukio.

"Sukano, did you hear what she said? She didn't want to see her friends get hurt, so take her away from here where she can't see her friends get hurt." Rukio commanded one of his comrades that had short, spiked hair.

The wolf demon lifted Rosie over his shoulder and ran off into the woods away from the fighting. He took her so far away that she would never see her friends get hurt. He put her down but still held onto her arm to keep her there with him.

"Let me go, I need to protect my friends." Rosie cried tears streaming down her face like a never ending river. "Please I need to protect them as they care for me."

"Why do you need to protect them so badly? If they cannot protect themselves then what is the point in them even being alive. Why don't you leave those losers and come join our pack? We can protect you better then you can ever be by them, we can feed you all the time and we can give you better shelter then they ever will." The demon explained getting a tone of confidence in his voice.

Rikuchi was now badly hurt by the wolves and she couldn't move because she was in so much pain. Nagito had been bitten on his shoulder and Kuraku was the only one without any injuries. Three wolves surrounded Kuraku and lunged at him one by one and each bit at his left leg; causing him to fall to the ground in pain. Rukio laughed as his pack attacked the group and as even more of his pack joined the fight. Rukio then left the fight and headed in the direction that Rosie was taken in. Rukio arrived at the side where Rosie was taken to see that she had changed into her demon form and was trying to attack the wolf demon that took her from the fight.

"Why are you doing this? They are worthless, why don't you come with someone who actually has some power? If you come with me then you'll be with someone who as strength that is over three times stronger than those two fools put together. Join me and my pack and you will never have to leave your home and you would get to sleep on that soft fur bed every night surrounded by other wolves." Rukio stated as Rosie turned to look at him viscously.

Rosie turned and snarled at Rukio; glaring at him as if he were a poisonous insect or creature. Her glare sent a chill down Rukio's spine. Rukio became unusually nervous as he saw the aggressive expression on Rosie's face. He stepped back a little from Rosie as she heavily panted out of anger and frustration.

"Why did you take me from my friends? They are the people I care about and I will protect them whether you want me to or not." Rosie snarled at the horrible boy.

Rosie then ran off towards Nagito, Kuraku and Rikuchi. She arrived to see that her pet was unconscious and that Nagito and Kuraku were badly injured. Rosie ran over to Rikuchi and curled up to her calling for Nagito and Kuraku to come and stand next to Rosie for protection. Rosie stood in front of the trio and kept her eyes, as best she could, on the wolves. Rosie had a cold stare in her eye and all the wolves backed off when they saw how angry she was. The wolves ran back into the cave and Rukio arrived to see his wolves scurry off with their tails between their legs. Rukio realised what he had done was cruel and was tormenting Rosie.

"Rosie, please come with me. I beg you to come with me and run through the fields round here. Please, I love you and want you to become my woman." Rukio begged.

"What, you love me? How do you... you hardly know me?" Rosie said very confused. Rosie looked at Rukio and twisted her head to the side a little. "You seem to know how you feel, even without knowing me properly. I don't get how you know this feeling for me is what you say it is but, I cannot stay with you. I'm so sorry, but I can't, I said I would travel with them and that I would travel round the world."

"I... I see, I guess I... I'll have to come with you then. I want to be around you, you make me happy and I want that feeling all the time. It's so comforting to me to be around you even though I hardly know you." Rukio explained with a tear coming to his eye. "If I weren't to see you ever again then I would... follow you to the world of which you would go to."

Rukio stood with his hands on hips and stood there looking at Rosie as she watched him. Rosie turned back into her human form and looked round sharply. She became un-nerved as more of Rukio's pack came out to face her and her friends and do whatever they could to get Rosie back with them, as this was their master's wish.

"You aren't travelling with us as you have your pack to protect and care for. Besides, why should we let you come with us when you took Rosie in the first place?" Nagito called at Rukio frustrated.

Rukio looked down at his feet and shifted the dirt a little with his right foot, causing a dust cloud in the air. He turned away from the group and headed off into the cave. Rosie became guilty for what happened and so she followed him into the cave. She grabbed Rukio's arm and tried to stop him just as he went into the cave. Rosie looked at Rukio with guilt in her eyes and she pulled him back a little. Rosie wanted Rukio to stay with his pack yet she felt bad that Nagito had said what he had said so harshly.

"I'm sorry for how my friend spoke to you and what he had said, but you did take me from them rather than just hanging round with us." Rosie apologised. "I think my friends would try to kill you if you came with us coz they wouldn't trust you."

"Ya, I guess I should stay, I mean I have my pack to care for so I guess that it is for the best that I stay with them. They need a leader and I can't trust anyone else to do the job as good as me." Rukio mocked and forced a smile.

Rukio moved to the back of the cave and sat on the patch of fur on the floor of the cave. He sat there and smiled at Rosie as his wolves came and sat round his sides. Rosie walked out of the cave and went to her three friends. She took out a pack, from her sack with all of her items in, and tore it open revealing some bandages and some healing medicine. She placed the medicine on each wound over Rikuchi's body and then wrapped them in the bandages.

"We need to take Rikuchi somewhere safe so that she can heal the wounds from those wolves. The only problem is she is so big that we would need a horse and cart to transport her, and I don't even know if the village will let her stay there for a couple days." Rosie explained to Nagito and Kuraku as she placed the empty pack back in her bag.

Rukio soon came back out of the cave to see Rosie trying to move Rikuchi. He pushed back a bush to reveal a cart made of wood that had two handles so that a person can hold; or a horse to be strapped to. He pulled the cart out of the bushes and rolled it next to Rosie for her to place Rikuchi on. Rukio then ordered five of his men to lift Rikuchi onto the cart and then offered to pull it to the village, Rosie rejected the offer and changed into her demon form; asking Nagito to take the rope from her bag and use it to tie her to the cart. The group was soon off towards the village, leaving Rukio and his pack behind them, and the sunset silhouetted them as they walked past it over the brow of the hill.

The four of them soon arrived at the village and were all greeted warmly by the villagers; to the surprise of Rosie. The people in the village that had survived the wolf attack unharmed all came out and moved Rikuchi into a nearby hut that was empty, except for some straw on the floor to feed the horses that were used to work with. Rosie changed back into her human form and sat with Rikuchi, curling up in her warm fur as Rikuchi breathed slowly.

"Rikuchi, please hold on. You are one of my closest friends and I raised you from a cub till you were full strength. I have cared for you and even when I was with the humans, I still dreamed about you even though I didn't know it was you. So please just stay with me and wake up soon so I know that you're ok." Rosie said to her sleeping cat.

The black, sabre-toothed cat breathed heavily and wouldn't wake up. She lay there in the straw and just seemed to be asleep; even though she was unconscious. Rosie looked at her cat worried about what will happen to her. She worried that Rikuchi would stay unconscious for a long time and Rosie didn't know what to do about it. Rosie left the hut and walked out into the middle of the tiny village. Rosie walked out into the fields and sat on the first boulder came across. The golden sunset was starting to get covered by clouds as Rosie looked into the sky for some answers she saw three crows fly across the sky and out of sight. Rosie longed to know what it was she could do to help her pet. The truth was she couldn't do anything but wait for her pet to wake up and then help her by feeding her. Rosie longed for a time when she wouldn't have to face troubles like these but she knew that, that was going to be a long way off yet.

Chapter 7

Darkened Mountains

Rikuchi was still injured was still unconscious and it had been five days since she was hurt. Rosie began to get even more worried at the sight of one of the wounds becoming infected. She thought that the medicine would have kept infection away but she now needed to find away to cure the infection; which she had nothing that could. She looked at her pet and a tear came to her eye at the thought that she would have to be taken back to the shrine and left there to heal. Rosie didn't want to leave her friend again after they had been away from each other for so long.

The elder of the village came out to Rosie and Rikuchi and saw Rosie with her tear rolling down her cheek. In that on tear was all of Rosie's worries and fears for her friend and the elder understood what Rosie wanted before the tear even reached the ground. The old woman was dressed in a shall that covered her head and her skin looked like it was ten sizes too big for her. She walked with a limp and had a bite scar from where the wolves had attacker her before. She had a hunch back and her tattered, black skirt had edges that looked like they were shredded by a farm machine. Her eyes were a murky blue and were full of wisdom and when her silver hair caught the sun it looked like it turned into strands of the sun light itself.

"I know of a plant that we used to have that could heal all wounds and clear them of infection. Unfortunately no one has been able to get some recently and that has meant that we have run out of the herb. If you get some by sunset tomorrow then you might be able to cure her infection before any real damage is done to her." The voice of the old woman was oddly comforting and was coarse from years of use.

"Where did you find it? And how do I get to it? And how much do I get?" Rosie rushed in urgency and almost excitement at the fact that she could help her pet.

"You'll find it in the valley to the south. It will take you about half a day to get there, and the same back, then you also have to find the herb itself. So you will have at least a day and a half for your trip. You have to hurry though to make sure nothing too serious happens to your friend that can't be healed." The elderly woman explained and pointed to mountains to the south of the village. The voice trailed as it came to the end as if to signify she was becoming lost in thought.

"I'll do it, I don't care what happens as long as there is a chance that I can save her." Rosie replied. "I just want her to get better, I want her to become well and let me play with her again." Rosie had a tear come to her eye as she spoke.

"Then hurry, the sooner you go the better as it means that you'll have more time to help her. Oh, and I'm coming too." Nagito commented from outside the hut.

Nagito had been standing there for about an hour waiting for Rosie to come out of the hut. He gazed round the corner and smiled at Rosie sweetly trying to make her smile too. Rosie didn't and instead just looked down at Rikuchi.

"We couldn't have a picture of the herb, so we know what were looking for." Rosie asked softly still looking at Rikuchi.

The elderly woman got out a scroll with the painted herb on it, she placed it in Rosie's hand and walked out back to her house in the village. Rosie stood up and brushed the straw off of her black top and purple robe, and walked out of the hut gazing at the mountains to the south. Rosie placed her hands on her hips and twisted her head sideways as she looked hard at the mountains. She thought about different ways of travelling to the mountains and which ways were the quickest. She thought about how different animals arrived at the mountains and thought about following animal trails. She even thought about trying to find a way to fly over the mountain but knew that that would be impossible as there was no way she could fly.

"So, how we gonna get there? We gonna climb the side of the mountain or are we gonna travel on the trials?" Nagito asked as he gazed up the mountains.

"I dunno, the best way would be to fly but we obviously can't do that. Climbing could be too hard and could take longer then we want to be there for so we will have to take the trails that lead through the mountains." Rosie folded up the parchment, with the painting of the herb on, and changed into her wolf form and invited Nagito to climb on her back.

Nagito climbed on Rosie's back and held the fur tightly in his hands. Rosie leaped across the fields and quickly arrived at the foothills of the mountains. There were shrubs and bushes all at the bottom of the foothills and the earth was baked dry. The terrain was dangerous and there were lose rocks all over the place. Rosie leaped from mountain side to mountain side so that they could travel the quickest possible. Rosie's dark fur swayed in the breeze that as funnelled in-between the mountain range. Rosie scanned each ledge and crevice for the herb with her golden eyes that could see everything; even the smallest bug walking on the ground.

The hot sun was in the middle of the sky and managed to break through the mountains and down into the crevasse below. The sun scorched the earth with a cruel intensity. The sun made Rosie tire easily and made her pant heavily. Rosie soon had to stop and change back into her human form because her black fur made her so hot that she almost couldn't move. Rosie bent over with her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath, her heavy breathing was echoed by the mountain sides and this made it sound like beasts scurried across the floor of the mountain range.

"You ok, you seem to be out of breath. What's wrong? And why are you so out of breath" Nagito questioned Rosie giving her a bottle of water and placing a hand on her back.

"I'm ok, the sun was hot, and with my dark fur, I became hot faster then usual. The sun was furrowed into the valley and the heat was concentrated in the valley too. So I became hot really quickly." Rosie panted as she took a sip of water from the bottle. "Thanks I really needed that." She thanked and wiped her lip. "We will have to go the rest of the way like this, I can't stay in my wolf form for long with the sun this intense."

Rosie placed the lid back on the water bottle and began to walk deeper into the mountains. The sides of the mountains were covered in loose boulders. Suddenly Rosie spotted the herb they were after. It had pink lily-like flowers and a long stem with five holly-like leaves.

The plant was on a small ledge where there wasn't even enough space for one person to stand on. The ledge was about fifteen feet off the ground and Rosie began to climb up the side of the mountain. Rosie grabbed a small out stretch of rock and pulled herself up it higher and did the same with other rock out reaches. She soon came to the ledge and began to pull at the herb. The sun was beginning to set and as she pulled out the plant from the hard earth she slipped and began to fall down to the earth below. Nagito changed into a huge bird type demon that had black feathers and was almost as big as a lorry. The tail was split like a swifts and the wings were ten feet wide, the face was still the same as Nagito's normal face and as he swooped to catch Rosie he stretched out his arms; which were hidden under his feathers. Rosie was caught by her arms and slowly dropped to the ground.

"Nagito, what is this? I mean I saw it before, but I didn't ask because I thought that it was a onetime thing. I thought that you could only change once seeing as you never had done before." Rosie asked as she looked at Nagito in his strange black bird form.

"Well I didn't change fully before, what you saw before was just my wings out and nothing else." Nagito replied as he changed back to his black boots, trousers and shirt with his red jacket.

Nagito smiled and turned to head back to the village with Rosie following closely behind him. Suddenly there was a low growling sound and a sharp hiss coming from above the pair. It was a huge cougar with fur as yellow as desert sand. The eyes were pitch black and had no other colour; as if the pupil and white were the only parts to the eyes. The pair sharply turned to the source of the hissing and glared at the cat. Rosie took out her staff from behind her back and pointed one end of it towards the cougar. The staff was silver with carvings of flowers all over the top of the staff. Rosie stood with her legs shoulder width apart and her robe swung in the breeze that still gently blew through the mountains. The cougar looked up into the sky and scampered off from the darkening mountain range. Rosie watched as the cougar ran off over the mountain side and down into the caves at the bottom of the mountains

The sun was beginning to set and clouds were covering the darkening sky. The sunset sent long shadows from the mountains through the crevasse and up the other mountains. The mountains were soon dark even when the sky wasn't and this set Rosie on edge. Rosie looked for a cave to rest in for the night and pulled Nagito into the nearest one she could find that looked big enough for them. Unfortunately Rosie forgot to pack wood to start a fire and so they had to sit in the cold cave in the dark without any warmth or light. The damp cave dripped with water and soaked the floor beneath Rosie and Nagito's feet.

"It's so cold, and I forgot to bring wood to start a fire." Rosie said frustratedly.

"It's ok, I guess it doesn't matter that you forgot the wood coz you brought me on your back to try and keep as much time to searching as possible." Nagito replied smiling cheerfully at Rosie.

The mountains were pitch black and the only way you could see them was by their silhouettes on the moon. Each mountain top were edged by the moon light and, as a mountain cougar stood against the moon as a silhouette, they seemed to be like magic and like a new world that had never been discovered before. The dark valley was un-nerving and the whistling wind sounded like demons screaming in the dark. The sound made the hair on the back of Rosie's neck stand up and she changed into her wolf form and glared out of the cave up at the half-moon. The reflection of the moon shone in Rosie's eyes like her eyes were trying to catch the moon within them. Rosie looked at the earth outside the cave and felt the ground shake vigorously and almost knocked Rosie off her feet. Nagito, who had been sleeping while Rosie changed from, suddenly woke feeling the earth shake and dived over Rosie, pulling her out of the cave just in time to save Rosie from a cave-in.

"Thanks for saving me." Rosie growled thankfully in her demon form.

"No problem, I knew there were lose rocks and when the earth shook I thought that might happen." Nagito replied.

Suddenly the earth stopped shaking and in front of Rosie and Nagito was a huge demon that looked like a worm covered in fur and with a huge mouth that was wide open; showing its enormous teeth that were the size of dinner plates. The sharp teeth were serrated, like a saw, all the way round them and the fur was black in the dark night. It was as big as a twenty foot apartment building and was still smaller then the mountains that surrounded it. The demon swung its head round and looked like it was trying to find Rosie and Nagito. Rosie lifted a paw and suddenly the demon swung its head sharply so that it pointed down towards them. Rosie snarled at the demon which charged at the direction of the sound as Rosie leaped to the side. Nagito had grabbed the herb before the cave had fallen in and now he held it in his hand causing the spikes of the leaves to dig into his hand and make it bleed.

Rosie smelt the blood as soon as it came to the surface of Nagito's body, and quickly ran underneath him to carry him away from the demon. Rosie moved the fastest she could and her legs began to tire quickly. She climbed up the side of one on the mountains and let Nagito get off her back; rolling her eyes as she went back down to fight the demon.

"What do you want from us? Why are you attacking us for no reason? I know you can talk I am sure I have seen demons like you before talking to one another, so answer me!" Rosie snapped at the demon, extremely angry for what it had done.

The demon turned its head in the direction of Rosie's voice and moved closer to her. Rosie was stood on a ledge in the rock, which was at the same height to the demons head, and scanned the demon with her cold yellow eyes. Rosie was nervous about the demon and she couldn't tell what it was going to do next so she was really on edge. Rosie's hair all over her body stuck up in spikes, especially around her neck, as the demon came closer and closer to her till it stopped just in front of her.

"I came because you are trying to take my plants from me. That herb that your friend has in his hand belongs to me not you, so why are you trying to take it from me?" The demon boomed as it swung its tail to hit the ledge that Rosie was stood on; Rosie had jumped off of the ledge just before the demon had destroyed it and had landed on the road that she and Nagito had travelled on.

"I'm taking it to save my friend, she is badly hurt and has been unconscious for two or three days now and I'm really worried about her. She has never been unconscious for this long. Please let me take the herb to her. It helped the people in that village that collected it before and they thought it might help me and my pet." Rosie begged changing into her human form as she spoke to the demon. "Pease, I'm begging you, let my friend take this so she can get better quicker. Her wounds are getting infected and if I don't get this herb to her soon she might become too ill to travel with me and my friends." Rosie asked curling her hands on her chest where her heart was.

A tear rolled down Rosie's cheek as she spoke to the demon and she twisted her head away to hide that fact, that she was crying, from Nagito. The tear fell to the earth and the strange worm demon felt the tear run through the ground as if rain had fallen onto him. The worm sank back into the hole from where it had burst out of, to find Rosie and Nagito, until just its head was showing. The demon looked in the direction of Rosie and then rolled into the whole and filled in the hole with the earth that surrounded the hole. Rosie looked at the place where the worm had come from and smiled looking up at Nagito as he stood on the top of the mountain.

Nagito's wings burst out of his back and he swooped down to stand next to Rosie; who was still looking at the area where the hole once was. Rosie looked at Nagito and rolled her eyes again at the sight of his bleeding hand. She took the herb from him and took out some bandages and wrapping them around Nagito's injured hand.

"Well, seeing as we have nowhere else to go, we had better start heading back to the village, I guess." Rosie contemplated looked at the herb in her hand. "Just to think it causes all these pin holes in your hand, and we came here to get it to help with other injuries." Rosie laughed as they headed through the mountains.

"It seems very different at night. There seems to be more mountains now and a lot more splits in the road." Nagito commented as he stumbled over a boulder that was hidden in the dark.

Rosie looked up the sides of the mountains and thought hard about whether she could look out and see if she could see the village from the top. She changed form into a new form that she had never done before as she thought hard about getting to the top of the mountain side. The demon looked like a giant bald eagle. The head was silver, with golden body and wing feathers, and the eyes were like rubies and were as red as blood. Her talons were as sharp as a razor and her legs were scaly like a yellow snake. She was as big as Nagito whose eyes met as Rosie thought about getting to the top.

"Rosie, you might wanna look at yourself. You have kinda become this giant eagle thing. Seriously, you're as I am as this bird thing." Nagito stressed to Rosie waving his arms up and down her body.

Rosie waved her wing out, looked at it and her eyes had a look of shock in them. Rosie frantically looked round herself and realised that she had changed into something that she never had before. Rosie suddenly started waving her wings about frantically and she started to lift off the ground as hovered in the air for a second. Rosie realised that she could fly up to the top of the mountain in this form and tried to get to the top of the mountains. It was hard for Rosie to get the height and when she got to a place where she could land on, at the top of the mountain she stared at, she panted heavily and changed back to her human form. She looked over the valley below and saw the fires from the village. Nagito flew up to join Rosie and scanned the valley with a turn of his head.

"So we need to get there as quick as possible. Well I can fly and think your best travelling is in your wolf form." Nagito planned pointing towards the flickering fires.

"Right, I'll run and you can fly. I think it might be best if carry the herbs because of you hurting your hand." Rosie replied laughing as she finished.

Rosie was then consumed by a ball of shadow and changed into his wolf demon, and Nagito was surrounded by a ball of feathers and changed into his bird type form and flew towards the village. Just as Rosie stepped forward to begin running, a wolf howled in the distance and stood on a mountain, silhouetted by the moon and then looked towards Rosie. Rosie turned sharply to look towards the silhouetted wolf as it watched her make the first move. Rosie nervously ran towards the village twisting her head back every so often to check the wolf didn't follow her. The wolf walked deeper into cluster of mountains, away from the village, and curled up under a bush covering in thorns.

Nagito had stopped flying when he noticed Rosie wasn't below him and had been hovering in the air for a few minutes. When he finally saw Rosie below him he began to fly above her, every-so-often dropping his head and looking down to check Rosie was below him.

Rosie was sprinting as fast as she could and when the sun rose and it was obvious that Rosie was exhausted from the night of running. Nagito wasn't as tired as he glided most of the way, the cool wind had carried Nagito gently for most of the way and this made Nagito happy as he didn't have to try as hard to fly. Rosie had to stop as the sun rose and was panting heavily, her pink tongue dripping with saliva, and her lungs expanded and contacted heavily each time she took a breath. Rosie began to sprint again and soon the village was in sight, she ran even faster, as if she had been given a new burst of energy, till she reached the village and came to a dead stop; using her claws to help her.

Rosie changed into her human form and ran into the hut where Rikuchi was unconscious. Rosie grabbed a pestle and mortar and began to crush the whole plant and make a paste from it. She wiped the plant paste onto some fresh bandages and wrapped them onto the wounds. Rikuchi's muscles all contacted as the pain ran through her body sharply. Rosie was happy to see that her pet reacted to the bandages as it meant she was waking up from her coma. Rosie stroked her pet gently and left her to sleep while the herb helped Rikuchi's wounds.

Rosie left the hut and looked at the mountains, which still seemed to be dark even though the sun had risen high into the sky, and remembered the strange wolf she saw that seemed to be as big as her. Remembering the wolf sent a chill down Rosie's back and made Rosie want to find where the wolf lived and find out why it watched her move away from the mountain range. Rosie was so confused about how she felt about the strange wolf because she had never felt so scared and interested before. Rosie turned her back to the tainted mountains and tried to find Nagito and Kuraku to tell them the good news. Rosie soon found them, in one of the fields, talking to one another about what they would be doing if they weren't on the journey that they were on.

"We should be able to leave here in a couple of days, which should be the time it should have taken for Rikuchi's wounds to heal." Rosie smiled at the pair chatting like old friends.

"That's good to hear, I hope that she does get better soon because she is close friends to you." Nagito replied.

"Ya if she gets better quicker then we can move on quicker and she will be back to her old self." Kuraku said cheerfully.

Rosie smiled at them and sat next to the pair in the warm field. She lay in the field for a few moments without a word and stared into the clouding sky.

"Looks like it's going to rain, we had better get back to the village where there is some shelter." Rosie stated as she saw blackening clouds start to appear on the horizon. "It seems like I'm staring into the sky more often then I ever have before. It's kinda nice though, I guess."

"Ya looks like the rain is coming fast too, come on then." Kuraku answered getting up and then helping Rosie up.

The three headed to a hut that head red walls and black ebony window frame; which was a hole. The red wooden walls were slightly bent in on one side where the wind blew it the hardest. The wooden door was old and bleached from the sun and had a hole that was used to keep a rope in used as a handle. Inside there were three rooms that were split off with sliding doors made out of oak wood. The largest room had a small, round table with four stool mismatching chairs round it. There was a tiny pedestal type table too that had candles lit on it and a picture of a strange snake-like god on it with a kneeling cushion in front of it.

Rosie moved into a room to the left of the biggest room, which was her bedroom, and had a mat with a off-white pillow and a padded blanket as a cover to sleep under at night. The room had small sticks that had on end pushed into a bowl with some sand on it smouldering at the end; with smoke that smelled like lavender. The floor was made of pine wood slats and had the same red walls as were outside.

Nagito moved into a different room where there were two more beds and the room looked exactly the same as Rosie's room except for the walls, which were painted white.

Chapter 8

The Silver Wolf

Rikuchi was now back to full heath and could run round the same as she could before. Her wounds didn't even scar and you couldn't tell that she had been unconscious for nearly four days. Rosie was still thinking about the strange wolf that she saw up on the mountain and still wanted to know where she could find the wolf. Nagito saw her gazing up at the mountains in one of the fields and wondered why she was so quiet and so lost in thought that she didn't even hear him coming.

"Rosie, you ok? You seem to be thinking more than usual." Nagito asked as he got closer to Rosie.

"What's that supposed to mean. I'm thinking more than usual, you know you can put people off you saying things like that." Rosie replied still staring up at the pitch black mountains.

Nagito laughed at Rosie and headed back to the village knowing that it would be better to leave her to her thoughts. Rosie glared at the mountains and checked that Nagito and Kuraku wasn't behind her and called over Rikuchi who quickly came over and stood next to her.

"Rikuchi, I need to ride on your back to those mountains. I need to save my energy in case of a fight, so you ready to go?" Rosie explained to her pet.

The black sabre-toothed cat nodded her head and allowed Rosie to ride on her back. They came to the mountains quickly and Rosie changed into her wolf form and sniffed the ground hard. She tried to find the scent of the wolf that she smelt when she saw it. She found the scent quickly and followed the scent in-between the mountains. Rikuchi followed closely behind as Rosie held her head down to the ground to follow the scent trail. Every-so-often Rosie would raise her head to check that she wouldn't run into anything and then ram her nose back down to the ground to keep the scent trail close. Suddenly the fur on the back of Rosie and Rikuchi's necks stood up in spikes and the pair were both on edge as they came close to a mountain that was the biggest in the valley. It reached through the clouds and even higher out of site of the pair. The huge mountain had a evil aura about it and seemed to be a living demon on its own.

Suddenly Rosie spotted the wolf she saw all those nights ago but this time is was as white as snow and in the sun it looked to be silver. Even the eyes colour were silver and the dark pupils were a dark grey colour. All of the wolf was pale and all of the colours were opposite to Rosie. The wolf was as close to white as I could be. The strange demon ran down the mountain side straight towards Rosie and Rikuchi. The demon growled wildly at the pair as it charged down the mountain throwing its head ferociously. Rosie stood square-on to face the demon and prepared herself for a fight. Rikuchi did the same but was more wary because of what happened the last time she fought wolves.

Before the silver wolf reached Rosie and Rikuchi, it stopped and stood in front of them just staring at them. The silver wolf bared its yellow tinged teeth and stepped back a couple of steps when it noticed the aggression on Rosie's face.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had left for good when you went back to that village." The silver wolf grumbled with a deep male voice.

"Why were you watching me? And who, or what, are you?" Rosie replied he growl voice was sharp and aggressive.

"Leave here, you must leave as there is a demon that is after you. He has told me to look out for you and to find you for him so the more you stay away the better." The demon wolf replied and ran back up the mountain side and into a dark cave.

"Hey! Wait, answer my questions. Come back here!" Rosie called back as she ran after the wolf; entering the cave nervously.

Rikuchi was unsure what to do, so she nervously ran after her master so she could be there to help protect her. Rosie clambered into the cave, which was pitch black inside, and scented the air for the strange wolf. The air was heavy with the smell of damp mud and Rosie found it hard to find the scent of the beast. Rosie heard a growl from deep within the cave and followed the sound with Rikuchi close behind her. Rosie changed into her human form and stood behind a corner of rock to check what was round the corner.

The silver wolf was in a huge area in the cave where there was a strange portal that glowed with a demonic purple aura like poison. Through the portal there looked to be a building that was similar to the buildings in the shrine where the group had set out from. The view through the portal was distorted like a pool of water in-between them. Rosie cautiously moved towards the portal and looked through it to see what was on the other side.

Through the portal Rosie could now see the silver wolf enter the building and she quickly jumped into the portal; this made Rikuchi even more nervous and set her on edge. Rosie walked round the porch of the building and looked through the door where the strange wolf demon had entered the building. Rosie saw the tail of the demon move round a corner in the building and quietly followed it. The wolf looked back and knew that Rosie was following it, even though it didn't see her, and walked into another room where Narako was hiding.

Rosie followed the trap of the wolf and soon found herself standing in front of Narako once again. Rosie glared at the demon sat in front of her and her eyes filled with hate and anger. She still remembered the night that Narako had taken control of her and had used her to hurt her friends.

Narako was wearing a purple robe that reached the floor and on his chest was a plate with six spike extending from it. On his arms was a similar plate to the one on his chest and the spikes on his elbows were as long as his arms. His hair was now long and rested down on his back and surrounding his shoulders were huge bone-like loops, which were spiked all around them, and had three crocodile-like tails were sticking out of his back. The demon had red eyes and his demonic aura was so much more powerful then the first time Rosie met him and this sent a chill down her spine.

"Where is the wolf that I followed here? And what are you doing here?" Rosie snapped at the demon as a look of fear began to enter her eyes.

"So you still hate me yet fear me, that wolf you followed, why did you follow it? And why are you so interested in it?" Narako replied.

"Why am I interested? I am interested because I saw it watching me the other day and wanted to know where it came from and what it was." Rosie replied. "And I am not afraid of you!" Rosie screamed at the demon.

Rosie looked round the room to see if she could find where the wolf had gone. The only other creature she saw was a human that had a fur belt that was like a pair of shorts and had a white tail sticking out of it. He had a human form and had silvery hair and wolf ears. His silver eyes were the same as the silver wolf and the look in them was one of regret. The boy looked to be about seventeen and his face was slightly pointed at the chin.

Rosie tried to get close to the boy but he took a small step back as she stepped forward. Rosie began to feel sad as she knew that she couldn't get close to the boy because of Narako.

"What is this boy to you? Why do you wish to get close to him? Are you that interested in him that you would come here and fall into my trap." Narako laughed pathetically at Rosie.

"Damn you Narako, I hate you to the core for what you did to me. Why do you want me here then? Why did you set a trap for me?" Rosie roared at Narako, filling her voice with hate.

"You wonder why I set this trap. You must have forgotten what I said to you all those weeks ago." Narako laughed. "You are such a fool!" Narako called as he curled his arms around Rosie's body.

Rosie viciously pushed herself away from Narako and her eyes looked round the room quickly. Rosie felt a tear come to one of her eyes. The tear hung under her eye and poured out of her eye like a new stream. The tear rolled down her face and off her cheek and was caught by Narako as is fell to the ground. The tear glinted on Narako's hand and was filled with all the heartache within Rosie's heart. Rosie was shocked at how much more powerful Narako was and began to feel concern for Nagito and Kuraku.

"You haven't changed at all since the last time I met you. You seem to be just the same with your personality and how you look at something." Narako smirked.

Rosie turned to find a way to leave the building and get back to the village with Rikuchi to tell Nagito and Kuraku where Narako was. The only exit was blocked by the silver eyed boy and Rosie didn't want to fight him, she just wanted to get back to her own world. The boy became consumed by a ball of silver fur and when the fur fell to the floor the silver wolf was stood there in the same place the boy had been standing. The wolf snarled at Rosie yet his eyes portrayed regret and seemed to beg for forgiveness. Rosie stepped back a little and looked at the wolf deeply in the eyes.

"Let me through, I want to leave here and go home! Let me go home, now!" Rosie shouted at the demon and the wolf. "I demand that you let me past or I'll fight you."

"You are going to stay with us Rosie. You shall live here with me and you will forget all about those two fools of yours." Narako replied holding a strange necklace in his hand.

The necklace had a sphere shaped gem on a clear thread covered by oval shaped beads. The gem had an ominous black glow surrounding it and there was a demonic aura around it that seemed to pierce Rosie's soul.

Chapter 9:

Racing Against Time

Narako nodded towards the wolf and it quickly ran behind Rosie, changed into its human form and grabbed Rosie's arms holding her still. Rosie tried to move but the boy gripped Rosie's wrists hard enough to stop her squirming. Rosie grunted in pain and squinted her eyes as the pain ran through her body. Narako lifted the necklace over Rosie's head and placed it around her neck. Rosie suddenly stopped squirming and all her muscles relaxed and the wolf boy let Rosie go. An empty look came to Rosie's eyes like she had lost her soul. Rosie had no control over her body and seemed to just stare at the floor below her with a blank gaze. The dark gem on the necklace gave out a deep glow that seemed to fill the room with darkness. Narako smiled as the gems glow got darker and darker until the gems glow became pitch black and Rosie looked up at Narako with a strange look on her face that was empty.

What's going on? Why can't I move my own body? Is it this necklace that has caused this to happen? Rosie thought to herself as she tried to move her arms and legs.

"It's no use trying to fight the necklace, soon you will forget all about those pests you call friends. Come now, let's get away from here. We should find a better place to keep our newest friend." Narako spoke to the strange silver haired boy.

The strange boy took Rosie by the arm and pulled it gently. Rosie looked at the boy twisting her head slightly to the right. The boy left the room and walked out of the building into the rocky world around it quickly followed by Rosie. The air was thick with purple cloud that hung heavy in the air. Narako soon followed them, and looked into the sky that almost seemed toxic; he called a strange bird down from the blinding sky and as it landed took Rosie close to the bird.

The huge bird was demonic and looked like a giant falcon with four bright red eyes that seemed to burn through anyone who looked into them. Its feathers were pitch black and were edged with bright silver and sparkled in the sun.

The bird looked down at Rosie bending its neck tightly, into the shape of a U, and turned with his back to her inviting Rosie and the strange boy to ride it. The strange boy gently tugged on Rosie's purple robe and indicated the back of the strange bird. Rosie got onto the birds back followed by the silver haired boy, who formed reins in his hands that led to the bird's mouth. The silver haired boy wrapped his arms around Rosie to keep her on the bird and whipped the reins making the bird fly. The bird flew through the rocky land around the strange building and the in the cloudy atmosphere the strange boy looked round at Rosie's face with the blank stare across it.

"Rosie, I don't know whether you can hear me properly but I think it would be best if I introduced myself." Rosie turned her head to face the boy, her eyes empty of any real emotion. "My name's Segonda Miyamako."

The bird soon swooped down and landed near a different building from where it flew from. The building was white with two floors and had light brown roof tiles. The air around the building was clear and the sky was pale blue and had a calming aura about it.

"We're here, com'on let's get you to your room." Segonda quietly said to Rosie as he dismounted the bird and then helped Rosie off the bird.

Segonda smiled at Rosie sweetly as she came down off the bird and dropped her head to the floor. Segonda guided Rosie through the oak doors of the building and into the hallway at the front of the house. The hallway had wooden floor panels and the walls had a white wash over them. Hanging on the walls were paintings of different animals from herds of horses to lions laying on grass lands. There was a small table with a little draw inside it. There were some stairs that were made of a very dark wood that looked almost black and these led up to the first floor. In the hallway at the front of the house there were five doors, three on the left and two on the right, each made out of red wood. The doors handles were made out of a bright brass and were polished to perfection making them like a mirror. Inside each room was a painting of a different flower on the walls and all had a set of wooden stools all of different sizes which fitted under one another. Other than those two items each room was very different and were obviously used in different ways.

Rosie and Segonda headed to the first floor hallway that had a pink wash on the walls that were almost white. At the end of the hallway was a large window that almost reached the floor. To the left of the window was a small chair made out of wood and had a small pillow on the top of it. Down this end of the hall were four doors, two on each wall, and on the other end were five doors, two on each wall and one at the end of the hall. The doors were the same design as the doors on the ground floor of the house.

Walking through the hall, to the door at the end, the hollow sound of the floor echoed through the whole house. Reaching the door Segonda pushed it open and led Rosie into the room. It was painted with a pale aqua colour on the walls and had a double bed with light blue bed sheets and pillows. On the left side of the room was a sliding door made of glass that led to a balcony with a view of a crystal blue lake that shone like a diamond.

"This'll be your room. You will be here while you stay with Narako and me." Segonda told Rosie as she entered the room still with no emotion in her eyes. "Please don't just sit there talk to me, I don't want you to be quiet and motionless." Segonda said to Rosie looking through her hair up to her face.

The expression on Rosie's face didn't change and still seemed empty. There was a screech from one of the huge black birds that brought Rosie and Segonda to the house and Segonda ran out of the front door to see the same bird land with Narako on its back. Narako dismounted the bird and looked to see Segonda looking at him in surprise.

"Narako, what are you doing here? I thought you weren't going to come till tomorrow." Segonda said in surprise in his voice.

"I thought I'd help Rosie get settled." Narako's deep voice rang through the air with a hollow echo that sent a chill down Segonda's spine. "Have you got a problem with that?" Narako replied harshly.

"N... no I don't, sorry for sounding so... so demanding." Segonda replied kneeling down on one knee.

Narako passed by the kneeling Segonda and walked into the house to where Rosie stood in the main hallway. Narako placed his hand on Rosie's cheek and brushed back Rosie's fringe. Narako smiled sweetly at Rosie and lifted Rosie's head by pushing it up by her chin. Rosie's eyes were blank and empty and the gem on the necklace still had a black glow around it.

"My dear, be yourself, this necklace doesn't mean you have to change it only allows me to be with you." Narako whispered into Rosie's ear.

When Narako spoke these words Rosie's eyes began to look like they were before she had the necklace placed over her head. Rosie rubbed her eyes and suddenly looked round the hallway she was in. Rosie looked at Narako and the looked at the door to see Segonda walk through it. Rosie looked deeply at Segonda, who nodded at Rosie, and Rosie turned and walked up the stairs and into her room.

How did I get here? And why has Narako brought me here. Rosie thought to herself. "I have a feeling that I've forgotten something, something important."

In Rosie's mind there were quick flashes of Nagito and Kuraku's faces but she didn't remember who they were. She sat on the end of the bed and rested her head in her hand.

Who were those two people? I don't think I have met them before. Rosie thought.

Back at the village where Rosie was staying Nagito began to feel worried that he hadn't seen Rosie at all that morning. It had been five hours since Rosie had left the village and this un-nerved him as they were good friends and he was worried that she had been hurt. He ran round the village to see if he could find Kuraku.

"Kuraku, where the hell are you? Kuraku. Kuraku!" Nagito shouted as he ran round the village searching for Kuraku.

"Kuraku! Just come out already I need to talk to ya' about Rosie."

"I'm here!" Kuraku replied as he walked out of one of the huts. "What's wrong with Rosie? Or should I say, why are you fretting so much about her? You know she can look after herself, even if she takes three days, you know she can look after herself." Kuraku smirked at Nagito.

Kuraku placed a hand on Nagito's shoulder and patted it gently, smiling at him with a cheeky grin.

"I dunno', I don't like what I'm feeling at the moment. It's like something's happening and we can stop it. I feel like I have no control, and that something is going to happen to Rosie without us knowing." Nagito explained to Kuraku becoming on edge.

"Well how 'bout we go to the mountains, I think that's where she was headed last. If we're gonna find her then that's where it'll be 'kay." Kuraku replied trying to make Nagito feel better.

Suddenly Rikuchi came sprinting towards Nagito and Kuraku with a worried look in her eyes. The panther-like cat panted heavily when she found the pair. Rikuchi tugged at the trousers that hung on Kuraku's legs and implied him and Nagito to climb onto her back. She growled short and sharply and when the pair got on she ran as fast as she could back to the cavern with the strange portal inside it.

The water-like portal was still hanging in mid-air like a painting on a wall and the view into it was still the same. Nagito dismounted Rikuchi and stepped towards the portal with his arm stretched out to touch the portal. When his hand reached the portal it went through it and he snatched it back quickly when he felt how cold the portal became. He held his freezing cold hand close to his body and looked suspiciously at the portal.

"I knew something was wrong I kept telling you we needed to find Rosie but no, you said she could handle herself just fine, even if it took her three days. What do you think now? It's obvious she's in trouble, we need to follow her. But I can't shake this feeling that we're not supposed to go through here." Nagito shouted as it echoed hollowly through the cavern and passage ways of the cave. "How are we supposed to help her? I don't even know if I could find her on the other side of this thing."

Kuraku smacked Nagito hard across the face leaving a red hand-print and the sharp pain that covered his face. Nagito looked up at Kuraku whose expression had turned to disgust as he watched Nagito stand up straight again. Kuraku turned his back on Nagito and looked to the rounded ceiling of the cavern.

"You can't expect everything to be that easy, especially when Rosie is concerned. She is one of the people most likely to become stuck in a situation like this and then have to fight her own way out or have me come save her. She did this kinda thing a lot when we were little so I know I can rely on her and she knows she can rely on me." Kuraku spoke sharply and turned to look at Nagito. "Have more faith in her then that you idiot. You know we're gonna go get her and you know she will be coming back with us no matter what goes on. So get a hold of yourself and help me get her back, 'kay?" Kuraku smiled as Nagito rubbed his sore cheek.

Kuraku turned to the portal and looked into it deep in thought. He pushed his hand through the portal and then continued with the rest of his body. Nagito was amazed at how Kuraku had just walked through the portal without a second glance and he threw himself into the portal to prove to himself that he could do it. Rikuchi followed soon after and the portal dripped like a falling rain-drop when her tail had gone through completely. The world on the other side of the portal was cold and sent the three on edge.

The dark world that was around them was so different to the world that they were in moments ago for this darkness was something that was absent of light, it was something absent of emotion. This world was cruel and they could feel it without needing to take another step into this world. They hated the site they saw with the dark purple skies and the screeches from the black bird above them. The hair on Rikuchi's back stood on end and Rosie growled sharply into the air above her.

Suddenly one of the huge falcon-like birds with black feathers swopped down and attacked the trio with its talons targeted directly at them. It screamed wildly as it landed almost hitting Rikuchi with its claws. The beast swung its head round to bite down on Nagito and Kuraku as they jumped into the air to dodge its attack. The two managed to miss the demons beak and Nagito forced his bird wings out of his body so he could fly and attack at the same time. He flew over the demonic bird and swung his wings together causing feathers to fly out of them and turn to steel. The feathers hit the demon in the back and one went into one of the eyes. The demon screamed in pain and the scream hurt Nagito, Rikuchi and Kuraku's ears making them all curl in pain and try to cover their ears to stop the sound from hurting their ears. The beast flew off and more of the bird swooped down onto Nagito piling onto of him in a swirling mass of silver-edged black feathers. Suddenly the bird flew into the sky like they were pushed by a massive force. Nagito had transformed into a full bird demon and looked very similar to the bird he was fighting, the only difference between them were the eyes which were red in the demons but blue in Nagito.

"Thank god he's ok. If I lost him I would never hear the end of it from Rosie. I knew he could look after himself; he just needs a shove in the right direction." Kuraku laughed as he watched Nagito defeat the demonic birds on his own.

"Humph. I'm glad that's over. At least I can now focus on finding Rosie again." Nagito said as he landed after defeating the demon birds.

Kuraku rolled his eyes and patted Rikuchi on her head as he walked off to try and find Rosie. He looked into the dark sky and thought hard about where Rosie might have gone in a place like this.

I wonder if there are other buildings like this round here. Maybe if I could look from a high vantage point them I might be able to see something or somewhere Rosie could be kept. I can't sense her in this house so she isn't here but she is in this world because I can just feel her presence. Kuraku thought to himself looking at the building in front of him.

Nagito was panting heavily after fighting the bird demons and looked at Kuraku as he thought hard about what to do. Nagito flapped his wings and gently lifted off the ground above the layer of purple gas that was surrounding the group. He looked round the area to see whether he could find a place that could hide Rosie. He saw another building that looked similar to the one they were near. He swooped down and forced his wings back into his body as he landed.

"I saw a building not far from here, if we go straight ahead then we can reach it in no time at all. I think that, that would be the place that anyone would keep someone." Nagito explained as he pointed into the dark purple gas in the direction of the building he saw. "I'm not sure how long it will take us to get there and I'm not sure if we'll get lost in the gas surrounding us but I think we at least have a chance of finding Rosie."

Kuraku smiled at Nagito and looked at Rikuchi to check that they could ride her again and Rikuchi turned with her back to them allowing them to ride her. They quickly got onto Rikuchi's back and Nagito pointed Rikuchi in the direction of the building.

Rosie was sat on her bed confused about the faces she saw in her mind. Her head felt like it wasn't her own and seemed to be lost to someone else. Her mind was rushing and she couldn't control her own thoughts and she was beginning to feel like a different person. The door of the bedroom swung open slowly and Segonda poked his head round the partly opened door. Rosie looked towards the door as Segonda came through the door and sat next to Rosie. Rosie looked at Segonda contently but still with confusion in her eyes.

"What's wrong Rosie? What were you thinking about when I came in? Did I disturb you or something?" Segonda asked worried about Rosie.

"No I'm... I'm ok don't worry 'bout me I was just thinkin' about somethin' I did a while ago, that's all." Rosie smiled and began walking to the door leading to the balcony outside her room. "The view from this window is amazing. I just wanna paint it and photograph it so that I have the image with me forever. Could you take me to the lake side, please? I really wanna dip my feet in the water it looks so refreshing." She pleaded.

"I'm sorry I can't let you go without Narako's permission and besides, why don't we just talk? It would be nice to talk to you once in a while, ya know." Segonda replied as he stood next to Rosie.

"Ya I guess, I do but don't we talk a lot? I thought we spoke loads, I thought we spoke the other day?" Rosie questioned confused about the reply she got.

"Well we half spoke then you went off so we never finished. Besides I don't know that much about you coz you never tell me that much about you as a person, you only tell me about what you did in that day or what dream you had that night or something like that. It would be nice to learn more about you." Segonda said placing his arms behind his back.

"Have I only ever told you that? That seems strange, but oh well. What do you want me to start with? I mean what would you like to know first about me?" Rosie asked turning to look at him.

"Anything you want to tell me. Tell me anything about your past that you wish to tell me." Segonda answered cheerfully smiling at Rosie.

Suddenly Narako came into the room just as Rosie began to tell Segonda what she thought he wanted to know. Narako walked through the door and straight towards Rosie standing behind her and curling his arms around her in a warm embrace. He loved the feeling of her pressed against his body and was so happy when she relaxed and let him embrace her. He curled his head so his chin was near her ear and closed his eyes feeling the beating of Rosie's heart against his body.

"Narako, can I please go to the lake over there? I really want to dip my feet in it coz it looks so cool. Please let me go to it, it's so pretty." Rosie asked Narako as he held her close.

"You want to go there, you sure you do? I guess I can let you go there but I'm coming with you and so is Segonda." Narako replied.

"Well ya, that's the whole point of me being here and asking if I can go. I wanna sit with you and be with you too. What would be the fun of being there on my own?" Rosie laughed as she spoke.

Segonda, Narako and Rosie all left the house and headed towards the lake. Surrounding the lake was beautiful orchards that were filled with blossoming cherry trees and apple trees. The petals from the blossoms fell like snow and left a carpet of them scattered across the orchard and the petals all seemed to join together making it hard to distinguish one petal from the other.

The trees soon opened out into the lake and the sun danced on the water and was scattered across it like a mirror reflecting the beauty of a rose. Rosie was amazed at just how beautiful the lake was she knew it was beautiful because she saw it from her room but she didn't realise just how beautiful it was until she was level with it.

"It's more beautiful than I ever could have imagined from this view. It's like one of those pictures you see in a holiday magazine and it's like a beautiful dream no one ever wants to wake from. Thanks for bringing me down here." Rosie

thanked Narako hugging him tightly.

She ran to the side of the lake and slid off her boots and rolled up her black trousers. The cold water was refreshing on her feet and she cupped some water in her hand and threw it over her face. The water rolled off of her wolf ears in droplets and ran down her face cooling Rosie down. Rosie looked into the blue sky that seemed so peaceful and seemed so gentle. The sky was a soft blue colour and the clouds were fluffy like white candy-floss. Rosie glared into the sky and waved her feet about in the water causing ripples to spread right out to the middle of the lake.

"It's nice and peaceful here. We should do this more often just the three of us. I like it when it's like this and I can just relax. The air around us is so clear and I love the smell of the blossoms around us." Rosie said lying on the bank of the lake and placing her head in her hands.

"That would be nice, and it's like we're in heaven when we don't have to do anything and we can just come out here." Segonda replied as he took off his shoes and clothes down to his swimming trunks.

Segonda's body was very muscular and looked like the one of a fitness trainer. He had a six pack and as he swam in the water the droplets glistened on his skin like little diamonds causing an air of amazement around him. Rosie was surprised to see how muscular Segonda was because he hid his body before.

"I'm glad you like it here with us Rosie. I have always wanted you to see this but have never been able to show because of one thing or another." Narako explained as he stood at the edge of the lake next to Rosie.

"What do you mean you never showed it me before because of this and that? What kind of things meant you couldn't show me this wondrous place?" Rosie replied as she glanced at Narako still lying on the floor.

"It's nothing that important now, I'm just happy that you are here with me now." Narako replied smiling back at Rosie to calm her suspicions.

Nagito, Kuraku and Rikuchi were getting closer and closer to the house with every stride of Rikuchi's large body. It was tiring for Rikuchi but she knew she had to find Rosie because they were close again and she didn't want to lose Rosie. Kuraku watched as the sky began to clear and became like the sky in the village. When they arrived at the house Kuraku and Nagito jumped off Rikuchi's back and leapt towards the building in front of them.

Nagito burst open one door at the back of the house and Kuraku forced the door at the front of the house open. They ran round the house slamming all the doors open and scanning the room quickly to find any traces of Rosie that they could. Finally Kuraku opened the door that led to Rosie's room in the house and saw that her robe had been left on the bed. He darted to the bed and grabbed the robe looking at it shocked. He was amazed that he actually found anything that linked to Rosie and was still happy that he had found something, though a little shocked.

"Nagito, get in here! I found Rosie's robe here in this room. I think she is being kept here but she seems to be looked after like a new friend." Kuraku shouted out of the room towards the hallway.

"You have, where the hell do you think they would have taken her now then? I know she isn't in this house because I can't sense her but she has to be near as I can feel her presence near the house." Nagito replied looking round the house a little some more to see if he could find a clue to where Rosie had gone.

Nagito and Kuraku ran out of the front door and ran towards Rikuchi. By this time Rikuchi had already begun to sniff the air for trace scents of Rosie. She found a slight trace but it wasn't enough to follow as a trail to locate her. Rikuchi dropped her head disappointed at the poor scent traces. Rikuchi growled as the boys left the house and followed the faint trail of her friend's scent the best she could. The two boys followed her and quickly found the orchard that surrounded the lake. Rikuchi now realised why she couldn't find the scent trial she was after and quickly followed the opening of the trees until she reached the lake.

Rikuchi, Nagito and Kuraku leaped out of the bushes that surrounded the lake and saw in front of them Rosie lying on the bank of the lake with her legs dipped in the cold water. They watched as the tall, dark figure with bone-like loops sprouting from his back turned and the face was recognisable to the whole group.

"Rosie, get away from him! Come back to us, tell us why you left? Please Rosie I don't understand why you're with him I thought you hated him." Nagito screamed at Rosie in a flurry of words and reached out his hand towards her.

"You are the boys in my mind. Who are you? How do I know you're faces? And how do you know my name? I never met you before." Rosie replied standing up from the cold water as she looked at Nagito and Kuraku. "Tell me how I know you, I've never seen you before yet somehow I know you and I are all so close to one another. Tell me why that's so." Rosie continued.

"Rosie let's get outta' here we need to get you away from these people they are dangerous." Narako told Rosie as she looked at him confused. "Listen to me go with Segonda and follow him to the safe place, he knows where it is so don't worry about that." The expression on Rosie's face turned blank and she nodded her head and walked towards Segonda who was slipping on his shoes.

Segonda stood up and took Rosie by the hand and pulled her into the woods that surrounded the lake. Nagito tried to follow them but Narako called one of falcon-like birds to delay him. Narako meanwhile focused on Kuraku who grumbled at Narako deeply and glared at him with a harsh stare.

"You came here to save your friend, but she doesn't even remember you, so what are you going to do now?" Narako laughed with a sinister tone. "It's useless to try and take her back, she even said she was happy for me her and me friend to stay together and didn't want to leave us."

Nagito and Kuraku both glared at Narako. "That's a lie she wouldn't say that unless you have done something to her. Tell me what you are using to control her." Kuraku demanded.

"I'm telling you it's no use trying to get her back she is happy with me and my friend now so she will never want to come back to you." Narako replied and Kuraku lunged at the comment.

Rikuchi watched as Kuraku filled with anger at how cruel Narako was being. She tried to lunge at Narako but plants, which looked like ivy, had wrapped round Rosie's body to stop Rikuchi from moving anywhere. Kuraku violently tried to attack Narako with a sword he had been given but Narako protected himself with a strange sword that he make from the spikes that ran down his arm. The two fought fiercely and sparks flew from the swords as they clashed together. The metal sound echoed through the woods, right to Rosie who by this time had regain her awareness but was still staying with Segonda.

Rosie was becoming tired and began to pant heavily through the wood and when they reached a hidden building in the wood she slumped at the door and breathed heavily. When she finally stood up and Segonda opened the door inviting Rosie inside. There was only one room in the house and it had a single bed with an old style wood stove. In the very middle of the room was a round table with four mismatching chairs and had a deck of cards in a bright red cardboard packet in the middle of the table. Rosie grabbed one of the chairs and sat with her arms folded on the top of the back of the chair.

"Who were those people? I feel like I know them yet I don't think I have ever met them. Please tell me who they are, and don't just say that they're dangerous and I shouldn't get involved with them." Rosie asked as she took the packet of cards and opened it pouring the cards on the table in front of her.

Rosie laid the cards down in a circle of twelve, face down, and then placed a card in the middle. She then repeated this until the each card in the circle counted to four and there were four in the middle. It looked like a clock just without the numbers or the hands on a clock face.

Chapter 10:

Absent Minded

Rosie turned one of the cards in the middle of the circle so it was face-up and revealed a seven of hearts. She picked up the card and placed it behind the pile of face down cards that were in the same place as a number seven on a clock face. She then took a card from the pile that was near the card she placed down and saw that it was a queen of diamonds; placing it on the top of the clock-face shaped card layout she looked up at Segonda waiting for a reply.

"I can't tell you, you'll have to wait for Narako to tell you that. I'm so sorry I can't help you." Segonda replied with a note of disappointment in his voice.

Rosie looked back down at the cards and turned over the first card on the top of the pile at the top of the circle. She looked at the card and placed it at the position the number three would be on a clock-face.

"What you playing there Rosie? It looks good." Segonda said trying to make small talk as they waited for Narako to find them after fighting Kuraku and Nagito.

"It's called clockwork patients, I learned it when I was bored one time and have played it whenever I come across a pack of playing cards." Rosie smiled as she picked up a card from the pile next to the card she placed down, then placed the king of hearts in the centre of the circle where she had picked up the first card. "I can teach you how to play if you want, I need to start the next loop anyways." Rosie invited Segonda pulling out a chair for him to sit on.

"Erm... well I guess it could be interesting to learn how to play." He replied pulling the chair into his hand and sat down on the chair watching how Rosie played the game intently.

Rosie showed Segonda how to play the game as she had before and his eyes watched so intently as if he was trying to burn the table with his stare. She was amazed at how focused he was on her teaching and wondered if he had ever focused on anything that much in his life. She looked at him and he stared at the layout of the cards and smiled with a quiet chuckle which made Segonda raise his head to look at Rosie.

Nagito and Kuraku had now both been fighting hard and were huffing and puffing out of exhaustion. Narako swung his sword round and rested it on his shoulder and tilted his head to the side as he watched Kuraku pant heavily holding his broad sword in both of his hands. Narako shook his head slowly and laughed at how pathetic he thought Kuraku and Nagito were.

"You two are absolutely pathetic, you're not even worth my time. I don't even know why she bothered being around such fools when she could have been with me all this time, at least I would have been able to protect her and wouldn't have resorted to erasing her memory and concealing her powers." Narako remarked deliberately to hurt Kuraku. "I would have taught her how to use her powers the best she could and wouldn't have left her with such a pathetic human family just as you did. How can she even forgive you for being so heartless? How could she let something like that pass by when you had left her in the cold without any warmth?" Narako ended.

"We did it to protect her. We knew that she couldn't fight for herself and no one wanted her to see anyone die for her at such a young age. If you cared so much then, why didn't you take her from the human family as soon as we put her there?" Kuraku replied sharply and defensively to the comments Narako so casually hissed.

Narako didn't reply and instead watched as the falcon-like bird clawed at Nagito tearing three long gashes in his back. The bird repeatedly attacked Nagito and when he finally managed to change into his bird form and fly into the sky, it followed him faster than expected and pecked furiously at Nagito's back leaving even more wounds in his back. Nagito's began to become heavy and his vision began to blur. He fell unconscious and began to tumble out of the sky and span into the lake below staining where he fell red with his blood from his injuries. In the cold water he changed back to his human form and clambered up onto the bank of the lake with the last bit of strength he could gather. Collapsing unconscious, Nagito exhaled and fell into darkness.

"Nagito, you can't be that badly hurt besides I need your help to fight these guys. Get u, Nagito!" Kuraku shouted to try and get Nagito to wake. "Damn, how am I supposed to defeat the bird while it's flying? I can't even fight Narako on an even level. Why did he let himself get so badly hurt anyway?"

Back at the hidden room Segonda had begun to play his own version of clockwork patients and was doing really well with getting the card he needed.

"Remember the aim of the game is to get all the cars in the places that they are needed before you get all four kings." Rosie reminded Segonda as he picked up the last middle card.

Segonda studied the cars carefully and placed it at the six o'clock position and picked up the next card until he only had one card and managed to complete the game correctly.

"You're very lucky, you know. This game is all about luck and you managed to complete it properly on your first try. Well done that's really good." Rosie smiled as Segonda gathered up the cards and placed them back into the packet.

Rosie stood above the end of the white sheeted bed and fell back onto it bouncing on the mattress as she fell. She folded her arms behind her head and looked up at the black ceiling. The room was dimly lit as it only had one window and the only light in the tiny room didn't work. Rosie thought about the two whom she saw by the lake and slowly their faces began to disappear from her mind one facial feature at a time. Rosie tried to think hard about the faces and slowly forgot them and wasn't sure why they were lost in her mind. Rosie sighed and looked harder at the ceiling and tried to think about the boys harder but the harder she thought the more they were lost to her.

"I need some fresh air, I'm just gonna go out and sit in the wood, kay?" Rosie said as she stood up and headed to the door.

"You can't, we have to wait here until Narako returns to us and takes us somewhere better then here. I'm sorry I have to follow his orders I can't let you leave here Narako doesn't want us to leave here till he comes and gets us." Segonda apologised as he placed a hand on Rosie's shoulder to stop her from leaving the room.

"Fine, but what the hell should I do to pass the time? Who knows how long it's going to take Narako to come back to us?" Rosie replied sounding a little childish. "Am I supposed to just sit around here, for who knows how long, and pass the time that way?"

"I was told to have you wait in this room with me until Narako comes and gets us. I keep telling you the same thing over and over again and it just doesn't seem to get to you." Segonda replied with a tone of annoyance in his last sentence.

Rosie sighed and headed back to the bed falling softly onto the hard mattress. Rosie began to think about the lake and how nice it would be to go back there and dip her legs in the cool water again. She was even contemplating going in for a swim if she had a swimming costume with her. The wind blew gently outside of the small room and it blew in the sweet scent of blossoms. Rosie sat up and lifted her head as she smelt the sweet air around her. Rosie favoured the sweet scent and savoured each moment she could smell it.

"You like the smell of the blossoms outside." Segonda made a presumption from the way that Rosie acted when the sweet smell filled the tiny space so easily.

Rosie nodded sweetly towards Segonda as she thought hard about things she like. Rosie looked tenderly at Segonda as he laughed at her reply.

"Do you find it funny that I like the smell of blossoms? I have always liked their smell because I have grown up with it around me." Rosie replied as she walked over to Segonda and glared at him.

Segonda immediately stopped laughing and coughed when he saw Rosie glaring at him. He waved his hands in a way to dismiss the way he laughed at Rosie's comment. Rosie rolled her eyes and walked back over to the bed and sat at the end of it waiting for Narako to return to her and Segonda.

Narako was standing over Kuraku, who had fallen to the floor weak from fighting, and placed the sword by his neck. He pushed the sword against the skin and dented it with the sword.

"Don't you realise how foolish you are trying to fight me? Your friend was hurt and you were tired after fighting me and you still try to defeat me, why won't you just give up already? I'm going to give you another chance to leave me and Rosie alone and to let us be together without your stupid intrusions." Narako laughed and headed off towards the hidden room.

In the tiny, dimly lit room Rosie sighed as she sat on the bed and rubbed her eyes and flopped back glaring up at the black ceiling. Segonda was playing another game of clockwork patients on the small round table that sat in the middle of the room. Suddenly to wooden door opened and Rosie sat up sharply in surprise. She twisted her head slightly to the right and glared at the door as it stopped and the person that swung it open stepped in. Narako stepped through the door and Rosie sighed and relaxed a little. Narako looked round the room to see Segonda playing his game and head straight over to Rosie reaching out his hand to help Rosie stand up.

Rosie took the hand and Segonda packed the cards up quickly and stood up to follow Narako and Rosie as they left the tiny room with almost no light.

When Rosie exited the room she was stunned by the brightness of the sun. She shielded her eyes from the bright light and squinted her eyes as they adjusted to the new light. The light pierced through the trees, which appeared to be some form of oak tree, and became dappled on the leafy floor and made the wood seem peaceful.

Rosie, Narako and Segonda walked through the wood silently and walked steadily through the calming surroundings. The silence was almost unnerving to Segonda and he walked ahead of the others to check that nothing was around them. Rosie looked up through the trees and watched as the wind blew the tops of the trees changing the dappled light ever-so-slightly. Narako looked back at Rosie and saw how happy Rosie was in the woodland around her and smiled sweetly at her with adoring eyes. The three soon arrived at the house where Narako was looking after Rosie and Rosie ran up to the bedroom she was staying in and grabbed her robe.

"Rosie, what would you like to eat?" Segonda called up to Rosie as she left her room clenching her fist tightly.#

"Whatever, I don't really mind as long as it doesn't have any nuts in it." Rosie called back as she walked down the stairs to see Segonda standing in the middle of the hallway with a white apron tied to his waist.

Rosie walked into one of the rooms where Narako was sat looking out into the world around him. He had kept the room dimly lit and it took a while for Rosie's eyes to adjust to how dark it was in the room. The lights were hardly on and the curtain weren't closed completely but they were closed till there was a slit of light that burst into the room like a beast breaking out of a cage. The dust caught in the light and danced like tiny ballroom dancers caught in a forever lasting dance.

"Wow you've kept this room pretty dark haven't you. Why are you making this room so black?" Rosie laughed.

"Ya I guess I like the thin strip of light that filter through the curtains and fill that area with light." Narako replied as he stood up and walked towards Rosie.

Narako's dark hair was caught in the dark light and sparkled like stars against a night sky. His hair almost turned silver as it was caught by the white light. His dark eyes looked deeply at Rosie through her eyes and Rosie felt like he was trying to look into her soul. She quickly turned her head away, turned her back to Narako and began to walk out of the room. Her face was still bright red when she walked into the hallway and, when Segonda exited the kitchen he saw her face almost as red as a fire engine. Segonda looked at Rosie and didn't realise that he was staring at her face, Rosie looked at the floor sharply and entered the kitchen after quickly noticing the food near the kitchen counter. Rosie pulled out one of the six light brown chairs that matched the light brown, long table with a similar knot pattern in the wood. There were four bowls layed on the table, three next to chairs and one in the middle of the table steaming gently, and Rosie and Narako sat next to two of the bowls; waiting for Segonda to serve the food.

Segonda walked round the table and scooped out the soup from the steaming bowl in the middle of the table. He poured the golden coloured soup into each bowl and then removed the white apron from his waist.

"Ya know, that apron suited you." Rosie laughed as Segonda sat down at the table "Don't you think so too Narako?" Rosie smiled waiting for Narako to answer. Narako looked down at the food, picked up his spoon and began slurping at the soup. The expression on Rosie's face suddenly turned to one of confusion. "I think I'm forgetting something, I must be there's this gut feeling that there was something, or someone, I needed to talk to or meet up with."