The pure white snow was all that I could see, it went on for what looked like an eternity. The pure white almost blinded me as I looked into the never-ending horizon of snow. How long had I been walking? In this place there was no real perception of time, neither night or day counted because my cat eyes could not tell the difference between the two; it was all just a blur of white snow. The wind picked up and blew my torn black cloak and my brown hair to whip violently around me as I continued to walk. I kept walking, and walking, and walking until finally my foot caught on a thick bank of snow, bringing me to my hands and knees. I collapsed under the pressure of my own body weight. Feeling pathetic as I curled into myself and strained to look over my shoulder; behind me were deep tracks and the only color to be seen for at least fifty miles, my blood stained the snow in a passionate red as if to defy the lifelessness of this barren world. Ironic if you think about it, my thoughts of life towards the snow as I lay dying. With that as my final thought I felt my breath become more shallow every time I brought the harsh air into my lungs. I looked up to the sky one final time, expecting to see a dull grey I was startled to be met with gold and silver. A swirl of white, gold, and silver was the kimono before me; white was the base color with gold and silver threads forming delicate blossoms and vines across the fabric. Beautiful silver hair pulled high and held with a black leather thong. A wonderfully beautiful being was crouched next to me, but I couldn't see their face, the being was looking at my arms, torn and far too disgraceful for such a beauty to see. I wanted to pull away but I was so transfixed that in my weakened state my body would not respond to the shame driven commands.
"What happened to you?" a rumbling voice that reminded me of a purr seemed to echo in my mind.
"I got attacked and defended myself…..Are you my angel of death?" I don't know what compelled me to ask such a stupid question….but none-the-less it felt right. The 'being' turned to look at me and I was sure I had died. I didn't breathe and I knew I couldn't speak. I had just looked into golden eyes so deep I felt as though I was weightless and falling, no, floating through the clouds.
Even with the sweet-sharp feminine angles of the face, there was no doubt that this being was a male. Maroon stripes flowed with the natural curve of his cheekbones with two of them on each side disappearing into his hairline. The midnight-blue crescent moon atop his brow seemed to mock me, for I had the same mark in the inset of my left hipbone. As he quirked his head slightly to the side as though he were studying me, a cascade of silver hair washed over his left shoulder making it look as though this simple movement was in slow motion.
"Hardly," he gave me a look that resembled a dry smile from someone who had never performed the action; needless to say it looked more like a final smile from an executioner before your untimely death, "but you might still die."
"I figured that out about the time one of my major arteries was severed." I replied with a little sarcasm.
"Then why are you still alive?" He had obviously known how far I had walked and estimated the short time it would have taken even a full demon to die from blood loss.
"My blood is very special, after a short period time the blood becomes a fairly thick consistency, at that time the blood works to manufacture enough replacement blood to keep me alive. I would have survived if I had immediate medical attention or some bandages to cover the wound, that would have made the blood repair and replace the damaged skin and tissue. If you look you'll see that the trail of blood beside my footprints stays the same throughout my trek, with no variations in the amount of blood spilled on the snow. That is because of the blood production. If I had been walking much longer I would not have even the bare minimum amount of energy to keep producing enough blood to keep me alive. Right now I am dying because the temperature is causing the circulation in and throughout my body to slow down. Without a rapid enough rate of circulation the blood production goes much too slowly for enough replacement blood to be manufactured in time, at least when I was walking the movement in my legs kept my blood circulating fast enough to keep me alive. Either way I die, it's only a matter of time."
There was an awkward silence before his face became emotionless. Part of me was frightened as he moved to pick me up but the other part was just as emotionless as his face; this part knew that death would probably have come anyway, so why delay it by preventing him from killing me now? I didn't make a move to struggle as I was lifted from the ground and into his arms. I fell naturally into place against his chest and I lay there like a crumpled doll. He stood up slowly then the world seemed to lurch forward at an incredible speed. My breath caught somewhere above my stomach, but it sure as hell wasn't in my lungs. It took me a moment, even though my eyes were wide open, to realize that he was running. As I settled down I realized how warm he was and I found myself cuddling into him as much as possible in my current position.
I didn't know that I had fallen asleep but I must have, because I woke up. It must have been night because I could hear the chirping of insects, and the temperature was slightly cool. I tried to switch my vision to that of my fox form but I was still too weak, though if I focused hard enough on the sky I could almost see the stars. I sat up, much to the dismay of my pounding head, and I tried to look around; there was a small fire about four feet from where I was laying so I wasn't cold. I realized that I was naked just as a cold breeze crept across my bare breasts. I blushed and looked down; around my waist was a white fur, but as I followed it's trail it happened to be attached to a male. I blushed and tried to detangle myself from the tail that lay around my waist. The tail tightened and pulled my body to the ground.
He was either coming to or had been awake the whole time, taunting me. I covered my chest with both arms crossed against them, growling a low and dangerous warning. As his eyes fluttered open I was dazed, but I did not let down my growl; if anything it had intensified. My instincts were telling me that I was naked with an unmated male in a potentially dangerous situation, and my instincts never led me wrong. I assessed the situation in my mind: There was a full demon male with two swords just in his reach, but outside of mine, judging from his appearance, at least nine hundred years old, his claws were poisonous and I could feel the deadly strength of his muscles beside me, even if he was just shifting his body slightly; I was naked, weaponless, weakened, directly in his grasp, and scared shitless. I bared my teeth and I could feel every inch of my body screaming, "FK this is or fight I'm dead."
He sat up and easily propped himself on his left elbow his hair once again managing to glow in magnificent silver. His eyes assessed my body language and he locked eyes with me, he was obviously dominant as he stared me down. I could only put my body in a submissive position just fractions too close to crossing over the line where he could rightfully kill me. I hadn't moved much, only lowered my head to below his eye level.
"Why are you afraid?" He looked at me and almost pouted. I bit back a snarl and tried to concentrate on talking rather than growling.
"Well, there's the fact that I'm naked, I'm with a half naked male, I'm weaponless and I don't have any choice but to run or fight." I practically yelled at him. He paused thoughtfully before continuing slowly.
"You could also look at it this way: Last night I found you in the middle of the snow, you were half dead and frozen. The reason you are naked is because you needed direct warmth from my body, I felt that it would be more appropriate if I was at least wearing some article of clothing," He gestured to his low slung hakama that dangled deliciously off of his hips," does that help clear things up?" He seemed fairly upset but sincere.
"Yes, I am sorry but I don't really trust men…. How do I know I can really trust you?" I looked him in the eye and I tried not to fall too deep within them.
"How can I prove it to you?" He spoke the words so easily, it was kind of shocking.
"You can do three things; first you can give me a weapon, second you can give me something to wear, and third you can give me your most valuable possession."
He walked away from me, further removing anything that resembled modesty. When he returned he carried what appeared to be the missing top of his outfit and a medium length dagger.
"I can only give you so much, the last item you requested is something I cannot give to you, or relocate right now….she is asleep." He pointed to a bundle across the fire.
"Who is she?"