Little Tsu: This is jus' a one shot that I'm testin' out & would like your input on what you think of it. I haven' forgotten about any of my other work & am slowly workin' on 'em, but I've hit snags at times towards what all ta put in the new chaps or towards jus' how ta start off said new chap.

Anywho, here goes...well, somethin'.

Betrayel and Regret

Darkness loomed as only the light of a full moon seemed to bathe a lone, sinister castle that laid hidden from everyone that the owner willed it from; the barrier being what made the castle invisible. Within said castle sat a young looking man in a large room that had few items to keep it decorated and from being utterly barren. His long, wavy dark hair was splayed out behind him and along the wooden floors as a hand rested on the floor at his side and while one leg lay on its side and bent so that the lower half was laid across in front of himself, his other leg was bent and erected with the sole of his foot planted on the cold floor; his other arm propped on that knee. As he sat there in the room, gazing calmly out the window that he sat near, his crimson gaze was soon directed towards the sliding door that would lead out into the outside hall; a dark sillouette knelt on the other side of it, facing the door. "Akemi...I see that you've finally returned. I take it you've decided to accept my offer after all?"

There was silence on the other side for a moment before a soft, almost melodic tone filtered into the room. "Yes Naraku...I shall do as you ask in exchange for the added power that you'll grant me..."

A dark chuckled escaped Naraku's lips as he heard the agreement before speaking up once more. "Come here then young Akemi...Naraku will grant you the power you so desire and in exchange,...you will give me your servitude." Naraku's eyes stayed trained upon the sillouette as it slowly rose up onto their feet before the door slid open to reveal a rather lovely young demoness that beheld a teenaged appearance. Her attire held similarities to that of the usual youkai wolves; though the fur cuffs around her wrists and the tops of her hands to act almost like gloves and the fur that was around almost the full bottom half of her legs and wrapped around the middle of her feet to act as boots were silver. She wore no armour as her bottom half was that of a short, mid thigh length teal kimono skirt that had silver fur draped over it at the sides with the front of her kimono skirt revealed under the fur in a triangular fashion. Her top consisted of a red fitting fabric that wrapped around her chest and revealed a very small portion of her stomach before the tied section began for the top that was over it, which was lavender in shade and rather open and flared out around her; halting at her knees. Her skin was a light tanned coloration, which caused the almost tribal red tattoos on her knees and elbows to stand out like a beacon. To top off her overall lovely appearance, long just passed waist length brown wild hair with mahagony edges blended into it shifted in time with her stride towards the half youkai before her as her messy bangs fell into her dark violet eyes; slatted forward wolf ears and a long sleek, yet slightly fluffy tail that curled a bit at the end matched the coloration of her hair to a tee.

This...was Akemi...

Halting a few feet away from the male, the young youkai wolf knelt down to one knee once again and bowed her head slightly in respect. "I am yours to do with as you wish Naraku-sama."

"The power you seek...Are you willing to even lose that which is most precious to you? If so, then the power is yours, but it will only appear once you've started on this request Akemi...and you won't beable to stop once you begin. You understand this, correct?"

Lifting her head up a bit to lock her violet gaze with his own crimson, Akemi's sharp eyes narrowed through her bangs as she nodded faintly. "I understand...My loyalty stands with you Naraku-sama. I understand now that my current way of living will not get me stronger and is also not the way I wish to live out my long life...It will not grant me the power I want nor do any of the males within my tribe appeal to me...They are all weaker than myself and I refuse to mate any of them like my father wishes for me to..."

Listening to her explaination, Naraku chuckled again, this time in amusement, as his eyes gently closed. The demoness before him was quite the interesting one. If he had taken such an interest in her and actually cared about such trivial things, he wouldn't have minded mating her himself. However, he had no interest in such a matter and she was much more valuable as one of his...minions, I guess you could say. "Very well then...You shall have that power you seek Akemi..." Reaching out towards her, he rested a hand against her upper chest that was shown bare and carved into her skin a wolf pawprint that would be perminantly stained red to act as like part of her other tribal tattoos, thus the reason for him having shaped the scar into a pawprint rather than a spider; which was unfortunately his mark, a painful reminder that he was still a half youkai.

Watching as the scar he carved into her healed itself and remained there on her chest in a perminant red outline as if it were a tattoo, he smirked faintly before nodding his head faintly. "I've embedded a bit of my power into you. Sort of like my miasma, except this is nonleathal and won't cause you any pain. It'll only boost your power...Once you begin your promise to me, then the power I carved inside of you will awaken...Now go. Your tribe will be getting a visit soon with a youkai cat clan that has been fueding with them lately over territory...Use that war between the two as a cover for your mission."

Nodding her head lightly at this in understanding, Akemi rose up onto her feet and quickly rushed off; her speed being nearly on par with Kouga's with the shards in his legs despite her having none at all.

It took her a decent part of the night, but she eventually arrived upon the cliffside of the mountains that the Southern Youkai Wolf Tribe lived within the caves of near the base. Below her, her wolf ears easily picked up on the yells and battle cries of both cat and wolf alike as the two warring packs fought over territory, which her own tribe reigned control over the much greater portion, thus the reason for the cat youkai clan starting a war with them yet again. As she watched for a few more moments, she finally leaped off the ledge and raced down along the cliffside, creating a cloud of dust behind her in the process. With her claws gleeming slightly in the night sky, she pushed off the cliff and whipped through the air as she sliced right through one of the cat youkai; landing in the ground and skidding forward a decent distance as the body collapsed behind her.

Straightening herself up, Akemi heard her father cry out to her in relief that she was ok and with them now. Nodding her head lightly as she got into position, she rushed off and began cleaving through more cat youkai, sending blood splattering all over the battleground as well as a few splatters on her face and clothes. Her claws cracked as they were completely soaked in blood and as she turned around, she watched as she final one was struck down; his head sent flying as his body crumpled to the ground at her feet from his attempt to attack her from behind. Standing there with a sickle in both hands was her father, who had killed the youkai before he could try to strike her. Her father, who was the alpha of the Southern Tribe.

Smiling down at her, his golden eyes seemed to alight with a sense of joy and pride towards not just their victory over the long lasting multiple battles that the war between the two clans had brought, but also towards his daughter's proess as not only a warrior, but also his beta within their tribe. However, as he turned around to speak out to their fellow wolf youkai that were still alive, his voice was cut short as his body jerked slightly and blood slowly began to fill his mouth and pool out of the corners of his lips. Glancing down, he spied a bloody clawed hand sticking out of his lower chest before finally being wrenched out causing him to stumble forward and nearly collapse. Everyone in the tribe gasped in utter shock at this and the older alpha staggered a bit in turning around some to see his attacker's eyes; locking his gold with intense violet that reminded him so much of his mate's before she was killed years ago.

"A...ke...mi...Why...?"

Watching her father collapse to the ground in a puddle of his own blood, his once bright gold eyes now dull and lifeless while heavy lidded, she slowly turned her calm, emotionless gaze onto the rest of her tribe as blood dripped to the ground from her claws. The pawprint mark's outlining thickened slightly to half the thickness of her actual tattoos as the red actually darkened a bit to a dark crimson. "Why...?...What a stupid question..." Without another word, Akemi rushed in towards the rest of the wolf youkai.

Bloodcurtling screams filled the night as well as the scent of blood and death...

As the sun began to slowly rise for the day, the sun's morning light touched the blood and slaughtered body filled battleground. In the center of all the blood and carnage, only one stood there alive, blood splattered all over themself and their claws soaked in it as well. Intense violet eyes drifted towards the multicolored sky as they took in the warmth of the morning sun's rays while their blood stained tail hung limp behind herself. Closing their eyes gently, Akemi allowed everything to slip out of her as she chuckled softly before finally letting out a roar of melodic laughter despite the fact that tears began to stream down her cheeks, mixing with the blood that was on them from her victims. Upon calming down, she tilted her head as it was now just the tears falling rather than her laughing as well as she locked her gaze onto the lifeless form of her father; his final words echoing within her mind.

"...I don't know anymore Tou-san..."

Kneeling down before his corpse, she reached out with her claws and gently brushed them down over his eyes, closing them. With her own eyes glistening with more unshed tears, she rose up onto her feet and quickly rushed off. She couldn't bear to remain there any longer and the realization of what she had actually done hit her like an enormous dragon colliding with her chest. She had to get away, but she wasn't going back to Naraku. No...That had been her first mistake to begin with. She had been lured in by his words and promises and in doing so, she commited the greatest act of betrayel...She had betrayed her entire tribe and her father by slaughtering them all...

...All for the sake of power...

And now...there was only regret...

End.

Little Tsu: Ok, so this was a test one shot for this series ta see how I'd do, buuut...if ya'll like it & like Akemi, I might actually eventually start up a sequel ta follow up on this. All up ta you guys. Till then,...I'llll be tryin' ta work on my other stories...x.x"