I will only say this once and once only
Disclaimer - Mai Hime belongs to Sunrise, the plot and any OCs that may or may not appear belongs to me

»» PROLOGUE ««

"Run"

That was what the old man had said, so run was what she did. She had been running all night, yet it was still several hours until dawn. With a shaky breath she passed through the barely frozen creek. Cold water splashing up on her legs as she moved. Not bothering to stop and try to dry off, she continued in the same speed. There was no point in this cold as it would most likely freeze anyway, and the cold was the least of her problems as it was.

A thin robe was all she had as protection from the cold wind that would sting whenever she was hit in her face or on her bare legs. How she longed for the warmth of her home. A warm fur rug wrapped around her and her beloved one seemed increasingly appealing as she ran over the cold snow on the ground. As she stepped she slipped on the frosty ground, almost losing her balance but able to catch herself before actually falling. As she regained both balance and speed again she cursed over her footwear that was not much more than thin moccasins of cheap leather.

She didn't know how many hours start she had before they would catch up with her. She shouldered at that thought. Perhaps she wouldn't be able get away far enough before dawn. If so she would be a lost case.

Yet she wasn't in a position where she could fail. She was given a mission by her own master, no matter what she could not fail. She had failed enough before and this time she knew they couldn't afford it. She needed to find "her", her master had told her. She had a closed envelope with her with the coven's seal beautifully drawn on the front. Such honour and power it lay within such a seal. Only a few would ever be in a position to receive a letter with that seal, and the task the young woman was assigned was to deliver it to the person in which the letter itself regarded.

However, to deliver the letter in her pocket would prove a difficult task. The receiver of the letter was currently hiding and had so for many years. Ever since the incident when she had broke out and gained freedom. This freedom would however not last forever, and it was this new threat that the slave was carrying the news about.

Something behind her caught her attention and she increased her speed. A passing deer that fled the other direction out of surprise. She didn't dare to stop and turn around to see where it headed. She was freezing and out of breath, not to mention tired after running all night. She needed to stay focused, continue until she no longer could move. That was after all her instructions. Another sound caught her attention and she threw herself behind a tree trying to decipher what it was. Her heart beating hard in her chest she held her breath, waiting for the inevitable.

Her breath was laboured and for each breath she took a small puff of smoke left her mouth. In a desperate attempt to still her breathing she brought up the thin scarf wrapped around her neck and head to her mouth, successfully breathing through the thin fabric. Her dark hair hung loose and had flicker of ice stuck to it. It was stiff, as was the rest of her body. The distant thought of the warmth she now desired was once again brought to her mind. A bath. Yes that would've been nice, would it not? A warm comforting bath. Unfortunately, she did not have time to muse of her inner wishes as she was disturbed.

There, a low crack, far too lonely to belong to any animal. She shut her eyes close and prayed that she would go unnoticed, but she knew better. If they already caught up with her, it meant that her master was unable to hold them up any longer. That meant they would eventually find her, like they always did when hunting. With new strength she leaped out from behind the tree, in hope to be able to wait for what would give her the ultimate protection. The sun. But she had no such luck. A strong hand gripped her arm, twirling her around and then shoving away. With a groan she hit her back on a tree trunk and tried catch herself with her hands when falling to the ground.

"Where is it?" a strong voice, belonging to a male, hissed before grabbing her by her shoulder and pulling her up. Another male appeared to be looking around, seeming to search for something.

With stressed eyes she looked up, towards the sky and prayed. Praying that this was not happening and that she could be back in the safe arms of her lover. Praying that the sun would by a miracle decide that today it should break the dawn earlier than it did yesterday. Her inner ramble of prayers suddenly came to a stop as she was spoken to again.

"We were told there would be several of you. Where are the others?" the same voice roared.

The slave swallowed in fear and tried to pull herself free but it only resulted in the man shoving her up against a tree more violently than before, then hissing in her face. The other roamed her clothes in search for what she knew they would soon find.

"Got it" said the second moments later, as he pulled out the envelope and brought it up to his face and then took a deep breath. He lowly murmured something she couldn't hear.

The man with his hand on the slaves shoulder waited impatiently for the verdict. When he received a nod he turned his head back to the slave who now was shivering. Whether it was from the cold or from fear she herself couldn't tell. But it did all the same. If they had the letters she was supposed to keep safe, she was doomed either way.

"Please, don't hurt me" she pleaded betraying her master for her own welfare.

The men chortled and the one with his hand on her shoulder shifted his grip and clutched her neck instead. The woman automatically gripped his hand trying to pry him off but to no success and it was there and then all her earlier prayers were dissolved and replaced by desperation to come out of this alive took over. Nothing else matter when you were faced with someone who could be death himself personified.

"Please" she repeated. "I only did as I was told. I'll tell you were I was heading. Just please don't hurt me"

The man with his hand around her neck leaned in but the other put his hand on his shoulder, successfully stopping him.

"What?" he growled upset to have been interrupted. This would be their only reward for this hopeless mission, why was he not allowed to have what little joy it would bring them? They had to go back before dawn and he didn't like to wait. The smaller man however seemed to not mind to wait a moment more before leaving.

"Where is she?" he asked lowly ignoring his friend's annoyed expression and instead focused on the slave. His voice was soft and sensual and the young woman couldn't help to be transfixed with the kindness he seemed to spread. He had soft eyes and his expression was calming, unlike his partner who had a fierce expression.

"She's hiding" the woman said and felt the hand around her neck tighten. "South, she's hiding out south. I don't know where. I was just supposed to deliver the letter to an address. I don't know if she's there though"

"Is that all?"

"Y-Yes"

"Finish her off" the smaller of the two said as he turned around walking away, leaving his friend to take care of the woman. First a gasp and then a strangled scream before she was forever silenced. He pulled off his gloves so he could open the envelope. Just the seal on it made him unsure if he should. But the orders were clear: "Don't stop until you know where she is. No matter what." There were two letters in the envelope. One written in their own tongue, the other in a language he wasn't familiar with. Not even the symbols made sense to him. All he could tell was that it was old. He lingered on the unreadable letter for a while longer before returning to the first letter. Reading it in silence as he tried to make out its content.

A voice behind him interrupted his reading

"Well?"

Turning to meet his friends gaze he winced by the sight before looking behind him and shook his head.

"You look like a pig after rooting for slop. Clean yourself up would you? Mistress will want to know of this" he said waving the letter slightly. He was replied with a grunt while his friend did as he was told. The night was colder than usual, even for a winter night. The coldest in years they said. Well he couldn't do anything but agree, it certainly was cold this dark night. Pulling his coat tighter and then taking out his gloves to put them on, he started to walk. The letter disturbed him and he wasn't sure what they would do of this situation. For so many years had they been hunting her and her likes. Yet they had only been successfully enough to encounter the youngest of their sort. She seemed now able to keep herself hidden and provide protection for the others. What a troublesome woman.

A snort left his dry lips as his cold gaze met with his friends. They looked at each other for a moment before heading home. They had longer distance to travel back than he first anticipated they would. All because of that damn slave and her master. She was probably not even aware of what she was carrying or why. Annoyed with another dead end he picked up pace.

The woods they travelled through weren't thick but it had a lot of creeks and stony hills. Not that it mattered to him; it was only to their advantage. How many years had he not travelled on these paths since he swore his loyalty to their mistress? He had been specifically trained for only one type of mission. To hunt, but not just anyone, only a specific group of people, whose value were worth more than any jewel to be found, and more dangerous than even he himself. All because of what they were. He cursed under his breath. He had encountered them before. He knew exactly why they either had to be kept in prisons under strong surveillance, only to serve them. Or to be hunted down and killed. There simply were no other options.

Once he got back to the mansion he left his overgrown friend in the hallway with some other from their coven and made his way through the corridors. In his right hand he held the envelope firmly but not hard enough to crush it. It had to be in good condition when delivered. He soon reached the dining room, which also functioned as their council when needed between the covens. Lately the room had been used more frequently because of the latter and it had given them some trouble both among friends as well as foes. Their own peers taken down, one by one and all by the same person. Never had they been able to figure out the pattern or who would be next. This was until recently and she seemed to have gone underground completely, without a word.

Of course this had caused them to believe she was organising herself. Or rather, he and the other covens thought so. His mistress thought otherwise. She believed their object of interest had simply gone underground to disappear from the face of the earth. Once, he had been bold enough to ask why she kept saying that when the evidence were clear that their kinsmen were killed by her hands, same signature every time. He had received an amused smile in return, and then his mistress spoke with mockery in her voice though he had the feeling she was anything but amused.

"Well, we have tried to hunt her down for the past decades have we not? You can't really blame her for taking down those useless spies and trackers we've sent after her, can we?"

He had swallowed at that. Those were spies working under his leadership. He didn't dare to meet her gaze after that. Her disappointment in his work would be too much and at this point he considered himself glad enough to be alive.

Now he stood there, in the middle of the room. Waiting to be acknowledged and possibly assaulted for another failure. Eventually he was met with a cold gaze. When his mistress raised her hand and waved him over he strove as fast as he could, anxious that she would lose her patient with him if he took any longer.

"I see" she said before he even reached her. Her voice calm, yet cold as her gaze lingered over his face, daring him to speak up against her. "You failed" she then declared and her gaze was then directed elsewhere.

"No" he yelped before he could stop himself, instantly regret that he spoke. He had expected his mistress to snap up to him but he could now see that she had expected him to fail.

Instead of losing himself in his thoughts he cleared his throat before continue.

"I mean, yes, we did partly. The slave girl had gotten further than we thought she ever would. He had picked one of the healthier ones to carry out this mission of his. Some even stood a chance of escaping had they had just a few more hours head start than they did" he explained.

"And this concerns me how?" came the calm, but also dry reply.

"The last slave to be tracked down knew nothing of the mission she carried, even less about the envelop she had on her"

"Good"

"The girl had two letters, one which I can't read because of the tongue it's written in and one…" he hesitated and he realised that all movement, the little there was, had stopped.

"The other message was written to you specifically. Saying that you've been fooled once again. By keep hunting for a past shadow you will forever be the… 'the little foolish girl, you always were'" He stopped there and took two steps forward leaving the envelop on the table and backing away to a safe distance. "Milady, they knew what would happen, before this mission even started".

"Of course they did, what else to be expected?" a low sigh escaped her lips. "What of the traitor?"

"He's currently in the dungeons, Milady"

He watched intensely as his mistress reached for the envelops that he earlier placed carefully on the table before them. Before she pulled out the two letters her cold eyes met with his soft ones. He turned his eyes away in subjection, looking around the room instead of trying to measure his importance with hers.

The room they were currently occupying was a big hall, the shape of it reminded him of a great church where the benches would have been placed in long rows. Though this mansion was not unlike a church, it was not a place for believers of the good God and his followers. It had a gothic style and had been decorated and redecorated throughout the many years it had been proudly standing on the hill it was located. This was definitely one of the largest rooms in the mansion, and the long table could easily support over 60 people, if they ever wished to do so. One would think it would be useless with such long table though, as you would not be able to hear the speak from the other end. But when the table was for people whose hearing was far above any mortal the problem was not of their concern.

Only recently had he himself been allowed to sit at the table during assemblies. Most in regards to the same topic: Her. The one and only one who had managed to cause so much trouble for them all without seeming to lose anything in return. Many blamed his mistress for this, since she had been in charge of the woman. It didn't help that the woman escaped directly under their noses, wounded sure, but her freedom granted nonetheless. Leaving their coven to bare its shame with little chance of recovery. Though his mistress taken over the coven completely after the incident, it would still annoy her when the subject of her own failure was brought up in the meetings.

Trying to redirect his thoughts he let his eyes slowly go back to the seemingly young lady at the end of the table. Trying to detect any reaction from her, but all he could see was the all too familiar stoic face. I the silence, it hit him that they were now alone in the room. It must have meant she was waiting for him. He swallowed slowly, trying to relax though it was hard in the stillness. He looked up to the ceiling trying to count the many pillars coming down as spikes, ready to come crashing down and puncture them all with the sharpness of their points. It was quite the building they lived in. His train of thoughts were interrupted when a low sigh reached his well-trained ears.

"Give me Zhang. I must speak to her" his mistress said, her voice laced with barely contained anger.

"But she's not even in the country, last time we heard from her she was somewhere in Africa to-"

He snapped his mouth shut when she interrupted him with a tone that reeked of supremacy.

"I don't care. Just find her and bring her back. She'll have a new mission" a short pause before she spoke again "A mission to gain redemption if you will. If she refuses remind her of who I am. Or is that too much to ask from you? Hmm Kazuya?"

"No of course not Milady. I'll prepare to leave right away. I'll have a message sent to her to prepare her of our arrival, anything else I can do for you?

"Yes, get me something to drink. I'm thirsty and this has given me a migraine." As to emphasis her words she brought her slender hand to rub her templates lightly, an annoyed expression replaced on her otherwise calm features.

"Right away Milady" he said and then without further delay turned to leave the room. The letters must have upset his mistress greatly if she reacted with visible anger. He wondered what the letter in the foreign language said and if it was that very letter that had caused her to decide to bring back Zhang from her exile.

While Kazuya prepared for his mission a new assembly between the clans was held. The other leaders were evidently displeased with the latest news. There were many arguments and the young leader of Kazuya's coven had some trouble keeping her peers happy. She eventually agreed on the new rules that would be the law of their kind. Once a rule was set with all the covens leader's signatures it would be a law that no one could dispute. By doing so the sentence was execution, no arguments. The young noble had through gritted teeth agreed to this. In this very meeting she also lost the right as the sole coven allowed to hunt their mutual enemy.

"This is no longer only your issue" they had said "different leaders of clans, one by one has been taken down. Disobedience has been seen increasing all over the nation. Covens that were once calm and controlled have gone on a rampage, all to find a suitable NEW leader. This can no longer go on. We need justice, and it is our right to do so as much as it is your fault" How foolish of them, who did they think they were telling her this was her fault? Hadn't his mistress had said person under control and brought them a new area and new opportunity of life? How could they dismiss all that due to a few murders among their sort because of one being's actions? No, his mistress needed to get a hold of her before the others did.

That's why she needed Zhang.

It took Kazuya and his men another three months to get back, and his Mistress nodded at him in appreciation saying that he did a good job. Since he was head over this division of their coven he was allowed to stay behind while Zhang was informed about her new mission.

"So what is this about I'm suddenly welcomed back? I recall you and that hag of yours telling me specifically that if I ever sat my foot in this nation again you would let me burn and then be eaten while still alive, let me heal and start this process over and over again until it bored you" The girl said. Girl they said, though she was hardly innocent like a girl would be. Kazuya thought sourly.

"I did say that, didn't I? Ah well, old grudges aside, right Juliet?" said the melodic voice that belonged to Kazuya's Mistress. Though that was her title, she was far from what a mistress would later be considered. She was their ruler, their Queen.

"What do you want?" Zhang demand with a voice that indicated that she was clearly annoyed whether it was with the circumstances or simply to suddenly be dragged into the messes of a coven of which she no longer belonged, Kazuya didn't know. Probably both. He had to admire the girl for standing up against the Mistress the way she did. You either had to be very brave to do such thing or very stupid, and even he had to admit that Juliet Zhang was anything but stupid. She was more deadly than most of his fellow comrades yet she wasn't the strongest. It was simply who she was that made her lethal. Like as his Mistress. Their age was close as well and he was certain that if Zhang decided to, she could climb to the top of their ranks within their clan. Yet she never did. Instead she did something almost unforgiveable that deemed her a foe instead of a friend. A foe that would have to live in seclusion and exile.

Unforgiveable indeed. Until today that is.

"I have something I need your help with. You remember my old friend. Yes?"

"Yeah, what about her. Last thing I heard you had still yet to catch her. And here I thought she was 'only a human'" she responded coldly but also with a tingle of amusement.

"We… misjudged her" was the slightly stiff respond.

"Well that was too bad, but how does that concern me?" Zhang asked and Kazuya had to admit he was also interested in the answer. What was the reason to bring Juliet Zhang back from her long exile?

"I need you to get her for me, before anyone else does. You will be financially covered, you won't move alone and you will report directly to me and no one else. If you do I will dismiss your exile and you will once again be an honourable member of this coven, of my house. And you know what that means, don't you?"

A long silence was emerged and Kazuya had to bit his lips to not speak up in protest. By God, what is his mistress planning? Letting Zhang in would be as letting the plague itself into your house. Such madness! But he knew that despite of his own skills, he was simply not enough. If anyone was good enough to actually catch her, Juliet Zhang was that very one. The question was whether her loyalty to them would last and ultimately have her provide them with their long time pray or if she would keep it to herself. Something, however, told him that Zhang would not betray them like she had before. Not with the new rules of the game. Not with his mistress in the lead.

The two females watched each other for a long time before a smirk appeared on the redhead's lips. She had made up her mind.

"Fine. I have my own business with the harlot anyway. Do you want her delivered alive or does that matter?" Hope was evident in her voice that she wished that she was the one allowed to take her new object out of the picture.

"Alive, or else I will have you hunted down not only by this coven but by the others as well" was the curt reply

"As you wish, Mistress" Zhang said in calm voice and turned around to walk out the very doors she just recently came through. Not saying a word more to either of the two remaining occupants.

Kazuya turned around to face his mistress when the steps of the redhead no longer could be heard.

"Milady are you sure you want to have Zhang, Juliet Zhang to do this? God knows what she will do if she finds her" Kazuya pleaded hoping that they could work something else out. Anything would be better than letting Zhang into this mess.

"No, Juliet shares similar reasons as I do to catch her. She won't betray us, not this time. If she does, she will have all the covens under our alliance after her tail. And Zhang doesn't understand how many more allies we have than last time we saw her." And with that Kazuya was dismissed with a small hand movement. Silently he withdrew into the shadows, wondering what would happen from now on.

"My dear, so dear friend. What a spectacle you have caused, and you who forever wished to never be in the centre of attention. That didn't quite work out did it?"

A/N

So this would be my first published Mai Hime story. I do not know if this will work out for the better or the worse but I'm hoping for the formal rather than the later. I've had heaps of help to get this chapter out, firstly to another author here on . She encouraged me to publish this story despite the fact that my original summary of it was anything but clear or good. So a thank to her. MsVeine

I also wish to thank my beta reader as well, though we call him proofreaders instead as I've known him outside of FF for quite some time now. So best regards to him for helping me with this.

Lastly I suppose I wish to only wish that you all had a good time reading this, there's a reason I did not add this information at the top and instead opted for the bottom of the chapter. I will not disclose anything that may spoil any future chapter, but if something is awfully unclear where it should not I shall definitely take it to hart and explain.

Now to the good stuff REVIEWING, I'm aware that many when writing reviews settle with "update soon" or "I loved/hated this" and some sort of wailing in between. I however would be so much more please if you at least tried to just mention, WHAT you LIKED or DISLIKED, yes I'd like to know if there's anything you don't like.

Thanks for taking your time to read, it's highly appreciated!

Until Next Time!

/Kajskk