Note: Me and Yume are poor and own nothing. Nada. The only things we own are our own characters, (Aieka and Yume if you couldn't figure that out), Aishi, Rio (even though he IS modeled after my boyfriend Rio), Shizuka, Toya (not the Ice Master), and the wonderful storyline and all of its randomness. DO NOT PANIC BECAUSE THE ANIME CHARACTERS DON'T APPEAR IN THIS CHAPTER!!! They will be here soon, this is just the intro and gets everything started, okay? You aren't going to die. I will load new chapters depending on the number of hits on each new chapter. More info on this kinda stuff, and other stuff, is on our profile. Enough fans and I will even load new stories. The next up as soon as we hit one-hundred is...well...to be chosen yet...hehe

Chapter One: How It All Began

Aieka and Yume are driving down a forest road in the dark of night after having gone shopping. Aieka was driving Yume home, occasionally looking into her rear-view mirror.

"Hey, Yume,"

"Yeah?"

"Look back there, are those idiots following us?"

Yume looks back and sees a car trailing after them. The car's headlights were busted, so they were following pretty close. She recognized those lights, and knew who was in the car: Ben and Chris.

"Yeah, it's them. They haven't ever bothered to get their headlights fixed after you busted them with that crow-bar."

Aieka laughed a little, but stopped when the car swerved on the icy road. She managed to get control of it after a few seconds. It was still January, so the roads were dangerous. And this particular road was covered in black ice so it was even worse.

"You sure you know how to drive?" Yume asked, a little nervous.

"Yes, Yume." she chanted in an annoyed tone, "I just need to pay more attention to the road. And get those guys away from me. FAR away from me."

She reached over and handed Yume her car phone, "Call Baka and tell him to get the hell away from us before I take out more than just his headlights."

By "Baka", Aieka meant Ben. They hadn't really gotten along, well… ever. They met in middle school. Chris was Ben's lackey pretty much, making him another object to torment.

Yume punched in his cell phone number, but there was no signal.

"I think your phone's broken." she said.

"The hell…?"

Aieka had just reached over to grab the phone from her when a man with shoulder-blade length black hair, dressed in old-style Japanese clothes ran out in front of the car. She slammed on the brake and the car swung off the road and down the embankment. Yume clung to the seat and screamed while Aieka was fighting vainly to gain control of the car. She gave up and saw they were about to slam into a tree at seventy miles an hour.

"JUMP!!!" Aieka screamed as she herself opened her door and leapt out.

Yume came out of her shock and escaped just as the car hit the tree and was totaled. Aieka slowly rose from the ground, making sure she hadn't broken or ruptured anything, then walked over to check Yume.

"You okay?" she asked, standing next to her.

Yume got up just as slow, favoring her left arm, "I think I'm okay. Probably just bruised my arm."

They both looked at the smashed up car, then heard their pursuers' car doors slam. Aieka glared up at them,

"Let's go, I'd rather walk all the way to town then ask them for help. How about you?"

Yume nodded in agreement, and they walked into the forest. They walked for about half-an-hour. Just as they were beginning to get really tired of walking, a broken-down old mansion came into view beyond the trees.

"What the fu-" they both began in unison.

But they didn't get the chance to finish because a bright, golden light flashed, and they both passed-out.

- - -

(sometime later…)

Yume woke up with the strange images she had just dreamed still lingering in her mind. It felt like she had just lived another life in just a few minutes.

"Aieka?" she called, "Aie-" she was cut-off.

Someone was holding a sharp katana to her throat. Yume's vision cleared up and saw a young woman standing over her.

The woman looked about seventeen and had long, dark-red hair that ended just above the base of her back and crimson eyes that were glaring down at her, making Yume cringe. She had a good figure and was wearing all black; a black halter-top and an open black jacket that ended at the top of her black, form-fitting, low-ride pants. At her waist was the sheath to her katana. The sheath itself was decorated with an elaborate, silver dragon wrapped around it. And… Was that a tail?! Yes, the woman had a dark-red tail that came to a tip about two inches from the ground.

She's a Spirit Wolf, Yume thought, Wait, how did I know that? An image from her dream came to her mind again. It was about a man telling her about the powerful Spirit Wolves.

- - -

"Another type of apparition you must avoid confrontation with, Yume, are the Spirit Wolves." the man said, "They used to, hundreds of years ago, work for the Emperor of the Spirit World. He had taught them some of the best fighting techniques and spells and educated them. But then, they rebelled and he cast them out.

"Now they are mostly wanderers, and their packs often get into wars. Some packs escaped into the Human World, but most are still in the Demon World; where they were sent after their rebellion. They usually leave humans and lowly demons alone, but if provoked, they will kill. If you leave them alone, and don't pose any threat, they will usually let you alone.

"Never confuse them with the simple Wolf Demons who are not nearly as powerful. These Spirit Wolves are much more sophisticated, intelligent, and powerful. You can usually tell the difference by their behavior and appearance…"

- - -

But what had she done to provoke this hostility? She had just woken up, damn it!

The woman held the katana to her victim's throat with just enough pressure as to not break the skin; but if Yume even twitched the slightest bit, she would slit her own throat. But it was the woman's glare that was disturbing Yume. She didn't doubt for a moment that the Wolf would kill her without a second thought.

Her assailant finally spoke, "Where is Yume? Answer me incorrectly, and I will not hesitate to kill you."