Chapter 1: Arrival

Ayano looked down at the paper in the journal. Her eye twitched in annoyance as she tapped the pencil against the paper. It was well into the night and she was still up, but this was one of the things in her mind and it was bugging her. She started the story when she was 10 and she thought it would be easy to continue it, but to her misfortune it wasn't as easy as she thought.

She felt like ripping her hair out as she looked down at the paper. "DAMN IT! I can't think of anything!!" she quietly screamed out so not to wake up her grandparents. She sighed as she turned her head towards the window seeing a full moon outside. She stared at it almost in a trance. "What a beautiful moon." she said as she suddenly felt the world start to disappear. Suddenly the pages in her journal started to turn themselves as the words written in her 10 year old hand writing started to glow. She looked at her journal wide eyed as it took an life of its own and suddenly…she wasn't in her home anymore.

The forest was still except for the occasional rustling of an animal making its way through the undergrowth. Birds chirped in low tones as if they were afraid that someone might hear them. The sunlight found its way through gaps in the foliage above, relieving the wood of some of its darkness, but there were still shadows where shadows lurked of course.

Moving stealthily through the trees, the tall, dark figure was merely a whisper of the wind. Dark hair fell about a well-tanned face that was shadowed by the dark surroundings. His garb was as dark as his hair, allowing him to blend in to the forest that he seemed so familiar with. And if you could have seen his face, the cocky smile on his lips would have given his identity away immediately.

As the figure continued stalking whatever prey he had in mind, Ayano appeared in the sky above the forest. She blinked seeing the blue sky around her and trees below. "Oh what a pret... WAIT A MINTUE!!" she screamed out as she started to flap her arms franticly as she slowly began to fall. "AHHHHH!!!" she screamed out as she suddenly crash landed in a tree. She groaned as she felt her head spin. She was sore and her head broke more than a few branches on the way down. "Auughh" She groaned out head bobbing a little.

So the serenity was broken the moment the girl came crashing down in front of the dark figure. Several branches fell on top of her, leaving a gap in the trees where sunlight streamed, lighting the glade. The man blinked momentarily, squinting at the pile of clothes that lay at the base of the tree. With an exasperated growl he stormed forward, hauling the figure up by the neck of her shirt. "What the-" He stopped immediately as he took in her face, realizing that it was a girl he held in the air, and a foreigner by the look of her clothing.

The demon dropped her in surprise and disgust, shoving her back a few paces. "What is an ignorant wench like you doing here?! Don't you realize you've let my prey get away?" He clenched his teeth, fiery-red eyes flashing in annoyance.

Ayano groaned as she got up after the rough shove. Her hand shot out and grabbed the front of the man's shirt pulling him closer to her face. Her free hand held her head. She glared him right in the eyes with her reddish/brown eyes. "Ugh! Shut up! You're making my headache worse! And it's very rude to push someone who still dizzy!" She said as she shoved him back while rubbing her temples. "Ugh...my head." She groaned.

The demon's strange eyes widened at this sudden outburst before narrowing. He fingered the hilt of his katana, watching this strange maiden from the corner of his eye. Who the heck was this crazy girl? She certainly wasn't from around here…

She looked around and blinked. It was like a light bulb went off in her head and she looked around franticly. "W-Where the hell am I!? WHERES MY ROOM!!?" she yelled as she walked around a few feet walking around a few trees and circles around the area in-between the trees. "Oh no no no!! This has to be a dream! Right?!" she said as she balled her fist up and punched herself in the stomach.

"Look, you, what are you doing here? And stop that dang yelling." He smirked. "I have delicate ears." But his enjoyment at delivering what he thought was a beautiful insult was cut short as he took in her strange behavior. ...hurting herself?

She hunched over holding her stomach in pain. "Nope...Not a dream." she breathed out.

"Well, of course this isn't a dream. Why? Too scared to meet someone like me in real life?" He scoffed, but his eyes looked smug. Upon examining her more closely, he discovered that she seemed rather pale, and wore clothes that were

not at all suitable for the climate. Even a traveler would have the sense to buy the necessary attire. He crossed his arms, a frown on his face. This was getting interesting. His quarry was all but forgotten now.

She took in a few deep breaths as the pain dulled in her stomach. She managed to compose herself and look at him with a raised eyebrow at him. "Someone like you?" She looked at him and started laughing. "Oh please don't be so smug." She managed to laugh out. "I'm pretty sure I can find someone on the streets with about the same persona as you pal so don't get your ego so inflated." She said as she began to look around again...only this time more calmly.

The demon's eyes flashed in annoyance, but he kept it in with obvious skill. "Not here, I should think. No, I'm a rare find, especially in this forest. As are you, I might say." He turned to stare at her, his face suspicious but calm. "What are you doing here, girl? You sure don't belong." He laughed, most pointedly at her. Well, this girl certainly had spades of calmness about her. Eh, once the screaming subsided. His head still rang with her shrieks. What a racket. But now she seemed to have her wits about her, and her tongue was sharp. Yes, interest was written all over him...in invisible ink.

Ayano blinked and raised her eyebrow while she looked at him. She had to admit he was handsome and she would of fallen for him...if he didn't piss her off from the start. "Oh what gave it away? My clothes? Or me freaking out." She said with her voice dipped in sarcasm. "Anyway I don't know why I'm here really. All of a sudden I found myself falling out of the sky and landing in the middle of some weird forest." She said while looking up at the tree she fell through. She winced seeing how many branches were now missing and how many bruises she knew she was going to get.

"The sky?!" The demon seemed rather shocked. "You aren't an angel, are you?" He strode up to her, grabbing her shoulder. He stared her straight in the eye for several moments before releasing her with a sigh of relief. "I guess you aren't." But he swung back around again, his voice accusing. "Then what are you? How can you fly? Why, you're just a petty human!" He scoffed. Who did this girl think she was! She had given him quite a scare. Now she was just weirding him out. "Flying mortals..." he muttered, putting a hand to his forehead.

She felt her eye twitch. "Petty human!!" she repeated. She stormed over to him and jabbed her finger into his chest. "And what the hell are you!? Some sort of demon?" she asked while glaring him in the eyes. She was confused now more to the fact she felt lost.

If he was annoyed at her rude poking of his torso, any signs of it vanished when she spoke. With a smirk, he crossed his arms. "That's me, Striker Zegus, Dark Demon-for-hire at your service. Well," he looked her up and down with an obviously haughty look, "maybe not yours." But, at second look, she wasn't that bad looking. Too nice, though. She didn't seem to be the type of person who would need an enemy bumped off. Still, maybe he should hang around for a bit, see what became of her. Striker shrugged his tone annoyed and reluctant. "Well, maybe I can get you to the closest town. After all, you seem to be pretty lost."

She blinked at him. "Demon huh..." she said as she decided to play along. She shrugged. "That's a pretty nice offer for a demon." She said. "Sure why not. I might as well find out where I am currently before my head explodes." She said as she stepped away from him and gestured him to go on. "Lead the way Demon

man."

Striker nodded towards the way that he had come. "It's this way." His fiery eyes narrowed as he saw the doubt and amusement in her eyes.

But then she blinked as she smelled smoke in the air. She was still with Striker as she looked around.

"What's that smell?" she pondered out loud. She sniffed the air again.

"What's up with you? Got a problem with me?" He crossed his arms, growling under his breath. "Of course I get stuck with a crazy, ignorant girl just as my target was in my reach. Now I won't get my pay," he muttered to himself, heading off through the forest with a long stride. "Hurry up!" He called back to her. As for the smell she had mentioned, Striker had also noticed. They were heading in that direction anyway and there would be no harm in checking it out. From a safe distance, that is.

She blinked as she thought back at something when she was 10. She didn't know why back when she gave Striker the once over he seemed familiar. 'I wonder why he seems familiar.' she wondered.

She shakes away the thoughts of familiarity from her mind as she smiled and she followed him. That was until a usually large spider crawled up her shoulder and there were many things in the world Ayano hated...spiders being at the top of her list. She felt her eye twitch as one of its long harry legs touched her skin. At that moment she freaked out screaming as she started smacking the spider off her. She dashed over to Striker and jumped on his back wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She was shivering. "Ewe gross spider, big spider!! Creepy hairy 8 legged spider!!!" she mumbled her eyes were closed tightly.

As soon as he heard her scream, Striker started to turn, an annoyed expression on his face but it was nothing compared to his expression when she jumped on his back, and for no reason that he could see. He stumbled forward a few paces. "What the...Do you enjoy jumping on random people? Getoffa me!" He growled, trying to detach her, but with no success. "What was that all about?!" He grabbed her arms, trying to wrench them apart. They were starting to cut off his air supply.

She loosened her arms around his neck and pointed to the unusually big spider on the ground trying to get off its back from her throw. "Spider!! I hate Spiders and that thing is FREAKISHLY BIG!!!" she stated. She wasn't planning on getting off his back till the spider was gone...or dead either way was fine with her.

Striker almost couldn't believe his ears. He turned his head so he could look at her out of the corner of his eye. "You're not saying...you went into a delirious fit over THAT thing, are you?" He rolled his eyes, wondering how he, of all the people there were in this world, had stumbled across her. "Fine, then. If I kill it, will you get off my back? You need to lose weight or something because you weigh a ton!" He gripped her legs, walking over to where the spider lay. He set one black boot down upon it, squashing it into the ground. He then walked over to a rock, wiping its guts off the best he could. "All right, done." The demon released her with a mock-sigh of aggravation.

Ayano shivered when she heard the squishing noise. That was the most loudest squishing noise she has ever heard of and it was gross. She slid off his back when the deed was done. She glared at him from the corner of her eyes on the comment about her weight. "I am not HEAVY!" She stated agitated as she crossed her arms she started to make her way towards the direction they were originally going.

Striker stifled a laugh. "Well, you seemed pretty heavy to me." He went to join her, continuing the way they had been going before the spider had distracted them.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. She decided to let the heavy comment slip cause she knew she might end up doing something she might regret.

She then remembered something. As rude as this person is she still had to give him her name. "By the way. My name is Ayano, Ayano Shizumi." she said. This world she managed to get in was fascinating...too bad it's ticked and scaring the living crap out of her. 'This is all gonna end with one big headache I just know it...' she thought with a sweat drop appearing on the back of her head.

Ugh, that spider had left orange stuff on his boots, and he could feel it when he walked. Curse the maker of thin stealth boots.

"Ayano, huh? Eh, I suppose a weird name suits a weird person like you, though." He gave his signature smile, full of Striker humor. "Where are you from, anyways?""Some place called Earth." she said. She felt her eye twitch. "And Ayano is not a weird name!" She stated haughtily. She felt her eye twitch more as she figured out what he was doing. "You just like ticking me off don't you?" she asked eyeing him suspiciously.

"Earth?" Striker looked slightly confused. "As in, Mother Earth? Are you some sort of artificially-made human or something? Born from the element earth?" It was all that he could come up with to explain her odd statement. "And why would I try to aggravate you? You might be a weird-o, but insults are beneath me, I assure you." He placed a hand on his chest as if swearing something, an innocent smile on his face. Her twitching was becoming more noticeable. Was that a normal trait of these Earth-people?

"NO I AM NOT SOME WEIRD ARTIFICALLY CREATED HUMAN!!!" she yelled out. She didn't trust him when he stated that insults were beneath him. She took a deep breath a let it out. "Anyway what is this place?" She asked calmly. She then noticed a mark on a tree and blinked. "...And what is this?" she asked confused.

Striker opened his mouth to respond to her question, but stopped abruptly. His eyes narrowed as they caught sight of the mark. "Oh, come on..." With a growl of annoyance, he ran up from behind, grabbing her arm and propelling her forward. "Come on; let's get outta this dang forest. Nothing but bad luck..." he muttered under his breath, his mood suddenly foul. He hadn't liked the look of that mark, or the traces of blood he smelled in it.

She blinked as she was suddenly quickly dragged by Striker. "Hey! What's going on?" She questioned as she noticed his mood turn. She thought it might have something to do with that weird mark on the tree.

"Nothing. The sooner we get you to Shuno, the better. Then I can get you off my hands." His brow was furrowed in annoyance, and his eyes sparked. He knew that sword, the one that had made that mark, and recently too. He also smelled roasted meat somewhere to their left, but he wasn't stopping to find out who was here.

She blinked as she sniffed the air. She smelt food and wondered who was cooking. She looked at Striker with a raised eyebrow as she let him drag her. What she could see on his face was either anger or annoyance...maybe even both, but it wasn't at her. 'Wonder what got him off his rock?' she thought.

Striker kept glancing behind them, quickening his pace. "Can't you move any faster? Or is your weight slowing you down?" So he could still joke around. He wasn't THAT upset, just annoyed that he ran into so much misfortune on just one assignment. Talk about a bad day. And was it just him, or were they being followed? Of course they were. This person was no fool, and he knew that all too well.

She felt her eye twitch. 'Well he certainly isn't that much off his rock!!' Ayano thought annoyed. "I am not heavy for the last time and if you forgot IM NOT A DEMON LIKE YOU! So I can't run any faster!" she yelled at him. Yes she did accept he was a demon after seeing how much faster he was then a normal human being, but then in the midst of her thoughts she felt a shiver run up her spin as she also realized…they were being followed.