Unlikely Places
The sound of wolves howling at the moon woke Sion from her sleep late that night. The cat demon sat up slowly and walked to the window. The full moon was high above the world, bathing the landscape in silver light.
Sion sat on the sill and looked up at the glowing orb. Where were her wolves? Could they be looking for her or have they moved on?
She leaned her head against the window glass and closed her eyes. "Listen to me… 'my wolves'. They're not my property." She muttered.
The water rippled towards the small island in the center. Moonlight danced upon the gentle waves. Sitting on the island was the young Sion. Her puffy eyes were red and her cheeks stained from tears.
"Salika, Tamika!" she called out but received no reply.
Standing up, the little girl sucked in her sobs and made a fist, attempting to show strength. But a rustle in the bushes caused her to duck down and hug her knees. Shivering and biting her lip, she called out, "Who's there?"
A boy about her age with spiky black hair, a white starburst in the front, and devilish red eyes stepped out of the bushes. He wore a black robe covered by a torn and badly ripped gray cape that dragged a few feet behind him. He held a sword that was taller than him and a look that proclaimed he had killed before.
Sion stood up cautiously. "Who are you?"
The boy smirked and was gone. He reappeared behind her, holding the katana to her neck. "No one. But I know you."
Sion stood stiff. "Y-You do?"
"Yes." He replied. "You're my next victim."
"No!" Sion panicked and flung her arm back, hitting him in the face. The boy fell over, his sword swiping across her neck and living a small cut. She turned to look down at him with fierce determination, ignoring the blood seeping from her neck. "You can't kill me! Not until I find Salika and Tamika!"
The boy looked up at her in shock, as if he'd never been knocked back before. But then he looked angry. "What?"
"You heard me." Sion pursed her lips. "When I find my wolves, then you can kill me if you want."
Sion gave a start and looked around. She had fallen asleep leaning against the window. Her cheek was cold and the window had small creek of drool freezing to it. But she wasn't concerned about that, it was the dream.
"That looked like…."
In a tree nearby, Hiei had just awoken from the same dream. He narrowed his eyes at the moon. "It's the same girl."
x – x – x
"That was strange."
"What?" Kurama gave the she-vampire a confused look over the top of his book.
It was getting to be late now and Sakura was sitting on the floor in front of the television playing a video game. Kurama sat on the couch behind her reading a thick novel.
"The way Hiei acted with Sion." she said, not moving her eyes away from the game.
"You're just now commenting on it?" Kurama asked and book marked his place. It had been a couple of days since the incident with Sion.
"I've been thinkin' 'bout it." The game's protagonist was shot and fell into a puddle of his own blood as the words "GAME OVER" flashed onto the screen in bold, bleeding letters. Sakura set the controller down and turned to face Kurama. "Don't'cha think it was strange?"
"Well… it was sort of peculiar but it wasn't enough to make me think on it for a few days. What is bothering you?"
"He showed her mercy. Hiei never shows anyone mercy." Sakura reasoned.
"He didn't kill Bui when he requested for him to." Kurama paused for a moment. "Do you think he's met Sion before?"
Sakura thought or a few seconds and then muttered, "I wonder…."
The very next morning Sakura picked up a tray of breakfast from the counter and headed up the stairs to Sion's room. She used her foot to tap the door.
"What?" came Sion's curt response.
"Breakfast!" Sakura sang.
"No. Go away."
Sakura's eyebrow twitched. "C'mon! Eat somethin', neko!"
There was a pause and then the door opened. "Why should I?" A pair of eyes glowed dangerously from the dark room.
Sakura sweatdropped and laughed sheepishly. "W-We don't want'cha to get sick, y'know…." she said with a little stutter.
Sion backed away from the door and went to shut it, but Sakura put her foot between the door and its threshold. Her foot was squashed and she cringed, but she said nothing about it.
"Just eat! It won't kill ya to eat but it will kill ya if ya don't!"
Sion grumbled angrily and opened the door wide enough for her to grab the plate and retreat quickly inside. However, Sakura didn't remove her foot.
"What do you want, bloodsucker? I'm eating, isn't that what you wanted?" Sion asked irritably.
"You're so antisocial, all you do is mope around in this room."
Sion's eyebrow twitched.
"Why don't we chat for a little while? I promise not to stay too long." The grin on her visage was annoyingly silly.
Sion raised an eyebrow and her ears sat back against her head. "Fine." she said shortly and backed away from the door, returning to her bed.
Sakura walked inside and flipped on the light. Sion winced but grew used to the change quickly. She sat in the far corner of her bed, far from Sakura.
Thinking it unsafe to take a seat on the bed, Sakura sat on the windowsill and gazed out the window. She caught the glimpse of a black blur escaping into the sky and smirked vaguely, realizing she had been spotted by Hiei. That meant that he had been watching Sion's window. Interesting. Sakura pushed back her grin and turned to Sion. "So…"
Sion watched her, expecting her to continue. When she didn't, Sion spat, "I thought you wanted to chat? So chat."
"Right, right," Sakura said quickly. "Where are you from?"
"Makai."
Sakura sweatdropped. "I meant… more specifically."
Sion hesitated, but eventually replied, "I'm from a neko demon village in the far east."
"Oh I see." Sakura watched her. Residents of those villages barely ever left their homes, and to be at this certain gate of the two worlds she had to have traveled far.
"How did you…," Sakura paused, unsure if she should ask the upcoming question, "How did you end up with Frey?"
Sion's muscles visibly tensed and she ceased nibbling on her food. She looked up at Sakura without raising her head. "Why?" she asked accusingly.
Sakura grinned nervously and waved her hands back and forth in front of her face. "No-Nothing! Just curious!"
The room fell silent and within a few moments, Sion was back to picking at her food. They remained silent for several minutes, the only sounds coming from Sion's chewing. Finally, the cat demon sat the tray aside and stood up, crossing her arms and gazing directly into the red eyes of the she-vampire.
"What do you really want to know? Spit it out." she said abruptly.
Sakura's eyes widened some in surprise. She stood up, if for no other reason to keep their height the same so that neither felt more powerful than the other. "I told you I just wanted to chat," she said nonchalantly.
Sion's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Yeah fucking right. Spit it out or get out."
Sakura sighed, realizing she had been found out. "Fine." She ran a hand through her hair, disheveling the part. "What is between you and Hiei?"
"Nothing." Sion said immediately and turned away from Sakura.
Sakura looked unconvinced. "Oh really? That was a very suspicious response."
"Even if there was something, what business would it be of yours, eh bloodsucker?" Sion spat, glancing vaguely over her shoulder.
Sakura puffed up, feeling indignant. "Hiei never shows mercy like that. He would have had to have seen you before."
"He saw me at Frey's, is that what you want? Now get your nose out of my fucking business and go back to fox-boy." Sion sent a glare her way before swiftly marching from the room. Sakura followed her out in to the hall, but Sion had already used her speed to get out of the house before she got there.
"No luck?" Kurama asked, coming down the hall from his room.
Sakura just shook her head and sighed.
x – x – x
