Chapter Three: A Spring Flower

Aureate watched as Kikyo disappeared into the sky, lifted by her Shinidamachu. As soon as her friend was out of sight, she headed back to the riverbank. She had decided to travel by water instead of by air. After looking around to make sure that their campsite had been suitably cleaned up, she dove into the water. As soon as she hit the water, her legs melded together to form a tail in the same color as her pants had previously been. With a flick of her tail, she disappeared down the river.

As she swam, she allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of peace that enveloped her mind and body. The water was truly where she belonged. She had no idea why she had chosen to head this way instead of the other, but she had long ago learned to follow her instincts.

It was nearing sundown when she decided to surface and check her bearings. She swam to the river's surface and willed her tail to transform back to legs. Climbing out of the river, her nose was suddenly assaulted with the scent of fear, blood, and sweat, the scent of battle. Despite knowing it was none of her business, she decided to follow the scent.

As she stepped around the bend in the river, she found herself in the middle of a clearing. Though it was far from being a peaceful clearing; it was filled with bodies, body parts, and weapons. 'This wasn't a battle, this was a slaughter.' Upon closer inspection she could see that most of the bodies were wolf demon. It looked as if the pack of wolves had been ambushed by a large group of bandits. She became angrier and angrier as she explored. The bandits had spared no one. Not even the elderly or the pups among the pack were spared. Deciding that she's seen enough, she started back toward the river to catch a meal before she resumed her journey. Her attention was caught by a high pitched scream of terror.

She was going to ignore it and keep going but a voice spoke up in her head. 'The strong should protect the weak.' So, instead she headed in the direction the cries were coming from. 'I've spent too much time with Kikyo if I'm starting to here her voice in my head.' As she headed deeper into the trees, the cries became louder. Suddenly, a small figure came from behind a large tree and collided with her legs. She looked down in surprise and was met with the sight of a young female wolf pup clinging to her legs looking up at her tearfully. The pup yelped fearfully when two demons burst through the trees.

Aureate pushed the pup behind her and stood her ground as they skidded to a stop in front of her. From the way they were dressed, she could easily tell that they were the members of the same group as the bandits that had slaughtered the wolves in the clearing. Anger burned in her chest as she realized that the puppy behind her had probably lost her family because of them.

"Give the brat to us."

"I've got a better idea. How about I keep her and you two get out of my sight before I get angry."

The two bandits looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"Are you kidding us? Why don't you run along? We don't want to have to scar that pretty face of yours."

"I warned you…" Aureate plucked the lily from her hair and, with a little infusion of her energy, released it. It floated gently toward them and landed at their feet.

Their laughter was halted when the flower suddenly lifted from the ground and began spinning. It grew larger and larger until it was larger than the two bandits. Then it began to resemble a whirlpool and engulfed them in it. The water turned crimson as the air was filled with their screams of agony. Inside the whirlpool, the water was highly pressured and filled with razor sharp petals. So basically, the bandits had just been sliced to pieces. As soon as it started, it stopped. The water disappeared and the flower shrank back to its original size. Aureate held out her hand and caught it. There wasn't a drop of blood anywhere. It was as if they had never been. She placed the lily back in her hair and knelt down to check the puppy for injury.

"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"No, I want my mommy."

"Do you know where she is?"

"Uh huh…," She pointed back toward the clearing Aureate had come from, "she and daddy won't wake up."

Aureate knew that that meant they were dead, for all the wolves in the clearing were dead. She had personally checked each and every one of them. It was either check them or forever be plagued by the voice of Kikyo in her head.

"Well, your mommy and daddy aren't here anymore. Did any of your pack survive?"

"I saw some of them go away after all the fighting, but they didn't know I was over here."

'Guess I have to help her find her family. She's too young to survive on her own.' "My name's Aureate. What's yours?"

"Akina, will you take care of me? I'm scared."

"Don't worry little flower. I'm going to help you find your family."

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