Fourth chapter! Sorry it took longer than usual; school' came back. Blergh. So, I had to make up a random demon for this chapter and IT'S NOT AN OC! Now that we got that cleared up, it was just to get Rin started off on his adventure.

Oh my gosh, so painful to write. *tail droops for emphasis*

Sorry, no Rin and Yuki bonding time yet. BE PATIENT! And to SuperiorDimwit, I hope Rin's more in-character this chapter. It was harder to write like that then I'd originally though. ^^;

I apologize now for the crazy amount of dialogue. I know, I know, but it was the only way! I'm sorry. And another thing, the hobgobbies from the first chapter will be coming in soon. Any names for them? I'll credit you too, by the way. Just thought I'd ask

Thank you for so many reviews and may Kurikara favor you!


Chapter 4: In Your Caring Arms

I woke slowly, feeling something warm and familiar wrapped around me. My hand involuntarily twitched and I felt coarse dirt stick to my fingertips. I groaned, my head spinning and I pushed myself into a sitting position. Blinking wearily, I realized what had felt so familiar.

Blue flames gently flickered around me, licking at my fingers and tail. I could feel my fangs–now fully pointed and razor sharp–in my mouth with a much longer tongue. I looked at my fingers to see claws instead of normal nails, and when I reached up to my ear, I felt the large, demonic ears that usually accompanied my demonic form.

I began to panic, and without realizing it, hugged my knees to my chest. My heart rate sped up; which was bad considering it was already pretty fast when I was a demon. Or looking like one. I don't know what to call it–though Shima's "Demon Mode!" wasn't half bad.

I didn't know what to do, and it looked like my smartass little brother wasn't here to help. Dammit Yukio, where are you when I need you?

In fact, it didn't look like there was anyone else around here at all. I craned my neck up towards the sky to see that it was a deep shade of purple. The trees were hella tall, their black branches ripping through the sky. I glanced back at the ground to see nearly-dead-looking bushes growing on gray dirt.

Despite the majorly depressing scenery, I was beginning to relax. I was alone. Thank God for that.

Just as I thought I was safe and there wasn't anyone around, I heard a gasp. Whirling around, I almost had a demonic version of a stroke.

Standing just a few meters away, a small white fox stared at me. It had a green frill around its neck with a yellow hood tied over top, the brightly colored fabric looking slightly out of place. It was much smaller than Izumo's familiars, though when I looked closer the fox also appeared much younger; it had shorter legs and a tiny-ish muzzle, not to mention it was actually pretty fluffy for a demon. Kinda like those Pomegranate dogs. Pomerasian? Pomah...oh, I give up.

"Unholy mother of...are you? Oh my gosh, I think you are!" The fox said, it's jaw hanging open. "My lost prince, is that you?"

It suddenly bowed deeply, stuttering "I can't believe my eyes! One of the Princes of Gehenna! Wow!"

"Um, hi," I said, embarrassed and stammering almost as much as the tiny demon. It got up, gaping at me. It was honestly pretty cute with its fluffy little snout open wide and showing off tiny teeth.

"I saw a blue glow and came running and-and-and," it searched for something to say, "and you talked to me! You said 'Hi'! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" I noticed that the white fox treated the word 'gosh' like it was 'fricken'; leading to a word much worse that people tended to say anyway. I also noticed that it wasn't as tiny as I'd originally thought, since it was at least as big as Kuro when he was cat-size.

I smiled nervously when my "idiotic brain" (as Yukio would call it) finally processed what the fox had said.

"Wait, you saw a blue glow?" I asked, feeling the panic beginning to creep back.

"Yup! It wasn't that bright, considering my burrow is a ways off. But I saw it and came running!" It smiled brightly at me, like a little kid that had just completed a fun scavenger hunt. I know I didn't feel like that.

"Oh crap!" I hissed, hugging my arms around me. The white fox blinked confusedly as I began muttering, "Calm down! C'mon, dammit, calm down!"

I felt my flames ebb away until I sat, panting, on the ground. I looked at my fingers, which weren't claws anymore and felt my ears. They were back to normal, as well as my mouth. I was now back to looking semi-human, which was a relief. My tail happily showed that as it flicked up and down.

"Whoa, what just happened?" I jumped at the sound of the white fox's voice. I'd completely forgot that it was there.

"Uh..." was my wonderful response. After all, it worked pretty well on my teachers.

"Well, you see, I'm, um, how do I explain this, I'm not a full, y'know, demon," I answered, chuckling nervously while thinking ;I am so dead;.

I tensed up, waiting for an angry snarl or something, so I was surprised when I heard "Really? Cool! How'd that happen?"

I blinked, feeling my mouth hanging slightly open. The demon edged closer, seeming more confident now that my flames were gone.

"Uh, my mom was human. And my dad, Satan, was a demon," I nearly kicked myself for saying the obvious. "My mom gave birth to me and my brother fifteen years ago."

"So, if Lord Satan is your dad, then why weren't you raised here in Gehenna?" The white fox asked, staring at me with its ears standing straight up to catch every word. I, on the other hand, was freaking out by what it had just said.

"We're in Gehenna. Like, right now?" I was now feeling the panic return back, full force, and my flames on the edge of reappearing.

"Well, yeah. We're in the edge of the Forest of Time. It's not really cared for, so that's why the trees look so crapesy? Is that how they say it in Assiah?"

I watched the fox trying out different words when I realized what it was trying to say.

"Do you mean crappy?" I tried, before bursting out into laughter.

"Yeah–hey, what's so funny?" The demon demanded as it puffed out its small cheeks.

"N-nothing," I said, trying to stop laughing. "I'm Rin. Rin Okumura. What's your name?"

The white fox seemed surprised by the question, because it jumped suddenly and a red blush spread across its cheeks. "Well, my prince, it's...it's," it trailed off, looking depressed. "Nobody's asked me for my name in a long time."

I felt a surge of sorrow for the demon and patted its head. "Hey, it's alright. So, what is it?"

"Promise you won't laugh?"

"Promise."

"It's Yoko," it said sadly, it ears drooping.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked, blinking in confusion. Yoko looked up at me suddenly, eyes filled with surprise. "I think that that's a perfectly good name."

"For real? The only other person who thinks that is my friend, but he's been gone for a long time," Yoko's ears drooped before she–yes, by now I'd figured out that it was a she–began bawling.

"Hey! What's wrong?" I asked, flinching away from her. Oh crap, did I say something wrong? I could hear Yukio's voice in my head scolding me about how inconsiderate I was sometimes.

"It's just that...ever since my friend had to go...no one's been nice to me...and then, then you came along...and, and," the white fox sniffled pitifully, calming down.

"We can be friends."

Yoko looked shocked. She glanced up at me before showing a toothy grin. "Do you mean it?"

Great job, Rin. First thing in Gehenna and you decide to become friends with a demon. Some Exquire you are. Sheesh, what would the guys say if they saw this?

Ignoring my thoughts, I nodded, "Of course I do!"

Yoko gave a huge smile, leaping onto my lap. "Yay, yay, yay!" She yipped excitedly before stopping cold, saying "I'm so sorry, my prince."

"For what? And you can just call me Rin."

The white fox stared up at me. "You're not mad at me for jumping on you?"

"Why would I? We're friends after all; my friend Kuro jumps on me all the time!" I laughed. It was hard, since I suddenly hit by a longing to see my familiar's smiling face. I wonder what happened to him after the Gehenna Gate opened.

Yoko was about to say something when my stomach rumbled loudly. She looked at it before giggling. Pretty soon we were both laughing.

"You sound hungry. Would you like something to eat?" And with that she emptied one of the two packs belted to her waist. Out tumbled fruits and veggies and nuts that I'd never seen before.

We picked out different things to eat and began stuffing our faces (and muzzles). Some things were berries from Assiah, like a fat strawberry that Yoko had never seen and a cluster of grapes she nearly choked on. Other things I couldn't identify were also in my pile.

"What's this?" I asked, holding up a green, coconut-looking thing as I was finishing a tomato we'd found buried at the bottom of the pile.

"Oh, that's a fangfruit," my fox friend replied as she gobbled up a purple, star-shaped nut. "You eat it like this."

She sunk her fangs into the hard shell. I thought for sure that she couldn't pierce it, but to my surprise her teeth net straight through. Then, she awkwardly used her paws to pry it open. A blood-like substance was inside, along with a white piece of fruit. She ate the fruit first before lapping up the blood stuff.

"Aw, ew, that's edible?" I asked, sticking my tongue out.

"Just try it."

I hesitantly used my fangs to crack the shell, surprised by how easily the breached the hard surface. I cracked it open and was careful not to get the red fluid anywhere, before eating the white fruit.

"Whoa!" I said and swallowed the fruit. "It tastes like vanilla!" After explaining to Yoko what vanilla was, I slowly brought the fangfruit's shell to my lips and drank the not-blood-but-looks-a-lot-like-blood. It tasted awesome; like a cherry soda on a hot day.

"Hey, Yoko?" I asked, my worry for my friends back now that I had eaten all I could. A few pieces of Gehenna produce still rested next to me. "I need to go look for my friends. Do you know if they're around here?"

The white fox blinked thoughtfully. "Nope! What kinda demons were they?"

"Actually, I don't know who all may have fallen down here with me. But most of them are human."

"Sorry, I've only seen you. But I bet I know where you can look," she said, looking me up and down. "You'll have to get new clothes before you do, though."

She got up and waited for me to follow her. I put the leftovers of our meal in my pocket before waiting for the demon to turn around. I quickly clasped my hands and muttered "Thanks for the meal!"

I ran after the white fox and followed her to what looked like a small bungalow. The trees here were greener, the dirt muddier, and the vibe creepier with random tools splattered with what didn't look like fangfruit juice lying around. I suppressed a shiver and stopped when Yoko told me to wait outside. She entered her "burrow", as she called it, reappearing five minutes later with a backpack clasped in her jaws. She trotted over to me, dropping the pack at me feet.

"There's some useful stuff in there," she nodded as I opened the backpack. Inside was a few protein bars, some water bottles, a (thankfully) unopened toothbrush and toothpaste, fresh boxers, a bar of soap, and a manga. I looked up at Yoko, who answered my unasked question.

"All this stuff falls down here from Assiah. I got these for you, too," she walked over to me so I could grab the clothing draped over her back. It was a dark gray hoodie and a pair of jeans. I meant to say thanks, but instead what came out was, "Why do you have human clothes in your house?"

"My dad takes human things into markets to sell to big demons. They like it, and it earns him a little more then farming does. Sorry I couldn't find a shirt."

I thanked her and went behind a few trees to change out of my current clothes. I kept my school shirt and pulled on the pair of jeans, making sure to attach the chain with my dorm key and schedule to one of the belt loops. I slipped on the hoodie over my white shirt and swung Kurikara, still in its red case, over my shoulder. I was glad that it had fallen with me as I felt its familiar weight on my back.

Returning to the front of Yoko's bungalow burrow with my school pants and shoes in hand, I saw her scribbling something with a pen in between her jaws. She pushed what she'd been drawing towards me with her muzzle.

I picked up the piece of summoning paper, looking at the strange circle doodled on it.

"That's a calling paper," Yoko said, smiling brightly. "It's different from a summoning paper, since you don't have to chant some 'mumbo-jumbo'. You just say my name, use a prick of blood and poof—just like that!"

"Thanks man," I said playfully, rubbing the white fox's head. She laughed and asked, "Will you promise to call me soon?"

"'Course! You can count on it!" I grinned from ear-to-ear. I waved at her as I began to walk farther into the forest, away from my first friend made in Gehenna.

"Bye, Rin!" Yoko shouted, waving her smoky tail in farewell.

"Later, Yoko!" I called before I had completely left her behind, the forest swallowing up the image of the happy smile on her muzzle.


"Ugh," I growled angrily, stomping through the Forest of Time. So far I'd passed trees that had gone through Winter blizzards, Easter blooms, Summer green, and Halloween creepiness, which strangely came before Fall's vibrant colors, which I was walking through right now. I swear, I was about to burn my eyes out with every color change.

"Damn, can't this place have some sense of direction?" I sighed, tromping onwards. Deciding to stop for a break before my feet fell off, I all but collapsed at the foot of a large tree with bright red leaves. I pulled out a protein bar and a bottle of water. Taking out the manga Yoko had thoughtfully packed, I began to absently flip through it as I bit into the bar. After I'd gotten a few pages in, I took a swig of water before heaving myself to my feet. Packing everything back up, I began walking again. I had to find my friends before a demon found them. Unless they'd already been found. Or...

Nope, not thinking of that, I scolded myself, ignoring the pain of each step. A few hours later, though, I couldn't help but throw my body to the nearest soft patch of ground. I groaned happily, glad to be off my feet. I had to get some rest up in case a fight or something came up.

I began to drift asleep when I heard something that chilled my blood and nearly gave me a stroke for the second time that day. Only it wasn't a cute, innocent fox this time.

"Hello, little brother," a nonchalant voice said. I slowly sat up and turned around, dreading who was speaking and wishing I was wrong about who it was.

Standing on a tree branch roughly ten meters away from me was Amaimon, king of earth.


Dun, dun, DUN! HAHAHAHA, ends right there. *ignores glares from countless people* you all just love cliffhangers, don't ya!

I'm kidding, they make we want to pull my tail and hair out.

Argh, dialogue! There's so much of it in this chapter!

Remember to put it a name for the gobbies from the first chapter! I promise you'll be credited

Read and review guys. Any ideas and you just review/PM me!

Yours in spirit, soul, and blue flames,
VictoryScythefang