I know someone will hunt me down if I don't place up another chapter to somewhat ease the tension of the story. l)

Hope ya'll like it.

Morning arrived another eight hours later, the sun penetrating through the thick forest treetops and into the ground, giving the grass and flowers their daily nutrients of sunlight. The light made it into the cave halfway, causing a very drowsy phoenix to awaken from her wonderful slumber.

Groaning, Aneko stumbled up onto her feet, shaking her head to alleviate the sleepiness from her mind. She stumbled too close to the stone's edge and fell over, luckily recovering enough to fly. The phoenix yawned, looking around for the other two creatures who had slept in the cave the previous night. She only found one, and that was her father sleeping up on the ridge still.

'Hmm…where's that shadow?' she wondered, not sighting her anywhere. She kept back a growl. 'She probably went out and told her shadow friends about our location.'

Despite everything she had said, the things she had accused the shadow wolf of being, Aneko felt a small sting of regret on all of it. Part of her really believed that the shadow was actually Amaya. But she couldn't start thinking of that right now, it was too painful.

Sighing, she flew out of the cave and resided next to the pond's cool watery edge. The grass tickled shyly under her feet, making her giggle. She loved and savored mornings like this. Dipping her head down, she took a few gulps of the water, cold jolting through her throat and body.

A loud splash echoed the air, causing her to snap her head up. Aneko watched Amaya pull a large fish out of the water on the other side of the pond, her head bobbing with the fish's harsh flailing. It was pretty funny to Aneko and she laughed when the shadow wolf threw the fish next to a cluster of other fish beside her and shook her head from growing dizzy. Then she looked up and noticed Aneko laughing at her.

Aneko stopped immediately and puffed up a little, giving her a death glare before turning her back on Amaya. Amaya's smile went away at this, upset at the grudge Aneko was still holding against her. 'Well…she'll be happy when I —' a rustle from the bushes cut off her thoughts, and her attention perked up. She noticed that the phoenix princess had heard it too.

Then it all happened so.

"NO!" She screamed, jumping across the pond to take the swift attack. Amaya screamed in pain, her shoulder wound opening back up with the shadow beast on top of her. Snarling, she thrashed away from Aneko, using her teeth to bite down on the shadows neck. It screeched in rage, pulling away from Amaya altogether.

"Run, Aneko! Get out of here!" Amaya ordered, facing the discombobulated creature.

"Traitor!" It hissed viciously, going for another pounce at Aneko. Amaya blocked it off again, only to slam her teeth into his neck, shaking him back and forth, ignoring his ear-piercing screeches. However, the shadow melted into a mist-like form and consumed Amaya's body. It was like thorns stabbing hotly through her skin.

"Get off!" She roared, shaking herself in attempt to get it out of her. The world seemed to slow down more and more with every shake she threw out. 'No…I won't…' Her vision started blur over, but she stood her ground. 'Get out of my mind and body!'

A sudden hunger quickly took over her body, but she somehow managed to stay sane mentally. The shadow wolf couldn't do anything to control herself physically as her mouth opened wide and she inhaled slowly. The metallic taste of blood as well as the thickness of darkness and pain seemed to quench the lava hot feeling that had taken over her previous pain. 'Wha…What's going on? What's that noise?' She thought, picking up the muffled sound of what seemed like agony screams.

'That, my pest…is the sound of food and blissful deliverance of pain.' A raspy, twisted voice echoed in her mind. Amaya mentally opened her mind's eyes to be met with the red, insane eyes of another creature who looked almost exactly like her, only more out of control. 'Can't you feel it? The pleasure-filling sound of another's pain? Oh, how this is what every shadow loves on a hunt'

'NO! I'm nothing like you!' She snarled, baring her white teeth. 'That shadow before trapped me in this form! And let me guess, you're the inner demon of it.' It was more of a rhetorical question.

A shrilly laugh caused Amaya to fold her ears back. She gasped, but it seemed to get lodged in her throat as a slimy tentacle came around her and smoothed her fur; or at least tried to. 'You can't hide it, Amaya…you've always enjoyed pain. Everyone does! Everyone is madness and everyone is prey! We shall all soon be consumed by darkness and the shadows will rise and take the throne that should've been given to our mate!' The inner demon's voice went from happy and nuts, to venom-dripping hatred.

'I won't let you control me! I'm not your slave!' Amaya howled in pain. 'No…No no no…NO! Get out of my mind!' Her body shook as she felt her stomach become filled with the feeling of pain and death.

'Try as you might, pesky Amaya, you can't hide from it all~ You'll be swallowed up faster than you'll be able to control me~' The demon sung in a happy tone again. 'Come with me now and I'll show you the true meaning of a happy ending, Amaya…Come with me…Join me…Become one with me…'

"NO!" She screamed out loud, falling to her side, crying into the grass. "No… Oh God not again…"

"Ahh!" A squawk captured Amaya's attention. Looking up, she saw Aneko surrounded by four other shadows. She was cornered up against a tree, puffed up twice her size. One shadow pounced at Aneko but she decided to fight back. Jumping up, the phoenix attacked the shadow behind it and started ripping at its face with her sharp claws. Just as the shadow started recovering, Tadao's crow form launched at two.

The last shadow turned towards her and bared its teeth. Amaya snarled in challenge, bracing herself for what would come to her. It pounce, and she detected the mistakes of its movement. She jumped to the side swifter than the shadow. Before it could recovering, she bit down into its shoulder blade, twisting it sideways till she heard a loud snap. It screamed in pain, throwing her off, but she landed easily on her paws, glaring at the shadow as it fell down and thrashed on the ground. She could feel the hunger from before come up again.

'No! You're not the ruler of me! I am the ruler over you!' She snarled at the inner shadow demon. Hearing another scream, Amaya looked to see one shadow pinning Aneko down, its sightless eyes glowing darker.

"Leave her alone, you scum!" She yelled, sprinting over and ramming her full body weight down on its side. Another shadow toppled down on her, trying to pull her off.

The heat from her wounds was become unbearable, and Amaya knew that she needed to finish these shadows once and for all. Not letting loose of her prey, Amaya used her jaw and upper body muscles to throw the shadow backwards. It worked and all three of them fell, the shadow on her back pushed off while the front one was dead and vanished from her grasp. 'Two down, two to go.' She thought proudly, turning to face the third shadow.

Within seconds, it was on her again, only this time sinking its deadly teeth into her leg. She threw it off and pounced onto its side and biting quickly into its neck, snapping it with a hard tug. Amaya threw it out of her way, watching as it dissipated before hitting the ground. 'Very good, pest…surely you feel content to kill so powerfully. This is what you can do in this body…you're nothing in the other body.'

'You're wrong, and will always be! You only accept power. You're just like my Father.' Amaya countered back sharply. 'You heard me before, so don't try to take me over. If so, face consequences later on.'

"FATHER!"

Aneko's scream brought Amaya back into reality. She looked and her heart descended to the depths of the earth.

"TADAO!" She yowled out pitifully. The crow demon was severely injured, lying on his side just as his victim evaporated into the air to its death. And he wasn't moving at all. Both wolf and phoenix ran over to his side, begging him to wake up. "Tadao…not you too…please…get up…" Amaya whispered, leaning down and nudging him with her head.

"Don't touch him you monster!" Aneko screeched harshly, slashing at Amaya and inflicting a deep wound on her nose. "Your kind harmed Father! Stay away!"

Amaya finally had enough. "Grow up, Aneko!" She barked back. "I'm always going to be the same Amaya, no matter what you think otherwise. Stop it right now of this nonsense. I'm tired already of your complaining. Tadao is injured and the least you can do is let me somehow to heal him!"

"And how do I know you won't hurt him?! Everyone nowadays is so distrustful I don't know whom to trust anymore!" Aneko argued, tears of anger in her eyes. Amaya growled.

"So what? You don't trust my brother, Haruko? You don't trust your father, your mother? How about the people whom you protect with your life everyday? Do you not trust them?"

Aneko opened her beak, but nothing came out. She tried again, but nothing the second time. Amaya got closer to Tadao, her hunger becoming so strong, she could've sworn she tasted it now. Pushing the urge back slightly, Amaya looked at Aneko and said, "If I go too far, kill me."

The black phoenix looked dumbfounded before Amaya turned around. She leaned her head back down, opened her jaws and took in a slow gulp of what looked like air.

She could feel the pain, the blood and death that loomed over Tadao's form slowly go down her throat like invisible liquid. The more she sucked in, the harder it became to control her sudden desire to kill the crow once and for all.

'Take him! Make him our meal, pest! You can't hide it! Feast more! Kill more!'The shadow demon inside of her roared.

Mentally, Amaya snapped her eyes open and snarled. 'I will have none of that! Perish, demon!' She yelled, jumping at a demonic wolf almost identical to her. Upon her impact, her whole body seemed to become swallowed in tar, her movements growing unexpectedly slow.

'You can't harm me! I'm part of you now, pest! Nothing shall stop me from containing my real master's meal! Not even you, a weak barrier to us!'

'I'm not weak!' She yelped loudly, mentally slashing at the tar. That seemed to be the shadows weakness at that moment, causing it to pull away. Her wounds burned, her shoulders growing tired, her breathing labored and shallow. 'I'm not weak…I'll never be! I'm stronger than you all!'

'Well let's see about that.' It purred, its back turning into sharp tentacles. They lashed out at Amaya. She managed to dodge a few, but when one got her in the foreleg, she faltered. Then the rest impaled through her body. Amaya choked on her blood, gagging as it stuck in her windpipe and esophagus. One tentacle coiled tightly around her neck, making breathing even harder.

'You see? You were born weak. You were raised weak. You are weak! And you can't change what is in your runt life.' The inner demon hissed.

'YES I CAN!' Amaya screamed. Her shoulders started glowing brightly, blinding the inner demon. It screeched, pulling away from Amaya, the tentacles steaming and even burning away. Amaya coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood before looking weakly at her shoulders. She gasped at the sight of her glowing body and the steaming monster. Shakily, the shadow wolf got up as her eyes started shining too.

'I'm not weak…I'm going to prove myself to you. Submit!' With a hard grunt, Amaya shot a purified blast from her mouth. It exploded on contact of the shadow demon, its body shriveling up into nothing as it screamed in agony.

Standing up straighter, Amaya growled out, 'I am not a part of you, nor are you of me. You're the one who's weak and will not take me down ever again. I control you and you don't to me. Understand?' Though nothing was around her, a pained whimper filled the air. She nodded proudly. 'Good. Now that Tadao's pain removing is complete, I'm leaving. And don't try anything stupid again.'

Opening her phsyical eyes, Amaya realized that she was panting heavily. She looked down and gasped in relief; Tadao was starting to move again. His wounds had disappeared magically, and he was breathing normally now. "Tadao…" She breathed, nuzzling his face with her nose. "You're alive." A single tear dropped from her cheek and onto him.

"F-Father!" Aneko chirped, flapping over to his other side, hugging him with her wings. "Oh Father…you came back." She sobbed into his feathers.

Tadao seemed a little confused at first with both demonesses surrounding him, but he just let them comfort him from his death sleep. "Ladies, are you both okay?"

"I'm fine, Father. And I think Amaya is—" Aneko turned to face the shadow wolf, and suddenly squawked in surprise. "What the hell?! Y-Your body!"

Confused, Tadao looked and he, too, cawed in disbelief. "Amaya, darling! You're back. It's…It's glowing!"

Completely baffled by their reactions, Amaya ran over to the pond surface and looked down. Tadao's words couldn't have been any truer. Amaya's backside glowed in the flowing directions markings under her pelt that now showed. They were the same markings from her cougar form. She also noticed that her wounds were gone, just like Tadao's.

"Amaya?" The shadow wolf turned to see Aneko shuffling shyly next to Tadao. "I'm…I'm sorry. For everything. I shouldn't have been so rude before. Can you forgive me?"

Amaya smiled. "Of course. We're friends remember. Besides, I don't hold small things like that forever." She said. Looking around, the shadow saw blood pools where the enemies had been killed stained the grass scenery. "We need to leave. I doubt we'll be alone for a long time if we stay here."

"Agree." Tadao grunted. "We need to prove that you're really…you, Amaya. But how can we do that?"

Tadao was proving a wise point, as always. No one has trusted a shadow creature for many centuries, probably when Emperor Isao was first crowned. Sure as hell they wouldn't trust her now that many shadow invasions were occurring more frequently. Amaya's face furrowed in deep thought, and then cleared up just as quickly. "Is Azumi back at the palace?" She asked.

Aneko swiftly took note of the curiosity in Amaya's voice. "We are so not going to my mother right now!" She hissed. "She's probably meeting up with Koga at this point. We've been gone for three days and I wouldn't even consider going back just yet."

"Aneko, you know just as well as I do that we need at least one ruler to believe I'm me." Amaya said back. "If I don't try somehow, then we won't get a start of some sort."

"But—" The black phoenix stopped speaking and sighed in defeat. "Oh, alright, I guess so. But how will we get into the palace anyway? The guards are stricter than marble castles and would kill you on sight entering the palace grounds."

"Then we'll sneak in." Tadao spoke up. Both girls looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "I know the Eastern Palace inside and out since I was a little fledgling. We go in by some hidden doors. Fair enough?"

"Of course. That way we won't have to hurt anyone getting in." Amaya said enthusiastically. Looking up at the morning sky, she said, "If I run and walk fast enough, we can get there within two days."

"That's sort of slow, but I can deal with it." Aneko shrugged.

"Then it's settled. Come along, ladies. We don't have much time left. I fear something will happen that is much, much worse than now." Tadao said gravely. He spread his wings and took flight with Aneko, bursting through the treetops. Amaya walked out the same way she remembered coming in with Sesshomaru. The thought of him made her heart skip painfully.

'Is he doing alright? Surely he must know that that monster isn't me…right?'

o / o / o / o

"Sesshomaru! Come and play with us, please!"

The daiyokai looked up from his scrolls to see Rin blinking innocently at him, trying to look cuter than usual. Hayato was leaning against the door casually. He raised an eyebrow. "Why isn't Amaya supervising you two?" He asked coldly.

Hayato shook his head. "She's rather moody still, Father. Ma doesn't want anyone around her. Guess it's one of those things a female must go through during conceiving." Sesshomaru heard the disappointment in his adopted son's voice, and it subconsciously upsets him. Hayato never liked being rejected from his adopted mother's side, even during her pregnancy.

Sighing, the daiyokai placed the scroll down and got up. "Rin, Hayato, go and play with Jaken. I will discuss this with Amaya in the meantime. Be sure to come in by dinnertime"

Hayato flinched as if he had been slapped, but his face held no indication of hurt. Instead, the albino cheetah hanyou bowed and guided Rin out with him. Once the children were gone, Sesshomaru walked out as well, but went in the opposite direction to his room.

Upon reaching the door, Sesshomaru opened it to see his loving mate leaning up against the wall, her eyes closed blissfully. He smiled, closing the door behind him and was next to her side within a second. "Mate." he husked in her ear.

Groaning, Amaya opened her eyes, looking at him lovingly. "Yes, dear?" She purred, licking his neck affectionately.

With all his mental strength, Sesshomaru pulled back. "Why didn't you supervise the children? You always do that."

"I understand that, Sesshomaru. But I don't want to push myself or accidentally harm the children with my "swings". Plus, I was just not in the mood." Amaya said with a sigh, leaning more into his body. Suddenly, she gasped. Quickly, she took his hand and placed it on her stomach. "I felt it! It moved, love!" She breathed.

Sesshomaru smile got wider when he felt a soft kick against her skin. "Our pup will be strong. I'm positive about it." He said, kissing her longingly. He knew she, at about almost two months, had only a few more days before she would pup their child. They were ready for it and would take care of it with the love it needs.

"I love you, Sesshomaru." Amaya said, pulling back and looking at him with those deep mahogany eyes.

"And I you, Amaya. Rest now." He said, getting up. Peering at her one last time, he shut the door and walked away from their room.

Too bad he hadn't seen the proud, mischievous grin on her face.

I'm stopping it there for now –grabs the gun for protection- R&R until the next chapter is up! Yes that means ya'll have to wait a day and a half for the next one~ l)