Hey! It's been a while since I posted, I've just been busy with work and school, but I decided to finally post this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

The fifth time they met, he followed her scent once again, this time it led him to the cave, the one they occupied when they first met. She sat at the mouth of the cave, humming to herself, hands in her satchel. When she heard him flying down Ryan looked up at him as he lowered himself to the ground. Her smile brightened, a hidden excitement in her hazel eyes. Her eyes had actually been a topic last time they met, she informed him that the eye color was called hazel.

"Toga! Hey, how's it going." She jogged close to where he would land.

"I am doing fine, how have you been?"

"Better than ever," As soon as his feet touched the ground he was embraced by the small human.

"I see that, may I know the reason for such a good mood?" He returned her embrace, a soft smile decorated his lips.

"Well, remember last time I told you that my sister was tutoring me to graduate early?" A vague memory.

"Hm." He pretended to remember.

"I took the final exams aaand guess what?"

"What?"

"I passed!" Still a bit confused, Toga was happy for her.

"That's amazing news Ryan, congratulations!" She squealed.

"I know right? I mean, at first I struggled a bit but with my sister helping me out every evening I aced those exams! I'm finally done with high school!" Ryan's smile continued to be contagious.

"This is a great achievement Ryan, I'm proud of you." He smiled down at the young girl. Although he still was not sure what this meant, it must have taken a lot of work and patience, and it was clear that it made her happy in the end.

"Thanks, Toga." Her smile widened and she gave him another hug.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I brought…." Her hand reaches into her satchel, "bioluminescent algae!" in her hand is a small glass jar. Ryan shakes the jar, much like a child.

"They glow in the water!"

Recognition hits him, "Oh. Yes. Yes I have seen these before." She tugs at his sleeve "Let's go to a pond to have them light up. We'll wait until night time and add some water into the jar."

He complied and picked her up, holding her in his arms he made his way to a pond he thought she would like. Something he had noticed the first time he carried her was that she was not bothered by flying, like she had experienced being flown from one place to another. The pond he chose was closer to the mountains, something he kept in mind, the wolf demons were becoming more territorial as the decades passed. She waited until he landed to jump out of his arms. Running to the edge of the pond, getting down on her knees, Ryan reaches into her satchel and starts pulling out a different set of clothes. Ryan stops and turns to him, her face waiting for him. Toga knows his cue and makes distance between them, sitting down and facing away from her. His eyes closed and his thoughts wandered to the panther tribe, they were starting to act up and he would have to, as Ryan would say, 'humble' them if they continued.

"Okay, I'm done." Toga turned back around. Ryan was dressed in what she called her 'bathing suit', he found it too revealing for a child. Ryan said it was just 'shorts and an oversized t-shirt' whatever that means, her legs were showing. He knew many eyes would be prying if she walked like that in a village. The villagers would cause a lot of trouble over the girl wearing what she wanted and he knew he would have to be the one to defend her, not that he minded of course. Ryan backed up from the pond before running back towards the pond. She jumped and curled into a ball, creating a big splash and getting Toga's clothes and face wet. He would let it slide just this time, he thought. Just like he did every time. Her apology was drowned out by her laughter as Toga shook the water off much like a dog would. Her voice died down and both sat in a comfortable silence

"Hey, Toga?" She asked in an almost childlike voice, well, she was a child in his eyes.

"Yes Ryan?"

"If you're a dog demon, why can you fly? Is it because of that demon energy stuff you told me about a while ago?" Her head tilted to the right.

"Hn." Toga nodded and wanted to further the reason but Ryan had another question

"And why is your cape fluffy?" Ryan had always wondered if it was a fashion statement. "My mokomoko?" Is that what it's called? "Yes! What is it?" He touched the mokomoko over his shoulder. "It's actually armor."

"Hwat." That fluffy thing? She thought.

"It's armor."

She asked no further on the matter. Toga stayed in his spot and closed his eyes, choosing this moment to relax as much as he could. The stress of the panther tribe was taking a toll on him. Toga expected their routine of Ryan talking and him listening occasionally while humoring her and putting up with her antics would begin. Who knew having a ward would be so exhausting?

"Toga? How long has it been since we first met up?"

"I would say around thirty or thirty five years. You still haven't changed much. Why do you ask?"

"I've just noticed a few differences around. New houses and stuff. Feels like only two years have passed for me."

"Time moves forward and waits for no one, Ryan."

"Yeah...so remember how I told you my sister has weird friends….." His mind drifted as she talked about whatever, nodding every other moment, "...says she traveled thro…." The panther tribe, how to deal with them? Killing the king would be a last resort, no need to spill blood, from either humans or demons. Perhaps he should send a warning? "...lately I haven't….." What type of warning would it be? "...all that interesting to me anymore…" Whatever it comes down to, he will protect the west lands, the great dog demon thought, "...what do you think Toga?" He used the answer he usually gave her.

"Hm, perhaps you should look into that." He mumbled. Ryan raised her eyebrows and squinted her eyes.

"Right," she rolled her eyes and swam backwards a bit. "So there's this boy in my class who's been saying my name wrong the whole time-it's stupid, I've told him how to say it right." She growled in frustration. Toga was…..intrigued to put it nicely. "How does he say your name?"

"He says Rian, like Ree-anne. But I've told him it's like Rye-an"

"Rian?" He gives a soft chuckle at the name, "Yeah, can you believe it?" she says with her hands up for emphasis.

"I certainly can, Rian." He says with a smile.

"Ugh, Toga! Seriously?" Toga's smile does not falter. He had never heard of the name Ryan before meeting her so the name Rian was just as odd. He shrugged, "I think it's a good name actually," Ryan threw her head back with a groan. This time he laughed, a very happy one. The day continued with Ryan trying to splash water onto the dog demon and both bantering over nothing. It was peaceful. They talked about things that had changed, what Toga had done over the years since her last visit, what new demons were on the rise, they also got to the subject of what Ryan had done but she had little to say besides mentioning that her fourteenth birthday was coming up. When the sun was almost completely hidden behind the horizon Ryan became giddy with excitement. She swam to the edge of the pond and leaned over. Toga handed the girl her heavy satchel and she reached in and pulled out the jar of algae and another for the water. She quickly scoops water into the second jar and pours it into the one with the algae. After screwing the lid shut Ryan swayed the bottle side to side.

"You know how long it took to isolate the algae?" Ryan thrust the jar in front of him, giving him a full view of the glowing water. "Because I don't, my brother is the one that isolated them for me, I think it took a while though." She gave it another shake. Both watched as the jar lit up the dark as the light faded from the day. A moment where they both were focused on the same thing. Something caught Ryan's attention a bit far off from the pond.

"Toga, look!" She pointed to the trees facing the mountains. Toga looked at where she was pointing to see what caught her attention. Many small gold lights flying around met his very own golden eyes. Ryan got out of the pond, placing the jar of algae back in her satchel and taking the empty one out.

"Do you think we can catch some?" She asks him excitedly before running to the glowing bugs. Toga simply watched as she gave chase and couldn't help the smile stretching across his face. Ryan hopped and ran after them, jar in hand. A perfect moment in time. It would have lasted longer had the howling not started.

"Ryan, come back here." He barked in a serious voice. Ryan didn't need to be told twice, already scurrying back soon as she heard the howls. The empty jar left on the ground, forgotten, she picked up her satchel along with her dry clothes and stuck by Toga's side.

"Don't be afraid, just stay cautious. They know that if they want to live they'll keep their distance from us." He said in a calm voice and began to take off his kimono and draped it over her wet form. After placing his armor back on her took her in his arms and took off to the cave.

"Toga, were those wolf yokai?" She asked from his arms. The kimono protected her body from the cold wind of the night. "Yes." His voice was low, laced with strong irritation. Once they got into the cave he let her out of his arms, her bare feet touched the cold ground. Toga walked to the mouth of the cave and placed a barrier at the entrance. Ryan could feel his growing frustration. On top of all the other demons I have to remind what I am capable of, the wolf yokai have decided to join the pile? He thought while preparing a fire, facing away from Ryan. Which tribe was it? The northern or the eastern? Meanwhile Ryan changed out of her wet clothes and into her dry ones. A few questions running through her mind as well.

"I thought wolf demons would be stronger." She wondered, and placed her clothes up to hang near the fire, and sat down next to the dog demon. "Why would that be?" He asked.

"Well, if a german shepherd fought a wolf, the wolf would always come out winning." Also, very similar, why can't they just be canine demons, to simplify things?

"Ha, most of the wolf demons are actually weak, it's usually the leaders and their direct offspring that are strong. I've also never heard of a shepherd from a land of that name, are the shepherds stronger in that land? Either way, I'm the Daiyokai, so I am the strongest," While he talked Ryan ate a chocolate bar she pulled out from her satchel. The smell of chocolate made his nose twitch with delite.

"What is that?" He asked, staring deep into the brown bar. Ryan finished the piece in her mouth before responding to the curious dog. "It's chocolate," she broke off a piece to hand him but then stopped halfway, leaving Toga with his hand reaching out, no chocolate in his hand.

"Hm?" He was confused, it looked and smelled good, what was wrong? "I don't know if you should eat it, dogs are known to get sick from this, some even die depending on how much they eat." It was a valid concern, he was a dog demon after all.

"I am demon first, dog second, Rian." Again with the name, Toga held out his hand again, wanting the piece of chocolate. She rolled her eyes but complied, "Fine, update me on how your stomach felt when I visit again." He ate it, one bite in and he was falling in love with the sweetness. His eyes lit up when she handed him the rest of the bar.

"I should get going, today was fun Toga. Hey, maybe next time I can meet the wolf yokai?" If it wasn't for the chocolate clouding his judgement he would have declined. He promised to arrange something for their next reunion. She got up, handing him his kimono, satchel strapped across her shoulder.

"Keep it, it's just clothing, I can always get another." He said, chocolate crumbs on his mouth. She shrugged and draped it over her arm, "alrighty then, I'll see you when I see you Toga." He called out to her before she stepped out. "Wait, your clothes, aren't you going to wait for them to dry?" He stood up from his spot on the ground. "Nah, it's just clothes, I can always get another." She flashed a smile before stepping out. Left alone, he waited until her clothes dried and walked deeper into the cave that he had begun to renovate, Toga placed them in a wooden drawer, in there was the jacket from when they first met. The cave was decorated with things from their previous adventures and some furniture he brought in. With no reason to stay, he left, making sure the barrier was still intact, that no one other than Toga and Ryan could enter or exit.