Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and Fushigi Yuugi do NOT belong to me. I am a struggling student, saving up for anime conventions and trying to pay bills at the same time.       

Much like New York and LA, Tokyo was now home to many of the dark folk. But it was not the bloodsuckers or recently deceased that ruled the city like the two American metropolises. Tokyo, Japan belonged to people of the full moon.

And like their full-blooded counterparts in the wild, many didn't get along with each other.

"Hakura, you know I can take care of myself. Will you PLEASE back off?!" Usagi glared at her self-designated protector as they made their way back home.

"Koneko, you know the danger the wolves are to us. What if that had been Nakago? And what if Minako and I hadn't been there? You know what would have happened."
            Usagi knew Hakura was right. Violence between the rival were packs was a constant threat. But that was before the recent attacks on people of magic. Usagi felt the wolf leader had better things to do then worry about a lone panther. Something told her not to say that aloud to Hakura though.

"Oh, but he was a bishie, wasn't he Usagi?" Minako's cheerful voice brought Usa from her dark mood, making her laugh.

"Hai! And the way he was looking at me just made me want to melt!"

"It was probably hunger," Hakura growled softly. The pack leader walked into the home the panthers shared in a rather posh part of Tokyo, the two younger were cats following behind.

"We're back!" Usagi called out in the quiet front hall.

"Okari," a halfhearted shout came from the tv room. Voices muffled through the walls told them someone was watching television. Mina shrugged and headed up to her room. Hakura grabbed the keys from the key hook by the door and started to head out again.

"Hakura, where are you going?" Usagi asked.

"I'm going to see Michiru."

"You said we shouldn't be out alone though," the younger girl reminded her pride leader.

"She's right, Hakura. Besides, there's been another attack."  They both turned in surprise to see Mamoru leaning against the doorframe.

"What do you mean, there's been another attack?! Why haven't I heard about it?!" Hakura shouted as she ran into the tv room where the news was on.

"Mamoru."

"Usagi." The two watched each other for several moments before any move was made.

"I thought I told you I didn't want to see you around here anymore."

"Hey, I'm here for Motoki, not you. Why don't you just back down." His black hair fell over his eyes as they flashed warningly.

"Don't try your little tricks on me, mosquito," the young cat growled back, her own cat-slit eyes narrowing. "I learned my lesson last time you tried to get me to give a blood donation. I thought Motoki knew better then to hang out with your filthy type."

"Don't call me filthy, pussy cat. I saw your litter box," he mocked, his smirk revealing his fangs. "You should clean that thing more often.

"Go rob a blood bank," she growled as she pushed past him. His implication that she was dirty in any way enraged her to a point where she couldn't think of a comeback. The pathetic burn did little more then make him laugh as she walked into the tv room.

"Is he being a mosquito again?" Suboshi asked from his spot stretched out on the couch. He grinned as he used Usagi's nickname for the vampire.

"Of course. Has been ever since we broke up." She managed to calm herself down as she sat on his legs and watched the news.

"Do you mind?" Suboshi asked as he tried to get comfortable under her.

"Well if you didn't take up the entire couch..."

"Who's the one who just got released from the hospital?"

"I thought you didn't want our sympathy," she replied, her lips curved in a smirk. Her conversation with Mamoru was already gone from her mind.

"Well I do when you sit on me. My poor injured legs!"

"Shut up. Your legs are fine, and we all know it. Besides, a panther who completely missed a chance to find out who's behind the attacks doesn't deserve to relax in comfort. Now what happened?" she asked as she shifted so her butt bone wasn't digging into Suboshi's shin.

The television had already shifted to other news, but the crowd in the living room proved they hoped to hear more.

"It wasn't one of us, or them unfortunately," he replied. His eyes were glued to the set as the news continued. "Fey I think. Her name was Mizuno Ami. The police won't admit its part of the pattern yet, but it sounds a lot like what happened to me."

"Ami. Ami." Usagi thought for a moment before her eyes suddenly lit up like feary lights. "She's in one of my classes! What happened?!"

"Like I said, they don't know. She had in town with some friends but never made it home. Someone saw her on the side of the road about an hour after she left her friends and took her to the hospital."

"So she's alright?"

"If you really want to know, you'd probably get more out of the hospital. That's all that was said." Usagi watched the television sadly for several minutes more. As the news shifted to sports, she stood and walked out.

((At this point, I would like to remind my readers that this story does not circle around Tamahome and Usagi. Nuriko has replaced Tamahome.))

The white sheets in the hospital bed did little to decrease the paleness of its occupant's skin. The tubes and monitors hooked up to her arms and chest reminded Miaka of victims of the arachna parasite, the child spider bursting its legs out through the host's skin. The thought almost made the young wolf sick.

"Miaka, she'll be fine. We have to go home."

"But it's my fault!! She said she'd be fine, so I let her walk home all alone. Oh, I should have just gone with her!" Tears fell from the young panther's eyes as she looked at her elfin friend. She felt her older brother's hand fall on her shoulder but ignored it. Ami's skin was so pale; she had lost so much blood.

"They have specialists here. She'll be fine. I'm sure she'll be up and frolicking in the trees again in no time, or whatever elves do."

"She's water fey, baka," Miaka grumbled over her shoulder. "The least you could do is keep your mouth shut when you don't know what you're talking about."

"I can't keep up with all your friends," he replied, shrugging and walking out the door. "We need to get home before too late though, so hurry." Nuriko walked out of the room. He did feel bad for Ami; they had only left her a few hours ago, well and happy.

He felt eyes on him and turned to see Hotohori walk up. His long hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. His coat reached down to his knees and swished around his legs as he walked. For a brief moment, Nuriko forgot about the incident with the panthers. The beautiful vampire drew the eyes of all he walked by, his dark, dangerous looks emanating sexuality. He was everything young men and women imagined being when they gave up the life of the living, yet few truly reached.

"I heard about your sister's friend," he said smoothly. He looked into the hospital room and frowned. "If this continues much longer, no one in the city will be safe."

"You're thinking the same thing?" Nuriko asked as he followed the vampire's eyes. Hotohori's words brought the werewolf back to the present, to the danger and reality of the threat that had suddenly appeared only days ago.

"The police won't admit it, but there is defiantly a rouge hunter loose. We have been keeping our eyes open for anything suspicious, but he has evaded even our searches." Nuriko frowned at that. With the strongest vampire trio in Tokyo after him, the hunter should have been flushed into the open by now.

"Are you sure it's a rouge?"

"I can't think of anything else that would suddenly strike down so many. So far, humans are the only ones unaffected."

"Typical," Nuriko sighed. He brushed his own long hair back over his shoulder. His amber eyes closed in exhaustion. Between the worry caused by his sister's friend and Tasuki's anger over the incident with the panthers, the day had been about twenty-four hours too long. "Have you spoken to the other clans?"

"Yuuki Miaka has agreed to speak with the rest of the elfin families. She grew up with Mizuno and seems very worried. Mamoru, Tamahome, and I are taking care of the were packs obviously. And Michiru, Ami's sister is going to speak with the covens. They may be pure-blooded humans, but the last time a rogue popped up, they weren't spared."

"What are you planning?"

"Since we can't find him on our own, we need help. And for that, we need to band together."

"There has never been a successful cooperation between so many different people. This may just make things worse then before," Nuriko reminded the vampire commander.

"We have reason to make this work. This rouge is hunting faster then any before in history. If we don't stop him, none of us may escape alive."

Well, that's it for another chapter. Some of you may have noticed the change in characters. If you're thinking "Jade! What are you doing?! I thought Tamahome was a wolf!" then you need to read my author's notes more often!

Anyway, sorry for the abrupt change in characters. I started working on this story months ago, with half of the teaser/prologue on my computer. Originally it was going to be Tamahome, but I changed it later on in my notes. And if you haven't already guessed, my notes are like a rat's nest to work through.

Read, review, write!

~Jade Nova

moon_archer82@lunap.com