Author's Note: SORRRY!!! I was so burnt out (meaning having 2 jobs and then going back to school…. :P) But I will definitely finish this story!! You must make feel… guilty. Yes, guilty. Or else I will never finish!! Anyways…. I would love to feature people's art on the EOM site!!! J So go ahead and mail me yer art! …Heh. You people cracked me up with those reviews… and I'm sorry I made you cry, Meru. o__O And to those who have me on their fave lists… I am very flattered J … Anyways, enough of my 'I'd like to thank the media… and mom and dad…' stuff… on with the story!!!

As the doors swung silently closed, Hiten absently touched toyed with the end of his braid. Strange... that girl. One minute so afraid and feeble looking, and the next... The youkai twitched his shoulders as if shaking off all the emotions that seemed to hover around him like a thick cloud.

Hiten moved across the floor to the large iron-banded wood cabinet that stood against one wall; the doors swung open to reveal his armor hanging within, the light glinting off the glistening gold scales of the breastplate.

Letting the robe drop from his broad shoulders, Hiten stepped forward. Without a pause, the youkai proceeded to dress himself. With practiced hands, he slid the body armor into place, securing it in place with the silk ribbons. After a moment of testing his work, a practice he had made habit, the youkai turned towards the doors, which were already parting to let their master through.

Without a backward glance, lord Hiten stepped out of the room and into the corridor.

Hands still trembling, Naga walked the halls to the servant's quarters, her daily routine of work looming over the human slave's head. But at that moment, laboring the day away was not at the front of her mind. A much more complex and more -interesting- issue had crowded out all the other thoughts vying for the girl's attention. It is as if he were two different... men… all in one body. Sometimes my lord can be so cruel and inhuman and... but at others, he is almost...

But Naga still felt the sting of his claws, the bruises of his hands; no, he was still youkai-- though sometimes he behaved almost humanely. Her hands tightened involuntarily on the short handle of the broom she carried as she recalled his words. He will always show his true nature... He does not hide his brutality under a silken veneer like some do... in a way he is almost-- Naga found herself grimacing at the thought. He is almost honest.

As Naga swept the hall, turning the thought over in her mind, she wondered at the twisted notion. To think of her youkai master as anything so honest; suddenly Naga wondered paranoidly, was he some how in her head? Could he see her thoughts? In a fearful moment, she glanced over her shoulder. But how could he know such a thing? He is not a god... Maybe. Or maybe I am too superstitious...

After a moment of reassuring herself, Naga drug the bristles of the broom over the smooth stones once more, oblivious to the shape that suddenly parted from a shadowy corner, silently exiting the hall.

Wind whistling past his sharply pointed ears, the youkai lord Hiten flew through the sky on his wheels of fire. In his hands rested his wickedly curved pike, gleaming in the sun light and poised to confront any who dared to crossed the youkai's path.

Hiten put his face to the sun, sharp ears and nose taking in all around him and keeping his mind off of the things that no longer surrounded him.

He had escaped, as he always did when things bored --or overwhelmed-- him. The last few days still trailed in his thoughts doggedly, always just at the edge of his mind. That place has suffocated my senses; I wish I had come away sooner... But there is always something that keeps me...

As the youkai's eyes traveled over the land passing under his feet, thoughts of the past few days filled his mind. Ever since that day when he had had that insufferable slave first braid his hair, he had allowed her to continue; it was now part of his daily routine. But only for the convenience, the youkai frowned at himself; besides, the little mortal whelp could always use a verbal lashing. As many as Hiten had given her in the past days, he was starting to wonder if she might be one of those humans who took some twisted pleasure in pain... they were the kind that often became the human henchmen of lords such as himself. And concubines, I have heard... What sick youkai entertain such vices, I do not know... And the offspring, if allowed... unimpressive at best...

Again that girl invaded his thoughts even as he tried to put the traitorous notions away from himself; he found himself imagining a hanyou with her eyes and his-- Hiten shook himself mentally. I am affected by the moons, I think... At any other time, my mind would never conjure such notions...

He was referring to his kind's time of joining, an instinct that drove both female and male youkai to procreate. It was the price of the youkai' animal strength; along with it came animal desire. Though the desire for a mate was far and few between for many of his kind, it was rare that any could, or would, deny themselves their inbred craving.

But this lord is made of stronger stuff... No, I will never take a mate, for however brief a time... I have never understood the reason... And I certainly do not want the cure.

For a few moments, the youkai mulled the words over in his mind, as a shape made itself known in the distance. And then Hiten forgot his thoughts as he descended towards the fortress that was his sometimes rival and sometimes ally's stronghold. Perhaps there he might talk of war and things only his own could properly enjoy. And perhaps for a time he might forget a certain problem that, while in body was far away, seemed to hound him even there.

Dah-dum!! Sorry, I know its short… but more to come!! J Just keep them reviews comin!! Yay!

A side note: I keep on seeing all these stories about how the youkai have the whole 'urge' dealie… or whatever it is… but I will tell you right now, I will skirt around this issue and try not to be gross about it (no '..and suddenly the randy youkai jumped upon the poor helpless young human virgin and ravished her without mercy' type stuff)