'Planes, not more planes.'Zero was shaken out of her peaceful sleep by the sound of fighter jets flying overhead. She opened her steely-green eyes just in time to see several Chinese fighter jets fly over her,'Not again. I've been dealing with this for four years now!' She quickly got to her feet and walked to the edge of the waterfall. Her eyes fell on the river, seven years ago you could have seen the bottom it had been so clean, but now, now it was stained red from the blood that had been spilled in the rivers that fed it. Seven years had changed everything she knew, and she wasn't the only one. Chihiro had been forced to grow up so fast, and now she was out fighting with most of the men in Japan. While Zero had chosen to stay and protect the forest where they lived, Chihiro had chosen to fight alongside the other humans. The war had torn their world apart, seven years long, it was the longest and bloodiest war anyone had seen in centuries, well, any human. She looked off in the direction of the battle feild where Chihiro was fighting,"Please come back."

"Lady Zeroku!"

She turned to see an old black wolf running up the path behind her,"What is it, Komoni?"

The wolf stopped next to her,"There's news from the battle feild."

"Report."

"The American's have completely withdrawn from our shores, and the fatality rate is rising rapidly."

"Count of President Osborn to let us down."Zero muttered.

"They're going to call a retreat, the soldiers will fall back to the northern fort."Komoni reported,"They can't hold out much longer. We'll have to leave the forest."

"We can't!"Zero groaned,"This forest is the last safe haven in Japan, we can't abandon it. There's nowhere else to go, besides the spirit world, and we aren't allowed to bring humans there. What news of Chihiro?"

"She's been shot a few times, and she's deathly tired, but she should make it."Komoni replied,"I still don't see why she and Heero had to go fight with the humans."

"It's their way of protecting their home, just as we protect this forest."Zero replied,"We all must do our parts, be it fighting, guarding, or healing. I'd be out there too, if I weren't bound by Garasaki's law. I can't beleive he won't let us get involved in the war, every other country has their spirits helping, and we're stuck here, hiding like a bunch of humans."

"But Chihiro is a human."Komoni pointed out.

"Not in my eyes, she is my guardian, and I know she will protect us, and this forest. It is the only safe haven we have left. If Garasaki would just let us fight back like we should, then this war would be over by now, but he won't let us." Her train of thoughts was broken by the sound of a low horn shaking the trees,"Great, another demon raid, better get this done before someone gets hurt." She quickly changed into a dragon and flew into the trees.



Chihiro ducked as another bullet whizzed by her head,"Ugh, this can't go on." She looked around, she'd been fighting this battle for over a week now, and they were getting their butts kicked! She could see bodies everywhere, both Chinese and Japanese, and more were falling by the minute. Her one purple top had been died a disgusting shade of brown by blood and dirt, and her now waste-length hair wasn't fairing much better. She fingered Zero's gold amulet around her neck,"I hope Zero and the other are fairing better than I am."

"Lady Chihiro!!"a white wolf raced up to her,"The general's called for an all out retreat! Everyone has to fall back!"

Chihiro let out a low moan,"We can't let them get past the Hidenshi Valley, Artine's Forest is the last haven in Japan, we can't let the Chinese get their hands on it, especially because of the portal to the Spirit World!"

"We have no choice!"the wolf retorted.

"Fine, I'll create a barrier so the others can escape, hurry, and get back to the base Aboshi."

The wolf nodded and ran back into the trees behind her. Chihiro turned back to the battle feild and her eyes began to glow purple. A solid amethyst barrier suddenly shot up in front of their half of the battle feild. Chihiro managed to hold it for a few minutes, then something struck the back of her head, and everything went black.



Mae paced back and forth on the cliff's edge, ears twitching, trying to pick up a sound, any hint of life in the base across the valley,"She's late. The retreat was called over two hours ago, where is Chihiro?"

Finally, she heard something, Aboshi. He raced across a thin rope bridge and bowed before Mae,"Great Spirit of the Rivers, I bear bad news of the battle."

"Forget the manners, Aboshi, where's Chihiro?"Mae snapped.

"I'm afraid she's gone M.I.A. on us, my lady, she just vanished."Aboshi lowered his head to the point where his nose was almost touching the ground,"I should have stayed with her, protected her, but I didn't. I'm afraid she may have been captured."

Mae dug her claws into the earth,"My daughter won't like this."

"I realize, m'lady."Aboshi whispered,"I must return to the base now, I will bring you word when I get it."

"Good luck to you all."Mae nodded as the white wolf raced back across the bridge, then glared up at the sky,"Is this your sick idea of a joke?! We don't need this!!"

"Stop yelling, it's not like they can hear you."Madenso trotted up behind her,"What news did Aboshi have?"

"Chihiro's gone missing, they beleive the Chinese may have captured her."

"Great, Zeroku's going to love this."Madenso growled sarcasticly,"So, who should tell her?"

"Tell me what?"Zero landed gracefully on Madenso's back.

The two spirits exchanged glances, finally, Mae spoke,"Chihiro's gone missing."

Zero's eyes went wide and began glowing deep red and a black aura began glowing around her,"What?!"

"I'm sorry."Mae lowered her head,"There is nothing we could do."

Zero's aura flared dangerously, and, Mae guessed, every drop of water within fifty miles of them was probably boiling and taited with some kind of poisin by now,"Why me?!"

"ZEROKU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Zero cringed,"Daddy dearest is mad."

"I'd say that's an understatement."Mae snarled,"There are times when I wonder why I put up with him. You'd better go, unless you have a death wish."

Zero nodded and flew back into the forest.