Zero shot through the trees, now ankle-length hair flying behind her in the wind. Before she even realized it, the young spirit was standing before her father, the devil himself, in her opinion, and she wasn't the only one who thought so,"What do you want, now?"

"You tainted the river water, didn't you?!"Garasaki roared,"I can smell the poisin!"

"So what if I did?!"Zero snapped,"I'm fed up with taking orders from you, you're absolutely nuts! Chihiro's gone missing because I'm not allowed to get involved in the war! The Chinese have been on our shores for nearly five years! If you'd just let us fight like we're supposed, they'd be gone by now!"

"I don't care!!"Garasaki's mane stood up with his rage,"We're not to get involved, it's not our war!"

Zero clenched a fist, the water of the river behind her boiling dangerously,"It's very rapidly becoming our war! We've had demons attacking us for the last ten years, and you haven't lifted a finger to help us!!"

"It seems to me you, Chihiro, and the wolves have already gotten involved!"

"They're not bound by your laws, they're allowed to fight!"

"But you are not!"Garasaki roared, picking the teen up with his tail,"And I've had it with you!"

"Well, that makes two of us!"Zero snarled,"And what are you gonna do about it?!"

Garasaki grinned,"Banish you."

Zero paled,"You can't! I'm the one who's kept this forest alive for the past four years! If I hadn't been here when th edemosn first attacked this country would be ruled by the Communists by now!"

"If I EVER see you anywhere near my rivers again I'll kill you!"Garasaki threatened.

Zero didn't move,"Your rivers?! The rivers belong to all of us!"

Garasaki flung her across the clearing into a large tree, making a sizable dent in it,"NOW LEAVE!!!"

Zero pulled herself out of the dent,"Good rittance!!" The water from the river suddenly flew up and slammed into the huge dragon, and Zero shot off into the trees, muttering a string of profanities that would have made Eminem look like Barney.(Barney *shudders*)



"Ugh, where am I?"Chihiro rubbed her head. she pulled herself to her feet. She was in a stone cell, her clothes and hair were a mess, covered in blood and dirt. "What happened? I was holding up a barrier, and then, my head...."

"I see you're awake."

She looked up to see a young man with pith black hair standing in front of her. His steely green eyes seemed familiar, but at the same time completely strange to her,"Who are you, and where am I?"

"That's for me to know."the man snarled,"All you need to know is that Zero is gone, banished from Japan by Garasaki for disobeying him. My men are currently hunting her down, and she'll soon be dead."

Chihiro paled,"You can't! If it weren't for Zero the Chinese would already have Japan!"

"Exactly, dear Chihiro......"



Zero shot through the trees, not caring about the branches slapping and cutting her face. She just had to get away from there, she knew very well how powerful Garasaki was, and she wasn't dumb enough to take him on by herself. Suddenly something wizzed by her head,"What the.....?" She spun around to see a pack of centaurs running behind her,"Why me?!" She ducked in and out of the trees, dodging several arrows in the process.

"Give it up, spirit!"one of the centaurs roared.

"In your dreams!"Zero snapped, trapping the horse-men in a large, white bubble, then shot off into the trees. Sharp pain suddenly shot through her side. She looked back to find a black arrow embedded in her side,"UGH!!" Then she saw it, the tunnel that led to the Spirit World,"Yes!" She shot in the tunnel, and the ground started shaking,"Oh, GREAT!"

The tunnel began to crumble around her, and several large chunks began to fall. Zero could see the exit now, and she began to fly faster, she was almost out. She was dizzy, tired, she'd lost too much blood. Her vision was blurring, but she could make out the bath house. She had to make it, just a little farther..... She blacked out.



"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S ABANDONED US?!?!!!!!!!!!!!"Mae roared,"Zero would never do that!!!!"

"I'm afraid so."Garasaki lowered his head,"She said that we're 'a pack of low-life, useless, wimpy, spoiled brats who couldn't defend ourselves if our lives depended on it'."

Mae dug her claws into the dirt,"You banished her, didn't you?!"

"Why would I do that, she's my daughter!"Garasaki snapped.

"Because you did the same thing to Kohaku!"Madenso retorted,"Everyone knows you kept him from protecting the river when the humans filled it in, then you banished him from the rivers!"

"I did not!"Garasaki slapped the centaur into a tree with his tail,"How dare you say that!!"

"How dare you lie to us!"Mae retorted,"You're going to get us all killed!"

"Keep your mouth shut!"Garsaki roared,"Zeroku abandonned us, as did Kohaku! Once twins always twins."

"You banished them because they posed a threat to you."Madenso snarled,"They frightened you, it's that simple. Their combined power would have destroyed you!"

"SHUT UP!!"Madenso was thrown into another tree,"IF I HEAR ONE MORE WORD OUT OF YOU I WILL KILL YOU BOTH!"

"Lord Garasaki!"a large, burly centaur raced up,"Zeroku is dead my lord, she tried to flea to the Spirit World, and we collaped to tunnel on her!"

"YOU WHAT?!"Garasaki roared,"HOW DARE YOU!! WE NEED THAT TUNNEL TO RETURN TO THE SPIRIT WORLD!!!"

"Is that all you care about?!"Mae snapped,"The Spirit World, what about our daughter!?"

"ZEROKU AND KOHAKU ARE DEAD TO US, IF YOU MENTION THEM ONE MORE TIME I'LL KILL YOU!!"

Mae lowered her head and walked back to the Zeroku River. The river was turning red, Zero was injured, but not dead, not yet. This lit a spark of hope in the ancient dragon,'Hold on, my daughter, we need you. You and kohaku will be our only hope if the war spreads to the spirit world, please, find you brother and come back to us.'



Garasaki watched Madenso dissapear into the trees, then flew off in the direction of Hidenshi's Valley,'That dragon is going to be the death of me.' He flew over then valley, the base, the battle feild, and out to the ocean. He landed on a gigiantic battle ship where several Chinese soldiers were waiting for him.

"Welcome back, Master Garasaki."

"How's Chihiro doing?"Garasaki asked.

"She's tried beating down the walls several times, she finally fainted from exhaustion."

"Good. The worse she is the better, now, I want a crew down at the Spirit World tunnel to rebuild it. We need to get it up again, pronto!"

"Yessir!"