Updation of my cliffy! Mwahaha! Even though no one revoos... Waahaaa! PLLLLEEEEAAAAAAASE revoo! I DON'T CARE IF YOU THINK THIS STORY IS COMPLETELY WORTHLESS JUST REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT I CAN FIX!!!

Mouself doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, ok? Get used to it.

Thanks to Linka for summary as I stink at 'em.

And Flaed for the chapter title. I'm horrible at those too. Woe is me.


A bird tittered cheerily as Ryano Kuarten strode almost silently down the dirt path. He had slept little, despite Kadar and Joko's reassurance that they would keep watch, and the moment he heard Kad's breathing become the regular, long breathing of a sleeper, he got up and quietly slipped past him. He had then gotten together a few belongings and provisions, and after jotting a short letter, left. Luckily, the sun was just beginning to peep over the horizon, giving the young fox demon light enough to take one last look at the sleeping house, the only home he had ever known. Then, without a word, he turned heel and melted into the surrounding wood.

Three hours had passed, and now the sun was well into the sky. Ryano knew his family would be getting up soon, only to find him gone. He paused a moment and looked back. Memories flooded his thoughts—Joko and Kad standing up for a frightened boy considered a freak by some of his peers because of his white fox ears and tail, that same boy defending his brothers against the accusations of a cold-hearted teacher, all three rescuing Mokkena from countless scrapes and messes. Ryano smiled ruefully. He was really going to miss them.

The bird chirruped again, snapped Ryano out of his nostalgia. The boy turned swiftly and continued down the path.

- - - - -

Joko stared at his older brother.

"What do we do? We were going to—"

"I know!" Kad interrupted, crumpling the note with his fist in frustration. Jokonara vaulted out of his bed and tore a leaf of paper from the back of a book, on which he began scribbling.

"What are you doing?" inquired his brother quizzically. Joko did not answer immediately, but finished his scrawling on the paper, and held it to Kadar's face. The other's blue eyes scanned the writing, then lifted. And slowly a smirk spread across Kad's features.

- - - - -

"The Feldox have been summoned, my lord," hissed the giant cobra. "They are searching far and wide as we speak. I will personally see to it that the boy is found and destroyed."

"You had better, Korlhrí," the dark form responded smoothly. "Because if he is not..."

A small red flame kindled in the deep shadows, reflecting in the serpent's glazing eyes.

"There will be consequences," the cool voice finished. The smoldering fire held the snake's glassy eyes for a moment longer, then flickered and died. Released from the dark flame's power, Korlhrí bowed his head submissively, the neck-fan distinctive of his species flattening against his body.

"It will be done, my lord. The Feldox always find their prey."

"For your sake, Korlhrí, I hope they do." The last silky comment sent cold fingers of fear through the cobra's long coils as he turned to glide soundlessly away.

- - - - -

Ryano stopped and wiped sweat from his brow, dropping his pack to the ground. It was midday and the sun was beating down hard through the gaps in the forest canopy onto the fox demon's thick, white locks. He tiredly looked down the seemingly endless path, seeing now his error. He did not know where he was travelling, nor how far. Despair was beginning to find its way into the boy's heart. Ryano knew the roads behind him were twisted and misleading. Going home now was an impossibility.

Well, he thought, shoving the hopelessness aside, There's nothing I can do about it now, can I? I may have no idea where my family is or even how to find them, but I'm going to keep walking until I do. And besides, at least the Kuartens will be safe.

Painful memories again swelled in his mind, but this time Ryano pushed them back. That life was gone, and there was no sense in making himself miserable when he should be watchful for danger.

He looked to the side amid the trees, his sharp brown eyes quickly finding what he was looking for. He picked up a long stick which looked sturdy enough to make a good staff. The fox boy tested its strength by whacking it against a tree and, pleased with the dull thud he received, slung his pack over his shoulder and continued down the path, staff in hand.

He walked on, trying only to keep his path straight in the mass of trees and brush. Suddenly, he stopped, and blinked. A faun was standing in the path, staring at him intensely through large, brown eyes not unlike Ryano's own. The boy froze, not wanting to frighten the timid creature.

The faun gazed at him for a moment, and tentatively stepped forward. Suddenly a doe entered from the surrounding wood with a graceful leap. The faun immediately stepped back behind the sheltering brown side of its mother. The doe herself inspected Ryano curiously, rubbed her velvet nose against the faun's, then both sprung into the trees and were lost to sight.

The boy smiled sadly. He was once again alone with his thoughts. Alone with his thoughts... Ryano looked about him, realizing how really alone he was. The silence permeated the air, nearly stifling him. The rhythmic beating of his heart was the only sound, seeming to echo harshly in his head, a monotonous cacophony that threatened to drive him mad.

He closed his eyes tightly. I can't just lose now. Not when I've come this far...The white ears perked, searching... A soft breeze blew, lightly ruffling his soft white locks, and whispering through the leaves. We know where you are going...they seemed to murmur. We know... and you don't...Ryano fought the despair that once again threatened to well up in his heart. I'll find my path. I just have to open my eyes and it will be there in front of me. And with that, he did so. A few leaves danced across his field of vision, then tumbled through the air playfully.

His brown eyes followed them in their aerial escapade, finally resting on a beam of sunlight piercing through the foliage and bathing the path in a warm light. Ryano gripped his walking stick stubbornly, and walked forward, passing through the soft rays like a white apparition.

... All the time unaware of the pair of eyes that had been watching him carefully...

- - - - -

Rrantyl of the Feldox bent her long snout to the ground, her sensitive nostrils searching for anything that might serve as a clue to her prey's whereabouts. Finding nothing, she snorted disdainfully, sending small fragments of leaf and dirt scattering. She then rose to her full height and barked a few short orders to the Feldox around her.

Rrantyl was the alpha female of her pack; her many scars told the tale of how she got to such a rank. She was fully 5 feet, 4 inches—small for her kind—but she made up for her stature by her fierceness, intelligence, and speed that surpassed even the largest of the other Feldox. Even in her day form she could easily overpower any creature who dared defy her authority. In her night form...

She showed them there are worse fates than death.

Her long tail swished impatiently and clicked her right foreclaws together, including the elongated talon that had earned her the name Wælklauh or Death Claw. Patience had never been one of her strong points.

Finally, two Feldox approached. Rrantyl turned a wrathful glare upon them as the first cautiously stepped forward to report. Sensing his leader's ill temper, he hesitated and began to back away, only to be stopped by a snap of his companion's sharp jaws. Voicing his displeasure with a snarling hiss, the Feldox made a mock lunge at the other's throat; he quickly dodged it and replied with a hiss of his own.

But their quarrel was short-lived, as both wilted under the basilisk stare of Rrantyl Wælklauh. Her demands were short, harsh chirps.

Did you find him?

The two whimpered pitiably; they knew what they had found: nothing, save a mockingbird screaming protectively at them from her nest, and an ancient, half-dead wolf. They also knew that this was not the answer Rrantyl wanted to hear.

They never saw the blows that ended their lives so abruptly. The first stumbled back with several deep slashes across its throat, chest, and abdomen. The second immediately collapsed dead, a hefty bite taken from the back of its neck. His hapless partner glanced at the body, shuddered, then fell upon him and died.

Rrantyl turned from her two victims with an air of distaste. Letting her beady eyes rove over her pack, one by one she fixed them with a deadly stare. Freshly intimidated by her ferocity, the Feldox shrunk back with submissive titters. Wælklauh raised herself to her full height, balancing perfectly on powerful hind legs, and bellowed out her commands. Within seconds, she was alone as every creature around scrambled to obey her orders.

- - - - -

Ryano looked down the path halfheartedly. It had been several hours since the deer had left him, and his road seemed to continue forever.

He sighed in forlorn hopelessness and flopped down against a tree, flinging his possessions upon the ground. What had he been thinking to leave everything for this? A wide yawn escaped his mouth, followed by tired blinks of large brown eyes. He glanced up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set. Surely he'd have time for just a little nap before sundown...

He'd just close his eyes for a few minutes...

No sooner did his eyelids close, than Ryano Kuarten was fast asleep.

- - - - -

He awoke with a start. It was night. He heard a rustling in some nearby brush. The fox demon froze and glanced around the tree trunk, expecting at every moment a reptilian head peaking out from the bushes. And he had no weapon.

His eyes darted over to the stick upon the ground. If he could just... reach it... with his foot... He had it.

Ryano slowly stood up, the staff clenched in his hands. Closer, closer. So far, so good. Now, to attack before while he opponent didn't see him coming...

He had a faint glimpse of a blonde figure walking through the bushes before pouncing upon it, planning to bash the foul thing's head in with his stick.

"Ooooww..."

"Hahaha! Ha!"

Ryano blinked. His fearsome opponent was none other than Jokonara Kuarten, who was now staring at him cross-eyed.

"Joko?" he exclaimed in astonishment.

"Hey, don't forget about me," laughed Kadar, smirking.

"Kad?!"

Ryano could hardly believe it. He was relieved at not being alone anymore, but...

"I told you not to come!" he blurted, half-irritably.

"You really expected us not to?" Kad challenged, his blue eyes daring Ryano to counter him.

"Yeah!" Joko joined, not to be left out, "We're older than you, and we have more authority! So what we say goes! And I say that you get off me! You're heavy!"

The white-haired demon blinked, and quickly did so.

Kadar briefly looked over Ryano, flashed Joko a questioning look, and continued:

"Yeah... Something like that. The authority part, at least."

Their half-brother sighed.

"So there's no way I can get you to go back home?"

Kad and Joko shook their heads vigorously.

"Nope."

"You're stuck with us, Ryano ole buddy."

The boy's face brightened.

"Good, then I won't be alone," he replied, grinning cheerily.

The brothers blinked.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiight," Kad murmured. Joko merely shrugged.

Ryano yawned.

"Well," he said, blinking tiredly, "can we start by taking a nap before moving on, at least?"

"Sounds good to me," Jokonara agreed, flopping down upon the ground and immediately breaking into loud snores. Kadar muttered something about lazy brothers and chucked the blonde's pack (which he had dropped in his unexpected reunion with Ryano) across the clearing. The pack, however, happened to be quite bulky and, landing square on its owner's stomach, succeeded in knocking all the air from his lungs. Joko sat up quickly, weazing and coughing. He glanced at the offending pack, then glared at his brother.

"What was that for?!"

Kad snickered, positioning his own pack against a tree for a cushion. He turned briefly to give his irritated younger sibling a smug, knavish grin.

"You dropped your pack," he answered simply, his blue eyes twinkling in fiendish mirth.

Joko gave him one more dark look, and plunked his pack against the tree and leaned upon it, grumbling.

Ryano smiled. It seemed weeks since he'd seen that bickering, and had had to remind himself many times since that it had been less than a day. The two were settling down and eyes were closing, Kadar smirking, and Jokonara still mumbling under his breath.

The young fox demon sighed contentedly. He wasn't alone anymore...

With the nocturnal choruses of forest creatures echoing softly in his white fox ears, Ryano's brown eyes slowly closed in sleep.

- - - - -

He was watching them. He wasn't quite sure why he was watching them; somewhere in his poison-infected mind he found them interesting, almost amusing. And so he watched them.

Of course, he'd been watching the white-haired one for a while. That one intrigued him the most. Those ears... and that tail... That one was a fox demon.

But not just any fox demon.

He chortled in crazed delight. The Feldox were hunting that one. He knew. But why? That he didn't know. He'd lost his patience with the captured Feldox from which he'd learned the former.

The blonde stirred, sat up, rubbed his eyes.

He froze, and immediately melted into the dark shadows of the night.

The blonde shrugged, and went back to sleep.

For now, he'd wait. Wait and see why the Feldox were so keen on this fox demon. Besides, when the Feldox caught the fox demon, he'd get to pick off the Feldox one by one...

A shudder of maddened pleasure shook his twisted body. Revenge was sweet... ever so sweet...


Yay! I finished my chappie, finally. And it's a long 'un, too. Well, um, yeah... I shall try to get the next one out soon... (Like that's gonna happen.) What?! Of course it will! I'm a diligent, hardworking (lazy) little Mouself! Ok, maybe not, but... Eh. R and R, peoples. And Myaow, just because I posted doesn't mean you can kill me! Behold as I send dark and evil Mouself glares in your direction.

And now, replies:

Myaow: See above. And I still haven't seen the Silvia/Graham picture. Certain Flaeds have been too lazy to show it. Cough. Ahem. Cough.

Katana no Youkai Okami: Your name is really hard to write for a lazy Mouself like me, you know? G'rr... But you inflated my ego, therefore, I shall let you live. For now... Ku ku ku... Meh. I give you a cookie. And a steak. A steak-cookie.

angelkohaku: Thank moo. And yesh, I realize that the beginning is rather... fast. That being because Mouself is incredibly lazy and hates writing peaceful scenese. They're evil! EVIL I TELL YOU!!!!!

Ethelflaed: I have no hope of possibly containing the full extent of your review in this little reply. Sooo... To the punctuation comment: Feh. Punctuation is evil. To the other stuff: See above. To the Anglo-Saxon thing: You're a freak. You gave me cheese. YAY! To the other stuff: Moo. To your family line ranting: Mwahaha!

Alright, peoples. There's mah story. Take it or leave it. And if you leave it, well... I chuckle in sinister fashion at your ignorant mortality.