Chapter 5

The Gate into RoseWood was extraordinary. Vines spiraled up arched wire, and flowers of many sort were all though the lush green vines. On top of the arched show of greenery, were two huge wings. Both were snow white and fanned out as a mother bird would shield her children.

Sereg was just about to walk right though it before i grabbed his arm. "huh?" He asked. I pointed to the gate. He looked up and gasped. "those wings.." His eye twitched.

"They aren't real" He sighed in relief, but what did he think had wings that big? I looked to where Eva stood. My eyes widened as i thought for a split second two black feathered wings were folded at her side. She looked back at me and grinned before walking though the gate. I blinked one final time before running after her. "Hey, HEY!" She laughed and continued on.

The town was beautiful. Trees, flowers, vines, greenery was everywhere, covering the town in a beautiful blanket of colors. Houses were tucked under huge, ancient trees, and some stores were even IN trees. I stood aghast at the beauty around me. As i scanned the area i noticed one area...it was completely devoid of any greenery, and the ground looked charred.

"Eva... What happened here?" She looked at me and mouthed 'come on' before walking in that direction.

As we got closer i realized it was a lot larger area than i had originally thought. At the edge of the area was a sign, almost like a monument. Nami hopped right up to it and sat beside it, waiting for us. Sereg stood on the other side of Nami just looking up into the sky.

"Read it" Eva instructed, so i did.

"Years ago....

This town was attacked by demons. They stuck at our homes, our

trees, our land. But one, stood in the middle of this very area and

burned the whole area to a crisp and put a spell on it, so that it

may never regrow. It is also said that only demonic creatures can

tred this ground..."

As i got to the end i realized Sereg was saying it along with me. He still stood, inches from the charred ground, just staring up into the sky.

Nami snorted mentally at the words on the stone and turning, testily put a paw into the area. Nothing happened. Satisfied by this the small bunny let a smirk cross its tiny face. Turning back to Eva the bunny hopped over to its owner.

-

"So demons attacked this place too?" Mana asked.

"Yup" Sereg and I answered in unison. Sereg glared at me and I threw my hands up in a surrendering pose before backing up a step. "I have heard the tale many times, my mother used to tell the story on how it happened. "It is also said that only demonic creatures can tred this ground" My mother said that if you could tred the ground, and a villager saw you, you were either banned or stoned, and right after the accident happened every villager was tested. Few that had demonic blood, but no bad intentions, faked it."

"The other reason i wanted to come here was beacuse i want to tred the ground, well more test myself than actually walk on the earth.." I said starting to walk along the edge, towards the far end of town.

"Where are you going then?" Sereg asked.

"Towards the abandoned part, that way if one of us has demon in our blood, we wont be killed..." I said with a smirk.

"That would be a good idea." Sereg agreed before following me around towards the part of town that was cursed.

The area was devoid of life.. of any sort. The houses that were in the cursed area looked horrible and everything seemed to aviod the area, except sunlight. "Alright, ya ready guys?" I asked.

"Um.. sure..."

"Scared to see if your a demon?" I chided. Sereg glared at me.

"hey! Look!" Mana called pointing out into the clearing. I followed her finger and gasped. A few feet into the area was a small dog, probably a wolf cub. It looked like it was in a lot of pain.

"How did it get in there?" I asked.

"I think its getting hurt from the curse!! Someone probably threw him in!" Mana said, clearly angry at the person who did it.

A sound reached our ears and the small wolf started to cry. Mana started to get really worried and upset, Sereg, was just mad. I stood, not knowing what to do, if it was even possible to get to it.

Sereg marched forward and put a hand out. Small blue sparks shot to his hand and he winced. Gritting his teeth he shoved his way into the area. I yelped and ran to the edge. His whole body trembled as he tried to withstand the shocks. "Sereg!" I called. He looked back and gave a small grin before lurching into a half run over to the cub.

Picking up the cub he cradled it in his arms and ran back out. Breaching the edge he collapsed on the ground, panting. I dropped to his side. "Sereg you idiot! Your the most hurt of all of us.. LET YOURSELF HEAL DAMMIT!" He gave a forced laugh and pushed himself up on his elbows and checked on the cub.

"You two didn't seem to be moving...hey pooch, how are you?" He asked softly. Mana ran a hand over the small cub and a blue glow surrounded the pooch. With a few soft words from Mana the blue glow disappeared.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"I healed it partly.. i cant do much, but that should help..." The cub let out a small whine and opened its eyes. "Hey... you ok?" Mana asked petting its head. It licked her hand. "Good, you will heal fully in time..."

-

I was not about to complain.. but everything HURT, and i mean badly. I was still recovering from the shocks that area caused, and some of my cuts reopened. I was sleeping for a while so part of me wonders why Eva was there when i woke up. They said i will be healed in no time, but some how i doubt them.

"Hey, were going to go get some food, watch the pup.. want anything?" Eva asked walking into the room, carring the small wolf.

"Anything hot and crunchy..." Eva laughed and put the pooch on a chair next to where i was laying. They were forcing me to stay in bed...right now it sounded good because if i stayed standing too long i got shocked again, and i dont even know how!

"Alright, be back soon" Waving she left. I sat up and stared out the window. It had a lovly few of the town, specially the tall red oaks. The wolf cub whined and jumped into my lap. I smiled down at it. It barked and jumped onto the window sill.

"Hey now, dont fall out" I warned. It looked back at me and its tail swished. It had a beautiful greyish coat. For the most part the top of its head and back was more white, and the lower half of it was more black, but in the sun light, it seemed to be silver all over.

"You still need a name" I said and moved so i was facing the window, feet hanging off the bed. It just looked at me blankly before looking back outside. "Yeah, i save your life, and you like Mana better, Some pooch you are" I grumbled and poked its foot. It picked up its foot and glared at me. I poked its other foot and it switched feet.

Grinning i grabbed the wolf and pulled it onto the bed, rubbing its stomach and poking its feet. It made soft grunts as it kicked at my hands and squirmed on its back. I stopped for a second and it looked at me, and barked. "What? you want more?" It barked again. Laughing i threw the blanket over its head. It made a sound in protest and worked its way so its head poked out from underneath it.

I smiled at it and patted its head before leaning back on the pillows. The wolf crawled over next to me and laid down next to me. Rolling onto my side i let it cuddle into my chest. Laying one arm across the pup i dozed off, just watching it breathe.

I woke up to Eva bopping me on my nose. I snorted and opened my eyes. "Hey sleepy head!" She greeted. I glared. "Hey, took longer than i thought but here, food!" She handed me something.. right now my brain couldn't comprehend what. "Eat it and then you can go back to sleep" She turned and waved over her shoulder as she walked out the door. I looked once again down at the food and took a bite out of it. I shruged, not poisonous at least. The wolf looked up at me with with big eyes. I smiled and breaking off a peice gave it to the pooch. It happily wolfed it down.

-

"thanks again for letting us stay here" I said setting the plates on the table. The old woman we were staying with, Marcy, smiled at me.

"Again, its no problem, your friend was very sweet to risk his life to save that poor wolf cub" I smiled and nodded. "And its no problem for us, we enjoy the company" I joined her at the kitchen counter and watched as she stirred dinner.

"So how long have you lived here?" I asked. She thought for a moment.

"Probably about 50 years..." Said Carl, Marcy's husband, as he walked into the kitchen.

"Really? were you here when... the demons...?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes, Yes we were, we were younger then, and got away from the town ok, but we came back to find out house not damaged too badly." Marcy said tasting whatever she was stirring. "What brought all of you here?" She asked.

"Well.. my parents were killed by demons, and my friend never knew her father, and her mother was killed, and then Sereg's family was killed too, so we sort of set off to solve the demon problem..." I said helping her get the rest of the table ready.

"Really? that's so sad! You must be really close, especially with the common loss.."

"Well Eva and i have been really close for a quite a few years now, but Sereg just joined us, but i have a feeling we will probably stick together..." I smiled. "I am going to go tell everyone dinners ready" She nodded.

I walked over to the living room. Eva was sitting on the window sill, staring out the window. It had started raining not too long ago, and ever sense then shes been sitting at the window sill, just staring out. I walked over and stood next to her, putting my hand on her head. She looked up at me and then back outside. "Isn't it weird...the rain wont touch the cursed area...." She whispered.

"Dinners ready, but you can go wander, i am not going to stop you, but come back before dark." She stood and gave me a quick hug before running out into the rain, the rain splashing on her hair and shoulders. I smiled and went back to the kitchen informing them that Sereg had eaten already, and Eva had stepped out. They didn't seem to mind talking to just me.

After dinner was over I went to go check on Sereg. He was asleep but a small note was on the table with a note scribbled on it. It read, "Hey! name the wolf! it seems to like you anyway!" I chuckled softly and calling to the small pooch i cradled it in my arms and walked out.

I walked into the living room to be greeted by Eva. She was smiling like an idiot, and was drenched to the bone. "Have fun?" The grin grew even more goofy as she nodded and ran upstairs to change and dry off. I sat down on a chair and looked down at the wolf. "Well then...your a girl, and no one knows that yet, but i think i shall name you Aiya" The wolf barked and licked my nose. "You like it don't you? Good."

"We are heading to bed, you three be sure to get some sleep" Marcy said as her and her husband headed off to their room. I nodded and waved goodnight to them. I heard Eva's feet running down the hall and she suddenly launched over the chair i was sitting on and flopped onto the couch across from me. He laid on her back and started cracking up.

"Remind me to never let you go out in the rain again..." I murmured. She snorted and looked at me. "Anyways... the dog, its a she by the way, is now named Aiya" She thought for a moment before nodding contently. "Good"

There was silence for a while as i watched Aiya breathe, and Eva counted dots on the celing. Finally Eva spoke. "How long do you think we will be here?"

"Untill Sereg heals" She groaned. "If your bored you can go question people about demons..." She nodded. Nami suddenly popped her head up. Eva looked down at her and picking her up set her on her stomach.

"I havn't seen you in a while, where have you be-" Eva stopped mid word and smiled. "Your wet..." I snorted. "you were out in the rain too!" Eva huged the small bunny.

-

I hate waking up to pain, its just not a nice way to wake up! What startled me the most was when i opened my eyes and looked around i found Eva.. asleep none the less. But she managed to get on top of a cabinet and was perched up there.. dead asleep. I looked at her for a while before rolling my eyes and sitting up. Seemingly on cue, Mana walked in.

"Good morning" I just nodded.

"Um... why is Eva..?" I asked. Mana looked up and snorted.

"She was ofly hyper last night.. she was out in the rain, then she had some sugar so most likly she saw you as a threat and perched herself up there to watch her new enemy.. when she wakes up.. shes going to flip...so dont like...be awake.. act asleep..." I rolled my eyes.

"Great... does she do this often?" I asked. Mana nodded saddly.

"Well actually only if she has had sugar and was out in the rain..." Mana said sitting in the chair next to the bed.

"O! Oo! story! you must tell a story of when this happened....i love stories" She thought for a minuet.

"Alright..."

"YAY!"

"Ok so this once...It was raining outside, and we were younger than we are now...but she ran out side and went running up and down the slope to our house. Well after a while she came inside to get something to eat...and i made this mistake to request a slice of cake...so then after ward she went literally bouncing out the door. So her mom and i went to the window just to see Eva grab a huge leaf of some sort and set it down at the top of the slope. I was confused but her mother told me just to watch. Well she kneeled down on the leaf, and mind you this was one huge, tough leaf, and slid down the hill!" I laughed. "Well she did this a few more times before trying to do it off the roof...luckly we stopped her and had to litterally tie her to the couch so she wouldn't try anything stupid." I snorted.

"Now thats something i would love to do"

"Well if your ever around a hyper, drenched Eva, and theres a leaf and a slope.. she will probably force you to.." Mana said getting up. "Anyways.. how do you feel?"

"Well we shall see when i try to stand no?" I asked. She nodded slowly and slipping off the bed i stood up and walked over to the cabinet. "Lets give her a scare.." Mana's eyes widened.

"I wouldn't do that..." She warned.

"Aww come on, what's she going to do" She started to say something, but i gave the cabinet a little shake before she could even really start.

Eva's eyes snapped open and she looked around lazily. She laid eyes on me and yawned. I smiled. She unfolded herself and jumped to the floor before walking out the door. Mana stood mouth open wide, and i was too.

"She.. she usually freaks"

"Well.. not this time.. what a bummer" I huffed. Mana patted me on the shoulder before ordering me to walk to the kitchen. I felt like refusing, but rolled my eyes and did what she said. The trip to the kitchen had no mishaps. Mana was happy and told me to go back to my room.

"Wth?! but i am obviously well enough, and i have to stay in my room still???" I yelped. She nodded. I growled.

-

I was out in the living room trying to find nami when i heard something. Thinking someone dropped something in the kitchen i went to investigate. Still holding my cup of hot chocolate i walked to the kitchen and dropped the cup. The cup, being plastic, bounced, spilling its contents and rolled away.

The lovly wooden counter top was no more. Sereg was walking back to his room while small drops of blood fell off from his hand. Mana stood shaking all over, from anger or fear i was still not sure, but what i did know was that there was now a huge bloody crater in the counter top.

"M-mana?" I asked. She looked at me and lunged at me, hugging me. "What happened?" Something warm dripped onto my arm. I looked down and gasped. Blood spilled from Mana's arm. It wasn't a big cut, but it spilt some blood. "wait here..." She nodded and started cleaning up.

I walked into Sereg's room and shut the door behind me, leaning on it. Sereg looked up at me from his work trying to clean his hand. I just sighed and crossed my arms. "why?" I asked softly.

"She wants me to 'stay in bed' but i can move around, i am fine, she just doesn't belive me..." he growled. I leaned down and picked up a book from the floor. I weighed it in my hand, ignoring Sereg as he babbled on. Looking up at him i tossed the book.

It hit his forehead dead center, on the corner of the spine. Sereg flew back onto the bed. "Just because YOU think your ok, DOESN"T mean you ARE. Mana is just trying to look out for you, and make sure your not uncomfortable the best she can, and you go and get her hurt too!" I yelled, going for another book. Sereg growled and put his hand to his forhead.

"What do you mean Mana's hurt?" He asked dissarming me.

"I dont know exactally what happened but alls i know is after what you pulled, shes hurt" I growled. "Now, you WILL stay in here, and if you CONTINUE to upset Mana i will see to it personally you never touch your feet to the ground ever again." Moving i went out the door and closed it behind me. I took a deep breath and joined Mana in the kitchen.

She was mindlessly scrubbing the crater, trying to clean the blood. I walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me, and snapped out of it. "Oh..." I smiled.

"How bad is the cut?" I asked.

"Not deep, i already took care of it..." she smiled. "But i should fix Sereg's hand.." She added softly.

"Well.. and his forehead..." I added.

"What did you do?" She asked. I laughed and shook my hand.

"That doesn't matter, but what happened?"

Hours later Sereg emerged from his room when he thought i wasn't watching. I was sitting in a really dark corner and saw it all. He came out to the living room where Mana was playing with her dog and Nami. He apologized and Mana forgave him.

After that i snuck outside and showed up at Sereg's window. He seemed a little surprised when i knocked on his window. He peered at me for a little while through the glass untill i mouthed 'i will break the window if you dont open it'. He grinned and unlocked it.

I slid it up and locked it in that position. "Please dont break the window" He said with a grin. I shook my head and sat on the window sill with my back to the outside. "So whats up?"

"Your so blind!" I chuckled at his expression. "Anyways, thanks for apologizing to Mana." His eyes slightly widened. "Did you really think i would come after you if you left to say your sorry?"

"Well yeah..." I rose an eyebrow. "I thought you were serious!"

"I was, but come on, use your brain for once!" He tossed a pillow at me. Unexpected i caught it but fell out the window. "Meep!" I yelped as i landed in the bushes below the window. Sereg popped his head out the window and looked down at me. I glared at him.

"That wasn't supposed to work ya know..." I nodded and tossed the pillow back at him. Unlike me he caught it and dissapeared. I glared. I was stuck and he was going to leave me here.

"Sereg!!!" I called. He popped his head back out the window and offered his hand. He smiled. I growled but took his hand and using it, climbed back into the window. "I swear boy, your going to get your self strangled." I growled.

"Aww such love and care" I glared at him. "Anyways if you dont mind, can you tell me why you came here?"

"Already did, it was to say thanks" I looked up at the clock and glared. "Eh, lunch is going to be shortly, if its not delayed..." Last part directed at Sereg, i deserved the evil look that i got.

"Yeah i know..." He pulled off his shirt he slept in and tossed it to the corner of the room.

"Woah, sit on the bed.." He looked at me all confused like. "no, just do it!" He sat down and gave me a quizical look. I walked over and sat down so i was looking at his back. I ran a finger down one of the deeper cuts. I felt him wince. I almost laughed. "They look like they are healing well.. but...." I poked an old scar. It reached from shoulder to shoulder as a slightly slant. "What did that come from?" I asked. He shrugged. I glared at his back but let it slide.

"LUNCH!!!!" Mana called. I jumped about three feet in the air from that. Sereg laughed and walked out the door. I unlocked the window and shut it before following him out.

-----------------------

Alya- awww man.. headache.. I am so stopping here for now... -owch-