A/N: Sorry about the delay. College is a hassle….I have, however, figured out one thing: I know where I'm ending the first book…That way I don't get to the point where I have hundreds of chapters and thousands of pages. Don't worry, you guys are only about half way there!

I wanted to thank one of the reviewers for some constructive criticism. Your comments about the length of the fights were well put. I apologize to anyone who expected more fighting and less character development. This is the first typed draft, and I know it needs work. By the time I get it finished, copy-right violations fixed and the mistakes and inconsistencies ironed out, you'll barely recognize it. I am eventually hoping to publish it as an actual novel—at lest the edited version….(I have to admit, the edited version is funnier if you know the whole story first—you guys should feel privileged!) Anyways, I just wanted to say, that if there seems to be several chapters with only character interaction, there IS a reason. Everything I do serves a purpose—even Shikatsu's menial visits!

Hard to believe, isn't it…The annoying assassin has a purpose in the grand scheme—besides to be our personal chew toy and ass to punt.

Chapter Fifty

Back in the group's room, Jea helped serve everyone some of the hot stew, going over to the far corner to sit alone and ponder over her own meal.

Phalyssa and Aruka sat together in silence, under Laguna's watchful blue gaze. Both teens wondered, (in a paranoid way) what Jea would do to them as punishment.

At last, Jea stood up and left the room. She was gone for a minute—one that seemed to drag on forever. When she returned, she was hiding something in her cloak. Motioning them to the corner, she settled down, cross legged.

When they approached and sat, she spoke very quietly, her melodious tenor voice becoming even deeper. "First of all, I'm very disappointed in you both. You took advantage of a situation and lacked the discipline—the same discipline which is vital to survival in our kind of life—to contain yourselves. Second, you disobeyed a direct command, Phalyssa. I told you I would make you sorry. Third, you almost made Laguna's head explode. I wouldn't have appreciated that.

"So, we are going to punish you. It won't be a violent punishment or a necessarily degrading one, but it will be an exhausting one. It a punishment of lesson value, to teach you of some possible consequences."

Jea paused for effect, and reached into her cloak.

"Children, meet your punishment."

From the depths, she pulled out a tiny wolf puppy, barely two weeks old. His eyes weren't even open yet. He yawned mightily and curled up to sleep in Jea's hand.

"Aww…he's so cute!" Phalyssa exclaimed.

Jea nodded and handing the sleeping puppy over. "Yes. He will also require 24 hour care and all of your attention. This is your punishment: you are entrusted with the life and well being of this puppy."

Phalyssa looked up from the sleeping animal. With the characteristic raised eyebrow that her mother was known for, she said, "Gee…Trying to give a hint, Mom?" The teen's voice dripped with sarcasm.

Jea shrugged, an evil smirk playing across her lips. "Perhaps."

Laguna stood by solemnly, still watching Aruka. The youngster was fascinated by the tiny ball of fluff. The rufus tipped tail lay coiled around Phalyssa's waist still, not inappropriately, but there. The girl had her hand on Aruka's arm as she peered at the little animal.

The puppy woke up and started whining. Phalyssa looked worriedly at her mother. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's hungry," Jea said. "C'mon, I'll show you how to make something for him. You'll have to feed him every couple of hours."

Phalyssa groaned in mock agony, as she followed her mother over to the stewpot. Secretly, she was relieved that Jea would help her with this.

Jea ladled some of the cooling stew into a bowl. With a fork, she mashed the meat and veggies into a fine paste, mixing it thoroughly with the broth. The result was a thick, sludgy substance. The ranger looked at her intently watching daughter.

"Babies can eat anything their mothers can, but you have to mash it up. He'll whine and cry when he's hungry, but don't give him anything too hot. It'll burn his little tummy. I also want you to alternate feedings with a special milk formula—the same kind, incidentally, that I used on you when you started teething. I even have bottles you can use." At Phalyssa's confused stare, the half elf explained. "The bottles simulate nursing—he will think of you as his mother. You will be responsible for training him, and teaching him manners—just like a regular child."

Phalyssa sighed heavily and glanced at Aruka. He was trying to calm the little animal's cries—but the baby's hunger refused all efforts. His crying got louder, and Phalyssa hurried over with the stew concoction. Taking the animal, she dipped her fingers in the sludge and stuck it in his little face. Experimentally, he sniffed, and then, like all babies, he sucked.

The silver haired girl repeated the procedure until the puppy's tummy bulged and he fell asleep.

Aruka looked at her. "What's his name?"

The young woman turned to her mother, who shrugged. Phalyssa frowned. "I guess he doesn't have one. It's up to us."

"Whaddya wanna call him?"

"I dunno…um…how about…'Lupin?'"

"Okay! I like it." The lion boy took a basket and was lining it with the rags that were his and Phalyssa's old clothing—they were soft and smelled faintly of both of them.

His companion gently laid the puppy in the nest, and Lupin snuggled in, warm and safe.

Yawning, Phalyssa flopped onto the hay, hoping to be able to relax. It wasn't to be so.

A guard stalked into the room, and looked her way. "You! Yasha girl! You and your pet oni! Your fight is soon. Get to the Arena!"

Groaning, the teen hauled herself to her feet with the effort. Her fuzzy companion trudged beside her to the Arena, tired.

People cringed away from them, and the guards nervously gripped weapons. Aruka kept his tail around her waist, and she clung close to his side.

The duo stepped out into the bright light of the Arena. Phalyssa looked at the hushed crowd. They were staring and murmuring. The word "oni" rippled through the crowd.

Phalyssa decided to play up on the spectacle. "Aruka…"

"Yeah?"

"Let's work the crowd. I'm gonna cast an illusion on you. Let's give 'em a demon. When I give the signal, go big."

"Crinos," he corrected absently, preparing to Shift.

The girl nodded and drew herself up. "Behold! An Oni from the Pits of Hell!! His true form! Aruka!"

Phalyssa started the sweeping illusion as he began to change. It altered his form shift from a horned, fiery, feline like demon. His skin appeared a dark, soil brown, and his mane was living fire. The living fire also appeared on his wrists, lower legs, crotch and tail. The spiraled horns sweeping down his back were darker than the deepest pitch. (Think a more feline version of Ifrit from FF VIII.)

Aruka, feeling the crowd's attention, lifted his shaggy head and roared, his voice loud enough to crack masonry.

The cheering started, and Phalyssa increased the illusion. Fire spread outward from Aruka's paws in a circular wave. Icy flames enveloped his body. His scimitar was transformed into a blade of unholy fire, and he waved it at the crowd, looking menacing.

Phalyssa barked at him in common, sounding way different than the meaning of her words. "Aruka! Come here! We need to keep playing the crowd, okay!?"

Snarling and spitting, he roared his answer, and for a moment even Phalyssa was convinced that the creature before her was not her best friend; rather, it was a Hell spawned lord of the Abyss.

Grinning fiercely, she told him to trot around her in a circle. With each foot print, Phalyssa gave the image of a different force at work: lightning, fire, ice, acid, noxious smoke, pestilence (bugs that rapidly vanished into the sand.), and other things thought up on spur of the moment.

Phalyssa had her companion expand his circles gradually until he was a good thirty feet away from her.

"Hey, Aruka! How good are you at jumping stunts?!"

"Pretty good. I can do flips and long jumps!" he growled.

"Good! When I say so, I want you to do a triple flip with a long jump start back to me!!"

He nodded once and halted his circuit. To the amazement of the crowd, a pair of menacing black wings had uncurled. "NOW!!" Phalyssa cried.

The demon-that-was-Aruka took three strides and leapt into the air, wings flapping, going fifteen feet or more before doing three flips, landing squarely in front of Phalyssa. The wings flexed once before disappearing whence they came.

Aruka crouched next to his friend, sword ready as their opponents were released. It was a dozen or so bandits, all looking ready to piss their pants at the sight of Aruka.

He smiled at them—a grisly sight indeed, even for the face under the spell. Phalyssa put one hand on Aruka's arm, watching the bandits warily. She had never taken on a fight at these odds before and she was nervous.

The bandit leader seemed to sense this, and it allowed him to recover from the "oni." He spoke rapidly to his fellows, encouraging them and pointing out Phalyssa's anxiety. The thugs all leered at her, openly suggestive. Both teenagers stiffened and Phalyssa spat at the bandits.

They approached the foreign duo, waving weapons menacingly in front of them. One of them said to her, "Hey, lovely. How's about you leave the demon and come have some fun with me? I'll show you a better way…"

Phalyssa looked at Aruka, who was using all of his will power to stay put. His gaze met hers, his green-gold eyes burning with inner flames, and his large nostrils flared. She gave him a small half grin. "Okay. Now, its personal," she hissed in Common, before dropping her hand from Aruka's arm. In the native tongue of the land, she spoke quietly, yet everyone in the Arena heard and understood her words.

"Kill them." It lacked any emotion at all, but it was all the command that Aruka needed. He leapt forward, unrestrained, and fell upon the thugs like Hell unleashed.

There were screams of fear rather than screams of pain. Aruka killed swiftly, with the instinct of his leonine side. He was a whirlwind of fangs, claws, and steel as he moved among them.

Phalyssa was, of course, by no means idle. She was sweating to keep control of the illusion, and her knife managed to find the ribs of a bandit Aruka missed.

Aruka grabbed the loud mouthed idiot by his throat, and brought him over to his companion. Phalyssa looked at the petrified man, calmly inspecting him. "In response to your question: No." The teenage girl calmly drove her dagger into his chest.

Her friend dropped the corpse to the ground. Glancing around, they realized that they had another fight coming—the gate to the exit was still closed.

They pivoted towards the opposite entrance. The gate was raised with a squeal of hinges and chains. Out stumped a dozen orc like beasts. They were shaped like orcs, but their skin was purplish brown, and curved horns spiraled from their foreheads. Instead of weapons, they had eight inch claws.

They snarled and charged the duo, clawed hands at ready to dice up their opponents. Phalyssa frowned and reached for her knife. With a battle cry, she leapt into the fray, Aruka close by.

The first monster screamed as the silver haired girl's knife opened up his middle and spilled his guts all over the ground. Phalyssa grimaced. These things stunk,

She wrinkled her nose as the next beast engaged her. She was so busy with that one that she let her guard down for a split second. The monster behind her raked her back with its claws, leaving deep gashes. Phalyssa screamed in agony.