This is a story I've been working on for only a few months now… But already, I feel really confident with it. The original title really stunk so…. I changed it to something more interesting… After all, who wants to read a story named 'Little Demon'? (It sounded pretty cheesy in the first place…. >>) Anyway, this is my own demon character, Shauni Ithilethiel's story…. Part One… (I think? Haven't decided on making it two parts yet…) Her past is one riddled with mystery until I wrote this… In fact, new ideas were coming to me each day. But this pretty much ties in everything that I have been working on in the Roleplays that Shauni has been in. It combines the logic used in Chrno Crusade, and also even adds in a character from Chrno Crusade to tie it in with a Chrno Crusade RP Shauni was in. (That was fun to write! There will be the first chapter featured a bit later that you can read ahead if you so choose….) Anyway, Shauni Ithilethiel, Miss Underwood, and all the little Orphanage kids in this chapter belong to me and no one else! Including the evil little government dudes… This may not stay the first chapter for long so keep an eye out on it… I'm planning on writing back even further in Shauni's history at some point. Anyway, I'll stop my blabbering so you can enjoy… Comments are appreciated. I need to know what I need to fix and what I don't...

Chapter 1- The Orphanage

During the 1960s, a young orphan girl of 14 named Shauni lived happily in an orphanage with all of her other friends. She was not like the others, however. When she got angry, people feared her and they respected her as a good friend. Her eyes were an unusual emerald green color and her hair was completely black. She was always kind and helpful to others, even when they annoyed her, and violence was a concept far from her mind. Her friends and family at the orphanage was all raised with such a personality. Today, however, an unexpected visit will be made by the government officials of Shauni's hometown, a small, remote village in New York, regarding her uniqueness, and her life will take a dramatic turn for the worst.

In the lush green forests surrounding the orphanage, Shauni ran with all her might, listening to the footsteps racing after her. She did not bother to look behind for fear of tripping or running into a tree and being caught. Despite her surefootedness and carefulness, however, she tripped over a root of a tree, hidden by fallen leaves and tumbled sharply to the ground. "Ouch!" she exclaimed as the rough leaves and rocks sliced part of her knee open when she skidded to a halt on the ground. The footsteps hastened and soon, she was surrounded. "Alright," she said, smiling up at the kids around her. "You got me." The other kids smiled back, but one of them saw her leg bleeding.

"Shauni!" the girl exclaimed in surprise and shock. "Are you alright! You're bleeding!" She pointed to the cut on Shauni's leg that was dripping blood onto the leaves underneath them.

Shauni looked down to see for herself. "Oh, yeah… I'm fine. It's just a little scrape," she said, trying to stand up, but a sharp pain shot through her leg and she fell back down to the ground.

The children around her gasped. "I'll go get Miss Underwood!" one of the boys said and disappeared off in the direction of the orphanage. Seconds later, he reappeared, tugging at the apron of a tall, wrinkled yet caring looking woman. "There she is!" the boy cried out, holding back tears. Shauni looked up at the woman with a weak smile.

"Oh!" the woman exclaimed. "You know I told you never to run in the forest, Shauni! Now look what you've done to yourself!" She ran over to Shauni's side and helped her up. "Can you put any weight on your leg, young one?"

Shauni tried to place her leg down on the ground, but winced as she did so. "I'm fine, Miss Underwood," she lied.

Miss Underwood smiled. "I should think not! Come now, lean on my arm and I shall take you back to your bed so we can clean that wound of yours off." She did as she was told and the two of them, followed by an escort of many sobbing young children, walked slowly back to the large, white painted house.

When they reached her bedside, Shauni tried to get in herself, staining the white sheets with her bloody leg. "Honestly, child! Do not try to o everything yourself! Others will help you, if you let them!" Miss Underwood said, running to help her up.

"I know, but I'm fine, really! So you don't have to worry." She smiled and was met only by the woman's old smile beaming at her.

"Of course. Well, I insist that you at least stay in bed for the rest of the day. You need time to have that scrape healed!" Miss Underwood left the room for a moment and came back with a bucket of warm water and a soft cloth. "Let me see, now. I'll clean it off to prevent an infection." Shauni held her knee out for her and the woman carefully wiped the dried blood away, then cleaned the cloth and placed it on the cut. "There now, let that cloth sit there for a while and it will heal faster. Rest up!" she said and left the room to allow the young girl to sleep.

Inside the darkened room, Shauni lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. For some reason, the darkness did not seem as dark as it should have been for her. In fact, her room looked almost completely lit with light as if there were no shadows at all. Her leg was still hurting, but it was not as bad as when it first happened. She started to close her eyes, when suddenly, she hears a knock on the door. She listens intently as she hears Miss Underwood's footsteps and her voice mumbling "Oh, what now?" as she always did when someone came to the house. Shauni slows her breathing so that she can hear. As the door opens, a brusque voice is heard from outside saying "Good afternoon, Miss Underwood... I suppose you know why we are here…?" She hears Miss Underwood grunt distastefully. "Yes, of course I know why you are here… And my answer is still the same as always. I am not allowing you to take any one of these children away from this orphanage."

The man was silent for a moment, but she could feel him laughing on the inside. "You leave us no choice, then…" he said. "If you do not release the little demon to us by the end of this day, we will burn this house to the ground and kill everyone in it, even if it means loosing a powerful ally…"

"Well, I never!" Miss Underwood said with a surprised voice. "If you ever do, you will be taken to court and I would be sure of that!"

The man snickered and said so low that she could barely hear him, "If there is anyone still alive to do so…" At that point, Miss Underwood slammed the door and stomped off up the stairs to her bedroom in the upper level.

Shauni's heart was in her throat. "Burn the orphanage and kill everyone in it?" she whispered to herself over and over again. Her eyes widened with fear and horror at what that would mean. All of her friends and family she had known for most of her life, her real father and mother completely forgotten because they were lost to her when she was small, would be gone if this 'little demon' was not released by the end of the day. She wondered if this had ever happened before and if they were really crazy enough to fulfill their threat? 'No...' she thought, deep within her mind. 'They could never…' But she would not know how wrong she was… Putting the strange occurrence to the back of her mind and quickly fell asleep, suddenly feeling very tired.