A/N: Hey guys. Second Chapter's up. AND MY SPECIAL THANKS TO MY FIRST REVIEWER: Silver Pain ! YOU ROCK! And thank you for giving me the priestess of Genbu's name. From now on if i talk about her i won't be using the name "kayley" it will be "Takiko". Anyway, Tatara will be comming soon, i promise. Compliments, Comments, Suggestions... heck even Flames are welcome welcome welcome and even desperately wanted.

XOX

Nanirain

disclaimer: i own no one. (tear). If i did own it... i wouln't be here writing fiction in my freetime now would I? I'd be off vacationing at some spa or something... :P lemme know wut u think!

Chapter Two: Introducing a Dirty Thief

The young man ran down the streets at an impossible speed, his cloak whipping out behind him in the black night.His figureseemed to blend into the shadows that clung to the walls in the village, save when he passed into a shaft of silvery moonlight, and it poured like liquid into the folds of his cloak, setting him aglow until he fell back into darkness. He ran silently, but the streets were full of angry yelling.

"Where did he go!" A rough, furious voice called out.

"I don't know!" Replied another man, confused and angry.

"Check over there!"

"I can't see him!"

"No, this way! I saw the damned thief for only a second! He's this way!"

Tokaki smiled despite his situation. The men of the village were very angry, but they were also very stupid. They wouldn't be able to follow him for very long. The bread and jewels that he had clutched in his hands were weightless to him, and would not slow him down any; he could have gone on running for forever. He turned into a back alley and stopped to find a dead end. "Damn." He said to himself, turning to double back the way he had come from.

"Oh no you don't."

Tokaki stopped and looked at the man who was standing in front of him. He was shorter than Tokai by a foot or so, and his legs were spread shoulder-width apart as if to brace himself against Tokaki if the taller man had charged. The torch held in the man's hand was blazing, lighting his face in odd, dark angles. But it was still very, very clear that he was angry.

"You there… thief… you think you can just wander into the village," the shorter man said, the malice evident in his voice "charm our daughters and steal our food and money and get away with it!"

Tokaki slipped the hood off of his head, revealing his gleaming silver hair that fell back to his shoulder blades in a messy ponytail, his bangs falling into his amber eyes and over his deeply tanned skin. Those golden eyes were piercing. The other man "hmph"ed as he studied Tokai's face.

"I can see why she thought she was in love with you." He said. "You are quite the handsome young man."

Tokaki smirked.

"But on the inside," The other man started, "You're a dirty, thief."

Tokaki smiled. "Sir," he said, his voice was strong and playful sounding. "When it comes to your daughter… I didn't steal anything that didn't want to be stolen…"

The other man's face-hardened. "You bastard."

"Hey!" A rough cry boomed down the starlit streets. "Have you found him yet, Tinbu?"

"Yeah, I found him alright!" The man in front of Tokaki yelled. "Come 'ere! We'll take him back to the town square in pieces!"

"Tinbu's found him!"

Tokaki listened as the group of men let out a bloodthirsty cry and the running grew louder. Soon they appeared as a black, stampeding mass in the darkness, behind Tinbu, their faces were illuminated by their numerous torches, creaking strange dark shadows over their eyes and chins. Tokaki looked at the bloodthirsty faces and sighed. "Why does this always seem to happen?" He asked Tinbu and the rest of the angry fathers with an air of tired curiosity. "I'm tired of being chased around by idiots."

"That is the last offence you will ever commit to us!" One of the men spat.

"We were serious about taking you back to the square in pieces." Said another man. "Return our things to us now."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Tokaki replied with a smile.

"You damn well know exactly what we're talking about!"

"Enough of this!" The man beside Tinbu cried. "I say we beat him now!"

There was a roar of approval from the angered fathers, and Tokaki shook his head at the bloodthirstiness. "Very well then." He said to himself.

"Now!" The fathers charged at him, Tinbu in the lead, as he dove forwards to tackleTokaki to the ground. The only thing the man would hit, however,would be the brick wall which Tokaki had been standing in front off.Tinbucrushed his nose into the stones, and passed out into the dust. The other men stopped immediately, staring stupefied at the place where Tokaki had definitely been a few moments ago.

"Hey guys," They all turned to see the silver-haired nineteen-year-old standing behind them, smiling in the moonlight. "What are you all looking at?" The men gawked at him for a moment beforesomeone snapped into action. "Boy! You were over there just moments ago! How did you get from there to here so quickly!"

Another man stared at him with fearful, dark eyes. "You… you… you're no man! Just a moment ago you was, right there! Right there, I swear it!" His voice was quivering. "An' then ya' went an' ya just… ya' disspeared! You must be… you must be the devil!"

Tokaki stood up straighter, with a look of distaste on his face. "The devil? Now that's a little harsh…"

"He's the devil, he is!" Cried the man, pointing an accusing finger at him. "I knowed it! I knowed it with my very being! I can feel he evil commin' offa him! He ain't no ordinary mortal!"

"He's right!" Cried another father from somewhere in the crowd. "How else could he have just disappeared like that? He is the devil!"

Tokaki rolled his eyes at theoverlyimaginative fathers, "Oh for-"

"Just take our stuff and leave!" An old man said. "And don't never return here, understand! This village is neighboring to the holy kingdom, that's guarded by the Great Beast God Byakko! If you return here, you will be punished by him!"

Tokaki stared at the man for a long time before he burst out laughing. Of all the things to say…

"He laughs at a God!"

"He is the devil!"

"Leave, evil spirit! You are not welcome!"

Tokaki smiled at the men, which confused and frightened them greatly before he slipped his hood back over his head and disappeared into thin air. The men stared after him for a long time, waiting to make sure he wasn't going to reappear right in front of them, or anything like that. They heard a rough groan behind them and turned to see Tinbu beggining to stir. They crowded around him, waiting for him to wake up.

"What do we tell him?" Asked one man. "He's got such a hot temper, that he'll insist that we go after him. Even if we do tell him that he was a devil!"

"He's sure to strike us all when he finds out we let him go."

"Let me handle this, you all head back home and comfort your daughters."

Slowly the crowd thinned, and the men returned to their homes. Tinbu began to wake up meanwhile. His old friend was there when he did, and helped him sit up.

"Where is he?" Was the first thing that Tinbu managed to say. "Where is the dirty, thief?"

"He wasn't just a thief." His friend said. "he was a devil?"

Tinbu's eyes opened wide. "A devil? How do you know?"

"We saw him right disappear right infront of you as you jumped at him."

"He disappeared?" Tinbu asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes." His friend never even batted an eye as he lied. "He just vanished into night air."

"Perhaps then, he was a ghost." Tinbu said slowly. "Or some sort of demon, as you said."

"He has left our town though." The friend said quickly as Tinbu struggled to a stand. "No doubt the God Byakko who protects our nation drove him away, him being so close to the sacred city and all."

Tinbu was quiet for a long time. Then after a while he finally said, "No doubt… Come then… we must return to our wives and our homes."

The friend nodded, following Tinbu out of the alleyway into the street.

'I know you well enough to tell when you are lying…' Tinbu thought in his head. 'And this talk of devils and demons is all just bullshit. I'll find him though… that dirty thief…I won't let him get away with this…'

Tokaki was sitting on the grass along the side of the road, just outside the city where he had just come from. He was shoving the loaves of bread into his mouth, and examining the pretty jewels he had taken by the starlight. "The Devil huh?" He said quietly to himself, smiling. "What a pack of idiots."

And how ironic, that they should have threatened him with Byakko, his own God… He smirked before rolling over to his side underneath the cherry Tree. He watched as the petals fell from the blossoms like a light pink rain. One landed on his cheek and slid down the arch of his nose before tumbling to the ground. Tomorrow he would be traveling again. And Maybe the next village would hold the answers that he knew he needed to find… he hoped that it would. He couldn't stand this feeling of restlessness that had started a little over a month ago. It was going to drive him insane.

"I need my answers." He said determinedly. "And I need them soon…" He decided as he drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Ok so i admit i'm still a little rough around the edges. But hey... i'm trying. Anyway gimme pointers on how to improve this... or tell me if you like it. In case you coudln't tell im desperate for any advise or criticism.

Thanks guys XOX - nanirain