"Mother, where's Mosi? I wanna wish her a happy birthday." another cat demon stands in front of Bastet.
Bastet sighs. "I'm afraid you've missed her." She has a weak smile on her face.
"Mom, what happened?"
"Her father came to take her. He knew that if he waited much longer, she would be too attached to this world." Her smile disappears. "I fear he waited too long."
"WHAT? You let Toshiro take my little sister away?" He punches the cave wall, hard, making a deep dent. "First you join up with the smelly mutts, and now you give your own daughter to a human!"
"He's her father! She'll live better with him. You would've gone too, if Toshiro would've taken you."
"Yeah, but he just couldn't stand the thought of what his neighbors would say about my, what did he call them? Oh, yeah, 'tattoos'. Just imagine what would happen if somebody found out his daughter has cat ears! Toshiro would drop her faster then the so called weights he pretends to use."
"You're wrong, Raika, Toshiro is Mosi's father, not yours. He loves her." Bastet almost sounds as if she's trying to convince herself as much as Raika.
"Stop lying to yourself."
"I'm not!"
"You are, and you know it. I'm gonna go get her." Raika leaves quickly, so Bastet can't argue. He stops at the entrance to the cave to put on a hat over his cat ears and put on some shoes over his paws. The humans might think the markings on his face are a bit strange, but they won't look twice.
Raika runs all the way to Toshiro's mansion and rings the bell on the gates. He speaks into the speaker. "Toshiro? Let me in, or I'll let myself in."
"Raika? What the Hell are you doing here?" Toshiro's voice is angry.
Raika hisses. "What do you think? I'm here to get my sister!"
"Bast promised me I wouldn't have to deal with you." He sighs. "Look, kid, she ran off."
"And you didn't go after her?"
"I looked myself for about an hour, and my guards are still looking. They will find her."
"Yeah, and scare her more! You idiot!" Raika runs off, stopping to sniff a bit and look for clues. He eventually finds the shrine and stops, the old man is still sitting in the door where the well is.
"Where did that demon go?"
Raika walks up behind him and asks with as much politeness as he can muster. "Excuse me, sir, but did you see where she went?"
The old man stands quickly and turns to Raika. "What do you want?"
"I just want to know where she is. Please, sir. I've been searching for her for quite some time, now."
"She disappeared down that well."
Raika jumps down the well and starts sifting through the dirt. "ARG! Where is she?" He suddenly stops. "The jewel shard!" He climbs out of the well, knowing the old man would probably have a heart attack if he jumped out. "I'll be back, sir." He runs out, all the way to the cat demon cave.
"Mom!" Raika's bellow echos through the cave. "Mom, get out here!"
Bastet walks into the cave. "Did you...?"
"I know where she is. I need my jewel shard back."
"I thought you said you didn't need it, that it was stupid."
"I don't wanna use it to gain strength. I need it to follow Mosi."
"Huh?"
"Just get it!"
Bastet disappears down one of the tunnels for a few seconds then returns with a jewel shard on a leather rope. "Here, son. Be careful."
Raika takes the jewel, puts around his neck, and runs out of the cave. As he reaches the shrine, he slows down. The old man left. "That's probably best." Raika jumps down the well.
He lands in the well, and ends up in the feudal era. "This is strange. No buildings." He jumps out of the well. "Of coarse! This isn't my time, this is..."
As he lands on the ground, the unconscious Mosi comes into his sight. "Mosi! Mosi, talk to me" he drops to his knees beside her and tenderly pulls her head into his lap. "Come on, sis, wake up!" He wipes a bit of blood off of her forehead and gingerly takes off her hat. He picks her up and walks off, looking for a village.
"Hello? Is anybody here? Help! Please!" His voice is filled with desperation. "Please... don't leave me, sis." He comes up to a village. He realizes that humans probably won't help willingly, but he'll have to try. "Is anybody here?"
An old woman comes out of her hut, eyeing Raika. "Who art thou, and what does thou want?"
"Please, ma'am, can you help my sister?" Blood is now flowing freely from Mosi's head.
"Yes, I will help the girl, as long as you can promise me she won't hurt me."
"No! She wouldn't hurt someone trying to help her..."
She walks back into the hut, motioning for Raika to follow. "I am Kaede."
"I'm Raika, and this is Mosi." He places her on a table then wipes the sweat from his brow. "Thank you so much, Kaede-sama." He bows to her.
Kaede gets a wet piece of cloth and wipes the blood off of Mosi. Raika watches in silence.
A strage roar is heard outside. Raika's ears perk up. "What was that?"
"Pay no heed, young Raika. There are many demons around here, and many make a lot of trouble." She begins to wrap clean cloth around Mosi's head. "Where did ye come from, and where did ye get those strange clothes?"
"It makes no difference." Another roar is heard. "I'm gonna go see what's going on." He leaves the hut.
Kaede finishes dressing Mosi's wound and walks out after Raika. "Thou should not worry yourself with this matter, your sister requires your concentration now."
"There's obviously nothing that I can do for her right now, and what if this thing comes into the village? She won't be safe." He looks around and sees a dragon. "Oh, wow, I've heard the legends, but I never imagined they where true..." He shakes his head. "No matter." He starts running towards the dragon.
"Raika! Are ye truly that strong?"
Raika turns back and walks to Kaede. "Kaede-sama..." He takes off the jewel shard from around his neck and hands it to her. "It's headed this way. Look, if I can't come back, please, give this to Mosi."
Kaede nods. "Good luck."
Raika smiles, then runs after the dragon.
The battle lasts hours, but eventually the dragon decides to leave. Raika limps back to Kaede's hut. "K... Kaede-sama..." he collapses in Kaede's door. Kaede runs to his side. "No, take care of Mosi, please."
"Mosi is fine, now. Ye on the other hand..."
"I'M FINE!" He passes out.
Mosi's eyes blink open. "What's going on?" Her voice is weak.
"Rest now, child. Ye have had a hard day." Kaede speaks gently.
"No! Tell me who you are." Though still weak, her voice now has much force in it.
Kaede sighs. "Mosi, child, I am only here to help ye. You were hurt very badly."
Her eyes show sudden fear. "Who... who am I?"