The next morning, Kurama saw me off to Hell's Grove. I had to go back. There were no other options, and I wasn't ready to get tangled in the complexities of romance. Though rather distressed about it, he seemed to have accepted it. Despite this, I still felt as though I was abandoning him once again. I had just told him that I wasn't ready to be with him all the time, so I needed space. The truth, however, was that I was afraid of being caught in a relationship with someone I barely knew. He didn't know me that well, and I had only been near him for a little over two weeks. Now that my time of confusion was over, I knew that things would be better.

"Remember me," I said softly, letting him embrace me one last time. Maybe someday I would be deserving of him in my own eyes. Even if I never was, I knew that somewhere deep inside, I would always love him with that same passion that he had felt. My immature mind wasn't yet ready to accept these truths, so I looked up at him with sadness in my eyes. "This may be goodbye," I continued. "We both operate in a dangerous world. Death comes easily to those who deal within its borders."

"You stay safe," Kurama said, touching my cheek playfully. "We have...unfinished business."

"Farewell," I whispered.

"Goodbye, beautiful Kaiina."

Before he could see my silent tears, I turned away and let Jakiri escort me away. "It's alright, mistress," she said gently. "We all have to let go sometime." The path seemed so far now that I remembered I was leaving behind the one who had always loved me. Once we were out of Kurama's sight, I broke into a full run, and I saw Jakiri sprout large, bat-like wings and fly next to me. She was a flash of shimmering blue with how fast we were going, but I didn't see even a drop of sweat on her forehead throughout the whole run.

Jakiri was far older than me by many hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years. The Iceshadow Dragons had protected my family since the beginning of time, and I didn't even know how long each of them lived. When they died of natural causes, they always seemed to be very old, and had stopped saying or even remembering their age. Most likely, Jakiri was a little over eight-hundred years old.

Not until we got on the road did I realize how far we really had to go until we got to Hell's Grove. Several small towns passed me by, but I didn't feel like stopping until I got to the one place where I would be safe, where no one but Jakiri could reach me, for the forest knew her almost as well as it knew me. There was no place left to go beside my old homeland, and I felt as though this would be the first step toward a certain healing. Kurama's memory would fade in my mind and vice versa, and then we would both be able to continue the lives that we enjoyed leading.

Then there was the possibility that I would not feel better at all until I was reunited with him, and I would have to hold myself back for many years. Going back to that fox was only asking for more trouble, and he would have been able to persuade me to do things that I wouldn't have done under normal circumstances. Jakiri and I both agreed that our departure was for the better. After all, Sako had also been something of a bother for her after the first couple of days. He had kept her away from my side and her duties.

Nothing but the will to find peace would have taken me away from Kurama, and such a will had broken loose while I was staying at his place. Somehow, accidents seemed to happen more frequently when I was around him. While I was defending my servant, a fairly new scar had been ripped open. Because he had loved me so deeply and forced me into such a timid corner, I had almost separated myself from my soul, tearing my body apart in the process. Due to the fact that I had angered him after angering Jakiri, I found out what it was like to be in total desolation. Very few good things had happened there, and the bad definitely outnumbered those. The worst part of all had been his snide comments.

The good things that happened there were so good, though. I loved to reminisce about the times when he had overtaken me. Even though I was hardly a match for him, and had no need to be tied down by the fetters of a lover, it had felt warm when he held me, when his hand brushed against my cheek. When he kissed me, I could feel the fire of his passion, brimming over. He controlled it only out of respect for me. How I had become so soft, I could not fathom, but it gave me a sense of purpose in life, as though I wasn't just a bloodthirsty killer anymore who ravaged the land. I viewed myself with more finesse, more skill than that.

Still the mystery of why I had even been attracted to him remained. Had it been his suave manners, the gentle touch he possessed, or perhaps his handsome looks? All of those seemed such shallow reasons to fall in love, but I had to find out somehow, and explore every single possibility.

A ways down the road, Jakiri suggested we stop in a certain pub to rest. There was no place else to stop, and when I walked in, cloaked in dark emerald, the stench of low-class filth filled my nose. It was unbearable. They were all the dirty, pathetic scavengers of Makai. When they killed, it was for some master that they drooled over upon receiving a few coins. Nonetheless, we had been walking nearly the whole day, so I consented to stop there. They would have been suspicious if I had left anyway.

"Hey," called one of the newcomers sitting at a table to my left, "you got a face beneath that cloak?" I glowered at him from within the shadows of my hood.

"Heh, probably one of those uppity servants of Kurama's" he said, seeing that I wasn't going to reply with words. "What's the word on his big operation? Gonna go steal somein' from the Prince, i'nt he?"

"I wouldn't know," I shot back coldly, and moved on to another empty table.

Before I could sit down, I felt a hand on my arm. It was that man who had been harassing me. Everything about him seemed to have a certain stench about him, making me desire his company even less. "What do you want?" I asked, lowering my hood.

"Nothin' much," the grubby little fiend replied. "Just...a little cash. Kurama's got quite a tab here, and as the manager, I'd like to see it paid."

"I'm not one of Kurama's messengers," I shot back flatly.

"Well then, how come you have one of those cloaks?"

"I made it," I retorted, and tried to stalk out of the place. This wasn't very relaxing at all.

However, all of the other demons in the place had formed a half-circle around me. Drawing my saber, I stood poised for battle. Since my childhood, I had been an expert fighter, and my skill had only increased with age. "Pathetic filth," I spat, eyeing each and every one of them. There was no easy way to get out of this one. Quite a few demons would have to be killed. It wasn't as if they were the most respectable kind anyway.

"We heard that," the manager said, and launched himself at me, charging up some sort of crude energy attack. Dodging easily, I smirked and flipped my saber so that it slid smoothly across his throat. A few more came at me, so I jumped into the air, landing on one of the rafters. One stretched out batlike wings and flew up to meet me, his jaws gaping wide, revealing very long, sharp teeth. Leaping from rafter,I soon found myself backed up against a wall and smiled. "Wrong move," I said, and very hard vines came up to suffocate him, sprouting out of the wood.

The rest came, and they, too, fell easily. It was pathetic how the lot of them could barely provide a challenge. Standing amidst a pile of blood, broken furniture, and corpses, I turned to Jakiri. "Was that really necessary?" she asked, giving me that chiding look again.

"Of course not," I said with a grin. "Just having my fun for the day." My servant sighed and we moved on, a few bloodstains covering my cloak.

However, just as we were about to walk away from the tavern, I turned and saw a flash of silver and gold. The shade of gold reminded me of the look that Kurama had given me when he had loved me with all his being. Seeing that silver color recalled the time when I had untied the cord binding his hair back, and it had flowed outward like a tranquil river, down his back, almost below his waist. "Wait!" I shouted as he ran away. Following him, I heard Jakiri vaguely call the same thing.

Through the back roads of the town and finally to a thick forest, I followed the mysterious figure. A sense of belonging enveloped me, and I knew that I was in my forest. It was the opposite end from where I was supposed to be, but that was inconsequential for the moment. All that mattered was not losing his trail. I could see a long lock of silver hair streaming out behind, and I hoped inwardly that it was him. "Kurama?" I called, and I saw the figure stop. Was it really?

"What are you doing Kaiina?" he said, turning around to gaze at me. I could see those saddened eyes of molten honey, and his hair was bound back in that same ponytail again, with a silver cord criss-crossed around it.

"I...I don't know," I lied. "I was heading back to Hell's Grove."

"This is the other side of the forest," he stated matter-of-factly, gazing at me flatly.

"Well, I know the forest well enough, so it doesn't matter," I retorted weakly. "What are you doing here, more importantly? Following me again?"

"No. Business. Actually, I'm about to be late. I'm afraid I must say adieu for now. Perchance I'll see you again...afterward." With that, he stepped back into the shadows. When I dashed in to find him, he had mysteriously vanished.

Inwardly, I called myself an idiot a million times over. How could I have been so stupid as to follow him? Now I had to trek through the one part of the forest that I didn't know. Here was where the old inhabitants had lived. It felt as though I was treading upon holy ground, with no right to be here. "Jakiri," I said sharply, "where to from here?" For an answer, she pointed one finger straight ahead, into a part that grew very dark, where many vile things resided. Such creatures were older than time itself, and they would not hesitate to attack any passersby. This was the region that even I had avoided ever since coming to Hell's Grove.

Slowly but surely, I stepped forward, making sure not to stray too far from Jakiri. If anything attacked, I wanted her to be able to watch my back. She was also silent the entire way, and I wanted to run through this place. If I did though, something would find me easily. Albeit this was the forest where I grew up, I didn't know the terrain or the shortcuts of this part. Stepping carefully over any bushes we encountered, I listened anxiously, hoping that no sounds would come, no creatures would find us.

Of course, find us they did. The sound of light footsteps resonated within my mind, and soon I saw huge, lupine shadows. At least, they had four legs and fur. Each one had a hunchback, with inky, dark green fur and malicious black eyes. Glaring at me, five of them circled both me and Jakiri, and I knew that this would be far more difficult than was planned. I just shouldn't have let Kurama snatch my curiosity again like that...

I looked around to try and find some way to escape quickly, but each hound covered one exit. These were from the deepest pits of Hell, beasts that had come to live in this forest because they were excommunicated from their original home. Otherwise, they would not have been unleashed on wanderers like myself. Before another breath could even be drawn, one leaped forward, with the other four closing in also. Scrambling, I leaped to the side and swiped my saber where its throat should have been. Where I cut it, no blood poured out, and I could see through to the rest of its body. This thing was hollow, barely a creature at all, but a shell of what it once was.

Despite its lacking in the ways of life, the hound leaped right back to attack me, and I stepped back, vicious teeth sinking into my flesh. Jakiri muttered several incantations in her own language and ice flew at one, only to melt as the lupine beast's fur bristled. "Sharniech, liorei hanata!" White light enveloped my servant, and I had to concentrate hard not to look. Her wings returned, and her body took on a slender shape. Icy blue eyes gleamed out of her face, and I could see the dark blue shade of her body. Monstrous wings were spread wide, and she beat them once, sending her opponent flying back in the air.

"Jakiri," I whispered, silently thanking her for transforming when she did. Knowing that we might have the upper hand now, I held my saber firmly at leaped at a fresh hound, tearing into its flesh with my weapon. Loud howling sounds that were closer to terrified shrieks rang through the air, and I looked at each one in turn. The wounds I had inflicted had healed up, and now they were refreshed. Jakiri glared at them, her head bent low as she snarled dangerously.

Craning her neck, Jakiri slammed one long-taloned foot into the ground, her claws sinking in slowly, and a surge ripped up the earth, finding its way to one of the hounds. Underneath the foul beast, the ground opened up, and its cry sounded forth while it was still plunging into the depths of Hell's fire. Ice sprouted up elsewhere, taking another beast by surprise, and I stood and watched while the attention was diverted from myself. Sweat glistening off my body, I listened to their cries as each in turn plummeted to the depths of Makai, a place from which no being returned.

"Are you alright?" I asked Jakiri, watching as she shrank back down to her usual form, staring down at her hands in shock.

"Yes, mistress," she said gently. "Let's try and hurry to Hell's Grove though. I don't think I can do that again for a while."

"It's alright," I replied, looking down at the ground. "We might not have lived through that if not for your little trick. I thought that power was lost to the Iceshadow a while back."

"That's what we wanted the outside world to think," Jakiri replied, flashing a wan smile. "Through our mixing with the human and demonic races, the Iceshadow Dragons' power has certainly been weakened. Originally, our only forms were those of a drake, but now it's extremely difficult to transform without some sort of aid."

"Then what did you use?" I asked, an obvious question.

The same old grave look taking over her face once more, Jakiri pulled aside part of the high neck of her dress and showed me a gem that was such a light shade of blue, it almost looked white. Pulsating rapidly, it glowed a darker hue, and I felt so stupid for not noticing it earlier. "It's the eye of my mother," she said, fingering it cautiously. "It sounds barbaric, but the eye of an Iceshadow hardens after death, forming a gem that is worth incredibly large sums of money." A moment of awkward silence took over once more as we picked up the pace. Now that we were nearing Hell's Grove, I could feel the energies within it reacting to me, welcoming home the master they had known for many years.

Hell's Grove had been the birthplace of my family. Forged of the raw earth, Kiraaya was the mother of my entire family. As the seventh generation, I was the last survivor. However, while the generations grew more and more sophisticated, they drifted away from their birthplace, erecting buildings that had far more grandeur to them in order to replace their old home. Once Kiraaya was dead, they abandoned the place entirely.

I had stumbled upon the place by accident; either that or it had called out to me. Awakening my powers that are linked very closely to the earth, Hell's Grove quickly became my place of peace and meditation. Whenever I was troubled, my footsteps carried me there automatically. Nothing could keep me from the place that had become my retreat. It was there that I met Jakiri, who was a fugitive from her own tribe. If I wished to return there, the forest itself would have to rebel against me in its entirety. The scent of the leaves changed, and I knew that I was home.

"We've finally returned," I told Jakiri, watching her look around the place. The grass was soft and lush, with only one large stump in the middle to interrupt that. That tree had been cut down in an attempt to stifle the calling this place sent out to all members of my family. However, my strength in spiritual power had shown me the way, and it had never failed me before.

"This is the only home I've ever had," Jakiri confided. "It feels good to be back."

Setting down my supplies, I dropped onto my back in the deep green of my home. It did feel wonderful to be home again, without having to consider fights with Kurama or with Jakiri. "What now?" Jakiri asked. "We have gotten out of Kurama's mansion, but what will we do now. After seeing the outside world again, I..."

"You what?"

"I don't want to go back to the old way. It was so tiresome the way we were living before, and with Kurama's gang of thieves, there were others there, others who were very different from anyone I had ever met before." Deep inside, I knew that this was true. How could I leave behind a life where there were other demons around beside me and Jakiri?

Suddenly, a loud scream rang out through the forest. It sounded like a masculine voice, and I remembered how we had seen Kurama earlier. Frightened as to what had become of him, I dashed toward the source of the voice, hoping against hope that it hadn't been him...

A/N: Sorry for those who are reading this and were waiting so long for an update. I've been busy lately, and I've had to do stuff over the summer for school. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take quite so long. Anyhow, thanks to those who reviewed, and I'm very grateful that I even got any. What with the vast number of stories and authors, I find it's very difficult to get noticed on this site. Thanks again to those fans I have, and I hope to hear from you again soon!

Miari