Misao and Suzume stopped along a ridge of trees. It was early morning and they had left the cave early to scout out for Yahiko who hadn't come back since the day before. Misao sat tense upon Suzume's back as they made their way through the forest floor. The young wolf turned a gold eye upon her sister.

"Misao what is it?" She said sniffing the air tersely.

"Something's wrong. I can't tell what it is though." She spoke quietly. Her back was stiff and she swung her head around towards the north. Something was very wrong.

"IT'S YAHIKO!" she screamed launching into the trees and throwing back her head to let loose the most desolate howl she could conjure. It was a scream for help and everyone knew it.


Ten miles away Kaoru bolted atop the cliffs she was currently lounging on in the early morning sun.

"Misao!" She bellowed across the sky.

"Kaoru!" the reply was faint but Kaoru heard it and jumped blindly off the top of the cliff face. Megumi gasped and screamed in warning at the sight thinking Kaoru has fallen when Ayumi shot out of no where to meet the plummeting woman half way and then pushing against the cliff face and out over the tree tops in seconds.

"Something is wrong" Hiko said sliding down the cliff face and to the horses below. Kenshin swung his head around just in time to see Kaoru lift up on the back of Ayumi into the air some miles away a long-spear in hand and a gleaming blade in the other. He followed Hiko to the ground below.


The Okina river was the largest water source in the Forest. It was possessed and protected by the Okina river spirit. An old and wise man who loved nature and had kept the wolf pups in his charge and watchful eyes for years. He had taught them how to survive when a tough spot occurred and had taught them to love nature from all aspects.

Having known them for so long he was accustomed to their howls and calls for one another all over the hundreds of miles of forest that his banks rested through. So when the scream he heard from his favorite little one Misao went over the tree tops Okina naturally knew that something was wrong and he swept off into his clear cool bed to find her and to protect the clan he swore an oath to at the beginning of time.

He found Misao and Suzume in a clearing near his eastern shore. They were in fierce combat with what appeared to be the last dying remnants of the wolverine clan. Misao had one by the throat holding it away from her as she wrestled and slashed atit with quick precise movements across the jugular vein. It went down heavily on it's side after two quick sweeps and tried to strike out at her from it's position before death clouded it's vision. She was knocked forcefully into a tree from the side and Okina knew the change had suddenly come over her. As the dust cleared she stood there. The aura around her humming tensely and glowing a bright azure as her eyes bleached white and her long braid whipped around her small frame with deadl controlled precision. The trees groaned loudly in an unknown protest and suddenly were flying towards the last few wolverines in the clearing seemingly as weapons themselves.

Okina slunk back along the ground watching with alert eyes when he saw what Misao and Suzume were protecting so fiercely. Yahiko and Haru were a huddled pile of unconscious flesh and bloody fur. They had apparently been ambushed the night before and had been caught off guard with the silent approach that wolverine's were famous for. Okina knew that could have been the only way for those two to be caught out of sorts and that only Mononoke and Kaoru were the only other two that bested the wolverine clan, in that they were more quiet in their hunts. The entire clan had been upon them in mere seconds from the looks of it and they had fought well into the night taking out the majority of the clan just by themselves. It was a spectacular accomplishment, but was one that had it's severe consequences. Okina could see the grave wounds upon the boy and wolf pup even from the distance where he stood. They were unconscious at the moment.

When the last wolverine went down in a flurry of snarls and flying dirt Misao dragged herself out of the battle field and over to her two brothers and Okina who was standing over them trying to clean more of the deeper wounds, he had been so engrossed in the task he had missed Misao finishing off the last of the clan.

"Okina!" She cried falling into his arms none to gently. He held her in a tight embrace for reassurances to her and to himself that she was going to be ok.

"Where is your mother child?" he asked looking down at her when she pulled back.

His old deep clear eyes took in her damage. There was bruising across her collarbone and down her arms. A long gash marred her face flaying her forehead and nose open to the bone. A deep gash took up residence atop the crown of her head and down her temple and her fingers were raw and bleeding from too many sudden claw strikes and trying to block an onslaught of fangs. She was barely standing and Suzume who was winded and bleeding from her powerful jaws gave Misao some support on her less injured side. Blood was pouring down Suzume's face and was just beginning to slow when Kaoru in acrazed fury burst onto the river's edge.

"Misao!" She screamed grabbing the girl into a tight hold. Misao cried into her shoulder more trying to hide her face then actual sorrow and Kaoru sank to the ground slowly, holding her.

"I'm so glad you're ok." She whispered. Kaoru gasped when she pulled her little sister back to look at her.

"Holy shit. Look at you! What happened!" She said on the verge of tears herself.

Misao sighed and relayed the fight with the wolverine clan as best she could in her slight daze. She had come upon Yahiko and Haru going down under the sheer strength in numbers of the wolverines and had called upon the forest's aid in the end. It's what tore her face open for all to see. Kaoru simply nodded knowing some of the real reasons why Misao's power tore her open like a knife and quietly began wrapping up Misao's wounds.

"No Kao, go look at Yahiko he has a stomach wound, it's...it's pretty bad." Misao said softly not meeting her older sister's eyes.

Kaoru's eyes widened and she let out a squeak as she ran to the younger boy. Yahiko was completely covered from head to foot in blood. Wolverine claws were sharp as hell when they fought and their jaw pressure was enough to rip off an entire arm of a full grown wolf of Mononoke's size. To see Yahiko in one full piece had Kaoru sighing in mild relief, he and Haru must have put up a fantastic fight.

"Misao how many are there did you get a total?" Kaoru asked, huffing as she lifted Yahiko and brought him over to the river's edge.

"There were about a hundred I think, I counted. Yahiko must have gotten his swords out because they were just tattered pieces of shards when I got here. He was going down heavily though and there were still more coming. I think they fought him all night! Haru was already out I could see the tree he was slammed into. He's probably got a broken rib cage from the look of the impact range, but Okina and mother can heal him fine. Yahiko as well." She looked up at Kaoru. Their eyes met and Kaoru snarled looking away, not wanting Misao to see her face in that instant, to see the rage and the flickering slip of her control.

"Kao, the entire clan was out to fight him. Why would they do that? They risked their entire existence to fight one of ours. They should have known better. It's just odd Kaoru" Misao said her bright sea green eyes glowed eerily in the sunlight, after affects of her demon aura Kaoru knew.

"Miss Kaoru!"

"Kenshin?" Kaoru turned to face the caller she knew by scent instinctively.

Hiko and Kenshin came into the clearing on their horses. The rest of the group following closely behind. Misao turned away instantly not wanting them to see her flayed face and body. An odd smell had begun wafting from her wounds a few seconds before and she knew what it was easily. The tips of wolverine claws secreted a poison that was what they called a black rot. It dug deep into the bloodstream and slowly rotted the being out from the inside. A nasty trick that Misao was fully aware of and knew to be in her flesh and blood right now. She'd be soaking in Okina's river for hours after this.

She turned slightly so they wouldn't see her vicious face wounds and eyed the group critically. 'That man' she thought for a moment the one Kenshin introduced as Aoshi was staring at her. His deep ice blue eyes were odd open windows in his pale and seemingly expressionless face. She tried to smile at him, but winced and turned away. Now that her adrenaline charge was depleting she had no energy left and she was beginning to feel the blinding pain of her wounds and drain of her nature's aura.

"What happened?" Kenshin said as his wide eyes took in the bloody battle field before him. Kaoru's arms were covered in blood up to her elbows as she held Yahiko to her chest gingerly.

"The wolverine clan has sided with Enishi... or rather had sided with Enishi. This is what has become of them. Yahiko and Haru fought them off all night before Misao found them this morning. Yahiko has a nasty black rot to the stomach I have to submerge him in the Okina river." she said turning to the old blue haired and blue skinned man at the river bank. The man was sitting upon a boulder his bright white eyes and his wet tunic and leggings glistened in the midday sun.

Sano eyed him warily "who're you?" he questioned and the man gave him a watery smile.

"IAM the Okina River." he responded absently as he took Yahiko into his deceivingly frail looking arms.

"Misao" he said turning to the girl with an open palm "That face of yours will not heal on it's own."

"I know Okina I'm coming." She said standing wearily and dusting her ripped and bloody pants off.

Turning to the group she bowed grimly and allowed Okina to take her hand. Not seeming to notice or care their looks of horror at seeing her face. Aoshi was oddly tense as he watched her and Misao noted the fact subconsciously for later examination

"She will be fine." Kaoru said softly kneeling "We've seen worse then a disembowelment wound and a magical inducedrips on the face." Kaoru wearily rolled an unconscious Haru onto his somewhat undamaged side.

"My poor baby." She whispered motherly in his ear as she began to clean the wounds on him.

One solid gold eye opened and watched her work.

"I'm not dead little bird." he mumbled too tired to move his body to help her clean his wounds.

"Of course your not. You just like worrying me all the time." She bit her bottom lip slightly.

"What happened Haru?" she questioned him softly.

He wagged his tail lamely against the ground and whined in his throat and began his story. His tone was monotonous and everyone had to hold their breath to hear him.

"The entire clan came out of no where. We didn't know what happened at first. We thought it was the bear clan. They all smell the same and their auras are dangerously close together. The attack happened from above and yahiko was crushed beneath twenty of them before he finally found footing and broke through. I was cornered and they were trying to claw out my stomach. I think their poison has been dosed by Enishi, I'm not sure, but they were trying awfully hard to claw instead of bite like Wolverines are known for." He eyed the group tiredly as Kaoru and Megumi now worked at healing him up.

Flashback

"Yahiko! LOOK OUT!"

Haru bellowed and found himself thrown to the side opposite where Yahiko had just gone down beneath a flurry of 800 pound wolverine bodies. Their musky scents and thick fatty skin wasn't doing any wonders for his senses. Haru roared and charged into the fray trying to keep clear of the claws. His fangs found throat after throat as he worked his way towards his younger brother. A fierce bellow was heard and Haru's head snapped up as Yahiko launched up out of the bodies splattering blood everywhere. He was free and Haru left him to his side as he turned towards the left and jumped into an oncoming of wolverines from the canopy of trees...

Flashback end

"It took six hours just to get the first wave down and dead. My jaw was aching and my ribs were in no good shape. Yahiko's sword arm was flayed open to the bone from a fang slash. We were trying to find a way out when they rest of the clan suddenly came out of nowhere." Haru's eyes were wide in his face.

"Kaoru, they had a scent mask. I don't know how some idiot wolverines could obtain something so intricate especially for their entire clan. In that instant we both knew they were never going to be on our side and we went full force into the fight. Yahiko let loose his aura and I felt him through the ground. The last ones didn't know what hit them then. When we pulled out again, I had the gash to the skull and Yahiko was doubling over with the stomach tear. I unbound my control and reigned in the tree's support using Okina's banks as a leverage and I let the wave go. That's what Misao felt I think because a few minutes later I was losing consciousness under a pile of new corpses and a new meeting with a tree to my ribs and Misao was tearing into the clearing. Kaoru her aura was unbound."

Haru sighed at Kaoru's grunt of acknowledgment as she placed a healing salve on his forehead and wiped away and cleaned his fur of blood. They both looked to the riverbed where Okina was wrapping Misao in a blanket of river water.

Flashback

Misao roared as she ran full tilt into the battle field. Her kunai flying every which way. Beside her Suzume was snarling and reigning in the trees for support on the attack Haru had just preformed.

"Haru! Where are you?" Misao roared, her voice was deep and not her own as she took out another three wolverines with swift slashes to the faces.

"I'm here Misao." Haru was lying almost dead beneath a pile of dead wolverines. She cried out upon seeing him, but he stopped her quickly.

"Misao" he said softly "Don't let them claw you whatever you do." He said and he passed out his head hitting the ground with a slick wet thud.

Misao bellowed a warning at the rest of them. There were about twenty left and she lost it. Stepping up she screamed as she felt her feet leave the ground and her body slam into the nearest wolverine with swift and deadly accuracy. She wasn't trained by Kaoru for nothing. Her instincts kicked into high gear and she and Suzume easily took out almost all of them. Suzume screamed as claws tore open her neck and side and she was on the ground out. Misao roared at the wolverines and gained their attention easily. Quickly she sheathed her kunai and pulled in the tree's support. She dug in her feet into Okina's soft sand and with a sheer force of will let her attack go. The force ripping skin off of her as she did. Red bathed her vision and she screamed as she felt the spirit of the forest inhibit her demon body. She knew her eyes were white with power and turned it outward towards the last of the wolverine clan. With a dark satisfied grunt Misao let the power go instantly and fell forward into the ground and into darkness knowing she had just caused the extinction of the wolverine species in the Mukuro forest forever.

Flashback end


Haru and Suzume were put to rest for the night and Kaoru and Megumi sat with them making sure the rot was wiped out. Kaoru having instructed Megumi with the symptoms and the cures for it in beasts.

"Humans and human-likes cannot handle the wolverine's poison, I really don't know why actually, but they just cant. I remember I had a nasty tear to the leg when I was little from some wolverines in the mountains. I was almost dead before they practically threw me into the river and Okina caught me up in his current for a week before I was conscious." Kaoru's eyes drifted to the river bank.

"Misao and Yahiko should only be a few hours in there. They are much stronger then my ten year old self was." Kaoru said smiling, her eyes blanked in thought before she was startled out of herself by Megumi.

"So what are you?" Megumi asked strangely calm as she sipped her evening coffee. Kaoru looked down at her hands. Suddenly she had claws that gleamed in the firelight beside them all. Megumi blinked and shook silently.

"When did you have claws?" she squeaked rather out of character as they disappeared from view.

"For a few years I've had them. I have fangs too, but judging your reaction I won't show you those." Kaoru chuckled and turned to rummage through her pack. Retracting her hand She held a large chunk of dried beef. Tearing a strip off, she chewed it thoughtfully.

"So what are you then? Your not human I take it?"

"No like I said, there are humans like you and the others and there are human-likes like me and Yahiko and Misao. I'm a special case and it's a long story I'd rather not relive here in the open. Maybe when we get back to the estate and you all know what is going on. However I can tell you of Yahiko and Misao's lives I suppose, they'll deny anything embarrassing later, so I'll tell you everything now." Kaoru said smiling to the now raptly listening audience around her.

"Yahiko Myoujin was born about 15 years ago to a human mother and a kitsune father. God-child is the name for that type of cross-over. His parents were murdered when he was four and I found him in the forests near the estate and I was surprised he wasn't dead. I took him to master and she blessed him into the family saying he had wonderful potential and she said she knew his father and had already avenged his death so it was the least she could do.. He was a bratty self-righteous little snot and I hated him. So what did I do? I took him out into my forest and I taught him to hunt and survive. Haru liked him enough, those two are never apart nowadays. I kicked his ass enough times to teach him how to kill when need be and he's been around since then. He's my little brother in the most annoying of ways." she chuckled lightly and leaned against the tree behind her.

"Misao's story is a little harder to tell." She mused her grin fading from her face. She was fully aware of Kenshin's heavy golden gaze upon her. A strange feeling in her stomach caused her to look up and meet his glowing amber eyes. She smiled and relayed Misao's origins.

"Misao was orphaned in the forest as an infant. My father found her on a patrol when I was five. She was bloody and bruised and her parents bodies were beside her. We didn't know what happened to them or who did it. Father said there were no tracks or anything to distinguish what had occurred. So he took her home" Kaoru paused to watch the river a moment.

"She was raised with me at the estate, my father adopting her and Master blessing her into the family. She was my little sister from the day she came into our lives and I protected her with a viciousness Yahiko often complains about in our sparring sessions, but don't let him fool you, I'm a wonderfully reasonable partner." Kaoru smiled with a feral slyness that had them all wanting to inch back a bit.

"Then came the day of enlightenment." Kaoru sighed in exasperation.

"Misao and I were with Ayumi down near the eastern shore of theriver when we were attacked by the ape tribe which by itself caused us to worry because the ape tribe is usually a peaceful tribe and has a personal alliance with us wolves in and out of the Council. However that day, I don't know something had set them on edge around us. We couldn't figure out what it was until one of them blatantly threw a rock at Misao's head and told us the evil had to go."

Hiko started lightly in his seat. Kaoru looked at him with a grim acknowledgment.

"Misao's a demon isn't she?" He said quietly.

"The offspring of one yes. Her real parents were some type of spiritual demons possibly earth we're not too sure. They were killed by the priest and priestess my father found dead in the forest with Misao. The two must have been thinking that a pair of demons had a human child in their possession. They obviously weren't thinking about the situation, stupid human filth they were, because since Misao's awakening no one can sense any human in her at all." Kaoru watched the group for their reactions to her words a moment before continuing on.

"When a pure demon child is born, it's aura until their enlightenment period is human..ish. They will have demon tendencies, but no demonic aura detectable yet. Some kind of an occasion or confrontation rises to bring their sleeping auras forth. Misao is one hundred percent demon rage. The ape tribe is very in tune with everything around them in the forest. Though they dwell in the mountains. They know everything usually, pompous bastards. They knew what Misao was even before she had her awakening. Mother probably did as well..."

Kaoru muttered more to herself than to the benefit of the listeners. She shifted in her seated position uncomfortably and continued.

"Misao always has had a darker side of her personality from the bubbly over active girl you've all been acquainted with for the last day or so. She is a demon first, a friend second and she has her moments of sheer terror. This moment with the ape tribe was her first of many to come. The ape tribe was caught completely off guard when a shadow cloaked Misao with a now growing rock induced headache came out of nowhere and tore all 30 of them limb from limb. I found my inexperienced ground enough to catch her aura and reign her in, but shit was it hard. I finally had to beat her unconscious before I could take her home. The alliance of the ape tribe ended roughly after that, but with an apology and a good case, master had a new one forged on Misao's oath to protect them all and her blood bound on the Blois Tree. A wise old tree where the fight had started. We suddenly knew who had killed the couple with the Misao infant, an angry and probably hungry baby Misao wrapped in human scents. So the subject was dropped. Now Misao is older and she has perfect control over herself if she wants to. That killing was back when she was fifteen or so. Trust me it wasn't pretty. Cleanup was horrible." Kaoru ended and took in their expressions.

Each of their faces was shrouded in thought. Kaoru could sense no disgust from them and she found herself liking this very human and very down to earth group further. Though Saitou's cold glares she could do without. Kenshin met and held her eyes and she broke contact first choosing to look towards the east where Mononoke had just stepped into the ring of firelight. She lay beside Kaoru who grinned up at her.

"Come on master, change out of your form. There's nothing dangerous out tonight. It's a new moon." She jibed.

A solid cuff to the head with a heavy paw that sent her reeling across the ground was enough to silence her, but also enough to push her wolf instincts into full gear. Unheard by all she gained footing and was upon Mononoke in a flash of black hair and pale tunic, the large wolf rolled over on her side, her eyes half drowsing as Kaoru bit down on her large ear and tugged like a silly puppy. Panting dog like and just as happily as Mononoke indulged her a brief moment of playfulness Kaoru pouted rocking back on her haunches.

"Mou, your no fun, just because there is a threat from Enishi doesn't mean you can't play tonight, I want to run!" she giggled up at Mononoke's sound expression and stuck her tongue out at her.

"Oh Pup, you try my patience. It is nearing midnight and we havetoo muchto cover tomorrow with the newly injured before sunset. You will sleep and play on the estate property before I feel satisfied of your safety." Mononoke said nosing her in between the shoulder blades and pushing her towards Ayumi and the other sleeping two.

Kaoru's playful mood evaporated instantly and she pouted as she wrapped herself in Haru's fur, resting her head on her hands, not caring abut the odd looks the group of humans were giving her at seeing such odd behavior from a supposed human woman. Kenshin was watching her like a hawk. Apparently she was earning some attention she wasn't sure if she liked or not. With a resigned sigh she let her head drop to her arms and chest and promptly fell asleep pressed against the healed side of her older brother. Her face unconsciously buried itself in his softer stomach fur and she sighed contentedly wrapped in her cloak.