Chapter 3

Kitsune may have found some lead, but what stops him is the dangers of the forest that he is in. And for Kasumi, she wanders the forest in hopes of one day finding her brother again. Since she lives in the center of hell. Daily trying to survive by each attack by her own clan.

Kasumi strolls through the woods at her own slow pace deep in thought. Thinking of her brother constantly. Ever since she ran away from home to save him, she only risked her own life and now is running daily to survive. But what shakes Kasumi to the core even more is the thought of her limits. She knows for a fact that everyone has their limits. Maybe, she is finally nearing her own limits as a Kunoichi.

She hears something in the distance and looks over her shoulder only to hear the near sound of someone leaping off a near by tree. Kasumi readies her sword by the guard.

"Kasumi!" A very familiar voice echoes in the distance. "Kasumi!" Again, very familiar. Kasumi squints her eyes to make clear judgment of who it is. Kasumi gasps in happiness to find out that it is no other then Ryu Hyabusa in the flesh.

"Ryu!" Kasumi yells in surprise. "What on earth are you doing here?!" She asks. Ryu quickly turns around and begins standing in defense.

"Kasumi! Run!" Ryu orders Kasumi.

"What's going on?" Kasumi asks.

"No questions, there is no time." Ryu screams. Kasumi wastes no time and runs in the opposite direction. Kasumi flips, dodges, and constantly looks over her shoulder for anything Ryu might be worried about. But whatever makes Ryu run must be serious.

"Kasumi! Follow my lead!" Ryu jumps into a ditch covered in leaves and Kasumi follows. The beings following them fly over head at a great speed. No wonder why Ryu said waste no time. Whatever travels at that speed is defiantly inhuman.

"What were those things?" Kasumi silently asks.

"Demons." Ryu said bluntly.

Back to where Kitsune and Ayane were hiding...

Kitsune didn't know what exactly to say since Ayane's face went monotone. But for one thing Kitsune didn't want this silence to continue on for long.

"If I said something wrong, just say it." Kitsune blurted out. Kitsune was getting impatient by her silence as Ayane stares at Kitsune with the same monotone expression. Kitsune was getting more impatient and started to twitch his eyebrow.

"God dammit, can you speak?" Kitsune said in a more angry tone. Ayane's face cleared up and became a bit more serious.

"If your speaking of the same Kasumi I know of, your fresh out of luck." Ayane said.

"That's nice to know." Kitsune said looking over the rock they were hiding under to see if anything is coming. "So you know this Kunoichi that I speak of. Regardless if you want to help or not, doesn't really matter to me." Ayane then turned her head away and sighed.

"She's my sister, my half sister." Ayane clamps her fists tight. "And I must kill her..." Ayane kept looking away from Kitsune clinching her fists.

"Sounds fun. But I'm afraid I can't let you do that. I have a mission to accomplish." Kitsune said.

"Mission? What mission?" She asked.

"My teacher asked me to find her and protect her." Kitsune said with a serious expression on his face.

"Your wasting your time." Ayane snapped.

"I would love to believe that, but I can't go back to where I came from. So, I am stuck here." Kitsune said with a smirk.

"Hmph. Fine. But can you help me with something?" Ayane asked.

"And what is that?" Kitsune asked wondering what she was up to all of a sudden.

"Have you ever heard of the Crystal of Time?" Ayane started.

"No I haven't. The hell is that?" Kitsune asked.

"Follow me and you will find out." Ayane got up slowly and started to scout ahead. "If you don't want to waste your time, then we might as well stick together."

"Oh wow, she thinks like a real shinobi." Kitsune said to himself. Kitsune and Ayane started to travel through the woods. As they walked through mountain trails, river banks, and numerous dangerous gaps they reached a small grass field. The heat of the day was very warm and uncomfortable. Made Kitsune's clothes stick to him in certain places. Ayane heard a noise from behind her that made her paranoid.

"Wait. I hear something." Ayane said pushing Kitsune back. "Keep a look out" Ayane put up her guard and Kitsune unsheathed his sword. They both didn't know what the noises were but they started to sound like they were everywhere.

"The sounds is surrounding us. Are we being ambushed?" Kitsune asked. Ayane swerved in her position trying to find the source of the noise. Then at the tip of her feet a hand grabbed her by her ankles.

"Damn!" Ayane crunched the hand with her other foot and quickly stepped back. Then black creatures erupted from the floor. More then 30 of these creatures came up from the floor. They had black smooth skin, nasty red eyes, claws, and a nasty mouth with sharp teeth. They all growled and looked at Ayane and Kitsune like dinner has arrived.

"Demons? Where in the hell did Demons come into the picture?" Kitsune yelled. The demons started to circle both Kitsune and Ayane.

"Anytime your ready Ayane." Kitsune said ready to attack.

"Wait for an opening..." Ayane said ready herself. Ayane waited for a perfect formation for a perfect attack for an ambush like this. This was a tight spot but with very few options.

"Ready..." Kitsune started.

"NOW!" Ayane yelled.

To be continued...