Ch. 4

Kai stretched his arms above his head and looked around the camp. Everyone else were still sleeping peacefully.

Tyson lay sprawled out on the ground, somehow managing to snuggle against Max. Kenny lay on his side, mumbling something in his sleep every now and then. Tala was spooned up with Bryan, who held a possessive arm around the redhead. Ivan and Spencer were also sharing body heat, though it wasn't as intimate as Bryan and Tala. And lastly Rei, who lay curled up like the cat he was. Rei, the male alpha of the cat-demon clan….

'After we complete our mission, the cat-demon clan will be difficult to calm down,' Kai thought. .'All cat-demons wish to rebel against the demon society. Can out quest really change that?'

In truth, Kai was disappointed. Rei seemed like a good demon. Kai could even admit that he liked Rei. Too bad all cat-demons were so against Daemon and its rules.

Kai rose up to stand and was about to leave the camp in order to be alone and think, but unfortunately, though not surprisingly, Rei woke up from the small movement. The tiger looked at Kai curiously.

"Kai…?" he questioned. The blunette motioned for him to be quiet and follow. Soundlessly, the two left the camp.

"Kai…?" Rei asked again once they were out of hearing range from the camp.

"May I ask something, Rei," the mysterious leader wondered. Rei nodded. "Why does the cat-demon clan rebel against our society? Why do you want to isolate yourselves?" It took a moment for Rei to realize that Kai was asking him as the leader of the clan… Something he was not… yet. Knowing that the question was just, he swallowed a sharp retort that tried to make its way to his tongue.

"It's not my choice," the cat-demon answered. "I'm not the leader of our clan, so I have no say in the matter. Personally I just wish the king wouldn't have gone missing… Perhaps then the cat-demon clan wouldn't feel so wrong, following under the orders of a human…" Kai was silent for a while.

"And if the king would suddenly return?" he then asked. "How would your clan react?" Rei just shrugged, ignoring the 'your' part for now.

"They'd be… suspicious, I guess," he answered. Again, Kai was silent.

"Why do you ask?" Rei wondered. Kai turned his head and looked at Rei. For the briefest moment deep red eyes looked straight into golden yellow, and then Kai shook his head and walked away.

"Just curious," the red-eyed mystery said over his shoulder. Rei stayed where he was, willing away the tingling feeling in his stomach, created by the fiery eyes.

When Rei finally managed to make his way back to the camp he noticed that Kai was nowhere in sight. Not only that; Tala and Bryan were gone as well. The rest of the group was just waking up.

A deep, luxurious green forest of old, hundred year old trees. A foaming waterfall and a glittering crystal blue river. And in the mid of it all, a beautiful young being with two toned blue hair.

Kai was bathing. Considering who he was, he should have abhorred water, but it was quite the contrary. He just didn't like exposing his skin to anyone. Looking down, Kai let his fingers run over a scar on his chest. He didn't even remember when or where he'd gotten it, but his mother had told him it was from when his real parents had been brutally killed.

A slight rustling alerted him of the newcomers, but he didn't even care to look. He already knew who it was.

"Hey, baby-bro! Mind if we join you?" Tala asked. The redhead was already pulling of his clothes. Bryan followed suit.

"I can't really stop you, can I," Kai answered with the smallest smile gracing his lips. Once reaching his brother, Tala placed a hand on Kai's shoulder.

"You alright?" he wondered.

"We all know it's not going to be easy…" Bryan spoke up. "The other demons…this entire quest… It can't be easy."

Kai took his time looking at his two closest friends. Then he took a deep breath and nodded.

"I'm fine."

"Yeah… it's difficult for me too," Tala said and gave the shoulder a slight squeeze. "But then again, we've always known this would happen sooner or later."

Back at the camp, everyone was finally awake. Even Tyson, who like all dragons was a deep sleeper.

"So where's our fearless leader now?" the dragon asked, looking around as if expecting Kai to jump out from a hide any minute.

"I don't know," Max answered. "Tala and Bryan were gone too when I woke up, and now Ivan and Spencer have disappeared too."

"Did you see anything, Rei? You were the first one to wake up," Kenny wondered. All eyes turned to the tiger.

"Well… I did talk with Kai for a while, but then we split up," Rei answered.

"Really..? You actually talked with that sourpuss?" Tyson asked, faking a heart attack. "And I thought he didn't know how to talk…!"

"He's not that bad," Max interfered. "He's just a bit silent."

"He freaks me out," Tyson half grumbled.

"He's really not that bad," Rei agreed with Max, making Tyson gape and stare at him, while the others simply looked at him, curious of what the cat had found out. "I mean… Yeah, he's really quiet and mysterious… but he seems to know what's important. You know… like for this quest. And for Daemon." The others continued to look at Rei oddly.

"Rei… Your eyes are glowing," Tyson said. "And it's actually that 'mysterious' part of Kai that's really freaky!"

"I think it suits him somehow," Rei answered without thinking. "And besides, he- Wait, my eyes are what?"

"Glowing…" Max and Tyson said at the same time. Kenny was silent as he thought something over in his head. Rei felt his cheeks heat up. Whenever a feline demon's eyes glow, it is a sign of affection. Rei could only hope the other two demons didn't know that. Kenny, of course knew since he was a priest and all. But the human was too good mannered to say anything.

And then… salvation!

Out of the forest walked Kai, Tala, Bryan, Ivan and Spencer. Kai still had his hood pulled back, revealing unruly blue hair and fiery crimson eyes. Tala hadn't bothered to cover his pretty face either.

'I am not drawn to Kai… I am not drawn to Kai… I am not drawn to Kai… I am not…' Rei kept on chanting in his head, hoping that it was true, though a part of him knew he was just in denial.

"Grab your bags, we're moving on," Kai ordered the team. "We should reach the forest border by night fall."

"Let's go!" Tala exclaimed and clapped his hands twice before lifting his bag. Kai took his bag without a sound and both of them left the clearing with the three forest demons following.

Tyson, Kenny, Max and Rei hurried to pack their stuff and follow the others.

Rei couldn't help it. Every now and then he just had to cast a glance at their group leader. It didn't take long before Tala noticed this. The redhead leaned closer to his "baby-bro" and whispered:

"You have an admirer…" Kai looked at Tala, not quite understanding.

"That tiger-demon's been looking at you," the wolf explained.

"Oh, him…" Kai answered and looked away, uninterested.

"What do you mean 'oh, him'?" Tala whispered back. "He's hot and he likes you!"

"He's probably wondering why I asked him about the cat-demon clan," Kai whispered back. Suddenly the blunette felt a hand on his other shoulder and turned his head to look at Bryan.

"That tiger-demon is really into you, isn't he," the purple haired demon said in a low voice, smirking. On his other side, Kai heard Tala snigger and whisper:

"Told you so..."

'Wonder what they're talking about,' Rei thought to himself as he walked behind the whispering trio. Suddenly they all turned and looked at the poor, surprised tiger. Tala was smirking, Bryan tried to stay indifferent and Kai narrowed his eyes. Rei felt a blush creep onto his cheeks and he quickly looked away.

Tyson looked at Max who could but shrug at the display the older demons were putting on. They would have asked Kenny, but the human seemed to be in too deep thoughts for them to reach him.

TBC…

I would probably have posted this ages ago, but my Word went bye bye.

I've done a small sort of summary of the story, and I think it's going to be about 9 or 10 chapters long. Thanks for the reviews, and I'll update whenever I can. Oh, and by the way. I'd remember someone asking about Kai. The truth about him should come in either the 6th or 7th chapter.