A/N I know I haven't updated this in a while; I've been really busy lately, sorry. I also wanted to make sure this chapter flowed smoothly between the events. Once again, thank you to OrangeDragonofDusk who reviewed!

Enjoy!

The next week went by quickly. As word spread of the new chief's amazing food, the number of cauldrons she had to cook quickly multiplied. She blamed Konan. Every night he would saunter over, helping himself to her food. He would still chat with her occasionally but she knew he was only there for her creations. He would leave with the bowl, chatting with others while eating, sparking their interest. Soon she had at least half of the camp trying to get a bowl of her food. However, she didn't realize that not everyone was fine with her new position.

Two days after Plazo was assigned to her, the offended demon came over. As usual, Lahnia was cooking, chopping up some deku pears. That's when she heard the shouting. She looked up, to see a crowd of demons trying to stop an enormous demon angrily stomp up the slope. He was huge, his massive red belly jiggling as he struggled to walk up the path. To her horror, he stopped in front of her cooking area. The demons that had tried to stop him gave up and quickly dispersed, not wanting to get in the way of his rage. Plazo, who had been lazily watching the giant now sprang up when he realized his anger was directed towards them. The furious demon pointed at Lahnia.

"YOU. LITTLE. DEVIL! I AM THE CAMPS COOK, NOT YOU!" He took a step forward and heaved the cauldron forward, turning it on its side. She jumped out of the way before the boiling liquid could scald her. She had been working on that for hours! She looked at the demon, who was glaring distastefully at her spilt soup. Then he turned to her, his eyes blazing with hatred. To her relief Plazo hastily stepped in front of her, blocking the threat with his extended arm.

"Do not come any closer." His voice was monotone yet held authority. The demon looked down on him. He was at least a foot taller that Plazo, and Plazo was not a short demon. His voice was laced with disrespect.

"Out of my way, tree hugger."

Tree hugger?

"No" The two demons stood there, glaring at each other. Lahnia held her breath, glad she was behind Plazo. Then the larger demon suddenly swung his arm out at Plazo's side. Plazo quickly sidestepped, taking hold of the attacking demons arm and used the momentum of his swing to send the demon to the ground. Plazo pulled the arm behind his back and the demon was angrily grunting trying to release his arm. When that didn't work he resorted to trying to get up with Plazo on his back. Then, the extraordinary occurred. He stopped. There was no struggling, or angry grunts as there was before. He wasn't dead, as no blood was drawn. Confused, Plazo hesitantly released his arm and stepped back. The large demon slowly stood up, his hand to his mouth in a look of puzzlement. She noticed the smallest amount of orange liquid on his fingers, immediately recognizing it. When he had been knocked down he had accidently tasted her spilled soup! Her eyes widened, and she tensed, preparing herself for the next wave of wrath. The demon mumbled something then shot Lahnia a cold stare. She could almost see the slow wheels turning in his head as he contemplated this new information. He glanced down at the ruined soup, then back at her. Begrudgingly, he grunted and left, pushing through the circle of intrigued demons that had watched the spectacle take place.

xxxxx

"Excuse me" A cool voice whispered in her ear. Lahnia jumped and turned around. The Demon Lord was directly behind her, seemingly having appeared out of nowhere. He straightened up, crossing his arms.

"Wha… where did you come from?" It had been an hour since the incident with the camp cook. She had just finished cleaning up the mess and was starting to slice stamina fruit to restart her soup. Ignoring her question, he walked over to the cauldron and peered into the empty pot, raising his eyebrow at her.

"Why are you starting to cook now? It's nearly sunset. I do not like to be kept waiting." Plazo walked over from where he had been sitting and gave a quick bow.

"My lord, the main cook came over earlier and ruined her first batch." Ghirahim rolled his eyes, then nodded.

"He has always been temperamental. I'll have to have a word with him. Hm… well, I can't have you cooking in the dark. You're relieved from it tonight." He pointed at Lahnia.

"Tomorrows however, must taste amazing for the wait." She nodded. He smirked and then snapped his fingers, disappearing in a cloud of diamonds. She looked quizzically at the fading diamonds before turning to Plazo.

"Seriously, how does he do that?" He gazed at her strangely.

"Isn't it obvious?" She shook her head.

"Well, its magic." She nodded, happy to finally get an answer. Then she frowned.

"What's that?" He tilted his head, confused by her question.

"You don't know what magic is?"

"No"

"Well, it's… um… it's actually really hard to explain. I guess it's something that happens that can't be explained."

"Oh. Like rain?" He smiled a little, surprised at her naivety.

"No, it's something that's not natural."

"But everything is natural." She furrowed her eyebrows, confused.

"Is him disappearing in thin air natural?" He smiled openly at her, amused.

"Well, no… I guess not." She turned and began to gather her chopped stamina fruit to put it in a bag. She paused, and turned around again.

"What else can this… magic do?" He put a hand to his chin as he thought.

"Well, it can make you teleport, heal serious wounds, make shields or barriers, summon things, and a lot of other stuff. But only a few certain people can use magic. Most normal folk can't."

"Huh. Ok."

xxxxx

"Where are you from?" The question was sudden, and she hadn't been expecting it. Plazo and Lahnia were walking in the forest, collecting ingredients. She had finally convinced him to let her come, stressing that the ingredients were very hard to find, and there were many. So far the trek had been silent; he held his machete in his hand to warn her of escape. She was well aware of daunting weapon, and always kept her eye on it as she picked plants and deposited them in her bag. After an hour of this, he seemed more relaxed and a little bored, which was what probably prompted the question. She glanced up at him as they continued to walk between the leafy trees.

"My village"

"Where's that?" His voice held honest curiosity. She furrowed her eyebrows, not sure if she should tell him or not. She mentally shrugged to herself, the demon lord had promised not to harm her village, and she felt as if she could trust Plazo.

"It's across Lake Floria, on the cliffs near the water falls. It's very peaceful there." She sighed, remembering.

"I loved growing up there. The lake was so peaceful. Near our village there were vines that lead down to a shore on the lake, and I loved swimming there with my little sister, Myra. She would always go into the lake and try to catch the fish as a small child. Her determined expression always made me laugh as she splashed around, the fish quickly learning to go nowhere near her. She's three years younger than I." She sighed again. "I miss her so much. We were like best friends, telling each other everything. We always got along so well, unlike my brother and I…" She shook her head, trying to get her abusive brother out of her mind. Her father died when she was only five, so her older brother took over the household. He would constantly tease her and undermine her, and she hated it. They never saw eye to eye, but she was always too secluded to take a stand. However, they did have a few intense fights when she could not stand him anymore. He always got his way though, it didn't matter how much she disagreed with him. After the death of her beloved, their mother fell into a depression. She never seemed to notice the resentment between her two children. Lahnia began to feel Plazo's curious gaze on her, and blushed. She put her hand on the back of her neck and grimaced.

"Sorry for blabbing on like that…" Plazo just smiled, and looked down the path again as they walked.

"No, it's… nice to hear about your life." She blushed, not knowing what to say. A silence settled between them as she began collecting some grasses. When she had swung the bag onto her back they continued. Lahnia casually looked up at him. He seemed content, looking through the forest with almost a… loving look. Her mind flashed to the day before. The large cook had called him a… tree hugger. Maybe there was something more to that than a taunt. After all, she had noticed the strange pendent of a nut shell that he always had around his neck.

"May I ask you something?" He glanced down at her and shrugged. She took this as a yes.

"The other day, why did that demon call you a tree hugger?" He shrugged.

"I like plants." She waited for more, an explanation. It never came. She pursed her lips, frustrated. She had told him of her life, granted it was on her own will, but she wanted to know more about him. He seemed so… odd for a demon. Whenever others walked by their cooking area, they always grew silent as they passed him. It wasn't from fear though, it was something else. In her village there was a strange old man who always sat outside on his rocker. His eyes were distant, seeing the unknown. When you were walking by you could always hear him mumbling to himself, about the importance of three pieces, how the world would be torn apart by a dark force. People soon learned to avoid him, casting him suspicious and strange looks as they passed his house. That was the same look the demons gave Plazo as they passed. They avoided him like he was odd, or crazy, or both. He never seemed to notice though. He seemed kind and normal, so she didn't know what was so different about him that she did not see.

Well, there was one thing. She eyed his scar with interest. It seemed deep and one that would have been nearly fatal at the time. It was colored a darker hue of blue compared to his vibrant blue skin tone. It started from the middle of his forehead and ran all the way down to the lower left side of his jaw. It was perfectly straight, as if by a sword. The only reason his eye was sparred was the way his eyes naturally sunk into his skull. She hadn't asked about the scar yet, but she had been dying of curiosity ever since she first saw it. Well, now was no different than later.

"Can I ask you another question?" He nodded as he looked at the branches above, the morning sunlight streaming through the thick leaves.

"Where did you get that scar?" It was as if the world stilled. The warm comfortable atmosphere was switched to a sterile threatening one. Plazo stopped, staring ahead with unseeing eyes, as if remembering. His body was completely tense. His head turned slowly toward her, and for the first time around Plazo, she feared for her life. His dark black eyes flashed a look of pure hatred, but it was soon replaced by heart wrenching sorrow. He softly whispered with regret heavy in his tone.

"Not that question."

A/N In my head at least, Myra is pronounced Meer-ah. Her name means wonderful and quiet song in Latin, which I think fits her. I know you don't know a lot about her yet, and honestly, she's a minor character. I just think its fun to have names that fit the personality. Lahnia and Plazo don't mean anything though.

Anyway, please review! Reviews are like fuel to make me write faster.