A/N Ok, so I've actually had most of this chapter written for a while, at least the first part. I have to say, this is my favorite chapter so far, I'm just so happy with how it turned out! =D All is explained…. Well, not all of course. But a lot. This is my explanation of the demon tribe origins and all that good stuff.

As usual a shout out to OrangeDragonofDust, my faithful reviewer. And hey, if anyone else reviews my story I'll give a shout out to them too! *hint hint cough cough* I'd really appreciate it if others reviewed.

Oh, and just so no one gets confused this chapter starts off with Plazo remembering his childhood.

Plazo wasn't like most demons.

No, it was obvious that he was not. For one, he did not enjoy killing things. In fact, he tried to avoid it altogether. Much to his superiors distaste, he always waited till the last moment to kill something, internally begging them to surrender before he had to. This was extremely bizarre, as the demons ways were to kill first, then don't even ask questions later. Much to his chagrin he had still killed many, being pressured by the others around him. There was a simple reason why he cherished life, while his fellow warriors sought to destroy it. He was raised differently.

In the demon tribe, women were not strong beings. In fact, almost all of the women died shortly after giving birth to their children. That's why a female demon was never seen among the army. Women were treated as slaves in their tribe, only there to help the tribe grow. The only reason their race increased in numbers was the fact that the women gave birth to multiple children at once. Almost all of the children never even knew their parents, as it was quite common for the father to leave the mother right after conception. There was no need to stay as long term relationships were impossible with one partner dying off so early. Once the children were birthed and their mother departed, they were sent off to a community house to be raised until old enough to be sent to training. As soon as they could walk, they were taught the ways of warriors. Training was intense, and those who could not adapt were killed. This kind of childhood brought about the mindset of kill or be killed.

However, Plazo was not raised a warrior. His mother was the one odd demon out of thousands that survived childbirth. That in part, was because she gave birth to only one child. As soon as she realized that she wasn't going to die, her maternal instincts kicked in. She had seen the ways of the harsh training schools that hauled out the dead bodies of young boys who failed to adapt. She did not want her only child to have to go through that. So she took up the crying baby in her arms, and fled.

Since demons lived under the surface they could not go far. In the center of the city was the only two story building. This was the headquarters, where plans were discussed and where the higher ranking demons were housed. Around that were the multiple complexes of the warriors housing, and then the training schools. On the outskirts sat simple mud houses where old retired demons stayed, farming the only plant that would grow without light. It was called rutan, a dull tasteless root that had spidery branches adorned with sinister thorns. The old demons would sell the plants in carts on the dirt streets. The whole city was in a large dark cavern, and torches were always lit. It was the only city of their kind, but there were many abandoned tunnels that led far away into ancient caves. No one knew where they lead, as they were infested with devilish creatures like themselves.

She found a small cave close to the city that was unseen and uninhabited where she raised her child, scrambling into the city stealing food when they were hungry. She taught her son everything she knew. Most of all, to cherish life. After the boy was old enough to walk, it was frequent that they went exploring the abandoned caves of the underworld. Occasionally, they would find a plant that had managed to survive in the darkness of their world. When they did, they would just sit and look at it for hours, marveling at the tiny vessel of life. The curious youngster would constantly ask her questions about their rare findings, but the mother would regretfully admit that she did not know much, only to cherish it deeply.

One day they came upon their rarest finding of all. It was in an especially old cave, one that was accessed by a small crawlspace that could be easily overseen. After they pushed away the vines and crawled through the crumbling old tunnels they emerged in a round pocket of earth. They found a small tree growing there, no taller than the mothers knee. It was weak and dully colored, yet it had still managed to survive its years of growth. Between the wilted yellow leaves was a single small brown orb, with dimples covering the hard surface. The mother had plucked it off, in awe. She had only heard of them in stories of the surface, she never thought she would ever see a real one. If she remembered correctly, it was called a… nut. She excitedly showed her eager son, expressing that this was very rare indeed. Then she drew her knife, and with the precision of a surgeon cut into the side of the nut, slicing it evenly in half. She showed the soft edible inside to her child, explaining the specialness of this event. They each ate half of the soft inside. They had to leave, but they kept their shells as a reminder of the miracle of life.

When he was a young man, they noticed the shortage of food. Usually it was quite easy to steal food, as many of the old demons had plenty and were always out on the streets selling it in stands. The past few weeks were different. Now food was a closely guarded rarity. They ate up their backup supplies in mere days, and were desperate for food. They watched from their cave as hundreds of warriors left the city, with the precious food on their backs. It was obvious they were leaving for war.

One day he and his mother were rummaging through a garbage pile on the side of a hut, and they found a can of food. They hadn't eaten in days. The mother accidentally dropped it and it rolled out into the street. Plazo, desperately hungry ran out into the street to fetch it, forgetting his mother's constant warnings to never be seen. Sure enough, two soldiers came over and seized him. They asked what squadron he was in, and he looked at them confused. They soon spotted the worrying mother in the shadows and dragged her out. They realized her betrayal of the tribe by keeping her child, and one drew his sword. Plazo remembered the rage and horror that propelled him to tackle the soldier, earning him a sliced face as a result of soldier's reaction. However, it was in vain. They held him back as he watched his mother get murdered by their own people. They released him and he ran to his fading mother's side. She said one thing as her eyes started to fog. Survive. Then she disappeared in a violet cloud of smoke.

They took him to the training facility. Years behind others, he was quickly spotted as weak and condemned to die. In his grief, he fought to do his mothers last wish. He quickly grew strong, but in endurance rather than strength. Avoiding conflict was better than facing it head on when he was so behind in skill and training. He kept to himself, and was soon sent off to the surface with the rest of the forces. That was 3 years ago.

xxxxx

He sat near the tent flap, staring at the moon as he remembered. He sighed at his suppressed memories resurfacing by the girl's simple question. During his time of training, he had learned that focusing on the past would easily get you killed. He hadn't dwelled on his upbringing in a long time. He took off his necklace, looking at the empty shell of a nut on the end of the leather cord. He had long ago carved a hole in the top of it, always keeping it close to him as a reminder of the miracle of life, as well as his mother. He ran his fingers over the dimpled surface, gazing into the shell as if it held the answers to the world.

"Plazo, are you crying?" He looked up to see Lahnia sitting up in her bed, looking at him curiously. He held his hand up to his cheek, feeling the warm droplets on his face, surprised.

Yes, yes he was.

xxxxx

The next morning was awkward.

After she had asked him the question he had just walked out of the tent, flat out ignoring her. She had never seen a demon cry before; she hadn't even known that they could. She couldn't go after Plazo as her ankle was bound to the pole to prevent her escape at night. She sighed heavily, and went back to sleep.

The next morning when she woke up she noticed he was still gone, but the chain binding her was undone. He must've come to unlock it earlier and then left again. Not knowing what else to do, she decided to go start cooking.

Plazo was waiting there, sitting at his usual spot. He didn't acknowledge her as she started that day's meal. While she worked she noticed his sad expression from last night was gone, only to be replaced by a blank stare. The whole situation was uncomfortable and depressing. They had been doing so well too, chatting as she worked and just generally getting along. They were almost… like friends. Friends cheer each other up when they're sad. But with what? There was nothing in this ruthless camp in the pit that would bring anyone joy. Then, her eyes rested on something, and she smiled.

xxxxx

He sat on his stool near the fire pit, ignoring her as he thought. Should he tell her? No, he hadn't told anyone of his past before. Why would he tell her anyway? True, they had gotten to know each other very well over the past few days, but not that well. There was no reason to tell her anyway, it wouldn't help at all. He tried to keep his face emotionless as he internally argued within himself.

"Plazo, look at this! Isn't it precious?" She was staring lovingly at a small plant that had somehow managed to grow between the cracks of the cold stone wall. He stood up and walked over to the wall to see.

"It's really amazing that anything can grow down here, the walls are so compact and sunlight hardly ever reaches down here. And look at its darling little leaves!" As she continued to chatter on about the tiny plant, he was surprised to see how exuberant she was. Her emotion held love, wonder, and awe at the plant.

"…it really is an example of the miracle of life." Those words penetrated his heart and his eyes widened as he looked down at the girl. That was something his mother was always talking about, and he hadn't heard anyone say that since her death. Lahnia looked up at him to see his surprised face, and she instantly became worried.

"Are you alright Plazo? I thought you liked plants, but… did I say something wrong?" The last few words were quiet and full of concern and confusion.

It wasn't that he was reminded of his mother, but he was reminded of the constant trust between them. He hadn't trusted anyone besides her, and you really couldn't if you wanted to survive as a demon. But… maybe he was wrong. Maybe… he could trust someone again. Suddenly he had a strong desire to tell her everything. He had done so many things in his life that he deeply regretted, and he always had to deal with it alone. That pressure was immense, and sometimes it felt as if he was suffocating. As a child whenever he did something that was hanging over him, he always talked it out and he felt better. Maybe, just maybe, that could happen again. Lahnia had given him only reasons to trust her. He nodded, the decision made. He looked down at the girl and smiled.

"I trust you." She tilted her head, becoming more confused and concerned. His whole mood instantly changed, from being depressed to cheerful. She waited, knowing he would explain. He turned and sat down in his stool once again, and motioned with his hand to the one next to him. She walked over to it and settled down, not knowing what to expect. There was a moment of silence as Plazo tried to decide where to begin, there was just so much.

"I've never told anyone this before. But… I feel like I can trust you. You trusted me when you told me of your past, right?" He looked at her and smiled warmly.

"Well, there's a lot to it. You see, I'm not like most demons…"

And he told her.

Everything.

xxxxx

Lahnia laid in bed, staring up at the cloth ceiling of her tent. She replayed again and again what Plazo had just told her earlier that morning. He really wasn't like most demons. It made sense to her now why the others always gave him strange looks, why he had that scar, his nickname, his necklace. It was all so… much. She turned her head to gaze at the snoring Plazo asleep across the tent. He had a smile on his face, probably relieved to finally confide in someone all the tragedy of his life. She turned her head back to look above her.

It had already been hours, and she couldn't fall asleep. She was wide awake. Somehow she felt… regret. She had been mulling over this feeling all night, not knowing why. Yes, she was happy that Plazo felt confident enough in her to tell her of his past. She should be happy, or even feel empathetic towards him. But why did she only feel overwhelming regret?

Was she regretful of his past? No, she could do nothing about it. Regretful of his being bullied? She couldn't do anything of that either. Regretful of his mother's death? … She paused in her thought process. That almost rang a bell. He tried to save her. He failed. He never saw her again. Somehow she could relate to that. But how? For her mother, father, sister? Her sister. Regret engulfed her at that word. She would never see her sister again. But why? Because she was imprisoned at this camp, and she could do nothing about that…. No, that's not true. She could do something about it; she was just too scared to.

Something clicked in her head and it all made sense. Plazo had tried to save his mother, to be with her. Lahnia wasn't even trying to escape! He held so much love for his departed mother. She loved her sister more than the world! Why hadn't she even tried before? She was scared the demon lord would kill her. So? Plazo was willing to risk his life, why wasn't she? No, she was. Myra was all she could think about now. Was she ready to die trying to be with her little sister again, to just see her again? She paused. Of course. Of course she was. She had to try.

She had to escape.

A/N So, what did you think?

I know the last part was a lot of question? Answer! I was trying to do the whole arguing in your head thing. Don't you just love it when that happens? (Sarcasm by the way)

Oh, and just for laughs I didn't realize this chapter was so long until I was finally done at 11:30, looked at my word count and it was 2,700 something. This was pretty much twice as big as my norm. Actually every chapter I write just keeps getting longer and longer. Hey, by chapter 15 it'll be like a whole novel in a chapter! ;)

Ok, over with my random ramblings.

Please review and tell me what you think! =D