Battle Scarred - Recently Updated Pages

Contact

DevilzDeathLetter — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:29:56 CST

My name is Amber Dahl, and I'm 18 years old. I love to draw, that's my passion. I hope to become a tattoo artist one day. I'm addicted to peircings and tattoos. I also write. I don't write as much as I used to, but I guess I've always been pretty good at it.

When I was in third grade, I got a poem published. At the time I loved roller blading, and wrote a poem about how I felt when I roller bladed. I showed it to my teacher and she had it published. I also participated in a writing contest in fourth grade, wrote two different pieces for two of the categories, and recieved first place in the poems category, and second place in the short stories category. So, in total, I've had 3 pieces of work published, and all before the age of 11.

Now I'm pushing myself to write a book. I've always wanted to be able to write a novel, and I'm hoping that Battle Scarred will work out for me. :)

My friend Jessica Leaveck and I created two characters back when we were twelve, Kohaku and Inasho. We were planning on using them for a comic, but we couldn't agree on what was going to happen, and neither of us had the time to draw the pages out [I hope to eventually get the time and patience to draw Battle Scarred out into a graphic novel]. Eventually, Jessica started her own works with different characters, and Battle Scarred was nearly forgotten.

I've been working on the storyline for years, though, attempting to perfect their histories and what was going to happen in the book. When I began writing it down, I asked Jessica if I could use Inasho, and she gave me permission, as long as I didn't take credit for the character.

Contact:
a
Email
MySpace

Home

DevilzDeathLetter — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:28:32 CST

Welcome to Battle Scarred!

This is a Wiki where you can read my book! Its called Battle Scarred, and I've been working on it for about five years now, although, I didn't start writing until about a few months ago.
The original idea for Battle Scarred was thought up by me and a good friend of mine; Jessica. It was actually originally going to be a comic, but neither of us had the time to draw it. We were planning on making our characters, Kohaku [mine] and Inasho [her's] to 'star' in it. But Jessica started working on other things, and she didn't exactly drop out from writing Battle Scarred, I'm just writing it without her. I took Inasho and Kohaku and made my own storyline about the two. :)
So check it out and tell me what you think!

I will update this often and quickly. I'm constantly writing chapters for Battle Scarred!

So, take a look around, and email me with ideas or compliments, or anything!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Updates

14, January 2009
I'm going to try to update as much as I can; but it will be a little harder. I've moved out of my parents house and I'm currently living with my boyfriend in Menominee; in a house which has no internet connection whatsoever.
We also don't have a laptop anymore, because my mother's dog pissed on Scott's and fried it. I have no idea if we're ever to get another one yet. I'd like to; but I just can't afford it right now.
So updates will probably be just as scarce, or scarcer than what they've been. I'm sorry. I'll try to update as much as I possibly can, but without any computer I'm stuck writing Battle Scarred by hand; which I'll also have to type out when I'm finished.
But I'll try; I'll try!

4, August 2008
I added a page for Jessica's artwork. =] I also re-added all the previous chapters, as well as the eighth today. =]
If Jessica will allow, her artwork should be up by the end of the week! =]
AAANNNDDDD the illustration for the prologue is up. =]

3, August 2008
Well, Scott's back from Ohio [he had the USB with all the data on it, so I couldn't update at all while he was away]! So updates should happen quick, quick, quick! =]
I've finished writing the final chapters, but let me mind you once again, NOWHERE near the end of the book. =]
The revised chapters and the new chapters will be up very, very soon. =] Yay!
I also put up 6 pixel dolls [for one you must press fullview on the page that it links to. Otherwise it looks kinda stupid. lol]. And I also added 4 drawings. Basically just the main characters, so you get a feel for what they actually look like. =]
I also added an illustration. I've got another one drawn out, I just don't like it, and want to redo it. lol. But the one I did add is for a chapter I don't even have written out yet, but there's not much of a spoiler to it. So, don't worry about that. =]

14, July 2008
Well, no updates for today... I went over a friend's house yesterday and never went home. lol.
Updates will surely be up by Wednesday, at the latest. =]
Sorry for any inconvenience!!

11, July 2008
Well, I've finished chapter seven and revised all the others, and I'm currently writing chapter eight.
I'm also working on the final chapters, although I'm nowhere near the end of the book. =]
They should be up by Monday, so keep your eye out!

09, July 2008
Wow, I hadn't realized it had been this long since I updated!
I've been writing the book a little bit, but mostly I've been working on the plot, and designing minor characters. =] I also go so extremely bored I created a trading card game for my book, which is quite sad. I've shown it to a few friends and they actually really want me to work on it, but I'm going to try and finish the book first.
I've also revised the chapters, but those are at my dad's, and probably the beginninging of next week I'll replace them. There's not much difference at all to them, but hopefully it will work out. =]
I'm also going to try to add artwork today. I've had so many ideas for this wetpaint, but no time to execute them! So, hopefully, within this month I'll have the time and energy to at least get this to the satisfaction point I'm looking for. =]

22, January 2008
My brother's 17th birthday today! Happy birthday!
I added the end of chapter six. It starts off with "The two continued on...", so you can hit
[CTRL + F], and type "The two continued on" in and it should bring you right to it. :)
I also added the beginning of chapter seven. You get to meet a new main character! wh00t!
Enjoy!

15, January 2008
I added the prologue and chapters one through six.
Chapter six is currently not finished, but it will be very soon.
Read away!
I also added the Illustrations page, and the Drawings page.
Illustrations are, well, obviously, illustrations for Battle Scarred!
And drawings are just drawings of the main characters that I've done throughout the years. :)
Check them out (Once they're up. Lol)!

13, January 2008
Made this today! I have seven chapters written out for Battle Scarred, but I won't be adding them until Tuesday. I write Battle Scarred on my dad's laptop, and I have no way to get the files to my mom's computer until then. So, please be patient!
In other words, I also added Battle Scarred pixel dolls, and a couple pieces I've drawn over the years. :)

BATTLE SCARRED (C) AMBER DAHL 2002-2008
INASHO THE THREE TAILED FOX (C) JESSICA LEAVECK 2002-2008

Fanart

DevilzDeathLetter — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:28:12 CST

Awh, fanart! Everybody loves fanart. =] Pictures I've recieved from friends and fans and whatnot. =]

Click the thumbnail to see the full view!! ***COMING SOON***

If you would like to add your own fanart, just email me with the picture file and I'll add it right away!
***Picture files MUST be either .JPG, .PNG, or .GIF! .BMPs are just too big and they're not fun to work with. =[***

BATTLE SCARRED (C) AMBER DAHL 2002-2008
INASHO THE THREE TAILED FOX (C) JESSICA LEAVECK 2002-2008

Illustrations

DevilzDeathLetter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:35:16 CDT

Illustrations for Battle Scarred. Wh00t!!
These pieces do happen in the book. If you want to see other drawings that don't have to do with the book, I do have MANY. Check out the 'Drawings' page.

Click on the thumbnail to see full view!


Prologue	Chapter One	Chapter Two	Chapter Three	Chapter Four	Chapter Five

Chapter Six	Chapter Seven	Chapter Eight	Chapter Nine	Chapter Ten	Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eight

DevilzDeathLetter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:16:22 CDT

Kohaku and Sirus didn't fly far. Although Kohaku had gathered more of her energy back by walking, she was still exhausted from all the running, flying, and healing she had done that day. They made camp about 15 miles away, and spent the night together, talking and getting to know each other better, and discussing why each had to get to their own destination.

The plan was easy. Sirus would help Kohaku get to Hellvatica to save Inasho (Sirus was very discrete about why he needed to get to Hellvatica, and didn't say much about his own reasons for needing to be there), and if they ran into an enemy, they would team up, with Kohaku's fighting skills and abilities she possessed, combined with Sirus's curses, they figured they'd have no problem getting out of anything any opponent would put them up to. They were unstoppable.

They awoke bright and early the next morning. Hellvatica was about a three day's walk away, but with Kohaku carrying Sirus by air, it should take about 12 hours.

They flew at 3 hour intervals, with an hour for rest in-between. This way Kohaku could gain back some energy for continuing their flight, and the two could grab something to eat.

"Hey, Sirus?" Kohaku asked while they rested.

"Yeah?" Sirus asked through a mouthful of bread.

"What do you know about the Staff of Mercy?"

"What?" Sirus lifted one eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just curious."

"Why?"

"Because that’s what Inasho and I were after when she was..." Kohaku trailed off.

Sirus's face softened. "Ouh... Well, I don't know much about it.

"From what I've heard, the Staff of Mercy is extremely valuable. It can bring back anyone from the dead, no matter how long they haven't been living. I know that it’s in one of the staffs in the set of four, which are scattered to different corners of the world. And in order to use just one's power, you need all four, and you have to place them in a certain pedestal in a certain synagogue. The location of each staff contains a clue to where the next staff lies. And the location of the final staff gives a clue to where the synagogue is."

Kohaku looked at Sirus.

"You need all four?" She asked in a whimper.

Sirus nodded.

"Ouh no..." Kohaku's face fell as she looked towards the ground.

"What's wrong?" Sirus asked, cautiously.

"Well, I have the Staff of Mercy..." Kohaku started, pulling out the staff from under her robes. "But, I didn't know we didn't know we needed all four, and when we got it, the temple fell apart, and we didn't have time to search for the clue to help us find another one..."

"We?"

Kohaku looked to Sirus, took a deep breath, and continued. "Yes, we. Inasho and I... we found this staff together... but when Inasho ran up to take it, there was a trap... It killed her..."

"Ouh.." Sirus said. He walked up to Kohaku and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about Inasho."

"I warned her, too! How could she be so stupid?!" Kohaku cried. "If only she would've listened!"

"Kohaku, it’s ok! No one could have prevented it! It’s not your fault!" Sirus said, trying to calm her. "Come on, we'd best be going. We'll be in Hellvatica shortly."

Kohaku pulled herself together. "You're right. We’ve gotta get going."

And with that, they packed up what was left of their meal. When they were done, Kohaku lifted Sirus back up and flew off. They were only about another 3 hours away from Hellvatica, and Sirus could tell that Kohaku was anxious to get there.

*****

Hellvatica was an amazing city! Giant skyscrapers that towered what seemed like miles into the sky, the streets and sky reflecting off their glass tiles. Busy streets swarming with vehicles Kohaku and Sirus had never seen before (Hellvatica is a much more modern city than where either Kohaku nor Sirus came from. The villages where they grew up where very third world themed).

Cars and trucks and buses, and any other motor vehicle you could think of flew past them as they walked down the sidewalk (Kohaku threw her hood up over her head before they entered the city).

“There are so many humans around here…” Kohaku whispered to Sirus.

Sirus nodded. “I miss it.”

Kohaku stared at Sirus in shock. “How could you miss being so stupid?”

“I wasn’t a stupid human.” Sirus explained. “I was a one of the rare smart ones.”

“No such thing.” Kohaku said. “They’ve become so lazy, they made machines to carry their asses around!”

Sirus nodded. “Can’t argue with you there.”

Down the sidewalk they went. Passing thrift shops, restaurants, and stores of all variety.

“Where do we go to find the staff?” Kohaku asked.

“Up there.” Sirus pointed. “To the church.”

“Oh god…” Kohaku sighed.

“Exactly!” Sirus laughed.

“No pun intended!” Kohaku laughed back.

Sirus blushed when Kohaku smiled at him. His eyes grew wide when he realized.

“What the hell?!” He thought.

The church was huge! It was made with huge gray rock bricks and oh-so tall. Sirus had to strain his neck just to see the top of it. At the top there was a bell tower with a gigantic rusted-gold bell. There was a small staircase leading towards the huge wooden doors on its west side.
“Shall we go inside?” Sirus asked Kohaku nervously.

Kohaku nodded. “Why so nervous?”

“I get like this sometimes..” Sirus said.

Together, they walked up the stairs and pushed the heavy doors open. The inside of the church was exceptional! Red velvet carpet covered the floor, and glistening pews were placed in four separate rows. On the walls were stained-glass windows of different bible tales, and huge drapes hanging from the ceiling; covering the wall that wasn’t windows. In the front of the room (or the back from where Kohaku and Sirus were standing), were three small steps leading up to the ‘stage’, which held a wooden podium which held the bible. Across from it, was a huge white chair covered with marks of a priest. On each side was stands for the alter-servers and behind was a beautiful white-wooden bar that held the blood and bread of Christ, along with the wine glasses. Candles where lit all around, and on the wall was a built-in grave that supposedly held the bones of Christ.

“Wow… so this is where humans worship an imaginary man?” Kohaku asked.

“Watch your tongue!” Sirus snapped. “He’s not imaginary! We believe that he’s real.”

Kohaku rolled her eyes. “Whatevs.”

Sirus pointed to the left side of the room where candles were lit to guide lost loved ones to the other side. “There’s a inscription over there about the staffs.”

“Good.” Kohaku said walking away.

On the right side of the room was a door, and Sirus walked over. He knocked softly on the door. When it opened, the priest appeared.

“Good afternoon, your Holiness.” Sirus said, bowing his head.

“Good afternoon.” The priest replied.

‘Uh, your Holiness, I have a question.” Sirus told the priest. “As you can tell, I’ve been marked by a gremlin…”

The priest nodded.

“…And I talked to a monk about how I can become human again. He told me that I must sacrifice a half-breed…”

The priest nodded again.

“…And that girl over there...” Sirus pointed to Kohaku. The priest looked over his shoulder.

“Yes, what about her?” The priest asked, raising an eyebrow.

“…She’s a half-breed…”

The priest’s eyes grew wide. “How dare you bring an abomination to the House of the Lord!”

“Shh!” Sirus said, grabbing the priest’s shoulders desperately. “The monk told me that the temple where I must sacrifice her is here in Hellvatica. Can you please tell me where it is?”

“There is no such temple here!” The priest screamed, shoving Sirus’s arms from his shoulders. “Now, get her out of here at once!”

Kohaku, hearing the priest’s out roar, turned confusedly. Sirus ran over to her, grabbed her arm, and dragged her out of the church.

“What the hell was that all about?” Kohaku asked as soon as Sirus freed her from his grasp.

“The temple’s not here… neither is the staff…” Sirus explained.

“Well, that’s no cause to flip a tit!” Kohaku said.

“I’m sorry, Kohaku. I thought the staff would be here…” Sirus sighed.

Kohaku looked past Sirus. “It is here.”

Sirus lifted one eyebrow. “What?”

Kohaku pointed behind him. “It’s there!”

Sirus turned and looked behind him. On a light post was a flyer about an auction for the extremely rich and powerful. On the flyer was a picture of the Staff of Deceit.

Chapter Seven

DevilzDeathLetter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:14:22 CDT

Kohaku walked for about a mile and a half through the maze of a forest, ducking under branches covered in vines and moss, tripping over holes in the ground, twigs, and tiny hills on the ground. By the way the ground was treaded on, she figured there was a village up ahead. She wasn't paying attention and walked into what she thought was a tree.

"Aaah!"

What Kohaku ran into wasn't a tree, but a man. He was tall and there was not much to him, with red hair tied back into a braid that fell to his lower back, with bangs that covered his right eye. His eyes were also red, and underneath his left one was a curved swirly mark with a small dot below it. A mark left from a gremlin. This was no ordinary man. He was born a human and was slowly turning demon due to being planted with a seed of a gremlin. He was exceptionally handsome. He let out a startled scream and bolted around. When he saw Kohaku, he attempted to attack her, but he wasn't experienced one bit, and she pinned him to the ground with ease.

"Let me go! Let me go!!" He screamed, over and over again, trying desperately to get out of Kohaku's grasp.

"Shut up.": Kohaku said tiredly. "Now, if you promise not to attack me again... if you want to call that an attack, I'll let you up. But I'll tell you now, you try again, and I won't be so merciful next time."

She slowly lifted up off of him, and he stood up. He backed away to keep his distance, but he didn't run. He just stood and stared at her; studying her.

Kohaku rolled her eyes and sighed. "What?"

"Nothing!" He snapped.

"Hey, just because I'm an 'abomination' to this world, doesn't give you a reason to be rude!" Kohaku snapped back, shaking a finger at him.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"I don't have time for this." Kohaku said, starting to walk. She walked a few feet, stopped, and turned her head over her shoulder. "Oh, and you should really learn how to fight--you'll never survive with skills like those." And she continued walking.

She could hear the leaves rustling and twigs snapping as he took off towards her.

"Three... two... one.." She counted boredly on her fingers.

When she hit one, she felt a slight tug followed with a blade to her neck.

"What was that?!"

"Put the knife down." Kohaku said flatly.

"Why should I? You mock me in my own territory, tell me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right here!"

"Because..." Kohaku started. She grabbed his wrist, twisted her body around his back, and placed the blade up to his neck--while still holding his wrist. "Because I can kill you a lot easier than you can kill me."

He dropped the knife. "Fine."

She let go of his wrist, and turned him around.

"You obviously need some help. How about this, you tell me how to get to Hellvatica, and I'll teach you to fight?"

"I know how to fight!" He barked. "I'm just going easy on you because you're female!"

"I doubt it."

He clenched his teeth so tight that his face started to turn red out of anger.

"Suit yourself." Kohaku shrugged, and started to walk once more.

She made it about ten feet when it felt like her throat closed up and she couldn't breathe. She fell to the ground, clenching her throat, gasping for air.

"I may not be able to fight..." She heard.

Kohaku turned around with wide, watery eyes; still fighting for air.

"...But I am a master of curses."

The man gave her a cocky smirk. Kohaku's face started to turn blue, and she started pointing to her throat. He merely laughed.

"You're so pathetic."

He tensed as he heard something whiz by his ear. He turned around to see a dagger shaking in the tree behind him. He turned back to Kohaku. Her arm was out because she had thrown it at him, but she missed him on purpose.

His eyes where wide with shock, and, with his right palm facing the ground, waved his arm, and Kohaku's throat opened up again. She fell to the ground coughing and gasping, trying to fill her lungs.

"You... you..." She choked. "Bastard...." Her voice was airy and weak.

He nearly smirked, and he waked up to her to help her up. Kohaku refused his hand and stayed on the ground.

"You kind are amazing. That curse wasn't to just close your throat, it was supposed to stop the heart as well." He said. He held out his hand again, offering to help her up, but Kohaku pushed it aside once more.

"I can get up by myself." She said. "I've done it year after year after year when I was young. I can do it again now. And trust me, I've been through worse than that."

"I gathered that from all the scars you bear." He replied. "I'm Sirus. I’ll tell you how to get to Hellvatica, but on one condition."

"State it." Kohaku demanded, still heaving.

"You make a side trip for me."

"What? You're going to come with me?" Kohaku laughed.

"Do you want my help, or not?"

Kohaku looked to her side, thinking. "How far out of the way is the side trip?"

"Few miles."

"Fine, I'll do it. But I warn you--If you try any funny business..."

Sirus lifted his hands to his shoulders, his palms facing her. "I promise, I'll lead you straight to Hellvatica. No monkey business."

Kohaku nodded. "Alright, come on. We need to stop at a village for supplies, though. I think there's one a couple yards away."

Sirus grabbed her arm. "We're not stopping at that village. There's another one about three miles away. We can stop at that one. I will never set foot in that village again."

Kohaku sighed. "Fine."

He led the way to the village. He was very polite and lifted branches and pushed brush out of the way for Kohaku.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Kohaku asked.

"Nothing really. I'm usually not so defensive." Sirus explained. "I thought you were going to kill me, so I figured I might as well have acted tough. That and what you are--"

"What I am?!" Kohaku interrupted. "You're the one whose neither human OR demon! You're stuck in between! I'm at least both, you're not one or the other! At least I was born the way I am!"

"Do you honestly think I really want to be like this?!" Sirus snapped back.

"Ok, just stop already! I've known you for five minutes, and already we're fighting. I've spent my whole life fighting, and I would really like a break from fighting for a little while. I say we calm down, gather supplies, and talk more in the morning. No remarks on what creature the other is, just putting up with each other in the best way possible. I do NOT want to be fighting this whole journey."

"Fine, whatever." Sirus agreed, and continued leading the way.

Sirus was planted with the seed of a gremlin. Gremlins work for the Underworld. They spend their time creating 'seeds' to plant into humans to create more demons. Humans believe that this is where demons originated from. Gremlins are believed to have created all the different types of demons, but each 'seed' they create takes many, many years to complete. And once the seed is complete, they leave the Underworld to wander the land of the living. Once they've found their perfect human to damn, they attack them by spraying gas from their palms that cause the human to fall unconscious, and then they plant their seed. Each gremlin has their own 'logo' which they carve into their victims to let the other gremlins know which one hit what human; and it also helps when it comes down to counting how many humans they've infected (The mark turns black once it's completed). Gremlins are assigned at birth with which type of demon they're be spending their life creating, and can only create one type of demon If a gremlin cannot complete a job in a lifetime, the job is forgotten, and another demon is assigned to start it over from scratch.

Gremlins are disgusting. They vary from a dark forest green to a disturbing brown color. They're short, hump-backed with glowing yellow eyes. Their faces are wrinkled and warty, and have a mop of black, oily hair that hangs in strings down their backs. They're usually paper-thin, which allows them to maneuver more stealthily through the forest. They can live up to 200 years, and most spend a lifetime to create just 2 seeds (One for each sex). Its very rare to see a gremlin, or even a victim of a gremlin, because they can only spread their seed every 200 years, and the victim's of a gremlin's lifespan is nearly chopped in half compared to that of a natural-born demon's.

When Kohaku and Sirus neared the village, Kohaku quickly threw on her hood. Sirus gave her a strange look, but he understood why she did so.

"Hang back." Kohaku whispered to him, while they hid behind a trunk of a tree. Sirus obeyed, and moved out of Kohaku's way so she could enter the outskirts of the tiny marketplace.

The marketplace's setup was exact to the one attacked by capitillars. There was a long, dirt trail in-between two rows of tables upon tables, set up next to each other. Each table contained a different type of merchandise, whether it be fruit, vegetables, meat, animal skins, jewelry, weapons, clothing, or beverages. Kohaku pulled her hood down to cover her face more, and tightened it around her body. She slowly walked from table to table, and stealthily scooped up at least a few things from each table while the owner was busy conversing with a different customer. When she came to the weapons table, and with just barely turning her head, she eyed what was for sale. There was a beautiful sword, and a heavy-duty holster for sale. She glared at the owner of the table, and waited until another customer walked up and asked about one of the guns he had for sale. Then, Kohaku reached out her arm very cautiously, and grabbed both the hilt of the sword and the halter, and slowly slid them off the table, and under her hood. When she had finished, she disappeared, and Sirus couldn't see her anymore. He was just staring at her, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone. She appeared behind him, hood stuffed full of supplies.

"How did you do that?!" Sirus whispered, shocked.

"I can become invisible." Kohaku whispered back, explaining.

Sirus's eyes widened. "Wow, what else can you do?"

"A lot." Kohaku giggled. "Now, where do we head now?"

Sirus turned left and said, "We have to go this way now."

Kohaku nodded. "Alright." She said. She took off her hood, and wrapped up all the things she'd taken into it, and tied it shut. The sword she had stolen went into the holster. She then gave Sirus the bag.

"Why am I the bag boy?" Sirus asked.

"Because I'm the one doing all the carrying." Kohaku answered.

"What?" Sirus blared, lowering one eyebrow.

Kohaku walked behind him, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"What?! Hey, what are you doing?!" Sirus jumped.

He felt his body being lifted off the ground. He looked frantically around the ground. "What are you doing to me?!"

"Carrying you! You can't very well fly!" He heard Kohaku say behind him.

"Uhmm... how high up are we going?" He asked nervously.

"Why, afraid of heights?"

"Just a little bit..." Sirus whimpered, blushing.

Kohaku laughed and levitated about 10 feet higher than the tallest tree that surrounded them, and flew off; Sirus screaming and questioning her for about five minutes afterwards.

Chapter Six

DevilzDeathLetter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:13:35 CDT

The temple was amazing. It was built completely of large stone bricks, and was as high as a pyramid. The entrance two vertical walls on each side with no roof that was about 50 feet leading towards the opening of the entrance. The entrance was about 50 feet high and was a rectangular shape that leaned inwards near the top. They couldn't see anything within the temple; all they saw was black.

Looking to the temple, then to each other, they both nodded their heads and walked forward.

It was extremely hard to see inside. The only environment Kohaku and Inasho could see was from the light pouring in through the entrance, and the rest of the details where hidden by vast shadows. Inasho walked towards one of the inner walls and pressed her hands to it. She felt her way down into the tunnel, but also moving her hands up and down, searching for a torch. She found one about 100 feet in. There was what felt like a shelf that that the wick was placed upon that led deeper into the tunnel. When she lit it, they found there was an oil trail that led all the way down where they could see that there was a dead end to the tunnel. She then hoisted herself up to light her very last cigarette from the fire trail.

"And there was light." Inasho smirked to Kohaku.

Kohaku sighed while laughing and shook her head. "Good job."

They followed the tunnel until the dead end where they discovered they could turn either left or right. They each looked down each tunnel, then to each other.

"Left" Kohaku said, pointing left.

"Right" Said Inasho, pointing right.

The two had set it at the exact same time. They dropped their arms and looked to each other once again.

"Right." Inasho repeated.

"Left!" Kohaku urged.

"Great, another thing we're going to fight about." Kohaku stated facetiously, "So which way are we going?"

"I say we just split up." Inasho replied.

"You know damn well that won't get us anywhere! We're not going to split up! If one of us dies, we're both screwed!"

"What if they both lead to the same place? There are temples like that. They divide, but still lead to the same place." Inasho suggested.

"I highly doubt that this is one of those temples."

Inasho turned her lead to the left slightly and looked towards the floor, humming in thought, her foot tapping to the tune. You could almost hear the light bulb turn on in her head. "I got it! Kohaku, make two doppelgangers."

Kohaku gave Inasho a strange look. "Alright..."

Kohaku closed her eyes and pressed her palms together. Her body glowed a pleasant white color, and divided. Still glowing, two Kohaku's formed, one to the original Kohaku's left, and one to her right, and when the white faded, there were three identical Kohaku's.

"Send one down each passage."

The doppelganger to Kohaku's left turned and walked down the left tunnel, and the right paced forward past Inasho into the right one. They continued to walk until they were both out of sight, due to a turn in the paths. The original Kohaku stood with her eyes closed, pinpointing where each of her doppelgangers where and what they were doing, and also keeping them in existence.

"Doppelganger down the left tunnel was just destroyed." Kohaku stated, opening her eyes. When she opened her eyes, the other doppelganger dissipated.

"Shut up." Inasho said flatly.

"What? That doesn't prove anything!" Kohaku defended.

"Yes, it does. The one with the booby-traps is obviously the right tunnel. Why would they booby-trap a tunnel that leads either nowhere, or to an inevitable death?" Inasho explained.

Kohaku tilted her head and looked upwards. "This is true." She agreed.

"You got lucky." Inasho said, making her way past Kohaku and down the tunnel. "Hey, do you happen to know where exactly in the tunnel your doppelganger was destroyed?"

They turned the corner. A few feet ahead lied a pool of fresh blood.

"Right there." Kohaku answered.

"Ok, look around and see what could've done it." Inasho said, feeling the walls and examining the floors.

Kohaku checked out the upper level by studying the ceiling.

"There!" Kohaku pointed.

Inasho followed the line Kohaku's finger made and saw that there was a small rectangular opening in the ceiling. It was very thin, but about three feet long, and could barely be noticed if one wasn't actually looking for it, for it was hidden mostly by shadows, and blended in with the cracks of the ceiling.

"Doppelganger." Inasho demanded.

Kohaku made another doppelganger and sent it down the tunnel. When it got to the point where the pool of blood lye, a huge blade that looked very much like an ax swooped down and chopped it in half. Once it hit the floor, it flew back up into its perch, almost as if a spring latch were attached to it.

Inasho extended her arm and shot an energy blast down the tunnel. No blade appeared. "Fly."

Kohaku and Inasho levitated themselves a few inches off the ground and flew through where the ax would've chopped them. They landed about two meters away from the death trap. When they landed, however, the ground fell from underneath them. They caught themselves and saw that beneath bared a mass of hundreds of thin bloody spikes. Two skeletons lied within the mass. They then heard a rumble above them. Looking up they saw that the ceiling was about to give out, and the threw themselves forward another three meters. The girls looked behind them (without returning to the ground) and saw that the ceiling covered up the spikes, and was now a counterfeit floor.

"Mmk, then. I say we stop walking altogether." Inasho said.

"Sounds good." Kohaku agreed.

The two continued on, hovering a few inches above ground level through the twisting corridors. The maze seemed never-ending, and they began to wonder if they'd ever find the Staff of Mercy. Along the way, they ran into many more death-traps. With every new corridor, they would take turns shooting an energy blast down the corridor to see if there was anything triggered by movement. Then they would have Kohaku create a doppelganger and send it down, to see if anything was triggered by weight.

They were walking down a corridor that they estimated was about half a mile into the temple, and that had passed both of their 'tests' (since they started performing these 'tests', they'd continued to walk, to save their strength and energy). When they neared the ending of the corridor, the floor crumbled beneath their feet, and too quickly for either of them to catch themselves.

They fell about 30 feet and had been caught by an underground river. The river had an unbelievably strong current that pushed them farther and farther away. They had to use nearly all of their strength and energy just to surface. Once they did, they saw that they had been brought into a clearing where the sun was shining, and the banks of the river were actually surrounded by deep green grass. The girls looked ahead and saw that the river turned a very sharp right, but that there was a small amount of water pouring over a bank. The current lead them to the clearing, which was actually a path dug in and lined with faded caramel colored bricks that acted like a small waterfall. The two went over the edge and slid down the 'water slide' which led into an underwater cave. They managed to catch a breath and when they entered the cave, they saw that it had a tunnel that lead inwards, and they 'flew' through it. The tunnel forked into two different directions they could take. Since they were both running out of air, they quickly searched the walls to see if there was a map or any type of clue as to which way they should take where engraved on it. Inasho discovered a small red marking that pointed them to the left tunnel, so they quickly 'flew' through it. When they reached the end, they realized that they could surface, and they did so.

"Holy," Kohaku gasped. "Shit!"

"Look, there!" Inasho pointed.

Kohaku looked to where Inasho was pointing. There was a small ledge that they could climb up that held many stones that would act as a staircase. They pulled themselves out of the water and climbed up the make-shift staircase which led them to another rock tunnel. They entered it and it led them to a huge, beautiful room where the walls where built of gold bricks. There was a circling staircase (also made out of gold bricks) that led to a podium in the middle of the room. Up top the podium was the Staff of Mercy.

The staff of Mercy was gorgeous! It was only about a foot and a half long. Its long handle was a beautiful baby blue that shone in the light. There was a light pink line that wrapped around it, and at the top was a sphere that almost looked like a mirror, only it was a dark blue in color, and when you looked at it, you could see a distorted image of yourself looking back at you. Jutting out if the sphere was a gold-plated rod, only about 4 inches long, and on top of that was a magenta colored ball.

"We found it! We found it! Holy shit, I can't believe it, Kohaku, we found it!" Inasho exclaimed while running up the stairs.

"Inasho!! Wait!" Kohaku called. "Don't you think there would be traps in here?!"

Inasho didn't listen. She ran to the top of the staircase and hoisted up the floating Staff of Mercy. Once she did so, she let out a blood curdling scream. Her body began to glow bright white as she was hoisted into the air. Black light was flowing from her eye sockets and her mouth, and Kohaku could see all the smoke inside Inasho's lungs pour out. Her body then became brighter than the sun and then the light instantly faded away. Inasho was gone. The Staff of Mercy was thrown to Kohaku's feet.

"Oh my god... INASHO!!" Kohaku screamed, holding out her hand. "Inasho!! Inasho!!"

Her voice echoed throughout the empty chambers and corridors of the tunnel. Tears drenched her cheeks.

"No!! No! Noo.." She moaned, as her head fell into her palms.

Just then the room began to rumble. She looked up through blood struck eyes and saw that the whole temple was falling apart! The bricks from the ceiling were plummeting down. Pieces took out the podium and started on the stairs, and she had to roll to dodge a piece from landing on her. The pieces started falling more rapidly, and Kohaku jumped and grabbed the Staff and jerked her head to the right to see an open corridor leading out. She quickly bolted through it before the parts of the ceiling rose too high to cover it (she had no energy left to fly). She sprinted through the corridors, not worrying about any deathtraps that could've come her way, with the ceiling collapsing not three feet behind her. She took random turns at the end of corridors, praying that they were the right way out.

When she finally saw light (which she figured was the exit) after running for what seemed like hours, she picked up her speed as much as she could and ran through it. She stepped on a brick which she felt sink and saw arrows jutting out from the walls. She dodged nearly all except for the last one, which struck her right shoulder. Kohaku fell, and slid about five feet, scraping her body from the left shoulder all the way down to her hip. She gave herself no time to recover and threw herself upright, and ran as fast as she could manage out of the temple.

Kohaku ran about twenty feet out of the temple and collapsed on the ground. She shakily lifted her head and turned to look behind her, and she saw the entire temple fall to pieces. A huge cloud of dust then engulfed all around her. Kohaku buried her head into her arms and took a deep breath, but ended up only inhaling dust. She was still coughing when the dust settled.

When Kohaku finally managed to fill her lungs with oxygen, she lifted her head. Her face was still wet from her tears, and the temple was no more. She had the Staff of Mercy, but Inasho's life in exchange for it was not worth it to Kohaku.

She then looked in front of her, and pulled herself to her feet. She tore the remainder of the arrow from her shoulder (the body of it had snapped when she fell) and placed her hand over the wound. Although she didn't have much energy left, she still had enough left to heal her wounds (Kohaku also has the ability to heal her wounds). Once her shoulder had been nearly completely healed, she placed both her hands on parts of her scrape, and repeated until the scrap had been also nearly healed.

Kohaku then picked the Staff up from the ground (she had placed it down when she started to heal herself). She placed the Staff in her belt and walked into the woods, and away from the temple.

Chapter Five

DevilzDeathLetter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:12:52 CDT

Kohaku and Inasho traveled many weeks filled with nothing but flying, walking, hunting, and sleeping. True, they were getting much, much closer to the temple that contained the Staff of Mercy, but to put it frankly, they were bored out of their minds. Each forthcoming day became dreadful to think about, and had absolutely no excitement to look forward to. They hadn't come across another village since the one invaded by the capitillars, so their supplies were completely gone--they'd even lost their bags somewhere through a thorn valley in the forest. All they had were their weapons, and each other.

"I'm bored!" Kohaku cried one night. "How long have we been walking?"

"Seems like hours.." Inasho sighed back.

"Seems like days," Kohaku corrected. "How close do you think we are?"

"I don't know," Inasho replied. "Seven months by foot?"

Kohaku nodded.

Inasho looked to the sky and pressed her index finger to her chin in thought. "Well, we've been traveling for about two months, by air and ground, and we haven't stopped except to rest, so... I'm hoping traveling by flight will knock off a good two months, though."

"It should." Kohaku stated. "We can go nearly twenty times as fast by flying than we can by walking. And most of the time we're flying. We only walk at night... which is kind of dumb, if you think about it. More dangerous things are out on the ground by night than there are by day."

Inasho shrugged. "Oh, well. We haven't had any troubles since the capitillars, so I'm not too worried."

"I hope we come to a city soon. Then we can get an idea of where we are."

"Yeah, you're telling me.... crap, look at that." Inasho pointed upwards.

There was a huge storm forming. The clouds looked like they were about to touch the trees and were completely black. It was only a few hours into the afternoon, and the clouds that were coming over made it seem like night time. They were moving quickly, so the girls were hoping that maybe it would just pass them by.

But they were wrong.

Seconds after Inasho pointed out the clouds, the wind picked up amazingly and thunder roared. Lightning started to strike into the forest, and it instantly started pouring.

"Get out of the rain!" Kohaku screamed, running under a tree. Inasho followed.

"This is bad," Kohaku said, hugging herself for warmth. "This is really bad. The storms getting really strong, and in a forest is one of the worst places to be... There's too much lighting for us to fly out of here."

The two were drenched and out of ideas. They had no cover, and no place to go. All they could do was ride it out.

Kohaku looked from the sky to Inasho. Inasho started to say something, but thunder drowned out her voice. Kohaku then shifted her vision from Inasho's eyes to past her, and her eyes grew wide.

"Watch out!" Kohaku screamed.

She grabbed Inasho's arm and threw herself to the ground, taking Inasho down with her. Inasho landed in a puddle of mud.

"What the fuck was that for?!" Inasho yelled, spitting out mud.

"We gotta get out of here." Kohaku said, grabbing Inasho's shoulder and pulling her up.

Inasho looked to behind her. A fallen tree had been thrown towards them due to the harsh winds, and would've taken her out if it weren't for Kohaku. The trunk of the tree they were previously using for cover was torn in half, and there was nothing but a spiky trunk behind them. Inasho then turned to see why the tree had fallen, and she couldn't believe her eyes. A tornado was tearing through the forest.

The girls just stood there and stared, watching it as it came closer. Trees and rocks and debris flying past them. They watched for nearly 2 minutes until Inasho noticed the tornado flashed a bright white color for a split second; like a light bulb being turned on, and then off again right away.

"Kohaku!" Inasho hollered over the roar. "Think of the temple, then fly into the tornado once it flashes again."

Kohaku turned to Inasho in shock, can't believing what she just heard. She looked to the tornado and then back to Inasho.

"Alright... but I'm trusting you."

They lifted themselves up into the air and while struggling to keep themselves in one place, waited for the tornado to flash again. They flew towards the tornado, but made sure to keep their distance. Once they saw the subtle glow around the funnel start to grow brighter, they hurled themselves into the funnel.

They were spun round and round. Even though they were only in the tornado a short time, it felt like hours. Once they were thrown, they hit a hard surface, which stopped them, but not in the most comfortable way.

Rubbing her noggin, Kohaku looked to see what they were thrown into. Her eyes widened.
They were thrown into the wall of the temple that contained the Staff of Mercy! Kohaku shook Inasho up, and then dragged her around the building until they saw the entrance. Looking to each other, and then to the entrance, they both prepared themselves for the dangers within, and took their first steps forward.

Chapter Four

DevilzDeathLetter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:11:58 CDT

Kohaku and Inasho watched in near-horror as the capitillars tore through the village. The largest one, which had just turned Gary's hut into rubble, stopped for a brief second as it's head twitched their way.

"Wait for it..." Inasho instructed. "On your call."

Kohaku nodded and prepared herself.

The capitillar took off with great speed, barrowing towards the two. Once it was about ten feet from them, it lifted it's front end up high and continued to charge; much like the one in the woods did to Kohaku and Inasho when they first encountered it. Kohaku watched with great proximity, calculating when it was going to strike.

"You jump right, I'll jump left." Kohaku commanded.

Inasho nodded. "Got it."

"Now!"

Just as the capitillar let its body go limp to fill like a 50 ton block, Kohaku and Inasho simultaneously jumped in opposite directions; dodging the attack perfectly. The ground shook when the capitillar hit the ground.

"Inasho! Do it! Do it now while it's still recovering!" Kohaku ordered.

Inasho whipped out her sword and jumped into the air. She swung down with all her might and cut off the capitillar's head with such force, that the head bounced once it struck the ground.

"Ok, now for the others." Kohaku said, pulling a small dagger from her boot. "I'll work on blinding them, then you go in for the kill."

"Got it." Inasho repeated, taking a single nod and readying her sword.

There were about 20 capitillars left of the herd, each over 30 feet in length. Their thickness varied in size, and it seemed that the elder-looking ones were the strongest, but also the smallest.

Kohaku took off. She ran through the village dodging the capitillar's poison and stabbing them in their eyes, Inasho following extremely close behind to finish them before they had a chance to react.

Since Inasho and Kohaku already knew how to kill them, the job went fairly easy. One by one, Kohaku slit their eyes, and Inasho would chop off their heads. It was not long before the streets of the village where bathed in capitillar blood. When it came down to the last one, though, it spit right as Kohaku was going to slice it, and she was forced to jump back, but Inasho didn't bother waiting for her to recover. She ran at it, full force, and swung her blade into its eyes, through its head, and down its body. She didn't go as to slice it all the way through, but she made a deep enough gash that it's organs were leaking out, and it fell dead to the ground.

"Show off." Kohaku gasped.

"Hey, I was just cleaning up what you couldn't pull off." Inasho replied, placing her sword on her shoulder and grinning.

Kohaku rolled her eyes. Inasho looked over to Kohaku and her eyes widened.

"What?"

During the battle, Kohaku's hat had torn and on of her ears were poking through.

"We're busted..." Inasho said quietly.

Kohaku lifted one eyebrow. "What?" She asked.

Inasho pointed to her head. Kohaku reached up with a hand and felt her ear. Her eyes widened. "Shit..."

Gary ran up behind them, gasping for breath and giggling like no other.

"Oh my god, thank you so much! I can't believe you guys! That was amazing! I can't believe you were able to pull that off!"

Kohaku and Inasho turned to face Gary. They were shocked that he didn't notice.

"That's a cute hat, by the way." Gary said, pointing at Kohaku. "Too bad it ripped during the struggle."

"Are you serious?" Inasho said, practically falling over at Gary's remark.

"What can you expect? He is human." Kohaku pointed out.

"Yeah, but I didn't think they were this dumb."

Inasho walked over and helped Kohaku up. "Well, we've really got to be going now." She grabbed Kohaku's hand and pulled her towards the woods.

"Hey, wait!" Gary called, following after them. "I didn't get a proper chance to thank--" He cut off after he entered the woods. Kohaku and Inasho were nowhere to be seen. They'd vanished into thin air. "Where'd you guys go..? That's weird..." He said, turning around and scratching his head confusedly.

"Let go of me!" Kohaku snapped, thrusting her arm from Inasho's grasp.

"Do you want to stick around and risk getting busted?!" Inasho barked back.

"No, I didn't even want to go back! Its because of you we even went back! We could've been long gone, but no, we had to help the humans! Humans of all things! Do you know what humans want to do to creatures like us? Huh?! Now, thanks to you, we wasted most of our energy so we'll be walking most of the day and night since we're so far behind schedule! You're lucky we at least got a meal!!"
Inasho was taken aback by Kohaku's outburst. She had never seen Kohaku blow up like that before. She couldn't believe it. Kohaku took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Come on, we're just wasting energy hovering here."

Kohaku and Inasho flew off once again. They flew until the sun set, and walked about three hours afterwards. There was still much tension between the two, and neither had anything to say, so Inasho rolled over to go to sleep and Kohaku leaned back while sitting in a tree branch and looked at the stars.

"Kohaku... why do you rarely sleep?" Inasho asked quietly in attempt to break the tension.

"Huh?" Kohaku asked, moving her gaze from the stars to face Inasho.

"You hardly ever sleep... I don't think I've ever seen you sleep, actually." Inasho replied.

"How do you know I never sleep?" Kohaku asked.

"Because, I do. I can usually tell if people are sleeping or not, even if I'm sleeping at the time. It’s a trait that I picked up from cat demons." Inasho explained.

"Ah, I see... well, I never sleep because..." Kohaku started. "Because my dreams haunt me."

"Haunt you?"

"Yeah, haunt me. All I see when I sleep are horrible memories of my childhood."

"I didn't know I was THAT abusive. Sure, I was a royal bitch, but I mean--"

"Was?"

"Oh, shut up, you know what I mean!" Inasho pouted.

Kohaku giggled. "I know. No, it’s not because of you. Before you."

"Oh... what happened?"

"I don't remember, to be honest. When I'm awake, my mind blocks those memories out... but when I'm sleeping, all of my guards are totally shut down. I'm my weakest when I'm asleep." Kohaku explained.

"Huh... Interesting." Inasho though aloud.

"Touch her forehead when she's sleeping..."

"What?" Inasho asked, staring at Kohaku.

"Touch her forehead when she's sleeping..." Kohaku repeated.

"Kohaku... are you feeling ok? You don't look right..." Inasho pointed out.

And she didn't. Kohaku's eyes were glazed over and looked as if she weren't focusing on anything and had just zoned out completely, or as if her mind had just shut down. She wasn't speaking in her usual tone. Her voice had become more innocent; almost childish. As if the child inside Kohaku was finally speaking out.

"Touch her forehead while she's sleeping?" Inasho thought.

"Kohaku?"

"Yeah?"

"I think that you should get some sleep tonight. I'll be lookout. You need rest, you barely get any. I've no idea how you run for so long with no sleep." Inasho suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Inasho..." Kohaku stammered.

"No, I think it is. If you start acting weird, I'll wake you up. Promise."

"Uh... alright." Kohaku said unassured. "But I'm trusting you... and don't fall asleep."

"I won't! You can trust me, you know!"

"I know, just making sure." Kohaku said, uneasy.

Then Kohaku lowered herself from her perch, laid down and curled up. Inasho waited about 45 minutes before Kohaku had fallen into a deep sleep. About 15 minutes after Kohaku had fallen completely asleep, she started to moan and twitch. Now, Inasho's curiosity always got the best of her, so she couldn't help it when the strange voice Kohaku had spoken in told her to touch her forehead while Kohaku was snoozing; she had to know what happened after she did the simple act of just placing a hand on Kohaku's forehead.

Inasho very quietly crawled her way to Kohaku and laid a hand on top of her forehead.

Once she did so, her head was filled with Kohaku's past memories. She saw and felt everything that Kohaku had felt through those horrible three years, all in the time span of three minutes. From the whippings, to the harassment, to the disgrace, embarrassment; absolutely everything. She felt every painstaking lash Kohaku had to endure on a daily basis for three horrifying years. She could almost feel her skin bleeding from the impact of the whip.

Inasho was thrown back, gasping for breath, and crying. She was on her bottom, and used her feet to push her away from Kohaku as far as she could, until a tree prevented her from going any further.

"Oh... my.... god...!" She gasped, holding her racing heart. "I think my curiosity just killed me!"

Chapter Three

DevilzDeathLetter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:10:39 CDT

With the burn spreading faster and faster, Inasho picked up Kohaku, and flew up through the trees to see how deep into the forest they were. She twisted around and around in circles in desperate attempt to find some type of town or anything with beings with knowledge of how to save Kohaku's life. Missing it at first, she spotted a small clearing in the trees, and flew as fast as she could towards it.

It was one of the tiniest town's she had ever seen, but she had no other choice. She landed on the village outskirts and quickly pulled a hat out of her bag, and a hat out of Kohaku's; to hide their ears. She put one on Kohaku, who had now broken out in a cold sweat. Then she quickly threw hers on, and ran into the town.

"Hey! Hey! Anyone! I need some help! I need some help here!!"

Inasho was instantly surrounded by a crowd of people.

"Move! Move out of the way!" Someone screamed as they made their way through the crowd. A few moments later he emerged from the sea of people. He was tall with wavy brown hair with a thin beard growing in. His eyes were deep violet, and he was well-built. He took one look at the growing burn, and screamed 'Come with me!' nearly as loud as he could over the people, and began pushing his way back through the crowd, Inasho following close behind.

Once they were out of the crowd of people, the man led Inasho into a small wooden hut about 30 feet into the marketplace.

"Set her down, and quickly." He said, quickly bending over to retrieve a small metal box from underneath a desk. "On the table."

Inasho set Kohaku down on the small wooden table inside the hut. The man threw open the box and pulled out a small wash cloth and smothered it in thick, gooey, dark green ointment. Then he picked up Kohaku's arm and started rubbing the cloth over her burn. It quickly stopped spreading as soon as he put the cloth to her skin.

"There. We'll just leave the ointment on for about 10 minutes, and she should be good to go. You should be careful, capitillars are extremely dangerous. Their poison is known to kill a man dead in his tracks in 30 seconds. She's very lucky; I'm surprised you got her here alive." the man said to Inasho, while putting away his supplies.

"Who are you?" Inasho whispered.

"Oh, sorry about that, I'm Gary. Gary Hudson. I'm the village doctor, but I'm also a very fine hunter. I'm well known throughout this land, you must not be from around here if you hadn't heard of me before." He replied.

"No, we're passer-bys," Inasho said. "I'm Inasho, by the way. Is Kohaku going to be ok?"

"She should be alright, we got to her in time. She'll just have a hard time moving that arm."

"What was up with that burn? Why was it spreading so quickly?" Inasho asked.

"That wasn't a burn," Gary replied. "Its was her arm dying. Capitillar's poison works by killing all the cells in the body through the skin. Its spreads very quickly, as you found out. How did you guys ever escape it? Very, very few have ever encountered a capitillar and survived to tell about it."

"We killed it." Inasho simply said. "Not that hard, Kohaku just wasn't careful enough."

"How did you kill it?!" Gary screamed, putting his arms on Inasho's shoulders and getting his face barely an inch away from hers.

"Kohaku threw my sword in its eye." Inasho replied.

Gary stood back up, causing the lighting in the hut to cover his face with shadow from his hair. All Inasho could see was the glares in his eyes. "You didn't kill it... you've just made it very, very angry... you've damned us all."

"I cut off its head!" Inasho cried. "I think its dead!"

Gary collapsed into the chair placed in front of the desk, leaning his face into his hands. "Doesn't matter... capitillars usually hunt in herds... the others will find its dead body and follow your scent to the village..."

"I fle--" Inasho started to say, but she backed off. She didn't want to reveal that her and Kohaku had the ability to fly; she'd expose what they truly where and all of the village would either kill them or send them on their way in a very violent manner--and they really needed food in their bellies. "I... I'm sorry... I didn't realize that I would lead them here... but I must tell you, we were attacked by a lone capitillar. There were no others around."

"I'm surprised..." Gary said.

Kohaku rolled over and grunted, falling off the table by doing so.

"Ow..." Kohaku said quietly.

"Good going, dooface." Inasho said blankly.

Kohaku slowly lifted herself and sat on the table. "What happened?"

"You did a dummy-thing and got yourself poisoned." Inasho explained.

"Oh, cool." Kohaku replied quietly.

"You are a very strange couple, indeed, you two." Gary said, chuckling. "Come, I'll get you guys something to eat."

"Fucking eh!" Inasho cried.

"You must excuse her language," Kohaku told Gary. "She's got quite a mouth on her."

"Its quite fine," Gary replied, chuckling once again. "We've all got one on us at times."

Gary led them out into the marketplace. "How about I cook you guys some stew?"

"Sounds great!" Inasho and Kohaku exclaimed together.

The three of them walked around the marketplace, Gary telling them of the village’s history while picking up various fruits and vegetables, along with some spices for their stew. Gary was being extremely kind to them, and offered them shelter for a few days, until Kohaku's system was back to normal, but they declined. Once all the supplies were gathered, he led them back to his place.

His house wasn't much, but it was something. It was a very small log cabin, with only three rooms, but it was decent living quarters. When they first walked into the cabin, their eyes were laid on a fairly-large kitchen, with a metal sink connected to a small stove and a small wooden table. The walls were decorated with maps of the village and the surrounding forests, and connected to the bathroom was a small bedroom with only a bed and a nightstand. The third and final room to the cabin, was a living room with a couch and a coffee table, facing a wall made up a huge window that looked deep into the forest. Outside, there were flowers growing and a small garden.

"I sell the crops I grow to the village, the only terrain worth farming on is right outside. A very small patch of it, the rest of the ground in the village is too dry to grow anything on it, or too walked on." Gary stated, boiling water in a large pot. He started to cut up potatoes, and herbs, and when finished placed them in the stew. "I don't know how great it is, but I do have some steak left over from one of the cows we slaughtered the other day that I can also add."

When finished with the stew, he went into the wooden cupboard above the stove and sink and pulled out three bowls. He filled them up with stew and then gave a glass of milk to each of them, along with a fork.

"I hope its alright; I'm not much of a cook, but I hear my stew is some of the best around." Gary said, winking.

They ate dinner. Kohaku and Inasho finished off the stew in fear of not being able to eat again for quite awhile. Gary was shocked by the two girls eating so much, but quickly understood once he was given an explanation. Kohaku and Inasho stayed and chatted with Gary for a little while, but bid their farewells not long after.

"Hate to eat and run, but we've got a strict schedule to keep." Kohaku said, Inasho pulling on her arm.

Once they exited the village, they both ripped off their hats, rubbing their sore ears.

"I'm never leaving a hat on that long again." Inasho said grumpily.

Kohaku nodded. "Shall we get heading?"

"Yeah, how's your arm?" Inasho asked.

"It's stiff, but I'll cope." Kohaku replied.

And with that, they were off. They both flew up over the forest to get an idea of where they were, and to where they were heading. They were just about to take off when they heard screaming. They whipped around in mid-air and saw that the village was filled with dozens of capitillars.

"Shit, we did damn them all!" Inasho cried. "We gotta help!"

"No way, I'm not getting poisoned AGAIN!" Kohaku protested. "We've already wasted too much time, lets just get going--they can fend for themselves!"

"No, you idiot! They'll all be killed! None of the people are strong enough to take them on alone!"

"Since when did you have compassions for humans?!" Kohaku argued. "You hate humans!!"

Inasho didn't reply.

"Fine, but if I get poisoned again, I'll kill you." Kohaku warned.

They flew off to the village, landed on the outskirts, and ran into the village. The main road through the village was littered with bodies of the injured and the dead, the capitillars tearing through the huts of the marketplace, and attacking anything and anyone that got in their way. They were pissed.

"What did you get us into?!"

Chapter Two

DevilzDeathLetter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:09:48 CDT

"Jesus FUCK!"

"Now what did you do?!"

"I stubbed my toe!"

Kohaku shook her head. "You ditz!"

"Hey! Its not my fault you don't walk in a straight line! You're always walking crooked!" Inasho spat back. "I'm not your mommy, you don't need to be constantly bumping into me! Learn to walk, will yah?"

Kohaku rolled her eyes. They've been walking for hours, and getting on each other's nerves the whole way.

"Will you just drop it?"

"Do you ever shut up? I swear to God..." Inasho said, lighting a cigarette.

Their bellies growled.

"...I'm hungry..." Inasho whined quietly. "We didn't eat today..."

"Yeah, I know, I'm hungry, too." Kohaku said. "I've been keeping an eye out for anything we can eat tonight."

"What time is it?" Inasho asked.

"I can't tell, the trees are too thick... It seems like its been night for hours now," Kohaku said, looking up. "Hang on."

Kohaku floated straight up, through the thick branches of the trees, and up over the forest. The sun had long past set, and their first day's journey had come to an end. She floated back down.

"Its dark. Let's make camp. Maybe we'll find some berries, or the fire will attract some type of animal." Kohaku suggested.

"Whatever." Inasho said, dropping in cigarette and stomping on it.

It took them about half an hour to find a decent clearing in the thick woods. Once they did, they picked up dried branches and leaves and created a fireplace. Inasho used her cigarette matches to set fire to the leaves, and they had quite a fire in no time.

Inasho sat up against a fallen log, and lit up another cigarette. Kohaku got comfortable leaning up against a thick tree. They sat quietly there; only their hungry bellies making a sound. Kohaku held her stomach.

"I'm starving!"

"You're telling me," Inasho said, stealing a drag. "We haven't eaten since yesterday."

Kohaku perked her ears, listening to see if she could hear anything running through the forest. She didn't hear anything.

"No dice." She said sadly. She sat back.

"Oh well, we'll get sleep, and pick up again in the morning. Maybe we'll find something to eat then."

They both just sat there watching and enjoying the warmth of the fire. All they could hear was the crickets chirping.

"...What do the people mean when they say every half-breed is cursed by birth?" Kohaku asked in effort to break the silence.

"Just what they say," Inasho said. "We're cursed by birth."

"What are we cursed with?" Kohaku asked.

"Every half-breed has a different curse. They're cursed with one of the seven deadly sins; lust, wrath, greed, sloth, pride, envy, or gluttony. As you could probably guess, my curse is greed." Inasho said, taking a drag from her cigarette.

"What's mine?"

"You don't know?" Inasho said, exhaling. "You, out of all creatures, should know your own curse."

Kohaku lifted one eyebrow in confusion. "I don't know my curse... maybe I haven't suffered it yet?"

"That would make no sense at all; we suffer our curse everyday of our lives since the day we are born." Inasho said, taking the last drag of her cigarette and throwing it into the fire. "I've known my curse forever."

"But I don't know mine!" Kohaku cried.

"Well, you're just fucked up. You've been fucked up since the day I met you." Inasho replied. "You probably just don't realize what your curse is, but I know you've suffered it."

"Which curse do you think I suffer from?" Kohaku asked.

Inasho exhaled the smoke from her lungs. "Lets see... you obviously don't suffer from gluttony... or lust... I don't think you envy anyone; well, maybe me; uhmmmm..... not pride... not wrath; you're never angry, you're not lazy... I would say most likely greed."

"But you don't know for sure? And don't we all suffer a different curse?"

Inasho didn't answer. She simply dodged the question by taking the final drag from her cigarette and flicking it into the darkness.

"But you don't know for sure?" Kohaku asked again.

"The only person who will ever know for sure is you." Inasho said, lying down. "Now, go to sleep. We don't need you to suffer from sloth tomorrow." And with that, Inasho rolled over so her back was facing Kohaku and curled up.

Kohaku rolled her eyes and leaned up against a tree.

"Only I know which curse I suffer..." She said silently while watching the fire burn itself out.

*****

"What the fuck is that?!"

Kohaku's eyes burst open to the sound of leaves rustling and twigs snapping. Something was stalking them.

"How long has it been around?" Kohaku whispered, not moving a muscle.

"I don't know... its been for awhile, though... all the bushes are crushed about ten feet from us, from all angles." Inasho whispered back.

Kohaku could not tell this, but Inasho could. Inasho had the ability to see in the dark; an ability only fox demons possessed. When light becomes scarce, fox demons can see the heat given off from animals and plants to tell the surroundings, such as thermal goggles that are used in the army do. Other demons could also, but it took many, many years for them to learn it. Fox demons are nocturnal, and are only awake at night. All other demons either hunted during the day, or in the failing light, which the ability to see in the dark was long forgotten by them.

"How big is it?" Kohaku asked.

"Big."

"Do you see it?"

"...No. Its surroundings are warmer than it is." Inasho replied, squinting her eyes and searching around her. "Be ready... we never know when it will strike... or where..."

Kohaku took a deep breath and prepared herself as Inasho did the same. They sat there, listening to the creature walking around them, each circling time gradually getting closer and closer. Kohaku quickly switched her gaze to looking behind her and she could see the leaves being disturbed.

"Its going to attack there." Kohaku whispered, pointing to the spot.

Inasho looked over her shoulder to where Kohaku was pointing, looked back at Kohaku, and nodded. Kohaku's ear twitched to a sound behind her.

"No! Its going to attack from behi--" Kohaku was cut off.

Just as Kohaku started to warn Inasho of her mistake, a giant, slimy caterpillar-looking creature jumped out of the bushes behind them. Its body was thick and fatty, and shining with poisonous slime that drenched it. It was a disgusting dirty-yellow color, with huge, glistening jet-black eyes for a head, and jetting out from underneath them were long, jagged, razor-sharp fangs that drank it's victims dry. On its underside where two rows of dozens of sharp, tiny little black legs. It was standing on its many hind legs, which caused its head to raise at least ten feet into the air. Neither Inasho nor Kohaku could see the tail of its never-ending body. The creature was screaming with hunger.

"What the fuck is this thing?!" Kohaku screamed in an un-sure tone.

"I haven't the least fucking idea, Kohaku, but I gotta feeling that its a kill-or-be-killed situation here." Inasho said back, getting into her fighting stance.

"I coulda told you that!" Kohaku said, lifting her body off the ground.

Kohaku had her best strength by fighting airborne, while Inasho was stronger by fighting ground battles. The two had devised a fighting strategy over the years, where Inasho would take them face to face, and Kohaku would attack simultaneously from the air. It has left all their foes dead, and barely ever has the system failed them.

Inasho drew her sword and jumped towards, and Kohaku flew upwards.

"Now!" Kohaku screamed as she attacked its eyes and Inasho swung her sword in attempt to cut the creature in half, but the creature's belly was too tough that it nearly snapped the blade. Its spit poisonous acid at Kohaku, and she stopped flying in mid-air, and fell 6 feet before catching herself in order to dodge the acid.

"Fuck!" Inasho screamed. "Its too tough! You're going to have to attack it from above!"

Inasho threw her sword in to the air and Kohaku caught it.

"I'll distract it!" Inasho said, dodging as the creature went limp and used its weight like a hammer, trying to crush Inasho to death.

Inasho started jumping from tree to tree, the creature following her and smashing each of them down. Inasho was trying to wear down the creature, so that Kohaku could get a decent shot at it with the sword.

"Arg, the trees aren't wearing it down!" Inasho screamed, now moving from tree to tree by jumping from the trunks, with her body parallel with the ground. "We need something else!"

Kohaku was also dodging the creature in the air. While it was knocking over trees trying to get Inasho, it was also spitting at Kohaku.

"Ah, its spitting too much! I can't concentrate on anything else but dodging!!"

And with that statement, the creature spit at Kohaku while she was speaking, and her arm was splattered with the poison.

"Oh, you dirty fuck!!" Kohaku screamed as her arm thrived in agony. She threw the sword with her other arm at the creature, and struck it in the eye.

The creature let out an ear-piercing screech, and fell to the ground. Inasho walked up to the newly blinded creature, and removed the sword, and in one smooth motion, cut off its head. Moments later, Kohaku fell unconscious in the air, and her limp body fell to the ground.

"Shit!" Inasho exclaimed as she ran to Kohaku. When she approached, Kohaku was having an extremely hard time breathing, and her arm had burned black, and the burn was spreading.

"Fuck, fuck, what do I do?! What do I do?!" Inasho stammered as she started to panic. "Somebody tell me, what do I do?!"

Chapter One

DevilzDeathLetter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:08:52 CDT

Many years had gone by since that day. Kohaku and Inasho became great partners, and great friends, and both were the most wanted thieves throughout the lands. Together, they had stolen countless treasures; and pawned them off for greater ones which they stored in a cave that Kohaku had found one day. The cave has been highly searched for years, but still never to be found. Kohaku and Inasho had no worries, and did what they pleased. Until one day, both of their lives changed.

Kohaku and Inasho set out to steal The Staff of Mercy, which was believed to be able to bring anyone back from the dead. They had been offered a nice sum in exchange for it. The staff was locked in an air-tight temple in the middle of a the most dangerous woods, nearly thousands of miles from the woods Kohaku and Inasho worked in. The trip was going to be a long one; much longer than any other that Kohaku and Inasho had ever taken before. Neither of them were prepared for what was about to happen.

Kohaku and Inasho spent three days preparing for their trip. Their only means of transportation was by walking and flying; they had to travel lightly.

"Hopefully its not completely deserted," Inasho said while throwing blades of all shapes and sizes into her bag. "We're going to need food and water. We don't have any extra room for either."

"I'm sure there will be some stops. When we do find a place, though, we'll just have to fill our bellies--and there is always hunting." Kohaku replied, also packing her bag. "Do we know how to get there?"

"That’s a very good fucking question," Inasho replied, pausing from her packing. "They say you can only see the temple in the fading light..."

"We could go under disguise and ask around... I'm sure someone around knows at least something--"

"Screw that. We can find it on our own!" Inasho interrupted.

"SO much like a man." Kohaku said, rolling her eyes.

"I heard that." Inasho said, throwing her pack behind her shoulder.

Kohaku sighed. "Are you ready now?"

"I was born ready." Inasho said.

"Really? I was born naked and screaming." Kohaku said, throwing her pack behind her shoulder.

Inasho punched Kohaku in the head. "You're a fucking idiot."

"You've got a real fucking mouth on you!!" Kohaku screamed, rubbing her head. "You gave me a goose-egg!"

"And you say I've got a mouth, huh? Now come on, knock it off. We're nowhere if we kill each other." Inasho said, walking out of the cabin. The same cabin that she introduced to Kohaku the day they became partners.

Kohaku followed. "Hey, lets ask the Dragon if he knows where it is. The Dragon knows nearly everything."

"The Dragon's a fucking idiot." Inasho said, picking up her pace.

"He's saved your ass hundreds of times." Kohaku spat back.

Inasho fell silent. "Whatever, do as you please." she said. "I'm not going anywhere near that fucking dragon ever again."

Kohaku put her hand to her forehead and sighed once more. "Fine. You wait at the cave and I'll ask the Dragon. We'll set out when I get back."

"I say we should split up." Inasho barked.

"You know that will get us absolutely nowhere. For being nearly 300 years old, you still don't know anything."

"Shut the fuck up. Fine, I'll meet you at the cave."

Wandering through the thickness of the forest, Kohaku silently crept closer and closer to the Cave of the Dragon. The Dragon was known for his wisdom. He was the oldest creature in the forest by far; nearing nearly 500 years of age. Whenever a demon needed help or information about something, the Dragon was who they went to.

Kohaku crawled through a thicket of veins and low-hanging branches, and then lifted up a curved branch thickly covered with leaves. Through the leaves she could see the entrance to the Dragon's cave. The top of the cave was higher than Kohaku could look up, with the roof of the entrance being a good 50 feet above the ground. The gaping hole of the entrance glowed in hues of orange, red, and yellow. Kohaku crept up to the entrance from the side and leaned her head into the cave. After inspecting it, she slowly let herself in.

Inside the cave was like nowhere that Kohaku had ever been before. With shadows blacker than the darkest night, and the flickering glow on the walls kept getting brighter. In the shadows, the temperature was colder than ice, but when not in the shadows, the temperature was hotter than the hottest summer day. The deeper into the cave Kohaku went, the hotter it became--and the harder it got to see.

After Kohaku had walked a good 15 minutes into the cave, she was stopped by a river of lava flowing through the tunnel.

"This is no ordinary cave... Its a fucking volcano!" Kohaku coughed as her lungs burned from the heat.

The river didn't extend that far foreword, but it flowed through small tunnels throughout the whole volcano. In the river were stepping stones, each about a jump-length apart. They varied in size and height, but one could easily make it across the river without falling in--if they had the balance for it.

Kohaku approached the edge of the river and jumped onto the first stone. She then made her way to the second, third and fourth, but when jumping to the fifth one, the stone cracked under her foot, and it fell in. Kohaku caught herself with her mind before she completely fell into the fiery river, but the damage had been done to her foot. She floated to the other side of the river, and took a seat on a nearby rock to examine her foot.

Her foot wasn't burned to the bone, but it was third-degree. She dropped her back to the ground and started rummaging through it. She pulled out a cloth and soaked it in the little water that she had brought for the trip. Then she wrapped her foot in the cloth. Once she was finished, she packed up her bag once again, and found a strong root in one of the walls to use as a walking cane. She didn't want to waste her energy, especially because Inasho always travels a fast pace, and with her new injury, she'd by flying or floating nearly all of the trip, and there's no way in Hell Inasho would carry her.

"Crap... now I've really done it. That'll add a good week to the trip now..." Kohaku thought, kicking herself for being so stupid.

She wobbled down the twisting tunnel of the cave until she came to a pool of lava. Above it was a ledge, and the Dragon was perched on it.

"Who goes there?"

The deep voice echoed throughout the tunnel. Kohaku rested on one of the cave walls for support. The Dragon lifted his thorny head, and Kohaku found herself being stared upon with great, piercing eyes.

"I've come in need of information on the location of The Staff of Mercy." Kohaku replied.

The Dragon lifted himself and stretched his wings. They were ratted and torn from many battles, his scaly body barring many scars. His face was pointed with thorns petruding from the top of his head, and the corners of his lower jaw, and long, sharp, jagged teeth hung from his gums.

"You wake me from my slumber to bother me about The Staff of Mercy?!" The Dragon bellowed, clenching the ledge as pieces began to fall into the lava.

"Yes, sir. I'm in great need of this information." Kohaku replied.

The Dragon's gaze drifted from Kohaku's eyes down to her foot.

"I see you fell into the river," He said. "The Staff of Mercy is many months from here. You will never make it with your foot like that."

Kohaku looked away.

"Tell me... why are you in need of The Staff of Mercy?"

"My partner and I pursue it." Kohaku answered, looking back to the Dragon.

"Who is your partner?" The Dragon asked.

"You know her very well," Kohaku started. "She has come for your advice over and over again. You've helped her greatly, and saved her life many times."

"And her name...?"

"Inasho."

The Dragon spread his mighty wings and flew down to Kohaku's eye level. "Inasho the Three-Tailed Fox?!" He heaved. "That ungrateful, unworthy, non-repaying bitch?! Did she send you here?!"

"No! I came by my own wishes!" Kohaku exclaimed. "She said she would never show her face here again!"

"And she is wise! If she were to ever show her face here again, I'd throw her into the lava pit!"

"I don't even want to know what Inasho did to make him this mad..." Kohaku thought.

"I come for your help alone. Inasho has nothing to do with this meeting." Kohaku assured him.

The Dragon flew back up to his perch. "I believe you.

"The Staff of Mercy is located in a far temple, about seven months trip due east from here on foot. The temple is located in the thick of the Wicked Forest, and can only be seen in the failing light, and only when one is searching from the sky. The temple is filled with many dangers behind every corner, in every tunnel... is by far the most dangerous temple that I've heard of. Chambers of poison gas, poison arrows shooting out of the walls and ceilings; walls of 1000 blades closing in on you from all sides; tunnels of fire and collapsing floors. All triggers of which are impossible to see until they've been triggered. No place for someone in your condition."

The Dragon turned and threw something to Kohaku. She caught it. It was a crystal.

"Boil it for best an hour and once cooled, soak your foot in it overnight. Begin your journey at sunrise. The burn will be healed by then."

And with that, the Dragon stretched his wings once more, and flew into a tunnel high above Kohaku's head and out of the volcano. Kohaku looked at the crystal once more, tossed it in the air, and caught it again, smirking. She placed it in her bag and flew to the same tunnel the Dragon used as an entrance, and proceeded to meet Inasho at the cave as planned.

The cave is where Inasho and Kohaku stored their many treasures. Its location has been searched for, but never found. And never will be. The cave is located at a lake surrounded by many tall, sharp rocks. To find the entrance of the cave, you must swim deep into the lake, and under a great rock that shoots into the water on the far side. Once under the rock, there is a wide passage leading back up, and when the surface is reached, there is the cave. The cave extends deep into the rock and has small cracks in the ceiling that allows light to come in, showing that the walls of the cave are covered in beautiful crystal that never stops shining. When walking into the cave, it forks into two tunnels, one of which holds the many uncovered treasures that Kohaku and Inasho had found and stolen, and the other holding the sleeping quarters. Kohaku discovered this cave many years ago, when they stopped at the lake to wash up and get fresh water, when Kohaku got the idea to take a swim. When she surfaced again, she pulled Inasho in and showed her discovery. The cave became theirs as of that moment, and its never let them down.
Once she got there, she did as the Dragon said. She boiled the crystal, and after an hour had passed, she removed the crystal which left the water sparkling. She placed her unwrapped foot into the cooled water and soaked it for the night. Kohaku rarely sleeps, so she spent the night pondering and listening to Inasho's snoring. Once Inasho woke, they set off to retrieve The Staff of Mercy.

Prologue

DevilzDeathLetter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:07:01 CDT

"Please! Please! I'll do anything! Anything! Just please don't hurt my baby! Don't hurt my baby!" The woman cried as her rapist from nearly eight months ago cornered her in a dark alley. "I'll do anything! Anything!"

The man struck her across the face, causing her to lose her balance and fall. He pulled out a knife from his boot and knelt down beside her.

"Oh, no! Please, God, no! Please! ...Please..." She cried, tears screaming down her face as she turned away from the rapist's gaze. She tried to defend herself, but he was too strong for her. He grabbed her two wrists and held them tightly together above her head with his right hand. In his left hand was the knife; which he used to cut open her pregnant belly. He pulled out her little baby girl--his little baby girl, and freed her wrists.

"Please... p.. p... please..." The woman gasped, trying to lift herself from the ground.

He nearly ignored her and cut the umbilical cord--the last thing binding the woman to her baby. He looked at her again; and smirked from her pain.

"This baby is an abomination!" He screamed. "It's blood is filthy; cursed! The world cannot hand this... this... this thing! What a sin it would be to let a monster like this roam our world!"

With this said, he knelt down beside her once again. He slit her wrists, and walked away; leaving her for the dead.

"Please... just... tell me... what did I have...?" The woman managed to choke out.

He stopped and just said silently, "A girl."

"A baby girl..." the woman said, falling back. "I always wanted to have a baby girl..." She smiled and her eyes closed as she bled to death.

He continued walking. All he heard is the echo of his footsteps. Once he was out of the alley, he tightened his long dark trench coat and pulled his falling hood back up while pulling out a small cloth to hide the baby in. Then, he took off towards the woods surrounding the city.

"All those women, and never once have I had to do this!" He barked, staring at the infant. His grip around her small body tightened as his hate for her grew even stronger, and she started to cry. The baby had not once made a sound before. Hearing the cries of his daughter, the rapist cringed, and his pace sped up.

"My friend will have much more fun with you," he told her, his direction changing and his pace quickening even more. "Let's just hope you're not dead before we get there."

It was not long before they reached their destination; the baby still crying. He knocked a secret knock on the cold metal door, and it slid open; allowing him to enter.

"And what is that?" A man, hiding in the shadows asked him.

"This," the rapist said, "is an abomination! Get rid of it! I don't care how its done!" He threw the baby into the shadows and turned to leave.

"Oh, my..." The man in the shadows said, "This is quite different. Is it yours?"

The rapist turned again.

"A woman I had about eight months ago," he told him. "I usually don't go for humans, but for this one, I had to make an exception...

"She didn't even scream," He recited, remembering. "It was so, so... fulfilling! So delightful! But, of course she would become of child. Filthy humans!! What else can you expect with them? They're good for nothing!"

He walked out the door and it slid shut behind him.

The man stepped out of the shadows, and placed the baby on a small examination table, to get a good look at her. "It's amazing you're still alive," he said. "Most would be dead by now... It must be a power they possess..."

He then turned to face a table littered with dozens of papers covered in sketches of new designs for torture devices; his own, of course. Pulling on a latex glove, he called for his assistant.

Her name was Glacynda. She was young, tall, and slim, with long red hair that flowed gracefully about her, and eyes the color of the ocean. She was exceptionally beautiful. The shadow man had kidnapped her awhile back; when she was still a child, and he raised her. Glacynda knew nothing of her parents; the crazy scientist being the only thing she knew as family. She saw him as a deranged father figure; while he saw her as a mere 'toy'. Glacynda's soul was gentile; even after years of living with a madman.

The madman went by the name of Dr. Madrill. He was infamous by the torture devices and weapons he created; and made a killing selling his designs on the black-market. He killed every known living relative he had; his mother, father, siblings, grandparents from both sides, aunts, uncles, cousins... every one of them. Madrill even went as far as to kill his wife and three daughters--all were used to test out his new designs.

"Glacynda, get out the drugs for me." He commanded.

"Yes, sir." Glacynda replied, opening a cupboard drawer and pulling out a box. She then placed it on his table; the dark shadows covering the infant from her view.

He spent minutes flipping threw the vials, checking every label; searching for the perfect ones.

"New test subject?" Glacynda asked as he concocted a poison and started to fill the syringe.

"Yes... but its too small for my devices. I'll just kill it now and dissect it. We'll soon see what makes them such a huge threat." Madrill replied.

He walked back to the table and pulled the infant from the shadows. The baby had stopped crying and her eyes were huge with curiosity. He took her arm and was about to inject her, when Glacynda pushed him.

"No!" She cried. "Not a baby! Not a baby!"

Madrill pulled Glacynda to the ground with him as he fell. Glacynda landed on the syringe and was injected with the poison. She stood up, her leg screaming with pain. She ripped out the syringe, and bolted for the door, grabbing the infant as she left.

Madrill did nothing to follow her; he knew she would be dead in a matter of minutes. As for his test subject, he gave up. She, too, would be dead in time. He was much too busy designing his latest design, and had simply no time to dissect a baby. He shrugged it off and closed the door Glacynda had left open.

Glacynda made it about 100 yards away from the clinic before her legs gave out, dead from the poison. The poison had made its way to her lungs and heart, and she had a hard time breathing. Glacynda held the now sobbing baby close to her, trying to keep her warm. She died there, not five minutes later, the baby still crying.

No one knows how long they laid there before Glacynda's body was found and taken away. The baby, was left there.

*****

An old man who lived on the outskirts of the nearest town found the baby while making his morning stroll around the woods. She was unclothed, and near death from cold. He picked her up, wrapped her in his coat, and took her home with him.

The man's name was Sao, and he lived on the outskirts of the small village that was nearly 10 miles from the city. He was in his early 60's and was very kind. He used to be the village blacksmith, but when Arthritis failed his hands about two years before, he retired to a small cabin, about a half mile out of the village.

He raised the baby girl for the next six years. Sao named her 'Kohaku', which was his late granddaughter's middle name.

Kohaku had grown into a very petite little girl, with silver hair and black highlights which she pulled back into a long braid that reached to her lower back. Her silky black tail was nearly longer than she was tall, with the tell-tale wolf ears that were too big for her tiny head, and huge, expressive eyes in the most beautiful shade of royal blue.

Kohaku is what one would call a 'half-breed'. Neither human, nor demon, half-breeds are cursed by birth, with stained black nails to prove it. Each half-breed suffers a curse of one of the seven deadly sins, but Sao had no idea what curse Kohaku suffered.

One could tell a half-breed by the ears atop their head. Only half-breeds had animal ears atop their head (Full-blood demons had pointed, elf-like ears), none has ever been found alive; all of which anyone knew of where 'taken care of' before they were born. With the strengths of both human and demon, a half-breed was the world's biggest fear; considered to be unmatchable.

Kohaku rarely spoke. Sao knew she had to have been born premature, and he figured that could be the reason why. She was very small for her age; and very innocent. She helped out best she could with odd-jobs around the house, and was never a bother. Kohaku was eager to learn and so unbelievably curious. With a smile that brightened up all that was around her, Sao couldn't imagine life without her.

Kohaku loved hearing all of Sao's stories; the ones about his family being her favorites.

Sao was the last of his family. His wife, daughter, and grandchildren were all killed in a terrible fire about three years prior. Sao blames himself for their deaths.

"I should've died that night, also..." Sao told Kohaku. "If I hadn't left to hunt those damn wolves, maybe..." He began to tear up.

Kohaku reached up with her tiny hand and wiped away his tears.

"Thank you, Deary." Sao said, taking Kohaku's hands into his. "If I hadn't left... they might still be here... but you wouldn't."

Kohaku especially liked hearing stories about Sao's late granddaughter; the one Sao had named her after.

"She wasn't much older than you when she passed," Sao said. "Her name was Natsuko, and she was my youngest grandchild.

"She loved to play cards; even though she couldn't tell which one was which! And she was an exceptional artist."

He rose and walked to the kitchen where he opened a drawer and pulled out a file. "This is some of her artwork," he told Kohaku, showing them to her. "This is the last picture she drew me... before the accident..."

Natsuko had drawn herself holding hands with Sao and what Kohaku figured was Natsuko's mother. There was no father in the picture, though. Kohaku searched through the pictures until she found one drawn of a man with red eyes and scary features.

"Yes, that's her father." Sao said. "Bastard abused her. Her mother wouldn't believe me when I confronted her about the issue... She was so blind! She couldn't see the cuts Natsuko endured, or the bruises that she bared! She was dead-set that the cuts were from Natsuko's climbing of trees, and the bruises from when Natsuko would trip and fall!"

He picked up the pictures and placed them back into the file. He set the file on top of the desk and then looked Kohaku sternly in the eyes.

"Don't you be blind like my daughter." He warned, pointing his finger at Kohaku. "Don't you be blind like her."

*****

After six years of living with Sao, Sao became the victim of a massive heart attack. Kohaku found him lying dead on the kitchen floor, drenched in sour milk. Kohaku had no actual knowledge of death, so she thought that he had fallen asleep. But when he failed to wake when she tried to wake him, she got scared.

Three days passed until two boys from the village came to check on the old man. Sao made daily visits to the village everyday, to pick up daily groceries, and Kohaku would be left at home since the village despised demons. The boys had become worried when he failed to show for the past three days. They knocked for about 30 minutes before letting themselves in, and Kohaku hid under the table. They found Sao dead, and then Kohaku under the table. They instantly thought Kohaku had killed Sao because she was half-breed, and tied her up. Then dragged her into the village; and immediately turned her into the authorities.

The authorities didn't kill, Kohaku, though. Instead, they chained her up in a cell and she was given moldy bread crumbs and muddy water to survive on. The only time she was let out of the cell was to be whipped.

After about six months, Kohaku had had enough. She figured out ways to sneak out of her cell while the guards weren't looking. She'd wander around town stealing from the market stands that sold fresh food. In the beginning, it only took the guards about three hours to find and catch her again after she had escaped, but Kohaku learned quickly and once made it nearly a week of not being found. She didn't know of any other place she could go to get food, so Kohaku never left the village, even when she had the chance. Once she was found, she was dragged back into the town square where she would be whipped over and over in front of everyone in the village; being mocked the whole time. And always until long after she had fallen unconscious. Then dragged back to the prison that she called her home.

Once while being punished, Kohaku tried to break free of the guard's grasps on her, but moved at the wrong time and was struck in the right eye by the whip. Her eye was completely blind after that, with a long jagged scar as a souvenir. By the time she was seven, her whole body was completely covered in scars. When her back was too beaten to be whipped, they'd move to her arms, legs, and stomach. Once Kohaku spit on a guard, and they punished her by running a white-hot iron pole down her spine--from the last cervical vertebra to her lower back. Then she was given no food or water for three days.

At about seven-and-a-half, Kohaku began to notice she had 'special abilities'. Although she was very thin, she was exceptionally strong; and should've died at least one-hundred times over and hadn't. She began sparring with herself with trees and rocks when she had escaped as training. Kohaku also noticed that she could lift things with her mind, and practiced as much as she could. She started off with small things like frogs, and every time she managed to escape she would lift and move heavier and heavier objects. She then worked on picking herself up. It took much longer to figure this out, because Kohaku had to focus all of her energy on herself, but she eventually pulled it off.

Kohaku started off by hovering just a few inches off the ground, but she practiced and practiced. Every time she had a chance, she would try and float higher; and move in directions while floating. Her goal grew higher and higher everyday. At first it was just one foot higher than the previous day, until it grew to 20 feet.

Even though Kohaku was very good at the things she could do, she never stopped trying. She was constantly training and pushing herself to improve.

One day when she was messing around, she picked up a small rock while in her cell and entertained herself by seeing how long she could hold it. She didn't know how exactly she did this, but somehow she managed to make the rock invisible. After seeing this, she worked on making herself invisible, and then by working outward. Kohaku figured that it was easier to just make herself invisible.

After perfecting her invisibility skills, Kohaku plotted her escape. Her permanent escape.

Her plan did not go accordingly. One day after her daily whipping, a guard tried to force himself on her, and Kohaku snapped. Her eyes grew red with anger, and black marks striped her body. Her stained-black nails transformed into giant talons, and she grew fangs.

She killed him. Slashed him into bits by punching him into the wall and using her talons to cut through his skin like paper. After she got her first kill, she moved to the next guard. After killing off all the guards, she then moved outside to the townsfolk.

One by one, she killed them. Every man, woman, and child faced her wrath. With every strike, all of the memories would flood back. When the town's children would throw rocks at her and trip her, or try to drown her in the lake. When everyone in the village would mock her while she was being whipped after escaping, and call her names... refer to her as a 'monster'. How the guards would taunt her with their food by waving it in front of her cell when she hadn't been fed in days... and how they would laugh at her when she collapsed due to hunger or pain. How every time she went out for her punishment, more and more would join in each day; each painstaking lash from their whips getting stronger and stronger...

She couldn't believe the pleasure she felt from killing them. After everyone in the village was slaughtered, she soaked their bodies and homes with gas from the lanterns and burnt it to the ground. She walked proudly from the smoke and flames with her head held high. She walked about 50 yards into the forest before she collapsed from exhaustion. The black marks striping her disappeared, the red from her eyes faded, and her nails and teeth shrunk back to normal.

Kohaku woke there hours later with no memory of what happened. She looked around dazed and confused, wondering what happened. All she knew was one thing; she was free. Free to do what she wanted; free from that cell; the daily whippings; the taunting townsfolk. Free from her Hell.

She crept through the winding woods, trying her hardest not to be found. She fell once again not long later, her tiny body shaking from hunger and the cold. Kohaku couldn't stand up, and her mind was too weak to carry her. Kohaku passed out there, and didn't wake for nearly another hour.

Kohaku woke to the smell of meat cooking and felt warmth. She lifted herself off the ground, but fell instantly. She crawled slowly, but surely, following the smell of food until she saw light through the bushes ahead of her. Kohaku silently crawled up to the bush and peeked through. There was a small fire burning, and its flames licking a skinned rabbit on a stick. Kohaku saw no one.

With her belly growling once more, Kohaku cautiously looked around, and when the coast proved to be clear, crawled through the bush. She slowly crept to the fire and grabbed the rabbit. She took a bite, and even though it burned her mouth, Kohaku couldn't believe how good it tasted. She was about to take another bite when she felt a blade touch her neck and heard a voice threatening her.

"Now what the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Kohaku dropped the rabbit and the blade moved up from her neck to her jaw line, turning her head to face her threatener.

"You dropped my goddamn rabbit, you mongrel!!" The stranger screamed. "It took me three fucking hours to catch that thing!"

The attacker was female. She had long tangled red hair pulled back into a ponytail with gorgeous jade-green eyes. On her cheeks where three identical stripes (on each). She was a fox half-breed with three long, glowing golden tails with black tips; and golden fox ears on her head; tipped also.

She was a thief. The most wanted thief in all the land. She went by the name of Inasho. "Inasho the Three-Tailed Fox", as the media called her. She was quick, agile, and very good in combat; especially hand to hand. Inasho is wanted dead or alive; preferably dead (but the reward is almost twice price if she is turned in alive).

She wore a bandanna for a top with holes covered with fishnet. And long, tattered and torn jeans with rugged Converse shoes. All items stolen, and well worn.

"I... I... I'm... so... so... sorry..." Kohaku stumbled to say.

"What the fuck? Are you retarded or something?" Inasho said, lowering her knife and slipping it into her belt. She stood up and picked up her rabbit. Inasho merely looked at it, and threw it aside. She then grabbed Kohaku's wrist, and picked her up by it. Holding Kohaku a good two feet off the ground, Inasho looked her up and down. Then dropped her.

"I might have a good use for you." Inasho thought out loud. She bent over and picked up her dirtied rabbit, and threw it at Kohaku. "Eat. You look like you haven't in years."

Kohaku looked back and forth from Inasho to the rabbit. Then she picked it up and began to eat.

"After you're done, we're taking you to the watering hole." Inasho said. "You're filthy and you smell like shit! And I'm not having the authorities be able to track us down due to your stench!"

Kohaku continued eating. Inasho slapped her.

"Listen to me when I'm talking to you, damn it!" She warned. "You're lucky I'm in need of you, but you hear me, as soon as I'm done with you; you're gone! And I don't care if it be by death or desertion!!"

Kohaku held her now pink cheek. She gave Inasho a dirty look, but Inasho's back was facing her.

"You'd BETTER not be giving me a dirty look!" Inasho yelled without turning around.

Kohaku threw the rabbit at Inasho and hit her in the back.

Inasho turned around. "I take it you're done." She said angrily. She grabbed Kohaku's ear and dragged her through the woods to the watering hole; Kohaku whining the whole way.

When they got there, Inasho threw Kohaku into the water. She then pulled out some stolen soap from a bag that she always carried to put her loot in. Inasho then spent the next hour scrubbing Kohaku to the bone trying to diminish the smell. Then she dragged Kohaku from the water and wasted no time by drying her off. She grabbed Kohaku's wrist and drug her through the woods to the most guarded place in the city.

"In there," Inasho explained, pointing to a stone building about 20 feet from the bushes they were concealed in, "Is the King's crown. Its covered in priceless jewels. And you are going to help me get it."

Kohaku stood silent.

"Can you talk, Stinky?" Inasho asked her.

Kohaku did nothing.

"Answer me!" Inasho said, pushing her.

"Yes, I can talk." Kohaku said. "...Just never had to before."

Inasho rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Here's what we're going to do..."

*****

Once the plan was all explained, Kohaku put it in motion. She ran from the bushes while Inasho stayed behind, and ran inside to distract the guards.

"Sucker." Inasho smirked as she ran from the bushes and snuck inside.

Once inside, Inasho ran the opposite way of Kohaku, and made her way to the treasure room. What Kohaku didn't know was that the stone building was actually the King's castle. Inasho's robbed from the castle countless of times, but she never knew where they kept the crown. Until now. She made her way down the dark corridor and pulled on a lantern.

"Third from the left, after the huge stone window facing the drawbridge." Inasho said to herself, gloating.

Behind her a wall opened up; revealing a hidden corridor. Inasho let go of the lantern and bolted towards the corridor. When she let go of the lantern, it went back into the place and the wall began to close again. Inasho rolled under the fast-falling wall and was locked inside.

Walking this corridor, it took her straight to a large room with nothing but a small stone table in the center. On top of that table; the King's crown. Gently placed on a pillow and put under a glass cover. Inasho crept up to it, looking around for traps or alarms. She studied the glass case that held the crown and saw nothing. Using one of her claws, she cut a long line around the circular case covering the crown and removed the top.

With big eyes, Inasho gently picked up the King's crown and admired it. She slipped it into her bag and turned to walk out, but when she stepped, the floor fell out from underneath her. Inasho fell two floors and landed with a large thud in another room. Filled with guards.

Inasho took position and started to fight. She took them down one by one, knocking some of them out with fists, killing others with her sword and claws. But with every guard she took down, it seemed like three more took his place. Pretty soon there were more guards than Inasho had ever fought before, and she was having a hard time fighting.

When she threw a punch at one rather bulky guard, one grabbed her from behind, and unarmed her. With his sword pressed up to Inasho's throat and her arms bound by two more guards, she was helpless. They ripped off her backpack and removed the King's crown.

"We knew you'd be back for this." The head guard said to Inasho, holding up the crown for her to see. Inasho struggled, trying to break free, but the blade was pressed tighter to her throat. "Ah, ah, ah. We wouldn't want to miss our meeting with the King, now would we?"

Inasho spit in his face.

He raised his hand to strike her, but something knocked him off of his feet. Inasho looked and saw that it was Kohaku.

"You idiot!" Inasho screamed. "You've damned us both!"

Kohaku stood up from the ground and the head guard looked at her.

"What?!" He cried. "Another half-breed?! Kill it! Kill it! NOW!"

The guards that weren't holding Inasho turned and started to attack Kohaku. Kohaku had never fought in actual combat before; but she got the ropes of it very quickly. Kohaku dodged what punches were thrown at her and the swords swung at her with ease due to her tiny body and flexibility, and knocked over the guards holding Inasho by tripping them. Once Inasho was free, she picked up the crown, which was dropped when Kohaku dropped the main guard, and placed it back into her bag. Then she took back her knife and started to fight alongside Kohaku.

The two helped each other out and they took down the guards together. Once all of the guards were either dead, too injured to fight, or unconscious, Inasho and Kohaku left.

Inasho was in an extremely good mood. She walked down the corridors whistling a happy tune and rubbing the King's crown. They walked out of the castle and into the thick forest once more.

Inasho led Kohaku to a small fort in the woods. It wasn't much, but it was better than just sleeping on the ground or in a tree. There was a small wooden cabin with a table that was covered with a thin blanket. There wasn't much room between the table-bed and the other wall, but there was enough for a small, single above cabinet. Inasho emptied her bag on the table-bed and took out different types of knifes and countless little jewels.

"This is where I stay when I'm around here." Inasho said. "Its in the thickest part of the forest and is impossible to find at night unless you know where it is. We can crash here for the night. Head out early in the morning."

Kohaku looked at Inasho confused.

"Do you still need me?"

Inasho stopped what she was doing and looked at her. Then she looked back and continued sorting her treasures.

"No, not really. But I think you and I should steal together." She placed everything back into her bag except the King's crown and her knife, and placed it in the above cabinet. "Think about it." Inasho bent down to Kohaku's level and looked at her straight in the eyes. "We could have anything we ever wanted. We'll be rich! If we work together, we'll be unbeatable! What do you think?"

Kohaku didn't answer.

Inasho stopped what she was doing. "So are you in, or are you out?"

Kohaku looked at the ground and then up at Inasho.

"In."

Jessica's Drawings

DevilzDeathLetter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:56:42 CDT

Drawings from the creator of Inasho herself! I've saved a couple of her old works, and I'm going to ask her if I can put them on the site. I'm sure she'll have no problem. But I'm not adding them until I have her permission.
So, because of this, COMING SOON!!

Click the thumbnail to see full view!

Chapters

DevilzDeathLetter — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:43:38 CDT

Wh00t! Chapters of Battle Scarred! Click on the thumbnail to see full view for Chapter pictures, or the link to read!
*~.Chapter Pictures will be up shortly!!.~*


Prologue	Chapter One	Chapter Two	Chapter Three	Chapter Four

Chapter Five	Chapter Six	Chapter Seven

BATTLE SCARRED (C) AMBER DAHL 2002-2008
INASHO THE THREE TAILED FOX (C) JESSICA LEAVECK 2002-2008

Battle Scarred

DevilzDeathLetter — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:43:08 CDT

Stronger than both human and demon.
The world's greatest fear.
They say they're impossible to defeat.
Half-breeds are said to be a legend... but they're not anymore.

Kohaku wasn't supposed to be born into this world. Her 'father' attempted to get rid of her, but it was too late. Now she's on the loose with another half-breed, Inasho, and they're not only unstoppable; they're the world's most wanted duo.

When Kohaku and Inasho set off on a journey to get The Staff of Mercy, which is guarded in an extremely dangerous temple, everything goes wrong.

WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT
BATTLE SCARRED CONTAINS EXPLICIT MATERIAL SUCH AS LANGUAGE AND INTENSE VIOLENCE.

BATTLE SCARRED (C) AMBER DAHL 2002-2008
INASHO THE THREE TAILED FOX (C) JESSICA LEAVECK 2002-2008

Pixel Dolls

DevilzDeathLetter — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:51:22 CDT

Awh, the many pixel dolls I've done of my characters over the years. =]
These are just random pixel dolls I've done over the years.
*~.Pixel Dolls Will Be Up SOON!.~*

Click the thumbnails to see full view!

		Fullview

Drawings

DevilzDeathLetter — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:37:31 CDT

Drawings of the main characters of Battle Scarred.
These pieces don't have to do with the book, they're just random drawings I've done over the years. :)
Its always fun to see how much a character changes throughout the years!

Click on the thumbnail to see full view!!