(D: that would have been horrible.. though I did have that kind of plan in mind <<... xD just not right as he ran away...)

Miyabi was determined to find the woman once more... but from one tree it was impossible to see movement. His ears were tuned towards the cries of the men and he took to the skies once more as one of the many great predator birds of the skies... long talons, a sharp beak... small animals would run in fear of him right now and he knew he might attract the attention of Aiden's snake Shinta. As snakes were an eagles meal delicacy. His eyes were trained down to the forest floor looking for a sign of the woman. He circled the area... finding the campsite once more as he took his human form once more and examined the bite marks on the mens throat and shoulders. "She poisoned them.. with a bite? As if she too was a snake.. a snake with legs." He stood up, looking around for her trail. Noticing a small clearing of leafs that resembled a foot print he decided to follow that. His body molded it's self into a wolf, sniffing along the forest floor for her scent... picking up a strong smell of perfume he followed that so far as a river bank before he lost it. He tried tracking it into the water and onto the otherside but lost it from there. His head whipped around his fangs bared as he saw the rustling of a bush but all that came out was a small rodent. He sat onto the ground, his body once again becoming that of a man.

Though the men from before were foolish... there was another that knew stupid fools were capable of finding the hunted, once they were out of the picture he knew it was easier to take the prize for himself. This man was far more intelligent than the druken mortals that came before him and masked his scent, trail, and even the vibration of his foot steps. Miyabi was scowering the ground to find her trail once more... maybe he had taken the wrong trail and followed the scent of flowers instead of her... he would have to backtrack. As he stood up, he made his way back through the river when his eyes caught the glint of anothers and he barely had time to react before the piercing pain of an arrow tore through his flesh and he stumbled back as another one grazed his throat. "N-No.." He turned his back from the warrior, dashing off into the woods as fast as he could. He held the arrow into his flesh hoping to keep his blood from spilling out but he could feel it starting to trickle over his fingers. He crashed through a wall of thick undergrowth, tumbling down the side of an embankment to the bottom. The stems of the arrows snapping off leaving the tips embeded into his skin as the man who had fired the initial shot skidded down the side of the same embankment, firing another shot at the wounded demon, piercing into his shoulder. "I knew those three would lead me to you... you are sly to think you can simply prace and fly away... but no matter where you go... your trail of amnesia and pain leads me to you Miyabi. All I needed was for you to make one mistake... and you were in my grasp." the man planted his foot down on Miyabi's chest, tearing his arrow from his flesh making Miyabi scream out. He was trying desperatley to keep his blood from continuing to flow but with another arrow pointed to his head all he could do was quiver. He was unarmed, with no weapon and the pain coursing through his body he couldn't think straight... "The only monster in this world is the monster known as Mortals..." he muttered.

As Aiden continued to walk through the forest she tore a bit of her clothes to make a wrap for her hand. Her hand was still bleeding from where she had grabbed the blade. Shinta nuzzled her neck comfortingly as she did so. She looked down at Shinta and sighed softly.

"You think we will ever see him again? Or do you think he left us for dead since he got his meal?"

Shinta looked at her in an unsure manner. She herself was unsure at that point, she hadn't the time to ask him where he would run off to. Just as she was thinking of him she heard a piercing cry. If she could put a voice to the cry it had to be his. She started to run in the direction of which the cry came from and stopped behind a tree before entering a clearing where the man and someone else was. Aiden could smell his blood dribbling from his body. Her mind began to panic as she knew this was bad, and it must have been a trap all along to get him alone. She stayed put not wanting to go any closer for she did not know how clever this man was. Her mind contradicted itself yelling that she needed to help him before he dies but she also needed to put herself in a situation where she could have the upper hand for sure; right now she didn't. Aiden bit her lip and listened in on the conversation the two were having.

The man took the arrow from his bow, stabbing it into the flesh of Miyabi's chest as he circled around the demon. "Creatures like you deserve to die, torturing the humans as you've done for so long... striking fear into the hearts and minds of every woman and child. You may have thought our war ended centuries ago but I carry the blood of my fellow men in my hands when I say this.. I will continue this war until ever demon is laying dead on this earth." He grabbed Miyabi's jacket with one hand, picking the lighter and smaller demon up from the ground as he drilled the tip of his arrow further into his flesh. "For years now you've flown away from me... and avoided the lethal tip of my arrows. It only took some clever thought though... to outwit you." He threw the demon to the ground once more. Miyabi landing face first in the dirt as he gripped at the roots of a tree to try and pull himself away, the forest floor covered in his red blood as it seeped into the earth to feed the plants and trees. The man pulled out a long rope he had carried on his waist, his foot to Miyabi's back to keep him from moving as he tied the demon's hands behind him. "Don't try to fly away now little birdie.. or i'll shoot you right out of the sky..." Miyabi had suffered three or four arrow wounds, each letting his blood flow. He gasped for a breath of air like a fish might do when out of water as he was being dragged back up the hill. "I plan to take you back alive... so I might catch a bigger reward for your head." The mans smile was laced with the filth of devious intentions and his attitude was as rotten as his grin. He was a good hunter, his bow had pin point accuracy... he knew his target well... "Perhaps I can make you into a nice rug... i've always wanted a demon head mounted to my wall though." He laughed as he pulled Miyabi to the top of the hill, picking the demon up and tossing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatos. "Perhaps I can have you become my personal pet... and serve my wife and children so they may never have to lift a finger again. Then again the money i'll get from just having wounded you would be more than enough for me to live a long and comfortable life... ah the pleasure you will bring me.." He laughed a sickening laughter that sent the birds to the sky. Miyabi wasn't built to fight... he was a fragile man. A story-teller, a writer, an artist.. but not a warrior. He wasn't trained to take damage, and withstand pain... his greatest weapon was his transformations... which he was losing, drop by ruby red drop. "..I would rather die...." miyabi uttered as he coughed out a splatter of mucas and vomit. "I refuse to serve a cruel mortal like yourself..."

Aiden's eyes narrowed at the sight of the man. He was the kind of mortal that made her sick. He reminded her so much of her father how he acted. As the man drug the demon off she followed behind at a safe distance. Along the way she tried to think of something to do to help. She didn't want him to loose any more of his blood, but she once again couldn't just run out there and stop him, it wouldn't be that easy. She started thinking of a plan as to what to do when they met their destination, she just hoped that she wouldn't be too late or that they didn't plan on killing him right away. When the man was completely out of sight she hissed softly to Shinta. Shinta nodded and started going after the two men hiding in the grass stealth like. He wanted to get close enough so when he was directly behind the man the demon could see him, to reassure him that Aiden was near. Every now and then Shinta would stick his head up out of the tall grass and look up at the demon who was flung over the man's back. Each time he hoped the demon could see him. Aiden followed way behind the three to the point she could barely see them. She couldn't risk the man seeing her, but Shinta looked, acted, and smelled like an ordinary snake, so she knew he wouldn't catch onto his scent, even so, Shinta had a way of getting around being killed, the quick little sucker.

Miyabi knew it was foolish to try and run now, but he attempted several transformations, barely even growing a whisker before his energy was spent. The man laughed at his feble attempts to make an escape as he threw the demon to the ground. They had made it to the edge of the forest where a saddled horse waited, prancing in it's place at the sight of the demon. Miyabi looked up to the horse, seeing the fear in it's eyes, soon his eyes wondered back into the grass of the forest where he caught sight of the small head of Shinta dropping back into the cover. He felt a hint of relief but also worry, for her life now. This man had skill with a bow.. and he could only imagine that if he was any kind of warrior he also specialized in a short range weapon as well. Miyabi tried to do even a partial transformation, one so he might grow the claws of a bear or tiger to cut through the ropes but even as the tigers stripes appeared on his skin the man took hold of the arrow that stuck from his chest and rammed it in further to stop him. "Don't try to pull that trick on me.. I know your ways by now Demon and you won't escape." Miyabi let out another shriek of pain, gasping for more air as he was tossed over the back of the horse, the man riding with him in his lap. "Your pain is great now, but wait until we reach home... you may as well give up... for we have an antidote for demons like yourself." Miyabi looked back over his shoulder, hoping to catch a last glimpse of Shinta as he was dragged off by the man on horse back once more. "An.. antidote?..." he murmured. The man cackled like a hyena and nodded. "That's right... one that will make you suffer only as the humans have suffered under the demons will. No longer will we have to live in fear of you. Once we obtain your blood.. the blood of a therianthrope... our antidote is complete. It is why I can't allow you to die just yet. You see... that blood is what will keep the humans alive... and stop the uprising of demons. It is what will turn your putrid flesh into the mortal flesh you despise. Of course, you are a lucky one as you won't know that kind of pain... there is almost no chance you will survive the extraction. Even if you do... we'll kill you anyways so you can't spread the word to your fellow demons..." His grin widened as the horse picked up speed and Miyabi's mind reeled with fear. He couldn't allow himself to become a.. a.. cure to being a demon. It was an impossible concept...

Shinta followed after them and had an idea. Though he was not ordered by Aiden to do this, he did it anyways. Shinta slithered quickly in between the horses feet to get the horse's attention. The horse panicked at the sight of the snake and began to buck. The horse reared back on its hind legs and ran off. Shinta darted back into the forest and into a hole in a tree where he knew he would be safe and where he could have a clear view of the two that were now on the ground. Shinta had a look of amusement on his face as he saw the man literally get off his high horse.

Aiden was a few dozen feet behind when she saw this incident. She rolled her eyes and knew this had to be Shinta's doing. She watched carefully to see what would happen next. She had an idea now that Shinta had gotten rid of the horse. She got down low and began to make her way in their direction being careful not to make a sound. When she got into that area she made a really low hissing sound so Shinta could hear her. Shinta slithered from his hiding spot and over to her. She held out a blade that was rather small even for a dagger. Shinta knew exactly what to do. He took the blade handle in his mouth and began to drag it along. When he saw the man's back was too him he slithered out into the opening and behind Miyabi where he nudged the blade into the man's hand then darted back to his hiding place in the tree before the man could notice anything was going on. By this time, Aiden had distanced herself from the scene and watched the two men who no longer had a horse.

Miyabi wince in pain as his body hit the ground, coughing up blood now instead of the bile of his stomach. His head was spinning in eight differenct directions as he kept his eyes on the man. It was obvious he wasn't going to be killed here... he was going to be kept alive for as long as possible... kept alive to suffere. His eyes went wide, pulling away from his view of the man who was throwing stones at his "No good, rotten, worthless horse" He felt the cool touch of Shinta's scales and the leather of the handle that was placed into his hands. ' Thank you..' He thought as he began to adjust the blade between his hands, starting to cut away at the ropes that bound his hands. The man looked down to the demon taking no notice of the situation that was unfolding and grabbed hold of the remaining shaft of arrow that stuck from the Demons chest, pulling it from his muscle and skin. "You are so much trouble. Fine... if that is how things are going to go then I will drag you to town myself and present you like a hung man to the people there." He took hold of Miyabi by his hair making the Demon cringe... he didn't stop though, he wanted his freedom back. He felt the ropes slacken around his wrists and he kept hold of the knife; passing it to his other hand he thrust it over his shoulder into the thigh of the mans leg forcing his assailent to drop him once more. Miyabi tore the small dagger from the mans leg, bursting up from the ground as he made a last resort sprint towards safety. "I will be no fools slave... the day I am a mortals pet is the day we find peace in these lands!" he called out, spinning around to see what had become of the man. An arrow shot past his ear, causing him to fall backwards as another rushed past the otherside of his head. The man was reduced to kneeling on the ground as the dagger had torn the muscle of his leg though it wouldn't stop him from attempting to finish Miyabi off. "Get back here Demon! I'll ring you dry!" Miyabi collapsed back against a heavy stone boulder, clasping his hands together his chant started...

The world they were in dropped from reality, turning into a deep darkness before everything was consumed by fire. From Miyabi rose a milky and solid mist that formed into the many transformations he had at his disposal... like the spirit of a man they twined together into a greater beast... a creature who'd not been seen since the dawn of time. The head and chest of man, the wings of a great bird. The powerful front chest and paws of a lion and a the backend of a wolf with a tail the entended forever until it became that of the flames. This creatures arms reached out towards the man, opening his arms wide. Miyabi's form became translucent... as if he was disappearing from existance under the presense of this creature he had formed. The man stood astounded... caught in a complete and oblivious daze. "What.. what is this?" he screamed out. Miyabi did not answer though as he finished his chant, falling to the ground like a dirty rag. The summoned creature drew up a weapon, thrusting the tip of it's blade through the man who fell into two halves... his spirit leaving to join with the summoned beast. Once the man was finished off by what ever this beast was... as quickly as he was summoned... it burst back into the thoughts Miyabi had collected returning to the demons body as the world returned back to order. Even as the sun was showing up into it's assendence for the mid-day... Miyabi did not wake.

Aiden saw from a distance a slight glimpse of what was going on. She knew though the man had to be gone. What ever Miyabi was doing it had to have ended his life if he was mortal. She ran over to the spot where Miyabi was and saw him lying on the ground. She rushed over to him and examined his wounds.

"Damn... We need to stop this bleeding"

Aiden pulled from her bag a wash cloth of which she pressed onto his wounds and tried to think of what to do. Shinta slithered up the man's body and placed his light body over the cloth. Aiden nodded and started to drag Miyabi to a safer location. Though he was not the toughest demon alive, he was still quite heavy for her small figure to carry, she strained to drag him off and made it a decent way from the main road before stopping. She made it back to the stream at which Miyabi encountered the mortal who threatened to take his life. Shinta moved away from the rags as Aiden lifted it up slightly to see if there were any more arrow heads within his flesh. There were none that she could see so she quickly ran over to the stream and dipped the cloth in the cool water and brought it back over and applied the pressure to the man's wounds. While she did so Shinta slithered into her bag and brought out large streams of bandages that she had purchased a while ago in times like this. Aiden lifted Miyabi up a bit and removed his shirt. She rested his torso against her chest so she could easily wrap the bandages around him. After tending to his wounds she grabbed a pile of cloth and bunched it up and put it under his head as a pillow. She also reached into her bag and withdrew a blanket and placed over him. It was still early morning and neither one of them had slept yet. At that thought Aiden let out a soft yawn and laid down a few feet away from Miyabi with Shinta curled in her arms and fell asleep.

It was a long time before Miyabi's glinted open.. the sun was already setting again before he realized where he was. He sat up, groaning as he rubbed his head, gritting his teeth as the pain in his chest as he held onto his own flesh. "Damn it..." He could feel the bandages that were wrapped around him, looking down at the handiwork Aiden had done to help his wounds. He noticed her sleeping off to the side with the small snake gathered up in her arms. He couldn't recall much of what had happened after he had started his chant... all he remembered was the dark world becoming enflamed and then his mind went blank. He looked at the blood that soaked into the bandages and knew he had lost many forms for transformation. "This isn't good... I need those..." He could smell his blood all over the forest but there was no way to retrieve a form from a lost drop of blood. He only hoped he hadn't lost any of his most precious forms... expecially the one of Guai Keung. He staggered to his feet... looking around the forest. Miyabi grabbed hold of a branch to keep his balance though he overestimated its durability as it snapped under his weight sending him hurling to the ground once more. "Ah... damn it..." he muttered in frustraition. He needed substanance... he looked over to Aiden and her snake. Shaking his head he knew he couldn't steal her thoughts again. She had a horrible reaction the first time. There was no way the snake was going to let him get close to it either. He scanned the forest for any other animal with a strange thought, a deep sigh leaving his lungs as the entire forest was a grey and colorless as a blank wall. He looked back to Aiden once more, bitting down onto his lip... maybe... just a small thought?... She was showing glimmers of color to him. He crawled his way over to her, leaning over her sleeping body like a lion on it's prey. He lowered his head to her ear whispering his sorries as he laid atop her, embracing her into his weak grip.. the strange colored mist rising from her once again as he stole away her dreams. Taking them as nourishment to his own form.

Aiden's dreams were not dreams of pure happiness like her thoughts were earlier of how funny he looked as a zombie. She was having another nightmare of her father and the people around her and how cruel they were to her. The nightmare that Miyabi had stolen was the memory of the children in her village who made fun of her constantly. There were images of children running up to her and pulling on her hair and clothes and some even threw little stones at her while they laughed carelessly. Though the dream was mostly a nightmare there was a child who ran up and started shooing the others away for being so mean to her. The little boy reached out to the Child Aiden who was sitting on the ground with her arms over her head trying to protect herself from being hurt. She looked up at him as he smiled down at her. She went to take his hand as his mother came along and pulled him away from her. She scolded him as they walked away.

'Stay away from her, she's cursed.'

Cursed, that's what Aiden was, cursed... No one loved her because they saw her to be a sign of bad luck.

Right before Miyabi stole the dream away a small stream of tears cascaded over her dirty smudged cheek. But the pain wasn't going to be there for long thanks to the one who stole the dream away the one she would have willingly given the dream away to.

Miyabi moved away from her, embaressed by what he had done. Never before had he been embaressed by this kind of situation.. taking a persons thoughts was easy. He had grown to respect this woman though, curious about her form... how she had come to be so clever and trancend the mortal existance. How could she be a cure to mortality and he be a cure to demonality... were their blood one in the same in some way? His head was filled with questions he knew she couldn't answer but wanted to ask. He feared taking a thought or dream that might remove her memory of who she was or what she is. He made a futile attempt to become like her though.. to take her form. Though all that happened was his chest grew two sizes bigger and he lost another important appendage to the male anatomy. His hair curled and fell over his shoulders and back once more and he became frustraited as to why he couldn't take her form when he had taken two of her thoughts and only achieved a smaller waist and firmer buttocks. "This isn't fair in the least... she could be what i've been looking for and all I get from her ... are these!?" He was of course talking about the haughty breasts that had grown once again and he flopped onto the ground, planting his face into a patch of flowers. "owe..." he mumbled into the dirt. With his appetite filled and his body rested he was feeling much better than when starved and tired... he felt little pain from his wounds except for when he moved around too much. Miyabi cursed under his breath, settling down he watched as Aiden slept... pondering what was going wrong. He continued to try to become like her, to take her form but all that happened was he had achieved different variations of his own female form... "This... was never in the manual..."

Aiden's eyes tightened as she started to wake. She sat up slowly and put her hand to her head, she had a splitting head ache. Shinta fell from her arms limply as the lazy snake wanted to sleep longer. She looked over to where Miyabi was but saw he was no longer there. She looked around frantically for him before seeing him within sight. A small relieved sigh escaped from her mouth as she walked over to him. She sat down next to him and yawned softly.

"I hope you are feeling much better then you were, you were pretty out of it and your wounds were pretty bad... I tried to stop as much blood from flowing as I could."

She looked down as a sad look crossed her face.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have helped you sooner. I feel like I could have done much more if I had tried a little harder to get to him sooner."

Aiden closed her eyes and thought silently to herself. Just then, she realized something. She had spent almost two full days with this man and had not even gotten his name. Though the situation was quite awkward Aiden pushed forth her hand into his line of view. With a soft laugh she introduced herself.

"I'm Aiden, heh...."

Miyabi went wide eyed as she approached him, quickly closing his jacket over his feminine form. He didn't need her laughing at him again for being a complete failure in transformations. "I am.. feeling better. Very much so. I don't know what kind of forms I lost though, I'm hoping they were mostly the ones of common animals so they are easy to get again but i'm afraid they won't be... i'm afraid I could have lost the form of the harpies or uroboros..." He didn't dare to try and change into them now not when their trail was this fresh... he didnt want to leave behind any sign that he was the shape-shifter people were after. "It is fine, I know you did all you could... I am grateful you didn't simply abandon me..." Once again his body molded it's self into his origional body and he let his blue, butterfly encrested jacket fall open to show his wounded chest. "Almost everyone else i've ever met... would have left me to the hands of the mortals. They don't wish to get involved with the kinds of things I am involved in..." He looked to her hand, wondering if it was an offering of friendship as he took hold of it to confirm the deal. "Aiden... I am Miyabi, guardian of Guai Keung." He felt a sense of peace wash over him as he learned her name and he revealed his. For once it wasn't just someone calling him 'Demon' or 'Monster' to get his attention. "I thank you very much for defending me, Shinta is amazingly intelligent..." He smiled to the small lazy snake. "Even if he is a tad lethargic..." he laughed and threw his arms around Aiden embracing her into a hug. "I could wish that we might meet often, and for one day my goal to be complete so Guai Keung can rule once more... " He had figured it would be impossible for them to travel together as it was unlikely she would always want to be trying to rescue him... he much better at running away alone... "I will make sure to find Shinta a good meal to thank him for his hard work... and I will find something expecially wonderful for you..." His eyes grew sad as he wondered if he should reveal to her that he had taken another one of her thoughts and he argued with himself over it. "I... there is one more thing I would like to say though..." he sat back once more looking at her. "While you slept... I stole away your dream. I am sorry if it was important to you but I was starved and worn out."

Aiden looked at Miyabi as he talked as if he was going to be parting from her soon. her heart sank a little bit at the thought and she should have known that he didn't want to be around her as much as she hoped. She was starting to get used to his presence around her. Her smile faded and she looked down at the stream trying to hide her disappointment, she didn't want him to feel obligated to be around her so she didn't want to say anything.

Miyabi continued to speak and told her that he had stolen her dream. She looked at him quickly and tried to think if she even dreamed while she was asleep, even if she tried, she wouldn't have remembered. But in any case she was happy that she was useful for something.

"It's ok, I don't have many memories I find to be precious. There may be one or two but the chances of you finding those memories would have been near impossible. Because I remember you, Shinta, and someone from my past, but those are the only memories that I want to keep. Of course I need my reasons for becoming what I am now, but there are many memories that I'm willing to let go of. So no worries."

She pat him on the back gently and the rose to her feet and approached Shinta picking him up. The sad look crossed her face again since she was no longer staring Miyabi in the face. This was the hardest thing she had ever done. It was normally easy to let go of others for her, but him, it was really hard on her for some reason.

Miyabi felt relief that she wasn't upset at him for stealing away one of her dreams. He adored how this woman didn't treat him like dirt, how he could rely on her to help him even when things were seeming to be hopeless. She didn't even want to hunt him... He knew he couldn't always be around this woman. It would put her in too much danger but he didn't want to leave her out here. There was one point.. in every therianthropes life that they felt the need to dedicate themselves to someone, to live their lives solely for that person... to be their story-teller, their lullaby, their musician, and artisan. Every shape-shifter felt the need at one point to leave all they had and become that persons pet. Miyabi did not want to second guess this feeling he didn't want to let this woman slip through his finger tips. He might never meet someone who treated him the same way. Without another thought Miyabi latched onto her hand before she could leave, before she could even say a goodbye, pressing his forehead to the top of her hand he could feel his heart expand as it beat the blood through his veins. "It is unlike a skin-walker to do this, to ask this of someone..." He looked up to her with determined eyes as he rose from the ground to look her in the eyes. "I wish to become your pet." He said bluntly.. as if there were nothing strange or weird about it at all. "I want to become your personal story-teller... There isn't another person in this world that has done what you have done for me and stuck by my side for this long. I can't be a fool and let you go." His eyes seemed to glisten slightly as it looked like he were about to cry. "I may not be strong, or powerful but I can be... anything you need. From a horse to get you to the next town to a wolf to keep you warm during cold nights."

He could only hope that she would accept his offer.. if she did he would become her permanant pet. Which to him there was nothing wrong with such a thing. The therianthrope were made to dedicate themselves to someone, to learn their tale and live long after them to share it with the world.. so that no one be forgotten. He wanted to know her story to live on and share it... he wanted to be the caretaker of her mind and help her in her travels no matter where they lead him. There were many things he could offer her... many things he could do for her that even he didn't understand. His eyes pleaded with her to accept his offer.. "Let me be your pet..."

Aiden felt her hand being grabbed as she looked at him. She felt her cheeks grow red as she listened to his words. It was a bit unusual for her to here him say that he wanted to be her pet. Very unusual, but she tried to over look it considering it must have been his way of saying he didn't want her to go. But as much as he wanted to stay she didn't want to burden him with her problems, because even though she didn't look it or seem it, she had many problems that he had yet to know about and the same vice versa. Aiden bit her bottom lip as her heart pounded in her chest, she was really unsure what to do. Her gaze went to Shinta who looked at the two's hands that seemed to be twined together, he looked rather jealous of the attention that Aiden was getting and that it was not his own.

"Um... I...."

Aiden sighed.

"I really don't know... There's so much about me that you don't understand... And you may be ok with me now, but sooner or later you may re-consider your wanting to stay by me... The only one who has ever stuck by me is Shinta... I will admit, when I was younger there was at least one child where I lived who wanted to befriend me, but even then he was hurt by me... I can't hurt you either!"

Tears streamed down her face as she grabbed her bag and darted off into the forest. Staying to hear what he had to say was too painful and saying good-bye would have ripped her heart out. As she ran voices and images ran through her head.

"Look what you did to him!"
"But I didn't..."
"You little monster, devil's child! It's your fault this happened to him!"

Tears rushed fiercely down her cheeks as she choked back her crying. Once she was to the main road she placed her hood over her head and started walking towards the next village over. Soft sobs escaped her throat as Shinta whipped the tears away from her eyes. He hissed softly trying to comfort her.

"I'm sorry Shinta... I don't mean to be this way... I just can't hurt another like that again... Now that I'm even more different than before..."

Miyabi's expression went from begging to scorned as she spoke. How was he ever going to understand if she didn't allow him to be her pet? He wasn't afraid of being harmed by her... there are times in his life where he feared pain of course... but not now, not from her. He didn't get a moment to reply as she dashed off through the woods and his mind was still wrapping around the idea that she was running from him. He sank back to the dirt trying to call out to her but all he only found one thing to yell out...

"I want you to hurt me!" Not that his words would have reached her as she ran like the wind... 'What have I done?... What did I do wrong to make her run from me like this?' It was tormenting question something that agonized him. Miyabi didn't have the power at the moment to take many forms... only the smallest, weakest of his forms were capable but there was one he knew he might be able to stand... He lept from the ground once more, running as fast as he could as he lept into the air his entire body shrinking down to the size of a small ball as his new wings beat with the veracity of lightning... he hovered for a moment as the glistening feathers shined in the rays of the sun. He could smell the pollon of flowers and the scents of other animals as they passed by. He could sense her smell.. it was far away. His lithe little hummingbird body bolted off in it's direction, looking like an arrow poised for destruction. 'I have to be hers.. it isn't right.. she's the only one... the only one that's treated me as I am and not who she thought I should be. She is the only one that hasn't tried to exploit my powers or kill me for my existance.. she was once human... so why does she not feel a fear towards me. Even as a demon...' He had a million questions he needed answered... a million answers he feared he wasn't going to get. He wanted to be her pet, to carry on her tale... he wanted to know why she was in existance. He let his small fluttering wings carry him towards her path... there was only once... a long time ago that he felt the need to be this close to another. Only once did he want to devote his life to anothers soul... he stole that persons dreams, their hopes, their every thought... he became uncontrolled. When he regained himself... he found himself without her... and he stopped... he stopped following her trail. He hovered there for a long moment... worried he might do the same to Aiden but he had to try.. he wasn't the same as he was back then... he rushed forward once more. Determined to find her...

After an hour or so of walking Aiden came upon a village. The sun was starting to set and she could feel in the air it was going to be a cold night, a night with frost none the less since fall was approaching. She reached into her bag and shuffled around for a small wad of money. Shinta clung close to her neck for warmth. He hissed softly at her to hurry.

"I know Shinta... I plan on getting a room for us."

From the wad she took about a fourth of the money and walked into a building that had a sign above it entitled 'Nightly Inn' (kind of like Days Inn, get it? XD). Her hood remained upon her head and shaded her face from being visible in the lit room. She approached the desk and handed over the money to the man who sat there bored out of his mind.

"I would like to get a room for the night."

The man nodded without looking up at her. He took the cash and handed her a key with a number tag on it to room 204. She thanked the man and walked up to the second floor where she opened her room that was dark. She lit a candle and sat it on the table in the middle of the room. Walking over to the bed she plopped down onto it and sighed laying her back against the comforter. She stared up at the ceiling for the longest time. Her mind was numb and she couldn't get Miyabi off her mind as hard as she tried to. Aiden looked over at Shinta who stared at her with a concerned look on his face. He knew what she was thinking about, at that moment he nuzzled up to her trying to comfort her.

"I don't know Shinta... Do you think I did the right thing? I mean, you saw what happen to that boy years ago. I was a monster when I first transformed... Heck I probably still am..."

Aiden stared at her hand then at her finger nails that were sharper than razors at times. The nails that punctured Miyabi's skin, the same nails that hurt the young boy who tried to be her friend. Her hand flopped limply back onto the bed as she thought.

"You know Shinta... That boy probably lost the sight in his eye... Of course I was too much of a coward to stick around and find out. That's what I am, I'm not only cursed but I'm a coward."

As one mortal left the Inn to find themselves a place to eat Miyabi darted into the building, following her scented trail. He hovered around in the main enterence for a while, trying to pick up on her direction but there were so many smells... from the cigarettes and alcohol to the gastric expulsions of the humans around him. He shook his small feathered head, picking up on a hint of flowers.. it was cluttered with the smells of others but it was the freshest smell he could find that resembled her. He fluttered along the hallways, rushing up the stairs where the other smells seemed to disappear the smell of flowers growing stronger... as a hummingbird the smell was more enticing than ever before and he dashed into second floor, doing his best to avoid the wall sconces and hanging lamps. Along with the doors that swung open into the hallway nearly knocking him to the ground if it wasn't for his ability to stop so fast. One woman shrieked as they saw him not knowing what kind of animal it was and figuring he was a large bug of some kind. Miyabi flew for all his little wings could carry him to out run the woman, Finding saftey behind a wall he returned to looking for Aiden... Hunting down the strongest source of her scent. He beat his wings once more before he dropped to floor to become a more inconspicuous rat, scurrying along the frames of the door his whiskers twitching a million miles per hour as he squeezed himself under one of the doors, overwhelmed by her scent... This must be it.. he thought, assuring himself that this was the room she was staying in. He scrambled up the post of her bed, looking to see if he was right and before she could notice he was there he lept from the post like a rabbit, in mid-air transforming back into a man as he landed over her, catching himself on the bed so not to crush her or her snake companion. His eyes catching with hers. "If I was afraid of being harmed by you I wouldn't have asked to join you! Now please don't run from me again... I will be as loyal to you as a dog and as inconspicuous as a fly if I have to be but I want to travel with you... I have to know your story... I don't know why but I have too! My heart tells me I have to..." He sat up, straddling her like he was going to do something unmentionable when both of his hands were covering his heart. "You can't tell me no.. I won't allow it! I flew for more than five miles to try and find this place and got farted at, chased down the hall, wacked with doors and abused with a broom to find you! Now let me go with you and know your story!" He must have seemed like he had lost his mind, but really he was losing his head to his emotions. "If you are in trouble, i'll fight beside you. I'll become a gryphon and fly you away, a dragon to burn away your enemies, or a unicorn so you can drink my blood and live for an eternity... what ever you wish. I just know that the only way i'll understand you and how you came to be is if i am with you..."

Aiden was shocked at his form almost appearing out of no where on top of her. She gasped but refrained from screaming when she saw who it was on her. She was surprised to see that he had actually followed her all this way. She didn't know what to think after all he had said. He flew so far and got beat up just over her. He must have really wanted to be around her and to learn her 'story'. Aiden couldn't help herself, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his lower torso even though he was straddling her and held onto him in a tight hug. She hid her face in his shirt afraid that she might cry. She really didn't want to run away from him earlier, but she really didn't want to hurt him though. Aiden knew she couldn't change his mind after he had followed her so far. Shinta saw her actions and slithered up Miyabi's body to his shoulder where he nuzzled his neck as if to say 'welcome' he knew after Aiden's actions just now that he wouldn't be leaving for quite a while.

Aiden herself didn't want to let him go, she continued to hug him in a steel like grip but not to the point that she was crushing him. She had missed him so much just in the few hours that they were apart and was alone with her thoughts that continued to speak to her saying she will never see him again.

Miyabi wrapped his own arms around her, not even taking notice to the kind of position they were in as he was joyed to finally be accepted by her. "You have no idea how vicious woman can be with a broom..." He laughed a little, looking at the snake that had slithered up to his shoulder and gave the small reptile a kiss on it's head. "Thank you as well my friend, for helping to save me." His head turned back towards Aiden as he felt her tightening grip around his torso and he laughed. "I know.. it may be very strange for someone who have never experienced the devotion a shape shifter can give... but I will be loyal to you. I won't be the man who sits back to watch you fight... I will be there beside you. You've shown me affection that was lost ages ago between the mortals and demons and though you share the same blood as a demon now I know your heart still beats with that of a mortal one... and that is what I am facinated with... Your story... your form. Why I can not take your form even though i've taken your thoughts." He squeezed her tightly in his arms, loving the warmth of another person being close to him. "I will do everything I must to ensure you find your answers... even if I must postpone my own journey. If you accept my as your pet..." He let go of her, looking into her eyes. "I will be bound to you.. there is no place you could go where I would not be able to find you, no mountain, no river, no valley or hell that anyone could steal you to. Even if we are seperated by a world of difference... my bond to you will be stronger than that of any mothers to a childs." He knew exactly what he was getting himself into though he was unsure of the amount of danger and risk that would ensue afterwards... he knew he wanted to be her pet. Her perminant guardian.. like Shinta he wanted to travel the same roads as her. "Just tell me you accept and i'll do what I must to make that bond true..."

Aiden was pulled away from him slightly as she looked up at him. She took in a deep breath and released it softly.

"I accept."

Though she knew some time she would have to talk to him about the whole pet thing, it almost felt like she was taking him in to be her slave or something, but she wasn't. She wanted him near by not to be served but to have someone by her side to help each other in time of need. Even though he said he wanted to protect her, she knew he wouldn't be able to very well since thus far she had been protecting him. She didn't mind protecting him though. She wondered just how important her blood possibly is was, he treated it like it was the missing link or something. Perhaps she was, but that thought only made her feel like a freak and a test subject. That thought certainly calmed her down and almost discouraged her.

Just then her stomach growled loudly, so much that Miyabi could even feel it since they were still so close together. Aiden sat there silently hoping he didn't hear or feel the sound.

((ooh very nice avi o.o I like it very much... I'm saving up for a new outfit myself but it's going to cost 6,041 gold ;-;))

Miyabi wanted to seal the deal that moment but he knew he couldn't, not yet. He could feel the rumble of her stomach and stared at her tummy. "Hungry?" he questioned as he lept from the bed, rushing to the door. "I will get you something." He didn't carry much money on him as he was used to staying out in the wilderness and living off of the fruits of nature. There were other ways he had of obtaining things though. "What are you hungry for?" he questioned once more. He transformed his body into that of a devilishly handsome man, seeming to be taller and thinner than before, he was now dressed in the royal garb of a prince or high royalty at the very least. His eyes had turned into a piercing blue and his hair so golden the sun would be jealous. "Just tell me what you want, and I am sure.. I will have no trouble to get it for you." He ran his hand through his golden hair, brushing the long strands over his shoulder as he adjusted the clothing he was adorned in. He was relieved to still have this form.. that it hadn't been lost with his blood. It was one of few royal forms he had one that could get him almost anything he needed. He had many various human forms at his disposal... some of begging peasent woman others of great warriors that died ages ago. He could take the form so many things he had lost track of the number long ago... though he had lost many in the earlier fight. The only thing that still remained the same about him was the way his chest was wrapped in the bandages though under the new garments they were barely visable. "I can bring you a nice meal of steak and potatos.. or something from another land? Curry perhaps?" He was anxious to help her satisfy her hunger and knew that canned foods were surely getting old to her taste buds. He thought it only fair that he get her a meal after he had taken two meals of his own from her. "i'd point you in the direction of a delicious idea.. but I don't believe you eat those." he chuckled.

Aiden sat up and stared at him. She already felt bad for all of this, she didn't want to make him get her food. She truly felt like she was making him her slave, she didn't know how to reply to him for she didn't want to burden him. But Shinta jumped up and down on the bed for steak and potato's, he hissed loudly as she flew up into the air. Aiden looked over her shoulder at Shinta and spoke to him.

"You want steak and potato's?"

She looked back at Miyabi still feeling guilty for all of this, she could have easily gone down to the bar and ordered something herself without him having to disguise himself. She even had at least a little money to buy her own food. She rose from the bed and started to walk towards him and the door.

"It's ok, I can simply get something from the bar downstairs, they should have something like sandwiches or bread."

Shinta stopped jumping up and down behind her as he felt disappointed in Aiden's choice to get something less yummy to his tastes.

Miyabi took hold of her shoulder before she could leave the room, holding her back from putting much effort into walking even. "I Insist, if you wish to have steak and potatos then I will get you steak and potatos. "No" he stated bluntly as he picked up into his arms and carried her back to the bed even if it was against her will. "I will be right back... It won't take very long" He left her in the room, disappearing behind the door as he shut it, rushing back down to the main entry way as he scanned the bar for the types of foods they might have. "Hnn.." he pondered finally catching the attention of a young waitress. He leaned in close to her whispering into he ear of his order and she shook her head to tell him they had nothing of the sort. He looked distraut and brought in close again, staring into her eyes. "...It wouldn't be so hard to get something like that though... now would it? I can make it worth your while for it.. I promise." The woman blushed, understanding what he meant by making it worth her while. He was a dashing man after all...with that blond hair and sky blue eyes. His clothes so fine and luxurious he must come from Royalty she thought as she disappeared into the back to insist upon the order. He could hear the chefs grumbling as he waited for his order, sitting down at the bar. His legs crossed. She returned with a plate of a thick steak and mashed potatos covered in a oozing gravey and he thanked her, tossing her several coins as he stood and left the bar, disappear back upstairs and opening the door as it only locked when manually locked, he presented to her the meal of steak and potatos setting it down infront of her, he breathed in. Shutting the door he returned to his natural state... his hair shortening and deepening in hue to a red color as his eyes flashed to their golden luminecent color. "I hope they cooked it properly. It only took a little convincing.. the people around here don't seem too worried about their more valuable meats.. they must mostly be farmers..."