Disclaimer: okay... chapter two!! ^0^ !! Uhh... I'll clear some thing up I got from what my friends told me... beasts like Tora Don't, and I repeat, DON'T get cubs! Because they were not 'born' as beasts to 'get' little beasts!! But still, I like to break a few rules!! Though this story would take a lot of time to be done... I'm gonna take a long time before I up load the next chapters, so bare with me!!

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Chapter 2: Sanctuary Island.

Dry dead leaves on the ground as the temple boy stepped on, they crashed with their crispy noise, with quick steps he stood in front of the waiting ancient beast...

"Tora!!" called Ushio as he saw his partner on the other side of the bank, sitting back on his hunches, tail slightly flickering, eyes slitted, and this funny look on his face, the boy couldn't make it out! But that wasn't what he had his brain thinking of! "Tora, we've got a problem... <pause> uh... where's Ann?" questioned the boy, as Tora simply pointed a single thumb behind him to where she slept deeply in a single doze...
"How Cute!!" whispered Asako, brushing a silver lock from the little one's tired face... then carefully not to wake her up, she carried her in her arms, and in a single embrace she gave a compassionate smile... but the smile faded away... "Tora..." whispered the girl "Mayuko's in trouble!"
"Huh?" the ancient beast questioned, cocking his head to one side then shifting his head towards the temple boy for an explanation, but whom only frowned in his own firm gaze, the boy always looked like that when he was ready to go for a hunt or such...
"The plane Mayuko was on got kidnapped..." said the boy in a single tone, explaining to the confused beast what the problem is... "Wow, wow, WOW!! Hold on one minute their Brat..." the beast questioned in a squeaking voice "a plane... kidnapped? How could any one 'kidnap' a plane?" he frowned totally puzzled "it's not like any one could put it in his pocket or any thing!!" he mocked... seems that he really didn't believe what the boy told him... till he got a blow on the head, yelping then cursing he growled "God-Dammit... why the f***ing Hell did you do that for Brat?"
"Let me explain it a little more you idiot!" hissed the boy "when I said kidnapped I mean that it was taken over by a bunch of bad guys... and Mayuko is on that plane..."
"How the f*** hell did they get their in the first place?" he firmly questioned "don't you dare tell me they flew Brat!" said the beast
"OOOOOH!!!!" cried the boy in anger; he just couldn't believe Tora could be so STUPID!! Swooping the ancient beast head with the spear, he dodged it and hissed at the temple boy flickering his dark orange tail... "WHAT?? Was it some thing I said?" he cried almost whimpering, sounding hurt with a hiss...
"One strange thing though..." Asako cut-in "Mayuko wanted to tell us some thing else, but a guy caught her and cut off the way she was calling us by..." the girl sounded worried... "I hope she's okay..."

"Asako, take Ann back home and stay with dad, Tora and I will go help Mayuko!" said the temple boy clutching the spear in his firm grip "what?" cried the beast "but you don't even know where she is!" he snarled "do you?" he had doubts...
"Your kidding me Ushio, I'm going with you" she cried... frowning, she wasn't gonna let them go save her friend, while she just sat back on her butt waiting!
"Asako, I want you to stay here with dad, besides, we need you to look after Ann!" he concluded, as his friend dropped her gaze at the little female still sleeping in her arms... the ancient beast was also looking at the little one, and the temple boy knew it... there was some thing in Tora's slit silver eyes that had him wondering for a moment, but then remembered what his job was 'get your butt out there and help Mayuko you idiot!!' he scolded him self.

Asako didn't like the idea, but she had no choice, and besides... Tora could only carry one person on his back! Darn! After a short argument, she found her self walking back to the temple with Ann sleeping in her arms still, taking one look back, she saw an orange streak shooting then vanishing in the sky...

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It was on an Island in the middle of the sea, and on that Island was a plane, it was mostly hidden by the long thick trees of the green island, broken windows, doors out of place, mostly damaged on its cockpit, with the radio mashed up so no one could contact any air lines that cloud be possible, with a few men who seemed to be the pilot and his helpers, with the rest of the planes crew, all were tied up together, and the pilot seemed injured, every one was taken out of the plane...time was about the sun set near... also we could see a few men a little far away laughing and drinking beer or smocking... some looked like pirates, one even had a bandana on his head and a parrot on his shoulder, with a big huge gun held on one hand propped on his other shoulder...

We could see Mayuko's parents on one side, and the fat chunky rich guy tied up also, a huge builted muscle man was having fun with him, pulling his thick mustache and so on...
"So Mr. Money bags, where do you keep this new treasure box we kept hearing about?" he questioned with a dry voice... "As far as I know, you've been hunting it down for some time now... are you willing to share this little secret?" he questioned.
"Never!!" the fat guy said, trying to look tough, till the bad guy pointed a gun right in his face "uhh... you know <gulp> it's really no secret!!" then smiled trying to look helpless, as a golden tooth came to view...
Mayuko wasn't among the ones tied up, she seemed to have gotten the chance to escape before any one caught her, and snuck her way into the storage pit... she had to free the female beast, or at least talk to her, if she could ask her for help, things might go well!

Her heart was pounding hard, she had to do some thing... as far as she knew, the ones whom kidnapped the plane were aiming at the rich guy all the time, and so she had a good chance of hiding...

Walking through the storage room of the plane... it was a bit musty and damp, with a smell of greasing oil mixed with burned rubber or such, it was also kind of dark, maybe cause it was sun set? Or cause it didn't have windows... 'Windows?? What a stupid idea!! Why would any one put a window in the storage room of a plane??' thought the girl scolding her self through the way she was thinking...

"A place like this dose not fit humans <cough> child!!" exclaimed a soft exhausted voice in the darkness... "!!!" Mayuko swung around facing a gaze of Ivy green slit eyes, slightly slumped on the floor... no! It wasn't a floor! It was a hard cold bottom of a cage, it was the female beast, laying on her side, cuffed still, eyes almost closed in weakness... still the tail tip was slightly flickering, the female looked beat, her fur all sticky and damp with sweat, as the human walked to her, the smell of hot breath filled the space... it was suffocating, hard to breath, the female her self had breathing problems... the beast closed her eyes in need of rest, but she did not want to fall asleep in the cage, because, it will only mean her doom... Mayuko looked aside at a thermometer on the wall... 56 degree!! 'God, it's so hot and damp! How long has she been suffering this?' thought the girl.
"Why <choke> have you come back child?" she sounded calm, yet questioning... her body week and slumped on the floor, Mayuko almost felt her heart stopping 'how could any one be so cruel?' thought the girl as the beast just *tried* to stand... she couldn't, the cuffs were too heavy and she was too week...
"I... I'm here to help you!" finally she spoke, the female beast just gazed at her with this 'yeah right' mocking slit eyes look, then tried to sit up with all her might, she was able to do that, back leaning against the cold bars of the cage, still she couldn't breath well, she started coughing hard then clearing her throat constantly...

Slowly and carefully, Mayuko walked closer to the cage, as the ivy green eyes followed her approach, the human girl felt a little strange about this, still... she had to help, though she knew that this female might eat her the minute she gets the chance, she went to the cage door, holding it's cold hard bars in her hands, Mayuko shock them to see if she could at least move them... nope! She couldn't! Looking around her self, scanning the cage, she saw the lock, or some thing that looked like one... "??" The human girl walked to it, it was a strange looking lock! It had this 'insert password number' or some thing on it, some thing too complex for her abilities... feeling it with her hand, she closed her eyes in concentration, thinking about it for some time, maybe she could figure some thing out...

Going deep... deeper into thoughts, she could see numbers forming... how? She couldn't tell... were these abilities that she had, psychic powers? No one could tell... but then, a warm tender feeling found it's way on her fingers, set on the cold lock buttons, slowly and calmly, opening her eyes, she saw this light brown furred hand full of claws slightly gripping her own, on the lock... ocean gray eyes met with ivy green...

"Child..." the female beast whispered with her voice full of defeat, head gently leaning on the cages cold bars, and the metal cuff around her neck and on her wrists had tiny drops of what seemed sweat on them, as a single drop rolled down her forelock, going between the eyes, down the muzzle, then slightly dropped in a single drop on the cold metal... looking at the silver blaze on the female beasts chest, it was braking her fine light brown color, Mayuko simply had no feeling of fear what so ever...
"Theirs nothing you can do to help me child..." the beast gripped a little tighter "I'd leave if <choke> I were you..." then, the female just let go, eyes shut, hand on her throat, she couldn't breath any more... Mayuko knew she had to do some thing fast, she found her self scanning the storage room, till she finally found a crowbar, not thinking, grabbing it, she rose it high above her head, ready for aiming a blow on the crazy lock... and then...

"HEY!" some one cried, grabbing her wrists, flinching the crowbar out of her hands to send it flying out with a clatter on the metal-to-metal floor... the female beast, looked a little up, she saw this scrawny guy, grabbing the human girl from her wrists, she wanted to help her, but the human stopped her... the female just could not bare it no longer, and silently slumped down with a thud, almost gasping for air, she felt a cold feeling going in side her... her eyes closed, she wanted them to stay open but she couldn't...

"Uhh... let go of me..." cried the girl, trying to get out of the mans clutch, but he was stronger than her, with a wicked grin, he held her tight, so tight she couldn't breath... she felt him feeling her body, his hand slightly scrawling down her back, he was smiling, she was frightened, he turned her around with a grin
"You're a pretty little one, aren't you?" then tried to take a kiss from her lips... her eyes widened, she squirmed around wanting to flee, but only did the thunder ball which hit his face, sending him a few feet away was able to get him off her... craning her head around, the female beast had her hand set up hand set flat where the man was sent out flying... only then did she turn to Mayuko...
"Run child... this... is simply NO place for you to be..." she was panting hard, and only then did the female beast pass out thudding to the cold floor of the cage, knocked out cold...
"Well?" a rough voice questioned, she froze, and then slowly turned to see the huge muscled man with the rich fat guy behind, still tied up... "Aren't you gonna run like she told you too?"
"I didn't come all the way here to just leave her behind..." softly said the girl, she was calm, frowning at the man, whom only smiled to her...
"Your brave girl..." his grin went wicked "let's see how brave..." he quickly paced towards her, as her eyes widened, but did not dare take one step away from the cage...
"She's suffocating..." she moaned, almost in tears... she couldn't help it... he slowly stopped pacing, then turned to the fainted beast with in the cage... giving a disgusted snort, the muffled up place they were in just got to him, it smelled awful, he couldn't take a step closer to the girl standing at the cage... "Men!!" he called out... "Take the cage out side, to the other side of the Island... <cough> ... some where with fresh air...<cough>!!" He shock his head, hand on his face, protecting his nose, then looking up at the girl whom just stood here, if like there was no smell at all... he could see her almost panting, with sweat drops slightly on her neck, he knew she couldn't breath well either...

A bunch of men went pass Mayuko, surrounding the cage, after a short pause, when all of them were just looking at each other with this 'what the hell is that creature suppose to be any way?' look... then they got to their position around the cage... "Ready... and... PUSH!" a man said... Mayuko just watched them... till suddenly some thing grabbed her tight, looking around -well, trying to! - She saw the muscled man grabbing her with his long arms, tight and firmly clutching her...
"Uhh..." she tried to get free... but the muscled man only clutched her hard, then some thing painful hit her neck, and she heard him whisper... "Sweet dreams!" Then... she passed out...

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"HELL TORA!! Why the f***ing Hell did you bring us here???" cried the temple boy as he bonked his partner one on the noggin... they were at a long grassed swamp, with frogs crocking all around, the noise was filling their ears... the boy was in beast barrier form, with his purple green cat slit eyes, long massive black hair, some in his face getting him self pissed at his own self! The beast said that it would be safer for the boy to stay like that for some time; also, he said earlier that he knew a way to figure out how to find the place where the plane landed... Ushio had doubts!
"Listen Brat, this place is not as simple as you think!! I know a few water serpents that live here, that could find where the darn thing landed..." growled the beast carefully pacing in the swamps shallow waters, his feet and hands, with few of his long locks getting wet from a splashing beast barrier whom slipped over a green mushy stuff, giving the beast an enjoyable time of laughter, despite the wetness... the sky above them was blocked with tree tops, and since it was almost sun set where they were also, it was pretty much dark, not easy to see through, and that's why they couldn't just fly above the waters of the swamp... the ancient beast said earlier, also, that the place goes a little small little by little, and it wont be a good idea to fly, or he might get strangled in the hanging vines dangling from the trees, and that really annoyed him...
"Better watch it stupid!" laughed the beast, walking carefully on a few green rocks with a smile full of teeth "this place is full of water weeds, most are quite slip<!-O_O-!>PREY" splashing in a deep swamp, the ancient beast swam up spitting weeds and gasping for air...
"Who's the idiot now?" snickered the boy to his locks-in-the-face-sticky-with-weeds partner, then pushing a few of his long haired black locks from his face... cursing under his breath the beast slipped out of water, sending the water and weeds in a grate arc all around, shaking him self like a wet dog...
"Put a cork in it Brat..." he hissed "I'm not in a mood for you..." he murmured sitting back on his hunches drying him self...

A sound of crows up in the sky got their attention to some thing coming towards them with a splashing run... looking around them selves, the temple boy saw all these glowing eyes of the darkness watching them in a faint glow of yellow. Ready to battle the boy clutched the spear in his hands, till a hand full of claws gave a sign for him not to bother... pushing back his hair, in the faint glow of the fire-fly's buzzing around, a small yet long looking worm thing, with it's small flipper like hands and feet came into view, it's scaly green skin, yellow eyes nearly on the sides of it's round head, kind of peeking out... it stood up in Toras face, but a few feet away, it blinked once, as a whole swarm of the same kind surrounded them... Ushio startled a little, there were so many of them! All so small, thin, as long as one of Tora's arms, slippery, scaly and green with yellow eyes glowing in the near darkness atmosphere, most of them crawled than what we could say walked!! ...

"Lord Nagatobimaru!!" said the one who came out in the beginning as it exclaimed, it had a faint smile on the side of its face... "It's an honor to see you again sir!!" it smile widened "how may we help you?"
"I am here with the Beast-Barrier looking for Lord Miya..." said the beast in a calm voice; still there was a small smile on his stripped face... the temple boy felt a little confused... Tora knew these... things?? Some of them eyed the spear with almost worried eyes; some didn't give it a damn! Some were amused eyeing his long black spreading hair...
"Lord Miya? Of course... this way my lord!" exclaimed the little thing as it leaped into the waters, the rest of the swarm made a bridge like thing over the waters of the swamp, as Tora simply, and soundlessly paced over them, careful not to claw any of them... after a few steps, the ancient beast looked around at the nerves temple boy who really didn't know if it's okay to just step-over-them just like that!! "What's the matter Brat?" a grin appeared "scared?" it had a mocking tone in it...
"Uh... are you sure they don't mind me to just... go stepping on them Tora?" he really wouldn't want any one to walk over him if that was the reason... then pushed a few locks back.
"Just get your butt over here!!" the beast said with a smile, he sounded remarkably happy with a laugh filling his words... "If they did mind you stepping on them, do you think that they would turn them selves into a bridge in the first place??" he questioned, the grin leaned to the side of his firm stripped face, tail lashing...
"Well..." slowly he took a step onto them, they felt... puny!! Kind of mushy... he didn't want to step on them and end up mashing them like bugs, but...looking up, the beast still smiled, he was just standing there...
"Tora...did you go weightless?" the boy asked... the beast only walked back to him with a grin, teeth tips showing...
"Move it stupid! Miya isn't going to wait for us all day!" then walked behind the temple boy, standing on two legs he simply stood behind the puzzled boy, the beast kind of brushed his long talons through the boy long hair, as a few locks were tangled!! Still feeling alarmed, the temple boy was clutching the spear... the huge beast stood behind him, arms folded behind his back, Ushio didn't turn, he was still facing the bridge of serpents, with Tora on two legs standing behind him...
"Well?" simply asked the beast... "Aren't you moving?" he slowly placed a gentle stripped hand on the boy's shoulder, it felt a little heavy, then slightly leaned a little forwards and also a little down, till his chin was right above the boy's other shoulder...
"Your not scared now are you?" he questioned...
"No!! It's just that <pause, brushed a lock from his eyes> are you SURE that they don't mind it!?" Ushio felt stupid asking this, especially with his partner's grin growing wider every now and then, but suddenly... SMACK!! Some thing rough and flat smacked his tender part HARD!
"YAW!" cried out the boy, finding him self slightly running then stopping right in the middle of the live bridge under him, rubbing his softer end, slurring...
"Why you f***ing sh*t eating a** h***!!" he rubbed it a little, trying to ease the pain "Hell... Tora, that hurts!!" yelling out, his orange furred companion only laughed, then slowly walked next to him on the bridge, passing right by him... the boy felt his hurt skin and only looked under him at the bridge... they felt solid enough to hold his weight, still they felt slippery! Looking up, his beast partner has already reached the other side, sitting back on his hunches, he waited his human partner to finish his worry and pass over them...

The temple boy walked carefully, their shallow glowing yellow eyes followed him...feeling a little creped out, they just blinked at him, it was irritating him all over, getting him a little edgy all of a sudden!! Finally his heart stopped the hard pounding as he reached a short path into a grassy spot behind a few bushes... the beast just smiled at him, clearing his throat, he gained back his cold un-emotional face and walked into the bushes... 'Was he hiding what he was feeling? Why? Dose it matter??' thought the boy, then just shrugged to him self and walked after the beast... after a single look behind, the temple boy saw that the bridge parted back to it's origins, which was nothing but a few thousands of serpents!! 'God, they were so many of them, they all looked so week, still... I never thought they could handle my weight!!!' thought the boy to him self as he walked after the beast again...

They were at a single clear pond, it's waters were crystal clear, no weeds, no stinky smells, no annoying crocking frogs or such... nothing but fire flies silently buzzing around with a faint sound of a breeze blowing the long grass they stood upon... the sky atop them was spread with green trees, as their green arms covered the sky whole... Tora looked at the amused boy, this particular part of the swamp was like a lake in some ones dreams, and it was too beautiful and amazing to be called a swamp!
"Stay silent Brat... I'll do the talking, understand?" said the beast in a firm voice... the temple boy simply frowned... then the little water serpent they saw before swam up the clear lakes waters, softly swimming towards them, then crawled him self towards them, he gave a bow to the ancient beast, whom only gave back a nod...
"Lord Nagatobimaru" exclaimed the little serpent "Lord Miya will see you now, please be prepared!"

Then they turned back to the waters... a huge water twirl came on the waters, in a single cycle it spun, round and around it went... Ushio snapped his eyes wide open as some thing glowing in light blue hued in a greenish purple glow came up on the waters, then a streak of light shot to the sky out of the waters it came... then... some thing simply swam up like a bullet, it went up high and it was long, glowing in a blue-greenish-purple streaks of light... it was shaped like a single triangle with one head pointing down and it's other corners kind of bend in an almost circle shaped term... then it spread it's self in thin air... it had wings of pure white mixed with a fain color of scarlet hue on the tip end of it... it looked like a water dragon with wings all covered with feathers... it speared an arc of it's water all around giving it's glow a mysterious light... then slowly... it went down, simply floating on the waters... like what you get when you drop a hair on the surface of some thing wet...

The water dragon looked down at the temple boy, then shifted it's eyes towards the spear ... the dragon simply fixed it's eyes on him, examining the long black hair, a massive wonder!! Then with a simple blink, it shifted it's eyes towards the beast, whom only gave a smile... it's simple eyes colored with blue, as light as the sky, scaly skin, light blue mixed with greenish purple, wings of white and a scarlet hue in it... it smiled at the beast, as it spread its wings over him... it also had this smell, some thing sweet and relaxing... like perfume?

Turning to his partner, the temple boy saw the ancient beasts eyes slowly going a little wide, as his head sank a little between his shoulder blades, tucking him self in his own huge mass of hair... the dragon only placed it's wing on him for a brief moment... it's wing was as wide as Tora him self, as it's single wing covered him whole...
"Its wonderful to see you again Lord Nagatobimaru..." it exclaimed whispering in a soft feminine voice, it had a soft ringing of silver bells in it... 'Its a SHE????' blinked the young boy in surprise... she looked huge compared to Tora, as it's huge wing covered him, and she floated on the surface of the water like a single feather... Ushio couldn't see her tail, or legs -if she had any!- she was almost curled around her self in a cycle shaped position...
"Uh, yes... I'm honored to meet you again also Lord Miya..." he exclaimed...
"Uh...Tora!" whispered the temple boy, after pushing a lock from his face... "Shouldn't it be 'Lady Miya??'...?" The boy thought it would be more fitting to the name, after all, she *was* a female!!
"Hush!!" scolded the beast, some thing slightly crackled on his forelock... he thought it would be better if the boy just shut his mouth and left him all the talking! But as we all know, Ushio isn't like that now is he!!
"That's quiet alright, my lord" she softly whispered... then she shifter her wings off him, and slowly passed them towards the temple boy who almost flinched, he didn't expect her to move towards him... shutting his eyes for a second, he felt this soft, warm tender feeling brushing it's self around him, enveloping him whole... slowly he opened his eyes to see nothing but whiteness and a cool breeze running around him, slightly the dragon shifted back her wing and gave a smile...

"How may I be in service to you Lord Nagatobimaru?" she questioned, her voice soft and clear...
"Yes... the Beast Barrier and I have come here to seek your...help!" he didn't want to say the word, but he had too any way "would... you help us?" the beast was having problems saying things nice... 'Oh God!! Is this really Tora talking *NICE* over here?' the temple boy's brain moaned... he couldn't believe that his annoying bad language partner could sound so... nice!!
"And <Ahem/gulp> I would be most... grateful... if you would aid us with your... kindness!" the beast felt absolutely STUPID tattering like that!! 'God I cant believe I'm doing this!!' thought Tora to him self feeling the rush of the embarrassment running through his face... it wasn't enough that he had to be nice... he had to be nice WITH the boy around actually Watching him!!!

"I see... I would be honored to help you my lord..." she grind "what seems to be the problem?" she asked calmly...
"Well... <gulp> uhh... there is this human female that the Beast Barrier and I are looking for... <pause> she seems to be in trouble and in need of help but..." he started looking around for the right words, then eyed the boy if like he was saying 'help me over here!!'
"Well... we would be most grateful if one of your..." the temple boy paused... he didn't know what to call the little serpents he saw earlier... 'Minions!' whispered the beast under his breath, the boy slightly smiled...
"...Minions! Could help us find her! She was on a plane, and landed some where on an Island as far as we know... but where the Island is, or how long it would take us to get there is what we need to know!" he said it with a brave strong voice... much to the dragons delight...
"In other words...information of/about a certain location...<grin> is it not?" she questioned...
"Yes! It is!" said the beast, clearing his throat, for some reason it kind of bothered him... "Can you help us Lady... Err...Lord Miya?" he felt stupidly nerves...
"Ask... and I would obey with no questions my lord... you have done so much for us, and we owe you our lives!" she said it in her soft voice, much to the boy's cocked eye brow in confusion... then gave out a single whistling blow from her throat as the thousands of serpents gathered around, she made a song so seldom in it's tone, so sweet in it's music, it was like the melody of water... the temple boy felt him self falling asleep... but then... SMACK!!

"Aw!! Dam-" cried the boy... "HUSH!!" scolded the beast hissing as a crackling up his forelock snapped the boy's attention, Tora was standing right next to him, he could've just snapped his head off if he could, but this was just not the time nor the place! As the dragon kept its song playing, whispering to the boy, the beasts voice was sounding pissed off "fall asleep now you little stupid brat and your as good as dead!!" his pupilless eyes slitted open, burning in a fine silver glow, tail lashing, teeth showing, thunder crackling... the ancient beast was so nerves, not to mention slightly embarrassed, he couldn't hide his anger and urgent urge to bite some thing!!
"Ach..." the boy cursed, the beast had hit him with his fisted knuckles hard on the back of his shoulder, it hurt, feeling this pain from his finger tips going up his arm crawling up his neck and till his brain! Propping the spear a little away, he nursed his shoulder glaring at the beast...
"Dammit Tora... why'd you do that for?" whispered the boy, he really didn't know what was wrong with the beast... but then, the seldom song slowly went shallow and was vanishing... and every thing went quiet...
"Now what?" he questioned; only to be gifted with another hit... more painful than the first!! Then a hard yank on his long hair!! The boy felt like his scalp got ripped off...
"I told you to *shut up* Brat!!" hissed the beast under his breath, thunder crackling a little more... he was really annoyed, and from Ushio's point of view, Tora seemed to be in a mood to bite his head right off his shoulders! But then the beast shifted his head towards the dragon whom only had her eyes closed...

"This will take some time my lord... my minions will return with the information you requested as soon as possible..." she smiled... she sounded like she was going to ask for some thing then, silenced for a second... "My lord... may I ask you some thing?"
"umm... Why... of course, Lord Miya!" Tora startled for a second before answering... he didn't know what she had in mind...
"Please... would you honor me... with a battle!?" she questioned... her huge figure floating soundlessly above the water... the temple boy turned towards his partner, whom only froze in surprise... she wanted to 'battle' him?? Why? He was thinking about it, and then turned his silver slit eye to meet with her crystal blue gaze of curiosity...
"Tora...?" whispered the boy, only to be rewarded with a frown saying 'shut up!!' then the beast turned to the dragon, after a deep breath...
"I would be most honored to battle you, Lord Miya!" said the beast in his cold dry rough voice, teeth showing, it seems that he actually enjoyed the idea!! At last he was gonna empty the itchy feeling in the back of his mind, knowing he wont get 'speared' for it!!

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Somewhere far yet near a city stood the temple... high into the sky it flew, with it's top missing its beholder... the priest was watching the sky as clouds of black merged into his view, only did the slight giggling of a child made him smile... looking around he saw Asako with the little female beast in the middle of the living room... Asako had a string with the cloth ball which had the small bell in it tied in... the little female was trying to grab it, but the human girl was quick and didn't give her a chance. Laughing at the little ones goof-ups the human girl couldn't stop her self from laughing! The little beast felt a little pissed off, and in a single crouch her forelock crackled in thunder ready to send a heavy blow towards the human girl...
"Hey!! Relax, I was just kidding!!" laughed Asako... "Don't be such a sour puss!"
"Well it's not my fault you play rough!" cried the little girl... and simply walked into the wall passing it, and just sat in the middle of the back yard staring at the sky... turning to the priest, the human girl seemed glad of having such a young company... "Oji-san" called Asako, he only turned facing her with a 'hmm?' "Uh, do you think Ushio and Tora found away to get to Mayuko?" she lost her grin "I'm getting worried"
"So am I Asako... so am I!" the priest was used of his sons disappearance for hunting or so, but he just had this fear of loosing him ringing in his mind...

A small shrike shredded the silence of the room, as the priest and the young female both looked out side, only to see the little one running as fast as her little legs could go, skipping right into the window landing into the priests chest, embracing her as she wrapped her arms around his neck in fear, shivering, heart pounding and her breath panting... looking out side... nothing! Just a huge beast in dark brown, with his mane split into two colors, half was in milky tan coloring 2/3 of his mane, the other in silver gray, which was also coloring 1/3 of his mane counting in the forelock, and a few locks reaching to the other side of his face, with eyes flashing in a simple yellow glow, and his long tail in the same color of milky tan as his mane...

"What the hell!" said Asako, eyes fixed on the beast that only stood there on four legs, looking at the young one in the priests arms... the little beast only eyed him with fright, she seemed to know him, her eyes said so! He only sat back on his hunches in the back yard, eyes closed for a second... the human girl could swear that the beast's eyes had pain filling them, as if he felt hurt for the little one fleeing from him...
"Ann..." the beast whispered, his voice firm with a shredding tone in it, still sounding sad "...why are you running from me?" he questioned, with only pain filling his dry voice...
"Cause mom told me to stay away from the likes of you!!" harshly answered the little one, much to the huge beasts shock. His eyes went wide open with nothing else but surprise... he looked around scanning "where's Shadow?" he asked... the little one only dropped her gaze to the ground...
"I dunno..." she paused, then drew a breath "mom vanished after you left her!" she was frowning, with almost tears in her eyes... "Why?" she was gonna cry "why'd you leave mom??" a single droplet wheeled in her little crystal blue eyes...
"Honey... I didn't mean it!" the beast whispered... then eyed the humans... paused... frowning, then standing on four legs, he walked towards the temple "Ann, come over here, you shouldn't be with humans!" he softly scolded...
"NO!" she cried, hanging onto the priests neck, how only tightened his embrace around her, she didn't seem to want to let go... still pacing, the beast almost reached them, and only then did the human girl stand in his face after jumping through the window right in front of him...
"What do you want?" he snarled at the human female, how was firmly frowning at him "move out of my way!" he could feel her heart beats thumping hard, still, she had this brave gaze, eye to eye staring at each other they did!!
"Give me one good reason why should I?" she cried "your in a territory that's not yours, and the owner would be mostly angry when he knows!" she concluded... the beast blinked once then questioned "and do you know of it's owned human?" he had a simple gaze, still he sounded like he was mocking her...
"In a matter of fact, yes! Tora is his name... kicking intruders butts is his favorite game!" she rhymed "so get your lousy butt outta here before he kicks it out for you!!" she yelled at him stomping one foot forwards at him... startled and surprised he flinched. Never had any one yelled at him like that before, and defiantly not by a human!

Giving one last look at the little female, he paused, thinking, and then giving a sigh, he turned around attending to walk away... well... that's what they thought! The minute Asako loosened her stretched nerves, the beast whooshed pass her, jumping through the window over the priest who tripped and fell on his back, as the little female slipped from his grip falling and rolling on the floor, only to be gripped by the beasts clawed hands...
"Uhh... DAD!! Let-go-of-me!!" she cried, wanting to escape the beast's clutch... "Please let go!!" she whimpered...
"Dad!!??" squeaked Asako, puzzled by the little ones words.

'The beast is her father? Why is she trying to stay away from him? O' yeah! She said earlier that her mother told her to stay away from him... and also said that he left her mother... her parents had a fight?? Funny I thought beasts don't live by those kind of rules!!'

Thought the girl, only to be brought up by the huge figure running towards her... the beast had the female child in one hand and was attending to pass thought the window again... not thinking about it, she clutched his milky tanned mane, as he swooped out running through the forest... the priest widened his eyes at the girl vanishing right in front of him like that, quickly jumping to his feet skipping to wards he window he looked out side, to absolutely nothing... he lost sight of them, and did not know at least to which way they went "Oh great God... protect the poor child" he prayed in his heart...

Asako found her self almost hanging to the huge beasts back, and he slightly stopped in the middle of the forest trying to shake her off him... "Get off me you little twerp!" he jumped high and low like a wild horse trying to through off it's rider... gasping and holding back a shrike, the human found her self digging her heels into his waist like she did to Tora earlier, and only did that give her an idea... she gripped his mane with both her hands pulling it hard, more like yanking!! In total pain, the beast hissed and growled with a deep rumble in his chest that even Asako could feel happening right under her... she pulled his mane so hard, the little beast found her self loose from his grip and skipped away a few feet, watching the human girl riding her father like a wild mare!!
"BE CAREFUL!!" the little one cried, seeing her father slip his hind feet down a rock...

They both found them selves sliding down a nearly curved cliff, slipping down and down fast "AHHH!!!" they both cried in surprise mixed with almost fear... whooshing through the long grass, they saw them selves heading right into the end of the sliding cliff that was pointing sky-wards... being sent into the arms on the great blue sky, Asako found her self flying alone... well, more likely falling!! Feeling the cold wind against her face, then seeing her self heading right into the dry tree tops, she closed her eyes, but then some thing settled it's self under her, it was warm and furry, not thinking with her eyes still closed, she just clutched it... still feeling the wind, she held onto the furry thing with her life, hearing the sound of disturbed tree leaves and braking branches, and then, slowly, the wind stopped blowing, and she felt her self standing in a single spot... slowly her heart rested, as she felt another heart beat going fast, vibrating against her own, still it started resting as well... she opened her eyes...

"Are you okay??" asked the little one, as she stood on her hind legs, with her fingers sinking in a furry milky tanned color... Asako raised her head, only to reveal that she was on the huge beasts back, he stood there on four feet, and his face slightly turned to her...
"Are you alright child?" he questioned... he was panting, and only then did the human girl see all those little cuts and marks in his face... they were all so small and hard to see, not to forget that his dark brown fur blurred them over, and also he had tow stripes on his face, one started from his eyes, slightly curving, it headed to the back of his face passing his cheek, the other was slipping down his muzzle like a single tear drop, making the cuts he got from passing through the trees so harshly vanish from sight if like they weren't even there...
"Uh... yeah <Pant> I guess" she was a bit startled... didn't he want to through her off just a few minutes ago? Why did he help her then? He could've jest left her fall and splatter like a bug!!
"Your brave child!" he smiled "crazy... but brave!" he laughed, then turned his face towards the sky, as he was panting too... "Why have you done this?" he asked, voice full with curiosity "I could've just ate you up you know!"
"And let you take away Ann against her own will? No way!!" she scolded "you might be her father, still you don't have the right!!" she was talking to him as she was still sitting on his back...
"Lovely conversation..." he slurred with a slight laugh "would you mind?" he asked...
"Mind what?" she said... "Getting off me?" he cocked an eyebrow at her... "Oh!! Sure!" then slipped her feet to one side and slid off him landing on her feet...he was almost as big and huge as Tora, still seemed to be just a little... short! He just sat back on his hunches, head a bit down, tail tucked, but then turned his head towards his daughter... who only sank her head between her shoulders, then took a few steps back, she sat back and tucked her tail...
"Ann... please... don't!" he sounded hurt "I've been through enough! I don't want you to turn your back on me too!" he sighed... Asako had a single pause, then drew a breath "um... your Ann's father, right?" she questioned, as the huge dark brown beast just turned to her "well... then, where is her mother?" she really wanted to know...
"Uh..." he silenced, then turned to the little one...
"Mom told me that... she was gonna go some where..." said the little female, tail slightly flickering "she warned me, and told me not to follow her..." then she paused "I don't know where she went... I haven't seen her for three days..." the little beast whimpered, she was sobbing soundlessly...
"Ann!" her father whispered, taking one step near her, she only backed up, he was stunned, as he saw his own daughter frightened of him... it hurt, only God knew how much it hurt...
"Why did you three split up any way?" questioned the girl in a bit of a puzzled yet mixed with anger voice...
"We... had a fight, and..." he closed his mouth, thinking that he shouldn't finish what he was saying... "God... all I want is to find her again... to have her back... that's all I'm asking..." said the beast, he was yelling at nothing, as his hand struck the ground scoring the dirt under it, eyes shut, teeth tips showing, tail flickering, head down with his shoulder blades coming into view, and a few long locks of the gray side of his hair coming into his face, almost sobbing... the human could feel him suffer the guilt he did, although she didn't know what it was, he really looked like he was willing to pay for his life just to get back his mate... only the sky could hear his pain shrieking through it's open doors, taking in all what life did to it's beholders...

Some where else... a battle was set... who would win, who would lose... and far away... lives threatened by a mysterious fate lead ahead into the darkness... what shall happen to them... only time could tell...

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A/N: heave... heave... heave!! =O.O= !! Okay chapter two is only as half as long as chapter one... okay... I had a few tips, I'll try to work by them and leave the mystery stuff to later!! I'm working on chapter three now so don't push me okay? I'm a slow writer and a bad speller cause English isn't my real language!! And another thing! I'm bad in choosing titles for the chapters, so I hope they don't bug you! Chapter three is in the works, and it's coming your way so stay tuned! Please R&R!! ^__^!