Chapter 18

"You're leaving already?" Shiro questioned, walking out the house with Valdrianth.

"Yes," Val replied. "I sort of left Koga-sama without telling him. He was sort of asleep when I left. If he wakes up and I'm not there, he'll become frantic, and do something stupid like sent the whole wolf pack after me."

Shiro looked at his adopted daughter with concern.

"Please give my regards to Tetsuo, Otousan," she smiled. "I'm only sorry that I couldn't spend enough time to see him as well." She gave a bow to turn. "Eh?"

The middle aged woman had a shocked look on her face. She could've sworn that monster would've died in the wilderness. But, no. There she was. There was that beast that her husband dare still call his daughter. The beast that the demons sent as a curse to such a prosperous village.

"Ah, Ayumi-sama," Valdrianth bowed. "I was just on my way out. I'm sorry you and I didn't get a chance to spend more time with each other. Perhaps in the future, I'll come again. I still have to see how Tetsuo is doing."

Ayumi narrowed her eyes. "How dare you come back here," she stated. "The last thing we need is a demon like you."

Val smiled. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Ayumi-sama, but I'm not a youkai. I'm as mortal as you or Otousan."

Ayumi pointed her finger in rage. "Don't you dare call him your father, you monster. You have right, you monster. I bet it was you that slaughtered the neighboring village a few days ago wasn't it?!"

"Eh?" Valdrianth froze and her eyes widened. She, she did slaughter those people. She looked down at her hands. "Perhaps it wasn't good idea to come here after all. You're right, I do have no right." She turned around and handed the kimono to Shiro. "Here, Shiro-san. I do not deserve this. Give to someone else. Someone who is worthy to call your daughter. This old raptor isn't." She smiled at him and began to walk off.

"Val!" Shiro called after her. "Wait Val!"

She walked a few steps until she stood side by side to Ayumi. "It's your fault," she growled at her. "And you're lucky today, that I am in no condition to fight. Because if I was, you would truely see the kind of monster that I am." She began to walk forward.

Just then a young girl walked into view. "Hmm? Oh, Konichiwa. Are a friend of. . .. . ?"

"Sayo! Get away from her! She a demon Sayo!" Ayumi cried in fear.

"Youkai?" Sayo looked up at Val. She certainly didn't look like one. Her facial featured were so soft and her eyes were a greyish blues, and so peaceful. How could someone like this be a demon. Now that she though about it, those features, with the exception of the eye color reminded her a lot of the youkai she found in the woods. Speaking of which, she had to make sure he had something to eat tonight.

Val looked at the girl a moment. This must've been Shiro and Ayumi's daughter. Tetsuo's younger sister. She saw no fear in the girl's eyes what so ever. Has, this girl seen a youkai before? Even without her raptor form visible, anyone who knew of Valdrianth would know she wasn't human. If the children that weren't born at the time would no. This girl just wasn't afraid.

Valdrianth looked over her shoulder. "You should learn from your daughter, Ayumi. She isn't afraid. She isn't stupid either."

"Val!" Shiro scolded has he did when she was a child. But, she wasn't a child anymore.

Valdrianth began to walk on into the village streets. She looked to the sound of running feet. The priest and samurai. "Ayumi has a big mouth." She also decided that it wasn't the time to linger either. Val took to her feet. Oh, but her legs ached so much. She found her self merely walking fast, let alone running.

The everything seemed to stop when the sight of a tornado came hurling into the village. "Eh?! Koga-sama?!"

He stopped in front of her. "Just what the hell do you think you were doing?!" His breath was heavy as if he had been running for hours to come. "You are in no condition to be going around, parading into villages miles away from home, through a demon infest forest, in the middle of winter!"

Val lowered her head, unable to look at him.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"

"Gomen-sei," she apologized. "I-I just wanted to see, Koga-sama."

Koga's breath steadied and he gained a softer look. Knowing that she was alright made him feel a whole lot better. "If you wanted to see your family so much so soon, all you had to do was tell. I would've brought you here."

"Arigatou," she said. "I know you would've. But, it doesn't matter anymore. They're not my family. How can I say that they are? How can I say that any human is my family after what I did? I have no right. I have not family."

"Now, don't start that Val," she scolded. "I am your family. I'm your mate Val, and you're mine. We're a family. You and me, and Ginta, and Hakkaku. We're a family. That's all we need."

A whimper escaped her mouth as she could feel herself begin to cry. She leaned forward on her wolf prince's chest and cried against him. "Take me home."

Shiro looked on at Val and the wolf demon, Koga. He never seen such a serene look on a wolf demon's face before, or any demon's face before. He was happy. His adopted, ugly, beautiful daughter wasn't alone. That was all that he needed to be assured of.

Koga looked up at the gathering villagers surrounding them. They didn't look to happy. "Oi, I think we better leave. I don't want to have to hurt the humans."

Val stood up strait. "No you don't." She popped her shoulders and her neck. "But I do want to play with them some, Koga-sama." She turned around.

"Val?"

Val gritted her teeth and clenched her fist together. All she needed to do was remember. She needed to remember how her anger made her emotions tie to her power. It was this power she could use to transform. She could do it, she was strong enough.

Koga watched her from a moment, he knew what she was trying to do. It was good for the villagers. They should see it anyway. He wanted them to know just how powerful, how awesome, how beautiful his raptor was.

"Eh?!" Then suddenly a smell caught his nose. She looked around furiously. "Val! I smell him!"

"Enn?" Val stopped and turned around. "Smell, who?"

"Jarra! I smell that bastard, Jarra!" he growled.

Jarra? "Are you sure? It's not me is it? I was about to transform, we have a similar smell."

"No!" he spat. "I know that smell from anywhere. It smells worse than that of even Naraku's."

Val looked around. Jarra could take many forms, she knew that. She also knew it was her ability as well. However, no matter how many forms taken, the eye color never changed. All she had to do was look for those red eyes among the people."

Sayo stepped back from behind her parents. They're after Jarra? She looked at them. They must be the ones who hurt him. She turned around and started running.

"Sayo!" Shiro turned and called after her.

Sayo didn't pay attention. A wolf demon's sent was good. If the wind was right the youkai would find Jarra. She could tell by the look in his eyes he that he wanted to kill Jarra. She had to warn him!

She made it to the hut. He must be inside, good she was in. . . . . .

Suddenly a tornado came flying by and ended up in front of her. "Oi, girl!" Koga walked to her. "Where are you going? And why does your scent carry that of that damn raptor?!" He glared down at her.

Sayo became stiff and started to shake she then became firm and stood her ground. She narrowed her eyes. She wasn't going to let her scare him. She wasn't going to run.

"Oi," Koga noticed. "Why aren't you running?"

"I was told never to run from anything immortal," she stated. "It would only attract there attention."

Koga was taken back suddenly by her words. He knew those words. They were the same words that Val ever spoke to him when they were both small. He looked down at the girl. Her brown her were full of determination. She wasn't going to let up even if he attacked. This girl, this young child, she was brave. He couldn't force someone this brave into anything.

"You shouldn't be protecting him you know," Koga said. "Jarra is evil."

Sayo didn't back down. She continued standing her ground.

Koga narrowed his eyes. If you're going to protect him, you better make sure I never catch his scent ever. If I do, he is dead. The tornado formed and the wolf took off.

Sayo quickly ran to and into the hut. "Jarra! Heh?" She looked around. But, he was gone. The raptor youkai she had been nursing was gone.

Sayo lower her head in disappointment. She at least wanted to greet him farewell.

"I didn't want him to catch my scent."

"Enn?!" She turned around and he limped inside.

"I knew he was there, I knew they were both there," he stated, mostly to himself. "I had to make sure he didn't smell me. So I went downwind of him and into a tree." He sat down against the wall.

"Jarra, why does he want to kill you so bad?"

Jarra laughed. "Why wouldn't he?" He looked at her. "Listen, girl, Sayo. He was right. You shouldn't be protecting me. You shouldn't be taking care of me while I can't. I am evil."

"Perhaps I shouldn't," she replied. "But I am anyway."

"Enn?"

"Besides, what makes him anymore evil than you are?" she questioned. "The two of you are both youkai, demons. Ya'll both want to kill each other. Both of your lives are based around who to kill. What makes him any different? What gives him the right to judge?"

Jarra didn't answer her. He just continued staring Sayo. This young girl, who barely finished her childhood, the things she said to him, they made sense. They made him think. Feh, it didn't matter. As soon as he healed up, he'd being going back anywhere. There was no use for him staying in this time if he couldn't do what he wanted to do. There was no reason to stay. He'd be tempted anyway, and even if he was succeed this time around, he would die while doing it. He wasn't ready to die. He was a coward. He knew he was, so it didn't bother him when people told him that. He just wasn't ready to die.

However. . . .

She eyes narrowed and his expression angry from his thoughts. There was still that woman Kikyo. She left him for dead, that she did. After all he did for her. He left her for dead. He would have to make sure that she would pay for betraying him. And the little beast in his heart did not object to that thought.

"Jarra?" Sayo questioned. She grew worried over the look she saw on his face.

"Enn," he snorted. "You should go back to the village now. The villagers would worry about you and look for you. Then they would find me here, and I would blame it on you."

She nodded. "I'll be back later tonight with something to eat." She left the hut leaving the raptor to ponder in his new plot for revenge. He paused for a moment though. She's right though. My life revolves around whom I should kill next. He looked out the window with close to saddened eyes. It was snowing again.

Val was waiting for Koga not far from outside of the village.

"Did you find him?" she questioned with a look of concernment on her face.

"Ie," Koga replied and twitched his nose as a snow flake touched it. "All the snow in the air. I couldn't pin point him. Besides, I left you suddenly in that village. Who knows what they would've done to you."

"Well, I don't think they would've tried anything with the Prince of Ookami Youkai as my mate." He looked and smiled up at him.

She smiled softly back. It was good to see her coming back to normal. She only needed to get that spunk she had before back. However. . . . .

He looked at her in her eyes. They were still grayish in color. However, there was still that wound. It wasn't the physical wounds. Those were healing fast. It was a soulful wound. A wound he didn't believe that was caused by the sight of the fake Kikyo and himself. But, just from the transformation by itself the wound had formed. This wound, it might never heal, and deep down in his own soul he knew that his Val would never be the same that she was.