"Wait up, Asuma!" a soft voice called out through heavy breathing. The owner of the voice, a young female wolf demon, had been running for a short time but was already out of breath. She slowed down to a halt, her white tail curling around her legs. Placing a small hand to her heaving chest she looked up towards the sky. Through the high tree tops she could just make out the last rays of the burning sun. A few stars were already starting to dot the now darkening sky.

"Why'd you stop, Assura?" a male voice asked, breaking through the silence of the forest. Assura's golden-brown eyes glanced in her older brother's direction. He had just appeared from behind a large tree, walking in her direction.

"I can never keep up with you. You're way too fast!" Assura complained, staring at her bare feet.

"You're so bothersome."

"Sorry," the young girl whispered, her chestnut hair falling in her face.

"Don't sweat it," Asuma said walking over to his younger sister. He placed a finger under her chin and gently made her look at him. He smiled at her softly. Assura returned the smile and hugged the older wolf demon quickly. He chuckled before prying her arms off his waist and walking back in the direction where he had come from.

"Come on. Father's probably worrying about us," Asuma said, and with that he took off. Assura groaned before running after her older brother, trying her best to keep up. She sighed as he brother slowly began to fade into the distance of the darkening forest. It was getting harder and harder to spot her brother's black hair and fur in the darkness. She suddenly stopped running when a burst of purple light shone through out the whole forest. Turning her gaze heavenward she watched as purple rays of light began shooting out in all different directions, scattering all over Japan. Assura gasped when one of the purple rays of light fell through the forest canopy and shot into a nearby bush, causing the shrub to glow with a bright light. Slowly, the young wolf demon warily walked closer to the bush. As she inched closer to it the light slowly began to fade away, making the forest as dark as it was before the interesting light show. Assura reached out a hand into the small shrub and felt around, trying to find something that didn't belong in the small plant. Her had grazed upon something sharp, pricking her finger.

"Ouch," she hissed as she pulled out her hand and stared at it, a small bead of crimson blood forming on her finger tip. Placing her finger to her lips she licked off the blood, before slowly reaching into the bush with her other hand and pulling out the sharp object. She held in between her thumb and index finger, holding it up into the moon light to examine it.

"Wow, it's beautiful," she muttered in awe as the moonlight reflected off the small crystal, causing the area around her to glow a soft purple. She adverted her attention away from the small crystal when she heard a twig snap off some where in the distance. A smile spread across her soft lips when her brother's figure came into view, not that far away from her.
"Look it, Asuma. Look it," Assura said excitedly as she held out her hand. Asuma quickly grabbed the small shard and held it up in the moon light, examing it. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he twirled the shard inbetween his fingers.
"What do you suppose it is?" Assura asked, looking over her brother's shoulder.

"Dunno. Maybe father knows," Asuma said with a sigh before running off towards the wolf den. He looked behind him and smiled when he noticed his sister was actually keeping up with him.

-----

"Father! Father where are you?!" Assura called out in the cave, her voice echoing off the slick walls. She stepped over small boulders as she made her way further into the cave, her brother following close behind her. The young wolf stopped when she came across one of her father's gaurds. She poked him in the chest, stopping him in his tracks.
"What do you want?" he asked looking down at the adolescent.
"Where's father? We need to show him something," Assura said.

"In the inner chamber," the guard answered before walking out towards the cave's entrance. Assura nodded before running down the long corridor towards the innermost chamber, Asuma was close behind.

"Father! Look at what I found," Assura called as she entered her father's chambers, not even bothering to knock. She held out the jewel to her father and waited for his opinion.
"This is a very nice find, Assura. It looks to be a shard of some kind of jewel," her father said examining it. He glared at Asuma when his oldest child snorted at his answer.
"We've figured out that much, sir," Asuma said glancing down at his feet.

"It's quite all right. Now off to your chambers. The both of you," the wise old wolf said to his children. They both nodded and walked out of the large room, towards their rooms.

A demon lord stood on top of a high cliff, overlooking a vast forest. The large area of trees seemed to spread out for miles. He glanced at the crescent moon that hung in the night sky, a frown spreading across his lips as a cold wind came in from the south. It swayed through the top branches of the tallest trees. With it, came the scent of a wolf, greeting his keen nose. His golden brown eyes scanned the tops of the trees, until his vision was blocked by his own silver hair. His frown deepened into a scowl as he carefully pushed his hair back behind his broad shoulders. He sniffed the air again, a new scent flooding into his nostrils. This scent he recognized; it was of his annoying minion.

"You can come out from the bushes now," the demon lord said coldly, throwing a sideways glance at a small bush that had began trembling.

"Yes m'lord!" his minion squeaked as he clambered through the bush, carrying a staff twice his size. On top of the staff were two heads; one was of an old man and the other was of a young beauty. The incredibly short imp was almost completely out of the small shrub when the eyes of the old man's head began to glow red. The staff changed postions in his hands so that the old man was facing the east, an invisible force pulling the imp along in that direction.

"Lord Sesshoumaru! Look, the old man is responding!" the imp cried out after catching his balance. He stared up at his lord, waiting for the powerful demon to make a move. He shuddered slightly when his lord turned towards him, sending him a glare. The imp winced, closing his eyes waiting for something to strike him.

"What?" he asked opening his beady yellow eyes again to see Sesshoumaru wasn't there. He looked around frantically, not able to find the powerful demon. "Where are you m'lord?" he squeaked.

"Jaken, come," Sesshoumaru said coldly, treating his minion like a dog. The imp looked behind him to see his lord walking away. He nodded his head before turning around swiftly and following after his lord, nearly tripping over his own feet. He clambered after his master, keeping close behind the larger demon who was now beginning to walk down the side of the cliff. Another strong wind blew around them, whipping Sesshoumaru's long silver hair to and fro, along with the pelt that adorned his right shoulder. The pelt hit Jaken in the face, curling around his small body and tangling him up in it.
"Get this damned thing off me," he said stopping to bat at the white fur, thus causing Sesshoumaru to slow down a bit because of the added weight on his shoulder. The powerful demon turned his head to look over his shoulder to see what was the added weight and scowled. He had hated it when the imp would put his grubby hands on his pelt, but now his minion was tangled in it. He curled his fingers around the pelt, digging his sharp nails into the white fur, before tugging on it. The force of his pull had unraveled Jaken and sent him flying backwards into a small boulder.

"Don't ever touch my pelt again," Sesshoumaru said seething as he turned to glare at the semi-conscious Jaken. He made a move to advance on the small imp, but stopped when a purple light flashed through the sky. Both of the demons turned their gazes heavenward, watching as tiny beams of purple scattered through out Japan, lighting up the night sky.

"What do you suppose it is m'lord?" the imp asked, staring up in awe at the shiny beams. He turned sideways to look at his master, his mouth falling agape when he noticed Sesshoumaru walking away.

"Come, those lights hold no interest in me," Sesshoumaru said coldly as he began walking down the slight decline of the cliff.

"Coming m'lord!" the imp shouted as he followed after the larger demon. He knew what his master was interested in; continuing on with the quest for the Tetsusaiga.

"Seeing; yet never seen. Protected; yet not known to it's protector," Sesshoumaru recited under his breath as he reached the bottom of the cliff. That one confusing saying was always on his mind. No matter how many times he said it, he couldn't figure out what it meant. He glanced behind him to see his minion watching his every move.

"What direction are we to be traveling in?" Sesshoumaru asked, turning his gaze forward again.

"In the east m'lord. That is where the sword should be," Jaken said jogging to keep up with his master. Sesshoumaru nodded his head slightly as he changed his direction. He sniffed the air, sifting through the many different scents to see if that wolf was still around. He narrowed his golden brown eyes when another scent flooded through his nostrils. 'So there's two of them,' he thought looking in the direction where the scents were. Jaken had noticed his master's motions. He too turned his head in the direction where Sesshoumaru was looking off in.
"What's out there?" he asked turning his gaze back to Sesshoumaru.

"Nothing of importance," his master said as he turned his gaze forward again. The imp narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. His master was definately hiding something from him. He didn't press onto the matter though for fear of being killed. A sigh escaped his pursed lips as he sofented his gaze. He couldn't be mad at his lord, after all Sesshoumaru was the one that had spared him and let him journey with him. Jaken nervously glanced in the direction where his lord had been staring off into.

"Are you sure ther--"
"Jaken, quiet!" Sesshoumaru said getting a little angery at his minion. Jaken immidiately shut his mouth and nodded his head, a bead a sweat slipping down his forehead. The two demons continued on walking in silence.