Withered Leaves - A Kouga Family Reunion ||Open||

[¡§qüee!]

Quiet thought come floating down;
And settle softly to the ground;
Like golden autumn leaves around my feet;
I touched them and they burst apart with sweet memories;
Sweet memories...

[/b][/center]

A light breeze floated softly through the crisp spring morning. It's airy presence passed through the trees and bushes of the forest silently and quickly. Staying only long enough to Tickle the tendrils of leaves and flower buds, before whisking away to play with some other part of the foliage. The tall grass, basking in the warm glow of the sun, swayed back and forth. Dancing in the cool touch of the breeze -almost as if playing some silly game with the wind.

A small creek trickled slowly along a path of smooth rocks and overgrown weeds. Winding lazily along the open clearing and ending, quite abruptly, at a larger stream. One that ran clear through the forest and emptied into faster -stronger- river.

This river, however, was quite special.

It flowed swiftly and elegantly across the lands of japan. Starting at the base of the highest mountains and running far past the large fields in the west lands. To many of the people and demons it provided life, water, food, substance. And to others it provided homes, shelters and a place to clean off a hard day's work. And to a certain pack of yourouzoku's it was the sign for home. For no matter where the young cubs or elders roamed, they could always find their way back home by following the banks of the river.

It's named changed depending on the region where it's spotted. And no one could ever give an accurate guess on where it ended, for no one had traveled far enough into the west to know for sure. But to the large cave of yourouzoku's basking in their own home, the river was known as Sansaku Komichi. -Walking Path- It was the heart of the yourouzoku pack, loved, worshipped, and after centuries of being close by their side, it carried the blood of it's fallen, of it's children and wives, towards the far unknown reaches of the West.

And it was this river that an older yourouzoku stood before as her tired weathered eyes stared blankly into an empty cave. Her feet were planted steadily in the tough flowing weeds along the bank of the river, her loose, red and purple robes flying lightly about her legs and arms as her bundled black hair fought for it's release. Her dark orbs flowed slowly from the mouth of the cave to the shadows it cast on the ground, they meshed and intertwined with the trees and bushes beside the cave and were eventually swallowed by the side of the mountain.

Tears pooled at the corner of her eyes, stinging the glossy exterior and threatening to fall upon her porcelain skin. But she held them back and let a scowl cover up for her brief moment of weakness. A pale hand quickly flexed and shrunk into a tight fist, shaking ever so slightly as the woman's head dropped to the ground. Her fang pierced deeply into her ruby red lips, and her dark eyes hid behind pale lids and an angry scowl.

"Kou-ga...[/color]"

Granny's eyes quickly opened once more and her feet fleeted to the left along the bank, her claws already extended as she searched for something to kill. I leave him in charge for a few months.... And this is what happens...[/color] She refused to let the tears fall, and she was too angry to return to the others quite yet. So she followed the river, splashed through the small stream and tiny creek before storming through the tall field grass.

A crash followed after her as she punched her way through a tree instead of around it. She licked the stinging wound on her hand but continued her hunt for something she could have fun killing. Preferably something that wore a short skirt and had his long hair tied up in a pony tail.

Granny's mind continued to go back to the cave she had grown up in. The home she had raised her son and grandchildren in, and the place she had hoped to die in. With her pack, her friends, her family surrounding her.

Her father had been a stray yourouzoku who had been strong enough to form a pack, and he passed it on idly to the man Granny had fallen in love with. A fool that had almost destroyed their pack before, had it not been for the older yourouzoku. And her son had shown promise in taking over, had it not been for that whore of a wife he had seduced to his bed. And even after her husband had died, her son had traveled off to kill some random wolf that had slept with his cheating wife, and even after her daughter-in-law had left her all alone with four young children, Granny had kept that pack alive and thriving.

But, Kouga was his father's son. And even though she was beyond pissed at the moment, she really wasn't surprised by the outcome she had come across. No matter how horrible it seemed to be.

Granny knew that Kouga was bound to be a failure like his father was. And it was going to be up to her to make that boy a suitable leader. Gods forbid she should die anytime soon, and leave that younger generation take over. The pack would never be revived if that were to happen. No, Granny needed to last a few more centuries in order to keep her family line going.

Taro was already too far gone. Far too feminine and mated with a fox. A disgrace if Granny had ever saw one, but never the less he was her grandson and she would love him unconditionally no matter what, but he wouldn't be acceptable to lead a pack.

Hotaka was promising, but tainted. He was too young to think more past tomorrow and even though he carried Granny's blood, he was also just a halfbreed compared to the older boys.

Cheiko... Well, if Cheiko hadn't been born in the cave, and had Granny never seen her as a baby then she wouldn't be anywhere near her family. She didn't carry a stitch of Granny's line in her and would never touch the wall of leaders in her life time.

Which left her with only one option. Kouga.

Oh joy.

Granny's hunt ended sooner then she anticipated, but she accepted the bloody deer in her claws and ate greedily from it's lean body as she rested beneath a tree. The shade covered all but her feet, and the breeze had finally loosened parts of her long braided hair. Enough to where she paused in her meal to fix it.

She quickly consumed her food and journeyed northward to find the river once more and clean her soaked hands and reddened face. What to do...[/i][/color] Granny closed her eyes and meditated by the river side for awhile, basking in the warmth of the sun above her as she let her mind wander. The others would be waking soon, and she'd have to get back to them before they wandered closer to the empty cave...

"Kouga....[/color]" Softly she growled...

If only you're father wasn't dead...

...If only, if only, the woodpecker sighs...[/size]

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Nimble feet slowly and silently dance near the long bank of a river. The calming breeze, gently caresses the child cheek as it flows south ward. The silver wind chiming to the trees, as it whispers gently melodies to the plants that lean to one side, as if leaning over to whisper the news to the other plants.

The pure water trickles down the river, glinting in the bright sun with laughter. The fish swim with content, as they're not disturb in their peacful swim.

The small child looks at the river with a blank look, but a certain feeling nagging at her; telling her that she should know something of the river. Standing there at the river side, with the wind picking her silver hair up to flit around with excitment. Her clawed hands lay limply at her sides, her mind buzzing for the information that he mentor had once told her before of the river. Standing there completly still, he breathing stopping and her heart beat coming to a stop; she stands there like a statue.

Sansaku Komichi

That was the name her mentor had told, even though there were many different names to different regions of the river. This is the name that the yourouzoku call the river. Her mentor had thought that since she was 2/4 yourouzoku that she should know that name.

Realizing that she wasn't breathing or her heart wasn't beating, she took a deep breath as her little hand hits her chest with enough force to get her heart started again. She tended to do that, since she is 1/4 vampire. Yes she is quite a freak of nature considering the other 1/4 is angel demon.

Blinking a few times, she turns on her heels and continues her walk up the river. Her blood red petal like dress twirling around, she stops to hear a crash from near by. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, turns towards the crash area and give a little skip before she bounded off with great speed. Zipping past the many foilage, she stops before the fallen tree; knowing full well that somone did this. Sniffing the air, her blood red eyes widen a fraction before going to their normal bored look.

This smells like Oto-teme, but it's so different. Do I dare even go near the person, for all I know the yourouzoku could be a nut job like my other siblings.

Mauling it over for a few minutes, she shrugs her shoulders knowing that sooner or later she would meet the person. Looking around the area, she put her tracking skills to test. Folowing the the scent of the woman, she jogs her way to the person. Not exactly eager to meet the person, but slightly curious enough to make her jog at least.

Jogging around with her eyes scanning for anything to pop out of nowhere she skids to a stop after a few mile jog to find the woman leaning on a tree. Placing her hand on a tree, she blinks a few times; her eyes soaking up the woman's appearence to keep in the back of her mind. Standing there, unsure of what to do; she just silently stays put and just watches.

[都Tsuzuki筑]

[/i][/color]

Suddenly she pulled herself into the water all the way, getting her hair and face wet. Though she was without soap or the like, Tsu proceeded to work her fingers through her hair to remove any knots, tangles, and bits of leaflitter that might have gotten stuck in it-- those sorts of things tended to happen when you spent nearly a hundred precent of your time wandering around out in the wilderness.

It was then that Tsuzuki noticed the older wolf demon. Her sleepy eyes flew open, and she growled quietly in warning at the other female. Her scent was unfamiliar, yet there was something about it... something she felt she had smelled before, only differently... Then again, this female was in the same territory her mate had come from. Common sense said that probably had something to do with it.

Debating weather to adress the other, or wait for her reaction, Tsu continued to sit there, tensed, and eyeing the other warily.

Oh, where is that bastard when you need him...[/color]
[/font][/ul][/blockquote][/size]

[¡§qüee!]

Light orange wisps of hair traveled along the tanner skin of a younger, more calm, yourouzoku. A nose twitched back and forth, making circular motions as a lazy hand came up to swat at the tickling strands. Taro's hair was quite short and shouldn't be messing with his nose, but the fox hanyou curled sweetly by his side had long reddish orange hair, and a few of then tendrils escaped its bindings and was floating with the breeze. Taro let one eye open for a brief moment, taking a sweep of the area around him before once more closing. And his mind once more drifted off to fluffy clouds and twittering birds.

Mayumi by her mate's side started from her slumber a few moments later, her bright eyes staring frightened at the swaying grass below her. A bead of sweat graced her forehead and moving slowly she inched away from her mate and wiped furiously at her head. With a soft sigh she stood and glanced at the sleeping yourouzoku's around her, her family. Cheiko and Hotaka were practically snuggling under a tall oak, the only time those two actually got along was when they didn't realize it. A small smile graced her lips as she slowly moved from the clearing, tip-toeing quietly around Amaya who snored peacefully against a stump.

Her eyes were half closed in drowsy annoyance as she gracefully, stumbled, towards the small creek next to their camp site. Resisting the urge to simply dunk her head into the cold morning water, Mayumi cupped her hands and washed her face. After taking a few sips she took a better look around her, last night it had been too dark to fully see the clearing and Granny had been almost adamant about them resting here exactly instead of making it to the river only a mile up the road from them. But none of the younger youkai were going to argue with Granny, especially when the old woman was growling and practically snarling at them.

Mayumi's first instinct was to travel a little ways down the creek and take a peek at the river and the countryside she hoped rested on the other side. But something told her to return to her mate and the others before she was reprimanded for wandering off.

Unfortunately her nature as an independent demon over ruled her urge to be with her mate, and young, naive, Mayumi traveled closer to the dark, empty caves of her future home.

---

The old demon hadn't realized how her anger had affected her senses.

And it became obviously clear when a little tart bathing in the river growled at her. Without even glancing at the other wolf, Granny stood tall and let her dripping claws flash in the morning light. "Don't growl at me, you little twerp.[/color]" Her eyes flashed red, and even though she had yet to glance at the yourouzoku she couldn't help but think she smelled familiar. Or rather, the water she bathed in had a familiar scent.

K-Kouga...[/color] Granny's eyes snapped open and she glared at the wolf demon still quite nude in the water. "Who are you~? And what are you doing in my land~?[/color]" There was more force behind her voice then Granny intended, but it suited her mood at the moment.

However the tainted wolf who stood behind her had still gone unnoticed. The lack of a steady beating heart part of the problem.[/size]

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Standing there, her breath caught in her mouth as she saw silver hair and pinkish red eyes. Her blank look soon turned to a frown, her eyes narrowing into slits. Subconsious to the fact that she was baring her insicors, which quickly grew an inch; she let a deep growl rumble in her chest before she return her face into a bored look.

Her mind flash a few images of the woman dieing in different ways, her lips curl into a small smile at one image. The image of the woman slowly being eaten away by holy energy, the woman's usual sarcastic cocky grin in a state of horror. Amaranthe giggles quitely to herself, feeling in such a better way. Sure she could have thought of a more gruesome image, she prefers those of facial expression.

"I do believe her name is Tsuzuki of the North," Amaranthe cuts in, her delicate pale hand still placed on the tree. A small smile sets on her face, as she goes for a more welcoming look. The older woman's scent still bothering her, she merely puts it to the back of her mind. Knowing she would eventually know the woman's name and her conection to Oto-teme, that being the familar yet different scent.

Sliding her hand down from the tree, making sure not to mark the tree; since she didn't want to seem like a threat or anything. Not that she was afraid of these woman, quite the opposite. She could easily kill the two, by sufficating them to death; then again what fun would that be.

I'm being coming too much like Eichi-sama

[/color]

If you got to know the little girl, you would easily put the simalarity of her and Tsuzuki. For one they both have disturbing personalities, both have silver white hair, red in their eyes, the same shape of face, and both have elemental powers with ice. Now if you told either of them of such finding, you would find that doing such a thing was not such a good thing. They both no doubt would be gnawing on your bones or not bothering to touch your dead corpse; afraid they might contract some kind of disease.

Of course Amaranthe could have kept her mouth shut a few minutes ago, not wanting the old lady to assume the simalarities of the two and autimaticly think that she was like the moronic mouther. Quit, it was bad enough that Tsuzuki's mate would always call her Lil Zuki all the time they would meet. If being one of the agreements that her mentor had with Tsuzuki so that she may be able to raise the tainted girl. Her guardian, Eichi of the Shadows, can be a bitch; guess that's why she and her 'mother' always got along.

Jeesh, my life sucks.[/color][/blockquote][/font][/size]

[都Tsuzuki筑]

[/i]?"[/b][/color]

Her tinkling laugh could have shattered glass.

"I believe you have it wrong-- it's the other way around. This is more my territory than anyone else's here."

Technically, it was her mate's territory-- but he wasn't here, and that made it just as much hers as his. Of course, she didn't know that the old woman was her... grandmother-in-law.

The arrival of the smaller demoness made things all the worse-- Tsuzuki could honestly care less about Amaranthe-- admitedly, she did care quite a lot more than she was willing to admit about Seilu and the triplets. But for some reason Amaranthe was excluded from that entirely-- though it might have something to do with the fact that she was tricked into having her, and the child was a complete horror. And Tsuzuki wasn't even the one who raised her.

Growling softly, Tsu turned her gaze on her youngest daughter. The daughter she was reluctant to admit was hers.

"What are you doing here, Amaranthe? And tell me where Eichi is."

She folded her arms and tossed her wet, white hair back behind her shoulds before turning back to the senile old woman.

"She is right though, my name is Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki of the North. Daughter of Kiba and Azami, alphas of one of the Northern packs, and--... mate of Kouga of the East."

She didn't know why she hesitated there-- it just felt weird to her, talking about herself in such a manner. Tsu wasn't used to being anyone's anything, and preffered to be known for her own deeds rather than so and so's bitch.

"And this happens to be his territory."
[/font][/ul][/blockquote][/size]

[Lopez]

All was quiet. Nothing stirred except for a few birds chirping the day away. Oh, so blissful it was until,

"I feel PRETTY! OH SO PRETTY! OH SO PRETTY, AND WITTY AND GAY!"

The song flew out of his lips similar to the way a machine gun says, "Hello." Each step he took seemed to shake the ground without end. The birds were long gone as soon as they heard him coming.

Man, I LOVE this song...

[/color]

Lux was in such a good mood today, and you could tell because he finally remembered all the lyrics to the song just now. It was either that or the intoxicating smells of his lab that made him so "happy". No matter which way you looked at it, he was hopelessly unaware of the danger he was about to stir up. For this was the territory of Kouga of the East, mate of Tsuzuki, Queen of the Ice.

He kept marching along, giving mock-salutes to apparently nobody and adding a flip and quirky pirouette here and there to liven up the forest.

"Mmmhm, It's 1-and-2-and jump, hip-swish..."

"And this happens to be his territory."[/s]

He froze mid-jump, standing on one leg as a bead of sweat grazed his forehead, and fell down on a patch of grass. To his surprise, he wasn't alone, and that simply killed the happy feeling. And when you kill Lux's happy feeling, Lux spazzes out.

"Holy SHIT!"

Noticing that he had said it out loud, his insides felt as though they were clenching up, he felt like puking. But instead, he lost his balance for a moment, teetering on one leg, and then eventually trying to sprint away, though it seems that he wouldn't get far at all. Especially when a family of yourouzoku chase after an intruder.

"BOOM, Bitches!

[/blockquote][/size][/font]

[¡§qüee!]

Oh. I'm ready for it.
Come on. Bring it.

[/i]

It had been months, seasons, since Kouga had last seen his old home.

The cave he was raised in, along side his older brother and younger siblings, where he had trained with the older yourouzoku's and where Granny had beaten manners into him and tried to turn him into a respectable leader.

The small patch of grass that was over grown and covered parts of the Komichi river and created a secret hideout, where he had shared his first kiss with one of the girls from a nearby village. A human girl, pretty as the flowers that graced the bank of the river, and dead as the plank of wood that killed her.

The groupings of trees, on either side of the river that served more purpose then they seemed. Hiding, hunting, playing, everything imaginable to a young demon. Until of course Granny came along to drag him back into his cave and teach him a thing or two about "messing around".

Ah, the memories.

Ones that Kouga could have gone the next thousand years without remembering. The look on his father's face when he left the pack, the swishing of his mother's tail when she disappeared into the cold darkness of night. The tears his eyes repressed the day Granny left with his siblings. And the cold abandoned feeling that clung to his chest as his heart sank into the pits of his body, the day his pack, his family, his home was destroyed.

Oh. I'm ready for it.
Come on. Bring it.

[/i]

Kouga awoke to the sound of a chirping bird above his head not long after Zuki had slipped away to bathe, his mouth was dry, cottony from being open all night as he snored. He smacked his lips a few times, trying to get some saliva to wash away that icky cottony feeling, but only managing to drool on Seilu. Who was curled up snuggly by his side, with Athos in her arms.

He couldn't help but let a small smile form on his lips as he stood up. His eyes flowed over the sleeping pups, and stayed at the spot where his mate was usually preening herself. His eyes lowered instinctively as the wheels in his head started turning. Picking up nothing more then cobwebs and dust from the last time he really had to use his head. Sighing he stood up, covering Seilu with a blanket before numbly stumbling through the trees, towards the familiar sound of running water.

With half closed eyes he picked his way around rocks, stumps, upturned roots, dodged branches and leaves carelessly dangling from broken parts of trees and off vines. He even managed to dodge a snake slithering before his path, but not even a fully awake Kouga could have dodged the next part of his journey.

---

Taro had been waiting, patiently, for his mate's hair to once more tickle his nose, his cheek, even his closed eyes for all he cared. He loved Mayumi with every fiber of his being and showed her this constantly, whether by flowers and-

"TARO~![/color]" Suddenly the snoozing yourouzoku was no longer lying by himself beside his mate, but was doubled over with pain in his groin from his hyperactive little brother. "OMG~![/color]" He tried to let out a breath, but somehow he just couldn't breathe, but even as the fire in his lower body slowly subsided to a numb pain, Hotaka couldn't help but continue to pester him. "Taro, Taro, Taro, Taro. Hey, Taro. Nii-san, nii-san, nii-san, nii-san, Taro-[/color]"

The older yourouzoku couldn't take the nagging anymore and let his fist fly towards Hotaka's flapping mouth. "What do you want~!?[/color]" He glared down at his younger brother, still bent over a bit in pain. Hotaka rubbed at his cheek with a look of annoyance in his eyes, "Mayumi and Granny are gone... Geesh, you baka.[/color]" The younger rose to his feet and went back over to where his older sister lay, a pout on his lips as he sat and crossed his arms.

"M-Mayumi...[/color]" the pain in his groin was forgotten as he rose to his own feet and headed for the creek a few yards away. He caught his mate's scent and she was headed somewhere past their little clearing. He walked back to where he had slept, grabbing his jacket and glancing at Hotaka. "You're in charge while I'm gone. Alright~?" He smirked at the glistening surprise in his younger brother's eyes and left the clearing quickly, just catching Hotaka's look of determination as he saluted his older brother.

Taro moved quickly, following his mate's scent to the river and then following the scent of both Granny and he along the bank. He quickened his pace as other scents caught his attention, ones that smelled slightly similiar, and yet diff-

His body collided with that of another's and a moment later the running Hetaro was tangled with the limbs of another yourouzoku and falling into the river. Landing in the lap of yet another yourouzoku, only this time it was a female.... Quite naked...

---

So kiss me goodbye.
Honey, I'm gonna make it out alive.

"Y-You're mated to.... to....[/color]" Granny hadn't heard anything else the little whore had said, besides: ...mate of Kouga of the East... Th-That little bastard... h-how dare he...[/i][/color] She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped short as two new bodies entered the clearing behind this, Tsuzuki.

One was unmistakably her oldest grandchild, Taro, who was just as clumsly and hot-headed as ever. And the other was an older, rugged, and more muscled version of the little worm she had left in charge of her pack. Her dead, pack... Kouga....[/i][/color].

Granny watched the two collide and fall into the river just above Tsuzuki, her eyes flashing an even dangerous red. "KOUGA~!!!![/color]"

So kiss me goodbye.
I can see the venom in their eyes.


Goodbye.

[/i][/size]

[都Tsuzuki筑]

[/b][/color]

She narrowed her eyes at her mate's older brother-- who she didn't know was actually his brother-- before turning her eyes on the old bat.

"And how the hell do you know him!?"

She was far too old for Tsuzuki's secret lover paranoia to kick in-- too old and too ugly. But there could be a million other horrible reasons as to why the bitchy old lady knew her mate.

Then the awkwardness of the whole situation it her... the being naked and clinging to Kouga while being surrounded by other yourouzoku, at least one of which who appeared to know him already.

why the hell does this always happen to me...

[/font][/ul][/blockquote][/size]

[Lopez]

If there were any Yourouzoku who cared to chase after this idiot they'd have killed him already. But, apparently, they were attending to their own business, no matter how...unnerving it was to bear through.

Especially for Tsu.

But it didn't make a difference whether or not some demon was chasing after Lux—he was still running like the kind of superman who desperately needed to use the restroom. Only it wasn't for the restroom. He was running blindly through bramble, shrub and foliage, twigs and thorns making petite slices through the light skin on his face. Lux didn't care though, he was much too preoccupied with fleeing for his life from the imaginary Yourouzoku.

For now he was unaware of two things:

One: Nobody was chasing him.

Two: That big tree branch in his way.

But, he only noticed one after the other when it was too late for him.

”Oh, SHEET.”

SMACK

The wood snapped in half and part of it remained glued to Lux's head from the force he hit it with, and splinters sprayed the ground and his clothing immediately after he made impact. He was sent flying to the ground on all fours, groaning and wincing as he tossed the branch into the undergrowth and massaged his forehead.

”Waaaahhh.....ohhhh......a-aah.....Dammit that hurts!”

He hissed and spat out some more of his colorful vocabulary before getting up and coming to his senses. There was a satisfying lump on his forehead, and it was quickly changing color from its normal peachy tone to a pinkish, watermelony-colored bruise.

Well, that's gonna leave a mark...Hey...wasn't someone chasing me? I don't know...

He shrugged, and figured it was better that he stay away from that particular area of the forest. Lux was still unsure to the point that it was beginning to seem to him that what he saw moments ago was more of a hallucination since it happened far too quickly for him to register anything through his brain other than “I have to GTFO.” Besides, Lux had better things to do...like testing more chemicals. In fact, that was the whole reason he'd gotten here anyway.

Taking off his tan jacket, he fingered through his pockets for a handful of phials he'd brought with him. There were three in total: one pink, one orange, and one green. Lux wondered if mixing the right amounts of the green and orange together he'd be able to create a substance that would explode and look the same as the pink one, so he may be able to re-create those types of pink explosions since he was rapidly running out of the supply.

Eying a clearing of trees no more than 20 feet away from him, he thought that the space there was promising enough to use as a test zone.

Huh, well that's convenient...

But as fate decided, he wasn't really very far from where he spazzed out and took off running like a paranoid maniac. In fact, he merely went in a huge, not-so-perfect circle.

Lux quickly tread across the dirt ground into the open where the clearing and the forest met, not bothering to put on his jacket since he thought it wasn't that cold outside. Setting the pink phial on the ground and removing the corks from the orange and green, he sat down to think about the measurements.

So, if I remember what I had before back at the lab...then this should be a piece of cake!

Without thinking, he ran out into the middle of the clearing, leaving the pink chemicals, the corks and jacket behind by the bushes. With a flick of his wrists he splattered the ground with both colored chemicals, dropping the empty glass phials in a hurry to race back to observe what would happen next. At fist, it was disappointing to see that nothing had really happened at all; if anything, the chemicals frothed and foamed, churning and mixing together to create a huge mess of a pink substance on the ground.

”Ooooohh, come ON!” he whined.

The mixture fizzed more violently, eventually becoming more and more alkaline until it was making the grass next to it burn and wither away to ash.

”Yeah! Oh, sweet! I knew it wasn't a dud!”

But to his disappointment, the spontaneous chemical reaction stopped short. When he noticed this, Lux made an awkward face which could be easily described as one that looked like something between shock and disgust, his mouth open.

”WHAT?!?” He shrieked with a sudden shrillness and ferocity that a flock of birds took flight as soon as he shouted it.

Determined to keep the experiment going, and to make one final attempt to have it end successfully, he snatched the last phial, tore the cork from it with his teeth, took off towards the experiment, and splashed the last of the chemicals he had brought with him onto it. All of a sudden, the chemical reaction seemed to start up again because of it, this time even more dangerous and violent than before. Smoke rose from the chemicals, the fragrance similar to burning hair.

A catalyst? Hang on...was this such a good idea?

He paused for a moment, watching the reaction grow and spew acid everywhere. He put up his arms in front of him defensively, and braced himself.

BOOM.

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Amaranthe just blinks that the confusing events that just seem to happen incredible fast. First of all the old woman shouted out her Oto-teme’s name, and stuttered at Tsuzuki’s comment. Obviously the woman does not know that the ho is mated to the dumbass. Then of course her Oto-teme comes stumbling out right before the old woman yells “KOUGA~!!!!” colliding with another Yourouzoku falling into the river next to Tsuzuki. Then there’s the intruder, going about like a ditz and singing nonsense. What’s even worse is the fact that she’s blinded by the naked sight of Tsuzuki, which pretty much added the cherry to the confusion ice cream. Over all, she would have to say that she’s morbidly amused by the sight of things.



“My reasoning to be hear is none of your concern, you forfeited the right to know when you gave me up.” She says with a sweet smile, her pale face dimpling. “Besides I do not know where Eichi-sama is at the moment,”



Now that is the simple truth, she was just holding out the fact that she ditched the shadow demoness in the woods to fend for herself against acorn throwing squirrel demons. Nasty little creatures, but at the very least she knows not to touch any of their trees.



Getting bored of the two, her blood red eyes travel behind her; her nose filling with the scent of some kind of substance. Curiosity being more appealing that her boredom right now, she silently wonders away from the Yourouzoku towards the scent of the substance, as well as the intruder. Coming around a tree to watch his little experiment, she freezes when the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Her instincts yelling ‘duck!’. Listening to it, she creates a dome of thick ice; hoping it will cover her enough. Crouching low with her hands covering her head, she hears a huge explosion as he dome rattles and chunks of it fly off. Scrapping her shoulder, and her cheek; but either than that she is relatively fine.



Quickly getting up, her eyes darting towards that man she glares defiantly. Oblivious to the fact that she’s covering in ashes and her hair sticking out like she was electrocuted.



“What the hell were you trying to pull, fool.” she says icly, her voice keeping in an even voice. Before her face transforms into a sickly smile, her eyes glowing with happiness. “Obviously you owe me an apology. Well get on your knees and grovel, because you’ll have to plead to keep me from kill you slowly for such a rudeness.”



If there is anything that she learned from the shadow demoness, it was how to manipulate people. Sure she isn’t into doing it to make people do things for her, which would seem weak to her. No, she merely does it to amuse herself. Right now, she wants amusement.

[¡§qüee!]

"G-Gr-GRANNY~!!??" Although Kouga was quite cozy where he was laying, his head water deep in Zuki's lap, not even the sound of the rushing river could keep out the shriek of a familiar yourouzoku. His head whipping up, the male demon didn't even look in the direction where he could feel a very angry aura, instead after his outburst he let his eyes slide to another familiar form nose deep in his mate's bosom.

"OI~~!!!" Growling and partially hissing, Kouga dropped from Zuki's lap and wrapped both of his hands around his brother's neck. Dragging Taro as far away from Zuki as he could, then stopped, dropped him and proceeded to beat him up. "Bad Wolfy~~~!" Even though his eyes flashed a dangerous red, Kouga couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the previous situation.

That was, of course, until he became the beaten.

"YOU IDIOT~!" Slap, punch, kick. "I LEAVE YOU IN CHARGE FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS AND THIS HAPPENS? Slappity-Mc-Slap-Slap "THEY WERE YOUR FAMILY~! CAN"T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT~?" Punch, kick, and rest.

Granny was grumbling, growling, hissing and almost completely red as she stared vividly at her grandson. One job, she had given the idiot one job, that was to watch over the pack while she went out to see the world. That wasn't even the reason why she had left, she wanted to see if Kouga could take on the responsibility of a pack, or if she was going to have to stay alive for ever.

Kouga was resting in the fetal position, mostly from terror, but he also wanted to protect his Family Jewels from his irate grandmother. "You done?" He bravely peeked out between his hands and was rewarded with another kick to his backside before Granny walked away from him completely.

Sighing softly he picked himself up and inched his way back to the river, his hand wrapping around Zuki's bare arm as he dragged her back towards the woods. "Quick~! We must flee~!" He hissed and made a break for the trees.

Only to be stopped by his older brother. Who had been a bit bewildered before, but was now quite aware of what was going on. "Miss me, Kouga~?" He grinned sweetly before glomped tackling Kouga and sending both of them back into the river bed. The next few minutes was full of flying limbs and droplets of water. Which Granny completely ignored as she glared at Zuki.

And then a very loud -BOOM- broke the tension around them.

[都Tsuzuki筑]

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It was one of those 'shocked realization' moments-- it sort of hit Tsuzuki, how little she really knew about her mate. She'd never heard him mention anything about his family, and the only part of his past that she knew was about losing his pack... she never really asked questions about anything other than that, and he certainly didn't talk about it.

...Not that she could really blame him. She'd rather forget about her family too-- the only problem was, they kept coming back to find her somehow. But Kouga still hadn't met her three oldest brothers, nor a large section of her cousins-- there was Amaya, and the crew that called themselves the Tsukinori Bandits. He only knew the side she was... closer with, if you will. The ones she really grew up with.

Weather she knew his family or not, Tsu knew one thing she didn't want-- any male other than he mate's face buried in her chest... and to be honest, she didn't really like the fact that she was naked and not only surrounded by strangers, but pinned to a riverbed by men...

Watching Kouga beat the guy up was fairly amusing-- it felt nice to be fought over. But watching him get beat up by an old woman... not such a proud moment. Sighing to herself, Tsuzuki climbed out of the river and angrily made her way over to the old lady-- still quite naked. Tzuki was prepared to start bitch-slapping the female back into whichever long gone century she was born in, but her mate seemed to have other plans-- running away, of course.

"No-- I wanna-- that bitch-- my clothes--- let go--!"

Taro saved her this time-- chosing to let Kouga handle himself this time, Tsu stalked her way back to granny-- and she did not look happy...
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[Lopez]

BOOM.

There's nothing like a good explosion.

"It's like God farted!"

However, this was no joking matter.

He just blew up a patch of Kouga's turf.

Time taken for destruction: fifteen minutes.

On top of that, he'd managed to blow up Amaranthe and himself as well.

Coincidence? GUESS AGAIN.

- - -

Lux was sent flying all the way across from where he was standing a second ago, to where Amaranthe was recollecting herself after the explosion. He landed face-down with his body limp for a moment or so until he heard a voice. From what he could hear on the ground, it was shrill, obnoxious, dangerous, annoyed and feminine. He had to admit that her was nothing like he'd ever heard before, yet it had a flair to it that made him try to joke his way out of it. With caution.

Barely able to stifle a groan of pain, Lux rolled over onto his back and sat up. There was incredible amount of stinging and tension on his skin, especially since some of it had been sliced through with thorns when he was running away from the imaginary Yourouzoku. He was used to the pain from these kinds of explosions, but this one was one of the biggest and most painful by far.

Well, it's a new record...

As he was listening to the female scolding him, he decided to make sure that he was okay, since he didn't have a med kit at hand or anything of the kind. Lux began to rub dust out of his eyes and face, and started to get rid of grass stains from his knees, shoulders, shirt and elbows. Fingering his right knee, Lux discovered a tear in his pants surrounded with blood and dirt.

Great.

Letting out a hiss and a grunt, he tried to extend and bend his right leg again, finding it wasn't too painful moving it. As he continued his biopsy, he found a couple of burn marks and cuts on his palms and forearms where he'd protected his face from being scorched too badly from sparks, heat and acid, but that didn't stop him from gaining a slightly darker and redder skin tone than before.

Ha, I've got a TAN!

He started to check and finger through his hair, where the ends of it had turned brown and singed off in the explosion. Plus, it was more scruffy and spiky than before. He was okay with that; his hair would grow back eventually.

He got up as soon as the female stopped her brisk chit-chat, and he bent down to brush off the acidic residue and dirt from his pants. Had he been listening? Of course! However, he thought he'd pretend he didn't hear her because, as mentioned before, he thought he'd try to joke his way out of this situation. But now he noticed something that he hadn't noticed before. The female, who turned out to look like a teenager a few years younger than him, had extraordinary silver hair (which was now turned into a bad hair day, since it was spiked up because of the explosion), and curious red eyes. She was shorter than him by a lot, considering he was a little more than six and a half feet tall, but when he looked at her, something told him to be careful.

What is she, a demon? And WHO, exactly, is she? What does she want? And...what's with the attitude? Sheesh.

He brushed off the last of the dust from his pants and faced the demoness, a stern look on his face as his hazel eyes met her red ones. He heard her all right, but he decided to play the “stupid, obnoxious idiot” card, now. Which wouldn't be pretty hard for him to do, since it's what he does already.

“Hey, first off, I'm testing my new firecracker serum, and, by the looks of it, it's gone pretty damn good for me...” He took a glance at her frizzed/electrocuted-looking silver hair. “...aaaand I'm sorry that it's not a good day for you or your hair. But before I tell you my name, and, what was it? The part where I grovel before you kill me? I think you should tell me what and who, exactly, you are.”

What's she gonna do to me?

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Amaranthe looks at Lyx with annoyance; her hair adding to the affect of a crazed look on her face. As he left eye twitches at Lux's comment to her subtle threats; sure her appearance doesn't exactly make her seem much like a threat, but she could cause hell if she wished. Also feeling annoyed with the fact that the man did not give much care to her statement; her face slowly morphs into the good old 'I'm-going-to-eat-your-flesh-right-off-of-your-living-body' kind of grin. Now with her frizzed out hair; it adds to the effect that she's going for.

"Why, I am Amaranthe. Daughter of the Yourouzuku idiot who owns this land," She says sweetly. Sure she isn't really into saying that she's related to Kouga, but since he owns this land. She would think that making a point of adding that to her name might give some meaning; even if it's not really her own personal attributes that might cause some slight fear. Then again, she wouldn't put it pass Lux in laughing at her statement. Kouga is something you can laugh about; his sex life and personal status in 'big ass demons of Japan'. Which she might add that he's like the bottom of the list in most dangerous. Or was it inteligence; she can't quite remember but he could fit in both really.

To make her point in not being messed with; she snaps her fingers as the air particles slowly ebb away from Lux. Slowly forming away from the two; she stops her breathing as the air around them comes to lack oxygen. Since breathing isn't something that she requires; she remains stock still in front of Lux, not even blinking at the man. Realizing since she doesn't have any air to breath; she can't really talk at the moment because of it. So she merely raises an eye brow; the crazed grin still on her small chubby face. As if asking him silently what he thinks of her know.

---

---

---

A hazelnut hair woman scornfully makes her way through the forest; small acorns stuck in her mess of hair, her robe torn in small cuts. Her olive green eyes look around the area with annoyance; the smell of sweat peas hanging in the air. The small purple and black sparks fizzling around her person; dark energy pulsing from her. As she stumbles through the thick foalige; she gasps in horror as she plummits face first into a river. Freaking out at the water filling her vision as she quickly surfaces; her hair flying up, her eyes wide with the look of 'she's lost it'.

Damn Squirrel demons. Damn Amaranthe, ditching me. Damn RIVER~!

Looking around the area franticly with her teeth clenched; her pearl white fangs glisten in the sun. She stops momentarily; as she looks at the yourizuko with a dumb expression. One that clearly said 'Oh shitz, my bad'.

"Oh.... Hi..." Eichi says nervously. Not really for the fact that she's afraid of these people, more so with the fact that there is a naked Zuki and a certain Kouga being rapped by another man. Blinking a few times, she points in some random direction with a wide open mouth. Opening and closing for a few seconds; it finally comes to a time when the Shadow Demoness has nothing to say. Which is sadly a surprise coming from the demoness who usually has something smartass to say in a situation. Perhaps having a near death incounter with rabid squirrels did something to her. Yeah, that could be the reason.

"Do any of you know where Amaranthe is?

SO I CAN KICK HER ASS FOR DITCHING ME~! D<

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