Yeah makes no sense ya know.... just a temp part three i think...maybe i'll make it permanent...hasn't been poked at for continuity or anything...i just put it up cuz i won't be workin on it for a while...i seem to be stuck

Tesha lounged on her sofa, drinking a glass of the milk Marl had brought over from his place. They had tended to the bat-winged man as best they could, but he had yet to wake up. Tesha was surprised at how easy it had been to treat the young man. As ferocious as he looked, he hadn't even lashed out once during the dressing of his wounds. Tesha rather suspected the angel's involvement, since the man slept far to peacefully for one with a few shattered ribs and severe bruising on his side. Although it had looked serious, the young man healed quickly and with some proper care his ribs were already resisting gentle prodding, as if they had only ever been cracked. They were lucky he healed quickly and that it hadn't been something like internal bleeding. Since even if his injuries had been more serious, they couldn't exactly take a bat-winged man to the nearby hospital. Tesha was contemplating the possible reactions of the doctors to such a situation when she heard a restless sigh from the other room. Having no other single bedroom, they had put the injured young man in Tesha's room. The sigh was the first sound the man had made since they found him. Tesha got up to go and look in on their odd patient. She was a little nervous, since although Marl had suggested restraining him, Tesha had disagreed, feeling instinctively that the young man wouldn't react well to being restrained. However now he was perhaps waking, and unrestrained in her apartment…such thoughts made Tesha rather nervous. As she peered in though, the man was still in the bed, and had barely moved from where he had been before. She let out a sigh of relief, for although she did want him to wake up…she still felt safer with him asleep. Wondering why he had stirred, the flame haired girl walked over to the bed to check his temperature. However as soon as her hand touched his forehead, her wrist was trapped in an iron grip and the young man's eyes snapped open. His eyes were a deep golden yellow with numerous bright green flecks. They were devoid of any expression, and stared flatly but piercingly into Tesha's grey ones. The freeze frame lasted for about a second before the man sat up, still holding onto Tesha's wrist. He still just stared at her.

"Umm…good morning…" Tesha faltered under his dark, silent stare.

"Where am I?" His monotonous voice was scratchy and hoarse from disuse. "And who are you?" he stared hard at Tesha.

"I…My name is Teshalanna Dzahai…you're in my apartment. " Tesha's heart fluttered in her chest and she trembled slightly. The man looked at her in something resembling disgust.

"You're not a Youkai are you?"

"Umm no…I'm not a demon…" Tesha frowned… "Are you?"

"Are you one of the ones who set the Beast on me?" The young man ignored her question.

"If the Beast is that slobbery thing, no. At first I thought it was you who set it on me." The man just stared flatly at her. Tesha fidgeted, disconcerted by his abrupt manner.

"Hnn. Why haven't you killed me? I could kill you quite easily, Sheep." He watched her carefully. Tesha blinked at all the questions he was directing at her.

"Well…it's sort of complicated…somebody told us to look after you…I think they said they were from the Spirit world…?" Tesha hazarded. For the first time, the man's emotionless mask slipped for a moment.

"So he didn't forget about me…" he looked sad and just a little relieved at the same time. However it only slipped for a moment, then he was back to staring at her with his flat eyes.

"What's going on here? Oh he's awake…uhh…" Marl appeared suddenly in the doorway. The male's eyes flicked immediately to Marl and narrowed. His grip on Tesha's wrist tightened painfully.

"Umm…Marl could you give me a few more minutes alone with our patient?" she asked, her voice strained. Marl looked dubious but he nodded and left the room again.

"Who was that?" The male's eyes were still narrowed.

"Marldunn, he's my partner." Tesha answered, glad that although his expression had not changed, the young man had loosed his grip on her wrist.

"Partner?" his expression still didn't change.

"Uhh…professionally, not personally…" Tesha blushed slightly.

"Hnn." The man nodded slightly, this was obviously a concept he understood. "You two healed me?"

"Uhh well we cleaned up some of your scratches and attempted to bandage your wounds, but you did most of the healing yourself."

"Hnn…so he sent you to help me?" there was an odd look on the man's face again as his mask slipped. It was a combination of sadness and something that could almost be hope.

"Yeah I suppose…he said to fix you up and hide you and stuff." Tesha shrugged.

"Hnn…alright then." Abruptly he let go of her wrist and lay back down. Tesha blinked.

"So you'll trust us then?" She asked hesitantly.

"I don't have much of a choice." He answered without opening his eyes.

"Can I ask you your name?" Tesha got the feeling he didn't really talk.

"My name is Aishin, and I am a Demon of the Underworld." He said before rolling onto his uninjured side and promptly falling asleep.

The next day went pretty much as was expected, Tesha and Marl had a few days to get acquainted, so they hung out at her apartment, caring for their reluctant patient. He slept most of the time anyway, so the day was pretty much uneventful. Tesha killed time by dragging out all Kaeyl and Keela's old board games and coercing Marl into playing them with her. He lost most of the time, since Tesha had played them with her guardians and thus had a lot more practice. However he was very good about it, he didn't get cranky or anything. Tesha was surprised at his reaction actually, he seemed to enjoy the actual playing of the game rather than the outcome, and laughed and joked ruefully as he lost time and again. Tesha saw him better for it. She even began to enjoy his company. She was also surprised to find that he enjoyed hers. She thanked the gods that she had gotten Marl and not somebody like Rrandon. However…it was the quiet ones that were often the scariest. She tried to picture her laid-back partner cackling with an axe in his hand. That brought a smile to her lips, in fact she snorted into her tea. Marl looked up from studying his losing position on the board game below him. His eyes were slightly puzzled and he looked at her questioningly.

"Did I miss something?" He blinked owlishly.

"No…I was just…sorry…no." Tesha didn't really want to explain that she had been attempting to picture him as an axe-murderer. "Your turn."

"I know…I'm thinking…" Marl said grumpily, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. Suddenly the comfy silence of the living room was shattered by an inhuman howl. Tesha leapt to her feet, spilling tea all over herself but not noticing. Marl was also on his feet, the board game and pieces scattered at his feet. Tesha trembled. There was something familiar in that howl… She could easily imagine that howl tuned down to a growl and its owner breathing down her neck. The howl sounded again, it was getting closer. Imaginations are often worse than reality and Tesha's was one of the worst. She also lacked the adrenaline of the night before. Alone in the apartment, except for Marl and their strange patient, Tesha was sure she could smell the putrid breath of the hunting Beast. Hear the saliva foaming from its fangs to dribble off its jaw. And she could see the trees, all around her, rising high into the sky. There was screaming, this time human and suddenly Tesha was afraid. More afraid than she had ever remembered being. She began to tremble and suddenly there was nothing to see but silver light.

She ran through the woods, huge trees all around her like uncaring spectators. Staring condescendingly down upon her but unwilling to help. Tripping and scrambling over the uneven ground, she fled blindly. She had to get away. Run away. There was nowhere to hide so she had to run. The trees were too far apart to offer any comfort and their roots gave bad footing. She stumbled again and fell against one of their trunks. It was cold and slippery. In the gray light of predawn, the little girl drew her hands back from the tree trunk and gazed at them. They were covered in a dark viscous liquid, black in the watery light. Her nostrils flared, drawing in a sharp coppery scent. There were two things her young mind knew of that smelled like that, old pennies and fresh blood. A lot of fresh blood. The child stared at her hands with fear-wide eyes made puffy by the tears that still leaked out their corners. A twig snapped somewhere in the forest. The child whirled suddenly to look behind her, and screamed in complete and abject terror.