However, it wasn’t until the stranger got to the heart of the city, did it see the real damage that was caused. However, this portion didn’t seem to bother her as much.

    At first look, anyone, save a blind man, would be able to see that the bodies that were heaped up in great masses by the sacred temple of the city were not human. The greater number of bodies seemed to have wings, a humanoid type creature with wings that shone with all the different colors a flame could naturally produce. These bodies seemed to have more unnatural wounds inflicted; wounds that had to do more with spell casting than physical conflict. There was a great deal of bodies that lied scattered in a heap. Arms, legs, and sometimes even necks, were bent at unnatural angles. Still other suffered what appeared to be slow, agonizing deaths due to a myriad number of possible poisons. Of course, about a third of the dead lay in mangled and scattered throughout the temple’s front gate, showing that spells were not their opponents’ only strength.

    But they weren’t the only ones to take a beating that day; they gave back as good as they got. However, most of the remains of their enemy were charred beyond recognition. Some of the remains were nothing more than piles of ash. However, the remains that were recognizable showed them to be youko, or ‘fox demon’. They came in nearly all colors, the primary ones being red, brown, black, and gray. There was even one of the golden sect. Which was unusual, for the golden sect were among the most powerful of the southern youkos…, which only proved to serve the caliber of the enemy that they had fought. But it seemed that the youkos had won the fight, although at a great price.

    The stranger bowed its head towards the warriors’ remains, when suddenly a wind picked up, throwing the hood off of its shoulders. Or, rather, her shoulders. It was also quite obvious that the stranger wasn’t human. Three slender, golden tails marked her as a youko of the golden sect, the most powerful of her kind. However, her’s was a light gold, further proving her identity to those who knew about the southern youko customs, traditions, and bloodlines. A light gold revealed her as one of the most respected of her race, a member of the Youko Lord family.

    The Youko Lords were the leaders of the Southern youkos, and were the demonic rulers of the southern portion of the world. And, as the battle proved, they weren’t exactly on friendly terms with their godly counterparts, the fire phoenix gods of the south. The stranger blinked as she seemed to remember the fact that she was way deep in enemy territory. And so, she shifted forms.

    It was an ability that the youkos were proud of, shifting forms. While they could only hold the shifted form for so long, the general amount of time that one could hold it depended on the amount of experience with the form, as well as the actual complexity.

    The stranger chose to change into a human form so as to arouse less suspicion. It always felt weird, the changing. Her entire internal structure seemed to be shifting and moving around so as to accommodate the humans’ shorter, less slender frame. The tails not-quite-so-neatly disappeared into her back, almost as if they were slurped up like soba noodles, or spaghetti. Her ears also shifted to the side of her face and became skin color, ass well as rounder. The last physical change was her eyes. They became normal human eyes, round pupil and all, but with a sky blue-gray tint instead of amber-gold. However, if one looked hard enough, they could see the little flecks of amber peeking out, like the sun peeking out of the clouds on a rainy day.

    The stranger didn’t know the exact reason why she came here. She had been wandering for days, never staying in one place for more than a day or two, and never making any outside contact. If she had done this scant days ago, her mother would have worried…

    The stranger chuckled, a bitter, angry chuckle at that. It was time to face facts, her mother couldn’t worry about her. Not anymore…

    And as she made her way into the temple, she failed to notice the shadows behind her. The shadows that were waiting.

    And watching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Suzaku sighed as he surveyed the damage. Everyone was dead; he was the only Phoenix God left alive.

    He snarled as he pounded his fist on a nearby table, tears of bitterness streaming down his face. Damn those youkos! Damn them to Hell! How dare they do this to him!

    But they had. And they had survived a lot better than the phoenixes. He had seen his grandfather, patriarch of the Phoenix God’s family, his eyes glazed over in death with a bitter smile on his face. They had killed him in cold blood in his bed. The bastards didn’t have the honor to face him in combat…

    Suzaku’s mother had been skinned alive before thrown before the dead feet of his father. And his sister’s…He shivered at the thought.

    But the youkos who had desecrated them had been killed, and at their comrade’s own hands. It was apparent the higher up youkos disdained that sort of thing…

    Suzaku sighed as he made his way outside, his bitterness nearly washing away as a sudden sadness overcame him.

    The entire city was gone, nothing more than ruins and ash. The only thing spared was the temple, and it was clear that all the humans were dead, if not fleeing from the city.

    But as he turned to go, he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye, and he hesitated. Turning, he spotted a girl.

    A human girl, to be precise. Dressed in only a blood splattered, brown woolen coat, she seemed to fit in with the gory scene. Suzaku took a couple of steps toward her, eager for companionship, even if with a human.

    Anything was better than looking at dead bodies, anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The stranger was looking over the bodies of her people when she felt something behind her. ‘Way to go, Seriyana!’, she berated herself, preparing to face the presence behind her.

    And – if she was right about it’s identity – preparing to die.

    She turned slowly to come face to face with her kind’s most hated enemy, a phoenix.

    The young man lowered the hand he had been about to lay on her shoulder and smiled instead. "Hello."

    "What do you want?" She asked, her voice flat and cold, causing him to drop his smile.

    "Just to talk to you. You don’t have to be frightened – because of what I am, I mean." Seriyana arched an eyebrow, and inside, Suzaku cringed. This was no way to go about getting acquainted. He started to turn and walk away.

    "And just why would I be afraid of you?" Seriyana’s voice carried a slight mocking tone that irritated Suzaku to no extent. He turned back to face her and spread his wings, showing off.

    "And why wouldn’t you be?" He asked, his voice slightly challenging. Seriyana smirked.

    "Because you are nothing but a boy." Suzaku snarled at the insult.

    "You’re not much older than me!" Seriyana couldn’t help but grin.

    "Maybe not biologically, but when it comes to maturity…" She tapered off with a teasing smile. She couldn’t help it, she hadn’t had this much fun in days!

    "Just come here and I’ll show you how much of a man I am…" Suzaku growled, taking a step closer. Seriyana’s smile disappeared as she put on a mock serious look, complete with the hands-on-hip pose

    "Oh really? Are you going to show me why phoenixes are reputed as great lovers too?"

    The snarl slipped off Suzaku’s face as his wings drooped down, and his jaw dropped. The sight was so hysterical, Seriyana couldn’t help but laugh. And, after an attempt to regain some dignity, Suzaku laughed too.

    "My name’s Suzaku." He replied, after the laughter had died down. Seriyana smiled as a planned formed in her head.

    "And mine is Atsumi."

    "That’s a beautiful name. But I think you should go now, you’re family must be worried."

    "They’re dead." Seriyana’s clipped tone startled him. "All of my mother’s family are dead."

    "But what about you’re father’s?" Anger flashed in Seriyana’s eyes, and Suzaku wondered if he’d said something wrong.

    "They’re the ones that killed them." Suzaku blinked in surprise, he had just assumed they’d died in the recent battle.

    An uncomfortable pause came as Suzaku tried to think of something to say. "You could live with me." Seriyana blinked, and Suzaku blushed at how that sounded. "I – I mean you could live here, at the temple." ‘We’ve got a lot of room to spare.’ He thought bitterly.

    Seriyana – now Atsumi – gave him a genuine smile. "I think I will." She replied, soft enough to cause Suzaku to doubt his hearing. "Thank you." Suzaku smiled.

    "It’s no problem at all," he replied.