"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.