~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Survive--------- Still a flashback

"Excuse me, Father Sir. I don't fully understand the point of this exercise, or why we have to come all the way out into the forest for it," An older Shukura asked.

Shukura had been training for 4 years after the entrance exam and had mastered most of the incarnations her teachers, and father, had given her. Summoning, fatal versus, offensive, defensive, melee, range attacks, mid range attacks, omnidirectional, she'd studied them all. There wasn't a thing she couldn't, or wasn't prepared for in the forms of combat. Because to be surprised, was to die.

"This exercise is to ensure your survival as the Moon Temple's priestess and as a Hunter. You are to use all sources at your disposal. This is a survival test, extra training so to call it."

"I understand that much, sir, but what am I supposed to do here a goal? Am I going to receive any supplies to draw a magic circle at night while I rest or rations?" She asked, her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, it got in the way most of the time, but she refused to cut it. When down, it came to the middle of her back.

"You have all the supplies you need. Information and a weapon. You've have learned enough to survive here until I send someone to retrieve you. As for a goal, and survive for a week until dusk." Her father said, then when Shukura turned around to face him her eyes wide at her goal. He was gone, without a trace, and she was stuck in the middle of nowhere, and nowhere just happened to be infested with demons.

Shukura cursed something that was definitely not appropriate for an 11-year old to say, then scanned the forest. She checked about how much time she had before dusk to make fire and get food. At times, she really hated her father. He could be so cold at times and never seemed to care for her. Any step out of line, anyone at all, would earn her a punishment. She had about 3 hours maximum.

Shukura didn't have any friends either. It's either they were always afraid of her or thought she was a freak, having a gift of foresight in the form of visions and prophecies. In her training, Shukura was top of the class, but her father never acknowledged her. He had started to pay slightly more attention to her, but not the positive kind, but attention nothing less. This was just the next step in becoming a hunter, to make her father proud.

Shukura's head snapped up at the sound of a rustle from the bushes, taking out one of her blades, and securing it to her wrist with the velcro wristlet attached to it. With a quick flick of her wrist, she tossed it at the place the sound had come from, a black rope streaming after it. An animal squealed in pain before it whimpered in fright. Shukura crept over to the bushes silently, to avoid making any noise to alert the potential threat of her presence.

Shukura peeked over the bushes, her other knife at ready to strike the potential demon. A little dog looking demon whimpered, a puppy. It had messy grey fur, and it's ears were nicked. With it's tail between it's legs, it shivered in fear and licked it's wounds. It had large, stormy blue eyes. When it spotted Shukura and whimpered again, ears back terrified. Her knife had injured its leg, making it so it couldn't flee. Her heart panged like any other child's would at the sight of an injured animal, especially a baby one. She knew better, she should kill it now before she got attached, it as very uncommon for a Hunter to have a familiar, especially one that wasn't able to be summoned. But she couldn't bring herself to kill the puppy demon hound.

"Shhh, it's alright. I won't hurt you. I'm so sorry I thought you were some big scary demon coming to kill me. Here, I'll even put my weapons up to prove I won't hunt you." Shukura cooed at the injured puppy, skillfully putting her daggers back into their sheathes.

The puppy still crouched down with his ears back, looked up at her with big eyes. Shukura crouched down and tore a piece of cloth from her shirt and took the puppy's paw, and bound the pups wound. "There, is that better?" She asked, and the puppy gave a light bark in response.

"My name's Shukura, I'm going to be staying here for a little while. If you want, we could be friends until I leave?" The pup barked and wagged its tail, bouncing up happily, though its leg was still injured. Guesses that was a yes.

"Do you know where there's a stream or a source of fresh water anywhere?" The pup barked and looked towards the right as if pointing. "That way?" A bark for a yes. Shukura picked up the pup gently and they walked that way.

After traveling for about 10 minutes, the sound of running water could be heard. Shukura approached the sound and almost stepped in it. She'd found a small, fresh stream from the mountain springs that ran through this area.

"Thank you, I will need this. Now I have to go find some food. I'm going to go get some berries and come back." Shukura informed the small dog, who barked in affirmation.

Shukura set the small pup down and glanced back at it before walking away, the puppy watching her go with bright eyes, and then she left. Gathering as much as she could carry, she took berries, edible herbs, medical herbs, and firewood.

Walking back to the stream, Shukura returned to where she had left the pup, but it wasn't there. With a slight look of disappointment on her face that the demon hound had left, seemly a friendly one, she was sad he had left her. But hellhounds, as what they were actually called, a demon that posses a dog or wolf, usually traveled in packs, so the puppy had most likely returned to his.

Without the chalk for the protective circle, Shukura would have to make do with her painful, but just as, if not more powerful alternate, her blood. It didn't have to be big, but just big enough to hold a sleeping area for her and a fire, but large enough that if it broke, that she would have enough time to get away. Finding a clearing close enough to the stream, she sliced her hand with the blade, where the scar tissue was from repeated cutting, she let blood fall on the ground, and the she drew with it using her foot, and repeated.

As the sun set, Shukura finished the circle, bound her hand with another piece of cloth from her shirt and binding her hand with a few herbs she had washed then chewed to a pulp. She used her daggers, which the opposite end had a small saw on, she used them to cut down several more branches that would undoubtedly become useful as well as some long grasses to weave something out of.

As the sun touched the horizon, Shukura manually started a fire, not going to waste her energy on something so trivial, and started weaving the grasses into a water tight mat, which she was going to make two of. One for a simple tilt shelter and the other to get her off the ground. The sun sank below the horizon and that's when Shuku started praying.

As the priestess, it was Shukura's job to recite prophecies, sit in her shrine, ask stuff from the hand maids, and pray to the great dragon, for herself and others. Right now, she was praying to the great dragon that her barrier would hold till dawn and she would have a fire when the sun rose. She was praying for her survival. She whispered the same prayer over and over as she weaved the grass mats, then made a small lean shelter. Taking the branches she had gathered earlier, and tying them together with cloth from her shirt and grasses. Her shirt had become a crop top, showing off the young girl's lower stomach, leaving it exposed to the cold night air.

The pine forest near the temple was dark, cold, and demon infested, but the stars shone brighter the colder the night got. Making her shelter as close to her small fire as she could without setting it on fire, she secured the grass mat too it and set the other one under it. Shukura sat on the mat and closed her eyes. She listened to the crackle of the fire and the surrounding sounds, as she rested her eyes, but paid full attention to her surroundings.

There were only a few more hours till sunrise and the demons in the forest became less active. Shukura had her mission to complete, and a week to do it. She would start after she had a suitable food supply and fresh water from the steam, she would hunt than for more suitable food, to keep her energy up. All she had to do was to survive. That was all, but surviving can be harder than living.

Shukura thought of the puppy she had saved. Hunter's killed demons, that was their job. They weren't like exorcist who could find a more peaceful solution to some cases and keeps them as pets too. To her father, they were weak, so Hunters had nothing to do with demons other than killing them. Even having a summoning familiar was often looked down upon, called weak for relying on demons to fight for them. The only demon that was allowed to be used where a certain kind of hell hound.

Trackers, they could find almost anyone or any demon. Loyal and powerful, the hell hounds of the trackers were almost as powerful as their masters. Shukura wasn't to set on becoming a tracker, who have a high death rate and strict orders, but they were one of the few who were allowed to have a familiar. Shukura thought of the wolf puppy hell hound, she could've raised it and kept it as a pet if she became a tracker. Yeah... she would've done that. She would've got the bad guys with the help of her puppy, and become a tracker. She had the skill for it and met the criteria for it as well. Good at silent, high-speed combat. She was fast and had a knack for finding things out, even without her visions.

A lone howl broke through the serene curtain of Shukura's thoughts. Another hellhound, they weren't uncommon, especially in these areas. That would explain why there were few demons attacking her shield, the hellhound was keeping them away. Wolf hell hounds were mid-level demons and could definitely be a nasty foe to deal with being easily the size of a bear to the size of an eighteen-wheeler. Shukura pulled out her knives and got up out of her lean shelter.

Shukura glared at the surrounding forest that was nothing but black. Shukura also quickly glanced over the protective barrier she had put up. She didn't think she would be facing a wolf hellhound, though the puppy had been a clear sign that they were there, the thought hadn't clicked until then. At her skill level, facing a demon of that specific class could be extremely risky. One wrong move and she would be dead for sure, and that would be mission failed.

A stick snapped and a low growl seemed to shake the earth. Whipping towards the noise, Shukura was faced with a pair of glowing red eyes, just outside her barrier. Her body trembled involuntarily with the fear that had risen extremely quick inside of her. Just from what she could see, this had to be an extremely powerful hellhound, facing it would mean certain death. It was at least as large as a small house. Shukura didn't want to die, but her odds dropped, and her mission reached towards the impossible.

The second pair of eyes revealed themselves to her, a glowing storm blue. They weren't as meaning, and this hellhound was significantly smaller, bout the size of a large grizzly bear. The hellhound gave a bark at her, but it was light, and friendly, like that of a... puppy.

A voice echoed through her mind, making her jump. The demon wolf gazed at her, but Shukura didn't move to respond to the voice's orders, she was still too terrified.

"I-I c-can-n-not. This circle is protecting me from the dangers of the forest until dawn. I must stay inside of it" She responded, not sure if she was just hearing things or not.

. The voice said and the blue-eyed wolf backed off. The smaller wolf bowed and backed up, and Shukura watched in horror as the amazingly large wolf rammed her barrier, shattering it like it was nothing but glass. This. Was. Really. Really. Really. Bad.

The wolf passed through where the barrier once kept her safe from the demons, and the hellhound drew near. Shukura was frozen in fear as the larger hellhound drew close enough she could see him in her fire's light. This was just as big as an 18-wheeler, with dark mahogany fur, and a cream white stomach, it's eyes glowing red.

The wolf drew near enough to the frozen Shukura that she could feel it's breath on her face, and see its teeth that would tear her to shreds, each larger than a sword, all of which seemed to be pointed at her throat. Shukura shook, why had her father done this to her? Why was he so set on trying to indirectly kill her? Just as Shukura prepared herself for death, the wolf bowed his head, eye still focused on her.

The voice grumbled, sounding reluctant. At that moment Shukura unfroze, screamed, and unsheathed her daggers.

"I...I-I h-have done nothing! Please don't kill me!" She pleaded, and the wolf looked amused.

Shukura looked at the hellhound confused.

"I don't think I did any such thing..." Shukura replied, unsure of what was actually happening.

The wolf offered and Shukura blinked, stay with a bunch of hellhounds and not die. That's what her father had said, he had said to survive, he had never said how.

"I w-would like that. I am to survive here for one week's time as a part of my training." Shukura responded, unsure of the decision she was making.

' The large wolf said, and she followed his orders this time and put out the fire. She took her small amount of supplies with there then followed the wolf into the black shadow of the forest. She was still slightly trembling and her mind went to auto-piolet. The mission came first, so she must live.

~~~~~One week later cus author too lazy to write all of it.~~~~~

Shukura had been with the wolves for a week and had definitely learned a few tips and tricks when it came to survival and fighting. She could hear the voices of the demons, what they said and how they felt. It had taken time and lots of exposure because she was only a little human girl, but she could now understand what they said, even the tiny pup she had met before. Hellhounds, as she learned, could change their size from normal to big. Her hunting skill had also definitely improved. This had made her stronger.

Shukura was content here with the wolves. The pup was very playful, and the mahogany wolf was in fact, the alpha. NO wolf had rejected her stay, though she could sense a bit of disdain at her stay, but they knew it was only temporary, which Shukura had come to loath. She preferred it here, in a place where there were such things she had never learned about nor experienced for herself. Like what family was, and teamwork. She also learned demons weren't naturally malicious. But she knew something, and that the Hunters would come for her, and she was going to go talk to the alpha about her leaving with them, and choosing a safer place until it was safe to return and she could stay with them.

But all of that hope was in vain, and Shukura would never feel such things again.

A twig snapped, followed by a gunshot. A tall lean man stepped a gun his hand, a sword in the other. He scoffed as he inspected the den of the wolf hellhound. One growled and jumped at him, with a swift, uncaring movement, he shot the wolf, and it turned to dust before it could hit him. Shukura let out a startled scream at the appearance of a Hunter.

"Stop! Don't hurt them!" Shukura shouted at the Hunter, who started shooting at the wolves and killing them.

Shukura ran at the man, knives almost out, and tackled him to the ground. He hit the ground with an oomph before looking at Shukura with dead eyes, then he took a fist full of her hair in exchange for his sword. He got up, picking her up as well by her hair. She screamed in agony as her full weight was dependent on her scalp and her toes barely grazed the ground.

"STOP IT!" She screamed as the man killed another wolf. "DON'T, I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!"

The Hunter looked down at her then spoke, "Don't worry my lady, I am here to retrieve you from these monsters and return you home." He said, his voice as cold as all Hunters were. Shukura's eye widened, and she fought with new vigor.

"I DON'T WANT TO! I WANT TO STAY HERE! UNHAND ME!" Shukura shouted at him, struggling to get free, before she fell still as the Alpha came out, the same wolf that had brought her here.

The wolf noted that the man had the crying human child. The human had taken advantage of her and the alpha growled at the man. Not only had this human hurt the little girl he had come to know as a gentle soul, but he had killed several of his pack, which meant death. The girl had fallen still, and whispering something, inaudible. The man sneered at the wolf and pointed his gun at it.

"Don't. Touch him." Shukura growled, literally. A deep, inhuman sound no normal person should be able to make.

A slice in her arm spilled blood onto the ground underneath her, though nothing had cut her. The skin had merely ripped itself open to spill her blood. The blood trickled and pooled onto the ground before moving of its own accord, drawing a magic circle, and Shukura's face grew into a cruel smile, unbearably cold. The air grew dense with power, with Shukura in the heart.

The man looked down at the circle surrounding him and cursed, releasing the girl. The girl rose to her feet, the cold smile still on her face. The magic circle of her blood glowed and Shukura raised her hands. The look in her eyes was distant as if she was focusing on something far away.

The man pointed his sword at her and his gun still at the wolf, and his fingers twitched when the wolf growled at him, a gunshot echoed. "By the power invested within my soul, I command thine heavenly light to pass its divine judgment." Her voice was whispy and distant, like an echo. The dropping her hands the world disappeared in a white light, followed by a sound like a thousand bolts of lighting.

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