She smiled at herself in her quiet little home, taking off her black clothes, which suck onto her body like her natural born skin.

At least the skin she says is her natural born skin.

She was beyond proud of herself for the accomplishment made that night, looking at her stolen prize, the beautiful golden knives, falling onto her bed as she dropped them there. Once she thought about it, it wasn't really stolen, since it had belonged to her tribe before they were eliminated by—humans.

She untied her hair and shook it out, making the red glare in the moonlight. She was indeed proud of what she had accomplished.

She looked over the residence and made a pass through the house, making sure everything was okay and that everyone was asleep. Her four friends were sound asleep, snarling and growling and chanting fitfully, probably dreaming of times better than the one they were in.

She was very glad that her friends were asleep so she wouldn't have to explain everything that happened right then. Instead she could go into a secret compartment in the house and check on her other prizes which she had stolen from the same city for years. She only stole the things that had once belonged to her tribe.

She took up the knives after checking the rest of the prizes and began polishing them, thinking of how easy it was to have stolen them.

And no one would know. Until the next day, that is…..

X.X.X.X.X.X

He picked up the firewood needed for the night and brought them into the house, feeding it into the fire, careful not to wake his two sleeping brothers, and his two friends that were living with him. He was mostly in a daze as he worked, organizing the things in the house and putting his sleeping clothes on. He had seen the most beautiful woman in the world run past his house that night, and he was determined to find out who she was….

The Thief and The Fool

Chapter one: The Thief

"Ichigo! Ichigo! What did you bring back last night?" Minto's voice called into the house. The girl appeared in the doorway of Ichigo's room. Her wings were stretching themselves out like they hadn't been out in months. Her regular blue jumper was wrinkled from the night's sleep and was trying to un-wrinkle.

"I got the knives I've been planning to snatch. I'm the only one to ever brake in!" The girl answered, letting her ears and tail pop out. "Where are the others?"

"Purin went to school, Retasu is out in the garden, where we should be, and Zakuro-onee-sama is at the sea, getting some fresh air. We heard you leave last night and stayed up talking about it."

"Why? Don't I always come back with something?" Ichigo sat on the floor and took out the beautiful knives.

"We know you do. But, what would happen if someone raided the house again?" Minto's voice became scared. "What would happen to us?"

Ichigo looked up from the knives and stared into Minto's eyes. They were terrified.

"Don't worry, Minto, I'll keep them safe. I'll keep us safe."

"What would happen if our ears and tails came out when someone was in the house again?"

Ichigo stood up and embraced her friend, who had started crying.

"Minto: You, Zakuro-san, Purin, Retasu and I are all the last of the Mews. You remembered the first town we were in? We were all friendly with everyone and denied our animal DNA? Remember what happened?"

"Someone saw us in our ears and tails and told the whole town. We were driven out like an everyday ogre. In fact, the only way we could escape was for Ringo-chan and Berii-chan to—" Minto stopped, not wanting to describe what happened to them for fear of throwing up. "We were all so crushed we decided we would only be together with ourselves, to avoid that happening again. But Purin was only an infant when we moved into that area. She had no idea of what happened, and we're letting her bring friends over. What would happen if one of them saw our ears? Would you have to do the same thing you did the last time?"

"I…. I don't know, Minto. But don't think about that, because it will never happen again. I promise." Ichigo held out her pinky finger to her dear friend. Minto took it with her own. They shook them up and down and said their secret chant in their old language.

"I've made a promise I can't break, at the cost of eating a wooden stake." Then they both laughed.

"Did I hear someone making a promise?" Retasu came into the house from the back door, her pale green antennae flowing from her face. Her straw hat shaded her green eyes, and her green outfit blended into the grass.

"Ichigo promised nothing would happen to us!" Minto said happily. "Though I knew it all along," she added, making Ichigo smirk.

"Eto… Ichigo-san, we need more food. We ran out last night." Retasu reminded her friend.

"Which kind? Grocery or wild?" Ichigo wondered, looking at her friend.

"Well, since you never go to the store anyways, I'd say the wild one." Minto said, giggling.

"Is someone going hunting without me?"

Everyone turned to see Zakuro standing in the doorway with her ears and tail down. She walked in and let them pop out.

"Let's go get Purin out of school and go together!" Minto threw her hands up into the air in glee.

"Alright, I guess she's old enough to go hunting. Everyone, let's go!" Ichigo ran out the door. The others soon followed.

They would often take Purin out of school for miscellaneous reasons. It wasn't like she ever remembered what was in it. She just liked being with regular people. She knew the importance of not letting people see her ears and tail, but that didn't mean that she had to be shut out from the world! After all, she was only eight.

"Fon-san, your family is here to pick you up early again." The teacher said. Purin leaped up in the air and ran out the door.

"Sayonara, Sensei, na no da!" She shouted, waving and running out the door.

"Purin!" Ichigo shouted, embracing the child in a warm hug.

"Hi Ichigo-onee-chan na no da! What are we doing today no da?" The girl asked.

"We're taking you somewhere." Zakuro said, not saying where because people might hear them.

"Okay no da!" Purin began running towards the house, which was a good eight minutes away from the town.

"Purin-san, come here," Retasu warned as they got to the house. "We need to talk to you about what we're fixing to do.

"Yes, we need to discuss what's happening, and we need to make sure you know the importance of secrecy." Minto added. Purin sat down in the grass. Ichigo knelt down near her and whispered something.

"We're going hunting."

Purin's reaction was priceless. She jumped up into the air and hugged everyone at the same time.

"Yay yay yay yay yay na no da!" Ichigo had to put the girl on the ground so she would listen.

"You remember what we taught you?" Minto asked.

"Yes, never turn back into a human when another is watching, never give food to the humans, and don't kill the sick and already wounded no da." Purin nodded her head.

"Alright, now we can start." Ichigo said, going into the house and shutting the doors and windows once everyone was in.

"Retasu, could you—?" Ichigo started.

"Yes, I'll stay here and guard the place." Retasu sat down and picked up her knitting tools, starting on it.

Ichigo, Zakuro, Purin, and Minto closed their eyes and concentrated. Seconds later they began changing their image, slowly changing into animals.

I'm ready now, Zakuro thought to her now animal friends, wiggling her wolf ears and stretching. How about you?

I'm done no da! Purin cried, jumping up and down in her monkey fur.

Well don't get too exited, Ichigo warned, licking her cat lips. You'll scare off all the food, nya.

Can we cause trouble in another town again? Minto pleaded, flapping her large wings. Last time was so much fun!

"Minto-san, don't you think about the last time, you almost got caught?" Retasu could hear their thoughts, too.

So what? Minto asked. Ichigo sighed hopelessly

Let's just go already before someone wonders what's going on, nya.

Retasu opened the door and let her friends out and watched them run into the woods, deep into the hunt. She closed her eyes and let the windy breeze wash over her. She opened her eyes and smiled.

Their family would never part.

THE END

Tee-hee! I like it, do you? I'm still deciding how to end this…. n.n please review!