You knew what it was before you even entered the room. Kikyo's radiant, yet sickening, aura permeating most of the mansion.

"Now that everyone has finally made it here," she began, adding a pointed look at you, "I'd like to announce that I, too, am with child. I expect this child to do wonderful things as my other children have. I also request my usual diet and treatment for this pregnancy."

You sighed, Zeno and Silva beamed, Milluki went back to playing with his gadgets and Illumi looked, well, emotionless. She would do this, you thought to yourself, no one else can be special but Kikyo. After everyone offered their congratulations, the family quickly dispersed, leaving you to fend for yourself.

It had been quite a boring day, and even this news hadn't broken through the monotony. For the first time in the last six months you had been here you finally decided it was time to explore the woods. You were a bit nervous, knowing that the Zoldycks would most likely have creatures or humans protecting the forest, but you were eager to have an adventure. So, off you went.

An hour or two went by with very little happening. This wasn't boding well for your "mini-adventure". So you decided to head straight for the bottom of the mountain, rather than wander aimlessly. Instead of following the path however, you decided to go straight down from where your tower was located. After all, it never hurt to know your escape route before you needed it. This meant that you were going to walk back up to your tower and then continue all the way down the mountain. Another few hours most likely, considering the state you were in. But what else were you doing today?

The trip was, as expected, very dull. You were surprised at the lack of any creatures at all, not just the lack of deadly ones. It was deathly quiet as you continued your descent. An hour passed, then two, when suddenly you heard a growl in the distance. You hardened on instinct and immediately tried to think of an escape plan. You had believed that you had a few minutes before the creature found and mauled you, so you decided to stay still and plan rather than panic and run. But unfortunately, this was the one unexpected thing today. The beast came into sight within thirty seconds, leaving you to fall into a fight-or-flight response. All your training was telling you to fight, that you could find a way to defeat this dog-like monster, but your motherly instinct was telling you to run, hide and protect the life growing inside of you. As the monster bore down on you, you decided to harden as much as you could and hide behind a nearby tree. You hoped that your Zetsu would be enough to protect you, although you didn't expect it to.

As expected, it was not and within seconds, you felt the humid breath and saw the sharp teeth barreling towards you, taking the tree with it. You leapt forward, hoping that you may miss the mouth as it closed around you. Closing your eyes and focusing entirely on hardening your bones as time slowed to a crawl, you felt an incredible pressure form around your left leg and suddenly you were tossed into the air. This is such a stupid way to die, you mused as you flew through the air, towards the creatures mouth. You then waited for the expected blackness of death to swallow you. Even if you could have your bones broken, you could definitely have all of the flesh torn from your body.

"Mike, leave it." you heard a calm voice say as you began to black out from fear. The last thing you heard was "You are so stupid" and with that, you lost consciousness.