Alright, so with such a science-intensive semester, I had to let out my creativity somehow. I'd been reading quite a few spectacular Kuroshitsuji fanfics, along with re-reading the manga itself. So, really, it's no surprise to me that my outburst ended up being Kuroshitsuji-flavored. Now, I'm going to stop blabbering now, and let you get on with this thing that's been nipping at my heels behind the lab reports and quizzes.

Oh, and any and all reviews are appreciated and welcomed. And most likely will impact the future of this if it does actually progress. I have half-formed ideas already, they just need to be given form.

The Extent of Sacrifice

Exordium

It must have been centuries, no, at the very least a millennium since he'd last had some vested interest in existence. The eating of souls had become tedious to say the very least. Only once every few centuries did a soul even worth eating came into being, let alone controlling. The last one was probably Noah, and everyone knows how that turned out.

Sigh

Chilled air became visible with his exhalation. He'd been hanging around the border between Earth and his domain for a century out of sheer boredom. Occasionally he'd contact Malphas just to see if there was anything worth investigating, but unfortunately he'd had no such luck.

He'd taken to roaming the countryside of this tiny island. The arrogance of their leaders had grown by leaps and bounds. Now they were lead by a woman, and seemed to believe that they were the rise and setting of the sun. He found humans, especially the arrogant ones, amusing creatures despite their watery taste.

The yowl of a beautiful cat caught his eyes.

"Hoho…now what might you be doing my dear?" With a devilish grin, he bent down to pick the creature up.

One of his few weaknesses, the utter grace and apathy that felines showed to the world had won his respect and admiration a long time ago. Really, likened to a Goddess by an entire civilization. A beautiful being on its own and an added bonus of blasphemy. Why wouldn't that appeal to his senses?

The black sheen on the cat's fur was broken by soot and dirt. This made his eyebrows pull together and his eyes squint slightly in disapproval.

Tsking with his tongue, he knelt against a tree and began stroking her fur back to its normal luxuriousness. Purring, his eyes shone in the moonlight a brighter red, "Now why would your fur be in such a state?"

Yawning, it turned lazy eyes towards curling smoke and flickering orange in the distance. It had found its way into a cupboard of a great mansion, filled with mice and scraps. It'd had been innocently (relatively speaking) napping when heat had suddenly encompassed her little resting hole, and she'd shot out into the open.

Turning his own garnet eyes towards the distant fire, he hmm'd under his breath, setting the cat down with one final stroke to her fur.

"Humans then?" Looking back at the little animal, he raised his brow, wondering if he'd have company to the scene.

Imperiously, she flicked her nose up and turned her back on the demon, tail swishing lazily behind her as she melted into the darkness of the woods.

"Well, I've got a century or two." An impossibly wide smile, with pointed teeth, he set himself to slake his curiosity.