A/N: Hey guys, I doubt any of you would recgonize the screen name, but I'm back anyway. I've been away from this site for almost a year, if not more, and I just decided today I'd try this fan fic out. I guess it just depends on how many people like it for if I'm going to continue, I was planning on making it a KuramaxHiei romance in the background of the story, or maybe some OC action? I dunno, if this makes enough people happy, I'll continue. And one more thing; there's probably spelling errors in here, I know I did some bad puncuation too with the whole ." thing in my quotations but oh well, I'm too lazy to fix it so I'm sure you all will survive.
Chapter 1: Details and flashbacks
The sunlight poured through the gaps in the forest, illuminating the shadows of the bushes, detailing the deep ridges in the tree trunks. A gentle wind swept through, disturbing the leaves, causing a scurry of birds to fly overhead of a small lake. A girl walked through the beautiful forest, awaiting the welcoming shimmer of the water of Lake Hyila (1). She inhaled deeply the wonderful scent of the fresh air, the healthy trees, the smell of the newly bloomed flowers. She took out the ribbon holding her dark chocolate brown hair up as she saw the familiar glint of the water. A boy perched up in the trees watched as she walked down the path. The erect, jet-black wolf ears on top of his head flickered slightly as she walked under the tree. He watched as a gentle wind caressed the light fabric of her shirt, causing it to ripple up as the wind blew past. The girls name was Sasuki Kazami, she was training to become a sage of one of the four elements, fire. The boys name Hoshi Mizuho; he was a wolf demon, Sasuki's protector and adopted brother. Silent and unnoticed, he jumped swiftly from tree branch to tree branch behind the walking girl.
Sasuki gracefully sat down on the lakes edge. A calm expression on her face as she stared into her reflection in the water. Her deep crimson red eyes held sorrow and regret. Reaching down to the bag around her waist she pulled out an orange ocarina. Placing her fingers lightly over the carved holes, she brought the ocarina up to her mouth and blew gently. Closing her eyes she moved her fingers in the right order, producing a harmonic melody. Hoshi jumped to a branch closest to the lake and sat down quietly, still not wanting to be noticed. Hearing the song he leaned back against the trunk and closed his eyes. Sasuki's eyes opened as she took the ocarina from her mouth, a small chuckle escaped her throat as the turned to the forest.
"Do you think they will remember this tune?" his eyes shot open. He stayed still in his spot, thinking that she won't see him. She turned back to the water calmly.
"I know you're there Hoshi, you can't hide. You are next to the sakura tree." Hoshi laughed, knowing that there was no way out of it now.
"How do you always find me?" he questioned while jumping down from the tree. She smiled to herself, taking the ocarina to her peach colored lips again. Hoshi walked softly to stand by her, staring out at the lake. Another soft wind slid through the forest, causing his maple colored hair to move from his face.
"Its hard to believe it was only 10 years ago." He said in the silence as Sasuki stopped playing. She looked up at him and smiled gently.
"I miss them…"
:10 years earlier:
(that would put both of them at age 6)
"Now children play nice." An elder chucked as the two children rolled around on the ground. Sasuki and Hoshi got up giggling and running over to the elder, each wrapping an arm around each leg.
"Keio-sama is there really spider demons like papa said?" Sasuki asked looking up at the elder with big bright eyes. He chuckled again at the little girls' pure curiosity and innocence.
"Yes, sometimes they are as big as the house." He said raising his hands high to the sky. The two kids giggled and clung tighter to the fabric.
"Are they really that big!" Hoshi asked.
"Well of course. I've seen plenty of demons in my day." He said laughing softly. "But I can tell you those stories later, now its time you both went off to see if your parents need any help." The two children nodded, beaming ear to ear in excitement of hearing stories about the demons. They ran off towards the northern part of the village.
"I'm going to grow up to be the best demon slayer!" Sasuki said triumphantly grabbing a stick and pretending to use it like a sword.
"Yeah, but can you beat giant spider demons?" Hoshi's voice rose as he stuck his arms in the air and ran towards Sasuki. She squealed and ran from him, her cheeks flushed from all the laughing.
Faster they ran. They slowed their pace as they came across the familiar Crystal Cave. The cave held one of the elemental crystals of Makai. The fire crystal. It is a very sacred cave, and the villagers worked hard to protect it. The village was also home to a very powerful and wise sage. He taught the children the ways of the crystal and often took more than one under his training to become the next sage of the fire. The two children peered into the entrance, a soft red glow spilled through the darkness. They both looked at each other and blinked a bit before playing a game of who could reach the house first.
They reached a small hut (you know like the houses on Inuyasha and Rurouni Kenshin?-if you don't watch those then you should! Just picture the houses in the feudal/meji era) near the end of the village. The lush flowers lined the path way gently blew with the force of the two children running past. The door opened as the children bounded in.
"Momma! Momma! Keio said that there really are big demons like the story said!" Sasuki said running to a woman on the other side of the room.
"Are there going to be spider demons coming soon?" Hoshi asked following Sasuki to the amber haired woman. She smiled warmly at the children, picking them both up and placing them on her lap.
"Hoshi, there wont be any spider demons coming to our village, and if they do then our people will be ready. You know your father is a good fighter as well; he would protect us if any demons came." She said, gently pulling on one of Hoshi's black wolf ears.
"Momma are you sure? Not like in the story right? Is the story true?" the woman laughed at the line of questions..
"Well, some people choose to believe the legend and some don't." her voice trailed off a bit, her eyes looked distant and dreamy. She quickly returned to her normal state and looked down at the pairs of big orbs staring back up at her. "We can talk about the demons later, you two need to take a nap." The two children whined in protest, only to be ushered off into their rooms.
The woman gently laid down a soft blanket on the two children as they crawled in the bed. "Momma tell the story again."
"Yeah, tell the story." Hoshi urged, his wolf ears twitched slightly. The woman laughed.
"Again?" she questioned.
"Yes!" the two children said in unison. The woman smiled lightly at them as they snuggled under the blanket.
"Well ok." She cleared her throat softly and began.
"A long, long time ago, so long that even your grandfather's grandfather was still a child, this village was at its highest rank. All of the neighboring villages and towns were shadowed by its glory. It was a prosperous land blessed with green forests, tall mountains, and peace.
"But one day, a man, of great evil found the elemental crystal and took it for himself. With its strength and his command, he spread darkness across the village. But then, when all hope had died, and the hour of doom seemed at hand, a young girl appeared as if from nowhere. Wielding the blade of evil's bane, she sealed the one away and gave the land light. This girl, who fought for her life to save the crystal, was known as the Crystal Beauty. The girl's tale was passed though the towns and villages until it became a legend. But then. a day came when a fell wind began to blow across the village. The great evil that all thought has been forever sealed away by the heroine once again crept from the depths of the earth, eager to resume its dark designs. But this time he returned with the vilest of monsters to aid him.
"The Crystal Beauty appeared once again to save the village, but this would be her last encounter with the people. For the battle with the man and his minions was one to which she would give her life for. Still to this very day there is the shrine of where she sealed the great evil. People say that the crystal holds her soul, that's why it glows so brightly in the cave. Others say that she was the crystal. The memory of the battle vanished as the villagers who witnessed this hard time passed away, but its legend survived on the wind's breath. The elder sages wished only for the youths to know the courage like the heroine of the crystal." 2
"Momma, will the man ever come back again?" asked the eager Sasuki.
"No Sasuki. The sealing spell will keep him bound forever." The woman replied. She looked down at the sleeping boy next to Sasuki and smiled. "Now you need to sleep."
"I love you momma." Sasuki said as she curled up under the blankets.
"I love you too Sasuki." The woman replied as she left the room. Little did she know that those would be the last words she would ever speak to her daughter. Sleep soon took over Sasuki, as she dreamed peacefully of being a great warrior like the Crystal Beauty. Little did she know that would be the last happy thought she would have for a long time.
A dark haired boy grumbled as he walked down a sidewalk next to a busy street. His brown eyes were angrily scanning over a piece of paper in his hands. The paper had a written request for him to report to the world of spirits, otherwise known as the Spirit world. He stormed past an ice cream parlor, almost running into a tall orange haired boy.
"Hey watch- Urimeshi?" the orange haired boy called to the other. Yusuke gave no reply as he kept walking down the sidewalk.
"Urimeshi! Don't ignore me! What's that in your hands?" Kuwabara called after him again, running to catch up with him.
"Damn Koenma called us to his office, probably another stupid mission." Yusuke grumbled as he forcefully put the paper into Kuwabara's hands. He read it over carefully as Yusuke resumed to mumbling under his breath.
"I never agreed to be his stupid Spirit Detective so I could miss out on summer vacation." He mumbled after Kuwabara handed the paper back to him.
"So, you think Kurama and Hiei got one too?" he asked as he checked the time. "Gah! Urimeshi we had to be there 15 minuets ago!" he shouted causing the passers by to give them questioning looks.
"Yeah I know. Not my fault he didn't tell me where this damn portal was." Yusuke replied, looking around the town. Kuwabara looked around as well for the familiar glow of the portal. As they passed an ally a dark figure approached them.
"I assume you two got the summoning as well?" a red haired boy stepped from the shadows of the ally.
"Hey Kurama." Yusuke replied calmly as Kuwabara let out a yelp of surprise and leaped back from the ally way.
"Don't scare me like that!" he yelled pointing an accused finger at the spirit fox.
"It doesn't seem like you to be late for something." Yusuke said grinning at Kurama who chuckled smugly.
"Well I have to admit I am surprised as well. Koenma did a fairly good job at hiding the portal from the humans. Follow me, it's deeper into this ally." He said turning back into the narrow space between the buildings. Yusuke and Kuwabara followed close behind, looking around for the familiar shine of the portal. They passed by several garbage cans, scavenging cats, dogs and other stereotypical things you find in ally ways. (heh sorry lost my creativity there…) Kurama stopped at a large dumpster, peering over the side of it casually. Yusuke and Kuwabara leaned over to get a look for themselves. On the opposite wall from the dumpster was a barely visible dent covering quite a bit of the wall. Or at least it looked like a dent until they leaned in closer for a better look. There was a dark gray swirl in the middle of the dent that seemed to grow the more it spun. Kurama chuckled slightly to himself at the expressions on Yusuke and Kuwabara's faces.
"I see you haven't been accustomed to Koenma's new portals." They both nodded dumbly, still staring at the portal. "They work just the same as the old ones, just simply step through and you will end up in his office…or so he told me." His voice trailed off slightly as Yusuke looked at him.
"You mean these things haven't been tested out yet?"
Kurama shook his head "No, not that I know of." He glanced to the portal more seriously, a darkened expression on his face. "The worst case scenario would be that our bodies molecules won't be transported properly." Kuwabara turned to him with an expression of utter fear.
"You mean to say…like our bottom half could end up somewhere while our top half ends up somewhere else?" Yusuke questioned, his voice hinting fear. Kurama looked at him, his eyes boring into Yusukes. Suddenly Yusuke saw the corner of his lips curl into a smile as Kurama began to laugh loudly.
"You think this is funny!" Kuwabara demanded.
"Oh...the look on your faces...forgive me...I couldn't help myself..."Kurama managed to get out between laughs. Yusuke and Kuwabara stood there dumbstruck, staring at the fox like he was insane. Kurama's laughter finally edged down to small chuckles.
"Oh, forgive me guys…" he said whipping the corner of his eye. "I didn't think you would take me so seriously." Yusuke and Kuwabara turned to each other and blinked.
"You mean…none of that was true?" asked Kuwabara.
"No of course not. I mean yes the portal is new but there is no chance of our bodies being separated like that." Kurama said with a smile. Yusuke shot a glare at him as Kuwabara went back to looking at the portal curiously.
"So…whose going to go first?" Yusuke asked breaking the silence. "I vote Kuwabara!"
"What!"
"It's fine guys really, nothing to be worried about." Kurama said with a chuckle. Kuwabara tried to step back but Yusuke pushed him forward.
"What's wrong Kuwabara? Scared?" he taunted.
"No!" Kuwabara said puffing out his chest slightly, turning back to the wall behind the dumpster. "So…just step through it?" He asked taking a step closer to the large dent.
"Yes." Replied Kurama. Kuwabara gulped slightly, looking back at Yusuke and Kurama before taking another step closer to the spinning portal. He blinked stupidly at it, watching the dark gray spiral. Slowly he drew his hand towards it, his digits outstretched. He looked away slightly as his fingertips grazed the portal, then he slid his hand forward more until all he could see was his wrist into the dent-looking portal.
Yusuke clicked his tongue against his teeth in annoyance. "Hurry up we don't have all day."
"I'm going Urimeshi I'm going!" yelled Kuwabara. Slowly he pushed his hand in more until he was up to his elbow in the portal. Yusuke rolled his eyes, getting impatient. He took a step towards Kuwabara, forcefully pushing him into the portal. Kurama sighed at his short patience. Yusuke looked over at him with a devilish grin.
"What? He was taking too long." He replied with an innocent tone.
"Well, we should get going. Koenma isn't going to like the fact that we are over 20 minuets late." Kurama said glancing back to the portal. Yusuke nodded and stepped through the spinning portal, Kurama soon followed.
A/N: Ta da. Sorry if that last part was a bit OOC, but I thought it was amusing when I typed it out. Oh well, hope you all liked it.
1 Lake Hyila is totally from Legend of Zelda, not my idea, don't sue.
2 That story line is also completely from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. I did some obvious changes to it, but still, the idea is not mine so don't sue.