Hello, everyone! It's been quite a while since I've published anything, so here is the newest addition! I hope you all enjoy. If you've read it, please take just a moment to review so I can know how you like it. Thanks so much(:
On a side note, if we can just pretend that a girl from the U.S. would speak the same language as Yusuke and his team, that'd be fantastic. Also, let's just pretend that, for some odd reason, that Botan would even want to tag along to their shenanigans. Haha. Thank you!
It was a scalding summer day when the team was sent to an obscure, desert-ridden part of the United States to exterminate a particularly ravenous and resistant hoard of demons present. Somewhere along the deep crags of sand and eroded stone, a tear had occurred between the malevolent Demon Realm and the unsuspecting Human World- by forces unknown. All that could be deducted was that the intentions in such an act could never be considered pure. As Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama headed the searching party for any remaining demon presences, Botan and Keiko meandered in the back of the party, engaging a favorite pastime- musing at the feisty conversations that often occurred between the group of exhausted fighters. Upon initially riving at the scene, there were a seemingly countless number of low-level demonic presences to eradicate. Now, however, there seemed to remain only one strong demonic presence left- yet they were having quite a time of finding it, for two reasons.
For one, it was quite difficult to find anything given the structure of the terrain they were traversing through. The high crags of rock and valleys of sand made the land similar to a maze. In addition, the powerful demonic presence was somehow muddled by another sort of aura that must have been nearby- similar to the muddling of a radio frequency. So, our team was left to walk in the beating sun for quite a number of hours- tired, thirsty, and irate.
"Geez, it sure is hot out here," Kuwabara wheezed in exhaustion. The group had now been meaninglessly traveling for what must have been three hours. The day had reached its peak of heat, and they were all just waiting for a sign of the last demon to slay.
"What an astonishing assessment, oaf," snarled Hiei, who hadn't seemed to have sweat one bit in the heat, despite his heavy black garments.
"Shut the hell up, pipsqueak!"
"I'd rather you shut up and continue to stand and provide me with the proper shade, you sweat-"
"Oh, come on, guys. It's too hot for this," whined Yusuke. "Can anybody sense where this big-ass hunk of demon is?"
Silence provided him with the answer that everybody was able to provide him with- none. Even the two young ladies who had accompanied for the fun of things, and the fact that there were few other things to do, had remained silent and miserable for the past half hour. Originally, Botan had come to accompany Keiko, and it would seem that Keiko had come for no other reason than to see the United States and nag Yusuke about the upcoming paper he had due in his English class.
"Oh, nobody. Awesome." Yusuke mused.
Suddenly, it would seem that their miseries had been reprieved. There was a rather loud CRASH, and somewhere within close proximity, due east; there was a sound reminiscent of an avalanche. A roar ripped through the blazing hot air. Everyone snapped to attention, and the four men practically disappeared in their speedy chase of the source of the noise.
Despite the unnatural speed at which they all traveled, there was a narrative of sound occurring at their destination. They listened intently as there seemed to be a repeated crashing of a large mass against what must have been a canyon wall, the sound of slicing, ripping flesh, and two sounds of screams. One was primarily concerned with what had to have been pain and suffering, and another was of pure rage.
At last, the scene came into sight. The most prominent part of what was occurring was the immense demon whose height rivaled the canyon wall into which he was being pummeled; his skin was a similar clay color, although a bit deeper, and his body was sparsely peppered in thick, coarsely black hair. His guttural screams of pain were almost intolerable, and it was difficult to tell where what must have been his own blood ended and where his red pigmented skin began. Upon his forehead were two immense horns. Curiously enough, atop one of them was a humanoid figure- a feminine one.
At that moment, as the demon was thrashing his head to and fro, trying to rid himself of her, she was clinging to the horn as a means of support. However, in a matter of seconds, she appeared to attack his eyes and assault his face with a long, powerful stroke of some sort of claw attack. As her strike ended, she flipped forward several times before landing on the ground before him with a high level of grace. The demon fell to his knees, clutching his face and howling with pain.
Team Urameshi, quite befuddled and unsure how to proceed, landed to the ground close to the feminine conqueror of the demon. Upon landing, the group of men could now see her in better detail, although it was little more than a fleeting evaluation.
What was most striking immediately were her eyes- primarily gold, but with an animalistic slit for a pupil and a spilling of red pigmentation immediately around it. Her brown hair was rather matted and soaked with what they supposed was her victim's blood, and her skin exhibited knowledge of the sun. She stood at a rather petite height, and her nose was slight. Although she was of short stature, she was not lacking in any womanly assets on her upper body- yet, her lower body had strong curves of prominent muscle. From the fight she had just experienced, she was out of breath, but her extreme inhalation and exhalation framed what appeared to be canine teeth and a bit of a hissing mannerism. Growling and still transfixed upon the fallen demon, she bore what appeared to be nails like iron claws, ready to attack. She did not seem at all phased by the gaping wound on her hip and thigh, the blood spilling upon the sand, or the fact that her clothes- seemingly made of some sort of muslin cloth- were almost in tatters.
All in all, she was a sort of rare bizarre beauty, and were it not for Kuwabara's unwitting response of uttering, "wow," she would have probably not noticed their appearance. She was too transfixed upon her prey.
Her head snapped to their direction. Interestingly enough, she appeared rather startled and bore her claws in a defensive manner. It would seem that her attack on the demon was something reminiscent of self-defense.
Putting his hands up gently, Yusuke cooed, "Easy, easy. It's alright. We're not here to hurt you. Are you okay? Looks like you're hurt."
She certainly understood what he was saying. Her breath slowed, and she lowered her talons. It would seem that her canine teeth and claws themselves were slowly receding. The spilling of red in her eyes gave way to more gold.
"We're just here to get rid of that thi-"
"Enough of the pleasantries, Yusuke. That thing is still alive." Hiei chided.
At that instant, the monster lashed out a massive, hard hand out at the group, leading everyone to leap. The one who seemed least capable of this was the girl, obviously hampered by her injury. Adrenaline, it would seem, was no longer enough to help subdue the ill it caused. She fell to the sand without grace and soon got up to escape.
"H-Hey! Wait! Don't leave, you're hurt!" Yusuke called.
"Dammit, Yusuke. Leave the damn idiot woman be. Hopefully she'll die and be out of her misery," Hiei grunted, instantly setting on the offensive towards the resilient demon.
With quick instinct, Hiei and Kurama set on finishing off the beast, and the girl set off on a getaway. Limping for quite a few steps and then leaping off into the maze-like crags, crevices, and winding ways of the canyon and sand valleys, she was soon out of sight- a swirl of red and brown. Her sudden movement revealed ears beneath her hair suggestive of a cat or dog, and a bushy tail to match. In a matter of seconds, the beast was dead. The scene, in which so much had transpired so quickly, was now a wash of red, clay, and blood-soaked sand.
Apparently having found their lost comrades, Keiko and Botan blundered on the scene, leaping off of Botan's vessel and blundering through the sand.
"Yusuke, are you alright?" Keiko demanded. A nod was all she received as an answer.
"What on earth happened here?" pondered Botan, mesmerized by the gore that she noticed had transpired here."
The danger was over, as was their mission. Yusuke gazed at the blood that she knew did not belong to the demon, and gazed off in the direction that the girl had fled.
"I have no idea."
Right, well that was the first chapter. I have high hopes for this story. Next chapter gets a bit graphic, so please be warned. Again, if you've read, please, PLEASE, just take a second of your time to review- even just a sentence would mean the world to me, and let me know how I'm dong. Thanks so SO much. Have a wonderful day 3
