Chapter One: A Frosty Beginning

Running. That was all I seemed to be doing anymore. Well, running and hiding; but I had good reason for the latter. Not to mention the fact that I was growing way too warm for my liking.

A spear came flying passed my body and sliced open my cheek a little, waking me up enough to send me running faster. I bit the inside of my lip as a bullet clipped the top of my ear. Thinking back on it, I really shouldn't have stolen that jewel from a wolf demon- who knew how to track anyone. But it had been just sitting there, waiting for me to take it!

Finally finding a tree, I raced up to one of the more covered branches and cowered down while regaining my breath. I prayed that my scent was masked well enough and my energy was nearly undetectable for the wolf demon as he appeared below the tree.

His silver hackles were raised as his elongated snout sniffed the ground for me, though I knew he wasn't going to find me so easily. I was just recovering the last of my breath when I felt his energy begin to spike. That meant he caught my scent and was guessing I lurked up in the tree.

"I'll chase you until you give me that stone, wench!" The wolf howled while leaping up at me.

I growled and pushed off the tree branch, narrowly getting missed by fangs and claws. I hit the ground and took off running once again. The grass underneath my paws gave way to pavement but I had to keep running. Originally, I was being chased through the Makai, but at some point we had slipped through an illegal portal. That leads to where we are now: the Ningenkai.

I turned my head back when the demon threatened that he'd rip off my head if I didn't stop running.

"You think I'm stupid or something? You'll do that either way!" I yelled before my eyes caught sight of an abandoned building.

I took off in that direction without pausing and slipped through a crack in one of the windows. I was glad that it was night out or else humans would see a little animal being chased by a very scary monster for no reason. I jumped on top of several boxes and safely landed on the very top of the building. I took a moment to take a deep breath before pulling out a glowing icy blue stone. I shoved it in a hideaway spot where the wolf demon wouldn't be able to see it.

And just in time too, because the demon came tearing into the building with a nasty howl. I looked down at him with a glare and walked over the beams to keep away from the jewel.

"You finally caught up to me! Good job!" I praised mockingly from where I was.

The wolf looked up at me and immediately leaped from the ground up to get to me. I jumped off the beam I stood on and landed on the demon's head leisurely. His claws came tearing towards me and I swiveled out of the way. My fangs sank into his neck and I heard him howl in pain.

"You'll pay for that, wench!"

A clawed hand smacked me across the face and I yelped while falling to the ground. I managed to land safely and my hackles rose dangerously high with a snarl. The temperature in the building dropped drastically as my blood began to drip at my paws.

"How dare you… You marred my face! That is unforgiveable!" I snapped as a cold fog grew around me.

The wolf looked around in worry before his eyes fell on me in slits. I had a feeling that he realized I was the one causing the decrease and freeze in the building. But I wasn't going to say anything at the moment. He suddenly came running at me and that gave me no choice but leaping out of the way and nipping at his ankles. I didn't see the other foot swinging at me until a pained kick to my flank connected.

My body went rolling before my head slammed into one of the walls. I was dizzy and nearly blind for a moment when the next attack came. He appeared in front of me and raised his claws for a finishing strike.

"Ha, I'll kill you and find my snow gem before those stupid Spirit Detectives even get word of us! Any last words before you die?" The wolf growled out.

I shook my head to clear the hit and then my eyes glared at the demon with a smirk. He had paused to blab to me over unimportant things- something that he would realize was his downfall.

"I don't intend to die just yet. There's someone I've got to visit first, and then I simply must see all that this world has to offer! For that, your snow gem will be mine permanently after you freeze to death."

The wolf hesitated and stared at me questioningly when I leaped up and sank my fangs deep into his throat. Using that same energy that brought a cold fog around me, ice ran through my teeth and straight into the wolf demon. I could feel his body temperature slowly going down to my own heat but I didn't release him until frost appeared throughout the flesh. That was how I knew he was going to be knocked out for some time.

I stared down at the wolf to make sure he was still breathing and when I was positive he remained alive, I jumped back up to where I had put the stone. Just as I was doing that, my ears twitched at the sound of others coming. I froze and remained still while suppressing my energy right down to nothing. My scent was something I couldn't hide, but I hoped no demons were close by for that.

"Are you sure this is the building Koenma said they went into?"

"I believe so. It is the only abandoned building close by."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go on in right now!"

I heard someone get thwacked pretty hard and they made a noise because of it. Screaming and other insults came out and I took that moment to grab the snow gem and tuck it into the tiny bag that was held around my throat. After that was done, I began my search for a way out.

A soft growl rumbled from my throat when there weren't any windows close by for me to jump through. I glanced above me in hopes that there was something there for me. Sadly, the result I got was the same.

"That leaves me with the window I went through the first time down on the ground. Damn it, why didn't I just sneak into a stupid human's home instead?" I growled to myself before tightening the muscles in my body to jump to one of the boxes.

"Kuwabara, knock it off! Koenma said that we need to capture both demons because one is a thief and the other is a black market dealer."

I frowned at those words. The last time I had checked, I wasn't a thief and I was most certainly not a black market dealer. Though I guess I did take and never return tons of things. All things considered, I had always thought of myself as a murderer because I had killed some demons- maybe three every month or so? But over half of those were on accident because they were situations like this one! I heard the door to the building begin to open and I cursed in my head for getting distracted.

I scrambled towards the boxes that I had used to make my way down and I prayed that I made it before the door completely opened so I was seen. My paws were just landing on the last box near the window when I felt eyes on me. I knew I had been spotted in that instant as a rise in spiritual energy caused me to shiver.

"Back away from that window." My ears twitched at the sound because I sensed a threat in the words.

I growled my own threat back while my hackles rose just enough to be noticed. But even though I was told to back off, I remained where I was stubbornly. I stared at the four people coming through the door in hopes that I'd recognize at least one of them. But I didn't have even an inkling of familiarization in any of the four.

Then, the most human looking one stepped forward. He was wearing a blue jump suit and had orange hair and black eyes. I growled again in warning and prepared to make the room grow cold once more. It annoyed me to have to get ready to do that again because my body was dependent on what temperature was around. Doing it a second time told me that I wasn't going to last much longer here.

"Urameshi, it's just a little kitty. She's not gonna bite us or-"

"Fool."

I glanced at the shortest one of them all to find that he had just closed his lips. My eyes may have lingered a little too long on him because a blast of spiritual energy sparked at my paws. I yelped in surprise and jumped back from where I had been standing, only to slam into several heavy boxes. I heard them swaying above me and I cast my eyes upwards to find that they were all tumbling down towards me.

I didn't understand how because I had barely touched the boxes but I didn't put much thought into it. As the heavy packages came crashing to the ground around me, I took that moment to jump through the window. Hopefully the confusion would keep them from figuring out where I had gone for the time being as I scrambled to get away from the building.

"I'll have to slip into a nearby portal to get away- if I'm lucky to find one!" I grumbled as my paws took me back in the direction I had come. "With some luck, the one from before might still be open!"

I knew better than to say that out loud but I couldn't resist it. A chilling fog came out of me when I heard someone pursuing me. How they knew I'd slip out using the chaos around me was beyond my comprehension at the moment. The only thing I understood was that if I got captured, the snow gem would be lost to me for quite some time and I'd probably have to get another one.

Knowing this, I made the fog grow thicker and colder as I scrambled up a tree- it was actually the same one as before but I didn't notice at the time. My entire body was still but I continued to produce the fog and I made it colder each time I had to. This helped me stay at my near freezing temperature as well as keep the pursuers from getting too close. I was just slowing down my breathing when the first voice was captured by my ears.

"Kuwabara, if you go any farther you'll become a frozen popsicle! Sit your ass down and wait for us here!"

"No way Urameshi! I'm not going anywhere until I know that kitten is safe."

"You do realize that was not a cat. Kittens don't run as fast as she did."

"Well either way, I'm not leaving. Besides, Hiei is with us and he's keeping the cold away."

I growled inwardly at that. This explained why they were able to still move through my fog without freezing like that wolf demon. A fire demon was with them. They nullified any blast of cold I could send their way unless I got the upper hand- which was pretty hard to do for me. And because there was no way for me to get a surprise attack, I had no choice but to run for it once more. I dropped to the ground shockingly right in front of the group and they seemed as startled to see me as I was to see them.

We stood staring at each other for the moment and I smirked just enough to be seen. I already knew it seemed awkward on an animal so it only made it worse when I started snickering.

"Uh, is that really just an animal?" The orange haired man asked stupidly.

No one seemed inclined to tell him the answer so I didn't bother doing it either. All eyes remained on me even as I raised one of my front paws to step back.

"Okay, since no one is moving, I'll do it!" An older teen with slicked back hair stepped forward and he pointed a finger at me in a gun manner.

I sensed that he was powering up and I growled. Without warning, I blasted the four of them with the coldest fog my energy could create at the moment. The fire demon was hit by it first and I took off the second it had been released in hopes of getting a pretty good head start. I heard someone screaming to follow me and I forced my paws to stomp faster.

My ears didn't detect anyone chasing me yet so I was in luck as the portal came in sight. It had shrunk since the last time I had seen it and that meant Koenma was trying to close it, most likely on the other side. Cursing myself, I spun right on my heel and ran in the direction to the left of the portal.

This way led to more forest, but I knew of a temple in that direction. And the temple was well cared for by an old human I knew well. Just then, a human shape appeared in front of me. I managed to leap inches passed them and because we were in close proximity, the parts closest to me became incased in ice.

It didn't immediately melt so I knew that this male was not the fire demon- though he did have a fox odor so that was what I assumed was his demon. I glanced back at him to find that he had collapsed because he couldn't move his leg- which was frozen because of me. My paws took off once more as I silently apologized to him. I hadn't meant for him to get iced like that or at all. But that was what happened when people got too close.

"And that's why I took the snow gem! So I could easily get closer to others and not affect them like this." I grumbled as the forest around me darkened.

The hairs all over my body raised in warning that something very dangerous was here. By just looking around I couldn't tell where or who it was, but I knew for a fact that it was following me and matching my pace. That was something I did not like. Not many could match how fast I was going at the moment. Without a pause, I began to increase my speed when I caught the scent of the temple I had been heading towards.

My tail wagged just a little in excitement as I pushed myself to my limit. Whoever was following wasn't going to be able to keep up if I ran as fast as I could. I felt the presence starting to slow down but if it was because they couldn't keep up, I had no idea at the time. The bushes in front of me snagged at some of my fur but I didn't object as I finally made it to the temple.

I jumped onto one of the stone steps of the garden and collapsed right there, breathing heavily. I had no idea how long I stayed in that position, but I knew when someone appeared before me. The shock was clearly written in the air and I twitched both of my ears before looking up. The elderly human was more than surprised to see me and I slowly stood up on my four paws.

"Hello Genkai. Sorry for barging into your house like this, but I got chased around by a wolf demon and some stupid humans that had two demons with them. I had nowhere else to go and this was the only place I thought of that I'd be safe." I explained to her.

She must have found something humorous about what I said because I saw the smirk on her lips and the barely contained laugh her shoulders vibrated with. I waited until her laughter ceased before I began to ask her why she had done that.

"Hey, old bat! Where are ya?" A voice screamed from the direction I had just come.

"Urameshi that's rude! You don't even know if she's here!"

"Can it, Kuwabara. She's here, I can sense her."

I growled to myself because if I was hearing their voices that meant that they had followed me out here. I managed to stumble around on my paws and continued to sway back and forth. This told me that I was barely able to stay standing and wouldn't for very long. I started making my way away from the temple when the door behind Genkai opened slowly.

"Ex-Excuse me, Genkai… Did I hear Kazuma?" My ears twitched at the vaguely familiar voice and I turned my head just enough to see who spoke.

I immediately saw a red eyed ice demon with greenish blue hair tied behind her back in a crimson ribbon. She was wearing a pure blue yukata and looking at her, I saw that her eyes had widened exponentially at the sight of me. My tail swished back and forth softly and I smiled at her.

"Hello, Yukina. Long time no see. I take it you have missed me?" I asked teasingly.

The smile that came bursting forth from the ice demon's face was so wide I swore her head would tear itself apart. I noticed tears of happiness beginning to pool out of those red eyes and the liquid began dropping as her Hiraseki Stones. I started stuttering to try to figure out how to calm her down when she rushed towards me. Genkai moved out of the way and watched the scene in front of her as Yukina snatched me off the ground.

"Oh it's so good to see you again, Shimo! You've been gone from the ice apparition home for so long we thought you were dead!" She cried with tears still running down her face.

I squirmed against her grip because I could hardly breathe. I tossed my head back and pushed at her arms with my front paws as hard as I could without harming her. She didn't take the hint and I opened my mouth to tell her to let go when the four that had been chasing me appeared on the grass. I ceased moving the second they appeared and I saw all of their eyes on me.

Yukina noticed my stillness and she looked to where I was staring to find the four of them. I inwardly cursed because she still had tears falling down her face. It probably didn't help that her stones were in a small pile at her feet and led from where she had been previously standing.

I struggled to explain myself when the orange haired one came running up to the two of us. I felt him grab me by the scruff of my neck and he yanked me from Yukina's grip. She stared in surprise as I glared at the idiot. Before he had opened his mouth to say anything, I had already slammed one of my back paws into his face.

The cold emanating from my body frosted his face and he was forced to release me. I dropped to the ground and had just enough strength to crawl towards Yukina before my paws finally gave out. Luckily, I was facing the four so if they tried to get me, I could easily chill them right to the very core.

"Kuwabara, what are you trying to do?" Yukina asked softly as she reached down to pick me up.

"Wait-! Don't touch that fox, Yukina!" One of the demons warned, which the ice demon obeyed hesitantly.

I glared up at all four of them but I didn't try to move from my spot. I would only wear myself out even more and I couldn't allow myself to do that just yet. The better looking human stepped closer to me than the orange haired one did and I growled in a threatening manner. When he didn't listen, I began to freeze the air around me. Yukina wouldn't be affected since she was an ice demon, but I knew everyone else would.

"If you step any closer, you're asking for it, Yusuke." The red head warned lightly. "She lowers the temperature around her to well below freezing. The only one that can actually grab her is Yukina or Hiei."

This caused the human to stop his forward motion and I smirked at him. Just once seeing my move and he had it figured out almost completely. I noticed the fire demon stepping towards the black haired human and I took a chance to look back at Genkai. The way she stood told me that she wasn't going to help either of us, but she would sit and watch to see what happened.

The moment I had turned my head, I felt searing heat reaching for me. I knew immediately that it was the fire demon and I whipped my head around and clamped my fangs over one of his hands. Without waiting at all, I poured pure ice straight into him. I had to be sure that it was colder than average just so it affected the demon. He pulled away and I let it happen because it was already too late. He was affected by my ice and I knew it.

"Damn, you sure know how to chill a room!" The black haired human commented. I growled at him and flicked my tail, the only thing besides my head that was able to move.

"We are outside you stupid human. I can't freeze a room from this distance. Your head would have to suffice." I barked out.

Everyone but Yukina, the fire demon, and Genkai stared down at me in shock then. I was quick to realize that it was because I hadn't spoken to any of them since they had been chasing me from the building. I rolled my eyes and looked towards the ice demon. She understood without any words and she reached for me once again. No one stopped her this time as I felt her healing my tired body with her demonic energy.

"And now that I've finally insulted one of you, would you mind telling me why you chased me all the way here? Last I checked, I did nothing wrong." I remarked.

When no one said anything to me, I growled and looked up at them. My eyes widened when I found that no one had the words to speak to me. They were still in shock that I could speak. I growled out my annoyance as Yukina got my attention.

"Maybe… If you weren't so mean they'd listen to you, Shimo." She said softly.

My ears twitched and I scoffed at the idea. If I listened to that comment, I wouldn't have survived for as long as I have. Thanks to Yukina's healing powers, I was finally able to get to my paws. And that was all I needed at the moment.

"Well, if I have to repeat myself one more time, I won't be very happy." I said as the air chilled just a little to keep my body cooled down. "But either way, I'll be leaving when I choose to."

One of the demons- the fire one –made a noise that I knew was meant to insult me. I glared at him while rubbing the tiny bag that was irritating my fur. Glancing down at my paw, I found that some of my hair was falling out. I bit my tongue to keep from growling and I slipped the bag from my neck. But just to be sure that no one was going to try to snatch it from me, I placed the leather under my stomach and stayed as close to the ground as possible.

"Are you implying that you think you'll get out of this temple?" He asked slowly.

"Oh, I'm not implying, I'm saying that I will. You and the others have no say in what I choose to do."

"Does that mean you are going to leave again, Shimo?" Yukina asked me solemnly.

I turned my head and was about to give her my answer when everyone but her and Genkai said that I was going to be forced to stay here. I whipped back around and growled angrily as the hackles on my fur began sticking out in a quiet warning.

"I will leave if I damn well want to! Even if you chase me back to the portal, I know I'll always be faster." I yelled at them all while pawing at the strings on my bag unconsciously.

"Sorry, but that portal has been gone since you left it the second time. You're trapped at this temple until you explain what is going on." The red head told me.

"I don't have to explain myself! I came to the Ningenkai to get away from that freaking wolf demon who started chasing me for no reason! But it's no skin off my fur if I'm stuck here for a few days. That just means I get to spend time with Yukina again."

"You realize that you just told us what you were doing here?" The fire demon muttered. The chill that had wrapped around my body immediately dropped the temperature around all of us as I glared at him warningly.

"Watch it. My ice is still coursing through your veins no matter how heated you get. One move from me and you'll be frozen solid for several hours. Your fire will do nothing to melt it unless I choose it." I said before I snatched the bag from the ground.

Without another word, I began dragging it towards the inside of the temple. Genkai leisurely stepped out of my way and Yukina began to follow in case I needed help. I heard someone step onto the wood porch and my hackles rose again before I looked back. The red head stared back at me and his emerald eyes silently questioned if he could come closer.

I smirked at the other foxes eagerness and I turned away from him to focus almost my complete attention on moving the bag. I heard him move all the way onto the temple floor and the others slowly did the same, though they did so wearily. Yukina eventually picked up the bag and carried it to one of the spare rooms the temple had. Thankfully a bed was already in there so I didn't have to do much with it.

"So, if I may ask, what is in this?" The ice demon asked. I grinned at her and she handed me the bag. She always loved when I brought new things, even if I did happen to steal them and no one knew it.

"It's a snow gem! That way, when I'm anywhere away from my home, I don't have to constantly radiate a cold that freezes everyone but you. All I have to do is either wear it around my neck or place it in my room and it will instantly change the temperature to a cool negative fifty degrees!"

"Oh wow, that's amazing Shimo. I've heard snow gems are hard to come by for us ice apparitions."

"Well, it wasn't easy finding it; that was for sure! Sneaking into that wolf demon's home was like taking a walk- it was running away from those four that all my energy was put into!"

I realized my mistake when Yukina frowned at me. She usually never showed such an expression, but I was a different case. For reasons I wasn't going to explain at the moment, though.

"Shimo, you stole this didn't you?" She asked in a slow tone that told me she expected the truth. I sighed because I knew that if I didn't tell her the truth, I wouldn't be well accepted here anymore. And I didn't want that.

"…Yes, I stole it from the wolf demon. He found out and came chasing after me relentlessly, which landed us in the position I'm now in." I said.

Yukina gave me one last frown before she sighed in defeat. I knew she had forgiven me then and my tail wagged slightly in appreciation. She always understood when it came to something like this. That was why I usually visited her as much as I could- not to mention that I liked her. She was one of the few friends that didn't leave me.

I started to tell her all different sorts of things when someone walked towards the door. My ears twitched and we both turned to see who was ruining our free time. It didn't surprise at all when I found that it was the other fox demon. His emerald eyes sparkled in interest when he noticed the snow gem in Yukina's hands.

"Is that a snow gem?" He asked.

I stared at him in silence while trying to figure out if I should give him an honest answer. If I answered truthfully, I might not like the outcome that came with it. But if I lied, well, I couldn't figure out what would happen to me. Surprisingly, Yukina looked towards the fox demon and smiled.

"Yes, Shimo took it from that wolf demon you were chasing. But she has yet to explain why." The ice demon said.

I forced a growl and my hackles to stay lowered so I opted to glare at her. But even that went by unfazed by both demons. My tail twitched in annoyance before I gave up and scratched at my ear that suddenly began to itch.

"I'd rather not explain myself until I know I can trust these guys." I replied honestly.

Yukina's red eyes flickered in confusion, but I knew that she understood somewhat. Glancing at the red head, I could see that he felt the same way. His gaze lingered on the snow gem and I stepped protectively over it but remained calm- for the most part. He noticed my subtle warning and returned his focus to my body.

"Is that what you look like always?" He questioned.

"No," I scoffed. "But I'll show you what I really look like when I feel like I can trust you all."

And with a flick of my tail, I tucked the snow gem back in the bag and bit down on the cloth. I swung towards Yukina, who took the bag into her hands, and then I danced across the floor to go to the door the other fox was standing by. He watched me slipped passed him as I went up to Genkai, who seemed to be talking to the slick-backed teen.

"And now that you seem to be over your initial shock, care to explain why you were really chasing me and that wolf demon? I mean, I know I'm a thief and all, but Koenma hasn't told anyone to capture me after all these years. There's no point in him doing that now." I said while scratching one of my ears.

"You would be surprised, Shimo. I'm not as tolerant with you as I used to be."

The new voice had my fur on end even before I turned towards one of the doors that led outside. I found the teen looking down on me from his pacifier and it still looked stupid even back when I last saw him. Though his brown hair might have gotten darker and his eyes more mature- but that was just me speaking.

"And why would that be?" I growled out to him.

He took his time answering and I pawed at the ground restlessly while tapping one claw against the wood. Everyone took it as a hint to not drive my patience- but very few of them knew that I had little to none on some days.

"Well… Because you never told me you stole the Winter's Bane." Koenma answered.

I glared at the prince and started to say something when a heat wave rolled over my body. I already knew that it was the black haired demon so I turned to snap at him when another blast of warmth hit me. Being used to freezing temperatures, the attacks were too much for me- even if they weren't intentional. The room began to darken and I struggled to stay awake to create a cold fog to surround myself. It wasn't working and by the next wave, I fell onto my side.

"Damn it, I'll get you for that." I growled only moments before I slipped away from the world.