The Golden Mirror of Desire

They were in the forest just outside of the small bandit village Youko had founded many years back. The Plant Demon Fox easily explained to the Plant Demoness about their next raid. It would just be the three of them, "While Kuronue and I go into the palace and steal the Mirror, you are on the lookout, and you tell me what's going on through our telepathic link, alright? This shouldn't be too dangerous, though anything can go wrong, which of course you can jump in."

The silver kitsune smirked, "So, what do you think?" he asked the woman in front of him, /his/ woman. They'd been together for a couple years now as mates, though that never meant he didn't have his way with a special bat demon. Nira never minded, knowing he swung both ways. Kuronue and Nira were more like brother and sister, though, so on a drunk night where the three of them ended up in bed, she would only tease Kuronue with kisses and touches.

"I think you're going to get yourselves killed one of these days," she snapped, of which he raised an eyebrow with her. She probably still had a hangover from the night before, so he let it slid, "Why do I have be the look-out AGAIN?!" she huffed folding her arms and she pursed her lips, her face scrunching up in that cute way he adored. It was this 'scrunch face' that he knew she wasn't really angry at him, just irate.

"Because you're the best, Nira," golden eyes watched her curiously and with some amusement.

"You always make me stay behind!" she whined, stomping her foot, her arms and fists flying to her sides, "It's not fair, Youko!" Nira's hunter green eyes glared daggers at the fox, "Why can't Kuro be the lookout?!"

Youko caught her chin in his hand and smiled as he pulled her closer like he was going to kiss her, "You're on the outside because you can see in the plants what's coming for us."

Nira threw her hands up in the air, "Is that all I'm good for?!"

This was now getting a bit ridiculous. Youko shook his head lightly and was about to respond when she continued on her rant, "If I'm not, then answer me right and stop avoiding it! We're alone, no one will hear you, but you still avoid it! You're so stuck-up and selfish!"

"Nira…" He reached a hand out to her, and then snatched it back, looking away. She knew his feelings; she knew he hated saying it out loud. He only whispered them to her when they were in a tangle of limbs late at night. He even told them to her /last/ night.

"Oh, just never mind," she huffed. She looked down at her black jeans which led down to black flat shoes that propelled her forward. Her raven black hair which was held in a ponytail fell lightly forward, as well as a small yellow petal from the yellow rose that was always slid into the holder. Her hands, both in black fingerless gloves, caught it and she held her hand to her chest and dark green tank top which brought out her eyes.

Youko watched, sighed, and decided to take the lead, but before he went ahead of her, he grabbed her shoulders and whispered in her ear, "You're my precious person, Nira. I can't have you harmed…"

Nira blinked in surprise, but smiled and turned her head, kissing his cheek, "Sorry for snapping. I know that's how you feel." She nuzzled him and hugged him, and when they pulled away, she fall into step with the silver kitsune. Youko made some twists and turns along in the village, but she easily kept up. The bandits around the village were eyeing her curiously…and with a bit of hunger…though that wasn't unusual. All she had to do was give them a glare and they backed off swiftly into the shadows.

Youko kept very close to her, and he watched as Nira scared the others off with just a glance. That was his woman. He shook his head, rolling his eyes with a smirk. He was looking for the bat demon, and he knew that he was going to have to hurry up.

"Move!" Nira pushed Youko forward and out of the way as someone almost pounced on the kitsune, but instead missed because of her and landed on his chest on the ground with a loud "oomph"! Nira recognized him immediately, "Kuronue! I had no idea you liked eating dirt so much," she teased.

"What was that?!" Kuro pushed himself off the ground and spat out the wad of mud, "I would be eating a certain someone's face if you hadn't knocked him out of the way, kit!" Nira wasn't a cat demon by far, but she sure did act like it, so that was her nickname, short for 'kitten'.

Youko blinked as he saw who it was, "Kuronue!" He laughed, "Nice job scaring us."

"Yes, well, I just released some of my magic before I came looking for you, and hid my ki. I'm surprised this little kitten here still managed to sense me…" Kuronue said as he got up, dusting off and fixing his hat. His voice was husky, and his eyes were an intense, fascinating indigo. He flapped his bat wings a bit to get the dust off of them.

"I'm not little!" Nira shook her first scrunching her face up in irritation.

Youko laughed, and shook his head. He noticed Kuro had rearranged the ribbon on his right arm, revealing some old scars and hiding the new one, "Is it going to be a problem?" Kuronue's ribbons weren't necessarily a fashion statement; they hid the areas where he had to cut himself in order to release the magic that got pent up in his blood. The longer he went without cutting, the more the magic built, and if it became too much, it could kill him.

"Nah, shouldn't be," the bat shrugged, "So what's our target?"

"The Golden Mirror of Desire," Youko replied to Kuronue's question with a smirk.

"Dude, are you serious? That's high-end!" indigo eyes widened.

"What, you /scared/?" Nira smirked, her hand on her hip.

Kuro stuttered, "Never! Just shocked."

"Well, let's go have some fun!" Nira grinned.

"Alright," Kuronue smiled. "You can come along any time," He joked, "Even though you are a klutz I swear."

Nira smacked his arm, "Hey!"

Youko looked over at Kuronue, "And you're not?"

Kuronue falsely winced. "Touché, point taken huh?" He shrugged, "Let's be off, then!"

About half way there, Kuronue looked down into the tree line and saw Nira had stopped. He floated down to her while Youko, who had transformed into his fox form for faster travel, paused on a nearby tree branch. "Ooi! What's the hold up, kit?"

"I don't want to fight with you, anymore," Nira said softly.

"Nani?" What? Kuronue blinked and Youko had to smile. Since he was in his fox form, his pointy teeth showed, "Well this is out of the blue. What's on your mind?" he put his hands on his hips, raising an eyebrow.

Nira look up watching him, studying any movement, any twitch of his muscles, "I just…feel like something's going to happen…"

Kuronue snickered, "Yeah, something's going to happen. We're going to steal something and be even more famous for it."

Nira laughed, but the mirth didn't reach her eyes, "I know that, Kuro. I'm talking about something else…something bad, but I don't know what."

"Women and their secrets. That's the reasons why men get killed off. You're lucky you haven't killed Youko yet," Kuronue shook his head.

"Now, now," Youko teased, going to his two-legged form, "That was harsh."

"That was the truth, Foxy Boy. And you damn well know it!"

Youko shrugged.

Nira sighed, "Kuro…"

"Kit, it's fine. Stop getting all worked up about it," Kuronue caught her in a noogie, "That's what siblings do, we fight."

Nira smiled and batted him away, "Alright, alright, geez," she laughed, and this time her green eyes sparkled, "Let's get a move on, sorry for the holdup."

Youko waved her off, "It's fine, babe. Come on," with that, he bounded off again through the trees.

Kuronue and Youko jumped away from the guards and stopped momentarily for Youko to flash the mirror with a chuckle of accomplishment. They both glanced back quickly and started running again. The heist had gone rather smoothly right up until the end, but that wasn't unusual. They fought their way out, and no were running from the guards.

Suddenly it was like time slowed down. Kuronue felt a tiny flash of metal, and he saw a throwing needle embed itself into the tree ahead of him just as the necklace he treasured dear suddenly fell from his neck. The needle must've caught one of the chain loops and snapped it!

The Bat demon stopped on a branch of bamboo and shot after it. Youko turned and called after him, "Don't, Kuronue!"

"I need it!" Kuro called back. How could he leave something given to him by Youko? It was his most treasured gift, the first one he ever received in his entire /life/. He reached the spot where it had fallen and went to pick it up, when he heard blades of bamboo rustling in the air, coming from the canopy above. He glanced up and tried to dodge and get away, but to no avail. One bamboo shoot pierced his leg, and pinned him to the spot. The bamboo continued to rain down upon him so fast and he had no hope of getting away…pain shot through his entire body as he was run through time after time, but what could he do? Scream? Like that would help his situation…

"KURONUE!" Youko screeched in utter horror at seeing his comrade, friend, and occasional lover harmed, especially in the way he had been. He hadn't sensed the trap, and he was a Plant demon! He should have sensed it! He attempted to run back, try to save him, screw the mirror, they could have it back, but Kuronue made him stop in his tracks.

"Forget about me, Kurama!" Kuronue yelled to him with what little strength he had left, his voice gurgling as blood bubbled up and from his mouth. He never called him by his first name. Ever. Youko's eyes widened considerably, pain flashing through those topaz eyes. "GO! RUN!" With heavy sorrow, his chest tightening with pain that had nothing to do with his injuries, he watched as Youko hesitated for a moment, but then turned back and fled as quickly as he could. He watched, suddenly tired, as Nira joined Youko as they were leaving. The Plant Demoness looked back, a pained expression on her face as well, but Youko pulled her along and away from him. He was so glad Nira had said she didn't want to fight anymore, even if he didn't really admit it. It made things a lot easier…

He didn't know how much time had passed, everything had gone black, but as Kuronue was just about to let go, after just coming to grips he would die where he stood, he heard footsteps…but these weren't ones of haste. He drew himself back out of sheer curiosity and looked up, focusing his vision enough to see guards surrounding two people…two women no less…

"A bat demon?" An old busty woman surprisingly asked. The girl to her side was watching, not saying anything. "Why am I not surprised?" She walked over to the trap and snapped her fingers. "Remove it."

"Yes, Your Majesty," one of the guards said and he was clearly a Plant demon as well. He and one other started removing the bamboo shoots, but without remorse and very harshly.

The girl, a Water Demoness just by her appearance, snapped, "Be careful, he doesn't need any more pain than he already has!" she said just as one spear that was holding him up was snapped to let him free. She pushed her way passed the guards and supported him a best she could with her graceful body against his well-built one. He wasn't overly huge in terms of muscle mass, but he was tall, and basically a dead weight even though he was just barely breathing.

The old woman just gave a small smile and had another guard help the bat demon. Her pale, blind eyes were glinting as if she knew something the two of the demons didn't.

Kuronue looked down at the woman, everything seeming to focus on her as he took in. Her royal blue hair fell in gentle waves to the middle of her back, her bangs sweeping over her left eye in a rather cute way; her long slender arms wrapped around him to support him were oddly comforting. If it wasn't for her demon strength though, the two of them would've dropped to the ground. He said stiffly, "You're a weird one." He felt her shiver, though the reason why eluded his cloudy mind. Absently, he realized he was probably bleeding all over her.

"There's just too much hurt in this world," She responded, her breath ragged, but from all his years Kuronue knew the difference between the pleasurable kind and the fearful kind. "And you're near death as it is, so why hurt you more?" Could she possibly be afraid of blood?

"Heh, a kindred spirit…Don't see those everyday now do ya?" Kuronue asked, his voice dripping with both sarcasm and serenity. Bah…he was being such a jerk. Honestly, though, how the hell was he still alive? Blood loss alone should've killed him now, not to mention where a few of the bamboo shoots hit him.

"Unfortunately no, which is sad, really," She looked up at him with sympathetic vivid brown eyes, like milk chocolate, "That was your friend who you told to run, wasn't it?" she asked softly and then felt a shift as his leg, which had been pierced first, was freed. She adjusted her grip so he wouldn't drop to the ground and then turned her head to see the Medical demons from the Infirmary rush to them with a stretcher.

"And why would I say?" Kuronue asked with a small sad smile, "Knowing that my life what little is left of it, is in your hands, why would I give information about my friends or allies or even enemies?"

She just laughed as she laid him down on the stretcher, "Touché," she said with a smile, "But, I'll take it as a yes anyway," she told him with a light giggle.

Kuronue couldn't help but to give a small smile at the laughter he received. "Alright, take it as you wish," He finally said. This woman…she was saving him even though he and Youko stole from here. Why? Was she intending to keep him alive just to torture him and get information? Nah…she didn't seem that type of person. However…why was he so sure of that? Ugh, he really should stop thinking.

As they started heading to the Infirmary she used her Water to start cleaning random wounds and speeding up the clotting process to stop the bleeding for the moment. Her appearance confirmed his earlier suspicions, as she was pale and had her mouth set in a thin line as she worked, "My name is Fundir, Fundir Tsunaia…but you may call me Naia, if you wish…"

"Kuronue," He said simply, "I don't have a last name."

"That's not uncommon," Naia muttered mostly to herself. She moved her hand to his face to start cleaning up the dirt and sweat when she felt heat coming from him. She furrowed her brows and gave a deep frown as she put her palm on his forehead and the back of her fingers on his cheeks; "You're burning up…" she then moved to whisper something to one of the stretcher carriers who nodded in response. Her hand went to his chest, "This is probably a stupid question since you just met me, but do you trust me?"

"Depends," Kuronue looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "To heal me? Yeah, since you seem so determined. Besides that, no."

"Good enough. Have you ever teleported before?" Naia furrowed her brows.

"Er…I assume not in the way you're referring to, though I have jumped through a few portals."

"Alright, but I give you fair warning," Naia told him, "You might feel really dizzy, and I certainly wouldn't be surprised if you passed out shortly after I got you to a bed in the Infirmary."

"Thanks for the warning; I'll try to keep that in mind," Kuronue said with an eye roll.

Tsunaia laughed again and placed both hands on his shoulders. Her eyes closed and the old lady watched the two disperse into water itself and speed toward their destination.

With much skilled practice Naia lighted him down gently on an Infirmary bed, "There…" Though, before she could ask if he was alright, Kuronue's head hit the soft pillow, and he was out like a light.