Fox Love:
Chapter 1- The Girl
Sunlight filtered through the trees, striking the young kitsune wandering
beneath, and speckling her with warmth. She tilted her face upwards, letting her
face bask in the rays and drinking in the light. Through the canopy of green
above her she could see spots of a perfect blue, dotted with puffs of white.
This would be a good place to stop. The small clearing was hidden deep in the
forest and she could sense nothing hostile nearby. Haven sat down underneath a
tall oak, moving with a cat-like fluidity, a warrior's grace. She readjusted
the sword hanging at her side and leaned back against the rough, pitted bark.
Her emerald eyes glittered as they swept around the clearing once more before
closing. She breathed in deeply and let the breath out with a whoosh a few
moments later. She would be safe here, for a while. Haven let her thoughts
drift and soon sleep clouded her mind, taking her to that mysterious place only
visited in dreams.
***************
"SPIRIT GUN!!!!"
The
battle waged on, curses, shouts of pain, and the sounds of weapons echoing off
the mountains behind them. The demon was hurt, but still going strong. The four
friends fighting it faced him, breathing hard and dripping sweat. Kuwabara's
left leg dripped crimson, the tide pooling on the ground beneath his feet.
Yusuke, covered in numerous bruises and scratches, had almost exhausted his
Spirit Energy. He stood there panting and wiped his face on his sleeve. Kurama
and Hiei were the least affected; the former breathing harder then normal and
the latter with a small cut on his cheek, both were tiring, though.
"What do we do now, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked.
"I don't know," Yusuke replied.
"We keep trying!" Hiei snapped and disappeared before Kuwabara could
say anything in reply.
In almost the same instant they heard the familiar slashing sound of his sword,
accompanied by flashed of light from where the bright spring sun caught his
wickedly fast blade. Soon several new red streaks appeared on the demon's scaly
hide and slowly dripped black blood onto the grass beneath. Yusuke charged in,
screaming, and fired his Spirit Gun once more. Kuwabara's eyes narrowed and his
Spirit Sword flared up, blazing orange, as he followed close behind. Kurama
surveyed the scene before him and raised his arm, flicking his Rose Whip as
hard as he could at the demon's hideous head. *CRACK* He struck home and the
demon let out a ferocious howl of pain and rage. He swung one massive arm out
in the air and caught Yusuke right in the chest. The young Spirit Detective
went flying, landing in the ground with a sickening crunch, not far from
Kurama. Kuwabara's eyes widened as he took in what had just happened. Then he let
out an enormous bellow and charged straight at the demon. Hiei appeared by to
Yusuke, bending down next to him. Yusuke moaned when Hiei touched his arm,
which was bent out at an impossible angle. Hiei shook his head, stood up, and
ran to help Kuwabara. The short fire-demon liked Kuwabara, despite what he said
and did, and didn't want to see him die. He appeared seconds later at the tall
boy's side, slashing fast and hard. Kurama permitted himself a small smile as
he lashed out at the demon once more. Another hit, another wound. Kurama's grin
widened, and he advanced towards the other demon. He jumped into the air and
the Rose Whip cracked multiple times before he landed near the other two. Hiei
spared the red-headed fox a grateful glance before he continued to slice at
their foe. Even the little fire-demon was beginning to tire.
"That's not a good sign," Kurama thought to himself.
Behind him, Yusuke had staggered to his feet, his broken arm dangling at his
side. Kuwabara, distracted by this momentarily, caught a blow to the head and
crumpled in a heap. Yusuke let out a strangled cry and he leapt forward. Kurama
and Hiei continued to heckle the monster, but they both knew they couldn't do
this for much longer. Their energy was almost gone. Yusuke was pummeling the
demon with his one fist and his feet. If the situation hadn't been so dire,
Kurama would have laughed out loud. Yusuke barely came up to the demon's chest
and it would have taken five or more of him to go around its belly. His punches
and kicks had little effect beyond annoying the monster further. Yusuke
collapsed on the ground moments later, panting and shuddering, trying to get
up. He failed miserably. Kurama grimaced and cracked the whip with renewed
strength. Two against one was unfair, for them that was. Hiei darted in,
slashing viciously and Kurama racked his brain desperately, trying to come up
with some way they could win this. His whip lashed out yet again, and then it
hit him. His whistle!
Before the four of them had left on this mission, Koenma, deeming him the most
responsible, had given Kurama a whistle. The toddler-ruler's words reechoed
now, in his mind, as he stood before a demon he could not defeat.
"Blow this whistle and help will come to you, no matter where you are."
Kurama had accepted the trinket, hanging it by its braided cord around his
neck. He paused a moment and reached inside his shirt. Something cool and
smooth brushed his slender fingers and he grabbed it, yanking it free of the
cloth of his shirt. He brought it to his mouth and blew as hard as he could.
***************
Haven's eyes snapped open. That noise…there it was again! A sharp wailing, a
cry of distress, of panic, and desperation. The Whistle of Desperation! She
bolted to her feet and honing in on the echoes of the piercing wail, charged
towards it. Koenma had told her, if she ever heard that whistle she was to go
to the person who had blown it immediately. Her cloak billowing out behind her,
she darted in and out of the trees, hoping that by the time she got there it
wouldn't be too late.
***************
Kurama let the whistle fall from his mouth. Hiei brought his hands down from
his ears, where they had instinctively placed themselves upon hearing the whistle.
The demon stood before them, stunned, staring dumbly at Kurama, who glanced
around and sighed. The demon chose that second to swipe at him, scraping his
back and shredding his shirt. Kurama yelped and fell to his knees. Hiei, upon
seeing this, leaped at the demon once more.
Kurama got up and had just raised his arm for another whiplash when a black
blur rushed by him. He stared, dumbstruck, as the blur darted around the demon,
then flipped in the air, and came to rest on the top of its head. It was a
girl. But that was all Kurama's bewildered brain could register before she
unsheathed a sword and was off again. She moved around the demon, quicker then
Kurama could follow. Her speed seemed to rival even Hiei's. He looked over at
Hiei who was also watching the girl; seemingly with little or no trouble. He
edged closer to the shorter demon and nudged him. Hiei barely glanced at him
before his ruby eyes went back to the fight before them.
"She's fighting the fight for us!" he exclaimed "I don't like that!
I can fight my own battles!"
Kurama nodded solemnly, but his eyes sparkled and his mouth curved in a tiny
grin.
"She's cutting him to pieces!" Hiei shouted after a few more moments,
when chunks of demon flesh began to litter the ground.
Kurama nodded again. All of a sudden he could see her, falling towards the
ground. She had jumped off the demon and was now facing him with her hands
stretched out in front of her. Kurama sensed a power like nothing he had ever
felt before. It felt as though the world had gone gray and all that was left in
color was the girl, the world swirled into nothing as she gathered the power to
her, embracing it, using it as her own. Her hands turned a blue-green color and
her eyes, cold as stone, locked on the demon. A loud, inhuman scream issued
from the demon and Kurama fell to his knees for the second time that day,
throwing up his hand to protect his face. Hiei had done the same, but he
remained standing. When the light had dissipated and their eyes opened, the
demon was gone and the same girl Kurama had seen just moments earlier was
walking towards them amid a cloud of what appeared to be dust. She moved like
water, fluid and effortless, her golden hair, yanked up high on her head,
streaming out behind her in the whispering breeze. Her face was slender, with
high cheekbones topped by sparkling green eyes that seemed to see through him,
right down to the depths of his soul. Kurama stood up and Hiei stepped forward.
"Who are you?!" he demanded.
Kurama glared at him. "I am no one you need to know," she replied
coolly, fixing him with an icy stare that outdid even his own. Hiei backed down
and grudgingly stepped out of her path back to his original spot. She brushed
past him as if he were nothing, lower then the ground she walked on, and went
over to where Yusuke had fallen, only minutes earlier, but they seemed like
days. Gently her slender hand brushed his arm and he seemed to come awake. He
stared up at her and winced when she touched his arm a second time. He shifted,
moving the broken arm as far away from her as possible. She glared down at him
and her smooth rose lips twisted in an amused frown. She leaned forward and in
one quick motion, grabbed his arm. He howled in pain as the same blue-green
light from before enveloped him. The howls ceased almost immediately and the
light faded, orange spots in Kurama's eyes the only proof that they had ever
been there. The girl snorted and stood up, her mouth now quirked in a tiny
half-smile. Yusuke stood up also, his arm at the right angle now and all cuts
and bruises gone. He turned to the girl, but she was already at Kuwabara's
side, the same teal light enveloping his unconscious body. She stood up once
more a few seconds later, looking extremely pleased with herself. Kuwabara stirred
and muttered something under his breath. Yusuke sauntered over to him and
offered him a hand up, which he refused and promptly fell back on the ground,
face first. Yusuke snickered and hid it behind his other hand. The girl sneered
and began walking away, her slender body moving elegantly and her hair whipping
out behind her.
"Hey! Wait! Wait!" Yusuke shouted.
She ignored him and kept walking towards the forest on the other side of the
field. The yellow grass brushed her mid-calves and the myriad of tiny insects
that lived in it swirled up and out behind her wake, buzzing angrily. He
scowled and ran after her, grabbing her shoulders and spinning her around as if
she weighed nothing.
"Didn't you hear me?! I said wait! Who are you and what did you do back
there?!"
The girl glared at him. "Get…off…me…now." Her voice, steely and
smooth seemed to bounce of the trees in front of her and reecho back to all the
others, letting them know her displeasure. "I am of no consequence to you.
Leave me alone and go about your business."
Yusuke let go, visibly shaken, by her glare or her tone or both, and backed
away.
"Please," Kurama said. "Tell us who you are. We just want to
thank you for what you did."
Her back still to them the girl continued walking, then vanished.