It was peaceful.
That was the first thought she remembered having. She was peaceful, whole, and warm. Wherever she was, whoever she was, it wasn't bad.
They say that when your body is left hollow without a soul, it goes back into the earth and becomes the earth. Withering away into nothing isn't particularly true, as your body feeds the soil, the plants, the earth itself.
But somehow, the earth did not stop there for her. As she gave to the earth, the earth gave back to her.
"I felt it out there," Kuwabara explained, confidently leading the way through shrubs and overgrown weeds.
"There are many demons that reside in this forest." Kurama spoke calmly, unsure as to why his teammate was so persistent in this matter of feeling a strange energy signature. Genkai's forest was full of a plethora of creatures, from simple insects to low class demons. However, being the most sensitive of all of them when it came to feeling and even understanding energy signatures, Kurama had followed Kuwabara without too many questions.
"Yeah, Kurama, but this one felt different," Kuwabara emphasized, turning around to give the fox a desperate look. "Just trust me, okay? It feels dormant but it's making me antsy."
He nodded, emerald eyes trained on the back of the other's back as they moved as quickly the brush allowed.
As they drew closer to whatever it was that Kuwabara had been feeling, Kurama noticed that the greenery around them had somehow grown even more dense. Kuwabara had slowed down, having to wade through waist deep grass that only seemed to be getting thicker the more they travelled. Kurama's eyes roamed over their surroundings, feeling a thrum of energy from the plants that he hadn't noticed before. It was as if everything felt a little more alive.
And that's when he felt it. The odd signature Kuwabara had mentioned, earthy and unlike any signature he had felt. Somehow it resembled Yusuke's, a mix of demon and human elements, but this signature didn't mesh like Yusuke's. It felt as though two completely different signatures were forced together and could not harmonize.
"What… the fuck?" Kuwabara's soft inquiry brought Kurama back to the forest, and when the fox looked over, he saw Kuwabara, foot midair as though to take another step, but below his sole was a face surrounded by plants overgrown.
Before Kurama could open his mouth, Kuwabara let out a cry of surprise and immediately fell down to his knees, ripping at the plants covering the lump of a body. "They're eating her!" He cried, and pulled back harder at the roots in his hands, grunting as they challenged his strength.
The peaceful face of the girl contorted as if in pain, and Kuwabara pulled his hands away from the plant as if they had burned him. It nestled back against the lump, and the tense air that had presented itself seemed to fade.
Kurama analyzed the lump, his eyes sliding back to the face that emerged from the ground, noticing that it seemed somewhat unhuman, ethereal. However, the fox knew a way to see exactly what this being was.
"Kuwabara, allow me." Kurama bent down beside Kuwabara, flashing him a reassuring smile before placing his hands atop the roots. He could feel their intentions, their protective nature for the being that lay beneath. Something struck Kurama in that moment, and he realized this intention to be almost like a mother protecting her child. These roots covered this girl, thrumming with energy that pulsed along with her's. It was distinct, the signature was of the earth, and this girl's energy was torn between the earth and her own body. This was the problem that lie within her signature, as if she were two different beings at once, the earth and herself.
"We'll have to cut her out."
"W-what?!"
Kuwabara looked at Kurama with wide eyes before snapping them in the direction of the feminine face. "C-cut her out? But she looked like she was hurt and her energy spiked before!"
Narrowing his eyes slightly, a breath escape Kurama's lips as he thought of a concrete explanation. However, he decided to see if Kuwabara knew what he himself was feeling.
"The energy you feel, can you tell me more about it?"
Pursing his lips, Kuwabara glanced up slightly as he thought and felt the air around him pulse with the energy. It took him a minute before his eyes widened with realization. "Her energy is… with the earth? But… it's not like it is the earth." He paused, glancing over at the face and the body that lay beneath the mounds of root. "It's like… I don't know, it kind of reminds me of those grass things we fought at Suzaku's place. Except those weren't really humans. This feels… like it isn't mixing right."
"Correct."
"So we have to… cut her out? I didn't even notice the earth's energy was on her like that, you know, like that strong. It hurt her before, will this kill her or something? I don't even want to hurt a girl, let alone accidentally kill one," Kuwabara grimaced at the thought, his eyes meeting Kurama's with uncertainty.
"This is certainly unusual, but if she is human, being confined to this earth as it is with energy smothering her, it could likely result in death."
The peace was interrupted, pain surged down her legs and pierced the bones with such intensity she thought they had shattered.
After a moment it dissipated, leaving her peaceful once more. The warmth that surrounded her grew unsettled, and slight discomfort caught her as the world tightened, a breath escaped her that she did not know she had.
That which encircled her tightened beyond her limit, and it was then that she felt as though she were truly alive, because something surged in her that was not present before: fear. Something was pounding around her, or was it inside her? There was no distinction between herself and what lied around her. The desperation that laced her instincts was smothering her, even more so than the sudden material forcing itself over her exposed portion, stopping her breath before it had a chance to escape.
But as soon as she was ripped from her place, she realized it was not her's.
NOTES:
Alright! I haven't written a fanfiction in I don't even know how long, since I was? 16 maybe (im 21 now omg im old af). I've been throwing this idea around in my head before bed every night and it seems like a neat concept, but there are some things that will need work for sure! (also i have no beta so there might be mistakes if u see them, please let me know! )
I'm not a writer by nature, I'm actually a Japanese Education major, but I like trying to get my ideas down on paper (or on word docs I guess)! I'm not here to get anything from anyone, I just wanna share and see where this goes!
For now it's definitely not a pairing type fanfic, I don't even have the plot fleshed out let alone if this girl is gonna have romantic feelings for anyone ;p
Also! I'm not sure when I'll update tbh, I usually don't write but I was at work today (I work in an office on my campus, and during the summer it's so BORING especially when summer classes end no one is on campus except for us measly student workers) and I decided hey! why not do something slightly productive!
so here we are, a yyh fanfic! thanks for reading!