I think I need to probably elaborate on something; I consider Youko to be the original kitsune that lived in Makai, Kurama to be the infection of the embryo of Minamino Shuichi, and Youko Kurama to be the complete merging of the two of them. I don't want anyone to be confused so I thought I'd try to clear it up before hand.
Disclaimer: In no way, shape, or form do I own or even attempt to claim that I own Yu Yu Hakusho and its characters or plots. I do, however, own the storyline and events that are relevant to this story outside of the cannon. ;)
"The Mistake is not knowing you're mistaken, and the Truth is not knowing when you're lying." -Youko
There was no light to be had within his type of darkness, and as he breathed he could not rid himself of the stench of his own foolishness. He had crossed into uncharted territory for pride and had been captured and chained like a dog as a result. Or perhaps a guinea pig, these particular yōkai found him to be an interestingly perplexing specimen, one worthy of observations and experimentations. Unbeknownst to him, kitsune were creatures straddling the edge of extinction and rapidly becoming nothing more than glorified myths. An idea that would've been laughable mere decades ago, but the information given to him seemed too detailed to be anything but factual. After all, with his distractions, when was the last time he had run across another kitsune?
His lips pulled into a tight snarl at the thought, unbothered by the empty findings his mind was producing. He cared not for the likes of others, brethren and loyalties were for childish endeavors and clueless romantics, and he was neither. However, he was certain that he was going to be a personal prize for a time scope of no more than three months, and despite the flashes of confidence he displayed whenever his captors came around, he was also well aware that his time was drawing to a close. He was foolish for getting himself into such a mess, but he was not fool enough to believe that he was going to get out of said mess without ending his life or being gravely injured. These yōkai were specialized, trained in the art of youki extraction and some sort of unknown surgeries that his instinct told him were a far cry from medical. He also noted that the decay on the countless corpses and skeletons littered about him seemed perhaps centuries old, so they most certainly were not amateurs.
Suddenly his ears twitched at the faintest of sounds, causing his train of thought to still like that of his body. He did not lift his head, although his curiosity was peaked when the swift whiff of sandalwood and something more familiar intruded his space. That added scent had no chance to truly baffle him as he felt a sudden thrust of pain race up his spine and overwhelm his consciousness. He struggled mentally to fight the lure of fainting, his chained hands twitching and grasping violently at air subconsciously, but he was unable to stop his body from reacting. A dark, desperate growl escaped his lips as his body began to lull forward, held steadfast by the solid bounds that dug into his flesh and connected to the stones of his cell. He was tempted to scream out as every bone in his body seemed to slowly incinerate and the pain became so much grander than anything he had ever felt in his millennia that it was seducing his every nerve and thought. There was no sign of numbness or a misplaced sense of peace before his senses completely escaped him, and there most certainly was no flash of his previous time of living to distract him from the excruciated throes that met him up until his final breath.
There was simply nothing.
Yōkai= A demon or demons.
Kitsune= Fox spirit or fox demon.
Youki= Demon Energy, Ki, or Powerlevel.