My body landed hard on the ground and I opened my eyes. Ian was no longer in my arms, and I didn't see him anywhere near me. I didn't see anyone near me. I was in the middle of a corn field, fog settling over it. I stood up and started walking. Inoshishi is a Dream Weaver… How did I not know? My heart pounded at the thought. I wondered what was happening at the real house, where all our bodies were fast asleep and vulnerable. He has to be here, it's his dream. I pushed through the fog. In the distance, I saw the outline of a person standing. I tossed the idea of investigating around in my head. I decided to go look- if it was a friend, I wanted to catch up with them. I walked towards it cautiously, but they never moved. When I was close enough to see it, I stopped and stared. It was a scarecrow. It was old and its head was hanging low. I approached it, touching the brim of its straw hat. The head rolled off, causing me to jump. I felt sick upon realizing that it was a human head that had been stuck on the post. A rumbling noise in the distance caught my attention. I looked around for it, but the fog was too dense to see anything. I picked a direction and walked, keeping on my toes.
Kurama kept his back towards the abandoned building, working his way around its perimeter. It was surrounded by a corn field in every direction, a thick fog rolling over it. He stepped lightly and decided to venture out into the fog. A rumbling sound came from within the building and Kurama turned to face it, preparing for an attack. Something moved in the doorway and he found himself face to face with a large, metallic creature. It roared and he removed the rose from his hair, conjuring his whip.
"Kurama!" He heard someone shout behind him. He didn't turn to look, not daring to put his back to the beast. Footsteps ran towards him and soon he saw it was Alex by his side. Alex reached back, retrieving two daggers from his sides. The metallic beast reared back, flapping its large bat-like wings and pushing the wind at them, nearly knocking them off their feet.
Evan pushed himself up off the ground, studying the surrounding area. He could barely see through the dense fog, but the laughter that erupted from behind him chilled his bones. A woman stood, her hands on her hips. Blue hair cascaded down her back and her mismatched eyes bore into him. Evan ground his teeth, his jaw tightening.
"Well hello there, sweetie. Long time no see." The girl laughed loudly.
"I should have known you'd have something to do with this, Lotus." Evan growled at her, preparing himself for a fight.
"Oh, Evan. How beautiful that anger of yours. What's the matter, miss your baby brother?" Lotus laughed once more, her eyes sparkling with delight. Evan continued to glare back at her, saying nothing. She opened her hands, revealing the bladed fans in them.
"How's the family?" Lotus smirked, springing into the air. Evan evaded her attack with his own, and soon they became a blur in the fog.
I coughed, trying to get the fog out of my lungs. I'd come up on a large building and heard sound on the other side. I made my way around it slowly, stepping carefully around debris that had been left unattended to. I saw a flash of red hair for only a moment. Panic hit me and I ran towards it. Kurama was there, a large gash across his stomach bleeding profusely. He was clearly in pain, but kept fighting anyway. On the other side of him, a large silver monster reared back on its hind legs. Alex lay a few feet away, clearly unconscious. Kurama stumbled, falling onto his knees.
"Kurama, stop!" I caught him before he tried to move forward.
"Mouth." Kurama mumbled. I looked up at the beast as it roared again. The inside of its mouth was pink and fleshy. The realization hit me.
"Kurama, you're a genius!" I shrieked. The beast shot flames at us, but we dodged quickly. Kurama cringed, the wound on his stomach dropping blood further onto him. "Don't you dare die on me!" I yelled at him. Kurama smiled through the pain, but I could tell it was too much for him. The beast reared back, preparing to attack. I covered my head, but the beast yelled in pain. I looked up, finding the beast dying on the ground. Hiei stood in front of us, pulling the sword from the beast's mouth. He flicked the blood off of it, approaching us. A clearly angered expression was painted across his face.
"You fools are going to get yourself killed." He scowled at us. He helped Kurama to his feet and I ran over to Alex. He was out cold, but still alive. I sighed in relief.
"Hey, guys!" I spun around, seeing Yusuke running towards us with Kuwabara in tow. "What's going on here?" Yusuke had a gash on his cheek; Kuwabara was cradling his arm.
"What happened to you?" I questioned. Yusuke noticed Alex and lifted him over his shoulder.
"Ran into a nasty minotaur. Managed to get his head off, though." Yusuke looked at the metal monster, a puzzled expression on his face. "Somebody wanna explain this shit to me?"
"Your demon friend is a Dream Weaver. We're stuck in one of his nightmares." I found myself looking at the wound on Kurama's stomach. "That's going to hurt tomorrow."
Yusuke shrugged. "It's just a dream, right?" I shook my head.
"Technically, but no. Whatever happens here is just as real as if it were life. When we wake up at home, our wounds will still be there." I swallowed hard, hoping that Kurama's wounds wouldn't turn fatal. I looked away before I made myself sick.
"Where's Evan and Ian?" I looked around, seeing nothing but a vast expanse of empty corn field, smothered by fog.