Author's Notes: Yeah, I've got no excuse for not updating in about a year. xx Aha, gomen? It's just I'm lazy and when I get Writer's Block, it's one hell of a long writer's block. Well, be glad I'm back and this story isn't dead. Neither are most of my other stories. ; Most stories actually have half written chapters so do not fear. OO;
Oh, and now you'll finally know who I replaced Yura with:P The outcome of this battle will be short and well, won't be as climatic as Yura's actual battle. However, I actually like this character. ; So er, I hope you'll like the outcome too.
I also realize that the Shikon no Tama was shattered BEFORE they fought Yura, but I'm changing a few things. x.x So it'll have to get shattered later. -- I actually forgot it's supposed to shatter before they bump into Yura. Hahaha..
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Unwavering Fate - Chapter Three
Written by Clow Angel
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Although outwardly, Kurama was the epitome of calm, inside, he was a chaotic mess. First, he was awakened by Hiei who Genkai claimed is possibly Shizuru's reincarnation. It felt like it was only yesterday when he got put to sleep by Shizuru's arrow. Then, mere days after his awakening, his village is attacked by some puppeteer. Genkai could apparently see the threads causing all the chaos and havoc but he couldn't. He was then told Hiei might be able to see it. Lo and behold, he actually can. Now, they're in a situation where they're surrounded by villagers who had no will to actually fight him but forced to anyway. And he couldn't very well sever the threads that held them under control either because once again, he couldn't see them!
"Hiei, can you cut what threads you see that hold them? I'll take care of your defense."
"Fine."
They tried, but it didn't work. A simple katana without any power couldn't sever the threads.
"Hiei, strike where you see the threads and I'll take care of cutting them," Kurama ordered. Pulling out a rose, he quickly transformed it into his most favored weapon, the Rose Whip. The pair made quick work of the white fibers. Kurama pulled out another seed, this time a fire spitting plant, to get rid of the writhing and invisible enemies.
"Minna, please return to the village. We will take care of what's causing this."
The scared and shaken villagers quickly complied and made their way back to the village, throwing varying degrees of thank you's in their direction before heading off.
Hiei scowled. He didn't like this. Hell, he didn't even want to be here, but he couldn't say no to the damn demon either, even if he was annoyingly cheerful and secretly cunning. Damn him. "Fine, let's go."
Arming himself with a fire spitting plant, Kurama followed Hiei, manipulating the plant to spit fire whenever Hiei pointed at any invisible threads, heading deep and deeper into a forest. They quickly and effortlessly made their way to the source; a little boy.
"Oh! You found me! Good job! My name's Rinku!" the boy was obviously a demon. His light green eyes sparkled with glee. A few strands of brown hair fell over his eyes. He was playing with a pair of yo-yos, twirling them about, doing all sorts of tricks. Hanging out of one of his pockets, were a bundle of yo-yo string.
Kurama reached into his hair, pulled out a red rose, and with a flick of his wrist, the flower morphed into a long thorny whip. "Release your hold on the villagers right now."
Hiei followed his demon companion's example and pulled out his katana.
"But then I won't have any fun! It's not like I'm hurting them," Rinku pouted, clearly believing he was doing no harm.
The redhead decided perhaps Rinku was just bored. He was also just a child and probably didn't know any better. Added to that, he was a demon child. Sometimes, these things happen.
"That is not the way to have fun," Kurama explained. "You're scaring them."
"Oh…" Rinku frowned. "But no one plays with me. I wanted to play. Fine, I won't play with them."
Hiei watched in surprise as all the fibers in the surrounding area fell to the forest floor.
"Why don't you play with me?" Twirling one of the yo-yos above his head, Rinku brought his hand down and forward, flinging the wooden projectile at the redhead.
Kurama easily flipped out of the way, the yo-yo sailing by harmlessly before returning to Rinku's hand.
"Aww…"
"Where are your parents, kid?" Hiei asked. He was pretty sure that even demon children had parents. This one was acting like a spoiled brat though.
"I don't know!" Rinku screamed, obviously upset at the mention of his parents. Growling, he launched the other yo-yo at Hiei.
Hiei being as fast as he was easily dodged the yo-yo. Instead, the yo-yo smashed into a tree that was behind Hiei, pieces of bark ripping off the tree and showering the air with splinters.
"Kuso! Missed again," Rinku growled bringing the yo-yo back to his hand, shaking his head dispersing those thoughts and getting angrier, his messy brown hair standing on end.
"That is enough!" Kurama's eyes flashed golden and the mischievous demon child found himself wrapped from head to toe by a vine, his hands bound to his sides.
"No!! Mama! Papa!!! Where are you?! Help me!!!" Rinku cried helplessly. "Where are you…?" Sniffling and tears pouring from his light green eyes hidden behind tightly closed eye lids; he continued to call for his parents.
Hiei and Kurama exchanged a glance before stepping a little further away from the crying demon child.
"Hiei, what do you suggest we do with him?"
"He's apparently upset because he can't find his parents." Hiei leaned against a nearby tree, crossing his arms. "We can't just kill him for that."
"True, I agree with you. I suppose we'll question him now." Kurama sighed, running a hand through his crimson locks in frustration.
The pair walked over to the sniffling child and sat on the ground, waiting for him to calm down a little.
"Stop crying, Rinku-kun. Please tell me why you decided to control the villagers," Kurama coaxed gently.
"Because I want mama and papa to notice me!" Rinku bawled. "I can't find mama and papa so maybe they can find me if I use my powers."
"When was the last time you saw them, kid?" Hiei asked gruffly.
"A few days ago," Rinku hiccupped as he explained, relaxing in his bonds. "They went out to hunt and never came back."
Kurama frowned. That could mean several things. One, they could be dead. Two, they could've gotten captured. Three, they could be incapacitated. All three were high possibilities and didn't bode well for the small demon's parents.
"We'll bring you with us to the village. Genkai can take care of you while we help search for your parents."
"You'll help me?" Rinku looked at Kurama with wide unbelieving eyes. "Really?"
"That is correct," Kurama replied with a smile. "Now, I'll release you and bring you to the village. There, you can get yourself cleaned up and have a meal. You look like you've been starving."
Rinku smiled sheepishly as his stomach growled in response. "Aheh… I haven't eaten since mama and papa disappeared." The vines unwrapped themselves from around the small body and shrunk into the ground, once again becoming harmless plants.
The demon child blinked in surprise when the vines disappeared and instead, he was helped up by the redhead. He couldn't tell if the redhead was actually female or male, but he or she sure was pretty.
"So we're just going to take him with us? And that old hag will actually take care of the runt?" Hiei wasn't sure if Kurama was just a nice demon or if he was stupid.
"Well, he's just a child and if he gets out of hand, Genkai-chan can easily discipline him. She may be old now, but she's strong."
"Fine. Not that it really matters to me what happens to the runt. Hell, I don't even come from here."
Rinku decided to stay quiet, holding onto Kurama's hand as they led him out of the forest and down a grassy hill towards the village he had disturbed. He didn't know who this Genkai was and wasn't sure what disciplining might mean in human terms but he believed he could trust the redhead. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even know the redhead's name so why did he so readily trust this stranger?
As the view of the village crept closer and closer, Rinku couldn't help but feel nervous. Every step that took him closer to it made his heart beat a little faster. He wasn't sure how he would face all the humans. Unconsciously, his small hand wrapped tighter around Kurama's larger ones.
"Don't worry. They won't do anything to you as long as I'm here," Kurama reassured the tense demon child.
Rinku nodded stiffly.
Hiei who was walking ahead of them rolled his eyes. Whatever the kid got, he deserved it for disturbing his peace and quiet.
Genkai looked up when the flap to her hut was lifted to reveal Kurama, Hiei, and a child.
"Kurama-sama? Who is that?" Genkai stared pointedly at Rinku who squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze.
"This is Rinku," Kurama introduced. "He was the one who caused the havoc earlier today."
"Oh? And why have you brought him here?"
"I would like for you to look after him, Genkai-chan," Kurama replied while urging Rinku to sit down, then taking a seat as well. Hiei didn't bother taking a seat, instead choosing to lean against a wall.
Genkai nearly spit out her tea. "What?"
"He didn't mean any harm. He was just hoping a disturbance would alert his missing parents to his whereabouts."
"I see…" Genkai continued to eye the demon child. "I take it he is a youkai?"
"Correct."
"I'll search for his parents." The chances of finding them alive were slim. Still, if there was still a little hope, he'd take it and search.
Hiei snorted.
Rinku was starting to dislike the shorter man. The uncaring attitude just rubbed him the wrong way.
"Fine, I'll look after him for you, Kurama-sama, so you can search for his parents without worry."
"Arigatou, Genkai-chan."
Kurama did as he promised and searched for young Rinku's parents the entire next week. Hiei returned to his time claiming he was bored with playing hide and seek while Genkai looked after Rinku, teaching him a few things about herbs and medicine which he seemed to like. Rinku meanwhile had apologized to the villagers and after a thorough explanation, they forgave the young demon. They were still wary of him, but after a few days of coexisting with the child, they for the most part warmed up to him and his playful and cheerful nature.
When Kurama finally returned, he brought unpleasant news with him. He found the bodies of what he believed to be Rinku's parents. After Rinku confirmed it with his tears, they performed a proper burial. After the poor youkai child grieved, he had decided to stay in the village, having to come to like it.
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Rinku stared at the leafy herb he held in his small hand blankly.
"Rinku," Genkai called him for the third time. "Rinku!"
He finally snapped out of it. "Uh, yeah, Genkai-sama?"
"What is wrong with you, boy?"
"I've been wondering about something, Genkai-sama. Is Kurama-sama a girl or a guy?" he asked with an absolutely straight and serious face.
Genkai couldn't help herself but laugh hard and loud. "Oh dear me, boy. Why do you ask?"
"Kurama-sama's really pretty and Kurama-sama's voice isn't deep or high. I can't tell!"
"Why don't you ask Kurama-sama?" The old woman smirked when the boy turned bright red. So the child was having a crush, eh?
"It's too embarrassing," the green-eyed boy muttered, chewing his lower lip with a sharp canine.
Genkai chuckled. The demon child has been a great amusement to her. Sure he was a prankster sometimes, but he was also pretty cute for a youkai pup.
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Over on the other side of the well, Hiei was getting frustrated with himself. After traveling back and forth through the well a few times, he started feeling a strange power growing inside of him, coming from his very soul. He knew he was supposedly the reincarnation of a dead priestess, but that didn't explain the burning sensation he sometimes felt when near the Goshinboku tree or the well.
It wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling. In fact, it was a warmth he was growing to like. It was a powerful feeling of warmth that spread through all his senses, charging his very soul. He could also feel the awakening powers of what he assumed to be holy purifying energy that Shizuru was said to have. This particular energy gave an entirely different feeling. It wasn't cold but it wasn't warm. It was a tingly electrifying sensation whenever he reached into that part of himself during meditation.
Lately, Hiei had been meditating a lot, trying to learn how to harness the foreign powers. He could feel the two energies mixing occasionally creating an indescribable shock to pass through him, something like a sonic boom, only within his mind.
He figured he'd have to go through the well again and find Genkai or the damn redhead to figure it all out properly and not self-destruct or something similar if he made a mistake and it backfires on him. But that would be another day. It was already late and he sure as hell wasn't traveling through Ancient Japan after dark. That world was completely insane and filled with youkai. He was tough but he wasn't an idiot. Nor did he have a death wish.
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Next Chapter: Shikon no Tama will probably shatter. Time for the hunt to begin!
Author's Notes: Yeah, I finally got my ass working on this chapter. :) Aren't you guys proud of me? And really sorry for the lateness but laziness is hard to cure. Hope you'll continue to read this though.
This Chapter: I bet you didn't expect Rinku to replace Yura:) I decided to play around with his abilities and figured since controlling yo-yos was do-able, then controlling a few dozen yo-yo strings shouldn't be that hard for the kid. But I figured, yeah, maybe he can be a Shippou, you know? Someone actually suggested it. So I took the suggestion! But Shippou might actually appear so if he does, then he's got a buddy to play with! Probably didn't expect Rinku to start crushing on Kurama did ya?