~VII~
To my surprise, the wolf's attack never comes. With a whine, he's knocked away into the grass by a wall of rippling, purple-black energy.
Kara levitates to my side and gives me a once-over. "You okay?"
Kara's P.O.V.
Alli nods, wincing slightly from three cuts on her arm. "Just a scratch. Thanks." She looks behind me at the others and smirks a little. "I see you brought the cavalry."
"All for you, my love," I joke, despite the situation. I look at the growling wolves in front of us, watching them eye us with their fur bristling. "...What'd you do? Normally wolves act like puppies around you."
"They've been chasing me since I got here. All the animals have! There was a falcon before when I tried to fly away, but I lost it." She sighs, "I can't figure out why they're trying to hurt me!"
Kuwabara joins us, "There's something wrong with 'em! Look at their eyes!"
Alli and I, as well as Yusuke and Kurama, do so. It turns out that he's right; their eyes are practically glowing a pale orange color.
Yusuke steps up, "They're just dogs! I say we waste 'em!"
Alli glares at him, "I say we don't! Maybe you've forgotten, but this is a nature RESERVE, meaning the animals here are protected. Besides, you heard Kuwabara; there's something making them act like this."
He rolls his eyes, "Hippie."
The wolves all stop growling and look around them. Then, all at once, they let out a loud howl and back away from us.
I watch them carefully, "What are they doing?" As if it would answer my question, a loud, shrill note plays through the air, almost making me wince at how high it is. I look over at Alli and see her covering her ears and flinching. I look at the others, but they're just looking around, probably trying to see where the sound is coming from. 'If Alli's the only one the noise is actually getting to, that has to be what's making the animals so hostile...'
I turn back to the guys. "We have to find where that noise is coming from! It's making the animals attack us!"
Kurama seems surprised. "How can you be sure?"
"Look at Alli; she can barely stand the sound. She's as close to an animal as it gets, so that has to be it!" I try to explain, starting to look around through the trees.
"It's worth a shot," Yusuke agrees. He turns to Kuwabara. "You feel anything nearby?"
He looks around carefully, eyes narrowed in concentration. He gets a surprised look on his face, "There's two of 'em! In the trees!" He points at a group of trees to our right. "One of 'em's over there, but the other one keeps moving."
I nod, "Good enough for me." I focus some of my energy into my hand, forming a ball of pure shadow-fire. I squint at the treetops, then wind my arm back and throw the ball, sending it soaring straight at the trees. It punches a hole right through the leaves, but doesn't seem to hit anything. "I missed..."
But the sound stops, and a figure flies out of the trees and lands on the other side of the line of wolves. It stands at its full height, revealing itself as a woman, obviously inhuman by the small horns on either side of her head, dressed in a blue kimono and holding something in her hand. She scowls at me and flips her obnoxiously bright green hair. "Watch where you're aiming, half-pint!" she screeches in a rather annoying voice.
The comment causes me to twitch slightly, but I ignore it for the time being.
Alli, who probably hates this woman already, yells, "Who the hell are you!"
With an air of smugness, she answers, "Takana, Mistress of the Wilds. And you, are interfering with my hunt! I was about to move in on my prey!"
"That's because your 'prey' is a friend of ours," Yusuke informs her.
She rolls her eyes, "And you think I care? She's a nuisance, disrupting my hold on the beasts of this place! She must be dealt with."
"You shouldn't have a hold on them in the first place!" Alli yells, her endless concern for the animals taking over.
I resist the urge to laugh. "So you attacked her because the animals like her better? That's pretty sad..."
"Watch your mouth, dwarf!" she snaps. "I will regain control, even if I have to take all of you down with this brat!" Takana brings the object in her hand, which I now see is a flute of some kind, up to her lips. The same shrill sound fills the air, and the wolves howl in unison.
Alli cries out, covering her ears again and falling to the ground on her knees. Her eyes are shut tight, like she's in physical pain from the sound.
I take a defensive stance in front of her, small sparks of dark energy crackling around me. "She can't fight like this!" I call to the others. "We need to get that flute!"
Kurama, rose-whip in hand, and Kuwabara join me near where Alli's doubled over. Both look ready to fight.
Yusuke cracks his knuckles. "You guys watch out for her! I'll deal with Takana!" And he's off.
The wolves lunge towards us, snarling loudly.
I immediately start casting dark shields in front of me, trying to keep them at bay without hurting them.
Kurama follows my lead, using his whip to lash at the ground in front of the wolves. It seems to work, as they don't try to get close enough to attack him.
Kuwabara knocks them away as they come, though he thankfully doesn't appear to do any real damage.
I venture a glance towards where Yusuke's forced Takana back towards the trees. The demon never ceases playing, even while dodging every one of the detective's attacks. I then turn to Alli for a moment and immediately wish I were the one chasing the woman down.
Alli's curled up on the ground, clutching at her head, tears forming in her eyes.
"Yusuke, hurry up!" I yell. "I don't know what it's doing to her, but Alli won't be able to stand the noise much longer!"
"I'm trying, but she's too fast!" he calls back. "I can't hit her!"
Takana leaps back into the trees, out of our sights.
"Damn it! Stop being a coward and get down here!"
I send more of the wolves flying back, mentally cursing this demon. 'This is bad; we're at a total disadvantage now!'
The flute's sound starts moving, signaling that Takana's moving through the trees. It gets louder, then suddenly stops.
The wolves halt in their onslaught, wobble a bit, then all slump to the ground, either unconscious or exhausted.
I exchange a glance with the boys, but they're as lost as I am. A rustling in the trees to our right draws our attention.
There's a harsh cracking sound, like wood snapping, then another rustling before Takana drops from the trees and lands on the ground. Her eyes are wide open, but there's a clean cut across her throat.
It hits me then, 'The other person Kuwabara sensed...'
Right then, Hiei jumps from the trees and lands near the corpse, Takana's flute in two pieces in his hand.
