Chapter Ten:
Kurama felt himself growing drowsy, his tail flicked absently at his side and stirred up dust from the stone ground. The temperature in the chamber continued to plummet and he shivered in the chill. He leaned his back against a pile of vines that he'd manipulated to cover the cave wall behind them — the only warm thing in the environment. He rubbed his hands up and down his bare arms to settle down the goosebumps that covered his flesh.
He'd placed his leather jacket over Kagome's sleeping form some time ago. While he'd been dressed to run with the bulls, Kagome's choice of clothing: capris, tennis shoes, and a flimsy sleeve-less button up shirt weren't exactly helpful in the colder elements. His seeker seed had grown into an enormous mass of vines as it explored the area for any crevasse of escape. He's used a substantial amount of energy nurturing the plant. There was something that he couldn't quite identify in the room that seemed to be sapping the spirit energy not only from him, but from Kagome, and the seeker vine.
The sooner they escaped this first section of the maze, the better likelihood of their survival and that of their family.
He looked down at his side where Kagome laid curled up in a deep slumber on the ground. Kurama reached over and brushed aside the loose dark strand of hair that slipped into her mouth. His clawed fingers lingered on the soft skin of her cheek. She was so human. And right now, he wasn't. His fingers burned slightly from touching her — the contrast to the chilled environment of the room startling. Perhaps given the dangerous situation her subconscious struggled to protect her from all demonic threats — including him?
Youko Kurama was a danger to humans, but while he wore the appearance of his former life, Kurama had a different heart and mind. Or maybe he was reading too much into it and the cold room was starting to affect his senses and sensibilities. Also, the worry he had for not only his and Kagome's well-being, but for that of their loved ones might serve as a weakness for him. He might not make it out of this maze alive, but he would see to it that those others did.
"I'll find a way out of this," Kurama promised. He ignored the burning pain and rubbed his thumb over Kagome's full bottom lip. His eyes lingered at the tempting sight, however, before he could act his connection with the searcher plant drew his attention.
"Let's go, Kagome, there's a way out of here," Kurama said. He shook Kagome's shoulder, but she didn't stir. "Kagome?" He shook her more forcefully, her head bobbed up and down, but she didn't awaken. "You're harder to wake than Yusuke," he grumbled with a shake of his head. He scooped Kagome off the floor and balanced her weight over his shoulder.
He ran in the direction his seeker vine indicated, his footsteps echoed on the stone floor. The wall his plant indicated appeared solid, no seams. Kurama kept his right hand pressed against the back of Kagome's thighs to hold her in place while he used his left hand to trace his fingers over the seemingly solid wall. He hit a pressure point and the stone wall began to slide and a hidden passage was revealed.
"Clever," he commented. It would have taken precious time they didn't have without the aid of his seeker vine. He leaned down and rubbed his hand across a stretch of the pale green plant. "Good work." The plant preened like an affectionate kitten under his attentions.
He glanced at Kagome and jostled her in his grip. She didn't stir from her state of sleep, though she did continue to breath. He could feel her chest contract and expand against him.
Kurama waited a moment for his eyes to adjust, grateful to be in his youkai form. With Shuuichi's human eyes he'd have been blind in the tunnel. The further he ran inside, following after his seeker plant, the less burning holy-heat Kagome seemed to radiate.
He paused at a fork in the tunnels, his seeker plant's vines split and went in both directions.
"Left or right?" Kurama asked, not seeing any obvious difference between the two tunnels. The one on the right seemed colder, the one on the left was a little warm. "When in doubt, warm and comforting."
"Kurama?" Kagome murmured. She struggled against his grip and he set her on her feet. Her eyes were wide. "I can't see anything!" she hissed in worry.
"It's dark," he agreed. "Are you okay? I couldn't wake you up earlier."
"I don't know. It felt like oppressive miasma, but instead of resisting it I found myself falling into a deep sleep. I was burning from where you held me over her shoulder," Kagome admitted. She clutched his leather jacket over her chest tightly. "Though it's freezing here. Thanks for your jacket."
Miasma? Perhaps he didn't notice oppressive evil energy in his current demonic state. It was an issue to ponder later. "Not a problem," Kurama said. "I am trying to decide on this fork in the road. My seeker vines seem to think either direction is a viable option. I'm thinking left, because it's warmer. The right only seems to grow more cold."
"I'll defer to your judgment in this case," Kagome said. Her teeth chattered uncontrollably. She attempted to smile. "Warm would be nice." She gripped the back of Kurama's belt as he led the way into the dark tunnel. A soft red glow began to fill the tunnel. "At least there's a light source," Kagome murmured.
"Hm. That's not entirely a good thing," he said. He saw their first opponent on this bizarre maze. In the center of the antechamber was a pool of magma — the source of the red light and the warmth. Kurama felt an uncomfortable sweat breakout under his hairline and trickled down his neck. "We can't linger long here. The sulfuric air will kill us both."
"Maybe we can turn back around," Kagome said, stepping back. "Or not. It seems the wall sealed up behind us."
Kurama glanced over his shoulder. Sure enough, it looked as if his seeker vines simply vanished into a pure stone wall. They had no choice but to go forward.
"I see you have chosen wisely, Kurama," a familiar voice called. "For the colder path was certain death. Though, now that you face me, you will face certain death as well."
"Impossible," Kurama whispered. The creature before them was the Elder Toguro brother whom he had defeated nearly a decade prior. He should have been trapped for all eternity in the sin tree, or dead if he was lucky. He looked just as he remembered — emaciated body, greenish-gray stringy hair, bottomless dark eyes.
"Quite possible, thanks to my new friend, the illusionist on the crane. I don't suppose you factored in his interference when you trapped me in that nightmare?" Toguro hissed — same screechy voice. "Bet you weren't that clever!"
As Youko Kurama, he was substantially taller than his human counterpart. He was forced to crane his neck down so that he might whisper in Kagome's ear. "Does this youkai that trapped us here, does he have the power to awaken the dead?"
"I have no idea. The last time I engaged him was half a millennia ago. And back then, all he ever did was observe us and report back to Naraku. He didn't actively fight," Kagome whispered. She reached up and gripped the front of his shirt, her eyes narrowed. "I never really knew what his power was aside from illusion, but he seems to have gained a mastery over the Meidou which would allow him to venture into the realm of the dead. There's a potential here in this maze to face off any of our former enemies."
Kurama frowned. He had quite a long list of former enemies — most were dead.
"If you two are done with your sweet words of longing, I'd like to finish what we started, Kurama!" Toguro shouted. He shot his right arm out towards them, in an elongated dagger. Kurama grabbed hold of Kagome and they both rolled out of the way.
Last time Kurama defeated this black-hearted fend, he'd trapped him within the sinning tree. He wouldn't be able to use the same trick twice. He remembered the Elder Toguro utilized telepathy and starting singing the Beatles song 'Yellow Submarine' in his head.
"Think of a song and keep thinking of it. He can read your thoughts," Kurama explained.
"I can purify him," Kagome whispered. "Just get me close." Her breathing had become labored. "I won't last long here."
"Singing songs in your mind? What does the Fox Say? Really?" Toguro laughed, this sound high-pitched and grating. "You think that will distract me from what you really plan? Team work! Ha! You amuse me, Kurama!"
Kurama nodded. He reached into his bag of seeds and pulled out the one of his favorites. "Binding Fist of the Demonic Vine," Kurama growled, activating the plant. A green sword formed over his right fist and forearm. He held the sword up before them defensively while he fished out the second seed with his free hand. This particular seed didn't need words to activate and within seconds a pair of amethyst wings appeared on his back.
"Hold on to me," Kurama ordered.
Kagome hugged his front, arms wrapped around his neck and legs secured around his hips. Kurama lifted up from the ground and used the butterfly-like wings on his back to fly around the pool of magma and land near Toguro.
Kurama ran towards the demon, not a single thought on his mind, with his sword out before him, while Kagome rolled away. Kurama impaled the sword straight through Toguro's chest, but received a wicked hit from the shape-shifting demon in the process — a spike through the gut.
Kagome's hands were lit up bright pink as she tackled Toguro from behind. Kurama yanked his sword out of Toguro's body and backed away as the demon disintegrated before his eyes. He'd never seen holy power like that. He'd seen Yusuke and Kuwabara's spirit power, but this was on a whole new level.
Kurama poked at the remains of his former enemy with the pointy end of his Demonic Vine sword. He was nothing but a human skeleton and that had crumpled into dust with his gentle prodding. He knew that the Elder Toguro started off human, but after winning the Dark Tournament had become a youkai. Did Kagome return him to his human roots and thereby kill the immortal creature? The end of the sword began to sizzle and Kurama dropped it to the ground before the purification could reach him.
"Okay, we need to get out of here now," Kagome huffed. She collapsed to her hands and knees, her face covered in sweat, and her skin an unhealthy gray pallor.
"Don't purify me," Kurama warned, falling to one knee right in front of her. The wound Toguro inflicted on him was pretty substantial. He looked down at the warm, pooling of blood in his lower abdomen. "Uh, not good," he said. His hands covered the wound, trying to stop the flow of blood. He began to feel faint and woozy.
"Trust me," Kagome said. She reached across, her hand glowing pink once more. She touched his bloody wound and the gaping hole began to seal up. "I've cauterized the wound. It's a temporary fix. Your youkai energies will take care of the rest if you can get us out of here."
Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell forward into his arms, the blood of his abdomen stained the leather jacket she wore. Kurama looked for his seeker vine. It had found a new way out. He hurried towards the wall and held Kagome close to his chest. The wall seemed secure. He reached into his seed pouch again — he was starting to run low on inventory. He'd stocked up before their treasure hunt, but he'd have planned better if he knew they'd be embarking on a sojourn such as this.
There was one seed that could be used to punch a hole through anything. He found it and activated it. A huge purple flower burst through the wall and he stumbled past the rubble into the next antechamber. The air was clearer and his vines had already spread throughout the domain — working to oxygenate the air.
He looked up across the way. They weren't alone. A group of seven men stood between them and the open tunnel on the other side. He didn't recognize them. They must have been from Kagome's past.
"Friends of yours?" Kurama asked.
Kagome shook her head and took a deep breath. "Not quite. Though I know them. They were a group of human mercenaries that Naraku resurrected to fight against my group. This wouldn't be the first time they were brought about by necromancy. They're human, so my purification won't work against them."
"Even if they're zombies?" Kurama prompted. He did a mental count of his remaining seeds. He would have liked to have not wasted his vine sword. He had a few more heavy hitters, but wanted to save them for the final boss. This was only their second conflict and he was certain the challenges would only intensify in difficulty. He resorted to a familiar friend. More steady on his feet now that his youkai powers started to work to rejuvenate his body and heal his injuries — he reached into his hair and pulled out a weapon that didn't require a great energy sacrifice.
"I might not be able to purify them, but that doesn't mean I'm completely useless. Last time they were powered by shikon jewels. All you had to do was remove them." Kagome closed her eyes and when she opened them a spirit energy bow and arrows appeared in her hands. "I'll take the left, you'll take the right?"
The wings were still attached to Kurama's back. He closed his eyes and willed the glider plant to re-attach to Kagome's back. "Keep your distance," he advised. "The wings will allow you to fly above them."
Kagome looked over her shoulder at the temporary appendages. "Nice," she said with a smirk. "Let's do this, Kurama. Let's go save our families!"
A/N: Sorry for the long delay, fight scenes are sometimes easy to write and other times incredibly challenging. This was one of the latter. Your support is appreciated, thanks for your kind words! 6/29/14