Disclaimer: still don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.
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The first thing that registered was the white. The second was the cold. Keiko looked around, seeing nothing but white all around her – the sky was a slightly different white, but it was still white – and it clicked.
"I don't believe it." She whispered. She turned to her companions, who had arrived behind her. "It's the Ice Plane. We found it – the one Portal. We made it to the Ice Plane!" She was almost beside herself with giddy happiness. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked equally awed. Not at the place itself, just at the sheer luck they had stumbled across to find the place. After all, it was deemed all but impossible.
Yusuke shook himself.
"Come on. Botan needs help." He started forwards. Keiko looked at him and frowned.
"So do you, you know."
"Yeah, that pipsqueak sure did a number on you." Kuwabara added. Yusuke chuckled ruefully.
"Yeah, he was good. Scary good." He said, voice dropping. Keiko's brows drew together.
"You were better though. You won." She pointed out. Yusuke shook his head.
"I had no idea he would be visible in the mirror. It was dumb luck. But when he had me... he was good." The Spirit mage said. "I don't know how to explain it, but he wasn't like any other opponent I faced before."
"Well, yeah. How many opponents have you faced that turn into a dragon?" Kuwabara said sensibly. Yusuke laughed.
"Not quite what I meant, but true enough, I guess."
"How did he do that, anyway? Is he a demon?" Keiko asked, a little nervously.
"Not a demon. But I have no clue how he did it. Weird, anyway." Yusuke answered, a little too lightly.
Then, he jogged on ahead a little, and made it to the top of a hill.
"Guys! Over here!" He yelled. They quickly caught up to him, and the general mood lightened considerably. Not too far away was a town of sorts, with some houses made of ice and some of other building materials. Yusuke grinned at his companions, before a slightly confused expression stole over his face and he pitched forward. Kuwabara moved to catch him, and frowned.
"You lost too much blood. Can you walk?"
Yusuke nodded. "Yeah, sure. Kind of."
Kuwabara's face adopted the universal look of 'yeah, right' and he slung Yusuke's arm over his shoulders. "Come on Princess. We have to hurry."
Keiko nodded, and together, with Keiko carrying Botan and Kuwabara half carrying Yusuke, the four of them made their way across the snowy plains towards civilisation.
By the time they made it there, Yusuke was on his last legs, and Botan looked worse than ever. They made it to another healer, this time a man who immediately set to work on Yusuke's wounds, promised to fix up Kuwabara as well, but shook his head sadly at Botan.
"I'm afraid her illness is beyond my power to heal. But there are those..." He said, leaning closer, "Those who dwell in the Ice Mountains. They're known as the Ice Maidens. They're the natives to this land."
Keiko blinked. "You mean, you weren't born here?"
He shook his head. "No, I was a member of an expedition that was searching for a famed healing artefact. Is that not why you're here as well?"
"Y-yes, actually."
"Cave in a volcano?" The man asked knowingly. All three of his guests nodded. "Yes, you are in the same situation now that I was in then. Allow me to offer you some information then. This is the one of the towns in the Ice Plane. We humans who live here all came from other Planes, only to find that there is no leaving the Ice Plane."
Yusuke straightened as though he had been electrified. "What do you mean, no leaving?" He demanded.
"You see, young man, the cave you were in has no exit. To return there is pointless. There is one other Portal in the Ice Realm, but those who have gone through have never returned, despite their promises to do so immediately." He paused sadly. "Some of the men to brave it had families here. They would have come back to get them if they could, believe me. So we are stuck here. It's not so bad really. The cold takes some getting used to, it's true, but we hunt and we live, much like we did in our homelands."
The three took a moment to take that in. It was a lot certainly. Yusuke tackled it like he would anything else. Ignore the problems until they're close enough to punch, and then sort it out the old fashioned way.
"The healing item. Did you find it?" He asked, focusing on Botan as a priority. The healer smiled.
"Ah, that we did. You see, let me tell you about the Ice Maidens. They appear as beautiful women, but in fact they are not quite human. You see, they are able to give birth to one daughter in their whole lifetime, without, the, ah, contribution of a man. They appear fair, but in truth their hearts are as cold as the ice they live on. But, have you ever heard of ice crystals?"
Keiko perked up; they were one of the items she needed. "Yes, they're crystals unique to the Ice Plane. They're like ice that never melts, and worth... well, priceless, really."
The man nodded. "Yes, quite true. They are spectacular things. Even more so because an Ice Maiden can use one to heal anything."
Yusuke's breath caught. "You mean the healing item is actually these Ice girls and their jewellery?" He asked. The man frowned.
"I suppose. But be warned, the Ice Maidens do not share their craft. Even were you to find them, as I once did, they would not heal your friend. That is why they cut themselves off; they fear being used and taken advantage of. I begged them to teach me, but I was refused. What good is a talent like healing, I asked, if you don't use it to help? They said, 'what good is healing people who will only go on to cause harm?' I stood and argued for hours, but they are heartless and do not trust anyone, especially not men. Please understand." He ranted, before ending on a pleading note.
Yusuke rose to his feet. "Thanks for the help, old man. I'm going to find these Maidens anyway, and I promise I'll find a way to convince them to help Botan. Could we get supplies for the road? Ours were lost."
The man nodded. "I'll arrange a meal for now, and bags to be packed for you within the hour. For now, don't aggravate your injuries."
Not long later, the team was eating their first meal in ages.
"By the way," Kuwabara started, "how did you get past the dragon?"
The healer blinked. "The what?"
"The dragon." Kuwabara repeated patiently. The healer chuckled.
"I can assure you, young man, that there was no dragon when I passed from the Fire Plane to the Ice Plain." He replied. Yusuke looked up.
"Really? What about everyone else?"
The healer's brows drew together. "We all shared the tales of our arrivals here, and there is yet to be any mention of a dragon. Perhaps if you describe it?"
"Trust me, you'd know him if you'd seen him." Kuwabara muttered. Yusuke looked thoughtful.
"So that means that Hiei wasn't responsible for the disappearances of anyone. I wonder if he'd even been down there long." He said. Keiko blinked. She had assumed he was the killer.
"But he was definitely going for us." She argued. Yusuke nodded.
"Yes. Why, though? He must have known the Portal was there. Why would he care if we went through or not? If he wanted a fight, the bottom of a cave under a volcano was a bad place to go. If he wanted to be left alone, picking a fight was a bad call. So what was going through his psychotic little head?" Yusuke wondered aloud. Then he shook his head. "I guess it doesn't matter. We're not going to run into him again."
The healer had been looking vaguely bemused at this conversation, so he left until they had finished. Then he brought them fresh clothes – warm ones, they were not dressed for the weather, and bags packed with supplies.
"Thank you, sir. You are most kind." Keiko said politely. The man smiled a little sadly.
"We rarely get opportunities to help strangers. It is our pleasure, truly." The rest of the party thanked the village as well, and Yusuke moved Botan to Keiko's coat pocket.
"It'll be warmer, and she's safer with you than me." Was all he said as he did so. It meant that Keiko was able to leave the bag – which quite frankly was of terrible taste, much like the woman it came from – behind. Not that she wasn't grateful, she just hadn't liked Ruka. For proper reasons. Not unreasonable ones, like the fact that Yusuke, and Kuwabara as well of course, she hadn't forgotten him, really, had been very taken by her and her... forward wardrobe. That wasn't it at all. Just because she couldn't put her finger on what the problem really was didn't prove anything!
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A/N: and so the Ice Plane Arc begins. Thanks again, feel free to review!
