Disclaimer: yada yada, you know the drill, just check previous chapters.
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Yusuke spun, driving a kick home and sending Toguro back a few steps. He relentlessly pushed on, using his signature Spirit Gun in the hopes of actually injuring the huge man. Toguro leapt up to dodge the magical blast, but Yusuke was fast enough to leap up and kick him while Toguro was in the air, sending him flying. He landed at an awful angle, and a sickening crack echoed in the snowy landscape. The elder Toguro instantly drew away from his fight with a shriek.
"BROTHER!" He scurried over to the unmoving body of his brother, and shot Yusuke a venomous glare. "You killed him!"
Yusuke, for his part, looked a little astonished. "I… I didn't mean to…"
With surprising speed, the elder Toguro pulled his brother onto his shoulders and darted away. Yusuke was in too much shock to think about following for a while, and by the time he came back to himself it was too late. Besides, they had more important things to worry about.
Kuwabara came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder briefly. "We're in battle." He said, not unkindly. "These things happen."
Yusuke nodded, already aware. "Yeah, I know. C'mon, let's go get Yukina and get outta here."
Just as they started to move, loud explosions sounded around them. Quickly, they both dropped to the ground. However, nothing terrible seemed to happen.
"Preliminary explosions." Yusuke guessed, getting up. "Set around the perimeter of the camp. They're gonna blow this joint."
Kuwabara frowned. "The mountain's going to be shaky after that, we'll be in danger of an avalanche as we go."
Yusuke scowled. "The main path leading out of here will be clear, these mercs are using it to evacuate. Any other route, and we might step on a bomb."
Kuwabara nodded grimly, and they started moving towards the tents. "Seems like a good place to lay an ambush, then."
Yusuke nodded. "The thought had occurred, yeah." He said dryly. Kuwabara ignored him in favour of hurrying forward as he saw Botan waving at them from the flaps of a tent.
Yusuke and Kuwabara burst into the tent, sliding to a halt in front of Yukina's prison. She didn't so much as twitch, just stood with the hands tucked into her sleeves, watching them with a mildly interested look on her face. Her expression changed to something slightly more concerned once she took in their condition.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
Yusuke nodded, from where he was checking for threats outside the tent. Kuwabara drew his blade.
"Stand back Yukina." He warned. He brought his sword down on the lock, damaging it but not breaking it.
"They replaced the old one with a stronger one." Yukina said quietly, still trying not to get her hopes up (a lost cause). Kuwabara's face set into a determined expression, and he raised the sword again. Botan fluttered over to hover in front of the cell.
"I say, thank you for saving my life Yukina!" She said brightly. Yusuke huffed, either in annoyance at her terrible timing or in amusement at it, but he let it go. After one more glance outside, he ducked away from the exit.
"Guys, we have a problem. All the guards, the mercenaries, they're gone." He said. Yukina nodded.
"I was about to say, the fat man with the cigar led them away. He said something about an ambush." She informed them. Yusuke's eyes narrowed.
"Crap. I was hoping we might be wrong." He all but spat. Yukina blinked.
"I heard you fighting earlier. And you won. Will this be a problem?" She asked. Kuwabara's grip on the hilt of his sword tightened, and this swing was stronger than the last. Finally, the lock gave up, snapping and falling to the floor. The door swung open, and Yukina stepped out. Yusuke sighed.
"Before, nah, it wouldn't have been. Now?" He gestured at himself and the Captain. "After that fight, we're running on empty."
Keiko looked worried. "The explosions that went off… Do you suppose they took out the ambush?" She asked. Kuwabara shook his head grimly.
"If it was me, princess, I would box in my targets. Make it so there's only one way outta here. Otherwise, nothing would be stopping us from just going out the back."
Keiko paled. Yukina's hand rose to her throat. "I can't heal you." She whispered. Suddenly all eyes were on her. Closing her eyes and turning away slightly, she raised her hand, displaying a fitted golden band around her wrist. "It's blocking my magic. In case I escaped again. I'm sorry. If I could just heal you, the problem would be solved. I could even help fight. But –"
Kuwabara placed his hand over hers. She breathed in sharply, and turned her eyes up to look at his.
"It's not your fault, Yukina. It's no one's fault. It just is. And we can live with that." She stared, unwilling or unable to break eye contact with him. His grip on her hand tightened a little. She didn't notice, but if she had, she wouldn't have minded. She was too busy being amazed that the guilt that had been threatening to overwhelm her (the guilt an Ice Maiden shouldn't even be able to feel, damn it all!) had receded a little. How did he do that?
Yusuke coughed slightly, and stood up.
"We've got to move. This place is set to blow. I say we take probable death with a chance of taking some of them down with us over certain death here." He said firmly. Kuwabara nodded, and, without letting go of Yukina's hand, moved towards the exit. Yusuke hesitated, meeting Keiko's gaze. The princess tried to hide her fear, but wasn't sure she was doing such a great job. For a moment, Yusuke seemed to struggle. Then he opened his mouth.
"Keiko, listen, I -"
"Come on, Urameshi!"
Yusuke's head snapped around at Kuwabara's voice, and just like that, the moment was gone, and Keiko was left hanging, wondering desperately what he had been about to say.
"Let's go Princess. Come on Botan."
And exactly what she would have done, if he'd said what she'd been hoping he would say.
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As they half walked, half jogged through the snow, Keiko kept an eye on Yusuke. She watched as he focused on his finger, building up magic for his trademark attack, but the result obviously disappointed him, as he dropped his hand and took a few deep breaths. He tried to conceal his worry, but Keiko could tell he wouldn't be able to use his magic to great effect in the upcoming battle. He was also holding his arm too close to his body for it to be natural, and she's noticed Kuwabara's limp as well, though the mere presence of Yukina seemed to be enough to revitalise him. She couldn't help a small almost-smile at that. Kuwabara had always been a hopeless romantic. She was still wondering on that when she walked straight into an unmoving mass. She realised it was Kuwabara just as she registered Yukina's gasp. Yusuke came up next to her and froze as well.
"What the-" He breathed.
Because there was an ambush waiting for them. But it had been ambushed first.
Bodies were strewn across the ground, weapons next to them. Yukina couldn't tear her gaze away. Neither, she dimly realised, could any of her companions. Slowly, as if moving through water, Kuwabara released her hand – and wasn't it sad that she wished he hadn't – and moved towards the nearest corpse. He knelt down next to it.
"A sword." He said hoarsely. "Almost clinical. Just-" He mimed slashing. "No time wasting. Just…" He trailed off. Yukina closed her eyes. Above them, Botan had a hand pressed over her mouth, and moved closer to Yusuke. Yusuke, who glanced up at her, and rallied.
"Come on." He said. When he received no responses, he spoke louder. "Come on! This place is rigged to blow! MOVE!" He grabbed Keiko's hand, gestured to Botan, since she was too high for him to reach, and moved forward. Keiko found herself being dragged through the field of the dead. She shied away, but Yusuke didn't let go, so instead she drew closer to him, let him wrap an arm around her shoulders. Yukina followed on her own, eyes moving solemnly from body to body. Kuwabara drew up the rear. They had made it past the worst, when they came across more.
It was the fat man with the cigar. He was some distance away from the rest, as though he had tried to escape. There was a trail of blood leading to his body, and an expression of pure fear was still frozen on his face. Kuwabara took in the scene, hating his job, because it let him look at scenes like this and know what happened.
"This is different." He said softly. "Whoever killed this one, he didn't like him. He… he stabbed him, and just… let him bleed to death."
Yukina stared for a moment, before bending down gracefully, and sliding her tormentor's eyes closed.
"He was a bad man," she said gently, but calmly, "if he had not died, we would not have escaped. Still, no Ice Maiden relishes death, even that of her enemies. Had I been able to prevent this, I would have." She rose, and took a deep breath. "But I couldn't. None of us could. You must not blame yourselves." She said, meeting every one of her rescuers' gazes. "You could not have saved them." Then, after a beat, "who could have done this?"
Yusuke spoke up, from where he was frowning at the bodies. "Could have been an enemy of his, I suppose."
Before anyone could say anything else, there was a deafening sound behind them. Keiko's eyes widened as she remembered the imminent danger of the bombs, but it was too late. Without needing to confer, the group all turned and dashed away, trying desperately to put as much space between them and the explosion as possible. They were still pushed off their feet, and tumbled a ways down the steep mountain. By the time they finally managed to stop (Yukina a long time before the rest of them – sometimes it pays to be in your own element) they were shivering and felt even worse than before.
"I am so done here!" Yusuke groaned, hauling himself up. "Keiko, grab what you need from this place so we can go!"
Keiko tensed at the mention of her quest, while Yukina looked interested.
"You need something? I thought you were only here seeking help for Botan?"
"We kinda needed both, actually." Yusuke explained. "We were planning on coming here at some point for Keiko's quest, but then the Botan thing happened, and our plans were moved ahead."
Yukina nodded, and turned inquisitive eyes to Keiko. Keiko squirmed a little.
"I – I'm supposed to bring back an Ice Crystal." She said quietly. Yukina's eyes widened. After a moment of tense silence, she procured hers and gazed at it.
"Ice Maidens only have one of these – a gift from our mothers. The only proof to suggest that somewhere, deep down, they can feel. We are supposed to be heartless, emotionless. But, if we can cry, then we can't be – not entirely. The only thing that an Ice Maiden will always shed a tear for, the only thing she might care about, even slightly, is her daughter." She murmured, never taking her eyes off the gem. The others exchanged glances – they hadn't know exactly how much the gem meant to the Ice Maiden. Yukina finally ripped her gaze away from it, and extended her hand towards Keiko.
"Here – it is my gift to you."
Keiko was lost for words. "Yukina…"
"You saved me from a fate worse than death – I owe you everything. So, you may have it. Take it with my thanks." The girl said quietly. Her hand shook slightly, the only evidence that what she was doing was hurting her. Keiko froze, and to her surprise, it was Yusuke who stepped in front of her, and gently closed Yukina's hand around the crystal.
"No, Yukina. We cannot accept so great a gift. It is with honour that we accept your gratitude, but such a token must be refused." He said. Keiko stared at the back of his head. She had heard that before, almost word for word. It was court-speak, the kind of thing her father said to visiting nobles, and them to him. She frowned slightly. How on earth did Yusuke know that kind of thing?
"Urameshi's right, for once." Kuwabara said gruffly. "You shouldn't have to give up something so important to you."
Keiko tore her mind away from the puzzle that was Yusuke Urameshi, and nodded with a genuine smile. "We'll find another way to get an Ice Crystal, Yukina. Keep yours."
Yukina looked in awe from face to face, before allowing a rare smile onto her face. "Thank you, my… friends." She said, testing the new word. Then she looked around. "Where are you planning to go next? I may be able to act as a guide."
Yusuke shrugged, and looked at Keiko. "The Air Plane? I mean, that was the original plan, wasn't it? We got a little side-tracked for a bit. Plus, it'll probably be a bit warmer than here." Keiko nodded.
"The Portal is not too far from here. Follow me." The Ice Maiden said. Kuwabara hurried to match her pace.
"So, you made it sound like Ice Maidens are heartless. But, you're not." He said, awkwardly but earnestly.
"I am not a typical Ice Maiden." Yukina admitted, with something like shame in her voice. "I have never been able to… tune my feelings out like the others. They blame my mother."
Kuwabara frowned. "What did she do?"
Yukina met his eyes, a solemn look in her gaze. "She broke our most sacred law." Looking away, she said, voice softening, "she fell in love."
"Love?" Kuwabara repeated. Yukina nodded.
"With a man." Upon seeing her companions' questioning looks, her lips quirked upwards. "For you, it is so normal. For us, it is unthinkable. We sequester ourselves from men, from society, from ourselves. Well, they do. I try. My mother though, she met a man, and ran away with him for a while. When she came back, she was pregnant. It was assumed that this was her daughter, me. But it wasn't. Well, not just me. She had a son as well."
Yusuke's eyebrows shot up. "Woah, there's an Ice Maiden out there's who's a dude? He must get so much shit." He said jokingly. One look at Yukina's face told him she didn't appreciate it.
"My brother was the first child born from two parents in the Ice Maiden village in centuries. Millennia, maybe. We are not human." She met each of her companion's gazes. "We are not human, though we look similar. A union between an Ice Maiden and a human, it creates something that isn't human either. Something strange. It is impossible to predict exactly what. And no one knows exactly what my brother was. But the Ice Maidens believed him to be unnatural. An abomination. Something wrong." She said, anger colouring her last words. "A cursed child."
Kuwabara picked up on something else.
"Was?" He asked gently. Yukina's shoulders tightened.
"He was cast off the side of the mountain." She recounted quietly. "My mother followed not long after."
A terrible silence followed this statement. Eventually Yukina continued.
"My fellows believe them both to have perished. My mother's body was found, but no one looked for my brother. I believe – I feel that he's still alive. That he survived somehow. That maybe the humans found him, and took him in. There are several settlements in the area. They could've-" She cut herself off, and looked at the others.
"You must think I'm crazy."
Kuwabara shook his head.
"No, I could never think such a thing." He said boldly. "And if you think your brother's alive, then maybe he is. No one is more likely to know than you."
Yukina looked surprised, then briefly pleased, before turning her eyes back to the road ahead. The walked for a while, talking about happier things, before Yukina called them to a stop.
"We are here." She said, pointing ahead. When she focused, Keiko could just make out the tell-tale shimmering. Kuwabara turned to their guide.
"Come with us." He said in a rush, before looking shocked at himself. Not as shocked, however, as Yukina.
"I mean, if you want to!" He elaborated, before sighing. "You just, you just don't seem happy here. You're not like the other Ice Maidens, and you shouldn't be. Not when you have such a good heart. You shouldn't have to pretend to be made of ice when you're made of something so much warmer." He said. "I can't promise it'll be safe. Hell, no one's ever been able to leave the Ice Plane and come back, so… there's a good chance we won't, either. But, if you wanted to come with us… you should."
With his piece said, he took a step back to gauge Yukina's reaction. She blinked slowly, and thought about it. Thought about the risk. Thought about what she was leaving behind, and looking into the Captain's eyes, thought about what she might be moving towards. Slowly, she reached out a hand, and he took it.
"I would be honoured to travel with you." She said demurely. Kuwabara looked like he was about to jump for joy. Yusuke rolled his eyes, but good-naturedly.
"Alright then." The Captain turned towards the Portal. "Let's do this."
And he and Yukina led the way to the next Plane.
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Back in the Ice Plane, Toguro sat up and, feeling his brother's gaze on him, turned to look at him.
"I think that went well." He said calmly. His brother nodded.
"Indeed. It is fortuitous that you snapped that branch when you fell. It really helped sell the whole 'death scene'."
"Hm." Toguro nodded thoughtfully. "What did you think of your opponent?"
The Elder Toguro laughed. "Pitiful. He will not last five seconds in our next bout."
Toguro's lips twitched into a smile at that. His brother had always been terrible at recognizing threats, his arrogance leading him to make incorrect assumptions. "Don't underestimate him, brother. He has impressive passion."
The elder Toguro snorted at that, but made no attempt to argue. "What about yours, then?"
The huge man considered. "Impressive, but not good enough to defeat me." He finally concluded. Then he got up. "Come, we must prepare for our departure. Our employer will be here soon."
"And you're sure he has a way to leave this Plane?" The older Toguro asked.
"That's what he says."
The smaller man cackled. "I must say, I like his proposal. I've always wanted to destroy a kingdom."
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A/N: longer chapter than usual, but frankly there wasn't a good place to stop anywhere in the middle. Besides, nothing wrong with longer chapters. Anyhoo, thanks for reading and reviewing! This marks the end of the the Ice Plane arc. I hope it didn't disappoint. Tune in next time for the first chapter of the Air Plane Arc!