Kyla: Hey, everyone! I'm back with a new chapter for Crescent Kat!
Hiei: Woopie... -is not at all enthused-
Kyla: Hmph. -elbows Hiei in the ribs sharply- Shut it.
Hiei: Ow... That hurt, onna! Why'd you do that?
Kyla: You were being rude. -glares-
Hiei: -glares back- Whatever... -grumbles-
Kyla: Okay, onto the chapter!

Crescent Kat
Chapter Fourteen
Hunting the Hunter
by
Kyla

"It looks like your plan worked, Kurama," Yusuke grinned as he, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara made their way through a Makaian forest.

"Of course," Kurama smiled over his shoulder at the other three, "I am the infamous Yoko Kurama after all..." He then trained his gaze forward, sensing the energy from his tracking seed he'd planted on the back of Kat's neck before they left Spirit World.

"Conceited fox," Hiei grumbled under his breath as they walked on through the underbrush.

"Always, Hiei, always," Kurama chuckled.

((Okay, are any of you confused at this moment? If you are, let me bring you up to par here... Okay, in chapter 13, Kat got -gasps- captured by Kukiro! Now, why did Kat and Kurama have that little falling out at the beginning of the chapter? Well, it was all a part of the plan, you see? They planned it so Kat and Kurama would have that conversation, knowing that Kukiro would be listening, then Kat would run home, apparently upset, then if all went like they thought, and it did, Kukiro caught Kat, but Kurama could track her down with the seed he'd put on the back of her neck while they were in Koenma's office plotting... See? Okay, back to the story now.. Sorry.))

"Hm," Kurama hummed, stopping momentarily to look around, "this way..." He started off north, and the other three followed faithfully behind. "Ah, there it is," Kurama pointed to a...

"A hut made of straw!" Kuwabara bellowed, and a sweatdrop rolled down everyone's heads.

"Yes, the energy signal is coming from there... Well, below there..." Kurama frowned, rechecking for the energy signal.. Yepp, that was it.

"It's an underground base," Hiei grunted and stomped off to the hut.

"Ooh," Yusuke said in realization,"see now THAT makes sense," Yusuke laughed and he, Kuwabara, and Kurama followed after Hiei, who sliced the door down.

"Let's hurry and get this done," Hiei growled impatiently as he waited for his companions to catch up to him.

"Chill, Three-Eyes," Yusuke waved a hand dismissedly.

"Yeah, calm down, Shrimp," Kuwabara muttered.

Hiei fell back enough to walk side by side the others, then.. he tripped Kuwabara and Yusuke. "Come on, let's go," he said and walked off leaving the two teen delinquents to pull themselves up and hurry. Kurama couldn't help but chuckle at their antics, but he swiftly changed his attention back to finding Kat... It'd took the four all night to find the hideout, so the fox didn't want to waste any more time.

Meanwhile, Kukiro ripped the door to Kat's windowless room open and sneered, "Get up, little hanyou... Don't you want to see your parents?"

Kat was stirred awake by that icy cold voice, and her body stiffened. She watched the bounty hunter apprehensively but nodded all the same.

"Then let's go," the hunter cooed in a sinister tone, making a chill run up Kat's spine. Kukiro grabbed hold of Kat's arm and drug her from the room, holding a cautious knife to the hanyou's neck so as to keep her from trying to escape. "Ah, here they are," Kukiro smirked and tossed Kat carelessly into a large open room with no bearings in it except for a light fixture that hung above their heads, throwing light over them.

Kat landed with an 'oof' from the force of the shove and suddenly found herself in a bone-crushing hug. "Mom, dad!" she exclaimed, a smile growing over her face. "Oh man, I'm so glad you guys are okay!" She hugged her parents back tightly.

"Oh, isn't that so sweet?" Kukiro sneered, stepping into the room and shutting it behind her. "Now, time to finish this..." Her smirk fell away to a concentrated frown as she steadied her stance.

Jya growled and pushed himself in front of his mate and daughter, and Linda moved to stand in front of Kat.

"You can glare at me all you want, but you three are still going to die," Kukiro stated playfully with a smirk.

"Not by your hands," Jya mumbled darkly, his eyes flashing angrily. He and his family was cornered in a room that had no escape except the door, which Kukiro stood in front of at the moment... Plus, it didn't help that the bounty hunter had magically locked it against cat demons, so the three nekos were in deep water now...

Kukiro lunged forward, a sword materializing in her hands, and swiped at Jya, who jumped up and on the blade so it hit the ground at Linda's feet. Then, Jya kicked Kukiro in the jaw, knocking the bounty hunter six feet away.

Kukiro sat up rubbing her cheek and growled, "That hurt, Neko..." She hoisted herself to her feet and ran at Jya full force.

Jya prepared himself to side-kick her, but when he went to swing his leg out and at her, she vanished... "An after-image," Jya murmured with wide eyes, and before he had time to recover, Kukiro appeared to his left and thrust her sword into his chest, swinging it to the left to effectively slash open the cat demon's chest.

"Dad!" Kat exclaimed, tears on her lashes.

"Jya!" Linda shouted simultaneously. Her eyes suddenly began to glow, her anger building quickly. "Kat, stay here..." she whispered to her daughter and pushed her away as Kukiro attempted to decapitate the both of them.

"Mom!" Kat yelled desperately, but it was too late. Her mom and Kukiro were already locked in battle. Kat watched mesmorized at the seen. She couldn't look away as the two shared blow for blow, and she definitely dared not to look at where her father lay. She gagged just thinking about it. She couldn't pull herself from the thoughts that rampaged through her mind, but when she saw a large blast of energy hit Linda, she gasped and started.

Linda fell to the ground with a thud, dead, while Kukiro towered over her bleeding figure. The bounty hunter wiped her lip and spat out some blood that had ran into her mouth. "Troublesome cats," she snarled. When she turned to Kat, the hanyou whimpered and drew in on herself in a tight ball. "Ah yes, only one more to deal with, hm?" Kukiro smirked and stepped towards Kat in a threatening manner.

Kat clambered to her feet and shuffled backwards to get away from her enemy, but she tripped and fell on her rear end. With an 'eep' she rolled to the side to avoid being sliced by Kukiro's sword, but the hunter laughed mercilessly and kicked the hanyou in the side, causing Kat to grimace as her body rolled roughly over the floor a few feet.

Kat pushed herself to her knees, hacking up some blood onto the floor. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, a few tears slipping through now and then.

"Oh, did I make the little hanyou angry?" Kukiro sneered and kicked the hanyou again.

Kat whined in pain and staggered to her feet, her hand clutching her aching side. "Leave me alone," she growled, glaring at the hunter as best as she could.

"I can't do that, my dear," Kukiro smirked, "I must kill you." She then thrust her sword forward, burying it into Kat's abdomen while the hanyou whimpered, eyes wide.

While Kukiro stood there with her blade in Kat's stomach, the door was blown down by a big blue flash of energy that was accompanied by someone screaming, "Spirit Gun!"

"Ah, what are you four doing here?" Kukiro asked casually and slid her sword out of Kat, who crumpled to the floor in a puddle of blood and coughed violently, her eyes drooping. The hanyou was heading for unconsciousness soon.

"We're here for Kat," Kurama stated simply. His gaze went from Kat on the floor up to the smirking bounty hunter, and the redhead scowled. "And we're not leaving without her," he added icily.

"I see... that little fight between you and the hanyou was all part of a plan.. Clever... very clever, indeed," Kukiro chortled, "but I will finish this, once and for all.. You're plan... has failed," she cackled and drove her sword down, heading to stab through Kat's unsoncious back.

Kukiro's blade hit... the bloodied up floor. She frowned thoughtfully and looked down. "Where is she?" she hissed upon realizing that Kat's body was not lying beneath her blade.

"Hn," Hiei smirked from the bounty hunter's right, Kat slung over his shoulder.

"Why you little," Kukiro snarled and lunged at Hiei, intending to make mince meat out of the small fire demon, but he jumped nimbly away and back to where his companions stood.

"Why does it have to be a girl! I can't fight girls, you guys! You know that!" Kuwabara shouted, waving his hands wildly.

"Fine, don't fight then," Yusuke rolled his eyes and raised his right hand. He took aim and exclaimed, "Spirit Gun!"

Kukiro dodged it, and Yusuke's eyebrow twitched as he yelled, "Hey! I'm the hero! You're the bad guy! You're supposed to stand still and let me defeat you!"

"As if," the bounty hunter replied in disgust.

"Fox, take the hanyou and heal her," Hiei murmured to the yoko, who nodded and took Kat from Hiei, and the fire demon sped off behind Kukiro, hoping to surprise her while Kurama set to work on healing Kat's wounds.

Too bad surprising the first class bounty hunter didn't work like Hiei had hoped it would. Kukiro managed to block Hiei's blade and push him away just in time to dodge another Spirit Gun. Yusuke cursed and used Shotgun, and that hit Kukiro, ramming her into the wall with his power. She fell to the ground after hitting the wall, then she groaned sitting up.

Hiei then rushed upon her and stabbed her in the shoulder, her sword sliding from her grasp as the pain tore through her arm. She growled at the fire demon, who just glared and kicked her in the gut. "Too bad Koenma wants you alive," Hiei grumbled before Kukiro passed out. "Come over here and get her, Fool," Hiei snapped at Kuwabara.

"Who're you calling a fool, Shrimp!" Kuwabara exclaimed angrily as he made his way over and picked the unconscious bounty hunter up, throwing her over his shoulder.

"Come on, you guys! Let's head back to Spirit World already," Yusuke whined from the doorway where he and Kurama stood.

"Yes, Kat needs rest," Kurama stated briefly and walked out, leaving the others to either follow or stay. Needless to say though, all of them followed, ready to get this over with.

(( ...To Be Continued... ))

Kyla: How was it? Was it long enough for you? xD
Hiei: Just go swimming.. Your brother's been pestering you to go swimming all day, so leave the Yu Yu fandom alone and go away! -growls-
Kyla: Gr... Fine.. See you guys next chapter! Don't forget to review!
Hiei: Hn.