YuYu Hakusho: Ansatsusha Saga Chapter 20, a yu yu hakusho fanfic

--author's notes: w00t. This is chapter 20. Sorry about the delay. I got distracted from this story and I wrote on a couple of other ones because it was slow going for this one. Then I got inspired again and went back to this one. Though right now my schedule is hectic and I don't know how sporadic new chapters will be. I'll write when I have time. But you don't want to read about that kind of stuff. Enjoy.

--Overview of last chapter—The gang is confronted with three rings of light and Yukina, Kurama and Hiei each go into one, the others forced to wait until they return to go inside. Hiei is busy killing enemies off, Kurama faces off with a deadly flower, and Yukina is saved from death by a bird. But things look grim for some...

Hiei's back slammed onto the wall behind him, his body pinned to it by the enormous hand of the monster. He struggled, but it was in vain. The monster squeezed him tighter in such a way that it made him let go of his sword and it clattered the long distance to the ground.

The fight had been going in Hiei's favor, or so he thought. The monster's face was now even more horribly disfigured from the deep cuts Hiei carved. The monster's movements had been slow and predictable. High swing, low swing, stomp. All Hiei had to do was time his attacks right. He did notice when the monster became faster but Hiei assumed it was because of desperation.

And then when the monster swung low, then swung its other hand above it, all Hiei had to do was hop from fist to fist. But a third arm, coming from the middle of the air, caught him and slammed him against the wall.

It let him go and he began to drop to the ground, not quite recovered from the contact with the wall. He cried out in surprise as the sharp claws, before retracted, shot out of the monster's fingers through the air and pierced his shoulders. The weight of his body pulled him down and he could feel his muscles being torn by the deeply embedded claws, snapping apart.

Kurama transformed the white rose whip back to its original rose form and held it under his nose as the other odor the flower gave off began to affect him again. His mind cleared quickly as he inhaled his favorite smell. The rose was only smellable by youkai and it was almost identical to Misaki's smell. He remembered trying to explain this to her, but it would have been just like her telling him the way he smelled. He didn't know because it was his smell. Kurama smiled.

Yukina looked away, covering her ears. The evil woman was being torn apart by her beautiful bird and Yukina couldn't watch.

The howling ceased and Yukina turned back around. A foot was hanging out of her bird's mouth and Yukina noticed a fine row of diamond-sharp teeth lining the bird's beak. Yukina retched, seeing the blood dripping down the bird's neck.

The bird sucked in the foot like a piece of spaghetti and its tongue snaked out to lick its blood-stained chops. The pure crystal of the bird was no longer that clear iridescent color; it was stained red, looking like a ruby. The bird's eyes turned on Yukina, beady black eyes that appeared like they were made of onyx.

Yukina began to tremble under that gaze and she took a step back, no longer enjoying what was the beauty of the bird.

The animal sensed her fear and took a light step forward, considering her all the more. They both continued this, the advancing and retreating, neither one able to take their eyes off of the other, until Yukina found that she was backed up against the wall.

The bird took another step closer and then craned its neck down to her level.

"Go away!" Yukina shouted in a tremulous voice.

Its eyes narrowed and it lifted its head to make another call. This call was no longer heart-warming as it had been before. This call sounded like the death of a thousand men, shrieking and wailing for their perpetually burning souls. The bird stared back down on her, its eyes smoldering bits of smoke.

"Go away!!" Yukina screamed again as the bird's head rapidly moved downward to snatch her off the ground. Yukina covered her face, her emotions out of control and a snow storm came with no warning, blowing its screeching winds and snow started to pile up within seconds.

The bird shrieked again as it spread its wings out, burning into the air around it. A heavy fog fell over the room as the fiery bird melted the snow upon contact, making it even more impossible to see.

Hiei reached up and jerked the claws out as quickly as he could, then as he fell he took as careful aim as he could, though he dropped one claw, and despite his shoulders and a broken rib or two, he flung the other with deadly accuracy towards the monster's eyes. Hiei landed on the ground, absorbing the impact as best he could, and began to gather energy into his arm.

Kurama gracefully dodged the flower as its tongue reached out from within to try and snatch him. He waited as long as he could, analyzing every inch of the lethal flower, before he attacked.

Yukina crouched in a corner, her hands around her knees. The snow was piled all around her, yet she remained untouched by it. The storm raged on.

"Dragon of the Darkness Flame!"

"Rose Whip Lash!"

After a while, the storm subsided. The snow had settled underneath Yukina and so she sat on top of it, arms still around her legs. As she got herself under control, she looked around.

The snow was piled high and she was much closer to the ceiling, able to distinctly see her many reflections above. Then the snow began sinking. Melting away.

Yukina stood in alarm, not understanding what was going on. The snow continued to lower her back onto the ground. Then it stopped. About six inches of snow still covered the ground, but it was no longer receding.

However, in the middle was a deeper depression where all the snow was gone. And it was in the shape of a huge bird. But the bird wasn't there.

Yukina cautiously stepped onto the floor and walked forward. She spotted a little figure twinkling a ways away and she approached it. It was the bird. Blood red in color, small enough to carry in two hands, and not moving. It was posing with its wings stretched out behind it, one leg on the ground and one not, its claws and mouth open wide as if to snatch something out of the air.

A bright green light circle formed around it.

Hiei dropped to his knees, arms hanging uselessly by his sides. The shoulders of his overcloak had large holes in them and hung in bloodstained tatters over his frame.

With difficulty he stood and made his way to his sword. It had broken into two pieces somehow from the fall and he sank down again, unable to hold himself up. He slumped onto his side on the ground next to his sword.

A deep purple circle of light formed around him as his eyes closed.

The flower lay in sections around the clearing and Kurama returned the white rose back into his hair. There at the last, he noticed that it didn't shine as brightly as it had before.

He watched warily as the pieces of the flower shrunk and formed together again, but it didn't attack him. A figure of the flower, normal size, settled onto the grass.

A circle of orange light surrounded it.

"Kuwabara, Yusuke, I think they're coming back." Misaki stood up as the circles of light wavered from red, yellow and blue to purple, orange and green.

"Ew. Purple. I don't want to go into that one." Yusuke said. He walked over to stand in front of the orange one.

"Fine, you big baby." Misaki got to the purple one, leaving Kuwabara the green one.

"How was it?" Misaki heard Yusuke ask. She glanced over to see that Kurama and Yukina had returned and were stepping out of their respective circles.

Something shiny caught Misaki's eye and she looked toward the ground in front of her. There lay Hiei in a pool of blood, his sword broken near his hand and a figurine Misaki didn't get a close look at next to him.

"Hiei!" Misaki dropped to his side, pushing him onto his back. The Jagan eye stared at her and she hesitated, her hands extended to tear his cloak. Shaking her head, she spotted the holes in the shoulders and she reached again out to tear his cloak away. He grabbed her wrist.

Misaki saw that his eyes were open now, though he didn't seem to be registering anything.

"Hiei I have to get this bloody thing off of you so that I can see how much damage there is," Misaki gently began to unclasp his fingers from her wrist.

The effort that it took for him to move his arm that fast, coupled with the fact that it hurt to move his arms, made his grasp weak. Thankfully for Misaki. If he had been at full strength, she wouldn't have been able to make him let go and she knew that. She put his arm down carefully and torn open the cloak.

By this time, the others had noticed them and ran over.

"Yukina," Misaki didn't look up from what she was doing.

Yukina kneeled next to her, waiting patiently.

Misaki quickly ripped open the sleeves of his cloak all the way up and across his chest. Then she tore the cloak down the front.

"Hold his arms down." Misaki commanded. Kurama grabbed one and Yusuke the other. "He doesn't need to move them again and he's going to want to. Yukina, check that side." Yukina was on Hiei's left side and Misaki was on his right. They both began checking for broken ribs, and then they moved down to see if he had broken any leg bones. He jerked as they searched for the broken ribs and his sides were bruised horribly. Misaki knew that his back must have been in bad shape too, but as long as they tried not to apply pressure to the front of him, he had to stay on his back.

"His legs are weak. He must have fallen a long ways, but they seem to be fine." Misaki assessed.

Yukina nodded.

"He has two broken ribs on this side."

"Three." Yukina said for her side.

"Can you help him?" Yusuke asked.

"Not me," Misaki shook her had, "Yukina will have too." She stood up.

Yukina scooted as close as she could and she put her hands on his chest, "It will take a while. He's badly hurt." she said as her hands began glowing.

"Are these the things we were supposed to bring back?" Kurama gestured towards the middle of the light circles.

Misaki saw the ruby bird, the sapphire flower and a yellow-jasper wicked looking claw.

As the rest of them looked too, save for Yukina who was intent on her work, the figurines rose into the air and hovered ten feet above the circles together.

"I would take that as a yes," Misaki said, "C'mon." She tapped Yusuke and Kuwabara on the back, "We should go. Maybe by the time we get back, Yukina will be done."

They both nodded, in a somber mood, and stood in front of the circle they chose before.

"Be careful," Kurama called out as the three of them stepped into the light.

Misaki flashed him a puckish smile.

"Hey, it's me," Yusuke said as they disappeared into the realm beyond the light.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Kurama sighed.

The walls around Yusuke seemed to shift until he stood in the cave by himself. He looked behind him and saw a wall so he walked forward, seeing no other way to go.

Kuwabara's scene changed to one that looked much like a festival. He was standing in the middle of the main walkway and vendor's stands lined the path. He ambled along, trying his hand at a few of the games, but losing every time of course. Once he realized that the games were rigged, Kuwabara got disgusted with them and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"No morals. No honor at all." he mumbled.

Misaki landed in darkness. She couldn't see anything, not even her hand in front of her face. Looking around, she did spot a small pool of light that seemed far away. Seeing no other choice, she began walking towards it.

Half-way down the path of the cave, Yusuke stumbled over something. Cursing, he picked up whatever it was and was about to fling it at the wall but he stopped when he heard someone say,

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"You wouldn't, huh? Well you're not me!" Yusuke pulled his arm back again.

"That isn't very smart."

"Oh really?! What do I care?!" Yusuke shouted at the cave.

"Well, that is your ticket out of here. Your figurine you were sent to retrieve."

Yusuke brought what he was holding close to his face, but he couldn't quite make it out.

"And I really have a sort of attachment to it, so I'd prefer it if you didn't try to bust it apart."

Yusuke started off at a trot down the cave, seeing a person a few hundred meters in front of him.

"You sir, my fine gentleman." One of the vendors motioned to Kuwabara.

"Me?" Kuwabara didn't like the look on the sellers face.

"I have the perfect proposition for you." The squatty man led Kuwabara to a tent and forced him inside.

"Stop."

Immediately, Misaki's feet were rooted to the ground. The pool of light didn't seem to be any closer. Misaki tried to move, but her feet were planted to the ground.

"Your love for riddles will drive you towards an answer."

Inwardly, Misaki groaned. But upon reflection, she supposed this is what she got for turning mortal. She wouldn't have near the physical prowess she maintain while stuck in a mortal form. Her task had to be one that required mind strength. 'Great.' she thought, 'I knew this whole riddle episode wasn't over. I just knew it.'

"Answer correctly or pay with your life."

"That's encouraging." Misaki rolled her eyes.

"The part of the bird, not in the sky, swims in the sea and yet remains dry."

It didn't take Misaki long for this one. She had heard it before and simply had to recall the answer.

"Its shadow."

Misaki felt the floor beneath her move her forward and this time, the light was definitely closer.

"What makes more noise dead than alive?"

Several people popped into her head, but Misaki dismissed them and she guessed the riddle wouldn't be that specific.

"Leaves," she said finally.

The floor moved again, the light getting closer.

"What fills up a room, but take up no space?"

"Air."

Again she moved forward.

"How can an average sized human male put a bottle in the center of a room and crawl into it?"

Misaki opened her mouth, ready for her brain to fill in the answer, but this one didn't come as quickly as the others. She closed her mouth and thought about it. How could he? The bottle's mouth was too small for him to fit in.

"He changes his size and then jumps into the bottle." Misaki shrugged.

"Pay with your life."

"Do you take a credit card?" Misaki asked dryly, raising an eyebrow.

She regretted her words as she felt several somethings pierce through her vital organs all at once. As she dropped to the floor, her vision wavered and the pool of light she was so close to disappeared.

-Lotsm