The wind rustled the tall grass, making it swirl around Kari gently. This field she was in seemed to go on forever, with only the waist high grass in every direction. She looked up, squinting against the bright yellow sun in a clear blue sky.
"Where am I?" Kari asked aloud.
'Open the door,' a soft voice rumbled from nowhere. Kari tensed and spun around quickly, looking for the source of the voice. There was nothing.
"Where are you?" she called out.
'Open the door,' the voice repeated earnestly.
Kari growled and turned once more, eyes scanning the field. She jumped when she finally saw a large, ornate white door suddenly appear on her right. It was massive, towering well over ten feet in height and etched with all manner of bizarre markings that seemed to swirl and writhe against the wood. Kari slowly walked towards it, cautious.
'You must open it. Before it's too late,' the voice pleaded.
"Too late for what? I don't understand," Kari murmured as she circled the object. The far side did not appear any different to her.
'The truth. You have to accept the truth...and share it.'
"What truth? Share it with who?" Kari was starting to get annoyed. "Just freakin' tell me!"
"Kari?" The girl jerked around and came face to face with Hiei. She gasped when she noticed how beaten he was; bloody and injured like he had been fighting a horde of demons on his own.
"Hiei!" she cried out, panicked. Kari tried to run but she felt her feet sinking into the suddenly soft ground. She was sinking into the mud fast and no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't get to her friend. Hiei fell to one knee, his face contorted in pain and Kari felt her chest hitch.
'You have to accept it,' the voice said again. Kari panted with the effort of trying to escape.
"Hiei," she pleaded with her hand outstretched. The demon extended his own hand but when their fingers finally touched, Hiei vanished in a cloud of ash. "No...please, no," Kari begged as the mud sucked her down. The earth closed in over her head and Kari was lost in a cold darkness.
'Tell the truth...and set me free.'
Kari jerked awake, sitting straight up and gasping for air. Looking around wildly, expecting to see the field or the door, Kari was relieved to see that she was merely in her room at Genkai's temple. It was still dark outside her window, the only light coming from the moon reflecting off the freshly fallen snow.
"It was just a dream...it was just a dream," Kari murmured to herself, trying to slow her erratic heart rate. A vision of the dream Hiei, bursting into ashes, blinked through her mind and Kari stifled a cry. "It wasn't real. Hiei...he's fine," she lectured herself.
She rubbed at her eyes, telling herself that she was rubbing away a panicked night sweat and not tears. She was almost a grown woman, for god's sake. There was no way she was gonna cry over a silly nightmare.
Kari glanced at her left wrist and the black dragon mark seemed to stare back at her, even in the darkness. It had been three days since her little adventure into Hiei's mind and three days since these crazy dreams had begun.
Sighing, Kari threw her arm over her eyes and thought back to her conversation with the demon only earlier that night.
"So, have any idea where these 'Dark Mountains' could be?" Kari was lounging on her bed, clad in a light pink tank top and a pair of black, baggy pajama pants. She was taking in the mark on her wrist, the black dragon glaring against her pale skin, but her question was directed at the demon who was currently looking out her window.
"There are quite a few mountain ranges in Demon world but I've never heard of any of them referred to as the Dark Mountain," Hiei replied matter-of-factly.
"Well, that's no help," Kari sighed and started to absently twirl a lock of hair around the fingers of her other hand. "I don't know of any such place here in human world, either. At least, not off the top of my head." Kari cast a glance at Hiei's back. "Do you sense something out there?"
"No." Kari rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the bed to stand by him.
"What's so interesting out there, then?" she teased and leaned one shoulder against the wall, looking at Hiei's impassive face. He didn't reply or look at her. Kari shrugged and looked out the window as well.
"Do you think we should tell the others about the whole dragon thing?" Kari probed.
"I don't see a point. As far as I'm concerned, it's none of their business."
"Meaning you don't want Koenma to find out." Hiei tensed and finally turned to look at her. "Hey, I agree," Kari continued, ignoring his bewildered look and still staring out the window. "The last thing we need is Spirit world getting involved. There is no telling what they might decide to do." Kari scoffed and her eyes hardened. "Who knows? If Kurama's hunch is right, they could just show up and take me out."
"Don't ever say that," Hiei growled dangerously. Kari jumped at his tone and looked up into his face. He was furious; mouth set in a terse line, brows pulled together over his roiling, red eyes. "That is not going to happen, understand?"
Kari blinked, taken aback by Hiei's obvious anger. The demon sighed and reached forward to rest his hands on her hips, pulling her close and locking his eyes with hers. His thumbs were rubbing against her hip bones and Kari couldn't help but shiver at the feeling. The girl extended her own hands to lie on Hiei's biceps and rest her forehead against his, his Jagan eye warm through his headband.
"I'm keeping you," Hiei murmured, tightening his grip ever so slightly on Kari, as if he was afraid she would disappear in a wisp of smoke. Kari let out a soft chuckle and trailed her fingers up his arms and around Hiei's neck. Kari smirked at Hiei's low growl as she gently played with the hair on the back of his neck.
"Do you own me now?" she half laughed, her voice low and husky, and planted one sweet kiss on his jaw.
"You're attempting to distract me," Hiei accused, trying to sound stern. Kari chuckled and trailed her nose along his jaw, up to the demon's ear.
"Is it working?" Kari whispered hotly and pressed herself closer to Hiei. She wasn't entirely sure where this new, brazen attitude had come from but everything in her was screaming to be closer to the demon, to seduce him and garner his attention. Hiei was usually the one to hold the reigns but this shift in power was a little intoxicating. "Want me to stop?"
Hiei growled again, the sound rumbling deep in his chest, and he pushed forward so that Kari was pinned between him and the wall. Kari panted a bit at the sudden shift and cast her eyes on Hiei, the gold ring in her left eye shining brightly against the green.
"Never."
Kari blushed a bit as the memory of her little make out session with the demon started to replay in her head. The hot kisses, the roaming hands, the two of them finally falling to the bed and continuing as if their very time together was still so limited. Of course, they hadn't gone too far. Hiei had stopped when he could feel the shift in her energy and left not long after, retiring to his own room for the night.
You could go crawl in bed with him. Kari tensed at the thought and shook it away quickly. She rolled back onto her side, ignoring her instincts that were screaming at her to seek out Hiei and kiss him until she had no breath left in her. For god's sake, she had woken up freaking out about a nightmare only a few minutes ago and now she was consumed with the thought of jumping Hiei's bones? Groaning, Kari burrowed herself into her covers and squeezed her eyes shut.
She didn't sleep much more that night. No, her mind was too busy trying to place the voice that belonged to that heated thought.
Oh, she was tired. Dead on her feet, falling asleep, tired. Kari was supposed to be meditating, Keiko by her side and the brisk morning air blowing through the open door and into her face, but she was nodding off every few minutes.
"Focus!" Genkai barked and rapped Kari on the back of the head, hard. Keiko snorted softly, holding back a giggle at Kari being reprimanded. Kari couldn't even growl in irritation. She merely yawned out an apology and tried to clear her mind.
"This is not nap time," Genkai lectured, crossing her arms in a huff. "Maybe I should go make you shovel the snow with the dimwit. Would that wake you up?"
Maybe I wouldn't be tired if stupid door dreams and crazy hormones telling me to make out with a certain someone didn't keep me up half the night, the girl argued internally.
"I'm sorry, Master Genkai," Kari muttered. Genkai huffed.
"Go find Hiei and train with him. You are wasting my time."
Kari sighed and picked herself up off the floor. She didn't have the energy to argue with the old woman. Trudging out of the open training hall door, Kari wandered off through the temple. Hiei usually spent his mornings training alone and Kari didn't want to bother him. Not to mention that she didn't trust herself not to launch herself at the demon. Almost as an after thought, Kari remembered the couch in the living room was plush and cozy. If Yusuke and Kuwabara were off doing something else, Kari could steal a few hours to herself and squeeze in a few extra hours of sleep.
"Hell yes," Kari muttered over a yawn. Entering the living room, she promptly plopped herself down and turned on the tv. She channel surfed for a minute before settling on some tv documentary covering ancient ruins. She was just thinking how cool it would be to free run through an ancient temple when her eyelids slid shut and she was asleep.
Hiei was not training this morning. Not how he usually did, at least. He was sitting cross legged on roof, the snow still coming down gently and settling into his hair. It didn't bother him in the least. No, what was bothering Hiei was that he couldn't find that stupid little voice in his head now. Months of that voice egging him on and convincing him to do what he wanted and now...nothing.
Where are you? Hiei growled mentally. His jagan was glowing softly under his bandana, searching the depths of his own mind. I know you are there, dragon.
I have a name, you know, came the low, snarky reply. An image of the great black beast appeared before Hiei, translucent and visible only to the demon.
"I don't care about your name," Hiei retorted as he glared at the beast. "I need to know more about these 'Dark Mountains' and what I have to do with it." The dragon blinked slowly and looked towards the sky, pensive. It was a few moments before the creature spoke again.
She is the world, you know. The light, the air, everything. The dragon looked back on the demon and blinked again, golden eyes burning. You don't see it yet. The dragon started to fade away, a forlorn look in his eyes.
"You didn't answer me!" Hiei barked, trying to will the creature to remain.
Accept the truth. Only then can I help you both.
The voice echoed away into nothing and Hiei was alone again on the roof. The demon glared down at his bandaged arm, clenching his fist tightly and cursing the creature he now knew was more sentient than he had first thought.
"Useless." Shaking off the layer of snow he had accumulated while on the roof, Hiei leapt from the roof and landed in the snowy yard. His ears perked up when he heard voices coming from behind him. Curious, Hiei jumped up on the walkway and slid open the door slightly to peek inside. The tv was on, showing some ancient human city in ruins, and a voice over was explaining the history of the site. Hiei was about to dismiss it all and head off into the forest when another soft rustling sound reached his ears.
Slowly, Hiei entered the room fully and slid the door closed as quietly as possible. The tingle worked down his spine as he rounded the edge of the couch and set his sights on the sleeping Kari.
What is she doing in here?, he asked himself while he took in her sleeping form. Kari was on her side, facing the tv and sleeping soundly. Her breathing was slow and even, her features relaxed and soft.
Moving soundlessly, Hiei knelt before the sleeping girl and brushed some hair from her shoulder. He had noticed how tired she had been the last few days, even though she denied it. He knew she wasn't sleeping through the night but he would ask her about it later. Grabbing a blanket from the back of the couch, he draped it over Kari and left just as silently as he had come. He would let her sleep for now.
Sliding the door closed, Hiei flickered out of sight and was off into the woods. The dragon's words echoed through him, making him uneasy.
You don't see it yet.
Hiei was not the only one to check on the sleeping Kari. Deep in the unexplored depths of demon world, Minoru was watching the human girl through his enchanted basin. Kari's sleeping visage rippled in the surface of the water and Minoru, his gray eyes glassed over, groaned with longing as he looked upon her face.
"Oh, soon. Soon, my little doll," Minoru whispered huskily, his voice resonating in the empty stone room. "You are getting to be so powerful," the demon cooed and scraped a long nail along the rim of the basin. He groaned again and smiled down at the image. Slowly, he ran his tongue along his two long, sharp fangs, shuddering at the feeling.
"My precious pet...you will be delicious."
Author's note: I am BACK! Sorry for the delay. I have had some serious writer's block but I think with this chapter, I should be back on track. Next chapter is in progress so please leave a review. They fuel my midnight writings!