Responses to reviews:
Kagome141414: Thank you very much! ^-^
Yyh-ygo-fma: Thank you very much! ^-^ And yes, it would feel really annoying. XD
Wolvesrain17: Thank you very much! You have been with this fanfic for quite a while…actually, I believe you're one of the longest following readers out there. ^-^ Makes me very happy. Also, you're awesome! Thank you so much, again! XD I loved the picture! ^-^
Ai. Amber: Daw! Thank you! ^-^ I shall write more, and I also hope to finish this story (which will be a task in itself, seeing as how I haven't finished many stories ^-^;). However, if you don't like long stories, this probably wouldn't be a good story to read. XD But, judging by how you reacted to the number of chapters posted, I don't think I'll need to fear losing you as a reader. XD
To all readers: Thank you all for reading, and to those who haven't reviewed, if you want your name up here, just leave a review; you don't have to be a member to leave a review. I'll respond to anyone who reviews. To those who have and haven't reviewed: You're all awesome! Thank you so much for giving me the incentive to continue writing this story. You all mean so much to me. ^-^ Thank you all again! Now on to the story!
You all really should at least skim through the responses to reviews; there can be some really interesting or important information that you might want to know…just saying. ^-^
I want to send a special thank you to Wolvesrain17; it was because of her that this chapter is getting posted. The picture she drew for this story is amazing and you all should check it out! ^-^ wolvesrain17[dot]deviantart[dot]com. Thank you all for reading and reviewing this story. You all mean so much to me! Thanks again, and hope you enjoy!
Tamer of the Dragon
Part 27: FUBAR
The following weeks passed without much happening. The only things that happened (that were interesting) were that Ryumi and I started training a little more in depth (she even summoned a smaller of her dragons to fight against me), I was able to fully use my wings (and Ryumi still made sure to keep them functioning fully), and I visited Hiei in his room a couple times a week (though nothing really happened; we just sort of sat there the entire time). Then, something interesting happened during the following week.
I was relaxing on the couch, watching some TV with Yusuke and Kuwabara, when Koenma's face appeared on the screen. "Oh come on!" Yusuke shouted at the toddler lord. "That was the best part of the show!" I snickered at the loud mouth seated next to me. Ryumi, who was on the chair near us, looked up at the toddler lord in question, while the two male demons either joined us from the kitchen or looked over at the screen from the window seat.
"Get over it, Yusuke. I need to see you all for a mission. Here is a portal to come here." We all walked through the portal and into Koenma's office. Once we all were in the office, Koenma started explaining the mission.
"For some time now, I have had a team looking for a demon named Chrysanthemous, and by sheer luck, the team tracked his whereabouts." Ryumi's mouth slackened. I glanced at the purple haired female next to me. Was finding that guy (who had a very weird name) really that impressive? Koenma glanced at Ryumi as well as he continued. "I want you all to go to his last known location, and try and find him. And if you do find him, I want you all to take him down. You may use any means necessary."
"Is that really wise, Koenma? I've heard stories about this guy and he is not someone to be trifled with. As from what I've heard, he's the bastard child of a manipulation demon and a shadow demon; he's someone who won't be easy to find if he does not wish to be found." Koenma gave Ryumi a questioning look, clearly asking how the hell she knew all this. "I'm a thief by occupation, Koenma. We have to know anything and everything about anyone worthwhile in the Makai, Reikai, or Ningenkai; it's what we do. I'm sure you could ask those two over there and they would tell you about the same thing," the purple haired thief said while indicating Kurama and Hiei. Hiei simply gave his usual "Hn" while Kurama decided to speak his agreement.
"I will have to agree with Ryumi. Even though I have officially been out of the thieving business for quite a number of years now, I still know a few things about the 'who's who' in all three realms. And Chrysanthemous is not one to be taken lightly. He is, as Ryumi said, the offspring of a manipulation demon and a shadow demon. If we do manage to find him, we would be taking a hefty risk trying to attack him in his own domain." Koenma nodded and sat thinking for a while before changing his plan.
"Alright, then I want you all only to track his whereabouts and, if he is found, follow him to his hideout. I want you all to wait until he leaves again and attack him away from his hideout. You may use any means necessary, and if that means bringing him in dead, then so be it." I glanced at Hiei and saw a ghost of a malicious smirk slither across his lips. Did Hiei really find that much joy in killing people?
"It comes with age, experience, and way of life, Onna. You wouldn't understand." I resisted the urge to scoff at the fire demon. Instead, I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to what the others were saying.
"So, once we find him, Hiei and Kurama will follow him back to his hideout and make sure that he doesn't leave before reporting back to the rest of us his position. After he leaves the following day, we follow him until he is away from his hideout but not near any villages, then we'll attack. There's no need to get bystanders involved. Got it?"
"So while Hiei and Kurama are gone, what will the rest of us do?" Yusuke looked over at Ryumi, surprise in his eyes. "What? I'm being forced into this, but I might as well know what the hell I'm supposed to be doing." Yusuke nodded before glancing at the rest of the team. Kurama's head moved slightly in a nod, causing Yusuke to sigh.
"Alright, well, while Hiei and Kurama are gone, the rest of us will be taking turns resting, preparing for the fight, and keeping a look out for anything that might want to attack us."
"Okay, so who gets what role first?" Yusuke and Kuwabara glanced at each other while muttering "Uh…"
I started laughing quietly. Like Yusuke really planned that far ahead. Ryumi looked at me curiously before I spoke. "I haven't been here very long, but as far as I can tell, Yusuke doesn't think that far ahead. It's a miracle we have this much of a plan ready before we leave. Really, it is." I laughed again when Yusuke playfully glared at me.
"Hey now, I've come a long way since I first started this job, thank you!"
"Hn, yes, now you actually think that bursting into somewhere might not be the best idea."
"Shut up, Shrimp! Do remember that I can still kick your ass." Hiei scoffed as I heard Koenma sigh behind us. I turned to look at the young ruler to see him rubbing his temples but switched to pinching the bridge of his nose when that didn't seem to work. I chuckled in pity for the guy. He really had a lot to deal with…even if the only person here was Yusuke.
"Here is a portal to go to the last known location," Koenma said slightly irked. As we walked through the portal I heard Koenma mutter, "Try not to kill each other."
As we entered the village, we split up into groups and decided to divide and conquer. Ryumi went with Kurama (I had a feeling that was because the fox demon would have been one of the best bets to stop Ryumi if she decided to try and break free) while Hiei took to the trees.
Kuwabara had to stay in the woods as to avoid attracting attention with his human scent. (Hiei had pointed out Kuwabara's scent none too friendly. The conversation resembled: "The Oaf has to stay away; he reeks of humanity." "Shut up, Shrimp!") I had asked Kurama before we had left if I smelt like a human and if I had to stay behind with Kuwabara. He smiled before saying that the scent of my youkai was becoming stronger each day; that I would be fine to go. So I went with Yusuke.
…
After hours of searching, we were told that Chrysanthemous had been found. Yusuke and I traveled to where Hiei had told Yusuke we would be meeting. When we got there, there were three other people there. I glanced around and noticed that Kuwabara was the person was missing. I glanced at Hiei before thinking, 'Is there a reason why Kuwabara isn't here?' I saw Hiei glance at me before a ghost of a smirk passed over his lips.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and turned, facing in front of me before listening to what was going on. Chrysanthemous was just headed out of a building and was headed into the woods in a place not too far from where we were standing. We all stayed in place as he passed us and continued on his way. In the blink of an eye, both Hiei and Kurama disappeared when Chrysanthemous was no longer in our sights. Yusuke left soon after to go and retrieve Kuwabara from the spot that he was left and bring him back to the rest of us, leaving Ryumi and me by ourselves.
Ryumi glanced at me before looking up into the trees that were shrouding us from the view of the village. I nodded and she instantly jumped up into the trees; I, on the other hand, had to take a little more time to get up into the trees. Ryumi started quietly chuckling at me as I repeatedly failed at trying to get into the trees. After one failed attempt after another, an idea occurred to me: I was an elementalist demon with wings, why didn't I use them?
I took a couple of steps away from the tree before spreading my wings and before I could take off, Yusuke and Kuwabara returned. "What are you doing? And where's Ryumi?" I just looked at him and jumped, using my wings to pick up the slack that my jump gave me. I was seated next to Ryumi a second later. Yusuke looked up at us before mouthing "oh" and grinning. Before too long, all four of us were in the trees waiting for the return of our two missing team members.
~x~
Hiei and Kurama were able to follow Chrysanthemous without problem as the two demons talked via telepathic connection when they needed to. The two demons stopped a while away from where Chrysanthemous had stopped and waited to see if he left, but when he did not leave for some time, they decided that Kurama would stay to watch and possibly follow Chrysanthemous should he move while Hiei left to retrieve the others. Hiei disappeared like a shadow in the night a heartbeat later. Green eyes focused on the area ahead of him while he waited for his comrades to join him. The red head focused on the area in front of him while a shady silhouette slowly approached him from behind.
~x~
I waited impatiently for Hiei to get back. I was getting antsy and wanted to start doing something. Sitting in a tree kept you entertained for only so long, after all. When Hiei finally arrived, I felt bored out of my mind. We all followed Hiei to where Kurama was to be waiting. When we got there, the sight that awaited us was a slightly amusing one. Kurama was still looking in the direction that Chrysanthemous was, but there was a guy wrapped up with vines (whose thorns were piercing his flesh)—there was even a vine covering his mouth. I looked upon the scene in front of me with amusement. Even Yusuke's voice was colored by entertainment when he asked if anything interesting happened while Hiei was gone.
Sparing us all a glance (one that was also filled with mirth), Kurama informed us. "Nothing has happened, aside from the careless demon—that is currently covered in my vines—trying to attack me. Chrysanthemous has not moved from his spot, though it does appear that he knows that we are here," said Kurama as he spared another glance at the demon currently tangled in the fox's vines, though this glance was far less mirthful.
Before any of us could respond, a figure appeared before us: a man with a black, punk-style hair cut. His dark gray eyes were outlined with dark eyeliner making his eyes look much darker. He wore a black jacket that was partly zipped, though he wore no shirt under it. In fact, the opened sides of his jacket showed his tattoo: a pair of snakes that were facing each other, looking as if they were about to attack each other; the two snakes were joined at the base, forming what could almost pass as a heart-shaped figure on his chest. The sleeves of the jacket were rolled up halfway to reveal his darker skin from forearm down to his fingers, which had a single ring on his middle finger and pinky. Black jeans that clung to his body and black shoes completed his look.
~x~
Everyone was surprised to see Chrysanthemous standing before them. Chrysanthemous smirked at the shocked group before he spoke. "Hello, I assume you are the Spirit Detectives, and you are here to 'bring me to justice' as they say. Well, I am not going to simply hand myself over. How about we have some fun, shall we?" A feminine scream pierced the night air and the entire group turned to see Kimiko being enclosed by a dome of shadows. The shadows quickly engulfed Kimiko, flattened, and slithered over to Chrysanthemous before they disappeared into Chrysanthemous' own shadow. Chrysanthemous' evil chuckle resounded in the woods around the detectives as he, too, was swallowed by the shadows and slithered away from the detectives in the direction Kurama had previously been watching.
~x~
Shadows surrounded me and it was so dark that I would not have been able to see my hand in front of my face could I move it there; my body had become immobilized when I had been kidnapped from the team. Some time later I felt my body land on solid ground, and the shadows started dissipating. Once the shadows were finally gone entirely, I regained my mobilization. I looked around me before spotting Chrysanthemous off to the left of me looking me over. A purely male smirk slithered across his face in a way that made me want to punch his lights out, or make the wind that surrounded him vanish causing him to suffocate, either was fine in my opinion. I bit back a comment that was likely to get me in trouble (as I would basically be telling him to fuck off) and instead resorted to merely glaring at the bastard. He chuckled before speaking.
"You should be honored, Little One, hanyous don't normally spike my interest." Before I could stop the look of confusion, it surfaced on my face. "You are a half-demon, half-human girl. Such a species does not normally interest me, but you, on the other hand, you interest me. And I am determined to find out why that is, and then make sure that it never happens again. Permanently." The sinister smile that followed his minor monologue sent chills down my spine. Something told me that I was screwed…like 'Fucked-Up Beyond All Recognition' screwed.
If you didn't get what FUBAR stands for, look at the last line of the story.
So I was planning on making this story drag out a little longer, but I'm getting tired of dragging it out, so I'm hoping to be writing longer chapters so I can include the things that I want to happen and not make this story like 100 chapters long. XD Depending on how everyone reacts to this story from now on is whether or not I'll start planning to make a sequel to this story. I pretty much have what I want to happen in this story from now on, so it shouldn't take too long to get this to where I want it here soon. Don't worry; the end of the story isn't going to happen for a little while still, I'm just trying to plan ahead. I'm also going to try to start updating more steadily now, but the last two weeks of this month are going to be iffy because that's when I'm getting out of school and have a lot of stuff to take care of. So, the more feedback I get, the more free time I have, and the more motivation I get (mainly from the reviews that I receive) will get me to start posting more regularly. :P
So, tell me what you thought of the chapter. Anything you really liked? Something you think needs corrected? Anything you want to say about something you think is going to happen? Oh, and if you do check out Wolvesrain17's picture she drew for this story (which I suggest you do) and you notice some things that aren't exactly lining up with what has been described for the characters, don't worry. That'll be coming up in the next chapter or two, so you won't be too confused…hopefully. Anyway, sorry (again) for not updating in a while, and I hope to get some reviews. Please?
