The sound of ice shattering echoed throughout the cave. "What is an ice maiden like yourself doing in human world?" Kyuubi asked with a flaming rose whip in

hand. With a single flick of his wrist, the fire fox had obliterated Yukina's wall of ice. Yukina moved in front of Keiko and Cheza, "I won't let you hurt them." The

ice maiden's normally friendly demeanor had changed drastically. The ice maidens features contorted into a look of pure rage, her hands turned into fists and

her eyes shone with ferocity.

The temperature in the air had dropped notably, and for a brief second Cheza swore fear could be seen in the fox's eyes. The flames encircling the seal of fire

on Kyuubi's chest began to burn with less intensity than before. Was the cold affecting him? An amused smirk spread across Kyuubi's face, "You're no match for

me Koorime" Without warning another barrage of fire balls came hurdling their way. This time, Yukina formed a much thicker wall of ice to shield them from the

elemental's attack. "Do you think you can hide behind that wall forever? " Out of the blue the fox let out an ear-piercing whistle, "My Cephalotus is hungry,

perhaps you all will be kind enough to feed her?" The girls exchanged glances, "Is that..a plant?" Keiko asked while taking a step back. "It has been nearly a

century since I last fed her, you three will be nothing more than appetizers for her." The ground beneath their feet began to crack and a loud monstrous groan

filled their ears. Debris began to fall from the caves ceiling as a gigantic plant shot forth from the cave floor causing the entire island to shake, no doubt the

boys had noticed it.

A plant with a football shaped mouth and razor sharp teeth swayed back and forth, now towering over the cave. The carnivorous plant was so big it had shot

through the ceiling, leaving a giant gaping hole in its wake. Debris and large rocks fell from the ceiling as more of the cave's ceiling began to cave in. Yukina

quickly moved out of the way as a boulder came crashing down in the spot she had been only seconds before. Yukina spun around to make sure Keiko and

Cheza were okay, that is when she noticed an entire section of the cave ceiling fixing to give way. "Watch out!" Without warning the ceiling gave way and with

a loud boom dust and debris flooded the cavern. As the dust cleared, Yukina quickly ran to site where Keiko and Cheza had been. A big pile of rocks and debris

now lay scattered about, there was no sign of Keiko or Cheza.

"CHEZA! KEIKO!" Yukina began to sift through the endless pile of debris, having forgotten about the man-eating plant towering over her. Soon, she came

across a familiar hand. "Keiko!" Yukina began to frantically dig through the debris. After a few minutes the ice maiden had managed to drag her unconscious

friend's body from the pile. The brunette didn't appear to have suffered any broken bones, but she had a deep bloody gash located on the side of her head.

Yukina could heal cuts and bruises and other visible injuries, but a brain injury was something she herself could not heal.

"Have you forgotten about me?" Yukina spun around catching site of Kyuubi. Slowly, he began to walk towards her. "Looks like you are the only one left, I'll

deal with you myself." Once again the fox let out an ear piercing whistle, moments later the man-eating plant began to shrink and get shorter, eventually

disappearing back into the earth. "I don't want to draw to much attention, though no one would dare intervene anyways." Kyuubi remarked. "I wouldn't be so

sure about that fox boy!" Yusuke, Hiei, Kuwabara and Youko appeared, each in a fighting stance. Yusuke scanned the hollow room before them, his eyes

stopping on Keiko's unconscious body. "KEIKO!" Taking off in a sprint, Yusuke quickly reached his girlfriend's side. Placing his hands on her arms, he began to

shake her. "Keiko! Wake up! You gotta wake up dammnit!" In a flash, Hiei made his way to Yukina. His fuming crimson glare caused Yukina to lower her head.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hiei..I.." "I'm not mad at you." He replied simply before lifting her up and disappearing in a black blur. Youko's golden eyes landed on Hiei as he

placed Yukina down and instructed her to get out of the cave and wait for them back at the ship. Tears began to fill Yukina's eyes as Youko's gaze landed on

her, "I'm sorry…I couldn't find Cheza." Youko's eyes widened as Yukina eyed the pile of rubble close to where Keiko's body lay. In a silver blur Youko reached

the pile and frantically he began moving massive boulders out of the way as if they were nothing more than feathers.

"Well I'll be damned The legendary king of thieves alive and in the flesh"

Youko's golden eyes darkened, clinching his fist the rock in his hand crumbled. "If you have heard of me then you must know I show no mercy." Without

warning a barrage of fireballs came his way, Youko quickly dodged out the way.

Watching the scene in front of him unfold, Kuwabara quickly ran to the pile of debris and began to sift through the rubble. "Cheza! Can you hear me?" Youko's

eyes landed on Kuwabara, but his attention quickly averted as Kyuubi's flaming rose whip lashed out towards him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Yukina spun around, finally having made it out of the cave. Her eyes widened as she remembered she had forgotten to tell the boys about the tool of power

Cheza had found. Tear gems began to fall from the ice maiden's eyes as she picture Keiko lying unconscious on the cave floor, her mind shifted to Cheza

"Cheza…" Yukina whispered as a tear gem clinked against the ground. "I have to tell them!" Yukina exclaimed before running back into the cave.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kuronue came to a halt as he came across a small shrine near the outskirts of the desert city he had found himself in after exiting the portal Koenma had

opened. Boton had informed him the tool of power was being kept here by the wind goddess. All he had to do was retrieve the tool of power and be on his

way, a task that seemed suspiciously easy..why hadn't Boton gotten it herself if it was so easy?

Approaching the shrine, a man in an armored suit quickly blocked the entrance. "Who are you and what business do you have here demon!?" Kuronue scanned

over the man, the only part of his body visible being the blue eyes staring fiercely at him. "I'm here to retrieve the tool of power Shukaku is sealed in." The man

didn't budge, his blue eyes looking the bat up and down. With amazing speed the man ran forward, unsheathing his sword and lunging at an unsuspecting

Kuronue. Kuronue grabbed the sword from the man's grasp with ease and tossed it to the ground, "Let me guess you the wind goddesses protector?" The

blue-eyed man nodded, "That is correct and no filthy demon like yourself will get your hands on her or the tool of power!" An orange glow began to emit from

the man's hand, so maybe this guy wasn't human..but he certainly wasn't a demon. Soon, hundreds of mini- bombs came hurdling his way. Kuronue took to the

sky as sand began to encompass the surrounding area making it impossible to see anything. Not long after, the sound of a girl screaming reached his ears.

Kuronue was able to determine the scream had come from the shrine. Touching back down, Kuronue ran inside. Kuronue felt sick to his stomach as he took site

of the blue-eyed man kneeling down next to a women with long blonde hair. Blood was everywhere, the wind goddess had no doubt been killed. Staring into

her lifeless eyes, Kuronue caught site of a man's reflection. Kuronue quickly spun around and ran out of the shrine. "You can't catch me bat demon! I'm much

too fast for you!" "Who are you!? And why are you releasing all of the elementals!?"Kuronue yelled out. "Time will tell" came the man's reply. A strong wind

began to kick up causing a cloud of sand to encircle him. Kuronue bent down having caught site of something lying in the sand half buried. "A tea kettle?"

Kuronue's eyes widened having remembered Boton telling him a kettle is the tool of power Shukaku of wind was sealed away in. The sound of footsteps

headed his way tore his attention from the kettle, looking up he saw the blue-eyed man staring at him. A plethora of emotions could be seen radiating in the

protector's eyes. The man glanced down at the kettle now in Kuronue's hand, "Shukaku of wind has been released we must find him before he harms anyone."

Little cat like paw prints could be seen in the sand leading to a nearby abandoned castle. The two exchanged glances before running forward, following the

tracks.

It didn't take long for them to locate Shukaku. Shukaku took the form a yellow raccoon with violet markings all over his body. The creature tilted its head to the

side before staring up at them with big innocent eyes. "Don't let your guard down, he is really a demon in disguise. He is fast and tricky, don't let his innocent

demeanor fool you." "So what attacks does this thing have?" "Shukaku has the power to manipulate both sand and wind." As if on cue a strong surge of wind

hit the two in the chest sending them crashing into the run down castle wall. The yellow raccoon known as Shukaku ran forward, now poised in an attack

position in front of the two.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Cheza!" Kuwabara exclaimed while throwing rocks and other debris to the side. Soon, Cheza's body became more and more visible. Youko, having been

distracted by Kuwabara's outburst eyed Cheza's unconscious form. Bruises and cuts covered nearly all of her body, just like Keiko she too had suffered some

sort of head injury. Kyuubi, now on his hands and knees averted his gaze to Cheza as well. Having sustained numerous injuries from an angry Hiei, Youko, and

Yusuke; Kyuubi was not faring well. In a flash, Kyuubi now stood in front of Cheza's limp form. Shoving Kuwabara out of the way, Kyuubi picked Cheza up. "I

know your weakness Youko, Kurama." Youko tensed, "Put her down" he growled. "Oh, I plan to do just that." Casting another assault of fireballs, Hiei and

Youko dodged out of the way. Kyuubi's palm began to glow, no doubt summoning yet another set of fireballs. Kyuubi began to laugh, "Say goodbye to your

dear mate Youko Kurama." "CHEZA!" Youko screamed while running forward.

Kyuubi's laughter came to an abrupt stop. Dropping Cheza, his hand reached for his chest. Looking down, his eyes widened having realized his seal of fire was

no longer on fire. In the seal's place, a long sharp bloody ice shard. Hiei's eyes widened as Kyuubi fell to the ground lifeless, revealing an innocent face with

crimson eyes and turquoise hair. Kuwabara slowly got to his feet, "Yu..kina?" The ice maiden began to scan the cave, finally she found what she was searching

for. "The clam shell!" she exclaimed. "It is the tool of power that seals Kyuubi away!" Everyone remained still for a moment before taking action. Hiei quickly

reached the clam shell as Youko ran to Cheza's side and Yusuke ran to Keiko's once more.

The ground began to shake and with a loud boom the clam shell slammed shut. The seal of fire on its shell began to burn indicating Kyuubi had returned to his

prison once more.

End of Chapter