"Ok look I'm not saying she isn't a good person, I'm sure somewhere in her mind she's awesome. But you got to admit the girl is a loon." The guys walked on feeling on edge about their recent encounter with Siera. Last they had seen of her she had run along and weren't taking their time in finding out about her.
"Look Kurama, you two have been friends your whole lives right?"
"Yes."
"Then tell me what her deal is?! One minute she's all quiet then she's all perky and the next she gives me this weird chill in my spine. Is she someone who can be trusted, or do we have to fight her too?" Zoie and Kurama looked at each other unsure where to even begin.
"She is trustworthy, she can be antagonizing but she doesn't mean any real harm. She is the most loyal, kindhearted, passionate girl I've met in this world. You just have to give her time to adjust, you are new to her as well and she doesn't quite know how to be herself around strangers."
"Did you forget, the girl is quite fond of her mind games, how do you know she isn't simply fooling you? She would have taken my sword and killed everyone with none the wiser and yet you are telling me to put my trust in her?"
"Yes he is, because think about it; she took your sword and took your mind to wherever it was she wanted, probably grilled you for your weak points got you to react in time to let you know that you had as about as much control over the whole situation as a fly has when it's stuck on a frogs tongue. If she really wanted to cause you harm, then why didn't she while you were unaware of her ability? Why would she give you the upper hand in knowing more about her if she truly wanted to do you in?" Hiei didn't answer but simply looked away angry that he was made vulnerable by a half-breed.
"And Kuwabara, she has proven that she could kick your ass without much effort not once but twice. If she really wanted to hurt you, she would have done so, you don't even have a scratch.
"Well, yeah that's true, I guess. And hey she isn't stronger than me okay, I don't fight girls that isn't right! Excuse me for being a man."
"Right…let me tell you something about her, you are going to piss her off one day and you can either be manly or you can man up and defend yourself because when she knocks you out of your shoes I don't want you to look at me like a dummy thinking I'm going to do something about it because that will be the second time you look like a bitch." Yusuke didn't bother to muffle his guffaw.
"And just what is it you do anyway? Not that I care, I just find it odd that a half-breed would lower herself more in listening to a hellhound."
"A hellhound?! He looks like a normal dog to me!"
"Yes, because all dogs talk, you just have to know the password to get us to open up." Kuwabara muttered under his breath, once again made to look like a fool.
"Most human parents get their kids a puppy for entertainment or even to be a companion. Korrin assigned me to be her guardian. She used Siera's blood and conducted some sort of binding ritual on me. It is like a contract that's embedded in my very soul; I can never leave her side, I can never harm her and the only way to break the bind is if I die."
"So what you're saying is that you're some kind of babysitter slave?"
"I personally wouldn't call it that; I have watched over her since she was an infant. She spoils me really, all the fattening food I can manage, long walks, great brushings and the cuddles aren't half bad either. She respects my opinion and values my word; like I'm not a pet or a slave but an adviser and a friend. I know she can be a bit much, but she is a good girl. I know deep in my heart she loves me as I do her."
"But even still, between what happened with Hiei and the chokeslam she gave Kuwabara, I would like to know about more than the long walks and belly rubs." Zoie chuckled and looked down the long dark hall before continuing.
"Her mother is Korrin as I've said before. Korrin had many abilities but they all mostly center around the mind. You control the mind, you control the individual. She could summon demons of any shapes and sizes with the sound of her voice, but those who were unlucky and weak enough to realize you don't need to even hear it to succumb. She has a combination of telekinetic and telepathic abilities that she has mastered over centuries of course her daughter inherited those abilities but she isn't anywhere as advanced as her mother was, but she was still able to fling Yusuke aside like a bug without much thought and took Hiei somewhere that I'm guessing wasn't his happy place and if she is a newbie with that kind of power can you wrap your mind around what her mother could do? She could enslave every demon there was if she wanted to but no she liked to play bandits. I suppose suppressing herself made her feel alive, the thought of getting caught thrilled her."
"But I'm trailing, that girl has so much power and not a clear idea how to use it, it's like putting a six-year-old behind the wheel of a sports car."
"You've said all of that and none of it reassured me that she's not going to kill us!"
"Because to understand that you have to know her; above all else she is loyal, and kind hearted." "Take it like this, Kurama knew her darn near her whole life but kept this big secret from her. She was hurt, betrayed, she felt used and inadequate. And those are things a wise person would never make her feel." Zoie glared at Kurama who laughed nervously.
"But, and I bet my life on it, that girl would slit anyone's throat before they had the chance to even think of hurting him. The point is she is a good person, just confused. She is an orphaned female teenaged half-demon, and once you wrap your minds around that you will feel for her. And feel for me too because I have to deal with her crazy ass."
"I suppose that makes sense I mean she was so excited that I wasn't mad at her, like she really wanted us to be her friends but at the same time she doesn't want to be subordinate to anyone."
"Ah yes…that's just a part of her personality, nothing to do with her mom at all. Korrin was a loner type she relied on herself and if it served her purpose, she had compatriots to serve their purpose for her. Siera? Nope, she craves companionship, she loves interacting, but she has to be number one. She wants to be the alpha always, and will put all contenders in the place they belong, which I gather is why she messed with Hiei, she wanted to let it be known she wasn't someone to play around with."
"But why would she mess with him and not us, seems kind of unfair she wouldn't pick on someone her own size."
"Maybe you didn't learn this imbecile, but the number one rule in intimidation is to take out the biggest challenger."
"Oh I get it, like you take out the ring leader and the flunkies follow."
"Or run away like babies…hey WAIT, is she saying we're a couple of flunkies?!"
"Well I wasn't joking when I said Kurama and I were babysitting; it seems even she knew the truth." They stopped when the sound of rustling starting to become louder. She had climbed up the thirty foot wall and onto a narrow ledge, walking along as aimlessly as a cat would as though simply waiting for them to catch up.
"It's about time, I was getting bored." She leapt from the staggering height with ease holding her shoes in her hand. On the outside she was calm and cool but deep down she was afraid.
"Listen…Kuwabara, there is something about you….and this seems a little weird for me but."
"You want to proclaim your love for me?"
"uhhh…no. I want to make you part of my pack."
"Oh is that some kind initiation?"
"Well sort of, it's sort of a binding of blood thing. Like once we bond be are part of the pack, even in disagreements or even falling outs we will be connected." She fidgeted as she looked at him. She had wrongly assaulted him more than once when he had been nothing but kind to her, she had seen goodness in him and it touched her, she couldn't let an opportunity to have someone like him be a real friend slip away.
"I'm not going to catch something am I?!"
"No, just…first do you want to be my friend, I need an honest answer."
"But didn't you already get the answer when you asked me that?" she smiled at that.
"Give me your hand," she used her thumb to put a small cut in his palm and did the same to her own before shaking his hand they both felt a tingling sensation and then she let go. Kuwabara looked at his hand in confusion.
"Hey what is that?!" In place of the wound a scar in the shape of a shield lay positioned in the middle of his hand.
"The shield…interesting, I thought as much."
"What does it mean?"
"I'm not sure, but a shield means protection, it means I should feel safe with you."
"You can always feel safe with me."
"Just stop, it's not happening." She looked to the others and smiled as she met Kurama's eyes, she made a friend today and he was proud of her.
"I've only done this with one other person." She held the side of her hand up and showed them an odd symbol.
"In Chinese culture there is this belief that everything is met with a complementary opposite. Yin and yang, positive and negative, light and dark etc. I have yin, feminine, dark and nurturing etc." She walked away without any more explanation, and the others walked on. Kurama watched her walk away with a smile. He remembered vividly the moment they had done the same thing, they were at the part on the monkey bars it was such a bright sunny day then.
"Since neither of us want to do either than we have nothing to worry about." The way she smiled at him was infectious, he knew even then that she would never hurt him and he in turn trusted her fully the fact that she was afraid he didn't was laughable.
"Give me your hand." He gave it to her without hesitation and she held it in hers for several moments as though she were having second thoughts.
"Best friends forever?"
"And ever." She cut her own hand and a small amount of blood pooled in her palm.
I heard my mother talk of this before, it is called blood binding, we mix our blood and we are forever bound. But you have to be willing." He remembered the knot he felt in his stomach, what did this really mean, would she then know everything? But as he looked into her brown eyes he knew that refusing her this opportunity would hurt her, but more so than the truth? He gave her his hand and she pricked it and for several minutes they held hands. She looked at her hand and giggled and he could help but like how it sounded.
"Look our little girl is finally growing up."
"Yeah, she is."
"You jealous?"
"Of what?"
"Of her making friends, you won't be her sole focus anymore."
"I never said I particularly enjoyed it being the object of her fixation, I just want her to be happy but no matter what happens I'll be there for her. That is what best friends are for, to make each other happy and to be there for them." Kurama looked at his right hand brushing his finger across the yang symbol embedded in his palm.
"Yeah that is true, still didn't answer me, but you do speak the truth."
"We don't have time to discuss this, there is a whole city in danger."
"Right of course, but some day you have to tell her."
"I don't have to tell her anything."