Getting tied up like this for so long was not what Yasha had in mind. Younger Toguro was still livid over Nanashi killing his older brother right before Sakyo had thrown the cape of no return over her and sent her to her death somewhere in the world.
After Elder Toguro died suddenly, Younger Toguro had demanded Sakyo bring Nanashi back so he could kill her himself. Sakyo tried to calm him down, but he was in a cold rage. He had then asked which hostage was least valuable. When Sakyo looked the three of them over, he answered Kurama was. It took a few minutes to stop him from treating Kurama like a punching bag. He was kept alive at least.
They kept traveling after that, going slower than they used to, based on grumblings from the weakened Hiei. Sakyo was worried about him dying on the road, so he willingly started feeding him again and took off the draining wards during the day. He was the one who had to live. Kurama and Yasha himself were less valuable, so they went without and had the draining wards kept on them for the whole time.
At night the three of them were tied up together outside to shiver and freeze while their three captures slept warm enough in their tents. Hiei was ill and weak from his captivity, but could tell them enough about what happened since he fled the capital.
He fled South via ship, ending up in Sarayashiki and meeting up with and ended up training Nanashi to fight. How Sakyo tried to poison her after he gave himself up to save her. He was chilled when he mentioned being harvested by the dark crone friend of Sakyo's. He also mentioned that on of their three captures, Karasu, seemed like the weakest link between the three of them as he was forced to work for Sakyo to pay off a debt.
Yasha formed his own plan, keeping it to himself. Karasu. He was clearly the one of the three kidnappers on the bottom of the totem pole now. Made to hoist the prisoners on their horses daily. Made to place them on the ground at night. Made to feed Hiei once daily to keep him at least alive by the time the they all reached the capital. Made to do whatever was necessary in caring for the prisoners. Yasha could tell he was loathing it. All Yasha had to do was get his hands on him.
Hiei, in spite of the ease of treatment by Sakyo, was still weakening each day, as Yasha noticed. He would hardly talk, saying his legs and lower body hurt all over. When one morning Karasu informed Sakyo that Hiei was still weakening, Sakyo told him calmly and coldly that if Hiei died before they got to the 'widow,' then Karasu would die in front of the widow in his place.
Yasha had been picking at his gloves through his binds, sorting out how he could remove them both without loosing one of both of them completely. He just had to wait and watch for his opportunity. It came sooner than he expected.
Karasu had been ordered to take the three prisoners separately out to the woods away from the camp to take a bathroom break. It was the one time when their bindings were untied, but Karasu had his little bombs out and floating around them in case they tried to make a run for it.
Yasha had already had his gloves off and was finished. Karasu came back up behind him, redoing his binds. Yasha put his bare hands on Karasu's hands, rushing out to say quietly, "next time you are angry at Sakyo or Younger Toguro, try to kill them."
The intense pull on his energy from giving this order made him weaken. The draining wards in the ropes doubled the energy it took to make the order. Any order given that was stronger than that would have probably killed him. It was sealed though, Yasha could feel it.
Karasu growled under his breath, tightening the ropes around his wrists. "No talking," he said.
He loosed a small bomb against the skin of Yasha's right forearm. He bit back a scream, not wanting Kurama to hear it. He could feel the wetness of his own blood drip down his arm. It was worth it.
The next day, Yasha watched Karasu carefully, waiting to feel a pull on his energy that would indicate Karasu would follow his order. Kurama noticed him watching Karasu, and gave him a questioning look. Yasha smirked at him and just shrugged.
It took two and a half days for Karasu to get angry with either Younger Toguro or Sakyo. Karasu had already bound Kurama and Yasha to their own trees for the night. Hiei had gotten worse, falling from his horse in the evening when Karasu went to take him off of it.
Sakyo had jumped off his own horse, coming over to the two of them. "What happened to him?" he asked Sakyo.
Karasu hauled Hiei up by his new bonds around his wrists. "He fell. He's still alive." Karasu shoved Hiei forward, but his legs buckled beneath him. "Get up," he said to Hiei. Hiei struggled, but did not get up.
Yasha felt a pull on his energy, worried that he might try to attack Hiei in his anger rather than Sakyo or Younger Toguro. Yasha panted at the double pull at his energy. Kurama looked over at him, wide eyed. He still carried a few yellow bruises from when Younger Toguro had turned on him.
'You didn't,' Kurama mouthed.
Yasha felt a blinding headache come over him all of a sudden. It was the order, the strained doubled by the draining wards. He felt like he was going to retch. The order was too strong. Karasu was trying to resist it. It would kill him if it took much longer.
Yasha blinked over where Hiei lay on the ground with Karasu and Sakyo standing over him. Karasu picked Hiei up and carried him to the tree next to the one Yasha was bound. He tossed him down to the ground.
"Be careful with him," Sakyo called over to them. "He dies, you take his place."
Yasha felt another pull on his energy. Karasu silently bound the sweaty and pale Hiei to the tree. 'Attack him,' Yasha wanted to shout at him.
Karasu rose up, turning back to face Sakyo. "Get him fed and get them each to the woods. You know the drill." Karasu drew his feet wider apart. Yasha felt worse than Hiei looked now. "Get that insolent look off your face," Sakyo ordered.
Yasha saw black stars dancing in his vision. He fought to stay conscience. He saw Karasu stepped towards Sakyo, bomb in hand. He threw it at him the remaining distance. Sakyo threw his hands up to protect his face, which made the bomb catch him in the arms. Sakyo shouted out in a mix of rage and pain. Karasu charged him.
Only to be stopped by the Younger Toguro. Younger Toguro caught Karasu before he reached Sakyo. The two of the them began fighting, with Sakyo ordering Younger Toguro to kill Karasu.
Karasu and Younger Toguro began to fight. The order dropped its strain on Yasha now that Karasu began to act on his own free will again. Karasu continued to dance around, trying to keep out of reach of Younger Toguro's fists. Yasha felt himself bite back panic as he watched and felt Younger Toguro grow bigger and stronger. He got faster, too. Various bombs thrown at him by Karasu half hit their mark, but he seemed unfazed by it. At one point, Younger Toguro hit Karasu in the jaw, forcing him to turn his head and knocking his mask off of his face.
When that happened, Karasu took a few steps back, hair having turned blonde and wilder. He took on a vicious look. "I've day dreamed about killing you," he half sung out over towards Younger Toguro. "You, too," he said and looked over at Sakyo.
"Tired of being in debt and enslaved?" Sakyo asked, keeping his distance. "Better that than dead."
"You fear death, the sight of it," Karasu accused. "There's nothing more intimate than the relationship between a killer and their victim. Yet you refuse to watch those you sentence to death die."
Sakyo smirked at him. "Imagining my victim's death is better. Can change again and again, rather than being one concrete moment where the details can get hazy."
Karasu looked past Younger Toguro and Sakyo. He looked over at Hiei. Yasha felt his stomach drop at that. Karasu sucked in the air around him, creating a hair ruffling breeze. He charged over to where Hiei set, listless and feverish. He stood over Hiei, two hands resting firmly on either side of his head.
"This death would be so easy," Karasu spoke. "The one death you don't want to happen yet. He's dying anyway from your neglect. Starved and dealing with an internal infection. What a strange feeling it would be to kill someone I was trying so hard to keep alive." He gave Sakyo a bitter smile.
Sakyo's face took on the same scowl he had when he saw Nanashi was still alive. "Let him go and get out of here. Do that and your debt is repaid. No need to explode or bomb anyone here."
Karasu stood upright, staring down Sakyo. Yasha held his breath. "Deal," he agreed, eyeing Sakyo carefully. No one moved as Karasu got his bag, took his horse, and mounted it. "A parting gift," he said, before throwing a series of bombs in the area.
There were no chances to dodge or duck or even think as the explosion ripped through the area around their camp. Yasha lucked out, mainly just getting hit by bit of flying dirt and debry. So did Kurama. Younger Toguro took the brunt of the attack, shielding Sakyo from it in the last second. Hiei ended up hit, too. Yasha heard him cry out. When the smoke and dust finally settled, Yasha saw he was bleeding on his left side in a few places. He was still alive, but Yasha somehow sensed it was by accident.
Sakyo spoke first, temper flaring. "Find him and kill him!" he ordered Younger Toguro. "I want him dead. Do it however you wish, but don't tell me how you do it."
Younger Toguro was on his horse and in hot pursuit. Yasha watched him go, pulling at the bounds. If they ever had a chance to escape, now was the best chance.
Sakyo grumbled under his breath, moving towards Hiei and checking him over. He swore. "Damn it. You are not allowed to die," Sakyo raged at him. "Not yet." He ripped of part of his own sleeve and began binding Hiei's more serious bleeding wounds.
Then something unexpected happened. A child's toy, a wooden yo-yo came flying out of the woods at Sakyo, hitting him with a thunk in the side of the neck. He crumbled unconscious to the ground in front of Hiei.
"Extraction team, move!" a male voice called out from the same direction as the yo-yo.
Yasha watched in disbelief as, of all people, king's men, elvish warriors really, came running out of the woods from behind him. He saw Chu and Rinku come barreling out of the woods. Rinku, the tiny elf that some thought was a child made straight for Sakyo's tent. Chu meanwhile was busily untying Hiei and then Yasha. Yasha shoved him off, going over to untie Kurama himself. Chu did not stand around though. He hoisted Hiei over his shoulder and went staggering back the way he came from. Rinku ran out of Sakyo's tent, holding the cape of no return at a distance from himself. Kurama and Yasha exchanged a confounded look before stealing Karasu and Sakyo's horses and trailing after them.
They did not go very far before they came upon Rinku, Chu, and Hiei; along with Shishiwakamaru and Suzuki. Suzuki was getting Hiei on a strange horse while Shishiwakamaru took the cape of no return and shoved it into a bag of his own.
"Let's go, come on. Before the big one gets back," Suzuki ordered.
Chu, Rinku, and then Shishiwakamaru were on their own horses and the lot of them charged off into the woods before anymore could be exchanged.
When it seemed like they were well enough away from Sakyo and Younger Toguro, Yasha brought his horse alongside Suzuki's horse. Tiredly, he asked, "what the actual fuck?"
Suzuki burst out laughing at him. "You haven't changed a bit. Just like old times. Training when we were younger. Before you went off and joined the fighting pit freaks."
"How did you find us?" Yasha panted out.
"Well, that's a funny story," Chu butted in. His voice slurred. Drunk, as per his fighting style. "Of all the things, an angel fell from the heavens and saved the prince from an angry pack of dire wolves. The dumb ass prince decided to wander off when out on an hunt. The beasts would have killed the little bugger had it not been for the Angel Nanashi."
"You're kidding me," Yasha exclaimed disbelievingly.
"It's true," Rinku joined in the conversation. "Your angel friend fell from the sky, slayed the dire wolves, and then begged the king to rescue the three of you."
Yasha thought about his brother in law, looking back over at Kurama riding steely behind him. He could not comprehend how Nanashi could have gotten Hayate to agree to save a group of people that included Kurama. "How the hell did she manage that?"
Shishiwakamaru explained next, "she wept before him, hardly able to talk. She begged him to save her friends, and he agreed, not knowing who she was talking about. He swore on the prince's life, grateful to her for saving him. Then he read her mind, finding out it was the bunch of you freaks she wanted rescued was you three. He was pissed, but still sent us out to save you."
"I think I speak for the lot of us when I say we're grateful," Yasha answered breathlessly. "For now."