Hiei paced next to the bed with the mute laying on it and the wolf healer checking her over. The mute was exhausted, dozing, feeling overly grateful to have a bed to lay in. The wolf healer had advised she rest up before her labor really got going. The mute tried to resist resting, but her body needed it more than she wanted to not do so. Her boy slept on on his couch which had gone unused for so long. Hopefully he would get enough rest so they could run tomorrow. Running with three weaker people and a newborn was going to be difficult enough as it was.
He kept his headband on and Jagan Eye out of use. Still a lingering, dull headache made its presence known. He had been so preoccupied with the mute and her boy that he did not notice the extra sets of energies he could now sense in the castle along side of Nishi. He drew a sudden breath. "Asa, it's not colder, is it?" he asked on bated breath.
"Colder, no. Not yet," the wolf healer ruled. "Why? Have you sensed something?"
"Someone else is here," he realized, rushing out of the room. He reached the stop of the main staircase, looking out over the main entryway, the front hall, of the castle. He gripped the railing in front of him with a white knuckled grip. He saw Nishi leading five exhausted looking shinobi into the castle, and locking the door behind her.
"Come this way to the kitchen," she bid them. "There isn't much left unfortunately. Hiei told everyone to flee in a hurry. It just the me, him, Kotone, Izo, and my step mother remaining in the castle now. We all will flee together once Kotone is able." Nishi began walking towards the kitchen. Hiei jumped the railing, landing smoothly and rolling to ensure such a far fall would not risk injury. He cut them off fast. "Hiei?" she said, surprised to see him in the moment.
"What are they doing here?" he insisted, staring behind her. He watched the rock mage head on, but also the wind mage out of the corner of his eye. He was not sure which one he wanted to see in the castle less right now.
"Hiei," Nishi said his name softly. He turned towards her, wishing she was not here right now, but rather far into the woods with their son and the wolf healer. "They came close to the castle. I saw and sensed them. I went over to them. I... I struck Risho. They have been ambushed by the huntresses. They've agreed to help us flee once Kotone can and have all put her under their protection."
Hiei shook his head. "They're being hunted and you thought to bring them here? How are they even being hunted when they never touched Kotone." He turned to the five of them behind her. "Get out of here. Now."
"Hiei, they can't. We can't make them leave now," she said. "They were in the same place as Kotone for long enough that they're being hunted as their trail was traceable, but Izo and Kotone's wasn't. I've interacted with them in the woods. The five remaining huntresses might come here if they pick up on my trail or Izo and Kotone's trail. I didn't have a choice."
"Why did you have to hit him, you damned fool?" Hiei swore at her. She looked wounded at that.
"You wouldn't have done the same?" she asked him, crossing her arms over her chest. "He nearly had Izo killed. You saw the same memory as I did. But now they've agreed to put Kotone under their protection in exchange for rest in the castle until she's able to leave with us. We've got five more people who can help us get her, her son, Izo, and Asa out of here safely. Tell me what you would have done in these circumstances?"
He shook his head at her, not liking any of it. "With them here, it almost guarantees the huntresses will come for them here."
"We can be gone by then," she insisted. "It's early afternoon now. If Kotone has her child by the evening, we can be out by tomorrow morning at the earliest."
He shook his head, fuming. He felt disappointed to know what she had done when she was supposed to only keep watch. How much more she put them at risk now going after and inviting the shinobi to join them. Especially with one of them being the wind mage. It would hardly take a second to cut behind her and do him in. He summoned up his Jagan Eye, looking into the wind mages mind to see what she had said was true.
The wind mage gasped, grabbing the top of his head. Nishi looked at from him to Hiei, livid expression on her face. "Leave him alone," she demanded. An unnatural blush tinted her face.
Hiei released the wind mage's mind, seeing what she said was true, that and more. The wind mage hated her, but only hated her because he still held a small flame for her after all these years. "I want them out, but it's clear we're stuck with them for the time being. As soon as we can be rid of them, we shall be," he ruled.
"Agreed," the rock mage, the leader of the shinobi said behind her.
Hiei stepped over to Nishi, taking her by the hand and pulling her closer to himself. He rose up on the balls of his feet, kissing her fiercely before the shinobi behind her. She pulled away first, face flushed at that. In a low voice that he knew the others could still hear, he said, "if they give you any trouble, you send them away. They're here by your grace and you can rescind it at anytime."
"I know," she said, nodding. She stepped back and away from him. "Come along. The kitchens are this way," she instructed those behind her.
He watched her lead them away, eyes trained on the wind mage, hating the sight of him so near Nishi that his blood burned from it. He went back to her boy's room, sitting down on the edge of the bed the mute was at. He said nothing, but leaned forward on his hunches, looking over at her boy. He looked better in the least, yet was showing no signs of waking up anytime soon. The mute gave a pained moan, sitting up on the bed and grabbing her stomach. Hiei looked over at her, seeing the wolf healer bend down over her.
"Breathe through it, sweetness, that's it," the wolf healer soothed. She held out her hand and the mute clasped it. Her hands were so delicate and tiny looking compared the older elf's hands. The mute panted over and over again. Finally she let out a long breath and sat back on the bed. "I'll need to check you again," she said. Hiei looked away as she did so. "About seven or eight centimeters, coming along slowly but surely," the wolf healer sighed. "Reach ten and you're ready."
"This is taking too long," Hiei grumbled out. He glanced to make sure the mute was covered up before he turned to face the wolf healer. "Isn't there a way that you can make it go quicker?"
"A natural birth is the best way for her to have the child. If we're to run tomorrow as you wish, she needs it the way her body is dictating right now," the wolf healer explained. "What's going on downstairs? From what I can sense, I assume Nanashi has not brought the huntresses into the castle."
"She brought the shinobi in, or what's left of them," he growled.
The mute drew the blanket over her chin at that news. "Oh," the wolf healer mouthed.
"There are five of them left. They we hunted by the huntresses for they came in contact with Kotone. Nishi saw them in the woods, and, long story short, has allowed them to come into the castle so long as they agreed to put Kotone under protection," he explained.
The wolf healer pursed her lips. "So we have more protection, but now higher risk that the huntresses will come here?"
Hiei nodded. The mute whimpered in the bed at her words, wiping at her eyes before tears could fall as gems. 'What's wrong now?' he thought to her, feeling his impatience with everything and everyone wearing thin.
'Why?' she thought. 'Two of them have died, haven't they? I didn't mean for any of them to die for me. I didn't even like any of them, beyond Izo. 'Make them leave. I don't want their protection. I don't want anyone else dying because of me.'
He looked at her. 'Nanashi touched one of them. That's enough to draw the huntresses down on her same as them.'
'Why? Why would she touch one of them?' she grumbled. 'You don't want her at risk like you have been.'
'She attacked the leader as soon as she realized who he was,' he answered. She thought of the image of the rock mage standing before her, telling her he was to kill her. 'That's the one.'
'Good,' she thought. 'Why are you helping me?' she asked shyly.
'Because Izo did,' he answered.
'Why did he help me?' she thought, mainly to herself. 'I never wanted him to...'
'He didn't know the danger he risked in doing so,' he answered.
She went quiet mentally after that, reaching over to her a cup of tea on the nightstand that must have gone cold by now. He turned back and leaned over the edge of the bed, looking back over at her boy. He had no idea how long he stayed like that, leaning like that when a knock rapped on the door.
"Who would that be that would knock?" the wolf healer asked, frowning. "Come in," she called in a louder voice.
In came the ocean mage, the daughter of the wind mage according to Izo's memories. The wind and the ice mage were with her. The wind mage held a tray of more food and tea for the mute. The mute's eyes trained on that. They stopped just inside the door way. "I'm sorry to disturb you," she said in a lilt, "but I was wondering if I could see Izo?" She stood taller, but looked over at her boy laying on the couch.
"Come in," the wolf healer said, speaking for the both of them.
The ocean mage looked at Hiei, waiting to see what he would make of this. He made no move to stop her. She stepped gingerly into the room, settling down on her hunches next to her boy's head on the couch. She reached a delicate hand up, brushing a few stray hairs from his forehead. "You stupid fool," she said with just a hint of a laugh. "To think I could have killed you," she added. "I wouldn't have... I didn't want to, that's certain. At least your ice maiden stopped me," she sighed. "The other ice maidens came after us instead. Risho and Bakken killed two, but... Bakken didn't survive long after. Frozen to death. Gama stopped the other five, using his blood magic, but he died not long after from I could sense." She choked down a sob. She reached her hand up, clasping his in hers. "Your ma's quite fierce when angered, as you mentioned it. Came down on Risho like an avenging angel. Then demanded we put your ice maiden under our protection. Aye, and I'll do just that, true to my word I am." She leaned her forehead against his. "Wake up, brother. We've the need to lead the shinobi one day. You, me, and Haru like we planned." She sat back then, pulling away from her boy, resting her head against the couch he lay on. Her eyes had a shine to them.
Asa looked from the couch, to Hiei, to the wind mage. "Kotone," she said down to the mute. "I'm going to take a rest for a bit. Just tell Hiei if you need anything. If you need me, I can come right back in an instant." The mute nodded up at him hesitantly. Asa stepped around the bed, making for the wind mage, "Jin, you've finding gotten older," she commented as she grabbed his hand to pull him out of the room. "Tell me all about it," she requested.
The wind mage voice trailed off, "well, Asa, not surprised to see you with Nanashi after all these years..."
Hiei was relieved to see him leave the room, grateful the wolf healer did it. Hiei looked away from the door, and over to the ice mage leaning against the door frame, arms crossed and frowning at the image before them. The ice mage flickered his gaze to meet Hiei's. "Jin didn't want her to come up here alone."
Hiei clicked his teeth. "Why did you recruit Izo?" he asked, trying to hold back his bite. "According to his memories, even he was surprised when you did it."
"We need more numbers, but he was the only one of age strong enough to join," the ice mage answered. "Lady Maeshu insisted we take him on, was thrilled at the idea of it."
"And you killed the dark crone to get him," Hiei asked, letting the gratefulness of that action at the very least slip into his tone. He thought back over Izo's memories from when he was recruited. "You gave him the letter from Nanashi from Maeshu, but why not the one from Yukina. What happened to that one?"
'Yukina?!' he heard the mute practically scream into his mind. 'She's alive?'
He looked back at her. 'She lives. She made it to the capital and has been hiding there ever since.' He looked back at the ice mage.
The ice mage shook his head. "There was only ever a letter from his mother. Only that came from Lady Maeshu. She bid me deliver it when she charged me to recruit him into our ranks and go destroy the outpost in the ice mountains."
Hiei shook his head in turn. "I saw Yukina's letter. I saw Nanashi's letter. I saw both letters rolled and bond together to the same crow and sent to the North. It's impossible that one letter got delivered, but not the other. Izo read it nightly." He paused, puzzling over it in his mind. "Yukina's letter warned Izo of the ice maidens and to avoid them and the ice mountains near their floating island in the sky in case they sensed him and gave hunt."
"Lady Maeshu only gave me one letter, and that was it," the ice mage insisted. "And it's probably still sitting abandoned in the outpost along with the rest of Izo's things."
Hiei's eyes widened at that. "You left that letter there? It mentions all of his family and where we are in it. If the huntresses got their hands on that... What happened to Yukina's letter?" He looked at the ice mage. "Think of that meeting you had with Maeshu," he instructed, pulling off his head band.
He head was pounding now, but he needed to see that memory. He entered the ice mage's mind. The demoness asked him to task the shinobi to destroy the outpost by the ice mountains first, and was too happy to see him request to take on Izo as a shinobi second. Hiei studied the demoness in the ice mage's mind. He saw the outline of something small and square in her pocket as she had spoken to the ice mage.
He left the mind of the ice mage, feeling himself shaking with a cold rage. "She had the letter. She had Yukina's letter, in her pocket. The whole time she was talking to you."
"No," the ice mage shook his head. "What you're saying in tantamount to betrayal on her part. If she had that letter, and what you say is true, she knowingly sent both your son and all of us shinobi into a trap. She knowingly put not just him, but all of us at risk of drawing the attention of the hunters!"
"Why would she do that?!" the ocean mage exclaimed from the ground. "We were loyal to her, supported her amidst Ichiro's takeover. She would have let them kill us all if what you say is true." She looked over at Izo. "She wanted him dead in revenge for all the damage and death your family allowed Ichiro to reek when he took over the North, but without getting her own hands dirty." She shook her head, face as red as her hair. "I need to go speak to my father," she huffed, storming out of the room.
She did not get very far though. "Hiei!" Nishi's voice rang loudly in the castle.
He ran passed the ocean mage, coming to the edge of the staircase that looked out over the main entryway. He saw Nishi standing there with the other three shinobi. The front door was opened. He could see and feel a cold fog rolling towards them from the outside. The ocean mage and ice mage came to stand next to him on either side. The wolf healer and the wind mage came running as well, meeting them in the area.
"They've found us," the ocean mage said, voice shaking. "They're here..."
"I need to get back to Kotone, hurry her along," the wolf healer declared. She ran to her boy's room.
The remaining four of them ran down the stairs to join the others in the front hall. "Should we let them come into the castle?" the stocky mage asked.
"We know this castle, they don't. We'll have home field advantage," Nishi said, summoning up her wind dragon around her neck. She wanted to stay and fight...
"We don't know it either," the rock mage griped.
Frustrated, Hiei ripped off his headband. He entered the minds of the other demons around them, giving them all an insight of the castle's layout. His head pounded at that. The other demons all grabbed their heads in discomfort.
"Careful now. You'll give yourself a headache from all the neural load," Nishi soothed.
He looked up at her. She should not be here. "Damn it," he swore.
"What is it?" she asked, looking down at him.
"Asa needs help with Kotone," Hiei told her, almost feeling guilty for spinning a half truth to get her away from the fight. "You have the most experience with childbirth," he lead on.
She looked at him in surprise. "Only my own," she said. "I hardly count that as experience."
"You've had three children," the rock mage interjected. "Three more than anyone else in the room."
"Four," she commented. She shook her head. She looked up the staircase. "I'll go," she gave in, much to his relief. She stepped over to Hiei, kissing him boldly in front of the others.
"I love you," Hiei rushed out, sensing she wanted to hear him say that out loud.
"What?" she mumbled. "I love you, too." He did not like seeing it, but she did throw the quickest of glances at the wind mage after she said it. She turned away, sprinting up the staircase. She gave one more glance back down at lot of them on the main floor before turning away to go to 'help' the wolf healer.
Hiei took the second to relay his back up plan to both the wind mage and the wolf healer should the fight go array. If the ice maidens overpowered them, Nishi was to get out and take her boy with her. She would have to be convinced to do so. He sensed only the two of them would have the wherewithal to get her to do just that.
"Master Risho, there's something you need to know before the fight starts," the ocean mage rushed out.
"Can't it wait?" the rock mage snapped irritably.
She shook her and kept going, "Lady Maeshu set us up. She had Touya recruit Izo and sent us up to the ice mountains so the ice maidens would sense him and kill him for her."
The rock mage, and everyone else for that matter looked at her disbelievingly. "That's ludicrous. Focus on fighting the huntresses. This could be the fight of your life."
"It's true, it is," she said, stomping her foot temperately on the floor. "Hiei and Touya figured it out."
"Girl-" the rock mage turned to her, instead of watching the front door like he should.
"It's true," the ice mage interrupted. "Izo had received a letter from... from his-"
"Nanashi's friend," Hiei filled.
The ice mage kept going. "From his mother's friend. She warned him to stay away from the ice mountains and the ice maidens. Lady Maeshu kept the letter. She set it up and we fell into a trap. The variable she didn't account for was rescuing a pregnant, run away ice maiden."
The rock mage shook his head. "We can discuss this later. Those bitches are close."
Hiei turned back to the main hall, watching the open front doors like the rock mage was. The waiting on bated breath was getting difficult. His breath started to come and go in white puffs.
"Keep your wits about you," the rock mage said. "They're almost here." The shinobi around him were ready at that.
Hiei could see icy mist rolling in and could now make out five figures coming through the mist. They walked up to the castle, almost casually strolling. Yet the way they walked unnerved him. They were so in sync, right down to the same breathing patterns. Almost the same clothing, same sheathed short swords hanging on their hips. They calmly stepped up the front steps and came in the front hall. They all looked so similar that it was difficult to tell apart. Each of their set of eyes glowed teal for a few seconds.
"Kotone's here," One said.
"She hasn't been here long," Two said.
"She's with the missing shinobi we couldn't find at the outpost," Three said. "The one who is forbidden kin."
"The other shinobi are here, though," Four said.
"Do they think they'll mind we wear their dead brother's blood on our clothes?" Five said.
"His blood did weigh us down so we could not move," Two said.
"Not for hours and hours," Three said.
One looked directly at Hiei, cocking her head. "It seems we found another runaway."
"Yes," Five agreed, locking eyes on Hiei. "A brother. A cursed child. You shouldn't be alive either."
Three said, "he can die with the others."
Four said, "he's helping Kotone as well. I can sense her on him."
Three said, "he was the one whose mother cut him."
Five said, "yes, his mother cut his ears. My mother said it was because he was a boy."
One loosed an unnatural giggle. "She ought to have cut something else."
"She ought to have thrown him from the ledge like she was told," Four said.
"Made her friend do it instead," Two said, shaking her head.
"Should have died," Three said.
"We can do it together, sisters," One ruled. "With Kotone. And these who help her."
The five of the huntresses rushed them, moving at speed nearly equally to Hiei's own, much to his dismay. One targeted him, drawing a short sword from her waist. He managed to have enough time to draw his own and parry her attack. They engaged in a sword fight, her moving smoothly and effortlessly, matching him strike for strike. All the while, it was growing colder and colder in front hall. It did not affect Hiei, but he had enough sense to worry the cold might reach Nishi and the wolf healer upstairs.
One kept up her strikes, moving so fluidly, it was like she was dancing rather than sword fighting. She was trying to push him back, trying to get towards the staircase that lead upstairs. He tried to route her away from there. He tried to overpower her, but One laughed at him when he kept trying. He felt tempted to summon up his dragon, but was not quite at the last resort mode yet. It would require skill and a chance to focus. He looked around the front hall around him, catching a glimpse here and there to see how the others were fairing.
He was shocked to see the ice mage and stocky mage laying on the ground, not moving. The two ice maidens, Three and Five, stood over them, casting ice over them, freezing them where they lay in a block of ice. He turned back to One, striking at her harder without getting reckless. This was going South for the others. The wind mage was fighting Four, but moving slow and sluggishly, clearly freezing. He were pushing through it, but he did not look like he would last long. He was standing protectively over the unconscious body of the ocean mage. She lay on the ground shivering. Two was dueling ice sword with rock sword against the rock mage, who kept swearing at the woman.
Hiei turned back to One, trying to drive her back towards Four and the wind mage and ocean mage. Two against two might give them a better chance odds wise. He drove One back harder and harder, managing to get her near enough to the wind mage and Four. He broke away from One just long enough to whirl on Four and slice her across her lower back.
"Sisters!" Four cried out, collapsing in a heap on the ground.
The wind mage was quick to finish her off while Hiei turned back to One, whose face was now flushed with fury. One fought harder and harder. Hiei saw Three come over to him, joining in his fight with One, much to his dismay. Fighting two of them was not desirable. He tore off his headband, prepping himself mentally for his hellfire dragon. Using it inside was probably the worst idea he could have, but if it killed the ice maidens, so be it.
The wind mage broke his concentration. "Where's the fifth one?" he asked, looking all over.
Hiei looked around, too, not seeing Five. He could barely focus on fighting two women at once while trying to summon a dragon so it could not kill him. He sensed for her, having trouble locating her. "Jin," he called over to the wind mage. "Go," he ordered. The wind mage looked over at him for a split second before flying up to the landing before the staircase.
Hiei turned back to his two opponents. He noticed the rock mage was slowly overpowering Two, swearing at her and calling all sorts of absurd names in the process. Hiei drove his two opponents towards Two, hoping to gather the three of them close enough together. It took several minutes, but he managed it. The rock mage was next to him now. Hopefully the dragon would ignore him and seek out the ice maidens if he were so close. Hiei began summoning his dragon, feeling it's heat blaze down his right arm in contrast to the frigidity in the room around them all.
"Drop your weapons, men!" Five's haunting voice echoed from the landing. "Drop your weapons, or I'll drop her!"
Everyone in the front hall froze. Hiei looked up, seeing Nishi held by the ice maiden. Five had Nishi hanging over the ledge by her hair with one hand, a sword pressed firmly against her neck in the other. The sword had already bit into her neck, red blood just barely visible from the distance. Nishi had her hands on the blade, trying to pull it away from her neck. Her legs kicked helplessly in the air.
Hiei dropped his sword. The sound of it clattering to the ground echoed throughout the front hall.