Dream: I think I'm having a sane moment…
Freckles: O_O YOU??? SANE???
Dream: yea…
Freckles: …ok! *gives begging face* Can I be in the story??? Pwease????
Chuchu: Me too! Me too!
Dream: OK! ^_^ I'll find a way to fit you in, Chuchu!
Freckles: What about me?
Dream: I was already planning to put you in this chapter…
Freckles: ^_^ yay! I feel important!
Muppet: *watching the lint in the air* Have you ever wondered who teaches the lint to dance?
Chuchu: I have! *also watches lint*
Freckles & Dream: o.O
Random story fan: START THE STORY NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dream: umm…okay… Chapter 8: The Field Trip.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
School passed by quickly. Soon everyone except for Jin, Touya, Margaret, and Botan were at Autumn's house. They were in the kitchen talking. Their bags were piled up in a corner of the room.
"This is going to be great! I won't have to spend time with my family!" Arielle smiled.
"Freckles is going to be mad at me…" Autumn was waving a candy cane back and forth in front of Chuchu's face.
"So? He'll get over it!" Dariken snatched the candy cane out of Autumn's hand.
"HEY! THAT'S MINE!" Chuchu yelled angrily.
Dariken ate the candy cane and smiled, "Mm…candy…"
Thorn hit him on the head, "BAKA! You can't just go around stealing candy from people!"
"Yeah, it's not honorable to steal!" Kuwabara said.
"Kuwabara, nobody cares about what you think! Be quiet and think about what a worthless waste of life you are! Oh wait, you can't think without a brain." Arielle yelled. Hiei grinned slightly.
"Soooo….Arielle, what are you bringing on the trip?" Autumn glanced over at Arielle's backpack.
"COFFEE!" Arielle grinned.
Autumn's eyes grew wide, "NO! NOT COFFEE!"
Arielle started to laugh like a maniac. The others stared at her. Autumn smiled, "My friends are great."
Yusuke blinked at Autumn, "I wish we had never met you people…"
"I'm happy that we met them." Kurama said.
"Well, of course you're happy about meeting your dove." Yusuke smirked.
Kurama's eyes grew wide and his cheeks reddened, "How'd you find out about that???"
Yusuke shrugged, "I read it in Autumn's diary thing. You should see the stuff she writes in there…"
Autumn's eyes had flames in them, "YUSUKE!!!!!!!!!!! HOW DARE YOU READ MY PERSONAL INSANE EVERYDAY THOUGHTS?!? I'LL KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She started throwing textbooks at him. One hit his head and he held his head in pain. Autumn walked over and started strangling him.
"Hey, I thought you said no killing people in your house!" Arielle said.
Botan and Koenma appeared and stared blankly at Autumn strangling Yusuke. Kurama was trying to get Autumn to stop.
Koenma cleared his throat, "Are all of you ready to go?"
Autumn immediately let go of Yusuke, "Oh hello there!"
Yusuke rubbed his neck, "Damn! That hurt! …bitch…" Yusuke mumbled that last part so that nobody would hear.
Kurama hit Yusuke on the head, "Autumn is not a bitch, Yusuke!"
"No, but she will be! All she needs is a little more training…" Arielle smiled.
Koenma's eye twitched, "ARE YOU READY TO GO OR NOT???"
Everyone blinked at him. "Yes, we're ready." Kurama said. Everyone went over and got their stuff.
Soon they found themselves at the foot of the mountain where Phantom and Dariken were born. Jin was standing there with Margaret clinging to his arm. Touya was blinking at them.
Autumn's eyes widened as she looked up at the mountain in awe. She then looked around at the other mountains. There were five mountains total. All the mountains were flat topped, as if they had once been volcanoes long ago. Four of them were arranged in a circle around the fifth. The fifth was the tallest. There were flower petals of different colors floating down from its top. There was a forest at the base of the mountains. It was full of tall trees. A path was leading from where they stood around to each of the mountains.
"Wow." Autumn hadn't been prepared for this, even if she had been there before…sort of…
"HI AUTUMN!!!" Margaret yelled.
Autumn completely ignored the fact that Margaret existed. She was lost in thoughts. Seeing the mountains like this had stirred up more memories. These were somewhat pleasant memories though. From when Phantom had been really young.
Margaret stopped and waved her hand in front of Autumn's face. "Hello?"
Autumn's mind was lost to reality…
~*~What Autumn's seeing:
Three young fox kits were running around at the base of the mountain. The oldest, a crimson furred fox, was being tackled by the two smaller foxes. One of the smaller foxes had cream colored fur and there was a large light blue ribbon around her neck. The other had jet black fur. They were all yipping happily. Soon another kit ran up to them. He had very light blue fur and was about the same age as the crimson fox. They were all laughing happily until a dark shadow fell over them… The demon smiled, "Will you take me to see your elders?"
~*~
"Autumn? Autumn!" Kurama caught Autumn as she suddenly fell unconscious.
"What's wrong with her?" Arielle asked, worried about her friend.
Kurama held Autumn close, "She's alright, she just fainted…"
"Why?" Touya asked walking over.
"We should take a detour to the house where Phantom used to live; it's not to far from here…" Dariken pointed off into the forest.
Kurama nodded and picked Autumn up. After a while of walking they reached a rather large traditional Japanese house house. It had beautiful gardens in front of it and was very well kept. Kurama looked at the gardens. Bushes of roses, red and white, caught his eyes. 'Aww…she remembered me…'
Margaret blinked, "Wow, this place is really nice."
An elderly demon woman walked around from the back of the house carrying a bucket of water. On her shoulder was perched a small orange bird. The bird chirped and flew over to Dariken. The woman looked over and blinked at them.
"Kin I elp you wi something?" The woman asked.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my sister's house?" Dariken blinked while absently petting the bird's head.
"Ah, so you're Phantom's broder…" The woman put down her bucket. "Mi name is Darla. You're sista let me move in hea since I don't got nowheres else to go."
Dariken blinked, "My sister never tells me anything…"
The woman spotted Autumn in Kurama's arms, "Oi, what appened to da lass thea?"
"She fainted…May we come in?" Kurama asked.
"O course! O course!" The woman opened the door and led them into the living room area. The inside of the house was like a mix of different cultures. There was a large comfy looking couch in the room. Kurama gently put Autumn down on the couch and sat in a chair nearby. Dariken walked out of the room and came back a moment later with a bowl of water and a rag. The others made themselves comfortable in other parts of the room.
"Wow, this place is huge!" Arielle commented, "Phantom really had it made."
"Aye, but she din't stay hea often. She was usually travelin bout. Said she ated dis place cause it reminded her too much of her boss." The woman brought out refreshments for everyone. The orange bird had taken up a perch on the back of Kurama's chair.
"So why'd she keep it?" Yusuke asked.
"She told me dat she was waitin ta see if dis guy would come back to her. Said is name was Youko."
Everyone who hadn't already known blinked and turned to Kurama. He rubbed the back of his head.
Margaret pointed, "Youko and Phantom were in love???"
Dariken's ear twitched in annoyance. The elderly demon nodded, "Aye, dat dey were. E came a lookin for her afta she disappeared. I told im she was gone. E left afore I could give im the note she left."
Yusuke pointed at Kurama, "Well, give it to him now."
"…I…uh…I misplaced it…" Darla (A.N: I just realized that I gave her a name before…o.O) looked at the ground.
Autumn groaned and opened her eyes. Kurama helped her sit up and she looked around, "Where are we…?"
"Phantom Harmony's house." Botan said.
Autumn opened her eyes wide in shock, "Why?"
"Because you fainted." Touya said accusingly.
Autumn blinked, …I can't believe it! I had a memory thing while I was wide awake! And I fainted because of it!
"Are you alright? How are you feeling?" Kurama asked worriedly.
"I'm fine…" Autumn rubbed her forehead.
The little orange bird chirped and tilted her head to the side. Thorn pointed at the bird, "Darla, is this your pet?"
"No, this is Jouka, my sister's loyal companion. Phantom would take Jouka around so that she would always have weapons handy if need be." Dariken mused.
"Jouka?" Margaret asked.
"It means 'sacred fire' in Japanese." Dariken said.
"Koenma sir, are you alright?" Botan asked Koenma.
"I can't believe it! Phantom chose that loser thief over me!" Koenma yelled.
Everyone sweat dropped. Margaret piped up, "Yeah, didn't she know Youko's a slut?"
"HE IS NOT!" Kurama yelled.
Koenma
pouted, "Well, I guess you guys should get going…"
The group split and went off to
their assigned destinations after much grumbling from Margaret about having
Hiei taken from her. While they were walking Kurama kept a close watch on Autumn. She seemed tired and distant.
Dariken was leading the group. Yusuke was behind him. Arielle was walking next to Hiei. In the back were Autumn and Kurama.
"What happened?" Kurama broke the silence that had fallen between them.
"I had a memory…then everything went black."
"You scared me…"
"Sorry…"
Kurama grabbed her hand and held it tightly. Neither of them said a word for the rest of the trip. Once they got to the mountain Dariken led them around back. There was a cave there with some of those glow stones lining the way.
"Now what?" Yusuke asked.
"Now we walk up to the top." Dariken went first. First they had to climb up a spiral staircase. Next they had to pass through a hallway that spiraled up the inside of the mountain. Then more stairs. Then more hallway until finally they reached two doors made of black crystal. There was an image of a forest of cherry blossom trees in bloom painted on the door.
"Finally!" Yusuke panted.
Dariken swung open the doors and there before them stood what appeared to be hundreds of burnt trees. They stepped out into the large crater. The ground was covered in ancient ashes. Here and there some small plants were growing but, for the most part, there was nothing alive there.
"Wow, this is depressing…" Yusuke said.
Dariken sighed and looked around, "You're telling me." He pointed off to the left. "I think my home used to be over there…"
Autumn shivered as she looked around, the place reminded her too much of her dreams. She moved closer to Kurama. Hiei was walking around. He turned and started walking towards the lake in the far left corner of the crater. The others followed. By the lake there were more plants growing. Even some flowers were alive and in bloom. Yusuke picked something up off the ground. He examined it closely.
"What is it?" Arielle asked as Yusuke continued to examine the whitish thing.
"It's part of a skull." Hiei said emotionlessly.
Yusuke immediately dropped it. Autumn looked away from it. Kurama sighed, "Perhaps this was a bad idea…"
Arielle had been walking near one of the burnt trees when she saw something metallic. She brushed the ash off of it and picked it up. It was an ancient looking dagger. The blade was rusty.
"That looks…familiar…" Dariken furrowed his brow in concentration.
Autumn tilted her head to the side. She also thought that it looked familiar.
Suddenly an all too familiar wicked laugh rang out in through the air…
~*~Meanwhile:
Botan was leading Jin, Margaret, Touya, Thorn, and Kuwabara through the streets of a small village. They passed by demons trying to sell things. Most of the demons they passed glared at them.
"Friendly place, isn't it?" Jin asked.
"The only reason we're getting glared at is because we have humans in our group…" Touya crossed his arms.
"I wish Hiei were here…" Margaret sighed.
Jin felt himself get a bit jealous, "Hiei this Hiei that! What's so great about Hiei, anyway??? WHAT ABOUT ME???????"
"Jin feels neglected." Thorn said.
"Poor Jin!" Margaret began clinging to his arm again.
"What are we supposed to be looking for?" Kuwabara asked.
"Information on Phantom Harmony!" Botan said cheerily.
"OH LOOK!!!!!!!!!!!" Thorn
pointed at one of the stores. The demon was selling clothes.
Botan followed Thorn into the store and they both started going around picking out clothes. Margaret, Kuwabara, Jin, and Touya stood blinking outside. Margaret soon went in to join them and the boys went to a weapons store.
~*~Meanwhile (again):
Autumn moved closer to Kurama as the wicked laughter continued.
"Show Yourself!" Dariken yelled.
"Very well." Nuala stepped out of the shadows. She was holding a sack that moved slightly.
"NUALA???" Dariken growled at her and took a step forward.
"Don't take another step!" Nuala hissed.
"What are you going to do, hurt me?" Dariken mocked.
"No, I'm going to hurt him." Nuala pulled a white and black ball of fluff out of the bag.
Autumn's eyes widened in both shock and fear. "FRECKLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she yelled out.
"Let the rabbit go…" Kurama narrowed his eyes.
Nuala started laughing again, "I will do no such thing. Until I get what I want."
"Which is?" Kurama was afraid to ask.
"Her life." Nuala pointed at Autumn.
Dariken growled, "What???"
"You heard me. That girl ruined my plans and now I want revenge. I'll let the rabbit go if she agrees to let me kill her."
"That's stupid! Only an idiot would be willing to give up their own life for a rabbit!" Yusuke yelled.
"Then I suppose I'm an idiot." Autumn said as she took a step towards Nuala. Everyone looked at her with shocked expressions on their faces.
Kurama grabbed her arm. "You can't be serious…I know you love that rabbit but…"
Autumn tried to pull free from Kurama's grasp, "Let me go!"
Kurama pulled Autumn into a hug, "I can't do that."
A soft squeak was heard as Nuala twisted one of the rabbit's ears. Autumn turned her head to look, "Freckles!!!" There were tears in her eyes as she looked back at Kurama, "Kurama, please! I have to help Freckles!"
Kurama closed his eyes so he wouldn't see her hurt expression, "I'm sorry…"
"Well, fine then! If you don't care about the rabbit!" Nuala produced a strange looking vial and smiled, "I'll poison him."
"NO!" Autumn yelled as Nuala forced the vial's contents down the rabbit's throat.
Nuala tossed the rabbit aside and he began to glow. She blinked, "What the hell is going on????"
The light got too bright and everyone had to look away. Once the light cleared everyone looked back to where the rabbit used to be. Autumn kept her eyes closed.
"Whoah! The rabbit exploded!" Yusuke exclaimed. "And in his place is a little boy with rabbit ears and a fluffy rabbit tail!"
"No, you baka! That boy is the rabbit!" Hiei exclaimed.
Autumn opened her eyes and looked. Sure enough there was a little rabbit boy sitting there looking around. He saw everyone staring at him, "What?"
"Freckles?" Autumn asked shakily.
"Yeah, momma?"
Autumn just pointed at him. He looked at his reflection in the lake. His eyes widened, "OH MY GOD! I'M HUMAN!!!!!!!! GROSS!!!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!! I have meat teeth!!!!!!! All my glorious fur is gone!!!!!!!! This is terrible! I'm human! I feel like I'm gonna cry! I…I…I HAVE THUMBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Freckles was looking at his hands in amazement.
"This is…odd…" Kurama said.
"Very." Autumn agreed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dream: well?
Freckles: THUMBS!!!!!!
Chuchu: I want thumbs… I want hands!
Dream: hmm…I think I like that idea…
Muppet: Furby ^_^ *puts on a cheese costume*
Dream: wha?
Chuchu: *puts on a sombrero* ^_^ churro
Dream: o.O
Freckles: *puts on sunglasses* ^_^ thumbs
Dream: _ you three are creeping me out! *runs away*