Dream: Hiya! Welcome to chapter 10 of Echoes in the Wind!
Freckles: Start the story already!
Dream: My, you're impatient today!
Freckles: STORY NOW OR ELSE!
Dream: sheesh! Fine, here's the story:
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It was getting late. Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, Koenma, Thorn, and Dariken had been talking for hours about what to do next. Touya and Jin had decided to go outside and train. Margaret, Arielle, OkageHime, Botan, and Autumn had gone to sleep in the plentiful guestrooms. Freckles squirmed out of Autumn's arms and sat down on the edge of the bed.
He smiled, Ah! It feels so good to be up and about again on two legs! I had forgotten the joys of being demon! He looked back at Autumn who was fast asleep having one of her dreams. Poor Autumn, but she really does have to remember everything. I wonder if I should reveal my true identity to her…
Autumn whimpered softly and rolled over, "Melody…"
Freckles' ear twitched, Ah, Koenma and the others are talking in the living room. I'll go and taunt him some more. He deserves it after allowing me to be murdered like that! (A.N: don't worry, it'll all make sense soon enough.)
"This dagger…it seems so familiar to me…" Dariken was studying the dagger.
"Maybe we can get Phantom to reveal herself by insulting her pride. Demons hate having their pride insulted. Right, Hiei?" Yusuke smirked.
"That won't work, baka. Harmony may have pride, but she wouldn't be so hasty as to blow her cover in order to defend it!" Freckles stated matter-of-factly as he walked casually into the room and sat down on the couch next to Kurama. Jin and Touya came in and sat down. Both were exhausted.
Koenma arched an eyebrow, "Oh and how do you know that?"
"I know a lot of things about Harmony that you don't." Freckles replied arrogantly.
"Obviously you don't know as much as you think if you call her Harmony! She hated that name!"
"She hated hearing it from people she didn't know or like. However, she allowed those that she trusted and respected to call her Harmony." Freckles was keeping his calm. I shall tell them the truth as soon as someone asks…
"YOU'RE JUST A STUPID HOUSE PET! HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY KNOW THESE THINGS???" Koenma was getting ticked.
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Koenma! Actually I'm surprised you didn't realize sooner! I suppose that's to be expected from an idiot such as you."
"Freckles…?" Kurama asked.
"No. While I am in my true form you shall address me by my true name: Tenka Hikage, former lord of the Kiri Mori rabbit tribe! [1]"
Everyone stared blankly at him. Koenma started laughing, "Yeah right! Nice try, rabbit!"
"Stop laughing you imbecile! If I was just a rabbit, how would I have known about the Kiri Mori rabbit demons???"
Koenma stopped and blinked at him, "No…TENKA???? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU??? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!!!"
"I AM DEAD! After years of being a spirit I found a way to be reborn in the human world! I was reborn as a domestic rabbit! This is all your fault! They murdered me right in front of your eyes and you didn't do a damn thing to stop them!" Freckles…err…Tenka pointed at Koenma accusingly.
"I didn't know…"
"HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE KNOWN??? I WAS STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU WHEN THAT TREACHEROUS FIEND CAME UP AND STABBED ME IN THE BACK!!!!"
"I was busy eating."
"EATING??? YOU WERE BUSY EATING??? IS FOOD ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT YOU LAZY SON OF A BITCH???"
"Freckles stop yelling, you're going to wake everyone up." Autumn yawned as she stood there in her kitty pajamas. She was holding a glass of water that she had just gotten and her eyes were half closed.
"Of course. Good night, mother." Tenka said.
"Good night, hairball." Autumn walked away.
"…wait, if you're really Tenka why are you calling her mother…?" Koenma narrowed his eyes.
"Because she's been taking care of me and treating me as a mother would her child. Therefore I now think of her as my mother."
Touya scratched his head, "The Kiri Mori rabbit tribe, huh? They specialize in ice type attacks, right?"
"Yes, we do. My power was always limited to things dealing with snow since I didn't feel it necessary to learn anything too lethal. Mostly because of the morals that I learned from a very special friend of mine."
"You mean my sister." Dariken studied Tenka curiously.
"Yes."
"She always spoke fondly of you and would take any chance she could in order to go visit you." Dariken remembered.
"I'm really confused, guys!" Kuwabara said.
"Kuwabaka, you're always confused." Tenka rolled his eyes.
~*~Meanwhile Autumn is dreaming…again…:
After recovering from the initial shock of seeing her sister lying dead at her feet, Phantom began to whimper uncontrollably. She had had a feeling that she was too late to save her sister but at least there had still been hope…Now…now all hope was gone… She could smell her mother's blood on Melody.
Phantom lay down next to her sister's body. Her stormy blue eyes were free of all emotion. She didn't feel anything. There was a hole in her heart that was slowly but surely eating away at her soul. "Harmony…don't lose hope…" a voice whispered from the shadows.
That sounds like…Melody! Phantom looked to the body beside her. No, her sister was still dead. That left only one explanation: it had been Melody's spirit talking to her.
This revelation caused the flame of hope to burn within her once again. Her sister was dead. She couldn't change that. She could, however, save the others from meeting the same fate. She took the bloodied ribbon off of her sister's body and slid it around her own neck. "This is for you, Mel; for you, mom, and all the others. I promise I'll stop that demon. You hear me, demon? I'll stop you from hurting anyone else!" Phantom called out to the fire in the ancient tongue of the foxes.
With that said, Phantom took off in whatever direction her heart led her. She leapt over rocks, branches, and bodies as she ran. She dodged the creeping flames until, finally, her target was in sight. Her spirit energy burned as purple foxfire around her, fueled by her hatred of the demon beast before her. The demon stopped kicking the fox body before him and turned to face the source of that power.
He was a dragon demon. He had large, silver, leathery wings and a long silver dragon tail. His red eyes showed no remorse for what he had done. His long black hair was tipped with gold and his clothes were dark and loose fitting. He held a bloodied dagger in his right hand and in his left was an amulet with an amethyst in the center. It was surrounded by a black aura that made Phantom shiver.
The demon's face went from bored to amused as he saw the little black fox standing there like she would fight him. "Ah, Harmony! I was wondering what had become of you! I see you've discovered that you're dear sister is no longer among the living. Don't worry, you'll be joining her soon enough." He had learned to speak their language during the time he had spent there.
"Monster! Why are you doing this?"
"It's simple really: Power. I want the power that you foxes have. I want that ultimate power and this will help me get it!" He held out the amulet.
Phantom arched an eyebrow, "What is it…?"
"This is an amulet mad of pure dark energy! All I have to do is cut the tails off of the kitsune while they're alive and touch the tails to this gem! Then the kistune's spirit and energy is trapped in here for all eternity! After I'm finished collecting the spirit of every single Mist Mountain Kitsune I'll take the crystal and then I will be the most powerful being alive!"
"You're mad! Well, no matter. You will never succeed! I won't let you!"
"How cute! Do you really think you can succeed where so many of your elders have failed?"
"I do and I will succeed." Phantom's foxfire burned brighter as she readied herself for a fight.
The demon laughed and vanished. Phantom was stunned. She then felt herself being lifted off of the ground by the scruff. She was turned to face the demon's arrogant smile, "Phantom Harmony…? Ironic, isn't it? This whole time that everyone thought that their lives were perfect and harmonious it was all just an illusion, a phantom of the true reality. You were the only one who saw through the illusion but it didn't do you any good, now did it? You're still going to die like the others…"
Phantom's eyes widened in fear as he brought his dagger up to her right ear and slowly began to cut a piece out of it. She screamed in agony…
~*~Meanwhile in the living room…:
"So you're really a reincarnated rabbit demon who was this mighty and powerful ruler of your people?" Yusuke was trying desperately to understand everything that Tenka had told them.
"Yep." Tenka popped another one of the cookies that Darla had made into his mouth.
"And you were killed because…?" Yusuke asked.
"Because the council of my people didn't like the idea of being ruled by someone who was cursed to forever remain physically a child."
"How did you get cursed?" Thorn asked.
"I did it myself, actually. I thought that if I remained a child I wouldn't have to take on the responsibilities left to me once my parents passed away. That didn't work so I ran away. I met Harmony and she convinced me to go back. By then it was too late to reverse the curse so I was just sort of stuck as a kid. It was kind of annoying having to look up at the person that I was giving orders to."
"I know what you mean." Koenma said.
"Yes, but unlike you I was respected by those that I was lord over. I was never openly insulted by my people."
"The Kiri Mori rabbit tribe respected you as a kind and just leader. They were at peace with you as their lord." Kurama said.
"I am still confused…" Kuwabara said.
Before anyone could respond a scream was heard from one of the rooms. "That sounded like…Autumn!" Tenka jumped off of the table and ran down the hall followed closely by Kurama and everyone else behind.
Tenka ran into Autumn's room and jumped on the bed, "Mother, are you alright?"
Autumn was sitting up and had her face buried in her hands. She was sobbing. Kurama rushed into the room and sat down next to her, "Autumn? Autumn, it's alright, don't be afraid."
She looked up at him. For a moment her vision was blurry, she couldn't tell if she was still on that mountain or back at the house. She felt Kurama's arms wrap around her and pull her close. "Kur…Kurama…?" she whispered.
"Yes, I'm here." He said in a soothing voice. Everyone else had come into the room and Darla had lit the fire in the lamp.
"What happened?" Botan asked sleepily.
"Autumn had a nightmare, that's all. You can all go back to what you were doing before. Go on. Shoo." Tenka motioned for everyone to leave.
Botan, Arielle, Margaret, and OkageHime went back to their rooms. Darla went to get another glass of water for Autumn. Jin and Touya went back out to the living room to talk. That left Hiei leaning against the wall watching Kurama soothe Autumn, who was crying. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Koenma were just standing there. Dariken and Thorn were asking what they could do to help.
"Autumn, you told me once that you don't get nightmares. Now all of a sudden, you do?" Thorn tilted her head to the side.
"Please…I don't want to talk about it…" Autumn's voice was choked with sadness and barely audible.
Yusuke whistled dramatically, "Whatever it was must've been really bad."
"I thought I told all of you to leave. The only one's who should be in here right now are Autumn, Kurama, and myself. Now go." Tenka pointed at the door and they all returned to the living room. Kurama stayed with Autumn until she fell asleep again.
Tenka smiled at Kurama, "I'm sorry if I annoyed you before. I suppose you really are a good person."
Kurama smiled back, "It's quite alright. Come on, let's let her rest."
"Yes." They both walked back into the living room. Kurama sank back down onto the couch and sighed. Tenka jumped up to sit next to him.
"How is she?" Dariken asked.
"Sleeping peacefully." Kurama closed his eyes and began to think.
"You shouldn't worry too much about her. I'm sure she'll be fine, after all it was only a dream." Koenma said.
"Perhaps, but according to the confused look on her face when I first got there I'd say that it was a very realistic dream." Kurama still had his eyes closed.
"Among my people, those who had such dreams were called Blind Seers because they often found themselves unable to separate reality from their dreams." Tenka mused.
"Ye should all try an git some sleep. Ye'll be needin the rest in orda ta find Phantom." Darla said as she cleared off the little coffee table.
"Darla's right. Let's all get a good nights rest and we'll continue talking in the morning." Tenka hopped down from the couch and started walking away whistling. The others soon went to bed as well.
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[1] Tenka Hikage is a character that I just made up today…err…yesterday... If it sounds like anyone else's character then that's just a coincidence. Tenka means snow and Hikage means shadow so put it together and you get… Snow Shadow! Yay! Also Kiri Mori translates to Mist Forest which I also made up. Kiri Mori is supposed to indicate the forest that surrounds the Mist Mountains so the Kiri Mori rabbit tribe is a group of rabbit demons living in that forest. Simple, ne? I might make a story involving Tenka after I'm done with this…
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Dream: Yawn, it's past midnight, I'm going to bed.
Freckles: zzzzzzzzz
Dream: Well, I hope you people liked chap. 10. Please review. Flames welcome, I need to cook my marshmallows… *uses a stick to poke a bag of marshmallows*