Disclaimer: Me + Owning + Yu Yu Hakusho = . . . I WISH!!!!! But I don't!
^_^
Author's Note: Here's Chapter 8. I don't have much to say here except read and please enjoy. Thank you.
Chapter: 8
Hiei landed soundlessly on the branch of a large, gnarled looking tree. Sharp, red eyes caught a glimpse of silver beneath him. Kurama was in his kitsune form, as it allowed him to move faster. They were close. The landscape was beginning to look familiar. Normally he'd be able to pick up Yusuke's ki signature, but alas, he felt nothing now. This revelation worried him greatly. For the jaganashi would never admit it, but the former Tantai was his friend, and although Hiei had the tendency to be a rather emotionless killer, that didn't mean he was heartless. He was, if not anything else, fiercely loyal to those who he considered to be friends.
Perhaps if he used his jagan he'd be able to sense something . . . but the jagan omitted tons of energy, and if any of those enemy youkai caught wind of their presence it could mean trouble. No, the risk was too great. He supposed that he'd just have to wait till they were actually inside the city.
"Just what makes that little old ant, think he'll move that rubber tree plant? Anyone knows an ant can't move a rubber tree plant, but he's got hiiigh hopes, he's got hiiigh ho-umph!" Keiko's singing was cut off as she landed on the ground with a painful thump. She glared up in annoyance at the smirking fire youkai above her.
"What, you didn't like my singing Hiei?" She asked playfully. Hiei raised an eyebrow and jumped down next to her.
"You've been singing the same song for the past hour and a half." He said dryly.
Keiko shrugged. "It's a good song." She said in her own defense. Hiei just snorted and looked away disdainfully. Keiko frowned. Well SHE thought it was good anyway. It was just that she had nothing better to do while being carried on Hiei's back across the Makai. That had been the solution to their earlier predicament. Kurama would take on his kitsune form, and Hiei would carry her on his back. Traveling at such a speed, Keiko was disappointed to find that she wasn't given the opportunity to take any more pictures. Oh well though. At least she knew Hiei was beginning to warm up to her, and that was good. She'd always liked the temperamental demon, but you only befriended Hiei if he wanted your friendship, and up to this point, the only real contact she'd had with him was when he had tried to kill her all those years ago. So if A plus B equaled C, then Keiko was quite sure that the fire demon had never really paid that much attention to her. However, he seemed to be okay with her now. She smiled to herself.
'All I had to do was break up with Yusuke, learn to fight, develop some Reikai, and sing High Hopes while being carried on his back to get Hiei to like me. Heh, go figure.' She thought.
Suddenly, a minute rustling caught their attention. They both looked toward a particularly green bushy plant, and out walked a small silver fox, it's six glossy tails laid out neatly behind it. It's ears twitched and its glimmering golden eyes were hypnotizing if one were to stare into them to long.
Gracefully, and proudly, it trotted up to them, and then sat right in front of them. It lifted a dainty paw to its mouth, licked the fur, and then winked at them. Keiko couldn't help but grin.
"Aww, you're so cute, Kurama!" She exclaimed, and reached over to scratch behind the little fox's ears. Kurama seemed to be grinning at them. Hiei merely rolled his eyes.
"Vain kitsune." He mumbled, but smiled fondly at the creature.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Down!"
"What?"
"I said get down!"
"Why?"
"Look!"
"What the hell are those things, Dim?"
"Don't know, but would you get down now?"
"I'm down, I'm down. Why are they here?"
"Good question. All I know is that they're powerful. We can't fight 'em."
"Not even if you, me, Kane, and the girls try to take them on?"
"No, it'd be futile. There are too many of them anyway. If only . . . if only Yusuke were . . . better."
"I know I know, but wishing isn't going to help anything . . . damn those things are gross looking! I've never seen demons like those before! You?"
"No. Hey, wait Tain, where did Kane run off too? He was here about an hour ago."
"The city."
"I see. Well, I hope he comes back soon. We may have to fight if they start trying to storm the castle."
"Yeah . . . ya know, sometimes I wonder why I even bother to get up in the morning."
"Shut-up, Tain."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What are THOSE things? They look disgusting!" Whispered Keiko. Currently she was lying on her stomach under a large crop of undergrowth enshrouded with a whole bunch of overgrowth. If she moved her arms even slightly, then they would meet with patches of angry, and quite relentless little thorns. She could see fairly well out of the natural opening in the undergrowth, but her legs were cramped up and falling asleep. She let out a quiet sigh. This trip just kept getting better and better!
Hiei was off to her right, although, he didn't seem to be having a problem with his position. After all, he'd probably done this kind of thing several times in the past. As for Kurama, well, he'd gone scouting ahead. His kitsune form did not give off a large ki signature, and what it did could be easily disguised. His small, limber form was perfect for sneaking around without being noticed, although his gleaming fur had been a concern, Kurama had solved that problem by rolling around in the dirt a little bit. He seemed like a very playful creature in his true form, much like any of Kuwabara's kittens.
Keiko smiled. She loved animals! Maybe when all of this was over, and she went home, she'd get a cat. She needed the companionship sometimes, and a furry feline would be just the pet to travel with. Not to independent on her, relaxed, able to care for itself for the most part. Yep, she'd have to do that.
Just then, Kurama crept up. He made a motion with one of his for-paws, basically telling them that they needed to back up, and go deeper into the forest. Keiko nodded stiffly, and slowly, oh so carefully, pulled herself from the wall of dangerous vegetation. Her hair caught on a few branches, and tore at her clothing a bit, but she managed to keep her skin from being pierced.
Once out, they followed the fox back into the woods. Keiko found it rather fascinating that with all of the dried up leaves and sticks, and things on the forest floor, neither Hiei, nor Kurama made a sound. It was as if they were walking on cotton. As for herself, well, she was making quite a ruckus even though she was trying to step as lightly as possible.
Hiei stopped, and Keiko took the cue to stop as well. Kurama transformed before them and was clad then in his youko skin. Oddly enough, he wasn't covered in dirt like his kitsune form had been. Keiko sighed. There were a lot of things she didn't think she'd ever understand. However, the time to ponder such things would have to come at a later hour.
"What does it look like?" Asked Hiei.
Kurama shook his head. "Those things are loosely surrounding the perimeter of the walls that frame the city. I've never seen demons of this kind before, Hiei. What do you suppose they are?"
"I'm not sure."
Keiko shivered. Those THINGS resembled slimy amphibious creatures covered in oozy patches of dark brown fur, and sharp fangs protruded from their huge, lipless mouths. They were absolutely revolting to the eyes, and even harder on the stomach.
"You said that they are loosely surrounding the perimeter, right? So what's the problem? Can't we just sort of . . . go in?" She asked.
Kurama nodded. "It looks that way, Keiko, but it's too strange. If they are planning a hostile take over of some sort, and the city is their base, then why wouldn't they be protecting it? It doesn't make sense." He replied.
Hiei put a hand on the hilt of his sword. "It could be a trap." He said simply. Obviously, that was what they were all thinking.
Keiko shifted her position a little; her legs were just beginning to gain back their feeling as blood once again began to circulate.
"So . . . what do we do?" A simple question, really it was. However, such a question lacked an answer, and so, it's simplicity lost, it became something of a frustrating puzzle; one that required a few moments of silence to come up with an answer.
"We'll have to take that risk, that's all there is to it I'm afraid." Kurama said quietly. Hiei nodded in agreement, his hand tightening around his beloved sword.
Keiko, however, was not so happy about it. "But it could be dangerous!"
Kurama nodded. "Yes, it could."
"We could get killed!"
This time Hiei acquiesced. "We most definitely could."
Keiko frowned. "What if we're caught? We could be tortured!"
Kurama blinked, and seemed like he was thinking about it, then he nodded in agreement. "Yep, there's a pretty good chance of it."
"Aren't you guys worried?" Keiko finally, asked, giving up.
Hiei shrugged. "You can't go into a battle expecting to win, but you can go in expecting to die, or get injured, or something along those lines. You either learn to accept it, or you die anyway."
"Yes, it is the way of things." Added Kurama.
The human girl slumped her shoulders. It was the WRONG way of things. All of the worst case scenarios could easily happen, and it hadn't come to mind yet to think of what could happen if they were successful in getting in. Imagine being killed by such despicable beasts! Keiko wasn't fond of the idea at all. And then, she wouldn't even get to see Yusuke!
'Bad Keiko, bad Keiko, BAD!' She scolded herself mentally for thinking about seeing Yusuke. 'You DON'T want to see him, so stop THINKING about him!' Another little voice cut in.
(You do so want to see him.) It said.
'No, I don't!'
(Yes you do!)
'No I don't!'
(Do too!)
'Do not!'
(Do too!)
'Listen, this is MY head that we're fighting in, and I say that I don't want to see him, okay? Now shoo! I have way more important things to worry about than your smart ass mouth!' Keiko said. The voice subsided then, and Keiko smiled proudly.
"I guess we have to do it your way then." She said, turning her attention back to Kurama and Hiei. They nodded, and began forming a plan. Keiko knew better than to interrupt, after all it wasn't her place. She'd just do what they told her to do when they told her to do it, and that would be that. If they died, so be it, at least she'd get to see Botan again. After the separation, Keiko hadn't seen much of the bubbly young woman, and she and Botan had been good friends. However, if they survived then they'd have to see Yusuke, and that meant . . . well . . .seeing Yusuke. After seven long years of NOT thinking about him, she'd see him, be able to touch him, and feel his presence hovering all around her, making her feel safe, protected, and warm. That feeling, she'd missed it, she really had. Suddenly, she felt a familiar sort of pricking behind her eyes, as tears threatened to start flowing. She shook her head lightly. No, not after the horrible amount of time it took her to stop crying over him, she couldn't start again. Maybe if she did . . . then she wouldn't be able to stop . . .
"Keiko."
She snapped her head up in the direction of the voice. It was Kurama. He and Hiei looked like they were ready.
"Yeah?" She asked softly.
"You'll ride with Hiei again."
She nodded. "Alright."
Kurama seemed to pick up on her lack of enthusiasm, but there was no time to confront the problem, he'd have to do it later. Instead, he briefed her on their plan. It was really very simple. He would go down first, use a few of his lovely plants to quickly get rid of the few youkai near and at the gates. With any luck, they wouldn't draw any attention to themselves, giving them enough time to slip past the gates, which had been left hanging open, and into the city. With Hiei's speed they'd be able to slip through the city without detection, and Kurama would take on his kitsune form. That was it . . .unless something went terribly wrong, which was always a possibility, but it couldn't be helped anyway, so there was no sense in worrying about it.
"Do you understand?" Asked Kurama when he was finished. Keiko nodded, and at the same time, climbed onto Hiei's back. She wouldn't slow him down at all, for to Hiei, Keiko was unbelievably light, almost as if he weren't carrying anything at all. The only reminder he had that she was even there was the painfully tight grip that her hands held on his upper torso. Her fingernails were anything but brittle, as they had done a fair job in digging into his flesh the last time.
Hiei watched from his perch on a tree as Kurama put his part of the plan into action. All over the desired area, deadly plants grew and disposed of those gross creatures soundlessly, then either died, or retreated back into the soil that they had derived from. The process was short and precise. Such was Kurama's usual way of fighting. On the fox's signal, Hiei leapt from the tree branch and moved quickly to the wooden gate that was open somewhat. The gate appeared heavy enough, and looked as though it had been forced open, if the torn up grass (which was dead and or dying anyway) was any clue to the path of which it had slid open.
Kurama motioned for them to enter, and they wasted no time in doing so. However, Hiei took two unsuspecting steps, so he was just passed the gate and inside when he stopped, due to the sudden presence of the long, sharp looking blade of a glaive being held at his neck. Hiei did not wince as a small, insignificant line of dark, crimson red blood ran down his pale skin.
"Who are you?" Asked the owner of the offending glaive.
Hiei's red eyes watched the other youkai impassively. Without any hesitation he took a careful step backward, and allowed Keiko to climb off of his back. He took his own sweat time all the while. This seemed to anger the unidentified demon. In fact, he snarled.
"Answer the question trespasser!" Ordered the demon, his icy blue eyes narrowing.
Hiei watched the blue-eyed demon, studying him, but saying nothing. Keiko stood back a little further, more than a little unsure about the outcome of this encounter.
"Fine, if you won't answer, then you will die!" Cried the nameless demon. He pulled the glaive back, and then swiped it forward in a vain attempt to decapitate Hiei, who ducked under the blade, and supposedly, disappeared. When the weapon hit nothing, the youkai's eyes widened. Suddenly, he felt his legs give out from beneath him, and he hit the ground, his weapon falling out of his hands, but landing in Hiei's. His blue eyes glared up into crimson eyes, and he gulped against the blade at his throat.
"So kill me, you heartless bastard." He spat.
Hiei raised an eyebrow. "Ch! I can't lower my standards just to kill and annoying, weakling such as you." Hiei pulled the glaive away and tossed it behind him. It landed with a cling on the stone ground. "Besides, I don't do requests." He added, and started to walk away.
Keiko watched after him. She was inclined to follow, but something enabled her from moving. Perhaps it was that poor, stunned, young youkai still lying on the gray ground. Slowly, she approached him. He looked up sharply, but his features relaxed when he caught the expression of kindness on her pretty face. Keiko knelt down beside him.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
He blinked at her first, and then shook his head gently.
"Good, here let me help you up." She offered a slender hand to him, and he hesitantly took it. He thought that this girl was actually quite strong.
"My name is Keiko Yukimura, what's yours?" Keiko asked. She smiled when she noticed his not so discreet hesitation. However, he nodded his head stiffly.
"Dimitre." He answered in a somewhat deep tone of voice, although it did not rival Hiei's.
"It's a pleasure, perhaps you can help us."
Both girl and guy gasped as they noticed, for the first time, a tall, magnificent silver youko standing proudly behind them. Dimitre, as he was called, got into a fighting stance, but the youko only chuckled, and Keiko giggled.
"Spirited kid, Keiko." Said the fox.
"I guess, but don't scare me like that, Kurama! I'm liable to have a heart attack, ya know?" Replied Keiko playfully. Poor Dimitre was very confused. He scowled.
"Maybe you guys should tell me who you are, and what you're doing here." He said. Both Keiko and Kurama turned their attention back to the young youkai.
Author's Note: Here's Chapter 8. I don't have much to say here except read and please enjoy. Thank you.
Chapter: 8
Hiei landed soundlessly on the branch of a large, gnarled looking tree. Sharp, red eyes caught a glimpse of silver beneath him. Kurama was in his kitsune form, as it allowed him to move faster. They were close. The landscape was beginning to look familiar. Normally he'd be able to pick up Yusuke's ki signature, but alas, he felt nothing now. This revelation worried him greatly. For the jaganashi would never admit it, but the former Tantai was his friend, and although Hiei had the tendency to be a rather emotionless killer, that didn't mean he was heartless. He was, if not anything else, fiercely loyal to those who he considered to be friends.
Perhaps if he used his jagan he'd be able to sense something . . . but the jagan omitted tons of energy, and if any of those enemy youkai caught wind of their presence it could mean trouble. No, the risk was too great. He supposed that he'd just have to wait till they were actually inside the city.
"Just what makes that little old ant, think he'll move that rubber tree plant? Anyone knows an ant can't move a rubber tree plant, but he's got hiiigh hopes, he's got hiiigh ho-umph!" Keiko's singing was cut off as she landed on the ground with a painful thump. She glared up in annoyance at the smirking fire youkai above her.
"What, you didn't like my singing Hiei?" She asked playfully. Hiei raised an eyebrow and jumped down next to her.
"You've been singing the same song for the past hour and a half." He said dryly.
Keiko shrugged. "It's a good song." She said in her own defense. Hiei just snorted and looked away disdainfully. Keiko frowned. Well SHE thought it was good anyway. It was just that she had nothing better to do while being carried on Hiei's back across the Makai. That had been the solution to their earlier predicament. Kurama would take on his kitsune form, and Hiei would carry her on his back. Traveling at such a speed, Keiko was disappointed to find that she wasn't given the opportunity to take any more pictures. Oh well though. At least she knew Hiei was beginning to warm up to her, and that was good. She'd always liked the temperamental demon, but you only befriended Hiei if he wanted your friendship, and up to this point, the only real contact she'd had with him was when he had tried to kill her all those years ago. So if A plus B equaled C, then Keiko was quite sure that the fire demon had never really paid that much attention to her. However, he seemed to be okay with her now. She smiled to herself.
'All I had to do was break up with Yusuke, learn to fight, develop some Reikai, and sing High Hopes while being carried on his back to get Hiei to like me. Heh, go figure.' She thought.
Suddenly, a minute rustling caught their attention. They both looked toward a particularly green bushy plant, and out walked a small silver fox, it's six glossy tails laid out neatly behind it. It's ears twitched and its glimmering golden eyes were hypnotizing if one were to stare into them to long.
Gracefully, and proudly, it trotted up to them, and then sat right in front of them. It lifted a dainty paw to its mouth, licked the fur, and then winked at them. Keiko couldn't help but grin.
"Aww, you're so cute, Kurama!" She exclaimed, and reached over to scratch behind the little fox's ears. Kurama seemed to be grinning at them. Hiei merely rolled his eyes.
"Vain kitsune." He mumbled, but smiled fondly at the creature.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Down!"
"What?"
"I said get down!"
"Why?"
"Look!"
"What the hell are those things, Dim?"
"Don't know, but would you get down now?"
"I'm down, I'm down. Why are they here?"
"Good question. All I know is that they're powerful. We can't fight 'em."
"Not even if you, me, Kane, and the girls try to take them on?"
"No, it'd be futile. There are too many of them anyway. If only . . . if only Yusuke were . . . better."
"I know I know, but wishing isn't going to help anything . . . damn those things are gross looking! I've never seen demons like those before! You?"
"No. Hey, wait Tain, where did Kane run off too? He was here about an hour ago."
"The city."
"I see. Well, I hope he comes back soon. We may have to fight if they start trying to storm the castle."
"Yeah . . . ya know, sometimes I wonder why I even bother to get up in the morning."
"Shut-up, Tain."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What are THOSE things? They look disgusting!" Whispered Keiko. Currently she was lying on her stomach under a large crop of undergrowth enshrouded with a whole bunch of overgrowth. If she moved her arms even slightly, then they would meet with patches of angry, and quite relentless little thorns. She could see fairly well out of the natural opening in the undergrowth, but her legs were cramped up and falling asleep. She let out a quiet sigh. This trip just kept getting better and better!
Hiei was off to her right, although, he didn't seem to be having a problem with his position. After all, he'd probably done this kind of thing several times in the past. As for Kurama, well, he'd gone scouting ahead. His kitsune form did not give off a large ki signature, and what it did could be easily disguised. His small, limber form was perfect for sneaking around without being noticed, although his gleaming fur had been a concern, Kurama had solved that problem by rolling around in the dirt a little bit. He seemed like a very playful creature in his true form, much like any of Kuwabara's kittens.
Keiko smiled. She loved animals! Maybe when all of this was over, and she went home, she'd get a cat. She needed the companionship sometimes, and a furry feline would be just the pet to travel with. Not to independent on her, relaxed, able to care for itself for the most part. Yep, she'd have to do that.
Just then, Kurama crept up. He made a motion with one of his for-paws, basically telling them that they needed to back up, and go deeper into the forest. Keiko nodded stiffly, and slowly, oh so carefully, pulled herself from the wall of dangerous vegetation. Her hair caught on a few branches, and tore at her clothing a bit, but she managed to keep her skin from being pierced.
Once out, they followed the fox back into the woods. Keiko found it rather fascinating that with all of the dried up leaves and sticks, and things on the forest floor, neither Hiei, nor Kurama made a sound. It was as if they were walking on cotton. As for herself, well, she was making quite a ruckus even though she was trying to step as lightly as possible.
Hiei stopped, and Keiko took the cue to stop as well. Kurama transformed before them and was clad then in his youko skin. Oddly enough, he wasn't covered in dirt like his kitsune form had been. Keiko sighed. There were a lot of things she didn't think she'd ever understand. However, the time to ponder such things would have to come at a later hour.
"What does it look like?" Asked Hiei.
Kurama shook his head. "Those things are loosely surrounding the perimeter of the walls that frame the city. I've never seen demons of this kind before, Hiei. What do you suppose they are?"
"I'm not sure."
Keiko shivered. Those THINGS resembled slimy amphibious creatures covered in oozy patches of dark brown fur, and sharp fangs protruded from their huge, lipless mouths. They were absolutely revolting to the eyes, and even harder on the stomach.
"You said that they are loosely surrounding the perimeter, right? So what's the problem? Can't we just sort of . . . go in?" She asked.
Kurama nodded. "It looks that way, Keiko, but it's too strange. If they are planning a hostile take over of some sort, and the city is their base, then why wouldn't they be protecting it? It doesn't make sense." He replied.
Hiei put a hand on the hilt of his sword. "It could be a trap." He said simply. Obviously, that was what they were all thinking.
Keiko shifted her position a little; her legs were just beginning to gain back their feeling as blood once again began to circulate.
"So . . . what do we do?" A simple question, really it was. However, such a question lacked an answer, and so, it's simplicity lost, it became something of a frustrating puzzle; one that required a few moments of silence to come up with an answer.
"We'll have to take that risk, that's all there is to it I'm afraid." Kurama said quietly. Hiei nodded in agreement, his hand tightening around his beloved sword.
Keiko, however, was not so happy about it. "But it could be dangerous!"
Kurama nodded. "Yes, it could."
"We could get killed!"
This time Hiei acquiesced. "We most definitely could."
Keiko frowned. "What if we're caught? We could be tortured!"
Kurama blinked, and seemed like he was thinking about it, then he nodded in agreement. "Yep, there's a pretty good chance of it."
"Aren't you guys worried?" Keiko finally, asked, giving up.
Hiei shrugged. "You can't go into a battle expecting to win, but you can go in expecting to die, or get injured, or something along those lines. You either learn to accept it, or you die anyway."
"Yes, it is the way of things." Added Kurama.
The human girl slumped her shoulders. It was the WRONG way of things. All of the worst case scenarios could easily happen, and it hadn't come to mind yet to think of what could happen if they were successful in getting in. Imagine being killed by such despicable beasts! Keiko wasn't fond of the idea at all. And then, she wouldn't even get to see Yusuke!
'Bad Keiko, bad Keiko, BAD!' She scolded herself mentally for thinking about seeing Yusuke. 'You DON'T want to see him, so stop THINKING about him!' Another little voice cut in.
(You do so want to see him.) It said.
'No, I don't!'
(Yes you do!)
'No I don't!'
(Do too!)
'Do not!'
(Do too!)
'Listen, this is MY head that we're fighting in, and I say that I don't want to see him, okay? Now shoo! I have way more important things to worry about than your smart ass mouth!' Keiko said. The voice subsided then, and Keiko smiled proudly.
"I guess we have to do it your way then." She said, turning her attention back to Kurama and Hiei. They nodded, and began forming a plan. Keiko knew better than to interrupt, after all it wasn't her place. She'd just do what they told her to do when they told her to do it, and that would be that. If they died, so be it, at least she'd get to see Botan again. After the separation, Keiko hadn't seen much of the bubbly young woman, and she and Botan had been good friends. However, if they survived then they'd have to see Yusuke, and that meant . . . well . . .seeing Yusuke. After seven long years of NOT thinking about him, she'd see him, be able to touch him, and feel his presence hovering all around her, making her feel safe, protected, and warm. That feeling, she'd missed it, she really had. Suddenly, she felt a familiar sort of pricking behind her eyes, as tears threatened to start flowing. She shook her head lightly. No, not after the horrible amount of time it took her to stop crying over him, she couldn't start again. Maybe if she did . . . then she wouldn't be able to stop . . .
"Keiko."
She snapped her head up in the direction of the voice. It was Kurama. He and Hiei looked like they were ready.
"Yeah?" She asked softly.
"You'll ride with Hiei again."
She nodded. "Alright."
Kurama seemed to pick up on her lack of enthusiasm, but there was no time to confront the problem, he'd have to do it later. Instead, he briefed her on their plan. It was really very simple. He would go down first, use a few of his lovely plants to quickly get rid of the few youkai near and at the gates. With any luck, they wouldn't draw any attention to themselves, giving them enough time to slip past the gates, which had been left hanging open, and into the city. With Hiei's speed they'd be able to slip through the city without detection, and Kurama would take on his kitsune form. That was it . . .unless something went terribly wrong, which was always a possibility, but it couldn't be helped anyway, so there was no sense in worrying about it.
"Do you understand?" Asked Kurama when he was finished. Keiko nodded, and at the same time, climbed onto Hiei's back. She wouldn't slow him down at all, for to Hiei, Keiko was unbelievably light, almost as if he weren't carrying anything at all. The only reminder he had that she was even there was the painfully tight grip that her hands held on his upper torso. Her fingernails were anything but brittle, as they had done a fair job in digging into his flesh the last time.
Hiei watched from his perch on a tree as Kurama put his part of the plan into action. All over the desired area, deadly plants grew and disposed of those gross creatures soundlessly, then either died, or retreated back into the soil that they had derived from. The process was short and precise. Such was Kurama's usual way of fighting. On the fox's signal, Hiei leapt from the tree branch and moved quickly to the wooden gate that was open somewhat. The gate appeared heavy enough, and looked as though it had been forced open, if the torn up grass (which was dead and or dying anyway) was any clue to the path of which it had slid open.
Kurama motioned for them to enter, and they wasted no time in doing so. However, Hiei took two unsuspecting steps, so he was just passed the gate and inside when he stopped, due to the sudden presence of the long, sharp looking blade of a glaive being held at his neck. Hiei did not wince as a small, insignificant line of dark, crimson red blood ran down his pale skin.
"Who are you?" Asked the owner of the offending glaive.
Hiei's red eyes watched the other youkai impassively. Without any hesitation he took a careful step backward, and allowed Keiko to climb off of his back. He took his own sweat time all the while. This seemed to anger the unidentified demon. In fact, he snarled.
"Answer the question trespasser!" Ordered the demon, his icy blue eyes narrowing.
Hiei watched the blue-eyed demon, studying him, but saying nothing. Keiko stood back a little further, more than a little unsure about the outcome of this encounter.
"Fine, if you won't answer, then you will die!" Cried the nameless demon. He pulled the glaive back, and then swiped it forward in a vain attempt to decapitate Hiei, who ducked under the blade, and supposedly, disappeared. When the weapon hit nothing, the youkai's eyes widened. Suddenly, he felt his legs give out from beneath him, and he hit the ground, his weapon falling out of his hands, but landing in Hiei's. His blue eyes glared up into crimson eyes, and he gulped against the blade at his throat.
"So kill me, you heartless bastard." He spat.
Hiei raised an eyebrow. "Ch! I can't lower my standards just to kill and annoying, weakling such as you." Hiei pulled the glaive away and tossed it behind him. It landed with a cling on the stone ground. "Besides, I don't do requests." He added, and started to walk away.
Keiko watched after him. She was inclined to follow, but something enabled her from moving. Perhaps it was that poor, stunned, young youkai still lying on the gray ground. Slowly, she approached him. He looked up sharply, but his features relaxed when he caught the expression of kindness on her pretty face. Keiko knelt down beside him.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
He blinked at her first, and then shook his head gently.
"Good, here let me help you up." She offered a slender hand to him, and he hesitantly took it. He thought that this girl was actually quite strong.
"My name is Keiko Yukimura, what's yours?" Keiko asked. She smiled when she noticed his not so discreet hesitation. However, he nodded his head stiffly.
"Dimitre." He answered in a somewhat deep tone of voice, although it did not rival Hiei's.
"It's a pleasure, perhaps you can help us."
Both girl and guy gasped as they noticed, for the first time, a tall, magnificent silver youko standing proudly behind them. Dimitre, as he was called, got into a fighting stance, but the youko only chuckled, and Keiko giggled.
"Spirited kid, Keiko." Said the fox.
"I guess, but don't scare me like that, Kurama! I'm liable to have a heart attack, ya know?" Replied Keiko playfully. Poor Dimitre was very confused. He scowled.
"Maybe you guys should tell me who you are, and what you're doing here." He said. Both Keiko and Kurama turned their attention back to the young youkai.
