*Disclaimer is still active*
* Thanks for all the questions and I assure you that the next chappies will explain EVERYTHING -_~ Thanks Midnightdream51, I'll take the Koorime's destruction into consideration. It's going to help the plot along! Also, a lot of changing from scene to scene: from Hiei and Naomie to the others in the fortress. It's going to be complicated.
* More mysterious unfolded even though we're nearing the climax of the story! Again, it's going to be slow, then fast, then slow etc… bear with me.
Vertically ChallengedChapter 10: Naomie's Flight
By Tagalog" Gah! Don't step on that piece of rock, Hiei!" Yusuke screamed on his teammates as the rest of the audience watched without comment. They had begun the climb approximately an hour ago. Both seemed very worn and upset that their speed was rendered futile. "Geez. If they keep making advances like those, they're going to plummet to the ground!" Yusuke growled at the sight of his flailing comrades.
" Perhaps you would desire to take their place. I'm sure they'd be contented to trade." Yusuke shot Kurama a quit-making-fun-of-me look before turning back towards the screen.
" They sure don't act like part of a team." The leader commented angrily. " They aren't doing as they're supposed to!" Everyone turned to her in amazement.
" What do they have to do? They're climbing the barrier, isn't that enough?" Yukina pleaded, but the elder shoved her aside.
" They're supposed to tell us about their past! They're supposed to reveal their secrets to us!" She sounded tormented.
" Hey, listen lady! Those are my friends out there and I think you should be grateful enough that they're even climbing that stupid wall!" The Spirit Detective shouted. The Koorimes leered in return, but soon all the intense eyes were on the screen.
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" Wow! This is worse than Genki's training!" Naomie exclaimed as she hung on for life, straddled along four niches.
" Quit complaining! We're not even halfway and you're already starting to annoy me!" Her partner yelled before losing equilibrium and slid down beside her.
" Easy Hiei. I think we should rest for a little bit."
" Okay. I hear there's a hotel about three paces up. I'm sure we could stay there to relax."
" You don't have to be so impudent. I meant well." He rolled his eyes and proceeded with an offended Naomie following.
" Why are you acting this way with me? I thought you'd be a little more pleasant after the other night."
" Why are you acting so strange? Why were you crying earlier? There are so many other questions you won't answer either."
" Same here. And there are so many I want to ask, but I know you will turn me down." They paused and looked at each other in awe.
" What's upsetting you?"
" What's on your mind?" Naomie retorted.
" I… never mind." Hiei turned away in defeat but was drawn into another kiss. It was brief for their bodies began to relax causing their grip on the ledges to become limp. They broke the kiss, stared away and continued to climb another hour without a word.
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" WHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAA!"
" Yusuke, please calm yourself. You almost scared us all to death." Kurama attempted to reassure the bewildered detective.
" When, Why- What the HELL was that!" He persisted to point at the screen is disbelief.
" Wow. I guess Hiei does have a girlfriend." Kuwabara gaped.
" Whoda known they liked each other."
" Well, let us hope they don't do anymore of that. They have only another three hours allotted before sundown." Luckily for Kurama, everyone's eyes were back at the screen, trying to get another glimpse of their relationship, to notice he was blushing.
" They aren't going to speak. I guess we'll never know if it was she who destroyed us. They both must die then. Their lives are no priority to us." The elder whispered to her followers.
" What the hell did you just whisper old hag?!" Yukina quivered as the elders reached for her and placed a knife to her neck.
" YUKINA!" Kazuma cried as his love was tethered. " Let her go!"
" Pathetic. You humans are too easy to fool."
" You mean to say you aren't the Koorimes."
" Wrong, Kurama! We are the Koorimes. We're the ice apparitions remaining after the majority of the population was destroyed by a fellow demon race."
" Then what are you going to do with us? With Naomie and Hiei?" Yusuke trembled.
" We desire to see if one of these two was a descendent from the race that destroyed our people. And what better way than to eavesdrop on two of your comrades." They laughed in a horrid, unanimous tone. "Until we find out what we want to know, you'll watch your friends struggle. Or there's the possibility in which your team makes it to the pinnacle without revealing their identity. If that case occurs, than you all shall die." They watched in horror as they ran the blade in the air back and forth and around Yukina's delicate neck. She held in her tears but managed a few gems to escape.
" Please, stop," Her boyfriend beseeched, " You're hurting her."
" Make one move Kuwabara and her pale skin will be stained pink with her own blood. The gang shivered and only Kurama mustered the guts to speak.
" What type of race in the Makai destroyed your ancestors?"
" The dragon demons."
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" What now, it's been another hour?"
" Gee, I don't know, let's see-hmm- KEEP CLIMBING!" She smacked him over the head and resumed her rising.
(I'm glad I didn't make love to him now that I realize what he'd treat me like afterwards.) She thought crossly. Hiei turned around violently almost losing his footing as well as hers.
" What did you just say?!" He was now enraged at her inner comment whether it was a joke or not.
" Damn it! I forgot you could read minds. Oh, I guess I can't keep it a secret from you forever." She sighed. " Hiei, I never made love to you."
" I would be glad if I knew it were true, but I know it isn't!"
" No, it's true Hiei. We never had intercourse."
" What?! The hell! You fucked me right in front of my own eyes and now you're denying it! What is with you today?" Again she sighed and heaved more air before she spilt the beans.
" *INHALE* We never fucked. I stopped when I pinned you against the tiles and proceeded into your mind where I found your deepest desires. Then, when you became unaware and faint, I secured my fingertips on your temples and transferred my own energy into your head, opening and thus arousing you to a state of having an orgasm." She nearly collapsed and looked quickly away to avoid Hiei's enraged stare. She opened one eye and was relieved to find a different face: a blank stare.
" Say again slowly and translated, if you don't mind."
" I have the ability to transmit spirit energy into your head and it will travel through your body. Once I obtain your sensual desires, I can create a sense of pleasure in whatever body piece I please. So in short, I produced an illusion in your mind, of us having intercourse, by sending energy through your body."
" So we never did anything."
" Not to the extent that you thought." He turned away and hid his look of disappointment.
" I guess I know why my head was so wasted even after that night." He tried to sound cheerful.
" I guess so, but Hiei."
" Hhn?"
" I'm willing to give it a second try. I still love you, but that was way to soon."
" Let's keep climbing." He eluded any further conversation and left Naomie behind.
" Hiei." She tried to reach for him but grasped only frigid air. "I'm sorry."
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" Wow again. That was more than what I needed to know." Yusuke commented as the rest stared in disbelief, except for a certain fox. Kuwabara scratched his scalp in disbelief.
" Hey, Kurama, did you know anything about this?" The Spirit Detective asked.
" N..no."
" Hey, Kurama, did anyone ever tell you you're a terrible liar." Kurama blushed uncontrollably and turned away from his leader. The elders were becoming more impatient as time elapsed with no confessions that they required.
" This grows boring." She chanted a spell, which sent Yukina into a craze.
" Stop! Those ice warriors you summon will kill them!"
" I know, you naïve child. That's why I conjured them."
" Oh no! They're going to attack them while Hiei and Naomie are defenseless on the mountainside!"
" Shit, this isn't good."
" Don't make any movements, any of you. Yukina's life is remains at stake." They snickered and the others watched painstakingly as beckoned ice apparitions prepared to bombard the helpless Hiei and Naomie.
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" I feel the mass vibrating. Do you think a boulder is loose?" Hiei looked upward, with his body and nerves tense. Images clouded his mind as a thundering stampede of demons glided down the peak towards them.
" It's much more than a boulder." Hiei's voice quivered and Naomie joined in as they advanced. " They're going to slaughter us."
" What are we going to do?!" She cried in fear.
" Fight." Hiei removed his katakana and held on to the ledge as he prepared for the onslaught. Naomie removed her daggers and began to hurl then at the apparitions who were in range. Hiei could merely slash his weapon back and forth only warding off the approaching mass. There were no other options; he was too weak to summon an energy attack and he was at a position that didn't allow a comfortable attack. " We're dead."
" Spirit Gun!" A wave of light appeared from behind him, obliterating a majority of the demons. Hiei turned around in surprise to find Naomie had launched the assault.
" When did you learn that?"
" I saw Yusuke do it before, so I thought I'd give it a whirl." He smiled back but was cut short by her frown. " That was my last offensive maneuver.
" Why do you think the Koorimes are doing this to us?"
" I think they strongly despise me, whoever these imposters are. They must know we were nearing the finish. I sense the others are in danger. We can't fight anymore Hiei."
" What are you blabbering about?! We have to fight unless you want to perish." She returned a loving smile, before returning to reality.
" Crap! That means they didn't heal my scars on my back!
" You mean those ones I keep witnessing in your memories?"
" Yeah, I think they sealed our one way out of this mess inside me."
" What does that mean?" She laughed aloud at his question.
" You're going to have to transfer some spirit energy into me to release the seal."
" And how do you propose I do THAT?!" He screamed as the apparitions regained control and started a new assault.
" By giving me a very long kiss." Hiei blushed wildly as she moved in closer to him and removed her shirt. He began to feel his stomach jerk as she embraced him. " Don't have time for that now, just prepare to give me some of your delectable energy or else we shall die."
" Okay, but… please don't talk seductively. I can't summon anything when you talk that way." He closed his eyes and felt his energy rise. At the same time the apparitions reached them and tried to lash with all their strength. Naomie pushed off from the peak and the lovers plummeted towards the snowy ground.
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" NOOOO! Why are you guys jumping? You're going to kill yourselves!" Yusuke fought back infuriated tears as he viewed his teammates descend at an alarming rate. " Don't die you guys!"
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" Hiei, release it all." She grasped him even firmer and seemed to plunge into his throat. She extracted all that she could; she felt his body tense up as well as her own as she sensed the ground nearing. As the energy was removed, Naomie felt his mind become uneasy.
(Hiei, trust me. I know what I'm doing. Just trust me one last time.) She pleaded through his thoughts. At last, the seal was broken and Naomie release a shrilled scream of pain. Her wings were exposed, the blood poured from her back, but despite her pain, she had just rescued her only love from a tragic death.
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" No! IT'S THE DRAGON DEMON! APPARITIONS, KILL THEM BOTH!" It was the elders' turn to become crazed with worry: their old enemy's grandchild was about to rehash their dark past. Without prior warning, an elder fell to the ground.
" You chicks have got to remember to keep your guards up. Or you'll end up dead." Yusuke sneered as he lowered his index finger.
"Prepare for another Spirit Gun!" The team assaulted their capturers and released Yukina from their sinister hold. They raced from the fortress to aid their comrades. The summoned ice apparitions were already regrouping and preparing an onslaught as they fled.
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Hiei felt a slight, cool breeze surround him and the flapping of wings almost lulled him to sleep. His head bobbed up and down as he was carried through the evening sky.
" Hiei…"
" I feel so weak."
" Hiei, open your eyes." He did as he was requested and looked at the ground below. They were up high, higher than he's ever seen before. He looked back up at Naomie who smiled in response. As they exchanged glimpses, Hiei felt a spot of liquid fall into his palm.
" You- you're bleeding." Naomie tried to smile at his bluntness, but was unable because of the throbbing in her back.
" Don't be concerned, it always happens when I'm flying. I'm trying to train and lessen the blood loss in the human world, but there were very few times I could go out flying without anyone seeing me. People these days never rest." Hiei stared at her in amazement.
" So you're a dragon demon." She nodded.
" I would have told you a long time ago, but you never asked what race of demon I was." She taunted him as they circled back towards the fortress. " I'm going to drop you off soon. That way we have more of an advantage fighting those creatures." They whizzed around and prepared a landing until a fleet of ice monsters interrupted them. Naomie tried to elude them with her speed, but the weight of her and Hiei reduced her nimbleness drastically. It wasn't long before they received a direct hit and Naomie was sent spinning towards the ground. Luckily, she regained momentum to secure a landing without critical injuries.
" You okay?" Hiei knelt by her side and turned her oven and brushed the snow from her body.
" Yeah, fine, but I can't fly with another passenger. You'll have to stay on the ground." She looked apologetically. " Sorry, about this Hiei."
" Just don't die, okay?" She nodded in response and took to the skies. Hiei unsheathed his sword once more and ran in the direction of the Koorime fortress, only to encounter his other associates.
" Hey Hiei. How's it hanging?" Yusuke asked trying to conceal his smirk.
" Where are the Koorimes?"
" Those Koorimes were nothing but vengeful hags trying to kill you two." The Spirit Detective motioned. " But they won't be buggin' us anymore."
" Right," Hiei directed his gaze to Yukina: the only one not trying to hold back a smile. " Do you know ho we can destroy these ice monsters?"
" I don't know Hiei, but be careful. They aren't that powerful, but their swiftness can be very perilous."
" I don't see any trouble. We'll beat them like we've always done. By kicking their ass until they can't take anymore." Yusuke raise his fist in victory and began to trek across the snow. However, he had only gotten a few paces before falling through the snow.
" Hey Urameshi's shorter than all of us now!" Kuwabara laughed as he and the others approached their leader.
" Well, no shit Sherlock! Probably because I'm buried in a heap of frickin' snow! Now help me up!" He barked as Kurama and Kuwabara assisted only to sink down in the soft powder. They all began to laugh amusingly before digging their own ways out. Yukina giggled at the sight of the teenagers; Hiei, however, was anything but amused.
" Damn it, I don't have time for your antics. Naomie's cruising the skies trying to fight a convoy of demons and here you are making snow angels!" The laughter soon ceased and was replaced by muffled snickers.
" Why are you so worried, Hiei?" Yusuke teased. " You're showing concern for her like she was your girlfriend or something." Hiei's face flushed, but the warmth was subsided when he was smacked in the face with a snowball. " Alright, let's go team."
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" Man, don't these things ever give up?!" Naomie circumnavigated the stronghold viewing the ice demons that were throwing projectiles of snow and ice, hoping to reach the soaring dragon. " Pathetic." She lowered altitude to organize an attack. The apparitions ceased their futile attempts and sprouted their own wings and began to chase after Naomie.
" Not good. I didn't know they could fly. She tried desperately to out fly them, flapping her wings until the pain shifted from her back through the rest of her body. " No!" She screamed as they advanced to her at violent speeds. She winced as she summoned her wings back into her back and fell helplessly to the ground. They followed her into a nosedive still lashing at attempts to slaughter her. She emitted a weak energy blast to propel the encroaching ice demons from her.
The strain for energy was too much for her drained body to support. Naomie fell faster, limp and unconscious.
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The Spirit Detectives trotted at a sluggish pace through the snow as they attempted to reach the fortress and aid Naomie. Kurama, out of luck, noticed a figure falling from the sky and instantly identified the person.
" Naomie's plummeting towards the ground and I sense that her spirit energy is depleted." All heads turned towards the sky and gaped at the fallen body. Hiei was terrified and began to use his remaining strength to race through the foreboding snow. Her body seemed to slow down its descending in time for Hiei to leap and catch her. The two bodies collided and Hiei was unable to keep his ground. They were sent tumbling down a mound, landing in each other's arms completely spent.
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(Are you all right?)
(Yeah, fine, a bit worn. You?)
(About the same. Hey, Naomie?)
(Yeah, Hiei?)
(Why, after all the flirting and seduction, did you change your mind?)
(I don't really know Hiei; I just couldn't do it.)
(I guess you can't trust me.)
(No, I just don't have faith in myself.)
(If you don't have faith in yourself, than I guess we can't trust in each other.)
(Not right now-)
(Quiet, I hear voices.)
"Hiei! Naomie! You guys okay?!"
(It's only Yusuke and the others. I'm too weak to respond.)
(Same here. So what are we going to do after this?)
(Well, I suppose if we don't have complete faith and reliance in each other, we should give our relationship time.)
(What do you propose?)
" Hey, are you guys dead over there?!"
(I'm going to decline from being Yusuke's apprentice. He doesn't need me. You all don't need me, at least for fighting purposes. I believe I will see you again someday; I know we'll be ready then. Okay?)
(Okay, but promise me this.)
(Yeah…)
(I'm your partner. Don't even consider having a human lover.)
(A bit jealous are we?)
(Promise me.)
(You know I would never, just as long as you agree.)
(Oh course, foolish girl; who could love a convicted, hotheaded fire demon?)
(I could.)
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* Ah, I love it (sorta). Hard to be moved early in the morning. -_-z z z
Well this story is completed and a sequel is on the way. It will take awhile believe me. I'm also considering doing a side story strictly on Naomie's past considering I didn't reveal all of her past. Give me your thoughts.
*Final: Yusuke and gang rescued them both, and Naomie resigned from her position and went back to the human world. Side: I've thought it over and I am confirming this story took place before the Dark Tournament. Kinda weird, I would have had it take place before rescuing Yukina, but Yukina was in this story, so… yeah. That side note will play a big role in the upcoming sequel. Ah reviews?