Disclaimer: Please refer to the prologue for disclaimer.
SC: GAH! Okay, I'm done holding my breath. Now I must try to hold my tongue, and keep the chapter from running on and on.
YA: She's never held her tongue in her life.
SC: Yes I have!
YA: How? Your tongue is attached to your mouth. How can you hold it?
SC: -__-'
~ Search for Truth ~
"From now on, I think I'll question Botan's definition of 'sane.' It's like a freakin' jungle in here!" Yusuke hollered.
"Is it really, Yusuke? We were all hoping to find a mini-mall when Botan said 'forest,'" Hiei sneered.
Yusuke glared at the shorter fighter next to him. "Quit the sarcasm and let's focus here."
"Perhaps if we split up we'd find our target faster," Kurama suggested. "We'd cover more ground that way."
"All right. Hiei, you go with Kurama. Kuwabara, you're with me," Yusuke decided, after sizing up the choices.
"It's certainly good that you didn't pair him with me," Hiei said, turning his piercing gaze on Kuwabara. ".Or else, you might have ended up with one less friend."
"Come on now, Hiei," Kurama said, literally dragging him away from the others. "You should learn to play nicely with the other kids."
"Oh shut up. I'm not a kid," Hiei growled as the two of them began walking through the dense underbrush.
Kurama paid dearly for his joke, for now Hiei was in a grumpy mood. Hiei in a bad mood is not exactly the best thing to have with you on a secret mission. Rather than walk around trees, Hiei often decided to blast them out of his way.
"Maybe you should try to be a little sneakier. We don't want to be heard coming a mile away," Kurama said dryly. Truth be told, the kitsune also didn't like seeing all of those poor trees die because of Hiei's lack of concern.
"I didn't ask for your advice. I think I will stop, though. Trees don't put up much of a fight." Hiei drew his sword and ran his finger along the blade.
"Don't get too excited," Kurama said, noticing the manic glint in Hiei's eyes. "I have to agree with Yusuke on this one: I don't think we'll find anything out here."
Hiei glared at the kitsune for a moment, then scowled and sheathed his sword. After that, the trek remained fairly peaceful, until Hiei suddenly let out a yell.
"What is it?" asked Kurama, thinking that something had happened to him.
"I'm getting sick of this dumb forest! I want to see some bloodshed!" He drew out his trusty sword again, and threw it boomerang-style into the nearest oak.
Kurama sighed before answering, "Tell you what: why don't you wait here for a moment? I'll scout ahead a little ways to see if there's anything out there. If there isn't, we'll go back. Is that okay?"
Hiei scowled again, and Kurama took that for an 'I don't care.' The kitsune turned and began to travel through the brush, but he had barely gone twenty feet when something caught his attention.
A sudden flare of spirit energy had filled the air. Kurama whirled around, looking for the source, but it was on all sides of him. He turned towards Hiei, but the ninja-like warrior didn't seem to have noticed the energy.
"Hiei! Come over here! Quickly!" Kurama shouted, thinking that maybe if he were closer he would sense it, too.
Hiei got up and trudged nearer, apparently still fuming about having nothing to fight. Once he got within ten feet of Kurama, however, he suddenly jumped back. A wall had appeared in front of him, barring the way towards his friend.
Annoyed, the fire apparition yanked his sword out of the oak and attempted to cut the barrier down, but as soon as the blade touched the wall a surge of electricity was sent down it. Hiei let out a yell and dropped his sword. Meanwhile, the wall began to grow taller and wider, until it surrounded the kitsune on all sides, like a dome of red electricity.
Kurama rushed up and tried to break free, but the barrier gave him a shock identical to the one that Hiei had received. The kitsune was trapped, with no way out.
"What is this?" Hiei yelled, picking his blade up from the forest floor.
"I don't know," Kurama answered, for once in his life feeling panicky. "But it appears as though someone knew we were coming."
"But why trap you when they could've gotten both of us?" Hiei questioned.
"That might have been what they were after, but I set off the trap before you." Kurama was cut off when what felt like a tidal wave of energy hit him. He fell to his knees as another wave washed over him.
"Kurama! What's going on in there?" shouted Hiei at the sight of his friend's collapse.
"It's.someone.or something.has some major spirit energy to do this kind of thing." The kitsune braced himself, preparing for another wave, but it never came. Instead, a tingling sensation washed over him, sending chills down his spine.
Hiei had just about had it. He tried cutting through the dome again, only to receive a shock worse than his previous one. Meanwhile, Kurama was still wrapped in the warmth of the new feeling that had fallen upon him. His vision was clouding, and he could feel the tingling growing stronger around his ears and back.
Suddenly, there was a loud "BANG" followed by the appearance of Yusuke and Kuwabara. Yusuke had fired his Spirit Gun at the dome, and the walls cracked and dwindled, reducing themselves to nothing. Hiei, who had recovered from his second shock that day, now realized that the wall had gone. Feeling pleased with himself, his eyes fell upon Kurama who was lying unconscious on the forest floor.
"Holy cow! Kurama!" The fire apparition rushed over and attempted to shake his friend awake, but it was no use.
^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^
"My dear Electra, did you remember to set the trap, like we planned?"
"Yes, sir. I did exactly what you ordered."
"Oh, very good. You've been so good lately, I've decided to reward you with a little something." He tossed a small black box over to the girl, who caught it in her yellow-gloved hands.
Electra opened the box and peered inside, suddenly squealing with delight. "Thank you sir, oh thank you!" She ran off, clutching the box close and still squealing.
The cloaked man chuckled. "Oh, so predictable."
^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^
SC: AAAH! Poor Kurama!
YA: Are you ever going to name the mean dude?
SC: Eventually. I just haven't thought of anything yet. For now I'll call him "Sir."
YA: That's dumb.
SC: I can't stand it! I feel like I'm not writing to my full potential! The next chapter shall be long-winded and detailed!
YA: Decided to raise the bar, have we?
SC: Shut up. *uses Supreme Authority, a type of authoress power, to duct tape YA's mouth shut*
YA: Mmmmf! Mmmmf!
SC: Har. Okay people, R&R, and eat plenty of Gouda.
SC: GAH! Okay, I'm done holding my breath. Now I must try to hold my tongue, and keep the chapter from running on and on.
YA: She's never held her tongue in her life.
SC: Yes I have!
YA: How? Your tongue is attached to your mouth. How can you hold it?
SC: -__-'
~ Search for Truth ~
"From now on, I think I'll question Botan's definition of 'sane.' It's like a freakin' jungle in here!" Yusuke hollered.
"Is it really, Yusuke? We were all hoping to find a mini-mall when Botan said 'forest,'" Hiei sneered.
Yusuke glared at the shorter fighter next to him. "Quit the sarcasm and let's focus here."
"Perhaps if we split up we'd find our target faster," Kurama suggested. "We'd cover more ground that way."
"All right. Hiei, you go with Kurama. Kuwabara, you're with me," Yusuke decided, after sizing up the choices.
"It's certainly good that you didn't pair him with me," Hiei said, turning his piercing gaze on Kuwabara. ".Or else, you might have ended up with one less friend."
"Come on now, Hiei," Kurama said, literally dragging him away from the others. "You should learn to play nicely with the other kids."
"Oh shut up. I'm not a kid," Hiei growled as the two of them began walking through the dense underbrush.
Kurama paid dearly for his joke, for now Hiei was in a grumpy mood. Hiei in a bad mood is not exactly the best thing to have with you on a secret mission. Rather than walk around trees, Hiei often decided to blast them out of his way.
"Maybe you should try to be a little sneakier. We don't want to be heard coming a mile away," Kurama said dryly. Truth be told, the kitsune also didn't like seeing all of those poor trees die because of Hiei's lack of concern.
"I didn't ask for your advice. I think I will stop, though. Trees don't put up much of a fight." Hiei drew his sword and ran his finger along the blade.
"Don't get too excited," Kurama said, noticing the manic glint in Hiei's eyes. "I have to agree with Yusuke on this one: I don't think we'll find anything out here."
Hiei glared at the kitsune for a moment, then scowled and sheathed his sword. After that, the trek remained fairly peaceful, until Hiei suddenly let out a yell.
"What is it?" asked Kurama, thinking that something had happened to him.
"I'm getting sick of this dumb forest! I want to see some bloodshed!" He drew out his trusty sword again, and threw it boomerang-style into the nearest oak.
Kurama sighed before answering, "Tell you what: why don't you wait here for a moment? I'll scout ahead a little ways to see if there's anything out there. If there isn't, we'll go back. Is that okay?"
Hiei scowled again, and Kurama took that for an 'I don't care.' The kitsune turned and began to travel through the brush, but he had barely gone twenty feet when something caught his attention.
A sudden flare of spirit energy had filled the air. Kurama whirled around, looking for the source, but it was on all sides of him. He turned towards Hiei, but the ninja-like warrior didn't seem to have noticed the energy.
"Hiei! Come over here! Quickly!" Kurama shouted, thinking that maybe if he were closer he would sense it, too.
Hiei got up and trudged nearer, apparently still fuming about having nothing to fight. Once he got within ten feet of Kurama, however, he suddenly jumped back. A wall had appeared in front of him, barring the way towards his friend.
Annoyed, the fire apparition yanked his sword out of the oak and attempted to cut the barrier down, but as soon as the blade touched the wall a surge of electricity was sent down it. Hiei let out a yell and dropped his sword. Meanwhile, the wall began to grow taller and wider, until it surrounded the kitsune on all sides, like a dome of red electricity.
Kurama rushed up and tried to break free, but the barrier gave him a shock identical to the one that Hiei had received. The kitsune was trapped, with no way out.
"What is this?" Hiei yelled, picking his blade up from the forest floor.
"I don't know," Kurama answered, for once in his life feeling panicky. "But it appears as though someone knew we were coming."
"But why trap you when they could've gotten both of us?" Hiei questioned.
"That might have been what they were after, but I set off the trap before you." Kurama was cut off when what felt like a tidal wave of energy hit him. He fell to his knees as another wave washed over him.
"Kurama! What's going on in there?" shouted Hiei at the sight of his friend's collapse.
"It's.someone.or something.has some major spirit energy to do this kind of thing." The kitsune braced himself, preparing for another wave, but it never came. Instead, a tingling sensation washed over him, sending chills down his spine.
Hiei had just about had it. He tried cutting through the dome again, only to receive a shock worse than his previous one. Meanwhile, Kurama was still wrapped in the warmth of the new feeling that had fallen upon him. His vision was clouding, and he could feel the tingling growing stronger around his ears and back.
Suddenly, there was a loud "BANG" followed by the appearance of Yusuke and Kuwabara. Yusuke had fired his Spirit Gun at the dome, and the walls cracked and dwindled, reducing themselves to nothing. Hiei, who had recovered from his second shock that day, now realized that the wall had gone. Feeling pleased with himself, his eyes fell upon Kurama who was lying unconscious on the forest floor.
"Holy cow! Kurama!" The fire apparition rushed over and attempted to shake his friend awake, but it was no use.
^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^
"My dear Electra, did you remember to set the trap, like we planned?"
"Yes, sir. I did exactly what you ordered."
"Oh, very good. You've been so good lately, I've decided to reward you with a little something." He tossed a small black box over to the girl, who caught it in her yellow-gloved hands.
Electra opened the box and peered inside, suddenly squealing with delight. "Thank you sir, oh thank you!" She ran off, clutching the box close and still squealing.
The cloaked man chuckled. "Oh, so predictable."
^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^
SC: AAAH! Poor Kurama!
YA: Are you ever going to name the mean dude?
SC: Eventually. I just haven't thought of anything yet. For now I'll call him "Sir."
YA: That's dumb.
SC: I can't stand it! I feel like I'm not writing to my full potential! The next chapter shall be long-winded and detailed!
YA: Decided to raise the bar, have we?
SC: Shut up. *uses Supreme Authority, a type of authoress power, to duct tape YA's mouth shut*
YA: Mmmmf! Mmmmf!
SC: Har. Okay people, R&R, and eat plenty of Gouda.