"Only I can change my life.. No one can do it for me."
BOLD PRINT (FLASHBACK)
ITALICS
(SONG and/or THOUGHTS)
REGULAR
(STORY)
So
Far Away © Staind
This
is my life,
It's not what it was before,
All these feelings
I've shared,
And these are my dreams,
That I've never lived
before.
A small figure sat outside the window.
Inside were two lifeless figures, lying on their backs on tweed mats.
Fire danced from the fireplace keeping their bodies warm. The petite
form looked into the small circular window, hoping one would move,
even a little. He sighed and cursed himself for even thinking they
would.
It was a clear spring morning when a blue haired female floated down from the sky above, her hair matching the sky's color perfectly. Botan, the 'grim reaper' and message deliverer for the four Spirit Detectives, zoomed towards the Kuwabara residence on her oar.
Inside, four teens sat around, talking and what not. Two of them, a ebony haired teen Yusuke Urameshi, and a taller orange haired teen Kazuma Kuwabara, were playing a very competitive video game. The third, a red-head named Shuuichi Minamino but known more commonly between his friends as Kurama, was sitting behind the two, watching them with curiosity. The fourth, a shorter black haired teen named Hiei, sat on the window-sill. He was rather quiet, and continued to stare out the window rather than watch the others.
A knock sounded on the door and Kurama, being the polite person he is, got up to let whoever it was in. Botan, as bubbly and happy as usual, walked in. "New assignment, you guys."
There was an annoyed sigh from the Hiei at the window-sill, but other than that there were no other responses.
"Who is it now, Botan?" Kurama asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Nothing really hard for you four. His name is Gami, and he resembles that of a snake. But you mustn't be fooled by his appearance," she pointed and accusing finger at Kuwabara who had just lost his video game to Yusuke. "he is very deadly. The poison that is in his fangs can kill even a god. So you must be extra careful not to be bitten."
"Yeah.. yeah.." Yusuke replied, closing his eyes and folding his arms behind his head.
"Yusuke, I'm serious. The poison that resides in Gami's fangs are lethal and can kill the average person in a day." The blue haired reaper chided.
"So then where are we headed?" Kuwabara asked.
"Near Genkai's temple. I've made arrangements with Yukina that you stay with her once you've finished your assignment."
"My beloved Yukina is in trouble! We must go save her!" the carrot top yelled, rushing out the door.
Hiei only scoffed, and leapt off the sill, crossing his arms and walking out, followed after by Botan, Yusuke, and Kurama.
Somebody
shake me,
'Cause I,
I must be sleeping.
The four teens had made it to the forest around Genkai's temple. As usual, Hiei and Kuwabara were going at it again. "Cut it out, you two!" Yusuke yelled, his eyes shut, head pounding.
"Yes, can't we go anywhere without you two bickering?" Kurama asked.
"Humph.." Hiei crossed his arms and turned his back on the three.
"Why don't we split up and look for Gami," the red head replied, wanting a bit of silence.
The other three nodded, and went off in four different directions. Hiei going east, Yusuke going north, Kuwabara going south, and Kurama going west.
Hiei was walking through a darkened part of the woods, when he continued to hear twigs snapping or the crinkle of leaves. He didn't let it get to him as he continued walking down the beaten path and glancing around occasionally.
A slithering could be heard from behind the small demon and he turned, seeing a long snake-like creature. It had three glowing yellow eyes and estimated to be about twenty feet in length.
Unsheathing his sword, Hiei ran at the snake creature smirking as he jumped high in the air, preparing to cut the demon down to size. His sword hit the demon's body, and it was then he realized that Gami's body was hard as steel.
"Great," The tiny teen frowned, landing on his feet on the ground. Gami's glowing eyes pierced into his own crimson eyes.
It hissed menacingly and it's eyes suddenly flashed the color of blood. Hiei's arms and legs suddenly pinned themselves together, and he became frozen in place. "What the hell?!"
Opening it's mouth, fangs dripping a deadly green venom, it slithered quickly towards the fire apparition. The next thing he knew, though, Hiei felt his body go sailing through the air landing on the ground, followed by a painful scream.
Shaking his head, Hiei found that he could move his limbs again. Jumping up he turned back to see the giant snake slithering off into the woods and a lump where he had been previously standing. Walking closer, he noticed the familiar ebony hair and pale green jacket.
"Yusuke..?" The smaller walked over to his taller friend, rolling his limp body over on his back.
Hiei's crimson eyes traveled down the other teen's body, settling on his ripped pant leg and injury. Two large holes were punctured into his skin and the area around the injury had turned a sickly green color.
The tiny demon cursed for having such a small stature, and instead dragged the taller teen out of the open, leaning him against a tree. "I'll be back," jumping into a nearby tree, he looked around, making sure there was nothing around to harm the detective before going off after Kurama or Kuwabara.
And
now that we're here, so far away,
All the struggle we thought was
in vain,
And all the mistakes one life contained,
They are
finally starting to go away,
And now that we're here, so far
away,
And I feel like I can face the day,
And I can forgive,
and I'm not ashamed,
To be the person that I am today.
Hiei stood from the top of the tallest tree in the forest, his eyes narrowing as he looked for his fox friend. A movement through the trees drew his attention and the fire apparition looked over. Gami was slithering dangerously under the covers of the forest.
Leaping down to the lower branches of a tree a bit farther away, Hiei saw a red head in front of him. "Kurama!"
The red head turned quickly to look at the smaller demon, losing his concentration on the snake that was circling him hungrily, which came at him in his absence of attention, snapping it's powerful jaws.
Kurama barely jumped out of the way, the fangs wrenching themselves into his arm and the green venom being painfully injected into his arm.
The teen fell to the ground, unconscious, arm turning a pale green. Gami hissed as he slithered around the fox demon, hungrily watching his prey. The next thing Hiei knew, the orange haired oaf and himself were fighting the large snake, finally bring it to death.
"I'm really sorry you guys.. this is all my fault.." Hiei's voice was low as he watched the two through the open window. Botan had left hours ago to see that toddler, Koenma, for an antidote. She had yet to return.
Hiei watched the fire again, it's flames dancing merrily in his eyes, a movement from below him suddenly caught the teen's eye and he glanced down quickly, finding Yukina below him.
"You've.. been out here a long time, Hiei, why not come in?" The blue haired ice demon replied sweetly.
"No, I'm fine.." he replied, still looking into the fire through the window.
"Why are you still up there, anyway?" Yukina asked gently.
"There my.... friends, Yukina," he replied, his eyes still watching the dancing flames.
"They're Kazuma's friends also, but he isn't out here.. Actually I believe he is sleeping."
Hiei growled slightly, "Maybe that's because they aren't his only friends."
And
these are my words,
That I've never said before,
I think I'm
doing okay,
And this is the smile,
That I've never shown
before.
Botan nodded to the small ruler of the Reikai as she boarded her oar and soared through the sky, back to Genkai's temple, a small vile clutched tightly in her grasp.
Yukina continued to prod the fire demon from his perch, when a flash of blue streaked across the darkness. "What was that?"
Hiei's eyes never lifted from the fire dancing on the glass as Botan landed on the ground.
"I've got the antidote!" she said, a please tone in her voice, "but there's a catch.."
"There's always a catch.."Yukina said sadly, glancing at the tiny fire demon in the tree.
"Well, according the the instructions.." Botan pulled the small vile out of her pink robes, "We must first give this to the infected... then we need 'Crimson blood, the apple venom, and a sacrifice.' Master Koenma believes the sacrifice must be a living specimen.."
"Apple venom?"
"Well, it's App-something venom," Botan replied, showing the young ice maiden the long smudge on the scroll.
"Well then," the fire demon replied, jumping down from his perch, "I'll be the sacrifice."
Somebody
shake me,
Cause I,
I must be sleeping.
"Hiei, you can't be serious!" Botan screamed, bringing the carrot top out of the temple.
"What's all the yelling about?" he asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Are Urameshi and Kurama up yet?"
"Hiei us going to sacrifice himself to save the other two, Kazuma!" Yukina replied, sadness flooding her emotions.
"Are you crazy?!" the oaf yelled.
"No, I'm not crazy, and I am serious. I don't think I've ever been more serious in my life." the demon answered, leaping into the tree again.
"Where are you going?" Botan asked, her voice a little higher then she had meant it to be.
"You three go give that stuff to Kurama and Yusuke, I'll go get some venom.." with that, he quickly left.
~*~*~
Finding the clearing
where Kuwabara and himself had left the remnants of Gami, Hiei
stalked over, planning to take one of the creatures fangs.
Nearing the large beast, the demon failed to notice the swirl of gold that flashed in the monster's eyes. There was a slight rumble as the stone-like snake rose up in the air, yellow eyes blinking.
Gami snapped his powerful jaws at the other demon, but Hiei being much faster quickly out maneuvered the snake. The creatures yellow orbs glowed dangerously, but not being able to pinpoint the fire demons exact location, he wasn't able to paralyze him.
Smirking at Gami's dismay, the forbidden child unsheathed his sword. A black aura started to surround it as he sliced through the snake's middle eye.
Screeching, Gami fell to the ground, writhing in pain as crimson blood oozed from his eye. Taking the creatures pain to his advantage, Hiei severed the other two eyes. Blood flooded from the creature as it let out an anguished shriek which echoed through the forest.
Shaking his head furiously, Gami focused his energy on finding the demon with his other senses. Snapping his jaws dangerously, Hiei dodged and imbedded his sword in the top of the snake demon's mouth.
Blood poured from the wound, one last pain filled shriek ripped from his throat as he fell to the ground dead. Walking closer, Hiei extracted his sword, which was tinted with warm crimson blood. Carefully removing a fang from the creature, he observed it and started walking away.
The fang slipped from his grip because of the warm slippery blood that covered his arm and hand. When it his the ground, Hiei's eyes widened as it turned to a very fine white powder.
"Shit! What the hell happened?!" The demon cursed. Turning to get the identical fang, he found to his surprise that the bloody snake was no longer there, just a pile of fine white dust.
His eyes widened as he stared at the dust, blowing away in desolate breeze that came from nowhere.
And
now that we're here, so far away,
All the struggle we thought was
in vain,
And all the mistakes one life contained,
They are
finally startin' to go away,
And now that we're here, so far
away,
And I feel like I can face the day,
And I can
forgive,
And I'm not ashamed, to be the person that I am today.
Botan leaned over the two boys in turn, tilting their chins up to pour the antidote down their throats. The two bodies started to glow a faint gold color.
"What's happening?" Yukina asked, watching the two.
"I... I don't know.." Botan replied honestly, picking up the scroll which held the instructions.
"What's it say?" Kuwabara asked, leaning over the glowing teens.
"This stage isn't until the end.. but everything hasn't been done.... unless..." her voice was suddenly caught in her throat and all she managed was a cracked whisper, "Hiei.."
A movement caught the attention of the other three in the room. They looked over, seeing the red headed fox sitting up and blinking slightly, the faint gold glow disappearing slowly.
"Kurama! You're awake!" Kuwabara replied, slightly confused.
"Where am I?" he asked, looking around. He first saw the three standing around him, then then glowing teen laying near him on the floor, "and what happened to Yusuke?"
"You were both bitten by Gami," Botan replied, matter-a-factly.
"I slightly remember something... Hiei was up in a tree.. and he yelled to me... and I looked up and when I did I felt a huge pain in my arm then I passed out." he looked at his arm, where the last of the faint golden glow was sealing his puncture wound.
"Yes, that's basically what happened.." Botan replied, nodding.
"What happened to Yusuke?" he asked, looking at the detective, his leg a very light shade of green, the golden glow slowly sucking the poisonous venom out.
"We're not really sure.." Yukina replied gently, "Hiei and Kazuma just showed up with them.."
"And that shrimp wouldn't tell me anything!" Kuwabara replied angrily.
A groan escaped the ebony haired teen's lips as he sat up, looking around, "Where... where am I?"
"Your in Genkai's temple.." Yukina replied, kneeling before the young teen.
"How'd I get here? And is Hiei all right?" he asked, looking around sleepily.
"I brought you here, idiot! And why are you asking if Hiei is all right, you're the one that got bitten!" Kuwabara yelled.
"Well, that snake thing was going to eat him... so I pushed him out of the way.." he replied, a little dizzy.
"You pushed him out of the way?! What were you thinking Urameshi!? You could've been killed!"
"Yeah, well.." He blinked tiredly and lay back down, "make sure he's all right for me ok?" he asked, before closing his eyes and falling back to sleep.
I'm
so afraid of waking,
Please don't shake me,
Afraid of
waking,
Please don't shake me.
"So where is Hiei anyway?" Kurama asked as he walked out the door with the other three.
"We're not positively sure.." Botan started.
"But he might've sacrificed himself!" Yukina finished for the reaper.
"Sacrificed himself?" Kurama tilted his head curiously.
Botan handed him the scroll, which he examined carefully. He gently read it aloud, "Crimson blood, applied venom, and a sacrifice. Only when the predator is killed by a prey, will the venom's effect wear off."
"Where's it say that?" Botan asked, looking over the red head's shoulder.
"Right here," he replied, pointing to inscriptions underneath. Botan's face turned neko-ish and she giggled embarrassingly.
"So that must mean Gami died when the effect wore off you two," Yukina spoke softly.
Kurama nodded, "I suppose I better go find Hiei before he does something stupid." With that he jumped into the trees, using his keen sense of smell to find the other.
A distant clearing could be seen from the fox-teen's perch on the highest tree. His senses told him that was were to go and he leaped across the forest. Entering the clearing, he found the black clad demon, kneeling motionless on the ground.
Jumping before him, he kneeled down, placing a comforting hand on the other's shoulder, "Hiei? Are you all right?"
Hiei looked up and his eyes widened tremendously, "Kurama? What are you doing here?"
The fox smiled gently, "You killed Gami, so the effect wore off.."
"What about Yusuke?"
"He's fine as well, still resting at Genkai's temple," Kurama replied, standing up.
Suddenly the fire demon stood, embracing the red head before him. A small surprised gasp escaped the other.
And
now that we're here, so far away,
All the struggle we thought was
in vain,
And all the mistakes one life contained,
There all
finally startin' to go away,
And now that we're here, so far
away,
And I feel like I can face the day,
And I can forgive,
and I'm not ashamed,
To be the person that I am today.
Stepping back and away from Kurama, a smirk replaced the smile that had been covering his features, "And if you tell ANYONE about that, I'll rip out your voice box and feed it to Kuwabara."
Kurama chuckled, jumping up into a nearby tree, "Well we better get back, Yukina is quite worried about you.."
The small demon growled, but not angrily, and jumped onto the branch beside Kurama.