Disclaimer: You know the drill and if you don't see part 1. Review or I
will start ransoming. Thanks for the few that did. Oh, and I'll try not
to spring any more surprises about Hiei onto you all. I just thought that
the whole Shakespeare bit would be funny. Hope you like. Enjoy.
Part 7
Less Time
*Hiei*
"Yukina, wake up. We've got to go." I shook the ice apparition until she responded.
"What's going on? What happened?" She rubbed sleep from her eyes.
"We need to get going. We may be running out of time."
"Running out of time? What time? Why do you need helkakuive?"
'She wants answers. Do I tell her? Why shouldn't I tell her that my cousin is sick and that plant is the very cure? No, I won't tell her. It just isn't something she needs to know.' I was being selfish and I knew it but it wasn't something that I wanted her to know and I had a feeling that Ryouki didn't want the fact that we were related in any way to be screamed from the mountaintops of the Makai. "Let's go," I ordered, purposefully avoiding her questions.
Grumbling, she complied. Her pace was a slow walk, and aggravatingly so. We went at this pace for about an hour. My impatience was growing. At this point, I decided to start looking for the plant myself and taking matters into my own hands. Lifting my headband just enough to see under it, I opened my Jagen eye and started my search.
Yukina wasn't kidding when she had said we would be in a hostile area. Thousands of demons where crammed between here and the next square mile or so. This wasn't going to be an easy task.
'Kurama!' I called silently. I switched my attention to the Ningenkai where my cousin and the youkai-kitsune were. He was still sitting next to Ryouki, head bowed, asleep. 'Wake up!' I ordered him.
He sat up straight and blinked. "What's going on?" He inquired with a small yawn.
'What does helkakuive look like?' I inquired. 'I'm going to leave Yukina in a safe spot as soon as I find the plant with my Jagen eye.'
"Well, let me think." After a moment, he pulled a book from a large stack next to him. He flipped through it until he found the page he was looking for. "This is what helkakuive looks like." He stated calmly.
The picture on the page showed a deep blue flower with golden arrows on the petals. The leaves where small and circular, again with a golden design. Under the picture was a small caption that read 'helkakuive: Rare plant of the Koorime; grows to 8 inches tall. Worth over nine trillion dollars on the black market.'
"Thanks Kurama."
"Hiei, hold on a moment. You must find helkakuive quickly. Ryouki must have it within the week."
"This week? I thought I had at least until next. You said she was on the mend."
"As did I, but I made my first estimation on what I knew of your cousin and of my limited knowledge of the illness. From my earlier thoughts, I didn't know how strong this would effect her. Her will is surprising. Any normal creature would have lost their fight within the first week. Since Ryouki's will and spirit energy are greater than most, she has held it off with our help. Now, though, she is almost out of energy, you are too far away and I am down to just enough to keep her going for three to five days." He stopped speaking for a moment. "You have less that twenty-four hours by my estimation. I suggest you hurry."
I started scanning for the plant. The best guess I had was around a large pocket of demons. Searching through the largest group, which was also the group that was farthest away, I found it. Three buds, barely starting to open were at the center of a vast and spacious courtyard.
"Yukina," I said after I pulled the white cloth back down over my Jagen eye. "Head back. I know where I'm going."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Go."
She stopped and looked at me. "Tell me why you need this plant." She commanded.
Again, I went through a moment of indecision. "Don't worry about it." I said finally and turned away from her, and into the direction of helkakuive. I drew my katana and started my headlong sprint, leaving my sister to fume over the absence of the answer that she so desperately wanted.
Part 7
Less Time
*Hiei*
"Yukina, wake up. We've got to go." I shook the ice apparition until she responded.
"What's going on? What happened?" She rubbed sleep from her eyes.
"We need to get going. We may be running out of time."
"Running out of time? What time? Why do you need helkakuive?"
'She wants answers. Do I tell her? Why shouldn't I tell her that my cousin is sick and that plant is the very cure? No, I won't tell her. It just isn't something she needs to know.' I was being selfish and I knew it but it wasn't something that I wanted her to know and I had a feeling that Ryouki didn't want the fact that we were related in any way to be screamed from the mountaintops of the Makai. "Let's go," I ordered, purposefully avoiding her questions.
Grumbling, she complied. Her pace was a slow walk, and aggravatingly so. We went at this pace for about an hour. My impatience was growing. At this point, I decided to start looking for the plant myself and taking matters into my own hands. Lifting my headband just enough to see under it, I opened my Jagen eye and started my search.
Yukina wasn't kidding when she had said we would be in a hostile area. Thousands of demons where crammed between here and the next square mile or so. This wasn't going to be an easy task.
'Kurama!' I called silently. I switched my attention to the Ningenkai where my cousin and the youkai-kitsune were. He was still sitting next to Ryouki, head bowed, asleep. 'Wake up!' I ordered him.
He sat up straight and blinked. "What's going on?" He inquired with a small yawn.
'What does helkakuive look like?' I inquired. 'I'm going to leave Yukina in a safe spot as soon as I find the plant with my Jagen eye.'
"Well, let me think." After a moment, he pulled a book from a large stack next to him. He flipped through it until he found the page he was looking for. "This is what helkakuive looks like." He stated calmly.
The picture on the page showed a deep blue flower with golden arrows on the petals. The leaves where small and circular, again with a golden design. Under the picture was a small caption that read 'helkakuive: Rare plant of the Koorime; grows to 8 inches tall. Worth over nine trillion dollars on the black market.'
"Thanks Kurama."
"Hiei, hold on a moment. You must find helkakuive quickly. Ryouki must have it within the week."
"This week? I thought I had at least until next. You said she was on the mend."
"As did I, but I made my first estimation on what I knew of your cousin and of my limited knowledge of the illness. From my earlier thoughts, I didn't know how strong this would effect her. Her will is surprising. Any normal creature would have lost their fight within the first week. Since Ryouki's will and spirit energy are greater than most, she has held it off with our help. Now, though, she is almost out of energy, you are too far away and I am down to just enough to keep her going for three to five days." He stopped speaking for a moment. "You have less that twenty-four hours by my estimation. I suggest you hurry."
I started scanning for the plant. The best guess I had was around a large pocket of demons. Searching through the largest group, which was also the group that was farthest away, I found it. Three buds, barely starting to open were at the center of a vast and spacious courtyard.
"Yukina," I said after I pulled the white cloth back down over my Jagen eye. "Head back. I know where I'm going."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Go."
She stopped and looked at me. "Tell me why you need this plant." She commanded.
Again, I went through a moment of indecision. "Don't worry about it." I said finally and turned away from her, and into the direction of helkakuive. I drew my katana and started my headlong sprint, leaving my sister to fume over the absence of the answer that she so desperately wanted.