Author's Forewarning: Heyas all. Jello here! I'd like to thank y'all for reviewing! ^__^ Oh, and, in case you haven't noticed, I changed the title of the fic. I'm not sure if it's showing up immediately, so, yeah. It's not something drastic, mind you. I have changed the story slightly from my original idea, thus, the title does not go with the story as well as I hoped it would. Hopefully, the new title should read "A Thief's Marionette". Also, I'll be putting the glossary up here from now on, not at the end of the story. ^__^
Glossary:
Kaitou- Minagi's casual name of respect for Youko Kurama. It means something along the lines of "Phantom Thief".
-sama: a suffix added onto names to show immense respect.
obi- A piece of cloth, normally very carefully crafted, that serves as a belt when wearing a kimono.
Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho, it's story, and it's characters are all the property of Yoshihiro Togashi. I do, however, own copyrights to Minagi. And some other characters. Whom I am too lazy to list right here. Hehe. I think you get what I mean.
|Chapter 1: The Marionette|
"Wow….it's…it's…"
Minagi was cut short by the sudden arrival of a man behind her. Before she could react, he had clamped one hand firmly over her mouth, while the other was wrapped around her midsection.
"Don't move," he whispered curtly into her large, pointed ears.
The tall girl did as she was bid, her blue eyes darting anxiously back and forth. After a few minutes, satisfied that the guards in the centre of the room had not noticed, she started to let her body slump with relief, only to be jerked upright again.
"Don't," the cold voice advised. "They know we're here."
He paused momentarily.
"Here," the man began again. "On my count, you run out there. Run towards the door. Get away as quickly as you can, but not so fast that they lose you. Ready?"
"I really don't think—" the girl started to whisper.
"One…"
"Not yet—"
"Two…"
"Hold on—"
"THREE!"
Before she could open her mouth to argue again, the lanky adolescent was shoved out from behind the draperies she had used to conceal her presence. The guards appeared ready for her, for as soon as she had emerged from the silk curtains, they began to run at her, weapons in hand.
"RUN, MINAGI!" sounded the cold voice again.
The girl needed no further bidding. She broke into a mad sprint, practically flying past the door and hitting the frozen ground with a thud. The cold, iron chains that were fettered about her large silver wings clinked together loudly as the rhythmical thrumming of her feet upon the permafrost became more rapid. Risking a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw the soldiers were starting to gain on her.
"Dammit," she spat. "Why in the name of the seven moons does Kaitou force me to wear these chains…? They slow me down too much!"
It was true. More then 100 pounds of iron chains were laced all throughout the feathers of her wings, weighing them down. It was more effective then binding them to her body, he claimed.
'More effective than what?' the girl often wondered.
Stealing another quick glance over her shoulder, Minagi saw a dark figure break away from the group of sprinting guards. Almost before she could blink, the shadow-like entity was on her trail, not more then 30 yards away. She yelped and increased her pace, even though she knew she would not last much longer. She stumbled suddenly, but managed to regain her footing. It didn't matter though. Fatigue was consuming her aching legs; she wouldn't be able to make it much further....
The figure was not far away now…another ten seconds and he'd have her…
"Cat dirt…" she cursed again. The shadow was now bearing down on her like a hellhound. A chill ripped through her spine when she felt it's cold breath against her neck and gasp fell from her frozen lips as it grabbed her arm. She braced herself, waiting for the impact of the figure's fist on her skin…
It never came.
She chanced a look up at the figure.
"Kaitou-sama?!" she half-squeaked. "Wha—"
"Hold this," came the familiar cold voice. The figure shoved something long and stick-like into her hands.
"Wha…?" she began again. "What are you—"
The figure silenced her with a stare as bitter and frigid as the arctic, and produced a tarnished, silver key from within the folds of his dark coloured tunic.
Minagi gasped.
"That's…that's…"
"Correct," the figure interjected. Holding the girl with one hand, and running his other through the chains shackled to her wings, he groped for the padlock. He grunted with satisfaction when he finally found it, and, with much ado, inserted the key. With a deft flick of his wrist, the lock popped open with an audible 'click'.
Chains, now relieved of their duty, flowed off the girl's gigantic wings in a monsoon-like downpour.
"Aiiiya!" Minagi screamed, flexing her wings experimentally. "I feel as light as air—!"
"Good," the man interrupted. "Now take the halberd and get going. Fly up towards the cloudbanks, and stay away from the moons, if at all possible."
"Mn," the girl replied, nodding her head. She flapped her wings twice, forming a whirling cyclone of dirt and debris around herself. And then, with a powerful thrust of her wings that rained ash-grey feathers down upon the ground below, she departed into the dark void that was the sky.
Minagi landed with a soft 'thump' on the grounds of Keikyoku Kyojou. Soaked to the bone, her waterlogged wings and sodden kimono dragged along the muddy grass as she plodded slowly towards the entrance. The pitter-patter of the rain drops on stone was drowned out by an enormous boom of thunder, which shook the very foundation of the Youko's Castle.
Minagi winced.
This was going to be a bad storm.
As quietly and quickly as she could, which was not very quietly, nor was it very quickly, considering the current bog-like state of the ground, Minagi made her way to the back entrance of the castle. With a furtive glance, she slipped into the great, marble halls of Keikyoku Kyojou. Deftly untying her obi, she removed the saturated outer layer of her kimono. She eyed it with disgust, watching cloudy brown water drip from the corners and pool into a dark puddle on the floor.
"Youko-sama is going to have a fit if when he sees these clothes…"
"He's going to be a lot angrier, once he finds out whe-"
"AIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!" Minagi shrieked, whirling around in surprise, and, in the process, knocking over the speaker.
The speaker as it turned out, was a crotchety little fire demon.
"Oh-! It's just you, Hiei." Minagi sighed, relieved. "For a second, I thought it was somebody who posed a real threat-"
"Shuddup, wench." Came Hiei's disgruntled reply.
"I can see somebody's feeling cheerfully today…" the girl commented dryly.
Hiei smirked.
"Kurama's going to be in one hell of a temper when he finds out that you took four hours to get here…"
Minagi flushed a dull shade pink.
"Dangit…" she muttered, her brow furrowed in contemplation of the lecture she was about to receive.
"You'd better get up there. The sooner you go, the more lenient he'll be on you."
Minagi gave a bleak nod, and, with feet like lead and a heavy heart, she began her ascent of the enormous staircase that led to the Youko's private chambers.
"Mind you don't drip on his floor…" Hiei called after her with a malicious grin, knowing full well that in her current state, the girl wasn't suited to do anything but drip all over floors.
"Kaitou….sama…?" Minagi whispered softly, pushing open the sliding door to his bedchamber.
"Ah. Minagi. There you are."
A shiver wracked Minagi's body.
"Minagi," he began. "I'm not sure you're fully aware of the importance of these missions…"
His voice is so cold.
"…staff is worth more then your weight in gold…"
How is it possible for one person to be…so…
"…trusted you with it. And what do you do? You go off…"
…so…
"…don't think you understand the repercussions of such an action. Suppose you had been caught in a current…"
…devoid of emotion? Devoid of warmth? Devoid of love?
"Minagi."
"Wha…?"
The Youko growled in exasperation.
"Hanyou."
Minagi blanched. That was not exactly her favourite name to be called.
"Hanyou." He repeated. The word sounded like poison on his tongue. "I don't believe you understand me. I will ask this only once more. Why, in the name of the seven hells, did you take four hours to get back? "
Minagi was taken aback at the ferocity at which the question was asked.
"I…I…" she broke off, swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat. "Am…am I not allowed to…" her face fell, and she faltered.
"Yes…?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in an annoyed, expectant manner.
"Not…not...."
"Out with it, wench."
Minagi paused, and gathered up her courage in one, deep breath.
"AM I NOT ALLOWED TO ENJOY MYSELF EVERY ONCE AND A WHILE…? DO YOU FIND SOMETHING MORALLY INCORRECT WITH ME BEING HAPPY…?"
She drew in a shaky breath, and glared at him.
"It's not as if anything bad happened to your precious halberd." Leering, she produced the jewel encrusted weapon from the insides of her many-layered kimono.
"You're still missing the point of my question, hanyou."
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!!!"
"Is there something wrong with me addressing you by your race? Are you saying that you're ashamed…?"
"SHOVE IT, YOU BAS-"
Before the girl could finish, she found her wrists caught in the bone-shattering grip of the Thief Lord. She struggled madly, but it was to no avail. Without so much as a grunt, the Youko picked her up, and shoved her against the wall. The girl lashed out at him with her legs, only to be reprimanded for it in the most painful of ways; cradling the leg in the crook of his arm, the Youko snapped it in two with a sickening crack. The winged girl let out a ragged sob; both in fury and anguish.
"You should thank your lucky stars, girl, that you never finished your sentence."
Author's Note: Garglhyfoogledybleck. -__-;; This chapter kinda passed by quickly. The events were unevenly developed. Ah well. I mean, what with schoolwork and swimming, I hardly have time to write. So, please make do with this sucky chapter. Thanksgiving break is soon, so I'll be able to write a much better one. Hehe. Some people might know what's going on, while others might not. Hehe. The events of this first chapter will be explained in some later chapters, so, do not fear if you're completely and totally lost. ^^;;
Please remember to review! I like my reviews. ^__^ They inspire me!