~*~*~*~*~Chapter 15~*~*~*~*~
Kurama was falling...
Falling...
Falling farther and farther into the depths of oblivion. Unfathomable depths.
It was so cold. His blood seemed to be frozen inside his veins. He could scarcely breathe. Nay, he couldn't breathe at all. Either there was no air here at all, or his lungs refused to accept it.
Where was he?
He choked, he gasped, he throttled about him searching for the slightest hint of the sweet necessity that eluded his so.
He couldn't breathe.
His fingers wrapped around his throat, trying to force himself to breathe. His eyes rolled back, the whites of them dominant.
Breathe! Breathe! Please!
There was a ground. Solid, though invisible. He fell upon it and thrashed pathetically around him. His red hair was disheveled and matted to his scalp with sweat. His clothes were drenched in the salt water he secreted. He needed to breathe. He was going to die. He needed to...
No, Kurama! Remain calm.
Calm...He must remain calm...Stop this. His hands dropped from his throat and he fell silent. His body stopped thrashing and relaxed. It took every single piece of his free will to keep this way. To resist the deep-set desire to breathe. To feel cool, sweet air in his lungs.
It was involuntary, the will to breathe. The minute you exited your mother's womb and tasted that first lungful of delectable air, you hungered for more. You kept breathing, until it became second-nature. You no longer had to tell yourself to breathe, you just did. Because you needed it. It was an addiction.
He must forget...Stop it!
He closed his eyes. Hoping to relax himself further. Forget there was no air. To forget he was in a black oblivion.
Stop it!
The inside of his eyelids was black as well. When he left this place, he'd learn to appreciate color. To relish, how perfectly green the grass was. To appreciate the wonderful color blue the sky was.
Blue...
Blue, like Botan's hair. Yes, he'd appreciate that color far more now. Even more then he had before.
Botan...
What had happened to her? How would she feel after he never showed up at the park? How was he going to get out of here? How was he going to see her again?
Stop it!
It was cold...He was shivering. He felt himself doing so. His spine shuddered. He needed to get out.
But how.....?
~*~*~*~*~
Yusuke looked at the castle with an apprehensive feeling. It didn't feel right. What sort of power could possibly capture Kurama. He'd seen Kurama fight. He'd seen him kill. Kurama was very powerful. So was this Hakuma even more powerful that Kurama?
"Brr! Its freezing!" Kuwabara's voice trembled as he spoke.
"Well, you should've worn a jacket, Baka." Hiei answered with a frost that matched the landscape.
Kuwabara glared, his arms hugging his body. He decided to do something rare and not retort. Instead he looked around him. Everything was a horrible blanket of white. The only slight resemblance of color was the sky, which was gray. The most prominent thing in this snow-covered wasteland was the castle. Tall and looming...and white.
"It's like that song...You know... "Walking in a Winter Wonderland." Kuwabara pointed out, "Only this is like an evil Wonderland."
Hiei looked at him as though he'd never seen such stupidity, "What are you rambling about?"
"The song! You know!" And striking a pose he sang, (and not very well.) "Sleigh bells ring! Are you listening? In the lane! Snow is glistening! A beautiful sight! We're so happy tonight! Walking in a winter wonder-"
"Quiet! Both of you!"
Kuwabara seemed hurt at Yusuke interrupting his serenade but stopped obediently. Hiei gave Yusuke his signature glare.
Yusuke glanced around him and signaled to his team to advance forward and lead them through the imposing front doors. (Which of course were white.)
The inside was disappointing. It was white, just like the outside. There was however one small difference. Instead of endless bounds of white there was a restricted boundary to all the blankness. It stopped at the four, white walls.
"In the meadow we can build a snowman..."Kuwabara sang under his breath only to shushed once again by Yusuke.
"There's a door." Yusuke pointed ahead at a small (white) door on the south wall.
They exited the room and went into the next one.
"Whoa!" Kuwabara promptly exclaimed as he entered the room.
At there feet was a staircase. The staircase led into one of the most elaborate mazes either of the three had ever seen in their life.
"Its a maze!"
Hiei snorted, "Thank you for that deep insight, Kuwabara."
~*~*~*~*~
Botan backed up against the far wall, the energy in her legs suddenly regained at the sight of the advancing Hakuma.
Hakuma feigned hurt, "Why are you doing this, Botan? Don't you like me?"
Botan stared at him shocked, "You kidnapped me!"
Hakuma tittered, "You're hardly a kid."
The blue-haired deity put on a brave face, "What happened to Kurama?"
"He's been taken care of."
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?"
Hakuma grabbed her jaw forcing her to see him, to look him in the eye, "Don't be so feisty, all is well. Come then. I'll show you to your room."
~*~*~*~*~
MUHAHAHA. And you guys thought I'd lost interest! Well, I had there for awhile but using my unfailing techniques I rekindled and wrote like a mad chicken! In other words, I changed my pen name and reread my YYH manga. Speaking of pen names you'll have noticed its changed again. I've changed it approximately three times since I last updated and I hope to stay with this one for a while.
On a side note: What the heck is with Teen Titans? I like the show and everything but EGAD! Now, when I heard that Americans were taking a shot and recreating Japanese anime I was thrilled. A show that I didn't have to worry about silly symbols and stuff I don't understand.
I was watching Rurouni Kenshin and through most of the fight with Sojiro they'd flash to Japanese characters. Like I know what they mean! They could at least but a translation for it somewhere or.. something....
But anyway, I watched the first episode with delight and decided I liked it. A far cry from anime but I was happy with the knowledge that the show I was watching was not dubbed. A couple episodes late I sat down prepared to watch another glorious show and when the theme song came on it was in Japanese! At first I thought I was hearing things but it happened again in another episode! They seems to alternate between the English and Japanese version. And in the episode where Robin poses as Red X to capture Slade there was a advertisement in the background. AND IT WAS IN JAPANESE! GAH! Then in the most recent episode with Mad Mod there was this big chase scene and what language was the music in?
Would these people make up their minds? If I show is AMERICAN the advertisements and music should be AMERICAN as well.
Sorry for that rant. I just was confused. But wait! There's more!
Not only have I written this chapter but I have written two MORE chapters as well. But why am I not updating them now? Good question! Here's your answer: I wrote the two chapters in advance to give me a little time to relax before I have to update again. So , the rest of the chapters should be updated in four-day intervals. Today's Monday, so expect the next chapter Thursday. And that gives me eight days to write chapter eighteen! YAY!