Chapter 12

Lost No More

Riku and Yukina had been traveling for six days. They had left his packs territory on the second day. In fact they were now in Nebraska, which was between Colorado and South Dakota. At the moment they are walking along the river so Riku can gain some of his strength back.

"Hey Riku" Yukina said looking at him. "What?" he replied. "Why don't you just wind morph to Mt Rushmore? According to you, it should take us a few minutes" she asked. "I can't wind morph with a passenger. It would drain me of my spirit energy and I'll need it for the trip home. It takes a lot just wind morphing with the Crescent Edge" he replied. They continued walking down the stream until noon.

Riku led her into the forest and set up a temporary camp. "There's a hot spring just beyond those trees" he said pointing into the woods, "Why don't you wash up while I get lunch ready." Yukina nodded and carried her backpack in the direction he was pointing. As he said, there was a large hot spring. She undressed and sighed as she eased herself into the water.

She thought about her time with Riku so far. Since they had left, Riku had been less sociable and more emotionless. Is that how Riku acted before he went after Domaru? He acts a little like Hiei but at least Riku's more sociable. *sigh* I wonder how the others are doing. I hope Hiei doesn't feel to guilty since he couldn't save me. Well one good thing as come from all this. I'm traveling alone with the cutest guy I've met. If only he lived in Japan. Then we could be a couple she thought. She started having daydreams about the wolf she was with.

She saw a shadow move through the trees. "Who's there?" She said covering her self with a towel. Suddenly out of the trees flew a large bird demon. It had metallic feathers and red eyes. She realized it was half robot half demon. It's camera eyes focused on her. As it charged she screamed.

Riku heard the scream and ran toward the hot spring. He arrived to see Yukina just dodging the talons but shred her towel. He jumped toward it and kicked it in the head. The bird crashed into the water. He unsheathed his sword and waited for it to resurface. With a mighty slash it charged out. The bird flew high into the air. It stopped flapping its wings. A few of its feathers shout out and headed straight for Riku like bullets. He dodged each one but screamed in pain as the bird dug its talons into his flesh. It had snuck up on him while the daggers distracted him. The wolf was tossed to the ground with a painful thud. He slowly got up and waited for the bird's next attack.

The bird closed its wings in front of it as energy gathered between the wings. Riku used this time to reach into his coat and pull out a gold berry. It was the last one he had. He knew it had instant healing powers. He plopped it into his mouth. Immediately, a golden light surrounded his body. When the light died down he stood where he was completely healed. The Crescent Edge started to glow. The bird let lose a blast of red energy. Riku brought the sword over his head and swung at the blast. The sword split the attack in two a sent the halves safely to the side.

The bird charge Riku with its talons pointed forward. Riku swung his sword at it and the talons clashed with the blade. The wolf jumped to the side as the bird charged again. He dodged its swings and his claws went red again. "CRESCENT CLAWS" he fired his attack at point blank range. They cut through the bird like a hot knife through butter. The bird fell to the ground in six pieces. Each piece twitched. Riku walked toward the head and stomped on it. The head was crushed.

He sheathed his sword and turned to Yukina. His eyes widened. Yukina was sitting on the ground with wide eyes completely naked. Riku stared for a few seconds before blushing and slapping his hand over his eyes. At first Yukina didn't understand why he would do that but realized she was on the ground with no clothes on. She turned five shades of red. Riku stomped over to a tree and walked behind it. Yukina could hear him hitting the tree and heard him cursing. She didn't want to know what he was saying. She reached into her pack and put on some underwear and the aqua kimono with snowflakes on it.

"Riku it's okay to come out, I'm dressed" she called to the tree. Riku walked out of it still blushing. "I t-think we s-should head back t-to c-c-camp now" he stuttered. They started to walk back. 

He couldn't believe he saw her like that. Sure he liked it but it was just wrong of him to stare at her for so long. I must have been starring at her for ten seconds. Damn wolf instincts he thought. Just like any guy he got exited at seeing a beautiful girl naked. He could feel a tingly sensation at the base of his tail. He knew all to well what that feeling meant for wolf demons. I really need to learn self-control better. It's taking all my will power not to just jump her now he thought.

Yukina was in a similar state. Her demon instincts had gotten excited when Riku stared at her. We can't. We're haven't even gone out yet. Why do demons get excited so easily? she thought. He instincts were telling her 'take him' while her controlled half said 'calm down'. They reached camp still blushing. (See why the fic is PG-13)

Riku sat across the clearing from her. He started to polish his sword to take his mind off recent events. But that image just kept coming. Yukina was entertaining herself with a deck of cards she'd brought with her. Very dirty images flew through her head. Eventually they calmed down enough to sit next to each other and eat ramen. After they were done, they headed back toward the river. Riku nervously picked her up and started running upstream.

Somewhere in South Dakota five days earlier

Scar, still terrified, ran through the forest. How could he be so fast? He didn't even break a sweat. I'd better tell the others he thought. Ahead he saw a huge stone fortress with machine gun posts along the walls. It looked invincible. The highest thing was a flagpole. At the top was a purple flag with a black crescent moon on it. Home sweet home.

When he reached the gates he saw two wolf demons standing guard. Each wore black combat gis and a black helmet. In there arms were AK-47s. "Show your mark" one of them ordered. Scar saw two machine guns from the fortress point at him. He should the tattoo on his shoulder. The other guard pulled out a walky talky. "Open the gates" he said into it. The huge iron doors opened and Scar ran through them. He made his way down the main street. At his side were concrete houses with other wolf demons doing chores outside them He passed by an arena where pups were shooting targets with pistols.

He came across a second wall with mini guns on the walls. A wolf wearing a purple uniform and holding a spear with a curved blade on the end was staining guard. A military cap was on his head. "State your name and business here" the guard said. "Scar and I'm here to report the death of two warriors to an intruder" Scar replied saluting. "Very well you may pass" the guard said. He pushed a remote from his coat and the gates opened. Scar walked in. After waking down a hallway for a few minutes he came to a large wooden door. It was decorated with gold and carvings of wolves. The door opened.

Scar walked into a huge room. At the side were sentries ready to attack any troublemakers. The ceiling had a huge chandelier hanging off it. At the other end was a throne. On that throne sat a shadowy figure. At his side were a number of female wolves with very provocative outfits on. "What have you to report" the figure (with a voice like Cell's) asked. Scar kneeled before the figure. "Sire, I was out scouting our territory with two other warriors when we ran into an intruder. His scent was that of a fire demon. Naturally we attacked him but he was to fast. In only seconds he killed the other two I was traveling with. He now roams our territory freely. Also, I could smell the scent of others on him. He was not alone" Scar said on the ground. "Describe this intruder" the figure ordered. "He wore nothing but black. He had black hair that stood up. I remember seeing a white streak across the front of it. His weapon was a katana. He appeared to be Japanese sire" Scar said respectfully. "And you ran from him" "I had to sire." "Cowards have no place here" the figure said angrily. "Please don't" Scar begged. "Enough, now suffer my wrath" a purple crescent shaped blade flew at Scar. Went it hit he was sliced in two. "Get this trash out of my sight" the figure commanded. A few servants came out and cleaned the floor of the remains. "I want the fire demon dead and his head put at the end of a spike." From the shadows, more figures bowed and disappeared. He'll learn not to anger the leader of the Dark Moon pack the hard way the figure thought. He started to laugh evilly.

Present

Hiei ran at top speed along the river Yukina was washed down. He still couldn't find a trace of his sister. For the first three days of his travel he was frequently ambushed by more wolf demons. He killed all of them with little effort.  Two days ago the attacks suddenly stopped. He was more relaxed now. Today he'd run into a wolf demon hunting and killed it before it could start trouble. But something bothered him. The wolf he killed didn't seem to be looking for him. In fact it didn't have an evil feeling coming off of it like the ones before it.

Suddenly he picked up a familiar feeling. The feeling that only came when Yukina was close. Not much longer. He ran toward the direction the feeling got stronger.

With Riku and Yukina

Riku sat in a tree as he polished his sword. The images of Yukina earlier that day were almost completely gone. Yukina was off making friends with the forest creatures. He kept his senses honed for danger. He picked up the scent of something approaching at a high speed. He jumped down from the tree with his sword ready for combat. Out of the trees came none other than Hiei.

Hiei stopped when he saw a wolf demon standing in front of him. He could sense the wolf's spirit energy and could tell he was in for a fight. "Out of my way wolf" Hiei warned. "Not a chance. I smell wolf blood on your sword" Riku replied. "Have it your way" Hiei replied readying his katana. Riku wasn't about to attack but when he smelled the blood of a member of an allied pack, he labeled the intruder as an enemy.

Hiei disappeared for a quick strike. Riku saw him move and block the attack. Hiei was stunned when the wolf stopped his attack. This will be tougher than I thought he thought. Hiei charged again swinging his sword. Riku dodged or blocked each swing. Hiei was getting frustrated but didn't let his anger make his fighting sloppy. Riku disappeared when Hiei went for a thrust. Hiei followed suit. They appeared as blurs as they fought at high speed. The sound of swords clashing rang through the forest. The two combatants reappeared panting. "Not bad, you wield that sword with great skill" Hiei said. "I could say the same for you" Riku replied smirking. They prepared to charge.

"Riku what's going on?" came Yukina's voice from the side of the clearing. The two fighters looked toward her. Hiei's eyes met hers. They stared at each other in shock. "Hiei?" Yukina said wide-eyed. "Yukina?" Hiei said astonished. Yukina smiled and ran to him. When she reached him she threw her arms around him. "Hiei it's really you!!!" she said with tear gems falling from her eyes. Hiei returned the hug, holding his sister tightly. "Yukina, I was so worried you were in danger" he said looking at her. He was actually getting teary eyed. (That's OOC for him)

Riku just stared with his mouth open as the two embraced. He felt a little jealous but kept it to himself. "Excuse me" he finally said. The two separated. Hiei gave him a death glare. "Riku this is Hiei, he's one of the friends I was separated from" she said. "Who's he?" Hiei asked. "Hiei, this is Riku. He's helped me the entire time I've been separated from you guys" Hiei still looked at the wolf suspiciously. "Well if he's one of your friends then I have no quarrel with him" Riku said sheathing his sword. "Yukina's told me a lot about you" he said holding his hand out. Hiei sheathed his sword. "Yukina, has he been protecting you?" he asked. Yukina nodded happily. "Then I guess I can trust him" Hiei said taking Riku's hand. They nodded to each other. Riku sat on a log. Yukina sat next to him followed by Hiei.

"Where are the others?" Yukina asked looking around for them. "I left them behind. Don't worry they should be safe" Hiei replied. "How have they been?" she asked. "Okay I guess. Kurama and Boton are together now" "That's wonderful. I was wondering when they would finally tell each other" she said. "So what have you been up to?" Hiei asked. Yukina told him the entire story. She started from Domaru and told him the important events up to finding him. She left out the part about Riku seeing her undressed. Hiei listened to every detail. "So, the wolf can be trusted?" Hiei asked. "Of coarse he can" Yukina replied. Hiei looked at Riku again.

"Your help is no longer needed here so you can go home now" Hiei said to Riku. "I'm not leaving until I know Yukina is completely safe" Riku replied. "She's safe with me" Hiei said glaring at the wolf. "Let me ask you something, did you run into any wolf demons that have a tattoo on their left shoulder?" Riku asked. "Yes, so what of it?" "So far you've been fighting small fries. They were sent to test your power. Now their leader knows how you fight. When you enter their territory you'll have to fight their leader along with his most elite warriors. You won't stand a chance" Riku said. "I know more about them than you. In fact I've fought their leader once. I know what to expect" he added. "Hiei, I want Riku to stay with us until we find the others" Yukina said with puppy-dog eyes. "Very well, the wolf can join us" Hiei said giving in.

Something that had been nagging Riku finally became to much. "So Hiei, I can see you have a Jagan eye." "Hn" was Hiei's reply. "Let me ask you. When you used it to look for Yukina, did you only see fog?" Riku asked. Hiei's eyes widened a little. "Yes, so what? What that's got to do with anything?" he asked. "Yukina, can I see that necklace around your neck?" Riku said holding out his hand. "All right but be careful with it" Yukina said handing it to him. Riku started to examine it. After a minute, his eyes narrowed. He squeezed his fist and crushed the necklace to dust. "Riku, why'd you do that?" Yukina said with confusion and anger in her voice. "That crystal on the it is called the Crystal of the Invisible Fog. It's very common around Mt Rushmore. Demons use it to making tracking them difficult. If enough spirit energy is added to it, it becomes impossible to track the person wearing it. That explains why I had difficulty picking up Yukina's scent and why your Jagan couldn't find her" Riku explained. Yukina forgave him for breaking Hiei's gift. Riku could smell her as clear as a bell.   

"I think I'll get some sleep I'm so warn out" Riku said jumping to a tree branch. "I think we should go to sleep to" Yukina said getting up and lying down under the tree. "I'll keep watch" Hiei said. "Goodnight" Yukina said. "Goodnight" the two boys said in unison.

Hiei sat on the log and looked at the fire. He may not show it, but he fully trusted Riku now. After Yukina told him how Riku nearly died saving her from Blacarndra, Riku had earned the fire demon's respect. He knew Riku and his friends had treated Yukina with nothing but kindness. I guess I'll allow Riku to travel with us. He'll be useful in case that Dark Moon pack attacks again he thought. At least Yukina's safe.         

What a way to met new people. At least Yukina stopped them before they hurt each other. Next chapter, Riku, Yukina, and Hiei confront new danger. Review please.