CHAPTER 4
Kurama stopped suddenly, causing the others in back of him to slam into him. But Kurama could not move. He was frozen with horror. "Oi, Kurama what's the hold........."said Kuwabara before he got a look at the scene in front of them. On the ground were the bodies of all of the village's Makai Elves. They had deep gashes on them, and some had their eyes closed, like they were sleeping. The mud had turned a deep shade of red where all the blood had seeped into the ground. But what was the most horrifying was the fact that all the elves were missing their ears. Kurama started to back up slowly, shaking his head no, no, no......He knew that the demon would be back because Faolain hadn't been there when he was attacked. Kurama guessed that the elves had been attacked in their sleep. Oh, no. What will happen when Faolain gets here? Suddenly they all jumped as a shrill scream pierced the air. They all looked nervously at each other, silently wondering if Kal'hauni would suddenly pop out from behind a tree and attack them.
Hiei was almost as shocked as Kurama when he saw what had happened to the village, but Hiei knew this couldn't be only the Kal'hauni because he would only get to one or two bodies before the elves assembled and struck. Hiei thought that maybe the Kal'hauni had somehow multiplied or become invisible to the Elves' senses or just was a mist. Hiei flitted over to a body and saw the eyes were closed, as if in a peaceful sleep. Not far away was a knife. Hiei bent over a peered at the knife. It was in the right position to be dropped by one of the elves. Hiei flitted over to another body. This one had his eyes open and his mouth was in a silent scream, never to be heard again. Then Hiei looked at the eyes. They contained a look of fear and a look of such pure hatred that it made Hiei's death glares appear to be no more than childish imitations. It unsettled him so bad that he couldn't stand to be near the bodies any more.
Faolain flung her jacket back on, barely even glancing back at the smoking remains of Nonet'rui. She began walking down the path which led to the village. Before she could take three steps, she knew something was wrong, deadly wrong. She started into a brisk trot, then a full run to out match even Hiei's speed. When she rounded the last bend, she stopped. No, NO!!!! It couldn't be! How can they all be dead? Faolain saw the others wearing horrified expressions on their faces. Faolain heard a soft moan to her left. Whirling around quickly, she saw it came from a counselor, by her dress. She quickly went to her, but she knew Faolain could not be healed. The counselor saw her and told her, "It was Kal'hauni. He has grown more powerful since we last faced him. And," a sudden convulsion racked her body, her eyes going wide enough they seemed as if they would pop out of her head. "He was different. He seemed more powerful. Somewhere, a portal to the Makai has been opened. You need to find Kal'hauni and you will find the portal. Kill him and you close the portal. Promise me that you will do that, promise me....." her words faded as she coughed up the last of her blood. Faolain shut the eyes of the counselor and laid her on the ground. She stood up and straightened her jacket, brushed the blood off and turned to face the group.
They were waiting for her. When she faced them, her face was about as telling as a piece of solid rock. In even, icy tones she said, "Let's go. You heard what the counselor said. If we find Kal'hauni, then the portal to the Makai, if there is one, will be closed." Kurama noticed how well she hid her sorrow, if there was any to begin with, he thought. Then, he noticed her ki had gone way up. Way, way up. Then he sensed it. They were being watched and taunted with someone's spirit power. Kurama saw Hiei readying his katana and the usual bandana, covering his Jagan, was off and his Jagan was open. Yusuke must have seen something wrong, so he was powering up his spirit gun. Kuwabara already had his spirit sword out and ready. Then Kurama looked over at Faolain. She seemed to be in a meditative stance, her forearms resting on her hips. Kurama peered closer. Wait a second, her arms are too far out and too high to be on her hips. What the hell??? Kurama never got time to ask, because at that second, three high A-class youkais leapt out of the bushes and started to Faolain.
Already, Hiei sensed something was wrong. He immediately tore off the strip covering his Jagan and put his hand on the hilt of his katana. He immediately scanned the surrounding area for any traces of youkai. He couldn't seem to find any. Strange, either it's just our imaginations, or something has masked it's youkai from me and the others. Baka!!! Hiei looked around one last time, just in time to catch the three youkais leaping at Faolain. Faster than most eyes could see, Hiei leapt in and cut down the three youkais and returned to his position, katana away, and calmly finished retying the cloth around his Jagan. When Faolain looked at him, mildly surprised, he had to suppress a cocky grin. He settled for a nod and turned back to the three youkais he had cut down. They were ugly, gruesome things, stocky and built more for brute strength and taking many extreme hits than for speed and agility. Hiei shrugged. Not like they could get much out of them anyways, recognizing the demons as part of a tribe in which the language was guttural, mostly grunts and groans not commonly known on the Makai.
Faolain saw Hiei cut down the three demons, and had no trouble following his moves, her eyes being trained for such things. She was mildly surprised that he had a Jagan, a third eye, but she wasn't at all surprised when he cut the demons down. It had seemed he needed to either kill or hurt something, so she let him. She then motioned for the others to join her and when they did, she proceeded to tell them her plans in a low voice. "These demons were sent by the Kal'hauni. If we can track them back to where they came from, then we may be able to find Kal'hauni. Maybe we will, maybe we won't, but let me warn you. Kal'hauni has been around since the creation of the race of the Makai elves. It was designed to cut down the elves when they became too numerous and to kill any that stood in its way. It seems he has gotten out of control, so we must kill him and quickly. This won't be an easy task, for he is strong, both mentally and physically. First, he will most likely loose a mental attack on you. Fight it, don't give in, no matter what he threatens or promises. They are false and empty, no truth in them. Do not show any weakness, for he will use that against you. In his realm, there is no sound, and no sound can be heard. I can read your thoughts if you direct them at me and I can speak to you telepathically, which is something you already know. When we get there, most likely he will send minions to destroy us. You may be tired from fighting them, but it you show any weakness, he will use it against you." She looked around, Kuwabara had a look of fear on his face, Yusuke looked nervous, Yoko looked like he was trying to keep his cool and Hiei looked like, well like he always did, passive and cold. She shrugged. I hope this goes well for them as well as for me. She looked at the bodies. Now, she knew what Koenma meant when others would try to get to her to steal the vial that hung around her neck containing the spirits of the demon 'gods' that had been killed. She blew out an exasperated breath and turned in the general direction she felt the threat come from. Time to trust her warrior instincts.
SH: Should I make this a Kurama x Faolain, or Hiei x Faolain?
Kurone: Why am I not in this?
SH: Because, you're my moral support.
Nenji: I'm taking Hinata-sama home now. Don't do anything...funny SH: define funny Nenji.
Kurone: whispers to SH
SH: O.o TMI!!!
Kurama stopped suddenly, causing the others in back of him to slam into him. But Kurama could not move. He was frozen with horror. "Oi, Kurama what's the hold........."said Kuwabara before he got a look at the scene in front of them. On the ground were the bodies of all of the village's Makai Elves. They had deep gashes on them, and some had their eyes closed, like they were sleeping. The mud had turned a deep shade of red where all the blood had seeped into the ground. But what was the most horrifying was the fact that all the elves were missing their ears. Kurama started to back up slowly, shaking his head no, no, no......He knew that the demon would be back because Faolain hadn't been there when he was attacked. Kurama guessed that the elves had been attacked in their sleep. Oh, no. What will happen when Faolain gets here? Suddenly they all jumped as a shrill scream pierced the air. They all looked nervously at each other, silently wondering if Kal'hauni would suddenly pop out from behind a tree and attack them.
Hiei was almost as shocked as Kurama when he saw what had happened to the village, but Hiei knew this couldn't be only the Kal'hauni because he would only get to one or two bodies before the elves assembled and struck. Hiei thought that maybe the Kal'hauni had somehow multiplied or become invisible to the Elves' senses or just was a mist. Hiei flitted over to a body and saw the eyes were closed, as if in a peaceful sleep. Not far away was a knife. Hiei bent over a peered at the knife. It was in the right position to be dropped by one of the elves. Hiei flitted over to another body. This one had his eyes open and his mouth was in a silent scream, never to be heard again. Then Hiei looked at the eyes. They contained a look of fear and a look of such pure hatred that it made Hiei's death glares appear to be no more than childish imitations. It unsettled him so bad that he couldn't stand to be near the bodies any more.
Faolain flung her jacket back on, barely even glancing back at the smoking remains of Nonet'rui. She began walking down the path which led to the village. Before she could take three steps, she knew something was wrong, deadly wrong. She started into a brisk trot, then a full run to out match even Hiei's speed. When she rounded the last bend, she stopped. No, NO!!!! It couldn't be! How can they all be dead? Faolain saw the others wearing horrified expressions on their faces. Faolain heard a soft moan to her left. Whirling around quickly, she saw it came from a counselor, by her dress. She quickly went to her, but she knew Faolain could not be healed. The counselor saw her and told her, "It was Kal'hauni. He has grown more powerful since we last faced him. And," a sudden convulsion racked her body, her eyes going wide enough they seemed as if they would pop out of her head. "He was different. He seemed more powerful. Somewhere, a portal to the Makai has been opened. You need to find Kal'hauni and you will find the portal. Kill him and you close the portal. Promise me that you will do that, promise me....." her words faded as she coughed up the last of her blood. Faolain shut the eyes of the counselor and laid her on the ground. She stood up and straightened her jacket, brushed the blood off and turned to face the group.
They were waiting for her. When she faced them, her face was about as telling as a piece of solid rock. In even, icy tones she said, "Let's go. You heard what the counselor said. If we find Kal'hauni, then the portal to the Makai, if there is one, will be closed." Kurama noticed how well she hid her sorrow, if there was any to begin with, he thought. Then, he noticed her ki had gone way up. Way, way up. Then he sensed it. They were being watched and taunted with someone's spirit power. Kurama saw Hiei readying his katana and the usual bandana, covering his Jagan, was off and his Jagan was open. Yusuke must have seen something wrong, so he was powering up his spirit gun. Kuwabara already had his spirit sword out and ready. Then Kurama looked over at Faolain. She seemed to be in a meditative stance, her forearms resting on her hips. Kurama peered closer. Wait a second, her arms are too far out and too high to be on her hips. What the hell??? Kurama never got time to ask, because at that second, three high A-class youkais leapt out of the bushes and started to Faolain.
Already, Hiei sensed something was wrong. He immediately tore off the strip covering his Jagan and put his hand on the hilt of his katana. He immediately scanned the surrounding area for any traces of youkai. He couldn't seem to find any. Strange, either it's just our imaginations, or something has masked it's youkai from me and the others. Baka!!! Hiei looked around one last time, just in time to catch the three youkais leaping at Faolain. Faster than most eyes could see, Hiei leapt in and cut down the three youkais and returned to his position, katana away, and calmly finished retying the cloth around his Jagan. When Faolain looked at him, mildly surprised, he had to suppress a cocky grin. He settled for a nod and turned back to the three youkais he had cut down. They were ugly, gruesome things, stocky and built more for brute strength and taking many extreme hits than for speed and agility. Hiei shrugged. Not like they could get much out of them anyways, recognizing the demons as part of a tribe in which the language was guttural, mostly grunts and groans not commonly known on the Makai.
Faolain saw Hiei cut down the three demons, and had no trouble following his moves, her eyes being trained for such things. She was mildly surprised that he had a Jagan, a third eye, but she wasn't at all surprised when he cut the demons down. It had seemed he needed to either kill or hurt something, so she let him. She then motioned for the others to join her and when they did, she proceeded to tell them her plans in a low voice. "These demons were sent by the Kal'hauni. If we can track them back to where they came from, then we may be able to find Kal'hauni. Maybe we will, maybe we won't, but let me warn you. Kal'hauni has been around since the creation of the race of the Makai elves. It was designed to cut down the elves when they became too numerous and to kill any that stood in its way. It seems he has gotten out of control, so we must kill him and quickly. This won't be an easy task, for he is strong, both mentally and physically. First, he will most likely loose a mental attack on you. Fight it, don't give in, no matter what he threatens or promises. They are false and empty, no truth in them. Do not show any weakness, for he will use that against you. In his realm, there is no sound, and no sound can be heard. I can read your thoughts if you direct them at me and I can speak to you telepathically, which is something you already know. When we get there, most likely he will send minions to destroy us. You may be tired from fighting them, but it you show any weakness, he will use it against you." She looked around, Kuwabara had a look of fear on his face, Yusuke looked nervous, Yoko looked like he was trying to keep his cool and Hiei looked like, well like he always did, passive and cold. She shrugged. I hope this goes well for them as well as for me. She looked at the bodies. Now, she knew what Koenma meant when others would try to get to her to steal the vial that hung around her neck containing the spirits of the demon 'gods' that had been killed. She blew out an exasperated breath and turned in the general direction she felt the threat come from. Time to trust her warrior instincts.
SH: Should I make this a Kurama x Faolain, or Hiei x Faolain?
Kurone: Why am I not in this?
SH: Because, you're my moral support.
Nenji: I'm taking Hinata-sama home now. Don't do anything...funny SH: define funny Nenji.
Kurone: whispers to SH
SH: O.o TMI!!!