The next day Kurama woke up with no recollection of what he had dreamt the night before. He'd had too many dreams like that to remember just the one he'd had last night.
Out on deck the wind rustled his unruly, red hair. He could see the faint outline of Hanging-Neck island off to the northwest, but he couldn't see his destination, even though the captain said they were only about thirty minutes away. The prison actually wasn't on Hanging-Neck island, but was on a smaller hidden island somewhere near it.
Botan was there as a kind of escort, since Yusuke was between cases and off training somewhere, and Kurama had been on such good behavior he had been allowed a vacation to wherever he wanted, and he wanted to see San.
The captain spoke into his radio and then yelled down to Botan and him who were standing on the front deck. "Look, dead ahead, there she be, 'The Rock'!!" Almost directly in front of them the sky shimmered like a desert mirage and unveiled a small, rock island with a large fortress type building built right into the rock (it looks like a Medieval Alcatraz).
In ten minutes they had docked and unloaded. The captain gave them directions, and some helpful advice for when they get to the prison.
It was quite simple to get to the prison, there was only one main road and all you had to do was follow it up to the prison.
Once Botan and he had signed in at the visitor center they were escorted by two large, burly ogres to the solitary confinement section. There the ogres opened a small window in one of the doors and yelled to its occupant. "Get up! Someone's here to see you."
"Fuck off!! Who is it?" was the response of the occupant.
"You watch your mouth, you!!" the ogre snapped back, "They might just be here with some good news."
"Yeah right, and monkeys will fly out my ass." the occupant grumbled in response.
The ogre turned to the both of them, "Well that's San for you. We'll leave you alone so you can chitchat." The two ogres turned and left back down the hall, the way they had come from, to guard the doors at the end of the section.
"Well, are ya just gonna stand there all quiet, or are ya gonna talk to me?!?" a slightly irritated voice came through the small window.
"Oh right, I'm Kurama,-"
"-and I'm Botan."
"Good, great, why are you here?" San said slightly amused.
"I'm here to talk to you about your book," Kurama said, "the one about the Labyrinth Caves of Periculum."
"Oh great, a book discussion." San grumbled.
"Well no, not exactly." Kurama defended trying not to loose Sans interest.
"Really? Then what is it?" San said a little interested now.
"I want to go through those caves." Kurama said and then added, "I want to get what's at the end."
"Oh, do you now? And just how do you propose to do this?" San said very interested now.
"I plan to break you out and have you help me." Kurama stated.
San laughed so loudly Kurama thought that the guards might hear it. San finally calmed down enough to talk and said, "You can't be serious, there's no way you could ever get me out of here, I'm under much more than just lock and key. I've been sealed in here by the second most powerful sorceress alive today. You can't get me out. You're not the only one who's tried either, everyone who's tried has failed and has either died trying or been put in this very prison for treason. What makes you think you could do it?"
"I'm Kurama, the famous burglar, haven't you heard of me?" he tried to explain.
San started to laugh again, but this time it was far different, it was a low, dangerous laugh that almost sounded like San was mocking him.
"What's so funny this time?" Kurama demanded.
"Oh nothing, forget it, I'll tell you later." San said changing back to the moderately interested tone. "Well if you think you're up to it I could tell you what you'd need in order to get me out of here."
"Don't worry I can get anything." he said a bit cockily.
"Ha! Can you gain access to the Spirit World?" San challenged.
"Umm... Botan?" Uninterested in the conversation Botan had wandered off a little ways and was staring off, bored, into space. "Botan?!!" Kurama practically yelled to get her attention.
"Humm, what? Oh yes, Kurama?" she fumbled around with her words.
"Can I gain access to the Spirit World?" Kurama repeated San's question.
"Umm, I suppose so. I could ask Koenma, but why?" she asked just out of curiosity.
"Kurama needs to go to Dzong and get something for me." San answered.
"Dzong!!" both Kurama and Botan yelled in unison.
"Yes Dzong. You know the place well. The tallest mountain in the Spirit World, Chomolangma, sits in the center at over thirty-five-thousand feet tall, surrounded by the deepest underwater trench in the Spirit World, over forty-thousand feet below sea level. All this is surrounded by a belt of more mountain ranges, dense forests, and other perils. It's protected by hoards of griffins and governed by Kuroi, that bitch." San pause and vented for a few seconds then continued, "You've been there before Kurama, and you're going to retrieve the same exact thing: Nemesis' Wheel of Fortune."
"Who are you, and how do you know all this?!" Kurama forced through clench teeth.
"You'll find out as soon as you complete that task," San mocked, "but it must be done a bit differently than what you did last time."
"Oh really!?! What did I do wrong the last time?" Kurama shouted at San.
"Calm down! No need to get bent out of shape." San said sounding hurt. "All you need to do is get the duplicate and put it in the place of the real one."
"And where are either one of them?" Kurama asked having cooled down enough to be reasonable.
"The duplicate is in one of the many vaults, and the real one is around the bitch Kuroi's neck." San said matter-of-factly, "To get the duplicate all you have to do is ask any of the griffins around there where it is and tell them that you're helping San-san."
"Is that all I have to do?" Kurama asked.
"Oh yeah," San added, "and while you're at it you should get the exact measurements of a bird cage in Kuroi's room that contains a very smart raven, you'll need to make a duplicate of it for a later task."
A strange request Kurama thought, but, "I'll do it!"
"You better or else all of this will be for not." San said through the tiny window in the door. "Come back with the Wheel of Fortune and the measurements for the cage after you've got them and I'll tell you what to do next."
"I will." Kurama said, it almost sounded like a promise he thought.
"OK, time's up. Time to go, visiting hours are over." one of the ogres said as both of them walked back up the hall to escort Botan and him out.
On the boat ride back to the mainland Botan kept telling him that this was a bad idea and it would completely blow his record of good behavior. "Only if Koenma finds out, and trust me he won't." Kurama had argued again and again, but his head was somewhere else, he was thinking about San, who was that person?
Out on deck the wind rustled his unruly, red hair. He could see the faint outline of Hanging-Neck island off to the northwest, but he couldn't see his destination, even though the captain said they were only about thirty minutes away. The prison actually wasn't on Hanging-Neck island, but was on a smaller hidden island somewhere near it.
Botan was there as a kind of escort, since Yusuke was between cases and off training somewhere, and Kurama had been on such good behavior he had been allowed a vacation to wherever he wanted, and he wanted to see San.
The captain spoke into his radio and then yelled down to Botan and him who were standing on the front deck. "Look, dead ahead, there she be, 'The Rock'!!" Almost directly in front of them the sky shimmered like a desert mirage and unveiled a small, rock island with a large fortress type building built right into the rock (it looks like a Medieval Alcatraz).
In ten minutes they had docked and unloaded. The captain gave them directions, and some helpful advice for when they get to the prison.
It was quite simple to get to the prison, there was only one main road and all you had to do was follow it up to the prison.
Once Botan and he had signed in at the visitor center they were escorted by two large, burly ogres to the solitary confinement section. There the ogres opened a small window in one of the doors and yelled to its occupant. "Get up! Someone's here to see you."
"Fuck off!! Who is it?" was the response of the occupant.
"You watch your mouth, you!!" the ogre snapped back, "They might just be here with some good news."
"Yeah right, and monkeys will fly out my ass." the occupant grumbled in response.
The ogre turned to the both of them, "Well that's San for you. We'll leave you alone so you can chitchat." The two ogres turned and left back down the hall, the way they had come from, to guard the doors at the end of the section.
"Well, are ya just gonna stand there all quiet, or are ya gonna talk to me?!?" a slightly irritated voice came through the small window.
"Oh right, I'm Kurama,-"
"-and I'm Botan."
"Good, great, why are you here?" San said slightly amused.
"I'm here to talk to you about your book," Kurama said, "the one about the Labyrinth Caves of Periculum."
"Oh great, a book discussion." San grumbled.
"Well no, not exactly." Kurama defended trying not to loose Sans interest.
"Really? Then what is it?" San said a little interested now.
"I want to go through those caves." Kurama said and then added, "I want to get what's at the end."
"Oh, do you now? And just how do you propose to do this?" San said very interested now.
"I plan to break you out and have you help me." Kurama stated.
San laughed so loudly Kurama thought that the guards might hear it. San finally calmed down enough to talk and said, "You can't be serious, there's no way you could ever get me out of here, I'm under much more than just lock and key. I've been sealed in here by the second most powerful sorceress alive today. You can't get me out. You're not the only one who's tried either, everyone who's tried has failed and has either died trying or been put in this very prison for treason. What makes you think you could do it?"
"I'm Kurama, the famous burglar, haven't you heard of me?" he tried to explain.
San started to laugh again, but this time it was far different, it was a low, dangerous laugh that almost sounded like San was mocking him.
"What's so funny this time?" Kurama demanded.
"Oh nothing, forget it, I'll tell you later." San said changing back to the moderately interested tone. "Well if you think you're up to it I could tell you what you'd need in order to get me out of here."
"Don't worry I can get anything." he said a bit cockily.
"Ha! Can you gain access to the Spirit World?" San challenged.
"Umm... Botan?" Uninterested in the conversation Botan had wandered off a little ways and was staring off, bored, into space. "Botan?!!" Kurama practically yelled to get her attention.
"Humm, what? Oh yes, Kurama?" she fumbled around with her words.
"Can I gain access to the Spirit World?" Kurama repeated San's question.
"Umm, I suppose so. I could ask Koenma, but why?" she asked just out of curiosity.
"Kurama needs to go to Dzong and get something for me." San answered.
"Dzong!!" both Kurama and Botan yelled in unison.
"Yes Dzong. You know the place well. The tallest mountain in the Spirit World, Chomolangma, sits in the center at over thirty-five-thousand feet tall, surrounded by the deepest underwater trench in the Spirit World, over forty-thousand feet below sea level. All this is surrounded by a belt of more mountain ranges, dense forests, and other perils. It's protected by hoards of griffins and governed by Kuroi, that bitch." San pause and vented for a few seconds then continued, "You've been there before Kurama, and you're going to retrieve the same exact thing: Nemesis' Wheel of Fortune."
"Who are you, and how do you know all this?!" Kurama forced through clench teeth.
"You'll find out as soon as you complete that task," San mocked, "but it must be done a bit differently than what you did last time."
"Oh really!?! What did I do wrong the last time?" Kurama shouted at San.
"Calm down! No need to get bent out of shape." San said sounding hurt. "All you need to do is get the duplicate and put it in the place of the real one."
"And where are either one of them?" Kurama asked having cooled down enough to be reasonable.
"The duplicate is in one of the many vaults, and the real one is around the bitch Kuroi's neck." San said matter-of-factly, "To get the duplicate all you have to do is ask any of the griffins around there where it is and tell them that you're helping San-san."
"Is that all I have to do?" Kurama asked.
"Oh yeah," San added, "and while you're at it you should get the exact measurements of a bird cage in Kuroi's room that contains a very smart raven, you'll need to make a duplicate of it for a later task."
A strange request Kurama thought, but, "I'll do it!"
"You better or else all of this will be for not." San said through the tiny window in the door. "Come back with the Wheel of Fortune and the measurements for the cage after you've got them and I'll tell you what to do next."
"I will." Kurama said, it almost sounded like a promise he thought.
"OK, time's up. Time to go, visiting hours are over." one of the ogres said as both of them walked back up the hall to escort Botan and him out.
On the boat ride back to the mainland Botan kept telling him that this was a bad idea and it would completely blow his record of good behavior. "Only if Koenma finds out, and trust me he won't." Kurama had argued again and again, but his head was somewhere else, he was thinking about San, who was that person?