Disclaimer: I don't own YYH yada yada yada no one can sue me yada yada yada nana nana nana

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Going through a portal is an indescribable thing, because there's nothing else in all the three worlds like it. When you land on the other side, tumbling out with a thud, it seems that going through the portal is almost instantaneous. But then, as you continue thinking about it, you know that you're missing something. That maybe, something happened in the portal, but it's been sealed off from you mind, like an invisible wall that you know is there and something is behind it, but you can't pass the wall to find out what it is.

I suppose it'd be similar to going through a black hole, only not getting killed and smashed into one infinitely small particle in the process.

Koranu and Kurama came tumbling out of the blue portal, landing in the dirt and sliding across the ground, making dust fly about them like a cloud of smoke.

Kurama sat up and gasped in the smoke, coughing heartily from the dust and grime. "Are you alright?" Koranu asked him, sitting up and blinking rapidly, trying to get dust out of her eyes.

Kurama nodded, still hacking away, completely forgetting Koranu couldn't see him with all the dirt flying around.

As they waited for the dust to clear a bit, Kurama glanced around, then noticed something very peculiar as the dust floated softly away on the wind. "Er, Koranu?" he asked, as the woman glanced over his way. "I think there's a problem with the portal of something. Look, were back where we started."

The lavender haired woman chuckled slightly, shaking her head at his ignorance. "No, were in the Makai," she told him, standing up and giving him her dirt covered hand, hauling him up from the forest floor with ease. "You see, portals are a little like mirrors. They go from one place to another, but only when those places are, if not exactly the same, then similar. In order to travel from the woods into the Makai, you need to land in a forest in the Makai. If you wanted to go from a beach in the Makai, you'd need to land in a similar beach in the human realms. That's why Japan is the most common place for demons in the human world, because it's the most similar to the Makai in geographical arrangement."

"Ah," Kurama nodded in understanding, brushing off some of the dirt from his clothes. "I see now."

"Come on," she jerked her head and rotated her body so her back faced the portal and him. "We've got a long way to go, and I want to get there in just two of three days."

"Jeez," Kurama mumbled to himself as he fallowed her into the deep of the woods. I was hopping we'd be back in a week or two."

"No such luck, kid," she grinned at him, as they headed up a small hill. "Now, less talkin' and more walkin'! Here, have a coke," she tossed him one.

Kurama snatched it out of the air and sarcastically rolled his eyes. "The answer to all life's problems: COKE." But he didn't resist, just popped open the top, and gulped down the cool beverage into his dry and dusty throat.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 "Alright, let's stop here," Koranu dropped her bag onto the ground with a large, heavy thud. "Much closer and it'd be dangerous."

In the three days and two nights they had traveled, Kurama asked very little about the upcoming mission, knowing his teacher would tell him when the time came. But now he frowned in curiosity and suspicion.

"We're really that close?" he frowned.

"Yeah, they live just a mile and a half away, or so," she told him, starting to unpack some of her stuff, pulling out food, blankets, and another assortment of things.

Kurama plopped down into the dirt next to her, frowning as she took out two silver daggers. "Oh. Where do they live, anyway?"

"In a cave," the willow told him.

Raising an eyebrow, he asked, partly sarcastic, "these are some of the best thieves and assassins anywhere in the three worlds and they live in a cave?"

Koranu smiled slightly, "NO, the entrance to their lair is a cave. Where they live are underground tunnels, that are actually extremely extensive, going about a mile wide."

The fox raised an eyebrow in interest. "Really? How did they manage to make that?"

Koranu sighed in annoyance. "What's with the third degree? I'll tell you everything soon. For now, just help me make camp."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hey everyone!

I know, I know, it's been a really long time since I've written, but I've had a severe case of writer's block, and I really have to hurry and finish this chapter, cause I have to go any minute, but if I don't get it up now, then I can't post it until Tuesday. By the way, that's when the next chapter will be up, along with a new Fire Thief, so stay tuned!

Talk soon, and sorry for the short chapter!

Dream Fox