ROSE OF THE DARKEST HEART
Chapter Two:
Kurama couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't move. He was struck with something so overwhelming, so overbearing that he could barely think. Finally it struck him that this was all coming from inside him. All this overwhelming power was his emotions...turned against him.
"My rose at last you have come..." a voice hissed out through the darkness and the figure of Yuuyake was finally illuminated. There was a cat demon standing hesitantly beside him.
"Let...me...go!" He managed to say, struggling his best to move from his spot on the stone floor. He turned his head a bit to see Hiei struggling as well, but he was having a much harder time. He could barely managed to move his eyes around the room.
"You are strong, rose, but not quite strong enough. You're beauty does make up for it though..." he said, bending down and capturing Kurama's face in his hand. "...I might want to taste you for myself...surely a rose such as you has the sweetest nectar..." he cackled, watching as Kurama's eyes widened in horror.
"You bastard!" Hiei managed to scream as he drew his sword and made it a couple feet before collapsing to the ground, unable to move once again.
"Now you are a feisty one, aren't you?" Yuuyake commented, before turning back to his cat companion. "Oh, blossom, can you bring him over to the chains? I don't want to have to deal with him as I'm having my fun. Then you can leave."
The demon girl did as she was told, dragging the motionless Hiei over to the wall where there were two pairs of shackles, one for his feet and one for his hands. Quickly she attached them to him and left speedily, shutting the door behind her.
Hiei was forced to watch with wide eyes as Yuuyake advanced upon Kurama, unable to anything to stop him. 'How did this happen. How the hell did this happen? Where are Yusuke and Kuwabara? The useless idiots. What if...what if...Yuuyake...does something to Kurama...and I can't stop him?!'
Kurama had never really felt fear in his heart before, but now he felt it. He was totally helpless, unable to move, barely able to scream, with no one to help him. He closed his eyes and began to scream as he felt Yuuyake's hands grip onto his hair, one hand tearing at his shirt, revealing Kurama's bare chest to the demon. He couldn't stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks as he felt the rest of his clothes rip from his body, and the vileness of Yuuyake against his skin.
Hiei closed his eyes, unable to watch the sight. He could hear Kurama's screams of horror echoing in his mind over and over, pounding at his heart. He wanted to bad to stop the pain for Kurama, but his struggles were useless. No matter how many times that he beat and slashed at his chains, they weren't giving in. It was all useless...everything....useless...dark closed over Hiei and he knew of no more.
Kurama was not given the mercy of darkness or escaped. Yuuyake violated him over and over until he could barely stand to scream anymore and it simply faded away. His eyes began to mist over and his mind drifted far far away. Anything to get away from this hell. He gave up his struggles and slumped against the ground, his body totally desecrated and limp. All the while his mind kept repeating, 'This can't be happening...this is not happening....it's....not....happening...'
Yuuyake pulled away and began to laugh manically. "Never has there been so sweet and innocent as you that I have tasted...I will not let you leave me ever...you are mine to own and to have...forever..." He looked down at the naked Kurama before his eyes, noting his defeated look. "You look more beautiful than I could ever imagine, lying their in your disgrace. Once the proud Yoko Kurama, but now just a crushed rose. From now on you will be known as Rashii, which means 'fallen one' in the tongue of my ancestors. Your soul is mine."
He paused to look over at the slumped figure of Hiei. "We will leave now, before those friends of yours break down my barrier. I think I'll leave your friend here for now. I don't want to end his suffering now. It has just begun for him. We shall leave together and return to my true home among my kin, where I once again claim my place as the head of the clan." With the last statement he gathered up Kurama in his arms and vanished.
Hiei felt a hand prodding him. He murmured softly, trying to ignore it, but it wouldn't stop. Finally realization hit him along with those horrible images and his eyes snapped open. Yusuke and Kuwabara were standing above him, looking at him with concern in their eyes. He was no longer bound by chains or by Yuuyake's power.
"Hey, Hiei, you alright?" Yusuke asked, worried for the small demon.
With a piercing scream Hiei jumped up and looked around, drawing his sword. "Where is he? Where is Kurama ...where is Yuuyake?!!?!" He yelled at the top his lungs, fire licking all around his body.
"I don't know. When we got here...it was only you chained to a wall..." Yusuke said hesitantly. "What happened here, Hiei? What happened to Kurama?"
Hiei wasn't listening though. His mind couldn't accept the images that were pounding into him, that his own eyes had seen yet he had refused to believe. He could still hear the screams, echoing...so loudly. The fire around his body began to burn hotter and fiercer tearing at the stone around him.
"What the heck are you doing Hiei?!" Yusuke yelled, as he was forced to withdraw from the room.
Hiei's voice rose in agonized howls as he tore at the room with his fire, pounding his head into the wall, the floor, anything to get the images away from him. He couldn't stand them, the sight of Kurama being so helpless, being so hurt, being so violated, and him just standing there watching it. It was too horrible for words. He wanted nothing more than to be in the darkness, where nothing mattered, nothing was known, nothing was remembered, but the cool embrace of nothing. At to that place he went again, as he melted into nothing...
"What is your name?" Yuuyake asked Kurama. They were in his own private quarters at the Castle of Illusions, the castle of his people. They had welcomed back their leader, and his new slave, throwing them a party which Kurama and he did not attend. Instead he was in his room teaching his slave some tricks.
Kurama didn't answer, but instead slid down to the ground and gently held himself, his eyes closing. He was now dressed in a loose white robe, his red hair flowing wildly all around him. He was still in a state of indifference, as though his body was there, but his mind was not.
"I said, what's your name?!" Yuuyake said, more angrily kicking at the red- head. Kurama absorbed the blow and did nothing in return. "You will pay for your insubordination!" he said, as he began to tug off the sleeve of Kurama's robe.
Kurama's eyes widened again in horror and he began to shudder in revulsion. "Rashii.." he said quietly.
Yuuyake's eyes gleamed with triumph. "That's a good rose. You'll soon learn that I'll reward you if you obey."
........................
"I'm worried about him, he does nothing but sit around all day. He won't sleep, he won't eat, he won't talk. All he does is sit there, staring out the window and murmuring Kurama's name over and over." Yukina exclaimed with tears in her eyes to an exasperated Genkai. The koorime's hands were trembling, clutching each other as she struggled to keep control of her emotions. "What has happened to my brother?" (A/n: yes, she knows he's her brother in my story).
Genkai sighed, her old face looking more wrinkled and weathered than ever. "I can't be sure what happened in that castle five days ago, but whatever it was affected Hiei very deeply. His wound was not physical, but he could die from it if he does not start caring about his life again."
"And what of Kurama? Has there been any news of him?" Yukina inquired hopefully.
Genkai shook her head. "Nothing yet. We still have yet to track down Yuuyake's location. We don't even know if Kurama is even still alive. Whatever happened must have been very horrible to put Hiei of all people into this state."
A tear drop silently from Yukina's face and formed a smooth crystal at her feet. "It's not fair! What can I do when he won't say anything, won't even tell me what happened?! What am I supposed to do?" she said, frustrated and feeling guilty for her lack of help.
Genkai put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Just be there for him. Wait for him, soon he will be ready to talk. Stay by his side and you will see. Everything will turn out all right."
Yukina nodded and smiled sorrowfully. "I'll be there for my brother no matter what."
.....................
Hiei sat all alone in his room in Genkai's temple where he was recovering. His ruffled black hair was dull and laying limply on his cheeks as he rested his head in a hand, staring out listlessly at the window. His red eyes no longer burnt fiercely as they had once and they were dully muted as though they had seen too much to bear. His skin had grown incredibly pale and his body was shaky from his lack of food.
His thoughts were clouded over in his failure and the memories of that horrible sight. His mind could not erase that piercing scream and the look of terror in his Kurama's eyes as that demon...as that demon raped him.
"If only I had stopped him...if only I had been stronger..." he said quietly to himself his fingertips reaching out to brush his reflection in the window. "It was all your fault...you were weak...you could not protect him even though you swore to...you are useless...the forbidden child..." it seemed to say to him and his hands began to shake.
"I'm not useless! It's not my fault!" He screamed as he smashed his fist into the window, the glass shattering into shards that lodged themselves deep into his fist. He stared at the blood that began to drip from his hand... "I deserve this...this pain...I deserve it..." he murmured slowly as he sat back down and resumed his staring outside a now broken window.
"Hiei?" He heard Yukina's hesitant voice call out. How long had she been watching?
He did not acknowledge her, but simply continued his staring.
"You're bleeding!" she exclaimed with dismay as she moved closer and gently enveloped Hiei's bleeding hand in her own. Hiei threw a sharp glance at her before he snapped his hand away from her, drops of blood spraying the ground in between them.
Yukina looked down, hurt. "Please, brother, just let me heal it." She whispered pleadingly.
Hiei stared at her, his red eyes trembling as he gazed at her. His whole body began to tremble, his knees growing weak. He hated this weakness so much. He hated it because it made him remember his failure in saving Kurama. He hated himself and Yuuyake so much that he knew he couldn't bear it anymore, to keep it all inside. He fell to his knees, his head lowered, hair strewn over his face covering his anguished eyes,
"Kurama...he..." he began quietly, but found himself at a loss for how to explain the horrible events.
"Yes, brother?" Yukina said gently as she bent down and placed a hand on his back to soothe him.
Hiei closed his eyes and decided to start from the beginning. "We...we were heading up in the castle, just me and him. We didn't know where Yusuke and Kuwabara were, but we knew that we had to reach the pulsing energy coming from the tower. When I opened the door..." he paused, not wanting to go any further, but knowing that he had to. "...I saw him, Yuuyake. He put us both under his spell, it was too powerful to escape. We couldn't move, I couldn't even talk, but Kurama could. They...chained me up to the wall...and then....he....he..." he couldn't go on. His throat kept restricting painfully, till he felt like he could no longer breathe. Tears began to fall from his eyes forming black crystals in his hands as he began to sob uncontrollably for the first time in his life.
Yukina was horrified. She had never seen her brother in such a state and it was frightening her, but she knew he had to go on. Once he let go of the memories he would be able to move on and recover. If he were to hold it all in he would just grow worse.
Hiei finally realized what he was doing and bit his lip hard to stop the sobs. Crying would accomplish nothing, but looking weak. That was one thing he never wanted to be again. Hiei raised his head, his face placid and when he spoke next his tone was feelingless and his eyes were cold and distant. "And then Yuuyake,,,raped him as I stood and watched unable to do a damn thing. I can still hear his screams inside my head...he was so afraid...so afraid..." Hiei fell back down to the ground, anger coursing through his veins.
Yukina's eyes widened in horror and she wrapped her arms around her trembling brother. What a horrible thing to witness. She knew just how deeply Hiei felt for Kurama, to the point where he would sacrifice himself for the fox's life. For something like this to happen was just pure agony. She was at a loss of what to say, or if there was anything possible that she could say to comfort him. What comfort could he gain from a few words with those memories haunting his every thought?
Chapter Three Preview:
'Whoever they are, I must find them again. Those eyes...they haunt me. Never before have I seen such anguish and sadness buried in a pair of beautiful crimson eyes, but yet at the same time they are at peace. Like whenever those eyes look at me they are comforted...if only I remembered whose they were...'
Chapter Two:
Kurama couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't move. He was struck with something so overwhelming, so overbearing that he could barely think. Finally it struck him that this was all coming from inside him. All this overwhelming power was his emotions...turned against him.
"My rose at last you have come..." a voice hissed out through the darkness and the figure of Yuuyake was finally illuminated. There was a cat demon standing hesitantly beside him.
"Let...me...go!" He managed to say, struggling his best to move from his spot on the stone floor. He turned his head a bit to see Hiei struggling as well, but he was having a much harder time. He could barely managed to move his eyes around the room.
"You are strong, rose, but not quite strong enough. You're beauty does make up for it though..." he said, bending down and capturing Kurama's face in his hand. "...I might want to taste you for myself...surely a rose such as you has the sweetest nectar..." he cackled, watching as Kurama's eyes widened in horror.
"You bastard!" Hiei managed to scream as he drew his sword and made it a couple feet before collapsing to the ground, unable to move once again.
"Now you are a feisty one, aren't you?" Yuuyake commented, before turning back to his cat companion. "Oh, blossom, can you bring him over to the chains? I don't want to have to deal with him as I'm having my fun. Then you can leave."
The demon girl did as she was told, dragging the motionless Hiei over to the wall where there were two pairs of shackles, one for his feet and one for his hands. Quickly she attached them to him and left speedily, shutting the door behind her.
Hiei was forced to watch with wide eyes as Yuuyake advanced upon Kurama, unable to anything to stop him. 'How did this happen. How the hell did this happen? Where are Yusuke and Kuwabara? The useless idiots. What if...what if...Yuuyake...does something to Kurama...and I can't stop him?!'
Kurama had never really felt fear in his heart before, but now he felt it. He was totally helpless, unable to move, barely able to scream, with no one to help him. He closed his eyes and began to scream as he felt Yuuyake's hands grip onto his hair, one hand tearing at his shirt, revealing Kurama's bare chest to the demon. He couldn't stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks as he felt the rest of his clothes rip from his body, and the vileness of Yuuyake against his skin.
Hiei closed his eyes, unable to watch the sight. He could hear Kurama's screams of horror echoing in his mind over and over, pounding at his heart. He wanted to bad to stop the pain for Kurama, but his struggles were useless. No matter how many times that he beat and slashed at his chains, they weren't giving in. It was all useless...everything....useless...dark closed over Hiei and he knew of no more.
Kurama was not given the mercy of darkness or escaped. Yuuyake violated him over and over until he could barely stand to scream anymore and it simply faded away. His eyes began to mist over and his mind drifted far far away. Anything to get away from this hell. He gave up his struggles and slumped against the ground, his body totally desecrated and limp. All the while his mind kept repeating, 'This can't be happening...this is not happening....it's....not....happening...'
Yuuyake pulled away and began to laugh manically. "Never has there been so sweet and innocent as you that I have tasted...I will not let you leave me ever...you are mine to own and to have...forever..." He looked down at the naked Kurama before his eyes, noting his defeated look. "You look more beautiful than I could ever imagine, lying their in your disgrace. Once the proud Yoko Kurama, but now just a crushed rose. From now on you will be known as Rashii, which means 'fallen one' in the tongue of my ancestors. Your soul is mine."
He paused to look over at the slumped figure of Hiei. "We will leave now, before those friends of yours break down my barrier. I think I'll leave your friend here for now. I don't want to end his suffering now. It has just begun for him. We shall leave together and return to my true home among my kin, where I once again claim my place as the head of the clan." With the last statement he gathered up Kurama in his arms and vanished.
Hiei felt a hand prodding him. He murmured softly, trying to ignore it, but it wouldn't stop. Finally realization hit him along with those horrible images and his eyes snapped open. Yusuke and Kuwabara were standing above him, looking at him with concern in their eyes. He was no longer bound by chains or by Yuuyake's power.
"Hey, Hiei, you alright?" Yusuke asked, worried for the small demon.
With a piercing scream Hiei jumped up and looked around, drawing his sword. "Where is he? Where is Kurama ...where is Yuuyake?!!?!" He yelled at the top his lungs, fire licking all around his body.
"I don't know. When we got here...it was only you chained to a wall..." Yusuke said hesitantly. "What happened here, Hiei? What happened to Kurama?"
Hiei wasn't listening though. His mind couldn't accept the images that were pounding into him, that his own eyes had seen yet he had refused to believe. He could still hear the screams, echoing...so loudly. The fire around his body began to burn hotter and fiercer tearing at the stone around him.
"What the heck are you doing Hiei?!" Yusuke yelled, as he was forced to withdraw from the room.
Hiei's voice rose in agonized howls as he tore at the room with his fire, pounding his head into the wall, the floor, anything to get the images away from him. He couldn't stand them, the sight of Kurama being so helpless, being so hurt, being so violated, and him just standing there watching it. It was too horrible for words. He wanted nothing more than to be in the darkness, where nothing mattered, nothing was known, nothing was remembered, but the cool embrace of nothing. At to that place he went again, as he melted into nothing...
"What is your name?" Yuuyake asked Kurama. They were in his own private quarters at the Castle of Illusions, the castle of his people. They had welcomed back their leader, and his new slave, throwing them a party which Kurama and he did not attend. Instead he was in his room teaching his slave some tricks.
Kurama didn't answer, but instead slid down to the ground and gently held himself, his eyes closing. He was now dressed in a loose white robe, his red hair flowing wildly all around him. He was still in a state of indifference, as though his body was there, but his mind was not.
"I said, what's your name?!" Yuuyake said, more angrily kicking at the red- head. Kurama absorbed the blow and did nothing in return. "You will pay for your insubordination!" he said, as he began to tug off the sleeve of Kurama's robe.
Kurama's eyes widened again in horror and he began to shudder in revulsion. "Rashii.." he said quietly.
Yuuyake's eyes gleamed with triumph. "That's a good rose. You'll soon learn that I'll reward you if you obey."
........................
"I'm worried about him, he does nothing but sit around all day. He won't sleep, he won't eat, he won't talk. All he does is sit there, staring out the window and murmuring Kurama's name over and over." Yukina exclaimed with tears in her eyes to an exasperated Genkai. The koorime's hands were trembling, clutching each other as she struggled to keep control of her emotions. "What has happened to my brother?" (A/n: yes, she knows he's her brother in my story).
Genkai sighed, her old face looking more wrinkled and weathered than ever. "I can't be sure what happened in that castle five days ago, but whatever it was affected Hiei very deeply. His wound was not physical, but he could die from it if he does not start caring about his life again."
"And what of Kurama? Has there been any news of him?" Yukina inquired hopefully.
Genkai shook her head. "Nothing yet. We still have yet to track down Yuuyake's location. We don't even know if Kurama is even still alive. Whatever happened must have been very horrible to put Hiei of all people into this state."
A tear drop silently from Yukina's face and formed a smooth crystal at her feet. "It's not fair! What can I do when he won't say anything, won't even tell me what happened?! What am I supposed to do?" she said, frustrated and feeling guilty for her lack of help.
Genkai put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Just be there for him. Wait for him, soon he will be ready to talk. Stay by his side and you will see. Everything will turn out all right."
Yukina nodded and smiled sorrowfully. "I'll be there for my brother no matter what."
.....................
Hiei sat all alone in his room in Genkai's temple where he was recovering. His ruffled black hair was dull and laying limply on his cheeks as he rested his head in a hand, staring out listlessly at the window. His red eyes no longer burnt fiercely as they had once and they were dully muted as though they had seen too much to bear. His skin had grown incredibly pale and his body was shaky from his lack of food.
His thoughts were clouded over in his failure and the memories of that horrible sight. His mind could not erase that piercing scream and the look of terror in his Kurama's eyes as that demon...as that demon raped him.
"If only I had stopped him...if only I had been stronger..." he said quietly to himself his fingertips reaching out to brush his reflection in the window. "It was all your fault...you were weak...you could not protect him even though you swore to...you are useless...the forbidden child..." it seemed to say to him and his hands began to shake.
"I'm not useless! It's not my fault!" He screamed as he smashed his fist into the window, the glass shattering into shards that lodged themselves deep into his fist. He stared at the blood that began to drip from his hand... "I deserve this...this pain...I deserve it..." he murmured slowly as he sat back down and resumed his staring outside a now broken window.
"Hiei?" He heard Yukina's hesitant voice call out. How long had she been watching?
He did not acknowledge her, but simply continued his staring.
"You're bleeding!" she exclaimed with dismay as she moved closer and gently enveloped Hiei's bleeding hand in her own. Hiei threw a sharp glance at her before he snapped his hand away from her, drops of blood spraying the ground in between them.
Yukina looked down, hurt. "Please, brother, just let me heal it." She whispered pleadingly.
Hiei stared at her, his red eyes trembling as he gazed at her. His whole body began to tremble, his knees growing weak. He hated this weakness so much. He hated it because it made him remember his failure in saving Kurama. He hated himself and Yuuyake so much that he knew he couldn't bear it anymore, to keep it all inside. He fell to his knees, his head lowered, hair strewn over his face covering his anguished eyes,
"Kurama...he..." he began quietly, but found himself at a loss for how to explain the horrible events.
"Yes, brother?" Yukina said gently as she bent down and placed a hand on his back to soothe him.
Hiei closed his eyes and decided to start from the beginning. "We...we were heading up in the castle, just me and him. We didn't know where Yusuke and Kuwabara were, but we knew that we had to reach the pulsing energy coming from the tower. When I opened the door..." he paused, not wanting to go any further, but knowing that he had to. "...I saw him, Yuuyake. He put us both under his spell, it was too powerful to escape. We couldn't move, I couldn't even talk, but Kurama could. They...chained me up to the wall...and then....he....he..." he couldn't go on. His throat kept restricting painfully, till he felt like he could no longer breathe. Tears began to fall from his eyes forming black crystals in his hands as he began to sob uncontrollably for the first time in his life.
Yukina was horrified. She had never seen her brother in such a state and it was frightening her, but she knew he had to go on. Once he let go of the memories he would be able to move on and recover. If he were to hold it all in he would just grow worse.
Hiei finally realized what he was doing and bit his lip hard to stop the sobs. Crying would accomplish nothing, but looking weak. That was one thing he never wanted to be again. Hiei raised his head, his face placid and when he spoke next his tone was feelingless and his eyes were cold and distant. "And then Yuuyake,,,raped him as I stood and watched unable to do a damn thing. I can still hear his screams inside my head...he was so afraid...so afraid..." Hiei fell back down to the ground, anger coursing through his veins.
Yukina's eyes widened in horror and she wrapped her arms around her trembling brother. What a horrible thing to witness. She knew just how deeply Hiei felt for Kurama, to the point where he would sacrifice himself for the fox's life. For something like this to happen was just pure agony. She was at a loss of what to say, or if there was anything possible that she could say to comfort him. What comfort could he gain from a few words with those memories haunting his every thought?
Chapter Three Preview:
'Whoever they are, I must find them again. Those eyes...they haunt me. Never before have I seen such anguish and sadness buried in a pair of beautiful crimson eyes, but yet at the same time they are at peace. Like whenever those eyes look at me they are comforted...if only I remembered whose they were...'