The Welder of BlackFire:

Thorn's New Life-The Legend Lives

Chapter Two: Meeting the Detectives and the Talking Sword

"Hm. This is very odd," Rose said. She was looking down on Tsuki as she cried over a green-shirted girl. "What's going on? This is very confusing." She looked down with a baffled expression on her face. "Hey! That's...that's me!" she gasped, falling forward before righting herself in the air. "Whoa, this is strange. The last time I saw something like this was on that TV show. What was it called? Poltergeist report? Yeah that's it. What was when the boy died. Wait. That would mean. No way! I'm... I'm dead!" she squeaked.

"Bingo!" came a bubbly voice. Rose turned to face the bright blue sky, from which came a blue-haired girl flying on, what looked like, a boat oar.

'I remember that voice! From the show. Its Botan!' Rose thought, her eyes wide.

"Hello! My name is Botan! I'm here to take you to Spirit World!" she said with a smile.

"This is too weird," Rose whispered to herself.

"It guess it can be a little weird. After all, its not everyday that you die!" Botan giggled. There was a small pause as Rose got her thoughts in order.

"So what now?" Rose asked.

"Well, its not everyday that people die for another. I mean, the way you acted this morning, no one would have thought that you would save that dog! You see, the dog wouldn't have died even if you hadn't of dodged in the way," Botan said. "And frankly, we have no room for you in the Spirit World because we didn't expect your death!"

"So what happens to me?"

"Oh, right, Lord Koenma said that you could return to life! This is very odd, I mean, you're the second one we've brought back to life in a year! Very rare. Oh! And that reminds me! We have to go see Koenma! Come on! Grab on and we'll get going!" And with that Rose hung onto the floating oar as the ferry flew high into the sky. The girl held on dumbly as they soared high into the sky.

'This is too strange. Its just like that Anime, only, I'm playing the role of the boy. Oh what was his name? It started with a U I think, or maybe a Y. Now, what happened to him? That's right, he came back to life after getting that golden egg. That egg. Oh geez, I don't think I will pass that test if I got it. I'll have to think of a way out of that part. The boy threw it into a fire to save his friends and still got his life back because this Koenma said something about people caring about him, so if I just convince the toddler not to give me the test and just send me back to life then I'll be fine. Well, I guess I'll just have to play Miss Flirt is all. Hopefully it'll be enough. Not that its ever let me down before,' Rose thought to herself. She kept a close eye on her surroundings and Botan, making sure she didn't catch her serious face. She had been told too often that when she thought really hard, she got a dark expression on her face. Which was why she constantly smiled.

"We're here!" Botan said cheerily, letting Rose get her footing before getting off her oar and making it disappear. Rose looked up the tall, red, double doors. Botan cupped her hands around her mouth and called up to some unknown person.

"Its Botan! I've got another one!" There was a moment before the doors screeched open, revealing a long hall.

'This place looks even bigger in person. Wow. When I get back to life, I am going to watch ever single episode of that Poltergeist Report ever made. I'm just glad I saw a couple of them. But I still hate that they took off my favorite show for it. Oh well. I'll just have to live with the information I have.' Rose sighed.

"Something wrong, Rose?" Botan asked as they walked down the hall.

"No, nothing," the girl said with a smile. Her expression did not waver as they entered a large room full of colorful beasts as they yelled and went through paperwork. Finally, they came to another set of double doors.

'Okay, this is where Koenma is,' Rose thought as they opened the doors. Botan bowed, and she followed suit. A small boy jumped down from his comfortable-looking chair with a grin. Rose's fake smile widened.

"You must be Rose! I've been expecting you. Wow, its not often that Americans get called here, most of them go to the eastern half of the Spirit world. Well anyway, I am Koenma," the toddler said, looking up.

"Why, hello Koenma. Its nice to meet you," Rose said, her lips still smiling. Her hand fled to her mouth as she looked down on him. Koenma thought for sure that she was going to insult him on his appearance. After all, he looked to be only about three, and the blue binky in his mouth just made him look more childish.

Rose caught her tongue, remembering that the prince hated being called small or a toddler. Instead, she put only compliments in her already sweet tone. "Your..so handsome!" she said, trying to cover up her hesitation. The boy looked up in disbelief. "Oh here I was thinking that you would be old and ugly! But you're young and handsome!"

"Why, thank you, Rose," he said with a blush and a grin. Rose giggled. The expression was genuine, she couldn't help but laugh at her own lie. But he was a cutie, she admitted to herself, for a child. A sudden thought struck her as the prince walked back to his desk.

"Koemna, do you not have any police around your castle? I would think that with someone as important as you here there would be guards at every corner," she said slyly, walking up to his desk with wide, coaxing eyes that had gotten her out of more jams than she could ever hope to count, and a flirtatious smile. Koenma laughed.

"My detective and his group are out battling evil as we speak," he said with a large, obnoxious laugh.

"Oh, it sounds dangerous. What are they doing? I bet they're kicking the other person's behind! Anyone you chose is sure to be a winner," she said with a grin.

"Oh, well, actually, they just finished winning their battles with the Four Saint Beasts!" he said.

"Lord Koenma, I don't think she knows about them, or the demon world," Botan said, looking as if thinking.

"Oh that's okay, I can use my imagination," Rose said. Suddenly, a blue ogre opened the doors and burst in excitedly.

"Koenma, sir, we got the sword!" he exclaimed.

"Good work Ogre! One less thing to worry about. Now, get back to work," Koenma said, dismissing him. Ogre sulked out of the room, grumbling. Apparently, Koenma was not as excited about the prospect as he had been.

"Anyway, sir, I think we should explain the test now," Botan said, getting back on task.

"Oh, a test? Like to prove that I'm a good girl?" Rose asked, all too innocently.

"Yes, exactly," Koenma said with a grin.

"Does that mean you don't think I'm a nice person? Oh, I'm so horrible Koenma!" she said, letting her face fall into her arms on the toddler's desk, hiding her eyes until she could make tears. "I pushed that boy into the lockers! I am s-so s-s-sorry! I can't believe I did that! I'm just not a nice person! I don't deserve to go back to life! I'm not nearly kind enough!" she wailed, stuttering and placing necessary sobs in her speech.

"Oh no! We don't believe that, Rose! Don't cry! You don't have to take the test, it'll be all right," Koenma cooed. Rose looked up, her eyes red.

"R-really?"

"Sure! I can see already that you're a nice person," Koenma said. Rose flew around to the other side of the desk and gave him a tight hug.

"Oh, thank you, Koenma! You are too kind to me!" she said with a smile. Koenma grinned at the attention. After a moment, Rose pulled away, smiling, mostly to herself, and silently congratulated herself on her achievement.

The doors to the room burst open, slamming against the walls. "Hey Toddler!" came a laughing voice from the doorway.

"Yusuke, will you stop calling me that!" Koenma pouted, crossing his arms and getting a very sour look on his face.

"What's with the new girl?" he asked, jabbing a thumb in Rose's direction after taking a glance around the room. Rose held a tongue that threatened to lash horrible words.

'I need to keep calm and innocent if they're going to believe this act. I should just stay silent,' Rose thought to herself, brightening her smile.

"Oh, this is Rose, she's getting her life back too, just like you did!" Botan explained with a cheerful giggle.

"Hn, this little prep? C'mon, gimme a break," Yusuke mused. Rose tried to keep a glare from her eyes while she moved to face the boy, turning from Koenma.

"Yusuke! Be polite!" Botan and Koenma said.

"Its okay, I've heard worse in America. People over there are incredibly rude. But in Japan, people are so polite and nice! Koenma, you must have a good impression on the people down there!" Rose said, her voice dripping with honey. Yusuke looked at her scoffingly, mumbling something that hinted 'suck-up'. She walked toward the detective, grace in her step, her well-formed shape swaying to her long stride. The top of her head hardly came up to the black-haired boy's shoulder. Her smile was still sweet as her dagger-shooting dark green eyes bore into his own, warning him about her temper without words. He was taken back a step at the glare before returning it himself.

She walked past him without missing a step and stood beside Botan, the sweet smile on her face unwavering. Yusuke's glare did not fade as he watched her.

The doors to the room opened once again, but did not swing open boastingly. They opened quietly and in the room stepped a red-haired, green-eyed boy about fifteen. The air about his was calm, wisdom in his step and expression.

"Ah, Kurama," Koemna said placidly.

"Hello, Koenma," the boy said quietly, glancing around the room. Rose's eyes opened wide.

'He's the one that stole the mirror to save his human mother. He's really a fox that took the body of an unborn child to save himself if I remember right. Its no wonder why all the human girls are after him or why my friend back home in America loves him so much, he's even cuter in real life,' Rose thought to herself, trying not to stare. Her smile widened, but this time it was very nearly genuine.

"Kurama, this is Rose, she's here to get her life back." Botan said the introductions. Yusuke watched the girl's expression change to surprise and recognition once again as it did when he had walked into the room.

'She looks like she recognized us. This is strange,' Yusuke thought to himself.

"Oh! Kurama! Hello!" Rose said, going up to him with a giggle. The boy smiled down at her. "Koenma, if it wasn't for Yusuke, I'd say you have hired the cutest detectives in the world!" she said with a grin, still looking into the bright green eyes of the boy in front of her. Yusuke gritted his teeth in anger while Botan giggled. "You're so smart!" she said to the ruler.

'I can't believe this is really happening! Youko Kurama the infamous thief from the demon world! This is so exciting!' Rose thought to herself. She offered her hand and he shook it calmly.

'Wow, talk about mood swings, this girl goes from calmly furious to eccentrically excited. Now she's acting like Botan,' Yusuke thought, crossing his arms, his eyes still glaring at the girl.

"Its so nice to meet you!" Rose babbled.

"Its nice to meet you too, Rose," Kurama said before clearing his throat and looking down at his hand pointingly.

"Oh, sorry," Rose said with a giggle, releasing his hand that she had unconsciously clasped in her excitement. Kurama just smiled as if it happened all the time. 'I bet it does,' Rose said to herself at the thought.

A black shadow entered the room, quietly, swiftly, unnoticed. But Rose noticed, standing in front of Kurama like she was, she saw the door behind him and the entering of the black-cloaked male. He was about the same height as her and looked to be about nineteen. Her breath caught in her throat at she looked at him.

'Its Hiei, the fire demon. He's the one had the Jagan eye. He can read minds with it can't he? If he reads mine, I'll be dead, my cover blown like the wind. But wait, isn't he the quiet one? The one that doesn't care about anyone but himself? Hm, I guess I'll just have to keep quiet now, just to make sure,' Rose thought to herself. Kurama saw the expression on her face and turned to the short, black-haired demon behind him. When he turned, he revealed the figure to the rest of the room, making the youkai glare at the suddenly stiff girl.

"Hiei, nice of you to join us," Kurama said. 'That's right, I remember, that's how Hiei was caught, he was in alliance with Kurama when they stole those things from Koenma and Kurama helped Yusuke defeat him. They're nearly best friends, if Hiei's capable of having them. Wow, I liked him on TV, but in real life he is a real Hotty!' Rose's thoughts wandered as she slowly crept backward to stand next to Botan.

"Hn," the fire youkai replied, crossing his arms.

"Ah, Botan, what do we do now?" Rose asked in a whisper.

"Oh! Right, we should be going!" Botan said.

"It was nice meeting you three," Rose said with a smile as she slowly backed toward the door, trying not to betray her nervousness.

"I'll see you later!" Botan said with a wave as they left.

"Hn, Hiei, looks like you had a negative effect on the girl. She totally shut up when you walked in the room. Before she was babbling and sweet talking worse than Botan!" Yusuke said with a laugh.

"Where do we go now, Botan?" Rose asked as they walked down a long hall.

"Well, we have to go back to the human world of course! And then wait for Koenma. He'll then manipulate your body so that once you get some life-energy from another person, you can return to life!" she replied.

"Oh. I see!" Rose followed the blue-haired girl down the hall. Suddenly, she felt a presences to her left. A warm, glowing feeling seemed to be coming from the room. She hesitated as she watched Botan talk to the air behind her, where Rose was suppose to be walking.

Curious, Rose walked uneasily through the wall. She came upon a large, doomed room that looked like a vault. In the center of the room was three items, of which Rose recognized as the items Hiei and Kurama had stolen when they were arrested. But to the left, in front of her, was a large broad sword on a stand, which buzzed in what almost sounded annoyance.

'I'll have to be quick so Botan doesn't find me here,' she thought to herself. She strutted up to the sword. She felt like it calmed as she walked up. She touched it cautiously and it glowed a milky, then suddenly bright, gold. She was taken back a moment and retreated her hand. But then, as the gold began to fade, she touched it again. Its buzzing became words.

'Take...me...with...you,' it seemed to say. She was startled a moment. 'This must be the sword that Ogre was talking about.'

"Why?" she whispered to it.

'I...am...not to...be...imprisoned...like they...own me...I am...my own...person,' it gasped in her mind. She thought a moment, hesitant.

'I've deceived many people, but I have never stolen anything,' Rose thought.

'You will not...be stealing...me...I am asking...you to...save me,' came the deep voice again. Rose looked around, still hesitating. Finally, she picked up the sword, who seemed to sigh in relief.

'Dammit, if I get caught, I will really be in trouble. I'll have to think quickly if I get into a jam if they find out. I'll just have to stash it somewhere safe until I return to life,' she thought to herself. The sword suddenly shrunk and seemed to become invisible, looking almost like a transparent dagger. Quickly, she put the sword against her leg, letting her half-calf socks hold it in place as she walked through the wall again. Her right foot, which held the sword, made an almost silent sucking sound as it passed through the wall.

'Hm, I figured that's why it became invisible,' she thought before looking around. Botan had gone straight, she had watched her walk down the long hall. But far ahead, up on her right, there was a large arch where a hall broke off from the main walk-way.

'Perfect,' Rose thought to herself, walking with silent feet, even in her tall, clunky shoes, down the way of the hall. 'Its been about two minutes, Botan's bond to have noticed I wasn't following her by now. I'll just keep walking down this hall until I hear her. With her big mouth, the whole castle will probably shake at her call.' The girl walked down the hall, her movements playing the perfect part of a lost little girl. Her breath was quick, nervous, just as she made it, her eyes shifty, watching ahead and behind, and her expression portraying a scene of utter confusion. Suddenly, as if on a director's cue, Botan's voice rang through the halls. Rose almost smiled at the predictability.

"Botan?" came her seemingly frightened voice. "Botan! Where are you?" She began to run down the hall, making sure to keep her pace frightened and otherwise unreadable. At the end of the hall she bumped into the girl. With an 'owaf' they backed away from each other, Rose holding her head, trying to hide a smile.

'Couldn't have planned it better if I had spent hours thinking about it,' the girl thought. She looked up, her eyes the reflection of fear and relief.

"Oh Botan! I thought I would walk these halls forever! I was looking at a painting on the wall and then you were gone and...and, oh Botan! Thank you so much for finding me!" she wailed, draping her arms around the other girl.

"Rose, are you okay? Its alright. C'mon, well get going. Just don't stop to look around without telling me first okay?" Botan said worriedly, Rose nodded. "Okay, let's go, and walk right next to me, I don't want you getting lost again."

Rose sighed, and Botan passed it as relief for being in her company again. She never would have guess that it was happy relief for the passing of her plan.

'This better be worth it,' Rose thought to herself as they walked the remainder of the halls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Authoress' Note: Okay! Chapter two is done! Yay! She's seen YYH?! Well, that's not surprising, since any anime freak has seen at least ONE episode! Anyway, how'd ya'll like it? Bad? Good? I promise it gets better as soon as she comes back to life. Oh shit, there I go giving away the ending again! I also wanted to tell you that +blah blah+ means they were speaking in Japanese ^_^ sorry about that! Anyway..

Yusuke: Hey! I thought I was the only one who comes back to life! -pout-

J: quit being so selfish! Besides, it was the only way I could think to start this with the way I wanted to work everything, so deal!

Hiei: -shakes head-

Kurama: -chuckle-

Kuwabara: Kitty!!!!

All: -_- damn.

J: That's it! Leave my cat alone you freak! -welds magic wooden spoon- before I bash you over the head!

Kuwabara: -cower- okay okay! Geez, no need for violence!

All: *sigh*

J: and because you've scared my cat half to hell, you have to do the disclaimer!

Kuwabara: -groan- aw man!

J: -glare- -hands sheet of paper- Take this, just because I know you wont do it right unless you read it.

Kuwabara: -reading- J does not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters in- in- incop- incoper- in copper-

Yusuke: Incorporated! Its incorporated dammit!

Kuwabara: oh, right, incorporated into it. Although she does own Rose, Thorn and BlackFire.

J: -shakes head- I should have known better than to put big words on there.

Hiei: I'm surprised he could even read any of it. Hn.

Kuwabara: hey! Take that back shrimp!

J: -eye brow twitch-

All: uh oh 0.0' -finds random hiding place-

J: Oh! And I want to think my two reviewers!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

Squeakers: don't worry, I've saved Pilgrim -glare to Kuwabara, who's hiding as a lamp-

Yuki san1: ^_^ Pilgrim's fine now! Hiding contently under my bed, laying on a box that is perminately dented and covered in long, yellow, cat hair. And no more Bold!! Yay! Thanks for the tip! Its just that on my comp (even though its brand new) it looks really skinny unless I put it in bold. And I did the separation of the AN and the story with ~~~~~. Thanks for the help!

J: okay! Two reviews! Lets get s'more!

Yusuke: -ducks from closet- Smores???? Did I hear smores?

J: -glare-

Yusuke: -ducks back into closet-