The Welder of BlackFire:

Thorn's New Life-The Legend Lives

Chapter Five: The Dawning Conversation and the Note

The team stumbled into the hotel room. Thorn was already there, laying on one of the couches with her booted feet propped up by an arm rest and her hands behind her head as she watched them enter. Her sword lay leaning against the arm rest, silent, but still glowing.

"How did you get in here?" Yusuke asked, surprised at finding the girl in the room.

"Magic," she said, her voice smiling as her lips twitched.

"Don't mess with me," Yusuke spat.

"Do you think I lie?" she asked, rising an eyebrow. Yusuke didn't answer and her face was almost smug, but was lined with exhustion.

"Who are you?" Kurama asked as they walked in, Yusuke leaning against the wall behind the second couch, on which Kuwabara sitting on across from the girl, shifting nervously, Kurama standing next to the door while Hiei moved to sit in the window.

"I have already told you my name, what more do you want?" she asked a little too innocently.

"I've seen you before," Yusuke said. He had been watching her intently and her tone sparked a memory deep within his mind.

"Yes you have," she said, turning to him.

"You were outside the hotel, surrounded by those demons," he said, trying to think back, but the memory had very nearly been erased by the death of GenKai. "I thought for sure they'd killed you."

"Well this isn't the first time I say that people underestimate me far too often," she said with a half-smile.

"So why were they after ya?" Kuwabara asked. Thorn's smile widened.

"For reasons of their own." Smugginess contorted her features as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"What do you mean?" Kuwabara asked. The girl looked at him and shook her head.

"Tell me, what do you think was going through their heads? A lone human girl out on a stroll, seemingly defenceless? Don't tell me that you're that stupid, boy," she said with a snort. They all looked at her with scorn at the tone she had taken.

After a moment she closed her eyes and again put her hands behind her head, sighing in content. The silence that followed was thick and stifling as uneasiness took its toll on the boys in the room while Thorn seemed to doze, unaware of the shifting Kuwabara on the other couch and the glaring Yusuke as he leaned against the far wall. Kurama and Hiei were deep in thought, staring off into space.

Finally, after about half a hour, the girl's sword, which had been glowing silently, suddenly buzzed. Thorn's eyes opened and she stretched, seemingly refreshed. Her eyes strayed to the window behind her, were Hiei sat. The sky had grown dark, only the moon's bright rays lighting the surrounding land. She sat up slowly.

"Where are you going?" Yusuke asked as she picked up her sword, which was humming excitedly. She turned to him and smirked as she placed her weapon on her back. She walked toward the door and opened it, without missing a step she threw a threatening green gaze toward the spirit detective before shutting the door behind her with a soft bang. Yusuke scoffed and walked into one of the bedrooms.

Hiei turned back toward the window, watching as a light breeze ruffled the moon-streaked tree tops. He watched as Thorn exited the building and walked into the woods fearlessly until even the glow of her sword had faded from view.

Kuwabara yawned tiredly and stood up a few moments later.

"I'm goin' to bed," he said and exited the room. Not long after, Kurama, too, left to his bed. Hiei did not move from his seat on the thick window sill. He opened the window just a crack, listening to the night sounds. There was unnatural rustlings about two miles into the woods, something was on the hunt. A four-legged creature, if he was correct.

'Koenma is not that dense,' he thought as his mind wandered to the healing girl who had mysteriously appeared to tend their wounds. 'She must had convinced him through her mind speech. She seems harmless enough, her energy is hardly noticable. But the way she healed us today, all of us, suggests that she is much more than she appears.'

-People underestimate me far too often.- Those were her words. What did she mean by them? 'Something is not right about her. She is modest about showing her true power, which must be much greater than any mere human could emmit.'

'Why do I reconize that girl?' Yusuke thought, staring at his ceiling. He was exhusted, even after being fully healed by Thorn, but he couldn't get the question to stop plaguing him. With a disgruntled snort he turned over and closed his eyes. 'Well hopefully that's the last we ever see of her.'

'There is something dangerously strange about Thorn,' Kurama thought. 'Her powers are ancient and strong. Wherever she got those powers, the one she aquired them from must be old and powerful. Prehaps older than I. I wonder why she is here. Why she is helping us. There must be more to her than she shows. She can't be more than fifteen, but her powers must rival that of the most experianced and spiritually-aware humans in the world, if not surpass them. There is something not quite right about that.'

'What is up with that girl?' Kuwabara's mind was whirling with the day's happenings, but this mysterious new-comer captivated his attention in its tight grip. 'How did she know about Yukina and her healing powers? When she came into the arena, her power seemed weak, but when I saw her heal Kurama it skyrocketed like an explosion from her fingers. And when she was done healing Urimeshi it looked like she didn't have any energy left, but when she left just now she seemed to be back to her normal level.'

Hiei dozed, awaking at times to a night-time sound that was suspicious. 'Demons taking out their rage no doubt,' he thought, settling back and closing his eyes again. 'They were upset when we won.'

Finally, at about an hour before dawn, the fire-youkai awoke to a sound he could not place. He could not fall back asleep afterwards and so stared at the bright sky with the winking stars and brilliant moon. A stray cloud drifted over the orb, blocking out the light that had blanketed the island a cool white. When it dispursed, Hiei looked down to see Thorn walking back toward the hotel from the edge of the woods.

'Hn, now why is she coming back?' he thought. The night had suddenly grown silent with the exception of light snores coming from his companion's rooms. Even the wind was silent, the air still and clear as he watched the girl walk through the doors and into the hotel. He strained his ears to hear her steps in the still building, but nothing came to his ears but a muffled murmer from one of his dreaming team-mates.

The door knob to the room turned, but the door did not open. There was a distinguishable noise that suggested that it was locked. Using the power of his Jagan Eye, Hiei looked past the door, wondering if he should open it for the girl. But there was no one on the other side of the door, just empty air, no hand on the knob. Nothing. Confused, he probed harder, but still his Jagan met with no living being.

"You shouldn't strain the Jagan Eye like that Hiei," came a soft whisper. Startled, the demon's hand flew to the hilt of his sword as he looked around the room. Thorn stood beside the door. "You might damage it."

"How did you get in here?" he asked, his stiff body slowly relaxing, but untrusting of the girl.

"Magic," she said. She stepped forward, the moon's rays chasing the shadows from her short, yet well-muscled body. She was smiling, but her expression was sleepy, as if she had just awoken from a deep slumber, although her eyes were sharp and keen.

"Hn. Your answer for everything?"

"No. The truth," she said, laying on her stomach on the couch she had been on earlier, facing the window, her chin resting on her hands on the arm-rest. Her calf-high boots crossed behind her, one foot tapping absently in the air. She looked out the window, her bright green eyes watching as the east began to burn feverish colors.

"Why did you help us?" Hiei asked after a few moments of silence, not tearing his gaze from the window, but watching her expression in the window's reflection.

"No reason," she said, her features blank.

"Hn. Everyone has a reason for something," he retorted. She gave him a quizzical look.

"That's right. Do you have a reason for being so hostile? Wait, you don't have to answer that, I already know," she said her eyes meeting his in the reflection but for a moment before returning to the lightening sky. Hiei turned his head, glaring at her. But her eyes did not stray.

"What do you mean by that?" he said bitterly.

"Nothing," she said quietly. They said nothing for a moment and Hiei returned his gaze to the window.

'She was just bluffing,' he thought to himself. 'Nothing more.'

"I don't need to bluff. Everything I say is the truth," she said, bite in her voice.

"Hn," was his answer, still not believing. They watched as the sun as it rose, its rays branding the room with golden-mango hued light.

'Kurama will be up soon, I healed him the best and he should be awakening any moment. Hiei should have gotten more sleep in order to heal faster,' Thorn thought.

"I don't need to sleep. I am fully healed," Hiei said, making Thorn turn to look at him.

"Hm, BlackFire must be tired if he did not ward off your intruding mind," she said, making the sword on her back hum groggily.

"BlackFire?" Hiei questioned. Thorn removed her sword from her back and waved it in the air slightly.

"Yes, BlackFire. I believe you two have already met." The sword buzzed in annoyance before she replaced him on her back.

"You mean that your sword has a conscience? Its alive?"

"Yes. He's a bit like the sword that you stole from the Spirit World vault. Now what was it called? The Shadow Sword? Yes, well, anyway, BlackFire's a lot like that, only more intelligent and powerful." She stretched lazily. "His soul is bond to the sword, though, which makes him different." She got up and walked over to the door.

"Where are you going?" Hiei asked, but his voice lacked the spite that Yusuke had filled his question with.

"Keonma should be walking up the stairs right now, and Kurama is about to get out of bed. I must go. It was nice having talked to you, Hiei," she said, her hand on the door.

"Hn."

Thorn hesitated a moment, BlackFire sang suddenly in her ear. With a quiet curse, she removed her hand and turned back around. Hiei watched as her eyes wandered around the room.

"Yes, I know he's coming, quiet now, I'm thinking," she whispered to herself. She was talking to BlackFire, Hiei guessed. She walked into Hiei's empty room and the youkai heard the tell-tale sounds of an opening window and the shutting of it. He looked out the window and saw her float to the ground from tens of stories high in a graceful leap. His expression shed its unmovable wall to reveal a widening of eyes. He straightened to get a better look as she landed in a crouch. Flicking her hair over her shoulder she straightened and turned to look at the window in which Hiei sat in and smiled before her image flickered and dissapeared. Hiei searched, but not even his Jagan found the girl.

"What's the matter, Hiei?" Kurama asked, walking into the room. Hiei relaxed against the wall, his eyes still searching the hotel's surroundings.

"Nothing," he said simply.

'I've seen her "magic" now. I wonder why she showed it to me,' Hiei thought, not looking at Kurama.

"Hm. So she came back?" Kurama asked, sitting on the couch that the girl had occupied not minutes before.

"Yes."

"Did you talk to her?" Kurama prodded.

"Yes. Some."

Kurama didn't say anything a moment, but when he began his next question he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

'Must be Koenma,' Hiei thought as Kurama got up to answer the door. Sure enough, when the door opened, the prince stood in the door frame. He was tall, in his teenage form. 'I wonder why she avoided him.'

"Hello Kurama, Hiei," he said, nodding to each.

"What's with all the noise?" Kuwabara asked, shambling out of his room with a yawn.

By the time an hour had passed, Yusuke was up as well and the girls, consisting of Keiko, Botan, Shizuru, and Yukina, had come into the room. They talked of yesterday's match and how they couldn't wait to get back to their homes. Eventually, the subject turned to their newest member. Yusuke told Koenma how she had left the night before.

"Hm. There is something strange about her. I've been trying to research her under my files, but they've come up with nothing on any Thorn with such extreme healing powers," Koenma said, his face scrunched up in thought.

"It is very odd that you couldn't find anything on her. With all her power there must be something on her. People with that amount of energy just don't appear," Kurama said, risking a glance to Hiei, who did not look up to see it, even though he knew that it was aimed at him. He knew what the kitsune was asking. If he had gotten any worthy information from his conversation with her.

'The only thing I learned was that her sword's name is BlackFire and is alive. Hardly solid information,' Hiei thought.

"That is true. And I wonder how she got into this world. None of the portal's memories say that anyone matching her discription passed into this world," Koenma said.

"Yeah, well I say don't worry about it. She's gone now, nothing to worry about," Yusuke said moodily, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back on the couch.

"I highly doubt that Yusuke," Kurama said, sipping his coffee.

"I agree with Kurama. Especially since I recieved this," the prince said, holding up a sheet of paper. It was written in a beautiful flurish with a large signature on the bottom reading simply 'Thorn'. Along the paper's edge was two roses interwined, one a bright red while the other a dark and gloomy black.

"A calling card?" Kuwabara asked, leaning forward to examine it. Botan took it from the ruler and examined it carefully.

"What does it say?" Keiko asked.

"It says 'I'm sure we will all meet again'," Botan said. Shizuru gently took it from the ferry, examined it and passed it to Yukina, who, in turn, passed it to Keiko. Yusuke took the card from her and read it himself. Kuwabara, in turn, took it from Yusuke and had it plucked from his hands by Kurama. After he had examined it, he lay it on the table, where Hiei picked it up to examine it. The image was drawn, not stamped as it appeared from a distance. It showed great artistic skill in both the drawing and the graceful signature. Hiei examined it closer, shifting it in the light. There. A glint on the paper. He turned it in the light again and the image reappeared. In between the tangled stems of the roses was the faint, glittery, silver, outline of a sword, much like, if not identical to, BlackFire. With a last glance, he put it back on the table.

"What do you think she means by that?" Kuwabara asked.

"It means exactly what it says you idiot," Yusuke said.

"Well how am I supposed to know if its not some kind of code or something? She seemed like the type to pull tricks if you ask me," the boy said, crossing his arms.

'Hm, Kuwabara might be right. She acts like she could pull the wool over our eyes any minute and knows it,' Yusuke thought. 'She might be a lot more than I gave her credit for.'

Later that day, the gang returned to the human world to resume their lives. They mostly slept, still unrecoved from their fierce battle.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Authoress' Note: FIVE REVIEWS!!!! YAY! Thank you all! Here's the next chapter ya wanted.

Animechick8: thank you! Here's your new chappy!

Squeakers: don't worry, I wont let Kuwabara hurt any more of my kitties! Or else I'll kill him, somehow get Sesshoumaru's Tensaiga (inuyasha's on tonight! Sesshy appears and uses his cool sword! Ekk!….sorry, lol) , bring him back to life, just to make him suffer! Well, he suffers enough in later chapters, so I guess that'll have to be good enough for now. -sighs dissapointingly- because I don't own him -sob-

Yuki-san 1: hey, n/p! thanks for the tip! It does look a lot better. Well, the next chappy is coming soon!

All right!

Keiko: J-chan?

J: hmm?

Keiko: I really want to have a bigger part. Pleasssssse, can I?

J: -sigh- I've told you before, Keiko, its too far off subject. Now, Shizuru gets a part later in the story, near the end.

Shizuru: cool.

J: ahh, yeah. But, anyway! Next chapter is exciting! -jabs Hiei as he starts to fall asleep-

Hiei: ahh, huh? Ahh, yeah, I agree with whatever J has to say. -yawn-

Yusuke: -giggle- hey! Giggling is for girls! I wanna chuckle!

J: but you don't chuckle! You giggle stupidly! Like some kinda…freaky…weird…person…thing.

All but Yusuke: o.o ahh, yeah. Right, sure.

J: -growl- fine, just put me down like that! At least I have my reviews who are positive.

Kuwabara: I wanna kitty.

J: -growl- dammit! If you want one so bad go get one! There's a pet store in every mall you can possibly find!

Kuwabara: -whine- I can't. Shizuru wont let me keep another one.

Shizuru: -nod- its true.

J: what happened to the first one? E-itchy or whatever.

Kuwabara: Its Eikichi!!!! Get it right!!

J: Fine, whatever. But when Yusuke comes over to your house to watch the video that Koenma sent you about the mission with Yukina, I didn't see her. Actually, I don't think I see her in any other eps. But the one that Yusuke comes back to life in. what ep was that? Five I think. Well, it doesn't matter. And just because Shizuru has the will to put up with you, she gets to do the disclaimer! ^.^

Yusuke: I thought it was a punishment….

J: only when I make it one! Today, its an honor!

Shizuru: J does not own YYH characters. She owns only Thorn and BlackFire. Now I'm going out for a smoke, behave, little brother. -leaves-