Warnings: nothing…

The Welder of BlackFire:

Thorn's New Life-The Legend Lives

Chapter Twenty-Five: Ready for Battle

Kurama awoke a few mornings later, tired and uneasy. Hiei had been dreaming again the past few nights, although he denied it full-heartedly when confronted by the kitsune. Kurama, most nights, was woken by the murmurs, although they formed no words and made less sense then a puzzle with no pieces. He had thought about it frequently. Hiei had never done such a thing before. Why so sudden? It had something to do with what happened in America. He was sure of it. It might take some time, but he was determined to find out what was bothering his friend.

He got out of bed slowly, smoothing his tousled mane as he stood. He looked out his window. It was still dark. Although it was Saturday, he was still up before dawn, as he was every day.

'Old habits die hard,' he said to himself at the thought, walking over to his dresser. He dressed quickly and brushed his long hair. He sighed and walked over to his desk. Questions still swarmed his mind, although he had answered a few. But the most illusive of answers were the ones that pertained to Hiei.

Suddenly, he froze, his hand resting on his chair's solid back. He caught his breath roughly as he looked down upon the surface of his wooden desk. Laying in the middle of his neat and clean desk lay a paper.

Tomorrow. Dawn.

~Thorn~

It was a simple message, signed by the artist who drew the complicated crest on the left hand side of the note. It told him she was ready for the battle. He picked it up gingerly, fingering its rough surface with gentle fingers.

'Hm. As you wish,' he thought. He looked over to his window, which lay closed. 'How did she get in? And if she used the window, why didn't Hiei wake?' He walked over to the window and it disturbed him that it was shut firmly. He opened it and looked into the shadows of the tree beside it, where he knew Hiei lay as he grumbled softly in his black sleep.

"Hiei," he whispered softly. Hiei jerked out of his sleep. That too was strange. He had always woken slowly from his sleep, opening his eyes cautiously as his hand would ready to make a dash toward his sword. His eyes flung themselves open, immediately scanning around him as he jumped to his feet before looking at Kurama.

"What?" he growled with a glare.

"Take a look at this," Kurama said, handing the youkai the paper. Hiei took it and looked at it silently. His eyes flashed with some emotion Kurama did not have time to place before the fire youkai looked back at him, the demeanor disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

"She gave this to you?" he asked, looking at him seriously. Kurama shook his head.

"No. I found it on my desk just a few moments ago. She must have come in during the night." Hiei gave him an incredulous look before turning back to the note in his hand. He took his left hand from his side and brushed the drawing with his fingers unconsciously.

"How is that possible?" Hiei asked, still looking at the card. The sword. It was there. Another 'map'. But why would she give them something to track her down with like that? It would be foolish.

"I don't know. But I was thinking. You remember how she got into the hotel room? She said she used 'magic'. Perhaps she used it here as well," Kurama said quietly. Hiei nodded.

"Perhaps." He handed the card back to the kitsune slowly. "We'll have to inform the others." It was Kurama's turn to nod as he agreed, taking the note back.

"Yes." Hiei looked off into the distance, placing his hands in his pockets and rubbing his own 'map' between his fingers.

"We'll leave later today," Kurama continued, turning back into his room and replacing the paper on his desk for later use. Hiei didn't look back at him. He continued to look to the west, where the stars began to drift lazily toward the far-away horizon, relinquishing their reign over the land to the approaching sun.

*

Later that day, at nearly nine o'clock, both Kurama and Hiei went to Yusuke's house. He had yet to wake, but his mother was home and let them in with a drunken smile.

"You guys want some coffee?" she asked, swaying into the kitchen. Kurama stood and guided her toward a chair in the living room.

"Please, let me," he said as he placed her in the chair.

"Oh, you're sso ssweet. Thanks," she said sleepily as the kitsune went back to the kitchen to prepare the drinks. He came back a moment later and placed them on the table before taking a seat beside Hiei.

Hiei sat stiffly in his seat. He was trying desperately not to fidget. But now that the prospect he would be battling again had risen, he found it hard to contain his shifting. He took his coffee, staring at its rippling surface a moment before sipping it.

"Don't worry! Yusuke will be up soon!" Atsuko said loudly. Kurama heard a groan from the next room. "Botan said she was coming over later too! So it will be a ha-happy get-together!" The mutterings from the next room grew louder. "You know! This coffee is great!" There came an unrecognizable shout from Yusuke's room as there was a loud bang on the room's floor.

"Well! Looks like Yusuke's up!" Atsuko said happily. A string of curses flowed into the room. "Watch your mouth, Yusuke!" The curses lessened, although they did not stop completely. Apparently, according to the thumps and growls, Yusuke had taken a nasty fall from his bed.

Both Kurama and Hiei couldn't help but smirk. And when Yusuke tumbled out of his room, they could only suppress a smile. He was dressed in blue pajamas, his hair mussed in a cow-lick and his eyes were squinted in sleep, trying to keep the sun's glare from seeping into them until they could adjust.

"Oh, Yusuke, your friends are here. They said they had to talk to you," Atsuko said, smiling up at her son before getting up from her chair groggily and swaying into another room. Yusuke grumbled and sat in her chair with a heavy 'pluff' in annoyance from the cushion.

"So what's up, guys?" he asked through a yawn, blinking at the sleep with heavy eyelids. Kurama looked at Hiei, who nodded without looking at him, staring at his cup and the rippling surface of its liquid once again.

"I found this when I woke up this morning," Kurama said, removing a paper from his pocket and handing it to the boy, who yawned again.

Yusuke took the paper and looked at it, then looked up at Kurama strangely.

"Yeah, Kurama. Its paper. What the hell is so important about a sheet of paper that you had to wake me up at nine in the morning on a Saturday for?" he growled, waving it in front of the kitsune's face. Hiei gave a chuckle while Kurama sighed.

"Yusuke, flip the paper over," Kurama said.

"Baka," Hiei said with a small smile. Yusuke looked blankly at him for a moment before turning the paper over. His eyes widened and his jaw fell open. Clearly, the sleep fuzz was gone from his mind as he stared.

"Oh," he said stupidly.

"We'll have to go tell Kuwabara," Kurama said. Yusuke looked at the message a moment longer before handing it back to him.

"I'll be out in five minutes," he said, turning and walking back into his room to get dressed. Both Kurama and Hiei looked at each other, both giving quiet, yet very amused chuckles as they finished off their coffee.

*

Kurama knocked quietly on door to Kuwabara's house. Shizuru answered a moment later, a burning cigarette in her hand.

"Hey you guys. I take it you're here to see my little brother?" They nodded. She took a drag of her cigarette. "Yeah, well come in. Ya know, I had the strangest dream last night. It was about that girl from the tournament. She said something about not letting Kazuma leave tomorrow or he'd die. Strange, huh?" she asked as they walked into the house. The trio looked at each other.

'She must have warned Shizuru with her powers. But why wouldn't she want Kuwabara to come?' Hiei thought. He looked at Kurama, who's expression suggested that they leave. The two turned only to be stopped by a familiarly annoying voice.

"Hey guys! What are you doing here?" Kuwabara asked as he tumbled down the stairs.

"Hey, try to be a little quieter little brother. I have a headache," Shizuru said as she sat down on the couch, turning on the television.

"Hey Kuwabara," Yusuke said. He hadn't seen the looks that his companions had exchanged, obviously, instead watching his friend barrel down the stairs as the youkai glanced at each other. "We got our match."

"Fool," Hiei muttered as Kurama sighed and they turned back around.

"Yeah?! When is it?" Kuwabara asked. His face was, for the most part, back to normal but for the small, yellowish green healing bruises that lay here and there. But his jaw was no longer swollen and were the swelling had occurred lay the largest of the dispersing bruises.

"Dawn," Yusuke groaned. Kurama handed the other boy the slip of paper. He looked over it for a moment before handing it back.

"It doesn't say where though. How will we know?" Kuwabara asked. Yusuke looked at Kurama, who shrugged.

"She'll probably draw us to her. I wouldn't worry about that," Hiei supplied, not looking at them. The all looked down at him. Kuwabara opened his mouth to say something, but Kurama beat him from the punch.

"Yes, I agree. She's done it in the past. No doubt she'll use it again," the kitsune said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Kuwabara said. Shizuru glanced at them from over the couch, but she didn't say anything. Hiei saw her, and wondered if Thorn really had contacted her in her dreams to tell her not to let her brother fight.

'Hn. Its not my problem,' he thought.

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

Authoress' Note: ^_^ okay. I know ya'll gunna KILL me for leaving such a question mark at the end.

Yusuke: I'm gunna kill you!

J: -innocent eyes- why?

Yusuke: I'm NOT a baka!

J:-shrug- I didn't say it! Blame it on Hiei, not me.

Kuwabara: -looks around- yeah, hey, where is the shrimp?

J: ^_^ I sent him and Kurama out to get me some food. Studying makes me hungry, so there's like no food in my house. (not that I study, its just an excuse to settle my high-metabolism's cravings ^_^')

Yusuke: -grumbles- I'll get him later.

J: suuuure you will. ^_^ well, here are reviews! Yay!

Reviews:

miyako14: ^_^ thank you! I can't wait to get the second manga! It's going to be cool! Its so different then the anime, at least, so far. Here's yer update!

SilverKnight7: they are both great! ^_^ here's yer update! The fighting scene is soon, promise!

Squeakers: Squeakers! You were missed! Lol. ^_^ I'm glad everyone's liking the story's complexity! I just hope I tie up all the loose ends at the very end, is all. ^_^ yeah, it took me a while to figure out just where I was going with this story. I had the beginning and the end planned out, and I needed LOTS of twists and secrets and the revealing of secrets for it to work out! -grin- and Kuwabaka's butt was sorely kicked! Hehe. Thank you!

Midnightdream51: oi, n/p about reviewing sooner, it's no biggy! And yes, I DO have a lot of free time. I don't study enough. Heehee. ^_^ oh, an NY friend? Yeah, we don't have a lot of time because of the monstrous amounts of HW they give us to prep us for the regents. It's not easy to graduate from NY's high schools, even a lower-class one like my own! I must say that I'm not doing as well as I could though. Hehe, dun tell anyone! ^_^ mama dun know that! Lol. Yeah, math is done with, so I've just gotta start preppin' for Bio and err… Global! Duh! Hehe, forgot for a minute there. I didn't think I was doing very well in math either, but a I got a progress report today, and even though my test average was like 62 and my quiz average 70 something, I have an 83! Whoot! It pays to do homework! Lol. Thanks for the luck! It hadn't been too late, and I sure used it! The test was easy, but since I'm so bad at math, it didn't really count. ^_^' and I got yer wolf story! You should continue it! It's really good! Thanks again!


Hiei's1girl: wow! You reviewed a bunch! Thank ye! ^_^ yes, fighting scenes are sweet. Mine are just okay. I really need to work on more details. And, erm, for the Thorn liking Hiei and/or Kurama, you'll find out soon enough! ^_^ me so evil! Anyway, you'll discover the answer… err… well, part of it, next chapter. And if not then, then in about three or so chapters. ^_^.

baka-chibi-puffs: ^_^ its okay for not reviewing the last chapter. I do realize people, unlike myself, do have outside lives and can't be expected to review EVERY chapter. ^_^ damn, that sucks! I would DIE without anime, tv, computer for three months. Well, I'd just have to rely on my mangas to keep me sane. Seriously, that would be the ONLY thing that would keep me sane. Yay to grandmothers! ^_^. Yay! Ten minutes is better than nothing. 0.0' err… -scuffs foot- yeah, I know they're short. There's a major short one coming up later this week too, if I get off my lazy ass and edit it. ^_^ yeah, its like that because I'm updating 2x a week. ^_^ glad you like it!

J: -mushroom cloud- whew! That was a mouthful! Anyway, teasers away!

Teaser:

"You bastard," Hiei snarled, drawing his sword. BlackFire looked at it and then at him, laughing mockingly.

'You would kill me? The Forbidden One killing the Black Blaze? Please, spare me the irony,' he said sarcastically.

++++++++++++

J: eek! -gets pelted with random food- hmm, cheese cake! -licks fingers-

Kuwabara: you were right, they are gunna kill ya.

J: -glare- oh shut up.

*door opens*

Kurama: J-san, we're back!

Hiei: hmm… -is currently inhaling a 5 gallon jug of sweet snow-

J: -snatches sweet snow away- Oi! That was for later! I need something to bribe you with! And I'm all out of chocolate!

Hiei: -licking fingers- -pout- damn.

J: besides, I need something that'll keep you from killing someone, or even myself, next chapter.

Hiei: -glares suspiciously- why?

J: well that's all this time! Next chapter is mad short, but it's a goodie!

Hiei: why?

J: please review! I'm going to ask for 6 reviews this chapter (that's my average anyway) because next chapter is such a doozie!

Hiei: WHY?!

J: err… did you say something Hiei?

All: -anime fall-

J: ^_^