Catse: Yay! I've fully completed the story! Can you believe it?! I'm going to do my best to upload everything this afternoon, so please be patient. I really worked overtime on this, and it's all paid off! Oh well, I'm sure you're wondering what's going to happen next. Well then, without further to do, I present to you chapter sixteen of Dance of Swords! Enjoy!
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Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, although I wish I did.
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While Hiei and Shadow glared at each other, Kurama snuck up to the barrier surrounding the glass container that held Suta, and tested it for any sort of way to get in. Every barrier had it's weak points, and even a good one could be ripped open large enough to let a few outsiders in.
This barrier was well made however, and would take him a while to break through.
But only a short while...he was an ever intelligent fox after all.
Using a pencil he had forgotten he had in his pocket, he poked at the barrier, looking for a weak point as the others watched the fight with interest.
So far, Hiei and Shadow had merely glared at each other, both looking confident that they would beat the other.
Shadow had jumped from the glass to land right before Hiei, so that they were with in a swords reach of each other.
Of course, they had no idea what abilities Shadow had, so everyone had to be ready...just in case.
Yusuke still fretted over having to give up the fight, but Kuwabara seemed rather curious to why Hiei was so angry.
Of course, he hadn't realized that Hiei was in love with Suta.
The others noticed!
It was hard not to.
Almost every time they saw Hiei, he was with her.
And he was happy above all things.
They weren't sure if they liked him happy.
He didn't look right.
They were so used to seeing him mad or ticked off about one thing or another, that he looked strange with a good-natured smile on his face.
But, funny as it was, after watching Hiei go into a tantrum and use his Sword Dancing technique on the demons, all of them, including Yusuke, wanted to learn the technique for themselves.
He had moved so fast, and yet so skilled in cutting through the demons, and the funniest part of that is that he looked like he was day dreaming in the process.
If a silly looking technique could create such powerful effects, then to hell with its girly look, Yusuke was going to learn it!
It was far too good to pass up.
Kuwabara's thoughts ran on a similar level...he too wanted to learn that technique!
But of course, he was going to change a few things.
No man should look girly in any way!
No matter what!
He'd make that dance more masculine if it killed him!
The two were pulled from their thoughts when the first move was made between the two combatants.
Hiei leapt forward, gracefully but quickly slicing out with his sword at where Shadow once stood.
The cat demon had seemed to teleport, reappearing behind Hiei with a small snicker.
Hiei's reaction was to spin in mid-air and strike behind him, only to again strike nothing.
"Damn!" He whispered, searching the room.
Shadow had completely disappeared now, and not even the Jagan was picking him up.
Then again, the Jagan was muffled, so it couldn't see him.
Hiei reached up and pulled the bandana away, opening up the eye that was his most prided weapon...well...other than the sword and his techniques that is....
But, even though it was unveiled, it still couldn't pick up more than a slight energy signature that was coated over the entire room, so he was lost.
"Looking for me Hiei." He felt a voice whisper in his ear.
He snapped over to slice him, but what had been there before was gone.
Shadow liked playing games...
Well Hiei was planning on making these 'games' a sour word in his foe's mouth.
When Hiei was done with him, he would despise them just as much as Hiei despised him.
And that was saying a lot...!
"What's wrong? Can't find the kitty? Come now, look a little closer!" Shadow's voice laughed from all over the room.
'He's a goddamned cat! Why can't I find him?!'
"Perhaps it's that I can read your thoughts, dear Hiei." The voice echoed.
Suddenly Shadow's image appeared right in front of him, and smiled.
Before Hiei could slice at him, Shadow thrust his hand up across Hiei's chest, slashing it in several spots with the dangerous claws.
Hiei staggered back, holding the bleeding gashes with his free hand.
He moved too fast!
How was he supposed to catch him?
Hiei had never come across an opponent this fast before!
Of course, there were the few that were slightly faster than him, but this demon over sped him by a land slide!
How was he supposed to win?
Wait! The technique! That should work!
Hiei pulled his sword before him in one of the stances he had learned, one where the blade is right before the face, and the hand is on the side, holding it straight.
Shadow finally reappeared, landing softly a few feet before him.
"My my...what's this? Are we trying to use a technique on dear little old me. Oh my! How will I survive?!" He laughed, never letting his eyes leave Hiei.
Hiei didn't reply.
He had been mocked before with this technique, but it worked like a charm.
Choosing a song to listen to in his head, he began the dance, stepping back with the blade still in position, then slipping out from before him and over his head gracefully.
Shadow continued to laugh, nearly falling back with tears in his eyes.
Suddenly, Hiei's speed seemed to improve and he jumped forward, some of his blood spraying from his wounds as he did so.
The guy jumped but wasn't expecting the blade to slice up and hit his ankle.
Shadow disappeared and then reappeared on his perch at the top of the room.
"You...you hit me!" he growled, looking his wound over.
"Yeah...what of it?" Hiei replied, smiling, and taking the position over again to prepare for a return attack.
"You weren't supposed to hit me." Shadow replied, looking preoccupied with his cut.
Then, using the reflexes he was born with, stretched his leg towards his mouth and licked the blood with a slender cat like tongue.
Hiei noticed his two sharp fangs when he did so, and smirked.
This guy was fast, but apparently not fast enough for a Dancing Technique.
When Shadow was finished nursing his wound, he stood up on his platform and glared down.
"Since you screwed up my leg, I'm going to have to be a little more serious with you. But you should be proud. Most don't even get to touch me, and you have injured me. Plus, you'll be able to see a move I rarely ever do for a foe."
He jumped down on the floor and, with his hand in the air, called two swords to him from a rack on the wall.
On cue, the swords flew to him and he caught them, taking a stance Hiei recognized as the one Suta had done from her expert level dance. He stood straight, with the swords parallel before him.
But how?
How did he know the Sword Dancing technique?!
Suddenly, in a wisp of speed, Shadow leapt forward and sliced at Hiei, in which he was luckily able to leap out of the way at the last minute.
But Shadow didn't stop.
He continued to slice at Hiei, causing him to jump every which way to escape.
He used the exact same moves Suta did, and finally, when he was tired of chasing Hiei, he stopped and landed on the table, smirking.
By then, Hiei had gashes on both of his arms, on one of his legs, and a close cut on his midsection, that might have been deep had he not managed to leap back when he had.
Hiei huffed his exhaustion, spending the free time he had at the moment glaring at Shadow and keeping his eyes on his movement.
Yusuke and Kuwabara stepped forward, ready to help, but Hiei glared at them.
It was the sort of glare that said: "Don't you dare interfere or I'll kill you too!"
They stepped back in surprise and Hiei returned to his glare at the cat demon.
"How do you—?"
"You're wondering how I know the technique?" Shadow finished for him, smiling confidently. "You really don't understand do you? Well, considering I'm going to kill you very soon, I don't think it would be too bad to tell you. Didn't you wonder how it was possible that I would know Suta's link to the barrier, and how to kill her. Or why she was so alone, with only a grandfather?"
"So you played stalker, what of it?!" Yusuke replied instead, annoyed with the games Shadow continued to play.
"Oh no, it's far from that." the demon laughed.
"You killed her parents!" Hiei replied, figuring that part out.
"Oh yes...That was the fun part. Killing them and making it look like an automobile accident. Yes yes...very fun. I even slit their throats before I let them drive any further, and then, when they had hit the bottom, I made sure to pull her mother out and tear her apart, bit by bit. Otherwise, she would have climbed out of the crash and come after me."
"What do you mean?" Hiei asked, glaring.
Now it was time to find out the truth.
"Her mother was a demon. Full demon, and not only that but pure by her breed. She was a beautiful woman, but had she stuck by the rules of her family and not marry a human man, she'd still be living right now. You see, her family were the ones the founded the barrier in the first place. They wanted to keep things separate, for if the demons continued to live with the humans, both sides would die. Human's fear and sorrow keeps the demons strong and living, if feeds them, while if they were together, the demons would kill them, and in so doing kill themselves. Her family figured that bit of life out, and so created the barrier. The only misfortunate part was that only the females of the family could keep it up and running. It was their spirit energy...their way of using it that fueled the barrier...so generation after generation required female heirs to keep up with the business of separating the two worlds. But the funniest part is that the females won't die unless they have an heir already born, or they and the barrier are poisoned at the same time. Then they die. But I'm off subject. You see, the family also decided that there should be a trademark, so that all would know whom they were. That's when the Sword Dancing technique was born."
"Wait a minute." Kurama interrupted, standing up from his barrier picking.
He was close to breaking it, but listening to the conversation caught his attention. "You're saying that the technique is a family trait. Then that means you are a part of their family line."
"Very intelligent Kurama. Yes...Suta's mother was my sister. My well despised sister...We all hated her for her choice to live in the human world, with a human as her mate." Shadow spat the words, as if they had a bad taste on his tongue. "But I took care of that didn't I? The trash was taken out."
"Then why did you kill Suta's grandfather? He wasn't demon nor a part of the family." Kurama added.
"Oh that...that was just to enlighten the fear in my niece's heart. To give her something to be afraid of."
"Then I gather you killed her baby brother too." Hiei added, his face scrunching up into an even angrier look.
Kurama glanced at Hiei in surprise.
It was apparent that he hadn't known of the brother.
And Hiei's anger was very apparent.
He almost seemed ready to kill.
And Hiei's thoughts were far from the look on his face.
'So Suta had been a hanyou the entire time, and she didn't even know it!'
Now the letter he found made sense.
Her mother had purposely put blood on the edge of the envelope for her daughter to find by scent. Apparently, Suta's demonic senses were supposed to come into play as she grew older, but they didn't come when her mother expected it.She...she probably wasn't at the house for it! Perhaps her senses had grown at the palace, so she wasn't there to find the letter!
And Shadow was the one after her in the letter!
He was family so he would have been able to hunt for her as a little girl, but couldn't find her.
Then maybe her parents weren't there long enough because he could easily find them and then find her!
It all fit!
Her uncle was trying to kill her...but why he wanted to wasn't clear.
It also showed why he knew how to do the Sword Dancing technique.
"Yes...I killed her little brother. Gave him a poison he was certain not to live through. Human autopsies can't find demonic poison, so it was ruled out as a disease of some sort and the case was closed."
Shadow laughed proudly, as if it was one of the best things he had ever done.
This only made Hiei angrier, so he took another stance, another high level one and attacked Shadow head on.
The both of them matched move for move, both blocking when the other attacked.
Kurama returned to his work of breaking the barrier, thoughts of all of the information flooding his mind.
So Suta's uncle had been trying to kill her the entire time.
How very sad...
Now he most definitely had to break down this barrier and get inside, to free Suta from her prison.
It would only take him a little longer...then...the barrier around her would crash...
Just a little longer...
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Catse: What did you think? I think the chapters get better with each one that's read, right? Well, please review me and tell me what you think. There's about four more chapters left and the story is complete. A little short compared to what I usually write, but as long as it's liked then there shouldn't be any problem. Well, next chapters up, so I better start working on it. Ja Ne for now!