Author's note: Ignore the fact that there's a language barrier 'cause honestly, if I was gonna pay attention to that fact, I'd be writing in Japanese. And I can't do that 'cause I only know a few phrases in that language. ^_^ So just pretend that everyone speaks English/Japanese.

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and all the characters in the wonderful show do not belong to me but all original characters do.

Note: italics indicate thoughts.


Confinement
Chapter Two: Confidence

There were outsiders in the village.

Yi-wei thought it was unusual. Travelers never came to Xicun. For the twenty-two years he's lived there, he had never seen anyone from outside the four villages around the mountain come. And now there were four outsiders walking down the streets, trying to find a place to stay for the night.

They all stuck out like a sore thumb. One had black hair, held up by an ample amount of gel. He seemed to have cocky attitude. One of his associates was tall and clumsy, his voice loud and obnoxious. The third was a slender redhead, with emerald green eyes and a quiet demeanor. The last in the group was a short boy dressed all in black whose hair seemed to defy the laws of gravity. He seemed to be perpetually angry, glowering at everyone, even his traveling companions.

Yi-wei watched them from afar. They seemed harmless enough but one could never be sure about outsiders. After half an hour of silent stalking, he discovered that they had come because of Jinshan; they were interested about the mountain cave. The villagers they talked to were not answering their questions, most staring at them as if they were insane. Yi-wei decided to introduce himself at that time.

They didn't seem surprised when he approached them. In fact, they looked as if they were expecting it. Yi-wei walked up to the black-haired boy dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt, since he appeared to be the head of the group. He stopped within five feet of the boy and finally spoke. "I can tell you about Jinshan." He waited for a response and when the boy smiled and asked him to proceed, he did. "I'm Yi-wei. My brother San-wei went into that cave exactly two weeks ago."

That apparently caught their attention because they immediately pulled themselves aside to talk to him. They introduced themselves and waited impatiently for Yi-wei to continue. He decided that the streets were far too populated for this kind of conversation so he led them to his home. After they were all seated, he started.

"There are laws banning anyone to enter or even go near the mountain cave, one with severe punishments."

The four of them nodded, acknowledging that they already knew about the laws.

Yi-wei continued. "Everyone in the villages around Jinshan knows its legends and myths but my brothers and I never really believed in them. We knew that they were just bedtime stories to scare kids away from the mountain. However, we had no desire to break any laws and really no need to venture into the cave, so we stayed away like good citizens. Except for San-wei. He had some fascination with the mountain. He loved to stroll around it, spending most of his free time at the entrance of the cave. We saw no harm in it since there was no danger so we let him. And then one day, he didn't return."

They saw how hard it was for him to tell them, who were complete strangers to him, such a personal tragedy. The redhead, Kurama, patted him on the back sympathetically while remaining silent, simply waiting for him to continue when he was ready. The others waited as well.

"It rained everyday after that day but we searched for him nonetheless. We found nothing. Then, after a week of searching, we found his shoes and shirt on the path leading to the cave; they were carried from the entrance by the rainwater. We knew then that he was dead. We didn't hope to ever find his body; the legends spoke that no one ever returned from inside the cave, alive or dead. The laws were rewritten to be even more critical but it won't make a difference. The death is still recent and fresh in all our minds. I suggest that you stop your stupid inquiries about Jinshan before you get yourselves arrested or killed."

"Thanks for the advice," the black-haired boy, Yusuke, said. He didn't seem too sincere about it, though.

"We'll be more careful from now on," Kurama said, "We thank you for your helpful information. And I am deeply sorry for your loss." He did sound sincere. "Did anything strange or unusual happen before or after his disappearance?"

"Nothing really," he answered but then he went into deeper thought, "Although now that you mention it, it stopped raining immediately after we found San-wei's things. It didn't ease up or anything and then stop; it just stopped."

Kurama registered the information and slightly frowned. The others noticed his concern but he just shot them a glance that said, "Later."

"Well, we'll be going now," Yusuke announced, "Thanks for the info."

"One more thing," Yi-wei added when they all got up to leave, "If you guys are thinking of going into the cave, don't. If you guys are thinking of killing whatever's inside, think again. That thing's survived in that cave for more than two millennia and I'm sure it'll survive you."

They said their good-byes, not confirming or denying Yi-wei's suspicions about them. Kurama once again thanked him for the entire group and then they let themselves out. Yi-wei just shook his head after they left. He knew he would never see them again.



"Spill it, fox," Hiei said as he leaned against the wall next to the open window.

They had managed to find lodging at a local restaurant. It wasn't a hotel or inn since the village had no need for such things, but there were extra rooms upstairs for villagers who were too drunk or too tired to walk home. Also, every now and then, people from the other three villages come to Xicun to barter for goods. Kurama managed to convince the owner of the restaurant to give them a room to stay for the night. It took much persuasion on the fox's part but the owner eventually consented and now all four of them were packed into the tiny room.

"Yeah, Kurama," Yusuke piped in, "You got all worried in that house. So what's up?"

"It's what he said about the rain," the redhead explained, "If what's inside that cave did make the rain stop, then I'm not sure we're going up against a Siren."

"Why do say that?" Kuwabara asked.

"Idiot," Hiei chided, "Sirens don't have power over the weather."

"You little twerp," Kuwabara retorted, "How the hell would you know?"

"I read, you oaf, something you're obviously not capable of."

Kurama decided to intervene before they went for each other's throats. "Guys, calm down. We don't want to cause trouble that'll get us kicked out." That seemed to pacify them for the moment. Both reluctantly stopped their insults and contented themselves by glaring at the other. Kurama sighed and rubbed his temples, trying to relieve the tension that was building.

"Is what Hiei said true?" Kuwabara finally asked.

"Yes, Sirens are not capable of changing the weather, which is why I'm worried."

"Well, I think we're blowing this rain dealy all out of proportion," Yusuke said as he plopped himself onto one of the beds, "Probably just a strange coincidence." He flopped over and lied on his stomach. "I mean, look at the information we have: the female voice, the singing and crying, the soul-trapping. And this place isn't that far from the ocean. It all fits. If it's not a Siren, what else could it be?"

"I can't think of anything else."

"There ya go, it's gotta be one. We're making too big a deal out of what that guy told us."

"I guess you could be right," Kurama conceded.

"'Course I'm right," Yusuke said with confidence, a smug smile on his face, "And tomorrow, I'm ready to go kick some Siren butt."

They left the issue at that.

Since they planned to leave for the cave early in the morning, before the rest of the village woke, they went to sleep immediately after they discussed ways to fight a Siren's song. There were only two beds in the room. Naturally, Kurama and Hiei shared a bed. They had been a couple for more than a year now and sleeping together was nothing new. Yusuke, however, refused to sleep in the same bed as Kuwabara, and Kuwabara did not protest the complaint. They flipped for the bed and Yusuke won. The other was forced to hard, wooden floor. It was uncomfortable, to say the least, but within fifteen minutes, he was snoring loudly, obviously in deep sleep.

While the others drifted into dreamland, Kurama lied awake, still trouble by Yi-wei's tale. Something was missing from the puzzle but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was. Kurama sighed deeply. Maybe I am taking all this too seriously. He snuggled a little closer to Hiei, comforted by his warmth. I just wish I didn't have this nagging feeling that something's about to go wrong. He closed his eyes and eventually found the solace of slumber.



Kurama was dreaming.

He knew he was dreaming because he was floating, weightless and free. His translucent body was surrounded by nothingness. And then the visions started.

At first there were only sounds, muffled but growing clearer by the second. After several moments, Kurama could make out all of the words of an obviously heated conversation between a man and a woman. Their voices were soon accompanied with visuals.

"What are we doing here?" the female voice said, followed by a quick flash of an image of her. Kurama couldn't get a good look at her since the picture only lasted for a second but she seemed to have long silvery-white hair and blue eyes that were so light that they looked almost white. The look on her beautiful, youthful face was a puzzled one.

When her picture disappeared, it was replaced by an image of a young man, probably the age of nineteen or twenty. He had short black hair and dark brown eyes, and seemed a total contrast to the girl. "It's a surprise," he answered her question.

Kurama was confused. He'd never seen these two before, not in his thousand years as a youko or his eighteen years as a human. Who are they? he thought as he continued the watch and listen.

The sounds and pictures were coming faster now, and staying slightly longer. He now noticed that the girl was wearing a simple blue Chinese tunic, but what really caught Kurama's attention was the style of it. True some older styles of Chinese clothing were still worn today. Heck, Kurama wore them on almost all the missions. However, the style worn by the girl was much older, much more ancient; they were the kind you saw on the women in old Chinese watercolor paintings. The clothes on the young man were just as ancient, which gave Kurama the impression that whatever he was seeing, which he no longer believed was just a mere dream brought on by his subconscious, it happened a long time ago. He decided to leave that detail till later and watched as the boy led the girl by the hand to a crystal-clear lake.

It's kinda dark, he mentally commented when he strained to make out their expressions. Must be a cloudy day.

"It's a beautiful lake," the girl said, looking into the clear water.

"Yeah, I found it yesterday," the boy said, "Thought you'd like it."

"I do, although it makes me kind of homesick."

This small talk continued for a few more minutes but Kurama didn't pay very close attention to what was said. He was busier trying to figure out the purpose of this slideshow vision. Questions like "What's going on?" and "Where exactly are they?" danced around in his head.

Apparently the girl had similar thoughts as Kurama's. "What are we doing here?" she asked for the second time. "I know it's not just so you could show me the lake."

Instead of answering her question verbally, the young man brought the girl into an embrace, which she willingly melted into. The boy then looked deeply into her eyes and leaned in for a passionate kiss. Again, the girl did not object. She eagerly placed her lips on his, silencing any attempts at speech.

Which was the only reason why she did not scream when the boy plunged a dagger into her heart.

Kurama couldn't believe what he was seeing. Blood was flowing out of the girl's body like a river. And the boy, remorseless and cold, seemed to be collecting the blood in a wooden bowl. The fox was sure the girl was dead at that point but he was proven wrong.

"Why?" the girl asked, her voice still strong and audible.

"I've found myself a new girl," the boy answered, "and I can't have you messing things up for us. I know what a temper you have."

"You know I'll be back," the girl again with an emotionless tone.

"Yes, I'm aware of that, but by that time, we'll be long gone. And you'll have no way to chase after us."

"Don't do it. If you do, I swear to make your life and the lives of you descendents miserable."

"Sorry, babe, no can do," he said as he leaned down for one final kiss from the girl, which she did not acknowledge, "You're too spiteful to keep unrestricted."

"You'll pay."

"Probably. But at the moment, I fail to see how."

To Kurama's horror, the boy retracted the dagger from the girl's chest and used it stab her body again and again until she finally died. It took six stabs to finish the job, each deeper and more painful than the last. The girl did not scream or cry as her blood stained her tunics crimson. She just looked at her murderer with an icy glare that promised revenge and retribution. Kurama sighed in relief when her eyes eventually closed, her last breath draining out of her.

He woke up with bloody hands.


And the plot thickens... Oh, I really don't know how old Kurama really is so I'm guessing at somewhere around thousand years. If anyone knows for sure, tell me! And please review!