Thanks for the great reviews, minna-san! I'm glad not ALL of you knew who Hiken really was…that means I'm not extremely obvious! So don't feel stupid, Cricket-chan. And yes, Kota-chan, I promise to do the thing in the last chapter that we discussed on AIM. And to the…err…Person Who's Obsessed with My Writing…uh…thank you? -sweatdrop- I had no idea…

Anyway, last chapter, Kuronue had issues and ended up attacking Kaeru, who ran away with her uncle, who turns out to be the very same guy who wants her dead! That can't be good.

. Ne, I should write soap operas! My great-aunt and uncle write the scripts for Dynasty…you never know, I might have inherited the dramatic gene. -coughs- Or…well…that could just be me. Moving on…

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"So what happened?" Hiken inquired gently, carefully observing the stormy look on his niece's features as they hesitated in a forest clearing, not too far from Kurama's house. "Did you and your guardian get into a fight?"

Kaeru reluctantly nodded. "I don't think he's my guardian anymore…"

"Is that right…?"

She caught the gleam in his eye and registered what it meant just in time, ducking under his arm and throwing herself to the ground just as a crimson fireball zoomed over her head.

The man snorted distastefully. "Can't you hold still for once? It makes my job so much easier."

Kaeru regarded him with widened ruby eyes, filled with surprise and horror. "…Why?" She quickly scrambled to her feet and dodged behind a tree as another crackling orb of flame shot towards her. It missed and struck the tree beside the one she had ran behind, knocking it over with a creaking crash.

"Why?" Hiken echoed, gazing at her with an amused, yet very malevolent smirk planted on his face. "My dear ignorant little Koorime, you really ARE too innocent for your own good. Even if you ARE my niece, do you really think I'd let even one Ice Maiden escape? Oh no…that just gives me all the more reason to destroy you. The last of the legacy…with you out of the way, none of the Koorime shall dare oppose me."

It can't be… Almost incredulously, Kaeru peeked around the tree and met the man's hard crimson eyes, narrowed with malice and a deep-rooted hatred. "…Zen…Zenkai?!"

"Smart girl. I knew you'd figure it out eventually. And now that I've lured you away from your little friends, I can finally kill you."

Rummaging in his pockets, he produced several slips of paper with strange black characters painted on them. "Do you know what these are? Judging by the fear in your eyes, I'd say you do. I garnered a few of these from a member of the Black Black Club. I heard they were used on your little friend…let's see what they do for you!"

He moved too swiftly for Kaeru to track his movements and as she felt something thin and dry touch her cheek, the most excruciating pain exploded in the place of contact and she let out a scream, stumbling backwards…only to fall to the ground, bound tightly with those talismans, which had formed some sort of rope and wrapped around her, preventing further escape.

--At Suzuki's House--

Things were in a state of instant pandemonium as Kia relayed what had happened during her phone call to Kuronue. Kelsey leapt to her feet immediately, tripping over a snoozing Rinku, who had curled up on the floor for an afternoon nap. "We've got to go save her!" She yelped. "Kaeru's no match for a bastard like Zenkai!"

"She beat him once before," Kia pointed out, as Rei began to run around the couch, screeching incomprehensible things such as "My BAAAAAAAAAABY!!" and "It's the mushrooms! The mushrooms got her!!"

"But that was with Hiei!" The blonde shouted back, and the Jaganshi, having just entered the room, glanced up. "Kia, we have to help her! She's a Koorime, and it's like having Yukina fight Yusuke at full power!"

"Point taken." The other Mirror Holder glanced around nervously. "All right, who's with me?"

Kelsey and Rei volunteered almost at once, as did Chuu and Touya. Z, Shishiwakamaru, Jin and Suzuki were nowhere to be found, and Rinku was still sleeping soundly. No one noticed that Hiei had mysteriously vanished.

Once everyone was gathered, Rei flung open and the door--and almost knocked Suzaku into the bushes.

"BIRDY!!" The Priestess threw herself at him, this time making them both fall into the shrubbery. "OUR BABY IS IN DANGER!"

The Saint Beast untangled himself from her and stood up. "What are you talking about?"

"Baby??" Chuu snickered, resorting to hiding his grin under a hand as Suzaku shot him a deadly glare.

"We just found out that Kaeru's uncle is actually Zenkai and she went off alone," Kia explained.

"She did WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

Kelsey winced, prying her hands away from her ears and cautiously lowering them. "Yes, well, I THOUGHT you'd be like that."

"We have to get her! We have to kill him! AND I'M GONNA SLAUGHTER KURONUE FOR THIS!! THAT IDIOTIC BASTARD, HOW COULD HE JUST LET HER WALK AWAY LIKE THAT?!?"

"That's the spirit, Birdy!" Rei cheered. "Let's go kill Batty!"

Touya glanced at her strangely. "Err…Rei…I thought the objective was to rescue Kaeru."

"Oh, yeah." The woman laughed. "Let's go save Kae-chan!"

--Back to the epic battle--

Kuronue, having been somewhat frantic at letting his charge slip off with his nemesis right under his nose, was flying over the forest, not caring who saw him…she had to be all right!

Dammit, how could I have let this happen?!

Suddenly, his pointed ears twitched, hearing an agonized cry just below the area he was flying over now. Scowling deeply, the chimera angled his wings and shot downwards like an arrow, crashing into Zenkai and knocking the hunter over. He grabbed him by the collar and shook him roughly.

"You bastard, what did you do to Kaeru?!"

Zenkai didn't answer, his head falling limply to one side. Disgusted, Kuronue let him fall.

"K-Kuronue…san…?"

Upon hearing his name in that tentative query, he turned sharply--and saw Kaeru sprawled on the ground, struggling against a rope of paper talismans which had wrapped themselves around her. Growling a curse under his breath, Kuronue tugged hard on them and yanked them off, pulling out his scythes and slicing them to confetti in one swift and decisive slice. That done, he turned to his shivering charge. "Are you all right?"

The Koorime's face, hands, and legs were covered in painful, red welts, and she yelped and jerked back as the chimera gently touched one on her cheek.

"I'll take that as a no. Come on, we need to get you out of here."

Kaeru may have been injured, but her senses were as sharp as ever and she knew they weren't saved yet. "Kuronue-san, look ou--!"

Her warning came too late, as something dark slammed into Kuronue, pushing him back into a tree, and wrapping around him and the trunk. He let out another growl of rage and thrashed about, trying to free himself, but the black substance (which resembled a gelatinous steel cable) refused to be thwarted, and the more he fought against it, the more it tightened until he had to stop before all the air was squeezed from his lungs.

"Kuronue-san!!" Alarmed, the Ice Maiden rose to her feet and started towards him. However, a very familiar Koorime hunter blocked the way, a black-hilted katana clutched in his right hand.

"Not so fast, my dear. You and I have unfinished business and your friend will just have to be an audience member, I'm afraid."

"Let him go!" Kaeru shouted, a surge of anger roiling in her chest. "He's got nothing to do with this!"

Zenkai chuckled. "Au contraire, my dear. He has EVERYTHING to do with this. After all, if that blathering little toddler hadn't assigned him to protect you, trust me, you'd be at the bottom of a very large pile of dead Koorime bodies by now. Therefore, he's to stay out of my way. He can have you back once I'm done with whatever remains of you."

The Ice Maiden narrowed her eyes. "I'm not as weak…as you think I am. Didn't your mother ever teach you never to underestimate your opponents?"

"No…my mother taught me that you have to fight to survive. Unfortunately, she wasn't so lucky. And neither was my dear twin. You see, Kaeru, I wasn't lying about that. Kazuko really was my sister…and I was indeed hidden from the other Koorime until I was three, and then tossed off a cliff, like any cursed anomaly would be. However…I survived and I swore that one day I'd return and wreak my vengeance upon the same species that had tried to destroy my life that fateful day. I'd never rest until each and every Koorime lay dead in a puddle of her own blood. And somehow, you're the only one who stands in the way of my dream. Not to mention that you're family, which makes for an interesting relationship, don't you think?"

His voice was light and friendly, as if he was merely explaining something to a confused companion.

Kaeru was silent for a few minutes. Then she spoke, her voice low and soft. "I'm not going to let that happen."

"Oh, really?" He quirked an eyebrow. "Pray tell, my dear niece, just how do you plan to carry out that threat? In case you haven't noticed, I have the advantage here."

Kuronue looked from Koorime to elder Koorime. One was tall, strong, and had enough firepower to blow up a city. The other was petite, delicate, and had enough ice power to freeze an entire school. One had a sword and seemed in perfect condition. The other was weaponless and couldn't even stand up straight.

Damn…this looks bad.

Luckily, as Zenkai swooped down on his young kin, with the intention of ending her life once and for all, help arrived in a very strange, furry package.

Something small and crimson shot past Zenkai, and screeched to a halt just beside Kaeru, all four paws digging into the earth for better traction. It turned out to be a rather tiny fox with a gleaming red-orange coat, fading down to russet paws and a bushy tail with a white tip. Looking rather pleased with itself, it dropped something by the Koorime's feet: a katana.

For what seemed like an eternity, all three stared at the little canine, stunned. Kaeru recovered first and knelt. "…Nari?"

The vixen barked an affirmation, rubbing her head affectionately against the hand that the Ice Maiden extended to her.

"Friend of yours?" Kuronue asked wryly.

Kaeru nodded, getting back up with her new weapon in hand as the fox scampered over to take a place beside the bound chimera. "Her mother was killed and someone brought her to the village, so I took care of her and raised her from a kit. I don't know how she got here, though…and where she got the weapon from. I thought she was still with the other Koorime…"

((A/N: At that moment, Hiei was wondering where his spare katana had disappeared to and decided that he should have slain the strange orange dog when he first saw it.))

Zenkai snorted dismissively. "Enough dawdling." He lunged at Kaeru, who brought the katana up just in time, and the two began a fierce duel to the death. If the girl had been incredible during her sparring sessions with Hiei, it was nothing compared to the moves she was pulling now, each one flawless and executed, although it was apparent by the beads of sweat on her forehead and her heavy breathing that she wasn't as in control of this fight as she'd liked to be. However, she was definitely holding her own against a formidable opponent, and even Kuronue couldn't predict how this would turn out.

Nevertheless, Zenkai had prepared for any setbacks and knew just how to win. He just had to wait and wear her out, and then strike when necessity called for it.

--Elsewhere…--

"Here, Kaeru! Heeeeeere, girl!!" Rei clapped her hands and let out a piercing whistle. "Come to mommy!"

"Rei…" Chitsuko (who had joined the rescue party, along with Kurama and Botan) shook her head. "Kaeru's not a dog."

"No, but she's an Ice Maiden and they're just as obedient! KAERU!!"

Chuu and Touya exchanged their patented "Oh-My-God-She's-Insane" stare and Kia sighed. "Less talk, more Koorime finding. I get the feeling she's in a lot of trouble right now."

"But Kuronue must've found her already," Botan pointed out.

The brunette grimaced. "That's why I feel that way."

-OOC-

I hate Writer's Block. So much. Yes. Anyway…first off, all ideas of DnK, its series, Hiruiseki and its series, Shikizaki, and any other story ideas are copyright of me only. If anyone takes them and I find out, you're getting reported. Luckily, the last person who did such a thing removed her story, but it's just a warning. I work hard to keep things original and if someone takes it from me and claims it as their own, it's not right and it makes me upset. And characters are copyright of me, Togashi, Kelsey, and a few select others. Thank you for your time. And anyway, please review and NEXT chapter!

- If you think calling Kaeru "Snowdrop" is bad, try doing that AND hurting Kuronue! O.o

- When she's driven into a corner and unable to protect her friend, Kaeru only has one option left…but will she have enough control to master it?

- The shattering conclusion of the battle with neither left standing! O.o Did I just say that aloud? Err…well…yeah. You'll see.