Rain and Fire
Chapter 8: Reunion And A Vision
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Hiei could only stand in shock for a minute before shaking his head.
Who was that girl? Had she been some kind of ghost or apparition trapped at that location, randomly kissing people who passed through?
He shook that idea off immediately.
He'd felt her hands…and lips.
"Oi, koorime!"
He spun around and saw Youko standing there, his arms folded over his chest, a frown on his face. The fire demon smirked at this.
"Oh, so you need me after all?"
The fox grumbled something, and Hiei's smirk nearly turned into an evil grin.
"I'm sorry, Youko, I didn't catch that. What did you say?"
Youko sent an icy glare at him. "I said, 'We need your help!' Satisfied?"
Hiei just kept his arrogant smirk and started walking past the silver fox.
"Yeah, I am."
When he was out of hearing range, Youko cursed and kicked the ground.
"I hate that koorime!"
--- --- ---
Sesshoumaru looked up at the sky, and realized that dusk was quickly approaching. When the cliff had collapsed, he had managed to reach Rin in time to save her from being crushed by a large boulder, but the girl hadn't been herself since being separated from her half sister.
She trailed behind him, her face sad, staring at the ground.
In fact, she hadn't spoken a word since the incident.
He sighed, and stopped walking, turning to face her. He was tired of this awkward silence, and - as much as he hated to admit it - he was starting to miss her cheerful laughs.
"Rin, what's wrong?" he asked, trying to mask his concern.
She met his gaze, and sighed.
"I…Rain-chan, do you think she's…okay?"
Sesshoumaru heaved a sigh as well. "Rin, Huo and Kouga were right next to her. I'm sure she's just fine."
At this, her face brightened. "Really?"
Since no one else was around, he allowed himself a tiny smile. "Yes, really."
She grinned. "Sesshoumaru-sama, if you say it then it must be true!"
He opened his mouth to ask her what she meant by that, but she just skipped past him, apparently back to normal.
He turned around, and gave her a confused look. "Rin?"
Her grin widened. "Let's go find them, Sesshoumaru-sama!"
--- --- ---
Kouga groaned. He was starting to wonder why he ever let Rydia stay with him. She was a nuisance!!
She was skipping ahead of them, singing in a high-pitched voice. She had told him to 'keep an eye out for Sesshoumaru-chan!', and her obsession with the demon lord was just obnoxious!!
Jaken seemed to be even less pleased with her - at every chance he got, he would send her a death glare.
"Oohhhhh, Sesshoumaru is the perfect man, the perfect man, the perfect man," she sang, "He's got a manly face, manly face, manly face, and a darn cute butt!"
Kouga made a noise of disgust, and wondered if he would throw up any time soon. Jaken growled.
"You! Stop with your appalling talk of Sesshoumaru-sama!" he shrieked.
She turned and grinned at him. "I can't help it if he's the sexiest thing I've ever laid eyes on! And some day, we're going to be married!"
She turned away, and Kouga could practically see the sparkles in her eyes.
"And then we'll have a huge manor, and its halls will be filled with the pitter patter of little feet! Oh, what a wonderful time it will be! And, of course, we'll be madly in love with each other, like we are now!"
The young wolf snorted. "Ha! He loves you like cats love water!"
Rydia smiled. "Really? All the cats I know loooooove water! Sesshoumaru-sama loves me!!"
Jaken and Kouga groaned again.
"Damn it, Rydia!" Kouga exclaimed. "He doesn't love you!!"
The hot pink-haired girl pouted. "He does love me…I know he does. That's why he promised that we were going to get married!"
Jaken and Kouga exchanged glances.
"Um, what are you talking about?" Kouga asked.
She put her hands on her hips. "I tell you, he strode right up to me and-"
She suddenly locked up, and her eyes widened.
"Rydia?" Kouga asked, stepping forward.
"Pft, she must have realized that there's nothing between them." Jaken snorted.
"No…there's something wrong with her." The wolf prince said, stepping towards her.
Her hands fell limp at her sides, and she started to pulse with a white aura.
"The…the half-breed. The one I am searching for is a half-breed. Hanyou…"
"What?" Kouga asked. She was starting to worry him with that look on her face.
"The hanyou possesses the powers of rain and fire. Not human, but not demon. From neither world, yet both…the hanyou is the key to our destruction."
Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes, and she screamed. She fell to her knees, and clutched her head, her tears streaming.
"Get out of my head! Get out!!"
"Rydia!"
Kouga ran forward and grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him.
"Kouga, get him out of my head!" she shrieked.
"Who?! Get who out of your head?!"
Her face contorted in pain, and she whispered, "Yakumo…"
She suddenly fainted into his arms, leaving him shocked.
"Yakumo…?"
--- --- ---
Rain stopped walking, and turned back towards the mountains. Huo, who was in front of her, stopped as well.
"Somethin' wrong, Rain?"
"I thought…" she drifted off and shook her head. "It's nothing."
He shrugged. "Okay. If you say so."
She ran to catch up with him, and they continued their hike down the side of the mountain. Huo had said that if they could find the river, they'd be able to find the others, because they'd most likely go to the same place.
Rain smiled. Huo had been really nice to her ever since they had met. He had that sort of laid back attitude that made you feel comfortable telling him your deepest darkest secrets.
"Huo-san?" she asked.
"Please, just call me Huo. Adding -san makes me feel like an old man."
She giggled. "Right! But Huo, you're probably old enough to be my father!"
He shrugged. "You're right. But still, I don't want to feel like I'm your father."
"Well, I'll just call you Huo-kun. Would that make you feel more my age?"
"Yeah. Yeah, it would."
"Okay, Huo-kun, we need something to talk about." she said.
"Oh? Like what?"
"I don't know…" Her eyes trailed to the ground, but met his almost immediately. "I know! I'm not sure if it'll be too personal or not though…"
"Lay it on me."
"Alright…" she sighed. "Well, do you have any family?"
He got a far off look in his eyes and he nodded. "Yeah…I do."
"So do I. A younger half-sister. You met her at the lair." Rain said.
"Oh? You mean Rin?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Cool." He smiled at her. "You two look a lot alike."
She smiled back. "Thanks!"
"My turn to ask something, ne?"
"Yes, it is."
"Okay…what's the worst thing you've ever done?" he said, smirking.
"Why do you want to know, eh, Huo-kun?" she asked, pretending to sound innocent.
He laughed. "You just seem too…perfect! I'm sure there's something bad that you've done."
She smiled slightly, and it was her turn to get a far off look in her eyes.
"If you must know…I've killed someone."
His eyes widened. "Killed? As in…?"
"It's as it sounds. I've killed someone, Huo." She took a deep breath, and let it out again. "And I don't regret it."
He grinned, and put his hands behind his head. "That's cool. So have I."
She blinked. "You're…"
"What?" He looked over at her.
"You're not going to ask who I killed? Or why?" she asked in disbelief.
"Nah. I figure that that's your own, private business." he said. "And knowing you, you probably had a good reason to."
She smiled. "Thanks…Huo."
"No prob!"
She looked back down, and blinked. "Huo, look! There's the river!"
He followed her gaze, and broke into a grin. "So it is."
He smirked at her. "Oi, Rain?"
She looked over at him, a questioning look on her face. "What?"
"Race ya."
He took off down the mountain, and she blinked.
"Hey!" she called, chasing after him. "That's not fair! You got a head start!!"
He just laughed, and started running backwards. "Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyaaaah!"
He stuck his tongue out at her, but let out a yelp when he tripped over a rock and started tumbling down the mountainside.
She laughed and ran faster, catching up with him just as he landed in a heap at the river's edge.
She fell over next to him, panting from her run, and gasping for breath so that she could laugh even more.
Huo just grinned at her. "Oops!"
She clutched her stomach, laughing as hard as she physically could. "You…you!"
"Yeah!" He laughed as well, until tears formed in his crimson eyes..
When they had both finished, they wiped away their tears and grinned.
"How could you be klutzy enough to fall down a mountain?" she asked.
"I don't know! I was so busy making faces at you, that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going!"
She giggled. "You're more klutzy than Rin, and that's saying something!"
"Rain!! Huo!!"
They both exchanged glances before turning to look across the river, to where Aura, Youko, Hiei and Kuronue were.
The bat was on Youko's back, and Aura was waving at them.
Rain and Huo grinned, before the latter stood. He then helped up Rain, and they walked over to the river's edge.
"Hey!!" Rain called back. "Is Kuronue alright?"
Even from there, Huo could see the worry etched on the silver-haired vixen's face.
"He's badly hurt!" she called back.
Huo shifted into his horse form, and motioned for Rain to get on his back. She mounted, and he started to cross the river.
When they reached the other side, she slid off of him and he turned back into his human form.
"Let me see him." he said.
Rain turned to Hiei, and he glared.
"What are you looking at, onna?" he snapped.
She sighed, and reached out, wiping something off of the corner of his mouth.
"You had something on your face, that's all." she said. "Geez, don't get so defensive."
She looked at her finger, and then looked back up at him, confused. "Huh. That's weird."
"What?"
"Looks like lipstick to me."
He was surprised for a second, then growled in anger. That weird woman had left lipstick on his face, and nobody ever told him that it was there?!
She glared. "Hey, don't give me that look. I'm just telling you what it is!"
He opened his mouth to protest that it wasn't her that he was mad at, but she rolled her eyes and turned away from him.
"Whatever."
He groaned inwardly. Could his day possible get any worse?
.
.
--- --- ---
Author's Notes: Woohoo! AND he gets busted by Rain!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!
Anyways, I thought of another great idea for a new story!!
I'm still working on a title, but here's the basics:
Not everyone starts off perfect at whatever they do. It takes practice to get to the top. Even for Youko Kurama. His thieving career is looking pretty bad, at least, until he meets a priestess who couldn't slay a demon if it was right in front of her face. Somehow, they manage to get themselves stuck to each other by a spiritual chain. Chaos and comedy ensue.
.
.
Pheonix-of-Fire: Then I guess it's good that this story is still in the beginning.
Riyo-Hikaru: MWAHAHAAAA! Innocent until this chapter. Our little Rain-chan is a murderer!! MWAHAHAHAAA!! And actually, I based the girl off of Harle from Chrono Cross (BEST GAME EVER!!!!!!!). But after I wrote that, I realized more people would guess Cheshire cat. They both work.
Wolf-black-flame: I've never played Dot Hack. Is it any good? It was supposed to be Harle from Chrono Cross, but lots of people think that it was the Chesire cat.
miyako14: GASP! You've unmasked my plan of Death By Confusion!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! LOL. Just kidding.
Coodle: LOL! Huo, my favorite little horsie, was introduced in chapter 4!! He healed Kouga, and Youko flicked him off when he made a comment that he and Aura fought like a married couple. He's been around - he's just been quiet until now.
Chibi Lady: Yeah, I've got someone for Rydia, but I don't think poor Huo's gonna get a girlfriend....[sniffle]
Youko: I like Tsume, but Hige is my favorite. He's so pudgy and cute! [Huggles Hige]
spork111: Thanks! I'm glad that you do!
Psychocatgal: Well, you only have to wait until July 28! It's going to be pretty long, if all goes to plan, and it'll probably be the best of the entire series so far.
TPM-girl: [Shrugs] I based her off of Harle from Chrono Cross, but the Cheshire Cat works too.
KayHiei: Thanks!
slave2anime: LOL. Rain certainly does. I like Kiba too, but Hige is my favorite. I can't wait until this weeks episode!!! BLUUUUUUUEEEEEEE!!!! She's gonna look really cool, because I cheated and looked her up on the internet. Oops. LOL.
DarkVixenNisha: Ooooooh! I LOVE Hige and Kiba! I'm also NOT a yaoi fan, just so ya know.
Sei-san: Are you Seiyo-san, just with a shortened name? Forgive my slowness. LOL. You should watch it, when Cartoon Network starts replaying the episodes. I think you'd like it.
