Chapter 14: Reunion
--- --- ---
The day sped by, it seemed, and before Hiei knew it, it was the next morning and he was being shaken out of his sleep by the nameless blue-haired girl.
He frowned at her. "What do you want?"
She pointed outside, and tugged at his sleeve again.
He sighed and threw off the covers, and she smiled at him. He stood, grumbling about how it was unfair that she was allowed to wake him up like that, but she kept smiling.
"What do you want?" he asked again.
She grabbed his hand and dragged him outside, pointing to a trail that led down to a rather large lake. He was confused, but let the girl take him there - it seemed to make her happy.
When they arrived, about five minutes later, she finally let go of his hand. She then ran down to the water's edge, her smile one of true happiness now.
"So, you like the water?" he asked, sitting down on a log.
She turned and smiled at him, and did something he hadn't seen her do before - she nodded.
"You…understand?" he asked.
Again, she nodded.
He smirked, and leaned back. "So, you aren't as stupid as we thought you were."
She trailed her finger over the glossy surface of the lake, and started making a swirling pattern. Then, she started to slowly raise her finger, and to Hiei's surprise, the water followed.
She smiled, drawing patterns in the air with her finger, and the water obeyed her and moved where she wanted it to. Hiei could only sit and stare in shock.
So, this was no ordinary girl…
She suddenly stopped, and the water fell back into the lake. She stood and looked over at a part of the forest.
She blinked, and started walking towards it.
"Where are you going?" Hiei asked.
She ignored him and went into the woods. He sighed and stood to follow her. This girl was hard work. She couldn't even speak!
The girl suddenly picked up her pace, and ran over to a particular bush. She whipped around to face Hiei, and pointed at the bush. He frowned, and walked up beside her to see what she was pointing to.
He blinked, and quickly ran to the other side of the bush. "Huo!"
The horse-demon was laying there, unconscious, blood caked onto him in thick layers. If Hiei didn't know any better, he would have thought he was dead.
He quickly picked him up and brought him back out to the clearing, the girl walking slowly beside him.
Hiei went over to the water, scooping some up into his hands, intent on splashing Huo in the face to wake him up. But when he turned back around, the water slipped out of his hands.
The girl was kneeling beside him, her hands glowing with a beautiful light blue as they hovered over Huo's body. The water in the lake gurgled for a second, then some of it started to rise up on its own, making its way over to the horse demon.
Then, it landed on him all at once.
He sat up, coughing and sputtering, then looked around.
"What…? Where…?"
The girl smiled, and he looked over at her. "Eh?"
"Where the hell have you been?" Hiei asked, walking over as well.
Huo blinked up at him. "Well, I was injured, but I managed to escape after that. Though I can't remember much past the fight…"
"Huo!" the girl exclaimed.
He looked over at her. "So, you're finally awake, eh? Who's energy did you use?"
"Energy? Huo, do you know something that I don't?" Hiei asked.
"Probably." The demon grinned at her. "But then again, Mizu-chan does too. Much more than I myself know."
"Mizu? Is that her name?" Hiei asked.
Huo nodded. "From what I've heard."
"What you've heard?" Hiei repeated, getting more and more confused. "Start making some damn sense."
Huo grinned. "Sorry. But…could I perhaps get some sleep first? I'm just a bit tired, you know."
Hiei frowned. "Fine, but you've got a lot of explaining to do when you wake up."
"Thanks…"
With that, Huo suddenly fell over, unconscious again. The girl called Mizu smiled, and brushed some of his hair out of his face, almost fondly.
Hiei sighed, and shook his head. "This is starting to get crazy."
Mizu smiled, and he picked the fire horse up. "Come on. We should get back to the village."
--- --- ---
They managed to get Huo tucked into a bed, and Hiei left to tell the others, Mizu trailing along behind him. She was humming happily, and he wondered why.
He ran into Sesshoumaru first, and the lord looked slightly exhausted.
"Sesshoumaru, we just found Huo." Hiei said.
"Oh, did you?" he asked.
Hiei nodded, then frowned. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." he replied, shaking his head. "How is that baka horse?"
"He was pretty badly wounded, but he woke up enough to tell me that he doesn't remember what happened after his fight with Yakumo, and that this girl's name is Mizu."
Mizu smiled, and Sesshoumaru nodded. "You should go and see if Rydia can do anything for him. She knows a bit of the healing arts."
"Healing!" Mizu exclaimed, pointing to herself. "Healing!"
"Can you heal him?" Hiei asked.
"It's amazing how well you understand her." Sesshoumaru said, a hint of a smirk forming.
Hiei frowned. "And what do you mean by that?"
"Oh, nothing." Sesshoumaru answered.
Mizu tugged on Hiei's sleeve, frowning. "Healing!"
"Alright, alright." Hiei said. "Go ahead and go heal him. Sesshoumaru and I need to talk."
Mizu sighed, then turned and ran back to the hut that Huo was being kept in. Hiei sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Sesshoumaru, what are we going to do? We have no idea what happened to Rain and Izumi, and yet we're doing nothing to find out." he said, folding his arms over his chest.
"What is there that we can do? Who is there to ask? Only Yakumo knows, and it's not like we can ask him to explain." Sesshoumaru said.
"You're right, I guess…"
"Go and help Huo, while I go inform the others." The lord said, turning and walking back to the main building.
Hiei sighed, and went into the other hut. Mizu was bent over Huo again, her hands glowing. Her eyes were closed, and a frown was present on her face.
Huo's wounds sealed up almost instantly, and the grimace that had been on his face disappeared as he relaxed.
Mizu opened up her eyes, panting. "H-Hea…ling…"
Hiei frowned. "Yeah, he's healed, but are you alright?"
She stood and nodded, smiling. He didn't believe her, but let it go. He looked instead to Huo, whose eyes fluttered open.
"What…happened?"
Mizu broke out into a full grin, and she kneeled back down beside Huo as he sat up.
"Huo! Healing!" she exclaimed.
He looked over at her, and grinned as well. "Good to see that you're okay, kiddo. I was worried that the ritual wouldn't get finished, or something would go wrong."
"You need to do some explaining, Huo." Hiei said, frowning.
"Ah, I suppose I do." The horse demon grinned again, and ruffled Mizu's hair affectionately.
"Start with what she is." Hiei said, sitting down cross-legged on the floor.
Huo smiled. "I wish I knew."
Hiei frowned. "But you knew her name."
"That's because Yakumo told me. I have little more knowledge than you, I'm afraid."
"Well, what do you know?" Hiei asked, swiftly getting annoyed.
"I know that her name is Mizu, and she's some sort of prophesized…something, I guess. Yakumo mentioned something about the Shikon being needed, but to complete the ritual, she would need energy. Otherwise she wouldn't survive."
"Energy?" Hiei repeated. Mizu smiled at him.
Huo smiled as well. "You know, she probably took some from you. That's the only thing I can think of. Otherwise, she'd be dead right now."
Hiei remembered how he had blacked out. "So…she absorbed energy from me or something?"
"Probably." Huo answered. "I'm sorry, but I don't know much more than that. It all has yet to click."
He ruffled Mizu's hair again, and she giggled.
"Ah, but you're a little cutie, aren't you?" he crooned.
She smiled, and leaned into his touch. She made a noise that sounded almost like purring, and Huo chuckled. "She's more like a cat than a human, isn't she?"
Hiei leaned back against the wall. "I'm not so sure. I mean, she can't speak a word on her own. She just repeats what she sees and hears."
"Probably because she isn't complete." Huo said. "Yakumo mentioned that while we were fighting. Something about how she wouldn't be complete until the final piece was in place."
"Final piece?" Hiei repeated.
Huo shrugged. "I dunno."
The koorime sighed, and looked over at Mizu, who smiled at him. "So, what do you think we should do about her?"
"I think…we should ask her." Huo said.
"Ask her? But she can only-"
"I think she's perfectly capable of speaking." Huo said. He grinned at her. "Right, Mizu-chan?"
Mizu smiled again and stood. She walked over to the door, and pointed to it.
"You want to go outside?" Hiei asked.
Huo smirked. "You know, you understand her pretty well, Hiei."
He narrowed his crimson eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, nothing. But then again, you were pretty cozy with Rain too, weren't you?" Huo said, standing. He followed Mizu to the door, and looked back at the koorime. "I saw you two, that night by the fire. You should've kissed her."
Hiei frowned. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Rain?" Mizu repeated, a far off look in her eyes. "Devika…"
Huo and Hiei blinked, and the latter said, "Devika? Huo, did you ever mention 'Devika' in front of her?"
"No…she said it on her own." His face darkened, and he frowned. Hiei didn't know why, but decided not to comment on it.
"Who or what is a 'Devika'?" he asked instead.
Mizu grinned. "Devika! Devika, Mizu!" she said, pointing to herself.
"We should...see Rydia about this." Huo said slowly.
Hiei nodded. "Definitely."
--- --- ---
Author's Notes: Just got back from Ocean City, from visiting my grandparents. WOOHOO!! LOL. Got a bit of a burn, but that's to be expected - it's the whole "red hair and FRICKIN' pale skin" package. Of course, my sister happens to be a bronze goddess, but we won't go there.
.
.
.
I'm currently working on a new story, which will be posted under the Kitsune In A Bubble pen name. It's (at least, for right now) called Shards of Darkness, and centers around a character named Shadow. Um, that's all I can really say for now.
.
.
Oh, and out of curiosity, I'd like to hear how all of you pictured Yakumo as looking like. I had a really tough time describing him - I have his personality and role down, but the appearance was giving me trouble. In case you're wondering, I basically used Dante (Devil May Cry) and gave him black hair and red eyes. Did I give him red eyes? Oops....it's bad when you don't even know how you described a character. LOL.
.
.
.
Coodle: LOL. Nice for NOW. He's a sweetie deep down I think.
Story Weaver1: I thought so too!! She's really a kawaii character, and she and Huo have a certain bond, which is my favorite thing of all time. Not as a couple, just as sort of....well, can't say anything or I may ruin the story.
SarnaKiro: [runs away screaming like a girl] AIIIIEE!! Here's your update, put away the sword!!! LOL. Then again, Teletubbies would've made me piss in my pants with fear. Good thing you didn't chase me with THEM.
Cricket-chan: Yuppers!! It's gonna start getting crazy in chapter 16, too. LOL.
TPM-girl: Very very fun!! Wait until chapter 16 comes.
Chibi Lady: Yuppers!! Both deal with water. You may be onto something. Who knows? [winks]. And I'm sooooooo sorry about the Houshu Eisei story!! It was being a real pain in my ass, and I couldn't bear to have to re-write another chapter!!! And I didn't think anyone would really miss it!!!
miyako14: I.....never thought about that!! LOL!! Maybe that's where Takahashi-san is going with it? Maybe Sesshoumaru WILL steal Inu-Yasha's arm?
Wolf-black-flame: Now you know what happened to Huo-kun!! Sorry to confuse you - things should still be a bit confusing until chapter sixteen, where a bit of what happened will be explained.
