Chapter 2. The girl and the boys

When the sun finally woke Youko up, Korunue was already making breakfast. "If you are still angry, have some eggs." He offered. The fox smiled sheepishly, "I'm not angry anymore," he accepted the eggs. "I'll just pretend it never happened. My pride might just forget."

"That's the spirit!" Korunue said.

"Ugh! Please don't mention ghosts."

The two were almost to their destination when Korunue had the sudden urge to kill something, apparently. Youko was in his fox form, enjoying the warm sun lazily when his friend returned with a rabbit. "Who's up for Bunny Burgers?"

The fox put his paws over his face in a way that suggested the phrase, 'I'm surrounded by morons.' For those who are unaware, rabbit meat is sweet and gives off the same high as sugar does. The result of the two eating the rabbits was spastic, and giddy. Korunue was hopping up trees and then floating gracefully down again. Youko was chasing his tails like a puppy and yapping like mad. Korunue jumped in front of the fox and patted his knees like any dog owner would do.

"Do you want to run, boy? Huh? Do ya? Yeah? Ya wanna run?"

Youko barked enthusiastically, jumping up and down.

"Let's GO!! Lets GO!! C'mon! Lets GO!!" Korunue dashed down the path with the fox at his heels. Every now and then, the fox would get ahead of him and he would use his wings to gain the lead again. The trees on either side of them spread apart suddenly and the path went into a clearing with a large boulder in the center. Korunue ran to it and slapped the boulder. "I win!" he cried triumphantly. Youko growled, Korunue started to back away; smelling his fear, the fox began to chase him around the boulder again and again. Korunue was on the opposite side of the boulder as Youko, so he jumped up on top of it, letting the fox chase and bark at nothing. After a while Youko stopped and started to pant, Korunue started to laugh manically. Youko jumped on the boulder and tackled the black fairy in mid transformation.

"Aah! Don't kill me!" he cried. Youko grinned, "I won't kill you, I'll just make you wish you were dead!  Now suffer, Death by Tickling!" he raised his hands, wiggling his fingers.

"AAAAAAA-HA HA HA HA HA HA-STOP-HA HA HA-HAVE MERCY!!"

"The legendary bandit knows no mercy! Wa ha ha ha!"

Smack!

The victim had struck his attacker in the head with the flat side of his scythe. Kourunue scrambled away and began to run again. "Ha, ha! Ya' snooze, ya' lose!" The game continued, chasing one another and tackling each other to the ground. Twenty minutes later, the sugar high had left them abruptly and dropped them like a rock.

"So-tired-chest-burning!" the bat demon lay on his face in the grass, stretching his arm forward hopelessly. Youko was not much better off; he had fainted and fell on Koronue's back, weighing him down. Both were caked in dirt and little scratches but other wise fine.

"Pa-a-a-i-i-i-n!" Koronue whined. Youko woke up, "I'm tired, bad rabbits! Evil meat!"

"Get off me, you need to lose some pounds."

"Are you calling me fat?" ;-.-;

"Uh…No, you're just…condensed." O.o

"You called me fat!! You're so mean!!"  T.T Youko pretended to cry and scooted away from him.

"I didn't mean to insult you…" Korunue tried to comfort his friend.

"HA!" Youko jabbed a finger at him, "You do have a soft spot!"

"You wily little knave! You faked it!!"

"Every second."

A few minutes later, the two were trekking through a thick patch of wood guarding their hideout. They separated so they would not leave too big of a trail, or wear in a track that would expose them. The fox was currently sneaking past a patch of dangerous poison ivy when a familiar kind of smell reached his nose. Blood. It was not demon blood, no, much more tolerable than demon blood. He followed the smell through a thick area of thorns, picking through the branches so as not to cut himself with the deadly, sharp spikes.

He made the mistake of stepping on a twig; at the second of that little snap, a thorny branch shot out at him. He flared his reiki at it. The branch halted and recoiled, recognizing its master. Youko sighed; any hope he had in hiding his energy was gone. The plants submissively parted before him, trying to catch some of his spiritual power; bushes are greedy little devils. His nose noted the smell of blood getting stronger; he liked it, it was pleasant for a change. Following it, he found a thick mass of thorns circling a tree trunk. The barbed branches were twitching and squirming excitedly.

'The thorns have caught a snack, gross.' Knowing that these plants were incapable of digesting living beings, only sucking away their energy and leaving the bodies to rot. He began to turn away when he heard a groan. He paused and tilted one of his furry ears back. This little sound had made the thorns shuffle more excitedly. What ever they had was still alive. Curiously, the fox approached the bushes. He pushed the branches apart with some difficulty; they were possessive of their prey. He forced the last limbs away and found what he was looking for.

A slender being was tethered to the tree with a few thick thorny vines. From what he could tell, it was female. Her arms were stuck up above her head, and her legs were intertwined with vines, forcing her to stand up as tall as she could or be stabbed. She had worked one hand free and had it to her lips, for it was bleeding. He watched her in amusement; this low class demon was completely unaware of him or ignoring him. Her white clothes were all but shreds, revealing her midriff and one shoulder. The female attempted freeing her other hand, when yet another branch seized her free hand and retied it. The vines wriggled all about her, slightly glowing as they thieved her precious energy. She let out a pitiful groan as her head hung forward limply.

The fox skipped shortly forward; tilting his ears toward her chest, he could make out her faint heartbeat. Her scent wafted toward him.

'That's not a demon, that's a human!'

He noticed a black cloak fastened around her shoulders. It was her who rescued him and Koronue last night! Flaring his reiki again, the thorns reluctantly released her after giving her one last drain. Youko caught her as she fell forward and put her over one shoulder. Casually strolling away, the bushes writhed angrily and became still again.

Korunue was gliding carefully through the trees, trying to remain silent. His wings made a soft sound in the air, but other wise did not betray him. He felt his friend's spirit energy spark up; he jerked his head toward it, but it vanished as soon as it came. The winged warrior touched to he ground and paused, listening, watching, and feeling for any sign of danger. A few minutes had passed, nothing. He was about to fly again when his friend's energy flared again, this time, it lasted for a few seconds, then died.

Koronue trusted his friend could take care of himself, but he also knew Youko was the only friend he had. Shaking his head, he quickly flew away again, but at a much more frantic pace.

      Hi mom! (waves retardedly)

      R&R