-Chapter Eight, Fire n' Ice, Lead the Way-
Streams of random curses rolled off of Yusuke's tongue as the trio looked out on the barren landscape. He saw no palace; no ricocheting beam of light that said a shining building was near by. And he remembered Kurama saying something about the Palace of Makai being sheeted in gold.
"Ok, where to now?" Yusuke asked, glancing at Kurama and Kuronue.
Kuronue raised a brow, "I really haven't a clue. Never been to this part of Makai before."
"Some thief," Yusuke muttered.
"I heard that, delinquent!" Kuronue snapped, cuffing him on the back of the head.
"Be quiet!" Kurama said sharply, glaring at the both of them.
We all know Kurama's glares – human or not – could freeze hell over twice. And that is why Kuronue and Yusuke were quiet...for the moment.
Kurama shook his head, sniffing the air. His silver ears twitched and churned, taking in every sound and detail of the now-mountainous terra. He didn't smell or hear anything suspicious, or out of the ordinary...for Makai, anyway.
The terrain now was certainly a shocker from the dark vegetation of the forest. Barren and rocky, it was obvious they were in some sort of mountain range. The only trees they saw were the human equivalents to pines, although their black needles were tipped with blood red.
"Stay away from those," Youko Kurama gestured to the pine-like trees, "Their needles siphon out your blood."
Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Great, just what I needed, blood-sucking pine trees."
Kuronue smirked, "That's why Kurama doesn't complain about his powers."
Kurama smiled slyly. "True enough."
--
The semi-lightened mood didn't last very long as they trekked through the mountains. After about half a mile, Kuronue suddenly said he recognized this place, and Kurama agreed with him that they were in the Sanmyaku Aka (Bloody Mountain Range).
"Just as cheerful as the Kurayami no Mori," Yusuke spat sarcastically, "Hey, Kuronue," he said suddenly, his tone now curious, "How'd your memory suddenly click or whatever?"
"I've been in the foothills. The Kurayami no Mori is actually a forest on the mountains, someplace I never went. I recognized the black arrows."
"Black arrows?"
Kuronue nodded, "Their needles lock onto a vein and suck the blood dry, even if they're plucked off the tree. So, they're commonly tied to the tips of arrows. The arrow goes in, so does the needle, and it starts siphoning out the blood. Sometimes clusters of them are packed tightly together and tied to a stick without an actual arrowhead."
He didn't deem it necessary to go into gory details...such as, the black arrows feed off of blood, but when a needle is plucked, it simply siphons it out, and the blood is drained out of the other end of the needle. Like a hollow tube with no cork in either end.
Yusuke nodded silently. It reminded him of Kurama's blood-sucking plant.
"Be silent," Kurama suddenly hissed.
Kuronue and Yusuke immediately snapped their heads around to look at him. The fox was resting on his heels, low on the ground, his sharp golden eyes darting watchfully every which way, his ears flicking and swiveling nonstop.
Kuronue looked at Kurama with a 'what is it?' expression on his face.
The fox mouthed "a friend" and smirked.
Kuronue had seen –that- expression before. He nodded and leveled himself with Kurama, gesturing for Yusuke to do the same.
Suddenly a patch of black appeared, as if materialized from nothing, and disappeared as quickly as it came. Even Kurama and Kuronue, well-trained demons of experience and age, couldn't get it to focus...but a certain fox and the detective knew who it was anyway. Said fox just wanted to have some fun first.
--
Hiei zoomed across the mountains, his black boot-clad feet barely skimming the rough ground flying by in a brownish blur underneath him. Black, brown, dark greens...a whole myriad of earthy tones blurred and swirled together as he put on the speed, going all-out. His purple Jagan was open and glowing an icy blue, the white bandana he used to cover it with clutched tightly in his hand.
The world, though blurred by his speed, was seen perfectly in his demonic eyes. He could make out almost every tree and rock, and this is how he knew to stop as the trio he was looking for came into the sight of his normal eyes. The Jagan had seen them back at Mukuro's.
He raised a black eyebrow. The detective and his friends had "disappeared"...hiding somewhere, obviously. He snorted. The fox knew it was him...by scent alone, he knew the fox knew he'd been coming, even if his speed was too great for even them to see. He'd improved greatly under Mukuro's training, and only she had recently been able to lay a hand on him.
His form came into focus and he casually clasped his hand behind his back. What were those three planning...
Suddenly he heard a lurch from behind him, and instinctively shot away from it. But as soon as he stopped, something grabbed his hands and pulled them behind his back.
"FOX!" he snarled. The vines binding him burst into flame and fell to the ground as ash half a second after.
A very amused-looking Kurama emerged from behind a cluster of trees (not the black arrows).
"Hello Hiei," he said calmly, sounding completely innocent.
Yusuke and Kuronue came out a second later, the detective grinning like mad and the bat demon smirking with his arms folded across his chest.
Youko Kurama's silver tail swished behind him, and his eyes suddenly hardened seriously. The fun was over now. "What are you doing here? Koenma said you'd be acting as a relay between us and Mukuro."
"I am. But you've been out of the Makai for too long, Kurama. I recently scouted out the area and found a shortcut to the Palace of Makai," Hiei said, "So follow me."
Kurama slanted his eyes. His demon blood told him 'No!'. –He- was the legendary thief, who knew his way around Makai like the back of his hand.
Mind you, he still did, but it sounded like Hiei had found a short route from –this specific point-. It would be wiser to follow him. Pushing his pride aside, he nodded. "Hurry!"
Kurama, Kuronue and Yusuke took off after Hiei, none of them able to completely keep up with the hybrid's speed, but keeping good enough pace they covered incredible amounts of ground in very little time.
The mountain range flew past. Vicious plants reached out, trying to curl themselves around the detectives' ankles, wrists and necks, but all that happened to them was they got sliced or blown up.
/It's odd, Kurama/ Hiei suddenly said through telepathy.
Neither stopped running.
/The fact we haven't met any demons?/
/Yes. No doubt you fought some in the forest. I see and smell the blood on you three./
Kurama, Yusuke and Kuronue had occasional splotches of demon's blood on their clothes because of all the fighting they did in the forest. Hiei may not be an animalistic demon – meaning Kurama's senses were much sharper than his – but any C class demon and up can smell blood, even if it's dry.
/True. I expect you have a theory, Hiei? You have been surveying this land before this mission started./
/They're not bothering with us. They're flocking to the Palace. The fools don't want to work for their power, they want it free. Only a few were strong enough to resist./
Kurama nodded. Very few demons would give up the chance to join an army under such a powerful leader.
Yes, he already assumed this demon to be very high-class. For who else could threaten both the Makai and Ningenkai, and have King Enma rounding up an army?
And Kuronue was acting strangely. Constantly fingering his collarbone and muttering in his sleep. Kurama knew something was wrong, and it had nothing to do with this mission. Kuronue was resurrected for a specific reason, and to know that reason may prove the downfall or success of this mission.
-End Chapter-
Sorry for not updating in so long. I'm trying as fast as I can, and my mind just can't come up with exciting chapters. But these build the plot, without these chapters, the storyline would be rushed and finished in 5-10 chapters. So! This story may take the longest to update. It's the most complicated plot I have going so far, and I'm still working some of it out. So I hope you enjoy.
On another note: I finally found Rebirth! is happy It's a really good song...Mukuro is a really good singer, and she has such a pretty voice. It's really deep, but still feminine, kind of edgy. Fits her personality well (from what I know of her).
Streams of random curses rolled off of Yusuke's tongue as the trio looked out on the barren landscape. He saw no palace; no ricocheting beam of light that said a shining building was near by. And he remembered Kurama saying something about the Palace of Makai being sheeted in gold.
"Ok, where to now?" Yusuke asked, glancing at Kurama and Kuronue.
Kuronue raised a brow, "I really haven't a clue. Never been to this part of Makai before."
"Some thief," Yusuke muttered.
"I heard that, delinquent!" Kuronue snapped, cuffing him on the back of the head.
"Be quiet!" Kurama said sharply, glaring at the both of them.
We all know Kurama's glares – human or not – could freeze hell over twice. And that is why Kuronue and Yusuke were quiet...for the moment.
Kurama shook his head, sniffing the air. His silver ears twitched and churned, taking in every sound and detail of the now-mountainous terra. He didn't smell or hear anything suspicious, or out of the ordinary...for Makai, anyway.
The terrain now was certainly a shocker from the dark vegetation of the forest. Barren and rocky, it was obvious they were in some sort of mountain range. The only trees they saw were the human equivalents to pines, although their black needles were tipped with blood red.
"Stay away from those," Youko Kurama gestured to the pine-like trees, "Their needles siphon out your blood."
Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Great, just what I needed, blood-sucking pine trees."
Kuronue smirked, "That's why Kurama doesn't complain about his powers."
Kurama smiled slyly. "True enough."
--
The semi-lightened mood didn't last very long as they trekked through the mountains. After about half a mile, Kuronue suddenly said he recognized this place, and Kurama agreed with him that they were in the Sanmyaku Aka (Bloody Mountain Range).
"Just as cheerful as the Kurayami no Mori," Yusuke spat sarcastically, "Hey, Kuronue," he said suddenly, his tone now curious, "How'd your memory suddenly click or whatever?"
"I've been in the foothills. The Kurayami no Mori is actually a forest on the mountains, someplace I never went. I recognized the black arrows."
"Black arrows?"
Kuronue nodded, "Their needles lock onto a vein and suck the blood dry, even if they're plucked off the tree. So, they're commonly tied to the tips of arrows. The arrow goes in, so does the needle, and it starts siphoning out the blood. Sometimes clusters of them are packed tightly together and tied to a stick without an actual arrowhead."
He didn't deem it necessary to go into gory details...such as, the black arrows feed off of blood, but when a needle is plucked, it simply siphons it out, and the blood is drained out of the other end of the needle. Like a hollow tube with no cork in either end.
Yusuke nodded silently. It reminded him of Kurama's blood-sucking plant.
"Be silent," Kurama suddenly hissed.
Kuronue and Yusuke immediately snapped their heads around to look at him. The fox was resting on his heels, low on the ground, his sharp golden eyes darting watchfully every which way, his ears flicking and swiveling nonstop.
Kuronue looked at Kurama with a 'what is it?' expression on his face.
The fox mouthed "a friend" and smirked.
Kuronue had seen –that- expression before. He nodded and leveled himself with Kurama, gesturing for Yusuke to do the same.
Suddenly a patch of black appeared, as if materialized from nothing, and disappeared as quickly as it came. Even Kurama and Kuronue, well-trained demons of experience and age, couldn't get it to focus...but a certain fox and the detective knew who it was anyway. Said fox just wanted to have some fun first.
--
Hiei zoomed across the mountains, his black boot-clad feet barely skimming the rough ground flying by in a brownish blur underneath him. Black, brown, dark greens...a whole myriad of earthy tones blurred and swirled together as he put on the speed, going all-out. His purple Jagan was open and glowing an icy blue, the white bandana he used to cover it with clutched tightly in his hand.
The world, though blurred by his speed, was seen perfectly in his demonic eyes. He could make out almost every tree and rock, and this is how he knew to stop as the trio he was looking for came into the sight of his normal eyes. The Jagan had seen them back at Mukuro's.
He raised a black eyebrow. The detective and his friends had "disappeared"...hiding somewhere, obviously. He snorted. The fox knew it was him...by scent alone, he knew the fox knew he'd been coming, even if his speed was too great for even them to see. He'd improved greatly under Mukuro's training, and only she had recently been able to lay a hand on him.
His form came into focus and he casually clasped his hand behind his back. What were those three planning...
Suddenly he heard a lurch from behind him, and instinctively shot away from it. But as soon as he stopped, something grabbed his hands and pulled them behind his back.
"FOX!" he snarled. The vines binding him burst into flame and fell to the ground as ash half a second after.
A very amused-looking Kurama emerged from behind a cluster of trees (not the black arrows).
"Hello Hiei," he said calmly, sounding completely innocent.
Yusuke and Kuronue came out a second later, the detective grinning like mad and the bat demon smirking with his arms folded across his chest.
Youko Kurama's silver tail swished behind him, and his eyes suddenly hardened seriously. The fun was over now. "What are you doing here? Koenma said you'd be acting as a relay between us and Mukuro."
"I am. But you've been out of the Makai for too long, Kurama. I recently scouted out the area and found a shortcut to the Palace of Makai," Hiei said, "So follow me."
Kurama slanted his eyes. His demon blood told him 'No!'. –He- was the legendary thief, who knew his way around Makai like the back of his hand.
Mind you, he still did, but it sounded like Hiei had found a short route from –this specific point-. It would be wiser to follow him. Pushing his pride aside, he nodded. "Hurry!"
Kurama, Kuronue and Yusuke took off after Hiei, none of them able to completely keep up with the hybrid's speed, but keeping good enough pace they covered incredible amounts of ground in very little time.
The mountain range flew past. Vicious plants reached out, trying to curl themselves around the detectives' ankles, wrists and necks, but all that happened to them was they got sliced or blown up.
/It's odd, Kurama/ Hiei suddenly said through telepathy.
Neither stopped running.
/The fact we haven't met any demons?/
/Yes. No doubt you fought some in the forest. I see and smell the blood on you three./
Kurama, Yusuke and Kuronue had occasional splotches of demon's blood on their clothes because of all the fighting they did in the forest. Hiei may not be an animalistic demon – meaning Kurama's senses were much sharper than his – but any C class demon and up can smell blood, even if it's dry.
/True. I expect you have a theory, Hiei? You have been surveying this land before this mission started./
/They're not bothering with us. They're flocking to the Palace. The fools don't want to work for their power, they want it free. Only a few were strong enough to resist./
Kurama nodded. Very few demons would give up the chance to join an army under such a powerful leader.
Yes, he already assumed this demon to be very high-class. For who else could threaten both the Makai and Ningenkai, and have King Enma rounding up an army?
And Kuronue was acting strangely. Constantly fingering his collarbone and muttering in his sleep. Kurama knew something was wrong, and it had nothing to do with this mission. Kuronue was resurrected for a specific reason, and to know that reason may prove the downfall or success of this mission.
-End Chapter-
Sorry for not updating in so long. I'm trying as fast as I can, and my mind just can't come up with exciting chapters. But these build the plot, without these chapters, the storyline would be rushed and finished in 5-10 chapters. So! This story may take the longest to update. It's the most complicated plot I have going so far, and I'm still working some of it out. So I hope you enjoy.
On another note: I finally found Rebirth! is happy It's a really good song...Mukuro is a really good singer, and she has such a pretty voice. It's really deep, but still feminine, kind of edgy. Fits her personality well (from what I know of her).