So, did everyone enjoy the last chappy? I don't know about all you out there in Readerland, but the dog with the keys has always been one of my favorite parts! Yep...gotta love the dog...Anyway, I have decided to focus solely on this story for a while, so hopefully there will be more updates more often, depending on whether or not my teachers actually decided to be nice this upcoming semester.
Oh, and Happy New Year! I had a...productive 2004, if nothing else. Nah, I'm kidding. Gees, that makes me sound like I have no life whatsoever! 2004 was fun. I made new friends, read new books, saw new movies, and just had one hell of a good time! And as soon as school starts up again and we get all my peers together in the same room again we can officially kick off Bitchfest 2005! Won't that be fun?
In any case, I wish you all a Happy New Year and a truly wonderful 2005! And just to make sure we start it off right, I'll give you the juiciest chapter yet! Yup, that's right, plenty of chaos, close encounters, humor, and we finally get to meet the Dark Fleet up close and personal! So once again, Happy New Year and...ON WITH THE FIC!
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Kurama watched the approaching ships, no emotion showing on his face. Three onis were trying desperately to hull up Hiei's ship from the harbor, but Kurama had given up hope of them succeeding in time. It seemed they would have no choice but to fight.
(xxx)
Yusuke grumbled to himself as he hit the red hot tip of the newly forged sword. Kuwabara was crafting his own new masterpiece in the opposite corner of the room. And where is the blacksmith who is the master of these two you might ask. Well, it just so happens that he was currently...indisposed, which is to say that he had drunken himself unconscious and was now slumped on a stool buy the fire pit.
"Remind me again exactly how I'm planning to learn swordsmanship from this fat old drunk," Yusuke muttered as he straitened, wiping the sweat from his glistening forehead on his sleeve
"Jush wo'k, Urames'i," Kuwabara answered, his nose still red and swollen and hindering his speech as much as ever.
"I'm done," Yusuke fired back, hanging his finished sword on the wall where a place had already been made for it.
"Well, then help me!" Kuwabara called as his friend started for the door, pausing to marvel that he had actually said a normal sounding sentence.
"Forget it," Yusuke smirked, opening the door.
"Urames'i!" Kuwabara yelled in the most threatening voice he could manage with his wounded nose. Yusuke, still ignoring his friend, stepped out into the street, only to jump back almost immediately as two armed onis nearly ran him over.
"What the–?" Yusuke stumbled backwards, Kuwabara ceasing his work to come up behind him.
"Wha's going on?" the taller teen asked, watching the onis disappear down the street over his friend's shoulder. He shivered suddenly. "I have a bad feeling abou' this."
"Yeah, me too," Yusuke muttered, kicking into a run after the onis, Kuwabara close behind. It was early evening and the streets were nearly empty, giving the two teens a clear view of the harbor.
"What the heck is going on!" Yusuke wondered out loud as they both stopped in shock. Neither of them had ever seen anything like the scene now playing out in front of them. Every guard on the island was assembled at the docks, headed by General Minamino who stood tall and eerily calm. They all stood watching three massive ships, bigger then anything Yusuke or Kuwabara had ever seen, came steadily closer.
"Pi'a'es?" Kuwabara asked.
"No, they would never use that many guards on ordinary pirates," Yusuke breathed, for once too amazed to make fun of Kuwabara's challenged speech.
"We should go back..." Kuwabara urged. He had always had a kind of sixth sense, and he was definitely picking up serious vibes from those ships. Alarms were sounding in his head. Danger! Danger! Get out of here! Go back! Danger!
"No way," came Yusuke's stubborn response as he darted forward, ducking behind one of the massive bushes that guarded the steps leading down to the dock.
"Urames'i..." Kuwabara half-wined, reluctantly joining his friend behind a neighboring bush. "I'm se'ious, we 'eally should go back!" Kuwabara tried desperately to talk some sense into his friend. "Those ships...the feelings coming f'om them...i's making me sick...We shouldn' be he'e..."
"I feel it too..." Yusuke gulped, staring out at the ships, eye's fixed on their blood red flags. "But don't you get it? That's why we have to stay."
"Wha' do you mean?" Kuwabara asked, staring at Yusuke intently now.
"Oh come on! You and I both know that those idiots don't stand a chance!" Yusuke cried in disgust, gesturing to the onis who stood, rifles raising and quivering in fear. "Minamino is the only thing that's kept us safe here. He's the only decent protection we've got. But..." Yusuke sighed heavily, "...those guys on that ship...they feel too powerful even for Minamino to handle."
Kuwabara stared for a moment before saying in an incredulous whisper, "Bu' if Minamino doesn' s'and a chance, wha' hope do we have?"
Yusuke smiled, the kind of knowing smile someone plasters on their face when they know their going to their death, and are completely at ease with it. "We'll probably be killed before either of us even lands a punch," he said with a laugh.
"Tha's no' funny!" Kuwabara cried, but stopped when Yusuke turned his gaze on him.
"Like I said, we'll probably die in the first thirty seconds of the fight," he repeated, still smiling.
"And why does tha' make you smile?" Kuwabara asked, slightly uneasily with Yusuke's attitude towards the situation.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going down fighting. I thought that was your thing anyway," Yusuke added, watching his friend critically, "You know, dying an honorable death in battle and all." Kuwabara's eyes widened at those words, and a smile spread over his face as well.
"Hell yeah! No one threa'ens my home 'own withou' answe'ing to the Grea' Kazuma Kuwaba'a!" Kuwabara declared a little to loudly, standing and striking what me must have thought was a heroic pose. A few onis looked back and Yusuke hurriedly grabbed his friend and pulled him back down.
"Baka! Be quiet!" Yusuke scolded, then he laughed and shook his head. "You can't even say your own name..."
"Only because you punched me!" Kuwabara shot back. Yusuke sobered suddenly, staring at Kuwabara seriously.
"I...I'm sorry about that, man," Yusuke muttered, staring at the ground. That's what brought reality home for Kuwabara. 'We really are going to die fighting like this, aren't we?' the thought swam through his head like a hungry shark. Yusuke had completely accepted that fact, Kuwabara could see that now. He never would have apologized if he didn't really believe...
"Get ready. Here they come," Yusuke's voice brought Kuwabara back to reality. He looked up to find that the ships had stopped. The leading, and biggest ship was now drawing parallel with the dock. They watched as someone, probably the captain, walked to the side of the ship no doubt to talk to General Minamino, who was calmly walking down the wooden planking towards the ship. Kuwabara prayed that, whatever negotiations they made, that they would end peacefully.
(xxx)
Hiei was watching the docks from his tiny cell window. Every few minutes he was forced to blink repeatedly to clear his vision of the black dots that we slowly dominating everything else. On top of that, his legs were shaking so much he had to grip the window bars until his knuckles were white just to remain standing.
He growled as he shook his head, cursing the dots, and cursing himself for having used so much energy before that using his Jagan now was simply out of the question. When his vision was finally dot-free once more, he turned his attention back to the window. The ships had landed now, the two smaller ones slightly back from the beach with the third drawn up at the dock. He scoffed as he saw the red headed general approach the ship.
"I don't know what you did to yourself or how you did it," Hiei whispered to himself, " but even you are in over your head this time, Captain Youko Kurama."
(xxx)
Kurama walked slowly towards the ship. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that talking would do no good. Hey didn't have the chest and so they had nothing to negotiate. Nevertheless, it was his duty as general of the armed forces of his island, his duty to his 'home,' to try.
"I must warn you," Sakyo called as Kurama approached, "I'm more interested in getting what I want then discussing it. Talk is cheap, you see." Sakyo was tall and pale with long black hair that cascaded down his back and a long, thin scar bisecting one eye.
"General Sakyo, I presume," Kurama greeted, his emerald eyes scanning all three ships. He could definitely feel the presence of others aboard the ships, but as far as he could tell Sakyo was the only one on deck of any of them.
"And whom is it that I have the pleasure of speaking with?" Sakyo asked, lighting a cigarette.
"General Kurama Minamino," Kurama introduced himself with a stiff bow that was waved off by Sakyo.
"Please, you are dealing with pirates. There is no need for such formality," Sakyo smiled down at him, taking a puff and blowing smoke high into the air above him.
"Now, let's make this as painless as possible, or rather as painless as I can allow it to be," Sakyo continued. "The chest." It was a simple demand, one Kurama wished desperately he could comply with.
"We don't have it," he answered simply, deciding it was better to get the truth out in the opened instead of beating around the bush in hopes of buying time Sakyo would probably never give anyway.
"Oh really?" Sakyo asked calmly, blowing another puff of smoke, this one down in Kurama's direction. "And who does?"
Kurama fought the urge to cough as his sensitive nose was flooded with nothing but the foul stench of Sakyo's cigarette. "No one does," he managed to choke out.
"What exactly do you mean?" Sakyo asked, his voice was still calm but had a hint of danger behind it. Kurama side stepped out of the stagnate air that had been polluted by Sakyo's smoke and cleared his throat, taking in a breath of sea air to clear his nose, and his mind.
"It's at the bottom of the harbor," Kurama said, explaining how it had been on Hiei's ship, which had sunken soon after the demon pirate's arrival.
"Well, that is a problem then, isn't it?" Sakyo mused, still smiling in an almost drunken fashion. "Quite unfortunate actually, I was hoping we could clear this up without incident."
"General Sakyo, please–"
"I'm sorry but I have no choice," Sakyo interrupted, stubbing out his cigarette on the wood of the ship's railing. "I've wasted time coming here to get my money because I want it back. And now it seems that I must waste even more time hunting for it myself. Well that simply will not do. My time is precious and I'm afraid I must demand retribution for having it toyed with so carelessly."
Sakyo raised one hand and snapped his fingers once. Immediately, Kurama was aware of the other energies he had sensed. Looking around he could see the decks now filled with demons. Most were lower class, nothing special, just ship hands. But Kurama could feel a few on each ship who had exceptional strength. The ship to the left of Sakyo's carried four strong energy signatures, while the ship to the right also had four, though these were much stronger then those of the first ship. And Sakyo's ship itself held seven strong energy signatures, one of which he had a hunch was being masked to repress the owner's true power. All those energies at once, bombarding his sense sent shivers down his spine and he had to fight to keep his composure.
"I am dreadfully sorry about this," Sakyo said, taking another cigarette from his pocket, "If I could give you just one piece of advice...run."
"Never," Kurama growled back, removing a rose as red as the ships's flags from his hair.
Sakyo only shrugged and lit his cigarette, the lighter's soft click ringing through the air. "Suit yourself, it's your funeral."
(xxx)
Somehow, Hiei managed to push himself back from the window and stumble to the bars at the front of his cell. Now was his chance, he had to get out, NOW! If they were leaving their ships, he might be able to sneak on... There was no doubt in his mind that whether or not he succeeded, this last ditch effort would claim his life. But he also feared that he wouldn't get another chance, and that fear drove him to continue.
Gripping the bars tightly in his hands, he forced almost all of his remaining energy into them, superheating them until they were all glowing a fierce red. Uncle Jacky watched fearfully from the safety of the small space under his cot. With one swift kick, the door flew off it's hinges and feel smoking against the wall. The dog, who had been asleep on the floor, yelped in surprise and scampered away, dropping the keys in it's fright.
Hiei stumbled from the cell, finding it now nearly impossible to walk. He tried to force his way to the stairs, but found himself incapable of going more then two steps without stopping to lean heavily against the wall. He growled at his own weakness.
Just as he reached the steps and was about to start the treacherous decent, he glanced back and saw that the dog had dropped the keys just withing Uncle Jacky's reach. With a small smirk, he kicked the ring of keys just beyond what the green demon's outstretched fingers could reach, then started down the stairs.
(xxx)
Koenma had barricaded himself in his office, placing heavy spells and wards against the door. No one was getting in unless he wanted them to. He stared out the window at the docks, rubbing his hands together endlessly in impatient worry. What was going on? Why had all those demons suddenly appeared on the decks of the ships? Were they going to attack? One thought, however, took precedence in his mind: 'Where is Keiko?'
Lady Keiko was not the young ruler's true daughter. Indeed, she was barely ten years younger then him. He had found her, abandoned as at the age of three, shortly after he had taken the thrown on this island. They had been as close as father and daughter ever since. He didn't know where she was in all of this chaos and it was driving him crazy. He had sent Botan to find her some time ago, but he feared that even if the blue haired maid did find her, they wouldn't be able to make it back before all hell broke loose.
"Keiko...Botan...wherever you are, please be safe."
(xxx)
A strange look had come into Yusuke's eyes and it was scaring Kuwabara, almost as much as the demon's who had seemingly appeared out of thin air on all three ships were scaring him. He'd never seen so manly demons in one place in all his life. Yusuke had been right. They were going to die.
"This is it," Yusuke breathed, never taking his eyes off the ships laden with demons before them.
"I was af'aid you we'e gonna say something like tha'..." Kuwabara sighed. Despite all his talk of 'honorable deaths' and 'going down fighting,' he really wasn't ready to die.
(xxx)
"Don't take this personally," Sakyo said, the sickly smile still plastered on his face. "I only want what's mine." Sakyo raised his arm for a second time and snapped once.