Chapter One
The Invitation
Hiei sat and watched as his younger sister walked away, into the coldness of the Ice World. He laughed, he had meant to tell her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it in the end, it was a challenge that he would have to face eventually, but not now. He saw her whenever he wanted, he had the Jagan to thank for that, he knew without it he would be incomplete. Even now, he could feel it looking into the Ice World, he could see her, but not through his eyes, in his head.
Yukina was walking through the snow, walking back to the place that she was forced to live. Then she felt it, the great power, the power of one of the seven lords of the Ice World. She could sense the power of fire, glowing in the long abyss of the snow. "So the seven aren't all ice apparitions," Hiei said from behind her.
"How dare you enter the world of the ice," a voice bellowed. "You shall all be punished." The power vanished into thin air, Hiei couldn't even see it using his Jagan, impatient shown in his eyes.
Kurama sat on the ground, watching the flowers buds bloom into something beautiful. They are beautiful things, flowers, with all of their power. Kurama began to manipulate the flower, to make it grow faster. The all of the sudden the flower, fully bloomed, burst into flames, someone was there. "Who are you?" Kurama said, still on the ground. "I can sense your power," 'it is greater then Yusuke's,' he thought to himself, 'who could this be?'
"Kurama, you don't even recognize me," said a voice, "I am you, but stronger, much stronger." The voice laughed and a rose vine popped out of the ground, then many others did. They wrapped him up, he couldn't move, and then it lifted him into the air in a standing position. "You need to get more powerful. I expect you to come to the Tournament of the Dark Rose, and I expect you to be stronger then you are now. You need to assemble a team of seven with one alternate. The tournament starts in three months, you better be there."
The rose vines disappeared and the power was gone. Kurama turned his head to look behind him, all that was left was a piece of paper. As Kurama looked at it he knew that it was the invitation, he needed to fine everyone.
Yusuke was at the park with Kayko and Botan; they were enjoying the ice creams they had just bought. Then they saw Kurama sitting on the ground, all alone. Botan walked up behind him and asked, "Are you okay?"
Kurama nodded, "Please get Kuwabara and Hiei, Botan. And if you could, try find Touya and Jin, we need to see them." Botan nodded and ran into an alleyway no doubt to fly on her paddle. "Yusuke, can you send Kayko home, she doesn't need to hear this." With tears in her eyes, Kayko ran of.
"Kurama, why did you do that," Yusuke yelled at him, "Now she is going to slap me, for not letting her in on this."
"It is about a new tournament," Kurama told him. "Here, read this, it says all we need to know about the tournament," Kurama handed him the piece of paper. "This is going to be harder then the Dark Tournament, this tournament will have people much more powerful in it."
Hiei suddenly appeared; he had Yukina in his arms. Yusuke was looking at them strangely, and then he heard, 'it was faster.' He knew immediately that it was Hiei, telling him not to think anything. "Where is Kuwabara?"
"I'm here," Kuwabara said from behind Hiei.
"Late as usual," Hiei said. "At this rate we will never find out. We still have to wait for Jin and Touya."
"Then, I shall tell you without them. Hiei, if you wouldn't mind, go find them, you will be faster then Botan," Kurama said. Hiei said and disappeared. "We have been invited to a tournament."
"Then why do we have to go," asked Kuwabara, in all of the same stupidity as he always did.
"Do you remember Toguro?" Kurama asked, Kuwabara nodded. "Do you remember how strong he was?" Kuwabara nodded. "Well then I would like you to multiply that by one hundred and then you will know the power of the demon who invited us, and I believe that there will be ones even stronger there."
Kuwabara looked at Kurama, open mouthed. "We are going to be killed."
"Yes we probably will be, but we might not," Yusuke said. "Just that we were invited says a lot, this is a well known tournament, run by people who are stronger and smarter then the people of the Dark Tournament. I have herd of this before, it is almost impossible to get to compete in it, and even more impossible to win. It is said the same team wins every year."
"Yes, the people who rule over the Ice World," said Yukina. "That is why for several weeks they just disappear and reappear a few weeks later, acting like they were never gone. Nobody questions them, they are more powerful then anybody who lives in the Ice World."
"Then what I thought is true," Kurama said. "They are not all Ice apparitions, just as I feared."
Later that day, Jin and Touya appeared with Hiei and Botan, and after Kurama told them. Soon after Hiei, Touya, and Jin all disappeared and nobody knew where they went. At nightfall Yusuke and Kayko went to go find Genkai to tell her that they would need her for training and the tournament.