dont own yyh
Chapt. 23
The Panther Appears
"I don't know much," I tell him disappointedly.
"Tell us what you do know," Yusuke prods.
"My father would tell me stories of demon lords of the land. Tanashi was one of many. I liked his story most because it was filled with adventure and honor."
"You call holding an illegal tournament having honor?" Kuwabara interrupts.
"Shut up and let her talk," Yusuke growls, bopping him upside the head.
I clear my throat. "Like I said, Tanashi is the lord of the panther demons to the west. He was a great lord of many years. Many demons had tried to overtake his land, but they failed. The battles lasted for months, sometimes years, on end. But Tanashi's forces always won. Tanashi's panthers were skilled samurai and practiced in the arts of ninjitsu.
"His honor came in when it came to how they would deal with the living demons. Most of the time they were sent back to their land with no trouble. But sometimes he would send them away in new clothes, fed, bathed, and food for the road. The dead, he burned and offered his prayers to their souls."
"Damn, this guy sounds like a creepy saint," Kuwabara says after making sure I was finished.
"But like I said, these were bedtime stories my father told me."
"What art of fighting does he use?" Yusuke questions, determined to get as much information about his enemy as he could.
"I'm not sure," I inform him sadly.
"We should get to that lobby before it's too late," Kurama interrupts.
"Right. Should Yukina stay here?" Yusuke questions, glancing at Yukina then looking at Hiei. It was like he was asking permission to get a dog.
"She should come with us, we can protect her better," I say quickly so that Hiei wouldn't have to answer. I glance at him, but avert my eyes when I see him looking at me.
"Ok, let's go." We file out of the room. We closely surrounded Yukina on all sides as we made our way down the hall. From my spot at the back, I reinforced Yukina's protection charm to a protection spell I'd learned a few years ago. Her beautiful blue aura turned a deep purple.
A shrill cry came from down the hall. "Phoo!"
We stop and turn to see Yusuke's spirit beast flying speedily down the hall.
"Phoo!" he cried again.
"Puu, what're you doin' here?" Yusuke asks the frantic blue beast.
"He must've sensed Yukina's energy change," Kurama says softly, stepping forward.
"Energy change?" Yusuke looked confused.
"Is that what sent a shiver up my spine?" Kazuma asked from beside Yukina.
"Possibly. It only came for a split second," the kitsune says thoughtfully.
Hiei shifted his gaze to me.
I turned to the floor.
"We're going to be late," he growls, moving down the hall.
I follow him quietly. The others join shortly.
Loud arguing soon reaches my ears. My head jolts upright and I look around frantically.
"What is it?" Kuwabara asks me, noticing my strange behavior.
"Either I'm goin' nuts, or we're close," I whisper.
"I think both is a just answer, but I can hear the noise too," Hiei smirks back in my direction.
After a little more walking, we step into a brightly lit room. We shield our eyes upon entering; the light seemed brighter than it was because of the dimly lit hallway. When my eyes adjusted, I scanned the room.
It was very large. Demons and humans filled the room, wall to wall. Scents and auras leapt from the many people in the room; I was overwhelmed. Upon a stage in the front of the room, a lonely microphone stood. Curtains of red velvet were tied loosely on the sides of the stage. Lights cast eerie shadows on the plastic wood flooring of the theater. Blues, greens, reds, purples, oranges, and pinks glowed hot on the lonely mic. A man walked up to the mic. It was no longer lonely.
"May I have your attention please?" his voice boomed through hidden loud speakers.
The room goes quiet instantly.
"Welcome to my tournament! I expect you have been briefed on the terms and rules of this tournament. Momentarily you will be given a slip of paper. On this paper, a letter will be." The wall behind him becomes animated. The letters A, B, C, and D appear. "You will be put into one of these four blocs." The screen changes to tournament brackets. "This will be the setup. I hope you enjoy! Oh yes, there will also be a time on there of when your first battle will start. Thank you!" The speakers click off.
So that was Tanashi. A dark complex outlined his blonde hair. Elf-like ears, smaller than Jin's, were situated in the mess of his long, blonde hair. Bright green were his eyes; they stared at me the whole time. He wore a business suit, black and tight fitting. Those eyes.
Soul piercing eyes of green jade stared at me. Over the entire crowd, those eyes looked at me and only me. Sure, they could have been looking at anybody. But they weren't. They were looking at me. Filled with hate and love and desire and disgust and vengeance, those eyes pierced my soul so I couldn't look away. Green jade stared at me, but I didn't know why.
"That was Tanashi?" Yusuke whispered in my ear.
All I could do was nod. I still stood staring at the spot Tanashi had occupied moments ago. Fear raced across my mind and instincts told me to bolt out of there, but I had no idea why. Tanashi was not a demon to be taken lightly.
The loud noise stopped. The movement of a fly in front of me stopped and the fly hovered in the air. Demons had stopped in mid step. Humans had frozen in their actions. Everything was still. The demons passing out the paper had stopped in the middle of handing it to someone. Time had become still.
"You actually came," a smooth voice whispers. A dark aura washes over the room. It splashes angrily against my barrier. "Why must you resist the darkness?" it whispers again.
"I don't resist darkness, I resist evil," I hiss.
"Is that why you hide your true power and identity? Because you fear it?"
"I don't fear it; I just don't want anyone to be hurt because of it."
A figure steps from a shadow. Tanashi. "Human emotions will bring you down."
"You sound like Hiei."
"Of course; we're exactly alike." A menacing smile grows on his thin lips.
"Hiei is nothing like you! He's a kind person!" I yell.
"Kind?" he challenges.
