Death Dimension

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi, Shonen Jump, FUNimation, etc. However, I do own Taikyo, the plot, and the alternate universe.

Warnings: This story contains mild shonen ai. If anyone has a problem with that, don't tell me. I don't care.

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Chapter Three: Former Human, Fallen Angel


The thief chuckled, unable to stop from blushing lightly. "We'll look for him later, alright...? You should rest."

Hiei raised a brow, unseen by Kurama. "Fox, I'm dead. I assume that I don't need sleep."

"I don't care. Sleep. Now." Kurama ordered, nudging him like a vixen would her children.

Hiei blinked before complying, settling down in his companion's lap. "Did you ever think about having children?"

The kitsune's eyes narrowed, a growl escaping him. Hiei only smirked as he once again fell into the dark state of unconsciousness...

---

He opened his eyes to see black. Everything was black. He was in an abyss of darkness that never ended. It tried to suffocate him. To press in on him; dwindling into compliance. Working at his death.

He was about to close his eyes again when he saw something moving far away. Or what seemed to be a blurred distance to him.

It was darker than the void, holding no sheen to it like a gash of deep shadow. It was a cloud of nothingness. It was soon joined by more smoke-like substance, as if multiplied in his gaze. It appeared to be approaching him. Slowly at first, but then its pace was quickened. The shadow came towards him, increasing its rate of speed until it was rushing at him with full-blown force.

It seemed to be solid, but at the same time, it wasn't. It was like smoke, but not...

He wanted to run, but he couldn't. He couldn't move. He was paralyzed, not able to retaliate as the shadow threw itself at him, pushing him to the blackened and unseen ground.

He let out a sharp yelp of pain as an edge of the shadow came in contact with the bare flesh of his arm. The pain seared through his limb and continued through his body, tearing at each nerve. It felt like liquid fire. Like someone was pouring a vat of acid onto him with no mercy.

The pain was engulfing him, and with his body still not responding as he willed it to move, the only thing he could do was whimper and yelp. He didn't care if he was displaying signs of weakness. The only thing that mattered was escaping these creatures with his life. He didn't care if someone saw him. He just had to fight... He just had to live...

He finally regained control of his body, but that was of no value anymore. The shadow consumed him in its thick smoke, making his movements lagging and painful.

An arm of the living blackness instantaneously washed over his face, filling his mouth and nostrils, cutting off his air. He clawed at it, but his fingers only fell through its gaseous form to gash his own face, causing crimson to mix with the ink black creature as if it fed off his suffering. He flailed madly, yelling as best he could. He attempted to scream, scream so that someone could hear him and come to his aid. He tried to fight them off and get oxygen, but he could only retrieve small gasps through the thick coating.

He was suddenly overwhelmed in terror and fear, sweat forming on his body and trickling down towards the source of gravity. His lungs burned, begging for air to keep his body alive with.

But he had nothing to give them. His heart was beating above normal. Above his ability to control it. Above the line. It was using up all the oxygen he had, causing him to hack and cough into the shadow that smothered him. He tried biting it, but that only ended in the shadows pressing down more violently.

He felt his eyelids droop, though he still continued to fight. He tried every manner of getting the thing off of his body, ignoring the pain that coming in contact with them caused.

He had to get air...!

His eyes widened as he saw another wave of shadow coming towards his already-consumed body. He tried to scream again, but it was futile. The shadow crashed down upon him, causing antagonizing pain to flood through his body, as if the skin was the broken dam and the agony was the water.

Suddenly, as though a miracle had happened, a wisp of shadow retreated and fell into a curl of disappearing light. Yet before more than two breaths, the shadow had mended, filling into his mouth.

He hacked and bucked as the foul substance entered. It was disgusting, it soiled his mouth. He felt blood rush up his throat and out, dripping down from his lips, feeding the shadow. It dove deeper to find the source of its nutrition and energy.

He let his arms drop from exhaustion. He was too tired, he needed to rest. He couldn't go on like this. He would never be able to win this battle in a condition like his.

He slowly began to succumb to the darkness, feeling it stir in excitement that its captive was forfeiting. It began to enter into his body, diving deeper, past his lungs towards more sensitive organs.

He couldn't keep up the struggle, and slowly... he began to let himself fade...

---

Hiei's eyes snapped open as he bolted upright, panting heavily and literally gasping for air. He winced; each breath he took sent a spasm of pain through his chest. The Jaganshi gritted his teeth, clenching his eyes shut.

After a few minutes, he calmed down, even though breathing still hurt. Hesitantly, Hiei let all oxygen escape him. Surprisingly, his body didn't ask for more, and his lungs didn't burn in agony.

Hiei glanced around the area, finding that he had been curled up besides the former Youko. The human idiot was leaning on a tree to his left, still snoring loudly. Apparently, the noise Hiei had made during his sleep hadn't been able to wake him.

A frown found its way onto Hiei's visage as his thoughts drifted back to the dream. He hadn't had a nightmare that vivid ever since he had the Jagan implanted...

Hiei's eyes widened, and his hand flew up to his forehead, slipping under the headband. A sigh of relief escaped him when he felt the Third Eye; thankfully, it hadn't vanished along with his soul...

A sudden movement next to him made the Jaganshi spin around, only to see Kurama stirring. The kitsune yawned loudly, stretching much like a cat would. Hiei snorted, and looked away as he drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

"Hey, Hiei. How'd you sleep?" Kurama murmured, sitting up.

"Hn. I've had better..." He didn't elaborate on the dream; the fox would only worry and pester him for the remainder of the day.

The thief paused before speaking up again. "...Was it a nightmare, Hiei?"

Dammit, fox. You know that I can't lie to you...! "...Yes."

Predictably, Kurama instantly looked at him in concern. "Ah... Do you want to talk about it?"

Of course not, baka. "Hn, no. I... I wasn't scared, if that's what you're thinking."

The kitsune raised a brow, and Hiei flinched, knowing what was coming. "Of course you weren't, Hiei. Nothing scares you. Not even small, enclosed spaces."

The Jaganshi growled deeply, saying nothing. So what if he was claustrophobic? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kurama smirking at him. "Shut up, fox!"

The former Youko chuckled, shaking his head mockingly. "If you say so. Anyway, we should start to search for Yusuke-kun. Hopefully, nothing's killed him by now."

"Very funny, Kurama." Hiei murmured as his companion stood.

"I'm being serious. We're in an alternate universe; I highly doubt that everything here is gentle and loving." Kurama replied, offering a hand.

Hiei ignored the hand and pushed himself to his feet. However, his eyes widened as his legs shuddered and gave out under him. The thief caught him quickly, worry flooding into his emerald eyes. "Hiei! What's the matter? Do you feel alright?"

Despite himself, a moan escaped the Jaganshi. He had suddenly been overwhelmed with an utter feeling of weakness that came from nowhere. He had no wounds, and he hadn't lost any blood... From what he could tell, there were no curses placed over him... But he still felt horrible.

Biting back his pride for a moment, Hiei looked up at Kurama, unknowingly clinging to the fox's shirt. "..N... No... S-Something's wrong."

Kurama gently ran a hand over the Jaganshi, noting how pale he had become. "...A side-effect of losing your soul, perhaps...?"

Hiei bit his lip before nodding. "Maybe..."

The kitsune sighed before setting Hiei down again. "I'm going to wake up Kuwabara, okay? We need to find Yusuke-kun as soon as possible."

Hiei slumped to the ground as Kurama went over to the ningen, staring at the grass beneath him dazedly. 'What's happening to me...?'

---

'Okay, Yusuke, we're gonna try this again... Try not to hallucinate this time...'

Taking a deep breath, Yusuke opened his eyes and pushed himself into a sitting position. After a few moments, a loud curse escaped him when he felt the unfamiliar weight on his back.

The detective felt his head spinning again, and he bit his lip. He had no idea what had happened, and he had no chance to ponder it as he fainted again.

---

Kurama sniffed the air again, trying to ignore the grumbled complaints coming from Kuwabara. They were extremely close to Yusuke; any second now, they'd find him.

The kitsune shoved through a cluster of bushes and into the clearing ahead, trying not to harm the Jaganshi, who was half-asleep in his arms. Sure enough, he recognized the messy black hair of the person who was lying on the ground, and was about to rush over to Yusuke when his steps faltered.

Kuwabara came up behind him. "Hey, Fox-Boy, why'd you s... stop...?"

On the detective's back lay a pair of gossamer black wings, like an angel's. Navy blue markings consisting of jagged lines and other decorations covered his arms, along with two parallel lines on each side of his face. His aura had changed completely, and was now a mixture of a deep purple shade, along with black.

Kurama couldn't help but gulp, his grip tightening on Hiei. "I... I think we may have a problem, Kuwabara..."

Kuwabara's right eye twitched, and nodded. As he spoke, his voice came out high-pitched. "Y-Ya think...?"

Hesitantly, Kurama made his way closer to the detective, instinctively alert. What had happened to him in the time that they were separated...? He kneeled down beside Yusuke, keeping Hiei in his arms. Slowly, he reached out and shook Yusuke's shoulder gently. "Y-Yusuke-kun...?"

When he got no response, Kurama shook him harder. "Yusuke, you need to wake up!"

A sigh of relief escaped him when the detective stirred. At least they knew that he was alive...

Groaning, Yusuke reopened his eyes, only to jump when he saw Kurama looking at him worriedly, Kuwabara staring at him in shock, and a very pale Jaganshi clinging to the kitsune. He remained silent for a few moments before speaking. "W-Where are we, Fox-Boy...?"

"Apparently, another dimension." Kurama replied softly, shifting Hiei in his arms before he met his friend's gaze, only to find that the once chocolate-colored orbs had become an endless violet shade. "...What happened to you, Yusuke...?"

The detective took a moment to register the information before responding. "I d-don't know... I woke up like this..."

Kurama bit his lip when he noticed that Yusuke was shaking violently, not seeming to grasp the situation at the moment. Deciding to elaborate, the kitsune spoke up again. "The portal that we fell into obviously led to this alternate universe. Koenma most likely won't be able to contact us, or have any way of knowing where we were sent. His only way of discovering that is by recapturing Taikyo..."

Yusuke glanced up. "And how's he s'posed to do that if we're not there to help?"

Kurama paused; surprisingly, he hadn't thought about this... "I... I'm not sure, Yusuke-kun..."

"Any ideas on how this happened to me?" Yusuke murmured.

"...Perhaps..." Kurama said slowly, his tone thoughtful. "...It could have been a fluke in the portal, or... When we were sent into this dimension, it altered what we are, because what we were may not exist here... That should explain what transpired with Hiei."

Yusuke sat up shakily, his gaze focusing on the Jaganshi. Kurama noticed this, and answered the unasked question. "He 'died'... His soul was taken from him."

Yusuke's eyes widened in concern, and he instantly forgot about his own misery. "Is he alright?"

Kurama paused. "...Yes, and no... He was fine earlier, but all of sudden he collapsed... He seems very weak at the moment."

"Oh..." Yusuke muttered, frowning. He wanted to ask more, but his head was beginning to hurt. It would have to wait.

Kuwabara, having recovered from his shock, came over to them and attempted to recap the situation. "So... We're stranded in some friggin' dimension place, the shrimp's practically dead, and Urameshi's a freaky bird-thing all of a sudden?"

Yusuke's eyes wandered up to him. "'Not a bird; a dark angel..."

The ningen raised a brow, skeptical. "And how would you know? It's not like you're an expert on these monster-things!"

Kurama was surprised to see a small smirk appear on Yusuke's visage as he replied. "...Actually, I've seen a load of movies on supernatural creatures, and know a lot about them."

"That's fortunate." the thief stated, trying to stop an unwanted fight before it started. "From what I can tell, we'll need that knowledge here, Yusuke-kun."

Yusuke nodded in response as he raised a hand to his forehead as the dull ache began to increase. "R-Right, Fox-Boy..."

A look of concern filled the kitsune's emerald eyes, but he brushed it aside for the moment. "Yusuke, we need to find a place to stay for the night. It would be too dangerous to stay here while we don't know what we're up against."

"Uh-huh." the detective muttered.

"Do you have an idea on where that might be...?" Kurama asked softly.

"...Village. Town... Something like that..." the former human grumbled, his eyelids drooping. Behind him, the gossamer wings fluttered slightly. "...Don't ask me how to find one... Just follow that friggin' nose of yours, Fox-Boy..."

Chuckling quietly, the kitsune motioned for Kuwabara to lift Yusuke up. The ningen complied, though still seemed apprehensive of the wings. Kurama also stood, holding the apparently comatose Jaganshi to his chest. "We have no time to waste. For all we know, it could take us the rest of the day to find the edge of this forest, if not longer."

Yusuke sighed, not really hearing the thief as his eyes closed, the pain from the headache causing him to slowly fall unconscious.

'If Koenma doesn't find someway to get us back, I'll... I'll... Damn.'


A/N

Magus Black: You probably won't know what Kuwabara is until I decide to release it. I would have made him a mage, but I needed someone to be this because the plot calls for it. I'm not planning to reveal it for a while, but if you guess correctly, I'll tell you. ( It's not well-known at all; I actually borrowed it from J. K. Rowling's books. n.n; ) True, Hiei could be a ghoul, but he's too awesome for me to do that!

Hakudoshi-chan: Bingo! You guessed correctly on Yusuke! Wonderful! ( It was your last guess, by the way. First one to do so, too! You're amazingly awesome. ) Yeah, most people probably know what Hiei is... I'm kind of a kyuuketsuki fanatic. n.n; Unhealthy, I know. And don't worry, you didn't miss anything. As I said in Magus Black's response, I won't be revealing what Kuwabara is for a long time. As for Kurama-kun, well... If you look very hard, you may find a small hint, but it won't become obvious for a while. Basically, you'd have to do a lot of research to figure out the subtle hints.Sorry about this chapter. It was rather rushed, and is incredibly choppy. I promise that things will pick up in the next chapter. ( Or the one after it, at the latest. )

x. Horrible chapter title, I know. I had no other idea. I'm really sorry about it!

x. The nightmare that Hiei had was actually from my discontinued story, 'Chickenpox'. It was too good to waste, and I had spent countless hours on it; it'd do a much better job here. ( Besides, I was too lazy to make up a completely new dream. n.n; Bad Lynn. )

x. Hiei's Jagan Eye remained because it was an implant, and not a genetic trait. Otherwise, it would have most likely vanished.

x. You're probably thinking, "What! Hiei, claustrophobic? What is this writer on?" Well, look at it this way: He's always standing by a door or is near a window, and he sleeps outside most of the time. I know that's not really enough evidence to support this, but I think the idea of Hiei being claustrophobic is cute! ( In some weird, sick-and-twisted way. ) Please don't yell at me about it; once again, it's my story, and I'll put in whatever I want.

x. I really hate the last scene... I tried to fix it several times, but it always came out the same. I truly apologize for it!

x. I'll try and get the next chapter up in five days, if not much sooner. It will probably be longer, so it may take a bit longer to write. Sorry!

x. Hint: If you still haven't figured out what Hiei is... "He's suddenly become weak due to lack of (blank)." (blank: rhymes with 'mud' or 'flood'.)