Dragon's Sacrifice
Chapter 2: Training
Grumbling profusely, Hiei was forced to carry Yukiko back from Reikai. He knew full well that she would not be able to match his speed if he were to lead the way and he sure as hell did not want rival youkai to find out where his lair was or that he was harboring a weak female youkai there for easy-picking. Not at all happy with how the discussion with Koenma went, Hiei was in a particularly foul mood that evening. He was tired, dirty and burdened with a pupil that he would not have dreamt of taking in a million lifetimes!
He had entered Makai hours ago and had only just reached Mukuro's territory. Abruptly halting his swift maneuvers through treetops, he landed in a clearing in front of a well-concealed cave. Once again, as if to prove his immense displeasure with the task forced onto him, he dropped his extra load on to the ground without so much as a thought about her well being and stepped right over his would-be pupil towards the cave.
The gentle rocking from the motion of his movement and the rush of wind that caressed her skin as he flitted through the inter-woven branches, combined with her utter exhaustion from lack of food and days of rough treatment caused her mind to drift and her body to relax in his sturdy hold. Just as she was on the brink of peaceful slumber, there was a sudden change of direction and her already battered body connected with hard ground. Her scrambled senses took a while for her to make sense of anything. She had not even had time to gasp about her unexpected descent to the ground when she felt herself hauled to her feet by the cruel metal chains that bound her wrists. Weak and unfocused she tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground, or would have, but her captor just continued to drag her by her shackled hands into what seemed like a dark room. Her skin, already raw from the friction of metal against flesh, began to bleed. Finally, she felt herself thrown onto a large hard slab of stone. It was lined sparsely with hay and there was a sheet of linen to serve as a blanket. There were several candles lit around where she lay, but it had not provided her with enough light to see her captor.
She felt fear creep into her mind as memory and reality seemed to fuse into one. Her predicament seemed all too familiar. Since birth, all she had known to life were stonewalls and dingy cells, metal chains and unforgiving stone beds. But in the nighttime, stolen slumber to entertain visits from faceless guests was the shameless routine her owners put her through. Each time she would scream and beg until her voice, coarse from her desperate exertions, refused to work and her strength deserted her in the iron grip of her tormentors. Most times she would not even be justified with a glimpse of her abuser's visage as she lay whimpering amongst the dirty beddings. All she would see was the sketchy outline of his back turned to her.
But, from a distance this time, she heard most clearly his voice, it sounded strangely like a warm summer's breeze, as he spoke to her,
"Stay here and don't come out. I'm warding the entrance to make sure nothing comes in."
After that, even his sketchy outline, was gone as he disappeared into the encroaching darkness. Her vision blurred and the light dimmed, soon she too was consumed by the darkness. As unwilling as she was to let her guard down in a stranger's abode, she had reached the limit of her youkai body.
Hiei returned to the cave where he had left her. He was carrying a different bundle this time; it was no doubt much lighter. Bending slightly he entered the cave and carefully disarmed the ward to allow himself entry. He found her curled up on his bed with her metal-bound hands held close to her chest and her knees drawn up around her. She was sleeping soundly looking very much like dirt-smudged stray kitten. He slapped her cheek lightly to wake her up with his free hand, before reaching down to get a firm grip on her shackles. He tugged on the chains to lead her out of the cave when she tugged back, refusing to leave her position. He snapped his head back in shock and annoyance at her defiance, mouth open, ready to hurl insults at her when he noticed she was crying, liquid pearls winding meandering paths down her smooth cheeks, and pleading with him very softly in a weak voice,
"Please…no, no more, let me go…I don't want to do it again, please, just let me go…" and she curled up even tighter.
Immediately, his expression soften, he understood what her past had been like. She had suffered a fate, many of the weak in Makai were forced to live. He could have ended up in the same state as she, but he was lucky enough to be taken in by a band of thieves and not slavers. But that did not change the fact that she was going to be a burden to him in the coming months ahead, so he might as well make an impression while he could before she became too powerful for him to control. Besides he had no experience in handling sobbing females, and he was not about to start learning now.
Without another moment's hesitation, he pulled on the chain; determine to drag her out of the cave if she insisted on being uncooperative. And she did. She pulled and screamed and kicked and basically made a mess of whatever sparse possessions he had in the cave. Once she was out in the clearing, he growled menacingly at her and drew his katana.
She froze as she watched him draw his blade. It glimmered keenly as it caught the waning light of the pale Makai moon. Maybe death will come to me now, and maybe I'll be released from this mess I wanted no part of…she heard the swish of metal cutting through air and then *chink*. Her cuffs shattered and fell off her bruised wrists. She looked up abruptly to see the face of her saviour but received a face full of clothes instead. She heard his warm voice again,
"There's a lake about a half a mile from here just follow the path. Wash up, change and come back to this cave. Make sure you sleep because training starts tomorrow." And then he was gone.
Training? Things were different this time round, and she did not know what to expect. But as far as she was concerned, she was not free, there was but a transfer of ownership. She was still a slave, forced to do whatever her master commands of her. Even if he were to treat her fairly, it was not freedom.
Yukiko followed the said path until she came to the waters edge. There she shrugged out of her rags and gave herself the long overdue bath that was owed to her. She scrubbed at the stubborn dirt stains on her skin until it became pink. Then, treated herself to a relaxing swim to soak up the cool temperatures and the gentle caress of the water as it enveloped her body. Almost at once, she began to panic. Had she spent too much time bathing? Would she incur the wrath of her new owner? He did not exactly specify a time limit but neither had her previous owners before they hit her and abused her. Quickly, she swam back to the bank and unraveled the package handed to her. Inside were a pair of black cotton pants, a white sleeveless shirt, a white belt and three rolls of bandages. She threw on her new clothes, which provided her sufficient warmth and protection from the harsh Makai elements, and bandaged her wounds using only one roll of bandage. There was also a pair of cotton shoes, but she chose not to wear them, she had not worn them before, and had survived perfectly well.
She made her way back to the clearing with her new shoes and two rolls of spare bandages in hand. She did a quick search of the area to locate her owner so she may return her unused rations, but she could not see beyond the darkness of the surrounding trees. Giving up, she entered the cave and placed the items at the foot of the bed. She paused, hesitant for as far as she was concerned, there no pleasant arrangements concerning bed matters. She opted to sleep on the floor instead. Maybe if she was not found lying in a bed, he might not be so tempted to take her. Tomorrow, at first light she would make her escape, because to strike out in the dark in Makai was as futile as prostrating herself before a band of wolves.
The moment she entered the cave, Hiei dismounted from the tree he was resting in and sealed its entrance. He would not be free the rest of the night to stand guard over her; there were preparations that had to be made for the next day.
His bare skin slick with sweat from his exertions was cooled by the light breeze that rustled the leaves. There were a few more hours before dawn, he had finished his preparations early, so maybe he could catch a bit of shuteye before the grueling day ahead.
She sat up suddenly, drenched in cold sweat; her fear still ravaged her mind and the voice still echoed in her head,
"I'm coming for you." It said, sounding like steel knives dragged against granite. There was fire, a lot of fire. It had seemed to pour in on her from all sides as she stood on a slab of ice that would not melt. Then through the flames, a face jumped out at her. Shocked, she fell from the ice ground and into the pit of fire. She could not remember the face so well except for its psychotic grin filled with sharp pointed teeth decorated in fresh blood and decaying flesh. Its deadly promise continued to echo in her mind even as she rejoined the world of the conscious; the sense of dread was heavy in her. She had to flee now.
Having always been a light sleeper, he was quite suddenly awakened by the slight shift of ki in the vicinity. He hopped down from his perch and made his way into the cave until he came to the area where he put up the ward. He had to force down a chuckle when he saw a very frustrated Yukiko pounding on the invisible barrier that kept her in and everything else out. It was obvious that she had every intention of making a quick get away at first light, but the ward was a formidable obstacle she was not likely to break through anytime soon.
Finally, he made his presence known by clearing his throat audibly. This caused her to pause in mid-strike and drop her hands to her sides with a guilty look about her face as she backed away in small shuffling steps. She kept her eyes downcast and avoided his gaze as he bent down to carefully disarm the ward. In a timid voice, she apologised for her actions and quietly followed him out of the cave into the open. Once out in the sunlight, she paused at the cave opening, until her hesitance caught his attention, forcing him to turn around to question her. It was also the first time she got to see her captors face clearly. Dressed entirely in black save for the four white belts around his slight waist, he was not exactly what one would call statuesque, but his small-built was packed with the suppressed youki if an S-class demon. He faced her with his head cocked to one side and arms folded across his broad chest. He stared at her a moment longer with his blood-red orbs before asking her gruffly,
"What are you standing there for? There are a lot of things to do today!"
She was startled somewhat by the stark mismatch of the rough timbre in his voice and his almost child-like countenance. She blinked a few times before she found her voice,
"I was wondering how I might address you sir, and to inform you that I had not used these last night." She mumbled with a slight bow, raising up the cotton shoes and rolls of unused bandages. As if caught unawares by her polite address, he turned away from her before shooting her a sidelong glance coupled with a stern reply,
"Hn…the name's Hiei. You'll definitely need the shoes today and…" he glanced briefly at her arms and feet, so smooth and pale, and unprotected. He scowled before continuing,
"I didn't go through all the trouble of getting those for you to hand them back to me. One roll is to serve as arm and leg guards, and the other…" here he faltered a bit, not knowing how to put it across to her without sounding vulgar, but then again what did he care about what she thought,
"The other is to serve as a breast-binding, you'll be doing a lot of vigorous exercise daily from now on." Quickly he continued on with his instructions to help brush aside the awkward moment,
"Get changed into your proper gear, I'll be back with breakfast, and then we can start your training." And then to the untrained eye, he seemed to disappear in a scratchy haze of black.
Blushing slightly when his words finally sank in, she hurriedly entered the cave to dress properly. It seemed weird to her because her previous masters never really bothered with her womanly comforts since it just seemed to add to the hassle they had to go through when undressing her. Moments later when she reemerged from the cave she picked up the scent of meat roasting over an open fire, and she heard the cackling too. She walked slowly round the bend to find Hiei sitting with his back to a tree, poking at the fire with a branch and roasting a large wild boar over it.
He sensed her presence more than saw her; he had always been very sensitive to other's ki. Without looking up he invited her to join him. After she settled herself across from him, he threw her a passing glance and noticed how her silver eyes seemed to reflect the dancing yellow flames, making them seem like liquid gold. However, her obvious hunger was mirrored in her unwavering stare as she eyed the hunk of meat, ready to pounce any moment. She looks so scrawny…*sigh*. He was wasting time anyway by letting the meat cook the conventional way, he might as well put his power to good use.
"Stand up and get back, we can have breakfast sooner if you do as I say."
She stood up and mumbled a hurried, "Yes, Hiei-sama." Which made him pause before he proceeded to cook the meat properly to say,
"What did you just call me?" Afraid that she might have done something wrong, she hesitated in repeating herself, but his threatening gaze that promised bodily harm if she did not speak up, 'encouraged' her to change her mind, she said,
"I called you Hiei-sama…" but he cut her off before she could finish her reply,
"Don't ever do that again." He saw her questioning look and decided to humor her with an explanation,
"I'm not some new master you have to please," at that, he threw her a pointed look which conveyed the fact that he knew what she had gone through, then he continued,
"I'm just supposed to train you to fight and fend for yourself. So just call me by my name, plain and simple."
"Yes, Hiei-sa…" and she clamped her mouth shut before she made another slip. But she was grinning now; at least she would not have to worry about his intentions towards her anymore.
He generated fire in the palm of his hand and aimed it at their breakfast, effectively roasting it to perfection. This display received a startled gasp from her as it brought back the memory of the terrifying dream she had earlier. But she chose to keep her fears to herself, for now at least. The rest of breakfast passed wordlessly as Yukiko stuffed herself full with meat, while Hiei picked at his and waited for her to finish. He would have advised her not to eat so much but then again seeing that she had not eaten for so many days, he let her be.
She felt like she was about to burst at the seams by the time she was done with breakfast. Grinning happily, she looked across from her to eye Hiei. He was leaning back against the tree trunk with one knee folded and the other knee raised so he could rest his arm. His katana was rested on his shoulder and his half-lid eyes seemed unfocused as he stared at he fire that was still going strong. He seemed hypnotized by its flickering dance. Carefully she brushed her hands off and crept round the fire to get a closer look at him.
"What do you think you're doing?"
She froze instantly and turned her head to look at his face. His eyes were no longer half-lid, they were alert and watching her warily. He glanced back at the pig and noticed it had been reduced to the inedible, bones.
"About time you finished breakfast, let's start." He rose from his position and gestured for her to follow him to the front of the cave.
There he led her to a large boulder and patted it lightly, calling her to attention. His lips were curved into a sardonic smirk as he relayed to her what her first task of the day was.
"This is your starting point, about a mile straight ahead, is another just like it and a mile after that is another. All in all there are twenty boulders, twenty miles. I want you to do twenty laps, simple?"
Her jaw dropped in disbelieve never in her life had she been subjected to such, such physical torture. And Hiei's smirk widened a fraction; he was taking great pleasure in dishing out near impossible feats for his new student. Upon further absence of reply from his stunned pupil, he continued,
"You may begin whenever you feel comfortable to. And one more thing, so you don't feel so wronged doing your morning exercise alone, I'll be circling this forest five times while you run." He turned his back and stalked of into the woods to begin his run when she heard her voice laced with a rebellious tone, yell back at him,
"What?! Only five times? That's probably not even half of what I have to do. Besides, aren't you afraid I might run away?"
"You shouldn't speak if you don't know what you're talking about. The distance I'll be covering is probably three times yours." Then he glared at her, bearing his teeth as he ground out his answer to her second question,
"If you choose to run, then I'll have no choice but to hunt you down. And I always catch my prey, though they don't always return in one piece." Then he turned and disappeared into the forest
She stood there with her jaw slack and her eyes wide with fear. She was shivering as cold sweat ran rivulets across her skin. Her breath came in short gasps as her thoughts chased each other in her frenzied mind. He seemed to promise her death every time she threatened to step out of line. As she started her run, she began to wonder if having him, as a master was to be considered a blessing or a curse.
By the end of her first lap, she could no longer hold breakfast down. It came out in a torrent of digestive fluids, as she paused by the path-side to throw up. Her long purple locks had been bound into a tight neat braid, back at the cave. Somehow, back then she already knew that the sound of vigorous exercise did not bode well for her. Her tolerance had outlasted her expectations; she was surprised to say the least. She had expected herself to drop from exhaustion by the second lap but even as she began on the fifth lap, she was still breathing easy.
By the eleventh lap, weariness had begun to attack the edges of her awareness and her running had reduced itself to mechanical action, moving out of repetition than out of will. By the eighth lap, she had already lost all interest in her surroundings as they had grown too boring through recurrence. This provided space in her tiring mind to ponder other things, like how she had not noticed the damn boulder last night.
It was a given that she was never really powerful, but if it was one thing she had to her name, it was being very observant. She had to be. In her line of work, people did not tell you what they preferred you to do; you had to figure it out on your own so they would not hurt you. Putting that to good use, when she arrived last night, she was dead sure that the huge, impossible-to-miss, starting-point-of-her-run, boulder was not there. So how did it get there? Don't tell me Hiei-sama spent last night…
Every mile she ran after that, she took special notice of the size of each blasted boulder. They were all at least as big as her. That must have been one helluva exhausting night…She felt a tad guilty when she finished her run short of three laps. She really could not move another step. She stumbled back into the clearing and lay on the cool grass, breathing deeply. That guilt thickened, when she heard Hiei enter the clearing a while later, he too was panting slightly. He looked a bit surprised at her, and managed to say between breaths,
"Amazing, you arrived back earlier than me. I must be getting sloppy." But his tone was sarcastic and when she looked at him in the eyes, he stared right back at her accusingly. He had been keeping tabs on her with his Jagan throughout his run. It was more so to look out for her safety, in case any foreign youkai managed to slip pass the wards he put up around the perimeter. But he was more surprised at her daring to disobey his instructions.
Feeling thoroughly ashamed at her actions, she offered to go hunt and cook lunch. She received an immediate chastising from Hiei.
"You, get lunch?! You can't even wield a sword properly! I can't risk you getting injured." It was a while later that he realized on what note he had ended the discussion. He looked up sharply when Yukiko thanked him in her soft voice,
"Thank you for your conc…" and for the second time that morning he cut her off. Angry with her for assuming things, he hissed,
"It's not concern! If you got injured, it would only delay the completion of your training, which means being stuck with you longer than I'm willing to be!" Saying thus, he hurried off to catch lunch.
~After a very quiet lunch…~
Yukiko had taken special care not to overeat again, so they finished lunch within a matter of minutes. Again Hiei led her to the front of the cave and told her to wait there while he went in to retrieve something. He emerged holding two katanas this time. One was the one that he usually had strapped to his waist, and one with a beautifully crafted scabbard and a handle to match. It looked expensive, it looked heavy too.
He threw her his sword, she fumbled frantically with it, before dropping it on the ground in an unceremonious *thunk*. She bent down to pick it up and stood up slowly with a sheepish grin plastered on her face, one hand holding the blade to her chest and the other scratching the back of her head. Hiei let out an exasperated sigh, his face was buried in one hand, under his breath he muttered,
"Why me?"
Author's ramblings:
Thank you all of you for your reviews I really appreciate them. They really mean a lot to me. As for the question about the human females, I regret to inform you that I don't actually have an explanation for all of that. It was just whatever worked at that time. For that I apologise. Well this chapter turned out a whole lot longer than usual as you can see. I guess I went on a writing binge, but as we all know, length does not equate to quality. So once again, if you can tell me what's wrong with it be it technical errors or OOC-ness please inform me. Sorry if you didn't like it, I apologise in advance if you didn't. Thank you for your patronage.