Disclaimer: Don't own YYH, I only claim onto Katrina and the storyline. All mine! OMG I just found out about page breaks! God, now I can stop with those freaking 555555555s!

And I'm not proofreading this. Sorry for any mistypes, Wyvernwings!

Chapter 56: ...the nameless chapter...

A Day Later: (Still no action! What's wrong with me?)

I talked to Botan again this morning. I can tell that she thinks the best course of action really is purely action, but I can't get my nerve up. It's so pathetic, and when Botan said so, I didn't argue. Why lie about a part of me anyway? I've always been sort of weird like this. I get queasy over jumping off of a diving board but not fighting demons. Weird. Very. But, like I said, it's just me. Be glad I'm not some preppy girl who still plays with dolls and faints if anyone says cockroach. Those people annoy me a lot. The rat won't hurt you, for crying out loud! It may be slightly irritated that you distracted it from its piece of cheese, but god, it won't lunge at you with saliva dripping from vampire fangs!

At least, normal rats don't. Up here, who knows what will happen anyway.

But, Botan talked me into this crazy plan. Actually, you can't really call it a plan, because there is none. As she puts it, we are just going to find Sensu. You really can't get any more terse than that. Did she say how we were going to break in? No. Did she suggest any possible way to fight Sensu and his thousands of minions? No.

But, we are actually going. I can't believe it. I am such a doormat. Weare going, damn it! WE ARE GOING! GOING! GOING! GOING!

I hate Botan.

Let me rephrase that. I hate Botan with a flaming passion. And for not just the reason of her extreme persuasive powers.The thing is that she's not cooperating with her own idea. The day she gets done packing is the day she dyes her hair green. (Nada). You wouldn't think she was the type who carried a lot, but she is. Oh, she really, really, really is.

"BOTAN, ARE YOU DONE YET?"

"Almost…just wait!"

"I'M THROUGH WITH WAITING!"

"Aright, aright…" She comes out carrying a large bundle of cloth. "So, you sure you're ready this time? Cause we gotta jump to get off, you know that, right? You know, like fall down and maybe go boom?" I can't miss the scorn in her voice. Not that I can blame her. I'd be frustrated with me too, with all of the arguments we had over this thing that obviously has to be done.

"If you don't lose your nerve," I say, not quite aware of how stupid that sounded. I need to take an instant comeback class or something.

"Okaaaay, if you're sure…" she says. Grabbing her and mine packs, she tosses them over the sides of the shelf, and scuttles, crab-like, to the pole that connects all of the corners of the shelves.

I hear two tiny thumps at the bottom about ten seconds later. Ten seconds is a long time to fall...

"Botan, I wouldn't slide down that if I were you," I begin, correctly interpreting the strangely hungry look on her face. She smirks at me. Uh-oh.

To be sarcastic, she does that wobbly arm circles thing that usually signals a fall. Then she begins, very loudly, "UH-OH! KATRINA, I JUST LOST MY BALANCE! I THINK I'M GOING TO FA-ALL…" She teeters fakely, and does what the girls at my American school called the doom drop. It's when you are standing next to a swimming pool, and fall backwards, rigid as a board, to make a huge noise and a back belly flop. It really hurts. I tried it once, and put it this way, I never did again.

I run to the edge of the shelf to see if it worked. And I'm shocked, it actually did. Botan has one hand on the pole, and is sliding down as easily as a pro fireman. Her pounds of hair are flying straight up, and she descends at the ground easily. She scoops up the packs she tossed down previously. Then she calls up, "MATCH THAT, PUNK!"

But I'm onto her. "You have to give me a paddle, too." I say it in English, in hope to confuse her. She tried to disguise her oar but I could still see the end of it anyway. She wasn't careful enough.

"Hehe.And by the way, I can speak English! And I thought you'd see through that one. But now you can use any trick that you want as well! Good luck! I'll be waiting at the bottom, outside! I bet you 20 yen that your way won't be as cool as mine!"

Urgh. How can she do that to me? She knows I have no useful talents for this type of thing. She could at least let me try her paddle! Although, it's probably really, really hard.

I think, ticking off my options. Camouflage; drop like a stone. Panther form; drop even faster than a stone. Demon Fire: Forget it. Bubble:

Bubble! That's it!

I concentrate very hard, andwhen I open my tightly closed eyes, there I am. In a big fluffy sapphire-colored bubble. One thing I do like about the bubble is that it keeps you suspended in the center.

I must admit, even doing the doom drop with the paddle, she did it really majestically. I probably couldn't do it that artistically, though. What if she really does have to fly me down? Then I won't ever live it down.

I smirk. I refuse to let her beat me. Plus, I don't have 20 yen on me anyway.

I gather up the remains of my courage, and do a doom drop. I'm sort of sad I can't feel the wind at my back; I think that would have been a nice experience. The blue ball absorbs it all. I open my tightly shut eyes. The shelf that has been the closest thing I have had to a home in a month grows still smaller…

Just when I'm getting comfortable, I feel a harsh jolt. I furiously massage the new crick in my neck. I stand up in my bubble, and let it fade. When I drop down, I trip, and realize I'm standing in a crater. The crater made by my bubble. It's huge.

But if it's this big…

What if someone else heard it? From my studies of physics, that must have made a huge noise.

My nerves tighten. Must be extra careful now.

Oh yeah! Botan owes me! I must find her, and rub it in her annoying face.

"Botan," I whisper softly. "I'm done already!"

I whisper it several more times, each getting more urgent steadily. I clap my hand over my mouth as I realize I'm about to start screaming for her. But where is Botan? Did something happen to her out here, while I was falling?

I hear a creak behind me.

Something did happen out here.

I hear excited chuckling, and I whirl around. There's the demon guard, all full-size now. My old long-time pal. He has Botan's limp body clutched tight in his big, tan fist.

"Too bad Sensu's not awake for him to see me finally catch you, Miss Katrina. That is what you're called?" He slashes for me. I leap out of the way in time. There's no way I can beat someone his size at my height, so I reach into my pocket for the crystals. Now, if ever, is the time to get big.

A tentacle/finger comes too soon. I can't leap out. Too fast. Too deadly. I don't even have time to say, "You cheated."

I wake up in a gray, dank, smelly place. Immediately it is followed by a burst of pain. Damn, my arms really hurt. But why…

Oh. No wonder, I'm hanging by my wrists, strapped to a thin metal board that's parallel to the ground. I notice my legs are also chained, combined with a waist strap. Damn, no wonder I'm also as paralyzed as can be!

I struggle slightly, and I open my eyes further. There's Maurice, standing guard over me, looking incredibly smug. But he actually looks normal sized. I guess they must have regrown me. I am now all powerful again.

"Well, so Hiei's friend has woken up."

"You got something to say about it?"

"Plenty, actually. You thought you could pull the wool over my eyes, butI caught you in the end. What have you been doing for so long?"

"Thinking of nice little pink ponies with nice little pink wings stomping theirhard little pink hooves all over you."

"Ah, I see."

He glares; I glare back. Finally, I stare him down.

He says abruptly, "Sensu will be here for you later. He'll show you your father and your purpose."

I say, just as abruptly, "So he definitely is here? My dad?"

He looks at me strangely, "Yes. Ever since he was defeated, which was several months ago."

"Aha. I see. Cruelty has nothing on your freaks. Why am I big again?"

"There were no bonds small enough for you at 4 inches high."

We sit in silence for a very long time. Finally, Maurice gets bored and ambles off, after checking my demon bonds for security again. Of course I don't argue. I like some good company, but Maurice, surprisingly doesn't count.

There. He left. Now I have some thinking time.

The only real answer I can think of is to break the bonds somehow. But how?

I start to fire up, glowing blue, so I can get an extra burst of strength.

All of a sudden, my body is covered with intense, white-hot pain. It's so consuming that I wishfully think of dying.

Then, it stops. I glare at the bonds. They look no different, yet I am slightly smoking. Damn it, that HURT.

I try to morph. Once again, the ties attack me.

I try to astro project, and to my surprise, it actually works. I detach myself quite easily, and am immediately freed from any lasting pain. I didn't know it was that effective. I float around aimlessly, checking out the electrocuting bonds. As I expected, the bonds have Demon Energy of their own, which allows for them to restrain mydemon energy. I remember that note Kurama gave me from my father. He had talked about being restrained as well. I touch the bind, and this is the first time that a solid object has affected my soul. I get a slight charge off of it.

Guarded even against ghosts…Sensu thought of everything.

So then how can I free my body?

The answer hits me hard in the face, similar to that of a baseball bat. The crystals…

But how can I get them? I can't touch them in this form, and my arms are given absolutely no moving room physically. I need to get small! Didn't Maurice just say that there were no bonds small enough for me at 4 inches tall?

I re-enter my body with an inner sigh. The answer…right in my pocket, and I can't use it.

I'm pretty sure I've found out all of my hidden power that Genkai warned me about. Let's see…I have camouflage, panther form, panther senses, protective bubbles, and I guess that's all.

But didn't Genkai say that Spirit Weapons and other useful things were not characteristic of one person? She said that power can be pulled into any shape or form. So could I not use my power for grabbing the crystals? Yes. She did say that I could make an aura sword if my need was great enough.

' "Soul can do great things when it is called upon." ' God, I swear she spoke in my ear.

But since this is a new technique, this might take a while to function. My need wasn't ever great enough for me to learn how. Well, besides the bubble, that is, back in the Fog.

I sigh and set down to work.

Oh my god. I have been working here for hours. Why isn't anything happening? Something should have happened by now! Damn it, I hve a limited time before I get eaten!

My plan is to make a small thread of magic snake into my pocket and pull out one crystal, but to no avail. My thread gets close, but never far enough. I guess it is because of my magic bonds. They must be blocking me. But at least I have figured out how to fool the bonds. The energy, is so small; so wispy; so delicate; that the bonds can't detect them. I wasn't kidding when I said it was a thread. Maybe it's too thin to work. It evaporates beforeit gets out of my hand.

What the hell can I do?

I think sullen thoughts…

Wait. Camouflage is not demon power, is it? Yes, that's right, that's the spirit energy in me. Yes, Kurama's is healing, and mine is camouflage.I can still use it without interference from the horrid ropes, right?

An idea forms.

I smile, and reenter my unconscious body.

Okay, now I'm camouflaged. I'm surprised I had the strength to do so.

Now I just need a little more strength…I take my sapphire colored power and fully envision it reaching into my pocket in a long thread. I open my eyes, speaking demon words of command. It is similar to when Genkai blew Kurama off of her.

"Son RAO li Te noi FAM yyawk. KAN." It was spell Genkai said never to use unless everything else fails. She said it has a veryhigh fail rate, and can hurt the user.The way that this spell works is that it is a kind of spirit energy guide. You release a spirit and direct it to where you want it to go.

To my surprise, I feel no aftershock like she said I would, and instead of resisting me, thespirit power rushes to meet my need. I thrust it powerfully into my right pocket with my mind. I feel the crystals. Because I felt them when I first left, I know which ones to look for. It's as though I'm reaching with a finger and not a thread of energy. I can feel it perfectly.

I draw out one blue crystal. Perfect. That's all I need.

Now the tricky part…bringing it to my mouth. I carefully maneuver it towards my mouth.

Since I'm perpendicular to the ground (dude, I'm strapped to the wall), this will be tough. Creating a bowl of energy with my power, I slowly slope it up to my mouth.

I dump it in quickly so I don't lose it before I eat it.

It occurs to me what a stupid thing I just did. The binds are still hanging onto me although I'm shrinking. Rapid change rocks my body. I almost scream with the pain. Apparently, I shrink before I get skinnier, so my inanimate captors are really tugging me four ways.

As I'm about to come in two/four, I become skinnier rapidly, and then grow smaller. Thank God. The binds try to tighten, but my change is too quick for them to really react.

Now I'm panting. At barely 6 inches tall, I'm lying at the center of the sheet of metal, tired and cold and hungry.

And free.

A/N Expect more later! Are you happy something happened? I sure am. It was starting to bore me.