Quote of the Week: "You do not need your book anymore than I need my pants." -Nicki
Not surprisingly, I don't have an excuse. But I do start driving lessons this Wednesday. The world is doomed... Yeeeeeesssssss...
Her sides were torn, thorns and brambles... she swore that the plants grew in her way just to spite her. Hiei had taken to the trees, where it didn't slice your skin and leave drops of blood on the branches as you ran past. And Korfius, the glowing ghost he was, faded in and out as he hurried to the screaming whinny. What he was hoping to find, who could tell?
Stupid, stupid, stupid... I should have never have said anything. Besides, who would be dumb enough to ride a dangerous animal?
A image popped into her head, of light sea-green scales and strong wings; folds of skin and scales, the scent of smoke and fire, and claws that could have gored an elephant with the smallest twitch. Cecilia... duh. I'm being a hypocrite, now.
Then, that mighty creature being slammed into the earth, wings torn and claws split and cracked, ocean-hued skin marred by sticky blood. A clear cover moved over milky eyes, sightless to begin with, cleaning the dust and shrapnel off of the eye's surface before turning an opaque blue as the head dropped to the snow with a loud "fwumph". There was a last shudder, and blood spouted out of her ripped jugular vein.
Pay attention! Hiei barked sharply at her, and Lark managed to snap out of it fast enough to just barely skirt by a tree that had inexplicably interrupted her path (she didn't care if said tree had first sprouted well before her time; it was still it's fault). Nasty things, those trees were. All plants, in fact. If only the forest, with it's planned-planted rows and invisible floor, would just end already.
She ran through a particularly dense patch of fog, and felt herself trip. Forcing her teeth shut so as not to bite her tongue or lip, Lark threw her hands in front of her, expecting to grab onto the trunk of a tree that couldn't possible be more than two feet away.
There was nothing and she hit dirt, coughing and cradling her scraped wrists as she sat up on her knees. The fog faded, slightly, and her gray-blue eyes widened at the sudden change in scenery. A field, of sorts, was spread before her, and rocks lined the edge of a river.
It was all swaying grasses and flowers, as far as the dreary weather would allow her to see. As she gaped, there was a soft thud and a blur of black zigzag past from behind her: Hiei.
The rocks started as pebbles as her feet, and as Lark walked closer to the river's edge, she found it harder and harder to avoid treading upon the sharp rocks as they seemed to get larger with every footstep. Soon, she just gave up on keeping to the formerly soft grasses and springy ground, and hopped from stone to stone, finally catching herself and coming to a halt at the serrated-knife-sharp edge of a particular boulder that jutted out from the water at a good six feet. Barely visible beneath the murky shallows were even more, smaller, rocks; harmless in appearance, Lark guessed that if they were anything like the stone path she had crossed, the thorn bushes would seem like a mere tickle. She was in no mood to split her head open; not now, with no one to help and no way home.
There was a flash of black over the river, which stretched across the field by at least a couple hundred yards and disappeared around the bend, hidden by trees. That selfsame flash was soon by the water manipulator's side, looking at the sharp edges of the boulders with feigned interest.
"Find anything?"
"Hn."
Lark sighed, but knew better. After the field, it was as if Korfius has simply ceased to exist. No sign of him, no screaming whinnies, just the quiet stillness as the gently flowing river lapped against the sides of it's razor-edge banks. Carefully, cautiously, the black-haired girl sat down, hugging her knees to her chest. A soft breeze passed by, playing with Mara's mane, and throwing Lark's hair in her face and making her shiver. About to complain about the chill, she shut her mouth and glanced over at Hiei. The demon was just barely tolerating her now; if she whined about something as mundane as a little wind when they're guide had just suddenly gone missing, she doubted she would be aided much longer by him.
The fog parted but for a second, and Lark blinked twice, scrambling from her seat of stone. Nudging Hiei with her toe, she stood up and squinted at the figure upon the opposite bank A feminine figure, red-brown hair not much longer than her shoulder blades, and the same tanned skin that she was so used to seeing every day.
"Holly? Holly!" Lark jumped up, slipping and almost gashing open the hand she had thrown out for balance, and waved a hand wildly. "Holly!"
No answer from the young woman, and Lark's eyebrow twitched. It was Holly, for sure... Now, if the witch was just ignoring her to annoy her, ooh... that girl had another thing coming...
"Quiet. Something's wrong." Hiei, unmoving, a stone statue in his own right, focused all three eyes on the rogue figure. Lark gave the demon a stare, and continued to struggle to keep her footing. Three words; quite the explanation for Hiei. With a snort, she crossed her arms, her hair flipping over her shoulder. "Are you an idiot? Who else would be wandering around out here?"
Holly raised a hand and brought it to her lips, letting a shrill whistle pierce the air. The smooth glassy river surface rippled and broke, and two small almond-shaped ears peaked out.
Lark, as usual, stared; from her side, she was sure she saw Hiei's eyebrows furrow. No faint smirk of satisfaction? No sign of recognition from Mara? The dragonling hadn't even called out to the young woman that had appeared to be Holly.
Another whistle, this one a lower key, below the first by nearly an entire octave. Almond ears erect, the animal began its watery trek towards the shore. The water parted effortlessly, and, slowly, hoof after hoof moved the water creature forwards at a dejected plodding motion. A strong, proud neck, which Lark imagined was usually held high, was held level with the equally strong back. The horse was black, with fur soft like velvet, and an equally ebon mane that lay in haphazard wet straggles along the neck.
Wrapped around the neck, dull and dead, almost as much as the dark eyes and ragged breathing, was a thick chain, flopped over the horse's back and dragging in the dirt. The animal walked up to the young woman, gently rubbing a soft muzzle into the open palm, lips reaching for the tiny treat that Lark suspected the stranger had brought for it.
Hiei didn't bat an eye at the creature. "Pooka," he stated, and Lark blinked in amazement. "That's a pooka? That nag?"
"No, it's anything but a nag. Domestic, it seems, but..." The demon's eyebrow rose. "Clever act."
"Eh, wha? Hey, you, lemme in on it!"
Hiei made a low grunt in his throat, a sign that Lark took for her to be silent, and she crouched down. "No. Tell me." One red eye rolled lazily at her, the other focused on the young woman that was now weaving her fingers into the night-black mane and bracing herself to pull herself onto the pooka's back, and she steadfastly held her ground. There was a soft snort from the demon, but his hair bristled as Mara's wings shuddered. Before Lark could even wonder what was going on, the air over the river distorted and shimmered, before taking the familiar glowing form of Korfius.
A very upset and scared Korfius.
"LeeAnne! What are you doing?" He shouted, flickering over to the young woman; his legs seemed to be moving as if he were running, but his feet never made contact with the ground, and the picture was continually fading out, making the entire scene seem like it was an antique movie. Specks and lines cut through the fading figure of Korfius, the ghost coming ever closer to the shore towards LeeAnne and the pooka.
With a blast of sulfurous air, all tranquility left the horse; yellow eyes blazed to life, and the neck arched elegantly. The black tail, once hanging dejected, was raised and flying like a banner, the mane equally lively from the amount of energy pouring off the animal. No more the gentile pet, the horse spun, the dull iron chain moving on its own like a flaming snake, rearing on it's back while its fore hooves sliced through the air.
As Mara buried her face in his hair and Lark hid her eyes behind her hands, Hiei recalled hearing from Kurama a peculiar fact: that ghosts were imprints of a memory. Rarely were they a complete spirit, and the imprint was only left behind until any unfinished business could be taken car of, or, in some cases, the imprint was proven that it was dead. There were stories of ghosts all over, who haunted their earthly anchors night after night, at the same time, the story never changing, like they were the actors in some sick and twisted play. But they would never have a memory of the night before; for them, the night before had never existed.
As the hooves struck the ghostly image of Korfius, the boy rushing forwards to shove LeeAnne out of the way, ebon cutting through the faint glow and evacuating the boy's brains from his skull, Hiei felt a slight moment of remorse. The pooka snorted, squealed, roared out its challenge, fire and sulfur rolling off its breath and enveloping the mauled corpse of their former guide.
At that moment, he hoped that the attack had been just as painless as his own; that it was equivalent to the tickle Korfius had felt when the youkai had launched his katana into the boy's gut.
There was a shrill scream -- that of the young woman, LeeAnne, and the pooka looked over at her, the thick iron chain whipping about its neck. She scuttled back, pulled herself against a tree, now afraid of the same animal that had treated her so tenderly before. But the black horse paid her no mind and bared yellowish ivory teeth at the corpse at its feet. The scream was fading, disappearing along with the young woman whose mouth it came from.
With a blast of fiery breath, the ghostly body was incinerated, all to repeat everything the next night. And the next... and the night thereafter... until the world ended. When the curtain closed for the hapless Korfius and LeeAnne, it would come crashing down and wipe out the audience as well. With a thrown back snort, the pooka whirled around and galloped away into the river, the water washing away the faint residue of blood as the vicious horse traveled upstream through the fog.
All was left in quivering silence, and Hiei gingerly reached up to stroke Mara's mane. The little dragon was trembling, making small chirping noises and her muzzle tickled his scalp. At Hiei's touch, however, she made one loud "meep!" and pulled her head out of his hair, looking wildly around, the smell of sulfur thick in her nostrils. She would live, but...
"Lark?" He shifted his attention to the human girl by his side, not at all surprised at what greeted his vision. The girl - although not a shrieking, screaming, crying mess that was the norm for any normal person - was quiet. Deathly quiet. Something that unnerved him more than any hysterics ever could. Crying could be stopped, but what was there to stop that empty stare and the cold realization that was undoubtedly growing in the pit of her stomach? Nothing that he could offer.
"Meeaah?" Mara gracefully glided over, her tail curled around Hiei's arm like some sort of lifeline, and landed on Lark's black-haired head. "Meeeeaaah!" The dragonling chirped and whistled, tugged on hair with her tiny claws, and finally snapped the water manipulator with a well-placed nip on the ear.
"Aie! Mara, outta there!" She was annoyed, but didn't swat at the white dragon. Instead, she grabbed the serpentine body, and embraced the youngster in a squeezing hug; Mara didn't bother to struggle, letting her body go limp and nuzzling Lark's temple as the girl buried her face in the feathery mane.
Hiei, not exactly what one could call the "huggy" type, gave them a few seconds, then coughed. "We should follow the pooka. It's heading towards the others, and they seem to be following the river."
"I bet that river connects to the castle. An unending water supply."
"Yes, well, you'll need to let go of Mara."
Lark cradled the dragonling to her chest. "My security blanket."
Hiei raised an eyebrow, but hopped next to her onto the boulder, then moved from stone to stone along the riverbank. Lark just stared, but Mara, now stably latched onto her shoulder, nudged Lark's cheek and chirruped. It took little for the meaning of the dragon's chirp to sink in; Hiei was traveling slowly, and would leave them behind if they didn't follow soon.
Shoving Korfius, LeeAnne, and the pooka to the back of her mind, where it could be sorted and cried over afterwards, Lark once again put on her backpack and made her way along the river.
And sulfur still hung in the air.
Watching the guards from among the bushes, carefully hidden from views, Kurama wondered why the armed men were starting to get nervous. They muttered amongst themselves, throwing glances towards the water, hands steady on their uniform halberds.
"Kurama, man, something bad is coming." Kuwabara tapped the fox on the shoulder, and Kurama nodded in agreement. "Yes. The outer guards aren't too happy, either."
"Well, it is cold out, and with those skirts..." The carrot-top grinned at his attempt at a joke, but Kurama sighed. The skirt versus kilt joke was running stale. "Kuwabara, please, focus more on your awareness than the guard uniforms."
"Spoilsport." was the reply. Then, as if a spark had just struck, Kuwabara's eyes widened and he dropped to the dirt next to Kurama, dragging the fox down with him. Before the fox could question his motives, however, there was a shrill scream and a large black body rocketed over their heads. A metal chain of sorts lashed at the bushes they hid under, breaking branches, tearing leaves. Once the black beast had charged ahead, leaping headfirst into the water of the moat, both redheads looked at the damage that had been done to their hiding place.
If either of them had even been crouching, their heads could had been cracked open, or worse, punted across the moat.
"Hey, uh, in case you were wondering, that was that bad thing I sensed."
"Thank you, Kuwabara." Kurama seemed genuine about his spared life, and gave the human a smile. "So, think we should perhaps follow it?"
It hadn't taken much effort to follow the pooka. The creature, on a mad rampage of its own, had kept to the river, thrashing the water and dislodging hundreds of small rocks in its wake. And the smell... Mara had picked up on it no problem and, with no small amount of coaxing by Lark, had frustratingly led her two companions towards the creature.
Hiei had always kept her safe, had always comforted her when the day turned dark or when humans had tried to see if she was more than some large white bird. And now she was leading him to a cruel, guiltless, powerful monster.
Was this how he wanted her to thank him?
"Mara, what's wrong?" Lark asked, gently teasing her fingers into the soft mane along the dragon's neck. The white dragonling chirred, blue eyes half-closed, and gave the girl's fingers a small nip. As harmless as the action had been, Lark still drew her hand away lightning-fast, and stared at the winged creature in confusion.
"Leave her; she'll be alright." Hiei stood on a thin branch above their heads, arms crossed. Mara looked up, surprised at the sudden arrival of her surrogate mother, and perked her head. Rustling her wings, the white dragon turned her head back, seemingly grooming the white fluff along her spine, and chirped happily. Of the act, however, Lark wasn't convinced.
"Hiei, we could follow the pooka without using Mara's nose. She's young, tired, scared."
"She's fine."
Mara looked up at Hiei, "meep"-ed in reply, and bobbed her head happily. Fine... yes, she would be fine.
With all that had been going on - in their case, a whole lot of nothing - Yusuke almost imagined that their own little band of merry men had been forgotten.
But, he also had to count in the fact that the partnerships between Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Lark were no doubt holding them behind. The four of them were split pretty radically; Lark and Kuwabara loud and obnoxious, Hiei and the fox quiet and withdrawn. Hiei and Kurama were more than able fighters, able to take down almost anything that was thrown at them.
The other two? We-ell... Because, you know, those demons were sure afraid of cold water and humans. Oh, yes...
Those two would have been good as dead.
"Yusuke, stop dallying and help out!" Kyuro snapped at the spirit detective, and Yusuke sighed. He usually didn't mind playing the leader, but he had, rightfully, felt that the familiar deserved to lead the search.
Now, fighting off a small group of rather pathetic-looking creatures, each of them no more than eighteen inches in height, he was wondering just why he had decided to follow a cat. The time for thinking was cut short, however, as a particularly ugly beastie lunged at his face, the little goblin's features twisted into some sort of battle cry.
There was a faint "splat!", and the little creep slowly slid down to the ground, as if he had hit a glass wall. Yusuke spared a glance over, and grinned as Lyra smiled and gave a thumbs-up. Another quick-draw kekkai barrier; Erika would have been proud of the older Admarant sister. The other foot-and-a-half high goblins backed away and stared at their fallen companion, then back up to their formerly helpless target.
Formerly helpless. Now he had a good-sized bulk of spirit energy stored up in the palm of his hand. Three or four of them glanced at each other, muttering amongst themselves and nudging each other in the ribs with their elbows. Some were pushed forwards, as if dared to take the human on. With one look into those fiery brown eyes, that devilish grin, the blue energy crackling from knuckle to knuckle, all former ferocity was forgotten and they scattered, screaming as they searched for a hiding place up in the trees.
"Nice job, Urameshi." Jin nodded at the effects of Yusuke's intimidation tactics, tossing one last goblin-esque creature away into the trees, then surveyed his other friends. Victoria had dealt with the intruders effectively and quickly, while Kyuro had sheltered it out on the older man's shoulder. A few knocked-out creeps surrounded Lyra, breathing deeply, a few snoring. On his knees next to the water manipulator was Hanabi, staring at one of the sleeping creatures with wide eyes; when the boy poked one of the goblins with a long stick, making sure it wasn't faking slumber, Jin fought down a snort. Timid as always, Hanabi was...
"Well, if that takes care of all of them..." Victoria dusted off his sleeve, and recovered his bag from a low branch. Originally, the attackers had meant to steal their food, their belongings, anything shiny -- they had not been expected a fight of any kind, and had reacted sluggishly. "I doubt there's much else around that's much more dangerous than them. At least, until we find that castle," Lyra stated, gently taking the stick that Hanabi had been using to poke the unconscious bodies.
His source of amusement now taken away, Hanabi shook his head, white-blond hair flying into his eyes. "For a giant building made of rock, you'd think it'd be easier to find."
"Maybe if we hadn't decided to follow the riivveeerrrr..." Kyuro sneered at the wind master and possessed boy, green eyes mere slits. "We could've been there by now."
"Hey, it's a castle. Castles have moats. It makes sense to me," Yusuke said, nudging a goblin onto it's side with the toe of his sneakers. At that, Kyuro sniffed. "Of course... castles, and moats. Goes along right as rain." Yusuke was about to nod at this, but the cat continued talking. "Next thing you know, there'll be a moat-monster you expect us to sacrifice a young woman to."
"Hey! I never-"
Everyone fell silent at the heavy pounding and heart-jarring scream. The rhythmic pounding became louder, closer, and closer. Nothing had to be said, and all of them quietly and quickly moved behind some bit of shrubbery or foliage to hide. Now, not only was there the constant thudding, but also the splashing of water, heavy breathing, and the musical clinking of chain links. Suddenly, all fell silent for a moment, and Lyra went to stand up, but Victoria yanked her back.
Water playfully lapped at the muddy riverbank, but was unexpectedly splashed against the shore. Forming ribbons of crystal-clear moonlight that disintegrated into droplets, the river water was torn asunder as a black body raced through. Fierce yellow eyes, a thick chain whipping around like some weapon, and the scent of sulfur in the air.
It was there for a moment, then gone all too soon. No sooner had they noticed it as a living, breathing thing, then it had disappeared upstream. The six shared looks, then crawled out from the brush.
"There's your moat monster," Hanabi dryly stated.
Eyes glued to the castle ramparts, the fox and human ran as they followed the edge of the moat. So far, there was no way to get around. Neither wanted to take a chance with the creature underneath its surface. At first, it resembled a horse in shape, but what animal would lunge into the water and purposely sink to the bottom in a suicide attempt; it went against all instinct.
Unless it knew it would survive down there. And if it was, in fact, still alive, what would keep it from suddenly attacking them? Although he was an excellent strategist, Kurama, and Kuwabara as well, both knew that they were near helpless in the water. Plants, in need of a carefully balanced environment when growing, would be drowned, and keeping afloat would make fighting back night impossible. What to do, what to do...
Then, it was as if Enma had decided to answer his prayers. The guards, nervous and stressed enough without the crazed animal outside their front door, had sent someone to scout ahead. Slowly, oh so slowly, the portcullis was opened just enough for the lightly armored guard to slip under, and the sacrificial lamb stepped out and onto the narrow drawbridge.
The drawbridge design was quite ingenious, Kurama noted. Not designed to keep the enemy out altogether, it was simply wide enough for only one or two opponents to file in at a time. Travel, one by one, into a courtyard where archers shot down on them from above.
It was then, with a wave of water and black furred flesh, that the horse-creature from earlier lunged out, and buried its teeth into the guard's collarbone. Blood mixed with murky river water, and hooves scrabbled for a footing on the slick wood. Then, head raised proudly, the dead young man dangling from its mouth like a dead bird retrieved by a dog. Hastily, the portcullis was being lowered, and the guards behind the iron gate were rushing to close and bolt the rest of the doors.
They never got the chance, as the horse, the chain around its neck cherry-red and hissing in the damp air, reared up halfway and slammed its front hooves into the drawbridge. The fire that escaped from its open mouth was bluish-white, and easily melted through the metal portcullis. More screaming from inside, not orders this time, but of pain. Even now, the two intruders to this ritual could imagine as the wooden doors heated and burned the hands of those who struggled to close them.
The doors were already coated in tar and charred black to provide extra fireproofing, and didn't immediately burst into flames; instead, they slowly licked the edges of the wood, creating a shifting wall of red and orange. Once the screaming reached a fever pitch, and all the guards had escaped from the skin-melting wood, the black horse merely snorted and bent its neck down to drink from the moat before trotting through, nudging the wooden doors with its sides so that they swung open.
With a shared nod, Kurama and Kuwabara waited until the smell of sulfur had faded before following into the castle. Inside, the smell wasn't much better; the scent of fire and gas had been replaced with stinking, burning flesh and hair.
"Cee-ripes..." Kuwabara cautiously picked his way around the bodies, but suddenly halted. Kurama saw an arm, the flesh sickly black and smoking, lift and grasp the hem of Kuwabara's pants leg. There was a slight tug from the arm before it went limp, but the orange-haired boy still had to kneel down and unlatch the denim out of the dead man's hand. As if on a second thought, before standing up, he gently closed the corpse's eyelids.
"Perhaps we should wait for Yusuke and the others," Kurama murmured. Even now, he could imagine how they would react to the carnage. And, whether or not they believed the fact that a more vicious creature had cut through before them, it would be safer to get everyone caught up before charging in.
"If we wait, we wait outside." Already, Kuwabara was judging the distance from the drawbridge, to their current location, to the blown-in doors leading to the castle's main hall. Who was to say that he, never mind anyone, would want to walk that corpse-ridden distance again? But, then again, there was still the dead scout out on the drawbridge, his bones broken and himself with his head and one arm submerged in the cold water.
"LeeAnne?" The little girl yawned, getting to her feet unsteadily before padding over to the witch. Attention wavering from the window, Holly looked back at the youngster. "Mornin' kiddo."
"The sun's not up yet," The blonde replied with a deadpan voice. Holly shrugged, but willed the smile to stay on her face. "It's after midnight. Therefore, its in the AM and morning."
The little girl stood by Holly, worming her dirty hand into that of the older girl's, and sleepily stared out at the lavender-blue sky. From outside, a bird softly chirped until a hoot from an owl silenced the little songbird.
"LeeAnne..? LeeAnne!" Holly blinked and jerked back to reality, raising an eyebrow at the child who was nearly yanking her arm off. One glance at the scared and pale face, and the hazel-eyed witch switched gears from annoyance to worry. "What is it?"
Nothing needed to be said, as the black smoke slowly floated into the sky, clouding up the otherwise clear morning air; faintly, she could smell something horrible, something that wasn't at all unlike the thing that had taken her just a few nights ago.
Spindly fingers, almost as thin as the worn ropes that were tied around the large body...
"LeeAnne, we can't stay here long. The pooka..!"
Slashes along the wrists, with nothing but bone underneath the skin. Thick, matted, bloodstained fur...
"LeeAnne!" For such a young girl, she jerked Holly's arm so hard and quickly, that the witch was sure she felt something, a muscle or tendon of some sort, stretch. She squinted her eyes at the sharp pain, and tried to massage the feeling of fire and needles out of her shoulder. "Okay, okay... we'll get going. Know any way outta here?"
"Usually, It comes for us, or has the guards let us out."
A load of good that did... But she fought back a sigh. "Could we get the attention of one of the guards? Get them to unlock the door?"
"They will. And then I guess we'll be moved where It can protect us." The child chewed the bottom of her lip, and stared at the broken angel in the stained glass window. Then, the uncertainty in her blue eyes hardened to suspicion. "LeeAnne," she asked, pointing out the window, "What is that?"
Holly stared at the spot where her fellow prisoner was pointing, but had to blink twice before it registered in her brain. A red fuzzy blob stood out against the thick black smoke and pastel sky; one that came closer and closer with every passing second.
Jin.
"Funny, really, how we ran into you in a place like this," Victoria cheerfully stated, hopping over a smoking corpse. He was the only one, save for Kyuro, that didn't turn away from the sight, or gag from the stench. Just like anything else, the young man just tossed the conflict over his shoulder. To be dealt with another time, in a more convenient place.
Kyuro, high atop Victoria's shoulders, peered about with bright green eyes. "So, this is where they were keeping her?"
"Minus the dead people, of course," the older witch commented. False joy, as per what the occasion called for.
Lyra, her face hidden behind the collar of the jacket Kurama had graciously offered her, shut her eyes. Whether it was the smell or sight, who could tell? "Let's move on, please."
"We should wait for Hiei, though." The group looked at Hanabi, unusually outspoken for the carnage that surrounded them. He shrugged, white hair falling into his face. "If we need to return home quickly, it would be easier if we were all in the same place." At this, Kurama nodded. "A valid point, but..." With a wry grin, the fox waved a hand at the scenery. "I doubt he'll miss us-"
"Myyuuuu!" Mara alighted on the fox's outstretched arm, tucking and folding oversized white wings close to her body. Yusuke and Victoria both blinked at the sudden arrival. While the dragonling groomed her fluffy mane, the taller man muttered, "That was fast..."
But, as they peered out the front gates, there wasn't a soul. Already fed up with the waste of time, Yusuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and tried his best not to sulk. "Alright, we'll vote. Who's for waiting?"
Three hands; Hanabi, Kuwabara, and Kurama.
"And for moving on ahead, regardless of anything that tries to kill us?"
Two hands and a paw: Kyuro, Yusuke, and Victoria. Noticing that a hand was missing, Kurama turned to the elder Admarant sister. "Are you alright?"
"No... not here. We should-" She was cut short by Yusuke, who was silently mulling over the fact that "Majority rules" wasn't going to cut it in the current situation.
"This is a pain; unless..." All eyes turned to the black-haired girl, who groaned and tried to hide amidst Kurama's overly large jacket. Victoria, arms crossed, tried not to look so impatient with the gentlest out of the group.
"It's alright, Lyra. Yay or nay, that's it. Quick and painless." The deeper, male voice made Lyra blink. It was a rare occurrence when the crossdresser didn't try to hide his real voice. Kyuro, unmoved, grumbled at the slowed progress.
"It had better be 'yay' or there will be pain." The comment ended in a hiss as Victoria sighed in exasperation and flicked the cat's ear. Thus chided, the familiar instead turned his frustration towards the slender water manipulator, whom seemed more than a bit worse for all the pressure.
Then, timidly, she choked out, "Let's go on ahead." Kurama, surprised, fought back the urge to stare at the non-violent girl. Kuwabara, however, was desperate to make one last barter.
"Rock-Paper-Scissors for it? Best two outta three?"
"Dipshit!" With that, Yusuke grabbed the taller punk in a headlock and marched towards the front gates.
But for all the bravado, he was scared.
They walked in silence. Understandable, as there was nothing to say. Yet... yet there was everything. Would they make it? Was Holly even alive? If they made it back home, would anything really change?
Would they ever make it back home?
"Kurama... You ever think that maybe we don't have a choice in what we do?" Lyra asked, out of the blue. From her side, the redhead blinked. Twice surprised, in ten minutes. He stared at the back of his comrades, and thought about the question. Lyra hadn't even looked at him when she said it, and was still focusing on some spot in midair, completely oblivious to their surroundings.
Normally, he would have gently mentioned her lack of attention; they were guarding the back for a specific reason. Although Yusuke might've had more firepower, and Victoria was frightening in his own right, neither one was as adept at creating a puzzling distraction as the kitsune and water manipulator.
"We have a choice; that's obvious..."
"And in a situation like this? We have no idea where we are, Holly is basically a hostage that could be used against us, and that monster-thing from before..."
So, she had sent he pooka, too. Thinking back, it was probably what led Yusuke and Co. to the castle. He had heard that Jin had taken off sometime after the pooka had charged through, and hadn't been heard from, since. As always, they managed to get separated.
"I will admit - the cards are stacked against us. But even the smallest choices can affect how you'll follow the path that's laid out."
"So you do believe in fate and destiny?" She had shepherded him, fenced him in, before he could find the loophole. Always a challenge...
"Some things are fate." He made a motion for her to stop, as they had entered a large open room. The hall gently sloped outwards from the doorway, and a large pentacle, the five-pointed figure inside a larger circle, was made of inlaid reddish stone in the dull gray floor. With shared nods, the group split in two, with Hanabi joining Kurama and Lyra, and made their way around the pentacle; even Mara had flown in a slight circle around the center of the floor. At least, everyone was wary except Yusuke, who strutted right across it. Looking over at his other companions, all who gave the image in the floor a wide berth, he raised his eyebrows.
"Guys, what's wrong? It's just a crappy decorating job. Geez..."
Kurama was certain that Kuwabara, at least, could sense the chills that the pentacle gave. Not quite willing to pass it off as a case of the willies, he nodded towards Lyra and Hanabi, who caught on easily enough.
Stay away from the big, creepy, blood red symbol placed suspiciously in the middle of the floor.
Even after Yusuke had made it across safely, the feeling of dread didn't cease. Only now uncertainty was added to the mix as Kuwabara was once again singled to dowse out the correct doorway, the one that would bring them right to Holly's door.
"Hey, guys!" black hair tied in a loose ponytail, Lark came running into the room, a black shadow quickly appearing behind her before fading to the edges of the room. Kurama could visibly see Lyra relax with a sigh of relief, and smiled slightly. Nearly everyone was accounted for, now...
"You guys haven't heard what's really going on around here, have ya? I managed to find out how to scare of that thing that kidnapped Holly!"
Then, perhaps too tired to care the least about instinct, Lark stepped out into the dead center of the pentacle that graced the middle of the room. As if triggering a chain reaction, the little light that managed to make it through the high-up windows was cut off with a sharp thwack! as the dark walnut shutters slammed shut.
The pentacle glowed a faint rusty red, and then disappeared. It was as if the floor beneath her had suddenly been vaporized, and there was a sickening moment where the girl seemed to hang in thin air. There wasn't even time to scream as she plummeted down, barely enough time to react as Lyra lunged out for her younger sister and Kurama tackled her, pulling her close to him as they just managed to come to a stop right at the edge of what used to be solid stone.
But now, it was a pit. Deep and dark, filled by the scent of dead flesh and blood rising from its depths, with the most wicked collection of rusty spikes, each varying in height from five feet to nine, impaling the still air. As Lyra choked back a small gasping sob, her face buried in the fox's jacket, Kurama calmly noted the human skull balanced precariously on the tip of one such spike, the tip stabbing right through the cranial case by means of the eye socket.
And thus, was fate.
Don't you love those twisty little turns that show up and kick ya in the balls (provided you have them. If not, substitute a liver or spleen) and throw you completely off track? 15 pages or so, folks, to make up for not updating as often. . But I'll have all the time over summer vacation... oh, yeeesssssss...