Welcome to my Yu Yu Hakusho fic! I hope you all enjoy it and review, but know that flames are not appreciated.
("Speaking") ('Thoughts')
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, there I said it, and it will be said no more.
Chapter 1: Prologue
A new sun rose, its light flowing over the land, making lakes sparkle and plants wet from dew twinkle. Some would see this beauty as a sign of good fortune, but one lone figure saw the sun as a reminder of wasted time. Another night had gone by and nothing had been accomplished for the female fox demon.
Adina opened her eyes and sighed, for another night had passed and nothing had been found. 'If this keeps up all will be lost,' she thought, despair threatening to overwhelm her.
She exited the cave in which she was momentarily occupying, and scouted the area for anything that appeared out of the ordinary. Though she had been there a week and a half, she could not help but feel that she needed to be on guard.
After all, her master Laquia had not been alert when they took her. 'I need to find her soon, the harvest moon is only a week away.'
Though she would rather search for her on foot, she remembered that her master had told her about using her psychic energy rather than being rash. But with each passing day, Adina's patience would whither like the moon fades as dawn approaches.
'If I can not find her through telepathy tonight, I will have to set out on foot,' she told herself.
Youko watched the sunrise emotionlessly as Rieco announced that the village men were approaching the camp.
"How many," Youko responded without turning.
"At least thirty," Reico answered unconcerned, "Shall I gather some demons?"
"That won't be necessary, Rieco, I'll handle them."
"But my lord, they aren't worthy of dying at your hands."
"I do not care, I'm too bored to let my men get all the fun. Besides, I have been wanting to test a new plant I managed to breed."
"Right." Rieco finished, bowed, and continued on his way, while Youko stood and followed the scent of the intruding villagers.
'They might not be to my level, but it will be better than nothing,' Youko thought. 'At least I'll get to get out of camp for a bit, the smell of the forest is much more pleasant than that of my men.' With that he set off to slay the filthy humans who had entered their territory.
Adina walked in silence to the lake, desperately needing a break. She had been trying to find any trace of her master's mind with her psychic ability. Whoever took Laquia had to have known a lot about them, maybe even watched them for awhile, but something didn't seem right.
Even if some other force matched her psychic strength, as a kitsune she should always be able to hear or smell Laquia. But no, instead she was left out in the cold. 'I don't know how much more of this I can take.'
If she did not find her within the next week, two things would happen. One, both her and her master would be killed from their own powers, and two, the psychic power would be scattered to the winds until a powerful being possessed them. Her master needed to pass the rest of her power onto her.
The ritual needed to take place before the next harvest moon, otherwise they would both be dead, and Demon World would be plagued by a demon of the darkest calling. 'I shall not allow such a thing to happen. I will set out on foot tonight.'
Youko walked through the woods, following the scent of the villager men. 'It has been awhile since the last time I killed. I will have fun with this bunch before I destroy their pathetic souls.'
As he came about them he took a position in the shadow of a tree, waiting for them to draw closer.
"These demons are going to be sorry for moving into our woods," one of the villagers said trying to look tough.
'Make us sorry? I will put these humans in their place.'
Youko moved quietly, flicking one of his seeds to the path ahead of them, and watched it implant itself into the ground. He then faded into the darkness, calmly waiting with anticipation for the inevitable smell of blood and death.
Screams of the villagers were soon heard. Smiling at this, Youko thought, 'It seems this new plant is a success.'
Seeing that some of the humans had managed to escape, he moved silently through the trees, before landing gracefully before them. Drawing out his rose whip, he slashed the few that had managed to avoid his plant.
As the last of their screams faded into the daylight, Youko recoiled his plant, satisfied with its success in battle.
'That was more entertaining than I thought it would be, though I have no desire to return to camp quite yet.' And with that last thought, he jumped into the trees, and started searching for a suitable place to relax.
Adina opened her eyes and stood, ending her meditation. She smelt blood, a lot of it. Luckily it did not belong to that of her master.
'It's only a group of humans, probably from the nearby village. But the demon that killed them might know something important.' Standing, she found the exact direction the scent was coming from and began to follow it.
Walking through the forest, Adina traveled cautiously not to disturb anything. She hadn't cleared out her cave, as there was nothing there worth carrying. That and she did not want to risk missing the chance to acquire answers.
'This part of the forest is so thick, anyone could be following me and I wouldn't know between the smell of the blood and evergreens.' As she walked the metallic scent of the blood became so strong, it gagged her. 'I must be getting closer,' she thought.
Coming to the end of the path, she suddenly stopped at the sight that lay before her. A few dozen villagers, or at least what was left of them, laid a few steps in front of her.
She froze on the spot, staring at the manslaughter. Even though it was quite warm that day, she felt cold and clammy. She had indeed been around dead bodies before, though nothing this brutal. The dead humans' bodies had been ripped apart, and their blood stained the grass around them heavily.
Her very sensitive nose was being overpowered to the point where she was growing dizzy and nauseous. She fell to her knees, unable to pull her eyes from the destruction that lied before her.
Finally able to close her eyes, she managed to get a hold on herself. 'Calm down and get up, you know you have no time to be sitting around. You need to find someone to tell you information on where Laquia is being kept.'
Finally calm, she stood up and examined the bodies. She noticed that there was really no sign of a true fight, and that it looked more like an ambush.
'I don't smell a horde of demons, and I can barely make out the smell of anything else but their blood. But what ever killed them can't be too far.' Just as she was about to jump into the trees, something hit her from behind, shocking her into unconsciousness.
The moment Adina awakened, she noticed she was tied up. Struggling against the bindings, she finally gave up and tried hitting it with her spirit energy.
"Don't even try it demon, your demonic power won't work with that holy seal. So get comfortable, cause we aren't letting you go until its time for your execution!"
"Execution? What are you talking about? I haven't done anything wrong!"
"Silence demon! Do you think us stupid? We have enough sense not to fall for the same trickery you used to murder our companions!"
The villager then grabbed the hilt of his sword and viscously struck her in the back of the head.
Adina felt ill, as her vision clouded as she begun to slip out of consciousness again. Though she tried her hardest to stay awake, with already being weakened she quickly gave into forced sleep.
From the top of the trees, Youko watched as the female kitsune fell unconscious.
'You would've thought that even a human could differentiate between an innocent and a murderer. She wasn't carrying any weapons, and she was completely clean of blood. For her sake I hope that they realize that before her own blood is spilt.'
Youko, knowing that staying around longer would be pointless, started heading back toward his domain. As he neared its entrance, however, Reico approached him.
"Sir, we've had some problems. A prisoner has managed to escaped!"
"Who was it?"
"The old woman Laquia."
"Who?"
"The elder that was brought in two weeks ago."
"The old witch?"
"If that's what you want to call her."
"It doesn't matter. Though I can't see how a decrepit old woman could escape, when some of the strongest demons couldn't. The guards were drunk again, weren't they?"
"I do not know, if I did, I would not bother you with such matters. So, what do you think should be done about it?"
"Nothing, as far as I'm concerned, it's better to have an empty cell then a weak prisoner occupying it. Now, what else should I know?"
"There is nothing else."
"Excellent, now if you excuse me, I need to care for my plants now. Before I leave, may I ask you to give me a night report before retiring? I need to know that it's clear so that the drunkards don't screw up and get us all killed."
"Right my lord, see you before midnight."
As Reico walked away, Youko headed towards his hut, then to the back of it. Checking his poisonous plants, so that if needed, he could have them immediately. After that he got the report from Reico, and headed to bed. For some reason the female kitsune was in his mind still.
'What is wrong with me? For some reason I feel guilty, and regret leaving her. I must be going soft. I actually care that she'll die being blamed of my crime.'
Pushing farther thought away, Youko finally managed to fall asleep, though it was, as always, a shallow sleep that was easily broken. This was due to him being on guard so often, so that even on peaceful nights, he could not sleep well.
It was after midnight as the lanterns were either put out or turned down low, as everyone slept, a dark figure crept out of the campsite and in to the forest.
A/N: Sorry about the huge amount of separation lines, but introducing the characters tends to do a lot of instant switching since they haven't met yet. Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! Make sure to review!
Yours Truly,
Adria of the Demon Sisters