Disclaimer: I don't own it, obviously. Well, except for all original characters and the plot of course. :)
Italics thoughts
Chapter fourKurama was dreaming.
He was in a forest, which looked quite familiar to him. The trees were beautiful, and there was a little stream running in the middle of a glade. Kurama put his fingers in the clear water and enjoyed the feeling of cool fluid running through them.
Encouraged by this, he decided to follow the stream, playing along with it.
The sun suddenly disappeared behind a cloud of heavy smoke, and the smell of burning wood invaded the atmosphere. Ashes filled the air, along with screams of fear and agony.
Kurama left up his head, and discovered the most horrifying sight: the village was on fire!
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Kurama woke up in a scream, only to find himself in the soft bed in Yusuke's palace. The wind was blowing gently outside and the youko walked to the window to gain some fresh air.
What a nightmare! He thought."It wasn't a nightmare!" he said aloud to nobody. "I'm sure there is something bad that is going to happen…"
"Who are you talking to?" asked a voice in a nearby tree.
Kurama jumped slightly.
"Hiei! How long have you been there?"
"Hn! Long enough to say you're not in your normal state, fox! What happened?"
"No…nothing! It was merely a bad dream, nothing more…"
"If you say so."
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The morning after…"Are you sure you cannot stay any longer?" asked Yusuke. "I had planned festivities…"
"I'm sorry Yusuke, but I really can't," answered Youko Kurama. "I just remembered I had a meeting with a merchant in two days from now. I really can't."
"Oh, we'll miss you Kurama-kun!" said Keiko, coming up to him and kissing him lightly on the cheek, which made Yusuke a bit jealous. "I hope you come back soon: it is always a pleasure to have you around!"
"Thanks Keiko-chan. Goodbye!"
Kurama resumed to his fox form and disappeared into the woods. Keiko kissed Yusuke when she saw the flustered look on his face, then went to her garden. All of a sudden, Hiei appeared at the scene:
"Where is Kurama?"
"He went to a meeting with a 'merchant'," answered Kuwabara, a large grin on his face implying that he didn't trust the youko's explication at all. "What did you want with him anyway?"
"Hn! I tracked his energy trail last night and…"
"When did you found the time to do it?" asked Kuwabara puzzled.
"Kazuma!" Yusuke scolded him. "He's faster than any of us, remember?"
"Uh? Oh yeah! So what did you find?"
"Nothing important," answered the spiky-haired and slightly disappointed youkai. "I came upon some woods, clearings, a small human settlement, and a city. He probably got that necklace in the city, so, if you want to find out, go by yourselves! Too huge, even for my jagan, with way too much energy."
"Too bad!" said the tall orange-haired man.
"Hey! Kurama said he was going to meet this 'merchant'!" exclaimed Yusuke. "What about following him? What do you say Hiei?"
"I can easily track him down."
"That's as good as a 'yes' for me! You're in Kazuma?"
"You bet!"
Putting his three lieutenants in charge, Yusuke quickly joined up with the others, after the fleeing kitsune.
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Kurama had been running through Makai for three days since he left Yusuke's palace. The trip would have exhausted any normal being, but the youko wasn't so weak. He could run for weeks without faltering and with little rest and food, and without even weakening a little. It was a capacity he acquired centuries ago, and it now proved useful.
The dream returned each time he drifted to sleep, with even more details, and recently, with a little voice calling for help, a voice he knew well even if he had heard it only once before.
But what disturbed him more was the dread feeling that grew within him as he was closing in on the village…
He finally came to the forest that bordered the town, the familiar scent of the great trees all around him.
I will reach the village tomorrow. I should take some rest while I still can.
Kurama made his 'camp' in a nearby giant tree, which was an odd color of ochre, preparing himself for the night. Just before he fell asleep, his hand clutched to the stone necklace he wore.
And then the dream came again…
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Kurama was walking. It wasn't unusual. What was unusual however were the burning ruins he was walking through. What was once a village was now a rotten pile of ashes and burnt wood. There were also one or two corpses scattered around the place. Human corpses.
Then he found the girl. She was standing in the middle of the destructed village, tears having traced clear stains upon her dirty face. Her copper blonde hair was almost black with ashes, and her whole body was like if scorched, blood pouring from the numerous wounds.
She ought to be dead! thought the kitsune.
But there she was, standing with her arms spread towards him, pleading in her violet eyes. A voice rose, although she didn't open her mouth:
"Why didn't you come? I've been calling for you for so long! Now, 'Kaasan's dead, and they are going to take us as slaves!"
"Please, don't loose hope so soon little one! I'm coming! Just hold on a little longer! Hold on!"
"I'm doing my best, but I just can't!"
She began to fade.
"HOLD ON!" Kurama shouted as she disappeared.
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Kurama woke up in sweat.
"Gosh! That was so real! I could have sworn she was in front of me! Perhaps it is some sort of telepathy. I wonder how she does it? Perhaps she's got some latent powers? But then, why does she call to me ?"
He pondered over the question, and as no answer came to him in hours, he decided it was as good to go on, since he couldn't sleep either way.
Soon after, he departed from the spot where he laid. As dawn's dusk began to fade and the sun rose, Kurama smelled something odd in the air. Frowning, he continued on, until he knew what smelled like that: burnt wood! But it didn't smell like it was actually burning…No, it smelled like if it had been burnt for some days…
Kurama ran faster. He soon came to the edge of the forest, right in front of the village's gates…or what was left of them. The place looked like it had seen some great battle.
Those who attacked the village didn't use any magical powers, thought Kurama. Judging by the arrows and axes' and swords' marks, and the smell of youkai, it must have been pretty weak demons, probably slave traders since there aren't many corpses.
There were effectively a few demons' corpses, whom Kurama didn't look at, since there were only all-too-common demon's races, and so impossible to track by their identity or origin, along with two or three human guards.
A small cry attracted his attention. Following the noise, Kurama came to the collapsed remains of a house. The moan was coming from under the rubbles, and so Kurama summoned some vines to lift the rocks and pieces of wood, landing a hand to go faster. Soon, the source of the moans came to view: it was the same man who threatened him when he returned the child to the village.
Crouching to his side, the youko quickly examined his wounds. They were numerous, but not serious. However, the arrow in his abdomen was.
The man was conscious, which was a miracle considering his earlier position. However, the pain was too much for him to even open his eyes, and so, he didn't see his rescuer.
Kurama leaned closer to him and said:
"You have been struck by an arrow. It will hurt, but I must remove it to save you."
The youko didn't knew if the man had heard him or not, but he couldn't waste any more time. Placing his hand where the arrow had stricken, he pulled it out firmly with his other hand. Fortunately, the wound wasn't bleeding much and the youko cleaned it and bandaged it without much difficulties. However, the pain of the arrow extracting made the man lost consciousness for good.
Kurama tendered his other wounds and placed him upon a soft couch of vine plants. He then grew up a heating plant and began to prepare his meal.
Author's note (again): yes, this chapter is starting in on the action/adventure part of the whole thing. And yes, I know that the whole fic is AU, but heck, I was thirteen (or fourteen, I still don't remember) when I wrote this, so you can't really expect it to be high class. Especially with a crazy girl like me. Anyway, Kurama is completely OOC, and I'm truly sorry about that, but I'm just assuming that he has a lot from his human personality that clings to him now.
Also, the "dream" thing. I was planning to actually make a sequel out of this with the little girl having some kind of demonic ancestry like Yusuke, but then I changed my mind, so I guess you can explain her "powers" by the necklace she gave Kurama. Maybe it is some kind of link between the two of them. I dunno, I'm not really that much into magic charms. :) Ok, now, on to the review responses! -
SingerOfDeath: me too! I actually am trying to rewrite that part to make it a bit funnier, now that I have some better notions of English humor! Lol
Mizuki hikari: Thank you! Hmm, I'm going to ponder on that. :D I may even write a new part just 'cause you suggested it! Would be funny to see that! -
graylady: here you go! - a whole new chappie!
Kato Shingetsu: I actually didn't think of signaling this story as Au. Thanks for making me notice:) (waves happily)
BlackRoseVixen05: I hope you enjoyed this chapter too BlackRose! And don't worry; things are going to speed up a bit in the next chapter!
Kita: Thank you! But no, I'm not in college, I'm already at the university, and I don't really have exams. Just Folio assessments, which are already a lot of stress, I don't want to know how the others cope with exams (sweat drop). I'm a student in Visual Arts in case you're wondering. I'll probably update my bio soon, so check it out if you want more details:)
To everyone who reviewed, including those not mentioned here, I hope you still enjoy the story! And here are some chibi Kurama clones that my muses created the other day! I would have given you the original one, but he just wouldn't allow me to cut him into even pieces. I wonder why? (smirk) (points to self) crazy! (giggles) see ya!