I am back. What else is there to say?
His heart racing a young demon reached the edge of a small cliff. He stopped for a moment, his body teetering dangerously on the grassy ledge before his legs gave out and he tumbled down to the ground landing unconscious on the forest floor.
Off in the distance a girl was walking alone on the small dirt path that threaded through the trees like a brown ribbon, twisting here and there. Her tranquil walk was interrupted by the sound of a body hitting grass. The sudden noise made her start and almost immediately she turned on her heel and raced through the dense forest to find where the noise had come from and to see if anyone was injured.
As she reached the small clearing the lay at the base of a low, grassy cliff she stopped, hiding timidly behind a large tree. One long, slim hand rested on the old tree's rough bark and the other was hesitantly reached toward the spear she had slung across her back.
Sprawled in the grass was what she first thought was a young human man but as soon as she saw his ears she recognized him a demon. They were long and slightly furry, almost like cats, defiantly not human ears. He was dressed in thick silk robes of emerald and gold. Embroidered into the fine cloth in a pale jade was leaves and ivy. Tied onto his belt was a thick whip that appeared to be made of leather, the handle wrapped in bottle green linen. His hair itself was also green but of almost black hue and the only thing on him that wasn't green or gold was his blood. It was crimson and running onto the grass.
Apprehensively she stepped into the clearing, leaving the security the old tree had provided. Scarcely making a sound she walked to and reached out a hand and gently touched the blood on his face and almost immediately pulled it back as though bitten by a snake.
"He's badly hurt…" she muttered to herself and her voice was odd. It wasn't painful to the ears but it held a sort of power that made every word almost crackle with electricity.
The girl looked around the forest, searching in vain for anyone to help her but the only thing in that forest were woodland creatures who were not the lest bit cuddly and since she didn't feel like getting rabies she decided that she had to carry him to her home on her own.
"Great," she muttered as she hooked her arms with his and dragged him off the ground and with one swift movement she picked him up, throwing the young man over her right shoulder and with that carried him off back to her village.
The young demon awoke to find himself sprawled out on an old mattress; a rough, faded blue blanket was thrown over his body giving him what little warmth the small hut had to offer. Filtering through the thick slats that were closed over the windows was the red glow of twilight that washed the room in deep crimson.
Groaning in pain he pushed himself up until he was sitting upright, his back leaning against the thick wood headboard of the bed. Curious as to where the cursing was coming from he slowly stood up, his body swaying cautiously on unsure legs while his feet almost cried out in protest.
It was only until he was at the back door that he realized that his clothing had been removed, well… all except his pants, which he was grateful for. Sighing he pushed open the rough wood door to reveal a thick forest with a softly babbling brook that ran in front of the lush green scene. Kneeling in front in the crystal waters was the young girl and she was bent over the lush silk cloth, feverently rubbing at the crimson stains.
"What are you doing?" the young demon asked as he walked closer to her.
"What does it look like I'm doing? What are you doing up?" the girl snapped at him. Scared slightly by the villager he pulled away slightly, trying to put some distance between him and her.
"I was trying to figure out where I had been taken," he replied back calmly, kneeling down next to her. It was only then that he realized just how tall she was. She was still a head above him.
The girl sighed, bending over the clothes again. The young man looked over at her. The girl wasn't ugly but like most villagers her face was smudged with dirt and streaked with grime. Her eyes were a stunning yellow, the pupils almost diamond shaped. Long fingers grasped at the cloth and he could see small scars lace over the digits and instantly he knew that she was fighter and his eyes darted warily to the spear that lay next to her. Its handle was of thick oak and the blade was sharp, made of black steel and gold with obsidian on the sharp blade's edge. Wrapped around the neck of the spear's head was red silk ropes and tied at the end were small gold temple bells.
"You're a fighter?" he asked curiously, pointing at the spear.
"With the war waging around us, one must know how to fight," she replied curtly. She pulled the robes out of the icy water and let her fingers warm up before starting all over again. He could see that her fingers had been scrubbed raw from the effort of trying to clean the cloth.
The girl's hair was cut above her ears and was rather rough as though done by one's self with a dull knife. The style was not in fashion, as most ladies that the demon had known had taken a preference to long hair kept in thick rope like braids. Her hair was raven black except for her bangs which were a shocking blonde, the color of gold and held an almost blue luster. Each strand of hair was plastered to her face with sweat and water and the demon guessed she had not lived an easy life. But what caught his eyes most was the fact that her ears were slightly pointed, just at the tips.
"You're a demon, aren't you?" he asked.
"Yes… that I am," she replied curtly before finally pulling the clothes out of the water, the stains almost gone.
"What is a demon doing in a human village?"
"I find no reason to flee the humans just because of this war."
She swiftly stood and walked to a nearby tree, hanging the soaked cloth on the sturdy branches. The demon looked her over and sighed. Unlike him, her clothing was tattered. Like most village women she wore what was a long skirt though the frayed hem fell just above her ankles. The cloth was rough, hand spun cotton that smarted against her tanned skin rather painfully during summer days. Covering her thin torso was a loose cream tunic and like the skirt it had seen better days. Threads dangled off the cuffs and hem and the outfit itself was unflattering to what could have been a beautiful body, instead she looked shapeless, like the dolls made by villagers to give their children. Her feet were bare albeit the thin strips of cotton that covered the small wounds she got for life without shoes.
"Why is your clothing so… tattered?" the man asked gently, trying to stand but realized he was too exhausted.
"Unlike some people, I have to work to live," she replied back softly turning around to face him.
"Ah…" he looked away, ashamed he had said something like that.
"Do you have a name?"
"A what?" he asked, still dazed from his fall earlier.
"A name, you know, what people call you?" she rested her hands on her hips impatiently and her right foot tapped the muddy bank rhythmically.
"Oh… Why not tell me yours?" he countered swiftly, grinning at her cockily.
"Cocky aren't you?" her finger were drumming a tattoo onto the handle of her spear when hung in her right hand.
"When your skill surpasses your ego you have a right to be cocky," he replied cheerfully, falling back onto the grass, his face blissful.
"Since you have no skill, only your ego, I'd say you have no right to be cocky," she bantered back as she walked over to help him up.
"Touché," he replied, grabbing onto her hand and swung upward, his legs shaking slightly from strain.
"Ugh, you're still weak," she muttered as she hooked his arm over her shoulders and let him lean on her and slowly they made their way back to her hut.
"You're rather strong," the young man noted, laughing slightly at the look on her face that seemed like annoyance mixed with frustration.
"I have to be. During the winter I'd freeze if I couldn't carry wood for my fire," she managed to get out from between clenched teeth. Even though she didn't want to admit it but this odd young demon was rather heavy and she was exhausted.
With one foot she nudged the back door open to the hut and helped him to get back inside and let him collapse onto the straw mattress. He grimaced slightly as his right foot jarred against the wood foot board of the bed.
"You must be hungry though," she added quietly to herself as she moved quietly around the small hut, picking up old bowls and used logs from previous fires.
Exhausted, the young man leaned back against the rough sheets and watched her as she prepared the fire. Laboriously she carried the thick, heavy logs from their tidy stack outside to the dirt pit that was a quarter filled with black ash. With a casual snap of her finger a spark jumped from the digits and flew to the wood. The dry logs burst into flames almost instantly, causing the young man to jump back.
"So you are a demon?" he muttered to himself, looking away from her for a moment.
"Your point? I thought we had just gone over this," she asked defensively as she adjusted the neckline of her tunic around her delicate neck.
"It's just… you live by a human village…"
"I don't bother them, they don't bother me. I have no problems with humans and since then I see no reason to fight them," the girl replied softly.
"So then, what name befits a demon such as yourself?" he asked politely, falling into the odd formal speech he normally was forced to speak in.
"My name… its Kinnara… now…" she looked at him, annoyance written across her face, "I've told you my name, what's yours?"
The young man shied away from the girl, afraid for once that she might actually hurt him. His hands patted the air between him and her as though trying to quell her already rising fury.
"My name is Tetsuo," he replied happily.
"…" Kinnara looked over shocked and then stuttered out "Tetsuo… GENERAL TETSUO! Of the demon army!"
Tetsuo winced then sighed, nodding his head in defeat.
"I…I…," she finally stopped stuttering and reached for a nearby water jug and the next thing Tetsuo knew water was dripping off his face…
Kurama woke up sputtering; a glass of ice water had been flung onto his face. Narue stood pale faced across the table from him, an empty glass clutched in her right hand.
"What…?" he wiped water off his face with the sleeve of his uniform and looked up at Narue, shock written on his emerald eyes.
"You fainted," she replied curtly, roughly placing the glass on the counter of the small kitchen.
"You okay, Kurama?" Yusuke asked, looking at the red haired youth.
"I… believe so…" Kurama rubbed his already tangled mass of rose red locks and then yawned, stretching his arms toward the ceiling.
"Dude, you should head to bed," Kuwabara added helpfully and Kurama nodded weakly, already exhausted though he didn't know why...
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trenity170: YAY! I've finished with yet another chappy! I'm so happy! Hm… chappy… happy, it rhymes! WOOT! starts to laugh hysterically
Narue: Would you please stop?
Kurama: You're scaring the readers!
Trenity17: stops laughing abruptly Oh… hadn't though of that…
Narue: We should really start to reply to our reviews! Well… review…
Trenity170: Yeah. Kittyluv says "You're back! YAY! This is starting to get eve more interesting. What happened to Kurama? Please update again soon!
Kurama: Looks at Trenity170 You keep making me pass out…
Trenity170: Hm… Yeah… I do. Get used to it! FUN! Well… you'll find out more in the next chappy. See ya