... I have a ring on my thumb...


Chapter 2:

"Too much walking…" Lee complained, collapsing on the dirt. They were now in some weird forest thing. Lots of greenery. Quinn took a seat on a near by rock.

"Oh yeah…" He sighed. Yusuke walked up beside him.

"Hey Quinn, you sure we're going the right way?" Quinn nodded, exasperated.

"Yeah," He barely made out. He tried to catch his breath. "There's definitely more demonic aura this way." All demons and Kuwabara stared at him. He sensed demonic aura? He had a sixth sense? Wait a minute, if the demons couldn't sense the aura, how could he?

"How did you know there is demonic aura?" Kuwabara asked, up in Quinn's grill. He backed up a little.

"Oh, I have an extremely sensitive sixth sense Kazuma," He replied. Ailias raised an eyebrow. Lee sat up and laughed a little.

"I knew there was something about you," she chuckled. "I knew it." She stood up and stretched. "well, how's about we make camp?" She yawned. "I'm pooped." She walked away then returned a few moments later, sticks in hand. Quickly, and quite accurately, she built a tent, a fire, and some pretty decent chairs.

"Well, cmon!" She called top the group. "Dinner ain't gonna cook itself!" Everyone else glanced at eachother, then looked back towards Lee who was heading into the tent for a nap.

"Where'd she get that cloth?" Yusuke eventually asked. Everyone shrugged.

"So who's hungry?" Hiei asked plainly. The gang began to murmur amongst themselves. Eventually, they all migrated around the campfire and heated up some fish they had caught before they sat down. Kuwabara bit into his after three or four seconds of heating it up, and threw up ten nanoseconds later. Idiot.

After Kuwabara Spewed Chunks:

"Well," A satisfied Kurama began. "That was filling."

"Yeah!" Yusuke chimed in. "Dinner and entertainment!" He pointed at Kuwabara and laughed. Quinn couldn't help but laugh. Everyone else who was among the living joined in. Lee and Hiei were sound asleep. Hiei only because Yusuke put some crushed up sleeping pills on his fish. After three bites, he was OUT! (Reference to a talent show performance at MCMS this year. Yours truly, Kitty and Niki, all of whom have been mentioned, unless you didn't read the BONUS Chapter. Kitty was introduced then… and the Christmas chapter… yup, that one too. Or was it just her character? Anywho… If you wish to learn about our performance… ASK! .)

The Next Day:

"Lee," Ailias whispered as they walked through the dense forest to continue their search for the… uh… hold on, I gotta check my sources… RIGHT! The search for the three spirit items! Dur, how could I forget that? I wrote it! Damn assed forgetful me! Excuse me while I beat myself up to a point where I'll wake up in the morning and scream because I think there is something behind me! Now I will rant and shout curses at my self. This will take a brief moment so I suggest you go to the bathroom or get something to eat at this time. Think of this as a commercial break. ………………………………………………………………………………………………….Insert cry of pain here ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Censor. Very long, annoying censor. My ears, they bleed! ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………That all I got! BRING IT ON! Niki: Uh… KJ… I think you can stop beating yourself up now… You just forgot. No big deal. The story will go on, unless you knock yourself into a coma. Then… it, well, won't. So, for the sake of the chap- KJ: I'm in the middle of a very important conversation! OW! Please lecture me on my homework habits later! OW! PAIN! Niki: O…K… The story will now continue. Film for movie strip thing breaks and returns you to the scene of Ailias and Lee whispering.

"Lee," Ailias whispered as they walked through the dense forest to continue their search for the three stolen spirit items. "How much do you know about Quinn?" Lee looked at her strangely.

"Nothing… He was just… in my class for a day, y'know, before we found those demons we were looking for."

"Yeah, but, did you even know his name then?"

"No." Ailias threw her hands up in the air.

"Well we know a lot about this guy then, huh! For all we know, he could be taking us to this demon so we can watch as the world is mutilated! Or worse! Watch as the world is 'pretty-fied' just so we can be tortured by its sweetness!" Lee's eyes were really wide. Did Ailias bring booze along with her on this trip? Koenma was right to act crazy. They did get drunk on just about every mission!

"Chill Nee-san, Koenma sent him with us. How bad could he be?"

"How bad could he- LEE! He put us on the team. 'How DUMB could he be' should be the question here! And 'Hello!' We're on this damn mission because he ain't got the intellect to properly secure the spirit vault in the first place!" Lee just about fell over from Ailias's yelling. Damn that was loud.

"OK, I get it. But, what else can we do besides trust him? And, a word to the wise, you're yelling. I bet that Koenma even heard you dissing him." Blush. Oh yeah, Ailias was soooo blushing. Her entire face was red, fire engine red! HOT FIRE BABY! … uh… emphasis on the redness on her face… yeah, that's all that was. Or, perhaps I ate too many sugary food products today… who knows? UH, right… anyway…

"Hey, when you two are done with your little 'pow-wow' you can join us over here and gasp." Yusuke shouted over his shoulder. Lee and Ailias stared at him for a while, then decided to see what the hell he was talking about. They stood over a crater about as big as Japan and the rest of China's population, (see last chapter) combined. Well, let's just say that each of those people could fit in here and have a decent amount of elbow room. Smoke emitted from the ginormous hole.

"What do you think caused it?" Kurama questioned.

"Maybe a few dozen missiles?" Quinn tried. Kurama shrugged.

"A possibility." Lee took one more step forward to catch a better glimpse and, WHOOPS! She slipped! She tumbled down the side of the crater, crashing into very pointy pieces of debris. Cuts and… more cuts began to decorate her body. She eventually reached the bottom and landed in a stream with a SPLASH! The water was cold too.

"LEE!" Everyone except Hiei yelled. Hiei was already down the side of the crater and on the bank of the stream. Lee leaned on the bank; her hair laying heavily over her face. She shivered as she lifted herself out of the stream. The rest of the gang reached the bottom, but Kuwabara almost fell in. Too bad…

"Lee, you OK?" Yusuke asked.

"Do… I-I look OK t-t-to you-ou?" she said threw frozen shut teeth. Her wet hair still hung over her face as she shivered uncontrollably. Ailias draped her trench coat over the drenched kitsune. She then picked her up and carried her away from the cold stream. Hiei lit a fire and Ailias sat Lee down beside it. Kurama pulled the hair away from her face and examined her closely.

"You need to get out of these wet clothes," He told her. She shot him a look.

"What!" He looked at her oddly.

"You did bring an extra pair of clothes… right?" She blushed.

"Uh…" Yet another flash back:

"Lee, remember to pack another pair of clothes!" Ailias called to Lee who was lounging on the couch.

"PFFT! Puh-lease! This will take like, three hours, tops!"

End flashback. I really like flash backs. Anywho…

"You didn't huh?" Kurama concluded from her silence. "If we don't get you out of these clothes, you'll get sick!" Ailias dropped a duffel bag infront of Lee. Lee looked up at Ailias confused. Her ears twitched.

"Hm?"

"Good thing I care about you and brought some clothes for you, huh?" Ailias mocked. "Now be a good little kitsune and go change." Lee nodded and left for a brief moment. "honestly!" Ailias exclaimed, sitting down cross-legged by Kurama. "Teenagers!" Kurama chuckled.

"Yes. We teenagers are quite the handful, aren't we?"

"You got that right!" Yusuke agreed, playfully punching Kurama's shoulder. Ailias's eyes trailed over to Quinn, who was sitting silently by himself about 3 feet from the fire.

"You OK over there Quinny-boy!" Ailias called. She wasn't too concerned really. More like… suspicious. He looked over at her oddly. Quinny-boy! Cmon, really.

"Yeah. I'm OK! Just… sensing something!" He called back.

"Sensing something?" Kuwabara repeated. "What is that something?"

"Demons…" Kurama and Ailias stood up.

"Where!" They said at once. For the first time in this conversation, Quinn looked at them, completely frightened. He pointed to the right, where Lee had gone to change.

"I'll go," Ailias said to Kurama. "If you go, she might scream."

"Gotcha…" Kurama said, sitting down. And with that, she fled from the group.


KJ and Niki signing off! How's that for a cliff hanger! Oh, yeah, I've decided to make use of the Italics button. IT'S FUN!