Chapter seven (7) Cowardice and worries

To Yuki, Katria and Kyo's moves were blurs. He could at one time see them as they attack otherwise they were invisible. He saw Mir's head move in every direction trying to follow them.

His concentration was broken when a large gust of wind came and blew him and Mir over. They hit the ground hard. Yuki heard a sound of clashing metal above them. He tried to raise his head but the wind kept it down, so he turned his eyes upward to see Kyo and Katria fighting in front of them. He saw Mir try to stand up but Yuki reached over and pushed her head down to make sure she didn't get it cut off.

Kyo and Katria were sharing blow for blow. Both of them stopped for a breath, minor cuts and scrapes covered their bodies, but Kyo's stab wound was still bleeding profusely making him more and more tired.

'Damn I need a new plan.' Katria thought. 'Even with my speed and his wound, were too evenly matched. I need something to use against him!' Her eyes fell on Yuki who was covering Mir against the force of the wind from their speed. 'Perfect.' Katria sent one of her daggers at Kyo, who dodged it, then ran. In seconds flat she reached the two teenagers and before Kyo or Mir could do anything Katria had Yuki in her grasp with her other dagger to his throat.

Yuki felt himself get lifted up by his shirt and set on his feet. The next thing he knew his arm was being twisted behind his back and cold steel was on his neck. He opened his eyes to see Katria's arm holding the dagger and gasped. Yuki immediately began to struggle against her hold.

Kyo saw Yuki in front of Katria and he froze where he was.

Katria smiled as she saw Kyo stop. She pushed up on Yuki's arm behind his back to make him stop struggling and succeeding in making him yell out. "Good," Katria grinned as she whispered in Yuki's ear. "Now just behave and you won't get hurt." To prove her point she made a small, but deep, cut running down his temple to his check with her dagger. Yuki gritted his teeth against the pain.

Kyo grimaced; this wasn't good. Originally he'd just attack and try to get around Yuki, but two things stopped him form doing so. A) He had no help at the moment and B) he was way to slow due to loss of blood. A wave of dizziness hit him like a rock but he pushed it aside.

Yuki saw Kyo waver and figured his situation wasn't good. What had made its way into his brain was that this girl was a murderer, and she had some sort of bad encounter with Kyo. Oh man, he going to kill the damn cat if both of them made it out of here alive. He shifted trying to get out of Katria's grasp but this time when she pulled on his arm she almost ripped it out of its socket. Yuki yelled out as the pain shot through his arm.

"Make it easier on yourself kid." Katria said. "Stop struggling and be quite."

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Yuki seethed. Katria's eyebrows arched up. "Just have everyone you hate bow down to you?"

"Yes, I would like that," Katria smiled. "But I will kill you if I have to. Which is a shame, you're actually kinda cute." She put her lips to Yuki's cut and licked off some of his blood from it making him shiver.

Kyo saw his opening when Katria leaned over Yuki. He ran forward and leapt up withdrawing his last dagger from his pants. He was surprised when he wasn't the only one who attacked. Beside Katria, Mir found her last bit of energy and jumped up. Behind her Aka and Liam ran towards her both of their palms glowing.

Katria saw them and laughed. 'WHAT IDIOTIC FOOLS!' she thought to herself. "You've served your purpose." She said to Yuki and threw him to the ground cutting him across the neck but not deeply.

Yuki, who had seen the others jump in, hit the ground and stayed there temporarily ignoring the pain in his neck.

Kyo, Mir, Aka and Liam charged forward and attacked Katria all at once. Katria stood there letting them come at her. Finally before they reached her she raised her hands towards the sky and the clouds started to shift colours. The sky turned black and the clouds changed to a mauve colour. Lightning streaked across the sky before it came together in one spot in the sky above the clearing then came striking to the ground.

Kyo and the others skidded to a halt in time to see the lightning form into a ball in Katria's hands. "TIME TO DIE!" She yelled before she let the lightning spread out across the field hitting Kyo, Mir and the twins. Yuki ducked his head down even farther, but being at Katrias feet he didn't get hit. Kiko and Misa landed beside their Mistress before the lightning struck and were protected by her.

All four of their screams echoed throughout the field as the lightning coursed through their bodies. Mir was sent flying backwards and hit her head on a large boulder that surrounded the lake, making her hit the ground out cold. Akaisha and Liam both glowed as the last bit of energy left their bodies, making them transform back into their teenage forms. They too fell to the ground unconscious. Kyo was the last to fall, his body felt like it was on fire and his wound was spread open even farther. He hit the ground with a thud letting the darkness overcome him at last.

Katria smiled as all of her prey went down. She knew they weren't dead, but she would settle for this for now, She had bigger fish to fry at the moment and their wounds would not allow them to move for a while.

"Mistress should we go now?" Kiko asked bowing to Katria.

Katria looked at her then to the sky, which had returned to its normal colour again. "I suppose so." She turned around to walk away but Misa stopped her.

"Mistress, what about him?" Misa asked pointing to Yuki who had gotten up and crawled over to Mir who had been the closest to him.

"Oh Mr. Cutie pie?" Katria said in a happy voice. "He's still alive. Let's bring him back to the castle then we can torture him for fun." She offered excited.

"But mistress Don't you have enough victims?" Kiko stated.

"Yes, I suppose so." Sighed Katria. "Just knock him out like the others."

"Yes mistress." Misa bowed before she ran over to Yuki. Yuki looked up at her and jumped to his feet. "Don't bother, You couldn't beat me." Using her speed she got behind him and before he could turn around Misa hit Yuki on the back of the neck and he fell to the ground near Mir.

With a swirl of black lines the three evil demon women left the clearing and its unconscious occupants for the night.

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Kyo groaned. His entire body felt like a dead weight. He was just about to close his eyes and go back to the nice land of blackness and butterflies when he remembered what had just happened. Forcing his eyes open with another groan he got up on his hands and knees. Kyo looked around seeing his friends and his cousin lying a few feet away from him.

Noticing it was now night, Kyo knew he needed to get help. Slowly and painfully he crawled over to the others, thanking god that they were within arms reach of each other.

"Still alive?"

Kyo jumped at the voice thinking it was Katria again but was relived to see Liam looking up at him with his eyes open. "Hey…" he whispered unable to get his voice any higher.

"You shouldn't...be moving…around." Liam scolded as he tried to sit up but only managed to squirm on the ground.

"Oh…b-be quite. You can't even…you can't…even get up…" Kyo exclaimed. A wave of dizziness washed over Kyo and he lost his hold on the ground causing him to fall into it face first.

"Kyo?" He heard Liam call to him. "Kyo?" His own name rang in his ears giving him a headache. Fighting back the pain and feelings, or lack of, Kyo turned over and muttered to his friend. "Shut up…Liam. I… heard…you." He heard his friends sigh in relief. "Take your… brothers… hand…" he told the awake twin who complied with out question.

Glancing over at Yuki and Mir he saw that their arms were already crossed. With a sigh he took Liam's free hand in one of his and grabbed onto Yuki's hand with his other one. "Need…a…place…" Kyo muttered. "Make… safe…place." He added.

Liam understood and tried to think of a safe place where they could get help. Shigures house? No, Honda-san was there. The Sohma main house? No Akito, the bastard was there. Kings palace? No too crowded with mortals. Kazuma-Dono? Perfect. Their master could protect them. He just hoped it was to far for Kyo to Jump to.

"Kazuma-Dono's." Liam answered.

Kyo opened his eyes at Liam's suggestion. It was a good one, even he probably wouldn't have thought about it. Closing his eyes, Kyo pictured the dojo in his mind. With a silent prayer that he actually made it there, Kyo summoned up the rest of his energy. With a reassuring squeeze in his hand from Liam, Kyo and the others disappeared from the clearing. The only record they had been there was the blood-covered grass, strewn weapons, and two large unconscious demons by the name of Wilfred and Bill laying at the edge of the woods.

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Meanwhile back at the house…

Tohru stood outside Shigures house waiting for the Yuki, Kyo and the others to return. They had been gone for over four hours and she was worried sick.

She jumped when the door opened behind her and Shigure walked out. A serious expression was engraved on his face.

Tohru noticed it and stepped back so she was beside the dog. "What's the matter Shigure-san?" She asked.

Shigure narrowed his eyes and used his nose to sniff the night air. "Nothing to worry about I'm sure." At Tohru's anxious look, he continued. "For a while now, I've smelt blood in the air. But it's strange; the smell has suddenly gone."

Tohru's eyes went wide as she gasped and took a step back. "You don't think… Is it Shoma-kuns? What about Kyo-kuns? Mir-Chans? Liam-kuns? Aka-kuns?" Tears came to the corner of her eyes as she imagined the worst possibility in her mind.

Shigure gave her a warm smile and patted her on the head. "Don't worry my little flower. I'm sure it's not theirs." Shigure said trying to calm Tohru down while trying to convince himself at the same time. "I'm sure it's just the scent of the demon thing they set out to kill."

"I hope so." Tohru stated as she turned to watch the woods for any signs of the others. To her surprise Shigure stayed with her.

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Kazuma was just putting away the last of the blocks that his students had been using for practicing when he felt a ringing in his ears. Setting the block down he looked around trying to figure out what made the ringing. He was about to go back to moving the block when a flash of bright, white light filled the room.

When the light dimmed, Kazuma whipped around to see five unconscious teenagers lying on his dojo floor.

Immediately he recognized them, "Yuki, Mirialla? Liam and Akaisha? Kyo?" He whispered in a daze before he snapped to attention and ran over to them, bending over Kyo first.

"Sensei?"

Kazuma looked up as he heard someone speak. He looked over to see Liam struggling to stand up and the dojo master went to his side to help him sit up. "Liam-Kun?" He whispered to the boy. "Don't try to move to much. You'll be okay."

Liam nodded and raised his hand to point to Kyo. "Get him… help. The wound…in his stomach." Liam's hand fell to the floor as he fell out of consciousness. Kazuma set him back on the floor after he saw the boy had no life threatening injuries. Afraid, he turned to Kyo to see his hands clasped together with one of Liam's and the other in Yuki's. He shifted over to sit beside his former student. Unclasping Kyo's hands hurriedly Kazuma flipped Kyo over so he was facing upwards.

Kazuma drew a sharp intake of breath as he saw Kyo's wound and how pale his face was. A small pool of blood had already formed on his floor. Pushing back the lump in his throat Kazuma stood up and ran directly for the phone. One phone call later and Hatori was on the way. If it had been anyone except Kyo or Yuki he would have called an ambulance, but it looked like Kyo would transform any moment now because his body would be to weak to hold his human form.

Kazuma hurried back to Kyo, Yuki and the others. Checking over the others, the only one with a serious injury was Kyo. Taking a towel from the closet he applied pressure to Kyo's wound to try to stop the trace amount of bleeding. Hearing footsteps Kazuma looked up hopefully. And sure enough Hatori Sohma walked into the room followed by a clueless looking Ayame.

Ayames clueless look left his face as soon he saw his brother lying unconscious on the floor. "Yuki!" he yelled running over to his younger brother and dropped down beside him. Ayame looked his younger brother over but his eyes were drawn to the cut going down his cheek.

"Kazu-san what happened to them?" Ayame asked Kazuma who was watching Hatori.

"I don't know." The dojo master replied sadly. "One moment I was putting away the blocks," he pointed to the object in question. "Then they came out of nowhere. I'd been so long I forgot what it was." Kazuma looked back to Kyo. "It was Kyo's Jump technique."

"His jump?" Hatori asked angrily. "When he was wounded this badly? What an idiot." He continued to try to patch up Kyo's stab wound.

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Two hours later…

Hatori stepped out of the room Kazuma had prepared for Kyo. He had managed to heal Kyo to the best of his ability and he was amazed that the boy hadn't transformed during any of it. The cat was sleeping peacefully now, with no threat to his life. Before walking into the main room of the dojo Hatori stopped by to check on the other four whom had come back with Kyo. They were all fine; none of them had woken up but were sleeping peacefully.

"How is he?" Kazuma asked as he saw Hatori come in the room.

"He'll live" replied the solemn doctor. "Fifteen stitches in his stomach. Whoever stabbed him must have been extremely skilled or extremely lucky."

"But who would have wanted to stab Kyon? Or hurt Yuki, Mir-Chan, and the twins?" Ayame asked his voice holding a sad note to it.

"Or more importantly," Kazuma started.

"What were Mirialla, Akaisha and Liam doing back in town now anyway?" Hatori finished.

"We're here for the festival of the Eight Day's of Hell." A voice said from the doorway where Hatori had entered.

The three men looked up to see one of the twins standing in he doorway.

"You should be sleeping." Hatori scolded.

"Yhea, nice to see you too again Hatori-san." The twin muttered as he sat down beside Ayame.

"Liam." Kazuma turned to the boy. "You said you were here for the festival, so how did all of you end up beaten up."

Liam sighed. "Remember our dear demon friend from two years ago? The one all of us were fighting against?" The three of them nodded. "Guess who decided to rise from the grave and get her revenge on Kyo?"

"Katria." Hatori muttered. Ayame and Kazuma gasped as they looked at Liam.

"But I thought Sakura finished her off?" Ayame shouted not bothering to keep his voice down. "Sakura-chan died defeating her! We all saw it happen!"

"Ayame keep your voice down!" Kazuma told him.

Ayame started at him. "How can you tell me to keep my voice down? How can you be so calm?" Ayame stood up still yelling at Kazuma. "She was one of your students. She was Kyon's best friend and ours as well! And now we find out that the person who killed her is still alive. How do you expect me to keep calm." He stopped waiting for an answer.

"I don't expect you to keep calm, but yelling is not going to fix anything Ayaa." Liam spoke up breaking the silence. "But were going to find a way to fix this." Liam knew he sounded confident but he was also trying to convince himself it would be okay.

Ayame looked at the younger teen and sighed. He plopped back on the floor beside Hatori and put his chin in his hand and rested his elbow on his knee. "So what do we do know? Do we fight them again?"

"I will." Hatori spoke up as he looked at Liam. "But I'm not sure if Akito should be informed about this."

Liam's face contorted with anger. "That bastards not dead yet?" he asked baring his fangs. "I should go and drain him of what blood he has left!"

"You're not going anywhere." Kazuma said as he flicked Liam in the side of the temple. Liam fell over tears coming down the side of his face.

"Owe." Yipped Liam. "Why did you do that master?"

"See, you barely have any energy, I'm amazed you could stay awake this long." Kazuma said helping his former student to his feet. "It's 12:00 so you're going back to bed and we'll finish talking in the morning." He led the Vampire back to his room and then came back.

"So much for the peace of the last two years." Kazuma sighed. "Guess we better break out the old weapons again."

No one spoke until they heard the phone ring. Weary Kazuma got up to answer it before it woke anybody up.

"Hello?" he greeted.

"Ahh Kazuma-san you're still awake. Good!" Shigures voice shouted over the phone. "I so hope I wouldn't be waking you up."

"No, it's only 12:00 I wouldn't be asleep by now." Kazuma sighed as Shigure started to apologize. "Never mind I wasn't asleep, Now what did you want?"

He heard Shigure sigh then say, "I know it's kind of odd, but a few of Kyo's friends came over today and they took him and Yuki-kun out and they haven't come back yet. Tohru-chan is worried about them and I was wondering if they happened to have whined up at the dojo."

Kazuma switched ears with the phone and answered. "Yhea, they're here-" he was cut off as he heard Shigure call to Tohru and tell her that he had found them. "But Shigure…" He was ignored. "Shigure!" Ignored again. "SHIGURE! PAY ATTENTION!" He yelled finally getting the dogs attention. Kazuma lowered his voice as he continued to explain about what had happened to Kyo, Yuki and the others.

In the other room Ayame heard Kazuma shout and he turned to Hatori, "And he tells me to keep my voice down." He stated. Hatori just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

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