OMG 3 REVIEWS SO QUICKLY! I'm really really happy now. . Good thing I had this chapter finished ahead of time. . This one is longer than the others but that's because I wanted to keep this in one chapter and not drag it out since really...I don't find it too important. Still, it's part of the storyline. . So I hope you like it! Thanks to my three reviewers you make me feel happy inside! So, three more reviews and I'll update again! . And just because a chapter got three reviews doesn't mean you can't review it as well to give it more! (Wow I just realized how many exclamation marks I used... lol .)
Disclaimer: I do not own YYH.
CHAPTER TEN – ENTER THE ANIMAL TRIO
Catalyn was expecting the reaction she received: Kurama frowned, and Kuwabara looked stunned. After all, she could understand what they were thinking. How could a tough guy like Hiei and a powerful fighter like Yusuke be losing?
"Let's help them, then!" Kuwabara said, and pounded on the door in an attempt to shove it open. Instead, he was pushed back by an unseen force.
"It appears they don't want anyone interfering with their fights," Kurama said, "but I suppose that's to be expected."
Just then, Catalyn's communication device started beeping. She turned it on to see that Botan was contacting her. "Catalyn, good, you all look well," Botan began, but Catalyn cut her off.
"Kurama, Kuwabara, and I beat Fai, but Yusuke and Hiei are still fighting Kai," she informed her. "And we can't help them."
Botan looked a bit worried. "Well, you can always wait for them, or move on and wait for them to catch up." She grinned, but Catalyn knew it was fake. "After all, they'll probably catch up in no time!"
Catalyn tried to smile back. "Okay, so who's next?" She hated how false her voice sounded.
"The deer girl, Shika. But watch out," Botan warned. "She's ruthless. Utterly vicious. Quite the opposite of Nami."
"Okay, thanks," Catalyn said. "Give Jet and Mari a hug for me." And she turned it off. She looked at Kurama and Kuwabara. "Well? Do we move on or wait it out?"
"Let's wait a good fifteen or so minutes," Kurama said. "That will give us time to rest and recover some more before moving on. But if they don't come, we really should move on." Catalyn and Kuwabara nodded, and the three of them took seats on the cold wooden floor.
Since her ears were the sharpest, Catalyn lay on the floor with her ear to the door crack, listening in to get an idea of how the battle was progressing. She heard the same laughter as before, knowing it must belong to Kai. Then she heard Yusuke's voice: "Hiei, watch out!" There is a blast of some sort, a swoosh of a sword – probably Hiei's katana. The next thing she heard made her freeze: "Hiei, what do you think you're doing? I'm on your side, damn it!" Yusuke yells, there comes the swish of a katana, and then Kai's laughter.
It was all too easy for her to figure out. She remembered Botan's words on Kai's powers all too clearly.
Kurama and Kuwabara noticed her stunned expression. "What's wrong?" they asked.
Catalyn took a deep breath, for she couldn't will herself to believe this was actually happening, and said, "I think Kai has taken control of Hiei's mind. He's having him attack Yusuke."
"WHAT!" Kuwabara yelled. He bent over to listen in but couldn't hear anything.
Kurama tried as well, but to no avail. "Keep us up to date," he said. "Has he hurt Yusuke?"
She listened in hard. Still, all she heard were Yusuke's pleas, Hiei's sword strokes, and Kai's laughter. "He seems okay," she said, "for now, anyway. But Hiei…falling into Kai's trap like that…I wouldn't have expected that."
"Especially with the powers of his Jagan," Kurama agreed. "Perhaps Hiei underestimated him and learned that the hard way?"
Catalyn didn't answer. He was probably right, but she still couldn't believe it. She kept on listening. Yell, swoosh, laugh. Yell, swoosh, laugh… It went on and on. Suddenly she heard a cry of pain and a loud thump.
"Hiei's knocked Yusuke out!" she exclaimed in shock. The others gasped as well.
Then she heard Hiei speak. "Kai, you bastard!" There was the swish of a katana, and this time no laughter followed it.
"But Hiei's broken free," she added. "Or Kai's released him."
"Either way, I doubt Hiei will fall for the same trick twice," Kurama said wisely. "Still, this isn't the best situation for Hiei. Fights are rarely this troublesome for him."
"Spirit gun!"
Catalyn gasped loudly. "Yusuke's okay! He was only pretending to be knocked out!"
They all sighed in relief.
"But the fight is still far from over," Catalyn said.
"I agree," Kurama said, picking himself up. "We should continue."
And so they began to climb the stairs. Each step shook and creaked, giving them the feeling like it would give way from under them at any moment, and they'd fall through the bottomless depths below forever. Still, they managed to reach the top without any near misses. Once at the top, they found themselves standing on some sort of platform with a hard earth ground. It was very wide, but one slip would send them into the darkness. The only way up was the stairs across from them.
"There's no one here," Kuwabara remarked.
That's when they heard the sound of running, and three demons came charging down the stairs. One is in the form of a deer, presumably Shika. Another appears as a fox. The last one appears as a lion, roaring as he charged down to greet them. When they reached the platform, they changed into their more human forms.
The lion transformed into a tall man with shaggy brown hair and massive muscles. He retained his lion's ears and tail, and his nails were very claw-like. His feet were enormous. "You can call me King," he said in a low grumble that made the floor vibrate.
The fox man wore reddish-brown animal skins for clothing, and his hair was that color as well. He also kept his ears and tail. His eyes were small and had a mysterious glint to them. "I'm Mamoru," he announced in a cool voice.
Shika, in her more human form, looked like a mere child, perhaps Mari's age at most. Her ears remained deer's ears, and her skin was slightly paler than a deer's. Her features were delicate and solemn, and her amber eyes emitted a fierce glow. "I'm Shika," she said, in a voice devoid of any innocence. "We are the animal trio, each having the ability to transform into a different animal, but with other powers as well. We, King, Mamoru, and Shika, do challenge you to three one-on-one battles…" she pronounced the next three words with pauses in between, "Winner. Take. All."
King stepped up first, pointing at Kuwabara. "Mamoru and I are a few floors up, but we came down because we couldn't wait to get to kill you guys. I'll take this one."
Kuwabara stepped forward, but Catalyn heard him grumbling, "Why do I always get the giant felines?" Catalyn giggled, having heard Kurama's story about the Four Beasts.
Anyways, Kuwabara summoned his aura sword, but she noticed that it didn't seem as strong as the one he used from his previous battle against Fai.
"Does he have the strength to fight already?" she muttered to herself.
Kurama heard, and he assured her, "Don't worry, Kuwabara has excellent stamina. Besides, he's been through much worse."
"I'll take your word for it," she answered with a smile.
It turned out true. Kuwabara beheaded King with one measly sword stroke. Mamoru and Shika showed no signs of expression. Then the head rolled between Kuwabara, Catalyn, and Kurama, and emitted a huge roar. Catalyn's ears, being especially sensitive, began to pain her so much that it threatened to black her out. Kuwabara and Kurama cover their ears, also in pain, but not as much as her. She covered her ears as tightly as she could but to no avail. The ground shook beneath her and she fell to her knees just as King's entire body, head and all, exploded.
The instant she fell, she was knocked off her feet by the force of the explosion, and she was instantly reawakened. However, she had been unprepared, and the force sent her flying over the edge. She swung her hands wildly, and one hand grabbed hold of the platform. Her nails dug into the ground as she brought up her other hand for another handhold, but she instead grabbed Kurama's hand. He helped her up.
"You okay?" he asked gently.
"Fine," she mumbled, embarrassed with herself. Her knees were quivering. Damn, damn, she thought. I'm not supposed to be weak like this…
She saw Kuwabara lying facedown on the ground, his eyes wide open. "He's fine," Kurama said with a grin, answering her unasked question. "He's probably in shock. Well, I guess this is his resting period." Together they moved his body out of the way.
Shika laughed coldly. "Well, it's not like I was expecting King's strategy to work, the dimwitted fool. Your turn, Mamoru."
Mamoru stepped forward, as did Kurama. "Well, how about that?" Mamoru said, chuckling. "I know all about you…fox against fox, eh? This should be fun. Care to show me your true form?"
"Sorry, but I'll have to deny your request," Kurama said. He takes out his rose whip, and Mamoru laughs even louder. "Yes?"
Mamoru grabs a fistful of dirt, and it transforms into a whip. The handle is made of bark and rocks, while the whip itself is made of mud, with sharp bits of rocks for thorns. "This is my earth whip," he explained. With one whip crack, he created a large fissure in the platform. "As you can see, it's much more powerful than your rose whip."
"We'll see," Kurama said through gritted teeth.
Almost at once, Mamoru lashed out at Kurama. Kurama parried the blow, redirecting the earth whip, and it created another fissure in the ground. This happened again and again, until Catalyn realized that almost the entire area around Kurama was split up.
"Kurama, he's trapping you!" Catalyn yelled.
Kurama looked her way, and in the fraction of a second, so quick and slight that she wasn't sure it actually happened, he winked. Mamoru took the opportunity to catch Kurama off guard and in that instant, slashed at his cheek. Kurama tried to sidestep, and the whip grazed his cheek.
"You're lucky you looked my way in time," Mamoru said boldly. "Otherwise, you would have been done for. You might want to pay a bit more attention in the fut–" Before he knew it, there was a whip crack, and his cheek was cut exactly like Kurama's. He grinned. "Well, Kurama, at least you're paying attention now. However," he slashed at the ground, and the fissure around Kurama was complete, "when you are aware of your enemy's strategy, it isn't wise to let them go through with it, because that will result in your demise." He slashed the whip through the air and the earth around Kurama began to crack at the edges. Bits of earth began breaking off and falling into the darkness below. Mamoru cracks his whip again, and the shaking stops. Only a small square of land was left around Kurama, so that he had no place to go.
Kuwabara suddenly jumped up, wide awake, and yelled, "Remember Byakko!"
Catalyn frowned. She knew that Byakko was the member of the Four Beasts that Kuwabara fought, but she didn't understand what he meant by it. However, it seemed Kurama did, for he was smiling again.
"Well?" Mamoru asked. "Ready to admit defeat?"
"Not quite," Kurama said with a mischievous smile. With his rose whip, he slashes at the ground beneath him. The ground breaks up and plummets downwards, sending Kurama with it.
Mamoru had been taken aback, but then he sniffed, "Idiot."
"Kurama!" Catalyn yelled, rushing forward. Instantly, something hard on her chest pinned her down. It was Shika, in her deer form. With her front hooves, she was pinning her down, and her eyes were glowing with a fierce silvery-black. Catalyn's fists flamed up, and she tried to push Shika off of her, but Shika brought a hoof to her throat, pressing down on her windpipe so that she couldn't breathe. Catalyn struggled to break free, but it only made things worse. Her eyes began to water.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a whip lashing onto the edge of the fissure, and Kurama flew out of the pit. In one swift movement, he slashed Mamoru's body in half, and the shocked fox demon's body promptly exploded.
"Watch out, Shika," Kurama said threateningly, and Catalyn heard the slashing of a whip. Shika backed off right away, and Catalyn sat up, coughing and massaging her neck. She tried to get up, but her legs felt like jelly. Instead, she sat where she was and watched as Kurama and Shika faced each other. Shika had a cut on her cheek.
"Catalyn, are you okay?" Kuwabara asked worriedly.
"No thanks to you," she muttered, still rubbing her throat.
Botan was right, she realized as she watched Kurama and Shika's fight. In her deer form, Shika was downright vicious. She was stampeding Kurama, without a care for where the rose whip slashed her. With every slash, she ploughed right through, ignoring the blood bursting from her wounds. Her eyes glowed fiercely. "See my regeneration powers!" she roared, and her wounds healed instantly. She dove on top of Kurama, knocking his whip away, and pressed hard on his neck. Kurama winced and choked. "How do you like that?" she asked with a wild grin.
The sight filled Catalyn with so much rage that she was able to stand without faltering. With a burst of speed, she charged for Shika like lightning, slashing her right between the eyes. Shika cried out in agony, and her body exploded.
Kurama and Catalyn were both sprayed with bursts of Shika's black blood. "Eugh!" she exclaimed in disgust, trying to wipe it off. Then she helped Kurama to his feet.
"Thanks," he said.
"No problem," she replied. They both smiled.
A loud roar interrupted the moment and Catalyn quickly covered her ears. King stood before them, somehow alive and uninjured. This time, he was in his lion form. "Hmph," he growled. "I thought my roaring technique would be enough. You're not as weak as I thought."
"But – hey! Are you calling me weak?" Kuwabara yelled in anger. "I'll show you!" He lunged for King, his aura sword ready, but just before he reached him, Catalyn whipped some balls of flame at him, and King's body exploded for good, spraying Kuwabara with splotches of blood. Kuwabara stares from her to where King was. Then he yells, "Hey that was my fight!"
"Shut up, baka," she yawned.
Then they all heard a voice, echoing from somewhere unknown. "Come along, climb up the stairs. You'll be in for a surprise." Catalyn gave a start. She knew that voice. It was all too familiar to her, yet she couldn't quite place it. Finally she decided that she must have been imagining that she knew it, and followed the boys up the stairs.
Kurama noticed her hesitant stride. "Something wrong?" he asked quietly. Kuwabara was paying no attention to them.
"I'm not sure," she said. "But shouldn't Yusuke and Hiei be finished by now? We've defeated four demons since we separated and they're still on their first. Is this normal?"
"Don't worry about them," Kurama said. "I'm sure they'll be fine."
"I don't know," she said. "I think they're going to lose." Then she was struck by the feeling that she was being really stupid. "Oh, heck, what am I saying?" she scolded herself. "Yusuke and Hiei are strong enough to do well on their own, and why should I give a hoot for Hiei anyways? He's a dumb jerk, really, and I couldn't care less what happens to him."
"I think you're wrong, there," Kurama said, and continued up the stairs.
"Yeah right!" she called after him, storming up. "Don't expect me to come to his rescue anytime soon!"
"It doesn't have to be soon, as long as the time comes," Kurama said.
Fuming, Catalyn went up without another word.
At the top of the stairs, they were greeted by a hallway with three doors. The ones on the left and right were locked, but the door in the middle opened easily. The room was pitch-black. Kuwabara went in first, followed by Kurama and then Catalyn.
Her ears pricked up instantly. "Something's not right about this place," she said, or started to say, because all she got out was "Something's not ri–" and after that, pain exploded in the back of her head, and she screamed. She dimly heard Kurama yell, too, and there is a thump, followed by Kuwabara's yell of, "Hey!" But after that she toppled to the ground, unconscious.