Oh man, I've hit twenty chapters! Yeah baby! Ahem. Well, as promised, here is the next chapter. I'm estimating about 4 more, but at this point I'm still not too certain.
Thank you's:
blackie-chan: Heh, actually the readers know that Catalyn is actually Junsei...it's been a long time though, that was all the way at the beginning of the fic...
Vitanie Tora: Well, you'll see how Catalyn handles the situation in this chapter. Enjoy!
TwitchyEars007: I've only made Hiei and Catalyn fight physically three times now...I never intend to make them fight a lot, so let me explain myself...the first two times they fought, it was to serve as training. Of course, training never lasted too long because of their missions. And those two times were a long way apart. Last chapter, I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, but Hiei wasn't really picking a fight with her. He was just trying to prove a point. Most of the time, though, it's verbal combat, or even glaring matches. I hope you understand my reasoning.
Angelkitsune-Naomi: I love the idea of sound effects, lol, but it doesn't work so well in a written piece. :) Anyways, I can't really give you any hints at this point, but enjoy this chapter!
fangimation: To refresh your memory, Catalyn's real name is Junsei Muzai, but she changedit when she became ahalf demon. The only time after thatshe used her real name in school, when she met Yusuke and Kuwabara in the first chapter.Then to avoid getting introuble with spirit world, her sensei pretended to have killedJunsei and that Catalyn was his slave, in other words pretended they were two different people. Catalyn never told the boys because Koenma had originally ordered that Junsei Muzai be brought in for questioning. Hope that clears things up.
Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, just The Feline Curse. Five reviews till I update!
CHAPTER TWENTY – THE BEAST WITHIN
Hours had passed since Catalyn's unintended outburst. The sun was directly overhead, burning into her skin and causing her head to pound (not that it wasn't already hurting – this just made it worse). Many times, she tried to call Kurama over, but the words just wouldn't come out of her mouth anymore. If he noticed this, he ignored it.
She no longer had the energy from the morning. She felt even weaker than she'd been the night before. Every muscle in her body was aching, and the scars on her arms were itching terribly. The curse was slowing her down tremendously as it continued to steadily take its toll on her. Her footsteps were sluggish, and she now had to fight to keep herself awake. But it didn't stop there. The Beast was gnawing at her consciousness, trying to break free. And of course, being what it was, it wouldn't try to do so without bringing along its favourite ally: pain. There was still quite a distance from the mountain, and she knew there would be no way she could hold off the Beast until then. Not even her strongest amount of willpower would save her.
She'd tried it before, with her sensei helping her. He'd draw out the Beast quickly so there'd be no weakness first, and then she would try to keep it at bay. But it never worked. Her sensei even admitted to her that only Kitkit could get rid of the Beast by removing the curse. So now, it was only a matter of time. She thought wistfully of the promise she made to Kurama, and how she said she'd never let the Beast control her again. She wished she didn't have to let him down.
Come on, Catalyn, she urged herself. Come on, don't back down now… Keep going. Her vision started to blacken at the edges. No! No, don't faint now! Keep going steady. Keep walking. Left, right, left, right. That's it. Stay strong. You can do this. You can…
Meanwhile, the guys weren't paying any attention to her. After her outburst, they all knew it was best to ignore her for a while and hope she'd blow off her steam soon. They just followed Kashi and trudged higher and higher up the mountain.
"How much longer?" Kuwabara asked Kashi at one point.
Kashi scanned the summit in the distance. "I'd say another half hour or so, if we keep this pace." She flashed him a grin. "Are you up to it?"
"Of course I am!" he yelled. "I'm the great Kazuma Kuwa–"
"That's enough outta you," Yusuke scowled, knocking him over the head.
"Come on, you two," Kurama said. "Now's not the time."
Yusuke looked at him oddly. "You okay, Kurama?"
"Fine, why do you ask?"
Yusuke shrugged. "Like I said last night, you know her better than the rest of us. You're the one she directed that comment at." Kurama said nothing.
"You're being oddly perceptive lately," Hiei commented with his usual frown. "I'll admit, it's a refreshing change."
Yusuke glared at him. "Little punk!"
But before he could throw any other insults at him, Kuwabara looked around and said, "Uh, guys? Where's Catalyn?"
They all looked around, but she was nowhere nearby. "So she finally took off on us?" Yusuke asked.
Hiei pointed down. Everyone followed his direction. Sure enough, Catalyn was extremely far back, slowly dragging her feet along the ground, her head down.
"Catalyn!" Kuwabara yelled at her. "What'cha doing down there?"
She didn't answer. She didn't even show any indication of having heard him.
"Hey, Catalyn!" Kashi and Yusuke yelled at the same time.
Again, Catalyn didn't seem to hear them. Suddenly she began to sway.
"Catalyn!" Kurama cried urgently, and he leaped downhill to reach her, the others hot on his heels. (Well, Hiei took his time, but that's besides the point.) Kurama reached her as she collapsed, catching her in his arms just before she hit the ground. "Catalyn!" he repeated, worried, shaking her gently. "Catalyn, what's wrong? Catalyn!"
She stirred slightly. Then…
"RAAARGH!"
"Uhn!" Kurama flinched and brought a hand to his cheek. Blood dripped onto his fingers.
They all stared at Catalyn. Her eyes were open, but it wasn't her. Her face was sickeningly pale and her eyes were wide and red. She began to squirm in Kurama's arms, but he tried to hold her steady. Her eyes glowed and she bared her teeth, which grew into fangs. Her claws grew longer. She hissed and thrashed around violently. She suddenly slashed upwards again, and caught Kurama across the other cheek.
Kurama winced in pain as both his cheeks bled, but he fought hard to hold Catalyn down. He grabbed both her wrists and held them as tightly as she could. The crazy Catalyn lurched all over the place, trying to shake him off, but Kurama refused to let go. She kicked him in the stomach hard and he fell backwards, dragging her with him.
The others backed off slightly, stunned, not knowing what to do.
"She's gone crazy!" Kuwabara exclaimed.
"Kurama, let go of her!" Yusuke shouted. "She's dangerous! She'll hurt you!"
Catalyn thrashed about, knocking Kurama down over and over again, but he wouldn't release his grip. "No!" he cried, yelling in pain as he was thrown into the ground headfirst, the dirt mingling with the blood on his cheeks and causing it to sting terribly. "Catalyn!" he yelled at the thrashing body as he struggled to restrain her. "Catalyn, wake up! Catalyn, wake up! Catalyn!"
"Catalyn…Catalyn…Catalyn!"
What? Who's calling me? It's Kurama! But I can't answer him! My body won't listen to me! The Beast is controlling it! I'm trapped! I need to break free! It's hurting! I have to break free!
"Catalyn, wake up! Catalyn!"
GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
Catalyn came awake very suddenly, completely disoriented and terribly weak. One moment, her eyes had been red and her body was struggling violently, but then she blinked, and was herself again. Her claws shrank, her fangs faded, her eyes turned yellow again, and her body fell limply into someone's arms. She didn't know who was holding her, and she was too weak to care.
"Please…" she choked out, her voice coming out in a tiny whisper. "Find me something…a rabbit, even…any animal…just as long…as I can…kill it…" She could faintly sense confusion in the air, but all the voices were a blur. "Just do it," she whispered, and her vision faded.
Her eyes closed again, but they did not reopen a moment later, filled with madness. Kurama looked up at the others, who were just as bewildered as he was, but he was filled with a sense of urgency. "I don't know why, but we have to do as she says if we want to help her!"
Yusuke looked at Hiei. "You're the fastest."
"Hn," Hiei sniffed, but he took off for the job anyways.
Catalyn stirred again a moment later. Kuwabara and Yusuke braced themselves, but nothing happened. Hiei returned with a squirming rabbit he held by the ears. He held it over Catalyn and waited.
She found the strength to open her eyes again after a minute. Someone was holding something that was writhing and shaking…something for her. She raised a trembling hand, her claws pointing right at the thing. She tried to maintain focus. She had to focus…and she released a fireball. It hit the thing and it burst into flames. The person holding it dropped it and stepped on it, smothering the fire. The dead animal's life energy poured into her body. It soothed her itching scars and the pain faded away, completely restoring her strength. Everything was clear again, and she was bursting with energy.
She bolted up in Kurama's arms and looked around into everyone's mystified faces. "Wow, she looks like she just had a jolt of caffeine; she's wide awake now," Yusuke commented.
"Shut up," she muttered darkly. She was angry more than anything else right then. Angry that she'd let herself down yet again, and that she'd completely blown her cover. There was no way she'd be able to get away with this…
As if her day couldn't get any worse, Botan suddenly appeared, flying on her oar, zooming towards them. "Junsei Muzai!" she yelled breathlessly, landing next to everyone.
Oh, no! "Huh?" asked Kuwabara.
Yusuke frowned, thinking hard. Then his eyes lit up. "Wasn't she the girl we met the same day as we did Catalyn?"
Botan nodded and shook her head. "Right and wrong, Yusuke," she said. "You just made one mistake. Junsei Muzai and Catalyn are the same person."
"What?"
Catalyn tried hard not to meet anyone's eyes, but they were all on her, demanding an explanation. She sighed, filled with sadness and anger and regret. "Fine!" she burst out, her chest heaving with emotion. "I'll tell you everything.
"It all started the day I was demonified," she began. "My name was Junsei Muzai, and I was the only girl at the martial arts boarding school I attended. I was one of the most promising fighters, but lots of boys thought I was a demon child, not believing that a female could possibly fight well. When I became demonified, their worst fears came true. But they didn't kick me out because of that."
"Then why did they?" asked Kuwabara.
"They kicked me out," Catalyn took a deep breath, "because I was cursed. I could have easily hurt someone without meaning to. I couldn't return home like that. So I ran away into the woods along with one other person. One of the oldest teachers at the school came with me, choosing me to be his last student. He was my sensei, and he didn't fear me for who I was. Instead, he helped me finish my training in the wild. I changed my name to Catalyn so I wouldn't be recognized. I think I also did it because deep down, I refused to believe that I, Junsei Muzai, had been turned into a demon. Sensei agreed it was for the best. He was the one who pretended to be my kidnapper. He cared deeply for me and didn't want me to get into trouble. But even he couldn't protect me from the curse."
She began to unravel the bandages on her arms. When the long strips of white fell to the ground, everyone gasped. Her arms were covered with dozens of terrible scars. "I was slashed very badly by Kitkit," she explained. "At first, I thought these were normal scratches. But then I figured it out. They were symbols of my curse. The curse was this: every few or so weeks, I would run terribly low on energy. It was very sudden, but I always knew when the time was coming because the scars would itch and my head would pound. The only possible way to make it go away was to kill a living being – any kind, whether it be a mouse or a human – and absorb its life energy once it died. Then I'd return to normal and have nothing to worry about for a few more weeks. The longer I ignored it, the weaker I got. And then the Beast would come out.
"The Beast is a part of this curse, too. It is the monster inside of me that controls the curse, the one that needs the life energy. If I can't satisfy its needs, I will die. I've tried resisting it, but I could never do it in the end. Sensei and I tried, but he concluded that the only way to disobey the Beast was to die. And if I got too weak, the Beast would take over my body and kill the first thing in its path. So I had to kill. I did it to stay alive. There were other times, too, when the Beast would take over. It happened when I lost too much blood. I would grow weak, and the Beast would come out. That's why I acted like I did when fighting Yami and Zankoku. I was too weak. The Beast needed to kill. And I couldn't do anything to stop it."
Finally, Catalyn couldn't take it anymore. Her voice broke and she began to cry. "Do you see what I've had to live with? See what I had to go through ever since that day? So what if they were only animals? I've been killing more living things than anyone my age should! And I never once did it willingly!" Tears splattered across the dirt ground. "I didn't ask for this! All I wish for is to be normal!"
No one said anything as she continued to cry. She didn't care. She knew they hated her now. But nothing mattered to her anymore. Everything was ruined. She felt cold, colder than she'd ever felt before.
Then, suddenly, someone put their hands on her shoulders. She choked back her tears and sniffed. Then she looked up…into Kurama's warm green eyes, filled with sympathy. Her body grew warm for an instant, but everything changed an instant later, when she noticed the cuts on his cheeks. They were still bleeding, obviously very recent. She looked down at her hands. Her nails were stained with red bearing the same scent as Kurama's blood. Then she realized, horrified, what must have happened when the Beast took control.
"Kurama…" she gasped, her eyes wide. "Did I…Did I!"
Kurama hurriedly tried to calm her down. "It's nothing," he rushed. "I hardly felt –"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Catalyn shrieked. She slapped him off and ran, crying even harder than before.
Then came a classic moment in anime running. She tripped over a small rock and fell face-first, sobbing, into the dirt. Someone was there, trying to take her hand, but she pushed it away. Then someone grabbed her arm and held it in a tight, painful grip.
It was Hiei.
"This foolishness will get you nowhere," he said sharply, his face sterner than she had ever seen it. He released her, but she stayed there, on her knees, still plagued with sadness and shock.
Kurama levelled with her and tried to look directly into her eyes. Catalyn twisted her head, trying to avoid his gaze, but once he caught her, she couldn't look away. "Catalyn," he said seriously, but with such tenderness that she wouldn't have been able to look away even if she wanted to. "I don't hold you to blame for what has happened. I know that you didn't want any of this, and I understand why you kept this hidden. But you must realize that this doesn't change the way we think of you. I for one still think very highly of you."
Yusuke jumped in, "Yeah, so you have this wacko curse and killed off a few animals. Who cares? We don't!"
"That doesn't change the fact that I still think you're gorgeous!" Kuwabara gushed.
His shirt caught on fire, courtesy of Kashi, and he leaped into the stream, yelping, as Kashi winked and grinned wickedly.
Kurama stood, and Catalyn followed suit. "Kurama, everyone," she said, "I'm sorry for everything you've gone through because of me, but…if it's not too much trouble, I'd be honoured to have all of you accompany me on this mission."
Kurama smiled, the same great smile as always. The soaking Kuwabara nodded, as did Yusuke. Kashi grinned widely. Hiei hn-ned, but he seemed somewhat satisfied. "We'll all be here for you," Kurama said.
No words could have described the joy Catalyn felt in that moment. She launched herself into Kurama's arms, taking everyone completely by surprise. "Thank you," she murmured. "Thank you so much." Kurama's surprised expression softened.
A few minutes later, Catalyn's bandages were tied around her scars again, and she was filled with energy and ready to go. "Another half hour or so and we'll be there!" Kashi told everyone with her crazy grin. "Don't slacken the pace, now!"
In a way, Catalyn was happy, almost relieved, that her secret was out. No more playing pretend. And it was better already.
Kashi didn't look back anymore to tease the boys or to make comments as she led them up the mountain. She was deep in thought. Then she said something aloud, but so softly that no one else could hear: "It's almost time."
So yeah, that's it for this chapter. Now you fully understand why I called this fic The Feline Curse! Hope you all enjoyed it! Remember, five reviews and I update!