Gomen nasai twenty million times! But trust me on this one, I have a very good reason. I was halfway done the chapter some time ago, and that night there was a power outage. We finally got it back late the next day, and the morning after that, I was finishing up the chapter so I could upload it when we lost power again! This time the outage lasted a couple of days, and when we got power back I lost most of what I had just written, so I had to rewrite it. I'm sorry for making everyone wait, but I hope you all understand!
Thank you's:
Vitanie Tora: Your comment reflected exactly what I was trying to prove in that chapter! Thanks!
blackie-chan: Heh, don't worry about it. Sometimes when I read fics, I forget what happens at the beginning after it progresses a while.
Yumiko-san: I'm glad you like it, thanks for the review!
Angelkitsune-Naomi: I can't believe I did that to Kurama! Gah! Oops... Well, it's true, he is a pretty boy, but I love him for it. I'll be looking at your new chapter shortly!
Darkest-Side-of-the-Moon: Heehee I like Kashi's ability too. :) I like your username by the way, it reminds me of a song I like.
Youko-Kokuryuuha: Thanks, and I hope you like this chapter!
TwitchyEars007: Next secret is out this chapter! (It's not Catalyn's though...but yeah.) Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Alrighty, I don't own YYH, just The Feline Curse. Five reviews till I update!
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – THE FINAL TEST
They were nearing the summit. Catalyn could see something up ahead, and so she quickened her pace. Kashi looked back at her, her eyebrows raised. But she was smiling. "Honestly, Catalyn, we're almost there anyways. Save your strength! You'll need it." Then she turned her attention to the path ahead, all the while whistling a happy tune.
Catalyn frowned at Kashi's back. Her tone had changed when she spoke that last sentence. "You felt it too, then," Kurama said quietly. She nearly jumped; his voice startled her.
"What do you think it was?" she muttered.
"Hopefully nothing," Kurama answered, "but I highly doubt it."
Catalyn looked around, and finally noticed that Botan was no longer with them. "So she's reporting back to Koenma?" she sighed.
"The toddler probably knows already," Yusuke said. "He's probably been watching us the whole time."
Catalyn didn't know what to think of this. What sort of punishment would Koenma bestow upon her? The gang seemed to be wondering the same thing. Kuwabara offered, "Maybe he'll make you stay with us longer. That would be nice."
Catalyn glared at him so fiercely that he gulped and backed away. "You know," Kurama said, "that wouldn't be so bad. That's how I made such strong friendships with Yusuke and Kuwabara."
"I know," Catalyn said wearily. "You told me before. But I made a deal with Koenma."
"And you also lied to him," Kurama pointed out.
She sighed, realizing the truth of his words. Still, she was able to look ahead with excitement. They were almost there. Soon she would be free.
-Back in Koenma's office-
Botan entered the office to find Koenma replaying Catalyn's confession on his screen. "So you heard it all?" she asked. He nodded. "But you have to pity the girl. She had no choice, after all."
Koenma nodded again. "I'll think about it," he said.
-Back to the others-
Finally, after what seemed to Catalyn like ages (her excitement was getting the better of her), they reached the top. A large house (similar to Naraku's castle in Inuyasha) loomed into view, but no one was outside. Still, there was an odd sensation in the air. It made Catalyn feel like she was a predator's prey, just standing there until the predator chose the perfect moment to pounce.
"Is she here?" she asked Kashi.
Kashi's face was all seriousness. Her outgoing attitude had completely vanished. "She's definitely here," she answered confidently. "But she won't come out until she thinks it's time. It'll be soon, though. She knows we're here."
Now Catalyn was certain something was wrong with Kashi, and from the look on Kurama's face, he knew it too. "Something wrong?" she asked.
Kashi grinned so widely that they knew it was fake. "Nope, nothing at all!" she said in a falsely cheery voice that was obvious to everyone (except Kuwabara – he IS a dimwit, after all). But there was no time to question her any further, for someone in the house laughed.
It was a deep but womanly voice, and it made Catalyn's ears twitch. The door to the house was open. Standing on the front steps was a demon woman. Her humanly skin was pale, but along her arms it seemed to transform downwards into cat skin. Her hands and feet were bare and her claws were long and sharp. She wore what seemed to be a short skirt of brownish cat skins, unlike her actual skin, which was more orangey. She wore a tight black tank top and a bandana of more brown cat skins around her neck. Her hair was shoulder-length and straight, completely white except for the tips, which were blood red. Sticking out of it were two orange cat ears. A tail of similar color emerged from beneath her skirt. Her eyes were red with slit-like pupils, and she was grinning in a way that made her seem like she was up to no good.
"That's her," Catalyn whispered, trembling from an emotion she couldn't yet identify. "That's Kitkit."
Kitkit's gaze bore down on everyone in turn, reaching Catalyn last. Her eyes lingered there for a long time.
"What do you want?" asked Catalyn coldly through clenched teeth.
She gave a short, shrill laugh. "I was about to ask you the same thing, Junsei Muzai."
Catalyn glared. "Don't call me that," she snapped.
The demon laughed. "Tut tut, aren't we the angry little demon girl?" she said, thoroughly enjoying the reactions she was getting.
"I'm only a demon because you made me that way!" Catalyn said defensively. "And that's why I'm here. I want you to return me to normal and undo the curse you placed on me!"
Kitkit's grin grew sinister. "I'm afraid I can't do that, kitten. At least, not without reason. How about this: pass a test I set up for you, and then I'll agree to your terms."
"What kind of test?" Catalyn asked, her anger forgotten. She hadn't been expecting this.
"Lay a scratch on me," Kitkit answered smoothly.
Catalyn took a step back in surprise. "What?" she asked, completely bewildered.
"You heard me. Lay a scratch on me. That's all you need to do. It'll prove your worth."
"B-but –" Catalyn had no idea what to make of this. "Scratch you? Just a scratch?"
Kitkit nodded. "Of course, scratching me is a near-impossible task for someone so much weaker than me…but I can't help it that I'm so strong, can I?" she said, licking her lips in anticipation.
Catalyn's fists clenched in anger. "Why, you –"
Kurama put a steady hand on her shoulder. "You can't charge in like that," he said seriously. "We can't underestimate her. I doubt she's exaggerating."
Her ears twitched, trying to get a reading on Kitkit's powers, but she got nothing. She's hiding her powers, she realized. And doing a damn good job of it. I'm going to have to just rely on my other skills.
"I'll go with you," Kurama added with a smile. Catalyn smiled back
Hiei gave on of his rare grins. "Lay a scratch on a demon who claims the task to be impossible? This should prove to be an interesting challenge."
She frowned. He's only in this for self-interest. Still, she was happy that Hiei was agreeing to help. The three of them charged forwards to begin the battle.
Yusuke yelled, "Wait for us!" and Kuwabara added, "We're coming too!" but Kashi blocked their path.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," she said.
Catalyn instantly stopped to look back. So did Hiei and Kurama. They all stared at Kashi.
"What the hell?" Yusuke cried. "We're on the same side here!"
But Kashi shook her head. "Sorry, detective," she said. Then she grinned. "You can't really expect me to go against my mother, can you?"
Everyone gasped, and all (except for Hiei) yelled, "Mother!"
Kashi nodded. "I don't have her feline genes, but I did inherit her fire powers. And for the record, I was never on your side. I wasn't helping you get here. I was on orders to lead you here so you could fight. But Yusuke, Kuwabara…humans are a waste of my mother's time. I'll fight you instead."
Kuwabara was gaping in shock, but Yusuke suddenly grinned. "That's fine," he sneered. "I was hoping for a rematch, anyway."
Catalyn looked back worriedly. Sure, Kashi's betrayal hadn't come as a total surprise, but she didn't know what to make of the new match-up. Kashi had creamed Yusuke the last time they fought. Sure, Yusuke knew her moves now, but would it be enough?
Kitkit laughed, drawing Catalyn's attention back to her own fight. She could hear the sounds of fists behind her. "Don't worry," Kurama muttered. "They'll be fine. Trust them."
"Don't keep me waiting," Kitkit called. "Just try and lay a scratch on me."
Catalyn entered her fighting stance. "You're on."
Without another word, she charged for Kitkit, who took a nimble step sideways to dodge her punch. Damn, thought Catalyn, knowing exactly why that punch didn't land.
Kitkit knew it too, and shook her head. "Tsk, tsk, after all those years at the school and you still don't know better than to act in anger."
Catalyn took a few soothing breaths and her nerves steadied. She looked at the boys. Kurama pulled a rose out of his hair and summoned his rose whip. Hiei drew his katana. She and Kurama looked at each other and nodded. Then all three of them charged.
She reached Kitkit first, and mixed in as many reiki-filled kicks and punches as she could in an attempt to distract the demon, but Kitkit dodged them all. She moved faster, and Kitkit started blocking as well. Her blocks were as hard as rocks. Kurama closed in and lashed out with his rose whip. Kitkit put on even more speed, then grabbed Catalyn's foot and Kurama's whip.
It was what Hiei had been waiting for. All Catalyn could see were flashes of light where the sun reflected off the katana as he went after Kitkit with all his strength and speed. Suddenly Catalyn felt the air being whipped out all around her and realized that Kitkit had tossed her aside to fight Hiei. She flipped through the air and landed for an instant. With her tail as a boost, she pushed off back into the fight, but Kitkit merely threw her aside once more.
Kurama landed next to Catalyn. He'd been released as well, but backed up to regroup. They both watched as flashes of the katana could be made out through Hiei's fight.
"She's dodging him no problem," Catalyn remarked.
"Her speed far surpasses his," Kurama said. "Incredible."
Catalyn shook her head. "Her powers must be extraordinary." A chill ran through her spine as she said that, filling her with a feeling of foreboding. Still, she readied herself to fight again. "But I'll beat her anyways," she said determinedly.
Kurama gave her the tiniest of smiles. Then they joined the fray again.
Yusuke and Kuwabara were facing Kashi, both panting hard, but Kashi had only just started breaking up a sweat. "Oh, come on, boys," she said with her usual grin. "I haven't even used my fire powers yet and you're already tired! I knew it would be easy, but not this easy!"
They glared at her. "Shut up!" Yusuke snapped. "We'll take it up a notch from here."
He and Kuwabara moved into the offensive, throwing much harder punches than the last time. "Better," Kashi said as she fought back. "But it's not going to be – ah!"
Yusuke's reiki-filled punch had landed right under her shoulder. She flipped through the air and separated from the boys, flexing her muscle. She was still grinning. "Not too shabby, for you at least," she said. "But you'll need more than that. Simple reiki punches don't work on me. Sorry," she added with a mischievous grin.
Catalyn, Kurama, and Hiei all separated from Kitkit, panting. After all that, they still didn't have a scratch on her. How many times had Catalyn hit her only to find Kitkit blocking her? There were too many to count. Hiei had used his katana on her with tremendous speed, only to find that hers was greater. Heck, she could even block his katana with her nails! And Kurama had hit her many times with his rose whip, but he never left a single scratch. Many times he thought he'd had her in his grasp, only to witness her smuggle herself out without difficulty. Sure, they couldn't hurt her, but couldn't they leave just one tiny painless scratch? A scratch was all they needed, but even that seemed too much to ask for.
"Why isn't any of this working?" Catalyn panted, trying hard to fight off her growing frustration.
"Well," Kurama said in surprise. "This is certainly a challenge."
"No kidding," she said sarcastically, ignoring her rising panic. It was getting worse.
"Have you gotten a reading on her yet?" he asked.
She shook her head sadly. "I can't detect a thing. Her stealth skills are incredible."
Kitkit gave a short laugh. "So many compliments!" she exclaimed. "I'm flattered. But this flattery will get you nowhere." She laughed again. "This is so amusing!"
Catalyn gritted her teeth together, glaring. "Answer me this," she said. "Why did you make me a demon in the first place?"
Kitkit shrugged. "It's quite simple, really," she replied. "I'd been wanting to curse someone, but I didn't have the strength to for a while. When I got it back, I figured you'd be a good enough victim."
Catalyn's fists clenched. "I took you in, when you were in the form of a hurt and helpless kitten," she said, her voice shaking uncontrollably. "Your injuries were severe. I nursed you back to health. I cared for you. So, was that curse some sort of reward for my kindness?"
"Something like that, yeah," came the nonchalant reply.
Catalyn's emotions rose to the bursting point. It wasn't just anger, though she felt much of that. She was filled with feelings of hatred, rejection, and bitter sorrow. "I don't believe it!" she screamed, and, ignoring Kurama's cry, she rushed to meet her opponent head-on, her fists glowing with disastrous amounts of reiki.
Meanwhile, Yusuke and Kuwabara's fight with Kashi wasn't going so well. Yusuke had used up two spirit guns so far, and though Kuwabara had his aura sword out, it was smaller than when he'd first used it. Kashi was panting like the rest of them, but she definitely appeared to have more strength left than they did.
"You're doing all right so far, for humans at least," Kashi said. "I guess I am impressed. But remember, I haven't even used my real powers yet. I've been taking it easy." Her left arm was bruised from when she took two consecutive blows from the boys without giving it a chance to recover, but she still appeared to be in good shape. "And Kuwa-chan, you've got to fight me with the intent to kill," she teased gleefully. "As for you, Yusuke, your attacks just aren't good enough. Not that Kuwabara's are any better, though," she added as an afterthought.
If anything could have drawn out more power from the boys, that was it. They charged, their auras flaring up. Everything happened in one swift movement, leaving Kashi grinning. There was a slashing light, a yell of, "Shotgun!" and a blast. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, Kashi was brushing herself off. She seemed a little injured, but she didn't seem fazed by it.
"Well, I took in those hits, and they're not as bad as I thought," she said to herself. "But they weren't as good as I was hoping for either." Then to the boys, she said, "I can take about a dozen shots like that, but I doubt you'll have enough energy to hit me twelve more times with the same amount of power as this. Still, I've let you play around long enough." She snapped her fingers and little balls of fire appeared at her fingertips. "It's time to bring out the fire power."
Catalyn fired a reiki-filled punch, which Kitkit easily dodged. Then she flipped back to kick her, but Kitkit grabbed her foot and prepared to toss her. Just before she did, Catalyn aimed her second punch. Kitkit grabbed her fist, her claws digging into Catalyn's recently healed knuckles and sizzling. She cried out in pain and twisted herself over to kick once more, but Kitkit stopped it with her tail. Then, before Catalyn could use her tail as a spring to get away, Kitkit threw her. She flew through the air, landing hard on her hip. She tried to bring her hands down to make the landing a bit smoother, but her hurting wrist couldn't take it. There was a small crack, and Catalyn gasped as the pain filled her hand.
"Sprained your wrist, did you?" Kitkit asked with a grin.
Kurama and Hiei moved into a joint attack while Catalyn took deep breaths, trying to soothe the pain. She was dimly aware of Kurama and Hiei's attack, but when they retreated, Kurama's rose whip was sliced in half and Hiei's katana had snapped so that it was the size of a dagger.
Kitkit was still grinning. "I didn't even get the chance to show off my fire power," she said regretfully. "Oh, well." Her eyes gleamed evilly. "I'll just finish you off with it."