A/N: Hello once again, Denizens of FF!
This is another one of those chapters that consists of only interactions between Shikiyoku and Hiei. If you want more Akari and Kurama, you'll have to wait until the next chapter!
A side-note: Yes, Shikiyoku is occasionally not keeping her thoughts to herself. It is in fact intentional and not an accident. I honestly don't have a big excuse/reason for it. Maybe Hiei's listening in more of late, given his current situation in dealing with her.
Symbols Guide:
* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.
As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.
Unless it's used in a sentence like this, which merely indicates emphasis.
[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}
"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."
The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).
In this chapter, the character of the fire speaks a different language entirely, the language of fire itself, which is conveyed by what I described before as 'dancing.' This is simply referring to the manner in which fire moves as it burns, which normally would not mean anything, but given that this particular fire is a sentient being, one can translate its dance-like movements into speech, which Shikiyoku has done in the past for Hiei. You will see after a certain point in this chapter dialogue that is in italics and followed by a tilde, which will look like this:
Sleep now, she-of-desire.~
This is indicative of the fire's speech and how it is not spoken, but instead danced.
Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!
Shikiyoku remembers giving Hiei a sour fruit when she meant to give him a sweet one,
and Hiei agrees to show her the way to her 'home.'
When they arrive, the fruit Hiei gathers for them does little else but stir Shikiyoku's other sort of hunger,
though she does recall a past memory of Hiei jabbing her in the back of the neck with a spoon,
and eventually Hiei admits to having been curious about her homework at the time,
as well as thinking her hair smelled of strawberries.
She sat staring, unreactive to his admission.
Truth be told, she didn't really remember what a 'strawberry' was, nor why it would hold such a high place in the fire demon's mind as to make him pause as he claimed for it to have done in that situation.
She did, however, find herself resisting pulling a portion of her hair over her shoulder just to see if she could smell what he was talking about.
"That was a long time ago, fool." She resisted releasing another scoff, one aimed at herself and not the girl from before. Little chance of that still being the case.
Her hand twitched. She recalled hearing somewhere that memories were most often tied closely with scent, and maybe it would-
"Stupid." 3
As soon as Hiei swallowed the last of the bitter fruit, he turned and spit a seed from his lips, then proceeded to wipe his chin with the palm of his hand. "That's why I didn't move. Because your hair smelled like strawberries."
Now that he thought about it, he realized it could very likely have been her energy working on what he desired at that moment, making him smell the scent of his favorite treat.
Or it could have been her shampoo. He wasn't sure.
"I'll find some later." *
She still wasn't really sure why he'd thought that.
She didn't smell anything particularly inviting about her hair.
Maybe that's the point.
"How did you...meet...me?" 3
Hiei raised a brow and turned his curious expression onto Shikiyoku. When had he met her?
Did she mean her overall, Toriko and all, or… Shikiyoku specifically?
He decided it didn't matter, since she'd taken to remembering a few things about Toriko as well. One being, right?
He thought back, racking his brain for every memory he could, until he remembered getting involved with the Sensui project of his own accord. He'd grabbed Yusuke out of Sniper's gunpoint, almost killed the teen before he'd sparred with the detective and then followed him into the cave system of Demon's Door.
"Sensui was opening a portal to Demon World. I met you when we were in Game Master's cave, and you tossed hair pins to the side, along with your glasses, after the brat annoyed you into doing so. You played tennis. I took a nap." *
She made a derisive noise at that last bit of information.
"What, were we supposed to wake you for the end of the world?" 3
Hiei gave an amused smirk and a single nod of his head. "I know about as much as games as I do about hugs and puppies. And I care for them even less. So, I took a nap." he paused, rolling his eyes upwards. "Or, tried to. You and the others were…. obnoxiously loud."
Okay, so that wasn't the truth. *
"Oh?" A single eyebrow arched upwards on her face and she slowly turned her head to consider him, but she found she could recall nothing of the time in which they spoke. "Why do I get the feeling that none of what you just said is true?" 3
Hiei's sneer widened and he gave a shrug. "What does it matter?" After all, GameMaster had been rather annoying. And Yusuke had been loud, as had Genkai. Toriko had been simply.. there, to get through her part and do what she could, he supposed. *
She huffed and tried to remember. Regardless of what he said, he certainly didn't act like he knew nothing about h-
An impression of sweat and frustration, off removing thick glasses and taking down hair which was sticking to her neck and hanging in her eyes...
And...and a tingling, so very similar and yet so very opposite to the burning she felt nowadays, brought upon by energy that she tried so desperately at the time to divorce herself from, eyes shimmering...and anger. Passion seemed closer. Maybe. 3
Hiei watched her curiously now, having nothing more to say about the topic. He did, however, linger on the memories of that day, of the games that had been played and the way the group had gotten through.
Even more amusing, he remembered Shikiy- no, Toriko being hit by a flying Kuwabara, knocked from a rock she'd been sitting on before they'd been swallowed by some creature Itsuki had summoned. *
Hm.
She kept getting vague impressions, uncomfortableness at the fire demon when he had first approached her, first spoke to her, hell first noticed her. Had she been embarrassed?
No way to tell.
She took in a breath as the visions faded, wondering if later she would be able to recall them.
Her nose flooded with scents she only now became consumed with: the burnt smell of the clearing around her, the fruits spread out at her feet, and-
And him. Not 'him,' really, but his energy, tantalizing.
She could feel that her eyes had grown darker as they sat there, her other senses beginning to peak with awareness.
She stood up all at once, unfolding herself from the ground and able to ignore the sickness, as she always found she was able to do when the hunger began to set in.
She turned her eyes to him, gaze smoldering, demanding, as if she were about to speak.
"Show me more. The area is interesting."
She twitched, eyes blinking as she turned away, and she felt as if the words that had echoed in her own mind had been spoken at one point by someone else.
..but she just couldn't remember.3
Hiei had been reaching for another fruit when Shikiyoku moved, suddenly standing up and turning her back onto him even as she demanded to see more. Or, had she? A single brow rose and he stayed where he was for a moment, his hand over a sweet fruit, fingers twitching with uncertainty for a moment.
He listened to the sounds of the tranquil clearing, to the sound of her breathing.
"I…"
He didn't know much more about the area, really. Aside from…
Would it allow him to find it? Would it allow them to visit?
Hiei moved to stand, fruits entirely forgotten now as he turned to look about the area. He couldn't remember exactly, but..
He moved past her, hands finding his cloak pockets. Maybe luck would be with him today, and he'd both remember and get to see the flame. *
Her vision had grown sharper, the world around her-in a sense-getting keener edges, even as the colors faded a little.
She didn't need her eyes to see him step beyond her, as she had heard the shuffle of his cloak when he stood up while she wasn't looking. She even picked up the beating of his core, his nucleus, as it pumped energy through his veins, almost calling out to her.
What had made him stand, anyway? And start to move off?
It didn't seem like anything even so much as rustled in the valley, at least nothing not hit by a slight breeze. She knew without giving it actual thought that they were the only demons for many hundreds of miles.
As if to emphasize what was happening to her, her vision tunneled onto his back and she shut her eyes as her mind reeled with hunger.
Yes, I know. She told it. As if every fiber of her body wasn't also crying out for her to notice the demon whose lungs she could hear expanding with air only to release a breath. She fought against moving, against dashing forward and satisfying the hunger with his very life force. 3
Hiei continued moving, eyes roving the area even as he passed by places he knew were not within the path of the fire. His feet moved silently across the blackened grass, across the clearing and into more trees and underbrush. Some trees bearing fruit, some only with leaves, some barren altogether.
He wasn't sure if he would actually find the flame, but it wouldn't hurt to try.
He didn't call to her when she didn't follow. If she wanted to come along, she would. If she had second thoughts, well… that was her problem. *
He never truly left her sight, even as he disappeared far beyond her, she still found she could focus her eyes onto his position, could still tune her ears in to hear the stirring of his cloak about his ankles.
And so it was that she enclosed herself in the fold between the two layers and took to following him, though it would have been more accurate to say 'stalking' him, on silent feet that nimbly lead her along his path. 3
The fire demon continued moving, not aware of whether or not Shikiyoku had given in and followed. He meandered, hands calmly in his cloak pockets and eyes just as calmly taking in the scenery as he passed, walking for what felt like an eternity. Walking, and walking, and walking. And then still walking.
Minutes ticked by and he found himself more consumed in his thoughts than his path, thoughts that rolled from one to the other. Thoughts that blurred into never-ending sentences that he really couldn't make sense of after a while.
Had he paid particular attention to any single one of them, he likely would have noticed the main subject of his thoughts, and the fact that her energy had seemingly disappeared from his radar. *
"Who are you?"
"Your Champion. Hiei."
The words kept repeating themselves in her mind, the only coherent thoughts not related to feeding and eating that she could make any sense of.
And the only thoughts that kept her from taking the few simple strides needed to close the distance and stealing his energy.
Even so, her mind had twisted into a completely predatory state, and even inbetween layers as she was, she could still taste the air of the Ninth Layer and know his direction, his energy leading her forward like a moth to a flame.
"Your Champion. Hiei."
There it was again, just as she tensed her body to strike, her deep conscious fighting against attacking this demon, the only one who had...who had cared. 3
Vaguely, Hiei realized he recognized this area and his attention became locked at his path again, his thoughts silencing for the time being as the sound of running water caught his attention. It bubbled merrily, and as he remembered Shikiyoku doing in time's past, he turned and followed until he found the best place to cross, at which point he did just that before continuing on, away from the brook entirely.
That was when he noticed a fine mist rolling through the air, and a smirk of victory found itself on his features. At least he'd gone the right way. *
The mist that grew thicker and extended farther upwards the longer she followed did not deter her one-track mind, though that one track kept getting interrupted with and almost kind voice repeating the phrase over and over in her head.
"Your Champion. Hiei."
The trees grew blacker, if possible, and started leaning inwards, all bending towards a single point of light that she took notice of, but did nothing more than acknowledge its existence.
Alone, but not alone, the fire gurgled quietly amongst all those within, then whirred happily in the middle of the steps of its eternal dance as it sensed someone approaching.
Two someones, in fact. But the first was very important. Child-of-self was here! This is one we like. Missed him! Let him pass.
The flames chuckled silently with itself, not with humor, but with happiness and-
Suddenly the fire erupted into blue and white flames, sending a precise blast of heat that tore invisibly through the air, the only indication of its passing being the shimmer of the heat wave contorting the air, until it caught the predator that had just dashed forward between the layers, unable to resist any longer.
The figure was immediately set ablaze, torn from that 'neither' place and smashed into one of the trees that lined the dark clearing from the force of the blow, though-surprising the fire-the form did not cry out, and instead started to get up.
The fire grew curious, feeling itself burning away at the-what was it again? Oh yes-flesh, and the...um...clothing.
The flames disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, and had only left the edges of the clothing giving off the slightest bit of smoke.
Your flesh is strange!~
It had felt...rougher than the child-of-self, and yet...the being to which the flesh belonged to seemed familiar. Not wanting to burn something it wasn't sure if it did not like, the fire sat with a contemplative dance, staring at the formerly inflamed being across the clearing.
Her eyes were completely black as she opened them, the pain of the fire nothing greater than anything she had felt before and thus easily shrugged off, though her mind seemed a little more intact than prior to the blast, even as her eyes shifted to stare at the fire demon.
No attack child-of-self! Leave alone!~
She had the...strangest sense that something was trying to get her attention, and then felt as if something watching her wished her to come forward, come closer to the light. 3
Hiei's eyes had lighted on the flame as soon as he caught sight of the light. Light that had dissipated after a moment, turning into nothing but heat energy that seemed to move by him in a haze that he only part way felt moving by him. He didn't sense it, didn't hear or feel it after the initial movement, but he somehow knew where it was aiming its wrath.
He turned around, eyes finding the demon who had hit the tree and easily recovered, her eyes no longer holding any color of green that he'd previously seen making an attempt to shine through. He stared at her with a blank expression, meeting her gaze squarely.
He'd been waiting, really, for something like this. For her to attack. The air became charged again, yet was still, as if waiting for another attack from the female.
...Leave alon…~
Hiei didn't turn to look at the flame. He merely watched Shikiyoku, a single brow raised as she hesitated. *
"Your Champion..."
She blinked.
See what you've done? What you've become?
She tried not to. She had.
But it didn't work. It never works. This is why you took to avoiding them.
Her face appeared conflicted, her body trembled.
Another impression to simply look at what she now realized was a tear-drop of fire, about the size of her head, floating in the middle of the clearing.
You should not be among them. You should be alone.
...She-of-desire...what has happened?~
She shifted her feet.
...why do you not see me?~
And started to wrap herself in the other layers.
...why do you not hear me?~ 3
Hiei stared, his mind making sense of a few things the fire spoke, but not all of them. He watched Shikiyoku as she stared blankly in front of herself, eyes not seeing anything where he himself saw the flame now dancing in the air.
Why… not hear me?~
Hiei felt a brow quirk as he noticed the beginnings of the blur around her frame that indicated an escape.
He himself folded between the layers, quickly blurring in the very same fashion he'd noticed she did, and just as she had done multiple times before now, he reappeared before her, a hand grabbing at her wrist and his eyes boring into her own as his feet hit the layer again, trying to pull her with him and finding that she resisted..
"Running away will make it worse." *
"But I can't be near you-" She protested desperately, trying to twist her arm away, words fuzzy at first before she relented and moved onto the Ninth Layer with him. "It is the worst kind of torture." Her eyes squeezed themselves shut as if it would help, her face scrunching up in desperation, "Because I don't want to take anything from you."
The fire only continued its dance, quietly observing and watching the interaction. 3
Hiei continued to stare, not even so much as blinking at her words. He'd suspected it, especially when she'd spit out the fruit, but really he hadn't known how to handle it. So, he'd ignored it in hopes he was wrong. Of course he wasn't. It just didn't work like that, did it?
"You were fine before you started thinking about it." He eyed her a bit longer, head tilting to the side and hand never releasing her wrist. "Look around. What do you see?" *
"I don't even have to look. All I see is you." She kept her eyes shut, muscles in her jaw tightened viciously. "All I smell is you, all I hear is you." She licked her lips and grimaced at having done so.
"...all I taste is you." 3
"Then concentrate harder." he demanded, working his jaw around just a bit in irritation. He easily steadied himself, working the tension away entirely because he knew it would only drive her senses further. "I am not the only being here. Do not focus on me." He stepped away, releasing his hold on her and shifting to the inbetween layers, as she had done earlier. Perhaps… it would help.
And if she tried to escape again, he was a step ahead of her. *
"I can't." She nearly whimpered, even after he'd let her go, dropping to her knees, refusing to let her feet follow him as they wished. "I'm supposed to be able to sense you. It's what I do." Her voice lowered until she whispered, "I can't be near you."
...She-of-Desire?~
The fire piped up, wondering if it could hear her at all.
She-of-Desire, what has happened? Can we help?~
"...but I don't want to go away." She finished, voice hoarse as she admitted it. 3
Hiei remained in the in-between state, arms crossing over his chest as he adjusted to the double vision he had. It took a moment before he was able to see clearly the layer he wanted to see, to focus on the person he could still see and hear, though her voice was slightly distorted in his ears.
"Then don't." Hiei said in a small tone, eyeing her with an even gaze as he kept the foot of space between himself and her. "There is a being nearby asking to give you assistance. All you have to do is listen." *
"But I have to go. Before I-" She grimaced again, then spoke more quietly, "All I can hear is you," She repeated, "I can hear your cloak rustle when you move, your feet shifting as you redistribute your weight from the left to the right, on your toes as you prepare yourself for my possible attack, your hair whispering in the air as you do so, every single muscle as they prepare for anything. I can hear the next five moves you could make should I decide to turn on you. All I hear is each beat of your core, each rush of energy that flows into your veins, driving me to the brink of-"
She finally opened her eyes, two holes of pitch-black abyss, the strain from resisting making her paler, her scars standing out even harsher on her skin.
"It doesn't matter where you are, here on this layer or there inbetween," She started, softly, "You're the closest source of food for miles and I can't stop listening to each breath you pull into your lungs, each time you blink at me. Your very existence consumes my every thought...and in the end it makes me want to consume you.
"It makes me...very...hungry." She said through clenched teeth, her tone darker than before, turning her face to stare at him with that hunger she talked of beginning to cloud her vision before she broke it and turned away again, rubbing her face with her hands.
"I-" She let out a strained breath and started to get up. "I cannot resist you, I do not have the self-control. Your very life essence...it sings to my blood. Tells me to rid the world of you. Of all demons. And I...I don't want to. But I cannot control it. This...this sickness has rid me of my ability to do so."
There was a time when she could. When she did not have to feed. When it was an option, a learned method and not a way of life.
No more.
She started to fold the layers around herself again, though whether to turn and pounce the nearby demon or to flee to spare his life, she did not know. 3
Hiei watched Shikiyoku as she spoke, taking every word she said into account, his mind working. He'd already figured as much, already noticed her apt attention to his entire being. He'd already noticed all of these things, though perhaps not making direct note of them.
Or perhaps he'd expected it.
After all, she seemed the opposite of herself, in several ways.
So this time, when she began to fold herself between the layers, he simply watched, letting her decide for herself what she needed to do. He couldn't stop her anyway, so why try?
If all else failed, he'd simply hunt her down again. *
As soon as she slipped between the layers, everything that had been fuzzy about his presence next to her cleared, and her entire body coiled together as if to spring on him.
Before she could either fight off the urge or give in, another silent haze of fire shot through the air and ignited her again, burying her mind in true flame, in blue and white-hot curls of heat.
The sensation dropped her back into the Ninth Layer, but before the fire was drawn away, she forced the layers back around her and shot off to the southeast.
She only made it a mile or so before the flames pulled at her again and dragged her once more into the Ninth Layer, dropping her to her hands and knees just shy of what was a sudden drop off into water.
Breathing heavy, she just barely managed to lift her head from looking at the smooth rocks beneath her to spy a hot spring, a small pond of water that made the air heavy with humidity.
The fire wasn't burning at her clothes or her hair, but felt more like an anchor meant to keep her from...well from moving since she knew she would have trouble doing much without being able to traverse between the layers.
But the water wasn't that far off...and maybe it would extinguished the flames. 3
Hiei stayed where he was, deciding not to move even when he saw the muscles of Shikiyoku become taut, ready for a fight that he would in no way urge. In fact, he had decided to rely on the outside force that seemed to be hell-bent on keeping him safe, and was not surprised when Shikiyoku was tossed to the Ninth Layer again.
His lips threatened to pull down, but for the most part, his expression remained blank, his eyes following her every move. When she was almost out of his sight, he took to using his Jagan to track her, though his feet did not physically carry him after her. If he was a temptation to her in such a way, he would not push her limitations.
So his hands slid into his cloak pockets as the Jagan locked on her, allowing him to watch her within his mind's eye. *
It took every ounce of strength to even lift a single hand and lower it towards the water, but when she immersed it up to her wrist, the flames hissed angrily at her as they went out.
The water was more scalding than the flames had been, but when she pulled the hand back out, quickly planting it back onto the smooth rock beneath her in order to hold herself up, the fire did not spread back onto the hand.
The hand, however, starting prickling strangely, but seeing that her efforts were not in vain, she managed to crawl closer, though it felt as if the fire was fighting with her every inch of the way.
She collapsed onto her stomach, fingers of one hand clutching at the edge of the drop-off as she slid her non-flamed hand down into the hot springs up almost to her shoulder, breathing heavily and not sure if she could even get any further.
This time the prickling followed the height of the water on her arm, but she only rested her face on her other hand and paid no attention to it until her arm twitched and she found she didn't have the strength to pull it out.
Muttering curses, she let it hang, trying to gather herself up to get in. Or maybe take a nap. The rocks were warm.
What she didn't see, didn't feel, was that each scar she had acquired on her arm had begun to reopen, starting to fill the water around it with her blood. 3
Hiei had considered taking to sitting, had considered simply sitting on the ground and just watching. He'd considered actually lounging in a tree, closing his eyes to watch and perhaps taking a nap if she disappeared again. He'd even begun to move towards a particular tree nearby, stepping again on the Ninth Layer with relative ease, though the transition was odd. He felt heavier now, as if he'd only weighed half his actual weight on the inbetween space.
But he paused, even turned his head in the direction Shikiyoku had moved towards, the Jagan still focused on her laying form. It took but another moment for him to realize what had gotten his attention, and even another moment after that to release a small sound and move after her.
His feet carried him slowly at first, giving her time to sense his approach, though he knew she was well aware of his whereabouts. After a few minutes, he took off, closing the space easily with a calm jog, which ended when he was within her immediate eyesight if she chose to look up at him. However, he did not actually approach her.
"You don't recall the last time you were here, do you?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. *
The rumble had started in her chest, growing only to reverberate in her throat when he got close enough and spoke. But it was half-hearted, even if a warning, and she did not move. Rather...could not move.
"Why would I?" She grumbled, closing her eyes as the heat from the obsidian colored rocks felt almost soothing to her. 3
"Because you're bleeding out." came his quick response, though he did not move to her still, eyes taking in the scars that had reopened into new wounds again. She was so small, so thin now that he really wasn't even sure how much she could afford to lose. And the longer her arm stayed in the water, the more he saw coloring the liquid. *
"Wonderful." Came her flat response to the rocks beneath her face. "That's precisely what I need." The muscles at her neck and shoulder shifted as if to move and pull her arm from the water, but to no avail. She heaved a sigh and honestly couldn't decide if she cared or not.
Another attempt to rise. Nothing.
The flames that still encased her body seemed to giggle up and down her back.
You are funny, she-of-pain.~ 3
Hiei continued to stare, continued to watch blood flow into the water as she made no move to leave the water. He even scowled at her when she spoke, but otherwise said nothing to her. He waited a minute, tilted his head at her, gave an uncharacteristic sigh, then moved forward. Without even asking, he moved until he stood over her, pausing only briefly to lean down and pull her arm from the water.
Though, unlike last time, he made no motion to move her away from it entirely. He merely let her lay on the rocks, taking to crouching nearby to watch the open wounds, just out of her reach. *
Her black eyes opened to slits when he touched her, watching him through a haze of heat and drowsiness, but making no move against him. She did let a shaky sigh out through her nose though as she closed her eyes again, now able to feel the blood seeping out from the many scars on her arm to pool on the flat surface of the surrounding rocks.
The fire hummed quietly to itself on her body, tongues of flame thoughtfully making shimmers in the air.
Could you not consume me instead, she-of-pain?~ The white and blue flames licked merrily over her skin. The others may not like it. But would help?~ 3
Hiei raised a brow and turned his eyes to the dancing flames along her skin, eyeing the dancing colors along her body. He listened to the question it posed and the words that followed, then he turned his eyes curiously to Shikiyoku. He waited a moment before he moved, taking to sitting on his rear and crossing his legs loosely in front of him.
"The…" he paused, unsure of how to say it. So, he went to his telepathic abilities. "The flame offered itself to you." He followed his sentence with the memory of the last time they'd seen it, of himself consuming a flame and the taste he'd been so kindly offered. *
Yes! Like that!~ The flame made a dancing smile at the child-of-self. Kin knows!~ The flames fluttered happily about her body, still encasing her entirely.
The warmth of the invading mind nearly matched the warmth of the rocks beneath her. A small furrow appeared between her eyebrows at the concept though. She took in a deep breath, nostrils flaring, and her eyes opened into those same dark slits to see the fire demon's clear outline near her.
"I-" She began hesitantly, "I don't know."
Her eyes closed again, though the furrow remained.
"I can't even sense the flames about me. Not in a-" She groped for the wording, "Not like it would satisfy me. Not like..." She sighed again, "Not like you."
Could always try.~
"And besides," She buried her face back into her hand, "I can barely move. How am I supposed to consume anything?" His closeness may have been irksome to her senses, but she meant that she knew she would be unable to actually get to him with the flame on her as it was and his hesitation to come closer was moot. 3
Hiei had to fight not to raise a brow at the flames that continued to reply to his every move, along with Shikiyoku's. He glanced at the wonderful, swirling fire that seemed warm even to him. Inviting. His eyes quickly trailed back to Shikiyoku. He made a small sound of contemplation, laced with a single drop of amusement.
"You're out of choices." He gave a small motion akin to a single-shoulder shrug, though it was rather lazily done. "And it's insisting." *
"And if it doesn't work, you're stuck with a very hungry demon with nothing to stop her from feeding on you." She pointed out, eyes opening wider to set their darkness upon his form.
The fire didn't have much to say to that, dancing and whirling thoughtfully around her.
She felt the weight, the heaviness on her, start to recede and she slowly pushed herself up off the ground, managing to sit up cross-legged and warily set her gaze on the flames that were gathering together down her left arm until she held her palm out and a single tongue of blue-white fire rested in her hand.
Fascinated, she gazed at it, almost mesmerized by how joyfully it burned.
Is not hard.~ The flame smiled at her, dancing merrily. Must only be distracted. And the greater the hunger, the larger the distraction.~
It continued to flit and sing, flaring here and there and keeping her attention.
"Even if I did eat you," She started declaratively, eyes still transfixed though she tried to make it appear as if she lessened her interest, "I'm still going to get hungry again. And then where will I be?"
The fire stared at her and did not at first have an answer. 3
Hiei sat back, letting his eyelids slide closed in slight irritation. The patience he'd been exercising with Shikiyoku's stubbornness was beginning to dwindle. At increasingly alarming rates.
"Then you'll be back to hunting, and I'll go back to hunting you." he answered easily, tone even. "Just eat it." *
She blinked down at the fire in her hand, which seemed to shiver excitedly as if in agreement with the demon's words.
Raising her black eyes, something deep within them gleamed, and her head tilted to the side ever-so-slightly to consider him.
When she finally spoke, she did so slowly at first, "You would...find me again? When I got lost?" 3
Hiei's eyelids slid open, his red irises turning to Shikiyoku with a level gaze, a spark igniting within them. "What did I just say?" *
Her entire face took on a strange air that it had not seen in a long time, the edges of her eyes crinkling and the sides of her mouth barely, just barely, relinquishing their hold on her lips in their permanent frown, lending the rest of her features a foreign softness in contrast with their usual sharp fierceness.
She made an almost amused huff as her eyes lowered back down, and as if it knew, the tongue dwindled more until it was about the size of her finger, curling encouragingly about itself as if to say 'that settles that.'
Her head shook a little at it, still wondering why it would offer such a thing to her, but in deference to its suggestion, she went ahead and lifted it to her parting lips and let it tumble into her mouth.
As she felt it sink down her throat, a searing heat intercepted her thoughts.
You are...so sick, she-of-pain.~ The voice sounded sad, echoing inside her mind in a manner she could not rightly describe. I will do my best to help.~
The heat spread to the rest of her and she let out a sigh, still unsure about how she felt in eating such a thing. 3
Hiei continued to stare at Shikiyoku, the same spark still lighting his eyes even as her expression became a little less severe, in an attempt to what he could only consider to be a smile. His eyes followed the movements of her hand, until the flame disappeared behind her lips, and even still he continued to watch her, waiting for something, anything to happen, to change. *
She felt the inherent shakiness in her limbs start to fade, though her fever remained, but the strength coming back to her physical body was enough to have her asking, What are you doing?
It is not your stomach that needs me, I don't think.~ The searing thoughts pierced the plane of her mind. And your mind I will leave to child-of-self.~ Is in good hands.~ Your body needs fixing.~
I could have told you that. She stared forward at the rocks without really seeing them.
Stand.~
She hesitated.
Trust.~
She closed her eyes and took in a breath, steeling herself for the attempt until she finally started to unfold her legs and rise up, successfully making it fully upright, if a little unsteady on her feet.
You will still fade.~ The heat of the words was much less now, and growing fainter. But for now...~
She strained to hear it.
...sleep.~ It has taken much to embrace you.~
She lifted an eyebrow, for she felt no tiredness, but the other presence in her head disappeared and she was left standing by the hot spring. 3
Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, both eyes following her as she moved to stand with, surprisingly, relative ease. He blinked once, finding that he actually hadn't thought this would work, even in the slightest. Being surprised left him simply staring a blank stare at her, as if he'd just witnessed the miracle of a lifetime.
And then he was blinking away the expression, his lips twitching into a smirk of victory and his eyes sparking with amusement. *
Upon introspection, yes the fever was still there-that had not lowered-but the constant ache it spread to the rest of her body had grown to be only a minor annoyance in her mind.
However...there was still the problem of the absolutely delicious smelling demon next to her and she lifted a hand to rub at the bridge of her nose as she grimaced.
"I've been told I should sleep." She announced, "But I don't feel tired." She shifted her unchanged, black eyes down to Hiei, lowering her hand and sighing. "And I'm fairly certain you'd invade my dreams as the titular feature at this point anyhow, so I don't know how wise that would be at this juncture."
As if to further prove her statement, her stomach let out the slightest of growls. 3
Hiei finally sat back- when he'd sat forward again, he didn't know- and took to lounging back on the grass, irises losing their amused shine and his expression turning neutral again, as if he hadn't paid attention at all. He didn't even raise a brow at her observation, as if he'd understood even before she'd thought about it.
"Then do whatever you please." *
She leveled an even, neutral stare at him, unblinking and just long enough to get the message across that he had just given her permission to do anything she desired.
"That is probably the most asinine thing someone in your position could have ever told a-" She blinked and broke the gaze, reaching up to scratch at a scar just behind her ear, the action more a result of absent-mindedness than actual itchiness.
She turned and started to walk off, looking as if in a daze.
"Strange." She probably wasn't even aware she had taken to talking out loud, her eyes shifting around as she tried to access memories that were slipping from her mental grasp as if through a sieve. "I was going to say something there." She mumbled and looked up between the blackened trees as she walked. "But now I can't remember what it was." 3
It took everything in his being this time to not react outwardly to Shikiyoku's musings, knowing that she wasn't speaking to him, specifically. Inwardly, he was thoroughly amused that he'd gotten the reaction he'd wanted, though he did have to admit that he hadn't expected her to come that close to referring to herself as who she used to be.
Outwardly, he was merely staring, as if she hadn't spoken at all.
And while he did feel tempted to say something more to her, he did not, deciding he'd let her go on about her business without him.
...For now. *
It had been right there. Right on the tip of her tongue, the edge of her senses. Her sensibilities, even. As if something in that moment had triggered...
"Triggered what exactly?" Her eyes shifted back to the left as she struggled to decide. And could it happen again?
This inevitably led her down a winding path that encircled the fire demon behind her, wondering what he wasn't telling her, since she doubted very much that he had attempted 'that' on purpose.
"Whatever 'that' was."
She half-considered turning around and seeing to gathering whatever information from him she could, as if it would help her, guide her, in the correct direction. She even had a series of questions ready to drill him with, but dismissed them for the moment.
Her wanderings had her eventually stopping at the bottom of what she assumed was the largest tree she had ever seen in her entire existence, and even as she still remained lost in thought, she found her eye drawn upwards along the magnificent trunk from the rolling roots on the ground, to see that even with her heightened sight the lowest branch was a great deal higher than the tops of any nearby trees.
So, of course, she started to scale it. Half-heartedly on the first attempted, and not even getting a quarter of the way up before she felt gravity becoming too much and pulling her back down.
Forcing her concentration away from the fire demon and even herself, she actually tried this second time, and managed to get halfway.
The thought to wrap herself between layers occurred, but she was fairly certain she would make it, so she attempted again on her own power. 3
Hiei watched Shikiyoku move away, but didn't move from where he sat, half expecting her to pause. When she didn't, he allowed his lips to stretch into the very wide, very amused smirk that he'd fought for several minutes. He even released a small huff to mirror the emotion, eyelids sliding shut for a moment before he opened them again to stare after her.
He sat there a few minutes longer, allowing his expression to shift to neutral again. He waited until he had recovered before he shifted his weight around and pushed himself to his feet, moving closer to the water nearby to inspect it curiously. He found it odd to find something that did the opposite of the spring he and Shikiyoku had visited by Shubou's tribe.
He reached out with his right hand, placing his palm just over the water, but not touching it. He couldn't feel the properties of it at this distance, other than the heat and mist. Strange. *
Stuck mid-way up, she had lost momentum while running full-tilt-gravity was a master at its work-but managed to somehow find footholds in the bark, grabbing into them with her toes and digging her fingers in to help hold her in place.
It was not the fever that had sweat rolling off her hairline down her neck and back this time, her hair sticking to her face, and the exertions had summoned an aura of darkened power around her body without her direct notice.
The bare muscles on her arms were straining, the discolored scars standing out even more against her ashen-skin with her efforts, and her breath heaved in and out of her lungs in large gulps of air through her nose.
She felt very alive in that moment, fighting against nature as it were. It felt...good. And was much better than being forced to have every thought rotate around the fire demon she had left behind. How his energy might taste, filling her mind with its-
She growled at no one in particular and bent her thoughts onto the task at hand.
She debated on whether or not her energy could hold her own weight, if she might toss it at the lowest branch still far above her head and use it to climb the rest of the way, but she feared it would only cut into the tree itself and do more damage than it would assistance. 3
Hiei continued to stare at the waters, his hand hovering just above the untouched surface. He slowly lowered his hand to touch the hot water, letting it move around his fingers until the water was up to his wrist. He didn't have to wait too long until a few small cuts from times past suddenly reappeared, normally unseen scars opening up again and giving just the barest of stings.
He retracted his hand, brow raised at the small knicks in his skin that had been from some excursion or another many years ago. And just as quickly, the wounds were closing up again, leaving nothing but droplets of blood and a slightly bruised area where the cuts had been.
He flicked the water and little amount of blood there'd been away from his skin in a simple motion, and then used the same hand to push himself to stand again, eyes turning in the direction Shikiyoku had gone. He thought for a moment, debating with himself and considering several things before he decided he'd follow anyway.
Just… not quickly. *
She shook her head slightly, realizing after a moment that her hold had loosened as she found herself staring blankly at the bark in front of her face.
What had that thing said? Exhausted? That was, uh, a problem. This high off the ground.
Tightening the hold her fingers and toes had on the trunk of the tree, a shiver ran down her body and she honestly couldn't decide which direction to go.
Coiling her muscles up, she made the decision without her own direct notice, using the purchase she had maintained on the bark to shoot further up the tree, only just managing to shorten the distance by half, but starting to feel her legs and arms wobble in protest.
If she was going to sleep soon, she would be damned if it wasn't going to be a good sleep. 3
Hiei sauntered his way away from the pond he'd been interested in, finding his curiosity satisfied enough to allow him the ability to follow the path Shikiyoku had taken at a slow saunter. His hands, as usual, were in his pockets and his eyes pointed forward, his nose leading him along the right path.
He stopped at the base of a tree, a rather familiar tree, and turned his red gaze up slowly. He searched the tree limbs until he saw the form of Shikiyoku, who was almost nothing more than a moving dot among the shadows and leaves.
He considered climbing up as well, considered seeing just how far he could go up into the highest tree he'd ever seen. But he decided against it, decided to let Shikiyoku do what she wanted without his presence at the end of her nose.
So he moved, turning his back to the tree and leaning back into it, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes. *
"DON'T YOU DARE MOVE."
Her shoulder began aching, and she felt a slight pressure on her chest, a voice puncturing, invading her mind as she felt searing pain begin to melt her flesh together.
A sudden whiff of bark had her eyes flying open and she swallowed a sudden feeling of bile that had crept up her throat.
As if in remembrance, her shoulder continued aching and she frowned, shifting her weight and reaching over to pull her tank-top away from the offending area.
There were three wicked, claw-like marks that, like the scars on her arm and leg, sat below all the others. Older.
Realizing she should likely keep moving, she coil herself up again and took another short burst up the side of the trunk.
"I made this ridiculous pact with you, and you aren't letting me keep up my end of the deal," he snarled into her head, "You will be waking up, even if I have to force you to. Wake up, you foolish coward."
Her eyes flew open again and it took longer this time for her to make sense of her surroundings, even though the blackened bark had not changed.
Breathing fast with a sudden rush of adrenaline-like anger aimed at...something she couldn't quite remember, she took one deeper breath and shook her head a little, looking up to gauge the distance to the branch she intended to reached.
Two...maybe three more. Assuming she could make it that far. 3
Hiei's entire body weight was leaning into the tree, his heels digging into the blackened earth below him to keep himself standing. He listened to the quiet surroundings, to the breeze moving through the area, making leaves move overhead. He listened for any sign of trouble overhead. He didn't look up at Shikiyoku again, didn't move or make any sound to indicate his presence.
After all, why interrupt someone during their escapade when there was no reason to do so? *
"HA! You were wrong." She held rather triumphantly a serving spoon, skipping over to the tub and being unsuccessful in her attempts to open it. Grinding her teeth together, she tried again, coming to a point where she shoved the tub in Hiei's direction.
"Can you...open it...please." She glared down at the table, refusing to look at him.
This time, the sound of scraping bark jolted her eyes open and as she realised she had started to fall, she pressed more deeply into the trunk, looking up to see that she had slid several feet without knowing it.
"The secret, my love, is to know pain."
She ran through the red-colored forest, seeing the dark shape in front of her, but as closely as she followed, as fast as she ran, she could not catch up.
The shape ran headlong into darkness, but the darkness would not let her in... 3
Hiei slid one hand from his pocket to scratch at his face, the breeze picking up enough to make the ends of his hair tickle his cheek and cause the itch sensation. It was this annoying, continuous sensation that had his eyelids sliding open and turning up to glare at the strands he could see falling in front of his eyes.
And his eyes, after a moment, focused on the moving form overhead. The form that paused in her fall. Hiei took in a deep breath and pushed away from the bark of the tree. He began to walk away from the base of it, moving a good distance away. And then without pause he turned and, at his utmost speed, ran at the base of the tree. For a moment, he shifted between layers to get more momentum, and by the time he was climbing the tree, he had his sword in hand, just in case, and had climbed over half the way up.
It didn't take long for him to bypass Shikiyoku, stopping only a foot above her as he held onto the bark of the tree trunk,, his breathing just a little heavier. He hadn't realized just how high up he'd gone until he was staring down.
But he didn't think about it for long. When Shikiyoku's grip again began to slip, the fire demon reached down and grabbed her by the wrist, hauling her upwards with him as he launched upwards inbetween the layers and made it to the lowest branch on the tree in one swift motion without making even the slightest sound. *
Her body was so small that any struggling she did was akin to a beetle in the paws of a tom cat. When her legs started to kick, he moved one of his own and put enough pressure on them that they could not move. When she tried to reach up and claw at his face with the arm not already pinned by the hand he tangled up in her hair, he laughed into his kiss and caught it, holding it back down onto the bed easily before breaking away from her to look into her face.
She remembered thinking somewhere in the back of her mind that if she could just let her energy go, if she could only wake up, she could regain control of what had rapidly unraveled into power that wrapped around them both and egged him further. It was...frustrating, being stuck watching, able to sense the struggle and yet unable to react, to even coax any sort of acceptance or peace, which might let her manipulate the situation.
It was all she could do to simply let the waves wash over her, and hope that she might give in to the tide and let it lead her to a point where she might once more have control. 3
With Shikiyoku now pulled from her falling state, no longer in danger, Hiei shifted on the branch, pulling her the rest of the way up until her full weight was leaning into him, one arm around her midsection as he leaned back into the bark again. He glanced up, impressed for a moment at how much farther the tree stretched above them. He looked back down at Shikiyoku after a moment. Her breathing was still labored as if she'd only just stopped running up the side.
He slid down against the bark until he was lounging back, her sleeping form held firmly to his chest with his arm keeping her steady in place.
"Foolish woman." *
The vibration under her ear had her eyes coming open again, but the edges fought against her and forced them closed again.
"Nu-uh." She breathed in protest, curling up closer as if it were possible and reaching up with the arm not pinned against him to place it over his chest.
The rhythm of his core beat steadily against her cheek and she smiled that same sleepy smile she had worn before. 3
Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku's response, only half surprised she'd woken enough to hear him. When she shifted closer, he made sure to adjust his hold on her accordingly, so that later if he too fell asleep- which he was almost certain wouldn't happen anyway- she wouldn't have a chance to fall.
He didn't respond to her negatory, deciding he'd let her slip back into sleep if she so desired to do so. *
The pause was a long one, her breath slowing as she steadily became more aware of his warmth and his scent that had practically enveloped her, but she did eventually speak.
"Hiei-" She murmured, "Why did you come back for me?" 3
A thin brow raised high enough to disappear within dark hair, and red eyes turned to look at the area he could now very easily see miles and miles of. Trees upon trees, even the pond he'd left earlier and the mountains in the distance.
His own pause equaled that of Shikiyoku's, though his was from thinking over her question and the proper answer to give her. For a moment, he wasn't sure he could give an answer, or even if he should.
But, she'd asked, and he decided he'd answer to the best of his own ability.
"Because you would have done the same for me." *
The grin she gave was hidden partially against him, but would have affirmed his statement had he seen it.
"What on earth makes you think something like that?" 3
"Intuition," came Hiei's lone response, his eyes finally turning down to look at the ashen-skinned female who lay against him, her body both cold to him, but warm at the same time. He couldn't decide what it was that caused this confliction with how he perceived her body temperature, but he knew that it was likely a good idea to not warm her more than necessary, since he could still feel the fever that heated her skin. *
"...you're...ridiculous. ...fire-prince." The words came out more mumbled than before as both her mind and her smile started to fade away into that one dream where something was leading her around blood-colored trees, and she kept calling out as she ran after it, kept trying to warn it not to go that way, but every time finding herself stuck outside of the darkness, unable to follow it inside. 3
Hiei's brow remained raised at Shikiyoku, even as she drifted into whatever dream state she was in. He noted the way the breeze moved her hair, and for the first time, he took careful note of each and every scar he could see. How each scar stood out angrily from her grey skin, how even the older scars looked harsher than they'd been.
He also noted the movement behind her eyelids, the shifting of her lashes here and there as she seemed to continue looking about the dream she was trapped in. The tension her muscles occasionally gave before releasing into relaxation again.
Indeed. *
"Did ya' kill somefin?"
"Yes. Lots of things. All the things." Just before she settled back, she leaned forward and pressed her lips briefly to his nose with a light kiss, "Just for you."
"What wa-sh tha' for?" He paused to fight back a yawn and shifted a bit more, "Yoo make no sensh to me."
"Because I'm rather fond of you, Hiei." Shikiyoku inched closer to him as she felt the warmth radiating off his body, "I do these things because I like you. Does that 'make sense' to you?" She lifted her head just enough to let the tip of her tongue stick out at him, sleepily impetuous.
"Do you want to lose tha' tongue?" he grumbled at her, his threat countered by the twitch of his lips.
Shikiyoku bit back a rather inappropriate reply, settling for a milder, "Only to you."
"Shi'," Hiei suddenly grumbled out, only half awake causing the shortening of her name, "you're not so bad."
"You're not so terrible yourself, Hiei."
"That can be arranged," he countered suddenly.
"What can be arranged?" She murmured out in her sleep, "You being less terrible? Because I might like that." 3
Hiei blinked once in confusion; what was she talking about? He could tell she was still asleep, meaning she was also dreaming, since she'd spoken aloud. As to who she was speaking to, well… He wasn't sure. He could assume it was aimed at him, but really, for her, there was a lot of time to account for, many conversations she could have had to say something like that to just about anyone.
But, the idea of it being aimed at him was amusing, because, really…
He'd become rather terrible to others, and yet… not as terrible to her. *
Amethyst-colored eyes stared hungrily down into her own, the glint of moonlight reflecting off the white-blonde hair. She could only feel panic this time, her entire body trembling, unable to hear the beckoning of her energy which tried to coax her into acceptance.
There was only...fear. A heart-wrenching fear as she struggled against the other.
When she tried to cry out, he had covered her mouth with his.
"Who are you?!"
"Do you not remember me, lover?" He seethed, "After all this time?"
He bent over her again and she struggled against him.
"What do you want from me?!"
"What I want is what I have been denied for centuries. What I want is you, lover."
"You are no lover of mine." She told him through gritted teeth, body stiffening as he bit at her neck.
"You don't even know what that means anymore, do you? So how can you really tell me that I'm not?" Pulling back inches from her face he gazed deep into her green eyes, "Besides, I was. Once. Or very nearly."
"You're lying."
"Quite the contrary, lover."
She flinched, but her uncomfortableness only seemed to make his smile more wicked.
"And the truth is..." He leaned closer again, "You came to me."
"N-no," Her protest this time was more of a whimper-and she was unsure whether she was denying his words or his touch-as she felt the terror closing in around her, pushing at his chest in what seemed like a fruitless effort as his weight pushed down on top of her.
She trembled again, starting to try to sit up in her sleep, murmuring low the words out loud this time, "N-No. S-Stop." 3
There was a beat where Hiei himself tensed up from the tension of the person laying against him, out of pure instinct. His body told him that one being fearing something meant someone else was near, his core readying for a sudden ambush when his mind knew perfectly well there was no such thing on the horizon. So he took in a very slow, a very deep breath through his mouth, releasing it just as quietly again through his lips.
He began to play with his energy, to fluctuate it periodically and create a warm little space around himself and Shikiyoku, the air warming up as if they were near a fire. It would be...comforting, if nothing else. His entire body relaxed and his hold on her waist loosened, his head falling back against the bark of the tree and his eyes closing, his mind conjuring the first picture of peace he could.
A warm campfire in the middle of night, the sounds of a bubbling brook nearby and pleasant night creatures moving about the woodland area he'd once inhabited on his own. It had been his safe haven once, his home, as it were. The smell of the trees nearby calming and the feel of the air on his face even more so.
And that image, that scene, was projected slowly via the Jagan onto Shikiyoku's mind's eye, first coaxing her into darkness if her mind allowed, and then bringing the rest of the scene in around her if she so desired to see it.
But in the end, it would be up to her. *
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star