YES. UPDATE. FINALLY. I was cut off of the computer for a time, so I couldn't update when I wanted too, which is part of why this is so incredibly late. Sorry 'bout that.

Another thing- the chapers are messed up. I think I might have deleated a chapter somewhere, so I'll have to find where that was and insert it again. That's why it says ch. 11 but I wrote ch. 12. Just if any of you noticed that bit.

Sank-youuu for editing, 4-is-lovely. You're too kind to me.

Now...

ONWARD MY TRUSTY READERS

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Burn it Black

Ch. 12- Heroic Ferrets and Mad Oxen

英雄的なフェレットおよび気違いのウシ

--

--

It was wonderful. There were stands everywhere, most having things like fruit and clothing for sale. Usually elderly people hosted them, accompanied with their grandchildren, and happily traded money for goods.

As we passed a fruit stand, the sweet scent of watermelon rose in the air as the squares were cut and passed to customers. I turned toward it, watching the skinny man bring the large butcher knife down on the fruit. Some of the water splashed onto the white tablecloth that covered his stand, but he didn't mind. His customer, a brown haired woman with two young boys, took it gratefully. She moved to the side and broke it in half, giving each to the two siblings. They happily took the pieces, their fox ears twitching wildly at the sides of their faces as their golden eyes sparkled in delight.

I turned from them and looked ahead, at the back of Kuwabara's curly orange hair and Yusuke's slicked back one. Ahead of them the streets were dusty and divided into two lanes, one coming and one going. There was no designated line to part the lanes, but one understood which was which by the passing people and carts.

The two chatted lively, and Kurama and Hiei communicated every now and then. I didn't pay any attention, for mine was distracted on all the people and noises around us. There were buildings behind the shops, the apartments that these people lived in. Most likely the shops led to the apartments, and the people who owned the shops lived in those homes.

"Ah!" came a light cry in front of me, and something landed on my feet. I looked down and found a little girl had fallen to the ground, a small sack of money just a bit beyond her reach. It appeared she had dropped it when she fell. Yusuke and Kuwabara turned around to see what had happened, and Kurama and Hiei looked on from behind.

The little girl blinked her wide orange eyes for a moment to clear them from the dust before she turned her head up to me. After a moment of staring blankly at me she closed her eyes and bowed, saying hurriedly, "Oh I'm sorry miss I didn't mean to fall on you I-I was just being clumsy it won't happen ever again please forgive me!"

I quirked my head to the side, and she hesitantly opened her eyes and stared at me. Her auburn hair fell into a slack bun at the nape of her neck, loosened and dusty from running in the streets.

"So now you're graveling at the feet of travelers?" a heavy, gruff voice bellowed. The girl leaped to life, snatching the small sack and gripping my leg tightly. I turned to my right, tilting my head up to see eye to eye with a tall, muscular man. He had long, black ears pierced with flecks of gold, and a large flat nose resembling that of an ox.

"P-please help-" the girl whispered, "help me. Please!"

"Come over here. Now," the man tried to coax her, but his voice was too strong and loud by nature to cause any comfort. I saw he had a tight grip on a massive hammer in his right hand, and wore a burnt apron around his neck that tied at the middle and flowed to his shins. Behind that he was garbed in a short sleeve, black cotton shirt and a pair of worn jeans.

"Who are you, and what do you want with the girl?" Yusuke demanded, casually walking forward with a steady, menacing glare in his eyes.

"Don't defend a thief such as her," he shouted, "I'm Oushi, a hard working man. And she stole from my smith! I toil greatly for my money, and she takes it without any due labor! All thieves are scum." He turned and spit on the ground, showing his immense disgust.

I smiled; knowing Hiei and Kurama must be grinding their teeth at this man. I was surprised neither of them had lashed out already. Hiei, at least. The girl whimpered, her figure shivering against me. I turned to face him, who had been glaring heatedly at the small child for a time, and hid her from his gaze. At this somewhat bold action he locked eyes with me again.

"If that's how you feel for thieves, I wonder how you think of murderers," I said, flashing a fanged smile at him and reaching for my Sais.

"Don't you dare interfere with my quarrels," Oushi bellowed as he raised his hammer.

My eyes glinted dangerously at him as the shadow of his hammer, the higher he raised it, reached closer to me. The girl broke and began to cry as quietly as she could, her chocked sobs rubbing into my black pants.

"HAAAR!" he screamed as he swung the hammer down. When the shadow of it touched my feet, we were both gone. The girl stumbled forward as the leg she clung suddenly vanished, and she looked around eagerly.

"Kumori!" Yusuke shouted, looking back and forth. "Where'd they go?"

"She's able to handle this," the redhead sighed, instead turning to the little girl.

--

I pushed Oushi against a wall in a very dark alleyway, the top covered with a roof of dry leaves. He grunted and looked around, confused and terrified. The hammer dropped to the ground with a large thud, and I gripped the front of his shirt tighter.

"Fool," I spat, "you think you have the authority to demand something, anything, of me?"

He was focused on catching his breath, but nevertheless huffed, "What in seven hells was that? W-Where did we just come from?"

"You just don't listen," I barked, singing his shirt. He breathed deeply as the fire ate through and prickled his skin.

"Let me go," Oushi wheezed, the fire growing and burning his chest. When I ignored his request, he bellowed, "I told you to let me go!"

He raised a large hand and batted me across the face, sending me flying into the wall. I gasped as the cement hit my back hard, and slowly slumped to the ground. I blinked my eyes a few times, but my vision was blurred and swaying. Bells rang in my ears, and I lifted a hand to feel for the ground. My head pounded, throbbing in pain.

I strained my eyes to clear and vaguely registered Oushi picking up his hammer. His gruff, low laugh echoed in my head and I slowly stood up to a wobbly stance. I stumbled and fell forward, landing on my hands as air rushed over my back and his hammer slammed into the wall behind me. I heard the clinking of rocks as they tumbled to the pavement and mentally smiled as I realized my senses were coming back.

Taking action I ducked and ran under his legs, sliding to a stop behind him. I turned and blinked, registering the white of his apron and the dark colors of the clothes underneath. He turned around, huffing, and raised his hammer again. I smiled and stepped backward into a large, black shadow.

"Wha-!" I gasped.

My foot….it won't go in…!

"No!" I panted, looking upward as Oushi swung his hammer down. I closed my eyes and braced myself. The air that rushed down at me doubled over and pushed back up, followed shortly by a cry of pain.

"YAAAARGH!" Oushi screamed, and I looked up.

"T-Twitchy?" I whispered, seeing the white ferret clamed onto his right arm tightly. No matter how he swung his arm, Twitchy kept a firm hold with his sharp teeth, occasionally scratching with his forearms. He glanced at me, a glint of trust visible.

…Thanks

With a grunt of frustration Oushi half turned and pulled his arm back, preparing to smash it into the already crumbling rock wall. Twitchy gave a small whimper, but stayed steadfast. I gasped and reached for them, sprinting desperately. Oushi, smiling, thrust his arm into the wall, splitting stones and hearing the delectable sound of crushing bone. The smell of blood tinted the air and he smiled with a sense of pride.

"Heh…heh heh... heh-YAAAAAA! LET GO!" he screamed, desperately pulling at his arm.

I was at least six inches deep in rubble, blood dripping from my mouth. Twitchy was in my arms, some scratches on him, but otherwise fine. My deadly gaze pierced though, penetrating the darkness surrounding us. The claws on my right hand were buried deep inside Oushi's arm, dragging down as he pulled against my grip.

"Shut up" I growled, a deep, menacing voice echoing in the emptiness of the ally.

His only response was an intolerable scream, a wailing of pain as his pulls caused his own arm to become even more shredded and mutilated. The hammer fell from his other hand, echoing as it hit the concrete. Tears began to flow down his face, and his heartbeats were loud and quick, echoing in my head. I heard it over his brusque huffs, over my deep breathes of tolerating pain.

"I tire of your foolishness. Die."

I raised Twitchy and caught his ruff in my mouth, and in a swift movement and a quick hand stoke, my left hand was through his ribcage and grasping his beating heart. It throbbed, and felt warm and slick with blood. Oushi's gasp was cracked and dieing, and I pulled out just as quickly as I had entered.

Oushi slumped forward, and I fell to one knee. Blood dripped from the hole in his chest, trickling onto my head and coating my hair. I turned to his left arm, the one with my claws in it. With a short tug and a quick moment of pain, my hand was freed.

I crawled out from under his body and felt relieved without his body heat surrounding me so. Carefully I dropped Twitchy and caught him in my left arm, pressing him lightly against my chest. He was sleeping, some drops of Oushi's blood caught in his white fur.

"You're a brave furball, I'll give you that," I whispered, but then sighed at the expense of his courageous act. My right arm was throbbing, and I knew it was broken in at least one place.

"Now, let's find the others and get all this crap out of my hair…"

--

"Thank you," I said, taking the bucket of water from the smiling saleswoman. She had kind gray eyes and ginger hair tied back neatly.

"It is next to nothing to help a traveler. If you'd like, I could wash your clothes as well," she offered.

"No, that's fine," I said, kneeling onto the floor. I lifted the bucket above my head and braced myself before letting the water tip over. It was warm and sudsy, like bath water, so it wasn't that bad. After it had all been emptied I tossed my hair and massaged my scalp to release any other dirt and blood.

Twitchy, who had been lying beside me, slowly opened his eyes as the rivulets of water reached him, wetting his fur. I glanced at him and grabbed the towel I put over him. As I stood up and put the towel over my head, his eyes suddenly snapped open and he leaped to his feet, running like a white streak up the road.

"Oh my, he's gotten loose!" the saleswoman said, but I calmed her, saying, "Don't worry. He'll find his way to Muzei."

"Who's that?" she asked.

"His owner," I responded, rubbing the towel to dry my sodden hair.

"I know many, many people, but not her. What does she look like?" she questioned.

"Short white hair with blue tips, goggles, blue eyes-."

"Lady Shikai!" she shouted, jumping up. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand and blushed with embarrassment at the sudden outburst.

"I beg your pardon. It just sounds so much like her Lady Shikai. You see, she's been missing for a day. But that's usual. She usually disappears for a day, but it can last for weeks sometimes. It worries us, since she is the kind hand of the castle. With all do respect to her Lady Aikyou, she's just a bit more masculine. I mean, she fights like a man. Implied that she's more brutal. Ah! I mean-!"

"I get it," I said, smiling at her. She gave a coy smile in return, obviously not meaning to give the least bit disrespect.

"And, besides," I turned to the road Twitchy ran down moments before, "you've just given me a very interesting piece of information."

"I… I did?" the saleswoman stuttered, confused.

"Kumori!"

I turned to my left, and saw Yusuke and Kuwabara running toward me. Without realizing it, I smiled. There was laughter in Yusuke's voice when he came to a stop beside me, asking, "What in the world happened to you?"

I turned to the saleswoman, who was smilling, but felt misplaced among us travelers. "Would you mind excusing us?" I asked, mustering all the politeness I had.

She bowed her head to me, laughing softly while she said, "Of course. Please, leave the towel here when you're done."

Then she turned and walked into her shop, lifting the green colored bamboo screen and disappearing. I turned to Yusuke when I was sure she had left.

"Oushi put up a decent fight," I admitted, shrugging and rubbing the towel against my head again.

"Got hurt?" Yusuke persisted, putting his arm around my shoulders. He squeezed, and I quickly gasped and recoiled from him. I grasped my right arm again, holding my breath until it was released with a strained pant.

"Looks like he put up more then just a decent fight," Kuwabara said, scratching the back of his head.

"It's…" I glanced at Kurama. He was giving me a slightly stern look, his eyes telling me to speak the truth.

I sighed.

"It's broken, or fractured, I can't tell which one. But I can deal with it until we can get out of here," I said, looking around. "Hey, where's ferret girl?"

"Left," Hiei said bluntly.

"Where to?"

"Isn't our concern," he continued, raising an eyebrow at me. "You seem to know something we don't. Talk."

I smiled at him, relishing in that very fact. Ah, and it felt so good.

"I've got a hunch she's not letting us on to who she really is," I said, turning to look everyone in the face seriously, "In fact, I believe she's really Shikai. That saleswoman said 'Muzei' bore a certain resemblance from the description I gave her. The information we have is that Shikai is an ice demon, and Muzei smelt of snow."

"And also stated she carried with her a companion. That could be Twitchy, couldn't it?" Kurama continued.

"Well, darn," Yusuke huffed, putting his hands on his hips and thinking it over. "She was right under our noses and we didn't even notice!"

"That's not all," I said, drawing their attention back to me. "Oushi is a royal undercover guard. I saw a tattoo imprinted on the back of his neck. Besides, I don't know many blacksmiths who can fight as brutally as he did."

"Wow, you get into one fight and you find an undercover guard and the real identity of the Queen. Anyway, now that we know who she really is we can storm the castle, grab her, and go home!" Yusuke said.

"Yeah, Urameshi's got the idea!" Kuwabara shouted, smiling as he threw his fist in the air.

"I'll help too!" came a determined, feminine cry as another, smaller fist was thrown into the air.

I turned and looked, seeing that little girl from before between Kurama and Hiei. I raised an eyebrow and said, "What… is she doing here?"

"Heh, her name's Kouchou, and her mother is a kimono weaver," he said.

Kouchou nodded her head, then ran over to me and latched herself onto my leg. "Please accept my gratitude, Kumori-chan, and let me fight beside you!"

"Kumori-chan, what-?" I stuttered in a terrible mixture of confusion and shock.

"I wanna help save the castle, too! Come on, I can beat up the bad guys!" she laughed, looking up at me with those bright, admiring orange eyes of hers. A fang poked out of the side of her mouth, and two wide kitsune ears perked from the sides of her head. Her tail curled in amusement, making my ear twitch in bewilderment.

"You can't follow me," I frowned at her, shaking my leg. When she didn't make a movement to get off, I began to growl, "You'll die. Do you even understand the meaning of that, yet?"

She blinked her eyes, staring in deep concentration. "I'll… die?" she repeated slowly, running her fingertips across her lips as she said it.

"Yes, the guards of the castle are too strong for someone like you," I continued, only feeling slightly as if I was wrong somewhere as she pondered the morbid thought of death.

"I… don't want to die," she mumbled, loosening her grip on me until she sat on the ground.

"Aaaaw, don't make her sad, Kumori!" Yusuke scolded, kneeling to her level. He pulled the corners of his eyes down, making him look like a zombie.

"Come on, smiiiiiiile," he said, pulling his bottom lids down until tears glazed over his eyes. I smirked at him, restraining a small laugh.

Kouchou stared at him, flickering her tail from side to side. "What on earth are you doing?" she asked, perplexed by his suddenly odd behavior.

Yusuke gave her a smile as he let go, saying, "Get a load of this."

He stood up and put his index finger in his mouth. After a few seconds he took it out, wet with saliva, and looked at me with a dark, evil smile. My smirk died quickly and I began to back up, opening my mouth to scream.

"No you don't!" he shouted, getting me into a headlock with one arm and thrusting the wet finger into my ear, screaming, "WET WILLY!"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I cried, tugging desperately at his iron grip as he swirled the disgusting, wet thing in my head, poking at my brain. I gagged, sticking out my tongue at him as he laughed along with the others. Then he let me go and took his finger out, and I stood where I was, frazzled and still recovering from the brutal assault.

"…Kill… you," I managed to stutter, grabbing the abandoned towel and cleaning out Yusuke's saliva from my ear.

His screams of laughter wrought the air, and he leaned on Kuwabara, who suffered the same fate. Kurama was chuckling, but I could tell he was imagining my aftermath. I looked up, at Hiei, and found that same smug smirk on his face. One day…

Then I looked at Kouchou. She was tearing from laughter, trying to reserve it but failing horribly. I found this look on her young face much more satisfying, as apposed to when she mused of death. Of course, this wouldn't detract from my revenge from this little incident. That was yet to be had. But, still…Her cheeks were flushed, and her bright white teeth were flashing, and her orange eyes were brilliant. Her tail was curling in pure bliss, and it looked like she was enjoying herself more then she ever had.

I smiled to myself, putting this into consideration. Maybe… it was worth it after all

--

"This way!" Yusuke shouted, pulling us down another road, and we followed doubtlessly. That is, until we came to a split in the road. I stared down both, trying to determine the difference.

"Which way?" Kuwabara asked Yusuke, who scratched his head in confusion.

"I dunno… maybe we should split up and go both?"

"That sounds like a good idea, we could meet up at the end and attract less attention to ourselves. It seems that around here there aren't really and groups of travelers that come often," Kurama suggested.

"Alright," Yusuke said as he turned around and looked us all over, "It'll be Kurama and Hiei, and then me Kuwabara and Kumori. Got it?"

"Great," Kurama said as he and Hiei steered toward the right.

"Good, see you there!" Yusuke said, running down the left side. Kuwabara ran and caught up quickly, and they began to talk right away. I sighed and glanced once down the right lane. The others were already gone.

"Hey! Kumori! You coming?" Yusuke shouted at me. I shot up my head, finding he had stopped, along with Kuwabara, and was looking at me expectantly.

"… Of course!" I shouted back, running and catching up with them quickly.

Yusuke smiled and said, "You were the one who was complaining we weren't moving quick enough, so don't daydream when we are!"

"I was not daydreaming," I said proudly, striding quickly ahead.

"Whatever…" Yusuke couldn't help but smile as he leaned over to Kuwabara. "Betcha she was daydreaming about-"

"I HEARD THAT!" I screamed. As Yusuke and Kuwabara's laughs echoed in the air, I found my lips twisting in a half-hearted smile despite myself.