In the Wake of What Follows

Chapter Twenty-One: Snake Bite

Terra didn't have to choose to chase the wind or ignore the dust storm in the distance. It came to her. She recalled Kurama's worries. Her newfound strength made her a beacon in the human world to all the demons around her. She was someone to fear or challenge or toy with because they could pick her out of a crowd. They'd want to investigate. She wondered what the demons heading her way felt when they clocked her energy. Did they recognize her the way she recognized them? Or was it merely the aura of a powerful psychic.

The dust carried with Jin as he flew through the air, dragging the topsoil of the shrublands into a smoky cloud. The wind of his energy and the wind of his control mixed at some point, and Terra felt the air against her skin two-fold.

"Oi!" he called out, some ways above her head. "I knew eh t' was you!" He swooped on down, so fast Terra feared he'd crash right into her. His laughter only made him seem less in control of his actions. The last time Terra saw Jin, they were all grieving. He came to pay his respects and they hadn't really talked. She wasn't sure what to expect as he spun closer like a missile. They weren't at the temple. This wasn't necessarily a friendly run-in. "Yer wound up so tight, yer like one o' those rattlers!"

Terra threw her hands up as he got too close. She was sure he would crash into her, and there was no way dodge at that speed. A yelp escaped her lips, but just when he should have knocked her down, propelled by inertia trapping him in his path, Jin flew back a few paces and hopped off nothing and onto the ground. "Look a' you!" he cheered, face lighting up like they were old friends and not mere acquaintances who had only met twice. "You're a might stronger than ta last I saw ye."

Then he rushed her and pulled her into a hug, not unlike the kind Kuwabara was fond of giving. She screamed a little as he left the ground, but she was safely on her own two feet soon enough. "Jin. Hi." The wind of his energy died down with the wind of his powers. It was a bit disorienting.

There was a lot to process. What was Jin doing in Australia? Why did she pick out his demonic energy when he seemed to be in a good mood and happy to see her? Why was he so excited to see her? Oh god, she was floating for a few seconds there. Where was Chuu? Were they fighting? Jin's smile was almost loud it was so big.

"Fancy meeting you here," Jin cheered! "Wotch'ya doin' so far from home?" He cocked his head to the side, kind of like a dog, eyes to the sky and lips pouted. "Oh, well, I guess this is yer home, too, though, is' nit?

Terra scratched her cheek and looked back over her shoulder down the long dirt road. "Sort of," she said. She looked back to Jin with a frown and the sudden fear of somehow tying Lorraine and her family with the demonic and spiritual worlds. "What are you doing in Australia?"

"Training!" Jin cheered. He sombered a bit and turned steely eyes towards where he flew in from. "Chuu dragged me on ou' this way buh he's a wee bit too far into the bottle to give it a good fight." He blew out an angry whistle of frustration before focusing back on Terra. The jovial playfulness was back in his eyes. He hopped back and forth on his feet like an Irish boxer. Terra wondered if his feet were even touching the ground as he did it. "Maybe we should spar? You look like you could do throw a good punch!"

It was so absurd that all Terra could do was laugh. She may have been a lot stronger, but no way could she hold up to Jin. Terra threw her head back; her frayed edges left over from the night before made tears well at the corner of her eyes. The laughter stole her breath and Terra began to wheeze as Jin watched on in surprise. He blinked as if he needed to reset his vision.

"Well, look at ya," he marveled, his pointed front teeth poking out behind his smile. "Don't think I ever saw yeh like tha' before."

Terra wiped her eyes and shook her head. "Sorry, sorry. I just. Me? Fight you."

Jin shrugged. "I dunno. Might be fun. 'Sides, you can't get stronger without going after a challenge!"

Terra gave him a weak smile. "Not sure I'm trying to get stronger anymore." She hadn't figured out all her next moves or anything long term. All Terra knew right now was that, in order to find her future footing, she needed to understand what ground she stood on. Trisha had found the temple Terra's great-grandfather once trained at, and it was a place to start. She didn't think she'd be training anytime soon.

"What are you and Chuu supposed to be training for?" she asked.

"The tournament, of course." Jin's face lit up with an idea, and then he was moving and talking so fast Terra didn't have time to protest as he pulled her into his arms and up into the air again. "We should bring yeh to Chuu! He'd love to see ya an' maybe he'll even wake up enough for me ta fight!"

Terra's voice was swallowed by the wind as she shrieked and was pulled through the sky. Terra wanted to close her eyes but couldn't manage it against the force of the gale like winds that Jin manipulated to carry them to his destination. She was in such shock, she almost didn't notice when her feet were on solid ground again. The world spun beneath her, and Terra was convinced she could feel the very rotation of the earth as she balanced against its movement.

Jin didn't seem to notice or care that he had just sent her into a near panic attack. He cleaned out one of his long, pointy ears with his pinky; nose scrunched up in frustration. "You're a might louder than I remember, too," he complained.

Terra breathed against the headrush and finally was able to close her eyes, which were itchy and dry from the sudden flight. It took her a moment, the dizzy tilt of her equilibrium failing her even with her eyes closed, to realize the spinning wasn't all from Jin's trip through the air. It was Chuu. His drunken energy was so heady it was making her sloshed worse than she had been the night before.

"Jesus fucking christ," she murmured and dropped to the ground to get her head between her knees.

She winced at the sound of her name screamed across a short patch of scrubland. Chuu was ecstatic to see her. "It's my Shelia!" he cheered. Just as Terra was able to shake off the oppressive weight of Chuu's drunken energy to clear her head, Chuu tackled her into a hug tighter than Kuwabara's. Terra couldn't breathe. She hit his arm a few times, desperate to get him off her. He wasn't letting go, too drunk and giddy and out of it to pay attention.

She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. Terra hit his arm again, panicked and desperate for air. He yelled and dropped her instantly. Terra had a whole new reason to panic.

Chuu let out an impressive string of curses, but at least he was still verbal. He clutched at his shoulder, where her raw handprint poked out beneath his fingers. It was red and blistering and looked like something was discoloring the flesh from inside the way a snake bite claims its pound of flesh in a seeping conquest.

"Help me get him still!" Terra yelled at Jin. She didn't know what to do, but she had to try. A steady chant of fuck-fuck-fuck under her breath as Jin used the wind as if it were steel chains. The air circled Chuu's feet and fell him to the ground, his left hand pinned to his side under the strain of the invisible prison. Tearing Chuu's hand away from the slap seemed to be the hardest struggle, but with a push of strength, Jin was able to pry it off and by his side.

"Wot is this?" Jin yelled over the contained whirlwinds.

Terra couldn't hide the fear on her face. She couldn't answer him more than that, but Jin seemed to understand nonetheless. At Chuu's side, her hand flitted around the growing mark, too afraid touch it. Hiei passed through her mind - his insistence that she practice the use of her energy - his body writhing on the dojo floor as she had to leave him to find Genkai. She should have learned, she berated herself. She should have discovered all the terrible things her venom could do, if only to prevent it from happening. Chuu screamed, eyes wide and confused and alert. She should have learned, but she could have never done this to Hiei.

Her energy hadn't hit anything vital. That was the first thing she was able to determine. From all her days studying, she could draw the chakra map as if it were her own name. It was far enough away from the non-beating heart of a demon that she had some time before whatever she had done was irreversible. Terra wasn't Genkai. She couldn't cleanse a body. But this was her energy. She refused to let it best her. Terra would master it, even if it were no longer in her.

Terra wondered if any of the other psychics she'd med had tried to reign in energy after it had already been released. It didn't matter. She would. She had to.

Carefully, let a game of operation, Terra lined her palm up with the burn mark that was spreading purple at the edges. "Just… breathe with me. Okay?"

Like a phantom thread, Terra traced the path her energy as it had left her body and entered Chuu's chakra stream. Her hand was shaking and her heart was beating wildly against her ribcage. Jin was speaking to her, but she didn't have a clear enough mind to understand what he was saying. It was just a string of heavily accented gibberish fading into white noise.

It wasn't any different than the other times she tried to manipulate her energy. It had the tastelessness of water, but she could feel the weight of it in Chuu's veins. Loose tendrils still connected her to the venom she had pushed away. The vastness, the potential and empty, hollow, force of gravity that she moved throughout her body at her command was almost calling to her as she focused on the spot where her hand met Chuu's shoulder. It was her energy. She would call it back.

The next few moments were a bit of a blur, a flash of instinct and a shroud of confusion. Terra gasped, air in her lungs like a newborn's first cry. Chuu jackknifed up to seating, pushing up past Jin's wind shackles. He stared at her with blue eyes so wide they looked like marbles of sea glass. She hadn't taken her hand away yet.

"Well," Chuu winced, breathing heavy and words coming slow, "that's one way to sober me up. Terra flinched, her hand leaving his skin, but Chuu caught it in one of his own. "You gonna tell me what you just did there?" His gaze was so intense and sharp, so unlike how she had seen him before. She flinched again, but her hand stayed put. His grip was warm and firm, but not so tight it was painful.

"Are you okay?" Terra whispered. She could see the mark of her hand on his bare shoulder. It was slowly receding into itself like a reversed timelapse video. "I've never… done that before. I don't know if you're okay."

Panic was still tight around her heart. Chuu squeezed her hand tighter. "Hey. Hey," he called to her, the mere arm's breadth between them stretching as far as the horizon or further for all Terra could tell. He yanked her hand from his shoulder and closer to his chest, forcing her attention back to him - his face - his crystal clear blue eyes. He was smiling. "I do love a girl who can knock me to my feet."

Jin's voice cut right in before Chuu finished speaking. "An' they'd love ya more if you weren't such a great sack of shite, but here ye are, not even drunk no more and still can't figure out tha' it's yer feet tha' supposed ta be on the ground, not yer arse."

Chuu burst out laughing and let go of Terra's hand. With a lightning-fast kick-up, Chuu was on his feet again, fists up and ready to punch his friend. "Now, come on, Jin. Don't need to make me look bad in front of the lady."

"I think ya did tha' for yerself when she slapped you to oblivion. I thought only Keiko could do that, an' ta Urameshi just." Jin looked Terra's way and frowned. "Wot was tha' anyhow?"

Terra sat back onto her heels, not quite ready to stand. Her heart was still racing and her palm tickled with the returned energy. "I, uh, I don't make a weapon like Yusuke or Kuwabara," she explained haltingly, trying to wrap her mind around what she just did - what she could have done on accident. "It's a little bit more like a territory, and I can… I can push it into a demon. It acts like venom. I poison your own energy." Terra flexed her hand and drew it back into a fist before relaxing her fingers. "I think I just had a crash course in removing the venom."

"A snake bite, eh?" Chuu mused. "Awful powerful. Would n't've guessed from the way you read. You're really three times as strong as you seem." He wiped a hand over his eyes. "I need a drink. I don't think I like being sober much."

Jin came over and squatted down so he was eye and eye with Terra. He was positively gleeful. "I was joking before, but now that sounds exciting. We can go hand to hand. If you land a touch, I'm a goner!"

Terra looked at him like he was insane. Was he asking for her to kill him? "What? No! I don't want to do that to people."

Chuu was still laughing when he came around and hauled Terra to her feet. "Come on, little mulga, let's get some grub and a couple of kegs of Crown. You'll feel better after a meal."

"Shouldn't I be comforting you?" Terra said, nervously glancing at the still fading.

Chuu shrugged, the mark moving with it. "No lasting damage far as I can tell." He winked and Terra felt wholly embarrassed. "You're an impressive Shelia. Remind me of Yusuke in a way."

"Nah," Jin dismissed, hands behind his head. "Urameshi's always thirstin' for a fight. Terra's not for that, I don' think. But I get wot ya mean. It's a rare sight to find a human we demons could get excited 'bout fighting. An' Kuwabara's old hat. Too easy to trick tha' one in a fight, too," he laughed.

Terra tried to follow their conversation as they led her to their campsite, but she was still reeling from whatever throw-up of her energy just happened. Chuu was right, though. A few bites of food and she was feeling better. And Chuu really did have with him several kegs worth of beer. He drank half of one just to feel normal again, but Jin made him promise not to drink too much.

"He's trying ta test his limits, see," Jin explained.

"If I drink too much I may be all kinds of strong, but I can't see top from bottom anymore!" Chuu cheered.

"So you really can't hack it sober," Terra teased.

Chuu threw his head back, the two long tendrils of his wrapped up hair touching the dirt as he did so. "Guess that's the truth!"

Terra looked between the two of them. "What are you guys training so hard for, anyway?"

"The tournament, of course!" Jin said. "It's only a few months out and with Mukuro gone there's more upstarts than usual thinkin' they can be King of Demon World."

The name struck something with her. "Mukuro?"

The surprise on her face must have read as simple confusion. Jin bobbed his head a few times rapidly. "Aye, aye, she was a spit fire of a former King. See, Yusuke started the tournaments after his ole man passed on. But the winner, Enki, he said there'd be another one in three years! Since then, even if we got a ruler who didn't wan'ta let go of ta crown, there's too many of us strong demons itching for a fight to ignore, so we have it anyway."

Terra was confused this time. What did that have to do with Mukuro? Chuu picked up where Jin left off, dropping an empty keg with a great sigh of quenched thirst. "King gets to make final say, but 'cause it's not a permanent position unless someone shows up so strong they'll never lose, the old Kings - Yusuke, Mukuro, and Yomi - still act as lords of their territories. All the spots in cour are real political. There's power as King to make people do what you want, but since they know it won't last more than three years, they don't wanna make any long enemies. So things have been pretty steady for a while."

"But now Mukuro's dead," Terra mused. "And the demon who killed her took her place as Lord?"

Jin nodded enthusiastically. "An' tha' upstart don't get it, neither. Makin' a mess at court, acting like he's going to wear ta crown next. Thinks he can take one ole King down, can take down anyone. Tch." Jin spat onto the ground. "And of course it doesn't help Alaric none that Hiei's come back for the first time since Mukuro died and is training in Tourin."

"Tourin?" It sounded vaguely familiar. Yusuke and Kurama told her many stories about the demon world, but it was like learning about Africa without ever seeing a map, or having any cultural references to rely on to understand the dynamics, or where anything was, or like… anything. It was all just a jumble of words she was trying to piece together in her mind.

"Yusuke's territory," Chuu said.

She could understand the upset. Hiei was supposed to be Mukuro's successor, had she passed her title on before losing to a challenge. The fact he returned to demon world to stay in one of the other territories instead of challenging the usurper for his title must have caused a stir. "So, Hiei's also training for this tournament?"

She didn't want to pry, but she also really wanted to pry. Hiei had been such a large part of her life for the last half a year, and then she ripped herself away from even the chance to hear about him after he left. Terra had spent a month recollecting herself away from the temple and returning to Australia, and no news of her sensei and confidant was reaching her without her seeking it out. She couldn't resist. She wanted to know.

"Yeah, Hiei's one of the strongest competitors we've got. Lil' bugger." Chuu rolled his eyes with a bit of distaste.

"You don't like Hiei?" Terra asked. It shouldn't come as a surprise. Terra had forgotten how easy it was to find him annoying at best and infuriating at normal. Still, somewhere along the line, Terra had begun to see the good in Hiei that the others were always spouting. Despite all the yelling and hellish beatings that constituted much of her training, she missed the asshole.

"Eh," Chuu shrugged. "He's strong. And has convictions I trust. He's always been a man who doesn't back down from a fight."

"Except this time," she surmised. Chuu saw Hiei not coming back for his title as Lord of Alaric as a cowardly move. "Hiei told me he forfeited his right to that position when he left before the challenge."

"That's the thing, though,' Chuu shrugged. "He shouldn't be accepting no forfeit. That's not his way. It's not that I don't like the bugger, but something's up with this whole situation, and I don't like it none."

Terra hummed in thought and picked at the meal Chuu had provided her. It was a bit gamey and she suspected it was something… native. She wasn't going to ask what. "Hiei and Mukuro were, uh," she paused, thinking back to the conversations she shared with the surly demon on the rooftop. Terra had always assumed, from what Genkai said and how Hiei spoke of her, that they were involved. She had even been so bold as to tell Hiei that he loved her. But he had never said, had he… Hiei never told her what their relationship was. "Were they together?"

"Together? Like, mated?" Chuu scoffed. "No."

Jin snorted. "They may have avoided the bite, but 'twasn't hard to miss tha' they lived for each ot'er. I wouldn' be surprised if they had been lovers. You should' a seen 'em fight," Jin said, wistfully floating off the ground by a hand's breadth. "Was like wotching two souls dance."

Chuu grumbled. "Eh. You're too poetic." He kicked at his empty keg, the metal clang loud in the vast, empty shrublands. "If they meant that much to each other, that's all the more reason for Hiei to fight for her honor!"

"Maybe he needed time, first," Terra wondered. "To heal his heart." She didn't want to sit in that moment too long, the reminder that her own heart wasn't as patched together as she wished it were. "And maybe that's why he's training right now. If this demon took down a former king… maybe Hiei wants to prove himself in an official arena." Terra was just speculating now. There was so much about the situation that she didn't know, up to and including what Hiei found important in terms of honor and pride, revenge and justice.

Regardless, it seemed to pacify Chuu somewhat. "I could get that. Really beat the snot out of the bastard when he thinks he's going to become King of All Demons. I never even really knew the broad, and I'd be willing to pummel the cunt who killed her." Chuu spat.

She stared down at her hands, calloused from months of training. Terra spent days and nights with Hiei, catching only glimpses of who he truly was. She had no idea if he wanted revenge for Mukuro's death. She had no more insight as to what Hiei's driving force was as she did her own.

Like a phantom itch, she felt the way her energy only left her body if pressed into someone else's. A crackle of static underneath her skin. There was still a handprint on Chuu's bare shoulder, like a faded sunburn. Terra didn't feel powerful, knowing she could do that to demons. She felt destructive, like an unstable element, dangerous. She felt afraid.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, shifting the conversation. "For doing that. I need to learn control."

Chuu waved his hand in front of his face as if to knock her words away. "No need to apologize." His eyes softened as he looked at her and Terra felt a little flip in her stomach. "I was the one out of control. You just knocked some sense into me, is all." Chuu acted like a drunken lugnut most of the time, but when he was calm and clear-headed, it was as if he could see through even her thickest of walls. Her barriers were up, though. No one was prying into her mind.

Terra shrugged, uncomfortable at such direct attention. "Maybe you should try to hack it sober," she suggested. "If you can get stronger without the alcohol boost, it'll only raise your base level, right? You won't have to drink past your tolerance to get the same boost. Better control."

Chuu laughed, a full-bellied sound that nearly rocked him over. Terra looked over to Jin, who rolled his eyes. "Tha's wot I've been sayin' this whole damn week," he spat bitterly before his face transformed into a gleeful ray of sunshine. "Hey! Maybe he might actually listen ta ya! Chuu'll always take the advice of a pretty girl," Jin winked. "Tha' is, unless it's Natsume saying she's never going to date 'im." Chuu spat at the ground again and Jin cackled.

They were fun to be around, the pair bickering and play fighting not unlike Yusuke and Kuwabara. Her anxiety started to ease, although she still couldn't stop staring at the mark on Chuu's chest. He genuinely seemed okay. Somehow, she had managed to pull out her energy. She managed to fix her own fuck up, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place. And she needed to be able to have control. Control to push and control to pull. Control to choose, and not just hope and pray what she was doing was enough.

But that would be a problem for another day.

Terra cleared her throat, gaining their attention. "As, uh, fun as this has been. You sort of dragged me to the middle of nowhere, and I really need to get back to civilization."

The long stretch of shrublands was disorienting in its endlessness. Terra wouldn't even know which way to walk if she were stranded alone. The shrublands were dangerous because she couldn't even practice basic wilderness survival. There were no rivers to follow. Chances were higher she'd dehydrate sooner here than in the Sahara. Even with her friends, Terra didn't want to stay here longer than she already had.

"Aye! I can take ya anywhere ye want!" Jin cheered, flying over as if he were sitting on an invisible magic carpet. "Back where I found ya? The temple? Name it!"

Terra's stomach flipped at being pulled through the air as far as Japan. She blanched and shook her head. "Uh, I was heading to Perth. I think I'll make it back to Japan the human way."

He shrugged. "Suit yer-self." Jin dove down to lift her up and Terra yelped at him to wait, putting her hands up. It was enough to have him pull back, but he just looked confused rather than worried she'd hit him like she had Chuu. "Wot?"

"Just," Terra breathed, "let me say bye to Chuu first. And then, don't just lift me up and take off! It was terrifying last time!"

Jin laughed but nodded.

Terra walked over to Chuu, who seemed to be ignoring her suggestion to train sober as he had cracked open his second keg. He gave her his undivided attention, however, when Terra stepped close and placed her hand over the mark on his shoulder. It was almost completely gone now, no hint of ever touching him. "I'm sorry."

Chuu placed his hand over hers and moved it from the fading mark to where his heart would be had he been human. "Ah, Shelia, don't look at me like that. You might convince me the boys are right and I should give up on Natsume."

Terra couldn't keep off the amused smile. "I'm not hitting on you, Chuu."

His thumb stroked the back of her hand. "I dunno. You sure are acting sweet on me," he winked.

Terra pulled her hand away but was still smiling. "I'm allowed to be worried," she told him. "My powers are volatile. I've never done that before. I didn't want you to die."

"Not wanting me dead? That's practically a marriage proposal!"

Chuu laughed so hard he nearly fell backward. Terra rolled her eyes and turned back to Jin. "Come on. I think we're done here."

Jin made sure to pick up Terra in a way that she felt secure for a high-speed flight as Chuu called out that he'd be sure to steal a kiss the next time he ran into her. "Oh, don' listen to 'im." Jin said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "He won't do anything if yer not interested."

"He better not. Or I won't take back the poison next time," she warned.

Chuu was still laughing even as Jin took off. The flight this time was a little less overwhelming, if only because Terra knew what was going on. Even still, the speed and height and harsh wind against her face were difficult to handle without screaming. She wasn't sure how long or how far she traveled. She had no idea where they had even been, all sense of distance traveled lost to the speed of air.

When Terra was finally on her feet again, she took a long moment before weakly letting go of Jin. It was only his comment about 'stealing her away from Chuu' that did the trick. Jin was joking; all the demons seemed to have the same shitty male humor Terra was all too well acquainted with having known Jeremy and Conner for so long. She was unimpressed. "Stop acting like I'm a thing any of you could steal," she told them.

"Not you," Jin smiled with a wink, "just your bleeding human heart."

The pointed eyetooth that slipped past his lips made his comment sound as if he were literally planning to take her heart from her chest. "Jokes on you," she told him. "If you're looking to steal my heart, it's probably because I already have yous."

"Aye, you've got that right." Quick as a whip, Jin leaned forward and gave Terra the most platonic peck on the cheek she had ever received. It was like the way a toddler would kiss their baby sister. "You sure this is close enough?"

They were on a plot outside of the city. Terra thought it would be safer than to zip straight in among all the humans. She nodded and told him to head back to Chuu. "Before he, you know, finishes all that beer and accidentally breaks something."

Jin zoomed off. She watched him go, a speck in the sky until she could see him no more.

Terra took a deep breath. She was glad to have a moment alone.

The day after tomorrow was her birthday, and she had a few more graves to visit before then.