A Proposition
L.A.: Eh…heh….heh…
Amu: shakes head.
L.A.:….whoopsie…
Amu: So much for a weekly new chapter.
L.A.: Well, I'm finally sort of back, with a new chapter.
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Darkness in shadowland: Thanks for the review! Hopefully after this long wait, your questions will be answered.
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Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. If I did, they would be forced to bring it back for a new season.
She was going to be traumatized by this place. Sira just knew it. It was like they were stuck in a rut. Each turn seeming to lead them back to where they were previous. If she didn't knew any better, she would have thought they were in purgatory.
If Hiei was concerned, he didn't show it. Besides stopping occasionally to check their surroundings, and probably resisting the urge to kill her for her slowness, there wasn't much change.
Sira's legs cramped. She flopped on the ground with a sigh. "This is hopeless."
Hiei glared at her. "We need to keep moving."
"What's the point? We're not making any progress." Sira waved her hand around in emphasis. She was almost certain they were back on the same rooftop she had woken up on.
"Hn," Hiei said as he crossed his arms.
Sira glared. "You know a hint of encouragement goes a long way."
Hiei just stared at her.
Sira groaned as she got to her feet. "Fine. Party Pooper. At least tell me you've seen a change in our surroundings."
Hiei glanced around. "We won't see any progress. We're caught in a loop." He said it calmly as if he were talking about the weather.
Sira felt her jaw drop. "Oh, is that all? Then what the hell are we doing? Are you just trying to wear me out until I drop dead?"
Hiei smirked as if the thought had occurred to him.
"Seriously?"
"Loops aren't perfect. There should be something off. A loophole we can use."
"Oh," Sira only felt slightly bad for accusing him. She had a feeling if she did drop dead he wouldn't feel the least bit bad about it… the prick.
Hiei glared at her.
Sira rolled her eyes. "Fine. Let's get going then. Find this stupid loophole."
"Hn." Hiei tensed suddenly, his hand on his sword.
Sira glared. "You know, if you are going to get so offended by my thoughts then don't read them."
"Shut up," Hiei said through clenched teeth as he quickly withdrew his sword.
There was a sudden shift in the air. That was the only way Sira could describe it. It was colder and the air felt stale, as if the life had been suck out of it.
She drew closer to Hiei. "What's happening?"
"Stay out of my way," Hiei said, his sword held in front of him.
A growl came from the shadows and the sound of scrapping claws rang out. Sira's mouth went dry as she felt the chill settle in her bones. "Hiei…"
Hiei ignored her. His muscles were taut as if he was restraining the urge to lunge into the shadows.
Another growl came from the shadows as a figure stepped forward. It stood on two legs and was cloaked in a hooded fabric. At least, she thought it was a fabric. There was something strange about it. It rippled and swirled as if it were alive itself. Sira couldn't see under the fabric so she didn't know what the creature looked like. Not even its hands, which were covered by the strange fabric. It looked like the grim reaper itself.
"It's been stalking us for a while," Hiei said as he slowly backed up, creating more room to fight.
Sira backed up as well. "That thing you said should stay dead."
Hiei didn't respond. His attention was focused on the creature.
The creature paused, studying them with mild interest. For a moment, Sira thought it was going to leave them alone.
A hiss escaped its throat before it lunged forward and attacked.
Kurama frowned, his whip poised for attack.
Tori didn't want to be negative, but she felt it was like trying to fight a giant off with a needle.
The Toymaker didn't seemed too afraid of Kurama either. Probably he was delighted to have his dream come true. Living Toys.
"You will let us out," Kurama said.
The Toymaker laughed. "Now, now. Don't be mean. We still need to play." His gaze turned toward Tori. "Come here."
He reached out to her.
Tori tried to run but she tripped and fell. Backing up in horror, she stared up at the giant hand that loomed before her. She was going to be crushed in its grip. She just knew it.
Suddenly, the Toymaker let out a howl as his hand jerked back. Out of the corner of her eye, Tori saw Kurama pull his rose whip back.
"You pest," The Toymaker said as he eyed his hand. An angry thin whelp was on his hand. It looked like it was bleeding slightly. "You gave me a paper cut."
"Come on," Kurama said as he quickly helped Tori to his feet. "We need to move."
Ignoring the pain in her head from the sudden movement, Tori jumped to her feet and followed Kurama down the road.
"Oh, no," The Toymaker's eyes narrowed. "You aren't getting away that easily." He reached out for both of them. His hands created dark shadows that covered half the street. Almost like an eclipse.
Kurama grabbed Tori's hand and jerked to the right. "This way."
Tori followed without hesitation. He led her down an alley just as the Toymaker made a grab for them. Luckily, his hands were too big for the alley and he came up short. His howl of frustration shook the ground. Tori was almost afraid that he was going to cause an earthquake.
"Keep moving," Kurama said as he glanced back at the Toymaker. "We can loose him in the back alleys."
Tori really hoped so because with the fit he was having, she did not want to experience his wrath if they were caught.
After a few minutes, Kurama finally allowed them to stop. Tori was breathing heavily by then and her head was sending pulses of pain through her body.
Kurama glanced up at the sky. "We should be safe for now."
There was no sign of the Toymaker. She couldn't even hear him now. "Great," she wheezed. "Doesn't help our current situation."
"Yes, it does pose a problem. Seems the music box has allowed him to grow more powerful in this world." He paused as he glanced down.
Tori followed his gaze.
Their hands were still clasped. She had completely forgotten they were still holding hands. His hand felt warm in hers. Comforting and familiar.
Glancing up at Kurama, she saw a look of confusion in his eyes. Did he feel it, too? Was there still a part of him that wanted him to remember?
Kurama cleared his throat.
Self conscious, Tori quickly let go of his hand. "So what now?" Tori asked, as she tried to ignore the sudden sense of loss she felt. She rubbed her hand against her thigh to bring back warmth.
"We need to see if we can find the others."
Tori perked up. "Others? Someone else is here?"
Kurama nodded. "I sensed Hiei's spirit energy a while back. I have a feeling he is with Sira."
Tori's eyes widened. "Sira's here?" She couldn't imagine what Sira must be going through right now.
"We need to regroup. It's our only chance right now against him."
"Any idea which way to start?"
Kurama nodded. "I think so." He eyed her warily. "You ready?"
Do I really look that bad? Tori thought as she forced a smile. "Yep. Let's go." As she followed Kurama, her thoughts drifted back to her best friend. Please be okay, Sira.
This was an absolute disaster. There was no other way to describe it. Hiei had been fighting the creature for fifteen minutes and didn't seem to be making any headway.
Of course, Sira assumed that. They were moving so fast that they looked like little blurs. Her eyes were twitching due to strain.
She hated this. This feeling of helplessness. Of being a bystander. But, what was she to do? Her powers had deserted her and she wouldn't last two seconds in a fist fight.
Sira clinched her fists. There had to be something. Anything she can do to turn the tide in Hiei's favor, but how?
She tensed when she heard Hiei grunt in pain. Looking up, he was crouched a few feet away. His sword arm hung uselessly as his other hand clung to his upper arm. Sira could see blood seeping through his hand.
"Hiei?"
"Not now." Hiei switched his sword to his other hand.
Sira saw a thin wound on his upper arm, like the type a claw would make if it were sliced across. It looked angry red with blood seeping from it. "That doesn't look good."
"Hn," Hiei's eyes were focused on the ground in front of him.
Apparently Hiei's break was up because the creature materialize from the ground. It hissed at him angrily.
Hiei charged the creature, his sword flashing in the dull light.
The creature let out a roar before charging, its claws poised for attack. They came together in a deadlock. Hiei's sword blocking the creature's claws. Neither could move.
Sira glanced around for some sort of help. A rock. A shard of glass. Anything to turn it in Hiei's favor.
Unfortunately this rooftop was clean. Perfectly clean. Not a speck of litter or dirt everywhere. Of course there's no conveniently placed weapon, Sira thought bitterly, That would just be too easy.
The creature roared in triumph causing Sira to turn back around.
Hiei was on the ground sprawled on his back. His sword was out of reach, probably thrown during the scuffle.
The creature loomed over him, saliva dripping from the hole in the hood. It leaned forward planning to devour him.
Sira frantically looked around for the sword. Spotting it, she raced toward it. She knew she wasn't going to make it in time. The creature was going to devour Hiei and then she was next. A Hail Mary would be really nice right now.
The sound of a whipping cracking shattered the scene. Sira looked back to see a plant-like whip wrapped around the creature's neck before the whip hurled the creature back.
Sira's eyes widened. She knew that whip. If it were here, that would mean…
Kurama was standing a few feet away. His concentration on the creature as it flailed and strained against the whip. Tori stood a few feet behind him, looking concerned.
"Tori!"
Tori's face lit up. "Glad we got to you in time."
Kurama frowned, his arm tensing from the strain. "Sira, toss Hiei his sword. Quickly."
Sira scooped up the sword and tossed it to Hiei.
He was on his feet in an instant catching his sword with ease. As he walked toward the creature, he gave Kurama a look of contempt. "I could have taken care of it myself, fox."
Kurama smirked. "Maybe so. But we don't have time for drawn out battles now."
"Hn," Hiei towered over the creature, his sword raised over his head.
The creature hissed at him.
Without any sign of remorse, Hiei plunged his sword into the creature's chest. Right where his heart should be.
The creature spasmed once, twice, then fell still.
Sira felt her stomach churn as she stared at the corpse. "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Hn," Hiei said as he sheathed his sword.
"Better it than us," Kurama retracted his rose whip.
Tori looked nauseous as well. "Doesn't change the fact that there's a corpse in front of us."
The corpse suddenly disintegrated into the shadows.
"Or not," Sira's eyes darted around anxiously. Had the creature not been dead? Was it lurking in the shadows planning its next move.
"It's still dead," Kurama said as if he were reading her thoughts. "Just returned to the shadows."
"What was it?" Tori said as she tried to suppress a shiver.
"A wraith," Kurama's expression darkened. "How one got in here, I have no clue."
"Enough about useless subjects," Hiei said, his arms crossed. If he was still feeling pain from the cut on his arm, he wasn't showing it. "I suppose you have a way out of here, fox?"
"Possibly, but we have to get past the Toymaker."
Sira paled. "He's in here, too?"
"And he's a huge problem now," Tori said, "Literally."
"It seems the music box has given him more power than we originally anticipated."
Hiei smirked. "It shouldn't be a problem for me."
Sira turned to Kurama. "You've got a plan?"
"Possibly. It seems he can only stay around the center of this world."
"Because he's huge," Tori said, her right eye twitching. "He's freaking Jack and the Beanstalk huge."
Kurama raised an eyebrow at her.
Tori winced. "Sorry. Continue."
"My guess is that the Toymaker is keeping the music box on him to keep him strong."
Sira frowned. "The music box is in this world?"
Kurama nodded. "Most objects with power such as this usually projects itself into the world it's created. It's the only way to keep the world stable."
Hiei rested his fingers on his sword. "So we get the music box. We get out."
Kurama nodded again. "This world was probably created from the Toymaker's desires. If we get the music box, it should destabilize this world. Allow us to escape."
Tori shivered.
Sira understood exactly what Tori was thinking. If the Toymaker created this world, what kind of messed up demon was he?
Hiei cracked his knuckles. "No point wasting time. Let's go."
Sira got the feeling that Hiei was planning to take out all his aggression on the Toymaker. I just hope it's enough.
"All right," Kurama glanced back at Tori worriedly.
Sira followed his gaze. Tori was rubbing her head as if in pain. Seeing their gazes, she dropped her hand and glared at them. "I'm fine."
Kurama let out a sigh before he and Hiei started walking away. Sira and Tori trailed after them.
Sira eyed Tori warily. "You sure?"
Tori winced before frowning. "Like I said. I'm fine. I don't know why I keep having to say this."
Well, I've struck a nerve, Sira thought as she took a step sideways, creating space.
Tori looked apologetic. "Later. We'll talk about it later." Tori hurried to catch up to the others before Sira comment.
It didn't take long for them to reach the town center. To Sira's surprise, it was eerily quiet. Not a trace of the Toymaker in sight.
Sira raised an eyebrow. "So where is this giant you were talking about?"
Kurama frowned. "He was here before. Perhaps he moved to a different area."
"But you said yourself that he couldn't move far from the town center," Tori said.
Sira smirked. "Perhaps, he's invisible now."
"Hn," Hiei said, unamused.
Tori shivered. "Don't even joke about that."
"Tori, Sira, hang back," Kuruma pulled out his rose whip back. "Hiei and I will look into this."
Tori nodded. "Okay, stay safe."
Kurama smiled at her. "You, too."
Sira glanced at Hiei.
He glared at her. "Don't do something stupid. I don't have time to take care of you."
Sira clinched her teeth into a smile. "I guess don't die. That'll be annoying."
"Hn," Hiei followed Kurama out onto the street.
Tori raised her eyebrow at Sira. "You know, you two are seriously weird."
"He started it," Sira muttered as she crossed her arms. "I would never talk love dovey…." Sira glanced at Tori and frowned when she saw Tori rubbing her head. "You want to tell me about it now?"
Tori dropped her hand. "I hit my head. Might have a concussion."
There was something in her voice. Like she was holding back something.
"And that's it?"
"If there was something else I would tell you." There was a sense of finality in Tori's voice. As if she was warning Sira not to press it further.
Sira sighed as she turned away. "Fine whatever."
Thirty minutes later, and they were still waiting in silence. Nothing had happened, and they hadn't seen or heard from Kurama or Hiei.
Sira groaned loudly. "What is going on?"
"Something should have happened by now, right?"
"Definitely." Sira started to the exit of the alley.
Tori reached out to stop her. "What are you doing?"
"I'm not going sit around here anymore," Sira turned back to the alley. "I'm going to go see what is going on."
"What about the giant?"
Sira resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm pretty sure we'll see him coming before he sees us."
Tori reluctantly nodded before following Sira out of the alley.
The street was deserted. Not a person or animal in sight. The air itself felt stale.
Tori shivered. "This is creepy."
Sira nodded. "Yeah, which makes me wonder what happened to Kurama and Hiei."
The girls drew closer together as they rounded the corner.
Kurama and Hiei stood rigid still in the center of the town center. From the way they were positioned, it was like they were preparing to attack.
Tori shifted uneasily beside Sira. "Maybe we should leave. They must sense something."
Sira frowned. There was something strange about the way they were standing. Sira took a step forward.
Tori reached out and grabbed her. "Sira."
"Something's up." Sira shook Tori from her grasp. "I'm going to find out."
Tori sighed but she didn't stop her. Instead, she followed Sira to the boys.
Kurama nor Hiei seemed to be aware of their approach. This set Sira's nerves on the edge. Kurama and Hiei always seemed to have a sixth sense about them. The fact that they weren't even acknowledging their presence, meant something was up.
When Sira and Tori were only a few feet away from them, Sira called out. "Kurama? Hiei?"
Neither moved.
Sira turned back to Tori. "Think something's up now?"
"Yep. Hiei definitely should have killed you by now."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Sira muttered. She was tempted to reach out and touch them, but the fear of Hiei cutting her hand off discouraged her. She quickly moved around them so she could face them.
The blood felt like it froze in her body.
The reason why Kurama and Hiei hadn't responded was because they were frozen in place. They looked almost like statues if it weren't for the light reflecting in their eyes.
"What the?" Sira said.
Tori rushed forward and shook Kurama's shoulders. "Kurama? What's wrong? Snap out of it."
Nothing happened. They remained in place.
Tori turned back to Sira. "This isn't right. If they froze before, we would always snap them out of it."
A deep chuckle caused them to turn around.
How the Toymaker snuck up on them, Sira had no clue. He stood before them now with a satisfied smirk on his face. Sira squinted at the Toymaker and could just barely make out the music box peaking out of his shirt pocket.
"You are like mice," The Toymaker said, "so easy to lead into a trap."
Sira and Tori glanced at each other nervously. They needed to run, but where they had no clue.
Tori licked her lips nervously. "Why are you doing this?"
The Toymaker cocked his head. "Because I like to make toys. It's fun."
Sira took a step to the left.
The Toymaker trained his eyes on her. Crap, she thought, Not going to sneak away.
"You two are most interesting, though," The Toymaker said, his eyes narrowing in pleasure. "You aren't affected by the music box like the others."
Sira laughed nervously. "What can I say. We are weird." A distraction, Sira thought, we really need a distraction.
The Toymaker leaned forward.
A loud explosion went off in the distance sending a plume of smoke soaring in the air. The Toymaker jerked and looked back. "What the?"
Sira grabbed Tori's hand and dragged her to the nearest alley. "We need to go. Now."
Tori hesitated but couldn't resist Sira dragging her. "We can't leave them."
"We have no choice." The alley was a few feet away. If they could just make it…
A hand swooped down. Before either could react, Tori was jerked up in the air. She slipped out of Sira's grip before Sira could be brought up as well.
Sira was sent hurling into the alley while Tori fought against the hand closing in around her.
Sira looked up just in time to see Tori being held in front of the Toymaker's face.
The Toymaker's eyes danced in delight. "One down, One to go."
Tori squirmed but couldn't get out of his grip.
Sira watched helplessly. What could she do? She was useless in this situation. Sira squeezed her eyes shut. Fire breathing dragon. Please for the love of all things holy, send a fire breathing dragon.
"I'd hurry up and give up if I were you," The Toymaker's voice boomed through the air. "If I lose my patience, I might turn my new toy into an alien popper."
Sira opened her eyes. Of course nothing would happen. What did she expect? Every part of her wanted to go out and save Tori; but, if she stepped foot outside of alley, they were both as good as dead.
"Seems kind of bleak doesn't it?"
Sira whipped around in alarm.
A woman, who looked a couple years older than her, stood before her. She had long blue hair that reached her hips, bright blue eyes, and pale skin. She wore a fitted blue halter top and a knee length flowing blue skirt. The woman wore blues shoes that looked eerily similar to pointe shoes that ballerinas wore.
"Who are you?"
The woman cocked her head. "My name is no importance." She motioned to the Toymaker. "I think you have more pressing matters on your plate."
"Tick Tock. Tick Tock," The Toymaker said. He tossed Tori in the air, she let out a yelp as she fell into his other hand.
Sira turned back to the woman. "Don't suppose you can help."
The woman smiled but for some reason it appeared sinister. "I can… for a price."
Sira eyed her warily. "What kind of price?"
The woman shrugged. "Not sure yet. It would be an I O U."
"Why would you do this?"
Again the woman shrugged. "Let's just say that we have a lot in common. As long as you don't tell anyone of our little arrangement. I can fix this situation."
Warning bells were going off in Sira's head. She shouldn't trust this woman, but what choice did she have?
"You have ten seconds before I start squeezing," The Toymaker said. "10… 9…"
"Okay," Sira said as she turned to the woman. "Just do it."
The woman snapped her fingers. "Done." She pulled the music box out from behind her back and handed it to her.
Sira's eyes widened. "It's that easy?" What other powers does this lady have?
The music box glowed in Sira's arms as the world started disappearing around them.
"No!" The Toymaker yelled. "What's happening?"
The woman smiled at Sira. "Remember our deal." She held a finger up to our lips. "And don't tell anyone."
A bright white light blinded Sira forcing her to close her eyes.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself standing in the middle of Koenma's office.
Amu: You and your cliffhangers.
L.A.: What can I say, I'm an addict. Anyway, I'm still quite busy, but I'm going to try and update every other week. Hopefully, there won't be as long of waits that way.
Amu: Good luck with that. I can already smell the fires of torches burning.
L.A.: Well, you know what to do. READ and REVIEW!
