-1Hey, c'est moi! I'm on a major writing streak, so if you have any suggestions, etc., make them snappy, or they may not get to me in time! And I don't own YYH, so don't get too excited.
As the team made their progress through the meadow and over the hills beyond, Kuwabara's stomach growled; well, roared, actually. Very loudly.
Ruki suppressed a giggle, and Mae smiled.
"Geez, Kuwabara! We just ate a few hours ago!" Yusuke exclaimed, rather proudly.
He shrugged and smiled meekly. "I eat a lot."
"Shall we stop for the night?" Mae suggested, driven by her aching feet to take action.
"I think that's a good idea," Kurama nodded, dropping his pack atop a nearby rock.
"Great!" Ruki said, plopping immediately down on a nearby stump, exhausted.
Hiei didn't say a word, but his expression was enough. It was obvious he appreciated the small rest. They had covered forty miles in one day; no easy feat for anyone, demon or no.
They prepared a quick meal of stir-fried vegetables and rice, and ate greedily.
Afterwards, the sheets were laid out, as they had been every other night they had slept, and the girls found a thick tree to disrobe behind.
"Oh, my god, I thought we would never stop!" Mae sighed, rubbing her heels.
"I know! My feet are killing me!" Ruki agreed, hopping from side to side weakly and smoothing her soles.
"Stop your yapping!" an old, withered voice demanded in front of them.
They both started and turned in the direction of the noise.
The tree was talking to them. An old woman's face scowled at them, bark-covered and grooved with age.
Neither sibling could speak.
"Thank you," the tree lady replied with a superior nod.
"I-I…is that tree talking to us?" Ruki stuttered.
"Yes, I believe it is," Mae nodded faintly.
"Well, of course I am, you nitwits!" the tree barked at them grumpily.
The girls glared at her indignantly.
"My, my. Have I upset the earth crawlers?" the tree said wryly.
"Is everything alright?" Kurama's voice drifted over to them softly.
They both looked at each other, then yelled, "NO!"
There was a great rustling, then four boys emerged cautiously, the bravest, Kurama (whom had been shoved in front because 'he'd seen Mae naked already', as Yusuke had pointed out), the first to peer around the tree.
His eyes widened. "Are you talking to a tree?"
"It's not like we planned on it!" Mae replied defensively, "She yelled at us!"
"Okay…" Kurama frowned, trying to stem the amusement tainting his concerned front, and failing.
Hiei had overheard all of this, and decided to end it then. Talking trees were right up there with Kuwabara on his annoying list. He had slept in a few loudmouth branches before, and it was not something to be enjoyed. Trees were generally bad-tempered and rude. "Old woman, quit bothering these two, lest we rob you of your sap and make it into candles," he said the official words.
The old lady tree turned her eyes to him slowly with a glum expression. "No one's ever threatened me before…I don't much care for it, to tell you the truth, so I think I'll CONTINUE YELLING AT THESE GIRLS!" she hollered wickedly.
"Don't press me, hag," Hiei warned, drawing his katana, "I've dealt with your kind before."
"Oooooh, the big, scary man has a knife!" the tree lady bit sarcastically, rustling her leaves in mock-horror.
Hiei growled and raised his blade high, having had enough of this foolishness. He, the wielder of the Jagan, did NOT spend his days negotiating with bothersome plant life.
As he lowered the blade, aiming for a nearby branch, a hand halted his progress. It wasn't rough or strong comparatively, but it was enough to make him stop midair.
Ruki stood before him, her hand wrapped around his wrist, her eyes pleading and frightened.
"What is it?" he asked, bewildered.
She bit her lip. "She's hurt…" she pointed one thin finger at the roots coming out of the earth. They were sliced by a slight blade in a deliberate pattern, and sap was oozing from the wounds, thick and syrupy.
"So…?" he asked, befuddled to the n-th degree.
"So, it's cruel," she said, her voice firmer, along with her grip on his wrist. He was surprised at her strength enough to lower his sword.
"You make no sense," he offered, sheathing his blade.
"You should know that by now," Ruki said quietly.
"As much fun as this is," the tree woman cut in briskly, "I really would rather be talking to my friend Haka over there," she pointed one twig across the clearing to where another tree waved a branch with a toothless grin.
The team slowly backed away, smiling in spite of themselves.
"I never expected to interrupt a tree tea party during my life…" Mae sighed with a chuckle.
There was a great deal of relating laughter.
Something growled at them abruptly, low to the ground.
They all looked down to see a rock, the very same one that Kurama had laid his pack by, blinking slowly up at them. "Why have you thrown your bag at my head?" it asked in tortoise-like speed.
Kurama blinked. "I'm sorry…I didn't know someone was there," he quickly bent and swung his pack over his shoulder.
"'S okay. Happens all the time," the rock smacked his lips drowsily, and closed it's stony eyes, snoring softly.
Ruki was trying to be quiet, so as not to wake the upset rock, and clapped a hand over her mouth to prevent a bout of very inconvenient giggles from escaping.
"It's not funny! You sat on my head!" the stump she had collapsed on earlier whined resentfully.
That shut her up.
"What is this place?" Yusuke asked to no one in particular.
"Beats me."
"No clue."
"Your guess is as good as mine."
"Well that helps," he muttered wryly.
"You're in the Hills of Humanity. Everything here is alive, usually ex-cons from the underworld who resist prison sentence." the stump answered dully, clearly still upset.
"See? There you go, Yusuke," Mae said with a smile.
He grimaced. "Who're you, my mother?"
"I don't know, shall I kill you just to be on the safe side?" she asked with a smile.
His eyes bulged, and he waved his hands in front of his face hurriedly. "No, no! I'm a good boy, remember?"
She grinned and shook her head.
They trod carefully upon the soil in the Hills of Humanity and finally reached an area where pieces of dirt didn't cry 'ouch!' under their feet.
Mae leaned in close to Kurama as they walked and whispered, "Do you hear that?"
He looked immediately on his guard, "Hear what?"
She took in a deep breath and exhaled on a euphoric sigh. "Silence…"
He smiled and let out the breath he'd been holding. "Nice, isn't it?"
"Mmm-hmmm," she nodded.
For once, when they made camp (they had re-located for the night, feeling too awkward sleeping next to talking things) nothing bad happened.
They had already eaten, so all they had to do was smooth the sheets out and go to sleep.
No one was tired, however, and they sat around a fire talking into the wee hours of the morning, enjoying the chirp of the crickets, and the twinkling stars overhead.
Ruki began to nod off, then jerk up again, then repeat the process until finally her head, half asleep, found something firm to rest on: Hiei. Her blond hair splayed over his shoulder like a delicate, rice paper fan.
Unlike her peaceful face, his was the epitome of tense. His eyes kept glancing at her awkwardly, and he didn't know what to do about it.
Mae grinned over the flames. "How sweet. Hiei made a friend," she cooed wryly.
He glared at her, but she continued to grin back.
Sighing heavily, Hiei scooped up the snoozing blond and carried her over to her sheet. He set her down gently and flitted up to the tree overhead without another word.
Suspended up in the branches, the fire demon watched the girl for a long time; noting how her expressions changed while she dreamt, and aware of every toss and turn; every little sigh.
Something was happening to him, and this girl was the cause of it. He didn't like it at all. Not one bit.
Groundwards, Yusuke and Kuwabara were playing cards while Mae yawned and stretched her arms overhead.
"I'm going to call it a night guys," she smiled, then walked over to where her sister slept and sinking down beside her, falling asleep almost instantly.
Fifteen minutes later, with drooping eyelids, Kurama joined her. His slumber was quick and…stimulating.
He was standing at the shore of the water-maiden's lake, waiting for something, he knew, but not what for.
Then, with a gentle splash, the one he was waiting so patiently for rose out of the cool water, glistening in the soft moonlight. She wore her pale nightgown and naught else. Her auburn hair fell in loose waves down her spine; Mae.
She walked to him slowly, tantalizingly, coming to a halt directly in front of him, her toes touching his, and smiled warmly up at him.
Her face looked so soft, so vulnerable in the starlight; without thinking he reached out and caressed her damp cheek.
She shivered. "I'm cold."
He obligingly drew her closer and stroked his hands soothingly down her back. "Better?"
She nodded and rested her head on his chest with a sigh.
He tilted her chin up with one finger and-
Woke up.
The fire had died and everyone was dead asleep.
It was Mae who had woken him, he realized. By accident. She was mumbling something incoherent in her sleep, and she was frowning.
He sighed and propped himself up on one elbow to look at her. "What am I going to do with you?" he asked softly, brushing back a stray lock of hair from her face, careful not to wake her.
He realized what he was doing, and what he had wanted to do to her in his dream, and froze.
Frowning at his own lack of discipline, he turned harshly away and clenched his fists, willing himself to fall back into a dreamless sleep.