A/N: Hey all, it's awesome to be back! Sorry again that I've been procrastinating on this story. Running around with certain someone has been keeping me busy, along with the last term of my sophomore year. But the turning point is going with the second option. If you all have any random adventures in mind I could put in my story, just let me know and I'll thank you a million times and provide a year supply of caffeine! Anyway, enjoy this new chapter!
Chapter 11
A Twist in Fate's Plan
Seeing thin strips of Spirit Energy slither from her fingertips, Loreena figured practice was over for tonight. As time seemed to slow down as she released her bottled fury, she didn't seem to pay attention to the person who had seemed to be watching her. Turning around to face the abyss known as the woods, she two pearl colored eyes looking quietly back at her hot, dripping face.
"Do I really attract an audience?" she asked the person innocently.
"Cut the act Loreena, I'm not here to watch!" the person snapped.
Waiting for the person to jump down from the nearby tree and take a few quiet steps towards her, Loreena looked at him with curious eyes. She had met this person back on the boat and though his voice was all too familiar, her mind couldn't decipher his existence.
"How do I know you, I deserve to know if you're stalking me and my companions," Loreena stated quietly, his anger somehow affecting her mood.
"Not know, fate's plans have changed for you and your team," the person said, his pearl colored eyes showing light blue pupils that looked back at her sweat clad face with a strange emotion she couldn't label.
"Just tell me, the "suspense" is getting old," Loreena said tiredly, wiping her face with her already wet black sleeve.
Her visitor looked back up at the glowing rooms where the others were staying, their outlines by the window looking suspicious. He cocked his head for a moment, then sighed and looked back at her.
"It won't be long Loreena; you need to tell everyone to be aware of the events that will occur within the next three hours. I have to leave again, but I hope you will be able to face this unexpected event with courage and determination. Farewell for now, Night Maiden," the person said softly before he spread his dark wings and flew off into the rising moon behind her.
'Whoever you are, I hope you're right as well,' Loreena said to herself.
Taking a few deep breaths and completing a few short stretches before heading flying above the forest back to the now open window. One light was turned out and Kuwabara and Hiei were out cold, but Jin, Touya and Yusuke stayed awake in the other room talking. She couldn't help but slowly place her ear on the door, wondering what her companions were up to this late at night.
"She's not a spy!" Jin yelled at someone.
"How do we know for sure, wind boy?" Yusuke mocked back.
"I now 'er Yusuke, she's no' a spy fer them!" Jin said hotly.
"Calm yourselves down, you two! We don't know anything yet, we can't afford to jump to ANY conclusions from the condition we're in right now," Touya interrupted calmly, getting up.
Loreena silently walked away from the door, closed the window and then turned to face the three boys staring at her. Yusuke still had his usual pissed off look on his face, arms folded impatiently while Jin just floated above the ground.
"I don't know who he is Yusuke, so don't ask me," Loreena told him.
"Whatever, I'm going to bed!" Yusuke boomed before slamming the door behind him, leaving the three to stare after him.
"What's his problem?" Loreena asked, looking out the window.
"Don't know, lass, couldn' tell ya," Jin said, floating to the window beside her.
"What did you two discuss Loreena? You looked funny," Touya said.
"All he said is that all of us need to be aware of this place within the next hours, but he actually didn't know much himself before he left again," Loreena explained, her voice's calm barrier breaking. "But from what I saw in his eyes, I knew he was telling the truth and has genuine concern for all of us."
Before long, the three went into the room to see Yusuke sound asleep, with his ear shattering snores to follow. Loreena has left to check on Kurama and Jin just sat on the window sill, her words running through his thoughts endlessly.
"What could happen, Jin?" Touya asked quietly, arms under his head on the still made bed.
"I don' know Touya, bu' she's roight 'bout tha' lad. This night strange, 't is," Jin said as if to himself before lying on the windowsill and following Yusuke's snores.
"Thank you Doctor Walker, you've been a wonderful help for all of us," Loreena told the lizard doctor as she escorted him out of Kurama's room. "Get a great rest, I'll look after him."
"Thank you Loreena, I'm glad to see you safe again," Walker whispered.
"Remember our agreement?" she asked once more.
"Yes Loreena, no one shall know who you truly are. Whether someone tortures me for the answer or I die silent, I promise. He doesn't need anything worth attending to, so you can leave anytime, just lock up before you leave," Walker said before smiling as he shut the door.
It wasn't long before Kurama finally woke up after hours in a coma from the fight. He groaned in pain, but smiled when he saw the disguised Loreena beside him, holding his IV line in place again.
"Looks like you're alive after all," Loreena said humorously.
"I agree with you," he said with a dry laugh.
"How are you doing so far, Kurama?" she asked quietly, her voice changing since the guards came by every night.
"I think my recovery is coming closer than I intended," he responded as he moved his arm to a comfortable position on the pillow. "How is everyone else since the fight?"
"They're managing for now, but I think tonight will be different," she stated.
"What do you mean?" he asked as he supported himself to sitting up.
"Back in the boat, a person visited me and told me of strange things and tonight he appeared once more after my practice. His voice seemed concerned for our well being, but he left a warning that something will happen within the next three hours so I think I might not see the battle ring for a while," Loreena explained, her voice sounding worried.
A sudden bang on the door and an angry guard's voice made their conversation end on a dead end.
"VISITING HOURS ARE OVER! LEAVE NOW TO YOUR ROOM!"
"Yes sir, I'll be out in a moment!" Loreena's foreign voice answered. Once the footsteps faded into nothing down the hall, Loreena looked back at the sleepy Kurama and gave him a serious look.
"I guess I spoke too soon," she said seriously.
"Take care of yourself and the others," he advised, his hand reaching for hers and she took it without intention.
"This whole thing never happened, Kurama, goodbye," Loreena said as she patted his hand and then walked out the door to face whatever lay ahead for her and the others.
Making back to her room without any situation involving the guards, Loreena quietly shut the door to see a strange gas in the rooms. She immediately covered her mouth with her clean sleeve and began to wake the others. Jin instantly roused from sleep, but coughed once he saw the gas and saw Loreena trying to rouse Touya.
"Wha's goin' on, Loreena?" Jin asked quietly, covering his mouth.
"My visitor was right," was all she said before Touya awoke and followed.
Though attempting to wake Yusuke failed miserably, they listened to the other door to hear a leader and an unknown demon speaking in a foreign tongue. They laughed and said something else before the other door closed and an alarm sounded throughout the entire castle.
The three pounded the door down to see Kuwabara awake and looking confused. They asked him if he heard anything critical, but he shook his head and yelped quietly when Koenma burst through the door beside them.
"Koenma, what's going on here?" Touya questioned.
"No idea, but I came as soon as I could to help get you all out here!" he said.
"How, guards and wolves are stationed everywhere!" Loreena said, looking at them from the window.
"Use these carefully, they don't last long," Koenma said, holding up four devices, one already strapped to left arm. "Now hurry, Botan's waiting on the north roof!"
Looking back at the two unconscious boys, Loreena sighed and followed them out into the hall and strapped their devices onto their left arms. Before they knew it, they had become invisible to the demon eye as a pair of guards just ran into the room. They didn't bother with Yusuke or Hiei and ran out and down the opposite hall.
"Let's go, we don' 'ave time!" Jin said, grabbing Loreena's arm as he flew across the hall to catch up to the running Touya and Koenma.
They down endless halls, choked up with the strange gas and confused fighters coughing and talking with others as guards searched their rooms and Merciless Wolves sniffing out the perimeter. Reaching the stairway to the roof after a few minutes of running, Loreena looked back just in time to see her unknown visitor staring at her. He nodded and ran down the hall without a shouted word, leaving Loreena wondering of his second arrival at the castle.
Feeling Jin's rough tug on her arm, Loreena broke her chain of thinking and ran up the stairs to see Koenma and Touya seated behind Botan on her full oar. With Jin took hold onto the end and Loreena's arms around his neck, they soared into the sky and away from the castle, Merciless Wolves howling into the fading night.
Within a few hours of sunrise, Botan landed in front of the entrance of Koenma's secret quarters and everyone unloaded the oar and ran inside to make sure no one followed them.
"I WANT ANSWERS NOW KOENMA, WHY DID WE LEAVE WITHOUT YUSUKE, KURAMA OR HIEI?" Loreena yelled, pounding her fists on his office desk in anger.
"Calm yerself, Loreena," Jin said with surprising frustration and held her shoulders firmly and led her a few inches back from Koenma's desk.
"I know you're concerned-," Koenma tried to say.
"CONCERNED, THEY'LL BE KILLED IF WE DON'T GO BACK!"
"Loreena, they were looking for you!" Koenma finally said angrily.
In that moment, Loreena's body submitted and immediately took refuge in the chair in front of the desk besides Jin and Kuwabara. She blankly stared at the ruler of Spirit World, waiting for him to continue.
"From a reliable source, someone saw you talking to Kurama before the fight and reported it to one of the leaders after the Revenge Round. He then ran into my colleague and he made the demon tell him the whole thing. I'm not going into detail of that conversation, but you should be thanking us for saving you again, Loreena. If you had stayed there any longer and the leaders would have what they've been searching for," Koenma paused, giving the Night Maiden time to cope with his news.
"Are you talking about the person she met on the boat?" Touya asked.
"I am not allowed to say anything on that matter," Koenma said sadly.
"So, wha' now, Koenma? Wha' 'bout this do we do?" Jin asked calmly, releasing Loreena's limp shoulders.
"For now, Botan and I think the best place for you all to go is to the Human World until the time is right to return. Kuwabara can show you three around and help you blend in with the humans, in case they decide to come looking for you in the meantime," Koenma informed them, his voice reflecting concern as well as his changing eyes.
"When do we leave, then?" Loreena finally asked softly.
"Why don't you all rest for a while and you can tell us when you're ready?" Botan suggested happily.
The four looked at each other for a moment, but when they looked back at their ruler and his twisted assistant, both could see that they wanted to leave as soon as possible. But both could also see that they wanted to go back and get the others, but everyone knew they didn't have any options.
"Let's just go now, I miss my bed," Kuwabara complained as he yawned.
"Does everyone else agree?" Botan asked, and the three nodded intently.
"Fine then, come with me," Koenma said with a sigh as he got up.
After walking back to the entrance, everyone loaded up onto Botan's oar and once more soared up in the sky as the sun painted the young sky with bright orange and yellow.
'Watch yourselves, you three,' Loreena said to herself.
"Kuwabara, what's your world like?" Touya asked randomly.
"I'll…let ya know…when we get there," Kuwabara answered in between yawns and stretching, nearly hitting Touya in the face.
"I hope the wind be'er there says I," Jin said with hope in his voice.
Before long, they passed through the gate and were flying over the city of the Ningen World. The sun was soft in the sky as it rose gently above the city as people got up for another new day. Though the sun's presence felt warm on their backs, the thought of abandoning their friend's still remained in their eyes as they descended to Kuwabara's place.
'Fate works in mysterious ways,' Touya thought.
'I want food!' Kuwabara's mind cried.
'The wind be be'er here says I, but wha' loies ahead be foggy,' Jin thought.
'Just what I need: a bunch of buildings and humans,' Loreena thought irritably to herself. 'This should be interesting…'
To Be Continued…
A/N: Well, that should satisfy y'all for now, but please if you all can think of any random, hilarious adventures these guys can have…PLEASE let me know and I'll be in your debt! starts bowing Just leave a review so I can stop bowing, it kills my back!