Warning: THIS CHAPTER HAS SWEARING AND VULGARITY.

A/N: I know, I know I am a wretch for making you wait for story updates!! I am a senior so I have to spend my fanfiction writing time doing essays and filling out applications. ARGGHHH!! STUPID COLLEGE!!

Kurama: What she means to say is that she's been watching YAOI on youtube since she finally got DSL.

Joz-yyh: umm… Hey Kurama! Is that Hiei over there at Yusuke's house wearing a leather dominatrix outfit?

Kurama: WHAT? WHERE?! I'VE BEEN MASTERBATING FOR WEEKS AND HE'S DOING IT WITH YUSUKE?! I'LL RAPE HIM UNTIL HE CAN'T CUM ANYMORE!! I'LL CHAIN HIM TO MY ROOM AND MAKE HIM MY SEX SLAVE FOR LIFE!!

Kurama: (Calms himself) Yes, ahem. We'll resume this discussion later. (runs off to seduce/molest Hiei)

Anyway, I promise (twines pinkies with you. Haha! gakuen heaven. Watch the last episode. Damn that yaoi is so unrealistic! I DON'T CARE WHAT PEOPLE SAY! BOYS, LIKE KAZUKI, HAVE HORMONES AND SEX DRIVES AND DO NOT HAVE THAT MUCH CONTROL OVER THEIR URGES!) to update some of my other stories SOON (I only have Sundays to write so next weekend maybe?), BUT they'll probably be shorter! Oh and have you noticed a difference in my writing? Better isn't it?? See I am working hard!

I've planned out the next chapters in "Training" and "Green with envy" so all I have to do is type and edit them. I beg for your forgiveness and I humbly thank you for your support. It means a lot. I love you guys!

P.S. I have stories I want people to update too! But do they? NO!! I know your pain.

"Speech"

-thoughts.-

Chapter V

Sacrifices

Kurama felt the vicinity shake. Something bigger and definitely badder was coming his way. Kurama's head felt congested and the world spun in his eyes. He dropped to his hands and knees and hacked up blood. He could not fight with this kind of handicap over his head.

He scanned the cavern for a hiding place. He found an overlay of rock that was just adequate for his build. The downside was there was a peep hole that could give him away if he wasn't careful. Kurama fit himself inside the overlay just as the rumbling ceased. Kurama covered his mouth to keep from breathing too loudly and waited corpse still for the enemy to pass.

There was pause of silence and then an ear-splitting screech echoed. Kurama covered his ears and tried not to scream.

"What sly prey I have," came an insectile laugh. "Usually the demon energy in my screech explodes my prey's brain."

- Aren't I lucky. –

"You must be small by the faint smell of blood. Where are you hiding?" The mother spider asked.

The beast scrutinized the area for a moment and then rammed the overlay.

-How did it—?!-

A glistening hairy rod speared the overlay repeatedly and Kurama sidled to the adjacent rock to avoid getting skewered. After a thorough assault, the mother spider backed off and an insectile laughed ensued. "Oh, I know that smell! I'll leave my babies to deal with you."

Kurama warily looked through the peep hole (there was a number of new ones LOL). As Kurama deduced it was the mother of the spiders; distinguished from her descendants by size, intelligence, and power.

In the next instant she disappeared.

-What? How?-

Kurama could feel the shake from her steps under his feet.

- I see. Somehow she's mastered the art of camouflage. I need to warn Hiei about this. -

Hiei ran along a serpentine tunnel and battalions of lesser spiders scurried to stop him. Hiei used their bodies as stepping stones.

A dim blue light radiated from up ahead. Hiei's eyes widened when he entered the last room. Ice glossed the walls and on the far wall his sister was trapped within a frozen spider web like a prized mantlepiece.

"COME OUT YOU BASTARD!! COME OUT AND FACE ME!!" Hiei yelled.

"No need to shout I am right here."

Hiei eyed the room but found no one. Hiei felt a waft of air (A/N: there's no wind underground. Suspicious ne?). Below him Hiei could see a magnifying shadow reflected off the icy floor. Hiei leapt away just as the shadows weight hit and cracked the ice.

"Aren't you a smart one."

Hiei could see the outline of the beast, it bended like water with each of its movements. Hiei drew his sword. The mother spider screeched and Hiei felt his ears bleed. Lesser spiders busted through the ice and more Greater spider he fought earlier with Kurama pilled in through the exit-entrance.

Hiei attacked in the midst of their consulting. He cut down one of the larger spiders and then incinerated the smaller pests. The spiders remaining fired their thread at will. Overwhelmed by missiles of thread, Hiei tried to cut through the globs he couldn't dodge, but his blade was dull to the doughy threads.

One of the thread missiles penetrated his offense and he got pinned to the wall. Hiei burned through his binds.

The mother spider sent Hiei sailing towards the ceiling with a blow of her own. His back collided with one of the frozen stalactites. The wind was knocked out of him and so was his blood. The spiders coated him with many more layers of webbing to hold him and the mother spider topped Hiei's confinement with her own special thread.

"I didn't know she would attract such a crowd. No matter. A rare find like her is worth the trouble."

"Don't …" Hiei choked, "touch her."

Hiei summoned his flame, but the thread simply would not burn.

"What … what is this?!" Hiei yelled.

"Like it? It's nearly indestructible. Heh heh ssss ss sss…. you won't be escaping from there."

The mother spider surveyed Yukina. "Ah she's nearly at the right stage. I don't know if I can wait any longer. I want to taste her now!"

"Wait!! I'll give you anything in her place. Take me instead."

"You? Feh! You're already my dinner."

"Tell me why do you want her? It's because she's an ice maiden right?"

"Yehhssss thhere rumored to be quite the delicacy."

Hiei laughed menacingly and smirked, "What if I told you I was a Koorime too?"

"You think we lost em?" Kuwabara asked resting his hands on bent knees.

"Don't know." Yusuke answered.

The two resumed walking.

"So what do we do now?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yukina has to be down one of these tunnels so let's keep going until we find her."

"In case you didn't know we've BEEN picking and choosing and it's gotten us NOWHERE! For all we know we've been going in circles! Aren't you worried about Yukina at all?!" Kuwabara hollered, rosy-cheeked.

"You got a better plan dofus?!" Yusuke argued.

Kuwabara scrached his temple and looked away. "Erm… no…"

"Then shut up!" Yusuke yelled.

The two teens neared an adjacent tunnel. Yusuke scouted around the corner. To his left a group of spiders were gathered around something. Yusuke grabbed Kuwabara just as he was about to blow their cover and pulled him back. He cupped a hand to Kuwabara's lips as the red head spouted protests.

Kuwabara pried Yusuke's hand of his mouth. "Hey what's the big idea?!" Kuwabara asked.

"SHHHHH! Big mouth! Do you want them to hear us?" Yusuke scorned in a hoarse whisper.

Yusuke motioned with his head for Kuwabara to take a look.

Kuwabra did so, but immediately leaned back out of sight of the spiders with a sheepish expression on his face.

"What's up with you?" Yusuke inquired.

"Oh nothing! Nothing! Umm … uhhh … we should be going! Don't want to get caught you know!" Kuwabara nervously scratched his head and forced a composed smile. He was sweating profusely.

Yusuke messaged his aching forehead. "Don't tell me … they saw you."

Kuwabara laughed.

"YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT!! OKAY THAT'S IT WE'RE EXTERMINATING THESE BASTARDS!"

"Urameshi are you nuts?!" Kuwabara eyed him incredulously.

"There's not as many as before! Besides I am sick of running from these damn bugs!"

Yusuke emerged from his cover and heatedly showered his foes with spirit guns. The spirit bullets hit their marks. Yusuke blew the steam from his pointer finger.

"Wow … that was easy. " Kuwabara gawked.

"C'mon. Let's see what they were so fascinated over." Yusuke said.

A still body with a bloodied maroon uniform lay on the ground.

"No way! It's Kurama?!" Kuwabara observed.

Yusuke sat Kurama up. His pupils were shrunk into his cornea and his mouth was partially open.

"Hey fox boy snap out of it!"

"Yeah tell us what happened!"

Yusuke tried to shake a response out of him but no luck.

"Holy Shit Urameshi! He's got a damn hole shoulder!"

"Damn it! Kuwabara get him the hell out of here!" Yusuke ordered. He handed Kurama over to the carrot top.

"What?! Buy why me?!" Kuwabara objected, pointing to himself.

"No time to argue! Just get him outta here."

"But wait Urames—"

"Don't worry! I'll bring Yukina and Hiei back with me!" Yusuke waved as he ran off.

Kuwabara backtracked to the exit, carrying Kurama bridle-style. "How did I ever get mixed up in this shit?" He asked himself.

Thanks for reading!

Comments and Questions Welcome.

Chapter Completed: Saturday, February 17, 2007