Yeah, it's been awhile. Hopefully there are still some people who want to read this. 00

"Speech"

-thoughts-

CHAPTER 6

BREAK AWAY

"YOU?!" The mother spider gurgled, her fangs slick with new strings of juices. Rage was not something she particularly liked possessing herself with. As a queen, she knew the value of patience.

Even in times of great hunger, when the first piece of meat in weeks happened to wonder into their den, she strictly waited for the opportune moment to attack. Hunger had ripped at her, consumed her every thought and being, much the same way it did in her children, and still she held it down. Already her young were turning traitorous, desperate for sustenance they nipped at her heels, but she did not falter back then, not once.

However, this was not an internal war of hunger, not a scream of instincts. This was an insult, a play made on her intelligence by a worm unfit to wear the title 'demon'.

A dangerous twinkle shined in the queen's eye, an sign that she had seen through his tricks. The once encumbering, delicious sweetness of Yukina quickly became the queen's abandoned dream.

"Koorime are women!" The queen roared. "Do not think because we are restricted to our home that we know nothing of the outside world! I see everything! I know everything!"

Hiei cracked up into chuckles the evolved higher and higher until he threw his head back into a maniacal laugh. The fire demon's pale, exposed throat vibrated visibly under the intense vocals. Calming down, Hiei nodded his head back into place. His eyes opened, a glossy sheen giving them a more cunning and intimidating red. He smirked at her, his fangs revealed from behind thin lips.

"Don't tell me you haven't heard of the abomination?! The Emiko?! The forbidden child those witches cast from the sky?! " Each word came out harder, louder, Hiei nearly insane as he screamed out the tormenting memories of his past. The pain of lonliness, a life without meaning, was resurrected and relived clearly in his mind. The queen watched, perplexed to find the boy going considerably mad in front of her.

The sharp contorts of emotion the queen saw in him, made a complete undoing of the pretenses she accused him with.

No longer did she doubt his suffering. Behind those scenes of laughter lay a face of raw, contorting languish. His history was strewn with skeletons, that was fact. There is none alive that can copy such emotions without first having felt their true power.

-So what?- The queen counteracted herself -That doesn't prove anything. I've suffered too, but that doesn't mean I am the Emiko. Either this boy is very cunning conman or there is one part of his story he isn't telling me. -

"If you truly arethe Emiko, why do you care so much for this young maiden's life? You should be begging me to kill her! To spill her blood! I see right through your bluff!" The queen was hesitant to speak at first, wondering if her own accusations had any footing, but she gained confidence as she spoke, the words sounding right in her ears.

-For one so smart, you'd think she wouldn't be so stupid.-

"No, no, you got me all wrong. I plan on using that girl for myself. You see, she's the only one I can enjoy killing."

The queen fidgeted, trying to decipher his intentions and failing.

"Explain!" She ordered, frustrated with herself.

Hiei closed his eyes. He had a distinct feeling that the webs binding him to the cavern roof were somehow cheating him of his energy. Was it possible that the queen's thread had the ability to slowly drain the life out of him? Shifting that idea to the side, he managed a feeble chuckle, a meager in and out of breath.

"This jagan," The third eye flashed violet, clarifying the subject of discussion, "you've been wondering about it haven't you?"

The massive spider only growled weakly, feeling threatened by the demon's heightened levels of perception.

"It's really quite amazing, what this third eye I can do. It can track the smallest traces youki, even those shrouded in the clouds."

"So you're saying you found the isle, the Koorime?" The queen ventured skeptically.

"Oh, looks like we have winner." Hiei snickered, tapping into the humor he'd picked up from Yusuke. "Those damn witches have already decimated what was left. The divine Koormie are just animated corpses now. They spend their enternallifewalking the island with their heads bent low in remorse. Sorry, but I can't gain any satisfaction for killing something that's already dead. So I figured why not let you do my work for me? Those bastards are so desperate to die they'll throw themselves at you. But that girl over there," Hiei pointed with his head, "she's not like the rest of them. She'll scream for me to stop, she'll put up a good fight. Do us both a favor and accept my offer. Everybody wins, nobody loses. I can have my revenge; you get a full stomach."

A train of indecisive clicks came from the queen. Her head twitched from side to side, filing through the pros and cons of both possible answers she could give. The queen's head rose up steadily, and Hiei read it to mean she'd come to a conclusion.

"If what you say is true, you shouldn't mind proving it with your blood." The queen vouched.

Hiei had to smirk at that. He wasn't expecting anything aside from a solid "yes" or "no," but he had to give herpoints for being creative.

"Can't trust anyone, can you?" Hiei scoffed, "Heh, heh, alright. If that's what it takes for you to give that girl over to me I see no harm in it."

The mother spider's jaws nearly curled into a smile. The large arachnid abandoned her perch next to Yukina and shot a silk cable that landed beside Hiei's form. Climbing her improvised rope, the queen approached and so did her foul smell. Hieicringedas the balding, rotting head nibbled away at thick webbing holding him prisoner. What he wouldn't give to have Kurama this close. He far more preferred Kurama's delicate floral sent to this putrid stench.

As she ate away the web with her fangs, Hiei could feel himself gain some freedom. He could wriggle his sword hand, but not yet enough to wrench it free. He strained harder against the confining bands. He had the biggest urge rip free and slice her head clean off.

There was a croak, something that sounded faintly like a laugh, "I can sense you trying to break free." The queen announced, "Do not worry yourself, I'll make sure you stay in there."

The spider pulled away, aparantlyfinished with her work. Hiei looked down to see she'd chewed away part of his shirt too, his left shoulder naked. He looked up to glare just as she leaned in to bite.

"Careful!" Hiei warned, causing the spider to jolt, "Fire demons taste a bit spicy. Wouldn't want you getting burned."

The queen growled, her anger biding, biding, biding, until it catapulted, her fangs drowning to their roots into his bare shoulder. Hiei's choked on his scream. Like thunder it tore through him. Her tooth forced itself inside, severing bands of muscle and cracking his bone. His own blood a geyser that welled up to splash him in the face, and then it all exploded into blossoms of PAIN. This time Hiei roared out his agony, staining his voice to it's highest pitch. Never would he have believed it would hurt this bad.

Her fangs left him, the chill from the ice-encrusted cavern stinging the freshly made holes in his body. Hiei felt so very empty, so lacking in blood in energy that he didn't know if he could carry on the fight. Just as these grim thoughts circled in Hiei's mind, there came a blue light, a spike of spirit energy followed by a booming, crystal-shattering earthquake as the queen fell from her perch on the ceiling and onto her back.

From half-lidded, half-greyed eyes, Hiei looked toward the entrance. The youki of his savior flared a trademark blue, but the fire demon couldn't quite register the owner of the presence. Hiei had been rescued, but the fire demon had yet to realize it. The demon hybrid was too focused on listening to his heart pound; fearing that it would stop beating altogether if he didn't keep careful ear of it's rapid thumping.

Several more shots were fired up at Hiei, each bullet melting sections of the cocoon. Hiei felt the thread give, his body bowing towards the floor where the queen was straining to right herself. And then it felt as if he was soaring through the air, his body loose, his eyes falling shut. A pair of arms caught him, one over his chest the other arm curled over his lower back.

"Hiei! Are you alright?!"

Hiei opened his eyes and saw a multitude of his reflections looking back at him through the cracked mirror that was the frozen floor.

"Yusuke ...?" Hiei rasped. He shut his eyes again, the glassy doppelgangers were making him dizzy.

"Hey," Yusuke uttered softly. The demon was strangely pliant in his arms. Not once did Hiei try to break out of Yusuke's supporting grip to walk his own. The rookie had seen his friend in pretty bad shape before, but if Hiei and his stubborn pride were this defeated, then Yusuke was going to have some problems cleaning up the spider infestation.

The dectective flipped the wounded demon over and sat him to lean his back against the curved cavern wall.

"Hiei," Yusuke called, gently rested a hand on Hiei's unmarred shoulder just in case the demon needed the extra sense of touch to know Yusuke was still there next him.

"I know this might be hard for you, but listen to me okay? I want you to get Yukina out of here. Let me handle rest." The spirt detective's eyes were pleading for Hiei to agree, but it was useless. The jaganashi's head had sunk to the side, his spinel eyes slipping shut as he labored over his breathing.

"YAAASSSS!! HELP ME MY CHILDREN!!" The queen cried, tettering on her thorax, her 8 legs grasping at air.

Yusuke spotted the few spiders that scurried to her aid and blew the ground up from under them.

"Ss-sorry Yusuke, ba-but as much as I hate to admit it, I don't think I'll be able to ... move ... for awhile." Hiei grunted, trying to lean forward and the pain overtaking him.

"Shit." Yusuke cursed, "Kurama and Kuwabara are down too."

"What?!" Hiei's eyes shot open and then narrowed into amber almonds. He leaned forward, his enthusiasm to know what had happened to the fox straining is muscles, "Kur--Agggghhhh."

"Hiei!" Yusuke cried. He wanted to help the demon through the episodes of pain, but he wasn't sure what he could do.

"Yusuke, loan me some of your spirit energy."

"Why?!" Yusuke demanded, thinking that Hiei was ready to go kamikaze and summon his black-flamed ally. "You're not planning to--"

Hiei laughed at Yusuke's level concern for him and also over the detectives assumption of his intentions, "No, I was thinking that I could teleport back to the hag's dojo. You know, save myself some time? I am not stupid enough to use the dragon now."

"Oh!" Yusuke blushed, feeling ashamed for his feminine moment of empathy, "Yeah, that would definitely work. So ... um how do I give you my energy?"

"Just let go of you're mind. Knowing you, that shouldn't be too hard."

"Pft!" Yusuke waved him off, turning his nose to the side like he was higher than Hiei's teasing, "Remember payback is a bitch Hiei."

"You have to know it to give it." Hiei taunted.

"Shudap and do your thing. I am ready."

Yusuke closed is eyes, crossing his legs so they made a triangle. He unclenched his fists, his tense hands shaking as he forced himself to relax. Open palms rested on his knees.

-Geez one mention of Kurama and the guy gets his second wind. Hope I am doin' this right.-

-I wonder what Yusuke would say if he knew I could read his thoughts right now.-

Hiei lifted his hand to Yusuke's forehead, the two parts separate and hovering close to each other rather than touching. His jagan eye opened part way, it's energy 3/4 empty. Hiei closed his eyes to concentrate. Tiny orbs of light were pulled from Yusuke's forehead. They moved like a web (what are those highways called?) of trains into the jagan eye.

"You can open your eyes now." Hiei said.

"Ah really?! That's enough, but it didn't feel like you took very much."

"Trust me, I got all I need. Despite your outward character, you think quite a lot."

"Just what exactly were you doing to me?"

"Eating your thoughts."

"So ... do you ...??"

"Hn." Hiei confirmed with a curt nod. "I know everything you've been saying to yourself since we started the transfusion." Hiei smirked omniciently.

Yusuke wore his humiliation on his cheeks. "You know Hiei you might want to tell a guy you're reading his thoughts before you start butting in!" Yusuke shook a fist in his friend's face with his teeth squeezed together in an angry growl.

"We discuss it later. Cover me." Hiei concluded as he got to his feet.

-At least you're feeling better.- Yusuke scoffed to himself. He too, stood.

"Sure thing you little shit," Yusuke spat, his brown eyes targeting the queen. Great. Her creeping lackies had managed to tip her into a 75 degree angle. Would be long until she was back in action.

There was a familiar 'whooshing' noise, a sound Yusuke knew to be Hiei's form slicing through air. The black clothing flashed into sight, floating just outside of Yukina's frozen body. Hiei's blade sliced through the ice precisely, and, like a snap of the fingers, Yukina busted out from her icy fossilization. The ice maiden descended from her prison, her body a crescent with chucks of ice tumbling about her. Her untied hair swept her lily skin like the branches of a weeping willow. Hiei caught the maiden with his good arm as she fell.

"Yusuke!" Hiei signaled with his voice.

Yusuke eyes followed his ears to the source of the voice and upon seeing Yukina in Hiei's hands, he nodded his understanding.

"Leave it to me, Hiei!"

Hiei reappeared next to Yusuke, pausing long enough to thank him.

"No problem." With that, Hiei departed, the wind trail tugging at the detective's t-shirt. Yusuke had to smirk. How could he stay angry at the demon if he was actually being grateful?

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!!" The queen howled, finally getting to her feet.

"Hey queenie! It ain't so bad! You still got me!' Yusuke grinned, pointing to himself with his thumb, chuckling all the while.

Kuwabara halted, his arms hung like a T-rex and his body hunched over. His legs were like that of a flamingo, one knee hiked up to his stomach the other locked straight. With a serious pout, he peered over his shoulder, craning his head left then right. The dojo was peaceful. A light snow fell from the overcast sky and shrouded the grounds in cold wool. So far his plan was working. He'd snuck past Genkaiundetected. Just a few yards more and he could insure his escape. Maybe it was the cryptic vibe of the ancient training ground, but the place seemed filled with a ghostly atmosphere. It was starting to give him the shivers. He took one more quick look around, for closure's sake that no one was watching him.

"Where do you think your going?"

Kuwabara made a faint 'tch' sound before spiraling around to face his teacher, laughing off his behavior as normal.

"Um uhh I was a-- patrolling! Yeah! You never know if those freaky spiders are going come back and try to kidnap Yukina again."

Genkai scowled lightly, eyes closed as her withered lips pulled into a dull smile, "You were going to cause more trouble for them weren't you?"

Kuwabara growled and bit his lip, "Yeah, so what?! I just can't sit here knowing the bastards responsible are still out there and I am not the one taking them down."

"Trust in their abilities Kuwabara. They can handle it. We need you here right now. You forget that I am getting older. With you gone, there's no one to protect us."

Kuwabara made a croaking sound, but his voice stopped after that. He wasn't sure what he was about to say. Whether it was to tell Genkai that she wasn't getting that old or whether it was to debate with her on the importance of his presence here, he didn't know. He looked away instead. He got the feeling that she was right. He'd been foolish to abandon the women at a time like this.

Genkai turned and walked back to the dojo, her wooden clogs walking the path of the round stepping stones back to the porch. "They'll be fine. We've seen Yusuke get us out of bigger jams."

"That might be true, but I can think of a few times he needed us to bust his ass out of trouble." Kuwabara politely argued, already conceding defeat and following Genkai back to the warm glow of the mahogany temple.

"So how's Kurama doin?" Kuwabara asked, trying to get his mind off of what was going on inside the spider's den.

"It's ... hard to say." Genkai admitted as she slid open the entrance doors.

"Whadya mean? We gave him that antidote stuff! He should be cured!" Kuwabara gave her a quizzical look, suddenly getting a bad feeling in his chest.

"Yes, that's right, but how fast and how well a person recovers depends upon the person's will. If a person's will power is poor, it could take days, months, even years for them to heal. On the other hand, if a patient is fighting to live with all their heart and soul then the recovery should last as little as day, hours if you're really spirited."

"Now way! So you're saying Kurama's will power is really bad?! That can't be right! A guy like him would never let himself get killed!" The red head argued fervently, waving his hands in all sorts of aggressive motions.

"No, what I am saying is that I can't measure Kurama's will. It's not like spirit energy or demon energy. You can't sense someone else's will. It's a secret only Kurama knows."

Kuwabara stared at her, his eyes pulsing at how serious things were getting. Genkai didn't meet his eyes, but focused her sights of the brightly lit hall's of her temple. He looked away, knowing he would be left to play tennis with his own thoughts for awhile.

"We have to give it time. Kurama will pull through."

Genkai stepped inside, shutting the doors behind her and leaving Kuwabara to stand guard.

TBC...

I hope to have the next part up soon. Looks like 1 or 2 more chapters until the end!

Thank you for reading. Comments and questions welcome.

Completed: Thursday, April 17, 2008