Kuwabara gasped, his hold on the body faltering as he realized that it was resisting, not because the roots were giving more fight, but because her hair was woven into the earth itself.

It had not taken too much effort to remove the roots, despite Kurama's initial thinking of cutting them, they bent beneath his will, although there was a resistance that the fox had yet to encounter in common plants such as this. As the roots receded they caught glimpse the girl's frail body, rips protruding, and even though the earth seemed to be giving this girl it's energy, it also seemed to be taking energy away from her. With already split energy, between herself and the earth, this discovery left an unsettling feeling within Kurama. Why had the earth been feeding this girl?

"Her hair is stuck!" Kuwabara's cry brought Kurama back, his eyes flashing over to his tall friend and then back to the weaving hair that slipped into the soil as if it itself were roots of binding. Clicking his tongue in displeasure, he brought his hand to his chin in thought.

"I don't have a knife or any kind of cutting instrument, you'll have to use your sword to cut her hair."

Sputtering a response, Kuwabara knelt as to not bring more pain to the girl who was already trembling from the loss of the forceful energy, "B-but she's a girl, Kurama, what if I cut your hair with my sword?!"

There was a thick moment of silence, and Kuwabara realized his answer hadn't been what he meant, but before he could sputter out any more nonsense, Kurama knelt and swiftly took the body into his own arms, lips tightening as he felt the energy fluctuate unevenly.

"Her energy is connected to the earth, but removing her has seemed to give her back at least some of what she has lost," he muttered to himself, acknowledging the way the green growth around them seemed to lean towards them, as if to tug the girl back into her prison of roots.

The pain she felt was overpowered by the sense of heat that flooded through her, and the peacefulness she had been content with before seemed false compared to this new sense of comfort. The flow of herself combined with the earth was paused, and even though there was a terrible yearning, a desperate need to return that curled within her body, she was almost thankful to be away. The breathing that had before been so light, so distant, was racking her lungs and filling them whole. She was taking and nothing was taken.

As something surged around her, a pounding filled her body once more. Tendrils of white wound around her head, and it was then that she realized she was completely cut off from the source of life she had been living for what she thought to be eternity.

A screech that seemed unhuman lit her head ablaze once more, and the energy that had been caressing her ever so sweetly before recoiled and hid at the sound.

"Fuck, Kurama," Kuwabara stumbled away as the girl's mouth snapped open, stretching unnaturally as a piecing scream followed. Kurama almost dropped her, eyes wide and mouth agape as he wracked his brain for a solution this terrible noise. As soon as it had started, the shriek cut short and the boys finally had a moment of peace.

Blinking hard and making sure his ear was still intact, Kuwabara inhaled sharply to make up for the air that had escaped him. He glanced at the chopped hair that was still embedded within the soil, then back to the body that Kurama held. After a few moments of only breathing, he said, "I wonder how long she's been out here like that."

Kurama did not answer, thinking that if this body had been held much longer in the grasp of the earth, it likely would have been sucked dry of any life energy it had left.

Rising from his crouched position, Kurama turned a bit, speaking to Kuwabara in a calculated, cold voice, "We cannot be so sure that she is the victim. The plants were keeping her there, feeding her energy as well. This is unfortunate, but we cannot give this girl help without first verifying that she is not an enemy."

Kuwabara huffed, patting the dirt from his jeans. He seemed almost offended at first at the fox's words, glancing at the body with concerned eyes. "Yeah, well, the plants weren't exactly just giving her energy," he mumbled, "they were taking from her too. I know you're right but…" running his hand through his hair, he let out a long, tired sigh. "I know you're right, but I don't think she's an enemy."

"We'll find out soon enough when she wakes up," Kurama replied, scouting the area around them for the best method of exit. "First, we have to get back to Genkai's and through all of this growth."

Upon reaching the temple, Kuwabara and Kurama were met with a confused and concerned looking Yukina, who had padded her way out onto the porch upon feeling their returning energies. Kuwabara looked sheepishly at the ice maiden, raising his hand slightly in greeting.

"This was what you felt, Kazuma-san?" She took a few steps back as Kurama ascended the stairs. "How could a human make it within Genkai's forest? She seems too feeble."

No one had yet to acknowledge that the thin body was bare. It would almost have been insulting to mention it, as the features brought on by malnourishment and weakness were overwhelming. This girl's body was more concerning to see than embarrassing.

"I mean, we had to pull her out of the ground, Yukina!" Kuwabara explained, following Kurama as he walked inside to find a suitable place to lay the body. "It was like she was a carcass or something, the ground was eating her."

"Not… quite." Kurama spoke up, laying the body on the low couch in the living room. He stepped away, giving her a once over before he turned towards the other two. "The plants around her reacted to her life energy, taking it for their own. However, the earth was also feeding her body energy. The reason, to me, is unknown right now."

Listening to his explanation, Yukina stepped towards the girl, kneeling and analyzing her body, searching for wounds.

"We had to cut her hair, too, it was growing into the ground!"

At Kuwabara's words, Yukina glanced up at the girl's face, noticing the hair around her head was unmistakably uneven and frayed at the ends as if they had been cut with dull scissor. However, that was not the only thing she noticed. At closer glance, she saw that around the girl's left eye, the skin was darker and seemed thinner. Glancing downward, she noticed that the girl's left shoulder was also discolored. Reaching her hand up slowly, she pressed it to the shoulder, blue energy blossoming around the area.

"Are you healing her?" Kurama stood at a slight distance, eyebrows furrowed as he watched Yukina place her hand over the other's shoulder. "I don't remember her having wounds."

"We didn't get to look at her enough to see wounds, though," Kuwbara commented, "we had to get her out of the ground and cut her hair, and after that we came back here without checking. I mean, there wasn't blood, so…"

"This… is not a wound." Yukina pulled her hand back, looking a little confused and slightly concerned. "It could be… a burn scar?" She sounded unsure as she stood slowly, eyes locking with Kurama's.

"I guess we'll find out when she wakes up."

OK whew buddy, I've been having trouble writing this because like I mentioned before, I'm definitely not a writer! but I really wanted to keep this going, I have so many ideas swirling around in my head that focus on this story and this oc and hopefully I can get my ideas across in writing in a decent manner!

I'm attending a con this weekend, and then going to the lakes with my friend, so I won't be able to update for another week or so! if that!

I'm very shy about sharing this now that a few people have followed it (thank you for that so much!) but I'll do my best! sorry for any mistakes, as u know i have no beta reader!

xenocanaan: thank you so much for the review! I'm curious as to where im taking this too (lol) I'm trying my best to make plans for it more concrete on paper, though! c: also is your username canaan from xenosaga because the xenosaga trilogy are absolutely my favorite ps2 games!