There is a point to what is about to happen to Gabi and Kurama. In order to bring them together, they must first be drawn apart. I had a freaky dream about this; it's where I got the idea.

Ch 8 Darkness in the Surf

The morning came quickly and the vacant beach was soon occupied. Kuwabara and Yusuke were swimming in the ocean. Hiei preferred to stay dry, and went to the top of a cliff to practice his swordsmanship in the relaxing sea breeze. Shizuru and Botan were catching some rays; Genkai remained under an umbrella, fully clothed, just sleeping. Keiko and Yukina were beachcombing for more shells. Kurama was walking towards the water to have a swim with Yusuke and Kuwabara when he saw Gabi sitting apart from the others. He had wanted to get to know this enigmatic girl better.

Gabi sat wrapped in a towel on the beach, staring at the ocean; she felt a little worried about the whale, maybe being beached for a whole day had hurt her calf. What if it was stillborn? What if-?

A strong hand touched her shoulder; the redheaded fox knelt by her, "Gabi, would you… like to come swimming with me and the others?"

Gabi shyly nodded and stood up in her purple one-piece. She followed Keiko in her yellow one-piece, and Yukina in her mint green bikini. Yusuke whistled at them from the water, "Nice swim suit, Keiko!"

"Yusuke, you jerk!" she screamed. Gabi snickered as she parted ways with them and stepped into the water. She waded in up to her chest before she leaned forward and started to swim. She went below the surface with her goggles on she had around her neck. The water barrier between the ocean and the sky was ever-shattering glass that speckled light on the sandy ocean floor. She swam underwater for a while until she saw the bodies of her friends under the surface. She popped out of the water and gasped for air. She set her goggles against her forehead so she could see above water. "Hey Gabi!" Yusuke greeted her, "the water is perfect out here! We might be able to go surfing."

"We don't have any surf boards, Yusuke." As these words were said, four elliptical shapes emerged from the deep in a flurry of bubbles. "Hey! Cool! The house can generate us stuff all the way out here!" Gabi said, climbing onto a blue board with a dolphin painted on it. Yusuke chose the white one with flames painted around the edge. Kuwabara claimed a deep purple board with a moon on it and a wolf's head, leaving Kurama to a red board with a ghostly pirate's ship on a churning gold ocean in a sunset.

They turned on their boards and paddled farther away from shore. The waves became bigger and bigger; one would have stopped here and rode these simple waves; but, able to paddle farther, the Tantei was stronger, faster, braver, but not necessarily wiser. A colossal wave churned up from the sea and headed toward the beach. Swiveling quickly on their boards, they tried to get steady enough on their boards to stand up. None of the boys had ever surfed before, so this was no easy task. Kuwabara had made it to his knees before he was caught in a glorious wipeout, falling off his board. Yusuke was bent over, struggling to balance himself, flailing his arms, pitched over and bit foam, but he laughed when he fell. "Woooh!" he shouted when he resurfaced. Gabi and Kurama surfed side by side, standing up right perfectly, "Think you can surf the barrel like a pro, Kurama?" she said, standing side ways with her back to him and talking over her shoulder. "Shall we make a wager then?" he replied.

"First one to wipe out has to be towel-boy and get snacks!"

"Lets surf!" Kurama experimented and figured out how to steer the board. He made a curve and drew an 'S' in foam behind him, manipulating the flow of the wave. Gabi, rising to his challenge performed a different trick. Letting the spirits of the ocean guide her through her shaman powers, she turned parallel to the wave and surfed up the curve at an angle. When she reached the top, she flipped her board in mid air and landed back beside Kurama. Mouth agape, he stared, "I thought you never surfed before!"

"I never said that I didn't." the wave began to collapse and roll over itself, starting at one side. "C'mon, last one out of the barrel loses!" she shouted and went up against the wave again. Kurama followed her, trailing his hand on the wall of water beside him, enjoying the spray of water. The wave closed in close behind them; Kurama was neck-in-neck with Gabi, but she had the winning stretch, not being up against the wave. "Don't slip!" she teased.

"Don't make me laugh!" he grinned, closing the space between them. The closing tunnel lapped their boards; it was now or never. Suddenly, a dolphin leapt out of the wall of water and startled them. They screamed and tumbled into the water. Gabi, with her goggles on, looked for Kurama. He looked like a fleshy little seal in green trunks with a clump of bright red sea weed on his head. She would have laughed if she could; he looked like crap. She swam toward him, guiding him to the surface. Popping out of the water, she looked around. "Did you see that dolphin? It was jet black!"

"Perhaps it was some unknown species of porpoise." Kurama said; combing his bangs out of his eyes with is hand.

"Crazy head! That wasn't a normal dolphin; it was evil! Stupid fish!"

"You are being paranoid." He said rationally.

"Am no-" she disappeared beneath the water. Kurama dove after her. He could not see in the salty seawater without goggles, but he could see well enough to spot a black, dolphin-shaped object dragging a flesh-colored Gabi-shaped object away. He had taken most of the seeds out of his hair because of the saltwater, but he kept his rose whip just in case, and he used it. His whip that could cut through steel cut through the water and lashed around the dolphin's tail. He yanked hard, causing the dolphin to release his friend. The ebon sea-creature kicked hard and swam away with him. Down, down they went. Kurama felt the temperature drop as the light of the sun faded away.

Gabi resurfaced, sucked in a deep breath and went to rescue her friend from the unnatural beast. She could not swim nearly as fast as the dolphin, but she could see well with her goggles. The ocean floor was chillier than nearer to the surface. She spotted Kurama clinging to a rock on the floor with one hand and holding his whip that leashed the dolphin with the other. Approaching the thrashing monster, Gabi pulled the thorny bind away from its rubbery skin. The creature sped away as she then turned to Kurama. His breath had run out and he fell limp. Gabi turned suddenly to the rocky cliff; it extended under water as well as on land. Aer en cava. Air within a cave. A voice in her said spoke. Being a shaman, reading memories left behind in physical things was one of her traits; though the words always came to her in tongues of old.She looped her arms under his and across his chest and paddled underwater toward the dark wall.

The dangerously sharp rocks making up the wall were not easy to avoid with the motion of the sea pushing her forward and then dragging her back. Feathery stalks of seaweed brushed up against her, making her shiver in disgust. The lull of a wave forced her up against a rock. She was scratched slightly, but Kurama suffered a deeper cut. His blood clouded around her like his hair. Wrinkling her nose, she swam under a rocky over-hang and into a dark tunnel. Her head was swimming; she needed oxygen, and so did Kurama. Her head met air; she looked up and saw a small opening in the ceiling of a cave. With that shred of light, she clambered up onto a sandy area on top of a raw rock bed, dragging the red head with her. Kurama was bleeding from a small cut on his arm, but not breathing. Tearing off her goggles, she did some rescue breathing and was thankfully able to revive him.

Seawater gushed out of his mouth, he sat up, clutching the cut on his arm; the salt water stung the wound. His eyes were no longer green. Gabi was looking for her goggles when a fist came slamming into her head.

When she became conscious again, she saw a pair of amber eyes staring back at her. She scooted quickly away. The burning gaze belonged to a strange man in white. His features were haggard, as if poorly imitated; his robes were pristine white, but for a patch of blood red going down the side from a wound in his arm. His hair was a dull gray, like neglected silver, with no more sheen than lead. Ragged animal ears were mounted to his head, and a tail, similar in color to his hair swung behind him. He watched her scrabble away from him in fear, and laughed a wretched laugh. "Silly girl, don't try and hide your audacity from me. I can see in your eyes, you plan to attack me if I come closer."

"And I will, stranger; identify yourself!" she barked like a soldier.

"Me? Why, 'Gabi'," he hissed, "that's no way to address a friend, now is it?"

"You are no friend of mine!"

"No!" he shouted, bringing a thorny whip down on her. A bleeding 'X' appeared across her collar. She cried out and held the bloody wound. "I am not your friend, I will not have dealings with such a foul creature." he said and drew the bloodstained vine back to him.

"I don't understand, who are you?" she gasped, stepping further away from him. He laughed to himself, "Ningens were never all that smart. I shall humor you and 'spell it out' as your kind say." He whipped her leg at the thigh, making her fall down in pain, "Have a seat; my name is Youko. You have been trying to gain my respect, my favor, these past few weeks. I am thoroughly disgusted, a ningen, trying to make me an equal. You must pay for your arrogance!" his whip came up and down on her outstretched arm, trying to block the blow. She didn't understand the connection with this monster and anyone she knew.

"Stop!" she pleaded staining the sandy floor with her blood. He was purposely not slicing through her, to make her suffer more. "Take your prayers to Hell, ningen." He said coldly. She turned away, against the wall, but she could not get away from him. He cursed her, laughing and snarling, lashing her back relentlessly. Sitting on her knees, she put her hands on he wall to hold herself up against the painful stokes. Her head bowed with each hit; she grit her teeth, feeling pain like none other than the stinging of a thousand knives ripping her flesh away. "Ningen, why do you not scream? I know you feel pain, I can hear you crying, but you do not scream? Are you trying to look stronger than you are? Damn it, scream!" he lashed her again, his whip dripping with her blood. She sobbed soundlessly, but made did not cry out. The gray haired demon maneuvered his whip to wrap around her throat, pulling her away from the wall to face him. She tugged at the vine, chocking, as he pulled tighter. Her world began to spin, she had lost much blood and her air was being cut off.

Kurama pulled still tighter and laughed, "See you in Hell, scum." The hilt of a katana collided with his skull and he saw no more. Hiei stood next to the fallen figure, "What the hell?" he said, observing as the beastly creature transformed from a poor imitation of the legendary youko into a sleeping Kurama. Genkai stepped down into the cave behind Hiei. "What happened here?" she caught sight of the bloody wreck that was Gabi and rushed to her side. "Gabi, what happened? Gabi!" the old woman waved a hand in front of the teen's face. Her green eyes did not follow the motion. "She's in shock…" Genkai raised her hand to heal the numerous lacerations on Gabi's back. The blood stopped flowing at her touch, but the skin was still shredded.

"What in the nine hells possessed Kurama to do this to her?" Hiei said, scanning the surroundings, his Jagan opened. He cursed and picked Kurama up, putting him over his shoulder. Genkai moved the catatonic girl and carried her fireman style to avoid touching the wounds on her back. Gabi's voice returned too little too late, she screamed continuously as loud as her lungs let her until she ran out of breath and closed her eyes.